Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Equalities & Inequalities

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2. This is the enquiry (mimamsa) concerning bliss.

युवा स्यात्साधुयुवाऽध्यायकः
आशिष्ठो दृढिष्ठो बलिष्ठः
तस्येयं पृथिवी सर्वा वित्तस्य पूर्णा स्यात् 


3. Suppose a youth, a good youth, learned in the sacred lore, promptest in action, steadiest in heart, strongest in body, -- suppose his is all this earth of wealth.

स एको मानुष आनन्दः
This is one human bliss.

ते ये शतं मानुषा आनन्दाः
4. What is a hundred times the human bliss,

स एको मनुष्यगन्धर्वाणामानन्दः
that is one bliss of human fairies (gandharvas),
श्रोत्रियस्य
as also of the man versed in the Vedas (one who has heard),
चाकामहतस्य
not smitten by passion.

ते ये शतं मनुष्यगन्धर्वाणामानन्दाः
5. What is a hundred times the bliss of human fairies,


स एको देवगन्धर्वाणामानन्दः श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य
that is one bliss of celestial fairies(deva-gandharvas), as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.


ते ये शतं देवगन्धर्वाणामानन्दाः
स एकः पितृणां चिरलोकलोकानामानन्दः
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य
 

6. What is a hundred times the bliss of the celestial fairies, that is one bliss of the Pitris (forefathers, ancestors) who dwell in the long-enduring world, as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.

ते ये शतं पितृणां चिरलोकलोकानामानन्दाः
स एक आजानजानां देवानामानन्दः
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य

7. What is a hundred times the bliss of the Pitris (ancestors) who dwell in the long-enduring world, that is one bliss of the Devas born in the Ajana, as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.


ते ये शतं आजानजानां देवानामानन्दाः
स एकः कर्मदेवानां देवानामानन्दः
ये कर्मणा देवानपियन्ति
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य
8. What is a hundred times the bliss of the Devas born in the Ajana, that is one bliss of the Devas (known as) Karma-Devas, those who have reached Devas by work,
as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.


ते ये शतं कर्मदेवानां देवानामानन्दाः
स एको देवानामानन्दः
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य

9. What is a hundred times the bliss of the Devas (known as) Karma-Devas, that is one bliss of Devas, as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.


ते ये शतं देवानामानन्दाः
स एक इन्द्रस्याऽऽनन्दः
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य
10. What is a hundred times the bliss of Devas,
that is one bliss of Indra, as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.


ते ये शतमिन्द्रस्याऽऽनन्दाः
स एको बृहस्पतेरानन्दः
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य

11. What is a hundred times the bliss of Indra,
that is one bliss of Brihaspati, as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.


ते ये शतं बृहस्पतेरानन्दाः
स एकः प्रजापतेरानन्दः
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य

12. What is a hundred times the bliss of Brihaspati,
that is one bliss of the Prajapati, as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.


ते ये शतं प्रजापतेरानन्दाः
स एको ब्रह्मण आनन्दः
श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य

13. What is a hundred times the bliss of Prajapati,
that is one bliss of Brahma, as also of the man versed in the Vedas, not smitten by passion.

स यश्चायं पुरुषे . यश्चासावादित्ये । स एकः ।





...Anandavalli...Taittiriya Upanishad


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It has been quite a while since I quoted from the Upanishads...Shakespeare said:

"The devil can cite scriptures for his purpose"

Few people from my family understood what clinical depression is...they thought (and said) it is either faking or madness.

One morning in January 2006, when I was wallowing in this malady, unable to quit, my cell phone rang. And during that period the ringing of any phone sent tremors in my heart and shivers down my spine....a typical symptom. 

So I had instructed my wife to take all calls and not disturb me. But this one was special. My wife said it was from my younger sister, a Ph D in Telugu literature. And she was insisting that she talk to me directly. And this is how it went:

"You are well-versed in the Vedas and Upanishads but why is it that such a one like you are depressed?"

I was not amused...but I rarely got angry with anyone. So I had to blurt out:

"Knowledge comes but wisdom lingers, as Tennyson said"

End of the call...

