Hindus, Reach Out To Everyone, Start With Hindus. Message from 2023 Bangkok World Hindu Congress

At the World Hindu Congress* 2023, Bangkok, organised between 24-26 Nov, the theme of the event was “Jayasya Aayatanam Dharmah”. (जयस्य आयतनं धर्मः). Elaborating on the theme, in his opening, the RSS Chief Shri. Mohan Bhagawat, simplified it as “Hindus, reach out to everyone in the spirit of service by winning everyone’s hearts. Aim of the Hindus is “Work for everyone’s benefit and for everyone’s happiness, बहु जन हिताय, बहु जन सुखाय” This is the Hindu Dharma View. The world hopes this becomes the world view. It can happen if the Hindus take it to the world, first to every pocket of Hindus, those we have not yet reached to, they may even be in far corners, in forests or forgotten in the far away countries. It is our ordained “national task” because it is sanctified in the Hindu scriptures from the prehistoric times as: “World is one family, वसुधैव कुटुंबकम” and “Make the people of the world righteous-noble-honourable, कृण्वन्तो विश्वमार्यम्”. And, it is our obligation to execute these two Dharmic civilizational directives as our duty. He made a point that all religions and the thought processes of the entire world have one common theme, “How to behave?”. In India that is Bharat, referring to the ancient literatures, he repeated the virtues defined in the Chapter 16th of the Bhagavad Gita as what is “Dharma Behaviour” in Hindu view: The Fearlessness अभयम्, Pure mind सत्त्वसंशुद्धिः, Knowledge ज्ञान, Resoluteness at task योगव्यवस्थितिः, Charity दानम्, Control over five senses दमः, Sacrifice यज्ञः, Study of self स्वाध्यायः, Austerity तपः, Simplicity आर्जवम्, Non-violence अहिंसा, Truthfulness सत्यम्, Absence of anger अक्रोधः, Renunciation त्यागः, Peacefulness शान्तिः, Restraint from un-required fault-finding of others अपैशुनम्, Compassion for living दया, Absence of covetousness अलोलुप्त्वम्, Gentleness मार्दवं, Modesty ह्रीः, Non-fickleness अचापलम्, Vigor तेजः, Forgiveness क्षमा, Fortitude धृतिः, Cleanliness शौचम, Non-Enmity अद्रोहः and Non-Vanity नातिमानिता. Dharmic Behaviour has no place for Anger, Hatred, Lust and Foul speech. He further elaborated on Dharmic Behaviour referring to a Tamil Classic “The Tirukkural” as that also says: No Anger, No Hatred, No Lust, No Envy and No Ego. The real problem is विकार-Corrupted desires and Ignorance. Hence the outreach. Birth of our society, the Hindu society, is for this grand purpose. World expects this from us. Bharat will provide guidance. We live to create happiness for all. Our nation is born through the austerities- तपः of Rishis since before the ‘history’ began. All the pre-Abrahamic so-called “Pagan” practices were similar in spirit. They had the same quality everywhere. The theme of 2023 World Hindu Conference, जयस्य आयतनं धर्मः guides us to “Glory by expanding (reaching) Dharma” and for that, Hindus, Reach out to everyone, start with reaching out to every Hindu on the earth. Apart from above many distinguished speakers from various countries and diverse fields took to the stage and delivered inspiring and informative speeches. What attracted the attention of many was a message from the Prime Minister of Thailand, Shri. Srettha Thavisin. As he was unable to attend in person, his message was read out on stage from the dais: “World is struggling with turmoil in current times. Hinduism is a religion of principles and values. Inspiration should be taken from religion, truth, tolerance and harmony. Peace can be established only through Hindu Values”. ____ World Hindu Congress* 2023 was the third since its inception. It assembles once every four years with predominant Hindu thought leaders of the world. The World Hindu Congress (WHC) is a global platform for Hindus to connect, share ideas, inspire one another, and impact the common good. Interactive sessions offer space to deliberate the challenges and opportunities facing Hindu communities across the globe, and seek tangible solutions for the progress and prosperity of Hindus and the betterment of humanity and the world. World Hindu Congress is organised by the World Hindu Foundation (WHF). ---- ---- ---- ----

Chess Federation Silver for R Praggnanandhaa. Chess is Chaturang

International Chess Federation Silver for R Praggnanandhaa. Chess is Chaturang Today, a bright young 18 year old boy from India, GrandMaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has won Silver at the International Chess Championship* and earlier, GrandMaster Vishwanath Anand had won Gold in the year 2000 at this Championship. Therefore, this is perhaps an appropriate time to reflect on our heritage-link with this sport.

💡Chess, just like Yoga, is essentially a gift of the Ancient Indian knowledge system to mankind. Everyone knows this, globally all chess organisations admit this and Google also says so! Now India has to work on projecting chess and repositioning it as a costless tool to sharpen intellectual prowess, something like a kind of Intellectual Yoga or “BrainYoga”. Also let us remember not to confuse this grand intellectual game with chance games of dice. Chess is not a game of chances but it is a war-game of strategic thinking, planning and executing an attack on an enemy.

