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Agniveer® is serving Dharma since 2008. This initiative is NO WAY associated with the defence forces scheme launched by Indian Govt in 2022

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Will your Resume get you dream job? 2

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Career

There are two more important corollaries to understand:

Corollary 1: Attention span of your target audience is limited.

Understand that a typical recruiter would scan through dozens of resumes to shortlist a few and then call them for interview. The more prestigious the job, lesser the proportion of resumes eventually shortlisted. Also the people who shortlist you are busy fellows. They are in most cases NOT likely to read your resume in detail. They would briefly scan through, see if something is worth catching attention, and make a quick decision.

A typical recruiter spends between 5 to 8 seconds on each resume in first glance.

If those 5 to 8 seconds reveal something interesting, he spends around 20 to 30 seconds on the resume to make his decision. If this ignites his interest further, you are ready to move to next level of recruitment – typically interviewing.

So here is the strategy:

1. Make sure that there is some stuff on the first page that attracts attention and can be easily understood within 5 to 8 seconds in a manner that the recruiter is interested in your profile.

Now note that typically a recruiter would read your resume from top to bottom. (I read differently though and would share the secret sometime later!)

So there should be something compelling in first quarter page of the resume or half page (in case of a different layout scheme) that is interesting for the recruiter. It should be brief so that it is understood within 5 to 8 seconds. And it should be enough to titillate his mind for further probing in your resume.

Also note that the recruiter does not know which part of the resume contains that titillating information. You will have to design your resume in such a format that he or she is automatically guided towards what you want him to focus upon.

This further means that any junk information that you may be putting at beginning of resume should be brutally removed.

For purpose of this brutality, whatever does not create interest within 5 to 8 seconds is junk. If you are too possessive for any of this junk, put that in some other part of the resume. (People tend to get too possessive about whatever they have invested a lot of time to create or nurture. This mindset is the reason why we have so many problems in the world. We tend to consider every thing that we have thought too much about as our own baby.)

More we think, more dearer the baby. To protect this baby, an Osama will crash planes, a Hitler will perform genocide, friends will fight, hungerstrikes will be undertaken and resumes will be spoilt!

2. Now having attracted his initial attraction, put sufficient material and ‘sufficiently interesting’ material to keep him enjoying your resume in next 20 to 30 seconds.

Compel him to spend more than average time on your resume. Smoothly glide him from initial attraction-pointers to further details that keep him enthused. This is where advertising through resume diverges away from typical advertising.

Typical advertisings – banners, posters etc – aim to attract you only momentarily. So they have no obligation of sustaining your interest after the first few seconds. They aim to make you think illogically. That is why you will see so many vulgar ads – a scantily clad girl holding a plywood and other bogus stuff.

But similar approach would not typically work in professional recruitment. Here people are mentally prepared to think logically and hence mere first 5-8 seconds of excitement followed by a dud is going to take you nowhere in most cases.

So you have to do two things:

a. Each attraction point you created to attract the first 5-8 seconds of recruiter should be followed by more interesting stuff.

b. Further interesting stuff should be dispersed across the entire resume to keep him enthused throughout his quick scan of the entire resume.

A metaphor would be to do following:

a. Assess if the resume attracts attention in first 5-8 seconds.

b. If above is yes, does it sustain that interest in next 20-30 seconds so that the recruiter is motivated enough to read the resume in detail now?

While the second might be tough, you can give yourself a probable score. To conduct this exercise, you can take help of your friends or mentors. Ask them to let them know if the resume was interesting enough for them, and if yes, what attracted them. And then compare with what you wanted them to be attracted with. Also master the art of unbiased self-observation without being emotionally attached with your thought-baby! If this be mastered, you will master the whole world – wise have said.

Corollary 2: Write resume for the recruiter and not for the job

Often people write very impressive resumes that are perfect fit for the job. But the recruiter is unable to understand the jargon much and hence the efforts go waste.

Keep in mind that your goal of writing the resume is to impress the recruiter and not necessarily prove your fitment to job in an absolute sense. Some amount of jargon may create impression of your being a geek, but most resumes tend to overdo it creating a perception that if we recruit such a person, we would be speaking in English and he would be replying in Mandarin!

So do assess the typical profile(s) of your recruiter. If its an entry level job, don’t write stuff to impress a Chairman to make you the CEO of the company. If you are planning a shift in job profile, avoid jargons from previous industry that outsiders cannot comprehend.

Designations

The designations vary from industry to industry and company to company. In some companies, even a new recruit is made Assistant Vice President. For example in companies which sell products to HNI (High Networth Individuals). In other companies, even an Assistant Manager is a fairly senior position. So unless you have an impressive designation, better title the functional role rather than give actual designation. For example, instead of putting designation as ”Assistant Secretary” make it ” Administration Management” and put the points of achievements. In other words, focus on skills rather than designations if designations are not appropriate.

Further, as Graham Greene states the first of his 48 Laws of Power, Never Outshine the Master. Don’t write a resume that makes your recruiter think that rather you should be interviewing him! This is a generic advise for corporate world. Unless you have a bigger master taking your responsibility in the corporate jungle, never outshine your existing master. And know that no lion is trustworthy in this safari. So for rookies, this law is fairly universal.

If you have properly understood the key principle and corollaries behind the art of resume building, the value that your next resume can bring to you has already increased several times! In further parts of the book, we shall apply this wisdom in various aspects of resume building.

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Learn Sanskrit Month 11

Eleventh installment of the course.

Routine reiteration:

a. Do not get too bogged down by grammar and usage while you learn Sanskrit. Often Sanskrit is considered to be all about mugging up lots of declensions and conjugations and this fears off most students. Instead take is as a natural language. Feel free to make the most blatant grammatical errors so far you are able to convey your message. Develop a feel for the language instead of thinking about grammar.

How did we learn Hindi or English or our mother tongue? Did we learn grammar first or language first? And do we speak these languages in a grammatically correct fashion even today? Why burden Sanskrit with overdose of grammar in very beginning then?

Simply start talking on every other thing in Sanskrit and enjoy the funny pronunciations you make or blatant errors you make in grammar. Have a laugh on that and simply continue. Soon you will develop a natural grip over the language and grammar will be automatically taken care of.

b. Try using Sanskrit words even in your mother language. After all Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Let the children associate with their Mom and have their foundations strengthened! And in process, your road to mastery of Sanskrit will also be traversed faster.

c. Download a copy of Introduction to Vedas (Hindi) from http://agniveer.com/2045/introduction-to-vedas/ if you know Hindi. This is an amazing text not only to understand Vedic concepts but learn Sanskrit naturally. Because most sections of the book are presented in very simple Sanskrit as well as Hindi. In some sections there are deviations in Sanskrit and Hindi message and it would be a good idea to explore those areas and form the right opinion!

Download: Sanskrut Lesson 48 to 50 – Month 11

For supplements, download from http://www.chitrapurmath.net/sanskrit/supplements_rev.asp

Source of Lessons – Sri Chitrapur Math http://chitrapurmath.net

The 4 Vedas Complete (English)
The 4 Vedas Complete (English)
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Indian Muslims – Story of Enslavement

In the previous chapter, we discussed how butchers from Arab and Central Asia invaded India, killed and converted Hindu ancestors of today’s Muslims to Islam. In this chapter, we will show from Islamic sources the circumstances in which Hindu forefathers of subcontinent Muslims had to become slaves of Muslims first and then ultimately Muslims at the end.

Slavery – a key component of the Islamic invasions

Slavery formed a key component of the Islamic invasions to India. It is one thing for combatants to be killed on the battlefield or being taken as a prisoner of war. But slavery, during Islamic invasions to India, entered the arena of cities, towns, and villages that were sacked by the invading Islamic armies. The enslaved men/women/children had to embrace Islam. However, embracing Islam did not give them guarantee to freedom. These people ended up in slave markets in Arab lands, where they were purchased for a price. This price was another source to fill the coffers of the Islamic invaders.

Accounts of Muslim Historians on the slavery

Here is what is recorded in Farishtah (when Aibak sacked Kalinjar in 1202): “Fifty thousand kaniz va Ghulam, having suffered slavery, were rewarded with the honor of Islam.”

“The Sultan never ceases to show the greatest zeal in making war upon infidels… Every day thousands of slaves are sold at a very low price, so great is the number of prisoners.”

[Masalik-ul-Absar:
Arab accounts of India under Muhammad Tughlaq]

“At (one) time there arrived in Delhi some female infidel captives, ten of whom the Vazir sent to me. I gave one of them to the man who had brought them to me, but he was not satisfied. My companion took three young girls, and I do not know what happened to the rest.”

[Records of traveler and Historian, Ibn Battutah]

“During the celebration of Id in the court of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, daughters of Hindu Rajas and those of commoners, captured during the course of the year were distributed among nobles (?), officers and important visitors from Arabia. On the fourth day, men-slaves are married and on the fifth slave-girls. On the sixth day, men and women slaves are married off.”

