# Ved Prakash Upadhyay

Ved Prakash Upadhyay or Ved Prakash Upaddhay (born 7 February 1947) is an Indian scholar of Sanskrit language and Hinduism, author, professor and social activist. He is the author of many books on Sanskrit literature and Hinduism. He is mostly known for his controversial work Kalki Avatar and Muhammad, which says that there are references to Muhammad as Kalki in some Hindu scriptures.

## Early life and career

Upadhyay was born on 2 February 1947 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in British India. His father was Saryuparin Vedic scholar Pt.Shriramjeevan Upadhyay. He is a former professor of Punjab University.

## Reception

In 2017, he received the Sanskrit Sahitya Alangkar Award from the Haryana Sanskrit Academy. In 2017, he received the Sahitya Ratna Padak from the Punjabi Language Department and in 2019 he received the President's Award of Certificate of Honour of India 2018 for his contribution to Sanskrit language. Upadhyay was also honored with the UGC Senior Fellowship, Shastrachudamani. Furthermore, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, appointed him as the President of Adarsh Sanskrit Sanstha in Himachal Pradesh.

## Selected works
### Kalki Avatar and Muhammad

Upadhyay's most notable work was Kalki Avatar and Muhammad which was published in 1969 by Saraswat Vedanta Prakash Sangghha of Allahabad. The book is thought to be a partial adaption of the book Muhammad in World Scriptures (originally "Mithaq an-Nabiyeen", covenant of the prophets) by Ahmadiya scholar Abdul Haq Vidyarthi. Originally written in Hindi language, in this book, he discussed his claim of the mention of Islamic prophet Muhammad as the Hindu avatar of Kalki in the Hindu scriptures (Kalki Purana, Vedas and Bhavishya Purana, etc.).

