What is
religion? Why does it demand so much
from its followers? How can a person, in
his/her old age find so much devotion to travel such large distances in such
excruciating conditions in search of something which they themselves are
uncertain of finding...?
These questions come floating into my mind as I travel home, with all the academic
year-end luggage from college, in a sleeper class train in the tormenting heat
of May, in a train for which I paid thrice the amount of the base fare for
ticket to the agent who got me last minute booking, and realizing that the
sleeper class I boarded was worse than the general class, because of the “Simhastha Kumbh Mahaparv” going on in some place
beyond my destination.
Now this was
not just some other train journey when we encounter heavy rush. Rush because of
competitive exams seems legit, when students, in their early twenty’s struggle
their way through the test to grab that one seat for which thousands aspire.
Neither was it the rush of the season of holidays, when families and groups of
friends plan vacations away from the comforts of home to find solace. All that
seems so sensible. But not this one. This particular rush was of old men/women
and middle aged men/women, of sadhus
and sadhvis and of naga babas and small time merchants and
also all other sorts of people seemingly going to attend this Simhastha kumbh – which is a fest held at
supposedly that miraculous time of the year or occurring once in a couple of
years, when the planets and stars and the nakshatras
(as the elite priest association would argue) align themselves in some
particular position, and the river Ganges (which is just another river important
to a region as it suffices all the water needs of that particular region) becomes holy and
pious, and a dip or two in it would endow them with eternal health, peace,
prosperity and oneness with god.
But is it
sufficient to take a dip in a river and be able to wash oneself of their sins,
when they’ve either erred or committed all those crimes, unknowingly or
deliberately whatsoever, throughout their lives? Are they not being utterly
selfish, or as I feel, trying to be too credulous regarding this theory, of
seeking forgiveness for their sins without realizing that they trouble people
and damage resources throughout this path of salvation?
(image merely for reference) source: internet
They force
the reserved passengers on train to adjust with them and their luggage, or as I
saw from my top berth, block the passage and inhibit movement completely, and
get into arguments with those claiming their seats. Women keep on singing hymns
and prayers in a chorus, litter all the place with their food stuff and
heighten the already high summer heat inside.
Now one
might judge me to be someone possessing a sense of superiority over such people
and such sections of society; but it’s not that I just scorn at these people
and their misery; I do empathize with them as well. These women sitting on the floor of
the coach in the passages between seats looked miserable, their heads covered
with a end of their saree (as it is mandatory in some orthodox Indian families)
– which veiled their grey haired or patchy or hair-less scalp, which has been a
result of lifelong poverty and age taking its toll on the body. They seem
somewhat lost, their eyes gazing endlessly at a point, interrupted by small
conversations and periodic chanting. They seem to fool themselves in the name
of devotion while they know it all along, that nothing is going to change their
fate. They are sick and tired but still pushing hard, finding it satisfactory
to curse those who hurt, and bless those who help during their whole journey. Preconceived notions and
superstitious beliefs so well interwoven with their souls that it paralyses
their logic and sense of rationalism.
They call
the river holy but pollute it by bathing in them in such huge numbers, submerging
in them the idols of gods and goddesses (i.e visarjan), even defecating in these rivers, and hoping and
believing for the river to purge their souls as a matter of an obvious fact.
And as to
the fact that it is holy, we can gather numerous incidents of mishaps and
accidents occurring in such “holy” places like temples and “teeraths”. Why would god do this to his
followers? It’s because we’ve gone too far in pleasing him. God is not demanding,
it’s the religion that demands in the name of god.
So we should
understand that it is high time we started differentiating between spirituality
and religion, i.e. the religion in all its ritualistic form. We fail to
understand what started then as basic social teachings in that era, have
transformed into superstitions and hard-and-fast rules of religion in the
present day. Spirituality in its very basic meaning refers to be in a state of
harmony with oneself, and creating a clean and peaceful environment around to
achieve perpetual happiness. A rational and logical approach to everything
helps us attain this state of harmony with self as well as the surroundings.
Senseless pursuance of rituals that no one knows why they’re being followed or
performed but followed/performed just
because the religion demands, is nothing but blind faith and foolishness.
