LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT. 35. INDIAN LITERATURE-PROBLEMS OF INTERPRETATION

LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT

35.  INDIAN LITERATURE- PROBLEMS OF INTERPRETATION.

India has the most ancient literature in the world. Though the tradition was mainly oral, everything was preserved in tact and transmitted at least for five thousand years in an unbroken continuous chain.Till our generation, the Veda, Upanishad ,Gita, Mahabharata , Ramayana and Bhagavatam and other Puranas have been transmitted orally. The Vedas especially have been preserved and transmitted without any textual corruption since there are strict rules in the matter.

While all the originals are in Sanskrit, many works especially the itihasas have been adapted in local languages, which contain variations. While Valmiki's Ramayana is the source, variations in local language versions and in other vernacular traditions are common. Even in Sanskrit there are other versions like Adhyatma Ramayana. 

This does not present any problems, since all the adaptations acknowledge the source, and the variations only accommodate local tastes or regional practices or special vision or genius like that of Tulsidas. In the matter of Ramayana, the case is peculiar. Valmiki treats of Rama as the best among men, but others like Kamban treat him as Avatar from the beginning! In the case of Krishna, there is no problem at all: he was treated as Avatar from the beginning! The Greeks have referred to it; our Tamil Sangam literature talks about it.

Our oral tradition helped preserve our religious literature during the Muslim invasions and the long Muslim rule! The  invading Muslim marauders could destroy thousands of temples, as they destroyed Nalanda University and killed thousands of Buddhist monks. (The great ancient library at Alexandria was destroyed in part several times, but mainly by the orders of emperor Theodosius I on the urging of Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria in 391 AD, as he considered it a Pagan relic; finally it was destroyed by the Arabs under Caliph Omar in 639 AD.) But they could not touch our religious books as these were carried in the head and transmitted by memory. The destruction of temples did not destroy our religion, as our religion is not centred on temples, however magnificent they may be! Indeed, even today we do not use any murti in any Vedic ceremony. We invoke the Deity temporarily in a pot of water or lamp or lump of turmeric or clay or even in a drawing on the floor or kusa grass; it lasts only for the duration of the ceremony and is 'released' at the end.Those who perform 'panchayatana'puja do so in purely natural substances like the root of a plant,  or stone which are not carved into images.

 The very age of our literature poses problems of interpretation. Our major problem started only with the coming of the Europeans. In the 16th and 17th centuries, they discovered new geographical areas or new routes to old areas and colonised them. Christianity , like Islam, is a religion believing in conversion, by force. Between them, they destroyed all old religions wherever they went: Muslims destroyed Zoroastrianism in Iran, they conquered Iraq , Kuwait, Turkey, Syria (Mesopotamia) and Egypt, destroying their native religions. Spaniards and Portuguese went to South America, and destroyed their religion, killing millions of native Indians. Anglo-Saxons occupied North America, and converted it into the USA after killing the natives and driving the rest into 'reservations'. Their tradition was also oral, but more archaic and so it did not survive this sustained Christian onslaught.

But India was different. It had a strong tradition of preservation and transmission. The whole Brahmin caste was meant for this! So here the British followed a clever strategy.They knew that so long as the Brahmins learned and transmitted the Veda, nothing could happen to our religion and literature. So, they interfered with our political and economic arrangements  which supported the system, making them vulnerable and economically weak. The Brahmins were not supposed to earn money by any trade or profession; their religious life was supported by societal charity and munificence of the rulers. Both these were cut off. Directly, they introduced English education and linked it with jobs. So the Brahmins who had no other means of survival took to English education and jobs. Those propagandists who criticise Brahmins for having dominated education, professions, services "for centuries" either do not know or deliberately suppress the fact that Brahmins took to jobs because they had no other go! This phenomenon is hardly 150 years old. Even in the last generation, we had families which were still following the old Vaidic way. Now, it is impossible. The arrogant Brahmins who have become wealthy in the last 50 years or so, and especially  because their son or daughter is working and earning abroad, should also realise that they were all descended from pure Vedic families and that their riches are recent. Last generation came from villages to towns and cities in search of jobs; this generation is going abroad; what will they do next- go to Moon or Mars?

Whatever it is, the British left India 65 years ago, but their educational system still continues! Brahmins are getting alienated from the sources of their traditional knowledge and literature. Traditional methods of learning have been given up. Even in the Vedapathasalas, they now read from books. Sheer hypocrisy prevails; look at the Brahmin families, which still talk of preserving Vedic dharma: how many of them send their own children to study the Veda and other traditional sources?

