BOOKS BASED NOTES

         नैतिकता बनाम धर्म (इस आलेख में धर्म का प्रयोग रिलिजन के लिए किया गया है) जब तक नैतिकता व्यवहार से जुड़ी होती है उसके परिणाम अच्छे आते हैं क्योंकि इससे मनुष्य की सोच का स्तर बढ़ता है लेकिन जैसे ही नैतिकता धर्म का आवरण चढ़ा लेती है वैसे ही न सिर्फ विवादित हो जाती है बल्कि मनुष्य के लिए नुकसानदेह भी होने लगती है। व्यवहार का सम्बंध दृश्य और भोगे जाने वाले जीवन से होता है, धर्म    पुनर्जन्म की बात करता है या फिर कुछ वैसी ही बातों से जुड़ा होता है। तब आज के व्यवहार का सम्बंध मनुष्य से कम और परा शक्तियों से अधिक हो जाता है, तक व्यक्ति मनुष्य  समुदाय से अधिक अदृश्य परा शक्तियों के लिए कर्म करने लगता है। फिर ये भी तो है कि जीव विज्ञान की कसौटी पर जीवन सभी प्राणियों में समान होता है लेकिन धर्म असमानता पर आधारित है क्योंकि सभी एक ही धर्म को मानने वाले नहीं होते हैं, बल्कि धर्म के आधार पर वे आसमान हो जाते हैं। लेकिन आज मनुष्य की दिक्कत ये है कि वह एक विशेष पहचान खोजता है जो उसे राष्ट्र, धर्म, जाति और नस्ल से प्राप्त करना चाहता है क्योंकि ये पहचान पाने मे...

A STRONG GOVERNMENT A strong government is not that which controls everything, a strong government is that which allows institutions to grow strong, which empowers it's citizens strong, which build education, health and other public utility services strong. If constituents of a government are strong , government is strong. If constituents are weak government is weak. A big majority, a big police force or a big military is not essentially a sign of a strong government. Electoral majority is a consequence of popularity and popularity drives it's breaths from a variety of sources. Popularity doesn't essentially depends on rational performances. Popularity may be a consequence of sentimental forces. Similarly a big police force or a big military is not essentially a sign of good law and order situation or strong sovereignty . These forces may also be maintained for ensuring repression of popular opposition.     A self proclaimed strong government claims to make the state strong...

PROJECT OF FUTURE OF HUMAN RACE Will science help in mitigating inequalities or will it perpetuate inequalities?  This is a big question which answer will decide the course of human history and evolution in future. If present is anything to give some indication science in the given social structure is perpetuating inequalities among human beings. This is because of the hard reality of economics . Caste, race, colour like ethnic identities  besides classes are adapting to new economic order to secure their existence in some or other forms and hence impacts of science in terms of equitable  development fail to penetrate this. When we visit a rural setting of some downtrodden caste like Musahars in modern India we may wonder these are the members of the same human community which some members are living so lavish and advanced life. On the one hand blacks, most backward caste sections, economically  deprived class sections , and people of most backward regions of the wor...

Earlier there were wars between empires, kingdoms , and kings, today wars are between nature and human urge for innovation. The product of the earlier wars were large scale  bloodshed and that of modern wars is knowledge.  If we were in pre WW2 era US -USSR and US-China would have fought full scale wars. But in the modern days, wars are taken up in laboratories , markets and at polling stations. Knowledge is new territory which every aspirant of crown wishes to win .

In the modern world is it possible to save religion or is it possible to keep religion within the boundaries of faith or is it possible to keep religion alive for socho political reasons? Modern world has fast withdrawing it's space for existence of tradition. In the modern world changes are too fast to let the traditions survive. Traditions survive through their reflections in the field of religion, social values and systems of social control through social practices, and social, political, cultural and economic structures. Source of life to  traditions has been religion which has been giving sanctity, social acceptability and authority to traditions.       But  modern world is marked by science and technology and every aspect of a society be it social, cultural, physiological, political or economic. All are now definitely determined by science and more importantly by technology. Throughout the history science and technology  has determined the  ...

BATTLE OF FUTUTRE IN PRESENT Why have we not been taught in schools that religion and morality are different , religion and ethics are different? In our school curriculum we are not taught about the significance of moral values and ethics independently. Our Indian families like our educational institutions impart the knowledge of moral values  and ethics in context of religion and religious practices. Each and every moral story has its own religious bearing. Before the advent of Industrial revolution religiosity and morality were more or less synonyms. But as the mode of dominant production system continued to change from agriculture to industry and as the dominant determinant of life continued to shift from religion to science and technology morality and ethics continued  to be separated from religion. Modern world is divided into two parts, one is dominated by science and technology and the other by religion. Those countries which have opted for the first one are progressing...

