- Ponmala
Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the historic Dhwajarohan ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on November 25, 2025, hoisting a saffron flag (Dharma Dhwaj) atop the main spire of the Ram Temple. It marked the formal completion of the temple’s construction. On its heels came this statement from Mohan Bhagwat at an event marking 100 years of the RSS: “India is a Hindu nation… If parliament ever decides to amend the constitution and add that word, whether they do it or not, it’s fine. We don’t care about that word, because we are Hindus, and our nation is a Hindu nation. That is the truth.” All in all, we are witnessing the return of the mythological Rama Rajya.
The Hindu Dharma or Sanatana Dharma is the hallmark of Rama Rajya. It is by definition a way of life that encompasses duties, ethics, virtues and righteous living that will help attain spiritual liberation (moksha). Sanatana Dharma should not be confused with the universal standards of ethics or righteous living, which is based on two fundamental principles: 1. The Golden Rule which says, do unto others as you would want them to do unto you; and 2. the end does not justify the means. Unfortunately, even Vamana, Rama and Krishna, through whom the Godhead manifested Himself “age after age” (Bhagavad Gita (4:8) to restore righteousness (dharma) whenever evil rises and the good need protection, have used unethical means to safeguard Sanatana Dharma. They have repeatedly demonstrated that the end justifies the means.
Thiruvonam, Kerala’s state festival, is a nostalgic remembrance of the golden age the state enjoyed under the rule of the demon king Mahabali. His reign had all the enviable characteristics of Rama Rajya – justice, equality, peace, tranquility, prosperity, well-being, respect for all beings, ideal leadership and governance, integrity in action – and yet he was considered a threat to Sanatana Dharma, for the simple reason that the gods and goddesses in heaven viewed his high popularity as an existential threat to themselves. And so Lord Vishnu takes on his fifth avatar as Vamana and banishes Mahabali to the netherworld, hoodwinking him with a demoniac ploy.
Then we have Rama banishing Sita and his children into the forest even after she proves her chastity by the ‘test of fire’. In stark contrast, it never crossed the mind of demon king Ravana, who had abducted Sita, to take revenge on Rama by physically violating her. Again, the same Rama chops off the head of the Shudra ascetic, Shambuka, for the temerity he shows to perform tapas, which is by the dictates of Sanatana Dharma a preserve of the upper castes. The killing of Shambuka should normally shock any man who has a moral conscience. We also have the eighth incarnation of the Godhead, Krishna, coercing Arjuna to break the laws of war and aim his arrow at unarmed Karna. By that standard, Sanatana Dharma permits Modi and the RSS to use any evil means to attain the goal of Rama Rajya. No wonder they are indulging in them without any qualms of conscience.
Mahatma Gandhi often cited Rama Rajya as his vision for an ideal India after independence, interpreting it not in a sectarian religious sense, but as a nation that ensures equal rights and justice for all. But how can we have equal rights and justice when even the incarnations of the Godhead take recourse to treacherous means to uphold Sanatana Dharma? Is there not an obvious self-contradiction in destroying evil with evil means? The founding fathers of our nation gave us a democratic constitution that is line with man’s universal moral conscience, which is often at odds with Sanatana Dharma.
The Modi government is undermining that constitution and replacing it with Sanatana Dharma by using subterfuge and bluff. They changed rules to bring in men of their choice to run the Election Commission, who compliantly distort the election process to ensure victory for them. What better example do we need for the unethical means they use to attain the goal of Hindu Rashtra? It is purposefully done to win the two-thirds majority needed to overthrow our democratic constitution and replace it with Manusmriti.
The ethics of Sanatana Dharma taught by Manusmriti is in many ways antagonistic to its humanistic version, which is the corner stone of democracy. If this is how righteousness (dharma) is restored whenever evil rises and the good needs protection, God save our country.
Sanatana Dharma was in play when a Hindu fanatic barged into a Christian prayer hall with a band of hooligans and declared, “The Bible, which is a foreign scripture, has no place in India. We have the four Vedas, Manusmriti and Upanishads. We will not allow the Christian Bible here.” When juxtaposed with Rama Rajya, the reign of the demon king Mahabali wins hands down over it, more so over Modi’s version of it. Under Mahabali, peace, brotherhood, prosperity, equality and justice truly reigned.
The ethics of Sanatana Dharma is a relic of the past. It is exclusionary, narrow-minded and reactionary in nature. Its resurrection will tear up the multifaceted fabric of India and destroy peace and tranquility. Modi and the RSS know very well that it is not their version of Rama Rajya that Mahatma Gandhi had envisioned for India. They have exposed it by renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act as VB-G RAM G. Rama Rajya, where minorities live in subjugation and fear, is here to stay… God alone knows how long.
While Modi attends the Christmas Mass at the Catholic cathedral in New Delhi, violent bands of Hindu fanatics go about attacking Christmas celebrations in different parts of India. This is how righteousness gets established in modern day Rama Rajya by eliminating the evils of any and every celebration or scripture that is perceived as a threat to Hinduism. Sanatana Dharma and democracy are strange bedfellows.
