Religion is the oxygen of the soul, Life is impossible without Religion
In our culture, religion, money, work and salvation are called Purushartha. Among these four, the place of religion is the highest which makes life manageable and happy. Religion is not just medicine to eat when sick; It is not just bread to take when hungry; Rather, religion is the oxygen of the soul without which life is impossible.
If money and work are a river, Dharma and Moksha are the two banks of that river. A river is beautiful and beneficial as long as it remains at its level, but it is dangerous when it overflows its banks. In the same way, when a person falls behind in money and work by breaking the standards of Dharma and Moksha, he is degraded. Most of the crimes in today’s world are work-related rather than money-related. Because if there is no influence of religion in human life then there will be no peace.
‘Religion is inferior to animals.’ It is because of religion that man becomes human and in the absence of that judgment he becomes an animal. That is why it is said ‘Dharmamityahu’. Just like we wear clothes and jewelry, we should have such noble virtues in life that will make our life happy and build a healthy society. To love oneself, to do good deeds, to give up bad qualities, to avoid vices – this is Dharma. So ‘Dharmo rakshati rakshita.’ If we observe and respect dharma in our daily life then dharma will also protect us.
In the Ramayana, when the rabbit abducted Mother Sita in a flight of flowers, Mother Janaki was saying to the animals, birds, insects, moths, nature! I have committed no crime. As an Indian Hindu woman, I defended my religion by marrying a Brahmin monk in Danddu. If I go to pay respect to religion today, I have full faith that religion will surely save me. This word of faith melted Raghumani’s heart and God was forced to cross the vast ocean and travel to Lanka to rescue Janaki. Reader! This is the basic mantra of religion.
Therefore religion should not be limited to speech but should be behavioral. It should be a matter of discussion and not a matter of discussion. It should be reflected in our daily life, not only in worship, rituals, temples, mosques, gurudwaras; But in today’s world, religion has become superficial. It loses its spiritual judgment and moral values. These days we have become so righteous that we eat onions and garlic but refuse to eat riswat or bribe. He is blaspheming by saying that he is religious, and he is reluctant to blaspheme the world.
While drinking water, he sips it twice, but for his own sake, he drinks it like fresh human blood. Consider whether we are human or animal. In the Mahabharata, Yudhisthira was the embodiment of righteousness for the Pandavas and Vidura was the embodiment of righteousness for the Kauravas; But the Pandavas were victorious because the king was enlightened and practiced righteousness. On the other hand, the Kauravas fell because they only listened to Vidura’s sermons but did not act. So Vishnu Milhanam proves ‘Achar Prabhbo Dharmo Dharmasya Lordachyu Ta’. It seems like a trifle.
Once a woman brought her little son to a saint. He said my son did not stop eating sweets. No matter what I say, I don’t listen. Please explain to him. When the saint heard everything, he said to the woman, come after fifteen days, I will explain the child. A fortnight passed. When the woman came to the saint holding her son, the saint explained to the son – Father! Eating too much sweets is not good for the body. The body will deteriorate. You will suffer. So from today you will stop eating sweets.
The boy said, Gurudev! As you say, I will obey you. There is a woman nearby. Swamiji asked! Couldn’t he have said the same thing that he said today in less than a fortnight? Why asked for a fortnight? Gurudev replied mother! I asked for it for a fortnight because I myself was eating a lot of sweets. So within a fortnight I stopped eating sweets first and then gave advice to others. This is the definition of religion.
There are two main texts in our culture; One is Ramayana and the other is Mahabharata. Ramayana teaches that life will be happy if done and Mahabharata teaches that life will be safe if not done. One is ‘legal religion’ and the other is ‘prohibited religion’. One is Accelerator and the other is Brake. If we can understand these two aspects correctly, then religion will descend in our life. The Ramayana teaches what one should do to one’s brother; How should the king behave towards the people; What should be the religion of the servant? It is a formal religion.
And Mahabharata? The Mahabharata teaches that gambling is not permitted; It is not appropriate to insult anyone. It is forbidden religion. Even the pious king Yudhishthira got so engrossed in gambling that he even bet his own wife. Draupadi’s epithet ‘son of the blind’ took such a terrible form that the world’s worst war, Kurukshetra, began. So read! Steering is in our hands. If we can use Accelerator and Brake properly, then this road of life must lead smoothly towards the Lion Door of Moksha, otherwise judge for yourself the speed of life without religion.