Is capitalism moral or immoral?

A lot of Indians have some compunctions with capitalism. Because of the ancient Indian ideal of a minimalist lifestyle and sacrifice at some age in life, many are of the view that an interest in monetary profits is bad. A lopsided reading of the scriptures might have had the appeal to make communism and then socialism popular in India during the period of British occupation and later. As compared to them, capitalism has taken a backseat in popular understanding of Indians. 

But if we are to consider the four purushaarthas of Hindu Dharma, (i.e. Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha), the presence of the second purushaartha Artha (money/economics) implies that ancient Indians had never completely given up on money making. Indeed the ideal was to gain money through means of Dharma, i.e. through righteous means. And capitalism can do nothing to hamper that if the society has been already conditioned to be righteous. A basic definition suggests that it is all about private ownership of means of production, and creation of goods and services for profit by private owned enterprises. The profit motive is essential to encourage a player in the market to perform well and when it is rewarded, it is an incentive for good behavior. For our case in this post, we will take free markets as a synonym for capitalism. 

For a pretty basic understanding of some economic ideas, I suggest you read this book. It begins with some essays by Bastiat busting some myths on free markets. Towards the end, there is a section where twenty criticisms of free markets are addressed by Tom Palmer. He starts off addressing the ethical criticism of free markets. For the sake of brevity in our post, we will consider only a few points that largely relate to ethical criticisms:

1) Markets are immoral or amoral: Here the author mentions that markets make people think of advantages, for which people enter into an exchange. The exchange is usually of the type where a product or service is exchanged for money. To enter an exchange, a person has to respect the rightful claims of other people, and they are constrained by morality and law from simply taking stuff they want. To me, this aspect of markets endorse already existing moral sentiments, unless your moral sentiments included taking stuff. Not respecting other people's sentiments would break exchanges, and I am sure people will have no issues dumping the moral offender.

2) Markets promote greed and selfishness: The myth here is that people are trying to find the lowest prices or make the highest profits, ergo markets make the people greedy and selfish. But the truth is, they don't bar people willing to make small profits or people willing to shell out more from entering the exchanges mentioned in the first point. It is more of a system which accomodates all types of people. Moreover, if wealth is generated by being greedy and selfish, it also allows for its distribution as charity, which many would agree is the epitome of selfless life. Wealth created and distributed this way is far more efficient at running the society than brutal tax and spend schemes which generally are means of wealth destruction.

3) Reliance on Markets leads to monopoly: The myth here is that free markets would eventually lead to few big firms selling everything. But monopoly is what a government gives to select groups of people to deliver products and services. Free markets rest on the principle that anybody can enter the market, exit the market, buy from whomever, and sell to whoever. If in the end game of providing a product/service, one company emerges a winner then it has been through a process of selection, and it would have the best possible stuff of that category, so what is wrong if it has a "monopoly"? If after acquiring "monopoly" it starts downgrading its quality, a competitor will definitely rise from scratch and people would dump the behemoth company in due course of time. If the goods produced by the company are highly profitable, there will surely be more people aspiring to live the life of its owner and again somebody with an imagination will rise to compete with the behemoth. Thus, in my view, such a "monopoly" would not last for long.

4) Markets lead to more inequality than non market processes: Here, it is often considered that markets reward ability to satisfy consumer preferences and a person who is more able is rewarded more than the other. However, a 2006 Economic freedom of the World report suggested that this is not true, that reliance on free markets has a weak correlation with income inequality. Moreover, it substantially raises the income of the poor, and who would dislike that. Also, even if there is an inequality, there is nothing the market can do to keep a person dirt poor, or keep a person filthy rich. A person's outcome in life depends on what he does, and it is always in a state of constant flux. 'Jaisi karni waise bharni', as the proverb goes.

5) Markets cannot meet basic human needs: People like to think that basic needs have to be distributed according to need and not ability to pay, and markets support the latter. However, people living under markets enjoy higher standards of living than people under socialism, so it might be considered that markets do indeed support needs well. It's just that the means to support the needs are not through wealth redistribution, but through wealth generation. By endorsing people's ability to generate wealth, markets allow people to get wealthier, and through that way, they end up supporting their needs too.

We thus see that markets have nothing that impact moral nature of the person. What wires the moral nature of the person is not free markets or capitalism, but a sounder education. After a sound moral nature is established, markets will only support existing moral values and make them stronger. In fact, wealth generation through free markets worldwide has allowed people to have more free time, and greater curiosity to seek out other views of life. Many of them stumble upon scriptures of Hinduism, and reading them, absorb at least some ideas of Hinduism and some have even converted to it. If there is any bigger ally of Hinduism, it is capitalism. Were the ancients aware of the advantages of free markets? Would they have implemented them after establishing independence from foreign powers? I don't know for sure yet, but India's experiments with socialism/communism begin with the first contacts with communist internationals established in 1871 by West Bengal communists. By then, Thomas Babington Macaulay was long gone from the face of the earth.

Updated 6/14/2012: There is a part 2 of this post here: click.

The future of governance is here.

---- Originally sent to be posted on CRI  -----

In “the discourses”, Machiavelli had written a passage on the religion of the Romans. He compared two great Roman rulers: Romulus, who was one of its founders and a later day ruler Numa. And then he says that if one were to question who of these were a greater ruler, then he would pick Numa because he was responsible for introducing religion into Rome. Through the introduction of religion, Numa could introduce unconventional laws into Rome which would otherwise have been difficult to convince. Many of these laws would go on to make Rome a great state. But the most important advantage of the Roman religion that Machiavelli suggested was that it inspired a sense of self-governance among the people. And because of this self-governance introduced by religion, the state continues to function inspite of its good rulers passing away.

