ख्वाजा मुइउद्दीन चिश्ती, अजमेर और भारत इतिहास

यह एक अजीब तथ्य है कि भारत भू पर आने वाले अधिकांश पाकिस्तानी राजनैतिक व्यक्ति अजमेर शरीफ जाने की इच्छा जरूर रखते हैं, सातवीं शताब्दी के मुहम्मद बिन कासिम और उसके बाद महमूद गजनवी और फिर मुहम्मद गौरी तक मध्य एशिया के किसी भी आक्रमणकारी का भारत भू को कब्जाने का स्वप्न पूरा नही हुआ.

ख्वाजा मुइउद्दीन चिश्ती के खंड काल पर दृष्टि डालें और तथ्यों को देखें तो पता चलता है कि चिश्ती वह संत थे, जो मुहम्मद गौरी के साथ भारत आये थे, यह बिना किसी शंका के मान्य है कि भारत भू पर हुए अनेकों आक्रमण और अत्याचारों के बाद भी भारतीय धर्म और संस्कृति लोप नही किये जा सके, किंतु इस को नष्ट करने हेतु जिस सांस्कृतिक आक्रमण का सहारा आज लिया जा रहा है (जिसमे मीडिया, चर्च, राजनैतिक पार्टियां, लव जिहाद इत्यादि), चिश्ती इन आक्रमणो के प्रथम उपयोगकर्ता थे.

मुहम्मद गौरी जैसे एक दुर्दांत व्यक्ति के साथ संत माने जाने वाले व्यक्ति का होना कुछ शंकाओं को जन्म देता है. आखिर एक संत (यदि वह संत है ) एक दुर्दांत रक्त पिपासु के साथ लंबी यात्रा कर के लाहौर से अजमेर तक पहुंचे और रास्ते मे हुए कत्ल ए आम से उसका संतत्व उसे जरा भी ना कटोचे, यह कैसे संभव है. हिंदुत्व सदा से ही ऐसे व्यक्तियों को जो परोपकार हेतु जीते हैं, सम्मान देता आया है. इसी मानसिकता का लाभ उठा कर चिश्ती ने अजमेर मे अपना आश्रम खोला जहां प्रत्येक व्यक्ति को भोजन की व्यवस्था की गई.

अपनी संस्कृति मे पले बढे हिंदू सदा ही परोपकारी व्यक्ति को आस्था और श्रद्धा की दृष्टि से देखते आये हैं. इसी मानसिकता का लाभ सर्वप्रथम चिश्ती ने उठाया, ( इस मानसिकता का लाभ ईसाई मिशनरियां आज भी उठा रही हैं, और परोपकार की आड मे धर्म परिवर्तन का कार्य कर रही हैं), अपने प्रसिद्ध होने और लोगो की आस्था का उपयोग चिश्ती ने भारत मे मुस्लिमों के लिये बेस बनाने के लिये किया.

वह जानता था कि जब तक भारतीय अपनी संस्कृति से जुडे रहेंगे तब तक उन्हे पराजित करना असंभव है, अतः उसने सर्वप्रथम यह किया कि हिंदू और मुस्लिमों के बीच मे एक कडी के रूप मे जुड गया, यह तभी संभव था जब वह हिंदुओं के बीच मे मान्यता प्राप्त कर लेता, इसी हेतु उसने अपने को एक चमत्कारी सूफी संत के रूप मे प्रचारित करना आरंभ किया. ध्यान रहे, अजमेर तत्कालीन राजपूतों की राजधानी था, और राजपूत वह जाति थी जो कभी भी विधर्मियों को स्वीकार नही करती थी. इस प्रकार हिंदू समाज मे अपनी लोकप्रियता का लाभ उसने मुहम्मद गौरी को दिया.

पृथ्वीराज चौहान से तिरस्कृत हो कर उसने कहा कि मैने अजमेर की चाबी कहीं और सौंप दी है, और शायद यह एक संकेत था, जिसे पा कर मुहम्मद गौरी ने पुनः आक्रमण किया, और उस समय तक जयचंद गौरी के साथ मिल चुका था, यह भी पूरी तरह संभव है कि इस मिलाप के पीछे चिश्ती का ही हाथ हो, क्योंकि राजपूत एक ऐसी जाति थी जो किसी भी प्रकार से विधर्मियों के साथ गठ बंधन नही बनाती थी, इसके स्थान पर वह अकेले ही लड कर वीरगति को प्राप्त हो जाना ज्यादा पसंद करते थे. और अपनी विजय का श्रेय भी मुहम्मद गौरी ने चिश्ती को ही दिया, और अपने गुलाम कुतुबुद्दीन एबक को निर्देश दिया कि वहां मंदिरों को तोड कर ढाई दिन मे मस्जिद बनाई जाये, जिसने यह कार्य किया वह मस्जिद आज भी अढाई दिन का झोपडा नाम से प्रचलित है.

