Indian culture is an evolution of values of life imbibing the affinity to environment, love to humanity and finding godliness in living beings around us and the uniqueness of it is the unity in diversity and diversity of approach to one life goal of achievement of moksha or eternal bliss.
Our ancestors had a foresight for their future generation and left a great treasure trove of Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Mantras, Rituals, Shastras and hence we find a big wealth of knowledge around us. They had excelled in all walks of life and had a scientific, spiritual, humanitarian approach in their studies. As the print or written media was not much popular and preserving the great treasure was a great task due to natural calamities, floods, earthquakes, cyclones, battles and theft the treasure which we have lost already seems to be more than what we possess now. From Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa and Indus Civilization, to period of Vedas, to the golden era of Rama and Krishna and the historical Gupta and Maurya dynasties and onwards, we find a charismatic golden path traversed by our ancestors who remained as the teachers of eminence throughout the Bharatavarsha or Indian Subcontinent. Several religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and several offshoots of Hinduism were originated in this holy land called Bharat.
Our land is fully secured by the two seas on the west and east directions, by an Ocean on the South and the great Himalayan Mountain on the North. The neighboring countries viz., Bangladesh, Myanmar, Afghanistan, SriLanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Pakistan etc are the geographic entity called Bharatvarsh, the peninsula which had spread to a most significant part of the world and was a store house of knowledge, prosperity, happiness, spirituality, Philosophy, and gurus (teachers) who excelled in various fields of life like nyayashastra, tarkashastra, natyashastra, shastravidhya, vastushastra, Literature, dharma, Karma values of life and mutual wellbeing with the whole world as a single family and welfare of all as welfare of each human entity. Yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit language (mother of Indian languages) grammar, astrology, astronomy, calendars were the contributions of our ancestors. The great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are the greatest assests of our past. There have been contributions by several Rishis, Saints, teachers, religious gurus who have developed the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbhakam through commentaries on BhagavdGita, tatva pada, Vachanas, Fairs, celebrations etc. We inherit a great tradition and always feel proud of our land. Our country was put to untold misery by the Moguls, Britishers, and Foreign Rulers who stole away our treasures, gave us lot of torture and suppressed our cultural richness.
Indians were in the forefront in the field of medicine. Dhanvantari is the legendary founder of the Indian Science of Medicine. Charaka and Shushruta were the standard authorities on medicine and surgery respectively. India is the birth place of many mathematical ideas. The mathematical talent of the Indians was made use by Arabs and was further transported to Europe.
In ancient India there were wellknown universities such as Nalanda, Taxila, and Vikramashila etc. Every type of education was imparted to the students who included those coming from Afghanistan, China and many other countries. A graduate of these universities was held in the high regard in the society. Unfortunately, these seats of learning were destroyed by the foreign invaders who were blind to their importance.
We owe our existence to our mother i.e. Bharata matha. We are expected to serve her till our last breath. Let me here recall what Bapu once said “If India fails Asia dies. It has been aptly called the nursery of many blended cultures and civilizations. Let India be and remain the hope of all the extended races of the earth, whether in Asia, Africa or in any part of the world.” It will be a whip to the dozing Indians If I recall what Swami Vivekananda, the great son of India once said “What our country now wants are muscles of iron and nerves of steel, gigantic wills which nothing can resist, which can penetrate into the mysteries and secrets of the universe and will accomplish their purpose in any fashion, even if it meant going down to the bottom of the ocean and meeting the death face to face.”
Let us today pledge to cast down all our differences and stand as one nation and serve our mother land to the fullest extent possible. Let us wait for the day when the screen of gloom encircling our country will be away and our country will again raise her head as a glorious nation as she was in the distant past. Let us recite the words of Vivekananda “Awake and Arise, stop not till the goal is reached.” Let this be the mantra of our life. We have to re-establish our supremacy in all facets of life and our Bharat shall again shine as Guru (teacher) for the entire world.
Writer Bio: Deepak Shenoy, from Vidyagiri, Dharwad , participated in International Essay Contest held in 2019
