Editorial

Our Duties in Life

In his Tirukkural, Thiruvalluvar writes, “He alone lives who knows (and discharges) the proper duties (of life). He who knows them not shall be reckoned among the dead.” One personality who knew his duties and fulfilled them in the most exemplary manner was Sri Ramachandra. Therefore, Ramanavami coming, we would do well to reflect on our duties in life.

What is our duty in life? While it is not possible to give an objective definition of duty, yet from the subjective side, as Swami Vivekananda points out, we see that “certain acts have a tendency to exalt and ennoble us, while certain other acts have a tendency to degrade and to brutalise us.” Therefore, “any action that makes us go Godward is a good action, and is our duty; any action that makes us go downward is evil, and is not our duty.”

How does an action become good? Swamiji again tells us, “When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being.”

When our actions are thus divinised they become efficient instruments to tame our senses, overcome the restlessness of our mind, and burn our selfishness and sensuality. Thus by the strength of rightly performed actions we evolve even to the highest realisation of spiritual perfection. While this is duty towards ourselves, we have other duties which stem from our relationships in society.

In society we have multiple personal and social identities like son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, friend, neighbour, employer, employee, citizen, and so on. In each of these roles we have duties to fulfill. But given the differences in human nature and varying external circumstances, it becomes difficult to determine what constitutes good action in these relationships. Again, we wrongly interpret fulfilling morbid attachment to sense pleasure, or greed for wealth and gain as our duty. Truly, sometimes Maya comes in the guise of duty. However, from Sri Rama who performed his duties as son, brother, husband, friend, warrior, king etc., in the most ideal manner, we learn that our family and social duties will lead us Godward if those actions are truthful, non-injurious, unselfish, and unattached.

Another important duty we have is towards Sanatana Dharma which preserves the highest universal truths discovered by man. Our work is to experientially realise the great Vedantic truths and share it with the whole world. Swami Vivekananda says, “For a complete civilisation the world is waiting, waiting for the treasures to come out of India, waiting for the marvellous spiritual inheritance of the race…”

The challenge is to first recognise these various duties, then understand how to perform them in a dharmic manner, and finally carry them out in the best possible way overcoming all difficulties. In short, our duty is to engage in actions that help to manifest our inner divinity and simultaneously bring about the good of the world. When duties are so performed, it is called dharma.

This dharma was the strength of Sri Rama. When he is about to leave for vanavas, his mother Kausalya blesses him saying, “The duty which you are carrying out with courage and self-discipline, O tiger among the descendants of Raghu, will alone protect you.”

May “dharma incarnate” Sri Rama awaken in us the strength to fulfill all our duties in life.

Swami Vivekananda and the Concept of Freedom in Indian Culture

SWAMI BHAJANANANDA This article was presented as a paper at the seminar on ‘Man and Freedom’, jointly sponsored by the Indian Academy of Philosophy and the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of

Culture (RMIC) on 22 January 2000. It is being reproduced here from RMIC’s journal Bulletin where it was published in July 2006.

Swami Vivekananda was one of those liberated man, Swamiji’s words on freedom rare great men who strove to extend have the ring of authenticity and authority. the frontiers of human freedom by His three main contributions heightening man’s faith in the eternal verities. He has been regarded by eminent Western scholars like A. L. Basham as “one of the moulders of the modern world,”1 although much of the influence that Swamiji has exerted on world thought has not been widely recognized as his. Swami Vivekananda was also Human freedom is generally regarded as having two dimensions: external and internal. External freedom includes political freedom and social freedom. Internal freedom includes intellectual freedom, moral freedom, and spiritual freedom. one of the builders of modern India, and this All these realms of freedom are generally fact has been openly acknowledged by almost treated as if they were independent of each all the great leaders of modern India. Swamiji other. Swami Vivekananda was the first great revitalized the religious consciousness of the thinker to show that all these types of freedom Indians, gave them a sense of unity, pride in the are expressions of a single existential urge for past, self-confidence, a sense of responsibility freedom derived from the intrinsic freedom of towards the poor and the downtrodden, and the Atman or true Self. courage to face the challenge of Western Secondly, Swamiji showed that religion culture. based on universal principles such as the innate