यदि चिश्ती संत ही थे, तो कैसे यह बर्दाश्त कर सके कि कोई किसी दूसरे के आस्था के स्थानों को तोड कर वहां अपनी मस्जिदों का निर्माण करे? इस संतत्व के पीछे किसी सुनियोजित योजना की शंका होती है. आज के युग मे देखे, तो इसी प्रकार की योजना ईसाई मिशनरी सभी स्थानों पर अपने धर्म के प्रचार के लिये कर रही हैं. यह चिश्ती की के उस प्रथम प्रयोग का ही अगला चरण प्रतीत होता है जिसकी ने नींव कई शताब्दी पहले चिश्ती ने रखी थी. और शायद यही कारण है कि प्रत्येक पाकिस्तानी वहां जाने को अत्यंत उत्सुक रहता है. शायद ऐसा कर के वह अपने पूर्वजों को भारत मे मुस्लिम संप्रदाय की नींव रखने के लिये धन्यवाद देता है...

A GLIMPSE OF PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA

Arabia is an abbreviation. The original word even today
is Arbasthan. It originates in Arvasthan. As observed earlier
Sanskrit "V" changes into "B". Arva in Sanskrit means a horse.
Arvasthan signifies a land of horses, and as we all know Arabia
is famous for its horses.

In the 6th and 7th centuries A.D. a wave of effecting a
complete break with the past spread over West Asia. All links
with the past were broken, images smashed, scriptures des-
troyed, education discontinued and the entire West Asian
region took a plunge in abyssmal ignorance which lasted for
centuries thereafter and perhaps persists to a certain extent
even today because if in the whole world modern scientific and
educational developments find stubborn and entrenched resis-
tance anywhere it is in the West Asian countries. It is said
that the late Saudi Arabia ruler could not permit a radio
broadcasting station opened in his own capital because of
oposition from his Maulavis. He then resorted to a stratagem.
Once while he had his council of Maulavis in attendance he had
a radio set switched on to a program of Koranic recitation
broadcast from a small transmitting station set up earlier
without much ado. The Maulavis were delighted, so goes the
report, to hear the word of Allah coming to them as if from
nowhere. The king told them that what objections could they
have to a mechanism which broadcast the word of Allah. The
Maulavis agreed and the small radio broadcasting project was
at last ratified.

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclø-
paedia Islamia the Arabs are ignorant of their own history of
the pre-Muslim era. By a strange euphemism they call it a
period of ignorance and darkness. Probably no other country
in the world has deliberately written off a 2,500 year period of
their own history by systematically stamping out and snapping
all links with the past. They have wiped the memories of pre-
Muslim era off their minds. So while they chose to remain
ignorant of their past ironically enough it is they who dub the
pre-Muslim era as a period of ignorance.

Fortunately we can still trace the history of that pre-
Islamic Arabia. It is a well known adage that there is no such
thing as foolproof destruction of all evidence. The pre-Islamic
history of Arabia is the story of Indian Kshatriyas over that
land, with the people following the Vedic way of life.

In our attempt to reconstruct the story of pre-Islamic
Arabia we begin with the name of the country itself. As
explained earlier the name is fully Sanskrit. Its central
pilgrim centre, Mecca is also a Sanskrit name. Makha in
Sanskrit signifies a sacrificial fire. Since Vedic fire worship
was prevalent all over West Asia in pre-Islamic days Makha
signifies the place which had an important shrine of fire
worship.

Coinciding with the annual pilgrimage of huge bazaar
used to spring up in Makha i.e. Mecca since times immemorial.
The annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca is not at all an
innovation but a continuation of the ancient pilgrimage. This
fact is mentioned in encyclopedias.

VIKRAMADITYA

Evidence is now available that the whole of Arabia was
part of the great Indian King Vikramaditya's vast empire. The
extent of Vikramaditya's empire is one of the main reasons for
his world wide fame. Incidentally this also explains many
intriguing features about Arabia. It could be that
Vikramaditya himself had this peninsula named Arvasthan if
he was the first Indian monarch to capture it and bring it
under his sway.

The second intriguing aspect is the existence of a
Shivalinga or the Mahadeva emblem in the Kaaba shrine in
Mecca. Before going into further details about the ancient
Vedic rituals and names still clinging to Muslim worship at
Mecca we shall see what evidence we have about Arabia
having formed part of Vikramaditya's dominions.

ANTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT ARABIC POETRY: SAYAR-UL-OKUL

In Istanbul in Turkey, there is a famous library called
Makteb-e-Sultania which is reputed to have the largest
collection of ancient West Asian literature. In the Arabic
Section of that library is an anthology of ancient Arabic
poetry. That anthology was compiled from an earlier work in
A.D. 1742 under the orders of the Turkish ruler Sultan Salim.

