A FEW THOUGTHS ON THE BLARING OF MUSIC FROM LOUDSPEAKER IN THE TEMPLE ”Yudhistra asks Bhishma about the practice of reciting Vedic texts in a murmur.” The reply by Bhishma is abridged thus by John D Smith in his translation of The
Mahabharata, “The
murmuring reciter should be disengaged; meditating on brahman, and by degrees ceasing even to meditate, he attains freedom from rebirth. In reply to question from Yudhistra, he
adds that those who
perform murmuring recitations without the necessary disengagement and discipline go to hell.” THE IDEA I find above is that those who EVEN make WHISPERING sounds in the name of chanting, or worship, without the necessary disengagement from the world, without their MIND RESPECTFULLY ON GOD, are merely accumulating sin and going to hell. THE WORDS ARE BY VYASA, THE AUTHOR OF THE GITA, THE MAHABHARATA, AND THE VEDAS, AND ATTRIBURED TO BHISHMA, THE GREAT SAGE.
How far from scriptural injunction and guidance is then blaring music for hours aloud from temples, polluting by what is often just the noise of tribal music, the beautiful sounds of birds and nature around.
Polluting the pristine sounds of GOD-engendered nature. Early morning and the evenings are time where each person enjoys nature the most. The body naturally gains vigour in the beautiful beats and rhythm in the natural sounds of nature.
Mornings are time when
many prefer to meditate in
silence. When some would prefer to sleep to recover from a night of tiring work. When students may need to study with deep attention. When a doctor may need to plan his day for treating patients – in silence and focus. When a patient may need peaceful rest.
Peaceful rest for infants in morning hours allow preparing their body for the day. Allow for growth. And, eventually, thus a healthy
brain and
body in their youth for them.
Who has the right to take away beautiful silence, and sounds of God-
engendered nature from them in early morning hours, daily? Disrupt a yoga practitioner, wake the infant, disrupt the sleep of the old, and those recovering from illnesses and thus needing greater rest? Disrupt the worship of those of other faith?
All these are daily disrupted by poor quality music – often of a tribal quality – not Sanskrit chants or anything – often even just the kind of music played in marriages, blared on a speaker for miles across, apparently just for a few folks living a few kilometre away to hear. And
they do so despite that many respected families nearby have told them their difficulties in having to hear the noise every morning and evening.
This behaviour,
kindly allow me to point out, is extremely selfish and inconsiderate. A few minutes of ancient chants– RESPECTFUL to others of all faiths – AND not imposing these things of yours on others is, I think, acceptable. What if a place of another religion or another faction within your own were to blare music on you for a few hours daily, and wake you up with that kind of music. WOULD IT BE ACCEPTABLE FOR YOU? WHY PUT OTHERS THROUGH A SUFFERING YOU WOULDN’T HAVE ON
YOURSELF?
IN THE GITA, KRISHNA OUTLINES DIFFERENT PATHS, SINCE DIFFERENT PATHS ARE SUITED TO DIFFERENT FOLKS , ACCORDING TO THEIR INCLINATIONS AND NATURE GIVEN BY GOD. It is a GREAT SIN TO IMPOSE TRIBAL MUSIC AND DRUMMING ON ALL, EVERY MORNING AND EVENING – TAKING AWAY THEIR PRECIOUS
TIME GIVEN TO THEM BY THE GOD
THAT MADE THEM, AND GAVE THEM THEIR OWN UNIQUE SPIRITUAL INCLINATIONS.
Further, it is a stretch of faith to think it pleases any divine being, to engage in such kind of callous disturbing of human freedoms. Unless that so labelled “divine being” is worse than human, and has his own nervous disorders. And,
in my opinion, it is an insult to
one’s own faith to behave in ways not considerate of other human beings.
I understand many have REPEATEDLY talked to you regarding this, and repeatedly. And the practice stubbornly continues. In the Chapter 16 of Gita, describing demonic nature, Krishna
points out that
little-intelligence, stubbornness, overt pride, imposing oneself on others, rough behaviour, inconsiderateness of other innocent humans, etc., are the quality of demons. They do sacrifice and worship but in namesake, and for their own pride, and not according to ancient rules. And that demonic quality leads to bondage, the lowest realms, and finally destructioning BY NATURE.
In the long run, such behaviour will only take educated minds away from any faith that you may be trying to project. AS THERE ARE MORE AND MORE FOLKS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, IF YOU ARE TO PROJECT A GOOD IMAGE OF THE TEMPLE, YOU OUGHT THINK OF YOUR PRACTICES. OF SUCH INCONSIDERATE BEHAVIOURS, BEYOND THE SURFACE DISPLAY, THE EFFECT IS ONE OF BRINGING A BAD NAME TO RELIGIONS AND THE GODS THEY PRETEND TO FOLLOW.
