VEDIC WORKSHOP AT KERALA

Kerala Arya Prathinidhi Sabha is conducting a study camp on 25 Dec 2010 at Vidyadhiraja Vidya Bhawan, Aluva. Apart from study classes there will be a Commemorative function on late Acharya Narendra Bhooshan ji and observing the Martyrdom day of immortal Arya Missionary Swamy Shradhanand. Shri. KV Madanan (Vice President of VHP), Shri. Raju Poonjar (President, Kerala Arya Prathinidhi Sabha), Shri. Radhakrishna Vaidik, Shri. Arun Kumar Trivedi (Secretary, Arya Samaj Bangalore), etc. will take classes on different Vedic topics. All are cordially invited

HOMAGE TO ARYA MISSIONARY ACHARYA NARENDRA BHOOSHAN

Noted Vedic scholar and Arya Missionary Acharya Narendra Bhooshan passed away at 6.40 am on 16 Nov 2010 in Kochi. On his demise Aryan world has lost an exemplary scholar and propagator of vedic ideals.

Acharya ji was born on 22 May 1937 at Chengannur in Kerala. He got academic education from Kallissery High School and NSS College Changanassery. Later on he obtained Vidyarathna, Vidya Bhooshan, Acharya degrees from Arya Samaj Gurukul at Hissar in Haryana. After his Gurukul studies he devoted his life for propagation of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswathi’s ideals in Kerala. He continued the unfinished vedic propagation works of earlier Arya Missionaries of Kerala like Pandit Veda Bandhu Sharma and Swamy Parameswarananda ((formerly known as Sadhuseelan Parameshwaran Pillai in his purva ashram). He almost single handedly prevented the outflow from Hinduism to Christianity/Islam in southern Kerala and conducted many shudhi (re-conversions) works. He also took an active role during 1975 emergency period as a part of Bharathiya Jan Sangh to bring back democracy and served Jail sentence. He started the first ever Malaylam vedic journal named ‘Arshanadam’ from Chengannur. This magazine made a tremendous social impact in Kerala. The Agnihothram and other vedic yagyas got popularity among general public with his vibrant articles in this journal and other literary works. With the quoting from vedic literatures he defended the sanathan dharma i.e. present day Hinduism from the onslaught of its adversaries.

He has to his credit a large number of books - translations, commentary and his original works. His contribution for propagating the ideals of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswathi and his literatures moulded many youngsters to select the path shown by Rishi Dayanand in Kerala. The contribution of Swamy Dayananda Saraswathy and Aryasamaj were made familiar to the people of Kerala mainly through Acharya's translated work of "Sathyartha Prakasham" and Veda Paryadanam which were originally written in Hindi.

Major Works : Some of his major works are appended below :-

1. Chathurveda Samhitha
2. Commentaries on all major Upanishads.
3. Translation of Geetha Rahasyam of Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak.
4. Translation of Sathyartha Prakasam and Rigvedadi Bhashya bhoomika (Veda Paryadanam) of Maharshi Dayanand.
5. Translation of Justice Ganga Prasad Upadhyaya's book ‘Origin of Religion’.
6. Translation of Swamy Sathyapathi Parivrajaka's "Yogameemamsa"
7. Purooravasum Urvasiyum.
8. Devathakalude Vaidika Sankalpam.
9. Veda Geethamrutham.
10. Yogeswaranaya Sree Krishnan.
11. Mathavum Yukthiyum
12. Vaidika Sahithya Charithram.
13. Achara Bhanu.
14. Paralokavum Punarjanmavum.

Awards and Honours

Acharya Narendra Bhooshan was also the recipient of many awards and recognitions. The Arya Samaj Centenary puraskar 1983, Maharshi Dayanand Puraskar both from Ajmeer, the Vedopadesha Puraskar Bombay in 1992 presented by the then President of India, Dr Gyani Zail Singh, are a few to name. The first Amrita Keerthi Puraskaram (award) was also bestowed to Acharya Narendra Bhooshan. He was among the panel of scholars to prepare the History of Vedic literature in 1988 for the Kerala Sahitya Academy. This work was published by the Academy in 1991. He also served as a member in the selection committee for Academy Award of Kerala Sahitya Academy. He was entrusted by the Kerala state language institute to prepare the history of the three reformation movements of 19th Century, the Arya Samaj, the Brahma Samaj and Prarthana Samaj.
Let us take inspiration from his work and continue the Veda Prachar. This will be the great tributes to the departed soul. Pranaam to the departed soul!

Om krinvantho vishwamaryam!

PATHIK FROM PESHAWAR

PATHIK FROM PESHAWAR COURTED MARTYRDOM
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
The Vedic world knows him as Pundit Lekh Ram, Arya Musafir. Once he made up his mind that the Vedic Dharm was the first and the last word to guide human behaviour from A to Z, there was no going back on it. He was a man of determination and possessed perseverance. Once the goal was set, he left no stone unturned to reach there. He was a clear headed man who knew how to determine what the aim was and once the aim was set, maintenance of aim was no problem to him. There was no deviation from the aim and it had to be achieved, come what may. Of course, he had to tread on the toes of others but he did not mind it. If others did, he would say – I don’t care. Pt Lekh Ram had a many-faceted personality but the overriding element was principles, precepts and preaching of the Vedas based Dharma as propounded by Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the great religious and social reformer of the 19th century India.
DEVELOPMENT OF LEKH RAM : MAN AND MISSION
Born in 1858 in Saidpur in district Jhelum, now in Pakistan, he inherited knowledge of languages and the unparalleled spirit of “Giving” and not Grabbing from the soil and tradition of the village. Just to quote one example, Lala Dewan Chand, the great Arya philanthropist and martyred freedom fighter, Khushiram Ji were also born and brought up in Saidpur. Pt Lekh ram was initially named as Lekh Raj but later in his writings he preferred the name Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had had a taste of various sects of Hinduism and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev until he found his moorings in the teachings of the Vedic Dharm after he have had a number of meetings with Swami Dayanand Saraswati at Ajmer on 17 May 1881. Under a false notion, Lekh Ram Ji used to consider himself as Brahm but after a meaningful exchange of views with Swami Dayanand Saraswati, he became a votary of the Vedic Trinity. Now he knew that he was a Jeevatma and Parmatma as well as prakriti were separate and different entities.
This meeting between Rishivar and Punditji was of great significance to the Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj got a committed writer of Life of Dayanand Saraswati, his life and thought based on interviews with people who had met the great reformer. Pundit Lekh Ram had started his mission of collection of authentic material to write the biography of Rishivar on 11 December 1888, five years after the Rishi’s untimely and sad demise. Pt Lekh Ram took great care that fact and fiction did not intermingle and finally gave the Arya Samaj a biography of its founder that is par excellence. It was a biography based on interviews recorded at the spot where events had taken place. Obviously, Pt Lekh Ram travelled a lot all over the place where Swami Dayanand had gone, lectured, written his memorable treatises and faced worldly problems generated by jealousy, superstitions and miscalculations.
In the scheme of collection of facts and holding interviews, Pt Lekh Ram did not ignore his mission of teaching and preaching tenets of the Vedic Dharm. He did a fine balancing act between writing of biography and delivering of Vedic sermons. The latter was done at his own cost lest the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Lahore took it as an infringement of its financial guidelines. Pandit Ji chose to forego the Dakshina for the period he was not collecting facts for the biography and delivering sermons instead.
Another facet of Pandit Ji’s personality emerged during these extensive travels. He became a consummate writer of Travelogues in the Urdu language, possibly the first one. The essays on travel were published under the caption “Safarnama”. Sadly, not much has survived of that unique piece of literature. Here I am reminded of Lord Francis Bacon, the famous essayist of the English language, who wrote a line “Travel makes a man perfect”, and this perfection could be discerned in the travels and writings of Pt Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had a close relationship with Peshawar, the capital city of the North-Western Frontier Province NWFP). He was posted there as a sergeant in the Police Dept but did not let his profession interfere with his Vedic Dharm. When things came to a pass, he preferred to resign from the government service rather than let the profession have better of him. As an Arya Samajist he did not let low cast men be looked down upon. Once when he was posted in a police station where the Station House Officer was a Muslim Pathan and an orderly was a Mazahabi Sikh (of low caste), he made it a point to shake hands with him to obliterate casteism. This used to happen much to the chagrin of the Thanedar Saheb who was a great believer in his high caste. Pandit Ji used to do Namaste to others as he believed in the Aryan way of greetings. However, soon the dept and the Vedic missionary parted ways when he hung up his police uniform for good. It may, however, be mentioned that while in the police service he published and edited a weekly named, Dharmopadesh. Later he was the editor of Arya Gazette that carved a niche in the world of journalism. While collecting material for Swami Ji’s biography, he published a timely weekly called Arya Vijay.
Pt Lekh Ram was always available to the new generation for advice and guidance. ‘TEHRIR AND TAQREER’, THAT IS WRITING AND DELIVERING SERMONS MUST NEVER CEASE – that was his counselling to all Arya Samajists. Indeed writing new articles or books meant an intensive study of the subject and thus the preachers who deliver the sermon will be knowledgeable. It should be an ongoing process in this Arya Samaj movement so that the mission of Swami Dayanand Saraswati touches new heights day after day.
Pt Lekh Ram Ji used to do self study and also some writing whenever he got time off the work as a Vedic missionary. One late evening as he was busy writing, oil in the lamp was exhausted. Shops were closed. So he walked along the railway line to the Kothi of Mahatma Munshi Ram as enough light was available in his Dewankhana. Thus he achieved the intended target of writing for that evening. Man with a mission knew how to achieve the aim surmounting problems, both major and minor.
Pt Lekh Ram was the moving spirit behind the Arya Samaj, Peshawar, now in Pakistan. He collected funds to have an impressive building erected as the epicentre of the Ved prachar activities. The impressive Arya Samaj bhawan had a pride of place among religious institutions of Peshawar.
The city of Pathans, both Hindus and Muslims, had influenced the dress code of Pundit Lekh Ram. He would wear a tight pyjama, a shirt, a waist coat and a turban tied in the typical frontier style. While talking of dress code, I must make a mention of an incident in Jullundur. Pt Lekh Ram was staying with Mahatma Munshi Ram and the latter had started wearing a Dhoti by then as a pracharak. One day Pt Lekh Ram told him “Lalaji, you are an energetic man and a tireless worker of the Arya Samaj. It is a loose-fitting wear of the slovenly easterners and does not befit us”. Mahatma Munshi Ram just laughed it away. The writer of these lines is fond of tying a Dhoti as a pracharak, be it a visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, a travel to Tibet or addressing a gathering of cadets. My Indian dress earned me a new name, “Dhoti Wale Brigadier Saheb”. I am with Mahatma Munshi Ram on this point and not with Pundit lekh Ram. No disrespect meant to him; I revere him.
Pt Lekh Ram was always there where he was needed most. Whenever he heard that a Hindu or a group of Hindus were about to convert to Islam or Christianity, he would rush to that spot to convince them not to cross over. More often than not he was successful in his mission. It is said that once he was going on a similar mission to a mofussil town but entrained in an express train that did not stop there, so Punditji just leaped out of the train as it slowed a little at the platform. Although he was hurt but he reached his destination on time and his mission of retaining a group of Hindus in the family fold was a great success. The veracity of this story stands confirmed by independent sources of the time.
CLASH WITH QADIANIS
A major part of Pt Lekh Ram’s time and energy was spent in countering the Ahmedias and their Head, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiani, who were always out to attack the Hindus in general and the Arya Samajists in particular. In retrospect one may say that the Ahmedias who clashed with the Hindus on behalf of the Muslims, were not considered to be true Muslims. In Pakistan the Ahmediyas are listed as non-Muslims. What a shame for the Mirza, who deputed a man to assassinate Pt lekh Ram, to be called a non-Muslim. The Ahmedias are hounded out by Sunnis all over the place. And it was one of them who lived with Pt Lekh Ram and dined with him expressing a wish to be converted a Vedic Dharmi. The drama was staged by that wretched fellow for a few days and one night he surreptitiously plunged his long knife into his abdomen. Pt Lekh Ram became a martyr in the cause of the Vedic Dharm on 6 March1897 at a young age of 39 years. The Mirza unashamedly owned having plotted this heinous crime of murder in cold blood.
Lahore was shocked. The Hindus and Sikha mourned Pt Lekh Ram’s assassination in thousands. The Arya Samajists of all shades displayed a rare sense of unity at the cremation ground in Lahore. Lakshmi Devi Ji, the widow of Pt lekh Ram who had the bliss of marital life for just four years, took a pledge to continue working for the cause that her husband had died for. She donated the entire money of his life insurance to the cause of the Vedic Dharm. She made this sacrifice notwithstanding the advice of many well wishers like Mahatma Munshi Ram to save some money for a rainy day. She was so inspired by the martyrdom and Vedic ideals of her late husband that she wished to donate every paisa that she had and did so. Later, at one of the convocation ceremonies of the Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar , venerable Lakshmi Devi Ji donated all her gold and jewellery for the flagship of the Vedic Shiksha. Her sacrifice and the martyrdom of her husband bore fruits in various activities of the Arya Samaj and the Gurukul. Of the money donated by her, a Foundation for education of brilliant but poor students was established. We are proud to narrate that the first beneficiary of this munificence was a young boy from Saharanpur who was transformed into an illustrious Vedic scholar. The world knows him as Pt Budh Dev Ji Vedalankar, later known as Swami Samarpananand Ji.
Swami Shraddhanand Ji, among others, had paid glowing tribute to the martyred Pt Lekh Ram thus: He was a DHARMVIR AND A KARMVIR. Indeed a fearless fighter for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. He was a true believer in Param Pita Parmatma and the Lord loved him.
Pundit Lekh Ram is a torch bearer removing darkness for others. His martyrdom inspired other Aryas to follow into his footsteps. Swami Shraddhanand, Mahashay Rajpal and many others of the Hyderabad satyagrah attained martyrdom for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. Indeed they walked fearlessly on the path of martyrdom for the Vedic Dharm paved by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati himself.
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YOGESHWAR SHRI KRISHNA IS HUMANITY'S BEAU IDEAL

