CHAPTER XVI
THE FOUR GOALS OF LIFE
IN HINDU THOUGHT AS PRINCIPLES
FOR A CIVIL SOCIETY
VARGHESE MANIMALA
India as a nation is a unity of diverse cultures, races and languages. The unity and the diversity that exists in this subcontinent always has been a cause of wonder for sociologists and anthropologists. The capacity of India to absorb diverse and conflicting views and religions into its own texture has been quite remarkable. From sporadic communal, linguistic, religious and regional tensions India has emerged more powerful and remains a united nation. Deep in the heart of every Indian there is a pride that he or she belongs to a nation with an ancient culture. One feels it an obligation to hold to this identity whatever may be the unhealthy attitudes promoted by small minorities. Geographically and culturally India is so varied that to speak of an Indian civilization and Indian culture may sound meaningless, yet the fact remains there was a sense in which India was considered as the land of ‘Hindus’, people belonging to the Indus. From time immemorial India was recognized as a nation, though it consisted of many independent kingdoms. Perhaps the various invasions that took place helped the people to build up this idea.
The Indus civilization is almost 4,000 years old. The name ‘India’ came from the river Sindhu; as the Persians found it difficult to pronounce the initial ‘s’, they called it Hindu. Another name given to India is Bharath, the land belonging to the legendary good ruler Bharatha (originally Bhrathvara). With the Muslim invasion the Persian name returned in the form of Hindustan, and those of its inhabitants who followed the old religion became known as Hindus.
Geological upheavals brought about the formation of this subcontinent in such wise that it is surrounded by mountains and seas. The snow-capped Himalayas, stretching from Burma to Baluchistan have held back the nomadic hordes of Central Asia, while these same mountains catch the rains with their life-giving waters. Three seas, with eastern and western ghats, surround her southern plateau and provide her with sufficient open doors for cultural and commercial contacts with the outside world. There are no frontiers within India’s borders to disrupt the unity of her life. Just as nature made India one, India’s history is a continuous movement towards attainment of social, political and spiritual unity. There is a close relationship between India’s geography and its social and political evolution. Some say that in India, the phenomena of nature and the total dependence on the monsoon helped to form the character of the peoples. It has been suggested that the Indian character has tended to be fatalistic and quietistic, accepting fortune and misfortune without complaint.
1
THE ARYAN INVASION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE RG VEDIC CULTURE
The invaders of India called themselves Aryas, which is generally anglicized as Aryans. The word arya in Sanskrit and in most Indian tongues mean "free-born," "of noble character," or a member of the three higher castes, changing its meaning over the centuries. The name was also used by the ancient Persians and survives in the word Iran, of which eire is cognate. Though used in later days as the equivalent of the formal term of respect `sir’, at the earliest stage it designated some special tribe or tribes as an ethnic group. Most histories of India begin with these ancient Aryans. The hideous racial implication given to `Aryan’ by the late Nazi regime and its official philosophy has increased the confusion.
2The Aryan invasion of India was not a single concerted action, but covered centuries and involved many tribes, perhaps not all of the same race and language. After the fall of the Indus cities, Mohanjandaro and Harappa, they lived not in cities, but in villages, and brought with them their patrilinear family system, their worship of sky gods and their horses and chariots. In most lands where they settled their original language gradually adapted to the tongues of the conquered people. In fact, the outstanding Aryan feature, the one characteristic that justifies the name for a large group of people is a common family of languages. Sanskrit, Latin and Greek were the classical Aryan languages. Some European linguists concluded more than a century ago that it was ridiculous to speak of an Aryan race; and that Aryan was to be taken as a linguistic term with no reference to ethnic unity. But there actually were people in antiquity who called themselves Aryans and were called Aryans by others. In his inscriptions, the Achaemenid Emperor Darius I speaks of himself as "an Achaemenid (Hakh manisiya), Persian (Persa), son of a Persian, an Aryan of Aryan descent". Therefore the Aryans were once a historic assemblage of human beings including both the Achaemenid clan and the Persian tribe.
3The oldest Indian documents, the sacred Vedas, speak of the Aryans as the people who venerated the gods worshipped in the Vedas. The priests of many of the tribes who entered India had composed poems to be sung at sacrifices. The hymns composed by their priests in their new home were carefully handed down by word of mouth, and early in the first Millennium B.C. were collected and arranged. Even when the art of writing was widely known in India the hymns were rarely written, but, thanks to the brilliant feats of memory of many generations of Brahmins, and the extreme sanctity which the hymns were thought to possess, they survive to the present day. From internal evidence, they appear not to have been seriously tampered with for nearly 3000 years. This great collection of hymns is the Rg Veda, still in theory the most sacred of numerous sacred texts of the Hindus.
The periods of the Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanisads are a sort of transition from prehistory to history. If history, as distinct from archeology, is the study of the past from written sources, then India’s history begins with the Aryans. The Rg Veda, and the great body of oral religious literature which followed it in the first half of the Millennium B.C., belong to the living Hindu tradition. The vedic hymns are still recited at weddings and funerals and in the daily devotions of the brahmin. Thus they form part of historical India, and do not belong to her buried prehistoric past. But they tell us very little about the great events of the time, except in irritatingly vague incidental references. Even on social conditions their information is scant; only on religion and thought is the historian more fully informed.
