Sanatana Dharma and Plantation Hinduism (Second Edition Volume 1): Explorations and Reflections of an Indian Guyanese Hindu

By Ramesh Gampat

Christian Missionaries worked hard to convert immigrants. Their first order of business was to denigrate Hinduism, designate Hindus as heathen, and disparage their culture, food and even attire. Immigrants stubbornly resisted, led by the tiny educated elite, including Brhmaas whom we call Brahmins. Conversion was a failure at least up to the end of the 19th century but picked up a self-generating momentum thereafter. The result is that the share of Hindus in Guyana’s Indian population declined from 83.5 percent in 1880 to 62.8 percent in 2012. The largest portion of the contraction was lost to Christianity. The loss notwithstanding, even a casual observer would conclude that Guyanese Hindus, at home and in the Diaspora, are a very religious people. Many of us do a jhandi or havan once annually; others do the more elaborate and costlier yajña, where everyone is welcome, once or twice in their lifetime. Most of us do a short daily puja – prayers, offerings, reading the stras and listening to bhajan – in our homes.

An important, but perhaps unintended, way immigrants countered conversion to Christianity was an unplanned movement towards a “synthesis” that brought Hindus, regardless of caste or sect, under a “unitary form of Hinduism.” The “synthesis” began around the 1870s and was completed by the 1930s to the 1950s. Guyanese Hindus call the unified corpus of religious beliefs and practices that emerged from the “synthesis” Sanatana Dharma. Ramesh Gampat labels it Plantation Hinduism in this path-breaking book.

The book argues that the brand of Hinduism practiced is inconsistent with Sanatana Dharma, called Vednta by the more philosophically inclined. Plantation Hinduism features an extraordinary dependence upon purohits (pandits), which has anaesthetized the Hindu mind and render him unable to think, question and inquire when it comes to Dharma. Rituals and bhakti have been degraded and turned into desire-motivated worship; devats have been misconstrued as Brahman rather than as limited manifestation of the one non-dual pure Consciousness; belief in the multiplicity of gods encourages image worship; and superstitions anchor Guyanese Hindus to tradition and mere belief. Plantation Hinduism is little more than desire-motivated actions, dogmas and superstitions. Absent is the idea that Sanatana Dharma is a spiritual science no less scientific than hard sciences, such as physics and astronomy. The central message of Vednta is the innate divinity of every person and the freedom to realize that divinity through anubhava, direct personal experience of Supreme Reality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796078015

Ramesh Gampat

Ramesh Gampat is an economist, who worked for about three decades with the United Nations Development Programme. He is the author of several books. The two most recent ones are Guyana’s Great Economic Downswing, 1977-1990. Socio-Economic Impact of Co-operative Socialism (2020); and Essays. Guyana: Economics, Politics and Demography (2022). Dr. Gampat has also published academic papers on inflation, poverty, international trade, human development, gender and corruption. He lives with his wife just outside Atlanta, Georgia.

Book preview

SANATANA DHARMA

AND

PLANTATION HINDUISM

Explorations and Reflections of an

Indian Guyanese Hindu

Second Edition

Volume 1

RAMESH GAMPAT

Copyright © 2020 by Ramesh Gampat.

ISBN:                  Softcover                        978-1-7960-7800-8

                            eBook                              978-1-7960-7801-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 01/06/2020

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Praise for Sanatana Dharma and Plantation Hinduism

This book will become required reading for Hindus of Guyana, wider Caribbean, Caribbean Diaspora and others. It is a towering intellectual achievement of analysis and clarification of Hindu practices and ideas. This kind of informed and scholarly tome on Guyanese Hinduism is long overdue. It represents a welcome deviation from the ritualistic simplicity of the pandits and the misrepresentations of academic cultural studies. Gampat establishes the foundation for research in a new field, hence the true value of this landmark book. It also diagnoses a fundamental problem, which involves the failure of Hindus to think for themselves. The fixation on materialism blinds the understanding of the intricate knowledge embedded in the Hindu texts and makes many Hindus susceptible to manipulation by the pandits and politicians. Ideas of astronomy, philosophy and the social sciences are embedded in this book, as well as an inductivist epistemology of darśana as a mode of investigation. I highly recommend.

— Dr. Tarron Khemraj, Professor of Economics and International Studies, New College of Florida

The first batch of 246 Indians set sail for Guyana in 1838 … the writing piques the imagination right away. An intense personal response to the lived experience of what the author calls Plantation Hinduism, is intertwined with the immigration story of Indians in Guyana. Shlokas like Om Poornamadah, and poems like the Indian Centenary Hymn, embellish the work. This is a hard look at Hindu practices examined against Sanatana Dharma by a scholar-practitioner through a Caribbean lens

— Dr. Anuradha Kathi Rajivan, Economist and former Head of the Human Report Development Unit, United Nations Development Programme

Dr. Ramesh Gampat’s book is a must read for anyone interested in religion and culture. Much has previously been written about Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism, but his thesis on Plantation Hinduism is fascinatingly unique and original in scholarship. The author skillfully addresses various issues, including those that revolve around caste and terms such Brahmins and Pandits. His Hindu life in rural Guyana and experiences outside provide him with experiences that enriches his book.

— Dr. Somdat Mahabir, Scientist and Professor

This is a very compelling work of empirical research and personal expression. It interrogates issues in the Caribbean, and the wider world, by critically examining religious-socio-cultural topics such as the re-creation of Hinduism in Guyana, the disintegration of the caste system, conversion to Christianity, and the role of the pundits and mandirs in society. Gampat’s bold and brave style of writing will surely provoke praises as well as condemnations. Truth be told, this is a book with no holds barred.

— Dr. Kumar Mababir, Former Assistant Professor, University of Trinidad and Tobago, and 2011 National Award (Silver) Recipient for Education

Also by Ramesh Gampat

Guyana: From Slavery to the Present. Volume 1: Health System

Guyana: From Slavery to the present: Volume 2: Major Diseases

Perspectives on Corruption and Human Development, Volume 1 (co-edited with Anuradha Rajivan)

Perspectives on Corruption and Human Development, Volume 2 (co-edited with Anuradha Rajivan)

In memory of my mother and father

who instilled in me

the value of fair play and education

and

To Hindu intellectual kṣatriyas

on whose shoulders

rest the defense of Sanatana Dharma

Om Poornamadah Poornamidam Poornaat Poornamudachyate;

Poornasya Poornamaadaaya Poornameva Avashishyate

Om Shaantih, Shaantih, Shaantih

Filled with Brahman are the things we see;

Filled with Brahman are the things we see not;

From out of Brahman floweth all that is;

From Brahman all – yet is He still the same.

Om peace, peace, peace

Another translation:

Whole is that, whole too is this and from the whole,

whole cometh and take whole, yet whole remains.

- Peace -invocation, Īśāvāsya Upaniṣhad.

