6/07/2021 Post 1 introduction – why?
I ran many posts more than 160 on learning. Response was good. Now I want to try another topic.
I thought I will use this medium – it helps us to crystallize and clarify our thoughts through collaborative thinking and piecewise discussions that are easy to handle by many. I found this effective and so would like to follow this approach of alternate day posts.
I am reaching to a larger group.
Your comments and responses are welcome, but don’t make it totally negative. Negativism with sound reasoning is welcome. It will initiate discussions. Please don’t hurt anyone or any religion. Haleness is not in our list.
I have two requests.
1.I know everyone in my contacts will not be interested in this topic of Hinduism and discussions. So, I want you to tell me about your interest in this. If you are not interested, I will not post it to you. I don’t want to be a nuisance.
2. I need your suggestion whether I do this in the broadcast way or create a group. Group automatically takes every comment and this can lead to clashes. I chose the broadcast model because unwanted comments can be filtered. Sometimes good comments may be missed. So please think about this. Many consider privacy as important. Hence this request to you.
I will be happy to receive your replies – definitely about your interest in this. If some want a group and some broadcast, I will do accordingly retaining privacy.
I will start with my first question.
Why I want to talk about Hinduism?
1.There is a lot of believers in one form and they fight with believers of another form like Siva vs Vishnu. It doesn’t exist in reality. Is it still strong enough to create a divide or diminishing?
2.There is a focus on one bad aspect – castes – that pervades everywhere and creates big divides. But is caste the only focus of Hinduism. Caste is a major negative of Hinduism. Dr Ambedkar wrote on annihilation of caste. But caste is becoming stronger in villages. Caste identity and caste politics are marching on. Justice party wanted inclusiveness with all castes in good percentage sharing knowledge and progress. That was a laudable idea. But divisions are increasing. So we can’t discuss caste system and it’s implications.
3.There are a lot anti Hindus particularly Indians who had a very good education here and migrated to US and Europe. Do they have a rational approach?
There are many so called intellectuals who are centered around Delhi who look at only one angle that is Hindu vs Muslim or majority vs minority. This gives a biased view.
4.There are many particularly Brahmins with guilt complexes.
5. Most importantly the religious concepts are multi-dimensional and not understood by many. Many look at one aspect only – rituals, temples, festivals, bhakti, etc. Is it possible to get a holistic view or a broader view not a narrow view. This will be our focus hopefully.
I am looking for your comments about the need or futility of this topic. I am sending it by broadcast. Please suggest some questions which we can discuss. Since I am not a scholar and my learning and knowledge is limited, I may need a lot of help to get answers. I am sure there are many who will provide good answers. So send your questions. But first, tell me are you interested?
6/08/2021 Post 2
Responses were mixed quite a good number have serious misgivings that it will lead to clashes. Most wanted it to go in broadcast mode to get saner opinions. Some have doubts. So, with trepidation, I am continuing with this topic. Hope maturity and wisdom prevails. Doubts and questions may be posed. I will post it and hope we get some good answers from our learned participants.
Mr G P Shekar has some comments:
“Good evening, professor.
Great and interesting topic – Hinduism. I, personally, would love to hear more about it. So please do keep me in your broadcast list. I am still discovering this aspect, by updating myself from various scripts, books, upanyasams by scholars etc.
At the outset, there is a lot of debate going on, even now, on what is meant by the word Hinduism. Many say, ‘it is a way of life’, and detach any connotation of any religion from this.
Also, I have seen huge debates, on who a Hindu is. I have seen references to Indian constitution, British era usage of the word, historical usage by invaders such as Mughals, etc. So, there is confusion – whether it is geographical, practices and faith of certain sect of people, followers some religion, etc.
The topic you’ve chosen could be seen as sensitive by many, and am glad to see your disclosures! With great humility, you solicit help from the participants too.
Look forward to hearing from you.”
