“Inevitably the priests too have suffered along with the temples. They have become indigent and illiterate. Thanks to their indigence and illiteracy, they have suffered in prestige too. It is a great national loss. Effort should be made to rehabilitate them and raise them educationally and financially. What is happening to priests in the temples is happening all along the line to all the priestly functionaries connected with such events as birth, wedding, death, Sraddha, etc. Illiteracy and poverty have overtaken them. Many times these functionaries are not available at all. They are dying out fast as a class.Hindu leaders must give their attention to this problem too. Hindu sathskaras are profound and deeply significant.
They teach one to see the infinite and the eternal in the finite and the perishable. They widen the vision and they are deeply integrative. Their profound significance should be explained and every effort should be made to make the Hindus familiar with them, reflect on them and perform them. The performance of Hindu sathskaras need not be costly at all for they can be performed “internally” as well. But their outer performance is also important, particularly of reducative and social purpose. Therefore, means should be found whereby not even the poorest have to go without having to perform them for lack of even small funds.”
Ref: “On Hinduism” by Ram Swarup,Page 77
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