Human society is dependent on the proper working of many systems. The ecological systems, the economic systems, the political systems, the religious systems, the social systems: all have failed thus leading to human misery, destitution and mental depression. Why have human thinkers failed to devise ways to build happy and prosperous human societies by correctly understanding these complex entities?
The gap between human thought and reality consisting of complex systems has become unbridgeable because science which progresses using the process of reductionism for unraveling the secrets of simple entities has entranced the thinkers in various fields and dazzled the world by making many inventions and discoveries. Our thinkers who formulate theories for these complex systems still remain confined to the reductionist path and so we go on missing the bus. Modern discoveries in the fields of physics and Biology are scaling new heights. Reductionist thought processes can not fathom the dimensions of complex systems amongst which the foremost are evolution and the human brain Prof. Paul Davies advocates ‘The Synthetic Path’ instead of the reductionist Path for the understanding of complex phenomena. In the essay ‘The Synthetic path’ Paul Davies writes”,
“We can’t avail some anthropic component in our science, which is interesting, because, after three hundred years, we finally realize that we do matter. Our vantage point in the universe is relevant-to our science.” 1
He confines the anthropic element only to the selective process. He denies it any causative role. Man chooses one phenomenon amongst many existing in nature.
Stephen Hawking in his famous speech in 1979 predicted the reaching of the end in theoretical physics. Prof. Davies confines this prediction only to that science which is the product of the reductionist paths. Research on the complex systems is only at the beginning stage. “It is (complex systems are) more than just a large number of simple systems, coming together in conjunction. Complex systems really do have their own laws, principles and their own internal logic.” 2
John ‘Brockmann writes in a similar manner “……simple entities work together to produce some complex thing that transcends them. The implications for biology, engineering and physics are enormous”. 3
Nobel-prize winner M. Gellmann desired a new way to cover diverse fields: simple as well as complex ones: simple rules and complex entities. He calls this “PLECTICS” (a new word coined by him).
Nobel winner, physicist M. Gell-Mann throws light on complexity thus, “In each case, the complexity of a thing is context- dependent…. Not only is the thing being described, but also on who or what is doing the describing… that is a task that I have undertaken.” 4
More discussion of the difficulty and limitations of theory- building in the field of complexity is necessary in view of the importance of the subject. Almost all theorists come from either the Western society or the Orient under the Western system of education. Their own-theory craze comes out in the writings of Nobel Prize winner in the field of particle physics, Richard Feynman.
“I fell deeply in love with it (theory). And like falling in love with a woman ….. you cannot see her faults…. I was held to this theory, in spite of all the difficulties, by my youthful enthusiasm.” 5
This infatuation with a theory prejudices the selective principle. A number of scientists and biologists are Hobbesians, believing in violence and racial superiority.
Again Richard Feynman writes,”
“Psychologically we must keep all the theories in our head and every theoretical physicist who is any good knows six or seven different theoretical representations for exactly the same physics. He knows that they are all equivalent …… he keeps them in his head, hoping that they will give different ideas for guessing.” 6
We need many theories so that the anthropic principle (selective principle) helps in guessing the most appropriate theory for understanding any complex phenomenon.
Nobel winner Murray Gell-Mann explains, “… much mischief has been done in the world by exaggerating the role of scientific metaphor in human affairs. The science of economics provides an example: people have tried to apply a stripped-down version of economics to human affairs, omitting a great many values, a great many things of importance. By stressing the need of competition and greed in human affairs, economist theoreticians have done great harm. No wonder the system has collapsed in the present decade bringing immense misery to the global population.” 7
The Indian philosophy of Samkhya denounces greed in society by calling it a Rajasic value (KAMA ESA KRODHA ESA… BAIRINAM) Treat greed and violence as two great enemies having Rajasic Character (GUNA). They are enemies to be shunned. 8
Murray Gell-mann speaks, “Each of the human beings for example, is the product of an enormously long sequence of accidents, any of which could have turned out differently… each of us, individuals, have genes that result from a long sequence of accidental mutations and chance meetings, as well as natural selection.” 9
Which accidents / accident, led to the rise of Mahenjodaro Harappa civilization, the only advanced non-violent – civilization in the world. The other leading civilizations of the ancient world were violent and slave-based. The Chinese civilization, though founded on war, was somewhat different because it laid stress not on warrior kings but sage-kings, and placed scholars at a higher level than the soldiers.
S. Abid Husain writes.
“… Geographical factors, especially the climate of the country, have given to Indians a general out look and temperament and helped to mould their thought and action… For the moment all your feelings and desires, your cognition and will, in fact your whole self are steeped in something which can be called contemplation or meditation. The intellect…. think of all creation as one, and imagination, which is free from the bothers of sense and perception, visualizes this unity.” 10
Contemplation or meditation enabled Indian thinkers to discover proper methods for controlling and directing the mind. The other accident which in combination with the first enabled India to have different types of thinkers from the rest of the world also finds mention in the same article. S. Abid Husain again writes,…. “The warm, in some parts moderately hot climate of the country, the fertility of the soil and the abundance of water made India suitable for agriculture… As a rule, communities which took to agriculture are matriarchal and have a deep and strong feeling for family and social life…They are more peace-loving and human than in communities which were originally nomadic”. 11
Bolstering the ideas of S.A. Hussain, Shereen Ratnagar, ex-Professor of JNU writes, “…. In Asia there are very few early farming settlements like Jericho where defensive structures occur”.12
She also writes, “In contrast with central Asia and Africa, we don’t have vast stretches of grassland in South Asia which would have provided habitats for large and consolidated pastoral groups… Our pastoral people….. are fringe groups, without economic or military might. 13
Modern Anthropologists, mostly, do not accept the existence of matriarchy in any part of the world in any period. Writes Gail Orrvedt,” what is wrong with the theory, however, is that it lacks support from accepted historical and anthropological evidence….”.14
Gail Omvedt also writes, “Even the strongest Marxist feminist anthropologists argue for the equality of men and women in ancient pre-class hunter-gatherer or horticultural societies, not for the dominance of women.” 15
Mahabharata echoes the same sentiment in describing the war-free, sexually-free happy anarchic society of the UTTARAKURUS.
“There is no greed (NISKAMA), no violence (AHIMSA- vegetarians all), nor punishment (DANDA) in Uttara Kuru region. Their minds are always calm. There is no jealousy in that country. Women and men have absolute sexual freedom.” 16
Women’s equal position in society and her sexual freedom led to many one-parent families Many Vedic Rishis are simply introduced as the sons of their mothers only. Meditating women, known as Yoginis, discovered the importance of supreme values like non-violence, truth, minimizing wants tendency (APARIGRAHA) and Asteya.
Asteya, the motherly attitude (caring for the other members of society before you satisfy your needs) is a part of the Yogic YAMA. Meditation made the Yoginis discover that only a calm mind, neither disturbed by calamities nor pleasure, can lead to a balanced happy personality. This was the SHHAMA portion of Yoga. At the later phase, sophisticated physical exercises were added as another item to the practice of Yoga. Archeologists discovered a lot of seals in Mahenjodaro- Harappa society which they interpreted as the figures of goddesses. As Mahenjodaro- Harappa culture was atheistic in character, the figures were evidently those of Yoginis. Among so many Yoginis, we find only one male Yogi, the figure of proto-Siva. Even today, in the Nuapada District of Orissa in Rampur Jharial area, there are sixty four Yoginis and one Yogi, Siva( the physical postures of Yoga must have been a later addition as they do not form the essential part of Yoga. They might have been added by the male Yogis).
After the Asians came to India, the fusion of earlier Yogi Siva and Yoginis took place with the god Rudra and goddesses worshipped by the indigenous communities and the Vedic Aryans. Thus non-violent Gods and Goddesses turned into violent ones because of the fusion of pre-Vedic, indigenous and Vedic Aryan gods and goddesses. The identification of Durga with Parvati is the result of such a fusion. The Yoginis changed into indigenous Goddesses, before whom animals were sacrificed.
Mahadev Chakravati writes in his thesis that Rudra, “in the Rig-Veda represented the ruthlessness of nature, the only god who is feared and held in awe by the Vedic bards, the healing aspect of the deity is reflected in the beneficent rains loosened by the storm” 17
Scientists agree that human brain is a complex entity that is responsible for all our creative and cognitive activities. Human brain is a product of million years of evolution, a process that defies simple explanation. “You are your brain”, says Eric Kendal, a Nobel-prize winner. Man is different from the animal world only because of his brain. Much of our present misery is due to our lack of understanding the process of evolution and the human brain. “Nobel Prize- winning Biologist, S.E. Luria, points to the misuse of science in attributing violent behaviors to the genes. Moving away from genetic determinism and its inevitability (as too often interpreted, the insatiability of war and death), Luria says that biologists have a nobler role for the future to explore “the most intriguing feature, the creativity of the human spirit”.18
Creativity may follow three paths: the path of constructive activity, the path of destructive activity or the path of the arts, which is a separate but joy-giving domain. Science, ethics: each is a product of the human brain. The greatest gift of creativity to mankind is ‘love’. This ‘love’ may play havoc with human societies if it remains confined to groups and the creative capacity is utilized against other groups.
The path of evolution for humanity is constant increase of ‘sociality, another name for the love of one’s own group which becomes bigger and bigger. Had evolution been allowed to proceed, sociality or love would have embraced the whole of humanity. As the evolution process is very slow, such growth would have required a long period.
“Aiello and Dunbar have recently reported robust and important cor-relation among primates between neo-cortex size and group size. Projected into an evolutionary past, these factors suggest that large group size and increasing importance of pro-social affiliation were a decisive selective force in the evolution of The Human Language.” Culture and Cooperation in Human Evolution: Encyclopedia of Anthropology Vol-I(PEACE)
The immense range and extent of human creativity has made group rivalries terribly dangerous for human beings. The cosmic destructive potential of human societies not only pose a danger to human groups, combined with greed, the power of destruction leads to extinction of hundreds of animal, reptile and bird species. An experiment conducted by Prof. Andrew Newburg in the Neurological Department of Pennsylvania University on the brain of a Tibetan Yogi, M. T. Baime, proved that a Buddhist compassion-aiming Yogi’s mind is full of cosmic love i.e. love for the whole of creation and such a mind is the most creative one in the positive sense of creativity.
What became possible in pre-Vedic India because of the right type of culture developed due to the free exercise of the female brain could have happened in the whole world through the process of evolution; but for its having been hijacked by the nomadic violent male brain ten thousand years ago. Evolution, a complex phenomenon needs discussion, based on the evidence available from science. The process of Yoga must have been a discovery of the female brain as the supreme value ‘non-violence’ is not likely to be the discovery of the male mind.
The fossils of Australopithecus (Lucy) which are 3.5 million years old indicate that the bi-pedal creature (the initial stage of the human species) had a brain not much different from the ape’s brain (375-500 CC). 2,30,000 years back, human brain reached the present size i.e. 1300-1500 CC. How and why did this occur? In what way human living style differed from that of the apes, so that this crucial change in the size of the human brain occurred?
The process of natural selection works on all the species; the apes, and the humans. Darwin wrote about another process also: the process of sexual selection. The big size of the antler’s horn and the big and beautiful size of the peacock’s tail occurred because of sexual selection, in spite of the fact, that these processes led to a diminishment of the survival capacity of the males.
