Sitaram Yechury has started citing scriptures (Faith accompli Hindustan Times Tuesday, June 12, 2007). Must be due to the pressure of mid-age insecurities; a welcome sign nevertheless. He has approvingly mentioned the materialist interpretation of the Ten Avatars legend that somewhat matches with the theory of evolution. That the theory raises several posers as to the why and how of the whole dynamics is obvious. But he is loath to probe any further. This is a clear case of lack of intellectual integrity. Positing disparate facts without linking them within a cogent ontology is like deceiving oneself and others. And the most disconcerting aspect is the failure of such intelligent people to discover the flaw in their own argument. The Life Divine is a monumental attempt by Sri Aurobindo to explain this very theme. The whole controversy concerning evolution vs. creationism that lingers in the West does also find its solution in this book. But people like Yechury would have nothing to do with this great work. Such is the attitude of the educated liberals in our country. On the other extreme, we may think of Ramchandra Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma, who expired yesterday at the age of 70. In his philosophical journey he traversed from Whitehead and Wittgenstein to Sri Aurobindo and Ramana Maharshi. But this kind of cosmopolitan approach too prevents the erudites from being votaries of a single work like The Life Divine. [TNM]
No comments:
Post a Comment