the swami devananda interview - pradeep krishnan
TRANSCRIPT
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Q : How did you get attracted to Hinduism?
A : I am a devotee of the Mother Goddess from an early age. This devotion is the result of an
experience but it is also a samskara , a very deeply embedded memory. In my travels andreading—I am a great reader of books—I realised that Hinduism was the only religion that
remembered the Goddess today. This was confirmed when I read the The Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna by Mahendranath Gupta. Ramakrishna was a Kali bhakta and worshipped the
Devi in the form of a stone idol. This greatly impressed me, as worship of idols is held in
contempt by most people including many Hindus. I have much love and admiration for Sri
Ramakrishna and think that he has more to teach us about religion and faith in the example
of his simple devoted life than his more sophisticated and much acclaimed disciple
Vivekananda.
Q : What was the turning point in your life?
A : The turning point in my life came when my righteous father beat me for going to see acircus that had come to town. He beat me so badly the school authorities wanted to take
legal action against him. I stopped them from doing that as it would have been a scandal in
the closed Christian community we lived in. But I also lost respect for him and he became a
complete stranger to me. He was a good man but he was obsessed with the stories of the
Old Testament prophets and tried to emulate them. I left school and the family house soon
after this event, at the age of sixteen. I wanted to see the world which I had been taught
was very wicked and destined for destruction. By leaving the family, I became a free man.
Or so I believed at the time. I would learn soon enough that there are very few free men in
this world. Most men and women are bound by their desires or their minds are imprisoned in
the same fundamentalist ideologies my father’s mind was imprisoned in.
Q : What were the reasons for you to decide to settle in India and seek a spiritual
path?
A : I arrived in India in 1967 with the specific desire to find a spiritual teacher. I had learned
from my travels and reading that a guru was needed to guide a seeker in the spiritual life. I
deeply desired a spiritual life and I was sure India had an answer for me. India was quite a
different place in 1967 than it is today. It was poorer but it was much gentler and closer to
its cultural and spiritual traditions. Modernity with its 4X4s and unlimited access to the
shopping mall had not yet ruined the aspiring middle class. I had left the West bitterly
accusing it of warmongering and materialism, but I regret to say that the base materialism
of India today is more than I had ever encountered in the West. Yet there is another India
hidden deep within this greedy, rude and superficial urban India that has not forgotten it’s
Dharma and still worships the Gods and the ancestors. It is considerate of the guest and the
needy neighbour, honours the spiritual seeker, and still values the spiritual knowledge that
frees a man from himself.
Q : You are a critic of Christianity. What were the reasons for leaving Christianity
and becoming a Hindu?
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A : Your question assumes that I was at one time a believing Christian. This is a common
mistake Indians make about Westerners and it should be corrected. Nobody is born a
Christian even if they are born into a traditional Christian family. A person becomes Christian
only after conversion—change of mind and declared loyalty to Jesus and his Church—and
initiation by baptism and assuming a Christian name (christening). I was baptised before I
was two years old and excommunicated sometime in my early teens. I was never a believing
Christian and ritual child baptism without the consent of the victim has no meaning. But yes,
I am an informed critic of Christianity as I have studied its doctrine and history all my life.
The Christian Church is such a depraved and wicked organisation I could not resist
investigating it. In my view Christianity is not a religion at all but a political ideology that
seeks world empire. It has no spiritual content, no metaphysic as Sita Ram Goel would say,
and is nothing more than a personality cult centered on Jesus. A skillfully created personality
sells as every politician and cinema actor knows. The irony is that no historian has been able
to confirm if this poor Jewish rabbi of the Gospels ever lived. There is no positive evidencefor his existence. This makes Christianity the biggest historical scam the world has ever
known.
The central doctrine of the cult, vicarious salvation by human sacrifice, is a false doctrine.
Nobody is ‘saved’ by the death of another man two millennia ago. That is just superstition
and a refusal to accept responsibility for one’s own deeds. No Hindu guru would teach such
an immature, irresponsible idea!
