|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hindu Narratives on Human Rights SINCE the adoption and proclamation of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" by the United Nationsin1948,there have been lively debates on the nature of these rights in academic circles the worldover. These debates have created an impression that the concern for human rights is of Western origin. Classical Indian literature, it is alleged, has no place for rights as it is duty oriented and the notion of aapad-dharma eliminates any possibility of universal account of rights.
Analysing the questions raised by Draupadi in the Mahabharata after she is forcibly brought to the assembly of Kauravas, Sharma convincingly proves that there there was a serious discussion on rights in the classical Indian tradition. He argues that the dispute between the Pandavas and the Kauravas regarding the claim to ownership of land is also "one of contested rights". In Indian literature, the discourse on human rights, like any discourse on ethics and morality, is presented in the form of narratives—small stories like those of Pancatantra or Hitopadesha or grand narratives like Puranas, especially Bhaagvata Purana, Ramayana, Mahabharata,and Rajatarangini.The advantage of teaching through narratives is that it makes a person faced with a dilemma see how another person acted in a similar situation. The narrative has both a descriptive and a prescriptive aspect. Through an analysis of various narratives, Sharma has shown that Indian thinkers not only advocated individual human rights but also demonstrated that "violation of the right of an individual may have consequences, which extend beyond the individual". This aspect is missing in the West because of its crass individualistic orientation. One of these narratives relates to Guru Nanak’s explanation to Mardana regarding the destruction of Saidpur. Mardana asks Guru Nanak "Why have so many been slain when only one did wrong?" The Guru promises that he would answer him the next morning. He asks Mardana to sleep under a tree. Mardana does as he is told. While he is sleeping, ants are attracted to the grease and sweet that had fallen on his clothes. The movement of an ant disturbs the sleep of Mardana who responds by wiping them all away with the brush of his hand. All of them are killed. In the morning, when the Guru asks him what he had done, Mardana replied, "All have died because one disturbed me". The Guru laughs and says: "Thus does death come to many because of one". Sharma proves the existence of right to religion in classical Indian thought through the story of Prahalada in Bhaagvata Purana; and that of right to livelihood and rights of Children through the narrative of King Shivi and Animandava, respectively, in the Mahabharata. Through the narratives of Shakuntala, Sati, Savitri, Aatreyi, Maitreyi, Gargi, Indrani, Shachi and Ratnavati, Sharma has shown that women in India not only enjoyed the right to education and study of the Vedas but also had personal rights like right to property, right to marry the person of their choice. Hinduism assigns rights not only to human beings – men as well as women – but also to animals. Animal rights have found a place in the Western discourse on rights very recently. Through the narratives of the birth of Kartikeya, the parable of Harish Chandra, and the death of Ravana, Sharma shows that right to parenthood, and right of the dead are the unique features of Indian discourse on human rights. The book makes an interesting reading and shall prove to be a milestone in removing the mistaken notion that discourse on human rights is a Western phenomenon and Hinduism has no place for it.
|
||
|
|
||
This impression is akin
to the belief held by many leading Western philosophers that
"there is no Philosophy on the Eastern side of Suez". This
thinking fortunately now stands corrected due to the pioneering and
painstaking efforts of Radhakrishnan, Mohanty,and Matilal et al.
Arvind Sharma’s book adopts an innovative approach to show that in
Hindu texts, there is an elaborate and detailed discussion on
"the particular and universal dimension" of human rights.