[Records of traveler and Historian, Ibn Battutah]

Slave taking by Islamic kings was a passionate act. And two Islamic invaders stand head and shoulders above the rest in this passion for slave taking.

“Timur Lane enslaved almost 100,000 people and of course we all know what happened to these slaves by the time Timur Lane went home.”

[Mulfuzat-i-Timuri:
Autobiographical memoirs of the Timur]

And the other passionate slave taker happens to be Mahmud Ghaznavi.

“Slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap, and men of respectability in their native land (India) were degraded by becoming slaves of common shopkeepers (in Ghazni).”

[Records of Utbi, Secretary of Mahmud Ghaznavi, when Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked Punjab in 1014]

Similarly, it is recorded in Farishtah (the year 1015 now):

“The Muhammadan army brought to Ghazni 200,000 captives so that the capital appeared like an Indian city, for every soldier of the army had several slaves and slave girls.”

Can we imagine, a normal free Hindu ending up as a slave in a Godforsaken place like Ghazni? Slavery was a systematic enterprise in the Islamic scheme of things.

“There are two trade-marts on the land-route between Hindustan and Khurasan; one is Kabul, the other, Qandhar. (Route to Kabul was from Lahore to Qandhar from Multan)… Down to Kabul every year …from Hindustan, come every year caravans… bringing slaves (barda)”

[Babur, Babur-Nama: Memoirs of Babur]

Sex slavery – special interest of Islamic invaders

Now we move to the topic of sex slavery during Islamic invasions to India. The special interest of Islamic invaders in sex slavery was universal and widespread, and a plethora of evidence is available in contemporary Persian chronicles. In fact, Muslim historians derive extra delight in narrating anecdotes and stating facts about Muslim indulgence in sex and allied activities. But here is an incident that illuminates the way enslaved women were bounced around in the household of Islamic invaders.

Plight of slave women – Gujarat just one example

Deval Devi was the daughter of Raja Karan Baghela of Gujarat and his queen Kamala Devi. Kamala Devi was captured in the sack of Gujarat (1299), and married by Alauddin Khalji. According to the Islamic law, slave women could be married to Muslims even while their husbands were alive for marriage is annulled by captivity. (This dictum can be seen in Muir, Life of Mahomet & in the book called Dictionary of Islam).

Later on her daughter Deval Devi was also captured in another campaign (1308) and brought to Delhi. There she was married to Alauddin’s son Khizr Khan, against her will. After the assassination of Khizr Khan in the politics of succession, she was taken as a concubine by Qutbuddin Mubarak Khalji (1316-20). With the murder of Qutbuddin at the hands of Khusrau Khan, she was taken into the latter’s harem.

This princess was treated as nothing more than a transferable property in the Khalji ruling house. If this was the status of a princess belonging to a defeated Hindu king, we could imagine the plight of the ordinary Hindu women that were enslaved by Islamic invaders and taken to their harems.

It is for this reason that “Jauhar” of Hindu women (usually led by the surviving women folk of the felled Hindu king) started becoming a standard practice.

In Manucci II (336 – 38), we can also see the common Muslim names that enslaved Hindu little girls were given and upon attaining puberty they became concubines of the Islamic king that enslaved them. Here are a few names – Gulab, Champa, Chameli, Nargis, Kesar, Gul-i-Badam, Sosan, Yasmin, Gul-i-Rana, Gul Andam, Gul Anar, Saloni, Sugandhara, Koil, Gulrang, Mehndi, Dil Afroz, etc. We do not even want to touch the topic of enslavement, and the treatment meted out to Hijras and amrads (beardless boys) by the Islamic invaders.

Before someone can jump to a conclusion that Islamic invader of every shade just walked and enslaved people, it is worth to remember that unlike what happened in Spain or North Africa, or Syria or Persia, every wave of Islamic invasion was met with severe resistance from Hindu warriors.

Unity of Hindu castes during Islamic invasion

We are going to branch off to a slightly different topic to answer the questions: Did Islam liberate “lower caste” Hindus from the clutches of the caste system? Did these people leave Hinduism and accept Islam wishfully?

It is often said by the apologists of these slave takers that but for the Muslim rulers, the peasants would have continued to whither under caste system and that the light of Islam saved the day and many peasants “embraced” Islam. We will see the hollowness of this claim through Islamic sources now.

During Islamic invasions, the peasants scared by the prospect of enslavement, and finding the treatment by the government unbearable, sometimes left the fields and fled into the jungles. Often vanquished Rajas and aggrieved Zamindars also retired into the forests and organized resistance from there against Muslim rulers. In this confrontation, Zamindars played the role of leaders, and the peasants joined under their banner.

In the early period, some angry rulers like Balban and Muhammad bin Tughlaq hunted down these escapists in the jungles like wild beasts. Muhammad Tughlaq was very keen on enslaving people and converting them to Islam. The flight of peasants sent him into fits of rage. When Hindus organized armed resistance armed peasants provided contingents to Baheliya, Bhadauriya, Bachgoti, Mandahar and Tomar Rajputs in the earlier period of Hindu resistance against Islamic invasions & to Jats, Marathas, and Sikhs in the later periods. Thus, labeling Islam as the liberator of any Hindu group is utter foolishness. Period!

Sufis on “Great Islamic tradition” of slavery

Now let us see what peaceful (?) Sufis of Islam had to say about this great Islamic tradition of slavery.

“The Muslims dominated the infidels. “But the latter fortify themselves in mountains… (and uneven and rugged places) as well in bamboo groves which serve them as ramparts.”

[The likes of Amir Khusrau, peaceful Sufis, and Ziyauddin Barani]
Babar upon arriving in Agra states:

“Neither grain for ourselves nor corn for our horse was to be had. The villagers, out of hostility, and hatred to us had taken to thieving and highway robbery; there was no moving on the roads… All the inhabitants (khalaiq) had run away.”

[Babur-Nama: Memoirs of Babur]

“The defense of the people consists of woods and forests and trees, which interweaving with stem and branch, render it very difficult to penetrate the country… (where) Landlords and princes… who inhabit fastnesses in those forests… live there like wild beasts.”

[Mulfuzat-i-Timuri:
Autobiographical memoirs of the Timur]

The forest dwellers that left their villages to escape Islamic slavery suffered untold miseries. Still, they had the satisfaction of being able to preserve their freedom. But all victims of aggression were not so lucky. Many groups and individuals could not escape from the clutches of the Muslim invaders and tyranny of their rulers; they used to be captured and enslaved. So that from the days of Muhammad bin Qasim in the seventh century to those of Ahmad Shah Abdali in the eighteenth, enslavement and distribution and sale of captives was systematically carried on by Muslim conquerors and rulers.

A Sufi of the stature of Amir Khusrau wrote in the Ashiqa:

“Had not the law granted exemption from death by the payment of poll-tax, the very name of Hindu, root, and branch, would have been extinguished.” A few years later he asserted that “the Turks, whenever they please, can seize, buy, or sell any Hindu.”

If this was the mindset of the ruling elite as expressed by the famous Sufi, the slave taking practice of Islamic invaders needs no further ads.

Conclusion

Islamic invaders to India took the practice of slavery to a whole new level that was unmatched before and after. Today many Muslims in India do not know or are willfully glossing over the past, where, someone in their lineage was enslaved by Islamic invasions, and they ended up as a Muslim due to that lineage. This should not surprise us as Sultan Sikandar Lodi’s Mother was a Hindu that was enslaved by senior Lodi but he became a Muslim bigot. Sultan Sikandar Lodi’s Mother Zeba was originally a Hindu by the name of Hema a.k.a Amba. Bahlul Lodi was attracted by her beauty while he was governor of Sarhind. He forcefully married her after ascending the throne of Delhi. But she could not stop her son from slaughtering Hindus – like Father, like son.

In the next chapter, we will discuss yet another factor that played a vital role in Islamization of India i.e. Jizya – unlawful tax that infidels – Non-Muslims – had to pay to Muslim rulers for being infidels.

Will your Resume get you dream job?

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Career

Resume is typically the first necessary component of your career dream run. A powerful resume not only stands you a significantly better chance to get your dream job but also maintain that impression edge even during the job.

There are hundreds of books and blogs on preparing effective resumes. There are tonnes of information available on this topic. My objective is to present to you some of the more critical tips that can help you create that million dollar resume.

I have been involved in resume development as well as scrutiny for more than a decade now. I must have reviewed tens of thousands of resumes and have been involved in recruitment of thousands in my professional career.

Sometimes the impact of a powerful resume can indeed be so powerful that it overrides all other phases of recruitment – interview, due-diligence and even eligibility criteria. I once developed a resume for a bureaucrat that got him a very high placed job circumventing certain government norms. Not that it was deliberate, but just that no one bothered to do the necessary due-diligence once the fit was evident from resume. Of course, there would have been other factors, but by his own admission, the selection was made the moment the ministry saw the resume. Its a different matter that it landed the gentleman in problems later when some detractors threatened with legal actions to score political points. But thats a different story altogether.

