Canadian Hindu Link

WINTER 2016 ISSUE

Canadian Hindu Link

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

A Free Quarterly Magazine Dedicated To Thinking Hindus Who Care About Hindu Dharma

From Editor’s Desk............3

Volume 8 . Issue 1

ISSN# 1920-9339

Jan / Feb / Mar 2016

Swami Dayananda, The Patriot Saint................4 Vedas and a Vegetarian Diet..................................6 Easy to Mock Hindus and their Holy Cows.........8 On Cow Slaughter............10 Philosophy Behind The Mahabharta Story.............11 Why Is Krishna Blue?........12 Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?..............13 Breathing Happiness – Thanks To Sri Sri...............14 Why I am Proud to be Hindu?..............................18 Separation of Church From State........................21 Secularism Western, Dharma Indian Solution....22 Vedas, Smritis and Ambedkar.........................23 Why Did Lord Rama Banish Sita?.......................24 Control Of Hindu Temples and Temple Funds.............25

Pr ayer in any form is efficacious because it is an action. It will, therefore, have a result.

That is the law of this universe in which we find ourselves.

Indian Secularism is Colour Blind.....................26 Sorry Sadhguru, Yoga is Hindu But Gravity is Not Christian.28

— Swami Dayanand Saraswati August 1930 - September 2015

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FROM EDITOR’S DESK

CANADIAN HINDU LINK CONTINUES First, I offer my Namaskaram to all readers of this great journal which has been published by an esteemed Canadian Hindu author Ajit Adhopia since 2009 with the help of many volunteers. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Ajit and the volunteers for their untiring dedication and hard work in helping to nourish the roots of Sanatan Dharma by publication and distribution of this journal throughout the Greater Toronto Area for the greater good of Hindus and others. My old time friend and colleague Ajit has decided to hand over the reins of this journal to me at this time due to health reasons. We wish him good health. Ajit Adhopia shall continue to be a guiding light for us and his articles will continue to be published in this journal.

I welcome two new Directors of Canadian Hindu Education Link other than myself, Dave Bhatia who is my friend and colleague at Vedic Institute of Canada, Ingersoll and Shreshtha Rout who is the spouse of the outgoing General Secretary Deepak Rout. We thank Deepak Rout for his volunteer work throughout the last few years. Together we are determined to make this journal even more beautiful and meaningful and available in more parts of this great country of Canada. We shall plan occasional get-togethers, produce cultural programs and involve the whole community in meeting of the minds.

Now, allow me to say something about us. Dave Bhatia and I, Deepak Sharma, have a keen sense of direction in preserving and disseminating the age old values and principles of the Vedic Hindu Dharma. We have established Vedic Institute of Canada (Vedic Ashram) to provide Canadians of all stripes and particularly children of Hindu families in Canada a basic understanding of Hinduism and its virtues. We promote Yoga, Meditation,

Yajna, Mantras, Bhagavad Gita Study and a healthy dialogue amongst children, parents and grandparents. It is an ongoing process which will take all our contributions and efforts. We look forward to working with all the volunteers to keep publishing Canadian Hindu Link magazine without any interruption. With my experience as an editor and publisher of Shanti Sandesh magazine for over four years in 1990s and Dave Bhatia’s experience of serving as a Director of Vaishno Devi Temple, Oakville we are confident that we are capable of accepting this responsibility.

In our effort to continue teaching and promoting Vedic values, we successfully organized several Yoga and Detox camps at Vedic Ashram during the months of September and October 2015 with the help of Dr. Yogiraj ji.

Now we are following up with weekend Vedic Retreats once a month. We encourage you to take part in those retreats to savor the Ashram’s atmosphere and improve your health and well-being.

The seniors deserve a better place to live during their golden years and we are creating OM Living at the Vedic Ashram in the Town of Ingersoll, Ontario where our seniors can enjoy a joyful environment in the company of like-minded people who create a noble, healthy and happy community of seniors. We hope to see many seniors living there in the near future upon completion of building renovations. We have had a lot of interest in this project from many seniors and we encourage you to find out more by contacting us and visiting Vedic Ashram.

WEBSITE: www.vedicashram.ca

Deepak Sharma Volunteer Editor, Canadian Hindu Link

“What is the meaning of Om?

Om is the mysterious cosmic energy that is the substratum of all the things and all the beings of the entire universe. It is an eternal song of the Divine.

It is continuously resounding in silence on the background of everything that exists.”

— Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation

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SWAMI DAYANANDA, THE PATRIOT SAINT

By S. Gurumurthy Swami Dayananda Saraswati — a master exponent of the inclusive Hindu philosophy who declared there was not ‘ONE GOD,’ but ‘ONLY GOD,’ a teacher of Vedanta who created hundreds of teachers to continue the ancient Indian tradition, a great organiser who founded the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha as the representative body of unorganised Hindu religious traditions, a philosopher who harmonised and validated, from the Hindu perspective of theo-diversity, all forms of worship from paganism to monism, an intellectual who re-articulated and established that religious conversion, regarded as the right of evangelist religions, is itself violence, and finally a patriot saint who, like Maharishi Aurobindo and Swami Vivekananda did, saw, in the ancient nation of India, the very manifestation of all that he had learnt and taught — is no more. Indeed he was the latest incarnation in the tradition of nationalist saints of India.

Endowed with unparalleled intellectual skills and unlimited knowledge base, Dayananda first made it a mission of his life to teach and did take Vedanta to a vast elite audience in India and outside, which would otherwise have been half-westernised in world view and as much Christianised culturally. He aligned Vedanta to India as a national entity and cultural phenomenon and to Indians as the chosen people entrusted with the sacred duty to live, sustain and protect it not only for them but also for the good of the world. In his exposition, Vedanta was not just a philosophy but it found expression in the culture and life of India founded on the idea of dharma — in its arts and music, literature and sculpture, society and family, and in the Indian traditional respect for elders, teachers and women and ultimately in the reverence for this nation itself as sacred and in the love of the entire creation, both animate and inanimate. Starting off as student and disciple of the redoubtable Swami Chinmayananda, the originator of the contemporary school of exposition of Vedanta, Dayananda Saraswati rapidly grew up as an accomplished scholar and unparalleled teacher.

After having worked for decades and succeeded in his mission to teach and create teachers of Vedanta, he turned his attention to some critical issues of contemporary importance which would have long-term and adverse implications for the very purpose and soul PAGE 4

of this ancient nation. With this new turn, in the late 1990s a paradigm shift took place in his entire course of thought and action and this led to his founding of the Dharma Rakshana Samiti in Chennai in 1999. It was in that unique event, a confluence of some highly regarded saints, spiritualists, and intellectuals, that Swami Dayananda made one of his most memorable speeches where he declared that the very concept of religious conversion itself was violence — a spiritual, mental and cultural violence. This redefined the very notion of conversion which till then had some acceptability among non-Gandhian secularists as a right of religions — which in effect meant only the proselytising religions — to convert others to their faith. Gandhiji’s contempt for religious conversion is too well-known for the secularists to appropriate Mahatma Gandhi to support conversion as integral secularism. This is amongst the greatest contributions of Swami Dayananda to global inter-religious discourse. The redefinition of religious conversion as violence robbed the concept of conversion of benignity and exposed its malignant character.

In 1999 when the then Pope visited India, Swami Dayananda constituted and led a group of multireligious scholars and intellectuals and welcomed but asked him to declare that he was happy to visit a nation which has respected all faiths and that he also respected all faiths. But the Pope preferred not to accept Swami Dayananda’s suggestion. However, with his unmatched intellectual prowess Swami Dayananda took the battle against conversion in world fora. He proposed selfdiscipline among faiths in the Millennium summit of the United Nations in the year 2000, calling upon religions to respect each other, not to abuse one another and not to convert the faithfuls of other religions by force or by inducement to one’s fold.

There was consensus oAn his view but finally the proselytising faiths did not agree and the Millennium harmony proposal therefore did not succeed. But it took just eight more years for Swami Dayananda to convince the world religious leaders of the need for trans-religious self-regulation.

In the human rights declaration of world religious leaders in Amsterdam on December 10, 2008 on the 60th anniversary of the UN Human Rights Declaration, all

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world religious leaders, including the proselytising faiths, accepted the Dayananda approach — namely that religions should mutually respect and accept each other, that they should not abuse or trivialise one another’s faiths or symbols, that they should recognise the right of a person to be in the religion of his birth, and that there should be no conversion by force or by inducement — and signed the historic declaration. It is the substance of the Amsterdam declaration which Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted as the approach of his government to different faiths when he addressed the Christian religious meet in Delhi to celebrate the canonisation of saints from Kerala.

In this period from 1999 to 2008, Swami Dayananda undertook some far-reaching initiatives, which included the constitution of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha — one of his greatest achievements and equally a great contribution to the Indian civilisation. The Acharya Sabha has given the diverse and unorganised Hindu religions, which had long suffered disadvantage relative to the organised and proselytising faiths, a platform to come together as Dharma religions and participate in the global discourse. Till then, any secularist masquerading as a religious person would sign on the dotted line on behalf of Hinduism in the global fora.

His next big move was to bring together elders of all indigenous faiths — whether from South America or North America, Africa or Europe — at Delhi. Swami Dayananda declared that all faiths are sacred and valid and no faith can and should be allowed to claim to be superior to other faiths. He articulated religious diversity, which is the strongest point of Hinduism, in the most acceptable, rational and logical manner and challenged and debunked the claim that some faiths are only true faiths and others false faiths, which, he argued, is the cause for the widespread hate and violence today.

The great successes of this great sanyasi, moulded in the ancient traditions of India, is not, however, as wellknown as he himself was. That also demonstrated the high point of his personality — humility. Maharishi Aurobindo said that the greatest achievements have been least noisy. This aptly applied to Swami Dayananda’s work and life. In his demise, the Hindu philosophy has lost its greatest exponent of recent times, Hindu religion one of its staunchest defenders, and the nation a great patriot saint.

Source: First published on 25th September 2015 in Indian Express newspaper

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VEDAS AND A VEGETARIAN DIET

By Y.K. Wadhwa

Atharva Veda

Rig Veda

1. Anago hatya vai bheema kritye. Maa no gaa mashvam purusham vadheeh.

— Atharva Veda 10.1.29)

7. Yah paurusheyena kravishaa samankte yo ashwena pashunaa yaatudhaanah. Yo aghnyaayaabharati ksheeramagne teshaam sheershaani harasaapi vrishcha.

