Extremely flattering description of Hinduism. But essentially means nothing. A religion, any religion, is never only one thing. It always encompasses most aspects of life—especially Hinduism because of its staggering antiquity.
Archaeological discoveries such as ‘Rakhigarhi’, etc., push the date of the antiquity of the Bhartiya civilisation further back by thousands of years. Bhartiya civilisation is the only one with an unbroken link to the earliest stage of human evolution. One cannot only trace all the various stages of human evolution but also understand its reasons and forces.
Civilisations accumulate various cultural norms, traditions, habits, mindsets, worldviews and other signifiers over time. Also, various self-care methods include medicines, routines, food habits, etc. And also literature, music, insights, and philosophies. All of these are actually the result of lands, climates and environments each civilisation flourishes on and flourishes in.
All of the above is understood as RELIGION. This is not only true about Hinduism but also about all the natural religions of the world, alive or extinct.
So, to call Hinduism a way to mitigate and understand our fears is grossly reductionist, oversimplified and sinister.
Connecting any religious thought to the ‘fear’ and nothing else negates the intellectual development of early humans. The anti-traditional thinkers of the Renaissance propagated this explanation. But they had no understanding or exposure to any of the natural religions of the world, such as Mithra, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, etc. Not to mention the only living and breathing natural religion, Sanatana Dharma.
Religion-of-the-book, such as Abrahamic religions, are synthetic and lacks the nuances and symbolism of all the natural religions. Studying Sanatana Dharma through the prism of Abrahamic religions will invariably result in misunderstanding. All the natural religions were the result of the theory of Mind. Understanding, Expanding, and Controlling an individual mind and cultivating a collective mind was the purpose of all those religions. The value of Sanatana Dharma is that it is the only one, out of at least five, and the most intricate, natural religion that has survived and thrived even today.
Rahul Gandhi appears to be a great philosopher but fails on the first step due to myopia.
Rahul Gandhi continues with his shallow understanding of Sanatana Dharma. The piece becomes sinister immediately because of the mention of generosity and non-violence. This has been a ploy of Anti-Sanatana for ages now.
Bhishma tells Yudhishthira that Truth, Non-violence, Freedom from Anger and Giving of Daan are the four attributes of Sanatana Dharma. But this conversation takes place immediately after the Great War. The war Bhishma himself has blessed, the war in which Bhishma himself fought and killed millions, is known as Dharmayuddha.
If we understand that Sanatana Dharma is a theory and a mind practice, we immediately realise that Non-violence is an individual goal, not a societal principle. A society cannot thrive without an adequate amount of violence. That is why Sanatani portrays their gods and goddesses with one hand that gives a boon, varad-hasta, and the other holding weapons- Shastra. Both the words, Shastra and Shaastra, mean something that saves.
Followers of Sanatana Dharma are constantly told that Non-violence is THE ONLY true religion. Thus, any attempt to save, salvage, strengthen and assert self-identity is proclaimed Anti-Sanatana. This statement is the greatest insult to all those who laid their lives for the sake of their Dharma. It is an insult to Arjun and Shree Ram, Chanakya and shakantak Pushymitra, all the way to Shivaji Maharaj and Maharana Pratap.
Flattery is the greatest form of deception. Sanatanis have been deceived by this for aeons now. It is the same as in TV serials; the eldest daughter-in-law is told by her family that you are the best, most generous and most capable of keeping the family together, so suffer in silence.
In his deeply political and skin-deep discourse on Sanatana Dharma, Rahul Gandhi asserts that a Hindu is always curious and ready to listen and learn. Always Humble. Meaning that anyone proud of his Hindutva is anti-Hindu.
Sanatana Dharma followers know what their Dharma is. Sanatana Dharma has developed a great form of teaching called Sanskara. At every stage of life, a human being is imparted certain knowledge and understanding of life and duties in the form of Sanskar. The invention of Sanskar by Sanatana Dharma is an ingenious method of conditioning the Mind.
Thoughts, like rivers, follow the same path constantly. As it flows, it deepens the path and makes it more and more difficult for thoughts to wander. So, Sanskar manages to keep the entire society tranquil and righteous.
But that tranquillity and righteousness is not a weakness or submission to all and sundry influences. It is a fortification of Dharma. Humility doesn’t mean, for a Sanatani, the abandonment of self-identity, spirituality and philosophy. The humility within the fold of Sanatana Dharma is not submission to the afflictions of other ideologies.
Sanatana Dharma has at least eighteen distinct theories of Mind. Eighteen distinct paths of self-realisation. All of them are mutually codependent and inclusive. A Sanatani knows that other such systems may have existed in the past, but none has survived to date except Sanatana Dharma. The collective ocean of knowledge Rahul Gandhi mentions is not in the so-called religious books but in what Karl Gustav Jung called the deep consciousness of the universe. Sanatani calls it Brahm, Parmeshwar or Purusha. Sanatan Dharma is the only alive and thriving discipline with well-developed ways to draw from that collective ocean of knowledge.
Rahul Gandhi further states that a Sanatani loves and accepts all paths as if they are their own.
This statement, too, shows how little he understands the basic tenets of Sanatana Dharma. Accepting others with a different belief system is not the same as accepting that belief system itself. That acceptance will always be conditional as the different beliefs should not be antagonistic to Sanatana Dharma.
Following, preserving and defending all three actions of Sanatana Dharma are simultaneously imperative.
Gaslighting Sanatani for political reasons has become a full-time occupation of some people. They twist and turn and jumble up all the basic teachings of Sanatana Dharma, pick and choose and discard and dispose of various concepts from Sanatana Dharma to suit their purpose.
Rahul Gandhi’s endeavour to define Sanatana Dharma is like filling up a glass from the ocean and declaring that there are no whales in the world.
