‘Draupadi Taught Us How to Behave with Husbands’ Indians Must Learn this: Global Hindu Foundation to Government of India

http://www.sabrang.com/news/2014/ccxclupart3Nov15.htm

November 15, 2014

Part Three

‘Draupadi Taught Us How to Behave with Husbands’
Indians Must Learn this: Global Hindu Foundation to Government of India

Teesta Setalvad

The ancient ‘Hindu Past’, its ways of relating between men and women and the Scientific achievements of Ancient India are the values that should be taught in Central government schools today.

In a detailed letter written to the Minister for Human Resources Development (MHRD) Smruti Irani today, November 15, 2014, the Hyderabad based Global Hindu Foundation (GHF), has, taking a leaf out of Dinanath Batra’s nine books being taught as Supplemenatry materials to four hundred thousand students in Gujarat’s schools, urged the Modi government to take this model of teaching to the nation. This letter has been posted on the home page of savetemples.org, the website of the “Mission to Save Hinduism and Hindu Temples”. Touted as a ‘Project of Global Hindu Heritage Foundation, (GHHF) USA’, the mission operates out of the ‘Save Temple Office’ opened in Hyderabad city in June 2012.

Apart from the exhortations to teach Nathuram Godse as a ‘National Hero who fought the British’, and unsubstantiated details about a ‘Hindu holocaust by Muslims, this letter states that the following subjects should be taught in Central government schools:

http://www.savetemples.org/2014/11/15/suggestions-to-revise-educational-curriculum-for-different-class-levels-in-schools-in-bharat/

“Mahabharata.
“...Mahabharata is one of the greatest epics and every single character teaches us the richness of our culture and traditions, morals and ethics that surpass the time. Numerous are the characters and numerous are the lessons one can learn from Mahabharata. Yudhishtira taught us how to follow dharma in face of numerous difficulties also the weakness of (gambling) that can bring down the kingdom; Bhishma taught us how to fulfill the wishes of his father and sacrificed his life as well as keeping his word for the rest of life and maintain celibacy; King Santanu taught us danger of yielding to sensate pleasure and the weakness toward other sex; Karna taught us the consequences of blind loyalty and passion for power as well as the generous nature of dana (gift); Dhritarashtra taught us how blind love for children can cause untold misery and destruction for the humanity, also how passion for children can smog the moral and impartial judgment; Draupadi taught us how even a small weakness resulted ....can... lead to war of destruction and also taught us how to behave with the husbands; and other characters such as Pandu, Veda Vyasa, Kunti, Dushyasana, Shikhandi, Satyavati and others were equally important in teaching us the morals and code of conduct.
“..... Finally the teaching of Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna to Arjuna about the responsibility of a Kshatriya and in general about Swadharma is unmatched humanity in recognizing the importance of Sthitipragna.

“....Puranic Stories and Morals
“     In Naimisharanya, the assembled sages worshipped the learned Romaharshana and said, "Please tell us the stories of the Puranas. Who created the universe, who is its preserver and who will destroy it? Please instruct us in all these mysteries." There are 18 main Puranas and18 upapuranas that describe the various aspects of cosmology and are considered the storehouse of stories that enriched with morals and traditions; manifestations of  (dasavataras) Vishnu incarnations, and the paths of karma, bhakti and Jnana yogas.  In fact they even described the origin of the universe, life cycles, trials, tribulations and richness of human life, respect for living and nonliving elements and scientific nature of the universe.  They talk about the worship services, numerous samskaras, formation of earth, and mathematical expressions of the universe. They give us the experiences of people through their stories, symbols and rituals. Every community has its own reality, but underneath all these realities there is an underlying theme governing the basic principles and morals that guide the human life.

“.... Panchatantra Stories
 Panchatantra is a collection stories that teach us how to behave in a particular situation; how to solve the problems one faces; whom to trust and not to trust; how to keep your word against all odds; how to use your intellect instead of arms; how to avoid distrust among friends; how one should not deny the shelter to a needy person; how one should work toward accumulation of wealth and how to protect it; and how one should share their wealth and to whom.
 

“....The Scientific achievements
   “....  It is time to create pride among our youth about our scientific achievements. It was the Yogic seers who invented many mathematical calculations such as Zero, Decimals, Phi, Geometry, Algebra, computer language and more. Arbyabhatta was the champion of Astronomy and Mathematics, Bhaskaracharya was the genius of Algebra, Acharya Kanad was the founder of Atomic Theory, Naragrjuna was the wizard of Chemical Science, Acharya Charaka was the father of Medicine, Acharya Sushruta was the champion of Plastic Surgery, Varahamihra was the eminent Astronomer and Astrology, Patanjali was the father of Yoga Sutras, Acharya Bharadwaja was the pioneer of Aviation Technology, Acharya Kapila was the father of cosmology, and many more.”

Ends

Recommended Reading by Communalism Combat:
India: History repeats itself | Romila Thapar
12 July 2014
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/romila-thapar-smriti-irani-old
-history-baiters-of-bjp/1/370799.html?

 India: Moral Presciptions from Mr Batra (of Hndutva book police) now part of Gujarat Schools Curriculum
25 July Indian Express
Man who got Wendy Doniger pulped is made ‘must reading’ in Gujarat schools

History Lessons
The appointment of a new chief at the Indian Council of Historical Research reignites old battles over who controls ideas of India
by ANJALI MODY | 1 August 2014
http://www.caravanmagazine.in/perspectives/history-lessons

RSS leaders meet Smriti Irani, seek revamp of India’s education system
IndiaToday.in New Delhi, October 30, 2014
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rss-leaders-meet-smriti-irani-revamp-of-india-education-system/1/398247.html

India: Delhi University asked to purge Left slant in all history textbooks
Mail Today | New Delhi, October 22, 2014
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-university-left-slant-history-textbooks-du
sanskrit-department-vedic-age-and-aryan-culture-hrd/1/397030.html
India Under the Modi Regime: Delhi University’s Sanskrit dept project to prove Aryans were not foreigners
http://m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/dus-sanskrit-dept
kickstarts-project-to-prove-aryans-were-not-foreigners/articleshow/43838590.cms
Test-Tubes In Hastinapur
Myth and epic are being introduced as fact into school curricula of states
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/TestTubes-In-Hastinapur/291554
Religion, culture and values
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/religion-culture-and-values/article6272956.ece?homepage=true

 

India - Gujarat: Hindu Right rewriting Indian textbooks
4 November 2014

Al Jazeera

Books by Hindu nationalists merging myth with reality proliferate in PM Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

04 Nov 2014 11:29
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/11/hindu-right-ideology-indian
textbooks-gujarat-20141147028501733.html      

Books:

Communalism and the Writing of Indian History
Contents:

Communalism and the Writing of Ancient Indian History
by Romila Thapar

Medieval Indian History and the Communal Approach
by Harbans Mukhia

Historians of Modern India and Communalism
by Bipan Chandra
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/
1279167/communalism-in-the-writing-indian-history.pdf