— Rig Veda 10.87.16

Abstract Meaning: It is definitely a great sin to kill innocents. Do not kill our cows, horses and people.

2. Ya aamam maansamadanti paurusheyam cha ye kravih.

Garbhaan kaadanti kshavaastaanito naashayaa masi.

— Atharva Veda 8.6.23 Abstract Meaning: We ought to destroy those who eat cooked as well as uncooked meat, meat involving destruction of males and females, fetuses and eggs.

3. Breehimattam yavamattamatho maashamatho tilam Esha vamm bhaago nihito ratnadheyaaya dantau maa hinsishtam pitaram maataram cha.

— Atharva Veda 6.140.2) Abstract Meaning: You eat rice, barley, gram and sesame. These cereals are specifically meant for you.

Do not kill those who are capable of being fathers and mothers.

Yajur Veda 4. Aghnyaa yajamaanasya pashoonpahi.

— Yajur Veda 1.1 Abstract Meaning: O human! Animals are Aghnya NOT TO BE KILLED. PROTECT THE ANIMALS.

5. PASHUNSTRAAYETHAAM

— Yajur Veda 6.11 Abstract Meaning: Protect the animals.

6. Dwipaadava Chatushpaatpaahi

— Yajur Veda 14.8 Abstract Meaning: Protect the bipeds and quadrupeds

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Abstract Meaning: May those who feed on human, horse or animal flesh and those who destroy milk-giving Aghnya - cows be punished severely.

Source: ‘Vedic Satsang - Authentic Vedic Perspectives’, Compiled and Edited by Dr.Deen B Chandora, M.D.,Madhusudan Chandora MD, Aditya Chandora, et al, Pub. by Greater Atlanta Vedic Temple Society, Inc., Lilburn, GA, USA, Ed.2012.

The Vedas do not at all sanction animal sacrifices.

The synonym for the Yajna in the Vedic lexicon called Nighantu is Adhvara. The Word has been explained by Yaskacharya, an ancient Vedic etymologist, as:

Adhvara eti yajyanam dhvarati hinsa karma tatpratished — Nirukta 1.7 Adhvara means where there is no violence of any kind (or the act which is perfectly non-violent). This word (Adhvara) has been used in all the four Vedas hundreds of times clearly proving that the Vedas do not sanction animal sacrifices.

In the Sam Veda-176, too it is clearly stated — We act according to the injunctions contained in the Vedic hymns. We never kill animals.

Meat-eating is not sanctioned by the Vedas. It is strongly condemned and prohibited. Rig Veda 10.87.16 says “One who eats human flesh, flesh of a horse or of any other animal and deprives others of the milk slaughtering cows, O King, if such a fiend does not desist by other means, then even cut off his head by your power.”

Who then started such obnoxious practice of animal sacrifice? In reply to a question by Yudhishtra, Bhismacharya explains in Mahabharata (Shanti Parva - 261.9) “Dhortey pravriti yajney naitadveydeshu vidyatey” i.e., Taking Wine, fish and flesh of animals,

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intoxicating drinks of various kinds, etc. is not sanctioned by the Vedas at all. It is the wicked people that have introduced such ignoble practices. Mahabharata further states - “It is only such absolutely foolish people, who do not know the real import and tradition of the ancient Dharma, who are atheists and who are skeptics that have mentioned slaughter of animals.

Source: “Teachings of the Vedas” An introduction

by Pt.Dharma Dev Vidya Martand, pub.by Shree Ghudmal Prahaladkumar Arya Dharmarth Nyas, Hindaun City, Raj.

Maharishi Dayanand (1824-1883) started a signature campaign against cow slaughter and sent a memorandum to Queen Victoria. Maharishi Dayanand writes in his book Satyarth Prakash “Neither we should kill, nor allow others to kill animals like cow, who in one generation does good to four lakhs seventy five thousand and six hundred people. During the rule of Aryas, no slaughter was allowed of cows or other serviceable animals. Then men and other creatures lived happily in the Aryavartta and other parts of globe. Milk, butter, oxen and other animals were in abundance and supply of food articles was in abundance.

Source: Satyarth Prakash (Chapter 10).

In the Vedas the cows are called Aghnya which derivatively means ‘not to be killed’. This word Aghnya has been used in all the four Vedas repeatedly. In the book “Vedic Culture, pub.by Ved Bharati, Allahabad, Ed.1985, its author Pt.Ganga Prasad Upadhyaya says that he found the word Aghnya “In 20 places in the Rig Veda, 5 in the Yajur Veda, 2 in Sama Veda and 33 in the Atharva Veda. As per Pt.Ganga Prasad Upadhyaya while seeking blessings, almost equal regard has been paid to Ashwa, i.e. the horse which has been used in numerous places in the Vedas.

Swami Vidyanand Saraswati, (formerly Principal and Fellow Punjab University) writes while quoting Atharva Veda 1.16.4 “Capital punishment has been ordered for one who kills or tortures our cows or men, deserves to be shot dead, because such a person is a murderer (viraha). How can we then conceive the killing of animals in any yajna which has been termed as the noblest act or ‘shreshthatam karma’.

It has been generally held by western scholars and their zealous followers here, that horses were sacrificed as the Ashvamedha. But the word Ashvamedha, during the Vedic period, was used in the sense of administration or welfare of the state Rashtram va Ashvamedha - Shatpatha 13-1-6).

There is no evidence whatsoever of the sacrifice of horses in the yajnas, performed during that period. It is clear that animal sacrifice in the yajnas was started only by outlaws, and since it is not in harmony with the Vedic spirit, any reference to it anywhere should therefore be taken as interpolation. Source:’On the Vedas - A Clue to understanding of the Vedas’ by Swami Vidyanand Saraswati, pub.by Vijaykumar Govindram Hasanand, New Delhi.

There are innumerable references available in uninterpolated Arsha texts against flesh eating and intoxicants and in favour of Ahimsa (non violence). Manusmriti says at one place “Men should abstain from flesh diet and intoxicants”(Manusmriti 5-5).

The stand of Arya Samaj since its inception in 1875 has been for a ban on slaughter houses and for protection of animals and has carried out several Andolans in this regard. After the publication of the book “Gokaronanidhi’ in 1881 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, other scholars of Arya Samaj have written extensively with a rational approach about the core message of the Vedic texts, in order to explode the myths regarding meat eating as well as to put the concept of Ahimsa in its right perspective. For more information on this subject, you may like to read, “Vedas-The Myth and Reality” (A Reply to Vedic Age) by Bharat Bhooshan (former Deputy Editor, PTI) published by Arsh Sahitya Prachar Trust, Khari Baoli, Delhi. The above book is an English translation of the book “Vedon Ka Yatharth Swaroop” by Pt.Dharam Dev Vidya Martand published by Samarpan Shoodh Sansthan, Sahibabad.

The cow has a prominent part in Indian culture which has also been the back bone of our agrarian economy. Traditionally, Hindus have been using five products of cow, i.e. pancha-gavya which include milk, curd, ghee, urine and cow dung and not its flesh. Therefore, Godaan ritual i.e., gifting of cow to the bridegroom by the bride’s family is performed even today (though as a formality) during the marriage ceremony. The most suitable time for performing a marriage ceremony is supposed to be Godhuli bela. After cooking the food, some families even today offer the first measure to a cow described as Gogras. As per an Upanishadic story, Satyakama was given charge of four hundred cows by his Guru and was asked to take care of them in pastureland until they became one thousand. Conclusively, the emphasis of Vedic culture has always been on the growth of cattle wealth by care, love and compassion and not otherwise.

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EASY TO MOCK HINDUS AND THEIR HOLY COWS, DIFFICULT TO TRULY REVERE NATURE

By Saiswaroopa Iyer Jaitirth Rao in his article, this matter of beef starts with making a right statement that the present laws in India protect neither the cows nor the dairy farmers. This post of mine is not just a reply to his article but a call to all those who think of themselves as truly liberal (on both sides of political ideologies) to examine their arguments about beef and environmentalism and yes, ‘economic viability’.

Before I proceed, please read my ceremonial disclaimer (written for those friends who have some special intellectual capabilities to assume otherwise).

— What happened in Dadri was a crime and is punishable by law. No less, no more and I don’t support lynching, beating up or murdering on taking law into own hands in any form, given any reason.

— I respect Mr. Jaitirth Rao very much. The article is a counter to his arguments and is not to be taken otherwise.

The inability of dairy farmers in sustaining the old cows which are not economically ‘useful’ is real. My deeply hurt emotions aside, let us accept that it is a problem that a farmer faces. The death of animals in stray accidents and by consuming harmful plastic waste (our precious gift to nature and our callous denial to think about recycling processes, lest we forget) is regrettable.

Ranjit Sinhji’s culinary choices don’t define my sensibilities, nor does Bhavabhuti’s supposed liking for veal.

Not even the supposed verses of Rig Veda or whatever part of scriptures that mention cow meat define my sensibilities. As a Hindu, it is a matter of pride for me that the Hindus (Continuing Mr. Rao’s advised spelling) have gone ahead and defied their Vedic references to beef and have stood against slaughter(assuming such references exist). I call this evolution of thought. We all evolved from cannibalism too. Just that there were no religious texts in that period. In course of evolution, we

moved away from it and equated cannibalism with Rakshasatva or demonic nature. Agriculture is considered a breakthrough in human civilization. Why? Logically because we stop being predators and become creators, limiting the harm done by us to the environment.

Any asset (and a domesticated animal, since Mesopotamian times has been viewed as an asset) automatically becomes a less attractive investment if it loses its residual value.

This is the kind of statement that could hurt the sensibilities of a Hindu who claims to have even an iota of care for the nature and to any lover of environment.

Cattle are the one main reason behind our evolution from predators to creators. A Hindu mind considers them as a partner in the civilization and not mere assets that exist to provide economical value. One can argue that cattle was considered as ‘wealth’ in any civilization and hence the argument. A Hindu heart considers even ‘wealth’ as worship worthy. In fact it owes its reverence to every animate and inanimate object that contributed to universal sustenance and the ‘holy cow’ is a symbol of this universal reverence.

Humane slaughter does sound like a desirable alternative to the otherwise painful death. But it does so assuming that the animal’s right to life is a function of its economic viability to the human being. Mr. Rao also feels that keeping the animals whose meat is protein rich at the cost of humans remaining protein deficient being a tad stupid is regrettable. No, the civilization and evolution we pride about, if it has just turned us into sophisticated predators, there is too less to be proud of being a human and lecture about humanity.

