Jagannath Culture and Peace

Philosopher and Yogi, Sri Aurobindo, wrote in his essay ‘The Chariot of Jagannath,’ “The ideal society is the vehicle of the indwelling Godhead of a human aggregate, the chariot for the journey of Jagannath. Unity, Freedom, Knowledge and Power constitute the four wheels of this chariot.”

The conception of an ideal society has captivated minds of sages and philosophers throughout the ages. Whether the Upanishad’s exhortation ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, or the Jaina concept of ‘Anekantavada,’ or the Buddhist ideal of the ‘Middle Path’, or the Christian commandment ‘Love Thy Neighbor’, the religions and the wise throughout the ages have sung the song of love and peace.

Who does not want peace? Who does not want a peaceful life, without violence and suffering? But, is there peace? Perhaps the world has never been as violent as today. Within a span of six years, from 2011 to 2016, more than four hundred thousand people perished in Syria alone, forget other conflicts scattered across the globe. Death, displacement, refugee crisis, seem to be the order of the day. The menaces of religious extremism and terrorism, aggressive pursuit of interests, excessive materialism and negligence of spiritualism, have contributed to the moral depravity of our age.

When I talk about peace, I do not mean an uneven peace – a peace of the strong over the weak, or a peace enforced by power of bayonets, or a peace in which we have material comforts at its peak, but moral and spiritual depravity at nadir. I am taking about a peace in which there is no violence from within or without, a peace that no circumstances can disturb, a peace established within but reflected without, outside in our daily behavior – in our thought and action.

How does Jagannath come in to the picture when we talk about peace? What does the Lord and his chariot signify? Jagannath or His chariot are not mere wooden instruments to be venerated; they possess tremendous meaning for all of us and for the world. They hold the key to address our moral depravity and our spiritual bankruptcy.

Jagannath, literally meaning Lord of Universe, is in true sense the Universal God, who transcends all divisions, and embraces all, whether the sinner or the virtuous. The pervasiveness of Jagannath consciousness can only be felt when one rises to the occasion, and leaving aside the ego, merges himself with the divine. Mere rituals do not help, unless they positively impact our mind, our consciousness. How many of us can echo Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu?  The devotee sang in his Sri Jagannathāṣṭakam:

“na vai yāce rājyaṁ na ca kanaka-māṇikya-vibhavaṁ

na yāce 'haṁ ramyāṁ sakala jana-kāmyāṁ vara-vadhūm

sadā kāle kāle pramatha-patinā gīta-carito

jagannāthaḥ svāmī nayana-patha-gāmī bhavatu me.

I do not pray to Jagannath for a kingdom, nor for gold, jewels, wealth, or even for a beautiful wife as desired by all men. My only prayer is that Sri Jagannath-deva, whose splendid glories are always sung by Shiva, be the constant object of my vision.

hara tvaṁ saṁsāraṁ druta-taram asāraṁ sura-pate

hara tvaṁ pāpānāṁ vitatiṁ aparāṁ yādava-pate

aho dīne 'nāthe nihita-caraṇo niścitam idaṁ

jagannāthaḥ svāmī nayana-patha-gāmī bhavatu me.

O master of the gods! Quickly deliver me from this worthless worldly existence. O Lord of the Yadus! Purge me of my limitless host of sins. Aho! You have promised to bestow Your feet upon the fallen and shelter less -- O Jagannath Swami, please be the object of my vision.”

I understand the concern of ‘roti, kapda aur makan.’ We need a healthy body and a healthy mind to engage in mundane as well noble activities. But, how much do we need? Mahatma Gandhi’s famous saying comes to mind: Nature has enough for everybody’s need, but not for everybody’s greed. We all aspire for peace, but we are not peaceful. We want the world to be peaceful, with no conflict in family, in society and in the world, but it does not happen. What is the reason? The reason we have to find within us. Alexander the Great while dying in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) ordered his men to put around him the wealth from the conquests, and told them, ‘Lo, I earned so much, but I am not taking anything with me.’ He was influenced by monks while returning from India. The monks inspired him to ponder over mortality of human life and vainglory. Flashing back to the 20th century English film ‘Death Becomes Her’, the protagonist refused to drink potion to become immortal, and argued that it is our work, our action here on the earth that makes us immortal.

Though Jagannath is considered a part of Hindu pantheon, He transcends religions or other social constructs. As Sri Aurobindo argued, Jagannath is the ‘Universal Godhead’, and the four wheels of the chariot represent ‘unity, freedom, knowledge and power’. Stories abound how the Supreme God embraced the fallen, the poor, the diseased, seekers belonging to diverse faiths. Whosoever seeks Him with all sincerity, He manifests. Whether it is Salabeg or Dasia Bauri or Bandhu Mohanty, Jagannath bestowed His grace on them. Do we call Jagannath in the spirit of these seekers, who ‘owned’ nothing, but Lord Jagannath?

