COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, VIVEKANANDA ET AL

COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, VIVEKANANDA ET AL

The communists are politically the most intelligent which is why they are the most feared. Coupled with their socialist philosophy, scientific temper and overt and covert revolutionary activities, they are the nemesis of all capitalist regimes. They have suffered a temporary reverse following the collapse of the Berlin Wall but the dying embers of socialist revolution are still burning and will continue to do so so long as economic exploitation of the masses lasts which it will, for greed, the foundational vice that fuels capitalism for all practical purposes, cannot be done away with, it being organic in man.

Vivekananda also considered himself a socialist, not because he considered it to be a perfect system but because half a loaf was, to his mind, better than no bread at all. He has been hailed as India's earliest socialist by some, and they have a point, but it seems far-fetched to imagine that he would have subscribed to the tenets of Marxism as such, being spiritually disposed in his inclinations and bearings, and being deep-sighted enough with his seer's vision not to have sighted the shortcomings of a pre-eminently materialistic philosophy, that is, were he aware of it, about which we do not have definitive information. 

Marx and Vivekananda were seminal personalities in different hemispheres of human thinking but converged on their common concern for man along diametrically opposite lines. The core concern for both was human liberation but each, culturally bound differently, evolved by birth, circumstance and experience differently, chose to approach the human problem along radically different lines, Marx formulating a materialistic philosophy and revolutionary practical programme for transformation of the human condition and Vivekananda, seeing through the vanity of all things phenomenal, approaching the whole problem spiritually with character-building in masses of people his foundational standpoint. Vivekananda the sage worked at roots as well to alter the mode of human thinking in the subliminal consciousness of man. This is quite a tall claim that may only be intellectually apprehended by deep thinkers but cannot be rationally proved as such as of now owing to unavailability of scientific evidence in that subtle psychological sphere. 

This world of human affairs is a slowly evolving one over millions of years, evolution being organic as also experiential and educational. But the seeds of the animal in man are strong and will not yield. Thus, system after system has for ages been evolved but the exploitative nature of 'the selfish gene' in man has not mutated as yet to a more humane form. It lives on still wearing fresher garbs of civilisation but beneath the epidermal cover animality reigns.

Marx interpreted the evolving history of humanity along materialistic lines. Vivekananda did so along spiritual lines. Marx talked of the sequential Hegelian dialectic triad of thesis, antithesis and synthesis, suited to his theories of dialectical and historical materialism, as the evolving mechanism of human society. Vivekananda spoke of the progressive manifestation of Brahman along the sinusoidal wave mode or the cyclical pattern of alternate increasing and decreasing manifestation of consciousness to explain the movement of man in the collective sense. Both believed in dialectics---of variant sorts though---, resolution of forces and the progressive unshackling of man, Marx through violent revolution leading to total transformation of the socioeconomic order and Vivekananda through root and branch character-reform of man as the foundational means of liberation of the hypnotised soul, suppressed humanity and subjugated slaves, never in the bargain denying the role of material change brought about by science, force and politics. Vivekananda was, thus, far more comprehensive in his devices, more universal in choosing instruments of change and infinitely inclusive which Marx, focussed on materialism as he was, was antipathetic to. Marx understood, even appreciated the historical role of religion and never pooh-poohed it as he is commonly misconstrued as having done, but knowing Euro-Christian religious traditions as a retarding force in the cause of liberation of the masses from capitalistic exploitation, dubbed it as 'opium' for the masses. But Vivekananda, keenly aware of the imperfections of the mind in perpetual flux and subject to the myriad forces of Maya (Nature in all its comprehensiveness), refrained from providing absolute solutions for humanity in terrestrial chains, whereas Marx was the last classical philosophical system-builder who idealised solutions to the concrete problems of historical evolution, in the bargain falling into the pitfall of himself being a Marxian utopian which in realistic terms led to the massive failure of the political and socioeconomic system built after his philosophy in communist countries post revolution. Here Marx fell short of Vivekananda's vision but carried out concrete programmes of massive social change nonetheless.

The theoretical formulations of Marx are fine, although they are along deterministic lines whose veracity is being legitimately questioned today following the discoveries of quantum physics which is entirely probabilistic. Nonetheless, in the macroscopic world of human affairs Marxian theory, modified and applied as per altered circumstance and situation, would still hold considerable ground. The problem, though, is in application. The refinements of theory and their elaborate explanations notwithstanding, their application has to be in the crude world of rough human material replete with a preponderance of animal propensities governing human affairs. Here the leader and the led must both be human enough to appreciate the higher principles of socioeconomic justice, equality and morality to be able to give due shape to the aspirations of socialism culminating in communism. But such is not the human material available and herein violent beginnings of revolution lead sequentially to violent dicatatorship of the Party, the Central Committee, the Politburo and lastly, the General Secretary, as in the case of Stalin, Mao, Ceausescu, Pol Pot and the like. Dictatorship of the proletariat is then lost in a bloodbath unleashed by the few in power and it is imperialism activated under a new garb with philosophical justification making matters worse. This has been the history of the socialist states of the twentieth century.

