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T H E ****** * * * * * * * * D I G E S T
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Hindu Digest Fri, 13th Dec 91 Volume 1 : Issue 12
Today's Topics:
Announcement by Hindu Students Council (Mihir Meghani)
Hinduism at century's end : A response to Dr. Subhash Kak's
article (Kanchan Banerji)
Vedic Time Measurement (Prasad Gokhale)
From Almost 60 years Ago (Raj Bhatnagar)
******************************************************************
The Hindu Digest is a weekly publication. We invite all postings
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political situation, condition of Hindu arounds the world, and
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edi...@rbhatnagar.csm.uc.edu
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From Hindu.Stude...@ub.cc.umich.edu
Hindu Students Council (HSC)
43 Valley Road
Needham, MA 02192
617-227-3023
Press Release
Hindu Students Council (HSC), the National Forum for Hindu Students in
America and a project of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHP),
announces the First HSC Youth Conference in Pittsburgh, PA to highlight:
Life of Hindu Youth in USA. The conference, for all high school and
college students, will be held at the Sri Venkateswara Temple on Saturday,
January 4, 1992 from 9am-12:30pm. Conference Registration is $5.
Following the conference on Saturday, January 4 and Sunday, January 5,
HSC will have the Second Annual Coordination Council Meeting and the
First Faculty Council Meet. Students and faculty members from all over
the country and Canada are going to participate.
For more information about the Hindu Students Council Youth Conference,
contact:
Arizona : Murali Menon at 602-881-5300
California : Prabhu Ambatipudi at 805-523-2849
Canada : Prasad Gokhale at 506-457-0145
Georgia : Gokul Kunnath at 404-952-7019
Massachusetts : Chandan Bandopadhyay at 617-227-3023
Atul Nagras at 617-776-4491
Michigan : Swarna Manian at 313-477-7517
Viraj Parikh at 313-459-8131
New Jersey : Susmita Joshi at 908-699-1956
Devki Sharma at 201-884-0844
New York : Haril Pandya at 518-273-8994
Ohio : D. Srinivas at 419-472-0175
Pennsylvania : Mona Asnani at 215-573-8632
Ameesh Patel at 412-733-8733
Aparna Patel at 412-279-8062
Sunil Tandon at 412-854-4063
Hema and Sanjiv Vora at 412-325-4978
Virginia/
Wash. D.C. : Alolita Sharma at 703-503-9155
or WRITE to : Hindu Students Council, 43 Valley Road, Needham, MA 02192
or EMAIL to : si...@bu-bio.bu.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From "Kanchan_Banerjee"@NESTOR10.ceo.dg.com Fri Dec 13 12:12:03 1991
CEO document contents:
This is in response to Dr. Subhas Kak's article "Hinduism at century's end" in
the Nov. 10 (Vol1, Issue 9) issue of Hindu Digest. It is a very thought
provoking analysis and also very deep and timely issue to think about.
A language is a medium to express facts. Many languages are inadequate to
express certain facts compared to some other languages. Just take the word
Namaskara, and try to translate into English. Or take the word Sci-Fi and try
to express in Hindi. Languages are always influenced by philosophy, geography,
society and culture etc.
Western philosophy is more into Physical Science as compared to Spiritual
Science of Hindus and the languages have been influenced accordingly. For a
westerner it is not easy to grasp the entire meaning a term used by Hindu
Rishis. For example take the concept of God. Definition of the Word "GOD" is
totally different than of "ISVARA" or "PARAMATMA" or "BRAHMAN". But we use it
interchangably, all the time! Do we or can we use something from English which
may translate OUM? I'll give you some more examples: Puja - Worship, Raashtra
- nation, Guru - teacher, Shiksha - education, Prakriti - nature, Darshan -
Philosophy, Jagat - world, Samaaj - society, Samskriti - culture. These
English words do not convey the complete meaning of the Sanskrit ones.
If we are not to forget the real meaning of these visionary words which
developed, and gained universal meanings to express world phenomenon and if we
are to let others know about those concepts, we should not use a word which
does not express the whole meaning. If we do, the meanings it has gained or
given to it for centuries will be lost for ever. Why do we have to be shy to
make the modern language to accept that word as it is if the former can not
adequately express the meaning? "Guru" has been adopted, "Pandit" or "Mantra"
has been accepted. So why not "DHARMA"?
