E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

In poor health
India is not unused to being ranked low on the list of nations when it comes to various social indices. After all, it has to compete with far more affluent countries. But the 112th place it has got in a World Health Organisation (WHO) analysis on the performance of the health care system across the globe should make policy planners sit back and take a serious note because even the strife-torn Lanka, Fiji and Kazkhstan have been ranked higher than it.

OPINION

Costly Punjabi power

Politics, rather than pure economics, has determined the increase in electricity tariff. The ruling Akali Dal is keen to protect its electoral base in the rural areas and hence has ring-fenced this sector from the higher rates. It is a frank admission of which way the panchayat election results have gone. The Akali Dal also naturally expects the alliance partner BJP to sacrifice a bit to help out the electricity board and hence the burden has fallen on the known saffron support groups like urban dwellers, businessmen and industrialists. Of course there has been a sop of sorts; the PSEB wanted a hefty 16 per cent hike in the rate of power to industry but showed great understanding to limit it to 8 per cent. It is not really a concession to crow about but the BJP and its well-wishers know it could have been worse. The board believes that it will earn an additional revenue of Rs 240 crore but has not clarified whether it is in a full year or in the remaining months of this financial year. If the latter is the case the board will gain another Rs 80 crore in the next financial year. But that does not justify board chief H.S. Sohal’s claim that it will start making a profit after two or three years. For that he has to make good on his promise to curb power theft which many in his own organisation’s estimate to be around 25 per cent. Normally this figure would have sounded alarmingly high, but now seems to be close to the real situation in view of the revised transmission and distribution losses in those states which have split up their boards to separate generation. The board should crack down on electricity thieves who are normally powerful persons and thrive on the help of departmental bigwigs. There are very upright engineers in the board who are also efficient and they should be motivated and mobilised to fight and uproot this menace. The angry reaction of the engineers to the free supply to agriculture (eight lakh tubewells) and subsidised supply to villages shows their commitment to the financial health of their organisation. Incidentally, what is the idea in increasing free supply from 30 units to 50 units; how many votes this is worth?

To say the agriculture sector should be charged nominally is not to give vent to anti-kisan sentiments. It is to deny a time-tested cover for power theft. The electricity diverted to unmetred commercial and industrial units is shown as supplied to the kisan. The subsidy bill comes to a whopping Rs 735 crore, a big share of which must actually be accounted as subsidy to big sharks. Two, the state government should convince the kisan that free power goes against his interest in the long run by making him an addict to the present paddy-wheat cropping pattern. There is compelling scientific evidence against cultivating paddy and several attractive alternatives. Agriculture draws power heavily mainly in the kharif season to keep paddy fields under two or three inches of irrigation. In terms of economics, grossly underselling power chokes up investment in power projects. Many committees, including the one headed by Mr Sharad Pawar, has suggested that every user should pay at least half the economic cost of power and that is a sensible approach. Finally, a better accounting system will reveal who uses power and who does not pay for it. Hiving off the generation from the other activities is the starting point. And Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has told the Centre that Punjab will emulate the reforming states and it should. 

In poor health

India is not unused to being ranked low on the list of nations when it comes to various social indices. After all, it has to compete with far more affluent countries. But the 112th place it has got in a World Health Organisation (WHO) analysis on the performance of the health care system across the globe should make policy planners sit back and take a serious note because even the strife-torn Lanka, Fiji and Kazkhstan have been ranked higher than it. It will be futile to dismiss all this as western propaganda because the analysis covering 191 member-countries is comprehensive and scientific. The endeavour by the international organisation not only takes into account the responsiveness of the health care system, patient satisfaction and the functioning of the system but also the distribution of the responsiveness within the population (or how well people of varying economic status find they are served by the system). Then there is an equally sharp focus on health inequalities or disparities within the population in each country and the distribution of the health system’s financial burden within the population —- or who bears the expenses and to what proportion. All these are besides the standard parameters of the health status in various countries and the level of public health and have been included for the first time. It is unfortunate that India fares poorly on almost all these counts. Its ranking in terms of health inequalities is as low as 153 and in terms of health expenditure per capita 133. Things are slightly better in the case of level of responsiveness (108) and overall health status (118) but only relatively so. Given the size of the infrastructure and the expenditure on it, India should have found itself among the top 50, if not even higher. It has risen to the 42nd spot only with regard to one parameter — fairness in financial contribution, which has been measured as the fraction of a household’s capacity to spend (income minus expenditure on food) that goes on health care, including tax payments, social insurance, private insurance and out-of-packet payments.