Chess is another evidence of ancient India’s cultural current, softly and gracefully flowing throughout the globe, just like Yoga does. Contributing to the intellectual elevation of the human potential at almost no cost, no commitment and no demand. In that way, chess parallels Yoga. Yoga contributes to humanity by elevating health and wellness at no cost, no commitment and no demand.

It is no secret that what was once a very commonly played game in India has lost that place, albeit, due to very legitimate reasons. Finding peaceful leisurely time for this sport was nearly impossible during the centuries of assaults and oppressions of colonisers. Now that the tide has turned in favour, independent India is slowly finding its feet, it is the right time to work on India’s assets, intangible and tangible.

In most Indian languages, such as Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Urdu etc, the game of chess is known by its Arabaised pronunciation,“Shatranj”. However, it was not so before the foreigners colonised India. Wherever the Indic civilisation existed, from the Far-East to South Asia, chess was known by the original name “CHATURANG - चतुरंग”. In Tamil language and many other Asian languages such as Burmese, Bahasa Indonesia etc. it is still Chaturang, expressed as ‘Chaturnkam’ in Tamil or similar meaning in their local languages.

The word ‘Chaturang’ carries a meaning. When applied to an army, Chaturang means ‘a strong full-fledged army consisting of all “4-Elements”. Namely, 1- foot-soldiers, 2- elephant mounted soldiers, 3- cavalrymen riding camels and 4- cavalrymen riding horses’. The army is led in the game by a King and Chief of the Army. Chaturang has almost the same set of rules as those used in Chess today, however the titles of the pieces on the chequered board are not the same. The Indian Chaturang pieces were secular soldiers but modern international chess today has religiously anointed soldier pieces such as Knights and Bishops.

Chaturang came to be known as Shatranj in many languages in Asia and by names such as échecs, ajedrez, schach, xadrez, check, shakhmaty, or chess in Europe. While Shatranj is merely Arabised** pronunciation of the Indian word Chaturang, the European name connects it to the word ‘Shah’, as the game of Kings/Rulers. In the Islamic ruler dominated regions such as India/Persia etc, the ruler was known as ‘Shah’ or ‘Shehanshah’. Eventually Chaturang took various local customised forms of ‘Shah’ in Spain, Portugal, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, England etc European countries and even in China.

Persian, Nepali, Sinhala languages etc and all the modern Indian languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali etc had no alphabetical or larynx deficiency, they being members of the Indo-European Language group, with roots in Sanskrit, were fully capable of proper pronunciation of every syllable of ‘Chaturang’ but had ironically began adopting the “ruler-friendly vocabulary” ‘Shatranj’ for the game of Chaturang.

Thus, most of the current names for chess do not capture the essence of the game as brilliantly as the original name “CHATURANG” that alludes to the spirit of the game, The Battle. This leaves a possibility 💡 that the world might welcome a more relevant name such as Chaturang in the future. Perhaps it can begin by making a positive narrative about it first in India, taking care not to waste away the goodwill of the game even though obtained by use of any other name. 💡 Let’s project Chess on the global stage as an ancient Indian game of Chaturang on the lines of Yoga for health and Chaturang for Brain Enhancement. Maybe India can host the FIDE office in India. Maybe India can begin with encouragement schemes, awards, incentives, coaching centres for Chess players in state capitals etc. and build on the potential that exists in the talented young generation of India.

* Esterix References/Additional Details: Chess Championship*: The International Chess Federation, well known by its French language acronym FIDE, is based in Switzerland. Chess Championship 2000: India’s first international success at the championships came in 2000, when Viswanathan Anand won the Gold. Chess Championship 2023: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa now won the Silver at the FIDE World Cup in 2023. Arabised** Arabs always replace ‘च - Ch' with ‘شوِِ‘ - ‘Sh’ or ‘س’-, ‘S’ simply because Arabic alphabets does not have any syllable equivalent to ‘च - Ch'. (We are aware that in Arabic, the Chai is Shy, China is Sin, Chocolate is Shockolate, etc. Secondly, Arabic alphabets ‘G’-‘ग’, ‘GH’-’घ’, and ‘J’-’ज’, have certain freedom of transpositioning resulting in tribe-wise/country-wise pronunciation differences. (We know that Gamal is occasionally Jamal, Sharga is Sharjah, Gabriel is Jibriel, etc). This led to Chaturang coming to be pronounced as ‘Shatranj’ and the original word began its life in the Islam dominated parts of the globe with Arab, Turkic or Mongol rulers in the mediaeval time as a new spoken word, “Shatranj” - ”شطرنج” (in Arabic).

