In his third national address during the coronavirus crisis, PM Narendra Modi requested Indians to light candles, lamps or mobile torches at 9 pm Sunday for nine minutes. This, Modi said, would be a show of solidarity in the fight against Covid-19. It is the second such exercise requested by Modi after he urged people to bang pots, pans and clap on 22 March to support frontline workers.
There were two profound philosophical presuppositions to PM Narendra Modi’s exhortation to the nation this morning. One was based on his quotation from the first sarga of the Kishkindha Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana:
उत्साहो बलवान् आर्य नास्ति उत्साहात् परम् बलम् ।
सः उत्साहस्य हि लोकेषु न किंचित् अपि दुर्लभम् ॥४-१-१२१॥
There is no greater strength, O noble one, than enthusiasm;
For one endowed with enthusiasm, nothing in this world is difficult.
The implication of these words by Lakshmana to his despondent elder brother, Rama, is unmistakable. The fight against the coronavirus pandemic is as much psychological as medical or logistical.
If we lose our nerve as a nation, then our mental despair will also spell our corporeal downfall.
The second postulate was that “Janata Janardana,” the personification of the composite populace, is a form of the Divine.
In times of crisis, if a direct साक्षात्कार or realisation of this force of the combined will of the people is manifest, it would add greatly to the spirit and confidence of the country.
To light a lamp in the dark night of the nation’s soul as a symbolic gesture of solidarity and resolve can thus be a deeply transforming and constructive act, especially during a curfew or lockdown.
Source : Hindustan Times
