HVK Archives: On tolerance
On tolerance - Afternoon
Posted By ashok (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
Sat, 15 Jun 96 21:34:37 PDT
ON TOLERANCE
The Hindu ethos of tolerance has been debated over and
over again. However, the definition of tolerance is
rarely understood, particularly in the religious context.
Thus, Prof Robert D Baird, in his article "Religious Con-
flict in Contemporary India" (Religious Studies in Kan-
sas, Vol2, Nr 1, Fall 1993) says:
The myths of "Hindu tolerance" and "Indian inclu-
siveness" have been questioned before, but have be-
come increasingly difficult to maintain in the light
of contemporary conflicts. Those familiar with In-
dian myths know that destruction as well as creation
and preservation has been a recurring theme....In
the Bhagvadgita, Arjuna is instructed by Krishna
that it is his duty as a kshatriya to fight and that
it is better to do that, however poorly, that to do
someone else's dharma well.
There is an obviously deliberate and mischievous perver-
sion on part of Prof Baird. A kshatriya's dharma is not
to fight for the sake of fighting. Only when all the
other avenues have been exhausted, is fighting to be re-
sorted to. The tremendous efforts that Lord Krishna made
to come to a compromise should be known to Prof Baird,
given his scholarship.
How, then, does one define tolerance, in the context of
religion? It means that while a person will have his own
way towards nirvana, the path followed by another is
equally valid as far as that other person is concerned.
A person may well discuss his path to establish his supe-
riority, but he will not force another to accept his own
path. This ethos comes out of the essence of Hinduism,
which is stated in this shloka:
Ekam sat, viprah bahudda vadanti
A simple translation is: Truth is one, sages call it var-
iously. Swami Vivekanand introduced this concept to the
Americans and Europeans during his sojourn after the
World Parliament of Religions. In contrast, Christianity
believes that Jesus Christ, being the only son of god, he
is the route to salvation, and Islam believes that since
Mohammed is the last prophet, he is the route to salva-
tion.
Most of the time, discussions on tolerance takes place
with a semitic reference, and rarely with the Hindu ref-
erence. This is indeed strange since the essence of tol-
erance exists only in the Hindu ethos. (Of course, one
does not know much about the other civilisations like the
Egyptian, the Aztecs, etc., since they are now dead
civilisations.)
A detailed discussion on the Hindu tolerance is to be had
in "Hinduism for our times" by Prof Arvind Sharma ( Birks
Professor of Comparative Religion, Faculty of Religious
Studies, McGill University, Montreal) in Chapter 4,
pp 61-83. The book is published by the Oxford University
Press. He discusses what tolerance is and what it is
not. He also discusses the limits of tolerance, and
says, "(I)ndiscriminate tolerance can be a sign of mental
laziness or moral fecklessness." These limits are divid-
ed into four categories - moral, practical, political and
rational. He says there are four logical combinations in
the dialectic between tolerance and intolerance: (1) tol-
erance of tolerance; (2) intolerance of intolerance;
(3) tolerance of intolerance; and (4) intolerance of tol-
erance. He says that there is a logical connection be-
tween caste and tolerance, and that there are four possi-
ble relationships between the two: (1) as karmically co-
originative; (2) as oppositionally correlational; (3) as
systematically disjunctive; and (4) as dialectically op-
posite.
Shri Sharma's book is also otherwise very informative on
various aspects of Hinduism. Although strictly not for
an uninitiated, those with an interest in the subject,
will find it stimulating. At the same time, Shri Sharma
does not get into very high philosophy and the book is
not interspersed with any Sanskrit shlokas and then their
English translation. This makes the book easy to read.
Another author who has dealt with the subject is David
Frawley in his book "Arise Arjuna" (Voice of India,
Delhi), in Chapter 2.4 "The unity of religion and reli-
gious tolerance". This is for the uninitiated, and is
very easy reading. David expounds Shri Sharma's central
theme, although he does not use the classifications that
the latter does. David's book has the sub-title "Hindu-
ism and the modern world", and he does a great deal of
justice to this aspect in the way he has presented Hindu-
ism.
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