Author: Aneeta Chakrabarty
Publication: Hmsamerica.org
Date: December 7, 2010
URL: http://hmsamerica.org/columns/aneeta-chakrabarty/courage-sparks-from-the-white-radiance-of-eternity
Tara was the mistress of a crooked cop, yet
in contrast to all the morality toting preachers, she took the witness stand
and spilled the beans against the thugs who were holding the town to ransom
with their nefarious network of drugs and prostitution. Putlibhai was an illiterate,
abused housewife, viciously attacked by her husband during his drunken bouts.
However, in contrast to her superior, educated sisters, Publibhai organized
the women of the village and burnt down the liquor shops that had destroyed
their homes. Vivek was denounced as a failure because he did not have a degree
in Engineering or Medicine, yet unlike his better situated colleagues, he
adopted 7 orphans and gave them much needed care and attention. And Shera,
labeled a drunkard, rescued children forced into bonded labor.
Many such men and women, hounded by "high"
society face needles of biting sneers, yet possess an unusual courage to bear
unflinchingly the darts from heaven, and rise again and again to fight blazing
fires in order to make the world a better place. As Swamy Vivekananda would
say, "Come, do something heroic, brother. What if you do not attain mukti,
what if you suffer damnation a few times," and "if in this hell
of a world, one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart
of a single person, that much alone is true."
Today, India needs thousands of crusaders
with such blazing courage. Eighty percent of her population does not need
redemption from sin, but from hunger and oppression. Also, they do not need
lengthy lectures on "Moksha" or "the nature of reality,"
but desperately need clean streets, pure water, food and shelter. They do
not need slavish conformists staying in their own lane, but daring reformers
who light a candle among darkening tempests, and such things are possible
only when the soul is charged with its potent fuel, courage.
Unfortunately, India does not honor or value
this sword arm of justice called courage. It does not develop a regard for
the unconventional man who rocks the smug boat of apathy, or for the iron
man who can stand tall. These qualities are too glaring, too uncomfortable
too strong for the peace chanting, timid society that can compromise on anything
from losing territory to all kinds of injustice in the name of an elusive,
all encompassing trek to an escapist Nirvana. Yet, the genius for compromise
can last only as long as the unraveling social fabric is stitched back and
held together by the threads of hope. And hope comes not from compromise but
from the lamps lit by valor.
Civilizations have perished and crumbled at
the stroke of a barbarian, not because they lacked education, or affluence
or skills, but because they had lost the courage to see and cure the diseased
teeth and decaying bones of the body called Society. Indian civilization has
been enslaved again and again because the spiritual transmitters, Gita geniuses
and other assorted "keepers of the flame," have failed to motivate
men and women to deeds of valor.
Nothing in India will change, unless the people
change. If Indian society has to flourish and be free in both body and spirit,
then the Gita must be translated into action by involvement and activism,
instead of aloofness and apathy. The temples should inspire, guide and unite
Indians of all castes, emphasize values versus rituals, and involvement versus
escapism. From its inspirational environs should arise men of steel and compassion
who can ensure justice and equality.
In the eternal war of the ages, Gods have
routinely destroyed demons and established justice on earth. They were warriors,
armed and mighty with a fierce courage that did not hesitate to punish when
necessary and reward when required. Unless the temples teach this neglected
aspect of Hinduism, the spirit of God would not be in temples but far away
from them in the embodied souls of courage such as Sheras and Putlibhais.
As Swamy Vivekananda has said, "Where there is struggle, where there
is rebellion, there is the sign of life, there consciousness is manifested."
The Gita "specialist" may talk a
long time on many aspects of the Royal knowledge delivered by the Lord of
the Universe such as meditation, Universal soul, discrimination between nature
and soul, atma, paramatma, renunciation, mukthi, etc. However, if he avoids
stressing on courage and justice, he is not preaching the Gita delivered on
the battlefield to fight injustice, but the Gita of a self-seeking society
that uses scripture to look the other way.
