Sunday, February 15, 2009

शेर शिवराज है !!!

Shivaji is the Tiger...........Excerpts from The ShivarajBhushan by MahaKavi Bhushan Tripathi



The ShivarajBhushan (The Ornament of Shivaji) by Mahakavi Bhushan Tripathi is a of nearly four hundred Brijbhasha poems written at the court of Shivaji Maharaj.This composition was made circa 1673 and with Shivaji’s ascent to the throne in 1674 makes it extremely likely that ShivarajBhushan was composed for the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The following poem is but a part of this splendid composition. It touches upon all the virtues of the great warrior and rightly compares Shivaji Maharaj with the Gods.

This poem is currently a part of the Title track of the Grand Marathi Serial, Raja ShivChhatrapati, which is aired on Star Pravaah every Monday-Friday at 08:30pm.
Check out the poem, its meaning and then watch the video and read the poem alongwith the song. If you do not get an adrenaline rush.....talk to me then!

Here is the poem:


इन्द्र जिमि जृम्भा पर

बाडव सअंभ पर

रावण सदंभ पर

रघुकुल राज है !


पवन बारिबाह पर

संभु रतिनाह पर

ज्यों सहसबाह पर

राम द्विजराज हैं !


दावा दृमदंड पर

चीता मृगझुन्द पर

भूषण वितुण्ड पर

जैसे मृगराज हैं !


तेज तमअंस पर

कन्ह जिमि कंस पर

त्यों म्लेंच्छ बंस पर

शेर शिवराज हैं!!!!!!!!!!!

-
महाकवि भूषण

Literal Translation and Meaning:

I have tried my level best to translate and decipher the meaning this piece of poetry. If any errors are found please do forgive me. Point out the errors and I will correct them faster than the speed of sound. Here goes:

Stanza 1:

Translation:

Like Lord Indra against the Demons
Like Vamana against against King Bali Like the King Ram of the Raghu clan against the Lord Ravana of Lanka


Meaning:

(Shivaji Maharaj is:) Like Lord Indra who defeated the evil forces of the demons. Like small Vamana who was an avtaar of Lord Vishnu, defeated the mighty Asur King Bali by just asking cleverly for alms while the Yagna was on.

{The story is that
Bali, the grandson of King Prahlada was a very valorous and mighty asura . By his penance and might, he conquered the whole world. Indra and other gods fearing that he and asuras would conquer all the three worlds, went to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu was then born as a dwarf Vamana in the household of a Brahmana. He went to Bali on growing up and asked for alms during a yagna.

Bali was delighted to offer him anything he requested even though his priest warned him that it was Lord Vishnu.
Vamana then requested for the amount of land that could come under three of his steps. Bali gracefully agreed. Lord Vishnu then grew in size and covered the earth and heaven in two stride. And due to lack of space, he put his third step on Bali himself and crushed Bali to the nether or the Patala loka(underground world), thus helping the Gods out.}

(Shivaji Maharaj is:) Like the King Ram great Raghu Dynasty who defeated the mighty forces of Lord Ravana of Lanka with the help of an army of monkeys!

Stanza 2:

Translation:

Like Lord Shiva against Rati's Husband, Kama Like Parshurama, the lord of Brahmanas, against Sahasrabahu

Meaning:

(Shivaji Maharaj is:)
Like Lord Shiva who slew Rati's husband,Kama,the lord of desire by opening his Third Eye and burning him to ashes!
(Thus implies Kavi Bhushan, that it is Shivaji who will burn down the evil Mughals and Adilshah to ashes!)
Like Lord Parshurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu, who was the saviour of defeated the Haihaya King Kartavirya Arjuna also called as Sahasrabahu or Sahasrarjuna, as he had a thousand hands.

{Parshurama was the son of Sage Jamadagni and Renuka.Parshurama was so called as his favourite weapon was a Parashu (axe). Legend has it that King KartaVirya Arjuna was drunk with power and used to trouble the brahmanas by stealing away their cattle, disturbing their pennances and their yagnas. Once, The king KartaVirya Arjuna visited Jamadagni's ashram with his army. Jamadagni welcomed and fed the king and his army with the help of his cow, Kamadhenu. The king was amazed and asked Jamadagni for the cow. Jamadagni refused to yield as he would need the cow for religious practices. Angered, Arjuna destroyed the ashram and took away the cow forcibly. When Parshurama came to know about this, he killed the entire army of the king and then killed the King himself by cutting of each of the King's arms by using his axe. The King's sons retaliated and killed Jamadagni while he was meditating. When Parshurama returned and found his mother crying he asked her the reason for her sorrow. His mother did not reply but beat her chest 21 times. Angered, Parshurama vowed that he would take revenge upon the Haihayas 21 times. He killed all the sons of Arjuna and killed all the Haihaya-Kshatriyas of the world 21 times. Thus he conquered the whole earth and donated it to the brahmanas. Thus he ended the arrogance of Kshatriyas.}

