Arshya Gurbani, president of USC’s Hindu Student Organization, hopes one day to learn Sanskrit to better connect with her faith.
On a Wednesday night, Arshya Gurbani reaches into a white cabinet and wakes a couple Hindu gods from their slumber. She carefully lays out statues of Ganesh and Shiva on a table in preparation for aarti, a worship ritual that reminds Hindus to stay humble and give thanks for good fortune.
But Gurbani, 21, and the other members of the Hindu Student Organization at USC put their own modern spin on this ancient practice during their weekly meetings. They play the devotional song “Om Jai Jagdish Hare” on YouTube as they sing off computer printouts. And coupled with the Hindi songs are verses in Sanskrit, spelled out phonetically so anyone can follow along.
“Growing up, you don’t necessarily know what you’re saying, but you keep saying certain Sanskrit phrases anyways,” Gurbani says. “Now that I’m older, I want to know what it means, and that causes me to look at it more critically than I would have if it were in English or even in Hindi.”
Hinduism’s canon of sacred texts — such as the epic poem “Mahabharata” and, within it, the Bhagavad Gita — is written in Sanskrit, but few Hindus today can read or speak the language. Many Hindu-Americans’ religious experiences are taught orally by family members or through translations into modern Indian languages. India’s most recent census numbers reported fewer than 15,000 people identified Sanskrit as their native tongue.
But despite being the world’s oldest language, Sanskrit has survived and remained largely unchanged due to its preservation within religious and scholarly studies. And now a resurgence of interest among young Hindus is pushing this once deemed “dead language” back into the conversation of what it means to be Hindu.
Gurbani and fellow HSO member Pavitra Krishnamani grew up memorizing mantras in Sanskrit, like the Gayatri Mantra, which asks for inner power, even though they didn’t always know what they were saying.
Krishnamani, 20, and her family speak Tamil, a Dravidian language used in south India that doesn’t derive from Sanskrit. To her, Sanskrit is more than just another language of communication.
“I may not necessarily always know what the words mean, but they have a certain feel to them when I say them,” Krishnamani says. “Being able to say those chants, I wouldn’t call it a vital part of Hinduism, but it’s a vital part of my experience.”
“Those chants carry an energy with them, that people have been reciting them for millennia with the same spiritual thoughts in mind,” adds Swami Atmavidyananda, the faculty advisor to the religious group.
Many Hindus share Krishnamani’s and Atmavidyananda’s religious experience with the language, says David Buchta, who teaches Sanskrit at Brown University.
“Many people have this idea that it’s one thing to know what the teachings of the ‘Mahabharata’ itself are, but the language is another thing, that even the language of the Bhagavad Gita is somehow, just by itself, sacred,” Buchta says. “There’s this idea that just hearing the language itself has some kind of spiritual restorative power to it.”
But also underlying Sanskrit is its power to unite Hindus under one religious umbrella. Sanskrit is rarely used in everyday conversation, but it gives Hindus a sense of commonality, especially in a religion whose rituals can vary from household to household and whose language of worship changes from region to region.
India has 22 official languages recognized by the government, according to census numbers, but there are hundreds of other languages and dialects spoken throughout its population.
“In India, we have close to 300 to 400 languages, but all of them are connected to this one thing, this mother language,” says Swami Ishwarananda, who heads the Los Angeles branch of Chinmaya Mission, which boasts 300 centers worldwide.
Ishwarananda teaches Sanskrit classes at the Mission but dismisses the idea that knowing Sanskrit gives some Hindus a spiritual advantage. Instead, like learning any language, he says Sanskrit provides a lens into a cultural heritage that can lead to a stronger foundation of faith.
Gurbani, who only speaks conversational Hindi, says she doesn’t see knowing Sanskrit as a requirement to be a Hindu.
“There might be certain words that carry different meanings in different languages, but in terms of religious teachings, the concepts should be universal enough that are explicable in any language,” Gurbani says, tucking Ganesh and Shiva back into their sleeping chambers.
Still, she hopes to one day learn the language to better understand the mantras she chants.
“It’s important for us to keep Sanskrit as part of our religion,” Gurbani says. “When everyone chants together, it keeps up that tradition.”
