Tridaana – Hindu Commitment Towards Civilizational Revival

An inflection point for Hindus

Hindus are at the threshold of a civilizational inflection point. Even after 70 years post breaking free from the shackles of foreign occupation and rule, the nation has not taken any significant steps towards reviving its ancient and unbroken civilisation – the Sanatana Dharma. The reasons for this inertia have been many. While on the one hand, the Government’s and more importantly that of the Constitution’s avowed ‘secular’ approach towards polity has meant that there is no direct encouragement or support for Dharmic revival, on the other hand, the implementation of secular governance has translated to control of Dharmic institutions, thereby leading to stagnation and decay, as is the natural outcome of State control over any institution.

At the same time, the effects of sustained a-Dharmic (non-Dharmic) education of the Hindus for multiple decades has started to show its effects. More and more Hindus In Name Only are finding our customs, traditions and rituals repulsive. The interest of such Hindus in our literature, language(s) and history is dwindling. A lifestyle driven primarily by the satisfaction of material instincts is slowly taking over our society. 

In the midst of all this, the process of sustenance and revival of Dharmic civilisation has received a lifeline. After nearly 500 years of continued struggle, and nearly 35 years of battle in the secular avatar of our nation, the Rama Janmabhumi dream is coming true. Prabhu Sri Rama is soon going to lord over His own temple at Ayodhya and the process for the same has started recently with the Bhumi Pujan ceremony. All of this, of course, has become possible with last year’s judgement by the Supreme Court of India recognizing the just and undeniable claim of the Hindus over the piece of land where our greatest of Gods was born.

Catalyst for revival

The re-appearance of our Prabhu cannot bring anything but auspiciousness to Ayodhya and the entire country. And we the loyal followers of Sri Rama need to not just celebrate His return, but also make ourselves worthy of his return. This great event in the history of modern Bharat needs to be utilized as a catalyst for the revival of Hindu Santana Dharma in this land.

The revival of our Sanatana Dharma depends upon the revival of four of our key institutions – (a) schools/education (b) temples (c) goshalas and (d) family.  The prosperity and growth of our devas, kula and go-sampat through proper vidya can alone cause Dharma to flourish. Hence the importance of these four institutions. It goes without saying that the downfall of our civilisation has been directly connected with the attack on, and decline of, these four key institutions.

Constitutional hurdles

On the one side, there must be an unrelenting engagement with the secular governments of this country to bring about necessary change in laws that have adversely, and quite severely, affected the key Hindu institutions. 

The construction of Article 30 in a peculiar way, making educational rights available only for the minority communities, and its stringent and textual interpretation by the honourable courts over the years has led to a complete disengagement of Hindus from the field of education.

Numerous laws in various states have led to lakhs of temples running under the control of Government officials. This has led to complete neglect of these temples and in many cases, irreversible damage to the traditions of the temples have taken place. Needless to say, the involvement and stake of Hindus in these temples has steadily declined. Our temples survived for thousands of years even in the face of invasions and destruction from barbaric invaders chiefly because of the unwavering attachment of the local communities around temples. The people associated with a temple strongly felt the need to protect their deities and heritage. They fought back the invaders in many cases. In other cases, they hid their deities and murtis. In numerous cases, they repeatedly rebuilt the temples. All of this was possible because the invasions could not destroy the attachment of the people with the temples. A long and unbroken history of association of the village or community people with the temple was the main cause of such attachment.

All of this is changing with the Government takeover of temples. Slowly, people are getting alienated from temples. A temple visit is becoming just as casual as a visit to a museum or a library – transactional in nature. What could not be achieved by a thousand years of invasions will surely be achieved in a few more decades if the detachment of Hindus from the administration of their temples continues. This must be corrected through proper legal means such as the abolition of all HR&CE Acts and Constitutional provisions for the freedom of management of our temples.

