Why comment on her religion, when you don't know yours? || Acharya Prashant, at LIT-Nagpur (2022)

Acharya Prashant

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Transcript

00:00I have noticed, as soon as I introduced myself as Ashna Mehmood, I noticed a slight change

00:10in the expression of a person I'm speaking with, even in corporate sector too.

00:15And many a times I get the comments like, who do you support, India or Pakistan?

00:20Yesterday, my senior commented on me that you'll be Miss Pakistan.

00:25I just asked her, why not Miss India?

00:27She said, she didn't give me the reply, but it just hit me very badly.

00:32And earlier, it doesn't bother me that much.

00:36But as I'm growing, I'm noticing this, especially in college, that especially as I'm growing,

00:42I notice this a lot that I'm getting comments about my religion or something like this.

00:48So and my question to you is, how to get out of this mentality?

00:54As a youth, it just surprises me that we are still living in a world where I'm getting

01:01or where we are biasing people according to their religion.

01:05So my question to you is, sir, that is it my overanalyzing or is it even valid or how

01:12to get out of this mentality, especially for me?

01:15Ashna, you said?

01:17Yes, sir.

01:18Sit, Ashna.

01:20See, there is no need to make others' problem your own.

01:29What is the problem that the others are facing?

01:34You need to understand where they are coming from and therefore the problem that they face.

01:41They think that just like Pakistan, India too is a theocratic country.

01:53They believe that the country was partitioned and two states were created and one of them

02:01was declared to be Islamic.

02:05The other one, naturally, is the Hindu counterpart of the neighboring country.

02:18No, not that way.

02:21We have to understand and I'm not merely talking of secularism here.

02:28India the country adopted secularism very late, 1947, 1948, 1950.

02:38These are three important years when it comes to independence, adopting the constitution

02:45and declaring itself a republic.

02:49India was not secular even till 1950.

02:52It took more than two decades after 1950 for the word secular to enter the constitution.

02:59So it's not as if the Indian constitution is founded on secularism.

03:08Indian constitution is founded on something far deeper than secularism.

03:14We are saying two things India is not founded on religion as we use the word religion or

03:23as we understand the term religion.

03:28India is not founded on that.

03:30India is not founded and this might surprise you a little even on secularism.

03:36India is founded on something far far deeper.

03:41The values underlying the constitution are actually spiritual and spirituality does not

03:55necessarily couple itself or align itself or identify itself with any religious stream.

04:10India is a spiritual country.

04:22India is definitely not a Hindu country in the way the masses think of Hinduism these

04:34days.

04:36Not in that sense.

04:38However, if somebody illuminated from within is prepared to see that real Hinduism is actually

04:50just core spirituality, then probably you could call India as having Hindu foundations

04:57and then you would be right.

04:59But those who throw jibes at you and ask you, oh, there was this India Pakistan match.

05:06Did you support India or Pakistan or things like that?

05:09They are definitely not Hindus of the spiritual kind.

05:15So they are not entitled to claim that India is a Hindu country of their kind.

05:25Is it getting too complex?

05:29Young people you all are you getting it?

05:33At the root of it all, there is ignorance regarding the basic nature of both Hinduism

05:41and India.

05:46This will be a little heavy.

05:47So you'll have to understand this.

05:50Hinduism is not what people seem to be practicing today that too in an aggressive manner.

05:59That's not Hinduism, especially over the last 10-20 years, a very rabid, very virulent

06:07version of Hinduism has surfaced.

06:13And that Hinduism claims that India belongs to itself.

06:20It does not.

06:24First of all, one has to understand what the Hindu religion is all about.

06:29Hindu religion is not about sloganeering on the roads, targeting this group or that group,

06:36throwing hate all around.

06:37No, that's not Hinduism, not at all.

06:42And all those people who do this, ask them, do you know anything about the central scriptures

06:50of your religion?

06:53And they will draw a blank.

06:56Now what kind of Hindus are these, who know neither Ved nor Vedanta, ask them about the

07:09Aasthik Indian darshans and they'll stare at your face.

07:16But very proudly, they declare themselves to be Hindus.

07:21How exactly are you a Hindu?

07:27Forget about Nyaya and Vaisheshik.

07:31I ask you the fundamentals of the topmost Indian darshan Vedanta and you'll try to change

07:43the topic.

07:44You'll say, let's talk about something else.

07:47Let's talk about the Islamic threat to India.

07:50I'm asking you, sir, you are speaking as a Hindu, please tell me something about the

07:58Brahma Sutras and you don't know that.

08:03But you are very concerned about the Islamic threat.

08:09And we can talk about the Islamic threat as a separate topic that probably does deserve

08:15to be discussed.

08:18But right now, because all your discourse begins with the claim that you are a Hindu,

08:27let me first of all ascertain that you are indeed a Hindu.

08:30How are you a Hindu?

08:37How do you qualify to be a Hindu?

08:38Just because you were born in a Hindu family, so you qualify to be a Hindu.

08:44But you have no humility at all.

08:50Not only do you not see that you are not a Hindu in the first place.

08:56You want to impose your kind of ignorant version of Hinduism upon the entire country.