This story is one in an occasional series of reports by students taking part in a class of the USC Annenberg Knight Program on Media and Religion, headed by Diane Winston. Thanks to a grant from the Luce Foundation, Annenberg students have covered global religion, culture and politics for the past four years. This spring, students will report and write on Southern California’s Indian community and travel to Pune and Mumbai in March, where they will cover religion, economics and politics.
Devotees fast during the day and hold vigils during the night for the auspicious event.
MANSEHRA: At the stroke of midnight on the 13th day of Phalguna, the twelfth month of the Hindu calendar, Hindus all around the world remember Lord Shiva.
The three-day festival of Shivratri or Great Night of Shiva usually falls between mid-February and early March. It is supposed to fall on a moonless night when Hindus offer a special prayer to Shiva. It is said to be the night when Shiva performed the Tandaya Nritya or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction.
In Khyber-Paktunkhwa (K-P), the Hindus gather in a small mandir, which looks much like a house built over 13 marlas, about 30 minutes away from Mansehra in Chiti Gati Gandiyan to celebrate Shivratri.
As one of the most auspicious events of the religion, devotees fast during the day and hold vigils during the night.
This year, like the last, security has been tight. Over 700 families from Punjab, K-P, Sindh, Hazara division and a few others from the United Kingdom thronged the streets of Chiti Gati Gandiyan’s Shiv temple.
On Thursday morning, the devotees performed a ritual where Shiva was bathed with milk and honey. In the evening, they carried out a mehndi and sehra bandi where young, unmarried girls prayed for wedlock and married women asked for Shiva’s blessing, children and the wellbeing of their husband and sons.
The temple reverberated with the sound of bells and shouts of “Shankerji ki jai”. Devotees walked around the lingam, a mark which represents Shiva, three or seven times and then poured water over it; some poured milk.
According to the pundit, Darshan Lal Pujari, a special pooja will be held at 11am on Friday (today) with pundits coming in from Kohat, Peshawar and other parts of the country. After the pooja, prashad will be distributed among the devotees at noon to mark the end of the festival.
While talking to The Express Tribune, Pujari said that the security arrangements were done well and the local community gave their support and made it possible to celebrate Shivratri.
The legend
According to the Puranas, an ancient Hindu text, during the Samudra Manthan or the churning of the milky ocean, a pot of poison came out of the ocean which the gods and demons were terrified to touch or drink it in fear that it might destroy the entire world. They went to Shiva for help and in order to protect the world, he drank the poison. But instead of swallowing it, he held it in his throat. This turned his throat blue and he became known as Nilkantha, or the blue-throated one. It is said that the poison was so deadly that even a drop in his stomach, which is said to represent the universe, would have annihilated the entire world.
Shivratri is a way of celebrating and thanking Shiva for protecting the world from destruction.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2014.
Yatrees enter Pakistan via Wagah border. PHOTO: SHAFIQ MALIK / EXPRESS
LAHORE:
“We have received a lot of love here,” Aruna Gupta said. Somehow, the exhaustion of having travelled by foot across the border to Pakistan from India seems lesser, as the happy pilgrim thanked the Pakistan government for giving them special care. She doesn’t feel unsafe.
A group of the 158-member Hindu yatrees (pilgrims) from different cities of India arrived here in Pakistan through Wagah border on foot. After their stay at Gurdawara Dera Sahib in Lahore, they will visit Katasraj, a complex of ancient Hindu temples situated in Katas village of Chakwal district, to perform religious rituals. At the Katasraj, the Indian yatrees will offer special pooja (prayer) on the eve of Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Lord Shiva which occurs between the 13th and 14th of the month of Phalguna or Maagh, according to the Hindu calendar in the Krishna Paksha.
This year, Maha Shivratri will be celebrated on Thursday February 27, with all temples being decorated in colourful ways. The Hindu yatrees from Lahore, Sialkot, Narowal, Rawalpindi, Rahimyar Khan and some parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh are also reaching Katasraj to celebrate the sacred occasion at this holy place of the Sanatan Dharma, considered one of the world’s oldest religions.
“In Pakistan, people do have the liberty to perform religious rituals and places of worship like churches, temples and gurdwaras are secure,” said Amarnath Randhawa, a local Hindu leader who is heading a 40 member delegation of yatrees from Lahore. Appreciating arrangements of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, he said that Hindus will pray for peace and prosperity in Pakistan after their pooja at the sacred temple complex. “Pakistan is our country and we always pray for it,” he said.
