🧔🏻♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant?
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquiry-gita-course?cmId=m00021
📚 Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books?
Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?cmId=m00021
📝 Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articles?cmId=m00021
➖➖➖➖➖➖
Video Information: 22.11.2022, LIT- Nagpur, Maharashtra
Context: Acharya Prashant speaks at LIT on what it really means to be a Hindu at LIT.
~ Who is a Hindu?
~ What is the significance of Vedas?
~ Does religion teach violence?
~ How to stop conversion of religion?
~ Why harass Muslims?
~ Indian Constitution is found on Vedantic Values
~ Torturing innocents an act of bravery?
~ What is Sanatan Dharma?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#AcharyaPrashant #आचार्यप्रशांत #Philosophy #BhagavadGita #hindu #hindu-muslim #conversion #india-pak
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquiry-gita-course?cmId=m00021
📚 Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books?
Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?cmId=m00021
📝 Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articles?cmId=m00021
➖➖➖➖➖➖
Video Information: 22.11.2022, LIT- Nagpur, Maharashtra
Context: Acharya Prashant speaks at LIT on what it really means to be a Hindu at LIT.
~ Who is a Hindu?
~ What is the significance of Vedas?
~ Does religion teach violence?
~ How to stop conversion of religion?
~ Why harass Muslims?
~ Indian Constitution is found on Vedantic Values
~ Torturing innocents an act of bravery?
~ What is Sanatan Dharma?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#AcharyaPrashant #आचार्यप्रशांत #Philosophy #BhagavadGita #hindu #hindu-muslim #conversion #india-pak
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, sir.
00:10Sir, I'm Ashna, Ashna Mehmood.
00:12Sir, I have noticed, as soon as I introduce myself as Ashna Mehmood, I notice a slight
00:18change in the expression of a person I'm speaking with, even in corporate sector too.
00:24And many a times I get the comments like, who do you support, India or Pakistan?
00:29Yesterday, my senior commented on me that you'll be Miss Pakistan.
00:33I just asked her, why not Miss India?
00:36She said, she didn't give me the reply, but it just hit me very badly.
00:41And earlier, it doesn't bother me that much.
00:45But as I'm growing, I'm noticing this, especially in college, that especially as I'm growing,
00:50I notice this a lot that I'm getting comments about my religion or something like this.
00:57And my question to you is, how to get out of this mentality?
01:03As a youth, it just surprises me that we are still living in a world where I'm getting
01:09or where we are biasing people according to their religion.
01:14So my question to you is, sir, that is it my overanalyzing or is it even valid or how
01:21to get out of this mentality, especially for me?
01:25Ashna, you said.
01:26Yes, sir.
01:27Sit, Ashna.
01:29See, there is no need to make others' problem your own.
01:38What is the problem that the others are facing?
01:43You need to understand where they are coming from and therefore the problem that they face.
01:50They think that just like Pakistan, India too is a theocratic country.
02:02They believe that the country was partitioned and two states were created and one of them
02:10was declared to be Islamic.
02:14The other one, naturally, is the Hindu counterpart of the neighboring country.
02:27No, not that way.
02:30We have to understand and I'm not merely talking of secularism here.
02:36India the country adopted secularism very late, 1947, 1948, 1950.
02:47These are three important years when it comes to independence, adopting the constitution
02:54and declaring itself a republic.
02:57India was not secular even till 1950.
03:01It took more than two decades after 1950 for the word secular to enter the constitution.
03:08So it's not as if the Indian constitution is founded on secularism.
03:17Indian constitution is founded on something far deeper than secularism.
03:23We are saying two things India is not founded on religion as we use the word religion or
03:32as we understand the term religion.
03:37India is not founded on that.
03:39India is not founded and this might surprise you a little even on secularism.
03:45India is founded on something far far deeper.
03:50The values underlying the constitution are actually spiritual and spirituality does not
04:04necessarily couple itself or align itself or identify itself with any religious stream.
04:20So, India is a spiritual country.
04:31India is definitely not a Hindu country in the way the masses think of Hinduism these
04:42days.
04:45Not in that sense.
04:48However, if somebody illuminated from within is prepared to see that real Hinduism is actually
04:59just core spirituality, then probably you could call India as having Hindu foundations
05:06and then you would be right.
