Freedom or Anarchy - Part 1
[[Freedom or Anarchy - Part 1 Source: prekshaa]]
Freedom or Anarchy^(^([1]))
Tipu Sultan complained to the then maṭhādipati of Śrṅgeri about the attacks of Marāṭhas on his kingdom. Svāmīji replied –
हसद्भिः क्रियते कर्म रुदद्भिरनुभूयते
“The fruits of deeds that we committed in joy
will have to be experienced in sorrow.”
When I try to ruminate about how we obtained our freedom, I am not surprised to see the way it is growing. It was born with the breaking up of India’s territory.
Indigestion
After inviting brāhmaṇas with the offer of a meal, the rākṣasa Ilvala would call out, “Vātāpi!” Vātāpi would be hidden in the food eaten by the brāhmaṇas; as soon as his brother called for him, he would burst out of the stomach of the brāhmaṇas. After hearing of this atrocity, one day the sage Agastya came to dinner as Ilvala’s guest. As soon as he swallowed his last morsel, he said, “वातापि जीर्णोभव!” (“Vātāpi, be digested!”) Vātāpi thus met his end.
The leaders who divided our country must have been deluded to deem themselves as Sage Agastya! Mother India’s stomach has been burst, but alas, Vātāpi could not be digested.
The Story of Mayūradhvaja
Another old story comes to mind. When Dharmarāja sent his yajñāśva (yajña-horse) to conquer the world to perform the Aśva-medha, King Tāmradhvaja stopped it. Tāmradhvaja was a valiant warrior. When Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa found out that Arjuna could not defeat him in battle, he decided to overpower him in a shrewd manner. Arjuna and he went in disguise as brāhmaṇas to Tāmradhvaja’s father Mayūradhvaja and requested him thus: a brāhmaṇa’s son has been caught by a lion. Since the brāhmaṇa humbly requested the lion, it showed pity and agreed to release the boy alive if half of Mayūradhvaja’s body was given in exchange. Mayūradhvaja gladly accepted this request. Accordingly his queen Kumudvatī and his son Tāmradhvaja cut Mayūradhvaja’s body in half from head to toe using a saw. This story has been beautifully described by the poet Lakṣmīśa in the Kannada work, Jaiminī-bhārata. But Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa was present on the scene, to be able to join the halves of the body.
Maturity of Independence
Where was our Kṛṣṇa? That noble soul whom we could call as Kṛṣṇa had removed himself from politics and was lost wandering in the Naokhali province of East Bengal to earn the love and affection of the Musalmans. During that period, our political leaders had intentionally forgotten Gandhiji’s intention.
Thus began the history of Independent India.
Kālidāsa has said, “फलानुमेयाः प्रारम्भाः” (“…[what they did] could only be inferred by the fruits of their venture”) If food is cooked well, we will be able to guess the capability of the chef, his careful selection of ingredients, and his diligence in cooking. Likewise, if our food has a bitter taste, we can guess the capacity of the chef and his cooking technique.
That day, wisdom had deserted us. We had slipped from our principles to foolhardiness. Our leaders fell into a trap, thinking that if the Muslims want to be separate, let them be, and we can manage everything here among ourselves. But what happened? It was as if we invited a serpent into our bed.
A True Story
There was a person by name Mankubhatta in Mugandahalli. His elder son was Ramabhatta and younger son was Shamabhatta. Mankubhatta got Ramabhatta married to his niece. She was from a family of Vaidikas, who were very poor. He got Shamabhatta married to the daughter of Sheristadar^(^([2])) Gundabhatta. In his old age Gundabhatta gave rupees two thousand as a strī-dhana^(^([3])) to his daughter. Let us call her Gundamma. Within six months of Gundamma entering her husband’s home, Mankubhatta passed away. Then came the fate of his wife Venkamma.
After the death of his father, Shamabhatta was coerced to separate from his brother. Wasn’t there the sum of two thousand rupees? That served as an axe to sever the joint family. A wall came up in the center of Mankubhatta’s house and split it into two. Shamabhatta bought another house from his wife’s money and went to live there. He gave his half of the ancestral house on rent to a person from the Tigala community^(^([4])). His mother Venkamma was old and widowed. She had to spend her days with her elder son and his wife (her niece). She would come to the backyard after finishing her bath to collect her (wet) clothes. There, the droppings of the hens that were owned by the tenant would stick to her leg. Even the feathers of the hens would cling to her feet. Then the old lady would go and take a cold shower once again; also, as the clothes were sullied, she would wash them and wear the wet clothes.
