Three Essays and A Story

THBEE ESSAYS
AND
A STOBY
A Trbute to Anna, my 1ather
T. V1jAYENDBA
Sangatya Sahtya Bhandar
1dup , Karnataka
Three Essays and a Story
A Trbute to Anna, my 1ather
Author. T. VIjayendra
Year. 2011
IrIce. IrIceIess
CopIes. 50
O Copy IeIt. AII IIghts Ieversed
1OB PB1VATE C1BC11AT1ON
PubIshers:
Sangatya SahItya handar
7-67 I, jayadurga Compound
TempIe Ioad, Kannarpady
!dupI 576 103, Karnataka
Ihone. 08258 205340
maII. t.vIjayendra@gmaII.com
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CONTENTS
IIIAC 4
T. IMACIAIYA 5
SASKIT A TI A IAG!AG IAMIS 7
IIGO A IOITCS 16
IMS jOSI and the orth ndIan CIassIcaI MusIc 27
TI TI! STOIY OI IGAG IAIAS 30
PBE1ACE
The contents oI these essays and story are based on what Iearnt Irom
my Iather. Ie was a schoIar oI SanskrIt, was a partIsan schoIar In the
theoIogIcaI debate between dIIIerent schooIs oI Vedanta, hIs, posItIon
beIng that oI Dvcitc, as he beIonged to the Mcdhvc tradItIon. Ie was
aIso a musIcIan, was a dIscIpIe oI evIdas IetIwaIe oI ndore. The
sensIbIIItIes oI these essays and story are oI course mIne and beIong to
a dIIIerent era. My Iather was a partIsan to a specIIIc scmprcdcyc
wIthIn VedantIc tradItIon oI IInduIsm, whereas am an atheIst and
IrreIIgIous. IoIItIcaIIy he was IIberaI and was cIose to IabIan SocIaIIsm,
whereas beIong to the MarxIst-AnarchIst tradItIon. About my musIcaI
IeanIngs, the Iess saId the better. My Iather once toId me never to try a
career In musIc as, In hIs opInIon, had no ear Ior musIc. Ie was
probabIy rIght In spIte oI current educatIonIsts' beIIeI that every chIId
has artIstIc sensIbIIItIes.
My Iather had a kIIIIng sense oI satIre and he couId and oIten dId cut
me to pIeces and put me In my pIace whenever my arrogance showed
up. Ie was capabIe oI usIng choIce Kannada and SanskrIt phrases and
IdIoms Ior thIs. Ior exampIe 'ay by day our horse Is turnIng Into a
donkey (Kannada. 'Bcrtc bcrtc ncm kudre kctte cyctu') or he wouId
Iook up towards sky and pray to SaraswatI, the goddess oI IearnIng
'IIease, Iet It not be my Iate that have to present my poems to a
person who has no sense oI aesthetIcs' (SanskrIt, KaIIdasa. 'Arcsikeshu
kcvitvcnivedcncm, sircshu mc likh! mc likh! mc likh!). Then there
were my IrIends and comrades who vIsIted hIm and toId hIm how much
they Iearned Irom me about apprecIatIng ndIan cIassIcaI musIc or
IIndu reIIgIon and Its phIIosophIes. urIng my vIsIts he wIII teII
someone wIth a wonder In hIs voIce that VIju's IrIends and comrades
toId him that they have Iearnt to apprecIate cIassIcaI musIc and IIndu
reIIgIon and Its phIIosophIes Irom Viju!
So thIs Is my aIIectIonate 'revenge' Ior aII those humIIIatIons suIIered.
HonnaI V]ayendra
3. 2. 2011
Three esscys cnd c story 5
T. BHEEMACHABYA
{jAN1ABY 17, 1905-AprI 29, 1985)
My Iather was born In TummInkatte, In the then harwar dIstrIct oI
orth Karnataka. Today It Is In IaverI dIstrIct. That Is where the 'T'
comes In hIs name though he never expanded to Its IuII Iorm In wrItIng
hIs name. Ior a Iong tIme thought, due to my IImIted knowIedge oI
Kannada, that It was TungInkatte, the banks oI the rIver Tungabhadra.
n schooI, none oI us chIIdren expanded It eIther. Iater when the state
became more IntrusIve In our prIvate IIves and InsIsted on knowIng Its
IuII Iorm, made It Tungabhadra, whereas my brother made It
Tumkur!
n 1913, as a chIId he was adopted by a rIch chIIdIess IamIIy oI
IonnaII, and we aIways treated IonnaII as our home vIIIage/town. Ie
hImseII dId not IIke to stay there and went to a gurukulc, where
chIIdren were traIned to become pontIIIs oI the reIIgIon. Iere they
conversed In SanskrIt, usIng Kannada onIy to taIk to women and
servants In the tradItIon oI pIays by KaIIdasa. Ie aIso appeared In the
matrIcuIatIon examInatIon oI the then ombay IresIdency and won
Shankar Sheth schoIarshIp In SanskrIt and promptIy IeIt the gurukulc,
whereas hIs cousIn stayed back and became a pontIII oI the Uttcrdci
mcthc. My mother beIIeves that he IeIt the gurukulc because he
wanted to eat onIon pckorcs, whIch he couId not get In the gurukulc!
At harwar at he became part oI the group 'Geleyer gumpu' whIch had
peopIe IIke . I. endre (who became a Iamous poet), I. I. Iwakar
(who Iater became a Governor) and V. K. Gokak (who became a Iamous
academIcIan). AIter IntermedIate he went to Mysore to study Ior the
degree oI SahItya VIdvan In SanskrIt. Among hIs cIassmates was S.
IadhakrIshnan, who Iater became the IresIdent oI ndIa. My Iather got
InvoIved In agItatIon agaInst the rItIsh, was shot In the Ieg and had an
arrest warrant agaInst hIm. The then prIme mInIster oI the Mysore
State, MIrza smaII, came to the hosteI In the evenIng and asked hIm to
quIt the state ImmedIateIy beIore he was Iorced to execute the arrest
warrant. My Iather reached ndore In 1922.
Ie seemed to have had some musIcaI taIent and so he became a
dIscIpIe oI the court musIcIan, evIdas IetIwaIe. n those days
hatkhande had just pubIIshed hIs crItIcaI voIumes on the north ndIan
cIassIcaI musIc In SanskrIt under the name oI Chatur IandIt. My Iather
buIIt an exceIIent IIbrary oI the musIc IIterature that had just began
comIng out Ior hIs bIInd guru, read them and 'taught' hIm aII that was
happenIng In the worId oI musIc. have seen a copy oI book In
evnagarI and ndIan notatIon by MaharshI evendranath Thakhur
(grandIather oI IabIndranath Tagore) pubIIshed In 1860s! Ie aIso
Iearnt pIayIng the Been, the orth ndIan Veenc Irom abu Khan, the
Iast exponent oI the Instrument. abu Khan wouId come, gIve a Iesson
Ior may be up to 15 mInutes, teII my Iather that he (my Iather) was
quIck In IearnIng, coIIect hIs Iee oI one rupee and wouId go and buy hIs
bottIe! Those were the days! Ie aIso Iearnt Tcblc Irom ZehangIr Khan
who IIved very cIose to our house.
Ie aIso became a tutor to the chIIdren oI the handarkar IamIIy,
teachIng the daughter SanskrIt and the son musIc. Iater he became
the vIce prIncIpaI Ior both the musIc coIIege and the SanskrIt coIIege In
ndore. Ie passed . A. and . T. (acheIor In TeachIng) Irom Agra
!nIversIty and became a teacher In the SanyogItaganj IIgh SchooI,
ndore.
Ie wore KhadI but dId not use a KhadI cap, and dressed IIke MotI IaI
ehru. Ie kept In touch wIth the poIItIcs oI the country, read wrItIngs
oI GandhI, ehru, ernard Shaw and ertrand IusseII. ut hIs heart
was not In poIItIcs, but In musIc and SanskrIt IIterature. n musIc he
became a IoIIower oI IIIp Kumar Ioy who approached God through
musIc.
AIter Independence, he was persuaded to take a government job and
he worked Ior the department oI IndustrIes, In charge oI vIIIage
IndustrIes. n summer sometImes went wIth hIm on tours and became
IamIIIar wIth hand Ioom and sIIk Industry and managed to shake hands
wIth ehru at Mandu where he (ehru) was gIvIng schooI dresses to
the trIbaI chIIdren.
Ie used to eat Iate at nIght and used to serve hIm. managed to do
every exercIse In Wren and MartIn grammar book wIth hIm and Iearnt
a Iot oI thIngs on varIous subjects. On Sundays aIso went on mornIng
waIks wIth hIm, a habIt he kept aImost tIII the end. Ie was actIve tIII
the Iast day oI hIs IIIe. Ie IeII In the bathroom whIIe havIng a bath, Iost
hIs conscIousness and dIed wIthIn a Iew hours wIthout wakIng up.
had met hIm a Iew months earIIer and we had dIscussed about
preparIng Ior death and he had saId that sudden death (ckcsmct
mrityu) Is the best death. IIs Iast wIsh thus was IuIIIIIed.
SANSKB1T AND THE 1ND1AN
1ANG1AGE 1AM111ES
ln the mcking oj the modern lndicn nction, c lot oj myths cnd populcr
notions got crected in the 18
th
cnd the 19
th
century. One oj the common
threcds cmong these wcs thct cncient lndic (recd Hindu) wcs grect
cnd thct lndic beccme bcckwcrd cnd deccdent during the medievcl
(recd Muslim) period. This crticle cttempts to explore two oj these
myths cnd populcr notions cbout the Scnskrit lcngucge cnd its
relctionship to lndicn lcngucges. These cre: 1. Scnskrit is the mother
oj cll lndicn lcngucges cnd 2. lndicn lcngucges cre divided into two
lcrge jcmilies known cs Drcvidicn cnd lndo Arycn jcmilies. The crticle
crgues thct Scnskrit is not mother to cny lndicn lcngucge. lt clso
trcces the history oj the crection oj this notion. Then it crgues thct the
division oj lndicn lcngucges into Drcvidicn cnd lndo Arycn jcmilies is
jclse. lt goes on to explcin the true relctionship oj Scnskrit to lndicn
lcngucges cnd crgues thct cll lndicn lcngucges jorm one jcmily.
1. 1s Sanskrt the Mother of 1ndan 1anguages?
What s Sanskrt?
SanskrIt Is the cIassIcaI Ianguage oI ndIa. Today there Is no speech
communIty oI SanskrIt, that Is, nobody uses SanskrIt as the maIn
Ianguage oI normaI daIIy use (except a coupIe oI rahmIn vIIIages In
ShImoga dIstrIct, Karnataka). ut It Is not a dead Ianguage eIther. t Is
taught In schooIs though practIcaIIy no one Iearns It. Iowever, many
upper caste ndIans wouId know a Iew phrases/coupIets oI SanskrIt. n
the vocabuIary oI standard modern ndIan Ianguages, there are a Iarge
number oI words derIved Irom SanskrIt. t Is the Ianguage oI rItuaIs Ior
the upper castes. There are probabIy a Iew hundred peopIe who know
SanskrIt weII, most oI who are rahmIns. There are aIso a Iarge
number oI rahmIn prIests who know enough SanskrIt to perIorm
rItuaIs. The IeveI oI theIr knowIedge varIes a Iot Irom prIest to prIest.
SanskrIt aIso has been the Ianguage oI Shcstrc, oI knowIedge oI the
ndIan tradItIon. ven In the 20
th
century the musIcoIogIst hatkhande
wrote hIs book In SanskrIt. Over the Iast two thousand years, there
have been books In SanskrIt on poIItIcs, phIIosophy, reIIgIon, theoIogy,
ethIcs, mathematIcs, astroIogy, medIcIne and a host oI other IIeIds oI
knowIedge. IanInI's grammar, IatanjaII's Yogashastra, Chanakya's
Arthashastra, Manus harmashastra, Aryabhatta and VarahamIhIr In
mathematIcs and astronomy are just some oI the known books. Today
many oI them are transIated Into ngIIsh and Into some ndIan
Ianguages and are used maInIy by schoIars. Iowever, In the
maInstream oI ndIan IIIe, knowIedge and Industry, SanskrIt has
practIcaIIy no roIe. ngIIsh and modern ndIan Ianguages ruIe.
