Kiratas of Nepal: Shambhasura and Banasura

January 3, 2009

Nepali Asuras moved from Sindhu to Himachal Pradesh to Nepal and to Assam as per the article in the link quoted below. They were mixed with Mongols and were called Kiratas. In Indian literature, the word Kirata is often used to mean cruel. The Mahabharata does have an incident in which Arjuna fights with Mahadeva disguised as a Kirata. The article in the link says that he was not Shiva but an actual Kirata. It also states that Narakasura and Ekalavya are Kiratas., which is not our perception. It states how the Yadavas (Krishna’s clan) defeated the Kiratas and ruled Nepal.

Notes from : http://www.limbulibrary.com.np/pdf/HISTORY%20&%20CULTURE-Iman.pdfkiratahistory

As per the article in the link above., (the data has not been verified by me, only quoted)

1. Shambhasura was a Kirata who was defeated on the banks of the Sindhu  and moved to the Kinnara Land of Himachal Pradesh. The Mongols mixed with the Kiratas and moved East to Nepal eventually.
2. At the time of the Mahabharata, the first Kirat king who ruled central Nepal was Banasura. His kingdom was conquered by a king whose name was Bhuktaman of Krishna’s dynasty (Yadavas). The Kirat folk-lore mentions that when Krishna came to know about the establishment of a Kirat rule in central Nepal, he sent a strong force of the Yadava tribe under the command of Bhuktaman to conquer the kingdom of Banasura.
3. Yadava dynasty ruled central Nepal for eight generations. Their capital was at Tistung situated to the west of the Kathmandu Valley.
4. During the time of king Bhuvansingh of the same dynasty, a Kirat king of eastern Nepal whose name was Yalamba, attacked him and slew him in the battle. The jurisdiction of Central Nepal in those days was from river Trisuli in the west to river Tamba Koshi in the east and from Chitlang in the south to the snow line mountain ranges in the north. When Yalamba, the Kirat king conquered Central Nepal, his kingdom extended from river Tista of Bhutan to river Trisuli in the west. The capital town of the Kirat king Yalamba was Yalung in the east; but when he conquered Central Nepal he shifted his capital from Yalung to Thankot.
5.  After a successful reign of ninety years, King Yalamba died and his son Palamba succeeded him. He built a town near Thankot and called it Suprabha and gave himself the title of Kiratashur  (Kiratishur).

Why children make good Indians

December 2, 2008

The art of being a good Indian, is to know when to use your sound judgment and when to suspend it.

You use your good judgement when studying how to make an aeroplane and you suspend it when you read Harry Potter. That is what good Indians do.

Indians can know perfectly well that there is a black hole at the center of the galaxy, and then feel thrilled that they are looking at Sri Vishnu when they face it. They would never call it a monster. We have lots of stories and customs (like the Karthika and Dhanur Masa Vratams) that help us remember exactly when the Sun is aligned with the Moola Nakshatram, which points to the galactic centre. And then we bow to it.

Indians can make a spacecraft or a computer and put a bottu on it and do pooja on Ayudha Pooja day.

We can know what we can see and we can trust wholly in what we cannot see.

We know that Sri Rama, lived and walked and married and died, and we know that He can protect our children and our lives and homes if we say Sri Rama Raksha, even now.