ROMANTICISM AND CLASSICISM IN HINDU
RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY
K. N. D. Sanjeeva Rao
The concepts
of Romanticism and Classicism are not confined to literature alone. They can be applied to any field of human
activity with an equal degree of relevance.
The present attempt has been to examine them in the context of the Hindu
Religion and Mythology for an insightful explication.
Romanticism
in literature is essentially a revolt against the classical traditions, social
authority and political tyranny. It is
a celebration of the unrestrained liberty of man, his dignity and even
divinity. It represents a spirit of
inquiry and investigation into the new vistas of poetic experience. It stands for the thrill of ecstacy “Felt in
the blood and felt along the heart”, rather than an objective rendering of
things into poetry.
Romanticism
in Religion may also be a reaction against the priestly authority and the
meaningless rituals advocated by it. It
may also be an outcome of man’s struggle against the endless turmoils of life
and his desire to find a way out. Or,
it can be the result of his vexation with the jugglery of Creation and his
curiosity to know the Reality beyond it.
Thus, on the whole, it can be construed as an independent attitude of
the human mind trying to grapple with the mystery of the Universe until the
essential truth about it is revealed.
In as the various expressions of the Divine Consciousness. They even worship such inanimate things as
trees, grass, sand, streams etc. as listed in the Rudradhyaya of the Yajur
Veda. What is most wonderful, they also
worship themselves as exemplified in the famous verse “atmatvam, Girija
matihi…” etc. and as ordained in the
more famous ritual of “atma pradakshina namaskara”. It is all not because they are superstitious or stupid, but
because they are traditionally conscious of the Divine Presence everywhere in
the Universe, including themselves.
Then,
Romanticism in literature speaks of “a certain colouring of the imagination
whereby the ordinary things” appear strange and “unusual” by acquiring a new
significance. The idol-worship in
Hinduism is nothing but such an exercise of the imagination, which invests the
idol with all the attributes of the prayer, and makes it appear “unusual” and
extraordinary in the process. Even the
Kusa grass, which is used in the Hindu rites and rituals, is made to appear in
a mystic light by its association with the sacred hair of the Yagna
Varaha. Mother, father and the teacher
appear in a divine aspect when they are addressed as “matru devobhava….”
etc. A physician is looked upon as God:
“Vaidyo Naryana Harihi”. Even the
common and the familiar rivers like the Ganga and the Godavari are made to
appear ‘uncommon’ and transcendental by their mystic association with the
legends of Lord Shiva in the hoary antiquity.
Even the modern machinery is not exempt from this colouring of divine
imagination in India. Many people are
seen breaking coconuts before their new cars after worshipping them duly with
vermillion etc.; this is because they imagine them as the visible
representations of the Goddess of Wealth who rules over the vehicles. Similarly, books and stationary are treated
as holy because of their association with the Goddess of learning. But all such imaginative activity of
“idealising the real” as practised by the Hindus is not an end itself, but only
a means to their end of “realising the ideal” at the final stage.
Romanticism
is acclaimed as ‘liberalism in literature’ for its infinite variety of subject
and treatment. Hinduism too may be
praised as ‘liberalism in Religion’ for its freedom in the choice of gods and
manner of worship. In fact, the Hindus
enjoy such a great liberty in Religion that they not only worship a variety of
gods already existing, but even create new gods and worship them in different
ways. Even an ordinary human being who
is somehow regarded as extraordinary is at once deified and worshiped
regularly. But the Hindu does not feel
anything strange about this because his concept of God is essentially
monotheistic. Traditionally he knows
that there is only one God “na advitiyam Brahma” meaning the one without a
second but he also knows “ekam sat vibudhana bahuda vadanti” meaning, that the
truth is only one but the learned speak of it in many ways, and also that “sarvadeva
namaskaraha kesavam pratigacchati” meaning, worship offered to the
different gods only reaches the Supreme Being ultimately.
Classicism in
literature is essentially a check against the abuse of liberty in writing. It results from a dwindling of faith in the
human impulse. It believes that man is
not perfect by birth. Perfection is
something to be acquired by a systematic training discipline and hard work. It
is best attained by an imitation of the ancient models of excellence. So, conformity with the time honoured
standards is regarded as the highest virtue.
Any deviation from them in the name of novelty or originality is
discredited as mere lunacy or eccentricity.
Coming to
classicism in Religion, we find that it is very much on the same lines
classicism in literature. To begin
with, there is a suspicion of the human nature. We have an express statement in the Manu Smriti “Sarve dandajito loke durlabhohi suchirnaraha”
meaning, the entire world is controlled by the rod as a good natured person is
not generally available, a statement which brings out the very core of
classicism with a single stroke. Man is
not considered trust-worthy and dependable.
So, it is thought he should be kept under religious authority,
instructed and moulded until he improves himself. Thus it turns out to be the sort of Religion propounded by the
‘Smriti’ part of Hinduism. It is a
process of becoming in which the lower nature of man is pitted against his
higher nature to be won over and transformed by it in due course. It involves a series of errors and
corrections, promises and threats, rewards and punishments enroute its goal.
Thus
classicism in Religion starts with the conception that man is spirit, no doubt,
but sprit in clay. He is flesh and as
such subject to all such frailties as flesh is heir to. Hence his activity should be fitted into an
ethical or moral frame work and he should be made to live in accordance with certain
rules, which are said to have a divine sanction. He should abide by them at all costs. Any deviation from them accrues sin and threatens with evil
consequences, here or hereafter. There
are the ‘vidhi’ and ‘nishedha’ the do’s and don’ts to be observed and there is
the ‘sampradaya’ or traditional which should be followed scrupulously. Any person who deviates from the
‘sampradaya’ is viewed suspiciously and ousted or excommunicated as a ‘bhrasta’
‘patita’ or ‘pashanda’
Thus
classicism in Religion considers man as an imperfect being, fallen and sinful,
and prescribes many rituals for him to get rid of his impurities and perfect
himself. For example, there is a short
recital made by the Hindu after his daily worship which reads “papoham, pap karmaham…”etc., meaning “ I
am a sinner doing sinful deeds’ etc., In fact this is a confession followed by
the ritual of falling prostrate before the Almighty in a spirit of utter
helplessness and total self-surrender. The Lord also assures in the
Gita(18:65:66) that such a self-surrender on the part of His devotee will be in
his best interest. What is more, it
views man as a ‘pasu’ or ‘beast’ as mentioned in the ‘Smriti’ statements, “Jantunam narajanam durlabham,” “kim japanmucchyate janturjanma samsara
bandhanath” etc. Man is considered
a ‘pasu’ or ‘jantu’ because he is covered by ‘avidya’ or ignorance by birth
which expresses itself through his ‘ahamkara’ or egotistic nature (which is
responsible for his alienation from the Almighty), impurity of passions or the
‘arishadvarga’ and indulgence in sense-pleasures or ‘indriyaramatva’. Classicism in Religion takes a golden
opportunity of this concept of ‘pasu’ for prescribing its purification
processes such as ‘Guru seva’ or service to the teacher, prayer and worship and
‘yagna’ or sacrifice as effective antidotes for removing the beastly instincts
in man. As a result of this ritualistic
discipline, man gets washed off his dirt or ‘malina’ and becomes pure enough to
pursue the highest goal of his life, which is his ultimate unification with the
Supreme Being.
(to be concluded)