Christian religion aside, there have been many good Christian men and women. But they are
good men and women in spite of Christianity, not because of it. This distinction has to be
made. Christianity the personality cult and its vast, outrageously corrupt Church is one of
the great disasters of human history. That is my considered opinion and one held by anumber of reputed scholars.
Q : When you decided to become a sannyasi , what were your expectations?
A : I became a sannyasi out of love for Devi whom I regard as my mother. It also offered a
supportive lifestyle for a dedicated spiritual life. There was absolutely nothing I wanted in
this world for myself. I did not have any expectations about sannyasa , and I do not think it
appropriate for a sannyasi to have expectations. Taking sannyas with these motives is
sanctioned by the Yatidharmaprakasha and other sannyas dharma texts. I also had my
mother’s blessing, which is a prerequisite for renouncing the three worlds if the postulant is
unmarried (otherwise the wife’s consent is needed). She was always sympathetic to my
spiritual interests and understood that I could never be reconciled to family life.As a white foreigner who has lived with siddhas and sadhus and traditional Brahmins,
sannyasa gave me an acceptable Hindu identity too. The unforeseen boon of taking to the
renounced life is that I became a writer, a published author, and the administrator of a
popular Hindu website. This is quite an achievement for a high school drop-out who still
doesn’t know his times table or proper English grammar. It has been made possible only by
Sri Devi’s grace.
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Q : Tell us about your guru? How did you find your guru or rather how did your
guru find you?
A : I have had a number of gurus, all of whom appeared at the appropriate time and place toguide me in what I had to do. I regard all of them as Sri Devi’s gift. Spiritual gurus are one
thing, and a formal diksha guru is another. I am a Smarta Dashanami sannyasi who took his
Vedic diksha from the Acharya Mahamandaleshwar of Kailas Math in Panchavati, Nasik, in
1977 at Prayag. But equally important, I have had other gurus too who have been of great
value to me. Sita Ram Goel is one, Vasanti Amma of Sri Vaishnavi Shrine at Tirumullaivoyal
another. I regard Sita Ram Goel as a siddha , a man of extraordinary intellectual powers,
truthfulness, and universality. His truthfulness made him a number of enemies among Hindu
leaders; still he gave his life’s work for the upliftment of the Hindu Samaj. It is very
unfortunate that this work has not been carried forward and that he has not received the
recognition that is his due.
Q : Could you please share some of your spiritual experiences with us?
A : No. Spiritual experiences are very personal and not to be shared with strangers. My
spiritual experiences won’t help you or your readers. Better that you do some meditation
and japa and pray to Divine Mother for some experiences of your own. I would add the
caution here that if an experience does not change the character of the man for the better—
and usually it doesn’t—it really has no value and is just passing phenomena.
Q : What is your concept of God?
A : As you will have already understood, I conceive God as a universal mother. This is my
personal approach. There is in Hinduism the concept of ishta devata , of a personal deity
special and dear to the devotee. So another person may conceive God as Rama or Krishna,Shiva or Ganesha. This is a very wonderful concept and practice in Hindu Dharma. It is
unique and puts to shame the only-one-god-yahweh-allah concept of the monotheists.
Doctrinally I am inclined to Ramanuja’s view that the devotee’s focus should be on Ishwara,
that He should be remembered and regularly worshipped according to the devotees means.
Shankaracharya’s view of an absolute impersonal godhead without name or form—Brahman
—is spiritually true but not practical for the man in the world to follow. Shankara knew this
and established maths and temples with their different deities in various parts of the
country, unifying cultural and geographical Bharatvarsha in the process. So he is called the
Shanmata Stapana acharya . His Advaita is a doctrine for renouncers, not householders. Its
popularisation as Neo-Vedanta has led to much misunderstanding and irresponsibility in
Hindu religious life. Sita Ram Goel once told me that Neo-Vedanta had destroyed the Hindureligion. I believe this is true.