My response
Glad you have kicked off the ball with a question what is Hinduism. It is definitely telling us Dharma, the right way of life and living. It emphasizes on truth. Rig Veda talks about knowledge and getting from anyone and also by observing various things and concentrating your mind on them. I would consider Hinduism as a huge forest of phenomenal knowledge and wisdom in many areas through various shastras. This treasure house evolved over thousands of years and nurtured by lakhs of scholars with intense effort trying to open the mysteries of life, nature, residents, cosmos.
It is also a religion in discussing about Brahman as the ultimate and only god, Atman, the soul, rebirth etc. It also talks about natural forces like Prithvi, Agni, Vayu, ether, water, rains etc. and talks about our sacrifices for them. It is a depiction of powerful, benevolent and sometimes destructive nature. It also talks about governance – sabhas and samitys , and behavior of its members.
Next question:
The word Hindu is of later origin. It came from sindhu – Indus valley civilization. May be Sindhu got modified to Hindu. Originally it was called sanatana Dharma, -rightness, gratitude, helping others, acquiring knowledge and truth. Hinduism provides us multiple paths to attain salvation. The paths are jnana, karma, bhakti. Most will follow karma and bhakti, but definitely some are needed to follow the knowledge path.
I can’t condense the enormous knowledge of Vedas and Vedangas into a few sentences. Pardon me if I am wrong.
So, I want to put it to a broad paint with inputs from many. Many are learned persons; many are rational and many are spiritual persons. So, we may get good views of Hinduism. We will not focus on present day practices but look at basics, rituals and practices are secondary, important for many but I am not competent to discuss their implications. Similarly, I will not get into serious theological discourses or spiritual experiences.
What is my competence? I will apply the Neti rule
I am not a scholar,
not a passionate believer in Hinduism,
Not a non-believer,
Not a negativist,
not a Hindutva man,
Not a hater of other religions
Not learnt Vedas or Upanishads or nyaya or mimamsa fully
Basically, I am a skeptic trying to understand the broad framework based on my limited readings and observations so as to clear some cobwebs.
Welcome questions.
6/09/2021 Post 3
What is religion?
Mr PV Joshi has a suggestion to define religion first.
My response
Let us start with conventional beliefs.
Best to start with Dictionary meaning.
“Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.”
This is a usual, myopic, biased, view.
The word religion comes from a Latin word that means “to tie or bind together.” Modern dictionaries define religion as “an organized system of beliefs and rituals centering on a supernatural being or beings.” To belong to a religion often means more than sharing its beliefs and participating in its rituals;
“A religious person – a person who manifests devotion to a deity. individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul – a human being; “
Mostly the discourses concentrate on a god or gods, faith or beliefs and rituals. Is that all.
Let us look at it more from the point of view of Hinduism with Vedas as a source.
I feel religion was started when
humans changed from living in caves in isolation to living in settlements. We see this Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The word civilization was used first to represent this. Then humans moved away from hunter gatherer and nomadic life style to cultivation. Agriculture gave them time to think and they felt the need for organization and discipline. They felt we need a harmonious life, a life where you help others in times of need. We use the statement paropakartham idam sariram. We need to live and let others live in a cooperative manner. So social behaviors were built and a community was formed. Multiple communities following the same standards became friendly in the beginning to fight big animals and even disasters. This also led to migrations. This gave us the saying Vasudeiva Kutumbakam.
So, religion became a moral and ethical standards keeper. The ethical principles are noble – truth, honesty, gratitude, mutual help, goodness – lokas Samastha Sukhino bhavantu – let all beings in the universe be happy- , help and not harm others, frugal living, piety, live with animals – pashupathi- ,respect to nature – isavasyam idam sarvam – all belong to god ,use it sacrificially- , and these principles are universal. How do you do it to bring all into a common fold? They saw the vast universe and nature’s bounties like water- rivers -, forests, trees, soils, animals and a host of other entities. They wondered how is this possible? They postulated a superhuman being or beings called gods. They said universe was created by God. Then the moral code was followed by an organizational structure. Hindu People looked at God as a benefactor and also feared powers of nature. This unified them. Initially, they showed gratitude to nature – Agni, Vayu, Surya, apas , prithvi , Aakash etc-. We call this panchabuthas.