4Four ‘ends’ or goals, commonly known as purusarthas, underlie the Hindu attitude to life and daily conduct. The first of these, dharma, is characterized by righteousness, duty and virtue. There are other activities through which one seeks to gain something for oneself or to pursue one’s own pleasure. When the object of this activity is of some material gain, it is called artha; when it is love or pleasure, it is kama. Finally there is the renunciation of all these activities in order to devote oneself to religious or spiritual activities with the aim of liberating oneself from the worldly life; this is moksa. These four are referred to as "the tetrad" (caturvarga).
5
DHARMA (DUTY): THE FIRST GOAL OF LIFE
Dharma is very much related to karma: the former means duty which the latter expresses in terms of action. Dharma is derived from the root dhr- (or dh-) meaning "to support, to hold together, bear, carry, maintain, preserve," etc., and refers to the religio-ethico ideal which may be translated as "virtue." The basic meaning of dharma is the moral law, which sustains the world, human society and the individual. Thus, it replaced the vedic word ta, the principle of cosmic ethical interdependence.
6 Though generally it refers to religiously ordained duty, it has other meanings as well, such as morality, right conduct or the rules of conduct (mores, customs, codes or laws) of a group. When Upanisadic mysticism and `quietism’ came to be included in the religio-ethical ideal, dharma was differentiated between activity (pravrtti) and retirement from life (nivrtti). Nivrti itself then became a separate end of man, called moksa or spiritual liberation. Dharma now refers not to the whole of religion, but to all ritual activities and such ethical duties and ideals as right, righteousness, virtue, justice, property, morality, beneficence and nonviolence. Dharma is a key facet of Hindu culture, which itself is designated Sanatana Dharma, the eternal dharma.In the Hindu tradition the scriptures are divided into sruti and smrti, the former being considered divine revelation and having greater authority than the latter. The terms literally mean "that which is heard" and "that which is remembered," respectively. Thus smrti meaning "(human) tradition" is based on sruti from which it derives its authority. It is best represented in the lawbooks: the earlier Aphorisms on the Domestic Ritual (Grhya Sutras) and Aphorisms on Dharma (Dharma Sutras) in prose, and later in verse called Dharma Sastras and related texts. The most famous of these latter codes are the Lawbook of Manu (Manu Smrti) and that of Yajnavalkya (Yajnavalkya Smrti). The major period of smrti covers roughly a thousand years (c 500 B.C.-500 c A.D.). Smrti gave India an integrated philosophy of life and social organization which stood the tests, on the one hand, of foreign invasions and rule over several centuries, and, on the other, of the heterodox religions, furnishing a pattern and integration for both.
The central concept elaborated and emphasized by smrti was dharma. The word has been in use since Rg vedic times, and has denoted such different ideas as vedic ritual, ethical conduct, caste rules, and civil and criminal law. The concept of dharma is all-comprehensive and, broadly speaking, may be said to comprise precepts which aim at securing the material and spiritual sustenance and growth of the individual and society. Another important characteristic which deserves special note is that it was not regarded as static: the content of dharma often changed in the changing contexts of time, place and social environment.
In spite of the comprehensive character of dharma, in its most common connotation it was limited to two principal ideals, namely, the organization of social life through well-defined and well-regulated classes (varnas) and the organization of an individual’s life within those classes into definite stages (asramas). Thus in popular parlance dharma came almost to mean simply varna shramadharma, that is, the dharmas (ordained duties) of the four classes and four stages of life.
Organization of Society and Stages of Life
The system of four classes has come to be regarded as the most essential feature of Brahmanic society. Even though later Hinduism differs from Brahmanism in many respects, it has scrupulously preserved this peculiar social organization. Though the word varna-vyavastha is generally translated as ‘caste system’, it should be remembered that strictly speaking varna does not denote caste as we understand it today. The caste system is jativyavastha, which, no doubt, represents a ramification of the original system of classes. It is well nigh impossible historically to discover its origin. The early Brahmanic texts furnish us with very little information. Their aim avowedly was to glorify and defend the social organization governed by the concepts of classes and castes. They either speak of the divine origin of those social phenomena or give some mythical accounts of them. Such a complex social phenomenon as the caste system must be an interaction of a variety of factors.
The word varna means "color or complexion," which itself would indicate that one of these basic factors was racial distinction. In the Rg Veda there are references to the arya-varna, "the aryan color" and the dasa-vara "the dasa (slave or servant) color"; dasa is a name collectively given to all racial groups other than the vedic Aryans. In territories where the Aryans were dominant, the color line dividing the three upper Aryan social orders from the fourth, that of the sudras, was very strict. Draconian penalties were prescribed for the sudra who struck or insulted an Aryan, or even presumed to sit on the same seat with him.
The social cleavage was religiously sanctioned and thus was preserved to this day in the distinction between caste Hindus and Sudras. The sudras were denied all access to the Veda, the vedic sacrifices, and the Aryan sacraments, especially the investiture with the sacred thread, the symbol of Aryan child’s admittance to membership in his class and of what is known as the "twice-born."
