William Dalrymple’s book, “Return of a King” has a very interesting statement about the rulers of Afghanistan. He says early in the book that the Kings of Afghanistan, found it hard to invade Punjab and the plains of Northern India in the first half of the 19th century. Dalrymple further states that this was a time-tested strategy followed by the rulers of Central Asia and Afghanistan for many centuries to accumulate wealth.
Excerpt from the book, “Return of a King”, by William Dalrymple
Northwestern India has faced invasion through what is now Afghanistan for millennia. It started with the Persian Empire and was followed by an invasion by Alexander of Macedon. These invasions were followed by the invasions of the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Sakas, Indo-Parthians, Kushanas and the Hunas. These invasions lasted from the 6th century BCE till the 6th century CE. What was characteristic of these invaders was that they assimilated into the local culture, while also making contributions of their own.
The next series of invasions, of the Arabs, began in the 8th century was not too successful. This was followed by the Ghaznavid invasions in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. These invasions ended Hindu and Buddhist control in what is today Afghanistan. This was the beginning of what can be considered the Turkic invasions. These invasions set the template for plunder and the loot of wealth.
Then came the Ghorid (Ghurid) invasion at the end of the 12th century CE, which led to the establishment of Turkic rule in Northern and Western India and was called the Delhi Sultanate. This was followed by the invasion of the Mughals (who were Turco-Mongol), Iranians and lastly, the Afghans in the mid-18th century. This was the end of the invasions of India from the Northwest, until the middle of the 20th century, after Indian independence.
Invasions from the Northwest, in chronological order
There was the British conquest in the 18th century, preceded by minor conquests by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. But the European attacks came from the South, from the seas and are not relevant to the purposes of this article.
The invasions following that of Mohammad of Ghor, were unlike those in the previous millennia. The rulers chose to impose their native culture over the local populace. Yes, this is a simplistic statement, but not entirely wrong. Even the culture they chose to emulate was that of neighbouring Persia and not that of the populace they ruled over. Their contributions were not nil, but unlike those of the previous millennia, these were not entirely positive to the conquered cultures and populations.
The geographical extent of Indian culture in the 3rd century BCE extended till modern day Southern Afghanistan and Baluchistan in the West. This was a cultural extent and not a political spread. The entire subcontinent, except for the odd century, was always split into multiple kingdoms, that warred with each other. So, the conquests of the invaders were not against a monolithic “Indian” kingdom, but against individual kingdoms, who were mostly smaller than the invaders.
Both the invasions from the North and the West and the warring of Indian political entities continues to this day. With variations of course. The modern-day republic of India is one of at least 3 political entities that exist within the historical cultural spread. If one considers just 3 countries formed out of British India*, the pattern of Indian states fighting one another and the invasions from the Northwest, both persist unabated.
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the modern countries most associated with British India. Pakistan, by dint of its birth and historical association with Buddhist and Hindu cultures, is India with a new and different name. So, every time Pakistan attacks India, either with conventional forces or through its terrorist proxies, it is an instance of Indians fighting Indians. Exactly like in the past few thousand years.
Pakistan is India’s western neighbour, and the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh are India’s north. So, every time there is a terrorist attack in J&K or a war with Pakistan, like in Kargil in 1999, the invasion is still from the Northwest, just like in millennia past. So, the pattern holds, nothing has changed. The difference is that Pakistan now tries hard to associate its identity with Turkey & the broader region of West Asia, contrary to the facts of history.
This is not new either. The Mughals, despite having Rajput Hindu mothers, identified themselves as Timurid after Timur the Lame, who hailed from Uzbekistan. Today, Pakistan, fills the dual role of an Indian entity identifying as foreign and that of an invader from the Northwest. Neither role is something that modern Indians can be happy about.
But about the reason for the invasion/attack? In the past, it has mostly been about controlling the wealth generated from the fertile plains of the Sindhu and Ganga river systems. The Sindhu river system includes Kashmir, Punjab and Sindh, while the Ganga river system includes all of North India excluding modern day Rajasthan. Today, large parts of the Sindhu system are in Pakistan. Also, Pakistan cannot hope to plunder wealth like the invaders of the past, nor can it take over any part of North India. So, why bother with the attacks?
The answer is likely the control of wealth within Pakistan. The leadership of the Pakistan army is the leadership of Pakistan, for they control the political leadership and are strongly associated with the business elites as well. These 3 groups control a lot of the wealth in the country as they control a lot of the agricultural land, and the prime real estate used for other purposes. For the army to stay powerful, they need the enemy in India, even though India neither wants any part of Pakistan, nor a war with it, not even a minor one.
So, if there is no powerful enemy in India, a powerful army is not really needed. There is a saying I have heard from many people in India. It goes, “The Indian state has an army, while the Pakistani army has a state”. This explains the situation beautifully. The army is like a parent to the Pakistani state. Keeping this image leads to power, which fuels budgets, prestige and wealth.
So, the “wealth” that the Pakistani army hopes to earn is power at home and that is achieved every time India is demonstrated as an existential threat to the state. An attack on India triggers a counterattack, which demonstrates a threat to the state, and this leads to the importance of the army. And from this importance flows everything else mentioned earlier.
For India on the other hand, the situation is still the same, Indians are still fighting Indians called Pakistanis, who have chosen to the take on the role of the Northwestern invaders, for the original invaders have either weakened to insignificance or just disappeared altogether.
This post is different from my usual articles. I almost always describe connections between traditional martial arts, Hindu culture, Indian history and modern Indian life. This article though, is entirely focused on Indian history. This is because of thoughts I have had post the actions taken by the Indian military during Operation Sindoor between 7th May and 10th May, 2025. Including the content of this post with another post (the next one) was making the other one too long and expansive in scope. The next post after this one, will go back to the usual pattern of connecting dots.
Notes:
* Burma, Aden and parts of Somalia were also administered as parts of British India
The first strike of Operation Sindoor was carried out in the early hours of 9th May 2025. This attack was carried out against 21 targets in 9 locations in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK). The attacks were carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and supposedly units of the Indian Army. The attack by the IAF used precision munitions.
The munitions used supposedly included the Scalp cruise missile, the Hammer, the Rampage and perhaps the Crystal Maze and Brahmos as well. The details are not officially made available as yet. The platforms that deployed these munitions include the French Rafale, the Indo-Russian Su30MKI and others, including the Russian Mig 29 and French Mirage 2000. None of the aircraft crossed into Pakistani airspace. All munitions were launched from Indian airspace.
All 21 targets were successfully destroyed with video evidence. All 9 targeted locations were terrorist bases or headquarters that were known and identified. There was no collateral damage, either civilian or military. And this LACK OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE is a VERY IMPORTANT POINT that leads to several amazing observations, from an operational perspective, from an Indian societal perspective and form learning for martial artists, specifically those are not experienced in the defence services.
Pakistan claims to have shot down 5 Indian aircraft during this strike on terrorist targets. Indian forces have not officially released any details of what the losses entailed were. It will be revealed in due course, as the Indian defence establishment does not hide its losses. This information is not revealed as Op Sindoor is not yet officially declared as completed. Unofficial sources claim that India lost 3 aircraft, one Rafale, one Mig 29 and one Su30MKI.
What is clear is that no Indian pilot was lost. The Director General of Air Operations (DGAO) has made it clear that no human life was lost during the strike on terrorist targets. This means that even if the aircraft were lost, the pilots were safe. The DGAO also made it clear that as part of achieving mission objectives, losses were to be expected and were acceptable. This statement means that AIRCRAFT WERE EXPENDABLE, THE PILOTS WERE NOT.
So, why were these losses acceptable? Could they not have been prevented?The events of the early hours of 10th May 2025 answers the second question. Yes, the losses could have been prevented. On 10th May, the IAF struck several Pakistani Air Bases and air defence installations. Between 11 and 13 bases were hit, again with precision strikes, using pretty much the same munitions as earlier, including perhaps the indigenously developed SAAW (Smart Anti Airfield Weapon).
DURING THIS SECOND PHASE, NO AIRCRAFT WERE LOST. Why was this? Because this time around, the IAF carried out what I have come to learn, is called SEAD and DEAD actions. SEAD stands for “Suppression of Enemy Air Defences” and DEAD is “Destruction of Enemy Air Defences”. Once Pakistani air defences were eliminated, the IAF could take out the air bases with no losses.
The strikes on air bases destroyed runways, command and control centres, staff waiting centres and hangars (or hardened shelters). This rendered the Pakistani Air Force incapable of any retaliation for the next few days at least. This gave the IAF air dominance. Once this was achieved, Pakistan asked for cessation of hostilities and India agreed as the objective of striking terrorists had already been achieved.
It must be said, both Pakistan and India attacked each other with several drones as well. Pakistan also used ballistic missiles of varying ranges. Pakistani drones and missiles were intercepted and destroyed by integrated Indian Air Defence systems. But Pakistani Air Defence systems failed. The defence in India was all along the Pakistani border. The strikes Pakistan endured, was along its entire length; some say the attacks inflicted damage to its nuclear weapon storage and integration facilities (this is not admitted or confirmed). The strikes were sufficient to end further hostilities after 10th May 2025.
The attacks by Pakistan on the nights of 7th and 8th mostly included various types of drones. On the night of the 9th the attack included ballistic missiles. The targets of these attacks included Indian military installations, religious sites and civilian areas along the border. This convinced the Indian side to escalate and not limit itself to terrorist targets. Pakistani military installations were now legitimate targets, WHICH THEY WERE NOT IN THE FIRST PHASE, ON THE 7TH OF MAY.
Once the military was a target, India carried out SEAD and DEAD operations, which allowed further strikes on Pakistan with NO LOSSES. This shows that the losses could have been prevented on the 7th of May as well. Why the losses were deemed acceptable earlier is also answered here.
The object on the 7th of May, as stated earlier were terrorist bases. Terrorists, in the case of those supported by Pakistan, are weapons of the state targeting India and her citizens. This makes the terrorists, tools of the Pakistani state.The state in Pakistan, is its military, specifically the Pakistan Army. The civilian Government of Pakistan, according to several commentators, is one that is selected by the Army and not elected by the people. This was done by manipulating the election results. So, a tool of the Pakistani state is essentially a tool of the Pakistan Army.
As mentioned earlier, on the 10th of May, the IAF attacked Pakistani air bases. Air bases are places from where aircraft and other weapons are launched. So, the base by itself is a weapon, or maybe a weapons platform. In this same vein, the terrorists, being tools of the Pakistan Army, are weapons of an unconventional kind. It was these “weapons” that India targeted on the 7th.
Because only these weapons (terrorists) were targeted, and not the conventional military, SEAD and DEAD actions were not conducted prior to the strikes. This gave the Pakistan Air Force an opportunity to retaliate. INDIA CHOSE TO ACCEPT LOSSES RATHER THAN ATTACK MILITARY TARGETS! THIS IS A MESSAGE THAT SHOWS RESTRAINT AND DISCRETION. This self-imposed restriction was lifted when Pakistan chose Indian military and civilian targets. The fact that potential losses of expensive aircraft was seen to be acceptable but not the lives of the pilots shown incredible foresight, planning and execution of the Indian military establishment! This fact is mind-boggling!
Why though, did India accept this possible loss of air assets? This is because India, unlike its hostile neighbour is a mature civilian democracy. India wanted to punish terrorists that murdered its citizens, not invade Pakistan or cause harm to its citizens. This maturity in the Government meant that it was willing to sacrifice its military assets. If the Government had chosen to conduct SEAD and DEAD operations on 7th May, these losses would not have occurred, but hat action would also have made India an aggressor against Pakistan, rather than a country seeking justice.
This entire episode where India accepted potential losses in aircraft and perhaps did indeed lose a few, while not sacrificing its pilots is a fantastic demonstration of a concept that many martial arts teach. The fact that it was applied in modern day aerial warfare makes it all the more incredible, giving practitioners of the traditional martial arts no excuses to not train this concept. This is the concept of SUTEMI WAZA.
I am familiar with the Bujinkan system of martial arts, so I shall explain this concept from this perspective. I expect that most martial arts, whether they train armed or unarmed combat, will have a similar concept, and methods to practice the same. Sutemi in Japanese means “sacrifice” and waza means “technique”. “Sutemi Waza” thus stands for “sacrificial techniques”. But what is being sacrificedand how is it a technique?
The best way to describe the concept of Sutemi Waza is with the form called “Tomoe Nage”. “Nage” here means “throw”. “Tomoe” means “comma”, like the punctuation mark. So, when one executes a “Tomoe Nage” on an opponent, one drops one’s own body to break the balance of the opponent and throws her or him over oneself. The image below shows the execution of the tomoe nage and explains the situation far better than any words can.
Hatsumi Sensei, Soke of the Bujinkan, performing a “Tomoe Nage”. Image credit – “Unarmed Fighting Techniques of the Samurai”, by Sensei Hatsumi Masaaki.
In this form or technique, the person executing the throw sacrifices her or his own balance by dropping down to the ground and this sacrifice enables the throwing of the opponent. One likely scenario where this technique is used is when both opponents are evenly matched or when other forms are not possible in the given situation. However this technique is executed, the objective is to break the opponent’s flow by sacrificing one’s own balance.
One of the martial schools (ryuha) studied as part of the Bujinkan system is the “Takagi Yoshin Ryu”. This is a school that was historically practiced by bodyguards. Hence it involves a lot of subduing and immobilization techniques. This was done in the past to capture someone for further information gathering. Of course, the techniques in this school can be used to lethal effect, but the objective was to capture wherever possible.
One of the 9 sections of the Takagi Yoshin Ryu is called the “Tai no Kata”. This can be roughly translated to “The form of the body”, “tai” being the body and “kata” being the form. There are 15 techniques as part of this section, and 10 of these end with a variation of the tomoe nage, where the opponent is thrown over oneself to nullify the threat.
The concept of sutemi or sacrifice can also be applied in a more generic manner, which is also common to all martial arts. This involves “Letting go”. Whenever there is a situation where one’s attack is successfully blocked by the opponent or if the opponent is too strong for a given attack to succeed, there is no point in continuing with the same. One has to let go. This “letting go” of the attack allows one to move around and find another opening to exploit and if nothing else conserve energy by not wasting it on pressing a fruitless attack.
In the case of Op Sindoor, this concept of “sutemi” was executed flawlessly by the Indian Military. By accepting potential losses, they gained so much more. Not only was their performance as a defence force appreciated the world over, but it also cemented India as a responsible nation that can be depended upon to not violate the peace. It also demonstrated that India could achieve any offensive mission at will, tailored to the conditions that are prevalent.
This focus on the mission brought home another interesting distinction between the Indian and Pakistani air forces. On an episode of the “Carvaka Podcast”, a YouTube channel run by Kushal Mehra, the host Kushal was discussing Op Sindoor with defence analyst Angad Singh. A link to this video is seen below. Angad Singh had an observation that is fantastic. He said that the Pakistani Air Force had a mindset of “Knights of the Air”. They are more focused on facing off against the Indian Air Force than on a given mission objective.
