Dravidians and
the Punjab
by Anwar
Shaikh
EDITORIAL
Racial Threat to India
Dr.
M. S. Srinivasan, Chairman of the First Public
Protection Trust, Madras, is a well-known patriot.
He has written several books to cure political and social ills of India through professional
remedies. Interested in the unity of his motherland, he is naturally worried by
the Dravidian problem of South India, which is brandishing a
racial hatchet to harm the physical integrity of the country.
Being aware of my views about the origin of Aryans,
he asked me to provide him with details so that he could do something to help
the deteriorating situation in the South.
Dr. Srinivasan has
expressed a noble sentiment. In response to it, I have modified the second
chapter of my book: "The Wonders of the Rgveda."
It appears here as "Dravidians And The
Punjab" and demonstrates the racial unity of the Aryans and the
Dravidians, who are originally one people.
The authority on the subject is Rgveda
which also shows that, unless people of India return to this Source of
Light, they will keep wandering in the darkness of disunity, division and
distraction. It is because the Indian society is rooted in the Veda, and no
tree can survive without attachment to its roots.
- Anwar Shaikh
Dravidians and the Punjab
No scripture has ever praised its land of origin
with half as much love, enthusiasm and devotion as the Rgveda
has applauded Punjab, originally the land of the Sindhu and six
rivers. This fact shows the eternal bond between the Rgveda
and the Punjab. There is not a word about the foreign origin of the Aryans in this
book, which is undoubtedly the greatest authority on this issue. If the Aryans
were foreign migrants or the invaders, the Rgveda
would have mentioned where they came from. In fact, this is the first-thing,
the Book would have done. Being myself an immigrant to Great Britain, I know what home-sickness
or nostalgia is. It is, in fact, a psychological relief for an immigrant
community to talk of their homeland, do their best to preserve their customs
and traditions, call new settlements after the names of their home-towns, and
mention their motherland in their arts and literature. This is exactly what the
immigrants to Great Britain from the Indian
sub-continent and other parts of the globe are doing with a zeal which is
ever-young, ever- growing and ever-romantic. This applies to any community of
settlers; when the British went abroad, the English set up a colony in America which they called New England. the
Scots called their settlement in Canada, Nova Scotia, and the Welsh from South Wales founded the state of New South Wales in Australia. Those who claim that the
Aryans deliberately concealed their original homeland,
are just fabricators, determined to impress on the face of history, their
fallacy which is foul, fiendish and fanciful. Why did they have to hide their
origin? What could they possibly gain from this hypocrisy? Not only that,
conquerors never make a secret of their identity. In
fact, they display it as a matter of pride. This equally applies to the
Punjabis; in their homeland i.e. Punjab, they thought of themselves as Arya or Noble owing to their cultural accomplishment; when
they pushed into the Doab, the Ganges Valley, they
named it as the Aryavarta, the land of the Aryans to
distinguish themselves from the non-Aryans whom they called Mlechha
i.e. the barbarians, ignorant of the Aryan speech and manners. They did not
need such a distinction in the Punjab, which was their original home.
Aryavarta is the nostalgic expression
of their homeland, the Punjab, which they adored in the Vedic hymns
repeatedly with an affection unknown in any scripture.
Let me quote from Hymn LXXV, called the Rivers:
1. The Rivers have come
forward triply, seven and seven. Sindhu (the Indus) excels in glory all the
streams that flow.
2. Rich in good steeds in Sindhu, rich in cars and robes, extravagant in gold,
skillfully- fashioned, profusely rich in ample wealth.
Here is a smack in the face of those who pretend
that there were no horses in India, and therefore call Aryans
the dwellers of Central Asia where horse-riding is common. This hymn clearly
states the land of Sindhu abounded in steeds, the
high-spirited horses. This shows that high-quality horse-breeding was a noble
profession of the Punjabis who mostly belonged to the Kshatrya
caste. The fact that a religious military sect was first evolved in the Punjab, demonstrates the martial
character of its people, which was at its best at that time. This Punjabi
peculiarity was to reassert itself in the form of Sikhism centuries later.