#### Claimed analogies

Ved Prakash claimed in the book that the age of Kali Yuga refers to the Islamic Golden Age and the present time is Anu Yuga or the time of Atomic energy. Some of the claimed similarities between Kalki and Muhammad shown on the book along with other two books of the trilogy are:
* The most highlighted of the points was that the name of Kalki will be Narashangsha (Sanskrit: नराशंस), mentioned in Book 20, Hymn 127 of Atharvaveda and others, which means "praised human", the meaning of the name Muhammad is also "praised man". The name of Kalki will also be Ileet, which also means praised human.
* Kalki's name will be Ahamiddhi, Muhammad's other name was Ahmad.
* Kalki has been mentioned as Savitri, all of whose characteristics mentioned are matched with Muhammad.
* Kalki will be born on the 12th day of Madhav month, the first month of the Hindu lunar year and the first month of summer. Muhammad was similarly born on the 12th day on Rabiul Awal, the third month of the Arabic lunar year but astrologically, the time was the summer season according to solar time.
* Kalki will be born in Shambhala or an island ("which is also described as the birthplace of Maitreya, the last buddha prophcised by Gautama Buddha, whom the writer also claimed to be Muhammad in his 2nd book "Narashangsha and Antim Rishi"), which means place/house of peace, and a land beside water or sea, it also means Arab and Asia minor according to the world map division of Hindu religion, Makkah is Muhammad's birthplace which is also beside sea and it is in Arab and Asia minor and its another name is Darul Aman, which means the place/house of peace.
* Kalki's father's and mother's names will be Vishnu-yash/Vishnu-bhagawat and Sumati/Soumyavati, which mean "slave of God" and "peaceful lady" respectively. Muhammad's father's and mother's names are Abdullah and Amina, which also mean "slave of God" and "peaceful lady" respectively.
* Kalki will be born of the family of the main priest of Shambhala. Muhammad was also born of the family of Abdul Muttalib, the main priest of then the Makkah.
* Kalki will not suckle his mother's milk. Muhammad was also deprived of his mother's milk, instead of that, he drank his foster-mother Halima's breast milk.
* Kalki will be impressively handsome (Anupama Kanti) and incomparably beautiful (Apratim Dyuti), Muhammad was also known to be handsome and impressive and had been described as the most beautiful man of contemporary Arabia.
* Kalki will go to hillside after birth and receive messages from a mount from Parshurama (spirit of Raam or God, verbally Raam means God of the World) and then he will be Kaurava (migrator from homeland) and will go to north and after that he will return. Muhammad also received messages from God through Jibrail in the mount of Jabal al-Nour, and another name of Jibrail is Ruhul-Amin and Ruhul-Quddus which means spirit of God, and he also migrated to Madina situated in north of the Makkah and after that returned to Makkah again with victory.
* Kalki will ride on a camel, Muhammad also rode on a camel.
* Kalki will travel around heaven by divine chariot Ratha, Muhammad also travelled around heaven by Buraq in Miraj.
* Kalki will ride on a miraculous flying white horse named Devadatta Shetashwa (meaning: white horse given by God) given by Shiva to destroy the evil, Muhammad also rode a miraculous flying white horse named Buraq given by Allah and destroyed evil.
* Kalki will use Khaksha (sword) to fight. Muhammad also used a sword to fight.
* Kalki will engage in war. Muhammad was also engaged in war.
* Gods will directly help Kalki in war. Muhammad was also helped by the angels in the battle of Badr.
* Kalki will defeat the demon Kali with the help of his four companions. Muhammad also defeated Satan with the help of his major four closest companions, one of whom would later be known as the Rashidun Caliph.
* Kalki will destroy the hidden robbers. Muhammad also destroyed the oppressors who were kings and leaders at that time.
* Kalki will be colloequally a Rudra of long hair and shaven head, an archer, a mount-climber and a mount-meditator. Muhammad also had long hair and a shaven head during Hajj and Umrah. he also used a bow and arrow, and he was a mount-climber and a mount-meditator.
* Fregrance will come out from Kalki's body, Muhammad's body odour was also renowned for charming fragrance.
* Kalki will be an omnivorous meat-eater; Muhammad was also an omnivorous meat-eater.
* Kalki will be an adviser of a very big society, Muhammad was also an adviser of a big society.
* Kalki will have several wives, Muhammad also had several wives.
* Kalki's name will be sage Mamoho/Mamaha and he will be given 100 gold coins, 10 necklaces, 300 fighter horses and 10,000 peaceful cows. Muhammad's 100 followers were devoted self-purifiers known as Ashab-i Suffa, 10 were given the good news of heaven, known as Ashara-i Mubashsharah, 300 followers were Badr fighters who fought victoriously against 1,000 enemies, and 10,000 was the number of his Muslim companions at the time of his victory in Makkah.
* Kalki's followers will be known as Musalays (Muslims)
* Kalki's followers will be omnivorous
* Kalki's followers will be circumcised
* Kalki's followers will have beards and call people for the prayer (Adhan)
The author identified Gautama Buddha as the the scripturally mentioned Buddha Avatar and suggested that Hindus should identify Muhammad as Kalki and follow him instead of waiting for him to come.

#### Reception

After publication, the book became very popular in India. Bengali scholar Asitkumar Bandyopadhyay translated the book into Bengali language along with Upadhyay's other two books 'Narashangsa and the Antim Rishi" and "Religious Unity in the Light of the Vedas and the Puranas" and combined it in one edition in the same name. The book was later also translated into English by several translators entitling Muhammad in the Hindu scriptures and Muhammad in the Vedas and the Puranas, which gave the book immense popularity outside India. The book has also been translated in many regional Indian languages as well as in Urdu and Persian language etc. Besides popularity, the book was also criticized by many Hindu and Muslim bodies, describing the book as wrong explanation of Hindu scriptures by many Hindu scholars and as exclusion of Hinduism and Hindu scriptures from people of the Book and divine books by some Islamic scholars, whereas both of the sectors claimed the subjects of the book as later interpolations in Hindu scriptures. Many international journal articles has been written and published on the book, The book is a subject of discussion by many academics like Yoginder Sikand, Muzaffar Alam, Utpal K. Banerjee, Francesca Orsini and got wide media coverage in regional and international print and electronic medias.

