Samskriti ko Jano:

1. िहमालयं समार य याव द दु सरोवरम ।

तं देव िन मतं देशं िह दु थानम च ते ॥

2. उ रं य समु य िहमा े ैव दि णम्।

वष तत भारतं नाम भारती य स तितः॥

Visualizing the almighty in everything around us, or alternatively visualizing everything around
us as divine is taught to us right from our childhood. We revere the mother earth as मातृ भूिम our
mother-land, and ask for forgiveness, even for stepping on her:
समु वसने देिव पवत तन म डले । िव णु पि नम तु यम् पादाहितम म वमे ॥

We also adore our mother bhaarat mata as:

र ाकराधौतपदाम िहमालय करी टनीम् | राज ष र ा ाम व दे भारत मातरम् ||

Akhand Bhaarat: Kabul to Ceylon, Kutch to Cambodia:

Jambu-dweep, bharata Varsha, bharata khanda
Culturally Veda bhumi: Puranic story says Indra took the form of a “Krishna mriga” and
traversed around the jambu dweep and marked the place where darbha grass will grow
abundantly and water and other resources are available, and so the vaidika rituals can be
performed easily. This covers the cultural india, or akhanda bhaarat.
Bhaarat – “bhaara -t” one who bears— “bha”=illuminating/scintillating, “rat”=involved in; it is
another name given to agni, so Bhaarat is a place where the worshippers of “Agni” live.
Bharat (Chandravamsa Emperor, son of Dushyant and Sakuntala) was probably the first ruler
under whom this cultural Bhaarat was united as a single kingdom for the first time. He was so
virtuous a person that he didn’t allow his own children to succeed him to the throne, but
nominated a better individual as his successor. He was the ancestor of Pandavas and
Kauravas. And many more rulers born in that dynasty. We may not have been under a common
rule for most part of the history, but the Akhanda bhaarat retains our common cultural bonding.

Our Civilization, as per Puranic chronology, dates back to hundreds of thousands of years
at the least. Kaliyuga started 5120 years ago and is in its first quarter yet. Krita, treta, dwaapara
yugas can be calculated to be more than 4 million years. It may be difficult to prove this point,
partly owing to the fact that the current generation may not be equipped enough to peep so
deep into the past based on the material evidence, and also partly due to the lack of material
evidence—soil/sea erosions and destructions inflicted by men over a long period of time must
have engulfed the fascinating tales of the past.
Considering material evidence, the Saraswati civilization in the recent past can be dated to over
17000 years. Sindhu or Indus valley civilization is believed to be an off-shoot of the older
Saraswati civilization. References:
Nilesh Nilkanth Oak speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tsyzrDg2n4
Veda-blog: http://veda.wikidot.com/indus-sarasvati-civilization
Quora answer: https://www.quora.com/Are-the-Saraswati-civilisation-and-Indus-the-same-What-
happened-to-the-Saraswati-civilisation
Out of 49 ancient civilizations, only THREE survived the test of time. The Civilization of the
bhaarata upa-khanda (Indian sub-continent), the Chinese civilization, and the civilization of the
Jews. There were great civilisations which vanished after reaching highs of achievements in
arts, literature, language – Babylonian, Mesopotamians, Chaldean, Greek, Parsi, Mayan, Inca,
Aztec, Roman etc. – all civilizations disappeared. Even in those regions the people do not even
remember their glorious past or their ancestors. Those who attacked and destroyed these
civilizations also attacked Bharat. In last 2500 years we were attacked by Huns, Shakhas,
Greeks, Mangols, Turks, Persians, Moghuls, Dutch, French, English, Portuguese, etc. Even
Pakistan and china have attacked as recent as post-independence era . Apart from the armed
invasions, there has been continuous ideological attacks by Semitic cults on our people, in an
attempt to contaminate our culture. But we are still a sanaatana naagarikata – an ancient and
ever-lasting civilization.

How could we sustain our culture inspite of so many invasions and attacks and merciless
destroyers attempting to break the roots umpteen number of times? The answer lies in the fact
that our sanaatana dharma is a way of life, which everyone of us, knowingly or unknowingly
follows. It is not a religion with a basic set of guiding principles. It is not a ruler’s dictate to be
mandatorily followed. Our dharma extends from vyashti-> samishti -> Srishti -> parameshti. We
strongly believe and follow the way of vedas or shrutis, yet have smritis (notes from vedas by
various rishis) which change from time-to-time. Hence this system (dharma) never gets old or
outdated (nitya-yovvana). The manu-smriti was valid in krita yuga whereas yagnavalkya smriti is
valid for kali yuga. The dharma changes with desa and kaala (place and time) though the core
of our samskruti (vedas) remains the same.

And we don’t even dictate that non-followers need to be punished. Right from Jaabaali in Lord
Rama’s time to Chaarvaaka, from Sukraachaarya who proposed “sukra neeti” to Chaanakya
(koutilya), we have had many people who either proposed ideas which are manipulated from the
core vedic ideology, or have proposed avaidic thoughts as well. Yet, they have had their place
in our history, and they have been duly documented as “nishidhdha” ideologies (not to be
followed). Even an atheist isn’t disrespected or thrown out—Shaheed Bhagat Singh who is
revered as perhaps one of the greatest nationalists, is known to be an atheist by religious faith.