The 'pages' of that volume are made of HAREER - a kind
of silk used for writing on. Each page has a decorative gilded
border. It may be recalled that gilding pages of sacred books is
an ancient custom associated with old Sanskrit scriptures
found in Java and other places. The anthology itself is known
as SAYAR-UL-OKUL. It is divided into three parts, the first
part contains biographic details and the poetic compositions of
pre-Islamic Arabian poets. The second part embodies accounts
and verses of poets of the period beginning just after Prophet
Mohammad up to the end of Banee- Ummayya dynasty. The
third part deals with later poets up to the end of Khalifa
Harun-al-Rashid's times. Incidentally "Banee" means "Vanee"
and Ummayya as in Krishnayya are Sanskrit names.

Abu Amir Abdul Asamai, a distinguished Arabian bard
who was the Poet Laureate of Harun-al-Rashid's court has
compiled and edited the anthology.

The first modern edition of Sayar-ul-Okul anthology was
printed and published in Berlin in A.D. 1864. A subsequent
edition was published in Beirut in A.D. 1932. This work is
regarded as the most important and authoritative anthology of
ancient Arabic poetry. It throws considerable light on the
social life, customs, manners and entertainment forms in
ancient Arabia. The book also contains an elaborate descrip-
tion of the ancient Mecca shrine, the town and the annual fair
known as OKAJ which used to be held there every year. This
should convince readers that the annual Haj of the Muslims to
the Kaaba is only a continuation of the old fair and not a new
practice.

But the OKAJ fair was far from a carnival. It
provided a forum for the elite and learned to discuss the
social, religious, political, literary and other aspects of the
Vedic culture then pervading Arabia. Sayar-ul-Okul asserts
that the conclusions reached at those discussions were widely

respected througout Arabia. Mecca, therefore, followed the
Varanasi tradition of providing a seat for important discussions
among the learned while the masses congregated there for
spiritual bliss. The principal shrines at both Varanasi in India
and at Mecca in Arvasthan were Shiva temples. Even to this
day the central object of veneration at both Mecca and
Varanasi continues to be the ancient Mahadeva emblems. It is
the Shankara stone which Muslim pilgrims reverently touch
and kiss in the Kaaba.

ENTRY OF NON-MUSLIMS FORBIDDEN

A few miles away from Mecca is a big signboard which
forbids entry to any non-Muslim in the area. This is a
reminder of the days when the Shrine was stormed and
captured solely for the newly established faith of Islam. The
object obviously was to prevent its recaptue.

As the pilgrim proceeds towards Mecca he is asked to
shave his head and beard and to don a special sacred attire.
This consists of two seamless sheets of white cloth. One is to
be worn round the waist and the other over the shoulders.
Both these rites are remnants of the old Vedic practice of
entering Hindu shrines, clean shaven and with holy seamless
spotless white sheets.

The main shrine in Mecca which houses the Shiva emb-
lem is known as the Kaaba. It is clothed in a black shroud.
This custom could also originate from the days when it was
thought necessary to discourage its recapture. According to
encyclopaedias Britannica and Islamia the Kaaba had 360
images. Traditional accounts mention that one of the deities
among the 360 destroyed, when the shrine was stormed, was
that of Saturn, another was of the moon and yet another was
one called Allah. In India the practice of Navagraha puja that
is worship of the nine planets is still in vogue. Two of these
nine are the Saturn and the moon. Besides, the moon is always
associated with Lord Shankara. A Crescent is always painted
across the forehead of the Shiva emblem. Since the presiding
deity at the Kaaba shrine was Lord Shiva i.e. Shankara, the
crescent was also painted on it. It is that crescent which is
now adopted as a religious symbol of Islam. Another Hindu
tradition is that wherever there is a Shiva shrine the sacred
stream of Ganga that is the Ganges must also co-exist. True
to that tradition a sacred fount exists near the Kasba. Its
water is held sacred because it was regarded as but another
Ganga since pre-Islamic times. Muslim pilgrims visiting the
Kaaba shrine go around it seven times. In no other mosque
does this perambulation prevail. Hindus invariably perambu-
late around their shrines. This is yet another proof that the
Kaaba shrine is a pre-Islamic Shiva temple where the Hindu
practice of perambulation is still meticulously observed.

Allah is a Sanskrit word. In Sanskrit Allah, Akka and
Amba are synonyms. They signify a goddess or mother. The
term Allah appears in Sanskrit chants while invoking goddess
Durga i.e. Bhavani. The Islamic word Allah for God is
therefore not an innovation but the ancient Sanskrit appella-
tion retained and continued to be used by Islam.

