A War of Worth?
So nothing is new. We just seem to have another regional war… at least loon(m)ing up between China and India which could well escalate to another world war. What do we hope to gain from such conflicts?
There is a very sensible commentary about the India Chinese conflict on the net. Read it at the following web link:
https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/for-modi-china-clash-is-his-biggest-challenge-as-pm-2247574
Here are two paragraphs from the article:
But the moot question is, can or should India be more aggressive? The pragmatic answer is a big "No" for two reasons. Firstly, China has very carefully chosen the timing of its operation. It has entered Indian territory when India is under lockdown due to the Coronavirus and is dealing with a battered economy. While China has also suffered, there are forecasts that it could be the only major economy that does not face negative growth.
Secondly, if China's defense spending is 261 billion dollars, then India's is only 71 billion dollars. Since 2000, China has been working on the plan to make its army the most powerful in the world by 2049. Chinese president Xi Jinping in May asked the military to "scale up the battle preparedness, visualising the worst-case scenario."
So… hey we are finally far more religious than we used to be. The Indians are taking pride in their heritage and culture and history and thus we ought to be helped by the gods in whatever endeavor we may want to make. So if we think of challenging a very big economy like that of China we need not worry. This reminds of several people who actually thought that God will help them in all the murder, fraud and other misdemeanors that the mind, very ingeniously suggests. Then God put them in a cell for years. The list is long.
Uh holy one why do you complain so?
In other words why do I claim that war efforts are not well thought out? Well that is always the case… Lets take a classic example… Why was world war 2 fought? For that matter why is there any war fought?
Hey….. this war (if it is fought) will not be an embodiment of religious search or insight. So world war two or 2 or || was fought because England was the neighbor of Germany and the former kept saying that the sun does not set on the British Empire. Germany wasn’t small and they also wanted a say in the way the world economy establishes itself. They wanted to sell German nuts and bolts and other things of daily use all over the world and England would have nothing of that because the sun was always shining. So Germany along with a few other similar irritated guides went out of its way to run England down. Another interesting fact, the US spent 4 trillion dollars and 400,000 of its soldiers to defeat Nazi Germany.
Pious one that is just one war. Do you have a list?
Yup. Here it is:
1) The war of 1812 in USA. Money spent: $1.78 billion. Number of deaths…. 15,000. Reason for the bout… The Americans suffered trade as well as military deficits at the hands of the British and they wanted to occupy Canada also.
2) Another US war… Spanish American war… Fought between the mentioned countries because conflict arose over who will rule places like Cuba, Guan, Puerto Rico etc… The Americans won most of them and arose as a global power. It cost the Americans 10.33 billion dollars and there were only 2446 deaths from American side.
3) The Spanish Armada was sent to Invade England. This was part of an ongoing war between Spain and England which lasted for nineteen years. Finally Spain and England were willing to not interfere in the workings of Ireland and Netherlands. Also England was supposed to cease privateering on the seas (which is basically, setting up ships and people to be aggressive and loot and then sharing the profits). In the end they just told each other, “ I wont trouble you and you don’t trouble me”. Which…… they could have said earlier….
The list is long. Now we come back to India and China. Let us just try to imagine why China would be aggressive and why India would obviously want to protest. China is a global power and it gives goods to India at a low price. Sometimes the Chinese want more than just booze money which is what we tend to give them. Imagine, Chinese goods after having been imported cost LESS than what indigenous goods or Indian goods cost. Which means they (the Chinese) don’t charge us that much. Now with the rise in nationalistic fervor we declare that we are a looming superpower, better GDP, G7 membership and so on. In other words we hope to bump China and other countries as fast as we can and become equipoised as the leading nation in central Asia. We are also having tentative talks with the United States regarding bolstering of confidence in each other and China feels threatened, because it is on tenterhooks with either of us. So we have a major oriental power whom we are threatening not directly but by implied derision.
So what? So many lives and lots of money is at stake. They will want to bomb Rashtrapathi Bhavan or where arms and ammunition are stored, where people are staying… tall skyscrapers will seem to crumble. All this because we are not being gentle with a proud and powerful neighbor. Now if I have a proud and powerful neighbor I might flout the rules of diplomacy and get by, but if many lives are involved then what should be done.