Q : What is the aim and purpose of human life?
A : A man or woman must be happy with themselves and helpful to others. The two go
together. The ancestors should be remembered and the Gods worshipped so as to insure the
continuity of family and community. When these responsibilities are fulfilled, a man or
woman may go on pilgrimage to the holy places and seek a competent spiritual guru.
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Q : What are your ideas of spirituality?
A : My idea of spirituality is to see the overall interrelationship of all beings but to act
according to the specific need of the time and the place. The Kanchi Mahaswami, who oncegave me an apple with his own hand though I was considered a mleccha in the math , once
said that a Hindu should think universally but act according to the needs of his family and
community. The ability to do this comes from insight into a situation through the practice of
meditation and yoga. Spiritual practice, which might be called internalised religion, is
supported by external religious practice which should never be ignored.
Q : Is there any difference between spiritual life and material life? How to connect
the two?
A : Spiritual life and material life are related. The later supports the former. One must
concern himself with motive and conduct in what is called worldly life, then he will get a
spiritual life. There must be discipline in all affairs public and private. There must be nocoercion or exploitation in personal relationships. One must be true to one’s word always. If
a man can so direct his personal life, this will easily lead to a spiritual life. The idea that a
person can just abandon his worldly life, his family responsibilities, his work or business, and
become spiritual is not true. We have been born carrying baggage from the past and we
must deal with this baggage responsibly so that we can become free of it and move on to
higher things. The worldly life then carries us into spiritual life. Soon enough no distinction is
made between worldly life and spiritual life. We simply do what we have to do in life—with
the ever-present blessings and support of Ishwari.
Q : According to Advaita, Brahma alone is real and the world is unreal (mythya).
How can we consider the world, which is part of Brahma, unreal? Is it not a
paradox?
A : Brahma alone is real in an absolute sense and the world is real in a relative sense. The
point being made is that Brahma doesn't change and is therefore ‘real’, but the world does
change and is therefore ‘unreal’. You must understand the whole doctrine of Advaita to get
the point, not bits and pieces of it.
As human beings we must concern ourselves with the changing world. Advaitic abstractions
don't help here. They are wrongly understood and serve us no practical purpose in life.
Advaita is describing a spiritual truth which we all will ‘know’ one day, but which in its
popularized expression has only become an excuse for inaction where action is needed.
Brahman is real and so is the world real which is a manifestation of Brahman. So act in the
world accordingly, as the devotee and servant of Ishwara who is Saguna Brahman.
Q : Nowadays, it has become a fashion to talk about getting realised and
enlightened?
A : People who talk about getting enlightened will never get enlightened. So never mind
them. They are only passing time. Clever spiritual talk is the substitute for doing sadhana
which if practised sincerely will in time bear spiritual fruit.
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Right action is based on experience, realistic assessment of the circumstance and common
sense. I am a great believer in common sense which is inherent in most people if they look
for it and connect it with their life experience. They will then take right decisions and act
fearlessly on their right decisions. Never mind this business about enlightenment. It is only a
fantasy product our godmen sell to the Americans for money!
Q : Do we have free will of acting or are we completely owned and ruled by Divine
Will?
A : I am uneasy with the term ‘Divine Will’ as it appears to be a Christian theological
concept. This aside, my view is that we are placed in this particular life which is our destiny,
a product of our own past actions, but in which we always have a choice of action to do this
or that or the other thing. This is an expression of free will. In life we are always making
value judgements. This is free will, or perhaps better called as qualified free will in the
overall circumstance we find ourselves in. So in my view there is both destiny and free will
working in tandem.
Most people are ruled by their desires and the natural selfishness of the human being. The
Divine Will is excluded here as It is not compatible with human self-centeredness. We must
work hard to come into accord with and be receptive to Divine Will. That is what sadhana
and spiritual life is all about. The spiritual person is one who has burned up his selfishness
through discipline and has become a vehicle for Divine Will to manifest for the benefit of all
mankind.
