Discovery of Sanskrit Treasures (seven volumes)

by Satya Vrat Shastri | 2006 | 411,051 words

The series called "Discovery of Sanskrit Treasures" represents a comprehensive seven-volume compendium of Dr. Satya Vrat Shastri's research on Sanskrit and Indology. They feature a wide range of studies across major disciplines in these fields, showcasing Shastri's pioneering work. They include detailed analyses like the linguistic apprai...

11. National Integration in a Multireligious Society

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National Integration in a Multireligious Society: A Study in Indian Perspective—The English word religion is generally rendered by the word dharma in Indian languages. It is necessary first of all to grasp its fuller significance. A combination of two elements, dhr [=√धृ =√dhṛ] and the suffix man it means 'that which sustains'. Rightly has it been said about it in ancient texts: dharmo dharayate prajah,' dharma is what holds together people or holds together society. When we talk of integration, we mean precisely this, what is integration if not holding together of people. It would be natural to pass on from this to the question as to what religion or dharma is. Since times immemorial this question has been posed and attempted to be answered. After having repeatedly exhorted people to follow dhamma or dharma emperor Asoka could not but proceed to explain it realizing full well the inquisitiveness that the repeated word may generate among people. He posed the question: kiyam cu dhammeti, what is dharma. His answer to this is: apasinave, daya, dane, sace, socave, madave, sadhave2, it is mercy, charity, truthfulness, purity, goodness and politeness. Looking at this definition of emperor Asoka authorities like Radha Kumud Mookerji have pointed out that Asoka's.dhamma is a common property of all religions. No religion would expect of its adherents not to inculcate the above virtues. Much earlier than Asoka, the Manusmrti, the age-old Dharmasastra text, attempted a similar definition of dharma. The relevant stanza therein reads: Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

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National Integration in a Multireligious Society.... ahimsa satyam asteyam saucam indriyanigrahah i 161 etat samasikam prahuh saksad dharmasya laksanam 113 "Non-injury to beings, truthfulness, nonstealing, purity, selfcontrol-- this in nutshell is the definition of dharma." As we can see, it differs little, if at all, from the Asokan definition of dharma. What is said in the Manusmrti of the Hindus and the inscription of the Buddhist Asoka is said in the Bible of the Christians. Treat thy neighbour as thyself, thou shall not steal and so on. The Quran of the Muslims, Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhs also say the same thing. The essential of all religions being the same, if their adherents were only to grasp it, much of the religious conflict in the world would disappear. Every religion has a set of its rituals, doctrines and dogmas and a whole set of appurtenances which serve more often than not in clouding the essential unity of them, boggling the people down in them and confusing them into stepping from the essential to the non-essentials. Recounting a personal experience may bring home the point much better. Some time after the writer of these lines had his Sanskrit epic on the life and the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh published, a Sikh friend of his in the Department of Italian in the University of Delhi asked him as to how he could write the work. "Through the grace of the Guru,' was his reply. 'You are a true Sikh,' said the Sikh friend. Any one who says 'through the grace of the Guru' has grasped the true significance of Sikhism. We people only sport beards and long hair. He was to a certain extent right. Sikhism is a spirit, it is a philosophy of life. It would be doing injustice to it to confine it only to externals just as it would be doing injustice to Hinduism to confine it to the stratification of society or to idol worship. When we visualize religion as the integrating force we visualize it as an entity transforming a man from a basic animal that he is into a human being. If he is a man already, then turning him into a better man.

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The basic purpose of religion is to satisfy spiritual needs of a person. Man has always been in quest of peace and happiness which materialism even at its height has failed to provide him. He turns to religion to discover them and it is not unoften that he finds them. Had it not been so, religion as a force would have long ceased to exist. The very fact that religion enables a man to discover oneness among all beings serves to draw them closer. This is clearly noticeable in the followers of a particular religion. If the realization were to be extended to the followers of other religions, then even the followers of different religions could also be drawn together. To make man a better man being the common aim of all religions they could only be counted as different paths for the realization of the common goal. Wherever this realization has dawned, multiplicity of religions has caused no problems in living together in peace and amity of their followers. If the people were to follow the same set of values, it is ununderstandable as to how they should come into conflict with each other. Brotherhood and non-injury to fellow beings being the kernal of it, no true religion would admit bigotry and intolerance. It should be left to people to decide for themselves as to which path in their spiritual upliftment would suit them the most. The use of force in making them adopt a particular path should simply be unnecessary and undesirable. What Asoka had said in the case of different sects is doubly true in the case of different religions: yo hi koci atpaposamdam pujayati parapasamdam ca garahati sava atpapasamdabhatia kimti atpapasamdam dipayema iti so ca puna tatha karato atpapasamdam badhataram upahanati ta samavayo eva sadhu "Whosoever glorifies his sect and disparages the other's sect in the belief that he is thereby serving the cause of his sect, he by so doing injures the other sect but more than that he injures his own sect. So, concordance is what is good." Ensconced in this spirit religion would lead to the same spirit

