HOW I BECAME A HINDU - My Discovery of Vedic Dharma By David Frawley -4

HOW I BECAME A HINDU

My Discovery of Vedic Dharma

By

David Frawley

(Pandit Vamadeva Shastry)

DISCOVERY OF SOCIAL

AND POLITICAL HINDUISM

Encounter with Dr. B.L. Vashta

On my first trip to India I met an individual who

would have a decisive influence on my life and

thought. He would serve as my mentor for

introducing me into Hindu thinking and to Hindu

issues in India today. Dr. B.L. Vashta was an

Ayurvedic doctor working on product

development for an Ayurvedic company in

Bombay. It was in that context in which I met him.

He was then about seventy years of age or about

the age of my father.

After chatting informally, we immediately felt a

certain kinship. He inquired about my activities

and interests and was curious about my work with

the Vedas and ancient India. I would gradually

develop a broad association with Vashta that

would connect me to a whole network of Hindu

organizations. We had long conversations over a

wide variety of topics, mainly relative to India,

Hinduism and the Vedas. We gradually developed

a strategy to promote Vedic causes in both India

and the West. Vashta helped with my Ayurvedic

work and introduced me to various Ayurvedic

teachers and schools, particularly in nearby Pune.

We attended several Ayurvedic conferences in

places as far away as Bangalore and Madras.

But Vashta was no mere Ayurvedic doctor. He was

also an intellectual and a journalist and had been

the editor of the famous Kesri newspaper of Pune

for ten years. He wrote on religious and social

issues as well and had authored many books and

articles. He was one of the main Hindu writers in

Maharashtra. Behind his humble demeanor he had

a profound insight and an ability to help people

connect to their deeper purpose in life.

Vashta first introduced me to local Hindu groups

in Mumbai. These included regional branches of

RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha), VHP

(Vishwa Hindu Parishad), BJP (Bharatiya Janata

Party) and their different affiliates, which up to

that point I knew nothing about. I gradually

learned about the Sangha Pariwar or RSS family

and its many affiliated organizations. Most of my

work was with VHP, as it dealt more with religious

issues, as the largest Hindu religious organization

in the world.

I got to know many people in these organizations

personally, including their leaders. I found them to

be dedicated supporters of Hindu dharma and

protectors of Hindu society, as well as nationalistic

Indians. Most were gentle and mild people like

Vashta and were quite open-minded about religion

and spirituality. Some like him had deep spiritual

concerns and did intense sadhana.

Vashta himself had been an RSS worker since the

age of 18 or for nearly fifty years at the time. He

introduced me to the work of various Hindu social

and political writers like Tilak, Savarkar, and

Guruji Golwalkar of RSS.

Lokamanya Tilak was the head of the Indian

independence movement before Mahatma Gandhi.

Tilak had a special interest in the Vedas and in the

ancient history of India and wrote two important

books on the subjects, the Orion, and the Arctic

Home in the Vedas. I found Tilak’s work on

astronomical references in the Vedas via his Orion

to be very crucial information for accurately dating

the Vedas. However, I found his Arctic home

theory to be farfetched, a product of the incomplete

scientific information of his era.

I discovered that Tilak was closely connected with

Aurobindo, who was his follower, and wanted

Aurobindo to take over the independence

movement after him. But Aurobindo had already

retired from the world to do his yoga practice and

decided against it. Both Tilak and Aurobindo

found Mahatma Gandhi’s insistence on nonviolence

to be excessive and wanted a more active

campaign to oust the British.

Veer Savarkar was another Indian leader senior to

Gandhi who was a firebrand revolutionary like

those of Europe with whom he associated. He had

a strong vision of Indian nationalism and was also

not adverse tot using force to remove the British.

He was a deep thinker and a yogi in his later years.

Unfortunately his work was denigrated and

distorted by leftist opponents.

There was a concerted effort to malign him a Nazi

because of his anti-leftist views, even though he

was an opponent of Hitler and wanted India to join

the war on the British side! Through Savarkar I

gained a different idea of India's independence

movement, which clearly was much more than the

Gandhian images which is all that people in the

West really know.

Guruji Golwalkar was the second head of the RSS

after Hedgewar, who founded the organization in

1925. He was a mild mannered schoolteacher with

a philosophical bent of mind. His main work is a

Bunch of Thoughts, which is a collection put

together from his many talks and articles. In it I

found a clear analysis of the social problems of

Hinduism and of modern India with both practical

and spiritual solutions to the problems. Golwalkar

gave a clear critique of culture showing the

dangers of materialism, communism and

missionary religions and suggested a dharmic

alternative based upon Hindu and yogic teachings.

The book was like an application of the thought of

Vivekananda and Aurobindo to the social sphere. I

was also surprised to know that such a deep and

flexible approach was branded as fundamentalist

by leftists in India.

Vashta also acquainted me with the work of Swami

Dayananda Saraswati of the Arya Samaj, which

added another dimension to my perspective on the

Vedas. Swami Dayananda was the first modern

teacher to go back to the Vedas and to unfold a

purely spiritual interpretation of the older Vedic

mantras. I realized that there was an entire Hindu

social movement based upon return to the Vedas, a

motto that I could follow as well.

Vashta admired Sri Aurobindo and looked to

Ramana Maharshi as one of his gurus. He had a

special connection with the Kanchi Shankaracharya

Math and Swami Chandrashekhar Saraswati. But

he had a broad approach not limited to a particular

teacher or based on any personality cult. While

Vashta knew the spiritual aspects of Hinduism, he

was also aware of its social and political problems.

He had his own spiritual insight and ability to

judge and understand people that could be quite

astounding.

Vashta himself was an intelligent, friendly and

communicative person with a notable humility. In

my years of association with him, I never saw him

praise himself, promote himself or seek any

personal advantage. On the contrary, he tried to

protect me from Indians who might be seeking

advantage from my work or from a connection

with America. Nor did he ever seek to influence

my opinions about Sangha groups, appealing to

my emotions or trying to indoctrinate me. He

simply introduced me to people or gave me

information and encouraged me to make my own

judgments. He was soft spoken and not inclined to

exaggerate about anything. He was quite willing to

admit the flaws or limitations in the organizations

with which he worked.

Many young people would visit Vashta, who lived

in a small flat in Santa Cruz, not far from the

Mumbai airport. He would inspire and guide them

in their lives and careers, with a notable

practicality. He took a down to earth approach to

the spiritual life, not trying to force anything but

helping each person understand and follow his or

her deeper nature. I felt that he gave me confidence

in myself and in my deeper quest. He also

provided a sense of community and common cause

with many groups and took me out of the hermitlike

isolation that had marked my previous years

of private Vedic studies.

Under that pretext I stayed with him longer than

usual and he passed on various books and papers

to me. He was discarding what was inessential or

complete and retiring to a more spiritual life.

After that a few months elapsed and I didn’t

receive any letters from him, which was unusual.

Then I was awoke one night late after midnight.

