Between 7000 and 10,000 years ago the Aryans entered India from the northwest. There was a collision of the three ethnic group, the Austrics, the Mongolian group who came to India from Tibet and China and the Aryan who were mostly the Mediterranean subgroup of Aryans. There was a general disharmony among these three groups that had converged in India, expressed in numerous feuds and clashes among the various hill clans. At times this predominantly racial conflict among the different hill clans was raging fiercely. The locals were suffering under the yoke of the invaders.
The Aryans << brought with them the Vedic lifestyle and language; and the Vedic administration, social order and methods of warfare. They began to use the derogatory word Anárya (non-Aryan) for all the indigenous people of India. Slowly India was divided into two clearly different mental structures. One was the sentiment born of the vanity of the victorious Aryans, and the other was the sentiment created by the inferiority complex of the vanquished non-Aryans. Thus, two nations were formed in India – the Aryans and the non-Aryans.>>
<< It was not difficult for the healthy, martial, almost invincible Aryans to conquer northern India. The victorious Aryans treated the vanquished non-Aryans as slaves, trampling them underfoot to the bottom of their trivarńa [three-caste] society – their society of Bráhmańas (priests), Kśatriyas (warriors) and Vaeshyas (traders). There the non-Aryans became the fourth class, or Shúdra Varńa (labourer class), while society became a cáturvarńa [four-caste] society.>>
<<In the then India, the mutual relations between the original inhabitants of India (Austrico-Mongolo-Negroids) and the outsiders, the Aryans, were by no means cordial. The Aryans, out of deep-rooted contempt for the indigenous people of India, used to call them sometimes asuras, sometimes dánavas, sometimes dásas, sometimes shúdras. The Aryans did not accept these people in their society; rather, they declared them to be outcastes. But these ancient people of India, of Austrico-Mongolo-Negroid blood, had their own civilization and culture. They were also developed people: they had their science of Tantra, and their medicine. There was a prolonged conflict between these people and the Aryans.>>
In such a dire situation Providence played a decisive role with the advent of the great personality of Shiva. << Born into a Mongolo-Aryan family, this great man had a high nose and fair complexion. He was a great Tantric – a great yogi. The name of this Mahápuruśa (great person) of the non-Aryan society was Shiva…As the result of His Tantra sádhaná He attained extraordinary powers, which He employed for the good of humanity. It was He who systematized the science of Tantra and thus He was the guru or the father of Tantrics and yogis. To this Self-realized Mahápuruśa there was no distinction of high and low. People of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, were dear to Him.
Irrespective of class – Aryan, non-Aryan, Dravidian, Austric or Mongolian – all flocked to Him. He showered His grace on them all equally. As the battles raged between the “gods” on the one hand and the “demons” and “monsters” on the other (needless to say, “gods” meant the handsome Aryan leaders, and “demons” meant the non-Aryans in general), the non-Aryan “demons” and “monsters” became more and more powerful through the blessings of this Shiva. All the rákśasas and asuras were Shiva’s obedient devotees and followers. With the help and blessings of Shiva they destroyed the might and power of the “gods”. According to Sanskrit stories, when the gods would seek the help of Brahmá and Viśńu, even those two would not dare to oppose Shiva; rather they would save the gods through a compromise with Him.>>
Shiva was a blessing for the locals. Only with his help they could stand up to the Aryan’s might, assert themselves. It was a long drawn out struggle but Shiva introduce so many benefits that eventually even the Aryans accepted Shiva’s supremacy and surrendered to the peace that he brought with him. With the magnitude of his contributions Shiva became the father of human civilization we live in today. <<Considering His unique role in building human culture and civilization, this culture and civilization cannot stand without Him.>>
Text in brackets <<>> are by Shrii PR Sarkar
Dawn 