Shri Krishna - Our Beau Ideal


--By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

When I relax and think of the most excellent man who walked on this earth, the profile of Shri Krishna flashes across my mind. He was indeed the most beautiful person that one can think of. He was and continues to be the Beau Ideal of millions of men and women in many a millennium. He lived and died for the fellow human beings. He shared the joys and sorrows of kings and commoners alike. He was born in Dwapar Yug, the mega unit of Time just preceding our Kaliyug. By and large we agree that it was 5,000 years ago that he was born in Mathura of pious parents who were put in prison by a close relative called Kansa, the then king. Thus Shri Krishna was born in captivity but he , by dint of merit, hard work and humane nature became a liberator of Mankind.

Shri Krishna was so sweet by nature, word and deed that not only humans but animals too loved him. All living beings longed to be near him. He embraced one and all as if they were his kith and kin.
This is what the Ved mantra enjoined on men and women :
Mitrasya Chakshusha sarvani bhutani samikshantam

Let us treat all living beings as our friends : that was the Vedic teaching and Shri Krishna followed it in letter and spirit. After all, he had received his education in the Gurukul Ashram of Rishi Sandipani and had graduated to worldly life therefrom. The legendary friendship with a poor Brahmin had a beginning there and Shri Krishna nourished it in later life too. As the King of Dwarka, in western India, he had accorded same honour and respect to poor Sudama as to a fellow king or a mighty warrior. Of course, the large hearted largesse was in evidence too. Indeed it was a fine example of life-long friendship, notwithstanding the colossal difference in social status. A friend in need was a friend in deed; so said Shri Krishna through his actions.

Among the animals the Cow was at the centre of attention throughout. He loved cows. He cared for cows. For cows he was just a cowherd. He played his flute for cows and they came flocking to him. It was a genuine love for cows; not for their milk but for their loving company. It was the same type of soul or Jeevatma that stood embodied for action or Karma. So, the companionship with cows was also philosophical. Shri Krishna showed the way as a leader of men in loving animals and his kith and kin followed suit. A fraternity of human beings and other living beings symbolized by the cow was born here. One has to know and experience the Vedic ethos to appreciate this bond of love. Indeed the strife-torn world needs this philosophy of life more today than ever before. Shri Krishna is , inter alia, known as Gopal, that is the preserver and protector of cows. Let us emulate him and enlist ourselves as neo-gopals to protect and preserve the progeny of Cow. The world economy and environment will improve and love, instead of hatred, will prevail, It will indeed be a precursor of Peace on Earth.
Among numerous biographies of Shri Krishna there are refrences to folklore portraying wrongly his amorous nature. Suffice it to say that the so-called playful love of Radha Ji and Shri Krishna is philosophised by some scholars as the affinity of Atman or soul with Parmatman or God. In the present script we are portraying Shri Krishna as a Maha-Purush or a great man. No man is or should be equated with the Almighty. Therefore, the philosophy of love referred to above is fallacious and fails the litmus test of the Vedas. At best, one can say that when Shri Krishna left Vrindavan for Mathura to do away with the diabolical influence of demons he was just at the threshold of becoming a teenager. Radha was a full-fledged housewife. There was no chance of even an infatuation, what to say of a calf-love. The umpteen number of love-lores are pure figments of poetic imagination that have done more harm than good to the otherwise unblemished character of the great man. Let us leave it at that.
Let us quote Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati on Shri Krishna :

“ Shri Krishna’s story (history) as told in the Mahabharat is indeed par excellence.His qualities,thought and action, character and totality of personality rank in the class of the Enlightened Ones. There is no reference therein to show that he deviated from the Dharm Path from birth to death. “

The great Rishi has really summed up well what the personality of Shri Krishna was. Indeed it was the epic battle of Mahabharat and epoch-making events preceding it that bring out the best of Shri Krishna. He emerges as a Yogeshwar, one who had mastered the art and science of Yoga, the physical, mental and spiritual meeting points – convergence of diverse forces for greater good of the greater numbers. Leaving folklore of boyhood days aside, we proceed to events that bring out sterling qualities of character of Shri Krishna.
Yogeshwar Shri Krishna emerges as a great man who put society before self. Whatever he did was for the good of the common man. No selfishness at all. Going chronologically, King Kansa was his first major kill. After removing that tyrant and eliminating him from the scene, he did not usurp kingdom of the deceased. He, in his charitable style, put Kansa’s father, Ugrasen, on the throne. The common man was happy as a benevolent ruler was once again at the helm of affairs. Peace prevailed.

Shri Krishna made it a point to punish the wrong-doer. It did not matter if the man to be punished was a king or a commoner. It was immaterial if the sinner was his close relative. An example was made of his first cousin, Shishupal. Notwithstanding his royal status, Shishupal was killed by Shri Krishna in public for his acts and omissions amounting to crime against humanity.

Shri Krishna was a Peacenik. Never was he a war-monger. When Duryodhan, the leader of evil forces refused to give to the Pandavas what was their due, Shri Krishna volunteered to present himself at the Kaurav Court as a Messenger of Peace. He played well the role of a peace maker. He offered to convince the Pandavas of the futility of war provided the Kauravas gave them just five villages, instead of a kingdom, and let them live with honour and dignity. It was the evil-doer Duryodhan who threw a red herring and refused to give the Pandavas even land covered by a needle-point. The blind King Dhritrashtra, remained blind to national interest and promoted his son blindly. Thus the peace mission failed. The war was inevitable. Mahabharat was the answer to oppression of the forces of the Good by the forces of Evil.

Of course, before going into battle Shri Krishna tried the path of diplomacy too. He knew that once Maharathi Karna abandoned Kauravas and joined the Pandavas where he belonged, the battle would be over before it began. He persuaded Kunti to go to Karna and make a clean breast of the past that the latter was indeed her son conceived and begotten before marriage and had to be abandoned. Shri Krishna made a sincere effort to convince Karna to save the society by eschewing the path of violence paved by the Kauravas. However, it was just too little and too late. Karna chose to stick to the Kauravas, come rain come shine. Now, the writing was on the wall. War, war and war.

