For many people, especially Westerners, the glory of Bharat thousands of years ago is beyond comprehension. The advancement of science and technology, nurturing and balancing of the environment, natural medical practises, leadership and management concepts, business practices and development, town planning, water management, strong social bonds, unimaginable temple architecture and skills, the exporting of many commodities, and the preservation of a great heritage. This, however, does not sit well with many Westerners, which is understandable given that every country wishes to be prosperous and ahead of other countries in terms of both social and economic development.
Why Bharat lost its Glory?
There are numerous reasons, but I will only mention a few. When we were at the pinnacle of glory and the world was looking to us for solutions on all fronts, we became complacent, believing that if we hadn’t done anything wrong to any nation, why would anyone harm us? This mindset has resulted in a loss of awareness and alertness to our adversaries’ intentions. Eventually, our society did not fully prepare to face enemies, even though they fought hard battles for a longer period of time and won many battles, but we lost many lives, looted, and culturally destroyed. When things are going well, it is natural to sit back and relax, which leads to a loss of awareness and alertness. Bharatiyas had developed a similar tendency, and a new philosophy emerged as everything was going well in harmony, and they believed that they did not need to prepare for any eventuality. There was no strong military base and no preparations for a war-like situation. People strangely believed that there was no threat because everything appeared to be perfect and that they did not need to make efforts for the security of society and nation.
Complacency led to destruction as nations dissatisfied with Bharat’s exponential growth devised systematic game plans and tactics to weaken us on multiple fronts. More than 200 times, Bharat had been attacked and looted, primarily by Mughals and Britishers.
The focus was on destroying the great culture, which was a strong force for the social, economic, and political development of Bharat at the time, and on making Bharat “Vishwa Guru.” Mughal invaders were the first to succeed, followed by Britishers. They were well aware that Bharat can only be ruled and exploited for long periods of time if the great Bharatiya culture is destroyed.
We follow the mantras “Ahimsa Paramo Dharma” and “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” which mean that we believe in nonviolence and consider the entire world to be our family. These intentions are worth imbibing in real life, but nonviolence is only possible when a person in society is developed physically, mentally, and with the goal of developing a strong and right national character. Even today, it is clear that Bharat has not attacked any country, captured their lands, exploited their natural resources, destroyed their religious sites, or converted to Hindu Dharma. Many countries that lack great culture, such as Sanatan Dharma, tend to become greedy and harm nations that are strong on social and economic fronts.
Our thinking about nonviolence went wrong, and even today, many people don’t understand it completely. When a country is strong militarily and society is strong mentally with a strong national character, enemies fear to do any misadventure, resulting in peace; otherwise, a country with a weak national character tends to become a slave nation as greedy enemies and nations ruthlessly take control of such nations.
Once, an army chief came to Bhagwan Gautam Buddha and asked him to make him a disciple because he had left everything to seek solace from Buddha. When Lord Buddha asked why he left everything, the chief of army said that a neighbouring state’s military was on its way to attack his state, and he didn’t want any bloodshed, so I decided to join you. Bhagwan Buddha responded, “What do you think, now the enemies will not attack, they will have more confidence and valor to destroy your state as your army’s confidence has gone down, there will be more bloodshed and exploitation?” It is worth to fight enemies; even if your life is lost in the war, you will achieve moksha(Liberation) in the end. The realisation of “Nation is supreme for every individual in society, and sacrificing one’s life for a national cause is the greatest service to oneself and the nation”. This intention and attitude will never bring the nation down, but will raise a loud voice to sing the nation’s glory.
Nonviolence does not imply being a slacker. Nonviolence is understood incorrectly if it is destroying the nation culturally, economically, and socially. A strong nation based on Sanatan culture will never attack another nation or culture, and thus establishing a strong society based on every Sanatan dharma concept, will eventually bring peace to society, nation, and the world.
Even internal India-breaking forces will be subdued if society develops a sense of national character. Only then will we be able to reclaim our glory and become “Vishwaguru.”
One more reason attributed to our suffering is, Westerners and mughals used caste-based divisional tactics to break society, one of which was the fake Aryan invasion theory. Though they created false theories, we as Indians were also to be blamed because we became entangled in a malicious intent and indulged in caste division. The caste system harmed our interests the most; we lost many lives in wars against enemies because we lost our unity. Religious conversions and cultural sites were extensively destroyed.
The most important factor is to bring social harmony, without which it is impossible to bring everyone together under the banner of Sanatan Dharma. We will have to fight together against the forces that are still attempting to divide society based on caste differences in order to convert them religiously.
Scientific and Technological advancements
It has been demonstrated that modern discoveries, inventions, theories, and concepts are largely based on Vedic knowledge/literature. Many scientists have studied Vedic literature in order to gain in-depth knowledge of scientific, spiritual, psychological, and behavioural knowledge.
The ancient Gurukul education system was revered throughout the world for its multi-dimensional, life and scientific management approach, as well as the various skills and knowledge imparted from childhood.
