The recent caustic remarks of Karunanidhi, CM of Tamilnadu, on the existence of Ramayana and Lord Rama are barbaric in nature. I condemn them strongly. This is a fall out of the callous attitude that has been adopted by a section of Hindus, unfortuantely more powerful in society and call themselves secularists.
For centuires, Bharath and it's culture were under attacks. There were only few rulers who could resist the invaders. But alas! with the help of traitors the foreigners could capture this holy land. There was a clear effort to tamper the history records of this great country, to bury the sacred knowldge of ancient scriptures by the rulers of foreign origin in ordrer to create and rule mean spirited Bhartiyas completely for years together.
There are instances when Hindutva emerged victorious during the testing times and the efforts of wiping it out. Sri Adi Sankaracharya propagated Advaita and saved Hinduism from the propaganda of it being violently religious. Hinduism underwent a correction during the phase and spirituality emerged winner. Otherwise it could have been Budhism all the way.
Later when there was a time when Bharat was in the reigns of Muslim emperors and Mughals who forced thousands of Bharatiyas to change their religion with irrational
and differential laws of governance. Sivaji of Maharashtra is notable among the kings who could ward off these blows and save Hinduism.
Then came a new era of British rule. There are many great leaders who mastered the foreign language and conquered the foreigners' hearts by spreading the message of Love, the language of Bharath. Prophets and scholars like Sri Vivekananda, Sri Aurabindo, Artists of this great land - musicians, singers, poets, writers (both in
English and the native languages) did a great job of nullifying the effects of
illogical propaganda against Bharat's tradition and it's culture.
Now, what we face is a different situation. The world is unifying into a single culture that is western. Most of us fall prey to the outward beauty, not worrying about hollowness.
We see only one religion, which is foreign one. We think there is only one way of living. We could
change our centuries old eating habits, way of communicating and so on. Yes,there is a need for change in all aspects of life. Agreed, but not at an expense of core values system.
Coming back to the issue of Ram Sethu, how could a person openly make statements that could hurt a billion of followers. How could the activities of evangelism continue at a rapid phase, converting thousands of masses into other religions, luring them by money and coaxing them by other means.
Why the so called rationalists do not speak against the evangelists who spread mesages to masses to disregard their faith, disown their culture and tradition, change their names as though calling God by a name the other religion suggest itself is a sin.
It's time to wake up. The Hindu brothers need to understand the power of unity. Not in destroying or participating in ghastly killings but to restore faith of the masses in the religion and tradition.
Educated have a great task to do. First they need to understand the legacy of the country.
It hurts to see that Gods of Hindu faith are the target for fun these days. We the noble souls could enjoy the mockery of our scriptures, puranas and our Gods. What a pity? The holy slokas are the back ground music for ramp walks!! They are tuned to disco beats!! No other religion is this tolerant!! Need to question ourselves, is there anything called life left in us?
Solution is simple, implemetation takes time. Need to respect our own tradition and culture. That can be developed by extensive reading and being rational at religion and spirituality. I'm sure rationality helps developing faith.
Existence of God will not be a question with an enquiry of existence of Self. Once one comes to this level, the questions if Rama existed, if so whether He is God? etc. will not arise.
Next step is to help others in the community. This doesn't mean charity alone. Need to treat everyone alike. Differences of cast, creed must be eliminated in the right spirit. This doesn't mean sections of society exchange their professions!! Follow your profession and respect others'.
Only love in it's pure form can eliminate the nuances that exist in society. Love of mankind and righteousness manifest in sincerity at work and active participation in social responsibility acts. Uplifting the whole community can block the entry for those who want exploit the ignorance and poverty of the masses.
Till there is an awareness level reached in the Hindus, the dogs keep barking. How to avoid this menace is in our hands!!
JAI RAM JI KI, BHARATH MAATA KI JAI.
