I sometimes wonder why India was considered as Vishwa Guru
and why are we in such a degenerated state now.
I realized Indians used to think for the whole world or
universe. I felt so because of some of the mantras/ prayers we hear.
Eg-
ॐ द्यौः शान्तिरन्तरिक्षं शान्तिः
पृथिवी शान्तिरापः शान्तिरोषधयः शान्तिः ।
वनस्पतयः शान्तिर्विश्वेदेवाः शान्तिर्ब्रह्म शान्तिः
सर्वं शान्तिः शान्तिरेव शान्तिः सा मा शान्तिरेधि ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Meaning:
Om, Peace be in Sky; Peace be in Space.
Peace be in Earth; Peace
be in Water; Peace be in Plants;
Peace be in Trees; Peace be in Gods (presiding over
the various elements of Nature); Peace be in Brahman (Absolute Consciousness);
May Peace pervadeg everywhere;
Peace alone (which is outside) is in Peace (which is inside); May we be
(established in) that Peace (and make your life
fulfilled);
Om, Peace, Peace,
Peace.
This mantra shows we thought for the whole universe, for all
living and non-living organisms.
Another
one-
संगच्छध्वं
संवदध्वं
सं वो मनांसि जानताम्
देवा भागं यथा पूर्वे सञ्जानाना उपासते ||
समानी
व आकूति: समाना हृदयानि व: |
समानमस्तु वो मनो यथा
व: सुसहासति ||
Meaning- May we move in harmony, speak in one voice; let our
minds be in agreement; just as the ancient gods shared their portion of
sacrifice. May our intentions and aspirations be alike, so that a common
objective unifies us all.
Our education system in those days taught to broaden our
horizon of thinking. Their psychic pabulum was big and they were involved more
in psychic and spiritual progress along with physical progress. We wanted to
progress together in every field without neglecting anyone.
Our current situation has changed and we have become more
self-centered and materialistic. We have forgotten increasing our psychic
pabulum (shram- श्रम) while
remaining occupied in physical labor (parishram - परिश्रम) This will be possible only when
minimum physical requirement of food, shelter, clothing, education and medicine
is met. Without fulfilling that, it’s not possible to move towards enhancing
psychic pabulum.
Corona Virus has taught us few important things.
Migration of labors mostly from west part of India towards
East shows us how much disparity is there in East side. People are forced to
leave their families in search of jobs. Now they are migrating back leaving
their dreams behind in starve of hunger and poverty. They prefer ending their
life with their family. Everyone needs compassion of his or her family members in
such crisis.
They are not earning sufficient to have reserve for even 1
month. It’s not that there can’t be jobs in east part. God has endowed us with
plenty of resources but we are not managing it properly. One of the great
philosophers Shri Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, propounder of PROUT philosophy had once
said- If we utilize resources in 56 districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Chattisgarh and Orissa properly, it will be sufficient to fulfill minimum
requirements for whole India.
Is there really food shortage or is it created because of
our food habits and mismanagement of resources? Some examples of mismanagement
of resources –using land to grow carnation instead of food first. We are
growing grains, rearing animals to feed them, and finally killing them to
satisfy our tongue. Many people are wasting food in marriage lavishness.
As per one of articles in Moneycontrol, there are around
11.09 million (1.1 crore) houses are vacant. Even 1.64 lakhs low cost houses
are vacant. Still there are many people who are not able to live in houses. Is
it not wastage of resources? This is also because of uneven wealth
distribution, as many people can’t afford to buy them. Many people have
invested their black money in real estate and others can’t afford it.
There are many abundant resources but we are unable to
utilize them properly because of individual ownership and defective social
system.
Things have slightly changed with corona pandemic. We have
seen doctors, healthcare professionals, policemen and others are risking their
lives to save people. People are distributing food and money to needy who can’t
afford it but still our resources and reach are limited. We had forgotten all
our enmities between religions, castes in these difficult times. All narrow
sentiments that divide us should disappear. Most of us have feeling of sympathy
for others who are unable to make living in these arduous times. Countries have
been helping each other as almost every country is suffering from this
pandemic. We had exploited nature badly and now it has rejuvenated itself when
we gave it some break. Animals are also feeling free to roam and are enjoying
god’s beautiful world.
We never realized that our true nature is love and
compassion for everyone be it humans, animals or other flora and fauna. People
need to understand we need to accept everyone and everything whole-heartedly as
part of our family. Every existential living or non-living creature has
existential value and we can survive without ruthlessly exploiting it. We are
one family and we need to re- design our economic system such that nobody has
to depend on others and they can have decent money reserves in case of natural
calamities. Everyone can fulfil their minimum requirements and animals can have
separate space. Scientific developments should be utilized for whole humanity
and not just for few rich people. Our collective thought needs to change to
preserve humanity and with one social outlook towards all animate and inanimate
creation of God. People will have to understand this universe is common
property of every humans and animals and we need to enjoy it rationally.
Conclusion:
This could be cosmic play to bring humans closer to each
other in terms of humanity and give up our parochial views. All
fundamentalist’s religious activities have shut down with this cosmic drama. All
countries need to unite to create better-integrated world rather than countries
trying to become superpower and exploit others. This cosmic flow is to uplift
our social outlook and increase our psychic pabula from being self-centered to
collective living. It is teaching us -fate of humanity is tied to one single
thread and all humans are beads of same garland.
