Ashok, and the Emblem of the Indian Goverment

The pillar depicting four back-to-back lions found at Sarnath is the basis of the official seal of the Government of India. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Emblem_of_India.svg). The name Ashok is quite popular in India. Of all the kings, why was something from Ashok's period chosen to represent India? And why is Ashok a popular name? Here are a few possible explanations.

Ashok's period - 3rd century BCE is considered a golden age of India. Golden, not because of arts, but because of the spirit of tolerance that existed at that time.

Ashok unified the country much before the British did, and Ashok's boundaries closely resembled what the British did much later.

All this added up to nationalist pride in Ashok, and all things Ashok.

Finally, there is some religious angle to it too. The two major religious factions in India are Hindus and Muslims. Choosing a king who was neither Hindu, nor Muslim, but a Buddhist, may have been a nice compromise.

Early evolution of Hinduism in India

Syncretism: The attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syncretism)

Syncretism is at the root of the millions of Deities in Hinduism. As Hindu society came in contact with other forms of worship, it formed unions with them, increasing the number of deities. Even Buddha has been accepted into Hinduism, and is considered the 9th Avatar of Vishnu. (The 10th, Kalki, is yet to come.)

Early Hinduism relied heavily on rituals. Over time, these rituals became rigid, and common people rebelled against them. That created an environment conducive to the rise of two new religions - Buddhism and Jainism. They both started around 5th century BCE.

Another few offshoots of Hinduism started a few centuries later. The Bhakti and Tantra movements, both started around the 1st century CE.

Bhakti relied on direct worship, and Krishna is the most freqeunt target of this direct worship.
"Tantrics sought to gain spiritual fulfillment by acquiring power through social transgressions, including ritual sex."*

Around the time, a third sect - Pashupat was also started - by Lakulisha. Followers consider him the 28th and last Avatar of Shiva.

Today, Bhakti, Tantra and Pashupata are considered part of Hinduism. Despite attempts to assimilate Buddhism, it has remained as a separate religion. What about Jainism - there is no clear literature on whether or not attempts were made to assimilate Jainism and Lord Mahaveer into Hinduism.

But, Hinduism's evolution continues through syncretism.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Indian Art, Partha Mitter, Oxford University Press, Pg. 81.

Buddhist and Hindu temples

Given the age of Buddhism - around 500 BCE, and the age of Hinduism - closer to 2000 BCE, it is normal to assume that Hindu temples in India are older than Buddhist temples. That is not necessarily the case, however.

Buddhist temples in India have a longer history - many of them having been build between 3rd century BCE and 4th century CE. Hindu temples started being built at about this time.

The early Hindu temples - from the 5th to the 7th century were rock-cut - e.g. the Ellora temples (patterned after Ajanta temples).

Later temples - between 8th and 18th century BCE were built as structural temples.

So, the question comes up - what did the Hindus pray in, for the first 2500 or so years of their existence. Apparently, they were fire worshipers, and all they needed was a vedi to light a yagya (also pronounced yajna) fire.

The other interesting fact about these temples was that many of the early temples were financed through contributions from a large number of people. Often, but not always, the rulers were included among the contributors. Business people and even monks and nuns contributed money for the building of temples. Elephanta caves near Mumbai are a good example - both, in being rock-cut, and in being financed through contributions. An early indication of the separation of church and state, perhaps.

One more point of similarity between Einstein's theory of relativity and Indian mythology

Einstein's theory of relativity states that if you travel at the speed of light, time moves at a different pace. So, if you leave earth at the speed of sound, and then return in an hour, many years would have passed on Earth. Here is a story from India mythology that illustrates the same concept. (This version is of the story is from Wikipedia).

Kakudmi's daughter Revati was so beautiful and so accomplished that when she reached a marriageable age, Kakudmi, thinking no one upon earth was worthy of her, went to the Creator himself, Lord Brahma, to seek his advice about a suitable husband for his daughter.

When they arrived, Brahma was listening to a musical performance by the Gandharvas, so they waited patiently until the performance was finished. Then, Kakudmi bowed humbly, made his request and presented his shortlist of candidates. Brahma laughed loudly, and explained that time runs differently on different planes of existence, and that during the short time they had waited in Brahma-loka to see him, 27 catur-yugas (a cycle of four yugas, totalling 108 yugas, or Ages of Man) had passed on earth (see time dilation theory). Brahma said to Kakudmi, "O King, all those whom you may have decided within the core of your heart to accept as your son-in-law have passed away in the course of time. Twenty-seven catur-yugas have already passed. Those upon whom you may have already decided are now gone, and so are their sons, grandsons and other descendants. You cannot even hear about their names.^[2] You must therefore bestow this virgin gem (i.e. Revati) upon some other husband, for you are now alone, and your friends, your ministers, servants, wives, kinsmen, armies, and treasures, have long since been swept away by the hand of time."

