FULL TEXT:
HINDU VIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN DIGNITY
For Presentation at
The
International Conference on Contemporary Philosophy of Religion
Institute
for Humanities and Cultural Studies
December, 23-24, 2012, Tehran, Iran
Introduction
The
human Rights discourse is essentially a Western discourse. It got validated
with the codification of the Universal Charter of Human Rights by the United
Nations' member countries in 1948. Massive human rights violations perpetrated
by the Axis powers - Germany of Hitler, Italy of Mussolini and Japan of
Hirohito - during the World War II led the conscientious world to raise serious
debate over the ways of ensuring that in the political struggles and wars
between the nations the lives and other rights of innocent citizens are not
endangered.
It is
well-known that the World War II had witnessed mass murder of millions of Jews
by the Nazi regime of Hitler. Similar heinous crimes were perpetrated by
Mussolini in Italy. The Japanese had indulged in horrible acts of murder, rape
and plunder in territories like China and parts of Malaya that they had been
able to overrun in the first couple of years of the War.
Naturally,
immediately after the War, the successful Allied Forces countries decided to
initiate the discourse on a universal charter of human rights that will be
deemed inviolable irrespective of what form of government is in place in a
particular country. The result of this discourse was the declaration of the
Universal Charter in 1948.
It
has certainly helped in improving the human rights conditions in many member
countries besides spawning a widespread popular movement for the protection of
human rights. Thanks to the UN Charter and subsequent efforts to educate people
about their rights there is certainly a greater awareness and awakening in the
world about this issue.
However
this Universal Human Rights discourse suffers from a major flaw. The starting
point of this discourse was individual rights. But over the last few decades
several new dimension have been added to this rights discourse. Issues like
rights of certain groups - whether religious minorities or gay and lesbian
groups or certain ethnic groups like the Gypsies etc - have now entered this
domain. Environmental rights and animal rights activism has added a further
dimension to it. With the Outer Space getting congested with too many floating
objects concerns about the planetary system and the universe itself too started
growing louder.
Thus
the rights discourse today has moved upwards from individual to community or
group to environment to whole creation. But it has given rise to a problem.
Since the discourse began with the lowest unit i.e. the individual and moved
upwards there occurred a clash of interests between the various segments.
The
Eastern philosophies in general and the Hindu philosophy in particular follow
the opposite approach to rights discourse. Whereas the Western discourse starts
with humans and ends with environment and universe the Hindu discourse begins
with universe and flows downwards to end with individual's rights. Thus it
ensures that the rights of various segments are securely taken care of.
Individual-centric
rights discourse of the West is essentially a product of the theology of the
Semitic religions. Semitic worldview considers the entire creation as the gift
of God to the mankind for its enjoyment. Unlike the Semitic religions, Hinduism
is not a revealed religion. It is a view of life evolved over millennia through
endless dialogues. Several millennia ago, on the banks of river Sindhu or Indus
these dialogues began among the scholarly sages and saints and they continue to
this day. From out of these discourses emerged the Vedas, the first literary
works of the mankind. This is a very unique feature of Hinduism: dialogue.
Indian historian Irfan Habib makes this point when he quotes an early Persian
source that Hindus are those who have been debating with each other within a
common framework for centuries.
According to tradition Hindus
are expected to strive for spiritual enhancement through moral truths with the
acceptance that no path contains this truth in entirety and that each
individual must make his own disciplined effort to attain enlightenment. There
is no single agent who may reveal the truth for a Hindu; hence there is no
single ordained path. In contrast to the Semitic religions there is no
established immutability which guides people to live according to any religious
law. As a result the huge corpus of Hindu scriptures based on insights of
Rishis or seers are guidebooks which may aid the direct consciousness of the
ultimate nature of the divine. With scriptures as sentinels and discussion as a
tool the Hindu tradition has put up a unique institution: the Guru. An
inspirational mentor, a philosopher friend, a direct instructor for the
righteous path—the Guru is an aid to self-realisation and a guide to salvation.
