This post was inspired by a discussion I had with a junior from my engineering college who currently works with the leftist portal Scroll.
Omar Abdullah recently spoke about "PM" of J&K which was countered by Modi in one of his speeches. This reminded me of a scene from the movie "Leader". Telugu people will understand this. A wannabe CM (Raghubabu) of the state laments about what he would do in the aftermath of a terror attack. The actual CM (Rana Daggubati), simply reminds the press that he IS the CM. The aforementioned article, while being quite informative seemed to be sympathetic to Abdullah Jr. I questioned him on what the point of the article was and he said it was to generate a debate. Then he said that is all there is to human life. To debate and then to die.
Is that all there is to life? To debate and to die? Nothing else? That statement somehow seems typically communist. West Bengal, a state long under communism has this concept of "adda" where people gather, maybe smoke and drink tea, debate and then disperse. Amartya Sen, another Bengali wrote an entire book, The Argumentative Indian (I have not read it). "Kerala, another state that has seen a lot of communist rule also seems to have these local (sort of) one-room clubs where people play carrom. I have nothing against leisure and debate, I am all for them! Just that, is there nothing else?
Indian culture definitely welcomes debate. But debate is only a means to an end, not the end in itself. The ultimate debate for a Hindu is about what the self is and how to attain liberation. One of the many paths to reach God (not religions, inside Sanatana Dharma itself) is gnyaana yoga, the path of knowledge. In this there is a continuous quest for what the self is. The advaitin questions, is it the body, is it the mind, so on and so forth. There is the concept of na iti or neti (न इति, नेति, న ఇతి, నేతి). It means, not this. The seeker debates continuously, whether a certain thing is God or not and then ultimately after a great time attains self-realization. Obviously there are other things he has to do other than debate!
Indian culture definitely welcomes debate. But debate is only a means to an end, not the end in itself. The ultimate debate for a Hindu is about what the self is and how to attain liberation. One of the many paths to reach God (not religions, inside Sanatana Dharma itself) is gnyaana yoga, the path of knowledge. In this there is a continuous quest for what the self is. The advaitin questions, is it the body, is it the mind, so on and so forth. There is the concept of na iti or neti (न इति, नेति, న ఇతి, నేతి). It means, not this. The seeker debates continuously, whether a certain thing is God or not and then ultimately after a great time attains self-realization. Obviously there are other things he has to do other than debate!
There is a Sanskrit sloka:
काव्यशास्त्रविनोदेन कालो गच्छति धीमताम्
व्यसनेन तु मूर्खाणाम् निद्रया कलहेन वा
व्यसनेन तु मूर्खाणाम् निद्रया कलहेन वा
కావ్యశాస్త్రవినోదేన కాలో గచ్ఛతి ధీమతామ్
వ్యసనేన తు మూర్ఖాణాం నిద్రయా కలహేన వా
The intelligent ones spend their time in the enjoyment of kaavyaas and shaastraas. Foolish ones spend it in vice, sleep or quarrel. The term kaavya here might mean epics or poetry. However, in one sense the terms is applicable to the Veda.
The intelligent ones spend their time in the enjoyment of kaavyaas and shaastraas. Foolish ones spend it in vice, sleep or quarrel. The term kaavya here might mean epics or poetry. However, in one sense the terms is applicable to the Veda.
References: Speech by Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma
Sanskrit transliteration: https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/sanskrit_latin.htm
श्रीगुरुचरणारविन्दार्पणम् अस्तु
श्रीगुरुचरणारविन्दार्पणम् अस्तु