Here we are concerned only with Swami freedom of the Self can exert a tremendously Vivekananda’s contribution to the liberating influence on the minds of people. understanding and furtherance of freedom in Many modern people tend to look upon religion the context of Indian culture. It may be as an obstacle to social harmony and progress. remembered here that Swamiji was a liberated Karl Marx referred to religion as “the opium of soul. A Catholic father belonging to the Don the people”, and Freud regarded it as the “chain Bosco Order, in his doctoral dissertation on of illusion”. Swami Vivekananda did not say that Swami Vivekananda, has described Swamiji as these views are entirely wrong, but he pointed a “man without frontiers”2 and Dr out that they represent only a superficial view Radhakrishnan has described Swamiji as “a of religion. Religion in its true, experiential spokesman of the Divine Logos”.3 Being a essence is a constructive force which fosters

enlightenment, freedom, progress, and which is the cause of all suffering. The ultimate harmony. goal of life is to break this bondage and attain

Thirdly, Swami Vivekananda showed that the freedom of pure consciousness. Thus, this view of religion as a liberating, constructive freedom in traditional Hindu philosophy is an and harmonizing force is not a utopian ideal ultimate goal or value. It can be attained only but an immensely practical proposition. Karl through great struggle and is meant for a few Marx said, “The philosophers have only individuals who choose the path of nivritti or interpreted the world in various ways; the renunciation. point is to change it.” This was precisely what Swami Vivekananda looked upon freedom Swami Vivekananda attempted to do—to as a basic, existential urge underlying all life change the world. Swamiji activities. Swamiji argued was not a speculative that, since pure consciousphilosopher but a prophet The identification of pure ness is the substratum of and pathfinder with a new consciousness with mind and life, its freedom percolates gospel of social service. He body is known as bondage through mind and body. called his system of thought which is the cause of all Freedom is thus an Practical Vedantawhich was suffering. invariable attribute of life. intended to help every Swamiji illustrates this truth person, even the poorest by the example of a worm and the most ignorant, in all situations of life to and a locomotive. He says: attain freedom, dignity, strength, and fulfilment. A huge locomotive has rushed on over the Meaning of freedom line and a small worm that was creeping upon One of the most important discoveries made in ancient India, at least two thousand five hundred years ago, was that consciousness is a self-existent reality in itself independent of one of the rails saved its life by crawling out of the path of the locomotive. Yet this little worm, so insignificant that it can be crushed in a moment, is a living something, while this mind and body. Prajnanam brahma, “The locomotive, so huge, so immense, is only an ultimate Reality is pure consciousness”—this is engine, a machine. You say the one has life and one of the most significant metaphysical the other is only dead matter . . . . How can we statements ever made. In the whole of Western make the distinction between the living and the thought consciousness is regarded as an dead, then? In the living there is freedom, there attribute or function of the mind or of the body, is intelligence; in the dead all is bound and no never as an independent entity. In the freedom is possible, because there is no mainstream of Hindu philosophy, known as intelligence. This freedom that distinguishes us Vedanta, consciousness is considered to be from mere machines is what we are all striving primary, and mind and matter are secondary for. To be more free is the goal of all our efforts, derivatives of it. Mind and matter are created for only in perfect freedom can there be things and are bound by the laws of the perfection.4 universe. Pure consciousness, known as cit, is Although the ever-free, pure uncreated, self-existent, and ever free. consciousness is our true Self, or Atman, we