Video of the interaction between Kushal Mehra and Angad Singh. Watch between the 36 and 43 minute marks.
This mindset makes the Pakistanis focus exclusively on the number of aircraft lost in any given engagement. Hence, they were flaunting the fact they shot down some Indian aircraft. They completely missed the fact that the Indian Air Force successfully completed all its mission objectives, of destroying terror targets with no collateral damage and with no loss of life for itself. This was in stark contrast to the mindset of the Indian Air Force, who let go (sutemi) of the need for a “clean scoresheet” to achieve the mission objective. Of course, it is now well known that Pakistan also lost multiple aircraft, both on the 7th and on the 10th of May. So much for keeping score over achieving what their mission should been, protect targets in Pakistan.
I have one last observation to make in this article. Sutemi Waza is an old concept in the martial arts, but is visible even in modern hi-tech warfare. In this same vein, I recently understood the use of Vyuha that were used in the Mahabharta War at Kurukshetra in modern warfare. Major General G D Bakshi (Retd.) was speaking at even to launch his own book, “Indian Strategic Culture: The Mahabharata and the Kautilyan Ways of War”. The link to the YouTube video of his speech is seen below. A Vyuha is a battle formation from ancient or historical times. It is how troops are arrayed in a battle or the formation they assume as a battle progresses to achieve certain objectives.
Video of the speech by Major General (Retd.) G D Bakshi. Watch between the 19 and 21 minute marks.
During his speech, General Bakshi explains how the Ardha Chandra Vyuha (crescent moon or half moon formation) was used in modern warfare. He mentions that this formation was used by India against Pakistan during the tank battle at the battle of Assal Uttar, in 1965. This battle was a severe defeat for Pakistan. The crescent moon formation in my understanding, is what is also called the “pincer movement”, where an enemy is enveloped and attacked from multiple sides.
A representation of the Ardha Chandra Vyha (Crescent moon formation). Image credit – “The Mahabharata – 37”, “Karna in command”, published by Amar Chitra Katha.
When I had seen a representation of the Ardha Chandra Vyuha in a comic format back in the 80s, it had seemed like a static formation. But after listening to the General, it seems that this is a formation that is formed in response to an attack. The crescent is formed as part of receiving an attack from the enemy. When the enemy is enveloped and the pincer attack happens, the formation looks like a crescent moon. It need not have started out like that!
While we speak of the Mahabharata, it must be said that the epic also cautions against seeking glory and focusing on the mission objectives. This contrasts with the psyche of the Pakistan Air Force as described by Angad Singh, which I mentioned a few paragraphs earlier. The image below, of a panel from the Mahabharata published by Amar Chitra Kata, clearly illustrates this point, even if warriors back in the day did break this rule. Personal glory it seems, has always been intoxicating.
Image from the Mahabharata cautioning against duels seeking personal glory. Image credit – “The Mahabharata – 38”, “The Kurus routed”, published by Amar Chitra Katha.
In a more recent historical context, Shekhar Gupta, in a video of his mentioned that the use of massed artillery by India during the Kargil War of 1999 was inspired by the same tactic used by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 19th century. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the founder of the Sikh Empire that was a major power in the 19th century. Shekhar Gupta is the Editor-in-chief of The Print, a well-respected news media organization in India. The link to the video in which Mr. Gupta mentioned this is seen below. He mentioned that this fact will be part of a soon to be released book by Major General Lakhwinder Singh (Retd.) of the Indian Army.
Video of Shehkar Gupta speaking about the use of artillery in the Kargil War being inspired by the tactics of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Watch between the 13 and 15 minute marks.
So, modern military engagements demonstrate that concepts developed over centuries of marital practice continue to endure, while the technology used to put the concept into practice has changed continuously. I expect I will post a few more articles based on the thoughts that Op Sindoor has left me with.
These are just my thoughts as a layman with no military experience. I could be wrong about many things written in this post, including the actual events that took place and the thinking behind the same. This is partly because all details of Op Sindoor have not been officially revealed yet.
On 31st May 2025, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, in an interview with Bloomberg accepted that there were aircraft losses, but the numbers were fewer than six. The CDS also mentioned that any tactical errors on the 7th were fixed right away. This is perhaps his way of saying that Pakistani air defences were eliminated before any strike, after the 7th. This could mean that Pakistani military was a legitimate target after the 7th and not on the 7th. It could also mean that the Indian military, after the events of the 7th has decided that not only is the successful completion of the mission important but ensuring that no assets are lost is equally important. Either way, there are likely to be more aspects to learn from the operation in the weeks and months to come. A link to a snippet of the CDS’ interview is seen below.
Video which contains a snippet of CDS Genral Anil Chauhan’s interview with Bloomberg. Watch between the 3 and 4:30 minute marks.
Narasimha Jayanthi was on the 11th of May this year (2025). Lord Narasimha was the 4th of the Dashāvatāra (dasha – 10, avatāra – incarnation). Lord Narasimha is a representation of incredible martial prowess. It is this prowess that I delve into in this article, to identify how his abilities are still practiced in real world martial arts, which in turn almost always have real life applications beyond the dojo.
A depiction of Lord Narasimha from the 6th century CE, Badami, Karnataka, India
Lord Narasimha came to be, to specifically counter one Asura, Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu had a vara (boon) from Lord Brahma which made him impossible to kill and thus functionally immortal. Hiranyakashipu’s boon conferred the following protections on him.
He could not be killed by a human or a beast
He could not be killed during the day or during the night
He could not be killed indoors or outdoors
I am now going to extrapolate a bit. I presume that Hiranyakashipu could not be killed by any weapon wielded by or controlled by a human. Otherwise, arrows would have been able to kill him in an age before gunpowder, an age when there existed “celestial weapons”, or astras of various kinds which could wreak unimaginable damage. Further, we will have to overlook the notion that humans are also beasts, just a different species. I have no idea if the boon took into consideration some specific definition for “human”.
I also presume that he was invulnerable to diseases that were cause by any biological vector, for they would constitute beasts. Considering the protection from the first point, the subsequent 2 points seem like an add-on package in case someone found a loophole in the first one. And as was the case, that is exactly what happened.
Beyond the boon itself, Hiranyakashipu was an incredible warrior, on par with the Devas. He wanted to be on par with Lord Vishnu before going out and conquering the world! This was the motivation for his gaining the boons. Further, he forced people in the lands he conquered to worship him instead of Vishnu. When I say worship, I mean in offerings at pooja, yajna and homa that are performed. There is a lot more nuance to every aspect of this story, which I cannot go into in this article*. I strongly recommend that everyone read the story in detail. Not only is it incredibly entertaining, but it is also full of conundrums and ways of overcoming the same. The connections to various happenings around the world is simply fantastic.
A common depiction of Lord Narasimha and his slaying of Hiranyakashipu in modern times. Image credit – “Prahlad”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
In the end, Vishnu incarnates as Lord Narasimha to destroy Hiranyakashipu. He bursts forth from a large pillar and fights Hiranyakashipu, eventually slaying him. There is a great fight between Hiranyakashipu and Narasimha, at the end of which Hiranyakashipu is disembowelled on the threshold. The end occurs by circumventing each aspect of the boon protecting Hiranyakashipu. These are as mentioned below.
Narasimha was neither man nor animal, but both. Hence Hiranyakashipu’s boon did not protect him from Narasimha. Nara means “man” and Simha means “lion”, literally “Man-Lion”.
Narasimha fought and killed Hiranyakashipu at twilight, which is neither day not night.
Narasimha killed Hiranyakashipu on the threshold, which is neither inside nor outside. I do not know if the threshold was that of his throne room or that of his palace.
From all the iconography I have seen of Lord Narasimha, he used no weapons other than his claws while fighting the mighty Hiranyakashipu. The same were used to disembowel and kill the Asura king. This same pattern is seen even in modern days comics depicting the story of the Narasimha avatāra. At the same time, Hiranyakashipu is depicted as using a sword or mace (gada), sometimes a sword along with a shield. I must add, I guess that the claws of Lord Narasimha were exempt from being classified as a weapon as Narasimha was neither man nor beast.
Lord Narasimha fighting Hiranyakashipu who wields a mace and a sword. Image credit – “Dasha Avatar”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
I will now extrapolate again. Based on the way the fight between Lord Narasimha and Hiranyakashipu is depicted, I think of this as a fight between a great warrior who was wielding weapons and another warrior, who was fighting unarmed. Of course, the fact that Lord Narasimha is a God evens out the odds of going up unarmed against an armed warrior. And the fact that a God had to fight at all and needed weapons (!) shows the martial prowess of Hiranyakashipu.
Now that the details of the fight are clear, let me look at the aspects of the same which, while fantastic, can highlight aspects of real-world martial arts and conflict management.
I will start with the simplest and most obvious one. The use of claws. In the Bujinkan system of martials, among the historical weapons we learn of, there are two interesting ones, which are worn on the fingertips. One is called the “Nekote” and another is the “Kanite”. Nekote means “cat claws” and Kanite means “crab claws”. Visually, to me at least, the two seem very similar.
Both the Kanite and the Nekote are pointed metal tips worn on the fingertips, much like thimbles. The points on these can be used to cause damage to the opponent with a shallow stab or rakes across the body. An image is seen below of the Kanite. These are reminiscent of the claws used by Lord Narasimha to kill Hiranyakashipu.
Kanite (crab claws/finger). Image credit – “Unarmed Fighting Techniques of the Samurai”, by Sensei Hatsumi Masaaki.
Even without the metal attachments, practitioners learn to use the tips of the fingers as weapons. There is a way of striking called “shako ken”. The fingers are used as claws to rake an opponent. Obviously, this is not meant for use against armour or any protected surfaces. It can be used to hook and pull the apparel of opponents. This strike is very similar to using the weapon called the “shuko”. The “shuko” in turn is very similar to a historical Indian weapon called the “bagh nakh”. I had written in greater detail about the bagh nakh and the shuko in a previous post, where I had discussed the martial prowess of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. A link to that article is seen below+.
Another way of striking with the fingertips is with the “Go Shitan Ken”. “Shitan Ken” is to strike with the fingers. “Go” refers to the number 5. So, “Go Shitan Ken” means “five finger strike”, in other words, to strike with the fingertips. This strike involves stabbing at the face or any other part of the opponent with the fingertips. It is not necessarily a strike or stab; it could be a push as well. To increase the force of impact of this strike, the five fingertips could be held together (like while eating). An image of each variant of Go Shitan Ken is seen below.
Two ways of using the fingers to strike (shitan ken). The fingers can be kept apart or held together for the strike.
Considering we are discussing claws here, there is a category of weapons one is taught about in the Bujinkan, called “Shizen Ken”. This refers to “natural weapons”. This in turn refers to weapons one is born with. Shizen Ken includes nails, teeth and even spit, that can be used to cause pain or discomfort to opponents with pinches, rakes, bites and just old-fashioned disgust**. 😛 The claws used by Narasimha would be called a “Shizen Ken”. But if a God that is neither man nor animal uses claws, would that then be a “natural” weapon? I am not sure. 😊
A closeup of Lord Narasimha’s claws. Image on the left is from Pattadakal, Karnataka. Image on the right is from Badami, Karnataka. The depictions are from the 6th and 7th centuries CE respectively.
Form around 2015 to 2020, Hatsumi Sensei, the Soke (inheritor/grandmaster) of the Bujinkan, focused a lot on the concept of “Muto Dori”. We learnt from our teachers, mentors and seniors that this was a very important concept, that included not just physical aspects but also ones relating to the attitude and a spirit of calmness, self-control and of course, breathing. “Muto Dori” in its simplistic form can be translated as “capturing without a weapon”. It means that an unarmed individual can take on and perhaps defeat an opponent wielding weapons, and not just survive.
Needless to say, it is extremely difficult and needs a lot training to achieve this successfully even in the dojo, let alone a real fight. The chances of survival and success diminish considerably if there is more than one opponent with weapons. But the training of this concept is very beneficial in terms of learning one’s weaknesses, achieving a modicum of self-control and in fine tuning one’s extant abilities. Hence, the practice of this concept lasts a lifetime, if not just during one’s time as a budoka.
If we think back to the fight between Lord Narasimha and Hiranyakashipu, Narasimha was demonstrating Muto Dori all through. Hiranyakashipu was a warrior of great prowess and wielded weapons against him. Despite this, Narasimha successfully disarmed and defeated him. Narasimha would have had one goal all through the fight. Hiranyakashipu had to be either manoeuvred towards the threshold, or he had to be moved to the threshold. This means Muto Dori with an objective! Anyone who has ever gone up against an opponent with a weapon while being unarmed would realize how mind boggling an achievement this is!
I am not going into details of how muto dori is practiced because it has to be experienced. No volume of words or even videos will transmit what it entails. So, suffice it to say that as a martial artist, Lord Narasimha’s abilities, for his demonstration of Muto Dori, should be the epitome one can aspire towards.
The above 2 images, the one on the right is a close up of the one on the left, are my favourites. This is a depiction of Narasimha actually fighting Hiranyakashipu in a doorway, with the threshold below them. This image actually shows a fight! Narasimha has locked both arms of Hiranyakashipu, rendering his ability use the sword and shield useless! And he is tackling the legs of the Asura king with his own! This is such a wonderful snapshot of fight in progress! This absolutely is a depiction of MUTO DORI! The image is from Pattadakal, Karnataka, from the 7th century CE.
Now I will look at some martial concepts that relate to conflict management as a whole, which also become apparent from the story of the Narasimha avatāra.
We have all been taught that to make any argument or a counter to any proposal or point raised against oneself or a team, we need to have all the necessary data. Making a point or a counter to one, without necessary and relevant information is almost foolhardy. This is something all of us are taught and practice regularly at work and in various aspects of life.
This same concept is stated in the Bujinkan, mellifluously I must add, as “Tsuki and Suki”. This is something I have heard mentioned a few times during training. Tsuki is a punch or a stab, a thrust in essence. Suki is a hole, more like an opening in armour or a gap in the same. It is a point when a thrust can be applied to cause harm to the opponent. So, one needs to “tsuki” a “suki”. One should attack an opening.
To attack an opening, one first needs to find an opening. To find an opening, one needs to know the opponent and how she or he is moving. Knowing the opponent includes the armour, weapons and objectives of the same. All of this adds up to “having all the necessary information”***. Simply put, having information is a precursor to “identifying the suki to tsuki”. The tsuki itself is the equivalent of counter a point in an argument. In a fight, an attack is a point raised, which is “countered” by a tsuki, which is a counter argument, and all of this is facilitated by information.
This flow of events in the various avatāras of Lord Vishnu is as follows. A great Asura acquires a vara (boon) from Lord Brahma. This boon ensures the invincibility of the Asura as he or she cannot be killed, though he or she is not immortal. This invincibility causes havoc in the world and the Devas, who are the guardians of the world, to lose power and go into hiding. The Devas and people of the world after failing to protect themselves despite all efforts, beseech Lord Vishnu for succour. Lord Vishnu incarnates in an avatāra to end the terror of the Asura and restore balance.
