Sanskrit literature inspired western scholars

Western intellectuals spellbound by Sanskrit literature

               It is for the astounding richness of the Sanskrit language a renowned linguist Sir William Jones first translated Kalidasa’s Shakuntala from the original Sanskrit into English in 1789. This stirred the minds and hearts of the top European intellectuals that include Johann Goethe, Gottfried Herder, Friedrich Schiller, August Schlegel, Wilhelm von Humboldt, et al. Very impressed by the language and its philosophical plot the father of the German literature (J. Goethe) learnt the Sanskrit on his own. And, he plunged into this ancient play Shakuntala for the whole thirty years. He even wrote an insightful poem eulogizing this play. Again, George Forster translated this Kalidas’s work into German in 1791. In a span of some decades sprouted 46 translations into fourteen European languages.  On the other hand, the translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Charles Wilkin in 1784 and Upanishads by Anquetil Duperron in 1801 opened up unprecedented vistas for the philosophical regeneration hitherto unknown in the European literature. The doctrines of Vedanta such as ‘Oneness of the universe’, interdependence and interconnection of all entities and all particles seemed very plausible to the philosophically rational psyche of the western scholars.

                   Again, one of the fathers of Modern linguistic Franz Bopp and a great philosopher Friedrich Schlegel, both from Germany, laid the revolutionary foundation of the comparative linguistic by freely borrowing from Panini’s “Ashtadhyayi ” which was later further developed by the language giants like Ferdinand de Saussure, Leonard Bloomfield and Noam Chomsky. Panini, who was an enlightened sage of 4th BC India, was the first to systematically put down the comprehensive Grammar of Sanskrit language. This treatise consists of about 3959 sutras which can handle the nuances and intricacies of any languages in the universe, empirically and anatomically. 

                  Having been too bewitched by the Sanskrit language a most renowned American linguist Leonard Bloomfield exclaims --- “It was in India,

however, that there arose a body of knowledge which was destined to revolutionize European ideas about language. Panini Grammar taught Europeans to analyze speech forms; when one compared the constituent parts, the resemblances, which hitherto had been vaguely recognized, could be set forth with certainty and precision."  Yes, here at home we prefer to call Sanskrit a dead language, and instead, with enthusiasm and hubris choose to learn German.

                   There are countless western scholars and scientists who have overwhelmingly acknowledged the exceptional richness of Sanskrit language wherein they saw an immense scope in the development of any area of studies. Voltaire, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, TS Eliot, Neils Bohr, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Oppenheimer, Mark Twain, Car Jung, J. D. Salinger and others learnt Sanskrit or studied Sanskrit literature to strengthen their intellectual prowess.

            John Archibald Wheeler –a famous modern physicist who first coined Black Hole and Warm Hole and occupied the chair that had previously been held by Albert Einstein, enthuses – ‘One has the feeling that the thinkers of the East (INDIA) knew it all, and if we could only translate their answers into our language we would have the answers to all our questions.’  With the same vigor bursts out another physicist Erwin Schrodinger, known as the father of Quantum Mechanics --- “Some blood transfusion from INDIA to the West is a must to save Western science from spiritual anemia.”

                    Here are my few earnest questions -- had all these rational thinkers, scientists, writers --- whose theories, whose principles, whose literature, whose formulae and equations we study in schools and colleges and thus claim ourselves as academically qualified, gone crazy to heap high praise on Sanskrit and its literary treasure troves?  How can we claim to be INDIAN when we joyfully belittle and undermine our own heritage?  What is it that makes us to see only flaws in our Mother even without ever making a bit of genuine effort to know and realize her uncanny virtues?

                        I don’t think we have ever seen any country in the world that its citizens speak ill of their heritage, their tradition and values -- however archaic, rustic and crude they may be. Why does it touch our raw nerves when someone appreciates the values and culture of the native land? Sanskrit and the myriad scriptures produced in this grand language is as resplendent as the Sun ball over our head. Can you ignore the Sun? I don’t think François Voltaire was a big fool to announce with vehemence about 300 years ago  ---- ‘Everything has come down to us from the bank of GANGA’ , ‘The first Greeks traveled to India to instruct themselves’, ‘India, whom whole Earth needs, who needs no one, must by that very fact the most civilized land’.  Should it not call for a dispassionate introspection and thus our self-correction and reawakening?

