My Op-Ed in Pioneer: Preserving National Identity
Friday, 23. January 2009 - 12:12 PM
This was published today in the Pioneer. Comments/criticism welcome as always.
Preserving national identity
As long as the Indian collective consciousness preserved the primacy of Vedic national unity, India could be invaded but not broken. And it is to this that we must return to keep India united
Last week, two seemingly unconnected articles appeared about India. They were unconnected in time but unified by theme. Rajiv Malhotra’s “We, the nation(s) of India†in Tehelka (17 January) was a dispassionate analysis of the dangers today’s India faces mostly from within but powerfully abetted by fissiparous forces from outside. The Belgian scholar, Koenraad Elst’s review of Shrikant Talageri’s latest book Rigveda and the Avesta: Final Evidence refocuses on one of the defining periods of pre-ancient India, which is still the subject of much controversy in Indological studies worldwide, and which has far-reaching effects both today and in future.
Rajiv Malhotra’s piece identifies the extent of divisiveness that, if left unchecked, will splinter India sooner than later. He calls into evidence an array of internal and external factors contributing to this phenomenon from such diverse fields as academia, media, white supremacy, pop Hindu gurus, history, politics, sports, and Bollywood. He concludes that today’s urgent need is for the ‘Indian genius’ to “improvise, innovate, and create a national identity worthy of its name.â€
In other words, to wage a long, aggressive, and decisive battle to rediscover what India has lost. To abandon Jawaharlal Nehru’s ill-understood Discovery of India in favour of a true Rediscovery of India. To study why Alexander’s invasion was akin to an ant-bite to India but why India suffered massive casualties on all fronts at the hands of successive Muslim marauders. To that end, Shrikant Talageri’s book must be made mandatory reading to all Indians with the national interest at heart.
A polyglot, poet, scholar, a fierce proponent of Sanatana Dharma, and a warm friend, Shatavadhani R Ganesh terms Rig Vedic India as the ‘most romantic period’ in the entire history of this nation. A cursory reading of the literature about that period shows us that it was a very ‘happening’ era — from sweeping natural changes to revolutionary inventions in metallurgy, politics, town-planning to intense philosophical speculation, the India of 5,000-plus years past was an exciting time to live in. Most significantly, it was the womb that nurtured the defining seed of an entire civilisation and way of life sustained till today. That despite continual natural threats — of rivers drying up, of cattle dying and other unforeseen natural disasters — Rig Vedic India was able to produce such masterpieces of philosophy as the Nasadiya Sukta is verily a wonder.
All things were equal as long as the natives accepted the Aryan Invasion Theory. In a line, the AIT negates all achievements of ‘native’ Indians using the following concocted narrative: The 5,000-year-old Indian history is one unbroken tale of alien invasions, and thus, the credit for all achievements doesn’t really belong to them. In a stroke, this provided the logical premise for the imbecilic grand conclusion that India was never a nation. Our early home-grown Communists zealously championed this ‘theory’ for several decades.
However, it is now part of academic history that each new scholarly investigation in this area drawn from different disciplines — archeology, linguistics, and maritime studies — was an additional nail added to the coffin of the spurious AIT.
As Elst shows, Talageri’s new book draws evidence directly from the internal chronology of the Rig Veda. But Talageri’s masterstroke lies in paying the AIT proponents back in their own coin. He uses about two centuries’ worth of AIT scholarship and reaches precisely the opposite conclusion: No Aryans migrated into India. To quote Elst, “Talageri compares the contents of the oldest layer… books six, three and seven; of the middle layer, books two and four; and the youngest layer, comprising books one, five, eight, nine and 10. Covering every verse… and comparing the three periods, he finds a shifting focus in the names of animals, plants, rivers, landscape features, technology, ancestors, ethnic groups, and in personal name types and verse forms… the old layer was indubitably composed in the Yamuna/Saraswati region, which was to remain the centre of gravity of Vedic culture; the middle layer’s horizon expands westwards as far as the Indus; while the youngest parts are also familiar with Afghanistan. This is exactly the opposite of what the AIT predicts.â€
This is where Indians need to trace their ‘national identity’ to. This also demolishes the dubious ‘Dravidian identity’ thereby razing the paper-thin foundation of Karunanidhi’s brand of politics. As long as the Indian collective consciousness preserved the primacy of this Vedic national unity, India could be invaded but not broken. And it is to what we must return to reunify India.
