At the beginning of our travel to Sindh itself, people had already instilled the buzzing sounds of fear in our ears – ‘Sindh is a dreadful territory’
[Editor’s Note: This is Part 07 (seven) of a series of articles based on a pre-partition book named “મારી સિંધ યાત્રા” (“منهنجو سنڌ جو سفر”) in Gujarati authored by Jain sadhu Shri Vidyavijayji, narrating his experiences of travel and stay in Karachi for about 2 and a half years between 1937 and 1939. It would be advisable to click on Introductory Article and read it for a better understanding of the series. – Nasir Aijaz, Editor Sindh Courier]
Vimal Shah, Mumbai
“I have already explained before how difficult it is for Jain sadhus to travel through Sindh who follows a code of conduct like travelling barefoot and living on alms. The visits of Sadhus had already stopped for several years. Travelling through the desert land, mostly inhabited by Muslims, Hindus too consuming meat and fish, and a dire shortage of water, the tamasic (wrathful) nature of people, who do not hesitate to strike with an axe even for small reasons. If you are passing through a jungle alone and happen to meet someone donning an axe in full Black attire, your chest will certainly start pounding high. ‘What will he do?’ It can be obviously understood – how difficult it is to travel through such a territory.”
“Many times, you are afraid of alien things, and at times if someone has not scared you before, you will pass through them fearlessly, however terrible the path is. We had landed in a terrible jungle while going from Abu to Udaipur. So terrible that we would have never seen such a jungle in our lifetime, but still we passed through fearlessly. Once I saw a tiger just six feet away from me. I felt nervous for a while, but the tiger immediately turned around and went away. But if someone had scared me before, whether I encounter a tiger or not, I would be rolling my eyes with a pounding chest all the time.”
The buzzing sound of approaching Fear
“At the beginning of our travel to Sindh itself, people had already instilled the buzzing sounds of fear in our ears. ‘Sindh is a dreadful territory’. ‘There’s so much nuisance of snakes that they would fly and sit on your head and go away killing you with a blow on your head’. ‘The deserts are so massive that a single sandstorm will bury several villages’. ‘Non-vegetarianism is such that we can’t even stand in a small village. It is such an impious territory.’”
One of them added: ‘The soil of Sindh is such that as soon as you step on it you can’t resist your intellect getting corrupted’. He narrated the famous story of Shravan in support of his claim.
“One of them added: ‘The soil of Sindh is such that as soon as you step on it you can’t resist your intellect getting corrupted’. He narrated the famous story of Shravan in support of his claim. Shravan had carried his ageing parents in a Kavad for their pilgrimage of sixty-seven Tirth. (Kavad is a bamboo lath borne on the shoulder with slings at both ends for carrying pitchers, etc.) After the pilgrimage to many places, his thoughts once changed. ‘How long will I keep wandering carrying these old people on my shoulders? He kept the Kavad down in anger and told his parents ‘I can’t carry you anymore, you go for the pilgrimage if you can or fall in the pit. Shravan, who was overwhelmingly devoted to his parents became feelingless today. The parents were astonished. What happened to our beloved Shravan? The parents nearing their end of life got scared. They pleaded with Shravan: ‘Please bear with us for some more time, then do whatever you like. Shravan carried the Kavad for some distance with great difficulty and his thoughts transformed. He repented and begged for pardon from his parents for his ill thoughts and misbehavior. The soil where Shravan developed ill thoughts was Sindh, and the soil where his thoughts got purified once again was Marubhoomi (Marwad). If you see even the Baniyas and the Brahmins in Sindh have no hesitation, they will go to any extent of immorality and inequity, etc. etc.”
Strong Determination
“We started hearing many such things related to Sindh. Pain–Pleasure or Fright–Fearlessness largely depends on your mental state. The same thing becomes the cause of pain to one and pleasure to another, and for the same person, it becomes the cause of pain at one time and pleasure at other times. Sadhus like us, and particularly our group who have wandered across many regions, have accomplished barefoot journeys of thirty to forty thousand miles – will not be worried about going to any difficult region. The only matter demanding thoughtfulness is alms. There’s no matter to worry if we can get alms (compliant with our code of conduct) just once a day to calm the appetite. And if there’s strong determination, then alms are also not a worthy matter.”
We had obtained a list of many pathways for entering Sindh. In particular, the trigonometrical maps up to Sindh from the ‘Government Services’
“We mean to say that despite hearing many dreadful stories we did not pay heed to them. There were three reasons for that: – Firstly I believed in the principle of अंगीकृतं सुकृतिन: परिपालयन्ती (Great people stick to what’s agreed upon). Secondly, the desire to see a new territory. Thirdly, desire to render my services if Gurudev gives me enough strength. These three thoughts made me so strong that I was determined to visit Sindh at any cost.”
“Once the various newspapers started publishing the news of our departure to Sindh, I was flooded with letters from friends, loved ones and devotees. There were only two things in those letters – Appreciation for our adventure, and others giving advice for not venturing into such a territory.”
The Pathway to Sindh
“We had obtained a list of many pathways for entering Sindh. In particular, the trigonometrical maps up to Sindh from the ‘Government Services’. Many pathways exist for visiting Sindh.”
“For those coming from Gujarat, Viragamgam – via Nagarparkar to Islamkot – Mithi – Jhuddo – Mirpur Khas to Hyderabad and then to Karachi.”
“From Kathiyawad – Morbi – Rann of Malia – Kutch and then either via the Rann of Khawda in Kutch or via Nakhatrana to Badin – Thatta and then to Karachi.”
“For people going from Punjab should come to Marwad first and then follow the Jodhpur line to Mirpur Khas – Hyderabad etc.”
“People coming from Multan side can reach Hyderabad via Sukkur (Rohri).”
“We had to go come to Sindh from Marwad. Therefore, from Shivganj we had planned to cross the Marwad region and follow the railway route from Balotra onwards, and we performed our journey through the same route.” (Continues – Read 8th part on Sunday May 7, 2023)
Click here for Part-I, Part-II, Part-III, Part-IV, Part-V , Part-VI
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About the contributor of the series of Articles based on the book
Vimal Shah is a follower of Jainism by birth and is based in Mumbai, India. He is a Computer Engineer and holds a Diploma in Jainology from Mumbai University. He has immense interest in reading, writing, studying, and teaching Jain Philosophical subjects. He conducts classroom as well as on-line sessions on Jain Philosophical courses. He has created several power point presentations with animation which he uses while teaching and has participated in several Jain Community events to present and explain the relevant subjects to the visiting audience. He has significantly contributed to the translation, reviewing, and editing of the set of books ‘Compendium of Jainism’ of JAINA, USA from English to Gujarati – an initiative of the JAINA India Foundation. He is also associated with a Project for the translation of Jain Aagams (Scriptures) from Gujarati to English and continues to study various subjects and remains a student of Jain Philosophy. He has a special interest in the history and preservation of the Jain Heritage in Pakistan, and is associated with the Jain Heritage Foundation, New Delhi.
