THE RENAISSANCE OF HINDUISM (Part 1) - NEED FOR RESURRECTING KSHATRIYAS TODAY IN INDIA

THE RENAISSANCE

OF 

HINDUISM

(Part 1)

 

Hinduism is not a Religion in the western sense.  Western religions are unable to digest this fact, even after so many great Hindu authorities have stated this in unequivocal terms.

Anybody born on this land can believe or not believe anything in the religious sense and yet be a Hindu. India is incapable of hating any religious-ism, unlike the non-indian religious-isms, which, in practice, are 'born to hate' all other religious-isms except 'itself'. 'Be Us' and we leave you no other way - is their obvious dictum. 

That is not how Hinduism ever existed or operated in India. Whatever you believe in - be a Good Human. This has been the way in India all along but, unfortunately, not any more, due to the aggressive presence of the external isms.

Many great scriptures evolved on this soil from historically unknown and obscure times. Vedas evolved millions of years ago. Vedas are proof that highly civilized humans existed on this land when no proof of cultured humans existed anywhere else on earth. Vedas may or may not be the repository of all spiritual wisdom. But, they contain extraordinarily great thinking in many ways, even in those obscure times, which none of us today can deny.

I am not claiming completeness or infallibility for Vedas but, spreading through word of mouth from one sage to his disciple-sages, they always seem to have marched with times. Every Great Sage seems to have added to their great flavour - which is clear from the fact that Vedas themselves speak of so many great sages. 

When anecdotes of so many great sages exist in them, we can't say, that those sages made no contribution to Vedas and only God made them. The Greatness of Vedas, which are the most ANCIENT BOOKS ON EARTH (and which I feel were definitely changing with every great sage) is unquestionable. When we talk of Vedas, we must keep in mind the most ancient times during which they came into existence.

Other religious scriptures which came in the last 2000-2500 years ago all over the earth are in no way better than Vedas, which came millions of years ago. That is the Greatness of the Vedas and this soil.

Upanishads evolved just a little later than the Vedas, partly from Vedas themselves and partly from the minds of Great Sages over a period of time. Upanishads talk of so many sages and so many Yagnas, sacrifices etc. We can't say that the sages mentioned in them or the sages who spoke of them made no contribution to them. Essentially, the Sages propagated the best of  wisdom through  Upanishads.

Ramayana and Mahabharata  are not scriptures but  are chronicles of contemporary History of the times they were written. Their authors wrote partly their own History and mostly, the History of the Greatest people of their times. They contain a lot of living wisdom of those times. These Books are extraordinary  by any of our current day standards.

Mahabharat is undoubtedly the Biggest and the best chronicle of History of all time anywhere in the world. Because we don't possess the weapons of those days, can we really dispute their very existence today? But, who can dispute the the greatness of the art of fighting, art of ruling and art of living which existed in the Mahabharat days? These were the best of all time.

Some may tend to dispute Mahabharat as actual History but Gita is living proof of Mahabharat. During the last 5000 years, Nobody has produced a book greater than either Mahabharat as History or Gita as the source of the greatest Scientific knowledge. 

If 21st century world in general and India in particular does not explore the whole gamut of sciences Krishna revealed in Gita, it would be one of our Greatest failures. I as a born Brahman, but not particularly identifying with any caste myself, feel that in the hands of Brahmins, Brahmin priests and Brahmin sages, Gita remained largely a Prayer Book and a religious scripture instead of the scientific treatise and an inspiration for action that it was meant to be.  Not much investigation has gone into the sciences revealed in Gita.

I do admit that many commentaries were written on Gita by many Great authors and practitioners of Yoga but, it has not percolated into the common public domain and did not evoke the amount of interest it should have evoked among all people. Lord Krishna's greatest exposition on Yoga and all great sciences of India did not reach common masses to the extent they should have. This is the fact. This anachronism needs to be corrected. 

Many Hindus have multiple copies of the Bible given free to them on the Roads, but not the Gita. When you go to a temple, in every Puja, at least a few slokas of the Gita must be recited by the Archakas as part of puja. That too is not happening. 

Rigveda says- take all noble ideas from everywhere in the Universe. We must take this idea, at least from other religions. Go to a Church. You will hear the Bible. Go to a Mosque. You will hear the Quran. Go to a Temple. YOU MUST HEAR A FEW SLOKAS OF THE GITA. This should become mandatory. Also, Every Hindu must possess an excellent version of Gita with translation into his own Language also and read a few slokas from it daily.

Rama, the personification of Dharma was a Kshatriya. Krishna the exponent of the Extraordinary book of Gita was a Kshatriya. We need such Great Kshatriyas today, to explore and interpret our Vedas, Upanishads and the Gita. 

Otherwise, we will always be confusing inaction as action. Guarding Dharma on earth is ACTION, even if seeking Moksha individually  may be non attachment and inaction. Gita is of course, capable of giving such different meanings to different people at different times and also, different solutions to different problems. Gita prescribes duties at Individual level and at Society level as well. So does Mahabharat. We must know these duties.

