In Your Face | Sanatana Dharma can’t be ‘stamped out’: How Udhayanidhi Stalin gets it all wrong

The knowledge of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ goes beyond the tenets of religious pontification, doctrine, or behaviour. To be a follower of Sanatana Dharma is to walk the path that transcends religion and brings you to the realm of spirituality. Most politicians, if not all, are often concerned about religion, not spirituality. Politicians and spiritual knowledge of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ do not often go hand-in-hand. Religion is often used as a tool by some politicians to control a sect of religious masses. The insensitive and controversial statement of Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and a state minister in his father’s cabinet, equating Sanatana Dharma to “mosquitoes, dengue, malaria fever, Covid-19”, and his declaration that they should be stamped out like these infections, must be condemned by people of all faiths, not only Hindus. His reluctance to apologise and to take back his unwarranted and threatening statement is an indication of his depravity in knowledge of Sanatana Dharma and India’s civilisational and cultural ethos. To understand Sanatana Dharma is to understand its essence in its simplicity. Sanatana Dharma is about finding God in you and around you. It is about understanding the role of your consciousness in this universal consciousness. It is about being one with nature and God’s creation. It is about finding your purpose in life — your ‘Dharma’. It is downright absurd to even have the thought that ‘Sanatana Dharma’ can be eradicated. It cannot be eradicated because it is the very essence of human existence. Religious fault lines or divisional theories and practices prevalent in society in the past and now cannot become the reason to think that the fault line is Sanatana Dharma. The principles of Sanatana Dharma have not divided Indian society on caste lines; people with prejudices did, and continue to do so. It should not come as a surprise to many in the country that political leaders have often preached on divisional thought and behaviour — some religious leaders too — to further divide society on caste lines in India; it happened in the past and it is happening in the present too. Udhayanidhi Stalin is merely walking the path of divisional politics, attributing the curses of Indian society to the Brahmins. However, in the eyes of Sanatana Dharma, we are all equals, and we are known or should be known by our mental and physical skills and not birth in families categorised as different castes. A look at the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity will reveal to you that division based on social classes has existed outside of India too, in Europe and Arab nations, and in most cases, the propagators and implementers of the class-based divide were the priestly class. In Christianity, if we look at the story of St Francis of Assisi. Francis left the riches and wealth of his noble house to pursue living the life of simplicity just like Jesus because he saw that the Catholic Church was biased towards the noble, princely caste, and most of all, priestly class, while the lower castes were considered ‘children of a lesser God’. In 1500, the Catholic Church held enormous power and influence. Across most of the continent, the Pope and a hierarchy of archbishops, cardinals, and bishops organised and supervised the work of local priests, who looked after the souls of the people living in a particular area or parish. Religious rituals marked the key events of life: the baptism of newborn children, marriage, and the last rites before death. People prayed to saints for help in times of trouble. The year was divided by religious festivals such as Christmas and Easter, and even dates in the farming calendar — when to plough, sow, or harvest — often corresponded with days associated with particular saints. However, the church was increasingly coming under attack from reformers, led by Martin Luther (1483–1546) and John Calvin (1509–1564). They argued against Catholic theology—the understanding of God and his relationship to the world. They also criticised church practices such as selling indulgences (promises that the purchaser would be let off some of the penalties of purgatory), arguing that there was no justification in the Bible for such actions. These debates struck at the most fundamental understanding of God, of the role of the Church, and of how people should live their lives. If you look at Islam, you will see that the branches of it began to appear and develop after the death of Muhammad, with his followers disagreeing about who the true successor of the religion would be. Despite their differences, they follow the same God and the exact religious text; the Qur’an. From largest to smallest, the denominations of Islam are Sunni, Shi’a, Ahmadiyya, Ibadi, and Sufism. But there is no denial to the social divide that persists among the believers of Islam. A study into the ‘Casta System’ in Latin America will reveal that Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors passed laws creating a social hierarchy to maintain power known as the Casta System. This system ensured European superiority in all sections of life. They remained in control of the region until the 1820s, when countries began to fight and gain their independence. Despite gaining independence and no longer being under colonial rule, a social hierarchy remained in place, leaving those of indigenous and African descent at the bottom. The Casta System was created in colonial times to explain mixed-race families to those back in Spain, but this racial hierarchy remained in place long after the Spanish had left Latin America. The Casta System was created by the Spanish to maintain their power and superiority over other racial groups in the colonies. This system was used throughout their rule and continued to be unofficially in place after independence. Sri Aurobindo beautifully stated in 1907 on Caste and Democracy: “The division of classes in Europe had its root in a distribution of powers and rights and developed and still develops through a struggle of conflicting interests; its aim was merely the organisation of society for its own sake and mainly indeed for its economic convenience. The division of castes in India was conceived as a distribution of duties.” “A man’s caste depended on his dharma, his spiritual, moral and practical duties, and his dharma depended on his swabhava, his temperament and inborn nature. A Brahman was a Brahmin not by mere birth, but because he discharged the duty of preserving the spiritual and intellectual elevation of the race, and he had to cultivate the spiritual temperament and acquire the spiritual training which could alone qualify him for the task. The Kshatriya was a Kshatriya not merely because he was the son of warriors and princes, but because he discharged the duty of protecting the country and preserving the courage and manhood of the nation, and he had to cultivate the princely temperament and acquire the strong and lofty Samurai training which alone fitted him for his duties. So it was with the Vaishya whose function was to amass wealth for the race and the Sudra who discharged the humbler duties of service without which the other castes could not perform their share of labour for the common good.” Religion is not immune to politics. In fact, religion is a tool viciously used by most politicians and some religious leaders to create social divide. It is a phenomenon seen in most countries of the world. Therefore, I have often stated that Sanatana Dharma goes beyond a religion and is a walk in the realm of spirituality because religion divides, spirituality unites. Something Udhayanidhi Stalin needs to learn is that no one is a custodian of God. More importantly, Stalin’s son needs to first decide whether he is a follower of a religion or a seeker on a spiritual journey, because sometimes he is an atheist, sometimes a Christian, and at no time a Hindu, though some members in his family, like his mother, are known to visit temples and pray. The writer is an author who writes on religious, political and social issues impacting India and the world. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.