Vedik China & Japan & Korea

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Vedik China & Japan & Korea

A Link Between Hindu Gods and Japan

Source: Japan Times Newspaper

 

TOKYO, JAPAN, April 10, 2002: An exhibition called "Gods Derived From

India to Japan" is showing at the Okura Shukokan Museum of Fine Arts

until May 26. The story behind the showing is a fascinating one. It

all started 51 years ago when Toshio Yamanouchi's job took him to

India as general manager for an iron importer company. His passion

for religious art took him all across the country and in twenty-five

years he built up his collection. In northern Uttar Pradesh, he

discovered a miniature painting of "Govardhana Krishna." In Madhya

Pradesh, he purchased a 18th century three-headed Ganesha made of

ivory. A sandalwood Saraswati was found in the NW state of Rajasthan.

Yamanouchi's entire collection, which he has donated to the Okura

Shukokan Museum of Fine Arts, consists of 350 statues, sculptures,

reliefs and paintings. Seventy of these pieces are part of the

present exhibition. Indian law would now prohibit the export of any

historical object more than 100 years old. This law was passed in the

early 70's. However, by this time, the collection had already been

brought back to Japan. Diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of

73, Yamanouchi chose to utilize what he thought might be his final

years to write three books about how India and Japan are bound by

their roots in Hinduism and Buddhism. The article says, "Yamanouchi

identifies Benzaiten, the Japanese goddess of good fortune, with

Saraswati; Seiten of the Jogan Period with Ganesha; and Enma, the

Japanese lord of hell, with his Indian counterpart Yama."

Interestingly, Yamanouchi was fascinated with the Hindu gods that he

saw during weekly visits to Buddhist temples when he was a young boy.

He recalls, "My parents were very religious. I saw many Buddhas at

the temples, but I also noticed many Indian Gods protecting the

central Buddha figure."

 

Courtesy of http://www.HinduismToday.com/

 

.......the controvertial Indian writer PN Oak (of Vedik World Heritage

fame) writes:

Japan's basic religion is Shintoism. This word Shintoism is just a

mispronunciation of Sindhuism or Hinduism. The Shinto shrines are

full of Vedic deities but it is difficult for the outsiders to

recognise them because of their distorted names. Kali-devi is

pronounced as Kariteimo. Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated in Japan in

the same way as in India but they call Sri Hanuman as Hanumatsri. The

mantras recited in the Shinto shrines are in Sanskrit. The sumo

wrestlers start their fight after uttering the word Om. Japanese pay

homage to Lord Ganesh but call him Kangijen. Japanese like to call

their country Nippon which is nothing but the Sanskrit word Nippun,

meaning dexterous**. Some time ago the Japanese postal department

issued a stamp depicting Lord Krishna playing the flute. The Japanese

cremate their dead as per Vedic practice. Elaborate chants beginning

with Om consecrate the memory of the dead.

So, Vedic influence is quite strong in the Japanese culture, but

Japanese tend to impart their own slant (no pun intended) to every

thing which they borrow from outside.

 

The use of the phonetic word Nippon/nipun is shown here:

 

Srila Mädhavendra Puri Goswami said:

mugdham mäm nigadantu niti-nipunä bhräntam muhur vaidikäh

mandam bändhava-sanchayä jata-dhiyam muktädaräh sodaräh

unmattam dhanino viveka-chaturäh kämam mahä-dämbhikam

moktum na kshämate manäg api mano govinda-päda-sprihäm

 

"Let the sharp moralist accuse me of being illusioned; I do not mind.

Experts in Vedic activities may slander me as being misled, friends

and relatives may call me frustrated, my brothers may call me a fool,

the wealthy mammonites may point me out as mad, and the learned

philosophers may assert that I am much too proud; still my mind does

not budge an inch from the determination to serve the lotus feet of

Govinda, though I be unable to do it."

 

nänä-shästra-vicäranaika-nipunau sad-dharma-samsthäpakau

lokänäm hita-kärinau tri-bhuvane mänyau sharanyäkarau

rädhä-krsna-padäravinda-bhajanänandena mattälikau

vande rüpa-sanätanau raghu-yugau shri-jiva-gopälakau

 

"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvämis, namely Shri

Sanätana Gosvämi, Shri Rüpa Gosvämi, Shri Raghunätha Bhatta Gosvämi,

Shri Raghunätha däsa Gosvämi, Shri Jiva Gosvämi and Shri Gopäla

Bhatta Gosvämi, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all

the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal

religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus they

are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking

shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopés and are

engaged in the transcendental loving service of Rädhä and Krishna."

