(Recently, a statement by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was in news where he was supposed to have spoken out against the idea of secularism. However, that statement was in context of a wider range of issues that Yogi was talking about at an event organized by Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran. The paper had carried an excerpt of Yogi’s statements made at the event that also provides clarity about Yogi’s statement on secularism that is practiced in India. Following is a translation of that excerpt.)
Dharma makes us pro-good-behavior (sadaachaar) and pro-values. Individuals and society both rest on dharma. One cannot link dharma just to rituals of worship, sect or religion. Dharma is one. You can call it human dharma or if you want to give it a broader global look, it’s Sanatana or eternal dharma. Others aren’t dharma, they are sects and cults that don’t come in the league of dharma. Please associate all-pervasive self-implementable (dhaaranaatmak) system to dharma.
Secularism word has caused immense destruction to nation. Secularism term is biggest lie post independence. Any system or setup, when not biased towards any sect or cult, and when it moves ahead by being pro-all sects without bias, only then it is ideal.
Dharma is synonymous with duty, good behavior and moral values. If any system is made devoid of these, it will become non-functional (akarmanya). What is a system without good behavior? It’s bad behavior (duraachaar) only. What is a system without values? Immoral (paapaachaara) only. All movable and immovable things in this universe have their own dharma. If air or water doesn’t abide by its own dharma can any universal system function?
Everyone has own worship rituals and processes. We cannot force our faith on others. I put Tilak, many people may not like it. Many may like it. But I say this karmakaand has scientific basis, and so I wear Tilak.
Three main naadi that balance our bodies Ida, Pingala and Sushmana, the convergence point is on forehead. The place where opposing elements meet – energy gets produced. This energy should be used in right manner, should be channeled inwards, and should be used for social good. Adhyaatmik or spiritual energies get used for spiritual welfare, therefore we wear Tilak.
It is not just an aesthetic symbolic thing, it’s related to our spiritual energies and our karmakaand. One cannot call this superstition. But yes, the orthodoxy and fraud in the name of karmakaand should be stopped.
We grow Tulsi at home. Growing Tulsi is not fraud or show off. There is dengue now, whoever drinks Tulsi concoction daily will stay saved (immunity wise). Many people will object to Tulsi but it’s not fraud or orthodoxy. Many people keep choti, many have problem even with that. But it’s not showing off or fraud. It’s Sanatana tradition and there is scientific basis to it. Why do we tie raksha sutra? It’s not show off. Ayurveda checks vata, pitta, kapha mainly. Any vaidya sees balance of these first. Raksha sutra is related to it. Many people tie it differently based on their understanding.
Our dharma is Sanatana. It’s eternal dharma from the beginning. It is functional since the beginning of universe inherent in all. There cannot be any fanaticism in it. But it is strange to expect that if someone slaps me on one cheek, I forward my other cheek too to him. That is cowardice. If someone slaps, it’s answer should be given in the same language.
Society should aim to be in pursuit of proper goals (aim to be Purushaarthi) and not cowardly. Bhagvan Rama never wanted that there be a war, but he had to pick weapons. Bhagvan Krishna also did not want Mahabharata war to happen. Even after attempts by Duryodhana to arrest, he did not close the doors to negotiations. But Mahabharata did take place and he unwillingly had to take up weapons in that.
How much ever we may want to find solutions to terrorism through peace, but eventually we request and motivate our security forces to pick weapons for our security. We cannot impose it to be taken care by the liberty or liberalism or generosity of Sanatana dharma. Generosity, tolerance, respect is for gentle folks, not for durjana or the vicious folks.
Wicked people are obstructions in the path of social development, they attack national interest, challenge the unity and sovereignty, these folks will never be won over by peace. They need to be made to understand what is right through the ways that they understand.
The goals of politics and dharma are similar. When goals are opposing, one is south pole other north, then that’s problematic. Here (in politics and in dharma) goals of both is to move ahead on the path of social development.
Satta/power is not a thing of enjoyment. Power is a medium of social welfare. As an Acharya of a peetha, I too have joined this development movement. There (in Gorakhnaath peeth) dharma is the medium and here politics is the medium.
Dharma and politics are complimentary, and not contrary forces. We need to understand that dharma is a long term politics and politics is a short term dharma. Both cannot be separated.
Those that accuse Bharata of being intolerant, they sell their intellects and commercialize their knowledge. There is no jati or sect that India did not give shelter to. Prophet Mohammad never came to Bharata, but during his time first mosque was built in Bharata. Hindu kings constructed first Church here. Parsi community got saved by coming to Bharata. Isreal keeps an emotional attachment towards Bharata.
A Communist ex-CM of Kerala had written in a Malayalam magazine that when Communist movement started in Bharata, it was said Bharata is not one nation but a community of many nation states. During 1946-47, when the independence talks were on, communists again said how can ‘one’ Bharata attain independence. Bharatiya have different nationality. But later on, he agreed that when he went to Hindu pilgrimage sites and peetha spread all over Bharata then he thought to himself that ‘I am from the same Kerala from where a sanyasi went and established four peetha in four corners of Bharata’. In the end he agreed that the biggest failure of communist movement has been that they never considered Bharata to be one nation.
Who did not understand Bharatiya civilization, those who lick foreign leftovers to run their homes, they have talked about intolerance, but that talk has failed. Today in Kerala, a Hindu is terrorized. There is goondaism by communists and the scenes of barbarism are chilling. During my padayatra, I met more than a dozen people who lost their hands or legs. How can those people talk about intolerance?
These days CM residence is being cleaned and so people have objections even to that. They see saffron in everything. Rays from Bhagvan Surya also are saffron. Will they be changing the color of the fire they cook their food in?
