Intellectuals are not pursuing morality

FOR MATERIALISM Intellectuals Have Failed To Give Guidance By BHARAT JHUNJHUNWALA The Statesman Oct 05,2002

Our intellectuals often lament the decline of moral values and the dominance of materialism in the modern society. But the opposite indeed may be the case. The enslavement of India by the Mughal and British can be traced to the weakness, not strength, of materialism in our culture. Our kings were content playing second fiddle to the foreign rulers. They were given the message that their defeat is Lord’s will — to be ever satisfied is salvation. The correct formula is for the people to be materialist and for the intellectuals to guide them. It is by this mutual friction that both material and spiritual progress can take place. The real failure of India is that the intellectuals have failed in discharging their solemn task of providing guidance.

We have successfully combined morality and materialism in our long history. This was done by an ingenious combination of the priest and the king. The priest pursued morality and the king pursued materialism. Together they established a moral and prosperous society. The materialism of the king was circumscribed by the priest. The king was told to expand his kingdom while upholding dharma. The businessman was told to earn infinite wealth while upholding dharma. The priest was the check upon them should they practice adharma. Materialism was given a positive orientation by this teaching of dharma, which was provided by the priest.

The great failure of contemporary India is that the intellectuals, instead of pursuing morality themselves, lament the lack of morality in the society. Rather, they have adopted immorality themselves. The professors of the day would scarcely have two separate lamps in their houses for official and personal work. The result has been that the society has lost its moral anchor. Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo, both say that the primary failure of India has been that of its priest.