MIRACLES FOR INDIA

Miracles are some things everyone wishes all over the world. They do happen with the right expectations and when time is ripe. 

India has been through a torment for the last 800 years with many marauding and exploitative rulers. After its Independence in 1947 from servility to incompatible rulers , the pangs of infancy did not allow its people to breathe a sigh of relief. 

But for the past few years, roughly from the turn of twenty first century, if one were to observe closely, some miracles seem to happen, something beyond human capabilities. In my opinion, the first to happen was the arrival of a yogi, a renunciate, and a perfect representative of Sanatana Dharma. I am referring to Swami Ramdev. While many may criticize him, I, for one, will not. He was dropped from nowhere into the life of common people in this country. It is from him that age-old culture of Yoga became famous all over the world. His prime motive was to regenerate the richness of Indian culture. His sleight of hand in commercial segment  by which, within a handful number of years, he established a ₹30000 crore corporate empire, a task by any means a miracle. Not only this, this empire was established within the current dispensation with the motive that profits are distributed to the society's welfare. He aided the  rediscovery of the beauty of Ayurveda, again a gem of Indian culture. There were Ayurvedic manufacturing Companies and hubs in this Country even before, but they were secluded and under tight wraps. His life itself could be the epitome of a true Yogi, a near ideal soul in the parlance of Veda, what with his service to the society, preaching people on the right path to take, curing illness etc… 

The second phenomenon is Modi, who began to come to the scene at around the same time. He again is a renunciate, a true Yogi, a representative of Sanatana Dharma,  practically if not literally. Things seem to evolve somehow by which some conditions became favorable and he could come to occupy a position of Authority in the Political sphere. Another principle of Hindu Dharma, the Karma Yogi is the principle here. His only concern became the welfare of his people, his Country. All else seem to fall in place. His pro-activeness in introducing reforms, welfare measures without people asking for or expecting is stupendous. His policies covered everything both external and internal. He brought the attention of the world to the richness of Indian culture that gave rise to some awe among the world powers. Under him suddenly, everyone from bureaucracy to political opponents started to fall in line..  By some magical dispensation, a team of people of shared values, joined his Government (cabinet ministers) as well as advisory Institutions ( PMO, Niti Ayog). His task of cleaning up both Mind (anti-corruption) and body (swachh Bharat) helped to correct a whole lot of wrongs of the past several years. Of course, there are Ravans and Duryodhans of the society to be tamed. And subjects to be protected from evil enemies. But, these are an ongoing process and will take the stipulated duration. 

In Hindu religion, we have read about epics and stories of God or God-sent  men to chastise the world. I am sure that posterity will judge these two personalities and may award the term Avatars or Messiahs. While, as per scriptures, Kali Yug is a wicked period, it gives hope that even in such an environment, God shall protect the virtuous.

REVIVE VALUE SYSTEMS

The world is changing fast. Today's children are initiated into mobile culture very early in life. It is very hard for parents and elders to shield children from mobile phones. So youth today, find mobile phones to be their soul mate. Family bondings are secondary and are dwindling further. Direct communication is becoming rare. So we can say that individuals are becoming more independent, but more dependent on machines. Two things are very important in humans. Cognitive factors and actions. Actions are easily delegated to the machines,  while mind power cannot be imparted. Hence we find an increasing number of psychiatric cases, broken marriages, stress, psychosomatic diseases and unrest. Another disturbing aspect of society we find is that women are becoming increasingly assertive and audacious. This is also somehow becoming an impediment to the smooth conduct of society. The societal values are degrading. While I am not questioning the equality of women, it is true that every component of the eco-system has its role to play. This is the reason the society has been  divided into caste system in Vedas. Similarly sexes do have their differences. Each component must discharge it's duty in accordance with one's innate ability,  both physical and mental. 

The following need to be reinstalled into the society if, like environment, the society has to be preserved for future. 

Joint-family system :  Old-age homes are to be dicouraged or avoided. While we include our Old-age parents in our house, we are keeping a wealth called experience, which can come only with time. Experience has a soul called wisdom. This is the preservative we add to the society to prevent it from spoilage. It is best not to break the generational link that Almighty has provided to living beings.

Practice Tradition : Do not leave any opportunity to follow tradition. Celebrate all festivals. Festivals are the best expression of society's tradition. Follow religious leaders. Accord respect and reverence to religious institutions. Practise relevant rites & rituals as prescribed in authentic scriptures. 

Real Education : Education must be relevant to the society. It is very much necessary to impart the right education to children. For eg. British education will not suit Indian way of life. There are glaring differences between western and Eastern philosophies. It is the Gurukulam concept which can suit Indian way of life and thinking. Only a suitable education can serve the values and aspirations of the people of a particular society. It is here that one can realise the importance of education. Education helps to continue the traditions and instill values to society for its longevity and well-being. 

Quality of Rulers :  It is utmost important who rules the society. Right kind of Rulers must be selected. The elected ruler must be a representative of the people in its right sense. For eg. Home-bred leaders are anytime far superior to western-styled rulers. It is also necessary for people to select quality people to rule them. At the same time, while people expect their rights to be protected, it is also necessary for them to do their expected duties sincerely. 

Having said all the above, I cannot but bring a fact to the notice. It is said in scriptures that Kaliyug, a period of 4,32,000 years, that we are going through at present,  is a period likely to be extremely terrifying in terms of atrocities. And we have only crossed 5000 years of that period. So the values are expected to decay as a natural course and man has to perhaps bear the brunt. The remedy probably lies in individual level where one can shield oneself from the ill-effects with proper conduct and  devout faith. 

