Uncovering extended Hinduism in ancient Iran!!

      The early Iranian people were actually ethnic Indo-European people who lived in Iranian plateau before 3000 BCE. A group of people called Proto Iranians emerged as separate branch from Indo Iranian people during second millennium BCE. These proto iranian people were addressed themselves as 'Aryans' and Aryan Invasion theory was referred after them. But, there is no such Aryan Invasion happened in the history !! Truth is people have migrated from greater India to Iran while expanding their territory and due to several natural calamities such as drying Saraswati river, droughts, floods due to change in the course of Sindhu river etc. 

        During the declination of Sindhu civilization, people who lived in those region have dispersed into different directions in multiple groups. Some people moved back to India, some moved further north and some group moved to Turkey etc. But, none of the indigenous Sindhu people were displaced by Indo Aryans, as mentioned by the westerns in Aryan invasion theory. Aryan Invasion theory is a myth !!

   

         While exploring the lands around India, a group of people from western side of India have migrated to Iran during Sindhu Civilization. But, prior to Sindu civilization, set of dravidian kings of ancient tamizhakam have expanded their kingdom to Iran, Syria, Turkey via Persian gulf. For more detailed information about dravidians of Pre - Indus Valley civilization, reach out to the post below

https://divinediyaas.blogspot.com/2020/12/kumari-kandam-part-5-pre-indus-valley.html

        Ancient Iran was ruled by many Indian kings and the people who first established their civilization in Iran, practiced Hindu culture and traditions by following Sanatana Dharma.

    This post will explain about several Hindu elements rooted in ancient Iran, one by one.

        At the end of Satya yuga (First yuga) Iran was ruled by Asura King Hiranyaksha and it was considered as abode of Asuras, Rakshas, Daiteyas etc. A part of Iran was called as 'Hiranyapura' and it was named after this legendary king Hiranyaksha. For more details about this, reach out to

https://divinediyaas.blogspot.com/2021/02/hiranyanpura-land-of-hiranyaksha-in.html

Asura King

Earlier, Iran was called as 'Persia' and it's a part of Persian Country. 

A. Parasurama

     In Vedas, the place Iran was not mentioned, but Parsu tribe was mentioned. Parsua (earlier Parsuash, Parsumash) was an ancient tribal kingdom/chiefdom in Iran. Iran was also called as Persian country. What is mean by Persian ? 

The word Persian comes from Parasu - which means axe in Sanskrit. This in turn, denotes Lord Parasurama who was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, before the avatar of Lord Rama. Parasurama - means Rama with axe, he was born to Sage Jamadagni and Renuka.

         Lord Parasurama wiped out many Kshatriya clans to revenge for his father’s death.  His name Parasu stands for axe. He carries it on his shoulder for ever .

Parasurama

Persis - better known as Persia, is a region located to the southwest of modern Iran (now Fars). The Persians are thought to have initially migrated either from Central Asia or more probably, from the north through the Caucasus. They would then have migrated to the current region of Persis in the early 1st millennium BC. The country name Persia was derived directly from the Old Persian name Parsa.

    In Tamizh, ancient persian country was called as 'Parasiga Nadu', means land of Parsa people. Thus the main ethnic tribe of Iran Parsa were from India and the iran region was named after this indian tribes.

B. King Kuru and Clan of Kamboojas from India

        King Cyrus the Great, the founder of first Persian empire - also known as Kuru. Why he was named as Kuru ?? 

    Because, he was named after the legendary Great King Kuru of Bharat, as he was from their clan. Kauravas and Pandavas of Maharabharata were from Kuru clan - Kuru Vamsa. 

Cyrus the Great

    The roots of King Cyrus's was from India. Cyrus's father Cambyses was referred to the Sanskrit tribals - Kambojas in Akand Bharat. This means that Cyrus and his father were from ancient India, migrated to Iran and followed hindu culture and traditions.