05:08But those who throw jibes at you and ask you, oh, there was this India Pakistan match.
05:15Did you support India or Pakistan or things like that?
05:18They are definitely not Hindus of the spiritual kind.
05:24So they are not entitled to claim that India is a Hindu country of their kind.
05:33Is it getting too complex?
05:37Young people you all are you are you getting it?
05:41At the root of it all, there is ignorance regarding the basic nature of both Hinduism
05:50and India.
05:54This will be a little heavy, so you'll have to understand this.
05:59Hinduism is not what people seem to be practicing today that too in an aggressive manner.
06:07That's not Hinduism.
06:10Actually over the last 10-20 years, a very rabid, very virulent version of Hinduism has
06:18surfaced.
06:22And that Hinduism claims that India belongs to itself.
06:29It does not.
06:32First of all, one has to understand what the Hindu religion is all about.
06:37Hindu religion is not about sloganeering on the roads, targeting this group or that
06:43group, throwing hate all around.
06:46No, that's not Hinduism.
06:48Not at all.
06:51And all those people who do this, ask them, do you know anything about the central scriptures
06:59of your religion?
07:02And they will draw a blank.
07:05Now what kind of Hindus are these, who know neither Ved nor Vedant?
07:13Ask them about the Aasthik Indian darshans and they'll stare at your face.
07:25But very proudly, they declare themselves to be Hindus.
07:30How exactly are you a Hindu?
07:36Forget about Nyaya and Vaisheshik.
07:40I ask you the fundamentals of the topmost Indian darshan Vedant.
07:49And you will try to change the topic.
07:53You will say, let's talk about something else.
07:56Let's talk about the Islamic threat to India.
07:59I'm asking you, sir, you are speaking as a Hindu, please tell me something about the
08:07Brahma Sutras and you don't know that.
08:12But you are very concerned about the Islamic threat.
08:17And we can talk about the Islamic threat as a separate topic that probably does deserve
08:24to be discussed.
08:27But right now, because all your discourse begins with the claim that you are a Hindu,
08:36let me first of all ascertain that you are indeed a Hindu.
08:39How are you a Hindu?
08:45How do you qualify to be a Hindu?
08:47Just because you were born in a Hindu family, so you qualify to be a Hindu.
08:53But you have no humility at all.
08:58Not only do you not see that you are not a Hindu in the first place.
09:05You want to impose your kind of ignorant version of Hinduism upon the entire country.
09:15That's what your entire attempt is.
09:17You are saying my Hinduism means the kind of culture I follow.
09:21And anybody who subscribes to this culture is a Hindu.
09:26How exactly?
09:27What culture do you follow?
09:29What are the roots of this culture?
09:30Where does it come from?
09:31Have you ever tried to understand, ever made any study?
09:34No, you have never done that.
09:39It's just that the tradition of the past 100 or 200 years has handed over a particular
09:43culture to you and you think that culture is Hinduism.
09:46No, not at all.
09:51In fact, never even talk of Dharma.
09:54They keep talking of Sanskriti.
09:57Have you noticed?
09:59Because the moment they talk of Dharma, they'll be in trouble.
10:09And cultures vary across people.
10:12Usually the kind of culture that is touted in the name of Hinduism is the North Indian
10:20and Central Indian culture of the last 100-200 years.
10:24That's all.
10:28As if culture by itself is sacred.
10:31No, it is not.
10:37Have you not read history?
10:40Not at all?
10:42Don't you remember Sati Pratha, Baal Vivaah?
10:47Don't you?
10:51These used to be inalienable parts of your culture till not too long back.
10:57Don't you remember?
10:58How then culture itself can be sacred.
11:01Culture is a stream.
11:03It keeps changing and it must keep changing.
11:07Whereas Dharma points towards the unchangeable.
11:12That's the difference.
11:17I was at another college yesterday and they gifted me a book by Shri D.K.
11:26Karve.
11:28You remember his name?
11:30Coming from Maharashtra, you remember his name?
11:33You remember the kind of troubles he had to face just because he had himself married
11:38a widow and he furthered the cause of widow remarriage?
11:47The kind of insult and abuse heaped on him?
11:49You remember all that?
11:50I am not talking of an event from the last millennium or something.
11:57I am talking of a relatively recent event.
