Don’t blur lines in the name of respecting religious sentiment
Baba Ramdev has shown an uncanny and amazing ability to remain in the headlines, nor is he a stranger to controversies, harsh criticism and vile abuse. Some years back a leading English news magazine had published him on its cover with a picture in crass taste. He was also accused by Brinda Karat of exploiting his workforce and mixing animal products in his ayurvedic potions.
It didn’t take the Baba long to bounce back and land an almost knock-out punch displaying his nationalist credentials. But this time it seems he has overreached and slipped while skating on thin ice. The Supreme Court has refused to accept his ingeniously worded ‘unqualified apology’ submitted only after the bench threatened to ‘rip apart, brick by brick’ his claims of bonafide statements made in public interest, etc.
Let’s make it clear at the outset that what happens to Ramdev and Patanjali shouldn’t distract us from the serious issues that this case highlights. Yoga and Ayurveda are without doubt an integral part of our priceless cultural heritage. However, treating these in a half-baked manner with religious bigotry can only create an explosive mixture.
Yoga, as masters like Swami Vivekananda have expounded, is a complex system with many branches to suit the requirements of different individuals. Hath Yoga focuses on the physical, but has aspects that draw on the spiritual and psychological insights. Jnana, Bhakti and Karm Yoga prioritise knowledge, unquestioning devotion and discharging one’s duty dispassionately.
Raj Yoga is arguably the most esoteric and is for the select few who risk physical and psychologic wellbeing in pursuit of illumination that liberates. Yoga of course is also a system of Indian philosophy. What is of relevance here and now is that can mastery in Yoga be used (or misused) to claim expertise in another specialised domain like Ayurveda? Can a Yoga instructor claim for one self the status of a guru? Guru in India is ranked higher than god—he is sakshat parabrahm.
Those who follow their chosen master and mentor are welcome to do so, but shouldn’t the government departments and the laws of the land apply equally to gurus, godmen and their lay followers? Quite a few of these worldly-wise bhakts use guru kripa to negotiate the choppy waters of bhavsagar (dangerous waves of the ocean that the material world represents).
Baba Ramdev should be given his due for popularising Ayurveda among urban middle classes and creating a unique business model that seamlessly blends desi jugaad and modern technology. There have been other gurus who have followed the trail blazed by him to set up units to produce proprietorial products based on ancient ayurvedic prescriptions.
The trouble started when Ramdev and Co. took on allopathic medicine to push its products with wild claims during the Covid pandemic. It’s one thing to launch toothpaste with jadi booti traditionally associated with dental care and tonic restoratives like chyavanprash without looking before the leap, the challenge is far more hazardous when cure-all panaceas or sure-cure remedies are created or rediscovered hastily without any trials or peer reviews when millions of lives are at risk.
In the past also this swadeshi entrepreneur with miraculous yogic touch has fallen on his face. Public memory may be notoriously short but his attempt to escape the police dragnet clad in salwar kameez and dupatta don’t make for a glorious chapter in his biography. He refused—much to his credit—the Padma awards that the government was bestowing on sadhus and sants who showered their blessings on the Saffron party led by the ‘Hindu Hriday Smarat’, appearing to draw a line between the spiritual and the political. Events as they have unfolded since have forced us to rethink that he isn’t above temptations of power and patriotic glory.
Before we conclude we must address the most critical issue. The public discourse is dominated by the narrative that Indians in the ‘Amrit Kaal’ shouldn’t continue to suffer from the burden of colonial deadwood. We must revive and restore and celebrate the sanatan ancient Indian science and technology that were maligned by the white masters. This has created a dangerous climate where anyone daring to expose chicanery or charlatans can be branded a blasphemous traitor, a foreign agent, etc. and punished by a kangaroo court.
We are living through bewildering times. Policemen deployed on security duty at the Vishwanath temple are dressed in orange attire of the priests, sporting the tribune mark on their forehead. The logic is that constables in khaki wardi were hurting the religious sentiments of the darshan-seeking bhakts who were reluctant to follow their crowd-control measures. Soon the month of shravan and kanwariyas will be with us. Will we witness policemen in suitably changed holy attire? How will the drivers on the highway separate the two? Blurring lines not to hurt sentiments can be perilous.
Pushpesh Pant
Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
pushpeshpant@gmail.com