A ‘Hero’ needs ‘Villains’ as much as he needs the skills to defeat them
Aurangzeb’s attempt to ‘CONVERT’ people in the 21st century
I had recommended a fictional take on Aurangzeb sometime back..that particular post had ignited some curiosity in one of my friend’s minds and he asked me if I could lend him the book, which I off-course agreed to…
I took the book to a party being hosted by a common friend and as soon as I entered..I was accosted by the father of my friend..he saw the book in my hand…took it from me and gave it a hard and long look…then he looked at me..then he looked at the book again..again me..again the book…this went on for a good 20–30 odd seconds before he put the book down and said…
“This book’s name should not be ‘Conversations with Aurangzeb’..rather it should be renamed to ‘Conversions with Aurangzeb’….”
In case you missed it — ‘CONVERSATIONS’ was changed to ‘CONVERSIONS’
Then he slammed it back into my hands and walked off.….We tried having a conversation about the book but the idea of Aurangzeb being a villain was drilled or rather etched in his mind…He didn’t want to take a deeper look at the personality, rather he just wanted to press forward his legacy as the destroyer of temples…
Sometimes we forget that all of us lie on a spectrum...heroes to some, villains to others and no-bodies to maximum...
For Aurangzeb, the time element also needs to be added on the spectrum..he has been upgraded to a bigger villain in recent times to prove someone else's heroic skills....
Aurangzeb the Stalker
Moving ahead…I forgot about this incident..but Aurangzeb would not let me forget about him…Somehow he would show up in my readings..be it via books or even social media posts…
It is as if he wanted to showcase the other side of his personality too…
He wanted me to know that ..”Yes, he was a bigot and yes, he was a staunch believer in vandalizing temples and did the same with much aplomb…
But there was a method to his madness and many a times, that madness would only be quelled by his spiritual beliefs which did not see religion as a dividing force'...
Aurangzeb’s Vendetta and Lunch-time Issues
After Aurangzeb had defeated his elder brother and Shah Jahan’s favourite son Dara in the fight for the throne, he had his head chopped off and sent to his father in the Agra Fort. Shah Jahan loved Dara and wanted him to be the king. Aurangzeb was aware of this bond and had a deep seated jealousy against Dara.
As a result of this, he had sent the severed head to be showcased to Shah Jahan on a lunch platter which would be opened up only during lunch. Shah Jahan had fainted after seeing this ghastly sight and had grown more remorse than ever when he recovered.
Aurangzeb’s small little vindictive victory however backfired badly…he is reported to have seen blood on his food platter whenever he sat down to take his meals…
Call it hallucination or some kind of reality, but this bothered him so much that he lost his appetite and remembered a Hindu minister of his whom he called to sort out this particular affair…
The Minister and His Story
Aurangzeb had moved to the Deccan to fight a war which consumed the last 25 years of his life — he eventually died there. During the later years, his staff and courtiers had all moved to Aurangabad to be with him. However, in the beginning, they would often travel to and fro from the capital to discuss official affairs with the king.
One amongst these ministers was a Hindu in the Finance department and he was known to believe in a certain spiritual guru. It so happened that he once forgot to get a file from Delhi which had been asked for by the Emperor. He only realized his mistake when he met Aurangzeb on arriving in the city in the evening and Aurangzeb asked him to get the file for the next day’s early morning meeting.
Aurangzeb saw the minister’s face and realized that he had not gotten the file here but he thought it best to deal with him the next day. The minister got very scared and given that it was not a democratic work environment, he was scared for his life….he went to his quarters in Aurangabad and started praying to his guru to somehow save him.
It is said that the Guru was an adept Yogic practitioner and had multiple supernatural powers — one of them being the ability to transcend time and space. During the prayers, he appeared to his disciple — the minister, in physical form and assured him that he would help him out.
He asked the minister to continue sitting in this meditation pose and close his eyes and not open it till he told him to do so. When he was asked to open his eyes within seconds, lo and behold, he was in his office in Delhi. He picked up his file, sat down in the meditative posture again and closed his eyes. Within seconds, he was back in his quarters in Aurangabad…He had traversed close to 2500+ kms within seconds…
Aurangzeb was shocked to see the file the next day and asked the minister as to how he had managed to get it here. Aurangzeb told him that his face and body mannerisms clearly suggested that the file was in Delhi. It was then that the minister told the entire story about his Guru.
The same Guru would be called in for help years later!!
The Meeting with The Spiritual Master
The minister was immediately called in and Aurangzeb asked him of his Guru’s location. He was willing to travel and meet him in his ashram, which happened to be in a far off place.
Soon, the royal entourage took off and within days, they reached the vicinity of the ashram which was in a sparsely located area. They set up tents right outside the small ashram which was a couple of rooms and a large opening or verandah right at the entrance.
