The poet Hem Chandra wrote:

“See the sun and stars circling above your head-

just as they were doing when we were free.

That Arjabarta still exists :

The Vindya Mountains still stand high;

The Ganges flows as e’er it did.

But where, O brother, is thy strength,

thy strength and wisdom,

that dazzled once like fire?

The rivers that went up to Gandhar still remain,

but where your courage and persistence,

where your wisdom, skill, and upliftment,

and where your pride of nation?”

The poet has spoken truly. We have lost almost everything. Scarcely a streak of character and culture remains with us. What are our sources to bring all back to us? Let us think over the matter.

We need to be all-round qualified in individual and collective life. When men’s intellects were guided by a man who knew the sources of well-being of others, the country and environment flourished. In ancient times many followed a superior, and the result was healthy religion, learning, and activity. This continued up to the time of the Mahabharata. Again with Buddha there was a revival and development. But this was largely a one-man show. Men did not collectively uphold the culture for long. Kabir, Nanak, Sree Chaitanya, and Sree Ramakrishna were seers like Buddha. But great intervals separated one from the other, and in the interims much was lost. King Ashoke preached for Buddha, but no one of similar magnitude did the same for Kabir, Nanak, Ramakrishna, and Chaitanya. After the Mahabharata period the country did not faithfully uphold the culture it had inherited. And now we are more concerned with western culture and politics. We are all but westernized. Love for foreign culture is not necessarily bad, but that culture should be adapted to our soil. We will not follow in every respect. We shall have to modify here and there. We should not give up our own. And we need a man of insight to point out the path of culture to us and uphold it by example.

We speak and hear of modern geniuses. Most of these cultural, scientific, social, and political leaders believe little in the kind of mental culture we propose. But they are wrong. If we look into their activities, we can detect that very culture alive in them. All that they do is in continuity of their forefathers’ doing. Instincts are inherited and never die. They may not always be on display due to circumstance, but they can rise again in us. We may find them altered due to acquisitions in the interim or changed environment. But they are recognizable just the same. The modern world scores many triumphs in science, art, industry, etc. due to acquisitions of forefathers. The instinct lies in the brain and goes on answering the needs of Time.

The Aryan seers, old and new, Christ, Mohammed, and others were absolute personalities. We need to follow such absolute personalities. They know how to bring back the lost tradition and truth not only to our land but the world at large. Our only prayer is, let our land take the lead in following the seer or absolute personality. Let not our poet’s cry go in vain. Let our journalists be on the watch for the truth, let our social workers be on their toes to guard and enliven what is good from the past, and let our statesmen lead us on to an ever widening future.

When we will follow sincerely the Aryan culture in throught, action, and character, we may achieve something of the intellect that our forefathers had. Our main job is jawjan, jajan, and varnasram. Writers of our ancient history tell us that such a culture existed among us from the time of the Vedas to the time of the Mahabharata. After the war of Kurukshetra the culture gradually deteriorated until now when we think it useless to go on with all those stale scriptures. But the more deep-thinking among us say we need those stale scriptures, that our growth must have some basis, and that basis lies in our inherited cultural instincts.

Jawjan means to think of meterialized ideal. That is how we elate our minds. Often we entertain many ideas about politics, society, religion, and so forth without having any materialized centre for our lives in our conscious minds. But actually we cannot escape worship. Even the thief has the master-thief, and animals herd around a leader. So we also, consciously choose someone or something around which to build our characters, our lives, and our futures. An Ideal is very helpful in building character. Without one it is very difficult to combat ego and selfishness and other complexes. We would go on running to one complex after another, our minds remainining unadjusted. But an ideal can adjust us. If any questions us as to what benefit we are deriving from all our prayers and meditations, the answer is simply to have an Ideal and find out. Before Kurukshetra men had Ideals and got the benefit.

Jajan means to serve one’s neighbours and elate them. We serve but miserlily our environment nowadays, and the whole country goes on like that. Big men tell us to be charitable, but we need impulse from within for works of charity. That is why jawjan is so important. It is the basis of jajan. And that is why we prefer jajaks, adharjus, and ritwiks to lead us in works of public service.

Varnasram means the inheritance and classification of instincts. Our ancients had an idea about eugenics and society which we, lacking a better, might follow. They said people of the same family or clan should not marry each other, that women of a higher instinct and culture should not lie in the beds of men of lower instinct and culture but that women should seek out men higher than themselves, and that the minds of the uniting pair should be exalted at the time of intercourse. We should examine such standards as best we may in the light of modern science and follow them with faith as far as our consciences will allow.

Men mostly follow their instincts. Men of nourishing instincts can do a lot of good for their countries. Our ancient seers decided there were four main instinctual varieties of men: brahmin. kshatriya, vaishya, and sudra. By the time of the Mahabharata some malpractices had crept into the society, and instinctive leanings and aptitudes were not always fostered or followed. Since then we seem to have gone farther and farther away from original practice. It would be wise perhaps to get back to the original meaning of this social stratification.

He who knows Brahma is a brahmin. Can we find any brahmins in our country today? They whom we call brahmins have lost their culture and are really not brahmins anymore. The same is true of kshatriyas vaishyas, and sudras. Almost all have lost their culture and quality. Yet instincts grow through classification and culture. The instincts are still in us. We need to be classified according to them, and then to culture them assiduously from father to son and from son to son’s son. Then we as individuals will grow more and more. To establish this we need firstly jawjan and jajan. We need to be cleared of complexed ego and understand what we are. Eugenics is essential also, but its fruits are a long time appearing; whereas the fruits of jawjan and jajan can be had at once.

The pre-vedic and vedic periods are called the Golden age (Satya yuga). The period of the Upanishads is called the Silver age (Treta yuga ). Thereafter came Dwapar and Kali yuga. We are now in the Iron age (Kali yuga). Our problems and difficulties are supposed to be the worst of all. Let us get rid of them all through the time-tried process of jawjan, jajan, and varnasram. Let us first of all find him or that which represents best to us-the eternal Ideal within us. Then let us prosper anew in education, work. society, and spirit.