J & K - Fountainhead Of Indian Culture

The region of Jammu and Kashmir has had a profound influence on Indian thought and culture.

In the words of Shri Krishna himself (MahaBharat, KarnaParva 69.59), DHARMA is defined as follows:

dharanad-dharmam-ityahuhu dharmo dharayate prajaha

yat syadha rana samyuktam sa dharma iti nischayaha

The word 'dharma' stems from the root 'dhru' which means 'to hold' and it is by 'dharma' that society (social order and civilization) is held together. Thus it is in essence true that 'dharma' is that system, which sustains our civilization. To understand DHARMA, it is thus important to understand the events in the life of the people who dwelled on the banks of the river SINDHU and its surroundings. The river Saraswathi revered in the Rig_Veda, once passed by Rakhigarhi, coming forth not far from Yamunotri, and flowing past the lower Jammu district. It is on the banks of these rivers that the ancient Sindhu civilization, grew.

The story of Indian culture is inspired by centuries of events in Jammu and Kashmir as the paths of the rivers Sindhu and Saraswathi show. There is considerable archaeological evidence, that a well-developed, organized religion of Shiva with the characteristic accompanying features of the bull (Nandi) and the Shiva-Linga, was practiced in the Sindhu civilization. This religion, it is believed, was the precursor to what is known as 'Kashmir Saivism' and which spread from Kashmir in the Kashmir-Gandhar region, to envelop the Sindhu valley.

In the Sanskrit verse chanted in Hindu homes, 'Namasté Sharadé Devi Kashmirapura_vasini', one offers prayers to Goddess Saraswathi (also called 'Sharada'), the Goddess of Learning, whose abode is Kashmir. Wealth and learning were not seen separate from each other; in fact learning itself was wealth. There was no basal distinction between Saraswathi, the Goddess of Learning, and Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, the latter also known as 'Sri' - hence the very ancient name of Jammu and Kashmir's capital, Srinagar!

Recent research on archeology and on decipherment of ancient seals has now in fact firmly refuted the 'Aryan invasion Theory'. The Aryans were in fact natives of India, and presumably the very natives of Kashmir - Gandhar, Sindhu - Saraswathi valley region. What has remained common to our forefathers and to us across more than five thousand years is thus not merely some dogmas or geographical boundaries of provident territories, but the common culture and a system of ethics we subscribe to, as did our forefathers who lived along the Sindhu.

Nationhood for India cannot then be defined merely in terms of the Radcliff or the McMohan line, which are but modern conveniences that provide operational definition of a 'country' only to prevent, and ironically sometimes only to cause, international conflicts. To understand nationhood in the Indian context comprehensively, one must understand India's enduring and pervasive 'sanskriti' (good deeds, ethical conduct). This culture stemmed from the region in and around the Sindhu-Ganga belt.

It is the 'way of life' of the people in the Sindhu-Saraswathi-Yamuna-Ganga belt, synthesised with the parallel evolution of congruous Dharma in the central and southern parts of India, which has resulted in the homogeneous binding spirit across the entire Indian subcontinent.

It has retained the plurality of independent approaches of the peoples of the region to satisfy one's spiritual needs in a powerful singular ethos.

In the Sindhu-Ganga belt, our forefathers painstakingly laid the foundations of the Indian civilization, through contemplation and meditation, exploration and experimentation, by innovative design, consummated by adaptive capability.

The story of Indian culture is then, the very history of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Brahmanays and the Upanishads mention that the region of Gandhar extended on both sides of the Sindhu and included Takshashila and Pushkaravati (modern Charsada, Peshawar). It was in Kashmir that Caraka, the distinguished physician - amongst the first known to mankind - composed the Carakasamhita. The flora and fauna of this exquisite region inspired the foundation of Ayurveda, and some other Vedangas were also composed here.

