Radha Krsna Inspired Indians during Sino-India War

[Guest guest]

A road map for India's goal to glory

By K.K. Sharma

 

"Furthermore, their radio had also been telling the listeners that

Radha, consort of Shri Krishna was from the Lohit division of NEFA,

they had realised, though belatedly, as to wherein lay the source of

inspiration to face foreign invasion."

 

Western scholars claim that since India's best brains devoted

themselves to philosophy, it led to neglect in other spheres of life,

which caused its political downfall over the centuries. This charge

fails to stand the test of an objective scrutiny. I am listing below

the causes for the political downfall of India as corroborated by

historical events, thus showing that such a charge is baseless.

 

Decimation of the martial spirit of the people due to the constant

chanting of ahimsa, day in and day out. It is to be noted that no

foreigner had succeeded in subjugating India before the declaration

of Buddhism as the state religion. The persona of Gautam Buddha is

given due respect but the doctrines propagated in his name have

become the prerogatives of anyone and everyone who critically

evaluate them. Only an obscurantist can object to that. An

obscurantist must understand that critical evaluation of a doctrine

is not, in any way, a disrespect to its expounder.

 

It is possible that someone may drag in the name of Alexander the

Great. This `Rambo' of the Western historians fought with tiny

principalities on the Indian soil. His biggest encounter was with

Porus, who gave him a tough fight. A magnificent giant, six-and-a-

half feet in height, Porus fought to the last, and before succumbing

to his wounds he was taken as prisoner in a semi-conscious condition

(Early History of India, by Vincent A. Smith 1967, p.74).

Subsequently, Alexander's army refused to engage in a similar

encounter and proceed beyond river Beas.

 

On his retreat, somewhere near the boundary of the Jhang and

Montgomery districts, 80 to 90 miles north-east of Multan was the

scene of one of the most memorable incidents in Alexander's

adventurous career, admirably described by Arrian on the basis of

materials supplied by Ptolemy. There, in a fight with Mallois, he was

struck by an arrow with such force that it pierced his armour,

punctured his lung and he fell unconscious on the ground. The barbed

arrow was withdrawn by a bold operation which involved much bleeding

and a possible death. But, he survived and continued to live in India

for 19 months. There is, however, no mention of him in Hindu, Jain or

Buddhist literature (ibid, pp. 100-101).

 

Here some may point to the success of Aryan invasion. To them, I will

just quote from the words of Swami Vivekananda, "As far as the truth

of these theories is concerned, there is not one word in our

scriptures, not one, to prove that the Aryans ever came from anywhere

outside of India" (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Part III).

The word Arya means noble and nobility depends on one's conduct and

not on physical features, racial or tribal traits. Dr S.

Radhakrishnan, in his book My Search for Truth referred to a verse

from the Mahabharata saying: "The mark of the Aryan is not learning,

not religion but conduct alone" (p. 12, 1946).

 

The Western scholars gave it a racial connotation without realising

the enormity of harm they have done to the cause of humanity. After

all, during the Second World War, in order to preserve the fake

racial (Aryan) purity of his German sect, Hitler sent six million

Jews and half a million gypsies, men, women and children, to the gas

chambers. It was a diabolical act and a horrendous crime against

humanity.

 

On his retreat, somewhere near the boundary of the Jhang and

Montgomery districts, 80 to 90 miles north-east of Multan was the

scene of one of the most memorable incidents in Alexander's

adventurous career, admirably described by Arrian on the basis of

materials supplied by Ptolemy.

 

Those who jump with glee at the mention of the name of Ashoka,

because he was eulogised by H.G. Wells, must remember that, the

mighty empire which extended from the Bay of Bengal to the interior

of Afghanistan and from the Himalayas to deep down into the Deccan,

barring the southern-most tip, got so weakened under the constant

chanting of ahimsa from the pulpit and the throne that it

disintegrated within 48 years following his death. After him, there

was a succession of seven kings in such a short period of time. Look

at the political instability brought in by his obsession with ahimsa.

Last of the Mauryan kings, Brihadrath, was beheaded.

 

In 259 b.c. Ashoka stopped the royal hunt. The question that arises

is: How would a king, who could not face a wild animal, face an enemy

on the battlefield and with what result? Before embracing Buddhism,

he was a warrior and had conquered Kalinga. But, once he became a

Buddhist, his martial spirit simply vanished.