In the Bhagavad Gītā the Śruti and the Smṛti get themselves blended.

Because of its being an exhaustive collection of spiritual laws,

the Gītā is called Śruti. These spiritual laws when applied to life

are called the Sanatana Dharma – eternal order and righteousness.

The Gītā may therefore be treated as a manual of the Sanatana Dharma

– Swami Chidbhavananda 1984: 39.

CONTENTS

VOLUME 1

Preface

Acknowledgement

Chapter 1.   Things Fall Apart

Introduction

Plantation Hinduism: Meaning of the Term

Plantation Hinduism: Structural Features

Plantation Hinduism: Substantive Features

Reader’s Guide: An Extended Tour of the Book

Chapter 2.   The Great Drama: Indian Immigration To Guyana

Caste and Religious Composition

The Early Years of Indian Indenture

Indians Revolutionize Guyana

The Long Struggle Continues

Chapter 3.   Immigrants: Does Name Tell Caste?

Varṇa is not Caste

Jati, the Closest Approximation of Caste

Data and Methodology

Major Findings

Conclusion

Chapter 4.   Proselytization: Assumptions And Approach

Major Christian Missions

Stage I of Proselytization: Hinduism as Personification of Evil

Stage II of Proselytization: Major Assumptions

Stage III of Proselytization: The Approach

Stage IV of Proselytization: Resisting Conversion

Chapter 5.   Proselytizing To Indians: The Record

Early Lamentation

The Data

Indian Population Only: Evolving Religious Composition

Migration and Decline of the Hindu Sub-Population

Guyana’s Population: Evolving Religious Composition of Indians

Chapter 6.   Coexistence Of High Literacy And Ignorance

Pre-Independence: Poor School Attendance

Indifference of Colonial Authorities and Plantocracy

Indifference of Indian Parents

Education: Progress After the Mid-1930s

Long Tradition of Debates Among Indians

Losing the Oral Dharmic Tradition

Untangling the Hindu Conundrum

Chapter 7.   Christian Missionaries: How They Saw Hindus And Hinduism

Hinduism is a Cursed System of Beliefs

Monotheistic or Polytheistic?

Utter Contempt: The Coolie Parson

Rampersaud, the Creole Hindu Coolie

Chapter 8.   Religion And Tradition

Vaiṣṇavism

Vaiṣṇavism is as Old as Time

Geography of Vaiṣṇavism

Shared Values and Diversity

Chapter 9.   Democratizing Hinduism: Erasing Barriers

Opening Sanatana Dharma to All

From Hut Temples to Mandirs

Community Worship

Prominence of Brahmins

Degrading the Great Tradition

The Synthesis- A Mixed Blessing?

Caste and Brahmin Priests: Indispensable to Hinduism?

The Arya Samaj: What It Is

Arya Samaj: A Challenge to Plantation Hinduism?

Endnotes

Selected Sanskrit (Transliterated) Words

References

TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES

Table 2.1.     Region of origin of a sample of immigrants from

India to British Guiana, 1865-1917

Table 2.2.     British Guiana: Two estimates of religious composition of immigrants: 1865-1917 and 1874-1917 (%)

Table 3.1.     Name and caste: No consistent relationship

Table 3.2.     Muslim immigrants

Table 3.3.     Religion and caste of a sample of emigrants from Calcutta to British Guiana, 1865-1917

Table 3.4.     Sample of Indian immigrants, 1874, 1889, 1890 and 1899

Table 3.5.     Sample: Immigrants with same or similar-sounding names

Table 5.1.     Religious composition of Indian population, 1911, 1921 and 1931 (numbers)

Table 5.2.     Religious persuasion of Indians, 1931 and 1946 (percentage)

Table 5.3.     Indian population by religious persuasion, 1880-2012

Table 5.4.     Religious affiliation of national population, 2002 and 2012

Table 5.5.     Religious affiliation of Indian population, 2002 and 2012

Figure 5.1.   Indian population: Religious

composition, 1880 and 2012

Figure 5.2a. Hindus as share of Indian and total population (%)

Figure 5.2b. Muslims as share of Indian and total population (%)

Figure 5.2c. Christians as share of Indian and total population (%)

Figure 5.2d:Other as share of Indian population (%)

Figure 5.3    Guyana’s population: Religious

composition of Indians, 1880 and 2012

Figure 6.1.   Illiteracy rates, 2002 and 2012

Figure 6.2.   Closing of the Hindu mind

Figure 9.1.   The synthesis: Evolution of a unitary form of Hinduism

Box 1.1.       Divinity is within

Box 1.2.       Plantation Hinduism: Three structural features

Box 1.3.       Plantation Hinduism: Substantive features

Box 1.4.       Sanatana Dharma and Plantation Hinduism

Box 4.1.       The Heathen Indian immigrants: Some objections they raised against conversion

Box 5.1.       Data: Note on religious affiliations of Indians, 2002 and 2012

Box 6.1:       CaribbeanHindu Network discussions: Glimpses of role of pandits

Box 7.1.       Sanatana Dharma: Its enduring and universal beauty

Box 7.2.       Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata: Bridge to India

Box 8.1.       The six principal attributes of Viṣṇu

Box 8.2.       For the Hindu, God is both Mother and Father and all else

Box 9.1.       A chamar ritual

Box 9.2.       Hinduism: The principal saṁskāras

Box 9.3.       Meaning of the word arya.

Box 9.4.       Arya Samaj: Against image worship

VOLUME 2

Chapter 10. Bhakti And Murti: Are we Off The Mark?

We Practice a Degraded Version of Bhakti

Bhakti: Intense Love of God, not a Petition

for Worldly Things

How Shall I Know You, O Yogi? Through Bhakti

Śraddhā: Its Importance to Bhakti

Arjuna’s Fundamental Question: Bhakti or Jñāna?

Image Worship

Hindus do not Worship Idols

The View from Vaiṣṇavaism

Chapter 11. Karma Is Not Destiny

Have We Made a Mockery of Karma?

Karma According to Sanatana Dharma

Karma and Akarma or Action and Inaction

Chapter 12. Misunderstood Rituals And Persistent Superstitions

Obsession With Rituals

Rituals: More than Show and Commerce

Widespread Belief in Superstition

No Room for Luck and Superstition

Chapter 13. Gods And Reincarnation

Many gods: Yet Another Misunderstanding

Millions of gods but only One God

Diminishing Belief in Reincarnation

Reincarnation as a Fundamental Pillar

Buddhi: Prerequisite for Spiritual Growth

Chapter 14. Pandits: Priests, Entrepreneurs Or Both?

According to the Śāstras: Who is a Pandit?