Tags: Aryan Invasion Theory, Hinduism, My Op-Ed in Pioneer, Pioneer, Preserving National Identity, Rajiv Malhotra, Rg Veda, Rg Vedic India, Sanatana Dharma
23. January 2009 - 5:54 PM
As long as the Indian collective consciousness preserved the primacy of this Vedic national unity, India could be invaded but not broken.
Nation-making is a historical process, springing from an inherent spirit of commonness and shared identity. For nations as ancient as that of Hindus, it necessitates the integration of numerous cycles of divergence and convergence over the historical horizon, while at the same time retaining the central thread, the essence of the continuum of the civilization. It also involves assimilation of multiple ideas and their followers springing from independent thoughts although rooted in a shared experience.
You propose that this central civilizational continuum, historically for the Hindu Nation, is the veda-s and nothing but the veda-s, and that it is the veda-s and nothing but the veda-s which define the origin and the progress and the continuity of the Hindu nationhood.
So, Sandeep, the discredited AIT not withstanding, did all the Indic groups participate in the evolution and acceptance of the veda-s? Was there no Indic group that chose to remain outside the development and progress of this vedic ideology, while developing their own parallel and independent ideologies? If there were such non-Vedic, although equally indegenous groups, then are those groups and their descendants stand naturally excluded from the stream of the shared Hindu civilization, in your proposal when you conclude, “it is to what we must return to reunify India”?
23. January 2009 - 8:43 PM
Hi,
I think that the Vedic sacrifice was more responsible for the creation of a national consciousness. The complicated and grand sacrifices often impressed many kings from other regions who invited Brahmanas to their own region and encouraged them.
Since the Brahmanas were well organized as a priesthood, they quickly grasped local traditions and started contributing to them. This resulted in a considerable give and take enriching both parties concerned. For example, ahimsa and murti puja are largely derived from Jainism, though some of the Upanishads also recommend non violence.
Our national identity was primarily founded on the shrauta and smarta beliefs and practices of the Brahmanas who inhabited each region and were often migrating from place to place. This construct was accepted and identified with by people of most regions of the country. It includes ideas such as the eternality of the vedas, the brahma-vishnu shiva trimurti concept, Bhakti (as in the pauranic legends) etc.The critical part is that the acceptance of these ideas was not enforced but they just “seeped” into the masses over time(primarily through the efforts of the Bhakti saints). Many different philosophies and beliefs were also accommodated thus providing everyone with an option.
I am afraid that the vedas may not be able to provide all Hindus with basis for an identity as they are primarily mantras/hymns to the gods. The quest to find a “Vedic” identity for ALL Hindus in my opinion is misguided. Before trying to forge a national identity, there are some things I feel will help us endure the assaults of the Semitics:
1) Release of all temples from governmental control
2) If possible, turn them into the educational-cultural centers they once were, in addition to acting as spiritual guides for Hindus.
3) Constitute a secret war-chest in order to neutralize any immediate emergencies Hindus may face.
23. January 2009 - 10:10 PM
Sandeep,
Good Article.
Few points-
Did the Vedic age accept national boundaries?
Were there nation states at that time?
Vedas propagated ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ – The universe is family.
That is really the essence of the Vedas as far as world is considered.
Our nation can derive inspiration from the Vedas, so can Israel, America and Brazil. i.e, any nation can derive inspiration from the Vedas.
Similarly, any person can derive inspiration from Vedic teaching on Life, Truth, Reality, Perception, Comprehension.
David Bohm, in his book ‘ Wholeness and the Implicate Order’ advocate a similar unified outlook to life. A fragmented reality of the world is the cause of conflict.
Every part has the Whole in it like a Hologram.
This is similar to Advaita Veda’s- ‘Aham Brahmasmi’.