The thought came to me that Dr. Vashta might

have passed away. He had a heart attack some

years ago and his heart condition kept him from

being very active. Sometimes I received phone calls

from India late at night and wondered if I might

soon receive one announcing his demise. That very

moment the phone rang. A call came from friends

in India giving the sad news that Vashta recently

had died of a heart attack. It was in late July.

To deal with the emotion I took a drive up in to the

mountains, which are about half an hour by car

from here. Next to the side of the road I suddenly

saw a magnificent elk with large horns, something

I have never seen in the mountains in many years. I

felt that it indicated Vashta’s soul, character and

destiny.

Anti-Hindu Media

When I was in India I read the English language

newspapers, which were commonly available,

particularly at the hotels where I sometimes

stayed, and noted many of the magazines as well. I

discovered that the press often spoke of the danger

of "Hindu fundamentalism" referring mainly to

RSS groups. The idea they projected was that such

Hindu groups would oppress religious minorities

and put an end to democracy and secularism in the

country. They were dangerous, violent and

bigoted.

According to the Times of India in Bombay, for

example, RSS and its Sangha family were militant,

fascist, and chauvinistic. I was both disturbed and

perplexed by these remarks. Either my interaction

with these Hindu groups was misleading or these

negative opinions were totally wrong. Was I, a

person of liberal and leftist views going back to my

youth – a pacifist, vegetarian, and ecologist –

becoming a stooge for right wing Hindus plotting

pogroms against minorities in India, who if they

came to power would create an oppressive and

dictatorial state?

At the same time I noticed that the Indian

newspapers would praise Islam and defend the

cause of the Palestinians. One paper had an

editorial on how an Islamic Republic was good for

members of all religions, would protect minorities

and was really the ideal system of government

deriving from God. Of course, I was well aware of

how intolerant such Islamic states as Saudi Arabia,

Iran or Pakistan really were. That Hindus could

praise the idea of an Islamic state and condemn

Hindu political groups that were nowhere near as

intolerant was amazing to me. There is no idea of a

Hindu state, a Hindu law code, or a Hindu

theocracy, nor any history of such comparable to

the medieval ideal of a Christian state or the

current idea, which is still medieval in nature, of an

Islamic state.

The same newspapers praised Marx and

Communism. They kowtowed to China and to the

Soviet Union as the most progressive countries in

the world. As communism declined in Eastern

Europe in the late eighties, they lamented the fact,

and nostalgically hoped for a restoration of

communist rule.

When there was an attempted coup in Russia in

1991 to overthrow Yeltsin and restore communism,

the then Congress led government of P.V.N. Rao

quickly recognized the coup leaders as the new

Russian government, only to quickly withdraw its

remarks in embarrassment when the coup failed. It

seemed that Indian intellectuals transferred their

loyalty from London to Moscow or Beijing but

never placed it in Delhi or anywhere else in India

or its traditions!

I had already learned how much the Vedas and the

history of India had been distorted by western

scholars. Their missionary and colonial biases, as

well as their lack of insight into spiritual traditions

and symbols made their work more a mockery of

the teachings than any real understanding. Sri

Aurobindo once remarked that their work was

comparable to kids playing with marbles outside

the gates of a temple, totally unaware of the inner

sanctuary. That this modern mindset might

denigrate Hindu social or political movements was

something to be expected.

So when I saw the English language media of India

criticizing Hindu social groups I took it all with a

grain of salt, like their uncritical embracing of the

Aryan invasion theory.

Perhaps if I did not have such a background in the

Vedas or a personal contact with Hindu groups, I

might have taken the propaganda against them

seriously, which many people, even those who

have a regard for Indian traditions, seem to

uncritically do.

I gradually began to see another side of the Indian

mind, a modern intellectual side influence by the

West, anti-spiritual, materialistic and hostile to its

own traditions. Westerners, with their image of

India as the land of yoga and meditation, are

seldom aware of this westernized Indian mind or

how inimical it is to the very traditions that they

are interested in. These same Indian leftists regard

all westerners interested in spiritual India as

deluded, as representing a backward trend in

western culture!

With Vashta’s help I visited with some leftist

journalists and got to know their thinking first

hand. He didn’t provide any background on their

views but allowed me to discover directly what

motivated them. I gradually discovered the leftist

influences behind such anti-Hindu propaganda as

targeted the RSS.

Indian leftists were naively idealistic about

communism, which they uncritically lauded with

an almost Hindu devotion, turning Marx, Lenin,

Stalin and Mao into gods and their writings into

scriptures. Little did they know if there had been a

real communist revolution in India as there was in

Russia, such intellectuals would have been among

the first to be eliminated or at least condemned to

manual labor as during the Cultural Revolution in

China.

I remember visiting with a famous Indian Marxist

poet in Mumbai. I questioned him why Indians,

with such a great spiritual heritage and thinkers

with cosmic vision from the Vedic Rishis onward,

could be so enamoured of a simple materialist like

Marx, who was a second hand thinker imitating

Hegelian thought, which itself was spiritually

naive? He replied, on the contrary, that he thought

Hindu philosophy was a kind of double speak and

mumbo jumbo which destroyed rational thinking

and bound people to superstition and

backwardness like the caste system.

Yet his comments revealed a glaring contradiction

in his personal life. He lamented that for all his

leftist writings and scholarship, his own wife was

still a devotee of Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita

was her favorite book.

To him the Gita was all Maya with its everything is

Brahman. But for all his sharp intellect he couldn’t

even change his own wife’s thoughts. He

compared Hindu groups like RSS to Islamic Iran

and the Ayatollah. That the Ayatollah more

resembled a Josef Stalin didn't seem to dawn on

him.

Over time I looked into these Hindu organizations

to find these so-called intolerant and militant

elements. I have never found them even until

today. The most I found was an occasional perhaps

overly sharp rhetoric, particularly against Islam,

but even that was generally not inaccurate but at

most unkind. The media exaggerated or even

invented the charge of militance against Hindu

groups, which were largely pacifistic and service

oriented. The only exception was not the RSS but

Shiva Sena who could be quite militant. But even

they were largely defending their own culture and

traditions.

I felt if this is all the India media has to worry

about in terms of Hindu bigots, they have gotten

off easily. All the Sangha groups and their leaders,

their prejudices and fanatics included, are much

more tolerant in religious views than your

ordinary Christian and Muslim with their one

prophet-savior, one holy book, salvation for the

faithful and damnation for those of other beliefs.

The average missionary is much more hardhearted

and closed minded about other religions than the

most dedicated RSS workers.

The VHP, particularly in America, created forums

for religious understanding, regularly bringing

Christian, Islamic and Jewish speakers to their

conferences, emphasizing the commonality of all

mystical traditions, something that Christian or

Islamic groups would never do anywhere. That

such broadminded people were branded narrow

fundamentalists demonstrates the extent of anti-

Hindu prejudice in the world. A Hindu accepting

many paths and religions is branded an extremist if

he wants to preserve his traditions and questions

attempts to convert him. But a Christian or a

Muslim actively trying to convert Hindus,

negatively stereotyping the religion as pagan or

polytheist, is considered progressive. It seemed to

me at the time in India that just to call oneself a

Hindu was enough to get branded a Hindu

fundamentalist!

