Our world is moving at a breakneck speed, everywhere. Difficult to keep a track of myriads of specters passing by. Unconsciously, we let them fall into trash.

Nevertheless, some of them attract our attention while some of them demand our attention before we consign them all into oblivion. First and foremost comes the name of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a man rose into prominence as the personal chef of Vladimir Putin then rising higher as the General of his own private army. Next we heard he has revolted and was advancing towards Moscow. Now he is dead and will soon be forgotten but what no one is talking about is that the man was walking dead living in borrowed time. Where else in this world could a man revolt against his own boss and then hope to live in peace? Nowhere, not even in USA.

Ukraine is suffering while Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reported to be the owner of a 35 million dollar mansion in Florida. Fact checkers have found the information inaccurate which means, perhaps the property does not exactly cost 35 million US dollars. Likewise, one of his senior generals has been accused of acquiring a villa in Southern Spain recently while the Ukrainian Army is finding it increasingly difficult to get volunteers to replenish tens of thousands killed and wounded. If nothing else, this shortage of manpower will eventually be the Achilles Heel of Ukraine ushering in peace in the region.

While the world is preoccupied elsewhere, the Japanese have released millions of tons of radioactive water from Fukusima reactor into the Pacific. Even though, the Japanese have claimed the radioactive water has been deactivated and made safe the result will not be known in a lifetime. Where are the nature lovers, one is tempted to ask and wonder if politics is everything.

BRICS leaders are in South Africa debating something dear to their hearts and as a result the Western World has quarantined itself in a defensive cocoon. African Leaders have already spoken their mind that “Your enemies are not our enemies”. If true, BRICS leaders are engaged in a serious discussion of the possibility of inviting more members and accepting Chinese Yuan to replace American dollar in their internal commerce and trade. It is very significant to note that the prospective members who are likely to be included in BRICS are Bangla Desh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

While ensconced in discussion in South Africa, it could not have been better timed  for India to announce that it has successfully landed its moon-rover near the South Pole of the moon, where no one has ever been before. A real feather on its cap, India has proudly and triumphantly entered the coveted club of space riders. World is richer by their achievement but it remains to be seen what benefits that accrues from such a milestone venture.

One event that barely made a ripple in the Leftist media is what Dr David Curry, President of California based Global Christian Relief lamented where more than 100 Christians were killed, more than 500 injured and more than 300 Churches were set ablaze in India by Hindu extremists. Our mind is saturated with images of Hindu India as half naked fakirs deep in meditation and not as volatile extremists intolerable to anyone and everyone.

World as it is goes on and on. Some are worried about the world dragging itself into World War III, even if it means MAD, or Mutual Assured Destruction, a doctrine of Military Strategy as UK recently announced its readiness to equip Ukraine with nuclear weapons. Let us hope it is only a failed attempt to gain prominence which by itself will restrain Britain from committing hara-kiri.

To the other extreme, we also hear what Edgar Cayce, the clairvoyant has left behind for us to mull over of pole shift. There are preachers who have analyzed why there is no mention of America in the Holy Bible in reference to the Battle of Armageddon.

By the way, did you hear what the Republicans debated last night? None of them even remotely mentioned the early/absentee ballots in suitcases. Is it a good news or a bad news?

What does the word Sanskrit mean? Not even the most erudite of scholars has been able to answer that question yet the literal meaning of the word sanskrit is “refined” or “cultured”. The question hence remains unanswered; what was it refined from or what was cultured to become “sanskrit”? Sanskrit was yet in a formative stage and being consolidated in India when the mighty sword of Islam overwhelmed that process which has caused it to bear scars visible today as inaccuracies in spelling and pronunciation.

It is spelled by Western students as Sanskrit which is only partially true. In Northern India, it is pronounced as Sangskrit while the Western Indians pronounce it as Samskrut. The South Indians pronounce it as Sumskrit or Sumskritam and none has been able to resolve this flaw.

A conspicuously notable difference in pronunciation is about the name of Hindu god Krishna. Again, the Western Indians pronounce it as Krusna while the rest of the Indians pronounce it as Krishna. Considering it involves the very name of a Hindu god, the Pundits have agreed to spell it as Krsn and give it an aura of sacred spelling.

There is a vowel which the Western Indian pronounce as “ru” while the rest of the Indians pronounce it as “ri”, and consequently, Krusna in the Western India becomes Krishna in the rest of the country. Or, Amrut, Rushi, Krupa in the Western India and Amrit, Rishi, Kripa in the rest of the country, and so on.

All Sanskrit consonants end with a vowel sound of “aw” in North India while in peninsular India they end with “u”. However, the word Rama although ends with “aw” it is pronounced in the North as Ram but becomes Ramu in the South. For this reason, these place names end with “u”, e.g. Telugu, Tamilnadu, Bengluru and so on. Students from the Western World likewise err on the plus side and pronounce all words ending with “aw” as Rama, Ramayana, Mahabharata ending with “aw” which the North Indians pronounce without as Ram, Ramayan and Mahabharat.

Yet all of these flaws appear minor oversight when we face the last alphabet of Sanskrit which is pronounced in the Northern India as “gya” whereas the Western and Southern Indians pronounce it as “dna” resulting in the word spelt and pronounced in Northern India as “Gyan”, meaning knowledge, is found to be as “Dnana” in Western and Southern India.

There are far too numerous examples to mention here of unresolved pronunciations in Sanskit such as Biman or Vimana, Bisnu or Visnu, Bikram or Vikram or Wickrama, Debi or Devi or Dewi, Jog or Yog and Yoga and so on. Unfortunately, Sanskrit as the language of gods is destined to live with these flaws and under the guise of being sacred, no one dares to question the wisdom behind perpetuating a plain and simple wrong.

In this Our History Series 2 are presented here five illustrations related to our ancient history, some of them well known while others may be unfamiliar to some and briefly they are, from Left to Right:

We are familiar with the first, it is Swayambhunath of Kathmandu, Nepal. We have learned in Our History Series 1 that it was created by the divine hands of Manjusri, the Celestial Architect and bequeathed to the Kiratis. Today, the brahminic elements call it the Monkey Temple but obviously due more to ignorance than derision.

Emperor Ashok, after giving up his military career took the unusual step of turning himself into a devout disciple of the Buddha. In the year 282 B.C., following the footsteps of his Master he arrived in Kathmandu and offered worship at the temple of Swayambhunath. This pilgrimage made a lasting impression in his mind and upon his return he determined Sanchi to be the most central geographical point of his realm, a grand replica of Swayambhunath erected there. Today only the hemispherical base of the temple remains with the superstructure gone with the centuries of neglect.

Swayambhunath of Sanchi is surrounded by finely crafted stone pillars and railings as seen above in illustration 2. One of the images is of Ashok himself arriving at the temple by an open horse drawn carriage while the royal entourage follows riding on elephant back. A very notable feature of these carvings is that Emperor Ashok, his family and most of the citizens depicted in these carvings bear Mongolian features, and there are hundreds of them.