The
Vedic seers, after due deliberation, presented three visions to the mankind: Dharma
- The Cosmic or Natural Order; Karma - The Duties and Obligations; Punarjanma
- Cycles of Birth and Death. These visions are eternal and universal; not just
for Hindus alone. The Hindu view of human rights is centred on these three
visions.
Hindu View of the Universe
Ishavasyamidam sarvam yatkinch jagatyam jagat!
Tena tyaktena bhunjeethaah ma grudhah
kasyaswiddhanam!!
We
shall open this discussion on human rights and human dignity with this Golden
Key of Mahatma Gandhi. That is what he called the first verse of the ancient
text of Ishavasyopnishad - a philosophical treatise of the later Vedic
period. This verse asserts that all that is apparent or extant in this world
and beyond, is the abode of the divine. It then exhorts human beings to detach
themselves from this world only to take what is essential for their righteous
sustenance. It concludes with a prohibition to keep away from what is not
yours.
When
all that exists is divine for you, when you have no attachment to possessions,
when you limit your wants and covet nothing from others you are a true Hindu or
a follower of Sanatan Dharma as Gandhi liked to call himself. That is how he
discovered his path of Satya and Ahimsa or Truth and Non-violence—a weapon so
potent it has no antidote, a guarantee of human dignity in all its glory and
the essence of any manifesto of human rights.
The
Hindu tradition is focussed on similarities and shared traits rather than
differences and exclusions. This makes its identity almost indefinable yet
definite in its features. This means that despite its universalism there is a
plethora of beliefs and practices that can be uniquely identified with
Hinduism. Without doctrinal rigidity the Hindu mind has engaged itself with
questions that beleaguer the entire humankind rather than issues limited to
Hindus. A Hindu identity cannot be sought through conversion or differentiation
between believers and non-believers. It has to be acquired through
acculturation and assimilation through the recognition of such principles and
disciplines that would lead any human being to become a better person and live
in Harmony with Dharma the Natural Path of Righteous Conduct. Thus Hinduism
bows to the potential of every individual to attain enlightenment, to become a
messiah unto herself or himself.
Ethical-Spiritual
Identity of Human Beings
|
Amritasya Putrah Vayam’ - “We
are all begotten of the immortal.”
This
is how Hinduism introduces human beings.
“Every
individual soul is potentially divine”, proclaimed Swami Vivekananda.
It
is necessary to delve into the fundamentals of Hinduism in order to
comprehend its position on human dignity, human rights etc. The fundamentals
of Hinduism are in those great dialogues that took place in the Himalayas or
on the banks of the sacred Sindhu river some 4-5 Millennia back very much
like the Socratic dialogues. They are not commandments but informed
suggestions.
Hinduism
doesn’t recognise human beings as mere material beings. Its understanding of
human identity is more ethical-spiritual than material. That is why a sense
of immortality and divinity is attributed to all human beings in Hindu
classical thought.
“Consistent
with the depth of Indian metaphysics, the human personality was also given a
metaphysical interpretation. This is not unknown to the modern occidental
philosophy. The concept of human personality in Kant’s philosophy of law is
metaphysical entity but Kant was not able to reach the subtler unobserved
element of personality, which was the basic theme of the concept of
personality in Indian legal philosophy”, observes Prof. S.D. Sharma. (Sharma
SD, Administration of Justice in Ancient Bharat, 1988)
An
invisible Atman - the soul - dwelling in each body as the
quintessential identity of all creatures forms the basis for all discussion
on the status of human beings in Hindu classical thought starting from the
times of the Vedas, indisputably the ancient-most literature of the
world.
It
is on the principle that the soul that makes the body of all living organisms
its abode is in fact an integral part of the Divine Whole – Paramaatman
– that the Vedas declare unequivocally:
- RigVeda, Mandala-5, Sukta-60, Mantra-5
‘No
one is superior or inferior; all are brothers; all should strive for the
interest of all and progress collectively’.
The
RigVeda is the first of the four Vedas and is considered the
essence of all knowledge – Jnana. In fact the Vedas emphasise
the quintessential oneness of the entire creation.