Nature has made the males and females of most of the species different so that sexual selection has a role. In addition to survival adaptation, females had the duty of caring for the young. In the case of the human species, 3.5 million years back, “The males (Australopithecus Afarensis) were almost twice the size of females. Such big differences in sizes is quite common between males and females of the same species in apes.” 19
Within millions of years male and female sizes became the same. The book ‘The Mating Mind’ (MILLER) asserts that the growth of the human brain occurred due to sexual selection process. The great anarchist scholar, Jobn Zerzan, also advocates the same process. The growth of the human brain and its increase in complexity led to an increase of human ‘sociality’ and ‘creativity’. The females of the human species preferred the caring male to the ferocious strong male because, as the brain size of the human young started increasing, the care of the young required longer periods Most of the brain- size growth in the case of the human being took place outside the human fetus because of the limitations of the female pelvis “A long period of post-natal brain development entailed a long childhood. …….. This meant that there was time and opportunity for interdependent communication between parents and child. This allowed for the evolution of language and culture”.20
Female’s selection of caring male as life partner with occasional mating with genetically-rich other males was the specialty of human females according to evolutionary psychologists ‘Thornhill and Gangetad’ (The Evolutionary Biology of Human Female Sexuality) write that when fertile, they (women) choose a mate with cues indicating high genetic quality, and when non-fertile (phases of the menstrual circle), they adopt strategies to adopt a male partner from whom they may obtain some material benefits.” 21
“Women may employ multiple strategies, choosing a feminized face for a long-term partner; but finding a masculine face attractive for short-term extra pair computations. 22
The Mahabharata legend of Swetaketu where his father Uddalaka says that his mother’s freedom to choose a sexual partner other than her husband temporarily, is the age - old (SANATANA) custom. 23
Acceptance of KHETRAJ children indicates the acceptance of this dual sexuality by the thinkers of ancient India. “In the case of Guerrillas, polygyny led to big and fierce male growth and the existence of single male-harems, consisting of a number of females. In the case of Chimpanzees, there was multi-mating system. The strongest social bonds are among males, not females. Males hunt together. Gibbons are monogamous, egalitarian. Among Bonbons, females are socially-bonded, not males. Mother’s bond is almost ever-lasting for her children”. 24
In human societies, violent and fierce males could not dominate because of the social bonds among females. Deprived of sex, their genes could not be passed on to the next generation. Males and females, who care for the young, develop smaller bodies because the brain uses several times the energy of any other similar- sized organ. In the case of the bird species calked ‘Phalarope’, the female is larger than the male because the male takes care of the young, not the female.
Since female sexual selection acted as the dominating force in the evolution of the human brain, it becomes necessary to make a comparative study of the male and female brain. Female brain acted as the motor in the growth of the human brain. Writes J.W. Pres cott, Asst. Clinical Professor of the University of Caliphornia.
“….. the human female brain is wired differently for greater neuro-integrative brain processes than the human male brain which is reflected in the gender difference of nurturance, compassion, love and spirituality that have been so noted throughout history. ……there is greater neural interconnectivity between the cerebellum, limbic system and the frontal lobes in the human female brain than in the human male brain.” 25
Ashley Montague, a famous Anthropologist writes, “…..woman knows true love, let her not be tempted from has knowledge by the false idols man has created for her to worship. Women must stand firm and be true to her own nature. To yield to the prevailing false conception of love, of unloving love, is to abdicate her great evolutionary role to keep human beings true to themselves, to keep them from violence to their inner nature, to help them to realize their potentialities for being loving and co-operative.26
John Cartwright writes, “Kappelman (1996) for example gives an E Q for women of 4.64 and of 4.32. (EQ is Encephalization quotient, the measurer of intelligence) for men.” 27
Professor Semir Zeki (Neuro-Biology) writes “…women do many things better than men, precisely because they use both hemispheres and are thus more engaged with the task” 28
Constant increase in ‘sociality’ and ‘creativity’ was the defining characteristic of growing human brain during the huge gathering period (not hunting) of the human species.
Creativity occurs because as increase in the neurone population led to, “greater richness of analysis and combination expressed in modifiable and insightful behavior” 29
“As Devore remarks in summary of the available material. “Primates have literally social brain. Thus well before it was influenced by cultural forces as such, the evolution of what eventually developed into the human nervous system was positively shaped by social ones”. 30
Great personalities of history who have influenced human societies through the ages: men like the Buddha, Christ, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther king and many others, had more female qualities than male ones.
“It seems that whoever bore the burden of infant care lives the longest and this is probably because the survival of their valuable infant depends upon ensuring their own survival.”31
Prof. A Campbell quotes Neihoff, “the continuous serotonergic back ground of females suppresses activity in target cells of the cortex and limbic system that prevents excessive reactions to sensory information” she also writes, “… The chemical that holds us back from aggression is serotonin.” 32
Like serotonin, males have the chemical ‘Testosterone’ which has been implicated principally in status – seeking and in aggression, as a route to that end. (Mazoor & Borther-1998).
Incest became taboo in the remote past because women wanted it. This paved the way for the preservation and growth of families and societies. “On average, ninety percent of violence of our planet is committed by men.”33
The female mind acting as the motor slowly changed the human brain by developing the neo-cortex, the seat of creativity based on sociality, acting as the regnant part (Greetz) directing all other parts of the brain . Brain scientist, V.S. Ramachandran, interviewed by the Indian Sunday Express Magazine 14.09.2003 calls neo-cortex as the ‘central executive structure’. In the hunting phase, human species started running in the track of ruin because violence dominated his activities and became the principal tool of the man-made evolution. Writes Cornelia Dean “Stone age humans wiped out many animal species in places as varied as the mountains of New-Zealand and the plains of North America. “Hunter-gatherers with fairly simple technology were actively degrading some marine eco-systems tens of thousands years ago “says Torben C. Rick, of the National Museum of Human History (Smithsonian Institution). C Dean quotes from the journal ‘Nature’ and anthropologists of repute in her article (2009 New York Times News Service). 34
Human interference led to many undesirable consequences, Evolution became more rapid, leading to a genetic change of 7% within a short period. Many species of plants and animals became extinct. As nomadic pastoralists established kingdoms based on the slavery of the males and females of the weaker human groups, patriarchy got firmly established. The male brain started working as the motor of the new human-directed evolution. Human character got degraded as millenniums passed. Military, feudal and capitalist societies valorized violence and greed. Rape was unknown among hunter gathers. Modern educated people accept rape as a normal phenomenon in times of war. In India, communal riots are engineered more by the educated than the illiterate. The communist army of Russia was as fond of rape as the armies of the capitalist West. Torturing other human beings is commonly accepted as normal by the police and the military of the so-called most civilized nations like the US. Ethnocide gains legitimacy and religious terrorisms are no longer rare phenomena. Demonisation of humanity, because of the reign of greed and violence in the human brain, is gaining ground in all societies. No wonder, a group of prestigious scientists like Constance Lorenz, Betzig, Chignon, A.O Wilson and many social Darwinians have a pessimistic view of human nature. Many members of rich families in America and military personnel fighting wars, suffer from bouts of depression because they flout the norms favoured by the evolution’s greatest gift, the neo-cortex. Rationalist Yoga of compassion is the only method to have a fully contented, calm neo-cortex as the laboratory tests in the U S confirm. No surprise the Mahenjodaro Harappa society was the only non-violent island of civilization in the third millennium B.C. Sarad Patil’s book’ Das-Sudra Slavery (chapter-XV)” provides evidence to establish Yoga, Samkhya and Lokayat (the philosophies of Pre-Vedic India) as the products of the female brain.
Like Einstein, a lover of knowledge, beauty and love; Bertrand Russell tells us that his quest is for knowledge and love. Ashish Nandy writes that Russell’s faults as a family man stemmed from his failure to base his rationalism on love. Evolution teaches us that ‘sociality’ or ‘love’ comes first and creativity or knowledge should be based on it. The rationalist Yoga system (Arthasastra) confirms the message of evolution by basing its structure on YAMA values (Non-violence truth Asteya and Aparigraha). The patriarchal value of ‘Brahmacharya’ was not included as a value in ancient Yoga. Brahmacharya was not accepted in ancient Jaina religion as a value. Yogis like Vasista and five other Rishis of Saptarshi fame (Viswamitra was from the patriarchal culture and is not included among them) were known as sons of their mothers only. They lived with their wives in hermitages.
Human brain stopped growing at the hunting stage. Human beings started killing a large number of animals because their creative brain which helped them to devise weapons for self-defense discovered and developed powerful destructive weapons which no animal could resist. Sexual selection came to a halt.
The process of evolution is very slow. Human interference quickened the process of the manmade evolution and wrought havoc in the entire eco-system. The availability of meat in the hunter phase brought a stop to the process of sexual selection by women. Lured by the taste of meat, women preferred hunting men to caring men. The evolution process of nature got reversed with the dominance of the hunter. The seeds of Patriarchy were sown in the hunter phase of human life. No wonder, the human brain, a product of sociality, stopped evolving at this stage. This happened before human migration from Africa occurred. So, today, scientists find that all Humans beings of the world have almost the same innate brain capabilities. Racism as a myth, has been exploded by the scientists.
The hunter-gatherer society was a peaceful society. Of the more than one hundred nomadic hunting and gathering cultures that have been reported ethnographically, in all, but a few, people were able to congregate in bands large enough to contain unrelated families. (C. Boehme). This society was egalitarian and anarachic.
In the hunting and the later domestication-of-animals phase, women’s subordinate status became more and more visible. What was female choice in the hunting phase became female compulsion in the domestication-of-animals phase because of group raids and wars. Maria Mies, a leading feminist, writes that male supremacy, far from being a consequence of men’s superior economic contribution, “….was a result of the development and control of destructive tools (bows and arrows and spears) through which they controlled women, nature and other men.” 38
The Origin of Patriarchy’ from ‘What is Patriarchy’? By Kamala Bhasin
To quote from the editorial of the Radican Humanist of August-2009.
“He (Michael Jackson) said, “…..love is the human family’s most precious legacy, its richest bequest, its golden inheritance.”
To repeat, Kautilya described rationalist Yoga (Arthasastra) (Not Patanjali’s miracle or Siddhi –providing Yoga) as the only way to redeem humanity from its menacing legacy of destruction and greed-based psychic tendencies. The Mahenjodaro- Harappa civilization values nurtured personalities like Buddha and Gandhi. They are the true legatees of the Yogic culture. Buddha was a rationalist, Gandhi had faith in both rationalism and to some extent in humanist mysticism from occasion to occasion. I agree with Tagore who points out a loving accusing finger at the great man’s occasional irrational outbursts like his remarks on the Bihar earthquake. The compulsion of attracting the Purana- nurtured huge Hindu community to the path of Satyagraha might have influenced Gandhi to introduce irrational elements in his sayings and activities either consciously or unconsciously. Fallibility made him more human-like.
Rationalist Buddha and Satyagrahi (non-violent fighter) Gandhi make a perfect combination of a role –model for ushering in a democratic socialist society, where Yogic YAMA values permeate the whole society (not the Niyama values which got added to Yoga during the Vedic period). Ancient YOGA and SAMKHYA (Both atheistic and rational) together provide a perfect system of guidance for future mankind. To limit Yoga to physical postures or psychiatric methods used for the systemic-evil victims, though productive, do not do justice to the great system of Anwikshiki (Yoga, Samkhya and Lokayat), in praise of which Kautilya in Arthasathra spared no words.
Mahenjodaro Harappa civilization reached great heights because of the acceptance of Anwikshiki by its noblest daughters and sons, enjoying equal status in society. The message of evolution had its true incarnation in Anwikshiki culture. In this anarchic society, Yogis (anwikshikians) had the highest status (Megasthenes), but they shunned power, wealth and honour.
REFERENCES:
1). The Third Culture.
2). The Synthetic Path: Paul Davies The Third Culture.
3). The Third Culture’ Editorial.
4). Plectics: The Third Culture.
5). ‘Falling in love’: The Emotional Machine written by Mervin Minsky.
6). ‘Falling in Love”: The Emotional Machine written by M. Minsky.
7). Plectics: The Third Culture.
8). II. Canto –GITA-
9). Plectics: The Third Culture.
10). The Bases of Indian Culture from The National Culture of India.
11). Ibid.
12). Hunter gatherer and Early Hunter gatherer and Early Agriculture: The Other Indians:
13). Ibid.
14). Feminist concept (Matriarchy and patriarchy) Research centre for women’s studies. Series No.7.
15). Ibid.
16). (Gitapress) Mahabharata-Volume-VI Canto-102.
17). Rudra and Rudra Siva: The concept of Rudra-Siva.
18). Violence and Human Nature – Howard Zinn.
19). Apes that walked: The Story of Man by Biman Basu.
20). Development of the Human Brain: Gentle Bridges Edited by – J.W. Hayward and F. J. Varela.
21). Prof. POWLOWSKI, polish Academy of sciences in his book review.
22). Human Mate choice: Evolution and Human Behaviour: John Cartwright.
23). ‘Looking for a Hindu identity: D. N. Jha: Indian History Congress: 66th lecture.
24). Scientific American -2009 July-07 special issue on MIND.
25). P-172 spring 1996, Pre-and Prenatal Psychology journal.
26). The Natural superiority of women Rev. Edn. 1974.
27). Evolutionary Biology and Sexism from ‘Evolution and Human Behaviour’
28). Prof. Zeki’s Musings.
29). Prof. Clifford Greetz : Growth of culture and the Evolution of Human Mind: The Interpretation of Cultures.
30). Ibid.