Stanza 3:

Translation
:

Like Fire which burns wood, Like a Cheetah against a herd of deer, Says Bhushana, (He is )Like a Lion against Hogs.

Meaning:

(Shivaji Maharaj is :) Like the fire which burns wood, he is swift and deadly like the Cheetah against a herd of deer. Kavi Bhushan says, (Shivaji is) like a lion against wild hogs.
Stanza 4:
Translation:
Like a ray of light through the darkness,
Like the Child Krishna against Kansa, Has descended upon the clan of Mlecchas(Mughals and Adilshah) Shivaji, the Tiger!

Meaning:

(Shivaji Maharaj is:)
Like a ray of light that shatters the darkness and he offers hope to millions of people oppressed by the cruel rule of Aurangzeb across India.
(He is) like the child Krishna who defeated his maternal uncle, Kansa in wrestling and killed him.
( This great warrior) has now descended upon the clan of Mlecchas, (Here the poet refers to Mughals and Adilshah who oppressed their Hindu subjects and tortured them in many cases. Although Shivaji Maharaj's kingdom was a Hindu State, he never forced religion on anyone. His was a state which practiced religious tolerance.) like a Tiger!

Here is the video of the title track of Raja ShivChhatrapati. Now try to recite the poem along with the title track and you will get the adrenaline rush!
The Link:

RajaShivChhatrapati Title Track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpuzZGOAesY



Note:
The word Mleccha directly means a Muslim. Though the Poet has used the word in his work to portray the cruel tactics of the Muslim Rulers Aurangzeb and Adilshah and although Shivaji Maharaj established his kingdom to free the oppressed Hindu subjects from the tyranny of these two Muslim states, Shivaji never was against Muslim religion (and neither am I!). He was against the atrocities of Aurangzeb and Adilshah. Hence, I believe using the word Mleccha to denote a Muslim would be demeaning.
Hence, I have not used Muslim as the literal translation for Mleccha but have used Mughals and Adilshah.

Let it be known to all those Hindu hardliners and the so-called Hindu fanatics that Shivaji Maharaj practiced, religious tolerance in his kingdom. He deeply respected Muslim religion and never demolished any Muslim place of worship.

On the contrary, his army had 1/3th part of it as Muslims. His navy had Ibrahim Khan and Maynaak Bhandari as the chiefs. He deeply respected and often sought blessings from Sufi saints like Baba Sharifuddin and also of Shaikh Yakub of Konkan.
He called Hazrat Baba of Ratnagiri bahut thorwale bhau, meaning "great elder brother".

PS: Special thanks for this poem to my friend Tejas Thatte.Thanks, Chiknya!


Creative Commons License
This work by Pranjal A. Wagh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

77 comments:

  1. great poem, good translation and nice interpretation :)

    peace to all \m/,

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  2. @ Ojus

    the poem is awesome as it is written by one of the greatest Indian poets, MahaKavi Bhushan

    Thanks for the compliments on the translation and interpretation!

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Shevti lihi ki, 'Special thanks to Tejas Thatte'


    P.S.: correct it faster than the speed of sound :P

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  5. @Tejas Chikna Thatte

    Shaanya.....je kahi urlele thanks aahe na te pan kadhun takin :P

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  6. beee......ehsaan faramosh ..namak haram ...*&^%@#%**@# ...gaddar...Netaji Palkar ahe tu !

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  7. @Chiknya

    lolzz....jalte aahe kunachi tari

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  8. The translation and interpretation is very informative and impressive.. Thanks for bringing this..

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  9. @Dinesh

    Thanks a lot for the comment!

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  10. Good .... U removed the title 'Lord' from 'Lord Ravana' ......mi tula sangnarach hoto

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  11. I havent removed the title from Lord Ravan and I never will.
    Ravan was an extremely just ruler. He was a knowledheable man.
    He was a god -fearing man.
    I respect Ravan.