Bunny, Its funny…. don’t you know that the US senate might just want to help India out?
That is very interesting. The US is at odds with China. It was at odds with India also…. in the past. Now if it propels India to fight China with some legitimate aid, doesn’t that suit the US “senate” oh so well?
And if Pakistan, China and the US combine intelligently to wipe out Indian fortresses of hope and plenty, then Bozo will be so happy because the land of religion will have been lain to waste. Which brings us to the real point. What does religion say about war and how it should be conducted?
Here are a few quotes:
Manu Samhita:
6.47 Let him patiently bear hard words, let him not insult anybody, and let him not become anybody's enemy for the sake of this (perishable) body.
The following are quotes from the 7th chapter of Manu Samhita.
18.Punishment alone governs all created beings, punishment alone protects them, punishment watches over them while they sleep; the wise declare punishment (to be identical with) the law.
19. If (punishment) is properly inflicted after (due) consideration, it makes all people happy; but inflicted without consideration, it destroys everything.
26. They declare that king to be a just inflicter of punishment, who is truthful, who acts after due consideration, who is wise, and who knows (the respective value of) virtue, pleasure, and wealth.
27. A king who properly inflicts (punishment), prospers with respect to (those) three (means of happiness); but he who is voluptuous, partial, and deceitful will be destroyed, even through the (unjust) punishment (which he inflicts).
28. Punishment (possesses) a very bright lustre, and is hard to be administered by men with unimproved minds; it strikes down the king who swerves from his duty, together with his relatives.
29. Next it will afflict his castles, his territories, the whole world together with the movable and immovable (creation), likewise the sages and the gods, who (on the failure of offerings) ascend to the sky.
30. (Punishment) cannot be inflicted justly by one who has no assistant, (nor) by a fool, (nor) by a covetous man, (nor) by one whose mind is unimproved, (nor) by one addicted to sensual pleasures.
31. By him who is pure (and) faithful to his promise, who acts according to the Institutes (of the sacred law), who has good assistants and is wise, punishment can be (justly) inflicted.
44. Day and night he must strenuously exert himself to conquer his senses; for he (alone) who has conquered his own senses, can keep his subjects in obedience.
45. Let him carefully shun the ten vices, springing from love of pleasure, and the eight, proceeding from wrath, which (all) end in misery.
46. For a king who is attached to the vices springing from love of pleasure, loses his wealth and his virtue, but (he who is given) to those arising from anger, (loses) even his life.
47. Hunting, gambling, sleeping by day, censoriousness, (excess with) women, drunkenness, (an inordinate love for) dancing, singing, and music, and useless travel are the tenfold set (of vices) springing from love of pleasure.
48. Tale-bearing, violence, treachery, envy, slandering, (unjust) seizure of property, reviling, and assault are the eightfold set (of vices) produced by wrath.
49. That greediness which all wise men declare to be the root even of both these (sets), let him carefully conquer; both sets (of vices) are produced by that.
50. Drinking, dice, women, and hunting, these four (which have been enumerated) in succession, he must know to be the most pernicious in the set that springs from love of pleasure.
51. Doing bodily injury, reviling, and the seizure of property, these three he must know to be the most pernicious in the set produced by wrath.
Yoohooo the list goes on… just hold still and yawn
87. A king who, while he protects his people, is defied by (foes), be they equal in strength, or stronger, or weaker, must not shrink from battle, remembering the duty of Kshatriyas.
102. Let him be ever ready to strike, his prowess constantly displayed, and his secrets constantly concealed, and let him constantly explore the weaknesses of his foe.
103. Of him who is always ready to strike, the whole world stands in awe; let him therefore make all creatures subject to himself even by the employment of force.
104. Let him ever act without guile, and on no account treacherously; carefully guarding himself, let him always fathom the treachery which his foes employ.
105. His enemy must not know his weaknesses, but he must know the weaknesses of his enemy; as the tortoise (hides its limbs), even so let him secure the members (of his government against treachery), let him protect his own weak points.
