Vijayanagara and Contempory lessons.

Narasimha lies broken, his hands and feet broken off and the Lakshmi from his knee missing. As I look around the destruction is rampant and murti's lie defaced, broken around me. A few hundred meters away the Ganesha murti's are equally vandalised and many of the stone mandir's have the unmistakable evidence of charring from the fires that once raged throughout the city.
This vast city, once the bulwark against Islamic proselytism and aggression to the south collapsed on a fateful day of 26 January 1565. In this battle of Talikota, five sultanates of the Deccan finally united to inflict a lasting defeat on the Hindu army led by Aliya Rama Raya.(1)

Aging emperor Rama Raya was surrounded, dragged from the battlefield and was beheaded by sultan Nizam Shah or his executioner. His head was set upon a pole and waved to back to his army causing fear and panic. Soon after,  the vast army crumbled and retreated back to the city. Tirumala. the surviving brother of Rama Raya, gathered what treasury he could  and fled to the fort of Penukonda.
Waiting in the city, the people confused and protected for generations by great emperors like Devaraya II, Krishnadevaraya and Achutadevaraya were suddenly prey for the invading Deccan sultans. For those that had a little time, they fled with family and belongings into the numerous caves in the region. What followed was a bloody hunt by the hordes to capture all booty available. Numerous Hindus were slaughtered in resistance while many were taken as slaves.
It is said the looting and vandalising went on for six months, from which the city never recovered.
Hampi forever remains a city frozen in time with the charred remains still evident.

A lot of reasons have been given for the defeat of Vijayanagar to the Deccan sultanates. Better cannons and trained gunners in the sultanate armies have been given as one reason. This included the Malik-i-Maidan , reputed to be the largest cannon ever cast in bronze. (2) An interesting story abound is of Rumi Khan taking a innovative decision to load the cannons with gun powder and copper coins, while continually discharging  the blast onto the oncoming Vijayanagar army. (3)
Another reason commonly discussed is the betrayal by the Gilani brothers. Invited to join the muslim armies prior to the battle, they secretly switched loyalty.  At a critical point, they suddenly turned their regiments back onto the unsuspecting Vijayanagar army raising confusion and inflicting a heavy toll.

Reading through the history, a interesting question crops up in my mind. How Hindu were the armies of Vijayanagar and was this really a epic battle of Hinduism vs Islam. Burton Stein gives a interesting narrative of the armies of Vijayanagar employing numerous muslim mercenaries into their artillery division. Indeed, masjids and muslim cemeteries were a  feature of the city and by the time of Devaraya II numerous muslims held prominent positions in the army. (4)
Rama Raya had openly felicited Adil Shah of Bijapur as his adopted son who sadly  could not save his 'father' from being beheaded at Talikota.

Indeed the like was commonly seen in the opposing side as well. Burton Stein discusses the fact that numerous Hindus fought for the sultan of Golconda with the Reddy clan being especially noteworthy. (5)
There is a mention of Raja Ghorpade and his army fighting under Adil Shah of Bijapur. (6)

I am reminded of something similar in the stories of the first muslims invasions of India with Ghaznavi. No recourse came for Somnath when Ghaznavi invaded and sacked Somnath and its Shiv mandir voraciously.  Jai Chand allying with Muhammad Ghori against Prithviraj led to the gates of invasion opening for India. Raja Mansingh fighting for Akbar against Rana Pratap is yet another example. Another memory serves in Rani of Jhansi fighting hindu allies of the British like Jayajirao Scindia. The List goes on....

Fast forward to today and news like beheading of Indian soldiers on the border is largely forgotten (7). Large infiltration attempts and numerous cross border raids illicit no pro active reaction. Terrorist attacks go on unabated and even large scale attacks such as Mumbai hold no accountability. Communal riots between Muslims and Hindu's are occurring with alarming frequency with the most recent Muzzafnagar hiding horrific details. (8)

 Fact is Indians are dying in their tens of thousands over the last decade due to Pakistani sponsored terrorism with no response from the ruling Congress party of India. Islamic theology drives the momentum to conquer and convert all those who don't follow their god or the teachings of their prophet. In this mass delusion the suffering of Hindus is indeed great for they are killed, forced to live as third class citizens, forcibly abducted and raped, forcibly converted and forcibly evicted. (9)

These horrors are hardly ever talked about and when they do reach media attention, a vast disinformation campaign is created to protect the ruling Congress family and their personal agenda's. Hindus are being equated with radical wahhabi Islamists and at every opportunity gross violations of human rights illicits a barrage of dubious equal-equal arguments and no action taken.
New wine in a old bottle of Hindus working with foreign agents against a Hindu identity. In this mass delusion, it seems that we are our own worst enemies in consistently voting for and electing political parties that hold such animosity to Hindu ideals.  What continues is a silent genocide for which thousands have died and continue to lose their lives. (10)

The story of Narasimha reminds me that insurmountable situations and people enduring great suffering can be overcome. The story states a individual filled with unquenchable greed attained near immortality in being granted several boons. Filled with desire  he began to terrorize the populace of the earth inflicting great suffering. Hindu philosophy states all actions must have a corresponding result and the suffering of a nation caused the avatar of Narasimha to appear and rid the world of the agent of suffering.

In our case, the answer lies in our own effort. Hindu identity must rise to conquer Islamic imperialism. Hindu ideology of humanitarianism, rationalism and universalism must rise to counter the barbarity of Islamic theology espoused by the mullahs and politicians. The Hindu co-agents must be rationally debated with and their arguments counter challenged regularly. We should seek to expose and report the suffering of our brethren on a more regular nature. The need of the hour is to educate and convince through reason tens of millions of muslim Indians on the like minded nature of their countrymen, while taking a more proactive course with regard to mullahs and hostile madrassah's. (11)

Vasudaiva Kutumbam is the Hindu ideal  for the world living as one family. Perhaps through steady education this ideal can serve as a counter attack to the various foreign proselytization efforts that divide and in the long run harm our own. The stone dead city of Vijayanagar serves a cold reminder of the alternative if complacency serves to be our only shield. The Jewish people remember well the atrocities committed to them at Masadah and shout never again! Vijayanagar holds many lessons but it too should be a rallying cry that never again should such destruction ensue and such large scale massacres of Hindus take place.

