SERVICE : THE ESSENCE OF SANATAN PHILOSOPHY , with special reference to M.S GOLWALKAR

Service is a virtue which is a characteristic of those who have realized their responsibilities towards their fellow beings. Service towards mankind is the greatest help a person can give to society. It is the surest sign of thanksgiving by a person towards the society which has nurtured him. Every single person is accountable to the whole society and is forever indebted by it. The only way to repay this debt is to serve everyone who require it. On the whole we can say that ‘service’ is the true measure of one’s greatfulness towards god and mankind as well as his character. This is the essence of sanatan dharma also which inspire every humanbeing towards unconditional service. Every scriptures of sanatan dharm led emphasis towards service towards whole creature of nature which led towards mutual co-operation, harmony ,peace, accommodation and acceptance of all the creations of nature with love. The great sants and sages and their sacrifice towards mankind is living example before us.

   M.S. Golwalkar in his book ‘Bunch of thought’ aptly remarked that “ The great men of our land have always upheld the spirit of service as the highest expression of devotion to God. One such great soul has prayed to Almighty- I desire neither Kingdom nor heaven nor salvation. All that I desire is to remove the sorrows and miseries of living beings. This is the true spirit of service. The constant prayer of such a person is for greater strength and capacity to serve. His fulfillement in life is that he has offered in service all that God has bestowed upon him. He says, “Oh, God! I have emptied the jholi (bag) of my life at Thy feet, and therin lies the fullness of my life.” Swami Vivekanand used to say, “Be ready to bear everything for the sake of the people like the great Guru Govind singh. After having shed his blood and the blood of his nearest  and dearest, he retired from the field calmly to die in the south but not a word of curse escaped his lips against those who had ungratefully forsaken him!”Our definition of dharma is twofold. The first is proper rehabilitation of man’s mind ; and the second is adjustment of various individuals for a harmonious corporate existence. i.e., a good social order to hold the people together . Man’s life has to be attuned to the wider interests of the people as a whole.

   This supreme vision of of Godhead in society is the the very core of our concept of ‘nation’ and has permeated our thinking and given rise to various unique concepts of our cultural heritage. That vision inspires us to look upon every individual of our society as a part of that Divine whole. All individuals are therefore equally sacred and worthy of our service. Therefore any sense of discrimination amongst them is reprehensible. Thus, in our culture, the spirit of social service has been sublimated into the worship of God.

     There are millions of human beings all around us who live in hunger and destitution deprived of even the barest necessities of life, and whose stories of misery will move the stoniest of hearts. It is verily God who has taken those forms of the poor, the destitute and the suffering. What for? Does He want anything ? He is the very embodiment of all power, all knowledge, and is the master of all. Then what is that He wants? He comes in those forms to give us an opportunity to serve Him. Sri Ramkrishna Paramhamsa called them Daridra Narayana (destitute God ) . Once our life becomes soaked with this true spirit of service, we will feel that our individual and family possessions, however abundant they may be, do not really belong to us. There are only the means to worship God in the form of society. Our whole life will then be an offering in the service of society. The Upanishad say: God permeats all the creation. Whatever is left over by Him, after offering Him, enjoy only that much. Do not rob what belongs to others.

Let us therefore acquire maximum of material wealth so that we can serve God in the form of society in the best possible manner. And out of all that wealth, only that minimum should be used for our sake the denial of which will hamper our capacity for service. To claim or to make a personal use of more than that, is verily an act of theft against society.

  In Bhagavata Narada says : Take whatever is essential for bodily sustenance. To take more is an act of theft and deserved to be punished. Thus we are only the trustees of society . It is only when we become trustees in the true sense that we can serve society best. Such a pure attitude of service will leave no scope for ego or self-adulation.

