Essay name: Discovery of Sanskrit Treasures (seven volumes)
Author:
Satya Vrat Shastri
Affiliation: Karnatak University / Department of Sanskrit
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 appraisal of Yogavasishtha, etymological studies in the Mahabharata and the Devibhagavata-purana, as well as explorations of human values as defined in ancient texts.
Volume 5 - Philosophy and Religion
166 (of 216)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S3 Foundation USA.
162
Philosophy and Religion
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 Aśoka had
said in the case of different sects is doubly true in the case of
different religions:
yo hi koci ātpapōsaṃḍaṃ pūjayati parapāsaṃdaṃ ca
garahati sava atpapāsaṃḍabhatia kimti ātpapāsaṃ-
dam dipayema iti so ca puna tatha karato ātpapāsaṃ-
dam bāḍhataram upahanāti ta samavāyo 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
CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S3 Foundation USA