“Keeping alive surplus cattle which contribute to the dreaded methane in the environment (Dear Reader: I shall spare you the scatological details) is clearly a very bad thing as far as Eco friends are concerned”

“World is a divine play. At the beginning and at the end, we are the same.”

— Amit Ray, Nonviolence: The Transforming Power

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I shall reserve my reaction on this statement and it might just be a worthy task for each of us to contemplate on the multitude ways in which we release dreaded stuff into environment. May be we can make a case for humane slaughter of humans too! (I am not serious, but the logic suggests it this way).

Science is a great way to look at development. But looking at it from just curious statistical evidence might not make case for slaughter. Slaughter to win a couple of cricket matches then makes it look like it is fine to kill a being for our sportive delight. I would rather prefer to lose a few matches or to come up with any breakthrough that could enable a sportsperson to depend less on height. Alternatively, can we think supplements?

The questions about the effectiveness of the law remain. But we need to choose how we would proceed to make them effective. Of course it is easy and tempting to mock at the Hindus’ tailored protection of the holy ‘cow’. It is also sane to challenge the Hindus to arrange for alternative protection centres as opposed to abandoning them on the road to die. (We can alternatively watch the way we dispose plastic unless we are fine with the thought that we are the blessed species with sole rights to pollute environment with plastic while the animals can be humanely slaughtered for their dreaded methane).

I know that it hurts the high egos of intellectuals to recognize the simple minded environmental symbolism of Hindus. As a Hindu, I would look up at anyone taking this love for the holy cow forward to a stage of saner implementation where being a human does not mean coming up with ridiculous arguments to justify slaughter. If supporting slaughter makes me a liberal, the word seems to lose its sheen. Would prefer to be called otherwise for siding with life.

Author: Saiswaroopa advises start-up businesses in the areas of fund raising; market research; Struggles with multiple passions of Indian epics, history, economics, and culture and Carnatic music. Currently lives in London, UK.

“Never praise oneself.”

— Bhagwan Swaminarayan

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ON COW SLAUGHTER

By Ravi Mantha

A statistical-satirical look at how the abhorrent issue of cow-slaughter can be settled.

Cows are sacred; cows are holy. The more emotional among us have compared them to our mothers, and after all, who would eat their mother? Today, we have a serious gap in the law, the Constitutional intent, and its implementation.

Article 48 of the Constitution creates a State Directive to prohibit cow slaughter.

In many States, killing a cow is punishable by up to ten years in jail. And yet, India is the second largest exporter of beef in the world. How can this be? We must urgently close these loopholes and reflect the will of the majority that cows must not be slaughtered; or at least we need to have a national debate on a full understanding of the facts.

Now let us examine the current status quo. Today, there are 12 crore female cows (not counting buffaloes) in India, of which 7.8 crores are milching cows. This number varies by a few percentage points in each census but is stable. In other words, the number of cows in India is at saturation point and has been for some time.

The basic fact of life is that every one of those 7.8 crore cows has to get pregnant and give birth to a calf in order for it to produce milk, which is sold around Rs. 40 a liter today. In other words, 7.8 crore calves are born each year. Half of them are male calves which are killed within three months of birth (or left to starve). Of the remaining 3.9 crore calves which are female, around 20% are used to replace old cows that no longer give milk.

The other 80% are also slaughtered (remember, the total cattle population in India is more or less stable). In other words, the beef industry in India is made up of 7 crore surplus calves from the milk industry, plus 80 lakh old cows that don’t produce milk anymore. Let us look at this in another way. Each cow produces an average of 7 liters milk a day, for ten months of the year, for every calf it produces. That works out to around 2000 liters of milk produced per calf. Let’s say you are an average middle-class family of four in India and consume 2 liters of milk a day. For every three years of milk consump-

tion, today you handle killing a calf indirectly. This is of course, unacceptable to most Hindus.

Clearly, this is an issue that has been swept under the carpet for far too long, and we must take a stand on this. We must immediately put an end to all this killing. The only ethical way to produce milk would be to take all these surplus calves and old cows and keep them in goshalas for their entire natural lives of around 15 years. A nationwide building of goshalas would be ethical because for every milching cow, over its working life there would be ten surplus animals that would be housed in goshalas (and segregated by sex to not allow them to breed).

It is easy to monitor the safety of cows if we set our mind to it. We can create a cow Aadhar scheme, where each animal is given a Unique ID number at birth, and obviously the Supreme Court will not raise any privacy concerns as unlike for humans. Dairies can be held responsible on average to maintain one calf in a goshala for 15 years for every 2000 liters of milk that they produce. This would have the added benefit of removing all adulteration of milk, after all, which dairy would want to show higher milk production when they would have to account for the higher number of calves?

The Cowdhaar scheme would ensure that all these cow goshalas keep a proper census of the surplus calves and that they are properly looked after.

Of course, simple math shows that to fund this, the price of cow milk would increase to about fifteen times higher than it is today. In other words, it would be 600 Rs. a liter. But no price is high enough, in the eyes of a large number of Indians, to protect Indian cows, which are after all our national treasure. I am confident that many of us will agree to give up our daily cow milk, butter, ghee and curd to fully implement a ban on beef.

Source: www.swarajaya.com posted on 19 October 2015

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PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE MAHABHARTA STORY Dev was finally there, Kurukshetra, the ground where the great war of Mahabharata was fought. He wanted to make it his life’s work to study and write about the epic.

He also knew that it was not possible till he went to the spot where the greatest war took place. It was said in the texts that eighty percent of the fighting male population of the civilization was wiped out in the eighteen days of the war.

He stood on the ground; the sun overhead was hot, the wind hiding the far reaches of the grounds with columns of dust. He looked around and wondered if the war really happened, if the ground beneath him had soaked all that blood, if the great Pandavas and Krishna stood where he stood.

“You will never know the truth about that ..!” said an aging soft voice.

Dev turned around to find an Old man in saffron robes appearing out of a column of dust. He had a long white beard and eyes that could settle an indignant storm.

“I know you are here to find out about the Kurukshetra war, but you cannot know about that war till you know what the real war is about,” the Old man said enigmatically. “What do you mean?” Dev instantly knew that he was in the presence of someone who knew more about the war than any living person.

“The Mahabharata is an Epic, a Ballad, perhaps a reality but definitely a Philosophy.” The Old man smiled luring Dev into more questions.

“Can you tell me what the philosophy is then?” Dev requested.

“Sure, began the Old man”. “The Pandavas are nothing but your five senses, sight, smell, taste, touch and sound - and do you know what the Kauravas are?” he asked narrowing his eyes. Dev shook his head. “The Kauravas are the hundred vices that

Attacks your senses everyday but you can fight them and do you know how?” Dev shook his head again.

“When Krishna rides your chariot!” The Old man smiled brighter and Dev gasped at that gem of insight.

“Krishna is your soul, your guiding light and if you let your life in his hands - you have nothing to worry.” Dev was stupefied but came around quickly with another question. “Then why are Dronacharya and Bhishma fighting for the Kauravas, if they are vices?”

The Old man nodded, sadder for the question. “It just means that as you grow up, your perception of your elders - changes. The elders who you thought were perfect in your growing up years are not all that perfect.

They have faults. And one day you will have to decide if they are for your good or you’re bad. Then you may also realize that you may have to fight them for the good. It is the hardest part of growing up and that is why the Geeta is important.”

Dev sat down on the ground, not because he was tired but because he could understand the enormity of it all.

“What about Karna?” he whispered.

“Ah!” said the Old man. “You have saved the best for last. -- Karna is the brother to your senses, he is desire, and he is a part of you But stands with the vices. He feels wronged and makes excuses for being the vices as your desire does all the time.

“Does your desire not give you excuses to embrace vices?”

Dev nodded. He looked at the ground, consumed with a million thoughts, trying to put everything together and then when he looked up the Old man was gone. He seemed to have disappeared in the column of dust.

“Give up your selfishness, and you shall find peace;

like water mingling with water, you shall merge in absorption.”

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib

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WHY IS KRISHNA BLUE? It would be best to get some shastric (scriptural) references. Why is Krishna blue? Why not red or yellow or any other color? Why is it that the Absolute Truth has a bluish complexion?

Since it is one of those questions that somehow reappear specifically requesting scriptural references, here are a few. The first was expressed already in the abovecited Answers. Note also that in the final reference cited below, in a lecture of 1975 Srila Prabhupada offered the exact same explanation as you will find in the previous answers (cited above) to explain the word ‘blackish’ or ‘krishna’.

As for the reason behind Krishna’s having a bluish complexion, here is a very beautiful explanation given in Krishna Bhakti Ratna Prakasa by Raghava Gosvami wherein it is said:

Atha kaiscid uktam, yadi sva-prakaso lila-rasamayah paramatma-svarupas tasmin katham syama-varnatvam sarvatra prasiddham, yatha srutau rupam na vedyam na ca bindunadah ity adi.

Tad ahasyamabhatvam vidhatte yat sarva-varno ‘tra liyatenityam ca prabhavaty evakalo ‘smin naiva vidyate.

Translation: At this point some may ask: “Why is it that the form of the Personality of Godhead, which He manifests only by His own wish and which is made of the sweetness of transcendental pastimes, is famous everywhere for its dark complexion?”

Part of the answer to this question may be found in the statement of the Sruti-sastra: “No one can understand even a drop of the Lord’s transcendental form.” Aside from this it is also said: “He eternally manifests the color shyama, within which all colors rest. His complexion is not the material color black.”

Thus from the last verse we see it says “sarva-varnah” which means that the colour shyama is a special color, which is like a composite of all colours. We notice that if we combine all colours we get a colour which is blackish but not black.

Srimad Bhagvatam 3.28.13

prasanna-vadanambhojam padma-garbharuneksanam nilotpala-dala-syamam sankha-cakra-gada-dharam The color of the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is described here as nilotpala-dala, meaning that it is like that of a lotus flower with petals tinted blue and white. People always ask why Krishna is blue. The color of the Lord has not been imagined by an artist. It is described in authoritative scriptures. In the Brahma-samhita also, the color of Krishna’s body is compared to that of a bluish cloud.

The color of the Lord is not poetical imagination. There are authoritative descriptions in the Brahma-samhita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and many of the Puranas, of the Lord’s body, His weapons and all other paraphernalia. The Lord’s appearance is described here as padma-garbharuneksanam. His eyes resemble the inside of a lotus flower, and in His four hands He holds the four symbols: conch shell, discus, mace and lotus.

