Tree of Dharma Freedom of Expression

Part 1 : Tree of Dharma Part 1

Part 2 : Tree of Dharma Sahodara Case

Mahata and its Expression

And the trunk of tree of Dharma is Bhima, representative by far of all the ten qualities of Dharma thus forming the entire body of the tree. He is anchored because the sheer power of sons of Vayu cannot be left unharnessed.

They are the harbingers of justice and the storms of righteousness to break down the dreary decaying societies of the dead habits, rituals and dogmas and breath a fresh lease of life, pure air, prana vayu into the hearts and minds of men and if needed women. (Women are the srjna shakti, the creative energy in themselves.)

Their tireless striving stretches their arms towards perfection and sons of vayu, the five pranas, lead the minds of men forward into ever widening thought and action.

Unchecked, they can destroy the entire world and create a brand new one from the start that is why they are called Prabhanjanasutas. If they do not find that heaven of freedom good enough, they can create a new one.

Thus, the sons of Vayu are anchored close to sons of Dharma, the regulators, and to the roots Krishna and Rama, the circuit breakers for their unchecked enthusiasm is a joy to behold for the devotee but terror for the makers of this world.

Because, Bhima and Hanuman represents the most powerful of the forces in the world. FREEDOM OF THOUGHT.

Dharma himself is the result of Mahata, the Thought. That freedom of thought is(are) Bhima and Hanuman. That is why the Hanuman and Bhima are beloved characters, they let loose the reins on our imaginations, they make it possible for us to view the wider vistas and let our thoughts roam the skies. Their sheer power maddens and excites the mind. Their child like enthusiasm and seemingly on the face of it simplistic outlook reachs the child inside us and makes it possible for that child to come out and engage.

Vamana had come to fix the situation where Bali was subverting the Yuga cycle by accelerating the Sata yuga to come again. Ravana tried to create a perfect society and ended up creating a pastiche for Kali Yuga and needed to be corrected. Parasurama came to chop away some deadwood and Narayana calmly asked his other half Nara to let loose the wrath and terror of Dharma on those who misuse and abuse Dharma.
All still had to deal with the enthusiastic rambunctious boisterous and high spirited sons of Vayu. That freedom of thought needs governance or boundaries, some of it at least to prevent the chaos from overwhelming the mind.

Freedom of Thought

Freedom of thought is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom. With rare aberrations a pervasive recognition of this truth can be traced in our mythology, history, political and legal. Freedom of thought can subvert any system and any dispensation. Courage, forbearance, ability to overpower, understanding one’s flaws or introspection, clearness of purpose, control of senses, understanding, learning, sincere, manliness are qualities that allow that freedom to flow unchecked.

Sometimes there needs to be limits on those freedoms. Rama is called Marayada Purushottam as he sets some limits “Maryada” to the power of Hanuman. Yudhishthara was called to account for same in an interesting set of quiz contests that always seem to land Bhima in some trouble or the other.

The Ajagara Prashna and Yaksha Prashna were the Dharma’s way of explaining the limits needed for and the new set of rules and paradigms to govern that Freedom of Expression.

Hanuman, whose childlike enthusiasm and joy and playfulness made Sun a mere apple to be enjoyed by the child of Vayu. That loss of sun will send this universe into a momentary darkness does not enter the child’s mind. Don’t worry, there were 11 other suryas and several backup suryas available in case Hanuman completed his snack. It is just interesting to note that that Surya ran to save himself from a child of Vayu, hiding behind Indra. That happens again and again!

The Freedom of Expression as a Child

CHILD is fearless, child does not know boundaries. They need to be taught. The Child, the Freedom of expression or of thought needs to be limited for it to spread, to be used wisely, to be persistent.

हमेशा मन्दिरो-मस्जिद में नहीं रहता
सुना है बच्चों में छुपकर वो खेलता भी है
~ निदा फ़ाज़ली

A child has thoughts, unalloyed, pure and beautiful, vivid in imagination and in scope, there are no boundaries to this vision, the vista is far reaching and endless. In child we have the presence of god in the most pristine form. Then child is taught to speak.

