Absolute

”Absolute”. What do you make of it? As for me, I first came in contact with this word, may be when I was in Class 3 or 4. Actually, it was in connection to “Truth”, that is, “Absolute Truth”. Many examples were provided. But I remember one, “Sun rises in the East”. It was quite all right. I never thought about it for a long time.

As I grew older though, with a more mature thought process at my disposal, I started questioning many a things, which I had taken for granted earlier. So one fine day I start thinking about this “Absolute Truth” about the sun rising in the east. What is “Sun”? We, mankind, have defined a “Ball of Fire” as “Sun”. We could have named it as Moon or any other name. So, what is absolute about it? Similarly, “East” and “Rising”. In fact, “Rising of Sun on Earth” concept, with the earth seemingly at the centre of the universe, was summarily disproved by Copernicus and then by Galileo in the 1600s, who placed the sun at the centre of the universe and not vice versa. (And today, of course, we know the universe is so much bigger than the sun and our solar system, but let us not even get into that). Yet, our language hadn’t evolved to reflect that change in “Truth”. So, my more mature thought process told me that this “Absolute Truth” was “Absolute Bogus”.

Later on in college days, I came to know of another Absolut(e), but that is a premium Vodka. This is not a place to discuss that.  

Much later in life, after completing the trials of a busy family and working life, when I finally had the time and energy to unfetter my thoughts, I realised that “Time” is also a factor in ”Absolute Truth”. Let us forget about the above definitions and other things, but after a very long period of time, maybe many billions of years later, the Sun will lose the energy and heat that it is radiating now. Slowly everything will cool down to such an extent that first there will be no existence of life form in Earth or who knows, the Universe. So, the Sun will eventually become extinct. At that time, there will again be no “Absolute Truth” of “Sun rising in the East”. So, “Time” is a defining factor for any “Absolute Truth”. What may be true now may not be true in another era.

That is the Fourth Dimension. Time will eventually affect all other dimensions.

And that is how I, a layman, came to understand the concept of the Fourth Dimension, having started with the “Absolute Truth”.

Amen.

Sujit Sarkar

25^th May, 2020.

বাঙালি ও ঈশ্বর

ভারতের অন্যান্য প্রদেশের মত বাঙালিদের ও দেবদ্বিজে যথেষ্ট ভয়ভক্তি আছে। কিন্তু বাঙালি তো আবেগপ্রবণ জাতি । শুধু ভক্তিতে কি আর থেমে থাকে? দেবদেবীরা ক্রমশই আমাদের অনেক আপন হয়ে গিয়েছে ।

ভারতের অন্যান্য প্রদেশে লোকে এখনও দেবতাদের অনেক উচ্চাসনে রাখে, বিশেষতঃ উত্তর ও দক্ষিণ ভারতে । আমাদের এই আপন করে নেওয়া বোধহয় শুরু হয়েছে চৈতন্যদেবের আমল থেকে । ভক্তিরসের প্রভাবে আমাদের ঈশ্বরের প্রতি ভয় কেটে প্রথমে ভক্তি এবং পরবর্তী কালে ক্রমশ তা ভালবাসায় পরিণত হয় । এই ভালবাসায় নির্ভর করেই ঈশ্বর আমাদের কাছের লোক হয়ে উঠেছে। তবে এটা যত সহজে বললাম তত সহজে হয়নি, বেশ কয়েক শতাব্দী সময় নিয়েছে। ধীরে ধীরে হয়েছে ।

আমাদের কথোপকথনে, আমাদের সাহিত্যে, আমাদের ব্যবহারিক জীবনে এর প্রভাব পড়েছে।
আমরা মা কালী, মা দুর্গাকে এখনো যথেষ্ট ভয় ভক্তি করি। কিন্তু গণেশ যতটা পশ্চিম ভারতে গুরুত্ব পায় কদিন আগেও এখানে পেত না। আমরা ছোটবেলায় যখন দশমীর ঘট নড়ানোর পর সব ঠাকুরকে প্রণাম করতাম তখন একবার গণেশের ভুঁড়িতে হাতও বোলাতাম।

