<verses>
"The paramount
Himalayas in the North extending from the East to
West stands unshakable in its glory."
After the coming of
Aryans to India, this geographical unity has been
transformed into a cultural unity. The Nadi Sukta
of Rig Veda (7th Sukta of 10th Mandal ) gives a
clue to almost all the rivers which flow in the
present Afghanistan and Kashmir viz., Kuma ( Kabul
), Trushtama ( tributary of Chitral), Vipasha (
Vyasa ) Shutudri ( Sutlej ) etc. The Rig Veda also
mentions of Gandhar which was a part of Kashmir.
The Aryans were impressed by the breed of cattle
found in this region.
The mantra from Rig Veda
<verses>
says that they liked the
variety of cattle found in Gandhara.
Kashmir had a Republican
system of Government for many years. It is an
indisputable fact that Kamboj ruled over this
State. Later, Panchal established its rule and a
part of Kashmir, Peer Panjal is a witness to this
fact. Panjal is a distorted form of the word
Panchal. Later, the Muslims prefixed the word
" peer " to this, in memory of one
Siddha Fakir.
In the Epic period, this
truth became clearer. Kashmir has been given a
prominent place in the Mahabharata. In the Vana
Parva of Mahabharata, there is a description of
Pandava's journey to the Vrashaparva Ashram. It
says that during this journey towards China they
crossed Kashmir. Addressing Janamejaya, it says
that before the Ajnatavasa, the dethroned Pandavas
were wandering for 12 years in these regions. They
travelled over Gandhamadan mountains, Kailash,
Bhadri Ashram, and other difrerent hermitages and
at the end reached Subhahu region.
Though it may seem to be
a poetic imagination that Pandavas visited China,
it proves that Aryans were familiar with the
regions in and around Kashmir.
Around 700 B. C. in
India, Panini's Sanskrit grammar played a great
role in the spread of Sanskrit literature. In his
" Ashtadhyayi " dealing with history,
literature and culture, the geographical details
of India are given. So this book has contributed
to the geographical knowledge of India after
RigVeda and Mahabharata Panini is called by the
people as Kashmiri, as he belonged to this region
and hence was able to describe this region in
great details in his book. But there is no ample
proof for this. Generally, the historians say that
he was born at Shalatur village formerly known as
Lahu village ( in Campbalpur district ) near
Takshashila. But from Ashtadhyayi it can be said
that he had travelled in various parts of the
country including Kashmir. In one of his sutras,
there is a word ' Pandukambali ' which is also
found in the ' jatak ': <verses>
meaning " Indragopa coloured blanket produced
in Gandhar". The art of dyeing blankets from
various colours extracted from forest plants is in
vogue even today in Kashmir and Peshawar. Even in
ancient times, Gandhar was an integral part of
Kashmir. Later, even during the time of Huan
Chawang Kabul, Punjab and the entire mountain
range of Gandhar was under the reign of a Hindu
King. Kalidasa has depicted a picturesque journey
of Raghu through this land in the 4th sarga of
Raghuvamsa. There is a mention of his horses
rolling in the sands of Sindhu banks and leaving
marks of saffron. In Persian language Saffron is
called "Kafishi " and that is why
Kashmir is also known as " Kafishi ".
Saffron has been cultivated in Kashmir since a
long time and has always been famous in the Asian
and European market. Kashmir Saffron has also been
mentioned in Sanskrit Encyclopedia of China.
According to Chinese records, in 647 A. D., the
King of Kashmir had presented this to the Chinese
Emperor. It was exported to Cambodia too. In 519
A.D. the King of Cambodia had sent a consignment
of saffron to China. Kashmir has been described in
Amarkosh with reference to saffron.
Kalidasa's description of
the Himalayan region is in the form of the best
poetry in this world. The latter section of
Meghdoot, the 4th section of Vikramaurvashiya, the
7th part of Shakuntalam and the 2nd and 4th Sargas
of Raghuvamsha and the whole of Kumara-Sambhavam
describe the beauty of these ranges. From the
description of the flora and fauna, it is observed
that Kalidasa was for a long time involved in this
region.
Kashmir has the privilege
of giving birth to two great sons-Matrucheshta and
Jagaddhar Bhat. Matrucheshta was a contemporary of
Kanishka. They are considered as eminent poets in
the entire Buddhistic world because of their
contribution of hymns in the religious texts
-" Chatushataka" and "
Adharvashataka".
Nagarjuna, Aryashura,
Dingnaga, Siddhasena Divakara and Acharaya
Hemachandra have followed Matrucheshta's style in
writing their religious texts. In the 7th century,
when the Chinese pilgrim Itsing was travelling all
over India, the hymns of Matrucheshta were very
popular. The extent of their popularity can be
judged from this story of Itsing:
" One day Bhagwan
Buddha was taking rest in a garden. Accidentally a
nightingale started singing sweetly. He felt very
happy and told his disciples that this sweet
singing bird would take birth as Matrucheshta in
his next birth. "
Because of his belonging
to Buddhism, Matrucheshta did not receive as much
respect in his motherland as Kalidasa got. But in
countrieslike China, Japan, Korea and Indonesia,
every one remembers and considers him as the only
poet who deserves utmost respect in the world.
