Poetry Flows – from nature to homes, through doors, to the silent singing of consciousness”
Collective mind gathers symbols through time,
transferring them from one culture to another. There are numerous fields of
study trying to break the code of the meaning of symbols and similar
archetypal phenomena, such as myths, religious, poetry and philosophy
writings, from their earliest stages to the present date. Anthropology,
ethnology, along with comparative mythology, sociolinguistics and its
counterpart the sociology of language, to name only a few, stand at the
forefront of this archaeological excavation.
At the beginning of our existence, the physical aspect of
human being was dependent upon the earth and its bearing of fruits. Due to
the inexorable course of evolution, the omnipotent forces of nature presented
themselves upon him and his peers. One can only try to imagine how deeply the
underwhelmed minds of our forefathers were shaken after hearing a clap of
thunder, or witnessing a flood. The being that had the ability to generate
such a force was perceived as the more powerful one in the equation of
existence.
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What else could they do but choose the best among them
who, in the behalf of all, was to use all his might in propitiating such
supreme beings? Such outstandingly wise and insightful individuals started
being revered together with their actions and words, and were named shamans,
druids and prophets, who took on the roles of priests and teachers in the
modern times. They became the saviours of societies, those to whose actions
and words every member of society turned to in the times of both prosperity
and hardship.
Thus, the rituals of sympathetic or homeopathic magic
became a part of religious rituals, such as prayer, sacrifice, or
the observance of a taboo. Religion was erected, on the foundations of
magic and myth, and generated the human beings who started building up – word
by word – the new realm of civilization within the walls of nature.
The first places of worship and performing rituals were
in the natural environment, at the sites considered to be ports between the
mundane and spiritual world. Trees and rocks, rivers and springs were the
first revered places serving as altars. These later shifted into the sanctity
of a house where people performed rituals either at the centre of the
building by the fire (which should under no circumstances be put out), or at
the doors and thresholds.
Since the number of people constituting a society started
to increase, the first places of worship large enough to embrace all of the
society members began to emerge – temples, churches and cathedrals became
sacred in their own right. They were even built on sites previously
considered sacred.
The old Slavic faith was a system of belief which had
similarities with other Indo-European religions. The old Slavs revered the
deities of nature and supernatural beings and saw the evidence of their
existence everywhere around them. After the Great migrations of Slavs in the
5th and 6th centuries, the Slavic system of belief
split into several branches, and at the same time they started to accept the
existing systems of the territories they settled upon. Since they were mostly
exposed to the influences of the Holy Roman and Byzantine Empires, the Slavs
began accepting Christianity in its Western and Eastern form. The Nestor’s
Chronicle, written in the middle of the 11th century, speaks of
the so-called Slavic dual form of religious belief – the simultaneous
existence of paganism and Christianity among the Slavs. The Slavs unwilling
to accept Christianity, who remained devoted to their original faith, were
later forced to convert into Christianity. The Slavic shrines were
demolished, and Christian churches were built at their sites. The statues of
old deities were destroyed without exception since they were considered to
represent “demonic” idols. After the conquest of territories by Byzantine
Emperor Basil I, known as the Macedonian (867-886), many of the old shrines
and idols were demolished, apart from the Temple of Svetovid.
The temple was “purified”, and the Church
of St. Vid was erected
on its foundations. By the end of the 12th century, under the rule
of Stefan Nemanja, Christianity in the form of Serbian Orthodox Church was
the only officially accepted form of religious worship. However, Serbs kept
clinging to their old Slavic practices, and the last pagan temple was destroyed
by the Emperor Dušan in the 14th century.
There are numerous examples of single religious buildings
being taken over by different cultural and religious members. Such is the
case with the Basilica of St. Peter in Italy,
The Cathedral and former Great Mosque of Córdoba in Spain, and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Basilica of St. Peter is believed to have been
erected over the spot where St. Peter was buried after his martyrdom in Rome around 64 CE. Over
two hundred years later, in the early 4th century, Emperor
Constantine erected a basilica dedicated to St. Peter on the Vatican Hill on
the south side of the Tiber
River. The basilica was
erected with difficulty on the sloping side of Vatican Hill. Excavations
undertaken in 1939 underneath the floor of St. Peter’s, uncovered a Roman
cemetery which was considered to be a sacred place. At a spot located
directly beneath the main altar of the basilica a small shrine was
discovered. Although there was no indication other than location, it was
claimed by some that the shrine was dedicated to St. Peter. Constantine’s basilica was demolished in
the 16th century, and the present church was built on the same
site.
The Cathedral and former Great Mosque of
Córdoba, in ecclesiastical terms the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la
Asunción (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption), and known by the
inhabitants of Córdoba as the Mezquita-Catedral (Mosque–Cathedral),
is today a World Heritage Site and the cathedral of
the Diocese of Córdoba. It is located in the Andalusian city
of Córdoba, Spain. The site was originally a
pagan temple, then a Visigothic Christian church, before
the Umayyad Moors converted the building into a mosque and
then built a new mosque on the site. After the Spanish Reconquista,
it became a Roman Catholic church, with
a plateresque cathedral later inserted into the centre of the
large Moorish building. The Mezquita is regarded as the one of the
most accomplished monuments of Islamic architecture.
Hagia Sophia is a
former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and
now a museum in Istanbul,
Turkey. From
the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek
Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople,
except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic
cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May
1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1
February 1935.
The Streaming of
Consciousness
Doors, thresholds and gates are all symbolic entrances
into new worlds. These entrances can be into a new life or they might
represent communication between one world and another, between the living and
the dead. The symbolism between gate and threshold is very similar. The
symbolism of a gate, though, suggests more of a protecting and guarding
aspect while that of a threshold suggests simply a passage from one realm to
another.
One of the characteristics of civilization development
which significantly influenced the notion of human living was the invention
of doors, for when the man put the door at his primitive shelters, he turned
them into habitats. Namely, he ceased simply to shelter and possum himself,
and started permanently settling within the building which represented his
home.
From the architectural point of view, the door is a
movable structure, be it of simple or complex design, whose main purpose is
to protect the people or assets in a closed building from the dangers lurking
outside – by making it weatherproof, serving as protection from wild animals,
enemies or burglars, but also as an entrance or exit from closed space into
the open one. Apart from its physical characteristics, the symbolism of the
doors was becoming ever more complex and enriched, together with its
constituent parts, namely the threshold. Therefore, the door symbolizes the
passage from one world into another, and the threshold stands as the
borderline between those two – the outer, earthly one, and the interior,
sacred world.
The threshold is the meeting point of natural and
supernatural, the place at which various rituals connected with the most
important moments in family life, such as childbirth, wedding, or death
rituals, are performed. Archaeology has revealed that, in the prehistoric
era, it was common practice to bury the family and household members
underneath it. Therefore it was not allowed to sit or step on it; when
entering or leaving the house it was advised to jump over it – especially
when a bride is entering the groom’s house for the first time; consequently
she was carried in (this custom is still witnessed in many different
cultures). It was also customary for the bride to spread honey on it and kiss
the door frame.
The practice of food, libations or objects offering was
performed there, in order to protect the family and bring them prosperity. It
was forbidden to shake hands at the threshold when welcoming visitors in. In
many traditions, the threshold of a temple, a shrine or a mausoleum is
considered to be sacred. Even today it is not to be stepped on, before it the
believer falls on his knees in piety, and honours it by kissing. Since the
doors were the core place of protective magical rituals, various objects such
as knives, hayforks or pieces of a scythe, were put onto them at the exterior
side, or symbols painted on it in order to protect the household members from
the forces of evil. During the spring or summer rites, the plants with
apotropaic effects were hanged on or above them. If needed, offerings were
placed on the threshold.
