Religion, philosophy and mythology

Robi Chakravorti
The Statesman, 6 October

The recent incidents involving the issue of Lord Ram related to the dredging project in the sea around Adam¹s Bridge can be seen in the context of the role of religion in political, economic and social areas.

The conflict in India arose out of the technological issue of dredging an area which is treated as sacrosanct in terms of the belief in the legend of Ram’s military effort to free Sita in Lanka. This incident of the Hindu religious protest can be compared to the protest movements in the Islamic world about a cartoon referring to Prophet Mohammed. Way back in 1632, Galileo, the great scientist of his age, was confined to house-arrest for life on orders of the Roman Catholic Church for promulgating the heretical doctrine that the earth revolved around the sun.

The historical context of these three illustrative incidents are different but they point out the conflict between the potentiality of the philosophical basis of religion and its social practice. Swami Vivekananda once wrote: “In every religion you find three stages: philosophy, mythology and ceremonial.” It is difficult for an ordinary person to distinguish one from the other.

The mythological and ceremonial aspects of religion can be seen in cultural settings. Every religion from this perspective is a blend of universal principles and their local cultural setting. As Huston Smith pointed out in colourful language in his classic book, The Religions of Man, religion seen as a blend of universal principles “when lifted out and made clear speak man to man, whatever his time and place.” Seen in local setting, it is a rich compound of myth and rite “that can never make its way into the emotional life of an outsider.”

The term globalisation which is currently used to describe the growth of cultural unity can be seen in the historical context of a statement made 25 hundred years ago by Socrates on his death-bed: “I am not an Athenian or a Greek but a citizen of the world”. One can describe this as the basis of the current rhetoric of globalisation through cultural unity and democracy as a type of secular religion. Regis Debray, the French intellectual who was an associate of Communist revolutionary Che Guevara, used this term to describe the belief in Communism in the mid-sixties. He was imprisoned and later released. Returning to France, he made this comment, labelling Guevara’s belief in the grassroots people’s movement leading to a communist type paradise on earth. Guevara was a close associate of Cuba’s Fidel Castro. He was executed by Army troops of Bolivia allegedly assisted by the CIA in 1967.

Dr S Radhakrishnan in his book, Religion and Society (1947) used the same rhetoric in critical comments on the doctrines of communist utopia. He also wrote: “The States have become Churches with Popes and Inquisitions.”

Hinduism as a religion is different from other religions like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. As a religion influenced by mythology leading to various rites and rituals, it has neither a founder nor a fixed canon. Christianity, Islam and Buddhism have historic figures as founders, but later development of these religions produced legends and myths about the founders and varieties of ritual practices sanctifying their presence in history.

Sectarian divisions involving enormous amounts of deaths marked the growth of all religions. These conflicts had various sources involving the interpretation of scriptures, rituals, genealogical or cultural links with the prophets. The conflict between Shias and Sunnis among Muslims, Protestants and Catholics among Christians and Mahayana and Hinayana among Buddhists can be cited as examples. This type of original divisions later proliferated into various forms.

Religious sectarian conflicts were often related to territorial imperative. The conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland can be cited as an example.

According to an account in a book, Northern Ireland: A Time of Choice by Richard Rose (1976) between 1969-75, the number of fatalities relative to the population in he area was twice the losses absorbed by the US forces in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The relationship between religious fundamentalism and territorial imperative can be cited as a contemporary case of the approach of the Jews regarding Jerusalem and Israel.

Middle East countries represent a strange combination of ancient forms of religious fundamentalism, feudal monarchy and modern capitalism. Saudi Arabia can be cited as an example. It is the only country in the world today named after a family dynasty.

All members of the family get plenty of money and facilities derived from profits from oil sources operated by US operated technology and business organisations. The country ,also, operates influence through control of two holy Muslim places, Mecca and Medina. Ayatolla Khomeini of Iran once condemned Saudi Arabia’s princes as heretic since monarchy is not approved in Islamic scriptures. I am presenting these illustrations to show the complexity of religion in terms of the gap between its spiritual principles and actual practice related to political, economic and social factors.

The difference between the legendary, ritualistic and philosophical aspects of Hindu religion is an important aspect which cannot be ignored.

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are legendary aspects of Hindu religion, temple visits and pujas of different gods and goddesses in different parts of the country are ritualistic aspects. The Vedas and the Upanishads can be cited as philosophical aspects of Hinduism.

In the words of Swami Vivekananda: “In Vedanta the chief advantage is that it was not the work of one single man; therefore, naturally unlike Buddhism, or Christianity or Mohammedanism, the prophet or teacher did not entirely swallow up or overshadow the principles. The principles live, and the prophets, as it were, form a secondary group, unknown to Vedanta.”

Since the Vedas and the Upanishads are in Sanskrit language one can question whether an ordinary Hindu who is clamouring on the issue of Lord Ram has the capacity to study Hindu scriptures.

While some mythological aspects of Hindu religion can be critically evaluated seen historically as the Archaeological Survey of India did on the issue of Lord Ram, one can sometimes look at the philosophical aspects of some statements expressed in Hindu mythological accounts.

In this context, let me present an interesting case. Robert Oppenheimer was a famous American physicist who engineered the first atom bomb test on 16 July, 1945. As he observed the experimental explosion of an atomic bomb, a passage from the Bhagavad Gita flashed in his mind:

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the Mighty One.

Sri Krishna uttered this phrase.

This report appeared in the classic account of the first atomic bomb test in a book entitled, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns by Robert Jungk (1960) Oppenheimer, a great scholar is reported to have studied Bhagavad Gita in its original version

Another illustration of dramatic philosophical statements coexisting with the mythological accounts of the Mahabharata is presented: “Studying all the Vedas or bathing in the holy waters is not worth, O best of kings, even a sixteenth part of the merit of speaking the truth... This vast universe is the holy temple of God, a pure heart is the sacred place of pilgrimage and truth eternal is the immortal scripture... Do not deprive others of anything, do not wound others’ feelings. Always think of God.” Dr S Radhakrishan quoted this in his book, Religion and Society (1947).

One can cite these as dramatic illustrations of converting some episodes from mythology into philosophy in Hindu tradition.

(The author, onetime Calcutta journalist, is Professor Emeritus, Sociology, California State University, Sacramento)