This is a transcript of a talk given by DN Persaud over Radio Demerara,
in Guyana in 1960
FRIENDS,
I am grateful to the sponsors of this program and the management of Radio Demerara for the opportunity afforded me to say a few words to you on the Sanatan Dharma.
Now, what is Sanatan Dharma? You will appreciate that it would be impossible for anyone to tell you all about it in a short talk. The most that may be attempted is to deal with some aspect of it.
The word "Sanatan" means eternal, that is, without beginning and without end. It also means, all-pervading, that is, when we say something is Sanatan there is no place that it does not exist. These qualities of being eternal and all-pervading are those which are attributed to God.
Dharma is the essential nature of a thing, that is to say that if we took away the Dharma of something, it will cease to be what it is. For example, we say the Dharma of fire is to burn, but if we took away from it this quality of burning, it could not be called fire any more, it would be something else.
From these meanings of Sanatan and Dharma we say that Sanatan Dharma is that way of life which is in harmony with God's creation and purpose, and that it is all-pervading and eternal. It has no beginning and it will have no end and there is no place in the universe where its influence is not felt.
As the Sanatan Dharma is universal in its conception, it accepts all forms of worship as leading to the same goal. In the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna said to Arjuna,
" as men approach me so do I accept them. Men on all sides follow my path, O Partha."
There could be no doubt as to the meaning of this text. It is clear that God accepts any form of worship as long as it is done with sincerity. He grants the devotee his desires and He does not put out the hope or aspirations of any one. The Hindu thinkers are conscious of the amazing variety of ways in which we may approach the Supreme and of the close connection of all forms. The forms we worship are aids to help us to become conscious of our deepest selves. So long as the object of worship holds fast the attention of the soul, it enters our mind and heart and fashions them. The same God is worshipped by all.
Paramhansa Rama Krishna said to his disciples, "God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole. You may say there are many errors and superstitions in another religion. I should reply: suppose there are. Every religion has errors. Every one thinks that his watch alone gives the correct time. It is enough to have a yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him. Don't you know that God is the Inner Guide? He sees the beginning of our hearts and the yearning of our souls. Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys address him as 'Baba' or 'Papa' but the babies can at least say 'Ba' or 'Pa'. Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names. They call on one Person only. God is one but His names are many."
Another great teacher, Swami Sankaracharya prayed: "As streams flowing in different directions by diverse ways all reach the ocean, so all men, worshipping thee in different ways, ultimately reach thee."
Udayanacharya writes:-
"Whom the Saivas worship as Siva, the Vedantins as Brahman, the Buddhists as Buddha, the Naiyyayikas who specialize is the canons of knowledge as the chief agent, the followers of the Jain code as the ever free, the ritualists as the principle of law, may that Hari, the Lord of the three worlds grant our prayers."
If the writer were writing in this age he would add:-
"whom the Christian devotee worships as Christ and the Mohammedan as Allah."
God rewards all who diligently seek Him, regardless of whatever views of God they may hold.
People who are unwilling to recognize other ways of worship than their own are not sufficiently enlightened. Their attachment to their creed makes them blind to the unity of God. All religions preach against egotism (Ahamkara). It will be just as wrong to entertain egotism about our religious ideas.
The great Rishis and Munis of old never condemned any one else's way of worship but accepted and harmonized them with their own ideals. In the third chapter of the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna said,
"Let him (jnanin) not unsettle the minds of the ignorant. The enlightened man doing all works in a spirit of yoga should set others to act as well."
Sir S. Radhakrishnan's commentary on this text is as follows, "we should not weaken religious devotion of any kind. The elements of duty, sacrifice and love seem to be the foundation of every religion. In lower forms they may be barely discernible and may center round certain symbols which are accessories to the principles which they uphold. These symbols are vital to those who believe in them. They become intolerable only if they are imposed on those who cannot accept them and when they are suggested to be absolute and final forms of human thought. When the illiterate bow down to the forces of nature, we know they are bowing to the wrong thing and they are blind to the larger unity of God. And yet they bow to something which is not their own little self. Even crude views possess something by which men and women who want to live rightly are helped to do so. The quality of mind and not the object determines whether the source is religious or not. It is true that everyone should reach the highest level but this can be attained generally by slow steps and not by sudden jumps. Besides our view on religion are not chosen by us. They are determined by our ancestry, upbringing and general environment. We should not speak badly about them. We should not in trying to uplift people deprive them of their innocent joys, their songs and dances, their feasts and festivals. Whatever we do for them should be done with love and reverence. We must use their limited understanding as steps to higher vision."
Our Rishis of old adopted the view that we should not throw away dirty water until we get fresh and so have accommodated within this way of life divinities worshipped by the different groups, those of the sky and sea, the stream and the grove, the sacred figure of the distant past, the protected devis and devatas of villages and clans.
So you find in our pujas, invocations and worship is performed to the different devatas - Navagraha devata, Varuna devata, Gram devata, Kul devata and so on, but with the inner realization that all the ministering intelligences are varied manifestations of the one Supreme God.
