In the Dharmic way of life, you can worship any God / Deity/ Spirit, perceived by you in any way or as residing in anything you choose, in any manner you find satisfactory, or even not believe in any God at all ‘lshta Devata’ (Personal deity or no deity), ‘Kula’ Devata (Clan deity), ‘Grama’ Devata (Village deity) and so on. It is this concept of Ishta Devata/ Personal Deity, that we should encourage, be it any of the myriad deities from the Dharmic pantheon, or Buddha or Jesus Christ, or Allah, and ask that you pray/worship your own Deity/God, in any manner you choose, accepting the equal right of others to select their own Deity and pray/worship that Deity in any manner they choose.

In order to avoid misunderstanding, or even conflicts, it is always necessary that you should keep such a Deity to yourself, your home, family or community and everywhere else, follow the Golden Rule and lead a life of Dharma- morally, ethically and environmentally conscious of your responsibility to ALL Life. You should not make any effort to denigrate the Deities of others, or try to evangelize/ proselytize or try to convert them, just respect their choices as would like them to respect yours. Also, Dharmic culture doesn’t ask you to be God fearing, as ‘Religious’ cultures do, as it sees the Gods and Goddesses as deities to love, revere and regard and not as a Deity to fear. Ofcourse acts of adharma/ wrong doing, will make one apprehensive of the Deity’s displeasure, leading to remorse and acceptance of the temporary displeasure of the Deity as one would of his loving father/ mother.

In the Dharmic culture, the heart is nourished by devotion, the community is united by culture and the soul moves toward ‘Moksha’ (union with God). Of course, history has long taught us that willingness to accept such a way of life must be mutual. Because if one is Dharmic and the other is not, the Adharmic will prevail, as then ‘Might’ becomes ‘Right’!

As the adage goes – “Be Ahimsic (Non-violent) and Dharmic, but always carry a Big Stick”. It may be noted that all representations of Deities in India hold a weapon in at least one hand.

Of course, today, we hand over such power, to physically or militarily enforce the Dharmic way under the Authority of the Constitution of our Nation, properly and continually interpreted as required in the context of that time by the Judiciary, and enforced by the Police and the Military under our Government as required.

It is some understanding of what Sanatana Dharma meant that prompted some eminent thinkers from the West to write about Hindutva as follows:

“Hindus and Hindutva will one day rule the world, because this is a combination of knowledge and wisdom” – Leo Tolstoy.

“Until the effectiveness of Hindutva is restored, how many generations will suffer atrocities and lives be cut off, then one day the entire world will be attracted to it, on that day there will be ‘Dilshad’ (Happy heart) and (then) the world will be (one).” – Herbert Wells.

“Hindus speak of peace and reconciliation. I invite Christians to appreciate the faith of reform.” – Gosta Lohan.

“The entire world will accept Hindu religion one day and if it cannot even accept the real name, it will accept it by name only… and it will be the religion of those who have studied the world.” – George Bernard Shaw.
“Hindutva will become the ruler religion in Europe, but a famous city of Europe will become the Hindu capital.” – Michael Nostradamus.

“The faith which is upon us and this is better than us in the world, then that is Hindutva. If we open our hearts and minds for it, then it will be good for us.” – Huston Smith.

“The moral sense… affords the best and highest distinction between Man and the lower animals.” – Charles Darwin

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