 in the glory and good that is man. Countless are the times when racial experience distilled thus has been brought to us as the Religion of Man with the refrain, esha dharmah sanatanah ' this dharma is eternal.
India's Eternal Search for Truth
This constant search for human perfection and the alignment of the individual and the community moving in tune with each other, is what is known as the sanatana dharma. In this very act of garnering the wisdom of the ages as the Ancient Way, we have been gifted with innumerable icons that suit individual characters and aspirations. There are plenty of Ideals and Icons in our culture that help us achieve a good life. What we need is faith in these Ideals that have an undeniable transforming power to make the today's youth ambassadors of the peerless Indian culture to teach others the significance of the word 'civilization'.
A hundred years ago Sri Aurobindo found such ambassadors who taught the whole nation how to rise against oppression and the debilitating effects of the Western civilization. He saw that the inspiration set in motion by the presence of Sri Ramakrishna and given an active thrust by Swami Vivekananda taught the youth of Bengal to have faith and gain the strength that faith gives to suffer for the good of the nation.
Why should the youth be worried that things seem to be bad all around? In truth, it is not so. Dharma continues to thrive among the common people and that is why mankind continues to move forward. To recognize this and push onwards, one needs along with faith and selflessness, courage. In fact Sri Aurobindo finds selflessness and courage to be extensions of one's faith. So he addresses the youth of his time (and the youth of all times):
'When you believe in God, when you believe that God is guiding you, believe that God is doing all and that you are doing nothing, -- what is there to fear?' What is there that you can fear when you are conscious of him who is within you? Courage is then a necessity, courage is natural and courage is inevitable.'
Returning to Our Own Roots
With this firm faith secured, we have to find out how best to make of ourselves invincible warriors by getting trained in sanatana dharma. But I can hear my young readers protesting: Where are the leaders to inspire us with such faith that brings in its wake selflessness and courage? That is why we place before the youth of India this ancient heritage, the sanatana dharma. Interestingly enough, in this the centre is everywhere, the circumference nowhere. Why not make a beginning with Panchatantra and Hitopadesa instead of wasting our time in purposeless meanderings of violence in the name of magic projected in the latest best-sellers? Come then to our treasures of commonsense, our scintillating baskets of wit and humor, our precious caskets of faith and spirituality, our hard disks of noble living. Make a beginning with two of the finest icons Indian youth can reach out for, the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesa! Even if you do not study anything else but simply master and imbibe the whole of these two works and act according to the tenets, victory will be yours in all your undertakings!
To Hitopadesa, then. A book which is ageless, ancient and never palls. A work which is down to earth, but high in instilling soulful faith. The opening section places before us the importance of learning, and what it does to gain for us fortune and faultless-ananda:
'Learning, although possessed by a low man, introduces him to the king who is (ordinarily) inapproachable, just as a river, although flowing through a low region, takes one to the inaccessible sea: (sources) from which floweth great fortune. Learning endows one with modesty; from (having) modesty one passes on to (gets) worthiness; being worthy one obtains riches; from riches religious merit and from that happiness.'
Sanatana dharma does not teach simply with such moralistic formulae. The practice always is to make you think for yourselves. What is good for the individual? What is beneficial to the community? Which is the right path to achieve 