09:06That's what your entire attempt is.

09:08You are saying my Hinduism means the kind of culture I follow.

09:12And anybody who subscribes to this culture is a Hindu.

09:17How exactly?

09:18What culture do you follow?

09:20What are the roots of this culture?

09:21Where does it come from?

09:22Have you ever tried to understand, ever made any study?

09:26No, you have never done that.

09:30It's just that the tradition of the past 100 or 200 years has handed over a particular

09:34culture to you and you think that culture is Hinduism.

09:37No, not at all.

09:42They in fact never even talk of Dharma.

09:46They keep talking of Sanskriti.

09:48Have you noticed?

09:51Because the moment they talk of Dharma, they'll be in trouble.

10:00And cultures vary across people.

10:03Usually the kind of culture that is touted in the name of Hinduism is the North Indian

10:11and Central Indian culture of the last 100-200 years.

10:15That's all.

10:20As if culture by itself is sacred.

10:22No, it is not.

10:28Have you not read history?

10:31Not at all?

10:33Don't you remember Sati Pratha, Baal Vivaah?

10:38Don't you?

10:42These used to be inalienable parts of your culture till not too long back.

10:48Don't you remember?

10:49How then culture itself can be sacred?

10:53Culture is a stream.

10:54It keeps changing and it must keep changing.

10:58Whereas Dharma points towards the unchangeable.

11:04That's the difference.

11:09I was at another college yesterday and they gifted me a book by Shri D.K.

11:17Karve.

11:19You remember his name?

11:21Coming from Maharashtra, you remember his name?

11:24You remember the kind of troubles he had to face just because he had himself married

11:29a widow and he furthered the cause of widow remarriage?

11:38The kind of insult and abuse heaped on him?

11:41You remember all that?

11:42I am not talking of an event from the last millennium or something.

11:48I am talking of a relatively recent event.

11:54These are not medieval personalities.

11:58Keshav Chandrasen, D.K.

11:59Karve, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, you remember their names?

12:10But we think that if we are following a certain culture and we have made no special effort

12:16in following that culture, that culture has just come to us by way of legacy.

12:21You are born in the Hindu family, so you have to celebrate Diwali or did you have to

12:26learn to celebrate Diwali?

12:29Born in a Hindu family, you have a particular food habit, you know of Raksha Bandhan and

12:35Holi and you start thinking that somebody who celebrates Holi and Diwali is automatically

12:42a Hindu.

12:43How is it possible?

12:46Someone asks you who is a Hindu, how will you reply, please tell me.

12:54You are all bright people, let's say you are placed in the US and somebody asks you who

13:00is a Hindu?

13:01It's a genuine question, right?

13:03A foreigner asks you who is a Hindu?

13:05What would be your response?

13:07You will say somebody who celebrates Holi and Diwali is a Hindu.

13:16Who is a Hindu then?

13:18We don't know and we don't even want to know.

13:20There is a good, definite and wonderful answer, an answer you can be proud of, but we don't

13:26want to learn into that answer because that requires effort.

13:35Our Hinduism then remains very shallow and it's a thing of shame.

13:44Our Hinduism then remains about cheering in the cricket match or abusing people from other

13:53streams, labelling certain sections as aliens.

14:07Who is a Hindu?

14:15Muslims have the Bible, Sikhs have the Guru Granth Sahib, Buddhists have the Dhammapad

14:26and the Sutra, Muslims of course have the Quran.

14:40What have you read?

14:47Please raise your hands, how many of you have read the Vedas?

14:52Okay out of the four, any single one?

14:59Not one hand in an audience of over 200 I suppose.

15:08And then we want to ashame others.

15:16Just your surname cannot make you a Hindu.

15:22Being a Hindu is a tremendous thing.

15:25It requires some effort, some study, some sacrifice.

15:30Are you making that study?

15:32Are you making that sacrifice?

15:44And Vedas by themselves are very voluminous, thousands of verses, compared to them the

15:57Gyan Kand, the part that contains philosophy, that is Vedanta, is very light.

16:05How many of us have read even a few Upanishads?

16:15But we are always ready to bash Pakistan and Islam and Christians and we think that's

16:24what Hinduism is about.

16:33Obviously if a country is hostile towards us, we will respond and we have the armed

16:45forces for that and we are proud of our armed forces, right?

16:52But does Hinduism have to be only about hating Pakistan?

16:57I am asking you.

17:08And because you don't know Hinduism, you start equating Indian Muslims with Pakistani citizens.

17:17Is that fair?

17:18I am asking you, please.

17:21What kind of shameful nonsense is this?

17:26And obviously I am not saying just to you.

17:29I know there are these five cameras around, they are recording me, I want this message

17:32to reach far and wide.

17:38What do you want to do with these 20 crore fellow citizens of yours?

17:45Dump them all in the Arabian Sea?

17:50Can you do that?

17:53Do you want to do that?

18:02Why do you want to create needless acrimony?

18:07If you have to live with Muslims in the country, why can't you live peacefully?

18:14And you will rise and say, but sir, it's the Muslims who create all the trouble.

18:18If Muslims create all the trouble, we will deal with that.

18:23We have a law and order system.

