Rastram: Hindu history in United Indian Ocean States – Book review

Rastram, supranation, is about a golden page in the history of human civilizations. It is an opportunity to realize almost 2 millennia of dharam-dhamma values enshrined in the hearts of over 2 billion people along the nations of the Indian Ocean Rim. This is a compilation of insights, analyses and excerpts from works of by many savants and scholars about Hindu history. Rastram is a federation of peoples’ republics – a supranational covenant as the true foundation of an organized Indian Ocean Community (IOC) — a counterpoise to European Community. This IOC should remain open to all nations of Indian Ocean Rim. The states located along the rim from South Africa to Tasmania is a Community which has the attributes of Rastram. The Hindu historical traditions and the amended UN Law of the Sea help use the potential to create a 6 trillion dollar GDP and to provide for enhanced welfare of over 2 billion people. Along the 63,000 mile long rim, work can start on Trans-Asian Highway and Railway Projects and strengthen the bonds of civilizational heritage. The 1994 modified Law of the Sea extends territorial waters into 200 nautical miles from the baseline as economic zones. This historical account of Hindu history is an attempt to delineate the wealth of nations, along the Indian Ocean Rim. Together, these nations neighboring the Ocean, can chart out a path for establishing Rastram in dharma-dhamma continuum. This account provides the portraits from Hindu history on the travails of a nation caught in the throes of civilizational clashes onslaughts during mediaeval periods of barbarism and loots of 17th to 20th century periods of a British Colonial empire and the 21st century in a swarajyam Hindusthan by post-colonial marauders, suffocating the potential for forming a Rastram. This account is clearly NOT intended to be a chronologically organized Hindu history for two millennia until 2000 CE. Portraits are presented of political economy on the banks of Hindu civilization in modern epoch for the last two millennia. It is a record since the turn of the Common Era, informed by earlier five millennia of history of Sanatana Dharma in Bharata Rastram. trans. ‘I am the Rastra moving people together for abhyudayam…) Hindu history is presented as a quest for the establishment of such a Rastram. IOC a supranational foundation to remove vestiges of colonial loot, to make such a loot unthinkable and materially impossible and reinforce democracy of all nations along the IOC rim as janapada (peoples’ republics) for peoples’ welfare (abhyudayam) governed by the inexorable, Hindu sanatana traditional ethic: dharma-dhamma. This book is a tribute to George Coedes who concluded, after a study of fourteen centuries of history of Southeast Asia: “ the importance of studying the Indianized countries of Southeast Asia– which, let us repeat, were never political dependencies of India, but rather cultural colonies – lies above all in the observation of the impact of Indian civilization on the primitive civilizations… We can measure the power of penetration of this culture by the importance of that which remains of it in these countries even though all of them except Siam passed sooner or later under European domination and a great part of the area was converted to Islam…we may ask ourselves if the particular aspect assumed by Islam in Java was not due rather to the influence that Indian religions exercised over the character of the inhabitant of the island for more than ten centuries…The literary heritage from ancient India is even more apparent that the religious heritage. Throughout the entire Indian period, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, and the Puranas were the principal, if not the only, sources of inspiration for local literature, to which was added the Buddhist folklore of the Jatakas, still makes up the substance of the classical theatre, of the dances, and of the shadow-plays and puppet theatre.”

About the Author

This historical account of Hindu history is an attempt to delineate the wealth of nations, along the Indian Ocean Rim. Together, these nations neighboring the Ocean, can chart out a path for establishing Rastram in dharma-dhamma continuum. The 1994 modified Law of the Sea extends territorial waters into 200 nautical miles from the baseline as economic zones. In a way, this work is a positive answer to the bogus alternative Hindu history penned by Wendy Doniger in a work which completely ignores the insights of savants like George Coedes who analysed the Hinduised States of Southeast Asia from historical accounts. Hindu history finds its pinnacle of cultural achievement in the largest Vishnu temple of the world in Angkor Wat, Cambodia and in the cultural continuum of the inexorable ethic dharma-dhamma present in the nations along the Indian Ocean Rim. Drawing lessons from history which involved clashes of civilizations, the work presents the potential to create a United Indian Ocean States, as a counterpose to the European Union and as a 6 trillion dollar economic powerhouse providing a new lease of life to over 2 billion people of the Indian Ocean Rim. Drawing lessons from the corporate forms of sreni evolved from the 6th century, Rastram (as with the experience of Rastrakutas) will be a federation of guilds in a united Indian Ocean States minimizing greed and maximizing the potential for peoples’ welfare. S. Kalyanaraman, Ph.D. the editor of the book, is Director, Sarasvati Research Center, President, Ramasetu Protection Movement in India and BoD member of World Association for Vedic Studies. His research interests relate to rediscovery of Vedic Sarasvati River, roots of Hindu civilization, decoding of Indus Script, National Water Grid and creation of Indian Ocean Community. His Ph.D. is in Public Administration from the Universitty of the Philippines. He is a multi-lingual scholar versed in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, Hindi. He was a senior financial and IT executive in Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines and on Indian Railways. His 18 publications include: Indus Script Cipher, Indian Lexicon – a multilingual dictionary for over 25 Indian languages, Sarasvati in 15 volumes, Indian Alchemy – Soma in the Veda. He is a recipient of many awards including Vakankar Award (2000), Shivananda Eminent Citizens’ Award (2008) and Dr. Hedgewar Prajna Samman (2008). Website: https://sites.google.com/site/indianoceancommunity1/

For further Details

http://www.amazon.com/Rastram-history-United-Indian-States/dp/0982897111/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306504428&sr=8-2

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