       Birth Based Identity  Is it necessary for a person to have a religious identity?  Some of the prisons of history are still alive and religious identity is also one of those prisons, others are national , racial , ethnic, gender and identities . Identities that are based on the event of birth affect the individual's freedom, individuality, and  social acceptance.  You are forced to bear the burden of that event throughout your life, in the occurrence of which you have neither contributed nor agreed or disagreed.  Why are you forced to face the consequences of something you are not responsible for?  In such a system there is always inequality and this inequality is there at every step, at every level.  And the person is not able to get rid of birth based inequality and inequality of  opportunities and  consequences.  In Indian philosophy, Shri Krishna, while highlighting the futility of the occasion of birth, has...

It's important to realize whether our education system is primarily aiming to preserve the existing knowledge among people or explore entirely new knowledge altogether.

            जन्म आधारित पहचान क्या व्यक्ति की कोई धार्मिक पहचान हो ही जरूरी है? इतिहास के कुछ कारागार आज भी जीवित हैं और धार्मिक पहचान भी उन्हीं कारागारों में से एक है, अन्य हैं राष्ट्रीय पहचान, नस्लीय पहचान, जातीय, लैंगिक पहचान , इत्यादि। जो पहचान जन्म की घटना पर आधारित होते हैं वे व्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता को , उसके निजित्व को और उसके सामाजिक स्वीकार्यता को प्रभावित करते हैं। आप जीवन भर उस घटना का भार ढोने के लिए विवश कर दिए जाते हैं जिसके घटित होने में आपका कोई न तो योगदान रहा है और न ही आपकी सहमति या असहमति ही रही है। जिस चीज के लिए आप उत्तरदायी नहीं हैं उसके परिणामों को झेलने के लिए क्यों विवश कर दिया जाता है? इस तरह की व्यवस्था में हमेशा ही असमानता बनी रहती है और यह असमानता हर कदम पर, हर स्तर पर होती है। और व्यक्ति जन्म आधारित असमानता और आसमान अवसरों और  असमान परिणामों से पिण्ड नहीं छुड़ा पाता है। भारतीय दर्शन में श्रीमद्भादगीता में श्रीकृष्ण ने जन्म के अवसर की निरर्थकता पर प्रकाश डालते हुए कुलधर्म की परिकल्पना को तो खारिज कर ही दिया है, साथ ही जिन चा...

क्या कामनाएँ सच में वैसी ही बुरी होती हैं जैसा कि धार्मिक ग्रंथों में बतलाया गया है, धार्मिक सिद्धान्तों में गढ़ा गया है? पूरा का पूरा मिथकीय इतिहास और प्रमाणिक इतिहास कबीला से साम्राज्य बनने का इतिहास रहा है और इस विस्तार की प्रक्रिया को सबसे अधिक समर्थन मिला है धर्म और धार्मिक पहचान से और इस पूरी प्रक्रिया को अच्छे-बुरे के द्वैत के बल पर सराहा गया है जिसके कारण मिथकीय और प्रमाणिक इतिहास इंसानों की आपसी रंजिशों और लड़ाइयों से भरे पड़े हैं। इससे स्पष्ट है कि विश्व इतिहास के जिस दौर में कामनाओं को बुराई का नाम देने की प्रथा जोरों पर थी उस काल में भी कामनाओं की पूर्ति के लिए घमासान हिंसक युद्ध हो रहे थे और वही धर्म जो कामनाओं के त्याग की शिक्षा देते हैं , धर्म-अधर्म, पाप-पुण्य के नाम पर इन संघर्षों को समर्थन भी दे रहे थे। ऐसे में जब कामनाओं के त्याग के लिए समाज का कुलीन वर्ग ही प्रस्तुत नहीं हो रहा था सामान्य जन से इसकी आशा क्यों की जा रही थी, ये भी स्पष्ट है। ऐसे में ये जरूरी हो जाता है कि इंसान ऐसे नैतिक मूल्यों के बाध्यकारी सिद्धान्तों को फिर से गढ़े जिसमें कामनाओं का तिरष्कार न हो बल्कि ...

Soft philosophy is no reply to hard realities. Being decent is one thing, but being fragile is something not desirable  which can be hurt easily. Such a fragile or soft philosophy finds itself in difficult situations. Decency in behaviour carries some  considerable  weight  when  accompanied with tough actions and stands. But soft philosophers   seldom dare to make some explicit attack on recklessness of powerful sections . By choosing polite words for their comments such ideologues try to appear as descent opponents but in this process they deviate from their main contents of opposition. If someone is really interested in descent politics of opposition he/she should learn from Mahatma Gandhi who never allowed his decency to come in the way of his firmness. When the society is passing through the age of dearth , age of plundering of truth fragile softness is more than a criminal act. 

