The Versatile India

If you are planning a tour to India ,you have chosen a right place to visit .It is the country full of diversities .But you need to take care of yourself since it is not the same place as it used to be since past .It has now changed enough gradually due to various changes in the interests of the people of India .The main change at this time is that the people are much more affectionate to money,lust and fame for which they can sell their values .Pardon me for annoying you but I am quite true because its happening in India now .And I can easily say that its all an effect of other forein countries .I will discuss it later in detail... But the reality is that few cunning people are destroying the image if India just for their mean gratification.You should read this article to know what India was and what it has become now .Still there are many people who are following their ancient rules and laws ,you may find a glimpse of that lifestyle that influences the whole world most .But I have seen that beside this detreoration that transcendental feeling still flowing in the air of India ,it is really its diviniy that even in this critical condition of this country ,its holding strong in the world . 

One of the famous American writer Mark Twain has written about India "Land of religions, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, grandmother of legend, great grandmother of tradition. The land that all men desire to see and having seen once even by a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of the rest of the globe combined."

So you are welcome to this amazing place .

Since ancient times India's boundaries are continuously changing so its culture has been widely spread throughout a major portion of Asia .Its influence can be seen far away but it may be so that those distant places were once a part of India .During ancient times India was dominated by the Aryans ,who used to speak in Sanskrit language .They ruled India gifting her a best of all time period .That period may be said as the cradle of all Indian cultures .
As I have read in the history books written by various mordern writters ,India was much better than that .It can be understood by the ancient books ,our Epics and other real characters of that time .Though India has been several times appreciated by many foreigners who have tried to get mingled with its natural environment .The person who lives in India ,who has explored India ,who has seen the versatility ,has felt it and analysed it ,who has felt the spiritualy from deep inside and knows the truth of life ,is the person who can understand the sense of these ancient books and ancient Indian culture .

I see that now a days the researches are prooving many things that have already been said in our past .We accept it when it is endorsed by the western countries .We should trust our theories not blindly but with a reasonable mind .It is not so easy .But atleast we can accept all good things stated there .
Whereas I feel our Indian culture is an inclusion of powerful and positive messages and traditions that can enhance your mental,physical and spiritual skills upto an amazing level.But trust me you can feel it only when you try to learn from deapth of your heart ,leave all your ego and believe in a  powerful nature that is running on its own rule that central power that is responsible for  governance of  all natural rules and laws.

I am going to start a beautiful itineration on this way of Indian Culture and tradition .

India is a place full of diversity .The life is full of various colours or you may say there are various colours of life .The only difference between the two the first one is applied to an individuals life while the second one is applied to the society in which an individual lives .

It is said that the king is the representative of the God .The king can make his kindom better than the heaven and the king can make it worse than a hell ,it all depends upon the king himself.So is the effect of his reign upon the society .Just follow that  to know the cultures that has been changing changing and changing ...but cant be erased .Time have brought many changes in India but the truth is that, all are hovering just upon the cradle of this enormously great country .No other country have been proved to be so much civilized since extra ancient time .Take an example of Varanasi "the oldest living city in the world,the city which was already old when Buddha was young .

Mark Twain was so much impressed by Varanasi that he writes : “Varanasi" or Banaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.” 

Whole India has been traversed by the great rulers of India .We can see the impact of those impires on India .During ancient times whole India was dominated by "Sanatan Dharma ".Sanatan means Ancient and Dhrama means religion.At that time dharma meant the "righteous path ".There was no any such division of human beings on the basis of religion .At that time humanity was the main division of "Dharm".And so the world was so beautiful for the Indians .

The Fourth Geneva Convention and Articles 48 to 78 of Protocol I deal with the humane treatment of civilians, prescribing principles ensuring their safety. The laws of war relating to occupied territory in ancient India go much beyond the present international humanitarian law because they also impose an obligation of establishing a government according to the wishes of the people and not imposed upon them. You can see that the acharya of the demons Sukracharya in Sukraniti states that the victorious should protect the people of the conquered territory as his own children, collect revenues and grant a portion of it to the maintenance of the vanquished king and his family. The soldiery was to remain outside the occupied village and should not be permitted to enter without royal permission, and they should on no account oppress the villagers. )The ancient Hindus were pragmatists. Their resort to war was motivated by the desire of building up the image of the king for righteousness, as the upholder of dharma. The king was aware that there is no country without people and no kingdom without a country. (Source : Australian Year Book of International Law)

No one knows how ancient our culture and civilization is but since ancient times it is told that the situation of the world will be declining continuously .As it is said nothing is everlasting in this world ,so is the case with the earth and this universe too .That very principle is the basis of this chronological division.
It has been differentiated chronologically in four main periods .

Satyug ,Treta ,Dwapar and Kaliyug

All four have their traits .

