Me and my self; A Spiritual Journey

Dr.Satyabrata Rout (India)

Chapter-5

Continued from chapter-4

…………………..Post lunch session was devoted to theories and discussions. I opened the session with the basic understanding of Indian culture, religion and its geographical conditions. I started my discourse with the invasion of Aryans to this land and called it‘The Aryavarta’ (land of Aryas) and how the native pre vedic culture of the land was mixed with the new civilization and gave birth to a religion named as “Sanatana Dharma” (it was recognized as Hindu Dharma in the later stage). In my conversation I told them that,

“India which we know is the native lands of the Hindus, not in the sense of religion but in the sense of geographical structures. The people who were living on the eastern side of the mountain range of Hindu-Kush were called themselves the Hindus.It became their mother land. The social and cultural life of those people gave birth to two unique civilizations much before the Greek or Mesopotamia; The Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa civilization which were flourished more than 15,000 years ago. These ancient people believed on 5 elements of nature (Earth, air, fire, water and ether) and started praying and invoking these elements. That becomes the foundation of Hindu religion. Rituals and festivals were performed to establish a harmonious balance between the earthly and the spiritual life. Sanskrit became the language of culture among the people of this region. Vedas were written in Sanskrit language. It became the first inscription of the Hindu literature. It decided the Dharma of the people and the deeds to achieve that dharma. Slowly with the advent of time myths and stories were added into the life style and became popular among the society. It gave rise to a strong tradition which is popularly known as “Vachana Parampara” (narrative tradition). By this time two famous mythological books became popular in the Indian society; “The Ramayana” and “The Mahabharata”. Ramayana was written on the back drop of Indian social systems. It must be written during the time when the cultural crossing of Aryans with the native Dravidians was happened. There was a clear indication of the co-existence of Aryans and Dravidians in Ramayana as well as in the Mahabharata. The monkeys and other animals like bear and Eagles were the mythical representations of the native Indians who were living in the forests or caves near by the seas. Even some of these characters were dwelling in the islands inside the Indian Ocean like Bali and Java. Bali, the monkey king was also a character in Ramayana. These monkeys and bears including the mighty Hanumana, Angada, Bali, Sugriva and Jambavana helped Rama, the great Aryan king of Ayodhya to fight with Ravana, the king of Lanka (Sri Lanka) to rescue Queen Sita the wife of Rama who has been kidnapped by Ravana from the Jungle of Panchabati. The presence of Dravidians and their co-operation with the Aryans can be trashed in the Mahabharata Also. By the time of Mahabharata the social system of Hindu religion was already set up. The cast system which is the back bone of Hindu religion divided the society in to four distinct segments; Brahmana, Kshtriya, Vishya and Sudra. In the beginning the cast system was not a hierarchy but a duty to maintain the social order. This became the tradition of Indian life and the tradition is continuing till today that the son of a Brahmin will be a Brahmin and the son of a Sudra will be a Sudra and their professions and duties towards the society was prescribed clearly in Vedas. That is the reason a Hindu religion can’t be adopted rather it is a gift by birth.

The Ramayana and Mahabharata became the life line of Indian society. These two epics of India which is full of with stories, events and characters, told us how to lead an ideal life and practice morality in order to get liberation from this earthly world. They depict us how truth and honesty triumphs over injustice and dishonesty. The stories from these two great epics were narrated by the Brahmins who worked as mediators between the microcosm and the microcosm. They are allowed to speak, read and write in pure Sanskrit where as others are debarred from learning and spoke in different languages other than Sanskrit. There are evidences in the Mahabharata where a Sudra (Ekalavya) wants to learn archery from Guru Dronacharya (a Brahmin teacher who taught the knowledge of war to the Pandavas and the Kauravas) who rejected him to be his student because of his cast and punished him so that he can never pick up a bow and arrow in his life time. As the story goes; Ekalavya didn’t leave the idea of learning from him and started listen to the teacher from a distance and practice archery in the jungle in front of an idol of Drona whom he had made out of clay. He became a master of archery in the due course of time. When Drona came to know about his fame, he wanted to take a test from Ekalavya so as to prove his knowledge and proficiency. Ekalavya became succeeded in the test and win. Drone asked him for his teacher. In answer Ekalavya said, “My Guru is standing in front of me from whom I have learnt archery”. Then he narrated his story of learning. Drona got furious by listening to this and asked for Dakshina (a price one has to pay to the teacher for the knowledge) i.e. the thumb of the right hand. The thumb was to be offered to the Guru as a price of his learning. Ekalavya cut his right thumb and offered to his guru whom he adores to. In this way he is debarred from knowledge forever. These kind of stories with full of morality and education were being narrated, sung and performed in the form of parables to maintain the order of the social system. Thousands of years of practicing the story narration gave birth to a presentational form “Vachana” or narrative oral tradition.

Indian myths and stories never indicate to a particular person, situation, character or subject. It never talks of history rather speak in symbols and metaphors. That is the reason Indian culture is based on philosophy rather than facts. The tradition of narrating the stories continued from generation to generation orally. Many new stories and events were added in to the main text. That is why many versions of these epics are available in India and are practiced till today in different forms and languages.

