India:Mother of Western civilisation

[Guest guest]

Heritage Plus

India: The mother of Western civilisation

By Dr R. Brahmachari

 

Whenever the Western scholars begin a discussion on any branch of

their knowledge such as literature, philosophy, science, medicine

and so on, they always start from Greece, and thus they try to

convince that the Hellenic civilisation is the fountainhead of

today's Occidental wisdom and people like Aristotle, Plato,

Socrates, Pythagoras, etc. were the authors of their cultural

heritage. In this way they try to project that the present Western

civilisation grew independently in Greece and hence it was not

indebted to the civilisation of any other group of people on the

globe. But a close scrutiny reveals that the people who are now

being revered as the father of Western wisdom were the people who

migrated in large numbers from India and established colonies in

Greece, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, Italy, North and South America

and many other places. And hence Indians were, in fact, the authors

of civilisations which are now called ancient civilisations of

Egypt, Rome Mesopotamia and so on, including that of Greece.

 

Every Indian should be proud to know that Parasya, the real name of

today's Persia, was derived from Sanskrit parashu, or the axe which

Shri Parashuram, the Brahmin warrior and one of the incarnations of

Lord Vishnu, used to carry. He should also be glad to know that the

great Roman Empire was the creation of immigrant Hindu Kshatriyas,

who had settled in Italy, and the city of Rome was named after Lord

Rama, the King of Ayodhya. Still today, the name of the city is

spelled not as Rome, but Roma in Italian. Once upon a time, the two

countries, Norway and Sweden, collectively called Scandinavia, were

ruled by Shri Kartikeya, the son of Lord Siva. It is well known that

Skanda was the other name of Lord Kartikeya and the land was

therefore, called Skandanabhi. And scholars agree that today's

Scandinavia was derived from Sanskrit Skandanabhi.

 

Similarly the Caspian Sea was named after Rishi Kashyapa and words

like August, Augustine, etc. were derived from Rishi Agastya. Arka

is another name of the sun. The Sanskrit arka became Arak in the

West, as Dharma or Karma became dharam and karam in northern India.

Gradually this Arak became Araak and finally today's Iraq.

 

It would be really perplexing for every Indian to know that Lord

Krishna, the son of Devaki, became Apollo in Greece. Radhakant is

the other name of Lord Krishna, and since Radha is a woman and

abala, he is also known as Abalakant, and this abala became Apollo

in Greece. Similarly, Lord Shiva of Kailash became the Greek god,

Zeus. The place in Greece where people from Magadh (today's Bihar)

were settled was called Magadhan. After passage of time, Magadhan

became Makedan or Macedan and finally Macedonia, the birthplace of

the great warrior, Alexander. Where-from had the name Alexander been

derived? A man of incomparable beauty is called Alokasunder in

Sanskrit and after passage of time, this Alokasunder became

Alexander in Greece. Thousands of years ago the Brahmins, belonging

to the tribe of Bhil, left their dwelling place Hamman in

Afghanistan and settled in Greece, where their chiefs were called

Bhilpos, a corrupt of Bhilpati. Later on this Bhilpos became Philip,

the tribe to which the father of Alexander belonged and hence,

Alexander was an immigrant from Hamman in Afghanistan.

 

The place in Greece where people from Magadh (today's Bihar) were

settled was called Magadhan. After passage of time, Magadhan became

Makedan or Macedan and finally Macedonia, the birthplace of the

great warrior, Alexander. Wherefrom had the name Alexander been

derived?

 

There is a small place called Attak, lying on the bank of River

Sindhu, 942 miles north of the Arabian Sea. People who migrated to

Greece from Attak, named their new dwelling place as Attak-sthan,

which after passage of time became Atakthan and ultimately the great

Greek city, Athens. The descendants of Laxman, the younger brother

of Lord Ram, after migrating to Greece, set up a colony called

Lughmon, which later on became Lacmon. The immigrants from Ayodhya

were called Ayodhan (people of Ayodhya) in Greece. Later on this

Ayodhan became Ionan and the nearby sea was named the Ionian Sea.

These descendants of Ram were also known as Cul-ait-ram (Ram's

family) which ultimately became Call-id-Romos. A group of these

people migrated to Italy, founded the city of Roma and the great

Roman Empire. Another branch of them migrated to Peru in South

America.