Self-governance is also a goal held in high esteem in Hindu history. Every living entity in Hindu culture is meant to have a svabhaav (self-character), and a svadharma (self-duty), the latter also including the concept of self-governance. If Narendra Modi is to be judged by any, his performance in engendering this feeling by the people should not be ignored, and that is turning into a focus for most of his next generation reforms. To be taken seriously by the people on this idea, he first needed to prove himself as their benefactor, and this was performed and is continuing to be performed by speedy execution of big ticket projects under Modi. Other factors needed are good quality education, self-initiatives from the people and decentralization of governance, and this is where Modi’s reforms are heading. I would make a quick review of some of these items below which are hoped to change the face of governance in Gujarat in the near future.

In the iCreate scheme for instance, a college like campus is shaping up at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. It is meant to support individuals with high entrepreneurial potential towards executing entrepreneurial ideas. The scheme covers wide varying fields such as information technology, electronics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, non-conventional green energy, bio-medical equipment & devices and agro and food processing. If this scheme goes operational, Gujarat would hatch start-ups in all these areas. An obvious spin-off of this scheme that I see would be that the experts hired at iCreate can also be used to impart research ideas at Gujarat’s universities and perform scientific research in the above mentioned fields. But the takeaway message from this scheme that we should remember is that it is meant to engender self-initiative in fields India is lagging far behind than other developed nations.

“Sakhi Mandals” are another such scheme endorsing self-initiative. Each Sakhi Mandal is a group of 15 – 50 women, which are tasked to save up money from their monthly budgets and build up reserves. Amounts from these are loaned to people in need at low interests. The government too steps to pitch in with its contributions to these reserves if they are managed well for a period of 6 months. Usually, these amounts are made use of to run small businesses. The net worth of these businesses has now reached 5000 crores which started from just scratch. I take the success of this scheme as a state endorsement of self-employment and a growing public awareness of the benefits of fiscal responsibility.

Another case where people power has been deployed and which has reaped results is the check dam building initiative. With rural initiative and government funding, 650 thousand checkdams have been built in the past 7 years along with several other smaller improvisations the purpose of which is to obstruct water flow and allow greater ground water percolation. This initiative has allowed Gujarat to be the only state in India where ground water levels have started rising. Modi has taken a similar model for girl child education such as the Kanya Kelavani program. Along with other state employees, he himself goes to select houses in villages and convinces parents to send their girls to schools, which has ensured that school drop-out rates for girls is reduced significantly (to < 10%) from std. 1 to 7. And while the centre’s idea for allowing access to college education to tribals would have been more quotas, Modi’s move was to increase the number of science stream schools as well as engineering and medical colleges in the tribal regions. As a result, the number of seats for engineering colleges has jumped from 13,000 from the time he came to power to 90,000 at the moment.

Modi has deployed a similar scheme based on self-governance for improving the sex ratio in Gujarat, which currently stands at a lowly 1000:900. He goes to communities which has the severest of problems (such as the Kadva Patidar community) and has been convincing people to stop the practice of sex selective abortion. For malnutrition too, a similar solution has been deployed, the CM has taken up a task in his trips across the state to convince people to make arrangements for donating some milk from their daily use for the poor and to the pregnant (for the latter so as to avoid miscarriages out of malnutrition). In comparison to this, our PM merely expressed regret that malnutrition is a problem the nation has to deal with and followed it up with nothing. But with the socialist underpinnings at the centre, we can be assured that any solution would border on the ‘right to food’ bill. Now a question arises, can people by themselves be disciplined enough to work in their interest? At first pass, such emphasis on self-governance might be thought of as not workable. But if led by a proper role model who has proven himself to be a benefactor of the people and if the people have been convinced by that role model that they can achieve something by themselves too, then it could work wonders.

Another initiative that goes towards aiding this principle of self-governance is decentralization of administration, and that is happening currently under ‘Apno Taluko Vibrant Taluko’ (ATVT) scheme. Under this scheme, the talukas are themselves responsible for generating their own financial resources, manage spending, coordinate and implement various government programmes and prospects. This decentralization should also allow for elimination of red tape and harassment by middlemen.

One prominent challenge that stares Gujarat in the eye is to keep up with the current pace of development forever. It is likely that successors to Modi won’t be as able an administrator as him. We only hope that enough people have been inspired by his vision of development to carry on the pace without him and are able to spot such benevolent administrators in the future. To some extent, it is true that his vision of development has started inspiring the destitute, with recent reports coming that migrant workers from UP in Gujarat have gone home this time to vote in UP elections on the agenda of development. The success of Gujarat in packaging development to people’s doorstep should similarly continue to inspire development as an agenda in elections elsewhere. Our country is at a crossroads one again with another BOP crisis around the corner. At the same time, a new model of governance which is based on projecting development as a mass movement which needs the ‘sadbhavna’ (goodwill) of all the elements of society is emerging and we would be foolish not to accept this easily available self-organizing principle to amend the ways of functioning of our democracy. The future of governance has arrived and you the reader need to be a part of it. What are you waiting for?

Shivaji's pluralism

The following is a letter that Shivaji wrote to Aurangzeb as published in 'Shivaji and his times' by Jadunath Sarkar protesting the levying of jaziya. Shivaji mainly argues from the standpoint of pluralism, saying that all people in the country have to be treated equally and none should be discriminated against. Other key details to note from this letter are the socio-economic conditions of Shivaji's times and the general downward trend that had begun in the Mughal Empire starting from Aurangzeb's times. There's also a bit or irony in the letter when Shivaji criticizes Aurangzeb's rule as a rule where there's a lot of looting and forts being lost, after all, he led some of the most famous campaigns among these. The letter also indicates Shivaji's view of Aurangzeb's predecessors, which is a bit disappointing for me if it is not a psy-ops. But nitpicking of that part shall be a tale for another time.

Letter begins:

"To the Emperor Alamgir -

This firm and constant well wisher Shivaji, after rendering thanks for the grace of God and the favours of the Emperor, which are clearer than the Sun, begs to inform your Majesty that, although this well wisher was led by his adverse fate to come away from your august presence without taking leave, yet he is ever ready to perform, to the fullest extent possible and proper, everything that duty as a servant and gratitude demand of him.

