Join us as we delve into Outlook's latest issue exploring the multifaceted figure of Ram in Indian culture and philosophy. From ancient epics to modern politics, discover the diverse interpretations and meanings of Ram across South Asia.
#Ramayan #IndianPhilosophy #CulturalTrope #OutlookMagazine #MythAndMetaphor
#Ramayan #IndianPhilosophy #CulturalTrope #OutlookMagazine #MythAndMetaphor
Category
๐
NewsTranscript
00:00 Outlook brings to you excerpts from its latest issue titled 'Adivasi' or 'The Earliest Inhabitants'.
00:07 This issue of Outlook looks at the politics of appropriation and resistance in the wake of recent developments in the states like Jharkhand and the Union Territory of Ladakh.
00:18 With the general elections due this year, it remains to be seen how the Adivasis,
00:24 who form more than 8% of the total population, participate and how the identity politics shape up in the future.
00:33 From the Overlap, a section that looks at news and emerging events from Outlook's special lens.
00:40 Who is Ram vs. Whose Ram? By Mrinal Kaul. Mrinal Kaul is a Sanskrit scholar teaching Indian philosophy at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
00:51 Will the quotidian Ram in our mind and body be replaced by the victorious, powerful Ram outside in an inert stone house?
01:00 In a certain outlying sylvan setting of some Ramnagar, Ramchandra heard a daily greeting at his friend.
01:08 "Ram Ram Ram Khilavan" to which came a quick reply "Ram Ram Ram Chandra"
01:14 And soon enough, this inquiry into the well-being of each other transformed into a sense of daily duty.
01:21 It had to, that is how it is. All of us living in India have been a witness to such a quotidian Ram.
01:28 But what did they mean to communicate in this mirrored cultural alliteration?
01:32 And who is this Ram and where is he? In many parts of India, the truth of Ram is invoked when carrying bodies to crematoriums.
01:42 That is, in death is seen the truth of Ram. And yet other times, the victory of Ram is celebrated seeking hegemonic power for him.
01:52 But whose Ram is he? In South Asia, Ram is a potent cultural trope.
01:58 Right from the poetic hero in the Ramayan of Balmiki, to the popular hero of Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas,
02:05 to the impersonated pure compassion of Bhavabhuti's play Uttar Ramcharita, to Mulla Sadulla Panipati's Muslim Ram in Masnaviye Ram Vasita,
02:16 to Kabir's universal Ram and to skeptic philosopher Ram of the Maharamayan, also known as Yoga Vashistha,
02:25 and all the way to the BJP's political Ram.
02:29 The Adhyatma Ramayan hails Ram as a metaphysical reality, Brahma, while the poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal's Ram is the spiritual leader of India, Imam-e-Hind.
02:41 Unlike Balmiki's Ramayan, the philosophical Ram of the great Ramayan, Maharamayan,
02:48 sets on a pilgrimage as a teenager and emerges deeply introspective about the futility of life,
02:55 exactly like the young prince Siddhartha, Buddha once did, and broods concluding,
03:01 "I do not belong to anyone. Nobody belongs to me. I will die like a lamp bereft of oil.
03:08 After abandoning everything, I will abandon this body."
03:12 Remember, it is the Maharamayan, the story of Ram's metaphysical life.
03:17 The exasperated Ram, a fresh skeptic, is perturbed by his own ignorance and seeks knowledge from his teacher, Vashistha.
03:26 He is an introspective and reflective Ram, and this pilgrimage is an exercise of self-questioning.
03:33 The dialogue begins and Vashistha appreciates the rational skepticism of Ram, saying,
03:39 "Even the word of a child is accepted if it is in accordance with reason.
03:44 Otherwise, the word of even the Brahma, the creator of the world, is to be abandoned like a piece of straw."
03:52 Ram begins questioning himself, seeking answers from Vashistha.
03:56 The knowledge of scriptures is a burden to the unwise, and wisdom is a burden to one who is full of attachment.
04:04 To one who is restless, his own mind is a burden, and to one who has no self-knowledge, the body is a burden.
04:13 "Though I am a hero, this craving makes me a frightened coward.
04:17 Though I have eyes to see, it makes me blind.
04:20 Though I am full of joy, it makes me miserable. It is like a dreadful goblin."
04:27 "I do not regard him as a hero who is able to battle successfully against a mighty army.
04:32 Only him I consider a hero who is able to cross the ocean known as the mind and the senses."
04:40 "Shame, shame upon those who are bound to this body, deluded by the wine of ignorance.
04:46 Shame on those who are bound to this world."
04:49 For this and more, read the latest issue of Outlook.