   Ours is an ancient and immortal society, which has given birth to the greatest personalities in all walks of life and has evolved the highest philosophy and the noblest social standards. The stamp of that greatness can be seen even to this day when others refer to a son of this soil as ‘the descendant of a Rama, a Krishna and a shankaracharya, in whose blood the glorious virtues of all those illustrious predecessors- those world masters in every field of knowledge and action- are inherited. What does all this indicate? It is, that our birth in the Hindu society has conferred this unique honour upon us, in addiction to happy physical sustenance, and opened the path for us to scale the sublime heights of those great souls. Thus , in how many ways and how immensely are we indebted to our society! Then, is it befitting on our part to go on merely enjoying all its fruits and merits without caring to do duty towards it? Thus, it is our scriptures that a man should live on what is left over after offering to society. Thus , it is our first duty to absolve ourselves from that debt of gratitude. Therein lies the fulfillement of our life. Our shastras declare that man is born with three kinds of debts-deva-rina and rishi-rina. This life is given to us by the grace of gods. And hence we have to express our gratitude, i.e., pitra-rina. And since we inherit the legacy of learning and culture bequeathed by our ancients, the duty of discharging rishi-rina devolves upon us.”

     Thus the core of our cultural heritage gives priority to selfless service towards creations of god and that is the true worship in Hindu philosophy. Even our sacred scripture Ramayana  gives the message of unconditional service to family ,society nation and whole universe

VEER KUNWAR SINGH : THE LION OF BIHAR

The 23^rd April is celebrated all over Bihar as “Kunwar Singh Vijayotsav Diwas” every year. India’s First War of Independence had countless martyrs who made Mother India proud. One of them was Veer Kunwar Singh the ‘Lion of Bihar’ who did not only make the country proud by his bravery but taught the lesson of selfless service to nation and selfless patriotism . In a famous incidence while crossing the Ganga while he was severely injured Babu Veer Kunwar cut off his right arm and offered it as his sacrifice to mother Ganga. It is an eye opener for today’s declining selfless devotion and service to nation. Nation is not for only fulfilling our desire but it is to be served and decorated with peace and love. There should be perfect harmony between citizens and Government and proper balance between their responsibilities and duties. Our nation is in a great need for such patriotic people who will fill the vacuum of selfless service and devotion for our nation just like like Kunwar Singh. Kunwar Singh’s bravery and devotion gives befitting lesson to the Kashmiri separatists that when there is threat upon the integrity and sovereignty of our motherland then every Indian can act as Veer Kunwar Singh. 

Considering the ethics of freedom in democracy

The term ‘democracy’ was first used in the fifth century BC by the Greek historian Herodotus in the sense of ‘rule by the people’ . This term is derived from a Greek words: demos, meaning ‘the people’, and kratien, meaning ‘to rule’. At Gettysburg, Lincoln, who began his address with the now well-known phrase ‘Four score and seven years ago ,’ reminded the assembled crowd of the Founding Fathers, vision, which established a nation that was ‘dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’ In his speech ,Lincoln gave us the greatest definition of democracy when he called it the government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’

James Bryce is one of the greatest champions of democracy and its most sympathetic critic. In his two monumental works, The American Commonwealth (1893) and Modern Democracies (1921) he treated democracy as a form of government . He defined democracy as ‘the the rule of people expressing their sovereign will through the votes’ . Ultimately he reduced it to ‘the rule of the majority’ . Bryce finds the justification of of democracy in the concept of relativity,that is by comparing its merits and demerits with other forms of government. The test of government, according to Bryce is the welfare of the people. Thus the standard of of merit of any form of government can be judged by the adequacy with which it performs the chief functions of government: the protection from internal and external enemies, the securing of justice, efficient administration of common affairs, and the bestowal of aid to the individual citizens in their several occupations. History shows that these functions can be carried out by democracies as well as any other form of government. But democracy has an additional merit in that it stimulates men to self-education, because participation by the people in government activities opens wider horizons for the individual and tends to broaden his interests. This participation is the essence of democracy. It is not ‘actual rule by the people’. The people in a democracy exercise their authority in two ways: (a) they determine the ends towards which their government shall aim; and (b) watch over those into whose hands they have placed the actual power of administration.

Bryce does not claim that democracy offers a panacea for all ills of society. Yet he prefers it to other forms of government because it has brought about considerable improvement in the standard of governance. It has not led to world brotherhood, nor has it dignified and purified politics, but it has provided for better governance in comparison to the past.