The seven perambulations too are significant. At Hindu
wedding ceremonies the bride and bridegroom go round the
sacred fire seven times. the practice of seven perambultions
around the Kaaba shrine in Mecca is, therefore, a Hindu Vedic
custom. It is also a proof that Mecca was Makha or the shrine
of the sacred fire around which worshippers made seven
perambulations.

SAYAR-UL-OKUL tells us that a pan-Arabic poetic
symposium used to be held in Mecca at the annual Okaj fair in
pre-Islamic times. All leading poets used to participate in it.
Poems considered best were awarded prizes. The best poems
engraved on gold plate were hung inside the temple. Others
etched on camel or goat skin were hung outside. Thus for
thousands of years the Kaaba was the treasure house of the
best Arabian poetic thought. This tradition was of im-
memorial antiquity. But most of the poems got lost and
destroyed during the storming of the Kaaba by prophet Moham-
med's forces.

SAYAR-UL-OKUL is a poem by UMAR-BINE-HASSNAM
(Poetic Title: ABBUL-HIQAM meaning Father of Knowledge).
He was an uncle of prophet Mohammed. He refused to get
converted to Islam. He died a martyr at the hands of Muslim
fanatics who wanted to wipe out non-Muslims. This poem was
adjudged as the best in the annual fair at Kaaba.

QAFA VINAK ZIQRA MIN ULUMIN TAV
ASERU KALUBAN AYATTUL HAWA VA TAZAKKARU

A man who has spent all his life in sin and immorality and has
wasted away his life in passion and fury,

VA TAZAKEROHA AUDAN ELALVADAE LILVARA
VALUK YANK ZATULLA HE YOM TAB ASERU

If he repents in the end and wants to return to morality, is
there a way for his redemption?

VA AHLOLAHA AZAHU ARMIMAN MAHADEV O
MANAZEL ILAMUDDINE MINJUM VA SAYATTARU

Even if only once he sincerely worships Mahadeva, he can
attain the highest position in the path of righteousness.

VA SAHABI KEYAM FEEM QAMIL HINDE YOMAN
VA YAQULOON LATAHAZAN FAINNAK TAVAJ3ARU

Oh Lord! Take away all my life and in return pray grant me
even a single day's stay in Hind (India) as a man becomes
spiritually free on reaching that holy land.

MAYASSAYARE AKHALAQAN HASNAN KULLAHUM
NAJUMUN AZAAT SUMM GABUL HINDU

By dint of a pilgrimage of Hind a man attains the merit of
noble deeds and gets the privilege of pious touch with ideal
Hindu teachers.

Bhaskaracharya's Law of Gravity न्यूटन य। मह्रिषी भाष्कराचार्य

जिस समय न्यूटन के पुर्वज जंगली लोग थे ,उस समय मह्रिषी भाष्कराचार्य ने प्रथ्वी की गुरुत्वाकर्षण शक्ति पर एक पूरा ग्रन्थ रच डाला था. किन्तु आज हमें कितना बड़ा झूंठ पढना पढता है कि गुरुत्वाकर्षण शक्ति कि खोंज न्यूटन ने की ,ये हमारे लिए शर्म की बात है.


Did you know that the famous Hindu astronomer, Bhaskaracharya in his Surya Siddhanta wrote:

"Objects fall on the earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon and sun are held in orbit due to this attraction."

It was not until 1687, 1200 years later did Issac Newton "rediscover" the Law of Gravity.

In Surya Siddhanta, dated 400-500 AD, the ancient Hindu astronomer Bhaskaracharya states,

"Objects fall on the earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon, and sun are held in orbit due to this force."

"Aakrishti sakthischa mahee thayaa yathkhastham guru swa abhimukham swa sakthyaa . aakrushyathe thath pathathi iti bhaathi same samanthaath kwa pathathi ayam khe" is the verse which describes that the earth attracts the solid objects in the sky by its own force towards itself. Bhaskaracharya further discusses the forces between the celestial bodies using a question: Where can the celestial bodies fall since they attract each other?

भास्कराचार्य सिद्धान्त की बात कहते हैं कि वस्तुओं की शक्ति बड़ी विचित्र है।
मरुच्लो भूरचला स्वभावतो यतो
विचित्रावतवस्तु शक्त्य:।।
- सिद्धांतशिरोमणि गोलाध्याय - भुवनकोश
आगे कहते हैं-

आकृष्टिशक्तिश्च मही तया यत् खस्थं
गुरुस्वाभिमुखं स्वशक्तत्या।
आकृष्यते तत्पततीव भाति
समेसमन्तात् क्व पतत्वियं खे।।
- सिद्धांतशिरोमणि गोलाध्याय - भुवनकोश