My point here is based on the word "Religion". Let us look at the dictionary
(Webster's deluxe unabridged dictionary, 2nd edition, Dorset & Baber) and see
the following meanings of the word. Literal meaning: (Latin Re (back) Ligare
(Bind)) to bind back or to bind together with God or Divine.
1) Belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be obeyed or worshiped
as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe.
2) Expression of these beliefs in conduct and ritual.
3) Any specific system of belief, worship, conduct etc. often involving a code
of ethics and philosophy; as Christian religion or Buddhist religion.
4) A state of mind or way of life expressing love for and trust in God, and
one's will and effort to act according to the will of God, especially within a
monastic order or community; as, he achieved religion.
5) Any object of conscientious regard and pursuit; as, cleanliness was a
religion to him.
Today, the word religion represents the following: There is A theory or Dogma,
A Holy Book, A Prophet, A Set of Rules to be followed. According to those
Dogmas, that book or that Prophet or that Dogma is the ONLY and TRUE way
(others are WRONG!)! Look at Christianity or Islam to find the above.
Who is our THE PROPHET among thousands? Which one is our THE BOOK among
hundreds? And which one is THE ONLY WAY to Hindus? Which Philosophy is THE LAST
among so many?! First, punishing and rewarding Biblical God is different than
what we call Brahman. Now Compare each of the definitions above with the word
Dharma. Dharma is way of life based on the eternal laws of the universe. It
helps us to reveal our true inner nature and to achieve harmony, peace &
progress. It differs from person to person, age to age, society to society.
Remember Laws are eternal but way of life is ever changing. Dharma is not set
of rules and codes of conducts or just "A Way of Life" but the Universal set
of all such rules and all such practices, each one of which can be called
religion. Therefore Christianity is a religion, Islam is a religion, Buddhism
Jainism, Sikhism, Vashnavism, Shaivaism each one is a religion. And many many
more religions to emerge in future.
My second point is the usage of the word Hinduism. "ISM" generally represents
a theory. Sanatana (Eternal) Dharma is not a theory or set of theories, they
are time tested Truths. For example Laws of Karma; this is basically law of
cause and effect. One may deny it but the law exists. And what is the
definition of "Hinduism"? I'm yet to find that out!! When the Christian
missionaries went to Bharat (India), they calculated the entire history of
Bharat in terms of Biblical creation theory (world was created only few
thousand years ago). To them only true path of salvation was Christianity (not
Jesusism or Christism!). Hindus to them were heathens and followed some devil
worshiping and also Hindu Philosophy (Vedas) were poems of bunch of cowherds.
Therefore, it was very primitive form of spirituality to them and was called
by them "Hinduism". We have used the word for more than a century for the
sake of communication. Do we still have to use that? When west has accepted
and understood "Yoga" & "Karma", why not the word "Dharma"? By using this word
we are conveying true spirituality - not some dogma or theology. Can not we
use "Hindutva" (Hinduness) or Hindu System instead of Hinduism? In the turn of
the Century, this has to be clear to all and not to fool around with the wrong
words and convey wrong messages. We have to straighten out the vehicle of
communication, otherwise the mis-concept, misunderstanding will remain and
may increase. These may sound I'm arguing on grammatical or syntactical
issues, but think about it, it is far beyond that! Think how can you replace
"Shree Lakshmi" with "Goddess of Wealth" - is Shree Lakshmi just that? Is it
giving you the complete description of what Shree Lakshmi is to us? I suggest
all to read the book called "Religion & Dharma" by Swami Vivekananda, published
by Advaita Ashram, Calcutta.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: prasad <F0G1%UNB...@UNBMVS1.csd.unb.ca>
Namaste Editor,
Please include the following article in the HD.
-Prasad Gokhale
.....................................................................
Presently, it is believed that the human race started about 6000
years ago ( around 4000 B.C). Recent excavations have produced a
beautiful bronze statue which is confirmed to be about 5700 years old!
Isit possible that within a span of 300 years man evolved from a caveman
to a highly developed individual, expert in art and architechture and
advanced in metallurgical science ? Obvously to a rational mind, it
is absurd and incoherent. So how old is the earth ?
Vedic tradition talks of a cycle of ages spanning 4230 million years.
Correspondingly, the dailies of 17th June, 1980, quoted Dr. Ponnemperuna
Head of the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, USA as saying that from
the clues found in Greenland his co-workers had concluded that "Life
is as old as the oldest rocks on earth. The age of the earth has been
estimated at 4.6 billion years. The conditions for life to emerge were
almost there when the earth was formed."
