Vedanta is the answer. When the writers of Vedanta emerged,
around 1500 BC, they faced an organised religion of orthodox Hinduism.
This was the post Vedic age, where ritualism was practiced, and the
masses had no choice but to follow. It was a coercive atmosphere.
The writers of Vedanta rebelled against this authority and
moved away from society into forests. This was how the ‘Aranyakas’ were
written, literally meaning ‘writings from the forest’. These later paved
the way for the Upanishads, and Vedanta eventually caught the
imagination of the masses. It emerged triumphant, bearing with it the
clear voice of personal freedom.
This democracy of religious thought, so intrinsic to Vedantic intelligence, sank into the mindset of every Indian.
Most
couldn’t fathom the deep wisdom it contained, but this much was very
clear. They understood that faith was an expression of personal freedom,
and one could believe at will.
That’s why Hinduism saw an explosion of Gods. There was a God
for every need and every creed. If you wanted to build your muscles,
you worshiped a God with fabulous muscles. If you wanted to pursue
education, there was a Goddess of Learning. If it was wealth you were
looking for, then you looked up to the Goddess of wealth — with gold
coins coming out of her hands.
If you wanted to live happily as a family, you worshiped Gods
who specially blessed families. When you grew old and faced oncoming
death, you spent time in contemplating a God whose business it was to
dissolve everything — from an individual to the entire Universe.
Everywhere, divinity appeared in the manner and form you
wanted it to appear, and when its use was over, you quietly discarded
that form of divinity and looked at new forms of the divine that was
currently of use to you. ‘Yad Bhavam, tad Bhavati’… what you choose to
believe becomes your personal truth, and freedom to believe is always
more important than belief itself.
Behind all this — was the silent Vedantic wisdom that Gods
are but figments of human imagination. As the Kena Upanishad says,
“Brahma ha devebhyo vijigye…” — All Gods are mere subjects of the Self.
It implies that it is far better that God serves Man than Men serve God.
Because Men never really serve God — they only obey the dictates of a
religious head who speaks for that God, who can turn them into slaves in
God’s name.
Hindus have therefore never tried to convert anyone. Never
waged war in the name of religion. The average Hindu happily makes Gods
serve him as per his needs. He discards Gods when he has no use for
them. And new Gods emerge all the time — in response to market needs. In
this tumult, no central authority could survive. No single prophet
could emerge and hold sway, no chain of command could be established.
Vedanta had injected an organised chaos into Hinduism, and
that’s the way it has been from the last thirty five centuries. Vedanta
is also responsible, by default, for sustaining democracy. When the
British left India, it was assumed that the nation would soon break up.
Nothing of that kind has happened.
The pundits of doom forgot that the Indian had been used to
religious freedom from thousands of years. When he got political
freedom, he grabbed it naturally. After all, when you can discard Gods
why can’t you discard leaders?
Leaders like Gods are completely expendable to the Indian
mindset. They are tolerated as long as they serve the people, and are
replaced when needs change. It’s the triumph of people over their
leaders, and in this tumult, no dictator can ever take over and rule us.
Strange how the thoughts of a few men living in forests, thirty five
centuries ago, can echo inside the heart of every Indian. That’s a
tribute to the resurgent power of India, and the fearlessness of its
free thinking people.
... Have a Great Day ...
