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Courage is the Vehicle of the Gita
COURAGE IS THE VEHICLE OF THE GITA
Tara was the mistress of a crooked cop. Yet, in contrast to all the
morality toting preachers, she was the only one who had the guts to take
the witness stand and spill the beans against the Bombay mafia. It was her
daring dauntlessness that convicted the 5 men who had held the town to
ransom with their nefarious network of drugs and prostitution. Putlibhai
was an illiterate, abused housewife, viciously attacked by her husband
during his drunken bouts. Yet, in contrast to her spiritless, educated
sisters, she organized the women of the village and burnt down the liquor
shops that had destroyed their homes. Vivek was denounced as a failure
because he did not have a degree in Engineering or Medicine. Yet, in
contrast to his materialistically superior colleagues, he was the only one
to adopt 5 handicapped orphans. Shera was called an immoral drunkard. Yet,
in contrast to all the sober hypocrites, he was the only one who rescued
children forced into bonded labor.
There are many such men and women, scorned as dregs of society, hounded by
high society, who face needles of biting sneers, yet possess an unusual
courage to bear unflinchingly the darts from heaven, and rise again and
again to fight blazing fires in order to make the world a better place.
Swamy Vivekananda would be proud of them for following his messages,
"Come, do something heroic. Brother, what if you do not attain mukti, what
if you suffer damnation a few tlmes," and "If in this hell of a world, one
can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a single
person, that much alone is true".
India today needs a thousand crusaders with such blazing courage. It does
not need redemption from sin, but from hunger and oppression, it does not
need lengthy lectures on "Moksha" or the "nature of reality", but
desperately needs clean streets, pure water, food and shelter, it does not
need a simulated peace masking throbbing injustice, but an enduring peace
arising from the triumph of justice, it does not need slavish conformists
who curse the darkness but daring reformers who dare to light a candle
amidst darkening tempests, and such things are impossible without the
"sparks of nature's fi e" or courage.
Therefore, the temples have to incorporate an agenda along with their
rituals. It must lead and inspire the people to acquire this sword arm of
justice called "courage", a quality which at present Indian society does
not value, or honor. It must develops a regard for the unconventional man
who rocks the boat, or for the iron man who can stand tall. It must
emphasize the essence of the Gita which is fighting injustice and that it
was born on the battlefield to instill "courage" along with
"enlightenment" to the heroic Arjun.
These qualities may be too glaring, too uncomfortable, too strong for the
all-compromising society that can compromise on anything from losing
territory to all kinds of injustice in the name of an elusive, all
encompassing trek to Nirvana. Yet, the genius for compromise can last only
as long as the unraveling social fabric is stitched back and held together
by the threads of hope, and hope comes not from compromise but from the
lamps lit by valor.
Civilizations have perished and crumbled at the stroke of a barbarian, not
because they lacked education, or affluence or skills, but because they
had lost the courage to see and cure the diseased teeth and decaying bones
of the body called Society. Indian civilization has been enslaved again
and again because it honors wealth riding in the form of crooks and cheats
rather than velour. It has been enslaved again and again because it honors
the likes of Rajeev Gandhi who swindled billions in "Boors" rather than
"Rant of Jhansi" or "Bhagat Singh". It has been enslaved again and again
because the spiritual transmitters and Gita geniuses have failed to
motivate men and women to deeds of valor.
If Indian society has to flourish and be free both in body and spirit,
then the Gita must be translated into action by rewarding people with
courage and heroism like the Sheras and Putlibhais. The temples have to be
used as a mechanism for ensuring social, political and economic justice,
to unite Hindus regardless of caste or state, to heal hearts and minds,
and to inspire, transform, and restore the spirit of Hinduism. Every
festival is an example of the restoration of justice when the Gods destroy
demons. Unless the temples teach this neglected aspect of Hinduism, stress
values instead of rituals, karma instead of puja, involvement instead of
escapism, the spirit of God would not lie in temples but far away from
them in the embodied souls of courage, even though they may be shunned by
the high and the mighty. As Swamy Vivekananda has said, "Where there is
struggle, where there is rebellion, there is the sign of life, there
consciousness is manifested."
The Gita specialists may talk a long time on many aspects of the Royal
knowledge delivered by the Lord of the Universe such as meditation,
universal form, renunciation of action, discrimination between nature and
soul, etc, but if he avoids stressing on courage and justice, he is not
preaching the Gita delivered on the battlefield, to fight evil, but the
Gita of a self-seeking society that uses the scripture to look the other
way.
Aneeta Chakrabarty
Atlanta, GA, USA
