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UK Hindus Start Campaign to Prevent
Europe-Wide Ban on Swastika Continues:
HEAR THE PROTEST VOICE OF
YOUNG veDik LIFE-STYLERS IN UK
FROM HINDUISM TODAY: LONDON, ENGLAND,
February 5, 2005:
Preeti Raichura, chairperson of the Hindu
Youth UK Leicester and representative to the Hindu Council UK, issued the
following statement regarding proposals to ban the use of the swastika in
the European Union:
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For thousands of years the Swastika has
been used in the name of Goodness, Purity, Love and tolerance. But the
true meaning of the Swastika has been diminished by the rein of the Nazis.
Once a symbol that was universally accepted from all walks of life with
open arms is now tainted with the scrutiny dictated by Hitler.
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The word Swastika originates from the
Sanskrit language and is composed of two separate words: Su and Asti. Su
meaning "good" and Asti "to exist." As per Sanskrit grammar the words Su
and Asti when amalgamated into one word become Swasti (as in the case of
Su and Aagatam becoming Swagatam meaning welcome). If this derivation of
the word Swastika is true, then the literal meaning of the term Swastika
would be "let good prevail." So if the swastika means "let good prevail"
why would anyone want to ban its use?
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Our so-called multi-cultural, society
shouldn't even be questioning its use but welcoming the very meaning of
it. The swastika is seen as a powerful symbol to Hindus and holds the
unshakable faith of millions around the world. The swastika is a symbol of
Lord Ganesha, the Lord of prosperity, happiness, luck and the remover of
obstacles. In both Hinduism and Jainism, the Swastika is used to mark the
opening pages of account books, doors and thresholds, and during the time
of any religious ceremony.
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Nazi Germany took an ancient Hindu
symbol and perverted it to such a degree that it can never be used again
without bringing up all the associations of death, destruction, hatred and
vileness that it perpetrated.
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If the Swastika is displayed in any of
the "civilized" parts of the earth, the reactions of the viewer are
universally of rage and disgust. How can such a beautiful meaning be
corrupted to such extremes? Just because some less educated, ignorant
members of our society do not associate the symbol with Hindu ideology as
a positive symbol of the cosmos, discounting thousands of years of
positive Hindu association with the swastika, the West, instead see this
as a history purely in terms of its more recent, 70-year-old link with
Hitler and the Nazi killing machine.
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As a British-born Hindu, bought up in
multi-cultural Leicester, I believe the swastika can be used as a means of
bringing communities together, and sharing a universal approach of
community cohesion, and togetherness, promoting goodness and tolerance.
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Swastika has been used for centuries by
people far beyond India. The significance of Swastika is still prevalent
today within Hinduism and other religions. Within Buddhism the Swastika
means the 4 L's: Luck, Light, Love and Life. To the People of Mexico and
Central America, the Swastika is used as a charm to drive away evil, bring
good luck, long life and prosperity. Marks of the Swastika have also been
found on coins dated back 2,300 years. T
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he Swastika's influence has reached the
length and breadth of the world and has influenced people in one way or
another. The Swastika has proved to be a universal symbol which is beyond
national boundaries, religion, race and gender.
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Personally, I don't think putting a ban
on the Swastika is going to stop Hindu's using this very sacred symbol
during times of religious ceremonies, and neither do I believe Hindu's
should stop using the symbol they have used for thousands of years as a
gesture of "goodness."
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Hindu Youth UK Leicester, organizers of
"Get Connected" Leicester Extravaganza, have been involved in educational
campaigns to educate communities on the meaning of the non threatening use
of the Swastika, reassuring the British society that this symbol is not
associated with the Nazi's.
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In 1920, Adolf Hitler decided that the Nazi Party needed
its own insignia and flag. For Hitler, the new flag had to be "a symbol of
our own struggle" as well as "highly effective as a poster." (Mein Kampf,
pg. 495) On August 7, 1920, at the Salzburg Congress, this flag became the
official emblem of the Nazi Party.
Unfortunately, the
Nazis were so effective at their use of the swastika emblem, that many
around the world do
not even know any other or true or sacred meaning for the swastika.
Can there be two
completely opposite meanings for one symbol?
As per puraaANo texts
which tells the history and sciences of creation and life in the past,
present and future and forms part of the texts of
veD = SCIENCES OF LIFE AND CREATION:
- "s`vs`tik
symbol is seen on the
anNt-naag
or
shesh-naag.
- anNt-naag
or
shesh-naag is the manifested form of
the unmanifested creator
bRH`m.
-
anNt-naag or
shesh-naag
supports all the
bRHmaaNDo
(universes) created
by
bRH`m
to manifest
bRH'm's iCHCHaa
to be many.
- Nobody knows the true essence of
anNt-naag or
shesh-naag as
HE is a direct unborn, eternal manifestation of a
shk`ti of
bRH`m.
-
But
anNt-naag or
shesh-naag
supports all the bRHmaaNDo
(universes) and its fire destroys each
bRHmaaND
(universe) at the time of its
nimitt
and
pRaakRut ly
(decreation and absorbed into grandfather
bRH`maa
and creator
bRH`m
respectively at the end of the 4.32 billion and 311.04 trillion
years respectively"
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anNt-naag or
shesh-naag is
always associated with SRii kRUSH`AN
as shown in the photo below with shHsTRM
heads meaning thousand or innumerable heads and
SRii kRUSH`AN is shown resting in
the lap of
anNt-naag or
shesh-naag in
His yog-niNDRaa mode ensuring
sustainance of all creations by protecting
DHARm which sustains all
creations.
(Information from puraaANo shared by
SRii chmpklaal Daajibhaai misTRii
from the veD library)
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