From today, some reproduction of interesting speeches and writings. It is not about a writer’s block – i keep battling those – but more because these are readings / writings that inspired me at a certain point in life – and they still resonate.
My mother – a political scientist who taught Gandhism, introduced me to the writings of JP. Dad used to think that JP was a communist traitor, – i think that he still does – so mom & i tend to discuss JP – if at all – kind of quietly. Here is one of my favourite pieces .
Jayaprakash Narain On Hindu Revivalism
At the root of all-pervasive problem of the crisis of character is the decline of religion. I wish to voice my serious concern over the state of Hinduism as it is found in practice. For the educated class, and more so for the young, it has no meaning except for certain ceremonies which are performed without faith to conform to social customs. For some important sections of the Hindu community, piety or religiosity is only a means to obtain divine sanction for unethical behaviour, such as black-marketing, tax-evasion, profiteering, etc. For the mass of Hindus, religion means nothing more than a few mythological tales, crass superstition, some taboos and empty observances.
Religion as a formative, humanizing, ennobling force hardly seems to have survived. The great movements of religious reform of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have spent their driving force. The outer dead shell of Karma kanda is all that seems to be left of Hindu religion, and nothing or little of the inner core. In its outward form our religion still sanctions the hierarchy of castes, even the crime of untouchability.
Between word and deed there are contradictions that balk the imagination. It is not uncommon to meet the catholicity of Vedantism in words accompanied with the most narrow-minded caste observances in deeds. We talk glibly about the tolerance of Hindu religion, yet do not raise an eyebrow when men, women and children are butchered for belonging to another religion. Only recently, no less than a hundred murders were committed because, to begin with, a non-Hindu student, while protesting deep reverence for one of our departed national leaders, refused to garland his bust on the ground that his religion forbade every form of idol worship.
There is a good deal of current talk about Hindu revivalism. I believe firmly that for Hindu society, revival is essential if it is to put forth its best and reach its height of achievement. But the revivalism now taking place will push Hindu society further backward, and may incidentally destroy even what we have of the unity of our nation. The Hindu religion is a strange mixture of good and bad, sublime and low, the most emancipated thought and bigoted obscurantism. What happens to the future of Hindu society depends upon which of these strains are to be selected, nourished and propagated.
[Source: From the Convocation Address, Delhi University, December 23, 1966]
As a society, or as a people – we have given up the middle ground to religious fascists – be they of any hue or shade. We tolerate Caste Panchayats, and Honour Killings – we tolerate abuses against sexual minorities, and religious minorities, we stand by and watch assaults on freedom of thought and expression – and justify it in the name of ‘our culture’ 🙂 ! I don’t know whose culture – it is definitely not mine !
funnily, i re read this on a day when i heard a brilliant debate between Christopher Hitchens & Stephen Fry on blasphemy.
it is going to be an interesting 2 decades from now – it would be nice to see the silent moderates (all of us) stand up against the minority of religious bigots.
Atlast, I found someone who cites Jaiprakash Narayan in her/his analysis and fact reviewing. Thanks Gargi Madam for giving insightful view of JP on Hindi Revivalism. We are generating a whole generation whose only interest is IT related. The failure of converging job after academia of social science is hurtening our chance to make a commentory on present social issues.
The failure of Hindu organization like RSS to take stand against Caste Panchayats, and Honour Killings is shameful. Why I had chosen RSS as example ? Because of its depth & network in hindu society.
We have a majority of Hindu people who in JP’s word ‘For the mass of Hindus, religion means nothing more than a few mythological tales, crass superstition, some taboos and empty observances.’ OR the new rebels who are ignorant blasphemous than athiest.
hi himanshu
did you know that athiesm is a respected philosophical school in hinduism – therefore not blasphemous !
but caste – needs to be addressed not just by the state, but by religious leaders and institutions.
Hi gargi,I know about Chavarka’s school of thought on atheism. It is necessary to study your past carefully before bashing it. Hence, most of those who speak blasphmous are riding on the literature of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. They are not wrong in their perspective but there is difference between west and east. It is about POV in the religious matter. We have past of existence of Charvaka and Buddha speaking against Vedic traditions. Also we have reformers like Kum?rila Bha??a and Kabir. Ontology is an lively and logical debate here and you cann’t wipe the history because you are igonored of it.When I speak of blasphemous persons, I don’t have problem with their points. I have more concern of ignorance of our generation which does not know about our heritage which have long tradition of rational and logical ‘shastrarth’ and reform from centuries. India has contributed more in religious and ontological debate than any other country in the world.
You are correct in your stand point against caste discrimination. For prevailing social justice, caste system should be banned like aparthied and people should be given choice to shred their religion and caste on his spritual orientation.
i read Dawkins, and my first resposne was oh a christian athiest 🙂
religion & God are two very different things. one is mass, based on collective consciousness ! the second is personal 🙂
i think that a lot of people have not managed to throw away the shackles of the colonial past – a lot of what they know about this country & her traditions are shaped by western concepts. the most dangerous of these is ‘nationalism’ and the way it is defined.
people like Adi Shankara & jyaneshwar – both revered philosophers have been made symbols of ritualism rather than free thought – that is what they stood for – freedom of thought !
unfortunately, the orthodoxy is back 🙁
Is it possible to ever have a conversation on Hinduism without referring to Casteism or such other like evils?
I have read very little of JP’s work but from what i remember, he ties his argument back to social science rather than the philosophical science that “if taught to those who want” can form some kind of basis to germinate ideas on.
Hinduism has its evils, every religion has but this argument that only if we address these evils and fix it completely can the process of identification to it begin bothers me somewhere.
My 2 cents!
hi ravptor
there is a philosophical stream of Hinduism and there is the riutalistic stream that most follow. caste is not a factor in the former – but few practise it. It’s a huge part of the latter and most practise it 🙁
Government can’t do a damn about the caste system – if at anyone can it is religious leaders – they need to play a part in ensuring that it is a sin to practise discrimination 🙁
personally, i follow the advait school of philosophy – and really appreciate the freedom i have in my relationship with God 🙂