[ In this 4 part series I'm addressing Meaning and scope of freedom,Role of freedom, spirituality and dharma, What is nationalism and patriotism and The practical implications of patriotism and free speech. ]
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” -Nelson Mandela
Debate on some fundamental ideas of life which is always refreshing - these include the preferability of various forms of government, roles of citizens and the government, constitution, race, caste, gender etc. A debate is healthy as long as it brings some enlightenment, does not divide the world further and settles for progress and peace.
India is churning. Indians are analyzing and reviewing what the unique Indian knowledge system has been and what has been imposed by the outside world on her – first during the medieval Islamic invasions, then by the western colonists and finally the Marxists’ buffs. The process of decolonization and de-marxization of Indian thoughts has made good progress in recent times, though there is a long way to go.
Indian civilization expressed reality using some unique and broad ideas such as dharma, Ishwara, rashtra, varna, yoga, darshana, atman and many more which people have tried to express through non-Indian terminology with limited and detractory meaning of these concepts using words such as religion, god, nation, caste, relaxing exercise, philosophy and soul etc. respectively. This has caused great harm not only to India’s cerebration and her socio-cultural-economic progress, but also to the world at large by undermining the understanding of the scope and trajectory of individuals and the current civilization. Indian institutes such as the JNU have been a conduit to this process. India has retained a continuous history and knowledge culture for millennia despite enduring a multitude of assaults; much of Indian wisdom, fortunately, is still available to the world to re-discover.
Freedom (of expression) and nationalism is the theme today – subject matters of age-old debate which deals with our true nature as individuals as well as our relation to the world.
Let us first try to understand how the West which is the torch-bearer of modern democratic societies expresses the concept of freedom in a secular way.
British scholar Isaiah Berlin, [Two Concepts of Liberty] proposed two types of freedom: negative and positive.
Negative freedom: the area within which a man can do what he wants.
Positive freedom: demands obedience to a law which we prescribe to ourselves and to which no man can enslave himself.
English philosopher Maurice W. Cranston [Freedom, a New Analysis] accepts Berlin’s ideas and refined positive freedom into individualist "rational freedom" [Kant] , which finds freedom in self-discipline, and "compulsory rational freedom" [Hegel] which finds freedom in discipline alone, thus becoming a social ethic or obligation.
American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler discussed “circumstantial" and "acquired" freedom. Circumstantial freedom: Unhampered actions by which the individual pursues his own good as he sees it and thus realizes his desires which looks to the circumstances that affect a man's ability to carry out his wishes.
Acquired freedom: In doing as one ought; it depends on the state of mind or character which enables a man to act in accordance with a moral law, or an ideal befitting the human nature.
What is the difference? "The acquired freedom of being able to will as one ought, and the circumstantial freedom of being able to do as one pleases." The idea of ‘acquired freedom’ is in line with Plato, the Stoics, Kant and Hegel.
Most of the world talks about ‘rights’ – human, women, black, minority and so forth. The discussion happens because their rights are not obviously granted, their freedom is curbed. India is a unique place where ‘duty’ was given primary focus and less for the ‘rights’. India believed that all entities in a society performed their ‘dharma’ (duties and not ‘religion’) according to his or her position and role in the society, rights of all would be taken care of. India has long lost that much of this righteous norm, hence there is so much corruption and discrimination and nepotism prevalent today. But India can return to her natural order, and not only it can change its own state and destiny but in doing so it will also impact our entire global civilization.
With this contextual framework let us look into Indian concepts of ‘freedom’. In recent times four Indian thinkers and leaders have contributed significantly in this area of thoughts: Vivekananda, Rabindranath, Aurobindo and Gandhi. Their thoughts do not give much credence to socialistic ideas (Aurobindo severely criticized socialism and communism and has shown its internal contradiction and limitations). They have also evaluated western secular thoughts and connected those with higher and broader ideas of liberty, highlighting the key characteristics of Indian thoughts as expressed by Swami Vivekananda:
“There is one wonderful phenomenon, connected with our lives, without which ‘who will be able to live, who will be able to enjoy life a moment?’ – the idea of freedom. This is the idea that guides each footstep of ours, makes our movements possible, determines our relations to each other – nay, is the very warp and woof in the fabric of human life." For India, freedom is sacred and thus spiritual.
What kind of freedom was Vivekananda talking about?