 

Likewise, Harsha, before becoming a Buddhist, was a warrior. He had

secured the release of his imprisoned sister through bravery. But,

once he embraced Buddhism, he changed altogether into a different

person. His kingdom disintegrated and India's decline set in.

Buddhism flourished under state patronage and eventually took toll of

its patrons.

 

A parallel situation prevailed in India nearly half a century ago.

After Independence, Buddhism became the undeclared religion of the

ruling elite. Jawahar Lal Nehru carried pictures of Gautam Buddha in

the folders he carried, whenever he went on a foreign tour. A fellow

Kashmiri, Dr Kailash Nath Katju, Governor of West Bengal (later Home

Minister at the Centre), once carried the physical remains of Maha

Moglana and Sari Puttar, the two prominent disciples of Buddha, on

his head through the streets of Kolkata. Ahimsa was the pet refrain

of their speeches, from both the public and private platforms. This

obsession with ahimsa had a demoralising effect on the morale of the

Indian army. The same army that had won nearly two dozen Victoria

Crosses for its bravery during the Second World War, could no longer

capture even a dead Chinese in the 1962 conflict with China.

 

The famous 4th Indian Army Division (Kitehawk), which during the

Second World War fought in North Africa against General Rommel and

later at Monte Casino on the European mainland and won two Victoria

Crosses, cut a sorry figure when posted to defend the Se La Pass, at

the commanding height of 16,000 feet. When the Pass was occupied by

the Chinese, the Western press interpreted it as a staggering blow to

the Indian army. Ahimsa lay raped by the invading hordes. "Nehru was

pale and tired," observed Tunku Abdul Rehman, the then Malaysian

Prime Minister who was on a visit to India at that time. It was no

fault of the Jawans as the fault lay with the political mindset

nurtured by blind adherence to ahimsa under which the soldiers were

starved of equipment, training, clothing and motivation. The question

that arises is: How can you motivate the fighting forces to action by

harping on ahimsa?

 

Humiliation was so great that Pandit Nehru never left India on a

foreign tour after that debacle, which was the result of over-

emphasis on ahimsa just for 15 long years. It should not be difficult

to mentally visualise the scenario that would have existed in the

distant past when blind following of ahimsa was preached in India,

day in and day out for centuries, from both the pulpit and the throne.

 

At one time, Tibet was a military power. "Once they had imposed their

authority on the intervening tribes, the Tibetans pressed on into

China itself and in a.d. 635 their young king Song-tsen-Gampo

demanded and eventually received a Chinese princess as his bride."

(Tibet & its History by H.E. Richardson, pp. 28-29, 1962). But as the

influence of Lamaism grew, Tibet regressed into primitivism. And just

recall where it was in March 1959? Look at Burma (modern-day Myanmar)

with its insular society where Buddhism is still the State religion.

This country is conspicuous by its absence at all international fora.

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan wrote that Buddhism could not withstand the

ferocity of Muslim invasion and thus vanished from India.

 

Swami Vivekananda wrote that some Buddhist monasteries in India had

about one hundred thousand monks. When brain power and muscle power

had taken to the monastic order, only weaklings were left for the

progeny to defence. At Nalanda, 30,000 Buddhists were slaughtered by

one of the Khiljis, literature burnt and university razed to the

ground. In fact, all the existing universities were destroyed by

foreign invaders; and during the Muslim period, not even one

university was raised.

 

* Indifference to the downfall of a sister State. When Sind fell, it

did not bother any other state in India. When Maharaja Anang Paul's

elephant went out of control and ran away from the battlefield and

Lahore fell, no other state took note of that. When Delhi fell, Jai

Chand was happy. The following year it was his own turn to fall.

 

b) Jai Chand, King of Kanauj, in order to take revenge for abduction

of his daughter from the royal court at the time of her swayamvar,

invited the invader from Afghanistan to attack Delhi.

 

c) The mighty Vijayanagaram empire fell as a result of treachery by

its two Muslim chiefs, each in charge of 70,000-80,000 men, who

turned their faces against their own king, thus tilting the balance

in favour of the invader (see A History of South India by K.A.

Nilkanta Sastrim, 1976, pp. 294, 295).

 

d) Rani Jindan of Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent sacks full of mustard

seeds instead of gun-powder to the front and thus the Sikhs lost the

battle to the British.