 

 

 

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Did the Chinese and Japanese once read the Mahabharatha?

 

Did the Chinese and Japanese once read the Mahabharatha? I am amazed

by the similiarities of the story of King Sibbi mentioned in the

Mahabharatha, Chinese folklore and Japanese folklore. Here are the

three versions... To me they seem to have the same source..

 

Mahabharta:-

 

King Sibbi was the son of Ushinar and belonged to the Ikshavaku

lineage. Once King Sibbi decided to conduct a grand Yagna. All the

those who came to the Yagna had all their wishes fulfilled. King

Sibbi would not turn down any request. Even the Gods were speaking of

this great sacrifice conducted by Sibbi. The King of the Gods Indira

and Agni decided to test Sibbi's worth. So Indira took the shape of a

Falcon and Agni the shape of a dove and flew towards the sacrifice,

with the falcon chasing the dove.

 

The dove flew towards King Sibbi and sat on his lap trembling in

fear. The sight of the dove brought compassion to the heart of King

Sibbi and so he assumed a protective stance. The falcon suddenly

spoke in a human voice 'O king you fame is well known throughout the

three worlds for your adherance to Dharma. It is my dharma to kill

and provide food for my family and myself. Why do you obstruct me

from performing Dharma despite having such a reputation for clinging

on to Dharma?'

 

The King was startled on hearing this. But he thought for a while and

replied 'It is also my Dharma to protect anyone who is weaker than me

and seeks my protection. This dove has choosen refuge under me, so it

is my duty to protect it with my life.' But the falcon replied 'But

King Sibbi, is it also not your duty to maintain Dharma in your

Kingdom. If you insist on protecting that bird, then you must give me

something other food, without causing suffering' King Sibbi

replied 'Ok I will cut a piece of flesh from my own thigh equal to

the weight of the dove as food for you'

 

King Sibbi began to cut a piece of flesh from his won tigh, but to

his amazement the bird seemed to be much heavier than anticipated. He

cut more and more flesh, but to no avail. His left side of the body

had so little flesh he almost fell of balance. But struglling back to

the ground he then climbed on the scale and offered himself as a

sacrifice in order to uphold Dharma. Immediately the dove and falcon

assumed their true shape and gave Sibbi Rana his body back with even

more lusture than before.

 

Chinese Version:-

 

There are two versions. One version is ditto the same. Only the

pronouncitions are different. For ex. Sibbi is prounced as Shibbi

(strong empasis on the h) etc. The other version is from the

Jatakamala. In this story Indira dressed as a blind person approaches

King Sibbi requesting for eye-sight. King Sibbi pierces his own eyes

and gives them to the blind man asking him to use it to retain his

eye-sight.

 

Japanese Version:-

 

King Shibi is believed to be a previous incarnation of Shakyamuni

Buddha. In this story a heavenly being named Bishamon approaches the

God Taishaku and tells him 'There is a great Bodhisattva named King

Shibi. Soon he will become a Buddha.' On hearing this Taishaku

decides to test to test the sincerity of the King's practice in

pursuing enlightenment. He transforms himself into a hawk and

instructs Bishamon to take on the appearance of a dove.

 

Chased after by the hawk, the dove to escapes and flies into the arms

of King Shibi. Perched on the branch of a tree, the hawk says to the

King, "Please let me have the dove back. It is what I have been

trying to get." King Shibbi replies, "No, I can't because I have

vowed to protect all living things. I cannot return it to you."

 

The hawk then points out , "I am one of the living things that you

have vowed to save. If you take away my food for today, I will be

unable to live tomorrow."

 

The King then offers to cut off a piece of his own flesh and gave it

to the hawk. As the King proceeded to cut his own flesh, the hawk

measures it using a balance and found the dove to be consistently

heavier than the muscle of the King. No matter how much muscle was

added, the weight was lighter than the total weight of the dove.

Finally, the King cuts all the flesh off of his body.

 

The King tries desperately to put his entire body on the balance, but

falls to the ground. He then exclaimes, "I once made a pledge to save

all living beings! I cannot let such minor sufferings defeat me!"

 

At last he successfully climbes onto the balance. Watching the entire

scene, all the heavenly beings praise the King saying, "He did not

begrudge his life, even for a bird. He is a person who best suits the

title of Bodhisattva.

 

Suddenly, Taishaku casts off his disguised figure as a hawk and

regaines his original appearance. He says to the King, "Don't you

have any pain or regret?" The King replies, "I have no regrets

whatsoever. My heart is rather full of joy."