Announcement by Creative Prakashan Publisher: Second Edition at Revised Price “ઊર્મિલાનો મોટો દીકરો એટલે ઊમોદી”

New Edition with more pages and its revised price is just announced by my Publisher, Creative Prakashan: “ઊર્મિલાનો મોટો દીકરો એટલે ઊમોદી” Discounted Price 540 (Revised Cover Price Rs. 630)

+12 વયના સહુને વાંચવા-જાણવા જેવી રસપ્રદ ઘટનાઓથી સભર આ પુસ્તકમાં રાજકારણ, યુદ્ધો, જાસૂસી, ભાંગફોડ, ઈતિહાસ, ભૂગોળ, વિજ્ઞાન, ઉદ્યોગો, વૂડૂ બ્લેક મેજિક, સ્વાસ્થ્ય, પરંપરાઓ, રીતરિવાજો, તહેવારો, ભાષાઓ, સંબંધો, રસોઈ, ખોરાક, વગેરે જેવા વિધવિધ વિષયોને આવરી લેતી વાસ્તવિક જીવનની સત્ય વાર્તાઓ વાંચવા મળે છે. સેંકડો એવા વિષયો છે કે જેની સાહિત્યમાં ભાગ્યે જ ચર્ચા થાય છે તેવી વાતોને લીધે દરેક વાચકને આ પુસ્તક રસપ્રદ લાગશે. વિષય પ્રસ્તુતિ પણ સામાન્ય પુસ્તક કરતાં સાવ અલગ રીતે થયેલી છે. અધ્યયન અને સામાન્ય જ્ઞાનની દૃષ્ટિએ આ પુસ્તક મૂલ્યવાન છે. તેથી જ તો, શૈક્ષણિક પુસ્તક પ્રકાશક, ક્રિએટિવ પ્રકાશને આ પુસ્તક પ્રકાશિત કર્યું છે. આ પુસ્તક એક સારું વાંચન તો છે જ પણ તે સાથે જન્મદિવસ કે કોઈ સારા પ્રસંગે એક સારી ભેટ આપવા લાયક પુસ્તક પણ છે. નીચે આપેલી લિંકને અનુસરીને તમારી નકલ મેળવી શકશો. ISBN:978-93-95389-01-3. Creative Prakashan Email:www.creativeprakashan9@gmail.com. Price (ભારતમાં): Rs. 630/- નવા સંસ્કરણના આ પુસ્તક ઉપર ઈન્ટ્રોડક્ટરી ડીસ્કાઉન્ટ હોવાથી માત્ર Rs. 540/ માં આજે જ ઘરબેઠા પ્રાપ્ત કરો. ઓર્ડર કરવાની વિગત- https://creativeprakashan.spayee.com/courses/------63fb1192e4b07965060d7062#description અથવા OR Contact on Phone or visit Personally @ Creative Prakashan, 5- Sukita Apartment, Near Ankur School, Fatehpura, Paldi, Ahmedabad 380007 ફોન સંપર્ક- 9428702794