31). ‘High Stakes and Low Risks: Women and Aggression’ from ‘A Mind of her Own’ by Anne Campbell, Department of Psychology, Durham University.
32). Ibid.
33). Ibid.
34). The Hindu 22.08.09.
***
Bagawat Prashad
Roith Colony, 3rd line,
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At/PO/Dist-Rayagada-765002
Phone No. 06856-235092 (Orissa)
E-Mail- bagwat_prashad@rediffmail.com
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
UNIVERSAL VALUES FOR A BETTER WORLD
Landmine-mangled bodies. Famished mal-nourished children. Raped women wailing in pain. Death stalking the innocent. Millions going to the bed hungry everyday. Economic meltdowns. Civil wars destroying nations. Foods becoming more and scarcer as days pass.
The world is in the grip of wars or ‘organized insanity’ as termed by Prof. Robert North. Bertrand Russell spent the better half of his life to cure humanity of this insanity. Einstein and Tagore condemned the robotized group-crazy humanity called military men.
Greed and violence are worshipped by the so-called great of every nation. We are now reaping the dragon’s teeth. Toxicity is choking all that is life-giving.
Did evolution bring us to this sorry pass or did we coerce natural and human selection agencies to travel the path to hell?
Our great ideologies had their birth in the days of mechanized science of Newton. There was certainty in the air. The road to an equalized society was straight and clear. The grand narratives shone in the aura of authenticity.
Today’s physics can better be described as a field of force, a search, a quest. Neuro - psychology is throwing much light on the complex creative mechanism of the human brain.
Descartes talked about the duality of the mind and the body. Neuro-scientist Damasio laughs and asserts that mind and body are not different. They are made of one matter. Strange that Samkhya (Ancient pre -Vedic Samkhya) speaks the same language. Gita Says”, Nature has two material appearances: Para and Apara. Para deals with primordial matter in its fivefold form (Panchabhutas) APARA nature consists of mind, consciousness and the ego”. (Canto 7-4).1
The question that haunts philosophers is, ‘Is morality based on universal human nature? ‘Is’ and ‘ought’ are considered different by thinkers like Hume, Santayana Russell and many others. Russell’s life-long quest was for objective values. He could not shake off Hume’s shadow and Santayana’s book ‘Winds of Doctrine’ influenced Russell. Hume said “Reason is and, ought only to be, the slave of the passions”. Where passions prevail, rationality can only do a lawyer’s job, defending logically what ever ends a person chooses influenced by his passions V.S. Ramachandran, a leading brain scientist of the world, said in an interview conducted by Chetan Shab”, Feud says, ‘No, your behavior is really governed by a cauldron of motives and emotions, which you have absolutely no control over. What you call your conscious life is simply an elaborate post hoc rationalization of things which you really do for other reasons.” 2 Russell’s anguish because of his relentless pursuit of new ways of establishing the objectivity of ethical values is evident in his numerous writings.
The gap between ‘is’ and ‘ought’ which remained unbridgeable in the age of Russell is fast closing in the modern age because of the discoveries in the field of Neuro- sciences. Semir zeki discusses love, creativity and the quest for human happiness in his books and articles. David J. Linden wrote the book, ‘The Accidental Mind: How brain Evolution has given us love, memory, dreams and god’.
To call man a hairless ape is a mistake because human brain which is three times as big as that of an ape is an emergent phenomenon and is qualitatively different from the ape’s brain.
Poor Russell found solace in politics by glimpsing objectivity in majority accepted values.
Through out his career, Russell always upheld the right of the individual to defy majority, as creativity only flourished among unique personalities whom the world often misunderstand. Torture and ignominy was the lot of not a few great minds and hearts. Science, religion and ideologies had their martyrs without whom the world would have been a poorer place.
The fix that Russell could not transcend still haunts humanity though Neuro-science is scaling great heights in discovering moral values in the psyche. What it lacks in theory is due to its violence-ridden Aryan Greek-Roman and Semitic background.
A leading evolutionary Biologist of the world, Stephen Jay Gould, says that new ideas have their rise in particulars con texts. His family’s Marxist background enabled him to discover the theory of punctuated equilibrium in the field of evolution. He distinguished between the context and the justification of ideas and the theories. He said that what ever the context might be, ultimately an idea or theory has to withstand the rigorous tests of scientific methods to gain acceptance among the scholars in the field.
What Stephen Jay Gould says is repeated in a different context and form by a leading psychologist of India, Sudhir Kakkar, “All social knowledge is relative in the sense that it is inextricable from its cultural and historical contexts and especially from its embedded ness in the power relations of a society.”
Russell, Santayana, Hume all are products of patriarchal militarized industrial societies. Almost all the influential academically-educated people living in different counties of the world, embracing different ideologies, religious and cultures are advocating the same brand of chauvinistic or fanatic emancipatory violence and consumerist bottomless greed. Archeological evidence tells us that there was only one city-based advanced society in the past world which was not priest-king-dominated and peace (non-over) based. Literary evidence endorses these unique features besides revealing that it was non-patriarchal.3
Mahenjodaro Harappa civilization in India has not received proper attention of scholars in spite of ample archeological and literary evidence available. The following quotation from the Mahabharata needs mention here, “There was no king, no state, no punishment or punisher, because of Dharma, the citizens lived well by helping each other” 4 Today’s discoveries in the area of Neuro-science boost our understanding of the Yogic values that existed in that society. The neo-cortex inhibits the violent tendencies of the amygdale, anther part of the human brain.
Scientists agree that only one criterion ‘fallibility’ is sufficient to determine whether any type of knowledge can be called science or not. ‘Fallibility’ becomes doubly important when knowledge that directly deals with subjects of human interest like ideologies, religions, cultures, societies, institutions and values engage the scholars. When ideologies are fallible what rights have the adherents of ideologies to kill those who differ with then. Under the circumstances the only value that should guide all differing members is ‘Nonviolence’ (AHIMSA). Here ‘non-violence’ is not a subjective value as it has universal validity just like ‘fallibility’ in the fields of science. Gautam Buddha categorically asserted that non-violence was the only value that defined Aryaness of all human beings. 5 He treated it as an objective value.
Einstein and Russell gave supreme importance to the quest for knowledge and the love of every human being. Einstein added the search for beauty in various arts as the third important target for mankind. Non-violence and love are like negative liberty and positive liberty as discussed by Isaiah Berlin. Berlin gave more importance to negative liberty. Non-violence can be easily prescribed for the whole of humanity. Abstaining from violent action is easy, where as loving the whole of humanity is possible only when the person’s innate ability to love blooms in a suitable context. Non violence provides the ambience where this higher value can flourish. Possessive love, sectarian love, have led to more damage of civilizations than the absence of love. The great murderer, Eichman, was a loving family man and a good neighbor and citizen. The Yogis were trained to accept universal love. After withdrawing the civil disobedience movement because of violence of Chourichara, Gandhi trained a group of dedicated volunteers to lead the mobs in the path of Satyagraha. Prof. Amlan Dutta has discussed Satyagraha and the power of love in his insight essay “Gandhi and God” 6
Today’s world has become too conscious of the ecological disaster that threatens the future of humanity. Climate change, exhaustion of the vital resources that make civilization possible, disposal of the waste material: all these pose great dangers. No value other than ‘APARIGRAHA’ (minimizing the wants) can save the situation and keep intact the environment so greatly necessary for the future generations. APARIGRAHA should be espoused universally by one and all. This is the second value which fulfills the criterion of objectivity.
If ‘Happiness’ is mentioned as the third objective value, Russell is bound to murmur that he would prefer to be a discontented Socrates rather than a contented pig. Russell forgets that one can be a contented Buddha also.
‘Happiness’ was accepted as the supreme ideal by the three philosophies Lokayata, Samkhya and Yoga (Anwikhiki). One great epic, ‘the Mahabharata’, including its famous booklet ‘The Bhagavat Gita’ and two great religions ‘Buddhism’ and Jainism. Hume’s insightful remark endorsed by many leading philosophers of the West still stares at us. It has not lost its relevance. The answer comes from Dhamanapada and the Gita which lay stress on a profoundly calm mind untroubled by passions. The two dominating passions that tremble humanity are attachments to violence and greed (lust). Every great Indian philosopher had to practice Yogic ‘SAMA’ so that these two personality-destroying powerful passions were put to sleep. Ben Ami Scarf stein of the philosophy department of TEL-AVIV University emphatically asserts that the lack of personal integration achieved by the great Indian philosophers made many leading western philosophers prey to bouts of depression and worries.
Einstein calls every military man a slave whose human feelings gradually weaken. He writes, “Only if we succeed in abolishing compulsory service altogether, will it be possible to educate the youth in the spirit of reconciliation, joy in life and love towards all living creatures 7.
In the campaign to abolish war in the world, Einstein got full support from Russell.
Greed is inimical to all creative activities of mankind. Today’s financial meltdown is a direct progeny of greed, masquerading as legitimate profit. Both Fromm and Russell condemned greed.
Modern society which valorizes both greed and violence influences ideologues, religious teachers and cultural architects either consciously or unconsciously. In the formation of western emancipatory theories also, violence plays a key role. This leads to selective neglect or devaluation of relevant unique characteristics and institutions of a different society, particularly an advanced non-war society where greed is condemned Charbak, the Yogi - Philosopher suffered at the hands of both his admirers and detractors because they misunderstood the proper meaning of Sukha (happiness).
Our educated folk who have read about the French, American, Russian and Chinese revolutions cannot understand how non-violence can play a creative role in the formation of a better type of society. (The right and left scholarly misunderstanding regarding Gandhi exemplify this trend). Violence is unidirectional where as creation is multidimensional. Gandhi’s creative brain discovered Satyagraha after a lot of thinking and experiments dealing with human beings. Today’s scientists have discovered another dimension of materialism. Murray Gill-Mann won the Nobel Prize as a particle physicist. After getting the Nobel Prize, he decided to carry on research on synthetic materialism that led to the formation of emergent entities which developed new characteristics transcending all the properties or qualities present in its individual ingredients. H2O is a simple emergent entity; the complex human brains another). Charbak was a votary of both the reductionist materialism and the creative or synthetic materialism. Our materialist thinkers pigeonhole Charbak in European frameworks by comparing him with Epicurus. They should research SUKHA, the ideal that swayed the greatest minds of India for almost two millenniums. Charbak criticized the caste system severely. He was a votary of gender equality. Non-violence was so much a creed with him that he called the meat eating Vedic priest’s ghouls and night demons.
A warrior society is sure to distinguish between the pleasant and the good. A warrior prefers the painful good instead of the pleasant in his days of training. Rigorous physical training followed by a cruel initiation ceremony testing the bravery and endurance was the lot of every son of Sparta, the leading warrior city-state of Greece. A life bereft of destructive emotions violence and greed, a mind perfectly calm, an ever. contented mien and a steadfast mind that treated alike the favours and blows of fortune, a creative mind devoted to neither wealth, nor power or status, feeling of MAITRI or fraternity extended to all living creatures, universal kindness radiating from sparkling eyes, were the distinguishing marks of the Yogis or the Gymno-sophists (Megasthenes) of India.
The Vedic society of warriors and greedy priests distinguished SREYA and PREYA which in combination was the ideal that matured a galaxy of Yogis. The hero of KATHA UPANISHAD, Nachiketa, renounces possessive pleasures (RAJOGUNIC) or worldly pleasures which Yogis shun according to the Gita and finds solace in the illusive concept of the ATMA (SOUL). Buddha squarely rejects the existence of soul.
In the Upanishadas, Poetic outbursts and mystic flights of fancy overwhelm the reader. His critical / faculty goes to sleep. The Upanishads are wonderful poetry but low level philosophy. Even Radhakrishan is conscious of their poetic beauty. He does not value them as great philosophy. They charm the reader easily like Plato’s philosophy which, in spite of its support for oligarchy, entrances European philosophers. The Upanishads deceived the leading savants of India though millenniums.
To the credulous reader, the Upanishads feed doses of mystic philosophical tablets that no rational thinker can appreciate. In a society where the exploiting system of caste and untouchability existed, sayings like ‘All are Brahma’ or ‘Let all be happy’ sound like the preaching of a hypocrite. Vivekananda writes about his bewilderment to a young friend at the co-existence of the lofty Vedanta philosophy as well as the exploiting social system which accepted untouchability in Upanishad India.
