Sanskrit and Classical Languages

One more Indian language viz. Malayalam has been accorded the status of a Classical language which means that it is at least 1500 years old. Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and of course Sanskrit have attained this status earlier. Many more are in the offing and as expected the decision will be more on political reasons than facts. It is interesting to note the richness of India even in terms of its languages. No other country or civilization in the entire world can boast of such a set of more than two dozen classical languages which have independent vocabulary and scripts. But Indian rulers are making a big mistake by continuing to neglect the mother of all such languages viz. Sanskrit.

One thousand years ago, when India was the richest country in the world with a GDP share of more than 40%, the glory of Sanskrit was also at its peak. No one would have imagined that reluctance of then rulers to universalize the study of Sanskrit would one day result in its decay. Lower sections of the society were kept away from the so called noble language to prevent them from learning the sacred literature which the Brahmins, especially the pseudo variety, wanted to monopolise for themselves. Sanatana Dharma stipulated Brahminhood to be attained by ones own efforts, but a few clever and cunning achievers made it a monopoly for their own progeny. The death and decay of Sanskrit language started from those days. Europeans saw a great opportunity in this scenario and made full use of it by smuggling out most of our literature.

I am sure there is not even a single Indian who would not have felt bad at least on one occasion in their life that he or she is doing a great blunder by not mastering Sanskrit. The mother of all languages has not only a vast repertoire of ancient literature but has also been declared as the most compatible one with modern computers. The simple fact that the mother tongues of all Indians contain at least 50% words of Sanskrit origin makes the mistake of not learning Sanskrit more glaring. It is one of the greatest tragedy of modern India that Sanskrit was not declared our national language when we got liberated from British and Pakistan got separated from India.

Mighty-Ism and Meek-Followers

It is mentioned somewhere in a holy book that ‘the meek shall inherit the earth’. But those who seem to really believe in this and live accordingly are not the followers of that book but Hindus in India. For hundreds of years, Hindus have been under foreign rule in the recent past. But for thousands of years prior to that they dominated the world ideologically and were the richest in the world in every sense. What has caused the present meekness of Hindu society is definitely a case worth studying for those concerned about its future. The fall has been catastrophically damaging in Nepal which was once the only Hindu nation in the world. The ailment has also spread over the entire sub-continent and results can be devastating for the entire world in the long run. Imagining a world full of followers of two closed and conflicting religious ideologies would be a nightmare. Culture and civilization of mankind will regress by a few thousand years if that is what our fate is. 

      

Hinduism is presently the third largest religion in the world and it is absolutely necessary that it survives forever. Systemically also, the need for third and fourth members to survive is much more vital than the first two in any system. Whatever be the system, it becomes unsustainable and unstable as a whole if the vital third and fourth load-bearing members are missing. More the supports, more the stability of any system, especially if it concerns human society. Each civilization has thrown up a religious ideology in the past and it is bound to happen in the future too. But there is something very unique about the one which sprung up in South Asia – viz. Hindu Sanatana Dharma (PTBH - Proud To be Hindu). It is perhaps the only one which could comprehend the whole universe as one and prayed for the well being of everything – good, bad and evil. How can we afford to extinguish such a noble spirit and concede to overwhelming ideologies that preaches more hatred than love?      

Strongest Foundation

There cannot be more than one answer to the question – which is the religious ideology with the strongest foundations in terms of scriptures, literature, beliefs, culture and as convincingly demonstrated by the longest surviving civilization in the entire universe? Unlike physical structures, strength of an ideology lies in its rationality and not in its rigidity. If a human being claims that he is the best and the only one, he has to be convincing to others and that too not under duress. Conviction under shadow of swords is no true conviction; it is only surrender of one’s rationality and identity. Surrender before ideological onslaught is nothing but the worst form of slavery that is unbecoming of a human being. The strength of Hindu Sanatana Dharma (PTBH) lies in its long chain of evolution to what it is today with no period of coercion or fear. It has never been static and rigid as its counterparts at any time. Resiliency and not rigidity is the strength of ideologies which must evolve toward a positive conclusion and never remain tied down to fear of questions and answers.    

Hindu Sanatana Dharma (PTBH) is resting on the strong foundations of Advaita after its evolution for over five thousand years. For the last one thousand years, Science has emerged as a strong challenge to the religious ideologies. We have now reached a stage where no ideology completely disowned by Science can survive, and no ideology at loggerheads with Science can hope to survive for long. In its current Advaita version, Hindu Sanatana Dharma (PTBH) is in perfect harmony with modern science and in many fields it is in a much more advanced phase than Science. It is not an exaggeration to say that Science is now following Hindu Sanantana Dharma (PTBH). While many of the other prominent ideologies are trying to overpower Science by manipulating evidence for their theories, Hindu Sanatana Dharma is providing the guidance for Scientists in cutting-edge fields like Quantum Physics, Space Science and Computers. If it is possible to translate all the ancient texts of India into English, it is almost certain that we have seen the end of knowledge itself.     

