India's Tragedy in the Area of Religion

January 5, 2007

By Akrista Devkota (akrista)

The 60th anniversary of Indian independence will be celebrated on Aug. 15, 2007. India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, gave a speech to the Constituent Assembly at midnight on Aug. 14, 1947, saying, "At the dawn of history, India started on her unending quest. She has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today, a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again." His speech inspired us with ideals about a new beginning for India.

Has India lived up to these ideals? Although the British no longer occupy India, is she really independent of their influence? While they occupied us, we began to follow their traditions, their philosophies and their lifestyle. We silently allowed them desecrate our heritage, culture and religion. Yet now, it is we Indians who continue to honor those who tried to destroy our culture.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy has been in the area of religion. We have continued to carry the torch for the campaign by British missionaries to undermine our belief system. We still tolerate the desecration of the essence of our Bharatiya culture and tradition ?- the scriptures.

Not only do we believe in this misinformation, we allow it to be propagated through textbooks in prestigious Indian schools and universities. Fictitious theories about the Aryan invasion, the history of Indian civilization and the origin of our sacred Sanskrit language are being taught to our youth even today.

Let's take one example ? the great Indian philosopher, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, president of India from 1962 to 1967. Widely renowned for his philosophical writings and lectures, he was highly influenced by the books of the European writers who wrote about Hinduism and the history of India. His own writings perpetuated the British belief system rather than the knowledge of Bharatiya scriptures. For example, he wrote in Vol. 1 of his book "Indian Philosophy," that "Rama is only a good and great man, a high-souled hero, who utilized the services of the aboriginal tribes in civilizing the south, and not an avatar of Vishnu."

The religion it reflects is frankly polytheistic and external. Further, Radhakrishnan remarked that the "brahmanization of Krishna's religion and elevating Vishnu as the great God took place around 300 B.C." In his writings, he called the early Hindus "the beast," the divine wisdom of the Rishis a "God-making factory," and defined the Vedic religion as "the religion of primitive man in the world of ghosts and goblins who was only satisfied with bloody sacrifices." He described the teachings of the Upanishads and the Puranas as "speculation, myth, parables and heretical doctrines," called the Mahabharata "a non-Aryan epic poem" and tells us "the higher mysticism of Yogi Darshan was mixed with drug intoxication."

In fact, Hinduism, originally called Sanatan Dharma, is a universal religion intended for the whole world, not for any specific race. The Vedic culture is the heritage of world civilization, and we should be proud that it originated in India and not shy away from it. The spiritual wisdom of ancient India is a gift to mankind, and we, as Indians, need to cherish, nurture and be proud of it.

Many of us want to be "like the West."

We wear Western clothes, watch cable TV, send our children to convent schools and allow them to be taught by the very books that were authored by the British. The impressions of our freedom struggle are from a history book in English rather than our national language. Trousers and shirts replace traditional dress. Urban youth are shying away from Indian culture and gravitating toward Western values. Modernization has been equated with Westernization.

Somewhere along the way, 150 years of the Raj has definitely left its mark.

We have somehow lost our way toward the pursuit of independence and have continued to be ruled by an invisible Raj. We have lost sight of our quest. We have forgotten the ideals that gave us strength. There is still time to change the future, to return to our roots. We can rediscover India's timeless teachings, we can change the generations to come. Perhaps the question is not whether we have the ability to do it, but rather ? will we take on the challenge?

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