In A
Dictionary of Symbols, J. E. Cirlot discusses temple doors and altars:
“There is the same relationship between the temple-door and the altar as
between the circumference and the centre; even though in each case the two
component elements are the farthest apart, they are nonetheless, in a way, the
closest since the one determines and reflects the other.” Cirlot notes that
this is well illustrated in the architectural ornamentation of cathedrals
where the facade is nearly always treated as an altar-piece.
A closed door signifies rejection, exclusion, secrecy,
but also protection against dangers and the unknown. A door, which is only
half open or swinging in a draft, is something disturbing, since it
symbolizes moral irresolution and lack of courage. Sometimes it may be our
duty to open a door and to enter a room although it is evident that we shall
encounter very disagreeable things by doing so. A priest, for instance, may
have to visit a house in which a person is suffering from a very contagious
disease. The Jews considered themselves unclean if they had entered the house
of pagans. The ancient Romans thought that it meant a profanation of their
soldiers if they marched out through the gates of Rome and fought with the enemy outside. For
it was generally believed that what was within the walls of a city or of the
individual houses was holy; whatever was outside the walls was considered
profane and evil. Consequently the enemies with whom their soldiers fought
were looked upon by the Romans as unholy and impure. When the soldiers came
back from a campaign they had therefore to be purified by religious rites
under the very gates of the city. Somewhat later majestic triumphal arches
were erected by the Roman Senate that the “sanctification” of the returning
army might be performed under them.
In An Illustrated
Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J.C. Cooper notes this guarding and
protecting nature of gates. They are the “protective, sheltering aspect of
the Great Mother.” Usually they “are guarded by symbolic animals such as
lions, dragons, bulls, dogs or fabulous beasts.” C. G. Jung speaks of doors
in the same manner, as the feminine symbol, and the antithesis of the wall.
In Psychology and Alchemy, he
noted that doors contain all the implications of the symbolic hole.
At the gates of the House of Osiris a goddess keeps each
gate, whose name has to be known. The Gates of the East and West are the
doors of the World
Temple through which
the sun passes morning and night. The “strait gate” is the central point of
communication between the lower and higher; the passage, in “spiritual
poverty” for initiates or at death, leading to new life. In the Orient, for
instance, in Palestine,
the gate of the city was the gathering place where the king and the wise men
of the land came to judge the people and to discuss political matters.
In Christianity the Virgin Mary is the Gate of Heaven.
She is greeted as a door, Salve Porta, in the antiphon Ave
Regina Coelorum, and addressed: Maria, quae est coelestis porta, in the
beautiful antiphon Adorna thalamum on the feast of her
Purification. She was given the title of Janua coeli, door (gate) of
heaven, in the Litany of Loreto. This can be seen further in the verse “A
porta inferi erue Domine animas eorum— From the gate of hell deliver
their souls, O Lord” in the Office of the Dead. But let us not forget that
Christ refers to Himself as the door of His sheepfold. “I am the door. If any
man enter by Me, he shall be safe”. His invitation is: “Pulsate, et
aperietur vobis—And I say to you… knock, and it shall be opened to you. For
to him that knocketh, it shall be opened”.
Honouring the
Forefathers
The modern-day religious buildings keep their original
religious symbolism. The First
Kadampa Temple opened
its doors on August 1, 1997. Venerable Geshe Kelsang gave an explanation on
the way it was constructed, and the meaning of the symbols implemented. The
designing of the building was based on the mandala of Buddha Heruka, who is the Compassion Buddha of
Highest Yoga Tantra. The Temple
has four doors, and is surrounded by eight auspicious signs which show us how
to progress along the Buddhist path to enlightenment. On top of the wall, on
each side, are two deer and a Dharma Wheel. At the very top there is a golden
five-pronged vajra. The four doors symbolize the four doors of liberation.
These are four different types of wisdom realizations that are explained in
the Essence of Vajrayana. The four
doors have the same symbolism as Heruka’s four faces. They teach us that if
we want to attain permanent liberation from suffering we must enter the four
doors, that is, develop four special wisdom realizations that understand the
ultimate truth of things. The four doors therefore teach us the spiritual
path.
This Temple
is surrounded by the eight auspicious signs: The umbrella symbolizes the
umbrella of the Buddhist community and teaches us that those who have the
sincere wish to progress on the Buddhist path to enlightenment should first
enter the Buddhist family, which means taking refuge in the Three Jewels and
becoming a Buddhist. The fish symbolize harmony and peace, and teaches us
that under this umbrella you should always live in harmony and peace. The
vase symbolizes wealth and teaches that Buddhist practitioners always enjoy
the inner wealth of faith, moral discipline, study and practice of Dharma,
benefiting others, the sense of shame, the consideration for others, and
wisdom. The knot of eternity symbolizes an uncommon quality of Buddha’s
realizations – his realization of omniscient wisdom – and the victory banner
symbolizes an uncommon quality of Buddha’s abandonment – his abandonment of
delusions and mistaken appearance. The last two signs together, the knot of
eternity and the victory banner, indicate that through gaining the Dharma
Jewel, the realization of the stages of the path to enlightenment, we shall
attain these two uncommon qualities of Buddha. The Dharma Wheel indicates
that having attained these two uncommon qualities of Buddha we now have the
ability to lead all living beings to permanent liberation from suffering, principally
by turning the Wheel of Dharma, that is, by giving Dharma teachings. This is
our final goal. So the eight auspicious signs show how to begin, progress
along, and complete the spiritual path. First we need to gain the realization
of the stages of the path. Through this we shall attain the two uncommon
qualities of Buddha; and through this we have the ability to lead all beings
to permanent liberation from suffering by giving Dharma teachings, which is
our final goal. Therefore the symbolism of This Temple being surrounded by
these eight auspicious signs reminds you that you should put the meaning of
these signs into practice and integrate them into your daily life.
Above each doorway there are two deer and a Dharma Wheel,
and at the very top of the Temple
there is a vajra. Together, these
symbolize the stages of the path of Highest Yoga Tantra. The eight auspicious
signs symbolize in general how to progress along the Buddhist path, and the
deer, Dharma Wheel, and top vajra
teach us the stages of the path of Highest Yoga Tantra. The male deer
symbolizes the realization of great bliss, the female deer the realization of
emptiness, and the Dharma Wheel the union of these two. Through progressing
in this union of great bliss and emptiness, finally we will attain the five
omniscient wisdoms of a Buddha, which are symbolized by the top five-pronged vajra.
In summary, the symbolism of the Temple is as follows: Through progressing
in the basic practice symbolized by the eight auspicious signs and then
progressing in the uncommon spiritual path of Highest Yoga Tantra that is the
union of great bliss and emptiness, finally we will attain Buddha’s five
omniscient wisdoms.
Walking the Path
The appearance of gates, thresholds and doors is common
to all story genres. Usually the hero passes through them to symbolically
mark the beginning of his journey. The name of our hero is Susheel Kumar
Sharma. He was born in India
in 1962 and works as an English language Professor at the University of Allahabad.
Does it surprise you that he is a teacher? And a poet? He journeyed beyond numerous doors and
gates, and skipped over many thresholds to meet Shakespeare, John Milton,
Samuel Johnson, Bernard Shaw, W. B. Yeats, D. H. Lawrence, George Orwell,
Miriam Waddington, Sandra Lunnon, Raja Rao, Bhabani Bhattacharya,
Rabindranath Tagore, Arun Joshi and Anurag Mathur, and was kind enough to
share his experiences by writing research articles and sharing them
selflessly. One of his research books titled The Theme of Temptation in
Milton was published in New Delhi. Fancy taking
a stroll through his new book of verse? How kind of him to leave the door
half-open. Which way the path beyond it leads?