The key point is that a smartly crafted resume can definitely turn the tides. The only request is that once you know the secrets of making a powerful resume, do not misuse it to turn the tides wrongly.

Also note that while the above was an extreme example, the real trick lies in preparing a resume that integrates well with your real persona during the interview phase. The worst thing to happen to you is when it becomes evident that someone else made your resume or that you copy-pasted from some other source.

So here is the first basic tip of resume-writing:

Be Original and Be Honest

Believe me, I have not seen the power of honesty more evident in any other field than in recruitment process. When your resume and interview depict consistently the same confident person with high integrity, that synergy is so powerful that it easily overrides all other lacunae that your profile may have.

There are other benefits of having high integrity as well, but let us focus on resume-building right now.

I have myself been guilty of preparing certain resumes for some closed ones that sailed them through the interview process as well into high placed jobs (We shall discuss art of successful interviewing sometime later) through an unfair advantage. But despite that, the crux of my experience in professional field is that the benefits of being original and honest far more outweigh any short term gains you may make otherwise. So if you want to be truly unleash the legend within, never ever deviate from this golden tip: Be Original and Be Honest.

The key principle of resume writing

This is obvious but often overlooked. If you can keep this point in mind consistently while building and evaluating your resume, you need not even read rest of the stuff. Because they simply build upon this basic principle: Resume is your advertisement.”

Resume is not a legal document, it is not a contract, it is not answer to any question, it is not a statement of facts. It is an advertisement in a document format.

Most resumes I have come across ignore this most basic principle. Some even have a statement of approval: I hereby state that all information in this resume is true to best of my knowledge…blah blah blah with a signature.

Unless such a predefined format is mandatory for a given job, this is simply waste of time, ink and reduces your success probability.

Other resumes would have a section on Personal Details – Name of Father, Mother, Address, Village, Gender etc. These may be good for a biodata for marriage, but is otherwise junk. Unless mandatory, remove all this from your resume. Address should be put in Header or Footer. Gender is unnecessary.

Age/ Date of Birth can be provided when asked later. We shall discuss it all later in the book.

The advertisement approach does not mean that you create a full-page ad with your photo in a pose, and your name in Word Art. That may work fine for celebrities and creative fields, I am not sure. Or when your next movie is being released. But for those aspiring for more sensible jobs, it has to be subtle advertisement. An advertisement that portrays you as trustworthy, thorough, dynamic, elegant, team worker and above all a professional.

So stay away from loud-mouthed advertisements unless that is what your personality truly reflects. The focus of this book however would be more conventional job roles for 99.99% of us.

(However, do note that I have observed people creating most unconventional resumes and being successful with them even in conventional job roles. They represent mastery of the art of resume writing. In martial arts, once you reach the masters level, the previously learnt rules are no more applicable for you. You move beyond the rules. However, the focus of this book is on those who are yet to become masters. For them, these tips would perhaps be useful in reaching the level of masters.)

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Unleash the career within

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Career

The focus of Agniveer has been to Unleash the Legend within. Our articles are aimed towards liberating the mind so that each of us can discover the tremendous potentials inside which are often constricted through dogmas and irrational thinking. This process is the true Vedic Dharma in practice. To take this process of ‘legendization’ a step further, as promised earlier, we are now beginning new sections on Career and Personality Development.

The bulk of Agniveer community comprises youth of today. Thus we believe that these sections would be immensely useful for them to create wonderful careers from their lives, earn riches and then utilize that wealth for noble purposes. The daily Vedic prayer is वयं स्याम पतयो रयीणाम May we be master of riches! This richness is the honestly earned richness based on foundation of capabilities.

Our firm view is that the only way for transformation of society, nation and world is through enhancement of human capital. No amount of protest movements, wars, fights, emotional rhetorics can achieve what can be achieved only through this essential process. In absence of this, people tend to be emotionally volatile leading to further problems.

Someone commented that some nationalists do hunger strikes, others do protest movements, what concrete does Agniveer plan to do. Here is our answer, “We humbly attempt to liberate minds and make each of us a legend equivalent to thousands, through enhancement of their capabilities.”

This is our answer to all demands of the hour. We do not consider any shorter term solution to work if we ignore this. Some intend to obtain riches by bringing some dollars hidden in some lockers seven seas away, and others consider that this can happen through bringing giants who can whip the existing rulers whenever they steal money. We instead aspire to make each of us so capable that each of us can generate more riches than that can be expected from all other strategies put together. These riches need not be in form of money alone. Our riches refer to unleashing the legend within. And when so many legends unleash themselves together, we have a nation that has amazing wealth, amazing transparency, amazing giants to safeguard us from internal and external enemies, and amazing lessons for entire world.

Our initial emphasis would be on career so that our youth can immediately use these skills to upgrade their professional dimension in same manner as Vedic wisdom liberates the minds. That would be Vedas in action. We would be focusing on practical and conceptual aspects that can be immediately put to action.

These articles and tips would be developed by experts with significant professional experience and qualifications. Many of these would be information that is typically sold at very hefty prices in corporate advisory and training domains.

But like all divine gifts – air, water, sunlight – we would like to offer these for free as we are looking at much bigger returns that bring us closer to our goal of transformation of society, world and nation.

Also like all good things in world, these would be equally accessible for people of all geographies, faiths, genders and ideology. We hope this would help bring us all together. And then spring us all to even nobler actions!

Lets unleash the legend within!

BLOODIEST CONQUEST OF INDIA

44

Note: By Islam, in the whole site, we mean the popular meaning as suggested by famous Islamic representatives of today, like Zakir Naik, Anjem Chaudhury, Maulana Hafiz Saeed, Maulana Israr Ahmed, Maulana Masood Azhar, and Imam Bukhari etc, that denies equal rights and heaven to unbelievers, that believes in killing of apostates. However we believe in True Islam that leads us to peace. Please click here to know about True Islam we follow.

In the previous article, Was Islam Spread by Sword, we proved logically that Islam was indeed spread by sword in Indian subcontinent. In this and next couple of articles, we will establish our point with the help of pure facts.

Facts presented in this chapter have been reproduced verbatim from the biographies and chronicles written by Islamic invaders or/and their paid historians!

India before the invasion of Islam

India before the advent of Islamic imperialism was not exactly a zone of peace. There were plenty of wars fought by Hindu kings. But in all their wars, the Hindus had observed some time-honored conventions sanctioned by the Šãstras. For example:

• The Brahmins and the Bhikshus were never molested.
• The cows were never killed.
• The temples were never touched.
• The chastity of women was never violated.
• The non-combatants were never killed or captured.
• A human habitation was never attacked unless it was a fort.
• The civil population was never plundered.
• War booty was an unknown item in the calculations of conquerors.
• The martial classes, who clashed, mostly in open spaces, had a code of honor.
• The sacrifice of honor for victory or material gain was deemed as worse than death.

The Hindu records about pre-Islamic foreign invasions present a striking contrast. Hindu records accuse pre-Islamic foreign invasions like the Greeks, the Scythians, the Kushans, and the Huns of savagery and lust for plunder. But these invaders are never accused of making Hindu Dharma or its outer symbols the specific targets of their attacks. We also have the accounts of these alien invaders becoming good Shaivites, Vaishnavas, and Buddhists after their first fury was spent, and then they settled down in India.

Busting the Myths of ‘Indian Muslims’

Indian Muslims form the third largest Muslim population (after Indonesia and Pakistan) and also form the world’s largest Muslim minority population. Given this numerical strength, which in today’s Indian electoral scenario is considered a game changer, we set out to analyze, understand and explore from historical archives (neutral and Islamic) as to who the Indian Muslims were (before becoming Muslims) and the circumstances which led them to becoming Muslims.

For our analysis, we are considering the undivided (politically) land mass that existed way before 1947. Specifically, we are going to look at Sindh and Kashmir. This analysis will also bust some of the myths that exist amongst Indian Muslims. For example:

• Muhammad Bin Qasim came to India in order to avenge and help Arab traders, who were looted by Hindu forces on the high seas.
• Islam came to India only in a peaceful way, and the invasions were just like an Alexander invading Sindh ages before Islam.
• The invasions were about money and not about religion.
Staying true to the cause of our research, we do not deny that the very first set of Arab Muslims landed in Malabar coast were mere traders. But this kind of interaction was an exception when compared to how Islam landed in the above mentioned Northwest regions of India.

Conquest of Sindh – The Advent of Islam

Without much ado, we are heading to Sindh. Let us start with the clichéd “In the Beginning.” The advent of Islam in Sindh starts with the attack on Debal, near Karachi in 712 CE by Muhammad Bin Qasim. This was a coastal town near modern Karachi. When Debal was sacked by this barbarian’s forces, all men aged 17 and above were killed without compunctions irrespective of whether or not these men were combatants.