Last year, around 200 Indian yatrees celebrated the Maha Shivratri at the Katasraj which houses the Satgraha, a group of seven ancient temples, remains of a Buddhist place of meditation, a few medieval temples, havelis and some recently-constructed temples, scattered around a pond considered holy by Hindus.
On Maha Shivratri, people often fast on the night of Shivratri and sing hymns of praise in the name of Lord Shiva, said Heera Lal, a 60-year-old Hindu citizen from Lahore who is also ready to go to Katasraj.
Amarnath told The Express Tribune that Hindus offer night-long prayers on Maha Shivratri. “Very early morning, devotees flock to Shiva temples to perform the traditional Shivalinga worship and hence hope for favours from the Lord,” he said. On this eve, devotees bathe at sunrise, preferably with water from a holy water source like Gangajal or Katasjal. “This is a rite of purification, which is an important part of all Hindu festivals,” he said. Wearing clean clothing after Ashnan (the holy bath), worshippers carry pots of water to the temple to bathe the Shivalinga, he added.
R P Bhardwaj, who heads the Indian delegation, said on arrival that they had brought with them the message of peace, tolerance, coexistence and brotherhood from India. “I believe that people-to-people contact will promote peace and harmony between Pakistan and India,” he said, adding that the exchange of groups especially pilgrims, would provide a step forward in the peace process between the two neighbouring countries.
“We always want to come to Katasraj. We thank Bhagwan that we will be able to go on Shivratri,” said Manjana Sarandas, an Indian yatree. She also said that she is happy to be in Pakistan. “We always pray for peace and prosperity for people on both sides of the border,” said Santosh Kumar, another yatree. He pointed out that there would be thousands of pilgrims from India if visa restrictions are eased. “This journey will have a lasting spiritual impact on me,” he said.
Raj Kumari, a senior citizen from Lahore, told The Express Tribune that she will reach the Katasraj on Thursday along with the delegation. “This will be my fifth visit to Katasraj,” she said.
The Indian yatrees will return to their homeland through the Wagah border on March 3 after their seven-day stay in Pakistan.
The heritage of one country use to be fascinating to other countries and people living there. Those heritages also have endless significance. Therefore, the heritages of different countries having historical, mythological, natural, cultural and archaeological significance are enlisted in the World Heritage List. UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) has been working for the preservation, conservation and development of different heritages of Nepal. Ten heritages of Nepal with such significance have been enlisted in the World Heritage List. Among them, 8 are of cultural importance and 2 are of natural importance.
The Heritages of Nepal enlisted in the World Heritage List:
Hanumandhoka Durbar Square
Bhaktapur Durbar Square
Patan Durbar Square (Lalitpur Durbar)
Soyambhunath
Bouddhanath
Pashupatinath
Changunarayan
Lumbini
Natural Heritages:
Sagarmatha National Park Chitwan National Park
Chitwan national park
UNESCO had enlisted Kathmandu Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Soyambhunath Stupa Area, Bouddhanath Stupa area, Pashupatinath Temple area, Chagunarayan Temple area and
Sagarmatha National Park in World Heritage List in 1979 AD. After that, in 1984 UNESCO also added Chitwan National Park in World Heritage List.
Other 15 heritages of Nepal which had fulfilled the parameters are still not enlisted in the World Heritage List due to the disinterestedness and weakness of the government. Among the other 15 heritages of Nepal, 7 heritages including Panauti Bazar of Kavrepalanchowk district, Tilaurakot (Kapilvastu), Muktinath of Mustang district, Caves of Lomanthang area of Muktinath, Gorkha Palace, Ramgram of Nawalparasi district, Khokana (unique settlement and the area where mustard oil is produced traditionally) of Lalitpur district had already fulfilled parameters in 1996 AD to be enlisted in the World Heritage List. Similarly, Bajrayogini of Sankhu, the city of Kirtipur (model of Medieval city), Ruru area (Hrishikesh Temple) of Palpa district, the Seven-storied Palace of Nuwakot, Ramjanaki Temple (Naulakha Temple) of Janakpur, Tansen area of Palpa district, Sinja valley of Jumla and the Dewals (temples) of Bhurti in Dailekh district are 8 other heritages which have accomplished the criteria to be enlisted in the World Heritage List in 2008 AD.
