Eminent Vedic Scholar Dr

Eminent Vedic Scholar Dr.Fatah Singh is no more. Dr.Fatah Singh an eminent Vedic Scholar and an expert known for decipherment of Indus Valley seals passed away at his native place Pilibheet (U.P) on 5th February, 2008. He was 96. After having completed his intermediate from Pilibheet, he moved to Banaras Hindu University for further studies and obtained his D.Lit in Sanskrit literature. His D.Lit thesis were on "Quest into the Mistries of Vak" For many years he taught literature in various colleges of Rajasthan where he also later held the post of Principal. In view of his outstanding contribution to Vedic literature,, he was offered directorship of Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute. During this period, he was able to decipher nearly 500 seals of Indus Valley. His research revealed that the seals contained thoughts of the Vedas and Upanishads and accordingly he exploded the myth of aryan migration theory. He opined that Indus Valley civilization is an All India Civilization as the script found on indus seals is also available on punch-marked coins which have been discovered almost in every part of the country. INDUS SEALS Of the four scripts which he found on indus seals, one is akin to Armenian and Roman script. Several symbols are based on characters of this script. One of them is a monogram composed of O and M. It is om of the Vedas discovered on punch-marked coins and on one of the Indus seals with a peepal tree. The reverse of it is Mo which is found on the Ahura Mazdas's picture of 500 B.C. This corresponds to 'Mo' of the Vedas and signifies the 'ascent of the human consciousness' towards om. Closely associated with 'M' is the U-shaped symbol, found on many Indus seals, punch marked coins and on the picture of Ahur Mazda. It is also found on the sacred Bodhi-Briksha of Buddhists. In the background of all these symbols is Yoga. There are three Indus seals, having the images of a yogi. According to Dr.Fatah Singh, it is absolutely wrong to say that yoga was not Vedic. The Vedas know different kinds of Yoga. The most important is jisnu yoga (jin yoga in Prakrit). It is five fold corresponding to five parmeshthis of Jainism. Equally wrong is the view that the worship of mother goddess was unknown to Vedic people. The evidence of Shiva worship in the Indus Valley relics does not mean that Indus Culture was non-Vedic as there is ample proof in the ancient texts that Shiva was highly adored by Vedic people. Indus Culture is an integral part of that very All India Culture which serves as the basis not only of Vedic Jain & Buddhist traditions but also of ancient Iranian tradition. Vedic Interpretation Following the ancient approach and metholdology of Yaskacharya for interpretation of the Vedas ( which was strongly supported and propaged in recent times by , Swami Dayananda Saraswati and Sri Aurobindo), Dr.Fatah Singh's research also concluded that the language of the Vedas was highly symbolic and figurative. Vedic hymns having multi dimensional meanings should be interpreted with reference to the context. He opined that the tendancy to do the literal translation of vedic hymns has had a demaging effect as far as proper understanding of the ancient texts was concerned. As a result of this tendancy, many of the scholars/archeologists are unable to free themselves of the prejudices which they inherrited from some of the imperialist scholars whose sole aim was to disrupt the Indian society as a whole and run down its ancient culture. Dr.Fatah Singh felt that on account of this unreasonable approach adopted especially by some archeologists/scholars of the last two centuries, lot of confusion and mis-conceptions still persist with regard to the Vedic texts. . Dr.Fatah Singh and Global Unity of Man kind Dr.Fatah Singh while he was a student of class V, his teacher mentioned that Swami Dayananda Saraswati's contribution to the Vedas had been significant, however his Vedic project remained incomplete due to his untimely demise. Dr.Fatah Singh assured his teacher that he was willing to complete Dayananda's mission. He fulfilled his childhood's dream by putting his heart and soul in the study of Vedic literature. Apart from his books and articles on decipherment of indus seals, he authored several books on vedic philosophy, lore and thought. Dr.Fatah Singh wrote several papers on global unity of mankind and he often quoted the French savant Rene guena who said "there is one universal and uniform tradition of mankind and the same is well preserved in the Vedic texts of India." His paper "Towards Universal Manhood" which he read in an International Conference in Germany was well acclaimed. Demise of a Karmayogi With the demise of Dr.Fatah Singh, the country has lost not only a distinguished scholar but also a noble soul, a karma yogi who was a fine example of sincerity, His passing away is an irreparable loss for his students, fans and admirers who will miss his generosity and guidance. Dr.Fatah Singh was a great patriot and an ardent devotee at the feet of Mother India. He is no more, but his vision, his grace, his progressive Vedic approach and the saga of his life shall be a source of inspiration for lots and lots of people..

( Y.K. Wadhwa )