“The women and children were all enslaved. 700 women that had taken shelter in a temple were captured and enslaved. Of the booty obtained by sacking Debal, Muhammad dispatched 1/5th to Hajaj (including 75 damsels) and the remaining booty was distributed to the soldiers.”
[Cambridge History of India, Volume III,
Kàzí Ismáíl, Chach Nama (English translation by Kalichbeg Fredunbeg)]

Who was Kàzí Ismáíl? He was a close confidante of Muhammad Bin Qasim & the formerly documented the conquest of Sindh.

Sindh bore the brunt of Muhammad Bin Qasim’s atrocities. Debal became the template that he would follow in every town across Sindh. The enslaved women of Sindh were forcefully converted to Islam and married to Arab soldiers. Towns like Multan, Kuzdar, and Mahfuza, became Arab colonies in Sindh. When the conquest of Sindh was winding down, over 20,000 infidels were brought as slaves. The women among the slaves that belonged to the aristocracy of the Hindu king were veiled and set aside to be sent to Hajaj. The remaining women were distributed to the soldiers.

Historians on atrocities in Sindh

Before we move forward, let’s know more about Muhammad Bin Qasim’s atrocities in Sindh from historians.

After Rawar had been taken, Muhammad Qasim “halted there for three days during which he massacred 6000 men. Their followers and dependents, as well as their women and children were taken as prisoner. Later on, the slaves were counted, and their number came to 60,000 (of both sexes).”

Please remember that we are talking about 7th Century during which such number would be much significant as compared to this era. The total population of Sindh that time would be hardly few Lakh out of which more than one Lakh were either killed or enslaved. The brutality of this act can be equated today, in numbers, if someone kills and enslaves 1 Crore people in Delhi alone.

“Out of these, 30 were young ladies of the royal blood. Muhammad Qasim sent all these to Hajjaj, who forwarded them to Walid, the Khalifa. He sold some of these female slaves of royal birth, and some he presented to others. Raja Dahir’s daughters also were counted among slave girls.”
[Kàzí Ismáíl, Chach Nama (English translation by Kalichbeg Fredunbeg), Page 154]

“From the seventh century onwards and with a peak during Muhammad al-Qasim’s campaigns in 712-13, a considerable number of Jats were captured as prisoners of war and deported to Iraq and elsewhere as slaves.”
[Andre Wink, Al-Hind]

Jats here is obviously used as a general word for all Hindus.
“In Brahmanabad it is said that about six thousand fighting men were slain, but according to others sixteen thousand were killed”, and their families enslaved. The garrison in the fort-city of Multan was put to the sword, and families of the chiefs and warriors of Multan, numbering about six thousand, were enslaved.”
[Andre Wink, Al-Hind, Page 161
Mohammad Habib, The Arab conquest of Sindh]

Conquest of Sindh and state of Hindu Women

One question begs a definite answer. How did Hindu women react to Muhammad Bin Qasim’s barbaric acts? Chach Nama gives the answer.

“Raja Dahir’s sister Bai collected all the women in the fort (of Rawar) and addressed them thus: ‘It is certain that we cannot escape the clutches of these Chandals and cow-eaters… As there is no hope of safety and liberty, let us collect fire-wood and cotton and oil (and) burn ourselves to ashes, and thus quickly meet our husbands (in the next world). Whoever is inclined to go and ask mercy of the enemy let her go… But all of them were of one mind, and so they entered a house and set fire to it, and were soon burnt to ashes.”
[Kàzí Ismáíl, Chach Nama (English translation by Kalichbeg Fredunbeg)]

This practice came to be known as Jauhar (Jova har, taking of life), for those hapless but valiant women that chose to die instead of being consumed by the Islamic invaders.

Islamic chronicles of conquest of Sindh

Islamic chronicles of the conquest of Sindh is called “Futûhu’l-Buldãn.” It was written by Ahmad bin Yahya bin Jãbir, who was known as “al-Bilãdhurî.” His history is one of the earliest and major Arab chronicles. It gives an account of Arab conquests in Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran, Armenia, Transoxiana, Africa, Spain, and Sindh. Here are some extracts on Sindh, from the above chronicle.
“The town (Debal) was thus taken by assault, and the carnage endured for three days. The governor of the town, appointed by Dãhir, fled, and the priests of the temple were massacred. Muhammad marked a place for the Musalmans to dwell in, built a mosque, and left four thousand Musalmans to garrison the place.”

“He then crossed the Biyãs and went towards Multãn… Muhammad destroyed the water-course; upon which the inhabitants, oppressed with thirst, surrendered at discretion. He massacred the men capable of bearing arms, but the children were taken captive, as well as the ministers of the temple, to the number of six thousand. The Muslamãns found much gold in a chamber ten cubits long by eight broad, and there was an aperture above, through which the gold was poured into the chamber.”

Muhammad Bin Qasim’s note on conquest of Sindh

Before we move from Sindh to Kashmir, let us read what butcher Muhammad Bin Qasim wrote on the conquest of Sindh.

“The forts of Siwistán and Sísam have been already taken. The nephew of Dáhir, his warriors, and principal officers have been dispatched, and the infidels converted to Islám or destroyed. Instead of idol temples, mosques and other places of worship have been built, pulpits have been erected, the Khutba is read, and the call to prayers is raised so that devotions are performed at the stated hours. The takbír and praise to the Almighty God are offered every morning and evening.”
[Muhammad Bin Qasim’s letter to his master Hijaj Bin Yusuf]

This implies that today’s Muslims of Sindh had a Hindu lineage, and we have just seen how the marauding Arabs broke the lineages.
Islam enters into Kashmir

From Sindh, let us now head a bit North-East to Kashmir. Kashmir was Islamized by a combination of force and a deceitful wave of conversions. It is also important to remember that compared to other regions like Sindh or today’s North West Frontier Province (of Pakistan) or Afghanistan that tasted the brutality of Islam much earlier, Kashmir was a predominantly Hindu region just 750 years ago.

The aim of this chapter is not to go through a blow by blow account of Kashmir’s glorious past whose kings held sway till Central Asia and today’s Afghanistan. To understand the whole nine yards of Islamization of Kashmir, the book “Converted Kashmir” by Narender Sehgal will be an excellent resource.

Islam entered Kashmir around 1322 when Zulkadur Khan invaded the region. But the mass conversions and tyranny was unleashed during the reign of Sikandar Butshikan (1394 – 1417). He invited Islamic clergy from Arabia and Persia, and forced proselytization was in full swing. Sikandar is the one that needs to be credited with the destruction of the most famous temples at Martand, Vishya, Isna and Tripeshwar.

Syed Ali Hamdani – A conversion virus in Kashmir
Preceding the force was the sugar quoted message of brotherhood, love and tolerance. Syed Ali Hamdani was a Muslim leader that set the template for conversion using deception in Kashmir. Syed Ali Hamdaani, better known as Shah Hamdaani, came to Kashmir from Turkey / Persia along with a bunch of Syeds (numbering around 700) in 1372. Under the tolerance and kindness of the local Kashmiri Hindus, Syed Ali Hamdaani established an Islamic centre in Srinagar called Allah-Udinpur, which, later came to be called as Khankai Moula.

“The Syed established contact with Hindu saints of Kashmir. His meetings started with an influential Hindu Recluse, Lalleshwari. Both of them started visualising many similarities in their religious doctrines. Both of them opposed idol worship. In league with the Syed, Lalleshwari started propagating her sect and the sufi sect. Through Lalleshwari the Syed started using some sayings from Hindu religion cleverly in his discourses in order to establish his credibility among the disciples of Lalleshwari.

He even fully praised yoga. As a result of the political intrigue of Syed Ali Hamdaani some Hindu recluse and 37,000 Hindus adopted Islam. Historian Bamzai has written that outwardly the Syed would praise eloquently the Hindu religion but inwardly he used to hate the saints of this religion. After achieving great success in his mission he, while giving up his guise of love and coexistence, asked the Sultan to carry out the forcible conversion of Hindus.”
[Narander Sehgal, Converted Kashmir]

Syed Ali Hamdani introduced in Kashmir, with the help of the Sultan, the dress of Muslim countries, the throne on the Islamic model, Islamic customs in state administration and Islamic Flag on Government buildings. On the directions of the Syed, the Sultan started wearing an Arabic cap and divorced one of his two wives and remarried the other according to Islamic custom.

Sikandar Butshikan – the iconoclast of Kashmir

Then came the king Sikandar Butshikan, who along with the son of Syed Ali Hamdaani, named Syed Mohammed Hamdani, unleashed the brutality where Hindu temples were systematically destroyed.
The destruction of the temple at Martand is very graphic. It took one full year to destroy this architectural marvel. Given the destruction of the structure was taking time; sections of the temple were stuffed with wood and burnt down. The foundation of the temple was systematically dug out, and every block of stone was uprooted. Those around the temple were given a choice between Islam and death. There were instances where those that opposed conversions were shoved into sacks and drowned into lakes.