        The great king Cyrus from kuru vamsa, has spread the Persian influence all over Asia & during his rule Zoroastrianism religion has reached maximum heights.

    Zoroastrianism is one of the continuously practiced religion based on the teachings of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra in Avestan or Zarthost in Modern Persian). After Hinduism, this religion was followed by the people of Iran.

C. Upanayanam and Punul

        Upanayanam is one of most important ritual for a boy in Hinduism. This tradition is widely discussed and explained in many sanskrit texts and it's being followed among Hindus for several thousand years. Even in Ramayana and Mahabharata, several kings, sages wore this sacred thread which runs from shoulder to waist (example: Lord Rama, Pithamaha Bheeshma, Pandavas, Kauravas, Sage Vyasa, Parasurama etc) 

         In this ceremony, the boy will receive a 'Sacred Thread' called as 'Janeu' in hindi, 'Poonal / Punul' in Tamizh. (Will put down a separate detailed post about Upanayanam and importance of Punul)

Upanayanam - means the act of leading to /  enlightenment / Third eye (vision / Pineal gland). This ceremony announces that the child has entered into formal education / school.

Boy in Upanayanam 

        In the above picture, the boy during his Upanayanam ritual wore a thin, yellow Yajnopavita / Punul, the sacred thread runs from left shoulder to waist. In some tradition, during this ritual, the first sacred thread will be given in yellow color, the picture mentioned below will show white sacred thread.

Note the munja grass girdle around the waist, like a belt. 

Upanayanam ceremony

Punul / Janeu - White sacred thread, which is being held in hands of father and son in the above picture. This sacred thread needs to be changed every year during the auspicious day called 'Avani Avittam', where the older ones are exchanged with new sacred thread in an elaborate step by step process by chanting mantras for each step.

        Now, this ancient thousands year old tradition is also followed by Zoroastrians, in a very similar manner. The same kind of white sacred thread is being used. 

    Here the priest holding the sacred thread with the boy. The sacred thread is called as 'Kushti' in Pahlavi and 'aiwyaongana' is the Avesta term for the sacred thread. 

    The ceremony to wear this sacred thread is called as 'Navjote'. It's an ritual through which the person enters into the Zoroastrian religion and started to wear sacred thread and belt. 

        This ritual takes places in presence of fire, like Upanayanam in Hinduism. Look at the picture below, the boy is holding a coconut is his hands, coconuts are used in all Hindu rituals and ceremonies. No hindu ritual / ceremony is complete without Coconut.

Navjote 

        This is conforming that the Hindu traditions and culture were followed in ancient Iran before the arrival of Muslims, in other words Hinduism was practiced in Iran several thousand years before during the rule of Hindu Kings of Bharat. In later period of time, though the muslims occupied the land, some of the rituals are still followed in different names in the the name of different group of people / religion. This is strong Hindu connection with Iran.

D. Haoma / vedic Soma

        In Hinduism, after performing sacred rituals like Yagnas, an intoxicating drink will be given called 'Soma'. Like wise, in ancient Iran, after performing their sacred worship 'Yasnas', they have a drink called 'Haoma'. Both the rituals and drink are similar.

    In ancient Iranian texts Avestan, 'Sapta Sindhu' was referred as 'Hapta Sindhu' and  Sindhu was pronounced as 'Hindu', because they replaced 'Sa' with 'Ha'. Iranians don't spell 'Sa'. That's why land of Sindhus, was called as 'Hindus' and Sindhu's land was called as 'Hindustan'. 

E. Worshiping Ahura Mazda

         The ancient Persians originally had so many cultures before converting to Islam. But, among them the most prominent ones were Hinduism followed by Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrian prayers are called as 'manthras', which are conducted usually with hands outstretched in imitation of Zoroaster's prayer style.

Zoroastrianism - The prophet of Zoraster / Zarathrustra in ancient Persia was considered as founder of Zoroastrianism. There are heavy influences of hindusim in this religion.

