“Standardizing” Hinduism?

[phk]

From: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2538301.ece#.TpigGhBACTQ.facebook

Most academicians at Delhi University are feeling betrayed by their own fraternity, the reason — the Academic Council’s recent decision to drop from the history syllabus a celebrated essay by the late scholar and linguist A. K. Ramanujan on the Ramayana, despite intense opposition from the history department.

The essay, “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and three thoughts on translations,” which forms part of the B.A. History (Honours) course, had attracted the ire of Hindutva activists because it talks about 300 different versions of the Ramayana that abound in our country and beyond. And when the decision to scrap the course was put to vote at the Academic Council meeting this past Sunday, only nine of the 120 members present dissented.

Kannada writer Chandrashekhar Kambar, the winner of this year’s Jnanpith award, said: “The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are texts which have been re-created many times over by several cultures in India and outside. Intolerance shown towards a scholarly study of these versions should be condemned by the entire academic fraternity.”

Prof. Ananthamurthy added: “India has always made a distinction between Shruti, Smriti and Purana. There are different Shrutis for different believers, which remain mostly unchanged like the Vedas, the Koran and other scriptures. On the other hand, Smritis and Puranas are dynamic and change with time and culture. And great poets like Bhasa took the liberty of resolving the entire problem of Mahabharata without a war. It is strange that religious beliefs and practices are being commercialised and vulgarised in the modern world. We have given up the celebration of diversities of beliefs that our ancestors practiced. The banning of Ramanujan’s essay on the Ramayana is an insult to the imagination of the Jains, Buddhists and several folk practices.”

[Sbane]

It's pretty ridiculous that they did this due to political pressure.

But I gotta wonder, what version was out there teaching that Ravana was Sita's father or Sita and Ram were siblings? That's kind of ridiculous as well, but nothing wrong with teaching that in a history course.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Hindutva is one of the worst religious movements in the world.

[anvi]

Hindutva is one of the worst religious movements in the world.

Agreed.  That decision by the Delhi University Academic Council is ridiculous and will now be subject to the scorn that it deserves from both the Indian academic community as well as the community of international scholars who study religions in South Asia.  I hope religious communities in India that follow various versions of the Ramayana object as well.

What's next?  Will faculty members of Delhi University's philosophy department who assign essays by the late Daya Krishna, calling into question textual and philosophical aspects of the Vedic corpus, get their syllabi "revised" for them too?  Is the entire corpus of Romila Thapar off-limits to history departments as well?  

Shameful decision.

I'd not yet seen this report, phk; thanks for posting.  

[Sbane]

Hindutva is one of the worst religious movements in the world.

I think the Wahabbis and radical Islam in general holds that title.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Hindutva is one of the worst religious movements in the world.

I think the Wahabbis and radical Islam in general holds that title.

'One of'.