Saints
And Sages of Kashmir
Their
Role In Modern World And For Kashmiri Pandits
-
Prof. S. Bhatt
From time to time Kashmiri Samiti brings out a special
issue of Koshur Samachar in honour of our saints
and sages. One does understand the urge to bring
out such publications for the benefit of our
society and world society. Indeed because of
globalisation of knowledge and culture, and in
view of the fact that these heroes are a good
source of harmony for our civilization, there is
growing awareness to write about their role in
modern world. We serve the cause of international
brotherhood of mankind when we put before the
world the message and the philosophy of our
saints.
The
saints of Kashmir are to Kashmiri Pandits their
ancestors and they represent their heritage. Each
Pandit has a 'gotra', a link to his clan,
established by a Reshi, a saint long ago. There
are over a hundred gotras. Thus Kashmir is also
called Reshwar, meaning a habitat of reshis. In
fact in the genetic and social sense, it is true
to say that all Kashmiri Pandits of past and
present are sages or their descendants. Some
readers may question this observation which is
based on scientific knowledge of genetics. Thus we
find in the historical and the recent study of
Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits playing a saintly role
in world affairs. One such Pandit was Jawaharlal
Nehru who had a global vision of peace and
harmony. He enunciated non-alignment and
international cooperation in an age of global
conflict. He promoted secularism in India in order
to produce peace among various religious groups.
The accession of Kashmir to India in 1947 was
based on secularism and pluralism being the
gospels of life-style in India. A great Indian
scholar, Prof. Rashiduddin Khan, formerly of
Jawaharlal Nehru University and Hamdard University
has called attention of all people in India to
live by the "Heritage of Jawaharlal
Nehru". Here was a sage of modern era who
combined science and secularism in making a
dynamic and progressive India. Generation in the
21st century will recall his ever-lasting
contribution in synthesizing the cultures and
ideas of various religions and communities into a
cosmopolitan scientific society in India.
Secularism means equal respect for all religions,
he said. It seems secularism is a new religion for
the 21st century. Jawaharlal Nehru belonged to a
Kaul dynasty of Kashmir, established by some reshi.
Kashmiri Pandits and their organizations have a
role to foster the development of global harmony.
Indeed promoting global harmony by us is not a
useless undertaking. There can be no better
vocation than to let mankind live in peace. A
harmony movement based on the noble ideas of
Kashmiri saints is worth our efforts. By this
process, we shall enrich our heritage at a time
when our heritage is threatened by fundamental
forces in Kashmir and in other parts of India and
the world.
Global
Fundamentalism Vs Secularism
During
past few years the world is experiencing a
conflict between fundamental forces of religion
and the secular forces based on equal respect for
all religions. At many places we have seen acute
conk ict and bloodshed in former Yogoslavia, in
parts of Asia and Africa and in Kashmir itself. A
prominent scholar, Prof. Samual Huntington,
Professor at Harvard University has written in
1996 a book widely publicised with the title.
"The clash of civilizations and the remaking
of world order". The book deals with the
subject of fundamentalism which according to the
author may lead to a clash between various
civilizations of America, Europe, China, Russia,
India and the Muslim countries. He referred to the
Kashmir problem, while on a visit to India, being
caused by the fundamental forces operated from
outside Kashmir. A solution to the clash of
civilizations, according to the author, should be
sought in accommodating them into one common
civilization of mankind.
Kashmiri
saints and sages have throughout history suggested
a philosophy of resolving conflicts due to
fundamentalism. Thus Shaivism, Sufism and the
Kashmiriat which represent the way of life of all
Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims are worthy
philosophies which need to be recalled in our age
and re-interpreted to counter the forces of
fundamentalism.
Meditative
Insights of Sages
I
do not wish to list all the prominent sages of
Kashmir in this short article who have produced
harmony for mankind. Suffice to recall here that
Lal Ded, Nund Rishi, Bhagwan Gopinath, are a few
examples of our seers who have produced a profound
impact on our society. In a world where
communications are expanding fast, and knowledge
about Kashmiriat and its spiritual and social
philosophy is being carried to far corners of the
world, it is time to think and do further research
on the role of these saints for our society and
for world society. The foremost service these
saints did to mankind was to install a sense of
unity among various religions. I think this major
contribution needs to be highlighted again to
counter global fundamentalism. Saints have shown
new insights and new methods to produce harmony of
religions. The knowledge about the universe is
also a subject that modern science is pursuing.
Thus the meditative insights of the sages is
identical to the modern philosophy of science is
which attempt is made to integrate scientific
knowledge. Prof. Ilya Prigogine who was awarded a
Nobel prize in physics in 1977 has called our
attention to seek the unity of scientific insights
with the vision of saints.
I
have attempted to write on the contribution of
Bhagwan Gopinath to the world order of the 21st
century.' in recent times, Bhagwanji was loved by
all Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. He had seen the
vision of God. He helped perform many acts based
on his extraordinary spiritual insights. Above
all, he produced harmony in Kashmir. An
International Foundation is being established at
Pamposh Enclave to propagate his ideas the world
over. Many global centres of Bhagwanji have
already been established outside India in USA,
Australia etc. He represents the essense of
Kashmiri Pandit heritage. Globally speaking, the
younger generation in particular may read about
this great saint of Kashmir of recent times who
passed away in 1968 in Srinagar. He was a mystic
of the highest order. And mysticism has finally
caught up in the global curriculum, because in a
modern scientific would mysticism has come to be
associated with the scientific insight. Albert
Einstein has said of mysticism: "The fairest
thing is the mysterious; it is the cradle of true
art and true science". In the global
environment movement of our times when man is
striving to understand nature and know about its
mysteries, mysticism practiced by seers like
Bhagwan Gopinath is of great value. Mysticism
provides a new perception on the nature and
science in general.
Concluding
Remarks
I
conclude my observations on our saints and sages
with the plea that we ought to adopt and promote
their philosophy in our daily life. There is need
to study their lives and times, their aspiration
for a better world, and their efforts for
promoting Kashmiriat and global harmony. After all
each one of us has a genetic and family link with
these sages. We need to interpret their ideas and
philosophy in the context of present problems of
society. A small comunity such as the Kashmiri
Pandits has produced a galaxy of outstanding
saints and sages whose importance to world
community cannot be ignored. They are torch
bearers for a new world of 21st century. They have
impact on our future shape of things to come. Some
aspects of the creative unity of mankind based on
the role of our saints is examined elsewhere by us
in a recent academic treatise.
1.
See S. Bhat, Patrika,
Vol VIII, July 1997.
2.
See Prof S. shaft and Prof. V.S. Mani, India
on the Threshold of the 21st century: shape of
things to come, a product of Jawaharlal
Nehru university, New Delhi, 1999, pages 413,
Lancers Books, New Delhi.
Source:
Koshur
Samachar
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