It has recently come to my ears that, on the ground of the war with me having exhausted your wealth and emptied your treasury, your Majesty has ordered that money under the name of jaziya should be collected from the Hindus and the imperial needs supplied with it. May it please your Majesty! That architect of the fabric of the empire, (Jalaluddin) Akbar Padishah, reigned with full power for 52 (lunar) years. He adopted the admirable policy of universal harmony in relation to all the various sects, such as Christians, Jews, Muslims, Dadu's followers, sky worshippers (falakia), malakia, materialists (ansaria), atheists (daharia), Brahmans and Jain priests. The aim of his liberal heart was to cherish and protect all the people. So, he became famous under thte title of Jagat-Guru, 'the World's spiritual guide.'

Next the Emperor Nuruddin Jahangir for 22 years spread his gracious shade on the head of the world and its dwellers, gave his heart to his friends and his hand to his work, and gained his desires. The Emperor Shah Jahan for 32 years cast his blessed shade on the head of the world and gathered the fruit of eternal life, which is only a synonym for goodness and fair fame, as the result of his happy time on earth. (A verse follows)

He who lives with a good name gains everlasting wealth,

Because after his death, the recital of his good deeds keeps his name alive.

Through the auspicious effect of this sublime disposition, wherever he [Akbar] bent the glance of his august wish, Victory and Success advanced to welcome him on the way. In his reign many kingdoms and forts were conquered. The state and power of these Emperors can be easily understood from the fact that Alamgir Padishah has failed and become distracted in the attempt to merely follow their political system. They, too had the power of levying the jaziya; but they did not give place to bigotry in their hearts, as they considered all men, high and low, created by God to be examples of the nature of diverse creeds and temperaments. Their kindness and benevolence endure on the pages of Time as their memorial, and so prayer and praise for these pure souls will dwell forever in the hearts and tongues of mankind, among both great and small. Prosperity is the fruit of one's intentions. Therefore, their wealth and good fortune continued to increase, as God's creatures reposed in the cradle of peace and safety, and their undertakings succeeded.

But in your Majesty's reign, many of the forts and provinces have gone out of your possession, and the rest will soon do so too, because there will be no slackness on my part in ruining and devastating them. Your peasants are down-trodden; the yield of every village has declined - in the place of one lakh only one thousand, and in the place of a thousand only ten are collected, and that too with difficulty. When poverty and beggary have made their homes in the palaces of the Emperor and the princes, the condition of the grandees and officers can be easily imagined. It is a reign in which the army is in a ferment, the merchants complain, the Muslims cry, the Hindus are grilled, most men lack bread at night and in the day inflame their own cheeks by slapping them (in anguish). How can the royal spirit permit you to add the hardship of the jaziya to this grievous state of things? The infamy will quickly spread from west to east and become recorded in books of history that the Emperor of Hindusthan, coveting the beggars' bowls, takes jaziya from Brahmans and Jain monks, yogis, sannyasis, bairagis, paupers, mendicants, ruined wretches, and the famine stricken, that his valour is shown by attacks on the wallets of beggars, - that he dashes down to the ground the name and honour of the Timurids!

May it please your Majesty! If you believe in the true Divine Book and Word of God (i.e. the Quran), you will find there [that God is styled] Rabb-ul-alamin, the Lord of all men, and not Rabb-ul-musalmin, the Lord of the Muhammadans only.

Verily, Islam and Hinduism are terms of contrast. They are diverse pigments used by the true Divine Painter for blending the colours and filling in the outlines [of His picture of the entire human species.] If it be a mosque, the call to prayer is chantedin remembrance of Him. If it be a temple, the bell is rung in yearning for Him only. To show bigotry for any man's creed and practices is equivalent to altering the words of the Holy Book. To draw new lines on a picture is equivalent to finding fault with the painter.

In strict justice the jaziya is not at all lawful. From the political point of view it can be allowable only if a beautiful woman wearing gold ornaments can pass from one province to another without fear or molestation. But in these days even the cities are being plundered, what shall I say of the open country? Apart from its injustice, this imposition of the jaziya is an innovation in India and inexpedient.

If you imagine piety to consist in oppressing the people and terrorizing the Hindus, you ought first to levy the jaziya from Rana Raj Singh, who is the head of the Hindus. Then it will not be so very difficult to collect it from me, as I am at your service. But to oppress ants and flies is far from displaying valour and spirit.

I wonder at the strange fidelity of your officers that they neglect to tell you of the true state of things, but cover a blazing fire with straw! May the sun of your royalty continue to shine above the horizon of greatness!"

Letter ends.

The education India needs

This is on occasion of Swami Vivekananda's anniversary. Linked here is a letter Swami Vivekananda wrote to Shrimati Sarala Ghoshal, editor of the Bharati, Darjeeling on the 24th of April, 1897. I will attempt to paraphrase the points I find interesting.

Most (perhaps all) things about education from the letter still apply. For instance, I doubt if India has made any seminal progress in making its people think independently. Intrinsic feudal attitudes that Swami Vivekanand observes that might have set in from the Islamic age were the first such attempt that stunted India's spirit of independent thought. In the British age, Macaulayite education was the culprit and this can be observed in today's rote learning that goes on in schools and even colleges. In the feudal age, this might not have mattered much because the royals would have thought for the people. But in a democracy, where public discourse is paramount, trust in the self is important. 

As per Swamiji, this lack of self trust could be because of monopolization of education in the hands of the few, which was the tone of the time Swami Vivekananda wrote the letter in and persists in this day due to left liberals. The latter is evident when you consider the poor portrayal of rich Indian cultural tapestry, and distorted adoptions of Indian ideologies such as secularism, 'vasudhaiva kutumbkam', socialist spending etc which just serve leftist propaganda. As per him, education has to be spread among the masses, and I must add here that it has to reflect the entire spectrum of thought from left to the right, and allow the masses to choose what pleases them which is in vogue with what they need for the moment. 