Application ever is the problem, theoretical formulations, high-flown and profound, notwithstanding. If theory is violent, violent application follows with devastating effect as in the case of Marxism which in actual historical terms became a cover for neo-imperialism as was witnessed in the Soviet Union and in China. On the contrary, if theory engenders isolation from the mainstream of life in any way, even by remote reference as in the case of Vivekananda literature exhorting Ramakrishna followers to be strictly apolitical, such a stance, purely justified from the perspective of the then existing complex historical situation, in latter years becomes cover for escapism from the bitter realities of life which foils the very purpose of the advent of the Avatar.

Evolution is democratising society. From primitive communism mankind has proceeded to the declaration of the universal rights of man to thereon its gradual application. Impediments have been many in the implementation part of it, for privilege scarce gives up its right to lordly existence. The tussle between the feudal rights of the few and the general rights of the many has been a long and protracted one leading gradually to the shift of power to the masses. Democracy came in America in 1776 followed by that in revolutionary France before imperialism usurped power in the form of Napoleon. Europe ushered in the nation state and the progressive march of democracy has since been on.

But while society has democratised from its erstwhile feudal set-up, capitalism with its scientific blood-sucking machinery has gained ground and that too with systemic support. Lenin said, "The state is an organ of class rule." His pronouncement has in capitalist democracies been proved correct as governments have allied themselves with crony capitalists to reduce masses of people to unnecessary poverty even as the rich have in the bargain hoarded disproportionate amounts of ill-begotten wealth. Society has typically been stratified into two antagonistic classes, the exploiting class and the exploited class. This is in accordance with Marxist theory and this has fuelled trade union movements and other labour movements throughout the world. Welfare economics has attempted to tackle this issue by providing strong social security networks but exploitation still stirs up socialist movements of various degrees across the world. Socialism, thus, has not died but lives on awaiting its opportunity to strike when the iron has blown red-hot.

The French Revolution initiated this process of mass mobilisation against authority and changed Europe for good. Marx and Engels further added fuel to revolution by providing elaborate rationalisation of its workings, by placing it on a scientific pedestal of sorts, by creating a whirlpool of thoughts which is still attracting adherents across the world. Wherever exploitation of capital abounds, there seeds of socialism are sown.

The waves of people's revolution hitting the shores of the Atlantic reached the shores of India as well and Vivekananda like other youths was drawn into its ambit. A born rebel that he was, and born and bred in revolutionary times in India, the young Narendranath's mind was a cauldron, a seething mass of conflicting thoughts seeking resolution. Innately spiritual and gifted with a Hindu mind of the highest order, he could not be satisfied with shallow solutions to the world problem, this perplexing puzzle of human existence. He sought solutions through extensive reading of Western philosophy, Sanskrit texts, science, music, literature, art and what not? But he could not plumb the problem to its source-depths, could not fathom its root-realms at the bed of the ocean of consciousness. And here comes Ramakrishna into his life.

The Avatar of Dakshineshwar was as if biding by time, awaiting the arrival of his great disciple. From his earliest vision of 'the realm of the seven sages' whence he beckoned a venerable one to alight on earth with the transcendental light, to his vision of a golden beam emanating from Kashi and traversing all the way till it reached its destination at North Kolkata, Ramakrishna had been in patient and often impatient expectation of uniting with his beloved Naren, the future Vivekananda. For it was for his (Narendranath's) sake that he (Ramakrishna) had this time descended on earth, to fashion the instrument of the Mother who would reshape the world.

The interaction between the preceptor and the protégé was deep, not visible to the world always. It happened on the gross plane and the subtle plane equally, making its markings non-sequential to the earthly eye but shaping the protégé into a powerhouse of spirituality, nonetheless, whose fruits were visible clear on the earthly plane, although its higher causal components remained obscure to common conception. Ramakrishna moulded the Narendranath clay into volcanic Vivekananda. Entering the protégé's psychophysical form in the vesper hour of his life, the Master and the Man became in ultimate union the potent form for transformation of human society till it became 'one with God'.

The problem of all theory is its translation into practice. While Ramakrishna provided the ideal, the personal example and the energy with which his protégé was to carry out his mission in real life, Vivekananda had nonetheless to plumb the depths of the human problem to discover the means of solving it by bridging theory and practice. To this end he wandered, a mendicant monk across the face of India, to see her real face, the teeming millions suffering the agony of hunger, ignorance, exploitation and death silently as the burden of their karma. The lion-heart of Vivekananda could not take it and he had to find a way out to rescue his countrymen from this affliction anyhow. His socialistic mind made him rebel against this terrible bondage of his brethren to British colonialism and the bloodsucking system of capitalism that was eating into the vitals of the nation. Pulled by antithetical ideologies, that of socialism and welfare capitalism, as the way to recovery of the motherland to manhood and strength, Vivekananda was a soul torn between golden dreams and thwarted deeds as he waged his lone war against the forces of the dark in a country benighted by the lapses of a millennium.