The first time I met with equalities and inequalities in human condition was in my ugly math text of 3rd Form (Class VIII) in 1954. It was anathema to me since it was all arithmetic of a wicked sort. There was this intricate problem like Ramayya wanted to erect a boundary wall round his farm. And employed 10 men, 12 women and 16 kids. The work took 12 hours. Every man was paid Rs 4, woman Rs 2, and kid Rs 1 per hour. Calculate the amount he spent on the project. Or some equally devilish thing like it.

I asked Father why this inequality between one human being and another. And he said that what a man can do in an hour takes two hours for his wife and four hours for his kid.

Those were the days before I heard of 'gender bias' and 'child labor laws'.

It is so different now. The head honchos of both the richest private sector bank and the public sector one in India are ladies. And I am sure they are paid as well if not better than men. 

As for kids, I was watching a couple of hours ago, the movie 'Home Alone' with Ishani, waiting for her mom to arrive from her duties in Eurokids. And Ishani roared at every tumble that the villains took. It is a different matter that, in between, she would ask me:

"When is his mom going to arrive?"

When I reached IIT KGP in 1965, I used to hear the slogan:

"What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow"

This is a temporal inequality, it looks like. I didn't ask, for fear of getting browbeaten, "Who said this?" But Google tells me that the quote is due to the revered Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a Marathi. So there must be some truth in it.

I thought that the gag had got rusted by now. I am glad that I am wrong:


West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she will work for the development of several areas of West Bengal and take up important projects in the upcoming days.

"Kolkata is the main pillar. It can communicate with East and North East. So if Bengal is developed then the whole East and North East will develop, as what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow," Banerjee said.

She was speaking at the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Frames Media and Entertainment Business Conclave - A New Dawn: Resurgence of the East, on Wednesday in Kolkata.
..



I also met one Dr X in our Department much later, in the 1990s. His title indicated he could be from any part of India and so he was above inequalities. But once he averred in public:

"One Punjabi is equal to 4 Biharis"

That was rather cute... it was a round figure and there were no decimals.

So, I discreetly asked our mutual friend, Dr RSS:

"Is Dr X a Punjabi?"

And he laughed and said:

"No, but his wife is!"

But his wife never said anything like that to my own wife who was friends with her.

The oft-quoted military inequality came from Pakistan:

"One Pakistani soldier is equal to 10 Indian soldiers"

...They kept quiet after 1971 when they were thrashed roundly. 

Hitler was of course all the time contrasting his great Aryans (meaning Germans...not North Indian Hindus please!) from the lousy non-Aryans (including Dravidians like me) till one black American athlete thrashed all Germans and their ilk in the 1936 Berlin Olympics right below his nose...his name happens to be Jesse Owens.

Everyone thought that Hitler got piqued and refused to shake his hands, except Owens himself:

On the first day of competition, Hitler shook hands only with the German victors and then left the stadium. Olympic committee officials insisted Hitler greet every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations.[10][11] On reports that Hitler had deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories, and had refused to shake his hand, Owens said at the time:
"Hitler had a certain time to come to the stadium and a certain time to leave." "It happened he had to leave before the victory ceremony after the 100 meters. But before he left I was on my way to a broadcast and passed near his box. He waved at me and I waved back. I think it was bad taste to criticize the 'man of the hour' in another country."[12]
...wiki



I read that in the US not everyone is equal, naturally, but they have equality of 'opportunity'.

And here is a quote about it:

One of Muhammad Ali’s influential times in his boxing career was when he threw his Olympic gold medal in the Ohio River. Ali did this because he was refused service at a ‘whites-only’ restaurant, even after he represented the country in the Olympics and won gold. This influenced people of all nationalities in the way he made a stand on something that was important to him and people look up to him because of that. Ali didn’t want to feel like a slave to white people and by him throwing his medal in the Ohio River was a symbol of what he believes in.


But that was of course a long long while ago.

Things must now be different despite Larry Summers (2005)...


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