JESUS CHRIST.

Jesus Christ was a Jew and was born at Galilee in Northern Israel in 4 BC to Carpenter Joseph and Mary. He lived up to 30/33 years of age. Galilee is fertile and mountainous.

Today Christianity is practiced by the most number of people in the world with 2.1 billion followers. Next is Islam with 1.3 billion and then Hinduism with 0.90 billion. Its practitioners believe that Christ is an incarnation and the Son of God. He is also considered as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. It is believed by Christians that Jesus was begot by Mary when she was a virgin.

The New Testament gives the teachings and life of Jesus as well as events in the 1^st century Christianity. This also contains the 4 canonical gospels; Mathew, Mark, Luke & John which are the main sources for the life of Jesus. However, other parts of the New Testament refer to some key events in his life.

The Gospels were written by 4 different authors after whom the gospels were named. Mathew, Mark & Luke are known as the Synoptic gospels and quote the same story about Jesus while that of John differs from the Synoptic gospels.

There is very little detail about Christ’s early life. There are many references in the New Testament that in his young adult life Jesus was working as a Carpenter. As per the gospel of Luke at the age of 12 Jesus went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and got lost. He was found later in a temple At Jerusalem discussing and debating matters with the elders. It is believed that he began his ministry at 30 years of age when he was baptized by John the Baptist. This is fairly late because Jesus lived only up till 34-37 years of age and gave him 7 years preaching time at the most.

After Baptism, Jesus went into the Judean desert to fast and meditate for 40 days and nights. Here it seems the devil appeared to Jesus 3 times and tempted him but Jesus resisted.

Jesus then came back to Galilee and started preaching and many people became his disciples. One of them was Mary Magdalene who remained in the ministry of Jesus from the beginning to his death and after. It was to her Jesus appeared first after resurrection.

Jesus’ first miracle happened when he visited a wedding in Galilee along with his mother when he turned water into fine wine. After the wedding Jesus, Mary and his disciples went to Jerusalem for the Passover (a Jewish festival).

Then Jesus traveled through Galilee preaching his gospel and performing miracles. Upon hearing about his powers of healing, many more people became his disciples. At the Sermon on the Mount he presented several discourses known as the Beatitudes with spiritual teachings of love, humility and compassion. As he preached and performed miracles he gained more and followers in the Galilee and the Pharisees (an orthodox Jewish sect that strictly observed the orthodox Jewish practices) were alarmed and vowed to stop him.

Near the city of Philippi Jesus asked his disciples “ Who do you say I am?” Only Peter responded saying “You are Christ, the son of the living God” and declared the proclamation was a divine revelation from God. Jesus then proclaimed Peter to be the leader of the church. He also warned his disciples about the plot of the Pharisees to kill him and after being killed he would rise from the dead on the third day    

A week after that Jesus took 3 of his disciples to a high mountain for praying. According to the gospels the body of Jesus started glowing with a white light and his face shone like the sun. Then the prophets Elijah and Moses appeared and Jesus talked to them. A bright cloud enveloped them and a voice said “This is my beloved son; with whom I am well pleased; listen to him”. This event is known as the Transfiguration and is a very important event in Christian theology because it transfigures Jesus into a God.

Jesus arrived in Jerusalem a week before Passover riding a donkey. Great number of people greeted him. The Pharisees became alarmed at the growing popularity of Jesus. During the week at Jerusalem Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, confronted merchants and moneychangers in the temple and debated with the priests who questioned the authority of Jesus.

Jesus told his disciples that in the coming days the temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed. The priests now set in motion the plan to arrest Jesus. The priests agreed to pay Judas 30 pieces of silver for delivering Jesus to them.

Jesus and his 12 disciples met for the Passover meal. Jesus privately told Judas that it was he who would betray him. He told Peter that before the cock crowed next morning he would deny knowing Jesus thrice. At the end of the meal Jesus initiated the Eucharist which signifies the covenant between God and humans.

