Bangalore: Saturday, November 27, 1988. 11pm
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What makes this week’s criticism more interesting than ever is the fact that I have taken almost a week to suck in all that was told to me in a short span of half an hour. There has already been a long gap for so many things to happen, but to pen down my thoughts on the “Discovery of India” takes such a long time because I am yet discovering myself.
In today’s eisode of this fantastic serial, the importance of ‘water’ in its entirety enfolded before me. How important is this vital element in our life. It was an experience to go back to those days of early civilizations when the people would travel from place to place to set up their little homes.
It was by the river that their civilization prospered for not only did it enrich the soil on the river bed, but it also nourished their culture, the basic habits and practices of the people. The Taithirya Upanishad, while describing the concept of creation, refers to water as “from Atman, akasha came into existence; from akasha-vayu; from vayu –agni; and agni to water and from water the prithvi”. Just as the flowing river when it joins the ocean becomes one with it, without its existence, similarly a scholar liberating himself from ‘name’ and ‘rupa’ becomes one with the ultimate ‘purusha’.
How closely is this concept related to our basic life too. Each of us, with the past behind us, living the present, and drifting away with the current flowing towards the future, become one ultimately with the ‘ultimate’. Some of us drift away into the ocean of life and become on with the crowd, while few fall off the water-fall, for the stay unaware of the danger that lies ahead of them. However, there are a few who manage to foresee the danger, and hold on to a log of wood for support: gradually drifting to a safe place. Once they have embarked on a safe land, they look at all those who drift away without any support with pity in their eyes. The importance, thus, lies in getting a support, and also on how strong the support is. The lucky ones get what they want, few strive for it and a fewer have it thrust upon them.
Thus, it is this ‘luck’, ‘fate’, or ‘destiny’ by whichever name one will term it as, that the Aryans were subjected to. Their luck or good fortune brought them to this great land of ours, and it is indeed ‘lucky’ even as far as we are considered, that we are descendants of this great group of people.
They were the ones who worshipped fire and thus they owed their allegiance to the great Sun God. Thus, it is not at all surprising that they were the authors of our Vedas. They were the ones who deciphered the true meaning of creation.
The Rigveda says that before nature was created there was nothing but a ‘void’. Then, we have the Upanishads who trace the chain of creation. First, came the soul and from the soul came ‘existence’. For existence, air, the sky, the fire and finally water which are so essential were created.
Thus, the source of all creation lies in the soul of our being. Our body perishes, but not the soul, our brain can stagnate but not our mind, our heart may grow cold but never our feelings. It is because, what we are today is the result of what we were in our previous lives and what we are today shall determine what we shall be in the lives to follow. Thus, to enjoy our days on this earth is to read Nehru’s “Discovery of India” which in turn will help us to discover ourselves, for after all “we have a right to be here, no less than the trees and the stars...”
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