Yogic ‘PREYA’ (Sukha) is not the worldly possessive pleasures that are coveted by the priests and warriors. The Yoga stresses SATWIK pleasure which comes through profound calmness of mind. Neuro- science, also, reveals that violence, which remains under control because of the activities of the pre-frontal cortex of the human brain, increases exponentially when this brain gets damaged. The Yogis assert that PKEYA is also SREYA because the message of fraternity (MAITRI) for the whole of creation is definitely the product of a calm steady mind. Even so astute a thinker like Russell could not visualize the natural bonds that unite SREYA with PREYA. In Yogic India PREYA and SREYA were one and the same. The illusive concept of MOKSHA is other – worldly and without any rational foundation. The concept of ‘BRAHMA’ was challenged by the Buddha. NIRBANA is not MOKSHA. Even the Dalai Lama thinks that NIRBANA is the absence of destructive emotions.
To summarize, ‘Non-violence’, ‘APARIGRANA’ and SUKHA are the three foundational objective values that humanity must embrace if we want a world free of wars and greed-based economic assumptions. Ecological sanity is possible when these values dominate the consciousnesses of the present mentally- sick humanity. Search for truth, emphasis on freedom, equality and many other values can only bloom in an ambience, in which these three foundational values have impregnated human society. Every violent revolution led to the rise of warrior leaders who gave a death blow to values like freedom, equality and the search for truth. Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China, Polpot’s Cambodia are staring examples. Earlier, the French revolution had ended in terror.
REFERENCE:-
1. The Bhagavat Gita 7-4
2. The Sunday Express magazine 14.09.2009.
3. The story of Swetaketu: Mahabharata 1:113 verses 11-14.
4. Mahabharata Shantiparva 59-14
5. Dhammapada Sloka No.270
6. The Radical Humanist Febuary-2009.
7. ‘Three letters to friend of peace from the book ‘Ideas and opinions”.
By Bagwat Prasad
The world is in the grip of wars or ‘organized insanity’ as termed by Prof. Robert North. Bertrand Russell spent the better half of his life to cure humanity of this insanity. Einstein and Tagore condemned the robotized group-crazy humanity called military men.
Greed and violence are worshipped by the so-called great of every nation. We are now reaping the dragon’s teeth. Toxicity is choking all that is life-giving.
Did evolution bring us to this sorry pass or did we coerce natural and human selection agencies to travel the path to hell?
Our great ideologies had their birth in the days of mechanized science of Newton. There was certainty in the air. The road to an equalized society was straight and clear. The grand narratives shone in the aura of authenticity.
Today’s physics can better be described as a field of force, a search, a quest. Neuro - psychology is throwing much light on the complex creative mechanism of the human brain.
Descartes talked about the duality of the mind and the body. Neuro-scientist Damasio laughs and asserts that mind and body are not different. They are made of one matter. Strange that Samkhya (Ancient pre -Vedic Samkhya) speaks the same language. Gita Says”, Nature has two material appearances: Para and Apara. Para deals with primordial matter in its fivefold form (Panchabhutas) APARA nature consists of mind, consciousness and the ego”. (Canto 7-4).1
The question that haunts philosophers is, ‘Is morality based on universal human nature? ‘Is’ and ‘ought’ are considered different by thinkers like Hume, Santayana Russell and many others. Russell’s life-long quest was for objective values. He could not shake off Hume’s shadow and Santayana’s book ‘Winds of Doctrine’ influenced Russell. Hume said “Reason is and, ought only to be, the slave of the passions”. Where passions prevail, rationality can only do a lawyer’s job, defending logically what ever ends a person chooses influenced by his passions V.S. Ramachandran, a leading brain scientist of the world, said in an interview conducted by Chetan Shab”, Feud says, ‘No, your behavior is really governed by a cauldron of motives and emotions, which you have absolutely no control over. What you call your conscious life is simply an elaborate post hoc rationalization of things which you really do for other reasons.” 2 Russell’s anguish because of his relentless pursuit of new ways of establishing the objectivity of ethical values is evident in his numerous writings.
The gap between ‘is’ and ‘ought’ which remained unbridgeable in the age of Russell is fast closing in the modern age because of the discoveries in the field of Neuro- sciences. Semir zeki discusses love, creativity and the quest for human happiness in his books and articles. David J. Linden wrote the book, ‘The Accidental Mind: How brain Evolution has given us love, memory, dreams and god’.
To call man a hairless ape is a mistake because human brain which is three times as big as that of an ape is an emergent phenomenon and is qualitatively different from the ape’s brain.
Poor Russell found solace in politics by glimpsing objectivity in majority accepted values.
Through out his career, Russell always upheld the right of the individual to defy majority, as creativity only flourished among unique personalities whom the world often misunderstand. Torture and ignominy was the lot of not a few great minds and hearts. Science, religion and ideologies had their martyrs without whom the world would have been a poorer place.
The fix that Russell could not transcend still haunts humanity though Neuro-science is scaling great heights in discovering moral values in the psyche. What it lacks in theory is due to its violence-ridden Aryan Greek-Roman and Semitic background.
A leading evolutionary Biologist of the world, Stephen Jay Gould, says that new ideas have their rise in particulars con texts. His family’s Marxist background enabled him to discover the theory of punctuated equilibrium in the field of evolution. He distinguished between the context and the justification of ideas and the theories. He said that what ever the context might be, ultimately an idea or theory has to withstand the rigorous tests of scientific methods to gain acceptance among the scholars in the field.
What Stephen Jay Gould says is repeated in a different context and form by a leading psychologist of India, Sudhir Kakkar, “All social knowledge is relative in the sense that it is inextricable from its cultural and historical contexts and especially from its embedded ness in the power relations of a society.”
Russell, Santayana, Hume all are products of patriarchal militarized industrial societies. Almost all the influential academically-educated people living in different counties of the world, embracing different ideologies, religious and cultures are advocating the same brand of chauvinistic or fanatic emancipatory violence and consumerist bottomless greed. Archeological evidence tells us that there was only one city-based advanced society in the past world which was not priest-king-dominated and peace (non-over) based. Literary evidence endorses these unique features besides revealing that it was non-patriarchal.3
Mahenjodaro Harappa civilization in India has not received proper attention of scholars in spite of ample archeological and literary evidence available. The following quotation from the Mahabharata needs mention here, “There was no king, no state, no punishment or punisher, because of Dharma, the citizens lived well by helping each other” 4 Today’s discoveries in the area of Neuro-science boost our understanding of the Yogic values that existed in that society. The neo-cortex inhibits the violent tendencies of the amygdale, anther part of the human brain.
Scientists agree that only one criterion ‘fallibility’ is sufficient to determine whether any type of knowledge can be called science or not. ‘Fallibility’ becomes doubly important when knowledge that directly deals with subjects of human interest like ideologies, religions, cultures, societies, institutions and values engage the scholars. When ideologies are fallible what rights have the adherents of ideologies to kill those who differ with then. Under the circumstances the only value that should guide all differing members is ‘Nonviolence’ (AHIMSA). Here ‘non-violence’ is not a subjective value as it has universal validity just like ‘fallibility’ in the fields of science. Gautam Buddha categorically asserted that non-violence was the only value that defined Aryaness of all human beings. 5 He treated it as an objective value.
Einstein and Russell gave supreme importance to the quest for knowledge and the love of every human being. Einstein added the search for beauty in various arts as the third important target for mankind. Non-violence and love are like negative liberty and positive liberty as discussed by Isaiah Berlin. Berlin gave more importance to negative liberty. Non-violence can be easily prescribed for the whole of humanity. Abstaining from violent action is easy, where as loving the whole of humanity is possible only when the person’s innate ability to love blooms in a suitable context. Non violence provides the ambience where this higher value can flourish. Possessive love, sectarian love, have led to more damage of civilizations than the absence of love. The great murderer, Eichman, was a loving family man and a good neighbor and citizen. The Yogis were trained to accept universal love. After withdrawing the civil disobedience movement because of violence of Chourichara, Gandhi trained a group of dedicated volunteers to lead the mobs in the path of Satyagraha. Prof. Amlan Dutta has discussed Satyagraha and the power of love in his insight essay “Gandhi and God” 6
Today’s world has become too conscious of the ecological disaster that threatens the future of humanity. Climate change, exhaustion of the vital resources that make civilization possible, disposal of the waste material: all these pose great dangers. No value other than ‘APARIGRAHA’ (minimizing the wants) can save the situation and keep intact the environment so greatly necessary for the future generations. APARIGRAHA should be espoused universally by one and all. This is the second value which fulfills the criterion of objectivity.
If ‘Happiness’ is mentioned as the third objective value, Russell is bound to murmur that he would prefer to be a discontented Socrates rather than a contented pig. Russell forgets that one can be a contented Buddha also.
‘Happiness’ was accepted as the supreme ideal by the three philosophies Lokayata, Samkhya and Yoga (Anwikhiki). One great epic, ‘the Mahabharata’, including its famous booklet ‘The Bhagavat Gita’ and two great religions ‘Buddhism’ and Jainism. Hume’s insightful remark endorsed by many leading philosophers of the West still stares at us. It has not lost its relevance. The answer comes from Dhamanapada and the Gita which lay stress on a profoundly calm mind untroubled by passions. The two dominating passions that tremble humanity are attachments to violence and greed (lust). Every great Indian philosopher had to practice Yogic ‘SAMA’ so that these two personality-destroying powerful passions were put to sleep. Ben Ami Scarf stein of the philosophy department of TEL-AVIV University emphatically asserts that the lack of personal integration achieved by the great Indian philosophers made many leading western philosophers prey to bouts of depression and worries.
Einstein calls every military man a slave whose human feelings gradually weaken. He writes, “Only if we succeed in abolishing compulsory service altogether, will it be possible to educate the youth in the spirit of reconciliation, joy in life and love towards all living creatures 7.
In the campaign to abolish war in the world, Einstein got full support from Russell.
Greed is inimical to all creative activities of mankind. Today’s financial meltdown is a direct progeny of greed, masquerading as legitimate profit. Both Fromm and Russell condemned greed.
Modern society which valorizes both greed and violence influences ideologues, religious teachers and cultural architects either consciously or unconsciously. In the formation of western emancipatory theories also, violence plays a key role. This leads to selective neglect or devaluation of relevant unique characteristics and institutions of a different society, particularly an advanced non-war society where greed is condemned Charbak, the Yogi - Philosopher suffered at the hands of both his admirers and detractors because they misunderstood the proper meaning of Sukha (happiness).
Our educated folk who have read about the French, American, Russian and Chinese revolutions cannot understand how non-violence can play a creative role in the formation of a better type of society. (The right and left scholarly misunderstanding regarding Gandhi exemplify this trend). Violence is unidirectional where as creation is multidimensional. Gandhi’s creative brain discovered Satyagraha after a lot of thinking and experiments dealing with human beings. Today’s scientists have discovered another dimension of materialism. Murray Gill-Mann won the Nobel Prize as a particle physicist. After getting the Nobel Prize, he decided to carry on research on synthetic materialism that led to the formation of emergent entities which developed new characteristics transcending all the properties or qualities present in its individual ingredients. H2O is a simple emergent entity; the complex human brains another). Charbak was a votary of both the reductionist materialism and the creative or synthetic materialism. Our materialist thinkers pigeonhole Charbak in European frameworks by comparing him with Epicurus. They should research SUKHA, the ideal that swayed the greatest minds of India for almost two millenniums. Charbak criticized the caste system severely. He was a votary of gender equality. Non-violence was so much a creed with him that he called the meat eating Vedic priest’s ghouls and night demons.
A warrior society is sure to distinguish between the pleasant and the good. A warrior prefers the painful good instead of the pleasant in his days of training. Rigorous physical training followed by a cruel initiation ceremony testing the bravery and endurance was the lot of every son of Sparta, the leading warrior city-state of Greece. A life bereft of destructive emotions violence and greed, a mind perfectly calm, an ever. contented mien and a steadfast mind that treated alike the favours and blows of fortune, a creative mind devoted to neither wealth, nor power or status, feeling of MAITRI or fraternity extended to all living creatures, universal kindness radiating from sparkling eyes, were the distinguishing marks of the Yogis or the Gymno-sophists (Megasthenes) of India.
The Vedic society of warriors and greedy priests distinguished SREYA and PREYA which in combination was the ideal that matured a galaxy of Yogis. The hero of KATHA UPANISHAD, Nachiketa, renounces possessive pleasures (RAJOGUNIC) or worldly pleasures which Yogis shun according to the Gita and finds solace in the illusive concept of the ATMA (SOUL). Buddha squarely rejects the existence of soul.
