We are enjoying the fruits of the labour done by our
ancestors. Let us not restrict ourselves to our fathers, grandfathers or great
grandfathers; the physical conveniences, knowledge, religious thoughts, culture
and values we have inherited from the people who lived in the past, even very
remote past, make our lives fairly simple for us. It is not difficult to
imagine what would have happened if we were born in a world devoid of what we
inherited from our ancestors.
In most of the cultures indebtedness to ancestors
is respectfully recognized. Traditions of worshipping multiplicity of Gods and
deities have almost nothing to do with lack of faith in the Oneness of the
Almighty, Supreme Soul or Parmatma; it, in essence, is for paying
respect to our great ancestors who devoted their lives for the welfare of the
living beings, particularly human beings. They are like well thought of and
well intended reminders to the man that he also is expected to keep in mind the
welfare of his future generations while leading his life.
Learned thinkers of the ancient times were aware that the man
was prone to commit errors while making efforts for his physical survival
because survival could not have always been possible through collective
efforts, often one had to take care of himself and himself alone. They were
aware that ordinarily the man could not be completely selfless. It was,
therefore, certain that while taking care of himself, he might harm others.
They asked him to be selfless, compassionate, simple, truthful, restrained in
matters of self-satisfaction, honest and give importance to their character
building by cultivating such and many more good qualities in himself. They
could not have straight away told the man to be vigilant about the errors
committed by his ancestors and be always
ready to correct them, for if they had done it, the man would have treated it
as a license to blame his ancestors even
for his own errors. Instead of giving a negative advice to the man, they
preferred to ask him (the man) to make changes in the existing order according
to space, time and circumstances, if and when necessary. Therefore, the
responsibility and duty of rectifying the mistakes of the past come upon the
man in a positive and proactive way.
The man, therefore, has to be grateful to his ancestors for
all the good that he inherits from them and be ever willing, considering it as
his duty, to think and conduct in a manner that benefit his future generations.
In the process of leading his own life and acting for the good of future
generations, it becomes his duty to rectify the errors, if any, committed by
his ancestors. The man is bound to own up his past for whatever good or bad is
there in it for him, but must try to deliver only the good to his future; it is
man’s Dharma (duty). While this is a practical approach to man’s social
and individual life, it is indeed consistent with the thought that a man must
try to wash off his sins of the previous lives for improving his prospects in
his next life to reach closer and closer to his salvation (emancipation), that
is, merger of his soul with the Supreme Soul.
A dogmatic approach towards one’s religion often obstructs
one in attempting to make well thought of and necessary changes in the order
that prevails. A dogmatic religious approach may get divorced from
spirituality, in such cases. Any religion that is not consistent with universal
consciousness needs rectification. A religion is common man’s faith, it is his
code of conduct; it must be for the good of all, it must be consistent with the
essence of spirituality.
You will please recall, in the third story, the fear
that Lord Hanuman would not approve his conduct of leaving the wounded man
unattended, prompted ‘the village boy’ sacrifice his important examination and
take care of the wounded man.
[This series is being written and presented by Promod Kumar
Sharma, the author of “Mahatma A Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” &
“In Search of Our Wonderful Words”. This series is being published only on this
site.]
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