god and man

god and man
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all the gods of all religions, created the universe, the solar sytem, the earth, the life in it and mankind. surprisingly, only man had the intelligence to figure out the existence of god and each man is trying to prove his belief of god and god's rules i.e. religion is superior. i find this a little funny because if you ask all of them what god is and what is the relevance and meaning of religion, they say all the same things.

so what does each man think about god? to broadly put it, the views are:
I1. god will help you out even no one else in the world would
I2. god will be with you even in the worst of odds or when you are totally alone
I3. pray to god whenever you really need something
I4. confess to god if you have realise you have committed a mistake

interestingly, there are also some adages that apply: (connect with the help of numbering)
I1. god only helps those who help themselves; jiska koi nahi hota uska khuda hota hai
I2. jodi tor daak shuney keo naa ashe, tobey ekla cholo rey (tagore saying in bengali that if no one hears your cry, march ahead alone)
I3. jo sachche dil se maanga jaata hai woh zaroor milta hai
I4. subah ka bhatka agar shaam ko ghar aa jaye to usey bhatka nahi kahte

the tenets about god and the wise sayings are dont seem to go together in the first glance. that made me think about why are we told about two opposing viewpoints all our life. i did some research on theology and applied my own thought to it.

the conclusion i came to was that god is a necessary concept for mankind. we need to accept that man is a social animal and emotions (both base emotions and secondary emotions : refer linked note-yet to be written) are the primary influence in any man's life. so at an individual level, god is required for:
1. reminding man that a specie can survive only if each member wills to survive
2. moral and emotional support in times of loneliness
3. focus his energies and concentrate on priorities for propagating his species
4. controlling contradicting emotions in man to sustain his survival

but there is more to it when we look man as part of a community. most emotions and instincts arise due to existence of other members of the same species around. these are regulated by the use of religion and associated rituals.
1. common religious festivals provide a sense of bonding within the community. this is required because like any other animal, man prefers the feelings of being safe and wanted.
2. man has abstract intelligence that is far higher than any other species. this is the reason why secondary emotions drive most conscious decisions life. to help in this scenario, religion provides universal comparisons and benchmarks for paap, punya, good, bad etc. to aid in decision making and keep the secondary emotions in control.

i remember one shloka of our scriptures that means : do not believe the words of even a reknowned sage even if your mind does let it, but believe the words of an innocent kid if you mind deems it fit.

whether to believe in god is a matter of personal faith. the spirit of what i said above has been repeated in better words in the hymn of creation (Rig Veda Volume 10 Verse 129)


The Original Sanskrit Hymn (with the translation given below each couplet)

nµsad àsãn n¢ sád àsãt tadµnãü nµsãd rájo n¢ vy•mà par¢ yát |
k¡m µvarãvaþ k£ha kásya ÷ármann ámbhaþ k¡m àsãd gáhanaü gabhãrám ||

At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was wrapping? Where? In whose protection?
Was Water there, unfathomable deep?


ná mçty£r àsãd amÆtaü ná tárhi ná rµtryà áhna àsãt praketáþ |
µnãd avàtáü svadháyà tád ‚kaü tásmàd dhànyán ná paráþ k¡ü canµsa ||

There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness;
of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath by its own impulse.
Other than that was nothing at all.


táma àsãt támasà gå×hám ágre 'praketáü saliláü sárvam à idám |
tuchy‚nàbhv ápihitaü yád µsãt tápasas tán mahinµjàyata¡kam ||

Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness,
and all was Water indiscriminate, Then
that which was hidden by Void, that One, emerging,
stirring, through power of Ardor, came to be.


kµmas tád ágre sám avartatµdhi mánaso r‚taþ prathamáü yád µsãt |
sat¢ bándhum ásati n¡r avindan hçd¡ prat·ùyà kaváyo manãùµ ||

In the beginning desire arose,
which was primal germ cell of mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.


tira÷c·no v¡tato ra÷m¡r eùàm adháþ svid às·3d upári svid àsã3t |
retodhµ àsan mahimµna àsan svadhµ avástàt práyatiþ parástàt ||

A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.


k¢ addhµ veda ká ihá prá vocat k£ta µjàtà k£ta iyáü v¡sçùñiþ |
arvµg devµ asyá visárjanenµthà k¢ veda yáta àbabh½va ||

Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?
Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation?
Even the Gods came after its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?


iyáü v¡sçùñir yáta àbabh½va yádi và dadh‚ yádi và ná |
y¢ asyµdhyakùaþ param‚ vy•man s¢ aïgá veda yádi và ná v‚da ||

That out of which creation has arisen,
whether it held it firm or it did not,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
He surely knows - or maybe He does not!


