Ad for sale of an old, 4000 year old Vishnu temple in Kerala. I called, owner claims this is on a one acre of land in Palakkad, Kerala. Sus tus is the equivalent of Tirupati in Kerala. Wish we could prevent this from falling into the wrong hands !

Padmashree Sheldon Pollock tries to establish that ancient Indian societies were  so mean that there was a tradition of slavery in India. He quotes Ramayana and tries to deplore how Rama was a slave to his father and Lakman and Bharat were slaves to Rama. And how, when Rama is speaking to praja, he is quoting his own example to demand that they remain slave to the King.
After Rama's banishment Kaushalya exclaims to Dasaratha:

If only Rama could have lived at home though it meant begging in the city streets!  You had the freedom to grant such a boon, which at the worst had made my son a slave. (38.4)

The verse directs our attention to an important aspect of Rama's status: his absolute heteronomy.  The status of junior members of the Indian household was, historically, not very dissimilar to that of slaves (as was the case in ancient Rome), both with respect to the father and, again, hierarchically among themselves.  The image of Rama's bondage is enhanced by the fact that he is obliged to pay a debt that devolves upon him with the death of his father.  More generally, like the slave, Rama is "not his own master, he is subordinate to others and go where he wishes," as an early Buddhist text defines the condition of slavery.

On this level of signification, where Rama's position is one of unqualified subservience to the will of his master, the relations that has come to characterize the social formation can be understood.  As Lakshmana and Bharata submit to Rama ("I am your servant," says Lakshmana to Rama 20.35; "I am your slave," says Bharata 97.12), and as Rama himself submits and suffers ("the King [my] master is exercising his authority ... over me," 21.17), so all the orders of society are to recognize and observe the strict boundaries of hierarchical existence.  This is not something that the poet is content merely to suggest.  It is explicitly enunciated: "as I myself have shown you,"Rama tells the people of Ayodhya, explaining the example he is setting, "you must obey your master's order" (40.9).  Rama's behavior is a paradigm to which all subordinates must conform.

These are the people who do not understand the PREM and ADARA shown towards elders -- a firm Bharateey tradition. What we Bharateeyas consider as a desirable value, Pollock tries to show it as the debasest meanness. 
It is for us Bharateeyas to think whether we want brothers like Ram-Bharat, Ram-Lakshman or brothers like Aurangjeb, who in order to get kingdom, kills his own brother Dara. Only then we will be able to answer whether we want Padmashris of Pollock type.

did India exist

 ykwadhwa01@gmail.com

I would like to ask proponents of the nasty idea that if India did not exist in the ancient times and also if it had no entity of its own, then how could its knowledge spread far and wide. In those ancient days was it possible to provide learning to a large number of people in a large number of disciplines without a central learning center?   The fact is that it was not only the territory of India which came under attack but also its  Vedic  knowledge which was picked up by the invadors.   Undoubtedly, India being the birth place of knowledge has been the Jagadguru.  It is  the sacred land of India  which has been the educational center of the world as Maharishi Manu says:

Etddesh prasutasya skashadagrajanmana 

swam swam charitram shikshran prithiviya servamanva (Manusmriti  2.20)

The idea of this is - "Let all men of the world, in all walks of their life, receive instructions in their various trade, rules of conduct suited to their respective positions in life and acquire knowledge from the  learned persons born in this land (India)."  

On the authority of Manusmriti and other scriptures, Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati in his book Satyartha Prakash has given the geographical boundreis of 'Arya Vrat' i.e,land of cultured people , which lies between boundries of Himalyas in the north  and mountains called Vindhyas stretching right upto Rameshwaram in the South. Late Pt.kshitish Vedalankar, who was an eminent author and a journalist in an article "Ratnakar and Mahoodadhi - Arab Sagar and Bengal Ki Khari" published in Dayananda Commemoration Vol, 1983 says that on his visit to Rameshwaram he was surprised to see very long corridors of the temple and its two unusual gatekeepers,'Ratnakar and Mahoodadhi'. After lot of investigation, a pujari explained to Pandit Vedalankar that the gatekeeper Ratnakar stands for Arabic Sea while the other Mahoodadhi for Bay of Bengal.  Every pilgrim in ancient days was supposed to carry not only Ganga water from the Himalayas but also a bow & arrow to the Rameshwaram Temple. During ancient times Army was stationed in the long corridors while bows and arrows were its weapons to be used against any external aggression.  The Shivlinga in the temple was also given bath in Ganga water.  The same water which was brought by every pilgrim was also used by army for drinking purpose.  Rameshwaram a sort of Border post, is/ was one of the four dhams apart from the other three located in  different parts of India.  Sanskrit was the lingua franca of the country right from Afganistan to Kanyakumari.  There are numerous mantras of Vedas which are related to 'Rashtra' - Nation.  At one place Rig Veda(10.18.10) says 'Serve the Motherland with all your heart' - upsarp mataram bhumimetam. Even during Vedic Marriage Ceremony Raashtrabrit Yajna for the well being of the Nation is performed.  Dr.Deen Bandhu Chandora in the book 'Vedic Marriage Ceremony, Sanskaar/Sacrament'(pub.by Greater Atlanta Vedic Temple Society Inc)Ed.2012 says "Marriage is one unit that creates and sustains the nation, therefore, in Vedic marriage ceremony the couple is reminded about their responsibilities towards sustenance of the nation."

