Hindu DNA
Section 1
Hindu is a BLESSING. Why ? See below.
அரிது அரிது மானிடராய் பிறத்தல் அரிது மானிடராய்ப் பிறப்பினும் கூன் குருடு செவிடு பேடு நீங்கிப் பிறத்தல் அரிது கூன் குருடு செவிடு பேடு நீங்கிப் பிறந்த காலத்தும் ஞானமும் கல்வியும் நயத்தல் அரிது ஞானமும் கல்வியும் நயந்த காலத்தும் தானமும் தவமும் தான் செய்தல் அரிது தானமும் தவமும் தான் செய்வாராயின் வானவர் நாடு வழிதிறந்திடுமே.
English Translation
• Rare, rare is it to be born as a human being.
• Even if born as a human, rare is it to be born without physical or mental disabilities (hunchback, blindness, deafness, or muteness).
• Even if born without such disabilities, rare is the desire for true wisdom and education.
• Even if blessed with wisdom and education, rare is the act of performing charity and spiritual penance.
• If one manages to perform charity and penance, the gates to the heavenly realm shall open wide.
A land, a culture, a religion that proclaims such a highest wisdom, a land that has witnessed the highest level of thinking that a human can reach, a land that has provided the highest scientific ideas and knowledge, a land that has provided the highest art forms, and so on, it is endless. That is why we say - To be born as a Hindu is a BLESSING.
अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि "I am Brahman" or "I am the Divine Absolute") occurs in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (specifically Chapter 1, Brahmana 4, Verse 10). It is one of the four Mahavakyas ("Great Sayings") of the Vedas, each selected from a different Upanishad to capture the core essence of Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism).
Meaning: It asserts that the individual soul (Atman) and the ultimate reality or supreme consciousness (Brahman) are fundamentally non-different.
The same thought is given by Avvaiyaar - ஓடம்பினை பெற்ற பயன் அவதெல்லாம் ஓடம்பினூல் உத்தமனை காண்.
It appears in Avvai Kural (அவ்வைக் குறள்), also known as Avvaiyar Jnana Kural (ஔவையார் ஞானக்குறள்).
Details of the Verse
• Work: Avvai Kural (அவ்வைக் குறள்)
• Chapter: Chapter 2 – Udambin Payan (உடம்பின் பயன் - The Purpose of the Body)
• Verse Number: Couplet 11
Meaning
The line translates to:
"The true purpose of obtaining this human body is to realize and behold the Supreme Lord residing within it."
In this work, written in the same Kural Venba meter as Tirukkural, Avvaiyar turns to spiritual and yogic philosophy, emphasizing that the human physical form is a rare vehicle provided specifically to experience the Divine Consciousness within oneself.
For a Hindu everything in this world is Divine – Rivers, Mountains, Animals, Resources – anything and everything. Hindu core Philosophy is Enjoyment with Responsibility and Without Greed. In fact, it teaches how to Enjoy all the pleasures that this world offers.
Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. It is in the same concept Tiruvalluvar has written the Tirukkural, அறம், பொருள், இன்பம், வீடு.
There is absolutely no conflict between the Vedas and Tirukkural; Sanskrit and Tamil. Both are like the two eyes of a person.
Section 2
About the Trust/Society/etc.
Hindu DNA is a trust that will strive to reclaim the glory of this punya boomi – India that is Bharat. It will work on all aspects of the society – Service, Education, Health, Policy-making, Research.
It will stand on the four pillars of the four Purusharthas. It will be funded by public through donations, grants, etc.
According to us we have to be a “knowledge-oriented society instead of a Money-oriented society”. This does not mean that Money is not required. That is why one of the Pillars of our Trust is Artha or பொருள். धर्मस्य मूलं अर्थः which means even to do Dharma we need wealth.
Right now, people are blindly running behind wealth without focusing on values. The two generations (40 years) after Independence was balanced, they knew about worth of money, resources, human relationships; post-1990 the decline, degradation started and now with the advent of social media the situation is worsening very fast, to list few examples – DINK (Double Income No Kids), low IQ levels of children, low emotional IQ levels, Instant Gratification, Too much Consumerism, giving too much importance to appearance, low self-esteem, ignorance on the importance of hard work, patience, lack of pride about our great history, too much Ego, etc.
