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October 5, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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A happy day for SAD Mighty anti-terrorism group Return of Sushma, family values |
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ROW OVER THE 1965 WAR Is China an emerging super power? Protective parents ‘put children at risk’
Vedic view of unity in diversity
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A happy day for SAD PUNJAB
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has indeed perfected the art of winning byelections. It is a different matter that out of power he is not able to work the magic as effectively as he has done in Sunam. It is strange that just about every political party in Punjab would have to bear the fallout of the Sunam verdict. While the powerful dissidents' lobby within the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal would for the time being have to abandon the thought of going for Mr Badal's jugular, the Congress may witness the revival of the campaign for the ouster of Capt Amarinder Singh as party chief. He would be held responsible for not being able to carry other opposition parties with him for retaining the seat for the Congress. The absence of a combined opposition candidate did make the SAD's task of ensuring the victory of Mr Parminder Singh Dhindsa easier. The verdict has also exposed the irrelevance of at least nine political outfits headed by a former Akali MP, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra. But what about the future of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra? The political weather forecast may make him hate the sight of even a tiny speck of "badal" anywhere in Punjab. The political sun has shone as bright as ever only on the candidate for whom Mr Badal and his Cabinet colleagues campaigned with all the vigour and power at their command. However, the overall picture after the bypolls in other parts of the country is good and bad in patches for both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party - the only parties with a national profile. The only "big seat" outside Punjab for which byelections were held was the one which fell vacant following the death of Congress Lok Sabha member Rajesh Pilot in a car accident. Although Rajesh Pilot had his roots in Uttar Pradesh he was still able to make the electorate of the Dausa Lok Sabha constituency in Rajasthan look up to him as their messiah. The fact that Mrs Rama Pilot was able to improve upon the performance of her charismatic husband can be attributed to the massive sympathy wave his tragic and untimely death had generated. If the Congress was looking for a vote of confidence in Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, it did not get it in the byelection for the Lunkaransar assembly seat which it lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party by a whopping margin of over 21,000 votes. Elsewhere it was mixture of good and bad news for the two main political parties. Obviously one party's good news was bad tidings for the other. The Congress had reasons to claim the revival of its political fortunes in Gujarat. Since the victory in the bypoll for the Shaher Kotda seat has come close on the heals of the Congress's impressive showing in the local bodies' elections in the state, the ruling BJP, on the other hand, would have to do serious introspection for identifying the factors for the disturbing dip in its popularity. The BJP lost by a convincing margin of 10,000 votes even after fielding Mr Tulsi Dabhi, a close associate of Mr Bangaru Laxman. For the Congress Mr Ashok Gehlot would have to explain the defeat of the party's candidate in Rajasthan, and Karnataka Chief Minister S. M. Krishna would have to accept moral responsibility for the Kagwad verdict which went in favour of the Janata Dal [U]. Mr Badal in Punjab was not the only one to overcome the incumbency factor in the bypolls. The Madhya Pradesh and the Maharashtra voters retained their faith in the ruling Congress by helping it retain the Lakhnadon and Shahuwadi seats by comfortable margins. But the real battle for political supremacy would be fought in Uttar Pradesh during the assembly elections next year. The byelection for the lone Karhal assembly seat may not be a reliable factor for gauging the mood of the electorate. Of course, political pundits are free to interpret the Karhal verdict as an indication of the increasing popularity of the Samajwadi Party in UP. Its candidate polled more than the combined votes of the BJP, the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj candidates. And that is no mean achievement. The fact that the Samajwadi Party added 6,000 votes to its earlier tally while the BJP shed 7,000 should be enough to give Mr Laxman sleepless nights. |
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Mighty anti-terrorism group INDIA
