Vasudeva Kudumbakam

“The country whose young men are imbued with the glory of the past, the pain of the present and dreams of the future, always moves on the path of progress” - Ŕiśhi Aravinda

India is 62 years old. But Bhārat is 121 Million years old and Ajanābhavarshā (land of the navel of god) is 1.972 Billion years old.

When we look back at our own history, we can see so many events that we have been blinded from by selfish, biased historians and textbooks. Till the beginning of the 18th century, there was no one who doubted the history of Bhārat. From the last two hundred years, the British enforced a pseudo model of the history of Bhārat which credits Bhārathiyas as barbaric, foreign invaders and uncultured people. This model of the history of Bhārat was initiated by Max Muller and supported by William Jones, Thomas Young, Mortimer Wheeler, A.L. Basham, Joseph de Goubinau, Dwight Witney and others. They claim that Aryans came from outside (Eastern Russia) and invaded the northern parts of Bhārat around 1500 BC. They also claim that the Aryans displaced the uncivilized Dravidians and wrote the Vēdas. Referring to a number of resources, several scholars have begun to question this. Let me explain why in this article.

Let us enter the time machine and make a voyage through our opulent history!

The year is 120 million BC. No, we are not in a lush rainforest. We are in the capital of the Solar Dynasty (Ravi Kulam)- the majestic city of Ayodhya. The city was built in an orderly fashion. The streets were lined with gold and in the center of the city was the imperial palace which housed king Iksvaku, son of Vaivaswan and grandson of the Sun god. Many generations later, Rama was born in the same city. (Bhadrajalam Ramadasar called Shri Rama as “Iksvaku Kula Thilaka” in his famous yadukula kāmbhōji krithi.) So, were we barbarians?

As per our scriptures, the first civilizations started in Bhārat. Later it spread to the rest of the world. Around 95 million BC, there was a great king called Bali who ruled over the whole world. King Bali was a philanthropist and gave a lot to poor people. Soon people became scared that once he was dead, fighting would break out between his sons. They prayed to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu incarnated on the earth as a small boy named Vamana. Vamana came to King Bali's court and asked him for the three steps of land (that is Asia, Europe and Africa). King Bali gave it to Vamana without any hesitation. Once Vamana had the three steps of land, he sent King Bali to the nether world (South America) – almost an antipode of India. King Bali established civilizations in Purva (Sanskrit word for East or present day Peru). Maya, the great architect of Bali, established the Mayan civilization. So, did the Mayans come from across the globe?

At a much recent time (6000BC), there was a king called Yayati. He was cursed by a sage to lose his youth and become old. He asked his first son, Druhyu for his youth. Druhyu refused and was sent away. Druhyu and his men migrated west to Saudi Arabia and Persia. Then Yayati went to his second son Anu for his youth. Anu refused and migrated with his men to Greece and Egypt (Anu was also known as Yavana. "Yona or Yavana" is a Pali word used in ancient India to designate Greek speakers and Greeks still call themselves Ionians evolved from Yavanas!). Yayati asked his third son Turkvasa for his youth. He refused and settled in Turkey which was named after him. Turkvasālai became Turkey. Finally, Yayati came to his fourth and final son, Puru, who gave Yayati his youth. Contrary to popular belief, did the Greeks come from Asia?

There was once a king called Janamejaya who ruled over Hastinapura around 3000 BC. His father had been killed by the Nāga (serpent) king. So, he started a great sacrifice killing nāgas. Sage Astȋka was the one who stopped this pogrom. The nāgas called themselves the astikas and migrated to the nether world to become the Aztecs and to China to start the Hwang-Ho civilization. So Mexicans are really Indians? No wonder even their eating habits are close? Like Tortilla is a version of Chapathis?

Ancient Indian scriptures talk of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi. But we see Ganga and Yamuna only. What happened to Saraswathi? Recent scientific and archaeological evidence shows us that there was once a civilization on the Saraswati River. Neither is it a mythical river nor is it an underground river. It doesn’t exist today but used to exist before the Indian Subcontinent collided with Asia. It used to flow into the ancient Tethys Sea. Now it has disappeared with the continental movements.

Our ancient texts repeatedly mention four oceans when there are only three today.
“He, who fixed firm the moving earth; who tranquilized the incensed mountains; who spread the spacious firmament; who consolidated the heaven; he, men, is Indra.” Rig Veda- This tells us that we observed the formation of the Himalayas. So, is it possible that the Bharat Civilization is older than even the Continental drifts from Pangea?

Wow! From the above evidences, is it possible that Bhārat, is the source of human civilization and we are all part of one big family?

Sources-
• Murthy, Krishna. Bharata Jivana Tarangini. Mangalore, India: Diganta Mudranalaya.
• www.wikipedia.org
• Rigvēdādi- ChaturVēdabāshya- Maharishi Dayānandha Saraswati
• Chronology of ancient India- Seethanāth Pradhān

धन्यवाद:
“You have right to perform your prescribed duty, but do not perform duty with expectation of your favorable result (Never consider yourself as the cause of the result of your activities). And never be attached to not doing your duty.”
-Lord Sri Krishna

The above article was published in the "Sri Ayyappa Vision 2010" magazine, a publication of the Sri Ayyappa Society of Tampa (SASTA), Inc.

Gopala and the goatherd!

