The horrifying gang-rape of a young physiotherapy student in a private
bus in Delhi has sparked outrage across the country. The
innocuous-seeming circumstances in which the rape occurred, the
bloodcurdling brutality of the perpetrators, the ineptitude of the
police and the Theek hain? gaffe of the Prime Minister have all
added fuel to the fire.
Before addressing this issue, I offer my sincere prayers for the
departed soul of the victim and my heartfelt condolences to her
bereaved and traumatized family. Gita wisdom teaches us that all of us
are relatives, connected in Gods all-encompassing family. So we are
all together in getting over this tragedy.
The Delhi horror underscores undeniably that our female citizens
absolutely require much better security. We need a more vigilant
police force, prompter help-lines, and stronger and swifter
punishments for sexual assaulters.
Yet will better security be enough? Might our society be suffering
from a more deep-rooted malaise of which this gruesome rape is an
intolerably stinking symptom? After all, the news periodically reports
incidents of scary sexual violence. School-teacher extracting sexual
favors from a girl-student in the classroom; father having incest with
his daughter in the presence of his son; mother and daughter hacking
to death a man with whom both had an affair these are the headlines
from just a weeks news.
Surely something is terribly wrong in our society, but what is it?
The topic of sexual assault is complex; sociologists include anger,
power and sadism among its causes. Here, I will focus on one important
aspect that has been largely overlooked by the media but is illumined
by Vedic wisdom.
The little-discussed Shurapanakha factor
In the Vedic tradition, the demon Ravana, the villain of the Ramayana,
is the emblem of lust. Ravana was so dominated by lust that he would
abduct beautiful women wherever he found them and force them to join
his harem. He even raped a relative, the celestial nymph Rambha, who
was married to his nephew. Thereafter he was cursed to die if he ever
raped any other women again. So, when he abducted Sita for enjoying
her sexually, he threatened to kill and eat her if she didnt
voluntarily comply. Thus, for the sake of gratifying his sexual
appetite he had a proclivity to rape and to commit other types of
horrible violence against women. He finally met his just end when he
was given capital punishment by Lord Rama.
The perversity of Ravana is widely known, but a crucial detail
underlying his perversity is less known. The Ramayana describes that
though Ravana was initially allured by thoughts of possessing Sita, he
gave up his evil intentions when he was told about the unmatchable
power of Rama. However, when his malicious sister Shurapanakha incited
him by describing Sitas beauty explicitly and provocatively, he lost
all sense and courted self-destruction. Shurapanakha had her own
scores to settle and she used Ravana as her pawn by inciting him.
The Ramayana, in addition to being an ancient history, features
characters who are prototypes for perennial themes. In our current
context, Ravana obviously symbolizes sexual perverts like the Delhi
rapists. What does Shurapanakha symbolize? She symbolizes the forces
that incite people sexually and make them behave in Ravana-like ways.
The modern Shurapanakha
Todays primary sexual inciter, the modern Shurapanakha, is the
commercial world that uses sex to sell its products. The commercial
world knows that sex is the best sales tool because nothing catches
peoples attention and triggers their imagination as much as sex. So
it exploits sex as its ubiquitous marketer and fills our culture with
sexually provocative images.
This commercial exploitation of sex is all the more flagrant in the
entertainment industry, especially Hollywood and Bollywood, where sex
is arguably the most glamorized product on sale. And the modern
Shurapanakha is at its blatant worst as the pornography industry,
where sex, even brutal sex, is the only product on sale. Commercial
porn websites, magazines, books, videos, DVDs, cable television, etc.
comprise one of the most lucrative global industries. In the United
States alone, porn revenue is larger than the combined revenues of all
professional football, baseball and basketball franchises.
Due to this massive commercial exploitation, sex is thrust upon us
from all directions TV, theaters, internet, magazines and
billboards. Practically wherever we look, sexually provocative images
are pushed into our eyes. The way human culture has become sexualized
in the last several decades has no precedent in world history.
The Deadly Consequence of Liberalization
The modern Shurapanakha incites in a much more insidious way than the
Ramayana Shurapanakha. It fools us into believing that becoming its
pawn, that is, becoming sexually incited, is a sign of sexual
liberalization. To understand how such liberalization can entrap us,
lets first look at the rationale for sexual restraint.
The Bhagavad-gita (07.10) offers us insight into the sanctity of sex:
when it is performed within the precincts of dharma, it offers us an
opportunity to experience the divine. Sex enables us to become
co-creators with God in bringing new life into the world.