References :

1) Battle of Talikota 
2)  Malik I Maidan

3) Last of the Rayas

4) Vijayanagara : Burton Stein : mosques built pg, 29,35 and army page 29,70

5) Vijayanagara : Burton Stein : Pg 80

6) Battle of Talikota

7) Beheading of Indian Soldier

8) Muzaffarnagar Riots

9) Cases too numerous to be noted individually : A repository of articles are here :
Oppression of Minorities thread

10)  Persecution of Hindus
notable is genocide of Bangladesh.

11) Akbaruddin Owaisi

Souls to be Saved..

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.(1)

 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.(2)

Such quotes have empowered missionaries the world over to spread the gospel to the ears of the naive. If you are unfortunate enough to not have heard the gospel, your damnation is assured.For those that hear the gospel and reject it, they are still damned. The blinding faith of missionaries drives them on, in the belief that sharing  the 'good news' of Jesus Christ will save the ignorant  from the fires of hell.  Indeed, only by accepting Jesus Christ as their savior can they be forgiven for their sin, and be reunited with God. No unborn is sin free however as they still carry the taint of original sin through Eve eating a forbidden apple.
It becomes a bitter pill to swallow if you are outside this saved circle. Missionaries are doing this charitable work in your favor, to help you save your soul and you have no choice but to accept the message for the other option is to burn for a eternity.

Indeed through a combination of coercion which may involve political motives, monetary, social incentives millions of less fortunate have gained short term favors for long term education of a harmful nature. Indeed a strong memory lingers in my mind of a trip to Southern India, driving through a village affected by drought.  The poverty was quite apparent with groups of tribal families living in huts made of an assortment of branches and this year the crops had failed.While governmental agencies had been trickling in to assist, it seemed the first responders had been international Evangelical missions who set up a huge camp on the outside of town.
A huge tented auditorium had been set up and free food and drink to assist in the relief efforts. Loud speakers blared as the people received they food packages and were baptized to Christ.

That night as we came back, the roads were filled with previously hindu tribals staggering and collapsing intermittently yet joyous that having drunk 'the blood of christ' they were now redeemed and better off. Such  actions starts a rippling effect that can turn 

“ ‘a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ ⁽³⁾

Such actions I am sure have ruined the harmony of cultures the world over. Short term sacrifices of religion and culture have caused long term harm. My last flight to Africa was packed with missionaries to 'help' like minded Africans as well. One has to only look at the Joshua project (4) to see the determination of missionaries to spread the 'word' the world over in the Great Commission. What follows is a loss of traditional culture and values which not only affects the person and his immediate family, but society has a whole. 

Perhaps we can understand that the danger of literal meaning of such translations. The gospels offer much in value of ethics and morality and also help us grow as individuals. While there is much doubt over the authorship and age of each gospel, readings of it's teachings can hold value. However, the danger again lies in taking the literal meaning and enforcing it to a community. 

Indeed we are lucky to be in a position where we are able to read various gospels simultaneously including those that were suppressed by the early church, like the gospel of Thomas discovered at Nag Hammadi.(5) All have valuable information to offer, but to read and enforce only the canonized versions as authoritative and as the actual words of Jesus is misleading.  In fact we can see that even in the oldest gospel of Mark, circa 50 AD that additional verses have been placed much later :

 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.(1) (16.15)

This is not there in the oldest codices of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus which ends at 16.8. 

They went out, and fled from the tomb, for they were trembling and bewildered; and did not say a word to any one, for they were frightened.(16.8)

Here later additions were placed to spread the gospel which did not exist before. 
 

I often feel that suffering is a high value emotion. Christ suffered for our sins, we are often told and through his suffering humanity was saved and reconnected to God. People however continue to suffer on a daily basis, and suffering is universal. What can make suffering worse is delusion. Harmful education can isolate members of well knit community and even turn their minds against the very community that sheltered them. Through proper instruction and education, i feel, that even the misguided and deluded can be brought around. If we celebrate the diversity of cultures, study the wisdom they provide throughout history, we can slowly turn the tide against the unyielding Commandments of Abrahamic monotheism.

References : 

1)  Mark 16;15
2) Matthew 28;18
3) Matthew 10;34
4) http://joshuaproject.net/
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nag_Hammadi_library

Others : 

1) http://codexsinaiticus.org/en/
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_16

 

Introduction

Often I have spent my time thinking about the harm of the Abrahamic religions on ancient societies. Man has through history in various cultures expressed profound thoughts on ethics and morality. Unfortunately, such thoughts are often purged through socioeconomic incentives, eliminated by violence and crushed by ideas from God's 'favored' people.
Ideas should be stated to be better ideas if they on the whole cause less harm. Opinions should be stated to be better opinions if they cause less harm. Ideas that stand the test of time and hold value in today's world should be gathered and savored. The fallacy that the truth of an idea only makes sense during a particular period of time in a particular context should be closely scrutinized and contested.
It is my personal wish to see, contrast and compare ancient voices. To draw upon their wisdom as the struggle to extinguish them is ongoing. The harm to ancient civilizations continues and millions even today i believe continue to suffer because of a lack of understanding.
Here i hope to share stories of value that i have come across, questions and suggestions are welcome and i would hope to document ideas which I hope would be beneficial to a few who cross the blog.