Section 3
Know Your True History/Past/Ancestors
We are inheritors of a Great Past. Our ancestors were definitely more intelligent than us. For proof to this, see below.
Throughout history, many prominent scientists and philosophers have engaged with, studied, and spoken about Hindu philosophy, particularly the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. Many of these figures found that the concepts within these texts resonated with their own explorations of physics, consciousness, and the nature of reality.Here are several notable quotes and reflections from influential thinkers:
Quotes from Scientists
Niels Bohr (Physicist): "I go into the Upanishads to ask questions."
J. Robert Oppenheimer (Physicist): Upon witnessing the first nuclear explosion at the Trinity test in 1945, Oppenheimer famously recalled a verse from the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32): "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.""Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century may claim over all previous centuries."
(Reflecting on the atomic bomb test, quoting the Bhagavad Gita): "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.Erwin Schrödinger (Physicist): Schrödinger, a founding father of quantum mechanics, was deeply influenced by the Vedantic concept of the oneness of consciousness. He wrote in his book My View of the World: "The plurality that we perceive is only an appearance; it is not real. Vedantic philosophy, in which this is a fundamental dogma, has sought to clarify it by a number of analogies, one of the most attractive being the many-faceted crystal which, showing
Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never-ending cycles, all things and phenomena.
Quotes from Philosophers and Writers
Henry David Thoreau (Philosopher/Author): Reflecting on his reading of the Bhagavad Gita, he wrote in his journal: "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (Philosopher/Essayist): Deeply influenced by the Hindu scriptures, Emerson wrote in his journals regarding the Bhagavad Gita: "It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us."
"The Bhagavad-Gita is an empire of thought and in its sublime teaching, a child of all ages and a youth of all nations."
Will Durant (American Historian & Philosopher)
"India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy... Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all."
François-Marie Arouet / Voltaire (French Enlightenment Writer & Philosopher)
"The Veda was the most precious gift for which the West had ever been indebted to the East."
T.S. Eliot (Poet/Critic): In his work Notes towards the Definition of Culture, Eliot commented on the impact of the Bhagavad Gita: "The Bhagavad Gita is the only philosophical song in any known tongue that is worthy of its name."
Arthur Schopenhauer (Philosopher): Schopenhauer was one of the first Western philosophers to extensively study the Upanishads, famously remarking: "In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death."
Friedrich Nietzsche:
"Close the Bible and open the Code of Manu."
Section 4
Characteristics of a Hindu
Questioning anything and everything is the basis of Hinduism. In Taittirīya Upanishad, in the section called the Bhṛgu Vallī.
Bhṛgu, the son of the sage Varuṇa, approaches his father and asks:
“Teach me Brahman—the ultimate reality from which all beings are born, by which they live, and into which they return.”
Varuṇa does not simply give him an answer. Instead, he instructs Bhṛgu to discover Brahman through meditation, inquiry, and disciplined living.
Bhṛgu investigates progressively:
| 1. Annamaya — food/physical body
He first realizes that all beings arise from food, are sustained by food, and return to food. He therefore thinks that food may be Brahman. 2. Prāṇamaya — vital energy Through deeper contemplation, he understands that the physical body depends on prāṇa, or life-force. He sees prāṇa as a deeper reality. 3. Manomaya — mind He then recognizes that life and experience are organized by the mind. So he investigates mind as a still subtler level. 4. Vijñānamaya — understanding/intellect Bhṛgu discovers that the mind is guided by knowledge, discernment, and intelligence. 5. Ānandamaya — bliss |
Finally, he realizes that the deepest level is ānanda, profound inner fullness or bliss. This is associated with Brahman, the source and ground of existence.
At every stage, Bhṛgu returns to meditation rather than accepting a merely intellectual conclusion. The story presents spiritual understanding as a gradual movement from the outer physical level toward the innermost Self.
The above story has been mentioned for a specific reason – it is for the uninformed Indian adults and also the uninformed young people that Rationality or Scientific temper or Questioning is the Core of Hinduism. It is very essential for the Gen Z to understand their true history, the greatness of their ancestors so that they can handle the challenges of the current period and lead a happy and fulfilling life.
A Hindu minds his own business, focuses on enjoying the pleasures this Planet Earth offers in a responsible way without disturbing others. He knows there are multiple ways to reach the Ultimate Reality and looks at all other religions through the same Prism. This is the greatest STRENGTH & WEAKNESS of Hindus.