September 1989
Hindu Influence in Communist BulgariaPresident's Daughter Opens Eastern European Nation to Spiritual Interchange with India
Mathur, Rakesh
Tiny Bulgaria lies in Eastern
Europe nestled between the Black Sea and the Balkan States of Romania,
Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey. Here among the friendly citizens, HINDUISM
TODAY correspondent Rakesh Mathur found a surprising degree of Hindu
influence, which is soon to Increase with the publication of the Bhagavad
Gita in Bulgarian.
Indian and Bulgarian people more or less share
the same historical and spiritual characteristics. The Bulgarians, like
their Hindu counterparts, have the sobriety, the reticence and the
simplicity of a people who have suffered during their history. They are
also a notably hard-working people. But these more austere virtues are
tempered by the good humor of a race which has remained faithful to the
ancient traditions of not differentiating between one and many. Like
Hindus, Bulgarians also believe that material things will fade away like
ashes and marigolds in the river of life.
There can surely be no
other country in Europe which within a small area (less that 110,000 sq.
km., pop. 9 million) offers the visitor such a variety of scenery and of
easily accessible geographical and emotional attractions. The Bulgarian is
obliging and always ready to help a stranger. The word Bulgaria literally
means "land of roses."
In the course of its 1,300-year history,
Bulgaria has passed through much trial and tribulation. Just a century
ago, its people were still subject to a bondage under the Ottoman Empire
in which they had been languishing for 500 years. Prior to foreign
subjugation, Bulgaria (like India) flourished with a most impressive
religious-social culture. And like India, Bulgaria had to wait until the
18th and 19th centuries to feel the first impulses of the national and
religious re-awakening known as the Bulgarian renaissance.
In the
20th century, Marxist doctrines imposed on Bulgaria clearly assumed
religion as the people's "opium." The churches and monasteries, which are
all Eastern Orthodox Christianity, have been reduced to tourist
attractions. But the average Bulgarian has found a fascination with the
way of living, the "dharma" which Hinduism has practiced for
centuries.
Krassimira Stoyanova of Sofia Press pointed out to me
during my visit to her office that, "A number of Bulgarian scholars -
historians, philologists, linguists and men of letters - have shown
interest in various aspects of Indian thought and culture. The most
prominent names are Vladimir Georgiev, member of the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, Vicho Ivanov, literary critic N. Miliev and Nikolai
Rainov."
Later during my visit to the Ludmila Zhivkova Art Gallery,
director Atanass Neikov explained, "In our museums there are a number of
miniature paintings and wooden sculptures from all parts of India which
vividly depict tales from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Vedas. The
visitors have always shown special interest in them and now, because of
the popular demand, we are working on their captions to provide in-depth
explanation 6f the intricacies of Hinduism. For example, one caption
reads, "To the Indian devotee of God Vishnu, love means everything
contained in man and outside him. It is the equivalent of the Hinduistic
concept of the 'Absolute,' and is expressive not only of physical,
psychological and intellectual experience. All manifestations of life, of
the spirit, of movement and development are considered a sign of
love."
Most of these ancient paintings and pieces of Hindu
sculptures were purchased in the seventies by Ludmila Zhivkova, as the
daughter of the Bulgarian President, Todor Zhivkov and Chairman of
Committee of Culture, who took special interest in the spiritual heritage
of India.
Ludmila - Student of Hindu Thought
Valentin Miter
of the International Foundation of Ludmila Zhivkova in Sofia told me,
"Inspired by the ancient Vedas and Upanishads (the character of Nachiketa,
for instance), Ludmila Zhivkova possessed the searching spirit and the
restless passion of a discoverer and the thoroughness of a talented
scholar. She initiated valuable international undertakings and did much to
link Bulgarian culture to progressive world culture. She started the
Department of Indology at the University of Sofia where today more than a
hundred students learn Indian languages, including Sanskrit, in order to
take a journey to the Vedic culture of India.
Ludmila Todorava
Zhivkova was born on July 26, 1942, in Sofia to Bulgaria's president,
Todar Zhivkov - who is still going strong in his fortieth year of ruling
the country. Ludmila went on to become a brilliant representative of the
younger generation of public figures and politicians who emerged under the
conditions of people's power. An outstanding politician, distinguished
figure in Bulgarian socialist culture, ardent patriot and
internationalist, she dedicated all her ebullient young life to the bright
future of mankind.
Ludmila graduated from the Sofia University in
1965. Later, she specialized in history of the arts at the Moscow State
University Lomonossov, and history in Oxford, Great Britain. She engaged
in original and valuable studies in the spheres of history, culture and
the arts. She always gave credit to the study of Indian philosophy for her
distinct approach towards humanity and arts.
Today the name of
Ludmila Zhivkova is inseparably linked with a new era in the development
of Bulgarian spiritual culture. It was under her guidance and with her
active participation that the program of nationwide aesthetic education
aimed at realizing the artistic gifts of children was successfully
implemented.
The International Assembly and the movement "Banner of
Poaco" are among the most exciting expressions of humanism and devotion to
peace in modern Bulgaria. Both of them were initiated by Ludmila more or
less on the model of the panchshila siddhantha of Indian Kautilya
diplomacy.
Adding her solid knowledge to her tireless search for
beauty, Ludmila not only affirmed herself as a notable, versatile and
harmonious personality - she was also a unique embodiment of the
exceptional qualities and virtues of a scholar, artist and public figure -
she was a kind of political saint of Bulgaria. Mrs. Indira Gandhi
respected her profound personality and they shared a deep
friendship.
On July 21, 1981, in Sofia, after a short, unnamed
illness, Ludmila left her physical body. Her brief life of exceptional
spiritual wealth became a model whose continuation and development are the
best and most durable ways to remember her.
Ludmila's spirit was
evident in her father's statement earlier this year in New Delhi at the
beginning of the "Days of Bulgarian Culture." He said, "Bulgarian songs
will again resound at the foot of the Himalayas and by the banks of the
Indus and Ganges, the steps of Bulgarian dancers will echo, the colors of
an art imbued with love for humanity will bloom. The meetings with the
envoys of spiritual communion will bring us ever closer, making us kin,
just as it happened during the unforgettable festival of the
millennium-old Indian culture in our country."
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Himalayan Academy.
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