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.

Book Reviw, "Don't Burn This Book" By Dave Rubin

 

As the name suggests, Dave Rubin is afraid that someone may burn his book. It is a well founded apprehension looking at the new culture of intolerance and outrage mongering. Logic is thrown to the wind and replaced by Outrage. Outrage is the newest form of “logic”. Battle of Ideas” has been reduced to “Battle of (not logic, but) Feelings”

We currently live in a time when people from the world of freest societies are afraid to speak up for fear of an outraged-fuelled mob. Where, Left is no longer Liberal. “Progressivism” has traded a love of individual rights for paternalistic, insincere concern for the collective. It judges people based upon their skin color, gender and sexuality, thus imagining them as  competitors in an “Oppression Olympics” in which victimhood is Virtue” This kind of construct can only deconstruct and divide and spawn only jealousy and grievances.

Dave Rubin, A Journalist, Once a sworn Liberal Left, Youtuber, and host of “THE RUBIN REPORT” TV Show. I do not agree with many of views on other matters but definitely not on his analysis that Today’s Liberals are anything but liberal.

There are many things from Dave Rubin’s multifaceted life with which I do not agree, however everything presented in this book is nothing but truth. 

New Book by Jeffrey Armstrong: “The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive”

 Unlike other posts on this blog, this is however not a review of the book,  “The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive”, but a little note from what interested me from an interview of author Jeffrey Armstrong, on Citti Youtube Channel.

That terms, “Bhagavan” is not equal to “God”, that the term “God” in English has come from Sanskrit, “Hutam”, (“Huta”), that “Atom” has come from Sanskrit “Atma” was well explained. And the author has added a long glossary at the end of the translation, explaining many Sanskrit words that were retained in the translation, as they were in Sanskrit. The author, also being English scholar, has well related literary meanings of “spiritual” and “prayer”, that are completely different from what we generally think, using those terms. 

In short, the book promises great read, meaningful, and a true translation, a book, excellent for gifting or recommending to English Language readers.

This link may help readers to Citti Channel on Youtube. https://youtu.be/WAUhhB2-0Pg for interview of author Jeffrey Armstrong. 

What made me write this small note, was that, perhaps, it resonated with my attempt many years ago, when I retained terms such as Yagna, Bhagavan, Tyaag, Tapasya, Dharma, Punya etc while attaching a translation of the Bhagavad Gita in my book, “The Bhagavad Gita and Hinduism, What everyone should know”. I am not sure, but perhaps, that book, at that time, was the only book of its kind that retained Sanskrit non-translatables.

Bhagvan is Bhag+Van, who possesses Bhag (भग). What is Bhag? Bhag are: 1- Beauty, 2 - Wealth, 3 - Strength, 4 - Fame, 5 - Knowledge and 6 - Generosity. Possessor of all 6 Bhagas in infinite quantity is Bhagwan. God is different. God came to English from Gut (Dutch). Gut came from Guta (German) and Guta came from Huta (Sanskrit).