How very close is 4.6 billion years to 4.32 billion years! Even that
(comparitively) slight difference between the two figures must be
dedated to the unreliability of modern scientific conclusions. The Vedic
tradition has stood firmly by its one and only scientific conclusion
about the time-span of our civilization.
If the earth is a billion years old , how long has life existed? If
the human race has existed for thousands of years, what was their way
of life ? What was their language ? Were they scientifically advanced ?
The scriptures say that the world spoke one language and practised the
same religion. In his book "World Vedic Heritage", Shri. P.N. Oak has
vividly described ancient history and explained how the unitary world
administration dissembled into the present. He emphatically states that
humanity, before the devastating Mahabharat War, spoke Sanskrit and
practised Vedic religion. To assert his claims, he has delved into
innumerable details concerning present languages, current mores, etc.
One of the chapters in the book explains how the present day time-
measurement system perfectly adheres to the Vedic system of time
calculation. A abridged version of the chapter is presented below.
Vedic Time Measurement
----------------------
The uniform world wide tradition of time-measurement and the Sanskrit
terminology assiciated with it, is yet another proof of the prevelence
of Vedic of a uniform, unitary Vedic culture throughout the world from
time immemorial.
The Hindu alias Vedic almanac is the ancientmost because it adheres to
the Srushti-Samvat i.e., the time computation from the creation of the
cosmos. Nothing can be more ancient.
THE SANKALPA
Anybody undertaking any Vedic ritual in any part of the world
has to recall and repeat the entire computation of the aeons, eras,
years and days that have passed from the moment of creation to the day
of the ritual. Thus, a continual, up-to-date computation uttered all
over theworld, down the ages, ensured an unerring tally of eternal time.
The person undertaking the ritual has to loudly proclaim the names of
his father, grand-father and great grandfather, the name of the family,
the name of the aptron sage of his ancestors, the town in which he is
performing the ritual and the region and continent in which that place
is located in the context of global geography. Can anyhting be more
perfect and universal than this sort of time computation ? It summarizes
in a short and quick review every individuals locus standi in the
context of time-space continuum.
In this way, the Vedic tradition has been keeping a continous track
of the time-dimension of the cosmos. It was during the remote antiquity,
when the world had a unitary administration of Kshatriyas trained to
govern the world under the Vedic socio-political system, that the
uniform time calculation system was introduced. The World still sticks
to it as can be seen from the following.
TERMINOLOGY
The word time itself is a corruption of the Sanskrit word 'Samay';
that was pronounced as 'Tamay' and later as 'Time'. The word 'Calender'
is the Sanskrit word 'Kalantar' which signifies a chart detaling the
divisions of time ( namely the day, week, month and year ). Likewise,
the word clock is Sanskrit 'Kala-ka', i.e, a recorder-cum-indicator of
time.
The 60-second, 60 minute calculation is Vedic mathematics because
according to the Vedic computation 60 'vipalas' make 1 'pala' and 60
'palas' make 1 'ghati' i.e, 24 minutes. 'Hour' is a malpronounciation
of the Sanskrit word 'Hora' (which is made of 2.5 ghatis). The word
'day' is also a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word 'din'.
All the days in the week too follow the order laid down by the
Vedic tradition wherein each day is named after the members of the
solar system in a specified order. For instance, Sunday (the day named
after the Sun) follows Saturday (the day of Saturn).
After the week comes the month. The division of the year into 12
parts (each of which is known as a month, corresponding to the twelve
zodiacal signs) is devised by the Vedic system. It is sometimes believed
and argued that the year consisted of 10 months in some parts of the
world. This is based on a misunderstanding. The Vedic year began with
the vernal equinox in March and consisted of 12 months. Later, December
31 was made the last day of the year. This led people to believe that
the year comprised of 10 months which began in March and ended in Decemb
er.
The names September, October, November and December are Sanskrit
words Saptamber, Ashtamber, Navamber and Dashamber where 'amber' is the
Sanskrit word term for the Zodiac while the numbers 'sapta','ashta',
'nava' and 'dasha' signify the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months respectivel
>From the four months, clearly identifiable as Sanskrit, it can be safely
induced that the remaining eight months too had Sanskrit names. The
name Januarius is the original name, of which January is a abbreviation.
