In his seminal book “What is Hinduism”, David Frawley touches upon many aspects of modern-day issues prevalent in the international discourse and argues that Hindu Dharma already offered a solution to these centuries ago. Be it the issue of ecology, environment protection, climate change, sustainable development, feminism, multiculturalism, etc., Hindu Dharma offers a framework for addressing all these issues, argues Frawley.
He also calls Hindu Dharma a scientific religion because it’s a system of inquiry that encourages its followers to introspect and seek out their own route to finding the truth, as Frawley puts it. David Frawley also calls Hindu Dharma the religion of the future; it’s not a closed dogmatic belief system but a vast syncretic tradition that gives people the blueprint for a Dharmic (righteous) existence, Frawley argues.
21st-century Bharat indeed takes a proactive approach to addressing global issues through mechanisms structured by international organizations like the UN. But perhaps the government should also promote Dharmic frameworks for solving global problems. At a time when Hinduphobia or anti-Hindu hatred is becoming a serious issue worldwide, if the Bharatiya government creates a Dharmic ecosystem for addressing global issues, it can also go a long way towards undoing prejudices and misconceptions surrounding Hindu Dharma.
Let’s check out a few pertinent global issues and talk a bit about how Hindu Dharma can help fix each of these.
- Environment protection
As the world increasingly grapples with climate change, this issue is at the top of the global agenda.
The world could indeed learn valuable lessons from ancient Bharatiya wisdom and Hindu rituals and traditions through which nature is not just worshipped but also protected and preserved. The traditional system of celebrating festivals like Holi and Diwali incorporated environmental consciousness at its core. That’s why we never used fancy designer Diyas made of polluting material but stuck to using eco-friendly earthen Diyas.
The widespread use of earthen Diyas on Diwali supported the self-sustaining economy of potters and helped preserve the environment.
Similarly, the festival of Holi was traditionally celebrated with chemical-free gulal (Holi color) which was often homemade. Hindu Dharma has so many local cultures and traditions which incorporate environmental consciousness at every step, thus teaching kids the value of preserving the environment.
Take the Uttarakhand festival of “Phool Dei”, for example. Celebrated on the first day of the Hindu month Chaitra, Phool Dei is the festival of flowers. On this day, young girls and boys go to every house in their village/town with plates full of rice, jaggery, coconuts, green leaves, and flowers. They put forth their wishes for the prosperity and well-being of households while singing a local folk song of Uttarakhand. In return, the kids are blessed with gifts like jaggery and sweets.
Similarly, the festival of Chhath Puja celebrated widely by Hindus in India incorporates multiple elements of nature worship. Worship of the Sun God is an integral part of Chhath Puja; women observing the festival perform the ritual of sun worship on the banks of a water body. The prasad (offerings to God) prepared on all days of Chhath Puja has unique recipes that involve the maximum use of local organic food grains and ingredients.
Environmental consciousness forms the core of Hindu Dharma and is a part of all Hindu rituals. Many villages in India have a gram Devta (local deity) which is worshipped to save the village from natural disasters and misfortune. Perhaps, initiatives should be taken to document various Hindu rituals and festivals from the point of view of the role these can play in fostering environmental consciousness. This is one area where Bharat can give the world valuable input.
- Sustainability
Another buzzword in the global developmental paradigm is sustainability. Talking about mere development is not enough. Everyone talks about sustainable development.
What does sustainable development mean? To put it simply, sustainability means a paradigm of development that takes into account environmental factors, ethical values, everyone’s sensitivities, and long-term feasibility rather than short-term gains. Thus, sustainability involves the judicious use of existing resources and ensuring one doesn’t put too much pressure on these.
Ancient Vedic wisdom has always been about sustainability. The Guru-Shishya Parampara (tradition) as practiced in Gurukuls followed a sustainable model of education wherein students followed a highly disciplined and rigorous regimen using few resources. They lived in proximity to the environment, practiced austerities, led a simple life devoid of comforts, and also performed duties regarding the maintenance of the ashram (place of study). What can be a more sustainable model of education!
Then, Hindu Dharma propagates vegetarianism which is one of the best examples of sustainable practices. Hindus follow a belief system where the killing of animals is considered unethical. It is believed that by torturing, abusing, and killing animals, the negative energy that is essentially the bad karma of all this destruction would enter the food. Thus, Hindu Dharma discourages people from consuming non-vegetarian food and encourages sustainable practices.
Many traditional lifestyle habits in Hindu households offer valuable lessons in sustainability – eating on palm leaves, the practice of keeping a portion separate for animals each time the family sits for a meal, the practice of consuming only freshly cooked meals (saved food wastage, the use of earthen utensils and eco-friendly cooling systems, the use of plant-based products, etc.
The Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata and Ramayana are full of verses with references to the environment, with many verses highlighting the significance of living in harmony with nature.
Thus, while engaging with international organizations like the UN on things like Sustainable Development Goals, Bharat should also highlight its indigenous model of sustainability rather than merely adopting the Western model.
- Education
Education is one area where Bharat has massive amounts of knowledge and insight to offer to the world.
The government should work proactively at international forums to highlight and promote ancient Bharat’s contribution to sciences, mathematics, philosophy, music, arts, astronomy, health and wellness, etc. The world celebrates International Yoga Day on the 21st of June, owing to Bharat’s efforts. That is excellent but merely celebrating a day isn’t enough. Bharat must make efforts to translate and document its valuable Vedic vast corpus of knowledge, be it in Arthashastra (economics), Yoga, Ayurveda, or Darshanshastra (philosophy). The West has already appropriated many indigenous knowledge systems of Bharat; Western scientists get Bharatiya practices patented on their names and there is nothing we can do about it.
The only solution is to proactively start documenting our knowledge base and start telling the world it’s our knowledge base. Then, talking about social sciences and humanities, we need to create a Vedic paradigm for teaching social sciences and also propagate the same to other countries.
- World peace
With so many areas of the world in a perpetual conflict mode, world peace is the most significant and valid concern of our times.
Countries look up to international organizations like the UN which have unfortunately become the monopoly of a few countries and fail to reflect the 21st-century world order. Thus, such organizations have sadly become cosmetic in nature, unable to bring any effective intervention in preventing conflicts. They have reactive mechanisms alright but no proactive strategies to prevent conflicts from happening in the first place.
That’s because the world is caught up in a perpetual web of greed for energy and resources, and many countries follow no scruples when it comes to fulfilling their self-interest. Hindu Dharma with its emphasis on Vasudevh Kutumbakam (the whole world is a Family) and its focus on the philosophy of Santosh Param Sukhah (Contentment with what one has is the best form of well-being and happiness). It’s a complete contrast to the Western ideal of aggressive over-competitiveness and relentlessly chasing all material pleasures and goals.
It’s not that Hindu Dharma tells people to abandon ambition but it does tell them to always stay on the path of Dharma (righteousness) while pursuing ambition. It’s the reason why unlike Abrahamic faiths, Hindus have no history of inflicting violence on any other group or community, or of starting wars. Yes, Hindu rulers have fought wars to protect their citizens when attacked but Hindu Dharma doesn’t propagate the philosophy of initiating conflicts for self-aggrandizement.
That’s perhaps the reason even in the 21st-century world order, countries look up to Bharat to play the role of some sort of a peacemaker, be it the Israel-Gaza conflict or the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Bharat’s role as a peacemaker in the geopolitical context is intrinsically linked to our Dharmic consciousness and perhaps, Bharat needs to highlight this on international platforms.
- Feminism and Women’s Rights
The Western narrative always portrays Hindu Dharma as regressive, patriarchal, and anti-women. But ironically enough, it’s Hindu Dharma that can teach the West many valuable lessons about feminism and women’s rights.
Unlike Abrahamic religions where predominantly male Gods are revered, Hindu Dharma gives prime significance to the divine feminine. Maa Shakti in her various manifestations is worshipped by Hindus. In Hindu Dharma, Lord Shiva, and Maa Shakti are the two forces manifest in all creation, signifying the masculine and feminine aspects of consciousness respectively.
During the festival of Navaratri, Hindus worship nine forms of Goddess Durga and on the 9th day of Navaratri, little girls are worshipped and fed delicacies in a special Kanya Pujan ceremony. In Hindu Dharma, every girl child is considered a form of Devi (Goddess). This is in stark contrast to Abrahamic faiths where the story of creation itself portrays women as essential sinners. We worship multiple manifestations of Shakti signifying different levels and attributes of human consciousness, from Devi Parvati signifying love and devotion to Devi Lakshmi personifying wealth and prosperity and Maa Durga signifying protection, strength, and motherhood.
The Vedic culture of Bharat has many examples of learned women and female sages. Maitreyi, Gargi, Lopamudra, and Apala are some of the notable female sages of the Vedic times.
In Hindu festivals, many customs and rituals are performed exclusively by women. Even regarding rituals that are said to be performed only by men, Hindu Dharma offers a lot of space for subjective interpretation and rituals differ from family to family.
The Western perspective casts Bharatiya womanhood in a simplistic binary of tradition and modernity. But it’s perhaps high time Hindu Dharma offers the West a set of new lessons in feminism and women’s rights. It can perhaps teach the West that feminism doesn’t necessarily have to be toxic and destructive and that it can also be balanced, poised, strategic, and accommodating.
Everyone should read David Frawley’s book: What is Hinduism? It’s a game changer.