Sufferings and Moksha for Hindus

Kshitiz Gaur

I witnessed many people from west coming to India in search for spiritualism and liberation as they too start maintaining that this world is not real and full of sufferings. These peace hunters have an image of Hinduism that there is some touch stone is there in the religion of Hindus that will heal the materialistic pains with the touch of spirituality.  These searchers have an idea that Hindus have known the real meaning of life and they know how to come over sufferings. They feel that spiritualism will take them to some another world where these is only peace.

For Hindus, the world is full of sufferings and therefore Hindu philosophies searched the path of liberation from this sorrowful life. Sometimes, it seems that Hindu philosophies is escaping the reality and have no courage to face the world. It is like, ignoring the realities of world just because there are pain, sorrow, hunger, illness, heartache, ageing and later death.

 

The Buddha too, after attaining the Nirvana stated the first sentence, “this world is full of suffering.’ Though, then he stated that there is a cause of suffering and then, there is a cessation of suffering. But the message that went out scored pessimism in the side of Hindus. And Hindus left living the life tension that the end is death and therefore when the end is confirmed than there is no use of temporary pleasure.

 

The Hindu philosophies sometimes looked that they are crying loudly about the suffering and escaping from these suffering and literally every school of Hindu thoughts prescribed that liberation is the final goal for human beings. Samkhya went more ahead and then announced, Death is the ultimate liberation.

But Max Muller again observed, “But this is not the disposition which we are accustomed to call pessimism. Indian philosophy contains no outcry against divine injustice, and in no way encourages suicidal expedients.”

When Hindu philosophy made it clear that this world is full of suffering and this suffering can only be removed by the right knowledge, they proceed ahead to live a perfect life in accordance to the knowledge.

Because Hindu thinkers made it clear that no one can escape from this suffering, if they try to do, then they face it again in the next birth. As per

Hindu philosophy, the sufferer is the self and not the body. The suffering which is talked at large is of soul and least of body, “The characteristic of

Indian is that it has paid greater attention to the inner world of more than the outer world,” concludes Radhakrishan.

But when the soul is untouched by the world and dwells only as the observer and is not a part of body and only a pure consciousness then how the soul suffer and not body. The pure soul is not affected by the changes or modification of universe then how the material affects the non-material which is pure consciousness. Hindu philosophies replied, that because of the wrong knowledge, the soul, which is pure and consciousness and only an observer and because of the wrong or false knowledge, start taking itself as a part of body and therefore suffers. The body is not conscious; it is material and therefore the suffering, pain, expectation, jealousy, desires are all modification in the soul which attached with the body which is material. Only the right knowledge liberates the soul from sufferings, when it comes to know that soul is not the part of this world.

 Certainly, philosophies is the need of every time because to introspect why suffering exist. Interestingly, when some of the philosophies maintained that the world in not real then why the suffering exists in this world which is not real. The problem is faced by almost every school of philosophy and later they clarified that either this is because the soul seems to come in contact to the material (Prakarti) of it is an illusion while taking the world of Maya as real. Some scholars tried to describe the other part of such problems as spirituality and this part has been taken as utter important issue by the schools, “It follow, therefore that ancient Indian materialism cannot looked at as a philosophical thought, enjoying as it were, an existence-in-itself in the ideological sphere, the question of our ancient materialism is in extra orderly mixed up with the history of our people.” Lokayata page 04.

But the charges that Hindu philosophies took the world as totally unreal are wrong because Upnisads worked hard on the reality of life but they emphasise that suffering surfaced because of wrong knowledge and wrong calculation. Even the Arthashastra of Kautalya showed that there were administration and social and religious principles to provide proper fabric of civilization. Even there are sciences and systems of astronomy in Rita of Rig Veda and also system of management the first system of natural management is described beautifully with symbolism of Devatas as gods.

 There are hundreds and hundreds of examples that prove that Hindu thinkers worked hard to make lives beautiful and also manage the system of society which prevailed for hundreds of years. But why the Hindu philosophies were coined as pessimistic at large, “It results because we had neglected the materialistic aspect of Indian thought and therefore we took only the existing world as unreal” said in Lokyata.