In the flow of events mentioned above, for any avatāra, I suggest that information is key! Lord Vishnu, when he appears as an avatāra, tailors the specific incarnation to circumvent all aspects of the boon the Asura possesses. In other words, the Asura creates the avatāra. Every aspect of the boon is understood, the loopholes are identified and exploited by the avatāra. This is the same as “tsuki to suki”. An opening is identified in the armour provided by the boon and a tsuki is applied to this suki. The avatāra is a tsuki and the loophole in the boon is the suki!
Hiranyakashipu realizes that the chink (suki) in his boon has been identified and is being used to attack (tsuki) him. Image credit – “Prahlad”, published by Amar Chitra Katha.
All this does make one wonder, when the boon is granted, what is the confidentiality around it? Does the Asura announce to the world that he has acquired a set of powers due to the boon? Or is this gradually identified as people lose fights against the Asura? Does Brahma reveal details of the boon he has granted to the Asura, to the Devas who then report it to Lord Vishnu to device a counter? Or does Lord Brahma communicate the details to Lord Vishnu directly? Or does Brahma, who granted the boon, already know the loopholes which he reports to Lord Vishnu? If the answer to these is a “No”, does the duration of an avatāra depend on how long it takes to identify the loopholes? Or is there time taken to identify the “suki” in a boon before an avatāra incarnates? I do not have answers to any of these. Perhaps these are stupid thoughts. We are talking of Gods after all, and time does not have the same meaning in such circumstances, and I could be rambling. 😛
But these questions do lead to an appreciation of the Asuras and how they craft the boon they settle upon. I will explore this through a few examples. Many Asuras asked Brahma to grant them immortality. Lord Brahma could not grant that boon as all that was created had to end. So, the Asuras asked for boons that made them near immortal and definitely invincible, at least for long durations.
The Asura Tāraka asked that he be invincible and killed only by a son of Lord Shiva. This was a really smart move as Lord Shiva was a yogi and in deep meditation and unlikely to ever have children. Also, he was in deep mourning after the loss of Devi Sati. Tārakāsura was eventually killed by Lord Kartikeya, the son Lord Shiva and Devi Pārvati (a reincarnation of Sati).
The Asura Mahisha asked that he be unkillable by any male, as he was certain that no woman could best him. Devi Durga ended up killing him.
Rāvana asked that he be unkillable by most creations of Brahma. But he did not include humans in the list of beings he would not be killed by, as he assumed that humans would never be capable of defeating him. Lord Vishnu incarnated on Earth as Lord Rama, a human, to defeat Rāvana. What is interesting is that Rāvana was defeated by the Vānara king Vāli (Bāli) and the human king Kartaveerya Arjuna, but neither of them killed him.
Mahishi, the wife of Mashishāsura asked that she be vulnerable only to a son of Lords Vishnu and Shiva, both male Gods! Eventually, Lord Ayyappa killed Mahishi. Lord Ayyappa was the son of Devi Mohini (the female form of Lord Vishnu) and Lord Shiva.
There are more examples, but the ones mentioned above adequately illustrate the points I am going to make. Asuras were incredible, despite going against Dharma and attempting to upend the natural order of the universe, which would result is the suffering of vast numbers of beings. In all the examples above, the Asuras clearly had a great deal of intelligence. Their awareness of how the world existed at a given time, informed how they crafted their requests for boons.
The consequence of all these boons was that the Devas routinely lost power and the ability to perform their duties as the guardians of the 8 directions and natural phenomena (natural order). The Asuras lorded over the Earth during the time when an avatāra was yet to arrive to reestablish the natural order. Beyond the ability for great information gathering, the Asuras had great presence of mind in wording the request for a boon. The boon is no different from an inviolable contract in modern day parlance. So, their awareness of the strength of language was incontestable. All these observations together indicate that the Asuras were warriors of both physical and intellectual prowess.
Beyond all the above points, the Asuras were rewarded for another aspect. The path to achieving a boon from Lord Brahma was a torturous one. A very long time had to be spent in meditating on Brahma, in unimaginable conditions with all earthly needs overcome. This perseverance deemed one worthy of a boon. Hence, the effort ensured that the boon was inviolable and necessitated the presence of a God on earth to overcome.
The meditation of Hiranyakashipu was brutal on his body. It resulted in him almost dying and plants and anthills growing over him. Image credit – “Prahad”, published by Amar Chitra Katha.
In my opinion all of this seems like what in modern day parlance is termed “Lawfare”. It could also be called “the process is the punishment”. “Lawfare” refers to “warfare through laws”, where the actions of specific peoples are either limited or given free rein through laws of a land. “Process is punishment” is when a person is highly unlikely to be convicted of any wrongdoing under given laws, but needs to work through the due process to get oneself acquitted nevertheless. A lot of resources and time is lost in this process, which has a massive opportunity cost. This cost is the punishment, not the actual one that the law might prescribe, as a conviction is almost certainly not on the cards.
These concepts were used by the Asuras and the avatāras both, with success on both sides. The process of proving oneself as being worthy of a boon ensured that most creatures, including Asuras, Devas, humans, Vānaras and other entities, would NEVER prove themselves eligible. The process was simply too hard to complete and the punishment too much to bear!
I called the boon an inviolable contract earlier. This was despite it bending natural rules and leading to the natural order being threatened. So, it was like a law that no one could violate. The Devas, despite having consumed Amrita, were incapable of overcoming the powers bestowed by the Vara. Even Lords Vishnu and Shiva, despite being the ultimate power in the Universe, were not allowed violate the restrictions of the boon, even if they could. This is why Lord Vishnu, as preserver of the natural order, had to incarnate with specific abilities to nullify the abilities bestowed by a boon. This is undoubtedly “lawfare”, where a law is created by a boon to benefit specific individuals or groups of individuals. Eventually, the law is NOT violated and yet the beneficiary of it is destroyed by identifying the loopholes in the law!
Mashishi asking for a boon, and thus indulging in “Lawfare”. Image credit – “Ayyappa”, published by Amar Chitra Katha.
If one considers the contemporary Indian context, the abrogation of Article 370, the amendment to the Waqf Act and not repealing the laws that curtail the financial freedom of temples are considered “lawfare” by people of different political leanings. There is one interesting aspect about laws in relation to this post which I have added in the notes, simply because it tangential and redundant to the idea already explained. I do recommend that people read it++.
That brings me to the end of this article. The Narasimha avatāra should, beyond the traditional significance and symbolism, open our eyes to knowledge that is not commonly known. This avatāra sheds light on the traditional martial arts and modern conflict management. And if one is not a practitioner of the martial arts, the story of the avatāra can open one to the idea that it is not a fantasy of old, the aspects holding it together are very real. Similarly, the story should hopefully reveal that conflict management is not magic and has no “silver bullet”. Intelligence, effort, time and perseverance are always required.
Notes:
* The last sukta (hymn) of the Rig Veda, as far as I know is called the Aikamatya sukta. Aikamatya roughly translates to “common opinion”. It could also mean, according to the little that I have read, “unity”. But this is not unity through homogenization. It is more like accepting all opinions and coming together. It is something like the modern Indian refrain, “Unity in Diversity”.
This sukta invites everyone to come together around the sacred fire and also states that all the Gods (essentially Gods of everyone) will be given offerings through the fire. I have heard two wonderful interpretations of this sukta. One by Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal, who is the Principal Economic Advisor to the Govt. of India and also a historian and author. Another is by Mr. Abhijit Iyer Mitra, who is a strategic affairs analyst, a Senior Fellow at the IPCS. Both are very well known in Indian media (both traditional media and social media).
Abhijit Iyer Mitra says that this sukta I am referring to is akin to the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the 30 years war in Europe. The treaty of Westphalia allowed citizens to follow any form of Christianity that they chose. It also ensured that the state or ruler cannot mandate the religion to be followed by its citizens. It separated religion and state. It also made all forms of Christianity equal as one could not persecute the other. This is pretty much what the Aikamatya sukta states, that all Gods will be accepted and prayed to and people will come together. The sukta of course, is a few thousand years older than the treaty.
Sanjeev Sanyal expands on this idea by showing what happens if this “agreement” made through the sukta is violated. He uses the stories of King Daksha and Hiranyakashipu (referred to in this article) to explain the same. King Daksha conducted a yajna where all Gods were invited to receive offerings, except Lord Shiva. Daksha’s daughter Devi Sati was married to Lord Shiva and Daksha was against the union. In opposition to her father’s decision, Sati disrupted the yajna by immolating herself in the sacred fire. This angered Lord Shiva and King Daksha was slain.
Hiranyakashipu forced people to abandon their worship of Lord Vishnu. He further demanded that people worship him in Vishnu’s stead. This is the same as King Daksha’s actions. Both Daksha and Hiranyakashipu violated the agreement of the sukta that all Gods would be worshipped. This violation resulted in their being punished. It is like there being a consequence for violating the treaty that mandates freedom of worship and equal respect to all Gods. This is the notion that Sanjeev Sanyal has put forth. I am not aware if others have also suggested the same.
** In Hindu culture there are “Navarasas”. Nava is nine and Rasas are emotions. One of these is “beebhatsa”. This is “disgust”. It is one of the nine emotions that can be evoked in an audience by any performance. The manner in which Hiranyakashipu is killed, by disembowelment, evokes a sense of disgust, or beebhatsa in the person experiencing the story. This same emotion is evoked by the manner in which Bhima kills Duhshāsana, in the Kurukshetra War in the Mahabharata.
*** In a martial arts context, “knowing the opponent” and “gathering information about the opponent” happens in the flow of the fight. It is not necessarily an activity that happens in a separate time from the fight. One needs to identify aspects of the opponent as the fight is happening. This seems esoteric, but anyone who has done any sparring knows that this happens all the time during training.
One needs to know oneself – one’s own abilities, weaknesses and objectives. And also, all these details about the opponent. In Hindu culture, knowing oneself is called “Swayambodha” and knowing the opponent or enemy is called “Shatrubodha”. I had written an article about these 2 concepts in a previous article, the link to which is seen below.
++ The guru of the Asuras, Maharishi Shukrācharya created the “Sanjeevini Vidya” by meditating on Lord Shiva. The Sanjeevini Vidya allowed him to bring back to life Asuras who were slain in battle. And they came back as they were before death, not like zombies from modern day pop culture. This was an effective counter to the Amrita that the Devas had in their possession. Amrita conferred immortality on the Devas, (for the duration of a Manvantara, if I am not wrong).
I presume that Hiranyakashipu and other Asuras who asked Brahma for the boon of immortality did so before the Sanjeevini Vidya was created. If not, there would be no need for such a boon. (And if it was later, would the boon hold if they were brought back after death? I have no idea). Anyway, the Asuras used Brahma’s boons to counter the Devas who had Amrita.
Eventually of course, the Devas gained the ability of Sanjeevini Vidya through subterfuge and a honey trap operation. Why they needed it though, I have no idea, as they already had access to Amrita. Was it to find a counter to the Vidya? Again, I have no idea. In my opinion, this conflict between the Devas and Asuras ended when Bali Chakravarthy was confirmed as the next Indra after the Vāmana avatāra. That’s another treaty by itself, something I have written about in other articles of mine, the links to which I am sharing below. All of these events can be considered technological warfare and “lawfare”.
In large parts of India, among Hindus, touching the feet of elders and teachers or bowing down to them, is a common practice. It is an extension of bowing down before the Gods and Divinities. When I say bowing down, it is not the Japanese bow, or one seen in a historical European context.
We do what is called a “Shāstānga namaskāra” or “Dheerga Danda namaskāra”. Men do a full prostration in front of Divinities. Women sit on their knees touch their foreheads to the floor in front of the Gods. The same is done in the presence of our Gurus, some teachers and elders in the family, community or society based on the situation.
Two depictions of the “Dheerga Danda Namaskaara”. Image credits – (L) “Mahabharata 23 – The Twelfth Year”, published by Amar Chitra Katha, (R) “Mahabharata 20 – Arjuna’s Quest for Weapons”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
Touching the feet is not something generally performed with the Gods. This is done mostly with humans we revere. In this case, one bows down and touches either the feet or the ground in front of the feet. This is an abbreviation of the prostration described earlier, performed in the interest of space and time. A further simplified version is just bowing down and touching the knees of the person*.
Irrespective of the exact nature of the “bow”, the act denotes showing respect to the Gods or to the person before whom the same is performed. It is not exactly an act of deference or subservience, it is purely one of respect, and maybe bhakti (loosely translated as “devotion”). It could be an act of deference, but that was not, as far as I know, the original intent and is not the intent in most parts of modern India today.
The key point of the “bow” is to touch or be in front of the feet of the individual(s) towards whom respect is being shown. The Feet are, in this sense, the most important aspect. This extends to the point where we consider the ground that is trod by the feet of great people and Gods as sacred ground.
It was common practice, perhaps it still is, for elders who accompany younger folk to any temple, to tell them to look at the feet of the idol of the deity. This is a constant reminder and is passed on from generation to generation. In Kannada, it is called, “Paada nodu”. In Hindi it would be, “Pair dekho”. It literally translates to “look (nodu/dekho) at the feet (paada/pair)”. In this vein, touching the feet is “Paada muttu” in Kannada and “Pair chuo” in Hindi. “Muttu” and “Chuo” translate as “touch”.
So, the focus of Bhakti and the act of showing respect always involves THE FEET.
The other field where the focus on the feet is vitally important is the Bujinkan system of martial arts; I daresay this is the case with all martial arts.
Among the first things that a student learns on starting in the Bujinkan is “Kamae”. “Kamae” could be considered “posture”, of the physical body. It could also refer to “attitude”, which is the “posture of the mind”, which in turn refers to displays or the exuding of non-physical aggression, confidence, fear and the like. For the purposes of this article, I am referring to the physical posture.
Two depictions of Kamae (physical posture). Sketches by Vishnu Mohan.
Kamae, when seen by an onlooker, predominantly shows the posture of the hands and the legs as a whole. But the kamae as experienced by the budoka (practitioner of budo), has greater focus on the core and the feet. The core because it holds the upper and lower halves of the body together. And the feet because it ensures balance and determines potential movements the body can perform, from said kamae. I will focus only on the key aspects regarding the feet in this article.
One of the key things that I have learnt from my teacher, mentors and seniors in the Bujinkan is that the weight should be towards the front half of the feet, i.e. towards the ball of the feet and the toes. The weight of the body should NOT be on the heels in any kamae. This holds true even for the most basic of the kamae, Shizen no Kamae, which can be translated as “Natural posture”. For those not in the know, this kamae just involves standing naturally in a relaxed posture.
Two more depictions of Kamae (physical posture), one with a weapon. Sketches by Vishnu Mohan.