106. Let him plan his undertakings (patiently meditating) like a heron; like a lion, let him put forth his strength; like a wolf, let him snatch (his prey); like a hare, let him double in retreat.
169. When (the king) knows (that) at some future time his superiority (is) certain, and (that) at the time present (he will suffer) little injury, then let him have recourse to peaceful measures.
170. But when he thinks all his subjects to be exceedingly contented, and (that he) himself (is) most exalted (in power), then let him make war.
171. When he knows his own army to be cheerful in disposition and strong, and (that) of his enemy the reverse, then let him march against his foe.
172. But if he is very weak in chariots and beasts of burden and in troops, then let him carefully sit quiet, gradually conciliating his foes.
173. When the king knows the enemy to be stronger in every respect, then let him divide his army and thus achieve his purpose.
174. But when he is very easily assailable by the forces of the enemy, then let him quickly seek refuge with a righteous, powerful king.
198. He should (however) try to conquer his foes by conciliation, by (well-applied) gifts, and by creating dissension, used either separately or conjointly, never by fighting, (if it can be avoided.)
Now we can safely assure ourselves of the following facts from the quotes above.
1) The author is quoting from very well renowned verses in the Vedic literature which is the traditional literature of the Hindus.
2) One should not strain the nation’s revenues simply because one has been harshly dealt with on one occasion.
3) No doubt punishment protects everyone, but it must be inflicted by a King who is loyal to the religious dictum.
4) The king should purge himself of the various vices otherwise his estimation of what is right and wrong will be perjury.
5) The king should be very capable in warfare, capable of protecting his troops and himself, capable of keeping his own counsel etc.
6) This line explains a lot. So I just quote it. 106. Let him plan his undertakings (patiently meditating) like a heron; like a lion, let him put forth his strength; like a wolf, let him snatch (his prey); like a hare, let him double in retreat.
7) Now the real point of so much explanation is that the king wages war only when he knows that he is likely to win. When victory is not assured he should at least take the shelter of a more powerful king.
8) In other words we should imply war only when we are sure of victory, otherwise we should just marshal our forces and brace ourselves for whatever destiny has in store. If we become adjective oriented and herald a war which can be avoided with some diplomacy then we are stoning ourselves.
Now something that I would like to get back to with some purpose. Very often war is because I and my neighbor are ill at odds with what we have. In this world everyone cannot have everything. But we all can have sufficient to meet our regular needs and be prosperous in whatever way we want and can. Thus envy is the natural insight of the tardy. That is why confrontation provokes something like mirth in the minds of thinkers who know that the flesh we cherish will ultimately be stool or ashes. Even if one party is belligerent it makes a lot of sense to be patient and forbearing for that is more precious than heaven. Our gods or God Himself is most pleased with one who is willing to overlook his personal pleasures for the happiness of many, one willing to work without worrying about personal gain, etc and only when one qualifies himself with such qualities do the gods or God Himself become benign with their dependents. Otherwise India with all its rich culture and religiosity was dominated by foreign legions for nearly a thousand years. Many temples were simply impaired and libraries demolished.
If economical instability is the cause of war then it can be attended to by careful diplomatic means. From our situation we are fairly even about the point that we are not out to conquer huge territories of land protected by formidable armies. If a powerful neighbor is a little agitated does it harm us as cogent individuals to reach a reconciliation. May be they just want a little bit more money for the goods they supply and maybe a thank you.
Finally we come down to what all this implies. Whenever the author feels uncomfortable someone seems to suggest why doesn’t he go to the war and die or live as a messiah. Wars are fought by legends…. Why don’t I become one. This seems to me to be quite interesting because it seems that in all lands, they who are religious and righteous are easily inducted into the army and easily they are sent as frontline challengers of the enemy and then Nostradamus need not be called up to find out what happens next. If a person seems very determined to achieve something determined in life the armed forces seems the best way. So… the more you become religious, the more you end up on the enemy frontier facing bullets. Somehow it seems that the national leaders of any land…. whichever land or religion it may be, they like to send those with religious zeal to the warfront to fight war after war. Basically if you are religious you get to die an early death.
