Majma-Ul-Bahrain or The Mingling Of The Two Oceans By Prince Muhammad Dara Shikuh

by Dara Shikoh, M. Mahfuz-Ul-Haq

English
146

Prefatory Note
I have great pleasure I presenting the third edition of the work entitled Majma-ul-Bahrain by Prince Muhammad Dare Shikuh, which is a reprint of the first edition of this work, to the scholarly world. The Asiatic Society published its first and second editions respectively in May 1929 and in April, 1982. I had the proud privilege of writing the preface to the second edition of this work. Again, I got the opportunity of writing a Foreword to the present edition.
It should be noted that the "Muslim intellectual perception of Hinduism" would help us to understand how "the establishment of Turkic rule in India opened up many opportunities of contact between Hinduism and Islam". Learning Sanskrit al-Biruni (d. after 1050 A. D.) translated Sanskrit Classics into Arabic and he wrote Kitab fi tahqiq malil-Hind for acquainting his 'Ghaznavid rulers with Hinduism'. He also observed "at the level of the common people, anthropomorphism is found in Hinduism, Islam, Jewry and Christianity." The initiative taken up by al-Biruni for translating Sanskrit works into Arabic was undertaken at a later period by some other Muslim Scholars, who were well conversant in Sanskrit Language.
Several Muslim rulers "ordered the translation of various Sanskrit works into Persian in order both to satisfy their own intellectual curiosity and to increase Muslim understanding of Hinduism. "There was no doubt that the Maktab Khana, a translation bureau of Akbarm "helped considerably to change the Muslim perception of Hinduism. " The 'most remarkable' productions of this bureau were "the translations of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Yoga Vashishta." Akbar thought that the translation of texts from both Hinduism and Islam "would form a basis for a united search for truth" and would also "enable the people to understand the true spirit of their religion". In this way t

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Nonfiction, India, Islam, Hinduism, Spirituality

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1655

About the author

Alternate spelling Muhammad Dara Šikoh

Muhammad Dara Šikoh, also known as Dara Shikoh or Dara Shukoh (Persian: دارا شِکوہ‎), (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659) was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba ("Prince of High Rank") and was favoured as a successor by his father and his older sister, Princess Jahanara Begum. In the war of succession which ensued after Shah Jahan's illness in 1657, Dara was defeated by his younger brother Prince Muhiuddin (later, the Emperor Aurangzeb). He was executed in 1659 on Aurangzeb's orders in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne.

Dara was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim as opposed to the orthodox Aurangzeb; he authored the work The Confluence of the Two Seas, which argues for the harmony of Sufi philosophy in Islam and Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism. A great patron of the arts, he was also more inclined towards philosophy and mysticism rather than military pursuits. The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians.

Dara Shikoh is widely renowned as an enlightened paragon of the harmonious coexistence of heterodox traditions on the Indian subcontinent. He was an erudite champion of mystical religious speculation and a poetic diviner of syncretic cultural interaction among people of all faiths. This made him a heretic in the eyes of his orthodox younger brother and a suspect eccentric in the view of many of the worldly power brokers swarming around the Mughal throne. Dara Shikoh was a follower of the Armenian Sufi-perennialist mystic Sarmad Kashani, as well as Lahore's famous Qadiri Sufi saint Mian Mir, whom he was introduced to by Mullah Shah Badakhshi (Mian Mir's spiritual disciple and successor). Mian Mir was so widely respected among all communities that he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Sikhs.

Dara Shikoh subsequently developed a friendship with the seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai. Dara Shikoh devoted much effort towards finding a common mystical language between Islam and Hinduism. Towards this goal he completed the translation of fifty Upanishads from their original Sanskrit into Persian in 1657 so that they could be studied by Muslim scholars. His translation is often called Sirr-e-Akbar ("The Greatest Mystery"), where he states boldly, in the introduction, his speculative hypothesis that the work referred to in the Qur'an as the "Kitab al-maknun" or the hidden book, is none other than the Upanishads. His most famous work, Majma-ul-Bahrain ("The Confluence of the Two Seas"), was also devoted to a revelation of the mystical and pluralistic affinities between Sufic and Vedantic speculation. The book was authored as a short treatise in Persian in 1654–55.

Reviews

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

+ 1 star for the Maya mention:

"maya, or love, which is the cause of creation of the universe, is the laughter and good humour of maha puras"

(Just ignore the fact that it's a mistranslation)

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book far ahead of its time ... for which the author was put to the gallows...great read. I wished I could read it in its original form.

[Rohan Rajesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only this world were filled with more humane, visionary people like Dara Shikoh - fantastic work on comparative religion of the highest sensitivity, culture, and openness to new ideas.

[muaad the poet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book is a Prince of the Mughal empire and apparent heir who’s position was usurped and he had an unfortunate fate. He was kind, open minded, academic, a poet, a man who leaves you in wonder. There are many men I’ve read about in history but few I loved and the author of this book, Dara Shikoh is one of those men. Had he become emperor, the world would have been a better place. I predict that my heart, will forever remain indifferent to the men who ruined his destiny and the men who spearheaded such a terrible offensive against him, led by his younger brother Aurangzeb.

[A. B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a read. I am in awe. A valorous attempt to bring the two great traditions that are Hindu and Islamic thought together, and explore their resonances and parallels. While, cynically speaking, much of it is overgeneralisation which overlooks the differences between the traditions -- I really respect this sincere attempt to find common ground. Some of the ideas, like equating the four worlds in Sufism with the four states of consciousness in Hindu thought, are really creative. As is the long discussion of the body of Mahapuruṣa (Alam al-Kabir).

[Suranya Sengupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dara Shikoh taught me that he could have been a better saint who was forced to be a prince. He also made me understand the similarities between religions better even when they keep fighting each other