Jai Sri Ram!
I write this on the eve of the most momentous once-in-a-millenium kind of occasion for this country – Pran pratishtha (consecration) of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya on Jan 22,2024! I have been beaming with joy for a month now pining for this day!
I have been speaking to small groups about why this occasion is so important for us as Hindus and Indians. Yesterday, while explaining the importance to a student-friend over a casual walk, he suggested I share my views more widely. Hence this article! I would suggest you to read this with an open mind regardless of your socio-political inclinations. As you will see, I have tried my best to refrain from generalising and judging other communities (without shying away from sharing literal facts though), nor am I taking a stance in favour of any political party. I have tried my best to write this essay in the vein of a non-politically-aligned independent thinker which I am, on one hand and a non-divisive and yet truthful human being on the other hand. Left liberals may take objection to my content and right-wingers may take objection to my softness. But I can only do what I need to do while being what I am.
Coming back to this momentous day. This day excites me because to me this marks two things in one breath – immense hope for the world and the first step towards the liberation of the Hindu Dharma. I will now explain how.
Civilisation always rests on culture to retain its meaning. Deprived of high culture, civilisation comes crashing to the ground. It continues to survive in the mundane sense but loses all vitality, meaning and joy. It also gets hijacked by Asuric forces via Asuric human beings. Culture therefore is the heart of any civilisation.
This world has been witness to incredible civilisations like Hindu, Egyptian, Greco-Roman, Mesopotamian, Mayan, Aztec, Chinese to name a few. Of these great civilisations only Hindu civilisation and to some extent Chinese civilisation have stood the very long test of time in terms of retention of authenticity and the sheer breadth of the body of work. This is not without a reason. Kali-yuga by design is about the collapse of civilisations. However, thankfully, as per many mystics, we are already in the dawn period of Satyuga where the pralaya (destruction energies) and the srujana (creative energies) are concomitantly active, as it always is, during the shift-of-the-ages.
Hindu civilisation finding its footing once again is one of the most important events to bring in the Satyuga energies for the whole world. India and Hinduism can truly be the compassionate light beacon for the world. It makes for a good Satyuga force because the Hindu civilisation has always influenced the world through its inherent essence rather than colonised it by the sword.
Now lets come to the second point about liberation of Dharma. Countless people – devotees, religious leaders and some authentic political leaders – have been making an insane amount of sacrifice for multiple generations to reclaim the Ram Mandir that is rightly ours as a Hindu. And these sacrifices are getting their dues now. The other day I heard Sri Guru Rohit Arya speak of a certain Hindu community that has – on a blanket level – not been wearing footwear since 350 years now (maybe 14 generations?) until we would reclaim our God’s place of birth and the sanctity thereof.
An atheist or even a SBNR (Spiritual but not religious) would very easily brush off the momentousness of this event as superstition/whim/unscientific behaviour at best or a communally divisive act at worst. It seems as stupid to them as offering water to Shiva. Well, if you start with the point that God doesn’t exist and even if He does, he surely doesn’t inhabit a stone idol, then there is no common ground to discuss. However, if the window of one’s faith is slightly open, then the whole event becomes highly relatable to one. Forget relying on faith, now one can also rely on science and find one’s belief in God and the metaphysical. Now we have enough support from the scientific community – esteemed professors Eben Alexandar and John Mack (from Harvard) – for example vouch for the beings in the other-worldly realms (aliens/angels/Gods/demi-Gods) and have written books around them.
Coming back to the Dharmic angle. Hindu Dharma has been under vicious attack for at least eight centuries now. The same hasn’t gotten much better after Independence if one believes so. The most important part of this attack is that a common Hindu has little idea how badly he is under attack. This is owing to excellent subversionary tactics by the subvertors.
Anand Ranganathan has written a whole book as to how Hindus are not the first, second or third but eight-class citizens of this country. To quote an example, most large Hindu temples (being huge sources of funds) are under government control unlike the places of worship of other communities. What double standards! A large part of the funds collected from the temples are channelled by the opportunist politicians to appease voters from other communities. While promoting other religions, it essentially deprives Hindus from reinvesting in culture preservation, from paying our pious priests sufficiently and from philanthropy out of the temple. This was just one example. There are numerous other violations and discriminations that an average Hindu is not sufficiently aware of.
The reclaimed Ram Mandir is Hindu’s first step to break free of such injustices. While the dharma fight with our own politicians will have to continue, the reclaimed Ram Mandir is at least the first step in the right direction towards Dharma preservation in its fight against global subversionary forces.
Have you ever wondered why is it so difficult for a Hindu (unlike other communities) to own his own roots? Are we comfortable wearing a tilak on our head and going out? Are we comfortable wearing the colour of our culture (saffron) every once in a while? Or we are afraid that we will be mocked by our fellow Hindu friends, let alone others? That is how deep the rot and depletion of our self-esteem goes. The most important point is that in the name of secularising and liberalising himself, a Hindu has deracinated himself. Who taught that in order to respect other communities, you can’t be rooted in your own? Why does wearing our own symbol – a tilak feel a hardliner trait to us? Why have those who did the Dharma fight on our behalf (even if for partially egoic purposes) been considered hooligans by us ourselves?
Why is it that we are afraid that if we wear our cultural identity on our sleeve, we will become hardliners? Are we similarly afraid when we own up our gender identity? Do we necessarily become gender-hardlined simply because we consider ourselves to be males or females?
Re-racinating ourself back to your cultural identity is the only way we can feel whole and complete. I am a teacher of spirituality, psychology, self-help and now even religion. And based on my vast experience delving deep into the above subjects, I can tell you that a lot of modern-day misery and cowardice both are rooted in not drawing proudly from our religio-cultural origins. Which plant survived without its roots getting the sap?
Jai Sri Ram!