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  12. Whats the use of his knowledge when he was into stealing others wives...
    How can u call him 'LORD' !
    can't accept this :-X

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    Replies
    1. Fucker HE was a king thats wie ur living this life...dont try to oversmart...KING lives like that only and he did not steal anybodys wife.......marathi ahez ka abhiman thev lundachaya.....smajala ka.........history vaaach ugach vaiyaaat lihu nakos.......tyani jar asa kela nasta na tar tuzhi pidi na muslimanchaya talvat basali asati.....

      Delete
    2. @anonymous person commenting above: bhai purna comment tree vaacha dhi mag reply kar. Toh ravan baddal boltoy. Tu shivaji maharaj baddal samajtoy.

      Delete
  13. He only stole one wife.
    Even though he stole her he did not do anything that would harm her. He never even touched her. That goes to show something about his character, doesnt it?

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    Replies
    1. Juat to inform you that Ravana was curst to die if he forcefully tries to harrase a women that's why he never touchet her. And he got that curse while trying to harrase another women.

      Delete
  14. Ohh so u mean he was good man and Lord Ram killed him unnecessarily !
    Waaaaahh..

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  15. Dude I can tell you a lot of things which can make you debate on whether or not to prefix Ram with Lord.

    All I can tell you is that Ramayan was made Mythological by Valmiki thus making Ravan the villain and Ram the hero.

    In the real world, only one rule applies, The Victor is the Hero and the Vanquished are the villain.

    The live examples of this is The US, UK after world war 2.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My dear friend it's not mythology it's history. Study Bhagvadgita as it is and you will get the truth.

      Delete
  16. Neways..... but this 'Kavya'(poem) is very good and u have explained it well with ur sheer knowledge !
    BTW
    The energy in those verses of the poem is unmatchable..

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  17. hi,

    You have done a great job!
    This is what I was looking for from many months. Waiting for more by Bhushan on Ser Sivraj!

    Regards,
    Makarand A.Ketkar.
    makketkar@gmail.com

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  18. certainly!
    i will read more by Bhushan on Shivaji Maharaj and again try my best!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks !! it's really nice info.

    Jay Bhawani | Jay Shivaji ||

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  20. Hey Nishant,
    thanks a lot for the comment!

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  21. what is "pawan baribah par" in stanza 2 ?

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  22. @ Anonymous

    Finally I found the meaning of 'Pavan Baribah Par'. I am extremely sorry for the delay!

    "
    मी लावलेला अर्थ असा:
    पवन म्हणजे वारा, बारिबाह (वारिवाह - पाणी वाहून नेणारा) म्हणजे ढग.
    'पवन बारिबाह पर' म्हणजे, वारा जसा ढगांना उधळून लावतो तसा.
    -Gauri"

    Pavan = Wind
    Baribah = varibah = one who carried water = Cloud
    Pavan Baribah Par = Like the wind on the clouds (Like the wind blows away the clouds!)

    All thanks to Gauri from www.maayboli.com!

    For the translation of entire poem :
    http://www.maayboli.com/node/2229?page=6
    Thanks to Chinya for this!

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  23. Hey dude !! thanks !! you made my day by posting this nice poem !!
    Jay Bhavani.... Jay Shivaji.... Aankhi ekhada mlench shirakala nahi ithe... thats great !!

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  24. Hey, this website is excellent for SHIVAJI maharaj. And I just love the last verse. It's brilliant. he ek atishay sundar kavya ahe.ani Pranjal tu khup changla artha sangitlas.

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  25. Chaan ahe ... I'll definitely watch this space .. . Shivaji Maharajancha vijay aso ....

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  26. khup chan ahe....he vachun majhya manat ale ki...saglya tarun Marathi mulani ekatra yeun Shivrayanchya Charitracha vachan kele pahije....aaj tarun marathi manawar he sanskar honya chi nitant garaj ahe...apan he kavya post karun tya dishene chan paul uchalle ahe...Abhari Ahe...Jai Bhawani!!Jai Shivaji!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nilesh!! I will definitely try - However this blog has been shifted to www.rational-mind.com

