?It is due to Secular Hindus that everyone is safe?

Swami Paripoornananda of Sree Matha, Kakinada is today one of the young saints of Bharat who is striving to help in reviving the glory of Bharat. A disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, he has been at the forefront of many Dharmic causes taking on powerful politicians and lobbies many times. There have been threats to his life. He recently faced externment from Hyderabad by the Telangana Government for a speech which invigorated the Hindus of the city. Many people feel that he was externed due to his growing influence among the traditional voters of the ruling party. Organiser Bengaluru Bureau Chief Prashanth Vaidyaraj spoke to him on the threats to the Hindu society, ways to tackle them, his mission and his views on saints in politics. Excerpts:

It is indeed a pitiable situation that Hindus are facing insecurity in Hindustan itself. Saints led this culture from times immemorial, supported by the kings. Today there are no kings, but the parampara of Saints is continuing. That shows how strong and organised are the saints who have kept up the tradition. Now the politicians in the garb of secularism are out to destroy them. Just as Macaulay wanted to eradicate our education system and impose European education to destroy our culture, politicians have understood that eradicating Hindu saints and disconnecting them from society can create a huge void among Hindus. When you pull out the Saints, you remove the foundation and Hindus will have no one to lead them.

A temple used to be a place of learning; now it has become an avenue for earning. Governance of temples is in the hands of ‘seculars’, and they have ruined the temple culture. But they sensed that even if temples are controlled, saints will sustain the culture as they are dedicated to the cause. As soldiers guard the borders, our saints are the soldiers and guards of our culture. So to divide Hindus and disturb the edifice, they come up with ideas like granting separate religions for Lingayats, etc.

We need to handle the situation in three ways. Firstly, we need to create awareness in the society regarding secularism. It is ridiculous that we have to learn about Secularism from those who are not at all secular. We need to create awareness that it is due to secular Hindus that everyone is safe. The population of Muslims and Christians in Bharat has increased whereas that of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh has decreased. Hence, we need to bring awareness to the society that politicians in the name of secularism are pushing Hindus to the brink and discriminating them for the sake of their vote banks.

Secondly, temples should be freed from the clutches of the Governments. Temples are for learning and keeping up our tradition and not politics. The way temples are being handled; they have become corporate entities. It is obvious that if governments handle temples, they will impose their own rules and regulations throwing our ‘sampradaya and Agamashastras to the air. Freeing temples from Government control is a challenge that Hindu society should win.

Third, most importantly we need to focus on our future generation. Losing a generation will be the biggest loss. Right from the childhood, Dharmic values and Hindu culture should betaught to our children. Ramayana, Gita, Bhagavata, shlokas, etc. have to be taught to our children. If we don’t inculcate Dharmic values in them before they become adults, they won’t remain Hindus. These values have to be inculcated right from their infancy. These three issues have to be taken up by the Hindu society. Organisations like RSS, VHP, Hindu leaders, individually or collectively and the Hindu society have to take up these issues.

Political power is important, and we have instances from our history too. Lord Krishna taught Gita and was also a King. Lord Rama, worshipped as the soul of Bharat, was Dharmic and was also a king. Unfortunately our politicians today don’t know Gita and nor do they know what Dharma is. If this country has to survive with its rich culture and heritage, it is high time for this country to think about the role saints can play in politics too. We have a role model in UP. Similarly in South too saints have to take up politics.

Politics and society are not separate, and politics has entered every aspect of society. As politicians are not dharmic, we need dharmachrayas to play this role. We saints have to think sincerely to march ahead and take up any amount of pain for the sake of Dharma. If Dharmacharyas don’t take this up, our tradition, culture and dharma will be uprooted and thrown out. If we don’t take appropriate steps and allow things to go on, 50 years down the line, we may not have Hindustan at all, and we will be left with ‘Hindu Samudra’(Indian Ocean) only. My clear opinion is saints have to come out and raise their voice and stand for dharma firmly. Sadhus and saints who are clean and dare to stand have to come out. It is the need of the hour, and the country invites them.

There is a lot of pessimism in the youth today. Especially seeing the way you were externed and treated badly by the government, many doubt if it will be possible to bring about a change. So what is your message for the youth?

My message for the youth is that when you stand for dharma, you need not worry about politics or power. Dharma is supreme, and nothing can stand in front of it. Dharmasya Vijayostu’i.e. Dharma will ultimately win. If you run away after seeing initial hiccups and pain, you will become a scapegoat. It is time the youth has to focus on their country and its values. The country is not run because of politicians but because of its dharmic values. People today avoid paying tax, but devotees offer their earnings duly to a temple. It shows that common people still have confidence in Dharma. Youth has to stand for Dharma, and this is the right time.

I am a disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He has ordained me to establish Sandhya Gurukula in remote villages. I have taken up 320 villages till now, and my target is to reach 24672 villages across Telangana and Andhra. It will cover 10-14 lakh children who will be taught dharmic values, patriotism, and culture to inculcate the soul of Bharat in them. If a person is not connected to the soul of Bharat, he/she will be an Indian only in the Aadhar card and will not be an ‘aadhar’ for India. I have initiated the ‘Mission 3G’ for the purpose.

First G is ‘Gurukulam’. Sandhya Gurukulam is conducted, when the school timing gets over, and we teach a girl child of a village in the curriculum we have devised. These girls are trained as Shikshaks. We focus only on girls as they are pillars of a family and can spread the values of Gukulukam before marriage and also after marriage in some other village. Each girl will take care of one unit which will have 25-30 kids. The girl will be given an honorarium. A neglected temple is chosen as the location of the Sandhya Gurukulam, and we make these children perform pooja themselves […]