IIstorIcaIIy SanskrIt was the Ianguage oI the peopIe In orth-West
ndIa, west oI the rIver IavI. The areas covered then are todays
AIghanIstan, aIuchIstan and western parts oI KashmIr, and Iunjab.
The area probabIy extended up to ran whose Ianguage and cuIture
had cIose aIIInIty to the VedIc SanskrIt. The Important centre was In
IakhtunItsan (the Iand oI Iathans) or the orth West IrontIer provInce
oI IakIstan and was known as Gandhar whose maIn town TakshashIIa
(todays TaxIIa In IakIstan) was Iamous as a seat oI IearnIng roughIy
between 5
th
century .C. and 5
th
century A..

The SanskrIt that we know today got the present cIassIcaI Iorm
between the 3
rd
century .C. and the 3
rd
century A. when It receIved
patronage Irom the IIndu kIngs. urIng thIs perIod KautIIya's
Arthashastra, ManusmrItI or harmashastra and an eIaborate and
perIect grammar was created. The other Important Ianguage oI the era
was IaII, wIth Its centres In IatIIputra (Iatna) and aIanda under the
patronage oI uddhIst kIngs. SanskrIt and IaII coexIsted and competed
to be known as the Ianguage oI the state durIng the 1000 years
between the 5
th
century .C. and the 5
th
century A..
WIth the arrIvaI oI the MusIIm ruIers, both the Ianguages graduaIIy
ceased to be the Ianguage oI the state. IersIan repIaced these
Ianguages aIthough no IersIan ever ruIed over ndIa! IaII more or Iess
vanIshed Irom ndIa, aIthough It remaIned In use In SrI Ianka. And as
everyone knows, ngIIsh repIaced IersIan and today In spIte oI many
eIIorts by the supporters oI modern ndIan Ianguages, ngIIsh remaIns
the Ianguage oI power and knowIedge.
SeveraI questIons arIse. Why and how has SanskrIt survIved? IatIn
does not have thIs kInd oI presence In urope. Why was such a perIect
grammar created? What Is the reIatIonshIp between SanskrIt and
modern ndIan Ianguages?
The 1ndan 1anguages 1amIes
Ior the purpose oI thIs artIcIe, ndIa Is IInguIstIcaIIy deIIned as the
area east oI the ndus rIver system, south oI the Iower IImaIayas. n
the east It covers western regIons oI angIadesh and IInaIIy It Is
bounded by the ay oI engaI, ArabIan Sea and the ndIan Ocean. n
that sense the poIItIcaI boundarIes oI present day ndIa do reIIect, at
Ieast IInguIstIcaIIy, a homogeneous regIon. y the same count, SanskrIt
wouId appear as a Ianguage Irom across the border, a IoreIgn
Ianguage, aIthough there are no takers oI SanskrIt In Its orIgInaI Iand.
ndIa today has 415 IIvIng Ianguages, 196 oI whIch are endangered
and 9 are extInct. Iowever the majorIty oI these have smaII speech
communItIes. WhIIe the 18 Ianguages recognIzed by the constItutIon
have Iarge speech communItIes oI a Iew crores, they do not IncIude
many Ianguages whIch are equaIIy Iarge, IIke hojpurI or akhnI.
The two Iarge IamIIIes popuIarIy known as the ravId oI the South and
ndo-Aryan In the orth make up the majorIty oI ndIan popuIatIon.
There are trIbaI Ianguages In the jharkhand area and In the orth ast
whIch have reIatIveIy smaII speech communItIes, Irom a Iew thousands
to a Iew Iakhs. Iere onIy the ravId and ndo Aryan IamIIIes wIII be
dIscussed because they are the ones that are InIIuenced by SanskrIt.
The Noton of Sanskrt as the Mother of 1ndan 1anguages
The popuIar notIon about SanskrIt Is that It Is the mother oI aII modern
ndIan Ianguages. The maIn argument Is the proIusIon oI SanskrIt
words In aII ndIan Ianguages. t Is aIso notIced that In South ndIan or
ravId Ianguages reIatIveIy more SanskrIt word occur In theIr orIgInaI
'tctscm' (as It Is) Iorm than In the orth. n the orth many words
acquIre a 'tcdbhcvc' (as It has become) Iorm.
The deveIopment oI modern ndIan Ianguage Is traced as. SanskrIt -
IrakrIt - Apabhransh - modern Ianguages - Ior both the ravIdIan and
ndo Aryan Ianguage IamIIIes. AIthough thIs IormuIa Is more appIIcabIe
to the orth ndIan Ianguages than to the South, It Is taken as gIven.
These notIons have been chaIIenged by modern schoIarshIp In many
ways. IIrst there Is no ndIan tradItIon oI thIs kInd oI IInguIstIc hIstory.
SecondIy they have been chaIIenged empIrIcaIIy too. Iowever they not
onIy remaIn popuIar, but are aIso In the text books, and many Ih..s on
Ianguages subscrIbe to these notIons.
Where dd ths Noton come from?
As we saId above, these notIons do not occur In the ndIan tradItIon. So
where have they come Irom? They are essentIaIIy oI uropean orIgIn
and they came through the rItIsh to ndIa, through a new dIscIpIIne
caIIed comparatIve IInguIstIcs. As It. KashIram Sharma says, 'n the
Iast two hundred years, In the name oI comparatIve IInguIstIcs,
absoIuteIy IrreIevant and useIess proposItIons and IIctIonaI accounts
have been created whIch have poIsoned the poIItIcaI, socIaI and
cuIturaI envIronment oI our country.'
t Is saId that comparatIve IInguIstIcs was born wIth a Iecture at the
InauguraI IunctIon oI the AsIatIc SocIety In engaI by a Iearned judge
caIIed WIIIIam jones. WIIIIam jones was a judge at the Supreme Court
oI CaIcutta and had Iearnt SanskrIt and IersIan. n 1786, In the journaI
oI the AsIatIc SocIety, SIr WIIIIam jones announced that.
'The SanskrIt Ianguage, whatever Its antIquIty, Is oI a wonderIuI
structure. more perIect than Greek, more copIous than IatIn, and
more exquIsIteIy reIIned than eIther, yet bearIng to both oI them a
stronger aIIInIty, both In root oI verbs and In the Iorm oI grammar (...)
o phIIosopher couId examIne them aII three, wIthout beIIevIng them
to have sprung Irom some common source, whIch perhaps no Ionger
exIsts.'('On the IIndus', The Works oI SIr WIIIIam jones, , Iondon
1807, 34-5)
Where dd WIIam jones get hs deas from?
There Is a Iong uropean tradItIon oI these Ideas. !mberto co In hIs
book The Secrch jor the Ferject Lcngucge has toId thIs story. t starts
Irom the IbIe. 'n IbIe the IInguIstIc theme Is taken In a very expIIcIt
IashIon, In GenesIs 11.1 we are toId that aIter the IIood, the whoIe
earth was oI one Ianguage, and oI one speech. 'Yet, men In theIr vanIty
conceIved a desIre to rIvaI the Iord, and thus to erect a tower that
wouId reach up to the heavens. To punIsh theIr prIde and to put a stop
to the constructIon oI theIr tower., the Iord thought." Iet us go down,
and there conIound theIr Ianguage, that they may not understand one
another's speech...ThereIore Is the name oI It caIIed abeI, because
the Iord dId there conIound the Ianguage oI aII the earth. and Irom
thence dId the Iord scatter them abroad upon the Iace oI aII the earth'
(GenesIs 11.7, 9).'
t occupIed the uropean mInd to search Ior thIs orIgInaI one Ianguage
and one speech, the perIect Ianguage. The search Ior thIs perIect
Ianguage Is caIIed the monogenetIc hypothesIs whIch assumed that aII
Ianguages descended Irom a unIque mother tongue. WIIIIam jones'
hypothesIs comes Irom thIs worId vIew and the theory that SanskrIt Is
the mother oI aII ndIan Ianguages orIgInated here, just as IatIn Is
popuIarIy consIdered as the mother oI uropean Ianguages.
Once Iaunched, thIs comparatIve IInguIstIc took Its own bIzarre Iorm In
the coIonIaI context. t gave rIse to coIonIaI hIstorIography and coIonIaI
anthropoIogy.
IIrst It gave bIrth to the ndo uropean hypothesIs whIch says that
IatIn, Greek, IersIan and SanskrIt beIong to one group and that
SanskrIt was the orIgInaI Ianguage oI the group. t aIso thus cIaImed
one root Ior one IamIIy - the Aryans. Thus the Aryan myth got created
wIth tragIc consequences durIng IItIer's regIme. t created the IdeaI oI
the 'whIte man's burden'. Thus, AdoIphe IIctet, the great IInguIst sang
the hymn to Aryan cuIture. 't Is not perhaps curIous to see the Aryans
oI urope, aIter a separatIon oI Iour to IIve thousand years, cIose the
cIrcIe once agaIn, reach theIr unknown brothers In ndIa, domInate
them, brIng them the eIements oI a superIor cIvIIIzatIon, and then to
IInd ancIent evIdence oI a common orIgIn?'
Why dId these so caIIed Aryan Ianguages traveI? The myth oI Aryan
InvasIon to ndIa got created. ApparentIy there was a IamIne and the
Aryans In search Ior grass Ior theIr herds went wanderIng In search oI
greener pastures and Ianded In ndIa. ot onIy that, waves oI these
InvasIons occurred and the Iater InvasIons pushed the earIIer settIers
In concentrIc cIrcIes, wIth Its centre In orth West, outwards to ast
and South and to deep jungIes. IInguIstIc and anthropoIogIcaI
evIdence got created Ior aII these mythoIogIes. The excavatIons In the
ndus VaIIey CIvIIIzatIon regIons Iurther 'proved' the Aryan InvasIon
and even dated It!
Why dId ndIa buy aII these theorIes when there was no ndIan
tradItIon to corroborate It? Ineteenth century ndIan upper
castes/cIasses were eager to denounce the negatIve aspects oI IIndu
reIIgIon and were ready to embrace Western CIvIIIzatIon. ThIs theory
was very convenIent. Western cIvIIIzatIon owed Its roots to ndIa,
ancIent ndIa was great and aII the IIIs/bad thIngs oI IIndu socIety
were due to the MusIIm InvasIon! ThIs was convenIent to the
coIonIaIIsts too. t created a rown sahIb and created the IIndu
MusIIm dIvIde.
Sanskrt s not reIated to any 1ndan Ianguage
The IIrst major attack on thIs concept came Irom It. Iev. AIbert
CaIdweII In 1856 when he showed that the ravIdIan Ianguages are
not reIated to SanskrIt at aII. Then It was shown that IrakrIt Ianguages
were not reIated to SanskrIt eIther. !sIng the same IogIc It. KashIram
Sharma demonstrated that IIndI Is not reIated to SanskrIt eIther.
SerIous IInguIsts do not beIIeve that any oI the ndIan Ianguages are
reIated to SanskrIt.
n the struggIe between IaII and SanskrIt, that Is, In the struggIe
between uddhIsm and IInduIsm durIng 3
rd
century . C. to 8
th
century A. ., IInduIsm and SanskrIt won. SanskrIt became the oIIIcIaI
Ianguage oI ndIa - oI the courts, oI IearnIng oI the 'Shastras'. The
story oI how and why IInduIsm and SanskrIt startIng Irom Magadh In
the orth 'conquered' rest oI ndIa Is a IascInatIng story and Is stIII
beIng expIored by hIstorIans. ut It dId happen and IInduIsm, wIth Its
caste system, untouchabIIIty and the power oI Arthshastra and
ManusmrItI occupIed the regIons Irom !. I. to KeraIa and Irom engaI
to Gujarat. t created a stabIe ruraI socIety based on hIerarchy oI
castes and occupatIon, on caste based expIoItatIon and oppressIon,
ImpervIous to change oI ruIers at the state IeveI. rahmIns and
SanskrIt pIayed the IegItImIsIng roIe Ior the ruIers.
