Hinduism is responsible for upholding democracy in India
Not every individual is living a life
that is eternal, nor it is within the capacity of the individual to think that it will last for a certain period. Uncertainty is the word we all have to accept irrespective of our color, caste, creed, location,
religion, and our status in the society. This aspect does not lie in our minds constantly enabling us to move on with all the pleasurable acts, as we need.
In doing so, we expect to live freely with our choices out of innumerable yes and no acts in front of us. Freedom is the first expectation of life followed by other things. If life has to go by the sermons of one entity sitting at the helm of the power, then it would be miserable without doubt.
India, with its vast population, is comprising of mainly Hindus is maintaining its secular credentials for the last 62 years after becoming free from the clutches of the British in 1947. It is also continuing its democratic pattern for the same period at a stretch. The author of this article argues that democracy in India did not crumble due to Hinduism, which is liberal in nature and does not put restrictions on individuals unlike other religions where a central power holds the key. The hierarchy in those religions runs through the command system in different levels forcing common people obeys the dictats of acceptable or unacceptable description.
This freedom in life has become possible in Hinduism due to Vedanta, the author states. What is Vedanta? Much before many religions came into existence; organized Hindu way of life was prevailing, but orthodox. The appearance of Vedanta happened around 1500 BC. Vedantic Writers could not spread their scriptures to the masses due to stiff resistance they faced from the orthodox organized religion leaders at that time. Ordinary people had no choice than to follow the rituals prescribed by the religion leaders. They did revolt, but could not stay in the society for fear of backlash. Forest, where they went, became their home, and started writing more on the subject. Aranyak (Derived from Aranya meaning forest) was produced from their exiles stay in the forest. Gradual improvement in the writings produced the Upanishads. Ultimately, the people rejecting the orthodox ritualistic way of life accepted these scriptures. The high-level thoughts that filled these scriptures were not very understandable to people; but they did understand the beauty of personal freedom as far as faith is concerned. The empowerment of will to every individual for following the faith made people inclined to Vedanta and other such scripts. The concept of God changed from one person to other; one need to another.
Need based deity appeared such as Goddess Saraswati for education, Goddess Laxmi for wealth, and on and on. The word divinity opened its boundary making it a free entity for at-will formation of divinity.
‘Yad Bhavam, Tad Bhavati’, the Sanskrit shloka means, your personal truth is your choice of belief, and freedom is more important than belief itself. Numerous Gods and Goddesses are nothing but the figments of human imagination, mentioned in Upanishads. In Ken Upanishad we get, “Brahma ha devobhayo vijigye”, which translates to “Gods are mere subjects of the self”. The explanation of this would be, it is better that God serves Man than Men serve God, because men really do not serve the God, they simply follow the dictates of a religious leader, who pretends to speak for the God. In addition, he can turn people into a kind of slaves in the name of God.
For Hindus, religion is the personal matter – nothing beyond that. They do not try to convert others for this reason. They change their faith from one God to other depending on their need. The very reason is applicable to their daily way of life discarding the leaders as and when they feel the leaders are not useful any more. Democracy sustains in this manner, which is continuing for the last 3500 years in India.
It is indeed a point to recon that the thoughts of few men in the forest 3500 years ago are so ingrained in the minds of majority Indians so consistently making this country sustainable to democracy.