re: cause of decline

[Guest guest]

namaskaar ben ji,

i think ben ji this man has not read Gita with due attention. i would like to

quote a few shlokas from it, Krishna saying--

But for that man who rejoices only in the Self, who is satisfied in the Self,

who is content in the Self alone, verily there is nothing to do

For him there is no interest whatsoever in what is done or what is not done; nor

does he depend on any being for any object

Krishna does say that a spiritual man has nothing to do but, still He says--

Therefore, without attachment, do thou always perform action which should be

done; for, by performing action without attachment man reaches the Supreme.

Janaka and others attained perfection verily by action only; even with a view to

the protection of the masses thou shouldst perform action

Whatsoever a great man does, that other men also do; whatever he sets up as the

standard, that the world follows.

and now Krishna tells arjuna that why does He engage Himself in the action--

There is nothing in the three worlds, O Arjuna, that should be done by Me, nor

is there anything unattained that should be attained; yet I engage Myself in

action!

For, should I not ever engage Myself in action, unwearied, men would in every

way follow My path, O Arjuna!

These worlds would perish if I did not perform action; I should be the author

of confusion of castes and destruction of these beings.

now Krishna tells arjuna how should wise(jnani) act & how should they set the

standards for the ignorant--

As the ignorant men act from attachment to action, O Bharata (Arjuna), so should

the wise act without attachment, wishing the welfare of the world!

Let no wise man unsettle the minds of ignorant people who are attached to

action; he should engage them in all actions, himself fulfilling them with

devotion.

in the article, it is said---

I have often asked our spiritual leaders what were the reasons behind the

material decline of India. Their simple answer is: "This was God's will." If

they are asked when India would emerge as the leader of the world, their reply

is: "It will take place when God wills so." Similar thoughts may have been

expressed by our wise men when Babar and British had attacked India. They must

have said, "Babar's victory is God's will." It must have eluded them that our

kings should have established factories to make superior guns.

 

now, i don't know with which spiritual people the guy has come across but their

comment"God's will" goes totally against the teachings of Krishna. why to say

such a thing to a person which confuses him. one wants to fight for his country

and the other one says the attack by the enemies was just God's will. where

should one go, it is just like disenganging one from his duties. if this thing

would have been true, Krishna would have said to arjuna the war is my will &

there is no need to fight for you. but, what He said was--

Those deluded by the qualities of Nature are attached to the functions of the

qualities. A man of perfect knowledge should not unsettle the foolish one of

imperfect knowledge.

Renouncing all actions in Me, with the mind centred in the Self, free from hope

and egoism, and from (mental) fever, do thou fight.

Krishna asked arjuna to fight but without having ego, hatred for anyone.that's

why He said to arjuna later to be alike to friends and enemies, but still fight,

taking it as his duty

now coming to the isopnishad mantra which says--

Into deep darkness fall those who follow the material world (action). Into

deeper darkness fall those who follow the spiritual world (knowledge)

Adi Shankaracharya in his commentary on isopnishad has said even before the

beginning of this mantra that this is a mantra not for jnanis but for the

ignorant. For them, He says--ignorants who are engaged in their duties enter the

darkness, but those don't even perform their duties and are just engaged in the

rituals( worshipping various devis & devtas), enter the deeper darkness. He has

clearly mentioned that this mantra has no relation with the

self-knowledge(atmajnana).

It is clear that the article guy has misinterpreted the shloka because he says--

It is more difficult to come out of spiritual extremism. If the yogi has

attained Samadhi and is cut off the senses of sight, smell and hearing, then his

predicament is akin to entering a dark room. There may be no window to remind

him that there is light outside. It is difficult for such person to come out of

the darkness. For this reason, the Isa Upanishad states: "Into deeper darkness

fall those who follow the spiritual world."

i think that that this person has forgotten the sacrifices of sikhs. they fought

the moghuls at last and won too and every time a saint being a leader of them.

a saint, who asks to negate the world. how could he forget this & say--

Our wise men had encouraged society to consider the world as an illusion. The

result was that we negated guns, canons and economic progress and were defeated.

it was our wise men who fought bravely the moghuls. how can one forget Guru

Gobind Singh who sacrificed His four sons on the name of religion & Guru Arjun

dev ji who was tortured so badly, being put in a container of boiling water, hot

sand being poured over him, but still firm on his religion. how can one forget?

all this just 300 years back.

i would love to quote something by Guru Gobind Singh, which is usually taken as

sikh anthem--

DEH SHIVA BAR MOHE IHAE SHUBH KARMAN THAE KABHOO NA TAROON

NA DAROO AR SIYO JAB JAH LAROO NISCHAI KAR APNI JEET KAROO

Grant me O, Lord this boon from Thee, May I never shun Righteous Acts

May I fight fearlessly in battle Give me faith so that Victory will be mine

AR SIKH HO APNE HI MUN KO EH LAALACH HO GUN THAU UCHROO

JAB AAV KI AUDH NIDHAAN BANAY ATH HI RUN MAE THAB JOOJH MAROO

May One Glorious Objective guide my mind, And my highest Ambition be singing

Thy praises

When this mortal life reaches its limits, May I die fighting heroically.

 

i would just like to say that india got enslaved only due to materialism.

traitors within, hungry for the gold helped moghuls & british to take over &

even in these times saints saved us because they never let us slip from the

right path even if they had to give their lives

with regards,

gautam.