The fourth illustration is the aerial view of Bodhnath or Mahabouddha of Kathmandu which is significantly less prominent in comparison to the Swayambhunath Temple.

The last but not the least is the illustration of the temple of Borobudur, in the isle of Java in Indonesia. The layout of the foundation of the two is unmistakably similar and in all probability the two must be architecturally related. As we will see by and by, there are even more evidence which will convince even the most skeptics that the ancestors of the citizens of Indonesia commenced their journey from Nepal.

In this fourth Series of Our History we will explore how Buddhism began to spread worldwide and how we have been misled by disinformation, some spread by interested elements and some by ignorance. Let us begin, at the very beginning.

The Buddha was not deified for well over four centuries after his attainment of his nirwan (nirvana) but many iconic representations of the Buddha had taken hold of his devotees imagination. The first picture above shows multitudes of his followers including many wild animals worshiping The Buddha in the form of The Wheel of Life.

The second picture above shows the Buddha was being worshipped also in the iconic form of The Bodhi Tree, ficus religiosa, under which the Buddha had meditated and attained Enlightenment. Here also, we can see the devotees included some wild animals.

The third illustration shows The Buddha being worshipped as The Sakya Singha or the Lion of the Sakyas and atop the Wheel of Life described above. It is a well established fact that Emperor Ashok had personally favoured the Lion of the Sakyas image as the object of his devotion.

The above first three images are from Sanchi and one constant feature of these images is that all worshippers bear Mongolian features. At this precise moment in history we know Emperor Ashok had sent his soldiers turned missionaries to the Far East and as a proof we have The Lion of the Sakyas and The Wheel of Life image, Fourth image above, from Thailand. Obviously, the monk missionaries planted the image there where they settled down.

Here we will pause and explain that Bharat, that is India, has adopted The Wheel of Life and The Lion of the Sakyas above, as its National Emblems but they have not mentioned if these icons are adopted to honour The Buddha, the Prince of the Sakyas.

The fifth picture above is from Cambodia which shows the churning of the cosmic oceans by the gods and the demons. This is an episode from Bisnu Puran (Visnu Purana) and though little is known in India this depiction of Kurmi Awtar (Avatara) is never seen anywhere in India.

How did the followers of The Enlightened One fare as time went by will be the subject of Our History Series 6. It was very eventful must be the short answer.

The extreme Left image above is an image cast in silver and comes from Nepal, his native land. As can be seen here, it was very austere while its most prominent feature was its curly locks. Early European scholars mistakenly believed based on this this single piece of evidence that the Buddha was of African descent.

The second image depicts the Buddha from Karnataka, India in its full glory with a crown and four arms as demanded of all Hindu divinities. For well over a millennia, the Buddha has been recognized by the Hindus as one of the ten awatr (avatara) of Bisnu (Visnu) and no eyebrows could be raised but now that it has become a common knowledge that the Buddha was after all a Mongolian Prince from Nepal, brahminic elements may arrive at a different conclusion.

The third picture above shows how the Buddha went westward and began to look more like the Hellenic god Apollo than the Kirati Mongolian Prince that he was. Unfortunately the Western Buddhism died centuries ago and only statuary remains are there to inform us of its glorious past.

Next comes the famous Kanishka Casket now in Peshawar Museum, Pakistan which is signed and dated by its Greek maker Agesilas dated 127 C.E. The casket was found to contain when first opened in 1908, three pieces of bones believed to be that of the Buddha and were sent to Myanmar where they are now. Atop the casket are standing Brahma and Indra worshipping the Buddha seated in between.

The last picture is that of Petra in Jordanian desert discovered by Swiss archeologist Johann Burckhardt in 1912. Lying in obscurity for over a millennium and in absence of any claimants, it was arbitrarily ascribed to a long forgotten biblical tribe Nabateans or Edomites. Petra however, was the epicenter of the Ashokan monk missionaries who had carved out their monastery in the sandstones and every Kirati Mongolian need to lay rightful claims over the Petra Monastery on behalf of our ancestors.

Our History Series 8 has brought us right across our northern border and it is that part of our history which has remained virtually sealed off from us. Its significance is very grave and it demands our serious attention, so let us get on:

The first picture is that of Princess Bhrikuty of Nepal, daughter of King Angsuburman Thakuri of Kathmandu, she was married to King Srong Tsen Gampo of Tibet in 642 A.D. The Tibetan potentate was also married to Princess Weng Chen of China and between two of them they were able to convert their heathen husband into the path of Four Noble Truths. She had influenced the nation of Tibet to such a degree that the Tibetans out of gratitude deified her to be Goddess Tara and she has been worshipped wherever Lamaism prevails till this day.

The next picture is the natural corollary of the first; Princess Bhrikuty had brought an icon of the Enlightened One as a part of her dower with a royal mandate to build a suitable temple to house the icon. She was accompanied by artisans and craftsmen and in due course of time was able to build a temple in Jorkhang which exists till today and according to the Dalai Lama, is the holiest of all shrines of Tibet.

The founder of Tibetan Buddhism, known as Lamaism however was Padmasambhawa a Nepalese Lama who had gained fame having established several monasteries, namely at Thyangboche in Eastern Nepal, Ghoom in Darjeeling, Rumtek in Sikkim and Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan. Impressed by his achievements Tison Detsen, King of Tibet invited the young Lama from Nepal in 745 A.D. to establish monasteries in Tibet.

The fourth picture is that of Xuan Zang, Hiuen Tsiang who had visited Kathmandu in 638 A.D. but was greatly disappointed by the Kiratis worshipping Hindu gods in the Buddhist monasteries as his chronicles show. He discovered a lake whose water would catch fire if a burning stick was thrown in it. Fourteen hundred years later, the Chinese geologists have discovered methane gas in Kathmandu Valley and are now harnessing it for domestic consumption.

In 1543 A.D., the Celestial Emperor of China appointed Sonam Gyatso, a Mongolian Prince as the Dalai Lama III as seen here in the fifth picture, explaining that he was the incarnation of two of his predecessors. Thus, Sonam Gyatso became the first ever pontiff of Tibet but recognized as the Third. To assist him in day to day administration of the land, the Emperor appointed two Ambans, Chinese Foreign Service Officers whose office was terminated only in 1950. Hundred years after the office of the Dalai Lama was created, in 1644 A.D. the Chinese Emperor appointed Lama Lobsang Yeshe, with a title of Panchen Lama as the spiritual head of Tibet leaving the Dalai Lama as the administrative head of State. To distinguish between them, the Celestial Emperor granted Yellow Hats to the Dalai Lama and his followers and Red Hats to the Panchen Lama and his followers worn by them till this very day.