7Another important factor was magico-ritualistic in character. The four main classes were distinguished from one another on account of the specific roles they played in connection with the communal sacrifice. Corresponding to their roles in the ritual these classes were assigned distinct colors, which fact also seems to have confirmed the use of the word varna with reference to them. This magico-ritualistic origin of the four classes is indirectly indicated by their mention in the Purusa Sukta hymn of the Rg Veda (10:90) as the limbs of the cosmic sacrificial Purusa. In the initial stages these classes were more or less fluid and elastic, but in course of time they hardened into a definite social system characterized by a large number of endogamous and commensal castes, sub-castes and mixed castes.
Within these classes and castes, an individual’s life was organized into four distinct stages, called ashramas, in such a manner that the individual would be able to realize, through a properly graded scheme, the four ends of life. The four stages of life are those of the student, the householder, the hermit or recluse (sannyasin) and the ascetic (vanaprastha). It will be seen that the system of four stages of life seeks to resolve the conflict between two ideals, namely, the consolidation and progress of society, on the one hand, and the spiritual emancipation of the individual, on the other. In connection with the scheme of the four stages, the texts of the Sacred Law have stated clearly and at some length the Brahmanic ideals regarding such topics as education, the position of woman and family life. Attempts have also been made to render the broad scheme of the four stages more viable and effective by prescribing various sacraments (samskaras), which are, as it were, the lampposts on the road leading to the full-fledged growth of man’s personality. These sacraments extend over man’s whole life beginning from parental and ending with post-modern conditions.
8
Righteousness
Many quotations in smrti literature affirm the need of dharma and the aim with which dharma was proclaimed. In the Mahabharata we read: "For the sake of promotion of strength and efficacy among beings the declaration of dharma is made. Whatever is attended with non-violence (ahimsa) that is dharma. Such is the fixed opinion." As is well known ahimsa is one of the strong concepts of the Indian polity from time immemorial; Gandhiji made it a catchword of his life and of the freedom struggle he led. It must be practiced in thought, word and deed. Violence of any kind disturbs the proper functioning of the individual and society, and, therefore, represents the negation of dharma. "Dharma is so called on account of its capacity for the sustenance of the world. On account of dharma, people are sustained separately in their respective stations."
9 Confusion regarding the respective duties and functions of the different classes imbalances society, and it was incumbent on the king to avoid such a confusion.Manu in his code instructs one not to violate dharma for such a dharma will destroy us. "Dharma being violated, destroys; dharma being preserved, preserves; dharma should not be violated, lest violated dharma destroy us." According to Manu, dharma follows us even beyond death. "The only friend who follows men even after death is dharma (justice), for everything else is lost at the same time when body perishes" (Manu Smrti, 8:15,17).
No Indian ideal could be inconsistent with dharma or ‘righteousness’. This word brings cosmology into touch with the mundane details of private law. One who follows his dharma is in harmony and attains bliss. Without dharma, in however etiolated form, fertility, peace and civilized life are imperilled. In one sense dharma is natural in that it is not created or determined; but in another sense it is always to be striven for. Dharma is unnatural in that to achieve it one must make efforts of self-control which are painful and contrary to some natural reactions. If dharma, as contrasted with positive legislation, only in part resembles natural law it is nevertheless a code of moral obligations to which the uninstructed nations (mlecchas) cannot attain. As dharma means duty (kartavya), its study involves a discovery of the duties of individuals, groups, and, among them, their political leaders, for in the political sense dharma is an abstraction of sva-dharma, the ‘proper dharma’ of each caste and category of person. If one can state the age, caste and status of a person, he can be told what is his dharma. One deviates from this at one’s spiritual peril, in any case, and to one’s physical or financial peril also if the king is as alert as he ought to be to deviations.
10Adharma (unrighteousness) is the forerunner of chaos into which humans have a natural tendency to decline. Dharma and kingship are inseparable for every dharma had the king as its protector; and as a set of practical requirements the law could not effectively demand anything that was not at the same time morally and legally binding. If the subjects rebelled they did so because the king’s duty to protect dharma was being neglected, or because his own life, conflicting with dharma, prejudiced their welfare from a religious point of view. The Brahmin’s duties are to study, teach, officiate at religious ceremonies (including the samskaras), to advise, and, if necessary, to chide rulers. The duties of a king are to protect the good like a father and to put down evildoers with rigor. The 14 ‘faults’ in a king to which the epics point are these: atheism, falsehood, hot temper, carelessness, procrastination, not seeing the wise, laziness, addiction to five pleasures of the senses, considering state matters by himself without consulting competent ministers, taking counsel with those who do not know politics, not undertaking that which is decided upon, not keeping state secrets, not practicing auspicious acts and undertakings in all directions at once.