      Delete
  27. Dhanyavad
    Do visit
    www.rational-mind.com

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  28. Hi Pranjal , Regarding your comments on Lord Rama , Lord Rama's guru was sage Vasishtha who has written things like Yog Vasishta (Purnat Purnamadam, infinity - infinity = infinity) and try to understand the god by mathematical way. Lord Rama's guru was also the great sages Like Vishwamitra, Agasthi, Parashar etc.So called discovery of atom, molecules are just the part of the verses they have composed. Why you forgetting the Ramdasswami (Shivaji’s Guru) on Lord Hanumanta saying "Anu pasoni Brahmanda evadha hot jaatase" meaning the one who could take the form from atom to whole universe.
    So these great sages haven’t claim that they understand Lord Rama totally how our intellect full of desires (Vikaras) will understand Lord Rama!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nilesh!! I will definitely try - However this blog has been shifted to www.rational-mind.com

      Delete
  29. Pranjal,
    Please post lyrics and meaning another kavita by Kavi Bhushan -

    Kund Kaha Paya Vrunda Kaha....

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    Replies
    1. 'Kund kaha' by Kavi Bhushan :
      ==================

      Kund kaha, Paya vrinda kaha,
      Aru chand kaha, Sarjajas aage

      Bhushan bhanu krushan kaha,
      Bhuman pratap mahi talpage

      Kund kaha ...................

      Ram kaha, BrijRam kaha,
      BalaRam kaha, Rann mein anuraage

      Kund kaha ...................

      Baaj Kaha, MrigaRaj kaha,
      Ati Sahas mein Sivraj ke aage

      Delete
  30. Thanks re, hyacha arta mala nit kalala nhavta, pan ata kalala. Thanks..

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  31. I think the interpretation of the first stanga is like this for second line...
    "BAADAV SUAMBH PAR" HERE BAADAV is a derivative of BADWAGNI (Fire in ocean). su(AMBH) ambu means water.
    meaning "as badwaagni distroys water"....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nilesh!! I will definitely try - However this blog has been shifted to www.rational-mind.com

      Delete
  32. Thanks for this poem... searching it for too long.
    -
    Sharad

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  33. Are, 'Shivkalyan Raja' hya albummadhlya baki ganyancha asach translation kuthe milel hyacha kahi andaaz ahe ka ? Kahi ganyanche artha milale ahet pan bakichyanche nahiyet.
    Thanking you in anticipation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nilesh!! I will definitely try - However this blog has been shifted to www.rational-mind.com

      Delete
  34. Dear Freinds..
    Required POEMS on SHIVAJI MAHARAJ for Kavyasangraha

    Kindly send
    e-mail : rajanpol.08@gmail.com
    cell : 985 000 4393

    Thanks / Regards
    RAJAN POL /PUNE

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hello
    I was looking for this poem and got at your blog with good translation and history. I have used the poem only on my blog and provided link of your post for reference. Thank you for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Jai Bhavani... Jai Shivaji...

    Good efforts...

    - Anand Sancheti

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  37. Jay Bhavaniiiiiiiiiiii
    ......................
    Jay Shivajiiiiiiiiiiii

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  38. thanks for the work my friend..

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  39. I visited this site and blog very late while searching for poetry of great poet 'Bhushan'. I find a few mistakes in the translation out of which one was clarified. Another mistake is on: 'BHUSHAN' VITUND PER JAISE MRIGRAJ HAI.

    Here the meaning of VITUND is given as hog where as it means elephant.

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  40. well malachi means antichrist man

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  41. great effort man.....keep it up

    There is a slight error in actual poem...here's a copy:-

    इन्द्र जिमि जंभपर , वाडव सुअंभपर |
    रावन सदंभपर , रघुकुल राज है || 1 ||

    पौन बरिबाहपर , संभु रतिनाहपर |
    ज्यो सहसबाहपर , राम द्विजराज है || 2 ||

    दावा द्रुमदंडपर , चीता मृगझुंडपर |
    भूषण वितुण्डपर , जैसे मृगराज है || 3 ||

    तेजतम अंसपर , कन्हजिमि कंसपर |
    तो म्लेंच्छ बंसपर , शेर सिवराज है || 4 ||

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  42. would u also try to transalate other poems of KAVI BHUSHAN

    :-
    साजि चतुरंग बीररंगमें तुरंग चढी ,
    सरजा सिवाजी जंग जीतन चलत है |
    भूषन भनत नाद बिहद नगारन के ,
    नदी नद मद गैबरनके रलत है ||


    भूपन भनत भाग्यो कासीपति विश्वनाथ ,
    और कौन गिनतीमें भूली गति भब की |
    चारों वर्ण धर्म छोडि कलमा निवाज पढ़ी ,
    सिवाजी न होतो तो सुनति होत सब की ||

    It would be a great pleasure

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!! I will definitely try - However this blog has been shifted to www.rational-mind.com

      Delete
  43. who ever said whatever,,,,,,,,,thanks to you!!!!