I propose a simple litmus test on fundamentalism.

Ask a person whether they think that there are

many paths to God and that no single religion,

teacher or book has the last word on the matter.

Ask them if there should be a free diversity of

spiritual teachings in the world and that no single

faith should try to convert the world to its belief. If

the person insists upon one religion alone as true,

then he is a fundamentalist. If he accepts many

paths, then he is not. By this test few Hindus, even

VHP or RSS members, would be fundamentalists,

while few Christians and Muslims, particularly

their main leaders, would not be.

RSS and the Propaganda Against It

RSS is a service organization, promoting education,

charity and Hindu cultural development. Its daily

Shakha meetings have a certain discipline, with a

saluting of the flag and a promotion of nationalism,

but no real militance. Its brand of Indian

nationalism, recognizing cultural and religious

pluralism, is more tolerant than most American

nationalism. The organization is free of caste and

members are not judged by their material status.

While members honor their RSS leaders there is no

personality cult of a charismatic leader dominant

but rather a general sense of organizational

strength, an almost anonymity about ones personal

efforts and achievements.

Over time I visited met various RSS related or

founded organizations from intellectual groups to

schools and hospitals to yoga institutions. All had

dedicated workers and a very broad and diverse

range of activities. All showed quite a diversity of

opinions among their members. There was nothing

like a party line in any of them. Each group though

part of the RSS family had a certain independence

and was free to pursue its own goals without

interference from the rest of the organization.

There was little regimentation in thinking, action

or even appearance, no central authority, church or

dogma of any type. RSS groups included everyone

and everything as long as there was a purpose to

uplift the nation or to help people. It honored the

great sages and rishis of India from Vedic times to

the modern age, including Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and

even some liberal Muslims.

Sangha members had a wide range of religious

views from almost atheists to swamis. I met

Sangha members who were strongly anti-Gandhi

to those who greatly honored him. I met those who

were staunch capitalists and others that were

almost socialists. The Sangha discipline allowed for

freethinking, including internal criticism.

Such experiences made me think that Indian

journalists were living a totally unreal world. If

there were real Hindu militants like Islamic

militants such as Hamas, these journalists would

not be able to make their criticisms at all. They

would really be targeted and threatened! I realized

that Indian journalists would denigrate Hindu

activists in the media, knowing quite well that they

would not be attacked in return. To date there has

been no shutting down of newspapers by any RSS

related group.

One of their main distortions that the media

continually promoted in the media was that RSS

killed Mahatma Gandhi. This was because Godse,

Gandhi’s murderer, had been a member of RSS and

of the Hindu Mahasabha that was related to it.

That the RSS was officially cleared of all such

charges in court, which the great Indian leader

Sardar Patel acknowledged, was ignored. That

Godse had also been a Congress member was

never mentioned. That he had left RSS because he

felt that the group was too mild in its views was

similarly not noted. I saw how such deceptions

were perpetrated on uninformed readers and

realized that such statements were often deliberate

lies. The level of political corruption, political

propaganda and media manipulation in India on

such issues far exceeds that in America.

A similar piece of propaganda was that RSS

members were Nazi sympathizers. The brother of

the revolutionary Savarkar and an associate of

Golwalkar of RSS made some statements in the late

thirties before World War II praising Germany,

which are still promoted today as representing RSS

views. That such views were common at the time,

when even the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression

pact with Hitler is ignored.

That Savarkar encouraged India to join the British

in the war against Germany and beseeched Hindus

to join the British army, while Mahatma Gandhi

started his Quit India movement and opposed the

war effort, is also forgotten. Unfortunately, most

people, particularly in the West, know so little

about India that they can be easily deceived by

such emotional appeals. After all, who likes Nazis?

Christian, Islamic and Marxist groups pick these

ideas up for their propaganda value.

That Hindus use the swastika, which is a

traditional emblem of good fortune, and call

themselves Aryans, something that Buddhists and

Jains also do, calls up the European experience of

the Nazis who distorted these terms.

Unfortunately, the Nazi stereotype has become

ingrained in the mind of Western people that they

are suspicious of any Hindu politics, even though

the Nazis were predominantly Christians and had

no Hindus among them!

They see the Hindu swastika and associate it with

fascism! Indian leftists use this Nazi bogey to

denigrate any Hindu resurgence that would

threaten them. It is odd that pacifistic and tolerant

Hindus are branded as militant Nazis because the

Nazis distorted a few of their terms! Meanwhile

Indian Marxists still honor Stalin and Mao, who

can only compare with Hitler in regard to the

genocide that they perpetrated and they are

regarded in India as liberal and secular people.

Dealing With Caste

One of the most difficult issues for modern

Hinduism is the problem of caste. Hinduism has

been stereotyped as a caste religion in which

family of birth is more important than any

individual merit. This anti-caste sentiment has

been the main vehicle of anti-Hindu propaganda.

Whether it is leftists, Christians or Muslims when

you mention Hinduism, it is not Yoga and Vedanta

with their universal spiritual vision that they

emphasize but caste, as if there was nothing more

to Hinduism.

Caste or varna originally refers to the four

divisions of traditional Hindu society as the

Brahmin or priestly class, the Kshatriya or noble

class, the Vaishya or merchant class and the

Shudras or servant class. Originally it was a

threefold division of the priests, nobility and

common people. The word Vaishya for the

merchant class derives from Vish, which means

people in general. The Vaishyas were also divided

into the merchants proper and the farmers. Apart

from these four castes was a fifth or mixed caste.

Similar social orders dominated the ancient and

medieval worlds, like the European division of the

priests, nobility, merchants and common people or

peasants. Though in the modern world caste

appears backwards it was probably inevitable

given the social and material circumstances of

these previous eras.

These castes in India were not rigid and allowed

for an upward movement. Women could marry up

in caste and their children’s caste would become

that of their father. Castes could fall in status, as

when a Brahmin family had to take on non-

Brahmanical occupations like becoming merchants.

In Vedic times individuals who demonstrated the

ability could rise in caste as well. Moreover, to

become a monk in Hinduism one always has had

to renounce all caste identity.

The Hindu caste or varna system, moreover, is

very different than the European class system. The

Brahmins or priestly class were wedded to a life of

austerity and learning and not allowed to

accumulate wealth or power. The exceptions were

the royal Brahmins who were in the service of the

kings. They sometimes acted as political and legal

advisors. They were often given large land grants

to found schools and temples. Unfortunately, some

of them fell from the required austerity of their

class and began to function more like landowners.

A few Brahmins also took on Kshatriya roles and

became kings. This was allowed as an exception if

the Kshatriya class failed at its duties.

However, the average village Brahmin or temple

priest has remained to the present day, a poor

scholar, teacher or ritualist, working in the service

of the community for a menial subsistence. The

temple priests of South India today are among the

poorest of the poor.