Ior thIs, IearnIng SanskrIt became very Important, just as IearnIng
ngIIsh Is very Important today. nItIaIIy the rahmIns and the
bureaucrats had to go to TakshashIIa to Iearn SanskrIt Ior severaI
years. ven today In the rItuaI oI Ycgnopcvit, (oI twIce born) the Bctuk
(Iearners) has to perIorm a rItuaIIstIc trIp to KashmIr (oI a Iew steps)
to start hIs educatIon. t was unreaIIstIc Ior schoIars and bureaucrats
to do thIs Irom aII over ndIa and Iace that extreme coId weather, but It
was the norm
As a resuIt, at TakshashIIa, the SanskrIt schoIars deveIoped wonderIuI
methods oI teachIng SanskrIt to ndIans. SInce It was a case oI 'aduIt
IearnIng oI a IoreIgn Ianguage', they created specIaI IearnIng tooIs, one
oI whIch was oI creatIng the most perIect grammar In the worId. n the
dIscIpIIne oI grammar and phonetIcs, no author had a greater
InIIuence than IanInI wIth hIs Ashtcdhycyi (5
th
century A. .) ow one
does not need a grammar to Iearn one's own Ianguage, but It was very
useIuI when IearnIng a IoreIgn Ianguage. They aIso created ruIes Ior
pronuncIatIon and It was so perIect that aIter two thousand years,
today It Is stIII possIbIe to hear the same pronuncIatIon and recItatIon
oI SanskrIt Irom any part oI ndIa. They created dIctIonarIes In verse
Iorm so that schoIars Iearnt them by heart.
We have mentIoned that SanskrIt vocabuIary has penetrated many
modern Ianguages. ThIs Is due to the oIIIcIaI status It enjoyed. t Is the
same as IersIan vocabuIary oI IegaI terms that has come Into aII the
ndIan Ianguages, and In modern tImes, ngIIsh words have entered
ndIan Ianguages. Today any IM radIo bears eIoquent testImony to
thIs. WIth the arrIvaI oI sIam and SuIIsm, socIaI changes occurred at
a Iaster rate In the orth and InIIuence oI SanskrIt decreased rapIdIy.
n the South the InIIuence oI SanskrIt remaIned stronger and that Is
why there are more SanskrIt tctscm words In the South ndIan
Ianguages.
Iowever there Is another sIde to It. AII the SanskrIt words are not Irom
SanskrIt. SanskrIt has borrowed many words Irom ndIan Ianguages,
SanskrItIsed them (gave them Tctscm Iorm) and today we are made to
beIIeve that many ndIan words are vuIgarIsed (tcdbhcv Iorm) oI the
orIgInaI SanskrIt word. ngIIsh too has borrowed thousands oI words
Irom ndIa. n Iact there Is a dIctIonary oI these words caIIed 'Iobson
jobson'. t Is possIbIe to create a sImIIar dIctIonary oI SanskrIt words
borrowed Irom ndIan Ianguages. Ir. CaIdweII provIded Iong IIsts oI
such TamII words. Ior exampIe. Ambc (mother), Atcvi (Iorest), Neer
(water) Fcttcn (town), Fclli (vIIIage) Meen (IIsh) Shcv (dead body) and
so on. Other schoIars have done sImIIar works wIth other ndIan
Ianguages.
The 1uture of Sanskrt
. . KosambI once wrote that SanskrIt had IIteraIIy no Iuture sInce It
dId not have a normaI Iuture tense. VIr harat TaIwar In 'Rcssckcshi'
wrote that aIthough IIndI had won the rIght to be the Court Ianguage
In orth ndIa, It couId not repIace IersIan words. ow ngIIsh words
have repIaced the IersIan words. t Is not possIbIe to go back In tIme.
harma VIr wrote In 'Hindi Ki Atmc', that a Ianguage absorbs those
IoreIgn words that suIt Its nature or genIus. Ie gave the cIassIc
exampIe oI 'Tcble Kursi', where 'tabIe' got absorbed In IIndI but not
the 'chaIr'! Modern ndIan Ianguages have deIInIteIy repIaced both
SanskrIt and IersIan and have absorbed SanskrIt, IersIan and ngIIsh
words accordIng to theIr nature.
SanskrIt wIII remaIn as a Ianguage oI rItuaI to some upper caste
ndIans and a Ianguage Ior schoIars oI IInguIstIcs. Some experts opIne
that It may be useIuI Ior computer programmIng. The ackus-aur
Iorm or I grammars used to descrIbe modern programmIng
Ianguages have sIgnIIIcant sImIIarItIes wIth IanInI's grammar ruIes.
Great IIbrarIes wIII have SanskrIt cIassIcs avaIIabIe Ior serIous
students.
11. The Myth of 1ndo Aryan 1anguages and Dravd Ianguages
The terms ravIdIan and ndo Aryan IamIIIes do not occur In ndIan
tradItIon. They have been Introduced by the IInguIstIcs deveIoped In
the coIonIaI era. So do these Ianguage IamIIIes have any vaIIdIty? Why
and how have these concepts got created?
As we have seen above, comparatIve IInguIstIcs gave bIrth to the ndo
uropean hypothesIs whIch says that IatIn, Greek, IersIan and
SanskrIt beIong to one group and that SanskrIt was the orIgInaI
Ianguage oI the group. t aIso thus cIaImed as one root Ior one IamIIy -
the Aryans. Thus the Aryan myth got created and ndIan Ianguages
were caIIed ndo Aryan Ianguages.
AIter CaIdweII estabIIshed that the ravIdIan Ianguages are not
reIated, the Idea oI two groups evoIved. The orth ndIan Ianguages
were caIIed ndo Aryan and the South ndIan group was caIIed
ravIdIan. Iowever, as we have seen, schoIars show that the so-caIIed
ndo Aryan Ianguages are not reIated to SanskrIt eIther. So It Ieads to
expIore the possIbIIIty that the notIon oI two Iarge groups - ravIdIan
and ndo Aryan Is IaIse.
1ndan 1anguages form one famIy
t was IandIt KashIram Sharma who proposed that In Iact aII ndIan
Ianguages Iorm one IamIIy. Ie pubIIshed a bookIet caIIed. Drcvid
Fcrivcr ki Bhcshc: Hindi, (IIndI. a Ianguage oI ravId IamIIy) Irom
Ioorkee In 1968. The provocatIon Ior pubIIshIng and dIstrIbutIng thIs
pamphIet Is aIso InterestIng. " wIII never Iorget an IncIdent saw In
Ioorkee In 1967. The Angrezi hatao (Iemove ngIIsh) movement burnt
'GandhI Vcstrc handar' because Its name was wrItten In evanagarI
and Ioman. Iowever the 'MoteI IoIarIs' got saved because they
changed the name pIate to evanagarI over nIght!"
What Is the basIs to argue that In Iact ndIan Ianguages Iorm one
IamIIy? The ravId and the ndo-Aryan IamIIIes share a Iot.
1. They are In one Iarge geographIcaI contIguous area bounded by
the seas, the ndus rIver system, the IImaIayas and the rIver
rahmaputra.
2. There Is a 'morph by morph equIvaIence between these
Ianguages. That Is II you wrIte the same sentence In the two Ianguages
one beIow the other they wIII match vertIcaIIy. n other words the
sentence structure Is sImIIar In aII these Ianguages.
3. There Is a 'ravIdIan sub stratum In aII these Ianguages.
4. There Is an overIay oI SanskrIt vocabuIary In aII these Ianguages,
partIcuIarIy In the wrItten Iorm and spoken by the upper
castes/cIasses.
5. The ease wIth whIch Khcri boli and raj spread aII over ndIa. raj
spread In the medIevaI perIod, due to the KrIshna haktI and
VaIshnavIsm, to the ast and even to South ndIa. Khcri Boli aIso
spread Irom the 12th century onwards up to Tungabhadra In the
South, due to the SuIIs and Nirgun saInts. n the South It became
known as akhnI. Iater varIants oI ombay IIndI and CaIcutta IIndI
aIso came Into beIng durIng the coIonIaI perIod. SImIIarIy, The
ravIdIan Ianguages, numberIng 29, extend as Iar north as jharkhand
(the Oraon Ianguage) Madhya Iradesh and ChhatIsgarh (Gond
Ianguages) and even In the orth West beyond the ndus rIver system
(The rahuI Ianguage).
6. The scrIpts oI aII ndIan Ianguages are syIIabIc In nature and the
order oI the Ietters In the scrIpts Is same wIth a Iew regIonaI
varIatIons.
7. The ndIan Standard SIgn Ianguage. SIgn Ianguage Is a Ianguage
used by deaI peopIe to communIcate wIth each other wIth the heIp oI
sIgns made by hand. n theory each Ianguage or speech communIty has
Its own separate sIgn Ianguage. n other words there can be as many
sIgn Ianguages as there are Ianguages. Iowever thIs Is not practIcaI
Ior purposes oI teachIng. So normaIIy a IamIIy oI Ianguages evoIve a
common sIgn Ianguage. As we have trIed to argue above, ndIan
Ianguages as a whoIe Iorm one IamIIy, so It Is no surprIse that peopIe
workIng wIth deaI peopIe have In Iact evoIved a standard ndIan sIgn
Ianguage. ThIs Is one more 'prooI to IndIcate that ndIan Ianguages
Iorm one common IamIIy and theIr dIvIsIon between ravIdIan and
ndo Aryan may not be correct.
The BeaI Nature of BeIatonshp between 1anguages
IIIerent Ianguages are born In dIIIerent eco regIons. MaIwa has
MaIwI, Awadh has AwadhI or MIthIIa has MaIthIII. IIIerent Iorms oI
MarathI, TeIugu or Kannada exIsts In dIIIerent regIons. I they share a
Iarger eco regIon a IamIIy oI Ianguage gets created. Thus IIndI Is a set
oI some 30 Ianguages or MarathI Is oI 6. SImIIarIy ndIa, as we deIIned
It ecoIogIcaIIy and IInguIstIcaIIy above, has one Iarge group or IamIIy oI
modern ndIan Ianguages.
111. ConcIudng Bemarks
IocaI Ianguages can be super Imposed by a ruIIng Ianguage. n case oI
ndIa they have aII been 'IoreIgn'. IIrst It was SanskrIt, then IersIan
and now ngIIsh. s there somethIng specIaI about ndIan peopIe or the
ndIan cIImate that they are ruIed by IoreIgners or at Ieast by IoreIgn
Ianguages? Such a coIonIaI Idea has been around Ior quIte some tIme
and was eIoquentIy expressed In the book, 'The ContInent oI CIrce' by
Irad ChaudhurI.
n Iact ndIa twIce had an ndIan Ianguage as a ruIIng/natIonaI
Ianguage. IIrst It was IaII. t remaIned Irom the tIme oI Ashok to 9
th
century or so - more than 1000 years! SecondIy today oIIIcIaIIy IIndI
Is ndIa's natIonaI Ianguage aIthough In Iact ngIIsh has taken over.
Why dId IIndI IaII? Among others, one oI the reasons was that Its
proponents subscrIbed to the SanskrIt orIgIn theory and IIIIed It wIth
SanskrIt words and used SanskrIt grammar to teach It! Iowever, IIndI
In Its varIous popuIar Iorms remaIns the IInk Ianguage In ndIa.
Another way oI IookIng at It Is that ndIa Is a IederaI entIty and It Is
artIIIcIaI (ImperIaI) to have one common Ianguage. n Iact these
ImperIaI perIods have been oI reIatIveIy short duratIons but theIr
IInguIstIc Impact Is oI much Ionger duratIon. And durIng aII these
'ImperIaI perIods some provInces were aIways In a state oI revoIt, not
exceptIng the present ndIan state. The onIy dIIIerence Is that In the
past the revoItIng Iorces were maInIy IocaI kIngs or Kshatraps (though
there were exceptIons), whereas today a Iarge number oI peopIe are
InvoIved In these revoIts agaInst the centre.
The rest depends on the poIItIcaI course that ndIa wIII take In comIng
decades. I the centraIIsed ndIan state remaIns, ngIIsh wIII domInate.
