Rationalist - Periyar

I was following the recent news on the issues raised on the desecration of the Periyar statue in Trichy. I felt so sad that how people fight over a statue of a “person”. Of course I agree that Periyar was a great leader and also a “Rationalist”. This is the exact adjective used to glorify him. But was he really a Rationalist ??? I was wondering if a rational being would ever give a statement like “If you see a snake and a Brahmin, leave the snake alone and kill the Brahmin”. I really pity those who garland him. He was a person who was dead against idol-worship and he himself is been worshipped by the party (DK) – is this not a variant of idol worship?

The below is taken from Periyar’s official site

What is the mission of my life?

I have undertaken the service of reforming the Dravidian society and convert it into a society fully endowed with self-respect and dignity. I am wholly engaged with that task and dedicated to this great casue.

Whether I am “qualified” for that service or not, I am emboldened to undertake the same and continue to do it, because no one else has come forward to do that thankless job.

As I have no other attachment ( concern ) and all my principles, policies and programmes are chaclked out only in the light of rational thought. Hence I am more more qualified to undertake this work, service.

 

I do not know how long people would be fooled by this Dravidian concept. [Read more of the myth of Aryan Invasion]

What is rational? The literal meaning is “based on reason”. If I say I am being rational on a particular topic that would mean that I giving a balanced opinion. Was Periyar being rational by giving such a statement. If you are very debater and you are able to throw your argument, you become the best rationalist in the world. Rationalism is just a relative word. The people who proclaimed that Earth was the center of the solar system also were rational during their time and now we know the rationale behind that is destroyed and only time can tell us how rational we are in declaring the 9 planets or 10 planets or more or less.

DK – Dravidar Kazhagam, the organization that Periyar started and now headed by Mr.Veeramani has passed resolution to clear of all the temples that are built on the roads. This is a welcome message as this could really help in improving the traffic conditions in many cities but what he did not mention is that what action should be taken if it's a church or a mosque. He dare not come out with a comment because he would be killed the next day. Also they have come out with another resolution that the government should eradicate all the superstitions that the Hindus carry with them. My only question to him is that why was Periyar wearing “Black” shirt and all the DK supporters wear black shirt? Is this not a form of superstition. In fact leader of DMK which is also a branch of DK, wears yellow shall always for good luck – is this not superstition. This is a clear double standard that these people take and our gullible people fall prey for the beautiful speech these guys deliver. When would be start seeing the reality and punish these so proclaimed “Aethist”.

On this note I remember a real life incident that happened in one of the talks of Swami Chinmayananda.

[Following a talk given by Swami Chinmayananda, a modern, young American in the audience openly claimed that he did not believe in God. Swamiji welcomed the comment and responded with the question: "Now come, WHAT KIND of GOD is it, that you don't believe in?"]

This is the answer to all those who believe that there is "no God".

To say that "God" does or does not exist, one first needs to define "God". This is a general principle - to decide whether or not "chairs" exist, one would first need to define "chairs".

When prodded like this, most "rationalists" would define "God" as "one who sits above the skies and dispenses justice" or as some sort of "guardian angel", and then they would exclaim, "of course, such a God does not exist". In effect, what they are saying is that it is futile to "pray" for anything as there is nobody who would listen to those prayers and grant any benefits. Modern education tends to build up the intellect, which then revolts against a conception of a God who rules the world according to his will, who responds to prayers, etc.

However, such a definition of God is a case of scratching the surface, and our Hindu(Vedic) & Buddhist schools go much deeper than that, to the extent that the above definition would be regarded as false or incomplete. Ultimately however, the word "God" is a matter of definition. A very general definition would be "the truth that needs to be realized" and a fundamental aspect of that truth is the loss of the ego, which leads to a cessation of all desires. When I mentioned this to a "rationalist" friend of mine, he agreed. But then he bounced back on the futility of prayer. In effect, he was opposing Bhakti. I told him that Bhakti Yoga is not meant to obtain any gifts like wealth, etc, but is a means to kill the ego. Likewise, all the other yoga-s are meant to kill the ego. While individual schools may differ on the nature of the truth, the killing of the ego and the cessation of desires is, in one way or the other, common to all our Vedic & Buddhist schools. In this light, it is rather meaningless to say "I don’t believe in God". What is the God that you don’t believe in? Fundamentally, God is not a matter of belief at all. One may or may not believe in a particular conception of God, but ultimately, it is the truth to be realized.

On deeper examination, the "rationalist" objection to Bhakti is precisely because it hurts the ego, and it does so right upfront!! The other Yoga-s are a bit less straight-forward in this matter.

 

I welcome the concept of Periyar that the caste system should be eradicated from the society but just by blaming one of the constituent caste of the entire system is just showing a personal vendetta and not a national cause. If they are really worried about the caste system remove it instead of feeding it in the name of reservations. The division would only grow not diminish to any extend.