Immortal Values : 1.

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01/05/2018

1. Introduction :

Civilization flourishes with the promotion of culture, but when the cultural values deteriorate, the civilization of a society breaks down, as we have known from the fall of the Egyptian, the Greek and the Roman civilizations.

The great religious masters of India, using their own ingenious efforts, have time and again revived the philosophical and religious values for which India stood and thereby arrested the deterioration of the culture.

When culture deteriorates there is an increase in barbarity and immorality in the country and its philosophy is misinterpreted, leading to confusion and chaos among its people. This, in short, is more or less the sad condition of the present world. The need of the hour is to arrest forthwith the deterioration by reviving the great philosophical and religious values of life. In no other literature in the world have these values been so beautifully and exhaustively dealt with as in the sacred books of India.

In this context we may note the following advice given to the students by the Rishi of the Taittiriya Upanishad : The practice of what is right and proper is fixed by the scriptural texts; it is to be followed along with reading the texts oneself and propagating the truths of the same. (“Truths”: this means that practising in life what is understood to be right and proper is to be pursued along with regular studies and preaching.)

This Upanishadic passage closely parallels the corresponding function that we have in our colleges today, which goes by the term, “Convocation Address”. The students of the Gurukula are given some key ideas on how they should live lives dedicated to their culture, consistent with what has been taught to them as the goal and way of life.

To be continued ..


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