Puranas are also not scriptures but are meant for small story telling, to disseminate  ancient wisdom in colloquial idiom. Puranas are perhaps meant to tell Dharma to the unlettered people in many ways. 

The Greatest and the latest Book of wisdom is of course, the Bhagavad Gita, told by Lord Krishna himself, more than 5000 years ago, as a summary of all ancient wisdom.  A lot of Gita is devoted to many unexplored sciences. Basically, Gita is meant to spur the man into action. Excellence in Action is Yoga, says Lord Krishna himself.

In contrast, Patanjali says, Yoga is controlling the mind. Both are correct. But, there is a huge difference in the approach of the two. Gita is the way on earth for 99% of people. Patanjali is the way for 1% of people. Both are of course, great. 

The last sloka of Gita is - "where Krishna the Yogeswara is, and where the mighty armed Arjuna with his Gandiva is - there, victory, happiness and riches of all types is definite to accrue." Can you forget this and take to sanyas, when the calling of duty is - ACTION? Especially to protect Dharma?

Unfortunately, for the last 5000 years, after Lord Krishna left the earth, India has not tried much to - march with the changing times, renovate itself, re-present itself and re-form itself to withstand external and internal attacks.

Of course, Great leaders like Adi Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya  campaigned for  renovating Hinduism in their own ways. All of them were against the heinous practice of Untouchability and said so - most vocally and recorded this in their writings. But, the great problem was - there was no Kshatriya leader to back them up and implement them in the society.

The present Indian religious leaders are still largely rooted in the pre- Bhagavad Gita times and are not recognizing the external and internal dangers annihilating Hinduism everyday. Lord Krishna did not teach this type of and this level of Karma sanyasa and inaction in his Bhagavad Gita. 

He asked Arjuna to take up arms and annihilate Adharma with complete detachment. This core teaching of Gita is totally absent in actual practice of our present day religious leaders and other leaders of today.I am not advocating violence of any type for any reason. It is not needed. I am advocating Great leadership and firm handling in unifying Hinduism. 

Today, somebody has introduced the system of Dalit Archakas. It is a most welcome Measure. It should have come 70 years back. Now, let there be vigorous training for deserving Archakas from all castes. But, once they are Archakas, they are common for all Hindus and let us not identify them as Dalit Archakas etc. Reform of Hinduism is so simple and so smooth. This reform has come in, without any problems.

There are many other things missing in today's India -  for victory of Dharma over Adharma. 

Where are those fearless Kshatriya warriors of the Mahabharat days who will fight for Dharma today?

Today, we have Brahmins, Vaisyas and Sudras but where are Kshatriyas? They are almost totally absent in Hinduism today and Hinduism is paying a very heavy price because of their absence. 40% of population must be kshatriyas who will guard the others and guard Dharma.  Today, people who identify themselves as Kshatriyas are just about 1%. that is the greatest problem of today for Hinduism in India.

Today, the greatest need for Hinduism is to resurrect the Kshatriya clan. Every Hindu family must contribute one child to the Kshatriya clan, whatever may be their caste right now, and make that child a great, fearless warrior, ready to defend India, ready to defend Hinduism and ready to defend Dharma.

Let there be no sub-castes, sub-groups etc among Kshatriyas, which must exist as a single caste, drawn from all other castes, to protect Dharma.

If Dalits can be anointed as priests after due training, and this is a most welcome measure, why not create a Kshatriya clan, which must be about 40% of population, which is proud of our ancient Dharma and is ready to protect India and the great civilization that existed in this land.

Kshatriya does not mean - that he does not participate in other activities. No caste is barred from participating in any other activities - including Business, trade, Entrepreneurship etc. But, they must  specialize in their anointed Duty. 

An Archaka can also learn fighting arts but his basis skill must be that of an Archaka. Somnath Temple fell to the Invaders because, the Archakas were not fighters and there were also no Kshatriyas to guard the Temple.

Will YOU identify yourself with the Greatest Kshatriyas like Rama, Krishna, Arjuna, Bhishma and so on, now and try to emulate their fearless greatness? Do not create any sub castes etc within Kshatriyas. Let it be a great unified clan created out of Dare devils drawn from all other castes.

It can be introduced as 'optional' today. It is up to each Individual to identify himself as Kshatriya and declare himself so. Let this initiative be encouraged. Let us give all out support. Let it be given legal recognition. Let us not place any hurdles for any deserving person. But, let no coward be recognized as Kshatriya.

India really needs Great Kshatriyas today. Let the Government support this measure in greater measure just like it is coming forward to create Dalit Archakas. Let Hinduism be revitalized and united by such measures.

Krishna said - caste is based on Guna and Karma - and he did not mention birth  as a major criterion. He himself was born as Kshatriya but grew as a Yadava, and befriended Kubja, Vidura, Sanjaya, Kuchela and so on. He has shown the way.  Let us take the cues from him for solving our today's major problems and renovating Hinduism.

Jai Bharat ! Jai Hind !