Pancha Bhoota or Pancha Maha-Bhoota, five great elements, also five physical elements, is a group of five basic elements, which, according to Hinduism, is the basis of all cosmic creation. These elements are: Prithvi/Bhumi, Apas/Varuna/water, Agni, Vayu, Akasha/Dyaus.
Next religion brought up philosophy to address our curiosity about universe, about forces, about astronomy etc. Holistic approach led us to Yoga, Ayurveda, surgery
Let us conclude with the meaning of a common prayer and continue further on this topic further.
1: Om, together may we two Move (in our Studies, the Teacher and the Student),
2: Together may we two Relish (our Studies, the Teacher and the Student),
3: Together may we perform (our Studies) with Vigor (with deep Concentration),
4: May what has been Studied by us be filled with the Brilliance (of Understanding, leading to Knowledge); May it Not give rise to Hostility (due to lack of Understanding),
5: Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
6/10/2021 Post 4
Most religions started with an aim of creating a good, harmonious, helping society and prescribed a lot of rules and procedures like code of conduct, moral behaviors and social behaviors. They felt the compliance won’t come naturally. They were also puzzled by this great universe, its origin, the great forces, the five elements, and bountiful nature and felt there is something beyond a supreme being who created the universe and nature. They needed this supreme being to control people to obedience. They called him or her as God. They created rituals and guardians to give prominence to religion. Religion exerted systemic control on societies
It is both benevolent and harsh. Rituals dominated. Code of conduct forgotten or not properly practiced. Some became powerful and greedy and acquired control. That led to kingdoms.
To show the importance of prayer, I want to quote a non-believer. This shows when in trouble, we remember God. Prayer calms mind.
Stephen Asma is a Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College in Chicago. Most of his early publications were “strenuously” critical of religion. He wrote enthusiastically for various skeptical and secularist publications.
However, some challenging encounters, wider reading and deeper reflection began to change his mind. “I’m an agnostic and a citizen of a wealthy nation,” he confesses towards the end of his provocatively-entitled 2018 Why We Need Religion, “but when my own son was in the emergency room with an illness, I prayed spontaneously.” “I’m not naïve,” he goes on to say. “I don’t think it did a damn thing to heal him. But it is a response that will not go and that should not go away if it provides genuine relief for anxiety and anguish.”
Religions went through reforms several times in the past. One good thing about religions is to make people to think, to discuss, to enquire and seek answers and to reason out. Today the importance of religion has diminished considerably in many countries.
6/11/2021Post 5
Mr Venkatesh has asked a question.
“Sir, what is Sanathana Dharma. How is it related to Hinduism? Or Is it the one and the same.”
My response
We already stated that Hinduism is a later coined work to describe the religion followed in India. The name India comes from Indus and so it gave the name Hindu to our region and religion. But the religion is known as dharma or sanatana Dharma.
सनातन धर्म (meaning “eternal dharma” or “eternal order”) is another name for Hinduism.
Hinduism is more than a religion. It is a culture, a way of life, and a code of behavior. This is reflected in a term Indians use to describe the Hindu religion: Sanatana Dharma, which means eternal faith, or the eternal way things are (truth).
Dharma means much more than the narrow word religion. It goes beyond daily rituals and many outward features. It describes the correct – righteous -way of life to be followed by everyone with an ultimate goal of liberation or moksha – Yajnavalkya discusses this with his wife Maitrayee – through a series of doing good deeds and duties to self ,family, neighbours and society, and taking actions after knowing the rights and wrongs or just and unjust and going the correct path ,having good habits, behaviours and a calm and balanced mind as governed by the good characteristics enshrined in Vedas. Be compassionate towards all beings.