The distribution of the body weight on the feet is absolutely crucial in the Bujinkan! To reiterate, it must be on the front half of the feet. This is vital because, making any movement from any given kamae, is faster with the weight on the ball and toes of the feet. Triggering any movement if one had loaded one’s heels is definitely slower. This is because the body is a lot more stable and rooted if one is standing on one’s heels. This in turn means that the inertia that needs to be overcome to initiate a movement is greater if one is on the heels.
When I say the “time taken to initiate a movement”, it is not too much, it could be a fraction of a second. But this time difference makes a definite difference during training and most certainly in a conflict situation that involves real harm. It could be termed “a split-second difference which makes all the difference”. This difference need not be distinctly visible to an onlooker, but any practitioner of the martial arts, certainly a practitioner of the Bujinkan, experiences this time and time again, perhaps in every class.
The distribution of the weight on the feet brings us full circle, back to the feet in Hindu culture. Specifically, to the depiction of the feet in sculpture produced by Hindu culture.
Lord Varaha saving Bhoodevi – carving in Cave 3 in Badami, Karntaka, India. The image on the right is a close up of the feet in the image on the left. Observe that the weight is either on the front half of the feet or on the side of the feet. Photograph by the author.
Consider any architectural or sculptural marvel from Indian history. It could the temple in Madurai, the sculptures in Mahabalipuram, the carvings on the magnificent temples at Halebeedu, Hampi or Badami, the marvels at Ellora or the historical monuments around Sanchi and Vidisha, or the many many others I have not mentioned here. All of them depict stories from Hindu culture. These include stories from the Mahabharata and Ramayana and the deeds of Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and Devi Durga. Many sculptures and bas reliefs depicting these stories show the human form in martial action. This includes the use of weapons and unarmed combat. Apart from the stories themselves, almost all temples have guardians carved on either side of the entrance to the Garbha Griha (literally “home or abode of the womb”), or sanctum sanctorum. These guardians always bear weapons.
The image on the left shows Lord Shiva destroying the Asura Andhaka (Aihole, Karnataka, India). Observe that the body is leaning forward and hence the weight will be on the front half of the feet. The image on the right from Pattadakal, Karnataka, India, shows a “Dwaarapalaka” (Guardian at the door). Observe that the individual is leaning on the weapon (mace/gada) and the weight is either on the front or the side of the foot. The weight of the body is not on the heels in either image.Photographs by the author.
Now consider the depiction of the feet in the sculptures showing martial action. Almost all of them show the body weight on the front half of the feet, irrespective of the kamae or posture depicted in the sculpture. This also extends to the posture of the guardians at the doorway to the Garbha Griha. Individuals might be shown leaning on the weapon they wield but are never depicted with the weight on the heels.
I am sharing multiple images with this article, that show the posture of the feet from a few different temples. One of them even shows the crimping of the little toe when the foot is lifted as if in a potential axe kick!
The image on the left, from Cave 3 in Badami, Karnataka, India, shows the Trivikrama form of Lord Vamana. Observe that he is standing on one leg. The image on the right is a close up of the left foot in the image on the right. Observe the crimping of the last 2 toes, as the weight is distributed to the front and side of the foot. Photograph by the author.
It is well known that temples in India have historically been more than just places of worship. They have been cultural centres, malls, schools/training centres, banks and treasuries, apart from just places of worship. The carvings on the temple walls were intended as teachings and storytelling features, sometimes both. Everything from tales from history and ethics to practices of intimacy were carved on temple walls. This was, according to some, because a lot of this knowledge was not taught directly.
Temples were thus a means to learn what was not yet in books and was not taught specifically as a subject in schools. So, considering this intent, in my opinion, what is carved in the temples are depicting what is, in all likelihood, the correct way one is supposed to load one’s feet. Therefore, the depictions of feet of warriors, even if they are deities, is showing how the weight distributions on the feet works, in marital arts in India.
The image on the left, from the Ravanaphadi Cave in Aihole, Karnataka, India, depicts the Mahishaasuramardhini. The image on the right is a closeup of the left foot of Devi Durga. Observe that weight is clearly on the side and front of the foot. Photograph by the author.
This continuum of importance of the feet and more importantly, the weight distribution on the feet is awesome indeed, at least to me. If one is a Hindu, it will be well known that feet are important to Bhakti and if one is a budoka practicing the Bujinkan the importance of weight distribution on the feet would be a key learning. The two come together in the depiction of the feet in sculpture seen in Hindu temples. Perhaps the best place for a budoka to appreciate the kamae of the feet is in a sculpture in a Hindu architectural marvel and being a Hindu, it is impossible to miss the kamae of the feet, for the feet is what one is culturally conditioned to observe. An absolute win-win combination. 😊
Notes:
* When a person touches the feet of another, the person whose feet is touched, almost always offers āshirwāda, which can loosely be translated as blessings. So, there is a responsibility placed on the person receiving the respect. It is not just to foster an air of superiority. A person being shown respect must have the humility to know that āshirwāda is due, even if not expected.
Learning from oral transmission and experiences in the training spaces
The purpose of this series of posts is multi-fold. Firstly, it is a resource I can share with people who are not practitioners of the martial arts. For most of us, a majority of the people we interact with do not practice any form of martial art. Sharing ideas and practices about martial arts might require some “first principles” like definitions, overarching themes and ideas and objectives of the art form. Hopefully this series will be that resource.
Secondly, it is an opportunity for me to look back at my own thoughts about the Bujinkan. The thoughts are a document I can refer in the future to see if I my thinking has changed or evolved.
Lastly, practitioners of the Bujinkan who are relatively new to the system and long-time practitioners who might need a look back at aspects from earlier years could use this as a starting point for further discovery. There are several practitioners and Sensei of the Bujinkan with a lot more experience compared to me, who share content about the art form and the system. I strongly recommend that everyone consume the content from those sources. This series is possibly an index to search further in those sources.
So, this series in not a deep dive, it is more like a primer of my thoughts with scope for expansion in each aspect. Most importantly, whatever knowledge can be gleaned from this series is a conversation starter or direction pointer at best; it does not in any way replace actual training in a dojo with fellow budoka and a teacher who can help one progress.
In the first post of this series, I had given an introduction to this series and defined some basic concepts that would be revisited during subsequent posts. In the second post, I had looked in greater detail at the “Ten Chi and Jin”, which is considered the “basics” of the Bujinkan. In the third post, I discussed in brief the 5 styles of fighting and the 9 schools that make up the Bujinkan system of martial arts. In the fourth post I discussed the use of weapons as a part of training in the Bujinkan and martial arts in general, which in my opinion is the most important aspect of the martial arts. In this part, I will discuss how learning occurs in the Bujinkan and perhaps in most martial arts around the world. This is last of the aspects I had referred to as the “physical aspects” of the Bujinkan. These are seen in the screenshot below. The topic highlighted is the focus of this article.
This post refers to the actual training, learning, experience, expression and realization that happens in the space where martial arts training occurs. The space of training can be called dojo, akhada, kalari, garadi mane, gym or by any other name depending on the part of the world one is training in. The finer points of the various concepts, forms, weapons and their use, and the nuances of the movement and its flow; all of these can only ever be assimilated when one actually trains physically with a teacher and fellow practitioners (hopefully both senior and junior in martial experience).
It is because of the experiential nature and perpetual flow of learning that it is impossible to document it all. It is documented at a personal level and in most cases, perhaps never. Most individuals just use the martial arts to generate wisdom and lead a good life, and never bother to document their learning and journey. This aspect will be expanded upon later in this post.
A representation of experiential learning. Credit for the images – Left & Centre – “Mahabharata 5 – Enter Drona”, published by Amar Chitra Katha, Right – “Mahabharata 16 – Pandavas conquer the World”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
The words spoken by the teacher and fellow practitioners and experiences shared while training form the oral transmission part of the training. Each person hears everything differently and develops a system of movement that works for her or him individually. This works over years of training because the objective is learning and not teaching.
A representation of learning with a teacher. Credit for the images – “Mahabharata 5 – Enter Drona”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
Again, because there are as many variations of learning as there are people, it is impossible to document in any media. To give an analogy from Hindu culture, it is said that there are 300 versions of the Ramayana. But since every person who consumes any version experiences some part of the epic differently from every other person who consumes the same, a new personalized version is created for that person. So, there are in reality, as many versions of the Ramayana as there are people who experience the same in any media. And this changes every time there is another experience depending on the media of experience or the situation of the person, in terms of age and physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual states. So, there literally are infinite versions of the Ramayana. This same is true of actual martial arts training.
This nature of learning is why most of the training is called “Kuden”, in the Bujinkan system. The “ku” in kuden is refers to empty space and “den” comes from the word “densho”. Densho refers to the scroll or book of teachings which is more like a syllabus. So, kuden means learning that is not contained in or cannot be obtained from a written document. In the modern world, densho can extend to videos or any other media available through social media and digital technology. Thus, literally everything that is learnt ONLY from experience can be classified under kuden.
A representation of learning by practice. Sketch by Vishnu Mohan.
Another analogy here from Hindu tradition is the difference between Shruthi and Smriti. Shruti refers to that which is heard and hence is analogous to the kuden mentioned above. Smriti refers to that which is documented (in the past it was books). Many a time, Shruthi could be some knowledge created due to a wonderful revelation that has occurred in a moment of great inspiration. This adds to one’s own and also to the learning of others. Of course, the inspiration in that special moment itself could be due to earlier experiences, learning, wisdom, or exposure to some Shruthi or Smriti. Also, over time, some Shruthi could become Smriti, if it becomes commonplace and can be documented to the advantage of many practitioners. This is when a densho gets created to supplement or replace kuden. Even this article could be considered a personal Smriti of years of Shruthi on my part.
A representation of “Shruthi”, or learning from the spoken word in the presence of a teacher. Image credit – “Mahabharata 1 – Veda Vyasa”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
Going by this analogy and the defined concept, all the other 4 parts before this one, where I discuss my understanding of the Bujinkan, where I have discussed the physical aspect of martial arts training, are a broad documentation that can be used to “learn about” the Bujinkan and maybe about martial arts in general. But the information there cannot be used to “learn” either the Bujinkan or the any other martial art. It is information about the martial art form, but not a guide to learning the martial art.
A representation of “Densho” or “Smriti”, a manual a student can use for practice. Sketch by Vishnu Mohan.
An aside here – I am adding a bit of personal opinion. I think learning happens through the skin, by means of osmosis while training in the dojo or an equivalent space. Many a time one is confused in the mind and hence learning is not active. Seeing and hearing lead to a semblance of imitation, but not learning. Also, I have never heard of anyone learn through smell and taste. Therefore based on what I have experienced and seen, learning seems to be through the skin, and passive. Maybe someone can share more details based on their knowledge & experience.
Considering that the martial arts lend themselves to learning through personal experience and not all of it is documented, an important concept takes shape. The one of the “martial journey” or “Shugyo” as it is referred to in Japanese. Over the years of training any martial art, one likely trains with multiple teachers and their respective students. These teachers contribute one’s experience and realizations through their own expressions of the art forms. These teachers might be from different countries, cultures and backgrounds, all of which adds to the learnings.
Then there is the exposure to knowledge from other media that is available today, like YouTube, books, and any other media. There are also online workshops and conferences that while not great for starting one’s martial journey, are great tools to share knowledge. All of this leads to one’s growth as a martial artist. Due to the long time this takes and perhaps the journey across many geographies, it is a journey in a very real sense. This journey is where one finds expressions of kuden by different individuals. Also, every time one finds a new set of documented experiences of kuden from a martial artist one has not trained with before, that is a new station in one’s martial journey as well.
One last point about the martial journey is that it is not necessarily a linear one. It helps one buttress one’s existing learning and add layers to one’s own experience. It also, more importantly, allows one to remember concepts that have been forgotten, basics that have not been revisited and practices that have been discontinued to one’s detriment. In this sense, it is a reminder and hence a circular journey to reconnect with basics or roots and make them stronger.
Word of caution – All of the above is my personal experience from class. It could be different from those of others, and I could be wrong in some of my perceptions. For details of specific concepts, techniques and forms, I recommend people train and experience the art form on their own. Barring that, there are several books and videos by the Soke (Hatsumi Sensei) himself, and then there is content in various media by people who have trained from around the time I was born or even before that. So, there is a lot of experience to immerse oneself in.
This is the last post that delves into physical aspects of the Bujinkan. The next series of 5 posts will deal with the non-physical aspects of the Bujinkan. These are seen in the screenshot seen below. I will start this series of posts in late March or April ’25.
Today, 29th January, 2025, is the Chinese New Year. This year is the “Year of the Snake”. More specifically, it is the “Year of the Wood Snake”, “wood” being the element associated with the animal of the zodiac this year. Due to historical cultural connections between China & Japan, we use the zodiac animal associated with the year as inspiration for training, every now and then, in the Bujinkan (which is of Japanese origin). This is not a norm, but something that is not uncommon either. Snakes are animals that have a strong presence in Hindu culture. So, me being a Hindu, a Budoka, and someone who has a deep respect for snakes, inspired me to write this article.
Everyone knows of the main aspects that are considered advantages in the martial arts. These generally are strength, speed and agility. Skill and experience can offset some of these. But weapons mitigate the advantage physical prowess provides. This includes both offensive and defensive weapons. In my previous post, from last week, I had discussed the importance of weapons in the martial arts*. This seems like a nice follow-up. One advantage that weapons additionally provide is reach, or how far away an attack can be carried out. Modern weapons of course also have “range” which is how large an area can be affected (of course, “range” can also be used interchangeably with “reach”, when it comes to modern weapons).
While training the Bujinkan system of martial arts, one story that everyone learns is that of Ishikawa Goemon. Ishikawa Goemon is a legendary character from the Sengoku Jidai (warring states period) of Japan, which is the second half of the 16th century. Ishikawa Goemon is a shinobi from Iga who tries to assassinate either Oda Nobunaga or Hideyoshi Toyotomi, using poison. I have been told that there are stories which describe him as trying to assassinate one or the other, though neither of them are supposedly strictly historical. In both stories, the attempted assassination fails. Goemon is supposed to have been executed along with his family according to some tales while some supposedly say that he escaped.
Chains that guide rain water into a harvesting area – something like Goemon used to guide poison into his quarry’s mouth?
Despite the failure of the attempt, the means he used in the assassination is fascinating! He gained access to the bed chamber of his target and hid in the rafters overhead. When the quarry was asleep, he let poison drip into the mouth of the sleeping individual over a thin rope. Think of this as the chains used to guide water into a harvesting tank below. The poison only made the target sick but was insufficient to kill the person. This legend was used in a sequence in the James Bond movie “You Live Only Twice” starring Sean Connery.
Another story related to “Ninja” using poison is something I saw in the old Discovery Channel series “Ancient Warriors”. This series showed how various groups of historical warriors fought and lived. This series ran between 1994 and 1995. One episode of this series focused on the Ninja and was titled, “The Ninja: Warrior of the Night”! This series has not aged well. The “facts” shown in the series are questioned and not considered entirely accurate.