11The notion of ius strictum was totally absent. The aim, even today, outside the regular courts, is to effect reconciliation: not even the king desired blind justice. As a blind guide to the solution of disputes, dharma had a built-in equity. What was abhorred by the public could not be dharma. Rule-of-thumb decisions were avoided and mutual adjustment favored, even at the cost of repeated adjournments. In all hearings an ancient maxim came into play, that the four feet of vyavahara (litigation) were dharma, vyavahara (court practice), charitra (custom) and rajas sana (royal decree). These were originally sources of law, but the notion that the king could not overrule dharma in its transcendental sense grew as time went on. Dharma had an isolated existence of its own; it was not adjustable to suit opinions and occasions. Officials were ruled by customs and by dharma, under the ruler’s oral or written instructions. The village assemblies were ruled by dharma in its most elemental sense, the conscience of the people understood through its customs.
Dharma, in its wider sense of a general moral ideal, requires of every man truthfulness, abstention from stealing, absence of anger, modesty, cleanliness, discernment, courage, subjugation of the senses and right knowledge. This attitude towards moral qualities and forms of behavior leads us to the fact that equilibrium rather than equality, peace rather than liberty, were the fundamental ideals. Since dharma was the aim of all, there was the recognition of the need of others. Freedom of speech and freedom of movement were accepted, as were freedom to agitate and to propagate theories of an intellectual nature, whether or not these had practical consequences. No one seems to have ever desired freedom of property in the modern sense of the term, or of choice of occupation or of way of life in a chosen environment. Freedom to choose one’s own direction seemed synonymous with insecurity and disorder—a dreaded state of affairs. One sought one’s soul’s comfort by practicing personal and social virtues. As soon as the fear of primeval chaos was actually removed a taste for reform, fundamental rights and civil liberties entered into the Indian mind.
12In the beginning the insistence on dharma surely served the stabilization of society; but as the caste system developed, branched out and took firm hold of Indian society the higher castes, especially the Brahmins, stressed svadharma or the dharma of one’s caste, thereby making the legal system synonymous with dharma. The priestly class achieved supremacy, and the higher castes began to dominate to such an extent that even today, except in certain areas of the country, the unhealthy division of society into castes and subcastes exists. Some works of smrti, like Manava Dharma Sastras, have contributed to this state of affairs.
ARTHA (WEALTH): THE SECOND GOAL OF LIFE
Since we have tried to narrate in some detail the concept of dharma, the most important end of man, we shall briefly mention two of the mundane ends of man, which also are to be guided by dharma; these are material welfare (artha) and the life of pleasure (kama). As we have seen, the ancient Indian concept of dharma, as religiously ordained duty, touched all aspects of man’s relation with society. One such aspect was political in character and often manifested itself in the form of the relation between the subject and the state. In view of the fact that the state in ancient India was mostly monarchical, this aspect of the dharma was known as the Raja-dharma or the dharma (duty) of kings. Naturally enough, the Raja-dharma, which by and large corresponded to political science, formed but one of the many topics within the larger scheme of Dharma Sastra which normally was divided into three main sections: rules of conduct (acara), civil and criminal law (vyavahara), and expiation and punishment (prayascitta). In the course of time polity came to be considered important enough to be recognized as an independent branch of knowledge under the name of Artha-Sastra, the science of profit or material gain.
As against Dharma Sastra, Artha Sastra might have given quite a new orientation to political theory and practice. This new orientation reflected, at least to a certain extent, the increasing intensity of the struggle for power in ancient India, and the development of the methods used to gain and keep control over the land and its peoples. It is possible to find some indications of this new political ideology in the Mahabharata itself. In order to overpower the Kaurava warriors like Bhishma, Drona and Karna, the Pandavas often employed, under the active direction of Lord Krsna himself, ruses and stratagems which were not in consonance with the traditional rules of righteous war (dharma-yudha). The ultimate victory of the Pandavas over the Kauravas symbolizes, in one sense, the predominance of the new Artha Sastra ideal over the older epic ideal of chivalry. As for the essential difference between the sacred law and the science of material gain, it may be stated in broad and rather oversimplified terms as follows: while Dharma Sastra insisted on the righteousness of both means and ends, Artha Sastra concerned itself primarily with the attainment of the ends irrespective of the nature of the means employed for the purpose. The Artha Sastra ideology completely dominated the polity of ancient India. Attempts were occasionally made, however, to reassert the superiority of Dharma Sastra over Artha Sastra by prescribing that, in case of conflict between the two, Dharma Sastra should prevail.
13Kautilya’s Treatise on Material Gain (Artha Sastra) is the basis of the theory of Indian polity. This work (4th century B.C.) is of exceptional interest and value, for it has almost revolutionized the traditional view regarding certain aspects of ancient Indian history and culture. Artha Sastra laid down policies aimed at welding together, into a more or less unified pattern and under the direct or indirect control of a single authority, the multiplicity of smaller states which crowded the stage of Indian history at that time. Kautilya defines Artha Sastra as the science which treats of the means of acquiring and maintaining the earth; indeed it deals more fully with practical government administration than with theorizing about the fundamental principles of political science. In social matters Kautilya has transcended the exclusiveness of ancient Brahaminism, and has at the same time successfully counteracted the renunciatory tendencies of the Upanisads and early Buddhism. The exaltation of the royal power in the legislative sphere and the elaboration of a complex bureaucracy in the executive sphere were certainly new to Indian polity. It is possible that in these matters Kautilya derived inspiration from foreign, especially Hellenistic, sources.