To heaven or hell? Or somewhere else?
Christianity depicts heaven and hell in a fairly clear way.
The Christian view describes these as permanent abodes, with the good going
to God who dwells in heaven, and the bad rotting in hell for all eternity.
But there is a different view on the matter. According to the Hindu Puranas, there are fourteen worlds in
the universe - the seven upper and the seven lower. The seven upper worlds
are Bhuh, Bhavah, Swah, Mahah, Janah,
Tapah, and Satyam; and the
seven nether worlds are Atala, Vitala,
Sutala, Rasatala, Talatala, Mahatala, and Patala. The region known as Bhuh
is the earth where we dwell, while Swah is the celestial world to which
people repair after death to enjoy the reward of their righteous actions on
earth. Bhuvah is the region between
the two. Janah, Tapah, and Satyam constitute Brahmaloka, or the highest heaven, where fortunate souls repair
after death and enjoy spiritual communion with the personal God, and at the
end of the cycle attain liberation, though a few return to earth again. The
world of Mahah is located between Brahmaloka and Bhuh, Bhuuah, and Swah.
Patala, the lowest of the seven
nether worlds, is the realm where wicked souls sojourn after death and reap
the results of their unrighteous actions on earth.
Thus, from the viewpoint of Hinduism, heaven and hell are
merely different worlds, bound by time, space, and causality. According to
Hinduism, desires are responsible for a person’s embodiment. Some of these
desires can best be fulfilled in a human body, and some in an animal or a
celestial body. Accordingly, a soul assumes a body determined by its
unfulfilled desires and the results of its past actions. An animal or a
celestial body is for reaping the results of past karma, not for performing
actions to acquire a new body. Performance of karma to affect any change of
life is possible only in a human body, because only human beings do good or
evil consciously. Human birth is therefore a great privilege, for in a human
body alone can one attain the supreme goal of life. Thus, in search of
eternal happiness and immortality, the apparent soul is born again and again
in different bodies, only to discover in the end that immortality can never
be attained through fulfilment of desires. The soul then practices
discrimination between the real and the unreal, attains desirelessness, and
finally realizes its immortal nature.
“When all the
desires that dwell in the heart fall away, then the mortal becomes immortal
and here attains Brahman.” – The Katha Upanishada
When the chattering of an individual mind stops, as it
does through Mudra, Bandha or Meditation, one’s perception can be projected
through the fissure of the mind into Reality. Then one sees behind the scenes
of what we unquestionably consider to be real – our day to day, mundane life
of fears and worries. We realize the super sensory and the Transcendental
Dimension of our Being.
According to Hindu tradition, Sahasrara is the name of the seventh
primary chakra. It symbolizes detachment from illusion; an essential
element in obtaining higher consciousness of the truth. In the physical
sense, Sahasrara is either located
at the top of the head or a little way above it. There are also
viewpoints arguing it to be located in either the pineal gland or
the pituitary gland. Symbolically, it is depicted as 1,000
multi-coloured petals arranged in 20 layers, each of them having 50 petals.
The pericarp is golden. Inside of it is an area with circular moon, and a
downward pointing triangle. It is from this chakra that all the other chakras
emanate.
In Hindu literature, it is known as “the
supreme centre of contact with God”. In Yoga, this psychic fissure is called
the Brahma Randhra (Sanskrit, “brahma”, consciousness; “randhra”, fissure) - the Fissure into
Pure Consciousness. In Yoga, it can be
called the Brahma Dwara (Sanskrit,
“dwara”, door) - the Door to Pure Consciousness.
It is also widely called the Tenth Door - the other nine doors being the nine
orifices (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, anus and sexual organ),
which lead to the outside world. When these nine doors are closed through
Yogic practices, then perception is obliged to go through the tenth door, the
Brahma Dwara or the Door of
Consciousness.
The crown wheel is important within the Highest Yoga
traditions of Buddhist Vajrayana.
It is triangular, with 32 petals or channels that point downwards, and within
it resides the white drop or white bodhicitta.
Through meditation, the yogi attempts to unite this drop with the red bodhicitta in the navel, and to
experience the union of emptiness and bliss. It is very important in the
Tantric practice of Phowa, or consciousness transference. At the time of
death, a yogi can direct his consciousness up the central channel and out of
this wheel in order to be reborn in a Pure Land,
where they can carry on their tantric practices, or they can transfer their
consciousness into another body or a corpse, in order to extend their lives.
In the West, it has been noted by many – such as Charles
Ponce in his book Kabbalah,
that Sahasrara expresses a similar
archetypal idea to that of Kether in the kabalistic tree of
life, which also rests at the head of the tree, and represents pure
consciousness and union with God. Within the Sufi system
of Lataif-e-sitta there is a Lataif called Akfha, the “most arcane
subtlety”, which is located on the crown. It is the point of unity where
beatific visions of Allah are directly revealed.
The Silent Singing
of Consciousness
The true name of God in Sikhism is Ik Onkar in Punjabi, or Om in
Sanskrit, meaning an isolated Shapeless God. The true name of God in Hinduism
is Ishwara, meaning Supreme
controller, lord. The true name of God in Buddhism is Four Noble Truths.
Allah is the most frequently used true name of God in Islam. The Holy
Trinity is the true name of God in Christianity.
Guru Nanak Dev composed Japji Sahib, the language of pure silence of Shapeless God, which
is the foundation of the Sikh religion, followed by many in the Muslim and
Hindu community. Japji is written
in the sutra or mantra form, like the ancient Indian sacred texts and
contains concentrated thought expressed in the minimum words. It is this
economy of words and brevity of expression which distinguish this composition
from all others.
The whole prayer concerns itself with the problems of
ordinary. Its theme covers a suggested course of training for an average
family-man that would enable him to attain spiritual perfection. It does
recommend passive contemplation or living an isolated life. It favours man’s
participation in the affairs of the world, combined with an integration of
wisdom and selfless activity. In the very first verse, Guru Nanak states its
whole theme in question form: How can one be a man of The Truth? How can one
break down the wall of falsehood? He supplies the answer very briefly in the
following line. The goal is to elevate ordinary people to the mystic vision
of God. Prof. Seshadri explains it thus: “The quest is inward and the goal,
God-realisation! The sacred shrine is within the heart of man, but the
essential precondition for the success of man’s earthly pilgrimage is to
overcome his own Ego. Hence the need for Dharma and the discipline of
morality.” There is a constant inner urge of the human soul for Oneness with
God, for every person has a Divine Spark within himself. Verse 15 of Japji
Sahib proclaims that faith in the true name of God Shapeless carries us to
the door of liberation. Punjabi script is as follows:
 Transliterated it looks like this:
“Mann-ay_paaveh_mokh_duaar.
Mann-ay_parvaarai_saadhaar.
Mann-ay_tarai_tare_gur_sikh.
Mann-ay_Nanak_bhaveh_na_bhikh.
Aisaa_naam_niranjan_hoe.
Je_ko_Mann-ay_jaanai_man_koe.”
And the word-by-word translation sounds like this:
“Mann-ay”: faith in the pure consciousness; “paaveh”: achieve; “Mokh duaar”:
top of the door to nature of the true name of God Shapeless; “Parvaarai”:
dynasty; “Saadhaar”: renovation; “Tarai”: protected; “Tare”: make protected;
“Gur”: mantra; “Sikhs”: learners; “Bhaveh”: make any sense of love; “Bhikha”:
begging; “Aisa”: such; “Naam”: name; “Niranjan”: purity without spot; “Hoe”:
is; “Jaani”: to review; “Mann”: mind; “Koe”: lost.
The 15th Pauri (prayer) stands for Kundalini Awakening.
This final pauri promises the fruits of surrender: the 10th gate opens.
