Ishopanishad: Call for Equality and Equilibrium

By Ranjan Kumar Singh

Ishopanishad: Call for Equality and Equilibrium holds up a venerable scripture and views it from an innovative perspective. While the traditional approach to reading and interpreting this poetic work has focused upon a spiritual exploration of its message, author Ranjan Kumar Singh looks at the Ishopanishad from a secular perspective.
By virtue of this original path, the author embraces an understanding of equality, not just predating but also prefiguring the notion of equality that emerged more than two millennia later from the works of Thomas More and Karl Marx and found expression in the systems of socialism and communism. Ishopanishad: Call for Equality and Equilibrium explores the connection between socialism and the Ishopanishad, which sketches, maybe for the first time, the outlines of a benevolent state with a classless society of volunteers administered in accordance with their own moral code rooted in the ideals expressed in the scripture.
Whether you have made the Ishopanishad the focus of your reflection for some time or find yourself drawn to this topic for the first time, the present book offers a unique and contemporary journey into the heart of the poetic text that is ancient and yet inspiring as it asks us to work tirelessly throughout the life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Aug 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482851700

Ranjan Kumar Singh

Ranjan Kumar Singh is an author-filmmaker with more than thirty years of experience in print and audiovisual media with specialization in the field of art and culture. He represented India in the Third World Archaeological Congress to present a paper on Theft and Smuggling of Antiquities and has also directed a film on the subject. After studying India: Art and Culture at the National Museum Institute, New Delhi, he went to the University of Oslo to study Art in Norway. He has travelled far and wide to give lectures on various aspects of Indian Culture and Archaeology. He has been dedicatedly working to arouse consciousness towards the cultural heritage in general and the monuments in particular. An exhibition of his photographs on the Monuments of Delhi was organized by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in 2008. Another solo photo exhibition of his works tracing the history of Delhi from Prithvi Raj to the Moguls was organized in 2011 by the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation, Government of NCR of Delhi. He has six published books, three in Hindi and others in English, to his credit and has contributed to several anthologies and periodicals. He is a life member of the professional body Indian Archaeological Society. He could be contacted at [e-mail]..

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Copyright © 2015 by Ranjan Kumar Singh.

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Contents

Who Is That?

Who Am I?

Why To Do?

What Is Avidya?

The Ishopanishad

to the unknown

author of Ishopanishad

FOREWORD

ISHOPANISHAD: THE SOURCE BOOK OF SOCIALISM

What has the Ishopanishad to do with socialism? Most of us would shun the idea at the very outset and call this a sham. However, it would indeed be amazing to note that the strong socio-economic statement contained in this short Upanishad makes it not just a preamble of Socialism, but of Communism too. Thus it is a pity that this sacred book of Hinduism has remained under spiritual wrap and most of its social meaning has been lost.

The philosophy of Communism could be stated as ‘from each according to one’s ability; and to each according to one’s need’. This is a little different from the philosophy of Socialism that says, ‘from each according to one’s ability; and to each according to one’s input’. Remarkably, in both these cases it is the State, which ensures that the socio-economic order is maintained. Ishopanishad too calls us to ‘work according to the best of our ability and withdraw as per our basic requirements’. Still, what makes it different from the two socio-political orders is the fact that unlike the other two, here the socio-economic order is not maintained by any law of the land, but is the result of our own conscience.

Whereas Communism warrants that the means of production be held by the State or the Community only, Socialism allows it to be owned also by the public enterprises and cooperatives. Ishopanishad on the other hand tells in unequivocal terms that whatever we see around us belongs to the Isha. Remarkably, Isha refers to the one who administers or governs and could imply anyone from the King to the President or from the State to the Community.

Still, it would be improper to think that the connotation of Ishopanishad is far from spiritual. It indeed is primarily a spiritual text, but its author is equally concerned about the world and the society. Though the subject of his contemplation is not the world with boundaries drawn by human beings, but it is the world without fences designed by the Super Being. This world is in total harmony, whereas imbalance is thrust upon it by external factors. In other words, harmony is its natural state and imbalance is an unnatural and temporary phenomenon. The idea of the scripture is to portray the Godly World that is perfected by equality and equilibrium, rather than to project the God that is surreal and beyond reach.

Obviously, the Ishopanishad does not abolish religion or metaphysics as Communism does. In fact, Socialism is more akin to the scripture as it gives all individuals the freedom of religion. The Ishopanishad too gives a total freedom to choose one’s own God. It makes no reference to any particular God or Religion and leaves it to its readers to decide on that. The Isha referred to in the Ishopanishad is in fact the collective power of all individual entities sans religion. Can a scripture be more secular?

