Poverty Is a State of Mind- Rahul Gandhi

Previously, I have written a column on ‘using figures of speech in public speeches’, in which I noted that politicians are often targeted by the media simply because the latter do not understand, or do not want to understand the real motif behind some statements. What they do is simply taking some words used by the leaders in isolation and criticise it. Two recent examples are one made by Modi on Gujarat riot using the analogy of pets getting killed in the accident and the other one is Rahul’s infamous quote on poverty. I felt the media rushed hastily to make the statement controversial. See the captions of most newspapers, “Rahul Gandhi Mocks the Poor, says poverty is just a state of mind”. It has to be noted that media had not been invited to the event by Dalit Resource Centre (DRC) at the Gobind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute (GBPSSI). Unfortunately, the complete statement made by Mr. Rahul is not given in any of the news media, even then Times of India seems to have given a comparatively fair record of it.

'Against the backdrop of a countrywide debate on poverty, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that "poverty comprises two elements - poverty of thought and poverty in material conditions. While there is a need to overcome poverty of thought to attain self-confidence, it's the latter which manifests in terms of food, money, education and so on," he added. "Poverty of thought has to be overcome so as to lend self-confidence to voice, leading to politics of one's own and a share in democracy and its institutions". "I understand the internal weaknesses of our prevalent system. I will try my level best to help the people, but unless and until the voice of the marginalized comes out from within, nothing can be done. People and the system will always discourage you that you cannot stand on your own feet and this in my opinion is the biggest lie," said the Congress leader. He further said, "We have to chalk out a strategy together as I do not want to develop a one-day relationship with the grassroots people...but a long-term relationship. I want to develop a relationship that is deep from within, which provides space to people to share their good and bad points. In India, the voice of the poor people is heard less and my one and only political aim is to tune my ears to the voice of the poor and the marginalized." Times of India, Aug 6, 2013, 10.51 PM IST


Simply focusing on parts of the statement, media went on criticizing Mr. Rahul. If we analyse the statement in a closer look, what he meant makes sense. He not only talked about two kinds of poverty, but also showed the understanding that “People and the system will always discourage you that you cannot stand on your own feet and this in my opinion is the biggest lie.”
What I felt is Rahul does need a good media team even if not to challenge Modi, at least not to get misunderstood by the media.

Ramayana- A Way to Attain Moksha

Difference between Adhyatma Ramayana and Valmiki Ramayana

The events in the Adhyatma Ramayana unfold itself through the narration of Lord Shiva to Sri Parvati. All major characters are incarnations of gods and goddesses contrary to Valmiki Ramayana; Rama as the incarnation of Para Brahma, Sita as Yoga Maya, Lakshman as Adi Shesha. Rama shows his ‘viswaroop’ (his real image) to Kausalya in Adhyatma Ramayana version. Narada visits Sri Ram before his coronation function arranged by Dasaradha to remind him of his real mission on Earth. Another noteworthy change is that as per Adhyatma Ramayana, the real reason behind Mandhara’s gossiping against Rama is to make a way to Rama’s ‘vanavasa’. It is depicted as Goddess Saraswathi makes Mandhara and Kaikeyi for this purpose. The story of Sage Valmiki being a barbaric thief in his prior life is an interpretation seen only in Adhyatma Ramayana, not in Valmiki Ramayana. The most important deviation is that Ravana really didn’t kidnap Sita, but Maya Sita only, an illusion created by the goddess. In other words, Rama questioning the chastity of Sita after the killing of Ravana has been justified by the poet here. In Adhyatma Ramayana, we could see Rama worshipping Lord Shiva before his mission to kill Ravana, maybe a development to satisfy the Shiva tradition also. These additions along with the events in the real Ramayana confirm author’s intention of telling the story of Rama, the ultimate god.
Adhyatma Ramayana is divided into several sections named ‘kanda’, as,

Bala Kanda
Ayodhya Kanda
Aranya Kanda
Kishkinda Kanda
Sundara Kanda
Yuddha Kanda and
Uttara Kanda

Bala Kanda
Sri Rama! Rama! Rama! Sri Ramachandra! Jaya
Sri Rama! Rama! Rama! Sri Ramabhadra! Jaya
Sri Rama! Rama! Rama! Sitabhirama! Rama
Sri Rama! Rama! Rama! Lokabhirama! Jaya
Sri Rama! Rama! Rama! Ravananthaka! Jaya
Sri Rama! Mama hridi ramatham Rama! Rama!
Sri Raghavaatmaarama! Sri Rama! Ramavata!
Sri Rama ramaneeya vigraha! Namosthuthe!

