Prelude:
The Bharatiya society, prior to first millennium, was prosperous, peaceful and pure. The present Indian society has material prosperity, but has lost peace and purity. The main reason for this is the decline of the Dharmic culture in the society. For the all round development of individuals and the society, it is very much necessary to rejuvenate and re-inculcate Sanatana Dharmic values in individuals and the society at large.
The main causes for the fall of Dharmic culture and its effects are listed below in bullet points for quick understanding. The solution and the method of rejuvenating the Dharmic culture is elaborated subsequently.
Causes:
- More than one thousand years of foreign invasions and oppressive rulings.
- Thereafter, independent India’s secular constitution and the Governments’ unequal laws which are adverse to the followers of Sanatana Dharma.
- Lack of proper education system to teach Sanatana Dharma principles.
- Misleading derogatory propaganda by foreign funded proselytising Christian and Islamic religions.
- Bigotry propaganda by foreign funded communist socialists, that relentlessly demeans Sanatana Dharma values by misinterpretations and misquotes.
Effects:
- Sanatanees themselves perceive Sanatana Dharma and culture to be inferior, obnoxious and disgusting.
- Without proper education, the Sanatanees become either blind believers or disillusioned.
- All pervasive declines of Dharmic values in the society, resulting in disharmony among communities.
Solution:
In order to correct the course, a massive revolution is the need of the hour. The mass movement need to be lawful and within the framework of the constitution of India, but aiming at correcting those laws of states and those articles of the constitution that are tilted against the practitioners of Sanatana Dharma. Post corrections, there is a need for an apolitical Dharmic organisation that oversees the functioning of Dharmic institutions and enhancement of Bharatiya knowledge system, while confining the administrations of Government of India and Indian states only to the secular activities of the Indian society.
Establishment of “Dharma Samsthapanaarthaya Sangham” is a vision idea for achieving these goals. The modus operandi of this organisation is illustrated hereunder.
Dharma Samsthapanaarthaya Sangham (DSS):
The one and only goal of the organisation will be to rejuvenate and re-inculcate Dharmic values in the individuals and the society at large. This shall be achieved through proper education and ecosystem.
In the yore, temples were the centres of educational, cultural and social activities. The temple administrations were conducting these activities, along with the performance of routine and special occasion rituals for the deity, maintenance of temple and management of temple assets. DSS shall endeavour to bring back this ecosystem, adjusted to the current situation, by following means:
- Freeing temple administration from Government control
This shall be achieved through a mass movement, by mass educating the citizenry about the current situation, enumerating the citizens supporting the cause and using this data to pressurise law makers to abolish endowment / HRCE acts. An elaborate IT solution will be designed for this purpose. The specifications for the software have been drafted. A budgetary estimation for the hardware infrastructure and the software development is done.
- Autonomous, but regulated temple administrative trusts:
Trusts / trustees shall be identified for each and every temple. Trusts shall be formed wherever it is absent. The trustees shall be selected by following the traditional practice of the particular temple. The trusts shall carry out the following functions:
a. Facilitate performance of daily, special and occasional worshipping of temple deities, including rathyatra, palanquin seva, etc., as per sampradaaya of the temple.
b. Maintain cleanliness of temple and surrounding area including pushkarni.
c. Perform civil and electrical maintenance of the buildings with due care. Anastylosis of temple and surrounding heritage structures shall be done, if required, through the archaeological survey of India (ASI) or on its own.
d. Arrange for deity darshan and sevas by the devotees.
e. Provide drinking water, food (anna daasoha), toilet and lodging facilities for devotees.
f. Shall establish and run Goshalas, if possible
g. Adopt low income temples of its sampradhaya, if possible
h. Be custodian of movable and immovable properties of the temple including revenue collection there from.
i. Establish or arrange schools for Sanskrit and Vedic teaching.
j. Conduct regular Dharma teachings and pravachanas for common citizenry.
k. Conduct itihaasa and puraana based cultural programs – dance, drama, arts, music, harikata, puppet show, etc., – for spreading dharmic knowledge.
l. Run social schemes for low income sanatanees –
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- Scholarship schemes for education.
- Short term hand loans with moderate interest.
- Financial assistance for medical and hospitalization expenses.
- Counselling for individual and family problems.
m. Maintain accounts in specified formats and have periodic audits. File compliance report to the audit observations within stipulated time.
n. Comply with all statutory requirements.
o. Employ staff or arrange volunteers for executing above functions
p. Contribute 5-10% of temple income to DSS.
- Dharma Samsthapanaarthaya Sangham as the regulator of temple administrations:
a. While the temple administrations shall be autonomous institutions, their financial and functional regulation shall be done by DSS through periodic audit reports and its compliance. DSS shall be ombudsman for public complaints of severe nature. DSS shall publish the temple audit reports on DSS website. - Dharma Samsthapanaarthaya Sangham as the supporter of temple administrations: DSS shall provide following support to the temple administrations – a. Immovable property management including land recovery with the required necessary legal support.
b. Empanelment of artists and troupes by experts in the fields.
c. Assist in appointment of archakas, Sanskrit, Vedic and Dharmic scholars.
- Dharma Samsthapanaarthaya Sangham as the supporter of Dharmic culture and cause:
a. Establish chairs and scholarships for Indic studies at Universities in India to generate counter or proper narrative of Bharateya knowledge.
b. Arrange conferences for debating Dharmic issues.
c. Mobilise Sanatanees opinion by utilizing the developed IT solution, whenever legislative recourse is required for Dharmic cause.
d. Take judicial recourse to fight for Dharmic causes legally.
- Self regulation of Dharma Samsthapanaarthaya Sangham:
a. Conduct internal and external periodic financial audits.
b. Publish annual performance report on DSS website.
c. Publish external audit report on DSS website.
d. Comply with all statutory requirements.
Your contribution:
You can become a part of this revolution by joining the DSS organisation. However, to be a member, you should be –
- A passionate and perseverant Dharma enthusiast.
- Ready to volunteer physically on ground for DSS activities on your weekends and spare times.
If you meet the above two conditions, you can write to [email protected] to enrol yourself for the cause.