Although Communism and Socialism both advocate equality as a way of life, but Ishopanishad takes equality as the very basis of life. For it, people are not equal since they are born equal; they are equal because they are one. It is hard to find a stronger voice in favor of equality. Whereas Communism demolishes all class distinctions in order to achieve this equality, Ishopanishad makes it very clear that all being are one and there is absolutely no duality; and there cannot be any inequality if there is no duality. While Communism calls for a classless society, Ishopanishad makes us aware of our identity as an undistinguishable whole.

For the Ishopanishad, all individual entities are one with Isha or the Great Administrator and so there remains no difference of status either. Ishopanishad demolishes all forms of inequality, whether it is between the administrator and the administered, the subject and the ruler, the people and the government, or even between the man and the God! Could there be a more profound voice for equality?

Unlike Communism or Socialism, Ishopanishad isn’t concerned with the production or the market, but its subject of concern is the living world. It doesn’t see the world as the slaves and their masters or the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, but as a single entity manifested in various forms. Those who truly realize this, they will never differentiate or discriminate between beings on the basis of their forms, colors, creed or caste. Thus the sole aim of Ishopanishad is to reveal this truth to us and introduce us to our real identity. Perhaps this is as utopian as the society proposed by Thomas More or maybe as unrealistic as the communism put forward by Karl Marx, yet it is totally achievable by individual endeavors and calls for no struggle or conflict between varying forces.

Amidst several attempts to make us a better Christian, a better Muslim, a better Hindu based on various scriptures; or a better Indian, a better Israeli, a better Norwegian based on various constitutions, Ishopanishad tries to make us a better citizen of a unified world that is governed by our own conscience. Driven by this ethical code, if we all were to do our very best and expect the very least in turn, the world would certainly be a better place to live with equal opportunity, equal space and equal share for one and all. This is precisely the call of the Ishopanishad.

Considered by many to be the oldest and best of all Upanishads, the Ishopanishad may seem quite insignificant in terms of its size. It has merely eighteen verses contained in it. Yet, it required eighteen long chapters of Bhagavad Gita to elaborate on the teachings of this Upanishad that forms a part of the Shukla Yajur Veda! Still, Ishopanishad is not just the gist of Bhagavad Gita, or the Karma Yoga in a nutshell. It is in fact the constitution of the unified World and the preamble of humanity.

No benevolent state can ever ignore socialism. It may be interesting to note that nearly all countries that prefer to call themselves benevolent states are obliged to adopt the principles of socialism in combination with their own political systems, be it Sweden, Norway, France, Canada, India or the United Kingdom. In terming Ishopanishad as the Source Book of Socialism, I am simply trying to free it of its spiritual tag and explore its social significance that may prove more relevant today.

WHO IS THAT?

But for Hinduism, perhaps there is no religion that gives us the liberty of choosing our own God. And Hinduism is not a religion. A religion by its very nature is authoritative. This authority comes from a single God, a unique Scripture and a widely respected Religious-head. Hinduism has too many of these. With no absolute authority, there cannot be a religion. In fact, the nomenclature Hindu does not refer to any belief. Instead it refers to a location. Hindu is a distortion of Sindhu or the Indus River along which these people lived. Consequently, their way of life was termed Hinduism.

Remarkably, the way of life of these people was influenced by a collection of Samhitas called the Vedas. These were not written scriptures, but verbal communiqués that transcended generations. There were four of these – the Rig Veda, the Yajura Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. Subsequently these Vedas were expanded and the appended portion was called the Vedanta. While Vedas related to the nature of the outer world, Vedanta related to the nature of inner world. Together these formed the most comprehensive knowledge base.

Vedanta continues to be relevant as the truth of the inner world has not changed. Even the advancements of science and technology have failed to contradict the facts put forward by our Great Seers, who had realized the truth in their own unique way. Of all the knowledge transcending down the generations, the Upanishads are of paramount importance as these expounded the doctrine of Karma, which was fully established later in the Bhagavad Gita and which still continues to be the essence of Indian Philosophy.

The beauty of the Upanishads is in its universal appeal. The scripture, as such, not only serves Hinduism, but also other religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, whereas it itself retains its secular identity. The scripture in its very nature is purely humanitarian. In fact, in most cases it refrains even from giving the God any name. If ever the Vedanta has to refer to the God, it refers to it as Tat (That). By not associating it with any form and name, Vedanta makes ‘That’ independent of gender or religion.

The Vedanta identifies the God not by noun, but by adjectives. If ever ‘That’ must be called by a name, it has been called so as the Isha, the one who rules over; the one who commands. The Isha thus conceived by the Vedanta is well defined and yet totally unidentified, thereby making it convenient for all to conceive ‘That’ in one’s own unique way. Vedanta presents us with a perfect picture frame and