Hinduism -7
Dharma (Righteousness) is the core value for Hindu society. The one who knows and teaches Dharma is highly respected as Guru and even the king bows before him. Krishna said whenever evil tried to dominate, He created Himself on earth in some form to destroy evil doers and protect the virtuous. The nine avatars of God show us concrete proof of our biological evolution too. Further a close study of their appearance and weapons reveal the physical and cultural anthropology of Hindu civilization through the ages. The ten avatars (last is yet to come) are illustrations of war on evil. So are festivals like Dasara, Deepavali etc. The message is that one should follow one’s Dharma (Righteous Duty).
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Ancient sages disseminated knowledge only to the deserving disciples as knowledge is power and power in the hands of the undeserving will harm society. Then adharma will prevail and people will suffer. Being spiritual persons the sages were not after name or fame. For the benefit of common people they disseminated their knowledge through Itihasas, Poetic Dramas and Poetry. Poetry which is metrical has rhythm which does not allow any omissions or additions. Thus interpolations were prevented and purity of original text was protected.
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History was not written separately but it was incorporated in the form of a story in poetry. The Ramayana and The Mahabharata are called Itihasas. The word ‘itihasa’ means ‘this happened’. But the modern, western educated mind sees History as a separate subject from Literature. But in the Indian context Literature had been an expression of all knowledge including History. History is interwoven in almost all the classics of ancient Indian literature. Without understanding this we started believing in western scientists who discovered some of the things in recent years to be the discoverers of things. Now some who are interested in clearing the ground are studying available Sanskrit texts and are bringing facts to light. This may take quite some time but ultimately truth has to and will prevail.
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Temples’ architecture and sculpture are proof of the knowledge and wisdom of ancient Indians. Some of them cannot be created even with the modern equipment and refined tools. Similar expertise must have been there in all other sciences, arts and crafts but only carved stone survived to tell the sad story of destruction of Indian culture and civilization. Muslim invasions destroyed our experts and our culture physically and the English demoralised us and made us aliens to our spiritual culture.
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