Thread by @kvsarmaj

Even that thought of "simple minded folks sustaining systems" is Hindu in every way.

https://twitter.com/kvsarmaj/status/1295040294577086464

My mother once told me a story that she heard from her mother - this story also featured in a mini series on DD in Telugu during my childhood called "Ganapati".

Once a young boy had a question. He frantically ran to the old sadhu living near a huge bilva tree on the outskirts of the village. Panting, he asked, "Swami, please pardon my intrusion. I need to ask you a question immediately. This is very urgent."

The sadhu opened his eyes slowly, turned his face to the boy, and said "Child, first sit down, and calm down. Then tell me what is bothering you".

The child sat down, caught his breath, and then spoke "Swami, I am afraid we are all going to die".
Sadhu smiling "Yes, vatsa. Death is inevitable. You cannot escape it".
"No Swami. We are all going to die at once".
"What makes you think so?".

"The sky swami. The sky. There is nothing supporting it. It is going to fall on our heads one day. All of us are going to die horrible deaths".
"The sky cannot fall child".
"Why? Swami. If there is nothing supporting it, it has to fall one day or the other!"

"But there is something supporting the sky".
"What Swami? What is it? Can I take a look at it? Do you know where it is? Which direction should I go? How far should I go? Please tell me Swami. I need an answer to this question".

"All answers will become clear vatsa. But first, you have to do something".
"What Swami?"
"Take a begging bowl. Go to each house in the village and ask for alms. Ask for alms only once. If nobody responds, start cursing them in the vilest of terms and move to the next house."

"Swami but what if somebody tries to hurt me. Don't worry child. Nobody will hurt you".
"Ok, Swami. I will go right away".

The boy started going to each house in the village. With a begging bowl in his hand. At each house, he would ask for alms. When nobody would respond, he would curse them and walk away.

Many would not even bother answering until he starts cursing. Some would come out and curse back. Some would be bringing alms but hearing the curses would go back. Some would even come out angrily wanting to beat him to a pulp but would go back watching that he moved on.

He had a similar experience at all but one house. At one house, the grihini came running. By the time she reached him, he started cursing.

She said catching her breath "I am sorry it, child. It took a while for me to come to your service. I was busy in the kitchen. I don't know when you ate last. If you are hungry, please come in and I will serve some food now".

Surprised, the boy had lunch there, rested for a bit.

He returned to the sadhu in the evening. He told him what happened.

Sadhu said smiling "see vatsa, these are the people who are stopping the sky from falling our heads. As long as such people exist, the sky will not fall".

"The sky is supported by the virtuous people who serve without any expectation, who practice their dharma. As long such people are alive, the sky will remain in its place."

The story is essentially a representation of Hindu dharmic thought. It is supposedly inspired by Vyasa's experience in Kashi and the legend of jaganmata annapurneshwari devi.

Any society, any country, any system will implode and destroy itself when there is no observance of dharma. Here the primary aspects of dharma at play in this story are kshama, akrodha. The grihini held on to that strand of dharma and that has sustained one man that day.

That's why I find that Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya to be one of the foremost in the political field in understanding dharma in an appropriate way. "Dharma is sustenance", he said during his "Integral Humanism" lectures (the first on was held in Vijayawada, to add a trivia).

So people saying that they are batting for dharma but actually inciting people to arson, destroy property, fight are being dishonest and disingenuous.

The world should be thankful that 1/3 population of the world are actually very peaceful people who hold on to their nerves until it is too much to bear.

And intellectuals who are asking us to break away from this restrain may really be our enemies, not friends. Note this even in Mahabharata, we see this: even after so many taunts and insults, pandavas didn't lose their nerve. Krishna kept guiding them to strive to avoid war.