The Guyanese Pandit

Extra-Mandir Entities

Making of a Pandit

Bad Pandits Drive Out Good Ones

Chapter 15. Puruṣārthas, The Three Big Bs, And More

Hinduism Stands Apart

The Puruṣārthas

More on Dharma

Nirguṇa and Saguṇa Brahman

Brahmā, Brahman and Brahmaṇa

Relation Between Brahman and the Universe:

Three Views

Could these Views of Brahman be Reconciled?

The Mahāvākyas

Chapter 16. Pinnacle Of Hindu Philosophy

What is Vedānta?

Vedānta is Both Philosophy and Religion

The Prasthāna-traya of Vedānta

The Six Orthodox Philosophical Systems

Advaita Vedānta: Three Propositions

Chapter 17. Organic Unity: An Alternative View Of Reality

Life of Rāmānuja: A Selective View

Rāmānuja: The Universe and Souls are not an Illusion

Rāmānuja’s Theism: Two Central Pillars

Viśiṣṭādvaita and Vaiṣṇavism: Different and Separate?

Chapter 18. Quo Vadis – What can Be Done?

What Are The Issues?

Moving Forward: A Tentative Agenda

Endnotes

Selected Sanskrit (Transliterated) Words

References

Index

Tables, Figures and Boxes

Table 14.1. U.S.A. Pandits’ Parishad: Financial Statement

2014

Table 15.1. Dharmic traditions and Abrahamic traditions: Central values

Figure 10.1. Arjuna’s question to Sri Krishna

(Bhagavadgītā XII.1)

Plate 14.1. A relatively large mandir in rural Guyana

Plate 14.2. An Indian man (a beggar on the street) with

pagri on head

Box 10.1. Who is a guru?

Box 10.2. Nārada’s Aphorism No. 2: Sa tvasmin

parama-prema-rupa

Box 10.3. Meaning of yoga

Box 10.4. What is śraddhā?

Box 10.5. The Jñāni and the Bhakta

Box 10.6. Swami Vivekananda: Hindus do not worship idols

Box 11.1. Karma invalidates fundamental tenets of Abrahamic religions

Box 11.2. Saṁskāra and Vāsanā

Box 11.3. Dispassion

Box 11.4. The metaphysics of Bhagavadgītā

Box 12.1 The Guyanese Hindu jhandi

Box 12.2. Whoever offers Me with love a leaf, a flower …

Box 12.3. Yajña: Shifting its meaning from rituals to

renunciation and selfless service

Box 12.4. Mere bath in a sacred river is not enough

Box 12.5. Japanese also believe in ghosts

Box 12.6. Bhojan mantra and more: A wonderful shloka

from Bhagavadgītā

Box 13.1. Yājñavalkya: Who was he?

Box 14.1. Guyanese pandits: Key points

Box 14.2. The U.S.A. Pandits’ Parishad: Income and

expenditure, 2014

Box 14.3. Varna: Hierarchical and sealed?

Box 15.1. Fundamental principles of Sanatana Dharma

Box 15.2. Only in Sanatana Dharma: God as Mother

Box 15.3. The spiritual core of Hinduism: The Upaniṣhads

Box 16.1. Śaṅkara: Great philosopher and saint

Box 16.2. Meaning of the word darśana

Box 16.3. An eternal religion?

Box 16.4. Negating all

Box 16.5. Śruti and Smṛti

Box 16.6. Bhagavadgītā: Practical Vedānta

Box 16.7. Brahman as the substratum (ādhāra):

What does it mean?

Box 16.8. Māyā is inexplicable

Box 16.9. Advaita Vedānta: Major theories of causation

Box 17.1. Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja: Two great philosophers,

brāhmaṇas, fountain of humility,

wellspring of equality

Box 17.2. Bhakti Schools of Vedānta

Box 17.3. Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Nimbārka and Madhva:

A very abbreviated insight into their philosophy

Box 17.4. Rāmānuja’s Philosophy: The idea of Śarīra-Śarīrī

Box 18.1. Mere intellectualism does not illumination bring

Box 18.2. Vedānta: Science of human possibilities

Box 18.3. Only jñāna is liberating

Box 18.4. How does one acquire jñāna?

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The reaction to the previous edition of this book was both expected and unexpected. For reasons I cannot explain, the print is smaller than usual, which makes for difficult reading, particularly because my target audience are those Hindus 40-45 years and over. Indeed, I have received several emails complaining that the small font size detracts from the utility of the book. Those feedback were expected. There were others who told me, orally, via email or both, that a book of this nature was long overdue and hoped the book would be widely read. I expected purohitas (pandits) in particular to react strongly and negatively to the book but that did not happen.

I have listened to the advice of friends and others to issue the book in two volumes and to use a larger font size. Volume 1, which contains chapters 1 to 9, focuses on certain aspects Indian Indenture, evolution of the religious persuasions of Indians, literacy levels, some of our important beliefs and values, and the transformation from traditions based on sect/caste to a homogeneous brand of Plantation Hinduism, which is not exactly the same as Sanatana Dharma. The transformation began from around the 1870s and was more or less completed somewhere around the 1930s to the 1950s. Volume 2, occupying chapters 10 to 18, discusses the major religious beliefs to which most Guyanese subscribe and my own understanding of Sanatana Dharma. The concluding chapter is an effort to chart the way forward.

Aside from breaking this huge book into two volumes, the second edition adds stylistic niceties to aid reading, and corrects minor typographical and grammatical errors. However, these changes leave the substance of the book intact.

I sincerely thank my readers for their advice and support.

Ramesh Gampat

December 2019

PREFACE

This book is an attempt to enhance my own understanding of a religion, a way of life more precisely, that has been the guiding light of my life. My search may be likened to a spiritual self-exploration, a pilgrimage of the mind, a testament to the yearnings of the soul. Along the journey I have discovered that the brand of Hinduism most Guyanese Hindus practice is not wholly the same as that of Sanatana Dharma, also known as Vedānta. While the fit leaves much to be desired, I am not critiquing our beliefs and practices for I do not aim to cast stones. Even so, it seems to me we have forgotten that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life, a lived faith, that leads from mundane existence to pure, unalloyed joy or liberation from the cycle of repeated birth and death. The path to infinite, pure, non-dual Consciousness is not mere belief or dogma; it is a spiritual science. The path has been tested and proved correct by our Ṛṣis and saints and is open to all and sundry. Ultimate Truth is not a belief but an exhilarating and transformative experience that removes all differences, that brings the experience of the oneness of existence. The foundation of science is experiment and experience. This is also true of Hinduism, which emphasizes anubhava, knowledge derived from direct, personal experience, not beliefs and dogmas. Seen this way, Hinduism is the science of human possibilities.