The reasons for this state of affairs are palpable. Even 53 years after Independence, there are pockets of utter deprivation in the country where health care simply does not exist. Such neglected places not only pull down the overall ranking but also increase the ratio of inequality. The uneven growth can be attributed to the successive governments’ tendency to put their fingers in too many non-essential pies. While the public sector attempted to run everything from buses to bread-making units, the most essential parameters of development such as education, health and communication were neglected. Now that the aberrations caused by five decades of omission and commission stare it in the eye, perhaps the government would go in for a major overhaul of the health sector. 

TOWARDS NEW WATER POLICY
Problems and priorities
by Bharat Jhunjhunwala

IT is a welcome development that the NDA government is in the process of finalising a new water policy. But it does not suffice to print old matter on new paper. Many provisions of the previous water policy adopted in 1987 have not been implemented — people continue to be deprived of drinking water while industries flourish. Ground water continues to get depleted, river pollution continues unabated, water-logging is on the increase and rehabilitation of oustees is still a distant dream. It should first be examined why the previous policy has failed. Only then it makes sense to frame a new policy.

The 1987 policy had committed itself to the following priorities in water allocation: (1) Drinking water; (2) irrigation; (3) hydro-power; (4) navigation; and (5) industrial and other uses. The new draft policy only interchanges the positions of the last two uses. Industry is now placed before navigation.

Despite the commitment to these priorities, we find that water in rural areas is being extracted through deep borewells and supplied to cities. In other words, irrigation is being deprived of water in order to feed industries. In Gujarat, industries are extracting water from deep borewells while the adjacent villages are being supplied drinking water by tankers. In Rajasthan, the check dams built by people to improve irrigation at Ramgarh were broken by the Irrigation Department because they were reducing the inflow into the reservoir which supplies domestic and industrial water to Jaipur. Clearly, the water allocation priorities are not being observed at the ground level.

One problem is that the priorities are specified only with respect to water “systems”. Since only large water systems such as big dams are cleared by the Central Government, all other “systems” — such as minor irrigation and small dams — essentially remain beyond the purview of the “Central” policy. Borewell owners are not effectively covered by the water allocation priorities mentioned in the policy. It is necessary to explicitly provide that all water systems — not just large dams — will follow these priorities.

The priorities too need revision. No distinction has been made between “drinking” and “domestic” use of water. Water that is supplied to the cities ostensibly for drinking purposes is used for washing cars and watering lawns. The same water is also used by industries. A solution would be to accord the status of “drinking water” only to that which is supplied at public standposts. All water supplied through private connections should be treated at a lower “domestic” category.

There is a single category of “irrigation”. Distinction is not made between food and cash crops. The result is that large farmers have sunk deep borewells to irrigate non-food crops like grapes, sugarcane and chillies while the wells of small farmers producing wheat and paddy go dry. This affects both the livelihood of small farmers and food security of the country.

Distinction has also not been made between domestic and industrial users, who are treating waste water to make it suitable for agricultural use and those who do not. Treated waste water gives better yields than pure water. Presently the industries which are not treating their waste water lay claim on water on a par with those that treat their waste water. Similarly, cities which have established water treatment plants are treated on a par with those that have not.

Once these considerations are taken into account, the revised water allocation priorities would be as follows: (1) Drinking water supplied at public standposts (2) Irrigation for food crops (3) Domestic and industrial use where water is being treated for agricultural use (4) Hydro-power and navigation (5) Irrigation for cash crops. (6) Domestic and industrial uses where water is not being treated for re-use. And these priorities should be made applicable not just to large dams but also to all water — rain, surface and ground water.

The draft policy also fails to grapple seriously with ground water depletion across the country. The 1987 policy acknowledged that ground water extraction should not exceed the recharging that is possible. However, that has not been done. The Supreme Court has recently ruled that the Central Government can intervene in the regulation for ground water despite water being a state subject under our Constitution. The Centre has constituted the Ground Water Authority which has been given the task of taking suitable measures in this direction. While this is welcome, it fails to grapple with the task at hand.

