Do we need Gandhi in the 21st Century Hindu Nation?

Everybody in the world knows Mahatma Gandhi. The West recognizes him as an Avatar or Guru of Peace and Non-violence. Gandhi is synonymous with non-violence just like Hercules is associated with strength and power or Alexander is associated with conquest. Anyway, coming back to the point of this post. In this post, I critically examine what Gandhi's ideologies and philosophies mean to the modern Hindu nation and how his theories and teachings impact and stem from ancient Hindu texts such as the Mahabharata.

We know that Gandhi preached non-violence. Amongst his many famous quotes, one that stands out in particular is "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". With war and conquest, we only have everything to lose. Sometimes we lose our loved ones, sometimes we lose our enemies. The word "enemy" is a fictional concept according to a Gandhian. There is no enemy as such. It is just someone whose views and opinions differ from ours drastically in the sense that they seem to cause trouble and damage to those whose views differ from theirs. It is good to have different perspectives. Different perspectives make for rich debates and an inflow of new ideas. The Congress which was heavily influenced by Gandhi's thoughts and actions was in essence a congregation of people on a common platform for the dissemination of opinions, ideas and thoughts on political matters that confronted the traditional Indian society which back in the 19th century had a broken system of governance and administration. What encouraged our leaders to take part in the Congress were open debates and discussions on the future of India.

But in the Kali Yuga, are we in sync with Gandhi's thoughts and actions? Remember the Mahabharat. Lord Shiva had constructed the plot and sent Krishna as an avatar to damage and destroy the age of Bharat in which Kali Yuga had emancipated through jealousy, nepotism and ill-will towards blood relations. In the Kali Yuga, unless we employ force and power as a means to shun what could be evil for us - are we going to see similar effects and reactions from the rest of the world for the actions that we hold against our enemies? Violence truly teaches a lesson and warns us against evil. But violence itself is evil. Isn't it? When our intent and motive go against anything human, we term it as evil. However, when violence is evil - how do we give out warnings and instil a sense of fear in those who partake in evil? Is there an International Court of Justice and who governs it? There is the United Nations International Court of Justice but has it been able to avoid the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine?

So what then is the solution? In my honest opinion, the media is a big influencer of thoughts and actions. The media and communications industry has to be as transparent as the colour white. And the UN immediately needs an International Society for Media and Communications or let's call it the UNISMAC. This international body would comprise representatives from all nations of the world who would voice their opinions freely against atrocities committed such as wars and damage to human life and property. I strongly urge the governments of the world to create such a powerful body and endow it with sufficient funds so that the message of peace, humanity and non-violence can be transmitted across to most homes of the world. Let there be a television channel that is controlled by the UNISMAC, as powerful as the BBC or CNN. When media and communication become as powerful as a world government, then human minds are automatically infused with noble ideas that lead to better deeds.

On one hand, we have the Bible which promotes life and on the other hand, we have a sect of Hinduism that promotes destruction of what we term as evil. Shaivism or the worship of Lord Shiva isn't promoted in the Bible. Lord Shiva is considered quite an evil character in the Western world. Prohibition is probably a better way of shunning what could be evil, but destruction surely cannot be a way to eradicate evil powers. And in that Gandhi triumphs over the likes of Lord Shiva.

Lord Krishna's way of life is celebration - Hinduism is a religion that celebrates life. However, in this Kaliyuga if we don't celebrate life, Lord Shiva is sure to send out another avatar that will probably end the world and whether it will recreate the world or not is something we cannot predict. Let's leave it to the gods.

But in my view, damage to property and human life is totally against godliness and never a way to surrender to God's plans. If we care for humanity, Gandhi is the way forward.