Acharya Tulsi
Vulgarity is one of the most acute problems resulting from the present day lifestyle. However, before considering this problem, we have to be clear about what is chaste and what is obscene. Acharya Hemachandra regarded the word chaste as indicative of the individual possessing riches. In this sense, the word chastity would mean richness. If we accept this meaning of the term, vulgarity would mean poverty. From this point of view, poor sanskaras in a broad sense can be called vulgarity. In the literary parlance, the word chastity means refinement and in that sense, vulgarity would mean indecency and lack of refinement. The English lexicons use the word 'courtesy' for decent behaviour, refinement, goodness, etc. Considering the use of those words, vulgarity would indicate indecency, unculturedness and poverty. This is related both to the language and the practice. The language of some people is not agreeable to cultured people. Some people habitually use abusive words in their, day-to-day conversation. Some people use foul words because of mutual animosity. This can be called indecency which is not directly related to the problem vulgarity.
The Problem of Chastity and Vulgarity
In my view, any language, behaviour or scene, which arouses lust and which are considered shameful and are prohibited in a cultured society and which cause embarrassment when expressed in public, should be called obscene. In plain words, uninhibited sex is obscenity. In modern terms, any attempt to bring into public view what is done in the bedroom is vulgar, whether to be viewed, or heard or followed in action.
All social relations have certain limitations. Human behaviour is determined only on the basis of relations. One cannot behave with others as he would behave with his wife. The relationship between husband and wife is strictly private. It cannot be made public. May be, this is done in some countries and some societies, but such excesses have not been accepted in Indian culture.
Some people ask why the point of chastity or vulgarity should be raised with regard to the dialogues, songs and scenes which people approve and enjoy. Some people believe that there is no such thing like chastity or vulgarity. A person sees what he thinks. Why should a thing, which is written spontaneously by a writer, be interpreted as something vulgar?
Need to know the Limits
Chastity and vulgarity are no new concepts at all. If it is a controversial matter today, it was not less so in ancient times. It is another matter that in those days, public discussion about such matters was shunned. Today such discussion is not only considered acceptable, it is also considered unavoidable. Beliefs continuously change. Today the students of anatomy claim to know everything about the structure of the body. They ask why their elders hide certain things from them in such a situation? The question is not of hiding or not hiding, but of recognising the limits. Is it possible for a young man to say or see everything in the presence of the people of two generations?
People used to be married young in ancient times. Even after marriage, there were no conjugal relations between husband and wife for many years. Leave aside moving freely, there were restrictions by the family even on their meeting. There was no question of any conversation between them. I agree that times have changed. People are now married when they come of age. Still, it is necessary to observe some limits. In the absence of knowing those limits, there is no sense of discrimination between what should be done and what should not be done. How can the actions of an individual, with no sense of discrimination, ever be good?
Value of Self-Restraint
Limit, decorum, self-restraint, discipline, control, etc. are very valuable terms. Their value is based not on the word structure, but on the concept of shaping life. When the limits are transgressed, and the lakshmanarekha, the mythological protecting line for Sita, going beyond which became a risk for her, is crossed, Sita would continue to be abducted. Once, the limits are crossed and the way is opened, all hesitations and sense of shame disappear. Then everything finds acceptance in the name of entertainment, which was prohibited at one time.
Some people believe that taboos give rise to greater attraction. The adolescents take more interest in the films that are shown exclusively to the adults. This may be justifiable from the psychological point of view but does not go well with the principles of self-restraint and social discipline. If there are no taboos of any kind, there should be no difference between human behaviour and animal behaviour. From that point of view, the or,value of restraint is self-evident.
The Origin of Vulgarity
In the present age, the media advertisements, television and films disregard all social taboos and bring out vulgarity in the crudest form. The advertisement companies are not aware how much they are harming mankind by destroying the dignity of the cultural traditions of India. Their eyes are fixed only on monetary gains. Otherwise, why should they give the pictures of semi-nude women in everything they advertise? The manner in which the woman is being used not only for advertising the items meant for their use but also for the items meant for children and men, as well as in journals and magazines. Would such advertisements arouse anything but lust?
The original objective of the television technology might have been to give an impetus to the communications system and spread human and cultural values. But no one is unaware of all the perversions to which it is leading today. New channels, new serials and new advertisements. It seems that this great temptress has thrown in disarray the entire human life. When the new faces appear on Doordarshan, women forget their kitchen and the children forget their school homework. Righteous activities like serious study and meditation are of course, out of the question, the necessary daily activities are also neglected and even the guests are ignored.