To understand the impact of life in Jammu and Kashmir on our DHARMA, our literature, arts and the scriptures, we must search for evidence for these contentions. To deny this evidence would amount to denying the precise calculations of astronomy, a science so glorious and rigorous that enjoins the beauty of physics with the strictness of mathematics.

Astronomy does not establish that Shri Krishna was an Avatar of Vishnu, nor does it confirm that remote control weapons of mass-destruction existed at the time of the great MahaBharat war, triggered by consonant chanting of specific mantras. However, astronomy does establish some salient facts. Events described in MahaBharat, when reconciled with the descriptions of stellar configurations indicate that the main events narrated in the MahaBharat indeed have a historic base, and took place 5100 years ago, when Yudhishtra was coronated at Hastinapur.

There is an undeniable consistency and correlation found in the SMRITIS about the stories of peoples from distant regions across the subcontinent - right from the north-west frontier region in Gandhar to the eastern regions of Pataliputra, Magadh and Bang, and places as far as Amravathi in central India.

The irrefutable links between detailed and complex stories from across the subcontinent bear witness to the 'MahaBharat' being a historical event surrounding real characters in flesh and blood whose destinies brought them to dramatic expressions of love and hatred. Increasing corroborative evidence is found on this as inter-disciplinary scientific techniques are used to unravel our past.

It was KASHMIR that Jarasandha's cousin Gonanda ruled, and Gonanda marched to help Jarasandha against Shri Krishna, but was killed by Balaram. Gonanda's son Damodara awaited an opportunity to avenge his father's death, and attacked Shri Krishna and Balaram when the two traveled to Gandhar, also on the banks of the Sindhu, but predictably got defeated and killed. On Damodara's death, Shri Krishna crowned his widow, Yashowathi the queen of Kashmir. When the courtiers protested the widow's crowning, Shri Krishna sang the glory of womanhood and chanted from the NILAMAT-PURANA, older still, that the mountains of the Himalayas were a part of Shiva, and Kashmir was none other than Parvathi. Yashowathi, who ruled Kashmir, was revered as the very mother of the people of Kashmir. Later, it was Parikshit's son and Arjuna's great-grandson, Janmejaya who ruled Hastinapur, but only after defeating his brother Harandeo who went North and placed himself in the service of Gonanda II, a descendant of Gonanda-Yashowathi. Harandeo wrested the kingdom of Kashmir from Gonanda II and founded the Pandava-dynasty in Kashmir.

Across the next many centuries, the Pandava dynasty founded by Harandeo ruled Kashmir. Many kings of the Pandava dynasty are listed in Kalhana's RAJATARANGINI. Some of these kings were: Lava, Kush, Khagendra,Surendra, Godhara, Suvarna, Janaka and Sachinara. Raja Ramdeo, belonging to the Pandava dynasty, built the Martand temple in 2900BC, later rebuilt by Lalitaditya of the Karkota dynasty. The names of these Pandava kings are linked to villages and towns, which they founded, some of which can be tracked down even today. Some of this information is from the account of later historians incorporated in RAJATARINGINI's Persian translation by Mulla Ahmad, based on an earlier chronicle by Ratnakara. Ptolemy VII has referred to the region between Jhelum and Ravi as the 'country of the Pandavas'. The history of these Pandava kings spans a vast period and brings us almost to the period of Gautama Buddha and Vardhamana Mahaveera, and thus to the period just before Alexander.

In 331 BC the Macedonian prince Alexander won against the Persians near the Tigris. The rough terrain tamed his troops and they were forced to retreat without penetrating deep into India, after the battle with Puru (a descendant of Raja Puru mentioned in the MahaBharat). Alexander retreated within two years by 329 BC, and finally died in Babylon in 323 BC. The Persian defeat at the hands of Alexander, followed by his own retreat within two years left a power vacuum in Kashmir. This was filled very quickly by Chandragupt Mourya who had seized the kingdom of Magadh in 322 BC. Chandragupt expanded his empire within two years to go beyond Takshashila, Gilgit, Kabul and Gandhar in the north-west, right upto Herat, and included Ladakh and Kosala on the north-east, as it stretched forth through the great Gangetic plains. Chandragupta's son Bindusar (BC 298-273) annexed the south, upto Yerragudi, now known as Yerkaud and conquered the region right upto Udipi. Bindusar's son, Samrat Ashok (BC 269-232), annexed Kalinga (mostly Orissa and some parts of Andhra) in BC 261.