We can’t blame our fate on Ishwara or Divine Will. Our life is of our own making even if we
don’t remember the original cause. If we wish to re-make our fate, Ishwara will certainly give
support to our sincere efforts to change.
Q : What are your suggestions for making Vedanta practical in one’s day to day
life?
A : Vedanta is all about discrimination, being able to distinguish the true from the untrue,
the real from the unreal. Learn to discriminate in your daily life and you are ‘practising’
Vedanta. As Vedanta declares the unity of being in all things, then the decisions and actions
in your daily life must reflect this and always benefit another. This is the daily test. Has your
work today benefited another being—human, plant, or animal? If it has, you have
successfully ‘practised’ Vedanta.
Q : How to bring in happiness in day to day life?
A : By making others happy. There is no other way.
Q : While Indian philosophy, culture and life style are getting more and more
acceptance in the West, we Indians are busy aping the West …
A : I sincerely hope it is not true that all Indians ape the West. But yes, the West is benefiting
from the vast knowledge and experience of Hindu civilisation and it also has an appreciation
of Hindu culture. And Indians are also benefiting from the West. Your life today is dominated
by things and ideas that originate in the West. But like all traditional societies that have had
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the modern industrial complex imposed on them from above, Indians are having a problem
reconciling their traditional values and ways with an amoral modernity, with so-called
Western life-styles and its individualistic, secular culture. The problem is compounded when
Indians accept and internalise the worst aspects of Western society and ignore the good
aspects.
An example is the taste for flesh foods Indians acquire as their incomes grow. India has
become a leading exporter of beef in the world. Hindus, including Vaishnava Hindus and
Jains, are involved in this evil trade which is unspeakably cruel and, indeed, against the
Indian Constitution. How has this come about? Has the greed for money completely
overtaken the Hindu’s traditional sensitivity to the right to life and well being of all
creatures? Even in the beef-eating West animals are not treated so cruelly as they are
treated here. I have seen it myself and can tell you that the cattle smugglers operating in
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala would all be in jail if they employed their brutal,
over-crowded transport methods in Europe or America.
The British and the West are not to blame for this state of affairs. Indians, and Hindus
especially, are themselves to blame. We have fallen down and exchanged our values and
highly evolved ethical traditions for blood and money. We must accept the responsibility and
try to effect a change.
I have lived most of my life in South India with English-educated Brahmins who were all
practising Hindus. They were able to reconcile their modern Western education and business
life with their Hindu traditions and values. North Indians have a greater problem integrating
the two sides of their life because their Hindu culture had been undermined by the Muslims
before the British came along with their views of superior civilisation. So North Indians tend
to be more Westernised than South Indians. In fact New Delhi is a very Western city. I have just visited it and cannot get over the fact that Dilliwallahs wear their shoes inside the
house. It is the most un-Indian, un-Asian practise!
Modernity and Western pop culture and social practises are now universal and will not go
away. It is for the Indian to find a way to reconcile modern life with his or her traditional
Hindu values and culture. It can be done and I have seen it done in many families in
Chennai.
Q : In India, particularly in my home state of Kerala, Christians, Muslims and
Marxists are very active in converting Hindus to their fold. Your views on
proselytisation and checking conversion from Hinduism.
A : Christian and Muslim missionary activities in India are an imposition on the individual’s
human rights and destructive of Hindu society. These activities are also anti-national in
many respects. They should be banned outright by the government. The problem is of such
a scale that the government should act immediately. And it has acted—it has begun to issue
special visas to Christian missionaries and by doing so legitimises their missionary activity!