brought in Russia into the expanding anti-terrorism crusade which it first set up with the USA. This three-way grouping also zeroes in on the same Pakistan-Taliban nexus as the last remaining fountainhead of destabilisation. This may not immediately end the menace of what New Delhi loves to describe as cross-border terrorism either in Kashmir or Chechnya but it intensifies the isolation of the two and improves the chances of an early end to religious bigotry. This is the most noteworthy outcome of the three-day visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India, which formally began on Tuesday. This was not unexpected though. Russia has repeatedly accused the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan of training Islamic militants both from Muslim majority countries in its southern periphery and West Asia. With the Taliban poised to wrest total control over the country, it will knock at the door of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Russia has declared these countries as its extended security area and at one time threatened to deploy its army to contain the rampaging militants. Of late it is trying to use the diplomatic route through Islamabad and simultaneously wants India to step up help to the Ahmed Shah Masood faction so that it can retain the north and thus act as a shield. India now sends humanitarian assistance, meaning food and medicine. Russia has small arms and ammunition in mind although it will make better sense for it to undertake the task in view of the logistical advantage. So far the USA has confined itself to admonishing Pakistan for the depredations in Kashmir by home-grown and Taliban-inspired and trained violent men, although it is solely responsible for financing and equipping the early militants in Afghanistan. With the ringing declaration of India and Russia, and if a more activist plan emerges, the USA will find it difficult to stay on the sidelines. Nuanced diplomacy should take over from here. For the rest the two countries extended relations in several traditional areas, ironed out minor differences on arms purchase, and for the first time got into strategic partnership which is much more advantageous to this country than any signed in the past. Apart from the customary promise of not joining in any antagonistic alliance, it pledges constant consultation at the ministerial level on defence and technology matter. Until now this was done at the senior official level. This should ideally speed up negotiations on the upgradation of Sukhoi 30 and licence to produce the jet in India and also the delivery of an aircraft carrier, three frigates and submaries capable of firing missiles. Now that the matter of securing 310 T-90 tanks is finalised, all three arms of the defence forces will have their demands partially met. Incidentally, the tanks will take part in an ambitious exercise in the Rajasthan desert close to the Pakistan border and are an answer to the T-80 UD tanks Pakistan purchased from Ukraine. The much-expected agreement on nuclear cooperation has not been signed but Mr Putin is visiting the BARC establishment thus ruling out any change in his country’s policy. Incidentally, he is not visiting Pakistan either now or in the near future. The report to the contrary is the result of an over-enthusiastic senior official, Mr Sergei Yastrzhembsky and scarry interpretations by some Indian reporters. For once the External Affairs Ministry displayed maturity and avoided comments. |
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Return of Sushma, family values MRS
Sushma Swaraj is back as Union Information and Broadcasting Minister for the third time. The first mantra that she has uttered after taking over the reins of her familiar ministry is the return of family values on television. Nothing wrong with that except that a similar drive during her previous avatar had only led to newscasters on Doordarshan being made to wear closed-neck blouses and cover their heads. One hopes the return of family values will not mean similar puritanical orders for all and sundry this time. There is no reason why the recipe of cleansing one's soul prepared by Shiv Sainiks in Maharashtra and others elsewhere should be poured down the gullet of unwilling viewers. The wounds caused by the protests over Deepa Mehta's films are too fresh to be reopened. When those bent upon enforcing a Victorian code of conduct get official backing, things tend to spin out of control. The government has a dubious record of taking its fetish for puritanism to the extreme. That always tends to be counter-productive. In this age of the Internet and globalisation, government controls have to be kept to the minimum. What constitutes public morality is a highly subjective matter. There are some with a Taliban-like bent of mind who would be happy if women are forced to cover themselves from head to toe. In place of listening to them, society should be allowed to choose for itself the limits within which it should remain. That by no stretch of imagination means that there should be a free for all. All that is required is a broad, liberal government intervention to ensure that nudity, vulgarity or violence are ruled out. The programming on the television has just had a