India the land of the most ancient knowledge , Vedas faces a dilemma of spate of religious conversion issues and related problems and consequences. Nature has probably blessed India with its treasures in open hands and I don't see any other part of the world is so blessed in so many aspects. Vedas were born,transcended by listening and memorising,written,translated and the knowledge was spread by Indians far and wide. Upanishads were lived here as the way of life. We were blessed with Aryabhattas much before Greece excelled in Maths, God had gifted us Charak and Shushrut much before modern medicine flourished in western world ! Not long ago India was blessed to have Chanakya, probably the greatest political and economic expert of all times . So in short India was always a great land of true knowledge and diversity. It naurished humanity at her breast and civilizations in her cradle and truely became great for its unique geographical as well as spiritual blessings. It had great rulers from Ashoka to Akbar, scholars from Birbal to Tenali. Even today we are as respectful to Dalai lama as to Nelson Mandela,as to Barrack Obama to Shinzo Abe all alike... Kabir , born to parents of one religion ,brought up by parents of another religion is revered by one and all. So who gets converted and who can convert whom ? Thinking further I have already said dharma is eternal and universal and religion is a mere way of doing/living/following some rituals in a particular way by a segment of society. So clearly no can change anyone's dharma as dharma itself is unchangeable. And by forcing or coaxing one may be sent to temple or mosque or church but can not convert a man to a machine. History says two Mughal rulers who almost ruled India for a century i.e.Akbar 47 years and Aurangzeb 50 years had extremely diverse results. Akbar though had to put a great struggle to be where he placed himself and India , was accepted as the greatest ruler because of his universal policies and especially his deeper understanding of religion and dharma and his respect for people of other faiths and he will be in our heart for his contribution of "Din-i-lahi' meaning 'the religion of God ' and his indomitable love for talent and truth. At the same time Aurangzeb though an equally able general and strong ruler miserably failed and died fighting a lonely battle because of his wrong notions and phanaticism.He might have been successful in forcefully converting people to follow a particular faith but utterly failed to impress them,resulting devastation in the following time and a ruined India which slowly and steadily slipped into British rule and lost not only its independence but also the moral strength. If today we repeat similar mistake and slip in to slumber we will again go back to basics. So,it is prudent and wise not to be illusioned by myths and misgivings and promote another wrong in the name of rectifying one.If the economically weaker ones ,the socially looked down ones really are getting converted I am sure they are not looking for a better God in a Church than in a temple. But they are looking for a better life,an equal opportunity and an environment where no one tells them not to enter a religious place or not stand or sit in the same row for prayer. That's the area to be addressed. Even today foreigners are not allowed in our temples and the so called care takers of God do whatever malpractices they can to bias/cheat/influence the so called devotees who foolishly/selfishly and happily fall prey in their hands in the name of being religious. If we can really convert something let us convert ignorance to knowledge, darkness to light and ,myths to truth and poverty to prosperity.
If we need to change we need to change our mindset,our behaviour and improve our logic of doing something and not bother whether one goes to temple or Mosque or Church to pray.
When I read the biography of Dr.Ambedkar ,I got a real glimpse of his hardship,his aspirations,his vision and his contribution and the depth of his frustration till end. I hope a majority of you will agree with me when you know him deeper ,and will feel such a learned scholar ,a man who gathered dust and sweat to reach where he reached and did such a wonderful job for the country can not be frustrated in vain. In the last few years of his life he,a born Hindu practised Buddhisim as he was suffocated with so called Hindu society restrictions and negligence. So the story could be same for many more even today. Though the division of the society to 4 sections started in early Vedic age aiming to make the functions discrete and easy for people,it really never meant to overstate or understate any duty/work or make any section superior/inferior to the other. In later Vedic age the true sense got diluted leaving monopoly to some sections and leading to pitiable conditions of some other sections resulting in breakage in harmony,social stability , rebellion, frustration, reservation and convenient advantage to the vote bank policies and mockery of dance of democracy of the great country ! So we need to stick to the essence and not the loose over reaction to the issue. Let's all pray..Tamasoma jyotirgamaya.. Asatoma sadgamaya...
It is 1 AM of 27th February, the birth day of Manoj Das , Guruji of many. My usual habit is to read something of his creation before writing anything and I thought after reading your article I shall read one of him and write a paragraph. I don`t need it today. This is not an abamanana to my Guru but to transmit a message that his birth day I started with a quality writing. See the persons you selected , the arrangement of their placement, the style of not hurting even them who are criticised, The precision and the completeness, the appropriate contemporary relevance, the sincerity in presentation all I liked. Even if someone is not a friend he/she can feel mam is talking what he really practise. Wonderful.I am compelled to write so high neither to inspire nor to please you.
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