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Posted on: April 22, 2017
Sathya Sai – The Dimensionless Phenomenon
And the Unparalleled Dimensions of Sanathana Dharma Exemplified by Sai
by Mr. S Gurumurthy
Part 04
How a Society Can Strength a Nation - India Leads the Way
Now let us take the issue of what He says about elders taking care of youngsters and vice-versa. What does it mean? It looks so simple. But imagine if it does not happen, what will happen to a society?
We can look at the West and there are demonstrable declines not only in society, culture, behaviour, family and morals but also in economics. How did the economy decline? That will show how important it is that we remind ourselves of this.
In the West, a completely different paradigm took over. Rights. It is my right. Individual rights, elders' rights, children's rights, animals' rights, women's rights — the very contradistinction to Dharma which implied a high sense of duty and mutual obligations. The West respects individual rights. While Dharma respects the other individual's rights.
Respecting the other individual's rights is your duty and that is what makes the society functional. Now see the decline.
In America and in most western countries today, half the children are born from un-wed mothers; half of them are born from school-going children. Newt Gingrich, who was the equivalent of the Lok Sabha speaker, the Senate Chairman, asked, “When 12-year-olds take guns and shoot each other, 14-year-olds become pregnant, 16-year-olds get HIV positive and 18-year-olds get diplomas and degrees which they cannot read, what kind of civilisation are we producing?”
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| Mr. S Gurumurthy's prized moment with Bhagawan in Chennai, Jan 2007 |
This is the lament of someone from a society which is deviating from the natural law of Dharma.
See what happens. In 1960 the ratio of family savings to total savings was 80% in America. In the third quarter of 2006, it became 20%.
About 30 crore Americans have 120 crore credit cards and 11 crore families have 120 crore credit cards on which they owe $3 trillion debts.
From a nation which was the banker of the world, it has become the greatest borrower of the world today. It didn't happen because of economic policies but because of decline of families.
About 51% of the American families are single-parent families where the father and mother do not live together or there is no father at all.
In 1998, an American sociologist wrote a book stating “We are emerging as a fatherless nation.”
People do not marry. Obama constituted in 2012 a National Marriage Project to persuade people to marry. They do not want to marry. This chaos is because the mutuality of obligations is forgotten.
Everybody is an isolated, automized, selfish individual. Economics says “Collective individuals” and “Selfishness produces greater prosperity”.
Yes but it has also produced the greatest destruction. This is what Swami says and He specifies very clearly the responsibility of the relationship between parents and children.
He says, respect for parents who started your life and brought you into this world to gather the vast and varied treasures and experience, is the first lesson Dharma teaches. It is not just a good quality; it is not just a virtue; it is not just a value. It is not something for which you should feel happy that you are doing it. It is a compulsive social, economic and political necessity which sustains the social order.
Take India. There are 80 crore Indians who are dependent on 45 crore Indians as parents, infirm or unemployed. There are 8 crore Indian youths who are unemployed. The family, the parents and the near and dear take care of them.
It does not happen in America. It happens in none of the western countries. The State has to take care of them. When the family collapses, the burden passes on to the State. When Dharma collapses, the society is burdened, the State is burdened. So, it is not simply a virtue.
The Irresistible Powerhouse That is India
The failure of Dharma has a devastating impact on the State. Savings collapses. See India.
In 1990 we had a savings to GDP ratio of 21-22%. It went up to 37%. It shook the world, because India is the only country which has grown so much and has become almost the candidate for being a global power in 2030.
According to the National Intelligence Council report in 2012, India has become the candidate to be one of the three major world powers in 2012.
What Swami would have loved to happen is happening today. On the December 12, 2012, the National Intelligence Council (of America) came out with a report that there are going to be only three major world powers, super powers in 2030 — America, China and India.
Even if the Indian Government does not want it, even if the Indian political system does not work for it, even if the media works against it, this is going to happen. Do you know why? That is the destiny of India.
In fact, Swami says at one point, I am really surprised how clear He was about the role of the State, “To propagate human values, it is advisable to keep as far away as possible from powers that be”, which means the Government. “It is not possible to promote sacred values through the help of government authorities.”