The criteria to be enlisted in World Heritage:
All the historical, religious, natural, cultural and archaeological heritages located in different countries are not enlisted in World Heritage List. To get enlisted in that list, the heritages should have special significance and characteristics. UNESCO has determined some requirements for any heritage to be enlisted in World Heritage List which is as follows:
• Should be a magnificent example of the creativity of man.
• Should be expressing development or technology of architecture, art remained in the form of memento, town planning, imagination or creation, demonstrating internal change of human values for a long period or located within a cultural area.
• The site should be having greatest model of the building or having combination of architecture or technology or showing an important situation of human history.
• Should be at least an incredible thing or a proof of incredible cultural tradition or having an existing or extinct civilization.
The heritages of Nepal:
Nepal is a rich country in physical or abstract cultural heritages. Here lie examples of genuine art and architecture like temples, stupas, bihars, palaces, buildings in countless number in the form of physical heritages from ancient times. The abstract cultural heritages like genuine verbal traditions and expressions of language and literature, acting, festivals, celebrations, the knowledge and occupations related to nature and universe, traditional artistry are present adequately among different castes, ethnicities, communities from Himalayas to Terai. These cultural heritages are the unique identity and valuable properties of the Nepalese people. The different cultural heritages that are before us today are important in national and international level. Our culture and identity will remain lively if, those heritages are identified, protected and conserved properly.
Importance of Cultural Heritages:
Cultural heritages are the heritages that give the identity to the country in the external world. Those heritages glorify the country. Therefore, cultural heritages are energy of society and country. The countries rich in cultural heritages, though not rich economically gets renowned all over the world.
The importance of cultural heritages can be briefly enlisted as follows:
• Cultural heritages are the valuable, property of the country.
• Cultural heritages combine the identity of individuals, society and castes and ethnic groups and make their unity livingly.
• Cultural heritages immortalize the history and good works of the ancestors.
• Cultural heritages teach to establish mutual understanding and tolerance in the society.
• Since culture is related with nature, cultural heritages also have important role in the conservation of environment.
• Cultural heritages provide basis for obtaining ancient and historical information.
• Cultural heritages glorify the country and identifies in international world.
• Cultural heritages encourages in the development of skill, art and education.
• Cultural heritages help to increase the sources of income.
• Cultural heritages play a vital role to attract tourists and bring them in the country.
• Cultural heritages keep the history of society and country livingly.
A brief introduction to the natural and cultural heritages of Nepal enlisted in the World Heritage List:
Hanumandhoka Durbar Square: This palace located in Kathmandu was named as the Hanumandhoka Palace since King Pratap Malla established idol of Hanuman there. Different master piece of sculpture and architecture can be seen in this area. Including the palace there are idols of Hanuman, Kaalbhairav, Swetbhairav, magnificent idol of Kaliyadaman, Narsingha, Budanilkantha etc. are also located in this area. The ancient cultural heritages like Basantapur Palace, Taleju Mandir, Museum, Kumari Ghar, Kasthamandap, Thulo Ghanta (big bell) and Nagara are also located in this area.
Patan Durbar Square: Patan Durbar Square, existing as the palace area of Malla kings is located in Lalitpur district. Krishna temple, Bhimsen temple, Bishwanath temple, Jagatnarayan temple, statue of Yognarendra Malla, Mahabouddha Chaitya, temple of Kumveshwar Mahadev, temple of Rato Macchindranath etc. are located in this area. In addition, the ancient stone taps and ancient idols of Umamaheshewor, Lord Vishnu, Ghantakarna etc. around the stone taps are among the rarest and beautiful idols of Nepal.
Bhaktapur Durbar Square: Bhaktapur Durbar Square existing as the palace area of Malla kings is located in Bhaktapur district. The heritages like Nyatpole Mandir, 55-windowed Palace, the statue of Bhupatindra Malla, National Museum of Art, Museum of Metal Art, Museum of Wood Art, Swarnadwar (golden gate), Pujari Math etc. are located in this heritage site. The idols of Hanuman, Ganesh, Durga etc. located in this area are the fine examples of sculpture art of Malla Period.
Boudhhanath Mahachaltya (Stupa): Bouddhanath Mahachaitya, a holy pilgrimage of Buddhists is situated in Kathmandu district. This stupa was believed to be built in the 5th century. There are other more than 45 Buddhist bihars in this area.