"Liberty of thought and action is the only condition of life, of growth and well-being. Where it does not exist, the man, the race, the nation must go down. Caste or no caste, creed or no creed, any man, or class, or caste, or nation, or institution which bars the power of free thought and action of an individual – even so long as that power does not injure others – is devilish and must go down.”
Sri Aurobindo on the other hand said: "By liberty we mean the freedom to obey our being. .. liberty is at once the condition of vigorous variation and the condition of self-finding.” He also added:“the more the outer law is replaced by an inner law, the nearer man will draw to his true and natural perfection…This further evolution demands the growth of a higher form of freedom. ..The solution lies in … a spiritual, an inner freedom that can alone create a perfect human order.”
Rabindranath analyzed it this way: “Neither the colourless vagueness of cosmopolitanism, nor the fierce self-idolatry of nation-worship, is the goal of human history. And India has been trying to accomplish her task through social regulation of differences, on the one hand, and the spiritual recognition of unity on the other. ...from the early time of the Upanishads up to the present moment, a series of great spiritual teachers, whose one object has been to set at naught all differences of man by the overflow of our consciousness of God. In fact, our history has not been of the rise and fall of kingdoms, of fights for political supremacy. In our country records of these days have been despised and forgotten, for they in no way represent the true history of our people. Our history is that of our social life and attainment of spiritual ideals.”
Therefore from the Indian point of view, the highest form of freedom is ‘spiritual freedom’. Although Berlin’s ‘positive freedom’ and Cranston’s ‘rational freedom’ somehow echo Indian ideas, many western thinkers such as John Laird, H.J.Mueller criticized and rejected Indian ideas as meaningless and irrelevant – since their views stem from materialistic worldviews and different understandings of human nature and not from the idea of an Absolute, and its relevance to the sphere of politics.
According to Berlin – “Negative Freedom wants to curb authority as such. Positive Freedom wants it placed in their own hands.”
India does not look at the so called negative and positive freedom as two different irreconcilable but as two ends of the same spectrum. Freedom from all bondage, physical and mental, material and psychological, as well as political and social, was seen by the Indians as one end, and freedom to perceive one's harmony with all beings and to realize one's self in the material world as the other end.
A great example of this thought is presented by Vivekananda by strongly connecting the concept of God, nature, individual self and freedom:
"The God of heaven, becomes the God in nature, and the God in nature becomes the God who is nature, and the God who is nature becomes the God within this temple of the body, and the God dwelling in the temple of the body at last becomes the temple itself, becomes the soul and man -- and there it reaches the last words it can teach. He whom the sages have been seeking in all these places is in their own hearts; the voice that you heard was right, says the Vedanta, but the direction you gave the voice was wrong. That ideal of freedom that you perceived was correct but you projected it outside yourself, and that was your mistake. Bringing it nearer and nearer until you find that it was all the time within you, it was the Self of your own self.”
He then addressed the material side of human nature: “What, again, is the meaning of liberty? Liberty does not certainly mean the absence of obstacles in the path of misappropriation of wealth etc., by you and me, but it is our natural right to be allowed to use our own body, intelligence or wealth according to our will, without doing any harm to others; and all the members of a society ought to have the same opportunity for obtaining wealth, education or knowledge...One should raise the self by the self…Let each work out one's own salvation. Freedom in all matters, i.e. advance towards Mukti, is the worthiest gain of man. To advance one's self towards freedom, physical, mental and spiritual, and help others to do so, is the supreme prize of man. Those social rules which stand in the way of the unfoldment of this freedom are injurious, and steps should be taken to destroy them speedily. Those institutions should be encouraged by which man advance in the path of freedom.”
This inner freedom starts with loosening the grip of our self-programmed instincts, emotions then moving towards rational and finally spiritual. If one can free oneself from greed, anger, jealousy, deep attachments to materials for pleasure is the first step towards the ultimate freedom – the attainment of godhead. Then only the virtues and interpersonal conducts of ahimsha (non-injury), satya (commitment to truth-seeking and living) , asteya (not taking possession of things without proper ownership and consent), brahmacharya (limiting sensual pleasure) and aparigraha (not going after unchecked accumulation of wealth, limiting greed) would have real meaning for our social and individual existence - the power to free oneself from lower impulses and instincts is within the atman. The Indian yoga system is for individuals and societies to evolve to higher levels of conscious living. Modern evolutionary and developmental psychologists such as Clare Graves, Don Beck, Robert Kegan,Kurt Fischer, and Jenny Wade are pointing to a socio-cultural evolution of humans and societies, gradually coming closer to what Indian seers gave to the world long back.
