28 November 2001, 12:17am IST
Olav Albuquerque.
Peace is the leitmotif of all religions and war is its distortion. war is a consequence of human covetousness, revenge and greed. both the world wars were a result of such human failings. the us war on afghanistan is, to some extent, a consequence of misinterpretation of religious symbols. the resonance and ethereal beauty of the ancient classical languages cannot be replicated in modern languages without some distortion. hence, some scholars of the shari’a say the term jihad used in the qur’an signifies ‘struggle’, and not an unprovoked holy war against those from other faiths. and without grave provocation, jihad does not automatically justify use of physical force. jihad can take many different forms such as an ‘internal struggle’ to follow islam, a struggle against oppression or a struggle for peace. it is only when all other methods, such as diplomacy fail to convince the persecutors of islam to permit muslims to practise their faith, that they are allowed to resort to armed struggle. and so down the ages, false prophets like osama bin laden, mislead the gullible, to achieve their own selfish ends by distorting the sacred scriptures. the sacred scriptures are often misinterpreted by such people to get hold over power or authority, to achieve their evil ends. like jihad, the battle of kurukshetra can be interpreted as a war against illusion and materialism. but it does not follow, that one is justified in killing one’s relatives. in fact, the bhagavad gita preaches peace. the qur’an says, ‘‘god is one. he begot none and none is equal to him’’. we can know what god is not, but we cannot know what he is. but if one keeps his commandments, then god reveals himself to those who seek him. it is the true seeker of the almighty who finds peace by following dharma or right conduct. the path of right conduct may outwardly differ from religion to religion, but on closer analysis, it is all the same. the 10 commandments in the bible are manifested in different ways in the other religions and when one follows the spirit of these laws, then peace reigns supreme. peace by itself is a temporary phenomenon unless it is religious peace. and religious peace means faith in god, whose teachings give everlasting peace. the gita teaches that one should do one’s duty without thinking of the reward. ‘‘you have the right to action but not to the fruits thereof’’, lord krishna tells arjuna on the battlefield of kurukshetra. similarly, the hallmark of confucianism is — right conduct and right thinking, which is manifested in the vedas , and the gita , when lord krishna explains to arjuna that the world is maya or an illusion. one has to perform one’s chosen duty without affection or ill will, without fear or favour. for god alone has the right to reward the doer. but evil still exists in the world. one form of evil is to misinterpret a sacred scripture to arouse the passion of youth, who are gullible enough to accept false teachers without analytical thinking. a concept is open to different interpretations with the passage of time. but the essence can be gleaned when one studies the pronouncements of the prophets and the circumstances surrounding their preachings. all religions seek peace because it is through peace that man advances himself both spiritually and economically. but when unmitigated evil cannot be curbed, then war is the last recourse. as lord krishna states in the gita, ‘‘when adharma or wrong conduct is on the rise, then i will return to restore dharma to the world’’. the inference, hence, is that war is an inevitable consequence of man’s folly or wrongful conduct. misguided elements wilfully misinterpret scriptures to achieve their own nefarious ends. osama bin laden has inculcated in a group of wayward youth, ideology detrimental to the progress of civilisation and signifies adharmic or wrong conduct. and with the eradication of evil, peace will be restored again on earth. but this peace is a temporary phenomenon as long as man exists on the planet. man has the right to exist peacefully in the world, but war is an inevitable consequence of his deeds. and so war and peace exist side-by-side. while one is on the rise, the other subsides. and both follow each other like sunrise follows sunset. for both are inextricably linked, like twins at birth. however, it must be remembered, if mankind does not put an end to war, war will put an end to mankind.
No comments:
Post a Comment