Ø The simplest definition of Dharm is :
‘the rules framed by religion, to be followed by individuals and societies, so that the individual and the societies can grow and have FAITH in the Almighty’.
Ø Ramayan and all the other ancient Hindu history books were written in Bhakti mode for the obvious reason that, during the past, Hindus, have passed through some extremely difficult time, where sustenance of religion was more important than actual and serious observance of religion.
Ø During the last 1500 years, outside invasion, oppression, exploitation by rulers of Hindu society, had caused inward coiling of Hindu society, and change in attitude. Then further invasions, far greater oppression, and further inward coiling of Hindu society and further change in attitude. And this cycle continued several times. But now we do not have any RULERS, WE HAVE SELF RULE. Yet even now, no effort is being made to reverse the attitude that an average Hindu has.
Ø VEDAS are timeless. So is Hindu Religion. What we have with us, at present, is the first Kalyug edition of Vedas, Purans and other sacred book. I have no problem in accepting the aging done by the oriental scholars, stating that these books have been written at around 2500 BC. Naturally Kalyug edition of these books would have arrived after the start of Kalyug only.
Ø The thing to be understood by one and all is that Hindu God will not interfere in this KARMIC world in which we are living. Everyone will get the fruits of his or her KARMA. If HE wants to interfere, HE has to come and live as a human being( that is why we have several incarnation of Lord VISHNU). This is the GOLDEN RULE of Hindu Dharma.
Ø The one religious book that has widely been misunderstood is GITA– the ROOT of all Religions in the world, and is the MOTIVATION speech that Shri Krishna gave to Arjun on the battle field. GITA HAS ADDED A NEW AND ADDITIONAL DIMENSION AS TO HOW RELIGION CAN ALSO BE PREACHED IN KALYUG. One must know and understand that Arjun was the toughest man ever to be born on earth. When at the start of Mahabharat, Arjun decided that he will not fight Mahabharat war, it required the caliber of Lord Krishna, and the motivation speech of Gita, to motivate him to fight the war. No one delivers sermons or religious speeches on the battlefield. NO—you motivate people on the battle ground. And this is what Lord Krishna has done. The motivation speech along with explanations thereof ran into 18 chapters. Relatively, person of today’s world could be motivated by listening to just one line of that speech, if properly understood. And that perhaps is the only proof that commentator has understood Gita. We all know that religious books of all religion have been designed to motivate people of that religion. Sometimes the motivation works, rest of the time it does not. But Gita will motivate people. Its result has been guaranteed by Lord Krishna himself. However, all the commentators of Gita have simply tried to translate the Sanskrit text and added comment there on, thinking that it is another religious text.Gita is the MOTHER of all religion. THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH GITA. With Gandhi’s ahimsa mantra and a real functioning democracy, plus the motivation provided by GITA, wonders could have been achieved – yet we are struck with poverty, hunger and suicides.
Ø Mahabharata war, which involved the entire civilized societies/kingdoms around the world, was so massive and so destructive that it totally weekend the fabric on which the civilized societies of that period were based. They became susceptible to attack from barbarians both from within and outside the societies. This coupled with natural disasters totally destroyed the entire civilized life, slowly but surely, within a period of 500-1000 years. As a result, Kalyug started with Stone Age which no known history. Post Mahabharata, even Shri Krishna was instrumental in killing his kins who were involved in barbarianism. And the evidence presented by Indus Valley Civilization, that cities which were MUCH older were more advanced than those which were LESS old is physical evidence of the same.
Ø Lot of people have started feeling that Hindu Religion has totally moved away from the cherished path and is now completely moving in a different direction as a result that Hindus, by and large, although being highly religious, are not getting desired result as a society. Lack of education for girls, dowry deaths, suicides among farmers, increase in court cases among relatives, mistrust and discontent, are all physical parameters to measure the effectiveness or success/failure of religion in a society. This compiled with fact that religious shops ( no. of Gurus) have increased, the spending on religion by Hindus have increased drastically-- speak of disastrous misadventure. All this need to be corrected– at least sincere effort has to be made.
Ø Shri Ram is called Maryada Purushottam Ram. Before venturing any further, we must have a clear and acceptable definition of Maryada. Maryada simply means ‘the noblest and finest traditions of that time’. Those who follow it are called Maryada Purush, and the tallest, or the best amongst them is called Maryada Purushottam. MARYADAS, OR TRADITIONS ARE FOLLOWED BY HUMAN BEINGS...NOT GOD, and history records (however weak and disintegrated) are available only of the Powerful, Mighty, and the Noblest. Shri Ram was the most powerful, mighty and the noblest HISTORICAL FIGURE of his time. Until and unless we believe that Shri Ram was a historical figure, there is no point in believing in, or discussing, the Maryadas he followed. I repeat, God does not (and NEVER) follows any traditions or Maryadas. But human being is bound by Dharm and traditions. In the case of Shri Ram, this confusion is very evident, as people, while discussing him as God and an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, also deliberate why he was called Maryada Puroshattam. There is no problem in accepting him as God and also Maryada Puroshattam, but please do not mix the two. Shri Ram (the human being) was the Maryada Purush of the Treta Yug because he followed the noblest traditions of that time AND he is justly called Maryada Puroshattam Ram because he had the courage and conviction to IGNORE, at least on one occasion, the Maryada of his time for the sake of Humanity.
Note: If you want to understand more about Hindu Religion and Ramayan, please read all the posts.