This hymn also gives a geographical description of
the land we call Punjab. It is originally a territory where according to Professor Max
Mueller, seven rivers flow, namely:
1. Indus
2. Vitasta
3. Asikni
4. Parusni
5. Vipas
6. Sutudri and the
7. Sarasvati/Kubah
About the Sarasvati, some
scholars believe that this is another name for the Indus river,
and others hold that it has ceased to exist. However, learned men like Lassen
and Ludwig include Kubah (the Kabul River) in this list instead of Sarasvati. As this description of the Punjab does make sense, I am
averse to widening the investigative scope of this article. Therefore, I shall
restrict my view of the Punjab to the territories traditionally thought to be
part of it. By this, I mean the areas that lie in the north of Rajasthan, Sindh and Baluchistan, between the Yamuna in the East and the Sulaiman Range in the West. For the sake
of explanation, I may add that Jammu and Kashmir have always formed part of
the Punjab. In fact, it comprises an
area 800 miles in length and 650 miles in breadth which includes cities such as
Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Multan, Lahore, Amritsar, Ambala,
Delhi and fifty miles beyond. Of course, the geographical
concept of the Punjab has suffered changes during different periods of history but these are
the areas which come to the mind from the study of the Rgveda.
However, from the eulogy that the Rgveda bestows on
the Sindhu(Indus River) one cannot ignore a part
of the northern Sind which has also been
referred to by the historian as the Lower Punjab.
According to the Rgveda,
the Punjab is Sapta
Sindhu, the land served by seven rivers, namely the Indus, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej and Kubah.
The Aryans thought that these rivers were divinities for having wonderful
qualities.
The study of the Rgveda
leaves on in no doubt that the flower of civilization flourished on the banks
of the Indus rewarding mankind with its fragrance through the migration of its
noble sons to other parts of the world. I ought to introduce here the mighty Indus which is a great
trans-Himalayan river, 1800 miles or 2900 kilometers long. It has a drainage
area of 450,000 square miles, mostly in the plains of Pakistan. I do not deny the cultural
glory of the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates but the splendor of the Sindhu is
immeasurable. Not only is it the sacred, sweet and supreme stream of the Rgveda but its annual flow of about 274,055,000,000 cubic
yards is twice that of the Nile and thrice that of the Tigris and Euphrates put
together!
After emerging from the regions of high altitudes,
the Indus flows rapidly between the
Swat and Hazara districts of Pakistan. The Kabul River joins the Indus just above Attock. It cuts across the Salt Range near Kalabagh
to enter the Punjab Plain. After receiving the waters of its five tributaries,
namely the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej, which create the name Punjab (land of the five rivers),
it becomes a large water stream; it widens to several miles in the flood season
during July and September. Near Tatta, the Indus begins its deltaic stage
and splits up into distributaries which join the sea at various points south
east of Karachi.
Migration from the Punjab has been a fairly regular
feature. In 1947, all Hindu and Sikh Punjabis left the West Punjab and all Muslim Punjabis
migrated from the East Punjab as a result of religious antagonism. During the
early Vedic period, different Kshatrya clans of the
Punjabis lived in various parts of this land. Membership of this caste was
founded on fighting. Thus greater the martial skill a Kshatrya
acquired the more pious, prestigious and pompous he became. They developed
customs of chivalry which far excelled what was practiced in Europe during the medieval times.
Since purpose of the martial arts is self-defense and decapitation of the
adversary, These Punjabi warriors, who were conscious of their fighting skills,
called themselves as the Aryans or Nobles. However, habitually split on
religious grounds into two fanatically opposed groups as the Aryans and the Dasa or Dasyus, they could not
find peace in their homeland. Their sectarian wars must have been eternal. As a
result, the weaker or defeated groups sought solace in emigration. These
emigrants though beaten, were still Kshatrya, trained in the art of fighting, horse-riding and
military administration. Above all, they had proud traditions of dying for
honor and domination. In the beginning, they found the northern passes, more
convenient exits to Central Asia and Europe than moving to the South or East India, though they did so in the
later Vedic period c. 1000 B.C. Since civilization to various parts of India spread from the Sapta Sindhu, it gives Punjab the honor of being the
Cultural Fountain of India.
The Punjabi or Aryan culture is based on the Rgveda, which demonstrates precociousness of the Punjabi
mind. In fact, the Rgveda is uniquely splendid in
depicting the vision of the Vedic seers, their analytical power and pulsating
zeal for knowing the truth through observation and mastery of description. Of
course, the Bible and the Koran have exerted a tremendous influence on the
world civilisation but that has been done through the
agency of faith. The Rgvedic influence has been
infinitely greater in this field and far more lasting. It is because the Vedic
approach is rational; it is based on the natural sequence of cause and effect;
its essence is: "you reap, what you sow." This is why the Vedic
doctrine advocates Karman (practice) and Free Will,
which involve reasoning. It is opposed to the Biblical and Koranic
philosophy based on predestination and intercession.