Parsis, Jews, and other communities were heartily welcome into this पिव भूिम. Parsis were
more than 2 crore in population in their native land of Persia (present day Iran), but an invasion
left them homeless—more than 3/4th of their population were either killed or converted, and only
a small segment could manage to migrate to the safe heaven that our country was/is. A story
about the entry of parsis into Gujarat goes like this: When the chief of the Parsi refugees
approached the King of Gujarat, the king gave them a bowl full of milk, to symbolize they were
already full with people and cannot hold anymore. But the Parsi chief added some sugar to the
milk, and some rose-petals over the surface of the milk to symbolize that they would unite with
this country’s population like the sugar in the milk, and they would be the significant, yet non-
disturbing addition to the people of this land like the rose-petals. True to his words, we have
many parsi-men who contributed to the greatness of this country—who can forget the Tatas
who master-minded the industrial revolution, and army officers like General Manickshaw who
was instrumental in our victory during the 1971 pak war. And never were they forced to change
their way of life. We have been an accommodative culture, and a couple of examples of the
fruits of being accommodative have been mentioned above. सव जनाः सुिखनो भव तु has been our
dictum. Always.

While the sugar mixed with the milk so easily, salt wouldn’t. So whenever there was a
disruption, many brave-hearts have jumped into the fire for protecting our mother land. Some
succeeded and some succumbed to the evil forces, and remembering them as a part of our rich
cultural heritage is a part of our duty. As Sardar Vallab bhai Patel famously said, all of us
citizens of this country should remember that while we have a set of rights that we can enjoy in
this country, we also have a set of binding duties, which should be remembered always.

Our spirituality is not limited to just a handful of elders, but even the children are taught to
visualize the divine in everyone and everything around. We touch the feet of our elders, we are
taught to treat the other person as we would want him to treat us; we worship almost all
animals, we revere the rivers and mountains, forests and springs, metals and stones.

Rivers and mountains are revered so much in our culture that contaminating them or
disturbing them is believed to be a great sin. Rivers give us the livelihood. They are the main
sources of water for drinking and for cultivation. Our civilization flourished along the banks of the
rivers saraswati and sindhu, and expanded to the banks of other rivers too.

गंगा सर वती िस धु पु ग दक | कावेरीयमुना रेवा कृ णा गोदा महा नदी ||

Of all the rivers flowing in this holy land, River Ganga has a special place. Right from the
puranic mention of why the AkASagangA was supposed to come to the earth, the hardships that
king bhagIratha faced in the meantime and his kartavya nishTa which kept him motivated till he
achieved what he started, to the present day puNyakshEtrAs on the banks of this river and
stories associated with each of them, this river alone has motivational remedies to all the
societal ailments that we may ever be subjected to. (story of gangaavataraNam, or of
prayaagaraaj/kumbhmela, or of kASI can be discussed briefly here).
Our ancestors have figured out the hydrologic-cycle (how water gets evaporated in summer and
how vapor gets condensed to form clouds and how the clouds get the rain back to earth) and so
have proposed that surya dEv is the “pratyaksha daiva”, the almighty visible to naked eye. surya
aaraadhana along with agni aaraadhana has been the core of our civilization since time
immemorial. Sun has been deemed the main source of energy for all living beings on this planet
and the gayatri mantra alludes to this “savitR” form of the lord and pleads him to stimulate one’s
intellect in the correct direction. “Aditya hRdaya” stotram in rAmAyaNa speaks about various
facets of surya dEv. mahAbhAratA epic alludes to Sun as “dinakar”, the maker of the day, and
has a story wherein Sun blesses yudhishTira with food (Akshaya pAtra) and satrAjit with
abundant wealth (Syamantaka).

chandra or moon also has been praised as the one who gives potency to medicinal plants, as
the one who influences the tides in the oceans, as the one who controls the “manas”, and so on.

Mountains are revered too, as the givers of wealth. bhAgavata purANa has the famous
“govardhana giri dhAri” story wherein the lord himself asks people to worship the mountain
rather than any other form of god. Himayalas are believed to be the abode of Lord Siva, and
there are many other mountains in the demography of this country:
महे ो मल स ो देवता मा िहमालयः । येयो रैवतको िव यो िग र ाराविळ तथा ॥
bhArata mAtA is decorated not only with these rivers and mountains, but also with seven
moksha puris (places where salvation can be easily achieved:
अयो या मथुरा माया काशी का ची अवि तका । पुरी ारवती चैव स ै ते मो दायकाः ॥

Apart from these seven places, there are many other puNyakshEtrAs:
■ ादश योित लग े (names here)
■ अ मू त लग े (कंिच, ित वाणकोइल्, िचद बरम्, ित व णामलै, ी काळहि त, कोणाक , िसताकु ड,
पशुपितनाथ)
■ अ ादश महा शि पीठ े
■ 52 शि पीठ े
■ अ ैत मठ (पुरी, ह र ार, गेरी, ारका, कंिच)
■ गोकणा, ित मला, ित वन तपुरम, रामे रम, भ ाचलम and many more

We are nature-lovers, and that clearly comes out through the ashTamUrti lingas mentioned
above. कृ ण यजुवद proposes ा याय in which rudra is spoken about as all-pervasive, and omni-
present, and examples of many materialistic things are listed too.

