"Fierce is beautiful"
A truly brilliant essay by Aditi Banerjee. Must read for all modern Hindus - especially those afflicted by a lack of civilizational self esteem.
Very pertinent in the context of NavaRatri, when the 9 forms of the Mother Goddess are worshipped traditionally.
This resonates with my own thinking.
Hindus need to stop attempting to conform to the Abrahamic theological framework of monotheism, cease being ashamed of their ancient rituals and modes of worship.
Most importantly, Hindus need to celebrate the "Rudra", "Ugra" (fierce) manifestations of their religious deities and historical heroes - whose imagery is increasingly being neutered and sanitized to render a pacifist manifestation, for example: We hear a lot from Hindu holy men about the childhood play, butter theft etc of Shri Krishna and hardly anything about his slaying of demons or his art of Dharmic warfare and statecraft espoused in the Bhagavad Gita.
I have seen some Brahminical/ Anglicized elitist disdain, bordering on contempt for the boisterous festivities, religious practices of the "Shudra" communities.
This is unfortunate - because these communities and their customs contribute more to keeping our religious traditions alive than anything done by the English "educated" elite.
Sanatana Dharma or "Hinduism" is a vast ocean with plenty of space for diverse customs and traditions, which must all be respected and embraced - even though, one may practice what is suitable for their own temperament.
Veer Savarkar said: "Narasimha (Half Man-Half Lion) is the symbol of Hindus, Not the Cow".
I agree. Indeed, Ugra Narasimha should be the symbol of Hindus. He is especially needed as a role model now, when we are faced with existential threats to our civilization.
However, the docile, gentle, compassionate Cow as a Mother epitomizes all the values, everything - that We, as Hindus are enjoined to nurture, nourish and protect.
Vegetarianism, Ahimsa, Protection of the weak and destitute are the higher goals that we Hindus aspire to. This needs to be defended with Iron, not the utopian pacifist escapism of Ghandy.
2 comments:
By 'Brahminical',do you mean elitist or specifically pertaining to Brahmins?
By "Brahminical", I mean elitist. I myself am a Brahmin and have seen the attitude towards "Shudra" customs by elite, anglicized people including Brahmins by birth, i.e just in name. The word is not used in the same sense as in the "Dalit" discourse
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