Our History Series 10 is eclectic, it shows how our forebears have passed through in the past ages some hitherto unrecorded stages of history.

The first picture shows Alexander the Great hunting lion barefoot. This ancient fresco depicts Alexander killing a lion with a single stroke of a khukuri and there is another picture which shows Alexander severing the Gordian Knot with a single stroke of his khukuri. And this establishes the link. Our ancestors had followed the monk missionaries into the West and upon return brought back that handy weapon along.

The second picture shows King Prithiwinarayan Sah Thankuri as he ascended the throne of Kathmandu. He had employed the Brahmins to spread disinformation among the targeted princedoms which had greatly helped him unify the nation of Nepal. To the Brahmins it was godsend gift for they wasted not a moment to declare and anoint him their god Bisnu (Visnu) and thereafter, none but the Brahmins could approach his sacred person.

Jangbahadur Rana Magar of Nepal shown with his two brothers is the real architect of modern Nepal. With the King now only a titular godhead, Jang wielded all the power and had his plans succeeded, Nepal would have been something absolutely different. In 1850, he visited England as a personal guest of Queen Victoria and within next few years mutiny had engulfed British India. None can deny, had Jang opted out of the mutiny and worst still, if he had made a common cause with the mutineers, the world history would have been entirely different.

The facsimile of Queen Alexandra’s letter comes next; she was Queen Mother during World War I and this letter indicates that she had influenced her son, King George V to invite Kulbir Thapa Magar to the Buckingham Palace and award him the Victoria Cross, the highest of British Military honours.

Brian Houghton Hodgson is the last in this series; he was appointed The Post Master and Assistant to the British Ambassador to Kathmandu while still a teenager. What he lacked in formal education he made it up with his extremely hard working ethics and before long he began to explore and write serious discourses on flora and fauna of Nepal. Credit goes to him for discovering the Buddha to have been a Nepalese Prince who was until then believed by European scholars to be of African descent basing their opinion on the Buddha’s curly locks. Whilst in Kathmandu he was tutored by Amritananda Bandya, a Kirati Mongolian scholar but Hodgson took undue advantage of the trust of his tutor and clandestinely ferreted out several hundred volumes of pre-brahminic Sanskrit manuscripts and sent them to the Universities of Paris, Cambridge and Oxford and East India Company Library where they have been gathering dust.

In retrospect we can find him guilty of cheating a nation of its heritage but we may exonerate him for without a patron he was as helpless and by default helped Nepal recover its treasure.

This therefore, is an appeal to all good souls to help us establish a modern Kirati Museum and Research Centre with the nucleus of these manuscripts retrieved from the Universities named.

We have followed the Coronavirus Episode from Day One, from its very beginning until today which has led us unto something. We are now ready to conclude this Episode. We have done all our China-bashing and it has led to nowhere, we wasted our time.

It had all begun in a belief that Chinese will be grossly embarrassed and come out with the truth. What truth, whatever that may mean.

Someone, somewhere vaguely understood that the Chinese love exotic meat and perhaps, the coronavirus could be tied down to bat meat the Chinese love to eat. It was easy. The world took it hook, line and sinker that coronavirus began in a Wuhan Meat Market and that the Chinese Government is desperately trying to conceal.

Every Tom, Dick and Harry whoever heard this story began repeating the claim and some even went as far as filing lawsuit against the Chinese claiming billions of dollars is damages.

What did the Chinese Government do in response should have given them a hint; they were as quiet as the stone statues laughing in the garden.

I had been writing in these blogs for months that it was Dr Anthony Fauci who had begun the ball rolling as far back as in 2014 when he contacted Wuhan University and provided necessary funds to conduct research on coronavirus.

So, please understand it: the Chinese are making a simple statement “if you want to know more about coronavirus, ask Dr Anthony Fauci. Also do not forget to ask Dr Charles Lieber.”

Does that mean anything? Everything. The Chinese are not going to spill the beans. They have proved to be a very dependable ally. Trustworthy. The Chinese have let it be known they can be trusted.

And what does Dr Lieber or Dr Fauci have to say? They haven’t been questioned yet but you may reasonably expect they would most certainly not answer any question without invoking 5^th Amendment. They owe their loyalty to their own.

This is where our future lie. Today, the Presidents appoint Judges of the Supreme Court and Subordinate Judges based entirely upon their belief whether they are Conservative or Liberal.

No other appointment demands one to confess one’s political belief but let us accept a fact of life, that within next two decades, curriculum vitae of all appointments will include an item asking the applicant to declare if he/she be a Conservative or a Liberal.

Actually, it is a necessity of time.

Now that the Primaries are safely behind, I feel like reminiscing how we have arrived where we are now.

From the very beginning of the Primaries, I have been lamenting that no Candidates has even mentioned the name of President Obama. As if that was not enough, they all had their own Health Care program which clearly suggested they had done away with ObamaCare.

No candidate ever took any trouble to mention if there were any flaws in the existing ObamaCare which they wished not to carry forward. Least they could have done was to explain their reason why ObamaCare is to be replaced by their new version of health care.

Surprisingly, all of them projected a new health care program as if they were all mesmerized by Saul Alinsky’s philosophy, which inter alia, lays down that to gain confidence of the masses one needs to take control of their health care first. Saul Alinsky had spelled out eight-fold process through which a successful leader would gain control over the masses.

The resultant situation however is more like what Aesop would have explained where a blind man is leading more blind men in a dark room looking for a cat which is not there.

Actually, this was certainly the best situation for a young Democrat to have gained control of the situation. All they needed was to stand there and declare, “I am here to lead you back to the well-defined path which has been laid down by President Obama. I propose nothing new.” Not a word less or more.

Of course, one would have to receive the blessings from President Obama and am sure it would not have been withheld. But having secured that, all the candidate needed was to quote his famous words here and there in most appropriate manner.

“My fellow Americans, I have nothing to add”, should have been the candidate’s opening words “to what President Obama has already said” and quote one of his famous words, be it on HealthCare or foreign affairs.

How different the political scene would have been now? How differently the scene would have recreated itself on its wake?

Of one thing I am pretty sure: Joe Biden wouldn’t have come up. And if Joe Biden had not been here the one who spoke these words above would have. And, that would have been the most reassuring scenario for the Democrats.

I have written many times in these blogs about the choice of Running Mate and that conclusion of mine would have been more visible if someone had sought President Obama’s blessings in the beginning. And, here let me quote The Bard of Avon, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

Imagine the Dark Ages when Europe was struck down by the Plague and compare and contrast it with the prevalent situation worldwide today. From what records that are available to us of the days gone by and the fortitude with which Europeans fought the scourge encourages us to take similar steps towards coronavirus. Cleanliness is next to Godliness the Europeans were taught and our noble leaders are now asking us to wash our hands as many times. But there abruptly ends the lesson.