 Scholars of Materialism tried hard that Hindu lives in past were not totally spiritual but they took the world as real and theoretically they maintain spiritualism and practice materialism. Hindu philosophies had diversity of knowledge and concepts and also perceptivity living but now the Hindu race with the spiritual treasurer in hands is looking like begging for a system of living from others. It looks that Hindus knows the importance and worth of their wisdom but not caring to realize the actuality. And it seems that this race is overall satisfied or has adopted the way of satisfaction that they had done lot and everything and let made no further step ahead with reasoning and logic to philosophize life but to adopt the neo- Hinduism with faith in heart and mind and greed in eyes. Mills in Utilitarian said, “It is better to be dissatisfied man than a pig satisfied, better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied and if the fool and the pig is of a different opinion, it is because they have only their side of question. The other party to the comparison knows both the sides.”

But what went wrong with this race that had a rich treasurer of wisdom and a system of medicine like Auryveda, a treatment as per the law of nature. There are no traces of large epidemics, unnatural deaths, in the past and there were no new viruses that attacked this race as assumed for Mesopotamia or for other civilizations. Even there are examples that life expediency in this race was above one hundred years and there were warriors who remained healthy as in Hindu epics where Pandavas were pasteurized very strong. But the condition of this race is different at present, “India is facing a death toll of above average mostly by communicable disease, unable to check the population, poverty and illiteracy” stated United Nations’ World Health Organization in the report of 2000.

 Again, Muller point out that, “It is interesting, however, to observe the unanimity with which the principal systems of philosophy in India, nay some of their religious systems also, start from the conviction that the world is full of suffering and that this suffering should be accounted for and removed, This seems to have been one of the principal impulses, if not the principal impulse to philosophical thought in India.”

 The sketch of Hindu race is made in the way that it only talked at large about the suffering and liberation and therefore the soil germinated with cynicism and therefore the race went down and ruled by many and many dynasties who invaded their land. But this is not the case because Havel found in Aryan rule in India, “The Vedas represent culture of race of warriors, poets and philosophers who despised the art of coerce and live mostly by agriculture.”

 And for Hindus, philosophy, a darshan, an insight for the right view bringing out the best way of living, both socially and politically and ancient India shows that there was rise in culture, art and economy and social network with the rise of philosophical thoughts. There are also many examples found in the history of this race that there was democratic atmosphere that people were free to express their views and adopt newly visions and principle and were neither condemned. Mahaveer and Buddha brought unorthodox philosophies condemning the Vedic stream of thought and they were accepted by the mass for thousands of years. “Not only had Socrates of ancient Greece had to drink the cup of poison but even the Jesus was prosecuted” Observed M N Roy in Materialism. He further added that, “The Upnisads record not only strands of rationalist, naturalist and agnostic thought but also out and out atheism and materialism.”

 Evidences show that there was advancement for society. There were literature, science, art, craft and also astronomy which emerged to make the rule on this land as the best example of society and golden civilization. Dr. Smith compared the Gupta with the Elizabethan and Stuart periods of England and found that the brilliancy of Kalidas as in England all the smaller authors are overshadowed by Shakespeare. During this age, Aryabhatta wrote Surya Siddhanta in which he calculated the reason of solar and lunar eclipses and he declared that earth revolves round its axis and also the planetary motions.

  Brahmagupta in Navanitakam mentioned that all things fall to the earth by a law of nature, for it is the nature of the earth to attract and keep things. The art and sculptures flourished in India as an age of zenith which cannot be called as pessimism of Hindu philosophies, “In certain chapters of the Brahmans and in the Upansads, we see a picture of the social and intellectual life, at that early time seems fully to justify to say that India has always been a nation of philosopher,” agreed Muller in Six System of Indian philosophy.

There was also a regulatory body which runs by the codified books to make religion straight, “The puranas form an important position of the religious literature of the Hindus and together with the Dharmshastra and Tantras govern their conduct and regulate their religious observances At present day, every orthodox Hindu must have some knowledge of the puranas, directly vicariously to shape his conduct and to perform the duties essential to the worldly and the spiritual welfare” added Materialism .

