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Sep 11, 2013

The Forest and the Village: A case for Cultural Nationalism

Be, do, have. Creativity is ultimately about 'doing', but is preceded by reflective 'being', and completed by the satisfaction of a non-material 'having'. Doing obviously involves pragmatism, and is social and Political in scope. But being and having are Individual in scope, and if not recognized as such will go out of control.

Individuation is to see any thing, not pigeon-holed as a member of a particular category of existence, but as an intersection of various categories. E.g., a human being is not material or animal or mental or intellectual or spiritual, but some intersection of them all. Dharma, artha, kama and moksha are not in conflict with one another (except in the holiest of holies!), but interconnected by self-determinism. Etc.

Politicization is the division of society into categories and vested interests for the purpose of governance. Governance means Control of parts, effective Communication between parts and as an organism, and an ability to deliver (Have) something of value to society at large. Of course, it all depends on that civilization's definition of value. E.g., the U.S. is an example of a body politic designed to deliver an American dream to its constituents, who are all in pursuit of happiness, and to cure other civilizations of their nightmarish ideals. Any nation-state from the Islamic Ummah is an example of a body politic designed to deliver the peace and tranquility of Islam to all humble members, and to inflict the peace of the graveyard on those not so humble. India is an example of a body politic that currently doesn't know its elbow from its arse. Etc.

The Political level keeps the Individual level honest, and vice versa. Sort of like how wives keeps their husbands honest and vice versa. Perhaps when Individuation is not balanced by contact with Political socialization, then it leads to ideological corruption - moral distortions. When Politicization is not balanced by relinquishment with a focus on Individuation, then it leads to material corruption - cultural and psycho-somatic malaise.

Cultural nationalism, not merely a civic nationalism, can help bridge this gap and restore balance. In cultural nationalism, the entire body politic can itself personify and individuate - around a form of the spiritual cynosure of its civilization. Thus, it can restore Control, Communication and a sense of Having and belonging. A useful experiment in cultural nationalism needs good-natured, wise, strong and skillful wizardry - the kind that Murli Manohar Joshi doesn't have.

In India, politicization for 60 years operated on a ramifying societal division of vested interests, done at the cost of some older categories of socialization. For a period, this was good for the nation and for democratic empowerment. The founding fathers of the US also agree in the Publius Papers that the greater the division and diversity of interest groups, the more stable a republican democracy. But the dereliction of higher-level civilizational awareness and values, education in the native humanities, and ethics at the individual level has caused a cancer in the political process within India. Rather than playing within the limits of a soft diversity, it has played into the hands of hard lobbies beholden to external forces. Because of the loss of this moral compass, the political process has been hijacked by forces with a fundamental hatred of the civilization's native substrate. Thus, at this delicate juncture, many Indians find themselves debating the 'Idea of India' parallel to the groundswell of anxiety about pervasive corruption. Not a bad start, though hopefully not too late.

The continuous movement back and forth from Individuation to Political socialization, from spiritual reality to transactional pragmatism, from the paramarthika to the vyavaharika, is a theme in Veda. It is intrinsic to the idea of the cycle of 'Work' or 'Doing' (karma). Following is a passage from the Aitareya Brahmana, which provides an ancient understanding of the following:

1. Meanings of the "4 yugas" (phases of Time and Movement) - satya, treta, dwapara, kali
2. Thought vs. Action - i.e., culture - and both their relation to "karma"
3. Relation of body and soul - role of a thriving body (physical or political), free of psycho-somatic or cultural illness. 
4. Destiny (bhaagya) - and how it can be modified based on Individual modes of consciousness.
5. Non-clutching to any truths of Political socialization ("the Village"), but to keep moving to and from the "Forest" of creative individuation. (This is a famous verse supposedly also quoted often by The Buddha to his disciples).

