by Naresh Jotwani

When does one understand an aspect of reality?

Example: Projectile motion is an aspect of reality. When projectile motion is modelled in the form of mathematical equations, it can be said that the particular aspect of reality has been understood — that is, a validated conceptual model has been found for it. Projectile trajectory can be calculated, either to explain past data or to predict future results.

That same criterion must be applied to the understanding of any other aspect of reality – namely, the ability to explain the unfolding of real life events.

Jayram’s post Modern Malady, Ancient Analysis (here) may be viewed as being ‘philosophical’, ‘mystical’, or ‘unrelated to modern reality’. However, that view would be mistaken. The central thesis of Jayram’s post can be correlated with life today. Making that correlation is the aim of the present post.

Prakriti and purush are two distinct aspects, or realizations, of the human spirit. The two can also be named as Shiva and Shakti, or Yin and Yang. Each of these pairs of words point to the fundamental duality which creates life and rules over it. To quote from Jayram’s post:

The relationship between purusha, pure consciousness, and prakriti, material nature, is the foundational principle of the samkhya view. Applying this principle to the decline of the yugas offers a sophisticated way to look at the changing human condition worldwide.

If this ancient observation reflects an understanding of the nature of reality, it should be possible to correlate it with the observed trajectories of human events. The empirical test for this observation is essentially the same as that which we routinely apply to physical phenomena.

Seers in ancient India must have studied enough of human life to make profound assertions such as the one explicated by Jayram in his post. But we are not living in ancient times. In the midst of modern cacophony, the validity of that universal statement must be proven once again. Fortunately, a recent report from the US provides empirical evidence for the effects of imbalance between prakriti and purush.

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The earlier post Social Well-being Index (here) argued, based on a study out of Russia, that generational continuity, measured in the form of birth rate, is one of several indicators of overall social well-being.

Imbalance between prakriti and purush creates deep discord in the process of family nurture and culture. Parenting is tough for both parents. Discord or dissonance leads to a dysfunctional or broken family as, evidently, each parent fails to understand the crucial and indispensable role of the other. The result is unfortunate for all concerned — adults and children.

For empirical evidence, we cite here a thought-provoking report from the the US, entitled No Wonder Men Are Opting Out (here). The report summarizes the consequences of rejecting the distinct, crucial and very special role that both father and mother play in family and community.

For the reader’s convenience, we reproduce here the first and the last paragraphs from the report. The first paragraph reads:

The warning signs have been there for decades. Back in 1983, American author Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a powerful book  — The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment — arguing that a male revolt was underway. Since the 1950s, she suggested, men had begun rebelling against the breadwinner ethic, inspired by Playboy culture, the counterculture and a desire for personal freedom. They were rejecting the cultural ideology that had shamed them into tying the knot and becoming a good provider, lest they be seen as immature, irresponsible and less than a real man.

The concluding paragraph reads:

Ehrenreich feared in 1983 that if the shame mechanism collapsed, male productivity would follow. She was right. What she could not have anticipated was the other half of the equation — that the feminist revolution would produce not a generation of fulfilled, generous, companionable women, but one that is, by every available measure, angrier and unhappier than any before it. The yoke is off. The men have looked at what’s on offer. And many have, with considerable rationality, decided to go and play video games instead.

According to the report, about 33% of men have decided, in effect, not to work. That is unfortunate, and there are no easy solutions. Culture takes root over many generations, a process in which community and religion play central role. Throwing away the ‘yoke’ of marriage, community and work must have felt exciting at the time — a ‘high’! — but its tragic effects have appeared decades later. Idiot economists quote figures about productivity, GDP, labour shortages … et cetera … but miss the underlying tragedy in millions of human lives.

When a person’s life loses its natural rhythm, the inner angst hurts. In that state, it does not help the person to hear that he is living in ‘the greatest country that ever existed in the history of mankind‘. That kind of hype likely further accentuates  the angst, which is totally at odds with the superlatives bandied about by paid scribes. A similar situation can occur in any other country; individual angst is not assuaged by fervent calls to patriotic duty or past glory.

Such are the results when the prakriti – purush balance is lost. Individuals feel deep pain, which is difficult to resolve. Maybe kali yuga is nothing but a period of widespread, deep angst, co-existing with loud and ceaseless dissonant hype.

In the age of globalization, the spread of prakriti – purush imbalance does not respect national boundaries. Apart from the so-called ‘western’ countries, Japan and Korea face very similar conditions. In India, some southern states have fertility rates below replacement levels. Andhra Pradesh government has reportedly devised an incentive scheme for couples to have more children. Russia has an incentive scheme in place.

In summary, any ideology, political strategy, economic theory or government policy will fail if the prakriti – purush balance is lost; that is, if the society and the culture cannot sustain themselves over generations. Without the difficult balance between prakriti and purush, all else is futile.

[Acknowledgement: The report cited and partially quoted in this post, strictly for non-commercial purposes, is from The Daily Sceptic (here).]