The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s8.t3.1

c14.s8.t3.1

It is possible to detect an utopistic futurism in Rāmdās's writings. That futurism took shape in his conception of *ānanda-vana-bhūvana* (the bower and world of bliss) such as he is said to have seen in a dream.⁷ The contents of this dream introduce us to the kind of miseries which he saw removed from his people and the kind of relief, joy or happiness that he found brought or restored to the community. The hindrances to *svadharma* were, we are told, things of the past. The emergence of the *sureśa* (the hero) and the *sura-senā* (the army of the hero), on the one hand, and the discomfiture of the *Mlechchha daitya* (the barbarian devil), on the other, constituted two important features of the *ānanda-vana-bhūvana* (the happy world) as envisaged in the dream. The *pāpīs* (sinners and criminals) of all sorts as well as the *abhaktas* (faithless) disappeared or diminished in number. The expansion of *dharma* was consummated. The *pāpī* (sinner) Aurāngyā's (Aurangzeb's) “sinking” or decline was distinctly seen (*buḍālā aurāngyā pāpī*). On the positive side were noticed, again, the assured facilities for *snāna* (bath) and *sandhyā* (evening prayers), *japa tapa* (sacrifices) etc., ceremonial items such as affected the Hindus of those days as of today. Then, again, love, fellow-feeling and sympathy were on the increase (*chaḍhatā bāḍhatā premā*).