The problem confronting Guyanese Hindus is a simple: we refuse to think for ourselves and place complete trust in pandits, most of whom behave like religious entrepreneurs, selling adulterated services to Hindus at whatever price the puja market dictates. The exploitation of ordinary Hindus by pandits (commerce among people) comprises one side of the Guyanese Hindus equation. The other is that we, pandits and ordinary Hindus, treat Hinduism as commerce between gods and men, which is what our numerous rituals are geared towards, mistakenly. We believe, unwittingly or not, that the goal of life is to accumulate karma. Kāmakāma, sensory desires, on both sides of the equation, rule and ruin our lives. It traps us in Samsāra, bondage or the attachment of the Puruṣa to the guṇas of Prakṛti – sattva, rajas, and tamas -, so that, like animals, we live at the sensory level only. Our mind and senses run outward and rarely run inward: we dwell mostly at the level of pravṛtti (outward action) and only a little at the level of nivṛtti (inward contemplation). The latter is the source of all values – moral, ethical, spiritual. According to Śaṅkarācārya, the judicious blending pravṛtti and nivṛtti makes for a complete philosophy of life, which integrates all aspects of life in a balanced way.

Most Guyanese Hindus do not like to read, and are confused by the numerous religious texts: the Vedas, Upaniṣhads, the large number of Purāṇas, Mahābhārata, Bhagavadgītā, Rāmāyana, etc. Quantity, both of texts and gods, overwhelms. I suspect many of us bosom up an unvocalized question, too timid to air our thoughts: if I have to read one book to learn about Sanatana Dharma, which will it be? My response is that the immortal Bhagavadgītā contains all that is necessary to follow the four puruṣārthas (goals) and a life of spirituality, a life of compassion and selfless service, a life of fulfillment, as opposed to mere religion. I hope my critical perspective leads to a deep rethinking of why we accept certain beliefs and practices, why we are essentially passive Hindus and how we can move forward. In a sentence, my principal argument is that we need to reassess the whole desire-motivated ritualistic religious enterprise we practice. For this, we need to return to the Upaniṣhads, including Bhagavadgītā, which contain such a reassessment. Our Ṛṣis found that ritualism, the business of seeking to go to heaven (Svargaloka) and lust for worldly things consume our energy, drive us after ephemera and thus trap the jīva in bondage.

I spent a great deal of time researching and writing the two chapters that examine the assumptions, approach and record of proselytization to Indians. Christian Missionaries were very crafty, imaginative, proactive, creative and persistent. They were also frustrated by the meagre results of their efforts. The 133 years from 1880 to 2012 saw the number of Indian Christians increasing from around 1,000 to about 57,000. That Indian Christians represents less than a fifth of the Indian population today is a testament to the resilience of Hinduism in Guyana and its Diaspora. Today the mumbo jumbo dished out by many pandits in the name of Hinduism, their refusal to entertain questions, clarifications and views, their overriding self-interest, their arrogance, hunger for respect and perceived authority are turning away young intelligent Hindus. Some young people have converted to Christianity. Our pandits need to educate themselves in both Dharma and secular education; otherwise, they will be unable to cater to the scientifically minded young people of today. Pandits, and all of us, must understand that Total Reality comprises both the secular and the sacred and that Hindus have never separated them into distinct parts. Both must be pursued simultaneously. One must not be pursued at the expense of the other otherwise chaos results.

This tome, which consumed many years of my life, is the first book-length treatment of Hinduism in Guyana. I apologize in advance for its length. If it’s any consolation, the book is divided into three parts, which may be read sequentially, in any order or alone, depending upon the reader’s interest. The book is likely to raise eyebrows and enrage some people, not the least pandits. If it leads to a renewed discussion of our brand of Hinduism and a better understanding of Vedānta, I would not have labored in vain. Now for a confession: I am not a scholar of Sanskrit or Hinduism and I did not set out to pen a scholarly tome on religion. My views are that of a layman, which is based on what my father and extended family and others passed on to me, my own observations and discourses with other Hindus. This knowledge is supplemented by extensive reading and studying of the Śāstras in translation, and numerous scholarly treatises on Hinduism.

There are numerous Sanskrit words and phrases scattered throughout the book. My policy is not to italicize words and phrases many Guyanese Hindus know, including dharma, karma, deva, purohita, and puja. All other Sanskrit words and phrases will appear in italics. Further, the standard Roman transliteration is generally not used for common Sanskrit words and phrases, which are written as they are pronounced, but is employed for unfamiliar ones. I struggled with the issue of gender and half-heeded the advice of a female colleague of mine who read the entire manuscript: should I follow convention and use he and other pronouns and nouns of the male gender in a generic sense, use only feminine pronouns, use words that refer to both genders or simply use the plural form, such as ‘they, us, and we? How should one deal with other genders including LBGTQ? The gender labyrinth is complex and treacherous. I have adopted an eclectic approach to this dilemma that employs of all four options with context dictating the particular choice.

Having written a book of over 375,000 words, I have become possessed by a strange and uneasy feeling. I might have written from my heart, but fear I am poorly equipped, in terms of learning and anubhava, to articulate the central tenets of Vedānta or to judge others – my fellow Guyanese Hindus. I have merely indulged, so it seems in retrospect, in moral speculation, which I now realize bears little, if any, comparison to moral action. I have not endured the pangs of deep suffering, lacerating experiences of life, engaged, in a word, in prolonged tapasyā, to pontificate on how others conduct or should not conduct their lives.

I have pondered and still do on the meaning and purpose of life, but I feel a void, more acutely now, in my moral understanding and empathy even after so many thousands of words. What a tragedy it is to expend so many words only to realize one’s shallow love and compassion for others, let alone selfless service to others. Words, Paul Kalanithi (2016:43) movingly and memorably writes in his wonderful book, began to feel weightless as the breath that carried them. It is the character of one’s deeds and intention that matter and high morals are the foundation. High morals are a necessary condition for spirituality, which means that the search for Truth must begin in the secular world. Since my own spiritual journey is yet to take off, how can I talk to others about spirituality? Needless to say, the reader will form his or her own opinion, which I respect.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Any substantive research project is not a solo venture even though one person might have authored the final document. This is the case with the present book, and I am most grateful for the support, intellectual, material and moral, of many people over many years. My first debt of gratitude, a deeply profound one, goes to my late father, who introduced me to Bhagavadgītā when I was still a child, as I lay in bed, too early in the morning for a young boy to rise, listening to him chanting shlokas aloud and reading the English translation and commentary. His critical position on our beliefs and practices and on pandits influenced me tremendously and inculcated in me a good deal of wonder, skepticism and a hunger for knowledge. I have vivid memories of my mother as she sits in her creaky rocking chair early in the morning with an old and blemished copy of Bhagavadgītā in her hand, reading silently. Both of my parents would always touch Bhagavadgītā to their forehead before reading it, a practice I have inherited and am proud to carry on. On Hindu festival (Utsava) days, religious days as we call them, all preparations squarely fell upon my mother’s shoulders even though she had nine hungry children screaming for attention. Now, in my mature years, I often wondered how she managed. She must have been a woman of tremendous inner strength, resolve, fortitude and devotion to her family to endure a life of sacrifice and penance of the highest order. Always contented with whatever comes her way, she rarely complained or unwarrantedly rebuked others. My mother, the eldest child of her parents, was simply an extraordinary and a rare human being. I am blessed she is my mother, now and always.