Bryce has enumerated six outstanding evils of the existing form of democracy. (i)the power of money interests to prevent administration or legislation; (ii) the tendency to allow politics to become a trade, entered for gain and not for service; (iii) extravagance; (iv) the failure to evaluate properly the skilled man and to abuse the doctrine of equality; (v) parity politics; and (vi) the tendency of politicians to play for votes. However Bryce points out, the first three of these evils are common to other forms of government also- they are not specific evils of democracy, but they are by no means insurmountable. Democracy has closed some of the old channels of evil; it has opened some new ones; but it has not increased the stream.

Major problems of democracy include self-interest and irresponsibility of power. Democracy has two powerful weapons to fight against these evils; (a) law, and (b) opinion. The weapon of opinion is a peculiar safeguard; no other form of government provides for it. Steady urbanisation in large democracies and the consequent rise of large labour groups has complicated the problem of democracy. The future of democracy depends upon development of human wisdom. While no other government gives to the citizen as does a democracy, at the same time no other government demands so much . Bryce concludes his account of democracy with an optimistic note.

Freedom : the asset of democracy  becomes a burden if the state and the citizens do not judiciously utilise it. Sometimes state also needs to change its attitude from a soft state to a hard state when the question of sovereignty and integrity of the country arises. The unethical use of freedom always damages democracy . Recently it has been noticed that the Indian democracy has become a crowd of separatists.  The monopolisation of the freedom of speech has been taken into granted by the unpatriotic people.  The privileges of democracy  persuade separatists to renounce their pipe dreams. Its only due to the soft attitude of state and misuse of democracy that these things are growing rapidly and Kashmir problem is misused by unpatriotic people like Geelani, Masarat and so on . Sometimes state and democracy have to adopt ‘ Lion and Fox diplomacy’  to tackle national integrity and soverign ethics.

Indiscipline, disorder, secessionistic desires, unbalanced insistence on one’s rights, uncontrolled dissent, in reality, lead to the erosion of democratic principles. Though democracy prides itself on the freedom it gives but democracy would die if unpatriotic people start misusing their freedom. It becomes necessary to curb the freedom of such unpatriotic citizens who are dangerous to the sovereignty and integrity of the country otherwise it would be disastrous for the unity of our nation and its social fabric.

For the success of democracy it is necessary to maintain balance between rights and duties of both government and citizens and to ensure that the privileges of democracy are not its weakness but its strength. Modern state and democracy also need to renew its work culture. The last but not the least the success of any democracy depends upon the human wisdom.  The Kashmir dispute needs to be discussed on a bilateral basis alone and the government should not allow Kashmir separatists to misuse the privileges of democracy. There is  need of a constructive and conclusive debate on ARTICLE 370 also.

DR.  BHIMRAO  AMBEDKAR  :  AN  ICON  OF SOCIAL  JUSTICE

The 16^th president of the United States of America ABRAHAM LINCOLN delivered a truly moving GETTYSBURG ADDRESS on November 19^th 1863 at the soldier’s National Cemetery. This was a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. In his short but eloquent speech, Lincoln managed to reiterate the principles of human equality defined in the Declaration of Independence, and paint the Civil War as a struggle for freedom. The Gettysburg Address is unique in that within a span of two minutes, and just 272 words, Lincoln explained the meaning of the Civil War to a public that had grown weary of the conflict. At Gettysburg, Lincoln, who began his address with the now well-known phrase ‘Four score and seven years ago,’ reminded the assembled crowd of the Founding Fathers’ vision, which established a nation that was ‘dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’ In his speech, Lincoln gave us the greatest definition of democracy when he called it the government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’ The same thing influenced Ambedkar and was revolutionised by him in India which was clearly shown by his continuous untiring approach towards Human rights.

Bhimrao Ambedkar born on 14^th April 1891 was a great democrat, social and political philosopher, an intellectual, a propagator of social justice, human dignity and above all a great spiritual thinker. He dedicated himself to the task of upliftment of the downtrodden. Though untouchability was prevalent in Indian society, he started liberating people from the clutches of superstitions. Ambedkar realized that the most oppressed section of the society was that of the untouchables. Therefore he insisted upon the progress of this section as a condition for the development of Indian society.

