Essence of Religion
Dada came home as soon as he was free from the work of his shop. While he was still climbing the stairs, he called to Komal. Komal was polite and gentle by nature. Dada loved him dearly. The firs thing he would do soon after coming home was to see Komal. He would never engage himself in any other task till he had seen him. Today Komal did not turn up as usual in response to his call. He entered the house and made inquiries about him He was told that he (Komal) had gone somewhere outside the house and had not returned till then. Dada sat down waiting for him. It was 10 P.M. but Komal didn’t return. This added to Dada’s anxiety. He sent some men to search for him but all returned disappointed. They could get no clue to his whereabouts. He grew restless but Komal’s dadi asked him not to be perturbed unnecessarily. Komal was not a child and was unlikely to go astray. She advised him to go to bed which he did and fell asleep.
Dada was up again in the early hours of morning when the clock had hardly struck four. He did not say his prayers. To him Komal was all in all. The house began to resound with the words, “Komal! Komal !” Dada’s words awakened all those who were asleep in the house except Komal who did not wake up as he had gone to bed late last evening. Dada was told that Komal had come and was still lying asleep. Dada heaved a sigh of relief. The rays of the sun penetrated Komal’s room. He soon woke up and had hardly sat when he found Dada already standing before him. He stood up and touched his feet.
Dada said, “Komal! Where were you last evening?” Komal wanted to evade his question. He knew Dada’s nature well. He had a strong aversion to his going to the place he had visited last evening. So he only gave him a nod in reply. But Dada would not be satisfied. He repeated the same question. Komal replied gently that he had gone somewhere with a friend of his. Dada felt annoyed and raised his voice. He asked Komal to tell him about the place he had been to last evening. Komal replied affectionately that he had been to a religious place. As soon as Dada heard these words, he was aflame with rage. He considered himself to be an atheist. He believed that his good lay in keeping religion at a yard’s distance. Try as he would, he failed to wean his son and daughter-in-law from religion. He had been trying to fill Komal’s mind with hatred against religion since childhood. As he was still immature. Dada’s efforts succeeded in poisoning his mind to a great extent. He began to detest religion and fight shy of religious preachers. Every individual has attachment for his ideas. He longs to see his ideas spread among other people. He feels great satisfaction when he sees that he has some followers. Dada had noted with satisfaction that Komal was growing strictly under the influence of his ideas. But today it appeared to him as if his happiness had been brought to nought just with one stroke. No sooner did he hear the words ‘religious place’ than his day dream was shattered. He lost the equilibrium of his mind. He asked Komal in an emotional manner if he had a discussion with some religious teacher.
“Yes, I had,” replied Komal.
“How did his advice appeal to you?” inquired Dada.
Komal-It was very appealing in deed.
Dada- I hope you haven’t embraced religion.
Komal-How could I return empty-handed after meeting that sadhu with magnetic personality?
Dada- What have you brought with you?
Komal-Anuvratas (little vows).
Dada- Come, be quick, get up just now. We are not to keep Anuvratas with us. We must return them to the person from whom you have brought them.
Both of them set out towards the religious place. Komal with his Dada walking closely behind him was moving along the market when he saw a man in chains escorted by two policemen. “Why is this man hand-cuffed?” asked Komal. “He is a thief. As he has violated the law of society by committing theft, he has been hand-cuffed,” replied Dada.
“Dada ! Is thieving bad?” inquired Komal with a sense of curiosity.
“It’s really a great evil. It disrupts social life,” remarked Dada.
“Should I then, commit theft?” asked Komal.
“No, son! never! You shouldn’t even talk about it,” chided Dada.
“Dada! one of the Anuvratas I have brought is that I shall not take anything into my possession with an intention of stealing it,” said Komal.
“It’s really a good thing. We shall not return it to the sadhu. But we must not retain the other Vratas (vows) with us,” commented Dada. They had walked a little distance when they saw a man being led away by an executioner. He had held out swords that emitted dazzling brilliance. Komal began to shudder with fear at their very sight.
“Dada! What a terrifying scene it is?” said Komal in a trembling voice.
“He is a murderer. He has slaughtered an innocent man. He has been sentenced to death by the court. The executioner is leading him to the place where he will be hanged to death,” Dada. explained thus to Komal..
“Dada! Why should there be a murder for a murder?” inquired Komal.
This is not a murder. It is a punishment inflicted upon him in lieu of a crime he has committed,” replied Dada.
“Is assassination a crime?” asked Komal.
“It is a heinous crime. It shakes the very root of society. If a man begins to swallow another man
like a hungry wolf, how can society preserve its existence?” Dada elucidated the point further in the form of a counter question.
“Dada! one of the Anuvratas that I have brought is exactly the same. I shall not kill a living being deliberately,” exclaimed Komal.
Dada said, “It is good in deed. We shall not return it.”
“Then, what shall we return?” asked Komal with a gentle smile upon his face.
“Should I learn telling a lie?”
“No, never! Lie strikes at the root of credibility.
An unreliable man can never succeed in his life,” uttered Dada exhortingly.
“One of my Anuvratas (vows) is that I shall well not tell a lie. Should we return this as well?” asked Komal.
“No, never!” said Dada.
As they were still talking about the Vratas, Komal had pledged himself to observe, they arrived at the religious place. Dada put his feet over its stairs with great hesitation. He had never been to any religious place till then. He regarded seeing the face of any religious teacher as an act of sin. It was for the first time that he had violated the vow of his life that day.
He remained quiet for two minutes. Finding that it was now proper for him to speak, he said, “Muniji! excuse me, I have no faith in religion. I am told that you ‘gave’ religion to Komal. I have
come to return it to you. We shall, however retain some of the things I found worth having. We shall keep the vows of non-violence, truth and non- stealing and shall return the rest of religion to you.” Muniji gave a patient hearing to what Dada had uttered and asked, “Is the restraint of human passion not desirable?”
“It is very necessary, Muniji! Without it social life as well as individual life will lose its very essence,” said Dada.
“It was one of the vows of religion that I administered to him. Would you like to return it?” asked Muniji.
“No, never!” said Dada.
“Do you support inequality in society?” asked Muniji.
“No, not at all. I am strongly in favour of socialism. How can I support the idea of inequality in society?” said Dada.
Muniji-One of the vows that I administered to him lays emphasis on the exercise of control over covetousness and abstinence from hoarding up wealth more than what is necessary.
Dada- This is the best thing that you have taught to him. What else have you given to him?
Muniji-Nothing more than these.
Dada -Then, is this the very thing we call religion?
Muniji-This is the basic norm of religion.
Dada -I had heard that the greatest religion of the Kaliyug is worshipping and saying the name of God over and over again,
Muniji-That is not the main thing. He who does not climb the first step cannot reach fifth step. Repetition of the sacred text and worship is an individual religion whereas the Vrata (vow) affects the life of an individual as well as that of society. Hence it is broadly acceptable.
Dada was lost in the thought of broadly acceptable principle of religion’ so much so that he found himself in its firm grip. He had gone to the religious place with a view to persuading Komal to give up religion but he returned home with a deep imprint of religion on his own mind.