18:26We have the police for that.

18:28But why must you as normal citizens cultivate hatred?

18:35This girl here, she is your batchmate, right?

18:37Or is she some kind of criminal culprit, offender?

18:43Why does she have to go through a harrowing experience just because of her surname?

18:53What do we get from there?

18:55Let's please think logically.

18:57What do we get by harassing fellow Muslims?

19:02Obviously that does not mean we will allow someone to harass us.

19:05If someone harasses us, we will respond.

19:08And we have the wherewithal for that, right?

19:11We are not weak and we are not cowards.

19:14If someone attacks us from outside or from within, we will deal with that.

19:19But is it not a mark of courage and bravery to not harass the weak?

19:32If you have a group of 10, is it a mark of bravery to target one or two people?

19:44Yes?

19:45Will you feel proud of this?

19:50We ganged up as 10 people and attacked a group of 2.

19:59Is this a thing of pride or shame?

20:03However, if those two are indeed mischief makers, if those two are attacking us, if

20:10those two are carrying weapons, we will deal with that.

20:13But please tell me, is this girl here carrying weapons?

20:19And why is an ordinary citizen being subjected to torture?

20:33Shri Krishna lays it out beautifully and with great clarity.

20:41In Srimad Bhagavad Gita, 4th chapter, 11th verse, I, that is the truth, that is the fundamental

20:54law of existence, will respond to you exactly in the way you look at me.

21:04And that should be the rule of thumb.

21:08If someone is a troublemaker, no mercy, no leniency, and that's very justified.

21:18If you are creating trouble, we will deal with you ruthlessly and that's okay.

21:27But Shri Krishna also says that if you are fair and fine, then I respond to you in a

21:35fair and fine way.

21:40Will you feel proud to be called residents of a country that oppresses its minorities?

21:48Will you feel proud?

22:00I am not talking about appeasement.

22:02I hope that is clear.

22:04I am not talking about giving unfair advantage to any little group of people.

22:12I am saying don't give anybody unfair advantage.

22:15There is no need to appease anybody.

22:18But it is also not proper, not spiritual, not dharmic, not right, not justified to unfairly

22:29target innocent people.

22:33Is there something called innocence or not?

22:43Remember the values in India's constitution are all very, very spiritual.

22:55And spiritual means sublime, very high, highest values.

23:00We should be proud of those values.

23:05In fact, when the audience is a little more mature, I love to propose, rather assert,

23:18that the Indian constitution is founded on Vedantic values.

23:27If you want to call yourself a Hindu, be a Vedanti, then you will be Sanatani in the

23:35truest sense of the word.

23:38There is a difference between being a Hindu and being a Sanatani.

23:43If you just follow the Hindu rituals and customs and culture, you can be called a Hindu.

23:50Without reading anything, without knowing anything, you can still be a Hindu.

23:54Why?

23:55Because your father is a Hindu, your mother is a Hindu, so you become a Hindu.

24:01But Sanatani is a great qualification like a B.Tech, M.Tech or Ph.D.

24:06You have to earn it.

24:08Being a Sanatani is no small deal.

24:12To be a Sanatani, you have to rigorously study your scriptures and you have to live by them.

24:18You have to make Vedanta your life.

24:23And a Sanatani is a brave person.

24:28A Sanatani is a protector, not a destroyer.

24:35A Sanatani takes pride in fighting ten oppressors all alone.

24:52He vibes with the spirit of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, you remember that, I am all alone and

25:05in front of me is an army of a lakh, more than a lakh, a lakh and a quarter oppressors.

25:15I will fight them all alone.

25:18That's the Sanatani spirit.

25:20The Sanatani spirit is not about ganging up and pulverizing those who are fewer in number.

25:41Know your Sanatana Dharma.

25:48Live the Sanatana Marga deeply.

25:53Be kind, be loving, be just, be fair.

26:00Be brave, be strong.

26:02That's the message of Vedanta.

26:05Am I making sense?

26:11Are you internally disconnected or opposing me?

26:19Is all this making sense to you, please?

26:23Because we are living in very strange times.

26:27India has not witnessed these times ever since independence.

26:40Have I been able to somewhat answer your question?

26:45It is their problem.

26:47You should not feel hurt.

26:49It is their problem.

26:50They do not know their religion, Ashna.

26:53Those who talk of Hinduism in this way, they themselves do not know what Hinduism is.

26:59Sir, my question to you was again that how I should learn to move out of this.

27:08I don't mind them telling me, but I just want to grow my mentality out of this.

27:15Simply say, he will only utter stuff according to his own intellectual and spiritual level.

27:24It's his problem that he is at a low level and I cannot make his problem my own.

27:31I'm not obliged to make his problem mine, full stop.

27:36And don't think that all Hindus belong to that category, that quality.

27:47May you meet great Sanatanis and then your impression of people will change.

27:56But I very well know that most people belong to that lowly category and you will meet lots

28:03of them in the future also.

28:05We are living in very awkward times.

28:06When you meet them, ignore them and just pray for them.

28:11Just pray for them.

28:12May they rise from their lowly intellectual level.

28:18That's all.

28:19Thank you, sir.

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