He was deeply influenced by the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. These were the guiding principles in all his writings. He visualized a new society based on these principles. He was aware that liberty alone would not be sufficient. Liberty and equality must exist simultaneously. This alone would ensure that the quality of moral and material life of all individuals improved. Economic liberty and social injustice are negations of liberty. Therefore, political democracy without social democracy and economic justice is meaningless. But equality and liberty will be realized only when there is a strong sense of unity among the members of society. People must first realize that they have common interests and a common future. In a society divided by caste and class barriers, people of one caste or class will be suspicious of people of other castes or classes. A society can have a common goal only when its members share the sorrows and joys of fellow beings. This sense of brotherhood- a feeling that we belong to the same social fabric- must emerge in the society. Fraternity thus becomes a necessary condition for equality and liberty. Ambedkar made it clear that the ideal society of his conception would be a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity.

The Indian constitution promises not only political but also social democracy, as explained by Dr Ambedkar in his concluding speech in the constituent assembly: “political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity which are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce on from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy. Liberty cannot be divorced from equality, equality cannot be divorced from liberty, nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity.”

        Ambedkar can be compared to Martin Luther King Jr. who electrified America with his momentuous ‘I Have A Dream speech.  His inspiring oratory demanding racial justice and an integrated society became a mantra for the black community. He said during the course of his speech :I have a dream that my fore children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. `` I have been to the mountain top’ was the last speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr on April 3^rd 1968, the day before he was assassinated. He said: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

     

Ambedkar did a lot of work for the abolition of the polluted system of ‘untouchability’. He established many organisations such as the Bahishkrit Hitkari Sabha, Independent Labour party and All India Scheduled caste Federation. His chief works include the “Problem of Rupee”, “Evolution of provincial Finance in British India”, “Castes in India”, “Small Holdings and their Remedies” and so on. He also worked for the amelioration of the labourers and depressed classes as a member of the Bombay Legislative Assembly. He embraced Buddhism in 1956.He wanted to instill the faith of self-respect among downtrodden classes of society.

 It is very true that though the principle of Integral humanism developed by Deen Dayal Upadhyay,  Ambedkar’s social philosophy was also an essential part of it and without it, the meaning of INTEGRAL HUMANISM would be incomplete.He really presented a humanitarian face of religion.

Remembering Rahul Sankrityayan on his birth anniversary

Born on 9^th April, 1893 was a Mahapandit, (Great scholar) who truly revolutionised the way people looked towards linguistics. He changed the attitude of people towards linguistics from being merely a tool of communication to a tool which bridges the gap between different cultures and strives towards cultural unity. He was a polyglot, no doubt but he is remembered mostly for patronising Indian mother tongue-Hindi and devbhasa Sanskrit by globalising them.

              He was a true scholar of linguistics and was well versed with about 30 languages. He made many tiring journeys throughout the world to propagate his views. He taught at many renowned universities and that is clearly the proof of his success, given he did not receive any formal education. He was also a freedom fighter of repute and also known as the ‘Father OF HINDI TRAVEL LITERATURE’.

   

He also wrote many books some of them being ‘GANGA SE VOLGA’ and ‘MERI JEEVAN YATRA’. Rahul had set out to recover the Sanskrit works on Indian Culture which were destroyed after Khilji burned the libraries of the famous Nalanda university and Vikramshila university.

       





  It is truly the evidence that why India is a called a land of great scholars sants and sages who through their enlightened views and principles have nurtured this country, by strengthening its foundations before it set off on the path of scientific and all round development. Their philosophy acted just like the early growth phase of CHINESE BAMBOO TREE which strengthens its foundations first before growing headlong. Similarly INDIA has gone through this phase of foundation strengthening due to the efforts of these great souls and now it is up to us to translate it into headlong growth.