The Marxist propaganda of the Brahmins as the

wicked landowners oppressing the poor

untouchables, is an exaggeration that is seldom

true. Most of the landowners in India are not

Brahmins, which was never their traditional

occupation. In classical India few groups aspired to

become Brahmins any more than the average

medieval European peasant wanted to become a

priest. The powerful Kshatriya or the wealthy

Vaishya was the social ideal.

I remember when a western friend first came to

India. He saw porters carrying luggage for

wealthier Indians and remarked how the Brahmins

were still using the poorer people as servants.

Though he was not a leftist, he was so influenced

by the anti-Brahmin propaganda that he assumed

that the rich people were Brahmins and their

wealth was based on caste, which was not the case

at all. When I informed him of his error he was

surprised.

Untouchability is also misunderstood. It was

originally a matter of social purity, reflecting the

principle of non-violence. Brahmins could not eat

out of utensils in which meat or other impure food

articles had been cooked. This led to a ban on

eating with non-Brahmins; particularly those who

had impure forms of livelihood like butchers. This

led eventually to a ban on association with such

people.

Untouchability arose from an excessive pursuit of

purity, like the purity of a monk who could not

associate with those who worked in bars or

taverns. Unfortunately this untouchability became

extreme and has become a bane on Hindu society.

But it is hardly the same situation as the rich

European aristocracy who would not mingle with

peasants.

Caste as this traditional varna system hardly exists

in India today anyway. Most Brahmins today do

not follow Brahmanical occupations like temple

priests, though most do promote good education in

their families. The same is true of the other castes.

Most Kshatriyas are not in military, police or

government service. A number of Shudra groups

are quite wealthy, particularly in South India. But

the poor and untouchables still remain, kept up not

only by social prejudices but also by a high birth

rate. While the educated in India as throughout the

world have fewer children, the uneducated still

have many. So the caste problem is also a problem

of poor education and overpopulation. The best

way to address it is not by promoting caste

divisions but by directly tackling these overriding

problems.

Modern India is divided not so much by caste as

by family or tribe (jati). Different families,

communities and regional groups promote their

own particular interests over that of the nation.

This phenomenon starts with the Nehru family

itself, which has tried to dominate the country like

a monarchy with an hereditary right to rule, in the

meantime amassing wealth and power for itself.

Such family divisions are responsible for the many

regional political parties that exist in India today as

well as the demands for special rights and

reservations for various communities. This divisive

thinking is the real problem, not the Vedic varnas.

It destroys any feeling of national unity and causes

people to seek to take advantage of the

government for their personal ends.

Royal Asiatic Society

I particularly remember speaking before the Royal

Asiatic Society in Bombay, which was organized

by friends at Vivek Weekly, a Hindu journal. I

spoke on India and its Vedic heritage and the need

for its revival in the modern world. The discussion

helped me understand how much the Marxists

dominated the society. One of the women on the

dais who was eminent in the society brought up

the issue of the law of karma during the question

and answer period. She asked, "Wasn’t the law of

karma invented by the Brahmins for purposes of

caste exploitation?"

I was surprised by her statement. It amazed me to

think that any educated person in India could ask

such a question. I learned that most of the

intellectuals of India were so westernized and

alienated from their own traditions that they only

looked at them with suspicion and disdain, looking

for such worldly motives in Hindu spirituality.

The other leader of the society himself tried to

portray me as a holdover from the sixties in

America. He appeared disturbed by my statements

praising the Vedas or the favorable crowd reaction

to my speech. He talked of Indian gurus coming to

the West as merely looking for money and people

like myself as perhaps well-meaning but

intellectually naive.

I had remarked that such thinkers as Marx were

rather minor figures compared to such Indians as

Sri Aurobindo or Vivekananda who could place all

these Western intellectuals in one corner of their

minds. This is certainly true. Why an Indian would

not feel proud of such a truth but feel sympathy

towards Marx and his followers is the real mystery,

but it is quite common in the country. Later

someone told me that Indians have a soft spot for

Karl Marx. Be careful criticizing him in public talks

I was told. I gave many such talks and had similar

experiences.

Reimportation

I usually received a warm welcome, a favorable

response and good audiences during my many

India talks. At first I groped for the words and

ideas to communicate to a Hindu audience. I

wondered if they could understand my English or

follow my American accent. But I discovered that

most of them understood what I said. Soon I had

no trouble talking before Indian audiences. I

eventually found it easier than talking to American

audiences, whose interest in Vedic matters was

very limited.

One person in the audience during a talk in

Bombay made the important statement that "We in

India appreciate something only when its been

reimported." It is odd that what a westerner says

about Hinduism is taken more seriously in India

than what a better qualified traditional Hindu

would say. Something said by a westerner is taken

as unbiased, while a traditional Hindu is not

credited with any objectivity and his opinion is

given no worth.

Actually the opposite case is usually true. The

westerner is usually following a religious,

commercial or political bias that he may not even

be aware of. Many Hindus are quite objective even

about their own tradition, while at the same time

understanding the limitations of western culture.

This is particularly true of Swamis of the Advaita

Vedanta order from the South India from whom I

have heard profound analyses of the world

situation today. Still the example of someone from

the West promoting Vedic knowledge may have a

salutary affect on modern Hindus, who are used to

looking to the West for cultural innovations. More

westerners should do this if they want to see

eastern traditions survive the onslaught of western

culture.

Several westerners living in India are already quite

active in such work, particularly disciples of Sri

Aurobindo from France. Some like Francois

Gautier and Michel Danino have written books

and articles that eloquently deal with the need for a

resurgent Hinduism. While western Yoga students

sometimes find my comments about the political

situation in India to be too pro-Hindu, this is

seldom the case with westerners actually living in

India, particularly those working in the religious

field. They have to deal first hand with the leftist

propaganda and missionary aggression, and have

understood the media distortions. They see with

their own eyes the modern cultural war in which

Hindu society is under siege by vested interests of

less tolerant and more materialistic forces.

The example of western Swamis can be very

helpful, showing to Hindus how western people

can dedicate their lives to Hindu spirituality. One

western Swami in India that has strongly

encouraged my defense of Hinduism is Swami

Satyananda. Originally from Spain he became a

Swami under Muktananda. Later he lived at the

Ramanashram for many years, performing the full

range of tapas. He also did pilgrimages throughout

India and to Mount Kailas in Tibet. Now he looks

like a great Rishi and shows how even westerners

can advance on the yogic path if they faithfully

follow its disciplines.

Still the example of someone from the West

promoting Vedic knowledge may have a salutary

affect on modern Hindus, who are used to looking

to the West for cultural innovations. More

westerners should do this if they want to see

eastern traditions survive the onslaught of western

culture. Several westerners living in India are

already quite active in such work, particularly

disciples of Sri Aurobindo from France.

Some like Francois Gautier and Michel Danino

have written books and articles that eloquently

deal with the need for a resurgent Hinduism.

While western Yoga students sometimes find my

comments about the political situation in India to

be too pro-Hindu, this is seldom the case with

westerners actually living in India, particularly

those working in the religious field. They have to

deal first hand with the leftist propaganda and

missionary aggression, and have understood the

media distortions. They see with their own eyes the

modern cultural war in which Hindu society is

under siege by vested interests of less tolerant and

more materialistic forces.

