Reviews

MODERN LEADERS ON RELIGION

By SRIMAT PURAGRA PARAMPANTHI

(Published by the Author, ‘Viraj’, Dibrugarh, Assam, India. Price Rs. 4-50)

Srimat Puragra Parampanthi is a Hindu monk who has drunk deep of the ancient, yet eternal, springs of the wisdom of the Hindus. He has in addition an intimate knowledge of western thought on the fundamental problems of philosophy and religion and this juxtaposition in his mind of the wisdom of the East and of the West has enabled him to assess and appreciate each in its proper perspective and to their mutual advantage. One of his earlier books, Advaita and Modern Physics provides at once a vindication of the truths of Advaita and a validation of the discoveries of modern physics. He has shown in that book that in the higher flights of the human intellect, there is a revealing unanimity of thought in such wise that the deepest science and the highest philosophy become identical both in form and in substance.

In this book, Srimat Parampanthi turns his synthetic mind to the realm of religion. While there have doubtless been differences in the philosophies of thinkers of the East and the West both among themselves and in relation to others, such differences have rarely, if ever, led to conflicts disrupting the bonds of human fellowship. In the field of religion, however, the inevitable variety of faiths has often been the cause of ridicule and recrimination, of war and bloodshed, of a desire to dominate and demolish. Not unoften, religion which is the most lofty of human concepts and the noblest of human pursuits has been dragged into the mire breeding dislike, hatred and contempt. And there are those who would not have anything to do with religion from a feeling that it is unnecessary for man or that it is injurious to him, forgetting the undeniable fact that as far as human memory can go, down the ages, there has never been a time when man was not without a religion of some kind or other. Religion is the embodiment of ‘spiritual values’, which in Srimat Parampanthi’s words, ‘form the highway to the brotherhood of mankind under the fatherhood
of God.’ It is the vehicle of the journey of the human soul to its high destiny. It is what makes for the excellence of man and serves to exalt him answering an inmost need of the human spirit, declared by Divinity itself from age to age and determined and directed by rare spirits who ‘possess the gentle vision of the abiding and the spiritual.’

Religion is an eternal fact, a universal need. The fact has been vouched for in the experiences of men ‘who have walked with God’ and the need has been affirmed by the leaders of thought all the world over. In this book, Sri mat Parampanthi details the testimony of twelve master-minds of recent and contemporary times. It is a representative band of those who know and who can speak with authority that the author has brought into this symposium on religion,–philosophers and poets, mathematicians and scientists, saints and sages. And they are drawn from England, France, Germany, Russia, America and India. ‘One by one these great leaders stand before the conflict-torn humanity and give their unequivocal verdict in favour of these eternal values without which life will be a misnomer,’ Srimat Parampanthi further goes on to say, and we agree. ‘There is profound urgency in their voice; there is commanding vision in their message which echoes the wisdom of the ages; there is invincible spirit of truth in their words and mankind which is on the verge of darkness will be saved if it listens to their call crying in the wilderness.’ But, we hope and pray that their call will not be a cry in the wilderness. The urge for religion is deeply imbedded in human nature. Notwithstanding that many a foreign and hostile element has hidden it from view, it has a native vitality all its own which will bring it to the surface in periods of stress and storm, of travail and tribulation, of despondency and despair. When fate seems to conspire with circumstance to thwart human hopes and defeat human purposes, when man realises the futility of his will and the frailty of his endeavours, when in his utmost extremity he raises the S. O. S. cry and plaintively asks for grace and succour, then religion comes to the fore offering comfort and counsel, takes possession of the beseeching heart and mind, captains the human vessel and leads it on to its haven. In the din of material pursuits and in the clamour of combatant noises, the voice of religion may be hushed for a while, but it is never silenced. Those twelve profound thinkers bid us hearken to that voice and give it a chance to mould our lives, making it the literal heart beat of our spiritual frame.

Before conducting the symposium sketching the views of the participants, interspersed with quotations from their writings, the author introduces it by an account of the ways in which religion stands to the modern world. In its pride as the age of science, the modern period is indifferent to religion and often hostile to it. Science being the realm of ‘things’ and religion of ‘values’, the modern mind thinks of them in antithetical terms and quoting A. N. Whitebead Srimat Parampanthi observes that the ultimate values have been excluded from social life and handed over to the clergy to be kept for Sundays. In this ‘age of terrific transition’ from the old order to the new, ‘modern man has neither the consolation of old values nor the inspiration of new ones.’ He concludes his indictment of science with the words: ‘Physically man is degraded by rich, elaborate and artificial food, comfort and dependence on mechanical amenities of life. Mentally he is a victim of hypertension, unrest, split personality, frustration and other neurotic and physical diseases. Intellectually he has been cynical, hedonistic and sceptic. Spiritually he is a pigmy and atheistic being.’