 

No sooner did the King utter these words than did his body change

back into what it used to be.

 

>From http://pub6.ezboard.com/ubhismapitamaha.showPublicProfile?

language=EN

 

 

 

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Koreans Search for Roots in Ayodhya

Source: Vinay Krishna Rastogi, Lucknow

AYODHYA : A high-power delegation from South Korea visited Ayodhya to

revive two millennia-old ties with the temple town. The South Koreans

discovered that a Princess of Ayodhya was married to Korean King Suro

in the first century CE. Suro was the King of Kimhay kingdom or the

present Korea. The Princess was married to the Korean King at the age

of 16. The Koreans believe that the Princess was the mother of the

descendants who unified various Korean kingdoms in the 7th century

CE. Since the first century CE her descendants prospered and became

the largest clan in Korea, known as the Karak, whose members had been

highly distinguished people. The present President of South Korea Kim

Dae-Jung believes that he is also a descendant of the Great Princess

of Ayodhya. She is regarded as the most blessed queen of Korea in the

last 2,000 years, and Koreans believe that this could be due to the

religious significance of the great temple city of Ayodhya where Lord

Rama was born. The Counsel General of Korea said "I hope historians

will be able to learn more about this great ancient Hindu city." He

urged the ex-Raja of Ayodhya BPN Misra to strengthen the cultural

ties between Ayodhya and South Korea.

 

 

CE = Christian Era

Karak = means lord or ruler

 

 

 

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Tue, 13 Aug 2002 23:39:32 -0000

Susharma

Bharat's influence on Japan

Bharat's (India's) influence on Japan

 

Hinduism and Buddhism went from India to China and Korea to Japan.

Images of Ganesha and Vishnu have been found throughout Japan.

Numerous Buddhist deities were introduced into Japan and many of

these are still very popular.

 

According to D. P. Singhal, "some Hindu gods, who had been

incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon, were amongst them. For

example, Indra, originally, the god of thunder but now also the king

of gods, is popular in Japan as Taishaku (literally the great King

Sakra); Ganesha is worshipped as Sho-ten or Shoden (literally, holy

god) in many Buddhist temples, and is believed to confer happiness

upon his devotees. A sea-serpent worshipped by sailors is called

Ryujin, a Chinese equivalent of the Indian naga. Hariti and Dakini

are also worshipped, the former as Kishimo-jin, and the latter by her

original name. Bishamon is a Japanese equivalent of the Indian

Vaisravana (Kubera), the god of wealth.

 

Even Shinto adopted Indian gods, despite its desperate efforts after

the Meiji Revolution to disengage itself from Buddhism. The Indian

sea god Varuna, is worshipped in Tokyo as Sui-ten (water-god); the

Indian goddess of learning, Saraswati, has become Benten (literally,

goddess of speech), with many shrines dedicated to her along sea

coasts and beside lakes and ponds. Shiva is well known to the

Japanese as Daikoku (literally, god of darkness), which is a Chinese

and Japanese equivalent of the Indian Mahakala, another name of

Shiva. Daikoku is a popular god in Japan. At the Kotohira shrine on

the island of Shikoku, sailors worship a god called Kompera, which is

a corruption of the Sanskrit word for crocodile, Kumbhira. The divine

architect mentioned in the Rig Veda, Vishvakarma, who designed and

constructed the world, was regarded in ancient Japan as the god of

carpenters, Bishukatsuma. The Indian Yama, the god of death, is the

most dreaded god of Japan, under the name of Emma-o, the king of

hell.

 

According to author Donald A. Mackenzie: "The Indian form of myth of

the Churning of the Milky Ocean reached Japan. In a Japanese

illustration of it the mountain rests on a tortoise, and the supreme

god sits on the summit, grasping in one of his hands a water vase.

The Japanese Shinto myth of creation, as related in the Ko-ji-ki and

Nihon-gi, is likewise a churning myth. Twin deities, Izanagi, the

god, and Izanami, the goddess, sand on "the floating bridge of

heaven" and thrust into the ocean beneath the "Jewel Spear of

Heaven". With this pestle they churn the primeval waters until they

curdle and form land."

 

(source: Myths of Pre-Columbian America - By Donald A. Mackenzie

p.190-191).

 

The climbers wearing traditional white dress, who scale the sacred

Mount Ontake as a religious observance, sometimes have inscribed on

their robe Sanskrit Siddham characters of an ancient type. Sometimes

they put on white Japanese scarfs (tenugui) which carry the Sanskrit

character OM, the sacred syllable of the Hindus.

