Reflections on Culture - Insights of Swami Chinmayananda

Swami Chinmayananda

Pujya Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993) grew up in the time of India’s freedom struggle. A young intellectual with an education in English Literature and Law, a freedom fighter and a journalist, he keenly felt the plight of the ordinary Indian under the British heel. A man on a quest, he sought out Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh and while attempting to find the answers to the questions of social justice, he found a deeper underlying layer of meaning that would reveal a more timeless Truth. Swami Sivananda directed the young Swami to Tapovan Maharaj of Uttar Kashi for intensive study in Advaita Vedanta.

Swami Chinmayananda was a path-breaker in many ways. Those who try to take stock of his life and works soon find themselves awe-struck with even a preliminary recounting and soon resort to ‘upamaa’, comparing him to Swami Vivekananda, carrying the mantle of awakening the sparkof interest for Advaita in the English-educated elite of the country who were being led away from the Indian wisdom treasure by the glamour and affluence of the ‘west’! There is also the missionary zeal of Adi Sankara, that led him to conduct what he liked to call Open-air University (the Geeta Gnana yagna) where over the years it would be no exaggeration to say that lacs of people had the opportunity of studying the Bhagvad Geeta. Besides. The setting up of Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, a modern gurukula for the study of Advaita in the early 60s, reveals his farsightedness keeping the parampara of jnana flowing fresh as the waters of the Ganga.

The article Reflections on Indian Culture provides a glimpse into the clarity of his thought and his precision in communication. His innovative methodology to build a bridge of understanding between the listener and himself the speaker, made him a very effective teacher – bringing the subtlest principles into the realm of application by the individual into their daily life.

What is Culture?

The word Culture is frequently used: one goes for ‘’cultural programs’’; performs in ‘‘cultural festivals’’; but when one probes, one realizes a serious lacuna in understanding the term.

The National Council Of Educational Research And Training (NCERT), the UN Roadmap for for Arts Education all talk of making children aware of cultural practices, to understand and respect cultural diversity etc.

If all this ‘cultural education’ is to be achieved it is imperative to understand the term.

A definition by Swami Chinmayananda has been crucial to my understanding of the term.

“When a group of people live together over a long period of time, in a particular geographical area, living certain values, the fragrance that emanates from that group is said to be their culture.” (Our Culture At a Glance, Chinmaya Prakashan, Mumbai)

Each of the four aspects to the definition needs to be thought of:

1. A group of people (i.e. not isolated individuals or families).

With respect to an individual, the person’s behavior and response is called their ‘nature’, with respect to the group or the community, the common characteristic modes of behavior and response stems from ‘culture’.

2. Living together for a long period of time

A culture does not arise in a day, a season, or a few years. What arises in a season is called ‘fashion’. Cultural characteristics have evolved through many generations are accepted as suitable and harmonizing by the community, having been time-tested with wisdom. At the same time, culture is a living response. It is not set in stone. Therefore, on occasions, a particular fashion proves its worth and passes into the domain of culture.

3. Living together in a particular geographical area

Many aspects of culture are direct responses to the geographical conditions. What one eats, wears, kind of celebrations, ceremonies, calendar of festivals of a culture can often be traced to climatic condition or geography.

4. Living certain (common) values

If there are no shared values in the group, one will never find any recognisable common culture emerging! Values are an intrinsic aspect of a culture. They shape certain core, strong beliefs and protect the culture from the whims of fancy. But values could also be a weak point. Even a couple of generations that do not live those values, the
very foundations of the culture could crumble. That is why every culture has heroes who have re-energised the values of the culture.

The keyword in the definition of Swami Chinmayananda is the ‘fragrance’ that emanates from the group. Culture is intangible, yet clearly recognizable. The sensitive can smell it a mile away and treasure its fragrance and the insensitive could miss it even though they are so near.

Cultural education would mean cultivating the right conditions for unfolding and blossoming by living, sharing, shaping and evolving the right values constantly. One of the essentials to be considered ‘educated’ is understanding one's ancestral culture. For children growing up within a culture, the essence is imbibed. When they grow up, they probe, they test and they adapt it to the needs of their times.

What is the ‘fragrance’ of the Indic Culture?

One will find many Indians proud of their ‘spiritual’ culture and contrast the modern/western as ‘materialistic’ culture. Is frequent visit to the temple spiritual and frequent visit to restaurants and clubs materialistic? Rarely do we probe such facile superficial conclusions or question the values that define these terms.

Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda once put it very simply [and for a couple of weeks now I’ve been arranging and re-arranging the idea to arrive at that simple explanation].  If you seek your happiness in the ‘objects of the world’ you are a materialist; if you seek your happiness within yourself, you are a spiritualist. In a material culture, the effort and striving is towards rearranging and adjustment in the things and outer circumstances in order to bring about a greater level of happiness. The values practiced in a spiritual culture instead strives to perfect the antaḥ-karaṇa (the inner equipment or the mind) bringing about samatva or equipoise despite the outer circumstances. The seeking leads within - to the very 'source' of Bliss or Happiness-  आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्ट: (ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ ) (BG Ch 2.55)

That is why the goal and achievement in Yoga practice is thought of so differently in the west versus in India. The most revered highest Yogi, is shown in padmāsana with eyes closed or semi-closed looking within – the epitome being Śiva, exemplifying stillness and simplicity. Another picture that springs to mind is Yogeśvara Kṛṣṇa, in the midst of battlefield, driving Arjuna’s chariot, the dhanurdhāri Arjuna, bow and arrow at the ready! Is that not a contradiction? Not really. Samatvam in the most extreme of imaginable outer circumstance, the midst of a battlefield, is precisely the reason for Kṛṣṇa being called the Lord of Yoga!

This imagery of total stillness of a tapasvi in the remote Himalayan heights, and battlefield action, an apparent contradiction, is another flavour of the subtlety of the culture and the manner in which the complexity is conveyed!

The other characteristic of Indian culture is its sheer diversity! Every aspect of life reflects innumerable variations and iterations from language and art, to cuisine and festivals, naming conventions and wedding ceremonies, to stories, legends, and popular myths. Even the weaves and motifs of the cloth produced in every area of the country varied. Many a superficial observer has made the hasty claim that Bhārata or India is several countries! To the Bhāratīya it is enough to say “sūtre maṇigaṇā iva” a reminder of the oneness, the underlying ‘thread’ that holds the myriad dazzling “maṇi” together. (BG 7.7)

How do we understand this oneness?

Swami Chinmayananda used to explain: there is one electricity running through all the various equipments the light bulb, the fan,  the refrigerator, the elevator, the TV, the microphone etc. There is one gold running through the gold ornaments, the bangle, the earring, the necklace, the anklet, etc. The one saptak of seven svara, and endlessly evolving rāgas with countless compositions. How many expressions can there be of that one-ness? Innumerable. The expression is limited only by human imagination! The Indian culture dazzles, fascinates, and invites one to a journey of exploration. The one ānanda pursued in all of its diversity.

Prakṛti - Vikṛti - Samskṛti

In Samskṛtam the word for culture is samskṛti. It is amazing that it is the same in most Indian languages. “Sam means very well and kṛtam means that which is done” [3]. Even the language Samskṛtam means that which is well-refined, perfected, or purified. The term samskṛti generally is applied only with respect to humans.

All beings live according to prakṛti. The word prakṛti means one’s innate nature. Animal and humans have the same natural need to eat, sleep, move, be secure, have shelter, to procreate, and seek protection from fear and insecurity. Yet, there is a vast difference between animal and human behavior. Animal behavior is guided and controlled by their prakṛti. They live within the bounds of their prakṛti. Whereas humans with their intellectual capability have the freedom of choice whereby they could choose to live without any regulation, transgressing nature. While most do not, some humans may choose to overeat or ‘eat whatever crawls, swims or flies’, get drunk, drive fast, or become sex offenders. Such transgression or perversion of agreed norms of behavior is termed vikṛti.  “To prevent prakṛti from becoming vikṛti, what humans need is samskṛti, or culture” [3] . Culture is not equivalent to education – one may be an educated person living a brutish, “uncultured” life.  Equally one maybe uneducated in the conventional sense living a noble life.

References

[1] Our Culture At a Glance, Chinmaya Prakashan, Mumbai

[2] The Holy Geeta, English translation and commentary by Swami Chinmayananda. Chinmaya Prakashan, Mumbai

[3] An Introduction to Hindu Culture by Swami Tejomayananda, Chinmaya Prakashan 2007

Comments

Author(s)

About:

Dr. Arundhati Sundar currently works as the Academic Outreach for Chinmaya International Foundation at the Adi Sankara Nilayam, Kerala. Her study of the Bhagavad Geeta was kindled by her Guru, Swami Chinmayananda. She has been involved as a sevika of Balavihar, Youth and Adult Study Groups of the Chinmaya Mission in Mumbai, NJ (US), and Singapore. She served as a volunteer docent of the Asian Civilisation Museum in Singapore for over eight years, she describes herself as a storyteller and an educator with an objective of sparking the love for Indic Culture in the younger generation.