INDIAN SPIRITUAL SCIENCE: TO COMBAT ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

On 7^th April we celebrate ‘World Health Day’and WHO (World Health Organisation) was established to guide us globally to lead a healthy life. We in India are guided by the sayings and philosophy of our rishis and munis and their spiritual science. The popular Indian saying ‘swastha man me hi swastha tan ka vikas hota hai’ and ‘jaisa khao ann waisa hoga man’, carry a very deep meaning. In Hindu philosophy there is a system of different stages or ashramas to live a life of discipline and to follow the natural laws. It is required to conquer the self and not to exploit natural resources as well as the living creatures. Thus there is a spiritual science behind different stages of life. Similarly our rishis and munis gave emphasis on ‘Vegetarianism’. There was two spiritual science behind them First, not to harm any living creatures and second, the more we eat animals our behaviour also become more violent and intolerable. This has been proved scientifically also. 

Sanatan dharm emphasises on comprehensive view of life which aims for realization of both material prosperity as well as spiritual prosperity. It always exhorted men to realize four purusharthas or values of life, namely Dharm (righteousness),  Artha (wealth),  kama (desire) and moksha(liberation). If we follow four purusharthas of life we can conquer overself and if we conquer overself we can achieve inner peace and inner purity which gives us good inner health. If we succeed in achieving inner health our health automatically will become healthier and that is our spiritual science to combat environmental pollution. Every sanatan philosophy has got science behind them and it symbolises some deep moral lessons behind them. For example when we worship Lord shiv parivar it gives us the lesson to live in harmony with nature, there is no concept of ‘survival of the fittest’ and ‘might is right’ in shiv parivar. There is snake in shiva’s neck , rat is the vehicle of Ganesh, peocock is the vechile of Kartikya and lion is the vehicle of ma parvati and there is nandi (cow), all lives in harmony. This asks us not to overexploit nature on the basis of ‘survival of the fittest’ but to create harmony among the nature.

The five elements make man’s life possible- Water, air, earth, fire, and space. It is given in Tattriya Upanishad that from space comes wind; from wind- fire; from fire- water; from water-earth ; from earth-herbs; from herbs –food; from food –blood ;from blood-humans. This is the process of evolution. Hence balance should be maintained between all the five elements. If the balance is disturbed, the life of the people would be in danger. So in Vedic mantra peace on all (gods, earth, vegetation, water, air, fire, and space) has been invoked. Sanatan dharm has prescribed worship of nature as Sun, Moon, wind, fire, etc. and of the natural objects also as mountains, rivers, trees, plants, animals, birds etc. Behind this spiritual science, the idea is that the man should respect natural resources for the sake of their existence.

In western countries, natural resources are for their material prosperity so they use to exploit nature in the name of development. But for we Indians, our cultural heritage and scriptures teach us that natural resources are not only for consumption but it has divinity within it. So it should be worshipped. In Padma Purana, it is said that Ganga can wash away the sins of several births. It makes one virtuous, and enables one to find a place in heaven. Sanatan dharm and its scriptures realises us that divinity pervades every pore of a human being and natural resources. It is equally so in case of animals. In the Rig-Veda, it is said, Do not be like a devlish buzzard that troubles other birds by catching their necks and killing them. Do not trouble the trees. Do not uproot or cut them. They provide protection to animals, birds and other living beings. In the Manusmriti it is said that trees are like human beings and experience sorrow and happiness. God has created them for the welfare of living beings. Peepal ,Tulsi ,Bargad ,Ashok tree,etc; all have scientific as well as spiritual assets for Hindus. 

Different vehicles of animals for Gods and goddesses symbolise some art of living for human beings. Lakshmi used an owl as a vehicle. An Owl is a day blind. It can see only at night, those are obsessed with wealth and prosperity operate in darkness. They are unaware of the light of the Sun ,which is symbolic of self –knowledge or self-realisation. Shiva and parvati use the bull Nandi, who perceives religious knowledge well. Its white colour is symbolic of its capabilities. Its four legs are symbolic of the four pillars of religion- compassion, charity, austerity and purity. Through these four qualities, one can attain salvation. Durga uses lion as a vehicle. The lion is a ferocious, fearless animal, symbolic of strength and virility. The devotees of Durga gradually develop the qualities of lion. They develop strength through devotion. The love for their masters makes animals resemble human friends in many ways. Sages and saints could live safely in deep forests because of the company of animals like cows, goats, horses, sheep ,deer and even smaller animals like dogs, cats and squirrels. The cow is known not only for the milk that it provides, but it acknowledge as a ‘mother’. So there should be stringent law for protection of cows.