Soyambhunath Stupa: Soyambhunath Stupa, the holy pilgrimage of Buddhists is located in Kathmandu district. Recently, the biggest idol of Lord Buddha has been established in the area of this stupa. There are many other temples, Stupas and idols around the main stupa of Soyambhunath. For, temples of Hindu gods and goddess like Sarawaswati (Manjushree) and Haarati within the area of Soyambhunath Stup, it makes this area as a magnificent example of religious tolerance. The one idol established here is worshipped by Buddhists as Manjushree or the goddess of knowledge and as Saraswati or the goddess of knowledge by Hindus, which makes a rare coincidence.
Pashupatinath Area: Within this area, regarded as a holy pilgrimage of Hindus, the temple of Pashupatinath, Deupatan, Jayabageshowri, Gaurighat, Kutumbahal, Gaushala, Pingalasthan and the areas around Slesmantak forest are included. This area consists of about 492 temples, sattal, Stupas, temples built in different styles and about 1000 Shivalingas. Different archaeological evidences of Lichhavi period including the famous inscription of King Jayadev Second have been found here whereas a number of temples, inscriptions and idols belonging to Malla period are found scattered in this area.
Changunarayan Temple: Changunarayan temple, situated in Bhaktapur district was built in Malla Period. However, the inscription belonging to Lichhavi Period found there proves the existence of this temple from Lichhavi period. For, structure of the temple could not stand for thousand years this temple seem to be standing in today’s state due to the maintenance and reconstruction made in certain intervals. The stone inscriptions inscribed in the 5th century and brilliant examples of stone, wood and metal craft can be found in around this temple built in Pagoda style in the 5th century. Numerous idols including the idols of Garud, Bishwarup and Garudnarayan etc. regarded as brilliant piece in the perspective of sculpture art can also be found here. Therefore, Changunarayan temple area is also known as an open museum.
Sagarmatha National Park: Many beautiful lakes and mountains including the highest peak Mt. Everest and other mountains like Lotse, Choyu, Nuptse, Pumori, Amadablam etc. are located in this National Park spreading over the total area of 1148 sq.km. Different plants like Rhododendron, Pines, Bhojpatra etc. and different animals like snow leopard, danphe, munal, musk deer, bear, mongoose etc. are found in this National Park. It has been believed that there is also the existence of snowman Yeti in this national Park.
Lumbini: Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, is a holy pilgrimage for the Buddhists of the whole world. The Ashok Stambha established by Emperor Ashoka in 245 BC can be seen here. Since the implementation of the master plan formulated by Lumbini Development Committee formed in 1990 AD involving 13 countries including Nepal, different stupas and bihars have been established here. Till now, the countries like China, Myanmar, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, India, France, Thailand, Germany etc. have already built Buddhist bihars in Lumbini.
Chitwan National Park: Chitwan National Park covers an area of 932 sq.kms and is famous as habitat of one of the rare species of the world one-horned rhino. Chitwan National Park has been recognized as a famous tourist spot and the animals like elephants, crocodiles, tiger, salak, hornbill, peacock etc. are found there.
Sanatana Hindu Sangha of California is bringing the timeless and rich tradition of Kumbh Mela to the West.
The Maha Kumbh Mela, traditionally celebrated in India, is the world’s oldest and largest gathering of human beings on planet earth. A pilgrimage and a festival, millions of people from all over the world, representing every tradition of Hinduism, come together every three years on this monumental and majestic occasion, promoting brotherliness, joy, faith, peace and prosperity.
In the Maha Kumbh Mela celebrations in India, multitude of Enlightened Beings, carrying positive energy come together in large numbers in a grand procession to take a Snaan (holy dip) at the holy rivers, for the purpose of showering collective positive energy to the whole planet. Deities energized by Enlightened Beings are also brought to the Snaan to energize the river, and the water becomes amruta (nectar).
On February 22, the Sanatana Hindu Sangha will bring the experience, the splendor, the celebration and the tradition of Kumbh Mela to the Excelsior grounds at the city of Norwalk, California.
During this event, the most colorful happening will be the grand procession of Hindu temples and organizations. At the end of the procession, the Ganga Snaan will be performed – the deities from various temples will be immersed in a pool sanctified with water from the sacred river Ganga. The teerta (holy water) is the essence of Kumbh Mela. Devotees receive the teerta to absorb the positive energy.
