Last week, while I was celebrating Ram Navami, the birth anniversary of Maryada Purushottam Prabhu Shri Ram, Lord Mahavir Janma Kalyanak Mahotsav and the birth anniversary of the architect of Indian Constitution Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, one question kept repeatedly popping up in my mind: Why are people not following the path shown by such divine figures and great men? Is it enough to worship, celebrate festivals, take out processions or discuss the life events of great men? Why have important events become mere rituals and the inspiring messages they carry being ignored? The same is the case with the thoughts of great men right from Swami Vivekananda to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
Surely, the idea behind celebrating the birth anniversaries of great men must have been that the generations to come should be inspired by their noble thoughts. People should follow the path shown by the great men. But with time, the thoughts of these great men got lost. People left the path they were supposed to follow. If I talk about the old times, then Lord Shri Ram not only dedicated his entire life to fight against injustice, social emancipation of the forest dwellers (vanvasis) and ending the demonic tendency but also set a new ideal of justice. Even Mata Sita had to undergo ‘Agni Pariksha’ when a resident of the kingdom made a comment against her. By eating berries offered by a tribal Bhil woman, he gave a message against the caste system. Have we assimilated these messages of Lord Shri Ram? It is said that everyone was happy under Lord Rama’s rule. Life was comfortable in his kingdom. Even today, the politicians talk of Ram Rajya from rooftops, but did our governance system adopt the virtues of Lord Shri Ram’s system of governance?
Lord Mahavir spoke of non-violence, of forgiveness, of mercy. He taught and gave us the principle of Aparigraha along with the ideals of protection of humanity and nature. He also showed us the scientific way of life system but are we following the path shown by him? Here I would like to say one thing that any great person or avatar may have come from any belief system, but his thoughts and his teachings are for the whole world. His thoughts cannot be tied to any particular religion. If Lord Mahavir talked about non-violence, he did it for the whole world. Today, we all admire his thoughts. Mahatma Gandhi also talked about truth and non-violence, but in normal life, violence is ruling the roost.
Theft, dacoity, robbery, murder, deceit and fraud have made the society hell. The truth seems to be missing and the non-violence on the strength of which Bapu uprooted the British Empire from India is in danger. People have become extremely intolerant. They see even smaller things through the narrow prism of religion. The month of Ramzan is going on right now. This is the time when we can bring purity in life, hug each other and spread the message of love. Nothing can be better than this.
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar not only played a pivotal role in the drafting of our Constitution, but also introduced us to the concept of an egalitarian society. But unfortunately, while we have installed his statues everywhere, we have failed to follow the path of equality shown by him. It is in the honour of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s unique talent that this country has bestowed on him the title of ‘Mahamanav’. The number of his followers kept on increasing. Everyone appreciated his contribution. His thoughts were termed as destiny-changer for India. The society and the government honoured him, bowed down before him but did not follow his path properly.
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s teachings are not only for India but for the whole world. He talked about equality and did so for the whole world. Today, we are seeing that the whole of Africa is burning in the fire of inequality, and an advanced country like America is also in the grip of racism. Had the country and the world taken a pledge to follow the teachings of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the caste system would have been annihilated.
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had said humanity is the religion of man. He had shown the way to improve the governance system, but we did not adopt it completely. It is not fair to blame any government for this deviation. Earlier, Congress was in power at the Centre and today it is BJP. There are Leftists, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress and other parties ruling various states across the country. Parties and governments may come and go, but the moot question is better governance system.
Former President of India Dr A PJ Abdul Kalam and Jain Acharya Mahapragya ji jointly gave us the life science project, but people did not follow this path earnestly. Even the education system has proved to be weak in being able to inculcate the teachings of virtues in human life. Every religion and every great man have taught us the language of love. People have been shown the way to love fellow human beings. The essence of a happy life has been given to us, but we have neglected the core messages and confined great men to textbooks and ceremonies. And the result is there for all to see. Human beings are being burnt alive. Mass killings are carried out in the name of religion. The proverb ‘Might is Right’ is being justified. The more powerful a person, the more aggressive he is. It is expected that the one who is powerful should show extreme humility. He should exhibit the traits of compassion, a sense of forgiveness and, of course, non-violence.
Why are we becoming more violent then? What kind of society and country are we handing over to our next generation? It is high time we deliberated on this serious issue. Even a small beginning in this direction can become a big instrument of change.
The author is the chairman, Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha.
The ceremonial remembrances of great men and divine figures have started to become bigger and grander rituals while forgetting their noble thoughts and core messages. Politics has hijacked several such events and ceremonies. Why has society deviated from the path shown by the great personalities? Why?