When the Vedic sage said Aham Brahmasmi, He realized himself to be everything in the universe. This is the inclusive philosophy of the Vedas.
Sarvesh, I guess this automatically answers your query.
It would be appropriate to say- “As long as the human collective consciousness preserved the primacy of universal oneness as described in the Vedas, mankind will prosper to unimagined heights, similar to the Ancient India that was rich beyond compare”.
23. January 2009 - 10:22 PM
As long as Indians are mired in their own past, they cannot accept that future is their’s. It is like a relationship. As long as one doesn’t get over a past relationship, one cannot begin one anew.
India has a huge responsibility on its shoulders to lead the world into the 21st and 22nd centuries : in space research, nuclear science, computing science and robotics, genetic engineering, cellular biology and what not.
This is not the time to bicker about what has been written in the Vedas and where did the Aryans arise. It is the time to redefine human identity itself, in Indian terms.
23. January 2009 - 10:36 PM
Agree with chenchu that the Vedas are not suitable to froge national identity or even a Hindu identity. For that would be trying to appropriate a universal panoramic worldview into one window.
Besides, national identities are fast losing significance in this age.
Most people nowadays work outside their state or country of origin. Anything that happens in one part of the world immediately affects the other parts. Especially Dow Jones and Nasdaq!
Mankind has broken free of national boundaries though the realisation is yet to sink in.
Also concur with the suggestion
1) Release of all temples from governmental control
2) If possible, turn them into the educational-cultural centers they once were, in addition to acting as spiritual guides for Hindus.
But as to the question whether Indians/mankind will re-accept the universal philosophy of Vedas, the answer is – not likely.
Everything, I suppose has its place and time.
The time for prevalence of Brahma jnanam is perhaps over.
The time for prevalence of the national identities are also perhaps over.
This may be the time for prevalence of business and financial ideas- the Vysya mentality.
23. January 2009 - 11:48 PM
I am not sure if the Vedic past included lessons in building national identity – the concept of the nation state itself is fairly new (traceable to the treaty of Westphalia). Of course, this does not mean that India’s case of nationhood is any less than the others (or unnatural as Ramchandra Guha says). Girilal Jain said this too – that the universalist, Hindu temper cannot reconcile itself with the concept of a nation state (which is an exclusionary principle – it exalts those within the charmed circle of a nation and does not exalt those outside the charmed circle). Rajiv Malhotra and his ilk see the organizing principle as nation states and feel that India is about to be undone. That may not be so. India will be undone by poor governance, which is not the same thing as lack of unified political identity.
The “identity project” though is worth taking up and analysing. These many other identities that Malhotra mentions – propogate and strengthen themselves via a unique relationship with the state i.e. through a vote bank. The simple solution to our “identity” problems is consolidation of a Hindu vote bank. This would make power equations within the country very clear and allow for the absorption of other identities is a larger Hindu identity. This would be entirely democratic and peaceful.
24. January 2009 - 8:15 AM
@Incognito: Vedas propagated ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ – The universe is family. That is really the essence of the Vedas as far as world is considered.
Incognito, veda-s did NOT propogate vasudhaiva kuTumbakam, nor does the said shloka really mean what is commonly understood. In general, surprising as it might seem to you, saMskR^ita sources (not veda) that presented the vasudhaiva kuTumbakam are actually warning AGAINST the tendency of such brotherhood-preaching!!
My research on the subject of where vasudhaiva kuTumbakam came from and what the ancient Hindus meant by it:
1. VK in hitopadesha: http://bharatendu.com/2008/08/30/the-hoax-called-vasudhaiva-kutumbakam-1
2. VK in pa~nchatantra & by chANakya: http://bharatendu.com/2008/09/12/the-hoax-called-vasudhaiva-kutumbakam-2/
3. VK in Vikramacharita, Poetics and Upanishada
http://bharatendu.com/2008/09/26/the-hoax-called-vasudhaiva-kutumbakam-3/
24. January 2009 - 8:44 PM
summary fo the article
bla bla bla , we are the victims…
losers, just accept the fact that it is an evolution, india has lost its relevance. A civilization is not destroyed from without until it is destroyed from within. You can place all the blame you want on AIT or british or muslims, but the truth is why didnt hindus defend the country?
