WHO SAVED HINDUS FROM MUSLIM EXPANSION?

        SAINTS  WILL  AID

        Who Saved Hindus From Muslim           Expansion?

History studies what happened in society.Society includes various aspects -politics, economics, social , cultural and religious developments. But in view of the narrow specialisation that has taken place, each aspect is studied separately- there is economic history, social history, religious history, cultural history, etc  but 'history' in general means just political history. Students of history are not aware of the developments in other areas.

History is written by people with vested interest. Usually it is written by victors and dominant power groups. In the case of India, our history was written by the English colonialists to suit their interest and taught through the govt-sponsored school system. And since school education was necessary for employment, the system ensured that almost every Indian going through  schooling was fully indoctrinated with the govt version of what happened in the name of history. And since education stops for most people with schooling, this version of history becomes the standard for the whole society. Aryan invasion theory is one such fabrication promoted by the British and still taught in schools, at least in Tamil Nadu, with the tenacity of a crocodile! ( Know the Tamil proverb: mudalaiyum moorkanum kondadu vidaa ie the crocodile and the idiot will not leave what they catch ?)

Mughal army under Akbar slaying Sannyasis at Thaneswar. That was how liberal Akbar was! Rascal. The source of this painting is Abul Fazl- not any Hindutva advocate!

After Independence, the govt. of Nehru (who was more an Englishman than Indian by temperament, training and mental make-up) continued with the administration, judicial and educational systems left by the British. After Nehru, one more distortion took place. The new-fangled secularists did not want the stark realities of Muslim invasion of India, and the accompanying destruction of life and property, forced conversions and massacre of Hindus and others to be known. So they undertook revision of our history to suit their agenda through  agencies such as NCERT, CBSE etc. and 'sanitised' our history, portraying the Muslim period in favourable light, with political motives.The result is that by and large, our people do not know all that happened in  India  after Muslims started invading.The Internet today makes mockery of such infantile methods of controlling information.But if you want a university degree to get a job, you have to subscribe to officially sponsored falsehood or filtered facts.

The first wave of Muslim invaders was Arabs  who conquered Sind (then part of India) in 711AD during the Second Caliphate, within 80 years after the death of prophet Mohammad- that is how fast Islam expanded.  From then on up to around 1000,they controlled the North West and gradually spread from there. They were somewhat tolerant, and allowed the Hindus to live as  usual, but gradually they got converts. By 1000 AD, a wave of Turks came, with Mahmud of Gazni. They were plunderers and looters, and destroyed thousands of temples and killed thousands of Hindus and Buddhist monks. Mahmud of Gazni invaded India 17 times between 1000 and 1026, destroying the famous Somnath temple on his 16th invasion in 1025, and looting its fabulous wealth. Gradually Turks established themselves in Delhi and ruled from there till 1526 when they were conquered by the third wave of Muslims- this time Mughals under Babar, a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur. (Popularly, we refer to Muslims as 'tulukkans' which is a corruption of the word Turk) Their rule lasted nominally, till the British captured and imprisoned Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal ruler in Mandalay, in 1858, though their glory had ended long before that.

Islam preached equality but believed in monotheism.Hinduism was stratified, but gave full freedom to its adherents to believe in any God or any number of them, any theology, any philosophy, adopting any method! This baffled and agitated the Muslims. Though there were really learned and spiritually inclined among them, and even evolved a new style of Islam like Sufism, they were generally intolerant and proselytising. All of them were expanding-some peacefully and gradually, others violently and fast, but expansion of Islam was their only goal, as it is part of their religious tenet, conferring Heavenly rewards. This is why Hindu society was under seige and constant pressure and threat under the muslims: they even had to pay a tax, Jizia, to remain Hindus, but accepting the Muslim rule! No Hindu ruler was strong enough to reconquer an area once taken by the Muslims! Only, some like Vijaynagar kings and Shivaji were able to stop further muslim expansion.

Who helped Hindus in those turbulent centuries? Though we may owe allegiance to the orthodox Mutts, we must remember that no orthodox Mutt could help the Hindus, especially the common people. Vijaynagar owed allegiance to Sringeri, and it protected the South for two centuries.Then Shivaji and his successors offered protection for another 150 years, but the Hindu Mutts did pretty little directly. They were themselves struggling for their existence.

It was only the Saints, who deviated from orthodoxy and preached Bhakti , uniting all the castes of Hindus in  common devotion to the two Avatars-Rama and Krishna - who served the Hindus and saved India.

To even look at the names of the Saints is impressive:

1.Jnaneswar 1275-1296   Mahratta. Wrote commentary on Bhagavad Gita in Marathi, which is studied reverently even today.This is considered a first- the first time a Scripture was commented upon in a language other than Sanskrit.

2.Namdev 1270-1350  Propagated reliance on Divine name as the sure way to Liberation.

3.Ramanand 1299-1410 Porpagated Bhakti cult. Was the Guru of Kabirdas.

4.Narsinh Mehta 1414-1481: Propagated Bhakti through devotional singing in Gurjara desa -Gujarat. His song 'Vaishnava jan to' was made famous by Gandhi.