Kargil, King Mandhata And Pregnant Father Yuvanashva

We just celebrated the Kargil Vijay Diwas on 26th July and recalled the valour, sacrifice and heroics of our soldiers during the eventful days India spent pushing back Pakistani army intruders from the snow covered high peaks of the rugged, inhospitable, harsh terrain of Kargil in 1999. On a flat face of one of the surrounding mountains, Kargil hides a carving of a giant male with a penis and also a womb, complete with an upside-down baby in the foetus position. It unmistakably shows a pregnant male body. There are more than fifty of these gigantic carving in the newly defined UT of Ladakh, including some of them in the Gilgit-Baltistan area occupied by Pakistan. (Ref: British Traveller, Author, Alice Albinia. “Empires of the Indus” 2008, Pages 271, 273) Many years ago I wrote to ASI requesting for details, however there was no response. I needed the information as I am personally connected with the womb-transplant surgeon who possibly surgically assisted the King Yuvanashva to become pregnant and ultimately deliver the child, a future greatest among the kings, The King Mandhata. Coming from the Dallabh Gotra, I happen to come from the lineage of Rishi Dallabh, the surgeon, who possibly conducted that surgery. The importance and greatness of the mighty king Mandhata can be seen even now in the form of a tall mountain named after him, Mount Mandhata, lying near the south bank of the holy lake Manasarovar. If you consider its height as any indication, it is taller than any other mountain in its vicinity, such as Mount Kailash, near the north bank of the holy lake Manasarovar.(Mount Kailash height- 6638m, Mount Mandhata height- 7100m) The holy mountain Kailash, holy lake Manasarovar and the Ravana-fame Rakshasa lake could be easily reachable from Ladakh but for the current situation at LAC and the fact that China has occupied our Aksai Chin, we have no current access to those holy sites from Ladakh. The terrain there is harsh, typically a cold desert. A good motorable road, route G210, exists between the townships of Rutog and Darchen. Both are Chinese Military towns, one, Rutog, is near the border of Aksai Chin and the other, Darchen, is at the base of holy Mount Kailash. From the Aksai Chin-Tibet border, it takes just about 6 hours to cover the distance of about 600 kms between these towns. The stories we read in various available ancient texts tell us that Mandhata had a huge frame, inherited from the DNA of his dad, King Yuvanashva, who too was unusually huge. Yuvanashva’s wife, Queen Gauri, could not sustain the foetus taking massive shape in her womb and succumbed. She died during mid-pregnancy. The foetus however was recovered but needed a big sized recipient. Thus, the father, Yuvanashva became the only alternative and was transplanted in his large abdomen. Boy was subsequently delivered surgically from the abdomen. The story specifically states that the child was “removed from the side of the abdomen”. (The new scientific breakthrough suggests that this impossible looking surgery is done and can be done Ref: Rachael Rettner, livescience.com-health-not-hype, published November 07, 2017, Can Men Get Pregnant? Ectopic-pregnancy healthline.com By KC Clements on July 12, 2023) Another version of the story tells us that the Giant King Yuvanashva, during a deer-hunting trip, became thirsty and entered a cottage, looking for water. He found water in a pot but there was no one to whom he could ask. Being very thirsty, nevertheless he drank that water. He had no inkling that it was specially consecrated water to bless someone else, a childless woman, to become pregnant, resulting in him becoming pregnant. Also there are various stories of Rishi Dallabh curing the childlessness of a holy Sati, Savitri of the Satyavan-Savitry fame. Then there are stories of Dallabh Rishi saving underage Kshatriya Princes and some worthy Kshatriya Kings from the axe of Bhagavan Parshuram by convincing Him using logical arguments. Thus, although this and other versions of stories are variously mentioned, there seems to be only scanty information available which can be called “History” in the modern sense. Under the circumstances, definitive conclusions from these stories being impossible, we can only hypothesise, interpret and speculate based on the latest available tools and knowledge. (Note: Majority of ancient Indian texts are lost. Yuvanashva is estimated to be from an era of 6000 bc. During that long history of thousands of years, natural calamities, foreign invasions, temples/libraries burning, lootings, have happened resulting in loss of many ancient texts. Even from the currently available about 40 million manuscripts, the “National Mission for Manuscripts (NAMAMI), set up in 2003, has listed just 3.5 million manuscripts out of the estimated 40 million in India. “The two-third of these are in Sanskrit and 95 per cent are yet to be translated and are not yet read”- Bibek Debroy Chairman Niti Aayog speech on 27 Dec 2018 at Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla). The intriguing story of Mandhata and the pregnancy of his fathet, the king Yuvanashva is so facinating that a famous author Devdutta Pattanaik also has written a ‘fiction’ book titled “The Pregnant King”, published in 2008. Festival of “Sindhu Darshan” and Ladakh Tourism circuits must include visits to the Giant carving of Yuvanashva on the rock face with appropriate narrative of “Vocal for Local” and Glory of Ancient India narrative celebrating great kings and our medical prowesses since ancient times.(Shri L K Advani introduced the festival of “Sindhu Darshan” and began celebrating in Ladakh on the bank of River Sindhu since the year 2000)

