Drugs

The attitude toward drugs in Hindu
society shows the incredible variation
for which the Hindu religion is famous.
In general, the use of drugs is zealously
condemned among “respectable” people,
as is anything leading to a potential loss
of control. Yet Hindu mythology also
portrays the god Shiva as regularly consuming intoxicants, particularly bhang,
a preparation made primarily from marijuana, and datura, a genus of plants
containing poisonous alkaloids. Given
this mythic example, some of Shiva’s
devotees (bhakta) do the same as a variety of religious practice. Many ascetics
regularly spend much of their day smoking hashish (charas) mixed with tobacco, although this is not always viewed as
normal ascetic practice. There are also
particular times and places when consumption of drugs is more accepted,
even among “normal” people.
Consuming bhang is a fairly common
element in the celebration of certain festivals, such as Shivaratri (“Night of
Shiva”) and Holi (the festival of reversal).
It is also sometimes consumed when
people are on pilgrimage, and government-regulated stands selling bhang
can be found at several important pilgrimage places (tirtha), including
Benares, Puri, and Haridwar. Despite
this more widespread use in particular
specialized contexts, there are many
people who do not use drugs under any
circumstances and would never consider
doing so. Such rigid refusal is still only one
part of the “orthodox” picture, in which
one can find many different attitudes.