In the Upanishadas, Poetic outbursts and mystic flights of fancy overwhelm the reader. His critical / faculty goes to sleep. The Upanishads are wonderful poetry but low level philosophy. Even Radhakrishan is conscious of their poetic beauty. He does not value them as great philosophy. They charm the reader easily like Plato’s philosophy which, in spite of its support for oligarchy, entrances European philosophers. The Upanishads deceived the leading savants of India though millenniums.
To the credulous reader, the Upanishads feed doses of mystic philosophical tablets that no rational thinker can appreciate. In a society where the exploiting system of caste and untouchability existed, sayings like ‘All are Brahma’ or ‘Let all be happy’ sound like the preaching of a hypocrite. Vivekananda writes about his bewilderment to a young friend at the co-existence of the lofty Vedanta philosophy as well as the exploiting social system which accepted untouchability in Upanishad India.
Yogic ‘PREYA’ (Sukha) is not the worldly possessive pleasures that are coveted by the priests and warriors. The Yoga stresses SATWIK pleasure which comes through profound calmness of mind. Neuro- science, also, reveals that violence, which remains under control because of the activities of the pre-frontal cortex of the human brain, increases exponentially when this brain gets damaged. The Yogis assert that PKEYA is also SREYA because the message of fraternity (MAITRI) for the whole of creation is definitely the product of a calm steady mind. Even so astute a thinker like Russell could not visualize the natural bonds that unite SREYA with PREYA. In Yogic India PREYA and SREYA were one and the same. The illusive concept of MOKSHA is other – worldly and without any rational foundation. The concept of ‘BRAHMA’ was challenged by the Buddha. NIRBANA is not MOKSHA. Even the Dalai Lama thinks that NIRBANA is the absence of destructive emotions.
To summarize, ‘Non-violence’, ‘APARIGRANA’ and SUKHA are the three foundational objective values that humanity must embrace if we want a world free of wars and greed-based economic assumptions. Ecological sanity is possible when these values dominate the consciousnesses of the present mentally- sick humanity. Search for truth, emphasis on freedom, equality and many other values can only bloom in an ambience, in which these three foundational values have impregnated human society. Every violent revolution led to the rise of warrior leaders who gave a death blow to values like freedom, equality and the search for truth. Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China, Polpot’s Cambodia are staring examples. Earlier, the French revolution had ended in terror.
REFERENCE:-
1. The Bhagavat Gita 7-4
2. The Sunday Express magazine 14.09.2009.
3. The story of Swetaketu: Mahabharata 1:113 verses 11-14.
4. Mahabharata Shantiparva 59-14
5. Dhammapada Sloka No.270
6. The Radical Humanist Febuary-2009.
7. ‘Three letters to friend of peace from the book ‘Ideas and opinions”.
By Bagwat Prasad
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Dhamma of the Beloved of the Gods, and a fresh look into the present crisis.
BY B.NARAYANA RAO
BOOK REVIEW:
Asoka and the decline of the Mauryas
By Romila Thapar
OUP(2006), New Delhi-1
This book provides the much wanted research material on Asoka’s ideology and the history of the Mauryas. The author derives her research material from so many sources like rock and pillar edicts, Buddhist and Jain literature around the world, archeology, puranas and other Vedic scriptures, ancient texts like Arhashastra, Greek and Persian sources, works of ancient travelers like Megasthenes,Diemachus,Dionysius etc, coins, pottery, and ancient literature and from many other sources. Though unreliable, Vayu, Matsya, Bramanda puranas of fourth century A.D give extensive kings lists of later Mauryas.The Rajatarangini of Kalhan and Harsacarita of Bana, Asokavadana, Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa etc provide some information. The book has several chapters like early life and accession, and chronology; society and economic activity; internal administration; the policy of Dhamma; the decline of Mauryas; the date of the Arthasastra;The geographical locations of the edicts; translation of the edicts; Mauryan art; and a very valuable after word. As I am not qualified to discuss some of the above contents, let me limit my self to the ideas and intellectual content flourished in the mind of the mighty Asoka and their relevance to the present crisis ridden society. I feel I am indebted to the author for this great book.
We don’t know the historicity of the Rama rajya concept. Gandhi used to refer to it for a variety of purposes. It might be a myth.Asoka’s ideas might have been copied by many and cleverly interpolated into the mythical texts so as to give the despotic rulers a great image. But the historicity of Asoka rajya is proved and its effect is still strong in the minds of our people.Asoka was a true Rajarshi.He said; “…. The gods, who in India, up to this time, did not associate with men, now, associate with them, and this is the result of my efforts. Moreover this is not some thing to be obtained only by the great, but it is also open to the humble…” And “….Jambudvipa (Ancient name for the Indian subcontinent) was fit for the gods after the propagation of the policy of the dhamma…”
SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS DURING MAURYAN AGE
From 6th century onwards the process of universal questioning and reasoning started variety of sects concerned both with religious belief and philosophical speculation started debates and discussions. They questioned the Aryan values. Each newly developed theory was put mercilessly through a severe test of criticism. Metaphysics of the Upanishads, privileges of Brahmins, efficacy of the ceremonies and rituals and caste system etc were challenged. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan wrote: Liberal efforts at improving existing institutions sanctioned by time and embodied in the habits of the people will remain ineffectual if the indifference and superstition of centuries are not shaken up by an explosive force like the Carvaka creed. Nothing need be accepted by the individual who does not find its evidence in the movement of reason. The Carvaka philosophy is a fanatical effort made to rid the age of the weight of the past that was oppressing it…. The supremacy of religion and social tradition in life does not hamper the free pursuit of philosophy (In ancient India). Reason freely questions and criticizes the creeds in which men are born. That is why the heretic, the sceptic, the unbeliever, the rationalist and the free thinker, the materialist and the hedonist all flourished in India (please see Indian philosophy volume 1, by S. Radhakrishnan (page 235 and 7). I think Asoka also tried to lift people from inertia and dogma, superstitions and put forward a rational, secular and humanistic program before the people.
Asoka’s family itself reflects the true spirit of eclectic religious beliefs. His grand father Chandragupta in his old age was converted to Jainism1, abdicated the throne, and became a wandering ascetic. He went to Sravana -Belgola with Bhadrabahu and he died in the orthodox Jainist way by slow starvation. Asoka’s father Bindusara was in favor of Ajivikas2. One Ajivika saint, Pingalavatsa who was at the court of Bindusara predicted the future of child Asoka.
Instead of the elaborate sacrifice, Buddhist ritual was centered round the cult of the Caityas and the worship of the Stupas. The Caityas were sacred enclosures associated previously with the earth spirits and the fertility cult (page 141). Megasthenes states that Indian society during Maurya period was divided into seven classes. They are philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsman, artisans, magistrates and councilors. With regards to sexual matters, the Hindu moral code was, during the period free from the guilt complexes which other religions have associated with sex, and consequently a far healthier attitude of mind was exhibited. There is a system of bride price, usually oxen. Prostitution was there. Prostitutes must pay tax. There is distinction between slaves and outcastes. Candalas,public executioners,hunters.acrobats, jugglers, leather workers, basket makers, nesadas, potters,weavers,barbers,dancers,snake-charmers and beggars were all grouped together as despises classes. Women were permitted to weave.
Summary of Asoka’s Dhamma.
Asoka has been compared with Emperor Constantine, who used Christianity but other faiths were given freedom and he has banned certain pre-Christian practices such as performing sacrifices at home. In the past historians interpreted the Asoka’s dhamma as propaganda of Buddhism. They suggested that he tried to make Buddhism as state religion. But Romila Thapar argued that this is wrong. She said Asoka’s policy of dhamma is secular and it was a plea for the recognition of the dignity of man, and for a humanistic spirit in the activities of the society. It transcends all barriers of sectarian belief and religious gospels. He appointed Dhamma Mahamatyas to implement his policies of Dhamma. It attempted to protect the weak against the strong and tried to promote a moral social behavior so broad in its scope that no cultural group could object to it. All of this in the third century B.C! Mind boggling, is not it?
Asoka’s Inscriptions and Rock Edicts say that:
1. Here no living being is to be killed and scarified. He sees much evil in some festivals and large gathering, which end with large scale sacrifices. Many hundreds of animals and birds were killed for meat in the royal kitchen. He limited the number to three animals and promised that even these three animals will be spared in future3.
2. Every where in the empire and its frontier lands and in the lands of Greek kings named Antiochus and others the beloved of the gods provided medical care for men and animals. Medicinal herbs whether useful to men or animals have been brought and planted wherever they did not grow. Along the roads wells have been dug and trees planted for the use of men and beasts4.
3. He appointed several officials in order to instruct people in the Dhamma as well as other purposes. Asoka instructed that it is good to be obedient to one’s mother and father, elders, friends and relatives to be generous to Brahmans and shramanas, it is good not to kill living beings, it is good not only to spend little, but to own the minimum of property5.
4. Due to the increase in the practice of Dhamma, the sound of the drum has become the sound of dhamma, showing the people displays of heavenly chariots, elephants and balls of fire and other divine forms6.
5. For I consider that there is no better work than promoting the welfare of the whole world. Whatever may be my good deeds, I have done them in order to discharge my debt to all beings. I work for their happiness in this life, that in the next they may gain heaven. May it endure long. May my sons, grand sons, and great grandsons strive for the welfare of the whole world. But this is difficult without great effort7.
6. He appointed the officers of Dhamma who are busy working for the welfare and happiness of those who are devoted to Dhamma, among people of all regions, Greeks, servants, nobles, royal family members , Brahmans, poor, aged, and prisoners8.
7. The king wishes that all sects may dwell in all places, for their self-control and
Purity of mind. But men have varying desires and passions. They will either practice all that is required or else only a part. But even he who is generous, yet has no self control, purity of mind, gratitude, and firm faith, is regarded as mean.9
8. In the pasts, kings went on hunting and pleasure tours. But after visiting the tree of enlightenment, he conducted tours only connected with dhamma. During the tours meetings and discussions are held with ascetics, Brahmans, old people, country side people, gold is distributed. The king has spent 256 nights on these tours. The king derives more pleasure from this than from any other enjoyments10.
9. People practice various ceremonies, in illness, marriages, birth of children, when going on a journey and on many other occasions. Women especially perform also many trivial and useless ceremonies which give small results. The ceremony of dhamma one should practice11.
10. It is very difficult for men, whether humble or highly placed to escape from the evil inclinations, without extreme effort and without renouncing everything else. It is particularly difficult for the highly placed12.
11. There is no gift comparable to the gift of Dhamma, the praise of Dhamma, the sharing of Dhamma, the fellowship of Dhamma. And this is—good behavior towards slaves and servants, obedience to mother and father, generosity towards friends, acquaintances, and relatives and towards Shramanas, Brahmans and abstention from killing living beings. Every one should say this is good, this is we should do13.
12. The beloved of the gods honours all sects and both ascetics and laymen, with gifts and various forms of recognition. But the Beloved of the Gods does not think gifts or honors as important as the advancement of the essential doctrine of all sects. The faiths of others all deserve to be honored for one reason or the other. By honoring them, one exalts one’s own faith and at the same time performs a service to the faith of others. By acting otherwise, one injures one’s faith and also does disservice to others. Control of speech is also needed. For if a man exalts his own faith and disparages another because of devotion to his own and because he wants to glorify it, he seriously injures his own faith. The desire of the Beloved of the Gods is that all sects should be well-informed, and should teach which is good14.
