A visit with Sadhvi Ritambhari: Krishna Consciousness, Divine Love and the Mirror |
Recently I had the privilege of attending a series of religious lectures or pravachan given by an ascetic woman Sadhvi Ritambhari in Waltham, Massachusetts. She lectures on Hinduism. She speaks in Hindi and her discourses are a multimedia bonanza, and there is never a boring or a dull moment. These are a mix of stories from the life of Krishna and Rama, philosophical streams of thought juxtaposed with her singing of the bhajans, and the spontaneous ecstatic dancing by the attendees. The event comes close to description of a necessary event for religious revival of the Hindus. The force of her eloquence and command of religious knowledge and experience was sprinkled in with deeper philosophical exhortation for self cleansing as the core theme for universal love as we see in Hinduism (Vedic thought). She used the analogy of the mirror and our preoccupation with outward looks and countenance. Sadhvi Ritambhari encapsulated a powerful message of self cleansing and Self knowledge in this analogy. Alas! If only we used a similar mirror-like device to detect and rid ourselves of the stains and blemishes on the inner self! This was a fitting and powerful analogy she laid for us to rediscover the strengths and weaknesses in our individual self as well as the societal self, before criticizing others, or complaining about our problems to Krishna. The only solution the Sadhvi considers is seeking the love of the divine Krishna. Thus as the beneficiaries of divine nectar, how could we ignore love for one another? Since Krishna's love knows no bounds! In order for us to keep this love pure and clean we better take care of our soul and keep it free of the nonsense that surrounds us. Not an easy state to get to! And then we perform our daily karma in Krishna consciousness as instructed in the Bhagavata Gita: Yogastha kuru karmani-perform karma while steeped in yoga of love. At least, we need to strive towards such ideal state. This drew my thoughts to the Saiva-Shakti Sunya-Bindu insights of our predecessors, in describing that ideal state, encapsulated by the Mahayana Buddhists (another contribution from Kashmir) in the Prajnaparamita-Hridaya-Sutra (Heart sutra) thus: Here, all phenomena of existence are characterized by voidness: Neither born nor annihilated, neither blemished nor immaculate, neither deficient nor overfilled. Therefore, O Shariputra, in voidness there is no bodily-form, no feeling, no mental imaging, no consciousness; there is no higher knowledge, no attainment (of nirvana). No nonattainment either.] Sadhvi Ritambhari had come to Boston to present an interpretation of Krishna to the devotees as she saw it. One could not but be enthused by the affection and devotion she demonstrates towards Krishna in the form of service of the downtrodden, the underserved and underprivileged population of our society, particularly the orphans and the widows. The model she has created seems to be a salubrious bridge for wellbeing of the older and the younger generations alike, unlike the end of the road model isolationist model of the Mumuksha Bhawan for older adults. The central theme of the Sadhvi of self cleansing was reminiscent of Khumar Barabankvi's couplet 'Doosroon par agar tabsara keejiye, Samne ayeena rakh liya keeejiye.i.e. before 'criticism see the blemishes of your own'. My hope and prayer is that the Sadhvi continues to spread her words of Krishna love and the wisdom of the mirror for cleansing. And that all people of India listen and practice it for the common good. |
Dharma of Rituals: Hontss in Kashmir |
Last time I wrote how a few natural ideals could be envisaged as standard guides in performing our duties as individuals and help evolve towards Mokhsh (Mokhsha). Although this is individually important to us, collectively our families and communities as well evolve into dynamic structures that need periodic reminders and continual restructuring to prevent the cultural scaffolds from falling apart; and to promote participatory activities by the individuals. Communities have thus set up norms and ideals for a dynamic coherence and evolution at times of stress. Most of the coherence in our society is generated by participatory rituals during our life cycle. Thus we have prescribed rituals performed at birth, cutting of first hair, mekhal (yonyi ceremony), marriage, and death. In essence, the life of a Kashmiri Pundit transitions from one ritual to another. Some rituals are designed to bring families and the community together as units, and other rituals are set up to isolate or cloister the families with constant support and succor from the community at large. These norms or rituals support the evolving individuals in the society. At the time of birth and death (entry and exit) a particularly important period of hontss is held by the Kashmiris. One such occasion came up recently as my paternal aunt died in India. The word hontss may be translated as ritual impurity but that word does not do justice to the concept. In spite of living in the 21st century, and living at distant locations one cannot escape the rules of conduct at such occasions. These rules are set up as the standards- Dharm- at such occasions to help the family, and the society to cope. Here is my attempt to explain the complexities as best as I can. Hontss at Death: At the time of death in a family the 10 day period of hontss sets in, although the immediate funerary rituals last for 13 days. The observance of hontss period prohibits the family from participating in any community celebratory events, worship at temples, and offering food stuff prepared in-house to the visitors. Meat eating is also prohibited. The family is essentially cloistered during this hontss (mritak hontss; in Sanskrit- mritak ashauch). Together the family mourns the loss and celebrates the life of the departed. This period provides for a transition to adapt and face challenges after the passing. Only patrilineal line siblings and cousins are affected by this hontss. Thus for the purpose of this hontss, the observing family constitutes siblings and the immediate patrilineal line and relatives grouped together. The period of mritak hontss may be conjoined with another such period if another death occurs during the ten day period of the first observance. And in this conjoining of hontss days, father takes precedence over the mother. Thus, if during the hontss of a mother's death, the father also dies, the hontss period lasts until the end of that of the father. In contrast, death of a mother during the hontss period of the father prolongs the hontss for an additional period of just three days. Thus this kind of dispensation suggests that hontss apparently was much more than the so called 'ritual impurity' since the period could be adjusted appropriately. However, prohibition for offering of any food cooked-in house does suggest the possibility of infection control. I would suggest that the ritual period of hontss by and large provides for mourning together with an apparent eye on the amount of time spent cloistered in. Thus the family comes together with the community in the background offering support and succor. Hontss at Birth: As soon as a child is born, a ten day period of hontss begins (Sootak hontss). This ritual period ensures that the new mother is secluded, remains away from daily chores that usually befell the women. The hontss also ensures that the family stays together and celebrates the occasion as a unit. The minimum of ten days of rest and relaxation helps the mother to adapt to the new situation, allows time for her to cope with the psychological demands of herself and the new addition at the same time, and help in alleviating the possibility of post partum depression in the moms. Although the hontss itself lifts after the 10th day, the lying-in-period has been variable over time-the longest being 40 days. The birth and death rituals in Kashmir have come down to us described as Dharm Shastr. Most of these have their origins detailed in the Puranas and Manu smriti (the scriptures secondary to the Vedas), and probably carry remnants of influence from Zoroastrian, Indo-Hellenic, and Buddhist elements as Kashmir was part of the Kushan kingdom of Kanishka (128-154 AD) that stretched from Mathura in central India through the present day Afghanistan and beyond. Kashmiri Hindus do not, however, have a monopoly on the prescribed rituals at entry and the exit from this world. Such periods of 'ritual impurity' -for lack of a better word- are in fact found in the landscape of both the Abrahamic and Vedic/Indic and Asian cultures. Rituals and the specific ritual incantations affect our psyche and are symbolic unique features that identify us as a community of Kashmiri pundits within the great Vedic Hindu lifestyle. So, we celebrate together, we mourn together, enveloped in a few ritual incantations for symbolic affect and coherence. |
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*Omanand Koul is a Kashmiri from Anantnag, a graduate of the Banaras Hindu University, and a professor at the University Of Massachusetts, Worcester(USA). |
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