Pujya Swami Aksharananda provided the necessary spiritual inspiration for this book. He also helped me gained a better understanding of Bhagavadgītā even though my understanding is like a mere ripple in a vast ocean. In the Mahābhārata, Droṇācharyā could not take Eklavya as his disciple and teach him archery because as a teacher of the princes he could not teach other students. In his heart, Eklavya accepted Droṇācharyā as his Guru and made a statue of him at his home. Over the years, he practiced with single-minded concentration on the Guru and eventually became a better archer than Arjuna even though the Guru did not know him or did anything for him. In the same way but of incredibly lower caliber, humbler ambition and far less profundity of devotion than Eklavya, I hold Swami Ranganathananda, who passed away in 2005, as my Guru for I have learned so much from his writings. His The Universal Message of Bhagavad Gita helped me to understand that the quest for truth that lifts one beyond the moral plane rests on anubhava, direct experience, and not an abstraction, speculation, book-learning, beliefs and dogmas. My profound gratitude explains why his name figures so prominently in my citations and references. I owe him an invaluable debt of gratitude that I cannot repay in this life. Anuradha Kathi Rajivan, a United Nations friend and colleague of mine and with whom I co-edited a two-volume book on corruption and human development, read the entire manuscript and humbly shared her profound insights with me. Her knowledge of Vedānta is unmatched. Her feedback led me to rethink, rewrite and reorganize large portions of the book. The book’s title builds upon her suggestion. Without the benefit of her guidance the book would have been poorer. I am forever grateful to her. My thanks also go to Biplove Choudhary and Pramod Kumar, both former United Nations colleagues, who read parts of the book and graciously offered their comments.

I am thankful for the encouragement, both substantively and morally, of Somdat Mahabir, a man who possess the necessary language skills to delve into the Śāstras. He and Richie Pooran read and provided feedback on an early paper, written in 2012, that scoped out the contours of the book. Both have read various chapters and selflessly provided advice on how to improve the book. Over the years, I have learned a good deal from the CaribbeanHindu Network (CHN), of which I am the current moderator. We have had numerous discussions on a variety of issues, including Brahmanism, pandits, conversion, suicide, which is very high among Indian Guyanese, various aspects of Hindu culture, problems affecting the Guyanese Hindu Samaj, attendance at mandirs, management of mandirs, litigations involving mandirs, education of Hindu children, confusion over the dates of our festivals including Holi and Deepavali, and, of course, marginalization of Indians in Guyana and the massive violence periodically directed at them. Each morning the CHN sends its subscribers a shloka and accompanying explanation from the Bhagavadgītā, and we have had numerous discussions of this incomparable Śāstra.

For the enlightenment I have received from the CHN, copious credit goes to those members who regularly participate in our many discussions. These members include, but are not limited to, Pandit Ramrattan, Kishore Harcharan, Udayabhanu Panickar, Naidoo Veerapen, Somdat Mahabir, Richie Pooran, Nanda Sahadeo, Ram Sahadeo, Gopal Singh, Sachin Subryan Muttoo, Rajya Laxmi, Hari Singh, Patanjali Rambrich, Amar Persaud, Mark DeFillo, and Ravi Maharaj. There are several others who I cannot identify by name from their email addresses. Nevertheless, to all these unknown swayamsevaks (selfless volunteers) and intellectual ksyhatriyas who have educated me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Wherever in the book I quote text from email messages (to the CHN or private exchanges), permission has been obtained from the authors. I am superlatively thankful to them. I am also thankful to Karen Budhram, Senior Assistant Archivist at the National Archives in Georgetown, who cleared the way for extraction of records from several General Registers of Indian Immigrants, which are housed at the National Archives in Georgetown, Guyana; and to Brinsley Samaroo, Clem Seecharan and John Benjamin’s Publishing Company for permission to reproduce passages from their published work.

I have had several discussions with friends and relatives on issues addressed in this book. I am grateful to Cha-chas Eng, Flaty, Son Badri, Vinode Badri; all of my brothers but especially Ram Ganpat, Amar Ganpat, Prem Ganpat, Vishnu Ganpat and Murti Ganpat and my only sister, Kamal Sampath; poowahs Nargis Baksh and Auntie Gin; my extended family on the Essequibo Coast, including my sisters-in-law, especially Leela, nieces, especially Ashmeeka Ganpat, and nephews; and my two children, Shivani Gampat and Chris Gampat. My thanks also go to Rajendra Basit, Anil Bedasie, David Dabydeen, Malcolm Harripaul, Kumar Mababir, Lalita Mahabir, Shanti Mahabir, Shashikant Nair, Sase Narine, Senior Counsel and former Speaker of the National Assembly House (Guyana), Baytoram Ramharack, Ravi Dev, Indu Sookdeo, Mabel Singh-Persaud and Tej Rao, all of whom have helped me in one way or the other during this soul-searching journey. The book would have been a far more painstaking and time-consuming task were it not for the invaluable assistance of Gitamrit Jogai. For her love, her critique, editorial assistance and for taking on a good chunk of our daily chores, words can hardly express my gratitude.

Chapter 1

THINGS FALL APART

Pandits contribute to our degraded beliefs and practices and to the dumbing of the Hindu mind for we are unable to think when it comes to our Dharma

Introduction

In The Grand Inquisition, Fyodor M. Dostoevsky’s main character wanted an introduction to his story. Quite impossible, you see, to start without an introduction, laughed Ivan.¹ I, too, find it difficult not to include an introductory chapter in this lengthy book for at least two reasons. First, some context is necessary to enable the reader to fully appreciate my motivation for writing the book. This is important for I anticipate a backlash, but my goal is not to criticize Hinduism as practiced by Guyanese Hindus. Instead, I want to take you, the reader, on a 180-years journey from the plantations to where we presently stand. In doing so, I draw out the major features of Hinduism as practiced by Guyanese. This brand of Hinduism I have named Plantation Hinduism. The second reason is to provide a chapter-by-chapter tour of the book, essential for a tome of this length.