Kurukshetra is the chosen battleground for an epic battle that lasted eighteen days. It was Mahabharat. It left an indelible mark on the history of Bharat. Before the battle began , Arjun, the commander-in-chief of the Pandava army lost heart. The will to do battle was missing. He did not want to kill his kith and kin and the acharyas for a mundane kingdom. In fact, he was so non-plussed that he abandoned his bow and arrow and was not in a fit state of mind to command his army. Here Yogeshwar Shri Krishna played a major role as a motivator of men who were in a state of bewilderment. His teaching and psychological approach made Arjun sit up, take stock of the situation and resume the operational command. Not doing so would have made Arjun go down in history as a coward and as a shammer who shunned his duty. “ Do thy duty, reward is not thy concern, “ said Shri Krishna. He emphasized that it was the laid down duty of a Kshattriya(the man of the warrior class) to protect the Dharma or righteousness and eliminate the forces of evil. So, one has to fight with Determination and win- so said Shri Krishna. The message is as relevant to men and women to-day as it was to Arjun in the Mahabharat. At the end of the war, the Pandavas were victorious and the Kauravas were vanquished. Shri Krishna was the guiding spirit through it all.

Shri Krishna is addressed as a Yogeshwar because he preached and practiced Yoga. He advocated complete balance in life, be it in food or behaviour in society or in our Karma, that is action in pursuance of duty to self and society. The same balance is to be maintained in our meditation and God-realisation. Shri Krishna himself summed it beautifully in this seventeenth sloka of the sixth chapter of the Shrimadbhagwat Gita :
" Yuktaharviharasya yukta cheshtasya karmasu
Yukta swapnavabodhasya yogo bhavati dukhha."

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BEWARE OF YELLOW DRAGON!

There are News Reports of China is making a strong base in Gilgit-Baltisthan sector of POK with the solid support of Pakistan. New York Times reports that around 11000 Chinese military personnel are deployed this strategic area which is a serious concern for India.

The Statesman reports quoting from the New York Times that “In a quiet move, Pakistan is handing over de-facto control of the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region in Occupied Kashmir to China in an area witnessing a simmering rebellion against Islamabad, a media report here said. The New York Times said China has deployed from 7,000 to 11,000 troops of the People's Liberation Army in the area. “China wants a grip on the strategic area to assure unfettered road and rail access to the Gulf through Pakistan”, the paper said, and for this purpose is building high-speed rail and road links. The link up would enable Beijing to transport cargo and oil tankers from eastern China to the new Chinese-built Pakistani naval base at Gawadar, Pasni and Ormara in Balochistan, in 48 hours. “Many of the PLA soldiers entering Gilgit-Baltistan are expected to work on the railroad. Some are extending the Karakoram Highway... Others are working on dams, expressways and other projects,” it said.
It said mystery surrounds the construction of 22 tunnels in secret locations. Tunnels would be necessary for a projected gas pipeline from Iran to China across the Karakorams. “But they could be also used for missiles storage sites,” the Times said.

The paper noted that there were widespread brutally suppressed local movements for democratic rights and regional autonomy in both Gilgit and Baltistan.

Hope our Government agencies and diplomats take a note of this grave situation and do the needful urgently. Yellow dragon is more dangerous that Jihadi supportive Pakistan. The nexus between Maoists and their Chinese connections should be viewed very seriously. Instead of making a false hue and cry about the so called ‘Saffron Terror’ our Home Minister should take a bold step to curb the Maoist violence which is claiming many innocent lives daily. The opposition parties and the nationalist minded citizens should support any such move of our Government in this regard.

JAI HIND

SINO – INDIAN WAR OF WORDS

Escalation of war of words between India and China is no reason for veterans in diplomacy and matters military to lose their sleep. None of the two sides is losing its cool and that is a welcome feature. Perhaps the ministry of foreign affairs miscalculated the likely Indian reaction when it said that the general Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern command of the Indian Army, Lieutenant General B.S. Jaswal would not be a welcome guest as a member of the Indian Military Delegation to China. The Chinese thought that India would take this rebuff lying down. India, on the contrary, reacted strongly and retorted by saying that the two officers of the People’s Liberation Army of China coming to India to attend the National Defence College would not be welcome anymore.
THUS FAR BUT NO FURTHER
Why did China do what it did? It was trying to send signals to Pakistan reaffirming its friendship with that failed state. Indeed it is for historical reasons that China developed friendly bonds with Pakistan when India and the Soviet Union were bosom friends. China and the Soviet Union had developed cracks in their friendly ties and China needed a friend in the Indian Sub-continent. Pakistan filled the bill as both had their bête noir named India. The two have remained friends through thick and thin. China, as an emerging super power, keeps on assuring Pakistan that the latter has nothing to worry and that it could carry on with its anti-India hostile attitude both in word and deed. It serves China’s interests too. India remains entangled with a minor country called Pakistan and cannot emerge into a global force to reckon with. Thus China will have no competitor in the Asian sphere. By making this pro-Pakistan and anti-India move, China has endeavoured to kill two birds with one stone.
Is China interested in carrying on this war of words further? Is India interested in carrying the war of words forward? No, none of the two giant neighbours wish that this diplomatic tension and sending of a demarche turn into a border skirmish or a battle of books pouring over old treaties of the imperial era. Both the countries wish to resume their exchange of defence notes and continue military delegations visiting each other’s defence installations. The confidence building measures should continue.
The basic reason for China to continue this detente is its emergence as a world power. Entanglement in a regional dispute with India may make a dent in China’s international image. Thus the present stoppage of visits by defence delegations is at best a comma and not a full stop.
Generally speaking, China goes by past precedence and does not deviate from the policy adopted by it in similar cases previously. Not long ago, another Indian military delegation comprising, among others, then Lt Gen (now General and Army Chief) V.K. Singh. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command had visited China. Lt Gen VK Singh was in military command of Arunachal Pradesh, a territory that China has been laying its claim on. China had raised no objection then to Lt Gen Singh’s visit to China. Isn’t it a puzzle that China has adopted a different approach to the issue this time? The crossword puzzle is ipso facto solved when Pakistan enters the picture. China has undertaken the entire exercise to reassure its flood-ravaged friend that it need not worry about India and keep on denying visa to its relief workers and remain as hostile as ever. The aim is achieved and the exercise is, it is hoped, shelved now.
IS AMERICA A PLAYER ?
If anything is happening at a global scale, America cannot but take interest in it. America does not like its image of an international policeman but it has to be there lest China is acknowledged by the comity of nations as the giant among men. However, there is no evidence to prove that America has taken an active interest in the present Sino-India war of words. Indeed, it is an observer. It may ensure that the balance of power in the region does not tilt unduly in favour of China. One of the reasons of America pouring in military and financial aid into Pakistan on a massive scale is to prevent the terror manufacturing country from falling into the lap of China lock stock and barrel. One who pays the piper dictates the tune. When America pays green back dollars to Pakistan, it has a leverage in guiding its policies at home and abroad.
Of course, India has to follow a policy in principle and in practice to prove to the world that it is not Pakistan centric. Further, India must stick to its guns and show to the world that China is incapable of browbeating her into submission. The present round of denial of visas to military officers by either country has proved the point to the hilt.
MISSILE DIPLOMACY
When China had deployed its Dong Feng-2 or CSS 5 missiles on the Tibet-Arunachal Pradesh border, many India and China watchers put out a theory that tension between the two great neighbours was at its peak. Fortunately, no international observer had predicted a shooting war between the two. In any case India had already deployed its Prithvi III, to cover a killing zone up to 350 Km and Agni II to cover a range up to cities in South China. The deployment of missiles should be seen in global perspective. China had to strengthen its alround defence by deploying its latest missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. America had made a defence pact with its arch enemy of yester years, Vietnam and an old time ally Phillipines to make its presence felt in the South China Sea. Deployment of the latest Chinese missiles in Tibet on the Indian border should be seen in that context.
Both India and China wish to resume their confidence building measures by holding joint exercises with officers and men of the three services of both the countries. Of course, the level of these military exercises should be raised from platoon and company level to brigade and divisional levels so that interaction between military personnel of the two countries grows at a higher level.
One may conclude that God is in heaven ( notwithstanding atheistic belief of Communist China) and all is well with the world.
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

PAKISTAN FLOODED BUT AID DONORS DRY UP

AUM
PAKISTAN DEVASTATED BUT AID DONORS DRY UP
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Cloud bursts, flash floods, towns and villages inundated with gushing waters of rivers bursting banks; men, women and children do not know where to go for shelter. Humans and animals, peacocks and snakes, tigers and lambs learn to coexist in rare dry patches of land for survival. The mighty Indus river had not known this fury before since when Alexander the Great had sailed downstream heading for home. Pakistan stands ruined but its feudal rulers care not. Wine and dining matter more for the elite unaffected by unprecedented floods.
“Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink, because it was contaminated with carcass of dead animals and human waste. Hundreds of humans and animals perished. The living and the dead received no help from the non-existent administration and both men and women spent their residual energy in cursing President Asif Ali Zardari who was tasting the choicest wine in France and enjoying the British hospitality in London. The Army led by General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani mustered men for relief work by taking them off the duty of training Taliban, their brothers-in-arms for a future attack on India, after securing a defence in depth in Afghanistan when the last American soldier left for home under orders of Obama the Muslim. One wonders whether Obama the President and Osama the terrorist were brothers in their previous birth.
APPEAL FOR AID
The common man’s perception all over the world is: God has punished Pakistanis for their Satanic acts and omissions. Osama bin-Laden is based in Pakistan and keeps on criss-crossing the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Many men who matter in the government of Pakistan are in the know of whereabouts of Osama the terrorist but they do not apprehend him, what to say of delivering him to America to face trial. It is the same man-cum-devil who had planned and executed the attack on twin towers of New York. His co-conspirators had planned and executed attacks on Mumbai in India, not forgetting bomb blasts on the Mumbai suburban trains where many hundred precious lives were lost. The blood of thousands of men, women and children killed in terrorist violence all over the world, is on their hands. Divine justice has been done and wicked Pakistanis punished. Let no man interfere with the Divine justice – that is the common perception.
Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations made an appeal to the international community to come forward and render aid on humanitarian grounds. Not many hands of human beings lifted to donate to the devils. Frankly speaking, Pakistan does not enjoy a good reputation in the comity of nations. Pakistan is seen as a factory producing Islamist terrorists who destroy the existing culture and civilisation to build mosques on the rubble. No wonder, students of history recall the barbarous acts of Islamic invaders in India, Central Asia, Europe and elsewhere. Temples, churches and synagogues were demolished, libraries were burnt, precious manuscripts were destroyed by these Islamist barbarians. The latest destruction was that of images of Buddha in Bamian in Afghanistan. Pakistan is seen as an inheritor of the philosophy of loot, rape, plunder and destruction of everything that is beautiful. Art to an Islamist terrorist is like the red rag to the bull in the Rodeo enclosure. If that be the case, and indeed it is so, then why donate your hard-earned money to nourish and nurture sons of Satan?
Pakistan is a failed state. Pakistan is a terrorist state. The floods that ravaged Pakistan came in the form of punishment for devilish deeds of Pakistanis. God has punished Pakistanis for their sins – this is the statement made by Mullahs and Maulvis of Pakistan who are well versed in the Islamic scriptures. I have not contributed anything to this kind of FATWA, an Islamic religious decree, except to arrange it at an appropriate place in this article. Whatever has been stated heretofore is a part of history that was recorded truthfully. Aren’t we all committed to the divine concept of telling the TRUTH. Let no man shy away from what the Lord has ordained.
PAKISTAN’S BETE NOIR
India is Pakistan’s bête noir. Pakistan has been acting on its cardinal principle and policy “Hate Hindu Hate India”. The rogue state forgets that there are more Muslims living and enjoying citizenship rights in India than in Pakistan. There was no reason for India to offer economic aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan. Giving aid to Pakistan is like supping with the Devil. Anyway, the Indian Prime Minister who was born in a village that is now in Pakistan, felt moved and offered five million US dollars as a humanitarian aid. But Pakistan, in its arrogance, just kept mum and neither accepted it nor rejected it. Thus Pakistan insulted India once again. It was not until the United States of America goaded Pakistan to accept the Indian aid that it did so willy-nilly.
The Indian citizens must urge the government of India strongly not to render anymore assistance to Pakistan after it showed its atrocious behaviour in just shelving the Indian aid offer for days. The Indian tax -payers money will be going down the drain if the weak Indian Prime Minister offers more aid to Pakistan. In fact his weakness is touted as his strong point and the main reason for his survival in the present office. Therefore, he continues this weak-kneed policy of begging Pakistan to accept the aid despite being rebuffed time and again. What a shame! The old man sees light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the Nobel Peace Prize. If Obama got it for doing nothing and just for being in the Oval office for merely eighteen days when the award was announced, our Man on Pakistan peace mission deserves a better deal as he has been in the chair for six years now and has been supplicating Pakistan all along out of turn. Is someone in Sweden listening?