I need not describe the precedence of the Punjabi
culture over the Indian way of life because it is much too obvious. The same
goes for the cultural life of the Far Eastern countries which have heavily
borrowed from the Indian traditions. However, I ought to demonstrate the traces
of the Vedic customs found in the Western culture. I intend to establish this
fact, which will prove that the ancestors of European nations must have
migrated from Punjab, the land of the Rgveda, otherwise they could not have inherited the Vedic culture.
Before launching an enquiry into the influence of
the Rgveda on Europe, I may describe what the
Veda is: the word: Veda means knowledge. In practice, it applies to a huge mass
of sacred Indian literature of great antiquity. In fact, the vedas are inspired and represent man's quest for the truth.
This is the spiritual urge which is over and above the human drives such as
food, sex and shelter. The spiritual urge forces humans to think what this life
is for. Why are we here? Is there a life after death? What is the way that
leads to eternity? Why is this universe mysterious? Where has it come from? Has
it a beginning and an end? Who made it? What is the nature of it Maker? Is He
Himself subject to the law of change? Is the universal law absolute or is it
mutable?
Such are the questions which made the Vedic seers
cogitate and meditate. So great was their vision and intuitive intensity that
the inspirations they drew from this process look superhuman and remain
unparalleled in their magnitude, magnificence and mastery of conveyance. The
Vedic principles and conclusions are essentially inspired; they are a product
of someone who is a seeker, a researcher and anxious to dive into the turbulent
world of the mind, extremely difficult to explore. The success rate is so high
that they look of divine origin. This is why some Hindus believe that the god
Brahma wrote every word of them in his own hand upon leaves of gold. Of course,
believers are always led by their beliefs, and not reason. The most gracious
and the greatest quality of the Rgveda is that it
depicts man's quest for the Truth and his ability to find it. The Vedic God does
not tout for devotees; it is the devotee who looks for Him, and when the
searcher genuinely attunes himself with the natural and social phenomena around
him, he feels inspired and becomes the knower of the Truth.
However, the Hindus having suffered the Semitic
influence over the last 1,000 years, believe that the
Vedas are revealed and not inspired. I am right in stressing this point because
the Vedic teaching is not based on Predestination but Free Will which declares Karman (the deed) as the vehicle of Mukti
(salvation) and not grace or intercession. However, detailed discussion of this
issue is outside the scope of this article.
There are four Vedas:
1. The Rgveda,
the original composition which took place in the Punjab and belongs to the earliest
period. It consists of 1028 hymns which usually praise the forces behind
natural phenomena such as sun, moon, sky, stars, wind, rain, fire, dawn, earth,
etc. Some ot the hymns
depict wisdom which is incredible for the age of the Vedic composition. There
are no romantic stories or fairy tales in it.
The other three Vedas are
principally the reflections of the Rgveda and were
written outside the Punjab. They are namely:
2. Samaveda
or Knowledge of the Melodies.
3. The Yajur-Veda
or Knowledge of the Sacrificial Formulas, and
4. The Athar Veda, or Knowledge of the Magic Formulas.
Again, each of these four Vedas is divided into four
sections:
1. The Mantras or Hymns.
2. The Brahmanas, or manual of rituals, prayers and incantations
for the priests.
3. The Aranyaka,
or "forest texts" for hermit saints, and
4. Upanishads, the
celebrated philosophical treatises.
Age of the vedas is a big
problem. Some Hindu scholars go as far back as 6000 B.C. Basing
his judgement on astronomical calculations, Colebrook
concluded that a Vedic Calendar existed in the 14th century B.C. From this
fact, it has been determined that the date of the earliest hymn ought to be
carried back another 1,000 years; it means that the antiquity of the Rgveda goes back to 2500 B.C. At one time, I held the same
opinion. As original language of the Rgveda provides
the basic structure for other languages such as Greek, Latin, Kelt, Teuton and Slovonian, its antiquity ought to be stretched back by
another 1,000 years, to 3500 B.C. It is because the said Janguages
could not have come to look so different from Sanskrit in less than ten
centuries. Again, it has been acknowledged in recent years that science of
philology cannot exist without the study of Sanskrit nor can the comparative
study of religions make sense without reference to the Veda. Since the Veda
serves as the focal point in terms of language and religion, it provides a
record of the progress related to human thinking and maturity of mind. Thus the
Veda must have the longest possible antiquity, compatible with the evolutionary
conditions and principles. Therefore, 3500 B.C. or thereabout seems to be the
right age for the Rgveda.
