Never
has Hinduism been at such crossroads with incessant attacks mounting from
sickulars within complementing the Breaking India forces and being supplemented
by even judicial activism. The firecracker debate has brought all the chinks to
the fore. It is very critical to take a few moments for us to reset the gaze
within. Every battle involves not merely sizing the opponents might and
weakness, but also our own. In this modern Kurukshetra,
as Hindus we are faced with a tough question – Do we forsake the symbolism in Hinduism or dig deeper to find its roots
or let these forces digest and destroy us by being a passive observer?
Hinduism
is clothed in numerous layers of symbolism and this is the only reason we are
the oldest living tradition for many millennia, even predating the Saraswati
valley civilization. Unlike the desert religions centered around Abrhamism
which focus on the fear of going to
eternal hell or the lure of heaven
forever, Sanatana Dharma has be centered around values, raising oneself
from a lower Self to a higher. Owing
to a host of factors, for the past few generations, the Hindu society has been
divorcing itself from these core ideals. The lingering symbolism in the form of
culture, festivals, habits and etiquettes have been sustaining the Hindu
civilization.
If
one observes any Hindu festival, it is an admixture of some natural phenomenon,
some deep historical relevance, an opportunity to take a break from the daily
materialistic madness and an excuse to go inward – an exercise to immerse oneself with the Supreme Self. Our ancestors lived very closely with nature,
observant of dharma and in harmony. As we have moved far away from this
harmony, many of the practices, festivals and customs followed show up as huge
problems or at least get highlighted as being anachronistic.
For
instance, the practice of using Vermillion, a practice that has been proved to
have existed during Harappan times by archeology has morphed into a mere
fashion statement. The traditional way of making Kumkum is a lost memory for the most common public. This has been
replaced with tons of synthetic chemicals and many cause side effects. In come
the western researchers to highlight the heavy metal levels in Kumkum and shame the practice. The
feminists, libtard and pseudo sickular brigade use these materials to mount an
attack on the Hindu practices. The vacuum created by the shaken foundation are
filled with radicalists or eager proselytizer of Abrahamism.
Festivals of Bharatvarsha
Diwali or Deepavali is a festival that transcends the differences in Indian
society. Various historical reasoning attributed for its observance include the
return of Sri Rama to Ayodhya and Krishna’s vada of narakasura. It
provides an excellent opportunity for every individual to introspect and
identify the dark qualities of the mind and destroy them. Whenever there is a
destruction of tamas and the dawn of sattva in the mind, it is a cause for
celebration. Hence the outward expression of it by lighting lamps, bursting
crackers and giving of sweets to everyone around. Today this has been replaced by pomp and
show, pride of bursting the biggest or the longest bursting firecracker in the
neighborhood and the worst, sharing of sweets or snacks only the few we like.
It used to common practice to enquire anyone we come across, if they had their ganga-snan and this is now replaced by
binge watching special television programs.
Obviously in this context the
firecrackers or TV watching or gouging of too many sweets will be rightfully
deemed as going overboard. But if we return to the values of working on the
character of oneself, which libtard or sickular or judge can even have the
temerity to question.
Pongal or Sankaranti, the quintessential harvest
festival of India is an opportunity for being thankful to Nature, the Sun, the
farmers and the farm animals. We, the practicing hindus, have reduced this to
being as much as the opposite of its spirit. In south India, Pongal is also a
time, when people do their spring cleaning. In the past when people lived close
to nature and in harmony, disposing the old by burning was ideal and cost
effective, even eco-friendly.
Today we have not understood the
significance of the symbolism, but burn tyres and other trash which obviously
add to the heavy pollution. Ripe target for cutting off the roots. Can we
rediscover our eco roots? Can we re-educate ourselves that Jallikattu is a bull taming sport that involves yearlong care of
these bulls and maintaining the biodiversity of these breeds while the media,
PETA and sickular brigand’s equating it with Spain’s bullfighting is absolute
bogus and malicious.
Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival that unifies the different philosophies in the vedantic
world has been at the center of controversy as well. In the past, Ganesha murtis were only made of clay. This clay
came from desilting the waterbodies nearby, thus cleaning them. In fact, if one
were to see the worship more carefully, we use only the least used flowers – Calotropis, grass for archana and even
the flowers that are favorite to Ganesha are lesser known locally sourced ones.
The visarjan provided an opportunity
of returning the clay to the waterbodies.
In came, the modern twists. Ganesha
made of plaster of paris and with synthetic chemical paints. From a journey of
self-evolution and living close to nature, we have morphed it into a pompous
display of a community. This is not to take away anything from the devotion of the
ones who are true to the cause. The same fate bemoans Durga in Bengal.