It emphasises good health through Yoga and Ayurveda and satvic food. It is a holistic approach to purposeful living.
While we may have many goals in life on education, social work, profession etc, one should not forget the ultimate goal.
Manusmriti written by the ancient sage Manu, prescribes many essential rules for the observance of dharma:
- 1.Patience (dhriti),
- 2. forgiveness (kshama),
- 3. Frugality, non-greedy ( aparigraha)
- 4.piety, or self-control (dama), 5. honesty (asteya),
- 6.sanctity (shauch) cleanliness,
- 7. control of senses (indraiya-nigrah),
- 8.reason (dhi),
- 9. knowledge or learning (vidya),
- 10. truthfulness (satya)
- 11. Nonviolence in words, action and deed (Ahimsa)
- 12. Compassion ( Daya)
- 13. Absence of anger – krodha
Vedas emphasize on truth, knowledge, frugal living – not greedy living-, gratitude to gods and nature, compassion, help to others, and following regularly good practices.
We know the upanishadic dictum
“Satyam vada, dharmam chara; svãdhyãyãn mã pramadaha” — Taittiriya Upanishad 1:11
Meaning
Speak the truth. Truth is separately emphasized though it is part of Dharma. Abide by your dharma. Never be idle in your studies.
6/12/2021 Post 6
Let us look at Dharma more. Hinduism describes dharma as the natural set of universal laws whose observance enables humans to be contented and happy and to save themselves from degradation and suffering. Dharma is the moral law combined with spiritual discipline that guides one’s life. Hindus consider dharma the very foundation of life. It means “that which holds” the people of this world and the whole creation. Dharma is the “law of being” without which things cannot exist.
. The Atharva Veda describes dharma symbolically: Prithivim dharmana dhritam, that is, “this world is upheld by dharma”.
Good Dharma = Good Karma.
Karma is duty. There are choices to select a duty with a purpose. It can be spiritual, jnana, devotion or bhakti , social, family or profession based. Doing it rightly is dharma.
Hinduism accepts the concept of reincarnation, and what determines the state of an individual in the next existence is karma which refers to the actions undertaken by the body and the mind. In order to achieve good karma, it is important to live life according to dharma, what is right. This involves doing what is right for the individual, the family, the class, or community, and also for the universe itself. Dharma is like a cosmic norm and if one goes against the norm, it can result in bad karma. So, dharma affects the future according to the karma accumulated. Therefore, one’s dharmic path in the next life is the one necessary to bring to fruition all the results of past karma.
What Makes You Dharmic?
Anything that helps a human being to reach god is dharma and anything that hinders a human being from reaching god is adharma. We saw the 13 rules for dharma. Each scripture emphasizes some. According to the Bhagavata Purana, righteous living or life on a dharmic path has four aspects: austerity (tap), purity (shauch), compassion (daya) and truthfulness (satya); and adharmic or unrighteous life has three vices: pride (ahankar), contact (sangh), and intoxication (madya). The essence of dharma lies in possessing a certain ability, power, and spiritual strength. The strength of being dharmic also lies in the unique combination of spiritual brilliance and physical prowess.
6/13/2021 Post 7
Discussions
Prof T V Gopal has a comment.
“Sir, two words Dharma and Shanthi punctuate the Hindu way of living. How do you correlate them? – Dr. T V Gopal, Anna University”
My response
As I have been saying Dharma encompasses many virtues including Shanthi. Our prayers explicitly dominate on Shanthi. The Vedas wanted a harmonious society. It means compassion, help to others, cooperation, good behaviors, control of emotions etc. But all these are futile without peace and harmony. People and whole society will be destroyed if some power-hungry people destroy them as happened later. That shows people paid lip service to Vedic concepts. So, Vedas realized we can’t have values for a good life if peace is not there. So, Dharma without peace is useless. You see a strong correlation between both. The importance of peace is found in prayers. We end with om Shanti. As I said earlier, Vedas also emphasize and amplify truth separately because truth builds trust and confidence in people in power like kings and leaders.