A very close relative of mine settled in Germany told me on phone that German citizens are rather reluctant to donate money for the needy men and women in Pakistan. The image of Pakistan in Germany takes a beating for the rampant corruption in the rank and file of its government, be it local, provincial or central. Of course, the overriding factor of reluctance to donate is the picture of Pakistan as a terrorist state in the minds of average German citizens. Perhaps the scenario is not much different in other countries of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Americas and elsewhere. Indeed Pakistan has itself to blame for difficulty in finding donors to extend humanitarian aid to it. The media, both print and electronic is doing its bit in rousing the conscience of donors-to-be by showing images of destitute children and hungry expectant mothers in tatters. Nevertheless, it is the bearded, armed to teeth Islamist terrorists hell bent on destroying our cultures and civilizations who walk away with the cake in this competition of projecting the present picture of Pakistan. David is left far behind as Goliath rules the roost in Pakistan of today.
Upvan 609, Sector 29, NOIDA -201303, INDIA. Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com and sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com

ARYA PILGRIM FROM PESHAWAR

AUM
ARYA PATHIK FROM PESHAWAR COURTED MARTYRDOM
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

The Vedic world knows him as Pundit Lekh Ram, Arya Musafir. Once he made up his mind that the Vedic Dharm was the first and the last word to guide human behaviour from A to Z, there was no going back on it. He was a man of determination and possessed perseverance. Once the goal was set, he left no stone unturned to reach there. He was a clear headed man who knew how to determine what the aim was and once the aim was set, maintenance of aim was no problem to him. There was no deviation from the aim and it had to be achieved, come what may. Of course, he had to tread on the toes of others but he did not mind it. If others did, he would say – I don’t care. Pt Lekh Ram had a many-faceted personality but the overriding element was principles, precepts and preaching of the Vedas based Dharma as propounded by Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the great religious and social reformer of the 19th century India.
DEVELOPMENT OF LEKH RAM : MAN AND MISSION
Born in 1858 in Saidpur in district Jhelum, now in Pakistan, he inherited knowledge of languages and the unparalleled spirit of “Giving” and not Grabbing from the soil and tradition of the village. Just to quote one example, Lala Dewan Chand, the great Arya philanthropist and martyred freedom fighter, Khushiram Ji were also born and brought up in Saidpur. Pt Lekh ram was initially named as Lekh Raj but later in his writings he preferred the name Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had had a taste of various sects of Hinduism and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev until he found his moorings in the teachings of the Vedic Dharm after he have had a number of meetings with Swami Dayanand Saraswati at Ajmer on 17 May 1881. Under a false notion, Lekh Ram Ji used to consider himself as Brahm but after a meaningful exchange of views with Swami Dayanand Saraswati, he became a votary of the Vedic Trinity. Now he knew that he was a Jeevatma and Parmatma as well as prakriti were separate and different entities.
This meeting between Rishivar and Punditji was of great significance to the Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj got a committed writer of Life of Dayanand Saraswati, his life and thought based on interviews with people who had met the great reformer. Pundit Lekh Ram had started his mission of collection of authentic material to write the biography of Rishivar on 11 December 1888, five years after the Rishi’s untimely and sad demise. Pt Lekh Ram took great care that fact and fiction did not intermingle and finally gave the Arya Samaj a biography of its founder that is par excellence. It was a biography based on interviews recorded at the spot where events had taken place. Obviously, Pt Lekh Ram travelled a lot all over the place where Swami Dayanand had gone, lectured, written his memorable treatises and faced worldly problems generated by jealousy, superstitions and miscalculations.
In the scheme of collection of facts and holding interviews, Pt Lekh Ram did not ignore his mission of teaching and preaching tenets of the Vedic Dharm. He did a fine balancing act between writing of biography and delivering of Vedic sermons. The latter was done at his own cost lest the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Lahore took it as an infringement of its financial guidelines. Pandit Ji chose to forego the Dakshina for the period he was not collecting facts for the biography and delivering sermons instead.
Another facet of Pandit Ji’s personality emerged during these extensive travels. He became a consummate writer of Travelogues in the Urdu language, possibly the first one. The essays on travel were published under the caption “Safarnama”. Sadly, not much has survived of that unique piece of literature. Here I am reminded of Lord Francis Bacon, the famous essayist of the English language, who wrote a line “Travel makes a man perfect”, and this perfection could be discerned in the travels and writings of Pt Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had a close relationship with Peshawar, the capital city of the North-Western Frontier Province NWFP). He was posted there as a sergeant in the Police Dept but did not let his profession interfere with his Vedic Dharm. When things came to a pass, he preferred to resign from the government service rather than let the profession have better of him. As an Arya Samajist he did not let low cast men be looked down upon. Once when he was posted in a police station where the Station House Officer was a Muslim Pathan and an orderly was a Mazahabi Sikh (of low caste), he made it a point to shake hands with him to obliterate casteism. This used to happen much to the chagrin of the Thanedar Saheb who was a great believer in his high caste. Pandit Ji used to do Namaste to others as he believed in the Aryan way of greetings. However, soon the dept and the Vedic missionary parted ways when he hung up his police uniform for good. It may, however, be mentioned that while in the police service he published and edited a weekly named, Dharmopadesh. Later he was the editor of Arya Gazette that carved a niche in the world of journalism. While collecting material for Swami Ji’s biography, he published a timely weekly called Arya Vijay.
Pt Lekh Ram was always available to the new generation for advice and guidance. ‘TEHRIR AND TAQREER’, THAT IS WRITING AND DELIVERING SERMONS MUST NEVER CEASE – that was his counselling to all Arya Samajists. Indeed writing new articles or books meant an intensive study of the subject and thus the preachers who deliver the sermon will be knowledgeable. It should be an ongoing process in this Arya Samaj movement so that the mission of Swami Dayanand Saraswati touches new heights day after day.
Pt Lekh Ram Ji used to do self study and also some writing whenever he got time off the work as a Vedic missionary. One late evening as he was busy writing, oil in the lamp was exhausted. Shops were closed. So he walked along the railway line to the Kothi of Mahatma Munshi Ram as enough light was available in his Dewankhana. Thus he achieved the intended target of writing for that evening. Man with a mission knew how to achieve the aim surmounting problems, both major and minor.
Pt Lekh Ram was the moving spirit behind the Arya Samaj, Peshawar, now in Pakistan. He collected funds to have an impressive building erected as the epicentre of the Ved prachar activities. The impressive Arya Samaj bhawan had a pride of place among religious institutions of Peshawar.
The city of Pathans, both Hindus and Muslims, had influenced the dress code of Pundit Lekh Ram. He would wear a tight pyjama, a shirt, a waist coat and a turban tied in the typical frontier style. While talking of dress code, I must make a mention of an incident in Jullundur. Pt Lekh Ram was staying with Mahatma Munshi Ram and the latter had started wearing a Dhoti by then as a pracharak. One day Pt Lekh Ram told him “Lalaji, you are an energetic man and a tireless worker of the Arya Samaj. It is a loose-fitting wear of the slovenly easterners and does not befit us”. Mahatma Munshi Ram just laughed it away. The writer of these lines is fond of tying a Dhoti as a pracharak, be it a visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, a travel to Tibet or addressing a gathering of cadets. My Indian dress earned me a new name, “Dhoti Wale Brigadier Saheb”. I am with Mahatma Munshi Ram on this point and not with Pundit lekh Ram. No disrespect meant to him; I revere him.
Pt Lekh Ram was always there where he was needed most. Whenever he heard that a Hindu or a group of Hindus were about to convert to Islam or Christianity, he would rush to that spot to convince them not to cross over. More often than not he was successful in his mission. It is said that once he was going on a similar mission to a mofussil town but entrained in an express train that did not stop there, so Punditji just leaped out of the train as it slowed a little at the platform. Although he was hurt but he reached his destination on time and his mission of retaining a group of Hindus in the family fold was a great success. The veracity of this story stands confirmed by independent sources of the time.
CLASH WITH QADIANIS
A major part of Pt Lekh Ram’s time and energy was spent in countering the Ahmedias and their Head, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiani, who were always out to attack the Hindus in general and the Arya Samajists in particular. In retrospect one may say that the Ahmedias who clashed with the Hindus on behalf of the Muslims, were not considered to be true Muslims. In Pakistan the Ahmediyas are listed as non-Muslims. What a shame for the Mirza, who deputed a man to assassinate Pt lekh Ram, to be called a non-Muslim. The Ahmedias are hounded out by Sunnis all over the place. And it was one of them who lived with Pt Lekh Ram and dined with him expressing a wish to be converted a Vedic Dharmi. The drama was staged by that wretched fellow for a few days and one night he surreptitiously plunged his long knife into his abdomen. Pt Lekh Ram became a martyr in the cause of the Vedic Dharm on 6 March1897 at a young age of 39 years. The Mirza unashamedly owned having plotted this heinous crime of murder in cold blood.
Lahore was shocked. The Hindus and Sikha mourned Pt Lekh Ram’s assassination in thousands. The Arya Samajists of all shades displayed a rare sense of unity at the cremation ground in Lahore. Lakshmi Devi Ji, the widow of Pt lekh Ram who had the bliss of marital life for just four years, took a pledge to continue working for the cause that her husband had died for. She donated the entire money of his life insurance to the cause of the Vedic Dharm. She made this sacrifice notwithstanding the advice of many well wishers like Mahatma Munshi Ram to save some money for a rainy day. She was so inspired by the martyrdom and Vedic ideals of her late husband that she wished to donate every paisa that she had and did so. Later, at one of the convocation ceremonies of the Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar , venerable Lakshmi Devi Ji donated all her gold and jewellery for the flagship of the Vedic Shiksha. Her sacrifice and the martyrdom of her husband bore fruits in various activities of the Arya Samaj and the Gurukul. Of the money donated by her, a Foundation for education of brilliant but poor students was established. We are proud to narrate that the first beneficiary of this munificence was a young boy from Saharanpur who was transformed into an illustrious Vedic scholar. The world knows him as Pt Budh Dev Ji Vedalankar, later known as Swami Samarpananand Ji.
Swami Shraddhanand Ji, among others, had paid glowing tribute to the martyred Pt Lekh Ram thus: He was a DHARMVIR AND A KARMVIR. Indeed a fearless fighter for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. He was a true believer in Param Pita Parmatma and the Lord loved him.
Pundit Lekh Ram is a torch bearer removing darkness for others. His martyrdom inspired other Aryas to follow into his footsteps. Swami Shraddhanand, Mahashay Rajpal and many others of the Hyderabad satyagrah attained martyrdom for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. Indeed they walked fearlessly on the path of martyrdom for the Vedic Dharm paved by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati himself.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, Noida – 201303. INDIA. Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
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HOMAGE TO SRI. RAMASIMHAN ON HIS MARTYRDOM DAY!

