LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT. 51. MAN AGAINST HIMSELF

LITERATURE- LIGHT AND DELIGHT

51. MAN AGAINST HIMSELF

Thinking man has to confront two basic questions: What is his place in the Universe- the Great Scheme or Order of Things and What is his relation to others in society. The first is beyond his control, often even his comprehension. The second is his creation, and is therefore subject to his machinations and manipulation. Or so he thinks.

The first question has been engaging the attention of man everywhere since antiquity. Indeed ancient man thought of little else. Ancient literature of all people on earth bears witness to this.We may now judge whether their thinking was right or wrong, but cannot deny that they thought at all. Ironically, modern man has totally sidelined this issue. Not all the scientists who indulge in lot of blah-blah on such ideas as Big Bang, the Expanding Universe, the Vastness of Space, etc really pause to think what it means for mankind. It is like the donkey carrying the load of camphor or even diamond, and not knowing its worth or quality.

We may say ability to raise this question makes man, Man- ie look up. Of all animals, man alone can look up! All other animals look around.They face down. Man alone faces up.

The ancient man decided the second question in the light of the first one. From time immemorial, man has lived in groups, in society. Since the order in nature is a given, can not the nature of the society also be taken as given? As man's thinking faculty developed he attempted various explanations.

This is reflected in our literature. Ancient literature treated the first question as the fundamental dimension of life. This is the spiritual dimension. On the basis of the answer to that question, the second, the social dimension, was approached. Some Power was in charge of the world order. There were some laws which had to be obeyed, and man did not invent these. Even Moses did not invent the Commandments. He  simply transmitted them. Poor soul, he knew his men: they would not take his word. So he asked God for some proof  to show his people that he had indeed met God!

Since the natural order was taken as God-given, the social order too was taken as divinely ordained or sanctioned. Just as man felt he could not disturb the order of nature, he could not alter the order of society. This was the universal attitude throughout the world, before the the man-made historical religions began their reign- Buddhism, Christianity, Islam. But they could not displace the old order in totality, nor could they adjust to each other peacefully. On the one hand, science interfered with the natural order and taught people to behave as if they were the owners of Nature and could do with it what they would, even when science itself could not understand it completely, or resolve all the issues. The most glaring example of such stupid thinking is the advocacy of nuclear power; science does not know how to deal with and dispose of radioactivity-how to make it safe for future generations, but they go on building nuclear plants.Such plain stupidity is considered scientific attitude.

But it was the Semitic religions which set the trend. Against all ancient wisdom, they said that God created man as the master of the earth, that everything was created for his benefit and enjoyment. 'Be fruitful and multiply; subdue the earth' was what they taught. Science gave them the tools and methods to subdue, and also to multiply. But instead of being fruitful, he has become a burden, a nuisance and a danger unto himself and the earth: everything he touched has been polluted and rendered progressively unusable on this wide and beautiful planet. This is the combined result of the Semitic religions and science and technology.

Just as natural scientists removed all notions of the Sacred from Nature and taught man to deal with and finally destroy it, the social scientists taught man to question the bases of society and manipulate it to suit his fancy or fashion. Theories upon theories came, held the field for some time and made way for others. Old certainties were removed steadily, till we have reached a stage when nothing is certain anymore! All social, political and economic arrangements have been endlessly questioned, and altered, till at last man has reached his wits' end- lost the capacity to question, and ability to alter.

All ancient societies were self contained, self- sufficient and content. But as trade and commerce developed and people came into contact with others, comparisons were made, differences were interpreted in terms of superiority or deficiency. No society feels itself bad or backward unless comparisons are forced on them. This is typical of modern European imperialism. The old conquerors won by sword; Muslims conquered parts of India by sword, gun-powder and forced conversions; the British won by guns, fraud, treachery and tricks, and riding on the back of the mighty missionaries. But their greatest weapon was intellectual assault: they made Indians feel inferior and consciously imitate their colonisers in the name of civilisation and progress, and cooperate with them in the plunder and loot of their own land!. Indians had been so insular and so lacking in knowledge of other people and races that they could not challenge this then; they are so emaciated and made so intellectually barren now due to alien education, that they lack courage and originality and still imitate the west in the name of progress, even though enough material is available to show that it was the Englishmen who were comparatively backward economically, politically and socially till the 18th century.

The Red Indians of North America, the tribal groups of Africa were a contented and self-sufficient people till they were converted, 'educated' and civilised by the western missionaries. Jomo Kenyatta, late President of Kenya once famously said that when the Christian missionaries came to Africa, the Africans had the land , while the white missionaries the Bible. But after the civilising work of the missionaries, the white people got (grabbed) the land and the Africans were left with the Bible! In medieval Europe, the Pope (Church) owned most of the land! Christ said his Kingdom was not of this earth; but Christianity has its roots firmly planted on the soil: it cannot exist without a kingdom of earth! In this respect, the Muslims are more honest, and now, daringly open!