The next point Swamiji raises about is lack of originality. In my view, this will follow from independent thought and decentralization of education. Another feature that is needed for originality is devotion (Shraddha) to work, which Swamiji considers next. This is absent in today's Indian education as it is based on more of vocational training. While that is absolutely necessary, there is a need of education that inspires intrinsic love and duty for the vocation, which should not be a matter of merely performing an act for money, but something for which a man takes extra pains and performs in his vocation considering it a mission of his life. Swamiji suggests that the solution to all of the problems affecting India's education is self realization as advocated by Vedanta, and then expresses a desire that the editor spread this knowledge to the world. 

A Chanakyaniti primer

This was something that was meant for our recent Yuva varg in our part of the 3rd rock. Unfortunately, it was rejected by our superiors as "too intellectual" for newbies to grasp. Therefore, I am posting it here, in the hope that somebody would pick it up and live these great quotes from the timeless master. Basically, these are quotes from Chanakya's nitishastras that I found to be relevant for our time. The reorganization into different groups was to make reading through them more convenient. Chanakya had classified them chapterwise, and each chapter had quotes related to various parts of life, which made it a bit complicated to 'capsule' views.

I have divided these shlokas into four groups, viz: (1) Money matters (2) Family and Friends (3) Learning (4) Miscellaneous. In most shlokas, I have included an explanation that would describe it appropriately.

Money matters: In this section, we will understand Chanakya’s attitude towards wealth.

a) Chapter 1.6: One should save his money against hard times, save his wife at the sacrifice of his riches, but invariably one should save his soul even at the sacrifice of his wife and riches.

Explanation: This quote not only advises a person to be frugal in terms of spending money, but tells him/her that it is more important to be a stable life partner and foremost, be a sensible man/woman having a pure soul

b) Chapter 1.7: Save your wealth against future calamity. Do not say, “What fear has a rich man of calamity?” When riches begin to forsake one even the accumulated stock dwindles away.

Explanation: Always live frugally and save for the future. In this regard, we are reminded of one line from the Native Americans “we always borrow the present from our future generations.” Corollary: we have to save in the present for them.

c) Chapter 3.11: There is no poverty for the industrious sin does not attach itself to the person practicing japa. Those who are absorbed in maunam have no quarrel with others. They are fearless who always remain alert.

Explanation: For the people who work hard, there is no disadvantage that can put them out of action, and whether they are poor or otherwise, it doesn’t matter. Similarly in other cases a person with discipline can come through adverse circumstances.

d) Chapter 12.21: He who is not shy in the acquisition of wealth, grain and knowledge and in taking his meals, will be happy.

Explanation: Food, wealth and knowledge are important aspects of life, and must not be given up at any cost.

e) As centesimal droppings will fill a pot so also are knowledge, virtue and wealth gradually obtained.

Explanation: Knowledge, virtue and wealth are to be gained gradually.

f) Chapter 15.5: He who loses his money is forsaken by his friends, his wife, his servants and his relations; yet when he regains his riches, those who have forsaken him come back to him. Hence, wealth is certainly the best of relations.

Explanation: Total negligence of monetary wealth is not a good idea. Wealth is a natural part of family life and has to be given its due importance.

g) Chapter 15.6: Sinfully acquired wealth may remain 10 years, in the eleventh year it disappears.

Explanation: All wealth one acquires in his lifetime must be through honest means.

h) Chapter 16.11 I do not deserve that wealth which is to be attained by enduring much suffering or by flattering an enemy.

Explanation: Wealth should be desirable only if it is earned with some honor.

Family and Friends: In this section, we will see Chanakya’s views on how to pick friends, and how to raise offspring.

a) Chapter 1.2: He is a true friend who does not forsake us in time of need, misfortune, famine or war in a king’s court, or at the crematorium.

Explanation: Not needed.

b) Chapter 2.5: Avoid him who talks sweetly before you but tries to ruin you behind your back, for he is like a pitcher of poison with milk on top.

Explanation: Just as too much sugar is bad for the health, too much sweetness in a person should raise doubts. You can make out that this person is a backstabber when he starts criticizing others before you. It is possible as a corollary that he could also be criticizing you when he is with others.

c) Chapter 2.6: Do not put your trust in a bad companion, nor even trust an ordinary friend, for if he should get angry with you, he may bring all your secrets to light.

Explanation: Be choosy in picking friends, since a bad might not be able to keep secrets when he is angry. Pick friends that can keep secrets. Such persons can hold their cool even when they get angry with you.

d) Chapter 3.14: As a whole forest becomes fragrant by the existence of a single tree with sweet smelling blossoms in it, so a family becomes famous by the birth of a virtuous son.

e) Chapter 3.15: As a single withered tree, if set ablaze, causes a whole forest to burn, so does a rascal son destroy a whole family.

f) Chapter 3. 16: As night looks delightful when the moon shines, so is a family gladdened by a learned and virtuous son.

Explanation: Above quotes show how a worthwhile offspring benefits the family and how a rascal destroys the whole family.

g) Chapter 13.6: He who is overly attached to his family members experiences fear and sorrow, for the root of all grief is attachment. Thus one should discard attachment to be happy.

Explanation: This can aid people who stay far away from their families for work or some other purpose. Short term distance from families can generate a lot of longing for people who are overtly attached to their family members. They can do better without such attachment, both at work and in maintaining their peace of mind.

h) Chapter 12.17: Realized learning (vidya) is our friend while travelling, the wife is friend at home, medicine is the friend of a sick man and meritorious deeds are the friends at death.

Learning: In this section, we will try to discuss Chanakya’s views on education.

a) Chapter 2.10: Wise men should always bring up their sons in various moral ways, for children who have knowledge of niti shastra and are well behaved become a glory to their family.

Explanation: Never lose focus on educating your offspring in moral sciences. Only a properly disciplined one can bring glory to the family.

b) Chapter 2.12: Many a bad habit is developed through over indulgence and many a good oneby chastisement therefore beat your son as well as your pupil; never indulge them.

Explanation: Loving a child/student is not the same as not hitting/chastising/scolding them. Parent’s teacher’s first purpose is to ensure the spread and retention of knowledge, behavior and discipline and where these are interrupted, some chastisement should be done.

c) Chapter 4.18: Fondle a son until he is five years of age, and use the stick for another 10 years but when he has attained his 16^th year treat him as a friend.