Yet, Srimat Parampanthi does not give way to despair regarding the fate of homo sapiens. Among other reasons, he holds that ‘the remorseless enquiry into the final constituents of matter has led the aspiring scientists towards a non-mechanical reality.’ Science points to a Beyond, to an Other. Ultimate science is proximate to philosophy and religion. Modern man is also psychologically prepared, shall we say, hankering for intimations of religion. Mankind has now come to realise that true history is the history of increasing mastery of soul over flesh, sacrifice over selfishness, universality over egoism.

Having thus proved the need of religion for modern times, Srimat Parampanthi goes on to define the nature of religion and describe its manifestations. He calls it ‘the factual realisation of the harmony between the aspiring soul and the integrating principle.’ For ever an Ideal of the Soul, it needs the stability of flesh and blood in the shape of rules and rituals, precepts and theology. The use of religion is to neutralise and conquer the base and basic passions of man, to lead him from the material to the spiritual, to provide man with a charter of universal ethics and ‘in moments of deep unrest and psychic storms, in times of anguish and death, pain and separation, misfortune and misery, when all other helpers flee, to be the undying source of incessant strength, light and peace.’

The author is convinced that there is not and there must not be any conflict between science and religion. Religion must direct the gifts of science for the good of man and for the good of the whole world. The ‘perfect means’ which science provides and the ‘perfect end’ which religion holds forth must combine to perfect the man. Science can make religion rational and acceptable and religion can direct science to noble purpose. Bertrand Russell declares ‘Science without religion is lame–religion without science is blind.’

But why has religion come in for so much disrepute now a days? Srimat Parampanthi attributes it to nine causes, namely, secularisation, intrusion on the field of others, dogmatism, substitution of the non-essential for the essential, internal bickerings, vagueness, subservience to chauvinism, proselytisation and conversion, and reliance on irreligious ideas like sin. Adverting to ‘reformation of religion,’ the author cautions against evolving a synthetic world-religion and surrender of fundamentals to make it acceptable to the modern mind. In the last analysis, he observes, religion must remain spiritual and transcendental.

Chapter II of the book is devoted to an exposition of John Caird’s views on religion. Caird does not uphold the theory that a philosophy of religion is not possible, and is definitely of the view that ‘in thought we supersede ourselves’ and that ‘true religion in the ultimate sense is rooted in man’s rational or intelligent nature.’ ‘Caird visualises the predominence of reason and intellect in the domain of religion.’ He subscribes to the view that morality is not an end in itself, but is a pointer to religion. Religion too is not a static state, it may not be progress towards, but it is progress within the realm of the spirit. He explains the Ontological proof of God that ‘as spiritual beings our whole conscious life is based on a universal selfconsciousness, an Absolute spiritual life, which is not a mere subjective notion or conception, but which carries with it the proof of its necessary existence or reality.’

The next philosopher who is made to participate in the symposium is Friedrich Paulsen who holds that ‘religion, philosophy and science can harmoniously co-exist under certain favourable conditions. Religion should not interfere in realms which are the perquisite of science and science should remember that it cannot exhaust the whole of reality, that there are things beyond its ken, which are atindriya. It is one thing for philosophy to be satisfactory to the mind; but is quite another satisfying the heart which religion alone can do. But while philosophy and religion can co-exist, Paulsen would not have a synthesis of the two. It is comforting to be told that according to Paulsen, ‘religion itself cannot die out from this earth because humanity will not ever be satisfied with the scientific explanation of man’s inner relation to reality or God. Also because the longing for the Infinite is inherent in the soul. ‘Religious faith’ says Paulsen, ‘is the immediate certainty of the heart that the real is derived from the good.’

Writing about Swami Vivekananda on Religion, Srimat Parampanthi has distilled out of the Swami’s speeches a cogent and connected account of his views on this subject dealing with the origin of religion, the verification of religious tenets in personal experience and the three parts of religion, its philosophy, mythology and ritual, etc. He also brings into relief the Swamiji’s insistence on renunciation as essential to religious life and the ideal of universal religion, which is not one religion for the whole world, but the soul of religion which ‘exists eternally in every religion.’