##### Hindu views

The content of the book is mainly a discussion of the claim that Kalki Avatar is Muhammad and the presence of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Hindu scriptures. For this reason, Kalki Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Vedas etc. have been chosen as sources of Hindu scriptures. Hindu scholars criticize and oppose all these claims. An Indian organization 'Agniveer' criticized all these claims. In addition, the book "Ovranto Boidik Shastrer Alokey Kolki Obotar" (অভ্রান্ত বৈদিক শাস্ত্রের আলোকে কল্কি অবতার, Kalki Avatar in the Light of Inerrant Vedic Scriptures) (2019), and the January–March version of Amriter Sandhane magazine, both published by Bangladeshi wing of Back to Godhead, criticizes the claimed resemblance to Kalki Avatar. But in the October–December 2016 edition of Amriter shandhane, the Bangladeshi wing of Back to Godhead claimed the mention of Muhammad in Bhavishya Purana and hymn 127, book 20 of Atharvaveda in support of authenticity of vedic scriptures, which similared to the claim of the book. Hindu spiritual leader Ravi Shankar claimed in his book "Hinduism and Islam: The Common Thread" that Muhammad is explicitly mentioned as the name "Mahamada" (Sanskrit: महामद) in Parva 3, Khand 3, Adhyay 3, texts 5-6 (Episode 3, section 3, chapter 3, text 5–6) of Bhavishya Purana: "An illiterate teacher will appear, Mohammed is his name, and he will give religion to the people of the desert", which also resembles the book.
Among all the similarities shown in the book with Kalki from the Kalki Purana, behavioral similarities are notable. For example: Muhammad is the last prophet of Islam with the last arrival of Kalki; Similarities of Muhammad's battles at various times with Kalki fighting on a white horse and sword, etc. Critics cite Muhammad's contrasts with Kalki against such similarities. Again in the book it is said that there are similarities in various matters even applying the literal meaning. Critics consider such literal application of the similarity of characters to be misleading and a misapplication of meaning.
It also contains critical comments on Mughal history (the texts refer to them as "Mukuls") and mentions a "Mahamad". Critics point out that the "Mahamed" described in the Bhavishya Purana is a "mlechcha" (foreigner, barbarian) and is the "Daitya" or "ghost" called Tripurasura' who is reborn., And the word "Muslim" has been said to mean a destroyer of religion. AK Ramanujan mentions Christ, Moses and Queen Victoria in a "properly updated Bhavisya Purana". Regarding "Pratisargaparva" Hazra says: Although it belongs to "Bhavishya Purana" (Ik.1.2-3), "Pratisargaparva" refers to Adam, Noah, Yakuta, Timurlong, Nadirshah, Akbar (Delishwar), Jayachandra and many others. The book also mentions British rule in India, even mentioning Calcutta and Parliament.
The book also claims that the Vedas contain prophecies of Muhammad. For example, in the Atharvaveda Kuntapa Sukta, 'Narasamsha', which is used for any praised person, the word Muhammad means praise, and the Sukta is claimed to describe Muhammad's prophecy. The sukta appears to refer to a justly praised king (Indra), although no Muhammadan association with them is found. Certain verses of the mantra are precisely identified and their semantic similarities are shown in order to create the context, mainly to prove Muhammad's prophecies. Critics see such spending as ulterior motives.
Hindu scholars dispute the book's claims. A criticism of the claimed resemblance to Kalki Avatar is found in the book Ovranto Boidik Shastrer Alokey Kolki Obotar published by Amriter Sandhane Prakashani. Indian organizations like Agniveer also criticized these claims. Criticism states,