In this episode about the “Ninja” a situation is narrated where the ninja assassinate a warlord by sprinkling poison powder on flowers in his garden. The ninjas observe that the warlord takes a stroll in his garden every morning smelling the flowers. They use this behaviour of his to kill him. Even in the episode, the name of the warlord is not mentioned, nor is any context given for the assassination. So, I am not sure if this is historical, and if it is just a story, I would request anyone else who might have heard the same, of its antecedents. Who is being referred to in the story and in what quasi-historical situation? I am attaching a link to a video of this episode in the notes below**.
Irrespective of the provenance of the second story, the two stories mentioned above show that the use of poison is certainly attributed to Shinobi. And this links the Shinobi/Ninja to snakes. Many creatures on our planet have developed “Venom” as a survival strategy. These include molluscs (e.g. snails), arthropods (e.g. scorpions), insects (e.g. wasps), amphibians (e.g. frogs) and reptiles (snakes and lizards). But snakes are undoubtedly “top of mind” when it comes to creatures that use chemical weaponry, namely venom (many a time referred to as “poison’).
An old photo of a Saw Scaled Viper
A small tangent here. Venom is poisonous. I have heard a beautiful explanation regarding when the terms venom and poison should be used. I will repeat the same here. If a snake bites a person and the person dies, the snake is VENOMOUS. If a person bites a snake and the person dies, the snake is POISONOUS. In contrast, if a snake bites a person and the snake dies, the person is POISONOUS. If a person bites a snake and the snake dies, the person is VENOMOUS.
This is why there exist frogs referred to as “Arrow Poison Frogs”. These frogs secrete a venom from their skin. So, if any animal bites these frogs or tries to eat them, the frog is POISONOUS and hence they learn to not consider the frog food. Similarly, there are “poisonous” mushrooms, which if eaten, can kill the individuals who eat them. Now, we go back to the main article.
One of the things that a practitioner of the Bujinkan system learns in the first few months of training is the “Hi Ken Juroppo”. This refers to the 16 ways of striking/hitting an opponent, without weapons. This includes the use of the fists, fingers, elbows, knees, feet etc. Apart from this, a concept called “Shizen Ken” is taught. Shizen Ken can be translated as “natural weapons”. This generally refers to nails, teeth and spit in humans. In other words, one can scratch or bite or spit at opponents. These are not trained as a part of “striking” an opponent as these are considered to be more “natural” or something we do due to our evolutionary past.
When it comes to animals, shizen ken would be horns, claws, fangs, tongues (think chameleons), beaks, and of course, VENOM. Obviously, when we consider weapons, we need to consider defensive weaponry as well, the examples mentioned earlier being exclusively offensive in nature.
Defensive weapons in animals include armours (carapace, cuticle, shell ec) in the case of crocodiles, tortoises and crabs, secretions (like the ink used by squids and octopi and the stink raised by skunks), spikes in porcupines and of course the wide range of camouflage that exists in nature. Beyond these, we can include the warning mechanisms used by animals under shizen ken. This includes the warning sounds used by various animals and the bright display colours that poisonous animals like frogs and caterpillars sport.
If we consider protection developed by various creatures against the heat, cold and the natural elements, this list of “natural weaponry” deployed by life on earth increases manifold! Of course, the development of weaponry is not limited to the animal kingdom. Weapons, mainly defensive ones are seen even in the plant kingdom, like thorns, resins, hard shells and of course poison.
Considering just snakes, they have developed a natural weapon that gives them a huge advantage in the battle for survival. Venomous snakes are distributed all across the world, but not all snakes are venomous. Venom is one of the weapons that snakes have evolved apart from size, speed, camouflage, agility and flexibility, which are seen in many species of snakes, sometimes in conjunction with venom.
An old photo of a young Common Krait. I could be mistaken here, this could be a Wolf Snake, which looks very similar to a Common Krait.
One factor about weapons is that they nullify the advantage proffered by size and strength. This is true in all species. This means that venomous snakes can afford to evolutionarily be smaller in comparison to many other snakes. This also means that they can be ambush hunters and minimize the risk they face from prey, struggling or otherwise. Of course, nature being nature, not all venomous snakes are small. Some rattlers and bushmasters in the Americas grow pretty large. Gaboon Vipers in Africa are large as well, and then there is the King Cobra, which is a very big snake by all standards, by length if not weight and girth. But most venomous snakes can be small or medium sized. In India, the Saw Scaled Viper, the Common Krait and many of the Pit Vipers tend to be on the smaller side according to common parlance. Cobras and Russel’s Vipers are medium sized snakes.
A majestic King Cobra
I have seen on some nature documentaries, the afore mentioned African Gaboon Vipers described as “docile”. This is in relation to its behaviour vis-à-vis humans. Of course, every snake has a different temperament and this is only a general characterization that I have heard. I am not even sure if this observation is correct. But assuming what I have seen is correct, I make the following observation. The Gaboon Viper has very large fangs to deliver venom, the largest of any extant snake. It can deliver a large dose of venom in a single bite. So, if I anthropomorphize the Gaboon Viper, it is so certain of its natural abilities and of course weapons, it has no need for any aggression. It knows its opponents will stay away due to fear or evolutionary knowledge of its weapons. Thus, it can AFFORD to be docile!
The Gaboon Viper also has a fantastic camouflage pattern that resembles the leaf litter on a forest floor. Lastly, it is an ambush hunter. Now consider the following traits. The Gaboon Viper can inject sufficient venom to kill its prey in a single bite – it is therefore armed with lethal weapons. Due to its camouflage, its quarry cannot see it coming. Being an ambush hunter, it can lie in wait for long durations. Consider these traits together – it is literally an Ishikawa Goemon from another species! Of course, there are several other snakes that have the same combination of traits and I am just using this as an example.
A Gaboon Viper amidst leaf litter. Image credit – “1000 Wonders of Nature”, published by Reader’s Digest
In India, in the stories from Hindu culture, there are entities called the “Nagas”. Nagas are depicted as part human and part snake in many representations. They are also depicted exactly as snakes in others. I have heard some people distinguish between Nagas and snakes. Snakes are also referred to as “sarpa” in many Indian languages. Some people suggest that Nagas are different from “sarpa” or snakes since they have traits that far exceed those of snakes, traits that far exceed those of humans as well. But the Nagas are definitely linked to snakes and in modern Indian culture, the difference is hardly ever considered. Nagas are also prevalent is South-East Asian culture.
A representation of a Naga as depicted in South East Asia
The Nagas, based on my knowledge have three traits that most Hindus are commonly aware of.
Firstly, they are symbolic of fertility, in humans and of the land itself.
Secondly, Nagas and snakes in general, are considered guardians. They are depicted as guardians of material wealth, like ancient and hidden treasure. They are also symbolic of wisdom and spiritual prowess.
Lastly, Nagas are considered technologically superior as cultures go, which is perhaps an offshoot of their being associated with wisdom.
I will share a couple of examples of this technological superiority. In the Mahabharata, during the Ashwamedha Yajna after the Kurukshetra War, Arjuna is killed by own son Babruvāhana. He is healed and brought back to life by his wife Uloopi, who is a Naga princess. Uloopi uses a “Naga Mani” to heal Arjuna. The “Naga Mani” is a popular trope in modern Indian entertainment as well. It again links treasure (Mani is a gemstone) with the Nagas. This story shows Nagas possessing technology or knowledge that allows them to perform tasks that are beyond normal humans. It brings them closer to the divinities in this sense.
Uloopi summoning the “Naga Mani” or the Gem of the Nagas. Image credit – “Uloopi”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
The other example is the “Sarpāstra” or the “Nagāstra”. “Astra” can be translated as an arrow or a projectile weapon. Astra can be used to depict any weapon that is discharged, with a bow or any other device (the air-to-air missile developed by India for its fighter aircraft is also called “Astra”). This is a special arrow used in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharta. This arrow is supposed to never miss, unlike other arrows. Further, an adversary who is struck by this arrow is either sure to die, with no hope of recovery, or be bound for all time, as one can never escape the weapon’s clutches. In essence, this Naga weapon is more capable compared to those used by humans.
A representation of the “Sarpastra” being superior to a normal human arrow. Image credit – “Uloopi”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
These positive traits associated with Nagas results in names associated with Nagas being widely prevalent in India even today! Names like “Nagaraj”, “Nagaswamy”, Nageshwar (male version) and Nageshwari (female version) and many others associated with Nagas are encountered by all of us regularly. All of these names translate to “King / Lord/ Chief” of the Nagas. I am sure all of us can recall at least one friend or relative who has a name associated with the Nagas. This is not to mean that snakes are not feared in modern India. There is a healthy respect for snakes all across India. The association with the Nagas, and hence snakes, is not new. Many royal lines from the times of Ramayana and Mahabharata to historical times link themselves to Naga ancestry.
It might seem that Nagas, who are part of legend and folklore in India are the ones who have positive traits. It is not snakes that have positive traits. I beg to differ on this point. I will share my personal opinion on this point. Let us begin with venom again. Earlier, I mentioned the astra named after snakes or Nagas. This is literally true in snakes! Snakes have developed the mechanism to deliver venom at a “stand-off” distance. There are multiple species of Spitting Cobras that have evolved a fang with an opening through which they can spray venom on an adversary, and keep them at bay. This is a true astra indeed!
Let us now consider aspects of snakes beyond the use of venom. Let us begin with the physical trait of snakes that everyone recognizes – the forked tongue that snakes possess and flick in and out of their mouth every now and then. Snakes use their tongue to analyse the environment around them. Snakes have an organ on the roof of their mouths, on the inside, called the “Jacobson’s Organ”. The tongue collects samples from the air and deposits it onto the Jacobson’s Organ, which in turn determines what the surrounding atmosphere is like. This is like snakes carrying around a lab inside their heads that can analyse their surroundings! This is miniature technology like no other!
The forked tongue of a snake
Of course, this is not limited to snakes. Other species have evolutionary senses that seem like magic, or at least marvels of technology, thanks to modern science. Some raptors (birds of prey) can see in the ultraviolet spectrum, sharks can detect the electrical signals in water to find food and elephants can communicate using infra sound. These are just a few examples from the natural world, without even considering the plant kingdom.
Considering evolutionary senses, one cannot ignore “the Pit” used by snakes. Pit vipers and some pythons have an organ called the “Pit” at the top of their heads on the outside. This pit is a sensory organ that allows the snakes that possess them to perceive their surroundings through something like “heat vision”. They can identify temperature differences to identify prey and track them.
So, considering just the two examples above, snakes carry in their heads, heat vision equipment and a lab to study their surroundings! 😛 This does indeed seem like high technology to us humans, in hindsight of course. Therefore, Nagas, who are linked to snakes and sometimes are nothing more than anthropomorphized forms of snakes, are no doubt considered wise and technologically advanced.
Nagas represented as part human and part snake.Image credit – “Uloopi”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
Even if one considers humans before modern science revealed all the “super senses” that snakes possess, we can still explain the fascination with snakes. In a previous article of mine***, titled “Ashta Siddhi and Budo”, I had discussed what are considered the “8 achievements” of a warrior and how they can be understood through modern budo practice. The fifth of these five achievements is called “Praapti”.
“Praapti” can be considered to be “able to receive everything”. This in modern parlance, in my opinion, refers to being able to perceive all the information in a given time and space, which in turn aids in conflict management and hopefully conflict mitigation. For practitioners of the Bujinkan, this would, again in my opinion, be nothing other than “Sakkijutsu”. Sakkijutsu, put simply, is one’s intuitive ability, which could also be termed as “awareness”, “situational awareness” or “mindfulness”.
The sensory abilities of snakes described earlier would be apparent to people in historical times, for they were keen observers of the natural world as well. The senses of snakes might not have been explained, but it would not be something unknown either. So, in a culture where, the ability to perceive the surroundings is celebrated as one of the “8 achievements” and the ability of snakes would be known, would snakes and therefore the Nagas, not be deeply respected as well? I would say that they definitely would be.
All of the above aspects I have mentioned are beyond the usual symbolism attached to snakes – that of growth. The act of moulting has made snakes a symbol of “growth” and therefore “transcendence”. The points shared above are from the perspective of a Hindu in modern India, who is also a practitioner of the Bujinkan (an expression of Budo).
I had started this post with a couple of quasi historical stories from Japanese history. I will now revert to Japan to make yet another point. During my training the Bujinkan, I have learnt from a mentor of ours, Arnaud Cousergue, that the Togakure Ryu, one of the schools of Ninpo Taijutsu (sometimes referred to as Ninjutsu) that we learn, is divided into 18 segments. Only a few of these 18 segments are trained in dojos these days. One of these 18 segments is “Kayaka Jutusu”. This refers to training the use of explosives. There is no segment that is attributed to the practice and use of poisons. But Ninjas did use poison as evidenced by the two stories mentioned earlier. So, could it be that a segment for poisons was not present in just the Togakure Ryu? Or was it subsumed under “unconventional weapons”, the chief of which was gunpowder and explosives in later centuries? I am not a historian and have no answer to this question.
In my personal opinion, this segment, “Kayaka Jutsu”, could perhaps be considered to refer to the use of unconventional weapons. A theory about the origin of the Togakure Ryu states that it originates in the 12th century. This was before Japan’s first encounter with gunpowder and explosives, which was during the Mongol invasion, in the late 13th century. So, maybe this segment among the 18 was added later during the evolution of the Togakure Ryu? Or, as mentioned earlier, was it that this segment referred to “unconventional weapons” in general and later became specific to explosives as that was the primary new weapon? I am assuming it was so. If anyone knows otherwise, please do share your knowledge with me.
While considering “unconventional weapons”, there is one trait of snakes that is truly staggering, the very definition of “unconventional”. Snakes have no ears and do not hear like other animals. Snakes sense vibrations through the bones in their head. But their “hearing” or perception of sound in comparison to humans and other animals is poor. But snakes use sound to warn potential threats.
Russel’s Viper
The best example of this are rattle snakes. They have evolved a rattle to warn creatures who intrude on their habitats. Similarly, in India, if anyone has heard the warning hiss of a Russel’s Viper, it sounds like a pressure cooker about to go off! In both these cases, sound is used as a warning device. This means that snakes use a medium of perception to warn creatures, that they themselves do not possess! Snakes cannot hear but know other creatures can! And they use that sense for the benefit of both! How cool is that! It is baffling and “unconventional” to say the least.
Of course, the ability to use a medium one cannot perceive well is a product of evolution over millions of years. And evolution itself brings to mind two aspects that are expressed in the Bujinkan. These are Kami Waza and the fourth of the Gojo, “Shizen no choetsu”.
Kami Waza is a concept where one moves during a fight in such an amazing manner that it seems like one was being moved by something divine. This is exactly what evolution is! The outcome of evolution seems truly magical in hindsight. I had referred to Kami Waza in my article about the Ashta Siddhi, which is linked here. “Shizen no choetsu” could be translated as “the transcendence of nature”. It is the fourth of the 5 Gojo that is oft quoted in Bujinkan dojos. I had written an article some time ago where I have discussed my understanding of the five Gojo. The same is linked here+.