"The choking game" and pranayama

An adolescent died last week in Mumbai. Initially ruled as a suicide, the parents had the courage to come out and say it was actually "the choking game" that killed the child. Children - typically between the ages of 9 and 16 - deprive their brain of Oxygen for a momentary high they get.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA3LzEyLzE5I0FyMDAxMDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

You can see more on this at
http://www.stop-the-choking-game.com/en/home.asp
including a video going through the scenario.

Some yoga practices too require the holding of energy inside the body through various locks - e.g. Mahabandh. The net effect of some of them is a reduction in the amount of Oxygen going to the brain. Is that too harmful - at what point does one draw the boundary. The video referred to above says that at 3 minutes of Oxygen deprivation, brain cells start dying irreversibly. At 5 minutes, the brain may stop functioning. Are yoga practices that involve bandhs for a minute or two OK, or are they harmful. Everyone needs to make this decision themselves. The takeaway is - when in doubt, do less, rather than more.

One final thought - may be it is time to teach yoga to children for more reasons. Yes, they can get what they want, but in an environment that is not dangerous to them.

The Wild West called Gujarat

In its December 8, 2007 edition, San Jose Mercury News has an article titled "Hindu official's re-election push alarms muslims."

It is an article on Narendra Mody, the CM of Gujarat, who is running for re-election. The article implies that he had a hand in the massacre of Muslims in the period after Godhra.

But, they neglect to mention the real events going on in India, which have spurred discussions in the media. When I started reading this SJMN article, I expected to read about the same controversy - but did not get it.

Last week, at a campaign rally, he incited the crowd by justifying a fake-encounter killing of someone called Sohrabuddin - an alleged terrorist. He asked the audience - "so what do you do when you find someone like this." The crowd chanted "kill-him." Modi then accepted credit. (http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/05gujpoll5.htm). The fact that it was a fake encounter is proven. The government itself has agreed. The IPS officer who led that encounter is now in jail.

Different media articles mention that when this particular IPS officer was around, lots of terrorist plots to kill Modi were discovered, arms caches were found, and terrorists dealt with, extra-judically. Since this person was sent to jail, those things have reduced drastically. Everyone can draw their own conclusions about it - maybe other officers are not as vigilant, or that this officer was driving a political agenda.

Comments from readers on these articles, on the other hand, are overwhelmingly supportive of Modi. Supportive of this stance, not of his ability to govern the state, the economic miracle he has crated, and his clean image (corruption-wise).

What these writers don't realize is that once they legitimize the monster of fake-encounter killings, they are handing over executive, legislative and judicial power to the same people. How can we be sure that this power won't be used against other individuals and communities in the future. Are we converting a part of India into the Wild West?

Population Growth in India

In the 70's, India's growing population was an issue of concern everywhere, including India. Over time, this concern has disappeared, to be replaced by excitement about the growing population. India has successfully converted its population from a liability to an asset. Greater population means more consumers, and more workers. India is pointed out as having a greater potential for success compared to its fellow emerging economy - China. The reason is that India's population is younger, and many more people in India will enter the workforce in the next few years.

There is no evidence, however, that population is not going to be a problem. There is a little more on this at:
http://sai-os.blogspot.com/2007/06/is-population-growth-on-planet-no.html

Today's Financial Times carried on OpEd piece by Victor Mallet. It is available on many websites, including this one.
http://in.rediff.com/money/2007/dec/06utop.htm


Here are important points:

1. "The population surge that will increase the workforce to 800m by 2016 and make India the world's most populous nation - may turn out to be more of a threat than an opportunity."
2. "Who will create the jobs to absorb the net increase of 71m young people of working age over the next five years? Most are poorly educated and only a fraction will find regular work.
3. It questions about their impact on the supply of water and fuel.
4. Eventually, these people will retire; who will take care of them

The OpEd piece correctly concludes that the optimists have taken over, failing to do anything about this issue. It is time that the authorities and the people in India start taking the issue seriously again.