After the last supper Jesus and disciples went to a garden to pray. After sometime soldiers appeared along with Judas Iscariot and he kissed Jesus on his cheek to reveal him to the soldiers. The soldiers arrested Jesus. After his arrest many of his disciples went into hiding. Jesus was taken to the High Priest and was interrogated. He was beaten and spat upon for not responding. Peter followed Jesus to the High Priests court. There he hid himself and when 3 house servants asked him he denied knowing Jesus. Judas felt guilty looking at Jesus’s position and threw the silver coins and hanged himself.

Next day Jesus was taken to Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judea. The priests accused that Jesus was claiming to be the king of Jews and he should be condemned to death. Pilate found nothing wrong on Jesus’s part but finally had to concede to the pressure exerted on him. He ordered the crucifixion of Jesus.

The Roman soldiers whipped and beat Jesus and place a crown of thorns on his head and took him to Mt Calvary. He was crucified long with two thieves one on his right and one on his left. Above his head was the charge against him “INRI” or Iesus Nazarenus Rex Ludaeorum which means Jesus of Nazareth King of Jews. At his feet were his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. In the last 3 hours of his life Jesus was taunted by the soldiers and the people when Jesus expressed his agony and had outbursts of expression. After Jesus died his body was kept in a tomb.

3 days after his death his body disappeared and he appeared first to Mary Magdalene and then to his mother Mary. Jesus later appeared to his hiding disciples and asked them not to be afraid. He asked them to go to the world and spread his teaching. After 40 days Jesus took his disciples to Mt Olivet and then ascended to heaven.

పద్మనాయక వీరుడు గజరావు తిప్పన.

పద్మనాయక చరిత్రకారులు అందరూ 14 -15  వ శతాబ్దాలలో రాచకొండ దేవరకొండ సామ్రాజ్యాల గురించి మాత్రమేచెప్పారు. అవి కాక ఇంకా పద్మనాయక రాజ్యాలు ఏమైనా ఉన్నాయా అని నాకు సందేహం వచ్చింది.

పద్మనాయక రాజ్యాలకు రెడ్డి రాజ్యాలకు బద్ధ వైరం. ఆ వైరం అవి రెండూ అంతం అయ్యేవరకు కొనసాగింది. అందుచేత రెడ్డి రాజ్యాలు గురించి తెలుసుకుంటే పద్మనాయక చరిత్ర గురించి ఏదైనా కొత్తగా తెలుస్తుందేమో అనిపించింది నాకు.

ఆ ఉద్దేశం తో నేను రెడ్డి రాజ్యాలు గురించి చదివాను. పద్మనాయకుల లాగే రెడ్లు కూడా యుద్ధ వీరులు. వారు ముందు వ్యవసాయం చేసుకునే వారే అయినా పరాక్రంలో వారు పద్మనాయకులకు ఏమి తీసిపోరు. దానికి తోడు వారు విజయనగర చక్రవర్తి హరిహరరాయల కుటుంబంతో వివాహ సంబంధాలు కూడా నెలకొల్పుకున్నారు.  

అసలు రెడ్లు ఎక్కడివారు? కొండవీడు, రాజమహేంద్రవరం ఏలిన రెడ్డి రాజులు పాకనాడు(ఇప్పటి కడప, నెల్లూరు మరియు దక్షిణ ప్రకాశం జిల్లాలు) నుండి వచ్చిన వారే.  

పద్మనాయకులకు రెడ్లకు వైరం రావటానికి కారణం రేచెర్ల సింగమనాయకుడు జల్లిపల్లి ముట్టడిలో సోమవంశ క్షత్రియులచే కుతంత్రంతో చంపబడటం. ఆ కుట్రలో రెడ్లు కూడా సోమవంశ క్షత్రియులకు సాయం చేసారు. దానితో ఆ రెండు రాజ్యాల  మధ్య వైరం మొదలయ్యి రెడ్డి రాజ్యాలు రెండూ క్రిస్తు శకం 1448 లో అంతరించేవరకు కొనసాగింది. అందులో కొండవీడు రెడ్డి రాజ్యం క్రిస్తు శకం 1424  లో అంతం అవగా, రాజమహేంద్రవరం రెడ్డి రాజ్యం 1448  లో అంతరించింది. అప్పటికి పద్మనాయకులు రాచకొండ రాజ్యాన్ని కోల్పోయి కేవలం దేవరకొండ రాజ్యాన్ని కలిగి ఉన్నారు. అది కూడా ఒరిస్సా కపిలేశ్వర గజపతి కి సామంత రాజ్యం అయిపోయింది. దేవరకొండ రాజ్యం కూడా చివరకు క్రిస్తు శకం 1475  లో అంతరించింది.

