Hinduism: Soniaji, Hinduism is Not Just Ramayana!

By Vikas Singh

Soniaji, Hinduism is Not Just Ramayana!

Dear reader, in case you're outraged by the headline, let me clarify that I'm merely paraphrasing what Sri Sri Ravishankar told me. To understand the context in which he said so, please bear with me a while.

A few days ago, a colleague and I were discussing the retreat of religion from daily life. Our 'modern' minds regard with suspicion anything 'tainted' by spirituality or philosophy, we accept only that which is 'sanctified' by science and economics. For many of us, religion has become a ritualistic process, which only serves to distance us from people of other faiths. But has this development uplifted us, or left us with gaping spiritual holes?

''What would you like, a theocracy where we have the caste system back with all its unspeakable atrocities?'' countered my colleague. A little later, I recounted this exchange to another colleague. ''But why do you feel Hinduism has anything to do with the caste system?'' he queried, pulling out a copy of the Ashtavakra Gita. The fourth verse of the very first chapter declares, ''You are neither a varna, such as the Brahmana, nor do you belong to an ashrama, nor are you perceived by the senses. You are non-dual, formless and witness of the universe.''

My head was abuzz with all this when I had the opportunity to interact with Sri Sri Ravishankar. ''Can we blame people for being sceptical about religion, when they see the results of fanaticism like 1984, 9/11, Godhra, and the Gujarat riots?'' I asked. He responded, ''Religion is like the banana peel, spirituality the banana. We hold on to the peel and throw away the banana. But if we rise above religion, and attain spirituality, our actions cannot be anything but compassionate.''

What did he think of politicians distorting religion for their own ends, I persisted. ''But Hinduism is not just the Ramayana,'' he replied gently. ''How many people are even aware of all the scriptures and schools of thought that exist within Hinduism?''

True. There are the four Vedas, each with a Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. There are the Shad Darshana (six systems of philosophy) - Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Vedanta. There are the 18 Puranas. The list goes on. The Ramayana and Mahabharata form only two small rivers that flow into the vast ocean of Hinduism.

Today, one major Indian political party talks about Hindutva, while the other seems confused about its strategy. Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Congress have been hauled over the coals by the media for flirting with 'soft Hindutva'. But nobody seems to have noticed that the two parties are essentially squabbling over a trivialised interpretation of phenomenology, whereas the vast treasures of ontology found in Hinduism are lying around, waiting to be claimed.

I'm not a political strategist, but if I were one, here's what I'd tell Mrs Gandhi: Soniaji, within your party and elsewhere, there are persons who understand the true grandeur of Hinduism. Seek them out, absorb some of what they have to offer. Then tell the people that the Congress has a far better alternative to Hindutva, namely higher Hinduism. Ask your cadres to propagate it vigorously, and you may well be pleasantly surprised by the electoral results.

Your opponents may question your credentials to extol higher Hinduism. They will only reveal their own ignorance of the Indian tradition of vasudhaiv kutumbkum. In any case, the West reintroduced us to Yoga and Indian classical music - indologists like Max Mueller put us back in touch with our own philo-sophy. You would only be going down a well-trodden path. Your party shouldn't shun Hinduism, it should embrace it in its most exalted form. Tell your workers it's time to say: 'Welcome Om'.