I have to write all this because Indian literature is primarily religious. Everything else has emanated from it.Even the Kavyas, drama etc are based on puranic or itihasic themes or other legends. This is what we see even in modern writers like Tagore. What is his Gitanjali, which got the Nobel prize, if not religious/spiritual in nature? In the Indian tradition, Vak,ie word, written or spoken, is a gift of Saraswati and the very act of reading and writing is holy or sacred enterprise! Language itself is sacred, having originated from the damaru of Lord Shiva. That is why on the day we honour Saraswati, we refrain from reading and writing! Raja Rao, one of the acclaimed modern Indian writers in English writes:

One of the disciplines that has interested me in Indian literature is its sense of sadhana (exercitia spiritualia)- a form of spiritual growth. In that sense, one is alone in the world....I enjoy the magic of the word. That magic is cultivated mainly by inner silence, one that is cultivated not by associating oneself with society , but often by being away from it. I think I try to belong to the great Indian tradition of the past when literature was considered a sadhana.

There is no village in India, however mean, that has not a rich sthala-purana, or legendary history, of its own. Some god or god-like hero has passed by the village....the Mahatma himself, on one of his many pilgrimages through the country,might have slept in this hut ,the low one, by the village gate. In this way the past mingles with the present,and the gods mingle with men to make the repertory of your grandmother always bright.

 This  shows the spirit in which a serious writer approaches literature. Now, when writing is a profession practised for earning money, and the entire publishing activity has become business, such writers may already belong to the vanished species. But those of us still devoted to good literature should ensure that at least such literature continues to be read and patronised.

Our education has an Euro-centric or now increasingly American centric orientation. In writing or evaluating or interpretation, we are simply adopting western standards. But even here we do not follow their spirit, but imitate them superficially. A century ago, they considered that Homer's epics merely contained  imaginary things. We followed suit, calling our itihasa also epics, and considering them fictitious account. But the westerner went and discovered Troy! Now, Iliad and Odyssey are not considered mere fiction. But our imitators- especially the types who call themselves progressive or secular-do not have that courage, even though the submerged Dwaraka has been discovered, even though Saraswati river has been satellite-photographed!

The Englishmen who translated or interpreted our Sanskrit literature  did so without understanding either Sanskrit or our religion fully! They could not even determine its date- so they made guesses and these are accepted by our imitators as gospel truth! Max Muller who translated the Vedas first assigned some arbitrary dates around 1500BC, but later on admitted that no power on earth can determine the date! But our imitators still harp on 1500BC! Among the English translators/commentators, Griffith alone openly admitted almost on every page, that he did not know the correct meaning, though he proceeded to make his guesses. But our imitators still hold on to such guesses and theories as truth! 

In modern times, it is only Sri Aurobindo who studied and interpreted Veda on the principle of internal consistency, and on the understanding that the Veda contains a deeper meaning of which the ritual factors are mere symbols. Yajna, horse, cow, battle- everything has a symbolic meaning which is not apparent. Rightly have our ancient Tamil poets called the Veda "marai" - ie where the meaning is hidden (from the uninitiated.)  See what happens when supreme knowledge falls into the hands of the unfit- because nuclear science is available to every one, even an extremist or Jihadi may make an atom bomb!

There is a vast body of literature on purely technical subjects- as the mere list of entries in an old library like the Saraswati Mahal at Tanjore will reveal. In ancient India, knowledge in every branch was systematised and turned into a sastra. Astronomy, astrology, medicine, mathematics, logic- the list is very long. And we have Buddhist and Jain sources. The ancient dictionary -the oldest in the world- Amarakosa was by a Jain and it is an authority on Hinduism! The philosophical debates among them are practically endless. There are systems which are atheistic.

We should also remember that all the authors were not Brahmins. Valmiki was not a Brahmin, nor was Rama about whom he sang. Visvamitra, the discoverer of Gayatri, though a Rishi was not of Brahmin origin! Vyasa was of mixed origin. Neither the Kurus, nor Krishna is a Brahmin. Of the ten Avatars, only two- Vamana and Parashurama- are Brahmins but they are not worshipped! Among the Trimurtis, Brahma is considered a Brahmin, but he is not worshipped! So, Brahmins should also realise that they are merely custodians and not originators and be able to reply to criticism.