The historic shudhi of Ramasimhan and his martyrdom for the cause of Vedic Religion will be remembered in annals of Kerala history, serving as a hope and inspiration to all oppressed Hindus.

Thekke Palliyayali Moidu of Chemmun Kadavu village in Malappuram district had two sons namd Uneen and Alippu. Uneen was a Rubber Estate owner near Maalaparambu near Perinthalmanna. The British government conferred the title of ‘Khan Sahib’ on Uneen Sahib as the he was a land lord loyal to them. Uneen Sahib married the daughter of a prominent businessman Mr. Kalladi UnniKammu of Mannarkadu in Palakkad district. Uneen Sahib was very much attached to western culture and was following their lifestyles. His attitude towards the fellow Hindus were very bad. Being a rich land lord, he used to insult Hindus and their places of worships. He used the ruins of a nearby temple for building a latrine in his house! But all of a sudden he became sick and affected some severe stomach disease. No treatment found cured his illness. On seeing his pathetic condition some elders of nearby locality advised him to consult an astrologer and some Hindu Sanyasins for his recovery as they feared that it as a curse of God. They advised him to refrain from insulting Hindu deities and holy vedic literatures. He realised his mistakes and became repentant about his past actions. His painful stomach disease also surprisingly relieved shortly. He changed his living style and eating habits. He took special interest in yoga, mediation and charitable works for the well being of Hindus.

But the sudden change in Uneen Sahib infuriated the orthodox muslims. The muslim clergy tried their level best to change the mind of Uneen Sahib but were unsuccessful. He became more attached to hindu religious texts and beliefs. He went to the Arya Samaj at Calicut along with his brother, sons and many other family members and got re-converted into Vedic religion under the ritualistic shuddhi sanskar conducted by Arya Missionary Sri. Buddha Singh in 1946. On becoming a follower of vedic religion, Uneen Sahib got the arya name of Ramasimhan. One of his brothers got the name of Dayasimhan. Dayasimhan later became Narasimhan on his becoming a Namboothiri Brahmin.

Ramasimhan’s two sons changed their names to Fateh Singh and Jorwar Singh, the names of Guru Gobind Singh’s two valiant sons who were murdered on the orders of Aurangazeb during Mughal Rule for refusing to accept Islam. Former R.S.S Malabar prachaarak Swargeeya Sri Shankar Shastri ji (who died recently), made all the necessary arrangements for the Hindu Homecoming of Uneen Sahib and family.
Accepting the request of Ramasimhan, the learned Namboothiri Brahmins agreed to convert Dayasimhan (brother of Rama Simhan) to a Namboodiri Brahmin and his name was changed to Narasimhan Namboodiri. They even arranged the marriage of him with a Namboodiri girl named Kamala. This bold action of Namboothiris of Kerala to be written in golden lines of Hindu history as similar actions of then orthodox Kashmiri Brahmins (during the muslim rule) would have changed the demographic picture of present day turbulent Kashmir.
When a Maulavi criticised the re-conversion as a great mistakes on the part of Ramasimhan, he retorted: ‘I have not committed any mistake. It was my grandmother who, on being captured by Muslims, committed the fault of converting to Islam. I am re-converting to Hinduism to rectify for the fault and atone for the sin of my grandmother.’

But the shudhi of a wealthy and prominent Muslim family of Uneen Sahib made tremor in muslim dominated Malabar region. They feard that it may create an exodus from Islam to vedic religion. On coming back to Hinduism Ramasimhan, became a peace loving person. He returned his guns and licensed revolvers to the government which he was using earlier for hunting purpose. This act of Ramasimhan was counter productive and encouraged the Islamic fundamentalists to brutally assassinate him and his family. The muslim fundamentalists attacked the house of Ramasimhan on the midnight of 2nd Aug 1947 armed with deadly weapons and slaughtered the sleeping Ramasimhan, his brother Narasimhan Namboothiri, his wife Kamala Antarjanam and their cook Raju Iyer, in cold-blood. They desecrated the nearby temple and killed the holy cows and thrown the meat there.

The authorities arrested the assailants of Ramasimhan and his family. The weapons used for the murder were retrieved from the nearby pond in which they were dumped. Four of the murderers were sentenced to death by the District and Sessions Court at Palghat. The fundamentalists of Muslim community rallied behind the marauders and raised a huge sum of money for their legal assistance on appeal in the High Court of Madras. It was ironic that the Honourable Justice Horwill J of the Madras High Court, in a judgement he delivered on 19 January, 1949, acquitted all the accused for want of credible evidence. He also observed like this “It is unfortunate that such a grave crime organised by the Moplah Muslims against the Hindus of the area has not been detected; if the police were unable to obtain more evidence it was because the Moplah community largely succeeded in maintaining secrecy.”

The pseudo secular politicians of then Madras Government were bribed by the influential muslim businessmen for supporting the convicts in fighting the case in Madras High Court. The evidences were destroyed and prosecution witnesses were threatened and coerced into silence. As a result of such actions, the case was dismissed on the grounds of lack of evidence. Thus the murderous of this heinous crime set scot free. Many confidents of Rama Simhan like his Manager were bribed and compelled them to hand over the guardianship of his sons to his father-in-law Unni Kammu who forcibly reconverted them to Islam later.

Even though the rule of the land could not punish the assailants and their supporters, many of them had a tragic life in their later part of life. Few of them became insane and destitute.

Let us pay homage to Sri. Rama Simhan and his family members on the occasion of their tragicmartyrdomday.

Jai Hind! Vande Matharam!