 

* Discarding State ethics whilst dealing with the enemy and replacing

it with religious ethics. State ethics (rajniti) consist of sam (to

win) over the enemy by sweet talk), daam (use of money), dand (use of

force or inflicting punishment) and bhed (dividing the enemy ranks).

Prithiviraj Chauhan discarded all these and made forgiveness the

cornerstone of his foreign policy towards the foreign invader. The

invader launched 18 invasions on India; 17 times, he was defeated,

captured but pardoned and let free every time. On the 18th invasion,

Prithviraj lost and he was never pardoned. Had Prithviraj at the time

of second invasion used dand ensuring the elimination of the enemy

once and for all, the course of Indian history would have been

altogether different.

 

The famous 4th Indian Army Division (Kitehawk), which during the

Second World War fought in North Africa against General Rommel and

later at Monte Casino on the European mainland and won two Victoria

Crosses, cut a sorry figure when posted to defend the Se La Pass, at

the commanding height of 16,000 feet.

 

King Ramaraya of Vijaynagaram empire defeated five sultanates of

Deccan, one by one but reinstated the defeated Sultans on their

thrones. Later, the defeated five Sultans got together and invaded

Vijayanagaram. This combined attack and betrayals by two of his army

captains as stated at (3c) above, resulted in his defeat. Had he

dethroned the Sultans instead of installing them, the situation would

have been altogether different.

 

*Absence of a central power. The Centre acts like a hub, a unity

point and can deliver a mortal blow to the enemy. In its absence, it

had been a divided house and the situation continued till August 1947

with 562 princely states. Credit goes to the ingenuity of Sardar

Patel who integrated all of them, barring one (Kashmir), into one

whole. Kashmir was being dealt with by Jawaharlal Nehru. Today, it is

a potential nuclear flashpoint.

 

*Military strategy was practically always defensive and never

offensive. No attempt was ever made to take the initiative to carry

the fight to the enemy land and destroy the source of invasion.

 

*Military armament, equipment and tactics remained outmoded.

Alexander had fast-moving horses and sharp arrows. Babar had cannons.

The British had naval power and superior armament.

 

* Blind faith and tendency to accept things without critical

examination. Outside the Somnath temple, the forces were asked not to

fight as they were told that the idol inside the temple would protect

them. As a result, the enemy won without a fight. The idol was

smashed to pieces and the temple razed to the ground.

 

* Disunity and failure to put up a united front. It should not be

forgotten that historical accounts relating to the latter half of the

medieval age and thereafter come from the chronicles of the invaders,

written at a time when flattery was the norm. This norm was in

practice as late as 1971, when Yahya Khan delivered a two-and-a-half

minute speech on the radio and TV, informing his countrymen that East

Pakistan had gone into the hands of the Indian army. West Pakistan

was reported to have been stunned at the announcement made by BBC of

East Pakistan's defeat because right till the last moment West

Pakistan was fed the news that Indians were being routed on all

fronts.

 

When on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna was shirking duty and

inventing excuses to avoid fighting the enemy, it was the teachings

of the Gita which inspired him to cast aside impotence, stand up and

fight.

 

Adi Shankaracharya, the seer-philosopher, in his book Prashan Uttari

asks the question as to "who is a living dead"? He answers the

question himself by saying, "He who is not dynamic." He himself was

an embodiment of dynamism as he travelled from Kerala to Srinagar,

from Dwarka to Puri, disputing and debating all philosophic issues,

day in and day out, establishing four monasteries in the four corners

of India and thus consolidating the country into one cultural unit.

 

Shivaji was nurtured by his mother, Jija Bai, on the stories from the

Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The boy grew up into a warrior, stood

up to the tyrant Aurangzeb and carved out a kingdom of his own.

 

Lokmanya Tilak, the scholar-politician who wrote a commentary on the

Gita in Mandlay Jail, inspired the nation with the slogan—`freedom is

my birthright'.

 

During those dark days, when Chinese invasion was in full swing, in

order to boost the Indians' sagging morale, the Absolute Ahimsa Vadis

brought one Shankaracharya, who delivered his speech in Sanskrit, on

the foreign service of All India Radio. Furthermore, their radio had

also been telling the listeners that Radha, consort of Shri Krishna

was from the Lohit division of NEFA, they had realised, though

belatedly, as to wherein lay the source of inspiration to face

foreign invasion.

 

>From the above it should now be clear that the charge levelled by

Western scholars has no legs to stand on.

 

(The author can be contacted at 29 Paxton Avenue, Slough, 25X, UK.)

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