Explanation: Thisis about rearing a child. A child below five years might be too fragile to undergo a beating, so he must be treated with care. As the child reaches 5, his true learning, process begins, and to instill in him those values that will form the base of his future, he might be needed to be beaten. At some age, when he develops his compass for life, he must be treated as a friend. Intimidation in this phase can stunt his maturation and delay his emergence as an independent player in the society.

d) Chapter 10.3: He who desires sense gratification must give up all thoughts of acquiring knowledge and he who seeks knowledge must not hope for sense gratification. How can he who seeks sense gratification. How can he who seeks sense gratification acquire knowledge and he who possesses knowledge enjoy mundane sense pleasure.

Explanation: Sense gratification and knowledge acquisition cannot go hand in hand. To gain knowledge, renunciation of worldly pleasures is a must.

e) Chapter 11.10: The student should completely renounce the following eight things: his lust, anger, greed, desire for sweets, sense of decorating the body, excessive curiosity, excessive sleep and excessive endeavor for bodily maintenance.

Explanation: Chanakya wants the student to renounce the above items in order to get disciplined and to aid his learning process.

f) Chapter 13. 17: As the man who digs obtains underground water by use of a shovel, so the student attains the knowledge possessed by his preceptor through his service.

Explanation: Continued service of his master in a disciplined fashion aids a student in learning.

g) Chapter 10.1: One destitute of wealth might not be entirely destitute, but a man devoid of learning is destitute in every way.

Explanation: The most important wealth in the world is a good education, without that a person is really poor.

Miscellaneous: These are shlokas on various topics, ranging from the need for dharma, charity, organization, control, and other such objects that consist of small, but very vital pieces of human nature that should not be neglected.

a) Chapter 5.2: As gold is tested in four ways by rubbing, cutting, heating and beating, so a man should be tested by these 4 things, his renunciation, his conduct, his qualities and his actions.

Explanation: Herein, Chanakya lists 4 criteria according to which a man should be tested. What a man renounces indicates what he is ready to forbid himself of for the greater good of a particular cause. His conduct indicates what kind of leader he can be. Qualities of a man would indicate how others should deal with him. And lastly, his actions would indicate the focus he has towards getting to the goal in an organized fashion.

b) Chapter 5.12: There is no disease (so destructive) as lust, no enemy like infatuation, no fire like wrath, and no happiness like spiritual knowledge.

c) Chapter 8.2: Low class men desire wealth, middle class men both wealth and respect but the noble honour only, hence honour is the noble man’s true wealth.

d) Chapter 8.15: Moral excellence is an ornament for personal beauty, righteous conduct for high birth; success for learning and proper spending for wealth.

Explanation: An ornament is a piece of jewelry that beautifies a woman. When a personal feature is an ornament, it serves to beautify an already existing trait. With this principle, Chanakya suggests ornaments to the above mentioned traits.

e) Chapter 8.16: Beauty is spoiled by an immoral nature; noble birth by bad conduct; learning by not being perfected and wealth by not being properly utilized.

Explanation: The above are features persons possessing a particular trait should not develop. Beauty is only skin deep when somebody’s nature is immoral. Similarly, an ill-mannered prince is of no use. Education must be perfect and a person should be able to apply all the basic tenets learned. When a person is a spendthrift, there is no advantage of his being rich.

f) Chapter 11.2: He who forsakes his own community and joins another perishes as the king who embraces an unrighteous path.

Explanation:

g) Chapter 11.3: The elephant has a huge body, but is controlled by a goad; yet is the goad as large as the elephant. A lighted candle banishes the darkness; but does that mean the candle is as vast as the darkness. A mountain is broken even by a thunderbolt, but is the thunderbolt as big as the mountain? No, he whose powers prevail is really mighty, what is there in bulk?

h) Chapter 12.20: The wise man should not be anxious about his food; he should be anxious to be engaged only in dharma. The food of each man is created for him at his birth.

i) Chapter 13.2: We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future, men of discernment deal only with the present moment.

j) Chapter 13.11: The hearts of base men burn before the fire of other’s fame and they slander them being themselves unable to rise to such a high position.

k) Chapter 13.16: He whose actions are disorganized has no happiness either in the midst of men or in a jungle – in the midst of men his heart burns by social contacts and his helplessness burns him in the forest.

Charity and Control:

a) Chapter 5.11: Charity puts an end to poverty, righteous conduct to misery; discretion to ignorance and scrutiny to fear.

b) Chapter 16.10: Even one who by his qualities appears to be all knowing suffers without patronage, the gem though precious requires a gold setting.

c) Chapter 14.13: If you wish to gain control of the world by the performance of a single deed, then keep the following fifteen , which are prone to wander here and there from getting the upper hand of you; the five sense objects, the five sense organs and organs of activity (hands, legs, mouth, genitals and anus)

d) Chapter 15.17: There are many ways of binding by which one can be dominated and controlled in this world, but the bond of affection is the strongest. For example, take the case of the humble bee which although expert at piercing hardened wood becomes caught in the embrace of its beloved flowers.

e) Chapter 16.20: One whose knowledge is confined to books and whose wealth is in the possession of others, can use neither his knowledge nor wealth when the need for them arises.

f) Chapter 17.3: That thing which is distant, that thing which appears impossible and that which is far beyond our reach, can be easily attained through tapasya for nothing can surpass austerity.

A forgotten hero reconstructed

----Book Review written for Centre Right India @ click ----------------------

Operation Red Lotus is a book written by Parag Tope, with inputs from the contemporary elements of the Tope family on India’s first war of freedom from the British in 1857. The book gets its name from the red lotus used by the participants in this war. Aside from memories of the family patriarch Prabhakar Tope, what makes the book unique is that it uses several otherwise unknown and forgotten pieces of info on the war, which include original and untranslated letters in Urdu, Bundeli, eye – witness accounts in Marathi, a revised view of English reports on the war to give a dramatically different story.

