Can we defend our ignorance?

That Frontline is a Marxist rag is no new knowledge. Yet, many amongst us diligently follow its articles (alongwith those published on fellow travelers like Outlook, Kafila, Caravan, Scroll, etc.) to retain a window to working of those convoluted minds. As a rule, any note on Hinduism/Indian culture, published on any of the above has to be derogatory and an attack on the Hindu way of life. More charitably, at max, they could be called rants of paranoid, jaundiced eyes, which see nothing but evil in their own roots.

With the huge success the left-liberal intelligentsia has scored in its four decade long efforts towards a collective dumbing down of the masses, resulting in a situation where leftist truisms have become unchallenged conventional wisdom, it is no wonder that the old Indian tradition of critical enquiry has taken a backseat. Statements get made and they get accepted without question. Quite a change from the days when even the route to knowledge was through constant questioning, synthesis and analysis of facts!

Any person who studies the public and parliamentary debates from the pre-independence era would be excused if he/she is astounded at the depth of knowledge and thinking of the opinion-makers and sections of the general public. Rare would be situation where a statement/action on the Hindu way of life would go unchallenged. The result of these intense debates were a greater understanding and acceptance of the need for change in customs which governed the Indian people. Today, we have reached a stage where any Tom, Dick or Harry can make any unsubstantiated comment on Hinduism and even ‘practising’ Hindus either swallow it without questioning or find themselves hard-pressed to counter the insinuation/calumny effectively. True, there would be bunch of knowledgeable people active on the Internet trying to counter the leftists but let us be realistic. Just how effective are they? Who reads them? Do they manage to reach, preach and convert those who are not already converted? Do they manage to make a dent in the impregnable fortress of non-knowledge raised by Marxists over the last many decades? The answer is - sadly, no. Not only are such activists constrained in their outreach (just how many have internet access and how many of them actually read such ‘heavy’ discussions?), they are further constrained by the success of Marxists in moulding thought process and sensibilities of large sections of Indians; whereby any talk on religion is deemed regressive, where it has become an accepted fact that the salient features of Hinduism are caste system, horrid rituals and oppression of the backward classes and women.

If the above seems harsh or unduly pessimistic, let’s take a simple test. Almost all who know about Hinduism know about the caste system, where Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras form the caste hierarchy (in descending order). Now, many of us also ‘know’ that this caste system has been sanctioned by the Vedas, the biggest proof being the Purush Sukta of the Rig-Veda. Based on this common knowledge, Frontline, like numerous others, has no qualms in claiming such sanction, offering as proof ‘…the Rg Veda speaks of four major castes, tribes being outside the then localised caste scheme: “Brahmana was his (the Supreme Being’s) mouth, Kshatriya made of his arms; the Vaisya his thighs, and the Sudra generated from his feet (RV.X.90.12), says the particularly sacred Puru-sasukta hymn’

Now, Purusha-Sukta is one of the most used Vedic hymn, recited a large number of rituals and ceremonies. It is chanted during the worship of the Vishnu, during havan or simply as a part of the daily prayer. Its importance can be further judged from the fact that other than the Rig-Veda, it appears in numerous other Aranyaka, Samhita, Upanishad, in addition to the Bhagvat Purana and Mahabharata. Hence, very clearly, a hymn which most religiously inclined Hindus should be aware of.

Yet, the very fact that assertions such as those of Frontline go unchallenged, underlines the painful reality of my contentions above. As anyone who would have read the said Sukta would know, it is some 24 stanzas long. The entire Sukta talks about birth of the Purusha and his sacrifice in a yagna. It is from that sacrifice that the four castes were born from the said body parts of the Virat-purusha.

ब्राह्मणोऽस्य मुखमासीद् बाहू राजन्यः कृतः ।
ऊरू तदस्य यद्वैश्यः पद्भ्यां शूद्रो अजायत ॥१२॥
Meaning:
12.1: The Brahmanas wereHis Mouth, the Kshatriyas became His Arms,
12.2: The Vaishyas were His Thighs, and from His pair of Feet were born the Shudras.

But that was not all, the hymns continue and state:

चन्द्रमा मनसो जातश्चक्षोः सूर्यो अजायत ।

मुखादिन्द्रश्चाग्निश्च प्राणाद्वायुरजायत ॥१३॥
Meaning:
13.1: The Moon was born from His Mind and the Sun was born from His Eyes,
13.2: Indra and Agni (Fire) were born from His Mouth, and Vayu (Wind) was born from His Breath.

नाभ्या आसीदन्तरिक्षं शीर्ष्णो द्यौः समवर्तत ।
पद्भ्यां भूमिर्दिशः श्रोत्रात्तथा लोकाँ अकल्पयन् ॥१४॥
Meaning:
14.1: His Navel became the Antariksha (the intermediate Space between Heaven and Earth), His Head created the Heaven,
14.2: From His Feet the Earth, and from His Ears the Directions were created; in this manner all the Worlds were regulated by Him.

Not only does the hymn does not contain any reference to the people outside the four varnas having sprung from soil (or night soil in the more rabid Marxist versions), a reading of the entire Sukta will conclusively prove to anyone that the supposed hierarchy of the four castes, as deriving it’s sanctity on the authority of the Purusha-sukta is highly contrived. In the yagna, many aspects of the world which we know were created. If legs (from which the Shudras were created) are to be taken as inferior to head (from which Brahmins were created), then the Moon should be our supreme deity as it was born from the mind. Sadly, at no time, either hoary or near past has the moon been worshipped thus.  Likewise, Vayu (wind) should have had a very inferior status as born it was out of Breath (exhaled air which is ritually impure). Earth will anyway be the most inferior, having been created out the His feet, like the oppressed Shudra!