* There are many differences in the behavioral characteristics of both. Moreover, even if there is a similarity in meaning, the two characters may not be the same.
* In Hinduism, Kalkideva is seen as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He cannot be human.$^{:page:14}$
* According to Hindu belief, Kalkideva will arrive at the end of Kali Yuga. That is after another 4,27,000 years. Kalki cannot appear at any time in the past.$^{:p:19}$
* Kalki's father's name 'Vishnuyash' means 'Yash like Vishnu' and mother's name 'Sumati' means 'Subuddhi'. but it is not seen in the case of Muhammad.$^{:p:38–39,67}$
* The book compares Kalki's birthplace Shambhala with the place Mecca which etymologically means 'place of peace'. Whereas the word Shambhal (Shambhu + Aloy) literally means 'abode of welfare'. On the other hand, the literal meaning of the word Makkah is not clearly known.
* According to the description of Kalki Purana, the village of Shambal will be a place full of rivers, mountains, kunjshovit, rich nature and forests with six seasons. A desert region without forests and rivers would not be Shambalgram. In addition, Hindus consider Sambhal village in Uttar Pradesh, India to be the village mentioned in the Puranas.
* Kalki was born on the twelfth tithi of Shuklapaksha of the month of Madhava (magha according to the lunar month) which is the 27th of the lunar month (15 days + 12 days of Krishna Paksha). On the other hand, there is a difference of opinion in the Muslim community regarding the date of birth of Muhammad.।$^{:pp.57–59}$
* According to the Puranas Kalki will be the fourth child of the parents. But this is not the case with Muhammad.
* Kalki's 'two' wives were 'Padma' and 'Rambha'. Padma would be a princess of Sinhalese (present-day Sri Lanka). does not resemble the claimed character.$^{:p:45–47}$
Indian Hindu organisation Agniveer also judjed the book by the academic works of western scholars on Hinduism. According to the organisation, the book presents the story of Abrahamic Adam and Eve, Noah, described in the Pratisarga episode of Bhavisya Purana. According to scholars, the 'Pratisargaparva' portion of the Bhavishya Purana is considered a projected addition of the eighteenth or nineteenth century. Moriz Winternitz says that the texts which have come down to us under the title Bhavisya Purana, are undoubtedly not the ancient works of the original Bhavisya Purana quoted in the "Apastambiya Dharmasutra". As Gustav Glaser has shown, the surviving manuscripts of the Bhavisya Purana are neither ancient nor medieval versions of the original Bhavisya Purana. The author of this episode is believed to know both the English Bible and Arabic Islamic texts, but many of the words used here are derived from Arabic words and names, not from English sources.
The presence of Arabic words suggests that the corresponding portion of Bhavisya Purana was written well after the fourteenth century and must have been composed after the rise of the Mughal Empire and the availability of Arabic sources in India. This episode has therefore led many scholars to question the acceptability of the "Bhavishya Puranas" and that these Puranas are not accepted as authentic scriptures. In this Purana there are more uses of such words including ``Sante (from Sunday), Farbari (from February), Sixty (from Sixty).
In the book "Satyarth Prakash", Dayanad Saraswati also rejected the claim of the mention of Muhammad in Atharvaveda, and he criticised the mention of Muhammad in Allopanishad calling it as a later fabrication to please Akbar.
The Bangladeshi wing of the organisation Agniveer extremely criticised the concepts of the book and the writer and they claimed that the writer doesn't exist in reality because his academic records are not found anywhere in Bengali.