Samaani va Aakootihi Samaanaa Hridayaanivah
-
RigVeda,
Mandala-10, Sukta-191, Mantra-4
“Let
there be oneness in your resolutions, hearts and minds; let the determination
to live with mutual cooperation be firm in you all”.
It
is worthwhile to mention here that it was much later and very recently that
the world had come up with the ideals of French Revolution or for that matter
the first Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) that
exhorts:
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in
a spirit of brotherhood”.
Three
famous ideals that inspired the French Revolution i.e. Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity have subsequently found place in almost all the democratic constitutions
of the world including that of Bharat. Liberty and Equality are the ideals
that can be achieved through constitutional means. But for achieving
Fraternity we need something more than constitutional means.
“What
does Fraternity mean?” Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Architect of Bharat’s
Constitution questioned, and went on to explain that “Fraternity means a
sense of common brotherhood of all Indians – of Indians being one people. It
is this principle that gives unity and solidarity to social life.” (B.R.
Ambedkar and Human Rights, Complete Works – 8)
Fundamental Unity -
Omnipresent Consciousness
Human
dignity can not be ensured merely through constitutional means. It has to be
embedded in the basic Sanskaras – the value system of the society. The ancient
sages of Bharat have thus visualized the grand idea of the oneness of Atman
and Paramaatman – and universal oneness of human beings based on ‘Chetna’
– the collective consciousness. That the same Consciousness pervades all
creation is the greatest contribution of the Hindu classical thought to the
wisdom of the world.
Nobel
Physicist Schrödinger concluded in his book My View of the World after
many experiments in Physics and neurophysiology that:
“In
all the world there is no kind of framework within which we find
consciousness in the plural. This is something we construct because of the
temporal plurality of the individuals. But it is a false construction… The
only solution to this conflict, in so far as any is available to us, lies in
the ancient wisdom of the Upanishads”. (Swami Jitatmananda, Modern
Physics and Vedanta, Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Rajkot)
Upanishads are the
fountainhead of Hindu philosophy which the great German philosopher
Schopenhauer described as “the solace of my life” (Harbilas Sharda, Hindu
Superiority). Vedic and Upanishadic literature abounds in ideas
that proclaim universal oneness and universal well-being. Hinduism is the
essence of all that wisdom handed down to generations after generations.
These ideas have shaped and guided the Hindu socio-religious life for
centuries.
When
one enters the Parliament Building in Delhi one comes face to face at the
very entrance with a Sanskrit verse:
Ayam Nijah Paroveti Ganana Laghu Chetasaam
Udaara Charitaanaam tu Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
It
says: “Small and narrow-minded people look at the reality in terms of ‘this
is yours and this is mine’; for those of higher consciousness the whole world
is a family”.
This
ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – the World as One Family – is unique
in this age of Globalisation in the sense that while the ancient sages of
Bharat have proclaimed that the whole humanity is like a big extended family,
the modern-age pundits want us to believe that the whole world is, in fact, a
huge market. While the Hindus stand for One World, the Globalisation stands
for One Market. In reality what we are actually achieving is not
Globalisation, but Mc Donaldisation.
While
emphasizing on the fundamental unity of the Atman – consciousness,
Hinduism does recognize that there exists diversity in God’s creation. This
diversity is not seen by a Hindu as a misnomer. Neither does he set out to
destroy this diversity in his quest for uniformity when he talks about the
innate oneness. Diversity in form and unity in spirit is what Hinduism stands
for.
The
secular ideals of Europe are nascent in front of the Hindu ideal of ‘Sarva
Dharma Samabhav’ – ‘Equal Respect for all Religions’. Whereas the secular
ideology stops at calling for ‘tolerance’ to the diversity, Hinduism goes
much further. It doesn’t just tolerate; it accepts every religion. It
transcends all barriers of religious bigotry and even celebrates diversity.
Omnitheism
Some
wrongly portray it as polytheism or pluralism. Pluralism means existence of
parts that are not inter-connected. However the Hindu ideal of respect for
and celebration of the diversity in the Creation stems from its core belief
that whatever we see in the universe is nothing but the manifestation of the
Supreme Reality only.