As man's thinking faculty developed, and the idea of the sacred was given up, he started questioning every aspect of life, and reordering everything- from politics, economics, society. Royalty, oligarchy, aristocracy, democracy, mobocracy, anarchy, totalitarianism- everything has been offered as the solution in politics. Mercantilism, free trade, capitalism, socialism, communism, gold standard, gold exchange standard, exchange control, Keynesianism, monetarism, Reaganomics, Thatcherism- every thing has been tried in economics, but nothing has worked for long, there has been no end to poverty, starvation, unemployment and unconscionable and devilish disparity in income and wealth. Conservatism,liberalism, Humanism, utilitarianism, Fascism, Nazism, Stalinism, Maoism- all types of isms have been tried and still no society is reportedly wholly happy. It is a free for all now. No one knows who is in control now. The more advanced we claim to be, the more intense the problems, and the less solvable they turn out to be! Just once instance is sufficient- Global Warming! As David Korten has shown, the world economy has been hijacked and is run by about 50 MNCs, with huge income and least tax burden, whose balance sheets exceed the budgets of many countries! The WTO acts as their spokesman, guarantor and guardian, with the US supplying the muscle and military power. Challenge Pepsi and Coke in India, and see what happens! Jacques Ellul, the great French thinker and sociologist has said that in our present technological society, no one has accountability. He gives some telling examples in his video interview. But we who have suffered a Bhopal know well  how accountability has worked in the last 30 years! The judiciary seems to be least accountable for its delays, for it is a law unto itself, as much as the legislature, executive and the bureaucracy. It is the common man, who does not come under any of these categories, that is both accountable, and taxable!

Man was humble, before the Renaissance. He knew his limitations. This was not due to pessimism, fear of God  (or Devil), or lack of intellectual vigour. It was based on a profound sense of history. The ancient man had a cyclical view of time and history. Things happened according to a predestined order, and the cycles and spirals eternally repeated themselves. Wisdom consisted in man developing understanding based on personal experience, and in devoting himself to the attainment of permanent ends and not chasing transient goals. So he left society untouched, and attended to personal development.

After the Renaissance, man developed hubris- a belief in his own unlimited capacity to deal with anything. First, he dismissed God. Then he dismissed the king. He removed religion from governance officially, formally. Short term secular interests replaced long term vision.Science has developed enormous load of knowledge, but man has lost the wisdom to manage it! So that, the greatest scientific advancement is devoted to developing the most destructive weapons!

Modern man started questioning the existence of God. He has reached a stage when he has succeeded in threatening the very existence of man! The history of English literature alone  since about 1700 bears ample testimony to this!


Some great poets of early 20th century have dealt with these themes. As birds sense first anything unnatural in the environment , it is the true poet who has the subtle vision to see behind appearances. William Butler Yeats (1865-1939, Nobel Laureate,1923) was disturbed by the modern egalitarian trends in society which were fast displacing the spiritual and heroic values. Though a supporter of Irish culture and its distinct status and value, he was against narrow nationalist chauvinism. He had a deep historical vision, and shared with the ancients their cyclical view of time and civilisations. He developed interest in occult wisdom, though its precise form  and intensity varied through the years. He sought the larger meaning behind the events of history, and for him the First World War was a sign of the degenerate state of Western civilisation. Towards the end of his life, he gave up all interest in politics. To an Indian it appears that his approach to history was mystical- he saw or sought  the meta-aspect of history. It is thus entirely appropriate that he gave the introduction to Tagore's ( Nobel Laureate,1913) Gitanjali when it was published in 1916. We may or may not agree with his vision and  views on all subjects; but that he stood out from the common run of literary figures of his day, and sought a deeper meaning into life and society beyond what conventional literature and science of his day advocated, is what should interest us. The western academic world has its own coloured glasses through which to look at literary figures, but we are under no compulsion to look through them! That western civilisation had lost its roots of traditional wisdom, and had not found new values in its place, as witnessed by the Great War, is the message we get from Yeats.

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965; Nobel Laureate, 1948) was the other great modern literary figure to be openly critical of the current phase of civilisation. He was openly spiritual or philosophical in his approach. He too took the First World  War as a sign of crisis in western society and civilisation. The barrenness of it is described tellingly in the very title of perhaps his most well-known poem: "The Waste Land". For me, the following lines from his poem "The Rock" (1934) best describe what has happened in the name of progress and civilisation:


The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,
The Hunter with his dog pursues his circuit.

O perpetual revolution of configured stars,
O perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,
O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death.
But nearer to death, no nearer to GOD.

Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust.

We have banished God from our practical concerns, and are engaged in endless activity. The IT revolution has reduced us all to some number everywhere- we are not even reckoned or regarded as human beings: some mobile phone number, some identity card number, ration card number, bank account number,etc. Earlier, only prisoners used to be identified by numbers; now we all are , for we have become prisoners of the 'system'- whatever it may mean. In a speech in 1935, Eliot said:

.....the question of questions,which no political philosophy can escape, and by the right answer to which all political thinking must in the end be judged, is simply this: What is man? What are his limitations? What is his misery and what  his greatness? And what finally, his destiny?

No sane person will ever undertake a journey without knowing the destination. But this is exactly what science has taught whole societies to do in the name of advancement! Go and join the crowd, but don't ask where you are going or why! Enjoy while the going is good! A Hindi celluloid poet wrote long ago:


 Ye hanstahuva Karwan zindagi ka 
na poocho chala hai kidar
Tamanna hai yeh saath chalte rahe
ham na beetey  kabhi yeh safar!

This pageant of life- do not ask whither it is bound.Seek to join it, and hope not to get left behind.