तों सम कौन कुटिल खल कामी
२
उत्तरकांड
कृपया इसका अवलोकन इससे ठीक पहले पोस्ट किए गए लेख को पढ़ने के बाद ही करें।
मैक्समुलर द्वारा ‘इंडिया : ह्वाट कैन इट टीच अस’ के अध्याय दो पृ.५२-९४ से (पूरी पुस्तक इंटरनेट पर सुलंभ है) कुछ उद्धरण।
Let me read you what Sir John Malcolm says about the diversity of character to be observed by any one who has eyes to observe, among the different races whom we promiscuously call Hindus, and whom we promiscuously condemn as Hindus. After describing the people of Bengal as weak in body and timid in mind, and those below Calcutta as the lowest of our Hindu subjects, both in character and appearance, he continues: “But from the moment you enter the district of Behar, the Hindu inhabitants are a race of men, generally speaking, not more
distinguished by their lofty stature and robust frame than they are for some of the finest qualities of the mind. They are brave, generous, humane, and their truth is as remarkable as their courage.”
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Let me read you what he, Professor Wilson, says of his native friends,
associates, and servants:
“I lived, both from necessity and choice, very much among the Hindus,
and had opportunities of becoming acquainted with them in a greater
variety of situations than those in which they usually come under the
observation of Europeans. In the Calcutta mint, for instance, I was in
daily personal communication with a numerous body of artificers,
mechanics, and laborers, and always found among them cheerful and
unwearied industry, good-humored compliance with the will of their superiors, [58]and a readiness to make whatever exertions were demanded from them; there was among them no drunkenness, no disorderly conduct, no insubordination. It would not be true to say that there was no dishonesty, but it was comparatively rare, invariably petty, and much less formidable than, I believe, it is necessary to guard against in other mints in other countries. There was considerable skill and ready docility. So far from there being any servility, there was extreme frankness, and I should say that where there is confidence without fear, frankness is one of the most universal features in the Indian character. Let the people feel sure of the temper and good-will of their superiors, and there is an end of reserve and timidity, without the slightest departure from respect….”
यहां तक कि भारत के आदिम जनों में भी जिनमें से कुछ को अंग्रेजों ने अपराधी प्रवृत्ति का घोषित कर दिया, स्लीमन का निम्न अंश द्रष्टव्य है:
Of these men it might perhaps be said that they have not yet learned the value of a lie; yet even such blissful ignorance ought to count in a nation’s character. But I am not pleading here for Gonds, or Bhils, or Santhals, and other non-Aryan tribes. I am speaking of the Aryan and more or less civilized inhabitants of India. Now among them, where rights, duties, and interests begin to clash in one and the same village, public opinion, in its limited sphere, seems strong enough to deter even an evil-disposed person from telling a falsehood. The fear of the gods also has not yet lost its power.In most villages there is a sacred tree, a pipal-tree (Ficus Indica), and the gods are supposed to delight to sit among its leaves, and listen to the music of their rustling. The deponent takes one of these leaves in
his hand, and invokes the god, who sits above him, to crush him, or those dear to him, as he crushes the leaf in his hand, if he speaks anything but the truth. He then plucks and crushes the leaf, and states what he has to say.
भारतीय समाज मन्दिरों वाला समाज नहीं रहा। ये नगरों तक सीमित थे। यह आस्था और विश्वास के तारों से जुड़ा समाज रहा है:
The pipal-tree is generally supposed to be occupied by one of the Hin du deities, while the large cotton-tree, particularly among the wilder tribes, is supposed to be the abode of local gods, all the more terrible because entrusted with the police of a small settlement only. In their puncháyets, Sleeman tells us, men adhere habitually and religiously to the truth, and “I have had before me hundreds of cases,” he says, “in which a man’s property, liberty, and life has
depended upon his telling a lie, and he has refused to tell it.”
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मैक्समूलर आगे बढ़ते हैं:
If we turn to the accounts given by the Mohammedan conqueror of India, we find Idrisi, in his Geography (written in the eleventh century), summing up their opinion of the Indians in the following words:
“The Indians are naturally inclined to justice, and never depart from it in their actions. Their good faith, honesty, and fidelity to their engagements are well known, and they are so famous for these qualities that people flock to their country from every side.”
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Again, in the thirteenth century, Shems-ed-din Abu Abdallah quotes the following judgment of Bedi ezr Zenân: “The Indians are innumerable, लike grains of sand, free from all deceit and violence. They fear neither death nor life.”
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In the thirteenth century we have the testimony of Marco Polo,[48]who speaks of the Abraiaman, a name by which he seems to mean the Brahmans who, though, not traders by profession, might well have been employed for great commercial transactions by the king. This was particularly the case during times which the Brahmans would call times of distress, when many things were allowed which at other times were forbidden by the laws. “You must know,” Marco Polo says, “that these Abraiaman are the best merchants in the world, and the most truthful, for they would not tell a lie for anything on earth.”
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In the fourteenth century we have Friar Jordanus, who goes out of his way to tell us that the people of Lesser India (South and Western India) are true in speech and eminent in justice.
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In the fifteenth century, Kamal-eddin Abd-errazak Samarkandi (1413-1482), who went as ambassador of the Khakan to the prince of K alikut and to the King of Vidyânagara (about 1440-1445), bears testimony to the perfect security which merchants enjoy in that country.
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In the sixteenth century, Abu Fazl, the minister of the Emperor Akbar, says in his Ayin Akbari: “The Hindus are religious, affable, cheerful, lovers of justice, given to retirement, able in business, admirers of truth, grateful and of unbounded fidelity; and their soldiers know not what it is to fly from the field of battle.”[51]
Warren Hastings thus speaks of the Hindus in general: “They are gentle and benevolent, more susceptible of gratitude for kindness shown them, and less prompted to vengeance for wrongs inflicted than any people on the face of the earth; faithful, affectionate, submissive to legal authority.”
Bishop Heber said: “The Hindus are brave, courteous, intelligent, most eager for knowledge and improvement; sober, industrious, dutiful to parents, affectionate to their children, uniformly gentle and patient, and more easily affected by kindness and attention to their wants and feelings than any people I ever met with.”
Elphinstone states: “No set of people among the Hindus are so depraved as the dregs of our own great towns. The villagers are everywhere amiable, affectionate to their families, kind to their neighbors, and toward all but the government honest and sincere. Including the Thugs and Dacoits, the mass of crime is less in India than in England. The Thugs are almost a separate nation, and the Dacoits are desperate ruffians in gangs. The Hindus are mild and gentle people, more
merciful to prisoners than any other Asiatics. Their freedom from gross debauchery is the point in which they appear to most advantage; and their superiority in purity of manners is not flattering to our self-esteem.”