Paras Ramoutar
TRINIDAD, March 19, 2004: Women power is the bedrock of any religion, civilization or culture, according to Swami Nirmalatmananda, Head of the Ramkrishna Vedanta Ashram, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was giving the fourth lecture in the series on Indian Culture and Religion at Divali Nagar on Friday night. “Women have and, will continue to uphold and to defend any culture, religion or civilization and, therefore, are the bedrock,” Swamiji told the large audience. Swamiji said while there was no evidence of the source of Indian Culture and Civilization historical data concurs that this great culture had its genesis between 5,000 and 8,000 BCE. Swamiji said whilst the great civilizations and empires of Greece and Rome tumbled down centuries ago, Indian civilization and culture are much alive and providing direction, vision and inspiration for mankind. He referred to the greatness of the Hindu text, Vedanta which espouses, “a spiritual culture and civilization for humanity.” “Vedanta offers to mankind an ethical and moral code. And since there is no historical evidence of it being handed down by any historical personality, one has to deduce that it came from the great ancient rishis and seers. They did not leave any bio-data of themselves for mankind, but their message reflects the need for all mankind to do good for the uplift of humanity.” Swamiji said. Swamiji noted that Sanatana Dharma is an eternal religion and, therefore, is the only religion of God. “Religion is the realization of Truth. Religion is Peace. Peace will only be attained by Peace. Peace is infinite just as there is no end of existence,” he quipped. Besides the Upanishads, he singled out the other Hindu texts of the Ramayana and Mahabharata which espouse the social, ethical, moral, spiritual fabric of mankind and society.”In these two texts, one can find religion, politics, intrigue, passion, greed, power, statecraft and the like. In fact, they contain information for and on the whole human experience.” He said that in the Indian civilization there is “a huge fund of knowledge accessible to all cultures.”