SANKARA MUTT

Five Sankara Mutts and Kanchi Mutt were established by Sri Adi Sankaracharya. As we all know the purpose of Sri Adi Sankaracharya's life was to rally the Hindu religion and give a proper direction to the followers of Sanatana Dharma. Hindu religion and it's principles, at that time was challenged by other off-shoot philosophies. Also Sri Adi Sankaracharya was probably able to visualise at the time the later threats of Muslim and Christian invasion. 

The question now, is the purpose and the relevance of Sankara Mutts established by Sri Adi Sankara. First we must understand that these Mutts are supposed to preserve the Hindu religion and not to propagate it, which is a task being well done by these Mutts. One would naturally think that Hindu religion has to be preserved by making the people aware of Hindu values. 

So we must reflect upon what constitutes Hindu values. The following are some of the Hindu values that I can readily think of;

• Realisation of the principles of Karma and Dharma

• Means of conduct of one's life to achieve the life goals (spiritual) 

• Duties & Responsibilities of an individual in achievement of life goals. This will include the division of society along caste lines. Castes were created purely for facilitating professional duties and not for division of society into higher and lower. 

• Clear duties prescribed for each caste and it's interchangeability. 

• Vasudaiva Kutumbakam - the world is one family

• To harmonise all things in nature with individuals and to respect & regard every component of the eco-system.. 

• The rites and practices to follow for a layman ( with even a minimum understanding of the religious principles). It should be noted here that subjects were given a wide choice as long as they conformed to the ultimate goal. This is the reason there are so many Institutions for Hindu religion such as Shaivites & Vaishnava traditions, Madhava traditions, Ramakrishna Mission, Sikhism, Swaminarayan cult, Radhaswomi Satsang, Bahai faith etc. 

Presently Sankara Mutts have branches in various cities of India making it easier for people to approach them. They run Veda paatashalas, mission hospitals, gaushalas, patronise schools, run colleges, train brahmin priests, conduct upanayanams and marriages for the poor, organise annadaanas, assist temple establishments and so on. The tradition of daily pujas and special day functions throughout the year are all observed in letter & spirit. All these are done to reach out to people and as an example to the people on how to be ideal citizens and contribute to society  

May be I can suggest a few more initiatives such as holistic centres in every town and village of India which can provide health dispensaries, teach yoga, have meditation centres, organise satsangs, provide counselling, provide skills in traditional areas such as pottery, handicrafts, sculpting, looming and agriculture, advise people on some wrong practices such as animal sacrifice, drinking, atrocities on women etc. Such efforts will go a long way in raising the awareness among people. 

SOUTH INDIAN BRAHMINS AND RITUALS

Hinduism, which is also known as Sanatana Dharma, is so called because of the flexibility it offers based on locations and practices. Therefore rituals vary with regions and also based on sects. 

One of the sects (to which I belong) is Brahmins who are the inhabitants of Tamil Nadu. The Brahmins here are categorized due to their birth into a Brahmin family. Here again the whole community can be divided based on whether they are priests or ordinary individuals. Since priests are initiated into learning Vedas from the very beginning, they are sought after for performance of various rituals as prescribed in the scriptures. 

There lies the catch!. Though the Priest Brahmins are initiated into Vedas from a very early age, I doubt, if the real teachings of Vedas are espouced. Vedas have, no doubt, detailed the procedures for various duties and responsibilities for the individuals to practise. But, somehow, I feel the spirit of the Vedas are missed and is delibrately twisted to suit their needs. With the result that teachings of the Vedas, which are supposed to be eternal and true to any time ( because even the times are pre-conceived), the relevant practices have been thrust or forced into the people even if they are irrelevant. So, whether it is the marriage or rituals connected to death, many of those are done with vested interests. In marriage functions, ofr eg., the Kashi Yatra or bride given away to husband while sitting on father's lap are some of the rituals which are totally irrelevant in today's times.

The Varna system of Hindu culture was conceptualised based on societal well-being and a symbiotic purpose between various people. Distribution of wealth is accorded utmost importance in the form of charitable acts to the downtrodden in the society. Learning of the Vedas (or true knowledge) is the privilege of the Brahmins and since high knowledge can induce inflated ego, the community is not supposed to crave after earning and are supposed to lead a frugal life. The three Gunas are also linked here, so that Brahmins become a class with a high percentage of 'Satvik" Guna and less of other two. Expectations of payoff for their services are something that is firmly discouraged among such people. At the same time other people are encouraged to be generous to the Brahmins. A true Brahmin is expected to take only that portion which is sufficient for him and donate the balance then and there. But what is happening is away from all these principles. For every occasion, there is a price. Not only this, a person is left with a feeling of guilt for not giving away the expected amount and gifts. 

Proper direction need to be given to the people by Institutions such as the Mutts. But these Institutions are firmly in the clutches of the priest Brahmins and public criticisms are addressed with some charitable acts which are not really properly co-ordinated.  So there is a lot of resentment even though some of the good acts are done by some of these Institutions. 

It is therefore necessary to weed the archaic practices and set new guidelines so that people in general do not feel cheated. One may see a revivalism of Hinduism if these practices are well co-ordinated and guided. Many of the superstitions prevalent in the society today can be removed. There may be a wider acceptance of the Religious heads among the Hindus. Presently Hinduism has varied schools of thoughts which divide the people. By this way, the different thoughts can be integrated and unity among different Hindus can be promoted. In these times (Kaliyug)it is all the more essential that people need to be guided properly by those who are God's own messengers.