To the intense political and military activity of the early Maurya period there was a reaction in the reign of Ashoka (c 273 -232 B.C.). This grandson of Chandragupta and third Maurya emperor turned away from the Machiavellian ways of Artha Sastra to the ways of righteousness and, in particular, to the teachings of the Buddha.
Among other works that dealt with the subject of political science the following may be mentioned: The Law Book of Yajnavalkya, The Essence of Policy of the School of Kamandaki (Kamandakiya Niti Sara) and the Policy of Sukra (Sukra Niti). Among these the Lawbook of Yajnavalkya deserves our special attention for the sway it held during the Gupta period (4th-5th centuries A.D.). It reflects the social changes which had been brought about: no person was above the law; the Brahmans were denied the several legal concessions which they had previously enjoyed. It also did away with many legal inequities from which the sudra suffered. The law relating to women was also considerably revised and brought into line with their changed social status. Thiru Kural (A.D. 450-500), a comprehensive work in Tamil by Tiruvalluvar, deals with the three ends of man. Even a casual perusal of the section on polity in the Kural makes quite evident that Tiruvalluvar was closely acquainted with Kautilya’s Treatise and derived inspiration and material therefrom.
14Artha Sastra provides a detailed description of state administration, the accumulation of wealth and the relationship between the different departments. As the purview of this chapter does not permit us to go into details, we shall just mention the seven constituents of the state mentioned by Kautilya: "The king, the ministers, the country, the forts, the treasury, the army and the allies" (6:1). These are called the seven limbs of the state.
KAMA (PLEASURE, PURSUIT OF LOVE, AESTHETIC
BLISS): THE THIRD GOAL OF LIFE
Among the ends of man living in this world and actively engaged in it kama, ‘pleasure or pursuit of love’, plays an important part. In the Hindu scheme of life great importance is attached to the life of the married householder (grhastha). Certain texts consider the householder’s life the greatest of the four stages of life. Hinduism does not hold up monasticism or eremitism as a common ideal for all. Rather, it considers the strains and trials of household management, family life and social obligations to be a useful discipline contributing to the preparation of man for the final life of retirement and spiritual endeavor. Pleasure is not to be suppressed, but rather to be enjoyed in a manner which helps in the achievement of a well-rounded personality. Constantly reminding the householder of his duties (i.e., dharma) as also of the higher nature of the Ultimate Reality as the final goal to be attained, the Hindu code of conduct kept the normal man from degenerating into an epicure or profligate. Love chastened by suffering was held as an ideal and was considered capable of effecting a lasting spiritual union. The longing of hearts in love was considered the most effective image to depict the yearning of the devotee for God or the seeking by the individual soul for the Supreme Soul. Hindu aesthetics explained the philosophy of beauty in terms of the enjoyment or perception of a state of sublime composure or of blissful serenity, which was a reflection, intimation, image or glimpse of the enduring bliss of the spirit in its true realization through knowledge.
15Detailed study of the science of love or of pleasure (Kama Sastras) was undertaken. The cultured person was supposed to be educated in the 64 kalas (arts and sciences) which include dancing, singing, acting, legerdemain, embroidery, metallurgy, cooking, chemistry, gymnastics, horology, architecture, engineering, etc. A cultured person enjoys the good things of life, and moves in the most refined social and artistic circles.
Beauty has been a subject of Indian comment and speculation since the earliest times. The Rg vedic poets reveled in the beauties of both nature and humankind; they attached the highest value to beauty of expression in their poetry. The Upanisads, which conceive the ultimate reality as the one imperishable substratum having the form of existence, knowledge and bliss, speak of it also as the fullness of perfection and the fountainhead of all enjoyment, rasa, from which proceed all forms of artistic expression. According to the Bhagavad Gita, whatever is beautiful in this world is so because of the spark in it of divine beauty (10:41). Music, art, drama and poetry were systematically developed in accord with the soul of India.
The aesthetic emotion is of the nature of serenity (visranti) of heart or of spirit, a condition in which the restlessness attendant upon mundane activity is stilled by the play of artistic presentation. In this respect aesthetic bliss is considered akin to supreme beatitude; of course, this is not the same as the supreme beatitude from which, once attained, there is no falling away. Realization of aesthetic bliss is a condition brought about or ended by the presentation and withdrawal of artistic stimulus. Yet it offers a momentary glimpse of supreme bliss, and continuous efforts to partake of it are a means of preparing the soul for its supreme self-realization.
Moksa (Liberation): The Final Goal of Life
Moksa or liberation is one of the main themes of Indian philosophy and life. The human longing for emancipation is a permanent factor common both to traditional philosophical systems and to the present mentality. This dynamism confers unity and purpose upon the philosophical enterprise. If the desire to know Being could be said to be the central thrust of Western philosophy, the desire for liberation characterizes Indian philosophy. The study of what makes the human being free could be said to constitute the central philosophical question for our time. This concern with ‘freedom’ or liberation gives Indian philosophy a relevance far beyond its traditional boundaries, not only geographically and historically, but also philosophically.
