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Editorial
HIGHLY IRRELIGIOUS
Contribution by India to
religion and philosophy is outstanding. Ours is the country which gave birth to
three great religions Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. A wellknown German
Philosopher, remarked that in comparison with Hindu thought, the highest
stretches of Europeon Philosophy appear like dwarfish pygmies in the presence of
grand Majestic Titan – Another great philosopher Schopen hauer said “In the
whole world there is no study as beneficial and so elevating as that of
Upanishads. It has been solace of my life. It will be solace in my death.”
Indian religions declared long ago that God is everywhere and everything belongs
to Him. Renunciation and Service have been great contributions of India to the
philosophy of the world. Sharing sacrifice and service are essence of Indian
religion. Worship of God in the form of human being, in the form of poor, the
sick, the miserable has been declared as the highest form of worship. All the
religious leaders, the saints and sages, all have stretched the worship of
Daridra Narayan in the form of poor and the sick, is the real worship of God.
In our India, where spiritual
philosophy had reached its zenith, what is happening today, what kind of worship
we are indulging in, To worship one of the great saints Sai Baba, who served the
poor people and who spent his life, living in a temple and sitting on a stone.
To such a saint who was a picture of renunciation, we want to give him a golden
throne costing Rs. 22 crores. A well known film actor is giving jewellery
costing Rs. 2 crores to Balaji of Tirupati. To a Ganesha in Mumbai, they have
covered his feet with silver cover of Rs. 20 lakhs worth. Another Ganesha in
Mumbai, it is reported has jewellery of Rs. 5 crores. Tirupati Deity has
jewellery of billions of Rupees.
How much money is wasted in the
form of jewellery given to various Deities in India. What an irony that when
everything belongs to Him, we want to give Him by way of donation in crores and
crores and not much to hospitals, orphanages, schools and colleges. We spend
crores and crores on building temples, which money could be used for building
huts for the poor. As a Kannada poet puts it bluntly “ O what you want to
construct a temple for God. God wants the whole universe to reside, as against
that a poor man requires a small hut. Is it that God is poorer than the poor ?”
There was a news that Gautam Buddha statue is to be erected at a cost of Rs.100
crores. Perhaps it is a great insult to Buddha ‘the light of Asia’.
How irreligious to construct
costly temples, mosques, churches. God is everywhere. Why do you want to confine
Him in a temple ? Everything in this world belongs to Him. Is it not an outright
foolishness to give to Him a part of what is given by Him to you? He gives them
to us so that we may use them for the service of those who are in need of such
service. As the Hindi song goes “Tere dwar khada re Bhagwan Bhagat Bhara Dere
Jholi.” Yes, God appears before us in the form of beggars, in the form of sick,
in the form of poor. And the service of such Daridra Narayan is the best form of
worship. As against that, construction of temples, giving donations to Him in
the form of jewellery etc. is not only highly irreligious, but also it is an
outright insult to Him. As Mahabharat puts it, one who is a friend of everybody,
who serves everybody, who loves everybody and shares others sorrows is really a
religious person. As Swami Vivekananda puts it “Those who feel for and serve the
poor are Mahatmas, all others are Duratmas. He again said “This is the gist of
all worship – to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Siva in the poor,
in the weak, and in the diseased, really worship Siva.” Gandhiji remarked “Only
sinners go to temples for worships”.
Now, how much money we are
spending under the guise of celebrating religious festivals. One feels sorry to
notice that in these festivals, there is everything except devotion. What a
criminal waste of money in Ganesha and other Utsavs when they are devoid of
devotion. About Navratri festival celebration, less said the better. Why do we
allow all these tamashas ?
A reader when he reads this
editorial may wonder that, the writer is an atheist. No, I am not. I am really a
religious person, but in its true sense, I give donations to all kinds of
charities, but not to temples or religious places because if I do that, I would
be insulting my Lord, who has given me so much, with a rider that I use it for
the benefit of others and for the service of the poor. Our Lord does not expect
us to give Him what he himself has given. He does not need our services. He
wants us to serve His children, who are poor, who are sick and those people who
require our services and by serving them we serve our Lord the best. That is the
highest form of worship we can offer to Him.
V. H. Patil
Editor |