The title of this chapter, which is borrowed from Achebe’s classic novel, captures the book’s central theme: the degraded beliefs and practices of Guyanese Hindus.² I do not assert that Sanatana Dharma, also called Vedānta and Hinduism, has fallen apart for that is clearly impossible. Nothing eternal can be degraded; truth cannot decay even if it is hidden for a prolonged period of time. Neither is it my intention to paint an unredeemably gloomy picture of our religious beliefs and practices and of the inertia that keeps us, like Alice in Wonderland, running in one place but hardly moving forward. We seem lost, frozen and, tragically, unable to cognize the predicament. We have become overly materialistic and treat religion as commerce between gods and men, evident from our worship of numerous images in exchange for a reward. Immorality and greed seem to have colonized and paralyzed our minds along the journey from the plantation to now. Somewhere, sometime ago, I read a most revealing tidbit. It so happened that Bhagavān wanted to grant Prahlāda a boon if the five-year old devotee would only ask. Thereupon Prahlāda replied: "I am not a business man to trade in love and bhakti. My bhakti is one-pointed, ekānta bhaktiḥ. I don’t ask anything in return." Prahlāda actually used the word Sanskrit vanik, which means merchant and in this case a trader in bhakti, a trader in religion.

I am reminded of Swami Ranganathananda, the 13th President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, who often used a beautiful shloka from the Upaniṣhads, which seems applicable to us: "Aham sarveshu bhuteshu bhutātmā’vasthitah sadā/Tam avajnāya mām martyah kurute arcāvidambanam. That is, God says, ‘I am present in all beings. But ignoring and insulting man, in whom I am present, you are worshipping an image. Such ritualistic worship is of no use. It is futile.’"³ Until we recognize and accept that Divinity, the Atman, is within us but covered by the body-mind-sense complex (kārya-karaṇa-saṅghāta in Sanskrit), that we are temples of God, we shall remain trapped in the morass of materialism, dogmas and superstitions. Swami Vivekananda used to say that man is the highest temple; if he cannot worship in that, no other temple will be of any advantage. The first step toward this is to build high character, rebuild relationships and treat all with justice and fairness, and not judge others on external factors, such as looks, material possessions, designations and power.⁴ We need to reconsolidate and rebuild the moral and ethical foundations upon which any religion worthy of its name is moored.

Hinduism in Guyana and its Diaspora boasts many jewels. There are many learned men and women of high character – high intellect, great morality – who engage in selfless service to all, deeply devoted and committed to the propagation of Hinduism in a hostile environment. Guyanese Pujya Swami Aksharananda is undoubtedly the most respected Hindu scholar in the Caribbean and its Diaspora. He is the founder and Principal of the prestigious Hindu secondary school, Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN), which is located in Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, Guyana. Other very knowledgeable Hindus who live life as closely as possible to the dictates of the Śāstras include Ravi Dev, Somdat Mahabir, Kishore Harcharan, Gopal Singh, Richie Pooran, Sachin Subryan Muttoo, Pandit Ramrattan, a few pandits who still live in Guyana, and many ordinary folks. There are several knowledgeable Guyanese pandits, but most are obsessed with rituals, motivated by greed, and interested in keeping ordinary Hindus ignorant. Such pandits and other highly educated Hindus, both of the same mental disposition or bhāva, are living examples of knowledge misused or used for selfish ends. Swami Vivekananda used to say that education is the manifestation of the perfection already within the human being.⁵ We, including this author, seem to have stuffed the brain with facts and formulae and live an indifferent life, a life that dwells mostly at the sensory level. Education has not made us into better human beings.

We celebrate several festivals, including Holi, which we call Phagwah, and Diwali. Both are communal events that attract all six races in Guyana, Hindus and non-Hindus. The Holi Parade in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York, was started by Guyanese Hindus about three decades ago⁶ and is attended today by Hindus of all nationalities, including Hindus from India who live in the US. There is a mandir – Hindu temple - in nearly every coastal village of Guyana where Hindus are in the majority. Most all of these mandirs are small and many of them were built at least six decades ago, although some newer, larger ones, more aesthetically designed and constructed, have appeared. Regardless of their size or beauty, mandirs are places of learning, worship and communal gathering, a symbol of the vivacity of Hinduism, once thought by Christian Missionaries to not have survived the crossing of the Kala Pani. Guyanese Hindus have built numerous mandirs in North America and pandits there are generally more educated but also more materialistic and avaricious. A few mandirs in North America are big and beautifully constructed, a splendid and awe-inspiring sight to behold. Unfortunately, many are embroiled in dispute and litigation over ownership, administration and control, much to the chagrin of Hindus. The ongoing discord is a symbol of the power struggle that projects pandits as the gatekeepers of Hinduism and draws attention to mandirs as generators of wealth and power.⁷ Even religion is marked by power relations.

While there exist several journal articles about Hinduism in Guyana – and the Caribbean –, I have not seen a book-length treatment of the subject. Most of these articles are dated and, by their very nature, selective in breadth and narrow in reach. My chief motivation for writing this book is to chart the evolution of Hinduism from numerous sects, beliefs and practices to the relatively homogenous Hinduism we practice today and to draw out its chief features and how, in my view, these differ from Sanatana Dharma. My findings lead me to believe that our version of Hinduism has deviated in significant ways from Sanatana Dharma, which cannot be degraded or twisted to serve narrow sectarian ends. Sanatana Dharma is without beginning or ending. It is eternal, which is what the world Sanatana means. That said, kaliyuga, we must understand, is the age of materialistic obsession, confusion, moral degradation, disrespect for the four puruṣārthas, and the rise of selfishness and other baser human instincts. Human beings, Hinduism holds, must partake of all this and more. Only when the mind finds no peace in sensual gratification will the realization come that there is something higher than merely living for survival and the pursuit of kāma, temporary worldly pleasures. Even so, I hope the book’s message is not entirely dismal. So long as one understands that Each soul is potentially divine, good or bad news should not torment, cloud the buddhi and distract for too long from the pursuit of spirituality (Box 1.1 at the end of this section).

The wellspring of my motivation for writing this book comes from my upbringing in a devout Hindu home and extended family and observations, supplemented by extensive reading. When my brothers and I were growing up in the 1960s, my father, an enlightened and pious man, told us in patwa, the lingo of rural areas of Guyana, something that has stayed with me: Whaever a’you do, na change you religion. I was born a Hindu, grew up as one and have considered myself a proud Hindu all my life, except for three of the five years when I worked in Asia for the United Nations and witnessed untold suffering and discrimination amid the massive wealth of a small class of people.⁸ The misery, pain, torment and hopelessness of most of humanity in South Asia, the callousness of unfeeling hearts temporarily turned me into an agnostic. As I looked around and try to make sense of what I saw, it appeared to me that ruthlessness and a huge deficit of compassion were the order of the day. When I first joined the United Nations in Guyana in 1981, I became very friendly with the Resident Representative, a brilliant and remarkable man from Ethiopia, who once told me that massive poverty and suffering upset one initially. Sooner or later, he said, one becomes accustomed to it so that one’s conscience no longer stings as much. Mine haunted me and made me angry and forced me to question religion or, more precisely, what we call religion.