13. When the king Piyadassi conquered Kalinga, a one hundred and fifty thousand people were deported, a hundred thousand were killed and many times that were perished. Afterwards after annexation of Kalinga the king practiced Dhamma. On conquering Kalinga the Beloved of the Gods felt remorse, for when an independent country is conquered the slaughter, death, and deportation of the people is extremely grievous to the king and weighs heavily on his mind. All suffer violence, murder, and separation from their loved ones. Even those who are fortunate to have escaped, and whose love is undiminished, suffer from the misfortune of their friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and relatives. All this suffering weighs heavily on the mind of the king.15
14. What is Dhamma? It is few faults and many good deeds, mercy, charity, truth, and purity. I have given the gift of insight in various forms. I have conferred many benefits on man, animals, birds, and fish, even to saving their lives, and I have done many other commendable deeds. I forbade the killing of the following species of animals, namely: parrots, mainas, red-headed ducks, chakravaka-geese, swans, nandi-mukhas, pigeons, bats, ants, tortoises, boneless fish, certain fish of the Ganges, skate, porcupines, squirrels, deer, lizards, domesticated animals, rhinoceroses, and all quadrupeds which are of no utility and are not eaten. She goats, ewes, and sows which are with young or giving suck are not to be killed, neither are their young up to the age of six months. Capons must not be made. Chaff which contains living things must not set on fire. Forests must not be burned in order to kill living things or without any good reason. No animal must be fed with another animal. In addition to these Asoka has also restricted catching and selling of fish and castrating of animals, and branding of cattle and horses. Prisoners were released 26 times. Men who are imprisoned and condemned to death are to be given three days respite
On the roads I have had banyan trees planted, which give shade to beasts and men, I have had mango-groves planted and I have had wells dug and rest houses built. Many watering places were made everywhere for the use of beasts and men. I follow Dhamma for the welfare and happiness of the world. I honor all sects with various kinds of reverences, and I consider visiting them in person to be most important. My officers of Dhamma are busy among members of all sects, ascetic and householders whatever good deeds I have done, the world has consented to them and followed them. I have all done this so that among my sons and great grandsons and as long as the sun and moon endure, men may follow dhamma. For following it one gains this world and the next.16
Conclusion;
We can reach to the conclusion that Emperor Asoka was a pioneer of so many new things. His genuine efforts and programs among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Gandharas, the Risthikas, and Pitinikas, people of the west and south, and people of other kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent were intended for the establishment of Dhamma( through persuasion ), welfare and harmony among people. After Kalinga war, new conquests were stopped and peace prevailed in the subcontinent as Asoka turned to Ahimsa. Trade and economic activities flourished. Transportation was developed. State officials were instructed to be kind and helpful with people and to avoid harshness, rashness, anger, partiality etc. Asoka even thought of a common, uniform legal code for all, rich or poor (He used the exact words Danda Samata). The officials were asked to tour the entire length and breadth of the country to strive for the welfare of the people. The king was available at any hour to listen to the grievances. Perhaps at those times ‘the philosophy of the Indian culture took the view that the highest good is attainable in conduct, even if the highest reality is unthinkable in thought; Ahimsa is the highest attainable good for man’17
Asoka’s spiritualism was not narrow and sectarian. It affirmed life with dignity and not indifferent to socio-political life. It proposed equality, critical inquiry, doing away with social bigotry and religious dogmatism. He has not preached the denial of life of the senses. His views on religious harmony between different sects and preservation of bio-diversity, directly conveys the message that earth belongs to all species. He advocated moderation in consumption and possession of a fewer things and property. He abjured war and stopped further conquests, destruction of life, and turned to non-violence. He declared that his Dhamma has spread to the area of 1500 miles.
The 12th Major Rock Edict preaches the most important principle of coexistence of all sects in a plural, multi religious- racial –ethnic-heterodox society like ours. He said control of speech is also necessary. Bhagavadgita also preaches the spirit of tolerance which is an outstanding characteristic of Hindu thought.” Whoever with true devotion worships any deity, in him I deepen that devotion; and through it he fulfills his desire. ‘Those that devotedly worship other gods, they worship me though only imperfectly.”19 The same ideal has been carried forward by Gandhi. It was said that Gandhi was inspired by the Santi parva of Mahabharata which he studied with keen interest while in jail. In Santi Parva Bhisma said to Yudhisthira:” O king, truth expresses in thirteen indubitable forms-as impartiality, restraint, magnanimity, forgiveness, modesty, patience,tolerance,detachment, introspection, dignity, resoluteness, constancy and harmlessness”. Bikhu Parekh in his book on Gandhi wrote: Gandhi was deeply troubled by violence in all its crude and subtle forms, and passionately yearned to lead a life of true non-violence. He wondered if and how it was possible to be profoundly at peace with one self, with other human beings, and with one’s natural and social environment, how to live without hurting and harming a single living being and even wishing to do so.” “Gandhi thought the proper attitude to other religions was not tolerance but Sadbhava (good will) which implied ‘spiritual humility’ and a ‘feel for other religions’ and a willingness to see them flourish and learn from them.20 Just after Independence Indians promptly dumped Gandhian ideals. Due to want of a social revolution during the period of Independence movement radical transformation of the Indian society couldn’t took place at the grass root level. After the departure of the British, elite occupied the strategic hierarchic resources and positions and filled the vacuum generated. The vast masses who have actively participated in the freedom struggle were offered no role for transformation of the society and they became mere spectators. Defective development strategies from above were forced upon the masses with unsuccessful result and consequently vast masses of people numbering nearly twenty millions were displaced. Basic problems were not yet solved. Inequality, poverty increased. Now sectarian, communal clouds have started enveloping the social, political horizon of India. In this connection we have to recollect the fact that ‘In Europe prior to the World War II, a well organized extreme right wing movement was a significant part of the eventual rise of fascism. Religious emphases were charged with nationalism and overt discrimination against minorities- homosexuals, Jews, gypsies and communists (please see ‘contesting fundamentalisms, akar Books, Delhi-91, page 3).’Fundamentalist movements profess to be upholding some kind of orthodoxy or right practice and regard themselves as instrumental in preserving the tradition from erosion. Even though they claim to uphold a sacred past, their procedures and institutions requite new and actually constitute a reinterpretation of the past. Their practices also claim by tacit or explicit degree a masculine hegemony, which results in a male domination leadership or authority (see Contesting fundamentalisms- page 2-3) .Intellectuals like Asish Nandy say that state’s and secularist’s role is limited in spite of much rhetoric. Civil society also has to do much to contain the rot.
Howard Zinn said: “It is true that there is an infinite human capacity for violence. There is also an infinite potential for kindness. The unique ability of humans to imagine gives enormous power to idealism, an imagining of a better state of things not yet in existence. That power has been misused to send young men to war. But the power of idealism can also be used to attain justice, to end the massive violence of war.” Asoka thought that the earth is for every one, human beings, birds, animals and all living beings. We have no right to annihilate them totally from this planet. Monstrous, arrogant , and coercive modern states with scant respect for human life, have forgotten the past lessons and developed suicidal nuclear weapons which can destroy our planet more than several tens of times. War has become a state-corporatist pre-planned adventure and a strategy which can bring profits, natural resources, and subjugation of the locals. Millions of humans are just expendable shit. Homo- Rapiens with greed, aggression, cruelty with speciesist mentality poisoned the planet and condemned humans and all other species to doom. ‘The great sociopathic planetcide processes during the period of the Anthropocoene led to deforestation and the demise of an estimated twenty thousand to two million species during the 20th century, ever increasing carbon pollution, acidification of the hydrosphere and radioactive contamination. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet.21 we have to speak for the Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.22
References / footnotes
1 In Jain belief, the universe functions in accordance with a natural law; this eliminates the necessity of any commitment regarding the existence of god. The universe moves in a series of waves, a regular movement of progress and decline. The human body is merely dross covering the soul and release from rebirth can only be achieved when the soul is again in its original pure state (Page 138).
2 These ascetics believe in passivity and quietude. Digha Nikaya says that Ajivikas have a sense of self-respect, conscientiousness, continence, and a very tender regard for animals and all forms of life An Ajivika never incurred the guilt of obeying another man’s command; refused to accept food which was specially prepared for him; did not accept food from people when they were eating, lest they should run short of it; did not collect food in time of drought; did not accept food where a dog was standing by or flies were swarming around, lest they should lose a meal; and did not eat fish or meat, nor take intoxicants. Purana Kassapa denied action through his the theory of passivity of soul, and Ajita Keshambalin eliminated the scope of retribution through his annihilationism, and finally, Gosala by his theory of determinism denied both action and results ( Please see ‘A people’s history of India 3A- By Krishna Mohan Shrimali, Tulika Books, page 113 ).
3 Abridged version of 1st Major Rock Edict
4 Abridged version of 2ndMajor Rock Edict.
5 Abridged version of 3rd Major Rock Edict.
6 Abridged version of 4th Major Rock Edict.
7 Abridged version of 6th Major Rock Edict.
8 Abridged version of 5th Major Rock Edict.
9 Abridged version of 7th Major Rock Edict
10 Abridged version of 8th Major Rock Edict.
11 Abridged version of 9th Major Rock Edict.
12 Abridged version of 10th Major Rock Edict
13 Abridged version of 11th Major Rock Edict.
14 Abridged version of 12th Major Rock Edict.
15 Abridged version of 13th Major Rock Edict.
16 Based on Minor Rock Inscriptions and The Pillar Edicts.
17 Mundaka Upanishad II.2.2
18 deleted
19 Please see ‘ Outlines of Indian Philosophy’ by M. Hiriyanna (page116)
20 Please see ‘Gandhi- A very short Introduction’ by Bikhu Parekh, page 44.
21 See Emily Spence article dated 5.2.09 on the web site countercurrents.org
22 Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980.
BOOK REVIEW:
Asoka and the decline of the Mauryas
By Romila Thapar
OUP(2006), New Delhi-1
This book provides the much wanted research material on Asoka’s ideology and the history of the Mauryas. The author derives her research material from so many sources like rock and pillar edicts, Buddhist and Jain literature around the world, archeology, puranas and other Vedic scriptures, ancient texts like Arhashastra, Greek and Persian sources, works of ancient travelers like Megasthenes,Diemachus,Dionysius etc, coins, pottery, and ancient literature and from many other sources. Though unreliable, Vayu, Matsya, Bramanda puranas of fourth century A.D give extensive kings lists of later Mauryas.The Rajatarangini of Kalhan and Harsacarita of Bana, Asokavadana, Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa etc provide some information. The book has several chapters like early life and accession, and chronology; society and economic activity; internal administration; the policy of Dhamma; the decline of Mauryas; the date of the Arthasastra;The geographical locations of the edicts; translation of the edicts; Mauryan art; and a very valuable after word. As I am not qualified to discuss some of the above contents, let me limit my self to the ideas and intellectual content flourished in the mind of the mighty Asoka and their relevance to the present crisis ridden society. I feel I am indebted to the author for this great book.
We don’t know the historicity of the Rama rajya concept. Gandhi used to refer to it for a variety of purposes. It might be a myth.Asoka’s ideas might have been copied by many and cleverly interpolated into the mythical texts so as to give the despotic rulers a great image. But the historicity of Asoka rajya is proved and its effect is still strong in the minds of our people.Asoka was a true Rajarshi.He said; “…. The gods, who in India, up to this time, did not associate with men, now, associate with them, and this is the result of my efforts. Moreover this is not some thing to be obtained only by the great, but it is also open to the humble…” And “….Jambudvipa (Ancient name for the Indian subcontinent) was fit for the gods after the propagation of the policy of the dhamma…”
SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS DURING MAURYAN AGE
From 6th century onwards the process of universal questioning and reasoning started variety of sects concerned both with religious belief and philosophical speculation started debates and discussions. They questioned the Aryan values. Each newly developed theory was put mercilessly through a severe test of criticism. Metaphysics of the Upanishads, privileges of Brahmins, efficacy of the ceremonies and rituals and caste system etc were challenged. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan wrote: Liberal efforts at improving existing institutions sanctioned by time and embodied in the habits of the people will remain ineffectual if the indifference and superstition of centuries are not shaken up by an explosive force like the Carvaka creed. Nothing need be accepted by the individual who does not find its evidence in the movement of reason. The Carvaka philosophy is a fanatical effort made to rid the age of the weight of the past that was oppressing it…. The supremacy of religion and social tradition in life does not hamper the free pursuit of philosophy (In ancient India). Reason freely questions and criticizes the creeds in which men are born. That is why the heretic, the sceptic, the unbeliever, the rationalist and the free thinker, the materialist and the hedonist all flourished in India (please see Indian philosophy volume 1, by S. Radhakrishnan (page 235 and 7). I think Asoka also tried to lift people from inertia and dogma, superstitions and put forward a rational, secular and humanistic program before the people.
Asoka’s family itself reflects the true spirit of eclectic religious beliefs. His grand father Chandragupta in his old age was converted to Jainism1, abdicated the throne, and became a wandering ascetic. He went to Sravana -Belgola with Bhadrabahu and he died in the orthodox Jainist way by slow starvation. Asoka’s father Bindusara was in favor of Ajivikas2. One Ajivika saint, Pingalavatsa who was at the court of Bindusara predicted the future of child Asoka.