Gandhi taught us that man should consume only minimum quantity of material things which are necessary to keep him physically fit .Additional consumption would mean grabbing the rightful share of others. He rightly observed: Earth has enough resources to satisfy everybody’s need but not their greed. Gandhi never wanted India to emulate the ways of the western civilization. He held that the western civilization sought to promote consumerism which would lead us to moral decline. Moral regeneration calls for self-control and the spirit of renunciation.  Moral strength could not be gained through fulfilment of material needs. He was opposed to any notion of development that seeks to multiply material wants and to find the means of their fulfilment. He argued that in the west people talk of improvement of quality of life in the sense of raising the standard of living. But the key of real improvement in life of man lies in the conscience. This is the real spiritual Indian science that the world need today to combat environmental pollution.

Environmental balance must be maintained and India has tremendous solutions for this. Awareness in this direction grew after 1970 when scientists discovered traces of snow melting at Antarctica. Such a serious issue was discussed at the Stockholm conference. It was resolved that environment be protected and purified for the safety of present and future generations. The motto ‘Only One Earth’ was adopted. On 28^th October, 1982 ,The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted World Charter for Nature . The Brundtland commission submitted its report in 1987 with the title of ‘Our Common Future’ .The report says Development should be such that it meets the requirements of the present ,but it should not be fatal to the capacity of the coming generations. A.Leroy Bennett said, The motto of  ‘Only One Earth’ lays stress on essential unity and interdependence of life supporting system on a world level. In the Stockholm Declaration of 1972 it is mentioned that the man is the creator moulder of his environment, it makes his physical existence possible and it alone can make his intellectual, moral,social and spiritual development possible. A conference was held at Rio de Jeneiro in Brazil in june,1992 to consider the recommendations of this commission. It was called Earth summit. On this occasion, a detailed programme was adopted for the next century that is known as Agenda-21 . It was insisted that all states should maintain balance of nature, prevent pollution of environment, and adopt the course of Sustainable Development.  

In 1968, Garrett Hardin presented his paper titled ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’. Garrett Hardin said if the people of the world overexploit the common resources of environment, although they know that their such actions would be harmful to their long –range interests, the result would be tragedy of the commons. In 1972, a group of scholars (club of Rome) brought out a book with the title of ‘Limits of Growth’, in which they highlighted the bad effects of increasing population on environment. There are some assets on which no state may have its exclusive hold on atmosphere, space, open seas or seabed, or Antarctica. It is called common property.  The case of Outer space has its own place in this regard. American president Reagan made the ambitious programme of strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) also known as star war programme. Its aim was to create stations in the space so as to launch atomic weapons from there. But this programme could not be successful. The powerful states have increased their strategic power by making nuclear experiments in the atmosphere and in the open seas and thereby polluted the purity of environment.

Oil is a natural resource that is called black gold. For this reason some countries of west Asia attract the attention of other countries. Advanced Industrial societies, with higher rates of production and consumption, are more responsible for environmental degradation and pollution than the developing societies. As Ted Trainer (Abandon Affluence ; 1985) observes : each America uses 617 times as much energy per year as the Ethiopians. It is pointed out that America comprise 6% of world population, but they are responsible for consumption of about 50%of manufactured and 33% of energy of the world .This leaves a very little room for poor countries with vast populations.

