MAY-22 BOUDHIK YOJANA
8th May Boudhik: Bhartiya Chitta Manas Aur Kaal
Ugadi is the beginning of a new year so it will be interesting to see how our we view time and it’s eventual psychological impact on us. With this in view, following is the excerpt of Shri Dharamapalji’s essay “Bhartiya Chitta Manas aur Kaal”
Establishment of Dharma
To solve the problems of life on
this earth, and to restore the balance, the divine incarnates, again
and again, at different times in different forms. This is the promise that Sri
Krishna explicitly makes in the Srimad Bhagavadgita.
But though Mahatma Gandhi awakened the Indian mind from its state of stupor, he was not able to put this awakening on a permanent footing. He was not able to establish a new equilibrium and a secure basis for the re-awakened Indian civilisation. The search for such a secure basis for the resurgence of Indian civilisation in the modern times would have probably required fresh initiatives and a fresh struggle to be waged following the elimination of political enslavement.
It seems that the spirit that
Gandhiji had awakened in the people of India was exhausted with the
achievement of Independence. Or perhaps those who came to power in independent
India had no use for the spirit and determination of an awakened people, and
they found such awakening to be a great nuisance. As a result the people began
to revert to their earlier state of stupor.
The self-awakening of India is
bound to remain similarly elusive and transient till we find a secure
basis for a confident expression of Indian civilization within the modern world
and the modern epoch. We must establish a conceptual framework that makes Indian
ways and aspirations seem viable in the present, so that we do not feel
compelled or tempted to indulge in demeaning imitations of the modern world,
and the people of India do not have to suffer the humiliation of seeing their
ways and their seekings being despised in their own country.
Because, before beginning even to
talk about the future of India we must know what the people of this country
want to make of her. How do they understand the present times? What is the
future that they aspire for? What are their priorities? What are their seekings
and desires? And, in any case, who are these people on whose behalf and on the strength
of whose efforts and resources we wish to plan for a new India? How do they
perceive them selves? And, what is their perception of the modern
world? What is their perception of the universe? Do they believe in God?
Indian view
But we are also probably aware
that the Indian mind is not such a clean slate. In reality it is imbued with
ideas on practically all subjects. Those ideas are not new. They belong to
long-standing traditions, some of which may be as old as the Rig Veda. Some
other aspects of these traditions may have emerged with
Gautama Buddha, or with Mahavira, or with some other leader of Indian thought
of another Indian epoch. But from whatever source and at whatever epoch the various
ideas that dominate the minds of the Indian people may have arisen, those ideas
are indeed etched very deep.
The people of India, in any case, have little connection with the twentieth or the twenty-first century. If Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is to be believed, they are perhaps still living in the seventeenth or the eighteenth century.
The people of India, in fact, may not be living even in the eighteenth century of the West. They may still be reckoning time in terms of their Pauranic conceptions. They may be living in one of the Pauranic Yugas, and looking at the present from the perspective of that yuga. It is possible, for we know next to nothing about the Chitta and Kala of the Indian people, that they are living in what they call the Kali Yuga, and are waiting for the arrival of an Avatara Purusha to free them from the bondage of Kali.
In any case the twentieth century which is not the century of India. It is the century of the West.
Way to understand Indian Mind
It may be relatively easier to
comprehend the Indian mind through the ancient literature of Indian civili-
sation. In fact, the process of understanding the Indian Chitta and Ka-la
cannot possibly begin without some understanding of the vast corpus of
literature
We have to come to some
understanding of what this literature - beginning with the Rig Veda, and
running through the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and
the Bauddha and the Jaina canons - says about the Indian ways and preferences.
Indian texts dealing with the problems of mundane living, like those of the Ayurveda,
the Silpasastra, and the Jyotishasastra, etc., also have to be similarly understood.
We should probably begin by
forming a quick overview of the totality of this literature. Such an
overview should provide us with a preliminary picture of the Indian mind, and
its various manifestations in the political, social, economic, and
technological domains. This initial picture of Indian-ness shall get
more and more refined, as we continue our explorations into the corpus of
Indian literature, and supple-
ment it with observations on the present and investigations into the historical
past. In the process of this
refinement we may find that the preliminary picture that we had formed was
inadequate and perhaps even erroneous in many respects. But by then that preliminary
picture would have served its purpose of setting us on our course in the search
for a comprehension of the Indian Chitta and Kala
Need of the Hour
What cannot wait is the task of finding our direction and our way, of forming a quick vision of the Indian Chitta and Kala. This task has to be performed quickly, with whatever competence we have on hand, and with whatever languages we presently know.
