The prime reason for Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism,
in English!) to be the most misunderstood creed in the world has as much to do
with politics as a lack of understanding of its core philosophy. More people
drop ‘Manu Smriti’ than they drop hats without being able to quote one line
from it.
Amidst all the cacophony about temple
entry and gender rights, the core philosophy behind a pilgrimage to Sabarimala is
lost.
The rishis of yore did
penance to realise (darsana or visualisation
through the mind) godhead. In order to focus the mind solely on the paramatma (Supreme
Being), body and mind control were thought to be necessary. Control of bodily
senses was thought to be necessary for controlling the mind. Modern science
recognises there is a physiological basis to personality.
A barefoot, forty mile hike across forest
tracks strewn with pebbles and stones in bone-chilling winters and a seven-mile
trek across a forty-five-degree mountain is not easy. (It was originally a
forty mile hike across a forest, now limited to about seven miles.) It requires
rigorous conditioning of the body. The devotee practises sleeping on cold
floors and walking barefoot for forty days. If this is physical conditioning,
what about mind control? Brahmacharya (celibacy) requires
equally rigorous mind control. In order to aid this, the devotee has cold baths
twice a day, eschews spices, meat and intoxicants. A pilgrimage to Sabarimala to
visit Bhagawan Ayyappa is all about brahmacharya.
Wearing saffron or black clothes is a constant reminder of the need for brahmacharya.
The exclusion of women between the ages of
menarche and menopause has another reason. It is not gender discrimination but
gender sensitivity, intended to spare them the rigours involved in a pilgrimage
to Sabarimala. In the philosophy behind a pilgrimage to Sabarimala as
in every other religious practice in Sanatana Dharma, there may be
other cryptic reasons not fully understood by the laity.
The ageless scriptures of the Sanatana
Dharma are beyond the ken of the Indian Constitution,
amended a hundred and thirty times in sixty-six years. The Constitution entrusted
Your Lordships with the duty of interpreting it. There are thousands of mundane
matters that need and deserve your attention better!
