Thus Spake the Divine - Sanatana Dharma as Disseminated by Shankara

Thus Spake the Divine

Sanatana Dharma as Disseminated by Shankara

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava contests ‘reformers’ who, under the pretext of reforms, are seeking modifications in our Sanatana Dharma.

Let us look at the interpretation of the term Sanatana Dharma. “Sanatana” is that which is Anadi (beginning less) and Anantha (endless) and does not cease to be, that which is eternal and everlasting.

Dharma is not translatable to any other language. Its approximate meaning is “Natural Law,” or those principles of reality, which are inherent in the very nature and design of the universe. Thus, the term Sanatana Dharma can be roughly translated to mean “the natural, ancient and eternal way.”

Will anybody like to hang a dog that is claimed to be the most faithful animal? No! But if somebody still wants to punish a dog, he would charge the dog with something bad and hang it! Our religious reformers also possess such an attitude. They are trying to blame our religion under some pretext or the other. They want to hang the religion, which has been providing the highest form of wellbeing to the entire country! Some reformers are of the view that the Varna system should not exist. According to them, Varna system should be abolished as it creates conflicts and clashes amongst people, which is not really true. They claim that our people have disintegrated because of the Varna system, which assigns specific jobs to specific groups of people. This Division of Labour has created disharmony among people and that is why foreigners could invade us and conquer our country. This is absolutely incorrect.

When there was a common enemy, may be our kings were not united among themselves, However, there is absolutely no truth in saying that people had built mutual resentment among themselves on account of the Varna system and thus assisted the enemies to their favour. On the contrary, there had actually been absolute unanimity and rapport among people all along. If there was any dispute on some land ownership between two villages, all people from different groups would stand united in the respective village. An individual from one village would never go in favour of the other villagers. The same was extended with regard to the country too.

The smaller groups within the society were bound by their own rules and regulations and remained united. Each of them was proud about their own society. They had their own Heads or Leaders to resolve their own disputes. If anyone had committed some mistake, the Head would forcefully expel him from his own community. Expulsion from his own community was a matter of disgrace to the individual. Hence, this expulsion from community acted as a deterrent for them and they avoided committing any mistakes.

But now, in today’s scenario, there is no such establishment or association that binds the people into unity. It is next to impossible to have such a set up with an extraordinarily large group of people. Repercussion is that crimes are on the rise without any control and the role of police is also on the increase. In fact, it is now, in this modern era, that disharmony and animosity are at its highest. Reformers and others, who are contesting Shastras, should contemplate on all these aspects before coming to their opinions and solutions.

There can be a protest for anything and everything; and it is for good too. Only when there is someone who contests and protests against our actions will we weigh pros and cons of our acts. It will be an eye-opener too to protect ourselves against misdoings. But under the pretext of protest, one should not bring out unwarranted bias and hang the good ideologies.

One example of such unwarranted bias is objection to individuals keeping their forehead marked with Kumkumam or Vibhuti. Some people feel that it is not okay to have any marking on the forehead. These people claim that sporting Kumkumam or Vibhuti on the forehead is a sign of identity of a particular caste and thus it should be abolished. There are many people who keep Vibhuti on their forehead. They include Brahmins and other communities. There are many castes who use “Namam” on their forehead to signify Vishnu worship. Namam signifies the earth from where people are born and with which people merge after their death. Similarly, Vibhuti signifies the ash, which represents Lord Shiva as also remains of the dead body. When these are applied based on such strong philosophies, how is it fair to attribute wrong connotations to them?

Sri Shankara Bhagavadpada has issued directives to us to protect the old Dharmas without any disruption. Since I am a descendent of Sri Shankara Bhagavadpada, you people come here to the Mutt. It is my ardent duty to disseminate his orders to you. Whether we are putting these directives into action or not, my only objective is to make you understand that all our Shastras have been framed only for the wellbeing of the world and the growth of the self. That’s all!

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.

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