A fair assessment by T.K.Arun...Tho' there are factual errors such as Tat Tvam Asi is not propounded by Sri Sankara but is from Chandogya Upanishad
Treat them as men, not God
TK Arun
TuesdaySeptember 03, 2013, 04:28 AM
Millions of Indiansare poor, illiterate and malnourished. They are prone to disease and their lifeexpectancy is low. If a healthy mind requires a healthy body, millions ofIndians are incapable of having healthy minds. Millions of Indians are alsofollowers of godmen, whose ranks include people like Asaram.
Spiritual guides,saints and others given to epiphany are common to all cultures around theworld, their frequency coming down with the advance of modernity andrationality. Industrial and post-industrial life has seen a sudden decline inthe number of miracles and of holy men associated with them.
India remainslargely pre-industrial, even today. In 2011, for the first time, the share ofthe working population engaged in agriculture dipped below 50%. Even now, morethan two-thirds of all Indians live in rural areas. Even those who live intowns carry with them the baggage they brought from the village, beliefs andideas for the most part.
Just last week, at awayside dhaba in Uttar Pradesh, a man shot dead an 11-year-old who refused towash a tumbler for him — so what if he did not work at the dhaba and was thereonly to watch television, he was a Dalit and how could he defy a direct orderfrom his social superior? (Note that television and guns, modern inventions inthemselves, did not quite modernise the interaction between the shooter and thetelevision viewer.)
In such a country,it would be surprising if godmen like Asaram did not proliferate. How shouldthe state deal with errant godmen? Exactly as it would deal with errant men.There should be no compromise on this. This is more than just maintainingequality before the law. Refusing to make any special allowances for godmen ispart of nation-building in this country where the constitutional ideal ofliberal democracy is not an actualised reality but a goal, an ideal, theimperative to attain which should inform every action of the state.
No Place for Godmen
Is such disdain forgodmen part of so-called modernists’ disdain for Hinduism? Would peopleadvocating such down-to-earth treatment for Hindu holy men still stick to terrafirma when it comes to holy men of minority religions? Isn’t this all part of alarger anti-Hindu conspiracy? This version ofoffence-is-thebest-form-of-defence has already been launched on behalf ofAsaram, with the BJP chipping in with vigour. It belittles Hinduism as a beliefsystem incompatible with democracy and equality before the law.
In reality, Hinduismprovides scope for Asarams to exist only because it affords endless flexibilityin how people find their spiritual equilibrium. A rigorous articulation ofHindutva’s core concept of advaita(non-duality) would leave no place for gods and goddesses, leave alone for thegarden variety of godmen with base instincts.
Tattvamasi (that thou art) was Sankara’sfamous reply to someone who asked him to explain the concept of Atman. Atmanis not just the ultimate reality but also the only reality. Everything livingand lifeless is some or the other manifestation of Atman.
Things that seemdifferent are the same in their essence. Their difference is illusion.Inability to see the underlying unity of all things is ignorance, delusion. Thepoint of enlightenment is to realise this.
Hinduism is perhapsthe only religion to posit the non-duality of what are commonly perceived asthe creator and the created. Such negation of distinction between the creatorand the created, and among the myriad bits of the created, opens up radicalpossibilities.
Kerala’s socialreformer Sri Narayana Guru drew on advaita to assert the illegitimacy andinvalidity of caste. When all men, apart from all other things, aremanifestations of the selfsame Atman, how can some men be inferior, even untouchable?
Radical Hinduism
Apart from beingincompatible with the caste system, advaita has other potential disadvantages. Those who appreciate theunderlying unity of all things also appreciate that all ethics and morality aresocial constructs and not divine ordination. Just look at what a high concentrationof amoral people has done to global finance to see how dangerous it could befor the world to be full of enlightened ones who are above morality.
Privilege Progress
So while Hinduismcounts enlightened knowledge as one route to salvation, it quite practicallyrules it out for the majority, who are left to contend with worldly delusionthrough piety, devotion, diligent discharge of duty and so on. It is thisfreewheeling mix of means that offers the folds and creases out of which godmenoperate. The enlightened state should see them for what they are: at best liketutors for those who were remiss in the classroom, at worst exploiting thebackwardness that alone makes them possible.