Srimad Bhagvatam 10.8.13

asan varnas trayo hy asya grhnato ‘nuyugam tanuh suklo raktas tatha pita idanim krishnatam gatah Your son Krishna appears as an incarnation in every millennium. In the past, He assumed three different colorswhite, red and yellow-and now He has appeared in a blackish color. [In another Dvapara-yuga, He appeared (as Lord Ramacandra) in the color of suka, a parrot]. All such incarnations have now assembled in Krishna.

Srimad Bhagvatam 11.5.32

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead

“If one’s mind had peace, the whole world would appear peaceful.”

— Sri Ramana Maharshi

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who constantly sing the names of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.

Bhagavd Gita Lecture of Srila Prabhupada in London 1975 Srila Jiva Gosvami, the most authoritative acarya of our sampradaya, explained thus: Krishna-varnam means always chanting Hare Krishna, Krishnam varnayati, describing Krishna, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.” This is description of Krishna, addressing Krishna. So therefore krishna-varnam, or varnam means category.

In the same way as brahmana-varna, ksatriya-varna, krishna-varna means He is Krishna, in the category of Krishna. Either meaning points to krishna-varnam.

But Krishna is black, and He is tvisa by complexion, akrishna. Akrishna means not Krishna. Now, there are so many colors. So everything is akrishna. All colors when mixed together become black.

Otherwise there are many different colors. So akrishna means different color, “not krishna,” not black. So what is the actual? That we have to refer to sastra again, that Krishna, in how many categories of color He appears?

That is stated in the Bhagavatam. When Krishna was born, then Gargamuni was calculating about His horoscope, and he said to Nanda Maharaja that “This, your child…” Idanim krishnatam gatah. Suklo raktas tatha pita idanim krishnatam gatah.

“Your child had formerly white color.” White color…

Sometimes some critics criticize us that “Krishna everywhere He is black. Why in your temple white?” But it is said that sukla, suklo raktas tatha pita idanim krishnatam gatah: “Your son had other colors also, white and red and yellow, and now He has assumed blackish color.”

Source: www.indiadivine.com, posted by Romapada Swami | Oct 20, 2015

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?

By Chaitanya Charan Das Here’s an analogy to understand the answer. In villages, grain is often stored in huge vertical containers; fresh grain is poured into the top, and old stored grain is taken out from the bottom. A farmer may have produced poor quality grain of, say, brand Z for the past four years and stocked it in his container. This year he produces high quality grain of, say, brand A and stores it at the top. He is therefore exasperated when he finds grain of brand Z coming out from the bottom. This illustrates how seemingly innocent people suffer in this life: they have been doing good things in this life, but have earlier done bad things whose reactions are coming to them now.

The workings of karma are often difficult to appreciate is that most people have a karmic record that is neither white nor black, but shades of gray. That mixed record leads to reactions that often appear arbitrary. A question that vexes many when they see bad things happening to good people is: “If these people were really so bad in their earlier lives, how could they have been virtuous in this life for so long?”

There are several possible answers. We often see even upright people occasionally succumbing to temptation and perpetrating abominable misdeeds. Of course, their virtuous nature rectifies them quickly, but still the fact remains that they did commit a greatly sinful act and are therefore liable for a reaction. So the wrongdoing, like an ugly black spot on their otherwise clean karmic slate, will result in a severe reaction in an otherwise happy future life. Shift this scenario one lifetime backwards and we have the answer to the above question. The harsh affliction coming to a good person may thus be due to an occasional but grave transgression in a previous life.

Also, our behavior in this life is not determined only by our tendencies in the previous life; upbringing and association in this life also play a significant role. So if people with bad inclinations are born into a good family because of some good karma, their congenial upbringing and surroundings may empower them to shed their baggage of negative propensities. Thus they may become moral in this life, but their misdeeds from previous lives will make them suffer despite their rectified conduct now.

Thus the principles of reincarnation allow us to view life with a much broader perspective — not from the standpoint of one brief lifetime, which is nothing more than a flash in time, but from the standpoint of eternity. With this broader vision we can understand how each of us individual souls is alone responsible for what happens in our life.

No doubt, the issue of karmic justice is complex and one short answer can’t do justice to it.

Source: wwww.thespiritualscientist.com posted on January 23, 2014

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BREATHING HAPPINESS – THANKS TO SRI SRI

By Maria Wirth India is unique. In no other country are there as many impressive spiritual personalities as in India. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is no doubt one of those outstanding personalities.

tense breathing under professional supervision, because intense breathing was the core of Sudarshan Kriya – this much the person next to me in the bus, who had given me the address, had revealed.

Sri Sri, as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is often called, was born on 13th May 1956 in Tamil Nadu. He started reciting verses from the Bhagavad-Gita, when he was only 4 years old. His parents supported him.

They allowed him to study the Vedas as well as physics.

We were 44 participants, all Indians except for me, and men and women almost equally represented. Our teacher was a young doctor, Jayshree, from Bangalore.

“You can feel in every situation as much at ease as if you were sitting on a couch in your own living room”, says Sri Sri, and he obviously feels like this wherever he goes. Jayshree, too, calm, confident and beautiful with her huge, dark eyes and dressed in a green sari, seemed to feel like sitting in her own living room amidst family.

Sri Sri greatly values and encourages the feeling of ‘belongingness’. It makes sense, if we all are basically one.

Several gurus influenced him, most of all Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced the Transcendental Meditation in the west. Sri Sri lived in Maharishi’s ashram in Rishikesh for some time.

Once, when he retreated in meditation for several days, he had an idea.

This idea has since spread around the world and goes by the name of Sudarshan Kriya. It is a breathing technique that purifies internally. Sri Sri has imparted it to millions of people so far – and the numbers are steadily increasing.

The first thing Jayshree asked us to do was to get up and introduce ourselves to each other. Everyone should talk to everyone else – and ending with the phrase, “I belong to you.”

Already in the 1980s, a man sitting next to me in a long distance bus, had given me the address of Sri Ravi Shankar’s ashram some 20 km south of Bangaluru. He told me that the Sudarshan Kriya had helped him a lot. “Sudarshan Kriya” did not mean anything to me, so I ignored the entry in my address book for years.

In the late 90s, however, I came across an article in a German magazine about Sri Sri and his centre in Bad Antogast in the Black Forest. His youthful, relaxed face beamed over a whole page – his long, black hair falling over his shoulders, a beard, a calm expression in his eyes and a likeable countenance. I remembered my address book and went to Bangalore. I wanted to do in-

Afterwards we talked about how uneasy we had felt with this last sentence. Some had mumbled it quickly. Some had not said it at all. Some had said it loud and clear. I had taken the easy route out: I reacted to the person opposite me in the same way, as she introduced herself to me. As I was the only foreigner, the others walked quite naturally up to me. I did not have to take the initiative. If somebody mumbled quickly, I also mumbled quickly. When somebody dropped the sentence altogether, I also was immediately ready for it. And if somebody said loud and clear, and Jayshree was one of them, “I belong to you”, I managed to say it loud and clear, as well.

“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”

— Buddha

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We started with preparatory pranayama, the ancient Indian breathing techniques. “How do you feel”, Jayshree asked after the first exercise. I felt dizzy. My capacity for air or prana, the life energy contained in the breath, was obviously not much. The dizziness left after some time.

Jayshree created a familiar atmosphere with a combination of yoga, pranayama and psychotherapeutical methods and soon we felt that we indeed belonged to each other. On the first evening, when we arrived at the reception with our bags, we were sceptically scrutinizing each other. While saying good-bye, we all liked each other and were grateful for the time spent together.

The core of the course is the Sudarshan Kriya. It is an intense breathing technique, about which a number of medical and psychological research papers have been published. During a conference on Indian psychology, medical doctors gave presentations about how the Kriya helps curing not only depression and psychosomatic illnesses but also reduces diabetes and high blood pressure.

For me, the Sudarshan Kriya had a big impact. Maybe, because earlier I never had done such long and conscious breathing and my system was flooded with so much oxygen for the first time. Occasionally I even felt that I reached my limits. But I followed strictly the instruction: “Keep breathing! Come what may!” Sometimes drowsy thoughts overwhelmed me and I forgot to breathe. We were however under supervision. Immediately some assistant was by my side and loudly breathed into my ear. This woke me up and I continued breathing.

While relaxing flat on the floor afterwards, it felt absolutely blissful. All cells felt alive and throbbing with ecstasy.

I followed the request of Jayshree to practise a short form of the Kriya, which takes half an hour, daily for at least 45 days at home. I even practised it for 8 months without leaving out a single day because, apart from the nice feeling it induced, the Kriya gave me more energy, increased a feeling of general well-being and made me more aware and sensitive for my surroundings. It also reduced my inhibition to get in contact with others.

The Sudarshan Kriya strengthened indeed a feeling of belongingness – yes, I belong to you and everyone.

I realised that another claim of Sri Sri is also true: nothing and nobody can make you unhappy, if you have decided to be happy. There are only two conditions for happiness: on one hand, a stress free and relaxed body and mind are required and the Sudarshan Kriya takes care of that. On the other hand, your decision “Yes, I want to be happy” is necessary. That is all, claims Sri Sri. It is amazing what far-reaching consequences the idea of one man has had. I read on a pamphlet, who all had benefited from the Sudarshan Kriya: scientists at NASA, WHO officials, computer engineers at Microsoft, students and professors of reputed universities, the football team of Manchester United, Oil barons in the gulf, actors in Hollywood and Bollywood, politicians in Costa Rica, hoteliers in Singapore, musicians in Australia, and so on.

The list continues: Ricksha drivers, porters on railway stations, terrorists in Bihar, inmates of Tihar, the biggest prison in Delhi, residents of Dharavi, the most densely populated slum in Mumbai, refugees in Kosovo, tree cutters in Siberia, belly dancers in Brazil, street children in South Africa, and so on.

Furthermore, Sri Sri has initiated numerous projects to uplift the underprivileged. Members of his organisation work in tens of thousand villages.

The Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Art of Living Foundation in February 2006 was attended by a million of visitors, and the 35 years anniversary in March 2016 in Delhi will again be a mega event in every respect with 2 to 3 million of visitors expected.

Abroad, too, Sri Sri draws huge crowds. When he was in Malaysia in March 2015, some 70,000 people thronged his event. Islamists did not take kindly to his obvious influence in a majority Muslim country. He received a death threat from ISIS while he was there.

I am grateful to Sri Sri that he gifted us the Sudarshan Kriya. The course had intensified again the aspiration for a spiritual life. And I felt grateful to India, where this aspiration seems so natural.