Ezhuthachan begins his great epic work by worshipping all his gods and teachers. Most critiques try to find out clues for the background of the poet from these lines. Then, he discusses the advantages of reading, and listening to the life-story of Rama. Those who read Ramayana every day and even listening to the very name of Rama will sure to get ‘mukthi’ or ‘moksha’. The story develops through the conversation between Lord Shiva and Goddess Uma.

Goddess Uma requests Lord Shiva to talk about the story of Rama and the importance of listening to the story of it. She says ‘Rama’ is the most precious name in the world, so she needs to tell the story so that she will get to know the ultimate truth. Lord Shiva narrates the story of Rama in a nutshell to Uma and then asks her to reveal the ‘Rama Tatva (the real idea or truth behind Rama to Hanuman, the devotee of Rama.

Rama Tatva
Rama is the one and only one Para Brahma. He has no qualities, emotions, birth, decay or death. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, god of all gods, witness of everything. You need to know this is Rama."

“Many Ramayanas”- Questioning the homogenous interpretations of the text

A.K. Ramanujan wrote his “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation” to foreground different versions of the story of Rama. As I did not read the particular text, I cannot clearly say the nature of the work to invite much criticism from the Hindutva ideologues. As far as traditional knowledge is concerned, there are three sources for studying Ramayana: Valmiki Ramayana, Jaina Ramayana and Buddha Ramayana.

Valmiki Ramayana
Valmiki Ramayana is the composition by Sage Valmiki. It is believed that Valmiki conceived Rama as a good human being only, not as god. Besides, the story of Valmiki being a barbarous thief in his “Poorvasrama” as envisaged in Adhyatma Ramayana cannot be seen in the version of Valmiki. This version is propagated in Adhyatma Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit text written by Ramananda. It has been discussed in the ancient wisdom that there were “many books of Ramayana” by Lord Brahma itself, which were equal to the four Vedas. However, human beings find it difficult to learn all these as there are a lot of books. Therefore, Lord Brahma asked Sage Valmiki to compose a simple version of it for the common man to get familiarized with. As Valmiki got enlightened by reciting the Rama mantra, Lord Brahma thought Valmiki would be the appropriate person to do so. Sage Valmiki got the help of Sage Narada in the composition work.

The story behind composing Ramayana is that Valmiki saw two love birds being shot by a hunter when they were exchanging their love. The sage composed the Ramayana from the “soka (sorrow)” of seeing this. “Manishada pratishtatum samagah sashvatisamah yat krouncha mithunadekam sokam avadhim kama mohitam.” This is the first utterance of the sage. Later, there were many other adaptations to this book based on the work of Sage Valmiki in which Adhyatma Ramayana is the most famous.

Buddha Ramayana or Dasaradha
It comes in the series of Jataka Tales, we can see one version of Ramayana. In the Buddha Ramayana, Rama and Sita are siblings who left their land to protect themselves from the evil doings of the step-mother. Most of the characters in the Valmiki Ramayana is not get their place in this version. Not much literary value is given to this version by critics.

Jain Ramayana
As per Jain Ramayana, Rama is not the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, but a follower of Jainism. Besides, in some versions, Sita is the daughter of Ravana. In Sanghadasa's Jaina version of Ramayana of the 5th century BCE, Sita, entitledVasudevahindi, is born as daughter of Ravana. According to this version, astrologers predict that first child of Vidyadhara Maya (Ravana's wife) will destroy his lineage. That's why Ravana abandons her and orders the infant to be buried in a distant land where she is later discovered and adopted by Janka.( Wiki).

