An acceptable role of religion in modern Indian society

Hinduism in Public and Private: Reform, Hindutva, Gender and Sampraday Edited by Antony Copley, Oxford, ACROSS THE THIN SAFFRON LINE Suhrita Saha

The Telegraph Friday, December 19, 2003

The constitution framers laid down a secular path to India’s development right from independence. But far from being a matter of private faith, religion today is an essentially public affair. The rise and consolidation of Bharatiya Janata Party in national politics lends credence to this view. Instead of being a limited religious ideal, Hindutva is fast transforming into a powerful tool. But what exactly should be the desirable and acceptable role of religion in modern Indian society? This is the question this book tries to address. The first few essays analyse the influence of Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghose and Dayanand Saraswati on the rise of Hindu nationalism. The later essays deal with more contemporary Hindu social reform movements.

It is interesting to note that the same socio-cultural and intellectual conditions gave birth to both the secular freedom struggle and Hindu nationalism in India. There were overlaps, of course: the voices of Hindu traditionalism within the Congress were the likes of Lajpat Rai and Madan Mohan Malaviya. But secular nationalism linked itself broadly to a liberal and universalist outlook and stood for territorial rather than ethnic claims, while Hindu nationalism placed community over individual and was ostensibly committed to a cultural, ethnic renewal. In doing so, the later avatar of the Hindu Mahasabha, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, almost appropriated nationalistic figures like Vivekananda and Aurobindo Ghose. As a consequence, their distinctive reformulation of Vivekananda’s idea of seva is made to give licence to the kar sevaks of Ayodhya.

Many scholars have taken up the relationship between religious reform and religious nationalism in India. Therese O’ Toole shows how the symbol of cow protection was used to bridge the divide between Hindu reformism and conservative Hindu nationalism. Between the late 19th century and independence, cow protection was associated with movements for Hindu reform, and it also came to be used emblematically in the assertion of Hindu nationalism. Such formulations often clashed with the Congress brand of liberal nationalism, yet they also sometimes merged as being both sacred and secular. But by playing on modern and secular reasons for protecting the cow; the symbol of cow ultimately lost its religious appeal and Hindutva had to find a new symbol: “the good old Lord Ram”.

Feminists have addressed the question of whether the public expression of religion is strictly a male prerogative. Hiltrud Rustam takes up the story of the delayed but eventual setting up of the Sarada Math. The idea of a math run only by female ascetics who give samnyasa to other women and interpret Hindu dharma, is in itself revolutionary, and a symbol of liberation from an oppressive patriarchy and domesticity.

Mata Amritanandamayi’s mission is yet another contemporary religious movement which transcends all sectarian, patriarchal loyalties to either Vishnu or Shiva. Maya Warrier shows that this mission lays emphasis on bhakti and seva. With the Mother’s blessings, ten million middle-class followers seek a different set of values, from a materialist and urban culture to one that leads through social service to a higher spiritual plane.

Antony Copley’s edition captures the various dimensions and nuances of Hinduism, its interface with reform movements, religious nationalism and women’s emancipation. It could prove to be an immense help for scholars of sociology, theology, history, as well as for the informed non-specialist reader.