Fire , along with water are seen as symbols of purity in Zoroastrian religion. Zoroastrian places of worship are sometimes called fire temples. Each fire temple contains an altar with an eternal flame that burns continuously and is never extinguished. Ancient Persia had many religious diversities like some group of people worshiped Ahura Mazda, some group of people worshiped Daeva, some worshiped Indian gods etc. 

Stone carvings of God Ahura Mazda

        God Ahura mazda was worshiped by Iranians, he was actually pronounced called as 'Asura', by replacing 'ha' with 'sa'. God Mithra and God Verethragna were also worshiped in Zoroastrianism, which are very similar to Hindu gods. But, Ahura Mazda was considered as supreme deity and Daevas as their enemies, as once it was the land of asuras. The Asura and Deva concept was there in Hinduism and it was believed by billions of Indians. 

This is how the term Hindus were coined (By replacing 'Sa' with 'Ha' similar to 'Sindhu'). In reality, there was no such religion called 'Hindu' in India. It was originally known as 'Sanatana Dharma' - the 'Eternal way of Life', which was followed by all the Indian people. 

        Sanatana Dharma is not a religion, it is actually Codes of life, path of eternal morality and self realization, it's an universal law for the people to seek eternal truth. 

    Sanatana Dharma was followed by all the people in Akand Bharat and also all over the World, in different names in different languages. This Sanatana Dharma is now called as 'Hinduism'.

        After the regime of King Cyrus the great, Persia was ruled by his great grand son Darius, but unfortunately after his death by Alexander, Persia could not find a strong and stable ruler. Thus the persian kingdom has started to become weaker. Slowly Persia have gone through influences of many other kingdoms. When the Persians became still weaker, Arabs took the opportunity and captured Persia. They, instilled Islam as the state religion & converted the whole of Persia within a span of 30 years. The people who were reluctant were either killed or were forcefully converted. The remaining population who wanted to escape forceful conversion came and settled in India.        

        Islamic conquest of Persia was one of the most brutal example of forced conversions of Islam. 

During 5th century BCE - 

Zoroastrianism was the state religion and Zoroastrians were more than 95% of the then Persia(Iran)

Today Zoroastrians are a meager 0.03% of Iran.

        Parsis are followers of Zoroastrianism in India. They are a group of Iranian Zoroastrians emigrated from Persia to escape religious persecution by the Muslim majority after the Arab conquest. 

        Thus Sanatana Dharma was the religion followed by people in ancient Iran and other persian countries. The parsu tribes of persia, kuru lineage of Cyrus the great, concept of asuras and devas, persian kings mentioned in the Mahabharata war, sanskrit words in ancient Persian texts, practicing hindu traditions and rituals and worshiping hindu gods has proved that ancient iranians were ardour followers of Hinduism before the arrival of Islam. 

    Also, Lord Muruga / Karthikeya was worshiped widely by the people of Iran and his vahana peacock was engraved in many places of Iran. Iranians were very much fond of peacock, their empire is called as 'Peacock empire', there was a famous jeweled golden peacock throne of Kings, but this bird doesn't inhabit in Iran, then why Iranians are so much attached to peacock ???

          My next post will disclose details about Iran's association with peacock, the rule of Tamizh kings, tamizh civilization in ancient Persian with appropriate facts and its link with early dravidians....

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan

Heaven ?? Or Hell ?? - Part 1

Heaven ?? Or Hell ??  - Part 1

           In India, elders used to say that you will be going to Hell for your bad deeds , Be Virtuous and go to Heaven. Now, as mentioned in many holy books of several religions, Heaven means a cosmic place above the universe with many angels, Gods, Apasaras (beautiful celestial dancer) , Virtuous immortals and those who have done good deeds during their life time as human, will be going to Heaven. In Sanskrit it is referred as 'Swarga Loka'. 

