In her last working paper (Werkstattbericht) the author asked whether one could identify concepts that are central for today’s Human Rights discourse in classical texts from the Hindu traditions. In particular she was looking for concepts like human dignity or human value and analyzed passages from the Upanisads, Dharma- and Arthasastra. Subsequently she concentrated on the Bhagavadgita and selected Bhakti-poetry, however this was not part of the report.
The following paper picks up an
earlier suggestion of the plenum of the Kollegforschergruppe on individualisation in historical perspective and tries to discuss how far her
mentioned project can contribute to the topic of “individualization”. Looking at the
previously examined texts she especially tries to reflect upon the concepts of agency,
relationality, dividuality and multiple personae.
The intricacies of the Agamas and the secrets of the Nigamas
And all the truths contained in the Sastras, we do not know!
Of Yoga and of sacrifices, of the eight spiritual paths,
Of alms, of vows and austerities, we know nothing!
Says Choka. O God, in my candid devotion,
I’ll simply sing Your Name, o Kesava!...“
(in Heehs 2002:332-3)
I have no authority to study the Vedas; I am helpless in every way,
humble in caste, says Tuka.
coveting and coveting still more.
So here I am, standing at my door
to get a good look at Mohan when he comes,
Abandoning my beautiful veil and the modesty
that guards my family’s honor, showing my face,
Mother-in-law, sister-in-lay: day and night they monitor,
lecturing me about it all and lecturing once again.
Yet my quick, giddy eyes will brook no hindrance.
They’re sold into someone else’s hands.
Some will say I’m good, some will say I’m bad –
whatever their opinion, I exalt it as a gift,
But Mira is the lover of her Lord, the Mountain-Lifter.
Without him, I simply cannot live.
(Hawley 2005:111)
What’s the use of ablutions, litanies, purifications
and prostrations in the mosque?
If you pray with a heart full of guile
what’s the use of Haj and Kaaba?
Twenty-four times the Brahman keeps the eleventh-day fast,
while the Qazi observes the Ramzan:
Tell me, why does he set aside the eleven months
to seek spiritual fruit in the twelfth?
Hari dwells in the East, they say
and Allah resides in the West,
Search for Him in your heart, in the heart of your heart:
There He dwells, Rahim-Ram!
...
(in Vaudeville 1993: 217-18)
If by circumcision one becomes Turk, what then will be said of your women?
‚Half the body’, so the wife is styled; then you still remain Hindu!
By putting on the sacred thread, does one become a Brahman?
What has thou given to women to wear?
She from birth is but a Sudra! Why dost thou eat the food she brings, O Pande?
(in Keay 1995:12-13)
Why didn’t He mark the Brahmans at birth
with the triple line?
Why do you befool the world
with that contrived ‚sacred Thread’?
Why didn’t you enter this world
through a different path?
Why didn’t God himself
circumcise you in the womb?
This man alone is vile
who des not invoke Ram.
(in Vaudeville 1993:218-19)
one piss and shit,
one blood, one meat.
From one drop, a universe.
Who’s Brahmin? Who’s Shudra?
(in Hess/Singh 2001:19)
came from, since you believe in it.
Mix red juice, white juice and air –
a body bakes in a body.
As soon as the eight lotuses
are ready, it comes
into the world. Then what’s
untouchable?
Eighty-four-hundred thousand vessels
decay into dust, while the potter
keeps slapping clay
on the wheel, and with a touch
cuts each one off.
the world was born.
So who’s untouched? asks Kabir. ....
(in Hess/Singh 2001:17):
„Creator, I am Your wretched servant!
My soul is restless for Your vision.
You are first and last, God and man,
You are the refuge sought by Pirs and prophets,
What have I, poor and dirty, to fear?
...
Till now I was an unhonoured shoemaker,
a wretched servant of yours.
I can get no answer at Your door,
Raidas says, I am wretched.
(in Heehs 2002:368
No taxes or cares, none owns property there,
no wrongdoing, worry, terror, or torture,
Oh my brother, I’ve come to take it as my own,
my distant home, where everything is right.
That imperial kingdom is rich and secure,
where none are third or second – all are one.
Its food and drink are famous, and those who live there
dwell in satisfaction and in wealth.
They do this or that, they walk where they wish,
they stroll through fabled palaces unchallenged.
Oh, says Ravidas, a tanner now set free,
those who walk besides me are my friends.
(Hawley 2005:333-334)
Bhakti - Poems
1. Conscious confessions of one's own ignorance and untouchability
Example 1: Chokamela
(13.Jh.), Follower of Vithobas from Pandharpur (Maharashtra), a
Mahaear or tanner:
„We know neither science nor
Puranas,
About the World we know nothing –The intricacies of the Agamas and the secrets of the Nigamas
And all the truths contained in the Sastras, we do not know!
Of Yoga and of sacrifices, of the eight spiritual paths,
Of alms, of vows and austerities, we know nothing!
Says Choka. O God, in my candid devotion,
I’ll simply sing Your Name, o Kesava!...“
(in Heehs 2002:332-3)
Example 2:
Tukaram (1608-1649), a varkari-bhakta from a village close to Pune, also a follower of
Vithobas:
„I was born in a Sudra family, thus
was set free from all pride.
Now it is thou who art my father and
mother, O Lord of Pandhari!I have no authority to study the Vedas; I am helpless in every way,
humble in caste, says Tuka.
2. Individual leaving of roles predefined by society
Example: Mirabai, daughter of a leader of the
Rajputes, born in 1498.