This idea of freedom is also echoed by American Economist Samuel Bowles: “The cause of Freedom is the cause of God!”
[Photo: A statue in Milton, MA, USA to commemorate those people from the town fought and died in World War 1 ]
To Dwight D. Eisenhower this power of freedom is natural: “Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”
Current debate on the idea of nationalism in India has many limitations – the key one is the understating of these terminologies: Patriotism, Nationalism, Nation, State and Country etc. Different people understand these terms differently, interpret and express them differently.
Life is a series of changes for which we make a series of decisions (or in-decisions) and commit to actions (or inaction) based on our world view. Decisions are made using different human faculties. First with instincts, then emotion and also what we call logical, based on available facts. However facts are insufficient most of the time and instincts and emotions typically take over. There are rare occasions where some ‘other voice’ comes to us as ‘intuition’. Intuition has become an important subject of study today; however this has been part of the spiritual traditions all along - Intuition is a power of consciousness closest to the original source of all knowledge - jnana. Yoga is the methodology and path to realize the true knowledge. What is ‘spirituality’? The closest English world for Indian adhyatma is spirituality. It is defined as the science of self, to understand one’s inner core in relation to the rest of the creation, sometimes a ‘creator’ being absent. This is not about religion.
"...is the manifestation of divinity already in man. It is being and becoming, not hearing and acknowledging." said Swami Vivekananda. In my personal view, spirituality is the ability to know the position of self and simultaneously connect with the world as part and larger extension of self. This is true Yoga and not much to do with ‘religion’. Adhyatma is experienced and expressed throughdharma – sustaining principles and acts in all spheres between the self and the creation for mutual symbiotic relationships – family, society, country, land, air, plants, animals – all. So, it is not a religion, not a belief system, but the experience of ‘yoga’ or union in day to day life which an ‘atheist’, a ‘secular’ and a ‘religious’ person – can all agree to.
A lesser-known author and expert on non-verbal communication, especially in the animal world – J. Allen Boone most beautifully described this connectedness: “We are members of a vast cosmic orchestra in which each living instrument is essential to the complementary and harmonious playing of the whole.”
There is a social and legal force which is based on collective decision-making by society or the judiciary. It also plays an important role in our daily life – it is a mixture of utility, ethics and intuitive formulation of a harmonious social order.
I’ve mentioned ‘dharma’ several times by now but what it really is?
"Dharanat dharmam ityahu dharmo dharayate praajah Yah svadharansamyuktah sa Dharma iti nischayah." The word Dharma is derived from dharana or sustenance; Dharma sustains society; that which has capacity to sustain, is indeed Dharma. -Mahabharat, Karnaparva, 69,59.
In the Shankaracharya’s introduction to 'Commentary on the Gita' he defined two-fold Dharma which has roots to rishi Kanada, founder of the Vaiseshika darshana, as such:
द्विविधःहिवेदोक्तःधर्मः, प्रवृत्ति-लक्ष्मनःनिवृत्ति-लक्ष्मनःच
तत्रएकःजगतःस्थिति-कारणंप्राणिनांसाक्षाद्अभ्युदय-निःश्रेयस-हेतुः
dvividho hi vedokto dharmah; pravíttilaksano nivritti-laksanah ca
tatra ekah jagatah sthiti karanam praninam sakshat-abhyudaya-nihshreyas-hetuh
'The dharma taught in the Vedas is of two-fold nature, characterized by pravritti - outward action, and nivritti , inward contemplation (or power and tendency to detach), meant for the stability of the world, which are meant to ensure the true abhyudaya - freedom, material prosperity and socioeconomic welfare, and nihshreyasa - spiritual freedom and attainments of all beings.' Modern society is on the edge of finding solution to the conflicts of material and moral wars. India responded to it long ago saying we need action along with meditative contemplation to have a sustainable – dharma-based world.
According to the Confucian idea of ’jen', human-heartedness and righteousness is the basis of individual and social responsibilities where the proper conduct of relationships is most important. Self development and sustenance based one this inner morality in turn develops and sustains others. This is very similar to the idea of dharma.
According to Taoism, Tao, similar to the idea of dharma, is an emblem, meaning order, the whole, responsibility, efficiency. It is the Responsible Efficient, Total Order, creations as a whole, the whole of what is, multiplicity..
