Alexander and the Indian Mystics

B D Sharma

bds.jmu@gmail.com

Though Alexander had invaded north India long back and had not remained for more than twenty months here yet he had created a niche for himself in our formal history. He did also influence our folk culture and oral traditions hugely. Our elders used to talk a lot about Sikander particularly about his encounters with King Porus and the mystics/the wise men of India. A doubt lingered in my mind in childhood about the fact whether Alexander and Sikander were one and the same person or they were two different persons. My doubt got cleared only in my 9th class when I laid my hand on the Golden History, a book having in it question and answer pattern. In the 9th class, in our times, the questions of History and Geography used to be asked in English and the answers were required to be given in Hindi/Urdu. It was here I noticed that Alexander and Sikander was the same person as in the question part it was recorded as Alexander and in the answer it was shown as Sikander. Interestingly almost all Western names have phonological adaptation in Persian which were later transmitted to the Indian languages. Thus Alexander became Sikander, and among the great trio of Greek philosophers, Socrates became Suqrat, Aristotle became Arastoo, Plato became Aflatoon. Of these three philosophers, Aflatoon remained of much interest to me because whenever I would commit a mischief such as breaking the earthen pot for carrying tobacco chilam of the huqqa or breaking the thread of the mala(rosary) of my grandfather, he would scold me with the words, " What have you done you naughty boy, an Aflatoon of a sort." At that time I thought that Aflatoon might be some wayward adolescent like me. Never imagined that Aflatoon was one of three great philosophers who had laid the foundations of modern civilization.

Incidentally the Asian names of Socrates and Aristotle resemble much with their Greek originals but Aflatoon, the Asian name of Plato bears no resemblance with his Greek name and it confused me a lot. Thanks to Google for explaining me recently the reasoning behind it. It states that the Iranians used to give prefix 'a' before the letter 'P'. So they pronounced Plato as Aplato and with a bit of nasal induction in it, it became Aplaton which with the passage of time got transformed into Aflatoon.

In our subcontinent the Asian version of Alexander i.e Sikander, remains very common in Muslim-majority regions as a personal name(Sikander Lodhi-Delhi Sultan, Iskandar Mirza-Pak President). Some Hindus and Sikhs do also have Sikander as their name. People in Pakistan are so much enamoured of Sikander that many Maulvis consider Sikander as the first Muslim invader of India. This is another thing that some intellectuals like Hassan Nisar and Salman Rashid do have a dig on these semi literate Maulvis and call them 'Jaahils' who do not know that Sikander had come to India about one thousand years before the advent of Islam.

A treasure of anecdotes and tales, some true some exaggerated or twisted, some of them originating in Greece and some having sprouted in the Indian soil are linked to Alexander by us. One of the most famous is with regard to his encounter with king Porus. Porus showed a lot of boldness and bravery against Alexander. One legend has it that when Porus met face to face with Alexander in the battlefield, he had an upper hand. Sikander had fallen on the ground and Porus lifted his sword to strike at Sikander. But while lifting his arm he chanced to see the Rakhi tied on his wrist by the wife of Sikander, Roxane. Roxane had apparently approached Porus earlier with the sacred thread of Rakhi. She proclaimed him her brother and requested him to safeguard her husband's life at any cost. According to some people Porus held back his final blow and spared the life of Alexander out of respect for the promise. Many historians, however, consider it as later day folktale or legend rather than a verified historical event.

The other story with regard to battle between Alexander and Porus pertains to the event when Porus after having been defeated was brought before Alexander. Despite being severely wounded and having lost his sons, the tall and defiant Porus stood firm. According to the Greek accounts(such as Arrian and Plutarch), Alexander asked him as to how he wished to be treated. Porus famously answered, "Treat me Alexander, the way a King treats another King." Deeply impressed by Porus's unmatched courage and proud answer, Alexander restored him his territory and his Crown. This historical encounter highlights values like heroism, honour, and patriotism on the part of Porus which resonate strongly with many Indians even today.

As against the respect and esteem enjoyed by Porus, Ambi the ruler of Taxila had earned much ignominy in our estimation for his meek surrender before Alexander and rendering him help in his fight against Porus. Ambi is placed in the company of few other traitors of India such as Jai Chand and Mir Zafar by the people of India.

An interesting anecdote relating to Alexander's student days is also usually narrated. Some people narrate that Aristotle, Alexander's teacher had told his student (Alexander), to stay away from women and romance so that he could concentrate on his studies. A woman, the mistress of Aristotle felt angry and hurt at the philosopher over such remarks on women and decided to humiliate him. One day she asked the philosopher to get down on all his fours and let her take a ride on him through the garden. The helpless philosopher agreed to the proposal but to his bad luck the same moment Alexander appeared and found Aristotle in this awkward and silly position. When confronted, the wise philosopher cleverly wriggled out by telling Alexander a fine philosophical point: if a wise person of Aristotle's caliber could be so easily fooled by a woman, a young man like him must be even more careful and vigilant.

