Search This Blog

Tuesday 8 November 2016

On being Hindu

When India is publicized on an international platform, it is flaunted as a rich country that accepts all religions. People from diverse cultures and languages, celebrates all sorts of festivals, together. There is no doubt in the fact that India is the only country on this earth, where there are so many different languages and so many different religions living collectively.


However, I think that this quality of India has now become a burden on her. For how long can one pretend? For how long can a person suppress their hatred? It seems that these days, India only wants to breathe in one word as though it is a lifeline, “Hinduism”. From time to time, those who belong to a different religion or cast, are forced to take in that they are not Indians, and so they should always be ready to face hatred and demise.

Usually we get to see that a Lion kills other carnivorous of the jungle, because he believes them to be his competitor, although he never eats them. When given a closer look it becomes clear that the temperament of every (carnivorous) being is quite alike. Humans are the only living beings in this universe that holds analytical and logical wisdom; and this the quality that makes humans different/singular from other intelligent beings.


However, why should I talk about the universe or the world, I am more worried about the place I live in; I am concerned for myself. I am concerned for my thoughts, for my existence. I am worried about the religion and values, which I have inherited. I am worried (scared) about being a fraction of Hindu, despite the fact that I am Bhartiya. I am worried about my Christian mother. Will someone cut me in two pieces one day on the middle of the road, and would name one part Hindu and the other part Christian?


A few days ago, I got the chance to read news that said, “Nawazuddin siddiqui was stopped from playing a role in Ramlila, in his own village; because he was a Muslim who was daring to play the role of a Hindu.”


It would be wrong to think that Indians (Hindus) have started to believe these things unexpectedly. Discrimination among casts is the very foundation of India. History of India is replete with stories of racial discrimination, in which Hindus (of “Upper Cast”) were always given priority. Any other casts or religions on Indian soil were considered as aggressors and encroachers. They were never believed to be an equal of Hindus.


Karn wanted to learn archery, for which he went to Guru Dronacharya. However, Dronacharya only trained Shatriyas. He insulted Karn by calling him a “Shudra Putr” and refused to teach him, after which Karn sworn to become a greater archer than him. He then went to Dronachrya’s Guru, the Shiv bhakt Parshuram. Parshuram only taught Brahmans; and so afraid that he too would refuse to teach him, Karn lied about being a Brahman.


However, even Karn did not know the truth about himself at that point of time. When Pashuram found out that a Shudra family had raised Karn, he cursed him; a curse that ended up being the reason of Karn’s death. Dronacharya had also refused to teach Eklavya, for he was a Bheel by cast (and was a better archer than his prized student Arjun). Eklavya then became a great archer on his own, and was tricked and killed by Krishna in a war.


There is no sign of sorrow in the books of history, for the disdain these two characters (Karn and Eklavya) had to endure. What we do get to read quite often is the mention of their defiant nature, which simply was the result of the disdain they had to endure even though they were proficient.


Even today, whether the person is alive or dead, he/she is treated according to the cast and religion that they practice. However, it seems that nowadays, all the boundaries of cruelty and hatred for casts and religions have been crossed in Hindustan.

17 comments:

  1. Every religion stands in need of much reform Hinduism included. It's no use glorifying any...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right Tomichan. But before I could point out the wrongdoings of other religion, I need to point out the ones of my own religion.

      Delete
  2. Let's be spiritual and not follow a religion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are absolutely right.. but log hai ki maante nahi.

      Delete
  3. Karma oriented religion was prevalent in Ram Rajya and Mahabharata changed it all, the rest is ugly history :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't believe that Ram Rajya was any better than Mahabharata or any other era (including today's time). Ram sent away to Sits to prove his own worth to a laundry man. He later accepted his twin sons, who too accepted him despite the way he had treated their mother. And Sita buried herself in the ground in front of them all. No matter which era we take, the stories might be different from each other but the lessons are always the same.

      Delete
  4. You said it....For how long can one pretend.....

    ReplyDelete
  5. मनिषा जी, एकलव्य एवं कर्ण के साथ जो ज्यादती हुई वो आज भी मन को दुखाती है। गुरू द्रोनाचर्य एवं परशुराम जैसे महान व्यक्तियों से ऐसे कूकृत्य...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. यही मुश्किल है कि सब जानते है कि द्रोणाचार्य और परशुराम ने यह कुकृत्य किया था फिर भी हम उन्हें महान कहते है ।

      Delete
  6. One has to differentiate between philosophy of Hinduism and societal Hinduism. In philosophy it is said at the level of soul everyone has equal right. It does not matter if one is a brahmin or a shudra. At the society, people create their social rules. Not necessarily in line with the philosophy but as per their convenience and interest. You quote Karna from Mahabharata. Yes Karna was discrimianted so was Eklavya. But in that society, Drona was earning his living by imparting lessons in martial art to princes. Drona acted on his interest. Was Drona perfect? Mahabharata never claimed so. In Mahabharata we hear Drona was a great teacher. Was he a perfect human being? Probably not. Neither is Mahabharata a narration of perfect people. It is a story where all kind of people were there, some good some bad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What I wanted to tell was what we have learned from our history. Nothing. We are repeating the same mistakes and are calling it religion/ parampara/sanskar.

      Delete
    2. Hinduism is not a religion. It is a philosophy of life. Everyone is open to his or her interpretation. We follow someone or something at our own risk. If we want to move away from the rest we need to be bold and standup. All great people have become great by being different not following the beaten path.

      Delete
    3. If we know what the wrong thing if, if we know that we are giving the wrong examples, then we should stop ourselves from spreading them. I'm not saying that we need to step out of our house to change the whole world. We could at least stop ourselves from passing on these wrong examples to our children and the rest of the family. When we are telling our children to become like Ram and not like Ravan; that in my opinion is one of the worst example. Because Ram had done more wrong to Sita than Ravan ever did.

      Delete