This is the transcript of the extempore talk given by me at Inter Religious Harmony Movement, Ashirvad, Bangalore, a Jesuit organization to promote inter religious harmony. This talk was given as the keynote speaker in their Deepavali Celebrations on 14 Nov 2021.
Om, asatomaa satgamaya
tamasomaa jyotirgamaya
mrtyormaa amrtangamaya
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantih
I have visited Ashirvad a few times before when Father Ronnie Prabhu was with us. This is the first time I am coming here after his untimely passing away. I am overwhelmed by my memories of various interactions with him in the corridors and rooms of this place. We have lost a great man. The inter religious programmes conducted by Ashirvad is a full reflection of the Indian ethos of harmony among religions. I thank you for this opportunity to share some ideas with you.
Deepavali is a festival that is close to the hearts of all Indians. It is the celebration of the coronation of Lord Raama after spending fourteen years in the forests. Dasharata gave a blank cheque to his queen Kaikeyi when she helped in a crisis situation, in the form of two boons that she can encash any time. Just before the coronation of Raama, she asked for Bharata to be coronated and Raama to be sent to the forests in the peninsular India, near the places where we are now, for fourteen years. Raama went to the forests to fulfil the promise of his father to Kaikeyi. During his stay in the forests, doing his duty as a Kshatriya, he helped clear them of many evil people. Finally, he also reduced the burden of Mother Earth by removing Raavana, in whose name and inspiration, most of the other evil people were thriving at that time. Navaraatri is the time when this war with Raavana happened. Vijayadashami is the day when good in the form of Raama emerged victorious over evil in the form of Raavana. After that, Raama and his followers returned to Ayodhya. This story of Raamayana is the cultural heritage of all Indians, irrespective of religion, language or region. When a Muslim country like Indonesia and a Buddhist country like Thailand celebrate the story of Raamayana in their music, dance, drama, paintings, etc. there should be no hesitation for all Indians to ownup the cultural heritage.
You need not give up one culture in the place of another. I am from Tamilnadu. I have been in Bangalore for more than 25 years. This has become my home now. I have imbibed the great Kannadiga culture here. I did not have to give up my Tamil identity and Tamil culture for that. No Indian should give up the grand Indian culture and heritage that they are the rightful heirs to. Irrespective of religion, we are all Indians. We should be proud of our common cultural heritage and manifest them in our lives. If we Indians, irrespective of our religions, don’t ownup Raama and Raamayana as our own cultural heritage with great pride, who will? As the Bible says, if salt loses its savour, what can it be salted with? We Indians are the salt of this earth. If we don’t ownup our heritage, we will be fit only to be trodden upon under the feet of other men.
Deepavali is the festival of light. Every religion and every culture relates God to light. I remember the hymn by Cardinal Newman, which I learnt in school, “Lead Kindly Light”. In the Bible, it is said, “I am the light of the world.” In Gita, God says, “yad aadityagatam tejo jagat bhasayate akilam, yat chandramasi yat ca agnou tat tejo viddhi maamakam”. “I am the light that shines in the Sun, the Moon and the Fire. All the light you see in the world are my luminescence only.” This can be taken as the physical light that we see with our eyes and also as the Pure Consciousness that shines from within our hearts.
All of us would agree that there is only one God. Sri Ramakrishna gives a nice example. Just as a man is called as “husband” by his wife, “son” by his father, “father” by his children and “brother” by his sister, the same God is called by different names based on the context. When we start a new activity, we worship the God as Ganesha. When we study, we call the God as Sarasvati. When we are pursuing money, we call the same God as Lakshmi. When we consider ourselves as Indians, the same God is considered as Bhaarat Maata. When we want to take bath in Ganga, the God is worshipped as Ganga Maata. When we consider ourselves as living beings on Earth, we worship the same God as Vasundhara, Mother Earth, and as Surya Devata. It is the same God worshipped by Vaishnavaas as Vishnu, Shaivaites as Shiva. It is the same God worshipped by people of other religions like Christians and Muslims by their own names. In the Gita, God says, “yo yo yaam yaam tanum bhakatah shraddhayaarcitum ichati, tasya tasya achalaam shraddhaam taam eva vidadhaamyaham”. “Whoever worships Me by whatever name, through whichever way, they all reach Me only. I respond to them through the very same name and form through which they worship Me.” Obviously there cannot be two Gods. They will limit each other. There can be only one God. And, God being the Omniscient, knows the innermost thoughts of our hearts. It is a blasphemy against God to say that God will accept prayers only when called through this name or that. That would challenge the Omniscience of God Himself. Let everyone worship God through their own culture. There is no need for any conversion. Let everyone worship God the same way as their parents, grandparents and ancestors worshipped. As Swami Vivekananda said in the Parliament of Religions, a Christian need not become a Muslim or a Muslim need not become a Christian or a Hindu need not become a Christian. Let everyone worship God in their own way through their own religions.
As Revered Swami Ranganathanandaji, one of the past Presidents of Ramakrishna Math, said, “What we need is not horizontal conversion. What we need is vertical conversion.” What is the use of a person converting from one religion to another? What is important is for a person to grow himself towards God within his own religion.
All religious scriptures have statements of exclusivity. The book of John says “I am the only way.” The Upanishads say “na anyah pantaa vidyate ayanaaya”. There is no other way other than this. Koran also says “laa ilaaha illallah”. These should be understood as God cannot be reached by mere rituals. God cannot be bought with money or power or fame. God can be reached only by devotion to Him, service to mankind and leading a self-disciplined life. There is no other way. Once I asked a Muslim friend, who is a mentor of some Koran Study Circles in Bangalore, what they mean by “laa ilaaha illallah”. He said, “Allah is the Arabic word for God. It is not a name. The statement means, have no God other than God. It means, let not money, power, name, sense pleasure, etc be your goal of life. Let only love of God and service to man be your goal of life.” That is what the first commandment in the Bible also says. That is what Gita, Upanishads and all the scriptures of all the religions say. We often make the mistake of rationally interpreting our own scriptures and reading other scriptures literally. When every scripture is interpreted as the true followers of those scriptures understand, they will make good sense. They will have a lot in common. We should have an “emic” approach and not be judgmental from an “etic” approach.
We need forums like this, where people of different religions come and explain to others what their understanding of their scriptures is. Ashirvad has been providing a yeoman service in creating the space for this. I am very happy that Ashirvad is celebrating the religious festivals of different religions and providing a platform for inter religious exchange of ideas. I wish Ashirvad to continue this service. Thank you.