We awaken, and in awakening we carry our family, our friends and their karmas
with us as we cross the world ocean. One would never imagine that
through the simple act of surrender we can manifest such victory, but that is
the path of the Guru, the path of obedience, for in the seeds of surrender we
generate the fruit of excellence and grace.
The Divine Cycle
Water has a central place in the practices and beliefs of
many religions. Almost all Christian churches or sects have an initiation
ritual involving the use of water. Baptism has its origins in the
symbolism of the Israelites being led by Moses out of slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea, and from the
baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan. In Islam water is
important for cleansing and purifying. Muslims must be ritually pure
before approaching God in prayer. In Islam ritual purity (called tahara) is required before carrying
out religious duties especially salat (worship).
In Judaism ritual washing is intended to restore or maintain a state of
ritual purity and its origins can be found in the Torah. These ablutions
can be washing the hands, the hands and the feet, or total immersion which
must be done in ‘living water’, i.e. the sea, a river, a spring or in a mikveh. Even in Buddhism where
symbolism and ritual is pointless because they seek spiritual enlightenment –
it comes from seeing the reality of unreality, water feature is used in
funeral rites. It is poured into a bowl placed before the monks and the dead
body. As it fills and pours over the edge, the monks recite ”As
the rains fill the rivers and overflow into the ocean, so likewise may what
is given here reach the departed.” Water in Hinduism has a special place
because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. To Hindus
all water is sacred, especially rivers.
There is a particular river in India which is the central point
of worship and religious awe. It is the major river of the Gangetic
plain of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. Its source stream is
the Bhāgīrathī – a turbulent Himalayan river in the state
of Uttarakhand. This river runs from the Himalayas all the way to the Bay of Bengal. The river is Ganga Ma, “Mother Ganges”.
The name of the Ganges is known all throughout the land of India.
It represents life, purity, and a goddess to the people of India.
“O Ganges!
The dweller in Lord Brahma’s kamandala
The abider in Lord Vishnu’s feet
The resider in Lord Shiva’s locks
The sojourner in the Himalayas
The daughter of Sage Jahnu
The co-wife to Parvati and Lakshmi
The redeemer of Bhagiratha’s race
The atoner of Sagar’s progeny
The mother of brave Bhishma
O Ganga Maiya!
Homage to thee.
Accept my obeisance
O Punyakirti!”
(“Ganga Mata – A Prayer”, p. 1 )
Attracted by the sound of a prayer whose words fall on
the water waves as lovingly as a lotus flower kisses the holy river’s
surface, I turn my head and behold the grey-haired man. I listen to his words
attentively. He was the kind teacher who left the doors half open, and the
banks of the river Ganges is the place where
we finally meet. I rejoice, for he speaks! We shall walk together down the
banks for a while.
It is written in the Shiva Purana that in order to assure the Earth’s salvation, the
gods had to hasten the birth of Shiva’s son, who was the one destined to lead
the divine hosts and to conquer the forces of darkness which had taken
possession of the planet. But Shiva was in no hurry to make a son, and so the
Gods found it necessary to steal Shiva’s seed by interrupting his love play
with Devi (Parvati) at the precise moment when the precious bija was to come forth.
Intercourse having been interrupted, the seed fell to the ground. Agni, in
the form of a Dove, took the seed in his beak and made off with it. The Purana then describes the adventures
of the precious bija in a series of twelve stages until it finally
comes back to Shiva and Parvati, transformed into the beautiful youth
Skanda. It is stated in ancient tradition that the white Dove is often
transmuted into the Unicorn. But in itself, the Dove is a key symbol and has
a very special connection with the worship of Shiva and Parvati.
The two most important protagonists in the escapade of
Shiva’s stolen Seed are Agni and Ganga. Agni
is the element Fire; his colour is red and his geometric symbol - according
to the Yogatattva Upanishad - is the triangle. He is more specifically Mars,
which the Indian Veda confirms by allotting him rulership of Tuesday, or Mars
Day, as well as the colour red. And this, it must be remembered, was the day
of birth of the Son. Ganga, on the
other hand, represents the Water element, and she is connected with the Moon,
as the story of her birth reveals; and through the Moon to Saturn, in the
form of Mahakala.
The Vishnu Purana describes the birth of Ganga in the following manner: she is said to have
issued forth from the big toe of Vishnu’s left foot. Dhruva, the Pole Star,
received her in her descent and sustained her day and night on his head,
while the seven Rishis (the Pleiades) performed their ablutions in her waters
(because the Pleiades revolve around the Pole Star). Ganga
then encompassed the orb of the Moon by her currents, which added to the
luminary’s brilliance. Thereafter, having issued from the Moon, she alit upon
Mt. Meru, and then flowed in four branches
to the four corners of the Earth for the sake of its purification. The names
of these branches are, Sita, Alakananda, Chakshu, and Bhadra. The southern
branch, Alakananda, was held affectionately by Shiva on his head for one
hundred divine years, and then was released from his matted locks. Hence
Shiva is depicted in Indian iconography with a crescent Moon on his head,
wherefrom a shoot of water springs forth. Thereafter, the southern branch of
Ganga journeyed through India
and divided itself into seven rivers which flow into the southern ocean.
Hence the Alakananda, passing as it does through Bharatmata, is known as the
most sacred of the four branches. Agni, unable to hold Shiva’s
powerful bija in his beak any longer, dropped it in the Ganges. The river then carried the seed and when the
time of birth arrived she deposited it in a sacred reed grove situated on her
shores; and there Kartikeya was born. He is called Kartikeya because
the Krttikas, Sanskrit for the Pleiades, took up the child and nourished
him. They were six in number, wives of the six (or seven) Rishis, therefore
the child is also called Shanmugam, ‘of six mouths’, having suckled at the
breasts of the six wives.
Ganga is India’s
sacred Artery, through which the power of her Time courses. She is the
carrier of the pulse of India’s
soul/sun; she is the carrier of the Seed of Shiva, her beloved. Ganga is born of the Mountain, therefore she is, as it
were, Parvati’s sister. Ganga and Parvati
are said to be daughters or consorts of the same heavenly Father. Yet at the
same time Ganga is said to have descended
from heaven and fallen onto Shiva’s head, whence from his matted locks the
Great God released her in a gentle flow upon the Earth. It is said that the
Earth was spared the full impact of her power by this graceful act of Shiva,
and that, had it not been so, the planet could not have tolerated the descent
of Ganga in her full form.
As soon as the day begins, devout Hindus begin to give
their offerings of flowers or food, throwing grain or garlands of marigolds
or pink lotuses into the Ganges, or let
small oil lamps float on its surface. Every morning thousands of Hindus, whether
pilgrims or residents, make their way into the holy water of the Ganges. All of them face the rising sun with folded
hands murmuring prayers. As stated in “Banaras City of Light” by Diana L.
Eck, “they may take up her water and put it back into the river as an
offering to the ancestors and the gods”. In cupped hands they will also take
the ritual drink of the Ganges and then fill
a container to take with them to the temple. On great festive occasions,
Hindus ford the river in boats, shouting “Ganga Mata Ki Jai!” (Victory to
Mother Ganga!)
Hindus consider the waters of the Ganges
to be both pure and purifying. Nothing reclaims order from disorder more than
the waters of the Ganges. Moving water, as
in a river, is considered purifying in Hindu culture because it is thought to
both absorb impurities and take them away. What the Ganges
removes, however, is not necessarily physical dirt, but symbolic dirt; it
wipes away the sins of the bather, not just of the present, but of a
lifetime.