The job of the stateis not to take backwardness for granted. To give Asarams privileged treatmentis to collude in backwardness, to collude in the shooting of the boy in UttarPradesh. India deserves better and Indians now know this.
Treat them as men, not God
TK Arun
TuesdaySeptember 03, 2013, 04:28 AM
Spiritual guides,saints and others given to epiphany are common to all cultures around theworld, their frequency coming down with the advance of modernity andrationality. Industrial and post-industrial life has seen a sudden decline inthe number of miracles and of holy men associated with them.
India remainslargely pre-industrial, even today. In 2011, for the first time, the share ofthe working population engaged in agriculture dipped below 50%. Even now, morethan two-thirds of all Indians live in rural areas. Even those who live intowns carry with them the baggage they brought from the village, beliefs andideas for the most part.
Just last week, at awayside dhaba in Uttar Pradesh, a man shot dead an 11-year-old who refused towash a tumbler for him — so what if he did not work at the dhaba and was thereonly to watch television, he was a Dalit and how could he defy a direct orderfrom his social superior? (Note that television and guns, modern inventions inthemselves, did not quite modernise the interaction between the shooter and thetelevision viewer.)
In such a country,it would be surprising if godmen like Asaram did not proliferate. How shouldthe state deal with errant godmen? Exactly as it would deal with errant men.There should be no compromise on this. This is more than just maintainingequality before the law. Refusing to make any special allowances for godmen ispart of nation-building in this country where the constitutional ideal ofliberal democracy is not an actualised reality but a goal, an ideal, theimperative to attain which should inform every action of the state.
No Place for Godmen
Is such disdain forgodmen part of so-called modernists’ disdain for Hinduism? Would peopleadvocating such down-to-earth treatment for Hindu holy men still stick to terrafirma when it comes to holy men of minority religions? Isn’t this all part of alarger anti-Hindu conspiracy? This version ofoffence-is-thebest-form-of-defence has already been launched on behalf ofAsaram, with the BJP chipping in with vigour. It belittles Hinduism as a beliefsystem incompatible with democracy and equality before the law.
In reality, Hinduismprovides scope for Asarams to exist only because it affords endless flexibilityin how people find their spiritual equilibrium. A rigorous articulation ofHindutva’s core concept of advaita(non-duality) would leave no place for gods and goddesses, leave alone for thegarden variety of godmen with base instincts.
Tattvamasi (that thou art) was Sankara’sfamous reply to someone who asked him to explain the concept of Atman. Atmanis not just the ultimate reality but also the only reality. Everything livingand lifeless is some or the other manifestation of Atman.
Things that seemdifferent are the same in their essence. Their difference is illusion.Inability to see the underlying unity of all things is ignorance, delusion. Thepoint of enlightenment is to realise this.
Hinduism is perhapsthe only religion to posit the non-duality of what are commonly perceived asthe creator and the created. Such negation of distinction between the creatorand the created, and among the myriad bits of the created, opens up radicalpossibilities.
Kerala’s socialreformer Sri Narayana Guru drew on advaita to assert the illegitimacy andinvalidity of caste. When all men, apart from all other things, aremanifestations of the selfsame Atman, how can some men be inferior, even untouchable?
Radical Hinduism
Apart from beingincompatible with the caste system, advaita has other potential disadvantages. Those who appreciate theunderlying unity of all things also appreciate that all ethics and morality aresocial constructs and not divine ordination. Just look at what a high concentrationof amoral people has done to global finance to see how dangerous it could befor the world to be full of enlightened ones who are above morality.
Privilege Progress
So while Hinduismcounts enlightened knowledge as one route to salvation, it quite practicallyrules it out for the majority, who are left to contend with worldly delusionthrough piety, devotion, diligent discharge of duty and so on. It is thisfreewheeling mix of means that offers the folds and creases out of which godmenoperate. The enlightened state should see them for what they are: at best liketutors for those who were remiss in the classroom, at worst exploiting thebackwardness that alone makes them possible.
The job of the stateis not to take backwardness for granted. To give Asarams privileged treatmentis to collude in backwardness, to collude in the shooting of the boy in UttarPradesh. India deserves better and Indians now know this.