I It breaks Into IederaI unIts, modern ndIan Ianguages wIII take over
wIth approprIate absorptIon oI SanskrIt, IersIan and ngIIsh Ianguage
words as weII as words Irom each other. There may even be a move to
de-SanskrItIse the Ianguages and to dIscover very good IocaI words oI
Iower caste/workIng cIass orIgIn. ThIs has happened beIore. n
Kannada the great poet . I. endre dIscovered and used many
orIgInaI Kannada words In hIs poems. SImIIar thIngs have happened In
many ndIan Ianguages. One can onIy hope that thIs wIII not gIve rIse
to a new kInd oI chauvInIsm/IascIsm IIke the ShIv Sena or Kannada
AbhImanIs.
Beferences
1. ajpaI, KIshorIdas. Hindi Shcbdcnushcscn, VaranasI v.s. 2013,
agarI IracharInI Sabha
2. ora, IajmaI. Bhcrct ki Bhcshcyen: Aitihcsik Evcm Bhougolik
Vivechcn, 1995, ew eIhI, VanI Irakashan
3. CaIdweII, It. Iev. Iobert. . A Compcrctive Grcmmcr oj the
Drcvidicn or South-lndicn Fcmily oj Lcngucges, 1856, IeprInted 1961,
!nIversIty oI Madras
4. ChaudhurI, Irad C.. The Continent oj Circe, 1965, ew eIhI,
jaIco ooks
5. harmavIr. Hindi ki Atmc, 1987, ew eIhI, Samata Irakashan
6. co, !mberto. The Secrch jor c Ferject lcngucge, 1997, Iondon,
Iontana Iress
7. Sharma, KashIram. Drcvid Fcrivcr ki Bhcshc: Hindi, 1968, Ioorkee
8. TaIwar, VIr harat, Rcssckcshi, 2002, ew eIhI, Saransh
Irakashan Ivt. Itd.
BE11G1ON AND PO11T1CS
!nderstandIng Contemporary IIndu IoIItIcs.
xpIorIng a IeopIe's Iroject
1ntroducton
ThIs Is not meant to be a deIInItIve essay on IInduIsm. t does not deaI
wIth the theoIogIcaI, spIrItuaI or ethIcaI aspects oI IIndu IeIIgIon. Ior
readers who want to expIore these aspects more they can start wIth
the exceIIent monograph, 'IInduIsm by K. M. Sen. Acharya KshItI
Mohan Sen was at ShantInIketan wIth Tagore and was an authorIty on
medIevaI ndIan reIIgIon. IIs 'Mcdhycjuger Scdhcnc Is a cIassIc
contrIbutIon In thIs IIeId.
ThIs essay Is meant maInIy to remove a Iot oI conIusIon and vagueness
that surrounds the term IIndu and IInduIsm, and to understand the
how and why oI the mIschIeI and vIoIence carrIed out by the 'Scngh
Fcrivcr In the name oI IInduIsm. The essay Is addressed to the so
caIIed Iayman, who has wIsdom to understand but may not have access
to technIcaI and academIc jargon.
TermnoIogy
The poIItIcaI and socIaI system we IIve In today Is caIIed capItaIIsm. t
Is a system based on expIoItatIon oI Iabour and naturaI resources by
the bourgeoIsIe or the capItaIIst cIass. SInce It Is a compIete socIaI and
poIItIcaI system, It aIIects every aspect oI IIIe IncIudIng reIIgIon. The
way It does Is reIerred to as the project oI the capItaI. As opposed to
thIs the workIng cIasses too struggIe agaInst It and struggIe In varIous
ways, IncIudIng In the reIIgIous domaIn. ThIs Is reIerred to as the
project oI the proIetarIat or the project oI the peopIe.
The word IIndu comes Irom the rIver ndus (Sindhu In ndIan
Ianguages) and was used by medIevaI worId oI Arabs and uropeans to
reIer to peopIe IIvIng east oI the rIver. IInduIsm or IIndu harma Is a
reIatIveIy modern term (the tradItIonaI word In ndIa was Scnctcn
harma) and Is an omnIbus word reIerrIng to the reIIgIous practIces,
rItuaIs, phIIosophIcaI and theoIogIcaI Ideas oI these peopIe. The words
IInduIsm or IIndu harma do not sIgnIIy a homogeneous reIIgIon or
peopIe. The word harma does not mean reIIgIon. t means a set oI
dutIes and obIIgatIon accordIng to one's statIon In IIIe. ThIs couId be
based on caste or that oI husband, wIIe, Iather, son, teacher, and
student and so on. These were deIIned orIgInaIIy by Manu In
ManusmrItI or harmashastra around 200 C. The word Ior reIIgIon In
the ndIan tradItIon Is Scmprcdcyc and not Dhcrmc. n thIs artIcIe the
word IInduIsm Is used In both the senses, that Is, as a set or group oI
reIIgIons (scmprcdcycs) and as harma, that Is, a set oI dutIes and
obIIgatIons or code oI conduct.
What s Hndusm?
IIndus trace theIr orIgIn to the VedIc perIod (1200 C-600 C), but
the IInduIsm as we know today dates Irom Arthashastra and
harmashastra (or ManusmrItI) around 200 C. These texts got
consoIIdated between 200 C and 300 A. uddhIsm and jaInIsm
datIng Irom 500 C were a bIg chaIIenge whIch Iasted up to 800 A.
uddhIsm then aImost vanIshed Irom ndIa but jaInIsm has survIved as
a smaII but powerIuI sect oI traders. Iowever theIr daIIy IIIe Is
IndIstInguIshabIe Irom other upper caste IIndus except Ior theIr strIct
vegetarIanIsm. Ior aII practIcaI purposes jaInIsm Is treated as one oI
the Sampradayas oI IInduIsm.
What happened durIng thIs perIod Ior IInduIsm to consoIIdate? The
answer In one word Is 'Iron. The comIng oI ron Age made settIed
agrIcuIture as the maInstay oI the economy. ron pIough and Iron tooIs
heIped to cIear Iorests and Improve agrIcuIture productIon. ThIs In
turn supported the IormatIon oI a stabIe state In two ways. t gave
taxes and supported an urban popuIatIon and army wIth Iood. The
taxes heIped to pay the army and bureaucracy. ron aIso gave better
weapons to the army.
ow a state Is an Instrument oI the ruIIng cIass to serve Its Interests
and keep the ruIed cIasses under controI. ThIs controI Is rareIy done by
Iorce, aIthough It Is aIways there. Most oI the tIme however, thIs
controI Is done through a set oI cuIturaI processes whIch IegItImIse or
justIIy the system oI state power. Among them reIIgIon Is one oI the
most Important. n modern tImes democracy and eIectIon aIso perIorm
thIs roIe. Arthashastra by Chanakya and harmashastra or ManusmrItI
by Manu heIped IegItImIse the state and consoIIdate IInduIsm.
ut what Is IInduIsm? Iow does IInduIsm IegItImIse or justIIy the
system? IahuI SankrItyayan deIIned IInduIsm as havIng three
characterIstIcs.
1. BeIef n the Karma theory and rebrth: ThIs gave the answer to
the cIassIc questIon that aII reIIgIons have to answer. Why do good
peopIe suIIer? And why does the ruIIng cIass gets away wIth aII the
InjustIce and corruptIon? The answer Is that you get what you deserve
because oI the Karma or deeds you dId In the past bIrth. I you behave
weII, that Is, obey, IoIIow ethIcs etc., then In next bIrth you wIII have a
better IIIe. The Idea oI rebIrth came Irom uddhIsm as VedIc Aryans
dId not beIIeve In rebIrth. The Karma Theory was deveIoped as both
uddhIsm and IInduIsm deveIoped Into IuII IIedged reIIgIons.
2. Taboo on cow sIaughter and beef eatng: ThIs was the cIassIc
totem turnIng Into taboo. arIIer the totemIc Iood Ior the cattIe
herdIng communItIes was beeI and cow sacrIIIce was a major VedIc
rItuaI. ThIs transIormatIon occurred due to agrIcuIture becomIng more
Important. uddhIsm and jaInIsm aIso contrIbuted to It. ThIs aIso
dIstInguIshed IIndus Irom the trIbaIs.
3. Creaton of the caste system: ThIs was the Arthashastra and
ManusmrItI way to consoIIdate the peasant socIety. Many trIbaI
communItIes were probabIy Iorced to cIear Iand Ior agrIcuIture and
Iater were absorbed In the IIndu socIety as the Shudrcs cnd
Fcnchcmcs (untouchabIes). !ntouchabIIIty was the ndIan Iorm oI
sIavery whIch contInued tIII Independence In 1947. t was Ambedkar
and the IIndu reIormers who IInaIIy managed to aboIIsh It IegaIIy
through the ndIan ConstItutIon. Iowever Ambedkars dream oI
aboIIshIng castes probabIy cannot be reaIIsed because caste Is
quIntessentIaIIy a IIndu phenomenon. AboIIsh caste and you aboIIsh
IInduIsm ItseII!
Who are the Hndus?
More than 90 oI the peopIe caIIed IIndu IIve In todays ndIa. epaI
Is the onIy other country that has a sIgnIIIcant number oI IIndus.
There are a smaII number oI IIndus scattered aII over the worId,
partIcuIarIy In the !SA, !K, Canada, IIjI, MaurItIus, rItIsh Guyana
and ast AIrIca.
WIthIn ndIa, out oI a popuIatIon oI 100 crores about 20 crores account
Ior MusIIms and ChrIstIans, 7 crores TrIbaIs and 23 crores account Ior
ScheduIed Castes. These are round IIgures Ior convenIence oI tackIIng
them. These 50 crores are by most reckonIng not IIndus, though the
Scngh Fcrivcr wouId cIaIm the SC/ST popuIatIon oI 30 crores as
IIndus. The remaInIng 50 crores are unambIguousIy IIndus. They IIve
In todays poIItIcaI ndIa. orth ast ndIa and KashmIr have very Iew
IIndus and IIndu ndIans are treated as IoreIgners/expIoIters/enemIes
by the majorIty oI these peopIe.
The posItIon oI scheduIed caste Is ambIguous. TradItIonaIIy they were
the shudrc and pcnchcmcs, the Iowest castes wIthIn the IIndu
reIIgIon. As has been saId above many trIbaI communItIes were
probabIy Iorced to cIear Iand Ior agrIcuIture and Iater were absorbed
In the IIndu socIety as the Shudrcs cnd Fcnchcmcs (untouchabIes).
The daIIy IIIe oI the Shudrcs cnd Fcnchcmcs Is cIoser to the trIbaIs
because oI thIs hIstory. TheIr gods and goddesses are not the normaI
IIndu deItIes IIke rahma, VIshnu, ShIva, Iama and KrIshna. or are
theIr IestIvaIs same as IwaII, ussera, IoII, !gadI etc. ven In the
20th century some trIbaIs became scheduIed castes and some
scheduIed castes went to the Iorests to become trIbaIs. ThIs probabIy
kept on happenIng Ior the Iast 2000 years. That Is the reason why,
these communItIes (today known as scheduIed castes) are vIewed
outsIde IInduIsm. The poIItIcaI Ieaders oI these communItIes aIso do
not see a Iuture wIthIn IInduIsm. Today there Is a sense oI revoIt
agaInst maInstream IInduIsm, and Iarge scaIe conversIon to other
reIIgIons (ChrIstIanIty, uddhIsm and sIam) have occurred much to the
anger oI Scngh Fcrivcr. What Is cIear Is that the IdeoIogy oI the Scngh
Fcrivcr wants to keep them as sIaves and second cIass cItIzens wIthIn
the IIndu IoId.
Pro]ect of the CaptaI
The project oI the capItaI represents the project oI the ruIIng cIasses.
n ndIa whIIe aII the members oI upper castes are not ruIers, aImost
aII the ruIers are Irom upper caste or IdentIIy themseIves wIth upper
caste cuIture and reIIgIon. aIIt poIItIcs caIIs thIs as rahmInIsm. So
we wIII IIrst examIne thIs rahmInIsm/ upper caste project. We shouId
remember that members oI the ruIIng cIass are not conscIous that they
are expIoIters just as men do not thInk that they oppress women. On
the other hand II the oppressed cIasses have to oppose they have to
become conscIous. IInaIIy many crItIcs oI the system are those
members oI the upper cIass/castes who do become conscIous.
