The perpetual youth of religions

IT is the proud boast of the orthodox in all countries and ages that the religion professed by them is eternal and indestructible. This claim has been put forward not only on behalf of the religions and institutions of Confucius and Buddha with their history of more than 25 centuries, but also of the papacy and the Kalifate with their 12 or 13 centuries. No wonder it should be made with even greater fervour and earnestness by the Hindus, whose religion has, at the lowest computation, had 6,000 years of continuous history on the stage of the world and has survived more political revolutions and social and economic vicissitudes than any other known religion. Accepting all these claims as valid, the question which must occur to all critical students of history is, what is the secret of this wonderful conservation, this perpetual youth of religions and their institutions? How do they manage to baffle the law of death, to which not only all human but all living and sentient things are subject? The answer is, they contain the principle of rejuvenescence, by which whenever institutions become old and out of tune with their environment, they are able to renew their youth and re-adapt themselves to the surrounding conditions in the physical and moral world. This is the principle which finds beautiful expression in the immortal words of the Gita: “Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati Bharata, Abhyutthanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham”. The orthodox interpret these words to mean that God actually assumes human form to save religion and morality from destruction.

Advertisement