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Government authorities can only do the reverse. They cannot marry people; they can pass laws to separate people. They cannot keep families united; but they can pass laws to say partition suits can be filed.
They cannot make husband and wife live together but they can separate them. They cannot make duties compulsory; they can make rights compulsory. This is what Swami says. A higher education is needed to internalise duty. It is not an ordinary task.
It requires an extraordinary submission of the self to obey parents, to understand them and to empathise with them. Aparigraha, Nirahambhavana. This is what the Kanchi Mahaswami told Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947. ‘Aparigraha’ means ‘contentment’ and ‘Nirahambhavana’ means ‘humility’.
Both these constitute the foundation of Indian civilisation and this is the foundation for any civilisation. Any civilisation which forsakes these two qualities causes havoc.
I want all of you to go through one website built by R J Rummel, a Hawaii University Professor and what he documented about democide. He has spoken about how in the last 2000 years killings have taken place in different parts of the world - 1.4 billion people have been killed.
Do you know the number of people killed in India? Till 13th Century it was less than 200,000. Only from 13th Century, it went up to 4.5 million when outside invaders came here and rattled our society. But even then it is so less.
Thousands of wars happen. Still it is an oasis of peace. Today if you go through a website called nationmaster.com which gives the relative crime rates of different countries, you will be stunned to note that in terms of robbery, murder and other types of homicide, India is the nation with the lowest crime rates in the world. The truth is we have not understood India.
See what Swami says. He laments: “It is unfortunate that many in the sacred land are not aware of its greatness of yesterday or today or its importance tomorrow.”
This is what He means. Love of the mother is a sweet virtue. What a pity that today the love of the motherland has declined! This He spoke in 1990 and He expressed a view.
India was once the Guru of humanity. Let us assume that role again. When India was a borrower it was pledging its gold but today, the National Intelligence Council rates India as an emerging global power.
In 1990, Swami said, “Let us assume that role again.” Do we produce youngsters of that competence, understanding, skill and confidence? It is the duty of the elders.
Two generations of elders have failed this country. It is a monotonous failure. The youngsters need to understand that today education is fortunately not limited to classrooms, black boards and textbooks.
The universe is on the computer; truth comes through the computer today. You will be stunned that computers reveal today everything that is suppressed by the greatest and mightiest liars of the world.
That is what is going to make India great. Truth! Truth about India. True understanding about India. True knowledge about India. True role of India. This is what Swami wants. India has to rise in the interest of the world.
I will conclude my speech with the experience of Swami Vivekananda. He travelled across the country between 1889 and 1891 where he saw hunger, poverty and illiteracy. Between 1880 and 1900, India witnessed 23 large famines and almost 30 million people died in this 20-year period.
When Vivekananda goes to America he delivers a message: “Here is a civilisation, a culture and a religion which will save the world from bigotry and violence.”
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What kind of confidence that young man of 30 had? He was just 30. That was the first speech he delivered. He never spoke in public before that and he lost two and half minutes of those 5 minutes by saying “Sisters and brothers of United States of America.” Two and half minutes there was only clapping. He had only two and half minutes left.
Do you know how many words he spoke? Just 471 words. He turned the perception of the world. He gave them a different paradigm and in 1897 he came back to India and said “I know everything is bleak. The country has lost its confidence, it has become this by celebrating the adversary.
“But I am seeing a vision and the vision is not my dream because I am not a dreamer. I don't believe in astrology for future predictions. What I am seeing is reality, as much as I am seeing you, the audience. I am seeing Bharat Mata sitting on the throne and ruling the world as Jagadguru.”
This is precisely what Swami said in 1990 and it is happening today. Let us internalise this great culture, tradition and value system which not only saves our economy and society but our social order.
We have 6,68,000 villages and towns but we have only 12,800 police stations. When I told this in Johns Hopkins University in America, they were stunned.
India still has the lowest crime rates in the world because of respect for parents and elders. My neighbours have slapped and corrected me. The society has a right to correct you. You have no individual right to de-legitimise the society. It is Dharma.
We have to preserve this great heritage. It can be destroyed but it cannot be recouped. The State and the court can destroy but they cannot create it. This can be created by great men who were born and they will be born time and again. That is our hope.
Thank you very much.
- Radio Sai Team
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