Why did I pick the example of Purusha-sukta? Simply because this is one of the most abused suktas from the Vedas. Abused not only by those vested interests but also abused by us – people who are supposed to know what it is. Unfortunately, even for the relatively better informed sections of our society, Marxist utterances are taken as truth simply because they have been uttered by people who these Marxists have declared ‘eminent’. We may not realise it but hidden behind the mask of Romila Thapars bewailing ‘regression’, are a thousand smiles, smug in the knowledge that they, the Marxists, have won the battle of ideas. It is they, who control what we think! 

Note: For a good commentary on the Purusha-sukta, refer to the link here.

Trojan in Trap

The now forgotten Mitrokhin Archives had a small chapter devoted to India where in one of the notes, the Soviet Communist Party has expressed its satisfaction that the Communist Party of India, following its instructions, had allowed its members to join the Congress (I) at various levels of leadership. This happened for the Communists realized the impracticality of their coming to power in India, either through ballot or through bullet and settled for the next best – ensuring the rule of their ideology through influence. 

While this infiltration lasted from the mid sixties to the mid seventies, it had its reflection in a curious event occurring in the mid 90s’. It would seem that the Communists, unable to bring themselves to infiltrate the BJP on account of their visceral hatred for the reactionary right, settled for the 3^rd best – installing a Trojan Horse in the party to destroy it from within.

A cursory look at the career of Sudheendra Kulkarni would indicate that he managed to do just about that – the man who can claim disproportionate credit for the ghastly ‘India Shining’ campaign and more importantly, shaking the ideological roots of the party with his design of its architect’s LK Advani’s ‘Jinnah…my homage to a Great man.’ comments. What Kulkarni managed to do in his short stint with the BJP is enviable by any standards. Not only did he become a close confidante of AB Vajpayee, he managed to win the ultimate confidence of Advani too, something which very few leaders in the BJP had managed.  A measure to his influence could be assessed from the fact that within 2 years of his joining the BJP (he joined the party in 1996); the party managed to set aside its ideological moorings (1998 elections) and jettisoned it completely in the next 6 years (2004 elections). It is a wonder that a man as erudite and intellectual as Advani could allow himself to be influenced by Kulkarni, so much so that the architect of the modern Indian polity, had no second thoughts in disowning the baby he had reared. 

Of course, with the disaster of 2009, Kulkarni had to quit the BJP in disgrace. This quitting however, in no way meant that the man was out of favor of his mentor Advani. Advani made it a point to defend him time and again and it is a matter of time before Kulkarni is brought back to the BJP with full honors intact.

If one wonders as to why a seemingly lightweight like Kulkarni is being given so much of space today, it is all courtesy the mis-adventure of cash for votes sting operation. While the arrest of the 2 BJP ex MPs, Suhail Hindustani and Kulkarni do seem like a travesty of justice and must be condemned, one wonders whether Kulkarni had contrived the failure of this sting right from the beginning.

For one – the partner chosen for the sting was IBN-Live, whose owners Rajdeep Sardesai et al, form a part of the Sonia fan brigade, a channel which never even attempted to hide its sympathies for the Congress and abhorrence of the BJP and the one which led the cacophonous cry of (alongwith NDTV) ‘Singh is King’ when Manmohan ‘Integrity’ Singh won the vote of confidence. How could a rational person even imagine that the views channel would do anything which would besmirch the reputation of the spotlessly clean UPA Government? It happened what had to happen – the sting was not aired and when aired after a considerable gap, it was a mild edited version of the entire operation. BJP pretended to boycott the channel for sometime and soon, the boycott too was forgotten.

Second – Neither Advani, nor the BJP made a big deal over the tainted vote of confidence or the scam. While it is understood that the man of impeccable integrity, Somnath Chatterjee, counted all votes cast as valid (even though the Anti Defection Act declares such votes as invalid), what is not understandable is the BJP’s silence post that. Except for asking for disqualification of the defecting MPs, the BJP did not challenge the speaker’s decisions, neither in the Parliament nor in the Court of Law. Further, the BJP did not make it an election campaign either. No Sir, no squeak on the ‘spotless’ Prime Minister winning his trust vote on the basis on damned lies and corrupt practices.

After a gap of 3 years, the still born investigation in the cash-for-votes scam was given a breath of life by the Supreme Court. But in yet another inexplicable turn of events, the Court has dissociated itself with monitoring of the case and we have a situation where the perpetrators of the crime are roaming free, not even having been named, leaved aside being questioned and imprisoned, the scam-busters are behind bars.

For those trying to paint a nuanced picture of the BJP wallahs being entrappers and not a sting operator, let them go back to the procedures adapted by the anti corruption bureau. People are caught red-handed while accepting bribes, traps for which are set by the agency itself. Or let us go back to the Left and Congress celebrated stings conducted by Tehelka. Right from Bangaru Laxman to Dileep Singh Judeo to Gujarat riots to cash for questions, traps were sprung. Nowhere did it happen that the accused had themselves sought out the scambusters and asked for bribes / shared information – so how different is the cash for votes sting conducted by the BJP that it be condemned. Of course, Tehelka being owned by the son of a senior Congress leader from Punjab, the former’s condemnation of the BJP sponsored sting is understandable. What is not understandable is the willing suspension of reason and plain indifference from the relatively more neutral and right thinking of our not-so-civil society.

Maybe and remotely maybe, our indifference to the UPA shenanigans and the plight of Kulkarni flows from our sub-conscious realization that the sting did not flow from an honest intent. Even otherwise, a few days in Tihar pale in comparison his monumental sin of having irreparably compromised the father figure of modern Indian Nationalism.