Weakest Structure

But what is most intriguing is the fact that the present Hindu society which is standing on the strongest ideological foundation is one of the weakest in comparison. This is evident when we learn about the extent of forced and lured religious conversions that is taking place in India. Billions of dollars and dinars are pouring into India every year to get more and more Indians converted to Christianity and Islam, the only two organized religions in the world. Moreover, the combined might of these two alien ideologies have already ruled India for a full millennium. The situation in many parts of liberated India is still not very different. Hindus may be majority in terms of numbers, but the political and economical might is already in the hand of others in many Indian states. At the current level of population growth, It is only a matter of decades before Hindus will lose complete control of the situation in terms of numbers, power and economy.    

It all started with Kashmir a few decades after the religious partitioning of India. Kashmiri Pandits present the best example of how a Hindu community can destroy itself by adamantly clinging onto its false prestige. Perhaps they overestimated their faith in our first Prime Minister who was one among them. When the first signs of religious fundamentalism started in the valley, the Kashmiri Pandits must have closed ranks with brother Hindu communities and fought the battle together. Instead they chose to cling on to the caste structure rigidly and now third generation Kashmiri Pandits are languishing in the refugee camps in various parts of India. Almost same situation is presented in Kerala now. For the first time since liberation from British, the Hindu representation in the ruling cabinet has gone below the 50% mark and Nehru’s dead horse (Muslim League) is fast becoming a race horse in Kerala politics. Kerala Pandits will soon be an unfortunate reality (http://jajithkumar.blogspot.com/2010/10/kerala-pandits.html).

It would be in everyone’s interest to remember one thing – a completely successful rehabilitation of displaced persons has never taken place anywhere in the world. Jews of Israel is the best example for this. Though backed by the most powerful in the world, Israeli Jews can never live in peace when there is 360degreex365days hostility. The same applies to all the displaced tribes and communities anywhere in the world. Once the control over the land is lost to indigenous rivals, there will never be any full rehabilitation. And to be in control of one’s homeland, one must have the majority in terms of numbers and money. Only those who realize this simple truth before they cross the Lekshman Rekha will inherit the land and not by remaining meek. Kerala Hindus must close their ranks and put their gears in proper mode if they do not want to go the Kashmiri way. Immediate attention is in terms of numbers and only the productive younger generation can stem the decline.     

Converted in Vain

One of the most prosperous ‘business’ in today’s world is that of religious conversion. Democracy in one form or another is bound to blossom all over the world one day and all the organized religions are preparing for seizing power through ballot boxes. In democratic arrangements, numbers determine everything and those religious communities that pray for universal well being and voluntarily follow family planning policies can appear to be idiotic and foolish. But that may not necessarily be the obvious end result. Those who are experts in the religious conversion business know that the process is indeed reversible. If humans are deceived by false promises and coerced during difficult times to convert, the reverse will automatically follow when they realize the truth during better times. As the saying goes, some people can be fooled for some time, but not all people for all times. 

 

India has always been a fertile ground for religious conversion for the missionary forces spearheaded by Europeans and Arabians. Though Christian missionaries pioneered in the field, the sudden enrichment of Arabian peninsula by oil discoveries in the fifties and sixties has resulted in stiff competition from the Islamic forces as well. India’s native religion has always been and will remain unorganized, liberal and highly flexible. A billion such humans is a huge attraction in the religious phishing market and billions of dollars and dinars are poring into India every year to catch as many preys as possible. It has been going on for many centuries, but the marketing efforts of the competing forces have reached a highpoint now. Both the two competitors have started eating into their rival’s portion more than the vast common areas still unexplored. From such competitive heights, their fall will be much more sudden, steep and unpredictable, especially when so many of the successive generations of victims have started feeling that their forefathers converted in vain.        

 

False Promises

 

Human behaviour will always follow the established pattern of hierarchy of needs in any culture or civilization. The same has happened in India. At one time Indian nation was the richest in the world in every sense. Its indigenous wealth and philosophy could easily satisfy all the physical and spiritual needs of all its citizens. No outsider had any scope for interference and Indians never looked outside for anything. Adventurists from all over the world were coming to India to see and experience the wonder that was India. Trouble started when ideological explosions happened elsewhere and spill over isms wanted to recruit more people into their fold to dominate the world. Colonisation of the free world by those who were discontent and dissatisfied with whatever they had at home started off the real problems in today’s world. Looted wealth from the colonies and accidental discoveries of freely available natural resources has provided the momentum for marketing their own version of God and religion as the best.