अर्थात् पृथ्वी में आकर्षण शक्ति है। पृथ्वी अपनी आकर्षण शक्ति से भारी पदार्थों को अपनी ओर खींचती है और आकर्षण के कारण वह जमीन पर गिरते हैं। पर जब आकाश में समान ताकत चारों ओर से लगे, तो कोई कैसे गिरे? अर्थात् आकाश में ग्रह निरावलम्ब रहते हैं क्योंकि विविध ग्रहों की गुरुत्व शक्तियाँ संतुलन बनाए रखती हैं।

ऐसे ही अगर यह कहा जाय की विज्ञान के सारे आधारभूत अविष्कार भारत भूमि पर हमारे विशेषज्ञ ऋषि मुनियों द्वारा हुए तो इसमें कोई अतिशयोक्ति नहीं होगी ! सबके प्रमाण उपलब्ध हैं ! आवश्यकता स्वभाषा में विज्ञान की शिक्षा दिए जाने की है !

Approximately 1200 years later (1687 AD), Sir Isaac Newton rediscovered this phenomenon and called it the Law of Gravity.

(Do not confuse with Bhaskara of 12 century)

Invention of Decimal System

Did you know that Hindus gave us the method of expressing numbers by means of a decimal system?

The so called Arabic numerals are actually Hindu numerals and even many Arab mathematicians admit that. During the 700's, the Arabs learned Hindu arithmetic from scientific writings of the Hindus and the Greeks. Then, in the 800's, a Persian mathematician wrote a book that was translated into Latin about 300 years later. This translation brought the Hindu-Arabic numerals into Europe.

In India a decimal system was already in place during the Harappan period, as indicated by an analysis of Harappan weights and measures. Weights corresponding to ratios of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 have been identified, as have scales with decimal divisions. A particularly notable characteristic of Harappan weights and measures is their remarkable accuracy. A bronze rod marked in units of 0.367 inches points to the degree of precision demanded in those times. Such scales were particularly important in ensuring proper implementation of town planning rules that required roads of fixed widths to run at right angles to each other, for drains to be constructed of precise measurements, and for homes to be constructed according to specified guidelines. The existence of a gradated system of accurately marked weights points to the development of trade and commerce in Harappan society.

Hindu mathematicians used a system based on 10. The Hindus had symbols for each number from one to nine. They had a name for each power of 10, and used these names when writing numerals. For example, Hindus wrote "1 sata, 3 dasan, 5" to represent the number we write as 135. They wrote "1 sata, 5" for the number we write as 105. Hindus found a way of eliminating place names. They invented the symbol shunya (meaning empty), which we call zero. With this symbol, they could write "105" instead of "1 sata, 5."

The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 1053 (i.e 10 to the power of 53) with specific names (Tallakshana) as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 1012 (10 to the power of 12).

"It is India that gave us the ingenuous method of expressing all numbers by the means of ten symbols, each symbol receiving a value of position, as well as an absolute value; a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit, but its very simplicity, the great ease which it has lent to all computations, puts our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions, and we shall appreciate the grandeur of this achievement when we remember that it escaped the genius of Archimedes and Apollonius, two of the greatest minds produced by antiquity."
— French mathematician Pierre Simon Laplace (1749 - 1827)

Charaka Samhita: World’s first physician

The west is fond of proclaiming Hippocrates (460 – 377 BC) as the father of medicine, but way before him in 500 BC Maharishi Charaka wrote the famous Charaka Samhita or Physicians’ Handbook. The Charaka Samhita went into great detail to describe human anatomy, pathology, diagnostic procedures, and treatment for various diseases. Charaka defined eight major medical disciplines of Ayur Veda: Shailya Chikitsa (surgery), Shaalakya Chikitsa (head, eye, nose, throat), Kaaya Chikitsa (mental health), Kaumarbhrutya Chikitsa (pediatrics), Agada Tantra (toxicology), Rasaayana Tantra (Pharmacology), Vaajeekarna Tantra (reproductive medicine). Charaka also described the functions of the heart and the circulatory system in great detail. The Charaka Samhita was widely translated in various languages and Charaka was a respected medical authority in both the Arab and Roman empires.

The Caraka Saṃhitā  or "Compendium of Caraka" is an early Ayurvedic encyclopedia on medicine. It is believed to be the oldest of the three surviving ancient treatises of Ayurveda. It is central to the modern-day practice of Ayurvedic medicine; and, along with the Suśruta Saṃhitā or "Compendium of Suśruta," it was an important source of medical and life understanding and practice in antiquity.

The work of Charaka is datable to the period 100 BCE -- 100 CE. However, the text of the Carakasaṃhitā, written in Sanskrit, was re-edited after Caraka, by one Dṛḍhabala, and this is the version transmitted in manuscript to modern times. It is probably datable to the Gupta period, 300-500 CE.