The example of western Swamis can be very

helpful, showing to Hindus how western people

can dedicate their lives to Hindu spirituality. One

western Swami in India that has strongly

encouraged my defense of Hinduism is Swami

Satyananda. Originally from Spain he became a

Swami under Muktananda. Later he lived at the

Ramanashram for many years, performing the full

range of tapas. He also did pilgrimages throughout

India and to Mount Kailas in Tibet. Now he looks

like a great Rishi and shows how even westerners

can advance on the yogic path if they faithfully

follow its disciplines.

Swami Satyananda has continued to encourage my

work upholding Hindu dharma. Whenever I feel

isolated or extreme in my views I remember such

examples. I have also at times considered

becoming a Swami myself but at least for now have

decided against it in order to have more freedom of

action and expression in political and intellectual

fields, which is usually outside the field of concern

for renunciates.

Not so Good Hindus

My admiration for Hindu dharma was never a

mindless and uncritical admiration of all Hindus or

of all Indian society. Even among otherwise good

or insightful Hindus I sometimes found negative

character and personality traits. It seems that

Hindus were often their own worst enemies.

Westerners provided an easy way to make money

for some of them and they exploited this as best

they could, including using a spiritual appearance

in order to do so.

Some Hindus who uncritically fancied themselves

spiritual or enlightened dispensed with human

decency along the way. They indulged in negative

gossip and sought to defame their competition,

even their students who might stand on their own.

It is easy to turn oneself into a guru and then place

one’s behavior beyond scrutiny, focusing on the

faults of others rather than on improving oneself.

But the true Hindu way is one of self-introspection

in which we examine our own faults before casting

a critical eye on others. And it is not the personality

of the other that we should find fault with but

wrong doctrines that distort the soul, which is

good, divine and wonderful in all creatures.

My appreciation of Hinduism was never blind or

the result of any personality worship. Hinduism as

an open tradition has room for everything, even a

fair amount of wishful thinking. Its highest truth is

the Self, the real individual, which should never be

made subordinate to any external authority, idea,

emotion or imagination.

Becoming Vamadeva Shastri

In 1991 Dr. Vashta raised the idea that I formally

become a Hindu. I thought, Why not? I have been

following this tradition for twenty years and

working with it had become my main spiritual

path and career dedication. I thought about the

many Hindus that have become Christians

following the allure of the affluent West. The

example of a Christian becoming a Hindu would

be good for many Hindus and would encourage

confidence in their own traditions.

Why shouldn’t I express my appreciation and

make a more formal connection with Hindu

Dharma? Personally, I am not much for formality

and generally avoid ceremony or any kind of outer

displays. But it didn’t take much forethought to go

ahead with this important project. It was also a

way to create a new identity for myself that

reflected the changes that I had gone through

internally.

Dr. Vashta told me that I was already a Hindu

inwardly and so an outward ceremony wasn’t

necessary, but that the gesture would be

appreciated by the community. I understood. The

ceremony was called Shuddhi, which means

purification. It was short and simple, a ritual puja,

a kumbha abhishekam.

It was held at a local Mumbai ashram, Masur

ashram that had once been connected to the Aryan

Samaj but in time became more traditionally

Hindu. No preaching. No condemnation. No

threats or promises. No swearing to go to a

particular church or follow a prescribed path of

action. Just a promise to follow dharma.

While Vashta organized the event, Avadhuta

Shastri, the head of Masur Ashram, performed the

puja. His brother Brahmachari Vishwanath was

one of the founders of the VHP. I took the name

Vamadeva from the Vedic rishi Vamadeva

Gautama. Shastri came from Avadhuta Shastri.

I first noted the name Vamadeva while studying

the Upanishads. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

quotes Rishi Vamadeva for the great saying

(mahavakya) Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman or I

am God). This it relates to Vamadeva’s saying in

the Rig Veda, "I was Manu and I became the Sun

(IV.26.1).

The Aitareya Upanishad mentions Vamadeva, who

was said to have learned the Vedas while still

within his mother’s womb. It quotes another

statement of Vamadeva from the Rig Veda

(IV.27.1), "When I was in my mother’s womb I

learned the birth of all the Gods."

Among the first hymns of the Rig Veda whose

inner meaning became clear to me were those of

Brihadukta, the son of Vamadeva (RV X. 54 – 56).

Others were hymns of Vamadeva himself, which

comprise most of the fourth book of the Rig Veda,

particularly his hymns to Agni and Indra, such as

Sri Aurobindo also specially admired.

Vamadeva was an unusual and mysterious Rishi,

ascribed with an almost miraculous birth.

Vamadeva and his gotra (family), the Gotamas

were associated with the land of Videha in Bihar

and Nepal from which Sita came and which was

the home of the great royal-sages, the Janakas, on

which many Upanishads like the Brihadaranyaka,

and Advaitic works, like the Ashtavakra Gita, were

based. The first mentioning of Sita as an earth

Goddess occurs in the hymns of Vamadeva in the

Rig Veda (IV.57). Many teachings are ascribed to

dialogues between Vasishta, purohit of Kosala, and

Vamadeva, purohit of nearby Videha, including

teachings on astrology and on Ayurveda.

Vamadeva was a name of Indra, the supreme

Vedic God, particularly as a falcon (shyena). It was

also a name of Savitar, the Sun God, who

dispensed his grace or beauty (vama). Vamadeva

later became a name of Lord Shiva in his northern

face. So it was an important and powerful name

and one that few people carried.

By this ceremony I was accepted into Hindu

society as a Brahmin by my occupation. I realized

that I was a kind of Kshatriya as well, a warrior at

least on the intellectual plane, addressing not only

religious but also social and political issues.

Vedantic, Vedic, Hindu

Becoming a Hindu was the third stage in my inner

transformations after becoming a Vedantin and

then a Vedic person. It was another difficult and

slow change with no real example to follow. While

there were many more Hindus than Vedic or

Vedantic votaries, few Westerners had taken this

approach. I found myself breaking new ground

with no one really to show the way. But perhaps

because of the uniqueness of what I was trying to

do, there was much interest in it in India and much

support came from different areas.

I gradually came to understand the same sense of

truth and universality that I saw in Veda and

Vedanta extending to all aspects of Hindu culture.

The term Hindu ceased to be a narrow or

derogatory designation and became a term of

respect and universality, the modern name of

Sanatana Dharma, the eternal tradition of truth. I

saw a resurrection of Hindu Dharma as central to

world spirituality for the new global age.

JOURNALISTIC WORK

I have always written about whatever subjects I

studied from poetry and philosophy to medicine

and astrology. Not surprisingly Dr. Vashta

encouraged me to write a series of articles on

issues facing Hinduism today. I had an inside

position on these topics that few Westerners had

access to. Answering his request I wrote a series of

articles in 1989. Of these most notable was a short

piece called "Arise Arjuna", which appeared in late

1989 in the twenty-fifth anniversary issue of Hindu

Vishwa, the journal of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

The same trend developed back in America. In

1991 I wrote several pieces for India Times, a small

Indo-American newspaper, starting with a short

article on the Myth of the Aryan Invasion. My

articles eventually appeared in a number of Indo-

American newspapers including News India Times

and India Post. Other Indo-American publications

like India West gave favorable reviews of my

books.

