Ethics of the Aryans and Modern Sages of India

Abstract

The Aryan view of life is that the personal life of an individual is ultimately subject to the same universal law as of all nature. The fundamental principle is the “theory of Karma,” which says that each action eventually causes a certain effect. Everything in nature, from abstract thought to practical action is determined and directed by this law, as explained by Krishna in Bhagwat Gita. Man sets himself the goal of freeing himself from the bondage of the nature. This chapter analyzes various aspects of this basic idea. Ethical dimensions of ancient Indian literature are analyzed. In this part of this chapter, we also narrate the personalities of modern sages who developed the philosophical tradition of India further; the foremost of them was Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a philosopher of Nayaya School (Indian logic) and a social reformer who campaigned against widow burning, child marriage, and women’s right on property. Rabindranath Tagore was a philosopher of Bhakti (devotional) movement, and an active promoter of India’s freedom movement. Swami Vivekananda gave the wake up call to India to fight against the imperialism. His ideas are based on the Karma (Action) Yoga of Bhagwat Gita. Sri Aurobindo reinterpreted the Vedas in light of his philosophy of Gyana (Knowledge) Yoga of Bhagwat Gita.