Sindhi Civilization & Universality of Religions

We belong to a civilization of Sindh which flourished some 5,000 to 8,000 years ago — at a time when people in the so-called civilized part of the world had probably not seen even a thatched cottage. The world was amazed to see that on the bank of the Sindhu flourished a civilization which had swimming pools, fountains and parks; underground drainage; two-storey houses built of baked bricks. At that time in Europe, people still lived in trees and caves.

In about 300 years before Christ, the Great Alexander landed on the bank of the Sindhu and there met our ancestors — the Gymnosophists. When he said he had come to conquer the world, they laughed hysterically and told him: "How the hell do you think you are going to conquer the world? In a few years you are going to die and the only space you will occupy is about six feet in a highly decorated box." Alexander took to heart that lesson on the banks of the Sindhu.

I am a Hindu, but also a student of Islam and Christianity — indeed of all religions. None of these religions prescribe a regimen of hatred, enmity and ill will to others.

Kalayana, the one Gymnosophist who agreed to accompany Alexander, fell ill in Iran. He said to Alexander: "My philosophy tells me if I am of no use to the world I do not deserve to live." And there and then Kalayana walked into a funeral pyre. Poets-historians recorded that while in the pyre, he smiled, folded his hands in Namaste and sat in a yogic pose as the flames consumed him.

The essence of religion does not lie in proficiency for reciting scriptures or adherence to customs or creeds, but to live for peace, goodwill and happiness of people, everywhere. This is what the enlightened Sindhis believe — the message of their Hindu religion based on the highest ideals of Sanatana Dharma.