The problem is how to go about such regulation. The government is contemplating a licensing approach. Those who wish to establish new borewells will have to procure a licence for the purpose. These will be issued only in areas which have adequate ground water. This approach is iniquitous. Those small farmers who do not have dug borewells yet will now be deprived in perpetuity while large farmers will continue to benefit from borewells sunk earlier. It will also not control the depletion of ground water because the over-extraction from the existing borewells will continue unabated. It will open another source of corruption by the government machinery.

Instead of adopting the approach of licensing, the government should consider declaring the maximum depth of the borewells in different areas. The existing wells which are deeper may be filled up to the permissible depth. It will be possible for new borewells to be dug up to this specified depth, and this will take care of equity. Depletion below the specified depth will get automatically controlled. Wells for public drinking water supply can be dug to deeper levels and that will enable its security. Corruption will also be limited because only complaints will go to the authorities. These guidelines should be incorporated in the policy so that the bureaucratic penchant for licensing does not overtake discretion.

Perhaps, the greatest problem of the 1987 policy has been that it has not been implemented. A large part of the blame rests on the state governments which have the primary responsibility of managing the nation’s water resources. Therefore, the Centre cannot directly intervene because water is a state subject. But vested interests appear to be more entrenched there. Nevertheless, the Centre can at least enquire into the violations of the policy by the states and make this public.

A similar problem arose in the context of human rights. Law and order is a state subject. But the Centre can seek information and make recommendations. The National Human Rights Commission has been reasonably effective by enquiring into the alleged violations of human rights and reporting to the President. This has provided a window to the affected people to seek information, and in many cases the redressal of their grievances has taken place in the process.

A similar approach can be adopted with respect to water. The Centre can establish a National Water Commission which can enquire into the violations of the water policy — whether by Central or state governments or by non-state actors — and report to the President. States can be encouraged to establish State Water Commissions. This will not make the policy justiciable but certainly establish some accountability of the governments and the people.

Water is an important issue before the nation. It is predicted that future wars may take place for the control of water resources rather than land. There is need for the Central Government to first come out with a White Paper outlining why the 1987 policy has not been effective, followed by a public discussion on the subject. The new policy should try to remove the pitfalls of the previous policy. Unless that is done the new policy will remain as ineffective as the previous one has been.

The writer is a Delhi-based economic thinker.

Of military equipment plan
by B.K. Mathur

THE Indian Air Force will have to wait for sometime more for an advanced jet trainer (AJT) — a couple of months, if not more, no matter how much it costs the IAF, manpower-wise and machinery-wise. For lack of training in its third phase, which a pilot must complete on a proper machine before graduating as a frontline combat fighter, the IAF has been rendered handicapped since 1984. That year Air Headquarters in its “Air Staff Target” demanded an AJT with high performance, latest state-of-the-art avionics, weapon systems and cockpit. Sixteen years have elapsed since then and there is no sign yet of the AJT. Obviously, the urgency of the requirement does not seem to have been understood despite repeated “warnings” by successive Chiefs of Air Staff.

Something or the other has always been coming in the way, without realising what Air Chief Marshal Nirmal Suri had asked at a Press conference as the IAF Chief some years ago. How can you graduate without completing the intermediate course, as the +2 of the present day education system was called? None bothered and the Government of India continues to devalue the Service Chiefs which has presently reached a stage when even an unconstitutional authority in a ministry other than the Defence calls them and discusses with them security matters! In fact, the Ministry of External Affairs has, of late, started “devaluing” even the Defence Ministry. It prefers its own boys to see how the armed forces “operate” in a U.N. peacekeeping job. The result? Most damaging and demoralising stories about armed forces personnel are published.

A bit of a digression from today’s subject of the AJT, no doubt. Actually the devaluation of Service Chiefs by “dhotiwalas,” as India’s first Chief, Gen (Field Marshal decades after his retirement) K.M. Cariappa described the defence policy makers. Coming back to the 16-year-old AJT story, it is indeed a tragedy that low, very low, priority has been given to this “must” requirement. In its absence, the ageing MiG-21s, which were never intended to be used for intermediate training, are now being used. These aircraft of Russian origin were actually designed for high-speed and high-altitude interception during the 1950s. We took them in preference to the better machines produced in Western countries, mainly because they were supplied to us along with their production technology.

But it is necessary to understand that an aircraft of the fifties’ vintage can’t be expected to train fighter pilots to adapt to the latest state-of-the-art fighter aircraft like Mirage-2000 or MiG-29. They must have an state-of-the-art advance jet trainer. It is another matter that the quality of our pilots is such that they produce the result even under adverse circumstances. They have proved this fighting quality during the 1965 and 1971 wars against Pakistan with inferior machinery, compared to the enemy’s superior aircraft. The latest to prove the point was their operation of Mirage-2000s in last year’s Kargil war. But the fact remains that you just can’t always expect such good performance by our front-rank combat pilots.

A few years ago we were told, and the IAF assured, that the AJT had the government’s top priority. We were also told a long time back that two vendors, British Hawk and French Alpha Jet, were short-listed. Some time ago a definite view had emerged and a decision nearly taken in favour of the British Hawk. In fact, only a formal contract was left to be signed and a timeframe for the delivery schedule finalised. So we were given to understand — and one thought the long wait was over. But there is communication to Defence Minister George Fernandes by his counterpart in Britain about London’s inability to supply spares and refits for the machinery it supplied to the Indian Navy because of the American sanctions against India. Mr Fernandes has thus no option but to forget about the Hawk deal — and start afresh negotiations with Alpha Jet.

This means a delay again, of months, if not more. The deal may even not materialise or be finalised if Mr Fernandes finds a more attractive offer from Russia he has just visited. Remember, Moscow was also in the run for supplying to India the AJT. But the machine was not considered better than the two shortlisted. In fact, circumstances and vested interests have invariably come in the way of picking up for the armed forces better machines available in foreign markets. All this is due to the lack of military equipment procurement policy. If truth be told, the bane of the military equipment imports has always been the absence of any policy.

The pathetic story is truly reflected by the observations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. In its report, presented to Parliament on April 11, the committee had noted: “The chronology of efforts of the government towards acquiring the AJT of the specifications laid down in the Air Staff target in 1984 shows that the government, after issuing the first despatch of the request for the proposal to the two shortlisted vendors, (Alpha Jet and Hawk) in April 1986, subjected the proposal to a Technical Committee/High-Level Expert Committee/Apex groups and other such bodies as frequently as possible, to keep the time going up to this hour, thereby incurring a time overrun of nearly one and half decades. The cost overrun has also consequently got hiked.”

The frustrating story revealed by the Standing Committee is, in fact, the story of most cases for the procurement of major military machines — off-the-shelf from abroad or indigenously produced. It is a tragedy that despite having in our defence laboratories excellent young scientists and technicians, we are not able to update the machines as they are required. It takes decades to design, develop and produce, with the result that we rush abroad for outright purchases. The negotiations for such purchases from foreign vendors too take years, as has happened in the case of the AJT, which is actually the lifeline of the IAF. The disastrous equipment procurement policy has indeed cost the armed forces dearly all these years. The time now is to set things right.

Point of law
by Anupam Gupta
HC forces EC to enter political thicket

IN a move fraught with peril for the future of Indian democracy, an unhappy Election Commission issued notices last Thursday to two leading political parties, the CPM and the Congress, in the matter of implementation of the latest hartal verdict of the Kerala High Court.

Holding that the Gandhian legacy of hartals is no longer valid, especially when it leads to “destruction of national property and loss of national production (and) income,” the High Court issued on June 1 a writ of mandamus to the Election Commission, directing it to “entertain complaints” against political parties forcibly organising hartals and “after a fair hearing, to take a decision thereon for de-registration or cancellation of registration of that party or organisation” under Section 29A (5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

“We cannot agree with the stand adopted by the Chief Election Commissioner (said the High Court) that he has no power to enquire into such complaints.” The stand has only to be stated to be rejected. “The power to do something obviously includes the power to undo” it and the Election Commission “cannot be heard to contend that once it has given registration to a political party”, it has no power to de-register it.

Based on such simplistic logic, the judgement, 73 pages long and authored by Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan on behalf of a Division Bench, resurrects an issue which the irrepressible Mr T.N. Seshan had first raised in 1991. And, recoiling at its potential consequences for the polity, had himself laid to rest with a 63-page-long order in February, 1992.