16The fourth and final goal of life, moksa, is the culmination of the other three, but especially of the religious ideal associated with dharma. In the earliest phase of Indian thought the observance of cosmic and moral law (rta) and the performance of dharma in the form of sacrifice were believed to be a means of propitiating the gods and gaining heavenly enjoyment in the afterlife. From this idea there gradually evolved the theory of karma and its corollary, the doctrine of rebirth. But the thought of the endless chain of birth and death led to deeper reflections and to the inevitable conclusion that this life is perishable and capable of not producing real happiness. If there is something which is permanent and survives all these changes, it might yield the secret of restfulness, infinite peace and lasting happiness. To one intent upon the supreme good or everlasting bliss, even the pleasures of life were no different from its miseries: both lead to an endless cycle of experience which must be transcended. As anything done within the sphere of cause and effect was caught up in the same chain, action was no remedy. Only knowledge of the truth could help one rise above the transmigratory cycle or the world of cause and effect.
This line of thought can be found in all the later systems. All agreed that experience in this life was on the whole to be considered miserable and that deliverance (moksa) from it or its cessation was to be sought. The Upanisads considered that knowledge of the truth would lead to realization of the self as such, beyond the conditioned existence in which it was involved. Behind this world of cause and effect, underlying the phenomenon of things that come into being, change, decay and disappear, there was one paramount reality: existence (sat), changeless and consequently sorrowless. Of this, knowledge was not a quality, but the very form. The Upanisads, for the most part, hold this monistic view of one transcendent Absolute, but at times they spoke also of the truth as a transcendent personality. The former view led to the monism of some schools like that of Sankara, while the latter view led to theistic schools which considered one supreme God as the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the universe, and developed the doctrine of devotion, love and surrender. To them release from the world (moksa or mukti) brought absorption into, or essential identity with, the Lord.
The whole of Indian philosophy sought release from the misery (dukha) of mundane experience and transmigration (karma-samsara); all emphasized knowledge of one kind or another. Actions, of course, could not be eliminated so long as a man lived; the most philosophy could do was to take the sting out of action. The monistic philosophers, recognizing the disciplinary value of acts and duties, as indeed of ethics, accordingly assigned them a place under the sadhanas or preparatory disciplines. Acts could function in this way as ancillary to knowledge provided they were done not with the expectation of personal gain, but as an expression of devotion if they were dedicated to the Lord: the doer abandoned not the act but the desire for its fruit. This reconciliation of action with knowledge and devotion was the great contribution of the Bhagavad Gita. In modern times, when increased activity has become a dominant feature of Indian life, it is this text with its philosophy of selfless and dedicated action to which the whole Indian nation has turned for inspiration.
17It is worthwhile to pivot our attention for some time upon this remarkable work of devotion: The Song of the Lord (Bhagavad Gita), or simply The Gita. This forms a part of the great epic Mahabharata, but has achieved an identity of its own. The whole book is a teaching based upon the devotion to a personal God—in this case, of Lord Krsna. The religion of Krsna differed from the Upanisads, as well as from Buddhism and Jainism, first and foremost in its teaching about the goal of human life. For the Upanisads the phenomenal world and human existence are in some sense unreal; one should renounce this worldly life and aim at realizing the essential identity of one’s soul with the Universal Self, which is the one and only absolute reality. Whereas the Upanisadic attitude to life and society is fundamentally individualistic, the Gita teaches that man has a duty to promote lokasamgraha or the stability, solidarity and progress of society. Society can function properly only on the principle of ethical interdependence of its various constituents. As an essential constituent of society one must have an active awareness of one’s social obligations.
There is another fundamental point on which the Gita differs from Upanisadic thought. The Upanisadic ideal of spiritual emancipation through knowledge involves acceptance of the unreal character of the phenomenal world. Through his or her actions, one becomes involved in the tentacles of this fictitious world and is thus removed progressively from one’s goal. A complete abnegation of action, therefore, came to be regarded almost as a sine qua non of a true seeker’s spiritual quest. The ideal of social integrity (lokasamgraha) through sva-dharma enjoined by the Gita, on the other hand, implies an active way of life. The Gita most often speaks in terms of yoga (self-discipline) rather than moksa. The Gitakara (author of the Gita), discussed at length the why and how of karma-yoga (yoga of action). One does not attain one’s goal by nonperformance or renunciation of actions. In explicit terms the Gita tells one to perform actions: "Do your allotted work for action is superior to nonaction." (3:8) But this action must be done in the spirit of detachment; only then is it capable of setting one free: "Therefore, without attachment, always do the work that has to be done, for a man doing his work without attachment attains the highest goal" (3:19).
The Gita essentially embodies a code of conduct. After having theoretically established the need to perform social obligations, the Gita lays down the practical course. By following this, even while engaging oneself in work, one can remain uninvolved in consequences, thereby meeting the most common objection to the way of work: "Those deluded by the Gunas of prakti (dispositions of matter) get attached to the functions of Gunas. The man of perfect knowledge should not unsettle the mediocre, whose knowledge is imperfect. "Surrendering all actions to Me, with your thoughts fixed on the Self, freed from desire and selfishness and cured of mental fever, engage in battle" (3:29-30).