At the same time, Gita wisdom cautions us that when sex is divorced
from this divine perspective and purpose, it becomes motivated by a
deadly force that impels people into perversity. In the Bhagavad-gita
(03.36), Arjuna asks Krishna: what makes people act sinfully, even
against their will? This eternally relevant question is presently
resonant. Krishna answers (Gita 03.37) that the evil inner impeller is
lust which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of the world. Then he
outlines how a philosophically informed and devotionally centered
culture empowers us to keep lust under control.
Traditionally, the sexual force was regulated by the sacred inviolable
covenant of marriage. The modern Shurapanakha has persuaded us that
this covenant is too regressive and repressive, and so we need to
liberate ourselves from it. Being thus taken in, we approve the
release of this force from within the fence of covenant each time we
delight in sexually explicit imagery, language and music.
However, lust once released can rapidly veer out of control. The
Bhagavad-gita (03.39) states that lust is like an insatiable fire.
Indulgence acts as the fuel that aggravates the fire. So, when we
release the force of lust a bit through indulgence, it becomes that
much stronger and demands more release through greater indulgence.
When we accede, it becomes stronger still and demands still greater
release, thereby trapping us. What we might have thought of as
unconscionable before we released lust may over time become
acceptable, then enjoyable and finally irresistible. This is how the
modern Shurapanakha makes many people into sexual perverts.
The English satirist Alexander Pope in his An Essay on Man echoes how
vice the modern Shurapanakha in our context inverts our
sensibilities:
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As to be hated needs but to be seen
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
- Alexander Pope
Understanding this insidious nature of lust can help us see the link
between the generic commercial exploitation of sex and this specific
ghastly sexual assault: the force that we are releasing in the name of
liberalization is the same force that in a later stage is impelling
such fiendish crimes.
By no means is this metaphorical analysis of lust as a monster meant
to shift the blame away from the rapists; they are responsible for
letting the monster pervert them. The purpose of this analysis is to
point out that their barbarism is not an anomaly that can be rectified
just by stronger legal measures; it is a detestable but natural
consequence of the feverish sexualization that has permeated our
entire culture.
How the unconscionable can become the real
We may doubt: Most commercial depictions of sex in the media portray
romantic and consensual sex. How can that lead to such perversity?
Not all commercial sexual depictions are consensual; the reprehensible
glamorization of violent sex in extreme forms of pornography is a
significant exception. But even if we set aside this exception, the
fact remains that the commercial depiction of sex is designed to
trigger lust. And once this hideous monster is aroused, it can become
blind to the difference between sanctified sex and profane sex. It can
become blinder still so as to see no difference between consensual sex
and forcible sex. And at its blindest, it can no longer distinguish
between sex alone and sex mixed with violence, torture, maiming, and
murder. Due to this blinding nature of lust, the Bhagavad-gita
cautions us that it is the destroyer of knowledge and intelligence
(Gita 3.41) and is our eternal enemy (Gita 3.39).
Those who give a free rein to this monster become the modern Ravanas.
In fact, they end up becoming worse than the Ramayana Ravana; the
barbarous violence of the Delhi rapists far exceeded what Ravana did
to anyone. These perverts need to be swiftly and visibly meted out the
necessary severe punishment, as was meted out by Lord Rama to Ravana.
But we also need to remember that the Shurapanakha which incited them
is inciting everyone, including us too. Of course, the savagery of the
Delhi rapists is unthinkable for any civilized person. Yet, appalling
as all incidents of sexual violence are, they happen frequently not
just in India but all over the world. So, it would surely be naïve and
simplistic to demonize these perpetrators alone and give a clean chit
to everyone else, including ourselves.
Perhaps this revolting gang-rape is the jolt necessary to drive home
the reality that we are being manipulated by self-serving interests
who are exploiting our sexuality to fill their bank accounts while
propelling us on a self-destructive track of ever-aggravating lust.
Liberalization is the ploy that is deceiving us to willingly, even
eagerly, play into the hands of the modern Shurapanakha.
If we dont curb the modern Shurapanakha, then just as the knowledge
of Ramas power couldnt deter the lust-maddened Ravana, the knowledge
of severe legal punishments wont deter the modern lust-maddened
Ravanas.
The fetish for political correctness
Today speaking against sexual liberalization is widely considered
politically incorrect. Those who have the audacity to suggest that
anything might be wrong with liberalization are immediately silenced
by a severe political backlash.
Pertinently, the Ramayana depicts the results of a fetish for
political correctness. Soon after Ravana played into the hands of
Shurapanakha and abducted Sita, he started witnessing the consequences
of his suicidal folly: Hanuman with his tail-blazing exploits reduced
nearly half of Lanka to ashes.