COVID 19: REINVENTING MORAL, ETHECAL, SCIENTIFIC AND HUMANE VALUES The pandemic Covid 19 has brought an wonderful chance to us to reevaluate the moral values and ethics in interpersonal relation and our relation with ethics, science and religion vis-a-vis each other. And this is true not only at individual level but also at community level. First take revival or rediscovery of ethical interpersonal relation. The pandemic has enabled us to think about ourselves and about community to which we belong at the same time. We realized that if we keep distancing physically we are not only protecting us from others but also protecting others from us. We realized that mutual   protecting both us and them is serving a public good or common good; our individual safty trancends and  community sefty and vice verca. Both individual good and public good come together with our concious efforts. The most striking part is that this concern is not only for those who belong to us or to ahom w...

If you want to bring economic prosperity in the society,  you have to move beyond the realms of capitalism and socialism and work for such an economic and social system, which recognizes the best elements of capitalism, individual freedom and competition on one hand  and of socialism , which includes use of   capital and humam resource on the other hand  for maximizing social  partnership and sharing.         This can be the starting point for the discussion, from which further work can be done on such a system and this ideology can be made politically valid so that it can be implemented as an economic-political-social system and make this place a better place.

                  FUTURE No one can predict future. So what should we do in present for securing our future? Of course we have some things which we can do with certainty both for present and for future and they are  enhancement of  our emotional intelligence, phycological balance and our ability to learn new things, i.e. agility. These are the best and the safest investments for our future.       The fast changing world is facing fierce competition between science and technology on one hand and nature on the other hand. Throughout the history every species had  lived according to wishes of nature but human beings have challange this idea of living according to nature from the beginning and have been devising news ways to conquer nature. All these ways are technology and knowledge behind these ways is science. Human beings had developed the way of ideas and imagination and these ideas and imaginations have been th...

REMOVE YOUR NEGATIVITY We should understand that if we want to become wise  we should not follow the ignorance of others, if we want to be great , we should not follow the inferiority of others, if we want to be intelligent  we should not follow the foolishness of others.        But look at the arrogance of human beings who often  respond to ignorance, lowliness and stupidity and  talk about wisdom, greatness and intellgence!   But whenever you know, read, listen to any knowledgeable, great or intelligent person, you will find that such people are constantly engaged in contemplating knowledge, greatness and understanding, they do not have time to discuss negativity, they  conquer the negativity of others by their own positivity.  Such examples are found everywhere not only in books but also in society.  But in order to see all this, one has to remove the negativity from his/her mind.     Do an exercise.  Eve...

Importance of Shri Krishna's education for the upliftment of Indian society  After all, have we ever wondered why Shri Krishna explains again and again in the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita that God does not exist anywhere in the outside world, in any other world, but to be God is a state which any person can achieve by performing certain actions in a certain way.  It is an education that respects the immense potential of human beings, negates discrimination between human beings, inspires human beings to adopt established good qualities and talks of social interest and common good.  But at the same time, the teachings of Shri Krishna openly oppose all kinds of evils, all kinds of discrimination, superstitions, atrocities,  false speech etc.            In the teachings of Shri Krishna in Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, tyranny,   selfishness, violence, falsehood, subjugation, narrow practices and social evils are attacked and one gets inspiration...

भारतीय समाज के उत्थान के लिए श्रीकृष्ण की शिक्षा का महत्व आखिर हमने कभी सोचा है कि श्रीमद्भागवद्गीता में श्रीकृष्ण क्यों बार बार समझाते हैं कि ईश्वर कँही बाहरी दुनिया में , किसी अन्य लोक में नहीं होते, बल्कि ईश्वर होना एक अवस्था है जिसे कोई भी व्यक्ति एक निशित तरीके से कर्म कर प्राप्त कर सकता है। यह एक ऐसी शिक्षा है जो मनुष्य की अपार क्षमताओं का सम्मान करती है , मनुष्यों के बीच के भेद-भाव को नकारती है, मनुष्यों को प्रेरित करती है कि वे स्थापित  अच्छे गुणों को अपनावें और सामाजिक हित की बात करती है। लेकिन साथ ही हर तरह की कुरीतियों, हर तरह के भेद भाव, अंधविश्वास, अत्याचार, अनाचार, परतंत्रता, असत्य भाषण का खुल कर विरोध करती है श्रीकृष्ण की शिक्षा।          श्रीमद्भागवद्गीता में श्रीकृष्ण की शिक्षाओं का  प्रसार होने से अत्याचार, अनाचार, व्यभिचार, स्वार्थपरकता, हिंसा, असत्य , परतंत्रता , संकुचित सामाजिक कुरीतियों पर कुठाराघात होता है और समाज के कॉमन गुड के लिए निःस्वार्थ भाव से कार्य करने की प्रेरणा मिलती है, प्रेरणा मिलती है कि हम स्वयम के स्तर को ऊपर उठाए...