stiff dose of conservatism following the amendments to the Cable Network Act. Under Mr Arun Jaitley, liquor, cigarette and baby-food advertisements have been banned. Late-night adult entertainment has also been cut out totally. Any further tightening of screws will be undesirable. Instead, there are several more pressing issues which cry out for Mrs Sushma Swaraj's immediate attention. She has to make up her mind on when to start direct-to-home (DTH) TV service. The previous Information and Broadcasting Minister was quite keen on giving the green signal. The proposal even went to the Group of Ministers a few days ago but could not be cleared because of the absence of a minister. The change of guard should not cause any reversal of policies. That will be cause for many misgivings about the general direction in which the government proposes to move. Then there are other vital issues like the changes in Prasar Bharati on the basis of the Shunu Sen report and the FTII strike. |
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ROW OVER THE 1965 WAR THE official history of the 1965 war with Pakistan has been kept under wraps all these years for some unknown reason. Now a Delhi-based newspaper claims to have acquired a copy of it and, allegedly based on this report, has sullied the Indian Army’s performance in this war. The Editor of another national daily in a lead article, “What Did You Do in The War, Daddy,?” has tried to run down the Army with regard to its claims in this war. Before we examine the critical issues related to this conflict, let us first look at the genesis of this war with Pakistan in 1965. It all started with the Run of Kutch incident. A few months later followed the large-scale infiltration into J and K. Not only was infiltration tackled effectively, but in addition we struck at their bases and made considerable gains in POK, which included the capture of the Hajipir Pass. Pakistan hit back in the Akhnoor sector at Chamb-Jhorian where it could bring to bear its distinct superiority in armour. Pakistani troops captured the important high ground at Mandiala and secured the line of Manawar Tawi, thereby threatening Akhnoor. Upto here could be considered as the first phase of the war. The Indian Army was left with no option except to open another front to relieve Pakistani pressure in the Akhnoor sector. Thus a war thrust on us for which we were neither equipped nor had the required strength. We had, in all, 608 tanks of World War II vintage (including 180 Centurions and 90 AMX light tanks, which were of the mid-forties period) 625 artillery pieces of all calibre, and 35 infantry brigades (for the Western front.) On the other hand, Pakistan had 765 tanks (which included 352 Patton tanks — a state of the art tank of that period), 552 artillery pieces of all types, 26 infantry brigades and 9000 Razakars, Pakistan had two armoured divisions against one with India. Its guns had better range and higher calibre than those of ours. Thus, only in infantry we had a slight edge, whereas Pakistan had a distinct advantage in the quality and quantity of its tanks. Even the uninitiated would know that tanks play a dominant role in plains warfare. How did this disparity in force equation with another belligerent neighbour come about and that too so soon after the debacle in the 1962 war against China? In his book, “War Despatches”. Lieut-Gen Harbaksh Singh, the highest field commander in the 1965 war, records, “I have heard it often said that our concept of operations lacked offensive dash and dimensions forgetting the elementary wisdom that unless the ends are balanced against the means available, a campaign is foredoomed to failure... We were in no position to go in for an all-out war with Pakistan.” Given the force equations, to expect dramatic results or a resounding victory was unrealistic, bordering on foolishness. Due to the existence of high value population centres close to the border on both sides and other considerations, neither country was willing to concede territory and, therefore, pitched battles took place within a few km on either side of the border. That was (and will remain) the dominant reality of offensive-defensive battles in the plains sector of J and K and the two Punjabs. The Indian war plan was simple in concept and equally simple in execution. In the Punjab sector, the troops had to move forward and secure the line of the Ichogal canal (India had no obstacle of its own to base defences) and threaten Lahore. The latter task merely involved establishing strong bridgeheads across the canal and no more. As these lodgements across the Ichogal canal would have posed a threat to Lahore, the enemy was expected to react strongly and, therefore, much of its offensive potential would have been spent in attempts to liquidate these. At the same time, reserves would be held to counter any Pakistani counter-offensive in the sector. Shedding of a Centurion tank unit from the armoured division for the Punjab sector was a crucial decision of the COAS. Though it weakened our armoured division, it saved Punjab front crumbling; when