12:03These are not medieval personalities.
12:07Keshav Chandrasen, D.K.
12:08Karve, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, you remember their names?
12:19But we think that if we are following a certain culture and we have made no special effort
12:24in following that culture, that culture has just come to us by way of legacy.
12:30You are born in the Hindu family.
12:33You have to celebrate Diwali or did you have to learn to celebrate Diwali?
12:38Born in a Hindu family, you have a particular food habit.
12:43You know of Raksha Bandhan and Holi.
12:47And you start thinking that somebody who celebrates Holi and Diwali is automatically a Hindu.
12:52How is it possible?
12:55Someone asks you who is a Hindu, how will you reply, please tell me.
13:03You are all bright people.
13:05Let's say you are placed in the US and somebody asks you who is a Hindu?
13:10It's a genuine question, right?
13:12A foreigner asks you who is a Hindu?
13:14What would be your response?
13:15You will say somebody who celebrates Holi and Diwali is a Hindu.
13:25Who is a Hindu then?
13:26We don't know.
13:27And we don't even want to know.
13:29There is a good, definite and wonderful answer.
13:32An answer you can be proud of.
13:35But we don't want to learn into that answer because that requires effort.
13:44Our Hinduism then remains very shallow and it's a thing of shame.
13:53Our Hinduism then remains about cheering in the cricket match or abusing people from other
14:02streams, labelling certain sections as aliens.
14:16Who is a Hindu?
14:23Christians have Bible, Sikhs have the Guru Granth Sahib, Buddhists have the Dhammapad
14:35and the Sutra, Pitak, Muslims of course have the Quran.
14:49What have you read?
14:56Please raise your hands.
14:57How many of you have read the Vedas?
15:01Okay out of the four, any single one?
15:07Not one hand in an audience of over 200 I suppose.
15:17And then we want to ashame others.
15:24Just your surname cannot make you a Hindu.
15:31Being a Hindu is a tremendous thing.
15:34It requires some effort, some study, some sacrifice.
15:39Are you making that study?
15:41Are you making that sacrifice?
15:53And Vedas by themselves are very voluminous, thousands of verses.
16:04Related to them, the Gyan Kand, the part that contains philosophy, that is Vedanta,
16:12is very light.
16:14How many of us have read even a few Upanishads?
16:24But we are always ready to bash Pakistan and Islam and Christians and we think that's
16:32what Hinduism is about.
16:42Obviously if a country is hostile towards us, we will respond and we have the armed
16:54forces for that and we are proud of our armed forces, right?
17:01But does Hinduism have to be only about hating Pakistan?
17:06I am asking you.
17:17And because you don't know Hinduism, you start equating Indian Muslims with Pakistani citizens.
17:26Is that fair?
17:27I am asking you, please.
17:30What kind of shameful nonsense is this?
17:35And obviously I am not saying just to you.
17:37I know there are these five cameras around, they are recording me, I want this message
17:41to reach far and wide.
17:47What do you want to do with these 20 crore fellow citizens of yours?
17:53Dump them all in the Arabian Sea?
17:59Can you do that?
18:01Do you want to do that?
18:11Why do you want to create needless acrimony?
18:16If you have to live with Muslims in the country, why can't you live peacefully?
18:22And you will rise and say, but sir, it's the Muslims who create all the trouble.
18:27If Muslims create all the trouble, we will deal with that.
18:32We have a law and order system.
18:35We have the police for that.
18:37But why must you as normal citizens cultivate hatred?
18:43This girl here, she is your batchmate, right?
18:46Or is she some kind of criminal, culprit, offender?
18:52Why does she have to go through a harrowing experience just because of her surname?
19:02What do we get from there?
19:03Let's please think logically.
19:06What do we get by harassing fellow Muslims?
19:10Obviously that does not mean we will allow someone to harass us.
19:13If someone harasses us, we will respond.
19:17And we have the wherewithal for that, right?
19:20We are not weak and we are not cowards.
19:23If someone attacks us from outside or from within, we will deal with that.
19:28But is it not a mark of courage and bravery to not harass the weak?
19:41If you have a group of 10, is it a mark of bravery to target one or two people?
19:52Yes?
19:53Will you feel proud of this?
19:59We ganged up as 10 people and attacked a group of 2.