The current hindi name of India as Bharatvarsha ,is named after a Great ruler of India in the transition period between the Treta and Dwapar .Before it India was known as Aryavarta . India had not been divided into four varna and four ashrams until there had been differences among people's nature ,habits and practices .In "Shreemad Bhagawd " epic ,it is mentioned that Brahma created all humans equal ,but human's behaviours differentiated them by ownselves.But later this self differentiation led to evolution of caste system .

Those intellects who were polite ,worked for  betterment of society, have rules in life and lived a sacred life .Those who relied on the truth and non violence -were Brahmins .

Those who faught for others rights ,who protected people and could take reasonable decision and judgements .Those capable enough to punish a culprit for his guilt - were Kshatriyas .

Those who had interest in trade and who had craze for wealth, more than anything .Who possessed various qualities of arts - were Vaishyas .

The lazy ,unkempt,selfish by nature .Who had neither truth nor honesty .Who could usurp other's  assets easily ,who could cheat and exploit others .Overall you can say who neither have a complete knowledge nor have will to achieve- were Shudras .

Shreemad Bhagawdgita says:

yasya yallakshnam proktam punso varnabhivyanjakam
tadanyatrapi drishyet tattenaiva vinirdishet 

 An individual should be classified in a particular class irrespective of his birth if he possesses the decisive characteristic of that class. One’s class should be decided considering the holistic picture of the qualities of the class of the person and those of the other classes. - Shrimadbhagwadgita 7.21.35

So you can say that Shudras were not those who were born in a shudra family rather all those person were assumed to be shudra who had a nature like that.

So only action of people decided who belonged to which caste .Caste system was not antihumane as it has been made now .The incomplete mindsets full of ego and selfishness has corrupted this system .Our religious theories say that our birth should be purposeful .We should always try to improve our nature  to rise up high in this life .One's successful life was decided by his deeds not by physical assets that he has accumulated (as the trend now a days).

We have seen  how maharshi Balmiki changed to a saint (Brahmin) from a decoit (Shudra) ,who wrote whole Ramayan .Now say where there is a differentiation in people on the basis of caste of the family in which they were born .

Now say is'nt our culture beautiful? Where there is no humanity that society becomes a cluster of wolves.

The life span has been divided into four periods by a rule called " aashram " that specifies one's duty in a particular stage of life .
Brahmacharya - The age between 5-16 is characterized by gaining the knowledge either by going to a "guru" or learning by self attainment .
Grihastha -It is the middle period of the life where people contribute mostly to society .The concept of four purusharths Dharma ,Arth ,Kaam are formalized in this period that lead to the forth purushartha the Moksha.A grihastha was supposed to accomplish five maha yagyas by doing five sacrifices everyday to please God ,departed fathers ,fellow men,and other living creatures .
Vanprastha - It is the stage where a person tries to live a mature life .One is expected to win over senses and share his experiences for benefit of society .One should transfer his responsibilities and properties to his heirs and should look for his spiritual elevation.
Sanyas - At this stage one renounces the world and looks forward for the " Moksha ".

Brahmacharya and Grihastha are pravritti dharma which means it involves people in duties while vanprastha and sanyas are nrivritti dharma which means it detaches from duties of this world .

So these were the basic differentiating factor for whole of the society .There were no religion to divide humans .

Broadness of acceptance -

India is one of the most ancient countries .It has seen many ups and downs in the past .India had always been a strong and powerful region in context of knowledge, technology ,law and order ,spirituality ,character ,morality etc .It always welcomed the people from abroad .Even a very beautiful phrase is given by ancient Indian scholars who say : "Atithi devo bhav" .Though Indian heritage is totally based on our ancestors "the Aryans "  yet other foreign invasions in India have their impact on it too .So besides our main heritage  we are hiring other cultures too .And today India is a result of this syncretism.One can see the greatest variety of cultures in India .Each and every difference tells  a different story .A great amalgamation of different culture makes India a most tolerant and amazing country of the world .Everything is here but still what lucrates the intellectuals more ,is again its fundamental heritage from the real natives ,the Aryans ,whose foundation is perfect enough to make you feel eternal .

Since ancient times India has seen so many foreign invasions .Each time people came here with different cultures .It all have its effect upon Indian culture because those people who lived here ,they entirely mingled with its culture with their own and came in existance a new syncretic culture which brought equillibrium  .You can see a very nice example of such syncretism with the Mughal Emperors,specially the great ruler Akbar.He was so much influenced by Indian culture that he could not stop himself to defy the orthodox rituals of his own religion .To make Islam more flexible , humanitarian , philosophical and real ,he propounded a religion Deen-e-Ilahi which was more influenced by Hindu Philosophy.Similarly you can see variou invasions and their effects on India.

Go to History of India .

How beautiful india is destroying -