రెడ్డి రాజ్యాల గురించి చదివినపుడు నాకు తెలిసిన కొత్త విషయం ఏమిటంటే కుమారగిరి రెడ్డి సామంతరాజు ల లో ఒకడు పద్మనాయకుడు అయిన వెలుగోటి రాయపనాయకుడు. మరి ఈయన వెలుగోటి వంశస్థులైన వేంకటగిరి వారికి బంధువు ఏమో మనకు తెలియదు. ఈయన గుంటూరు, బాపట్ల మరియు పల్నాడు ప్రాంతంలో పరిపాలించాడు. ఈయన సామంతుడే గజరావు తిప్పన. 

క్రిస్తు శకం 1396  లో బహమనీ సుల్తాన్ ఫిరోజ్ షా కొండవీడు రాజ్యాన్ని ముట్టడించగా కొండవీడు తరఫున గజరావు తిప్పన ఆయనను ఖమ్మంమెట్ దగ్గర ఓడించాడు.

రెడ్డి రాజ్యంలో అంతర కలహం అయ్యి సింహాసనం కోసం కుమారగిరి రెడ్డి మరియు పెదకోమటివేమా రెడ్డి దెబ్బలాడారు. అందులో రాయపనాయకుడు పెదకోమటివేమా రెడ్డి పక్షం వహించాడు. అంతర్యుద్ధం లో పెదకోమటివేమా  రెడ్డి విజయం సాధించి రాజు అయ్యాడు.  

రాజమహేంద్రవరం రెడ్డి రాజు అయిన కాటయవేమా రెడ్డి కుమారగిరి ని సమర్ధించాడు. పెదకోమటివేమా రెడ్డి రాజరికాన్ని అయన అంగీకరించలేదు. తన సైన్యంతో అయన కొండవీడు ను ముట్టడించారు. అప్పుడు పెదకోమటివేమా రెడ్డి  పక్షం నుండి మరల గజరావు తిప్పన కాటయవేమారెడ్డి ని గుండుగొలను, కోసూరు యుద్ధాలలో ఓడించాడు.

కాటయవేముని కి విజయనగర హరిహర రాయలకు బంధుత్వం ఉంది. అందుచేత హరిహరరాయలు కాటయవేమునికి సాయంగా కొండవీడు ను ముట్టడించడానికి ఛౌన్ద ( Chounda)  సేనాని ని పంపాడు. అప్పుడు గజరావు తిప్పన ఛౌన్ద సేనాని ని కూడా ఓడించాడు.     

అన్ని యుద్ధాలలో గజరావు తిప్పన విజయం సాధించాడు అంటే అయన మహావీరుడు  అయ్యి ఉండాలి. దానికి తోడు పద్మనాయక రాజ్యాలకు రెడ్డి రాజ్యాలకు బద్ధ వైరం. అంటే కొన్ని యుద్ధాల్లో అయినా గజరావు తిప్పన పద్మనాయక రాజ్యాలకు విరుద్ధంగా పోరాడి ఉండాలి. ఆ వివరాలు మనకు తెలియవు.

నాకు ఆశ్చర్యం కలిగించే విషయం ఏమిటంటే గజరావు తిప్పన అంతటి వీరుడు అయినా సరే పద్మనాయక  చరిత్రలు రాసిన ఒక్క చరిత్రకారుడు కూడా ఆయన పేరు స్మరించకపోవడం.

BRUCE LEE THE MASTER

Bruce Lee was born in Chinatown in San Francisco in 1940. The nurse present at the time of his birth gave him the name Bruce, but his family initially never used that name. His family named him Lee Jun Fan. His parents who were from Hong Kong stayed for sometime in the US when he was born.  They returned back to Hong Kong along with him when he was just 3 months old.