We seem to have little
comprehension of the Indian Chitta and Kala. And therefore we are
often bewildered by the variety of questions that arise in ordinary social
living. What is the relationship
between the individual, the society and the state? Which of them has primacy in
which fields? What are
the bases of healthy interaction between individuals? What is civilised
behaviour in various situations? What are good manners? What is beautiful and
what is ugly? What is education and what is learning?
In societies that retain their
connection with their traditions, and which function according to the norms
of their own Chitta and Kala, all such questions are answered in the normal
course. Of course the answers change from time to time, and context to context,
but that too happens naturally, without conscious effort.
Reference: “Bhartiya Chitta, Manas Aur Kaal” by Acharya Dharampal
http://library.bjp.org/jspui/bitstream/123456789/967/1/Bharatiya%20Chitta%20Manas%20and%20Kala.pdf
15th May Charcha: Oil Politics
Oil has become a point of discussion again due to Russia-Ukraine conflict. The start of Russian invasion of Ukraine led to spike in crude oil prices to beyond 110 $ creating impact across countries. Western nations have imposed sanctions against Russia and tried to reduce oil imports.
Major Oil Exporting countries
Saudi Arabia, Russia, USA, Canada and Iraq are top 5 oil exporting countries in 2020. Saudi Arabia is part of OPEC and produces 15% of oil produced globally. At second place, Russia accounts for 11% of global output. USA is the largest producer of oil at 20% of total and made up 8.17% of global exports.
The share of OPEC in US oil imports has also declined significantly from 70% in 1977 to 13% in 2021. Canada is the major source of oil imports for USA accounting for 51% of US imports while Russia accounts for only 8%. Imposing sanctions against Russia is much easier for USA as it accounts for a small slice of imports.
In 2020, Russia exported 74.4 billion $ of oil and produced 10.5 million barrels per day. Europe remains the largest market for Russian oil and gas. In 2020, 48% of Russian oil exports went to Europe. Between 2011 and 2020, oil and natural gas made up about 43% of government revenue in Russia.
Major Oil Importing countries
As a group, European Union is the biggest importer of oil, while as a country China occupies the first place. USA, India, Japan and South Korea are the 4 following top importers of oil. Germany, Italy, Spain and UK are among the top 10 importers of oil.
If their dependence on Russian energy was not enough already, the United States’s NATO allies are importing increasing amounts of Russian gas since the Ukraine War started. 40% of Europe’s natural gas, 34% of its oil and 45% of its coal come from Russia. Add to that Germany’s 50-75% dependence on Russian gas. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz even said that “Europe has deliberately exempted” Russian energy imports from sanctions and that banning Russian gas could put Europe’s energy security at risk.
Then comes the United States itself, which has announced a ban on Russian energy imports, but has excluded Russian uranium imports from this sanctions package. Furthermore, Middle Eastern allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE have refused to pump more and drop the prices of oil to strengthen the United States’ case against Russia. The US is scrambling to get a deal with Iran and Venezuela to help ease the pressure on oil.
Iranian Experience
As the negotiations between Iran and USA broke down, India gave up Iranian oil entirely to escape US sanctions. As a result China filled up that space and signed a 25 year 400 billion $ deal with Iran. Cutting back on Iranian oil has had strategic repercussions for India, which, unlike the United States, has much to lose directly from China’s arrival on Iran’s shores.
Meanwhile, Europe continues to inhale billions of Euros in Russian gas and the US, under Joe Biden has been pushing desperately for reviving the nuclear deal with Iran and has also reached out to a heavily-sanctioned Venezuela offering an authoritarian regime the opportunity to curry favour with the US again. The sole principle here is self-interest, not being at the wrong or right side of history.
Indian stance
Following sanctions by the US, the UK and the European Union on Russian entities in the wake of the war in Ukraine, India purchased at least 13 million barrels of Russian crude at a discounted rate. This was in addition to earlier purchases of five million barrels - a day's supply for fuel-hungry India.
Estimated purchases so far have exceeded the 16 million barrels bought from Russia last year but are still a relatively insignificant sum when considering India's total purchases. However even the White House accepted that Russian oil accounts for 1-2% of Indian imports.
India’s position on the Russia-Ukraine-Nato crisis has been rock solid since day one. It’s not our war. It’s not the Indo-Pacific. The United States cannot arm-twist India into unreasonably cutting ties with Russia. And if it attempted to do so, the US would only be shooting itself in the foot and losing out on a bigger battle with China.
