Dharma, Deities and Destruction
Abrahamic religions destroyed pagan temples in Europe and Arabia, just like they did in India. Murthies were broken or desecrated. But unlike in the West and Arabia, Hindu Dharma continued but kept a low profile for hundreds of years. What made the difference? Our deities aren't just images. There's divinity behind an installed deity. The form is a physical representation of the underlying divinity. So, were the deities elsewhere. The difference is - here their divinity is rooted in Dharma. We have many local deities that established dharma - some were explicitly called Dharmasastas . This Dharma represents the connectedness and unending nature of creation. The destruction of evil or the adharmic is just one part of the Dharma. The fiery mother goddess who protects, and the angry devtaa who settled after burning a city are all part of this Dharma. That Dharma continues to exist in the culture and people's hearts - not as an ideology but a...