Sanskrit charaka is a term for a wandering religious student or ascetic.

There are several legendary accounts of the origins of medical science in South Asia. According to one, the serpent-king Śeṣa, who was the recipient of Ayurveda(Ayurveda), once visited the earth and finding it full of sickness he became moved with pity and determined to become incarnate as the son of a Muni for alleviating disease; he was called Charaka because he had visited the earth as a kind of spy or cara; he then composed a new book on medicine, based on older works of Agniveśa and Atreya pupils (Agniveśakr̥te tantre Charaka pratisaṃskr̥te)

The extant text has aṣṭāṅga sthāna (eight sections), totalling 120 chapters. These 8 sections are

1. Sūtra sthāna (30 chapters),

1. Nidāna sthāna (8 chapters),

1. Vimāna sthāna (8 chapters),

1. Śārīra sthāna (8 chapters),

1. Indriya sthāna (12 chapters),

1. Cikitsā sthāna (30 chapters),

1. Kalpa sthāna (12 chapters) and

1. Siddhi sthāna (12 chapters).

17 chapters of Cikitsā sthāna and complete Kalpa sthāna and Siddhi sthāna were added later by Dṛḍhabala (5th century). The text starts with Sūtra sthāna which deals with fundamentals and basic principles of Ayurveda practice. Unique scientific contributions credited to the Charaka Saṃhitā include:

• a rational approach to the causation and cure of disease

• introduction of objective methods of clinical examination

“Direct observation is the most remarkable feature of Ayurveda(आयुर्वेद), though at times it is mixed up with metaphysics. The Saṃhitā emphasizes that of all types of evidence the most dependable ones are those that are directly observed by the eyes. In Ayurveda successful medical treatment crucially depends on four factors: the physician, substances (drugs or diets), nurse and patient. The qualifications of physician are: clear grasp of the theoretical content of the science, a wide range of experience, practical skill and cleanliness; qualities of drugs or substances are: abundance, applicability, multiple use and richness in efficacy; qualifications of the nursing attendant are: knowledge of nursing techniques, practical skill, attachment for the patient and cleanliness; and the essential qualifications of the patients are: good memory, obedience to the instructions of the doctors, courage and ability to describe the symptoms.

The most celebrated commentary on this text is the Carakatātparyaṭīkā "Commentary on the Meaning of the Caraka" or the Ayurveda Dīpikā, "The Lamp to Ayurveda" written by [Cakrapāṇidatta] (1066). Other notable commentaries are Bhaṭṭāraka Hari(ś)candra's Carakanyāsa (c.6th century), Jejjaṭas Nirantarapadavyākhyā (c.875), Shivadasa Sena'sCarakatattvapradīpikā (c.1460). Among the more recent commentaries are Narasiṃha Kavirāja's Carakatattvaprakāśa and Gaṅgādhara Kaviratna's Jalpakalpatāru (1879).

"The Caraka (Vol I, Section xv) states these men should be, 'of good behaviour, distinguished for purity, possessed of cleverness and skill, imbued with kindness, skilled in every service a patient may require, competent to cook food, skilled in bathing and washing the patient, rubbing and massaging the limbs, lifting and assisting him to walk about, well skilled in making and cleansing of beds, readying the patient and skilful in waiting upon one that is ailing and never unwilling to do anything that may be ordered."

Surgery: 300 different types Operations, and 125 Surgical Instruments::

The ancient Indians were also the first to perform amputation, cesarean surgery and cranial surgery. Sushruta as early as 600 BC used cheek skin to perform plastic surgery to restore and reshape human nose, ears, and lips with incredible results. In his treatise, Shushruta Samhita, he classified surgery into eight types:

aaharya (extracting solid bodies),
bhedya (excision),
eshya (probing),
lekhya (sarification),
vedhya (puncturing),
visravya (extracting fluids), and
sivya (suturing).
Shushruta describes the details of more than 300 operations such as extracting solid bodies, excision, incision, probing, puncturing, evacuating fluids and suturing. Ancient Indians were also the first to perform amputations, caesarean and cranall surgeries with 42 surgical processes. He worked with 125 kinds of surgical instruments including scalpels, lancets, needles, catheters, etc. Sushruta even devised non-invasive surgical treatments with the aid of light rays and heat. Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Chanakya's Arthashãstra describes post-mortems, and Bhoja Prabandha describes brain surgery, successfully performed in 927 AD by two surgeons on King Bhoja to remove a growth from his brain. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

Sanatan roots of Christianity

Trinidad & Tobago's Archbishop Pantin in his weekly column repeated what scholars have been asserting for years on the origins of Christmas. Archbishop Pantin essentially officially confirmed the celebration of Christmas was 'borrowed' from pre-Christian religions. This type of 'borrowing' was not new to Christianity that aggressively practised a process of inculturalisation in order increase its mass appeal and thereby win as many converts as possible. The practice is still employed by missionaries in Asia and even in Trinidad. What Archbishop Pantin did not develop was the celebration of the birth of the divine being was borrowed from a Hindu Deity. It is time that Hindus re-claim this celebration and its Hindu roots rather then to let continue to be hijacked by Christian mythology.