Developing leadership qualities, management principles and concepts, teamwork, problem-solving techniques with ease and calm mind, understanding mind and its complexity, sharpens intellect and memory, seeing and managing ego, spiritually and scientifically understanding soul, research and development, and environmental management were all part of our ancient Gurukul system, in addition to science, mathematics, social science, and grammar.
So, what went wrong for us to abandon our Vedic culture and Gurukul education system?
Takshshila and Nalanda universities were once considered the best in the world; however, our universities are no longer among the top 100 in the world. When we had gained a higher position globally, i.e. socially, economically, and spiritually, owing to our virtues, Vedic knowledge, complacency, and careless attitude cost us dearly, our enemies, first the Mughals, and then the Britishers, were plotting to destroy us. Mughals began to set narrative against our great culture in order to capture our territories, exploit economic resources and convert the people to Islam, and they were successful to some extent by creating caste schisms, coercion, and looting…
Later, when the British arrived, they realised that in order to maintain control for a longer period of time, they needed to destroy the culture and education system. They delegated this task to Max Muller and Thomas Macaulay, and it was carried out exactly as planned.
Max Muller, perhaps the most well-known early Indologist and Sanskritist, was the one who attempted to set narrative against the Vedas and great Indian culture, as the British government desired. He and other Indologists wanted to control and convert Vedic culture followers, so they widely spread the myth that the Vedas were simply mythology. They purposefully misinterpreted Sanskrit texts in order to portray the Vedas as primitive, and they systematically attempted to make Bharatiyas ashamed of their own culture. The Aryan invasion theory was one of these Indologists’ forgeries of history. Thus, the actions of these Indologists appear to be motivated by a racial race. Despite this, Max Muller later praised the Vedas. He admitted that his Vedic chronology was purely speculative, and in his final work, “The six systems of Indian Philosophy,” published shortly before his death, he wrote, “whatever the date of Vedic hymns, whether 1500 or 15000 B.C.E., they have their own unique place and stand by themselves in the literature of the world.”
Thomas Macaulay further harmed Sanatan sanskruti by instituting an English education system, which harmed the inner engineering of every Sanatani, which was the source of growth in all aspects of life, work, and nation.
It is time to reintroduce our own education system, which combines ancient and modern knowledge and techniques. Thomas Macaulay, who introduced English education in Bharat wanted to make the Bharatiyas into a race that was, Bharatiya in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals, and in intellect.
Economically, our GDP was highest in the world, and exports were very high. Our natural resources, raw materials, minerals, knowledge, and technology were looted by Mughals and Britishers. Our economy was completely destroyed, and socio – economic problems arose. In addition, the British rule played a dirty trick by implementing the “Divide and Rule Policy.” Caste and religion were once used to divide the masses. Some of the negative consequences are still being felt.
Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar
When many freedom fighters from the village to the national level fought against British misrule. Shri Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a freedom fighter who had faced difficulties in his personal life since childhood, had dedicated himself to the cause of the nation while also completing his education. He was imprisoned twice for opposing British rule and injustice. While working to free the country from the clutches of Britishers, he became aware of a few significant characteristics of the Bharatiya people as a whole.
He realised that the majority of people had forgotten the roots of great Bharatiya culture, developing a slave mentality and losing their fighting spirit. People have not been prepared to focus on developing national character. Society has been systematically rigged to fight primarily on the basis of caste, so that people never band together to fight British rule. The minds had been poisoned against the great Vedas, Upanishads, and culture. People had forgotten the great warriors of the past, such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Maharana Pratap. They had forgotten the immense wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita and Chanakya Niti.
The most important realisation was “Shatrubodh,” people had lost the discriminatory power to know who is our friend and who is trying to destroy us. This has created a significant schism between the masses and the leaders. This has created more enemies within various groups, as well as unnecessary controversies. This has done significant damage to the fabric of society and harmed the Sanatan Dharma. Conversions to Islam and Christianity were multifaceted.
All of these realisations caused Dr. Hedgewar to reconsider his position. To make Bharat great again socially, economically, and spiritually, grass-root work with a multi-dimensional approach was required, so that it will make our nation so strong that no one will dare to invade this great nation again. I will skip over associations with the Congress and other organisations and instead focus on the formation of the “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” RSS.
The goals of RSS can be understood if we deeply understand a prayer.
1. Declaring our country a “Hindu Rashtra” does not imply forcing people of other faiths to leave the country. Hindu dharma or Sanatan Dharma believes in and works for the upliftment of all people without regard to caste, colour, creed, religion, region, language, or environment.
2. “Swa” based social and economical development
3. Bringing back the Gurukul education system with modern knowledge and removing Macaulay’s education system.
4. To eradicate untouchability and allow everyone to live as Hindus.
5. Teach everyone in society to develop a fighting spirit and to fight injustice and illegal practises.
6. Akhand Bharat.
7. Unity in diversity
8. Establish or develop sectorial organisations to advance in each sector and field.
9. Develop personal and national character
10. Make Bharat a “Vishwa Guru” nation.
Pranam to this great organisation.
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