The highlight of the event will be the the Kumbh Mela message delivered by Mahamandaleshwar (spiritual head) and Swamis of various Hindu traditions. This will be followed by a spectacle of lights, the Ganga Arati (an offering of lit lamps) to Ganga water. The celebration will conclude with devotional music in the form of Bhajans (devotional songs). In keeping with the timeless tradition of Kumbh Mela, free Prasad (energized food) will be offered.
I am a product of two republics: born in India, raised in America, I typically celebrate my American national identity through holidays such as the Fourth of July because I am a naturalized US citizen. So I didn’t think to get involved when a celebration of India’s Republic Day here in Michigan included Miss America – even though I share her cultural and linguistic identity as a Telugu-speaking Indian-American. But I wondered what my friends of Indian origin do, and did a quick survey. About a third of them do nothing, a third of them do something through their religious organization, and another third participate or attend an event like the one with Nina Davuluri, sponsored by the Michigan chapter of the India League of America – a multi-ethnic, multi-religious group. Indian immigrants bring to America the diversity of their home country – something which is reflected in the American experience as well.
Being American often means a hyphenated identity – Italian-, Irish-, Indian-American, etc. Although one doesn’t say Christian American, I have been involved with organizations over the years that put a religious adjective alongside the national identifier: American Jewish Committee, Islamic Society of North America, Hindu American Foundation. I have mostly rejected the term “Indian” in favor of “Hindu” – India brings a mixed bag of memories, and it is easier to be an American Hindu without the baggage of India in the interfaith circles that I move in.
India is the land of my ancestors, where I was born, where I have spent about a quarter of my life, where I laid the foundation for my career in the automotive industry with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, where I learned the practical aspects of being Hindu among other Hindus in the land of its origins, amidst a sea of other religions, languages and ethnicities. But India is also the land which I left to discover who I am and where I fit in the world, where I go through so many challenges going back as a visitor. It is also the nation I relinquished when I took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America. My critical eye finds many things Indian inadequate: proper political governance that one would expect of a secular democracy, an abiding respect for the inherent pluralism of Hinduism that has enabled India to serve as both a cradle and a haven for other religions.
India can be synonymous with Hindu, an association I have not always been comfortable with – after all, as an American, I believe in the separation of church and state. I find it strange that so many Indian organizations celebrate Diwali, Holi and other Hindu holy days. On the other hand, I have found that Indians and Indian-Americans alike can be averse to self-identifying as Hindu. And if “Hindu” is not a good word, Hindutva (meaning Hindu-ness) is given even worse connotations. Other traditions that have been birthed in India do what they can to distinguish their religion as distinct from Hinduism – refuting the roots of dharma that we share. The Muslims that Mahatma Gandhi wanted us to find brotherhood with, flock to their Abrahamic siblings, restricting interfaith dialogue to those of the Book, ignoring those of us who have other books or none at all. The shared culture and subcontinent are lost in the politics of a divide exemplified by the rival nations of India and Pakistan. And if that were not enough, groups like the Indian American Muslim Council, organize events around India’s Republic Day without a Hindu representative, while taking an anti-Hindu, anti-India stance in the public square.
But a few friends – proud Hindus of Indian origin – celebrate India’s Republic Day as part of their religious heritage. It is one such friend’s comments during my quick survey that reminded me this: India made my parents who they are, and my parents taught me what it is to be Hindu. India and Hinduism are so intertwined that I must reconsider the importance of celebrating India and in identifying as an Indian-American. Neither India nor Hinduism were terms in common parlance when our scriptures and rich spiritual heritage first started. Sanatana Dharma – Eternal Truth and the Hindu’s name for Hinduism– is rooted in the Vedas of what is now India (and parts of modern day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan). It has taught me to be inclusive, just, compassionate, not just for India, but for all of creation. I should be a more inclusive Hindu and be proud to also identify as an Indian-American!
The parikrama is an ancient ritual of reverence for Hindus and Buddhists. Circling the sacred — stupa or temple, or a sacrificial fire, tulsi plant or peepal tree — is a form of meditation in motion. A parikrama can also be a pilgrimage, an arduous quest where bodily privations prepare the mind for spiritual enlightenment, the circuit now describing an entire town — as prescribed for Benaras, or a mountain, Kailash, or a river, Narmada.