DOUBLE FACED PAKISTAN CHEATED AMERICA

Pakistan has mastered the dubious art of running with the hare and hunting with the hound simultaneously. This is precisely what Pakistan has been doing all along in Afghanistan. Pakistan begged for US aid, received it for promised services to fight against radical Islamist groups in Afghanistan but encouraged Al Qaida supported Taliban to mount attacks on the US soldiers and kill them. Pakistan professed friendship with India and showed keenness for composite dialogue with India but its ISI officers paid hard currency cash to LeT to kill Indian officers, contractors and other road building personnel in Afghanistan. This was outright an act of cheating the Americans and damaging the Indian interests in Kabul to enable its forces to rule the roost there.
MEGA LEAK OF US INTELLIGENCE
WIKILEAK is a volunteer website serving the cause of democratic world and exposing swindlers. They caught hold of classified documents numbering thousands from the US government, military, diplomatic, intelligence etc and brought to the notice of American tax payers and all concerned how their money was going down the drain. The Pakistan military was all along assuring the Pentagon and the White House that it was with the United States in its war on terror but in actual fact it was helping the Taliban and its own brand of terror, LeT to attack and kill the American and European troops in Afghanistan. The common man in America is aghast. In India patriotic citizens had always been raising an accusing finger at Pakistan for playing the dirty game of siding with Americans ostensibly but supporting Islamist terrorists intimately.
OUTCOME OF MEGA LEAK
The Obama administration is under tremendous public, political and diplomatic pressure to revise its AFPAK strategy. Pakistan can no longer be trusted by America. As Hillary Clinton went on record to say that there are important elements in Pakistan government who know where Osama bin-Laden is hiding in Pakistan but Pakistan won’t catch him, what to say of handing him over to America to face justice.
President Obama had committed a major faux pas by announcing well in advance when the Americans would start pulling out of Afghanistan because it emboldened the Islamist terrorists as they took it as their final victory and ultimate defeat of the NATO. Now the Obama Administration may reverse that defeatist policy and declare that they would not leave the war-torn Afghanistan until Taliban is decimated. The Surge ordered earlier may be carried out with full gusto and General Matis, the commander designate for the NATO forces in Afghanistan be given a free hand to deal with the new emerging situation.
It is time America sidelined Pakistan as an untrustworthy ally. The aid to the cheats be stopped forthwith. The vacuum thus created may be filled by fresh forces from countries that have not been involved in battles heretofore. The new armed forces from freshly chosen countries will bring a whiff of fresh air and begin the battle with the Taliban with a high morale.
ROLE OF INDIA BE REDEFINED
India has much at stake in Afghanistan. India has been aiding the Karzai government in Kabul by giving economic aid, building bridges and roads, teaching English and Maths to Afghan National Army officers and so on. However, the time is ripe for India to help Washington DC by providing active military support. It may be in the form of infantry, artillery, engineers, signals and, of course, the Army medical Corps. The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force providing active battle support to the NATO will be a shot in the arm for the US Administration. This is the time to fight against the Islamist terrorists on a foreign soil and help the world beat the rogue elements.
If India misses this opportunity of bearding the lion in its own den, the lion will cross the borders and roar in Jammu and Kashmir. Helping , aiding and abetting the Islamist terrorists to grab Kashmir is the strategy of the Pakistan Army. Let us recall what Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had said to general Musharraf – Taliban are the strategic ally of Pakistan Army. When we(Pakistan) go to war with India, the Taliban terrorists would protect our flanks. The voice intercept by the CIA was made available to India too. The intention of the Pakistan Army of which Kayani is the Chief now, is quite clear. Notwithstanding this clinching evidence and attack by Pakistan on Indian personnel in Kabul and on other Indian interests there, if someone in power in India feels that friendship with Pakistan is possible, he is living in a fool’s paradise.
It is time India severed all connections with the neighbouring country harbouring devilish intentions against it. Not doing so will be suicidal. Anyone promoting peace with Pakistan may be having an eye on Nobel Peace prize but is likely to end up with a bitter taste in the mouth. Pakistan talks of Halal but acts only what is Haram. It is the considered opinion of patriotic Indians that Pakistan is itching for a fight with India. Their dream is to avenge their defeat at the hands of India in 1971 but that dream will never come true.
The best course of action for patriotic Indians in power is to buy new and latest guns for the Indian Artillery that has been starved of it for almost three decades now. Modernisation of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force is the crying need of the hour. Our military commitment to defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan may open an opportunity for us to modernise the Indian Armed Forces. Let us remember that opportunity knocks at the door only once in a lifetime. If we keep the door shut, there will be no knock at it again.
The Americans are keen on receiving reliable help in matters military. Shouldn’t we seize this opportunity from the front and make the best of it. WIKILEAK may prove to be a boon to India.
It is hoped that the Indian leadership will develop the Will to make a decision that will be in the interest of India.
By Brig Chtranjan Sawant

uncongenial climate suits unsocials

AUM
UNCONGENIAL CLIMATE SUITS UNSOCIALS
By Chitranjan Sawant
I heard of the uncongenial climate in the officers’ mess over a drink. It was named Open Officers Mess because wives, girl friends, an acquaintance for just one-night stand, or even one on Hi and Bye terms were permitted to come with an officer escort and enjoy privileges provided by the facility on payment. Quite a congenial climate that suited one and all. The facility was on the premises of a US Army establishment where officers and their spouses from many countries assembled to undergo some training or the other made available by the Department of Defence of the United States of America. The broad nomenclature was the Military Aid Programme under which America extended its influence globally. It worked well. Never mind if some aid receivers were the worst critics of policies of Uncle Sam.
VIETNAM WAR
The phrase uncongenial climate came up in the conversation every now and then when the Vietnam War was discussed. The war was in full swing. Notwithstanding its unpopularity with average Americans, the United States got sucked in more and more as the days passed. The arm-chair politicians clamoured and said “Bring the Boys Home” but the policy makers from the White House to the Pentagon to the Department of States did not know how to handle it. Airports handling MATS (Military Air Transport Service) flights bustled with activities as plane loads of officers and GIs flew out to land at the Saigon airport (now Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam. Wives and girl friends who came to see off the departing personnel painted their lips and cheeks red with lipstick wearing lips. After all, they were leaving from places of congenial climate to jungles and hills of uncongenial climate.
The service personnel drew uncongenial climate allowance that was increased from time to time. It was not the wild life, nor the snakes, nor the leeches nor the scorpions that bothered the servicemen so much as the Vietcong or the rebel guerrillas who popped up from nowhere and wreaked havoc on the US Army convoy. The US convoys also passed through hostile civil population areas who pelted stones on personnel and disappeared in lanes nearby. The unsocial elements who sided with the enemy made the climate most uncongenial.
Fragging was a by-product of a war that was as good as lost. Once the top generals and policy planners lose a war in their minds, the soldiers lose it on the ground in no time. All ranks become irritable by nature and sometimes simple arguments turn into violent fist-fights. The more of such incidents occur, the more chances of total defeat are there. These incidents reflect low morale leading to an abject surrender to an enemy that is ill armed but has high morale. No amount of uncongenial allowance will turn tables on the winning enemy. Fragging, that is soldiers killing fellow soldiers, especially own officers were in evidence in Vietnam. It was a result of crisis in command. There were too many top brass giving orders and too few junior ranks to implement orders in areas of uncongenial climate. It is surmised that the US Army lost the Vietnam War because it was killed by the weight of its own brass, read incompetent senior officers who knew not how to handle battle weary GIs. Thus fratricide became the order of the day. Americans lost the Vietnam War and the global climate continued to be uncongenial – that is now military history to be read by up and coming tacticians and strategists all over the world.
HOME COMING WAS SWEET
On fulfilment of my mission I returned home in India from the Continental United States. Home sweet Home is not just a cliché. It is indeed soul -touching. I experienced it. What, however, bothered me was the uncongenial climate in different parts of our lovely Bharat. Many a pessimist made matters worse by speculating that the Republic of India was perhaps breaking up because of lack of decisive leadership. Our so-called leaders at the centre were too weak-kneed to withstand the international pressure in the form of Taliban terrorism, Maoist-Naxals, and restive Kashmiri Muslims prodded by Pakistan. The spate of fake currency pumped in by Pakistan to destabilise India made the climate more uncongenial.
Home-coming that was initially sweet was gradually turning into bitter-bite. Let us take stock of situation in our Kashmir first. Once what Firdaus, the renowned Persian poet had written about the Iranian city, Isfahan and the Moghul Emperors had it engraved in their famous garden in Srinagar, Kashmir. It says “O Firdaus, if there is a Heaven on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.”Unfortunately, the golden climate of Kashmir has turned into uncongenial climate of Kashmir. The street urchins turned into stone-pelting mobs have made the city unliveable. The unsocial elements have put a fear psychosis into minds of tourists who now shun Kashmir. The political leaders at the State level and also at the Central government level bungled time and again. Trillions of US dollars equivalent Indian rupees poured into the Kashmir valley went into the pockets of a few families. The common man was led astray by Maulvis and Mullahs in the pay of Pakistan and, therefore, preached sedition. Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir sat with the anti-India crowd who burnt the national flag and separatist Huriyat leaders connived with the Islamist forces in driving out the Hindus from Kashmir valley to Jammu, Delhi and other places forcing them to live a life of refugees in their own country.
STONE PELTING SPECIALISTS
The telephone intercepts of separatist Kashmiri leaders on the pay-roll of Pakistan, were made available to the Media. It clearly shows that they not only organise stone-pelting youth but also pay them as per their performance. There are stone-pelting specialists who charge more money from the Pakistani agents for fomenting trouble in the valley. It is horrendous but true that these separatist leaders also stage-manage killing of commoners by the security forces to foment trouble. Even when village women die of natural causes, the Huriyat leaders make the death as resultant from rape and torture by the security forces. Riots were stage-managed by the pro-Pakistan elements and the cause was shown as rape of Kashmiri women by the security forces. When the doctors said that there was no evidence of rape, the rabble rousers changed it to attempted rape. Even the moderate leaders among separatists knew that the charges were trumped up. However, in the interest of Pakistan Kashmiri separatists let the attempted rape charge continue to agitate minds of masses. Thus it is crystal clear that Pakistan promotes dirty tricks and violence in Kashmir to destabilise India.
NAXALS NOT HOME GROWN
Any political outfit claiming to be India-based would not target passenger trains to kill innocent passengers for no fault of theirs. The police constables being killed in ambush laid by Naxals are poor people. And Naxals profess to protect poor people.
The Naxalite movement has bases in forests, villages and among poor and exploited tribal people. It is partly negligence of governments at various levels to ignore such a massive problem for such a long time. Moreover, there is no coordination between the Central government and the State governments. Thus there is no strategy to tackle the Naxalite problem and the situation is going from bad to worse. The Prime Minister acknowledges Naxalite violence as the biggest threat to the Internal Security but just stops there. No tangible major step has been taken to punish the law breakers and simultaneously wean away the exploited men and women from the violent core group.
NATION ABOVE ALL
All political parties and all governments must put the Nation Above All. If the Government of India fails to hang a criminal sentenced to death by the Supreme Court because the political party in power erroneously jettisons national interest for petty politics of vote bank, take it from me the country is doomed. With a view to saving the sinking ship of the State, all concerned must have only one aim to achieve – Making our country strong and people prosperous. So say NATION ABOVE ALL.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com

AMERICANS BUYING RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS FOR AFGHANS