Instead of the elaborate sacrifice, Buddhist ritual was centered round the cult of the Caityas and the worship of the Stupas. The Caityas were sacred enclosures associated previously with the earth spirits and the fertility cult (page 141). Megasthenes states that Indian society during Maurya period was divided into seven classes. They are philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsman, artisans, magistrates and councilors. With regards to sexual matters, the Hindu moral code was, during the period free from the guilt complexes which other religions have associated with sex, and consequently a far healthier attitude of mind was exhibited. There is a system of bride price, usually oxen. Prostitution was there. Prostitutes must pay tax. There is distinction between slaves and outcastes. Candalas,public executioners,hunters.acrobats, jugglers, leather workers, basket makers, nesadas, potters,weavers,barbers,dancers,snake-charmers and beggars were all grouped together as despises classes. Women were permitted to weave.
Summary of Asoka’s Dhamma.
Asoka has been compared with Emperor Constantine, who used Christianity but other faiths were given freedom and he has banned certain pre-Christian practices such as performing sacrifices at home. In the past historians interpreted the Asoka’s dhamma as propaganda of Buddhism. They suggested that he tried to make Buddhism as state religion. But Romila Thapar argued that this is wrong. She said Asoka’s policy of dhamma is secular and it was a plea for the recognition of the dignity of man, and for a humanistic spirit in the activities of the society. It transcends all barriers of sectarian belief and religious gospels. He appointed Dhamma Mahamatyas to implement his policies of Dhamma. It attempted to protect the weak against the strong and tried to promote a moral social behavior so broad in its scope that no cultural group could object to it. All of this in the third century B.C! Mind boggling, is not it?
Asoka’s Inscriptions and Rock Edicts say that:
1. Here no living being is to be killed and scarified. He sees much evil in some festivals and large gathering, which end with large scale sacrifices. Many hundreds of animals and birds were killed for meat in the royal kitchen. He limited the number to three animals and promised that even these three animals will be spared in future3.
2. Every where in the empire and its frontier lands and in the lands of Greek kings named Antiochus and others the beloved of the gods provided medical care for men and animals. Medicinal herbs whether useful to men or animals have been brought and planted wherever they did not grow. Along the roads wells have been dug and trees planted for the use of men and beasts4.
3. He appointed several officials in order to instruct people in the Dhamma as well as other purposes. Asoka instructed that it is good to be obedient to one’s mother and father, elders, friends and relatives to be generous to Brahmans and shramanas, it is good not to kill living beings, it is good not only to spend little, but to own the minimum of property5.
4. Due to the increase in the practice of Dhamma, the sound of the drum has become the sound of dhamma, showing the people displays of heavenly chariots, elephants and balls of fire and other divine forms6.
5. For I consider that there is no better work than promoting the welfare of the whole world. Whatever may be my good deeds, I have done them in order to discharge my debt to all beings. I work for their happiness in this life, that in the next they may gain heaven. May it endure long. May my sons, grand sons, and great grandsons strive for the welfare of the whole world. But this is difficult without great effort7.
6. He appointed the officers of Dhamma who are busy working for the welfare and happiness of those who are devoted to Dhamma, among people of all regions, Greeks, servants, nobles, royal family members , Brahmans, poor, aged, and prisoners8.
7. The king wishes that all sects may dwell in all places, for their self-control and
Purity of mind. But men have varying desires and passions. They will either practice all that is required or else only a part. But even he who is generous, yet has no self control, purity of mind, gratitude, and firm faith, is regarded as mean.9
8. In the pasts, kings went on hunting and pleasure tours. But after visiting the tree of enlightenment, he conducted tours only connected with dhamma. During the tours meetings and discussions are held with ascetics, Brahmans, old people, country side people, gold is distributed. The king has spent 256 nights on these tours. The king derives more pleasure from this than from any other enjoyments10.
9. People practice various ceremonies, in illness, marriages, birth of children, when going on a journey and on many other occasions. Women especially perform also many trivial and useless ceremonies which give small results. The ceremony of dhamma one should practice11.
10. It is very difficult for men, whether humble or highly placed to escape from the evil inclinations, without extreme effort and without renouncing everything else. It is particularly difficult for the highly placed12.
11. There is no gift comparable to the gift of Dhamma, the praise of Dhamma, the sharing of Dhamma, the fellowship of Dhamma. And this is—good behavior towards slaves and servants, obedience to mother and father, generosity towards friends, acquaintances, and relatives and towards Shramanas, Brahmans and abstention from killing living beings. Every one should say this is good, this is we should do13.
12. The beloved of the gods honours all sects and both ascetics and laymen, with gifts and various forms of recognition. But the Beloved of the Gods does not think gifts or honors as important as the advancement of the essential doctrine of all sects. The faiths of others all deserve to be honored for one reason or the other. By honoring them, one exalts one’s own faith and at the same time performs a service to the faith of others. By acting otherwise, one injures one’s faith and also does disservice to others. Control of speech is also needed. For if a man exalts his own faith and disparages another because of devotion to his own and because he wants to glorify it, he seriously injures his own faith. The desire of the Beloved of the Gods is that all sects should be well-informed, and should teach which is good14.
13. When the king Piyadassi conquered Kalinga, a one hundred and fifty thousand people were deported, a hundred thousand were killed and many times that were perished. Afterwards after annexation of Kalinga the king practiced Dhamma. On conquering Kalinga the Beloved of the Gods felt remorse, for when an independent country is conquered the slaughter, death, and deportation of the people is extremely grievous to the king and weighs heavily on his mind. All suffer violence, murder, and separation from their loved ones. Even those who are fortunate to have escaped, and whose love is undiminished, suffer from the misfortune of their friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and relatives. All this suffering weighs heavily on the mind of the king.15
14. What is Dhamma? It is few faults and many good deeds, mercy, charity, truth, and purity. I have given the gift of insight in various forms. I have conferred many benefits on man, animals, birds, and fish, even to saving their lives, and I have done many other commendable deeds. I forbade the killing of the following species of animals, namely: parrots, mainas, red-headed ducks, chakravaka-geese, swans, nandi-mukhas, pigeons, bats, ants, tortoises, boneless fish, certain fish of the Ganges, skate, porcupines, squirrels, deer, lizards, domesticated animals, rhinoceroses, and all quadrupeds which are of no utility and are not eaten. She goats, ewes, and sows which are with young or giving suck are not to be killed, neither are their young up to the age of six months. Capons must not be made. Chaff which contains living things must not set on fire. Forests must not be burned in order to kill living things or without any good reason. No animal must be fed with another animal. In addition to these Asoka has also restricted catching and selling of fish and castrating of animals, and branding of cattle and horses. Prisoners were released 26 times. Men who are imprisoned and condemned to death are to be given three days respite
On the roads I have had banyan trees planted, which give shade to beasts and men, I have had mango-groves planted and I have had wells dug and rest houses built. Many watering places were made everywhere for the use of beasts and men. I follow Dhamma for the welfare and happiness of the world. I honor all sects with various kinds of reverences, and I consider visiting them in person to be most important. My officers of Dhamma are busy among members of all sects, ascetic and householders whatever good deeds I have done, the world has consented to them and followed them. I have all done this so that among my sons and great grandsons and as long as the sun and moon endure, men may follow dhamma. For following it one gains this world and the next.16
Conclusion;
We can reach to the conclusion that Emperor Asoka was a pioneer of so many new things. His genuine efforts and programs among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Gandharas, the Risthikas, and Pitinikas, people of the west and south, and people of other kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent were intended for the establishment of Dhamma( through persuasion ), welfare and harmony among people. After Kalinga war, new conquests were stopped and peace prevailed in the subcontinent as Asoka turned to Ahimsa. Trade and economic activities flourished. Transportation was developed. State officials were instructed to be kind and helpful with people and to avoid harshness, rashness, anger, partiality etc. Asoka even thought of a common, uniform legal code for all, rich or poor (He used the exact words Danda Samata). The officials were asked to tour the entire length and breadth of the country to strive for the welfare of the people. The king was available at any hour to listen to the grievances. Perhaps at those times ‘the philosophy of the Indian culture took the view that the highest good is attainable in conduct, even if the highest reality is unthinkable in thought; Ahimsa is the highest attainable good for man’17
Asoka’s spiritualism was not narrow and sectarian. It affirmed life with dignity and not indifferent to socio-political life. It proposed equality, critical inquiry, doing away with social bigotry and religious dogmatism. He has not preached the denial of life of the senses. His views on religious harmony between different sects and preservation of bio-diversity, directly conveys the message that earth belongs to all species. He advocated moderation in consumption and possession of a fewer things and property. He abjured war and stopped further conquests, destruction of life, and turned to non-violence. He declared that his Dhamma has spread to the area of 1500 miles.
The 12th Major Rock Edict preaches the most important principle of coexistence of all sects in a plural, multi religious- racial –ethnic-heterodox society like ours. He said control of speech is also necessary. Bhagavadgita also preaches the spirit of tolerance which is an outstanding characteristic of Hindu thought.” Whoever with true devotion worships any deity, in him I deepen that devotion; and through it he fulfills his desire. ‘Those that devotedly worship other gods, they worship me though only imperfectly.”19 The same ideal has been carried forward by Gandhi. It was said that Gandhi was inspired by the Santi parva of Mahabharata which he studied with keen interest while in jail. In Santi Parva Bhisma said to Yudhisthira:” O king, truth expresses in thirteen indubitable forms-as impartiality, restraint, magnanimity, forgiveness, modesty, patience,tolerance,detachment, introspection, dignity, resoluteness, constancy and harmlessness”. Bikhu Parekh in his book on Gandhi wrote: Gandhi was deeply troubled by violence in all its crude and subtle forms, and passionately yearned to lead a life of true non-violence. He wondered if and how it was possible to be profoundly at peace with one self, with other human beings, and with one’s natural and social environment, how to live without hurting and harming a single living being and even wishing to do so.” “Gandhi thought the proper attitude to other religions was not tolerance but Sadbhava (good will) which implied ‘spiritual humility’ and a ‘feel for other religions’ and a willingness to see them flourish and learn from them.20 Just after Independence Indians promptly dumped Gandhian ideals. Due to want of a social revolution during the period of Independence movement radical transformation of the Indian society couldn’t took place at the grass root level. After the departure of the British, elite occupied the strategic hierarchic resources and positions and filled the vacuum generated. The vast masses who have actively participated in the freedom struggle were offered no role for transformation of the society and they became mere spectators. Defective development strategies from above were forced upon the masses with unsuccessful result and consequently vast masses of people numbering nearly twenty millions were displaced. Basic problems were not yet solved. Inequality, poverty increased. Now sectarian, communal clouds have started enveloping the social, political horizon of India. In this connection we have to recollect the fact that ‘In Europe prior to the World War II, a well organized extreme right wing movement was a significant part of the eventual rise of fascism. Religious emphases were charged with nationalism and overt discrimination against minorities- homosexuals, Jews, gypsies and communists (please see ‘contesting fundamentalisms, akar Books, Delhi-91, page 3).’Fundamentalist movements profess to be upholding some kind of orthodoxy or right practice and regard themselves as instrumental in preserving the tradition from erosion. Even though they claim to uphold a sacred past, their procedures and institutions requite new and actually constitute a reinterpretation of the past. Their practices also claim by tacit or explicit degree a masculine hegemony, which results in a male domination leadership or authority (see Contesting fundamentalisms- page 2-3) .Intellectuals like Asish Nandy say that state’s and secularist’s role is limited in spite of much rhetoric. Civil society also has to do much to contain the rot.
Howard Zinn said: “It is true that there is an infinite human capacity for violence. There is also an infinite potential for kindness. The unique ability of humans to imagine gives enormous power to idealism, an imagining of a better state of things not yet in existence. That power has been misused to send young men to war. But the power of idealism can also be used to attain justice, to end the massive violence of war.” Asoka thought that the earth is for every one, human beings, birds, animals and all living beings. We have no right to annihilate them totally from this planet. Monstrous, arrogant , and coercive modern states with scant respect for human life, have forgotten the past lessons and developed suicidal nuclear weapons which can destroy our planet more than several tens of times. War has become a state-corporatist pre-planned adventure and a strategy which can bring profits, natural resources, and subjugation of the locals. Millions of humans are just expendable shit. Homo- Rapiens with greed, aggression, cruelty with speciesist mentality poisoned the planet and condemned humans and all other species to doom. ‘The great sociopathic planetcide processes during the period of the Anthropocoene led to deforestation and the demise of an estimated twenty thousand to two million species during the 20th century, ever increasing carbon pollution, acidification of the hydrosphere and radioactive contamination. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet.21 we have to speak for the Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.22
References / footnotes
1 In Jain belief, the universe functions in accordance with a natural law; this eliminates the necessity of any commitment regarding the existence of god. The universe moves in a series of waves, a regular movement of progress and decline. The human body is merely dross covering the soul and release from rebirth can only be achieved when the soul is again in its original pure state (Page 138).