MARCH TOWARDS EQUALITY After 7 decades of adoption of the Constitution are we approaching anything near to the triple objectives of the social, political and economic equality as envisaged in our  Constitution?  And if no, which is the only answer of course, has our polity done anything to achieve this goal of triple objectives?       This is one of the most timely questions which must be brought in the focus of the public discourse as now this question has started affecting our very survival as a human being. Without going into the details of data which are widely available in public domain we all know because of the increasing  inequality  deprivation and discrimination have been rapidly increasing both in terms of mensuration  and demography. So question regarding which political group or party has more  area under it's rule is less important than the questions arising out of the statistics of the area under socio-economic deprivation...

FREE MARKET AND SOCIAL VALUES Market as a tool for increasing productivity is valuable, market as a tool for generating money is effective but after that when market enters into the arena of ethics, values , humanity and  social life  it has constraints and may even be destructive. When social values and individual's reality as a human being become a commodity to be bought and sold in open markets cracks start appearing in social identity and solidarity.       From  1990s India entered into a some sort of market economy and the trend is continuing and will probably be continuing in future . This market economy has generated a lot of opportunities and money in the society but can we conclude that this sort of economy , along with monetary affluence could bring more social cohesiveness, more social equality, more social good, more individual's satisfaction in life? Of course answer is not in affirmative and we have been seeing more social, moral and lega...

      MORAL QUESTIONS OF                       LOCKDOWN.         Has the State or any other institution or person  the  right, according to any law or lesson of morality, to deprive other person or group of persons of the right to life without due process of law ?  Or to deprive a person or  a group of persons from the essential necessities of living?  And does the essential necessity of living include only food or does it include anything more than food?  Another related question is whether any government, institution or person can deprive any other person or group of persons from their employment which they have already  without any due  process?  Whether the right to life of a person does not include the right to life of the members of that person's family to the extent that those members of his family are dependent on him for their liveliho...

        लॉकडाउन के नैतिक प्रश्न राज्य या किसी भी अन्य संस्था अथवा व्यक्ति को ये अधिकार किसी भी कानून या नैतिकता के पाठ के अनुसार है क्या कि वह संस्था या व्यक्ति अन्य व्यक्ति या व्यक्तियों के समूह को जीवन जीने के अधिकार से बिना किसी कानूनी प्रक्रिया के वंचित कर सके अथवा ऐसे व्यक्तियों या व्यक्तियों के समूह को जीते जी जीने की अनिवार्य आवश्यकताओं से वंचित कर सके? और क्या जीने की अनिवार्य आवश्यकता में मात्र भोजन ही शामिल है अथवा भोजन के अतिरिक्त भी कुछ शामिल है? एक और जुड़ा हुआ प्रश्न है कि क्या किसी सरकार, संस्था या व्यक्ति को किसी अन्य व्यक्ति या व्यक्तियों के समूह  को उनके रोजगार से जो उन्हें पूर्व से प्राप्त रहा है उससे बिना किसी कानूनी प्रक्रिया के वंचित कर सके? क्या व्यक्ति के जीने के अधिकार में, उस हद तक जिस हद तक उसके परिवार के सदस्य अपनी आजीविका के लिए उसपर निर्भर हैं, उस व्यक्ति के परिवार के सदस्यों के जीने के अधिकार नहीं शामिल हैं , जैसे यदि किसी व्यक्ति की आजीविका ले ली जाती है तो क्या यह कृत्य उन लोगों पर जो अपने जीवन यापन के लिए उस व्यक्ति पर निर्भर होत...