Pakistani counter-offensive finally materialised. Where resources are limited, allocating these to tasks is a Hobson’s choice. Compromises have to be made and risks accepted. General Harbaksh wanted the Indian offensive to be launched across the Ravi in the Dera Baba Nanak sector, whereas the COAS did not favour this plan as the offensive would have been against the grain of the country. He wanted it to be launched in the Jammu sector. The last minute side-stepping of the armoured division from Amritsar to the Jammu sector, in complete secrecy, was no mean achievement. Armoured division’s soft vehicle column, when on the move, stretches nearly 200 miles. It is to the credit of Indian commanders that they managed to achieve complete surprise, both in the Punjab and the Jammu sectors. It is equally distressing to record that these very commanders failed to capitalise or exploit this tremendous initial advantage which surprise conferred on them. On the Punjab front there were goof-ups. At the Jammu end, one of the Centurion tank units was badly mauled by the enemy. Notwithstanding this, there were considerable initial gains but, a self-imposed freeze of 48 hours proved costly. During this phase, none of the Indian Commanders came out well and, in fact, a few were removed from command. Having squandered away the opportunities and the initial advantage during this second phase, we entered the third phase of the war, that is when the enemy reactions manifested. It is during this phase that the Indian commanders came into their own. In the Punjab sector (11 Corps) they stopped the Pakistani offensive in its tracks and brought about the destruction of its famous 1 Armoured Division. Of course, there were some very anxious moments, as happens in every war, but from the late afternoon of September 9, 1965, Pakistani offensive had definitely begun to peter out. On the Jammu front, with one of the Centurion tank units becoming ineffective, our armoured division was left with only two Centurion and two Sherman tank units for the offensive (1 Corps). Notwithstanding this disadvantage in quality and quantity, the Indians, in a series of well-executed manoeuvres and engagements, destroyed the bulk of the Pakistani armour (6 Armoured Division) opposite them. The areas along the line, Sialkot-Klarwinda-Pagowal-Libbay-Phillora-Zaffarwal were littered with knocked out Pattons, Tank Destroyers and Chaffie tanks of the Pakistan army. Many more shattered tanks could be seen across the “no-man’s land” India’s own losses, after over two weeks of continuous fighting, in destroyed and defective tanks, were substantial; more defective than destroyed. After all, our tanks were more than 20 years old. The three Centurion regiments, which were the mainstay of 1 Corps offensive in this sector, were down to 17 to 20 tanks each. This is the story of the 1965 war, in its simplest and briefest form. There were failures and successes, as it happens in every war and consequently, sacking and rewards followed accordingly. There is neither myth nor mystery but perhaps a miracle in all this. The miracle is the destruction of Pakistan’s two armoured divisions and more by a qualitatively and quantitatively inferior force. Pakistan had the added advantage of fighting on interior lines. Therefore, there are no grounds to grudge the credit due to those who brought about this miracle, and it is certainly not the doing of just one man. We had with us 155 Pakistani tanks and many more could be seen knocked out on the other side of the ceasefire line. As against this, we lost 29 tanks. In the Khemkaran sector, over 80 destroyed Pakistani tanks were collected in one place which came to be known as “Patton Nagar”. It was the skill of our commanders, the daring and proficiency of tank crews, the grit of infantry and anti-tank gunners which brought about this miracle. When the war ended, undoubtedly and undeniably the Indian Army was decisively on top. The dynamics of a short war, a very short war, are quite apart from our more common knowledge of conflicts between large forces, spread over a longer duration. It is not uncommon to keep victories to oneself and distribute the defeats. General Harbaksh seems to have done just that in his book, “In the Line of Duty: A Soldier Remembers”. At the meeting held at Army Headquarters, Western Command, at Ambala on the morning of September 10, 1965, only the COAS, General Harbaksh and his Chief of Staff were present. By the time he wrote his last book, the other two had died. General Harbaksh in his first book, “War Despatches” and his Chief of Staff in his book, “Behind the Scene”, do mention about this meeting on Sept 10, 1965, but nothing is said about the order to fall back to the Beas. Moreover, the available circumstantial evidence does not support the story of the order to fall back to the Beas. Our investigative journalistic faculties should have been focused, more profitably, on the pertinent issue of disparities in the capabilities of the two opposing armies and how these came about. We should have tried to identify those who