Some Hindus were allowed to stay in Kashmir, but they soon realized the futility, as, Hindus were forced to pay the taxes during Shivratri, Diwali, Ram Navmi, Navratri and Yagnopavit (sacred thread wearing ceremony). Taxes were imposed on pilgrimages. Those that were unable to pay these taxes were once again either killed or forced to accept Islam. Kashmir had many libraries, and Sikander set about burning down all Sanskrit books in these houses of knowledge. Many fleeing Hindus carried whatever Sanskrit books they could.

Sanskrit scholars were handpicked, beheaded; their heads were smeared with sandalwood and then left on highways in order to terrorize Hindus. After mass execution of Hindus, the severed torsos would be thrown into the Jhelum River, which reaches the Wullar Lake. And many swollen bodies will float on the lake for days together emitting foul smells, and they would be consumed by vultures, stray dogs, and crows. Hindu women were regularly picked up from the banks of Jhelum River by Muslim soldiers as booty. Whoever stayed back ended up accepting Islam under coercion.

There are even more well-documented events in Kashmir’s history all the way till 1947, the role of neo-converts in Islamizing Kashmir and the way there was a glimmer of hope in the middle of all this. But the aim of this chapter, as stated at the beginning was about exploring the lineages of the current generation Muslims in Kashmir. We have established that in Kashmir now.
While we can write reams and reams on what happened to Hindus in today’s Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Gujarat, Deccan, and other parts on India our aim is to establish the lineage of Indian Muslims in at least two of very well-known regions that are almost completely Islamic in faith. And going across every region in India also, having known the template that the Islamic invaders followed to Islamize the population could be overkill too.

Hindu lineage of Indian subcontinent Muslims

Do Muslims of subcontinent ever think – where have gone those unfortunate descendants of Hindus who were slain or forced to become Muslims in Jihadi storm a few centuries back? Aren’t you the one? If no, then where are those? Here are some popular Hindu surnames today’s Subcontinent Muslims still carry to this date. None of them is an Arab or Turk or Pathan.

In Kashmir

Handoo, Aga, Atal, Bandhu, Bhan, Bagati, Bhat/Butt/Bhatt, Budki (Burki), Bindroo, Chowdhury, Dhar (Dar), Dass (Das), Dassi, Dulloo, Ganju (Ganjoo), Kaw, Gurtu, Hak, Haksar, Hangal, Hangoo, Hoon, Jaju, Jalali, Kachru (Kachroo), Kak, Kar, Kappu, Katju, Kaul(Koul), Kaw, Kemmu, Khar, Kasid Kher, Khosa, Kitchlu (Kitchlew), Kunzru, Langoo, Madan, Mahaldar, Malla, Mantoo, Mattoo, Mukoo,Muthoo, Mir, Misri, Natu, Nehru, Ogra, Pandit, Pandita, Parimoo, Qasba, Raina, Rayu, Razdan, Reu, Sadhu, Sapru, Shivpuri, Shrunglu, Shunglu, Tangnu, Thusoo, Tikoo,Wakhlu, Wanchoo/Wanchu, Wantoo/Wantu, Warikoo, Wattal, Wattoo, Zalpuri, Zaroo and Zutshi.

In Pakistan

Many of the Muslims in Pakistan and India still use their ancestral Hindu surnames for their identity. Hundreds of such names are still in use. Please google about Jat Muslims, Muslim Gujjars, and Muslim Rajputs to know more.

It is believed that almost 1/3rd of Pakistan’s total population (around 5 Crore out of total 18 Crore) is probably constituted by the Muslims having Hindu castes- Jat and Rajput! Rest of the Pakistani and Indian Muslim population can also be easily traced back to their Hindu roots. DNA test reports confirm that all Hindus and Muslims have common genes and the Muslims have not come from outside.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (founder of Pakistan), Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (former Pakistani President), Benazir Bhutto (former Pakistani Prime Minister), belong to Hindu lineage- Rajput whereas Muhammad Iqbal’s (famous poet) grandfather was a Kashmiri Hindu. Most prominent Pakistanis are Jats, Gujjars and Rajputs – all Hindu origins.

So now that it is proven factually as well that Islam came to India with sword and all Muslims of today’s subcontinent carry Hindu ancestry, it is high time that our Muslim Brothers and sisters stop hating their own culture, ancestors, and motherland and come back to their original home, Vedas.

आर्यों में जाति व्यवस्था

प्रत्येक श्रेष्ठ और सुसभ्य मनुष्य आर्य है। अपने आचरण, वाणी और कर्म में वैदिक सिद्धांतों का पालन करने वाले, शिष्ट, स्नेही, कभी पाप कार्य न करनेवाले, सत्य की उन्नति और प्रचार करनेवाले, आतंरिक और बाह्य शुचिता इत्यादि गुणों को सदैव धारण करनेवाले आर्य कहलाते हैं।

ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र

ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र यह चार वर्ण वास्तव में व्यक्ति को नहीं बल्कि “गुणों” को प्रदर्शित करते हैं। प्रत्येक मनुष्य में ये चारों गुण (बुद्धि, बल, प्रबंधन, और श्रम) सदा रहते हैं। आसानी के लिए जैसे आज पढ़ाने वाले को अध्यापक, रक्षा करने वाले को सैनिक, व्यवसाय करने वाले को व्यवसायी आदि कहते हैं वैसे ही पहले उन्हें क्रमशः ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय या वैश्य कहा गया और इनसे अलग अन्य काम करने वालों को शूद्र। अतः यह वर्ण व्यवस्था जन्म-आधारित नहीं है।
आजकल प्रचलित कुलनाम लगाने के रिवाज से इन वर्णों का कोई लेना-देना नहीं है। हमारे प्राचीन धर्मग्रन्थ रामायण, महाभारत या अन्य ग्रंथों में भी इस तरह से प्रथम नाम – मध्य नाम – कुलनाम लगाने का कोई चलन नहीं पाया जाता है और न ही आर्य शब्द किसी प्रकार की वंशावली को दर्शाता है।

“आर्य” किसी वंश का नाम नहीं

मैं इस दावे का खंडन करता हूं कि आर्य शब्द किसी भी तरह से कुल या वंश परंपरा को दर्शाता है।

निस्संदेह परिवार तथा उसकी पृष्टभूमि का किसी व्यक्ति को संस्कारवान बनाने में महत्वपूर्ण स्थान है परंतु इससे कोई अज्ञात कुल का मनुष्य आर्य नहीं हो सकता यह तात्पर्य नहीं है। हमारे पतन का एक प्रमुख कारण है मिथ्या जन्मना जाति व्यवस्था जिसे हम आज मूर्खता पूर्वक अपनाये बैठे हैं और जिसके चलते हमने अपने समाज के एक बड़े हिस्से को अपने से अलग कर रखा है – उन्हें “शूद्र” या “अछूत” का दर्जा देकर – महज इसलिए कि हमें उनका मूल पता नहीं है – यह अत्यंत खेदजनक है।

“आर्य” शब्द किसी गोत्र से भी सरोकार नहीं रखता। गोत्र का वर्गीकरण नजदीकी संबंधों में विवाह से बचने के लिए किया गया था। प्रचलित कुलनामों का शायद ही किसी गोत्र से सम्बन्ध भी हो।

आर्य शब्द श्रेष्ठता का द्योतक है और किसी की श्रेष्ठता को जांचने में पारिवारिक पृष्ठभूमि कोई मापदंड हो ही नहीं सकती क्योंकि किसी चिकित्सक का बेटा केवल इसीलिए चिकित्सक नहीं कहलाया जा सकता क्योंकि उसका पिता चिकित्सक है, वहीँ दूसरी ओर कोई अनाथ बच्चा भी यदि पढ़ जाए तो चिकित्सक हो सकता है। ठीक इसी तरह किसी का यह कहना कि शूद्र ब्राह्मण नहीं बन सकता – सर्वथा गलत है।

ब्राह्मण का अर्थ है ज्ञान संपन्न व्यक्ति और जो शिक्षा या प्रशिक्षण के अभाव में ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय या वैश्य बनने की योग्यता न रखता हो – वह शूद्र है। परंतु शूद्र भी अपने प्रयत्न से ज्ञान और प्रशिक्षण प्राप्त करके वर्ण बदल सकता है। ब्राह्मण वर्ण को भी प्राप्त कर सकता है।