Prekshaa Publications

Among the many contributions of ancient Indians to world thought, perhaps the most insightful is the realisation that ānanda (Bliss) is the ultimate goal of human existence. Since time immemorial, India has been a land steeped in contemplation about the nature of humans and the universe. The great ṛṣis (seers) and ṛṣikās (seeresses) embarked on critical analysis of subjective experience and...

One of the two great epics of India and arguably the most popular epic in the world, the Ramayana has enchanted generations of people not just in Greater India but the world over. In less than three hundred pages The Essential Ramayana captures all the poetic subtleties and noble values of the original and offers the great epic in an eminently readable form that will appeal to the learned and...

The Bhagavad-gītā isn’t merely a treatise on ultimate liberation. It is also a treatise on good living. Even the laity, which does not have its eye on mokṣa, can immensely benefit from the Gītā. It has the power to grant an attitude of reverence in worldly life, infuse enthusiasm in the execution of duty, impart fortitude in times of adversity, and offer solace to the heart when riddled by...

Indian Perspective of Truth and Beauty in Homer’s Epics is a unique work on the comparative study of the Greek Epics Iliad and Odyssey with the Indian Epics – Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata. Homer, who laid the foundations for the classical tradition of the West, occupies a stature similar to that occupied by the seer-poets Vālmīki and Vyāsa, who are synonymous with the Indian culture. The author...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the sixth volume of reminiscences character sketches of prominent public figures, liberals, and social workers. These remarkable personages hailing from different corners of South India are from a period that spans from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Written in Kannada in the 1970s, these memoirs go...

An Introduction to Hinduism based on Primary Sources

Authors: Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh, Hari Ravikumar

What is the philosophical basis for Sanātana-dharma, the ancient Indian way of life? What makes it the most inclusive and natural of all religio-philosophical systems in the world?

The Essential Sanātana-dharma serves as a handbook for anyone who wishes to grasp the...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the fifth volume, episodes from the lives of traditional savants responsible for upholding the Vedic culture. These memorable characters lived a life of opulence amidst poverty— theirs  was the wealth of the soul, far beyond money and gold. These vidvāns hailed from different corners of the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom and lived in...

Padma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam represents the quintessence of Sage Bharata’s art and Bhārata, the country that gave birth to the peerless seer of the Nāṭya-veda. Padma’s erudition in various streams of Indic knowledge, mastery over many classical arts, deep understanding of the nuances of Indian culture, creative genius, and sublime vision bolstered by the vedāntic and nationalistic...

Bhārata has been a land of plenty in many ways. We have had a timeless tradition of the twofold principle of Brāhma (spirit of wisdom) and Kṣāttra (spirit of valour) nourishing and protecting this sacred land. The Hindu civilisation, rooted in Sanātana-dharma, has constantly been enriched by brāhma and safeguarded by kṣāttra.
The renowned Sanskrit poet and scholar, Śatāvadhānī Dr. R...

ಛಂದೋವಿವೇಕವು ವರ್ಣವೃತ್ತ, ಮಾತ್ರಾಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕರ್ಷಣಜಾತಿ ಎಂದು ವಿಭಕ್ತವಾದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಬಗೆಯ ಛಂದಸ್ಸುಗಳನ್ನೂ ವಿವೇಚಿಸುವ ಪ್ರಬಂಧಗಳ ಸಂಕಲನ. ಲೇಖಕರ ದೀರ್ಘಕಾಲಿಕ ಆಲೋಚನೆಯ ಸಾರವನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡ ಈ ಹೊತ್ತಗೆ ಪ್ರಧಾನವಾಗಿ ಛಂದಸ್ಸಿನ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಲಕ್ಷಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ತೌಲನಿಕ ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಣೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅಂತಃಶಾಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನಗಳ ತೆಕ್ಕೆಗೆ ಬರುವ ಬರೆಹಗಳೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿವೆ. ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಕಾರನಿಗಲ್ಲದೆ ಸಿದ್ಧಹಸ್ತನಾದ ಕವಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸ್ಫುರಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಹೊಳಹುಗಳು ಕೃತಿಯ ಮೌಲಿಕತೆಯನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಿಸಿವೆ. ಈ...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the fourth volume, some character sketches of the Dewans of Mysore preceded by an account of the political framework of the State before Independence and followed by a review of the political conditions of the State after 1940. These remarkable leaders of Mysore lived in a period that spans from the mid-nineteenth century to the...