The identification of pure consciousness don’t feel this freedom because of the with mind and body is known as bondage identification of the Self with the body and

mind which are unfree, being governed by the behind evolution, the elan vital of Bergson. rigid laws of the universe. This identification is “What is the cause of evolution?” Swamiji asks, caused by ignorance, ajnana. Swami and then answers, “Desire. The animal wants to Vivekananda has compared ignorance to a dark do something, but does not find the screen with a small hole which covers a source environment favourable, and therefore of light which is the Atman. Through the hole a develops a new body. Who develops it? The little light of the Atman manifests itself. This is animal itself, its will. You have developed from the source of the urge for freedom we all feel. the lowest amoeba. Continue to exercise your As the hole becomes larger and larger, more will and it will take you higher still.”7 “From and more light comes out. In the same way, as mollusc to man it has been a continuous more ignorance is removed, expansion towards infinity. the Atman manifests itself Therefore the limited soul more and we feel greater Moral actions and spiritual can be styled an individual freedom within. According practices help in the which is continuously to Swami Vivekananda, manifestation of the Atman expanding towards the moral actions and spiritual and make us free. Infinite Individual.”8 practices help in the mani- In matter there is no festation of the Atman and freedom. Freedom begins to make us free, whereas throb in the amoeba. Greater and greater immoral actions and ignorance obstruct the freedom emerges as evolution proceeds from manifestation of the Atman and make us bound. worms and molluscs to fishes and birds and

Another idea of Swami Vivekananda is mammals and finally to man. In man, evolution that, since the individual self is a part or assumes a mental dimension and self-direction. reflection of the Supreme Self, each soul is By the exercise of mind, the human being potentially divine. That is to say, all the attains greater and greater freedom until he knowledge, power, beauty, strength, and glory becomes the fully liberated individual known as that we seek outside are already within us in a the jivanmukta. The main aim of society should potential form. These capacities manifest be to produce more and more of such liberated themselves when the obstacles are removed. individuals. This takes us to Swami Swamiji gives the example of irrigation. There Vivekananda’s concept of social freedom. is water flowing in the irrigation channel. As soon as the farmer removes a part of the Social freedom in Indian society embankment, water rushes into his field.5 The Swami Vivekananda’s love for humanity, urge for freedom that we all feel within is the and his concern for his motherland and its urge to break the obstacles to the manifestation people made him think deeply about Indian of the divinity within. As Swamiji has put it, “. . society and its problems. Swamiji did not .each man is infinite already, only these bars merely think about social problems, he also and bolts and different circumstances shut him travelled all over India as a mendicant sannyasi in; but as soon as they are removed, he rushes and saw with his own eyes the utter poverty out and expresses himself.”6 and backwardness of the Indian people.

Swami Vivekananda saw in this existential There are three points in Swami urge for freedom the primary motive power Vivekananda’s approach to social problems in

India, which need special mention here. In the first place, Swamiji was the first religious leader in India to point out that the cause of India’s downfall was the suppression and exploitation of the masses. Even fifty years ago Hindu society was so rigidly governed by caste rules and local customs that people belonging to the lower strata of society had no freedom to move upward in social status. Exploitation prevented them from overcoming their poverty and ignorance. Swamiji saw that what poor and downtrodden people needed most was a message of strength which will enable them to break the bonds of priestcraft, social tyranny, injustice and exploitation. Swamiji found this message of strength and freedom in the Vedanta.

Secondly, Swamiji made religion a liberating force, instead of being a restraining force. This he did by separating the life-giving, eternal and universal spiritual truths of religion from the non-essential outer forms, and also by separating true religion from social institutions. Spiritual concepts such as divinity of the soul, seeing God in all people and so on can liberate the minds of people from fear, hopelessness, selfishness, etc., and bring into existence a new society of enlightened individuals.