The occasion: Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh’s historic petition for the de-registration or de-recognition of the BJP and the freezing of its symbol, the lotus, on the ground that the party had mixed religion with politics during Mr L.K. Advani’s rath yatra to Ayodhya and thus violated the principle of secularism to which it had committed itself under Section 29A (5) of the RP Act while securing registration as a political party.

No association or body shall be registered (by the Election Commission) as a political party, reads Section 29A, unless the memorandum or rules and regulations of the association “conform to the provisions of sub-section (5).”

The memorandum, rules or regulations, says sub-section (5), in so many words, must specifically provide that the association shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy, and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.

“A party registered under the said Section 29A,” ruled Mr Seshan in 1992, rejecting Mr Arjun Singh’s petition (after having dramatically entertained it the previous year), “cannot be de-registered by the Commission on the allegation that, after registration, it has ceased to function in accordance with the provisions of Section 29A (5) where an enquiry may be called for on the part of the Commission to ascertain the truth or otherwise of such allegation, as the power to de-recognise on this ground has been deliberately, intentionally and consciously not conferred by Parliament on the Commission.”

That is no mean statement by a man who never, never ever hesitated to use his powers as (Chief) Election Commissioner or to assume powers where none existed. But why did he make it? What led Seshan of all people to such self-denial?

“Vesting the Commission with the aforesaid power,” he said, supplying the answer, “would have meant necessarily a constant monitoring by it of the political activities and programmes and ideologies of political parties. In a matter of dispute, the Commission would have been again necessarily required to adjudicate upon such ideologies, policies and programmes of political parties.”

“In the ultimate analysis (he said), the result would be that the ideology of the Commission would inform the ideology of a political party/parties and it would mean substitution of the Commission’s ideology for that of the party concerned, as any disagreement between the two may result in the de-registration of the party by the Commission. The Commission cannot enter into such a political thicket.”

But the Kerala High Court would. And not only enter into the political thicket itself but drag the Election Commission along with it as well.

A forcible hartal, says the High Court, a hartal enforced by intimidation or coercion which brings life to a standstill violates the Constitution and the principles of democracy adopted by the Constitution. Not only that. By forcing industrial units to a halt, preventing production and causing economic loss to the nation, “it could even be said (it holds) that there is a threat to the sovereignty of the country, again amounting to a violation of the requirements of Section 29A (5) of the Act.”

But Section 29A (5) talks not only of democracy but secularism and socialism as well.

And if the CPM in Kerala can be de-recognised for violating democracy by violent hartals, the BJP at the Centre can be de-recognised for violating secularism by a myriad alleged transgressions from rath yatras to the murder and molestation of Christians.

And a host of parties across the political spectrum can, with equal warrant, be de-recognised for violating socialism in thought, word and deed in this age of globalisation.

Surely that is not the best way of enforcing the Constitution. 

Diversities — Delhi letter
Humra Quraishi
Another bureaucratic reshuffle on cards

THERE are talks of another round of bureaucratic reshuffle at the Centre. Yogesh Chandra, Chairman of ITPO, retired on June 30 and there is speculation that Punjab cadre bureaucrat N.N. Khanna will be appointed as the new chairman. And though there won’t be any change at the Cabinet Secretary level — what, with just three more months left for the retirement of the present Cabinet Secretary, Mr Prabhat Kumar, but, then, sources do say that his successor will be TSR Prasad who has the backing of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Another news is that HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi is keen to appoint the former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Mahmood-ur-Rahman, in his ministry. Rahman is from the J & K cadre and his term as V C ended amidst controversies. And yet another news is that the just retired ITPO Chairman, Mr Yogesh Chandra, is all set to join the Congress party. Obviously not as its chairman but as one of the advisers.

Archbishop laid to rest

An estimated 10,000 persons including the ambassadors of the USA, Poland and Austria plus religious heads from different faiths and politicians, had gathered on the lawns of the St Columba’s School, for the funeral service of Archbishop Alan Basil de Lastic, who passed away last fortnight in Poland. In fact, his aunt had also flown in from the UK to attend the service which started at 3 pm last Tuesday and ended with the burial in the evening, within the precincts of the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Several prominent Christians spoke, grieving that they had lost a multi faceted person like Archbishop Alan de Lastic and that too at this particularly turbulent juncture.

Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter Tara Bhattacharjee (also present at the funeral service) told me: “I had known the Archbishop for years and used to talk to him whenever I was disturbed and upset by the events. There was no arrogance or snobbery about him and he used to spend so much time listening to people, sorting out their problems. In some ways he reminded me of Mahatma Gandhi, in fact like Gandhi he was also fighting for a cause — for social justice and for non-violence. And the Archbishop had immense and tremendous faith in the people of his country... he used to say that it is only some people who are violent, the majority are non-violent and want to live in peace.”

A relaxing evening, indeed

Out of the several events/functions that one has to cover only a handful can be termed relaxing. To be honest, for most (functions) one has to sit through because of sheer necessity (otherwise how do I write back to you all) and it’s only occasionally that one actually enjoys the programme and is relaxed. Without adding further frills let me state right away that the dance programme held in the memory of dance critic and scholar K.S. Srinivasan (at the IIC, on June 26 and 27) was indeed different, especially on day one, when writer and former dancer Sudhamahi Regunathan read out verses from the Ramayana (as told by Valmiki and Kamban) and S. Kanaka, Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao danced along, portraying the sentiments. The strong point was, of course, these readings by Sudhamahi, who speaks without any of those theatrical irritants. She read out those verses (translated into English) as though she is all engrossed in narrating a story, much in keeping with the first few words of the sloka in Valmiki Ramayana- “Yavat Sthasyanthi Girayaha”, which says that as long as the mountains stand and the rivers flow on this earth, so long will the story of the Ramayana be told and re-told.

Do shoes and rains go together?

Even last year when around this time of the year the National Shoe Fair took off at Pragati Maidan I was surprised because traditionally speaking monsoons and leathery shoes don’t really go together. And this year again, as this fair took off, I was more than surprised and questioned the very logic of holding a national shoe fair when rains are sure to strike. One of the ITPO officials confided: “Don’t overlook the fact that this is the best time for the international buyer to be here because next week a shoe fair takes off in Hong Kong, so from here he goes there, to attend that fair too. And as there are no sales involved in this fair so the sole emphasis is on the buyer and his convenience.”

Where has Omar Abdullah been?

If you were wondering (at least I was) why haven’t we heard Dr Farooq Abdullah’s son (and minister in his own right) Omar Abdullah’s views on the autonomy issue then hear this: like most VVIPs he too was travelling. Attending an international trade fair at Algeria, where one of the participating countries was India — India’s ITPO to be absolutely precise.

Spiritual Nuggets

Silence is returning to the root. Dive deep within. Delve deep within. Meditate until you realise that the one thing needful is the priceless price of peace.

—Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher

Of all virtues, Zeno made choice of silence; for by it, said he, I hear other men’s imperfections, and conceal my own.

—Rule of Life.

***

Life is meant to radiate light. The piteous need of the humanity is light, more light. Let the light of love fill your heart — love for all races, all nations, all men, all creatures, all forms of cosmic light; and filled with light your heart will be a love-hymn of thanks-giving to the All-Love. Your life will be a singing altar.

—Sadhu T.L. Vaswani.

***

Walk boldly and wisely in the light thou hast;
there is a hand above will help thee on.

—Bailey

***

O Mother of dawn! Graciously reveal yourself along with your bliss light. Day after day, bestow all that is good on us. Please dispel the darkness in and around us.

— Rig Veda, 1. 48. 9

***

I seek shelter in that eternally existent One from whom this universe has come, in whom it subsists, who is its instrumental cause, of whom it is a manifestation, and who at the same time transcends that world-manifestation both in the casual and the effect conditions.

— Srimad Bhagavatam, 8.3.3.

***

Take the Upanishad as the bow, the great weapon, and place upon it the arrow sharpened by meditation. Then having drawn it back with a mind directed to the thought of Brahman, strike that mark, O my good friend — that which is the Imperishable.

Om is the bow; the Atman is the arrow; Brahman is said to be the mark. It is to be struck by an undistracted mind. Then the Atman becomes one with Brahman, as the arrow with the target.

— Mundaka Upanishad, II.2.3-4.

***

He who is source and origin of the Gods, the Lord of all. Rudra, the mighty sage, who produced in ancient days the Golden germ — may He endow us with purity of mind.

— Shvetashvatara Upanishad, 3.4