AUM
AMERICANS BUYING RUSSIAN CHOPPERS FOR AFGHANS
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Truth is stranger than fiction. But it is gospel truth that the Pentagon of the United States has invested a large sum of money in buying both new and redone Russian helicopters for the fledgling Afghan Air Corps. What happened to the patriotic slogan “Be American Buy American.” The slogan is intact and well set in its place. However, Pragmatic philosophy has carried the day.
WHAT A U-TURN
Indeed it is a U-turn for the US Pentagon. In the 1980s when the Soviet armed forces were in occupation of Afghanistan, the Pentagon had financed and supplied Stinger missiles to the Afghan rebels to shoot down Soviet choppers and low flying fixed wing aircraft. The Stinger missiles were deadly and effective. Now in 2010, the Pentagon has gone in for a big buy of Russian Mi 17 transport helicopters to equip the Afghan Air Corps. The United States will be spending as much as 648 million US dollars to buy new choppers or refurbish their used ones As many as 31 Mi 17 Russian helicopters are being bought this year and ten more would be bought next year. Over a dozen plus choppers would be bought over aperiod of a decade or so. The American trainers are hopeful that by 2016, five years after the date set for beginning a planned withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan, the Afghan Air Corps would be ready on its own and run the show in the skies. Their strength and that of the choppers would go up many times.
The US Congress is not happy about the deal with Russians on the military choppers. The Congressmen feel that the Pentagon did not go in depth to analyse the issue and push for buying American helicopters. They also have opined that the Russians realised that there was no competition in the arms bazaar and so they charged exorbitant price even for the refurbished helicopters. The loss of face and loss of money could have been avoided with a little forethought and proper forward planning.
MI 17 SUIT AFGHANS
The Soviet designers had made Mi 17 helicopters for the Afghan skies. This sturdy war horse is best suited for the Afghan skies. It flies on the heights of the Hindu Kush and negotiates the high altitude desert too. Further the recruits for the Afghan Air Corps are by and large illiterate. They have to be taught both native language as well as English from the scratch. Since the language of the cockpit is English the pilots should be conversant with the language. Listening, understanding and speaking English is not an easy job for the Afghan trainees. India too has been contributing quite a lot in the field of education, especially English and Sciences, not forgetting Maths. The officers of the Army Educational Corps of the Indian Army have been doing the teaching job for quite some time. Two officers attained martyrdom in a dastardly attack by the L eT, egged on by the ISI of Pakistan. Nevertheless the job in hand has to be completed, come what may, so say the Indian Army officers. Commendable attitude they have displayed, indeed.
General Mohammad Dawran, Chief of the Afghan Air Corps has said that most of the trained helicopter pilots are in their forties now. It would be difficult for them to switch over from the Russian machine to the American machine at this stage. It is right from the days of the Soviet occupation that the Russian equipment was introduced and found quite effective in that climate and terrain. General Dawran threw his weight behind the No-changers andhis logic was accepted by the American advisors. Hence in 2010 the decision was made to go in for the Russian helicopters. Brigadier Michael Boera of the US Air Force who is in charge of training the Afghan Air Corps supported the view taken by the Afghan officers and their political masters. The US Pentagon went with them, much to the chagrin of the US Congress.
COMBAT ROLE FOR CHOPPERS
As of now the Russian helicopters of the Afghan Air Corps are being used in the support role. They carry supplies and ferry officers and troops to and fro. They do go to the combat zone but only to deliver supplies and carry armed forces personnel. The role of these transport helicopters and their pilots has been well appreciated. Top ranking politicians, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top ranking US Army General also are flown by the Afghan pilots. However, no combat role has been chalked out for them so far.
In not too distant future the pilots of the Afghan Air Corps may be given a combat role. It is envisaged that again a Russian built helicopter would foot the bill. The Mi 35 gunships have proved themselves in counter-insurgency warfare in Russia and elsewhere. Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan and other Muslim dominated provinces of the Russian Federation created law and order problems. The central government in Moscow under the leadership of the ironman, Vladimir Putin dealt with Islamist insurgency very effectively. Reportedly the use of Mi 35 helicopter gunships was found to be very effective. In view of their past performance, Mi 35 helicopter gunships may be introduced in Afghanistan too. Of course, Afghan pilots, gunners, navigators and other personnel will have to be trained thoroughly before they are assigned combat roles. That explains why the American trainers have set 2016 as the deadline for the Afghan Air Corps to act independently without the aid and assistance of personnel of the US Air Force.
Many a time an element of doubt crops up about the competence of the Afghan combat pilots to act on their own. A parallel is drawn from the era of the Soviet withdrawal and collapse of the Afghan administrative and defence infra-structure. That was the time whem the Taliban came in and filled the vacuum. They took control of the country under the guidance of their mentor, Pakistan. Is the history likely to repeat itself? One sincerely hopes not. It is the moral duty of the US Administration to ensure that the control of a country like Afghanistan is not handed over to the Taliban and their mentor, Pakistan on a silver platter. It will be the Dharma of the democratic countries in the neighbourhood to come to the active aid of the new administration of Afghanistan to ensure that the Rule of Law prevails.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com Mobile : 0091-9811173590.

ARYA SAMAJ IN NATION BUILDING

The Arya Samaj indeed is an international movement and not a national one. Right from day one when this august movement made a debut in Bombay in 1875 the entire mankind was put in focus. Among the 28 principles enunciated at the inception and later modified to 10 principles in Lahore in 1877, the emphasis has all along been on the development of the entire mankind. The sixth principle of the Arya Samaj states that promotion of well being of the entire humanity – physical, spiritual and social development – is the main aim of the Aryan movement. It needs no underscoring that as a reformation movement the Arya Samaj is not confined to the geographical or political boundaries of a nation state. However, India being the birth place of the movement and the founder promoter of the Arya Samaj, Maharshi Swami Dayanand Saraswati, being an Indian the initial impact was felt in the then British India.
Notwithstanding the historical and geographical past, the movement gained momentum in other European, African and American states where men and women of Indian origin with an Ayan bent of mind settled for education, business, service or other human and legal occupations. These Aryan pioneers held the flag of the Arya Samaj aloft and kept it flying despite numerous odds that they faced. They had a recurring problem. Were they to pay attention to the country of their birth or to the country of their adoption. The concept of dual citizenship was not even in an embryo form more than a century ago. The pioneer Arya Samajists had to profess and demonstrate their loyalty to the country where they earned their bread and butter and at the same time had to inwardly remain attached to the country where their forefathers were born and the Arya Samaj was founded. Indeed some felt tormented where as others took it in their normal stride of life. Without violating the law of the land of adoption, they kept their conscience and their `Vedic Dharm’ in an unadulterated form. We raise our hats and salute to them for their quality of character and strength of perseverance.
The Arya Samajists born and raised in India have indeed no problem of dual citizenship or tormented conscience. Unencumbered by a tormented conscience the Arya Samajists of India have had all the time in the world to devote their undivided attention to nation building. Turning a page of history we find that the British government in India had started keeping a suspicious eye on the activities of the Arya Samaj after many an Arya had joined the national freedom movement. When Lala Lajpat Rai, a prominent Arya Samajist and a freedom fighter was imprisoned and exiled by turns, the Arya Samaj faced the ire of the Raj. Gurukul Kangri of Swami Shradhanand Saraswati was rated as a factory manufacturing revolutionaries by the sleuths of the central government. This state continued until Sir Ramsay Mc Donald later prime minister of United Kingdom (UK), Deenbandhu Andrews and other prominent Englishmen paid a visit to the Gurukul and found not only peace of mind but spiritual tranquility in its hallowed precincts.
Past is past. It is the present that an Indian Arya has to take care of. The Arya Samaj now is rarely in the news in nation building activity. Although the educational institutions like the DAV schools and colleges, various Gurukuls and Arya Kanya Paathshaalas are rendering yeoman’s service in the cause of education, direct involvement with the masses has been gradually receding. With the result various prominent Arya speakers have been only lecturing and listening to each other. Consequently there is no forward movement and we seem to be running in circles. It is time we broke the circular run and moved forward double time.
If an individual or an organization puts too many irons in fire, none is heated. In other words launching too many projects simultaneously does not produce the desired results. In the bargain we fritter away our energies and limited resources. Therefore, let us pick and choose some areas where we can move forward with our brothers and sisters not only in India but also in other parts of the world too.
In nation building unity of aim is very important. Right now the Indian nation is rather badly divided on linguistic, religious and regional bases. After more than half a century of independence, a sizable section of the population refuses to sing the national song Vande Mataram, because they mistakenly believe it infringes their religious beliefs. How can a nation be a nation when the nation doesn’t sing together a song enshrined into the constitution as a national song. The Arya Samaj may move forward and disabuse the minds of illiterate and semi-literate people by educating them and enlightening them. Let Vande Mataram which indeed is not an idolatrous song, be sung at various Arya Samaj functions after chanting of the eight Ved Mantras of Ishwar Stuti and reading the Ten Principles or Das Niyam of the Arya Samaj.
At the end of the event the second mantra of the Sangathan Sukta should be recited in unison to bring in social cohesion. It is indeed a very welcome development that many a government school and private education institutions have rendered the Sangathan Sukta mantras and its Hindi version into a musical chorus. The boys and girls sing the chorus with gusto. Let us carry this torch of emotional cohesion to every nook and corner of our beloved Bharat and light the unlighted lamps from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Kamrupa to Kutch.
Pursuing the sixth principle of the Arya Samaj the Arya leaders should pay extra ordinary attention to the physical wellbeing of our compatriots. Off late it is noticed that the mushrooming growth of educational institutions has paid little attention to games and sports. Schools and colleges proudly declaring thousands of students on their rolls have little space or playing fields for team games. For nation building and bringing in social cohesion team games play a very vital role. Day in and day out we are reminded of the famous saying of England, ``the battle of Waterloo was won on the playgrounds of Eton.’’ In other words it was the famous public school of Eton that provided the sound military leadership and cohesion in thought and action that could beat the mighty French legions of Napoleon. Unfortunately not enough has been done to have such playgrounds for our leaders of society in making.
In the physical well being of the masses education to keep the growing menace of AIDS at arms length is now a must. Indeed, ``Shariramadyam Khalu Dharm Sadhanam,’’ that is, it is the body that is certainly the first means of practicing righteousness. Let their not only be a healthy mind in a healthy body but also a healthy soul in a healthy body. The way AIDS has been eating into the vitals of our society, the day is not far off when we will be cremating our dead in dozens like the African are burying theirs – all victims of AIDS.
What is AIDS? Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome – in other words the virus renders ineffective the body’s natural immune system. AIDS is transmitted not only by indulging in unsafe sex with multiple partners but also by HIV positive blood transfusion and using infected needles. The only protection from AIDS is prevention. AIDS is a killer disease and silently eats into the body’s defences against disease. Even innocuous maladies like common cold cannot be prevented and the patient dies a horrible death. The Arya Samaj should be on the forefront to educate the youth – both men and women to protect the future generation from the clutches of this dreaded disease. Education is the best and at present, the only weapon against this virus.
While taking care of the physical well being, emotional stability has to be attended to. If an individual, a family, a group or a nation is emotionally stable, development will take place at a faster pace. For peace of mind and for international peace emotional stability is a sine qua non, that is, a basic must. Individuals have to practice it and also give up the tendency to seize or grab what does not belong to them. In the words of Yogeshwar Shri Krishna the two pillars of emotional stability are Abhyas and Vairagya that is constant practice of the good things in life and detachment from the mundane world.
Let us hope and pray that our Arya brothers and sisters march forward in unison by selecting the aforesaid programme of action and participate in nation building.
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant, VSM

BE BLESSED YE ALL!