There is another way of tackling this issue, that is, looking at the Vedic gods such as Indra, Agni, Varuna,
Surya, Pushan, Parjanya, etc. What is called Hinduism is centred around the triad of
Vishnu, Brahma and Siva. This phenomenon of Three-in-One, also exhibited by the
expression: OM, is derived from the Rgveda, which treats them as younger and junior gods. It
means that Indra, Agni, Varuna, etc., are older gods than Vishnu, Brahma and Siva,
yet they all are Vedic gods because they have been referred to in the Vedas.
Calling Siva, as the Dravidian god is an act which has no justification. He is
as much a Vedic or Aryan god as the other two i.e., Vishnu and Brahma. However,
Siva, who is considered the god of the Dravidian or Indus Valley Civilisation, thus becomes a point of special interest.
It is not Siva who is the fountain of the Indus Civilisation but the undivided Punjab whose geography is stated
by the Rgveda. In this context, look at the
following:
To him the strong, great,
tawny, fair-
complexioned, I utter forth mighty praises,
We serve the brilliant God with adorations,
We glorify the splendid name of Rudra.
(Book II, 33-8)
Here the fair-complexioned god being invoked is
universally acknowledged as Siva, who is also called Rudra.
He is obviously not black or non-Aryan. Since the Indus Valley civilisation
is ascribed to him, it must have been a younger extension of the Vedic culture.
It should also be noted that the artefacts found in
the Indus Valley (Punjab and Sindh) such as
dolls wearing jewels in their noses and ekka etc.,
prove that the people of the Indian sub-continent still practise
their original customs. People of the Punjab have always been fanatic in
their religious zeal. In the pre-partition India, though both the Hindus and
the Muslims were Punjabis, they hated the sight of one another. The Hindus
thought of the Muslims as Mlechhas (the impure) and
the Muslims called them "Kafirs" (the
infidels). Neither they intermarried nor they shook hands with one another, nor
did they attend social meetings together; similar conditions must have
prevailed in the Vedic times. The religious differences earned the people of Mohenjodaro and Harappa the contemptible epithets
of Dasa and Dasyus, who
were racially Aryans but came to practise different
forms of religion. This religious conflict led to perpetual battles. The
stronger groups called themselves Aryans (Nobles) but the weaker sections were
named as Dasas or Dasyus.
To protect their religion, which was a varied form of the Vedic faith,
prevalent in the Punjab, the Dasas migrated towards the South.
When a nation loses its sense of national glory, it
becomes like a rolling stone, which feels comfortable on a downward slope. This
is the psychological condition which people of the Indian sub-continent have
suffered for a long time. Having reached its climax in 1947, it is heading
towards a second peak as it is quite clear from the mode of politics in South India these days. Therefore, I
may digress to add a few words about the "Aryan-Dravidian" basic
racial unity though it may appear strange to those who are indulging in a
similar two-nation theory as did the Muslims half a century ago.
The Hindus determined to follow this political path
must also realise that they will face similar hellish
conditions in their separate "homelands" as do the Muslims in Pakistan.
Since this book is about the wisdom of the Rgveda and the cultural influence it has exerted on the
world civilisation, I intend to be as brief as
possible on this issue and shall be guided by the Encyclopaedia
Britannica in relation to historical and lingual narrative:
1. Siva is the Rudra of
the Rgveda. He has been mentianed
there as often as seventy-two times, and nearly forty times indirectly in
connection with the Maruts, sons of Rudra also called Rudras. He is
the roaring or flashing Tempest-God of the Rgveda. In
fact, he is given the opposite features because he is not only the Tempest-God
but is also described as a gentle healer and beneficient.
The Sivites, who later
developed this Vedic description of Siva, cannot call him a Dravidian god. He
is simply a Vedic god, and therefore, whatever culture is ascribed to him, has
got to rank as a branch of the Aryan culture. This fact vouches for the basic
unity of the Aryans and Dravidians.
2. The three-faced Agni is
the forerunner of the three- faced Siva. It gives them the same origin, which
is Vedic.
3. As previously stated, Siva is as fairly
complexioned as is Agni or other Aryan gods.
Therefore, he is one of them.