Bruce Lee’s father was a famous Cantonese Opera star in Hong Kong. So Bruce Lee appeared as a child star in about 20 Hong Kong movies by the time he reached 18 years of age. In his first film Bruce lee was carried on to the stage as a small 3 month old baby.   

In Hong Kong the British showed discrimination against the Chinese and used to look down on them. In this process Bruce Lee got himself into many fights with white gangs. After Bruce Lee involved himself in many street fights, his parents thought he should learn martial arts. Initially his father taught him the Wu style of Kung Fu. He began studying the style of Wing Chun under instructor Yip Man when he was 16 years old.

At that time, Chinese never taught Kung Fu to non Asians. When Yip Man’s other students came to know of Bruce Lees mixed ancestry (he is partly English, partly Dutch- Jewish and partly Chinese), they refused to train with him. But since Bruce Lee had a keen interest in Win Chun and lots of talent, Yip Man trained him privately.

Bruce Lee joined the primary school at the age of 12 in 1956, but due to poor performance and conduct he was transferred to another school. There Brother Edward, a teacher and coach of the school boxing team became his mentor. During that year he won the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament knocking out the previous champion in the final. Bruce Lee learnt Cha Cha dancing and won the Hong Kong’s Cha Cha competition. He also wrote poetry.

In 1959, Bruce Lee got into one of his many street fights and the Police were called. Till he was into his late teens, his street fights became more frequent. In one such fight he beat the son of a feared Triad (Chinese Mafia) family. The Police feared that a contract was out for his life and his parents too feared the same. So his parents decided to send him to Agnes Lee his older sister who was living with family friends in San Francisco. After some months he moved to Seattle and worked as a live in waiter in a restaurant run by Ruby Chow.  

The same year Bruce Lee started teaching martial arts. He opened his first martial arts school known as Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.

In Dec 1960 Lee completed his education and received his diploma. In 1961 he enrolled at the University of Washington and studied Dramatic Arts, Philosophy, Psychology and other subjects, his major subject being Drama. He dropped out of college in 1964, and moved to Oakland with James Yimm Lee who was a known martial artist of that area. Together they opened the 2^nd martial arts studio in Oakland.

In the 1964 Long Beach International Karate championships Bruce Lee displayed the 2 finger push ups. He also displayed the 2 inch punch, in which he delivered a punch by keeping his hand only 2 inches away from a person which sent him reeling backwards and made him fall.

He fell in love with his martial arts student Linda Emery and married her in 1964.

Also in 1964 Bruce Lee had an encounter with a Shaolin Karate master Wong Jack Man. There are some precedent events that finally lead to this fight. When Bruce Lee arrived at San Francisco, Chinese traditional karate dominated the scene in the bay area of Chinatown. This area was influenced and dominated by two Chinese masters; Lau Ban and Tin Long. Lau Ban started the first ever martial arts school in the US, and restricted his students strictly not to get into any fights with others, or other schools.  Similarly Tin Wong also disciplined his students in the same way. This is so unlike Hong Kong where martial arts practitioners challenged each other and battled it out.

When Bruce Lee arrived at Frisco he attended Lau Bans School. He criticized the style of Kung Fu being taught there and said Hong Kong’s style was better. This made Lau Ban throw him out of the school, and it also closed all doors of Chinese martial arts school to Bruce. Bruce Lee then continued his criticism of the martial art style being taught by the Chinese in the US and also criticized the books wrote by Tin Long. Tin Long called Bruce Lee a dissident with bad manners and all the martial arts in that area thought him to be the same.

At that time Wong jack Man arrived in Chinatown. He is educated and respected the orthodox Chinese versions of Kung Fu specially the Northern Shaolin style. Now this style is totally opposite to Bruce Lee’s style of Win Chun. Wong Jack Man was also a great fighter.

Bruce started giving lectures on different Chinese martial arts styles, and gave demonstrations to prove that they are inferior. He also explained why they would not work in street fighting. He also did the same with Northern Shaolin School which is Wong Jack Mans style. The problem with Bruce Lee is that he is too forthright in his approach and did not consider about the feelings of others. All the Chinese martial arts experts of that area thought him to be impudent.