To be or not to be in a blessed state has never been the question before an average human being except the likes of Shakespeare’s creation called Hamlet. To be in a blessed state is to be more than happy. Indeed, happiness is a state of mind whereas being in a blessed state encompasses both body and soul. The Vedic word for the state of blessedness is ``ANAND’’.

No wonder the social and religious reformer of the 19th century India, Swami Dayanand Saraswati always addressed his disciples and friends in letters using the words ``Anandit Raho’’ or be in a state of blessedness. This was his way of writing to the high and mighty as well as the commoners. Shriyut Mulraj, Jiwandas, Saindas etc of Lahore, Pandit Shyamji Krishna Varma of Mumbai, His Highness Maharana Sajjan Singh ji, king of Mewar,Udaipur were equally blessed by the Maharshi in his correspondence with them. About himself too he would mention in the letters ``main anand mein hoon.’’ (I am in a state of blessedness) . Of course, it is ``Anand’’ that the soul or the Jeevatma longs for.
With a view to achieving the state of blessedness, one has to strike the happy balance of ``Prarthna (prayer)and purushartha (action). The twain shall meet, if one strives for it. In the Vedic sandhya, right at the end, the devout soul with a sense of `Samarpan’, which is more than a willful surrender to the wishes of the Almighty, prays for realization of the ultimate goal – Moksha – and affirms his will to work for it through the prescribed path of Karma (action). While doing one’s duty one is fortified by devotion to Ishwar (God) through recitation of and meditation on the meaning of the mantras.

``Charaiveti Charaiveti’’ – move on and on – that is the Vedic command to all humans wherever they are. If one halts for good, one is as good as dead. An individual whose body has not been abandoned by the soul should pulsate with energy for lively action. It should be right action for the right cause. The right goal is achieved through the right means.
All our actions will be well intentioned if we are guided by a feeling of friendliness towards one and all without any discrimination in thought and action. ``Mitrasya Chakshusha Sarvani Bhutani Samikshantam’’ – look at and behave with all living beings as FRIENDS. If you befriend one and all you rise above avarice, anger, animosity and similar negative feelings. One will not do to a friend what one will not do to one’s self. Thus the state of blessedness will descend on the door of the good. It is the ideal condition when all human beings will be free from strife. Agony will yield to Ecstasy.
With a view to achieving that state of blessedness one should strive to have an enlightened mind in a healthy body and play the role of an active member of a vibrant social order. The totality of this happy combination will result in social efficiency. For a healthy body adequate and regular exercise coupled with a balanced diet is recommended. PRANAYAM or conscious control of inhaling, holding on and exhaling process contributes a lot in restoring respiratory system and consequent blood circulation to a state of perfect health. One should seek and be blessed by a good guru and get going with the pranayam practices. Regular morning walks and allied aerobic exercises may supplement the PRANAYAMIC ones in one’s quest of state of blessedness.

``Are you fond of good food?’’ Who isn’t, that is a counter question. The well fed men and women should never lose sight of the age old saying: ``eat to live and don’t live to eat.’’ An observance of this time tested observation will go more than half way in solving the chronic over weight related problems, preventing achievement of the state of blessedness. Dhanwantri, the celebrated Vaidyaraj of yore had opined ``hit bhook, mit bhook, rit bhook’’ that is eat what promotes health, eat that much that your body needs and eat what you earn by the sweat of your brow. Indeed propitiating the palate has no place in our quest of blessed state. Food for thought of course is of prime importance in this context. Healthy literature promotes a healthy mind. ``Porno’’ has no place in our quest, notwithstanding the Freudian emphasis on sex as a dynamo producing energy for all types of human actions. Those who subscribe to CHARVAK’S theory of heavy borrowing to fund a luxurious living come to grief. A grieving man is by no chance a Blessed Man.

Let us develop a healthy mind in a healthy body and live in a state of perpetual fearlessness – ABHAYAM. Let us enlist the support of the family and the common man in the society to achieve the blessed state. We may, therefore, enjoy its fruits with the blessings of God – SACCHIDANAND.

Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant

VEDAS FOR ALL

At the beginning of the human creation, God transmitted divine knowledge to mankind for a style of life generating health and happiness. God revealed VEDAS or Divine Knowledge to the Rishis or the sages and they passed it on without in any way discriminating between man and woman or between man and man on grounds of caste, creed or colour, The entire human race is entitled to read the Ved mantras, meditate on them and improve the quality of life.

One has just to make an effort to read and meditate on the mantra and the happy results would not be far to find. One may read the original mantra compilation called samhita or go to the translation of the text and explanation or exposition in English or Hindi language. Treatises explaining meaning of the Ved mantras may be available in other languages too. Meditation on mantras leads to bliss. ``Vedo Akhilo Dharm Moolam’’ - Vedas are the roots of righteousness. When one walks on the path of righteousness one is doing one’s Dharma as a good man ought to. Who is a good man? One who is socially efficient is a good man or a woman.

He or she is an achiever of right goals through right means. This Mister Right cares as much for the society as for himself. Should there be a conflict of interests between the self and the society, self must be made subservient to the society. This is what the Vedic way of life is all about. This path of social efficiency is paved with and illuminated by the Ved Mantras.

The Ved Mantras always show light at the end of the tunnel and bring in optimism and become a source of inspiration to lift a man or a woman when he or she is d own in the dumps. It may also be understood that the Vedas, being divine knowledge, are considered to be infallible. Other branches of knowledge originate from this pristine source. Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, has opined that the non-Vedic works conforming to the Vedic Dharm are acceptable but the ones in conflict with the Vedic precepts are not acceptable. Ved mantras are the touchstone to decide either way. Ved mantras are cornerstones of the edifice of the Vedic Dharma.

The Vedas are four in number: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda. At the beginning of the creation, the Rishis in whose hearts the four Vedas, Rig, Yaju, Sama and Atharva were revealed are Agni, Vayu, Aditya and Angira respectively.

Now let us take a close look at them and meditate on Ved mantras relevant to the human scenario today. The Rigveda is the Ved of Sciences. There are ten thousand five hundred eighty nine mantras spread over ten mandals or ten major cantos.

With a view to understanding the spiritual import of Ved Mantras, quite a few vedic scholars of yore like Sayan and Mahidhar wrote Ved Bhashya or Vedic commentaries in simple Sanskrit. In the 19th century India a Vedic renaissance took place. Maharshi Swami Dayanand Saraswati had the distinction of being the first Rishi to write commentaries on the divineVedas both in Sanskrit and Hindi. The Vedic wisdom was unlocked and the biggest beneficiary was the common man on the street. It was a religious revolution.

Unlocking the Vedic knowledge and letting the deprived segments of society reap the harvest definitely enriched quality of life of an average man.

The Yajurveda comprises one thousand nine hundred seventy five mantras. Its basic emphasis is on Karmakand, correlating mantras and yajna. The mantras inspired men and women to realize God in their inner self. Mantras motivated men and women to banish the evil and imbibe the noble. Making donations for charities is one of the ways to attain nobility on the path to attain Moksha, that is liberation of soul from the bondage of repeated cycles of births and deaths.

The Samaveda comprises one thousand eight hundred seventy five mantras. This is known as Upasanakand or the prayer sung for realization of the Supreme Being n one’s inner self. The word SA-AM, inter-alia, means a communion of soul with God. SA means the Almighty and AM is soul or Jeeva and SAAM is a synthesis of the two. The Atharvaveda comprises five thousand nine hundred and seventy seven mantras. It is known as the Jynankand. The mantras of Atharvaved enlighten men and women in their quest of God and help them seek Him in ``Matter or objects of this mundane world’’.

The Vedas propound the philosophy of Trinity, i.e. existence of God, soul and matter before the Creation, during the Creation and after the Creation is over. The three exist as independent entities with myriad opportunities to interact. God, of course, is supreme being always and everytime. Correlating the Vedic knowledge with the mundane matters of today, one may like to take a look at the scenario of terrorism and what the Vedas have to say on the subject.

Does a Vedic sanction exist against wanton killings of human beings and destruction of property with a view to terrorizing human beings? Of course it does.

The Rigveda gives a definite direction to punish the killers and eulogize the warrior who wields Vajra. Punishment of the criminal killer is a must. The Rigveda defines a warrior as one who wields the invincible weapon of war, Vajra, for the common good of the society. He fights the battle with self-confidence, high morale and valour against terrorists.

A Vedic warrior against terrorist has to keep himself cool, calm and collected. Let the like-minded men and women consolidate the forces of good people against the evil terrorists and eliminate them once for all. It is high time the saints wielded the Vedic Vajra and killed the sinner-killers. According to the Vedic philosophy God is One. He is without a form or shape. He is never born in this world and,therefore the question of His death or disappearance does not arise.In other words, Vedas do not subscribe to the theory of AVATAR or God coming to this world in a human form to help man.

God is omnipresent, omniscient and all powerful to run this universe as per the divine laws which He too does not break or infringe. The Vedic Dharm does not subscribe to the theory of God deputing prophets to run His errands. There is a direct communication between God and man and there is no place for a middleman. That is why the treasure of Vedic knowledge made available to man through mantras does not envisage a godman who is different from a common man. It is indeed the divine right of men and women to delve deep into the Vedic realm and live a life of righteousness.

Vedas lay an emphasis on the Truth.”Satyam Vad, Dharmam Char” is the epitome of the path of righteousness. It means :tell the truth and go by the principles of Dharma or the code of conduct aiming at purity in life.One may wonder if that is a pragmatic philosophy of life.Of course,it is.A path strewn with untruth and dishonesty may pay seemingly rich dividends but in actual fact these dividends are ephemeral. A short –term gain may eventually lead one into a dark abyss where one is condemned to live in pain and misery forever.

The Vedic way of life takes care of life after death which is followed by a rebirth. What Samskar a soul acquires when it is embodied has its effects in the birth after death too. Vedas prescribe a clean life which pays dividends many times over.

The Vedas prescribe a four-fold path to Moksha or liberation of soul from the endless cycle of birth,death and rebirth..It is DHARMA,ARTHA, KAMA and MOKSHA.As we proceed further in subsequent chapters,we shall dwell on the salient aspects of this four-fold path. For the time being one may understand that Dharma takes one on the right course of life,Artha enables one to earn wealth by the sweat of brow,kama enables one to have a high ideal to be achieved through hard work.Should a man or a woman follow this vedic path,Moksha or liberation from birth,death and rebirth will not be far to seek.

By Chitranjan Sawant