Culture was so rich that people were liberal to accept or deny the views accordingly and every thought has the right to put forward and open for discussion. Philosophical schools discussed issues involving philosophical principles. The knowledge does not aim merely satisfying theoretical and speculative interest but also realizing the highest form of life. But what hindered this race to advance their concepts ahead of the principle that the soul is eternal and the body is mortal, the body dies and the topic attached with the life become useless to discuss. Interestingly the crux of Vedanta that the world is phenomenal and therefore the world is not true is taken as accepted in general, “To a Hindu the idea that the souls of men migrated after death into new bodies of living beings, o f animals, nay, even of plants, is so well self evident that it was hardly ever question. We never meet with any attempt of proving or disproving it among the prominent writers of ancient and modern times” found German Scholar Seelen Wanderung.

 

The, ‘Atman Brahma and Sharir Nashwar’ is literary taken into concept which do not represent the real Hindu philosophy because the concept of soul and body was advanced on the bases of logic and reasoning and there were vastly criticized by other schools of philosophy but acceptance of this theory was because the school of Vedanta worked hard to establish their theory in mass. Tucci found, “At its every beginnings this doctrine represented the science of the purohita who on earth assisted his king as in heaven.” And Colebrooke commented on Ramunuja evidences and stated, “If a Bhrama was the only an observer of the established ceremonial, and as asserter of the privileges of his own order, He might entertain and even profess almost any philosophical opinion which he pleased”

The deformation of Hindu philosophy that arose in this land was reasoned that the kings and states were in controlled of philosophies and kings and Brahmans advance theories to keep the state in control to flourish ethics and justice in society. Keith interestingly found it and stated, “Harishchandra was the son of a king with hundred of wives but he had noson, to have the son he received an advice from the Narada- A sonless one cannot attain heaven. All the beast knows this therefore a son, his mother and his sister mounteth. This is a broad and auspicious path along which men with sons fare free from sorrow; on its beasts and herds gaze for it they unite even with the mother.”

 

M N Roy stated that Ramanuja broadly mixed up the theory of universal soul of Shankar Vedanta from attributeless and shapeless to shaped and attributed supreme self and advanced on the ‘sakar’ (shape) creation and mass required an object of faith which they suitably found in the sakar (shape) full god and this accepted at large. Philosophers made the system of creation where the role of god was limited and everything was fine tuned with the law of nature but still common mass required someone who remained standing for them and Ramanuja came forward to full this gap and created god as a rescuer and object of faith. “Every powerful emotion has its own myth making tendency, this myth making faculty is often allied with cruelty” maintained Bertrand Russell.

 

Hindus had deep rooted spiritualism in their soil and even the faculty of consciousness treated on every scale but taking up whole of the Hindu philosophy as a product of spiritualism is therefore the emotional myth making faculty that led to close mental stream and result in cruelty with the philosophers of Hindus. Basically knowledge which advance with reasoning and logic and not in myth making tendency was the crux of Hindu philosophy, “To those, whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge; that knowledge lights up the supreme self like the sun” Bhagwat Gita 5-16.

 For Hindus, the view of cessation of suffering is possible makes the whole knowledge of land to flow for a reason, and this occur that they somehow had a thought that life is real, as the suffering in this life is real and was main concern for the thinkers. Thinkers do not dwell in the miseries and at last they never suggest runaway from life or supported suicidal tendency is the crux of Hindu principal. Hindu philosophy founds miseries as a real component of life and this infect, according to them caused by nescience which is wrong knowledge and or absence of knowledge. The aim here is not to cease it but to attain the highest knowledge which looks as eudamonsitism and not as pessimism.

Badarayana advanced that all sufferings have their cause which is avidya an absence of knowledge, “To bring out the true knowledge of Brahman the highest bliss” Upnisad II. He found that the cause of suffering in this world is because of wrong knowledge and this wrong knowledge is something which is taken wrongly about the concept. As taking the wrong premises to draw invalid conclusion is the major concern for this school of philosophy.