Dharma prospered in our lands because we always honoured our scholars and cows. A revival of our education system will bring back honour to our scholars. Similarly, a revival of our go-sampat (the wealth of cows) is needed to achieve a Dharmic revival. It used to be common for every household in this country to own a few cattle and take care of them. No doubt commercial and economic interests also factored in, but it was also seen as a duty of the devout to take care of cows. This is no longer the case.

There are quite a few go-shalas in the country. Many are supported by religious institutions such as Mathas. Few others are run by Dharmic sevaks. But the condition of almost all of them is the same. A story of the struggle for survival. The cost of running a go-shala is very high, especially as the cows age and become non-productive. The support from society is close to non-existent. It is increasingly becoming a thankless venture.

The goal of protecting our cattle has remained a dream in the form of a mention in the Directive Principles of State Policy of our Constitution. The fight to get legal and lasting protection for our cows must continue until success is achieved.

The Hindu initiative

While the battle on the legal front needs to continue, and we should hope for success in the not so distant future, Hindu Samaj itself needs to re-orient itself in terms of its outlook towards these critical institutions. Neither at the individual (family) level nor at the community level, we Hindus consider these institutions – schools, temples and goshalas – in the scheme of things. This must change.

Schools used to be supported by Kings and chieftains in the days gone by. Those who ran schools and Universities and taught in them used to be revered. It was considered the prime duty of a learned Brahmana to accommodate as many pupils as possible and perform ‘Vidya daana’ to them. Obviously, such a system does not exist anymore. Like noted above, even those Hindu educationists who are interested in running institutions are moving away from it slowly due to not just the burden of Government interference but also because of severe financial constraints. Running a school has become an extremely costly affair, sustainable only by politicians or real estate agents. 

Most temples in the country barely manage to keep themselves operational. While few rich temples get crores and crores of rupees every year from devotees, it is a tragic story when it comes to running an ordinary temple. The monthly expenses for an ordinary temple run into several tens of thousands of rupees while the inflow from devotees is barely a few thousands. It is a mighty challenge in many temples to even conduct the rituals in a timely and sustained manner. Government appropriation of temple properties, directly and indirectly, has resulted in temple being denied their rental income – which used to sustain most of the temples.

The condition of our goshalas is the worst amongst all institutions. Most goshalas struggle to find enough resources to even buy fodder for the cattle they take care of. While more and more cows are left behind in these goshalas by private individuals on account of them not keeping well or becoming old, the relatively well-off ones are kidnapped for their skin and meat. It is a challenge from both ends. 

To help, sustain and grow these three critical institutions, the concept of ‘daana’ needs to be given a strong thrust going forward. A revival of our ancient custom of daana for these activities from the Hindu Samaj is needed. A culture of sustenance wherein each individual or family feels it as their duty to support schools, temples and goshalas needs to be put in place.

Tridaana sankalpa

Hindus need to adopt a concept of ‘Tridaana’:

1. Vidya-daana in the form of contributions to Hindu schools
2. Alaya-daana in the form of contributions to temples and
3. Go-daana in the form of contributions to goshalas.

Every Hindu must consider it his cultural and religious duty to perform daana to these three institutions every month. A fixed percentage, even if very small, such as 5 or 10 percent of a family’s income must be donated for the cause of Tridaana. This fixed amount may be divided into three parts and one part each may be given to a chosen school, temple and goshala. 

Not every single Hindu family can afford the economic luxury of daana yet. This is, of course, the reality of our society due to the high prevalence of financial distress. But it is certainly feasible for a good section of our people. Therefore, every Hindu family that can afford it must perform Tridaana.

Our community leaders and institutions such as Gurus, Swamijis, Mathas and other religious leaders must popularize and encourage this concept. A system must be put in place where a family can declare their adherence to this concept (even if the specifics are kept private) and let other members of the local community know that they are performing their duty towards Hindu Samaj.

No doubt that such a mindset change is a challenge. Its success can be a long and arduous affair. But if it succeeds, then the revival of our critical institutions at the lowest levels of the community is guaranteed. And such a success can no doubt guarantee a revival of a Dharmic society.