THE%20SINDH%20STORY

Sindhu is Divine
IN THE BEGINNING was the word. The first recorded word was the Veda. And
the Veda is just ecstatic about the Sindhu, the cradle of Indian civilization.
“Sindhu in might surpasses all the streams that flow.... His roar is lifted up to
heaven above the earth; he puts forth endless vigour with a flash of light .... Even
as cows with milk rush to their calves, so other rivers roar into the Sindhu. As a
warrior- king leads other warriors, so does Sindhu lead other rivers.... Rich in
good steeds is Sindhu, rich in gold, nobly fashioned, rich in ample wealth.”
Sindhu is too alive and too divine to be “it”; and so Sindhu is “he”!
When the Vedic seer invokes heaven and earth, he also invokes the Sindhu. The
Veda refers to the Ganga only twice; but it makes as many as thirty references to
the Sindhu.
This is the Great Sindhu that gave Sindh --- and Hind! --- its name. It is the oldest
name in Indian history --- and in Indian geography. When Shiva carried the
immolated body of his divine consort Sati over all the land, her skull-top with its
Hingula (Sindhur) fell at what has been Hinglaj ever since. It is near Karachi on
the Sindh-Baluchistan border. To this holy spot --- sanctified by the visit of Rama,
Sita, and Lakshmana --- went the great Sindhi Sufi poet-saint Shah Abdul Latif in
the company of yogis. As long as East and West Pakistan were one state, a major
attraction to the Bangladesh Hindus visiting the west wing was, Hinglaj.
Sindh was part of Dasaratha’s empire. When Kekayi goes into a sulk, Dasaratha
tells her: “The sun does not set on my empire. Sindh, Sauvira, Saurashtra, Anga,
Vanga, Magadha, Kashi, Koshal --- they are all mine. They produce an infinite
variety of valuable articles. You can ask whatever you like.”
Of course Kekayi wants nothing short of the throne for her son, Bharata. The rest
is epic history. When Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, Rama sent the
vanaras(monkeys) to look for her, among other places, in Sindh with its
“remarkable swimming horses.” Later, when all ended well, Rama gave Sindhu-
Sauvira (the Sindh and Multan areas) to Bharata, who duly extended his rule
farther north to Gandhara --- the home town of Gandhari of Mahabharata fame --
- now Kandhar. His sons founded the cities of Peshawar (Pushkalavati) and
Taxila (Takshasila).
The Sindh Story; Copyright © www.panhwar.com
19