As Ram Worships Bhagwan Shankar ....

The only good thing about the lockdown is the replaying of Ramayana and Mahabharat on Doordarshan. The kids are watching both the serials and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Unlike kids, I can’t watch all the episodes. But on & off I get to watch some episodes or parts thereof. Despite having watched and read different re-creations of Ramayana and Mahabharat, there is always something new to learn every time you watch or read Ramayana or Mahabharat.

For instance, this morning’s episode of Ramayana showed the tactics and strategies adopted by Ram and Ravana in preparation of war. As the final act of preparation, Bhagwan Ram, an incarnation of Vishnu, worshiped his आराध्य देवता, Bhagwan Shankar, to seek his blessings for success.

In the British era there was a lot of animosity between Shaivas and Vishnavas. Historically there has been no ill-will between Bhagwan Shankar & Bhagwan Vishnu, and no ill-will between those who primarily worshipped Bhagwan Shankar and those who prime diety was Bhagwan Vishnu. These divisions and the animosity were created and cultivated by the British to divide Indians.

Similarly the division between so-called Aryans & Dravidians were created by the British, and sustained by pseudo-intellectuals of independent India, who have been more British than Indian in their outlook. Peoples of this land united by Adi Shankaracharya’s travels from Kaladi in Kerala to Kandahar, to Kashmir, to Kamakhya (in today’s Assam), and back to Kanyakumari are all one as Indians/Hindus, and every other identity that we may have is inconsequential in comparison.