-- by :  Salil Gewali,
Shillong (Meghalaya)

sgewali@gmail.com

Moral bankruptcy and rise of sexual perverts

                   The glitter of modernity is not without a taint of depravity. What’s too upsetting lately is a new breed of perverts who have been wreaking havoc with the society and the modesty of womanhood.  They prey upon any females, even kids, anywhere any time. How disgusting, the instances of roadside molestation hardly raise the eyebrows of the pedestrians. To rub salt on the wound of a section of biased media and modern folks follow the sermons from the political leaders hinting that cases of such molestation are not unexpected when females go around at night without fathers, brothers with short dresses. This is how the womenfolk are round-the-clock under threat.

Again, pornography --- in which females are mercilessly humiliated, is doubtlessly another dreadful nuisance which has blotted the pristine landscape of the society now. Though it is never shown in the media as one of the main causes of the increasing menace in the society many sensible NGOs and dispassionate analysts have come up with conclusive findings that reveal ---  ‘The rise in pornography viewing is directly proportional to the rise in the number of rape cases, sexual violence and the social degeneration’  ---  as also claimed by a noted gynecologist Dr. Shaibya Saldanha of Bangalore.

There are various kind of rape cases in the country now. A very horrendous news we have heard from Inchauli, Meerut a few months back. A 10 year’s boy allegedly raped a six years old girl. Where did so young boy get to learn about the indecent acts? What has brought him to like such outrageous stuffs and what finally drove him to walk along the forbidden path? He might have initially become acutely inquisitive for several reasons which we --
one-sided sensible lot, just tend to shrug aside. 

 

Yes, if we are truly honest the causes are not too indistinct to be noticed.  Well, is it not for an easy accessibility of the pornography on the internet that can be accessed with our android phones? A series of obscene movie footages which repeated boom in our drawing rooms could easily get the tender minds to think what they should not. Again, regular news of fathers/step-fathers stalking upon their own daughters, and school teachers eyeing their students for sexual fulfilment (Kendriya Vidyalaya incident in Meghalaya) have sent chill down our spine about a month back.  This kind of shocking story greets us every morning through our local dailies.

Here a serious question, let’s not ignore. Why is there a sharp rise in the viewing of the pornography in INDIA in the past few years? What is so much hot that is sizzling in the country now which never fails to kindle the curiosity of even the teenage to open up the filthy pages on the net? Let’s not bury our head in the sand in the face of this dangerous development --- at least for the sake of our descendants, for the sake of the humanity. Or else, we will be equally culpable sinners. Well, will our willful silence against the rise of pornography viewing not bring forth the days of bestiality in which our own children and grandchildren will be living and growing? Will their lives not get devastated by the endless debaucheries, rapes, sexual atrocities, family discords and mental chaos --- already a major distress pulling the society down? In such environment, the millions of poor “single” mothers will be forced to lead traumatic lives as in the West.

              Well, our mere saying “sick minded rapists”, or arresting and hanging the perverts will not at all solve the problem permanently.  We all have to adopt, with all sensibility and sincerity, the comprehensive measures as well that will be helpful to keep the society in a good stead.    

              Let me beg for your considerate attention here. When an epidemic “dengue” strikes our town, what do we do? Do we not clean our surrounding? This is what the medical doctors suggest first. Apart from vaccinating the sick person, we immediately take all prescribed preventive measures. We extremely exercise caution as to their food intake.  We install screens not to let a single mosquito in, and stop leaving the stagnant water in the open such that it never becomes a breeding hotbed and so on and so forth.

              Exactly in the same manner, let’s honestly ask ourselves if we have really been doing anything to prevent the evil of  “porny-dengue”  and the like entering into our society, more precisely, into the mindset of our tender kids and the general masses? Who knows yesterday’s good boy has become pervert today? Has the Government initiated anything that will help prevent us from the sharp stings of “porn-bugs” which might have injected many with the carnal virus?  Have we ever put pressure upon the entertainment houses not to immorally sexualize and objectify the womanhood? What is uncomfortably awkward here is that hardly any women organizations in India have protested to ban the evil of pornography. Why are they silent against this dreadfully filthy underworld where females are inhumanely humiliated and heartlessly hurt?

Yes, apart from the rigorous punishment to the sex perverts, better hanging, the government should consider to initiate the movement to detox the mindset of the masses.  “Healthy attitude and healthy acts for healthy and decent society” should be the prime slogan. No sexual predator should strangulate the sacred womanhood and take the society hostage.

-       Salil Gewali, Shillong
 Writer may be contacted as : sgewali@gmail.com

Hi traders, beware of corporate hawkers

Not just hawkers, retailers and wholesalers are equally under threat

- Salil Gewali, Shillong

We have gone through a several opinions and suggestions on hawkers’ issues lately. While some consider them as a burden, some others generously pour out their sympathies. The articles by Rev N. B. Diengdoh and Fabian Lyngdoh are very thought-provoking.  

