It is often said that India is a poor country. Is India really poor or rich? If India really is poor, how can Indians pay for cars like Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, and Bentley which are among the most expensive cars in the market? If India really is poor, how did Tirumala Venkateswara Temple become the richest temple in the world?
Many Indian temples equally earn huge amounts of money as donations and charity per day. Who are the donors? Yes, we, the poor Indian devotees. If India is really poor, how did the holy rivers of India become so rich? There are huge volumes of coins in holy rivers like the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Godavari, etc.
Why do we engage in superstitions? Even in such fast-paced times, we often run into people who are superstitious. We live in a post-modern society, but most of us still hold on to bizarre beliefs that might date back to the Stone Age. During train journeys, my past experiences have taught me how we engage in superstitious behaviour.
I am stunned every time to see that, whenever the train traverses the bridge over the river Brahmaputra or Ganges, many commuters, of all ages, throw coins into the river. Throwing coins is the central part for them. Superstitions are silly and ridiculous, I feel. This bothers me because it is just foolish for any of us when you think about it seriously. It seems fine and good to do “pranam” whenever the train traverses the bridge over the river.
It is just one glaring example of the misuse of money, especially considering we Indians call ourselves poor, or that we live in a land of poverty. What astonishes me most is that when a scavenger or a beggar comes, and is waiting for a token amount of many, the commuters in the train deny them, even as they are busy throwing coins into the river. How strange! This is bewildering indeed.
This is the real nature of our so-called well-educated people. They love to indulge superstitions mostly. It seems that you can have coins for the rivers, but not for the boy who sweeps the train, or for the poor person who doesn’t have the ability work for money.
In Haridwar, I spent half a day on the bank of the river Ganges, and noticed that some people were using a long stick and a magnet to collect coins from the bed of the river. It’s pretty good, but they can’t reach some of the most dangerous areas of the riverside to collect the coins.
I even noticed at the temple or pilgrimage premises in India that some devotees borrowed money from others to offer dakshina (contribution) for worshipping, because they didn’t want to offer a token amount. Don’t you think it’s fairly meaningless?
I do think it is quite unnecessary and, indeed, worthless. God wants nothing from us. If you offer Rs100 to God, will you get Rs200 in return? I don’t know how to respond to this.
Today, most of the temples or pilgrimage sectors in India have become severely commercialised. You can’t take a single step towards the temple without offering dakshina to the priests. They are the same everywhere, demanding large amounts of money forcibly, even for puja services. This is not fair.
Poor people or beggars outside or inside the temple premises get none of what they are looking for. Let’s serve those poor people, and these will be the kinds of sacrifices or services that would please God.