Management Guru Stephen R. Covey (Author of 'The 7 habits of highly effective people') has categorically called these: '...principles that govern human growth and happiness - natural laws’ and said: ”Every human has four endowments- self-awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.” That is the power of nivritti – the power of deeper contemplation and harmony.
Some are not surprised to see many atheists and communists (anti-spiritualists) in India today quoting Rabindranath’s views on nationalism. The same communists called him ‘a poet of the bourgeois’ not too long ago. They are taking shelter in what they do not have any faith in - spirituality. Rabindranath always believed in humanism, that is based on India’s age old vision of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the entire creation is one large family), ‘sarve bhavantu sukihna, sarve santu niramayah’ (let everybody be happy and healthy) and similar sage-concepts. He perhaps saw the impatience and the habit of copying the west, and feared that Indian leaders would adopt for her national life some of the alien ideas like ‘religion’ or ‘nationalism’ imported from the West. India instead had ‘dharma’ and ‘desh-bhakti’ which is broader and different from the concept of western political framework. He was much disturbed about the future and the mission of India – ‘Light to the world’. To steer the thoughts of his countrymen in right direction he prayed:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
This ideal of freedom in India is based on the ultimate idea of freedom – ‘mukti’ or ‘moksha’.
But alas! The tragedy in India today is that the supporters of religious terrorism and separatism are trying to find shelter in Rabindranath and ‘devils quoting the scriptures’!
However, in order for the masses to achieve that higher realization one has to build from the bottom-up. So let us start with the basics.
What is love of a son for a mother like? Why do we have attachment to something – living and nonliving? Biology has a good explanation.
We create neural circuits in our brain in the form of ‘memory’. Each time we visit these circuits, we light up the regions in brain called the ‘pleasure centers’. It may release some ‘feel good’ chemicals like dopamine. The opposite is equally true. Since childhood we build up these neural circuits, pruned incessantly yet retaining the baseline. Our DNA, hormones and neurons together control our thoughts and actions, what we may call ‘instinct’. Going beyond, we are thinking and utilitarian animals hence we develop emotions and attachment. Nature has done this to prioritize survival and then has created room for higher living. We grow in empathy and compassion. That is where sheer animalistic material living ends and gradually emotions, intellect, logic and finally intuitive powers interplay with the human spirit of inter-connectedness, reaching at the doorsteps of spirituality. Deep impressions of the world, external and inner, are calledsamskaras in India. Positive ones lead us to progressive activities and the negative ones push us to do destructive things. So, our animal instincts together with negative samaskars can make one's thoughts and actions demonic, like suicide bombers or the destroyers of the harmony in the world, such as those who seek unlimited accumulation of power and wealth!
Let’s extrapolate instinct, emotions, compassion and love for our parents, the family and clan to our birth place. We have a similar bonding, faith, love, attraction, affinity and weakness for it - that is most natural in this world. That’s why love for our country is so natural.
However – the Marxists tried to defy biology and compassion, and to them, a family is a ‘structural conflict’ for a ‘class-less’ society. Family is the basic unit of societal living and Marxists never came to terms with it: “Abolition of the family! ... The bourgeois family will disappear, in the course [of history] as its supplement [private property] disappears, and both will vanish with the destruction of capital.” [The Communist Manifesto, Chapter 2, Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels.] Furthermore, Indian communists never wanted one united India! So when they talk about nationalism it’s simply a travesty!
Love for a country is rather similar to love and affinity for a parent or a family or a clan. Our being is built on the impulses which have created our identity. You may call it kinship. But that is also the basis for love for a country. The filial love is akin to love for a country we are born in. Simply put - this love for your country is patriotism. India has followed this love for their motherland since early days of her history as reflected in the Ramayana. After defeating Ravan, Lakshman seeing the wealth of Lanka suggested to stay back instead of returning to Ayodhya. Sri Ram, who India reveres as the ‘mayryada purushuottama’ (man of highest order) responded:
‘अपिस्वर्णमयीलङ्कानमेलक्ष्मणरोचतेजननीजन्मभूमिश्चस्वर्गादपिगरीयसी
api swarnamayi lanka na me Lakshman rochate janani janmabhoomishch swargaadapi gasriyasi.
Lakshmana, even this golden Lanka does not appeal to me, mother and motherland are greater than heaven.
