Towards Rama Rajya- Part 1: Preliminary reflections on a civilisational state, and on our role- building the Rama Setu as Sri Rama’s squirrel

January 22, 2024 will define an epoch- with the Prana Pratistha puja of Ram Lalla at his Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya in the Bhavya Ram Mandir

Is this a religious event, a social and cultural one, or a political one? It s ALL of these because it is a Dharmic one and Dharma is not confined within any boundary.

Dharma is that which holds, binds, or sustains. Binds what? The individual to family, clan, and to society; the current generation to our ancestors and descendants; mankind to other living things and to nature; the earth to the cosmos.

There cannot be anything outside the purview of Dharma. Anything that doesn’t sustain the cosmos on the path of Rta- the universal law, will be moving it away from that path. A Dharmika view has to be comprehensive, as it addresses complexity: the individual’s actions affect society; the society and the state affect each other; today’s generations actions affect our future generations; mankind’s actions affect the environment and animalkind; and so on.

Since it affects it, it can either sustain, OR it can destroy and make unstable. Hence Dharma by its very nature, cannot stay away from say — the state, politics, public life and stay confined to “the privacy of your homes and temples”. Dharma is not just “private belief”.

Even India or Bharatavarsha, for that matter, is not a limit for Dharma. Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavantu- let there be happiness for EVERYONE. In fact — its purview is the cosmos.

But what we, as in Indians, *uniquely* are, are the legatees of that civilisation which produced the Rishis who perceived that insight — of the sacred or the divine being all pervasive- at once possessing a unity, but with diverse manifestations. That insight led to the greatest approach for harmony- of universalising without homogenising, but by harmonising. Our philosophy, social structures, arts and culture- all reflect that underlying insight of universalising by harmonising and not homogenising.

This is a civilisation that was built on the “audacity of thought” — to quote an expression from Pavan Varma’s book “ The Great Hindu civilisation”. A profound philosophy, that then translates to the masses through culture, arts and literature etc. A knowledge system, or Gyana Parampara, that is not static, but *generative*, where the seeds of philosophical insight find expression in new thought, arts and culture, and for addressing contemporary concerns.

It is a *traditional* society in the best sense of the term- of an eternal truth, or Sanatana, which has a generative way to engage with contemporary issues, with a Dharmic Drishti- or lens.

As inheritors of this great insight, and knowledge systems, we have a unique responsibility- to protect, preserve, and propagate Dharma, not jut for ourselves, but for the world. To *live* it- for our words, speech and actions to cohere and be shaped by that. Tradition survives by *practice*, else it becomes museum-ised, confined to something to watch or even read in books, but one that doesn’t animate action. Other civilisations have perished- though we STILL have their epics, even some of their art and culture. But we still don’t think of those civilisations as alive despite all that, they have perished as they stopped being *practised*. Praxis is the key to tradition, not the mere academic knowledge OF it. Tradition is *knowledge in action*

Why do we have a responsibility to protect, practice and even propagate Dharma? For one- because it is true- it IS the nature of the divine, and hence the world.

But also, as we can see, it is much needed, for us AND for the world. We are NOT on a path of sustainability. The individual, societies, the nation-states and the world order itself, the environment- all seem unmoored. Because there has not been an emphasis on that which holds, binds or sustains. Without carefully nurturing the ties that bind us, it is inevitable that there is a reckoning, a hurtling to instability and unsustainability. Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha- Dharma protects, if it is protected. We have to uphold Dharma by living it, and it will in turn be the cradle that prevents such instability and unsustainability.

On a civilisational state, and Rama Rajya

The embodiment of Dharma is Sri Rama

The term Rama Rajya pithily but evocatively captures the notion of a state that is the upholder of Dharma. It is also one that is subordinate to Dharma- and not an overlord. This is symbolised by the Dharma Danda or the Sengol, the state doing its role BY the authority of Dharma

I will not get into details of what Rama Rajya can be in its specifics, nether the details of a civilisational state, that’s an endeavor of this entire blog-series, not this particular post.

But some high level points on this notion of a “civilisational state”

States have existed throughout recorded history. States have imposed order, and created the conditions for civilisation to exist.

What was new in modernity is the “nation state”. Where the state sought its legitimacy by being the representative of a nation — a distinct people, who are bound by a covenant, and need a single strong institution to act on their behalf and secure their destiny.

What does it then mean to say India is not merely a nation-state but should aspire to create a civilisational-state?

The relationship between the state and the individual , the individual and the society, the past and the future etc. all rest on an underlying philosophy or worldview.

Though different nation states have different cultures, and hence laws, only different *civilisations* fundamentally have a different philosophy itself.

At some level — one can say, he, how do “abstract” philosophical differences matter? But the point is precisely that “abstract” philosophical differnces don’t stay abstract — the genius of our civilisation was that high philosophy of say the Upanishads, is the one that was spread to the masses through the Itihasas and Puranas. WE are *defined*, in our quotidian lives, in how we see ourselves and our relationship with society, to the rest of the world, to the environment — BY that philosophy. We are WE (as in Indians are Indians)- because of our unique philosophy, which spread to the masses through the Itihasas and Puranas. Ramayana, and Sri Rama, is the embodiment of that which has defined us as who we are.