 

Shali is a kind of fine rice and des-shali stands for the place

where this kind of rice is cultivated. This des-shali in Greece

became Thessali, a provice of Greece. Adri is the other name of the

Himalayas, and from this Adri, the sea between Italy and Greece was

named the Adriatic Sea. Falguni or Phalgooni was another name of

Arjuna. In Greece, this Phalgooni became Phalg-oonus and the

settlement of the descendants of Phalgoonus was called Phal-goonia.

Today, the place is called Pelagonia, a part of the province of

Thessali. Ano-ther name of Arjuna was Ajeya which became Aegeus and

his descen-dants, who were settled in eastern Greece, were called

Aigaios or Aigaians and the adjoining sea became the Aegean Sea.

 

The early settlers in Greece were known as Pelasgians and scholars

believed that the word Pelasgians had been derived from Pelargos.

But Pelargos has several meanings. Firstly, Pelargos means `sea' and

hence some scholars believe that they were called Pelasgians because

those early settlers came to Greece by the sea. Secondly, pelo

means `to till' and argos means land. So, many believe that they

were called Pelasgians as those early settlers were tillers of land

or simply farmers. A third group of scholars believe that those

early settlers came from the state of Bihar in India. In those days,

Bihar was also known as Pelas, and hence they were called

Pelasgians.

 

Why did the Indians start migrating to Greece and other Western

countries in large numbers? Scholars believe that after the

Kurukshetra war the Kshatriya tribes, who fought for the Kauravas

and survived the war, began to migrate in large numbers to escape

humiliation and persecution by the winner Kshatriyas. According to

the most modern estimate, the Kurukshetra war took place in 3069

b.c. and hence the said migration occurred 5,000 years ago.

 

Hella is the other name of Greece and many believe that the name

came after a mountain called Hela, situated in Baluchistan in

today's Pakistan. They also believe that the people of that locality

were the first among all the Indians to reach Greece. The

contributions of these people from Hela mountain, who were sun-

worshippers, played a vital role in Greek history and civilisation.

>From Hela, the Greek name Helios for the sun was derived. The

settlements of these Hela people were called Hela-des (land of Hela)

which ultimately became Helados.

 

The immigrants from Ayodhya were called Ayodhan (people of Ayodhya)

in Greece. Later on this Ayodhan became Ionan and the nearby sea was

named the Ionian Sea.

 

After passage of time, they were known as Phoenician sailors and

traders. In Greek, the word cori stands for the mouth of a river. So

the people who migrated from the mouth of River Sindhu, were called

Cori-Indus. Later on, this Cori-Indus became Corinthus and their

settlement became the city of Corinth.

 

Many believe that the word Europe was derived from Sanskrit surupa

and the name of the Caucasus mountain was derived from Kaikeyi, the

mother of Prince Bharat, the younger brother of Lord Ram. Most

scholars believe that the epics Illiad and Odyssey are nothing but

imitations of Ramayana. The prime story of Ramayana is abduction of

Sita and liberating her from captivity; even the epics of Homer

narrate a similar story, where Sita has been replaced by Helen, the

queen of Troy.

 

How were the names of the celebrated Hellenic scholars derived? Many

people believe that the Sanskrit word Arya became Aristo in Greece,

and from this Aristo names like Aristotle, Aristarcus and English

words like aristocrat, aristocracy, etc. have been derived. Scholars

also believe that Socrates was a corrupt of Sukracharya or Sukra. In

Sanskrit vidyapith stands for a seat of learning and Vidyapith-guru

stands for the teacher or acharya. In Greece, this Vidyapith-guru

became pith-guru, which after a passage of time became Pithgoras,

and from this Pithgoras the English Pythagoras was derived. Thus it

can be shown that the scholars who are believed to have authored the

Greek or Hellenic civilisation, were, in fact, Kshatriya immigrants

from India. And hence, it can safely be said that India is also the

mother of civilisation, which is now known as Hellenic, or Greek

civilisation.

 

For further reading:

 

India in Greece by E. Pococke.

 

The History of Greece by G. Grote.

 

The Social Conditions of the Greeks by Rev. J.B. Ottley

 

Sanskrit and Modern Medical Vocabulary by A. Bagchi

 

(The author can be contacted at 393/3F/6, Prince Anwar Shah Road,

4th Floor, Kolkata-700 068.)

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?

name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=45&page=20