What a perversion of governmental powers! The government is protecting the missionaries
and does not act in the national cultural interest. Individuals and organisations cannot
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counter the missionary onslaught by themselves as its agents are politically connected
internationally and have vast financial resources. The problem is further compounded by the
fact that the missionaries who are selling their ideological poison to Hindus are not white
foreigners but brown men and women from Kerala who are Indian nationals. There are
thousands of them and they operate all over the world. How to deal with them? Well, begin
by taking them to court. That will put a damper on their activities. What they are doing is
illegal even if a corrupt government gives them back-room support. Something has to be
done about this attack on Dharma or Hindu culture will be eclipsed completely.
History teaches us that the barbarian is always able to defeat the more sophisticated,
superior spiritual culture with his simple brute force and buying power. So to survive, brute
force must be met with brute force. When are we going to learn this simple truth and stop
trying to talk our way out of tough circumstances? When has inter-faith dialogue ever served
the Hindu interest?
Q : Nowadays, spiritual leaders, particularly Hindu saints, make it a point to say
that all religions are the same. However, Christian and Muslim religious leaders /
scholars assert that ‘salvation’ is possible only through their chosen path. What
are your comments?
A : When Hindu godmen teach that all religions are the same they are doing a grave
disservice to their own religion. Either they don’t know anything about religion, or they are
simply being politically correct and scoring brownie points. Each religion has a different
name and a different concept of God. Each religion has different objectives. These may not
be compatible with Hindu concepts or objectives. In fact they are not. The two major world
religions, Christianity and Islam, are not religions at all as the Hindu understands the term.
They are political ideologies that seek world dominance. Nothing more, nothing less. That isthe ‘salvation’ they offer to the gullible. Hindus should understand this truth and learn how
to defend themselves and preserve Dharma. If a Hindu saint or guru resorts to the
Neo-Vedantic shibboleth that all religions are the same, they should be challenged by
knowledgeable people in the audience. No responsible Hindu should sit quietly when they
hear this nonsense from a Hindu speaker. This problem has been thoroughly dealt with by
the Vaishnava scholar Frank Morales in his famous essay “Neo-Vedanta: The Problem With
Hindu Universalism”.
Q : How do you view the caste system and the resultant discrimination meted out
to the downtrodden masses?
A : I understand caste to be a sophisticated social management system that integrateddiverse groups of people into a Hindu nation. Seen this way caste offered security and
support to groups that were different from each other but were also part of the greater
society that made up Bharatvarsha. Caste appears to have been quite liberal in its
application in its early stages and individuals could also move between castes depending on
their character and occupation. But the system was attacked and perverted by the invading
Muslims. In order to protect itself, Hindu society closed in on itself and caste became rigid,
self-righteous, and identified with one’s birth rather than one’s work or character. Abuses
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and prejudices grew and abounded. But I believe caste did in fact save Hindu society to
some extent from the depredations of the Muslims. They, like the Christian missionaries
after them, were able to change the Hindu’s religion but not his caste. The result was that
both Abrahamic religions, who oppose caste ideologically, had to accommodate it. The
Muslims did this racially: the more Arab or Persian blood in the Indian Muslim, the higher his
or her caste status. For example, the Nawab of Arcot in Chennai makes a point of the fact
that he is of pure Persian descent without any Indian admixture into his family. This makes
him a high caste Muslim and therefore he can assume a leadership role in the South Indian
Muslim community. Christians, especially Kerala Christians, are notoriously casteist. In fact
the appellation “St. Thomas Christian” was first employed by the Franciscan missionary
Giovanni dei Marignolli in 1350, in Kollam, to distinguish his Syrian Christian converts from
his lower caste Hindu converts. In Tamil Nadu upper and lower caste Christians still fight
each other for Church privileges. Caste identity has even followed the Indian Christian to
heaven as Dalit and upper caste Christians are buried in different grave yards.Caste is very must part of the Hindu identity and plays a part in many traditional family and
religious rituals. There is no reason to discard it. Rather, its role in social relationships today
should be modified to suit the times. Untouchability, which is a perversion of the relationship
between castes, should be abandoned. Modern urban life undermines rigid caste prejudices
and this may be considered a positive social development.