Early hints of environmentalism may be found in E.F. Schumacher’s famous work, ‘Small is Beautiful’ (1973), which contained a critique of modern industrial society . He observed, “ the modern industrial system, with all its intellectual sophistication, consumes the very basis on which it has been erected.” The man is nothing but a bundle of thoughts. The day we spiritualise our thought process and our developmental model we become the healthiest and happiest world.  Spiritualism can cleanse our inner health which automatically has impact on our outer health. Today, the environmental pollution has direct impact on our health. Adulteration in food has become a matter of great concern. Self consciousness can only combat this global crisis. The self-consciousness, purity and honesty in our thoughts can only come through spiritual awakening. Small little changes can make this earth a beautiful place to live in. The Indian model of ‘art of living’ can again make this earth prosperous of not only material wealth but divine wealth also and whole world can become a healthiest in respect of the inner as well as the outer health.

References:

1.      Gauba , O.P., An Introduction to political theory ;

2.       Bhatta, prem p. , Hindu Gods and Goddesses;

3.       Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi;  

बदलता वैश्विक परिवेश और सभ्यताओं  के बीच लड़ाई

अंतर्राष्ट्रीय समीकरण काफी तेजी से बदल रहे हैं। पहले दो  ध्रुबों में बटे हुये थे विश्व के देश।  उसके बाद अमेरिका का वर्चश्व रहा। और अब हम बढ़  रहे हैं: सभ्यताओं के बीच लड़ाई (Clash of Civilisations) की ओऱ।

टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया में छपे आज के लेख "By 2050 India to surpass Indonesia, will have largest Muslim population", जिसमे वाशिंगटन  स्थित PEW RESEARCH FOUNDATION के  अध्ययन /सर्वे को पेश किया गया है। उक्त अध्ययन के अनुसार सन २०५० तक :

१. भारत में मुसलमानों की संख्या  इंडोनेशिया से ज्यादा हो जाएगी और भारत  विश्व में मुसलमानों की सबसे ज्यादा आबादी वाला राष्ट्र बन जायेगा।
२. विश्व में मुसलमानों की संख्या  सबसे तेजी से बढ़ेगी और वह (वर्त्तमान में) लगभग १६० करोड़ से  बढ़कर २८० करोड़ हो जाएगी।
३. इस अवधी में हिन्दुओं की संख्या लगभग ११० करोड़ से बढ़ कर १४० करोड़ होगी तथा ईसाईयों की संख्या २१७ करोड़ से बढ़कर २९० करोड़ हो जाएगी।
४. बौद्ध धर्म के अनुयायियों की संख्या जो कि मुख्यतः चीन, जापान,थाईलैंड आदि में रहते हैं, लगभग स्थिर बनी  रहेगी।

चौकाने बाली बात यह है की एक समुदाय विशेष की जनसंख्या तेजी से बढ़ती जा रही है। विश्व स्तर पर कई क्षेत्रों में तथा भारतीय महाद्वीप के कई भागों  में समुदायों के बीच का डेमोग्राफिक समीकरण काफी तेजी से बदल रहे हैं।

चिंता इस बात को लेकर नहीं है कि किसी समुदाय विशेष की जनसँख्या इतनी तेजी से बढ़ रही है। बल्कि चिंता तो यह है कि उस समुदाय विशेष के अंदर धार्मिक अतिवादिता एवं असहिष्णुता अपने चरम स्तर पर है और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय समाज इसपर काबू पाने में असफल रहा है। विश्व स्तर पर इस तरह के संगठन मानवता के लिये खतरा बनते जा रहे रहे  हैं। ऐसा नहीं है कि ये लोग सिर्फ दूसरे समुदायों के लिए  ही घातक हैं बल्कि ये संगठन अपने समुदाय के लिए भी विनाशकारी हैं। इराक ,सीरिया , पाकिस्तान , अफगानिस्तान आदि देशों की स्थिति किसी से छिपी नहीं है ।जमात उद दावा , अल क़ायदा एवं आई एस  आई एस आदि जैसे संगठन तो किसी के वश में भी नहीं हैं। इनकी क्रूरता के सामने तो पूरी मानवता बेवश दिखती है।

इन परिस्थितियों में विश्व समाज को रास्ता दिखाने का काम भारत की सांस्कृतिक विरासत ही कर सकती है। "बसुधैव कुटुम्बकम " का मार्ग ही उचित मार्ग है जिस पर चलकर विश्व शांति प्राप्त की जा सकती है। अगर ऐसा नहीं होता है तो अगला विश्वयुद्ध विभिन्न देशों के बीच नहीं होगा बल्कि आने बाले समय में होगी - सभ्यताओं के बीच लड़ाई  (क्लैश ऑफ सिबिलाइजेसन )!