Adhyatma Ramayana- A Critical Introspection

From 17th of July, 2013 onwards (1st of Karkidaka month as per the Malayalam calendar), Malayalis are celebrating Ramayana Month. There is no doubt in regarding Ramayan (Ramayanam) as one of the greatest contributions of Indians to the literary world, but it is worth asking how Ramayana got an undisputed acceptance among Indians or Hindus or for some upper-class elite Hindu- Indians. This is not an irrelevant question as Valmiki’s Ramayana has little or nothing to do with giving religious stature to Rama, whereas now Rama is considered as a God-incarnated. Many social critics attribute Rajiv Gandhi govt’s pro-Hindutva stand which permitted the telecasting of Ramayana series in Doordarshan as one reason for this sudden shift in the thinking of the people. Some other thinkers conducted studies which analyze the pro-Hindutva stand of nationalist leaders ranging from Tilak to Gandhi. Recently, Delhi University included A.K. Ramanujan’s “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation” in the syllabus which was being criticized RSS think-tanks a lot.

However, one can easily see that Ramayana has tremendous influence in the life of people of India. In every nook and corner of the country, we can see stories related to instances from Ramayana and there are many adaptations to this epic. Throughout India, the impact of Bhakti Movement influenced the spread of Ramayana. One such example is Ezhuthachan’s adaptation named “Adhyathma Ramayana.” His writing helped the strengthening of Malayalam language and hence he is regarded as the father of Malayalam. During the Karkidaka month, Malayalis read this version of Ramayana in their homes and temples to attain Moksha. I don’t know specifically when onwards Malayalis started this celebration; I can only guess after the publication of this book in Malayalam!! Ezhuthachan is believed to have lived in the 16th Century. I remember reading one article in Deshabhimani where it is mentioned that the RSS ideologues in the 1950s urged the people to start celebrating Karkidaka as Ramayana Month, and EMS, the CPM veteran, criticized the instance citing this would have communal polarization in the state. Even then, no one can question the literary, religious and philosophical merit of the work.
Ezhuthachan conceived Ramayana with Bakthi as the central theme. It has religious as well as literary dimensions. First of all, the literary arena of that period focused on the Sringara rasa only. This has deteriorated the literary strength considerable. The moral life of the people was also in the downward way. Secondly, till that time, Chambu Kavyas and other notable writings were filled with both Sanskrit and Tamil expressions. Therefore, Ezhuthachan intended purification, both literary and social. He is a success in that also.

His success is evident while considering the religious and social life of Kerala with its neighboring states. When the neighboring states resisted any attempt to glorify Rama or Aryans, Kerala always remained passive in this area. We can also say that Ramayana as one of the first instances which question the Brahminical orthodoxy.

(To Be Continued)

Kilippattu- Significance of Adhyatma Ramayana

“We can say that Ramayana is one of the first instances which question the Brahminical orthodoxy.” I know that this statement will invite much criticism if it gets the attention of the so-called progressive thinkers. I would reaffirm this statement because till the time of Ezhuthachan, the Vedic teachings and knowledge system were controlled by upper caste people only. They indulged in “tharka, vitharka, kutharka” and always concentrated on the Sringara aspect of life. The life and culture of the society were of licentiousness in character. Ezhuthachan’s writing has significance not just because he redirected the society in the “Bhakthi Marga”, but he himself was a question to the orthodox society. Ezhuthachan is believed to have born in a lower caste family, according to most critics though there is controversy over this subject. If this argument is correct, his very assertion of religiosity is an attack on the orthodox mentality. Even now, the upper caste people could not digest this fact and are constantly trying to reinterpret the fact about his life, with each dominant caste groups trying to add him in their caste group. Prominent novelist Rashakrishnan’s literary biography on Ezhuthachan “Theekkadal Kadanju Thiru Madhuram” is one such instance.

There is an interesting explanation for calling “Kilippattu (parrot song)” along with the epic poem.

The concept is similar with the way Vyasa wrote Mahabharatha. The story behind Mahabharatha is that after conceiving the epic, Vyasa asked Lord Brahma to help him compose or write it down the lyrics, but Brahma declined it and suggested Lord Vinayaka in turn. At last, Lord Vinayaka wrote down the lines composed by Vyasa. The reason for this according to critics is that Vyasa was the son of a lower-class woman (Malsya Gandhi). In the same way, the story is told in the Adhyathma Ramayana by a parrot, as Ezhuthachan is also from a lower class family. However, it has larger implications than this. The movement called “Kilippattu” is not started by Ezhuthachan, nor is he the first to introduce the same in Malayalam literature. It is an influence from Tamil literature and it has been identified that “Ramacharitham” composed in the 12th Century by Chiramon used the same style.