The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 5/Notes from Lectures and Discourses/The Evils of Adhikarivada
THE EVILS OF ADHIKARIVADA
In one of his question classes the talk drifted on to the Adhikârivâda, or
the doctrine of special rights and privileges, and Swamiji in pointing out
vehemently the evils that have resulted from it spoke to the following
effect:
With all my respects for the Rishis of yore, I cannot but denounce their
method in instructing the people. They always enjoined upon them to do
certain things but took care never to explain to them the reason for it.
This method was pernicious to the very core; and instead of enabling men to
attain the end, it laid upon their shoulders a mass of meaningless nonsense.
Their excuse for keeping the end hidden from view was that the people could
not have understood their real meaning even if they had presented it to
them, not being worthy recipients. The Adhikarivada is the outcome of pure
selfishness. They knew that by this enlightenment on their special subject
they would lose their superior position of instructors to the people. Hence
their endeavour to support this theory. If you consider a man too weak to
receive these lessons, you should try the more to teach and educate him; you
should give him the advantage of more teaching, instead of less, to train up
his intellect, so as to enable him to comprehend the more subtle problems.
These advocates of Adhikarivada ignored the tremendous fact of the infinite
possibilities of the human soul. Every man is capable of receiving knowledge
if it is imparted in his own language. A teacher who cannot convince others
should weep on account of his own inability to teach the people in their own
language, instead of cursing them and dooming them to live in ignorance and
superstition, setting up the plea that the higher knowledge is not for them.
Speak out the truth boldly, without any fear that it will puzzle the weak.
Men are selfish; they do not want others to come up to the same level of
their knowledge, for fear of losing their own privilege and prestige over
others. Their contention is that the knowledge of the highest spiritual
truths will bring about confusion in the understanding of the weak-minded
men, and so the Shloka goes:
“ |
न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम् । |
” |
— "One should not unsettle the understanding of the ignorant, attached to action (by teaching them Jnâna): the wise man, himself steadily acting, should engage the ignorant in all work" (Gita, III. 26).
I cannot believe in the self-contradictory statement that light brings
greater darkness. It is like losing life in the ocean of Sachchidânanda, in
the ocean of Absolute Existence and Immortality. How absurd! Knowledge means
freedom from the errors which ignorance leads to. Knowledge paving the way
to error! Enlightenment leading to confusion! Is it possible? Men are not
bold enough to speak out broad truths, for fear of losing the respect of the
people. They try to make a compromise between the real, eternal truths and
the nonsensical prejudices of the people, and thus set up the doctrine that
Lokâchâras (customs of the people) and Deshâchâras (customs of the country)
must be adhered to. No compromise! No whitewashing! No covering of corpses
beneath flowers! Throw away such texts as, "तथापि लोकाचारः —Yet the customs
of the people have to be be followed." Nonsense! The result of this sort of
compromise is that the grand truths are soon buried under heaps of rubbish, and the latter are
eagerly held as real truths. Even the grand truths of the Gita, so boldly
preached by Shri Krishna, received the gloss of compromise in the hands of
future generations of disciples, and the result is that the grandest
scripture of the world is now made to yield many things which lead men
astray.
This attempt at compromise proceeds from arrant downright cowardice. Be
bold! My children should be brave, above all. Not the least compromise on
any account. Preach the highest truths broadcast. Do not fear losing your
respect or causing unhappy friction. Rest assured that if you serve truth in
spite of temptations to forsake it, you will attain a heavenly strength in
the face of which men will quail to speak before you things which you do not
believe to be true. People will be convinced of what you will say to them if
you can strictly serve truth for fourteen years continually, without
swerving from it. Thus you will confer the greatest blessing on the masses,
unshackle their bandages, and uplift the whole nation.