My Hindu roots in Guyana reach back to a century and more of proud Hindus in my family, beginning with my great Aja, Badri, who hailed from the village of Jawapore, Mainpuri District, Uttar Pradesh. Of his roots in India, we know nothing, but suppose he must have come from a devout Hindu family. About the details of how great Aja lived in British Guiana, we do not know much, but we do know where he lived and knew people who knew him and who spoke to us about him. From memories passed down, I gather great Aja was a very pious man. He was the head of the Pañcayat, village council, in Reliance, and a just and learned man to whom villagers brought their problems.

According to legend, he would sit with a group of villagers under a corkwood tree (Pterocarpus officinalis) to educate them about Sanatana Dharma, including stories from the Rāmāyana, Mahābhārata, and Purāṇas that underscored the importance of morals. My Aja, whose name was Latchman, his two brothers, Rajaram and Bharat, and my father were also very religious people. Rajaram was known throughout the Essequibo Coast and people regularly visited him to discuss religious and other matters. He was instrumental in building the Mandir at Reliance, Essequibo Coast, and was its first President; Cha-cha Eng was the principal architect. As a little boy, I recall Cha-cha Rajaram, other members of our family and a few villagers would go from house-to-house to solicit donations – and a large chunk came from a Muslim family in the village.⁹ There is hardly any question that a mandir in Reliance would have been constructed eventually (the village is predominantly Hindu), but it would not have been built so early (in the early1960s).

I can still see my father, dressed in white, sitting at the home altar very early in the morning reading aloud his Bhagavadgītā and sometimes the Rāmāyana, in a haunting and mesmerizing voice that seem to linger in the house even after the reading was done. Like Cha-cha Rajaram, he believed the set of beliefs and practices Hindus held were riddled with superstitions and stultifying traditions. Nancy story was the phrase my father used to describe these beliefs and practices. Probably up to the late 1970s, he did a jhandi annually. It was a big affair in the sense that about a hundred persons would be invited. Lots of work to pull off such an event, but those were the days when family, neighbors and even strangers pitched in. People had feelings, empathy, humility and respect for each other, all grounded in bhāva samśuddhiḥ, honesty of motive, purity of resolve. The jahaji spirit was alive and well. People helped people, and some worked only for the benefit of others – what Bhagavadgītā calls yajña.

Some people, like my father and Cha-cha Rajaram, believed it was not the receiver who was blessed, but the giver who was blessed. Respect him who is receiving your gift, for he is giving you an opportunity to make a gift. Even after laboring in the scorching sun in the rice field, both men readily gave away their meagre lunch many times. This I have witnessed myself. My father would slip into a deeply brooding and meditative mood during Hindu festivals, especially Holi and Deepawali. As the sun silently slips in a blaze of glory beyond the western horizon and night rapidly arrives in her thick black coat, he would sit his children down to treat them to stories from the Mahābhārata, Rāmāyana and Purāṇas. Looking back, his main goal, though unsaid, was to stir up the emotion of wonder, of curiosity, to gently prod us to imagine, to inquire, to question and not accept things at face value; to open up our young minds to seek the meaning of life. He wanted us to ask him questions and even challenge him. I am not too sure if this was a deliberate or an unconscious prompting of his logical and caring mind.

At one of his jhandis, the purohita – we grandiosely call him a pandit – either came late or prolonged the puja beyond expectation. I cannot remember which it was, but believed it was the former. My father became increasingly agitated and restless. It was past lunch time and people were hungry. Suddenly my father spoke with a stentorian voice: Pandit ji, stop this jhandi. It is late. People cannot listen to God’s name [his sermon] on a hungry belly. Our scripture says to attend to the human body prior to attending to religious disquisitions. Let these people, many elderly among them, eat and then you can resume with the puja. The pandit was flabbergasted, as was the audience. No one had ever spoken thus to a pandit – pandits are revered and have expansive egos. The man was most likely embarrassed. The people ate and the jhandi resumed. There were times in previous jhandis when my father would interrupt the pandit to tell him that he skipped something or was doing something incorrectly. Many pandits were afraid of him. I learned at an early age that pandits are averse to challenges and questions, believe the audience ignorant, and demand unearned and uncalled-for respect. My childhood upbringing instilled into me some of my father’s positions and principles that have enabled me to view our religion through a critical lens.

The point about injecting my departed father into the picture is to further explicate my motivation. First, my father was a punctual man and a stickler for time. For him, this was part of one’s discipline and respect for others. Pandits are rarely early for pujas and we remain mute. Second, he was not willing to sit passively and accept whatever the pandit said or did, and he was not afraid to ask probing and sometimes embarrassing questions. Interestingly, my father did not complete primary school but could read and write and did much of the former. It seems a reasonable hypothesis that a sound secular education is a critical but not a sufficient condition for the making of a devout Hindu if the character-building element of education is missing. A profoundly devout Hindu is interested only in the quest for truth, a search that inevitably leads her to question, to reason, to demand evidence, and then move beyond these, none of which reach beyond the sensory level and physical data. The quest for truth combines jñāna and vijñāna, spiritual and non-spiritual knowledge and experience, gradual detachment and relinquishment of agency. Third, my father encouraged his children to imagine and to search below the obvious for flaws. Truth is hidden in nature and buried under a morass of irrelevancies. He did not want us to become passive Hindus trapped by mere appearances, in dogmas and superstitions. Fourth, though he did not go beyond fourth standard in primary school, my father had an intuitive understanding that secular education was key to escaping poverty but that it must be combined with cultural grounding. He did not want his children to live an impoverished, diseased and deprived life, laboring under the blazing sun in the rice field, on the farm and cleaning trenches.¹⁰ He did his utmost to ensure his nine children attended school. At nights, he became a stern school master. His focus was on arithmetic – addition, subtraction, division and the multiplication tables (from two times to twenty-four times). We were scared, and one brother and I had no interest in school. Those nightly events so many years ago are as fresh in my memory as if they happened only last night. Dreaded at the time, but only later did I see how much the investment has returned.