Manipur and other NE States of India

Manipur is in the news these days, for all the wrong reasons. We are told that Diversity is our strength. It is a right statement, but our mainstream society has “Useful idiots” who keep repeating this narrative foolishly. Currently this narrative is breaking us instead of making us. Let’s see how to restate it usefully by altering the emphasis from the word “Diversity” to the word “Unity”. We need to strengthen the factors that can potentially unite us in Manipur and the NE region generally. Arjuna, the archer among the Pandava brothers, was killed in the present day Manipur/Nagaland areas of North-Eastern India, at the hands of a local king Babruvahana*. However he was brought back to life by another North-Eastern Naga Princess Ulupi**. Bhagavan Shri Krishna waged an extremely bloody war with King Banasura*** in NE, the present day Tezpur of Assam state to secure freedom of his grandson Aniruddha and daughter in law Usha from the captivity of Banasur. The war was so bloody that the city came to be known as Tezpur (its ancient name was Sonitpur) The fact that the word ‘Tez’ means blood, in the today’s local language and the word ‘Sonit’ too is blood in the ancient Sanskrit language, is credibly indicative of continuity of the prehistoric ancient narrative, not to mention existence of hundreds other evidences spanning from archaeologist, literary and linguistic evidences joining India’s ancient culture to the NE. These are long and fascinating stories from our ancient literature, but this narration, here, is not about our ancient “Itihasa”, but the sad state of our “unity in diversity” narrative. How come today most of us seem to have forgotten our great connections with North-Eastern India, underpinning the unity throughout the ancient Indian Sanskriti? Although I thought myself to be a well read, well travelled and a nationalist person, even aware of the above stories from what my early childhood reading was, “Sanskritic Unity” was not retained in my conscious memory. For me NE was just Kaziranga Reserve and Maa Kamakhya Temple and nowadays, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The latest being Manipur unrest due to friction between the valley based Hindus and Hill based Christians, the Myanmari Muslim Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslim Refugees, fuelled by missionaries, maulanas,communist leftists and Chinese/European fundings. People gloss over every real issue and keep repeating Meitei and Kuki tribal rivalry over just one, the SC-ST listing. When I recently travelled to NE with my wife, the main objective was to visit a student hostel meant for needy tribal boys in the deep interiors of NE, to stay amongst them, to estimate their needs and to make appropriate donations based on the personally gained authentic experience and information. And if time permits, to also visit famous tourist attractions such as Kaziranga Reserve and the Maa Kamakhya Shakti Peeth. Mission was accomplished. That done, enjoying the lush green NE, its mountains, rivers, forests, waterfalls etc I was planning to return home. However, suddenly, like a lightning bolt it struck me that NE is much more than just a beautiful landscape. That, it was a territory deeply connected to me as an Indian, as a Hindu and that it was truly my Sanskritic extension, my passions and what I think I am living for. I do not get it, how come it was not my first-recall when I planned visiting NE States, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland etc? Was it my education? Unavailability of knowledge? Inaccessibility to travel? Some well thought out conspiracy by adversaries? Or, all of it? Yes, I think all of it played a part in shutting up NE from our thinking and blanking it out from our collective consciousness. Of course, some great patriotic organisations have been doing a great job serving the local population for decades. They seemed to work in complete anonymity as we were hardly noticing their hard work. Recently some openings had begun to open up during the rule of Prime Minister, Late Shri. Atal Bihari Vajapayee when he gave the “Look East” policy, however, to my mind a huge opening up happened when Shri. Narendra Modi rose to become the Prime Minister of India and prioritised NE by “Act East” policy. As Indians, we need to step up bringing NE to the homes of every Indian, be they in Srinagar, New Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai. We have a wonderful precedent in this regard in the shape of “Madhavpura Mela”, The annual fair of Madhavpura. The town Madhavpura is situated in the Porbandar District of Gujarat State. This fair celebrates an immortal love story of Bhagavan Shri Krishna that connects Arunachal Pradesh of NE to Gujarat. Since the time immemorial, devotees, artists, craftsmen, businessmen etc from both states travel to and fro these states every year for this Mela and keeps the connection vibrant, alive and kicking. The North-East India’s Mishmi Tribe from Arunachal Pradesh traces their lineage to the King Bhishmak of Vidarbha. His daughter Princess Rukmini had married to Bhagavan Shri Krishna. As per the authoritative “Itihasa” from the scripture “Harivamsam”, Princess Rukmini had sent a ‘love-letter’ to Bhagvan Shri Krishna expressing her desire to marry Him and that she loved him. Further, were He to fail from rescuing from her impending marriage with King Jarasandha, it would be ‘murder of her true love’. King Jarasandha was a friend of her brother Rukmi and a sworn enemy of Krishna. Neither she nor King, her father Bhishmak, agreed