 

Looting of colonies continued unabated for centuries and what India lost is perhaps unimaginable in real terms now. Christian missionaries and Islamic preachers who followed their plundering frontline had enough crowd to convert and more than enough wealth to lure them. All those who were starving for food had little objection to accept any form of God if milk powder and bread are made available. And those who had no clothes and shelter accepted any form of worship if such basic requirements are freely available. But the basic human needs of food, clothing and shelter fall in the realm of physical requirements and have nothing to do with God and religion. Those who go for fishing with plastic baits can deceive only the first few and may risk their own lives by eating the fish with plastic inside. The logic of religious conversion is crystal clear when we find that the Christian and Islamic missionaries in India are still targeting only the poor in the most backward areas. More than others, they know how weak and hollow are their arguments of superiority. Most of their theory and practices are nothing but poor copies of the original eternal one.     

 

Feasible Solutions

 

Religious conversion is a revolution when it is done voluntarily. But forced or coercive religious conversion is a heinous crime against humanity. Those who indulge in it are destroying the very essence of their individuality and existence. Those who were following Sanatana Dharma for thousands of years over several generations have the basic ingredients of it engraved in their DNAs Forcibly changing them to follow foreign beliefs and dogmas is like throwing the fish out of water. There is no doubt any ideology or ism undergoes a evolutionary process and along its path it will accumulate lot of unwanted beliefs and practices. The so-called caste discrimination in Hindu religion is one such and it has lost its foundation in the current evolved Advaita form of Hindu Sanatana Dharma. Castes (groups or sections of people bound by common heritage) will continue to exist in one form or another, but no discrimination is possible on account of that.

 

 And if the scourge of caste discrimination can be eliminated from Hindu Sanatana Dharma, the door must be kept wide open for the reverse revolution to take place. Those who have revolted against discrimination and made the supreme mistake of abandoning their own legitimate home must be able to come back and rejoin their family. This must be easily possible in a truly secular India where the religion of candidates is not asked for providing food, shelter, clothing, health and education. Those who converted to alien faiths in search of equality must realize their mistake when those same religions are demanding reservations for converts from ‘lower’ castes. Other than the false promise of equality, there was absolutely nothing that would have attracted the converts in comparison with what they had in Hindu Sanatana Dharma.

 

 

It has been established time and again that in terms of spiritual heights, rational depths and practical freedom, there is no other faith that can stand anywhere near Hindu Sanatana Dharma. Its philosophical algorithm is something like an open source code in comparison to the closed ones provided by others. It is left to the individuals to modify and adopt the code in tune with one’s own capabilities. Since God is present in everything that we can think of, there is nothing that can stand between us and God like in other religions. Sankara’s final stamp of approval on Advaita has taken Hindu Sanatana Dharma to a different philosophical plane and all that we need to do is to take it back to its days of glory once again by allowing the free return of all those who converted in vain . 

Death of a God

India lost one of its most revered Gods, Bhagawan Sri Satya Saibaba on 24th April 2011 and his absence will be very much felt in the days to come. There is only one all pervasive Ishwar, but we have several Gods reflecting and reminding us of the presence of Ishwar in everything. Indians have always recognized the Gods in our midst at all times. It is the presence of these Gods which makes the Indian nation a unique one with heights of philosophy and lows of poverty co-existing side-by-side within a vast population of over one billion. It is very much easier to satisfy our innate rationality when we have faith in an all pervasive entity whose net quality is in favour of sustaining this universe by natural evolution depending upon the cause and effect of individual actions. The concept of an Ishwar who is ‘wasting’ all ‘his’ time in ‘making’ humans, monitoring, punishing and rewarding us is alien to Indian philosophy. It is almost absurd to even imagine one like that. Ishwar is more of a logical energy and it must be its reflections in the form of Gods who interact with us.

Saibaba was truly such a God who interacted with millions and millions of people directly and indirectly. He could achieve much more for ordinary humans than even governments with huge resources at their disposal. His only asset was love and his only investment was again love. Even his arch detractors have nothing to say when it comes to his unique contributions in the field of health and community welfare. Without any outside support he brought drinking water to many districts in Andhra Pradesh. Compare this with governmental efforts in states like Kerala, with 40 odd rivers and one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world, struggling to provide drinking water even 60 years after liberation from British rule. And Satya Sai superspeciality hospital is perhaps the only hospital in the world which does not have a billing section at all. Those who criticize him must now show the moral courage in trying to do something of social significance in their own neighbourhoods.