Now one might be stunned to hear this statement…. Why should the believers in here and hereafter have to be hastened to death. One answer is that they (the believers) want to go to heaven and thus they get to die and meet their Maker as fast as they could. Another is, the world likes bozo…. you know, the type of men and women who like to spice up life…. The religious genre of personalities either join bozo to become one of them or they just stand out like a…. like a standing out thing…. Because they know that their maker desires them to be chaste to Him morning, evening and night. And bozo is far more ambitious…. Bozo likes to drink blood for health keeping purposes. Bozo likes to party late into the night. Bozo likes to drink to his ambitions. Bozo likes to flood the market with products, 99% of which we don’t need (if we are in on our senses). Bozo likes to route the environment with inimical gaseous substances. Bozo likes to keep our minds surcharged by aggression and depressed by inflation. And bozo likes to challenge fate. Once one wins the challenge against fate one need not fear the Almighty one for the latter has already forsaken the battlefield. Once God has run away who… who can challenge the great BOZO. So life is such that the people in general prefer Lucifer to God, because Lucifer is more memorable than God. Lucifer can give us the time of our life whereas God can chain us up in our own determinations.
Thus all these wars somehow point out… at least in recent times, that the religiously staunch, struggle to find a toehold, because those otherwise inclined like to get rid of them so that the latter don’t trouble them when the time arrives to live it up. That is why so much maneuvering is done, so much arrangements are made, all over the world to put religion in its place. God is someone we need when we are in need of solace otherwise we prefer to wave Him away to the background. Even as the author writes he struggles with baser dimensions of existence and the intimation is that the avenue to a liberal life is only widening. Lucifer and Lucy beckon so generously whereas the altitude at which God is available involves a steep climb.
So the final question is that what does one do? Does one chase oneself away from all the happiness planned throughout the week, month and year. When the wine flows freely and chance seems subdued by might of reason what does a man of worth chose to do and why ought he have to repent. The answer is difficult to give. Especially if you are going to decide on the spot. One ought to have a notebook where one writes down what are the choices one should make in life and why. Thus grace should replace greed and coke should replace wine. The price of one commodity over another is what one should be willing to pay if one is willing to do what is best for him or her.
Thus WAR is the last thing that a developing nation should herald because of behavior lacking in caution. We are slowly but surely building our roads and highways and skyscrapers and stadiums and granaries and even movie theatres. Should we chance it all because I have to insist that an OFFICIALLY atheistic regime is subject to the wrath of the gods? We do not really know how cultured the Chinese actually are. Every culture has a constellation or a heaven which takes care of it. The Chinese officials might have to take a perjorative view of heaven and its gods because such was the thought process of their great leaders, but if you take one of them aside and ask…. “Sir do you think that if you do good you will get good and if you do bad you will get bad“ ,…what do you think they will say?
That means all mature men believe in the law of karma and the forces which back such enforcement, whether they believe in a heaven or not. The communist officiant may not remember his heaven but he can be reminded about it. Ancient Chinese art, architecture, music, medicine, religion, logic, inventions, military sense etc are some of the best and people continue to be amazed. Despite the glitz of Chinese economy, they are actually, somewhat weak because they are not able to officially come to terms with their glorious past and the heavens associated with it, which incidentally Indians are not struggling with having rejected, an indifferent approach to our cultural heritage.
Actually communism in Russia was toppled when their leaders realized that it was not the best way to go about doing things. Thus communism in China can also be dissipated if we are gentle and thus point out the drawback of a life which is bleak, because that is what an atheistic life is. Russians were the most powerful nation in the world economically, military wise, in space, in sports etc, yet the Russians themselves (along with their presidents) rooted for a government which would bypass the cruel ways of injustice and dogma that life was none to be seen beyond a group of chemicals.
Thus since by nature we have a maker we need to just remind the forgetful neighbor of this fact…. “O neighbor in all the busy activities you attempt, you seem to forget that your Maker is affectionate to you, and hopes against hope that you will also be affectionate to Him. When you do so a whole new world opens out to you and to those you are affectionate to”. When we reaffirm our spiritual ideals we lead a progressive life and this the leaders of a great nation like China need to know, for the benefit of the world. We do not need to allow millions of deaths and billions in property loss. May we just need to re address the situation.
