India Is The Perfect Example Of Religious Co-Existence, Says Author Amish Tripathi

Mr. Amish Tripathi, the best-selling author of the popular “Shiva Trilogy,” made a cogent case for India taking the lead in spreading the message of religious co-existence in a world increasingly troubled by religious strife. Speaking at the last meeting on “Wisdom and liberalism of ancient India,” he said “India is probably the only ancient culture in the world which has kept its myths alive. The stories of our ancient heroes, our ancient gods, are still alive. Most Indians, if they are asked whether Lord Shiva exists, will say yes. They will say yes to Lord Ram also.”

While Indian myths have remained alive, in Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, China and the Central Americas, people no longer believe in their own myths. If modern Greeks are asked about Zeus, they will say it’s just a story. The Egyptians will say the same about the myths of Amun Ra and Osiris. When Mr. Tripathi asked why this was so, members threw out many diverse theories, all of which were effectively countered by Mr. Tripathi. One Rotarian suggested that it was because Indians are superstitious – but so are the Greeks, said Mr. Tripathi. Another voiced the theory that Indians believe in idolworship and have many festivals – but so do the Greeks and the Egyptians. Indian grandmothers are religious – but the grandmothers of most of the world’s cultures are religious! India has a rich oral tradition – but the Greeks and the Turks did, too, Mr. Tripathi argued; in fact, Homer told his stories orally and they were written down much later. Indian myths are very rich – but ancient Greek, Egyptian and Mesopotamian stories are just as rich, wonderful and deeply philosophical as ancient Indian stories. Finally, when he did not get the reply he was seeking, Mr. Tripathi set forth his theory: “There is a particular genius that we Indians have which many of them ended up lacking – in our mind, religiosity and liberalism always went hand in hand.” In the modern world, liberalism is confused with being leftist. There are many leftists who are extremists, and many who are quite liberal.

The same is true of the right-wing side of the debate. But what does liberalism mean? “Liberalism means the ability to accept a different point of view. I have one point of view, you have a radically different point of view; but you have a right to your truth, and I have a right to my truth. I am not going to kill you for your truth, I’m not saying you are going to go to hell because you do not believe in my truth. This has been the traditional Indian way.”

One line in the Rig Veda encapsulates the traditional Indian attitude, Ekam sataha, vipraha bahuda vadanti, meaning, the truth is one, but the wise men speak it as many or the wise men know it as many. The traditional liberal attitude allowed Indians to change their core stories, to modernise them and localise them. One of the best examples of this is the fact that there was no mention of the “Lakshman rekha” in the original “Valmiki Ramayana.” It was only a television serial in the 1980s that popularised it. The serial writer, Ramanand Sagar, had read about it in the “Ramcharitra Manas,” which was a 16th century modernisation of the original “Valmiki Ramayana.” Tulsidas, who wrote the “Ramcharitra Manas” in the 16th century, had made some changes when he modernised the “Valmiki Ramayana.”

Another little-known fact is that although Sita was portrayed as very docile and submissive in the “Ramcharitra Manas”, because that was how women behaved in the 16th century, in the original “Valmiki Ramayana”, she was a very tough character “and you won’t want to mess with her” because that was how women at the time when the “Valmiki Ramayana” was written. A version of the Ramayana called the “Adbhut Ramayana”, which was more than a thousand years old and also credited to Valmiki, had two Ravanas, the elder, main Ravana being killed not by Lord Ram but by Sita when she takes her true form as Kali. That version of the Ramayana ends with Lord Ram worshipping Sita.

“This is what our attitude of liberalism does – it allows us to change even our core stories. Religious stories are the absolute core to our being. And yet we accept different versions of our core religious stories as well. That allows us to keep our ancient stories alive.” Mr. Tripathi pointed out that there was a time when the Hellenic Greeks stopped seeing their Olympian gods as wild and passionate and started seeing them as debauched and decadent. But they did not change their stories. They just stopped believing those stories and picked up new ones. In India, on the other hand, we modernised our stories. We had the same stories and the same characters, but we changed them a little bit so that they appealed to the modern age as well. And that is the unique genius of Indians. Indians have the unique ability, Mr. Tripathi said, to keep the soul of the old and still add something of the new.

“This is the unique genius that we Indians have and I believe that this is the reason why our myths remain alive. What allows us to do it is our deeply liberal attitude.” Mr. Tripathi stated emphatically that he never commented on politics. As for his views on Hinduism, he preferred to talk about the “religious traditions of India” and not just the dharmic traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and the way in which religions are practiced, whether Islam, Christianity, Judaism or Zoroastrianism. He believes that Indians have a lot to teach the world about how faith and religion are best practiced. Most Ganapati idols are actually made by Muslims, many of whom do the first pooja before selling them to Hindus. In Rajasthan, a tribe called Manganiyaar Muslims sing Ramayana ballads, beginning with the Saraswati vandana. Many Hindus go to Ajmer Sharif, the tomb of a sufi saint.

Mr. Tripathi revealed that all of the publishers he approached had rejected his first book, saying that it was about religion and that the youth, who comprised the main market, were just not interested in the subject. He had to self-finance and self-publish his first book. Later, publishers rushed to bid for his books. The marriage of liberalism and religiosity that we Indians practice is something that we can share with the world, he said. The Western world has taken the attitude that you have to be anti-religion to be liberal, which is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. “This is the Indian way and this is something we can teach the rest of the world, that you can have fusion in religion as well. Swami Vivekananda said that all religions have the truth and all gods should be respected. This is our way of life.”

Today, thanks to the digital revolution, it was easier and cheaper to self-publish. “Modern technology has made it easier for writers. I see it as an enabler,” Mr. Tripathi concluded.