The third point is, Swamiji held that “Liberty is the first condition of growth,” and so he never advocated a steamroller model of socio-economic reform as Lenin and Mao Tse Tung did. The beginnings of socialism had already been made and Swamiji was aware of it, but he never favoured the totalitarian approach. He always upheld the freedom of the individual and believed that social problems could be solved in a democratic way by spreading education. He stated, “My whole ambition in life is to set in motion a machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody, and then let men and women settle their own fate. We are to put the chemicals together, the crystallization will be done by nature according to her laws.”9

Swami Vivekananda knew that the only group of people in Hindu society who were free from social rules and obligations and caste restrictions were the sannyasins. Swamiji decided to make use of their freedom for social uplift. He brought into existence a new order of monks who, while they seek final liberation, also work for the welfare of society as free individuals. With these monks as the core, a new community of liberal-minded people has come into existence and is steadily growing.

Intellectual freedom in Indian culture

In no other country was there so much intellectual freedom as in ancient India, and in no other country was there such an astonishing variety of intellectual creativity as in ancient India. But after the 11th century of the second millennium much of this freedom and creativity in intellectual life was lost. Some of the best brains in India remained satisfied with interpreting scriptures and writing commentaries, glosses, and treatises. For centuries philosophical thinking in India was governed by scriptural authority. In order to counter the Mimamsaka claim that the Vedas are the highest authority because ritual injunctions and prohibitions can be known only from the Vedas, Sri Shankaracharya asserted that the nature of Brahman, the ultimate Reality, can be known only from the Vedas. In Hindu philosophy reasoning (tarka or yukti) refers to either inference (syllogistic or analogical) or hermeneutical arguments.10 Sri Shankaracharya rejected inference as a means of knowing the true nature of Brahman because the Buddhists had tried to prove the nonexistence of Atman through inferential reasoning. For Shankaracharya true reasoning is that based on the Vedas (sruti- anugrihita)

and its purpose is only to clarify, interpret, and strengthen scriptural truths which are already established by sruti.11

Inferential reasoning was developed in India mainly by the Naiyayikas. One of the drawbacks of syllogistic inference is, as the word anu-mana indicates, it is knowledge based on previous perception. This restricts the scope for abstract thinking.

By contrast, in Western thought, reasoning is an independent intellectual activity based on logical consistency. Any statement is true if it follows the ‘Laws of Thought’ and there is ‘sufficient reason’ to believe it. This gave untrammelled freedom to speculation which led to the development of formal logic, advancements in mathematics and the proliferation of different schools of philosophy.12

Swami Vivekananda boldly advocated the use of reason in establishing the validity of religious concepts, practices, and experiences.13 In a lecture on ‘Reason and Religion’ delivered in London, Swamiji asked, “Is religion to justify itself by the discoveries of reason, through which every other science justifies itself? Are the same methods of investigation, which we apply to sciences and knowledge outside, to be applied to the science of Religion? In my opinion this must be so, and I am also of opinion that the sooner it is done the better. If a religion is destroyed by such investigations, it was then all the time useless, unworthy superstition; and . . . its destruction would be the best thing that could happen. All that is dross will be taken off, no doubt, but the essential parts of religion will emerge triumphant out of this investigation.”14

What did Swami Vivekananda mean by ‘reason” in this context? He himself answered this question on more than one occasion. He says that there are two principles of knowledge. The one principle is that we know by referring the particular to the general, and the general to the universal. And the second is that anything of which an explanation is sought is to be explained so far as possible from its own nature.15 It is clear that Swamiji’s first principle is inductive reasoning which forms the basis of the method of science. Swamiji’s second principle is what is known as ‘naturalism’ which is opposed to ‘supernaturalism’.

Without going into the details of Swamiji’s views on the role of reason in religion we may say that, by introducing rational thinking into Hindu religious thought, Swamiji liberated the eternal and universal truths of religion from the hands of a privileged few, made them available to common people and made them acceptable to modern people in the East as well as in the West.