The
Chandogya Upanishad describes it beautifully as: ‘Sarvam Khalvidam
Brahma’ – meaning ‘All that we see in this universe is Brahman
(Supreme Consciousness) only’. The Mundaka Upanishad says that this Atman
(Consciousness-existence - Bliss-absolute) has interpenetrated everything in
the universe.
Lord
Krishna refers to the omnipresence of the Divine in his discourse to Arjuna
in the Bhagawat Gita.
‘Mayi
Sarvamidam Protam Sutre Manigana Iva’ – ‘I have interpenetrated the
universe like gems threaded together’.
It
is interesting to observe the scientific developments in Quantum Physics that
seem to proceed along the same lines. After successful experiment on Bell’s
Theorem, eminent Physicist David Bohm wrote:
“The
essential new quality implied by the quantum theory is non-locality, i.e. that
a system cannot be analyzed into parts whose basic properties do not depend
upon the whole system. This leads to new notion of unbroken wholeness of the
universe”. (Swami Jitatmananda, Swami Vivekananda – Prophet and
Path-finder)
We
shall term it Omnitheism. The purpose of life for a Hindu is to realize this,
feel One, and through this feeling, liberate spiritually. Omnitheism guides
the Hindu way of life. He sees God everywhere, in trees, in rivers, in
serpents and even in the vacuum. For him all creation – animate and inanimate
– is sacred. He worships a river and calls it Ganga Mata – Mother
Ganges. He worships a cow and calls it Go Mata – Mother Cow. Even if
he were to cut a tree for laying up a road, he would do that only after
offering his obeisance to that tree and seeking pardon from it. Hence every
Hindu might have a personal deity like patron saints culled from historical
figures enshrined in folk memory. This is not polytheism as these deities are
as divine as any in the creation and merely a part of the Whole.
‘Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti’ – ‘Truth is one; Wise men call it by various names’, exhorts Rig
Veda.
“We
not only tolerate, but we Hindus accept every religion …. Knowing that all
religions, from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, mean so many
attempts of the human soul to grasp and realize the infinite, each determined
by the conditions of its birth and association, and each of them marking a
stage of progress” – exhorted Swami Vivekananda at the World Parliament of Religions
in Chicago in 1893. (Subhash Kashyap; Understanding Bharat – Relevance of
Hinduism, 2007)
In
fact the Narada Smriti, one of the many constitutions Hindus have had
during the course of their long history enjoins upon the king to protect
non-believers too.
“Pashandanaigama
sreni poogavraata ganadishu
Samrakshet samayam Raja Durge Janapade Tatha”
“The
king should accord protection to compacts of associations of believers of Vedas
(Naigamas) as also the non-believers (Pashandis) and others” (Narada
Smriti, Dharma Kosha)
To
put in a nutshell, the Hindu perceives global diversity as the Divine Game
and sets out to preserve and enrich it rather than trying to establish a
Global Standard Culture.
Right of Happiness
Hinduism
is the religion of bliss. It considers the Right of Happiness to be the
highest fundamental right of all humans. The ultimate goal for Hindusim is
material and spiritual well-being of the mankind. It is pertinent to mention
here that this all important Right of Happiness doesn’t find a place in the
acclaimed Universal Charter of Human Rights.
The
holy prayer of Hindus from time immemorial has been:
Sarvepi Sukhinah Santu, Sarve Santu Niramayah
Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, Ma Kaschid Dukhabhag Bhavet
Let
all be happy; Let all be free from diseases
Let
all see auspicious things; Let nobody suffer from grief
Another
prayer that finds place in the Sikshavalli (Chapter on Education) in
the Taittareya Upanishad is also very significant.
Om Sahanavavatu, Saha Nau Bhunaktu, Sahaviryam Karavavahai
Tejaswi Navadhitamastu, Ma Vidmishamahai
Om shantih shantih shantih
May
He protect us together; May He nourish us together; May we work together with
greater energy
May
our study be vigorous and effective; May we not hate each other
Let
there be peace allover
It
may be noted that all these prayers essentially talk about the material
well-being and happiness of the entire mankind. In that sense the modern
thinkers are not the first to think in terms of the welfare and happiness of
the mankind. However the ‘Maximum Benefit to Maximum Number’ principle of the
modern economic thought was never accepted by the ancient Hindu seers. ‘Total
Good of All Beings’ has been the life-ideal of Hinduism.
