Awakening India Through Harikathā

There is Immense Value of Harikathā as a Mass Communication Tool to Help Public Realise the Grandeur of our Ancient Wisdom.

Under Tattvāloka’s distinguished lecture series, ‘Onward March to Rāma Rājya,’ Śrī Dushyanth Sridhar, the celebrated exponent of harikathā, the classical Indian art of storytelling, spoke on the topic, ‘Awakening India through Harikathā’ on December 15, 2018.

What India Dozes On

The philosophy that sanātana dharma teaches is indeed grand. The Brahmasutra of Bādarāyaṇa is the quintessence of upaniṣadic philosophy. Our preceptors have spent years delving deep into the philosophies. It is the philosophy that seasoned our thinkers, preceptors and also the followers.

The influence of theology- vaiṣṇava, śaiva, śākta and so on- comes next to philosophy. Sadly today, we see rituals, devoid of philosophy and theology, being considered as the most important part of sanātana dharma. Rituals become mechanical and commercial in nature when philosophy is not given due significance and when theology is not practised with love.

Foreign travellers to our land in the ancient past had hailed in their writings that even commoners used to discuss philosophical questions on the streets. Today, there is a regrettable lack of knowledge of our gems of philosophical treatises even in educated households.

Our ancestors were proficient in Sanskrit, the language in which the treatises are written and so they could understand the importance of rituals that are prescribed therein. Today, due to ignorance of the language, rituals that are integral part of our lives have become routine chores. Philosophy is not our cup of tea. Theology is not something we can invest our time on. What seems practical to us is just the ritual. Rituals are also an integral part. But those rituals gain meaning and importance, and they will be performed with love, only when we realise the importance of philosophy and theology,” said Śrī Dushyanth.

Ignorance of philosophy and theology is at the root of problems facing sanātana dharma.

Temples as Centres of Bliss

For a large part of our civilisation, we have been a temple-centric community. Worship of a personal godhead is one of the many ways to knowledge according to our scriptures,

A simple pradakṣiṇa of a temple can do wonders. Today temples, which are supposed to be centres of bliss, have become just monuments, and centres of empty worship and rituals.

Many people do not have the time to appreciate beauty of the architecture. “We have lost the very ability to relish the temple experience,” the speaker pointed out.

This also holds good for various forms of ancient art, such as classical music, which are integral part of our sanātana dharma. An area of ignorance that is increasingly creeping in is that music is antithetical to sanātana dharma. “We may not have had an ānandabhairavi in the Sāmaveda, but the Sāmaveda is itself music. To take away the music part is a sad development,” said Sri Dushyanth.

Therefore ignorance has to be countered in the areas of philosophy, theology, the role of temple architecture, art and rituals. “India has been sleeping over these important expanses and the awakening process should come through knowledge in all these areas,” he declared.

Awakening through Harikathā

Harikathā has often been construed as the art of storytelling. The art can in fact be divided and represented in four broad categories. Harikathā would form the base of a four-tier pyramid, with sangīta upanyāsa coming as the next layer on top, followed by upanyāsa above it, with the topmost layer being kālakṣepa.

The art of harikathā has been a part of Sanātana dharma for long and it probably got a structure during the marāṭhā rule in the south. Lord Rāma was fortunate to listen to the Rāmāyaṇa sung by his own sons. Lava and Kuśa sang and narrated before Hari Himself and so their performance was indeed harikathā. It does not delve deep into philosophy because it was meant for the masses. If we have to create awareness about sanātana dharma among the masses, the medium should not be interjected with high philosophy. Interpersed with musical narrations, Harikathā’s objective is to make the listeners relish what he hears.

Sangīta upanyāsa, musical in nature, included a little philosophy, and made listeners think. Upanyāsas were completely dominated by narration and it had a musical tinge only while citing or reciting verses. The practitioners would talk and would sing some verses now and then.

Kālakṣepa, which literally means ‘waste of time,’ was an way to attract people and get them to contemplate on the high aspects of Vedānta. In closed doors the practitioner would take up a subject like the Braḥmasutra bhāṣya, read out a verse and give plenty of opportunities to the student to listen and contemplate.

In keeping with the modern trends, it is vital to present Harikathā in English language so as to reach out a good portion of educated youngsters and spread the tenets of Sanātana dharma, said the speaker.

The knowledge imparted to the prajā, citizens, is very important for the achievement of Rāma Rājya. This is where harikathā can be the important medium.

It is the art of speaking which converts a lot of aspirants and followers. It is a pity that there are very few public speakers for Sanātana dharma. There is an urgent need, hence, to attract more harikathā practitioners. They must be able to sense the beauty in the art.

Śrī Dushyanth Sridhar concluded this presentation by underscoring that, “Awakening India in the spheres of philosophy, theology, arts, architecture and rituals through harikathā has to happen with intellectual consensus and in languages that will benefit the next few generations.”

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