The generations originating from this culture can only be achieving greatness in their lives.
Many examples can be quoted from kaNAda (first nuclear scientist that world has ever known)
to Abdul Kalaam (father of modern nuclear science in bhArat); medical science and treatment of
various illnesses including surgery were proposed by SuSRta, caraka, and then elaborated by
Patanjali in his AyurvEda sUtras. Patanjali proposed vyAkaraNa for speech, AyurvEda for
health, and yOga for the mind (trikaraNAs: manas, vaak, karma).

Epics like rAmAyaNa and mahAbhArata propose many scientific advancements like flying
machines, advanced weaponry, projectiles, and even surrogacy (का तकेय , स कषण or बलराम) and
testtube fertilization of human egg (अग य , ोण). Even if one feels that these citations don’t have
material proof, we can only extrapolate the scientific advancement of a generation of our
ancestors who could “theorize” these aspects more than 2500 years ago.

*** copied***
History
Dharmo Rakshathi Rakshitaha (Protect Dharma and Dharma will protect you) has always been the
principle Bharat followed. We always fought for dharma and never for expansionism. In fact
rajadharma (stated in different scriptures like vishwamitra preaching to Rama in Ramayana and
vyasa muni to Bheeshmacharya and later Bheeshmacharya to Yudhishtira in MahaBharata etc)
clearly states that raja should never make a war for raajya vistaara. When we look at our scriptures
wars happened for the sake of restoration of dharma rather than raajya, kosha, dhana, or sthree.
When seeta maata was kidnapped by Ravana, Rama had to wage war to get her released. But war
happened after sandhaana (negotiation) for which Angadha was sent to Ravan’s court where
demands were placed solemnly and war was decided. In MahaBharat there was a demand for
Pandava’s share of kingdom which Kauravas refused. Then Krishna was sent for sandhaana to
Kaurava’s court where Krishna placed a much scaled down demands than what kauravas had given
to pandavas once before, which were refused. Then there was break down of sandhana and a
declaration of war. Even war modalities were discussed and agreed by both sides. It was agreed as
part of modality that if a soldier becomes weapon less (nishyasthra) then he should not be attacked
or killed but taken prisoner. No soldier was supposed to lift sword on an unarmed opponent. So
revenge was not purpose of war but restoration of dharma was the purpose.
The point to be driven is that raja had a dharma and laws to follow, not law unto himself. He had
checks and balances.
There were kings who were vaishnavaites and there were kings who were shiivites and Buddhist
kings etc. They occasionally fought wars and won. But never converted anyone forcibly or any
temple to their faith. Never there was a destruction of temples of other beliefs. In fact, when Jainism
vanished in Karnataka in mid ages, many Jain temples were abandoned but however they were
neither converted to Hindu temples nor destructed.

Saints and reformers

The character of our Nation is Sanatan Dharma i.e. belief in a set of eternal value systems which
always stood for universal brotherhood (Loko Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu ) and wanted the whole
world to become Noble ( Krinavanto Viswamaryam ). Whenever our Dharma suffered regression, the
great saints and reformers appeared to remove the evil practices and superstitions and restored
Dhrama. Some of the such Great Saints and reformers are Lord Buddha, Lord Mahaaveera,
Shankaracharya , Madhvacharya, Basavanna, Ramanujachaarya, Ravidaasa, Kabir Das, Tulasidas,
Guru nanak, Jnaanadeva, Sri Narayana Guru, Tukaaram, Dr.Ambedkar, Jyotibha phule etc.

Cultural
Our languages differ, eating habits differ, ways of worship differ, but we are all joined together by a
common cultural bond. We speak different languages, but respect Sanskrit as mother of our
languages. We eat different food, but it offered to God first and then consume it prasad. We worship
different Gods, but know that all worship leads to the realisation of the Brahman which is the
ultimate truth. We celebrate festivals with different names, but the principle behind all festivals
remains the same – the victory of Dharma over Adharma.
We see God in every living creature and hence love and respect all living beings. We all realise that
we are part and parcel of the universe and hence understand the importance of environmental
protection. We always prayed for the welfare of the universe.

Summary
Many thinkers have analyzed the present day challenges our Nation faces –Poverty, un-touchability,
religious intolerance and conversion, cross border infiltration and terrorism, degradation of moral
values, riots etc and have come to the conclusion that the solution lies in the society united based
on the eternal Hindu values. An organised Hindu society capable of meeting such challenges will
result in a strong Bharat. A strong Bharat with pride in its cultural heritage and spiritual wealth will
spread the message of universal brotherhood. Only such an ideology which embraces all can sustain
the universe.
What RSS has been doing over the last 90 years of its existence is to unite the society based on the
Hindu values so that Bharat regain its glory and can lead the world again. We request all of you to be
part of this unique organisation and contribute towards Nation building.