What then is the major obstacle? The major obstacle is ego and its offshoots. I, Me, Mine – are useful instruments, but at some point they become obstacles to spiritual progress and to the building of an ideal human society. To quote the prophetic message of Sri Aurobindo in the essay quoted above, “But so long as the chariot of Jagannath is not built, the ideal society will also not take shape. That is the ideal and ultimate image, the manifestation of the highest and profoundest truth. Impelled by the Universal Godhead, the human race is striving to create it, but owing to the ignorance of Prakriti it only succeeds in creating a different image either deformed, crude and ugly or, if tolerably fair, incomplete in spite of its beauty.”

Sri Aurobindo pointed out that the human society is ‘striving’ to create an ideal human society, but ‘owing to ignorance’ it cannot realize the ideal. Ego is a reflection of this ignorance. While individual ego goads an individual to see and visualize everything through the narrow boundaries of I, me and mine, the collective ego – the aggregate ego of individuals living in a society or state – goads the leaders to aggressively pursuit national interest, leading to jingoism and war. The two world wars were mainly outcomes of the battles of the collective egos. May Lord Jagannath enlighten us, and save us from a Third World War with a nuclear catastrophe and with possible extinction of human race. Albert Einstein had said that if human race survives a Third World War, the Fourth World War will be fought with stones and sticks.

There is a light within us which impels us to rise beyond our individual and collective egos, and think of the world as one family, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.’ Lord Jagannath has provided us the way. It is time to follow it with all sincerity.

Let the Rath Yatra at Tampa in 2017 be a real Yatra – a collective march, and a collective promise to walk together, to work together, to establish an ideal human society, based on twin principles of love and harmony. It is time for action!

This article was written for the event of Jagannath Rath Yatra at Tampa, Florida, on 25 June 2017.

International Yoga Day: Some Reflections

The Yoga lovers all over the world celebrated International Yoga Day today. I participated in a Yoga event in Boston, organized by an India-based organization. The participants came from different communities. I will focus more on this particular event later.

Last year, the UN declared 21 June as International Yoga Day. The Yoga lovers all over the world rejoiced at the UN declaration.

Let me briefly analyze what I understand by the term Yoga. The term has two aspects: narrow and broad. This is a simplistic categorization as I know Yoga is a much more deep term. A person with Yogic bent of mind, or rather a person who is true Yogi, can better define Yoga. In the narrow sense, as understood by most people, Yoga is equivalent to Asanas and similar body exercises that are reinvigorating. Asanas are different from body exercises in gym such as lifting weights or rising high on bars. Asanas usually do not need props. One can do it on an open space; one does not need to go to gym. The point is, for Asana, there are no special requirements. One should have a healthy body - that is most important requirement. I would say it is the cheapest, and at the same time priceless, exercise that keeps body and mind active and peaceful. The healing power of Asana is indeed great. One of the pioneers of Yoga in India, B. K. S. Iyengar who as a young boy had been suffering from diseases cured himself by practicing Asanas. World wide, there are various Yoga centers by enterprising professionals, who try to innovate and add one or two new techniques to make it popular, and earn good money.

Yoga developed in ancient India. The founder of Yoga was Patanjali. It is difficult to exactly trace his time period, but it would be fair to say that Patanjali was before Chirst, perhaps much before Christ. His book, Yoga Sutra is considered one of the major books on Yoga. One of my friends gifted me this book, when I was a college student in India. I read the hymns and tried to fathom their depth, but it was difficult for me that time to understand them.

Patanjali’s definition of Yoga is indeed a broad one. He says, “Yoga chitta vritti nirodha”. The literal meaning of the hymn is: to control the movements of mind is Yoga. This definition may seem too simplistic for the uninitiated, but too profound who understand the true import of Yoga. This definition has parallels with Gita’s hymn: “karmenye vadhikaraste maa phaleshu kadachana”, and “sthitaprajna”. In the hymn, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, who was bewildered to see cousins on the rival side, “you have right to perform actions, but not to fruits of actions”. Sthitaprajna implies a state of mind – a composure in which the Yogi, the practitioner of Yoga, adopts same posture at good news and bad news, at success and at failure. This is certainly a broad definition as it does not talk about Asana or Pranayam (control of breathing for particular effects) or meditation (concentration of mind on divine or divine thoughts and words or on a particular point). Yoga includes all, and goes further. 

Yoga literally means addition or joining of one thing with some other thing. The spiritual connotation of the term is the joining of the individual soul with the universal soul. To put in a different language, it implies the joining of the individual soul with God. Even if we take out the religious interpretation, the term has profound secular meaning. It is by practicing Yoga the individual can widen his or her narrow self, and think broad and universal. Yoga can elevate an individual, whether religious or not, from his or her narrow selfish cocoon to the universal platform. One does not necessarily need to be religious to practice Yoga, whether in the form of Asana or Pranayam or meditation. Yoga is scientific and one can see its result after practicing.