Dark Ages meant dark ages, they had absolutely nothing to fall back upon and that was their total handicap. There were no record of their past, there were no literature of any kind to throw light on how they could fight such a terrible disaster and the population was generally illiterate, ignorant and superstitious.

In contrast, today we are fortunate to have plethora of information at our disposal. We also have at our disposal accurate records of how our forebears fought and won decisive battles against such virulent diseases, time and time again.

A certain doctor, Dr June Almeida, nee Hart, had actually discovered and named the virus coronavirus way back in 1960 while she was in St Thomas Hospital in London, England. This is the same hospital where Mr Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of England was treated and cured of coronavirus only last week.

Despite this brilliant record, some are blaming the Chinese to have manufactured coronavirus in Wuhan University Lab in China. Be it as it may, the reason of blaming the Chinese appears to be to absolve oneself the responsibility: the Chinese created it let the Chinese resolve it.

Some have expressed fears that Dr Charles Lieber, Head of Chemistry and Biology Department, Harvard University might have his hands in this episode as he was concurrently on the payroll of Wuhan University, China.

Next comes the account of hydroxychlorine. It is derived from the bark of cinchona plant which the Brits had discovered during their colonial era and used to cure malaria. Those who believe in the efficacy of this medicine claim, quinine (hydroxychlorine) not only cures the patient of malaria, it also gives them immunity against coronavirus.

Dr Didier Raoult, a French doctor, has been treating with 96% success his patients of coronavirus with hydroxychlorine. But a patient died despite this treatment and further treatment with hydroxychlorine has been suspended in France until further investigation.

In USA, hydroxychlorine has yet to be tried apparently because Dr Fauci is suspicious of the medicine which only makes one doubt he is driven more by his party loyalty than the medical ethics.

Today USA tops the list of fatalities due coronavirus at 33,434 followed by Italy at 22,170 and Spain at 19,130, whereas the Chinese have recorded only 3,342 fatalities.

Three strains of coronavirus have been identified thus far and wonder of wonders, New York received its coronavirus Strain C from Europe which in turn received it from Singapore. West Coast USA researchers say received their coronavirus B from Mainland China.

It is my belief there is wisdom in requesting Chinese experts to help the world fight this scourge. Time is at a premium.

The world is still reeling under the onslaught of corona virus which really caught us unaware. Even months after months of relentless attack, the world at large hasn’t got fully informed of the nature and strength of the enemy numero uno. All that we know of this dreadful disease is that it was first detected in Wuhan Province of China some seven months ago. We will leave it to the future epidemiologists to determine whether or not any current conspiracy theory is credible.

We have but scant information on how to treat this disease. President Trump had announced that quinine is an effective medicine against corona virus but there has not been any follow up information. However, a Governor of a State is reportedly announced indifference to the efficacy of this medicine and we know nothing about the basis of such a claim.

On the plus side we are shown a map of the world where people routinely ingest quinine to treat malaria and who apparently have developed some sort of immunity against corona virus. It is apparent now, but we shall leave it to the future scientists to examine this theory.

Case in point is India; where the incidence of malaria is one of the highest in the world. It was generally believed the disease was caused by foul air of early monsoon season, hence the name malaria from mal air. However, one intrepid Scotsman, Sir Ronald Ross (1857-1932) was not convinced and spent many restless years to finally discover the bite of female anopheles mosquito actually caused the disease. Following that momentous discovery the Brits imported cinchona plants from South America and began its cultivation in Darjeeling, India; from the bark of cinchona plants is extracted the herbal drug called quinine. India until a little while ago had been believing ibuprofen to be an essential medicine against corona virus and had imposed a ban on the export of ibuprofen. After learning from President Trump that quinine is an affective medicine, India is now offering quinine to USA.

However, what we need to do is to ask the Chinese for they alone know the answer.

This morning, the Chinese celebrated the end of the chapter of their fight against the disease which they have won. Now, the Chinese have freedom to concentrate upon their moon mission where they are likely to be tending their backyard garden while the rest of the world remain embroiled in this bitter war of attrition.

Super Tuesday has come and gone but on its wake tremendous lot of speculations are afoot. Obviously, first and foremost question in every Democrat’s mind is whether it will be Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. But some of them know it, some who orchestrated the Act I, Scene II from behind and when the denouement comes it will not be what everyone has in their mind.

Bernie Sanders had not expected not to win Texas and upon that premise he had calculated to remain numero uno. His plans for the future remains uncertain but he will hang on there as tenaciously as if he is the only serious contender. The most unprepared “guest” however, was Elizabeth Warren and Super Tuesday has virtually killed her aspirations and now her hope is that Bernie Sanders offers her Running Mate position.

If you had been following my blog, I had all along lamented that none of the Democrat hopefuls had even mentioned the name of President Obama and that was pretty strange. Worst however, was their stance that they had all offered a Health Plan in contradiction to ObamaCare and that was even scarier.

Somehow, Joe Biden stepped in belatedly and although he too avoided mentioning ObamaCare at the beginning, he gathered his wits about as he noticed Bernie Sanders going full steam ahead. He was able to give up his inhibitions and valiantly invoked President Obama’s blessings. Sometime during those days, as he began to feel so desperate, he would have requested President Obama for support and By Jove he had not misplaced his confidence.

Joe Biden is a Super Hero now and he should be in need of a Running Mate.

Two names come to mind: the first one I had written in my blog several months ago: Stacey Abrams. Miss Stacey Abrams remains as valid today as the day I wrote it. But, I had not factored in The Obamas then and therefore, I hasten to add Michelle Obama as Joe Biden’s Running Mate; Joe Biden will be twice blessed.

While the Democrats are busy sorting their affairs out, and there is Bernie Sanders still in the reckoning, the Republicans are watching.

An historic peace treaty has been signed by USA and the Taliban, which is a recognized terrorist organization and based largely within Afghanistan. However, the two very much affected parties namely Afghanistan and Pakistan, were not invited.

This deal was necessitated due to the promise President Trump had made to the nation that he would bring back home US Military from Afghanistan where they had been deployed for nearly two decades. It has been realized that the war of Afghanistan is unwinnable despite the immensely superior nature of US Army pitted against the people’s Army of Taliban.

We are reminded of the Russian involvement in Afghanistan (1979-88) where they had supported Babrak Karmal’s puppet government. However, the Mujahideen fought the Russians with such tenacity that impressed USA to arm them with stinger missiles. This surreptitious move was made possible by the tacit support of the Pakistan Government and the Mujahideen learned to use the missiles extremely effectively. Eventually the Russians discovered the war was unwinnable and left.

Afghanistan has demonstrated once again that its people are irrepressible they can be subdued by none. Throughout the history, very great military powers have been there, the Greek, the Persians, the Turks, the Mongols and the Brits before the Russians and now the Americans. We need to recognize there is something intrinsic force within the Afghan psyche, the force that has made them invincible.

