I’m gonna make an argument. It’s not the one you think it is. Bear with me.

My culture begins from a basic premise. That Brahman and Atman are one and the same separated by a veil of Maya.

It has stories of Devas that embody aspects of that divinity, oftentimes attributed to large domains of nature like Angi, Vayu, Indra, Surya, and Yama.

They constantly fight with the Asuras.

Guess which culture to the west called their good guys the Ahuras and bad guys Daevas.

We won’t go into all the messy details, but they didn’t always get along with neighbors to the east either, referred to as Nagas or snakes.

I’m not super versed in this part, but from what I understand, southern India in ancient times did worship of animal spirits.

Guess who we called monkeys in the Ramayana.

We called the people of a certain island Rakshasa.

And despite it all, the scriptures still point to all of them driven to that same Brahman.

We need to stop treating these artifacts as unquestionable.

Bharat has a rich and deep culture of history and stories to share with the world and I am tired of uncles telling me that ancient India had flying technology because Ram, Lakshman, and Sita flew back from Lanka.

We drained the Roman Empire of its precious metals for some mere spice and fabric.

Our culture influenced the construction of the largest religious monument in the world.

I am tired of the talking point that Advaita Vedanta proves that ancient Dharmic dominions were devoid of discrimination.

Philosophy and reality are two different things.

This is the legacy of our ancestors, don’t use it as a fucking prop.