Love for one's mother and motherland is at first emotional. Then every inhabitant of the land has some duties and obligations to the land which gives them the sustenance. It is both moral and social and there are legal duties – all are part of what India calls ‘dharma’ - acts and duties to uphold, protect an serve the land – from the rulers’ point of view the raj-dharma and from the citizens – it is praja-dharma.
In this current debate people are using patriotism and nationalism interchangeably, without reaching an agreement upon the definition of each.
Nationalism:
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary:
1: a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries
2: a desire by a large group of people (such as people who share the same culture, history, language, etc.) to form a separate and independent nation of their own
Full Definition of Nationalism -
1: loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups
Many thinkers of the world have actually abhorred both the ideas of nationalism and patriotism. The strongest criticism came from Leo Tolstoy: “The feeling of patriotism - It is an immoral feeling because, instead of confessing himself a son of God . . . or even a free man guided by his own reason, each man under the influence of patriotism confesses himself the son of his fatherland and the slave of his government, and commits actions contrary to his reason and conscience.” [Patriotism and Government]
Indian-born British author George Orwell said that ‘nationalism is the worst enemy of peace’. From our experience of the past two centuries we can say that there is a degree of a ‘superiority’ complex when someone says ‘I’m nationalist’. Hitler’s assertion of a superior German race can be given as an example of extreme nationalism. Nationalism can be construed as racism as well.
Patriotism:
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary: ”love that people feel for their country. Devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country”.
However, Shakespeare had reservations about patriotism: “Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it’’.
So, what is the difference? Famous American Journalist Sydney J. Harris simplified it : "The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war."
Therefore, it appears that the key problem with these two concepts is this assertion of superiority – of culture or values or economic or military power. The fine line is ‘pride’ .vs ‘superiority’. Anyone using the words nationalism or patriotism without pondering this connotation of aggression can simplify and cluster the definitions as ‘love, loyalty and duties for a nation or country’.
People have also confused these with love for a particular government or a political party. While Scottish Poet Thomas Campbell said, ‘The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree’, Mark Twain warned: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."
Irish historian and politician James Bryce gave a balanced view: “Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.” This assertion echoes the Indian idea of Raj and Rashtra-dharma.
When it comes to India – it has never invaded any nation to impose its superiority. It welcomed people from everywhere. In the field of learning – Taxshila and Nalanda and many other such institutions welcomed people from around the globe. In terms of welcoming people of different worldviews – including the Muslims and Christians – it voluntarily welcomed and gave space to establish bases (this was before the invasions and proselytization campaign of the missionaries started). Thus India became and still is the most plural society with all the major religious groups and seculars and atheists; they have been living together for centuries. When it comes to giving shelter to the persecuted, India has the best record as well – from the Zoroastrians, to the Jews, to the Tibetans and even the people from Bangladesh – India has never rejected. Why is it so? Because inherently, Indian ethos is pluralistic and motherly – not world-conquering people and this pluralism gave birth to great kings like Chandragupta, Samudragupta, Harshavardhan, Shivaji and gigantic spiritual leaders like Mahavir, Buddha, Nanak, Chaitanya and more and it said:
आनोभद्राःकरतवोकष्यन्तुविश्वतो.अदब्धासोअपरीतासउद्भिदः |
देवानोयथासदमिदवर्धेअसन्नप्रायुवोरक्षितारोदिवे-दिवे ||
ā no bhadrāḥ kratavo kṣyantu viśvato adabdhāso aparītāsa udbhidaḥ
devā no yathā sadamid vṛdhe asanaprāyuvo rakṣitāro dive-dive [ Rg Ved 1.89.1.]
‘May auspicious knowledge come to us from all sides, which harm no one; are unimpeded and victorious over the forces of division; May the gods be always for our increase, never moving away from us, but always guarding us day-to-day.’
Bankim Chandra’s– ‘Vandemataram’ and the ‘mother’ is not an expression of superiority. It is an oblation to what Sri Aurobindo called ‘collective consciousness of people’, and Rabindranath said – ‘jana gana mana adhinayaka’.
American writer George W. Curtis echoed this sentiment of Sri Aurobindo that a country is not merely a piece of land: “A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.”
India’s concept of a nation-state or rashtra is not a purely a political one. It is akin to federalism with a most benevolent ruler or ruling system. The concept of Rashtra has a very deep and profound meaning; it is not just a land, a country or a nation but it also includes the ethos, principles, obligations, duties and the collective will of people.