Karva Chauth
is a good example of how even private practices with no outward celebration can
still be a target by the pseudo liberal brigand. These hit and run masters will
question how a woman’s practice of keeping a vrath can help her husband. Praying for the well-being of the
spouse is not acceptable for the feminist gang. But they will not have the
brains or guts to turn and ask other communities. Will they even dare to ask
how a so-called dead man, who comes back, can vicariously cleanup our karmic
debt by merely signing up for the plan? So by that count the Las Vegas shooter
is guaranteed heaven, if his last thoughts were, pardon me and I accept this
plan.
The list is endless with Janmashtami Dahi Handi or noise levels
of Dandiya during Navaratri. While this list keeps
growing, no one seem to apply the same logic on the other communities. Forget
the Pagan roots of even Christmas tree celebration, do these sickular
hypocrites ever argue for the trees cut? Do they ever question the needless
blood shedding of goats during Bakrid or they mindlessly let out on the
streets? All in the name of sacrifice. The pollution advocates do not mind the
Azan calls multiple times a day.
The biggest danger come from the
ill-informed Hindu society. We may have forgotten our roots, but that is not an
excuse to remain ignorant. Can we rediscover the real meaning behind the
festivities of this great land? Can we attempt to begin an inward journey? Can
we get more committed to understanding what Dharma is and how to protect
it? Dharmo
rakshati rakshitaha – the Dharma we
protect will in turn protect us.
At the same time, do we have to give
up all the rich layers of Symbolism that has protected Hinduism over the
millennia? Heck NO. We must fight in
every possible arena to keep the real meaning behind these symbolism and bring
it into today’s context. In case of Ganesh Chaturthi, it may mean we embrace
our traditional clay murthis or for Diwali, celebrate with firecrackers as a
collective society rather than as individuals.
Katha Upanishad teaches us about the
two paths that exist with us all the time – Shreyas (the path of the good) and Preyas (the path of the pleasant). We must abandon the lure of
false logic or arguments pseudo sickular brigade, as they are nothing but the
path of Preyas.
If we need to rediscover the meaning
of our festivals, the teachings of Hinduism or achieve our highest potential by
rediscovering our true Self, the
following are imperative:
- Learn to expose the tactics of the pseudo sickular brigand. These comprise amongst others media houses controlled by motivated interests, high profile C-grade media stars, the ever scheming politician who is interested in splitting up the society for his petty vote bank gains, the misinterpreting self-styled mythologists like Devdutt Pattanaik or the openly hinduphobic western scholars like Wendy Doniger or Sheldon Pollock. Also be aware of the closet converts who are sheep in wolf’s clothing. Many popular Hindu name people are in fact closet Christians but act sickular by attacking ONLY Hinduism. Also included in this are Hindus who call themselves as cultural Hindus and believe that the religious, spiritual and philosophical roots are a bane. Stand up against their tactics and go after their hypocrisy. For instance, several folks who have come to canvas against Diwali firecracker pollution themselves used it for their own wedding or some other occasion. Point out their duplicity.
- Sadhana - Unless one connects with OneSelf, it is impossible to operate on the path of Shreyas. It is very important that every Hindu takes little time to study their scriptures, not in the lens of some modern mythologist or western prism, but the traditional way, be it by reading (Svadhyaya) or listening to good pravachans. The strength of the sickulars is their raucous numbers and the ONLY strength of Dharmic people is their Sadhana. If and when we rediscover our roots, there is no opportunity for any of the sickulars to stand before the real Knowledge of actual experience and practice.
- Be a truth-seeker – Let us give us our own falsities even as we want others to give up theirs. Instead of mindlessly clinging to a morphed practice, let us take time to go to our heritages. Let us not deride our pedigree from great rishis by sticking to wrong things. Let us make a commitment to ourselves that we will educate ourselves to the letter and spirit of the wisdom handed over the generations. The oddities that have crept in must be identified and discarded. Fresh ideas are always welcome in our society, but not at the cost of degrading our tradition.
Remembering the origins and nature of
the customs and practices is very vital. Being at crossroads, we have a choice
– do we succumb to the attacks of people who lack wisdom like our sages? Do we
succumb from within, due to our ignorance and arrogance? Can we rediscover
ourselves by trying to follow the wisdom of choosing the path of Shreyas?
I firmly believe that there is enough
collective wisdom and memories left in our Hindu society that we will aspire to
be on the path of Shreyas.
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