prasad1
Active member
Superstition refers to the blind faith in an idea without giving any consideration to reason, logic and evidence. Many superstitions have originated in human society on account of ignorance and fear of the unknown and incomprehensible. They thrive mainly on the greed of human beings. Many superstitions have disappeared in course of time as well. For instance, for many centuries lightning, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and epidemics were assumed as the reflection of God’s anger over the behavior of human beings. To appease God, many rituals were carried out. Prayers were offered; fasting was undertaken and offerings were given to temples and even human sacrifices were made. These superstitions have vanished gradually during the last two centuries due to development and spread of scientific knowledge about nature and her manifestations.
In India, till mid-nineteenth century, thousands of women were burnt alive in the funeral pyre of their husbands on the superstition that they would live in heaven with their husbands. In addition, human sacrifices were carried out in both North and South India, either to appease God or to get his favor. Likewise, many barbaric superstitions existed in India.
For example, during Puri Jegannath Temple’s car festival, many devotees would voluntarily fall before the wheels of the chariot to get killed. They committed this suicide on the supposition that they would go to heaven. In that period, many forms of suicides and female infanticide were in practice. Such cruel customs were abolished by the British Governor General, Lord William Bentinck in the 1830s.
All superstitions are harmful since they inactivate the reasoning capacity of human beings. Secondly, they arrest human endeavor and initiative. Thirdly they make people waste their energy, time and money in worthless rituals and ceremonies. There things lead to decline and decay of civilization. So, we have to be vigilant and guard ourselves against the superstitions.
People believing in superstation expect wonders to happen in their lives. Under this false hope, they don’t involve themselves in any productive and creative activities sincerely. This wrong mental attitude towards life and work acts, as a major hurdle to our progress.
Auspicious days for solemnizing marriages are only 55 to 60 days in a year. The rest of the days i.e. 310 days in a year are marked as inauspicious days, not suitable for solemnizing marriages. Believing this superstition, most of the people in the South conduct marriages only on those days. Not only Hindus but also Muslims and Christians conduct marriages only on those days. To that extent, this superstition governs the minds of Indians, irrespective of one’s religious conviction.
Thus, many superstitions rule the minds of our people. They poison the minds of our people fatally and suppress the basic instinct to think and act. They implant an ideology of slavish servility and paralyze the will and mind. They stifle self-reliance and deter people from living productively and creatively.
Superstitions erect an absolute monarchy in the minds of Indians. As a result, most of the Indians follow the dictates of superstitions with the hope that there might be ‘something’ in them. They don’t question the beliefs and customs handed out to them.
Stressing the importance of ‘spirit of enquiry’ the famous rationalist R.G.Ingersoll (1833-1899) says, “Man should think; he should use all his senses; he should examine; he should reason. The man who cannot think is less than man; the man who will not think is a traitor to himself. The man who fears to think is superstitions’ slave.
As per this yardstick, large numbers of Indians are the slaves of superstitions since they fear to doubt their beliefs and put them to logical and rational analysis. By performing meaningless rituals and ceremonies, they imagine themselves as religious and pious. They are unaware that they are ignorant. To change the condition, spirit of enquiry needs to be encouraged at all levels. People should be motivated to think rationally and review all our values. They should be encouraged to discard the useless and senseless values and at the same time abide by the meaningful values.
We should develop a scientific temper in our society; that we should discard all superstitious ideas doled out to us in the name of tradition and that we should get rid of all anarchistic customs and beliefs. A revolution in the world of ideas is the need of the hour.
SUPERSTITION AND INDIANS
In India, till mid-nineteenth century, thousands of women were burnt alive in the funeral pyre of their husbands on the superstition that they would live in heaven with their husbands. In addition, human sacrifices were carried out in both North and South India, either to appease God or to get his favor. Likewise, many barbaric superstitions existed in India.
For example, during Puri Jegannath Temple’s car festival, many devotees would voluntarily fall before the wheels of the chariot to get killed. They committed this suicide on the supposition that they would go to heaven. In that period, many forms of suicides and female infanticide were in practice. Such cruel customs were abolished by the British Governor General, Lord William Bentinck in the 1830s.
All superstitions are harmful since they inactivate the reasoning capacity of human beings. Secondly, they arrest human endeavor and initiative. Thirdly they make people waste their energy, time and money in worthless rituals and ceremonies. There things lead to decline and decay of civilization. So, we have to be vigilant and guard ourselves against the superstitions.
People believing in superstation expect wonders to happen in their lives. Under this false hope, they don’t involve themselves in any productive and creative activities sincerely. This wrong mental attitude towards life and work acts, as a major hurdle to our progress.
Auspicious days for solemnizing marriages are only 55 to 60 days in a year. The rest of the days i.e. 310 days in a year are marked as inauspicious days, not suitable for solemnizing marriages. Believing this superstition, most of the people in the South conduct marriages only on those days. Not only Hindus but also Muslims and Christians conduct marriages only on those days. To that extent, this superstition governs the minds of Indians, irrespective of one’s religious conviction.
Thus, many superstitions rule the minds of our people. They poison the minds of our people fatally and suppress the basic instinct to think and act. They implant an ideology of slavish servility and paralyze the will and mind. They stifle self-reliance and deter people from living productively and creatively.
Superstitions erect an absolute monarchy in the minds of Indians. As a result, most of the Indians follow the dictates of superstitions with the hope that there might be ‘something’ in them. They don’t question the beliefs and customs handed out to them.
Stressing the importance of ‘spirit of enquiry’ the famous rationalist R.G.Ingersoll (1833-1899) says, “Man should think; he should use all his senses; he should examine; he should reason. The man who cannot think is less than man; the man who will not think is a traitor to himself. The man who fears to think is superstitions’ slave.
As per this yardstick, large numbers of Indians are the slaves of superstitions since they fear to doubt their beliefs and put them to logical and rational analysis. By performing meaningless rituals and ceremonies, they imagine themselves as religious and pious. They are unaware that they are ignorant. To change the condition, spirit of enquiry needs to be encouraged at all levels. People should be motivated to think rationally and review all our values. They should be encouraged to discard the useless and senseless values and at the same time abide by the meaningful values.
We should develop a scientific temper in our society; that we should discard all superstitious ideas doled out to us in the name of tradition and that we should get rid of all anarchistic customs and beliefs. A revolution in the world of ideas is the need of the hour.
SUPERSTITION AND INDIANS
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