India has been the light house of knowledge. The word Bharat is made up of  - bha(knowledge)+rat(engaged)and whose residents remain immersed in acquisition of  knowledge.  Ashoka ruled over this land of  Bharat Bhoomi and before him a long list of Chakravarti Samrats(emperors)is available in Puranas and Mahabharata. Eminent Vedic scholar, Dr.Fatah Singh in his book 'Bhartiyata ko Vedon Ki Dain' pub.by Ved Sansthan, New Delhi,Ed.1991 says that generally in  Puranas the territory between Himalayas and the coastal areas has been described as Bharat Desh.  Some puranas, Dr.Fatah Singh says also mention the above territory of 'Bharat' as  'Kumaridweep' and 'Greater Bharat' is consisted of countries like Jawa(Yavdweep), Sumatra, Taiwan(Tamravarna), and islands like Bornio(Varundweep). Almost same rule of law existed over this vast land of Bharat, movement of pilgrims over the entire territory was widespread apart from commonality of  culture, festivals, dharmic concepts, etc. All this is a clear evidence that in ancient India there existed not only a deep political but also cultural unity.

Y.K. Wadhwa 

China-occupied Kashmir

Why Modi-Jinping talks should also focus on CoK - China-occupied Kashmir by sanjeev nayyar in Firstpost.com

http://www.firstpost.com/world/modi-jinping-talks-also-focus-cok-china-occupied-kashmir-1710791.html

 

The common perception in India is that we have a problem with Pakistan over Kashmir, with our western neighbour not only sitting on large chunks of our territory (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, or PoK) but also sending jihadis over to create mayhem on this side of the line-of-control (LoC).

What Indians do not so readily acknowledge is that we also have a CoK problem in addition to the PoK one. CoK is China-occupied Kashmir, and this part of real estate grabbed un China accounts for nearly a fifth of the original Jammu & Kashmir state that joined the Indian Union in 1948 after its Maharaja Hari Singh signing the instrument of accession.

So when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits India from 17-19 September, the Indian side will not only have to focus on trade, investments and the broader issues that strain the relationship (the unsettled border row over which we fought a war in 1962), but also on CoK. Narendra Modi will have to bring CoK also in his discussions with Jinping - even though the border problem is not going to be solved in a hurry.

The problem with Indians is that we tend to forget what the Kashmir issue is really about as the decades pass. This writer will thus like to refresh memories on what the issue is really about, and on what China is up to (the full monograph on Kashmir will soon be published byFirstpost in a downloadable ebook shortly).

Let’s start with a brief chronology of key events in Jammu and Kashmir. The problem became a formal India-Pakistan flashpoint when Pakistan, in a bid to force the ruler to join Pakistan, sent in around 5,000 Pathan tribesmen to invade J&K starting on 21 October 1947. That set off a chain of events of which the highlights are the following:

*Instrument of Accession (hereafter referred to as IoA) signed on 26 October 1047

*IOA unconditionally accepted by Lord Mountbatten that same day

*Jawaharlal Nehru sent the Indian army to defeat the Pathan invasion, but chose to go to the UN on 1 January 1948 on the aggression

*Resolutions adopted by the UN Commission for India and Pakistan on 13 August 1948 and 5 January 1949 provided for a plebiscite in J&K after the withdrawal of troops by Pakistan from PoK

*The regent of J&K, Karan Singh, issued a proclamation on 25 November 1949 that legally declared total oneness of the state with the Constitution of India

*Article 370, which the BJP now wants to scrap, became a part of Indian Constitution in 1950

*Elections to the State Constituent Assembly were held in 1951 and Sheikh Abdullah became PM of J&K

*Sheikh Abdullah was arrested in 1953 when Nehru felt he was developing his own agenda

*The Kashmir Constituent Assembly confirmed the legality of the state’s accession to India in 1954

*The J&K constitution came into force on 26 January 1957.