अथ हैक्ष्वाकं वरुणो जग्राह, तस्य होदरं जज्ञे ।
तद् उ ह रोहितः शुश्राव, सो sरण्याद् ग्रामं एयाय ।
तं इन्द्रः पुरुषरूपेण पर्येत्योवाच -

नाना श्रान्ताय श्रीरस्तीति रोहित शुश्रुम ।
पापो नृषद्वरो जन इन्द्र इच्चरतः सखा ॥

"Then Varuna seized Aikshvaaka; his belly swelled up. 
This Rohita heard; he went from the forest to the village.
To him Indra came in human form and said -

'Manifold is the prosperity of him who is weary (after great effort), so we have heard O Rohita;
Evil is he who stays put among men, Indra is the comrade of the wanderer.'"

चरैवेति चरैवेति वै मा ब्राह्मणो sवोचद्,
इति ह द्वितीयं संवत्सरं अरण्ये चचार ।
सो sरण्याद् ग्रामं एयाय, तं इन्द्रः पुरुषरूपेण पर्येत्योवाच -

पुष्पिण्यौ चरतो जङ्घे भूष्णुरात्मा फलग्रहिः ।
शेते sस्य सर्वे पाप्मानः श्रमेण प्रपथे हताश् ॥

"'Keep moving.' (Thinking) this Brahman has bidden me 'wander', 
He wandered for a second year in the wild. 
He came from the forest to the village. To him came Indra in human form and said - 

'Flower-like the thighs (or shanks/heels) of the wanderer, his body grows and is fruitful;
All his sins go into remission, slain by the toil of his journeying.'"

चरैवेति चरैवेति वै मा ब्राह्मणो sवोचद्,
इति ह तृतीयं संवत्सरं अरण्ये चचार ।
सो sरण्याद् ग्रामं एयाय, तं इन्द्रः पुरुषरूपेण पर्येत्योवाच -

आस्ते भग आसीनस्योर्ध्वस् तिष्ठति तिष्ठतः ।
शेते निपद्यमानस्य चराति चरतो भगश् ॥

"'Keep moving.' (Thinking) this Brahman has bidden me 'wander',
He wandered for a third year in the wild. 
He came from the forest to the village. To him came Indra in human form and said - 

'The fortune of him who sits also sits, that of him who stands also stands erect;
That of him who reclines lies prone, the fortune of him that moves shall move indeed.'"

चरैवेति चरैवेति वै मा ब्राह्मणो sवोचद्,
इति ह चतुर्थं संवत्सरं अरण्ये चचार ।
सो sरण्याद् ग्रामं एयाय, तं इन्द्रः पुरुषरूपेण पर्येत्योवाच -

कलिः शयानो भवति संजिहानस् तु द्वापरः ।
उत्तिष्ठंस् त्रेता भवति कृतं संपद्यते चरंश् ॥

"'Keep moving.' (Thinking) this Brahman has bidden me 'wander', 
He wandered for a fourth year in the wild. 
He came from the forest to the village. To him came Indra in human form and said - 

'Kali he becomes who lies down to sleep, Dwapara when he rises awake;
Treta when he stands erect, and Krta (Satya) when he gets moving.'"

चरैवेति चरैवेति वै मा ब्राह्मणो sवोचद्,
इति ह पञ्चमं संवत्सरं अरण्ये चचार ।
सो sरण्याद् ग्रामं एयाय, तं इन्द्रः पुरुषरूपेण पर्येत्योवाच -

चरन् वै मधु विन्दति चरन् स्वादुं उदुम्बरम् ।
सूर्यस्य पश्य श्रेमाणं यो न तन्द्रयते चरंश् ॥

"'Keep moving.' (Thinking) this Brahman has bidden me 'wander', 
He wandered for a fifth year in the wild. 
He came from the forest to the village. To him came Indra in human form and said - 

'Journeying, one finds honey, journeying, the sweet Udumbara fruit;
Consider the pre-eminence of the sun, who wearies never of wandering.'"

- Aitareya Brahmana 7.15 (verses 1-5)

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