But it is our immediate concern now that the Treaty has been signed, we have handed the problem lock, stock and barrel to the Talibans and who will henceforth be calling the shots. It is a foregone conclusion that the Government of Afghanistan without active US support will succumb to the Taliban diktat.

Perhaps, it is wise to let the Taliban run the show without any let or hindrance. Once peace returns in the land, the average people will go back to their routine life which will involve growing poppy, it grows naturally in Afghanistan. Upon that, we need to be more vigilant.

I had long been writing my blogs on the best option open in Afghanistan but that chapter has now been closed.

A cursory glance at the Democratic Primary lends us a very serious image of the Party in disarray. It is so serious the organizers are unable to declare the results of the primary which gives us a hint of shady deal behind the screen. Perhaps, it is not in Bernie Sander’s backyard syndrome, not just yet.

While the entire machinery of Democratic establishment remained firmly occupied with the impeachment proceedings, they were unable to notice what was happening in their own backyard. Democratic leadership’s total commitment to the impeachment offered Bernie Sanders an opportunity which he grabbed with both his hands.

Democratic leadership is now reluctant to admit their erroneous decision and so whatever has been done cannot be undone now, they are trying to mend the fence. With a hope of introduction of new faces might alleviate the situation but surely the names of Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar are not the choice of the voters.

Now a billionaire ready to sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars down the drain supporting the message of support to ObamaCare does not seem to cut the ice. Mayor Bloomberg even suggested the name of Hillary Clinton as his running-mate but they all seem to pale into insignificance in comparison to the appeal of the juggernaut of Bernie Sanders.

Finally, it has dawned upon the Democratic leadership that they have already lost their opportunity of fielding a viable presidential candidate but yet reluctant to support an outsider like Bernie Sanders, a well-known socialist to the core.

Will we be seeing the Democratic machinery piled up in Bernie Sander’s backyard or will they try to field yet another candidate? No suitable names have yet been suggested and those already on the floor are very inadequately matched against Bernie Sanders.

Will Sanders therefore be the face of the Democratic Party in 2020? If on the other hand, Bernie Sanders gets the free rein, we will be hearing more about class warfare, removing belief in God, Governmental control over healthcare and so on and so forth.

The American Voters who are living a life of peace and prosperity, know  better; none may hope the American Voters will give away their American Dream simply because Bernie Sanders says so.

It has been a blessing in disguise.  

Her Majesty the Queen described the year as Annus Horribilis to express her sad experience not as a Sovereign Monarch but as a mother, she was actually chastising her offsprings. The Right Royals do not normally use harsher words, the year was 1992 Anno Domini.

But since then, her children and grand-children have offended the august monarch even worse.

The concupiscible Prince Charles of Wales gave his mother offence no bounds knowing fully well the fate of his great-uncle King Edward VIII, he insisted on marrying a divorcee and yet claiming his right to succession. However, he could yet step aside and leave his first born to become The Prince of Wales, and that is the only honorable thing left for him to do. By doing so, Prince Charles will not only alleviate the pains he caused to his mother but rise a notch higher in public esteem.

Prince Charles is known to have claimed that he wouldn’t wish to be the first Prince of Wales not to have a mistress while he was still married to Princess Diana. As a matter of fact, history will bear this out that was the catalyst which led Princess Diana to divorce him. He ruined his perfect fairytale marriage and he alone is responsible for it.

Admittedly, Queen Elizabeth gave him permission to marry Camilla, but then there is something called discretion. Charles should not have asked that permission which opens the room for question: Can the Royals not have access to sage advice?

What the Royals desperately need now is an organization of checks and balances, comprised of non-Governmental elder statesmen and clergymen whose advice when sought should be binding to the Royals whenever they face a situation as grave as to cause another Annus Horribilis.

It is within the realm of possibility Prince Harry had consulted his father before he married Meghan Markle but what could he expect from a man like Prince Charles? But had there been Checks and Balances in position, Harry wouldn’t have to undergo the stress of life he is facing now.

The affairs of Prince Andrew too would have been handled by Checks and Balances more assiduously without hurting Her Majesty so mercilessly.

Nevertheless, let no mother have to undergo what Queen Elizabeth II has been subjected to through her irascible and wayward sons and grandson. Let us pray.

The nation has had been held hostage for the past four months by an undiagnosed fever of impeachment which eventually proved to be just a hoax. However, it has managed to divide the nation irreversibly further into two, we and they, just as I had written earlier like Shias and Sunnis of the Moslem World.

To imagine the Democrats knew all along that they have been playing a foul game is a reasonable assumption, they also knew they would need sixtyseven votes on the Senate floor to win their case where they had a mere fortyseven Democrat Senators. Under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat Senators were totally blindsided into believing there would be a miracle which will make nineteen Republican Senators to side with the Democrats.

As it began to appear a ridiculous sham, the Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell decided to call the bluff. He asked all the Senators to vote yes or no on the two articles of impeachment which the House Democrats had crafted with the Chief Justice Roberts presiding over the proceedings. (It is a Constitutional Requirement.)

The Senators voted as predicted, Democrats voting yes and Republicans voting no while Chief Justice Roberts sat quietly and let the proceedings progress.

It is a matter of interest as to get acquainted with how the impeachment proceedings begin on the floors of the House of Representatives. It is relatively a simple affair there as the leader of the House crafts the articles of impeachment and the Representatives passes the articles by a simple majority.

Not a single instance has been recorded as to how the Democrats had planned to get the articles to take effect given the situation described above. Isn’t there a single voice of reason who would recommend to the Democrat leadership the futility of introducing such a bill?

There was one instance, one and only instance, where Chuck Schumer giving his closing address said, “We are right and they are wrong”. Upon these seven words rests the future of this nation. These are not just passing remarks of a frustrated leader, they are prophetic declaration of America’s future.

Current news about Russian President Putin’s impending visit to Nepal appears to have been held in abeyance. Perhaps, for a good reason.

I have written more than once about the desirability and wisdom of USA getting involved in the affairs of Nepal and its surroundings. That China has been playing a major role there should surprise none because it was the Chinese who had been culturally and politically engaged in the region long before the world ever heard of Nepal as the home of the Buddha and of the Abominable snowman.

In 630 A.D., the famous Chinese philosopher monk named Hiuen Tsang (now more correctly Xuan Zang) of China had come to Kathmandu and recorded in his journal that there is a lake upon which if one throws a burning stick, the whole surface catches fire. Fifteen centuries were to elapse before it is rediscovered by the Chinese who are right now busy harvesting the methane gas for domestic consumers. Curiously enough, Nepalese Govt had earlier requested the British and the Indian experts to carry out geological survey of the land to determine if any natural resources could be found and they had found nothing.

The Chinese have besides methane gas found petroleum wells, iron ore, coal and more importantly, uranium ore deposits in Nepal.

