Awaken Bharata: A Call for India's Rebirth
(By David Frawley)
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On the first count, Hindus must learn to articulate their views to the world mind, even if other groups may feel challenged by what they may have to say. Hindus must be aware of those who oppose them and strive to counter the distortions about them that are prevalent both in the media and in text books. Hindus must learn to defend their great spiritual heritage, even if this may place them at odds with more circumscribed beliefs. It is no longer enough for Hindus to be apostles of tolerance with no clear principles or doctrine with which to sustain it. They must stand for the truth, which cannot always be popular, and not simply seek to placate everyone.
Clearly Hindus in old India did these things quite well, developing critiques of all existing systems of philosophy and religions as well as establishing firm principles of social harmony. This we can clearly see by examining the older teachings of Hindus Dharma, including the six schools of Hindus philosophy, the various Dharma Sutra, and above all the great Mahabharata, which presents teaching for all types individuals and all social groups. Modern teachers, like Sri Aurobindo or Swami Vivekananda, have performed a similar work in recent times, offering important critiques of Western religion, Philosophy and culture as well showing how to regenerate India based upon spiritual, yogic and Vedic models. Unfortunately, modern India has not followed these examples, which has led to most of its current problems. Now is the time to reverse this trend.
Awaken Bharata is being released as a companion to a related volume by N.S. Rajaram. Originally we hoped to do one book together but it soon became clear that there was too much material for a single book. Readers should examine Rajaram’s book as well and his other writings as a whole, which are all extremely insightful. One area that I have not dealt with in this particular volume, except in passing, is the need for a new historical model of ancient India, though I have addressed this in other books. However, Rajaram has examined the issue in his book, which can be consulted for the latest information on this important topic. Another writer whose works are helpful to clarify the views presented here are those of Arun Shourie, who has boldly, perhaps more than any other writer, challenged negative stereotypes and misconceptions about India and Hinduism today.”