Bharatiya Kavya-mimamseya Hinnele is a monograph on Indian Aesthetics by Mahamahopadhyaya N. Ranganatha Sharma. The book discusses the history and significance of concepts pivotal to Indian literary theory. It is equally useful to the learned and the laity.

Sahitya-samhite is a collection of literary essays in Kannada. The book discusses aestheticians such as Ananda-vardhana and Rajashekhara; Sanskrit scholars such as Mena Ramakrishna Bhat, Sridhar Bhaskar Varnekar and K S Arjunwadkar; and Kannada litterateurs such as DVG, S L Bhyrappa and S R Ramaswamy. It has a foreword by Shatavadhani Dr. R Ganesh.

The Mahābhārata is the greatest epic in the world both in magnitude and profundity. A veritable cultural compendium of Bhārata-varṣa, it is a product of the creative genius of Maharṣi Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. The epic captures the experiential wisdom of our civilization and all subsequent literary, artistic, and philosophical creations are indebted to it. To read the Mahābhārata is to...

Shiva Rama Krishna

சிவன். ராமன். கிருஷ்ணன்.
இந்திய பாரம்பரியத்தின் முப்பெரும் கதாநாயகர்கள்.
உயர் இந்தியாவில் தலைமுறைகள் பல கடந்தும் கடவுளர்களாக போற்றப்பட்டு வழிகாட்டிகளாக விளங்குபவர்கள்.
மனித ஒற்றுமை நூற்றாண்டுகால பரிணாம வளர்ச்சியின் பரிமாணம்.
தனிநபர்களாகவும், குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்களாகவும், சமுதாய பிரஜைகளாகவும் நாம் அனைவரும் பரிமளிக்கிறோம்.
சிவன் தனிமனித அடையாளமாக அமைகிறான்....

ऋतुभिः सह कवयः सदैव सम्बद्धाः। विशिष्य संस्कृतकवयः। यथा हि ऋतवः प्रतिसंवत्सरं प्रतिनवतामावहन्ति मानवेषु तथैव ऋतुवर्णनान्यपि काव्यरसिकेषु कामपि विच्छित्तिमातन्वते। ऋतुकल्याणं हि सत्यमिदमेव हृदि कृत्वा प्रवृत्तम्। नगरजीवनस्य यान्त्रिकतां मान्त्रिकतां च ध्वनदिदं चम्पूकाव्यं गद्यपद्यमिश्रितमिति सुव्यक्तमेव। ऐदम्पूर्वतया प्रायः पुरीपरिसरप्रसृतानाम् ऋतूनां विलासोऽत्र प्रपञ्चितः। बेङ्गलूरुनामके...

The Art and Science of Avadhānam in Sanskrit is a definitive work on Sāhityāvadhānam, a form of Indian classical art based on multitasking, lateral thinking, and extempore versification. Dotted throughout with tasteful examples, it expounds in great detail on the theory and practice of this unique performing art. It is as much a handbook of performance as it is an anthology of well-turned...

This anthology is a revised edition of the author's 1978 classic. This series of essays, containing his original research in various fields, throws light on the socio-cultural landscape of Tamil Nadu spanning several centuries. These compelling episodes will appeal to scholars and laymen alike.
“When superstitious mediaevalists mislead the country about its judicial past, we have to...

The cultural history of a nation, unlike the customary mainstream history, has a larger time-frame and encompasses the timeless ethos of a society undergirding the course of events and vicissitudes. A major key to the understanding of a society’s unique character is an appreciation of the far-reaching contributions by outstanding personalities of certain periods – especially in the realms of...

Prekṣaṇīyam is an anthology of essays on Indian classical dance and theatre authored by multifaceted scholar and creative genius, Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh. As a master of śāstra, a performing artiste (of the ancient art of Avadhānam), and a cultured rasika, he brings a unique, holistic perspective to every discussion. These essays deal with the philosophy, history, aesthetics, and practice of...

Yaugandharam

इदं किञ्चिद्यामलं काव्यं द्वयोः खण्डकाव्ययोः सङ्कलनरूपम्। रामानुरागानलं हि सीतापरित्यागाल्लक्ष्मणवियोगाच्च श्रीरामेणानुभूतं हृदयसङ्क्षोभं वर्णयति । वात्सल्यगोपालकं तु कदाचिद्भानूपरागसमये घटितं यशोदाश्रीकृष्णयोर्मेलनं वर्णयति । इदम्प्रथमतया संस्कृतसाहित्ये सम्पूर्णं काव्यं...