The notion of a parikrama as a small journey that may encompass larger truths lies at the heart of Hartosh Singh Bal’s book Waters Close Over Us. Bal travels along the Narmada, tracing the river’s sacred geography through history, reflecting on the streams of thought that have grown along its banks. His musings dwell on Advaita philosophy (Sankara’s legendary debate with the Mimamsa school is believed to have taken place at Mahishmati in the Narmada valley 1200 years ago), 19th century Quaker missionary debates in Hoshangabad, as well as contemporary controversies over large dams and development. Bal is as much a time traveller as a man driving along the river in a car.
The intertwined themes of renunciation and sacrifice spiral double helix-like through the book. The narrative starts on the Amarkantak plateau, the river’s source, which is dotted with ashrams of ascetics. Bal finds the sadhus disappointing: intellectual wimps compared to the Adi Sankaracharya, they are incapable of grappling with muscular metaphysical problems. Later in the book, Bal visits Swami Rajneesh’s birthplace in Gadarwara — a town midway between Jabalpur and Hoshangabad — and his tone becomes snidely disapproving. To him, Osho is a charlatan and his philosophy of detachment amid worldly pleasures debases the idea of renunciation beyond retrieve.
According to Bal, a similar slide of the sacred into sophistry can be seen in the career of the idea of sacrifice. In 1822, a British officer witnessed the death of a young man who offered himself to the god Kal Bhairava, flinging himself down from the cliffs of Mandhata Island at Omkareshwar onto the river’s rocks below, as crowds of worshippers cheered and prayed. The act is savage and splendid at the same time. The officer praised the youth whose ‘strength of faith and fortitude would have adorned the noblest cause’. From that courageous act of self-immolation, we have now descended to mass murder, as unnumbered farmers and forest-dwellers are forced into a living death by the dams on the Narmada. Their sacrifice, and the dubious gains for which it was made, roils the gentle melancholia that flows through the book into angry eddies.
Bal sojourns among Gond and Pardhan storytellers and musicians whose myths and legends recount past glories when Gond kings ruled large parts of central India in the 16th century, before losing ground to Rajput and Mughal chieftains. Today, those tales are being retold, history and language revived and Gond religion reinvented in order to regain power, not least through the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP). If this electoral initiative signifies a born-again Gond identity, it must grapple with Hindu nationalists for the souls of Sdivasis. According to the Sangh Parivar, Sdivasis are Hindus who got lost in the forest; they have organised public ceremonies of mass ‘ghar vapasi’ (homecoming) to bring them back. Gond and Hindu origin stories flirt with each other, as do their political counterparts.
The storied landscape that is the Narmada valley has caves with 9000 year-old paintings of hunting and battle and those that sheltered Buddhist monks more than 2000 years ago. Even such venerable relics are not safe from harm: the insult of casual visitors who leave graffiti and empty beer bottles behind or the cultural crime of a sadhu who says, “The painting here was spectacular. Two hundred men wielding shields and spears stood there, two armies facing each other. I had it painted over.”
Waters Close Over Us is a lament. It mourns the decline of intellectual debate and the dominance of self-righteous know-it-alls who deny tolerance and respect to those who differ from them. The damming of the Narmada and the destruction of ancient cave paintings bring the parikrama full circle: the river and the civilisation it spawned are both dying. I found this view overly bleak and numb to the sense of joy and meaningfulness that suffuses everyday life in the valley. But the arguments in Bal’s erudite, elegantly-structured book are still well worth thinking about.
Waters Close Over Us: A Journey Along the Narmada; Hartosh Singh Bal, Fourth Estate/HarperCollins India, Rs.
Rahul Gandhi’s demand and the cabinet’s decision to declare Jains a national minority is a welcome but overdue decision. It rectifies an inexplicable omission since a community based on a unique faith comprising less than 0.5 per cent of the population was nationally not recognised as a religious minority!
Apart from the general apathy of successive governments and the absence of a persistent demand by the Jain community, the main reason was the 2005 decision of the apex court in Bal Patil vs Union of India.