Moral freedom

Morality, as it is understood and practised in most parts of the world, is based on compulsion and fear—fear of God or the law of karma in religious societies and fear of public opinion or the police in secular societies. This becomes clear when we try to find answer to the question, ‘Why should we be moral?’ Moral Science, developed by Western thinkers as a branch of philosophy, deals mostly with the question, ‘What is morality?’—that is, with the standard or criterion of moral judgement. And conventional morality as it is practised by people deals with, ‘How to be moral?’ The question why we should be moral was first raised by the Chinese Confucian philosopher Mencius (or Meng-tzu) of the 4th century BCE

What is the answer given by traditional religions to this question of Mencius? The answer found in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions is that we have to be moral because that is God’s commandment and, should we behave in an immoral way, we would

be disobeying God and He would punish us. Immanuel Kant tried to develop a theory of ethics independent of Christian theology, but his ‘categorical imperative’ also implies a sense of compulsion. In the Indian tradition (Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain) morality is conformity to the moral order of the universe known as Dharmaand violation of Dharma would bring retribution according to the law of karma. Morality in traditional religions is thus based on fear or compulsion.

The answer given by Mencius was that we have to be moral and good because goodness is our true or original nature. To be good is the natural state; to be bad is a fall from that state. Thus morality involves no compulsion; it is only regaining our natural state.16

In modern times Swami Vivekananda also raised the same question, “Why should we be good?” The answer that he gave was that we should be good because goodness is our true nature. Although Mencius had given a similar answer, he could not clearly state what that true or original nature of man is. According to Swami Vivekananda, our true nature is the Atman which is eternally pure, awakened and free (nitya-suddha-buddha-mukta). This view had originally been held by the sages of the Upanishads no doubt, but it was Swami Vivekananda who applied it to morality and ethics.

Swamiji’s view makes morality a free and spontaneous expression of the innate goodness and purity of the true Self of man. According to it, I am good not because somebody compels me to be so, not because I am afraid of punishment, but because goodness is the natural expression of my true, innate nature. Needless to say, this view of Swamiji can bring about a radical change in the moral attitudes and behaviour of people in the modern permissive society. It can have an immediate appeal, especially to modern youths, who rebel against compulsion and restriction of freedom. (To be concluded)

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Notes and References

1) Swami Vivekananda in East and West. A.L. Basham.

London: Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, 1963, p. 210. 2) Man Without Frontiers (Doctoral thesis). Maria

Arokiam Kanaga. Rome: Salesian Pontifical

University, 1988 3) ‘Swami Vivekananda: A Spokesman of the Divine

Logos’ article by Dr S. Radhakrishnan in The Vedanta

Kesari, August 1963. 4) ‘What is Religion’ The Complete Works of Swami

Vivekananda (henceforth CW). Kolkata: Advaita

Ashrama, 1: 333. 5) CW. 5: 298. It may be mentioned here that Swamiji’s idea of ‘manifestation’ is derived from Patanjali’s idea of ‘infilling of Prakriti’ [see Swami Vivekananda’s comments on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras in the Complete

Works, 1: 29l-93]. 6) CW. 5: 298. 7) CW. ‘Practical Vedanta’ 2:356. 8) CW. ‘Practical Vedanta’ 2:346 9) CW. 5:29. 10)See M. Hiriyanna, ‘The Place of Reason in Advaita’ in Indian Philosophical Studies Mysore: Kavyalaya

Publishers, 1957, p.45 f. 11)Shakaracharya says, “Once the truth that Brahman is the cause of this universe is established by the sruti, to strengthen this understanding we may have recourse to reason which is not opposed to scripture.”—Commentary on Brahma-Sutra, 1.1.2. 12)This difference between Indian thought and

Western thought was first pointed out by the Italian philosopher Beneditto Croce. 13)For a comprehensive study of Swamiji’s views on reason vis-a-vis scripture, see Anantanand

Rambachan, The Limits of Scripture. Honolulu:

University of Hawaii Press, 1996. 14) CW. 1:367. 15) CW.1:369-72. 16)For a discussion of Mencius’s theory see Philip Ho

Hwang, ‘What is Mencius Theory of Human Nature?’ in Philosophy East and West, April 1979, p.201