Hndusm: An 1pper Caste Phenomenon
ven today two thIrds oI ndIa IIves In ruraI areas and where IIndu
reIIgIon and caste system pIays a major roIe. anIeI Thorner once
descrIbed ruraI ndIan caste system In terms oI 'MaIIk, KIsan and
Mazdoor', thereby IdentIIyIng the cIass aspect oI the caste system. The
MaIIks or Iarger Iand owners were oI course the upper castes oI
rahmIns, KshatrIyas, VaIshyas and Kayasthas. The KIsan or peasant
Iarmer castes were the vast majorIty oI what are known today as
backward castes whereas the Mazdoor or agrIcuIturaI workers were
Shudras and the Ianchamas as weII as castes deaIIng wIth dead
anImaIs, wastes and so on.
n Iact IInduIsm Is maInIy a sIgnIIIer oI the upper castes, known as
OCs (Other Castes - rahmIns, KshatrIyas, VaIshyas, and Kayasthas)
and Cs (ackward castes - peasants, artIsans and theIr sub-castes).
Iet us have a cIoser Iook at It.
The Bg Tradton
The term bIg tradItIon reIers to the cuIturaI and reIIgIous tradItIon oI
upper castes and the term smaII tradItIon reIers to those oI Iower
castes. n ndIa we can trace thIs to the medIevaI perIod, when
uddhIsm decIIned and popuIar trends generaIIy known as haktI
Movement emerged. The haktI movement has two dIstInct trends
known as Sagun and Irgun. oth trends contrIbuted to the
emergence oI modern ndIan Ianguages through haktI IIterature. As a
ruIe the Sagun tradItIon Is IdentIIIed wIth bIg tradItIon and Irgun
wIth the smaII tradItIon.
The word Sagun means 'wIth quaIItIes and It reIers to a concept oI
God who Is aII powerIuI and aII knowIng. n practIce It means
IdentIIyIng God wIth kIng and In the tempIes there wIII be an Image oI
God IookIng IIke a kIng wIth hIs queen and other court peopIe. AImost
aII the Iounders and saInts oI thIs tradItIon were rahmIns. As agaInst
thIs, there Is a Irgun (wIthout quaIItIes) tradItIon. n thIs there are no
deItIes In a tempIe and God Is regarded as IormIess. Most oI the saInts
In thIs tradItIon are artIsans and Iower caste peopIe (except Guru
anak who was a trader).
Among the three so caIIed great IIndu theoIogIans, Shankaracharya,
Madhwacharya, and Iamanujacharya, onIy Iamanujacharya (12th c.)
oI VIshIshtadvaIta has a bIgger constItuency In the name oI
VaIshnavIsm. Apart Irom rahmIns many traders, peasants castes are
aIso VaIshnavas aIthough theIr prIests are normaIIy rahmIns. The
Sagun tradItIon oI haktI oI ChaItanya In OrIssa and engaI, other
VaIshnavas oI raj, Gujarat, Western M.I., and Iajasthan etc. beIong to
It. The hIghIy artIcuIated AdvaIta (oI Shankaracharya, 8th c.) and
vaIta (oI Madhwacharya 13th c.) scmprcdcycs are restrIcted to
rahmIns. IIke the jaIns, though smaII In numbers, they have access to
much greater power.
The Modern Perod - The ApoIogst Hndu - The Beformst Era
CoIonIaIIsm presented a dIIemma to the IIndu upper castes. The
ChrIstIan mIssIonarIes crItIcIsed the IIndu reIIgIon and socIety
severeIy Ior Its crueIty to Iower castes, practIce oI untouchabIIIty, Its
dIIIerentIatIon between dIIIerent peopIe, Its Gods In the Images oI
anImaIs and made oI stone Images etc. sIam too had crItIcIsed
IInduIsm on sImIIar premIses and managed to convert a sectIon oI the
artIsan castes.
The IIrst response oI the IIndu upper castes was to convert to
ChrIstIanIty. Second was to reIorm IInduIsm to suIt to modern tImes.
Thus rhamo Samaj and Arya Samaj and many sImIIar organIsatIons
came up. ut they dId not turn to the smaII tradItIons oI the Iower
castes Ior egaIItarIan Inputs but Instead went to 'AncIent ndIa and the
bIg tradItIon. Why?
The coIonIaIIsts coIIuded wIth the upper castes to create thIs 'GIory
that was nd. ThIs was started by WIIIIam jones In hIs Iamous
InauguraI address to the AsIatIc SocIety In CaIcutta. n It he showed
the sImIIarIty between SanskrIt, IersIan, Greek and IatIn. Thus
AncIent ndIa had an aIIInIty to the WhIte man. ay It even taught the
whIte man!
ThIs achIeved two purposes Ior the coIonIaIIst. t brought the upper
castes Into theIr sIde and It created the IIndu MusIIm dIvIde. Ior, It
created a dIscourse whIch bIamed the MusIIm Ior aII the IIIs oI IIndu
SocIety. The sIavery oI the poor remaIned reIatIveIy untouched.
OI course many reIormIsts were patrIots and they aIso contrIbuted to
antI coIonIaI movement, but as It chose the dIscourse oI the bIg
tradItIon, the reIormIst movement Iacked the support oI the poor. t
remaIned an upper caste movement.
Vvekananda and the Brth of Assertve Hndusm
y the turn oI the century the upper caste IInduIsm began to regaIn
some conIIdence. A Iot oI texts were transIated In to ngIIsh because
oI the eIIorts oI schoIars IIke Max MueIIer In Germany, AsIatIc SocIety
and support oI some prInceIy states IIke Mysore, Travancore, and
aroda.
n thIs atmosphere VIvekananda appeared. Ie was a young man wIth
some unusuaI skIIIs. IIrst he had tremendous energy to propagate the
cause. Ie was a very skIIIed promoter and good admInIstrator. AII thIs
came useIuI aIter hIs return Irom ChIcago where he attended the
worId conIerence oI reIIgIon. On Its own hIs perIormance was not very
dIIIerent Irom other representatIves, IncIudIng the one Irom the
uddhIst Irom SrI Ianka. Iowever one newspaper reported It very
enthusIastIcaIIy and VIvekananda used the report very eIIectIveIy In
ndIa to promote hImseII and the IamakrIshna MIssIon. !pper caste
IIndu socIety was ready to receIve thIs IoreIgn certIIIcate to Its
greatness.
VIvekananda gave IInduIsm an aII ndIa Image and made It In to a
reIIgIon. eIther oI whIch Is the nature oI IInduIsm. As we had saId
earIIer IInduIsm Is not a reIIgIon. t Is a set oI severaI reIIgIons
(scmprcdcycs), many oI whIch have deep contradIctIons wIth each
other. TheoIogIcaIIy VIvekananda IdentIIIed IInduIsm wIth AdvaIta oI
Shankaracharya (8th century A). WIthIn the ndIan tradItIon, as we
have noted above, AdvaIta was a smaII sect and was heavIIy crItIcIsed
In the theoIogIcaI debates oI medIevaI ndIa, oIten accused oI
borrowIng Irom uddhIsm and passIng It oII as the correct
InterpretatIon oI Vedas, GIta and rahmasutra hashya. Iowever It
suIted the ImperIaI desIgn oI one great ndIa because Shankaracharya
was supposed to have set up pIaces oI pIIgrImages In the Iour corners
oI ndIa vIz. In orth (adrInath), ast (IurI), West (waraka) and
South (Iameshwaram).
VIvekananda aIso gave It a ChrIstIan MIssIon kInd oI character In the
Iorm oI IamakrIshna MIssIon. t Is modeIIed on jesuIts oI CathoIIc
ChrIstIanIty wIth Its ceIIbate prIests, schooIs, coIIeges and hospItaIs
and more recentIy wIth Its 'ruraI deveIopment programmes. Over tIme
It deveIoped aII the IIIs oI the CathoIIc Church. That Is, Its hIgh handed
authorItarIanIsm, corruptIon - both materIaI and moraI, enormous
weaIth, Ianded property and reaI estate.
Post 1ndependence: The Bse of the Aggressve Hndusm
The assertIve, grand and 'ImperIaI Image oI ndIa that VIvekananda
created InspIred IIndu chauvInIsts rIght Irom Savarkar, GoIvaIkar to
AdvanI and Vajpayee. The present generatIon oI Ieaders IIke ModI and
hIs IIk use thIs kInd oI IInduIsm to achIeve poIItIcaI power. The Scngh
Fcrivcr aIso pubIIshes and seIIs a Iot oI IIterature about VIvekananda.
They Iought Ior the Iand at KanyakumarI, (the southern tIp oI the
ndIan penInsuIa) and created a VIvekananda memorIaI. ThIs had been
a pIace oI joInt spIrItuaI worshIp Ior both ChrIstIans and IIndus. WhIIe
It Is true that VIvekanand spent some tIme there, so dId varIous
spIrItuaI Ieaders oI the IIndu and ChrIstIan communItIes. The agenda
oI the Scngh Fcrivcr Is to use the dIIIerent Images oI MusIIms and
ChrIstIan to portray them as danger to IInduIsm, create hate
propaganda and carry out mass kIIIIngs whenever they can get away
wIth It.
What Is the basIs oI thIs aggressIve IInduIsm? AggressIve IInduIsm
aIms prImarIIy to achIeve poIItIcaI power In post-Independence ndIa
through eIectIons. ot aII upper-cIass IIndus support It, nor do the
reaIIy reIIgIous peopIe support It. ut most oI them do not oppose It
eIther. And Ior these communaI Iorces It Is enough II they are not
opposed. The dIscourse they use Is that IInduIsm Is threatened by
conversIons and by reservatIon poIIcIes. IInduIsm Is threatened by the
MusIIms, ChrIstIans and SC/ST popuIatIon because oI theIr aspIratIons
to acquIre educatIon, sharIng power etc. The aIm oI the Scngh Fcrivcr
poIItIcs Is that these communItIes shouId stay as second cIass cItIzens
and be avaIIabIe as sIaves and workers to the maInstream upper caste
IIndus. ThIs oI course strIkes a sympathetIc chord In the hearts oI
many upper caste IIndus, many oI whom have power and weaIth In
the present socIety.
There Is oI course a reaI basIs Ior perceptIon oI thIs threat. t was
Ambedkar who IIrst saId, ' am born as a IIndu, but wIII not dIe as a
IIndu. Ior centurIes IInduIsm Iaced thIs threat because oI Its
practIce oI Inhuman sIavery towards the Iower castes. IIrst a Iarge
sectIon oI the artIsan converted to sIam and Iater a Iarge sectIon oI
trIbaIs and scheduIed caste communItIes converted to ChrIstIanIty.
WhIIe part oI IIndu socIety dId respond to the threat through socIaI
reIorms oI the IIndu socIety and IegaIIy aboIIshIng untouchabIIIty and
creatIng the reservatIon poIIcy through the ndIan constItutIon, many
dId not accept It In theIr hearts.
ThIs battIe has raged throughout post Independence ndIa. t took an
ugIy shape In 1975 when reservatIon dId not get aboIIshed as
envIsIoned In the ConstItutIon, and antI reservatIon agItatIon shook the
country. The MandaI commIssIon In 1987-88 added IueI to the IIre by
prescrIbIng reservatIons Ior the backward castes aIso. The crIsIs came
to head wIth the demoIItIon oI the abrI MasjId In 1992. The IIndu
IascIst bIock threw Its chaIIenge wIth the Scngh Fcrivcr puttIng It out
the message that MusIIms and ChrIstIans can exIst In ndIa onIy as
second cIass cItIzens, obedIent to the upper caste IIndu socIety. I you
condemn the abrI MasjId demoIItIon, you are opposIng thIs agenda
and vIce versa. The battIe IInes were cIearIy drawn.
