National 7 (Spotlight Weekly)

“Nepal Has Remained A Hindu Kingdom In Tradition And In Practice”

By Kuber Prasad Sharma

The minister for Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism Kuber P. Sharma led an eight member delegation to the second World Hindu Conference in Sri Lanka from 2 to 4 May 2003. Sharma was the chief guest in the cultural program and main speaker at Hindu Youth Conference. Sri Lanka accorded highest importance to Nepal and Nepal being the only Hindu Kingdom ruled by a Hindu monarch was emphasized by almost all the speakers. He also discussed with his Sri Lankan counterpart about development of tourism between the two countries and about the possibility of resuming the flight between Kathmandu and Colombo. His discussion with the Sri Lankan minister for Hindu Religion was focused on religious tourism and cultural exchange between the two countries. Following is the excerpt of the speech he delivered at the conference:

"Nepal is a multiethnic, multilingual, independent and sovereign Hindu Kingdom with a constitutional monarchy. It has a parliamentary system of government in the multiparty democratic regime". Traditionally as well as in practice Nepal has always remained a Hindu Kingdom. This has been continuously reinforced by Nepal's constitutions, which have always stipulated that the King has to be a Hindu, traditionally and by birth.

While enunciating it as a Hindu Kingdom, the Constitution of Nepal guarantees religious freedom laying emphasis on the preservation and protection of all religions and cultural practices of the people. Further the constitution provides that every person shall have the freedom to process and practice his own religion as handed down to him from ancient times having due regard to traditional practices provided that no person shall be entitled to convert another person from one religion to another. However, every religious denomination shall have the right to maintain its independent existence and for this purpose to manage and protect its religious places and trust. Such as Hindu Dharma in its resurgent stage does not only connote the Arya Dharma, Vedic Dharma or Sanatana Dharma in its pristine character but is gaining immense popularity by virtue of its liberalism.

I do not want to take the precious time of this august audience by entering into the academic discussion on the various meanings of the term and prescribing the use of any particular one. My humble submission is to draw your attention towards the authentic and broader form of the term in its original sense. To understand the meaning of Hindu Dharma properly, meaning of word Dharma has to be understood in its classical form as it was defined in the earlier Sanskrit scriptures. Dharma should not be translated into English as religion, as is being done now. Rather it denotes in short Rules or Duties or rather the way of life that should be practiced by the members of the society. Dharma also envisages the code of conduct that has to be meticulously followed by all those practicing that religion. After having said this, I would also like to add that Hindu Dharma does not preach religious bigotry rather emphasizes religious harmony, tolerance and co-existence. This is the tradition of our country which is embodied in our constitution.

Our common understanding of Hindu Dharma encompasses brotherhood, equality and peace and overall well being of humanity itself. Furthermore Hindu Dharma is concerned with the ultimate good of all the living beings, whether they be insects, animals or plants. As such, to a Hindu all life forms, whether vegetation or animal, are sacred and must not be destroyed. This concept has a great bearing on the attitudes the Hindu have developed towards protection and worshipping trees, one important aspect of green revolution and safeguarding the environment. This Hindu Dharma deals with cycles of births and deaths leading us to final emancipation or Mukti. Hindu Dharma ennobles us to rise above self and dedicate overselves to the service of humanity. The real meaning of Dharma in Hindu philosophy is so vast and comprehensive that it is beyond me to expatiate on its dialectics in such a short time. I will suffice it by saying that it is the highest form of philosophy of life handed down to our society from times immemorial in the teachings and experiences of sages whose erudition surpasses all human imagination.

In the course of endless time, some perversions did enter into the Hindu society. Untouchability is one and the gravest of them. All the Hindus of the world have to work hard to get rid of this social evil. It gives me pleasure to mention that in Nepal, untouchability is a punishable offense. But still a lot has to be done to change the outlook of the society in this regard. And such conferences do contribute towards diffusing the idea.

In the dawn of 21st century the need for peace and peaceful resolutions of conflicts have been widely realized. It has been said in Katha Upanishad "Man is not in the least elevated above animalism by the possession of reason, if his reason is only employed in the same fashion as that in which an animal uses its instincts". This can be attained by following the guidelines set forth by our Dharma. Our Hindu Dharma teaches us that we lead a very simple life devoid of all ostentations of riches and power. A simple way of life would demand that we meticulously follow vegetarianism which is one way of practicing non-violence, which is the hallmark of realizing peace. Another simple way of following the subscribed path of Dharma could be the practice of Yoga. Yoga helps us to concentrate, a vital aspect of meditation. Meditation is just one of the media of attaining truth-the principal goal of Dharma. We do strongly believe that the intrinsic values and principles of Hindu Dharma must be made easily accessible to all peoples so that the world community also may benefit to the optimum.