A strong advocate of a minority status for the community, Patil had petitioned the Supreme Court to notify Jains as a minority under the National Minorities Commission Act, 1992. The apex court, disagreeing with the petitioner’s contention, ought to have rejected the petition on the established legal principle that a direction cannot be issued to an authority to issue a notification where the statute gives a discretion in that regard.
Instead, the three-member bench did an exegesis as to how Jains were a part of Hinduism, how Jains are a reformist movement among the Hindus (like the Arya Samajis), that within the fold of Hinduism everyone is a minority and that such recognition militates against the concept of Indian secularism!
Not only was all this unnecessary, the five-page, 37-paragraph judgement also displayed a monumental lack of understanding of Indian history, philosophy and comparative religion on the part of the apex court. The government thereafter did not notify Jains on the plea that Jains, being part of Hinduism, cannot be a minority!
Astonishingly, the apex court ignored the remarkably rich Jain heritage in India for over 5,000 years. The Jain and the Vedic traditions comprise the two ancient streams of religious and philosophical thought in India, the former being the older. Jain principles are radically different from mono/polytheistic faiths; Jainism, for instance, is irreligious in its denial of the concept of creation/creator and instead follows the ‘Anadi Anantam Cho’ evolutionary concept, that is, the universe has always existed and will always continue. Nude figures, considered Rishabha, have been discovered at Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Seal motifs found there are identical to those found in the ancient Jain art at Mathura. Scholars like Radha Mookerji, Roth, Chakravarti, Ram Prasad Chanda, T.N. Ramchandran, Mahadevan, Kamta Jain, Radhakrishnan, Hiralal Jain, Zimmer, Jacobi and Vincent Smith have all established that Jainism is an ancient religion which is not a sect or sub-sect. The Shramana tradition of Jainism significantly predates the Vedic one.
Radhakrishnan noted that Rishabhdeo had been recognised even in the Bhagvada Purana and was worshipped well before the first century BC. The Yajurveda mentions the names of three Tirthankaras. The constitutional founding fathers included a Jain representative in the Constituent Assembly. The Bombay government in 1909 endorsed “the claim of the important Jain community” for reservation as a minority. In 1993, the Minorities Commission recommended that the community be declared a minority religious community. Nehru’s secretary clarified in 1950 on his behalf, “…there can be no doubt that they are a distinct religious community and the Constitution does not in any way affect this well recognised position.” This last sentence was intended to dispel the interpretation of Article 25 Expln II clubbing Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains with Hinduism. In Discovery of India, Nehru wrote that “Jainism and Buddhism were certainly not Hinduism or Vedic dharma….” Eminent writer Dr Jyoti Jain wrote that there is absolutely no evidence that “Jainism branched off from the Vedic religion…instead it may well be the oldest living religion of non-Aryan or pre-Aryan origin”. From the Encyclopaedia of Religions to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jainism is defined and treated as a separate religion. There is no dispute here.
A catena of judicial pronouncements consistently endorsed the same position. Since 1957, it is accepted that a numerical minority at the state and/or at the central level is sufficient for qualification as a minority. Ironically, Jains are already a notified minority in 12 states and while these states comprise well over 50 per cent of India’s population, Jains nationally were not a minority!
That Jains do not believe in God as a creator, that it was a distinct religion flourishing before Christianity, that it flourished long before Hinduism as an independent religion and that Jains always rejected the authority of the Vedas and cannot be called Hindus, has respectively been held by the apex court in 1954 and by different HC judgements in 1939, 1951, 1957, 1968 and 1976. Not one of these decisions or books or material is even cited in the Bal Patil case!
The valiant effort by a later, smaller two-member bench of the apex court in 2006 could do no more than distinguish Bal Patil but was unable to undo the clear error of substantive principle.
It is interesting that not all Jains share the perception of the need for minority status. Despite being India’s second smallest religion after Parsis, Jains have a literacy rate of 94 per cent (compared to the national average of 65 per cent) and a female literacy rate of over 90 per cent (as against 54 per cent nationally). The sex ratio for Jains is much better than the national average. The community has the highest per capita income, paying over 20 per cent of the income tax in the country. Many, including this author, believe that Jains should thank the government but refuse the benefits (including reservations) which may flow under the notification, though that is unlikely to happen. In the ultimate analysis, Jains’ fight for minority status should seek to protect and promote Jainism as a distinct faith and culture.
(The author is MP, Congress national spokesperson and jurist.)