The history of the cinema is a hundred years old at the most. Lumiere Brothers of France first introduced this new genre in 1895. The renowned novelist Maxim Gorkyhad already thought about the effective use of this genre as well as the possible perversities arising out of it. Had the cinema been restricted to being a medium of enriching knowledge and entertainment, probably no one would have doubted its worth. But ever since they have started being commercialised, perversions have made their inroads into it. The film industry which could have been of help in the quest and recognition of humaneness became the source of crime and obscenity.
The Censor Board was set up to check the licentious activities in the film world. Today, all the film in India have to be passed by the Censor Board before they are screened for the public. But, despite this arrangement, such things are coming into the film songs and dialogues that one could only look down with shame. Why does the Censor Board not use the scissors on such occasions? This question has an implied challenge. Only when the artists, writers, producers, directors, the government and the public face this problem together, it would be possible to find some solution.
Generations at the Cross-Roads
The young and the adolescent generations are standing today at the cross-road of doubt. On the one hand is the attraction of life of comfort and luxury and on the other hand is the keen desire to preserve the values relating culture and mutuality. At some moments, caught in that attraction, they want to go along that path and at other moments, troubled by the consciousness of values, they want to retrace their steps. It is really the situation in which they feel the opposite pulls. In this context, I am really proud of those thousands of young and adolescent people who have kept their minds under control even today. Surrounded though they are by obscenity on all sides, they have remained untouched by it. Even while standing in the midst of the crowd, which swims with the current, they are determined to go against the current. When our culture, our tradition and our values are facing the danger of erosion, we are proud of such people.
The great men born in this country thousands of years ago were truly seers, who could see through the future. They saw as clearly as the lines on their palms that man would be pushed into the dark tunnel or perversions in the age to come. They had a premonition that man would transgress the line of distinction between what is proper and what is improper. Hence they had said:
"Do not take notice of a woman's limbs, her body, her postures, her sweet words, and the oblique look of her eyes, because all these arouse lust. [1]"
Some people may well protest that those seers had forbidden these things after physically seeing the female body and indulging in sweet talk with her. But in advertisement and films, there are only he images of the woman. What is wrong in seeing her image? I do not have any reply to a question like this. Bhagwan Mahavira was well aware that a person could easily raise such a question in order to justify himself. That is why he said right from the beginning:
“One should keep away not only from the woman bedecked With jewellery; he should not even look at a wall decorated with female figures. If by chance, one's eyes fall on a woman or a wall decorated with pictures of female figures, he should immediately withdraw his eyes as he would automatically look away from the afternoon sun.[2]"
These words have been preached in order to maintain the purity of one's soul. If people would read it with deep understanding and accept it as a matter of practice, they would never become so unrestrained in this matter.
Basis of Social Health
It is not necessary that everyone should believe in scriptural truth and purity of the soul. But social health is necessary for all people. There are certain norms to be followed even with regard to one's personal life. If we stop to consider just this point, the line of distinction between chastity and vulgarity, between decency and indecency, and between the good and the grotesque becomes automatically clear.
Some so-called yogis and god-men have been greatly responsible for bringing out sex in the open and they have created chaos in society thereby. Now the situation has reached such a point that they curse their adversaries to their hearts' content. But we should not forget that this too is an eternal reality. Whenever any great man or thinker has raised his voice against anomalies in life, frantic attempts have been made to silence that voice. Those anomalies, whether they are religious or social, the campaign against them can be carried on only at the risk of one's life.
Anuvrat is a Campaign
Anuvrat is a campaign which aims at building national character. It believes not in punishment and law, but in the change of heart. At the same time, it is realised that social anomalies cannot be removed merely by the change of heart. It is necessary to change the social system for that purpose. If both the mind of man as well as the social system change, even what may appear extremely hard to achieve, can be easily achieved. This remedy can work even to solve the problem of vulgarity.
One of the resolves of the anuvrat campaign is the making of a New Man, who would be above the I restraining influence of nationalism, provincialism, communalism and casteism. He would free his faith which has been trapped within the confines of temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and other places of worship. He would keep himself away from malfeascenes like violence, terrorism, smuggling, addictions, obscenity, etc. By eradicating the perversions that have made in-roads in art, literature, music, dance, etc. it would promote social health. With the making of such a human being, a new age would be ushered in. It would be an age of non-violence, character building and humaneness. It would be an age of man following the correct way of life.
