Saturday, June 16, 2007

Rationalism and Curse

Rationalism demands a cogent and logicial explanation sans which a belief is treated as superstition or blind faith or even tyranny over the minds of the gullible. In India, Rationalism is mostly directed at Hindu religious beliefs and practices. However, some of the beliefs and practices which apparently cannot be rationally supported had their own secular/mundane/practical/effective purposes.

Curse is one of them.

Before the advent of British to India, as anyone will readily accept, there were no registration offices, no stamp papers, no registration, etc. How then were land/property disputes avoided? How ownership was determined? Was it because of sparce population and abudance of land?

Forgetting about private ownership for a while, if we look at the public lands, like a village tank or temple lands, inscriptions abound where the donor solemnly lays a curse on anyone who tresspasses or grabs against the intended purpose. This is a good evidence that land-grabbing is not a recent phenenomen and that in those days a curse was a good deterrent.

In some parts of Rayalaseema there is a practice that if anyone loses valuables like ornaments due to burglary all the villagers are to throw a ball of dung into a heap and the valuable is normlly recovered in the dung heap without the culprit revealing himself. Anyone violating this system comes under a curse, it is believed.

Even now disputes are settled in the Kanipakkam temple under the belief that the wrong doer will come under the curse of Lord Ganesa if he does not mend his way.

Now with a plethora of laws, courts, registration offices, documentations, litigation has not abated albiet increased manifold.

What is good? Inculcating a sense of irrational belief in curse (if it is possible in these days) or muddle through police stations and legal jungle?

Ponder...

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