Kirat vs Hinduism IV

There is an excellent article by "Windy Doniger" in her book "The Hindus - An alternative story' on Lord Shiva

This article itself says lot of things.

"                                 THE RISE OF SECTARIAN HINDUISM

Despite (or because of) the rise of Buddhism in this period, both Vedic sacrificers and
members of the evolving Hindu sects of Vaishnavas and Shaivas (worshipers of Vishnu and
Shiva) found new sponsors among the ruling families and court circles.20 The keystone for the Brahmin establishment was the new economic power of temple cities.21 From about 500 BCE, kings still performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimize their kingship,22 but the sectarian worship of particular deities began partially to replace Vedic sacrifice.23 As the gods of the Vedic pantheon (Indra, Soma, Agni) faded into the background, Vishnu and Rudra/Shiva, who had played small roles in the Vedas, attracted more and more worshipers. Throughout the Ramayana and Mahabharata, we encounter people who say they worship a particular god, which is the start of sects and therefore of sectarianism.

Pilgrimage and puja are the main forms of worship at this time. Pilgrimage is described at
length in the Mahabharata, particularly but not only in the “Tour of the Sacred Tirthas”
(3.80-140). Sacred fords (tirthas) are shrines where one can simultaneously cross over (which is what tirtha means) the river and the perils of the world of rebirth. As in Ashoka’s edicts, the “conquest of the four corners of the earth” (dig-vijaya), originally a martial image, is now applied to a grand tour of pilgrimage to many shrines, circling the world (India), always to the right. Puja (from the Dravidian pu [“flower”])24 consisted of making an offering to an image of a god (flowers, fruits, sometimes rice), and/or moving a lamp through the air in a circular pattern, walking around the god, and reciting prayers, such as a litany of the names of the god. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gitafa says that pious people offer him a leaf or flower or fruit or water (9.26). Sometimes the image of the god is bathed and dressed, and often the remains of the food that has been offered to the god is then distributed to the worshipers as the god’s “favor” or “grace” (prasada), a relic of the leftovers (ucchishta) from the Vedic sacrifice.