##### Muslim views

Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik deliberately mentioned extensive references from this book along with mentioning the writer Ved Prakash's name in his various writings.
Pakistani former high commissioner Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi discussed the book in his writing. Besides renowned international writers like Ali Unal, Shams Naved Usmani, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Danial Zainal Abidin, Ali Goma, Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri, Sami Amri, Nihat Hatipoğlu etc. discussed and praised the book.
Ziaur Rahman Azmi in his book "Dirasat fil Yahudiyat wal Masihiyat Wal Adianil Hind" (دراست في اليوديه والمسيحيه واديان الحند, Studies on Judaism, Christianity and Indian Religions) stated that, although most of the mainstream Muslim scholars do not regard Hindu scriptures as divine scriptures revealed from God rather than man-made Aryan literature, there may be three reasons behind the "possible" inclusion of Islamic prophecies in Hinduism. First one is,
* The period of the Indo-Aryan Migration was during the time of the Islamic prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), during which another prophet may have come to India, under whose direction these prophecies are included.
* Or what many Hindus say, Rigveda is copied from Torah.
* Another view is that, according to Sultan Mubin, professor of Sanskrit at Shibli National College, Azamgarh, they are fabrications and later Hindu additions, incorporated by Hindus to please Muslim rulers, such as the Kalki Purana and the Bhavishya Purana, which contain many prophecies on Islamic matters. Azmi argues in support of this view that most of the Hindu scriptures were translated into Arabic in Bayt Al-Hiqmah during the reign of the Caliph Mamun bin al-Rashid, but even then, no author of that time mentioned anything of these prophecies in any of these books. For example, India by al-Biruni ("تحقيق ما للهند من مقولة مقبولة في العقل أو مرذولة", Taḥqīq mā li-l-hind min maqūla maqbūla fī l-ʿaql aw mardhūla, A Critical Study of Indian Doctrines, Whether Rationally Acceptable or Not) and the Arabic translations of two other Hindu scriptures. Regarding the translations, none of which said anything about these prophecies.
Azmi himself supported the third view. Azmi Also said that, some Hindus including the founder of Arya Samaj Dayananda Saraswati and his followers also consider these to be fabrications. Besides, regarding the author of the book, Ved Prakash Upadhyay, Azmi said that although he claimed the verification of these prophecies in this book, he himself did not convert to Islam, as Azmi describes 5 positions of Hindu scholars regarding these descriptions:
* Many of them say that these good news are related to their religious leaders and great people.
* Others believe that the person to whom this good news is addressed will appear in the last days.
* Many consider these to be fabrications. Eg: Dayananda Saraswati and his followers.
* Some consider these to be true; But they did not accept Islam. Such as Ved Prakash Upadhyay and Ramesh Prasad.
* Many others accepted the truth of these and wished to accept Islam, but did not do so for fear of losing their lives or leadership. Among them, those who accepted Islam and publicly declared it, had to face many dangers, had to bear the beatings, abuse and torture of the natives. Those who escaped were freed from it; And those who were under them, their fate was miserable.
* Many of them again adopt the policy of keeping quiet about this. When Azmi wrote letters to many people in India and sent these details to present them in front of Hindu researchers and professors, they replied to Azmi that they did not want to talk about this if these were presented in front of those professors.
Bangladeshi Islamic scholar Abubakar Muhammad Zakaria, who has conducted advanced research and studies on Hinduism at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, said about the book in his book Hinduism wa tasur bad al firaq al islamiat biha (Hinduism and some Islamic groups influenced by it) that,
   "There is a section for this Purana (Bhavishya Purana) called Kalki Purana, which touched upon Kalki Avatar, (Avatar that comes in the Kali time, or the last time) and what came in this Purana was the reality of Muhammad only, when one of their scholars (Ved Prakash Upaddhay) admitted that there is no Kalki Avatar except Muhammad and he mentioned evidence for that from this book, and claimed that it only applies to it, except that the Hindus differed in accepting this part of the book, and they said that it was plagiarized and it was developed by the later and it was included in the book at a very late time."