worked over-time to keep the Indian Army starved of contemporary weapon systems, especially when the Pakistan army was being armed with the state of the art weapon systems under the American aid programme rather than ask, “daddy” what he did in the war. Who are the people who very nearly compromised national security by keeping the Indian Army’s strength and capabilities depressed and drawing the Army into a fruitless argument to have 17 instead of 21 divisions. We may rightly ask if the Indian government had carried out any assessment of long-term threats to national security, and if not, why not? Did RAW and our MEA anticipate any threat from Pakistan? We may raise one more uncomfortable question. Why now, some 35 years later, Pakistan has once again gained a distinct advantage over India in the quality of its tank fleet, anti-tank and night fighting capabilities. Finally, was it really the supposedly false state of ammunition holdings that inhibited us from continuing the war, or was it that we had completely run out of steam and there were no more reserves of troops and tanks left? To get to the bottom of this story and for the same to carry conviction, the complete war records and connected documents with the MEA, RAW and MoD should be declassified and made public for research scholars to delve into these so as to either rubbish or authenticate the official history. Thirtyfive years is a long period for documents to be declassified and made public. The Indian Army has nothing to hide. —————— The writer, a retired Lieut-General, was a Deputy Chief of Army Staff. |
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Is China an
emerging super power? ON October 1 China passed the half century mark (51 years, to be precise) as a communist state. During this period, its rulers have identified the state (led by the communist party) with the people of China. Hence the name: the People’s Republic of China. With the fading of revolutionary fervour after Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms since 1980, China’s communist rulers have sought to increasingly foster national pride in place of ideological rigidity. The ideology is still important, but in its updated form as relevant to China’s modernisation. There is now a growing perception in China that they are shaping up to being a super power. However, the USA is seen as obstructing Beijing from occupying its rightful place on the global stage. And in this, China’s military inferiority is a major factor. There is a general view, for instance, among US experts that China is a generation or more behind the USA in military hardware and technology. And, the theory goes, China is unlikely to catch up because technology is rapidly changing and advancing, leaving it behind all the time. That leads some American experts to the comfortable conclusion that, “...with the proper mix of US forces in the region... Asia will always have the ability to ‘trump’...” any power play by Beijing. Another view is that Beijing is more concerned with economic growth than military power. According to some security experts, a modernised People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is only a minor component of China’s regional security calculations. Only with respect to Taiwan is a formidable PLA truly a prominent part of the current picture. Even in this contest between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, some experts believe that economic considerations might eventually prevail on Beijing to work out some peaceful solution of the unification issue. But China’s military inferiority doesn’t mean lack of options in terms of projecting power far and wide. One doesn’t have to always fight military wars to prevail. There is a strong feeling among some experts in China that new wars they must fight are political, economic, scientific and technological. Therefore, there is an important difference between the American and Chinese calculations of effective military power. It is quite possible that Beijing is making a virtue out of necessity by emphasising the importance of non-military aspects of power. But it is also true that there is no one single school of thought in China regarding military strategy. American and Chinese perceptions on the subject are quite different. For instance, although the high-tech Gulf War had quite an impact on Chinese military thinking, Beijing wasn’t blown over by US military superiority. In fact, the Gulf was revealed many weak points in the US armed forces. From the PLA’s standpoint, the combat consumption of the US forces was too great, and couldn’t have been sustained over a period of time. In addition, the USA relied heavily on allied countries — especially those in the region that hosted American troops. Furthermore, the high-tech equipment used by the US troops was intensive, and its key links were rather weak. Once these links were to be damaged, US combat effectiveness would have been considerably reduced. Some high-ranking officers in the PLA believe that the outcome of the war would have been quite different if (1) the adversary had been any country besides Iraq; (2) the battle had not been fought on the flat desert; (3) Iraqi armed forces had struck first during the phase when the US armed forces were assembling; and (4) the Iraqi armed forces had withdrawn suddenly before the US forces struck. In other words, Iraq was a sitting duck. And replace Iraq with North Korea, for instance, the outcome might be quite different. According to a Chinese military expert, the USA could face defeat “if in the next few years a Korean war erupted.” His arguments: 1. The USA will not have six months to deploy and train forces, as was the case in the Gulf War. Instead, “the Korean People’s Army will surprise attack South Korean bases, ports and communication lines.” 