Vanitakavitotsavah

इदं खण्डकाव्यमान्तं मालिनीछन्दसोपनिबद्धं विलसति। मेनकाविश्वामित्रयोः समागमः, तत्फलतया शकुन्तलाया जननम्, मातापितृभ्यां त्यक्तस्य शिशोः कण्वमहर्षिणा परिपालनं चेति काव्यस्यास्येतिवृत्तसङ्क्षेपः।

Vaiphalyaphalam

इदं खण्डकाव्यमान्तं मालिनीछन्दसोपनिबद्धं विलसति। मेनकाविश्वामित्रयोः समागमः, तत्फलतया शकुन्तलाया जननम्, मातापितृभ्यां त्यक्तस्य शिशोः कण्वमहर्षिणा परिपालनं चेति काव्यस्यास्येतिवृत्तसङ्क्षेपः।

Nipunapraghunakam

इयं रचना दशसु रूपकेष्वन्यतमस्य भाणस्य निदर्शनतामुपैति। एकाङ्करूपकेऽस्मिन् शेखरकनामा चित्रोद्यमलेखकः केनापि हेतुना वियोगम् अनुभवतोश्चित्रलेखामिलिन्दकयोः समागमं सिसाधयिषुः कथामाकाशभाषणरूपेण निर्वहति।

Bharavatarastavah

अस्मिन् स्तोत्रकाव्ये भगवन्तं शिवं कविरभिष्टौति। वसन्ततिलकयोपनिबद्धस्य काव्यस्यास्य कविकृतम् उल्लाघनाभिधं व्याख्यानं च वर्तते।

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the third volume, some character sketches of great literary savants responsible for Kannada renaissance during the first half of the twentieth century. These remarkable...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the second volume, episodes from the lives of remarkable exponents of classical music and dance, traditional storytellers, thespians, and connoisseurs; as well as his...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the first volume, episodes from the lives of great writers, poets, literary aficionados, exemplars of public life, literary scholars, noble-hearted common folk, advocates...

Evolution of Mahabharata and Other Writings on the Epic is the English translation of S R Ramaswamy's 1972 Kannada classic 'Mahabharatada Belavanige' along with seven of his essays on the great epic. It tells the riveting...

Shiva-Rama-Krishna is an English adaptation of Śatāvadhāni Dr. R Ganesh's popular lecture series on the three great...

Bharatilochana

ಮಹಾಮಾಹೇಶ್ವರ ಅಭಿನವಗುಪ್ತ ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ವಿದ್ಯಾವಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮರೆಯಲಾಗದ ಹೆಸರು. ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಶೈವದರ್ಶನ ಮತ್ತು ಸೌಂದರ್ಯಮೀಮಾಂಸೆಗಳ ಪರಮಾಚಾರ್ಯನಾಗಿ  ಸಾವಿರ ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಇವನು ಜ್ಞಾನಪ್ರಪಂಚವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಭಾವಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ ಇದ್ದಾನೆ. ಭರತಮುನಿಯ ನಾಟ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರವನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಇವನೊಬ್ಬನೇ ನಮಗಿರುವ ಆಲಂಬನ. ಇದೇ ರೀತಿ ರಸಧ್ವನಿಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತವನ್ನು...

Vagarthavismayasvadah

“वागर्थविस्मयास्वादः” प्रमुखतया साहित्यशास्त्रतत्त्वानि विमृशति । अत्र सौन्दर्यर्यशास्त्रीयमूलतत्त्वानि यथा रस-ध्वनि-वक्रता-औचित्यादीनि सुनिपुणं परामृष्टानि प्रतिनवे चिकित्सकप्रज्ञाप्रकाशे। तदन्तर एव संस्कृतवाङ्मयस्य सामर्थ्यसमाविष्कारोऽपि विहितः। क्वचिदिव च्छन्दोमीमांसा च...

The Best of Hiriyanna

The Best of Hiriyanna is a collection of forty-eight essays by Prof. M. Hiriyanna that sheds new light on Sanskrit Literature, Indian...

Stories Behind Verses

Stories Behind Verses is a remarkable collection of over a hundred anecdotes, each of which captures a story behind the composition of a Sanskrit verse. Collected over several years from...