A popular paean to the Ganges is the ”Ganga Lahiri”
composed by a seventeenth century poet Jagannatha who, legend has it, was
turned out of his Hindu Brahmin caste for carrying on an affair with a Muslim
woman. Having attempted futilely to be rehabilitated within the Hindu fold,
the poet finally appeals to Ganga, the hope
of the hopeless, and the comforter of last resort. Along with his beloved,
Jagannatha sits at the top of the flight of steps leading to the water at the
famous Panchganga Ghat in Varanasi. As he recites each verse of the
poem, the water of the Ganges rises up one
step, until in the end it envelops the lovers and carry them away. ”I
come to you as a child to his mother,” begins the Ganga Lahiri.
“I come as an orphan to you, moist with love
I come without refuge to you, giver of sacred
rest.
I come a fallen man to you, uplifter of all.
I come undone by disease to you, the perfect
physician.
I come, my heart dry with thirst, to you, ocean
of sweet wine.
Do with me whatever you will.”
The grey-haired man, Susheel, shows an appreciation far
deeper than the other bathers, who have come to wash their sins away. He has
come before Ganga Mata, as a loving son comes before a mother to ask for love
and protection. He stands there pouring his pure love in its waters, and through
its magical power trying to appease her to create a place where he would dock
and rest. The love expressed in his verse not only flows at the surface of
water caressing the underwater creatures, but yearns for a permanent
residence in its embrace. The poet knows that the river is the protector of
life, and comes to present his deep respect.
“I have come to your shore
Not just to sharpen my nerves with your waves
Not just to play with the fishes in you
Not just to have a boat ride in the wee hours
Not even to wash my sins
And to be pure again;
… I want a small moorage
In an island created by you.
Allow me to have my way, O Suranadi!
Grant me my wish, O Girija!” (“Ganga Mata – A Prayer”, p. 1)
Since Ganga had
descended from heaven to earth, she is also the vehicle of ascent, from
earth to heaven. As the Triloka-patha-gamini,
(Skt. triloka= “three
worlds”, patha =
“road”, gamini = “one who
travels”) of the Hindu tradition, she flows in heaven, earth, and
the netherworld, and, consequently, is a “tirtha,” or crossing point of all beings, the living as well as
the dead. It is for this reason that the story of the avatarana is told at Shraddha ceremonies for the deceased
in Hinduism, and Ganges water is used
in Vedic rituals after death. Among all hymns devoted to the Ganges, there are none more popular than the ones
expressing the worshipers wish to breathe his last surrounded by her waters.
Hindus from all over will bring their dead. Whether a
body or just ashes, the water of the Ganga
is needed to reach Pitriloka, the
World of the Ancestors. Just as in the myth with King Sagar’s 60,000 sons who
attained heaven by Ganga pouring down her water upon their ashes, so the same
waters of Ganga are needed for the dead in
the Hindu belief today. Without this, the dead will exist only in a limbo of
suffering, and would be troublesome spirits to those still living on earth.
The waters of the Ganges are
called amrita, the “nectar of immortality”. And our poet sings:
“Fire consumes sins.
Fire consumes virtues.
After purgation
Nothing remains.
Brahma is revealed.” (“Purgation V”, p. 83)
Cremation anywhere along the Ganges
is desirable. If that is not possible, then the relatives might later bring
the ashes of the deceased to the Ganges.
Sometimes, if a family cannot afford firewood for cremation, a half-burned
corpse is thrown into the water. A verse from the Mahabharata promises, “If
only the bone of a person should touch the water of the Ganges,
that person shall dwell, honoured, in heaven.” No place along her banks is
more longed for at the moment of death by Hindus than Varanasi, the Great Cremation Ground,
or Mahashmshana. Those who are lucky enough to die in Varanasi,
are cremated on the banks of the Ganges, and
are granted instant salvation. If the death has occurred elsewhere,
salvation can be achieved by immersing the ashes in the Ganges. If
the ashes have been immersed in another body of water, a relative can still
gain salvation for the deceased by journeying to the Ganges, if possible
during the lunar “fortnight of the ancestors” in the Hindu calendar month
of Ashwin (September or October), and performing the Shraddha rites. Hindus also
perform pinda pradana, a rite
for the dead, in which balls of rice and sesame seed are offered to the Ganges while the names of the deceased relatives are
recited. Every sesame seed in every ball thus offered, according to one
story, assures a thousand years of heavenly salvation for the each relative.
In the final verses of his book, Susheel makes a
pilgrimage to Varanasi,
and thus encloses the divine circle of life and death, leaving us protected
in the embrace of the holy Mother Ganga.
“I turn to you, O Varanasi,
In the moments of anxiety
When faith has been lost
And love not found
In the streets of London
And democracy has been strangled
On the pavements of Washington.
Strolling on the roads
A bull stares at me
And a boatman beckons me.
The calm water of the Ganges
Tempts me to watch the floating lamps
The morning mist enwraps me with music.
The call of the gong from Shivalaya
The enthralling shouts, ‘Har har Gange’
The exuberant dance, ‘Har har Mahadev’
The melodious violin, ‘Jai Bhole Ki’
The enchanting hymns in
The rapturous holi
Beckon me to your lap, O Varanasi!”
(“Liberation at Varanasi”,
p. 92)
Unfortunately, with all the life the Ganges
brings, pollution is also brought. Some of the worst waterborne diseases are
dysentery, hepatitis, and cholera. Money is being raised by the government
and other groups such as the “Swatcha
Ganga” to clean the Ganges. None the less,
the Ganges is still the purifying waters for
the Hindus of India. Our hero doesn’t stay silent about this, and by chanting
calls upon the awakening of his peers.
“From Kolkata to Gangotri
Just one scene —
Poverty, squalor, dirt, sloth and melancholy.
Everyone is weeping bitterly.
Everyone is crying hoarsely.
Everyone is worried knowingly.
No one has a solution!
Yes, India is one!
United we stand,
Divided we fall.” (“Ganga
Mata – A Prayer”, p. 9)
The Tehri Dam is a multi-purpose rock and
earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River.
The Tehri Dam withholds a reservoir for irrigation, municipal water
supply and the generation of hydroelectricity. The Tehri Dam has been
the object of protests by environmental organizations and local people of the
region. In addition to the human rights concerns, the project has spurred
concerns about the environmental consequences of locating a large dam in the
fragile ecosystem of the Himalayan foothills. There are
further concerns regarding the dam’s geological stability. The Tehri dam is
located in the Central Himalayan Seismic Gap, a major geologic
fault zone. This region was the site of a
6.8 magnitude earthquake in October 1991, with
an epicentre 500 kilometres (310 mi) from the location of the
dam. Were such a catastrophe to occur, the potentially resulting dam-break
would submerge numerous towns downstream, whose populations total near half a
million.
The grey-haired man stands at the bank of the tamed river
and wonders why it puts up with the abuse knowing that its power surpasses
the mundane problems of mortals. He sees the river as a prisoner of its own
people, and as a rape victim, who suffers silently. Could it be that the
mother, through the act of absolute love, willingly shares the suffering with
her children who are in spiritual chains and spiritually raped? The river is
a mirror in front of which the world stands and watches the reflection of its
face. Being a conscientious child who reached full maturity, the poet begs
the mother to react, believing that by doing so, she would bring salvation to
her children.
“Flow freely again
Overflow again
Dance rhythmically again
Be not bound by embankments and dams.
Let all power projects
Be shelved for ever.” (“Ganga
Mata – A Prayer”, pp. 4-5)
It is sometimes believed that the river will finally dry
up at the end of Kali Yuga (the era of darkness, the current era)
just as with the Sarasvati river, and this era will end. Next in
(cyclic) order will be the Satya Yuga or the Era of Truth. The poet
waits piously in meditation by the river in Varanasi.
