Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath recently announced that he has excommunicated Rahul Gandhi from the fold of Hinduism as he has committed sacrilege by insulting the sanatana dharma.
This raises some intriguing issues. Hinduism is a way of life and not a Roman Catholic sect of Christianity where someone born to the faith can be expelled from it. What about conversions? Loss of faith? A nonbeliever or an atheist has no place in Christianity or Islam.
Sahankaracharyas are not Popes though English journalists often use the shortcut to label them Pontiffs. The Adi Shankaracharya had established four muths that are again lazily translated as monasteries. Each muth was the seat of a Shankaracharya who presided over a peeth in a teerth, a place of pilgrimage. The Shankaracharya has no powers or authority over the principal shrine located in the teerth. The team of priests led by their chief supervises all the rites and rituals.
The number of self-styled Shankaracharya has multiplied in recent years. Peeths suddenly emerge to accommodate these religious leaders. The present political dispensation has found it convenient and expedient to grant legitimacy to gurus and godmen of different hues to polarise the electorate along sectarian lines. Unfortunately, this has led to a dangerous, at times deliberate, fudging of interpretations of terms and definition.
Different akharas of jogis owe allegiances to different Shankaracharyas who have traditionally exercised disciplinary jurisdiction over these. Heads of akharas expel errant members in their flock. This is akin to a court-martial of a soldier or an officer who has breached discipline or prescribed code of conduct. One doesn’t recall an individual not initiated or ordained in a sect being excommunicated from Hinduism.
Sanatan dharma is a perennial philosophy that underpins the Hindu way of life. It is not restricted to the Vedic rites, sacrifices, nor is it confined to practices of Bhagwat dharma and concept of avatar/idol worship, construction of temples as abode of Gods—devalaya. Those who identify as Hindus have a wide variety of deities to choose from—Shiva, Vishnu and his many human incarnations, Kali, the primordial mother goddess and countless chosen gods: Ishta devata. Many Vedic gods’ anthropomorphic manifestations of forces of nature continue to occupy less important places in the pantheon of gods. Most importantly, it is possible to be an atheist and remain a Hindu. The nastik wasn’t considered an apostate but had a place in the religious-spiritual space.
Agnostics and sceptics were not treated as persons beyond the pale either. That is why Rahul Gandhi’s excommunication appears oxymoronish.
Conceding that any authority can issue dictates about religious beliefs of Hindus is akin to playing with fire. This is inciting masses to discard manmade laws enjoying constitutional protection and opt for laws laid down by God. Swami Avimukteshwarand has taken umbrage on Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of Manusmriti in a speech in Parliament. Oft-abused, Manusmriti is one of the many smritis and dharmashastra on which precolonial Hindu legal system was founded. Though some learned judges of the Supreme Court have opined that this compendium listing crimes and punishments should be included in the legal curriculum along with Vedas and relevant chapters of Ramayana and Mahabharata, this suggestion is yet to be incorporated in Nyaya and Dand Sanhita or Sakshya Adhiniyam. The sage from Puri and Jyotirmath has inadvertently stirred a hornet’s nest.
We hasten to add that Rahul Gandhi’s status as a Hindu is inconsequential. He has, in the past, trying to peddle not-sosoft Hindutva identified himself as a ‘Janeudhari Hindu’. The country at present is faced with graver problems than deciding whether the not-so-young man is one-fourth Hindu or one-eighth like the Mogul princes whose sense of entitlement to rule by birthright he shares.
The papacy has a chequered history of the Popes fluctuating between extremely rigid orthodox position to more resilient, liberal accommodating outlook on whole range of issues from role of women to response to LGBTQ population, abortion and divorce, capital punishment, stem cell research race, and refugees. Liberation Theology has played a significant role in revolutionary movements in Latin America. The pendulum has swung unpredictably in both directions. But Popes do share their ideas about issues agitating the society and some try to align matters of faith with reason in light of scientific discoveries. Is it too much to expect that our modern-day seers and sages shed light on the fraught relationship between caste, class and creed in contemporary India? What about tribal children of forests who have lost their homelands to compulsions of development?
India has had a great tradition of those who have renounced the world speaking to power fearlessly oblivious of personal risks. They have cursed—and blessed with boons—the rulers reminding them of dharma—not sectarian religion but the writ that upholds the cosmic order.
The country is united to beat back the terrorist attacks thrust on us. Tensions will persist after a ceasefire. There is no time to waste on IPL tamasha or narcissistic antics of billionaire celebrities in walking the ramp in fancy dress.