Shortly thereafter I began to submit articles to the

Organizer, the main English language publication

for the RSS in India, and became a regular

contributor. In time I wrote for many other

publications in India as well. This began my career

as a Hindu journalist, which I never planned or got

paid for.

Voice of India: Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel

Ram Swarup is probably the most important and

cogent writer on Hinduism in the last half of the

twentieth century. He is the inspirational force

behind Voice of India, a small publishing company

that has produced many well-documented works

on Hinduism and its relationship with other

religions.

Voice of India has published perhaps the best

series of books in defense of Hindu Dharma ever

produced. Even larger Hindu organizations like

RSS or Arya Samaj have not been able to create

works of such detail or insight. Voice of India does

not take an apologetic tone or aim at any

superficial religious synthesis, unlike most

presentations of Hinduism. It reflects a critical

Hindu point of view on the world with a rare

examination of anti-Hindu forces, their history,

plans and motivations. It has a fearlessness,

honesty and truthfulness that rarely exists in

modern Hindu writers who prefer to please

everyone or harmonize all points of view rather

than take a tough stand for what is right.

The main limitation that I found in Sangha groups,

which Sangha people like Dr. Vashta concurred

with, was that they lacked sophistication in their

intellectual presentation, particularly in a modern

English idiom. They emphasized grass root action

instead and did not always think it important. This

made them an easy target of the highly

westernized and well-educated leftist media in

India. It also limited their appeal to the

intellectuals of the country who were looking for

sharp thinking and new ideas. With Voice of India

I found a committed Hindu intelligentsia that took

up all the difficult issues and clearly articulated

them.

While Voice of India had a controversial

reputation, I found nothing irrational, much less

extreme about their ideas or publications. They

were simply doing for the Hindu religion what

intellectuals in other religious traditions had done

for theirs. Their criticisms of Islam were on par

with the criticisms of the Catholic Church and of

Christianity done by such Western thinkers as

Voltaire or Thomas Jefferson. In fact they went far

beyond such mere rational or historical criticisms

of other religions and brought in a profound

spiritual and yogic view as well. They were only

controversial because, since such a Hindu point of

view had not been previously articulated, its

sudden occurrence was threatening to non-Hindu

groups.

I had already seen several Voice of India books

when I first came into contact with Ram Swarup

through correspondence. I first visited him during

a trip to Delhi in 1992. My meeting with Ram

Swarup was another significant event, similar to

my meeting with Dr. Vashta. His book on the

Names of God was most interesting to me because

it reflected a similar research into the Vedas that I

had engaged in. It set the stage for our encounter.

Ram Swarup was a gentle and humble man, with a

notable sweetness of character. In some ways he

was like a great sage. In other ways he was almost

childlike He had no consciousness of money, fame

or power. He was like a sannyasin but apart from

any monastic order and not trying to build up any

ashram or mission.

He was like a sannyasin but apart from any

monastic order and not trying to build up any

ashram or mission. Yet he was also a sharp and

focused intellectual who penetrated to the core of

an issue and established the key insights about it.

He was inspired by Aurobindo both for his social

and his spiritual views, though he had his own

mind and was never an imitator of anyone.

Originally Swarup was one of the main writers in

India to oppose communism. This was in the fifties

and sixties when communism was fashionable in

the country and favored by the then Prime

Minister Nehru. Few dared to challenge this

totalitarian ideology in India and none so incisively

as Swarup.

Ram Swarup later produced a remarkable and

honest analysis of Christianity and Islam from a

spiritual and psychological point of view. This he

gave in his classic book Hindu View of Christianity

and Islam, which not only Hindus but members of

all religions should read. The book has helped

many people look clearer at these religions, their

history and their motivation, which is often quite

different from the meditative religions of the East.

Swarup discerned a lower psychic formation

behind these credal religions that turned them into

mass movements and caused them to seek world

domination. He showed how these religions lack

an interior dimension.

They emphasize not in sadhana or selfdevelopment

but the need to impose their views on

others. Such creeds do not have a clear

understanding of karma or self-realization but hold

that a mere change of belief can really transform

people. The result is that they hypnotize their

followers with a belief, who then lose the power to

critically examine what they are doing or how they

might be harming others. Just think of all the

professional people in the world today who

uncritically accept such religious dogmas as the

Biblical view of creation as literally true!

Religion creates a strong psychic force, energizing

the subtle bodies of its believers with powerful

samskaras born of prayer, ritual and group action.

This force, if compassionate in nature, can lead to a

higher consciousness, but if it reflects any

exclusivism or prejudice it can bring out some of

the worst traits in human nature, including

violence and genocide.

Religion magnifies our samskaras for good or ill.

Otherwise quite balanced and sensitive people can

lose all sense of objectivity when religion comes

into the matter. Religious self-righteousness is

perhaps the most destructive force that the human

race has ever invented and continues to prey upon

helpless victims all over the world.

The nature of a particular religion’s psychic force

depends upon the gunas or qualities that it is based

on.

Sattvic teachings promote love, compassion, nonviolence,

tolerance and a respect for different

beliefs. Rajasic religions reflect a mentality of

aggression and pride seeking to conquer the world

for the true faith. Tamasic religions are mired in

superstition, prejudice, hatred and fanaticism. If a

religion has strong rajasic or tamasic elements than

these will eventually come out in the psyche of its

believers and lead them to destructive behavior. It

can result in mob action in which people lose their

reason, feeling and compassion.

Spiritual development is not a major concern in the

West, where the main attention is given to the

outer life. The result is that western religions are

encased in darkness (tamas), persisting more as a

remnant of a former age than anything creative

and alive. In fact we let survive in the form of

religion prejudices and superstitions what we have

otherwise banished long ago (like a naïve belief in

miracles or fantasies of an eternal heaven and hell).

The missionary is usually a person motivated not

by love of God or love of humanity, but by an

intolerant belief that won’t let him rest in peace

until the entire world takes to his brand of religion.

Mental states born of religious exclusivity are

agitated and turn into disturbed states of mind.

Dogmatic religious beliefs encourage behavior on a

mass level that would be neurotic or psychotic on

an individual level.

The Muslims have been in India for over a

thousand years and still lack the most elementary

understanding of the Hindu yogic path. They reject

karma and rebirth as superstitions, and look at the

Hindus many wonderful Gods and Goddesses that

connect us to the cosmic mind as little better than

demons. Their mullahs encourage such attitudes in

order to keep them separate from Hindus and

unable to interact with them on religious issues.

The British, with all their intellectual acumen, were

in India for over two hundred years and left with

no real understanding the spiritual depths of the

country. Their concern was money and hegemony,

not enlightenment and higher consciousness. Such

people have their minds closed in a narrow belief.