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National Integration in a Multireligious Society.... 163 subsisting in all beings which undoubtedly is pre-requisite of all types of integration, national or international. Culture of a country is determined by its history, geography and the complexion of its population. This holds good in the case of India as well which is populated by many races. Four of these were identified in the pre-historic age itself: the Aryans, the Dravidians, the Astroloids and the Mongoloids. To these were added quite a large number through immigration princ.pally through the North-West. Foreigners flocked to India in successive waves in search of pastures anew. As for languages, there are twenty two major ones which are spoken in India at present with countless off-shoots. All this has resulted in the evolution in India of a psychology which is of the accepting type. Since India did not go in for exclusivism throughout its long march through history, it did not go in for intolerance and fanati::sm either. It developed instead breadth of outlook, catholicity of approach and width of perspective. That is the typical Indian ethos which got its full articulation through a long line of Indian seers and sages, thinkers and philosophers. They could see through unity in the midst of all this diversity. There is only one reality which is given different names, said they: ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti." Each living being has the same soul residing in him and therefore there is no question of any dissension among creatures in the ultimate analysis. Declares the Gita: vidyavinayasampanne brahmane gavi hastinit suni caiva svapake ca panditah samadarsinahif "The wise look upon a learned and modest Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcast as they are one and the same. " This outlook did not make the Indians limit themselves to their tiny village, their town, their city and even their vast country. They could go beyond them and look upon the whole earth as their mother. The Atharvaveda seer calls himself the son of the earth: mata bhumih putro 'ham prthivyah," "I am the son of the earth. The earth is my mother." That is the true international spirit, manifest not in a work of today when there is so much of talk of fostering of international outlook but in a work thousands of years old! To the Indians the whole universe is a nest which they

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inhabit: yatra visvam bhavaty ekanidam.8 Little wonder then that there was no aggression against any country on the part of Indians, no attempt to annex territories. Whenever there was any conquest, it was only the cultural one. This can well be illustrated with reference to the Southeast Asia and the Far East. Indian culture spread in these Continents but never through the sword arm. Except for one solitary instance of Rajaraja Chola sending a naval expedition against Indonesia there was never any attempt for the past two to three thousand years at military conquest. It was their catholicity of outlook which made the Indians look upon the pain and suffering of others as their own. A physician in India does not aspire for himself a kingdom, the things of enjoyment or happiness, he aspires only to be able to remove the suffering of the tormented living beings: na tv aham kamaye rajyam na svargam napunarbhavami kamaye duhkhataptanam praninam artinasanami9 An Indian considers doing good to others a meritorious act and tormenting others a vicious one: paropakarah punyaya papaya parapidanam 10 In the eighteen Puranas Vyasa has said only two things: to do good to others is good. To cause suffering to them or torment them leads to sin. Some of the misguided western scholars have charged Indians with being a little too individualistic. Nothing can be farther from truth. There are countless references in Indian literature which emphasize corporate life. If one has wealth, it is not for the use of oneself only: paropakaraya satam vibhutayah,11 'the riches of the noble are for the good of others.' A miser who does not share his wealth with others is an object of pity. The Sanskrit word for him is krpana which literally means, 'one who is pitiable'. In Indian kitchens food is cooked not for one's own consumption only but for others as well. The Gita emphatically declares: bhunjate te tv agham papa ye pacanty atmakaranat, 12 "those who cook for themselves alone, eat sin alone." The Mother Earth yields

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National Integration in a Multireligious Society.... resources for all of its sons and not for the chosen few: 165 bhumir dadati sarvebhyah putrebhyo 'syah dhanam samami There has been emphasis in India on peace since times immemorial: Om santih santih. There is a full mantra in which peace is invoked from the sky, the earth and all other elements. India's thrust for peace which is very much in evidence now is rooted in its culture. Mutual tolerance, accomodation, peaceful co-existence are the hallmark of Indian culture. They could not have found better expression than in the following Vedic mantra: sangacchadhvam samvadadhvam sam vo manamsi janatam samani va akutih samana hrdayani vahi samanam astu vo mano yatha vah susahasatin13 "May you walk in step. May you speak in unison. May your minds think alike. May your minds act together for the good of all of you." REFERENCES 1. Mahabharata, Karnaparvan, 69.58; Ramayana, VII. 59.7-8. 2. Delhi Topra Pillar Inscription No. 7, line 18. 3. 10.63. 4. Girnar Rock Edict No. 12, lines 5-6. 5. Rgveda, 1.164.4. 6. 5.18. 7. 12.1.12. 8. Atharvaveda, 2.1.1. 9. A well-known stanza in Sanskrit circles but its source is not traceable. 10. Pancatantra, 3 (Kakolukiyam), 101. 11. Nitisataka, 66 12. 3.13. 13. Rgveda, 10.191.2.

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