Those who paint him black to identify him with South India suffer from a bias which
originates from a will highly mischievous, malevolent and misdirected. The colour of a people is climatic and not a racial factor. An example to this effect are the gypsies, who also come
from the Punjab. Most of those, who dwell in Europe, have developed blue eyes
and white skins.
4. Since Rudra or Siva is
a junior god of the Rgveda. the
culture ascribed to him, has also to be junior to the Vedic culture. Therefore,
there is no substance in the assertion that the "Aryans who were foreign
invaders" learnt culture from the Dravidians, "the natives of India."
This myth is also exploded by the fact that as there
is no mention in the Rgveda that the Aryans were
foreigners, there is no statement which confirms that the Dravidians are the aboriginies of India. Since racially both these
groups are on par with each other, they have got to be the same people. These
remarks are confirmed by the recent archaelogical
findings around Rawalpindi (Pakistan). The methods of burial and
antiquity of the artefacts, have led to the opinion
that civilisation in this area existed some 500 years
earlier than other parts of the Indus Valley.
5. Since Siva is a part of the Vedic faith which is
indigenous to the Punjab, the Dravidians must also originate from the Punjab. In fact, such an opinion
has existed for sometime.
6. The Dravidians did not originate in South India. Take Ayurveda,
for instance. As its name implies, it is a Vedic system of medicine but those
who believe in the racial divide of Aryan-Dravidian, claim that it is a
Dravidian method of cure. Similarly, they claim that most of the Hindu heroes
of northern India including Kautilya,
were Dravidian. Even Sultan Haider Ali was a
Dravidian, though history knows full well that his grandfather was a
street-beggar of Lahore. Since they have a common
ancestry with the people af
northern India, they can be rightly proud
of them. Why indulge in mischievous innovation, which can be injurious to the
whole nation?
7. When it comes to religion. the
Punjabis seldom pay attention to reason. During 1947, the Punjabi Muslims drove
the Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus out of the West Punjab. Thereafter, East Punjab was again divided because
of the Hindu-Sikh religious strife. This peculiarity of the Punjabis has
existed since time immemorial. The so-called Dravidians were turned out of the Punjab owing to religious
antagonism. There is evidence to this effect: Brahui
is one of the Dravidian languages. It is still spoken in Sindh
(Pakistan) by 300,000 people. As a
result of the religious abrasion, it was natural for the "Dravidians"
to migrate from the Punjab to Sindh and elsewhere. These Brahui speaking people are a remnant of that religious
upheaval.
In 1953, India constitutionally
established the linguistic state of-Andhra Pradesh followed by Tamil Nadu, Mysore, and Kerala
Literature of the Tamil language is the most extensive and as ancient as that
of Sanskrit but that is no basis for a separate racial identity. People of the
same land can speak different dialects without losing one-nation status. The
common heritage that the Aryans and Dravidians possess by way of Lord Siva and
the associated rituals, plus close cultural traditions, render them as
indigenous Indian groups. Even if they came from elsewhere, the fact that they
have lived in the same land for the last 5,000 years, has welded them together
racially. If through marriage, individuals and families can become members of
one united clan, how can two racial groups maintain their separate identities
over such a long time? The fact that they have had a close social intercourse
over the centuries, has made them all Indian, and
their common deference to Lord Siva, is a uniting force and not a dividing
factor.
8. What I have said above is a logical conclusion,
and does not contradict my view that the Aryans and Dravidian are one racial
group, which originated in the Punjab. The modern Dravidian states of India are lingual and not racial.
As an independent family, the Dravidian languages were first recognised in 1816, and it was Robert A Caldwell, who
actually introduced the term Dravidian from the Sanskrit word: "Dravida." Attempts have been made to link the
Dravidian speakers with various linguistic groups such as Uralic (Hungarian,
Finnish) and Altaic (Turkish, Mongols). This is a doomed effort. There is a
simple explanation for the presence of some Dravidian words and grammatical
constructions in these foreign lands. That is, originally there was no
animosity between the "Aryans-Dravidians." In the beginning, they
emigrated as one group but might have spoken different dialects. It was natural
for the more advanced dialect to prevail, though the under- dilect
was bound to leave some impressions on the literatures of foreign lands. This
situation is clearly explained by Britain, which linguistically, is
an association of the English, Welsh and Scottish. As the English have been
dominant partners, their tongue has become the international language but as it
contains many Welsh and Scottish words and idioms, they have also filtered into
foreign speeches. It is further evidenced by the fact that a number of features
belonging to the Dravidian languages appear in the Rgveda.