There are many positives in this book, most particularly, the very large number of myths destroyed by the book. One of the biggest myths laid to rest are that this war had no creative component that could prepare for the future of India after the war. This view was also expressed by Savarkar, whose work on 1857 I had previously looked upon as an important assessment of war. This is laid to rest in the book by presenting a translation of one of those many Urdu letters that were part of communication between the field officers and Tatya Tope. In the run up from the third Anglo – Maratha War (1818) to this war (1857), the British slowly crushed India’s economy. Local industry was shut down, people heavily taxed and overt forms of evangelization viz. converting to Christianity for less taxes, violence on temple premises, etc. were rampant. Indian officials in the British Government couldn’t get promoted beyond the rank of a Subedar. The leaders of the revolution recognized all of these as part of the tyranny and oppression of the British rulers and the war was originally based on a promise to uproot these, and restoring a liberty in personal life, trade and properties (ref: Azamgarh declaration, Delhi Gazette, 28^th September 1857).

The book also deserves credit for decoding the previously unknown code of the red lotuses and chapatis used in the war. The petals of the red lotus are explained as soldiers ready to participate, while the stalk of the lotus flower represented a platoon. Each platoon had about 25 – 30 soldiers. Conveniently, a red lotus also has 25 – 30 petals! Each soldier was made to pluck a petal. The number of petals remaining on the stalk would indicate the percentage of the soldiers in a platoon not participating. Chapatis received by a particular village represented that only that village that was selected to provide food for the travelling armies. A complete system of communication, involving recruitment and logistics was thus the objective of these hitherto unexplained symbols during the war.

As a general of Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope was the man instrumental behind planning the whole operation. Nana Saheb coordinated with other leaders such as Bahadur Shah, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Baija Bai Shinde and Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. They collaborated so as to keep the planning and preparations as covert as possible, and some leaders such as Baija Bai continued to feign neutrality throughout the war while covertly supporting it to the hilt. Capital was sourced from civilian landlords and bankers such as Seth Lakshmichand of Mathura.

The mission of the operation was to mobilize Indian soldiers of the English East India Company (EEIC), to overrun their garrison, and capture a predetermined location (a city and neighboring villages). Following a liberation of a sufficient part of the country, the goal was to create a government that would represent the India that the leaders of the operation wished to create. The war started on the 29th of March, 1857 with the outburst from Mangal Pandey and for the next few months, the revolutionaries notched up a string of victories. Delhi was liberated on the 10th of May, followed by Kanpur, Lucknow, Gwalior and Banda. On 4th, 5th and 6th June 1857, Azamgarh, Varanasi and Allahabad were liberated. Faizabad, Daraiabad/Barabanki, Salan, Sultanpur and Gonda were liberated by 11th June 1857. At around the same time in Central India, Jhansi, Naugaon, Gursarai, Banpur and Orai were also attacked and the English were on the backfoot in these towns. Kanpur by 27th of June and Lucknow by the 5th of July. An Indian government under the name of Bahadur Shah Zafar was in place by the 25th of August 1857. This government would funciton until the May of 1858.

While all of this is relatively well known, what is relatively less known is how the war was lost. The answer lies in the English realization that it was the Indian villages that received the Chapatis that were responsible for providing for the troops. The English then simply flattened these villages and left them without any human trace. In particular, the area chosen for clearing was that of the Grand Trunk Road. Regions where villages were ‘cleared’ now became no – go areas for the Indian troops (w/o a caravan of supplies), and became a convenient passage for English supplies and reinforcements and a springboard for their attacks into territories captured by the troops. The Indian loss was more because of the inability to guess the depths to which the English could stoop down to preserve their power. Possibly millions of Indians died in this campaign of the English which created a sanitized corridor from Calcutta right upto Kanpur. The irony is that two islands in Andaman and Nicobar are even today named after the commanders of this massacre, Brigadier General Havelock and Lieutenant Colonel Neill. One wonders if the outcome of the war could have been different if the leaders of the revolution had invested more time and more men at understanding British history of war and knowing the English capacity for genocide and mass destruction while at the same time remembering lessons from previous encounters with Muslim barbarians like Temur Lang. The villages might then have been protected against massacres by the English and some of the damage could have been averted, possibly increasing the efficiency of the revolutionaries’ maneuvers against the English.

There is also a good description of the later phases of the war. After the fall of Delhi (through a British siege causing starvation of the troops stationed there), Tope established a second HQ at Kalpi and with covert support of Baija Bai Shinde rebuilt his war machinery, developed extensive logistic lines (which hitherto did not exist as the revolutionaries’ plan A was to rely on villagers), and executed brilliant battles most importantly that of Kanpur in November-December 1857 in which he succeeded to recapture Kanpur briefly and reinforce Lucknow to lighten the pressure on Nana Saheb and other who were holed up there. Other important battles of this phase included Tope’s protection of Lakashmi Bai from Hugh Rose and the siege of Charkhari.Tope was also successful to enlist support from the Gwalior contingents, which proves false erstwhile theories of the inactivity of Scindia leading to the defeat in the war.

Human shields used by the English troops, gory details of wanton massacres by the English and their Scottish and Irish mercenaries, elaborate battle maps and troop movements, a detailed description of Tatya’s strategic moves at extending the War to other theaters, the massacre at Jhansi after Rani Laxmibai’s escape, previously unknown roles of other heroes in the war and a new proposal of the date and manner of Tatya Tope’s death are other noteable facets of the book. The book has also captured the global repercussions of the 1857 war and has drawn a possible link between the revolution in India and the American Civil war. On the flip side, it appears in some sections that there is a vendetta between the author and establishment historians that he is seeking to prove wrong. For instance at page 156:

“For R.C. Majumdar who for some is India’s ‘greatest historian’, Bahadur Shah was a ‘dotard’, a senile old man. Majumdar was obviously not very impressed with Bahadur Shah, who ‘dared’ to rise against the English, when he was supposed to be nothing more than a ‘puppet in their hands’. ”

The same book by another author might be excused, but given that the author is related biologically to the subject matter of the book, i.e. Tatya Tope, one expects higher standards from him. Due to this, there is a risk that some readers might believe that the book is performing some kind of hagiography. It also robs the hope that the book can be used as a history textbook on the subject, which is the need of the hour and which in my opinion has to be completely emotionless. Nevertheless, for the large amount of new data that the book brings forth, it is a first of its kind and is a must have for history wonks from all sides of the spectrum as a stepping stone towards getting the final history of India’s first war of freedom.

