Monotheism with Polytheism

Times have changed now. The western world is well acquainted with the Indian ways. And this is only because of the open mindedness shown by people from both sides. With all these festivals going on, my clients are amused. Not irritated, amused. Our holidays are, perhaps, a concern for them. But somehow they manage not to show it up. They keep asking us the occasion, and each time we have a different answer. Holi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Dassera, Diwali and on and on. I wonder how the west interprets these festivals. There is no doubt the festive celebrations fascinate them like never before. But they are also keen on knowing the legends and mythologies behind them. They must be hearing a lot of stories (even we do), which most of the times do not seem to have a link amongst them. Now, that is obviously very confusing; for that is not how a belief is built. A friend of mine even told me once, all these stories are anything but concurrent.

 

Hinduism, according to many, comes under the category of polytheism. Hindus across the world believe in and worship Innumerable deities. In different parts of India, festivals linked to different deities are celebrated with great pomp. Most of them are also regarded as givers of some attribute – money, prosperity, success, knowledge, peace, strength, courage, art, energy – positive and negative, and even death. One of the scriptures says there are 330 million deities. It is quite understandable that each of them will carry some stories with them, no matter how ancient they are. Just imagine the number of stories floating around – massive! I think there exists no person on this planet who knows all of these tales. Obviously, these stories are bound to seem unlinked. But that is not my point. Hinduism, although being polytheism, is monotheism as well. I know that might not make sense at first. People think of Hinduism as polytheism because they do not distinguish between God and Demigod.

 

According to Vedic scriptures – ‘Demigod is the personality people worship for material or worldly possessions. God does not need any worship explicitly. It is through your karma and yoga that you pray to God. It is the soul that resides within your heart.’ And through most of the Hindu texts, one such name arises, on whose discourse the complete religion is based – Lord Krishna. He is the only Supreme Personality in Hinduism, making the faith monotheist. The rest of the deities, including the most powerful Shiva and Brahma, are Demigods. Let me make it clear that these are not my views. This is what is told in Bhagvad Gita, the very foundation of the religion. And what makes it apt (or ironical, for some!) is the fact that it is believed to be told by the Supremo Himself. According to the Gita – ‘Demigods are the representatives of God, just like there is a king and his ministers. Hence there are many Demigods but only one God. Demigods exist only in their universe. There are infinite such universes. As the Supreme Personality inhales and exhales, these universes go into Him and come out of Him.’

 

It is also mentioned – ‘when Lord Krishna lies in the Causal Ocean on his Serpent, his form is called Vishnu. His four armed form is called Narayana. He takes many such forms.’ All these excerpts refer to the fact that Hinduism puts forward the ‘theory of one God’ as well. As is the case with every faith, there are few disagreements here as well. Various sects in Hinduism differ on who is the Supreme Personality. For instance, Shaivism proposes that Lord Shiva is the only God, while the Gita states that Shiva is the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu. Whatever the case may be, every sect in Hinduism believes that there exists a unique Supreme personality of Godhead. Hinduism is, under its intricate evidences of polytheism, monotheism at its roots, identifying with the universal acceptance.

 

Eventually, Hinduism is not just a religion. It is a way of life. It is a guide to spiritual existence. It teaches to communicate with one’s inner self. There are no decrees for a person to become a Hindu. One need not follow a protocol to proclaim himself a Hindu. He can follow some other faith and be Hindu at the same time. Or he may be an atheist and even be a Hindu. That is the beauty of Hinduism. A person has the freedom to worship whatever / whomever he wants to. Also he has the freedom of not to believe at all. Perhaps that is why we have so many festivals. We know we have taken birth to celebrate life. Hinduism is all about finding the real truth; it is about accepting all the beliefs with the same compassion; it is all about uniting humanity under one haven and making it humane.                                                      

Self Assessment

“Freedom and power bring responsibility.” – Jawaharlal Nehru (15th August, 1947)

When I dive back into time, I remember those speeches made at 8 o clock in the morning, way before the usual first bell. We had to get up really early on every 15th August. We used to have this flag hoisting ceremony along with some speeches and performances. Really boring for a school boy. Not that I did not pay attention. I did listen but then I could not find the difference between them all. The history parts were interesting but then almost all of the rest seemed like a list of do’s and don’ts. As a kid, you never like to be told what you should do, especially early in the morning. Though I am ashamed to admit it, my ultimate aim was the chocolates that were distributed at the end of the ceremony. That was my compensation for getting up early. Then one year a teacher quoted this line from Nehru’s first speech as PM. And something hit my mind. I was too young to understand the entire perception but still I felt I finally knew what freedom is all about. The knowledge gradually expanded with my experience and so did my ideas. And I am still learning it.

“Land of the free” literally means freedom to do anything a person wants to. The only unspoken rule is while you are enjoying your right to be free, do not run over some one else’s. Nothing new, is it? But when we contemplate our daily life, do you think we really have that freedom? Obviously, no. And the reason is that we consider our independence as a moment, a rim between darkness and light, a hurdle which we have crossed. What that speech actually taught me is that freedom is something to be achieved everyday, every moment. 15th August does signify the day when the British left India. Countless people strived for this magical moment. Some of them even laid down their lives knowing that they would not be there to celebrate what they were fighting for. But I am sure they would not have dreamt of India as we are today. Blood was shed for freedom. After 15th August 1947, after we realized our dream of freedom, the situation is not much different. Blood was shed over the last 62 years as well. Till as late as yesterday. We are fighting to save every part of our country. Did I say ‘we’? Apologies for the gross error. Practically only a small part of ‘we’ are really doing the job. Patriotism is not in thoughts, it’s in action. You aren’t great if you think that you are a great patriot and go on littering, polluting, bribing and raping your own country. You aren’t great if you keep thinking about ideas to develop your country and do nothing. You aren’t great if you think that sustaining our independence is duty of a few.

Then some days later I got to read the entire speech somewhere. Another line goes like this “To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others.” Did you notice something here? If you did not, I will tell you. Though it carried a message of immense wisdom, the speech was made in English. English! I know patriotism is not about your language and attire. But considering the occasion and the part of our population who could not understand English, it would have been much of help had our first prime minister made the speech in Hindi. I do not know what part of our population then did not understand Hindi, but I can bet it would have been much lesser. I have reasons to believe that the message did not reach our people, and they are too obvious. The problem is we do not know what is our own, and that exactly led Nehru to make the I-Day speech in English. Even our first prime minister believed he was formed by our suppressors. I guess even then knowledge of English was symbol of your literacy. And that’s how it has been in India for all these years. Even today, more than 80% of our population does not know English. But that does not mean our literacy rate is at 20%. India has an adult literacy rate of more than 60% now. But that is not enough. The mammoth task which was ahead of us in 1947 still remains as big. There are two Indias – the developed and the developing. The developed India has forgotten that it took birth from the developing India. The developed face of India still remains a handful of people, while rest of them are just termed as the “other India.” Education is definitely the key to development. But above that, we need compassion and understanding to realize that dream of one India, where we remember our roots and keep going back to make sure we have filled all the gaps. What is ours will remain ours.

Freedom comes with responsibility. Responsibility on each one of us to keep us free. So it’s up to us how we treat this responsibility – an asset or liability. There is no shame to accept that India is not developed yet. Actually we are far from there. A country with one of the largest man power is not yet on the list of developed nations. That’s because most of the power is vented through disorganized channels. Pride does not imply winning a cricket match or waging a war on neighboring countries. It goes much deeper than that, deeper into ourselves. It lies in awakening our people to their freedom that they do not know exists. It lies in a balanced progress. Advanced nuclear power technology is of no use if it cannot deliver basic electricity to our villages. Now is a good time to examine who we are and how we got here. Let us be the sun who rises everyday with the same selfless energy to illuminate. Until every single Indian is literate, until every single Indian feels he is really proud of who he is, until every single Indian feels that he is really free, there can be no freedom.

"Freedom is the best heritage to leave behind."

But I must leave....

For one who has taken birth, death is certain and for one who has died, birth is certain.
(Bhagvad Gita, chapter 2, verse 27)

I was listening to this wonderful song by Megadeth - A tout le monde. It is about the emotions riding through the mind of a person who is about to end his life and writing his suicide note. Megadeth, as the greats they always have been, recreated the magic of taking me to the very situation. I could actually feel the goose bumps that a person in the situation would have experienced. And it made me think.

What does a person feel when he knows the next moment would be his last? Or may be his last? A person committing suicide, a convict to be executed or a soldier going for the kill. Death is the common thread between them, though they are in different domains altogether - suicide as escape, gallows as punishment and war as glory. They have to be ready to face death. Although I keep reading about suicides almost every day, I do not know what makes a person to put an end to his own life. The world around seems to be too tough for him. Or maybe he is too embarrassed to face the world, or someone, again. Generally suicide is linked to cowardice. I do not know how true that is but the urge surely has its roots in some fear. Every person has a phobia of one thing or the other. And sometimes, this fear grows to a level where it overshadows other emotions. So the person can think about nothing but the fear. We all have been through such a phase. Even at this level, our mind is sound enough to keep finding a way out. But if this fear continues to grow further, it reaches a point where the mind finds every possible solution insufficient. It kills the other emotions, most importantly, courage. And then it takes the final step. Does a person committing suicide cry? If he does, he knows the value of the life he is wasting – for him and for others. If he does not, he really hates himself. I imagine this transition would not be a pleasant one, as the person would still be confused why he is dying.

A convict could be really guilty. Or not. Or a prisoner of war. But now he has to face execution – hanging, shooting squad, crucifixion, decapitation and so on. Probably he even knows the exact day and time. At this point, I would like to mention a legendry song by Iron Maiden which depicts the same situation (for those who have heard this song, they will know exactly what I am talking about) – Hallowed be thy name. ‘The sands of time for me are running low’. All he can do is count the seconds backwards. Wait for the moment. For him, death is like a truck speeding towards him and he is unable to move. He would be praying for this nightmare to end. He might be afraid, or have prepared himself long time back. He might even be proud of it. A matter of honour for him. Then the d-day comes. Last sunrise. Last look at the world. Last wish. He is treated as a dead man already, long before his execution. Last rites, funeral preparations, mourners – all in front of him. All his beliefs solidify. He either believes in after life or he doesn’t, nothing in between. There is no more confusion. Everything is crystal clear. If he believes in rebirth, he prays for a world that won’t go wrong for him a second time. Then, the signal is given.

The soldier prepares himself, emotionally. It is his job, the ‘call of duty’ as they say. For me, a soldier is the greatest human being. He has left behind everything – his home, his family, his friends and all his earthly possessions. The only thing that drives him is love. Love for his motherland. Love for his people who are very proud of what he is doing. Love for his comrades. But he does not let it ride over him. For he cannot sit and cry over the death of his comrade. That cannot be termed as apathy, but rather a suppression of emotions for a greater cause. He has a mission in hand. He knows the next bullet might have his name on it. He sees death every day. He knows death would be far from pleasant. But he carries on. Because he is there to fight, death is only a side-effect for him. But finally that moment comes when the bullet lodges in his head, he has a last look at the sky, and then closes his eyes. I wonder what thoughts must be going through his mind. Probably he’s thinking about the things he could not accomplish. Or about his family. Or about God. I would never know. But I would call that as an ideal death.

The soul is birthless, eternal, imperishable and timeless and is never terminated when the body is terminated. It is indestructible, incombustible, insoluble and unwitherable.
(Bhagvad Gita, Chapter 2, verse 20, 24)

Death is the biggest mystery the world has ever faced. Countless possibilities have been proposed since long, but they do not provide an answer. For what we know today, death is unknown. And I think it is absolutely bizarre that a person knows he is going to walk right into it. All of us know we are going to die someday. Even then, we are afraid of death. Even then, we continue to live. Natural but strange. Death is natural, but what is strange is that humans have been blessed with a mind that is capable of thinking too much about death - but it will never know what exactly death is.

Change

Where was I all these days? Well, you could say I was in the middle of everything, experiencing things. Cherishing the new found life, or so I thought. Meeting new people, developing new skills and creating new horizons. Bullshit. Frankly, I was fed up of writing and was on the verge of giving it up. But just a few days ago, a very close friend of mine (http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?origin=is&uid=226602385207927799origin=is&uid=226602385207927799 ) asked me why I wasn’t writing anymore. Well, his exact words were like this – why aren’t you updating your fucking blog, asshole. Whatever. That was the moment I realized my friends did like my blogs, and what’s more, they were missing it. Hey, that means I am not that bad a writer after all! That is why I have decided to be back in action. Whether you like it or not. So, here comes my first one after a long time.

“Change never changes; it’s constant.” - That is what I have been told by some smart people who walked earth few hundred years ago. It is true to the core. But even the definition of change changes from person to person, time to time. Now I am here working at a job that I was supposed to be qualified for. I have been here for over two years now. And now I yearn to move on. Where to? Good question. There are lots of options I can zero in on. But the bottom-line is I have to get out of here. Not that I hate this job or anything. Just that I feel my purpose here is served. Change is essential to keep myself from rusting. I have already served two big projects. Even such a change is good. Everything is new and then you sink in. And then one day, you are out! But when I look behind, I see how much I have learnt. Even if you refuse, experience will teach you something new, and it will continue to do so. And I believe that nothing learnt in this lifetime goes waste. If you have the knowledge, it will be put to use. Over the last two years, I have met many wonderful people here, made some very invaluable friends, have had great experiences. It is just that my life has to grow from here. And I want to do that before I start hating my job. I want these memories to bring a smile on my face, make me proud, always.

Some of my friends have already taken off with their opportunities. I will do it too some day. Rather than an opportunity, it would be a change for me. You would call me a day dreamer, a person who waits for an opportunity to come. I am not excusing myself, but it is not like that. I have plans with me, with a plan to implement them as well :) Yes, I am still waiting for my change, but I know exactly when it will come. While I wait, I am gathering all the experience I require. I am learning all the new stuff that will help me to face this change smoothly. This would be one of my biggest decisions – just like my first day in school or college or at this job. And even the thought of it, the change, shoots your thrill quotient up. I understand most people do not like changes. But it’s the law of nature, best example being the seasons. And we have to face it. Now, not all the changes are pleasant. But the ones that I am talking about surely are. Because I have put them in gear. Though I am not in complete control of them, I know I surely want them.

I surely have started with the small things I always wanted to do and now I have time for. To build up my hobbies, to keep me fit, to hang out at new places, etc, etc to name a few. And change does work. It surely creates that magic of keeping me in life. It does keep me cheerful. It keeps my energy levels high. It does help me to find a new person in me every day. But the best of all, it makes me accept all the changes in life with a smile.

Moral: Welcome the change. You never know what lies around the next corner.

PS: 'What plans' you may ask me? Will certainly let you know when the time comes. Too premature right now :)