Buying oil on the cheap is not a luxury but a necessity for India, which imports 85% of its oil needs. The heavy reliance on imported fuel means that when crude oil prices go up — as they have now — India's finances come under extreme stress and budget estimates go for a toss.
The Indian economy could be in for a major shock if crude oil remains above $80 (€72.50) a barrel for months, stoking inflation and hurting recovery at a time when pandemic scars remain wide open. New Delhi is only being prudent by looking for cheaper alternatives and one of them happens to be Russian oil, which is selling at a $20-$25 discount.
India is putting its self-interest at the fore very much like the European Union, which continues to buy oil and gas from Russia; or the United States, which has refrained from banning Russian uranium imports for its nuclear plants
2) https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-targeting-india-for-buying-russian-oil-smacks-of-hypocrisy/a-61212821
22nd May Katha: Hind Ki Chadar
Guru Tegbahadur was ninth Sikh Guru and father of last Guru i.e Guru Gobind Singh. H was born in 1621, this is his 400th birth anniversary. He made the supreme sacrifice of his life but did not convert to Islam under pressure.
Early Life
He was the son of Guru Hargobind and grandson of Guru Arjun Dev. After the martyrdom of Guru Arjun Dev it was Guru Hargobind who turned the Sikhs into a fighting force. Guru Hargobind accepted arms and horses as gifts from his followers and lived as royalty to showcase power and build confidence among people. After death of Guru Hargobind, his grandson Guru Har Rai and Guru Hari Krishen became the Seventh and Eight Guru.
Ninth Guru
Guru Harikrishen died due to smallpox at the young age of 14. On his death bed he said the Baba Bakale (old man in Bakala) would be the next Guru. The old man was none other than his grand uncle Guru Tegbahadur. It was necessary to proclaim clearly as there were other claimants to throne like Ram Rai (elder son of Guru Har Rai) or Dhirmal.
Guru Tegbahadur was least interested in worldly affairs and Vairagya was his basic nature. This led to more Sikh masses supporting his claim and looking upto him as their Guru. Dhirmal tried to assassinate him but failed. Guruji moved from Bakala to Amritsar and Kiratpur. However for mental peace he eventually bought a hillock near Kiratpur and named it Anandpur.
Travel across Bharat
He left Anandpur and travelled towards Uttar Pradesh passing through Agra, Prayag, Kashi and Gaya. He was arrested by Mughals on charges of being imposter but was released later. When he reached Patna, his wife was in advanced stage of pregnancy so he left his mother along with her and moved forward. Wherever he went people gathered around him and proclaimed him as their Guru.
He crossed the Brahmaputra and visited Sikh centers at Sylhet, Chittagong and Sondip. He was in Dacca when the news of birth of his son was brought to him. After Bengal he went to Assam and in total spent 3 years in the province. Even after returning to Patna to see his new born son he could not spend much time with him.
Hindu population in Punjab was reeling under the religious persecution of Aurangzeb. He had to rush to Punjab to instill confidence among people and stay firm on the path of Dharma. He attracted large crowds and was able awaken the people. This was naturally antagonistic to Jihadi designs of Aurangzeb.
Martyrdom
Kashmiri Hindus were being forced by Sultan to accept Islam. They approached Guru Tegbahadur for refuge. He asked them to send a message to Sultan that if the Guru will accept Islam, they will follow him. It was a direct confrontation for Mughals and he was summoned to Court. He was arrested at Agra along with his followers and brought in front of Kazi. He was asked to perform a miracle or convert to Islam. He refused to do both as true saints do not believe in miracles but only the grace of GOD.
He was sentenced to death along with his followers. Bhai Mati Das was made to stand erect between 2 posts and a double edged saw was placed on his head. He was sawed from his head to bottom but he continued to recite Japuji Sahib. Bhai Dayala was tied up and thrown into boiling oil. He was roasted live into a charcoal but did not show any sign of pain or grief. Bhai Sati Das was wrapped in cotton and set on fire. He remained calm and uttering Waheguru Gurumantar. All this was done in front of Guru Tegbahadur, who was imprisoned in an iron cage.
Guru was calm during all the torture and he was finally beheaded at Chandni Chowk in Delhi. Gurudwara Sis Ganj stands at the place of his martyrdom. His son Guru Gobind Singh was only 9 years old when he was executed but vowed to take his struggle forward.
Wahe Guru Ka Khalsa
Wahe Guru Ki Fateh !!!!!
Comments
Post a Comment