Maneesha Panchakam

(Translation from : Maneesha Panchakam by Swami Chinmayananda)

The word 'Maneeshaa' in Sanskrit means conviction and panchakam means a collection of five shlokas. The stotra reveals the normally strong association with the body and the mind which makes even a strong person like Aacharya Sankara starts following a mechanistic mode of life.

The story behind this Panchakam begins with a Aadi Shankara going for a bath at the Ganga in Kashi along with his disciples. Shankara saw a dirty sweeper coming along. He shouted out to him to get out of his way. This was not only a moment of carelessness, but it was a seepage forth of the customs of that time, the very customs that Shankara sought to fight. The response of the sweeper and reply by the sage forms the body of the Panchakam. Shankara sees the divine in the sweeper, and heralds him as his Guru since the sweeper is able to see that he is not what is seen, but he is part of that Self which is compartmentalized into all of us.

Sweeper to Shankara:

अन्नामयादान्नमयम्थ्वा चैतन्यमेव चैतान्यात ।
द्विजवर दूरीकर्तु वाञछ्सी किं ब्रूहि गच्छ गच्छेति ॥

Oh! the best among the twice born, by saying 'move away - move away', do you wish to move matter from matter, or you mean to separate Spirit from the Spirit?

किं गंगाम्बुनी बिम्बितेओम्ब्र्मनौ चंदाल्वातिपयः
पूरे चंत्रमस्ती कच्च्न्घतिम्रित्कुम्भ्योवोर्म्ब्रे।
प्रत्याग्वस्तुनी निस्तारान्ग्सह्जान्न्दाव्बोधाम्बुधौ
विप्रोअयम्श्व्प्चोअय्मित्य्पिमहन्कोअयम्विभेद्भ्रमः ॥

Is there any difference in the 'jewel of the sky' when it is reflected in the waters of the Gangaa or in a ditch in the way side of a slum? Is there any difference in the space as such, be it in a golden pot or in a mud pot? In the ocean of the self existing Blissful consciousness, in the inner Self, devoid of thought ripples, how can there be this delusory distinction" this is a braahmana and this is a dog eater?

Shankara replies as follows:

जग्रत्स्वप्न्सुषुप्तिषु स्फुत्तारा या संविदुज्ज्रुम्भ्ते
या ब्रह्मिदिपिपीलिकान्त्त्नुशु प्रोता जगत्साक्षिणी ।
सैवाहं न च दुश्यवास्त्विती दृढप्रज्ञापि यस्यास्ति चेत
चन्दलोअस्तु स तु द्विजोअस्तु गुरुरित्येषा मनीषा मम ॥ १ ॥

This indeed is my deep conviction: he who has realised that he is not the seen, but that he is the one Consciousness that illumines all experiences during the waking, dream and deep - sleep states, the one Consciousness that is the sole witness of the entire play of the universe, the one Consciousness which is the very Life Spark in all forms from the Creator down to the ant, he alone is my Guru, be he a sweeper, be he a braahmana.

ब्रह्मैवाह्मिदम जगच्च सकलं चिन्मत्रिविस्तारितं
सर्वं चैताद्विध्य्या त्रिगुनायोशेषं मया कल्पितम ।
इथं यस्य दृढा मतिः सुखतरे नित्ये परे निर्मले
चन्दलोअस्तु स तु द्विजोअस्तु गुरुरित्येषा मनीषा मम ॥ २ ॥

He who, in his direct experience of the Immaculate Supreme - Bliss - Eternal, has come to the firm understanding that the entire universe is but an extensive play of Pure Consciousness, all projected by his 'ignorance' expressed in the three moods of his mind, while he himself is but that Brahman - he alone is my Guru, be he a sweeper, be he a braahmana.

शास्वन्न्स्वरमेवा विश्वमखिलं निश्चित्य वाचा गुरोः
नित्यं ब्रह्म निरंतरं विमृशता निव्याज्शान्तात्मना ।
भूतं भावि च दुष्क्रुतं प्रदहता संविन्मये पावके
प्ररब्धाय समर्पितं स्वव्पुरित्येशा मनीषा मम ॥ ३ ॥

He who has done long reflections upon his teacher's words that this world of change is permanently in a state of flux; he who has tamed his mind to a true state of quiet and poise; he who has brought his mind, devoid of all dissimilar thoughts, constantly to contemplate upon Brahman; he who has burnt up all his past and future residual-vaasanas in the fire of Pure Consciousness; he who has offered his body to live through and exhaust its present destiny he alone is my Guru, 'be he a sweeper, be he a braahmana.'

या तियार्न्ग्नार्देव्ताभिराह्मित्यांतः स्फुटा गृह्यते
यभ्दासा हृदयाक्ष्देहविश्या भांति स्वतोअचेतनाः ।
तां भास्यैः पिहितार्क्मंदाल्निभां स्फूर्ति सदा भावयन
योगी निवृत्मंसो हि गुरुरित्येषा मनीषा मम ॥ ४ ॥

A yogee with his hushed mind lives, meditating upon That, which expresses as 'I--I' the subjective individuality in all creatures: plant, animal, human and angels; That, by whose Light, mind and senses and body are all enlivened to activity, even though they are all made up of inert and insentient matter; That, which illumines everything as Sun from behind a bank of clouds - He alone is my Guru: this is my firm conviction.