India had a tread relationship with many nearby countries viz. Ceylon, Bali, Indonesia, Malaysia, Java, Borneo, Maldives and to the far west countries of Rome and Greece. The culture also made its journey along with these traders and people. Some of the Indians also started leaving in those countries and made them their home. But they couldn’t forget their own culture. Perhaps that may be the reason why the performances of Indian myths are very much popular in those islands. The Ramaleela of Bali and Java is world famous. We have also borrowed many things from west. Like the use of curtains (yavanika) in theatre is a western practice. The Europeans taught us how to use the curtains during the changing of scenes in theatre. We leant scene paintings from the Italian painters and from the Bibiana family.

With the passing of time the Brahmins became very powerful because they had knowledge and wealth. Sanskrit being the official language was practiced by them only. Rest of the society became a kind of slaves in the hands of the Brahmins. They only discharged their duties and serve the Brahmins. The social system which was set by the elders was got misbalanced. People found fault in the infrastructure of the social system. The major fault was lying in the casticism at the same time they also found that the cast system in the Vedic Hindu philosophy is its back bone upon which the whole religion stands. If it would be changed the total religion would be destroyed. To protest against the social system some other sects were launched. Some reformations were made and new religions were established. Like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism etc. These religions became more popular among the oppressed and many numbers of Hindus joined in these sects. Out of all these religions Buddhism became more popular as it was easy to practice. The Sanskrit language was re modified in to Prakrita and Pali which were the mixture of Sanskrit and the other local dialects. Buddhism discarded the age old cast system of Hinduism. An equal social order was established. New testaments were written based on Vedas and other religious inscriptions. Buddhism didn’t rejected Hinduism completely, adapted many age old practices of the Hindus like prayers and offerings. Like Hinduism Buddhism also believed in the 5 elements of nature and preyed those elements to keep balance between nature and life. Buddhism taught us to give respect to self and to others. It helped culture and education to grow rapidly. So during its practice in India many numbers of stupas, viharas and monasteries were formed. Universities were formed to impart education and became the centre of knowledge. Out of many numbers of universities two became very famous, the Nalanda and the Taxila university. Scholars from all over the world were attracted towards these centers and joined. Scholars like Huensung and Fi-han from China became the students and learnt Buddhism and also Sanskrit language as well. Alexander, Salukis and the great philosopher Aristotle from west also attracted by the culture and education of India and came here. In this way a strong cultural bonding between the west and the east was established. Our literatures were translated in to other foreign languages and culture was adapted in other countries. But unfortunately many of our old and ancient inscriptions and literatures were stolen and taken away by these foreigners and invaders.

The progress of the religion, education and culture of India couldn’t be digested by the Brahmins. They started revolt against the Buddhism. They killed many Buddhists and burnt away their monasteries. Out of fear for life the Buddhists either left the countries and took shelter in other nearby countries or kept hide themselves in the mountains near Himalayas. Some of the Buddhist scholars even crossed the Himalayan range and ran away to far-east countries and took shelter there. It happened to be a blessing in disguise. Indian culture, tradition and religion became popular in those countries with the help of these Buddhists who took shelter in different eastern Asian countries. People from the other parts of the world understood the philosophy and meaning of Buddhism and adapted it as their prime religion. In this way Indian religion was spread in other countries. Japan, China, Korea, Sri lanka and Tibet were among the major countries where Buddhism got nourished and flourished. With the extension of the religion, Indian culture, art, literature and education became popular and were adapted by the people of those faraway lands. In this way India became the torch bearer of knowledge and Buddha is regarded as the Light of Asia”.

After completing my talk I look at my students. A line of satisfaction was there in their faces. They were exposing slowly and gradually to a new culture and tradition. They were trying to relate the culture of Occident with Orient. They were trying to find a linking thread between these two civilizations; India and America. Quite for some time there were pin drop silences in the Malokha. Then Sol a student got up .He wanted to say something to me. He was trying to draw a link between the Maya civilization and Indian philosophy. I told him to speak about Maya as I have very little knowledge about that civilization. He revealed me a very interesting link between Maya and Indian civilization. Thousands of years before a civilization was developed in Mexico in Central America, this is known as Maya civilization. The people of Maya also believed in the elements of nature and pray those elements for their well beings. He narrated me some sentences in Latin and translated it into English which means;

“Earth my body, Water my blood, Wind my breath and fire my spirit.”

I got astonished by listening to the verse. I couldn’t imagine that two different civilizations with pole apart can think in the similar way? It was something very new for me. I told him, “Yes it seems to be very similar as if both the civilizations have some spiritual connection. In India also we strongly believe and practice in the same way. We believe the human body consists of with the 5 elements. It is constructed by borrowing these elements from the nature. It remained as an obligation on us in our life time. So after the death we offer the dead body to the fire as a matter of pay back. The body goes back to the fire, the smoke goes to the ether where it can be converted into the clouds and mixed with water in the form of rain. Air goes to the air and dust goes back to the earth. In that way we complete our life cycle in this earthly world without debiting anything.

