Part 4 - Philosophy of Jhulelal

During the time of crisis, when Hindus were facing a threat of persecution from the ruler of Sindh Mirkshah, Lord Jhulelal came to their rescue and became their saviour. When Lord Jhulelal and Mirskshah came face to face, Lord Jhulelal simply said to him, “Whatever you see around is the creation of only one god, whom you call 'Allah' and the Hindus call 'Ishwar'. All humanity is one creation, and it is His divine family"(Vaswani 2008:134). The advice offered by Lord Jhulelal to Mirkshah though appears quite simple, it has a deep meaning in it.

The researcher feels that the advice offered by Lord Jhulelal to the ruler is indicative of the impression of Henotheism on Lord Jhulelal. Further, the researcher feels that Lord Jhulelal was successful in expressing his views clearly to the ruler, and not only that but this was conveyed to the ruler properly by the words used and he was convinced that there is truth in Lord Jhulelal's words.

Though Lord Jhulelal was an Avatar and possessing sufficient powers, his role was to come to a compromise and let all the subjects of Mirkshah live without discrimination and with brotherhood. Henotheism is possible when more than one deities are worshipped, and in spite of the difference in the nature of two religions, he convinced about the oneness of God to the ruler.

When one wants to connect Lord Jhulelal’s teachings to the Indian Philosophy, the researcher would like to state as follows:

Indian Philosophy has been divided into 'Astik' (non-atheist) and 'Nastik' (atheist) (Bhat Vol 14 Issue 3, 1992: 43)

The philosophies which believe in Vedas are Astik and which do not believe in Vedas are Nastik. As such Charvak, Bauddha and Jain are Nastik. Whereas Nyaya, Vaisheshik, Sankhya, Yoga, Poorva Mimansa (Mimansa) and Uttar Mimansa (Vedant) are six Astik Darshanas. Out of six, the Poorva Mimansa does not believe in the act of creation of the world on the part of God and this idea is not acceptable by Poorva Mimansa. They say that the "World was" and "World is". Sankhya Darshan also does not accept God as the creator of the world. The Poorva Mimansa Philosophy does not seem to agree or believe in the ability of 'God' or 'Ishwar' to control the activities of the world. The world was, and the world is as per thinking of Poorva Mimansa philosophy which, though does not come under 'Nastik' Darshan.

Jhulelal followers are believers of Astik Darshanas and their thinking is close to Vedanta (Uttar Mimansa) believing that 'Ishwar' is almighty and controller of the world. They, by and large, seem to be followers of Uttar Mimansa (Vedanta) which accepts the concept of God. They are silent about Poorva Mimansa or Sankhya way of thinking. They have not gone into the details of other philosophies in general.

Vedanta philosophy accepts concepts of God and also accepts that God can have numerous names and forms in accordance with the faith of the devotee. The names of Gods in India are innumerable, and it would not be possible to give an exhaustive list of all the names.

The ruler of Sindh accepted the teachings of Lord Jhulelal which were: ‘This is the creation of only one God and two different faiths call him by different names.’

The teachings of Lord Jhulelal cover comradery, brotherhood and peaceful coexistence of different faiths creating a harmonious atmosphere in the society. His teachings have always had a great impact on the thinking and perception on people down the ages. (Thakkar 2016: 55)

This is how one can understand the discussion between Lord Jhulelal and his followers and the Ruler with a different faith. He tried to remove the differences through discussion and established a feeling of trust and confidence in each other. As a result, the Ruler decided that each one can have his own faith and all the subjects in the kingdom will be treated equally.

At this point, the researcher would like to mention about an important quotation from Shreemad Bhagavad Gita (Ch 5 Verse 4).

“Saankhyayogau prithagbalaha pravadanti na panditaha
Ekamapyasthitaha samyagubhayorvindate falam”

By this verse, Lord Krishna has tried to bring 'Atheist Sankhyas' near nonatheist Yoga philosophy. The simple meaning of the above verse "The people who think small (ignorant people) assume that 'Sankhya' and 'Yoga' are different. However, the learned or wise people do not believe so.

On the similar lines, Lord Jhulelal told the Ruler that the two philosophies, Yours and Ours or your thinking and our thinking though appear different, it is not so. They are but one.

It is noted that the approach of Lord Jhulelal was always to have a dialogue with the ruler and convince him to treat all his subjects equally irrespective of their faith. His role was that of an elderly person who would reveal what is just and rightful. At the same time, if required he would also not hesitate to show his powers and make aware the person about the consequences of not being just and righteous. This can be related to the Jhulelal story when the palace of the ruler was in danger from both the sides, from one side by fire and the other side by water.

The researcher finds a similarity to a certain extent with the incident of Lord Krishna showing to Arjuna his "Vishwa Roop Darshan" when it became necessary as Arjuna was still not convinced about his duties in spite of sufficient explanations with a friendly approach.