1 comment:
Challenging the verity of Ramayana it self reflects the ignorance of our politicians. If anyone wonders whether there exists any evidence suggesting that Lord Rama did walk this earth, I strongly recommend all those to read the works of V.Lakshmikantham, who happens to be a Professor at FIT, which is one of the premier research institutes supporting the missions of NASA. Our ancients were great astronomers and discovered the ways of measuring the time in planetary movements. By making use of the astronomical references given in Ramayana, if we trace the geography of that time as described by Sugreeva in his briefing to Vanaras and compare the former with the fossil records and movement of tectonic plates over the years, many facts could be explored. If one were to ponder the puranas with an open minded view not compromised by the dogmatic mythical status which had been assigned to them over the years, puranas would be invaluable tools to reconstruct the ancient history based on the existing knowledge by plugging many missing links.
Even the above stated approach may not yield a convincing evidence to establish that Ramasethu has historical importance, as Prof.Lakshmikantham argues that “ravan lanka” could have existed some where near the current Maldives. Having said that I should quickly remind the readers about the ecological significance of the sethu as voiced by naturalists; destruction of the sethu would certainly be a threat to the coral reefs which are at the bottom most level of the food chain of that delicate ecosystem. Man’s greed for profit always initiates a vicious circle. Whatever little profit gained by the shorter route created by the destroyed sethu would certainly be offset by the following-
1. Fishing losses in the east coast (by food chain upset and pollution).
2. Agricultural loss in the west coast (by incoherent precipitation due to disturbed thermal equilibrium upsetting the south west monsoon)
3. Last but not the least, uncontrolled wave action eroding the continental shelf and exaggerating the effect of natural calamities like tsunami, floods etc.
Given the above, it is imperative that the sethu samudram project requires a comprehensive approach and in-depth scientific debate. There is no wisdom in the statements made by political parties concerned. Only the ego play is apparent and in that battle, facts are overlooked and trivial issues have taken the center stage. While the religion is being scandalized, science has been buried.
While I agree in-toto with the author’s argument regarding the statements made by the so called leaders were totally unwarranted, uncivilized and unscientific, I would like to caution the tone in which the discussion was made. I may be sidestepping from the topic of the discussion but I feel it is important. Fanaticism in any form may not yield a constructive result in the long run. Even the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda confirms the same fact. Vivekananda firmly preached self reliance and self belief which India had long forgotten and at the same time stressed the need to look west for the good it possessed. Fanaticism poses the risk of seeing everything it opposed in a bad light.
It’s true that the westernization of MTV standard need not be encouraged; but there is no need to nip the same with a missionary zeal which the fanatics often advocate. The latter may amount to authoritarian intrusion in to the freedom of the citizens and it may even be derogatory to compare ‘instant’ culture with that of India given the opulence the latter possesses. Rig-Veda said it right, “Gold is precious because the others are not!!”
Everything changes and change is the way of life! No force can oppose the constant metamorphosis which is the nature of the nature. Given this axiom, I feel that there is no need for unnecessary cry against the western influences which are shaping the world today. Its natural and it is meant to happen. The more one tries to oppose, with further more intensity things change. As G.Krishnamurthy said it right, the roots of all forms violence are in the intolerance. Passionate arguments lead to fanaticism and intolerance.
So what is to be done? Should the great culture which we inherited perish? Absolutely not! While it is a pity that this great culture is losing its luster in the land it was born; as it usually happens in nature, it’s a testing time which is in progress. The rediscovery of the magnificence of the Indian system of philosophy had already started in the west. If one were to have a look at the latest developments in modern physics or mathematics and sincerely relate the underlying logic guiding these schools of thought, what comes out is nothing but the philosophy preached and practiced by the rishis since times immemorial. If there is any doubt, I strongly recommend the readers to go through the writings of Heisenburg, Fritjof Kapra, Lakshmikantham, B.M.Hegde etc. the modern day rishis.
“Truth is that which survives the past, present and future!” Vedas need no further proof that they preach verity. Nor do they require advertisement. As long as the sun shines and man walks on this planet they shall be rediscovered again and again. Men change but not the truth!
Dear friends! Let us all be tolerant and place our trust in the truth. But truth is not something easy to attain. Let us all be open-minded and not be constrained by the illusions of ignorance. Let us all pray as Upanishads did – “asatoma sadgamaya tamasoma jyotirgamaya mrityorma amrutanga maya”. Let there be peace.
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake”
Shati shanti shati!
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