According to Aurobindo: "Nationalism [rashtra-bhakti] is simply the passionate aspiration for the realization of that Divine Unity in the nation, a unity in which all the component individuals, however various and apparently unequal their functions as political, social or economic factors, are yet really and fundamentally one and equal."
And finally, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose takes this idea of nationalism to a new dimension: “Nationalism is inspired by the highest ideals of the human race, satyam (truth), shivam (highest ideal of godhead), sundaram (beauty and creativity). Nationalism in India has … roused the creative faculties which for centuries had been lying dormant in our people.” This is the unique thought of India.
There is a Vedic concept called rta – the ‘natural order’ or the ‘universal order’. And there is the concept of dharma – the reciprocal sustaining principles and acts - both for the material and spiritual sense. The Vedic idea of rashtra has direct links to rta and dharma. Rg Veda (9.7.1) declared: asrgam indavah pathaa dharmann rtasya sishriyah – ‘with the support of and along rta, the principle of truth and order, flow soma essences (of life); dharma stands parallel to path’ – which includes the principles, path and acts for reciprocal sustainability and finally for being and becoming. Rashtra provides the framework to follow dharma for each citizen, achieving progress and harmony.
Hence the Rg veda offered this prayer:
ॐसंगच्छध्वं संवदध्वं
सं वो मनांसि जानताम्
देवा भागं यथा पूर्वे
सञ्जानाना उपासते ||
ॐsaṃgacchadhwaṃ saṃvadadhwaṃ
saṃ vo manāṃsi jānatām
devā bhāgaṃ yathā pūrve
sañjānānā upāsate || (Rg Ved. X -192 -2)
May you move in harmony, speak in one voice; let your minds be in agreement; just as the ancient gods shared their portion of sacrifice.
The key to Indian thought is diversity and not homogeneity, harmony and not uniformity. Incidentally some scholars have suggested that ‘Sanjanana’ mentioned in the last shloka is Devi Saraswati and also the Devi for ganatantra (democracy).
Social and judicial laws are more in the plane of the masses. While living in a rashtra Indian system, we have talked about moral duties. People are supposed to observe and fulfill few ‘rnas’, translated loosely as debts or obligations or commitment. These rnas are:
Pitri: Duties to ancestors so that institutions of parenthood are respected, protected and strengthened.
Deva: Duties to all natural and divine forces to observe understand and utilize the forces.
Rishi: Duties to the seers and teachers so that the institution is respected, protected and propagated.
These are called trayo rnas (in Taittiriya Samhita).
Shatpath Brahman noted two more rnas:
Nri-rna: compassion and duties towards the fellow human beings.
Bhuta: compassion, protection and preservation of nature, plants and animals.
Now let us come back to our basic duties towards our land and her people by the standard of a modern democratic system. It is summed up nicely by Mark Twain: “My kind of loyalty was to one’s country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.”
And then Thomas Paine talks about the nature of such a nation:“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
However, Indian communists neither believe in a nation nor a state. They believe in a utopian ‘world communism’, to have a worldwide stateless communist society – similar to an Islamic world or Islamic Khilafat or Dar-Ul-Islam. We also know quite a bit about people who have little to no respect for the Indian flag – after all one of their favorite role models, Arundhati Roy said: "Flags are bits of colored cloth used first to shrinkwrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead."
We must understand the broader concepts of rashtra, dharma, rna etc., for they are tremendously valuable for the foundation of an advanced human civilization. Looking to specifics, I support the views of American politician Adlai E. Stevenson II: “Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime”.
We must remind rational people who value democracy - a warning from Theodore Roosevelt: “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.”
Is India free of British colonial thoughts, rules and laws? Does the Indian constitution allow true freedom to people or is it merely an instrument to continue the foreign dominion via the ‘brown sahibs’? In the wisdom of Rabindranath: “..political freedom does not give us freedom when our mind is not free. An automobile does not create freedom of movement, because it is a mere machine. When I myself am free I can use the automobile for the purpose of my freedom.” And is a vehicle like the world’s largest constitution in consonance with the ethos and aspirations of the people of India, which gives true freedom to all? The time may be ripe to ask these questions, including revisions and clarifications and possible elimination of the 150 year-old British Sedition law of 1860 (Indian Penal Code Chapter VI, Sections 121-130 – Offences against the state).
