Acharya Prashant addresses a question about a viral WhatsApp message claiming that the Shiv Puran contains a cure for the coronavirus. He explains that such superstitions can spread because 99.99% of people, including Hindus, have never read the Puranas and have no real connection to them. He states that even if someone has read other Puranas, they would know that these texts do not contain information about things like the coronavirus. The tragedy of the common Hindu, he says, is the lack of any real religious education. When asked about their scriptures, they might mention a few couplets from the Ramcharitmanas or a couple of shlokas from the Gita, but nothing more, leaving the vast spiritual literature of Sanatana Dharma unread. This ignorance, Acharya Prashant argues, allows for the spread of fabricated and harmful information, which is a great disservice to Sanatana Dharma. He calls those who create and spread such messages the biggest enemies of Dharma, as they misuse the sacred name of Shiv for their own narrow interests and to spread superstition. He laments the misuse of Shiv's name by religious institutions and individuals who misrepresent him. Shiv, he clarifies, is not a person but a symbol of the ultimate, formless, and ineffable truth. Depicting Shiv as a person sitting on a mountain or smoking cannabis is a misrepresentation. The concept of Shankar Bhagwan was created as a symbol to help the common person, who finds it difficult to worship the formless, move towards 'Shivatva'тАФthe absolute, silent truth. The speaker asserts that the current time is one of great danger for all religions, especially Sanatana Dharma, whose greatest enemies are often the Sanatanis themselves. He points to a section of people, often educated in English-medium schools, who have been fed poison in the name of history and lack real knowledge of their own scriptures. The solution, he suggests, is to use the time of lockdown to turn inwards, read the highest spiritual literature like the Upanishads, and use one's intellect and discretion. He emphasizes that the only real vaccine against the diseases of the mind is self-knowledge. While the body is vulnerable, the mind can be protected from the virus of superstition by engaging with the highest scriptures.