The Christians have been propagating that Hindu scriptures contain lot of obscenities. When I was in high school, one Christian teacher (D.Timotheus- God bless his soul) used to make fun of our religion and scriptures and Puranic characters. Though we took it as a joke, it still hurt. Then there was one follower of EVR- a Tamil Pundit by name Ramachandran (who had adopted a purely Tamil name 'Ezhil nilavanaar') who likewise used to criticise Hinduism. (Years later , he became a devotee of Satya Sai Baba) When I grew up, I wanted to read the Puranas to find out what they contained.But it was not easy to get a good translation, also containing the original. I found out that the so called obscene matter was all symbolic. eg Indra being cursed  to have female genitals all over his body! Since Christians were criticising us, I wanted to study the Bible and find out what it contained. That is how I started reading it. I found that the Old Testament contained lot of plainly obscene matter. The story of man begins with Adam, the first man created by God disobeying him.It continues with the first son of Adam,Cain,killing Abel, his own brother, the second son of Adam! So the story of mankind according to Genesis begins with Adam's disobedience of God, and murder of his son! No wonder, Christians have been fighting throughout history; even the two World Wars were fought mainly by and among Christians! And their God  openly says that he is a jealous God, who will take revenge on children if parents are at fault!

Now, David was the most famous king among them.His poems -the Psalms- are part of the Scripture (73 out of 150). One day he found a beautiful woman Bathsheba bathing, desired after her fully knowing that she was married and got her pregnant. To hide it, he brought her husband from the battlefront to make him sleep with her, so that it would appear that he made her pregnant! But it didn't work, and David got him killed! He then married the woman. Such are the stories you find in the Bible! Sure, the theologians will have their theories or explanations. But then so would the others, too! Pot should not call kettle black! Such stories circulate all over the world, we do not know why they were included! 

I write this only to show that we must also read the scriptures and literature of other faiths and be prepared for intelligent and informed debates. We can silence critics only by valid arguments. In interpreting any one's scripture, we must adopt their own norms and values. But we have a right to expect the same treatment from them; where it is lacking, we must retaliate appropriately. Avoiding a debate in the name of 'secularism' or some such shibboleth is not warranted.

Today, the American and other academics are maligning Hinduism by all fancy interpretations of our religious literature. The books of a woman academic, who interprets our literature in sexual terms are even prescribed for study in American and UK universities, to which our own youngsters are going! Will our govt allow us to include David's story in a text-book we may write? Can it happen in respect of the life of Prophet Mohammad? This is where secularism stands now in our land in respect of Hindus.

Our problems  are compounded because we have lost our traditional methods of study and interpretation, while the texts themselves are preserved in tact! Sayanacharya, who commented on  the Vedas in the 14th century and who is taken as our authority himself did not know the meaning of many things and gave arbitrary, inconsistent explanations. He was followed by Max Muller, who added his own ignorance and prejudices! Formal study of Sanskrit language and literature, religious or secular, has largely disappeared from our universities (so called) and fallen into disfavour with the public. But Sanskrit is still taught and studied seriously in foreign universities! Religious studies are regularly pursued there, but we do not teach Religion as a subject in our universities! So, the danger grows that foreigners will increasingly study our literature and interpret them in their own way!

There are people among us who feel uncomfortable that our ancient literature is mainly religious or dharmic. They also associate it with Brahmins, without knowing the meaning of 'Brahmanical'. They do not know that the ancient literature of the whole world was like this. European learning and literature was dominated by Christian writing for more than a thousand years; it was displaced gradually by the rediscovery of the Greek and Roman Classics (Renaissance- 15th to 17th century) and later by the advance of science.Humanism replaced religion as the dominant theme of thought and action. This spread wherever the Europeans went colonising. Thus it came to India too. But India had been an advanced society, in science and industry too, unlike Europe! Hindus had never discouraged intellectual or philosophical speculation or argument at any time! We have never suppressed dissent or free thinking. (This is a basic feature of India. Look at our political parties- how many groups are there in each! How many times they have split! Only communists have a rigid command structure - like the Catholic Church!))Nor had they taught unscientific thoughts or opposed science in the name of religion, as Christianity did! But because we got these modern ideas from Europe, we have uncritically accepted everything. However, Europe and America still cling to their Classics, while we have neglected our own and taken to studying their ideas and imitating them in the name of modernisation.Thus for us modernisation simply means Westernisation, de-Indianisation in every possible way! Will an imitator ever command genuine respect? (See our new PM- he commands respect in the world-because he is genuine and original!)

Most Indians are not aware of these issues. Nor do our leading public figures think about them. Many of our modern Gurus have  'foreign' followers and who knows how many of them will turn against us, as many have already done? We Hindus must assert our right to interpret our literature our own way and learn to dump the old European and current American interpretations where  they belong- in the dung heap! We should not accept anything as authoritative just because it comes from the West. We should stop being academic or mental slaves.

Note:

When the Europeans came in contact with our literature, they found that it had three sources: Hindu, Buddhist and Jain. All are 'dharmic' ie based on the idea of dharma. But the Hindu literature was devoted to the discovery of Ultimate truth or Brahman. So, they called it Brahmanical ,to distinguish it from the Buddhist and Jain- it had nothing to do with Brahmins!