Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah
“Bro, I’m seeing news of Hindus being targeted in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Canada & now even within India. But we follow ahimsa i.e. non-violence so how are we supposed to react?”
No you’re misunderstanding it & every Hindu should hear this tea…
Do you remember more than 10 years ago James Cameron’s movie AVATAR came out & in the last scene, all the creatures of the forest came to fight for the native Na’avis? And they basically say that the deity Ewva has heard them?
In Sanatan Dharma, we have the same concept - धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः (Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah)
This is line every Hindu should know. It means that Dharma will protect those who protect it, and it will destroy those who attack it or stay silent.
All our stories follow the same common theme of heroes fighting against injustice & then Dharma, which is present in all of us, coming to support them in one form or another.
Be it Arjuna who got Krishna’s support in the Mahabharata, or Sri Ram who got the support of the Vanara Sena & other creatures of the forest while building the Lanka bridge in Ramayana.
Or be it Bhakta Pralhad who is protected by the Narasimha Vishnu Avatar, or Rishi Markandeya who gets Lord Shiva’s boon, or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who got the camaraderie of his brave malvas (soldieres).
Dharma comes to the rescue of those who fight to uphold, preserve & protect it.
If our temples/mandirs are being attacked, if our women are being converted, raped and killed, and if our kids are being brainwashed into becoming terrorists … it is absolutely our right & in fact, our duty to:
+ Speak up against such malpractices & abuse
+ Call out people & their ideologies that are being violent
+ Take action for our self-protection if needed
There is no vedic shashtra or rule that forces us to follow Gandhian non-violence in the face of injustice or adharma - we are not obligated to stay “peaceful” & tolerate what is wrong for our society. So don’t apologise for speaking up to protect your own dharma/religion.
If we stay silent & don’t respond, it means we are betraying our own Hindu brothers & sisters, and so our Dharma will also abandon us when the time comes.