Pune-based Sarhad group travels back to 11th century to learn about Acharya Abhinavagupta

Sanjay Nahar of the Sarhad group with children hailing from conflictridden Kashmir and parts of the northeast India He adopted them a decade ago with the intent of raising the seeds of peace in an inclusive environment PicMadar TannuIf Maharashtra has to live up to the greatness in its prefix Maha the state needs to excel in its understanding of other Indian states especially the border states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab from where are traceable the most durable historiccultural bonds and equally vibrant philosophical exchangesOne such historical connect has currently seized Punebased Sanjay Nahar the founder of the Sarhad nongovernmental group working with crisisaffected people from three states Kashmir Punjab and Assam Nahar has decided to travel back in time to the 11th century to appreciate and apply the teachings of Kashmiri polymath philosopher poet and dramatist Acharya Abhinavagupta 9501016 AD who spoke of universal harmony and inclusivity ldquoIf Maharashtra seeks intellectual leadership in India which the leaders attempt a study of Abhinavagupta is the way to go If we miss out on this liberal we will miss crucial lessons in conflict resolutionrdquo observes NaharIn a recent note issued to the media which has a peculiar nowornever urgency about the appreciation of Kashmirs history that Maharashtra should undertake Nahar has outlined Sarhads celebration of 2017 as the millennium year of Acharya Abhinavaguptas death and more importantly the 1000 long years of his impact on Indian saints with special focus on Maharashtras Sant Dyaneshwar Under the stewardship of historian Dr Sadanand More Nahar has started tracing texts and other forms of evidence that link Maharashtras Bhakti movement to Abhinavaguptas liberal thoughts ldquoAbhinavagupta is the truest advocate of the middleoftheroad moderate religion which finds oneness with the Almighty but does not ask for renunciation from the seeker of peace His creative expression in theatre and poetry was divine and stemmed from his intense realisation of pain pleasure and sorrow as a pathway to Lord Shivardquo Nahar says the hymns nourished not just Kashmir for years but have the capacity to nurture other states today He sees an interesting Abhinavagupta connect in Dyaneshwars accommodative religion which was against obscurantism but was premised on surrender before a creatorIn a bid to popularise Abhinavaguptas over 35 masterpieces the most popular being Tantraloka a treatise on the philosophical beliefs within Shaivism that emerged in Kashmir Sarhads publishing house Chinar which specialises in books on Kashmir and Punjab is preparing readerfriendly booklets explaining each gem Nahar has also sponsored a monthly lecture series first held in Pune in March of Indiawide Abhinavagupta scholars like SE Bhelke Neeraj Rastogi who are slated to speak in the next two monthsNahar is currently pooling resources for a yearend symposium in Srinagar on Abhinavguptas liberal teachings which defined selfawareness as oneness with God but never endorsed superstitions in the name of religionThere is a reason why Nahar has planned for a Srinagar setting for the symposium ldquoJust as there are people in Maharashtra who dont know Abhinavaguptas contribution least of all its impact on the Nath sampraday and the Warkari tradition there are those in Kashmir who equate him with Hindu revivalism That is why the state government there fears that controversy might erupt over a proposed commemoration Sarhad has therefore intervened as an apolitical third party appealing to Indians to treasure this genius and not view him through a narrow prismrdquoSarhards celebration of Abhinavgupta in Srinagar is marked by another coincidence In June Chinar is releasing the Marathi translation of Rajtarangini one of the earliest sources on Kashmir which is being translated in Marathi by historianlinguist Dr Aruna Dhere and writer Prashant Talnikar Rajtarangini The River of Kings termed historical despite being a legendary metrical text written by Kashmiri poet Kalhana 12th century CE is a chronicle of 7826 verses which are divided into eight books called Tarangas waves For Sarhad it is another translation text available in Hindi Persian and French aimed to enlighten the Marathi reader about the suffering of a border state the invasions that changed its political narrative the active role of women in street agitations It makes a defining point against the use of military force to quell mobs as that has worked to the detriment of the state good results have emerged whenever the locals have been spoken toNahar with a Ladakhi childMeanwhile another Chinar book on Kashmirs folk tales is also due this month ldquoGoing by the response to the 100 books published by Chinar so far we have been able to create grounds of commonalities with Kashmir a state which has seen unrest for too long Kashmirs history mdash as against the recent developments of civil strife repression and state control mdash can offer solace to Maharashtra particularly Mumbai which has the negative potential of becoming a terrorist denrdquo says Nahar who feels that neither intelligence agencies nor social groups realise the citys explosive nature ldquoPeacetime studies of historical literature are not in our culture We are shaken only by major bombings or communal riots But historical texts of Abhinavagupta or Rajtarangini serve a longterm purpose mdash they point to seeds of conflict and ways to contain itrdquoGoodwill go a long way in resolving political conflict between states more so when people are shown how their histories converge rather than clash The recent book by Punjabi poet Jaswant Singh Zafar published by Chinar on the impact of three Marathi saints Namdev Paramanand and Bhagat Trilochan on Sikhism is noteworthy in this contextThe reader was happy to notice the actual examples of their saints resonance in the holy text of Sikh Shri Guru Granthsahib happier because the 88th All India Marathi Literary Festival April 2015 was held in Ghuman Punjab where Namdev spent his last years ldquoThere was a need to tell the Marathi world that one of their saints is revered in a faraway land It serves a positive purpose in todays usversusthem climaterdquo observes Talnikar who rendered Zafar into MarathiHistory is pregnant with information that can offer solutions to current crises But its only for those who revisit history As Nahar says ldquoSome stories grow stronger with repetition mdash like Lachit Borphukan in faraway Assam taking inspiration from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Guru Nanakji visiting Maharashtra during one of his journeysrdquo And in that vein Abhinavaguptas impact on Maharashtras Bhagwat Dharm warrants recalling in 2017 and thereafter Sumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikargmailcom