Professional Documents
Culture Documents
"
IKDI M
AND
SOCIAL UPLIFT
By
DEVI. '
I GH DUGGAL
CO:\I:\IITTEE
notwithstanding
his
ind ividual
enough,
however,
Dotwitb s taDdin~
'2.
3.
4.
5.
Sikh ism and to a lesser extent, Jud aism & Islam have been
enchan ted with the co ncept of abdica lh n or renunciation
of Societ y as a higher form of spiritual effort and even as
means to spiritual elevation and ultimate emancipati on.
Extreme forms of Hi ndu asceticism, Gnosticism of Eygpt
and SyrIa, Neoplaton ic traditions of the later Greeks,
asce tic examples of Christian monks and some oroers of
!vluslim mysticism a fC all inspired-albeit wit h varyi ng
deg rees of emphasis-by the same Ideal , namely, d eliberate
detachment from all munda , ~ efforts and SJ...:iJ.l association,
and obligations.
The common denomina 'or in these t radi tions is the
thought that Uthe m ateri al body is inheren tl y evil a nd
spiritual element alone is good" . The object of asce tic
exercise is, the refore, Htbe ult imate extinction c f body so
that the soul may be free" "Th is is a metaphys ical dualism
which separates sou l and body, God and the worl d,
spiri tual and material into sha rply cont ra ,ted reali ties
and life is looked at more or less as the struggle fo r
,upermacy and t!\e ulti m~te vi ctory of Sp irit b y the
extin cti on of the material and lower eIClllents."7 The degree
of t his metaphysica l d ualism vary from ' the sharp emphas is
o n the negative wo rk of destroyi ng the body so that the
so ul may be free from its desires' t o the positive emphasis
upon th e 'union of so ul wi th jod by abstracti on, Contem plation and fai th as in pie tism.'9
( P. 276-287)
Ri (schl's Geschiente des Pict ismus Vo l T. P. 60
10.
11 .
12.
13 .
14.
in early Cburch
'cleanliness
abhorence.
Lice we re called 'pearls of God' and were a mark of saintliness Saints would boast that water bad never even touched them'.' And tbe disdain with whi ch a ll worldl y act ivities we re looked d own upo n is appare nt from some of tbe
letters of G rego ry, the Great Pope of the seve nth century.
One of his letters to the bisbop of Cagliari in Sardinia Says:
,It has been t old me that on the Lord's da y, before celebrating the solemnities of mass thou wentest fo rth to pl ough
The injunctions of
pleasu res and pursuits is the supreme good. This otherworid ly or rather anti-worldly a pproach is predo minanlly
foun d in every , chool o f Indian religious th ought. Begi naing
witb Rig-Veda, it became an arti cle of faith by the time of
tho upoishdas when t he twin doctrines of karma and transmigration were first propounded . These doctrines have cast tbeir
shadows on almost all Indian religions) in some form or the
olher.
The exte nt to which the concept of ascet ism as a
menn of salvation has ruled the
according to which
sacrifice at
Prayag is of
embodying fem ale principle Yomi , and SIVA, the male principle Semen, They are lbe two polar principles revolving
around sex. According to some of thei r traditions 'union
with God can be obtained only through sex'23 an :! ' perfection
can be gained by sati sfying all onc's desires; one may eat
any kind of meal , including buman fie sh, may lie, may steal
and commit adult{"ry .'2J.
The havoc the adherents of these traditions can
wrought to any society of human beings is not difficult t o
assess. Return to the natu re call of Jean-Jecques Rousseau
is currently manifest ing ltself in wha t Arnold Toynbee
22. Arnold Toynlee: A study of history P. 161-243:
23. Kutarnava Tantra, vii i. 107.
24. Gubyasamerja Tan tta.
.is.
243~
10
Maru Solh c.
e xcess ively
fanatical.
T hey
12
13
even tbe highest virtues could not raise'. One balf of even
the higber castes were also held down by contempt and di slike, woman were considered to be unworthy of attaining
salvati on or entering heaven until they had been reborn as
men; they were considered to be sensual, aod spoilers of
man's spiritual life. Seekers of spirituality turned away
from them and wandered in forests aimlessly.
Such schism of a society alonglines of class, according to Arnold Toynbee is distinctive mark of the phases of
its break down and disintegration." And, as if to hasten
the pro: ess of disintegration, Bab~r descended on the plains'
of Punj ab and sweeping Hindus and Muslim Afghans alike
before him reached Delhi to forcibly woo the thro ne of
Hi ndustan. The wide spread misery and havoc caused by
his ho rdes silenced even the bravest but not Guru Nanak
who denounced him for his act of oppression and chided the
people for their slavish acceptance of the oppre s s ion
telling them that:
'If we live without se lf-respect,
All tbat we eat is undeserved.'
36 . DODcan Greenless: Gospel of Guru Granth P. xi l(.
14
15
16
religious hopes. 42
By the unreserved and unequi voca l condemnation of
the contemporary wayward rulers and their priestl y classes
as 'Dogs' and 'Butchers,' the Guru demolished the theory of
their so-called 'Divine right' and made tb em answe rable
to the people, tbe meanest of whom could now as pi re for
the highest of office, on the strength of his merits.
17
18
19
whose feet they seek just a little corner. 'My Sikhs desire not
heaven: said Guru Ram Dass to Tappa, 'Heaven they deem
not fit reward for their merits. Their minds are ever
absorbed in God's love. That is their heaven aDd
salvation .'
20