“द्विज” का अर्थ

द्विज अर्थात् जिसने दो बार जन्म लिया हो। जन्म से तो सभी शूद्र समझे गए हैं। ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय और वैश्य इन तीन वर्णों को द्विज कहते हैं क्योंकि विद्या प्राप्ति के उपरांत योग्यता हासिल करके वे समाज के कल्याण में सहयोग प्रदान करते हैं। इस तरह से इनका दूसरा जन्म ‘विद्या जन्म’ होता है। केवल माता-पिता से जन्म प्राप्त करने वाले और विद्या प्राप्ति में असफ़ल व्यक्ति इस दूसरे जन्म ‘विद्या जन्म’ से वंचित रह जाते हैं – वे शूद्र हैं।

सारांश

यदि ब्राह्मण पुत्र भी अशिक्षित है तो वह शूद्र है और शूद्र भी अपने निश्चय से ज्ञान, विद्या और संस्कार प्राप्त करके ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय या वैश्य बन सकता है। इस में माता-पिता द्वारा प्राप्त जन्म का कोई संबंध नहीं है।

आइए, हम सब सत्य ग्राही बनें, मिथ्या जातिवाद की जकड़ से मुक्त होकर एकात्म और सशक्त समाज तथा राष्ट्र का निर्माण करें | विशेष विश्लेषण के लिए पढ़ें: http://agniveer.com/4034/caste-vedas-hi/

This article is also available in English at http://agniveer.com/9/arya-and-castes/ 

This article is also available in Gujrati at http://agniveer.com/5951/arya-and-castes-gu/

अनुवादक: आर्यबाला

वेद और राक्षस

एक भ्रांत कल्पना यह भी कर ली गई है कि आर्यों ने यहां के निवासियों को “राक्षस” नाम से पुकारा और उनका वध किया। अतः आर्यों के अत्याचार का शिकार माने गए दास या दस्यु ही राक्षस समझ लिए गए हैं। वस्तुतः राक्षस शब्द का अर्थ दस्यु या दास के काफ़ी पास है, परंतु राक्षस को भिन्न नस्ल या वंश मानना कोरी कल्पना ही है।

वेद मन्त्रों में राक्षस

पहले के अध्यायों में हम देख ही चुके हैं कि दास या दस्यु कोई भिन्न जाति या नस्ल नहीं बल्कि विध्वंसकारी गतिविधियों में रत मनुष्यों को ही कहा जाता था।

इस अध्याय में हम राक्षस कौन हैं और वेद में स्त्री राक्षसी के भी वध की आज्ञा क्यों दी गई है यह देखेंगे।

ऋग्वेद ७।१०४।२४
हे राजेन्द्र! आप पुरुष राक्षस का और छल कपट से हिंसा करने वाली स्त्री राक्षसी का भी वध करो। वे दुष्ट राक्षस भोर का उजाला न देखें।

यहां राक्षसों को यातुधान (जो मनुष्यों के निवास स्थान पर आक्रमण करते हैं) और क्रव्याद (कच्चा मांस खाने वाले) कहा गया है।

ऋग्वेद ७।१०४।१७
जो राक्षसी रात में उल्लू के समान हिंसा करने के लिए निकलती है, वह अन्य राक्षसों के साथ नष्ट हो जाए।

ऋग्वेद ७।१०४।१८
हे बलवान रक्षकों! आप प्रजा में विविध प्रकार से रक्षा के लिए स्थित हों, विध्वंसकारी और रात्रि में आक्रमण करने वाले राक्षसों को पकड़ें।

ऋग्वेद ७।१०४।२१
परम ऐश्वर्यशाली राजा, हिंसा करने वाले तथा शांतिमय कार्यों में विघ्न करने वाले राक्षसों का नाशक है।

ऋग्वेद ७।१०४।२२
उल्लू, कुत्ते, भेड़िये, बाज़ और गिद्ध के समान आक्रमण करनेवाले जो राक्षस हैं, उनका संहार करो।
स्पष्ट है कि राक्षस शब्द तबाही मचाने वाले, क्रूर आतंकियों और भयंकर अपराधियों के लिए प्रयुक्त हुआ है। ऐसे महादुष्ट पुरुष या स्त्री दोनों ही दंड के पात्र हैं।

इसी सूक्त के दो मंत्र राक्षस कर्म से बचने के लिए कहते हैं –

ऋग्वेद ७।१०४।१५
यदि मैं यातुधान (मनुष्यों के निवास स्थान पर आक्रमण करने वाला) हूं और यदि मैं किसी मनुष्य के जीवन को नष्ट करता हूं। यदि मैं ऐसा हूं तो, हे भगवन! मैं आज ही मर जाऊं, परंतु यदि मैं ऐसा नहीं हूं तो, जो मुझको व्यर्थ ही यातुधान कहता है वह नष्ट हो जाए।

ऋग्वेद ७।१०४।१६
जो मुझको यातुधान या राक्षस कहता है, जबकि मैं राक्षस नहीं हूं, और जो राक्षसों के साथ होने पर भी स्वयं को पवित्र कहता है – ऐसे दोनों प्रकार के मनुष्यों का नाश हो।

जो सदाचारी जनों को झूठे ही कलंकित करे और स्वयं राक्षसों – आतंकियों का समर्थक होकर भी सदाचारी बनने का दंभ करे, ऐसे भयंकर समाज घातकों के लिए भी वेद में दयाभाव के बिना विनाश की आज्ञा है।

सारांश

स्पष्ट है कि वेद किसी नस्ल या वर्ग का नहीं बल्कि आतंकी ताकतों और उनके समर्थकों के विनाश का निर्देश करते हैं। आइए, इन प्रार्थनाओं को सफ़ल बनाएं, समूचे विश्व से राक्षसों- आतंकियों और उनके संगठनों (जैसे –आईएसआईएस ) का नामो–निशान मिटा दें।

अनुवादक: आर्यबाला

This article is also available in English on http://agniveer.com/848/rakshas-vedas-hinduism/

 

वेद और दस्यु

मैकाले की कुटिल शिक्षा नीति के कारण ही अनेक भारतीय विद्वान भी यह मानते हैं कि वेद में कथित आर्यों और दस्युओं के संघर्ष का वर्णन है। आर्य लोग मध्य एशिया से आए हैं। भारत के मूल निवासी दास या दस्यु थे, जिन्हें आर्यों ने आकर लूटा, खदेडा, पराजित कर दास बनाया, कठोर व्यवहार कर उनसे नीचा काम करवाया और सदा के लिए भारतवर्ष पर आधिपत्य स्थापित कर लिया।

वेदों के बारे में पाश्चात्य विद्वानों ने यह लाल बुझक्कड़ वाली कल्पना इस देश की वैदिक विचारधारा, सभ्यता, संस्कृति को नष्ट कर पाश्चात्य पद्धतियों के प्रचार–प्रसार तथा यहां साम्राज्य स्थापित करने के लिए ही गढ़ी थी और इस देश का सत्यानाश करने के षड्यंत्र में शामिल उनके पुछल्ले साम्यवादी भी यही राग अलापते रहते हैं कि आर्यों ने अपनी महत्ता को जन्मगत भेदभाव के आधार पर प्रस्थापित किया।

भारतवर्ष को विभाजित करनेवाले इन्हीं विचारों के कारण आज स्वयं को द्रविड़ तथा दलित कहलाने वाले भाई–बहन जो अपने आप को अनार्य (जो आर्य नहीं है) मानते हैं – उनके मन में वेदों के प्रति तथा उन्हें मानने वालों के प्रति घृणा और द्वेष का ज़हर भर गया है – परिणाम देश भुगत ही रहा है।

उनकी इस निराधार कल्पना का खंडन कई विद्वान कर चुके हैं। यहां तक कि डॉक्टर अम्बेडकर भी उनके इन विचारों से सहमत नहीं थे।

दस्यु और वेद मन्त्र

क्योंकि इस मिथ्या विवाद का आधार वेदों को बताया जा रहा है तो अब हम वेदों से ही आर्य और दस्यु के वास्तविक अर्थ जानेंगे। यही इस अध्याय का मूल उद्देश्य है।

आरोप:
वेदों में कई स्थानों पर आर्य और दस्यु का वर्णन आया है। कई मंत्र दस्यु के विनाश तथा आर्यों के रक्षा की प्रार्थना करते हैं। कुछ मंत्र तो यह भी कहते हैं कि जो स्त्रियां भी दस्यु पाई जाएं तो उन्हें भी नहीं बख्शना चाहिए। इसलिए इस निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचा जा सकता है कि वेद में दस्युओं पर आर्यों के अत्यंत घातक आक्रमण का वर्णन है।

समाधान:
ऋग्वेद में दस्यु से संबंधित ८५ मंत्र हैं। जिन में से कई दास के संदर्भ में भी हैं – जो दस्यु का ही पर्यायवाची है। आइए उन में से कुछ के अर्थ देखें:

ऋग्वेद १।३३।४
हे शूरवीर राजन्! विविध शक्तियों से युक्त आप एकाकी विचरण करते हुए अपने शक्तिशाली अस्त्र से धनिक दस्यु (अपराधी) और सनक: (अधर्म से दूसरों के पदार्थ छीनने वाले) का वध कीजिये। आपके अस्त्र से वे मृत्यु को प्राप्त हों। यह सनक: शुभ कर्मों से रहित हैं।