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  44. thanks ; i was searching for it .

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  45. thanks for sharing , it does give an adrenaline rush that you promised.

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  46. hey.. dats really nice work.i have been searching 4 dis since long.
    i have posted this on my face book notes as i want my friends to know this beautiful song with its meaning. i hc given link of ur blog too. hope u wont mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tejali, the blog has shifted to www.rational-mind.com

      You can find the same article here : http://www.rational-mind.com/2009/02/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B0-%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C-%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%88/

      Thanks for the appreciation!

      Delete
  47. Super! Thanks for the translation.
    Nice interpretation as well.
    Never thought I would ever understand just by reading the poem/song lines.

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  48. I most admire to Shiva a great son of Mother India . First time in India we knew what is nationalist approach .He was a follower of Mata Bhawani .Before Shivsji we never heart any sprite of nationalist .The Bhusahan was a saint he admire the bravery of Shiva .He him self wrote " Shahu Ko sarahu ya sarahu Chhtrashal ko" The Shivaji had shaken the root mighty Mugahl Empire but his successor could not got benefit of his work .There are some person like Bhushan in the India who actually inspire a man who was running in path of truth for the fame his nation

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  49. ॥झुकल्या येथेच गर्विष्ट माना॥
    या जगात जे सर्वोतम आणि सर्वोक्तृष्ठ
    आहे,
    त्याची तुलना इतर कशाशीच होऊ शकत
    नाही.
    त्या पारीमाणाला त्या विशेषणाला "शिवराय"
    हेच नाव आहे.
    ॥जय शिवराय॥

    ReplyDelete
  50. Shivaji did not maintain a census by religion so it is a baseless fact saying 1/3rd of his army was Muslim.
    Shivaji Maharaj has written in a letter to Vyankoji his half brother (you can find the actual letter, it's there in the public domain)
    "Turq sainyat thevun jai kaisa milto ?"
    " No swadeshi army can win with turks in it"
    And Shivaji Maharaj demolished several mosques that were erected on temples

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do not mean to insult any religion and Shivaji Maharaj took blessings of Muslim saints too, however wherever there was injustice it was corrected by Maharaj.

      Delete
  51. Thanks a lot Sir. Hardik Dhanyvad.
    Shivaji Maharaj was greatest King of India who imbibe self respect and dignity among all Indians. And Mahakavi Bhushan is greatest Poet of India. The great Maharaj made Kavi Bhushan as Rajkavi means poet of Nation. Thus, we can proudly evidentially prove that Maharaj is the first person to declare Hindi as national language of India as he was the first king who declared Hindi Poet Kavi Bhushan as National Poet Rajkavi.

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  52. Excellent work.. Can you rearrange content so that translation for particular stanza is after that stanza? Sarkha var khali karat basala ki link jatey :)

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  53. Mleccha doesn't mean a muslim but an invader, someone who doesn't belong to this land of Hindus. So mleccha can be used for mughals, turks and britishers who persecuted hindus but thanks to Shivaji Maharaj we reclaimed our identity under Hindavi Swarajya.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Nice post thank you so much, see this my post Marathi attitude statusMarathi statusMy websiteMarathistyleDiwali wishes in MarathiDiwali wishes in Marathi Shivaji Maharaj statusShivaji maharaj status sms in Marathisee all

    ReplyDelete
  55. Unnecessary info is too much ...... Not a "to the point" interpretation but kudos to the efforts u put in ..... And what is Hindu fanatics btw ??
    If u r doing an interpretation then try to be more netural in your perspective ..... We don't give a damn what ideology u follow so keep it with yourself noone asked uh about it ......9 Out of 10 world crisis today is due to one religion (of course Islam) but just because truth will hurt them u want us to zip our tongue ..... Hat's off bro u r such a coward
    Sooner or later the world will know that Islam is a cancer to humanity and the first terrorist was Prophet Muhammad.
    Islam hi Aatankvaad hai 🙏
    Live in ur fairy world and see ur family and friends die in the heat of Islamic barbarism.
    From a "true liberal"

    ReplyDelete
  56. "his army had 1/3th part of it as Muslims", firstly it is "1/3rd" not "1/3th", secondly can you please cite some reference for this extraordinary claim? Better if it would be an authentic historical document. Thanks in advance!

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete