The Creation Hymn

It was in November 2002, a chilly evening in a crowded auditorium in Santa Clara University that I met Amartya Sen. There was something about him which moved me as he gave a passionate talk on globalization and poverty. As I stood shaking his hand after the talk I felt what it might feel like to stand in the presence of a divine being, to be doused in his aura, to feel peace and exhilaration in the same instant.

I am now in the midst of reading His collection of essays “The Argumentative Indian” covering Indian history, culture and identity strung together by the argumentative tradition. I came across a gem that I would like to share with you.

In an essay concerning secularism in India, Sen touches on the topic of ‘Skeptics, Agnostics and Atheists’ and religious skepticism expressed in the 3500 year old Creation Hymn from the Rig Veda:

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of the universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen - perhaps it has formed itself, or perhaps it did not - the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows - or perhaps he does not know.

This is a seductive verse. It agitates your mind and leaves you pondering on the question that has tormented man since the dawn of reason.

This version of the creation hymn is from a translation of the Rig Veda by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty.


Iyer

A Quote

"If a woman could completely fill a man...

The man must be really shallow."



Iyer

God

As far as I remember, God, the super-natural’s existence and whereabouts never did appear in my entire schooling. It never confused me that at school Darwin took credit to explaining evolution while at home Brahma, the Creator, was behind intelligent design. Either I could clearly separate theology from science in my young mind, or, I was just incapable of such deep thinking. I was independently presented with the concept of evolution versus that of intelligent design. And the choice didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.

An amusing battle rages in America over the question of separating church and state and of introducing the conjecture of “intelligent design” in the schools. Some things we can never do in a clear fashion. At least not yet and one such is keeping the state free of religion. It is probably because we have gotten so used to ruling over the sheep by telling them each night that they better behave or else the wolf would come get them. But one thing we can do is to keep science and religion separate and do a favour to the future generations. It’s absurd to talk of God’s hand or leg in creation in school unless it is presented in a separate setting like theology or philosophy class and includes a mandatory disclaimer that the ideas presented are the author’s alone and stand as long as another idea doesn’t demolish the former.

Let us look at the Judiciary and the potential confusion God can create there. I came across this paragraph in a Service Level Agreement of a certain company.



How can you have such abstract concepts like “Act of God” in a legally binding SLA? If I do contest a case and the crux of it comes down to defining “Act of God” how would the judiciary be able to do this in a “fair” and “just” manner?

Ok, God may be omnipresent. Doesn’t mean you go and introduce him everywhere and anywhere just to prove your point! Let’s leave him out of some places – starting from SLAs, Constitutions and Club Momo.

Iyer

WTF?

This week has been strangely frustrating.

To begin with, I was cursing myself for not having planned anything for the week dotted with days off. The Bintan trip just happened and turned out pretty good in fact. Still there is this feeling of rot and doing nothing.

But I am like the laziest bum in this part of the city and could always do with doing nothing, or so I thought.
And, now that I have been lying around in bed doing nothing for eight hours straight I have this weird PMS-like (a guess) feeling. I am actually frustrated with this bed and this not-so-comfy pillow and my groaning stomach.

Last week I wanted to pull away, take a bus to Johor Bahru and run away some place, just like that. That hasn’t happened.

I just want to feel totally liberated, totally free of this idle-man discomfort, I want to be on the move.

I better figure out something before I bite my finger off.


Frustrated Iyer

Bintan Loola Cottages
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