यात्सौख्याम्बुधिलेश्लेशत इमे श्कद्यो निव्रुता
याच्चित्ते नितरां प्रशान्त्कालने लब्ध्वा मुनिनिर्व्रुतः ।
यस्मिन्नित्यासुखाम्बुधाऊ गलित्धिब्रह्मैव न ब्रह्मविद
यः कश्सित्सा सुरेंद्रव्न्दित्प्दो नूनं मनीषा मम ॥ ५ ॥

During its moments of utter quiet, a yogee's mind gains that Ocean of Bliss, a tiny droplet from which is sufficient to make Indra and others feel contented and happy. Such a one who has dissolved his individual intellect in this Eternal Ocean of Bliss, is verily Brahman, not a mere Knower of Brahman - That rare one, whose feet are worshipped even by the very King of Gods indeed, he alone is my Guru; this is my firm conviction.

Mass Movements: How they begin and how they must be ended.

In the concluding part of our series on mass movements, we shall discuss how they begin and how they must be ended in order to achieve a long lasting change in the society. The first part of the series is here.

For these movements to arise, Hoffer [1] describes in "the true believer" that it is essential that the prevailing order is thoroughly discredited. For this this happen, not only should there be blunders and abuses of power by the rulers, but a sufficient articulation of these by men of words. Until these people come about, or until they have a grievance, the prevailing order will continue until it falls by itself or is felled by a neighboring country. To capture the attention of the men of words is so important, that even after the mass movement is successful, these men need to be glued to the cause. Their disgruntled can sweep the young turks from power. Examples for this kind include the stability of Imperial China where an alliance between bureaucracy and the literati was important. The Taiping rebellion then was started by a failed scholar. A similar case existed in the partnership of the Roman Empire and the Greek men of words, and a similar case exists in India, between the Congress party and its journos. We also have our disgruntled men of words at the moment, but it seems they are waiting for their numbers to grow.

The next step of manning the movement is to be done by the fanatics. One might ask why should the men of words precede the fanatics? This is because a fanatic usually shows a virulent extremism for his cause which acts as a culture shock to the prevailing populace. They would rather listen to a man of words. This man would then introduce the people to the new ideas in a piecemeal fashion. Moreover, the authorities are less likely in most cases to muzzle him. In the long run, such men can undermine the people's faith in an existing order and pave way for the fanatics.

The fanatics then move in at the ripest moment. With utter ruthlessness, they will go about tearing the old system to shreds. The words of the litterateurs are now adapted while the men themselves are shoved aside, and the movement is hijacked by them. Where the mass movement is a mild affair in the hands of the litterateurs, who only try to reform the present, the fanatics now wage an all out war on the present. Usually, these fanatics, who themselves are failed men of words come out only when the struggle with an existing order becomes a protracted one.

This is the most dangerous phase of a mass movement. The fanatic doesn't rest once victory has been won, but seeks newer extremes and if an enemy outside the movement cannot be found, this will lead to factionalism. The victories thus won against the old order may soon be lost. This is where the men of action must step in and succeed the fanatic, thus helping to stabilize the movement and freeze its victories. A successful mass movement must have three distinct type of individuals at the outset. It could also be possible for one person to change his outlook, but such changes have mostly been found to be temporary. Once power is won by the fanatics, these practical men stop the conflict with the present and preserve the power won by the movement. The vigor of the movement is to be sapped at this moment and used to form institutions to serve the people. Whereas during the reign of fanatics, devotion to the cause is prized, during the reign of the men of action, duty to the institution is to be given more importance. All this has to be done initially using vocabulary from the days of the fanatics, so as to not disrupt abruptly the continuity from the earlier era.

For a mass movement to be successful, there is the inevitability of the unpleasantness (if not evil) of the active phase of the movement (the phase wherein the movement sets out to acquire power). This is where the fanatic rules supreme. He appears ruthless, self-righteous, credulous, disputatious, petty and rude and often sacrifices or makes one sacrifice much that is dear to oneself in the present. For a mass movement with a worthy cause, it is essential that this phase ends as soon as possible. Nationalist mass movements that have been successful, such as the French and American Revolutions, have had active phases which were relatively short. In the case of India, the failures of the Congress party might be attributed to its not being dissolved once India was liberated from the yoke of the British rule. With the termination of the active phase, the individual is released from a collective discipline. This causes a burst in creativity [2], which was earlier strangled under the fervor of the active phase of the movement.

To terminate the active phase of the movement, firstly, its aim must be concrete rather than be uncertain. As Oliver Cromwell said, "A man never goes so far as when he does not know whither he is going." Usually, this concreteness is delivered by identifying the enemy to be overthrown, and once that is done, starting the reorganization process. Hoffer also recommends a homogeneous population to be essential for an early termination of a mass movement, however, it seems to me that a perception of homogeneity is more essential. Another factor that might lead to such early terminations of mass movements is the degree of submissiveness of the people. A more submissive a culture, the longer the active phase of movements.

Summary: To summarize, a successful mass movement in the Indic context must have the following features at the very beginning of it.

1) A concrete definition of what it is going to deliver.

2) Presence of all three groups of people, viz: the men of words, fanatics and the practical men of action.

3) Propaganda and dissemination of information must first be started by the men of words, followed by action taken up by the fanatics and they in turn should be suceeded by the men of action.

4) A perception of unity of people is a must. Any attempts to thwart this perception need to be defended with utmost vigor.

5) The active phase of the movement must be terminated immediately after acquiring power. Such maturity ends collectivism, revives individualism in the people, and the resulting creativity might even lead to rapid progress in the society.

6) The people should be made rebellious enough about their individualism so that they themselves would not allow the active phase of the mass movement to continue beyond acquisition of its aims.

7) Lastly, if there is any possibility of the mass movement failing, it needs to be disrupted before it takes off. This is because this will create a tendency of having repeated mass movements without sufficient thought to it. People generally do not like getting drawn into such repeated struggles, and finally when the moment is ripe, they would not be willing to sacrifice for the movement, knowing that it too will fail like the ones preceding it.

References:

[1] Eric Hoffer: The true believer

[2] Careers of Milton, Bunyan, Koestler and Silone.

[3] Quoted by J. A. Cramb, "The Origins and Destiny of Imperial Britain" (London: John Murray, 1915), p. 216.