FOLKS REMAIN SILENT THINKING IT IS USELESS TO BRING UP THE ISSUE WHEN IT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE SO MANY TIMES
WITH YOU. EVEN OFTEN RETURNED BY BORDERLINE THUGLIKE ATTITUDE.
Think about it – if there is a person recovering from a heart-disease in a nearby house, and he or she needs rest AND YET HAS TO SUFFER TWO HOURS OF THIS DRUMMING IN THE EARLY MORNING FROM 5 AM, AND THEN IN THE EVENING – ARE YOU BEING SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE, IN ANYWAY?
It is a sign of SOCIETY having a basic level of CIVILIZATION, when folks consider each other, do not disturb or impose things on the freedoms and personal lives of others.
Further the term TEMPLE, in ancient writings all referred to the human body. Never in any scripture to a building. We find no reference to such buildings in Mahabharata or Ramayana. The body is nurtured in the cradle of sounds of NATURE. GOD’S WISDOM PREVADES NATURE. AND IS MANIFEST IN BOTH THE AUDIBLE AND INAUDIBLE SOUNDS OF NATURE. THE
PATH, SAGES SAY, IS IN
DEEP AND SILENT MEDITATION ON GOD. EVEN OTHER RELIGIONS FROM THE WEST POINT OUT THAT PRAYER AND WORSHIP HAS ALWAYS TO BE SILENT, INNER. ONLY THE FALSE, THE HYPOCRITES, ETC., PRAY OUT ALOUD.
IF TO REACH TO GOD, Not on folk-tamil and tribal music BLARED ought be the mind. Nor on tribal drumming. Ask yourself what is the scriptural or traditional foundation of WHAT YOU ARE DOING. ASK YOURSELF IF YOU ARE VOILATING THE INJUNCTIONS OF SCRIPTURE AND OF GODS, OF OUR ANCIENT INDIAN TRADITIONS. REMEMBER
YOU NOW DENY
OTHERS – EVERY SINGLE DAY - THEIR NATURAL RIGHT TO peacefully mediate in the morning, or EVEN simply enjoy nature OR SILENCE, OR TO THINK OF THEIR OWN GOD IN SILENCE.
Were loudspeakers there to be used like this, a few decades ago. Temples were silent
and sacred affairs in good times. And in other
phases, temples have sunk into NEGATIVE activities that were opposed by and cleansed out by great sages.
THIS PRACTICE OF BLARING RECORDED MUSIC AND DRUMMING BEING AGAINST ANCIENT SCRIPTURAL INJUNCTION, having no basis in ancient science, disruptive of the sleep of many, DISRUPTING PERSONAL FREEDONS, disruptive OF THE
natural evolving of the human body with nature AND GOD, AND FURTHER BEING AGAINST ALL
GUDIELINES OF LAW,
BY THE HIGH COURT AND THE SUPREME COURT ON THE MATTER, I URGE YOU TO KINDLY REFRAIN FROM IT, AS I AM SURE YOUARE ALL DEFNITELY GOOD, LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS.
THE HIGH COURT AND SUPREMECOURT LAWS MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO USE LOUDSPEAKERS BETWEEN 10 P.M. AND 6 A.M., AND, IN-GENERAL, THE USE OF LOUDSPEAKERS WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION FROM THE POLICE.
I request you to kindly
not confuse faith with loudspeaker
music. And not to confuse faith with callous inconsiderate behaviours. And not to assume that by simply stubbornly blaring music you are pleasing any god, or upholding the temple endeavour.
And to
kindly refrain from hours of playing things that are mere disturbance to many, and not of any inner godly nature.
A few minutes of , say, A FEW Sanskrit verses, after 7 AM, AND in the evening is understandable, BUT, AGAIN, LET ME KINDLY
REMIND YOU, THERE IS NO REASON FOR YOU TO BE DOING HOURS OF MUSIC-BLARING AND TRIBAL DRUMMING IN THE NAME OF RUNNING A TEMPLE. AND THERE IS NO GOD PLEASED BY SUCH BEHAVIOUR, I AM QUITE SURE. AND INDEED, AND THAT’S WHAT SCRIPTURES WOULD SAY, THAT NO GODLY ENERGY STAYS IN A TEMPLE OF SUCH BASELESS PRACTICES, WITH NO FOUNDATION IN ANCIENT SCRIPTURAL INJUNCTION, AND EVEN OPPOSING SCRIPTURAL GUIDELINES IN DISRUPTING OTHERS’ LIVES, AND THE UNIQUE PATHS GIVEN TO EACH HUMAN BEING.