As this happened repeatedly, she suffered from cold and fever. On seeing this, the neighbours told Shamabhatta when they saw him, “What the hell! Your mother is suffering so much. Can you not let out your house to someone else? Won’t the poor old lady die, unable to bear this!” In order to escape from these rebukes, Shamabhatta sold his half of the house to a Muslim: Hamid Khan.
Now, wasn’t the old lady’s situation even better! Chicken meat also joined along with its droppings.
Let us move on to another matter.
After Seeing a Tiger…
The country gained independence – the right to govern itself. The British left from one door; we let the Russians in from the other door. We should become like Russia. Russia has five-year plans. Even we should implement them. To implement the five year plans Russia follows a centralized political system. Even we should follow the same. Thus we got two new opinions –
- Plans that exceeded our initial investment 2. Government controlled by communists and socialists
Huge factories should be constructed. Grand hydro-power plants had to be built. Electricity generation should happen. And the list goes on without end. We should manufacture perfumes, fertilizers, steel, and swords. How do we get money for all of these? Apply for loans; take loans from within the country, from abroad, and from whosoever is ready to lend. Whoever can be cajoled into giving a loan, take from all of them. Thus we have millions and billions in liabilities.
How do we repay these loans?
ಸಾಲವನು ಕೊಂಬಾಗ ಹಾಲೋಗರುಂಬಂತೆ ।
ಸಾಲಿಗನು ಬಂದು ಕೇಳ್ದಾಗಲಾದುರುಳನ^(^([5])) ಕ- ।
ಪಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ಮೋಕ್ಷ – ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ ॥
[Receiving a loan is akin to consuming a milk sweet.
But when the wretched lender demands repayment,
it’s like a tight slap on the face – Sarvajña]
As if loans are not sufficient, tax and surcharge are also applied. The burden of all these will break the backbone of the masses.
But aren’t these taken upon by the masses themselves? Is it not our representatives who have said ‘So be it!’ to all these? Isn’t it the nectar of democracy that is filled in our mouths?
Let money be spent. But how was it spent? Where all has it disappeared? If we search all these in detail, many interesting matters will be revealed.
This is the first part of the two-part English translation of Chapter 15B of D V Gundappa’s Jnapakachitrashaale – Vol. 4 – Mysurina Dewanaru. Edited by Hari Ravikumar and Raghavendra G S.
Footnotes
^(^([1]))The original title is ‘Svatantravo Atantravo?’ Svatantra means ‘freedom’ while atantra refers to ‘a state of confusion’ or ‘anarchy.’ In another sense, the title means ‘Being without bindings or being without a guide?’
This essay was published in the commemorative edition of Prajāvāṇi – Svātantrotsava Puravaṇi on 15th August, 1970.
^(^([2]))Similar to a Magistrate.
^(^([3]))A gift given by the parents to a married daughter; this is not the same as dowry.
^(^([4]))A community originating from Tamil Nadu, traditionally in the profession of growing flowers and vegetables.
^(^([5]))This is a variation of the more famous version which goes as follows
ಸಾಲವನು ಕೊಂಬಾಗ ಹಾಲೋಗರುಂಬಂತೆ
ಸಾಲಿಗನು ಬಂದು ಕೇಳ್ದಾಗ ಕಿಬ್ಬದಿಯ
ಕೀಲು ಮುರಿದಂತೆ - ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ ।।
[Receiving a loan is akin to consuming a milk sweet.
But when the wretched lender demands repayment,
it’s as though the body joints are broken – Sarvajña]
Freedom or Anarchy - Part 2
[[Freedom or Anarchy - Part 2 Source: prekshaa]]
Business Acumen
In the past twenty years, how many commoners have risen from poverty to affluence? How many government officials and employees have maintained multiple accounts? This is one part. Another part is of incapability. Our factories resulting from the five-year plans expect professional and scientific capabilities as well as competence in business. This is called ‘know how.’ That capability comes with academic expertise and years of experience. Among our people this professional ability is still in its infancy. But if we call those in power as childish, will they accept it? Will their jāti-bāndhavas—community brethren—agree? From some government office this department receives a receipt of pending dues. That is written in English numerals. In that receipt there is confusion if the numeral is three or five or eight. Overall, in the balance sheet, there will be huge differences. When shown to the officer he smiles sheepishly and asks to call the clerk to rectify it. At how many places does this occur? And how many times?
The officer’s smile is pregnant with meaning.
Far worse than professional incompetence is the inappropriateness and wretchedness in policies.
