Part 29 - Lord Jhulelal, Life and Teachings

The colorful illustration combined with simple language presented in a concise and attractive manner have captivated Indian population for many decades especially the younger generation which got introduced to the heritage of India which is full of knowledge and wisdom. They also got introduced to life stories of great characters, who helped shape India. These include two epics of India i.e. Ramayana and Mahabharata which are globally known and recognized as crown jewels of Indian Literature.

The Ramayana gives a message of triumph of good over evil and Mahabharata tells people that truth prevails and ultimately emerges victorious. Shrimad Bhagavad-Gita’ which is a part of ‘Mahabharata’ and it covers every aspect of human life. Its eighteen chapters contain the essence of timeless teachings of Vedas and Upaniṣhadas in a condensed form. Shrimad Bhagavad-Gita is even considered as an Upaniṣhada by some scholars.

Such stories imbibe good values in human beings. Ancient sages, seers and saints, great emperors and kings, freedom fighters, scientists, scholars and sportsmen of modern times and mythological figures as well are the topics of such books. These books lay the foundation for the quest for further knowledge in the minds of youth in every country.

“Lord Jhulelal Life and Teachings” is one such book that has fulfilled its mission of both, introducing Lord Jhulelal to its readers as well as spreading his teachings of humanity and brotherhood. The fifty-one pages of the book describe the life story of the deity with colorful pictures, on page number fifty-two a beautiful multicolored picture of deity is provided, on the next page a greeting in Sindhi for the deity is mentioned along with its meaning. The picture is very attractive and the facial expression is quite soothing, the right hand is in a blessing mode, while the left hand is holding a book. The deity is sitting on a lotus flower which is rested on a Pala fish which is his typical characteristic. After the picture, there are eleven more pages which have Jhulelal songs credited to Ram Panjwani, Ranjan and Goverdhan Bharati and there is one ‘Lok Geet’^[1] also in the book. All the poetic compositions are in Arabic script with the Roman script below and the translation in English alongside. The credits for script translation, illustrations along with design and layout are mentioned on cover page two. The same page gives the names of publisher and printer and states that ‘Supported by Institute of Sindhology, Adipur’ and a message by the Director of the institute is on cover page four.

This illustrated graphic novel is quite colorful, especially for the younger generation which does not possess adequate knowledge of regional languages. The book in English would, therefore, be an ideal publication for them to understand the life and teachings of Lord Jhulelal.

The book is based on the pattern of Amar Chitra Katha i.e. it is a combination of pictures and text. The pictures are colorful which makes the book attractive for young and old, alike. In fact, the colorful presentation is one of the special features of the book. The text of the book is easy to understand, covering important events written in capital letters.

In India, for many decades the ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ publications are well known which have done a commendable job of introducing Indian culture to people of India. The culture and heritage of India are so rich in values and it teaches the principle of ‘Vasudhaiva Kuṭumbakam’ which means the whole world is one family or in other words, all the people of the world belong to one family. As such, behavior of people with each other should be like a family member.

The two epics of India ‘Ramayaṇa’ and ‘Mahabharata’ are globally known and recognized crown jewels of Indian Literature.

In bringing out such an important piece from India’s glorious past in the form of a storybook with teachings of Lord Jhulelal, the publishers deserve compliments. There are numerous personalities in India who have done outstanding work in their fields and such publications of these personalities would inspire the youth of our country. Therefore, an effort should be made to bring out more of such publications for the readers. For the Sindhi community which is spread all over the world along with India, this book is a priceless gift.

The overall impression about the book is that such publications are of immense help to understand the cultural heritage of India and the teachings of Lord Jhulelal.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

A folk song