2. US casualties “will not be as low as in the Gulf War...” because of its rough and mountainous terrain. North Korea’s mountains are wrapped in clouds and mist. It will, therefore, “be difficult for the US air force and high technology weaponry to give full play to their vast superiority.” 3. A temperature of 40 degrees Centigrade below zero “provide excellent conditions” for guerrilla warfare. 4. North Korea will “not allow the USA to land in the rear.” 5. US ground forces lack the numerical strength they once had. And even then they didn’t win the Korean war. It was fought to a stalemate. Later, in Vietnam, even though America had 6,63,000 forces and overwhelming technical superiority, the result was “defeat.” The moral of it all, from the Chinese viewpoint: US military and technical superiority will not necessarily lead to a victory in a situation where the enemy has a host of other advantages. And if this were true of small countries like North Korea and Vietnam, China will be a hard nut to crack. In any potential conflict over Taiwan, China appears to be signalling that it will not fight on US terms. Even in the area of high-tech warfare, it is argued that the USA will remain vulnerable to interference and damage to its information networks. True, there is a fair amount of hyperbole in China’s self-serving commentary on US military weaknesses. But it does provide a corrective to the widespread US belief about Beijing’s hopeless military inferiority. In other words, China will press on with its push to compete with the USA for a comparable global status, notwithstanding its manifest lack of real power. |
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Protective
parents ‘put children at risk’ Protective parents who shelter their children from everyday risks are denying them a chance to learn a sense of danger which could ultimately save their lives, child safety campaigners in the UK claimed yesterday (tues). The claim came as the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) revealed that the number of children who drowned in British waters increased by 50 per cent last year. Hot weather and ignorance about the dangers of water were thought to be the main reasons behind the increase from 36 under-15s drowned in 1998 to 54 last year - the highest figure in six years. Peter Cornall, water and leisure manager for Rospa, said the “extremely worrying’’ rise was caused by fine weather encouraging people to swim in dangerous waters combined with children’s poor judgment over the risks involved. “As children grow up, they need to develop an ability to risk assess and work things out for themselves,’’ said Mr Cornall. “Many parents are concerned about children being abducted by strangers and stop their kids from exploring dangers as they would otherwise have done.’’ He added that the statistics did not reflect a drop in the number of children who had been taught to swim as more than half of the fatalities were competent swimmers. “Swimming at the pool or a warm holiday destination is different from falling in the local canal or reservoir and trying to get out when you are disorientated, cold and in shock. It is an important skill to swim, but shouldn’t be taught in isolation from water safety.’’ Britain’s poor record on child safety in the water is echoed in the figures on the road safety, Mr Cornall added. In 1997 Britain had the second highest incidence of child fatalities on European roads, with 1.21 deaths for every 100,0000 under-15s. Only Ireland had a worse rate of 1.31. Rospa estimates that on average every child will twice receive treatment for accidental injuries and two in every 30 will be killed or injured on the roads before they reach 16. “Because children (in the UK) no longer walk to school they are losing the ability to develop assessment skills of their own,’’ Mr Cornall said. But Mary Crowley, chief executive of Parenting Education Support Forum in the UK, pointed that it was often difficult for parents to let go. “From the moment a child is born the parents are thinking of what food the baby wants and if they are warm enough. “But it is not really helpful for parents to go on taking all these decisions. Obviously it would be foolish to allow young babies to stand at the edge of deep ponds, but they have to be gradually allowed and encouraged to take responsibility for their own lives.’’
