Green and Saffron : Hindu Nationalism and Indian Environmental Politics by Mukul Sharma

Author:Mukul Sharma [Sharma, Mukul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fig. 5.1: A Pamphlet of the Braj Rakshak Sena

Fig. 5.2: Oath Taken by Members of the Braj Rakshak Sena

Krishna as Environmentalist

Krishna, one of the greatest figures in Hindu mythology, has been much afflicted by the vicissitudes of history.65 Various texts dealing with him emphasize one or other aspect of his character, these being often the products of widely separated eras. As such, his life story has also assumed a new tinge under the influence of political, social, and religious upheaval.66 A range of factors lie behind his various transformations and dilations—sectarian rivalries, the impact of bhakti doctrines, the reworkings of symbolism, mythological assimilations, changed political environments, and upsurges of anti-Brahminism.67 Viewing the Krishna myth in a colonial context, Sudipta Kaviraj argues that the novelist Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay’s Krishna ought to be seen as a Sorelian myth, an ideal condensation of energies, a focus of ‘national-popular’ mobilization by the unremitting use of metaphors and myths. Here, Krishna is transformed from a lovable popular figure of eroticism, excess, transgression, and playfulness to a classic figure—calm, poised, rational, perfect, irreproachable. From a god of playful villagers and their folk festivals and a god who has helped them sort out small and everyday problems, he has been transformed into the supreme deity of a dependent nation, the god who helped them cross, nullify, reject, and transcend the historic indignity of subjection.68 Krishna can thus be reinvented quite quickly by the requirements of historical circumstance; an intelligentsia, it is apparent, can manufacture a classic tradition for itself in a matter of a few years when there is an audience willing, receptive, and hungry for a new messiah. What matters in this invention of tradition, far from its non-existence and non-continuity in real history, is its convincing appearance of the contrary—of having always been there.69

Of the many descriptions that flow into the Krishna story as it swells over to the environmentalists, we also see an environmentalist Krishna created by romanticized poetic narrations and arguments. These usually follow a simple and uncomplicated formula: environmental motives are added on to his life and deeds. It is stated that Vrindavan and its surroundings resound with the tales of ‘Sri Krsna’. Most of these tales are descriptions of various lilas of ‘Sri Krsna’ amidst nature and have environmental, spiritual, and philosophical undercurrents.70 This is not a single voice, nor an individual’s creation. Through a series of writings and speeches by environmentalists it becomes the collective argument with many outlines and manifestations. Sometimes, at the heart of it stand Sri Krishna and Radha Rani, the eternal pair representing purusa and prakriti, dual aspects of the primal force that permeates the universe. In their love and dalliance we find a powerful symbol of divine beauty and power, and into their dance we are drawn not only by cowherd youths and maidens but also by cows, birds, rivers, and plants.71

At other times, Krishna is Destroyer of Evil and Protector of the Weak. The killing of Kansa is the principal event in projecting this aspect,

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