Evolution that is seen in nature is about continuous and incremental changes to overcome challenges in ways that are inconceivable at any given time. The ability of a creature that does not use sound to ward off creatures that do use it, without knowing the experience of sound is exactly that! Transcendence in its essence! First an animal realizes that other animals perceive something that it does not, and then devices a means to use that perception to its advantage, but without developing that perception in itself! 😀 I know, I am saying this a lot, because it boggles the mind!
There is another Gojo, the third of the five that goes, “Shizen no Ninniku”. This can be translated as “the forbearance of nature”. This refers to how one needs to persevere through any activity, just like nature has an abundance of ability to take any challenge and over time overcome the same. I have discussed this also in my previous article. I will use a personal experience of mine to show this trait in snakes.
My family used to run a rescue and rehabilitation centre for wild animals within the city many years ago. This centre functioned from the late 1970s through the late 2000s. Sometime in the late 90s of the early 2000s, an interesting incident took place. We got a call from a local timber yard about a snake in one of the logs at their premises. It was a log that had been transported from Malaysia to India. In the log was a clutch of eggs that had not been noticed earlier and had somehow survived the processing of the tree before transportation.
One of the eggs hatched and a live Small Banded Kukri Snake emerged from the same. It was a Malaysian species of Kukri Snake which hatched in India. Unfortunately the snake did not survive long. But this does show how snakes can survive and extend their territories. In this case an egg travelled from Malaysia to India and hatched. We hear many stories of how Burmese Pythons have successfully created a habitat for themselves in Florida, the other side of the ocean.
A large Indian Rock Python
Snakes can endure habitat destruction, disturbances to their nests and dwellings, human trade in exotic pets and still find new habitats to inhabit. This is a wonderful example of how nature perseveres, its forbearance is infinite. This is not unlike how one needs to spend years to train the martial arts. It is a gradual process, demanding time, effort and many resources to be expended.
That is a roundup of the fascinating connections between snakes, the martial arts and Indian culture. In conclusion, snakes are like a living breathing sensor package, much like modern day fighter aircraft and other weapons systems. This is like “Praapti” in Hindu culture and Sakkijutsu in the Bujinkan. This is also the key behind modern day 5th generation warfare, where conflicts are not kinetic and information gathering is of paramount importance and technology is a vital ingredient. Technology of a natural kind is what snakes also deploy, chemical weaponry, or venom, in a world where strength, speed and size matter. This leads back to the martial arts, where unarmed combat might be basic, but weapons are the true expression of the art. And we have not even spoken about flying snakes or the world of the sea snakes…
Acknowledgements – All images unless mentioned, were taken over the course of many years by various members of my family. I share my deep gratitude to my uncle, Dr. Shashidhar for sharing many images of the many creatures that shared our home over the decades.
This post would be incomplete without sharing a couple of images of another uncle of mine, the late Srinath. He had an innate understanding of all wild creatures and a knack for working with snakes that was, to say the least, intuitive. He could sense the temperament of any snake, or any animal for that matter, in an instant. Watching him work with wildlife will be something that I will never not miss!
Left – With a King Cobra. Right – With a Spectacled Cobra.
Nine years ago, on a trip to Japan one of our mentors made a very interesting statement. It was a trip to train at the Bujinkan Hombu1 dojo with some of the senior most teachers in the system. At that time, a lot of us had passed the Sakki2 test to receive the 5th Dan just a few years previously. Many more of our buyu3 passed the test and achieved the 5th Dan during that trip. The 5th Dan is a requisite to receive a “Shidoshi”4 certificate, which is a prerequisite to start teaching the students of the Bujinkan.
During that trip, one of our mentors, Sensei Darren Horvath, said something very interesting. Sensei Darren has always considered the teachings in the dojo as applicable to human life as a whole, and not just as those applicable in a physical altercation.
He said that the achievement of the rank of “Shidoshi” means that the person who achieves this should be able to, in the near term, at least double her or his income, as a result of the learning achieved so far. This was in the context of how the learning from becoming a Shidoshi should lead to a considerable improvement in the quality of life of the Shidoshi. Considering how monetary wealth is vitally important in modern day life, there should be a surplus of it, which allows for other pursuits important to one’s life. It was in light of this opinion that the earlier statement was made.
To put it simply, personal prosperity is supposed to be an outcome of the training put in, to achieve the Shidoshi certification. This could be classified under the personal or self-development that results from training the martial arts. The Sakki test that needs to be passed on the way to a Shidoshi certification requires development of trust in one’s own intuitive abilities. This can also be called mindfulness or awareness of any situation. This development of an individual is expected to help one advance in aspects of life that have nothing to do with physical combat or the martial arts.
As a Hindu and an Indian, the idea of prosperity is an intersection between Budo and Hindu culture that stands out. This idea inspired this post. Personal prosperity (including monetary wealth), as I understand it, is a vital aspect of Hindu culture. One of the Goddesses we routinely pray to is Lakshmi, who is the Goddess of wealth and also the consort of Lord Vishnu. Another divinity, who is not prayed to as much is Kubera, who is considered the God of Prosperity & Wealth. Kubera is also the lord of the Yakshas.
The wealth of Kubera represented by his loan to the wedding of Lord Venkateshwara. Image credit – “Venkateshwara Taanada Chitragalu”, published by Pioneer Publications
In a previous article of mine, I had shared a sutra* from the Arthashastra, one line of which says “Dharmasya moolam arthaha”. This means that “artha”, or wealth, is the root of Dharma. Wealth is vitally important for Dharma to exist and permeate all walks of life. Dharma, as I understand it, is “that which sustains”. This means that Dharma is doing what needs to be done to sustain a good life. This is why Dharma is sometimes referred to as “doing the right thing” or “doing the best thing possible in a given situation”. Thus, wealth, or prosperity, is very important for a good life by doing the right things. Personal prosperity is the root!
One symbol of prosperity in India, since a very long time, is the elephant. This is perhaps because people or institutions who owned an elephant(s) in India were prosperous, for owning an elephant was expensive, not to mention maintaining several of them. One of the eight forms of Devi Lakshmi is titled, “Gaja Lakshmi”, where Gaja means an elephant. The elephant is associated with Lakshmi as she is the Goddess of Wealth/Prosperity, and the elephant is a symbol of the same.
A representation of the arrangement during the celebration of Aane Habba (Elephant Festival)
15th of December, 2024 was celebrated as “Aane Habba” or “The Elephant Festival”. The date of the festival changes every year as it is based on the Tamil Solar calendar. This is a festival specific to my community and not a festival that is widely observed in India, or elsewhere. But the day on which the Aane Habba is celebrated is observed variously by different Hindu communities. The day on which the festival falls is the Poornima (full moon day) of the Kartika month according to the Tamil Solar calendar. It is an auspicious time and hence is celebrated under different names by different groups.
Devi Lakshmi on the white elephant above
One of these is “Kiru Deepavali” or “Little Diwali”. Another is “Vishnu Deepam”. Yet another festival that occurs a day or two earlier is “Karthigai Deepam”
The Kartika month itself is very important for historical reasons. The “Bali Jatra” festival happens in the state of Odisha during this month. Historically this was the beginning of the voyage from India to South East Asia (Bali in particular) for trade. Bali Jatra is associated with the Kartika Poornima festival. This occurred on 15th November in 2024. This voyage generated enormous wealth historically for the merchants involved and for the nations along the coast. This is the Poornima based on the Lunar calendar, hence the difference in the date of the festival.
The Aane Habba itself is specifically celebrating the elephant, which is another way of saying that we celebrate prosperity and wish for more of it, and in perpetuity. This specific aspect of the festival brings us back to the same idea in Budo which I started with. The notion of personal prosperity seems vitally important, if one is a Hindu. The same idea being reflected as an objective for Budo practice, makes it a wonderful reason to train the same. 😊
In martial arts around the world, wood is used a lot for practice weapons. These days weapons made of various polymers like nylon and polypropylene have started to replace wood as the material of choice for practice weapons. But this is not ubiquitous yet. In India, we almost never get training weapons made of anything but wood. It is too expensive due to a lack of demand. Polymer weapons need to be imported, again resulting in great costs. So, wood it is for us for now.
Recently we had a batch of wooden training weapons made and that is where the idea for this article came from. Wood comes from trees. And trees and plants have always played a major role in cultures all over the world from times immemorial, as weapons of both offence and defence. Trees are present in modern day speculative fiction, everyday news and in daily conversations as well. But I have never heard of a “Way of the Tree”.
Let us consider the presence of trees in stories from our tradition, myths from extinct religions, pop culture and modern day conversations.
One the most popular fantasy series of recent times is “The Wheel of Time” written by Robert Jordan and later by Brandon Sanderson. In the series there is a community of nomadic people called “The Traveling people” or “Tuatha’an”. This community follows what is called the “The Way of the Leaf”. It is a completely pacifistic way of living with absolutely no violence at all. This people reminds me of some Jain groups in India, who also follow a way living which abhors violence of all sorts.
An opposite of “The Wheel of Time” is “A Song of Ice & Fire” written by George R R Martin. In this series there is a kind of tree called a Weirwood. This tree is partially magic and has human faces carved into it. These trees might have a hive mind and also accept sacrifices, including human sacrifices!
Who can forget the Huorns and Ents in the Lord of the Rings! The Huorns are literally trees that move! In numbers, they are a forest that moves like an army. And the Ents are called shepherds of the forest, though in my opinion, they are like Generals to the Huorns.
In Norse mythology, mistletoe is a weapon. It is used to kill the God Baldur.
The plant Sanjeevini is used as a medicine in the Ramayana, to save Lakshmana from a weapon deployed by Indrajit (Meghanath), the son of Ravana.
Plant and tree produce are used for healthcare in India, as seen in the ancient Indian science of Ayurveda.
There are Gods for wine-making in many cultures. In old Vedic rituals, sacred Soma or Somarasa, which is believed to be an intoxicating drink made from a plant, is used.
I am a Hindu, and trees are all over our culture. We celebrated the festival of Dasara (Dussehra) a few weeks ago. On the last day (10th day) of the Dasara festival, which is Vijayadashami, a tree takes centre stage. The Banni or Shami tree is worshipped on this day. “Banni Mara” is the name in Kannada and “Shami Vruksh” is the name in Hindi. Both of these supposedly refer to Prosopis Cineraria.
Shami/Banni leaves given as “prasada” after a pooja on the occasion of Vijayadashami
In a lot of folklore in India, ghosts are associated with the Banyan tree. On the positive side, trees are worshipped during marriage ceremonies by some communities. The Peepal tree, called the “Ashwath Mara” in Kannada receives prayers by womenfolk during a marriage ceremony. Of course, the Buddha is supposed to have achieved enlightenment under a Peepal tree. This specific tree was called the Bodhi tree.
Social gatherings under Peepal trees were important for local discussions in India and hence the place under the tree was called a “Katte”, which is the Kannada word for a platform where people can sit and discuss. This was specifically called the “Ashwath Katte” or the “Peepal Platform”! Literally a platform for people under the Peepal! Sandalwood is used to make a paste, called “Chandana” and is offered to Gods. This is also applied on the neck of devotees after the offering, as a blessing from the Gods.
A Peepal tree
If we consider martial aspects, we can go back to the Ramayana. The bow used by Lord Rama was called the “Kodanda”. I have heard that a bow made of bamboo was called “Kodanda”. The bow of Rama was supposed to have three curves, in other words, it was a recurve bow made of bamboo. Just to expand on this point, consider the bow of Lord Vishnu. It is called the “Shāranga”. “Shāranga” is supposed to mean “horn”. So, the bow of Vishnu was made of animal horns. So, does that mean that Vishnu used a composite bow? I am not sure. I am basing this on the fact that when horn is used a material for a bow, it is usually a composite bow where sinew, glue and other materials are used to make the bow.
Representative image of Lord Rama with his bow, “Kodanda”. Image credit – “The Ramayana” published by Amar Chitra Katha.
There is a martial art with its origins in the modern day state of Tamil Nadu, called “Silambam”. The main weapon used in Silambam is a staff made of bamboo or rattan. I have seen it said that Silambam literally means “a staff of bamboo” or a “staff from the hills” which again refers to bamboo. And if the staff is not made of bamboo, it is made of a wood from different trees. There is a martial art called “Lathi Khela”, which focuses specifically on fighting with a staff. This martial art is famous all over the country.
Staff fighting is present in multiple martial art forms originating in India. Even as late as the 19th and early 20th century, the staff was the weapon of the enforcers employed by Landlords or Zamindars. These Zamindars used the enforcers for rent seeking and are considered “villains” in contemporary thinking. The staff is called a “Lathi” and the people who used the staff were called “Lathaith”.
Of course, staff fighting is popular all over the world. From the knobkerrie or rungu used in parts of Africa to the shillelagh in Ireland to the bo in Japan, staffs of various lengths are used in fighting all the time. Robin Hood fighting Little John is a popular story and in modern fantasy there is Matrim Couthon in the Wheel of Time series, who can defeat swordsmen with a quarterstaff.
If we consider defensive weaponry, armour made of fabric, like layers of cotton and the billowing cape used by Japanese cavalrymen to protect against a single arrow are well known examples. A cloth turban to protect the head was present in historical India. Another form of protection is the shield. Shields made of wicker were present in historical China while wooden parrying sticks were used in parts of Africa.
We can even use trees in a metaphorical or philosophical sense to expound on martial concepts.
Training the martial arts is a long term activity. It takes years of training to achieve mastery over the forms. It takes even longer to develop the expertise needed to share the knowledge / experience / wisdom gained. It requires commitment and passion for the art form. Conviction is also needed in the benefits of practice of the martial art to motivate an individual to keep at it.
This is not unlike the life of a tree. A tree takes years to grow, especially the large trees, which create a sense of awe in anyone who beholds them. Some trees live for over a thousand years! They grow from a seed or kernel or acorn into a sapling into a small tree into a giant of epic proportions. A great tree is a treasure because of the sheer time it has taken to get there, which could be centuries if not years! This is not unlike the time taken to master the martial arts, scaled down to a human lifetime of course.
Also consider the numbers game in the martial arts and trees in their early life. A very small fraction of all the students who start training reach the higher levels of any martial art. I am not sure if anyone has carried out a study on this, but a popular saying in the dojo I train with, is that less than 1% of all the students who walk into the dojo last for 10 years. Consider the trees now. How many seeds or saplings survive to grow into the giants we see? It is supposed to be a small fraction again, especially in the tropics where the evergreen forests cut-off most of the sunlight from ever reaching the ground. The fight for light space for a sapling on the forest floor in the tropics is same as the effort it takes a student to make time to practice the martial arts.