                 Well, the hawkers doubtlessly deserve our compassion because they are poor. But at any rate, they do not reserve the right to encroach upon the public places and thereby cause inconvenience to the pedestrians. Ms. Patricia Mukhim, in her beautiful article, has correctly pointed out how hawkers pose as a huge stumbling block for the public and also in the free movement of the bazaar vehicles and so on.    

           All opinions are truly helpful to arrive at the logical conclusion. Indeed, compassion, morality, rationality and legality are fundamental ingredients to deal with any kind of thorny issues.  

 Incidentally, of late, my attention has been drawn to what has been less discussed but it is going to make a dent in the whole sphere of trading system and the market economy. In the process our beloved hawkers, who struggle to make ends meet, will be pounded to dust.

             For past some years, not just our outside roads and footpaths but the very threshold of our mind and inner emotions have been invaded by a swarm of national and international companies that sell a whole lot of items --- ranging from a petty handkerchief, shocks, pan masala to latest mobile phones, high-end computers, washing machine, micro-ovens, or anything under the sky. Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Infibeam, India Mart, Ebay, HomeShop18 are few that have already become the household names. They parade their merchandise which unmistakably greet us with every single page we open on the net.

With a sufficient dose of glamour, they have already encroached upon the inner space of our mentality which the poor hawkers can’t ever dream of. These companies employ every possible crafty scheme to increase our temptation to buy more and more.

Here even a lazy boy often goes crazy to quickly click the mouse to order for an item that just caught his fascination the other day. A lot many have already become shopaholic due to marketing strategies of these giant online companies. Their offers are endless and so are their alluring coupons which hardly fail to entice simple-hearted people into their traps. No wonder that shopping online is too easy where the items are offered at fairly lesser prices too.  

           But how these online companies have been impacting the socio-economic status of each regular retail trader, petty hawkers and the society at large is matter of a serious concern. All should agree that they will not only eat into the business opportunities of the poor hawkers but they have already sent shock waves into the normal retail trading system and also the wholesale bazaar. Systematic surveys might throw up a lot of information that might push the regular market businessmen into the depth of depression.  

              Again, a chain of retail shopping malls is another roaring phenomenon of metro cities which is slowly making inroad into small towns like ours.  Reliance, Big Bazaar, Bharti Retail, Hypercity Future Group are some fun-filled shopping stops that will not let you to pay even a glance at the normal shops in the market, not to speak of sweaty vendors on the street. Exotic baby candies to a variety of trendy dress materials, and an array of vacuum cleaners to heart-throbbing music systems, TVs and so on and so forth are attractively on display in these fully computerized AC shopping palaces. Our impoverished hawkers or normal market traders cannot at all match up to these big companies.

  

Be frank and check up your own personal purchasing behaviors over three to four years. How many times have you visited Big Bazaars and how many deliveries have you received from, Flipkart, Snapdeal, HomeShop et al? On occasions you have also impulsively purchased even those articles which you never need from these big malls or through online shopping. Our mass purchasing from these big companies will adversely hit the small traders, market wholesalers and hawkers.  

Now let’s assume that 60% of public start doing their complete shopping through online or by visiting Big Bazaars only, which is very likely within a few years from now. What will be the consequence then? Will it not force the many of the normal traders to shut down their business and setup archery counters, lol? Then, what will be the fate of the illiterate hawkers who have taken this profession not out of choice but out of compulsion to fill their stomachs?    

It is a very a dangerous trend that the rich are getting richer and richer while the poor are getting still poorer and deprived in every respect? Will this sad tale of growing disparity melt the heart of the government?  

Modern Intellectualism sans the heartbeat of humanity and Dharma

Modern Intellectualism sans the heartbeat of humanity and Dharma

Bollywood - a threat to Hindu culture and values

Sunny Leone -- a darling of 



the media and Bollywood



but poison for the society 

After Jackpot’s blast Bollywood has just unabashedly knocked out Ragini MMS, Ek Paheli Leela.., Kuch Kuch Locha Hai… and lots other with a bang! Lots of news -- titillating and riveting to prod the bodily desire. Thanks to Sunny Leone’s past profession, the film-makers are pointedly cashing in on it, as obviously understood. Hardly any newspapers and magazines hold back to add “epithets” to this vivacious lady as “adult-star” or “porn-star” to make the readers more inquisitive.  For about past four years we all have been unfailingly updated about her tidbits and gossips. Thus, the “bestiality of porn” has now been “forced into the inner sanctum of the Indian households”.