He also does not know probably because he does not exist. He is imagination of man at work, working all the time as the brain, heart and breath of man, within each man, to make him live like a 'Man'.

(wrote on 24-oct-2007 after a brief discussion with bhavna on god and belief a day before)

Social Economics

Whats the big hype about communism and capitalism? somewhere my gut feel tells me that its not the economic theory that i can find my answer. so i looked for facts and started thinking about them.

let me tell you what i thought about. think of a family where one brother earns 2 million. the other is a wastrel. both get 1 million according to the communistic system. the spoilt brother spends all money on drinks, gambling and girls. the good brother works harder, just to gather the money with which he could have bought some comfort for his wife. if he didnt share his hard earned money, he could have kept his wife so happy but he cannot. i could identify with the good brother. one day he quits and the family breaks. the spoilt brother can just beg and die an anonymous death.

this made me very uncomfortable. then i thought from a different angle. what if i was the guy who was on the receiving end of the goods. i pray to god everyday that give me my daily bread, my clothes and my shelter. i wont work at all, but if you have given birth to me fulfil my basic needs atleast. all people should be equal right? i pray everyday on my knees in front of a picture. one day i get the chance to see that the picture is not of the god but of the communist leader of my land. and i am looking like a beggar in front of him. i feel a disgust for my being. in my fit state of mind and with my two hands with me, i wont ever beg, be it god or the government.

even if i look at facts, i see that the average living standard of communist countries is lower than that of capitalistic ones. yes, the variation in the max and min of living standards is not much, say ranging from 48 to 52. coming to capitalist states, the average living standard is high, but with a higher variation, say ranging from 90 to 110. which one do i prefer?

i am surely against communism, but still not in favour of capitalism. money begets more money, that is a fact. and with money comes power to buy anything of value, anything you want giving you greater power. and responsibility doesnt come as a package with it. so there you are, some people with loads of money and power and lack of responsibility. there begins exploitation of the down-trodden. but yeah, at the same time i cant deny that some are very responsible too.

so what model should the society go with??? in simple economics, pick one of the two:
1. lower level of incomes but lesser standard deviation
2. higher level of incomes but higher standard deviation

it definitely has to be a mixed economy. but which component should be more, communism or capitalism? or in simple words, mixed economy prefers equality or efficiency?

what i dislike about communism from the idea i have is the fact that is it overly rosy... everyone works for everyone... so everyone is satisfied and reasonably happy... that is never so... it goes against our instincts... wont you feel the pinch if you see a dumbass person working beside you and earning more just because he has a year more of experience??? there will always exist a problem of "free-riders" in any communistic society... in fact, hard working people are rare and exploited gems in the communistic world where the focus is on receiving value not giving work. NEVER READ A COMMUNISTIC BOOK WITH A PERSPECTIVE EXISTING IN YOUR MIND. THINK ON YOUR OWN. Usually the books are written to play on the mind of the lazy risk averse individual in you who doesnt want to face competition. The language of the books also strive to touch an altruistic chord in you. you might think altruistically, everyone does... but how many of them do not act with selfishness when the time comes?

every individual has some needs and wants... lets look at only the needs, the needs of food, clothing and shelter... all these are material needs... there might be some comforts too, like good education or gifts or toothbrushes say... they are also material... and luxuries like AC cars are surely material... the point to note here is that all three are wants... one want called need is at the level of instincts... the want called comfort is at the level of emotions... the want called luxuries usually are at the level of the mind... we need to satisfy these "wants" in the right proportion

but before we do that we need to accept two things:
1. the basic human needs are material
2. there can be no society without a difference... we are all born with differtial abilities...

now to bring in that proper proportion of want satisfaction, we need money... unless you have money, you cant share it, let alone sharing equally... so the capitalists bring in money... the growth because of efficiency... and when the disparity grows huge... the equality of society kicks in and the money is redistributed... so what happens is cycles of capitalism and followed by communism and again capitalism... in the process look at the average standard of living... it rises continuously due to capitalism... communism just reduces the gap between the min and max of the living standard...

there is this natural equilibrium that comes about... it comes about because the society always shouts for equality but prefers efficiency... the mixed economy has to be more of capitalism, moderated with some amount of communism... selfishness moderated with altruism... efficiency with disparity in control... i call this "societal capitalism", which is again very different from socialism... it is this societal capitalism that we can see all the markets heading towards across the globe.


(Written on 10th October 2007, after a chat with my close friend shaurya. thanks bhavna for inspiring me to write this piece)