Source: mariawirthblog dated September 30, 2015

“Daily seek the divine presence of God.” — Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!

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WHY I AM PROUD TO BE HINDU?

By Sanjeev Newar Yes, I am proud to be Hindu. Indeed, very proud. More than proud, I feel myself lucky. Very lucky to be born a Hindu. And why should I not feel so? People go crazy when they win a million dollar jackpot. So why should not I celebrate when I have won something more precious than millions of such jackpots! Now that He made me a Hindu, I have nothing more to ask from Supreme Lord. It is now my turn to repay for this rare privilege that he has gifted me. Hinduism is my most precious possession.

The source of Hinduism lies in 4 Vedas – wonders of human civilization. Vedas are the only texts that have been preserved in such a scientifically secure manner that even a variation of one syllable or pronunciation is not present. Further, Vedas are the only texts for which there is no reference available in history to suggest that they were being created. All that historical research tells us is that these 20,000 plus mantras already existed when that research was being compiled.

No, don’t take me wrong. I have nothing against other religions. On the contrary, I completely respect all. I respect every individual’s freedom to choose any religion for herself/himself without fearing any backlash either in this world or hereafter. And I proudly would stand to defend this right of each individual. This, again, is a core principle of Hinduism that makes me love being Hindu so much!

These Vedas form the foundation of Hinduism. Vedas alone are ultimate evidence in matters of any dispute.

If one browses through Vedas, you would find the best of ideals and wisdom, spanning across all subjects, without any reference to history, geography, people or events. Vedas are timeless and ever-relevant.

I believe that all philosophies, religions or ideologies have a lot of good things. I won’t argue why Hinduism may be best for you. That is your personal choice. I am here to tell you why Hinduism is my personal favorite.

Hinduism is that way of life that has no comparison, no peers, and no equals. If I have to die thousand times, I will always wish to be born again as a Hindu. If I were to be threatened thousand times with death to leave Hinduism, I would gladly rather die than leave Hinduism.

Hinduism, in fact, is not a religion in first place. It is neither a philosophy nor an ideology. Religions, philosophies and ideologies are too time-bound, too specific, and too geographical.

Hinduism, in contrast, is a ‘celebration’ of ‘being human’.

It is all about ‘justifying’ being human. Hinduism, in fact, is synonym for ‘being human’.

Let me tell you a very few reasons, why I am so proud to be Hindu:

Reason 1 Hinduism – The Oldest Wisdom Hinduism is the oldest wisdom known to humanity. In a narrow sense, people say Hinduism is the oldest religion. But reality is that Hinduism existed when division of humans on basis of religion was non-existent.

In modern era, after rise of modern religions, people made it their agenda to prove their own religion as the best. There have been attempts to malign the Vedas and offer misdirected interpretations of Vedic mantras.

Thus for a layman, it becomes impossible to decide what is right and what is wrong – whether Vedas and Hinduism are indeed perfect, or is it yet another hoax?

Vedas themselves come to rescue in this confusion, and offer the second reason why I love being Hindu so much.

Reason 2 Hinduism – Enlightened Way Of Life Vedas themselves assert that one should not be bookish in exploring truth. Even so-called books of Vedas are not to be trusted blindly. Vedas assert that the wisdom of Vedas is already embedded inside our thought process. Human life is an opportunity to extract that wisdom out through rational thinking, noble actions and positive emotions. Vedas – as books – are supposed to simply assist this process.

In fact Vedas are derived from root Vid that means knowledge or enlightenment. So even if one scandalously destroys or distorts all the Vedas, no worries. One simply needs to take recourse to rational thinking, noble actions, positive emotions and nurture out the Vedic principles by integrating wisdom of enlightened ones in the society.

Thankfully, Vedas are not destroyed and by reviewing

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them we can speed up the process of enlightenment.

Vedic mantras are supposed to have therapeutic and psychological benefits even when recited without understanding them. But Vedas truly benefit those who are enlightened, who seek knowledge in life, who strives to live as per that knowledge.

Vedas are like sun or water. They benefit all. But those who dig a bit deeper, and are enlightened ones, can use the same sun and water to lighten our nights, run our machines and power the lives in ways truly unimaginable.

The thrust of Hinduism and Vedas is on this enlightenment, and NOT on a blind dogmatic belief in any book or verse.

Reason 3 Hinduism – Honest Liberal Way of Life I am not sure if one can be a Muslim if he out rightly rejects Quran, or one can be a Christian if he out rightly rejects Bible. But yes, one can be a Hindu even if he out rightly rejects the Vedas, so far he has done so with best of his intent and intellect.

To be a Hindu, you don’t need certificate from any temple, church or mosque. You need not recite any verse. You need not believe in any particular God or book. You simply have to be honest to yourself.

Hinduism firmly believes that each of us at each moment in life is different. Hence our needs and understanding also are bound to vary. So it is foolish to judge a person by his current set of beliefs. The goal of Hinduism is not to enforce a pre-decided set of ideas, books, Gods, avatars or prophets. Its goal is to provide a nurturing platform for each of us at each moment. We used to read nursery rhymes as children, science as adolescents and specialize in medical, engineering or accounts as grown-ups. In the same manner, Hinduism allows different options to all of us at all times to choose what is naturally best for us and progress from there. It is an advanced educational system that caters to needs of all in a customized manner. It is not a deprived school in a remote village that has only one Class 5, and hence everyone is forced to read and mug the same set of books.

Since Hinduism gives me this choice, and even encourages me to fearlessly counter the most popular variants, I find Hinduism more human, more liberal, more honest and more natural to me than any other way of life I am aware of.

Reason 4 Hinduism – Truly Global Most religious books have a local flavor. For example Judaism, Christianity and Islam have texts that have a very strong Middle-East flavor: Stories, rituals, culture and practices that relate to Middle-East era of middle ages. That adds a wonderful vintage beauty to these texts that any literature lover would admire.

Hinduism also has certain books – Purans, Ramayan, Mahabharat etc. – that have a strong Indian flavor. Of course, as Indians, there is an amazing wealth of wisdom in these books that also gives reasons to be proud of our heritage, irrespective of all the distortions that have crept over ages. They provide historical reasons to be proud to be Indian!

But essence of Hinduism lies in those texts that are truly universal and timeless. Of course Vedas form the crux of this global wisdom. But then there are also peerless texts like Yoga Darshan, Nyaya Sutra, Vaisheshik Darshan, Sankhya Darshan, Vedanta, Upanishads and Gita – that have astonished and inspired scientists and scholars across the globe with their timeless universal wisdom.

The beauty of these texts lies in their having no flavor – Indian, Middle East or African. They have no vintage feel to them. Instead they are always as fresh and as contemporary as they were ever. I simply love this freshness!

These texts – the soul of Hinduism – are as relevant to someone in Australia as to someone in Africa or in even Antarctica. All other historical texts associated with Hinduism simply attempt to explain these timeless wisdoms through time-bound incidents.

Reason 5 Hinduism – Principles Over Persons A Christian cannot be Christian unless he believes in Jesus Christ. A Muslim cannot be Muslim if he refuses to believe Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as last prophet. Regardless of whatever good there may be in texts of these religions, one must first believe in these pre-conditions – the special status of these people – to be eligible for anything else in these texts.

For example, if I believe in all the noble verses in Quran (which I firmly believe in), but reject those verses that call Muhammad Sahib as last prophet (because the concept of avatars or prophets does not appeal to my rational mind), I will not be considered a Muslim. In fact if I call myself Muslim because I like a large number of verses in Quran, but reject the concept of Prophet hood, I may be put to death in certain countries on charges of blasphemy.

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Christians have become much more liberal but nonetheless the word ‘Christian’ itself states that belief in Christ is a must.Now this may be a very good thing to inculcate discipline in certain situations. I am not arguing their merits or demerits.

Thus huge number of Hindus believes in formless God. Many are even atheists. Many believe only in core tenets – Patience, Forgiveness, Self-control, Non-Stealing, Purity, Control of Sense, Wisdom, Knowledge Enhancement, Honesty, Non-Violence.

To my democratic and liberal mind, Hinduism appeals so much more for respecting and even celebrating my individuality, without any mandatory pre-conditions. Yes, a large number of people may worship Krishna, Ram, Durga, Kali, Shiva, Hanuman and many other Gods and Goddesses. Some worship a particular God or Goddess exclusively, some worship everyone. There are innumerable Gods and Goddesses and many are of even recent origin. For example Santoshi Mata, Gayatri Mata or Sai Baba. For many it has become even a fraud business to resurrect a new God or Goddess and mint money on religious feelings of masses. Yes that is an issue of concern and pointed by many as weakness of Hinduism.

So you can be a Hindu even if you don’t believe in any particular person or avatar or even concept of God. You simply have to be honest to yourself, and need not even take certificate of honesty from anyone.

But that is not the complete picture. In reality, Hinduism offers freedom of choice without being dictatorial or judgmental. What critics of Hinduism forget to emphasize is that Hinduism is the ONLY way of life that ALSO offers worship of principles ALONE. In fact even the so-called idol worshippers agree that while idol-worship may be first step, the ultimate goal is to reach a state of worship of principles ALONE.

And that is exactly why so many reform movements took place within Hinduism. Many schools fiercely debated and at times even abused other schools of thought. But that did not make them less Hindu. All of them naturally assimilated within Hinduism.

Sometimes freedom also tends to nurture social evils due to lack of enlightenment of masses. This is true for any society and any sphere of life. People misuse freedom to break signals and behave like rowdies. That does not mean Freedom is bad. It means there is need to emphasize the importance of responsibility that comes with freedom. It means we need to find ways to make freedom even more meaningful. Hinduism offers a way to combat these through wisdom and intellect. That is why Hinduism is not static. It is ever-flowing and ever-dynamic. It makes me love and I enjoy being Hindu so much more!

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SEPARATION OF CHURCH FROM STATE: THE EVOLUTION SPEEDS UP

By Ramnararine Sahadeo All Western democracies can now have the benefit of a bold decision if they really wish to speed up the process of separating church from state. This guidance, if not a precedent can be found in a decision of THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA dated APRIL 15, 2015.

Alain Simoneau, an atheist and resident of Saguenay, Quebec, and a regular at council meetings objected to the practice of the recitation of Catholic prayers by the mayor and councillor. A sacred heart statue and a crucifix also adorned the walls of council.

This he testified, caused him to experience feelings of isolation and exclusion thus violating his rights to freedom of religion and conscience as outlined in both the Quebec Charter and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

With the help of Movement laique quebecois (MLQ) He took his grievances to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal which agreed with him. However the Quebec Court of Appeal felt otherwise. It reasoned that prayers expressed universal values and that the sacred heart statue and crucifix were works of art and not religious.

