Freedom is the watchword for ideological discourse in human society. It has been so for ages. We talk of the fundamental freedom of the individual. We harp on terms like ‘free market’ and ‘free economy’. We
so often use the terms ‘economic freedom’, ‘intellectual freedom’ and even ‘social freedom’, not to talk of ‘political freedom’. Freedom has been awarded the highest degree of premium in the present civilisation. But is the real and core meaning of freedom well understood?
Are we not often hinting at or seeking, rather implicitly, absolute, unrestrained freedom? How realistic and practical are we in comprehending the true meaning and significance of freedom in our lives? Is our obsession with freedom clashing with the larger societal goals that establish and sustain universal welfare?
These and many similar questions need to be answered because the future of our celestial habitat—this vast earth—is riddled with dangers and uncertainties. Questions are cropping up, but no satisfactory answers are forthcoming.
Let us go to the core scriptural meaning of the term freedom. Our primeval scriptures, the Vedas, say the soul is innately and inherently free. It has full freedom to chart its way forward, to perform actions which may be qualitatively virtuous or vicious. But it is bound to reap the rewards of its karmas—positive or negative.
Why? Because the soul is subject to the karmic control and regulation by the master of the universe—the divine creator. He sets the law of retribution of karmas and regulates the population of countless living beings inhabiting various celestial bodies scattered across the vast universe. Being omnipotent and omniscient, he regulates with perfect precision, continuously, in a real-time mode.
Freedom naturally and normatively gets curtailed when we talk of individuals and groups in the social setting. Individuals as well as groups of humans—informal social groups, formal communities, institutional groups, provinces and the larger nation-states—become subject to rules and regulations for the larger good, for the peaceful and harmonious existence of all. The rules are supposedly designed for being non-discriminatory and fair to all. This curtailment of freedom is also sanctioned by our scriptures, provided the rules and regulations are enacted in accordance with the abiding principles of universal dharma. And these principles have been succinctly described in our scriptural literature. But the moot point is how far our worldly laws and rules are set in sync with dharma.
Freedom gets clipped and curtailed by dharmic codes applied to humans. Therefore, the phony concepts of freedom associated with various aspects of human life become clear as concepts of restricted freedom. There can be no healthy business activity in an unregulated market. There will be violence, crime and other peace-disruptive processes in a state where proper civil laws do not exist. There will be anarchy and disharmony without the relevant governing regulations, which restrict freedom.
A free trade zone is not fully free—it may be a tax-free zone, but in most areas, it functions as per the prescribed rules of business covering investment, banking, marketing and cargo movements. The restrictions are imposed by the governing state. But more than these formal restrictions, there operate hidden and covert forces too that restrain free action. These may or may not be in line with the principles of universal dharma that promote peace, progress and prosperity.
The 10 eternal principles of universal dharma override everything else, including freedom. Freedom is meaningful only in a restrictive sense—action—and even action is subject to legal bindings fixed by the state and the larger moral-spiritual bindings fixed eternally by the almighty creator. Ultimately, we have to take guidance from dharma in our inching and incremental steps in this journey called life. It is wide-ranging and all-encompassing because it is pronounced by the one and only master of the universe.
He is all-knowing and all-powerful and at the same time, He is just and compassionate. He maintains perfect justice in His universe whatever we petty souls do or not do. He brings everyone to justice in retribution for His karmas. Our freedoms are all definitively restricted in the realm of the almighty. We must remember this and build suitable paradigms and run them for our peaceful, harmonious and truly meaningful existence on this planet.
Freedom is meaningful only in a restrictive sense—action—and even action is subject to legal bindings fixed by the state and the larger moral-spiritual bindings fixed eternally by the almighty creator