The festival that is now known as Christmas was actually a celebration for the Vedic Deity Mitra. According to "A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion" by John Dowson [1998] the Hindu Mitra was connected to the Persian Mithra which later was adopted by Rome. Mitra was a form of the sun, and in the Vedas he is generally associated with Varuna. Will Durant's "The Story of Civilisation, Volume III. Caesar and Christ" [1944] wrote "as far back as the second century the Eastern Christians celebrated the nativity on January 06th. In 354 some Western churches, including those of Rome, commemorated the birth of Christ on December 25th; it was ALREADY the central festival of Mitraism, the natalis invivti solis, or birthday of the unconquered sun".

The Christmas date of December 25 was originally the celebrated birthdate of the Roman version of Mitras. The 4th-5th century Church decided to 'borrow' that date for the sake of establishing a national holiday. The Iranian version of Mit(h)ra was called the "Light of the World" is another interesting fact to note. Mithraism explained the world in terms of two ultimate and opposing principles, one good (depicted as light) and the other evil (darkness). Human beings must choose which side they will fight for; they are trapped in the conflict between light and darkness. Mithra came to be regarded as the most powerful mediator who could help humans ward off attacks from demonic forces.

In the religions of antiquity the vast majority of the pre-modern world was syncretistic, meaning that one religion would often incorporate the myth and ritual of other cults with which it came in contact. Often the deities would simply change names. This suggests that we may be comparing Jesus (one individual ) to the combined characteristics of multiple agents that are all called by the SAME NAME. Mitra--he is a mixture of Hindu Iranian, Greek, and Roman religious beliefs. Both Hindu and Iranian Mithraism predates Jesus .

Hindu thought was filtered to the West via Greek colonies which are known to have existed in India prior the time of the Buddha in the 6th century B.C.E. The Buddha actually refers to the Greeks in a discourse in the Middle Length Sayings. Alexander the Great's invasion brought Hellenism to India during the rise of the brilliant Mauryan empire (322-185 B.C.E.) in Northern India, and had significant impact on the upper class and urban segments.

After Alexander died, his empire divided into several pieces--one of which was called the Seleucid dynasty. In spite of the fact that the Seleucid and Mauryan dynasties were border-competitors, they still had a great deal of friendly interchange between them, and the first two kings of the Mauryan dynasty are referred to in Greek sources. 

The peace treaty between them in 303 BCE included a marriage alliance, and Seleucus' ambassador Megasthenes lived for 10 years and travelled extensively in the Mauryan empire during the reign of the founding king Chandragupta (Sandrocottos in the Greek). Megasthenes gathered huge amounts of information about India and wrote a book (which is lost), many parts/information of which are preserved in the writings of Strabo, Arrian, and Diodorus.

One of the most famous of the kings of this dynasty was Ashoka. Although he is not mentioned in any Greek sources, he "records having sent missions from India bearing his message of the victory of the Dharma to the Greek kings Antiochus II of Syria, Ptolemy II (Philadelphus) of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene and Alexander of Epirius."

Until his death in 232 BCE, he maintained frequent communications with the south and the west, even sending missionaries to Ceylon and to the West. Historical data and quotes shows, there was information about the religious content of proto-Hinduism transmitted to the West, and even about Buddhism. The last two centuries B.C.E saw the rise of the Parthian empire, which quickly became a barrier to cultural exchange.

There are material, significant, and pervasive similarities between Jesus Christ and other Savior-figures, and that these similarities are best explained by the hypothesis that the figure of Jesus is materially derived from or heavily influenced by these other Dying God/Savior-figures. The similarities between Jesus and the other relevant Savior-gods are material, significant, and pervasive enough to suspect a liberal borrowing. Scholars have proposed several theories to account for the obvious similarities between Christianity and the mystery religions. The birth and celebration of Christmas as a Christian festival is merely an example of one such borrowing.

Who is a Brahmin??? A scriptural study

A scriptural study from VajraSuchika Upanishad:

Hinduism and India has been torn by the four fold divisions from ancient times that often led to a rigid caste based system.This has caused a great deal of heart ache and bitterness in Indian society at large. 

It states that Brahmins are indeed supreme but defines what a Brahmin is.


The Central Question



“Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudras - these are the four castes.


Amongst these castes, Brahmins indeed are the supreme (pradhana) - these accords with the statements of the Vedas and is stated by the Smritis also.


In this regard, the following enquiry is made:


Is Jiva the Brahmin???

