Science tells us to keep ourselves and our environment clean to avoid disease and to feel good.
Religion tells to keep ourselves and our environment clean to gain good karma (punyam) and avoid bad karma (papam).
Science motivates people who like to reason, to stay clean.
Religion motivates people who like good luck and fear bad luck to stay clean.
More people can be motivated by fear of bad luck than by reasons of good health.
As religion-based cleanliness is increasingly marginalised in India (“God will love you whether you are clean or dirty”) trash has started piling up everywhere.. in public places. “God doesn’t care about cleanliness and I am not scared of the Government and I do not care about the society” way of thinking. Sigh!
Religious leaders persist in saying that it is ‘sinful’ to be ‘unclean’. You can’t tell them that the hygeine rules in present in religion were a mixture of good science and psychology. They will not hear you. Neither will the political leaders who denounce religion.
Fines won’t work in India. Whatever the fine, a cheaper, hassle-free bribe will supplant it. So, making laws against trashing roadsides won’t work.
So let us remind people that if they want Lakshmi Devi to like them, they probably shouldn’t be trashing the world they live in. Trashing is possibly an offence against Jaganmata, Sri Maha Lakshmi Devi. Cleanliness might make Her very happy with those who practice it. Let us try to find such slokas and sastras which clarify this point and popularise them.
How nice if some popular Guruji initiated a “Subhra Yagnya”!
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Two New Pages started : Rudras, Vasus
Two Featured Comments :
1) Vasishta addressed Indra as Chakri! RV_07.020.01.1
I also was very surprised and delighted to see ‘chakri’ applied to Indra in RV7, so am happy to see this post!
Right now I’m looking at Sri Kavyakantha’s Indra sahasranāma, which he apparently took entirely from the Vedas, and found another surprise: the name Akūpārāya. I’m not sure where in the Vedas this appears, but it’s a name for Vishnu (Kurma), isn’t it? Indra as…tortoise?? Have you ever come across this before? : Leila
Thank you for all of the wonderful information on this site; it’s an utter joy to read. 
2) Women, Sons and Remarriage : Vasistha Dharmasastra
I am a chennaite doing my research in Sanskrit for my Ph.D degree under Unversity of Madras. Recently i ve submitted my thesis titled Women’s Rights in Dharmasastra. I strongly agree and accept your views and this I could convincingly say after reading the original scriptures of ancient glorious past.KUDOS to You : Raman Subasri
Regards,
Satya