            According to Hindu mythologies, Swarga Loka / Heaven is the place where you will live happily ever and all your wishes will be granted. It is mentioned in the Hindu holy books that the capital of Swarga loka is Amaravati guarded by a white elephant called 'Airavata'. Swarga is ruled by Lord Indra, the leader of Devas.  It is a transitory place for righteous souls who have performed good deeds in their life time but not yet ready to attain Moksha. 

           Hell is an afterlife place for evil spirits where they will be given eternal punishments for their bad deeds. Different types of punishments for the type of bad actions performed like Robbery, Murder, Unethical behavior, Cheating, Abusing, Ingratitude, exploitation etc. So, the people who did criminal activities in their life time will be punished in hell / Naraka, which is metaphorically located beneath the earth. 

         One such punishment for sinners mentioned in Garuda Purana is 'Tamisra' - Darkness - It's a dark realm, where the sinner will be tied with ropes and starved without food and water. This punishment is intended for the ones who grabs another person's wealth and asserts. Deserved punishment for the offender, but wondering how will it be executed, as only souls can be sent to Heaven / Hell ? Physical body will be left at the Earth and the Souls neither have a feeling of starvation or pain of the punishment. 

        Actually, In Sanatana Dharma, there is no permanent Heaven and Hell concept. What ?? No Heaven or Hell ? Yes, you heard it right, there is no such concept of Heaven Or Hell in Sanatana Dharma. God is not Judge to punish you for your bad deeds and pat you for the good acts. When you leave your physical body, your soul will emerge. Soul is an Energy, Atman/ Soul is immoral and divine. 

           If Heaven and Hell are not true, then how come Heaven and Hell were so popular? Initially, it was told as fiction story to the younger kids to prevent them from wrong doings by creating fear in them. It was told that if you do bad, God will punish you. So in that fear, people were restrained from involving in criminal activities and followed Sanatana Dharma and gained Good Karma in their life time. 

      In Sanatan Dharma Heaven means Brahman, a soul which attained Moksha and merged with God. Hell means, the soul will reincarnate on Earth again as Human which carries their previous birth Bad Karma, so they will be subjected to sufferings. Even though God will give you an opportunity to realize your self and will show you the Dharmic Path, It's upto human's Conscience to take the decision of following Sanatan Dharma and gain good Karma.

What is Karma ?

Karma


              Karma is outcome of one's actions or deeds. In Sanskrit, Karma means Action. One has to face the merits and demerits of the consequences of one's act in this birth and future births. Doing good deeds will give you good karma, also Good dharma creates good karma. 

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

            Karma is very powerful, it comes in your way every time and triggers memories of your past deeds. If your bad karma is very high, besides this life time, you may have to suffer in your next birth as well. That is why, it is stated loud and clear in Sanatana Dharma that Do Good and Act Virtuously.  In this universe, nothing happens by chance.

          Karma is also debt of your bad actions. Do not take revenges, When you take revenge on others, it will build more negative thoughts in your mind and also adds bad karma. Forgive them and clean your mind, Karma will do its part. Before you do anything / ridicule others, think that it will come back to you in future. Have a fear of Karma and follow Dharma in your life.  Bad Intentions, Revenge, Hurting others, Anger, Ingratitude, Selfishness, Jealousy, Rage these all are negative energies which will spoil your mind, soul and these bad thoughts affects the Universe as well.

        Your Actions are your Karma. What determines whether it is a good karma or bad karma is YOUR INTENTION.

         By doing good Dharma, you can reduce the intensity of your past bad karmas (If you realized it), but can't escape from it. Be careful with your karma, because you are creating your own future. Gods are no exception when it comes to Karma. Including Gods (Who took avatars) have to adhere to Karma. 

