LITERATURE- LIGHT AND DELIGHT
85. THE CLASSICS
The Classics in the Western tradition can mean only the Classics of antiquity- of ancient Greece and Rome. Of course, every society and language in the West can claim its own canons and classics, but all of them owe enormously to the antique ones.
In India, our original Classics are all in Sanskrit and are of incredible antiquity. Sanskrit itself can be regarded in two versions- the language of the Veda and Upanishads are totally different from the more structured language of the later Puranas, Itihasas and classics. But every idea for every one of them has come from the Vedic lore.
KALIDASA: from the internet
Source :Sri Satya Sai Bal Vikas.
Tamil is the only ancient language of India after Sanskrit. We have a large body of ancient works in it,but all the ideas are common to the whole of India, especially the philosophical, cultural and religious ideas. Because language issues are so mixed up with Politics in Tamil Nad, this is sought to be denied or down played by those in authority; but it would be clear to any impartial student that no aspect of ancient Tamil poetry denies the common heritage. Tamil and Sanskrit are so closely connected and Tamil words are so heavily and largely borrowed from Sanskrit that many Tamilians are largely unaware.Sri Aurobindo has said that the study of Tamil words had given him ''clues to the very origins and structure of the ancient Sanskrit tongue".The Indian tradition has never enforced a dead uniformity on all regions, especially in practice. Even the same deities and gods are worshipped variously in different parts of the country. Privileged groups have sought to use state power to make their stand the standard, but a free language does not evolve under state protection or patronage.
Picture taken from the blog of London Swaminathan.
Picture taken from the blog of London Swaminathan.
The study of Classics has declined gradually with the rise of the modernity with its characteristic emphasis on materialism, utilitarianism, measurement and control, hedonism. This itself shows the genesis of all the woes of modern society.
The Classics sprang out of a different view of life. Life in the world was considered transient, and was meant to be used as a training ground or preparation for a higher level or form of existence. Human life was felt to be intimately connected with Nature, God and his Forces which run the world, and were considered Sacred.. Man was taught to respect those connections, which entailed responsibilities towards the whole of Nature. Man then interacted freely, not only with Nature, but with the very gods. His energy and efforts were focused on improving or developing the Self- or Soul-however variously considered. These features can be noticed in all the ancient civilisations of the world, and are recorded and reflected in their literature. Education consisted of imparting this wisdom to succeeding generations. Right up to recent years, study of 'humanities' meant largely the study of the ancient Classics.
Cover illustration from nookbook (eBook)
In can be seen that modernity denies all of these ideas. It has no idea of the Sacred. For it, the life here and now , the life lived and experienced in the senses, is all there is to it. It hardly passes to think that it is what the animals are doing all the time. Of course modern man considers himself an animal-although rational. But that rationality is used only to enhance his animal comforts!
Man in his thinking moments does realise that something is missing in his life of material comfort. Thoughtful people feel the discomfort everywhere. There are young people running away from a life of brute comfort, embracing voluntary poverty. There are indeed many such people in every country- that is why the Classics are still studied and valued. But the mainstream has turned its face away. In all so called democratic societies, the spread of education and literacy, often under govt sponsorship , has led to a neglect of the classics. The electronic media is adversely affecting the habit of serious study and reflection, leave alone the Classics, especially among the younger generation.
This is seen particularly in India.Is there any periodical solely or mainly devoted to the classics or literature? Look at the mainstream newspapers or periodicals. Does any of them devote even a single page to promote the Classics? Does any of the so called literary 'festivals' , promoted by interested groups,deal with the Classics- except to misrepresent, ridicule and denigrate them? Are the participants there scholars in our classics? They are all Macaulay's children, purveyors of foreign academic theories and fancies they float, because there is easy money there! They have not freed themselves from the grip of the colonial master over their mind.
These people do not even know our history properly. In the 18th century, as men of learning and letters of Europe came in touch with Sanskrit language and literature, they were genuinely struck by it lofty thoughts and expression. Even Englishmen such as Sir William Jones, a Judge in Calcutta, was fascinated by it and held the East as "a source of imaginative and creative revival" in England! Some of this even rubbed off on the Romantic poets. But later, in the 19th Century, as the idea of imperialism took hold of the national psyche, the colonial powers spread the idea of the superiority of the ruling race, and the mission of Britain to civilise the world, though this spread on the wings of commerce, and Christian missionary activities, using English education as the tool.
Nation and Nationality
But here too is an irony. Was Britain then a 'nation'? Did they have a nationality? We have some revealing remarks here.
What we describe as the Romantic movement coincided with the beginnings of a modern British imperialism which involved the governance and exploitation of increasingly large portions of the globe as the nineteenth century wore on.[ involving conflict with others such as the French and Russians in Europe, and Turkish Ottoman and Qing Empire of China.]
This was also the period in which historians, like Linda Colley,argue that the idea of the British nation was 'forged' (in both senses of the word). Colley claims that 'Britishness' was defined against the 'others' of Catholic religion and the French nation.We could widen this also to include the various other peoples, races and religions that the British encountered in their imperial history. The novels of Sir Walter Scott, for instance, depict the formation of the modern British state against a series of others, notably Highland Scotland. Many of Scott's novels are about conflicts between opposing cultures: Ivanhoe (1819) is about war between Normans and Saxons and The Talisman (1825) is about conflict between Christians and Muslims. His novels about Scottish history deal with the clashes between the new English Culture and the older Scottish ways.
From: 'The Romantic Period, 1780-1832' -essay by Peter J.Kitson in "English Literature in Context", Ed. by Paul Poplawski, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
It is important to study this passage carefully, for it has important implications. Many Indian historians glibly say that India was not a nation before the British came, that it was a British colonial creation! But here we see that Britain itself was not a nation then! Another insight we gain here is that the idea of nationality is "forged" in the light of opposition to something else! On the contrary, Indians firmly held the view that India- ie Bharat Varsha was one from "Sethu to Himalaya"- from very ancient times, a fact reflected even in ancient Tamil literature, leave alone the Sanskrit sources. How ignorant are our historians, so called, of our own history, and the history of Britain!
Classics teach us about our past. It may - it is, indeed- that there are many things in our past which we may not understand today, may not like and relate to, or may not adopt. Look around- it is so in every country. Which Englishman can understand Shakespeare or Milton today without modernisation of spelling and punctuation, without annotations, notes and explanations? How many can read and understand Milton? Yet how many will deny Shakespeare or Milton? The Greek of Homer and Plato is not what the Greek nation speaks at present; Latin of the Roman Classics is not spoken today.Yet not only Greece and Rome, the whole of the Western world claim them as their intellectual ancestors! For that matter, the Tamil spoken by the people today is wholly different from the language of the Classical works, which cannot be understood today without explanation and interpretation! Our modern self-styled intellectuals have mastered neither this nor that, but incompetent to question that, they can only denigrate our own ancient achievements! No modern Western scholar or writer would do that. Norman Mailer said: " if we lose a sense of the past, we have lost much more than we can ever calculate."
Cover illustration from iTunes U free eBook
It is a sad reflection on the state of our education that even 65 years after Independence, we simply continue with the colonial system. Indian Classics and subjects are almost wholly neglected.
Source: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry
Note:
The illustrations are given only for educational purposes, on the idea that these great masters of our human heritage must be made known. No commercial motive is involved. Sources have been acknowledged, gratefully. No intention to violate any copyright.If there is any objection, they will be removed.
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