Q : What is the basis of your thesis that St. Thomas did not visit Kerala and
convert Brahmins to Christianity?
A : The question should be reversed. What is the basis for the Christian thesis that St.
Thomas came to India and converted Brahmins to Christianity? As Kerala Christians have
made a positive claim for an important event in Indian history, they are obliged to provideevidence for their claim. They have not been able to do so. Their claim is based on legends
their ancestors brought with them to India in the 4th century when, historically, the first
Christian refugees from Syria and Mesopotamia arrived in Muziris, the great trading port at
the mouth of the Periyar River. There is no historical record of Christians in India prior to the
4th century, neither is there any record of Namboodiri Brahmins resident in Kerala prior to
the 4th century (some scholars say 6th and even 8th century). Namboodiris appear to have
migrated to Kerala from the Himalayan foothills sometime after the 3rd century CE. The
Syrian Christian claim that they are the descendants of Namboodiris converted by Thomas in
the 1st century is a concocted social linage to give themselves caste status. In fact early
Christian immigrants in India, 4th century and after, were given the social status of Nairs by
the local rajas.
My interest in the St. Thomas in India tale was provoked when a Tamil scholar who was a
government officer brought me his detailed research notes into the legend as it is known in
Mylapore. I had read Christian history in detail from a young age and was aware that many
claims made by Christian historians and the Catholic Church were simply false. For example,
I knew that the claim that St. Peter had visited Rome and had been executed there was false
—never mind that the authority of the pope in Rome rests on this fable. I also knew that the
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Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, allegedly marking the birthplace of Jesus, was in fact
originally an Adonis Temple destroyed by Emperor Constantine at the instigation of his
mother Helena who was a fanatic Christian convert. The town of Nazareth, supposed
childhood home of Jesus, did not exist in the 1st century though it plays an important role in
Christian mythology. Even more interesting, the historical existence for a man called Yeshua
(Jesus) has not yet been established though the most reputed Christian scholars have looked
into the matter for hundreds of years. Many of these scholars also deny the historical
existence of St. Thomas who, according to the Acts of Thomas , was the twin brother of Jesus.
I was interested in the Indian counterpart of these Christian fables, the story that Thomas
the Apostle had arrived on the Kerala coast in 52 CE and had converted some Brahmins by
making water stand in the air while they were performing their sandhyavandanam rituals by
a tank. I found after going through a vast amount of material, that there was no historical
evidence to support this claim at all. More than this, I found that there was positive evidence
that he did not come to South India. The early Church Fathers Clement and Origen (c. 2ndand 3rd century) both state that Thomas went to Parthia (Persia) and it is accepted by
historians that he established a church in Fars (a southern province of Persia). Eusebius (c.
3rd century), the first Christian historian, also says he went to Parthia, as, indeed, did Pope
Benedict XVIII in 2006, much to the dismay of the Kerala bishops.
I wrote an essay on my findings under the name Ishwar Sharan, incorporating the research
of the Tamil scholar, and after it was published by Sita Ram Goel (who had also researched
the St. Thomas legend and found it wanting), sent the book to The Indian Express and The
Hindu for review. The editors' unprofessional, vindictive response astonished me. They put
out feature articles in their newspapers promoting the legend which claimed that Thomas
was assassinated by a Hindu king of Mylapore called Mahadevan (obviously a reference toKapaleeswara Shiva) and his jealous Brahmin priests. This particular Mylapore fable was
made up by the Portuguese and is a blood libel on the Hindu community. Just as Christians
claim that Jews killed Jesus, so the Church in India and the secular mainstream media claim
that Hindus killed Thomas. They reject the historical facts altogether and stand by the
concocted communal tale.