Leo Tolstoy whose views on Religion come next in the series insists on the close connection between morality and religion and on the conception of the equality of all mankind in the presence of the sublime infinity of God. He inveighs against ritual and ceremonial as features of ‘dogmatic’ religion. On the relation of Faith and Religion, Tolstoy says–‘by the word religion we imply something observed outside of us, while what we call faith is the same thing, only experienced by man within himself.’

William James who comes in next makes a pragmatic approach to religion: ‘He believes that religious faith is capable of making immensely valuable contribution towards the welfare of humanity.’ We gain by our belief and lose by our non-belief a certain vital good. James is sure that God’s presence is felt as a reality in prayerful communion. The unseen power with which the saintly person comes in contact is real, because it definitely produces results within a reality.

To Rabindranath Tagore, religion is a process which infinitises the finite. ‘Man is infinite in essence; he is a perpetual process operating beyond space and time’ and religion enables man to realise himself in the perspective of the infinite and eternal. It is the realisation of beauty everywhere, of the harmony of the soul, of the blissfulness of the spirit. Says he: ‘My religion is in the reconciliation of the super-personal Man, the universal human spirit in my own individual being.’ Tagore would remind modern man who is forgetful of religion of the divine touch in life.

Henry Bergson applies the dynamic aspect of life and reality to the problems of morality and religion. Distinguishing between closed society and open society and the closed and open moralities pertaining to them, he says that the latter makes for aspiration and universal vision of life and is the possession of a privileged few. The elanvital which gets compressed in closed society finds free expression in an open society and its dynamism exhibits itself in mysticism of the highest order.

Srimat Parampanthi describes in the succeeding chapters the views on religion held by A. N. Whitehead and Albert Einstein who in their persons deny the allegation that science is opposed .to religion. To Whitehead, the two pursuits are complementary to each other, ‘what one side sees, the other misses, and vice versa.’The aim of this age is ‘the reconciliation of a deeper religion and a more subtle science.’ Religious thinkers should adopt the temper of science whereby the discarding of old ideas is not a sign of revolt, but of progress. In a remarkable passage he says: ‘Religion is the vision of something which stands beyond, behind and within the passing flux of immediate things, something which is real, and yet waiting to be realised; something which is a remote possibility and yet the greatest of present facts, something which gives meaning to all that passes, and yet eludes apprehension, something whose possession is the final good, and yet is beyond all reach; something which is the ultimate ideal, and the hopeless quest.’

Albert Einstein though superficially seeming an atheist, possesses a deeply religious nature. Extolling the example of great characters, he insists on the annihilation of selfish desires and egoistic aims in ‘cosmic religion’ which is the acme of the process of religious development. ‘He feels that the extreme harmony of natural order reveals an intelligence of such superiority that compared with it all the systematic thinking and intellection of man are utterly an insignificant affair.’ It is encouraging to hear him say that ‘in this materialistic and atheistic age, only the real scientists are profoundly religious.’

Aldous Huxley bas been deeply influenced by vedantic thought and emphasises the unifying character of religion. Speaking of rituals he is of the view that they are necessary for the majority of individuals who ‘cannot make the effort to attain enlightenment’ while for the few of exceptional calore, ritual may be unnecessary and even harmful. He refers to three ways of religious self-education, the physiological, the devotional and the contemplative, and dwells at length on the unique character of the last method. ‘Spiritual progress’, says he, ‘is through the growing knowledge of the self as nothing and of the Godhead as all-embracing Reality.’

In his chapters on Mahatma Gandhi and S. Radhakrishnan and their views on religion, Srimat Parampanthi focusses the reader’s attention on the central thesis of each of these personages. He shows that to Gandhiji faith and moral principle are inseparable. ‘Religion is not a dogma, or a ritual; it is a transforming power in accord with the highest laws of spirituality. Saintliness, universal tolerance, a sense for morality, ahimsa, renunciation and faith in God are the sources of every true religion. Respect for other faiths is a cardinal aspect of religion.’ To Gandhiji Truth is God. Fasting, prayer, repetition of the name of God, the Five vows of Truth, Love, Chastity, Non-possession and Non-stealing are the sine qua non of religious life.

