 |
| Cast in stone at a local temple for all to see. |
At one look, this passage, probably from the scriptures of Manu, must be the most patriarchal statement ever. This marble slab is plastered on the walls of a local Hindu temple. It is proudly placed amongst the many meaningful verses from the Gita. I wonder if anyone takes time to read it, understand its message. If they did, I wonder if they would state their dissatisfaction. Or perhaps request for other more appropriate messages in keeping with the demand of time, space and societal sensitivity! These words may have carried relevance in a different era and in a distinct community milieu.
One would say that it is cherry-picking if certain parts of the scriptures are blanked out and the ones meeting our agenda are picked up. All words of wisdom should stand the test of time. It should be relevant to the end of times.
This trend of discussion is nothing new. Even during so-called 'Golden Age of the Islamic civilisation', such discourse apparently took place between the members of the Mu'tazila and Ash'ariyya schools of theology. On the Mu'tazilite end, they argued that the scriptures must only be a guide but the God-given thinking faculty should prevail above all. Their detractors insisted that the divine inscriptions are beyond perfect. There was no place for human analysis.
I think most of the world problems involving religions are due to a literal translation of the text. No exemption is given to the circumstance it was mentioned. Everyone finds it more comfortable to say their peace, retreat into a cocoon and blame the divine forces if malady should strike. They have no guilt feeling and feel justified even if tragedies are associated with their actions or inactions. The silent God takes the blame.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
No comments:
Post a Comment