Thus Spake the Divine - Why Does This Happen in This Country Alone?

Thus Spake the Divine

Why Does This Happen in This Country Alone?

Are there no other countries around the world? Are there not religions too in those countries? Have those religions not divided the society based on different professions? Have not they had complaints about castes? Then, why should the doctrine of Varna Dharma invite such a huge hue and cry in India alone?

Even in countries, where there is no Division of Labour (Varna Dharma), there did exist people who were engaged in different kinds of professions – those who nurtured scriptures and books, those who engaged in governing states, those who fought wars etc. There were also businessmen, farmers, labourers and so on. And, they do exist today too.

We cannot find the kind of magnificent civilisation as that of ours in those countries. Even though several civilisations have emerged now and then, they did not last for thousands of years like our civilisation did. It is not really like blowing our own trumpet. Commencing from the period of Alexander’s invasion till today, we have seen foreigners getting overwhelmed with regard to Hindu Civilisation and proclaim it as the best in the world. What is the driving factor for this?

There were sages and saints in all those countries too. But if you look at that from a mathematical perspective, the number of sages and saints, who were born in our country generation after generation, is huge when compared to those born in those countries. Actually it is not we, it is foreigners who commend our country as the “Land of sages and saints”. They prostrate before our philosophies and scriptures.

The entire world commends India as having no parallel in any other country in the world in terms of its excellence in art, architecture, music, epics, astrology and medicine. They also claim that there is no equal to India in the rest of the world in its Upanishads, Gita, Ramayana and Shakunthalam. Tamil language has the best of its manuscripts, such as Thevaram, Divya Prabandham etc., which cannot be found in any part of the world. Foreigners are awe-struck seeing the Tirukkural, which possesses immense meaning within its shortest form of verse. They are all wonder-struck at our art and culture and voluntarily leave their countries and visit India to personally have a hands-on experience of all these things. Though British enslaved us on one side, on the other, they had unravelled all our scriptures and traditions, carried out extensive research, and translated them into their own language.

What is it that is so unique about India, which is lacking in other countries? It is the Varna Dharma, which is exclusive to the Hindu religion and has brought a unique system in our country. The Varna Dharma, which is condemned by reformers, is actually the one that projected our country high in the world.

Unless there had been stability in the society and unless there had been a peaceful atmosphere, various arts and other philosophies could not have grown in India generation after generations. Philosophers and art experts could not have emerged in such massive numbers.

In western countries, there is no such system as prescribed under the respective religions that is capable of establishing stability in societal life. Rather, those religions had overlooked the concept of sociological foundation. There were some universal codes of rules such as “Don’t steal; Don’t lie; Be truthful; Be kind” etc., beyond which there were no regulations that would streamline societal life. Of course, there were rules that were applicable to some of the leaders of those religions. But no special efforts were made to set rules that would bind the society with mutual support.

What is the outcome of such a state of affairs in other countries? Though they are leading in various growth aspects, such as spirituality, business, agriculture, country’s security etc., there has always been competition and confrontation among people. People never restricted themselves within the profession demarcated for them. All people opt to do all types of business activities. They do not possess the steady mindedness that “We are into a profession, which suits our capabilities and is easily viable to carry on”. Only because of that contented state of mind in our people, noble qualities have emerged in them. For lack of such an attitude, there are clashes and confrontations among people in other countries.

If what the so-called reformers claim that our people have been suppressed under the Varna Dharma is true, then we should have faced a number of ‘social revolutions’ in our country. But to us, the very term ‘revolution’ is quite novel. After reading history books, we get to know about the French Revolution, American Revolution, and Russian Revolution etc. Surprisingly, these revolutions have not brought about any sociological changes.

Revolutions follow revolutions. There is a gap of around 50 years between one revolution and another revolution, which means even after a revolution, people continue to remain discontent. Today’s situation is unexplainably painful. There are countries, which are struggling with indiscipline, arrogant behaviour, revolts, and strikes, with one government going and another coming on a regular basis etc.,. Only in countries like Russia, where there is dictatorship, there are no revolutions. But even there, people are in a state of steaming volcano that could explode anytime.

In India, no such autocracy ever existed. Had it, such noble scriptures, sculptures or arts would have never emerged from enslaved people. A civilisation, which is being celebrated all across the world, could not have been nurtured through suppression of people. Since there were opportunities and advantages for all people under the Varna Dharma, people were calm and quiet and did not indulge in any kind of revolts.

Why did Varna Dharma prevail in this country alone? If we believe that this country alone possesses a civilisation that facilitates self-inquiry, experiences Godliness, arts and other noble characteristics, then why should Varna Dharma, which brought about all these things, not continue? If it can prevail at least in this country, it would stand as an excellent model for the entire world.

Otherwise, there will only be confrontations, jealousy, discontentment and social conflicts among people. People will take up only those professions that they are comfortable with. But it will be difficult to accommodate all in one profession. That will immediately breed animosity, discrimination and hatred. For example, where there is problem of unemployment among engineering graduates, government will immediately say, “Engineers are more in number; so we are going to close some of the engineering colleges”. That means, the doctrine of “everything for all” becomes unviable and it warrants some instant restrictions.

That restriction was incorporated in the form of ‘tradition’ when the Varna Dharma was initially framed. That enabled people to engross themselves with the profession assigned for their caste with a feeling of pride that it was inherited from their ancestors. People experienced a kind of intimate association in doing that profession. That resulted in enhancing the efficiency. If one does something with an ultimate goal of making money, then he would use any means to reach the end. But in those days, money was secondary. Since the job was done with absolute faith and feeling of contentment that “this is my profession”, everything went on in an orderly fashion. The entire society benefitted.

No civilisation can flourish without a feeling of fulfilment. Such fulfilment of all people in the society is provided by the noble doctrine of Varna Dharma and one should never find fault with this system at all. Only this system has over the past hundreds of thousands of years brought supreme glory to our country.

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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