Karma – Highest Obligation
Another
significant aspect of the Hindu view on Human Rights is its emphasis on
duties. In fact Hinduism doesn’t support the idea of separation of Rights and
Duties. Thus in Hindu discourse no Right is absolute. All the Rights bestowed
upon a section enjoin upon another section corresponding Duties too. And for
a Hindu the highest obligation is Karma – performance of his Duty.
For
example, the Right to Happiness was prominently emphasized in the Artha
Shastra of Chanakya. But it also enjoined upon the King the obligation to
ensure that those Rights of all his subjects are protected.
Prajasukhe Sukham Rajnah Prajanam cha Hite Hitam
Naatmapriyam Hitam Rajnah Prajanaam tu Priyam Hitam
“In
the happiness of the subjects lies the happiness of the King; in their
welfare his welfare. The King shall not consider what pleases himself as
good; whatever pleases his subjects is only good for him” (Artha Shastra)
In
the Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna declares to Arjuna:
Dharmenaavirodheshu Kaamosmi Bharatarshabha
“I
am those desires that are not against the Dharma”
A
very enlightening exchange took place during the Second World War between two
stalwarts – Mahatma Gandhi and H.G. Wells on this question of Human Rights.
Mahatma Gandhi steadfastly refused to accept the Rights discourse that was
taking place in the 40s within the Western tradition. Eminent English writer
H.G. Wells had drawn up a list of Human Rights. But Mahatma Gandhi told him
that he would do better by drawing up a list of the duties of man.
“Begin
with a Charter of Duties of Man… and I promise the Rights will follow as
spring follows winter. I write from experience. As a young man I began life
by seeking to assert my Rights and I soon discovered that I had none not even
over my wife. So I began by discovering performing my duty by my wife, my
children, friends, companions and society and I find today that I have
greater Rights, perhaps than any living man I know”. (Richard L. Johnson, Gandhi’s
Experiments with Truth)
As
an essential prerequisite for the Right to Happiness, the Rig Veda unequivocally
declares that all human beings are equal. The Atharva Veda goes
further and talks about various Rights and obligations or Duties.
Samani Prapaa Saha Vonnabhagah
Samane Yoktre Saha vo Yunajmi
Aaraah Nabhimivaabhitah
“All
have equal Rights to articles of food and water. The yoke of the chariot of
life is placed equally on the shoulders of all. All should live together in
harmony supporting one another like the spokes of a wheel of the chariot
connecting its rim and hub”. (Atharva Veda – Samjnana Sukta)
In
his important work ‘Happiness for All to Secure Social Harmony’, Js
Rama Jois writes: ‘The Vedas and Upanishads were the primordial
source of Dharma, a compendious term for all Human Rights and Duties,
the observance of which was regarded as essential for securing peace and
happiness to individuals and society. The Smritis and Puranas
were collections of the rules of Dharma including Civil Rights and
criminal liabilities (Vyavahara Dharma) as also Raja Dharma
(Constitutional Law). There were also several other authoritative works on Raja
Dharma, the most important of them being the Kamandaka, Shukra Niti
and Kautilya’s Artha Shastra. All of them unanimously declare that the
objective of the State was to secure happiness of all”. (M. Rama Jois, Guruji
and Social Harmony, Sri Guruji Janm Shatabdi Samiti, Karnataka)
Bharat’s
Constitution has Part – III containing details of the Fundamental Rights
enjoyed by every citizen of the country. Commenting on this Part Js. Bhagwati
said:
“These
Fundamental Rights represent the basic values cherished by the people of this
country since the Vedic times and they are calculated to protect the
dignity of the individual and create conditions in which every human being
can develop his personality to the fullest extent”. (Maneka Gandhi Vs
Union of Bharat, 1978 (1) SCC 248)
Rights of Women
Mr.