            Do we want our children to know about pornography?  Given the manners and styles Sunny Leone is being presented by the electronic media – are we not uncomfortably confused that our children now might see this woman also as their “role model”? Won’t they become tempted to emulate a porn-star who receives so much of appreciation and warm welcome with even privileges to grace the key public events? What could be the height of bizarreness that this lady is ever mobbed by a swarm of media crews who with enthusiasm rush out titillating stories for the next morning? To them she is a Goddess from the heaven descended down to bless us all. What messages does it send out to our children, can anyone guess dispassionately?

Well, make a sneaky peek into Sunny’s  facebook page – it unfolds a whole lot of unspeakable things. Just find out how many million fans’ likes she has earned from INDIA alone, and analyze their opinions, perception plus our naughty silence in respect to her raunchy flicks – of both Bollywood and the other-world.

 The number of her fans began to shoot astronomically when she was invited to jazz up “Bigg Boss” about 5 years ago. No denying, the majority of masses in INDIA were not aware of what exactly porn-world is all about until her ground-breaking entry into the country. Till just a year or two ago the policemen would swing into action to pounce upon any suspects with obscene literature or digital CDs. But now the lustful roar is coming out from Bollywood itself for the mass consumption.

 Bollywood in collusion with media is hatching the schemes to push the pornography into the threshold of our sacred households. It’s not that there is any absence of a voice of protest. But the media never give any coverage no matter how vehemently the public disapprove of.

Well, the present sudden ban of Pornography by the Indian Govt threw up less known facts. People are already well into the pit of pornography. Sunny Leone has been very successful to steer the Indian masses into the “other-world”. Now people beat their chest for porn. If face-book comments or other write-ups published in media are to be believed than there are lots of intellectuals/media journalists who have felt too stiffed when the porn was banned. Some blasted the govt saying that it is taking India to the “Stone Age”.  

It is very obvious that a good many have been already pulled down into the whirlpool of this murky underworld. And some might have sorely been afflicted by its addiction syndrome --- the most damning malady ailing a major chunk of the western population. It’s long been acknowledged, though greatly suppressed, this blue voyeurism has drastically shattered the millions of the households, their marital relationships, contaminating their sacred thoughts and ruining their personal values, as often been revealed in hundreds of journals published across the world after the exhaustive surveys. Another question, how long will the masses lust after all this immodest sensuality and the filth of pornography? Has not the strength of sex-juice, as nature given for some reasons, is becoming less appealing with the time by losing all its intrinsic charm, grace, and purity?

 ‘A true strength of sex and its purity and purposes have drastically gone down these days. The marital bond is dismally slack. An easy access to pornography, and open display of nudity and cheap representation of the sexuality are the contributing factors’, quips Dr Naresh Patel, a psychologist and writer from Mumbai.

Again one academician from Delhi opines ‘I strongly believe that many unsuccessful models or film-stars in INDIA have already been tempted to follow in the footstep of Sunny Leone. Very soon they will boldly claim that they are porn-stars vying for Bollywood opportunity as Sunny Leone. And, some young girls will now have less qualm to join this bandwagon of pornography – the sacred sex will be taken very casually and which will degrade the society very fast.’

My honest questions -- are we not becoming unclear of what is right and what is wrong for the society, what is good and what is bad for the households, and what is virtuous and what sinful for our inner selves? Further, are we truly serious to ponder over the ominous repercussion of such pornographic thoughts that are fast taking space in the mindset of our grown up children, let alone the matured adult? Will not the perverse thoughts make way for perverse indulgences that will take its toll on their studies and later in their marital lives adversely affecting family values? Is it not an ominous threat to the profound spiritual culture of INDIA? Why there is no protest by any women organizations against this pernicious pornography where females are inhumanely humiliated and tortured.  

 
Have we not become a bit dithery to say no to this windfall of wanton exhibitionism? Should the blatant female objectification in the entertainment world not raise our eye-brows and awaken our inner sensibility anymore? Have we not witnessed the enough instances of cold-blooded rapes, sexual violence against women and a host of other perverse sexual activities in the society? A prostitute may harm a few individuals while the pornography can destroy the soul of a whole generation and the next.

Here our silence against the breeding of vices is akin to our acceptance. Now it is not just silent acceptance but open demand and appreciation.

This could well-mean that our inner strength of morality has become weak and feeble that it fails now to prompt us to stand upright against the evil.Phew, our silence might make the lustful holler of the decadence still shriller!

The writer may be contacted at: Email: sgewali@gmail.com