The Master passed away on 16 August, 1886. Narendranath was the lone warrior now in charge of his brother disciples entrusted to his care by his divine preceptor and in charge of the brewing spiritual movement that had been initiated by his Master but left to him to give it substance and shape in the real world of men. It was a herculean task that faced him---the liberation of India and the world from the chains of material superstition. But it had to be accomplished in every phase of national life, in every aspect of the evolving civilisation of mankind. The causes of degeneration had to be discovered, the cure for them prescribed, the medicine made and the healing touch given to regenerate the Sanatan Dharma and enliven the mass of mankind to its divine drumbeat.

The following years of 'wanderjahre' were not only years of experience but of intense brooding on the causes of Sanatan Bharatvarsha's downfall and the discovery of the means of her recovery. As Swamiji travelled an intinerant monk across the face of India he was weighed down by the grave responsibility of raising India from the bottomless pit into which she had precipitated, a task entrusted him by his divine Guru, the peerless Paramahamsa who had withdrawn from the world leaving his blossoming disciple with this Herculean task. An observer asked him one day, "Swamiji, I find you rather anxious, grievously worried about something all the time. What is it that worries you?" And Swamiji replied on being quizzed further, "Oh, I cannot rest with this one thought of shouldering the responsibility of raising India from her present degradation, a task entrusted to me by my Guru. I do not know where lies the cause of her downfall nor can I understand how to remedy it, neither do I feel I am equipped as a poor sanyasi to do so. This great suffering of my countrymen on one side and my Master's commandment on the other which I know not how to carry out make me so terribly anxious."

Given the sociopolitical conditions then in India and viewing the trends in world politics Vivekananda did study socialistic ideas but found them short of the comprehensive ideal of world regeneration that his Master had imbued in him and he found it an impossible utopian ideal to pursue, that of socialistic ultimate restructuring of human society to alleviate humanity of all the evils it was heir to, for seated as he was now in the stability of the Self, he could clearly see how unstable human society merged in Maya was and how it was impossible to formulate a rigid system that could solve its problems once and for all, buffeted as society was by the undulating waves of Maya. Later political developments of the twentieth century have proved Vivekananda remarkably right as Marxism unleashed unprecedented violence across the face of the globe in the name of engineering socioeconomic and sociopolitical changes on the basis of rigid theory thought out by a few individuals, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky and the like. The scientific basis of Marxism has as well been proved inaccurate as advance in the physical sciences has required modifications to the classical theory of Marxism which in the founder's absence post his demise has not been possible, for not too often does genius appear to modify material that is inherently resistive to reformation on account of primary principle of absolutist rigidity. That science evolves is because it is impersonal and fluid as opposed to rigid systems of personalised authority like the Abrahamic religions and Marxism which may be referred to as well as a godless religion.

Thus, contrasting currents of thought beset the nameless monk traversing the face of eternal India, now plummeted to the depths of degradation post a thousand year slavery to aggressive alien forces with little sympathy for whatever they discovered here as Sanātan. And this fallen race, the descendants of the mighty Aryans of which he was by self-admission the proudest member, was to be raised. On one side was Euro-colonial exploitation, enslavement of the entire race, and on the other was Islamic occupation of over a millennium, now displaced but threatening to reassert itself should political conditions change to their favour. The Hindus were in the sorriest state of civilisation and had to be rescued. Exploitation---colonial, cultural and economic---had to be minimised, if not eliminated totally, for that in the relative order of things could never be possible, Vivekananda knew. It was given unto him by his Master to establish the Yugadharma (the righteous order of the Age) for which he had been ushered into this world from his highest abode of spiritual consciousness what his preceptor had called the Saptarshiloka (the realm of the seven sages).

The fundamental difference between Marx and Vivekananda is this. Marx was a materialist and could not but explain the workings of human evolution except through materialistic science, thereby submitting his thesis that the surface workings of the human mind had no deeper basis, that thoughts were but the manufacture of the brain and were not in any way influenced, shaped, far less sourced by some deeper, invisible, inner workings of a depth-consciousness about which Marx seemed unaware and, hence, denied it. Marx was thus surface-bound in the ocean of consciousness and saw this three-dimensional reality as a two-dimensional one. The film of superficial consciousness was all that he deemed real and the rest was non-existent for him, his stance being entirely matter-based as were the physical sciences in his time. Vivekananda, on the other hand, plumbed the depths of consciousness right to its very basis, the Brahman, and came up with a comprehensive philosophy of human existence which included the physical surface-reality as truth but did not shut shop there. His Vedantic interpretation of relative and absolute reality was profoundly integrated in a sweeping philosophical universalism which was beyond the elaborate scientific treatise of Marx. The philosophical approaches of the two savants, therefore, were not just different but dimensionally apart.

Written by Sugata Bose