This book aims at familiarising the young generation of today with not only the story of how the Hindu nation came into being but also its ancient history, growth and culture.
The Vedas are the most ancient literature in the world as has been corroborated by F. Max Mueller, who had extensively studied the Vedic literature. He said, ?There is nothing more ancient than the hymns of the Rigveda.? The Vedas contain knowledge on all branches of science. The ancient sages discovered the concept of eras and divided an era into four periods?Kali, Dwapar, Treta and Sat?and said that the earth came into existence 115 crore years ago while the sea arose 104 crore years ago. The first plant was found 3 crore years ago and the first human being was born on Mount Meru in the Mansarovar area. What is most interesting is that modern science is gradually drawing closer to accepting India'sconcepts.
A very unusual conclusion drawn by Dr B.G. Matapurkar of Maulana Azad Medical College has been cited in the book when he says that the birth of 100 sons to Gandhari was through today'stechnique of reproduction through in-vitro fertilisation. The author Shri Narayan Ramchandra Bhave also discusses the Aryan invasion theory; the inception of the first family system, society and nation; the origin of the name ?Hindu? from Indu; the meeting of River Saraswati with Rivers Yamuna and Ganga, its origin and subsequent shift to the west of River Yamuna to pass through Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat before meeting the Indian Ocean; and spread of Yayati'sempire from the coast of River Saraswati to the confluence of the three oceans in the south.
The Aryans spread far and wide from India, as sages like Agastya, Kondinya and others travelled far over the land mass which was at that time a huge land mass that drifted apart. This view has also been proved by A.Wegener through his continental drift theory. He has said that the world land mass drifted apart to give rise to different continents, sub-continents, islands, etc. and that is why it became possible for the Aryans to travel over the land surface from India to distant America. Historian Hiralal Gupta in his presidential address at Calcutta had even said that the Indian reached till America and ?95 per cent of the Americans including the Incas and Mayans are descendants of a small band of pioneers who reached there from Asia. According to an Indian anthropologist, they migrated from Tanjore to Peru some 15,000-30,000 years ago.? It is stated that nearly 100 Aiyar kings from Tanjore reached South America but most of them were killed by the local Christian priests.
The Middle East comprising of Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey were part of Arvasthan where the best Arab horses were found. The name Arvasthan is purely Sanskrit in nature. In Brahmanda Purana mention has been made of many African nations of today like Namibia. Even the Muslim historian Firishta has said that before the emergence of Islam, the Kaaba in Mecca was a popular pilgrimage site for its Sivalinga for the Hindus and practices like tonsuring of the head, wearing unstitched clothes to cover the body and fasting are purely Indian in origin.
India has been the birthplace of Vivekananda, Aurobindo and it even adopted Margaret Nobel who became a Hindu to don the name of Sister Nivedita before becoming a disciple of Swami Vivekananda.
The author has expounded on India'sadvancement in sea-faring and navigation activities along its long coastline surrounded by ocean water, so much so that huge ships built in Kerala were famous in England. These were built out of Sagwan wood found in India. Their paint was so permanent that it remained intact for 100 years or so. Chinese traveller Fa-Hien had described that boats nearly 50 metres long were built in India and these were capable of carrying loads up to 1,000 tonnes.
This is a book which enlightens one on India'sstate of advancement in an era when the rest of the world was underdeveloped in comparison to the developed India.
(Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Mahakaushal, Dr Hedgewar Medical Bhawan, behind Mehta petrol pump, New Adarsh Colony, Gadha Marg, Jabalpur.)
