Triveni Journal
1927 | 11,233,916 words
Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....
Dr. RADHAKRISHNAN AND GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
(An imaginary conversation)
N.C. ZAMINDAR
(Enter G.B. Shaw. His lean, lanky figure with flowing, snow white beard looks impressive on the sombre ground.)
G.B.S. :- Eternity is a nuisance. I am feeling restless in this do-nothing-but-contemplation atmosphere. Most of the centenarians are contemplatives. Others like me are uncomfortable. When time stops, activity becomes meaningless.
This year some new centenarians are joining us. Jawaharlal Nehru the man who gave me mangoes and Sir Radhakrishnan, from the Indian sub-continent are important persons worth meeting. Somebody is coming.
(Enter Dr. Radhakrishnan in his turban, long coat and Dhoti.)
Dr. R. :- Good morning, Mr. Shaw. You are one of the few persons whom I desired to pay my homage.
G.B.S. :- Good morning professor! You know I do not like homages and tributes. For me the sharp controversies. I still live on them. They alone feed the life force.
Dr. R. :- You have been a restless child of nature and I can understand your restlessness. I hope you are happy.
G.B.S. :- My happiness is in restlessness as you put it. But this restlessness is that of a Bodhisatva. Welfare of mankind is the aim. Bodhisatvas have no place in heaven or hell. Yes, earth alone provides place to them.
Dr. R. :- It is written in our scriptures that man alone can attain salvation.
G.B.S. :- Please do not quote Samskrit. It stops my thinking. We are our own scriptures. What use are old quotes?
Dr. R. :- They carry the wisdom of eternity. They are the lamps to show light to man.
G.B.S. :- Mankind is suffering from too much light. A little darkness may help.
Dr. R. :- Light has little use without darkness. If you permit me the paradox, too much light blinds the best of us.
G.B.S. :- You are right. The so-called scientific progress is of little use to inner growth. In fact it is brutaÂlizing human nature. Man does not look to his fellow-being but tries to conquer the limitless space. He overlooks the reality and gazes at the skies.
Dr. R. :- Yes, that is the tragedy of the present times of the earth.
G.B.S. :- I did write in to Methuselah of life’s many mansions and the great beyond, but little did I realize that it meant the blotting out the reality.
Dr. R. :- That is why I wrote, that modern literature is trivial.
G.B.S. :- Literature is not trivial, it merely mirrors the times. If the times are trivial, well, literature is bound to reflect them.
Dr. R. :- But there is something permanent. Why it is not mirrored?
G.B.S. :- I have written. “Never ask why; Ask what, when, where, how, who, which but never allow us to answer WHY.�
You have written, “True religion is not what we get from outside from books and teachers...It is the fulfilment of our nature in which there is joy which overflows into world’s service.�. Permanence negated this.
Dr. R. :- And you have written, “Men think that they can do without religion. They do not know that religion is indestructible ... civilization needs a religion as a matter of life and death.� There should be a recovery of faith. What is indestructible is permanent. Who writes this indestructible religion in literature?
G.B.S. :- I have written only that. My writings touch the indestructible. Yet you call it trivial.
Dr. R. :- Can we not differ?
G.B.S. :- Yes, we should differ and see the various facets of truth. Let me come to present day India. What does it show?
Dr. R. :- Present day India is fast losing its moorings. It is systematically destroying its harbours of peace. The last person to warn against this was Gandhi.
G.B.S. :- Yes, Mahatma, the Major, is being forgotten. I, Mahatma, the Minor, has already been made a text-book writer. My message, my warnings are unread. “Oh Pshaw� they say, as if I have written nonsense.
Dr. R. :- Nonsense also has a place but senselessness is bewildering.
G.B.S. :- It is now that some sense is dawning on the super powers.
Even communism needs a Glasnosst (Openness) and perestroiks (Re-structuring). It is only super men that can live in the world of mortals.
Dr. R. :- I found Stalin a broken man. Under Russian communism life had become sterile.
G.B.S. :- Stalin was a great man. He knew how to get things done. Without him U.S.S.R. would have crumbled and Soviet Russia would have remained ward.
Dr. R. :- But the cost was terrible.
G.B.S. :- Dear Professor, it was necessary. You were a politician-philosopher and as such you should have appreciated the reality.
Dr. R. :- I, a politician?
G.B.S. :- Don’t feel scandalized. Without politicking you would not have become a Vice-President and then President. I, an artist-philosopher, was defeated in an ordinary election.
Dr. R. :- Nehru wanted me.
G.B.S. :- Nehru was a philosopher-politician. He was a bad judge of men. But he recognized my greatness as Mahatma the Minor.
Time has stopped for us but one must conclude somewhere. The best definition of hell is a perpetual holiday but perpetual activity is also not heaven. There must be a balance as your Lord Buddha has said.
We will meet some other time, it was a priÂvilege and a pleasure to exchange ideas with an Eastern Vidwan (Scholar) like you.
Dr. R. :- I am indeed grateful for this talk. Thanks for promising a meeting soon.