This confirms that:
a. The Aryans and Dravidian
lived in the same areas i.e. the Punjab.
b. As Siva is common to both
the Aryans and Dravidians, they were originally the same people and practised the same religion and culture.
c. Their split was caused by
their religious interpretations leading to the dichotomy of Aryans and
Dravidians. The dominant group called itself Noble and the vanquished sect was
named as Dasa or Dasuys.
It is quite possible that as one racial group, they
spoke the same language, but after a few centuries, they became bilingual. The
linguistic scholars have quoted several instances to this effect such as the
spheres of phonology i.e. retroflex consonants, syntax and vocabulary. The Dasas must have first moved to the areas of the lower Punjab i.e. now called Sindh, to isolate themselves from the Victors but as the
religious hatred became worse, they headed to south India. It obviously did not
happen all at once but over a period of a long time. This is shown by the
presence of Brahui in Sindh.
As they settled in Sindh, they took their indigenous
Punjabi culture with them. It is amply proved by the findings of the figurines
of Siva, a Vedic god, various clay statuettes wearing jewels in their noses,
primitive models of ekka, and so on. That they were
originally followers of the Veda, is proven by the
yogic posture of Lord Siva depicted on certain seals excavated in the Punjab and Sindh.
Yoga is, of course, a highly illuminating aspect of the Veda.
One wonders why they did not settle in the nearer
districts of the Ganga-Jamuna Doab.
The answer seems to be that by then Aryans, the dominant group of the Punjabis
had started colonising the said areas, and
Dravidians, the vanquished Punjabis, wanted to get as far away from their
persecutors as they could; nothlng could be farther
than south India and northern Ceylon.
The Welsh history supports my hypothesis. As I shall
narrate later, the people of Wales like other Celts, practised Vedic culture. Their priestly class was
essentially Brahmans due to their privileges, rituals and way of life, but they
were not callec as such; they were known as Druids,
which is a variant of Dravidian. Some scholars have remarked Vid is the root of Druid. Since this word, meaning "to
know" is also the root of Veda, it seems right to assume that the
Dravidians were as much Vedic as the Aryans. They both originated in the Punjab, and were racially one
people.
Indian glory has suffered, not only from the
misinterpretation of "Aryans" and the "Aryan-Dravidian"
divide but also the lingual claims of the Western historians, who usually refer
to an Indo-European language. They claim that the said language was a sister of
Sanskrit, and thus assert that the similarities between Sanskrit and the
European languages such as Greek, Latin, German, English, Welsh, Lithuanian,
etc., are due to this reason. Thev also stress that
these similarities were further deepened by the Aryan invasion of India, leading to a permanent
settlement.
If this were true, some European nation would have
possessed a book like the Rgveda but none of them has
ever had such a book. Again, the fact that Sanskrit has survived in its
entirety but its so-called sister European language has not, proved that the
Punjabis were the superior race of the time. Since, it is the Veda, whose
survival has preserved the continuity of the world civilisation, the Indian
cultural benelicence ought to be recognised.
The cause of the said similarities between Sanskrit and the so-called
Indo-European language, springs from the fact that
almost all lands of Europe were once conquered and colonised by the
Punjabis, who came to be known as the Celts. The Iranian Avesta
cannot claim this honour because it has been inspired
by the Veda and contains many quotations from it.
On the surface, it appears a fairy tale but when we
delve deeper, it emerges as the whole truth, which the mist of time has
concealed almost completely. However, before I narrate this story, I must state
why the Punjabis were able to beat their adversaries in foreign lands. The
reason is that the Rgveda prescribes fighting for its
followers to support holy causes which include honour,
righteousness, care of the weak and the oppressed as well as conquest and just
administration. These facts formed part of the Kshatriya
code, which they practised with complete sincerity
and devotion. As other nations lacked such a mental discipline, they could not
stand up ta the Punjabis or the Celts. Centuries
later, a similar situation was repeated by the Prophet Muhammad, who prescribed
fighting for his Muslim devotees known as Mujahedeens.
It is for this reason, the Arabs prevailed against
their opponents and succeeded in setting up a large empire.
Unfortunately, the martial ethos of the Rgveda has been completely misrepresented by the Hindus,
who practise Ahimsa (non-violence), and yet claim to
be the followers of the Vedas! However, this is not the issue here; the real
point is that the Aryans and Dravidians are cognate.
Back to content