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Calling oneself a Hindu does not make one Hindu unless the person develops the essence of Hinduism or the true Hindutva. True Hindutva is universal love which transcends a person beyond region, religion, caste, sects and languages; the practitioner of true Hindutva will naturally love and respect other human beings; the Hindu scriptures say each soul is God’s particle so all are linked to one another. His mantra is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam- the entire world is one family. But, living beyond the narrow human border does not mean one should become weak and meek. In order to protect and preserve the essence of Hinduism, the Hindus should necessarily develop immense courage, intellectual and physical strength for Atma Rakhya (self defense) which is defined as the greatest Dharma; it will help them survive amid a world which is infested with greed, cruelty, corruption, war and narrow fanaticism.
In the present world, a weak person with all his finer human virtues is subject to humiliation. In 1951, China invaded Tibbet and annexed it since Tibbet did not have a strong army with advanced weapons to defend its territory amid the deaf, blind and the mute world community who did not come forward to support Tibbet. The entire world knows what happened to the peace loving Buddhist monks in Tibbet when China devastated Tibbet in a military aggression, occupied the country, distorted history and claimed Tibbet as the integral part of China. The intellectuals who talked about human rights and engaged in endless debate on rights of the weaker sections disappeared into their hypocritical self. In the Ramayana it is mentioned that Lord Rama had all the finer human virtues; love, fellow feelings, kindness and sympathy; he was a symbol of justice and his kingdom stood for good governance. With love and affection he could not have survived during his 14 years of Vanbaas, saved his beloved wife Seeta and killed the most powerful demon king Ravana. Lord Rama had acquired all the skills of a warrior; he was brave, physically and mentally strong enough to vanquish the demons in the forest who were eating the Sages like Gol gappas.
Without physical and intellectual capacity no Hindu can live the essence of Hinduism; he can’t protect the vulnerable people, protect himself, prevent corruption and establish good governance. Over the years, the country is fast losing open space and community playgrounds for physical growth of the majority of the youth who cannot afford to go to sports complexes. The aggressive monetization of sports should be reversed for the good of the economy and society; pressure of studies and smartphone addiction should be reduced.
The power of conviction among the Hindus comes from scriptural knowledge which has become diluted. One will find more Sanskrit universities and Sanskrit scholars in Germany than in India; children in schools prefer German, French and English to Sanskrit. Where would the oriental scholars come? The Hindus are axing their own legs by not popularizing Sanskrit language along with foreign languages; more jobs need to be created for the Sanskrit scholars.
Today the Hindus are divided and subdivided on the basis of language, region, class, caste, creed and sects. Even within small states there are divisions among the Hindus on the basis of dialects. The political class should prevent these divisions as it will weaken the community from within. Elections should not be fought over language, caste and religion; it should be fought over strong national issues and on basic human problems. Give people quality education and health facilities at an affordable cost so that the youth could bury the reservation policy permanently. If population growth adversely affects the nation’s economic interest, it is better not to politicize it and check the population growth by any means; there are many deterrences.
In order to restore the essence of Hinduism, the Hindu leaders, saints, seers, intellectuals and the voluntary organizations etc. should create the right environment for the growth of religious scholars among the Hindus. The leaders should allow the growth of public libraries and research centers instead of malls and multiplexes; they should build need based infrastructures only. The Hindu religion desperately needs scholars who can explain the scriptures to people in simple language; without the growth of the scholarly activities among the Hindus the religion will not be able to serve humanity and it will reduce into tiny caste and language groups only.
Becoming a Hindu is a tough journey. A large number of Hindu temples in India have lost their priceless idols and stone panels with fine carvings in the last five decades; the cost of those stolen idols will be lakhs of crores of rupees. There is an urgent need to stop the idol thefts which is harming the pilgrim sector across the country. Hindus should protect the temple land from the greedy Hindus, maintain cleanliness and ensure the spiritual environment in and outside the temples. There should not be any VIP pass, special ticket or separate line for Darshan in any temple when everybody is equal before God. If a VIP has no time to be in the queue, he should not come to the temple. True Hindus should convert the temple into a place of scholarly activities and make it a venue for religious discourse; the temple space can be used for teaching the poor children. An ideal temple can create many small economic activities.
The aggressive monetization of the Hindu temples by some greedy Hindus should be stopped. Every ancient Vishnu temple in Odisha has a vast pond for the God’s Chandan Yatra (water tour in summer). Today, most of the temple ponds are either polluted, occupied or sold out. There is a huge pond known as Ganga Mandir pond in the heart of the ancient Cuttack city which is filled with water plants and garbage. The temple at the center of the pond is in a dilapidated condition. There are reported incidents of idol thefts from the Lord Jagganath temple, Puri. Recently there was a long debate on a TV channel over the theft of God’s ornaments and jewelry from the Ratna Bhandar (Jewellry store) of the Lord Jagganath temple. The investigation should find the real thieves. Today the Hindu scholars and researchers in India are far behind the western scholars who contributed immensely to Hinduism with scientific research. India can be a source of inspiration for the entire world for its philosophy of love and brotherhood. But, the Hindus should work hard to revive Hinduism instead of blaming others.
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