Iest oI ndIa stood aghast and heIpIess at thIs naked IIexIng oI
muscIes. Why heIpIess? ecause the ruIIng cIasses themseIves were
IoIIowIng a sImIIar agenda In a secuIar and reIIgIous dIscourse sInce
1984. On one hand IajIv GandhI appeased IIndus by openIng the
Iocked gates oI the makeshIIt tempIe at Ayodhya In the abrI masjId
premIses, changed the ndIan ConstItutIon to appease the MusIIm
cIergy In the Shah ano case, on the other hand he heIped Anderson oI
!nIon CarbIde to escape Irom ndIa and prepared grounds Ior neo
IIberaI poIIcIes or what came to be known as IIberaIIsatIon,
prIvatIsatIon and gIobaIIsatIon. ThIs poIIcy actuaIIy came Into beIng In
a IuII scaIe through arsImha Iao as IrIme MInIster and Man Mohan
SIngh as IInance MInIster In 1991. Ience arsImha Iaos government
stood Irozen, tIme stopped, whIIe the masjId was beIng demoIIshed
over severaI hours. AII the parIIamentary partIes have joIned thIs
agenda. What bothered them was eIectIon poIItIcs, how to stay In
power. So the 'secuIar poIItIcaI partIes aIso began to woo MusIIm
cIergy and MusIIm poIItIcaI partIes and the Scngh Fcrivcr rIghtIy
dubbed them as pseudo secuIarIsts and MusIIm appeasers.
1nda Today
Today the agenda oI neo IIberaI poIIcIes has overshadowed the
communaI agenda as can seen by the response to the Court judgement
on the Ayodhya Issue. ven the communaI Iorces, once they got power
In Gujarat, Karnataka, and ChhattIsgarh etc. have been busy In
pursuIng these poIIcIes, aIthough they keep the communaI agenda
aIIve. These neo IIberaI poIIcIes have resuIted In.
1. normous creatIon oI weaIth. The rIch have become rIcher and
the poor have become poorer. Iowever a 'creamy Iayer' has
emerged Irom each sectIon oI the mIddIe and poor cIasses
2. ncredIbIe IeveIs oI corruptIon
3. coIogIcaI dIsaster
4. normous rIse oI conIIIcts
5. normous Increase In vIoIence agaInst the poor, women and
even chIIdren
6. Growth oI unempIoyment and IumpenIsatIon oI youth
WIth the gIobaI recessIon aII these are reachIng crIsIs proportIons and
ndIan socIety may be on the verge oI coIIapse. Iowever the ndIan
poor, MusIIms and ChrIstIans contInue to Iace the twIn attacks oI the
IIndu rIght and the attack oI the neo IIberaI poIIcIes.
BeIgon, PoItcs and 1umpen Youth
The neo IIberaI poIIcIes have created a Iarge popuIatIon oI youth
between the ages oI 18 to 25 years who have nowhere to go. There
educatIon Is not good enough to gIve them any capabIIIty to be
empIoyed eIther wIth government, Industry, In agrIcuIture or through
seII empIoyment. They are oIten caIIed 'Iumpens' or 'goondcs'. They
have need Ior money Ior IuIIIIIIng some basIc needs as weII as some
youthIuI IancIes IIke tea, smokIng, mobIIe phone etc. They are easy
prey to poIItIcaI agItatIon and aIso are the goondc eIements In pubIIc
reIIgIous IunctIons such as Ganesh Iuja, urga Iuja or even WarkarI
waIks In eccan regIon.
Pro]ect of the PeopIe
The project oI the peopIe In a broad sense Is deIeatIng capItaIIsm and
buIIdIng socIaIIsm. t Is captured In the sIogans 'Our short term goaI Is
unIonIsatIon. Our Iong term goaI Is achIevement oI socIaIIsm. So the
ImmedIate task Is aIways organIsIng peopIe.
The peopIes project In the reIIgIous and cuIturaI Iront Is vIsuaIIsed as
unItIng the oppressed peopIe beIongIng to Iower castes through
revIvIng the smaII tradItIon. n aIIt poIItIcs the Iower castes are caIIed
'ahujan (majorIty) because they are In majorIty.
The SmaII Tradton
The smaII tradItIon to whIch Iower castes (maInIy the Cs) IIndus
beIong, Is caIIed smaII not because oI number oI peopIe InvoIved, but
because they are In smaII IocaI groups, unIIke the 'great tradItIon
whIch Is hIghIy artIcuIate, powerIuI and tends to have an aII ndIa Iace.
ThIs tradItIon In the orth Is that oI nirgun bhckti saInts, the most
Iamous oI them beIng KabIr. TheoIogIcaIIy they maIntaIn that between
God and man there Is no need oI an IntermedIary IIke the IandIt or the
MuIIa. They do not have rIch tempIes or expensIve reIIgIous rItuaIs.
TypIcaIIy the artIsan castes are the IoIIowers and theIr saInts aIso
came Irom these castes. n ndIa the MusIIm SuII tradItIon Is very
sImIIar and most oI the converts to sIam came Irom the artIsan castes.
ThIs smaII tradItIon tended to oppose the dIvIsIon between man and
man based on caste and bIrth and generaIIy had a more egaIItarIan
approach. They used sImpIe Ianguage and have contrIbuted to the
emergence oI modern ndIan Ianguages In a bIg way. ThIs tradItIon has
dIIIerent names In dIIIerent parts oI ndIa and In many pIaces It Is
cIose to the SuIIs.
The Cs have a duaI reIIgIous aIIegIance. The peasant caste subscrIbe
to maInstream IInduIsm, oIten VaIshnavIsm, whereas the artIsan
castes subscrIbe to the Irgun tradItIon oI the haktI movement.
There are regIonaI dIIIerences too. eccan, Ior exampIe, Is not a very
productIve regIon and has reIatIveIy poorer peasants. Iere, thereIore
many peasants too tend to beIong to the Irgun tradItIons. Most oI the
twentIeth century peasant movement InvoIved the peasant caste and
today they are ruIIng groups In many oI the regIonaI states whereas
the centre Is stIII domInated by the OCs.
The Shudrcs and the Fcnchcmcs do not beIong to any oI these
tradItIons and as we have saId above, there Is tendency among them to
Ieave IInduIsm Ior other reIIgIons, aIthough the Scngh Fcrivcr trIes
very hard to keep them In the IIndu IoId. TheIr poIItIcaI aspIratIons
and Its artIcuIatIon Is a reIatIveIy modern phenomenon, Ambedkar
beIng the most Iamous oI them.
The smaII tradItIon IeIt to ItseII couId have contrIbuted to the
emergence oI a modern egaIItarIan socIety. Iowever thIs was not to
be. CoIonIaIIsm Intervened and the deveIopment oI the ndIan socIety
took a dIIIerent route. t Is onIy today wIth the bIrth oI poor peopIes
movement that thIs tradItIon Is receIvIng more attentIon.
Bevvng the SmaII Tradton
The smaII tradItIon or the antI authorItarIan trend In reIIgIon carrIes
the seeds oI democracy and secuIarIsm. As has been saId above In
ndIa, It has been suppressed by capItaIIsm under coIonIaI condItIons.
The present crIsIs gIves an opportunIty to revIve and make It a tooI Ior
IIberatIon oI the poor.
IoIItIcaIIy It was Ambedkar who tapped the potentIaI oI uddhIsm Ior
daIIt IIberatIon. Iowever even beIore Ambedkar, Acharya harmanand
KosambI, IahuI SankrItyayan, hadant Anand KausaIyayan and other
uddhIsts had reaIIsed thIs potentIaI. IahuI SankrItyayan personIIIed
thIs kInd oI bIendIng oI communIst and uddhIst and ratIonaIIst Ideas
comIng together.
AIter the emergency, by 1977 a new poIItIcaI/IdeoIogIcaI common
pIatIorm started emergIng. The ratIonaIIst movement In parts oI ndIa
Is joInIng the uddhIst and other daIIt and reIIgIous groups IIke KabIr
panthIs and creatIng a Iot oI IIterature and actIvItIes representIng the
smaII tradItIons. ThIs has the sort oI roIe that communIst IIterature has
Ior cadre educatIon. n Iact they aIso use communIst IIterature Ior thIs
purpose.
CuIturaIIy the smaII tradItIons oI IIndus and MusIIm In ndIa have
IIved peaceIuIIy together Ior centurIes. SuII majars are vIsIted by both
IIndu and MusIIm. Acharya KshItI Mohan Sen has recorded thIs
tradItIon In hIs 'Hindu Muslim ]uktc Scdhcnc. n as much as the
IIndu rIght Is attackIng aII the poor both economIcaIIy and on
reIIgIous Iront, It opens a possIbIIIty oI comIng together oI these antI
authorItarIan reIIgIous tendencIes. There Is possIbIIIty oI genuIne
secuIar Iorces heIpIng thIs tendency as has been wItnessed In the
KabIr IestIvaI In angaIore Iast year. ThIs was IoIIowed by sImIIar
events eIsewhere. n Iyderabad, we had a perIormance about IaI eg,
the SuII woman poet Irom KashmIr and Iater MujaIIar AII perIormed
wIth AbIda Iarveen. As a IoIIow up oI KabIr IestIvaI In angaIore
SIndhI SuII poets were presented. The theatre movement In ndIa has a
Iong tradItIon oI thIs kInd oI work. Some trade unIon actIvIsts and
some daIIt actIvIsts are aIso expIorIng these possIbIIItIes. There Is aIso
a regIonaI spread oI these Ideas and movements. Ior exampIe IrahaIad
TIpanya sIngIng KabIr In MaIwa regIon has very Iarge regIonaI
IoIIowIngs among daIIts.
Iowever these Ideas are not new. ven durIng Independence struggIe
peopIe were IamIIIar wIth these Ideas aIthough no one carrIed It
Iorward much. Ambedkar rejected them outrIght because these
InvoIved maInIy peasant and artIsan caste and daIIts had no pIace In
them. SecondIy they dId not reject caste. Ambedkar correctIy reaIIsed
that wIthIn IInduIsm there Is no possIbIIIty oI egaIItarIan poIItIcs. That
Is why In 1935 at the epressed CIasses ConIerence, he made the
Iamous statement, ' was born a IIndu but wIII not dIe as one. IIs
sIogan Ior the daIIts was 'educate, organIse and struggIe.
Today whIIe there Is certaIn amount oI common pIatIorm between
aIIts and backward castes, trIbaIs appear to be on theIr own,
aIthough In jharkhand and ChhattIsgarh certaIn amount oI poIItIcaI
comIng together has occurred.
The chaIIenge Is to unIte the entIre ahujan Samaj wIth a poIItIcaI
struggIe oI the poor Ior IIberatIon, equaIIty and peace. Some
observatIons In thIs regard are.
1. ThIs struggIe Is possIbIe maInIy at a regIonaI IeveI, usIng IocaI
Ianguage and cuIture. ThIs at a posItIve IeveI means usIng IocaI
peopIes reIIgIous IestIvaIs, such as jatras, !rs or mass pIIgrImage
waIks In eccan IIke WarkarIs. One shouId however note that
capItaIIsm has penetrated many oI these IestIvaIs and It needs to be
combated. OnIy IocaI traders wIth IocaI wares shouId be aIIowed.
MuItInatIonaIs, partIcuIarIy oI eIectronIc gIzmos - mobIIes, pod and
cIones, bottIed water and soIt drInks, pIastIcs etc. can be banned. ThIs
can be done by IocaI organIsIng commIttees. They can aIso be enrIched
by secuIar Independent Inputs, IIke secuIar InterpretatIons oI these
tradItIons.
2. At a negatIve IeveI, the so caIIed natIonaI or ImperIaI IestIvaIs IIke
Ganesh Iuja and urga Iuja, IwaII, ussera, IoII etc., can be
boycotted, and controIIed by not aIIowIng/restrIctIng Iorced
coIIectIons, use oI pubIIc tanks and rIvers to dump the IdoIs, use oI
Ioudspeakers, use oI roads Ior erectIng pandaIs etc. SImIIarIy
pIIgrImages to TIrupatI, SabrImaIaI, and the Iour great tradItIonaI
pIaces oI adrI, IurI, waraka and Iameshwaram shouId be
dIscouraged as they aII have become capItaIIst money grabbIng
InstItutIons.
3. The bIggest threat to aII thIs Is the nexus between poIItIcs, reIIgIon
and the Iumpen youth. Iowever youth aIso IIke IdeaIIsm and gIven a
reaIIstIc goaI whIch aIso gIves them a purpose they can be a great
asset. n Iact organIsIng ahujan youth wIII be the bIggest project. n
the reIIgIous IestIvaIs many green Ideas can be combIned to create
jobs Ior youth. We have the exampIe oI Gadage Maharaj who repaIred
aII the Ghats oI reIIgIous pIaces on the rIver banks In Maharashtra.