I am grateful to the sponsors of this program and the management of Radio Demerara for the opportunity afforded me to say a few words to you on the Sanatan Dharma.
Now, what is Sanatan Dharma? You will appreciate that it would be impossible for anyone to tell you all about it in a short talk. The most that may be attempted is to deal with some aspect of it.
The word "Sanatan" means eternal, that is, without beginning and without end. It also means, all-pervading, that is, when we say something is Sanatan there is no place that it does not exist. These qualities of being eternal and all-pervading are those which are attributed to God.
Dharma is the essential nature of a thing, that is to say that if we took away the Dharma of something, it will cease to be what it is. For example, we say the Dharma of fire is to burn, but if we took away from it this quality of burning, it could not be called fire any more, it would be something else.
From these meanings of Sanatan and Dharma we say that Sanatan Dharma is that way of life which is in harmony with God's creation and purpose, and that it is all-pervading and eternal. It has no beginning and it will have no end and there is no place in the universe where its influence is not felt.
As the Sanatan Dharma is universal in its conception, it accepts all forms of worship as leading to the same goal. In the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna said to Arjuna,
" as men approach me so do I accept them. Men on all sides follow my path, O Partha."
There could be no doubt as to the meaning of this text. It is clear that God accepts any form of worship as long as it is done with sincerity. He grants the devotee his desires and He does not put out the hope or aspirations of any one. The Hindu thinkers are conscious of the amazing variety of ways in which we may approach the Supreme and of the close connection of all forms. The forms we worship are aids to help us to become conscious of our deepest selves. So long as the object of worship holds fast the attention of the soul, it enters our mind and heart and fashions them. The same God is worshipped by all.
Paramhansa Rama Krishna said to his disciples, "God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole. You may say there are many errors and superstitions in another religion. I should reply: suppose there are. Every religion has errors. Every one thinks that his watch alone gives the correct time. It is enough to have a yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him. Don't you know that God is the Inner Guide? He sees the beginning of our hearts and the yearning of our souls. Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys address him as 'Baba' or 'Papa' but the babies can at least say 'Ba' or 'Pa'. Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names. They call on one Person only. God is one but His names are many."
Another great teacher, Swami Sankaracharya prayed: "As streams flowing in different directions by diverse ways all reach the ocean, so all men, worshipping thee in different ways, ultimately reach thee."
Udayanacharya writes:-
"Whom the Saivas worship as Siva, the Vedantins as Brahman, the Buddhists as Buddha, the Naiyyayikas who specialize is the canons of knowledge as the chief agent, the followers of the Jain code as the ever free, the ritualists as the principle of law, may that Hari, the Lord of the three worlds grant our prayers."
If the writer were writing in this age he would add:-
"whom the Christian devotee worships as Christ and the Mohammedan as Allah."
God rewards all who diligently seek Him, regardless of whatever views of God they may hold.
People who are unwilling to recognize other ways of worship than their own are not sufficiently enlightened. Their attachment to their creed makes them blind to the unity of God. All religions preach against egotism (Ahamkara). It will be just as wrong to entertain egotism about our religious ideas.
The great Rishis and Munis of old never condemned any one else's way of worship but accepted and harmonized them with their own ideals. In the third chapter of the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna said,
"Let him (jnanin) not unsettle the minds of the ignorant. The enlightened man doing all works in a spirit of yoga should set others to act as well."
Sir S. Radhakrishnan's commentary on this text is as follows, "we should not weaken religious devotion of any kind. The elements of duty, sacrifice and love seem to be the foundation of every religion. In lower forms they may be barely discernible and may center round certain symbols which are accessories to the principles which they uphold. These symbols are vital to those who believe in them. They become intolerable only if they are imposed on those who cannot accept them and when they are suggested to be absolute and final forms of human thought. When the illiterate bow down to the forces of nature, we know they are bowing to the wrong thing and they are blind to the larger unity of God. And yet they bow to something which is not their own little self. Even crude views possess something by which men and women who want to live rightly are helped to do so. The quality of mind and not the object determines whether the source is religious or not. It is true that everyone should reach the highest level but this can be attained generally by slow steps and not by sudden jumps. Besides our view on religion are not chosen by us. They are determined by our ancestry, upbringing and general environment. We should not speak badly about them. We should not in trying to uplift people deprive them of their innocent joys, their songs and dances, their feasts and festivals. Whatever we do for them should be done with love and reverence. We must use their limited understanding as steps to higher vision."
Our Rishis of old adopted the view that we should not throw away dirty water until we get fresh and so have accommodated within this way of life divinities worshipped by the different groups, those of the sky and sea, the stream and the grove, the sacred figure of the distant past, the protected devis and devatas of villages and clans.
So you find in our pujas, invocations and worship is performed to the different devatas - Navagraha devata, Varuna devata, Gram devata, Kul devata and so on, but with the inner realization that all the ministering intelligences are varied manifestations of the one Supreme God.
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