The way you wanted to paint it it seems that there was a great civilization and invaders came when everyone was asleep. But doesnt that mean civilization was weak and was overrun by a stronger one? Even now indians are happy that slumdog went to oscars, they still want white mans recognition. Just accept the fact that time of india is over. Tamilnadu will seperate tommorow if given an opportunity, so will bengal and kerala, northeast. Core few states wil remain thats all.
The future is of a more fundamentalist religion.
Before all you right wing guys start attacking my comments , answer why india was screwed upby invaders for past thousand years or so, why didnt it defend itself
25. January 2009 - 12:38 AM
“Before all you right wing guys start attacking my comments , answer why india was screwed upby invaders for past thousand years or so, why didnt it defend itself”
Are you smoking something? We are victorious because we are still Hindus. People who got defeated coverted or died — persia, egypt, pakistan, bangladesh, syria. Even the Celts and Red Indians converted or were killed.
We are older than them but still around. We are the only one still wearing our foreskins. As Iqbal said: “Islam’s boat sailed from Mecca, traveller through Iran and Afghanistan but drowned in the Ganges.” Stop smoking chillum. Hindus will remain victorious as long as they remain Hindus. I don’t know how many invaders came and went, but we are still around. We are still chanting slokas written six thousand years ago. And we are still a billion strong. So take your taunts elswhere to the jokers who lost their foreskins or who worship a corpse that came alive.
25. January 2009 - 1:07 AM
Okay lets assume i was smoking,
I guess you took the movie “Defiance” too seriously
“We are victorious because we are still Hindus”, similar to the line i saw in the trailer when daniel craig says “living is our revenge” or something like that yada yada
Ya you are still chanting shlokas, well complete the chanting asap because the end is near.
I remember some concept called akhand bharat, now many parts are gone (remember afghanistan and pakistan were partof india), i wonder how you call that an victory.
25. January 2009 - 1:09 AM
“So take your taunts elswhere to the jokers who lost their foreskins or who worship a corpse that came alive.”
Okay before taunting other religious beliefs let me remind you that hindus are the phallus worshippers (no disrespect here, but just be careful of what you say about other religions)
25. January 2009 - 1:17 AM
Trivia
A chillum, or chilam, is a pipe used by “”Indian Sadhu holy men”"”
25. January 2009 - 2:48 AM
Link for the article please.
25. January 2009 - 3:04 AM
‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ is mentioned in Maha Upanishad.
It describes the world view of a Brahmana.
25. January 2009 - 1:42 PM
“hindus are the phallus worshippers”
That Shiva Linga is a “phallus” is a myth spread by missionaries. The Hindu spiritual literature describes it as representing a shaft of light that descended from heavens. I challenge you to show me a single mention in Hindu scriptures that claims Shiva Linga is a phallus. Get some education and stop vomiting missionary crap here.
25. January 2009 - 1:48 PM
“i wonder how you call that an victory.”
Ummm… a billion people holding on to land that still amounts to 6th largest country in the world and still clutching on to their culture of six thousand years ago, despite the genocides of religion of peace and religion of love … yeah I would call that a victory. Keep dreaming about your heaven of sexual orgies with 72 houris…
25. January 2009 - 1:50 PM
“the end is near”
Yeah. We greatly fear those bedouins rushing here sitting on their goats and camels …
25. January 2009 - 4:14 PM
“hindus are the phallus worshippersâ€
Then muzlims too are phallus worshippers since Kaaba is sacred to them and inside it is the shivling. Cross too started out as a symbol of fertility and is now regarded as a phallic symbol although looks more like a limp d*ck & balls. Read up on why bible humpin’ Jehovah’s Witnesses reject cross as a symbol of xtianism (Hint: ’twas a pre-christian pagan fertility symbol usurped by xtians)
25. January 2009 - 8:38 PM
well it is a very easy argument for you , everything sensible attribute it to india, all the things not rational attribute it to xtian missionaries and muslim invaders.