India entered the Kashmir chakravyuh – a battle formation adopted by the Kauravas in their war with the Pandavas which Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son, knew how to enter but not exit safely – with Nehru’s decisions of 1948, but no one has been able to exit this chakravyuh.

If we have to exit the chakravyuh, both ordinary Indians and policy-makers have to understand what is at stake. So let’s begin with some basic facts about Kashmir, its geography, and how much of Kashmir Pakistan and China are sitting on right now.

The state of J&K had a total area of 2,22,236 sq km in 1947 before it joined India. Of this only 46 percent is in India’s possession today; the balance is under forceful occupation of Pakistan and China.Muhammed Ali Jinnah is said to have complained about a moth-eaten Pakistan heinherited after partition, but in Kashmir India actually has less than half the state – a moth-eaten Kashmir, so to speak.

WHO HAS WHICH PART OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Regions	Area in Sq Km	% of current J&K controlled by India	% of original J&K state in 1947
Jammu region	26,293	26.0026	12.0012
Kashmir Valley	15,948	16.0016	7.007
Ladakh region	59,146	58.0058	27.0027
State of Jammu and Kashmir	1,01,387	100.00100	46.0046

 

WHO HAS WHICH PART OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Regions	Area in Sq Km	% of current J&K controlled by India	% of original J&K state in 1947
Area covered by Instrument of Accession	2,22,236	NANA	100.00100
Forceful occupation by China after 1962 war	37,555	NANA	17.0017
Pakistan-Occupied J&K (Mirzapur, Muzaffarabad 13,297 sq km; Gilgit-Baltistan 64,817 sq km)	78,114	NANA	35.0035
PoK area ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963	5,180	NANA	2.002

This 2.22 lakh sq km of Jammu and Kashmir was ruled till 1948 by Maharaja Hari Singh, whose full title at that time was quite a mouthful: Shriman Indar Mahander Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hari Singh Ji Jammu and Kashmir Naresh Tatha Tibet adi Deshadhipathi.

Which brings us to the bigger questions. What are Pakistan’s and China’s interests in owning large areas of Jammu & Kashmir.

Q1: Why was (or is) J&K important to Pakistan?

A: Lt Gen NS Malik wrote: “J&K forms the head of the Indian sub-continent, and has been the traditional trade route of Central and South Asia to the East and Tibet, generally called the ‘Silk Route’. It is bounded by more countries than any other state of India; in the North East with Tibet, and further North with Xinjiang province of China, in the North West with the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan, in the West with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and further South with Punjab of Pakistan. This geographic layout is strategically so important that no power of the world wants to remain away from the area, as it gives them access to the sensitive areas of the neighbouring countries”.

Q2: What is the importance of Aksai Chin (a part of undivided J&K) to China?

A: The Sinkiang (Xinjiang) and Tibetan plateaus constitute a wedge into the Himalayas and were considered by China to be very strategic. They wanted to grab those areas that allowed them to establish roads between Sinkiang and Tibet. With the undetermined border between Soviet Turkestan and Sinkiang a source of friction and tension with Russia, China needed an effective line of communication with Sinkiang through Akshai Chin.

Lt Gen N S Malik wrote: “China is spending huge sums to build infrastructure through highways connecting Tibet to Xinjiang through the Chinese-occupied Aksai Chin plateau, and Xinjiang to Pakistan via the Karakorum highway through the Kunzreb pass. This highway then connects Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea, giving a warm water port and access to the Indian Ocean to China. Its importance can be visualised in that China trade can avoid the bottleneck of the Malacca straits as also cuts down turnaround to the interior provinces of China.”

Clearly, it is not going to be easy for India to reclaim the parts of Kashmir it has lost to Pakistan and China. But that does not mean it should not be brought on to the table for discussion.

(Click here for the map of Kashmir; the areas in grey to the top-left are PoK; the areas on top-right in light green are China-occupied Kashmir).

Warm Regards
sanjeev nayyar