OURS - A UNIVERSAL RELIGION

By Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Mahaswamiji

We said that the Vedic religion was the earliest religion of mankind. All other religions arose only after lit. There is evidence to conclude that it was prevalent all over the globe. We should mention a few of them.

An inscription unearthed in Egypt and dated 1280 B.C., contains the terms of a treaty between Rameses II and the Hittites. In this treaty, Maitravaruna, a Vedic dual deity has been cited as a witness. (Vide: H.R. Hall's "Ancient History of Near East" pp.364 et seq)

On the island of Madagascar off the eastern coast of South Africa, most of the place names have affinities with that of Rama.

In far-off Mexico, they celebrate a festival called Rama Sita. The time of the festival corresponds to our Dussara or Navaraatri period.

Excavations made in that country have brought to light a number of Ganesa idols. The ancient inhabitants of those parts were Aastikas, (i.e. those who believed in the Vedas), a term which still lingers in its corruption as Aztecs, as the people there are now called.

In the Eastern Archipelago, evidences of our religion are to be found. In Java, there are numerous relics of Hindu cult and worship.

All these evidences serve to show that our religion was once prevalent throughout the globe. It may have been that for causes which we are not able to ascertain, the tenets and practices of our religion began to decline in other parts and their prevalence came to be confined to the land of their origin originally known as Bhaarata Varsha, India. When it lapsed into oblivion In other countries, and when due to lack of any religious consciousness, the people became godless and unethical, there arose in those lands great prophets who brought to light one aspect or another of this forgotten religion. They declared themselves to be founders of new religions and came to be revered as such. But it must be noted that the fundamental moral principles underlying these new religions only emphasised some feature or other of the universal Vedic religion with certain theological variations.