My Truth and Your Truth

Guest Post by Ajinkya

In the state of Andhra Pradesh, on an area known as the seven hills, lies the abode of Lord Vishnu, popularly known as Venkateshwara Balaji. Balaji’s story is that of a domestic dispute between Vishnu and his celestial wife – Lakshmi or Shridevi. Vishnu is said to have come here in search of Lakshmi. However, he falls in love with the local princess – Padmavati and marries her. Their marriage is celebrated every year as Srivari Brahmotsavam where the devotees gather to celebrate the wedding of this divine couple with utmost splendor. Grand celebrations take place. The colors, the fragrance, the feast, and the festive fever of pleasure go on along with very neatly choreographed rituals. The worldly god rejoices in worldly pleasures along with his wife.

Just 40 kilometers away from Tirupati is located Srikalahasti, the abode of Lord Shiva located deep in a forest where Shiva sought peace away from worldly affairs. The story goes that a tribal boy – Kanappa used to carry meat and flowers in his 2 hands and water in his mouth to offer to an idol of Shiva every day. The temple priest is horrified to see this boy’s offerings. To test both of their devotion, Shiva’s one eye starts bleeding. The stumbled priest remains helpless, but Kanappa tries to stop the flow of blood by putting his leg on Shiva’s eye. He even tries to pluck out his eye to offer Shiva. But Shiva appears and stops Kanappa from doing it. The devotees who visit Tirupati Venkateshwara are told to visit Srikalahasti else their pilgrimage is said to be incomplete.

Both of these stories are in contrast with each other. In the former, the god is very worldly. He cares for rules, laws, and a code of conduct (Niti and Riti). In the latter, the god is indifferent to any of the laws, rules, and code of conduct. Vishnu, who comes to search for his wife, marries a wealthy princess. Shiva who comes to find calmness away from his wife remains in the state of Samadhi. Who should we worship? Whose path should we prefer? Who is true? Who speaks the ultimate truth? Should we reach divinity following niti and riti as in the case of Tirupati Balaji? Or is only a pure heart enough to reach god as in Kannappa’s story?

Brahma Satyam

The answer lies in the philosophical foundations of the ‘truth’ paradigm in Indian philosophy. Indian philosophy deals with truth in a ‘quantitative’ manner, unlike the qualitative truth of the western worldview. The verse ‘Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya’ is interpreted as ‘Satya’ or ‘the truth’ is infinite but ‘Jagat’ or ‘my truth’ is limited. Hence, one’s aim is not to prove ‘how much of his truth is good’, but the aim is ‘how can I find the infinite truth’. This creates a culture of ‘Upanishad or Samvaad’ or intellectual discussions where everyone’s truth has a place. No one’s truth is disrespected. In fact, the ultimate truth is incomplete without considering everyone’s subjective truths.

This approach is fundamentally different from the western philosophical qualitative approach where one’s aim is to prove how the quality of his truth is superior to everyone else’s truth. It creates the culture of ‘vivaad’ or debate where each truth tries to subjugate other truth. In the end, only one truth wins, and it substitutes all other truths, rejecting others’ subjective truths. 

In the former paradigm, the quantity of the truth matters, in the latter, the quality of the truth matters. In the former, ‘the truth’ is infinite, hence all accommodating. In the latter, ‘the truth’ is only one, hence, can’t accommodate other truths, and constantly rejects other truths. The former paradigm sees infinite truth as a big jigsaw puzzle consisting of ‘smaller subjective truths’. The latter sees ‘the truth’ as one constant reality that is sovereign. 

An Indian Exhibition of Truth

One can see this quantitative approach in our day-to-day life in India. Take the example of rangoli of Maharashtra, alpana of Bengal, or kolam of South India. The pattern usually is radially symmetric with a core and keeps expanding with newer and newer patterns getting added. There is no definite end to this pattern, neither there is any prescribed way of drawing this pattern. It keeps changing for each artist. Also, its size keeps expanding with newer and newer patterns getting added outside peripherally.

One can also see this paradigm getting repeated in the way food is served in India. An average Indian thali consists of various dishes served on a plate at a time. For a non-vegetarian, another dish will be added. For a vegetarian, one dish will be reduced. But overall, the thali remains intact with its multiple savory dishes. Each with its own place in the thali. Compare this with a typical European meal where food is served in a sequential manner, with only one item at a time. 

This is also evident in all households where Hindus worship multiple gods every day. Each god has its place in the pooja room. Each god has its own dedicated way of worshiping, its own festival, and its own ritual. One is free to add his own new god to this set-up. One is also free to take out one god from this set-up. 

We also see this in Hindu temples across the world. Every Hindu temple always has at least 2 gods on its premises. It is a reminder to the devotee that both Shiva and Shakti or 2 different versions of the truth exist. As the pilgrimage of Tirupati is incomplete without visiting Srikalahasti, the darshan of Shiva is incomplete without the darshan of Shakti. The devotee may want to visit only Durga, but she will be accompanied by her children – Ganesha and Kartikeya. The devotee may want to visit only Vishnu, but he will be accompanied by Lakshmi. The massive gopurams of the temples decorated with uncountable colorful imagery of the Gods also grab the attention of the devotees. In some temples, the Hindu God or Goddess may even be accompanied by a Muslim figure like in the Ranganatha temple of Srirangam where the devotee learns that the infinite truth also accommodates the subjective truth of Muslims. 

At the heart of this, lies the strong philosophical belief of ‘polytruism’ or acceptance of multiple truths at a time. By connecting these dots of multiple truths, one can draw a pattern according to one’s own capability. This pattern is ‘maya’, one’s subjective world. My subjective world can be different from your subjective world. However, the difference between your pattern and my pattern is not conflicting but complimenting. A clue to draw the infinitely bigger picture and see it all. The wisdom lies in recognizing that each pattern is a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. And Bhagwan is thus, one who has the ability to integrate these smaller parts together to see the infinite picture.

This article is first published in blog: https://awakenedindian.in/ in October 2019. The editor of the blog has permitted to publish this with The Emissary after giving due credits to original blog. 

---

We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.

Iris Murdoch