Teachers Day

As we all know that Teachers Day is celebrated as the birth anniversary of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the second President of India. This is also a day when we remember and respect our teachers. As a child, we would look forward to this day, as on this day we got an opportunity to entertain our teachers with what we thought was our skill (and cover up for the poor grades they gave us!), besides enjoying no-studies!

However, this day reminds me of some great mythical teachers, rather the two most important and the first teachers – Guru Brihaspati and Shukracharya. Guru Brihaspati was the guru of the Gods and Shukracharya was the Guru of the asuras, and thus also referred to as Daitya-guru Shukracharya. A brief introduction of both –

Brihaspati is considered to be a Vedic deity and presides over ‘guru-var’, or Thursday. In astrology, he is associated with Jupiter and is considered to be the Vedic god of wisdom and eloquence and thus also referred to as the Guru of the devas or the gods. Brihaspati is depicted as a yellow or golden coloured deity. His immense penance and devotion to the gods is supposed to have earned him the position of a Guru and a position amongst the planets. Guru Brihaspati had many sons from his three wives.

Shukracharya was the guru of the asuras and he chose to be so, due to his enmity with Lord Vishnu, who was responsible for killing his mother, who was sheltering an asura who was being chased by Vishnu and the gods. In astrology, Shukracharya is associated with planet Venus and is associated with Friday, as he was born on a Friday. Shukracharya is depicted as a fair complexioned deity mounted on camel, or a horse or even a crocodile. Shukracharya was also well aware of the cunningness of Vishnu and he had tried to warn the asura’s many times about the potential deceit that Vishnu was playing, but they lost out on his cunningness. One of the examples of this is during the Vamana avatar of Vishnu. Shukracharya warns King Mahabali against granting any boons to the Vamana, but Mahabali wound not listen to him and the result was that Mahabali lost his empire. Shukracharya was a man of foresight and had a sharp sense of foresight and seeing deceit thru deception.

The enmity between the two gurus was always in the open and so was that of devas and daitya’s. However, the daitya’s always had an upper hand due to the powers of their guru. In comparison, Guru Brihaspati was never of great help except for the elevated position of a Guru. In times of crisis, the gods always had to depend on the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The daitya’s could always depend on Shukracharya, who was also well known for what came to be known as Shukra-niti, the norms of Shukracharya. In mythology, Guru Brihaspati’s son, Kacha goes to Shukracharya to learn the art of giving life to the dead, and in due course falls in love with his daughter Devyani, but doesn’t get married to her. Devyani later gets married to Yayati, who was the founder of Kuru dynasty. The story of Kacha, Devyani and Yayati is what fairy tales are made of, but we will keep it for another day.

Another well known teacher from History, Chanakya, was greatly influenced by Shukracharya, and a lot what came to be known as Chanakya-niti, was borrowed from Shukracharya. Chanakya was of the opinion that some amount of shrewdness and cunning-ness was integral to a political advisor. All the knowledge and greatness of Guru Brihaspati was relatively less effective when it came to political consultations and decision-making.

One might say, that all the knowledge and cunning-ness of Shukracharya was of no use in the long run, but then the deceit and shrewdness of some devas was impossible to match too!

Once again, thru this, I would like to thank all my teachers and guru’s who have taught me many things, both what to do and what not to!!

Earlier article on Teachers Day -

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Teacher's Day 

This is Utkarsh Speaking: Guru Purnima 

 

Yadnya Kasada Festival

I came across an interesting ritual recently in a relatively unknown place which caught my attention. Let me tell you about the ritual first.

This is famously known as the Yadnya Kasada Festival which takes place in the month of August. According to this festival, the Tenggerese people of a province in East Java travel up a mountain which is known as Mount Bromo and offer fruits, vegetables, rice and even livestock like chicken, etc. This is a practice that is followed since the fifteenth century and what is interesting is that Mount Bromo is an active volcano! What is even more interesting is that before the people make their offerings, many of the poor locals climb inside the caldera waiting for the offerings with nets, to catch hold of the offerings for their consumption and also in a believe that the sacrificial offerings will bring them good luck. People who make the offerings are aware of it, but there is no objection to it.

People wait inside the caldera with nets to catch the offerings

According to local mythology, Roro Anteng a local princess and her husband Joko Seger were childless for a long time. They appealed to the mountain gods to grant them children. The gods granted them a boon of 25 children, with a condition that their 25^th child be named Kesuma and should be offered in sacrifice to the gods by throwing him in the volcano. When the child was born, he was sacrificed by throwing him in the volcano, though after an initial reluctance from the parents. The practice is still followed by the local Hindu population, however, in the form of non-human offerings now.