“Of these options, if the first i.e. ‘the designation Brahmin applies to the Jiva’ is considered, then no (i.e., this cannot be true) because the nature (rupa) of the Jiva remains the same in the bodies it assumed in previous lives and also in the future bodies.
Impelled by the fruit of its actions, the Jiva attains numerous bodies (in different births) and in all these bodies, the nature of the Jiva remains the same.
Therefore, the designation ‘Brahmin’ cannot apply to the Jiva.”

## Rebirth is the central tenet of Hinduism

Is Body the Brahmin???

“Then, if it is said that the body has the designation ‘Brahmin’, then no (i.e., this cannot be true),
Because the bodies of all human beings down to the chandalas (outcastes) have the same nature since they are composed of the same 5 elements;
Because features like death, birth, vice and virtues are seen in all bodies;
Because of the absence of the rule that Brahmins are white, Kshatriyas are red, Vaishyas are yellow and Shudras are black.
Because upon cremating the corpses of their fathers/elders and others, one would get tainted with the sin of Brahminicide.
Because of these reasons, the body cannot bear the designation ‘Brahmin’.”

Familial Lineage and Caste:


“Then, if is said that the class by birth (or familial lineage or genus) bears the designation ‘Brahmin’, then no (i.e., this cannot be true), because there are several non-human species from whom numerous great Sages emerged.
We hear from the sacred texts that
- Sage Rsyasrnga was born of a deer,
- Sage Kausika of the Kusa grass,
- Sage Jambuka from a jackal,
- Sage Valmiki from white termite hill,
- Sage Vyasa from a fisher woman,
- Sage Gautama from the back of a hare,
- Sage Vasishtha from Urvashi- the celestial nymph
- Sage Agastya from a pitcher.
Amongst these, there have been many Sages who have been amongst the foremost of men that have demonstrated spiritual realization.
Therefore, it is not one’s class by birth that can be taken as ‘Brahmin’.”


## One has to look at this as a metaphor.

Spiritual Knowledge and Brahminhood



“Then, if it be said that spiritual knowledge is (the cause of) Brahminhood, no (i.e., this cannot be true), because amongst Kshatriyas and others, there are many who have realized the Supreme Reality and have attained Wisdom. Therefore knowledge does not determine Brahminhood.”


Religious Rituals (Karma) and Brahminhood


“Then, if it is said that performance of karma or the fruits thereof (makes one) a Brahmin, no (i.e., this cannot be true), Because association with karma that has been commenced, karma done in the past and karma that will be done, is seen common to all creatures.
(Moreover) good men perform karmas, impelled by (the effects) their past karma.
Therefore, karma does not (make) one a Brahmin.” |

Meritorious Acts and Brahminhood


“Then, if it is said that (performance of) meritorious deeds (makes one) a Brahmin, no (i.e., this cannot be true), because there have been many Kshatriyas and others who have (done meritorious deeds like having) gifted gold (to Brahmins, to religious institutions etc.).
Therefore, the performer of meritorious deeds is not (automatically) the Brahmin.”

Having denied all possible combination, it answers the question in finality as follows.


Who is a Brahmin?


“Who indeed then bears the designation Brahmin?



He (indeed) who, after having all his desires fulfilled as a result of perceiving (realizing) directly, as an amalaka fruit in one’s hand….


The Atman that is One without a second (or is beyond compare),
(That is) bereft of (distinctions of) clan and (is not composed of) the constituents of Prakriti (guNa-hInaM), and actionless,
(That is) free of all defects like the six infirmities (viz. old age, death, sorrow, delusion, hunger and thirst) and the six states of existence/transformations (viz. birth, existence, growth/development, transformation, waning and perishing),
(That is) of the nature of Immutable Reality, of Consciousness, Blissful and Infinite/Eternal,
(That is) an Independent Entity (not deriving its existence and properties from anything else),
(That is) devoid of determinations, but (itself) the support of infinite determinations,
(That is) present in all living and non-living beings as the immanent Soul, (Who) pervades the interior and envelopes the exterior of everything as ether,
(That is) possesses the attribute of perfect and complete (akhanda) Bliss, (That is) incomparable, (That is) known only through one’s own (spiritual) experience (and not through reading of books or teaching by others) and is inferred only indirectly (because of It cannot be perceived by the senses);
Becomes free of the defects of desire, attachment and the like,
Becomes endowed with the (positive) qualities like tranquility etc., becomes free of (negative) behaviors like jealousy, greed, expectations, delusion etc., and leads a life in which the mind is not tainted pretensions, ego and the like.



He alone, who possesses the aforementioned characteristics, is a Brahmin- such is (indeed) the import of Sruti, Smriti, Itihasa and the Puranas.



There is no other way of attaining Brahminhood..