Mr Srinivasan, ex PNB, is looking at another relationship.
“Good morning, sir. Long time before I read from a speech of Mr Palkiwala, that certain words like Shanthi, bhakti, Dharma, do not have exact translation in any other language. But well understood by people in all parts of India in equal measure.
Is this because Sanskrit is the undercurrent of all languages in India. This again derived its base from the religion.
Is it right to hold this view?”
My response
Mr Rajiv Malhotra who has deep interests in Sanskrit and Hinduism also echoes your view that it is difficult to translate many Sanskrit words and even music terms into English providing correct interpretation.
There is a belief amongst linguists that languages develop according to local needs. Eskimo language has more than 12 words to describe ice/ snow which cannot be translated nor understood by many others. Tamil has a word Arul; how do we translate it?
At the time Sanskrit was developing, sanatana Dharma was being practiced by many. Hence Sanskrit became the vehicle to express our thoughts, prayers, requests and discussions / samvad . Discourses then were religion based. Later prakrit came into use and Buddhism used it for conveying information to common people as Hinduism did not reach ordinary people. The focus of Hinduism was to preserve Hindu concepts and principles and practices for posterity in a clear and unambiguous and well-structured manner. Sanskrit was useful for that purpose. Panini built a grammar whose focus was clarity and unambiguous transmission of thoughts to others. That is why you find it not easy to converse in Sanskrit. Panini succeeded definitely. Many languages have gone through a lot of changes, but Sanskrit did not change. We read easily whatever were written thousands of years ago. Chomsky a great linguist appreciates Sanskrit structures. Sanskrit was enhanced with three types of shabdabodha, Sastric Sanskrit. The structures and karakas are useful for knowledge representation in computers. Grammar looked more at semantics and phonetics, not so much on syntax.
6/14/2021 Post 8
Sanskrit as a semantic language
A simple statement by Mr Srinivasan PNB
“Dharma without peace is fruitless. Peace without Dharma is rootless.”
Nice.
Mr MGPL Narayana, a systems and computer expert has the following comment:
“Thanks for interesting postings on both the threads, simultaneously. Great learning for me.
I am curious on the last statement you made on Grammar that focus on Semantics than on Syntax. How advanced is the work of Panini as adopted to computer programming? Rgds’
My response
We need to look at what is semantic. It means understand the meaning not the structure alone. Syntax defines a structure but doesn’t bother about semantic correctness. My example for this is the two statements:
Elephant eats grass
Grass eats elephant
Both are syntactically correct but meaning is different. But look at Sanskrit sentence
Gajah thrunam khathathi.
Write the other way.
Thrunam gajah khathathi
Meaning is the same in both sentences. Why?
There is no word order in Sanskrit like noun first very next or last etc. Word order is not important.
Each word contains a lot of information- case, subject or object, noun or verb, masculine, feminine or neuter etc. Sanskrit grammar provides many cases. English is worst. We don’t know the case from a word like grass.
Action verbs play a crucial role in knowing the results.
Let me look at computer languages. FORTRAN used a few verbs like calculate, assign, move etc and you see the results based on actions. COBOL is verb based. So, we feel verb is important. But both noun and verb are important. Panini defined a lot of rules on each type and case and number of words. Similarly, he devoted time on verbs. He built procedures called karakas to find out the result of executing a sentence. For example, if you say
Ram gave a book to Krish.
The input is “book is with Ram “and output is “book is with Krish.” For a large number of action verbs, he established karakas. These were further built scientifically by shabdabodha by taking either verb or noun as primary unit.
We can build a semantic net with these. Hence my statement that Sanskrit is a semantic language. Many researchers elaborated the case grammar further in NLP research. Hope this gives answer to your comment.