 Likewise, Samkhya in Karikas and in Sutras begins to accept the existence of the three kinds of suffering and announced as its highest object, is to completely cessation of this pain. Samkhya also realized the difference between the kind of pain and their cause. For them, the suffering is the main problem but the aim was not only to eradicate this suffering but to get out of it through right knowledge, this right knowledge alone is capable of removing all physical and mental pain. And similarly Yoga school of philosophy provided practical method of recognizing the true knowledge and found that wrong knowledge is the modification in the mind or heart and it required to be seized to get the place for right knowledge. Even Vaiseshka promised their followers the path of knowledge, the final cessation is attain from the pain and Gotma too in Nayaya School, in his first Surta emphasis on the complete blessedness Apavarga as the highest reward which is possible by the complete destruction of pain of every type.And mind it, this complete blessing is attain only by the mean of logic which is deducing true knowledge from every premises of worldly things.

 Buddhist were taken as real pessimist because Buddha after the Nirvana talked the first theory in mass and declared that there is suffering. This philosophy originated from accepting that there is suffering in this world, this basic and very first step leads to the philosophy. But this school advanced boldly that how they established the theory of Pratityasamutpada, a theory of dependent origination. Hindu schools never left the followers by establishing that the world is full of sorrow but they advanced the cause and cessation of this cause to live life in accordance with true knowledge. The Dependent origination gives twelve stacks of a wheel to come out of this world of sufferings –

Ignorance, Impressions of Karmic forces, initial consciousness of the embryo, psycho physical organs, six sense organs including the mind, sense object contacts, sense experience, thirst for sense enjoyment, will to be born again, rebirth and old age and death. (Avidya, Samskara, Vijnana, nama rupa, sadyatana, sparsha, vedana, trsnhna, upadana, bhava, jati, hara-marana)

It says that because things depend on their causes and conditions, they are relative, dependent, conditional and finite and therefore momentary and when the cause is removed things cease themselves. Death is not permanent and so the birth is. Hindu philosophies recognized the presence of pain in the world and in every life and also profess the way to remove this pain. Even physical pain is related to the sense of soul, and as soon as the self realizes and recognize the true knowledge, the physical pain ceases also at once. The psychological base of this theory is taken as that the life for Hindus accepted the suffering and this suffering is described as a desire to attach to the world. This attachment towards worldly things is related to mind, it is a stream of thoughts. The matrix is that we are what we have made our self, seems to be the main content of life for the Hindu thoughts. Vedanta made Avidya a result of sufferings and Samkhay as Aviveka and Nayaya as mithyagyana and Buddha as attachment.

Hindus never look dreaming in thought that the life of man is useless and to eradicate this suffering from their live is to exile from this world, They never think to keep the view of this world as unreal as because if this could be the base of their philosophies, the life had become useless and imaginative and so the suffering in life could never be dealt so widely and therefore life and suffering become synonyms. Mythologies suggests that after long waited opportunity, the life as a human being is able to form for any soul and this is the only life where one can try for liberation to attain knowledge. “The pleasure which arises to men from contact with sensible objects is to be retinquested as accompanied by pain-such is the warning of fools, the berries of paddy with the finest white grains, what man taking his true interest would fling there away to covered with husks and dust,”added Servardharma Samgraha page 4.

 Somehow, it proves that Hindu thoughts clearly reflect the world of reality, the only way they tried to rid from the pain and sorrow which this world have and to dwell in the state of bliss i.e. to make life better and happier in accordance to knowledge. The concept of pleasure and happiness is related to the school of Bharaspati, emerged at the time of post Vedic age, and Hindu philosophy in no way mark things which only and only advocate to destroy the body to realize the real essence of soul and therefore the happiness and bliss comes at end. It also look like that Hindus usually ask the soul to detach from the material or taking a soul apart from the body to attain solace but these philosophies never advised suffering or penance. Hume rightly noted, “You would surely more irritate than appease a man lying under the rocking pains of the gout by preaching up to him the rectitude of those general laws which produced the malignant humors in his body, where they now excite such delight torments.”

The Hindu thoughts gave rise to moral and ethics in society and they made the rules inherent in every man of the society to live a life keeping in view that they have to avoid suffering and attain bliss with true knowledge.

 Fuller and Memurrin in the History of Philosophy page 12 realized, “Man would not excise unless, in all his active and practical relations with the world and in the ideals generated by them, he were implacably anthropocentric and determined at all costs to have the world, As he wishes it to be we might expect then, to find this determination gritting the teeth of his philosophizing as well, and spitting out and false and illusory whatever is to hard or to harsh for them to crack.”