“We greatly fear those bedouins rushing here sitting on their goats and camels”
learn about the islamic golden age in spain.
Or as a matter of fact look at all the modern(after renaissance) scientific achievements, i guess according to you they happened
in india but were stolen by xtian missionaries to europe right!!
Again my question if the culture was so great they why was it screwed(as you claim) over and over by others, All the new economy which india claims is a gift from IT revolution and innovations made in West not in india.
26. January 2009 - 12:01 AM
@n, with all due respect
Trying to step into Zohail’s shoes? Good luck.
26. January 2009 - 12:23 AM
“islamic golden age in spain….”
Let’s apply your logic to the above statement shall we? For someone who insists on berating and pitying those who still believe that the Hindu and Vedic culture still exists and thrives, you have no qualms still bleating about islam’s golden age?
Bhaktiyar Khilji may have destroyed and completely gutted the Nalanda univerity with his blood-thirsty army and the gentle monks had no defence against such barbarians. And yet today, a consorium of nations including India, Japan, Korea, and Sri Lanka are trying to revive and rebuild a university at the same site. No one other than the “strong” civilization of Islamists from the Middle East wants to revive the horror of the Mughals. I’m sure if given half a chance, you would have no qualms about killing defenceless creatures and claim that since they were weak, they don’t deserve to live? The only thing I can say to defeatists and remorseless people like you is that you’re only defeated when you surrender your mind, not your body.
26. January 2009 - 12:53 AM
“Or as a matter of fact look at all the modern(after renaissance) scientific achievements, i guess according to you they happened in india but were stolen by xtian missionaries to europe right!!”
Exactly. Even calculus was lifted by missionaries from a college in Kerala and taken to Europe in 1570. Here is C.K. Raju’s original research:
http://www.indianscience.org/essays/31-%20E–Infinitesimal%20Calculus.PDF
While at it, do you know why the Arabs call modern numerals as “Hindu numerals”? (Google it.)
And as for the famed “scientific discoveries” of Arabs, they were nothing but a result of translating Sanskrit texts into Arabic when they had captured Sindh. These Arab “discoveries” ran for two hundred years as long as the stock of Sanskrit manuscripts lasted. When they ran out of these manuscripts, the “discoveries” abruptly ended too. Err.. how many scientific acheivements have been credited to Muslims in the last one thousand years?
Buzz off before I take your pants off. All your golden age is nothing but loot and plunder of non-Muslim lands. Far from being men of learning, Muslims have been notorious for torching libraries, from Alexandria to Nalanda. This is based on the dictum: “If a knowledge is in confirmity with Koran, it is superfluous. If it is not in confirmity with Koran, it is evil and has to be destroyed.” Men of letters indeed!!
26. January 2009 - 4:58 AM
I respect Talageri. I have read his earlier “Rigveda:A historical analysis”, and I was profoundly influenced by it. But many people, including Shatavadhani Dr.Ganesh openly disagree (it seems he agrees more with David Frawley) with the dating scheme of Rigvedic mandalas used by Talageri.
Brahmasri Narendra Kapre, one of the few and foremost exponents of Rigveda (and a personal contact of Dr.Ganesh) also feels that such research on Rigveda doesnt give much insight on earlier vedic history because it was based on the assumptions that
1) the language of sanskrit changed over time,
2) the events mentioned in rigveda are taken in literal sense.
I hope a meeting of these greats might give us some insight on what exactly needs to be done to resolve this impasse.
And coming to the point of using vedas for national integration, its a good thought. But methinks, sanatana dharma has evolved for our own good. If it is the way it is today, it is perhaps because that is what helps it to sustain itself for posterity. Nevertheless, I do agree that right now, Sanatana dharma is just sustaining itself– not exactly super-healthy.
However, the turnaround needs a whole generation of Indians to be brought up in an atmosphere of vedic ideals where the power of penance and renunciation of the rishis, the shining valour of the kshatriyas, the fearless vogayes of seafaring vaishyas (shreshtis), and the untiring will of the kshudras will motor eour nation to its earlier greatness– An atmosphere where every varna feels equally needed, feels proud of itself, and contributes to the economic, military, and spiritual growth of the nation.
