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see a man as she views her father, brother and son except her
husband when she wants to beget a child), 4)
asteva
(not to
steal), and 5)
aparigraha
(not to hoard things beyond one's
reasonable requirement). Included in the above are almost all
the do's and don'ts that one could conceive of.
The backbone of morality is the love and regards for others in
its true sense. Indians can proudly say to the world that it is
only the Vedic literature, which speaks about well being of one
and all —
sarve bhavantu sukhinah.
No modern religion can
claim that it preaches well being of one and all. It is seen that
the prevailing religions speak of sectarian well beaing, and even
go to the extent harming others — sometimes even killing for
no reason. In this background, the entire human society can
proudly carry the torch of the Vedic knowledge and enter into
a world of universal love, brotherhood and peace.
A Historical Perspective: Some five thousand years ago there
was no religion on the earth. Prior to that it was
dharma
alone.
Modern scientists believe that the earth is four billion years
old and the first humans walked on it a few million years ago.
The classical Indian view is that man has been on the earth for
about two billion years — we have the
Srsti Samvat
(Creation
Era) that currently is 1,97,29,49,106 in the year 2006 AD. There
may be difference in opinions about the true age of humanity
on the earth, however there is no doubt that the Vedas guided
the mankind for many thousa ids of years. While the Vedas
unified the mankind under one absolute infinite God, the
modern religions have divided the humans. Every prevailing
religion has one or more dogmatic ideas and it can be stated
with utmost certainty that none of them will ever be able to
guide the entire humanity. That means that the religions will
continue to cause conflicts and wars unless and until man takes
a conscious and considered decision to follow the
dharma.
Before we discuss further, we must answer a pertinent question.
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