March: Towards parity

Greetings,

The road to enlightenment or putting it simply, knowledge has always been the aspiration of mankind. Purpose/s can be many; solace, ambition, power, peace etc.. Sanatan scriptures have referred saadhna or meditation as the best tool to attain knowledge, where focus is the prime and only requisite. The more the seeker points his focus while meditating, closer he gets to his destination. India has been the land to many such enlightened minds, revered as sages, who have directed people towards living an ideal lifestyle with ethics and pride.

There once arrived a man on Earth, who submitted himself to the almighty and rose from a mere man to an awakened sage. He redefined the teachings of Vedas keeping in mind the time/circumstances and taught us the virtues of compassion & non-violence; this the journey of Siddharth to Gautam Buddh.

Born as Siddhath Gautam, he was a royalty born to King Shuddodhan & Queen Maya of Kapilvastu. A great seer announced that either the new born prince would be a renowned emperor or a sage that would change the ways of life. Worried, Shuddodhan made sure that the prince never gets to see or learn about sufferings i.e. old age, sickness or death, to discard the possibility of becoming a sage. Till the age of 29, Siddharth was shielded from the agonies of life, living in luxuries with his wife, Yashodhara, and their son, Rahul. Then one day, he accidentally saw an old man’s funeral, and his whole outlook changed; in order to learn about the reality of life and gain true knowledge, he left everything behind him and left for a journey, for sentience. At the age of 35, after years of meditation, he attained enlightenment and became ‘Buddh’; realizing complete insight in four noble truths: Dukkham, Samudaya, Nirodha & Marga. These four truths contain the extracts & essence of life.

Do You Know; Gautam Buddh is known as Bhagwan Vishnu’s 9^th avatar, among the 10 main avatars. This way, both Buddhism & Jainism have their origins in Hinduism (Rishabhnath, Jainism's first Teerthankar, is also among Bhagwan vishnu's incarnations)

The life story of Bhagwan Buddh teaches us to be humane, the only condition to be in sync with the ONE. This Buddh Poornima, make yourself aware with the legend of Siddharth, and how he became Buddh, the awakened.

Festivals approaching:

Baisakhi: Also known as Vaisakhi, the most popular festivals in Sikhism that is celebrated as a Hindu festival in the same spirits. This day marks the birth of the Khalsa way of living in Sikh religion which is also the celebration of the spring harvest. We must take this opportunity to learn about the Khalsa.

The term KHALSA refers to special group of Sikh warriors, also known as sant sipahi (sage warrior), initiated by the 10^th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh; this tradition was formed as a reaction to the savagery measures of the Mughals, which resulted in beheading of Guru Tegh Bahadur (the 9^th Guru) who refused to convert to Islam and raised his voice for religious freedom against Aurangzeb. History will always remember The Khalsas who fought selflessly with the Mughals, in order to protect the lives of innocents and honor of women. If it weren’t the Khalsas, the demographics of Indian subcontinent, especially North India, would have been altogether different as a result of forced Islamic conversions.

Sita Navmi: The arrival of the cosmic mother into the mortal realm happened for the first time in Shri Ramavtar. Never before did she participate in Narayarn's leela during his earlier 6 incarnations. But this time, when Narayarn's 7th incarnation happened, Bhagwati Lakshmi too incarnated as Devi Sita and with her help, the divine motive of Ramavtar was successfully achieved. Her legend educates a lot about the society of those times that was far fair and far liberal if compared to today's. May her legend keep inspiring the generations to persist and stand with the truth.

{Mata Sita temple, Sri Lanka}

We are talking about religion and religious events in April; and in March, Indian politics, or to be specific, the Karnataka politics was in headlines due to the present government's nod for giving the Lingayat community a different religious status. While for the party in power, this move was a game changer that will help them in winning the coming elections (though they say it was a decision long overdue), but what it really looks is an absurd+desperate+loathsome act with another intent to cause divide in Hinduism. Before we go any further, let's know Lingayatism first:

"Lingayatism is a Shaivite religious tradition that was initially known as Veershaivas. It was founded by Basava, a 12th century Hindu philosopher in Karnataka"

One thing is derivable from the above brief statement, Lingayats are the worshipers of Bhagwan Shiv, which means Lingayatism is a subcategory of Shaivism, which is pretty much a part of Hinduism, or Sanatan Dharm. Now can you make any sense out of it, giving a separate religious status just because some individuals asked for it (SOME, not all the Lingayats, as they take proud of their Sanatan heritage). This is like a biological son/daughter trying to disown his/her biological parents; does it even make any sense? Well it does, for those "enlightened minds" who are ready to stoop to any low, just to win.

Think about it, tomorrow there might be demands from various sects of Vaisnavism/Shaivism/Shaktism for a different religious status, will granting so be sufficient, coz. they will be still worshiping the Sanatan deities. 

Now, if you remember this piece from 2009:

"China should break up India: Chinese strategist"

A Chinese strategist then suggested that Indian republic can be further broken (to 20-30 states) on the basis of regions & castes/sects differences under Hinduism. The news created a great ruckus back then and thankfully the then Indian government too, stayed dormant by describing it as an "expression of individual opinion".

So what's the point of bringing the above out of nowhere, well may be the Karnataka government has been taking the inspiration and granting a separate status to Lingayats is the starting: divide Hindus on  the basis of castes/sects/beliefs. Why I say so, well if the present party president can support "Bharat tere tukde honge" gang, why not this philosophy be brought in practice already? Better stay aware, stay alert from such 'Jaichands' in the guise of public servants.

Before we end, Sanatan Dharm is eternal and no matter how hard or smart one individual/party tries to corrupt it, it can't be, coz. it's not man made and hence perfect. Jainism/Buddhism/Sikkhism are all not religions but sects of Hinduism and so is Vaishnavism/Shaktism or Lingayats or Alvars and others. It is our choice to choose any sect and worship the deity according the principles of the sect, but that won't change what & who we are, i.e. Sanatan, PERIOD!

See you next month.
सियाराम