Another way of looking at this is the manner in which a forest, through its trees, reclaims land which was inhabited by humans for ages, even with monumental construction. There is the famous photo of the ruins in Cambodia, where the tree has literally taken over what was formerly a human dwelling. This is like sustained siege warfare, that is never let up! The trees are always there, surviving, waiting for an opening to take back what was likely lands they once occupied.
The above two images show trees taking over abandoned settlements at Ta Prohm in Cambodia. Image credit – My cousins
This is like incessant training, making time however possible. It is also like surviving against opponents without trying to win, only focusing on self-protection and self-preservation. Maybe an opening will appear in time, to mitigate the threat of the opponent. One of the senior most teachers in the Bujinkan system of martial arts, Nagato Sensei has a saying which is very popular. He says, “Leave no opening”. This saying of his has actually been put on training t-shirts! 🙂
What Sensei means by his statement, as I understand it, is that one should focus on first ensuring that one has moved to a position against an attack that fully protects oneself. There should be no opening the opponent can exploit or an opportunity to further the attack without revealing an opening in himself or herself. Unless this is achieved, looking to counterattack is counterproductive, as that might in turn give the opponent more opportunities for further attacks.
The above statement by Nagato Sensei is beautifully exemplified by how trees exploit gaps in masonry! If a sapling is not removed in the early stages when it is spotted on masonry, it can go on to crack walls over time and even spread its roots through pipes laid down for wires and plumbing.
Consider how saplings spring up with rains and sunlight in places where there is no soil at all! On concrete terraces with a little debris or construction waste. They are always there, looking for openings and opportunities to grow. This is akin to surviving a fight and to finding time and space to train. It could also be considered a metaphor in negative terms. Could the springing up of saplings on construction waste be more like the retinue of students who pass through a dojo? Like the many that are never really able to stick around to achieve any useful training? After all, a lot of the saplings that spring up are like weeds that do not last very long. Either way, “The Way of the Tree” seems a fine metaphor for the martial arts.
A representation of how flora reclaims gaps in masonry and construction debris.
There are several ways in which the martial arts are described. This includes the martial art systems as a whole, specific forms, weapons used in the art forms and the metaphors used to describe the martial arts as a whole. Top of mind to me for these descriptors are usually reminiscent of animals or geography (including metals, rocks and such), but not really based on flora, either trees or plants. Consider the following examples.
The animal forms of Shaolin Kung Fu have been made famous by the Kung Fu Panda franchise. The Tiger style, Snake style, Monkey style, Crane style, Eagle style, Mantis style are well known.
Metaphors of natural forces like water and wind are also well known, like “flow like water around your opponent”. Responding to the situation metaphorically becomes “water takes the shape of the container”. In India, strength is associated with Vayu, the God of Wind. Vayuputras (sons of the God of the Wind) Bhima and Hanuman are the epitome of strength and martial prowess.
There are representations of metals related to martial prowess as well. Consider Excalibur, which combines metal and water to bestow greatness, which includes martial skill. Another example is the “Sword of Mars” wielded by Attila the Hun. This sword is supposed to have been made of meteor iron and a marker of greatness. Of course, Attila was a great warrior king as well.
Coming to pop culture, in the world of Conan the Cimmerian (Barbarian) written by Robert E Howard and brought to life famously by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is “the riddle of steel”. Again, a metal exemplifies the martial skill embodied by Conan. Even in the world famous “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”, dedication to the martial arts is called “The Iron Way” due to how hard it is and the sacrifices it supposedly entails.
There are examples of trees and plants used, but a lot fewer, and none in pop culture as I can recall. In the Bujinkan, one of the schools studied is the “Takagi Yoshin Ryu”. The name of this school translates to “School of the Weeping Willow”. Here the willow tree is representative of being flexible yet strong. I opine that it is apt, because the Takagi Yoshin Ryu is an expression of jutaijutsu. Jutaijutsu, as I understand it, could be considered a super set that also includes, wrestling, judo, malla yudha, kushti etc. All of these martial arts do need flexibility and strength.
The first 2 techniques trained with the kunai also have tree based names, though not very representative of the martial style as a whole. The first technique is called “Kiri no hito ha” which translates to “cutting the paulownia leaf”. The second technique is called “Rakka” which translates to “falling petals”!
Beyond the above examples, other plant or tree based names and metaphors in the martial arts escape me at this time, at least as “top of mind” examples. If anyone is aware, do share the same with me. This seems strange to me, considering how ubiquitous trees are in our lives. It seems strange that there is no “Way of the Tree” in the martial arts. Is it likely that we might have such a system in the future? Perhaps, as I have tried to make the case for one above.
Considering the importance of the Peepal tree for us Indians, we once had a Bujinkan training t-shirt that had an image of a Peepal tree leaf on it.
Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books
In my community, Deepavali used to be a 5 day festival until electric water boilers and modern plumbing became commonplace. That would mean the 1970s and 1980s and even the 1990s in many Indian cities. One can add modern transportation to the mix here. This is something I have heard from my parents and grandparents.
We all know of Deepavali being a 3 day festival. The first day is Naraka Chaturdashi, the second day is Amavāsya (not a festival, more like connective tissue between 2 festivals) and the third day is Bali Pādyami. This nomenclature and observance of course, is specific to my community. Every community could observe the days of the Deepavali with different festivals. The number of days celebrated as part of Deepavali could also be different among different groups of people. I am just sticking to what I know with respect to my own community.
So, I mentioned 3 days of the festival. What are the other 2 days celebrated as? Also, the 3 days I mentioned are the second, third and fourth days in the five day festival. Naraka Chaturdashi being day 2, Amavāsya day 3 and Bali Pādyami day 4. Day 1, the first day, was celebrated as “Neeru Tumbō Habba”. Day 5, the last day, was celebrated as “Varsha Todaku”. As I understand these two festivals today, they are both “trick festivals”. Let me elucidate further, starting with the “Neeru Tumbō Habba”.
“Neeru” means “water” in Kannada. “Tumbō” means “filling” or “to fill” in the same language. The filling here is like one fills a vessel or a bucket with water. “Habba” means “festival”, again in Kannada. So “Neeru Tumbō Habba” in Kannada means, “Water filling festival”. Now come the questions, why and where should water be filled and why is this “filling” a festival?
Remember that I stated early on that this was a festival at a time before modern plumbing and electric water heaters were common in Indian homes? This is the key to this festival. Naraka Charurdashi celebrations started early in the day. This required everyone to wake up early, bathe (not shower, bathe), dress in new clothes (or at least fresh ones) and be ready for pooja activities or to have fun bursting firecrackers.
Back then, joint families were a lot more common compared to current times. Also, families were larger, with more than 10 people living under the same roof being common. Imagine that all of these people have to bathe and be ready early, all using the same bathroom (again, not shower!). This takes a lot of water! Early bathing also means that hot water for bathing could be desirable.
How was water heated for bathing? In large vessels over a fire, using wood as fuel. This large vessel, in Kannada, was called “Hande” and was made of a metal that was a good conductor of heat, generally a copper alloy. These were not vessels out in the open. A vessel, the “Hande”, was built into a fireplace in the bathroom. This fireplace was kept burning continuously until everyone finished bathing. So, water was filled in the “Hande” every few minutes. People took water needed for bathing, added cold water to achieve a comfortable temperature and went about their business. This process was repeated for everyone in the family. And this meant a lot of water was used.
The design of a well from 80s and 90s urban India
Where did all this water come from? It is not from a tap, for modern plumbing was not yet a thing. Water was drawn from a well, usually within the household and used for the bathing. Since many people have to bathe one after the other early in the morning, several buckets and vessels were filled with water ready to be used. And this leads to the origin of the “Water Filling festival”.
An exaggerated representation of carrying water.Image credit – “The Invaluable Treasure” from “Jataka Tales – Stories of Wisdom”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
Since everyone had to bathe early in the morning, the many vessels (called “koda” in Kannada) and buckets including the “Hande” were filled up with water the previous day or night, for immediate use the next morning. This activity took quite some time and human effort as all the water had to be drawn from a well and moved to the bathroom and wherever else it was stored for use the next day. This activity was common for the entire community and everyone knew what one would be doing on the day before Naraka Chaturdashi. So, it became a festival in its own right! And this is where Tom Sawyer comes into the picture.
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is a very famous novel written by the American novelist Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) in 1876. Tom Sawyer is in his early teens in the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Tom is tasked with whitewashing a fence as punishment, on a beautiful summer day when he should be having fun. Tom is worried that his friends will make fun of him for working when he should be reveling in fun and leisure. But Tom overcomes this problem with ingenuity.
Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books
Tom, with clever use of words, convinces his friends that whitewashing the fence is “the thing to be doing”. This leads to his friends wanting to try their hand at the whitewashing. Tom makes them trade him apples and trinkets for the opportunity. In the end, Tom gets his friends to do his chore, makes a profit in trinkets and gets the whitewashing completed well ahead of time! So, he is also left with a large part of the day for fun and games, while he was originally going to spend all of it at whitewashing.
Tom Sawyer made drudgery seem like fun and everyone participated in it enthusiastically! In my opinion, this is exactly what the “Neeru Tumbō Habba” does!Call the chore of drawing and filling water a festival and everyone is enthusiastic about it! Add to this, once it is called a festival, the activity becomes a responsibility and everyone participates in it actively. Naraka Chaturdashi was always the first day of Deepavali, but some clever ancestors of ours added a day “minus one” to the festival and made sure everyone is clean and ready on the first day! Genius indeed. 😀 I am sure Tom Sawyer would flip in approval.
Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books
A small aside here. When I was in school, we had a textbook for English called the “Gulmohar English Reader”. These textbooks were used from the first standard to the sixth (I think it would be called “sixth grade” these days). If I recall right, in the Gulmohar textbook for the third standard, the story of Tom Sawyer tricking his friends was a lesson called “Work can be fun” or something like that. If I am wrong about this and anyone recalls differently, please share your information with me.
Now let us have a look at the other festival, the last day of Deepavali, called “Varsha Todaku”. “Varsha” in many Indian languages denotes “year”. “Todaku” in a dialect of Tamil means “continues”. So, “Varsha Todaku” means “The year continues”, in a dialect of Tamil. It is interesting that the first festival “Neeru Tumbō Habba” is in Kannada, while the last festival, “Varsha Todaku”, is named with a word that seems more Tamil than Kannada. This is perhaps because my community originated in what is modern day Tamil Nadu, but have lived for centuries in what is modern day Karnataka, specifically the region that formed the Old Mysore State.
Coming back to the festival, what does “The year continues” mean? How can this be a festival? What is it a celebration of? I do not have clear answers to any of these questions. I have spoken about this to the older members of my family and have no answer that is satisfying to me. I am sharing what I think is the reason for this festival.
Deepavali is an awesome time! It involves holidays filled with visiting and hanging out with family and friends. It involves new clothes, great fun with firecrackers and great food! So, the end of Bali Pādyami leaves one with a heady feeling that one does not want to let go of, and prolong if possible. Back in the early 20th century, would this feeling be more special? Perhaps, I cannot be sure. Either way, getting back to normal life would be hard, or at least leave one with a wistful feeling. Add to this, the cleaning up that might be needed after the celebrations and visitors, a tinge of “I want more” might linger. So, we make the return to normalcy yet another festival!
So, one gradually returns to normal life, starting with cleaning up and maybe a little regular work on the day of “Varsha Todaku”. This is followed by a complete return to normalcy on the next day. Thus, “the year continues”. “Varsha Todaku” then becomes a bridge to come off the festival high and ease back into the routine. If this activity is a festival, it must be important, right? And so must be the letting go of the holidays. This is what I think explains the existence of this festival. Again, if anyone knows differently, please do share what you know with me.
Very few people even in my own family seem to remember or hark back to these two festivals. And Deepavali is now not a 5 day, but a 3 day festival. I feel that this 5 day pattern might not have been followed for very long, maybe a few decades in the first half of the 20th century. If it had been a practice for longer, I opine that its memory would be more prevalent. But I could be wrong here. I request anybody who knows otherwise to please enlighten me.
These days, families are a lot smaller, early starts are not important and hot water is easily made available at all times. So, there is no need to celebrate filling water, “Neeru tumbuvudu”. Similarly, there is so much opportunity to celebrate life these days. There is not even a need to wait for a festival. So, the need of a festival to ease one back to drudgery does not exist. There is no hankering for a festival and hence, no need for a “Varsha Todaku”.
I now have to connect all of the above to the martial arts, for this blog wouldn’t exist without Budo.
Years ago, my teacher shared an anecdote from the Bujinkan. One of the people he was training with, while in Japan, was an ex-paratrooper from France. This person was well built, about 6’3” tall, fit and strong, not to mention a very experienced martial artist. He in turn was training with another individual who was larger than he was. This person was about 6’5” or 6’7” tall. He was as experienced as the paratrooper in the martial arts, specifically the Bujinkan. Most importantly, he was a lot more muscled and in general stronger than the smaller (relatively speaking) individual.
The Bujinkan is not a sport and hence has no weight categories or rules. It is an exploration of real life combat and movement. Due to this and the size difference, the ex-paratrooper had trouble dealing with the larger person in offence and defence. So, he asked one of the senior Japanese teachers, what one can do against opponents that have a considerable physical advantage. The Japanese Sensei is supposed to have said that the way to do this is to make the other, larger person your friend and use his abilities to benefit you, instead of treating the other person as an opponent.
This response is about seeing a problem in a new light, or from a different perspective. Maybe the new perspective will show one how to use the situation which is a problem to one’s own advantage. This is exactly what I think my ancestors did when the festivals of “Neeru Tumbo Habba” and “Varsha Todaku” were added to Deepavali! They changed the perspective and made drudgery fun!
Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books
In Hindi, there is a phrase, “aapada mein bhi avasar hai”. It means “there is opportunity in a crisis”. “Aaapada” is crisis and “avasar” is opportunity in Hindi. This is identical in spirit to the English phrase “Never let a crisis go waste”. This phrase usually means that one should use a crisis to make changes for the better. Perhaps these phrases also arise from situations that gave rise to new festivals and the response from our Sensei in the Bujinkan.
Deepavali (also called Diwali) is the celebration of “Light” and the triumph of Dharma over Adharma (very poorly translated as triumph of good over evil). The “light” is almost always associated with knowledge, wisdom and new experiences that help one benefit oneself in life. I guess when we throw “light” on a problem, the change in perspective leads to a solution, which might or might not have anything to do with the problem in the first place.
And finally we have the word “enlightenment”. My teacher once told me that one feels “light” when a weight is dropped. If you are carrying a heavy backpack and you set it down, you feel “enlightened”. By this definition, letting go of an existing or fixed notion is perhaps enlightenment, for the notion was a burden! And the lack of a burden allows a new perspective, which might show the lack of a problem where one previously existed. 🙂
And this perhaps allows for joyous participation in boring chores and the creation of new festivals – opportunities for the celebration of life!