The state, according to Kautilya, “..must be based on sound economic foundations, so that it enables men to realize the aims of his life, to lessen as much as possible, the struggle of existence at home, to lessen the dependence of the community on the outside world, to be in a position to help other sections of humanity in distress, and thereby to ensure an existence conducive to the happiness of men in this life and paving the way to a brighter beyond.” According to Kautilya, the state is not just a materialistic concept but a spiritual one too. And ‘spiritual’ does not mean ‘religious’ but rather an inner connection of one’s self and the rest of the creation, including social and political spheres, as mentioned earlier.
Sri Aurobindo has provided us with a roadmap for a higher social structure and political framework where societies and political systems would evolve from the current ones to a society "in which respect for individual liberty and free growth of the personal being to his perfection is harmonized with respect for the needs, and efficiency, solidarity, natural growth and organic perfection of the corporate being." He had envisioned that nation-states would evolve into a true ‘world union’ of states allowing maximum diversity among all inhabitants – individual, ethnic, race and creed to realize highest potential. These are long-term goals of our civilizations. Similarly, according to Rabindranath - ‘”... man will have to exert all his power of love and clarity of vision to make another great moral adjustment which will comprehend the whole world of men and not merely the fractional groups of nationality. The call has come to every individual in the present age to prepare himself and his surroundings for this dawn of a new era when man shall discover his soul in the spiritual unity of all human beings.’”
And this is the message of India all along. India does not believe in the aforementioned ‘negative freedom’. India believes in absolute freedom - moksha for all of humanity, but in order for one to be able to attain that, one should first have material prosperity, security and opportunities which can only be created by a nation-state.
So, before one aspires to serve the universe as a global citizen, one needs to start at home – serve the family, the state and the country first. Charity begins at home. Loving and serving all of humanity is a great slogan and ideal, but it is a hypocritical expression if we fail to serve the ones who are closest to you. Unfortunately, India is still the hub of romantic and utopian ideologues of a ‘classless’ world! Hence for now, as far as the boundaries and walls around the country go – while the ultimate goal can be a borderless world, the current Jihadist expansionism only necessitates strong borders, especially when forces of terror are always trying to cross it to harm you! And those who cannot agree are free to cross to the other side of the border voluntarily.
And finally a reminder to some of the misguided youth of India:
“To know how to free oneself is nothing; the arduous thing is to know what to do with one’s freedom.” -Andre Gide – French Nobel laureate.
Free speech is free as long as it does not hurt the privileges of freedom itself. If free speech has imminent potential to harm people, national interests, such as security, unity and social harmony – then it has a price! If one cannot respect the flag, national song/anthem, or judicial system of a nation, one is free to leave and live in another fantasy dream land. If some people have no sense of gratitude, reciprocity, self-commitment for progress of the land and the people, they belong to the culture of ingratitude and are parasites of society.
Bharhut. Sculptural frieze venerating 'srivatsa'.
Bharhut sulpture. Warrior. 
S Gurumurthy 
J Gopikrishnan 
MANJUL 
PMO India 
DeshGujarat 
Entrance of Ugra or Ahobila temple.
Narasimha.Tirunelveli.
Narasimha.Magala. Huvinahadagali.
Narasimha. Nagalapura. Chennakesava.
Narasimha. Tandaga.Nonavinakare. Western Ghat.
Lakshmi Narasimha. Javagallu.
Narasimha. Kendubilwa.
Lakshmi Narasimha. Haranahalli.
Chennakesava. Narasimha, Lakshmi. 
Lakshmi Narasimha. 
Siddheshwara temple. Haveri.
Chennakesava. Belur.
Lakshmi Narasimha. Hampi.
Narasimha. Bangladesh. ca. 1100 CE.
Sri Kari Varadaraja. Narasimha. Punjai Pullampatti.
Narasimha. Pattadakkal.
Thai fragment. Pancharatrika.
Kanhaiya Kumar at the JNU campus in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)
Jalra
Detail drawing. Reconstruction.
Sanchi. Torana
Sanchi. Torana.Winged tigers
Detail drawing. Reconstruction Bharhut stupa torana
Stupas 1,2,3 at Sanchi
Toranas, Stone carvings
Pillars of Temple 18, Temples, University (Monastery)
Kandari and Kinnara. Kandari-Jataka, Bharhut.
Top Comment
He is one hopeless spoiled idot with bad company, just hate this guy! Culprit talking about our Army. Can't imagine in how many pieces he will get cut into if he has talked like this in any other islamic Countries..Umasankar KG