Aurangzeb sent his messengers inside with a message that he wanted to meet the spiritual leader. Word came back that the Guru was busy and he would soon come out and meet the emperor. There was another caveat — the emperor was asked to stay outside the premises of the ashram, the Guru would come out and meet him. He should not even enter the verandah.
Aurangzeb did not take offense and waited..which extended from hours to days and then weeks. Being a spiritual practitioner himself, Aurangzeb was aware of not hurting the sentiments of the Guru.
But then, he was the emperor of this land and he was used to making people wait before granting them an audience, not the other way round as was happening at the moment.
He took things in his own hands and decided to enter the ashram himself with 4 of his soldiers and seek an audience. The others waited outside the verandah. Then they started noticing very odd behavior.
They noticed that Aurangzeb and the 4 soldiers would enter the verandah, take a couple of steps forward, halt..move their hands around and then slowly retrace their steps backwards outside the compound. The moment they would reach outside, they would look at each other with astonishment. This act was repeated multiple times till the entire party came back to where the others were standing.
It was here that Aurangzeb revealed what was happening..
The moment he entered the verandah, he would go blind and there was darkness all around..the moment he would step outside, he would regain his eyesight. The soldiers with him confirmed that this happened with them too.
To test whether this was just some hallucination or not, one of the messengers who had gone inside earlier was called and the emperor now decided to go in with him. This time too, both the emperor and the messenger faced darkness and blindness the moment they stepped in and clarity once they stepped out. Aurangzeb now realized why he had been asked to stay outside.
Hearing the commotion, the guru finally came out and stood before the emperor. He was not here to listen..he just had a few words to say…
"You will be cured Aurangzeb...Just remember that there is a lot more above...After-all you are both an emperor and a fakir.."Throughout his life, Aurangzeb’s personal income would come from him stitching prayer caps which were sold in the market under someone else’s assumed name…like any other fakir during those times!!
Aurangzeb and Lord Jagannath of Puri
In 1686, Aurangzeb sent an army to destroy the Jagannath temple in Puri under the command of a very loyal Subedar called Nasar Khan. The army was destroyed in a lightning strike the moment it started its journey towards Puri. Nasar Khan got scared and signed an agreement with the kings in Orissa which included the safety of the temple.
Aurangzeb however was not deterred…the next attack was made in 1691. The temple this time was destroyed but the main idol was taken away by devotees and hidden somewhere else where prayers and offerings continued in secret for 12 years. Even the Jagannath Yatra was suspended during this entire time period.
It was in 1703 that a devotee of Lord Nrisimhadev named Sri Rama Dayita Goswami, left to seek the Emperor’s permission for having the Ratha-yatra again. Right before his audience with the emperor the next day, Aurangzeb had a dream in which he saw his Muslim god, manifest as Lord Jagannath, ordering him to allow the Ratha-yatra festival to go on. Aurangzeb understood the message when he saw Goswami and heard his plea the next day…the Yatra re-started.
Aurangzeb and Yogamaya
Not many of you would know that there is a temple in Delhi which is linked to the Mahabharat — Yogamaya or Jogmaya temple, located in the vicinity of the otherwise famous Qutub Minar complex. This temple has been built for Goddess Jogmaya who is considered to be the sister of Lord Krishna and was born as Vindhyavasini. Infact, this temple is a Shakti Peeth.
This temple too had come under the radar of Aurangzeb’s bulldozer, but as popular lore goes, he decided to let this temple be after a dream. The story says that immediately after giving the orders to destroy this temple, the emperor had a dream in which he saw an old man with a young girl. The dream somehow seemed powerful and potent and Aurangzeb decided to consult his religious advisors on what the dream meant.
The answer he received from them was:
"The old man that you saw was none other than Prophet Mohammed and the young girl with him was Goddess Jogmaya. The Prophet wanted to tell you that the Goddess is like his daughter and her temple should not be disturbed."The temple was left alone and it soon became the de-facto holy site for later Mughal rulers along with the Qutubuddin Dargah nearby.
Infact, the famous ‘Phool Walon ki Sair’ tradition involved the emperor offering prayers and flowers at both the Yogmaya temple and the Qutubuddin Dargah.
Epilogue
Aurangzeb as a personality functioned all across the spectrum..
A hero for Muslims, particularly the religious inclined. He was a staunch practitioner of Islam and maintained austerities which were highly demanding of him both as an individual and as a king. He could have enjoyed life like his forefathers who drank, hunted, partied like no other and maintained harems with 1000s of women…
A villain for Hindus wherein he destroyed their temples and persecuted them..
A nobody post the end of History exams…until the need for a new villain arose after Babar’s Babri Masjid was taken care of…
But the one thing that most of us miss….