          In Treta Yuga, Lord Vishnu took Rama Avatar where he killed Vali, the Vanara king of Kishkinda. Sugriva, Vali's Younger brother formed an alliance with Rama to bring down Vali's unethical and Adharmic rule in Kishkinda. So, Lord Rama assured to help him and asked Sugriva to challenge Vali for a battle. During their fight between Vali and Sugriva, Lord Rama was watching the battle from distance, hoping that Sugriva will win, but when Vali thrashed his brother on the rock and about to smash his head, Sugriva called Rama to help. Lord Rama appeared from the tree behind and created an loud alarm sound with his bow and arrow, which alerted everyone in the forest and with his powerful arrow Lord Rama wounded Vali. 

            Why Rama has to kill Vali, can't he be killed by any other person. The Answer is No, Only Lord Rama has the power to fight with Vali as Vali was blessed with a boon that with whomever he fights,  half of the opponent's power will come to Vali. Thus Vali was very powerful and could not be killed by anyone in a single combat, he even defeated Ravana in a fight. Wounded Vali was perplexed with Lord Rama's attack and questioned him about the reason for his action. Tara, wife of Vali cursed Rama that her husband Vali will kill him in his next birth. When Tara cursed, Lord Rama knew it, as this is what exactly the way things are going to be revealed. 

       Lord Rama showed his Vishwaroopam to Vali, he realized the reasons instantly and also about the purpose of his birth in this world. He decided to liberate his soul from the body in the presence of Lord Vishnu, he removed his boon necklace and gave it to Sugriva to rule Kishkinda, he did not give it to his own Son. 

         In the next Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, Lord Krishna (Lord Vishnu's eighth avatar) was shot by a Hunter named Jara with an arrow under his foot. Lord krishna was sitting on a tree awaiting for an arrow of his destiny, which will end Lord Vishnu's eight avatar on Earth. The hunter Jara was King Vali in his previous birth, who was killed by Lord Rama. 

         Even for the ruler of the Universe, the law of Karma remains same. 

         If karma is deciding everything, then why we have to offer prayers to God. If you regret in front of God, God will not punish you, instead he will give you the power to survive during your bad times. God gives you the positive energy and Hope, he gives opportunities to realize your conscience, to lessen your bad karmas and he gives you the strength to stand for Dharma, he shows you the path and life's sole purpose. Ultimate aim of the soul is to merge with Brahman, the Universe. 

        Karma is not Religion or spiritual, it is connected with Universe. Universe is vibrating with people's thoughts and karma, it is responding to the vibrational attitude that we are emitting. Energy can neither be created or destroyed, it will be transferred from one form to another form, like wise Karma.

Dharma

            Dharma means Righteousness. One needs to follow Dharma, moral laws and righteousness, by doing the right things, without any bias, without any ego, without any expectation and a decision which benefits large number of the people.

          Invaded Westerners created a fake meaning for this term 'Dharma'. "Dharma - Spiritual duties of each caste". This is absolutely a fake fabricated story, Dharma and Caste is not linked with each other. In ancient India, there was no Caste System. Caste system was created by the Invaders of India to do Divide and Rule politics. There were only Varna System, Brahmins, Kshtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.

         Again, there are many fake Hindu text books saying that "Brahmins caste was originated from mouth of the God, Kshtriyas from the arms, Vashiyas from the thighs and Shudras from the feet of the God". Interestingly Ugly story about Hinduism, wanted to create more castes ?? Go ahead ! many body parts of the God are not claimed yet. On a serious note, God is not biased and not a fool to create a caste system like the quoted text. Some Paid and Adharmic agents of India, edited Hindu religious books with many fake stories. Hinduism was ridiculed and tried to defame it by Muslim Invaders, British people, but still people of India didn't lose faith in Hinduism, that's the Power and Truth of Hinduism. 

       For a Strong, Wealthy and Secured nation, four things are very important, Knowledge, Power, Wealth and Energy. Varna system of India states the same and classified people according to their qualities.