The Supreme Court of Canada in a unanimous decision rendered on April 15, 2015 ruled that the practice of reciting any form of prayers at the start of council meetings constituted a violation of Charter rights.

In doing so the highest court in the land rejected the argument the prayers were justified on the basis of tradition and that council’s attempt at reasonable accommodation by inviting those with objections to leave the chambers during prayers and then re enter, far from tempering the discrimination only exacerbated it. This identifies and stigmatises the non-believer. Quebec has a long tradition of the Catholic and Anglican churches being quite influential in government policies and practices but the court felt it was time to change a practice even though it was followed since the nineteenth century.

Justice LeBel writing for the court, stated that Canadian Society has given rise to a concept of NEUTRALITY, according to which the State must not interfere with religion and beliefs. This requires that the State neither favor nor hinder any particular belief or non-belief.

Canadian Cultural landscape includes many traditional

and heritage practices that are religious in nature. Sponsorship of one religious tradition by the State in breach of its duty of neutrality amounts to discrimination against all other such traditions as it creates a distinction, exclusion or preference that has the effect of nullifying or impairing the right to full and equal recognition and exercise of freedom of conscience and religion.

The court looked at the purpose and effect of the practice and opined that even a Non-denominational PRAYER is a religious practice that excludes atheists and agnostics and the interference is more than TRIVIAL or INSUBSTANTIAL. Any form of religious expression under the guise of cultural and historical reality or heritage breaches the duty of NEUTRALITY. Furthermore the expression ``Supremacy of God‘ in the preamble of the Charter cannot be relied on to deny the guarantees expressly provided in the Charter.

Pursuit of the ideal in a free and democratic society requires the state to encourage everyone to participate freely in public life regardless of their beliefs thus preserving the multicultural nature of Canadian society. In response to the argument that would now give atheists and agnostics preference the court stated that True Neutrality presupposes abstention, but it does not amount to a stand favouring one view over another.

Some public bodies have replaced their prayers with a moment of silent reflection to show respect for cultural diversity.

Any country, in particular the Western democracies that are members States of the United Nations, may now have to remind themselves of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states in part “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion...” Finally If they profess to be secular and has a Constitutional Document protecting freedom of conscience and religion this decision may guide them towards that long elusive ideal of separating Church from State.

Author: Shri Ramnarine sahadeo is a retired lawyer and author of Mohandas k. Gandhi: thoughts, words, deeds.

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SECULARISM WESTERN, DHARMA INDIAN SOLUTION: RAJIV MALHOTRA

By Ajeet Bharti It is often believed that the idea of secularism is universal and so it should be applied. However, Rajiv Malhotra, noted Indologist and author of several books on the issues of Dharma, Indian history, culture, and languages, believes that the concept is a Western creation. Yesterday, he shared a video on his Facebook page, where he emphasised the point that ‘secularism’ was a solution to the problems of the West where religions like Christianity propagated the thought of ‘we are the only religion that is right, others are wrong’. That meant there was no scope of a dialogue in a society that heavily relied on the directives of the Church, which guided police, society and even the reigning monarchs.

He said, “Secularism is a Western concept, to solve a western problem. The problem in Western religion was the ‘exclusivity claim’, which means ‘only I am right, others are wrong’, which is built into the Western religion.”

Stressing further on the power that religion and the Church enjoyed, he said that religion often interfered with science and persecuted people who fiddled away with its own thoughts. The Church didn’t allow even science to have its own independent inquiry.

The Indologist, when asked about whether it was unreasonable to define India as Hindu Rashtra in modern times, continued to elaborate on what Dharma meant and how it was different from European view of religion and the need of secularism as a solution. “Secularism was to curtail the excessive ‘state authority’ and ‘state power’ that the Church had, not only over the people who dissented and belonged to some other religion, but also people who were scientists.”

However, he said, “In India, the Dharma never had a posture against scientific inquiry. The Raja (King) never had an authority to impose his dharma over others.

Manu was very clear that Raja must practice his Dharma, and he must allow others to practice their Dharma.

In fact, not only is it theoretically the case, but (even) in practise like, when the early Syrian Christians came, the Raja even gave them land. When the Zoroastrians from Persia came to India, they were also given land to live and practice their religion.”

Adding to the concept of dharma and how it is pluralistic in nature, Malhotra talked about how Hinduism was not a religion as defined by the West, “Hinduism is not necessarily a religion in a Western sense, it got a lot of claims within it. There are people who believe in different philosophies… there are people who are atheists, which is also ok, you can be a nastik (atheist).”

The Indologist further explained how concept of religion with regards to Hinduism and Dharma, was different from the Abrahamic religions. “There is a built-in ‘pluralism’ within the Dharma (which) has made it different than the built-in ‘exclusivity’ in the Abrahamic religions.”

“Now, if the Dharma has a built-in pluralism (Sapeksha Dharma), which means inclusive of all the Dharma, Sufis can have their Dharma, Muslims can have their Dharma, as long as you also respect others to have their Dharma. We can have differences (but) with mutual respect,” he elaborated.

Saying that Dharma meant a flow of free thinking and not a limitation on the same, Rajiv Malhotra debunked the idea of secularism for India; he opined it was a solution for the Western problem where scientists were beheaded and dissidents were persecuted.

As he spoke on the topic, in reply to the question of secularism and Dharma, he remarked that Dharma “never said that if your scientific conclusion is different then you are disobedient and it’s blasphemy. We never

“You are what you believe in. You become that which you believe you can become.”

— Bhagavad Gita

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had any blasphemy law kind of things. So, free thinking was always there.”

Later, adding on to why pluralism was best suited to us, he said, “Lot of Indians believe that secularism is a “gold standard’ because they have been brainwashed. They don’t even think what it is, where it came from, what does it do. They are just taught that way. They have learnt it from childhood and parroted it saying ‘ain’t we seculars’, this and that.”

Malhotra explained that secularism, as an idea, was needed because the Western society didn’t have a space for any other religion. They needed a concept where people tried to coexist and practice different faiths. They needed an idea where science and other religions could coexist and be tolerated. However, he said that in India there were no such issues as pluralism made sure we have mutual respect.

Answering to the second part of the question regarding India being a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, he said, “As far as would India be a Hindu society, I use the term Dharmic society. India is a Dharmic society and I do not use the word Hindu, because Dharma also includes Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs. It includes anyone who complies with the basic principles like mutual respect.”

“So, the people who themselves want to be called as Hindus are fine, or something else are also fine. But, if you use Dharma, then Yes, Indian civilization is a Dharmic Civilization. This is my position,” he asserted.

The author of ‘Breaking India’, ‘Indra’s Net’ and ‘Breaking Point’, was asked whether he meant that the alternative name to be asked for India should be a Dharmic Nation rather than Hindu Rashtra.

Rajiv replied in a candid way, “I think it would be very difficult for someone to reject Dharma, no matter who they are, because basic ethics, basic responsibilities, basic life-style of respecting yourself, your family, your community, animals, nature, society, the world, the environment are all part of Dharma. Dharma is not just religion between me and God, it is all encompassing human ethics and responsibility.

“Ahimsa is the highest duty.”

— Padma Purana

VEDAS, SMRITIS AND AMBEDKAR

By Aravindan Neelakandan Ambedkar rejected the Aryan race/ invasion theory. He admired the Vedic civilization, and saw the implementation of the Manu Smriti as the beginning of the degeneration of Hindu society, from casteism to the treatment of women. Part Seven of our History of Hindutva.

Dr Bhimrao Raamji Ambedkar was an ethical pragmatist and a practical patriot. He realized that if Hindus remain disunited, the future of nation was doomed. Hindus need to be united, not momentarily in flashes of emotion or hours of crisis, but in a sustained manner. His solution to achieve a sustained Hindu unity, both cultural and political, was to abolish the caste system completely.

Though he wanted to protect Hindu society, he had been one of the harshest critics of Hinduism itself (see Hindutva and Dr Ambedkar, Swarajya, September 2015).

“THE HINDUS” AND “THE HINDUS” The public psyche has been fed to saturation with his quotes sneering at Hinduism and his statements denouncing Hinduism in no uncertain terms. “I was born a Hindu but will not die one” is a statement that has been made widely popular by a section of his followers. However, going through the writings of Dr Ambedkar, one finds that he has used the word “Hindu” in two ways. At one level of association, the term refers to what he would call the “Brahminical” or smriti-based religious system that consistently endorses birth-based discriminations. Unfortunately, even today most of the traditional “Hindus” fall in this category.

Yet all these factors could never diminish the love Dr Ambedkar had for the nation. As we will see next, he constantly worried about national security and made the interests of India the primary factor in all his equations.

Author: Aravindan Neelakandan is the co-author of the acclaimed book “Breaking India”. He is also a popular science writer in Tamil.

Source: www.IndiaDivine.com

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WHY DID LORD RAMA BANISH SITA?

By Chaitanya Charan Das

Question: In the Ramayana, when Sita was wrongly accused by a washerman, why did Lord Rama banish her?

Answer: Firstly, Lord Rama never banished Mother Sita.

Banishment implied being evicted out of the kingdom into the forest without any arrangements for food, clothing or shelter. That was what happened to Lord Rama when he was banished by his step-mother, Kaikeyi. But Lord Rama asked Lakshmana to escort Sita to the hermitage of the sage Valmiki, where the venerable sage received her with a respectful aarti (worship) and the elderly ladyhermits lovingly cared for her. As the hermitage was in the kingdom of Lord Rama and under his protection, it’s entirely incorrect to say that the Lord banished Sita, for the Lord indirectly arranged for her food, clothing, shelter and care.

Now we may ask: why did the Lord sent Sita out of his own palace into the hermitage?

To understand the answer, we need to appreciate the values held sacred by the Vedic culture that the Ramayana demonstrates. The Vedic culture considers all relationships and all positions as opportunities for sacred service, service to God and to all his children. When Lord Rama heard the accusations being leveled against his consort, this situation constituted an ethical crisis.

In an ethical crisis, one has two choices, both moral,

unlike in a moral crisis, when one has two choices, one moral and the other, immoral. To resolve an ethical crisis, one needs profound wisdom to recognize the higher moral principle and adjust the lower moral principle accordingly. So, through this incident, Lord Rama, who was God incarnate playing the role of an ideal human being, taught us how to wisely resolve ethical crises.