‘the rules framed by religion, to be followed by individuals and societies, so that the individual and the societies can grow and have FAITH in the Almighty’.
Ø Ramayan and all the other ancient Hindu history books were written in Bhakti mode for the obvious reason that, during the past, Hindus, have passed through some extremely difficult time, where sustenance of religion was more important than actual and serious observance of religion.
Ø During the last 1500 years, outside invasion, oppression, exploitation by rulers of Hindu society, had caused inward coiling of Hindu society, and change in attitude. Then further invasions, far greater oppression, and further inward coiling of Hindu society and further change in attitude. And this cycle continued several times. But now we do not have any RULERS, WE HAVE SELF RULE. Yet even now, no effort is being made to reverse the attitude that an average Hindu has.
Ø VEDAS are timeless. So is Hindu Religion. What we have with us, at present, is the first Kalyug edition of Vedas, Purans and other sacred book. I have no problem in accepting the aging done by the oriental scholars, stating that these books have been written at around 2500 BC. Naturally Kalyug edition of these books would have arrived after the start of Kalyug only.
Ø The thing to be understood by one and all is that Hindu God will not interfere in this KARMIC world in which we are living. Everyone will get the fruits of his or her KARMA. If HE wants to interfere, HE has to come and live as a human being( that is why we have several incarnation of Lord VISHNU). This is the GOLDEN RULE of Hindu Dharma.
Ø The one religious book that has widely been misunderstood is GITA– the ROOT of all Religions in the world, and is the MOTIVATION speech that Shri Krishna gave to Arjun on the battle field. GITA HAS ADDED A NEW AND ADDITIONAL DIMENSION AS TO HOW RELIGION CAN ALSO BE PREACHED IN KALYUG. One must know and understand that Arjun was the toughest man ever to be born on earth. When at the start of Mahabharat, Arjun decided that he will not fight Mahabharat war, it required the caliber of Lord Krishna, and the motivation speech of Gita, to motivate him to fight the war. No one delivers sermons or religious speeches on the battlefield. NO—you motivate people on the battle ground. And this is what Lord Krishna has done. The motivation speech along with explanations thereof ran into 18 chapters. Relatively, person of today’s world could be motivated by listening to just one line of that speech, if properly understood. And that perhaps is the only proof that commentator has understood Gita. We all know that religious books of all religion have been designed to motivate people of that religion. Sometimes the motivation works, rest of the time it does not. But Gita will motivate people. Its result has been guaranteed by Lord Krishna himself. However, all the commentators of Gita have simply tried to translate the Sanskrit text and added comment there on, thinking that it is another religious text.Gita is the MOTHER of all religion. THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH GITA. With Gandhi’s ahimsa mantra and a real functioning democracy, plus the motivation provided by GITA, wonders could have been achieved – yet we are struck with poverty, hunger and suicides.
Ø Mahabharata war, which involved the entire civilized societies/kingdoms around the world, was so massive and so destructive that it totally weekend the fabric on which the civilized societies of that period were based. They became susceptible to attack from barbarians both from within and outside the societies. This coupled with natural disasters totally destroyed the entire civilized life, slowly but surely, within a period of 500-1000 years. As a result, Kalyug started with Stone Age which no known history. Post Mahabharata, even Shri Krishna was instrumental in killing his kins who were involved in barbarianism. And the evidence presented by Indus Valley Civilization, that cities which were MUCH older were more advanced than those which were LESS old is physical evidence of the same.
Ø Lot of people have started feeling that Hindu Religion has totally moved away from the cherished path and is now completely moving in a different direction as a result that Hindus, by and large, although being highly religious, are not getting desired result as a society. Lack of education for girls, dowry deaths, suicides among farmers, increase in court cases among relatives, mistrust and discontent, are all physical parameters to measure the effectiveness or success/failure of religion in a society. This compiled with fact that religious shops ( no. of Gurus) have increased, the spending on religion by Hindus have increased drastically-- speak of disastrous misadventure. All this need to be corrected– at least sincere effort has to be made.
Ø Shri Ram is called Maryada Purushottam Ram. Before venturing any further, we must have a clear and acceptable definition of Maryada. Maryada simply means ‘the noblest and finest traditions of that time’. Those who follow it are called Maryada Purush, and the tallest, or the best amongst them is called Maryada Purushottam. MARYADAS, OR TRADITIONS ARE FOLLOWED BY HUMAN BEINGS...NOT GOD, and history records (however weak and disintegrated) are available only of the Powerful, Mighty, and the Noblest. Shri Ram was the most powerful, mighty and the noblest HISTORICAL FIGURE of his time. Until and unless we believe that Shri Ram was a historical figure, there is no point in believing in, or discussing, the Maryadas he followed. I repeat, God does not (and NEVER) follows any traditions or Maryadas. But human being is bound by Dharm and traditions. In the case of Shri Ram, this confusion is very evident, as people, while discussing him as God and an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, also deliberate why he was called Maryada Puroshattam. There is no problem in accepting him as God and also Maryada Puroshattam, but please do not mix the two. Shri Ram (the human being) was the Maryada Purush of the Treta Yug because he followed the noblest traditions of that time AND he is justly called Maryada Puroshattam Ram because he had the courage and conviction to IGNORE, at least on one occasion, the Maryada of his time for the sake of Humanity.
Note: If you want to understand more about Hindu Religion and Ramayan, please read all the posts.
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