Brahmins are associated with Knowledge of Vedas and Sanskrit Hymns.
Kshtriyas are associated with Power , Ruler, Governance and Warrior skill
Vaishyas are associated with Wealth, Smart Trading , Business tactics and Money lenders
Shudra are associated  with Energy, Workmanship, Efficiency and Hard working.
( Will put a separate post about Varna System of India)

             During Mahabarata War, Pandava Prince Arjuna who was an exemplary archer was in moral dilemma about the violence and the death the war will cause.  He was resistant to kill his own people such as Teachers, Uncles, Sons, Brothers, Grand fathers and  reluctant to lift his bow for the fight. Then Lord Krishna has given spiritual and material advice to Arjuna, Krishna explains about Karma, Self, the Supreme, Dharma and Moksha. One such conversation was " Arjuna !  If you do not fight in this Dharma Yuddha (War), then you will certainly incur sin of neglecting your duties as a Kshtriya Warrior and thus lose your reputation as a fighter. You have fight to establish Dharma in this World",  "Full fill Kshtriya duty to uphold Dharma through selfless action !!" 

         The conversation between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer Lord Krishna was texted in a detail in a dialogue frame work in Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of Hindus. It is one of the greatest spiritual books in the World. Lord Krishna also revealed his Vishwaroopam to Arjuna and taught him about the science of self realisation, enlightened his the Conscience and guided him to win the battle. Bhagavad Gita not only refers to the Mahabharata War, it is timeless message to mankind. Each person has to fight his own battle between good and evil, Soul and Body, Knowledge and Ignorance, Self control and Temptation, Dharma and Adharma.

Also Lord Krishna says 

" Yada Yada hi Dharmasya  Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha |

Abhyuthanam adharmaysya Tadatmanan srijami Aham ||

Paritranaya Sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam |

Dharma sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge ||

    Meaning, "When ever there is a decimation of righteousness and surge in wickedness, O Descendant of Bharat ! , I manifest myself periodically in every age to protect the righteousness , to destroy the wicked and to re establish the Dharma "

         Ancient India was extremely powerful nation in the World, many scholars from other countries came to India and amazed by the principles of Sanatana Dharma, Governance, Statecraft, Warcraft training, Ayurveda, Intelligence in trading, energetic and skilled  people. How to weaken a strong nation ? Created chaos among people, divided them by Caste, Class, Money, played Inequality card, destroyed the prestigious Nalanda and Takshashila universities, fired the ancient libraries, stolen the wealth from kings, temples and precious god's idols, damaged olden temples, if it's hard to damage then masked them with different name (Taj Mahal), spreaded foul lies by editing religious text books, added many superstitions in religion to degrade the faith in God and Dharma, created Green revolution and destroyed the purity of Agriculture, created White revolution and spoiled the quality of diary products, introduced adultery in foods, stolen the rare medicinal manuscripts and text books, the basic needs, wealth and health of the people were ruined. Bitter truth is, it's still in practice in today's world, achieved in many countries in the same way. 

         But, our traditions, customs and foods are now realized and coming back with pride. Many people in India, now know the value of A2 milk, started practising Yoga, becoming health conscious by ditching white sugar and taking up Palm sugar, Jaggery, consuming brown rice and red rice, instead of refined oil started using coconut and sesame seeds oil, going towards traditional medicines instead of Allopathy medicines, festivals and family customs are being followed with a real reason behind it, Sindoor, Silk Sarees has gained world wide recognition and much more. Now many foreigners are coming to India to learn about our culture, traditions and rituals, they are following our customs and visiting holy places to get spiritual purification.
    

         Now,  Coming back to Dharma, Dharma means doing moral rights, duties of each individual and right conduct. Hinduism is not the real word, the original name of Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma, Sanatana means - Eternal moral / knowledge, which allows us to "Seek the truth" and following Dharma leads to eternal bliss. More than a religion, it talks about Principles of Life. 

     

             Following Dharma in today's World and its necessity ....

-- To be continued in Part 2

-- Aarthi Thiyagarjan