When in Seattle Japanese Karate expert Yoichi Nakachi challenged Bruce Lee and Bruce finished him off in just 11 seconds and knocked him out, such was his speed and agility. Nakachi had a skull fracture in the fight and had to be hospitalized.

Wong Jack Man wanted to open a karate school in that area, and wanted to fight Bruce Lee to gain reputation for his school. In all probability the pressure of orthodox masters like Lau Ban and Tin Long was on him to fight and defeat Bruce Lee. The fight lasted for much more time than Bruce Lee expected at 7 minutes during which time Bruce Lee ran out of breath. After that finally Wong Jack Man surrendered.    

In 1966 Bruce Lee appeared in the Television series “The Green Hornet” which ran for 26 episodes.

In 1967 Lee founded the Jung Fan Gung Fu Institute. His fight with Wong Jack Man influenced Bruce Lee and made him change his style. He thought the fight lasted too long and he did not fight well enough with his old style. He named his newly evolved style as Jeet Kune Do (the Way of the Intercepting Fist). Bruce Lee introduced elements from Fencing, Wrestling Boxing and Wing Chun In Jeet Kune Do and integrated them. He also changed his physical training. He is considered the founder of the modern MMA (MIxed Martial Arts). Bruce Lee was a master in street fighting which he learnt well at Hong Kong. To that he added a brilliant brain and came out with a synthesis. The man may be impudent, but he is simply unbeatable. He was just 5 foot 7 inches in height, and what he lost in height he more than compensated by his speed and technique.     

Bruce Lee was the first Chinese to teach Kung Fu to Americans as all the schools at that time only taught it to Chinese. Two of Lee’s martial arts students were at that time in Hollywood; one as a script writer and the other as an actor. In 1969 Bruce Lee along with his two students worked on a script of a film, and came to India for locations which did not take off. Then he made a brief appearance in a few Hollywood films. In 1970 he became the fight choreographer of a Hollywood film.

In 1970 Bruce Lee injured the nerves in his back while doing a strenuous exercise with a 55 Kg weight. The doctors told him that it is impossible for him to perform Kung Fu again, but Bruce Lee is no ordinary man, and he came back very fast and starred in Big Boss in 1971 itself.

Not happy with his supporting roles in the US films, Lee returned to Hong Kong in 1971 when he played a leading role in Big Boss which was a great box office success. He then came up with Fists of Fury in 1972 which broke the collection records set by Big Boss. He got full control of his 3^rd film Way of the Dragon in 1972 as writer, director, star and fight scenes choreographer.  

In late 1972 he started his 4^th film the Game of Death. In November 1972 his production got stalled as Warner Brothers offered him a lead role in Enter the Dragon.        Unfortunately only a few months after the completion of the film in 1973, and a few days before its release in July Bruce Lee died. As you all know Enter the Dragon was a runaway success and catapulted Bruce Lee into big stardom when he was no more. As per 2007 indices the film cost USD 4 million but collected 200 million USD worldwide.

Bruce Lee’s death gave rise to many stories. In May 1973 Bruce Lee collapsed, and suffered from seizures and headaches. The Doctors diagnosed Cerebral Edema (seeping of fluid into the brain) and were able to cure him with drugs. He was over stretching his body too much and performed very strenuous exercise. Perhaps that may have affected his metabolism.

In July 1973, Bruce Lee was to have a dinner with an actor. First Lee and his producer Raymond Chow discussed a new script from 2 PM to 4 PM at Lees home after which they drove to the residence of  Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress who was a colleague. Thereafter Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.

As Bruce Lee complained of a headache, Ting gave him pain killer named Equagesic. At 7.30 PM Lee went to lie down on account of the headache, and just did not get up and died. What a soft and tragic ending for such a man, and that too at the young age of 32.

Bruce Lee is survived by his wife Linda Lee Caldwell, son Brandon Lee and daughter Shannon Lee. Unfortunately Brandon Lee died in accident when he was shooting for a film in 1993.