Paga bāʼndha
ghūʼngharyāʼn ņācyāʼnrī
Ich tanzte mit
Fußglöckchen an meinen Füßen.
„Mīrā ist wahnsinnig“, sagten die Leute,
„Diese Sippenzerstörerin“, schimpfte die Schwiegermutter.
Den Giftbecher schickte ihr der König,
Mīrā lachte, als sie ihn austrank.
Körper und Geist habe ich zu Haris Füßen geopfert,
Bei seinem Anblick werde ich Nektar trinken.
Mīrās Herr ist Giridhara Nāgara,
„Mīrā ist wahnsinnig“, sagten die Leute,
„Diese Sippenzerstörerin“, schimpfte die Schwiegermutter.
Den Giftbecher schickte ihr der König,
Mīrā lachte, als sie ihn austrank.
Körper und Geist habe ich zu Haris Füßen geopfert,
Bei seinem Anblick werde ich Nektar trinken.
Mīrās Herr ist Giridhara Nāgara,
In Deine Zuflucht werde ich gelangen.
(Mirabai 2006)
My eyes are greedy. They’re beyond turning back.
They stare straight ahead, friend, straight ahead,coveting and coveting still more.
So here I am, standing at my door
to get a good look at Mohan when he comes,
Abandoning my beautiful veil and the modesty
that guards my family’s honor, showing my face,
Mother-in-law, sister-in-lay: day and night they monitor,
lecturing me about it all and lecturing once again.
Yet my quick, giddy eyes will brook no hindrance.
They’re sold into someone else’s hands.
Some will say I’m good, some will say I’m bad –
whatever their opinion, I exalt it as a gift,
But Mira is the lover of her Lord, the Mountain-Lifter.
Without him, I simply cannot live.
(Hawley 2005:111)
3. Criticisms of religions and institutions, including of representations of female roles; advocating personal relationships to God
Example: Kabir (born ca. 1440), Varanasi, from the casts of weavers
...What’s the use of ablutions, litanies, purifications
and prostrations in the mosque?
If you pray with a heart full of guile
what’s the use of Haj and Kaaba?
Twenty-four times the Brahman keeps the eleventh-day fast,
while the Qazi observes the Ramzan:
Tell me, why does he set aside the eleven months
to seek spiritual fruit in the twelfth?
Hari dwells in the East, they say
and Allah resides in the West,
Search for Him in your heart, in the heart of your heart:
There He dwells, Rahim-Ram!
...
(in Vaudeville 1993: 217-18)
Vain-glorious
of authority, you make me to be circumcised; never will I endure it, brother!
If it is God
that makes thee to be circumcised, why came not this cutting of itelf?If by circumcision one becomes Turk, what then will be said of your women?
‚Half the body’, so the wife is styled; then you still remain Hindu!
By putting on the sacred thread, does one become a Brahman?
What has thou given to women to wear?
She from birth is but a Sudra! Why dost thou eat the food she brings, O Pande?
(in Keay 1995:12-13)
4. Criticising the religious legitimacy of hierarchy
Example: Kabir
If the Creator
had invented casteWhy didn’t He mark the Brahmans at birth
with the triple line?
A Shudra you
were born,
a Shudra you die!Why do you befool the world
with that contrived ‚sacred Thread’?
If you are a
Brahman,
born from a Brahmani,Why didn’t you enter this world
through a different path?
If you are a
Turk,
born from a Turkini,Why didn’t God himself
circumcise you in the womb?
Says Kabir,
there are no
low-born:This man alone is vile
who des not invoke Ram.
(in Vaudeville 1993:218-19)
5. Criticising the outruling of the lower jatis and so-called untouchables, and the absurdity of untouchability
Example: Kabir
It’s all one skin and bone,one piss and shit,
one blood, one meat.
From one drop, a universe.
Who’s Brahmin? Who’s Shudra?
(in Hess/Singh 2001:19)
Pandit, look in your heart for knowledge.
Tell me where untouchabilitycame from, since you believe in it.
Mix red juice, white juice and air –
a body bakes in a body.
As soon as the eight lotuses
are ready, it comes
into the world. Then what’s
untouchable?
Eighty-four-hundred thousand vessels
decay into dust, while the potter
keeps slapping clay
on the wheel, and with a touch
cuts each one off.
We
eat by touching, we wash
by
touching, from a touch the world was born.
So who’s untouched? asks Kabir. ....
(in Hess/Singh 2001:17):
6. Respect and elevation by God, the utopia of the subjugated
Example: Raidas or
Ravidas, Chamar and
shoemaker, born ca. 1377
My soul is restless for Your vision.
You are the refuge sought by Pirs and prophets,
What have I, poor and dirty, to fear?
...
a wretched servant of yours.
I can get no answer at Your door,
Raidas says, I am wretched.
God, if I did not sin, Infinite One,
how could Your name be „Uplifter of the fallen“?(in Heehs 2002:368
The regal realm with the sorrowless name:
they call it Queen City, a place
with no pain,No taxes or cares, none owns property there,
no wrongdoing, worry, terror, or torture,
Oh my brother, I’ve come to take it as my own,
my distant home, where everything is right.
That imperial kingdom is rich and secure,
where none are third or second – all are one.
Its food and drink are famous, and those who live there
dwell in satisfaction and in wealth.
They do this or that, they walk where they wish,
they stroll through fabled palaces unchallenged.
Oh, says Ravidas, a tanner now set free,
those who walk besides me are my friends.
(Hawley 2005:333-334)
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