Like a blind person they miss the obvious even

when it right in their face. Many modern Indian

intellectuals are of the same ilk, conditioned by

Marx, Mueller and Macaulay they cannot

appreciate an Aurobindo or a Ramana Maharshi.

Ram Swarup, however, neverturned his critical

statements into any blanket condemnations. He

judged individuals in their own right. He

dialogued with people of all religious persuasions

and would give any person a fair hearing. There

was no partiality in him but a respect for truth

above all other concerns.

I followed Ram Swarup’s insights in my own

writings, noting not only a spiritual (devic) but

also an egoistic or asuric factor in mysticism that I

highlighted in my book Awaken Bharata. Religion

can project cosmic forces not only of light and

knowledge but also of darkness and ignorance.

Religious states of mind can augment pride or

confuse the ego with God.

Spirituality is a domain that has great dangers as

well as great opportunities for the soul. Unless we

approach it with critical insight and selfintrospection

we may get caught in various

illusions or prejudices that will cause more harm

than good.

Ram Swarup was not alone in his work but had an

able colleague and friend who complemented his

work on many levels. Sitaram Goel was actually

the main writer in Voice of India. He was a more

researched scholar than Ram Swarup and

produced many more books. Sitaram followed a

strong rationalistic point of view that did not

compromise the truth even for politeness sake. His

intellectual rigor is quite unparalleled in Hindu

circles where soft, syncretic and apologetic tones

prevail. He took Swarup’s key insights and

developed them into a profound and incisive

historical and political analysis.

I admired Sitaram’s honesty, directness of

expression and fearlessness. He complemented the

mystical vision of Ram Swarup with a practical

side. He would not compromise truth for anything.

He wouldn’t bow down before any personalities,

however great, or indulge in hyperbole and fantasy

like many Hindus. Nor would he seek to escape

from existent problems into some idealistic future.

He remained focused on actual issues and dealt

with them with detail and depth.

At first I was shocked to read his work Hindu

Temples, What Happened to Them? I didn’t’

realize how much religious aggression had been

perpetrated against the spiritual land of India

where all religion is honored. I had felt that Islam,

though perhaps young and immature as a religion,

was really benign.

But the evidence was overwhelming as Sitaram

used Islamic sources that had no reason to hide

anything. There was a concerted campaign to

destroy Hindu temples in India that most Islamic

rulers in the country diligently followed.

Nor is the battle over. The fundamentalist Islamic

movement that has spawned the Taliban and

Osama Bin Laden still targets Hindu India and

regards it as a land of kafirs (heathens). It wants to

finish the work of conquering the country and

eliminating its infidel ways. Unless Hindus are

more wary, they can be again deceived and

defeated, and their heritage will be lost for all time.

Voice of India also published the works of

Koenraad Elst, a young Belgian writer whom I met

on several occasions. Elst intrigued me because he

was a Westerner yet had a grasp of India better

than any Indian did. In this regard I saw a parallel

phenomenon to myself. But Elst had much better

command of political and social issues in India

than I ever gained, unmatched by any western

writer and researched in great detail. Elst is a

thorough scholar and supremely rational in all that

he does. His work on the Ayodhya movement was

definitive.

Writing for Voice of India I soon realized that there

was a dearth of writers from a Hindu point of view

in readable modern English. I decided to publish

several books with Voice of India, starting with a

shortened version of my historical study of ancient

India. I called it the Myth of the Aryan Invasion

and it was first published in late 1994. I thought

such a short work would have an easier access in

India because it would be very inexpensive.

I also became inspired to write longer works on

Hinduism. I took a collection of my articles and put

them together as Arise Arjuna: Hinduism and the

Modern World (1995). This was my first socialpolitical-

journalistic book. Its theme came from the

short article Arise Arjuna. It included a number of

articles that I had done on various topics.

I wrote a book specifically on Hinduism called

Hinduism, the Eternal Tradition (1995), which

followed the line of thinking of Ram Swarup and

was done according to his suggestion. This

included questions and answers on relevant topics,

including a Hindu response to common criticisms

leveled against it.

These books brought a greater sense of

responsibility upon me because they influenced

people on a more vital and emotional level than

simple books on health or spirituality that I had

already written. At the same time they were more

engaging and helped catalyze more significant

changes in my own psyche.

A few years later I added Awaken Bharata that

continued the themes of Arise Arjuna. I took a tone

not simply to inform but also to motivate and to

inspire. Hindus not only lack the information but

also lack the will to stand up and present their

views, however salutary, in the modern world.

They have been too beaten down by centuries of

foreign ruler and also confused by their own

efforts to equate all religions regardless of their

actual practices and beliefs.

I hoped to energize a samkalpa shakti or will

power among Hindus and a sangha shakti or

power of association to bring it about. Fortunately I

was able to get Ram Swarup to write the forward

to this book as he passed away within the year. He

left a profound gap in Hindu thought that will

only with difficulty find another spokesperson of

such a caliber.

My journalistic work became read by a number of

important Hindu leaders, as well as Hindu

thinkers from different backgrounds. This led to

various contacts, conversations and new

information from many sources. Eventually I met

with various important journalists in India like

Arun Shourie, S. Gurumurthy, Varsha Bhosle and

others active in the field. Though a minority

among journalists in India today they have

produced important works on a wide variety of

topics.

In the space of the last few years I have seen

several new writers taking up similar themes,

making this Hindu journalism into a real voice in

the Indian media. But it has yet to overcome the

more prevalent anti-Hindu tone even in India. I

expect that this victory will be achieved within the

next decade as we can now discern the light at the

end of the tunnel.

Ashok Chowgule – Hindu Vivek Kendra

I first met Ashok Chowgule in Mumbai in 1992, at

the time that the Babri Masjid was demolished by

Hindu groups. He came from a wealthy

industrialist family but chose to devote his time to

the VHP, eventually becoming the head of the

organization for Maharashtra. Dr. Vashta first

introduced me to him and encouraged our

association.

Ashok quickly took to the cause of promoting

Hindu points of view through the media and

through the internet, through the website of Hindu

Vivek Kendra. He put some of my books and

articles on line as well. Such media work is crucial

for bringing Hinduism into the computer age

where its point of view needs to be expressed.

Otherwise anti-Hindu distortions will uncritically

be perpetuated.

Hinduism Today

Hinduism Today is a magazine reporting Hindu

Dharma in the broadest sense from social to

spiritual issues. Surprisingly, it is run by western

swamis. Hinduism Today had a similar approach

as the groups I was working with in India. I began

a dialogue with them, mainly on historical issues

but also on Ayurveda and Vedic astrology and

eventually on conversion issues.

Hinduism Today was influenced by Ram Swarup

and Sitaram Goel. They called Ram Swarup,

"Perhaps Hinduism’s most cogent analyst."

Subrahmanya Swami, the head and sadguru of the

ashram, though born in the West, has come to

embody the wisdom, virtues and ideals of

Hinduism. He is an articulate writer and speaker

on Hindu causes as his many books like Dancing

with Shiva, Merging with Shiva, and Loving

Ganesha so beautifully reveal. His western swami

disciples are of a similar caliber, combining

discipline, insight and dedication. They are

particularly alert on the issues of the missionaries

and the mischief they are causing within Hindu

society.

