Once upon a time, there was a little boy.His father was an extremely wise, learned and a principled man. Apart from being a kind,loving and gentle father, he was also his son's guru. He taught him everything to ensure, that the little boy would grow up to be an intelligent, strong, brave individual who always walked on the path of truth and righteousness.His father taught him yoga and pranayam so that he remains strong and healthy all his life. His mother was a very loving, caring and nurturing woman. She loved her son to no end ! She took care of him in every possible way. She cooked delicious food for him, told him wonderful stories of brave men and women and made every effort, that he was brought up as a warm, caring, humble person with good values.They were very wealthy as well and lived a beautiful live of love, happiness and prosperity. It was an ideal family, looked up and respected by one and all.
One day, a gang of robbers came to the town, where the family lived.The eyed the boy's house. The robbers pretended to be good people and entered the house as guests. The father and mother believed in the values of ' Atithi devo Bhava', that is, our guests are equivalent to god. They treated them with love, care and utmost respect. But, one night, while the family was asleep, the robbers robbed the house ! They took every valuable item with them. The family was left penniless and broke. From the huge mansion that they lived in earlier, they now moved to a small, dilapidated hut. In spite of all the misfortune, the father and mother did not change. They were as virtuous as ever. Nobody could take away their wealth of knowledge and purity of their hearts. People from nearby towns still came to learn from the father. They were still very respected people.
A few years passed, the little boy was a young man now. He left his house in search of work and went to a big city. He was dazzled by the bright lights and glamours lifestyle. Soon he forgot all about his parents, their teachings and everything else from his old life. He never bothered to meet his parents or see how they were doing. One day, the old couple decided to go meet their son. When they entered his new house, there was a party going on with all his new friends. On seeing his simple folks, the boy was extremely embarrassed. Some of his friends made fun and laughed at the couple. He pretended not to hear and ignored it all. He was ashamed of his parents and did not want them around.Having understood this,they went away.
Some more years passed and now the boy was fat and unhealthy, because of his lifestyle. He had several ailments. His friends and live-in partner had all left him. And the fun and glamour disappeared from his life. He was sad, lonely and depressed. He thought of his parents and missed them a lot. One day he decided to visit him. But to his shock and disappointment, his old house was nowhere to be found ! No one had any idea where his parents were. Sick, tired, lost and frustrated, he looked for his parents like mad man. What happened next, is something we all can imagine.
The boy in the story is each one of us. The father is our Sanatan Dharma and the mother is our Bharatvarsh.
Our Dharma has taught us the way to live. It has given us the gift of great wisdom, knowledge, spirituality, values,righteousness and every good thing in life. Our mother land is the most fertile land. It has given us food, shelter, clothing,and everything we can imagine. Our country is rich in natural resources, we have almost every herb and spice available in the world. It is home to a large number and variety of animals,birds and plants.Right from the majestic lions and tigers to the beautiful peacock. We have all kinds of landscapes from snow covered mountains, to deserts, plains and sandy beaches. We have the great Himalayas and also the Indian ocean. We are from the holy land of Sages and great Rishis. We have the Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Bhagvat Geeta, Yoga, Ayurveda, to guide us and help us in every possible way. Indians are amongst the most intelligent, learned, wealthy and spiritually advanced people of the world.Recent surveys have shown, that we are also amongst the happiest people in the world with strong social and family value systems. We owe everything that we are today to our Dharma and Desh ( nation ). People from all over the world look up to our ancient knowledge and are now adopting the ways of yoga, Ayurveda and Hinduism.
In spite of all this, we as a nation have absolutely no pride in our Dharma or Desh. In fact, we are ashamed of it. When people mock our country and religion, we look away, pretending not to hear. We ignore all the good things that we have and are completely blinded by the West. Most of us believe that, anything that comes from the East is superstition and everything from the West is science !
The time has come for each one of us to take pride in ourselves, our land, our ancestors, our Sanatan Dharm and bring back its lost glory.Let us introduce our children to the Vedas, Bhagvat Geeta, Yoga and everything else that we stand for. Because if we don't do it now, one day we will lose everything that we have and be homeless, orphaned and lost.
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