It stands for good reason that the Chinese may eventually claim a lion’s share of these bountiful finds, but so far they have persistently stated that these natural resources belong to Nepal and Nepal alone.

Unwilling to accept a loss of face India has entered the field, claiming a large chunk of land of Nepal as their own and even mobilized its army to take possession of it. Militarily, they may be unevenly matched but diplomatically Nepal has scored a resounding victory over the piece of real estate, Chinese have supported Nepalese claim and so have all the neighbouring countries, making India appear as the blatant aggressor.

What can USA do? I have a very simple plan; let several battalions of US Corps of Engineers go to Nepal with a mandate to build roads, bridges and ropeways; they may work alongside Nepalese Army Engineers and build roads and ropeways in remote areas eventually to handover completed work with road building equipment to the Nepalese. They may also build heliports at nodal points all as a service rendered and as a token of goodwill. Their presence alone will be sufficient guarantee and deterrent to any would be trouble makers.

A major assignment to the Corps of Engineers would be the construction of a major navigable canal system connecting East-West riparian region as a gift expressing American goodwill and generosity towards the people of Nepal.  

On 12/13 Oct 2019 President Xi Jinping made a State visit to Kathmandu and this historic event has raised certain concern in international arena. It is therefore the opportune moment to let my readers know how His Holiness the Dalai Lama is connected to Nepal and China through history. Read on:

Srong Tsen Gampo had become the powerful monarch of Tibet during the seventh century A.D., and that he had exercised strong influence on either direction of his kingdom. It can be established from the fact that he was married to Princess Weng Chen of China as well as Bhrikuti Debi, the Kirati Princess of Nepal. It was fortuitous for King Gampo and even more so for the Tibetan people in general that both these Queens were followers of the Enlightened One and that they were able to convert their heathen husband into the Path of Four Noble Truths, in or around 642 A.D.

Princess Bhrikuti was accompanied by artisans and craftsmen with a royal mandate to build a temple to house the icon of the Buddha she had brought along as part of her dower. This temple at Jorkhang, which is still extant, has been acknowledged by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be the holiest of all shrines of Tibet. The two Queens had lived in apparent harmony is proved by the events that followed; Queen Weng Chen impressed by the novel style of architecture of Jorkhang Temple, persuaded her father to invite the Nepalese artisans and craftsmen to build temples in China.

Thus, in due course of time, along with Buddhism, the Nepalese form of architecture, which became known as Pagoda Style, has spread worldwide from China. As an expression of gratitude, the Tibetans have deified their beloved Queen Bhrikuti Debi and as goddess Tara she is venerated and worshipped throughout Lamaist world.

Certain garments belonging to Queen Bhrikuti Debi have found their way to Cleveland Museum where her tunic (cholo) and undergarment (suruwal) are on display identified as a Tibetan Prince’s garment. The Queen would have her fariya wrapped around over her suruwal which the museum has indicated but not positively identified. Nepalese women are familiar with a tunic and the suruwal (undergarment) such as those displayed in the Museum.

Although Buddhism was introduced into Tibet by King Srong Tsen Gampo around mid-seventh century A.D., for nearly a century only the royal household and a few loyal retainers had remained true believers.

Another illustrious King Ti-son Detsen ascended the Tibetan throne in 745 A.D. who actually ushered in Tibet’s redemption. He was a true reformist and had made conversion of the entire kingdom his life’s mission. Fortunately, there was such a man in the horizon; a young Kirati monk named Padmasambhawa whose reputation was spreading as fast as he was able to establish monasteries that are still extant in Thyangboche in Eastern Nepal, Ghoom in Darjeeling, Rumtek in Sikkim and Tiger Nest in Bhutan. Frescoes painted on the inner walls of these monasteries show Hindu gods and goddesses relegated to positions of secondary importance in accordance with the Buddha-Margi traditions of Nepal.

Without wasting any time, King Detsen invited the Guru and credit goes to this irrepressible monk to have introduced in or around 756 A.D. and established that form of Buddhism into Tibet, now known as Lamaism.

Padmasambhawa did not believe in celibacy to be essential pre-requisite to monkhood and was not a celibate monk himself. The Guru is hence, often seen in icons portrayed in eternal conjugal embrace which unfortunately has created a wide range of misunderstanding and given room for deliberate and indiscriminate mischief. The Guru is known to have been married to the Princess Yeshe of Tibet.

The Great Khan of China noticed the effective function of the monastic order and decided to formalise the eternal office of the Lama. In 1563, The Celestial emperor brought a Mongol Prince named Sonam Gyatso to sit in the Papal Seat at Lhasa. Interestingly enough, Sonam Gyatso came to be known as Dalai Lama the Third as although he was the first Pontiff to be so installed, credibility was built around him by declaring he was the incarnation of two of his predecessors. Installation of Sonam Gyatso thus set the precedence of the practice of re-incarnation of the Lamas. Abbots of monasteries were required to declare before their death the approximate direction where he might be reborn, which gave authority to his subordinate monks to find a suitable baby boy born approximately at the time when the old Lama died. Additionally, the system opened the door of opportunity to parents of one and all baby boys to aspire to have the reincarnation of the old Lama born under their roof.

The Celestial Emperor then saw it expedient to separate the temporal from spiritual ruler of Tibet and in 1665 recognized Lobsang Yeshe as the Panchen Lama. From then on, the Dalai Lama’s function was limited as the head of the Tibetan Government while the Panchen Lama took the mantle of spiritual needs of the nation. Thus the Panchen Lama became ex-officio spiritual mentor not only of the Tibetans including the Dalai Lama but also that of the Emperor of China as well.

In addition, two Ambans (Chinese Foreign Service Officers) were stationed in Lhasa as advisors to the Dalai Lama in all matters of governance, domestic or international and they held their office in Lhasa till the Chinese Army finally took control of Tibet in 1950.

The Chinese Emperor however, left their inter-se hierarchical positions unspecified which concerned none as long as they both lived within Tibet. The Emperor gave them their distinctive identification though, Yellow Hats to the Dalai and Red Hats to the Panchen and ever since their votaries are identified by the colour of the hats they wear.

This is a game someone invented while in a state of amnesia.

What about people? There are billions of people more on the surface of our planet than only a lifetime ago and do you know they breathe out billions of cubic feet of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. What about the huge poultry farms and the hog farms and the cattle farms? and what about the methane gas they are adding to the atmosphere? Truly, they are no less guilty than the factories and the trucks and the refrigerators that spew out the gas that is warming our planet.

This is my recommendation; let us examine the factors to explore if we could tax people for breathing. I have worked out a simple equation; each nation is arbitrarily given a base figure and two letter prefix as its identity irrespective of its size or per capita income. It will provide us with a working figure which our scholars will be happy to tie up as a reference point when we have added the volume of offensive gas added into the atmosphere by the nation in question.

How else, are we going to debate this business of warming of the planet?