সাহিত্যে যদি দেখি তবে প্রথমেই যেতে হয় আমাদের নিজস্ব ঠাকুরের কাছে অর্থাৎ রবি ঠাকুর। রবীন্দ্রনাথ তার অনেক কবিতা ও গানে ঈশ্বরকে বন্ধু, সখা বা প্রাণসখা বলে সম্বোধন করেছেন। আসলে রবীন্দ্রনাথ তার কবিতা ও গানে এতই আন্তরিক ঈশ্বরের প্রতি যে তার কাব্য পূজা পর্যায়ের না প্রেম পর্যায়ের বোঝা অনেক ক্ষেত্রে ই মুশকিল । নজরুলও তাকে “বিরাট শিশু” বলে সম্বোধন করেছেন। সুনীল গঙ্গোপাধ্যায় তো কবিতায় সরস্বতীর প্রতি রোমান্টিক মনোভাব ও প্রকাশ করেছেন।

বাঙালির আগমনীর গানও এক সম্পূর্ণ অন্য আঙ্গিকের। আমরা ডাকসাইটে মহিষাসুরমর্দিনীকে একেবারে ঘরের মেয়ে উমা হিসেবে আমাদের ঘরে আবাহন করেছি। ঈশ্বরের প্রতি এই একান্ত ঘরোয়া আচরণ বোধহয় সর্বতোভাবেই অনন্য। বিজয়ার বিষাদসুরের সঙ্গে আমরা সধবা কন্যার পুত্র কন্যা সহ স্বামীগৃহে প্রত্যাবর্তনের বেদনা একাকার করে ফেলেছি। মা উমার সাথে সিঁদূর খেলাও একান্তই বাঙালির নিজস্ব ।

শিবের গাজন নিয়ে ও একই কথা বলা যায় । অন্যান্য প্রদেশের দোর্দণ্ডপ্রতাপ মহাদেব আমাদের বাউন্ডুলে জামাই।

বাংলার লোকসংগীত এ তো আরও কাছের
করে নিয়েছি আমরা সবাইকে। দু একটা উদাহরণ ই যথেষ্ট। যেমন, “কথা কসনে লো রাই শ্যামের বড়াই বড় বেড়েছে”। এর থেকে এককাঠি উপরে “মাঈ তুমি জলে না যায়িও, কদম গাছে বসিয়া আছে কানু হারামজাদা”।

বাঙালিরা ঈশ্বরকে শুধু আসনে সাজিয়ে পুজো ই করেনা তাকে একান্তই আপন করে বুকেও স্থান
দেয়। বাঙালির ঈশ্বরের সঙ্গে এই যে অম্লমধুর সম্পর্ক এটা সত্যিই অভূতপূর্ব ও অনন্য ।

আজ এ পর্যন্তই ।

Sujit Sarkar

২৪শে মে, ২০২০

My God

I believe in God. Nothing unique. Most people do. Yes, there are some who may not. Very few among them would be non-believers right from childhood though unless they were brought up in strict non-believer households. In most cases, I guess the atheist belief starts during adulthood when they are influenced by other non-believers. In any case, Hindu doctrine has a place for everyone. Non-believer does not mean outcast. As long as one is following societal mores and basic Hindu philosophy, he is the same as any of us. One can believe consciously or subconsciously, it does not matter.

But, we digress. Let’s come to the point. What or who is God? To me He is Supreme. He is Creator (Brahma), He is Caregiver (Vishnu) and He is also Destroyer (Shiva). Basically the three faces of God. If He is Supreme, He is One. There cannot be other. Multiplicity of Supreme is not possible.

We all know about the Big Bang theory. It is not conclusively proved yet, but most probably true. Our universe is a result of that and all life form evolved from there. All good. But are we sure there are no parallel universes or multiverses? There may be billions of other universes, for all we know. So, were there other Big Bangs? Or did a single Big Bang create all the far flung universes? Hard to tell. Now, think of the total energy required to create just one universe, the bounds of which are ever unknown, let alone multiverses. What a colossal mass of energy (energy has a mass, E=MC²)! Where did this Energy come from? This is God, to my mind.

Many spiritually uplifted persons, who have realised His manifestation, have spoken of the dazzling light that is difficult to see with the naked eye. So, if this Energy is “Swambhu” then God also is “Swambhu”, as the Vedas and the Upanishadas have mentioned. And then He created this Energy which resulted in our universe and maybe others.       