A civilisational state is not merely a state that happens to be governing a civilisation. If so- even the Mughal state or the British Raj would be a civilisational state. Neither is it merely a representative of us as a people- the term “nation-state” captures that anyway- a state that represents a unique people or nation.

A civilisational state is one where the state is shaped BY the civilisation- or more precisely, by the unique philosophical outlook of that civilisation.

That unique philosophy, that translates all the way to action IS Dharma for us. A Bharatiya civilisational state would hence have Rama Rajya as its normative ideal- with Rama, the embodiment of Dharma, as the animating force for the state.

I’ve deliberately titled this as “towards” Rama Rajya. Rama Rajya, or building a Bharatiya civilisational state will be a long process- we are VERY far away from that. Prana Pratishta is an epoch defining milestone in that journey.

One strawman that will be used, that should be addressed- calling for a civilisational state or Rama Rajya does not mean a “return to the past”. It DOES mean critiquing “modernity” (as it stands today-which is not built to nurture the ties that sustain- and hence are unsurprisingly leading to unsustainability) and interrogating its philosophical foundations. But it will be an act of creation- NOT of reversal and going back to some past and staying frozen there.

That’s not even the way our philosophy works — ours is a philosophy where we seek Saatatya- continuity with change, in line with Rta, NOT static, but *stable* and *sustainable*. That which is static does NOT sustain. But neither is it some linear view of “progress”. It is to see our knowledge and traditions as *generative*. In computing terms our knowledge systems are not merely static databases, they are *algorithms* — ways of thinking that generate new knowledge or contemporary issues.

In future blogposts in this series I will attempt to outline my (always evolving) thoughts on the details of this civilisational state.

A personal note- Our role- Sri Rama’s squirrel

It may seem audacious, and too daunting, to think of shaping a civilisational state.

Some will even mock us: “You are poor”; “As if you have any of the knowledge that modern technology and modern political science and other fields have, what a ridiculous thing to think that they don’t have answers ad you can come up with something” etc. “Why not just adopt the political system of the west which is “successful””?

Now, we HAVE to be open to learning from everywhere. The Upanishads exhort us to do so. The Hindu way is one of knowledge seeking.

But, we have to view things with a Dharmic Drishti. Learning is not copy pasting. It is to be rooted in our philosophy and first principles, which are Sanatana- eternally true. And to learn and apply that knowledge to the contemporary situation.

We will not reach our goal without being strong and successful. It is tempting to say — hey then just focus on that- get high GDP growth, build a strong military etc.

We should absolutely do that, no one will be a Vishwaguru (to use a term that is unfortunately used mockingly now), without being “successful”. But it would be a lack of ambition for the world’s oldest and greatest civilisation- one built on a Sanatana philosophy, to not have an ambition of that philosophy shaping us AND the world. We would be unworthy of our legacy, of being inheritors of the firekeepers of our civilisation who have kept our traditions alive through the millennia against terrible odds. We would also then be unworthy of being legatees of a philosophy that exhorts us to seek “bhuta hita”- the well being of all living things.

What we can do is to build a bridge.

Our civilisation is also a wounded civilisation, our great knowledge systems were preserved, but also could not flower give the hostility of the environment.

Hence the shaping of the civilisational state will be an iterative knowledge project. Meaning- the current, imperfect State will protect and engage with our traditional knowledge- our texts, traditions, arts, culture, and institutions- mathams, peeethams, paathashaalas, mandirs etc. That will allow knowledge to flower, and generate new knowledge that in turn can shape the state in its image. And through that iterative process, over a period of time, we will move *towards * Rama Rajya.

We, ordinary citizens, have the responsibility of building that bridge between our tradition, that we have inherited and live, and our state- which needs to be shaped.

We are neither so knowledgeable as the great gurus, texts, traditions that are the repositories of our knowledge. Nor are we the political leaders or bureaucrats or judges etc. that wield state power. So do we have no role?

This is where we have to adopt the humility, but also the sense of duty, of Sri Rama’s squirrel. Our contribution will be meagre, it may not even be consequential to the eventual outcome. But it will be our privilege to have played a part in building that Rama Setu, in being blessed to be a tool of Sri Rama, in our own small way. It is our Purva janma sukruta that we are blessed to even witness this momentous and epoch defining event. We have the duty to see this as a step towards a larger cause, not the end point.

This will mean firstly that we lead a Dharmic life ourselves. Once again- it will NOT be perfect, it is a process. Neither can it be a return to the past.

But the path of upholding Dharma cannot be divorced from personal conduct- as I wrote earlier in the post- traditions survive by *living* them. The seeking of knowledge on how to build a state, cannot be divorced from seeking knowledge of the Self. Adhyatma and practising Dharma, even if imperfectly, and with all our constraints and limitations, is the least we can do- but also *necessary* for whatever public contribution that we do to be meaningful.

In this blog series my thoughts will keep evolving because *I* will keep evolving. I will openly share my thoughts as they evolve, NOT because I see myself as important or wise. But precisely because of the opposite- since I know I lack the expertise or the knowledge or even the power, and hence that the only contribution I can make is to *seek* knowledge. Knowledge of the world and of the Self; and to see that as my tiny contribution to build the Rama Setu as Sri Rama’s squirrel, and to hence be blessed to be a part of moving towards Rama Rajya.

श्री राम जय राम जय जय राम॥