These values created a hunger for knowledge, secular and sacred, and helped shape my analytical lens - Weltanschauung - through which I view and interpret the world around me. It is these values that motivate my study of Sanatana Dharma and enable me to see our brand of Hinduism from a critical and, hopefully, constructive standpoint. One fundamental question animated most of the study: has the average Guyanese Hindu lost her mind when it comes to her Dharma? The response to this surprising and quizzical question is painted on a huge canvas that stretches from the plantations to the synthesis, to post-Indenture period, from the mid-19th century or so to the present. Unfortunately, I cannot offer an unambiguous and resounding no or yes as the answer except to say that we, at home and in the Guyanese Hindu Diaspora, are not spiritually dead. Dear reader, having waded through the book, it is your job to decide whether I have raised a valid question and supplied a credible response or whether there is no ground for such a question. Even if the words you are about to read do not sing to the ear and gently delight the mind, I hope the book’s message is not wholly depressing.¹¹

Plantation Hinduism: Meaning of the Term

Since the discussion of what I call Plantation Hinduism is scattered throughout the book, this and the next two sections fuse into a consistent whole the various strands. The available evidence is thin, but it appears that from around the 1870s or so there was some effort, albeit neither organized nor systematic, to assemble a coherent body of knowledge about Hinduism.¹² Nothing new was invented for nothing new can be added to Sanatana Dharma, which is eternal and unchanging. What emerged is a single Hinduism, the result of melding and harmonizing, if haphazardly and unintentionally, an array of different traditions, customs, and beliefs and practices held by the numerous sects and castes into a central corpus we call Sanatana Dharma. Peter van der Veer and Steven Vertovec call it a unitary form of Hinduism and the Great Tradition.¹³ I call it Plantation Hinduism. The transformation of a diverse gamut of beliefs, practices and values was a daunting and long-drawn-out process that stretched over half a century or so, perhaps because it was not a planned and meticulously executed undertaking. This explains why the word synthesis is a poor characterization of the process that led to the Great Tradition. It also explains why I enclose the word in quotation marks wherever it appears in the book. Much of what existed prior to the transformation was discarded and replaced with Purāṇaic theologies and semblances of Vedantic philosophies. Yet habits of mind are not easily surrendered, and many dogmas and superstitions and nuances survive the synthesis. The happy medley was perhaps a compromise, a concession, to accommodate the diversity that characterized immigrants. We shall never know for sure.

Some readers will probably find the moniker Plantation Hinduism objectionable or even pejorative. That is definitely not my intention, but an unintended consequence for want of a better term that resonates equally well. There are two major reasons for employing this phrase: legacy and analytic, which are not mutually exclusive. Plantation Hinduism ties us to some beliefs and practices present during Indian indenture, which figure prominently in our religion. These remind, or ought to remind, us of the long and bitter struggle of immigrants to preserve their religion, which we have inherited but color the inheritance through ignorance of higher values, greed and vested interest. Some plantation superstitions (part of the legacy) have fallen by the wayside and are no more. For example, according to Bronkhurst (1983: 123), East Indian shopkeepers and hucksters in the Colony would not accept credit for the first transaction of the new day. They believed that the first money for the day must come from a cash transaction, called "bohni, which brings good luck. Others are still with us, including the ridiculous belief that the departed soul needs certain accoutrements of the living, such as a cutlass, an umbrella, chadar and water, for the journey to Yamaraj. The deep, psychological hunger of immigrants for their religion on the plantation has not diminished an iota even 180 years after the first geographic landing. That huger is still with us and is a worthy legacy bequeathed by our ancestors upon their progeny. Then and now, we are an intensely religious people; only that religion is equated with mere belief more now than then. Beyond that, there is an enduring and stultifying aspect of legacy of the synthesis:" heavy dependence upon pandits and the consequent loss of the ability to think for ourselves when it comes to Dharma.

From the methodological standpoint, the term Plantation Hinduism is not a descriptive or prescriptive category. It is an analytical construct that zeroes in on the major features, structural and substantive, of the brand of Hinduism we practice. Structural features are those parameters or conditions that influence the shape of the substantive factors. To employ an analogy, structural features are the container within which the substantive features, our beliefs and practices, are enclosed, held or contained. Structural features are the contours that encircle and define the conceptual and practical space of Plantation Hinduism. It is difficult to change the substance of Plantation Hinduism without changing its structure. The most important structural feature of Plantation Hinduism is the heavy dependence upon purohitas, who we call pandits, which is why Nanny Hinduism is an alternative terminology. We prefer a ministered religion instead of one that requires personal effort and experimentation. Like little children, we depend upon purohitas to attend all of our religious needs and meekly acquiesce to their dictates. Most Guyanese Hindus see pandits as the authority on Hinduism. Purohitas are not to be questioned, disrespected or embarrassed but venerated. The price of vesting unquestionable authority in people who are largely ignorant of the higher values of life, greedy, unethical and selfish is the dumbing or closing of the Hindu mind. In an important sense, Plantation Hinduism operates like a college classroom, where lectures are delivered by conceited, egoistic, self-centered professors (pandits) to an ignorant body of students who has surrendered the ability to think and reason. What are the lectures about? Crammed mantras, poor delivery, and incoherent, distorted, almost nonsensical discourses on the Śāstras – Nancy stories or duck stories, as my father and his smallest Cha-cha, respectively, used to call them. There is no take-away message to guide the sādhaka, spiritual aspirant, whose problem is compounded by intellectual laziness.

Plantation Hinduism: Structural Features

As the synthesis proceeded, Brahmin purohitas, who were among the chief architects of the redefinition of Hinduism, began to behave like Christian priests.¹⁴ They treated the local Hindu community as a parish, visiting homes and the sick, doling out advice, religious or otherwise, helping to arrange marriages, preached and held services on Sundays, organized Sunday schools for children, and married and buried parishioners. Most likely, contemporaneous Brahmins in India did not behave this way. Noticing this trend, Jayawardena suggests that yajñas as practiced by Guyanese Hindus were akin to Christian mass meetings (of course, this is a misuse of the word).¹⁵ The refurbished Hinduism created a frightful dependence of ordinary Hindus upon purohitas. The very fact that the synthesis democratized Hinduism meant that Hindu immigrants and their descendants needed the services of priests. The demand was great because a large portion of the immigrants did not know much about orthodox Hinduism, even though all Hindus share certain common beliefs and practices. Rapid expansion of the puja market commoditized Hinduism and product differentiation became important as competition among pandits grew. It is the swelling puja market and control of mandirs that made the purohita king of Plantation Hinduism and ordinary Hindus the serfs. Hinduism has been converted into a serfdom overseen by wayward lords (pandits) and we are now extraordinarily dependent upon them.

Two other structural features are linked to the formidable dependence upon purohitas, which is higher today than a few decades ago (Box 1.2). The first is path dependence. That is, the revealed preference, regardless of how or when it arose, to preserve the status quo that evolved after the synthesis. This may explain why Guyanese Hindus see no valid reason to modify their religious beliefs or the way - the spirit in which - they practice Hinduism. A historical event has frozen our mind to a specific path, predisposing us to inertia. We see change to the religious status quo as bad and unnecessary. The second feature approaches a paradox: very high literacy rate accompanied by mental paralysis in the domain of Dharma. We are secular wizards but spiritual imbeciles. The steep rise of secular education does not carry over to the neural networks that code for religion. Our religious mind is still frozen, stuck in plantation mode even as our secular mind races ahead. Mental paralysis strengthens our dependence upon purohitas, who are always right, not be questioned or challenged but revered. Purohitas perceived themselves, and ordinary Hindus agree, as the fountainhead of knowledge. Yet they are content only to give a mental assent to customs, beliefs and superstitions and