There is rich evidence of the rise of the sectarian gods. The Mahabharata includes a
Hymn of the Thousand Names of Shiva (13.17), and in 150 BCE Patanjali, the author of the
highly influential Yoga Sutras, foundational for the Yoga school of philosophy, mentions a
worshiper of Shiva who wore animal skins and carried an iron lance. Gold coins from this same period depict Shiva holding a trident and standing in front of a massive bull, presumably the bull that is Shiva’s usual vehicle. In the first century BCE, under the Shungas, artisans produced what is generally regarded as the earliest depiction of the god Shiva: a linga just under five feet high, in Gudimallam, in southeastern Andhra Pradesh. (See page 22.) Its anatomical detail, apart from its size, is highly naturalistic, but on the shaft is carved the figure of Shiva, two-armed and also naturalistic, holding an ax in one hand and the body of a small antelope in the other. His thin garment reveals his own sexual organ (not erect), his hair is matted, and he wears large earrings. He stands upon a dwarf. A frieze from the first or second century CE suggests how such a linga might have been worshiped; it depicts a linga shrine under a tree, surrounded by a railing, just like the actual railing that was discovered beneath the floor in which the image was embedded.25
The Mahabharata tells a story about the circumstances under which Shiva came to be
worshiped: SHIVA DESTROYS DAKSHA’S VEDIC SACRIFICEOnce upon a time, when Shiva was living on Mount Meru with his wife, Parvati, the daughter of the mountain Himalaya, all the gods and demigods thronged to him and paid him homage. The Lord of Creatures named Daksha began to perform a horse sacrifice in the ancient manner, which Indra and the gods attended with Shiva’s permission. Seeing this, Parvati asked Shiva where the gods were going, and Shiva explained it to her, adding that the gods had decided long ago not to give him any share in the sacrifice. But Parvati was so unhappy about this that Shiva took his great bow and went with his band of fierce servants to destroy the sacrifice. Some put out the sacrificial fires by dousing them with blood; others began to eat the sacrificial assistants. The sacrifice took the form of a wild animal and fled to the skies, and Shiva pursued it with bow and arrow. The gods, terrified, fled, and the very earth began to tremble. Brahma begged Shiva to desist, promising him a share of the sacrificial offerings forever after, and Shiva smiled and accepted that share (12.274.2-58). This important myth, retold in various transformations several times in the Mahabharata 26 and in other texts through the ages, is in part a historical narrative of what did happen in the history of Hinduism: Shiva was not part of the Vedic sacrifice, and then he became part of the
Hindu sacrifice. The gods, particularly Daksha (a creator, mentioned in the Rig Veda hymn of Aditi [10.72.1-5]), exclude Shiva from their sacrifice because Shiva is the outsider, the Other, the god to whom Vedic sacrifice is not offered; he is not a member of the club of gods that sacrifice to the gods.27 He appears to Arjuna, in a pivotal episode of the Mahabharata, in the form of a naked Kirata, a tribal hunter (3.40.1-5). The myth of Daksha’s sacrifice verifies Shiva’s otherness but modifies it so that Shiva is in fact given a share in some sacrifices, still not part of  the Vedic world but the supreme god of the post-Vedic world, at least in the eyes of the Shaivas who tell this myth. In the Ramayana, the god Rama is on his way to becoming one of the great gods of sectarian Hinduism. The god Krishna too now enters the world of Sanskrit texts, in the Mahabharata. The grammarian Panini, in the fifth century BCE, mentions a Vasudevaka, whom he defines as a devotee (bhakta) of the son of Vasudeva (Krishna), an avatar of Vishnu. This was the time of the beginning of the Bhagavata sects, the worship of Bhagavan, the Lord, a name of Vishnu or Shiva. In 115 BCE, Heliodorus, the son of a Greek from Taxila and himself the Greek ambassador to one of the Shungas,29 set up a pillar in Besnagar in Madhya Pradesh (not far from
the Buddhist stupas at Sanchi), topped by an image of Vishnu’s eagle (the Garuda bird) and an inscription. Heliodorus said he had done this in honor of the son of Vasudeva and that he himself was a Bhagavata.30 This is significant evidence of the conversion of a non-Indian not to Buddhism but to a new form of Hinduism. These are the early stirrings of communal sects that were beginning to supplement, sometimes to replace, the royal and domestic worship of the
Vedic gods."

Kirat Vs Hinduism III

" Connexion of Mongolia and Kirat in Nepal Revealing the Mystery of Origin of Phallus Stone Worship. Now Kirat are very ancient tribe in history. They are the foremost settlers in the Himalayas region which was called "Kirat Desh" or "land of Kirat" in Veda and other ancient Hindu texts. Actually nobody knows when they came into Nepal because these people are mentioned in ancient religion book of Hindu like Veda, Puranas, and Ramayana and Mahabharata Epics. These people are also mentioned in ancient Greek history, Chinese history and Holy book of Sikh Guru Nanak. Kiratas are first mentioned in the Yajurveda (Shukla XXX.16; Krisha III.4,12,1), and in the Atharvaveda (X.4,14). These people are described in the ancient texts as indigenous people of Mongolian race, "gold-like", i.e, yellow in skin color with stout and short stature, high cheekbones, flat noses, narrow black eyes and thin mustaches and beards. They were brave and doughty warriors and very deft archers as described in the following verse; "Kairatam vesam asthaya kancana-druma-sannibham" Taking up a Kirata resemblance, like unto a tree of gold (IV,35,2); The Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata viewed them as fearful and terrible highlanders. The Ramayana describes: "Kiratasca tiksna-cudasca hemabhah priya-darsanah, antar-jala-cara ghora nara-vyaghra iti srutah" upon translation is The Kiratas, with hair done in pointed top-knots, pleasant to look upon, shining like gold, able to move under water, terrible, veritable tiger-men, so are they famed. The Greeks known the Kirats by the name of Kirhadai. The last remnant of the ancient Kiratite or Cherethite tribe was found recorded in the book of 2 Samuel, 15 - 18. They were a martial tribe during the reign of the Syrian King David in 1049 BC. Then think again who were living in the Harappan civilization? 1.The Manusmriti identifies the Kiratas as one of the eleven tribes who inhabited the Indus-Saraswoti region.(Tiwari, 2002) 2. Kiratas first appear in the Yajur Veda (Shukla XXX.16; Krisha III.4,12,1) and in the Atharva Veda (X.4,14), 1400 B.C- 1000 B.C 3.The Kiratas were forced to move away from their homeland, Indus-Saraswoti region and into the Himalayas.(Tiwari, 2002) 4. Kirat came to the Himalayas including Nepal in about 700 B.C. (Baburam Acharya) Hence it is not surprising that crude(origin )form of phallus stone worship(shivaism) is found to be in practice among present day Kiratis. So did the practice of phallus stone worship felled into the hands of vedic Aryans?" 