Although I have read many Indian stories, my favorite one is below. I've heard it many times but I still see different angles of it every time I hear it. Enjoy-

There was once a boy who lived with his mother on the outskirts of a village. When he became old enough, he started going to school. The school was a few miles away and he had to cross a jungle.
On the first day, he was really excited to go to school. But he got really scared and came home running after school as he was afraid of walking through the jungle in the dark. When his mother found out, she prayed to Lord Krishna to help her son.
The next day, the child did not want to go to school. His mother alleviated his fear by telling him that brother Gopala would accompany him through the jungle. The child agreed and left to school. In the jungle a boy appeared from behind a tree. The mysterious boy said he was Gopala and the child's mother had asked him to come. The child was overjoyed and came back home that day without a sign of fright.
Everyday, Gopala played with the child on the way to school. One day, the school headmaster told each child to bring some food item to school so they could have a potluck party. The child went home and asked his mother for something to take. They didn't have anything at home, so his mother told him to go ask Gopala for something. The next morning, while walking to school, he asked Gopala for something. Gopala gave him a small pot full of yogurt. At the school, the children kept eating yogurt, but the pot never got empty. The headmaster poured the yogurt into every pot he had, but it still didn't get empty. Finally, the headmaster asked the child where he had got the pot. The child said he had gotten it from brother Gopala in the forest. The headmaster was atheistic and didn't believe that Gopala existed. The child took the headmaster to the forest. The child kept calling for Gopala but he didn't respond. Then a voice was heard. It said that those who do not believe in god will not be able to see him. The headmaster felt ashamed of himself and returned to the school to become religious.
“Faith and devotion makes everything possible.”

Chennai Concert 2009

Remember, I had sung in the Nandalala program in Tampa? From then on, I wanted to sing before Akka. Finally the opportunity came this summer!
She asked me to give a concert during the Aadi Velli (Friday) (July 17, 2009) celebrations. This venue was the Yogananda hall in Adyar. This was a wonderful opportunity of singing in front of Shri Akka (Srimathi Madioli Saraswati).
I was accompanied by a very senior local artist on the violin and the very talented Akshay Ram on the mridangam. The first song I sang was a GNB varnam in the raga Andolika. Next was Gananathane in Saranga. The third song was Sri Saraswati in Arabi. Coincidently, when I started singing this song, Akka entered the room! This was as if it was meant to be and planned. Then I sang Mayadeetha Swarupini in Mayamalavagowla. The main piece was Himadri suthe in Kalyani. I gave a good crisp alapana, short neravals and brisk swaras and was followed by a thani. I finished off with some thukadas and finally Bagyathalakshmi baaramma.
This was the first time I got a plaque after the concert. Later, I was blessed by Shri Akka. The chief guest was Mr. Ganesh, one of Maharajapuram Santhanam’s disciple and he gave me a good set of advises that will be useful for me for long time to come!

The worst thing came after the concert. My mother had recorded the concert on a new JVC camcorder and this was lost the next day. Unfortunately, I don’t have any recording or pictures of this concert or Akka ;(!

Cleveland Aradhana 2009

It all began 6 months before the program in the month of November.....
I had been chosen by Ramani Sir to sing in the Sustaining Sampradaya for the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. The topic was Shyama Sastri kritis. The classes had already begun by mid November. The first two songs were taught by Jayalakshmi Santhanam maami. They were Shankari Shankuru in Saveri and parakela nanu in Kedaragaula. The third song was Tharunam eedamma in Gowlipantu taught by Rama Ravi. The fourth song was Saroja dala netri in Shankarabarnam taught by B.N. Krishnamurti sir. We did Alapana and Kalpana swaras for this song. We learnt two swarajatis from R.K. Srikantan Sir. They were the Thodi and Bhairavi swarajatis. The Bhairavi swarajati was that main piece in the concert. This seventh song was Brovavamma in Manji taught by B. N. Krishnamurthi sir again. We learnt the Yadukulakambodi swarajati from Suguna Purushotaman Maami. It was the first song in the concert. We also learnt Kanaka Shaila in Punnagavarali from B.N. Krishnamurti sir. We were privileged to learn Balakanakamaya in Atana from great Dr. Pinakapani sir. We learnt Devi brova samayamide in Chintamani and Marivere in Anandabhairavi from Neiveyli Santhanagopalan sir. Next was Himadri suthe in Kalyani taught by Sowmya Maami. The thirteenth song was Karuna joodu in Shri also taught by Sowmya Maami.
The concert was on April 13th 2009. The weeks following the concert were booked with practices for the concert. I arrived in Cleveland on April 9th, four days before the concert. Leading up to the concert, we had boot camp like practices for four days – more than 16 hours every day. This was the first time, all of us were together and practice in unison. This required a lot of coordination and setting up protocol as to who does what, when and how. But it was a lot of fun!
Monday night, following a concert of Smt Parsalla Ponnamma, the great singer, was our concert. The auditorium was almost full and was a great feeling to know that people paid to listen to us! After a brisk start with Yadhukula Kambodi, the concert went well. Unfortunately, we had to cut a few songs – Lalitha, Punnagavarali, Atana etc. But overall, the concert was a success. All the musicians present liked a great concert.
It was an unforgettable experience to have stalwarts like my gurus Shahikiran and Ganesh, Murali uncle and Jaya mami, both Suguna maamis, Ramani sir, Thyagarajan sir, Santhanagoplan sir, Sowmya aunty, and several others in the audience and to get a standing ovation from the audience, was certainly a feeling to cherish till the end of lifetime.
On behalf of every one, I sincerely thank V V Sundaram sir for making our dreams come true!