As an ideal husband, the Lord was duty-bound to protect his wife. But as the ideal king, he was also duty-bound to exemplify and teach his citizens, whom he loved like his own children, the path to spiritual advancement.

Ordinarily, people are very attached materially to spouse, children, house, wealth. So, the king is duty-bound to demonstrate to his citizens the principle of detachment so that they become inspired toward detachment and thus make spiritual advancement.

That’s why Lord Rama considered his duty as an ideal king more important than as the ideal husband and so sacrificed his love for his wife for the sake of his love for his children (citizens). But he didn’t abandon his duty as a husband; he thoughtfully did that duty by transferring Sita from his direct care in the palace to his indirect care in the hermitage. Mother Sita, understanding the heart of her Lord, gracefully accepted her part in his sacrifice. Unfortunately, all of us, for whose sake he did this glorious sacrifice, fail to appreciate him.

Source: www.thespiritualscientist.com, posted on October 8, 2010

“You have it in your power to make your days on Earth a path of flowers, instead of a path of thorns.”

— Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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CONTROL OF HINDU TEMPLES AND TEMPLE FUNDS, STEPHEN KNAPP BOOK OPENS OUR EYES The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act of 1951 allows State Governments and politicians to take over thousands of Hindu Temples and maintain complete control over them and their properties. It is claimed that they can sell the temple assets and properties and use the money in any way they choose.

A charge has been made not by any Temple authority, but by a foreign writer, Stephen Knapp, in a book (Crimes Against India and the Need to Protect Ancient Vedic Tradition), published in the United States that makes shocking reading. Hundreds of temples in centuries past have been built in India by devout rulers and the donations given to them by devotees have been used for the benefit of the (other) people. If, presently, money collected has ever been misused (and that word needs to be defined), it is for the devotees to protest and not for any government to interfere. This identifies what has been happening currently under an intrusive law. It would seem, for instance, that under a Temple Empowerment Act, about 43,000 temples in Andhra Pradesh have come under government control and only 18 per cent of the revenues of these temples have been returned for temple purposes, the remaining 82 per cent have been used for purposes unstated.

Apparently even the world famous Tirumala Tirupati Temple has not been spared. According to Knapp, the temple collects over Rs. 3,100 crores every year and the State Government has not denied the charge that as much as 85 per cent of this is transferred to the State Exchequer, much of which goes to causes that are not connected with the Hindu community. Was it for that reason that devotees make their offering to the temples?

Another charge that has been made is that the Andhra Government has also allowed the demolition of at least ten temples for the construction of golf courses. Imagine the outcry, writes Knapp, if ten mosques had been demolished ! It would seem that in Karanataka, Rs. 79 crores were collected from about two lakh temples and from that, temples received Rs seven crores for their maintenance, Muslim madrassahs and Haj subsidy were given Rs 59 crore and churches about Rs 13 crore. Very generous of the government!

Because of this, Knapp writes, 25 per cent of the two lakh temples or about 50,000 temples in Karnataka will be closed down for lack of resources. He also adds: the only way the government can continue to do this is because people have not stood up enough to stop it. Knapp then refers to Kerala where, he says, funds from the Guruvayur Temple are diverted to other government projects denying improvement to 45 Hindu temples. Land belonging to the Ayyappa Temple , apparently has been grabbed and Churches have encroached on huge areas of forest land, running into thousands of acres, near Sabarimala.

A charge is made that the Communist state government of Kerala wants to pass an Ordinance to disband the Travancore Cochin Autonomous Devaswom Boards (TCDBs) and take over their limited independent authority of 1,800 Hindu temples. If what the author says is true, even the Maharashtra Government wants to take over some 450,000 temples in the state which would supply a huge amount of revenue to correct the state’s bankrupt conditions.

Source: World Hindu News (WHN) Posted on October 24, 2015 by WHN Reporter

“Om is that God of love. Like a loving mother

Om cleans us of our clutters collected through many incarnations.”

— Banani Ray

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INDIAN SECULARISM IS COLOUR BLIND

By Tufail Ahmad People are angry at the murder of Muhammad Akhlaq in Dadri over allegations that he ate beef. Some say they are angry at Akhlaq’s murder, while others say they are angry at the murder of the cow. Some people are angry at the cancellation of Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s show of 9 October in Mumbai due to the Shiv Sena’s threat, while others are angry at Pakistani actors and singers being invited in India.

In the natural world, animals are made of meat and bones. Humans too, made of bones and meat, are animals. What angers them? Let’s look at their habits and ideas.

It is a bogus claim that we as humans are concerned about life, whether the life be of an animal or of a human being. For example, lots of people who argue that they believe in non-violence are non-vegetarians and eat meat in full awareness that an animal has been murdered.

In purely humanist considerations, the life of an animal cannot be less precious than the life of a human being.

Among vegetarians, Jains deserve respect as they strive not to hurt even insects. It does not automatically mean that all Jains are vegetarians and pacifists, or that vegetarians do not murder.

On 23 June, Pakistani police killed a boy after he posed for selfie with a toy gun in Faisalabad, but Pakistani people did not protest. But if a Palestinian child is injured in firing by Israeli police, there are global protests by leftists and journalists file numerous outraged reports.

When the U.S. launched the war in Iraq, there were protests across the world by anti-war activists. When Saudi Arabia launched the current air strikes on Yemen, anti-war activists went to sleep. Pakistani army regularly kills people in Balochistan, but Pakistanis do not rise up. In India, secular journalists who claim they are concerned about human rights do not get angry when victims are Hindu.

Indian Secularism Is Colour-Blind.

Secular journalists who are angry at Akhlaq’s killing adopted total silence on a number of murders recently.

Last August, army jawan Vedmitra Chaudhury was lynched to death in Hardevnagar, near Meerut, for saving a girl from molesters. In March, a Hindu man was abducted and murdered in Hajipur of Bihar for marrying a Muslim girl. Last June, a man was lynched to death near Eluru in Andhra Pradesh. A mob killed a man in Bhandup West area of Mumbai in June.

Secular journalists’ colour-blindness prevents them from seeing these murders: they do not get angry; they want Muslims to be murdered; only then they speak up.

Indian secularism has tasted the Muslim blood.

Indian Secularism Is Not Only Colour-Blind, It Is Also Half-Pakistani.

Secular leader Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, spoke with Ghulam Ali after his show was cancelled and will host him in Delhi. Secular leader Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, organised Ghulam Ali’s show in Lucknow.

But Kejriwal and Akhilesh didn’t invite our own Oscarwinning musician A. R. Rahman when his music show of 13 September in Delhi was cancelled due to a fatwa by the Barelvi group Raza Academy. Secularism does not like Indian Muslim singers; it does not like Indian writers like Salman Rushdie. Mamata Banerjee, another secular leader, supported Ghulam Ali, saying music has no international boundaries but she will not support Taslima Nasreen, the Bangladeshi writer.

Indian Secularism Is Truly Pakistani, Not Even A Quarter-Bangladeshi.

Indian secularism is also counter-nationalist: secular lawyers turned out at midnight before the Supreme Court to save the life of convicted terrorist Yakub Menon but remain silent on death sentences of common Indians.

“You must worship the Self in Krishna, not Krishna as Krishna.”

— Swami Vivekananda

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Secular journalist Nikhil Wagle wrote: “Without secularism, India is a Hindu Pakistan.“ Indian secularism is not even Indian: it is incomplete without eating beef. It loves to eat beef because Pakistanis eat beef. It is essentially Pakistani. It aligns with Pakistanis.

In 1947, our people thought that they could give away a piece of India’s territory to buy permanent peace. The secular government of Manmohan Singh came close to conceding a part of Kashmir to Pakistan in talks with General Pervez Musharraf, the architect of arguably the largest jihad in modern times in Kargil. Indian secularism is without sex, without consummating with Pakistan In his landmark book “On War”, German military strategist Carl von Clausewitz observed: “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” The reason Indians do not want Pakistani singers here is because Pakistan is practically in a state of war against India for nearly seven decades.

Through television and social media, common Indians can understand Pakistan’s war by other means. Pakistan has not formally declared a war, but Indians have grasped the obvious fact of our times that we are in a state of war because Pakistan continues to send jihadists into India. Aamir Khan’s movie Sarfarosh showed us that Pakistan sends arms dealers posing as ghazal singers.

Indian Secularism Is Also Islamist.

In 2012, the secular Congress government did not allow Salman Rushdie to speak in Jaipur because secularism is in an incestuous relationship with Islamists. Mamata Banerjee does not support Taslima Nasreen because the West Bengal CM is in league with Islamists in the state.

Kejriwal’s secularism is in open alliance with Islamists.

In 2013, Kejriwal visited Bareilly to meet Islamic cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan to seek Muslim votes. Last year, he sent Alka Lamba to meet Imam Bukhari’s brother to seek Muslim votes. In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi’s secularism surrendered before Islamic clerics in the Shah Bano case.

Indian secularism is incomplete without its ideological cohabitation with Islamists.

On 1 October, secular gossip columnist Shobhaa De

tweeted: “I just ate beef. Come and murder me.” The question also is: Will she draw a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad at the Gateway of India?

In a tweet dated 4 October, secular journalist Sagarika Ghose wrote: “Citizens of India, we need a campaign like Je Suis Charlie. Hold your head high and say ‘I am a beef eater’.” The question is: Will secular journalists draw the same cartoon in front of Delhi’s Jamaa Masjid?

The outrage is not about beef or cartoon. Indian youths are concerned over secularism’s double standards; they will support your right to eat beef if you are willing to draw a cartoon, even from your kitchen. The secular NDTV, supported by Aircel, began Save Our Tiger campaign. Why not a Save the Cow campaign?

India is a great nation. Its reality is this: Bollywood actor Aamir Khan makes the movie #PK in which Hindu god Lord Shiva is locked up in a bathroom and threatened, but he cannot make a movie on Prophet Muhammad. This is the imbalance in our national conversation that threatens India’s social cohesion. It is fostered by journalists.

India is witnessing the emergence of fascism from newsrooms, a movement of totalitarian ideas that divides us in order to win. Indian journalists are beaten up by Indians in New York or Dadri for their double standards. On social media, they are being called pimps and prostitutes, bimbos and bazaaru media because they sell their souls for a bungalow or a Rajya Sabha seat.

This secular fascism, in league with Islamic totalitarianism, wins by dividing us, but police must deal ruthlessly with any Indian who takes law into their own hands.