to the wedding to Jarasandha, but Rukmi was too overpowering. Damsel in distress had pleaded for help to a brave Yadu Kshatriya. Can He decline? She had scribbled in the letter, the exact time and place for elopement. unmistakably, ever ready to help those who ask for it, Bhagavan Shri Krishna. arrives at the rendezvous and carries out a daring abduction from under the nose of Rukmi. On His Chariot, He speeds away the princess. As the ancient narrative states, Shri Krishna takes Rukmini as His wife. The wedding takes place near Ghed, a village near Madhavpura town. A Governmental Tourism website*****states following: “Madhavpur Ghed, a small but culturally significant village, is the place where, according to folklore, Lord Krishna married Rukmini, the daughter of King Bhishmaka. Madhavpur lies on the seashore, close to Porbandar. A 15th century Madhavrai temple marks the site. This event is commemorated by a cultural fair held every year, commencing on Rama Navami. A colourful chariot carrying the idol of Lord Krishna circumnavigates the village and the festivities usually continue for five days.” We find the city of King Bhishmaka, the Bhismaknagar, is in the current day Arunachal State, bordering current day China. It is near Roing, a town in the lower Dibang Valley. It is also an archaeological site, hiding many secrets of history. Putting to good use, such precedents of Madhavpura fair, we should invent/reinvent fairs, celebrations, festivities and events to commemorate every small and big common thread that connects the Indian Sanskriti with NE for lasting impact and a firm and credible sense of belonging to “One India''. Enough has been said about the diversities of India, the different languages, religions, cuisines, dresses, dances etc. Let's not thoughtlessly parrot the mantra “Unity in Diversity'' narrative that merely reinforces the diversity factors. Shri Narendra Modi has taken a new initiative on these lines to unite Tamilians to other states of India by beginning cultural fests such as “Kashi-Tamil Sangamam” and “Saurashtra-Tamil Sangamam” Let's do our bid and create similar events at our levels and boost narratives on the factors that unite India. _____________ Brief Narration of relevant “Itihasa” for interested readers. *Babruvahana was a son of Chitragada and Arjun. During the ‘Gupta-Vaas’ segment of Pandavas ‘Vaan-Vaas’, Arjuna had gone to see the Manipur King, Chitravahana. He met the incredible warrior-princess Chitrangada and fell in love. With the blessings of the King, they got married. They had a brave son from this wedlock. His name was Babruvahana. He loved and respected his father but when Pandavas had announced the campaign of Ashwamedha Yagna, they were technically required to challenge every kingdom. Thus Manipuri Kingdom too was challenged by Arjuna despite the adversary King happened to be Arjuna’s son, Babruvahana. Unwilling to fight his own father, Babruvahana felt honour-bound to accept the challenge and save his kingdom. In the battle that ensued, the mighty archer Arjun fell to the assault of brave and well-trained Babruvahana. In keeping with the Matrilineal family tradition, just as other NE girls, Chitrangada too chose to remain in NE, even after her wedding, rather than return with Arjun to Hastinapur and stayed back in Manipur to rule her inherited kingdom. Ulupi** was a princess of Naga King Airavata of the NE region. Her husband was killed by Garuda. She happened to see Arjuna and fell in one-sided love with him. She was so infatuated with him that she kidnapped him and got herself married to him using her mystic powers. They had a son by name Iravan, who had also participated in the Great war of Mahabharata from Pandava’s side. He died in that war. When she came to know that her husband Arjun had died in the battle with Babruvahana of the neighbouring kingdom, she rushes there and with her mystic powers, brings Arjun back to life. She proved to be a very loyal and loving wife. In keeping with the Matrilineal family tradition, just as other NE girls, Ulupi too chose to remain in NE, even after her wedding, rather than return with Arjun to Hastinapur and stayed back in NE to rule her inherited kingdom. . Banasura*** was a king of Sonitpur, a great-grandson of Vishnu-Devotee-King Prahalad. Her daughter, Princess Usha had developed one-sided love with Bhagavan Shri Krishna’s grandson, Aniruddha. With the help of her friend-cum-maid Chitralekha, she kidnaps Aniruddha and gets married to him using mystic powers. They shortly become a loving couple, living on a palace on an island of the River Brahmaputra. When Banasura comes to know of their secret, he becomes angry and imprisons them in the same palace of that island.When the President of Dwarka**** comes to know that his Grandson Aniruddha and Grand daughter-in-law Usha is imprisoned, He sends his army to secure their release and bring them home to Dwarka. The battle is fought on the banks of Brahmaputra river. The war was won but the bloodshed was so horrific that the place and the city built there came to be known as Sonitpur, City of Blood. President of Dwarka**** Bhagwan Krishna was not a King but a President of the Yadav Republic-Vrishni Sangha - do not be surprised when Narendra Modi says that India is Mother of Democracy and do not be surprised when you do not find the suffix “King'' for Bhagavan Krishna in any scripture. Bhagavan Rama was King but Bhagavan Krishna was “Pramukh” of Vrishni Sangha, at best known as Dwarkadhish, but never a king! Madhavpur Mela Website***** https://porbandar.nic.in/madhavpurp1/#