Herbert Spender, the great apostle of individual freedom, says that the
position of women supplied a good test of the civilization of the people. In
Bharat, women have always occupied a position of very high esteem. Prof. H.H.
Wilson says: “It may be confidently asserted that in no nation of antiquity
were women held in so much esteem as amongst Hindus”. (Mill’s History of
Bharat, Vol. II)
God
in Hinduism is Artha Nareeswara in
form and gender-free in formless.
Women
enjoyed not only equal opportunities and privileges with men in the classical
Hindu literature; they even enjoyed rights that were not available for their
counterparts.
Manu Smriti, the greatest
work on Hindu social codes, declares:
Yatra Naryastu Pujyante Ramante Tatra Devatah - “Where women are worshipped there the angels
tread”.
This
great law-giver of Hinduism defined the status of a wife and her equal rights
thus:
1.
If a wife
dies, her husband may marry another wife. (Manu, Chapter V, Verse
168). If a husband dies, a wife may marry another husband. (Manu,
quoted by Madhava and Vidyanatha Dikshita; Parasara; Narada; Yagnavalkya;
Agni Purana)
2.
If a wife becomes fallen by drunkenness or immorality her husband may
marry another. (Manu, Chapter IX, Verse 80). If a husband becomes
fallen, a wife may re-marry another husband. (Manu, quoted by Madhava
and several other scholars)
3.
In particular
circumstances, a wife may cease to cohabit with her husband. (Manu,
Chapter IX, Verse 79)
4.
If a husband
deserts his wife, she may marry another. (Manu, Chapter IX, Verse 76
and several others)
Varnashrama (Later day Caste System) and Human Dignity
No
discussion on Human Dignity and Rights with respect to Hinduism can be
complete with out taking up the question of the Caste system and the
hierarchical arrangement therein.
The
Hindus perfected social organization. The Hindu Varnashrama was the
most scientific principle of social organization. The Varnashrama was
not the same as the present day Caste system. The society was organized into
four Varnas/Castes. However unlike the Caste system of the present day
the Varnas were not hereditary. Untouchability and caste-based
discrimination were unknown during the Varnashrama days. No one was
high and no one low.
Shankara Digvijaya of Adi
Shankaracharya boldly proclaims:
Janmanaa Jaayate Shudrah Sanskaraat Dwija Ucchate
Vedapaathi Bhavet Viprah Brahma jnanaati Brahmanah
“By
birth all are Shudras only. By actions men become Dwija (twice-born).
By reading the Vedas one becomes Vipra and becomes Brahman
by gaining the knowledge of God.”
A
passage in the Vanparva of the Mahabharata runs thus: “He in
whom the qualities of truth, munificence, forgiveness, gentleness, abstinence
from cruel deeds, contemplation, and benevolence are observed, is called a
Brahmin in the Smriti. A man is not a Sudra (low Caste) by
being a Sudra nor a Brahmin by being a Brahmin”.
The
Shantiparva in Mahabharata categorically rejects the idea of
some castes being superior to others.
Na Visheshosti Varnanaam Sarvam Braahmyamidam Jagat
Brahmanaa poorva Sristhim hi Karmabhih Varnataam Gatam
“There
are no distinctions of castes. Divine consciousness is omnipresent in the
world. It was Brahmanic entirely at first. The Varnas have
emerged in consequence of men’s actions.”
In
his paper read before the International Congress of Orientalists at Berlin in
1881, Mr. Shyamji Krishna Verma, a renowned scholar and said:
“We
read in the Aiteriya Brahmana (ii.3.19), for example, that Kavasha
Ailusha, who was a Sudra and son of a low woman, was greatly respected
for his literary attainments, and admitted into the class of Rishis –
the pre-eminent Hindu sages. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of his life
is that he, Sudra as he was, distinguished himself as the Rishi of
some of the hymns of Rig-Veda (Rig., X. 30-40). It is
distinctly stated in the Chandogyopanishad that Jabala, who is
otherwise called Satya Kama, had no gotra, or family name whatever (Chan.