It may be recalled that the Latin name of Lord Ganesh came to be spelled
as Janus. The God used to be worshipped in Rome on January 9. Since Lord
Ganesh is tradiationally offered worship at the opening of every ritual
or the commencement of any period or task, the Romans ordained that the
month of the fesitival of Lord Ganesh be reckoned as the first.
Consequently they amended the traditional start of the year and reckoned
it as beginning from January 1. The name Januarius, misbelieved to be
Latin, is the Sanskrit term 'Ganaraya-eesh' signifying Lord Ganesh.
The month February (Latin-Februarius) is a malpronounciation of the word
'Pravaraesh' signifying Lord of the sages. Similarly, March is derived
from the Sanskrit word 'Marichi' meaning Sun. These clues should help
scholars to trace the Vedic names of the remaining months.
The Sanskrit term 'mas' signifying a month is still used in the
English parlance. The European terms Christmas and Michealmas signify
the months in which celebrations concerning Christ and Micheal are
observed. The dictionaries seem to be unaware of this fact and explain
Christmas to be Christ's birthday, even though 'mas' signifies a month
(of December).
The Sanskrit terms for September, October, November and December
are graphic proof that on ancient times the names of all 12 months were
Sanskrit and that the months also followed the Vedic numerological order
beginning from March.
In our own day, September ranks as the ninth month though its
Sanskrit name proclaims it to be the seventh month. What explains this
anomaly ? September could be the seventh month only if March is counted
as the first month. And actually all around the ancient world, in Rome,
in England etc. the year began only in March. It was only in 1752 A.D
that England formally switched to January 1 as the New Year Day. Earlier
its New Year Day used to be March 25.
According to the Vedic lunar calculation, the New Year Day varies
from year to year somewhere around March 25. It does not conform to any
specific Solar date. Apparently, therefore, the last time when England
broke away from the Vedic tradition, the Vedic New Year Day fell on
March 25. That is why England continued to observe that as the New Year
Day. Likewise since Rome observed March 15 as the New Year Day, it may
be calculated as to which was the year(s) in which March 15, coincided
with the vernal equinox i.e, the start of the Vedic Lunar New Year Day.
The worldwide tradition of considering the year to begin in March
as per Vedic practice is a clear indication of the prevelence of a
unitary Vedic administration throughout the world in ancient times. Thus
throughout the world, even today, time is computed from the split-second
to the year adhering to the Vedic system.
Why does a day begin at 12.00 mid-night ? Was this time scheduled
according to some reference time ? The Vedic administrative headquarters
for Europe used to be in London in the British Isles. London meridian
time is five-and-half hours behind the Indian time. When the sun rises
at 5.30 a.m, India changes the date as per the Vedic practice. At that
time it is mid-night hour in London. Therefore, the Vedic administration
there cultivated the tradition of reckoning the day from the mid-night
hour.
Even the terms a.m and p.m have a Sanskrit connotation, and not
English as is easily assumed. In English parlance the term a.m means
anti-meridian and p.m means post-meridian. But, the question remains-
who is anti and post-meridian ? The 'Sun' who is vital to the calculatio
remains unmentioned. That lacuna arises because because it is not
realised that a.m and p.m are the initials of the hoary Sanskrit
expressions Arohanam Martandasya (i.e. climding of the Sun) and Patanam
Martandasya (i.e. the falling of the Sun).
VEDIC DIVISIONS OF TIME
The current trend of the academic world is to regard the Vedic era
as the most primitive. Contrarily, it was an era of excellence. Those
humans of that first generation had a calculating range which extended
from the infinitesimal trillionth of a second to trillions of years.