Many may find this outside their scope and understanding. Please excuse us for this digression.
Greetings. Dks
Well, we have reached a milestone. I want to continue this contact. I have to look for something else to discuss. Welcome suggestions please.
I am taking a break from this post for at least a week or more till we find something to talk and discuss.
I have other discussions going on Hinduism. If some who are not in that broadcast but want to join, please inform me so I can include you
Thanks for your interest, support and encouragement.
6/15/2021 Post 9
Mr Kalyanasundaram , a renowned industrialist, has comments on Gopal’s query.
“Ref prof Gopal’s comment
Dharma & Shanti are two sides of the same coin. They are inter- dependent. Just like a peaceful life encourages dharma in the society, dharmic society has the benefit of general peace.
The dharma varies as per the varna, which is basically a division of labor in the society. As long as each varna does not flout its dharma, Shanti prevails. When one varna disregards the dharma, other Varna’s imitate and chaos sets in.
In one of his lectures, Kanchi Mahaperiava has told that the downfall of our (Hindu) culture of our country is only due to Brahmins, who left their swadharma.”
Mr Srinivasan PNB has another question:
“Please explain the concepts of faith and belief as the subtext or substratum of religion.”
My response
We had a detailed discussion on beliefs and axioms.
As we grow we collect beliefs based on experience, learning, profession, . Some beliefs may not have a basis. Some beliefs are
Doing pranayam in the morning is good.
Tur Dhall from this shop is good.
Cleanliness is godliness.
Getting up early in the morning is good.
Students should be disciplined through punishments.
Exams measure the achievements of a student correctly.
Follow rules rigidly
Wear a mask. wash your hands regularly.
One may have hundreds of beliefs. They guide practices and even habits. Most of us can discard a belief if one finds it wrong. So, beliefs are not absolute. Superstitions are also beliefs. Even assumptions made during solving a problem or deciding on a purchase are also beliefs. Beliefs build mindsets. Open mindset means beliefs can be changed. Some with fixed mindset have strong beliefs. Example is many teachers believe that exams are a must for quality of education and exams determine merit. Many people believe regular attendance at office is essential.
While beliefs cannot be validated, axioms are facts on which we build a discipline. Science sits on many axioms. There may be evidential confirmations for axioms. Axioms can be tested through applications.
Faith is used in reference to religion. You believe in God. You believe in after life. etc. Faith doesn’t change. It is similar to axiom. But one can change a religion. Then he gets new faith and associated facts. Faith also refers to a religion as a whole.
But many use both terms interchangeably. Only some subtle differences. Faith is more permanent than many believes. The number of facts that make up one’s faith are small. But one can have hundreds of beliefs and it may grow with time . Normally Faith refers to a religion itself. Faith in a religion is also graded. Faith in some tenets and not in others. Example is some Hindus believe in rituals only, some are spiritual and do not believe in rituals. Those who opposed ritualism started Buddhism and Jainism. So, there is a lot of variations in faith. More later
Hope this answers the question.
6/16/2021 Post 10
Prof Vinod Vyasulu, an eminent economist, has a concern.
“This is interesting. I would like to see how this discussion goes.
I have one troubling question. If we look around us today, Hinduism…the word has many interpretations…in daily life is beset by caste, intolerance, divisions etc. A part of our daily politics. But if you look into the philosophy, the shramana and Vedanta schools, you see something sublime and universal. How did such a philosophy result in such a divided, inequitable, society?”
My response
This is a puzzle for many. But look at times and social situations.
When Rig Veda was revealed, the people just started a settlement. The ultimate need was collaboration, harmonious living together, sharing, trust, prayer, and discipline. That was the need of the hour and that can give stability to the settlement. Secondly, Rig Veda realized the importance and power of nature. So it created yagas to pacify the strong forces. It may be gratitude for giving water, soil, wind and rain , sun light etc.