2 These ascetics believe in passivity and quietude. Digha Nikaya says that Ajivikas have a sense of self-respect, conscientiousness, continence, and a very tender regard for animals and all forms of life An Ajivika never incurred the guilt of obeying another man’s command; refused to accept food which was specially prepared for him; did not accept food from people when they were eating, lest they should run short of it; did not collect food in time of drought; did not accept food where a dog was standing by or flies were swarming around, lest they should lose a meal; and did not eat fish or meat, nor take intoxicants. Purana Kassapa denied action through his the theory of passivity of soul, and Ajita Keshambalin eliminated the scope of retribution through his annihilationism, and finally, Gosala by his theory of determinism denied both action and results ( Please see ‘A people’s history of India 3A- By Krishna Mohan Shrimali, Tulika Books, page 113 ).
3 Abridged version of 1st Major Rock Edict
4 Abridged version of 2ndMajor Rock Edict.
5 Abridged version of 3rd Major Rock Edict.
6 Abridged version of 4th Major Rock Edict.
7 Abridged version of 6th Major Rock Edict.
8 Abridged version of 5th Major Rock Edict.
9 Abridged version of 7th Major Rock Edict
10 Abridged version of 8th Major Rock Edict.
11 Abridged version of 9th Major Rock Edict.
12 Abridged version of 10th Major Rock Edict
13 Abridged version of 11th Major Rock Edict.
14 Abridged version of 12th Major Rock Edict.
15 Abridged version of 13th Major Rock Edict.
16 Based on Minor Rock Inscriptions and The Pillar Edicts.
17 Mundaka Upanishad II.2.2
18 deleted
19 Please see ‘ Outlines of Indian Philosophy’ by M. Hiriyanna (page116)
20 Please see ‘Gandhi- A very short Introduction’ by Bikhu Parekh, page 44.
21 See Emily Spence article dated 5.2.09 on the web site countercurrents.org
22 Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
THE GLOBAL CRISIS: GANDHI AND LOHIA
A doubt hangs ominous in the sky of human aspirations and dreams. Twenty-first dawns with dire predictions of human race extinction, by a group of sober scientists whose credibility is beyond question.
Why is there this fear in an age of dazzling technology and consumer boom?
In the field on theories. Science, the wizard, pours marvels from its never-exhausting bag. Neurology, Bio-technology, Nanotechnology: the churning of
Nature groans. Temperature rises. Climate goes hostile to survival. Toxicity threatens the health of millions.
Merrily the rich go on singing the paeans of the market piling goods sky-high. Again and again, the tides of the sea of poverty futilely dash against their rocks of growing fabulous wealth.
The human race has only 50:50 chance of survival declares David Ross, British Royal Astronomer. Lord May, David King and Diamond: all hard realists prominent in the field of science warn that global collapse is a real possibility. Every social and econ system, either nourished or ravaged by centuries of human effort is facing the grave risk of collapse.
Craig center of J.C.V. Science Foundation blames the human gene for future human extinction.
Richard Dawkins of
“What we lack is political will” declares Paul Davies, a physicist.
Prophetically declares Royal Society President Martin Rees, “…..the decisions that we make, individually or collectively, will determine whether the outcomes of 21st century science are benign or devastating.”
Gandhi and Lohia are precisely those thinkers whose ideas, backed by strong political wills, will save human civilization from sure collapse.
The two greatest evils that rock human society can be pinpointed in terms of the famed humanist psychologist Erich fromm. In his book “Man Makes himself,” Fromm describes the marketing-oriented character of the modern man thus “In our time the marketing orientation has been growing rapidly together with the development of a new market that is a phenomenon of the last decades, the personality market.” Now we have two markets, the commodity market and the personality market. In a survey conducted in a Girls high School in the us 93% girls declared their first hobby as shopping. Because of the existence of the personality market, many are coerced to wear a pleasant mask along with the manipulated personality. This ubiquitous marketing orientation has created extremely selfish men and selfish nations and has legitimized cut-throat competitions.
As science scales new heights, surveillance measures gain better precision, thus making the all knowing big brother of 1984 a reality. The corporations utilize all conceivable methods to collect data about human beings as consumers. Of late, Neurology, too, has contributed to the erosions of human privacy. Brieght- house, previously an advertising firm, with the collaboration of
Greed, envy, arrogance: all the vices decried by different religions of the world are utilized to enhance the marketing potential sky-high. Castes based on consumer hierarchy make modern society an unfeeling exploiting one. As community solidarity gets gradually replaced by crass individualism, Narcissistic tendencies grow and even the family gets undermined by the selfish market-made man or woman. Children suffer as a result. Anti-socials proliferate, mental illnesses double in every third decade. The one dimensional man or the cheerful robot is the ultimate outcome of the market oriented personality. No. wonder, alienation haunts the most sensitive spirits of the modern society. When it becomes unbearable, they lost their sanity.
The second evil that plagues human society, both in the past and the present, is the military-orientation of character. 3 this character which develops the trait of either a Faraday of a Robinson Crusoe knows obedience or command as the greatest virtues of human beings. Such people become either ruthless dictators or slaves. They become unfit as enlightened citizens for whom human rights are the greatest values. No wonder many of them join communal organization, hawking violence and hatred, wrecking societies and countries. People who prefer a violent revolution are not aware that such revolutionaries develop sick personalities and after coming to power become cruel and devourers of the civic rights of anyone who dare to differ. Every violent revolution aborts all future revolutions for a generation as no one who differs with the leader is given a chance to live. Mao’s theory of permanent revolution is the first casualty in every violet revolution. That hatred and violence are human-personality-endangering vices comes out in the recent research findings of the brain-scientists.
“The core point of convergence between the Buddhist and Psychological perspectives is that Hostility, which is viewed in the West as a character or personality, trait, is considered to be destructive to one’s health. Impulsive chronic violence is also considered to be dysfunctional and is classified as pathological, (Davidson, Putnam & Larson-2000)”.
(An extract from an article (“Buddhist & psychological perspective on emotion and well being” written jointly by Paul Ekman (
Marx’s materialism ignored the matter that has the greatest influence on human personality, the grey matter preserved in the human brain. No change in external circumstances can influence the racist or the schizophrenic who weaves his own illusive world. Marx’s followers dreaming of a better world and ready to sacrifice everything for their noble cause ultimately became victims of the defective neural paths that crisscross their brains. Neither Polpot nor Stalin, or the Tibet-ravishing Mao are aberrations of communist revolutions. The military orientation of personality often does grievous injury to society.
The military and the marketing-oriented characters become doubly dangerous when they are reinforced by each other. The
As spoken by the journalist Thomas Friedman, “For globalization to work,
Gandhi’s stress on the principle of APARIGRAHA (Reducing human wants to the minimum) is the only remedy against the marketing orientation. Lohia, too, led a life of APARIGRAHA though APARIGRAHA was not a creed from him. He had no property worth its name in life. His death was equally unostentatious, as per his wish. An electric oven burnt his dead body without any paraphernalia accompanying it either before or after its disposal.
The age-old values of APARIGRAHA and ASTEYA (giving the society its due, before any individual enjoys wealth) which is wrongly translated as non-stealing, constitute the bedrock of any socialist society. Communism met its demise in almost all the red countries only because these two values were given a goodbye in them. Today, with the environment going toxic, the present civilization can save itself only by giving importance to these two values. The west which seems to be genetically or socially programmed to welcome strife and prodigality must change its course; otherwise dire disaster awaits humanity.
Gandhi and Lohia were both votaries of non-violent revolutions. Gandhi’s discovery of Satyagraha was the greatest gift to the present war and slaughter-prone humanity. By making truth and non-violence and inseparable pair, Gandhi made the military irrelevant for a happiness-seeking world society.
Today’s globalization slogan has been devised to boost the market. As spoken by Prof. J. K. Galbraith, “Globalization is not a serious concept. We have invented it to disseminate our politics of economic entry into other countries.
Unfortunately even our leftist friends in
Indigenous societies, whose limited violence and caring-sharing values provide hope for the thinkers dreaming of a better society, nurture a number of superstitions because of their devotion to magic and ritual. Knowledge of such non-competitive egalitarian indigenous societies where superstitions based on Totem and tam boo prevails does not serve the cause of genuine democratic socialism, based on rationality and empathy. Einstein was impressed by the peaceful and egalitarian Pueblo Indians, hurry Magoffin became eloquent in narrating the egalitarian values of pre-Columbian Americans. The existence of such societies proves that human nature yields to nature to a great extent.
With confidence, one can assert that unless we accept the values of ASTEYA and APARIGRAHA, the earth cannot be saved from the greed of an ever-expanding consumerist society. Similarly unless truth and non violence are combined, no democratic society can come into being. These four values are enough to banish want and consumerism to the dustbins of history.
Gandhi’s trusteeship theory which won the loyalty of Lohia also, is fully based on the principle of ASTEYA. ASTEYA reaches great heights when combined with APARIGRAHA. Gandhi did not live long enough to subject his trusteeship theory to rigors of practicality and its universal application. Lohia, pre-occupied as he was with a defective polity, too, could only pay lip service to the theory of trustee-ship. This theory’s success depends on the cultural level of the people and the proper social structures of different societies. Marx’s grand ideas lost relevance when greedy and paranoid people became rulers, Independent India imitated the West and relegated Gandhi to the pedestals of the backrooms.
Time is fast running out. The contented class and its Frankersteins, the TNCs, complacently strive to undermine age-old values and demolish the old cultural contours, Either we become wiser or we succumb to Thantos (Death Wish). Promotion of consumerist culture and military culture and Institutions based on them are producing unhealthy human beings who are unfit for a Gandhi socialist society. Anthropology and brain science in the present state of society, applied wisely, are capable of guiding us in the right direction. Yogic practices and Buddhist disciplines which have developed through millenniums given us hope that both the conscious and unconscious parts of the human mind can be influenced to build a character which is virtuous by almost all humanist standards. Such a character accepts ecological and Gandhian socialistic principles. Marxism which is protean in its spread has nurtured a type of social change based on non-violent struggles, given popularity by William Morris. This variety of Marxism and the ecologically-sound variety of Maxims as propagated by J. B. Foster, of Monthly Review fame, can easily blend with Gandhian socialism and Buddhist humanism.
Simply wishing a new society and painting it with broad strokes of brush is not enough. Constant debates must take place about the cultural and institutional aspects of this society and the way to implement them. Many of the
Gandhi and Lohia were against cast violence. Gandhi devoted a lot of his time to Dalit upliftment. Lohia defied caste hierarchy to give justice to the lower oppressed classes. Ambedkar fought all his life to abolish caste oppression. We are heirs to the great legacies of Gandhi and Ambedkar. Dalit intellectual Nagraj in his famous book “the Flaming feet” explains how the two liberators of humanity complement each other. The Buddhist stream of thought had tremendous influence on the people of
REFERENCES:
- The ancient saint kings followed tradition and became Yogis. In course of time the yoga system was lost.
- Moderation in eating and sleeping, enjoyments, work and wakefulness are to be practiced to attain success in Yoga.
- Evolutionary Psychology – A Durant and B.J. Ellis.
- (a). An uncontrolled man does not have a steady mind. His thoughts wander. His mind is not calm. Hence SUKHA is beyond his reach.
(b). Excessive craving for money or commodities and anger leading to aggression or hatred are insatiable and sinful Rajasic entities. They are enemies of man.
- Evolutionary psychology: A primer – L. Cosmides and J. Tooby.
- (a).Satwik Guna (modality) is clean, free from afflictions and bright. It leads to knowledge and Sukha.
(b). Satwik Guna leads to SUKHA; RAJAS leads to unending action, TAMAS avoids true knowledge and leads to lack of attention.
- Same as 4(b).
- Mind is the root cause of all morality (Dhamma).A Polluted mind invariably leads to Dukha. A cheerful, steady mind leads to Sukha.
- All the sentient beings are considered as one. Divisions disappear. The Satwik person harbors cosmic consciousness and love.
- Senses under control, his mind accepting all as his friends; he reaches me as he is devoted to the welfare of all.
- The Roots of Violence: A Moral Analysis in an Indian Classic- Krishna Chaitanya: Alternatives Vol XIII No.3. (July-1988).
- ‘Can Scientific man Survive? The Radical Humanist (23.03.1958).
***
Bagawat Prashad
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