My Concept Of Hinduism: A Revisit of the Indian Myths and Stories

"Hindu philosophy tells us that the most important thing in life is Karma (action). Purposeful action done with integrity leads to Purushartha(worthy endeavors, achievements and fulfillments). Purushartha has four aspects - Dharma (right aims, objectives and endeavors), Artha (acquisition of physical necessities), Kama (emotional fulfillment) and Moksha (riddance of clutter, both physical and mental). These ideas were not created in a day, but accumulation of thoughts over the ages and generations. The first thinkers were the Rakshasas and their deity, Yam, gave us the first laws and philosophies. Over the millenniums many additional laws and by-laws came up. This gave us a very dynamic society which scoured the seas, the story of which is narrated in the Samudra Manthan. Through Samudra Manthan many new ideas came from other lands which got incorporated into Indian thoughts and this dynamism created the Indus Valley civilization (IVC). In IVC people of many cultures came to reside and that created a vast literature comprising Manusmriti, Puranas, Samhitas, Vedas, Gita, Mahabharata and many others. The new philosophy of Vaishnavism came up and transformed India to such an extent that India became known as the bird with golden feathers. However, for reasons not fully known the IVC collapsed but the engineers and architects who created IVC spread all over the then known world and made those worlds richer and magnificient. This narrative is an attempt to recount this lost saga in a very simple language. The author hopes that it will be interesting to the reader. "