“If the world can survive
Through wars
If the world can survive
Through penury
If the world can survive
Through discrimination
If the world can survive
Through pollution
If the world can survive
Through pestilences
If the world can survive
Through ravages
If I can just survive by meditation
If I can just survive by ‘Shivoham’.
It is a call to find answers
On the banks of the Ganges
and
In thy narrow streets
That brings me to you, O Varanasi.”
(“Liberation at Varanasi”,
p. 92)
The Vicious Circle
The harmonious circle of life and death has shifted from
the caring embrace of the Mother Ganges to a circle created by a new kind of
deity. New age is the age of materialism – the cruellest deity humanity ever
came face to face with. It cannot be controlled by the acts of homeopathic or
sympathetic magic. It cannot be propitiated by mantras or prayers, for it
cares not for the spiritual ascent of humanity.
This deity shrouds its daunting face with the veil of
good intentions, and goodwill to free the oppressed nations; it plants the
seeds of disunion and waters them with blood of the fathers and sons whose
bones are often scattered across the continents far from their homelands. It
waters these seeds with the tears of mothers and daughters whipped by the
pain often being oppressed themselves. It writes its myths across the barren
lands after deforestation, across the scales of dead fish and the feathers
and furs of extinct animal species. Its voice can be heard in the rumbling stomachs
of starving children. Hand in hand with science, as a child at leisure, it
blissfully whistles with the sound of the A-bomb and artillery. Brave is the
poet who stands before it.
The Unveiling
It is generally accepted that the concepts of democracy
and constitution were created in one particular place and time – identified
as Ancient Athens circa 508 BC. There is evidence to suggest that
democratic forms of government, in a broad sense, may have existed in several
areas of the world well before the turn of the 5th century.
Within that broad sense it is plausible to assume that
democracy in one form or another arises naturally in any well-bonded group,
such as a tribe. This is tribalism or primitive
democracy. A primitive democracy is identified in small communities or
villages when the following take place: face-to-face discussion in the
village council or a headman whose decisions are supported by village elders
or other cooperative modes of government. Nevertheless, on larger scale
sharper contrasts arise when the village and the city are examined as
political communities. In urban governments, all other forms of rule
– monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, and oligarchy – have
flourished.
India
laid its democratic foundations as early as the sixth century BCE in the form
of the independent “republics” of India, sanghas and ganas.
At the head was a monarch, usually called raja and together with him, a deliberative assembly. The
monarch was elected by the gana and
he belonged to a family of the noble K’satriya Varna. The monarch
coordinated his activities with the assembly and in some states along with a
council of other nobles. The assembly met regularly in which at least in some
states attendance was open to all free men, and discussed all major state
decisions. It had also full financial, administrative, and judicial
authority.
Today, Indian is the largest democracy in the world. It
is a fascinating country where people of many different communities and
religions live together in unity. Indian population is polygenetic and is an
amazing amalgamation of various races and cultures. Our poet seems to confirm
this when stating:
“Believers of various faiths
Users of so many tongues
Eaters of countless varieties of food
Dwell here in infinitum.
Life in coexistence is
Not an ancient slogan only
But a mantra
Practised by one and all.” (“A Poem for My
Country”, p. 62)
However, opportunism and corruption have crept inside
politics and brought in many problems with them, and India is no
exception to this. There is inequality in social, economic and political
sphere. Illiteracy is only one of the problems. Even after more than sixty
years of Independence,
one fourth of the population today goes to bed with an empty stomach, live
below the poverty line without access to safe and clean drinking water,
sanitation or proper health facilities. Governments have come and gone,
politics have been framed and implemented, the large amounts of rupees have
been spent, yet many people are still struggling for existence. Casteism is still
pronounced. Untouchability remains abolished only in theory with frequent
newspapers reports of Dalits being denied entry to temples or other public
places. Violence has been taken a serious turn in country – Bandhs, strikes
and terrorist activities have become a common affair. And so, there are two
worlds coexisting within the vast country, and the poet offers the visitor to
take a look at the other not so democratic one:
“The land offers you a sight of your choice --
A weeping child, destitute mother, naked faqir
Hungry farmer, homeless engineer,
Drug-addict father, free boarding house,
Free langar
beseeching an empty belly,
A discourse on self and soul, this world and
that world.” (“A Poem for My Country”, p. 63)
But India,
as a democratic country, has progressed in many aspects. It has archived
self-sufficiency in food grains as a result of the green revolution. People
vote for change whenever a government fails to come up to the expectations of
the people. India
has been a successful democratic country only because the people are
law-abiding, self-disciplined and have the sense of social and moral
responsibilities. Thus, feeling the urge to act, our poet wrestles with the
core concepts of democracy, and wonders what will become of it:
“In the beginning is my end.
And yours, O democracy?
You shout the people’s voice
You proclaim the lowly’s rights
You denounce the high and mighty
You promise food and shelter
You provide vote and choice
You showcase quality and liberty.” (“Democracy:
Old and New”, p. 70)
To his mind, there are a number of questions waiting to
be answered:
“Where is the voice of Iraq?
Where is the voice of Vietnam?
Where is the voice of Afghanistan?
Where is the voice of the multitude?
Where have the arrows of Red Indians flown?
Where have the Brahmins of Goa gone?
Where is the Buddha in Bamiyan?
Why are the poisonous cigars sent to Cuba?
Why is Saddam allowed of bomb Kuwait?
Why are the innocents killed in Hiroshima?
Why has a Tony always to toe a Bush?
Why are stories planted against Emelda?
Why is a Mandela taken prisoner?
Why is Ceauşescu killed overnight?
Why is the UNO bulldozed?
Why does the International Court of Justice
Cease to be just?” (“Democracy: Old and New”,
p. 70)
Having found no definite answers and feeling overwhelmed
by the questions of why the world democracy has taken such a dramatic turn
for the worse, our hero “remains couched in his cushioned sofa, and ponders
over the philosophy of democracy”. One
can see the grey-haired teacher silently watching television in his
living-room filled with book shelves, and piles of his students’ papers and
daily newspapers on the coffee-table, while the storm of emotions and
thoughts sweeps through his mind:
“When the intact skulls of the
Young innocent children are found
In the big drain behind the house,
…When the mothers in the homes
Are happy to abort female foetuses
In a clinic on the highway,
When the fathers stop
To keep a count of their children
Playing in parks,
When the old parents
Come out displaying their bruises
In the open courts,
When the students
Hit their teachers to their doom
On the premises of their colleges,
When the degrees
Are rendered worth rough papers
By those who award them,
Be sure you’ve reached India,
You have reached my abode, O Yaksha!” (“Nithari
and Beyond”, pp. 56-57)
The Nithari serial murders took place in the house of
businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Nithari, India in
2005 and 2006. His servant Surender Koli has been convicted of four murders
and sentenced to death. The police also detained a maid named Maya whom
they suspected had a hand in procuring women for the businessman. The two
accused in the case were in police custody while the skeletal remains of the
young children were being unearthed from behind and in front of Pandher’s
residence. Young girls constituted the majority of victims. There were 19
skulls in all, 16 complete and 3 damaged. Surender Koli, the manservant,
after strangling the victims, severed their heads and threw them in the drain
behind the house of his employer. Both the accused Moninder Singh Pandher and
his domestic help Surender Koli were given death sentence in 2009,
but in 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Surender Koli.
Pandher faces trial in five more cases out of the remaining 12, and could be
re-sentenced to death if found guilty in any of those killings. The same day
Pandher was acquitted, the Allahabad
high court upheld the death sentence for Surender Koli.