Who is God? What does He look like? We, the common people imagine Him as we like. All who claim to have seen Him or felt Him though, describe the experience in different ways. This is no surprise. Let us imagine we observe Mt. Kanchenjunga. It can be seen from many places. Darjeeling, Kalingpong, Siliguri, Pelling, maybe even as far away as Raigunj if luck is on your side. It will look different from different places. Different shape, different size. So, God, who is altogether a vastly different and superior phenomenon, will definitely appear different to the different people, who may have seen or visualised Him. That’s why there is all this confusion. Some enlightened persons may have seen or visualised Him but they have definitely not described His appearance. They have propagated His other aspects but not His appearance. This leads to us the next question.

If He is Supreme, why is there is a multiplicity of god & goddesses in our Hindu culture? Believe there are various factors behind this. Firstly, it is very difficult for the masses to visualise or accept “One God” concept, because the form or appearance is missing as a construct. In the primitive ages, men were helpless against all natural forces i.e. Sun, Rain, Wind et al. So, they prayed to these forces to keep themselves safe. That’s why deities like Barun, Agni, Pawan came into the picture initially. Then we have to consider the mix of cultures in our land. When the Aryans spread to other corner parts from the north-west of India, they came in contact with the Adibashis or the original inhabitants of the land. After some initial conflict, they stayed together harmoniously and slowly a mixed culture evolved. Both sets of beliefs were accepted. So, many non-Aryan beliefs entered the main stream and led to multiplicity.

And we needed rituals and festivals in a community setting. For bonding and for entertainment. Which was important for mental well being. As people started to live in a community for protection against external forces, and villages came into existence, festivities were required to celebrate life. Marriages and such life events were few and far in between. So, Puja (worship) of deities came into fore.  Different local deities were enshrined.

Puja involves rituals. But it is also a festival. Community festivities back in the days led to multiple pujas, and multiple deities. For puja or festival purpose, we have multiple gods, but eventually we pray to Him. Now, sages had said that if you have difficulty in imagining Him as “Nirakar” (no form), then imagine Him in any form and that becomes your “Ishta Devata”(own God). Pray to Him and seek His blessings. Only those who have attained higher echelons, philosophically or spiritually, can imagine or pray to Him as “Nirakar”. Others may find it easier to pray to their respective “Ishta Devata”s in the form we like. 

Spirituality is not the same in everyone. Nor is intellect. Only at the higher levels of spirituality or intellect or both, one can conceptualise “One God” or “Nirakar”. For others it may be difficult. Slowly and eventually, they turn towards Him, but it comes through stages. Slowly, from the many facets of the “One God”, the roads converge towards the singular, which is difficult to comprehend at one go. That is another reason of multiple deities in our culture.

All through the ages, the wise sages have said “All roads leads to Him”, meaning spiritual roads. So, the journey of faith may be different, but the Goal is One. God is One. Even, recently Sri Ramakrishna said “Joto Mat Toto Path” meaning “Different Faiths are Different Paths, leading to Him only”. Swami Vivekananda has simplified it more to say “Serve all the Creatures, thus you will serve Him”. Simplest way I feel.

Mother and God is probably the only multiplicity that remains, or you can say two sides of the same coin. Mother is the nearest thing to God in our earthly life. Mothers clearly represent two of the functions of Him, Creation and Caring. The selfless love of Mothers is like His selfless love for all His creation. Mothers can also destroy all that threatens His creation. That is why mostly we worship God as a motherly figure, Durga , Kali, Chandi. This way Mother and God becomes one. We pay homage to both. Another thing to note is that the deities Durga, Kali, Chandi are all described in our Puranas as “Shakti” which again means “Energy”, the origin of the Universe.

How do you serve God? Once, Narada had asked Sri Krishna “Who is your greatest follower?” expecting to hear his own name. But to his utter surprise, Sri Krishna pointed to a farmer returning home from his field and said, “That man is. He goes to the field at the crack of dawn, toils all day, has his frugal meal there, and comes back home at sunset. After returning, he washes himself, has dinner and before going to sleep, remembers Me, and thanks me for his two square meals. He does his duty wholeheartedly and honestly and also remembers Me in his gratitude. He is the greatest follower of God. If everyone all day long only takes my name, prays to me and tries to reach Me through meditation, then how will my creations survive and flourish? For that, I require simple God loving men and women, who perform their allotted duties honestly and sincerely, and remember Me even once a day”. 

That’s all for now. Namaskar.

Sujit Sarkar

17 May 2020

Kolkata