The book "Majma-ul-Bahrain"
(published 1654-55) by Prince Dara Shikoh, eldest son of Shahjahan and
heir apparent. It has been translated as "The Mingling of the
Oceans"/"Sagar Sangam". The book is a comparative treatise and aimed to
identify the common threads and unifying aspects of Hinduism and Islam.
An important disclaimer is that the book does not deal with Islam or
Hinduism as whole, but is restricted to Sufi traditions within Islam and
Vedantic/Upanishadic traditions within Hinduism. The comparative
commentary between the central pillar of Islam "Tawwhid" (non-duality of
God) and Advaitwaad of Upanishads on the one hand , and the concept of
"Fanaa" (annihilation of self in the universal being) in Sufism and
"Yog" (merging of Aatmaa with Paramaatma) on the other hand, makes for
an interesting and enlightening reading.
Dara Shikhoh was known to have an artistic temperament and was tutored by some of the best scholars of his time most notable amongst them being Mian Mir, a Sufi saint of the Qadriya silisila (who by some accounts is said to have laid the foundation of The Golden Temple on the request of Guru Arjan Dev).
Dara’s quest for knowledge took him to different places and he spent significant time in Kashi and Braj interacting with local pundits on the topics of god, unity of soul. Unlike colonial Indophiles, who mastered Sanskrit so that they could condemn the texts credibly, Dara learned the language while in Kashi in order to understand and appreciate the texts adequately. Through him we have the earliest Persian translations of The Upanishads, “Sirri-i-Akbar” (The Great Secret), followed by his Persian renderings of The Bhagwad Gita and the Yoga Vasishta.
Dara composed 20 books dealing with Islamic Sufism, Muslim saints and Hindu religious sciences. “Risala-e-Haq Numa” (1647 AD) is his understanding of the yogic traditions, “Mukalama Baba Lal wa Dara Shukoh” is a compilation of the dialogue between him and Baba Lal on the history of Kashi, mythology and Panchabhuta. He is said to have written a book on in Sanskrit on Jyotish Vidya as well.
Dara, being a part of the ruling elite, making an attempt to understand the culture of the ruled was a progressive and rare trait in that milieu. Rarer still is the attitude of parity, even reverence, with which the approach was made. In his own words, Dara describes his treatises as a collection of the “wisdom of two Truth-knowing groups”. The metaphor of “confluence of oceans” is telling and apt points to the vastness of his thought horizon. It is much loftier than contemporary syncretistic discourses where the “oceans” are not only reduced to “rivers” (Gangi -Jamuni Tahzeeb) but can only flow parallel to each other with no appetite for any confluence.
He was also Governor of Gujarat and was much loved by all in the Court. But he was no match for his younger brother, Aurangzeb, on the field. While Dara was busy in his quest for knowledge, Aurangzeb was successfully leading military expeditions and building useful economic and military alliances which proved decisive in the struggle for power.
PS: According to Tawarikh-i-Punjab (1848), Mian Mir laid the foundation of the Sikh shrine Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), at the request of Guru Arjan. Report Sri Darbar Sahib (1929), published by the Harmandir Sahib temple authorities, has endorsed this account. However some Sikh records state that the foundation stone was laid by Guru Arjan himself. According to Sikh tradition, Guru Arjan Dev met Mian Mir during their stay in Lahore. It may be possible that this tradition is historically true, and may have been suppressed during the earlier period because of Mughal-Sikh conflict. On the other hand, “Sakinat al-Aulia”, a 17th-century biography of Mian Mir, does not mention this account. It appears only in the later accounts, and may have been invented to strengthen the Sikh-Muslim relationship.
Dara Shikhoh was known to have an artistic temperament and was tutored by some of the best scholars of his time most notable amongst them being Mian Mir, a Sufi saint of the Qadriya silisila (who by some accounts is said to have laid the foundation of The Golden Temple on the request of Guru Arjan Dev).
Dara’s quest for knowledge took him to different places and he spent significant time in Kashi and Braj interacting with local pundits on the topics of god, unity of soul. Unlike colonial Indophiles, who mastered Sanskrit so that they could condemn the texts credibly, Dara learned the language while in Kashi in order to understand and appreciate the texts adequately. Through him we have the earliest Persian translations of The Upanishads, “Sirri-i-Akbar” (The Great Secret), followed by his Persian renderings of The Bhagwad Gita and the Yoga Vasishta.
Dara composed 20 books dealing with Islamic Sufism, Muslim saints and Hindu religious sciences. “Risala-e-Haq Numa” (1647 AD) is his understanding of the yogic traditions, “Mukalama Baba Lal wa Dara Shukoh” is a compilation of the dialogue between him and Baba Lal on the history of Kashi, mythology and Panchabhuta. He is said to have written a book on in Sanskrit on Jyotish Vidya as well.
Dara, being a part of the ruling elite, making an attempt to understand the culture of the ruled was a progressive and rare trait in that milieu. Rarer still is the attitude of parity, even reverence, with which the approach was made. In his own words, Dara describes his treatises as a collection of the “wisdom of two Truth-knowing groups”. The metaphor of “confluence of oceans” is telling and apt points to the vastness of his thought horizon. It is much loftier than contemporary syncretistic discourses where the “oceans” are not only reduced to “rivers” (Gangi -Jamuni Tahzeeb) but can only flow parallel to each other with no appetite for any confluence.
He was also Governor of Gujarat and was much loved by all in the Court. But he was no match for his younger brother, Aurangzeb, on the field. While Dara was busy in his quest for knowledge, Aurangzeb was successfully leading military expeditions and building useful economic and military alliances which proved decisive in the struggle for power.
PS: According to Tawarikh-i-Punjab (1848), Mian Mir laid the foundation of the Sikh shrine Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), at the request of Guru Arjan. Report Sri Darbar Sahib (1929), published by the Harmandir Sahib temple authorities, has endorsed this account. However some Sikh records state that the foundation stone was laid by Guru Arjan himself. According to Sikh tradition, Guru Arjan Dev met Mian Mir during their stay in Lahore. It may be possible that this tradition is historically true, and may have been suppressed during the earlier period because of Mughal-Sikh conflict. On the other hand, “Sakinat al-Aulia”, a 17th-century biography of Mian Mir, does not mention this account. It appears only in the later accounts, and may have been invented to strengthen the Sikh-Muslim relationship.
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