Reclaiming Bharat

Bharat is the real name of this country which is the land which gave to the world the amazing science called the Sanatana Dharma which is commonly known as Hinduism. Our culture is at a critical point in its variegated history. It is being subjected to ferocious external attacks and very subtle yet none the less destructive internal attacks. The Hindus themselves are bringing their ancient culture down. All those Hindus who are capable of rational thought should act now. The future of this glorious religion lies in your own hands.

The basis and glory of the Sanatana Dharma lies in its vast diversity which is capable of embracing all types of approaches to the Supreme in its all-inclusive and loving grasp. Today however this very characteristic is what is bringing us down. The diversity of Hinduism is what makes it unique and glorious but we should make sure that this will not lead to our downfall.

Unlike the Abrahamic religions we believe strongly that the Ultimate Truth has many facets and many ways of approach. We never believed that we had an order from God to save those that did not believe in our concept of the Supreme. There was never an urge in us to proselyte and spread “the good word” throughout the world. Abrahamic religions make their faith into something totally exclusive so that anyone who does not belong to this exclusive circle is condemned for all eternity! Hindus however have supremacist ideas. Exclusiveness sees only its own truth to be supreme. The supremacist no doubt thinks his own to be the best but does not exclude others from following their own paths. A devotee who sees God as Narayana accepts the jnani who sees God as Brahman and the one who sees him as Shiva, or Allah or Jesus. Just because we see ours as the highest it does not mean that we should look down on others. We regard God as omnipotent and therefore we do not limit Him to one or other of the meagre roles that other religions force Him into.

We have always believed in “live and let live” but unfortunately this will only work if everyone else believes in the same ideology. Seven hundred years we were brutally forced to look at the face of an aggressive faith that would stick at nothing to achieve their exclusive aims. We lived through those ages only because of the strength of our beliefs. However, we live in a totally different arena now where our modern generation does not have the strength of their beliefs in their own traditions. This belief has been trodden on by the colonial rule and further flattened out by our own “secular” rulers after independence.

According to the young generation, Hinduism means to take part in Bollywood like displays during Diwali, Holi, Ganesh Chaturti, Navaratri etc. They know nothing about the deep underlying spiritual meaning beneath these festivals all of which have a scientific basis. The pathetic part of this age is that our youth see only the external façade of our religions because they have never been taught about the deep metaphysical and scientific reasons behind every type of rule and ritual and festival that Hindus celebrate. It is high time that the government started to educate our youth into our basic culture. The two aggressive world religions are totally against this idea. They believe in “live as we live or else die or face dire consequences!” This is so totally against our view of life that we find it difficult to digest it even though we have been under attack for seven hundred years.

All our scriptures are based on the Veda but we have never had one single canonised scripture. So, we find many different types of approaches given in our culture all of which existed amicably together. However, when something went entirely beyond the canons of the Vedic teaching, masters arose amongst us who argued and brought back the rebels into the mainstream of Hindu thought.

In 500BC the Vedic ideas were being distorted to promote only the Brahmana portion of the Vedas which proclaimed the greatness of the external yajna or rituals. It was at this time that Buddha and Mahavira took birth in order to promote a new way of life but the fact is that they still took all their great ideas like, karma, reincarnation, ahimsa which are the basic foundations of Hinduism.

Soon after this was the advent of Adi Shankara who concentrated on the final portion and teaching of the Vedas known as the Upanishads and proclaimed the idea of Advaita or non-dualism. This was what caught the imagination of the whole Hindu population and is still one on which everything else is based. He reinstated the Sanatana Dharma in India and the Buddhists were forced to leave the shores of India forever. Then came the other great Advaitic masters like Ramanucharya and Madhvacharya who proclaimed the two theories of Visishtadvaita and Dwaita which brought back bhakti or devotion to a personal God. After this there was an influx or many different gods taken from the Puranas and all Hindus belonged to one sect or other but the fact was that there was no real quarrel amongst them since they were all based on the knowledge of advaita or non- duality as the foundation.

However, today’s world is a fast -moving, digitalised world where we are deluged with all sorts of ideas from all quarters. Evangelists are proclaiming to the poorer sections of Hindus that there is no harm in converting since Hinduism says “All religions are the same.” The fact is that Hinduism never says this. It accepts that all religions are after the same goal of finding God but it also avers that our method is the best. However, unlike other religions, it never insists that we should try to convert all others to our way of thinking. They are happy to allow everyone to go by the path that they think best. This idea is embedded in our culture that is why we have so many gods and why we are happy about allowing others to worship God in the way that best suits their personality.

Today this very idea is being distorted by those who are out to undermine our religion. The intellectuals amongst the Hindus themselves are the most culpable. They have fallen a prey to western thought and are determined to bring our religion down. Media channels also keep picking on the worst aspects of our religion and broadcasting it to all and sundry. The Christians have now found another excellent way to convert poor Hindus. They have shamelessly stolen many aspects of our religion and rituals and stotras and built churches looking like temples in which the 108 names of Jesus are chanted by priests who go around looking like Hindu sadhus! They even claim that the Bhagavad Gita was given by Jesus and even have him standing in a chariot! Of course, many of the uneducated masses are totally taken by this and become easy prey for the evangelists.

After independence the states took over control of Hindu temples and the money placed by countless devotees are even now being used to help the so- called minorities.

This is the Kurukshetra of the 21^st century. It is high time for all Hindu organisations to stop bickering amongst themselves and try to bring about a consolidated Hindu board on an all-India scale. This is the only way we can combat the threat to our culture. We are being threatened from all sides and it’s urgent to combine our efforts to bring about a united Hindu organisation. The new generation should be taught to respect and revere their ancient culture. This can be done only if they know about it. At the moment the present generation thinks that being Hindu means to celebrate our festivals like Diwali and Holi. We dress up like Bollywood actors and think we are practicing Hinduism. Unfortunately, festivals, though a necessary part of our culture is not the base. We have kept the shell and forgot the kernel.

This is a state of emergency and a Hindu education board should be set up immediately. If the government does not do it, the great mutts of India like the Adi Shankara mutts should rise to the occasion and strive to set up such a board. The ashrams like the Ramakrishna, Ramana, Ammachi, Anandamayi ashrams should all pool their resources and form a united Hindu organisation which will be able to stand up to all the calumny that is being poured on us and also bring about a united Hindu Rashtra. The average Hindu in the villages have to be strengthened so that they will have the knowledge to protect themselves against other aggressive religions.

Sanatana Dharma carries within it the solution to the human condition for it carries within it the truth of our existence. Christianity and Islam have theologies that are forced on reality while Hinduism has a philosophy that is utterly in tune with the way that life really is.

On this Republic day let all Hindus take an oath that they will work hard to re-establish our dharma and we will not rest until Bharat is declared to be a Hindu Rashtra.

Hari Aum Tat Sat