Quotation of unrealised scriptural principles such as 'detachment in work', 'being the instrument in the Lord's hands' and the like have become commonplace these days. Would it were that people who utter them, myself included, realised them better !
This is also why Max Mueller, the famous Indologist, had forewarned Europeans about this propensity of Indians to frequently quote wise sayings which they had learnt by rote but had not realised in any appreciable measure. He added that these scriptural quotes were part of the colloquial tongue Indians spoke and it ought not to therefore induce Europeans to believe that every Indian was a sage.
Max Mueller was obviously a trifle irritated with the casual quotation of the scriptures by the Indians, albeit in a manner insincere which was unlike his own hyper-sincere nature as also the nature of the average European in so far as quoting wise sayings was concerned. Hence, his interjection with fellow Europeans regarding this sort of a pretentious articulate stance of Indians which they ought not to take seriously at all.
The propensity continues till date as does the insincerity of frequent use of wise sayings that have little backing in their actual application in life.
Tagore had likewise said that the freedom he envisioned for India was one in which his countrymen spoke from the depths of truth.
However, great men think what they think and small men act in the manner they do, and this composes the fabric of the India of today, the mosaic of modernity which is interspersed with ancient quotes more often than sincerity warrants.
Written by Sugata Bose
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