Radhakrishnan pleads for a recovery of faith in the things of the Spirit. Every man has a ‘primal craving for the eternal and the abiding,’ but it is jettisoned out between scientific soulless intellectualism and inhibitory orthodox religion. Indicating what religion is not, he distinguishes it from external compulsion, obedience to dogma, social reform, or mere moral consciousness. ‘There is in it (Religion)’ observes Radhakrishnan, ‘a mystical element, an apprehension of the real and an enjoyment of it for its own sake.’ It is based on intuitive experience which is supra-logical, being the wisdom gained by the whole spirit and in which the dualism of ordinary knowledge is overcome. It arises from a vivid unity of soul with reality. Radhakrishnan is not pessimistic about the renaissance of religion in human life: ‘The present un-rest is but a prelude to a great spiritual awakening of the nations. But the need of the present age is not for dogmatic religion, but the reality of it, which is of the spirit, which will give purpose to life, which will not demand any evasion or ambiguity, which will reconcile the ideal and the real, the poetry and prose of life, which will speak to the profound realities of our nature and satisfy the whole of our being, our critical intelligence and our active desire.

Thus do the greatest among the thinkers, poets, scientists, mathematicians, theologians and politicians speak about the urgent problem of religion in the pages of Srimat Parampanthi’s book. The author has the unique capacity to unfold every thinker’s views with marvellous fidelity documenting his narrative with references to their writings and quotations from them. As one lays down the book, one is filled with a consciousness of the majesty of religion and its fundamental role in human life–a fact which is diversely affirmed by these Modern Leaders. Ekam Sat Vipra bahudha Vadanti.

(Prof.) P. SANKARANARAYANA AIYAR
(Vivekananda College, Madras)

Amaranath Jha: A Memorial Volume. Edited by K. K. Mehrotra, Allahabad University.

One of the central figures in the sphere of Indian education, and undoubtedly the most distinguished of them, was the late Pt. Amaranath Jha, whose sudden death in October 1955 came as a shock to his countless admirers, friends and well-wishers all over the country. It was not merely his scholarship, profound as it was, in many languages, chief among them his subject, English–he had the reputation of being the ablest Professor of English in India–that made him so outstanding, but his intellectual brilliance, his social gifts and his administrative capacity. To have been a worthy son of a father so worthy as Mahamahopadhyaya Sir Ganganath Jha–a veteran educationist and Vice-Chancellor–is itself a great distinction, but that his record surpassed even his father’s and that he came to occupy at a comparatively earlier age, positions of equal influence and authority, speaks of his calibre.

Amaranath Jha gave evidence of his brilliance even while still a lad. He had the unique distinction of being appointed as a Professor of English at the age of 20 and before he even received his B.A. degree. A superb speaker, he could keep his listeners spellbound by the literary artistry of his words and the gentle cadence of his sentences. Had it not been for the fact that he dedicated himself to the profession of his choice and once for all turned his on the Civil Service, he might have filled some of the highest offices in the Government, a regret which was widely shared.

This memorial volume brought out by Sri K. K. Mehrotra, which is in the nature of a reverent homage to the illustrious teacher by a loving student, is a welcome publication.

When he was no longer connected with the Allahabad University but was the Chairman of the Public Service Commission first of U. P. and later of Bihar, Dr. Jha was known to be giving away almost his entire salary to the poor and deserving students of the Allahabad University–so great was his devotion to the University of which he himself was the brightest product.

The volume, besides containing valuable contributions by distinguished friends and colleagues of Dr. Jha, carries a foreword by no less a personage than Sri Jawaharlal Nehru, written with a degree of warmth and affection. What adds to the interest is the inclusion of some pages from Dr. Jha’s own diary as well as some of his articles, and the volume is enlivened by some photographs, particularly an impressive print of a bronze bust of his, which very well brings out his highly intellectual and forceful personality.

K. K. PRASAD

Wisdom Beyond Reason by S. R. Sharma. Published by Lakshmi Narain Agarwal, Agra. Pages 143. Price Rs. 2-8-0.

Professor Sharma, who has already made his mark as a learned professor and a competent interpreter of history, blazes a new and startling trail in this slim volume. Here is a ‘confession’ of his spiritual aspiration and heart-searchings which have led him up through the labyrinth of reason to a wisdom beyond reason.

A son of the modern age dominated by the intellect, he has elected to hark to the ancient call of great mystics, true to the traditions and scriptures of the land of his birth; but he finds, however, that the call of the scriptures, at one with the heart’s aspiration to explore the heights and depths, is not a call away from life but a call to life, to Karma Yoga, as the Gita expands it.

In this account of his struggle and choice and reconciliation and persistent voyage of the spirit, spoken with a rare sincerity and charm, all earnest souls, especially among modern Indians, are sure to find food for thought and, possibly, encouragement and guidance.

M. SIVAKAMAYYA