 

According to Terence Dukes, "The Gagaku dances of Japan contain many

movements derived from the Indian Nata and the Chinese Chuan Fa."

 

(source: The Boddhisattva Warriors: The Origin, Inner Philosophy,

History and Symbolism of the Buddhist Martial Art Within India and

China p.206).

 

The cultivation of cotton in Japan is traced to an Indian who had

drifted to the shore of Aichi Prefecture in 799. To commemorate the

event, the Japanese named the village where the shipwrecked Indian

had landed Tenjiku; Tenjiku was the Japanese name for India, and

means Heaven.

 

The popular Japanese game of sunoroku or sugoroku (backgammon played

at the royal of the Nara rulers and still popular in Japan is of

Indian origin. In Japan the game is played as nard. Nard is generally

regarded as an Iranian game, but the ninth century Arab scholar, Al

Yaqubi, considered nard an Indian invention used to illustrate man's

dependence on chance and destiny. According to Wei-Shu, sugoroku was

brought to China in ancient times from Hu country, which at that time

meant a country somewhere in the vicinity of India. Again, as Karl

Himly has pointed out, the Hun Tsun, Sii, written during the Sung

period (960-1279), states that t'shu-pu, another Chinese name for

sugoruku, was invented in western India, that it was known in its

original form as chatushpada, and that it reached China during the

Wei period (220-265).

 

There is some Indian influence on Japanese art. A similarity between

Shinto rituals and Hindu rituals (for example ringing the bell as

one enters the temple). Narushima (Narasimha) Bishamondo is a famous

temple in Japan.

 

(source: India and World Civilization - Dr. D. P. Singhal).

 

The influence of Indian thought and culture on Japan was very great.

Maurice Winternitz, while reviewing Geschichte der Japanischen

Literature, says:

 

"In view of so much Indian influence in Japanese literature, it is

possible to assume that the 'Keuyogen' or double meaning of Japanese

poetry may in any way be connected with that form of Alankara of the

Indian Kavya, which is exactly in the same method."

 

The distinguished Japanese scholar, Mr. J. Taka Kusu, says: " But I

should like to emphasize the fact that the influence of India,

material and intellectual, must have been much greater in an earlier

period than we at present consider to have been the case. There were,

for instance, several Indians, whom the Kuroshiwo current, washing

almost the whole southern coast, brought to the Japanese shore." He

further says, " It cannot be denied that several Indians came to

Japan, especially in view of so many Indians finding their way to

China by sea."

 

He then relates how a Brahmin Bodhisen Bharadvaja, known generally as

the "Brahmin Bishop" came with another priest from India via Champa

(Cochin China) to Osaka, then to Nara, where they met another Indian

ascetic and taught Sanskrit to the Japanese. "His monastery and

tombstone, with a written eulogy, still exist in Nara. Just at the

time a Japanese alphabet or syllables is said to have been invented.

The fifty syllables, Gojuin, are arranged by a hand, evidently with a

practical knowledge of Sanskrit method."

 

(source: Journal of Royal Asiatic Society for 1905, p. 872-873).

 

The official record of Japan, Nihon-ki and Ruijukokushi describe how

cotton was introduced in Japan by two Indians who reached Japan in

July 799 and April 800 A.D.

 

(For more refer to Vide Dr. Taka Kusu's "What Japan owes to India"

in the Journal of the Indo-Japanese Association for January, 1910).

 

It is noteworthy that some of the scriptures of the Japanese priests

preserved in the Horyuji Temple of Japan are written in Bengali

characters of the eleventh century.

 

(source: Daito Shimaji's " India an Japan in Ancient Times," in the

Journal of Indo-Japanese Association for January 1910).

---

 

Common Terms: Sanskrit/Chinese/Japanese

 

Archarya - Master Achali Ajari

Dharma - Law FA Ho

Pratima - movement warrior techniques of the Hindu ksatreyas Hsing

Kata

Sunyatapani - Tang-Shou Karate/To De

Dharmahasta Chuan Fe Kempo

Marga - The Way Tao Do

Guhya-Sutra Mi-Ching Mikkyo

Nagarjuna Lung Shu Ryuju/Ryusho/Ryumyo

Mudra - ritual gesture Yin In

Mandala a special zone or area Mantolo Mandara

Vajramukti Ching Kang, Chieh T'o Kongogedastsu

Sangha - congregation or group followers Seng So

Narya - strong or manly Na-Li Nara, Naha

Nata Na-Pa, Na-Ra Nara, Napa, Nafa

Yoga - to yoke Yui Cha Yu Ga

 

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[world-vedic] Digest Number 397

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