The distraught Ravana called an emergency meeting of his ministers. In
that council, saying that the demon-king had erred in abducting Sita
was politically incorrect. So his bootlicking ministers just
recommended better security measures for Lanka as the solution. Hardly
anyone dared to go against the canon of political correctness. The
only vocal politically incorrect dissident was Vibhishana; he boldly
and firmly urged Ravana to give up his lust for Sita and return her to
Rama.
Unfortunately, Ravana was too possessed by the monster of lust to even
consider this sound advice. He curtly silenced Vibhishanas dissenting
voice and thereby sealed his own pact with death.
Despite the differences between this Ramayana situation and the
gang-rape aftermath, the central point of the parallel is valid and
vital: will we choose political correctness or corrective reform?
Towards a liberalizing respiritualization
If we choose reform, then each one of us can make a tangible
contribution. All of us have the power to stop being puppets of the
modern Shurapanakha; we can individually rebel against the rabid
sexualization of our culture. Each time we dress, each time we look at
others, each time we respond to sexually overt or covert language, we
have the power to make a statement: We will no longer be pawns in the
hands of those who exploit our sexuality. Every such statement is not
just a statement; it is also a contribution to the progressive curing
of the sexual fever that is pandemic in our culture.
To accelerate this healing, Gita wisdom offers us an intellectual
foundation and a practical pathway. It helps us understand that we are
not our bodies, but are eternal souls. We are beloved parts of
Krishna, who is our all-attractive all-loving Lord. Our infatuation
with sex is a distorted reflection of our original love for him. By
redirecting our love towards him, we can relish a deep inner happiness
that helps us regulate and transcend sexual craving.
And the process of devotional service offers us a practical means for
redirecting our love towards Krishna. Devotional culture naturally
focuses on Krishna and minimizes all distractions. Thats why in such
a culture neither men nor women highlight or aggravate their
sexuality. Instead, both focus on developing their latent
spirituality. We see each other not as potential sex objects but as
spiritual beings, as fellow travelers on an epic devotional voyage
back to Krishna. Such a vision helps us strive undistractedly for
inner fulfillment. The more we become spiritually fulfilled, the more
we become liberated from the constant craving for sex. When our mental
energy is no longer perpetually dissipated by sexual fantasies, we
become free to fully use our abilities and resources for our own and
others holistic well-being. That is real liberalization indeed.
Decreasing the sexualization of our culture and participating in its
re-spiritualization that is the twofold solution to the grave
problem of sexual violence.Purushottam Kumar
January 10, 2013 2:06 pm
.
Thanks for such a brilliant masterpiece.
Today many of the so called scholars often ridicule the Vedic
literatures and claim that they denigrate women. In fact these days it
has become a fashion to deride the Vedic literatures to champion ones
modern outlook. Timeless Vedic literatures have always held high
regard for women.
Below are quotes from the scriptures, it can help us to understand
Vedic perspective about women.
A Woman must be honored and adorned by their fathers, brothers,
husbands, and brothers in law, who desire their own welfare. Where
women are honored, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not
honored, no sacred rite yields rewards. Where the female relations
live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; but that family where
they are not unhappy ever prospers. The houses on which female
relations, not being duly honored, pronounce a curse, perish
completely, as if destroyed by magic. Hence men who seek (their own)
welfare, should always honor women on holidays and festivals with
(gifts of) ornaments, clothes and (dainty) food. In that family, where
the husband is pleased with his wife and the wife with her husband,
happiness will assuredly be lasting. (Manusmriti: The Laws of Manu,
Chapter 3,55-60)
Vedas state that when a woman marries then she enters as a river
enters the sea and to rule there along with her husband, as a queen,
over the other members of the family. (Atharva-Veda 14.1.43-44)
Sir Monier Monier-Williams (1860-1888) an Indologist and head of the
Oxford's Boden Chair, has written: "Indian wives often possess greater
influence than wives of Europeans." He is not a true Hindu who does
not regard a woman's body as sacred as the temple of God. He is an
outcast who touches a woman's body with irreverence, hatred or anger."
There are so called scholars who have some personal bias towards
Hinduism so they pick and chose a particular statement from the Vedic
literatures, manipulate it and then try to portray that Vedas are
against women. And unfortunately there are very few people who speak
against this bias.
The atrocities which are happening against women (or against men) is
because people have started taking great pleasure in living sinful
lives. Just an e.g. during the Vedic tradition elders were greatly
respected but today they are thrown into old age homes by his own sons
and daughters (!). In order to live an independent life mother abort
the child in the womb its a cold blooded murder of a child who
cannot protect himself/herself. Yes, irrespective of whether the child
is male or female they are being murdered in mothers womb.
Strict laws and strong moral values are answer to crimes against humanity.
--
bhagyashree
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