Godly Presence

More than a social worker, it is the presence of Ishwar in abundance that stood out in Saibaba during his lifetime. Stories and anecdotes from his early childhood days are plenty. It is upto individual followers to believe or not to believe in them. For his arch detractors, it may be cooked up stories, just like the ‘magic’ he used to exhibit in producing various gifts out of thin air. Some of his bitter rivals have even brought out documentary films to highlight his gimmicks in their never ending attempts to expose him. But all such attempts have failed again and again. More their opposition, more became the number of people who came to see him and even worship him. Thousands flocked to him to get a glimpse of him and listen to him when he used to talk. And when he became physically weak even to talk, the number of people flocking to Puttapurthi became unbelievably high. There is a big lesson for the so called ‘rationalists’ in this. Man is intrinsically rational and a Rationalist Association can never replace the individuals’ rationality. They should leave it to the individuals to believe or not to believe.

But even those (like me) who have not seen the Bhagawan can easily vouch for his divinity. The sthayi (stable) form in his face and monotonous stability in his actions for the past several years are proof enough of his divinity. Try doing nothing for a few days and you will soon realize the greatness of such Indian Rishis. Deep meditation and Samadhi are the next steps in this path to absolutely stability. The inherent entropy (measure of disorder) has to be brought down to the levels of absolute permanence to achieve oneness with the all pervading, indifferent and immovable Ishwar. By his grace of absolute stability he was providing the sense of stability to millions of his believers who are constantly agitated and unstable under the influence of their own worldly problems. The so-called atheists and rationalists cannot provide such solace to the agitated minds who are constantly perturbed by misfortunes, misery and man-made disasters. Saibaba was definitely not an ordinary mortal and the truly rational believers do not need any more proof regarding this. His was a divine birth meant for bringing solace to millions.

Divine Successor

The controversies regarding Saibaba’s successor smell of a deep rooted conspiracy. His was a divine presence and it is not possible to elect or nominate the next Saibaba. He will come in due course. He will establish his presence and command his acceptability over a period of time just like his predecessors. All that we have to do is to wait for the next incarnation to take place. Unlike temple idols we cannot install a new idol and continue the worship. Exactly like his predecessors, the new Saibaba (Premsai as he will be called) will come and establish his divinity within a few decades. Those who are controlling the reigns of Saibaba Trust must show the sagacity to understand their role. None of those who constitute it have the required divinity and it is not expected also. Those who clamor for action by the Trust are more interested in seeing the end of Saibaba’s legacy, rather than the incidence of Premsai in a much more apt form.

There should not be even an iota of doubt in the minds of ardent Sai devotees that the lineage of Saibabas will continue. Spirituality of Hindu Sanatana Dharma needs the presence of such individuals of heightened divinity to provide guidance. Thousands of such individuals with heightened divinity are already in our midst and the true Premsai shall definitely show up at the appropriate time. No amount of impersonation or false claims is going to succeed in the case of Godmen, as they are called. We have seen umpteen cases where the likes of Premanandas have miserably failed. We all have the divine spark within us and we will always realize the truly divine avatars in a short time. And only those who can offer the much needed spiritual solace in the midst of ever growing human misery can sustain their status in the long run.

Exit of Saibaba is no doubt a tragedy for us, but an end for everything but Ishwar is inevitable. Born of ordinary parents in a nondescript environment, the achievements of Saibaba make his life truly remarkable. What more proof is required for his status than this? He not only radiated divinity, but also attracted some of the most creative minds into the field of service for humanity. His absence in our midst will be felt for a long time to come. But the simple fact that such an exalted soul lived among us and he did bring about lot of changes in our society is enough to make us nearer to Ishwar. His dawn in post-1947 India itself was a great boon for us and his messages have highlighted the relevance of Hindu Sanatana Dharma to an international audience. Legends about Saibaba will continue to inspire generations in the path of doing service to the needy.

Bigger Bang

There is a growing belief all over the world that the year 2012 is going to be a significant one for reasons unknown so far. Some have fear and some others are hopeful and positive as ever. The fear of World War III (WWIII) has been lurking for sometime and the growing defiance of Iran over the most sensitive nuclear issue strengthens our negative fears. A nuclear capable Iran is sure death bell for Israel. It is foolish optimism to expect inaction by one of the world’s most powerful and determined states in such a scenario. In the prevailing international air of terrorism, islamophobhia and aggressive evangelism, it is not very improbable to have a war between two tribes escalate into one between religions and civilizations. The much predicted WWIII for drinking water may get postponed as WWIV, if at all there is scope for another one. However there is still optimism to look forward to a more positive and incredible development in the year 2012.

