Tolerance in sanAthana dharma

sanAthana dharma is best known for its tolerance. It is this religion which gave enough freedom for its followers to think on its basic principles. It even accepted and accepts the valuable concepts from other religions. The R^ig vEda proclaims "Let the knowledge come from all the directions". It is this free thought and tolerance that allows the existance of many disciplines under this big tree each respecting one another. One can find more recommendations that are advised rather than standards that are imposed by Hinduism on its followers. It is this tolerance that makes it adaptable to the continuously changing world.

But many times this tolerance is given the meaning what it does not stand for. It is very much possible that people can be misguided by this wrong interpretations. It is argued that Hinduism being the religion that puts forward tolerance it should toler all the atrocities that are made against it. After all that is the essence it often repeats. No, it is certainly not the case. The avatAr of vishhNu who was the wonderful hero in the history was the form of patience which is obvious throughout rAmAyana. He never tolered when the wife was taken away by a daemon king. He rose in action to clear that black mark. Not with the purpose of taking revenge, but to establish the dharma, the law.

Same should be the case here. The religion should not take revenge, after all it asks us to pray for the well being of all the creatures, but never tells us to sit idle when something seriously goes wrong against it. In fact it will be a move in the wrong direction. There should be enough actions to come out of the forces that disturb this holy dharma. Being good also means being rigid many times to uphold the good principles. The followers of the dharma have to give a good thought about this before it goes too late. But of course with the very basic elemant - the love for all the creatures in the world - uncompromised.

Posetd On: 09.04.1997

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