खोखली होती व्यवस्था. भारत में चल रहे पब्लिक डिस्कोर्स में राजनीति का इतना बड़ा अंश है कि समाज को ऊपर उठा सकने वाले मुद्दों , उन मुद्दों जिनसे चिरस्थाई समाधान की उम्मीद बनती वो गायब हैं। समाज में परिवर्तन के लिए सामाजिक चेतना में परिवर्तन होना अति आवश्यक है लेकिन हमारे पब्लिक डिस्कोर्स से शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, महिला, वृद्ध, बच्चे, युवा, दर्शन, मनोविज्ञान, विज्ञान, जलवायु परिवर्तन, आर्टिफीसियल इंटेलिजेंस आदि बहुत जरूरी मुद्दे गौण हो चुके हैं और डिस्कोर्स के नब्बे प्रतिशत भाग और समय पर नेता और नेता आधारित व्यवस्था ने अपना कब्जा जमा लिया है। ये नेता आधारित राजनीतिक माहौल पूरी व्यवस्था को इर्रेवेर्सिबल ढंग से प्रदूषित करते जा रहा है।  दर्शन, नैतिकता और इथिक्स के अभाव में नेतानिष्ठ राजनीति भारतीय व्यवस्था को खोखला करती जा रहीं है।

UNEDUCATING INDIAN STUDENTS-- PART 1 Let's see how our society is uneducating the entire generation . Although India has still not very good literacy status and more painful fact is that we have still very small numbers of educational institutions right from primary level to the research level and a microscopic minority of Indians who mostly comprises of upper middle class and upper class are capable of getting quality  education . In many states of India there are hardly any institutions where students can get quality education. And this is true for both science subjects and Humanities. Institutions where both science along with technology and humanities find a common place are a few. Since very good and excellent educational institutions are numbered most of the Indians remain bereft of opportunity of getting good quality education. And further grim picture is that most of the quality Indian education system is primarily concerned with providing big package jobs. Research as such...

PUBLIC DEBATE WITH PHILOSOPHICAL AND ETHICAL QUESTIONS We have a number of issues which require our urgent attention. In our country problem is that we are not used to look at the issues from the perspective of moral values, ethics, and philosophy. Every issue has its own philosophical and ethical angles and if our political elite, intellectual elite, corporate elite, media elite tend to avoid or to skip these philosophical and ethical angles we can never have  long lasting solutions. In India the most favourite choice of both elite and masses is to express instant comments in response to issues  without delving into the philosophical and ethical depths.           Along with rationalism , empiricism  is a favourable trend among our intellectual elite but no amount of rationalism or empiricism can address the issues and their solutions without taking philosophical and ethical stand. Even in our ancient scriptures we see despite rationalism and...

       नागरिक शिक्षा की जरूरत  सबेरे से शाम तक हम सूचनाओं से घिरे रह रहे हैं, कई तरह के लोगों के ओपीनियंस को देखते रह रहे हैं और बार बार इन सूचनाओं और विचारों को respond भी करते रहते हैं। यह सब के साथ हो रहा है, छोटे से बच्चे को ले लीजिए या अधेड़ व्यक्ति को, पुरुष को लीजिये या महिला को। हम सब दिन भर कई तरह के स्तर पर सूचना और ओपिनियन के भीड़ में रह रहे होते हैं। किंतु जब  आप थोड़ी देर के लिए इन सब से ब्रेक लेकर अकेले होकर सोचेंगे कि दिन भर की भीड़ में आप कँहा हैं तो जोर का झटका लगता है, क्योंकि हमारे पब्लिक डिस्कोर्स से एक इंसान के रूप में समाज में हमारी कोई जगह नहीं रह गई है। हम उपभोक्ता हैं, हम मतदाता हैं, हम फलाना पंथी हैं, लेकिन बन्धु हम ये नहीं जान पाते हैं कि हम भी इसी समाज के नागरिक भी हैं और नागरिक के रूप में हमारी सिविल जरूरते भी हैं जिसपर कोई बात करता नहीं मिलेगा। लोगों को , खुद आपको भी खुद से ज्यादा किसी अन्य की चिंता होगी, जो आपकी तरह नागरिक नहीं, नागरिक से मतदाता, भक्त, उपभोक्ता बनाने वाला सुपर हीरो है जो हमारे  सिविल पहचान को अपने नफा नुकसान ...

Undoubtedly India , in present is  in the league of modern Axis Power of Right wing authoritarianism. All sorts of tactics to cheat people in the name of religion and "sabka sath sabka vikas"  in order to consolidate own power are in practice. In the name of Hindutwa this Fundamentalist Right Wing has been trying to rally all groups of people of one particular religion behind itself. This regime knows well that Hindus are largely a socially  heterogeneous  and very uneven religious community internally divided by caste, sub caste, region , language, gender, sect, sub sect etc. But the regime is active to infuse the notion of ethnic superiority among the Hindus which is something more than mere communalism. Efforts to mend history by planted facts that Aryans were original inhabitants from the very inception of the civilization, efforts to incalculate the illusion that lower caste Hindus, and Outcastes were in the very fold of the Hinduism,  the efforts to correc...