— Guardian |
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Vedic view
of unity in diversity THE
Vedic seers discern a fundamental unity in the diversity of forms and names in the universe. The Rishis perceive the universe as pervaded and governed by the Supreme Self who is praised in the Vedas as Aditi, the Infinite, the source of all divine power. To highlight the beneficent aspects of the Almighty, His divine powers are glorified by the Vedic seers under such appellations as Agni, Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Vishnu, etc. Dispelling all doubts about polytheism, the Rigveda (I,164,46) clearly states that the sages describes the One Being in various ways and call Him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, Suparna, Yama and matarishvan. The Shukla-Yajurveda (32,I) expresses this view in the following Mantra: "The sun and the moon, Agni and the wind, light and Brahman, the waters and Prajapati all represent the same Supreme Self." Similarly the Atharva-Veda (XIII,4,13) unequivocally declares that all these deities become one in Him. The Manu-Smriti (12, 123-24) also echoes the Vedic view of oneness of the Supreme Self praised under different appellations such as Agni, Indra, Brahman, Prajapati. The Upanishads lucidly explain in their inimitable style the oneness of the Supreme Self. For instance, the Katha Upanishad (II, 2, 12) which devotes several verses to expound the oneness of the Supreme Self observes: "The only lord of the universe, the inner soul of all beings, manifests His one form in many forms. The wise who recognise Him in their own self attain eternal bliss." The seers employ many metaphors to expound the concept of spiritual unity. For instance, the Mundaka Upanishad (III, I) explains that as thousands of sparks issue from a blazing fire, so different beings emerge from the imperishable and ultimately merge into Him. The Katha Upanishad (II, 2, 9) elaborates this idea through another metaphor: "As the single fire inherent in the world has assumed various forms, so the one inner self of the beings has assumed every form in the world and is yet beyond all of them." According to the Vedas and the Upanishads, it is the highest goal of life to realise the spiritual unity of all beings. So the Shukla Yajurveda (40, 6) declares: "When he realises the presence of all beings in the self and the presence of the self in all beings, he harbours no hatred or fear in his mind." It is further clarified in the following Mantra of the Yajurveda: "What delusion and what sorrow can assail him who looks upon all beings as the self and realises the oneness of the self?" The Bhagavad Gita and the Manu-Smriti also endorse the Vedic view of the spiritual unity of all beings and the ultimate goal of life. According to the Gita (6, 29), he is a true Yogi who with his self absorbed in yoga perceives the self in all beings and all beings in the self, regarding them as equal. Advising Arjuna about the highest goal of life (13, 30), Lord Krishna says: When he realises that the separates entities of the beings are centered in the one Supreme Self and that the beings emerge from Him alone, then he attains Brahman." The ancient law-giver, Manu, concludes his teachings about the spiritual unity of all beings with the following verse: "Thus he who perceives with his self the Self in all beings, develops an impartial outlook towards all beings and attains Brahman, the highest goal". |
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Salutation be to you, O Devi Narayani, O you who abide as intelligence in the hearts of all creatures, and bestow enjoyment and liberation. *** Salutation be to you, O Narayani, O you who, in the form of minutes, moments and other divisions of time, bring about change in things, and have (thus) the power to destroy the universe. *** Salutation be to you, O Narayani, you, O Narayani, you have the power of creation, preservation and destruction and are eternal. You are the substratum and embodiment of the three gunas. *** Salutation be to you, O Narayani, O you who are intent on saving the dejected and distressed that take refuge under you. O you Devi, who remove the sufferings of all! — Devi Mahatmyam (Glory of the Divine Mother), chapter XI, 8-9, 11-12 *** United with Shakti, Shiva is endowed with the power to create the universe. Otherwise, He is incapable even of movement... — Saundarya-Lahari of Sri Sankaracharya, I. *** Force is inherent in existence. Shiva and Kali, Brahman and Shakti are one and not two who are separable. Force inherent in existence may be at rest or it may be in motion, but when it is at rest, it exists none the less and is not abolished, diminished or in any way, essentially altered. — Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, chapter X *** Shaktas worship the Universal Energy as Mother, the sweetest name they know; for the mother is the highest ideal of womanhood in India.... The sea calm is the Absolute; the same sea in waves is Divine Mother. She is time, space and causation. God is Mother and has two natures, the conditioned and the unconditioned. As the former, She is God, nature and soul (man). As the latter, she is unknown and unknowable. Out of the unconditioned came the trinity — God, nature and soul, the triangle of existence... . A bit of Mother, a drop, was Krishna, another was Buddha, another was Christ. The worship of even one spark of Mother in our earthly Mother leads to greatness. Worship Her if you want love and wisdom. — The Complete Works of Swami
Vivekananda, Vol. VII. Inspired Talks,
July 2, 1895. *** Existence-knowledge-Bliss Absolute is one and one only. But it is associated with different limiting adjuncts on account of the different degrees of its manifestation. That is why one finds various forms of God. The devotee sings, “O my Divine Mother, Thou art all these! Wherever you see actions, like creation, preservation and dissolution, there is the manifestation of Shakti. Water is water whether it is calm or full of waves and bubbles. The Absolute alone is the Primordial Energy, which creates, preserves, and destroys. Thus it is the same “Captain” whether he remains inactive or performs his worship or pays a visit to the Governor General. Only we designate him by different names at different times. — The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, chapter XIII |
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