Such a wide, minute to collosal, computation system also pre-supposes a
highly developed base of scientific and technological existence. Here-
under is that split-second scale of ancient Vedic calculation (mentioned
in the 32nd Chapter of the Marathi translation of the Yajurveda by S.K
Devdhar, Pune, India) :
1 Paramanu = 1/37968.5 second
2 Paramanu = 1 Anu
3 Anu = 1 Tryasarenu
3 Tryasarenu = 1 Truti
100 Truti = 1 Vedh
3 Vedh = 1 Lava
3 Lava = 1 Nimish
3 Nimish = 1 Kshan
5 Kshan = 1 Kashta
15 Kashta = 1 Laghu
15 Laghu = 1 Ghatika = 24 minutes
2 Ghatika = 1 Muhurta
3 3/4 Muhurta = 1 Prahar
8 Prahar = 1 Paksha
2 Paksha = 1 Mas
2 Mas = 1 Rutu
3 Rutu = 1 Ayan
2 Ayan = 1 Varsha = 1 Year
Also,
60 Vipalas = 1 Pal
60 Palas = 1 Ghati(ka)
2 1/2 Ghati(ka) = 1 Hora = 1 Hour
What is the need to perform and tabulate such intricate system of time
measurement if at all it is not to be utilized ? Could the Vedas be
termed as 'mere books' only attempting to unravel the mysteries of life
and performing sacrifices and other such rituals ? Such marvellous
compendium of text needs to be studied meticulously and construed in a
positive way. It is highly possible that some of the finest technology
be discovered which would usher the progress of mankind.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Raj Bhatnagar (r...@rbhatnagar.csm.uc.edu)
The following article appeared in THE TRIBUNE (of Lahore)
on (May 21,1934) and is in continuation of the articles that
appeared in the issues 10 and 11 of Hindu Digest.
This article was written by Prof. Gulshan Rai, a professor
of History in Punjab University and was titled :
"The Clash of Cultures"
.........................................................................
The Punjab and the entire region watered by the Indus and its tributaries has,
in the long history of India, always been the meeting place for different
cultures and civilisations. But, it is also true that every time north-west
India has been filled with a foreign culture and civilisation, it has been
reclaimed by the people living in the region watered by the holy Ganges and
its tributaries. It has been done not once or twice in the long history of
India, but on numerous occasions during the last thousands of years in
the present post-glacial period, kalpa or manavantra
If it has been the task of the people living in the Indus
valley to defend against foreign aggression the people living in the Ganges
valley, it has been the function of the latter people to keep the former truly
loyal and faithful to the Indian culture and civilisation. The sword-arm the
Punjab, has defended the head, and the head, the present day United
Provinces, has always guided the arm. I shall give a few examples of the
Ganges valley people reclaiming the people living in the Punjab whenever
they are lost to Indian culture and civilisation.
I shall take up the thread from the dawn of Aryan civilisation in India,
which is supposed to have commenced about ten
thousand years ago. The original Patriarch of the Aryans during this period,
Manu, is considered by the late Justice Pargiter of the Calcutta High-Court to
be about 95 generations before the Mahabharata events. If 30 years are given to
each generation, it takes us to period 3000 years befire Mahabharata. All
Indian traditions agree in holding that the battle of Kuruksetra which
ended the
Mahabharata was fought 5000 years ago. Modern Indian scholars have with the
astronomical calculations come to the conclusion that the battle of Kuruksetra
was fought in October 3140 B.C. Manu, the Aryan patriarch, therefore, had
flourished about 8000 years ago. It would be interesting to know as to what was
the cultural position of the people living in north-western India at this very
early period. Indian tradition, as analysed by the late Justice Pargiter, knows
nothing about the Aryan invasion of India. The original home of Ikshwaku, the
first of the Suryavanshis, according to this tradition, was at Ayodhya,
in Oudh, and the original home of Pururava, the first of Chandravanshis,
was at Pratishthana near Allahabad.
When we find these early solar and lunar dynasties being established in the
Ganges valley, the whole of the region watered by the Indus and its tributaries
was, according to the Indian tradition, occupied by the Asuras and Daityas,
presumably a foreign and alien people. We find that during the time of the
Chandravanshi king Yayati, sixth in descent from Manu, the territory in between
the Saraswati and the Sutlej was ruled by the Asura king Vrishaparvana. The
territory between the Sutlej and the Beas is even to the present day known
after the name of the ancient Daitya king Jalandhar. The old Pauranic stories
tell us that the head of the Daitya Jalandhar lay near Jwalamukhi, in the
present day Kangra district and his feet lay near Uch, which still exists in
Bahawalpur territory, a few miles north of the modern railway station of
Khanpur. It is well known that Multan was originally considered to be the
capital of the Asura king Hiranyakashipu, father of the celebrated Prahlad. The
capital of another Asura king Hiranyahsha, was at Harrand, a town in
the present
day Dera Ghazi Khan district. The remains of the civilisation now discovered at
Harrappa in the Punjab and the Mohenjodaro in Sind have been found to be quite
similar to those found in Baluchistan, Southern Persia and Mesopotamia.