Source:Connexion of Mongolia-KiratRevealing the Mystery of Origin of Phallus Stone Worship - from Youtube(c).htm

The first half of the article is pretty interesting and has tried lot to find the root of Kirats. But the latter half clearly shows that authors like Tiwari and Baburam are trying to manipulate some facts. This article itself says to contradictory things like. First he said kirats had mangolian features and yellow skin, however in second half its says that kirats were forced to move away from Indus - Saraswati region. Pretty strange.

 I feel Tiwari and Baburam Acharya needs to check their logic, again.
  

Kirat Vs Hinduism - I

An interesting article on relating Kirant and Hindu.

Well i am going to throw more insights about Kirant. The Kiranti came about after the Sensitization process in Nepal.
That is Kirat>> Kirant and Kirati>>Kiranti
Kirantis are the same non-Vedic tribes called Kiratas in Veda and many other ancient works such as Purano, Ramayana and Mahabharata epic.
Here's some of the work i have come across through my studies on these group. Only after studying the aboriginal tribes you would understand the roots of Hinduism better.

I have define Hinduism as below.

Hinduism =pre-vedic religion(aboriginal) + Vedic religion

Please note that the term Hinduism itself is a new word coined by scholars in about 19th century to differentiate all the religious practices in India that was different from Islam. Veda never said it was going to be call Hinduism.

Some definition of Hinduism are

Hinduism is the oldest world religion and began in North India. It was founded by a blend of conquered people of Indus and Aryan beliefs. It is a polytheistic religion.

Here's some short excerpt from scholars.

The religion of most of the ancient communities of the Central Himalaya was primarily based on the superstitious beliefs and was connected with the practice of sorcery,exorcism, and magic. The tree worship, the worship of Mother-Goddess and Chandika Devi, snake worship, stone worship in the form of linga or the cult of phallus, held very important place among the ethnic communities in ancient India. The aborigines of the mountain tribes of the country, who had not come into contacts with Brahmin's revered an invisible supreme spirit, various other evil spirits, minor deities.., etc the practice which still survives.

Shaivism:

Shiva, generally considered a non-aryan deity, secured a prominent place among the Kiratas.

It can be roughly asserted that Shiva-worship might have begun among the Kiratas in the mountainous regions of the Himalaya in pre-Vedic times, before the advent of aryans. Shaivism, in some form, was the prevailing religion of the aboriginal Kiratas.

On the basics of an episode described in the Mahabharata, as well as in the Kiratarjuniyam(Shiva in a form of Kirat fight against Arjun), of Bharavi, the Kirata may be identified with Shiva, and it may be suggested that Shiva was their popular deity.

Romila Thapar, while supporting this literary evidence, also has admitted that in all likelihood the Kiratas were the worshippers of Shiva. The assertion that Shiva, the god of the Himalayan mountain, was worshiped by the non-Vedic kiratas, can be proved in many ways. Some of the foreign scholars have also consolidated the concept that Shiva was a patron god of the aboriginals. Megasthenes has also referred to the two Indian deities-- Dionysus(identified with Shiva) and Herakles (identified with Krishna). The former was worshiped as the highest gods on the mountains and the latter was adored in the plains.Thus it is clear that the practice of worshiping Shiva might have begun much earlier to the Christian era, even though the Kiratas did not call themselves Shaivas.

Chandrapida, the prince of Ujjian, in course of his expedition against the Kiratas and the kindred tribes, inhabiting the vast tract of forest extending beyond Suvarnapura, as far as the mountain Kailash(the abode of Shiva) in Tibet, saw both the Shiva temple and a cave in its southern direction, as recorded by Banabhatta in his Kadambari.