Then somebody asked me to know more about a Hindu’s way of living according to Vedas. I answered him;

“The life of a man according to Veda is divided into four major segments; the Valya-Shrama (Childhood), the Gurukulashrama (phases of education), Grahyasthashrama (Family life) and the Vanaprasthashrama (Old age). Every stage of life has its Karma or duty to discharge. The period of childhood which continued up to 7-10 years are meant to learn the discipline and tradition from the family and friends. This period of time works as the foundation for the whole life. Then the boy has to be sent to a Guru and stay there for a certain period of time up to his young age to take education and learn about life. The house of the Guru was an Ashrama where disciples from all social status and walks of life (except Sudras) were used to come and stay. This is the best part a student learnt to stay in groups, to study together and to share the life with others. This is the time when a student learns to strip out his human ego. The students had to work in the fields, grow crops and he had to look after the cattle and other animals of the ashrama and he has to obey the order of the Guru and Guru Patni (Wife of the teacher). After the completion of education, with the permission of the Guru, the student comes back home and started his family life. In this phase of time he has to discharge the duties towards society, towards parents, to wife and children to the gods and to himself. The discipline which he has learnt throughout his career is now applied in to practice. This becomes the most important part of his life which may continue for a longer period.

The last phase of life is called Vana prastha or renunciation. At the old age the man has to reject and donate everything he has collected and gathered during the whole life time which includes wealth, family and knowledge and left for the jungle to die alone or can stay alone in a designated place waiting for the death.

After his death as I told his last rites were performed by his community which completes his life cycle on this earth and the soul, which was liberated from the body, starts its journey in search of a new one. Again it will take birth and die during the course of time. The process of birth and death continues until the soul gets salvation and merge with the Supreme which is called Nirvana in Sanskrit language. Indians believe in rebirth and re incarnation. Those who take birth in the earthly world will die and again will take a birth to fulfill his karma until the purpose of the life will be served. Once the purpose of the life is achieved, the soul dissolves into the oblivion. The human life takes a circular journey always egger to meet the centre. (This circular motion of life influences our culture, art and religion. I will discuss it on the next day.)

Death in Indian religion is not treated as tragedy like the Egypt’s or Greeks. They wanted to keep the bodies for the final judgments. So they preserved it by the process of mummification. But for Indians, after the soul gets liberated, the body has of no use. So we return it back to the source out of which it was created. After the death of the person we perform his last rites and pray the supreme for a better new life for him. The last rituals continues for 10-13 days and during that period the relatives of the person wears white cloths, eat simple foods (vegetarian) to mention purity and pray to the God.

The session continued for a longer period. Many questions and inquiries were aroused to know more about Indian religion and philosophy, Indian yoga, tantra and mantra. How religion influences the tradition and culture? Etc… I kept these quarries for the next days. It was already dinner time so Cantara closed the session.

Coming back to the hotel and lying over the bed I was thinking of the last session. How much keen these students are to know about a different culture! They were taking notes and were ready to understand more and more about Indian spiritualism and philosophy. But in India we don’t care for it. We couldn’t understand the value of our culture and tradition. We got it so easily! It lost its value at our hands. Whereas here in another country, they don’t have any ethnic tradition of ancient history, spiritualism and philosophy, they are so egger to know and adopt it in to their practice! Some of my students here I found are the disciples of some Indian yogis like Yogi Satyananda or S.N Goyenka. Some of them are practicing yoga for many years like my voice of India Luisa. She has a cherished dream to go to Rishikesh to learn yoga from one Indian teacher. One student was learning Vipasana meditation. Later on I visited some Colombian families and in every house I came across with something related to India and its tradition; even a book on Indian Yoga or meditation, Spanish version of Gita and Mahabharata or even a photograph of a god or a Sadhu. Osho is so popular in this country that almost all his discourses and books have been translated into Spanish and many people have already read them. Here lies a country that is waiting eagerly to adopt and accept Indian philosophy and we the Indians have either forgotten or could not develop an understanding towards our own culture. We always looked towards West to become modern and advanced. I have never heard in India people talking about yoga, meditation and philosophy. We should really feel ashamed of it. We have no right to call ourselves Indian until and unless we know India and its age old rich tradition from the root. How unfortunate I am! Knowing my own country from the mouth of others! Sitting in the other part of the globe I am trying to understand my mother land!

The whole night I couldn’t sleep. Every moment a sense of guilt disturbs me. For the last 20 years I am giving education to my students. I am preparing a generation which will control the country politically, economically and culturally. Never ever in my life one of my students has asked me to know something more about our culture and tradition and I am sure these students don’t know the ABC of India. We are becoming materialistic day by day. We started evaluating everything in the context of money; even our own self. As it is rightly said, “The value of the country is judged through its culture”. If our future generations will not understand the value of our culture, I am sure we will lose our identity within a couple of years. The priceless property which has been handed over to us by our ancestors through traditions will be lost forever. It must be the prime matter of concern among the people of India as well as the government. We the teachers can take a step forward to retain our cultural heritage by giving moral education to our students…………….

Satyabrata Rout/Hyderabad University/ India