Arrangement of toy soldiers, part of a Dasara doll display
I work in the IT (Information Technology) industry. One thing that is common in the IT industry is the need to avoid “escalations”. An “escalation” occurs is when someone (likely on the side of the client) complains that work or delivery of a solution or progress of a project is not happening as expected (relating to costs or timelines). Prevention of “escalations” is of paramount importance, right up there along with usual indicators of cost, revenue, profitability, growth and client relations.
The last part there, client relations is what escalations are believed to affect first. To avoid escalations and to mitigate their consequences when they do occur, steps are put in place to stay connected with the team and clients. These are formal mechanisms that are put in place and are taken very seriously across the industry. This is true for all industry sectors, but especially so in the service sector (beyond IT and extending to hospitality, banking etc.)
This aspect of “staying connected” is at the root of escalation prevention and also key to identifying new opportunities in business. When I was pursuing an MBA, the professor teaching us Sales Management used to say that the work of a Salesperson is to build a relationship with existing and potential clients/customers, and then stay connected. This “connection reveals opportunity” was what he wanted us to take away from his course.
I am also a student of the Bujinkan system of martial arts. I heard for the first time, around the year 2009, a Japanese phrase, “En no kiri nai”. This was a phrase that Soke Masaaki Hatsumi used while teaching. As I understand it, the phrase means “do not break/sever the connection”. The idea of this concept is that one needs to be connected to the opponent(s) to be aware of what his/her/their intentions are, and this awareness allows the situation to be controlled. This connection and control can be physical, but not necessarily. Also, the control involves self-control, control of the opponent(s) and control of the overall space/environment of the conflict (conflict could easily be a synonym for “escalation”). In a previous post of mine, I had discussed the idea of “being aware of the opponent” in much greater detail (the idea of Shatrubodha). The link to this post is seen in the notes below1.
Daishihan Alex Esteve from Spain, was in Bangalore a few weeks ago and we had a great few classes with him. During the sessions, he was exploring aspects of the Koto Ryu. As part of this exploration, he was sharing how specific points on the arms, fingers and face can be used to control the opponent. Here, the control was to prevent the opponent from initiating attacks by inducing pain and the threat of potential fractures. This method of control came with a warning.
Daishihan Alex emphasized that if the threat of a fracture or any other damage to the body becomes a reality, control is lost. If the threat comes to pass, the opponent is likely to fight for her or his life and the situation deteriorates, in other words, escalation occurs. Another way of seeing this is as the loss of connection. To control an opponent through a pressure point on the finger, the finger should be connected to the body in the natural manner. If the finger breaks, this connection is broken and the opponent can move with a broken finger which can no longer be used to induce further pain! The pain has increased to a point where the opponent’s brain has switched to a desperate fight for survival, which can overcome all forms of existing control.
Ensuring that the opponent does not go berserk due to the potential of injury requires self-control. This means that one should know when not to overdo the pressure on a pressure point. If one expands this point further, we find examples of laws in some countries for bouncers. The laws require that the bouncers never initiate a confrontation and never strike a person. They can protect themselves, and use grappling or wrestling to subdue the opponent. This means that they can control another person, and thus the conflict, but to achieve this, they need to have self-control, to not strike another person.
In a martial context, the word “opportunity” can be replaced with the word “opening”. Staying connected to the opponent reveals openings to control the opponent and staying connected requires self-control, not a blind adherence to pre-set motives. Also, we are reminded regularly that winning or victory in a conflict, especially in a real physical conflict, is survival, not the condition or fate of the opponent. If this is brought back to the industry example I started with, escalation prevention is survival, is victory.
So, the above points show that opportunities come from connection and connection leads to control. Control leads to self-protection/self-preservation (no escalations remember!). This is victory.
Speaking of victory, we are in the midst of the festival of Dasara (Dussehra to some). Today is Ashtami, the 8th day, tomorrow, the 9th day is Āyudha Pooja and day after tomorrow, the 10th and final day of the festival, is Vijayadashami. Vijayadashami is the celebration of victory and the day to begin new endeavours. Āyudha Pooja is the day to show gratitude to the various inanimate tools and implements we use in our lives. In my post from last year, related to this festival, I had discussed the importance of Āyudha Pooja and Vijayadashami in greater detail2. The link to this post is seen in the notes below.
Weapons in preparation for Ayudha Pooja
Āyudha is the word used for “weapon” in many Indian languages. The term Āyudha can also be applied to any tool or implement that we use to live our lives and earn a livelihood (like laptops, machine tools, tools of any trade etc.). Weapons are just tools used by individuals whose responsibility is security of various kinds. These are the implements used to achieve success or victory.
Earlier in this post, I mentioned that victory is survival. And connection leads to control which leads to survival. So, “connections are a key to victory”! That meansconnections are a weapon, or a very important tool at the very least.
Connection as I have been using the term, is about being aware of oneself and the surroundings. The surroundings include the space and environment around oneself. It also includes the individuals and organizations one interacts or interfaces with, and that means awareness of the motivations and objectives of people and organizations.
Just as escalation prevention means staying aware of what might be going wrong in a project, prevention of escalation of conflicts at the levels of nations includes diplomacy and espionage. Both involve learning about what friends and foes want, are working towards and are up to. While diplomacy might involve mechanisms of communication that are defined, espionage might involve identifying new connections and using the same for various ends, nefarious and otherwise. So, connection is intelligence too!
This is borne out by several examples from history, including the actions (supposedly) of the Israeli agencies in the ongoing conflict in West Asia. A few other examples that come to mind are shared below.
One of the reasons for the South Indian kingdoms losing to the Khilji (Khalji) and Tuglaq armies is supposed to be poor intelligence, or a lack of awareness of the urgency of the threat posed from the North. When Khilji attacked the Seuna Yadavas at Devagiri in 1296, the large part of the Devagiri army was supposedly raiding further south, likely in Hoysala territory. Also, when the army returned, they fell prey to false reports of the size of the Sultanate army. This indicates a lack of Shatrubodha, or awareness of the enemy! It also reveals a lack of awareness of who the threat is and when it could materialize. In other words, there was a complete lack of connection with what was happening in the North, while the same was not true of the South.
In an eerily similar situation, Malik Kafur (Khilji’s General) is supposed to have been able to defeat the Hoysalas at their capital Dwarasamudra in 1311, as the Hoysala army with its king, Veera Ballala III was campaigning further south in Pandya territory. The Hoysala king Veera Narasimha is supposed to have set aside the taxes from one village, for pilgrims to use as travel expenses and more importantly, the toll levied by the Delhi Sultanate (jizya) while visiting Kāshi. This happened some 80 years before the Sultanate armies were on the doorstep of the Hoysala capital. This again indicates a weak connection to the surroundings or a break in one that existed. The YouTube video linked below shows Sandeep Balakrishna of “The Dharma Dispatch” explain the actions of Veera Narasimha quoted earlier. The link is to the YouTube channel, “Prāna Stories”.
This happening in India is inexplicable as the tradition of the importance of espionage had existed for about 1,500 years before the Delhi Sultanate invaded the Deccan kingdoms. Chanakya, in his Arthashastra, is supposed to have emphasized how a ruler should ensure that he is aware of happenings in countries all around his territory and even beyond. As I recall, Chanakya suggests friendly relations with nations with which a kingdom does not share borders and military superiority over the ones with which there is a shared border. He also advocated always having active spies and being ready for covert action (maybe with the legendary Vishakanyas).
This is another way of saying, “stay connected, always”! For, whether one is making friends or staying dominant, both are forms of staying connected, even if the means and ends differ. Also, whether to make friends or achieve superiority, one needs information and awareness, which comes from intelligence and hence connections.
Even in modern times this holds true. Consider Japan in the middle of the 19th century. It had maintained an isolationist policy for about 250 years by then. But the arrival of Commodore Perry and his fleet forced Japan to sign a one-sided treaty and open its borders. Japan had fallen behind many parts of the world technologically due to its self-imposed isolation. The importance of the incident with Commodore Perry is revealed by the number of Japanese manga and anime that use it as a backdrop for their stories.
This experience of Japan shows that a while policy of minding one’s own business and not getting involved is great self-control, it is a complete lack of connection. And that is a sure shot way to encountering negative consequences. All of us, as individuals, societies and nations are part of a system and disconnecting leads to danger, if not outright harm, on all three levels.
Consider how India handled the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. India took its time to build up its military and intelligence capabilities before declaring war. This is shown by the actions of the R&AW, India’s external intelligence agency and the tri-services. Also, India indulged in diplomacy with all parts of the world to ensure that external interference would not thwart its military objectives. This is revealed by the USSR holding off the efforts of the USA to help Pakistan, its then ally. This is an instance of building and using connections in all domains to achieve objectives successfully.
The thing with espionage is that it knows no friends or foes, for it is connection, pure and simple. I recall reading in a novel many years ago, I think it was a Frederick Forsyth novel, I cannot say for certain, that Israeli foreign policy sees no friends, only enemies and neutrals, so no one is free from being spied upon by Israel (the Kendra Bindu* of news currently!).
An example of this that does not involve Israel is the case of the R&AW officer Ravindra Singh. He is supposed to have spied on India for the CIA and eventually defected to the USA. This happened in 2004, after the relationship between the USA and India had thawed post the nuclear tests of 1998 and friendly (somewhat) relations had been established. So, at least in international relations, friends should expect to be spied upon by friends and not desist from spying on friends of their own. It is all just about staying connected remember! 😛
Coming back to the festival of Dasara, the one distinguishing feature of this festival in parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is the display of dolls. The displays could have themes or just be a revitalization of memories. People can use new dolls made in traditional styles to tell stories of Rama or Krishna or any other or just display dolls that are inherited from parents and other older relatives. The themes could also be lifestyles in a city, a park, animal life and the like.
However one indulges in the arrangement of the display of dolls – the entire event, from preparing the platform, cleaning stored dolls, arranging them as planned and later the storing of the same for use next year and cleaning up after the festival is done – it is all about connecting with one’s recent history, culture and family traditions. It is a connection across time – to remember a time from a century or a few decades ago and adding it to current lifestyles.
Arrangement of “Bombe” (dolls) at my in-laws place 🙂
The other feature of the Dasara many people in South India associate with, is the Jambu Savaari in Mysuru (Mysore). This is the carnival like parade led by elephants, which recreates the way Dasara was celebrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This is also a connection across time. The Jambu Savaari is a connection at a community level, even if one only watches the procession on TV or on a live stream. The display of dolls is a connection at a personal level, with family and friends.
The festival of Vijayadashami on the last day of Dasara is when the Jambu Savaari happens every year. This festival is also considered auspicious for any new activity to begin. So, people are encouraged to start something new on this day. Now, consider what I hypothesized earlier. Connections are a tool and Āyudha Pooja is the celebration of tools.
If we put the two festivals together, we celebrate connections on Āyudha Pooja and endeavour to begin establishing new connections on Vijayadashami. For starting a new connection or fixing one that is not great, is a new activity. If connections can provide protection (victory), that is only apt, for Vijayadashami is also the celebration of victory. Thus, a dual purpose is served.
The last point about Dasara brought us to connections across time. This is perhaps vitally important in an Indian context. Indian or Bharatiya civilization has survived an assault by both Islamic and European cultures. Connecting to this past through history should reveal many important points to ponder. One of the important ones is about what happens when the civilization breaks connections with sections of its own people and environment.
American political scientist Harold Dwight Lasswell had produced a paper in 1936 titled “Politics: Who gets What, When, How”. I recently saw an article in the “Frontline”3 which used this title to begin, by saying “Politics is about who gets what”. The article is not relevant to the points I am about to make, but the line is relevant.
Everyone knows that India is extremely diverse in terms of language, food, culture, traditions and even geography and climate. Now, consider the description of “politics” from the previous paragraph. If any of the diverse sections of the Indian population is deprived of any resource, a feeling of a breaking of a connection with the Indian state is created. Something else needs to be done to fix this break and re-forge the connection. This is a perpetual task, considering limited state resources in India. One of the resources is “a feeling of staying in control of one’s destiny” or simply put “a feeling of having power”. So, power sharing is the name of the game, apart from all other resources. So, Indian politics, perhaps all politics, is “to stay connected with everyone”.
“Staying connected to everyone” can be expanded further based on a concept from the Hindu way of thinking. The are 5 “Rnas” or debts everyone is supposed to carry, according to Hindu thought. These connect to not just everyone, but to everything! This should be obvious as seen below.
The 5 debts are –
Deva Rna – The debt owed to the Gods for maintaining the natural order of the universe
Pitr Rna – The debt owed to the ancestors for their activities that allow us to live the lives we do
Rishi Rna – The debt owed to the Sages of the past, for the knowledge, technology and systems they created, that enable our lives
Manushya Rna – The debt owed to fellow humans that exist, for we are all connected in invisible ways
Bhuta Rna – The debt owed to the natural world (plants, animals, land, climate etc.) for without the ecosystem, our lives are impossible
So, as seen above, these are debts everyone is expected to endeavour to pay. This is a perfect summarization of saying that connections are vitally important to survive and should never be forgotten. Watch the following video from the YouTube channel “Samvada English”, between the 25 and 45 minute marks. Here Dr. Aarti V B, explains the five debts in a beautiful manner, apart from several other concepts of Hindu Dharma.
Leading on from the last few paragraphs, I will end with a point about connections across time! I had discussed how narratives and news are modern day weapons which are “time-based”, just as missiles and bombs are space based, as in, “long range missiles” and “bombs that can flatten a city (geographical spread)4.
The depth of connections can be vast and perhaps only be identified with a hindsight of many centuries. Consider the following video from the YouTube channel of the ‘The Print”. In the video, historian Anirudh Kanisetti explains how the Pandya kingdom drove up the prices of horses all over the world by importing vast numbers of the same from Central Asia. This turned out to be a catalyst for the invasion of Pandya territory by the Delhi Sultanate. To reach the Pandyas, the Sultanate armies had to defeat the Yadavas of Devagiri, the kingdom of Warangal and the Hoysalas. When the Pandyas were defeated, a lot of these horses were part of the loot taken by the Sultanate army.
This video shows that knowledge is another form of identifying connections, even if they are of events that happened centuries ago! The events that transpired during the campaigns of the Delhi Sultanate form narratives that affect Indian politics in current times. So, the past is not really dead and a tool by itself. The use of History as a weapon/tool means one needs to identify its connection to various aspects of contemporary life.
Issac Asimov, one of the greats of Science Fiction writing, wrote a short story called “The Dead Past” in 1956. In the story, a scientist develops a means to see the past, which can be used by everyone. This happens after his request to use the Government controlled technology to do the same, is refused. This has major repercussions he never envisioned. This story is also an exploration of how the past is not dead and connections to it still shape our lives.
And that hopefully explains how connections are the key to everything and how the festival of Dasara and the martial arts lead to the same learning/reminder.
Wish you all a wonderful Āyudha Pooja, Vijayadashami and Dasara in general!
Stay connected, stay strong, it is the primary weapon for survival.
Mundane Budo 