Nation or Religion, What is more Important?
When asked what comes first for you, your religion or your nation, the reaction for most Indians is that obviously their Nation comes before their religion. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, the answer to this question is not that simple. In this video let us think about this question more deeply. Does your nation really comes above your religion?
When asked most Indians will put their nation above their religion. Most of them say the answer to this question was obvious to them. But is the answer really that obvious. To demonstrate this, let me put this question a little differently. In the Mahabharata, if you were a citizen of Hastinapur, on whose side would you have been? Would you have fought on the side of Kauravas or Pandavas? If your answer is Kauravas then you put your nation above your religion while if your answer is Pandavas then you put your religion above your nation.
You see your religion depends on more than just, which God do you believe in, it is an entire belief system based on which you conduct your behavior. Atheism is also a religion; it is a religion with a belief that there is no God. Most of us put our nation above our religion because our values and belief system is aligned to the values and belief system of our nation. This is a good thing, because this means that the citizens of India really love their nation and believe in what it stands for. However if for some reason things change and the rulers in India become tyrannical and oppressive, then most people will start putting their religion above their nation.
Often I have seen people blame Muslims that they put their religion above their nation. Being a Hindu majority nation, the values and belief system of India as a whole is more Hindu and less Muslim. Therefore Muslims find their values more misaligned with the values of the nation than the Hindus. If for some reason the nation turns into a majority Muslim nation then more and more Hindus will start to put their religion above their nation. Therefore when we blame Muslims to be taking the side of Pakistan, we need to keep this fact in mind and try to understand why they are doing it. This is clearly a sign that the Muslim are feeling alienated in India and that is not good for the stability of India.
Your Religion is your belief system and your belief system determines your behavior. It is very difficult for you to act against your belief system therefore your religion is far more important for you than your nation. If your belief system and your nation’s belief system are not aligned, your tendency will be to go with your religion and try to change your nation’s belief system. It will take a lot of effort for you to go against your religion and comply with your nation’s religion. You will always feel dishonest to yourself. The character of Bhishma Pitamah portrays this beautifully. In Mahabharata Bhisma always thought Pandavas to be more suited for ruling over Hastinapur, but he had vowed to protect the ruler of Hastinapur, whoever he was. Considering Hastinapur to be his nation and his vow to be his religion. His nations welfare was in the victory of Pandavas, but if he had fought on the side of Pandavas he would have betrayed his religion. He decides to give precedence to his religion over his nation. Therefore even when he fought on the side of Kauravas he is still considered a hero of Mahabharata. Therefore Mahabharata tells us that while choosing between your Religion and Nation always put your Religion above your Nation.
Confucius once said, “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
It is through a religion, which is well grounded in truth, that we can set our hearts right. Therefore religion is always above a nation. A nation can only become strong if the people of that nation follow the right religion. Otherwise you end up with nations such as Nazi Germany or Soviet Republic. A misguided religion is equally lethal for a nation, Middle east is a perfect example of that.
So folks a properly guided religion comes above your Nation. Always cultivate right religion and the Nation will automatically become strong.