When it comes to children, India has the world’s largest
child population, but they are faced with some very serious problems, such as
illiteracy, forced labour, and high mortality rates. High cost of
private education and need to work to support their families and
little interest in studies are the reasons given by 3 in every four drop-outs
as the reason they leave. More than 50 per cent of girls fail to enrol in
school; those that do are likely to drop out by the age of 12. A study found
that children were sent to work as domestic help by compulsion and not by
choice, mostly by parents, but with recruiter playing a crucial role in
influencing decision. Poor and bonded families often “sell” their children to
contractors who promise lucrative jobs in the cities and the children end up
being employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work. Many run away and find
a life on the streets.
Three million girls born in India do not see their fifteenth
birthday, and a million of them are unable to survive even their first
birthday. Every sixth girl child’s death is due to gender discrimination.
According to a recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India’s population as a result
of systematic gender discrimination. The accepted reason for such a
disparity is the practice of female infanticide, prompted by the existence of
a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal of money
when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth of a girl child
can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship. This
anti-female bias is by no means limited to poor families. Much of the
discrimination is to do with cultural beliefs and social norms.
Dowry or Dahej is
the payment in cash or/and kind by the bride’s family to the bridegroom’s
family along with the giving away of the bride (called Kanyadaan). Kanyadanam
is an important part of Hindu marital rites. Kanya means daughter, and dana means gift. It originated in upper caste families as
the wedding gift to the bride from her family. The dowry was later given
to help with marriage expenses and became a form of insurance in the case
that her in-laws mistreated her. Although the dowry was legally prohibited in
1961, it continues to be highly institutionalized. The groom often
demands a dowry consisting of a large sum of money, farm animals, furniture,
and electronics.
When the dowry amount is not considered sufficient or is
not forthcoming, the bride is often harassed, abused and made miserable. This
abuse can escalate to the point where the husband or his family burn the
bride, often by pouring kerosene on her and lighting it, usually killing her.
Our poet feels the urge to speak to the young brides
facing this form of abuse, reminding both her and her groom what the beauty
of marriage really is:
“Young brides are not meant for burning
Like sandal wood in a yajña or like the
Gas emitted from Mathura refinery
The flames of which leap to devour the sky.
…
A bride belongs to a groom.
She is a flute to be played on
She is a harmonium to produce a rhythm.
She is a synthesizer to modulate a discordant
note.
She is the tune of a young heart,
Full of music and meaning
Signifying harmony.” (“For a Bride Who Thinks
of Suicide”, pp. 60-61)
The official records of these incidents are low because
they are often reported as accidents or suicides by the family. In Delhi, a woman is
burned to death almost every twelve hours. In 1988, 2,209 women were killed
in dowry related incidents and in 1990, the number rose to 4,835. It is
important to reiterate that these are official records, which are immensely
under reported. The lack of official registration of this crime is apparent
in Delhi,
where ninety percent of cases of women burnt were recorded as accidents, five
percent as suicide and only the remaining five percent were shown as murder.
Being a witness to such disharmony in the outer world,
the poet focuses on the people and things which influenced the formation of
his own personality. Whose knowledge and wisdom was he to harvest in order to
overcome the strife, but of those closest to him? He turns to his grandfather
whose stories he enjoyed listening to when he was a boy. He was a man whom
people disliked for “holding his head high despite being poor”,
and as any father would be, he was deeply concerned for his son living in a
similar situation, but losing his dignity. The grandson is left to ponder:
“Is it really possible for one
To remain poor and
Also to hold the head high?” (“Dilemma”, p. 17)
He also recalls his uncle who was sent off to fight in Basra, and feels the
similar destiny awaits him:
“Why did my uncle go to Basra
To fight a war or
To earn money for his family
I don’t know.
…
I wish I could see his clothes
And could keep them in a locked trunk.
Sometimes to kneel there, sometimes
To hear stories about the war front,
To know him well: to feel his body odour
To feel the actual shape of his arm and wrist.
An olive green signal beckons me
To tread his path.
I, too, have to earn bread for my family.”
(“Vicious Circle”, p. 18)
The forces of British India
played a major role in both World Wars. Nearly 1,700,000 men and women of the
Commonwealth including some 169,700 from the forces of undivided British India died in the 1914-18 and 1939-45 Wars. In
World War I, the strength of the British Indian Army rose to one million and
in World War II to two and half million. During World War I, it fought in China, France
and Belgium (Flanders), in
Mesopotamia against Turkey,
Iraq, Iran, Egypt,
Palestine,
Gallipoliandin East Africa. Basra Memorial in Iraq has the largest 33,367
British Indian soldiers commemoration by Memorial.
Prophet Mohammed said: “The people will establish cities,
Anas, and one of them will be called al-Basrah or al-Busayrah. If you should
pass by it or enter it, avoid its salt-marshes, its Kall, its market,
and the gate of its commanders, and keep to its environs, for the earth will
swallow some people up, pelting rain will fall and earthquakes will take
place in it, and there will be people who will spend the night in it and
become apes and swine in the morning. “
Basra is the capital
of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It
stands in a fertile agricultural region. The area surrounding Basra has substantial
large petroleum resources and many oil wells. Iraq has the world’s fourth largest oil
reserves estimated to be more than 115 billion barrels, mostly found in Basra. 80% of Basra’s oil bearing
fields is unexplored.
Historian David Omissi’s book on the Indian Army
during the Great War, The Sepoy and the Raj: The Indian Army 1860-1940,
presents pieces of Indian soldier narrative not far off from the now-familiar
agonies of American men returning from Iraq. The following is an excerpt
on Indian soldier morale both in France
and Mesopotamia:
More and more letters from men in the trenches
betrayed ‘undeniable evidence of depression,’ while those written by the
wounded from British hospital were often hopeless in tone. ‘Many of the men
show a tendency to break into poetry,’ remarked the censor, ‘which I am
inclined to regard as a sign of mental disquietude’. Of 220 letters from injured
soldiers examined by the censor in January 1915, only fifteen displayed what
he termed ‘an admirable spirit.’ Twenty-eight had been written by despairing
men who clearly regarded themselves as dead already; many of the remainder
gave a ‘melancholy impression of fatalistic resignation.’ Morale picked up a
little in the summer of 1915, but another general collapse was clearly
imminent in the autumn as the weather cooed and victory seemed as distant as
ever.
The bad news which came from India
compounded the worries of the men. They learned of the plague which afflicted
the Punjab in the spring of 1915. Men grew
anxious for the well-being of their families when they heard, second hand,
that ‘the rain has spoiled the crops, and in the Doab the dacoits have ruined
the place.’ One soldier’s wife told him bluntly, ‘I have been starving for
lack of food.’ Long separations strained marriages, and by July 1915 many
letters were filled with conjugal reproaches. One man was warned, ‘your
honour is in danger. If you are a Pathan, and have any pride, look to you
wife.’ Betrothals were broken off, and some wives, despairing that their men
would ever return, took new husbands. ‘When our thoughts turn to our homes
our hearts become soft like wax,’ wrote one Muslim trooper.
As for the women in Susheel’s family, his grandmother
proves to be the true guardian of tradition and has some wise answers for her
grandson:
“When I went to meet her last
The arthritis
Had impaired her joints and she protested
When I suggested a knee replacement
At my new mansion in Massachusetts.
She preferred to spend her time before Lord
Ganesha
Asking for a peaceful time for me -
Me - whom she couldn’t see anymore -
She had lost her eyesight.
She refused to accompany me saying
‘It was a country of malechhas.’
‘But the dollars are colourful.’
I had protested. ‘You be happy with your notes.
I’m happy with my Krishna
– I give him butter.
And, he plays his flute for me. I’m happy.’ “
(“Granny”, p. 75)
It comes as no surprise then, that the poet camouflages
himself when answering that he is fine and reprimands himself for not being
honest; or feels like being a part of the masquerade, having been made to
cleanse himself and become presentable to the society. He finds it
hypocritical, since it is the inner cleanliness to which a man should strive
for. He says:
“It is better
My wife doesn’t
Ask me questions
And lets me remain
A husband.