ऐ शाम के फ़रिश्तो, ज़रा देखके चलो
बच्चों ने साहिलों पे घरौन्दे बनाये हैं
~ निदा फ़ाज़ली

Children are the most unspoilt and beautiful amongst us. To shatter their dreams is cruel. The saddest thing in the world is a child with broken dreams. The cruelest joke life plays on children is to change their care free world into a world they need to care.

And the Language entirely determines the range of possible cognitive processes of an individual.

Human psychological faculties are mostly universal and innate or whether they are mostly a result of learning, and hence subject to cultural and social processes that vary between places and times. The universalist view holds that all humans share the same set of basic faculties, and that variability due to cultural differences is negligible. We are all the same.

Bhima would say
आईना देख के निकला था मैं घर से बाहर
आज तक हाथ में महफ़ूज़ है पत्थर मेरा
~ निदा फ़ाज़ली
I had taken a good look at the mirror before I left my home.
This is why, the stone I had carried to cast at another,
Has still not left my hand.

Yudhishthara would interpret it as
जब किसी से कोई गिला रखना
सामने अपने आईना रखना
~ निदा फ़ाज़ली
When you are about to censure someone,
Please keep a mirror in front of yourself.

(and that is the answer to some recent discussions on the need or not of a documentary.)

Human mind is a mostly biological construction, so that all humans sharing the same neurological configuration can be expected to have similar or identical basic cognitive patterns. The contrary position can be described as constructivist, stating that human faculties and concepts are largely influenced by socially constructed and learned categories, that is not subject to many biological restrictions.

Thus, Human mental capacities are generally unrestricted by its biological-material basis. And it can be described as essentialist, holding that there may be essential differences in the ways individuals or groups experience and conceptualize the world.

Those differences are by the language. The sounds. The voice. The Vaka.

When the Child learns to speak.

To express in another medium.

When Thought in mind, which is the fastest thing in world slows down to become Sound. मन: शीघ्रतरं वातात्

To suddenly express the profound universe of Ideas, this had no boundaries, now in a limited vocabulary of a language.

What does this mean?

Thought which is inherently embedded in language, the limited number of expressions and the use of words of a language is actually a form of restricting Freedom of Thought.

smile emoticon

Thus, Vaka or Voice or Language limits Freedom of Thought and governs it.

Similarly, Draupadi governs the untrammeled power of her husband Bhima. Future Saraswati and Future Brahma, the creators of the future world!

Language that crystallizes the thought, distills the worthy and elucidates the order from chaos, rescues the imperative from bedlam, identifies the vital from pandemonium, and presents the new paradigm, new universe, new cosmos for our consumption.

Dharma (Jambavanta) did not need Bharati or Vaka to control Hanuman because Brahma took care of that. Yudhishthara needed Draupadi to control his younger brother.

When Drupada would have asked “Why does my daughter need to marry all five?”

Yudhishthara “let me tell you about my brother Bheema!”

And did you notice, Draupadi is not specifically described as part of Tree of Dharma but is still very very crucial and vital to the growth and spread of that tree. No team is alone. There are always people that support from behind the scenes and do not take curtain calls but no venture, no project, no plan, no endeavor, no scheme, no performance is successful without them. Behind every great man, you know the rest.

शुचित्वं त्यागिता शौर्यं सामान्यं सुखदु:खयो: |
दाक्षिण्यञ्चानुरज्ञिग्त;श्च सत्यता च सुहॄद्गुणा: ||

The qualities of a true companion are: Purity, generosity, chivalry, being composed in happiness and distress, politeness, affection and truthfulness. These were manifest in Draupadi but that’s subject of another post.

Thank You Pranshu Sir..

 

Shree Hari,

Deepak Kumar Jha (A Learner)