Thus Spake the Divine - Need for Soldiers of Ahimsa

Thus Spake the Divine

Need for Soldiers of Ahimsa

Modern science has provided different kinds of comforts to people, so that they can live a happy life. In that case, where is the need for religion and other rituals? This is a question frequently raised by some people. Of course, science can and does provide considerable comforts. The question here is do all such comforts bring happiness to people?

Happiness refers to a person’s mental contentment. Does an individual feel contented and happy when he keeps running behind money and accumulates more and more wealth? As a matter of fact, people instead lose whatever contentment they had earlier. Added to that, competition, confrontation, caste discrimination and hatred have grown to a great extent. It is absolutely impossible to fulfil all desires of an individual. Real happiness can be felt only when one relinquishes his desires.

Therefore, we can say that more the development in science, more is the need to strength one’s religious beliefs. America and Russia are two countries said to be prospering on account of science and technological advancements. But they also stand as ample evidence for lack of peace and happiness.

Russia, the communist country with no official religion, was the first to launch Sputnik in space. Mere technological advancements did not bring any sense of fulfilment in that country. That is why there were people in that country who translated Ramayana and Mahabharata into Russian language and taught the same in schools there.

Americans, not happy with the so-called science and technological advancements, diverted their minds towards Yoga and Vedas. While both the world’s most advanced countries turned their attention to culture of our holy Bharat, we, the people of India, have disowned our own tradition, culture and Dharma. We indulge in sheer short-lived pleasures. This is really pitiable. Though worldly desires and atheism are on increase in our country, we can still confidently say that our Sanatana Dharma will never decay. It is our responsibility to protect our Dharma from any deterioration. How do we protect our Sanatana Dharma? Should we fight with atheists? Should we convert other people to our religion? No way! There is no historic evidence that Hinduism flourished by way of converting people from other religions into Hinduism or by fighting non-believers.

Then, how is it that our religion has flourished for thousands of years despite severe onslaughts against it from Islam and Christianity over several centuries? Can we attribute the reason to supreme philosophies contained in our religion? Of course, it is true that our religion has the best of philosophies in the world. However, even many of our people who faithfully follow our religion are not aware of these philosophies. Then, what is the reason for thousands of crores of people following our religion, when we do not have strong leaders, such as the Pope of Vatican, Dalai Lama or Caliph of Islam? Despite active proselytising by leaders of other religions, why do people still continue following our Sanatana Dharma?

According to me, Hindu religion has had and continues to have many holy men and sages who have lived a life of absolute ethics. People come forward to embrace our religion and its philosophies only as a token of respect and reverence for these noble souls. These holy men neither elucidated the philosophies of our religion nor propagated our religion. They just followed the rules of Dharma as prescribed by our religion and lived an impeccable life.

Such holy men and sages kept emerging during each of our generations. They lived a virtuous life adhering to Dharma with bhakti towards God. They had compassion towards fellow-beings and clarity in their wisdom. Just looking at such holy men, people developed a high degree of reverence for them. That’s why, they embraced the religion followed by these holy men and have continued to remain within the same religion generations after generations.

Let science and technology prosper more and more. As long as we have such noble souls emerging from among us to protect our religion, there will not be any problem for our country and to our religion. What we need now is not any force that will confront the opponents of our religion. We only need soldiers of Ahimsa, who are compassionate towards others, irrespective of whatever is happening.

When I say ‘soldiers’, I don’t mean a soldier who fights battles; I mean a soldier who is willing to sacrifice his life for protection of his own Dharma. If one continues to adhere to the rules of our Dharma by renouncing one’s own desires and purifying one’s own mind, then, one can become a Yogi or a Jnyani.

Our religion has flourished because of such noble men who had lived an absolute and complete life and I wish our religion continues to prosper the same way. If we whole-heartedly put in our efforts, Lord Parameshvara shall extend his helping hands. Our Sanatana Dharma has faced worse oppression and suppression before strengthening itself based on the beliefs of its theists. There were demons in our epics. In this historic era, when non-religious philosophies have emerged, there came one Shankara Baghavatpada, one Tirujnyana Sambandhar as saviours. There came one Aurangzeb to suppress the Hindu religion, but immediately came one Shivaji and one Ahalyabai to protect our religion. So, let us not be apprehensive of what will happen to our religion. In Vishnu Sahasranamam, there is a verse, which refers to Lord Vishnu as the one who invokes fear in us (Bhayakruth) only to correct our faults. One, who starts rectifying his faults, becomes the “Destroyer of Fear” (Bhaya Nashana).

Let us get into action. Not by developing animosity against atheists. Let us not confront and get into conflict with anyone. Let us take a vow that we will all adhere to the Codes of Dharma in letter and spirit. Instead of getting into arguments relating to Dharma, let us highlight to the world our country’s personalities, who led virtuous lives. Let each one of us turn into a soldier of Ahimsa. A soldier will never let even an inch of his motherland to be conquered by the enemy, isn’t it? Similarly, let us protect our Dharma without compromising even an iota. If our efforts are immaculate, Paramatma will support us with His gracious blessings.

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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