Today Instead oI poIIutIng the rIvers and Iakes by ImmersIng the IdoIs
In them we can have projects to cIean these bodIes. These IestIvaIs can
aIso be used to promote IocaI and green products and boycott
muItInatIonaIs.
4. OrganIsIng contract, InIormaI sector and munIcIpaI cIeanIng
workers, agrIcuIturaI Iabour, shepherds, daIs and so on who IargeIy
beIong to the Iower castes, and are unorganIsed. ThIs opens the scope
oI unItIng the revIvaI oI the smaII tradItIon wIth secuIar movements.
There are antI authorItarIan trends In other reIIgIons aIso whIch
represents daIIt Interests IIke SuIIsm In sIam and uakers In
ChrIstIanIty. AImost aII uddhIsts In ndIa are daIIts. SImIIarIy there
are daIIt MusIIm, daIIt ChrIstIan, daIIt SIkh organIsatIons. The
chaIIenge Is to unIte aII these tendencIes wIth the secuIar project oI
the peopIe, whIch Is socIaIIsm!
BH1MSEN jOSH1
and the
North 1ndan CIasscaI Musc
WIth the death oI hImsen joshI an era oI orth ndIan cIassIcaI musIc
has come to an end. ThIs era domInated the Iast Iour decades oI the
20th century. t had IumInarIes IIke Kumar Gandharva, AmIr Khan,
Gangu aI IangaI, IIrabaI arodekar, egum Akhtar, IannnaIaI
Ghosh, IsmIIIah Khan, VIIayat Khan, AII Akbar and IavI Shankar.
AIthough haII Irom the same regIon and my Iather was a musIcIan,
and have IIstened to hImsen joshI sInce my earIy youth, thIs artIcIe
Is not meant to be a trIbute to hIm. Ie had a Iarge IoIIowIng and am
sure a Iarge number oI trIbute artIcIes wIII appear. Ior me he had a
wonderIuI voIce and he wIII be remembered more Ior hIs bhajans In
Kannada and MarathI than hIs renderIngs In the more 'cIassIcaI' mode.
ThIs artIcIe Instead oIIers a Iew crItIcaI comments on the orth ndIan
cIassIcaI musIc and Its pIace In ndIan cuIture. n the Iate sIxtIes I. C.
Chatterjee (the then dIrector oI AII ndIa IadIo, CaIcutta) asked me,
'Iow does the ndIan cIassIcaI musIc reIIect contemporary
sensIbIIItIes?' Ie added that when he asked thIs questIon to the
musIcIans themseIves, It made no sense to them. can understand It
not makIng any sense to the musIcIans, but what surprIses me Is that
thIs questIon has not been raIsed at aII? IereaIter, the word ndIan
musIc reIers to north ndIan musIc onIy. ndIan cIassIcaI musIc does not
reIIect contemporary sensIbIIItIes as does art or wrItIng. Why so?
CIassIcaI musIc In the West reIIected the trIumph oI the bourgeoIsIe,
apoIeonIc wars and so on. Can the ndIan cIassIcaI musIc be actuaIIy
caIIed cIassIcaI?
eIore we come to comment on It Iet us have a Iook at the terraIn we
are deaIIng wIth. ndIans IIke to trace everythIng back to the Vedas.
Iowever the IIvIng and contInuous tradItIon oI thIs musIc dates to
aIter the MutIny (The ndIan War oI ndependence) oI 1857. At the
tIme, many ndIan prInceIy states, havIng theIr wIngs cIIpped
patronIsed musIcIans. n as much as the MutIny was maInIy a north
ndIan aIIaIr, It Is not surprIsIng that sIx oI these musIc ghcrcncs
(schooIs/tradItIons) Iound patronage In the smaII kIngdoms In eccan,
In the border dIstrIcts oI today's north Karnataka and Maharashtra.
hImsen joshI aIso beIonged to thIs regIon. These musIcIans rendered
a reIIned versIon oI the IoIk musIc. Iater wIth the Increase In
competItIon they deveIoped styIes (some quIte unmusIcaI) to
dIstInguIsh themseIves. WIth the advent oI raIIways they began to
traveI and partIcIpate In musIcaI conIerences In varIous ndIan cItIes.
These were patronIsed by 'patrIotIc' gentry.
t was hatkhande who systemIsed the knowIedge In the earIy
decades oI the 20th century. IIrst he pubIIshed two voIumes oI
dIaIogues dIscussIng aspects oI each raga and the way they were
rendered by dIIIerent schooIs and trIed to IIx a standard. Iater he
pubIIshed sIx voIumes oI 'Krcmik Fustckmclc' whIch was a proper
course In ndIan musIc and was taught In anaras by Iatanjankar and
others.
hatkhande and others by thIs tIme were part oI the 'natIonaIIst'
dIscourse, takIng prIde In the 'great ndIan tradItIons'. n engaI, the
rhamo Samaj used musIc In theIr assembIIes and was probabIy the
IIrst to pubIIsh ndIan notatIons In the evnagarI scrIpt by the 1880s.
IabIndranath hImseII took keen Interest and a schooI oI aesthetIcs and
dIvInIty through musIc (one can reach God through great musIc!) came
Into beIng wIth IIIp Kumar Ioy as Its chIeI exponent.
We must remember that In spIte oI the styIes these ghcrcncs
deveIoped It was stIII very musIcaI and pIeasIng even to ordInary
peopIe, unIIke the post Independence, partIcuIarIy the post 60s perIod
to whIch joshI beIongs. n the 50s and even up to mIddIe oI sIxtIes the
musIcaI conIerence tradItIon oI the pre Independence contInued. 1967
changed aII that.
We need hardIy deIve Into the detaIIs oI the sea change thIs perIod
brought In In ndIa. t was the end oI the ehru era, or the euphorIa oI
Independence. ow on ndIan peopIe knew that a new ruIIng cIass had
entrenched ItseII and they had to IIght It.
n musIc, cIassIcaI musIc was drIven to the drawIng rooms oI the rIch
and oI course It went abroad. An aIIected sense oI apprecIatIon came
Into beIng and musIcIans aIso began to perIorm to cater to thIs cIass
and moved away Irom the Iarger mIddIe cIass audIence, aIthough
IndIvIduaIIy they nostaIgIcaIIy craved Ior It. KIran Seth In eIhI trIed to
revIve Interest In the chIIdren oI these rIch peopIe In the unIversItIes
by startIng SICMACY (SocIety Ior IromotIon oI ndIan CIassIcaI
MusIc among ChIIdren and Youth). t was patronIsed by these cIasses
but Is more or Iess dead.
ComIng back to the questIons that we raIsed about Its reIevance to
contemporary sensIbIIItIes, the answer Is that IargeIy It does not
reIIect. The reason beIng, It was aIways maInIy a perIormIng art Ior the
patrons and wIth IncreasIng aIIenatIon oI the ruIIng cIasses Irom the
peopIe It too dIstanced ItseII Irom Its IoIk orIgIns and got Into musIcaI
gymnastIcs. Ior exampIe. the 'great' jugaIbandIs between the
percussIon and the Instrument/voIce that were totaIIy meanIngIess,
unmusIcaI and unmeIodIous. As one musIcIan put It, musIc wIthout
M(meIody) Is 'sIc(k)'. am aIraId hImsen joshI was no exceptIon aIong
wIth IavI Shankar and aImost aII the others.
So the era to whIch hImsen joshI beIonged Is gone. am aIraId It wIII
be quIckIy Iorgotten, except Ior what It dId to popuIar musIc
partIcuIarIy In the IIndI cInema and aIso In engaII and other north
ndIan cInema. t gave great IyrIcs sung In a meIodIous and meanIngIuI
styIe that appeaIed to everyone durIng those decades. ven today they
stIII IIve In the aIbums and are heard everywhere. As an asIde, cIassIcaI
musIc aIso rendered ItseII very nIceIy to humorous musIc. The great
Manna ey sIngIng pIay back Ior Mahmood expIoIted It IuIIy. etween
hIm, Mahamood and KIshore Kumar they ImmortaIIsed the carIcature
oI the teachIng oI the north ndIan cIassIcaI musIc In the IIIm 'Fcdoscn'
and In a perverse way, It Is the best trIbute to It.
Among the cIassIcaI musIcIans, hImsen joshI hImseII wIII be
remembered Ior hIs 'IIghter' renderIngs oI devotIonaI songs. IrobabIy
the Ione survIvor among the greats Irom thIs era wIII be egum Akthar
and IsmIIIah Khan, who never gave In to the gymnastIcs that these
greats went Into to pIease the new cIass. They remaIned meIodIous and
meanIngIuI.

THE TB1E STOBY O1
BEGA1N1NG PABAD1SE
EpIogue to the 2047 Edton
ow the story can be toId. T. VIjayendra wrote the IoIIowIng In
September 2013, a month beIore he dIed. Ie had IeIt expIIcIt
InstructIons Ior the edItors to open the seaIed enveIope onIy aIter
IaradIse had been regaIned. That Is, when a worId wIthout IossII IueIs,
wIthout armIes, weapons and wars and a worId wIthout borders had
been IIrmIy estabIIshed.
The roIe oI Shreekumar and T. VIjayendra, to say nothIng oI VInay
Kumars vItaI auraI rendItIons, as beIng cataIytIc to thIs revoIutIon Is
weII known aII over the worId. ThIs document teIIs why and how the
coIIaboratIon came about.
Edtors
T. V]ayendra wrote.
When came to Idar In the year 1990, my eIder brother T.
Iaghavendra was In the ! S oI A. Ie wrote to me, ' am gIad you are
back In Karnataka. can now pass on a IamIIy responsIbIIIty. IIease
vIsIt IonnaII at the earIIest and read the IamIIy archIves.
The archIves reveaIed that the hIstory oI the 'T IamIIy dates back to 37
A.. n the month oI AprII that year, on a Saturday nIght somewhere
near jerusaIem, Iour bearded men In dark cIoaks gathered around the
cross to whIch jesus oI azareth was naIIed. They were Ieter, IauI,
Matthew and Thomas. They swIItIy prIed the naIIs, brought the body
down and Ied jesus drops oI a specIaIIy medIcated wIne. They then
moved to the shore carryIng jesus, gentIy Iay hIm on the IIoor oI a
smaII boat, Ioaded It wIth the jar oI wIne, Ioaves oI bread and a jar oI
water. Thomas cIImbed In, the others sIIentIy bIessed hIm, made the
sIgn oI cross and vanIshed Into the dark nIght.
Thomas rowed Iast, as In the mornIng the 'resurrectIon wouId be
dIscovered and the 'murderers wouId certaInIy commIssIon a search.
There was however no way oI knowIng the dIrectIon or the hour he had
set saII.
ThIs has been a guarded secret, passed on Irom one generatIon to the
next Ior the past 2000 years!
Thomas saIIed Ior weeks, IeedIng jesus pIeces oI dark bread soaked In
the medIcated wIne. Ie hImseII IIved on water and an occasIonaI IIsh.
Ie reached the MaIabar Coast and went straIght to a merchant named
jacob Iunnen. n the dead oI nIght they moved jesus In a buIIock cart
to a KeraIIte AyurvedIc medIcIne man. There Ior the next three weeks
recovery progressed steadIIy, tIII hIs wounds heaIed and strength
returned.
StIII IearIng pursuIt, Thomas and jesus moved northwards dressed as
ndIan mendIcants. At a IIshermens vIIIage In !dupI they parted
company and jesus stayed back. Soon hIs Iame spread as a heaIer. Ie
adopted a new name, KItta - a common name oI the regIon meanIng
smaII whIch sounded IIke ChrIst. Ie marrIed, raIsed a IamIIy and dIed.
IeopIe revered hIm as KItta Swamy and buIIt a tempIe In hIs name.
Thomas moved Iurther north and reached an IdyIIIc vIIIage - IonnaII,
on the banks oI the rIver Tungabhadra. Ie became a prIest, served In
a smaII tempIe dedIcated to Shree Ianuman, marrIed, raIsed a IamIIy
and dIed. There was but one dIIIerence. Ie wrote a dIIIgent record In
the IocaI Ianguage and Instructed hIs son to make a copy beIore dyIng.
