By Er. Rajesh Pathak
Adi Shankracharya was born in Kerala in 508 B.C. According to the tradition, a brahamchari (celibate) goes to seek his first alms only from his mother after having gone through the rite of Yagyopavit sanskara. But Acharya Shanker went to the house of the poor Valmiki woman engaged in the work of sanitizing the village. He touched her feet as a gesture of salutation, asking, ‘Maa bhikshaam dehi’ (Mother! give me the alms). Thus, he preferred to consume the food from the hands of a poor woman instead of his real mother’s.
When grown up, from Kerala he came to Omkarnath Teerth on the bank of the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh, and got to have been initiated from Shri Govindpad as a Sanyasi (renunciant). Taking into the fold of Hinduism the very embodiment of compassion, Gautam Buddha, as the 9th incarnation of God Vishnu, he took a revolutionary step in the direction of social integration. And thereafter, with Hindu doctrine, he infused many a teaching of Buddha. This helped to subdue the effect of the sense of discrimination that prevailed then to a great extent.
This is not all! Adi Shankaracharya shared no less contributions for national integration too—most notable being the four Mathas (religious shrines) established by him in the four different directions of the country, viz. Rameshwaram, Dwarka, Badrinath and Jagannath Puri. And in 547 AD, he went on to initiate Dashnami Sanyasi or Akhada Parampara, likewise. And these ten are: Teerth, Ashram, Vana, Aranya, Parvat, Sagar, Saraswati, Bharti, Giri, Puri. Thereafter, two more Akhadas came into existence by the virtue of Shri Chand, the son of Guru Nanak Dev. The last and 13th of them was Nirmal Akhada, the votaries (sadhus) of which draw inspiration from all the Sikh Gurus and Guru Granth Sahib.
In order to inflame the spirit of Dharma, the institution of Akhadas grew into an active form in the Mughal period. The institution is said to be named as Akhadas after the arrogant (akkhad in Hindi) nature of sadhus. In case of marriage and crimes like killing, they are subjected to be excommunicated from the Akhada. Earlier, sadhus used to perform austerity in isolation according to their will. In order to unite them, and through them to bring about social harmony at large, Shankaracharya founded the tradition of Akhadas.
From the life of Adi Shankracharya, what is notably learnt is that social harmony is not a new concept of recent times, but a natural virtue of Indian society since the ages. However, today the social awakening of the civilized strata of society and bringing about mutual dialogues among them, with emulating Panch Pariwartan (Swadeshi, Parivar Prabodhan, Samrasta, Nagrik Shishtachaar, Paryawaran), have come to gain more importance than ever. Society, we know, means the group of people moving ahead to the same end, regarding which, in Indian philosophy, is viewed as the well-being at the level of materialism and spiritualism both.
The existence of law can bring control over society, but the sense of oneness could be nurtured through harmony alone. Despite appearing to be diverse superficially, on the basis of nation, culture and values, all are one. Social harmony is not something to be required at the time of peril at the doorstep, but one to be maintained all the time as a lifestyle. This (social harmony) and mutual dialogues are the two strong pillars of society. And practically, how this could happen—take a look at the following episode:
Two years back, a 7-day spiritual discourse, viz. the recitation of katha by Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham, was organised in Khilchipur town of Rajgadh district (MP). In the premises of the event, an entry gate was raised in the name of Dr. Bheemrao Ambedkar. So also, the portraits of Sant Valmiki, Sant Ravidas, Sant Birsa Munda, Rana Punja Bheel, Veer Savarkar, Savitribai Phulay and other great personalities were displayed, reflective of brief descriptions of their contributions. On this occasion, in Uday Palace of the town, Dhirendra Shastri ji held a meeting of 73 heads and representatives of different caste organisations affiliated with Hinduism. Addressing them, Dhirendra Shastri emphatically said: ‘Taking this as my earnest request, you all get united, please! We could be the representatives of any caste, but it is our responsibility to consolidate Hindus in the spirit of harmony. Everybody should have the right of entry into the temple. If somebody makes mischief, it should not be linked to the entire caste.’ Taking inspiration from Dhirendra Shastri, thereafter all the caste heads, joining together, performed aarti, chanting the prayer of God. Also, invoking Hanumanji, they took the oath of building up a harmonious and strong Hindu community!
The Chief of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Milind Paranday, says, wielding weapons is not the only path for social self-protection. Adding a few merits in our social behavior meant for social consolidation could also drive us to a great result.