One of my friends is a lawyer. Among his clients is a pensioner who was once a high-ranking police officer. This chap approached the lawyer when his case was getting delayed. The lawyer took him along to the court, sat somewhere nearby and asked the policeman to enquire with the court’s clerical department. The police pensioner went inside the clerk’s office and returned after eight to ten minutes and said, “Sir, I was in the police department. It is famous that the police take bribes. But we are no match for the court staff. Every table you lay your eyes on has a five-rupee note or a ten-rupee note. If asked ‘When is our hearing date,’ it is five rupees. Upon asking ‘Where are our documents?’ it is ten rupees…”
Once I had asked a farmer with whom I was very familiar, “Why do you lie like this?”
To that he replied, “Don’t your ministers (i.e. politicians) tell lies, sir?”
Prophecies
One of my friends retired after being promoted from the position of Deputy Commissioner. He was from a large family. His father’s elder brother passed away without any heirs. In his will he had written that all his property was to be given to his brother’s children. The documents required for this were needed. At that point, those documents had to be searched in the very office in which my friend was a Deputy Commissioner [when he was in service]. When my friend went to the office and enquired, the head clerk replied, “That document is not here at all sir; it has gone to the government.”
My friend asked, “Why will it go to the government, my lad? Do I not know the procedure followed here?”
“It should be among some old files sir. It will take some time to search for it.”
The person who had gone there was indeed an oracle, who could look into the future. He took out a twenty-rupee note from his pocket and said, “Yes, to do this task along with the day-to-day duties is difficult. Please get this done on a Sunday when you are free,” and gave it as an offering.
The very next Sunday the documents were found. It is he who should be considered as fortunate.
Some Basic Lessons
The government needs money. It should only have whatever is needed. The government should not take up unnecessary work. People need hundreds of things to be done. But the government can do only ten of them. It should not take up the eleventh task. If the government collects money in the name of the eleventh task, it is bound to get wasted. For every paisa of the government there will be a shareholder waiting. If money increases so does the wastage. If wastage is more, corruption also increases. If money increases, market prices also increase. If prices increase, daily wages also increase. If the daily wages increase, the price of groceries will increase even further. All these are fundamental lessons in economics.
Party State
In what frame of mind do we celebrate independence? The last twenty-three years have been the struggle of political parties. Especially in the last three years, politics denotes a competition among political parties, a war between political groups, a battle among parties.
When will the country find stability and peace! Among all our losses the loss of morals is the saddest. Hasn’t our country witnessed men of great calibre? Can we not escape from our troubles through the competence and calibre of such great men? Whatever happens, whatever be the fights, we should be clean-handed; our hands and mouths should be pure. Our Venkatakrishnayya used to say this repeatedly: “Fight if you must, but always with clean weapons.”
Disarray
Our government is known as ‘parliamentary democracy.’ The parliament analyzes the problems of the masses from various parties, various angles, and decides what is right – this is the philosophy. In our experience, this has been merely a theoretical concept. What is the reality? Disruption of sessions, crossing limits, defection to other parties, disarray, crowds, and hustling. A gherao at the drop of a hat, a strike at the slightest provocation. Thus proceeds our present democracy. We are ‘enjoying’ the fruits of independence through such chaotic governments, through such disarray.
Our national leaders have not allowed independence to remain ‘independent;’ they have made it dependent; probably dependent on the machinations of Russia or China, or America [United States], or some other country. This is definitely not run by India independently. Thus, whatever questions existed prior to independence still remain unsolved. Instead, a slew of new questions have cropped up.
Self-Education
Then, is independence bad? Who in their right mind would say that? Independence is needed; it is very much necessary. Along with it, self-education (or self-refinement) is also needed. The common man should bring this to his knowledge. He should be wise enough to choose the right representative. Having chosen, he should also keep track of that elected representative’s conduct and performance. Election and Supervision: these are the fundamental duties of a citizen. Is the country mature enough to be independent? – The answer to this question lies in the wisdom of the population. If they show their wisdom in electing and in supervising, then the independence is fulfilled. Supervision has a component of motivation as well. Motivating the elected representative is the most fundamental of all. The population’s mind and intellect should ruminate upon social issues and convey to the representative a suitable manner to tackle it. Going ahead, the representative must be persuaded to act upon those suggestions. If a representative acts in a way which opposes the populace’s wishes then the citizen should be ready to punish such a representative.
In this manner, Awareness, Wisdom, Motivation, and Power of the masses – if all these four facilities are made available sufficiently to the common man, we can say that our independence has been fulfilled. If at all this has to be put in a single word, as Gokhale and Gandhi used to say, our social life should be focused on sattva or goodness.
This is the second and final part of the two-part English translation of Chapter 15B of D V Gundappa’s Jnapakachitrashaale – Vol. 4 – Mysurina Dewanaru. Edited by Hari Ravikumar and Raghavendra G S.