The ARTHASHASTRA of Koutilya-Chanakya, political adviser to Chandragupt, was a classic work in statesmanship, and he was well versed in the Vedas and the Vedangas, from where he drew his lessons in political science and stratagem. It was the AITERAYA BRAHMANAY that inspired Chandragupt's expansion, under Chanakya's counsel, that the territory of a sovereign king would extend upto the horizons that touch the seas. A glance at the Indian Empire of the Mouryas underscores the fact that the nationhood of India is a very ancient reality, contrary to the claims that it was the British rule, which unified India.

The India of the Mouryas included Jammu and Kashmir, and Samrat Ashok himself at the very site of the ancient town founded the modern city of Srinagar by the same name (named after Goddess Lakshmi, as mentioned earlier). Ashok personally visited that area twice. He patronized the university of Takshashila (in northern Jammu and Kashmir, near Gilgit, close to the northern bend of the Sindhu) which, along with another at Nalanda, were two of the foremost centers of learning.

As we flash back on the events in Jammu and Kashmir, we see our heritage, our roots. Jammu and Kashmir remains central to the cultural and political evolution of India. The Mourya Empire collapsed and disintegrated. Ashok's son, Jaloaka, reigned over only a fragment of his father's great empire. Through the Khyber and the Bolan then came a series of invaders from Iran, Turkey, Bactria and other parts of Central Asia. These were the Sakas, Kushans and the Huns. While they conquered India, the Indian culture conquered them in turn.

Following the Greek collapse, the Gandhar-Kashmir region was occupied by the Kushans. Kadphises I (AD 15) conquered Afghanistan, and his son Kadphises II (AD 45) expanded the kingdom as far as Kashi. The Kushan king, Kanishka-I, was coronated in AD 78 from whence starts the Shalivana calendar the Hindus use. Kanishka ruled over Takshashila and Gandhar and in fact over most of the Kashmir-Afghanistan belt, which was always regarded as a politically single unit. From Afghanistan to Varanasi and beyond, was a single empire once again, ruled by an invader who had submitted himself to the Indian culture.

When we say that Hindu DHARMA preaches tolerance, we must remember that what it preaches is tolerance of subtle ideas and philosophies, not tolerance of vice. Subsequent rulers of Kashmir were the Nagas, who mythology regards as serpents, but in fact were snake-worshippers and who were influenced largely by Shaivism. It is believed that a form of Shaivism originated in Southern India and migrated to the North through Naga tribes intermingling with the original settlers in Gandhar-Kashmir. There was a period of conflict and power struggle between the Nagas and the Kushans, but through that turmoil a synthetic culture evolved that had the fragrance of the entire sub-continent through the nomadic Naga influence.

It was under Kumar Gupt that the Empire of the Guptas (240 - 600) was at its most expansive. If the period of the Guptas is known as the golden period, it is because arts, architecture, science and literature flourished under them. Samudragupt himself was an accomplished musician and performed the Ashwamedh yagna according to the Vedic rites. It was in the court of Vikramaditya-I (Chandra Gupt-II) that the distinguished Kalidasa served as the royal poet, and composed the great 'shakuntal', 'meghdoot' etc.