By Nileshbandhiya (Own Work) CC BY-SA 3.0 Creative commons via Wikimedia Commons.HTML

5.Purandaradasa: 1484-1564: Propagated bhakti through singing divine names; considered Pitamaha of Carnatic music; his compositions, though full of divine fervour, are not structured like later kirtanas.

6.Chaitanya Mahaprabhu1486-1534: Initiator of the definite cult of devotion to Krishna as the Supreme. He popularised the group chanting and singing of the following chant as the Mahamantra to secure complete spiritual benediction: 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

7. Mira Bai 1498-1557 Oh, what to say of her! She is Gopi come back, this time as a princess! Pure devotion personified!

8.Tulsi Das1497-1623 Wrote Ram Charit Manas in the regional dialect Awadh, gave hope and saved thousands of Hindus from conversion.

9. Tukaram1577-1650 Continued the bhakti tradition of the earlier Mahratta saints.His Abhangs are fabulous.

10.Samarth Ramadas1609-1681 He was the force and spirit behind Shivaji to establish Swaraj of the Hindus. Effectively combated and stopped muslim expansion, and united the people in devotion to Rama, with Hanuman as the focus.

11.Bhadrachala Ramdas1620-1680. Famous for his renovation of Rama temple at Bhadrachalam using the Sultan's funds, for which he suffered imprisonment for 14 years. Rescued by Rama and Lakshmana personally at the end, the Sultan,Tani Shah also had the Darshan of Rama! He was the ideal of Sri Tyagaraja whom he calls "dhirudau"- the heroic.

Saints of the Cauvery Delta

12.Sadhashiva Brahmendra: 17th century. Active in the Cauvery delta area( Chola Desa) Great advocate of bhakti.His kirtans are the essence of Vedanta and bhakti and a great favourite of bhajan practitioners.

13.Bodhendra d.1692  59th Pontiff of Kanchi Mutt, but the Initiator of NAMA SIDHANTA , with emphasis on Taraka nama as the way to Liberation in our age.

It is not clear to what extent he acted individually and not as the Pontiff. It is to be noted that the Kanchi Mutt has not accepted his line, but continued to follow orthodoxy, which Bodhendra established as being unsuitable for our times on the basis of Sastric injunctions. 

14.Sridhara Ayyaval 1635-1720  Contemporary of Bodhendra,great advocate of Nama Siddhanta, emphasising Siva Nama, but advocating Siva-Rama abhedam.

15.Narayana Tirtha1650-1745 Advocate of Nama Siddhanta, devotional singing and the author of Krishna Lila Tarangini, an important item in Sampradaya bhajans.

16.Sadguru Swami 1776-1817 Continued Nama Siddhanta and initiated numberless devotees in Mantra japa.

17.Sri Tyagaraja 1767-1847 Formalised singing divine names and glories through classical music; performed Rama Nama Japa 96 crore times after taking proper inititation as laid down in the Upanishad and completed it in 21 years. Had Darshan of Rama. Lived by unchavritti, shunning all wealth, and name and fame.

Tyagaraja is usually portrayed with a grim face, as if he has swallowed some bitter medicine. Face is the index of the mind. "Sukhi evvaro Rama summukhi evvaro " , sang Tyagaraja. One who has enjoyed the bliss of the divine name ought to be portrayed with a face showing Ananda! 

There are others like Vemana, Potana, Jayadeva who are great devotees individually but whose social role is not clearly known.

They appeared in all the troubled areas and most of them travelled around and spread the message. To this list, we must include Arunagirinatha also, who lived in the 15th century and advocated devotion, without Siva-Vishnu-Shakti difference.None of them advocated any definite philosophy!

 Just look at the caste of some of the leading figures celebrated in the bhakti movement:

Jnanadev, Tyagaraja, Bodhendra, Sridhara Ayyaval, Sadashiva Brahmendra, Narsinh Mehta, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Ramdas - were all brahmins.
Namdev- Tailor
Gora Kumbar- Potter
Tukaram- Trader
Savata- Gardener
Narahari- Goldsmith
Chokha Mela- Untouchable
Janabai- maidservant
Sena - Barber
Mirabai- Rajput princess
Kabirdas-weaver-muslim.

We are bound to ask: in the comparative period, how many personalities sprang from the orthodox Mutts to save the common people from falling into the hands of muslims? Even today, what are they doing in that direction? The very fact that they are Hindu mutts has prevented them from speaking on the subject openly. Such is the state of our secularism.

I am not decrying orthodoxy. I am only pointing out the historical fact of how Hindus were saved.

Dr.V.Raghavan  wrote on the Saint-Singer Integrators, a book published by the NBT in the 70s. Sadly, it is no more available.

Dr.V.Raghavan-eminent scholar and exemplar of Hindu culture.
This picture is taken from "Sruti" magazine.
Copyright position not known. I gratefully acknowledge. It was Bhakti- and not Philosophy-which saved Hindus.

NOTE:
I like to provide pictures of the great people I write about as I want our friends to know them- this is the way we convey our respect. It is so difficult to get the photos without copyright hassles. I resort to postage stamps wherever available.
All pictures here taken from the Net and gratefully acknowledged. Used here without any commercial motive, purely for educational purposes.