In one of his stutis,
Matrucheshta describes the weakness of human mind
thus:
<verses>
"Just as it is
difficult to catch a tortoise by its neck by
throwing a line at it, it is difficult to be born
as a human being with a religious bent of
mind."
A second stutikar was
Jagaddhar Bhat whose period of authorship was
during 14th century. "Stuti Kusumanjali
" is his famous poetical work. In this book
in praise of his favourite God Shiva, he offers
himself to Him in such a soul-stirring style that
it wets one's eyes with tears and heart warms up
with ecstasy.
Jagaddhar Bhat's name is
unique - in Kashmir's Sanskrit literature because
of his poetic renditions and moving figures of
speech.
In Kushan period, Kashmir
had become the centre of Buddhistic culture. At
that time, Kashmir was a part of Kanishka Empire.
To spread the glory af Buddhist principles, he
arranged at Kashmir a conference which was
attended by various national and international
scholars. Then Kashmir was the centre of Mahayana
cult, whence Buddhist monks spread their religion
in Kabul, China and Tibet. The new Buddhist
philosophy "Sarvastivada " originated in
Kashmir. Thiswas propounded by Nagarjuna. Great
scholars like Ashvaghosh, Vasumitra and
Sugatamitra also participated in this conference.
This lasted for six months during which period
various Buddhist philosophies were discussed,
reinterpreted and were rewritten in Sanskrit
because at that time Sanskrit was in full swing in
Kashmir. On the contrary, Ashoka's Buddhist edicts
and literature were in Pali language. Though all
over India, Pali and Prakrit were predominant
Kashmir scholars helped to preserve the glory of
Sanskrit.
Even though the
atmosphere favoured Buddhism, it could not remain
so for ever. The name of Bhagavata Dharma had
spread to Kashmir also. During the region of
Lalitaditya and his subsequent dynasty, not only
Bhagavata religion but also the literature and art
blossomed. Later, Buddhism was replaced by
Shaivism. At that time, Gita was also interpreted
in various ways by different scholars of Kashrnir.
Of these, only two, one Vasugupta, founder of
Shaivism and another by name Anandavardhana were
most important. The Gita in use now is also based
on their interpretation.
The encouragement given
to the scholars at that time had been unique in
the history of the world. From 8th to 15th
century, Kashmir produced about 10-12 great
scholars whose contribution has been more than
half of the whole sanskrit literature. In the 8th
century, Ratnakar wrote a great epic " Hari
Vijay. " This grand Epic containing 50 sargas
was a successrul outcome of the competition to
" Kanya Kaumidi " of the great poet
Magha.
Kshemendra, the Veda
Vyasa of Kashmir, was so worried about the duality
in the society that he decided to sacrifice his
life for its upliftment. Based onthe Ramayana and
Mahabharata he composed Ramayana Manjari and
Bharat Manjari. He did a poetic translation of
Brihatkatha Manjari from Sanskrit into Paisachi
language. This book became a source of inspiration
to other authors. This literary work has a
humourous touch to the morals preached. His
humourous literature ' Deshopdesha ' and '
Narmamala ' succeed in making even the
hard-hearted soften. He has given such a strong
blow to the Arishadvargas that it produces cheer
even in the most gloomiest of hearts.
Sri Harsha, author of 'Naishadha'
has been blessed by Devi Saraswati. He was the
nephew of Rajanak Mammat. Sri Harsha was famous
not only as a great poet but also as a philosopher
and a Yogi. ln reality, the contribution of poetry
and philosophy is very rare in Sanskrit
literature. Naishadha contains all the best
aspects of literature and poetry.
Kalhana-great poet and
historian-too lived in Kashmir. He was the pioneer
in having written the historic book "
Rajatarangini " after his scientific research
in Indian history and for this Sanskrit lovers
will always be indebted to him. This book emerged
as a result of his experience and knowledge which
was not based on any historical literature.
To write historical
works, he gave his own idea as follows:
<verses>
"That scholar is
praiseworthy whose words do not ring of any
jealousy or hatred while narrating past
history."
The speciality found in
Kalhana which distinguishes him from the Western
scholars of the l9th century is his view of
considering the kings and commoners as equals. His
book Rajatarangini gives equal importance to both
the glory of kings and common mens' life.
After the peak of glory,
the further development of Sanskrit was done by
Kashmir Pandits. The bright stars in the sky of
Kashmir literature are Acharya Bhamaha, Udbhata,
Rudrata, Acharya Kutanka, Vamana, Anandavardhana,
Abhinavagupta, Mammata and Kshemendra.
Kashmir has not only been
the source for the development of Sanskrit
literature but the stories of Mahabharata,
Ramayana and Buddha spread throughout Asia, China,
and Japan from this region only.
It was from Kashmir that
Indian culture along with Sanskrit literature and
Buddhism travelled to various countries of Asia
and merged with their cultures. Even today, this
is visible in the cultures of Indonesia,
Philippines, Malaya, Kamboj and Siam. Kashmir has
acted as a launch-medium to spread the Indian
culture all over Asia. It was not o
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