26. January 2009 - 6:30 AM
@ AK and sanjay
” For someone who insists on berating and pitying those who still believe that the Hindu and Vedic culture still exists and thrives, you have no qualms still bleating about islam’s golden age”
Agreed point well taken, the current golden age is happening in dubai btw.
Now coming back, even a leader of indian state with about 60 million population (Karunanidhi) doesn’t respect hindu religion/ civilization, leave aside northeast and communist. I am still amazed you call it a victory, i think you will keep calling a victory untill the last hindoo bites the dust.
Again my question why couldnt india defend itself, my answer simply becuase hindoos didnt belive anymore in the concept of india, they were satisfied looking at temples of khajuraho, similar to roman civilization, just that in case of india some remnants remained. The idea has long lost its relvance
I wont even go into the dravidian concept etc which they claim to be older than hindu civilization(tamil older than sanskrit etc)
26. January 2009 - 9:43 AM
>Agreed point well taken, the current golden age is happening in dubai btw.
Funny you should mention Dubai. Their core industry is tourism that caters mostly to Western countries. They seem to have realized that without oil this is their next best bet for survival. More importantly the Dubai society is a liberal one which does not conform to Islamist ideals. They have casinos, brothels, bars, discos; everything that would invite the wrath of the Mullahs? And without any scientific, educational, cultural advancement, it’s dishonest to claim a golden age!
>Now coming back, even a leader of indian state with about 60 million population (Karunanidhi) doesn’t respect hindu religion/ civilization, leave aside northeast and communist. I am still amazed you call it a victory, i think you will keep calling a victory untill the last hindoo bites the dust.
Coming back to where? You seem incapable of understanding the simple fact that despite 100s of years of Mooslim invasions, the ancient Indian culture, the vedic ideals are still revered by millions of Indians in an unbroken trend?
What’s Karunanidhi got to do with it? His views are his own and not that of the entire population of Tamil Nadu. It’s only proof that we are a tolerant society. You seem to revel in mistaking decency for weakness?
Your last statement almost borders on hate speech and I request Sandeep to keep an eye on your posts. It’s reprehensible that you wish for every last Hindu to bite the dust.
> Again my question why couldnt india defend itself, my answer simply becuase hindoos didnt belive anymore in the concept of india, they were satisfied looking at temples of khajuraho, similar to roman civilization, just that in case of india some remnants remained. The idea has long lost its relvance
I don’t understand what you’re blabbering about. Romans, Khajuraho, India… what?? I suppose you know how to use Google? Use it and conduct some research about Indian culture and history and the countless temples where millions of Indians still go to pray. Then form an informed and a coherent argument.
> I wont even go into the dravidian concept etc which they claim to be older than hindu civilization(tamil older than sanskrit etc)
Yes, you’re wise not to go there. The Aryan Invasion Theory has been soundly thrashed by prominent historians as utter crock. Again, a simple Google search will lead you to many sources. But I’m guessing, you’re either living in serious denial of the truth, or that you maliciously intend to perpetrate lies and half-truths. Which is it?
26. January 2009 - 10:53 AM
Conmrade Jai Nzohail Aikath,
>>The future is of a more fundamentalist religion.
Tell me more about this interesting crystal gazing of yours.
Despite killing 80 million people, communism could hold sway for
just half a century, so can the future be of communism?
If you want to talk about weighty subjects like the Fate of Civilizations, your opinion must be informed by logic and reason, not a dogmatic belief in fools like Chomsky and entertainers like A Roy.
26. January 2009 - 1:48 PM
please listen to this short audio clip:
http://soundcloud.com/yadbhavishya/bhaarat-kya-hai
26. January 2009 - 5:24 PM
Seems finally my hindoo brethren have woken up,
News:
Not sorry for pub attack, Ram Sena justifies it.
looks like the future indeed is of a more fundamentalist religion!!