One can know the value of Yoga only by practicing it, not by preaching it. Yoga is certainly an instrument of practice. A person who practices Yoga everyday would be jealous enough to give it up at the insistence of a misguided one who declares it an instrument of a particular religion.

In Hindu tradition, there are many types of Yoga. Yoga in this religious tradition is a means to realize God. In Hindu religion, there are six kinds of Yoga: Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Prema Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raj Yoga and Tantra Yoga. In short: Jnana Yoga emphasizes on the means of knowledge and wisdom to realize God. Adi Shankara was one of its key proponents. Bhakti Yoga emphasizes on devotion to realize God. Sri Chaitanya was one of its key proponents. Prema Yoga emphasizes on love to realize God. Mira bai was one of its key proponents. Karma Yoga emphasizes on work as a key means to realize God. Gandhi was one of its key proponents. Raj Yoga emphasizes on Pranayam towards realizing God. Swami Vivekananda on his book Raj Yoga elaborated this Yoga. Tantra Yoga emphasizes on occult practices to realize God. Gorakhnath was one of its key proponents. Sri Aurobindo says it is not necessary that one must practice a particular Yoga or all Yogas to realize God. He suggests one should practice any of these Yogas, or a combination of them that suits a his or her aptitude and constitution.

Sri Aurobindo’s definition of Yoga is: All Life is Yoga. Perhaps this is the broadest definition of Yoga. It seems confusing. How can all life be Yoga? When I was a student at a university in New Delhi, I had a debate with one of my friends on this issue. My friend said: how can it be possible that Yoga will be the guiding principle of life? How can whole life be Yoga? It can not be. We have to do so many things – we have to study, watch TV, have some fun, and also Yoga. So, Yoga is one part of our life activities, not all activities. His argument apparently contradicted Sri Aurobindo’s definition. As a person he has every right to cling to his argument.

A person who has understood Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy understands the true import of his definition. In fact, this definition summarizes his whole philosophy. All Life is Yoga. He simplifies: the human life follows a path of evolution, human being moves towards God, and if not today then tomorrow he will reach God. This is certain, he says. And a person who understands this, and realizes this that he or she is born on earth to realize God, he or she would then adopt a Yogic perspective on life. Whatever he or she does, she would do that from that consciousness. That consciousness entails: I am here on earth to realize God, earth is the playground chosen by God for me, God is the guide, and everything that I do, I do for God. I am studying – I am studying for God. I am playing football – I am playing for God. I am dancing – I am dancing for God. Sri Aurobindo would say when one adopts this approach to life and actions – for him all his or her life, all his actions, will be Yoga. He would grow towards God, and his consciousness becomes God-consciousness. It is a difficult process as there is almost an eternal pull of base elements to obstruct this growth of human being towards God. Hence, Sri Aurobindo says doing Yoga is like walking on the edge of a sword.

We conventionally understand Yoga as doing Asana or Pranayam or meditation. And the International Yoga Day is intended to celebrate and promote these practices, which are enormously helpful for body, vital and mind.

Some people oppose Yoga. I came across a blog, which says that in India there are millions of people who do not get two good meals a day, so what is the fun of doing Yoga or promoting it? His concern for the poor is justified, and I hope the concern is genuine. But, he fails to explain how doing Yoga increases poverty, or contributes to poverty in India. These two issues are unrelated. Did the government of India divert millions or billions of dollars from welfare activities such as poverty eradication to Yoga? If yes, then he has a point. If not, then he is making an argument, when there is actually no argument.

Some people object practicing Yoga and term it religious, particularly Hindu. It is like saying flying in an aeroplane is Christian as Wright brothers made it. This objection simply does not stand rational scrutiny.

If we apply a sheer utilitarian measure (Bentham’s theory that pleasure can be quantified), Yoga is utilitarian. It makes the functioning of the body better, or even corrects/heals some of its malfunctioning. It brings calm and peace to our mind. If done properly, Pranayam and meditation increase mental power. What is the cost? Almost nothing, if you are not going to a professional Yoga teacher. Where is religion here?

I liked the event today. There was a discourse on Yoga. The speaker told about Yoga, and its various advantages. There was group meditation with soothing music in the background that continued for about one hour. At the end of the event, the organizers offered sweets and a card with a good message. One of the organizers asked me: how was the event, did I like it, or do I practice Yoga differently? I replied, the event was good, but I was expecting the meditation would be shorter than one hour. I know how it is difficult to meditate for one hour at one stretch. Few participants were dismayed as they came with their mats for doing some guided Asanas, which did not happen.