Several decades ago, I had visited some of the tiny islands in Erythraean Sea, (modern cartographers have changed its name), and believe me the islands were just as perfect as the “Garden of Eden” could be visualised by the believers. The natives had explained to me how the Lord had provided for them everything; food to eat and materials to build their shelters in abundance. The islands were unmistakable dense tropical forests of coconuts, breadfruit trees (remember, the Mutiny in the Bounty) and a little known tree called ‘pandanus’. (It is like a pineapple plant grown up into a tree. Its fruits too look exactly like pineapples, without the crown, but the fruit is so fibrous, it can only be squeezed into a delightful juice). And of course, the sea provided bountiful fish.

The Islanders(except one) are very contended lot, whenever they feel hungry or thirsty, someone would climb up a coconut tree and bring down a bunch of the fruits to drink and to eat. Once a day, they build a small fire to bake the breadfruits and remember these tree bear fruits all round the year. They have a very few domesticated animals; pigs, chicken and goats, and they too all eat coconuts and breadfruits.

The exception, called Sentinel Island, was named so by Commodore Cornwallis (you will find that name Cornwallis familiar, don’t you?) as the seafarer looked at it from distance and likened it with a lone sentinel standing guard. Decades later, the Brits discovered the island was inhabited but the name stuck, the natives were promptly called Sentinelese, of course. The Sentinelese are exception, because they fiercely guard their island with poison arrows and to my mind, no contact has been made with them yet. But, the stranger part of the account is that the Sentinelese, (and the Onges and the Jarawas, pronounced Jaarwas) belong to true Negrito Race and since their forebears never had the tradition of seafaring, you will agree with me that it must be the divine hand of God that put them in the middle of an ocean in so remote an island.

I shall write in my subsequent blogs the accounts of inhabitants of other islands, namely the Onges, the diminishing people; the fierce Jarawas; and the Shompens the shy people of the forest, whom the Gurkhas call Kusundas. The fascinatingly romantic account of the Queen of Nan-Cowry Island must find another mention, later.

What about these island dwellers? Will the United Nations recognise/reward them for their zero-emission life style? Or, let me believe some ‘charitable organisations’ are not already trying to modernise them or include them into some must see tourist brochure?

It suddenly dawned upon me that what I was reading is actually one of the pages of history which had been misplaced for nearly a millennia and a half.

In the year circa 636 A.D. the famous Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsiang had visited Kathmandu, Nepal and made the following entry in his famous autobiographical journal “Buddhist Records of the Western World”:

“To the south-east of the capital (Kathmandu) is a little stream and a lake. If we fling fire into it, flames immediately arise; other things take fire if thrown in it, and change their character”. Competently translated by Rev Samuel Beal and published in 1884 but for some unknown reason Rev Samuel Beal added the following footnote to the text above:

“But the pilgrim (Hiuen Tsiang) does not appear himself to have gone into Nepal”.

Since Rev Samuel Beal has left no explanatory details, we are unable to understand how he could have arrived at this conclusion.

My understanding is that the nineteenth century was the British Century and it was their intellectual arrogance that they could write whatever pleased them comfortable in their belief that they are the sole arbiters of world heritage and that there would be none to question their work. I have expressed similar views on Sir Vincent Smith’s The Oxford History of India where he has created a vacuum by excluding the History of Nepal and more importantly, of the Buddha from the Oxford History of India, save a single sentence that the Buddha and his contemporary population of the region bore features like the Gurkhas of Nepal.

After Bharat, that is India, was awarded Independence in August 1947 by its erstwhile colonial master, ie, England, Nepalese Government had requested new Government of India to carry out geological survey of Nepal, which was promptly done. Unfortunately nothing was found and Nepal lived with the belief that the chapter is closed.

Now, fourteen centuries later, the Chinese geologists are back on the trail and lo and behold, they found the Nepalese folks have not given up on their dreams. As a matter of fact, here and there the Nepalese have found methane gas escaping from the ground where they have actually been cooking their meals. Promptly, the Chinese geologists have gone to work and as I write these lines, they are scientifically preparing to harness the methane gas for domestic consumption and have assured the Nepalese people they within months will be self-sufficient in this field.

All these confusion arose simply because an intellectually arrogant Englishman wrote that Hiuen Tsiang was only re-tweeting hearsay account of Nepal.

Adulations to the Lord of the Hills, God in the Image of Human, Celebrated among Men, King of Kings, Prithiwi Narayan Sah Bahadur Shamsher Jung, Victorious in battles in the name of gods; to the Honorable and Capable of shouldering Royal Responsibilities Sri Soon Rai, Sri Kum Rai, Sri Jung Rai and all the rest of the Limbu Rai Community is this epistle addressed. Henceforth, we desire your peace as our mind is filled with Dharma (Righteousness) as you lost the battle against our magnificence and you “nau lakh and one” (alluding nine hundred thousand and one Rai-Limbu population of his time) and hence your safety, honor and welfare has become our responsibility. You are hereby granted your freedom to continue to follow your age old custom and tradition without any let or hindrance. We have acknowledged the State of Suk-khim (later anglicized as Sikkim) being beyond our border and should we ever trample upon your aforementioned privileges and heritage, may our own gods destroy us. Signed, sealed and given at our Capital City Kantipur, dated Sambat 1831, Sawan 22. (The date corresponds to July 15, 1774 A.D.)

Transliteration of the Lal Mohur or the Red Seal document published here with kind permission of Organizer of Online News Portal www.sarbajanik.com Mr Bijai Rai and Editor Ms Binita Rai

Some important details of historical significance have come to light through this document and they are;

Firstly, that there were certain prominent citizens of Kiratland known to the king whose names have been recorded in this Red Seal Document as mentioned above; though no attempt has thus far been made to locate their descendants.

Secondly, the Kiratis have persistently asserted their numbers being as “nau lakh das Kirat” or nine hundred thousand and ten, which is found corroborated by the king in this document.

And, thirdly, King Prithiwi Narayan Sah calls his eastern neighbor as Suk-khim, which is a Kirati word meaning “New Home”. Even after centuries, many elderly population of that land do indeed call their homeland as Suk-khim till this very day. Needless to say, during the colonial period, the Brits had simply anglicized it as Sikkim and there were none to challenge their arbitrary decision.

Brian Hodgson was a maverick of a gentleman. In 1819, while still a teenager, he was posted as a Post Master and Assistant to the Resident in Kathmandu, Nepal. He had had only four years of formal education upon which he had added a year of training at the East India Company College at Herfordshire, learning the basic trade of a writer. With that background he had set sail for the shores of India.

Once in Kathmandu, Hodgson began in earnest his pursuit of knowledge and very soon by dint of his sincerity and hard-working ethics he was able to earn friendship of Nepalese intelligentsia. Not only did he gain their confidence, he was able to befriend Amritananda Bandya, the greatest Buddhist scholar of his time in Nepal. For the first time, Hodgson discovered in Nepal, that Siddartha Gaut’m, who became the Buddha was in real life a Nepalese prince. Until then, the Western scholars had believed the Buddha to have African origin basing their observation on the single piece of evidence, the Buddha’s curly locks.