SInce then, the record has been copIed and added on to by every
successIve generatIon. So our IamIIy Is the descendent oI Thomas.
read thIs Iar and wrote to my brother, 'Ice story. o you wIsh me to
edIt and pubIIsh It? Ie wrote back. Iand on my heart! just copIed
the record kept by our Iather and he Is not the kInd oI person to pass
on IIctIon. What Is more, here In the !SA a person named an rown
vIsIted me and toId me a sImIIar story. Ie saId, " represent a secret
socIety that was Iormed by St. Ieter mandated to save the descendent
oI jesus, because the orIgInaI 'murderers descendent are stIII sworn
to kIII hIm. AIso the Ioman CathoIIc Church Is agaInst provIng that
jesus escaped aIIve. Ie saId to me, "You shouId keep the secret and
Iocate the descendent oI jesus."
an rown added, the assassIns are now ruIIng the worId through the
! S oI A, whIch In turn Is beIng ruIed by a Iew uItra rIch jew IamIIIes oI
ew York. They too are on the Iookout Ior descendants oI jesus. ut
now the tIme Is approachIng when Ie (the descendent oI jesus) can
come out to InspIre the struggIe agaInst ! S mperIaIIsm. am sure he
Is a maIe Irom the IIsher IoIk communIty oI !dupI. Ie pIcked up hIs
hat and IeIt sayIng, 'You dont have to repIy. o what you want to and
can. trust you to keep thIs meetIng secret.
My brother added, 'You have not read ook Two oI the archIve yet.
IIease do It and you wIII get convInced.
ook Two '. In 1498 the assassIns sent an agent named CoeIho on
board the shIp that saIIed wIth Vasco de Gama to the MaIabar. Another
agent had gone wIth CoIumbus In 1492 to the ew WorId. CoeIhos job
was to trace the orIgIn oI ChrIstIanIty In ndIa partIcuIarIy that oI the
MarthomIte sect, Iocate the descendent oI jesus and execute hIm.
Iowever the socIety got wInd oI the project aIter It became cIear that
CoIumbus dId not reach ndIa. They sent St. Thomas AquInas to ndIa
by the Iand route. Ie was heIped by the SuIIs aII the way. Ie came to
IonnaII and met our ancestor Guracharya. Ie persuaded Guracharya
to move to !dupI, change hIs name to Madhvacharya and take over as
prIest oI the KIttaswamy tempIe. The tempIe was changed to !dupI
KrIshna tempIe and Madhvacharya estabIIshed hImseII as a new
Acharya startIng the vaIta sampradaya. eedIess to say, that thIs
phIIosophy was the same as that oI St. Thomas AquInas. Thus aII the
traces oI descendants oI jesus were wIped out. Guracharya had two
sons-jayateertha and Iaghavendracharya. Iaghavendracharya started
a Matha In IonnaII on the IInes oI Madhvhas thoughts and It Iater
came to be known as Iaghavendra Swamy Matha. jayateertha IeIt
home and became a sanyasI and a commentator oI Madhvas works.
IaIthIuIIy copIed the record In my own handwrItIng and destroyed the
orIgInaI as per our IamIIy tradItIon and thought that was the end oI It.
stIII thought that It was a cIever pIece oI IIctIon by my Iather, who
was a schoIar oI the Madhva tradItIon and knew about the sImIIarIty
between St. Thomas AquInas and Madhva phIIosophy. ut then there
was the vIsIt oI an rown to my brother. t was dIIIIcuIt to beIIeve
that my prosaIc brother Invented an rown.
Then In 2001 an rown paId me a vIsIt on a Iarm outsIde Iyderabad.
Ie was ostensIbIy Interested In organIc IarmIng In the thIrd worId. n
2001 no one had heard oI an rown. We went to a dhcbc Ior Iunch,
had beer, tcndoori roti, dcl Iry and egg bhujic - my standard Iare In a
dhcbc. Then he spoke.
' have met your brother In the ! S oI A. know you are an atheIst,
IrreIIgIous and a MarxIst-AnarchIst. dont InsIst that you beIIeve In
what say or even respond. just beg you to IIsten.
' beIong, as you know, to a secret socIety that was created by St. Ieter
In the year 37 A.. to protect the descendent oI jesus. know that you
are a MarxIst schoIar so dont have to convInce you about the
IoIIowIng Iacts.
1. !S ImperIaIIsm Is controIIed by ZIonIsts, partIcuIarIy the uItra rIch
jew IamIIIes oI ew York.
2. !S ImperIaIIsm Is supportIng sraeI, apart Irom the ZIonIst angIe, to
controI the oII produced In that regIon.
3. The worId Is approachIng 'Ieak OII and !S ImperIaIIsm and
capItaIIsm have entered theIr Iast and IosIng battIes In raq and
AIghanIstan.
4. We IeeI that the most decIsIve battIe wIII be Iought by mass
mobIIIsatIon Ior an ethIcaI and spIrItuaI cause. am aware that thIs Is
IoreIgn and even dIstasteIuI to you.
5. We IeeI that It Is tIme Ior the descendent oI jesus to come out and
gIve spIrItuaI IeadershIp to the antI ImperIaIIst struggIe. ThIs wIII
reIease Immense energIes among the masses.
6. You aIone can Iocate hIm. Your IamIIy background and records
unIqueIy make you an IdeaI candIdate to do thIs job.
'Thank you Ior IIstenIng to me. trust that exposIng my vuInerabIIIty to
you wIII ensure keepIng thIs meetIng secret. Thank you once agaIn.
WIth thIs he pIcked up hIs hat, waved a good bye and boarded a bus to
town.
So was stuck. As we say In schooI mathematIcs, gIven.
1. !dupI dIstrIct.
2. IIshermans IamIIy.
3. deaIIstIc (probabIy)
4. AntI-evII-hopeIuIIy antI ImperIaIIst.
5. MaIe (hopeIuIIy).
To IInd out. IInd hIm!
ActuaIIy It turned out quIte sImpIe. Shreekumar - armada achao
AndoIan actIvIst, IIved Ior some tIme at Sampoorna KrantI VIdyaIaya,
antI nucIear actIvIst, approprIate technoIogy enthusIast, ..Sc.
angaIore, IIsher IoIk background. probabIy had zeroed In on my
man.
StIII there were severaI probIems. Iow was to conIIrm that Shree Is a
descendent oI jesus? Id hIs IamIIy keep records, IIke mIne dId? ven
II they dId, why wouId he trust me? And II they dId not and II were to
teII hIm the 'truth, he wouId consIder me a crank. The onIy course IeIt
Ior me was to take hIm at Iace vaIue and enIIst hIm In an antI-
ImperIaIIst cause.
ut that stIII wouId not reIease the kInd oI energy that was requIred.
So In the end It was who got enIIsted. On the one hand cuItIvated
Shree on the grounds he tread and on the other started workIng on
an antI-ImperIaIIst strategy that meshed MarxIst-AnarchIst, GandhIan,
ChrIstIan and a varIety oI socIaI causes. worked around 'Ieak OII,
whIch not onIy heIped to brIng aII these threads together, but aIso
brought Shree, VInay and me together to IIve on a Iarm commune on
the IoothIIIs oI the Western Ghats. We put together the book
'IegaInIng IaradIse. towards a IossII IueI Iree socIety by 2009. A Ioose
end was CoeIho. enIIsted yIa CoeIho (or dId she manage to enIIst
herseII?) as the edItor and hoped that her IamIIy dId not keep a record
oI theIr assIgnment.
ut the break came unexpectedIy. VInay by accIdent Iocated a
reconstructIon oI how jesus ChrIst may have actuaIIy Iooked done by a
team oI renowned anthropoIogIsts and paIaeontoIogIsts. The pIcture
was totaIIy unIIke the whIte ordIc uropean representatIon oI jesus
depIcted In the churches and paIntIngs. n Iact It was - you guessed It -
an exact Iook aIIke oI Shreekumar!
VInay sent an emaII wIth the pIcture and added, ' wIII be damned, but
thInk have seen thIs guy a Iot.
That cIInched It, pavIng the way Ior tremendous synergy. The rest Is
hIstory.
September 30, 2013 Thomas V]ayendra
P.S: By the Edtors of the 2047 Edton.
Thomas VIjayendra ended hIs IIIe on October 8, 2013, exactIy at the
age oI 70, beIIevIng In the IbIIcaI three scores and ten as the
approprIate IIIe span Ior man. n any case, hIs heaIth deterIorated
rapIdIy aIter the pubIIcatIon oI 'IegaInIng IaradIse and VInays
dIscovery. AIso he dId not beIIeve In 'IroIongIng eath (It Is the tItIe oI
one oI hIs essays). Ie had compIeted hIs mIssIon! A Iew months beIore
hIs death, In an IntervIew he was asked what hIs domInant IeeIIng was.
Ie had repIIed, 'Oh! The IncredIbIe IoneIIness oI the Iong dIstance
runner! AII around me the domInant dIscourse Is that aII Is weII wIth
the worId. aIone seem to be aware oI the IoomIng crIsIs. Am mad or
do they aII have theIr heads In the sand?
Shreekumar dIed In 2035. IIs book, 'ThermodynamIcs and
SustaInabIIIty became a cIassIc and turned countIess engIneers to
agro-ecoIogy. t Is oIten compared to SchrodIngers 'What Is IIIe?
SeveraI honours and prIzes came In hIs way, whIch he poIIteIy
decIIned, aIthough he once conIIded that he was tempted to accept the
KapItza IrIze. IIs brIIIIant trIbute to KapItza, 'ngIneers dont wIn
obeI IrIzes (KapItza was the onIy engIneer who actuaIIy dId) Is weII
known In the scIentIIIc communIty. Someone remarked that It
remInded hIm oI InsteIns trIbute to ewton!
M. I. IussaIn soId hIs paIntIng 'The AsIan ChrIst Ior a mIIIIon doIIars.
The story goes that It was based on a photo essay oI Sangatya Iarm
done by a vIsItor. SeveraI requests Ior a sIttIng In ubaI or oIIers oI
money were poIIteIy reIused. Shreekumar reIused to comment.
VInay Is stIII aIIve, whIte beard and aII, Is recIusIve and Is known as the
atheIst SaInt oI akre. IIs work on ethnomusIcoIogy In agrIcuIture
productIon processes Is weII known, hIs composItIons are sung aII over
ruraI KaravaII and have boosted organIc Iarm productIvIty
tremendousIy. IIs KaravaII donkey breedIng centre and the donkey
cart desIgn have created a revoIutIon In IocaI IIve stock and
transportatIon. very schooI chIId In KaravaII owns a donkey now.
There are quIte a Iew Ioose ends to the story. Iow and why dId yIa
CoeIho work herseII Into beIng the edItor oI 'IegaInIng IaradIse and
get so cIose to the group? She dIed In 2045 and when her son VIvek
(who has done some remarkabIe work on IIyIng amphIbIans oI the
Western Ghats) was approached, he cryptIcaIIy remarked, 'Mom was
aIways a bIt batty. Was he reIerrIng to yIas own work on the IIyIng
mammaIs-the bats or dId she turn herseII Into one In the dead oI nIght
to draw bIood? Id she reaIIy beIong to the CoeIho IamIIy whose
ancestor saIIed wIth Vasco de Gama? And dId she change her mInd
aIter meetIng the group? Or, are aII these specuIatIons worthIess?
That Is what VInay Kumar thInks. Ie IeeIs that VIjayendra shouId
never have wrItten thIs account. Ie wryIy comments that VIjayendra
shouId have used a rosary to controI hIs Itchy IIngers rather than wrIte
such IIctIon!
Ie Is aIso retIcent about hIs Interest In the SuIIs, partIcuIarIy In
ShIshunaI SharII and aba udan. t Is known that St. Thomas AquInas
was heIped by the SuIIs In hIs journey to ndIa through the Iand route.
Was It pure chance that VInay dIscovered the reconstructIon oI the reaI
jesus ChrIst? uestIons! uestIons!!
Edtors

Three Essays and A Story

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Three Essays and A Story

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THBEE ESSAYS

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