This means that the whole of north-western India, Baluchistan, Southern Persia
and Iraq were in the earliest times occupied by a people possessing similar
culture and civilisation. In our old Indian tradition these people are called
Asuras. The Aryans called themselves Daivas. The remains of the old city Ashur
have now been discovered near Mosul in Mesopotamia. There has always been a
conflict between the Daivas and Asuras. This struggle in our ancient Sanskrit
literature is well known as the Deva Asura Sangram. The Asuras in our
literature are well known for the material progress they had made; but,
from the
spiritual point of view our Rishis and Munis have always spoken ill of them. In
the Assyrian and Persian literature the Daivas are described as something very
terrible and supernatural. This clash of cultures between the Aryans and the
Asuras is not a new thing. It is as old as history.
In the earliest Deva Asura sangram Indian tradition tells us that the
Chandravanshi descendants of Manu from Mahusha and Yayati onwards, became
engaged in the task of driving Asura culture out of the region of the Indus
valley. The Chandravanshi Aryans, also known by the name of
Induvanshis, succeeded
in attaining their object. The Asura rule in the Punjab and in other parts of
north-western India was overthrown and their territory divided among the
descendants of Yayati the Anvis and the Druhyus. The Anvi empire got split up
into the early Aryan Vedic kingdoms of Maddras, the Kekayas and the sivis. The
Druhyu empire established in the trans-Indus territory of north-western India
later on gave rise to the kingdom of Gandharas. Even so late as the time of
Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. a portion of the Punjab was ruled
by a Pauravan king, evidently a descendant of Puru, the youngest son of Yayati.
Since during all these centuries north-western India remained in occupation of
the Induvanshi kings it is no wonder the country began to be called after
their name"Indudesh", India. This word has nothing to do with Sindhu. So late a
writer as the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang who lived in the 7th century A.D.,
tells us that the word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit word Indu, which
means the moon. It appears the very name Hindu which we now possess, is in
commendation of the military, political and cultural victory our ancient
Chandravanshi kings achieved over the Asuras in driving them out of north-
western India. That is the first example known to Indian tradition of the
people living in the Ganges valley reclaiming culturally the people living
in the region watered by the Indus and its tributaries. And what was the
result? : For several thousands of years after the victories of Yayati and
his descendants, probably right upto the time of Mahabharata, Indian tradition
records no invasion from the north-west.
After the battle of Kurukshetra, for the first time foreigners again took
possession of the soil of India was when Darius Hystaspes, a successor of Cyrus
the Great conquers north-western India in about 500 B.C. The region of Indus
valley was again dominated by a foreign culture. A foreign language and
script called the Kharoshti were broght into the country by the Persian
invaders and this script began to be employed by people in their literary
activities to such a great extent that even Asoka who did so much to propagate
Indian culture in the north-west caused his inscriptions in this region to be
inscribed in the popular kharoshti script. But, the very term kharoshti shows
with what contempt the general mass of the Hindus looked down upon this
script. Literally, kharoshti is made up of two words khara-ushta, the lips
of an
ass. Kharoshti then meant a language coming out of the lips of donkeys. This is
how our ancestors expressed their opinion about this foreign culture brought
into India by the Persians, known to the Indians by the names of the Sakas, the
Pahlavas and the Paradas.
Again, the revivalist movement comes into the north-west from the valley of the
Ganges. At first the Mauryas by spreading Budhism in north-west India weakened
the Persian and Assyrian culture very much. Later on came the Guptas who
transformed Budhism into Hinduism and destroyed all remains of foreign culture
in India. Vikramaditya is supposed to have finally driven the Sakas out of the
country. Our entire Pauranic literature assumed its present shape in the time
of the Guptas, and the master-pieces of Indian drama and poetry were produced
in the time of Vikramaditya. All these powers rose into prominence in the
region which is watered by the Ganges and its tributaries. This struggle
between the Hindus and the Persians was another dev-Asura sangram in which the
Hindus came out victorious. Alexander the Great tried to win back the Indian
possessions of the Persians, but, like Napolean the Great in Russia, he had to
retreat, and north-west India was reclaimed.
The cultural re-conquest of north-west India was so complete that when in the
beginning of the second century B.C. the Bactro-grecians invaded India, alien
and foreign culture could not get any admittance into the country. Within a
generation or two the Bactro-Grecian kings and princes in India became the
worshippers of the Hindu Gods Siva and Vishnu. The same was the fate of the
Kushans. Even the terrible Huns called themselves the worshippers of Siva.
India again became safe from the side of the north-western frontier. For full
five centuries after the Huns there was no invasion of India from this
quarter.
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