People trying to catch the offerings

Many say that the practice started as a ritual to appease the mountain god to remain calm and not send down streams of lava, since this is an active volcano.

The aspect which caught my attention is that besides the fact that this is a Hindu practice, there isn’t anything to compare with such a practice (at least to my knowledge), in India. Except for the fact that it lends credence to the prevalence of human sacrifice in the days of yore, there isn’t any other parallel that I can draw. Another interesting aspect is that the mountain is named after Lord Brahma (Bromo is the Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Creator). To think that that there exists a volcano in the name of Brahma, in Java, when there hardly exists even a temple in India (except in Pushkar) is quite surprising in itself.

Mount Bromo

Another aspect of this ritual is that before people proceed up to the volcano, a ceremony takes place in a temple called Pura Luhar Poten which is located at the base of the volcano, where the month long festival of Yadnya Kasada takes place. The uniqueness of the temple is that unlike all the Balinese temples, this one is not made up of red bricks and stones. The Pura Luhar Poten temple is made of black stones from the volcano nearby. Another significance of the festival is that it also marks the selection of a new spiritual leader who is appointed after an elaborate examination of his knowledge and faith.

The Tenggerese are a minority tribe in the majority Islamic Java who follow the teachings of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism. However, in due course of time they have added aspects of Hinduism and are sometimes also referred to as Hindus in a more inclusive way. In the Pura Luhar Poten, the tribesmen worship the Buddha along with the trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

The place is a great tourist attraction during the month of Yadnya Kasada Festival, which has its roots in an ancient myth!

Interesting, isn’t it?

Whistleblower

Once again Julian Assange is in the news. Once again the subject of the perils of whistleblower is in the news. Is it a crime to blow the lid off truth? Is it a crime to let the world know some dirty secrets, even if they are of the State? Is punishment right for someone who is doing such a great favour to the world by letting us all know as to what happens in the higher echelons of the government?

World over, whistleblowers have never had it easy, rather they have been treated with a lot of scorn and have been put through a lot of trouble like Julain Assange of Wikileaks. Some have even been murdered as we have seen in the case of Satyendra Dubey (Golden Quadrilateral Corridor Project) and S Manjunath (adulteration of petrol). Many would see this as a price for speaking the truth or for telling the world what they should know.

But first things first, who exactly is a whistleblower?

Wikipedia defines Whistleblower as –

“….a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public/private organization, or a company. The alleged misconduct may be…..violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or ….. fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption.” The word originated from the whistle a referee blows to indicate illegal or foul play. The word was first used in the 70s to avoid the negative connotations that words like ‘informer’ had in those days.

Is it a new phenomenon of putting the whistleblower thru such trouble? In this context, we haven’t really come a long way. In our mythology too, whistleblowers have never had it easy and Greek mythology replete with examples of what whistleblowers have had to go through.

One of the most important examples is of Sisyphus, the King of Corinth, who had some heroic deeds to his credit, but was punished by the gods for the heroism.

Sisyphus was witness to one of the escapades of Zeus, the King of gods. Once he saw Zeus kidnap one of the river nymphs and when the river god came looking for his daughter, Sisyphus revealed the location where Zeus had taken her. Zeus was outraged at this impudence, and as a punishment sent Thanatos, the god of death, to take Sisyphus’s life. But Sisyphus was too smart and decided to cheat the god of death, so that no mortal would ever have to encounter death! He managed to chain the god of death, till the gods came to know about it and sent another god to get the release of Thanatos. After some more events, all the gods were upset with Sisyphus, at his audacity. His crime – first, he revealed the secrets of the King of gods, Zeus, and second, he tried to keep death away from mortals.

Sisyphus

His punishment was that he would have to eternally push a big boulder up a cliff, till he managed to put it on top of the cliff. If he stopped, then the boulder would crush him, and if he reached the top, it would roll off on the other end, and he would have to start again this never-ending task.

Another interesting example is related to the Trojan horse. According to a legend, Laocoon, a Trojan priest, tried to warn the Trojans that the gift of the wooden horse by the Greeks was a conspiracy and the horse should be burned down immediately. Hearing this Goddess Athena was angry and she shook the ground around him and blinded him, which the Trojans interpreted as divine punishment for questioning an honest gift by the Greeks. Laocoon would still not give up and threw a spear at the horse when it was wheeled inside Troy. Seeing this Minerva, who was supporting the Greeks, sent two sea-serpents to strangle him and his sons to death. The Trojans interpreted this as yet another divine punishment as Laocoon had insulted Apollo earlier by sleeping with his wife in front of a divine image. (Laocoon’s death has been immortalized in a beautifully carved sculpture shown below)

Here was Laocoon trying his best to warn the Trojans of a Greek conspiracy, and was punished and killed for his act, which ultimately led to the defeat of the Trojans. Many see this as a perfect example of what whistleblowers have to endure on their path to tell the world what they have unearthed.

Finally, an example from the Vedic mythology, with not so serious ramifications though. According to this myth, a beautiful woman by the name of Puloma was betrothed to a demon. Once Rishi Bhrigu (one of the manas-putra of Lord Brahma) saw her and moved by her beauty, immediately married her and took her away with him. The demon discovered her, with the help of Agni and took her away with him. When Bhrigu came to know Agni’s involvement, he cursed Agni that from that day, he would consume everything offered to him. Agni protested that his actions were not wrong as he had only spoken the truth. He went on to say, that according to the laid rules, if one is asked a question and he speaks lies then his seven preceding and seven succeeding generations would be cast into hell. The same happens if one conceals the information, so by telling the demon the truth, he was simply doing his moral as well as religious duty. Subsequently, the curse was slightly ‘modified’, but that’s another aspect of the story.

Can someone who goes against a nation (or against an establishment or a person) for what he thinks is mis-governance or a case of gross failure; be termed as a whistleblower, this time for the ‘other’ side?

Let us take the case of Vibhishan from the epic Ramayana. He defected on Ram’s side and also gave in a lot of inputs to Ram, which enabled Ram to defeat Ravana after a prolonged battle. Vibhishan could be termed as a traitor from Ravana’s point of view, but a whistleblower from the perspective of someone who was trying to establish the rule of law and to rid Lanka from the clutches of an arrogant ruler who defied all norms of decency and kinship by kidnapping someone else’s wife and plunging the whole country in grave danger.

Was this an act of a traitor or a whistleblower? Keeping aside the aspect of faith, this is a subject of debate, similar to dusk being the end of a day or beginning of a night.

As we have seen, the concept of a whistleblower is not new. Nor is the witch-hunt that Mr. Assange is undergoing. What can make a difference is the mass awakening and awareness of such ills. We don’t have to take the dictates of a Zeus or a Bhrigu anymore and debates have to be allowed. If anybody has overstepped his brief then punishment is understandable, but stifling an individual’s right to expression, rather rightful expression, needs to be condemned, even if it is from the no-more-high-and-mighty Mr. US of A!

Finally words of caution – whistleblowers, blow your whistle with caution; unfortunately the Big Brothers are still watching!!

Curiosity

No, I am not referring to NASA’s robotic rover that landed on Mars recently. I am only referring to the emotion that every human being is born with.

What is curiosity? Is it the same thing that makes parents proud when their child breaks open every electronic toy they bring for him, giving credit to the child’s curiosity and see it as signs of a budding engineer? (I can’t say much on this though, as my child did not break/tear a single toy – and I am glad she didn’t because child psychologists would come up with a very different conclusion if she tore apart a cute looking teddy-bear or broke a limb of her Barbie doll!).

Many have opined that mythology is the result of man’s inherent curiosity to seek answers to various questions of life and nature. If it wasn’t for curiosity, then life would have no meaning and there would be nothing new to look forward to.

However, if you think that curiosity always bears good fruits, then think again –

• Eve along with Adam was thrown out of the Garden of Eden by God when she gave in to the temptation of wanting to know the truths that were hidden from her.
• When Kunti in Mahabharata was granted a boon of begetting a child by just calling any god, she was curious enough to try it out. The result however was that she ended up with an unwanted baby and needless to say, that this single act of hers had huge ramifications in future.
• The Greek God, Zeus had given Pandora a box with an instruction that the box should not be opened. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box only to release all the ills in the world.
• In Mahabharata, on being invited to the Palace of Illusions by the Pandavas at Indraprastha for the coronation of Yudhishtira, Duryodhan could not contain his curiosity to see the whole palace without being guided by someone who knew the palace well. This curiosity landed him in a pool, evoking a strong reaction from Draupadi, and the rest as they say is history or should we say – epic?
• While taking up the assignment of making the idols of Lord Jagannath in Puri, Lord Vishwakarma had requested that nobody should see the idols before they were over. But the Queen could not contain her curiosity and opened the doors of the room where the idols were being made. It is due to her curiosity that the idols have till date remained unfinished!

So is curiosity all that bad?