The Gita Press Gorakhpur and The Gandhi Peace Prize

The recent recognition by way of “The Gandhi Peace Prize”, has brought this unique press into popular debate and public interest. It always fills one with a sense of satisfaction having donated to worthy charities and conversely a bit sad if one missed giving. However, on the day when we were returning from a trip to a donation worthy organisation, you might find it strange, but I felt elated and contended not having donated, having returned with an unused cheque book. The worthy organisation, I was returning from was The Gita Press Gorakhpur. I was glad, instead of mailing a cheque, we had thought of meeting them to thank them personally for their contribution to the society and handover the cheque in person. I came back a learned man. The Gita Press does not accept donations. I was awestruck; how come their books are cheap and yet have the best print quality and some books are even with a few full colour pages of pictures painted by great painters. I was even more impressed with the fact they strictly use their own resources to fund The Gita Press. I know the ancient Indian, the Hindu, code of charity, teaches that real charity, what earns you real Punya*, is what is done using one's own resources. Doing charity using crowdfunded resources is not bad as an alternative second best option. Own funding is the purest charity. My wife and I spent a couple hours talking to their manager, other staff members and knowledgeable guides who walk you through their art gallery cum museum. We tried various ways to find how we can donate and or otherwise help. The only way to help them with funding, we understood, was to buy, if we need, from their shops. They strictly depend solely on their own generated funds. Most shops sell only the books published by them. However, there are some, very few, that also sell Ayurvedic medicines/supplements and textiles, including hand crafted textiles at the same price, never more, as specified on the product labels by well known manufactures. Salute to the noble and knowledgeable founders, Shri. Jayadayal Goyandka, Shri Hanuman Prasad Poddar and Shri Ghanshyam Das Jalan, who established this press a century ago, in 1923, for their clarity, their vision and for their service to the mother Sanskriti**. I also appreciate and salute their staff, who struck me as simple, caring, knowledgeable and humble***. When The Gita Press accepted, gracefully, The Gandhi Peace Prize but declined to receive the accompanying Prize money, I was among some of those, who was not surprised. In 2006, my wife and I first visited The Gita Press in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh). The Gita Press was almost an unknown place among the tourists, though thousands of them passed through the town of Gorakhpur on their way to Nepal. Everyone we talked to tried to dissuade us from visiting that town as it had no touristic significance. Leave alone the Gita Press, hardly anyone who ‘mattered’ even had a faint idea of its existence there. A website, in fact, openly stated, and I quote, “Gorakhpur is 230 km north of Varanasi. It is a totally uninteresting city and most people (who want to transit to Nepal) will want to leave it as soon as they arrive”. The Gita Press was certainly invisible, ignored and inconsequential, especially among elites. Books published by them were hardly read, or hardly valued by those elites who prided themselves in scholarships of European literature. They could write thousands of words on Shakespere but knew nothing about Valmiki, Kalidas or Tulasidas. However, millions like us have seen in our homes, for generations, the Bhagavad Gita, several Puranas, Valmiki Ramayan etc produced by The Gita Press Gorakhpur, all of them having good quality, accurate and error free translations and at a very low price. Perhaps, that was the invisible force, we made it to the press on one very hot and moist day of the month of Bhadra, (Aug-Sept period, 2006), not the best time to go out. We should have rested in the hotel room. However, we knew better. We were determined to visit the Gita Press Gorakhpur, if for nothing else, to pay our respect for what we considered their great service to Sanskriti. Now with The Gandhi Peace Prize having been awarded to The Gita Press and with the huge town-development work carried out in Gorakhpur, courtesy the Chief Minister, Yogi Shri Aditya Nath, things have changed for the better since our trip in 2006. Gorakhpur has not yet become a ‘must-go-to’ destination, but it is now certainly attractive enough with many enjoyable tourist and pilgrimage destinations. Besides The Gita Press and the Gorakhnath Mandir, the Gorakhpur town is revered for the fact that Bhagavan Mahavir as well as Bhagavan Gautam Buddha toiled there, Yogi Paramhansa Yogananda of the Kriya Yoga fame (writer of well known book: “Autobiography of a Yogi”) was born there and just a short distance away, at Kushinagar, Bhagavan Buddha breathed his last. Also, the tallest Hindi novelist Munshi Premchand and the saintly poet, Kabirdas, both lived and worked in Gorakhpur****. ______________ *The Indian word ‘Punya’ has no equivalent, perhaps that is why there is no conceptual understanding of this term among westerns. Punya is not just good work. As an example, a good work done with some self promoting intention does not qualify as Punya, but it qualifies as ‘trade’. **Sanskriti is an Indian language word that is not translatable. Readers can assume English words like “Culture” or “Civilization”, but they are not really equivalent words. ***Chp 22 of the book “Kailash, Kathmandu and Kashi: Story of Bhagwan Shiva and Me” http://nmsresolution.blogspot.com/2016/06/22-kailash-kathmandu-kashi-travelogue.html ****Gorakhpur: In general colloquial speech, क्ष, gets pronounced as ख, hence, what should have been Gorakshpur gets to become identified today as Gorakhpur. Other Examples, Lakhan, Lakh Rupees, etc (Some interesting tidbit: Cosmetic brand, “Lakmé'' derives its name from a French play named after a lead character having name “Laxmi'' but mispronounced as Lakhmi and then spelt as Lakmé) ---- ---- ---- ----

Surprising? Record Defence Exports from India

The financial Year 2022-23, witnessed India crossing a key new milestone. Exports worth USD 1.94 Billion (INR 15,918 Crore) of the Defence Equipment and ammunition was the highest ever. This placed India, now in the league of serious manufacturer and supplier nations. However, it should not surprise anyone. India has been an exporter of weapons and defence materials from ancient times. Wootz* swords used by Eurpeans and “Damascus” swords used by Arabs in ancient times were manufactured from Indian steel. Europeans derived the name “Wootz” steel from its Indian names “Urukku” steel or “Uchch” Steel. It is generally not well known, even among Indians, that India was one of the largest suppliers of munitions during the 1st and 2nd World Wars. India had 18 huge ordnance factories, all manned almost entirely by Indian manpower. These plants produced explosives of various different kinds, meant for handguns, machine guns, mortars, cannons, aircrafts, etc. That apart, hundred different things needed by the armies, shoes, sacks, uniforms, tents, etc were too produced in many factories of India. It might be surprising for many that besides the seas around Europe, the German ‘U Boats’ patrolled the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal to locate and hunt down British cargo ships leaving India with the lethal cargo. Don't we know Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose travelled from Europe to Singapore aboard a German submarine? My own aunt, who lived in East Africa, had to travel aboard a British cargo ship, even sleeping on the boxes of explosives, for want of space, from Mumbai to Mombasa during that period. She had narrated to us her ordeal and the chaotic situation on the ship when a couple of times they sounded an alarm at an approaching danger. Currently India has fortified the ordnance production and have increased the number of factories from 18 in 1947 to 41 in 2023. Apart from the defence equipment, India contributed the largest number of soldiers to the British armies in the world wars. It was unfortunate that until Indian PM Narendra Modi made it a point to visit cemeteries and memorials to the fallen Indian soldiers in France, UK, Germany and Israel that India woke up to these historical facts that Indians had contributed big time in European wars and had laid down their lives. Presence of a large number of Indian soldiers in the British army was either purposely hidden or otherwise from history books. However, thanks to the British PM, Rishi Sunak, the world recently awoke to this fact when he blocked sale of a painting depicting Indian soldiers in the British army. The sale was blocked to prevent the painting from being lost to some foreign collections. This painting would now remain in Britain and would thus remain in the British consciousness, helping remind Britain and the world that indeed Indians played a part in winning the war for the Allied armies.