Zakaria also criticized the book, saying that Narasangsha is described in verse 127 of the 20th volume of the Atharveda as Kalki which is not the main body of the Atharvaveda, he said that it is an anticipatory portion (Prakshipta Angsha or later interpolation) and subsequent connections, and said that prophecies of Muhammad in Hindu scriptures were used by Hindus to make their scriptures acceptable to Muslims, which is a clever attempt, beginning with Akbar's reign to flatter Emperor Akbar by writing the Allopanishad, he claims that the Bhavishya Purana is completely fabricated and man-made with Hindu references. He says that Hinduism has a habit of adding everything in its religion they got outside in the name of their own religion fabricatedly to attract people to come into their religion, this is also a result of that. In addition, all Hindu scriptures, including the Vedas, are claimed to be adaptations of the beliefs of the migrated Japhethite Aryans (Zoroastrians and Rigvedians), indigenous Hemite Dravidians, and other Indo-European classical mythologies along with the influence of monotheism taken from Avestan concept of Ahura Mazda influenced by tha geographically adjacent Arabian Semitic people, as he claimed that, ancient Dravidian Indians were the descendant of Ham, one of the sons of Noah, and the Aryans were the descendants of Japheth, another of the three remained sons of Noah after the Biblical great flood,
   This is what historians have mentioned regarding the origin of the people of India, although the truth of the matter is that all are from Adam, and Adam is from dust, and God has destroyed the children of Adam except for Noah's children. The Almighty said: In it, the sons of Noah who remained after the Flood were three: Ham - Shem - Japheth, and the sons of Noah spread all over the world (as-Saaffat 37:75-82, Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, Ibn Kathir, 1/111-114), and the lands at that time were close, and the seas were far apart, and it is said that Sindh and Al-Hind are the sons of Tawqeer (Bouqir) (Nawfer) bin Yaqtan bin Aber bin Shalekh bin Arfakhshad bin Sam bin Noah. It was said: One of the sons of Ham, Al-Masudi says: (Nuvir bin Lot bin Ham walked his son and those who followed him to the land of Hind and Sindh), and Ibn al-Athir says: (As for Ham, Kush, Misraim, Phut, and Canaan were born... It was said: He traveled to Al-Hind (India) and Sindh and lodged it and its people from his sons and Ibn Khaldun says: As for Ham, from his sons are the Sudan, Hind (India), Sindh, the Copts (Kibt), and Canaan by agreement... As for Kush bin Ham, five of his sons are mentioned in the Torah, and they are sufun, Saba, and Juila and Rama and Safakha and from the sons of Rama Shao, who are the Sindh, and Dadan, who are Hind or India, and in it that Nimrod is from the birth of Kush,..... and that Al-Hind (India), Sindh and Habasha (Abyssinia) are from the children of the Sudan from the birth of Kush. From the foregoing it appears to me: that India entered it at that time from all the races of descendants of Noah, and among the most prominent of them were the sons of Shem bin Noah, peace be upon him, but the sincere Dravids and those who are likely to be the sons of Ham entered it in abundance. As for the entry of the sons of Japheth, it was little, and they are the ones who were known as the Turanians, and by joining the ancient Dravid society and as a result of breeding with them, the born Dravids came as previously explained.
and says that since the Hindu texts do not "truly" contain the original Abrahamic monotheism of God or Allah, it is in neither consistent with the original tenets of Islam, nor these are original divine books, rather the pagan Advaita Vedanta philosophy, which developed the concept of Wahdat al-Wujud or Sufism arose in the name of Islam. And as Hinduism established itself as a conformist and syncretistic doctrine from the Islamic point of view, he claimed that, all Hindu scriptures are not inspired but man-made Aryan literature and the theory that this book attributed Kalki to Muhammad was a false and deceitful attempt.

### Other works

Upaddhyay published 15 research and original books. Those include:
* नरशंस और अंतिम ऋषि (Narasamsa and the last sage)
* हिन्दू विधि एवं स्त्रोत (Hindu Law and Sutras), International Law Institute, Allahabad, 1986
* हिंदी साहित्य का इतिहास, काव्यशास्त्र एवं लिपि (History of Hindi Literature, Poetry and Script), Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan, Varanasi, 2014)