Sanatan Jyoti - Bharat Sevashram Sangha

ETERNAL LIGHT ♦ SANATAN JYOTI ♦ 2013The Objective and Necessity of Religionby Swami Purnatmananda Maharajtranslated by Bakul BanerjeeReligion is the entity that enhances human life and leads to salvation.Although different religious organizations may have differences in forms, thefundamental goal of all religion is take humans to a higher level and to exposethe hidden divinity in them. The true meaning of civilization is to conquer theanimal aspect of the nature. The entire human history teaches us this lessonthrough earliest stories of wars between gods and demons as well as thestories of modern day invasions by Greeks, Muslims, Shakas, Huns,Pahlavas, Bahliks, Mughals, Pathans and Britishers. After years ofdomination by foreign powers, the soul of India is yearning for uplift. Mostcountries seek their ideals in politics, economics, social justice, etc, but Indiaalways sought its national ideal in religion and spirituality. This spirituality isthe backbone of our society and nationality. Our national revival can onlyhappen if we follow the path of spirituality. From the ages of Vedas to moderntimes, we hoped for peace, the escape from the cycle of birth and death, andself-realization. These are the ultimate goals and wishes for all mankind.We must remember that if we do not follow the path of truth, we will not beable to realize that ultimate truth. Truth can only be achieved through truthitself. Only way to free ourselves from the difficulties of human life is to realizeour own true self.At the dawn of human civilization, Hindu sages realized that knowledge of theultimate one leads us to the eternal peace and sang the great hymn to thedenizens of the world, not to any special group of people:“Srinantu biswe aryam amritsa putra …”BHARAT SEVASHRAM SANGHA OF NORTH AMERICA, CHICAGO 35