The Folk Ways of the Hindus

Our country is home to countless folk customs and practices, each varying by region. Some are so ancient that tracing their origins becomes a thankless task. Ask ten people and you'll get ten different accounts. You could spend hours debating which is right and which is wrong—if you had the appetite for it, that is!

Here's the curious thing: if you search through Hindu scriptures, you'll find that most of these folk practices have no scriptural sanction or basis whatsoever. So what are you to do about it? Better yet—why should you do anything at all? Who asked you to fix it? Who sought your opinion? Let things be as they are! Do these people understand less than you? And if they do, how is that your concern? Are they eating from your table or wearing your clothes? Has anyone asked you for guidance? Did someone come round collecting fees to fund these customs?

If your heart inclines you toward a practice, participate in it or enjoy it. If it doesn't, stay away. That's all. Does their doing these things cause you any actual harm? If the answer is yes, then by all means, involve the authorities if needed. If the answer is no, then why meddle? Do you truly have nothing else to occupy you? Shame!

They're making mistakes? Let them. And if hell awaits them for it, will you be the one going there or will they? Or do you possess some divine power to escort them to heaven instead? You have no capacity to do anything for them, so why engage in such foolishness? When people have empty hands, they busy themselves with other people's affairs. I quote a line from my own work, *At the Feet of Lord Ram*: "When there's no work in your own house, you go frying snacks in another's"—such people may be many things, but pious they are not. Search the entire corpus of Sanatana philosophy and you will find nowhere an instruction or counsel that encourages abandoning your own duty to chase after the business of others.

A person who practices faith correctly has no time to be so judgmental. The worshipper understands their worshipped; that understanding belongs to them alone. No one else has any say in it. Certainly, Sanatana Dharma affords no space for such meddlesome preaching. You need not answer for your deeds at the threshold of God. You are unburdened. If you wish to follow the words of the Bhagavad Gita as spoken by Lord Krishna himself, then turn now to your own work. And if you choose to disregard the very words of God, then by all means, remain occupied with the faults of others.

Gossip and slander are the business of fools; if you compete with them and rank first, you become the greatest fool of all. Of course, if that is your life's aim, then carry on, friend! Sorry for the interruption!