Upa., IV. 4). Though born of unknown parents, Jabala is said to have
founded a School of the Yajur Veda. Even in the Apasthambha
Sutra (II. 5-10) and Manu Smriti (x. 65) we find that a Sudra
can become a Brahman and a Brahman can become a Sudra.”
(Harbilas Sharda, Hindu Superiority)
From
Vyasa, Valmiki, and Vishva Karma to the present day saints one finds
countless eminent Rishis who are Sudras by Varna. Even
Megasthenes, the great Greek historian wrote that there were four castes in
Hindus and a Hindu of any caste may become a Sophist (Brahmin).
Caste
hierarchy and privileges based on caste had no sanction in Hinduism. They
were the result of the distortions crept into the Hindu body-politic during
the Medieval period. Hinduism has witnessed a continuous stream of social
reformers to uproot this malice, like Narayana Guru, Swami Vivekananda,
Jyotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
“Wherever
you go, there will be caste. But that doesn’t mean that there should be these
privileges. They should be knocked on the head. The duty of the Advaita
is to destroy all privilege. The days of exclusive privileges and exclusive
claims are gone, gone forever from the soil of Bharat”, exclaimed Swami
Vivekananda. (Subhash Kashyap, Understanding Bharat – Relevance of
Hinduism)
Interestingly
the caste system is no longer the exclusive appendage of Hinduism. Almost all
religions in Bharat have these castes today, and they are afflicted by the
system of caste-based privileges leading to conflicts within. Dalit
Christians is a word frequently used to describe the converts to Christianity
from the so-called low caste Hindus. These Dalit Christians complain
that they suffer a number of disabilities and discrimination within the
Christian Church establishment in Bharat. There were instances when it lead
even to violence and separation of Parishes on caste lines as in the recent
incidents in the South Indian city of Pondicherry in March 2008.
Conclusion
No
way of life or philosophy can be free of contemporary aberrations. Hinduism
is no exception. Myriad jostles of history and further deliberate
misinterpretations have left it scarred albeit cautious. In its present
continuous, it connects simultaneously with the highest philosophic
deliberations and variegated folk systems of worship while embracing with
happy understanding all other systems of belief. The only reservation is
about exclusivist medieval codes which refuse to allow other faiths to
survive. The supreme salvation of Hinduism, which is no different than
Realization of Self as an essential component of the Divine Whole, is
achieved thus by peaceful coexistence rather than aggressive ambition, by
cooperation rather than competition.
As
the Mahatma says, “Hinduism is a living organism liable to growth and decay,
and subject to the laws of Nature. One and Indivisible at the root it has
grown into a vast tree with innumerable branches. The changes in the seasons
affect it. It has its autumn and summer, its winter and spring. The rains
nourish and fructify it too. It is and is not based on scriptures. It does
not derive its authority from one book. The Gita is universally accepted, but
even then it only shows the way. It has hardly any effect on custom. Hinduism
is like the Ganga, pure and unsullied at its source, but taking in its course
the impurities in the way. Even like the Ganga it is beneficent in its total
effect. It takes a provincial form in every province, but the inner substance
is retained everywhere.”
(Mohandas
K. Gandhi; Young India; 08/04/1926)
As
Gandhi’s deity Ram says in Ramcharitmanas, the most popular religious
text of our times:
“Nirmal
Man Jan So Mohi Pawa
Mohi Kapat Chhal Chhidra Na Bhava”
(The
Pure of Heart can find me in them. I do not come to Pretenders, Deceivers and
Vicious persons.)
* * *
“Today
we are still living in this transitional chapter of the world history, but it
is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a Western beginning will
have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in self-destruction of the
human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in human history the only way
of salvation for the mankind is an Indian way” – Arnold Toynbee, Introduction
to ‘World Thinkers on Ramakrishna and Vivekananda’.
Presented by:
Ram Madhav Varanasi
Director, India
Foundation
New Delhi, India
Mail:
rammadhav@gmail.com
Blog:
http://ram-madhav.blogspot.com
|
|
|
