Dharma And Indian Culture

May 1993, Summer Course 1993, Brindavan

Published English.

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But India, on the other hand, though not endowed with the money and might of such nations, resisted the ravages of times and vicissitudes of history. Indian culture even today stands as an ideal to be emulated by other nations. The foreigners who investigated into the cause for India’s untarnished culture found no answer. It is India’s adherence to and the dharmic life which her people led that has made India’s culture an eternal culture.

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There is no word which can successfully convey the depth and the amplitude of meaning contained in the word ‘.’ Words like ‘Right action and righteous living’ are only translations which do no justice to the original meaning. Only ‘’ is the equivalent of the word ‘.’ Many people have mistaken ‘’ for religion. But ‘religion’ does not convey the infinitude of meaning latent in the word ‘.’ is an ocean whereas religion is a lake. While the scope and significance of a religion is confined to a certain number of people following a certain creed, ‘’ is universal in scope, transcending race and religion. belongs to all.

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It is a belief common in the west that everybody has certain rights. But on the contrary, the Indian belief is everybody has certain ‘’ to perform. But rights and are related. When the parents discharge their , the rights of the children grow; when the children perform their , the rights of the parents grow. Similarly when the teachers discharge their duties, the rights of the students will grow. When the students discharge their duties properly, the rights of the teachers will grow.

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OF A STUDENT: What is the essential of a student? Self-respect, self-confidence, selflessness and self-support constitute the of a student. The modern students of today lack all these four qualities. In the first instance students should acquire self-respect which in turn enables them to cultivate self-sacrifice. It is only the person who does self-sacrifice can acquire self-satisfaction. Since the students have lost all these four qualities, education, students and teachers too have lost their value. Man enjoys freedom and justice only when he has cultivated the qualities of harmony and adjustment and feeling of Atmic oneness. Universal love springs out of this Atmic oneness. This love is the basis of universal brotherhood. Man finds fulfilment by experiencing this nectarine love and sharing it with fellow humans. Thus by this love alone the divinity in you will shine, sathwic strength will arise, universal harmony will spring and Divine union will be possible.

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It is only when the students shed selfishness that the seedling of spirituality will sprout in them. The well being of all sciences depends on the study of moral and spiritual sciences. The excellence of all branches of learning depends upon ‘’ (education). Only good education can transform people and profession. It is said, “If the daughter-in-law is dark, generations will become dark. Similarly if educational system becomes dark, all fields of activity will be dark. The darkness which marks the educational institutions today is the darkness of selfishness.

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Studies mathematics assiduously but ignores the science of arithmetic; Knows the route to America but ignores the route to the holy ; Master of Algebra, he is ignorant of the area of his house. Everyday he takes exercises, but struggles to sit in . Master of botany, he doesn’t know the uses of leaf.

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Our boys chant the following Vedic utterance: .

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WHOM TO BLAME: Our Vice-chancellor and our guest, have spoken to you about the existing educational system and about the number of educational institutions we have in the country. We have nearly two hundred recognised universities and thousands of colleges. What do these institutions do? Every year they turn out of graduates with a degree in their hands. Our educational institutions today have become factories for manufactur-ing graduates. These educational institutions add only to the existing number of five unemployees today. The government is keen on starting institution after institution. But it has not done much to cast the students and educational institutions in proper mould. In the absence of proper employment, unemployed youths have turned into , hijackers etc. It is not the students who are to be blamed, it is only the parents and govern-ment who are to be blamed. Carried away by their blind love for their children, they accept blindly whatever their children do without correcting them. These people have become the followers of who never corrected the unrighteous deeds of his children. These parents, who follow the footprints of , will share the same fate of . At the end of his life, found all his sons dead. Not even one was left to perform his last rites.

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Today the parents give unlimited freedom to their children which is highly disastrous. If the children are not controlled at the tender age, they can never be controlled. This is the golden period of your life, do not fritter it away. Since no one cares to teach the excellence of Indian culture to the youth today, I have taken upon myself the task of teaching you the glory and splendour of Indian culture. Try to understand how sacred and how sublime is Indian culture. Indian culture is the embodiment of all excellences. It is suffused with .

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is infinite and timeless. Unaware of the infinite meaning, contained in , people equate it with religion. is steady, eternal and changeless. The summer course in Indian culture and spirituality is organised to acquaint the students with the spirit of . What is this culture? What is this spirituality? These too are nothing but parts of . As a cloth is nothing but thread and cotton, similarly the thread and cotton of culture and spirituality form part of . Though since the beginning of history many foreign races like Persians, Greeks, Muslims, Portuguese, Dutch and English made inroads into India, they could never shake the foundations of Indian culture. Though the foundations of many cultures have tumbled down, the foundations of Indian culture stand strong, steady and secure.

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YOUR DUTY: You must try hard to earn respect for your country. This can be achieved by conscientious conduct on the part of students and teachers. We must ask ourselves in our conscience whether we are working in proportion to the remuneration we receive. We turn ourselves into traitors if we receive more salary and turn out little work. India has borrowed of from other countries. How can we discharge this debt unless we work hard? We will obtain self-satisfaction only when we work hard in proportion to the salary we receive. We must try hard to experience self-satisfaction, born of sincere work.

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You must all resolve yourselves to keep Indian culture intact. What is education? education consists in sacrificing oneself happily for the sake of others. Discharge your duties with divine feelings. You will be blessed. Lead spiritual lives.

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