That is a definite indication of Shiva worship in the Kirata region of the northern Himalaya. The concept of Shiva worship originally flourished among primitive tribes, living in the hills and forests --the Vratyas, the Nisadas, and other non-aryan. ~ Ancient communities of the Himalaya by Dinesh Prasad Saklani

"The clear conception of Siva arose in the Upanisadic age. Siva as been, for the first time, explicitly mentioned as the Aryan god in the Svetasvatara Upanisad in the background of Yoni-Linga relationship. There was never mention of Siva as Aryan god in Rig Veda, the oldest text of Aryan". From here it can be ascertain that Siva was worshiped by the aboriginal Kirata before the advent of Aryan. ~Tribal roots of Hinduism By Shiv Kumar Tiwari

The Aryan incorporated Sivaism which was the religion of the aboriginal Kirat people into Vedic religion and also other religion sects as given by scholars below;

According to "The Indo-Aryans of ancient South Asia" By George Erdosy, the primitive Saivisim, Vaishnavism, Sankhya and Yoga which are the four corner stone of modern Hinduism was recognized as non-vedic by the orthodox exponent of the Vedism in the early periods.

Kiratas along with other tribes non-conforming to Vedic teachings was classified as Mleccha(babarians) in many early texts, in a sense that they were destroyers of Aryan. Hence the Siva was name as destroyer in the Hindu Trinity. ~ G.P Singh (The Kiratas in Ancient India, 1990)

"When the Aryan found that their gods like Agni, Indra, Varun etc. were loosing popularity and people did not worshiped the gods which they brought, rather they were worshiping Subra(Siva)and following Saivisim, then they placed Sibarai worshiping under banned. At first the Aryanised conquerers held this religion (Saivism) in disdain and placed in under a ban. But it did not helped; ultimately peoples over come such banned and Saivism continued to strive among the aborigines. At the same time to secure easy recognition by the aboriginal people, they placed Siva into Hindu pantheon".

~ Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization By John Marshall, John Hubert Marshall Sir

Until you study the Kirat people, you won't understand the root of Hinduism or the early civilizations in India. Many books written about India and Indian civilizations are biased because many do not cover the aspects of the aboriginal tribes. (very true thing written by the author, actually the elite class had actuaaly ignore the other communities and always try to relate to tmeselves) Though many scholars have studied about Kiratas, these group are still unknown to the world because lack of much publications and largely because the Kirat people live in Nepal where the Brahmin's government have all sort of censorship and control for the past 250 years after coming to the power.

Million thanks to: http://rootsofshaivism-kiratas.blogspot.com/2009/06/roots-of-kiratas-shaivism.html

As I was going through this book History of Nepal, the thing I have realized is that the Nepalese history is entirely limited to kathmandu valley, you wont find the names of place outside valley there could be two possible reason for it one may be this literature writer didnt have much knowledge about the area outside valley or there may be nothing special about them.

The only name of places out side valley I have found in history books are palpa, nuwakot, bayise-chaubise rajya, however there is only name mention, not a little detail I have found on this rajyas. One of the reason being may be the lack of written history regarding these rajyas or if there is any destroyed by so called elite Nepalese history writters.

Again the history of Nepal (rather say kathmandu) thry have tried to create in this book is mix of myths and reality and keeping themselves in superior position. One thing I want to mention here is that the book mention the Hindu Trinity Gods Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva as just gods or tried to compare them with local dieties according to them its a God called Lokeshwara who created them and also in one of the page its also mentioned that Brahma was swipping road from where Lokeshwara  was supposed to pass. However, according to hindu belief they are self made. Again in this book they have tried to put that Hindu gods are originated from Buddhist gods. And I really want to praised the original author or myth maker by way he tried to relate Buddhism and Hinduism.

The thing I am trying to put forward is that the these so called history writers are the one who actually wrote the history they want or their raja want and whom they want to cater or impress.

The same thing is applicable with Magar beliefs. My personal opinion is that Magars are worshippers of nature. Again when these Brahmans come to Nepal to incorporate Magar into Hinduism they have relate their god or folk tale with the Magar beliefs. This actually how it works either you made them what you believe or they dont follow incorporate their belif in your believe.