The most fascinating legends arisen out of the Indian campaign of Alexander were his engagements with the Indian ascetics and Yogis. Alexander got fascinated with the gymnosophists of India when he heard about their stories. His famous encounter with the revered sage Dandamis( Sanskrit name was perhaps Dandi-Svami or Dandayan-Svami) have been documented by Greek historians like Plutarch, Strabo and Arrian. Alexander had sent his envoy Onesicritus along with some Indian guides to sage Dandamis in the forests of Taxila. They asked Dandamis to accompany them to meet Alexander, the great. The sage declined and said if Alexander aspired to meet him, it was for Alexander to come to him and not for him to go to Alexander. The messengers tried to find a way out and attempted to entice the sage that Alexander would reward him with lot of gold and costly stones if he went to meet him. Dandamis got least impressed and told the messengers that the costly things didn't mean anything to him and queried them if they were finding any place in his grass hut where he could keep the costly things. The sage further told them that the things which really mattered to him were the leaves on which he slept, the blooming plants which supplied him daily food and the water with which he quenched his thirst. And Nature was providing them in plenty to him. On seeing the sage not yielding, they threatened him that he could be beheaded. Lying unperturbed on his bed of leaves, Dandamis dismissed the threat. He stated that he did not fear death, noting that if Alexander cut off his head, his soul would simply depart to God and leave behind the body like a worn-out garment. Getting sick of the prolonged exchange of words with the messengers, the sage asked them to move aside and not to obstruct the rays of sun reaching him. Later Alexander met the sage. Alexander got impressed with the courage, detachment of worldly things of Dandamis and later they engaged in a deep philosophical colloquy where Dandamis answered Alexander's philosophical riddles about life, death, power, divine and human nature, leaving the great conqueror humbled and impressed.

Another sage with whom Alexander had his encounters was Kalanos(Greek equivalent of Kalayan astu or Kali nath), perhaps a disciple of Dandamis. Greek historians tell us that he was found in the state of Samadhi under a big banyan tree in the camp of Alexander established after winning the battle of Sagla(present day Sialkot). When brought to the notice of Alexander that an ascetic was sitting motionless cross legged in the thick of heavy rains, Alexander went to him and offered (through interpreter) him to come to his tent, dry himself and get warm and have something to eat. The sage didn't respond to him. Then Alexander showed his eagerness to speak with him. The sage replied, " I will speak with you just as soon as I have learnt your language." Pyrrho of Elis, the Greek philosopher accompanying Alexander was able to hold discourse on Indian philosophy with Kalanos in Greek after a month or so. Alexander was astonished to know about it. When Alexander was grievously wounded in his battle against Mallians( people of present day Multan), and he couldn't be treated and brought back to consciousness by the Greek physicians under Philip, Kalanos was requested to do something. Kalanos sat in samadhi for some days beside Alexander and was able to revive him with his mystic powers.

When Alexander decided to go back to his country, he split his army in two parts on reaching near the seashore, one travelling by sea and the other travelling under him through the hot inhospitable deserts of present day Balochistan and southern Iran. Many soldiers perished while traversing the inhospitable deserts. Only Kalanos seemed not to feel any pain or hardship in this terrible ordeal: he walked barefoot across the burning sands, dressed scantily with a piece of cloth.

The last encounter of Alexander with Kalanos took place at Persepolis in south west Iran. On hearing that Kalanos has gotten ill, Alexander rushed to his place. On being offered the best healthcare facilities, the sage declined them and pronounced, " It is the suffering of the soul, the most acute form of suffering for which there is no remedy." As per wishes of the sage, a pyre was built and the weak and exhausted Kalanos, still alive, was placed over it as naked as the day he had come into the world. Alexander stood beside the pyre recollecting what the sage had told him while treating him: "There is no conquest that has any meaning, there is no war worth fighting. In the end the only earth left to us is the earth in which we are buried."

Kalanos's body was burning in a vortex of flames. Incredibly he was smiling in the midst of that fiery plasma, and it seemed to Alexander' that he was moving his lips, he was mumbling something. The roar of the flames was too loud to hear anything, but the voice of the sage resounded anyway: "We will meet again in Babylon." He was giving a cryptic message to Alexander that he would be joining him soon. Less than a year later, in 323 BC, when Alexander reached Babylon, he died suddenly from fever at 32. People at the time viewed Kalanos's words as a supernatural prediction or a mystical sign that the sage knew that Alexander's life would end shortly.

Perhaps more than any other King/invader, Alexander exists in our psyche and folklore because of the lessons he gave us on the fragility of power and wealth. Quite a number of our people do often quote that before his death Alexander had desired that his funeral procession be led by the battery of his physicians to show the world that despite having so many physicians at his command, he could not be saved. And that his wealth (costly stones and gold) be scattered along the way of his funeral procession and that both his hands be let loose, hanging outside his coffin so that people might learn that even Alexander, the mightiest and the wealthiest King had to leave the world empty-handed.

Other things with regard to Alexander which form part of our history and folklore relate to the death of his horse, Bucephalus and his dog namely Peritas. Bucephalus died in June 326 BC after he got injured in the battle with Porus. Deeply grieved by the loss of his beloved companion, Alexander gave him a royal burial and to honour his memory a city was founded on the west bank of river Jhelum near present day Jalalpur in Pakistan. Folklore has it also that Bucephalus was buried at Baflias village in Poonch district. Though the two names bear much similarity yet the historical facts do not support this contention. Alexander's dog Peritas got fatally injured in the battle with Mallians where Alexander got isolated from his troops. Peritas fought through enemy soldiers to reach a wounded Alexander and made the way for his soldiers to reach Alexander. In the process the dog got injuries and died.

Most of the narratives running around Alexander bear a stamp of truth and are part of our history. Some of them look to be exaggerated and twisted. Still some others may simply be artificial interpolations. But nobody can deny that all the narratives have got deeply embedded in our psyche, in our thoughts, in our culture and in our folklore. We relish recollecting them. We have a lesson or two also out of them. Thus Alexander might have conquered much of the world known at his time and he might have made a lot of progress in the materialistic world. But when it came to spirituality and in understanding the true nature and meaning of life, we find that our ancestors, our Rishi Munis had attained much greater heights.

(The author is fromer IAS Officer)