Indian View of Peace and Development Leading to Global Harmony and Unity

Abstract

The Indians think in a different way. Their philosophy, value systems, culture are different from the western counterparts. The political history of the Occident bore evidences that the centre of their life was the achievement of power. Thus, to the west, State attained a pivotal role and the system of power revolved round the State. In India, the centre of life was the society and not the state. In pre British India we can find a ruling power like a king or emperor but he was only a ruler .The development and the welfare of the common people were vested only on the society. Arthasastra and Manusamhita bore evidences of some specific duties and general duties to be performed by the people for the all round development of the society. S.K.Mitra in his book The Ethics of the Hindus stated that Manu distinguished between relative duties (varṇāśrama dharmas), i.e., duties relative to one‟s station of life, and common duties (sādhāraṇadharmas), i.e., duties of universal scope and validity. The relative duties are the specific duties relating to one‟s station in life, i.e., one‟s station as determined by one‟s varṇa or caste and one‟s āśrama or particular stages of life. The universal duties are the duties irrespective of one‟s age, caste, or creed, i.e., duties obligatory on man as man and not as a member of a particular community or social class. Manu enumerated that there are ten sādhāraṇadharmas or common duties of men. They are steadfastness(Dhṛti),Forgiveness(Kșamā),Application(Dama),Avoidance of theft(Cauryābhāva),Cleanliness(Śauca),Repression of sensibilities and sensuous appetites(Indriyanigraha),Wisdom(Dhĩ),Learning(Vidyā),Veracity(Satya),Restraint of Anger(Akrodha).Every individual residing in society needs to follow them. These duties were ascribed to them to maintain the peace, prosperity, and harmonious development of the society. We could find mentioning of such ethical virtues in the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Gita and in the different schools of Indian philosophy. In this chapter, we would discuss how these ethical virtues and principles lead to the development of peace and harmony of Indian society and their influences on global harmony as a whole. The earliest manifestation of Indian spirituality is found in the Vedas. The Modern Hinduism defines itself as the religion of the Vedas; they regarded Vedas as the foundation, and essence of the Hindu way of life. The Vedas and Upanishads speak of the ways of attaining spirituality by establishing a harmony with all beings. In the Upanishads repeated emphasis has been given on the fact that peace and harmony can be attained not by refraining oneself from activities but by establishing a living connection with all objects. Vedic literature as mentioned in the book Indian Religions is divided into two main categories, the saṁhitās or “collections”, most of which are in verse, and the commentaries or brāmaṇas, most of which are in prose. The three main saṁhitās are the Ṛg Veda, and Yajur Veda and the Sāma Veda; and Atharva Veda, a later text, is sometimes listed as fourth. The brāmaṇas consists primarily of explanations of the elements of the sacrifice; appended to them as the most esoteric āraṇyakas (forest books) and upanisads.The word Upanisads is made of word elements upa, ni, and sad, which are generally explained as meaning as “sitting down near”. The picture thus evokes is a group of students at the feet of the instructor in a secret “teaching session.” In the Upanisads themselves, the term denotes „secret knowledge‟ or „secret teachings‟. “Śaṁkara derives the word upanisad as a substantive form the root sad, „to loosen‟, „to reach‟ or „to destroy‟ with upa and ni as prefixes and kvip as termination. If this derivation is accepted, upanisads means brahma-knowledge by which ignorance is loosened or destroyed. The treatise that deals with brahma-knowledge is called the upanisads and so pass for the Vedanta. The different derivations together make the upanisads give us both spiritual vision and philosophical argument.” The Upanisads teaches us that the world of multiplicity is in fact reducible to one single primary reality that reveals itself to our senses in different forms. This reality is hidden from senses but is discernible to reason. The question that is repeatedly asked in the upanisads is that what is the reality that remains identical and persists through all changes? The answer is given in the upanisads themselves as that supreme reality is