यहां दस्यु के लिए ‘अयज्व’ विशेषण आया है अर्थात् जो शुभ कर्मों और संकल्पों से रहित हो और ऐसा व्यक्ति पाप कर्म करने वाला अपराधी ही होता है। अतः यहां राजा को प्रजा की रक्षा के लिए ऐसे लोगों का वध करने के लिए कहा गया है।

सायण ने इस में दस्यु का अर्थ “चोर” किया है। दस्यु का मूल ‘दस’ धातु है जिसका अर्थ होता है – ‘उपक्क्षया’ अर्थात् जो नाश करे। अतः दस्यु कोई अलग जाति या नस्ल नहीं है, बल्कि दस्यु का अर्थ विनाशकारी और अपराधी प्रवृत्ति के लोगों से है।

ऋग्वेद १।३३।५
जो दस्यु (दुष्ट जन) शुभ कर्मों से रहित हैं परंतु शुभ करने वालों के साथ द्वेष रखने वाले हैं, आपकी रक्षा के प्रताप से वे भाग जाते हैं। हे पराक्रमी राजेन्द्र! आपने सभी स्थानों से ‘अव्रत’ (शुभ कर्म रहित) जनों को निकाल बाहर किया है।
इस मंत्र में दस्यु के दो विशेषण आए हैं – ‘अयज्व’ अर्थात् शुभ कर्म और संकल्पों से रहित, और ‘अव्रत‘ अर्थात् नियम न पलनेवाला तथा अनाचारी।

स्पष्ट है कि दस्यु शब्द अपराधियों के लिए ही आया है और सभ्य समाज में ऐसे लोगों को दिए जानेवाले दंड का ही विधान वेद करते हैं।

ऋग्वेद १।३३।७
हे वीर राजन्! इन रोते हुए या हँसते हुए दस्युओं को इस लोक से बहुत दूर भगा दीजिये और उन्हें नष्ट कर दीजिये तथा जो शुभ कर्मों से युक्त तथा ईश्वर का गुण गाने वाले मनुष्य हैं उनकी रक्षा कीजिये।

ऋग्वेद १।५१।५
हे राजेन्द्र! आप अपनी दक्षता से छल कपट से युक्त ‘अयज्वा’ ‘अव्रती’ दस्युयों को कम्पायमान करें, जो प्रत्येक वस्तु का उपभोग केवल स्वयं के लिए ही करते हैं, उन दुष्टों को दूर करें। हे मनुष्यों के रक्षक! आप उपद्रव, अशांति फैलानेवाले दस्युओं के नगर को नष्ट करें और सत्यवादी सरल प्रकृति जनों की रक्षा करें।

इस मंत्र में दान-परोपकार से रहित, सब कुछ स्वयं पर ही व्यय करने वाले को दस्यु कहा है।

“कौषीतकी ब्राह्मण” में ऐसे लोगों को “असुर” कहा गया है। जो दान न करे वह असुर है, अतः असुर और दास दोनों का तात्पर्य दुष्ट अपराधी जनों से है।

ऋग्वेद १।५१।६
हे वीर राजन्! आप प्रजाओं का शोषण करने वालों की हत्या और ऋषियों की रक्षा करते हैं और दूसरों की सहायता करने वालों के कल्याण के लिए आप महादुष्ट जनों को भी कुचल देते हैं। सदा से ही आप दस्यु (दुष्ट जनों) के हनन के लिए ही उत्पन्न होते हैं।

यहां दस्यु के लिए ‘शुष्ण’ का प्रयोग है – जिसका अर्थ है शोषण करना – दु:ख देना।
ऋग्वेद १।५१।७

हे परमेश्वर! आप आर्य और दस्यु को अच्छे प्रकार जानते हैं। शुभ कर्म करने वालों के लिए आप ‘अव्रती’ (शुभ कर्म के विरोधी) दस्युओं को नष्ट करो। हे भगवन्! मैं सभी उत्तम कर्मों के पालन में आपकी प्रेरणा सदा चाहता हूं।

ऋग्वेद १।५१।९
हे राजेन्द्र! आप नियमों का पालन करने वाले तथा शुभ कर्म करने वाले के कल्याण हेतु व्रत रहित दस्यु का संहार करते हो। स्तुति करने वालों के साथ द्वेष रखने वाले, अनाचारी, ईश्वर के गुणगान से रहित लोगों को वश में रखते हो।

ऋग्वेद १।११७।२१
हे शूरवीर सेनाधीशों! आप उत्तम जनों की रक्षा तथा दस्यु का संहार करो। इस मंत्र में रचनात्मक कार्यों में संलग्न मनुष्यों को आर्य कहा गया है।

ऋग्वेद १।१३०।८
हे परम ऐश्वर्यवान् राजा! आप तीन प्रकार के – साधारण, स्पर्धा के लिए और सुख की वृद्धि के लिए किए जाने वाले संग्रामों में यजमानम् आर्यम् (उत्तम गुण, कर्म स्वभाव के लोग) का रक्षण करें और अव्रतान् (नियम को न पालनेवाले, दुष्ट आचरण वाले), जिनका अंत: करण काला हो गया है, हिंसा में रत या हिंसा की इच्छा करने वाले को नष्ट कर दें।

यहां ‘कृष्ण त्वक्’ शब्द से कालि त्वचा वाले लोगों की कल्पना कर ली गई है। जब की यहाँ ‘कृष्ण त्वक्’ का अर्थ अंत:करण का दुष्ट भाव है। साथ ही यहां ‘ततृषाणाम्’ और ‘अर्शसानम्’ भी आए हैं, जिनका अर्थ है – हिंसा करना चाहना और हिंसा में रत। इस के विरुद्ध आर्य यहां श्रेष्ठ और परोपकारी मनुष्यों के लिए आया है।
इस से स्पष्ट होता है कि आर्य और दस्यु शब्द गुण वाचक हैं, जाति वाचक नहीं हैं।

ऋग्वेद ३।३४।९
यह मंत्र भी दस्यु का नाश और आर्य की रक्षा का अर्थ रखता है। यहां आर्य के लिए “वर्ण” शब्द आया है, “वर्ण अर्थात् स्वीकार किए जाने योग्य”, इसलिए आर्य वर्ण अर्थात् स्वीकार करने योग्य उत्तम व्यक्ति।

ऋग्वेद ४।२।२
मैं आर्य को भूमि देता हूं, दानशील मनुष्य को वर्षा देता हूं और सब मनुष्यों के लिए अन्य संपदा देता हूं। यहां आर्य “दान शील मनुष्यों” के विशेषण रूप में आया है।

ऋग्वेद के अन्य मंत्र हैं –

• ऋग्वेद ४।३०।१८
• ऋग्वेद ५।३४।६
• ऋग्वेद ६।१८।३
• ऋग्वेद ६।२२।१०
• ऋग्वेद ६।२२।१०
• ऋग्वेद ६।२५।२
• ऋग्वेद ६।३३।३
• ऋग्वेद ६।६०।६
• ऋग्वेद ७।५।७
• ऋग्वेद ७।१८।७
• ऋग्वेद ८।२४।२७
• ऋग्वेद ८।१०३।१
• ऋग्वेद १०।४३।४
• ऋग्वेद १०।४०।३
• ऋग्वेद १०।६९।६

इन मंत्रों में भी आर्य और दस्यु – दास शब्दों के विशेषणों से पता चलता है कि अपने गुण, कर्म और स्वभाव के कारण ही मनुष्य आर्य और दस्यु नाम से पुकारे जाते हैं। अतः उत्तम स्वभाव वाले, शांतिप्रिय, परोपकारी गुणों को अपनाने वाले आर्य तथा अनाचारी और अपराधी प्रवृत्ति वाले दस्यु हैं।

ऋग्वेद ६।२२।१० दास को भी आर्य बनाने की शिक्षा देता है। साफ़ है कि आर्य और दस्यु का अंतर कर्मों के कारण है जाति के कारण नहीं।

ऋग्वेद ६।६०।६ में कहा गया है, यदि आर्य (विद्वान श्रेष्ठ लोग) भी अपराधी प्रवृत्ति के हो जाएं तो उनका भी संहार करो। यही भावना ऋग्वेद १०।६९।६ और १०।८३।१ में व्यक्त की गई है। अतः आर्य कोई सदैव बने रहने वाला विशेषण नहीं है। आर्य गुणवाचक शब्द है। श्रेष्ठ गुणों को धारण करनेवाले आर्य कहलाते हैं। अगर वह अपने गुणों से विमुख हो जाएं – अपराधिक प्रवृत्तियों में लिप्त हो जाएं, तो वह भी दस्यु की तरह ही दंड के पात्र हैं।

अथर्ववेद ५।११।३ वर्णन करता है कि ईश्वर के नियमों को आर्य या दास कोई भंग नहीं कर सकता।

शंका:
इस मंत्र में आर्य और दास शब्दों से दो अलग जातियां होने का संदेह होता है। यदि दास का अर्थ अपराधी है तो ईश्वर अपराधियों को अपराध करने ही क्यों देता है? जबकि वो स्वयं कह रहा है कि मेरे नियम कोई नहीं तोड़ सकता?