My sons do not
Ask me questions
And let me remain
A father.” (“Contemplation II”, pp. 79-80)
This is not because he feels safe and at ease lulled by
the everyday decorum. It is because he would not want to burden his loved
ones by his own view of the corrupt world. Being a husband and a father, and
influenced by the dignity of his grandfather and the bravery of his uncle, he
considers it to be his duty to carry the burden of the future of his family
himself. Instructed by the wisdom of his grandmother, he is both grateful for
having received the greatest gift a man could hope for and at the same time,
since being aware of the decay of lives of many others, fearful of losing it:
“God has been very kind to me
He allowed me to have a dream
About plants, animals, creatures,
Colleagues, family and this life.
Sometimes I fear if the boundless dream
May come true.
Sometimes I pray fervently for
The sparkling dream coming true.
God has granted all my wishes.
How long will God keep my life
Enriched and embellished in a harrowing world
I sometimes wonder.” (“Purgation IV”, p. 82)
His is the life of self-examination, contemplation and
constant attempt to reach the truth in its purest form. At times, he feels as
if he is too slow, but he eagerly wishes to complete his life’s task, and
become a useful member of humanity:
“How long have I been sleeping?
When will the dawn of realization take place
To catapult me into creativity
Shedding off the burden of nothingness.”
(“Strings”, p. 22)
This quest proves to be the process of ups and downs, but
even when he feels he has failed, he refuses to give up, knowing deep down
that he is treading the right path:
“Zipping unzipping the mantra
Doesn’t help.
It slips
On the moss.
No chances of my salvation.
I remain a ruffian.
I have once again
Failed God.” (“Meditation”, p. 25)
Mighty is the realisation that even the smallest of
objects, carry in them the seed of enlightenment. The growing mind of even
one brave poet can make the world a better place through the acts of selfless
love.
“When
The grain--
Minor in size, unimportant in colour
Less than a gram or two in weight
Sprouts to make a field green
To feed the hungry,
I am full of hope
By my Lord.” (“Gifts”, p. 58)
Great is the master who obtained the knowledge of
techniques performed to unlock the doors to the liberation of mind. The
greatest one is he who shares the wisdom with his followers and students.
Susheel Kumar Sharma, the kindest of teachers, shares the wisdom he gained
journeying far and wide through the vast expanses of mind, and reveals to
those who travelled with him the unveiled world of freedom and harmony:
“I’ve come a long way
To learn this art
Of sitting still and
Of watching the breath
And turning the back on
The baggage of nostalgic memories.
The world is at my door steps.
People don’t salute me anymore
They just fall down on their knees
And, bow down to touch my feet
And, seek my blessings
As they did to Buddha.
The world will live longer now,
There won’t be any War
Over the issue of water
Nor, to capture Oil Fields
Even the power of
Atom will remain dormant.
Neither will be required space-ships
Nor will be required space-covers.
The earth, my earth, has become
A safer heaven
I thank you Lord
For teaching me
To sit silently.
I thank you Buddha
For teaching me
To sit silently.” (“Hope is the Last Thing to
Be Lost, IV”, pp. 87-88)
There Are No Doors
After taking a stroll with the kind teacher, I went home
to visit my Father. I was sitting on the porch and he made us some coffee. We
were sitting in silence. The chirping of birds was mixing with the sound of a
neighbour cutting wood and the squealing of wheelbarrow which my stepmother
used while pruning the roses heads which withered in heat. Before the house,
there was a recently built Christian church magnificently white with the
golden cross reflecting the sunlight. Behind me, the forest trees danced in
the soft breeze. The conversation started flowing through the hot
early-summer air. I mentioned buying some curcuma spice which I read was good
for general wellbeing. My Father patiently nodded while I was explaining all
of its benefits for the body. He knew I was about to reveal more and so
looked at me inquisitively. I smiled. He went inside and brought out some
books of Hindu poetry and teachings, and a little box. I drank my coffee
while he was turning the pages. “I will read you a poem which was my
favourite when I was about your age,” he said. It was the Creation Hymn.
There was nothing then, nor a thing did not be,
Neither the airy space, nor the sky above it.
But what was the thing that embraced
everything?
And where? On whose lap it were?
Was it the water? The water without end?
There was no death or life without end.
Not a sign to divide the night from a day.
The One breathed without a breath
And in itself,
In It nothing and not a thing apart It.
In the beginning it was dark, and darkness
enclosed the dark,
Everything without a form like the water of a
flood.
And It in the void, rich with life,
Was born out of its yearning’s spark.
And It bore love, and the love conceived a
thought.
The wise through the thought dived into the
heart
And knew the kin and saw the bond
Which linked nothingness with existence.
And they drew horizontally the divide.
What was up, and what went down?
The fruit-bearing might, the might giving
strength,
Below was the urge of growth, above the
bestowal one.
Who can really know and who can tell us well
Out of what everything came, where from did it
emanate?
For gods came when the world was made:
Who can thus foretell where from all befell?
And what is It, the great origination,
And was the world created, or was it not
By the One who resides with the highest skies:
He is the one who knows, but perhaps even He
knows not.(Rig-Veda, X, 129)
(The hymn was originally translated into Croatian by
Vesna Krmpotić, and I took the liberty of translating it into English.)
He handed me the box, and in it laid the first hair cut
off when I was a little girl – three strands interwoven in a braid. I kissed
my Father on the hand. He put it on my head.
References:
Books:
1. Cirlot, J. E. A Dictionary of Symbols. New
York : Philosophical Library, 1983.
2. Cooper, J.C.
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.
3. Frazer, Sir James G. The Golden Bough. London:
Wordsworth, 1993.
4. Hammenstede, Dom Albert O.S.B. Orate Fratres A Liturgical Review.
Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1943.
5.
Julien, Nadia.
The Mammoth Dictionary of
Symbols, London
: Robinson, 1996.
6. Krmpotić, Vesna. Hiljadu lotosa (A Thousand Lotuses). Belgrade: Nolit, 1987
7. Mansukhani, Gobind Singh. A Book of Sikh
Studies. Delhi:
National Book Shop, 1989.
8. Norelli-Bachelet, Patrizia. “The Ganges and
the “River of January”, New Way: A Study in Rise and Establishment
of a Gnostic Society. Vol.
2, London: Aeon
Books, 1981.
9. Omissi, David “The Sepoy and the Raj: The
Indian Army 1860-1940 Houndmills: Macmillan, 1994.
10. Petrović,
Sreten. Srpska mitologija: u verovanju,
običajima i rituali (Serbian mythology – beliefs, customs and rituals). Beograd: Narodna knjiga Alfa, 2004.
11. Sharma,
Susheel Kumar. The Door is Half Open.
New Delhi:
Adhyayan Publishers & Distributors. 2012
12. Virk,
G. S. Spiritual Book: True name of God. http://www.heavenlygardens.org/Onkar/indexonkar.htm
Research articles, essays and interviews:
1. Dendooven, Dominiek Historical facts about the
Western Front, The Documentary Center of Flanders Fields Museum, Ieper (Belgium)
2. Gupta, Sourabh “Hindu Death Rituals”, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hindu-death-rituals.html
3. Swami Adiswarananda “Hinduism: The Human
Individual”, http://www.ramakrishna.org/activities/message/weekly_message40.htm
4. Swami Nishchalananda Saraswati. “The Brahma
Randhra”. http://www.mandalayoga.net/index-newsletter-en-brahma_randhra.html
5. Swami Nityasthananda. “Meditation according to
Hinduism” . http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/May2005_meditation_according_to_hinduism.php
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