It also felt that we need to understand the cosmos. Caste was not mentioned. There are ten yamas and ten niyamas . Let me talk about five: panchavratas. These are
Ahimsa – non-injury
Brahmacharya – abstinence
Asteya – non-stealing
Satya – non-lying
Aparigraha – non-possessiveness
For people who were hunting ,will ahimsa work? Sacrifices and Ahimsa are opposite Will brahmacharya work for sustaining a family and society?
Rig Veda time is the agriculture time. Land became important and valued. That means aparigraha is not acceptable to some. So most vratas were slowly broken.
Hinduism was at that time a liberal and free religion allowing one to follow many paths to reach God. It encompassed believers and non believers.
So many people worked on these. No one seriously bothered about implementation. Mostly theory with less practice. When Yajur Veda came in, it was intended to generate pious thoughts through prayers and satsangh thereby spending time on good aspects and so the attention moved to rituals. Sama Veda gave importance to phonemes ,speech and music. Well ,for thousand years, scholars developed Upanishads with great principles . But scholars are a small section of people. When population increased, and one has to fight with fierce animals, weapons were developed. That led to power in the hands of a few. In Rig Veda, no kings are mentioned, I may be mistaken. But the settlements got rulers – kings. Kings felt they needed a justification for concentrating power in their hands. So they needed scholars to help out and patronized them. This is the first division .
Manu codified the practices and created the varnashram dharma initially to classify people according to professions. Even then ,it was clear that shrutis are more important than smritis. Actually ,a definition of a Hindu is one who believes and follows Vedas. Vedas are the ultimate authority. Unfortunately, it is no more true now. These developments increased the divide. Powerful became more powerful, powerless became more powerless and thrown to the fringes. Inclusion became exclusion.
Situations became worse. Times were spent in building empires, looting people and waging wars.
Materialism became important.
When we see the early kings mentioned in Raghuvamsam by Kalidasa, they were very great and did good deeds for the people and we’re just and fair. We still talk about Ramrajya. But the reality happened as was revealed in Nanda time. Chanakya has to remove him and bring in Chandragupta as a ruler. Rot has set in. By sixth century BCE, both Buddhism and Jainism came up to fight the inequality and emphasis on rituals. The principles are similar but the prominence shifted to other people like merchants and farmers . Kings existed , prayer was emphasized and life was the same even in Ashoka s rule.
All said and done, you find that definitely some values have been retained. Attachment to family is still strong . Affinity to community and city is also good. People are helpful. Knowledge is considered important. Peace , truth, honesty , cooperation, and gratitude are accepted as cardinal principles But Hinduism became mostly a ritualistic and caste dominated religion , and it was mostly powerless against the misdeeds of the powerful.
Mahabharat is a wonderful and detailed representation of life with a main story and hundreds of substories depicting societal behaviors. Many contradictions and many practices were described realistically. It gives many commentaries on society , on values, on Raj dharma ,on friendship etc. It is not totally a right vs wrong story. It allows the king to marry a fisherman’s daughter assuring her children will rule with Bhishma taking up brahmacharyam. At another place, karna is not allowed to learn with princes because of his caste ; and Ekalavya has to cut his fingers to satisfy Dhronacharya.
At the other end, we have a hunter Valmiki becoming a devout scholar writing the other maha kavya – Ramayana. Ravana was depicted as a devout Brahmin. So contradictions are there everywhere. We have Vyasa writing Mahabharat. Even in later periods, the two dasas – Purandradasa and kanakadasa were singing great immortal songs of devotion. Kannappa, another hunter, worships shiva in a totally different way but he was accepted and considered a devout. Nandanar is another example. These were all considered as divine interventions and did not lead to reforms. Are these examples only to be treated as exceptions and not a lesson to be learnt? – There are many contradictions both ways to depict ideal State vs the real state.
People even now have become religious, but scholars and spiritualists are not there or visible.