Not necessarily. What is a man without a curious mind? How else would he ever want to know anything? If it wasn’t for curiosity, would you ever want to solve a puzzle? If it wasn’t for curiosity, would you ever read an adventurous or a suspense novel? If it wasn’t for curiosity, would you ever want to research a subject? If the bug of curiosity had not bitten many a scientist, would we have found answers to so many aspects of nature? A curious mind is what makes man climb the mountains and dive deep into the sea. It is the same curious mind that is at work when a child keeps asking you all sorts of questions which start with a how, why, what or where.

To conclude, curiosity is derived from a Latin word ‘curiosus’ meaning ‘careful’. Till curiosity is a quest, it is worth pursuing, but when it becomes careless and intrusive, it might lead one into trouble.

When curiosity can become temptation, not many would understand, except Eve, I guess! So be careful and one doesn’t always have to learn the Kunti way!

Ramzan

The holy month of Ramzan will soon come to an end followed by feasts and celebrations on Id. So what is it that makes this month so important for the Muslims?

Ramzan (or Ramadan in Arabic), is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Ramzan is considered to be a holy month for the Muslims and during this month, Muslims are supposed to observe fast during the daylight hours.

Fast does not mean abstaining from food and drink only. A devout Muslim is supposed to abstain from all physical pleasures. Every part of the body has to restrain itself. The tongue should avoid talking ill and gossip. The eyes should avoid seeing unlawful things. The ears should refrain from listening to things which have obscene and vulgar content and even pleasurable content. The legs should avoid going to places of sin and vice, while the mind should refrain from unreligious thoughts. In short, during this time, the Muslims are called upon to re-evaluate their lives against the tenets of the Islamic way of life.

According to a legend, it was during the holy month of Ramzan that the Quran came into existence. It is said that angel Gabriel revealed the first verses to Prophet Mohammad, who though could not read or write, was chosen by Allah to be His messenger to the people. Allah’s words were communicated to Mohammad through Gabriel and it was these words which form the holy Quran. The first word of the first set of verses was “Read” and thus during the month of Ramzan reading the Quran is of utmost importance.

The word Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word whose roots meant ‘parched thirst’ and ‘sun-baked ground’. This expresses the true spirit of fasting. Fasting in Ramzan has its own benefits. Such severe abstinence makes people realise what hunger and thirst means to people who are poor and cannot afford to eat. It makes one empathise with the poor and the needy. It also takes one closer to God and appreciate all that He has enabled for us. During this month, giving alms brings one closer to the community and develops a bond with people of one’s own community. On such days, breaking fast with the family and having meals together also generates a close bond within the family and community.

The month of Ramzan is also a month where the devout give donations, knows as Zakat. According to Quran, one must donate 2.5% of one’s annual earnings as Zakat. As such one is supposed to donate all round the year, but donation during the month of Ramzan attains special significance as any good deed in this holy month earns huge blessings.

Many have wondered why the fast is broken with the consumption of dates. Dates were found in abundance in the deserts and it is said that the Prophet Mohammad broke is fasts with dates. However, there seems to be a scientific reason to this too. During the fasts many undergo mild problems like headaches, low blood-sugar, etc. Dates are supposed to be a rich source of fibre, sugar, potassium and carbohydrates, and all this helps in maintaining a good health especially for a starving body. The carbohydrates in dates also lead to slower digestion, which is better than many other foods which are easily digestible giving rise to hunger faster.

There is one more interesting aspect of Ramzan, and that is the namaz, which is something that all devout Muslims offer five times a day. However, there is another kind of namaz, which has significance and that is the ‘Tahajjud’ namaz. Tahajjud namaz is offered post midnight, i.e. between the Isha (night) namaz and the Fajr (dawn) namaz. Though Tahajjud namaz is offered during other months too, but the devout would not miss it during this holy month. An important aspect of this namaz is that this is not offered as a congregation. Offered as an individual and in the quiet of the dead night, it enables the devout to establish a contact with the creator. It is said that the Prophet himself missed the Tahajjud namaz deliberately to convey that this was not mandatory, but many a devout ensure that at least during the month of Ramzan they offer their respects by offering the Tahajjud namaz.

The month long fast is broken on Id-ul-fitr, as according to the Prophet, observing restrain for thirty days, called for celebration. Id which is celebrated on the last day is characterised by a daylong celebration with sumptuous meals, but only after performing special prayers at the mosque in the morning and wishing one and all, by embracing them three times as laid down in the Quran.

Here’s wishing all my Muslim friends Id Mubarak!!