The greatest contribution of Bhagavad Gita to Indian religious thought is the doctrine of devotion which can bring about the emancipation of an individual. As described in the Gita, devotion presupposes the recognition of a personal God, who is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, and who confers His grace on the devotee—however lowly one may be—when one surrenders oneself unreservedly to Him. Whatever such a devotee offers to God is acceptable to the Lord: "Whoever offers Me with devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I accept that, the pious offering of the pure in heart" (9:26). The turning point in life comes in dedicating all of oneself to God instead of petitioning Him for things here and hereafter. When all good deeds are done for the glory of the Lord, the doer emerges as the divine. "Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give away, whatever austerity you practice, O Kaunteya, do it as an offering to me" (9:27). Such a total surrender brings freedom from bondage. "Thus you shall be free from the bondage of actions yielding good and bad results. With the mind firmly set in the yoga of renunciation and liberated, you shall come to me." (9:28)
The Bhagavad Gita aimed at a philosophical synthesis of Upanisadic monism and the spirit-matter dualism of Samkhya. It tries to steer a middle path between these two, while at the same time stressing karma-marga (the path of self-less action) and bhakti-marga (the path of devotion) as possible ways to moksa. In another context the Gita mentions the characteristics of the perfect man. He is referred to as one of steadfast wisdom, yogin, devotee, etc. "When one renounces all the desires which have arisen in the mind, O son of Pritha, and when he himself is content within his own self, then is he called a man of steadfast wisdom" (cf. 2:55ff). Such a one is unperturbed in sorrows and sufferings, and passion; fear, anger and the like have no hold on him or her. Free from attachment one is able to maintain equanimity in the midst of good and evil things. This self-discipline is yoga. It consists not in abstinence or in reveling but in moderation—the middle path. A yogin is one unafflicted by the world and free from fear, anger and anxiety. He behaves alike to foe and friend, he retains his balance through honor and dishonor and is free from attachment. Living in equanimity he is full of wisdom and devotion. Such a person is dear to the Bhagavan (Lord):
18
19If an ancient Indian of the time of the Upanisad (sic), of the Buddha, or the later classical age were to be set down in modern India . . . he would see his race clinging to forms and shells and rags of the past and missing nine-tenths of its nobler meaning. . . . He would be amazed by the extent of mental poverty, the immobility, the static repetition, the cessation of science, the long sterility of art, the comparative feebleness of the creative intuition.
India is a mixture of many races, religions and cultures. Hence, it is quite normal that there be some problems of understanding and integration. These problems must be traced not to a single factor, but to many factors active through centuries. Illiteracy has been a problem of independent India; even after 40 years of independence the rate of literacy has not reached 50 percent in most states of the country.
The caste system, to which we referred earlier, needs to be seen and interpreted in the present context. What started, perhaps, as a division of labor has degenerated into the bane of India. Since a religious sanction has been attached to it, rooting it out appears almost like cleansing the Augean stables. This Herculean task can be achieved only with a new understanding of the caste system and with the growth of literacy. When education is widespread and awareness of the value of every human person increases, no one will dare subjugate the other.
But it must not be forgotten that even educated people of the upper classes try to hold on to meaningless age-old traditions in order to retain their hegemony over the lower classes. Even political parties which vow to root out the caste system cater to the caste feelings of the people when they put up their candidates for election.
Some have gone even to the extent of including the caste system in the very structure of Hinduism. Asked to define a Hindu, the Bengali poet, Chandra Sen, said that a Hindu was "one who was born in India of Indian parents on both sides, and who accepted and obeyed the rules of his caste."
20 There is nothing in the entire body of Sanskrit literature to show that the caste system was deliberately devised as a means to attain the coveted end of realizing the divine within man. The doctrine of the gunas (qualities) merely helped give a rational explanation of the phenomenon when the original fourfold classification hardened into a rigid system, and when the rapidly multiplying castes attached undue importance to outward form. So meticulously were the caste rules worked out that a sudra could not travel along the way with a brahmin, ksatriya, or vaisya. He was seen as a debased creature, described as `the servant of another to be expelled at will,’ and considered untruth itself. In the course of time many subcastes grew up; each occupation became the work of a particular caste with such rigidity that neither interdining nor intermarriage was permissible. One should hold to the viewpoint of Buddha that nobody is born a brahmin or candala, but becomes a brahmin or candala by one’s deeds.So long as the people adhered to the ancient ideal of dharma, the caste system induced a moral cohesion of the different units and gave society its stability. When the ideal was lost sight of, the system developed fissiparous tendencies and evolved the code of inequities which have given it a bad name outside, as well as inside, India. Nevertheless, it still stands before the world as a marvelous attempt to develop a static social order. The essential basis of the caste system was the development of groups of individuals in consonance with their qualifications; the keystone of the structure was not detachment, but union. The element of exclusiveness and untouchability is repugnant to the social philosophy and tradition of the Aryan race. The main, if not the sole, object of the caste system should be to secure social efficiency on the democratic and socialistic principles of class collaboration and the rule of law.