(A version of this article was published on October 15

by Dainik Jagran, India’s largest Hindi-language newspaper under the title “Secular Qabeeley Ke Log”) Author: Tufail Ahmad is a former journalist with the BBC Urdu Service and Director of South Asia Studies Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington DC. He can be reached at: tufailelif@ yahoo.co.uk Source: www.indiafacts.co.in posted on 16 October 2015

“Misfortune is the best fortune. Rejection by all is victory.”

— Valmiki

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SORRY, SADHGURU, YOGA IS HINDU BUT GRAVITY IS NOT CHRISTIAN Background Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is one of the most popular Yoga Gurus today. His style of discourse is rational and his point of view is Dharmic. He is sharp in his arguments and brings a refreshingly different perspective on all subjects. Overall, he is quite impressive.

On the eve of the first International Yoga Day celebration, Sadhguru made a statement in the course of answering an interview question[1]:

“If yoga is Hindu, then gravity is Christian.”

In other words, Sadhguru rejected the idea that Yoga is Hindu. This is an important statement, coming from a Yoga Guru of his fame and stature, so much so, that this quote was chosen as the subject of the cover story interview published by Outlook magazine. I believe, like many others, that the exalted Yoga Guru erred in so observing. Sadhguru uses an analogy to make his point, which on being subjected to rational scrutiny, is found false and hence misleading.

Just to be clear, Yoga being Hindu could have mainly two meanings: 1.

The DNA of Yoga is Hindu This means that the characteristics of Yoga are essentially Hindu and that therefore Yoga cannot be separated from Hinduism.

2.

The applicability and/or right to practice of Yoga is restricted to Hindus This means only Hindus can practice and benefit from Yoga, and not others.

It is important to distinguish the two. Not distinguishing the two will invariably lead to incorrect conclusions, as has been the case with Sadhguru.

The second assertion is illogical at the face of it; how could a technique or discipline apply to some and not to others! Of course like any other scientific discipline, Yoga is applicable to whoever practices it diligently, regardless of their faith[2]. In that sense, the analogy with Gravity is perfect: even if someone does not believe in Gravity, they will fall to the ground, nonetheless, in case they decide to jump out of a window. People who say, “Yoga belongs to the world; not to one religion (viz., Hinduism),” meaning it in this respect are right in their assertion. The universal applicability of Yoga, regardless

of one’s faith, is only too obvious and does not need much discussion. However, they miss the point that “Yoga is Hindu” means that the very DNA of Yoga is Hindu and that Hinduism deserves complete credit for it and hence also has a valid claim to ownership of its intellectual/spiritual capital. Hence in claiming “Yoga belongs to the world,” in response to “Yoga is Hindu” one is simply attacking the proverbial straw man, confusing one position for the other, and therefore not addressing the real issue.

Gravity Is Not Christian Paraphrasing Sadhguru, if Hinduism can lay claim to Yoga since its formulators were Hindu, then Christianity can well lay claim to Gravity since the formulator of its principles, Isaac Newton, was a Christian. In other words, he was analogically rejecting Hinduism’s claim to Yoga using the absurdity of the premise that Gravity is Christian.

No sane person will dispute the ridiculousness of the very idea of a Christian claim to Gravity. The reason is that just because Isaac Newton happened to be a Christian, it does not follow that Christianity had any contribution to the discovery of its principle. It was not that Newton was following some Christian principles that led him to formulate the law of gravitation.

For instance, was Gravity revealed to Newton through decipherment of some Biblical text? Did Newton build upon the Nicene Creed to formulate the law? Did God the Father send a messenger to Newton to give away the hitherto secret laws of the universe? No. Newton’s work was in complete independence of his Christian faith. Any Christian claim to Gravity is thus out of question and no credit is due to it. On the contrary, as one reads the mediaeval history of Europe – cf. The Galileo Affair and Inquisition in general – the Church was a great hindrance to free thought and scientific spirit.

The history-centric[3] framework of Christianity – that God intervened in history through an absolutely unique event, which being non-replicable, is open to neither verification nor disproof – is abhorrent to the most basic principles of science and scientific knowledge building. It is therefore understandable if Sadhguru uses the absurd “Gravity is Christian” assertion to draw his point home. However, its analogy with Yoga being Hindu is fallacious.

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Yoga Is Hindu – Sadhguru’s Analogy Is False Unlike the incidental relationship of Newton’s work with his religion, Hinduism – whatever name one may use for it, like Dharma or Sanatana Dharma – was fundamental to the discovery and development of the Yogic principles. It was, as it were, in and through Hinduism that Yogic principles were understood and codified over centuries and millennia. It was based on the Hindu framework of self-discovery and bold, unfettered quest for Truth, bereft of any dogma or creed and independent of what any Book might say or might not, that Yogic principles were discovered and developed. Yoga was not worked out in seclusion of Hinduism. Yoga receives from and contributes to the Hindu metaphysics, including epistemology, ontology, cosmology and eschatology.

Yoga is closely related to the Samkhya school and forms part of the six schools of Hindu philosophy, all of which have enjoyed constant cross-pollination over millennia.

Yoga has at its basis the most fundamental principles of Hinduism like eternity and immortality of Atma, the law of karma, reincarnation, inherent divinity of man and integral unity between the diverse manifestations of Reality; without these principles, Yoga cannot exist.

The Correct Analogy It seems Sadhguru made the statement casually and had not given the matter much thought. In order to present the universality of Yoga, he ended up distorting the truth of it and – given his celebrity and authority – doing Yoga a grand disservice in effectively alienating it from the Mother Tradition. It also gives legitimacy to appropriation of Yoga by non-Dharma powers, part of a systematic and widespread phenomenon that today’s foremost strategic Hindu thinker, Rajiv Malhotra, has brilliantly expounded as digestion – “the widespread dismantling, rearrangement and assimilation of a less powerful civilization into a dominant one”[4].

On the other hand, Sadhguru would have done a great service to Yoga – his field of lifework – if he had used a valid analogy. Not only would it have not distorted the truth of Yoga being Hindu, but it would have very well clarified the concomitant relationship of Yoga and Hinduism. An apposite analogy would have been:

“Yoga is just as Hindu as Gravity is scientific.”

The relationship between Yoga and Hinduism is perfectly analogous to one between Gravity and science. Just as Yogic principles were formulated upon the framework of Hinduism and through making use of the existing Hindu knowledge and resources, Newton formulated

the law of gravitation working upon the framework of science and using existing scientific knowledge and resources. He followed a valid scientific methodology to arrive at the law of gravitation, which in turn submits itself to empirical verification, just as science demands.

It was Newton the scientist – not Newton the Christian – that formulated the law of Gravity. He did that in and through science just as Yoga was formulated in and through Hinduism. If scientific paradigm was absent, the law of gravitation would not have been discovered, just as laws of Yoga would not have been discovered had the Hindu paradigm been absent. Newton’s work on Gravity has simultaneously shared and enriched the body of scientific knowledge just as, for instance, Patanjali’s work on Yoga has simultaneously shared and enriched the body of Hindu knowledge. (On the other hand, the law of gravitation neither took anything from nor gave anything to Christianity.) Do we not owe it to science to have created the intellectual asset called the law of gravitation? Similarly, we owe it to Hinduism to have created the intellectual/spiritual asset called Yoga.

The analogy is complete and perfect. Saying “Yoga belongs to the world and not to Hinduism alone,” is analogously as ridiculous as saying “Gravity belongs to the world and not to science alone.” It is through and as being parts of Science and Hinduism that the world must benefit from the knowledge of Gravity and Yoga respectively. Can one take out science from the law of gravitation and still retain the law? Of course not; it is absurd to say so. Similarly, one cannot take out Hinduism from Yoga. In other words, Science is the very existential basis of the law of gravitation and similarly Hinduism is the very existential basis of Yoga.

In conclusion, while Gravity is not Christian, Yoga is unmistakably Hindu.

My Request To Sadhguru I would request Sadhguru to reconsider his statement in the light of my discussion. I am confident he will readily realise the gross fallacy of it. I would request him then to retract it and explain in his own style why his statement was incorrect. It will achieve two things: 1. It will undo the distortion he has inadvertently created, misrepresenting the nature and purpose of Hinduism as being “religious” rather than being “scientific” 2. It will help Hinduism reclaim Yoga, which is fast being digested by the West Sadhguru’s erroneous statement will prove to be a blessing

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in disguise if only he takes this opportunity to retract it and explain the retraction in detail. A tall Dharmaguru like Sadhguru will, I am sure, be only too pleased to admit his mistake, especially so, when he would be serving Dharma in so doing.

KID’S CORNER Colour The Pictures

[1] The question was: “Is yoga Hindu,” to which Sadhguru replied, “The word Hindu comes from a geographical location. The people who lived within the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean or the Hindu Sagara were called Hindu. Anything born in this region is Hindu. An earthworm born here is Hindu, as an elephant born in Africa is African. If yoga is Hindu, then gravity is Christian.”

The complete interview can be seen at: http://www. outlookindia.com/article/if-yoga-is-hindu-then-gravity-ischristian/294535 [2] It is not the purpose of this discussion to go into how the metaphysical framework of Yoga/Hinduism is inconsistent with, rather antithetic to, the Abrahamic one and how therefore the followers of Abrahamic religions will have to battle a very fundamental contradiction if they adopt Yoga. It is a separate topic – and an important one – which has been discussed at length in an article by Rajiv Malhotra, “A Hindu View of ‘Christian Yoga’”: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rajiv-malhotra/hindu-view-of-christian-yoga_b_778501.html [3] The problematic aspect of history-centrism has been discussed in this article by Rajiv Malhotra, “Problematizing God’s Interventions In History”: http://creative.sulekha.com/problematizing-god-s-interventionsin-history_103442_blog [4] Rajiv Malhotra further explains: “Like the food consumed by a host: what is useful gets assimilated into the host while what does not fit the host’s structure gets eliminated as waste. The West superimposes its concepts, aesthetics, language, paradigms, historical template and philosophy, positioning these as universal. The corresponding elements of the digested civilization get domesticated into the West, ceasing to exist in their own right.

The result is that the consumed tradition, similar to the food, ceases to exist whereas the host gets strengthened.

In harvesting the fruits of other civilizations, the West has often destroyed their roots, thereby killing their ability to produce more bountiful harvests. Native Americans and European pagans are among numerous examples of such previous digestions into the modern West.”

Complete article at:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ rajiv-malhotra/the-importance-of-debatin_b_861789. html PAGE 30 Listen to Asian Connection Radio on FM 101.3, 11am-2pm; contact Ranbir @ 416-901-2000

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