As Hodgson gained their confidence, he obtained from them several hundred volumes of Buddhist literature written in chaste Sanskrit which he clandestinely forwarded to the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Paris. And, this is the mystery of Hodgson: he knew his tutors in Kathmandu were all not only Buddhists, they were all ethnic Mongolians, but he never wrote a word about it.

During Hodgson’s days, Calcutta used to be the capital city of British India and Hodgson had spent his first few months there at Fort William learning rudiments of Indian life and culture. There he was taught in strict confidence that Sanskrit was in the private domain of brahmins alone in India and that it was the language of Hindu gods. In Nepal however, the Kirati-Mongolians were just as much proficient in Sanskrit and he learnt firsthand that Sanskrit certainly could not have been the exclusive language of Hindu gods Yet he stubbornly stuck to what he was taught by the pundits of Calcutta and he carried to the grave his secret why he avoided mentioning that he knew several Kirati Mongolian Buddhist priests of Nepal were great Sanskrit scholars. And, thus by default, he allowed the myth to continue which survives till today.

As far as Nepal is concerned Hodgson was therefore, the wrong man at the right place and the right time. Hodgson alone could have brought to light the indisputable fact that Sanskrit was also the language of the Kirati Mongolian scholars of Nepal and that he had discovered in Nepal Sanskrit was prevalent even before the arrival of the brahmins. Unknown to him though, there are in Chinese archives several volumes of pre-brahminic Sanskrit manuscripts collected by Chinese Pilgrims from Nepal which are written bi-lingually in Sankrit and Newari. This additional information, that since the Brahmins do not read Newari, those manuscripts in Chinese Archives could not have been written but by the pre-brahminic Kirati-Mongolian scholars before the arrival of Brahmins in Nepal.

Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia.

Earlier in this website we have read about how Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal had converted her heathen husband, King Srong-Tsen Gampo into Buddhism in or around 642 A.D. For a century, except for the royal household and a few faithful retainers had remained an isolated island of hope in Tibet, until King Ti-Son Detsen ascended the throne in 745 A.D. King Detsen was a noble King, he had set his vision for the upliftment of his entire nation. Fortunately for him, there was a brilliant star in the Buddhist horizon in the person of Lama Padmasambhawa, a Nepalese monk. Padmasambhawa was a dynamic leader of his people and had already established his reputation having founded several monasteries, e.g, Thyangboche in Eastern Nepal, Rumtek in Suk-khim, now Anglicised and spelt as Sikkim, Ghoom in Darjeeling, India and Tiger’s Nest in Bhotang now Anglicised and spelt as Bhutan.

Upon receiving royal invitation Guru Padmasambhawa came to Tibet and eradicating the deep rooted and powerful pagan worship of Bon from entire land of Tibet he established that form of Buddhism known as Lamaism today. He was ably assisted by Santirakshita another Nepalese monk, who had mastered phonetics and was able to reduce Tibetan dialect into writing based on Nepalese script called Ranjana.

The monastic order established by Lama Padmasambhawa became so effective that the Celestial Emperor was personally drawn to it. In the year 1563 A.D. the Chinese Emperor brought in a Mongol Prince Sonam Gyatso to be the First Pontiff of Tibet with the title of Dalai Lama and to give it an aura of divinity, introduced him as the 3^rd Dalai Lama as if he were the incarnation of two of his predecessors.

The experiment was a brilliant success and hence, the Emperor intervened again a in 1665 A.D. bifurcating the temporal from the spiritual where the Dalai Lama remained the temporal head of Tibetan Government and Lobsang, known as Panchen Lama was introduced to be the head of spiritual welfare of Tibet. To add some glamour, the Panchen Lama was made the spiritual mentor of the Celestial Emperor as well.

Lama Padmasambhawa did not believe celibacy was the pre-requisite to be a monk and was actually married to the Tibetan Princess Yeshe. Accordingly Padmasambhawa is depicted in all Tibetan icons as one in eternal conjugal embrace.

Sketch: By Author

According to the Nepalese tradition, King Srong Tsen Gampo (pronounced Srong-zen) was a powerful monarch of Tibet and apparently had exerted good deal of influence in either direction of his kingdom. The Tibetan potentate was married to Princess Bhrikuti, daughter of Angsuburma, the Kirati King of Kathmandu as well as Weng Chen, Chinese Princess of T’ang Dynasty of China.

In those far off days, before the recognised establishment of the office of Ambassadors, Kings kept a close watch on neighbourly kingdoms by giving in marriage their daughters; the princesses were the ambassadors.

Fortunately, for King Srong-Tsen and the Tibetans, this was the best thing to have happened for both the Queens were followers of the Enlightened One. Between the two Queens, they were able to convert their husband on to the path of Four Noble Truths in or around 642 A.D. Tibet, as a nation had until then been worshipping a heathen god called Bon which involved forms of secret practices of sorcery.

In an act of gratitude, Tibetans deified Princess Bhrikuti elevating her to divine status and worship her identified as Tara. Tara is manifested in four aura of red, blue, green and golden and the four colours are assigned to the four cardinal directions. Pictured here is the Golden Tara facing the South.

Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia

As has been said earlier, Ashok had demobilized his army and turned them into monk missionaries to carry the gospel of Four Noble Truths and they moved about precisely in that orderly and disciplined manner. It was the serendipity of this step that made the monk missionaries so successful in their mission.

The monk missionaries who went East and found vast empty lands, they encouraged the population to migrate en masse and settle down there to establish a new kingdom in the name of the Buddha. Those monk missionaries who went West however, encountered a very different scenario: there were well organized and sophisticated society already flourishing there, it was Greco-Roman world.

Amidst this world, the monk-missionaries had established their own cave monastery, now known to us as Petra, simply meaning Rock as has been mentioned earlier; it had been abandoned some two millennia ago. The successors of Ashok the Great were unable to hold on to their empire as local chiefs rose up who championed the cause of Hinduism and the Empire got fragmented and disappeared. Buddhism without any support and patronage just withered away and Petra suffered the consequence.

Ashok the Great was well informed of the situation for he has named the Hellenistic King Antiochus (215-164 B.C.) of Seleucid dynasty as his westerly neighbor. Ashokan monk missionaries were familiar with the Judeo-Hellenistic world becomes apparent from the edict they have left engraved bilingually in Greek and Aramaic.

Nearer home, all Ashokan edicts are written in Pali, some fifty of them still survive; they are one of the oldest form of writing in evidence, dated 3^rd Century B.C..

Photo Greco-Aramaic Bilingual Edict of Ashok, circa 3^rd Century B.C.: Courtesy Wikipedia