Tryst with Sanatan Sanskriti
Puran Chand Sharma
It will be no exaggeration to say that our Sanatan sanskriti occupies a very special and unique place amongst the varied cultures of different nations as sequel to exhaustive research religiously carried out by our enlightened Rishis whose primary and principal moral duty as well as social responsibility was to engage themselves in deep penance to lay out the best of humanitarian approach for noble pursuits on the earth planet meticulously reflected in our conduct and behaviour vis-a-vis rest of the world from the standpoint of emotional quotient and Sanatan Sanskriti that speaks of following golden principles :-1.Sarav Dharam Sambhaav (equal respect for all religions),2. Vasudev Kutumbakum (world is one family), 3.God is omnipresent (God is present everywhere), 4. God is omniscient (God has infinite knowledge) and 5.God is omnipoten(God’s power is above all). 6.Satyamevjayate ( Truth only prevails) 7. Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina ( one and all must be happy) 8.Immotality of soul:- We have strong belief in immortality of soul and live with the conviction that who so ever is born, dies sooner or later. 9. Punarjanam :–We Indians fervently trust in rebirth on the basis of our actions.10. According to Sanatan sanskriti, the ultimate aim of human life is to be eternally happy. 11. Four significant Pursarthas or milestones are the hallmark of Hindu culture such as1. DHARAM :- It presupposes obeying the divine commands for holistic peace and prosperity of one and all. It is the universal truth and is not restricted to the rituals.2. ARATH:- Wealth or money. 3.kaam:-It represents the worldly possessions, prosperity and the related enjoyments 4.Moksh:- This signifies the ultimate goal of human life that is liberation from the obnoxious cycle of birth and death and merger with the supreme consciousness and the immanent God.
Further we find that Sanatan Sanskriti strongly pleads for renunciation and renouncement for the welfare of others, therefore, it is said to be YAGYAMAYI and TYAGMAYI. We have glaring example of Shree Ram returning the whole of golden Lanka to Bibhishana, the brother of Ravana consecrating him as king after convincing victory in a deadly war in Treta YUG and Bhama Shah offering his entire wealth and Gold to the beleaguered Rana Partap for reorganizing his troops to fight against the mighty Mughal Empire to save the honour of the country during the Kaliyuga times.
- Emphasis on compliance of natural or allotted duty:- There is a specific commandment emanating from the treasury of Sanatan sanskriti specifying them as Puttardharam, Pitaridharam, Patidharam, Rajdharam, Prajadharam etc.
- Tolerance:- We not only believe in tolerance but practise it in true sense of the term based on our convention that Truth is one and the scholars /Pundits narrate that in diverse ways and forms.
- Veneration and Acceptance for all other Sects/Religions:- Indian culture or the Bhartiya sanskriti has equal respect for all other contemporary cultures and afford them the fullest opportunity to grow and flourish sans any kind of prejudice.
- Penchant and Power of Assimilation:- History is witness to the fact that all alien races like Hoons ,Shakas and Kushans etc. who visited our land for extraneous purposes have been assimilated into our Sanatan Sanskriti because of our broader humanitarian and ethical bent of mind.
- Some other inspirational bullet points are being laid down for better understanding such as * To maintain reasonable balance between Shakti and Bhakti e.g. Guru Ram Dass and Chhatarpati Shiva ji, Chankya and Chandergupt, Guru Gobind singh and Banda Bairagi etc. * Cultivated Poojabhav like Matridevo Bhav, Pitridevo bhav, Atithidevo bhav, Acharyadevo bhav Rashtardevo bhav, Bhoomipooja, Goupooja etc.
Think, plan and act for Renaissance and propogation of Sanatan sanskriti is the BUZZWORD. We have not yet fully recovered from the obnoxious Macauley effect despite our freedom and tremendous progress in various fields. Have a look at his statement in British Parliament in 1835,” I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar or who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we can ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation ,which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and, therefore, I Propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.”
These findings and considered opinion of wily Macauley was promptly accorded the green signal for prompt implementation and the unsavoury and killer effects have been till now playing havoc with our efforts for resurrection and cultural revival. Successive Union Governments did make some half hearted efforts and it is pleasant to watch that Govt of the day is pursuing the matter with serious concern. But the Govt alone cannot win the cultural war of waterloo. The Indian society as a whole and the basic family unit shall have to make substantive contribution for comprehensive cultural revolution. From the prevailing scenario across the national horizon we find that the upcoming young generation are falling prey to unwanted influence of western culture and drifting away from the divine treasures of Sanatan sanskriti, Indian values and sanskars. There is a conspicuous ray of hope. Change has started happening in the right direction. We need to be an active part of it.
Dr. Arnold Toynbee, great British historian and scholar expressed his views in the valedictory function in Edinburgh University like this, “It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in the self destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment of history, the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian way.” Thus, Toynbee was firmly convinced about the emergence of India as the global leader in the 21st century and that it will achieve tremendous progress in every sphere of life combining the domains of spiritualism and science so well. Jai Bharat