समाधान:
ईश्वर के नियमानुसार मनुष्य का आत्मा कर्म करने में स्वतंत्र है। वह अपने लिए भले या बुरे दोनों प्रकार के कर्मों में से चुनाव कर सकता है। लेकिन कर्म का फ़ल उसके हाथ में नहीं है। कर्मफल प्राप्त करने में जीवात्मा ईश्वर के अधीन है। यही इस मंत्र में दर्शाया गया है।

इसी सूक्त के अगले दो मंत्रों अथर्ववेद ५।११।४ और अथर्ववेद ५।११।६ में कहा गया है कि बुरे लोग भी ईश्वर के अपरिवर्तनीय नियमों से डरते हैं, परंतु वे मनुष्यों से भयभीत नहीं होते और उपद्रव करते रहते हैं। इसलिए यहां ईश्वर से प्रार्थना है कि बदमाश और अपराधियों की नहीं चले, वे दबे रहें और विद्वानों को बढ़ावा मिले।

यहां बदमाश अपराधियों के लिए दास या दस्यु ही नहीं आए बल्कि कई मंत्रों में ज्ञान, तपस्या और शुभ कर्मों से द्वेष करने वालों के लिए ‘ब्रह्मद्विष’ शब्द भी आया है।

ऋग्वेद के ३।३०।१७ तथा ७।१०४।२ मंत्र ब्रह्मद्विष, नरभक्षक, भयंकर और कुटिल लोगों को युद्ध के द्वारा वश में रखने को कहते हैं। अब जैसे ब्रह्मद्विष, नरभक्षक, भयंकर और कुटिल कोई अलग जाति नहीं है, मनुष्यों में ही इन दुर्गुणों को अपनाने वालों को कहते हैं। उसी तरह अपराधी प्रवृत्ति के लोगों को दास, दस्यु और ब्रह्मद्विष कहते हैं – यह अलग कोई जाति या नस्ल नहीं है।

ऋग्वेद ७।८३।७ इसे और स्पष्ट करता हुआ कहता है कि दस अपराधी प्रवृत्ति के राजा मिलकर भी एक सदाचारी राजा को नहीं हरा सकते। क्योंकि उत्तम मनुष्यों की प्रार्थनाएं हमेशा पूर्ण होती हैं और उन्हें बहुत से बलवान जनों का सहयोग और साधन भी मिलते हैं।

यहां अपराधी प्रवृत्ति के लिए ‘अयज्व‘ आया है जो कि ऊपर के कुछ मंत्रों में दस्यु के लिए भी आ चुका है और कथित बुद्धिवादी पाश्चात्यों ने इस में दस राजाओं का युद्ध दिखाने का प्रयास किया है!

सारांश

अंत में ऋग्वेद के मंत्र ७।१०४।१२ से हम – आर्य और दास या दस्यु या अव्रत या अयज्व के संघर्ष को सार रूप में समझें –
“विद्वान यह जानें कि सत् (सत्य) और असत् (असत्य) परस्पर संघर्ष करते रहते हैं। सत्-असत् को और असत् – सत् को दबाना चाहता है। परंतु इन दोनों में जो सत् है और ऋत (शाश्वत सत्य) है, उसी की ईश्वर सदा रक्षा करता है और असत् का हनन करता है।”

आइए, हम भी झूठा अभिमान त्याग कर, सत् और ऋत के मार्ग पर चलें। अगले अध्याय में हम “दास” शब्द पर चर्चा करेंगे और यह देखेंगे कि दास का शूद्र से कोई लेना-देना नहीं है बल्कि दास – दस्यु का ही पर्यायवाची है।

अनुवादक: आर्यबाला

This article is also available in English at http://agniveer.com/839/vedas-dasyu-hinduism/

वेद और शूद्र

वेदों के बारे में फैलाई गई भ्रांतियों में से एक यह भी है कि वे ब्राह्मणवादी ग्रंथ वेदों के बारे में फैलाई गई भ्रांतियों में से एक यह भी है कि वेद ब्राह्मण वादी ग्रंथ हैं और शूद्रों के साथ अन्याय करते हैं। हिन्दू या सनातन या वैदिक धर्म का मुखौटा बने जातिवाद की जड़ भी वेदों में बताई जा रही है और इन्हीं विषैले विचारों पर दलित आन्दोलन इस देश में चलाया जा रहा है।

परंतु इस से बड़ा असत्य और कोई नहीं है। इस अध्याय में हम इस मिथ्या मान्यता को खंडित करते हुए वेद तथा संबंधित अन्य ग्रंथों से स्थापित करेंगे कि

• चारों वर्णों का और विशेषतया शूद्र का वह अर्थ है ही नहीं, जो मैकाले के मानसपुत्र दुष्प्रचारित करते रहते हैं।
• वैदिक जीवन पद्धति सब मानवों को समान अवसर प्रदान करती है तथा जन्म-आधारित भेदभाव की कोई गुंजाइश नहीं रखती।
• वेद ही एकमात्र ऐसा ग्रंथ है जो सर्वोच्च गुणवत्ता स्थापित करने के साथ ही सभी के लिए समान अवसरों की बात कहता हो। जिसके बारे में आज के मानवतावादी तो सोच भी नहीं सकते।

वैदिक मन्त्रों में शूद्र

आइए, कुछ उपासना मंत्रों से जानें कि वेद शूद्र के बारे में क्या कहते हैं –

यजुर्वेद १८।४८
हे भगवन! हमारे ब्राह्मणों में, क्षत्रियों में, वैश्यों में तथा शूद्रों में ज्ञान की ज्योति दीजिये। मुझे भी वही ज्योति प्रदान कीजिये ताकि मैं सत्य के दर्शन कर सकूं।

यजुर्वेद २०।१७
जो अपराध हम ने गाँव, जंगल या सभा में किए हों, जो अपराध हमने इन्द्रियों से किए हों, जो अपराध हमने शूद्रों में और वैश्यों में किए हों और जो अपराध हम ने धर्म में किए हों, कृपया उसे क्षमा कीजिये और हमें अपराध की प्रवृत्ति से छुडाइए।

यजुर्वेद २६।२
हे मनुष्यों! जैसे मैं ईश्वर इस वेद ज्ञान को पक्षपात के बिना मनुष्यमात्र के लिए उपदेश करता हूं, इसी प्रकार आप सब भी इस ज्ञान को ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, शूद्र, वैश्य, स्त्रियों के लिए तथा जो अत्यन्त पतित हैं उनके भी कल्याण के लिये दो। विद्वान और धनिक मेरा त्याग न करें।

अथर्ववेद १९।३२।८
हे ईश्वर! मुझे ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, शूद्र और वैश्य सभी का प्रिय बनाइए। मैं सभी से प्रसंशित होऊं।

अथर्ववेद १९।६२।१
सभी श्रेष्ठ मनुष्य मुझे पसंद करें। मुझे विद्वानों, ब्राह्मणों, क्षत्रियों, शूद्रों, वैश्यों का और जो भी मुझे देखे उसका प्रियपात्र बनाओ।

इन वैदिक प्रार्थनाओं से विदित होता है कि –

• वेद में ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र चारों वर्ण समान माने गए हैं।
• सब के लिए समान प्रार्थना है तथा सबको बराबर सम्मान दिया गया है।
• सभी अपराधों से छूटने के लिए की गई प्रार्थनाओं में शूद्र के साथ किए गए अपराध भी शामिल हैं।
• वेद के ज्ञान का प्रकाश समभाव रूप से सभी को देने का उपदेश है।

यहां ध्यान देने योग्य है कि इन मंत्रों में शूद्र शब्द वैश्य से पहले आया है, अतः स्पष्ट है कि न तो शूद्रों का स्थान अंतिम है और ना ही उन्हें कम महत्त्व दिया गया है।

सारांश
इस से सिद्ध होता है कि वेदों में शूद्रों का स्थान अन्य वर्णों की ही भांति आदरणीय है और उन्हें उच्च सम्मान प्राप्त है। यह कहना कि वेदों में शूद्र का अर्थ कोई ऐसी जाति या समुदाय है जिससे भेदभाव बरता जाए – पूर्णतया निराधार है। अगले अध्यायों में हम शूद्र के पर्यायवाची समझ लिए गए दास, दस्यु और अनार्य शब्दों की चर्चा करेंगे।

अनुवादक: आर्यबाला

This article is also available in English at http://agniveer.com/821/vedas-and-shudra/