The book which no newspaper would touch with a barge pole—except The Pioneer who
published a fine review by Sandhya Jain—has now gone into three editions and is famous in
India and abroad. Still the newspapers and the Christian-controlled encyclopedias Britannica
and Wikipedia will not correct their St. Thomas entries. Wikipedia’s Thomas the Apostle page
is administered by the Syrian Christian Tinucherian who does not allow any positive
historical changes to the St. Thomas entry. I have tried to make changes as have other
informed editors, but our contributions are always rolled back and deleted. Wikipedia’s India
pages have a become a platform for Christian propaganda and this is unfortunate as the
encyclopedia is otherwise a very useful reference.
The full story of the St. Thomas in India legend is available on-line to read or download.
Anybody interested in India’s past should take a look at the book and consider how Indian
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The Swami Devananda Interview With Pradeep Krishnan
history is being distorted and the Hindu community maligned to serve the political and
communal interests of the Indian Church.
Q : We have been continuously destroying our planet earth by our actions. Whatis the solution? Even though we worship the river Ganga, at several places it has
been completely polluted. Why this paradox? While Hindus worship the rivers /
mountains / trees, we indiscriminately act against our mother nature. What is the
solution?
A : Yes, the whole earth is there for our benefit if we are willing to nurture and protect her.
But unfortunately the modern capitalist system, big business, the mad rush by all countries
to industrialise and ‘progress’ without proper, long-term planning, have caused the trees to
be cut and the rivers to be poisoned even though they are the very source of our own life
here on earth.
Indians too have lost their traditional values and responsibility towards nature in the processof modernising since Independence. Any attempt to correct this dangerous state of affairs is
thwarted by corruption at every level of Indian civil life. I don’t know what the solution can
be without clean and credible leaders in public life—which at the moment we do not have.
The problem of environmental degradation is too big for individuals to tackle alone. Still, if
we act responsibly in our private lives, reduce waste especially of food and water, stop using
plastic as much as possible, and lobby the local authorities to clean up the already existing
mess, we will be contributing to the betterment of our life and society.
But there has to be a radical change in our attitude towards material things. Abusing the
environment, not caring for public facilities, and lack of civic responsibly has to change. The
recent man-made disaster in Uttarakhand is a reminder to us that nature will not tolerate
our greedy exploitation indefinitely.
Q : What can we do to build a strong, united and culturally vibrant Bharat?
A : A civilisation progresses if it produces strong leaders that can meet the challenges of the
day. If it cannot produce strong leaders or meet challenges, it dies. So far India has produced
leaders who were in fact her civilisational enemies. The result is that today Hindus have no
religious or political leaders of consequence. If this does not change soon, our India that is
Bharat, the last and the greatest of the old Pagan civilisations, will go the way of ancient
Greece and Rome, of pharaonic Egypt and glorious Persia. It will die. Without Hindu religion
and culture India is just another corrupt and dirty third world country. I pray to Sri Devi that I
may never see the day this happens.
Q : Your message to our readers?
A : Be true to yourself and your civilisational inheritance. There is no equal to it in the world
today. India has been regarded as the world’s moral and spiritual leader from ancient times.
This leadership has been gravely eroded in the last 60 years. Don’t let it disappear
completely. Only a dedicated new generation of Hindus can save our India that is Bharat
from the grievous errors the last generation of secular Indians have perpetrated on the land
and its people.卐 卐卐
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Canadian author Swami Devananda Saraswati is a Smarta Dashanami
sannyasi who took his Vedic initiation from a renowned
mahamandaleswar at Prayag in 1977. His purvasrama family were
middle class professionals and God-fearing Protestant Christians. He did
not complete high school and is self-educated through reading books on
all subjects, with a special interest in religion and history. He has
travelled extensively in Canada, USA, Europe, North Africa, West Asia and
India.
Under the name Ishwar Sharan he authored the book The Myth of Saint
Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple published by Voice of India, New Delhi. The book
has been well received by the Indian public. The 2010 edition of the book may be read
on-line at The Ishwar Sharan Archive.
This interview was originally posted on Haindava Keralam on 18 September 2013.
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