Kalidasa may have hailed from the Magadh area, as some evidence suggests, but some of his compositions suggest that he was a Kashmiri Brahmin. Kalidasa spent considerable time in Kashmir and his compositions were greatly influenced by the beauty and folklore in Kashmir. Kashmiri culture and literature continued to influence the rest of India and remained a corner stone of Indian culture. This was the wonderful period when poets often created compositions that meant one thing when read left to right and another when read right to left!

During Skand Gupta's period, the Hun Toraman conquered Persia and pushed his way through the Hindukush into India. He was defeated and hurled back by Skand Gupt,but after Skand Gupt died in 467, Toraman returned and broke the Gupta Empire, though segments of it remained with the Guptas. Yashodharam Gupt reigned over Malwa and Baladitya Gupt over Magadh. Yashodharam defeated Toraman's son Mihirkula, and later Mihirkula was defeated and captured in Magadh by Baladitya who however took mercy on him and set him free. This was a mistake Indian kings have made time and again.

Mihirkula returned with another army and wrested Kashmir's throne. Under Mihirkula's tyrannical rule, Kashmir faced one its worst trauma. He destroyed Buddhist stupas and Hindu temples. This was around the year 515. It is recorded, however, that Mihirkula later repented for his deeds and carried out penance, becoming a devotee of Shiva. Yet again,Indian culture conquered the conquerors. After that the Gupta Empire fell apart, in segments,across the subcontinent, into small kingdoms in Bengal, Assam, Nepal, Magadh, Kalinga, Malwa and Kashmir. But India was reunited once again by Samrat Harshavardhana (606 - 647) who became king of Thaneswar, located between Indraprastha and Srinagar. He brought a significant part of northeast India under his rule, including a small part of Kashmir, south of the Sutlaj.

However, he moved his capital towards the east and hence did not bring Kashmir entirely under his rule. Nevertheless, as the principal sovereign king in the northeast, he dictated other rulers in the region (including Kashmir - then under the Karkotas).It was during the period of Samrat Harshavardhan that studies in physics and astronomy took giant leaps and Brahmagupta (628) propounded the law of gravity (almost a millennium before Newton) and Vaisesikha's atomistic theory was developed in great detail.

Right from the Vedic period, Kashmir continued to be the dominant seat of the Sindhu-Ganga cultural heritage under the Pandavas, Chandragupt Mourya, Bindusar and Ashok and also during the period of Samrat Vikramaditya and Harsha. Through this period, there was continuity in the evolution of Indian culture in the Sindhu-Vitastha-Asikni-Airavati-Satadru-Saraswathi-Yamuna-Ganga belt, through the flat terrain of Maharashtra and right up to the deep south in the regions of Shravana-Belgola, Udipi and Kanchipuram.The story of Jammu and Kashmir takes us to Gandhar and Herat, to Pataliputra, Magadh and Kalinga, to Shravana-Belgola, Udipi and to Kanchipuram.

This is because Jammu and Kashmir has always belonged to one nation, to one culture, to one civilization that stretched homogeneously throughout the subcontinent. Deep in the southern parts of India, the regions were ruled by different dynasties, the Cholas and the Pallavas amongst them, but they promoted essentially the same culture, the same values, and the same DHARMA.

It is almost startling that throughout this period, the valley has always been called 'Kashmir'. In fact, the region was earlier known as Kashyap-pur and Kashyap-mar (mar = canal), after the Rishi KASHYAP who designed the waterways to drain the waters that flooded the valley. Even today, his descendents adhere to his name, identifying themselves as belonging to the KASHYAP-GOTHRA.

Indeed the Kashmir-Gandhar region is rich with Hindu heritage, and rich with places of pilgrimage for Hindus and Buddhists both. The Kashmir-Gandhar region has been the very fountainhead of Indian thought and culture. The legal and constitutional integrity of Jammu and Kashmir in the union of India is unquestionable, as discussed separately. The region is a national heritage, and it cannot be compromised because of political blunders, whether by one Government, or another.

Professor Pranawa C.Deshmukh

(Madras/Chennai)

January 27, 2001

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