India has recently supplied its Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers, Anti-Tank Missiles, Brahmos missiles, Swathi Radars, Naval Vessels, etc defence materials to about 25 friendly countries of Europe, Asia and Africa. Many orders are in pipeline for supply in coming years. This apart, India is a valued training partner, skilling and training army officers of various countries at their military academies. Gov has restructured the ordnance production by forming 7 PSU units (Public Sector Undertaking) and absorbed those 41 ordnance factories rationally into them. Besides Gov run PSUs many large industrial firms have already entered into Defence production. Indian Gov has projected an export target of USD 5 Billion by 2025 and surely, India seems to be on the correct trajectory. ----- *It is known that Indians processed Iron Ore using furnaces and coal even before 5th Century BCE. They produced high grade “Uchch” or “Wootz” steel by a refining process. Southern Indian smelters were well known for this craft. For the process of refining, the smelters melted steel in a furnace and at appropriate timing added a certain type of plant in appropriate quantity. This plant had additives presumably nickel, silicon, sulphur, carbon etc necessary for converting iron into a high grade steel material. This type of smelting, refining and manufacturing weapons was practised in India till as late as late 17/18th century. However with the advent of the colonial British regime, the steel industry met the same fate as the Indian fine silk and the fine mulmul (muslin) cotton industry.

Unexpected Nightmare for Opposition Parties - A Windfall Advantage for BJP - The “Sengol” and The “Chola Dynasty” Conversation

 When they raked up the controversy over opening the new parliament building, the opposition parties least expected that they would unleash explosive interest in ancient Indian history. Suddenly the Ancient Tamil language word “Sengol” and the Ancient Tamil culture became a part of public discourse in less than 24 hours. Thirst for more knowledge on the Chola Kingdom, the Raj-Dharma, the Sengol (Raj-Danda), the Nandi’s message of Truthfulness, Righteousness, Patience, Peace, Strength, Loyalty to the Nation, and the Spirit of Devoted Service to the Nation, etc has come into conversation. Something that Congress and like-minded parties had not bargained for.

The boycott campaign of the new parliament has backfired. The Indians seem to have become tired of the congress led negativity and as if that shock was not enough, the cabal of about 20 like minded opposition parties were caught denying the history of India’s first Prime Minister Shri Jawaher Lal Nehru holding the sacred Sengol during the transfer of power on the night of 14th August 1947. This news was well covered in the national and International press through reports and photographs.

However, the ultimate cherry on the cake of shame was the discovery, in the museum, of the official label placed on the Sengol. The label introduced the exhibit to the visitors as a “Golden Walking Stick”, gifted to Jawaher Lal Nehru. Imagine, calling a Sengol that was duly consecrated by revered scholarly saints of an ancient temple in Tamilnadu, handed over in an official ceremony, by the last British Viceroy Mountbatten to mark the transfer of power to the first Prime Minister of Independent India, be placed in an obscure provincial museum and be called a “walking stick”. The irony died a hundred death. 

Are the Congress and likeminded cabals embarrassed? Would they acknowledge they erred? Perhaps it is much too much to expect.

Announcing Publication of my new book, “ઊર્મિલાનો મોટો દીકરો એટલે ઊમોદી” published today, March 4th 2023

 My earlier books have been in the English language, but this is my first Gujarati language book with a slight pinch of English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Swahili and Arabic languages.

“ઊર્મિલાનો મોટો દીકરો એટલે ઊમોદી”

Real life true stories covering politics, wars, spying, espionage, food, relationships, history, geography, science, Industries, Voodoo Black Magic, Traditions, Customs, Festivals, languages etc. Literally hundreds of those subjects that are hardly discussed in the literature.  A reader is bound to find this new book not just interesting but the presentation is completely different from usual books. The story is woven around a truly inspiring woman, Urmila who, although an average middle class mother of four children and a jovial wife, was no less than a silent revolutionary in her own right. It gives a lesson or two in how to become a feminist without ‘becoming’ one, and how not to succumb to the 'victimhood' mentality. She was born today in 1933, if she was alive, she would be celebrating her 91st Birthday.

This book is of tremendous value in terms of learning and general knowledge. Therefore, an educational book publisher, Creative Prakashan has published this book. It’s a good read as well as a good gift idea. Please obtain your copy by following the link below or from your neighbourly bookshop. Amazon may take a week or so to upload the details. 

https://creativeprakashan.spayee.com/courses/-----63fb1192e4b07965060d7062#description

ISBN:978-93-95389-01-3. Creative Prakashan Email:www.creativeprakashan9@gmail.com.

Price: $ 15 Rs. 450/- * આજે જ ઘરબેઠા પ્રાપ્ત કરો

My New Book Launch on 4th March

 I am pleased to announce that I would be launching my new book written in Gujarati language on 4th March, 91th Birthday of my mom.