One of the major ongoing projects that can give some good news by 2012 is the CERN experiment. It is almost a century since the theories of Big Bang started and it would be a grand finale if the experiments could prove it without any remaining ambiguity. It would be a much bigger bang if Big Bang is true and everything indeed started from a single entity. Consequently, so many half cooked hypotheses and card board postulates will have to be thrown out of our realms of knowledge. The effect of a bigger bang can resonate in so many fields other than science and technology. It can shake the entire foundations of beliefs in all walks of human life. If everything that we can think of started with a single big bang, how can there be so much diversity other than with an underlying string of unity. There can be only one truth and only one direction for approaching the truth. Concept of God and religious beliefs will have to be rewritten.

Scientific Shastra

Shastra in India covers a much bigger area of knowledge than its western counterpart of Science. Indians have always considered anything that can be analysed systematically to be Shastra and that included almost all fields of knowledge. Authentic works like Dharma Shastra and Kama Shastra proves this beyond any doubt. While Western Science was over dependent on instruments, Indian Shastra could go much beyond with the help of meditative and instinctive thoughts. If Western Science insisted on solid proof for every hypothesis, Indian Shastra was content with intuition and faith in profound theories. That is one of the main reasons why Indian Shastras have gone much beyond the frontiers achieved so far by modern Science. Modern scientists realized this difference only when Newtonian physics gave way to its Quantum version in the twentieth century. It is no wonder that almost all physicists of the modern era look so reverently towards Hindu Sanatana Dharma (HSD) ideology.

Despite the dubious efforts of our colonial masters and Islamic invaders, a sizeable part of Indian works on various Shastra is still intact and available to us in its original forms. Distrustful commentaries and sinister interpretations by Christian missionaries and colonial experts have not succeeded much in their intentions. It is ironical to note that some of the most virulent proponents of HSD ideological literature in modern times are the present generations of the very same colonial masters. HSD is beginning to flourish in its pristine beauty once again in the West rather than in its land of origin. Almost all of the major works have been digitized and a mere cursory look though them can tell us the vast expanse of knowledge that has been covered. For anyone impartially interested it would be a great surprise to note that HSD literature covers almost all the current frontiers of Science, most of it allegorically in the least expected forms of stories and mythology.

Advaita Again

Truth of Big Bang is bound to re-emphasize many beliefs in Hindu Sanatana Dharma and dismantle with greater intensity the concept of God in all the Semitic religions. If the cause of everything that we can think of is the single big bang, humanity has no choice but to accept the theory of Advaita. A final seal of authenticity on Big Bang will mean that consciousness, energy and matter are all interchangeable and in fact one and the same. This is nothing but a blunt statement that all matter (me, you, animals, planets, stars etc.), all energy (light, sound, heat etc.), all concepts (God, science, shastra etc.), all ideologies (religions, isms etc.), all ideas etc., in fact everything that we can think of, are essentially one and the same, because everything has emanated from the same source. All the so-called creations have taken place from a single source and quite possibly will go back to the same source, for the cycle of bang and collapse to repeat.

Another offshoot of Big Bang is the authentic seal on the Theory of Evolution, which Hindu Sanatana Dharma has always supported on all planes of thought. There is the shade of evolution in everything connected to HSD ideology. God evolves in various forms and Man is always on an evolutionary path to reach God. Since everything has its origin in the same source, the evolutionary path connecting the minutest organism to the loftiest ideal of God makes perfect sense. All those who prophesied creation of Man by a separate entity called God can roll back their theories and accept defeat in the best traditions of a philosophical debate. All theories of creation will prove to be absurd and shall stand exposed as made up theories aimed at subjugation of Man by Man. There can be no sons or messengers of God, but only incarnations of God in various forms. A majority of humans will stand revealed of their mistake and their leaders exposed of deception.

It is possible that after-shocks overdo the original earthquake in their intensity. The after-effects of Big Bang will be in this fashion. A purely scientific discovery is going to upset the entire world of religious faiths and beliefs when it is getting the final seal of authenticity by the year 2012. Centuries old unfounded theories of creation and prophesy will stand completely exposed with no more followers but the uninformed, illiterate and those with vested interests. The entire scientific community and those with scientific temper will have only one choice. Claims of Vedanta as the eternal truth with no beginning and no end will stand completely vindicated. And Advaita which has always expounded the basic oneness of God and Man will take over the entire humanity to lead us to a world of knowledge, peace and complete understanding. All of us will see only one thing encompassing the entire universe – Brahman, made up of Brahmons (http://www.pseudodictionary.com/brahmons).