[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

ARTICLE : Turning our Backs on Indian Philosophy


Title : Turning our Backs on Indian Philosophy
Author : Siddharth Varadarajan
Publication : The Times of India
Date : September 21, 1996

I  was  recently asked by a school in Delhi to act  as  a 
judge in a debating competition.  The motion was: 'Within 
ourselves lie our triumphs and failures'.  Those  arguing 
in  favour  stressed  the necessity of  hard  work.   The 
example  of Mr Deve Gowda was cited as proof that  humble 
origins are not an obstacle for getting on in life.   The 
opposing  side,  however, merely argued  that  individual 
efforts  were not enough and that God, fate or good  luck 
was equally, if not more, important.

There  were two aspects of the debate that  disturbed  me 
greatly.   First, the tendency to measure success  solely 
in  terms  of individual achievement.   And  second,  the 
elision  of  society  and the refusal  to  recognise  the 
constraints  existing social structures impose  upon  us.  
In  other words, if a person 'succeeds,' this is  due  to 
his/her own efforts; and, if be/she 'fails,' this must he 
either  due  to some fault of his/her own or  because  of 
'bad  luck'.  That students, who depend on others for  so 
much,  should place such emphasis on the 'individual'  or 
on 'fate' is ironic and unfortunate.  It may be  conveni-
ent  for  a  minister to say that a family  living  in  a 
jhuggi  without  water, electricity  and  sanitation  and 
earning  less  than  minimum wages, has  only  itself  to 
blame.   But  why should children fall prey to  the  same 
pathology  of  blaming the victim?   Obviously  there  is 
something  wrong with the outlook we are  thrusting  upon 
them.

Little Use

If  philosophy does not provide an answer to the  problem 
of how human beings should structure their relations with 
each other, it will be of little practical use as a  tool 
of  individual  salvation  as well.  Even  though  it  is 
fashionable  to  ascribe to the  darsanas  a  soteriology 
centred  exclusively  around the  self,  an  undercurrent 
running  through virtually all stages in the  development 
of  Indian  philosophy has been the  recognition  of  the 
essentially  social nature of human existence.  From  the 
Rig Veda and the Tirukural to the bhajans of Mira and the 
poetry of Bulle Shah or Iqbal, philosophising by  Indians 
has,  in  general, been marked by its rootedness  in  the 
collectivity and materiality of life.  One does not  have 
to agree with what they wrote in order to recognise their 
impatience with problems that were not of this world.

When,  in  the  ]3th century,  Jnaneshwar  declared  that 
access  to  God was the democratic right  of  all  people 
regardless  of  caste,  language or gender  and  did  not 
require  the mediation of the brahmin, he  was  stressing 
the congruence of bhakti with community.  For Jnaneshwar, 
even  the simple act of singing a kirtana in the  company 
of  others was imbued with an emancipatory quality  equal 
to  that  of the most fervent  individual  tapasya.   The 
emergence  and  popularisation  of bhakti as  a  mode  of 
worship  was intrinsically linked to the social and  eco-
nomic  inequalities  which pervaded every aspect  of  me-
dieval  Indian life.  Though cloaked in the  language  of 
religiosity,  the  bhakti  and Sufi  movement  erected  a 
cosmology  in  which the station of one's birth  was  not 

considered a determinant of the rights an individual had.  
Precisely  because it was humane, its precepts were  con-
sidered subversive and many of its proponents were  ruth-
lessly ridiculed, hounded and persecuted.

Intoxicating Call

Today,  the same India which once rallied to the  intoxi-
cating  call of the bhaktas and sufis seems to have  lost 
its  moorings.   Some have blamed  the  corrosiveness  of 
'consumerism' or the excesses of 'pseudo-secularism'  but 
the truth is rather more complex.  As a nation we  remain 
intensely  religious but we seem to have turned our  col-
lective back on philosophy. There are not a few who speak 
of  bhakti  today,  for example,  but  the  philosophical 
kernel  of the bhakti movement, its speculations  on  the 
social  context of our existence, seem to have fallen  by 
the wayside. Modern philosophers can talk endlessly about 
the relationship between Nagarjuna's shunyata and Heideg-
ger's  dasein or the unity of atman and brahman, but  few 
offer  a  vision of how society should  be  organised  in 
order  to  fulfil the aspirations of its  members.   Nine 
decades  after  he wrote 'Parinde  ki  Fariyad,'  Iqbal's 
caged bird is still yearning to be set free.

Whether it is the issue of education, health, housing  or 
transportation, all are viewed as issues to be sorted out 
by  the individual or her or his family.  This is a  view 
that  is out of step with our own social reality and  our 
own  philosophical traditions as well.   Wherever  people 
have turned their back on society - as in the West  today 
-  backward, medieval conceptions are making a  comeback.  
As Indians, we can go on insisting that we are an ancient 
people  with  a  rich philosophical  tradition  and  that 
'triumphs'  will  come only to those that  deserve  them.  
But if we do not recognise society, if we do not consider 
that  the  development of society is  the  most  profound 
expression  of  humanity  there can be, and  that  a  new 
society must be created which allows human beings to live 
like humans, we will never achieve anything of substance.
Advertise with us!
This site is part of Dharma Universe LLC websites.
Copyrighted 2009-2015, Dharma Universe.