History

If some amount of inertia has crept into the framework of Sanatana Dharma in our age, the responsibility for reinvigorating it falls squarely on our shoulders. If we wish to reject something, we need to first think about providing a better alternative. If we wish to decry Valentine’s Day, we need to provide an alternative by reviving either the Madanotsava or the Vasantotsava [typically celebrated during the Holi festival] from the annals of our hoary, bounteous and beautiful tradition.

Several historical evidences including some coins attest that Ramagupta assumed power after the demise of Samudragupta. We also have a play titled Devichandragupta authored by Vishakhadatta. However, the complete play is unavailable today. The extant version is available in the form of fragments of about five or six acts. The towering scholar, Dr. V Raghavan has compiled all of this in the appendix of his work, Bhojashrungaraprakasha.

Buddha approved of and loved both the system of republics as well as the system of monarchy. He himself came from a republics establishment; he belonged to the Śākya-gaṇa. The republic that lay close to it was the Kolīya-gaṇa. There was a huge quarrel between the Śākya-gaṇa and the Kolīya-gaṇa with regard to sharing the waters of the River Rohiṇī.

Samudragupta had a wife named Dattadevi. Ramagupta and Chandragupta Vikramaditya were their sons. We are fortunate to know their names and other details from the coins that were minted in that era. A great economic, cultural, and social revolution took place in the Gupta Age. We can see in history how the span, the vastness, and the kṣātra (of the Gupta Age) protected people in all stages of life, from all walks of life.

The multi-volume History and Culture of the Indian People, a definitive work authored by numerous scholars, contains the most accurate and clear history of the Guptas. R.C. Majumdar, the General Editor of the volume titled The Classical Age, and K.M. Munshi, who has written a foreword to the volume have held that the glory of the Gupta Era was extraordinary. Indeed, Munshi has written that this extraordinary glory was possible because of Dharma.

[This paper was submitted to the Swadeshi Indology Conference-3 held in Chennai  (December 2017)]

The preeminent name among the Gupta Dynasty is Chandragupta I. He was the son of Ghatotkachagupta. He had married Kumāradevī of the Licchavi clan. Subsequently, Samudragupta and others repeatedly claim that they descended from the Licchavi dynasty. What could be the reason behind this glorification of the Licchavis?

Pushyamitra Shunga tried to liberate Bharata’s lands under Greek occupation. The Greek invasion that began with Alexander continued till the time of Menander. The same Menander came to be known as Milindara later. Buddhists texts mention his name. The dialogue between Nagasena and Menander is recorded in the Pali (Magadhi) text ‘Milinda Panho.’ For a prolonged period—nearly three hundred years—the Ionian incursions were a recurring feature.

Marxist-Communist historians claim that because Pushyamitra Shunga was a brāhmaṇa, all events that occurred during his period were merely the revolt of brāhmaṇas.  These incidents symbolize the enmity that brāhmaṇas had against Ashoka and his heritage. Contrary to their claims, varṇa doesn’t occupy a significant place in this.