21In search for the sources of India’s present difficulties we might point to three important factors: the division of states based on regional languages, fanatic religious groups and a lack of proper planning on the part of the government.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion we can ask the questions: Will India survive her present problems; is India capable of such a task? The answer is an emphatic ‘Yes’. With the immense wealth of her philosophy and culture she can liberate herself from self-imposed yokes, provided there be a concerted effort to revitalize the spirit of nationalism which was very active during the days of the freedom struggle. As a nation we have to struggle for the greatest integration; being a multi-faceted nation, to achieve unity is not an easy task. The factors which divide Indian society, such as the caste system and unequal distribution of wealth, must be fought with the intensity of a war. A few Buddhas are needed to fight the evils of discrimination.
The government as well as the people need to wage a war against poverty and illiteracy. These are manmade ailments of society and through selfless action in the spirit of the Gita the society can be cured. Among Indian peoples, especially the downtrodden, there is a sense of resignation which must give way to ‘revolt’ and enterprise. This does not mean becoming enamored of ever-increasing standards of living and the growth of luxury at the expense of spiritual and moral values. Like Gandhiji we must detest the soft life and prefer the straight way which is always hard. Moral values must prevail; the ends can never justify the means or the individuals and the race will perish. Making use of the immense labor power at her disposal, India must surge ahead to that ‘heaven of freedom’ which Tagore desired for his country. All of us must try to live the best in us.
What India needs today is a recall to the dharma, interpreted in accordance with today’s idioms. Rather than caste-duty, duty based upon the inherent worth of a person is to be given priority. Today’s dharma is based upon the dignity and freedom of the person; today’s adharma is violation of human rights, oppression and discrimination of others on the basis of caste, class, creed or race. Hence a revitalization of the ancient values in order to serve modern culture is necessary. With a solid mooring in tradition—but not outweighed by it—and keeping abreast of modern development, India can build a culture which will be properly her own. Today’s India needs the selfless action performed in a spirit of detachment which is so much insisted upon in the Gita. This will bring out the best in the people so that we can contribute to the best of our ability in building up a strong nation. India has a philosophy of which she can be proud, but this has often avoided concrete issues. It has lived in an ivory tower, cut off from life and its day-to-day problems; it has concentrated on the ultimate purposes, but failed to link them with human life.
In the same manner and as it has in the past, religion too should serve humanity in its march towards development. As Jawaharlal Nehru notes:
22They [religions] have laid down values and standards and have pointed out principles for the guidance of human life. But with all the good they have done, they have also tried to imprison truth in set forms and dogmas, and encouraged ceremonials and practices which soon lose all their original meaning and become mere routine. While impressing upon man the awe and mystery of the unknown that surrounds him on all sides, they have discouraged him from trying to understand not only the unknown but what might come in the way of social effort. . . . Religion, though it has undoubtedly brought comfort to innumerable human beings and stabilized society by its values, has checked the tendency to change and progress inherent in human society.
Realizing one’s role, every Indian must choose the famous invocation for his/her motto:
Asatoma sad gamay:
Tamasoma jyotir gamay:
Mrtyorma amrtam gamayah.
"Lead me from the unreal to the real:
Lead me from darkness to light:
Lead me from death to immortality!"
NOTES
1. Cf. H.L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent Before the Coming of Muslims (New York: Grove Press, 1959; Calcutta: Rupa, 1987), p. 3. Also Kewal Motwami, India: A Conflict of Cultures (Nagpur: Nagpur University, 1947), pp. 3-4.
2. D.D. Kosambi, The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1982, seventh edition), p. 72.
3. Ibid., p. 73.
4. Cf. H.L. Basham, op. cit., p. 31.
5. Cf. Wm. Theodore de Bary, ed., Sources of Indian Tradition (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1972), p. 211.
6. Etymologically, dharma denotes the action of supporting, of giving firmness and cohesion. Thus there developed the meaning, ‘statute, law,’ etc. The term dharma as an action noun can denote not only an activity performed by the person, but also its effects. Hence, human fulfillment of the law promulgated by the gods or contained in the sacred books came to be named dharma. Thus the classical meaning of dharma is the fulfillment of one’s duty. This is the sense of the term in the Bhagavad Gita.
7. Ibid., pp. 218-219.
8. Ibid., pp. 219-220.
9. Mahabharata, 12: 110: 10-11.
10. Cf. J. Duncan M. Derrett, "Social and Political Thought and Institutions," in A Cultural History of India, edited by A.L. Basham (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 126.
11. Ibid., pp. 128, 131.
12. Ibid., pp. 135-140.
13. Cf. Bary, Sources of Indian Tradition, op. cit., pp. 236-237.
14. Ibid., pp. 238-240.
15. Ibid., p. 258.
16. Cf. R. Panikkar, "The Vitality and Role of Indian Philosophy Today," Indian Philosophical Quarterly, V (1978), p. 681.
17. Cf. Bary, Sources of Indian Tradition, op. cit., pp. 276-278.
18. Cf. Bhagavad Gita, 12: 13-19.
19. As quoted by Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India (Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, 1986), p. 96.
20. Quoted by R.P. Masani, "Caste and Structure of the Society," in G.T. Garrett, Legacy of India, p. 125.
21. Ibid., pp. 159, 161.
22. Nehru, Discovery of India, op. cit., p. 511.