HOW RATIONAL ARE OUR RATIONALISTS?

Come any eclipse – solar or lunar; or come the fish medicine season in June, rationalists rise to the occasion in different ‘avatars’. The recent annular solar eclipse was no exception. A programme was organised by Manava Vikasa Vedika near Saroornagar lake in the city to demonstrate that you can eat, drink and make merry during the eclipse. Pregnant women were also brought to prove a point. It is a different story that the event took a communal turn when the local residents protested that the rationalists were targeting only a particular community. We will deal with it later in this column.

What is relevant for discussion is the scientific angle. Scientists as well as rationalists tell us repeatedly that eclipse is purely a planetary phenomenon which occurs in the normal course and there is nothing abnormal about it as eclipse does not create any physical change in different spheres of the earth.

Our scientific temper makes us to believe this. But then, on the same day, ISRO launched a series of Rohini Sounding Rockets to study the effects of the annular solar eclipse from the Thumba equatorial Rocket Launching Station. Besides, scientists parked themselves at different vantage locations to study the impact of eclipse and to study the yet-to-be known phenomena of the Sun which is worshipped as the primordial energy source of the Universe and as a life-sustaining force. If eclipse is just a natural phenomenon, why do we send rockets to study the impact?
ISRO’s efforts to study the impact of eclipse only prove that there are some more mysteries yet to be unravelled and science has not reached a stage where there is nothing more left to untie the mysterious knots of nature.

Moreover, even before the West could specialise itself on astronomy, India had a lesson or two to offer to the West. If our desi composers of lunar calendars could predict the occurrence of eclipse with 100% accuracy for thousands of years, it is not that we were unaware of Physics and astronomy. Jarasandha’s fate was sealed because of solar eclipse in Mahabharata and of course, it was attributed to Lord Krishna’s miracles. That was our style to attribute every mystery of nature to the Divine forces because we saw divinity in all manifestations of nature including the five elements of nature which constitute this Universe.

Since we are yet to fully comprehend the secrets of nature it may be premature to dismiss certain beliefs as myths or superstitions. True, those who attended the luncheon party hosted by the rationalists during the peak of recent solar eclipse might not have developed any health problem. But, that doesn’t prove anything. All those who eat food at various restaurants (hygienic or unhygienic) do not contract amoebiasis, but only some develop this problem because of individual constitution of the body. But doctors give us a blanket advice “Avoid eating at unhygienic places”. Consumption of polluted water may cause jaundice, we are told. Can we say that we have been able to provide safe drinking water to every citizen of this country? But do all of them suffer from jaundice? All those who smoke do not land up in cancer wards. That should not drive us to tell people that “smoking is NOT injurious to health”. Individuals react differently to different situations. If our ancestors were able to study the planetary system with perfection much before the West, we should be modest enough to grant them the scientific knowledge to unravel certain micro-level changes that take place on earth and on individuals during the eclipse.
Interestingly, the very expression “solar eclipse” is a misnomer. Nothing happens to the Sun. Only his rays which sustain the earth do not reach the earth because Moon comes in the way. In a way, eclipse is for the earth and not the Sun. Sun being the life-sustaining force on the earth, it is the life energy on the earth that is affected when Sun rays do not reach partially or fully. Why are we told not to look at the Sun with naked eyes? Because during the eclipse, we could see the Sun without much strain on the eyes, but the rays are nevertheless harmful. There were no filters during those days and our ancestors used to see the eclipsed Sun in the reflection of water bodies or on a cup of water. Same reasoning applies to the body as well and that could be the reason for not exposing your body to the Sun during the eclipse. Yes, nothing happens to those who expose themselves. It is like saying that excessive exposure to the normal Sun does not cause cancer while scientists hold a different view.

There could be another non-scientific explanation for fasting and bathing. Sun-worshippers of this country perhaps express their solidarity with the Sun God when he has difficulties in reaching them and one such expression is fasting as it is considered a purifying ritual in all religions. Why should there by objection to bathing, as we are told, in the aftermath of swine flu epidemic, to wash our hands as frequently as possible.

Coming to the communal angle, Saroornagar residents are not entirely wrong when they see communal overtones in our rationalists. Every year they make a big noise when Bathini brothers distribute herbal medicine for asthma patients from all over the country. The only problem with the Bathini family is that all of them sport Hindu religious marks and attire. So, it must be quackery. If the same herbal medicine were to be distributed by the Church or in the Mosque, rationalists would have looked the other way as they are doing whenever Christian evangelists conduct mass miracle cures. A paraplegic would stand up and walk, a dumb would speak, a blind would see the world around him. Are they natural phenomena? Do the rationalists criticise or hold demos before such evangelical exercises as they do before Sathya Sai Baba?

Fire walk is another Hindu custom that our rationalists have taken up cudgels against. This was in practice for thousands of years not only in India but in different cultures across the world in the context of emotional, physical and spiritual healing. Now that the West has started believing that Fire walk is a wonderful example of the mind-body connection at work and how our thoughts impact everything else in our lives and that thoughts change brain chemistry and body function, there should be a re-think for our Hetuvadis. David Willey of the US who conducted a scientific study of fire walk says “This is not to deny that one may feel empowered by having walked on fire, nor is it to dispute that it may improve self-confidence. I do believe that firewalking is understandable in terms of basic physics and is not supernatural nor paranormal. In India every aspect of daily life – eating, bathing, music, dance, fine arts, sculpture – was given a Divine dimension and hence fire walk was also turned into a ritual. That does not deprive it of its real impact on mind over matter.

Can there be a greater rationalist than Charavaka and a greater rational philosophy than the Lokayata school of thought? Let’s not forget that both are part of our great epic Mahabharata.