Think It Over
India: On the quest of its destiny
By M.S.N. Menon
Twice, in our long history, India was almost overwhelmed. Once by
Islam. And then by Christianity. But India’s heritage has within it an
inexhaustible power for self-renewal. It rises like a phoenix.
What has the future in store for India? I am not sure. The future is still hidden from us.
But is there a purpose in the life of nations, in the life of
the universe? On this, we know even less. But a universe without a
purpose makes everything meaningless. Today, we come to the end of our
life without knowing why we have lived!
There is, however, one consolation: That we are only at the
morn of human history. True, we have gained greater control over
nature, but not over ourselves. When we see the great contrast between
what science has been able to achieve and the crudeness, cruelty and
vulgarity of our lives, as we live them, we are driven to despair. Carl
Gustav Jung warns: Misguided development of the soul must lead to
psychic mass destruction.â€
Today, men face multiple threats—of climate change, pollution
and a new flood. If we escape these calamities, we are threatened by
another—the slow cooling of the planet.
Is mankind then doomed? It is still too early to say. The
earth is no more than a place of sojourn in most religions. The Hindu
says: We are here for a short stay and that we are to go back to where
they came from—only to start a new cycle of birth and death. We Hindus
are happier. Others fry in hell for eternity.
But there are other views. Darwin says: Life is evolving into
higher and higher forms. The appearance of life, mind and
consciousness, one after the other, has been the greatest miracle of
nature. Many more such miracles are awaited. Man has a long long way to
go.
Man is not final, says Sri Aurobindo, the great Indian mystic.
Man is a transitional being, he says. Beyond him awaits the “divine
race, the supermanâ€, with super-consciousness. Aurobindo sees a
progressive divination of the human race.
We are actors in this cosmic drama that is unfolding before
us, not mere onlookers. The Gita says: Ceaseless action is the lot of
man!
But the ways of the world differ. Europe has chosen one way,
we Hindus have chosen another and the Muslims have their own way. Each
has its merits. They must be left free to seek their different ends. We
must not force on the world one way as the Christians and Muslims are
trying to do. Why? Because their way is not perfect. They are full of
absurdity.
Prof. Max Mueller, an authority on ancient India, says: “I do
not deny that the manly vigour, the public spirit and the private
virtue of the citizens of European states represent one side of the
human destiny.†But surely, he says, “there is another side to our
nature and possibly another destiny open to man.†And he points towards
India—leading the meditative, reflective way.
The two ways are not hostile to each other. They are in fact complementary.
Life in India may be dreamy, unreal, impractical, Max Mueller
concedes, but, he asserts, India may look upon European notions of life
as short-sighted, fussy and in the end most impractical because it
involves a sacrifice of life for the sake of life.
The most distinguishing feature of the Indian character is
transcendence. The Indian mind is intuitive, bent on transcending the
limits of empirical knowledge.
But not all is right with the way the West has chosen.
Aurobindo calls the commercial civilisation of the West “monstrous and
asuric†(demonic). That the way to the morsel will take us to
fulfillment is a misplaced hope. An insatiable desire for increasing
satisfaction is at the root of this tragedy, the very thing the Buddha
identified as the root of human misery. But is this tragedy inexorable?
Not necessarily. Because we all can be guided by reason.
Say Dr Radhakrishnan: “It is the good fortune of India that
every time there is great spiritual confusion, exponents of authentic
religious thought spring up to remind us Hindus of the fundamental
truth of Indian culture.†Such was the case with Vivekananda and
Mahatma Gandhi.
Twice, in our long history, India was almost overwhelmed. Once
by Islam. And then by Christianity. But India’s heritage has within it
an inexhaustible power for self-renewal. It rises like a phoenix.
And its people, for long in their slumber, are wide awake
today. In about sixty years, India has come to be recognised as a great
power. It may even occupy the third place among the great powers in the
not too distant future. But are we preparing for this day?
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