A few years later I visited their ashram in Hawaii,

which is like a paradise, the astral plane on earth or

swarga loka. It is a Shangri-La like setting on

Kauai, the oldest and most verdant of the lush

Hawaiian Islands, with wonderful gardens,

waterfalls and pools.

There one experiences a futuristic Hinduism as

well as one of the ancient past when the Earth was

pure and the creation fresh. Hinduism Today is

doing a remarkable work providing a forum for

Hindus to communicate with each other and

faithfully recording the renaissance of Hindu

Dharma in the modern age. It is strange that

western Hindus are the first to overcome

Hinduism’s remarkable sectarianism and create

such unity!

Unlike apologetic Hindus who shy away from the

name Hindu, Hinduism Today proudly uses it,

pointing out that its negative connotations are the

product of missionary and colonial propaganda,

much of it from the Christian schools in India that

so many Hindus uncritically send their children to.

A religion that is calmly sending its children to

schools of a religion seeking to convert them surely

needs some self- examination! Hinduism Today

provides that.

I once had a powerful vision of Lord Hanuman in

Kauai, who clearly was angry. As the defender of

nature and of the Earth (Sita), he is insisting that

we change our ways and return to the kingdom of

Rama (God) or much suffering is in store for us.

Let us heed this warning of Hanuman! As the son

of the Wind, the leader of the heavenly army, and

the protector of the animals we can’t afford to

ignore his wishes.

Prajna Bharati

Once in Bombay we received a fax from a

Hyderabad organization requesting my

appearance as a speaker. This is how I came to

know of Prajna Bharati. I first spoke in Hyderabad

in 1996, giving programs on the Vedas at Prajna

Bharati and on Ayurveda at Vijnana Bharati. The

audience was quite large and the questions very

profound. In 1997 I returned to help launch the

first issue of Prajna, a magazine for Prajna Bharati

in Hyderabad and contributed regularly to that

publication as well. Later in 1999 I did several

programs for them, including a debate with the

Archbishop of Hyderabad that appears later in this

book.

Prajna Bharati is perhaps the best organized Hindu

think tank and intellectual center in India. It brings

together important thinkers on various topics,

representing all sides, and creates a forum for

dialogue, debate and discussion. Hopefully such

centers will open throughout the country.

Bharatiya Janata Party

Nor surprisingly, in the course of such interactions

I came in contact with the BJP (Bharatiya Janata

Party), another offshoot of RSS, and eventually met

with several of its main leaders. I utterly failed to

see how this political party was fundamentalist,

much less dangerous. They were quite liberal in

their views, but from a Hindu and dharmic

perspective, rather than the standpoint of western

humanism. Though called right wing in the India

media, most of their views like their support of

vegetarianism, ecology, yoga and Vedanta, and

their resistance to western consumerism would be

regarded as left wing in America. I eventually

wrote articles for BJP Today on social and political

topics on issues from the elections to nuclear

testing to missionary activity.

After their election victory in 1998, I met with such

BJP leaders as L.K. Advani, the Home Minister,

who had been introduced to my work by Girilal

Jain. Advani remarked that the journalists and

media people in India were still unwilling to accept

that a BJP government had come to power and

were doing all they could to malign and destabilize

it. I noted how much both the western and Indian

media tried to denigrate this government, simply

because it had honor and respect for the Hindu

tradition.

An Intellectual Kshatriya

When I was speaking in England on a tour for the

VHP, needing to produce new talks on an almost

daily basis, the idea of an intellectual kshatriya

came to me. The Kshatriyas were the traditional

warrior class whose role was to defend Hindu

society. In the modern age of the computer

revolution and the information war I suggested

that an intellectual Kshatriya was the need of the

times. Hinduism has always been a religion of

ideas and in this new age of information it can use

the strength of its insights to overcome the inimical

forces that have challenged it on a more outward

level.

Sitaram Goel got wind of the idea and asked me to

develop it further. It eventually became the core of

my book Awaken Bharata. This idea of an

intellectual kshatriya has become a theme for my

writings on Hinduism. Such a new class is essential

to protect Hindu society and its heritage and also

to make it accessible for the rest of the world.

Without these kshatriyas Hinduism will remain

under siege and even its great spiritual heritage

will become eroded and lost. This idea of an

intellectual kshatriya has remained a theme of my

work. The Vedas say that speech (vak) is the

weapon of the Brahmin. Such intellectual

Kshatriyas are also Brahmana- Kshatriyas.

Karma Yoga/ Hindu Activism My work with

Hindu took me in the direction of Karma Yoga,

which I had previously not well understood or

appreciated. Karma Yoga is the first and most

foundational of all the yogas. Life, after all, is

action. Work is unavoidable. We should always be

doing something, trying to progress spiritually or

to help others. Otherwise we easily get caught in

inertia and allow negative forces to advance. For

any action, even meditation, to affect us at a deeper

level it must follow a certain rhythm, regimen or

repetition. It must be a karma and a samskara

(sacrament).

Karma yoga is of two types: ritual worship of the

cosmic powers (Devatas) and service to the world.

True ritual worship is not merely mechanically

performing pujas or mantras. It means right action

following a right intention to bring a higher power

of consciousness into life. All true spiritual

practices rest upon a sense of service, not upon a

seeking of one’s personal gain as the main goal. My

spiritual path moved from Jnana Yoga (Yoga

ofKnowledge) to Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Devotion)

and to Karma Yoga (Yoga of Action), not by

rejecting the previous yogas but by integrating

them into a more realistic approach. Only on a firm

foundation of Karma Yoga or right action are real

Bhakti and Jnana possible as a way of

transformation.

Karma Yoga as service to the world can be defined

as "Hindu activism." This properly speaking is not

serving any mere political, social or religious cause

but upholding dharma in the world and promoting

a spiritual culture. Without such Hindu activism

Hindu Dharma remains lethargic and backward

looking

– contracted and unable to communicate its

wisdom and energy in the modern context. This

lack of Karma Yoga as an activist force has kept

Hinduism in retreat and removed the insight of the

Hindu mind from the world forum in which it is so

desperately needed.

Karma Yoga or Hindu activism to some extent

entered the Indian political arena during the

independence movement. It now needs to emerge

as a global force and power of conscience in

dealing with the challenges of the post-industrial

and post-colonial era in which a new planetary

culture is required. May such a new Hindu

activism arise, particularly among the youth!

Becoming a Pandit

In 1996 I received the Brahmachari Vishwanathji

Award in Mumbai, which recognized me as a

Pandit and Dharmacharya. The award came from

Masur Ashram, which had five years earlier given

my Hindu name.

This award formally took me from being a Hindu

to being a Hindu teacher. It also came from

Vashta’s to help promote my work further. Such

ceremonies empower a person, affording the

support of a broader community so that one is not

simply proceeding on one’s own.

 

Om Tat Sat
                                                        
(Continued...) 

(My humble Thankfulness to Brahmasree David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastry)  for the collection)