20:08Is this a thing of pride or shame?
20:11However, if those two are indeed mischief makers, if those two are attacking us, if
20:18those two are carrying weapons, we will deal with that.
20:22But please tell me, is this girl here carrying weapons?
20:27Then why is an ordinary citizen being subjected to torture?
20:42Shri Krishna lays it out beautifully and with great clarity.
20:50Srimad Bhagavad Gita, 4th chapter, 11th verse, I, that is the truth, that is the fundamental
21:02law of existence, will respond to you exactly in the way you look at me.
21:13And that should be the rule of thumb.
21:17If someone is a troublemaker, no mercy, no leniency, and that's very, very justified.
21:27If you are creating trouble, we will deal with you ruthlessly and that's okay.
21:36But Shri Krishna also says that if you are fair and fine, then I respond to you in a
21:43fair and fine way.
21:46Will you feel proud to be called residents of a country that oppresses its minorities?
21:57Will you feel proud?
22:09I am not talking about appeasement.
22:11I hope that is clear.
22:13I am not talking about giving unfair advantage to any little group of people.
22:21I am saying don't give anybody unfair advantage.
22:24There is no need to appease anybody.
22:27But it is also not proper, not spiritual, not dharmic, not right, not justified to unfairly
22:38target innocent people.
22:42Is there something called innocence or not?
22:50Remember, the values in India's constitution are all very, very spiritual.
23:04And spiritual means sublime, very high, highest values.
23:09Everybody should be proud of those values.
23:14In fact, when the audience is a little more mature, I love to propose, rather assert,
23:27that the Indian constitution is founded on Vedantic values.
23:36If you want to call yourself a Hindu, be a Vedanti, then you will be Sanatani in the
23:44truest sense of the word.
23:47There is a difference between being a Hindu and being a Sanatani.
23:52If you just follow the Hindu rituals and customs and culture, you can be called a Hindu.
23:58Without reading anything, without knowing anything, you can still be a Hindu.
24:03Why?
24:04Because your father is a Hindu, your mother is a Hindu, so you become a Hindu.
24:09But Sanatani is a great qualification like a B.Tech, M.Tech or Ph.D.
24:15You have to earn it.
24:17Being a Sanatani is no small deal.
24:21To be a Sanatani, you have to rigorously study your scriptures and you have to live by them.
24:27You have to make Vedanta your life.
24:32A Sanatani is a brave person.
24:36A Sanatani is a protector, not a destroyer.
24:44A Sanatani takes pride in fighting ten oppressors all alone.
25:01He vibes with the spirit of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, you remember that, I am all alone and
25:14in front of me is an army of a lakh, more than a lakh, a lakh and a quarter oppressors.
25:24I will fight them all alone.
25:26That's the Sanatani spirit.
25:29The Sanatani spirit is not about ganging up and pulverizing those who are fewer in number.
25:50Know your Sanatana Dharma.
25:57Live the Sanatana Marga deeply.
26:01Be kind, be loving, be just, be fair, be brave, be strong.
26:11That's the message of Vedanta.
26:14Am I making sense?
26:20Are you internally disconnected or opposing me?
26:28Is all this making sense to you, please?
26:31Because we are living in very strange times.
26:36India has not witnessed these times ever since independence.
26:49Have I been able to somewhat answer your question?
26:54It is their problem.
26:56You should not feel hurt.
26:57It is their problem, they do not know their religion, Ashna.
27:02Those who talk of Hinduism in this way, they themselves do not know what Hinduism is.
27:08Sir, my question to you was again that how I should learn to move out of this.
27:17I don't mind them telling me, but I just want to grow my mentality out of this.
27:24Simply say, he will only utter stuff according to his own intellectual and spiritual level.
27:33It's his problem that he is at a low level and I cannot make his problem my own.
27:39I'm not obliged to make his problem mine, full stop.
27:45And don't think that all Hindus belong to that category, that quality.
27:56May you meet great Sanatanis and then your impression of people will change.
28:05But I very well know that most people belong to that lowly category and you will meet lots
28:12of them in the future also.
28:13We are living in very awkward times.
28:15When you meet them, ignore them and just pray for them.
28:20Just pray for them.
28:21May they rise from their lowly intellectual level.
28:27That's all.
28:27Thank you, sir.