I agree with the author that proselytising is bad and is happening in a large scale in India. Something has to be done to stop this. But if the Christian proselytisers are saying that it is a sin to enter temples, So did the Brahmins themselves say to the other Hindus. Some repentance and proper acceptance of all Hindus by the Brahmins is a necessary pre-condition if one really wants to save this religion.
Secondly, the Aryans, who themselves came to India from some other place, have never been really able to adopt themselves wholly ino this Great land whose soil, air and water are filled with nothing but love. Indian culture is a very inclusive culture. Indian culture is the culture of Love and affection and acceptance of others. That is why the original Indians (descendants of the People of Indus Valley civilisation) accepted the Aryan so easily but the Aryans have never been able to accept others who came after them.
The Indus - Hakra Ghaggar civilisation was a very urbanised and highly industrialised civilisation where egalitarianism was practised, and there was respect for wone. While the Aryan settlements were rural and fully based on agriculture and animal husbandry and they also introduced all vices in India like Prostitution, bonded labour, caste system, Niyoga, house-wifing etc. The Aryans, who considered themselves superior to the native Indians shut the Indians out of their settlements and called them 'Chandala and Mlechcha'. They constructed towers over the places of worship of the Indians and threw the Indians away.
Subsequently, India was invaded numerous times by numerous invaders of different ethnicities and different religions. They killed, they looted and they converted and destroyed places of worship. But the original Indians, who have been in this part of the world, since the time man evolved from monkeys, still practices Love and acceptance.
If a killer is pardoned, it is not a failure of any system, but an example of forgiveness, which is very much a part of the LOVE, understood the Indian way.
The basic Indian culture has survived numerous invasions, including the Aryan invasion, the attacks by various medieval kings (largely muslim), the British, the Dutch, the portugese etc.
I have faith that it will survive Globalisation too. And, please, Indian culture is not simply about worshipping cows and Brahmins. Not about Osho and Premananda alone. It is about LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE, SIMPLICITY AND HARD WORK. It is about the ordinary Indian, who doesn't realise the difference between the different religions.
RE:Culture cannot be lost
by Gautam Joshi on May 16, 2007 02:57 PM Permalink
Beautiful words...wish all the human beings on the earth could really understand and practice what you have just mentioned above.
RE:Culture cannot be lost
by VENURAJA Bowenpalle on May 29, 2007 03:03 PM Permalink
Aryans did not come somewhere else. It was a myth perpetuated by Westerners because they want to take credit for Vedas and they want rule India forever by buying its soul. Aryans invasion was proved to be only a fiction. Next comes the powerful Indian culture. Women is worshipped only in India , there is no country and no civilization can boast of this. In India woman is worshipped not just in temples but in the houses also on specific occassions. The raw,the crude Hinduism is the pure one as compared to a westernised,urbonised Hinduism propagated by latest Godmen like Jiddu Krishnamurthy or Acharya Rajaneesh or even Amritananday mayi or Swami Rama. The most crude ,original raw form of Hinduism is represented by Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and his desciple Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda was the first person in India to start a Mission of Hindu religion. Ramakrishna Mission still works on the same principle of raw and simple Hinduism. You would have an idol and you would worship the idol and chant 1000 sahasra nama of the god. Can any western power or globalisation or any type of modernism or the whole world of christian missioneries destroy Hinduism? It is absolutely impossible and you do not need to be a genius to understan this. Western world is big myth. It is the maha maya. We do not want their unhappy culture.
RE:Culture cannot be lost
by Abhiroop Banerjee on Jun 20, 2007 03:45 PM Permalink
its great to read intelligent opinions from well, opinionated fellow countryfolk!
Although well intentioned, I do not understand the angsty outburst about the superiority of indian culture.
Manjula A's views were particularly interesting; though I wonder, is the term 'aryans' an euphemism for some other community that the writer has for the sake of political correctness not mentioned?
