THE WORLD CIVILIZATIONS AND INDIA , PART-34

GLIMPSE OF INDO-JAPANESE CULTURAL UNITY

The JAPANESE HOKEQUE or JAPANESE LOTUS SUTRA , as I have discussed in my earlier blog, has been the guiding force for the JAPANESE society as a whole for long . The SUTRA says that whenever the society declines socially , politically and morally , the incarnation of LORD BUDDHA takes place as MATRAYE and an Era of welfare and the qwell-being of the society are started . As per the JAPANESE MAHAYANA philosophy, the God resides everywhere in the world . Similarly , the Indian Philosophy , baring a few , believes in the omnipresence of the Almighty God . The GITA ( A BOOK OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY ) clearly states that whenever decline of DHARMA ( VIRTUES ) in the society starts , the incarnation of the God on the Earth takes place to uphold the DHARMA . The JAPANESE people generally believe that the world is good , the man is one of the forms of the God and the life is meant for joy . A plain and simple way of human existence , thy name is both the JAPANESE and the INDIAN society as such . Moreover , the JAPANESE society , like that of the INDIAN society , believes that the food is meant for establishing relationships with the environment as such . We in INDIA believes that the Goddess ANNPURNA keeps the country full of grains as the Goddess of grains , food and wealth . Similarly , the JAPANESE Goddess of grains and food called UKE-MOCHI-NO-KAMI , as the JAPANESE believes that she keeps the country full of grains and food for the people . On the first day of the SPRING season in JAPAN is organized a festival called SETSU-VAN BHOJ to eradicate poverty and hunger ( ONI ) . And during this occasion every member of the family has to eat food one spoon more than his age . On this occasion , fry beans are sprinkled inside and outside of the every house . Similarly , in INDIA , rice grains are sprinkled during the marriage ceremony over the bride and bride groom and even in the house as such . These cultural similarities between the two countries i.e INDIA and JAPAN keep them closer to each others .

The JAPANESE name of the Goddess SARASWATI is BENJAITEN . She is the compassionate Goddess of the people of the entire world as the JAPANESE society has faith and belief . In INDIA She is considered as the Goddess of knowledge . As per the JAPANESE belief system there are at least three thousands Goddess in the untire universe . Among all of them the Goddess SARASWATI is virtuous and provider of wealth , longevity and happiness . The Goddess is the powerhouse of the knowledge , melody , music and eloquence . She is the creator of the pleasant chords of music . Similarly , the JAPANESE society believes that SARASWATI is the Goddess of virtues , benefits/profits and knowledge . That’s why She is called in JAPAN as GUN-DEVI ( THE GODDESS OF VIRTUES ) . As She provides boon of wealth , eloquence , dexterity in music and knowledge to those seeking them all . Similarly , as per the Indologist like DR. RAGHUVIR the worship of the LORD GANESHA started in JAPAN in 806 AD with the return of KOBO DAISHI in JAPAN from CHINA . He is known as VINAYAK ( AS IN INDIA ) , SHODEN and KANGI-TEN in JAPAN who is considered as the provider of fortune . The LORD GANESHA in INDIA is also considered as the LORD of fate and fortune . LORD GANESHA in JAPAN has , at least , five different forms . Or shall I say that as per the VAJRADHATU MANDAL of JAPAN, the LORD GANESHA is known for five virtuous forms as such which are as follows : 1. CHHATRA VINAYAK ; 2. MALYA VINAYAK ; 3. DHANU VINAYAK ; 4. KHADAG VINAYAK ; 5. VINAYAK-TEN . All these forms of the LORD GANESHA was that of the twelve century AD . In the TOJI MONASTERY , we can find picture of the couple LORD GANESHA in which one head of the LORD is that of an elephant and other head is that of a hog/pig . We can also find LORD GANESHA in hexagonal form . Similarly , like in INDIA , we can find CHATURBHUJ ( WITH FOUR HANDS ) GANESHA in JAPAN in which the LORD’S two hands are folded , in the one hand we can find radish and in the other hand LADDOO ( AN INDIAN SWEETS ) .

With the advent of MANTRAYAN BUDDHISM in JAPAN , the JAPANESE people started worshiping the HINDU DIVINITY like TRIDEV , PANCHDEV , LORD GANESHA , GODDESS SARASWATI and different HINDU SEERS and SAGES . Seers like VASISTA in JAPAN was known as BASUSEN . Seers like ANGIRA and ATRI with their spouses were worshiped by the followers of MANTRAYAN BUDDHISM in JAPAN . All the mysterious practices of this cult were being expressed in the different art forms and even in the different JAPANESE musical forms . It could now be seen in the JAPANESE society in large numbers . Similarly , the LORD SHIVA and the Goddess PARVATI were called in JAPAN as DAIJICHAHE-TEN and UMAHI . But the art expression of these Gods and Goddess were purely in the JAPANESE forms as hair Knot of the Goddess PARVATI appeared altogether as that of a JAPANESE girl as such . The HINDU God , the LORD VISHNU , who was called NARAYAN-DEV in JAPAN, was expressed as if He was almost JAPANESE in His look . Thus , the cultural unity of both the countries i.e INDIA and JAPAN could very much be ascertained from the above mentioned facts as such .