VARDHAMAN MAHAVIRA: The Great Conqueror

Vardhaman Mahavira was born in Kundagram, Vaishali (Bihar) in 599 BC. He was 24th and last tirthankara (prophet) of Jainism and is considered as founder of Jainism. He ensured that all the earlier Jaina teachings and doctrines were assimilated and codified into the Jaina religious order.

The five truths
Parsavanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara had taught people to live by four truths.
1. Non-violence (Ahimsa)
2. Truth (Satya)
3. Non-stealing (Asteya)
4. Non-possession (Aparigraha)
Mahavira added the fifth one;
5. Chastity (Brahmacharya)

Jina is a sanskrit word, which means conqueror or victorious. The term Jaina has been derived from the same word jina, which means conqueror over self i.e. over greed, bondage and attachment.

Relevance of teachings of Mahavira

Enlightened teachings of Mahavira guides us to to live with love, compassion, asceticism, peace and non-violence. People in the world are now becoming more violent and are not ready to tolerate each other. Jainism teaches us the path for co-existence and tolerance and if the five truths are followed properly this world may become a lovely place to live in.

Mahavira said that there was an immortal soul within all living beings, which is why it was important to avoid hurting any living creature. So the Jain dharma is against any form of violence and restricts its people from killing animals ( jeev hatya). This can be a real motivating and guiding principle to the people who are encoraging hatred and butchering not only the animals but also the human beings.

Aparigraha (non-possession) is also one of the five truths of Jainism. In the present world there is a big gap between rich and poor. 80% of the wealth is in possession of 20% people. If the rich people start following the preaching of Jainism and this wealth is  equally distributed among the poor, no human being in the world will sleep with empty stomach. Poverty will be eliminated from the world.  

CULTURAL PHILOSOPHY OF Madan Mohan Malaviya

Madan Mohan  Malaviya born on 25^th December, 1861 was the founder of the Banaras Hindu University. He was a great propagator and promoter of sanatan values which, according to him, contained the solutions for all the social disorders that had overtaken the world. He wanted to implant the Hindu philosophy into the hearts of youth by including it in their educational curriculum so that they are rendered self sufficient to combat the growing social decay. This was one of his many dreams that he visioned for the Modern India. It is really hearty to see him honoured but it’s high time that his core ideas of sanatan values are put into practice.

He was an exponent of the concept of moral legitimacy in political philosophy and this moral legitimacy could only come through sanatan philosophy. He started the Hindi weekly ‘Abhyudaya’. In 1880 he founded the Hindu samaj of Allahabad. He led the Sanatan dharm Mahasabha and supported Hindu Mahasabha. He wanted to preserve and advance the study of  Hindu scriptures and classics. He was deeply influenced by devotional idealism of Bhagvatam and all the moral and spiritual philosophy of sanatan dharm. He discarded ‘mechanical nationalism’  and preferred ‘cultural nationalism’ which is the strength of nation .

Malaviya had a religious approach to life. He sincerely believed in the life giving potentialities of religion. Moral progress based on loyalty to the religious vows is even more essential than material prosperity. He regarded the cultivation of a religious spirit of dutifulness, devoutness and dedication as the pathway to national rejuvenation, solidarity and greatness.  He had a deep consciousness and sanctity and necessity of moral values. He adhered to the teachings of the Mahabharata that righteousness alone obtains lasting victory.

The slogan “satyameva jayate”, that means the truth alone will triumph is the central theme of Sanatan dharm, which really influenced Pandit Malaviya . He was proud of belonging to a sanatan  dharm, He had a deep faith in all the scriptures of sanatan dharm and he wanted to implement it in our behaviour.

References:

1.Varma V.P. , Modern Indian Political Thought

2.Malaviya M.M., The Immanence of God (Gorakhpur, Gita press,1936).