Belief - Faith - Trust - Astha

Belief, Faith, Trust, Astha

These words we use several times, practically every day. Sometimes we use them randomly while at other times we use them precisely. It makes no difference at some time, but it may mean a lot of difference at other time. So in order to explain the very purpose of my writing I shall take the path of practical applications instead of falling in to the controversy of grammatical intricacies.

When a child is born, it is forced to believe that the new environment in which it has come will help it survive the challenges that are to be faced by it. The child has no knowledge of the environment around. Not that the child is crippled or insane or mentally sick. But we all know that it is due to immature development of the anatomical and physiological faculties. This may or may not be a disorder or disease. In this form the child is not in a position to have the sense of belief, faith, trust or astha. The sense of realization is very less developed in a new born, so there is no revelation of the felt need. The infant at this stage needs nutrition and security. These needs are required to be fulfilled by the parents. Let us study in terms of normal beings.

The new born is completely at the mercy of the mother. It behaves totally according to the genetic codes present by default. In human race there is a common belief that parents have to nurture the infant and protect the newborn from forces that want to destroy it, but many parents don’t follow these rules and destroy the product of conception, if it is a female. The newborn has no option but to trust the parents.

 Here now there are false beliefs prevailing in the society. These are also known as myths. To impose their supremacy and to earn their livelihood some people befool the innocent and ignorant masses. They spread these false faiths in the name of astha. They advocate that the individual is a cursed fellow and will be relieved by sacrificing the new born before a deity. The parents consider that the infant is their property and so they have a natural right to destroy the product of conception. Such motivated parents even go to the extent of committing infanticide.

In nature there is a recycling process. As a result of sex hormonal function the male and female partners tie up in marriage. The nature is interested in reproduction only. The couple is part of the society. In society many faiths are in vogue. There is need to educate the people that infanticide is a crime as well as sin.

 No religion or faith allows this heinous crime.  There is dowry system prevailing in many parts of India. The father of the girl is supposed to give money as well as other valuables to the bridegroom. So also the parents destroy the girl child. Similarly there are many false beliefs linked with the birth of a girl child.

There are many religious places where treatment of every kind of disease is done by many rituals. There again false beliefs and faiths prevail. I was viewing a television programme where it was shown that in some village, a lady was treating small kids in a very tortuous way. She was shown to be using a red hot piece of bangle for causing burn ulcers on front of chest and abdomen. It was such a painful procedure that no normal human can tolerate it.

Humans appeared on earth thousands of years ago. When humans decided to live in a social culture, the wise of the race would have realized the need for framing the rules for living together. The nature’s rule is “Might is Right.” If humans follow this jungle rule, they cannot live in a congenial atmosphere. So the need arose to love and respect each other. But all minds are not the same. There are always some people in the society, who don’t honour the concept of living with an honour to all. They consider themselves above the law.

In modern times the use of ultrasound imaging reveals in advance the sex of the product of conception in the womb so even intrauterine abortions are in practice. It is ironical that on one side

 There is faith and respect for the Goddesses and mother, while on other side there is large number of cases of female infanticide. What will you call this? Truly this is not Astha.

Hindus worship Goddess Durga as a symbol of power. They pray Goddess Lakshmi for obtaining wealth and worldly comforts. They have a great Astha on these deities. It is not that only the illiterate and poor villagers are committing these crimes. Even the elite educated wealthy people living in urban set ups are doing this. Will you call it Astha, Belief, Trust or faith? Of course not, similarly there is the example of mentally disabled people. Some patients are suffering from epilepsy and likewise disorders that we know can be treated with medicines. But even today there are beliefs that such ailments are due to evil spirits or witches. The mentally disabled are chained or left to die. They are beaten with sticks and subjected to stone pelting.

Leprosy was considered a deadly disease in the earlier centuries. The leprosy affected people were called lepers and were kept out of reach of the human habitats. This disease produces deformity in various parts of body. This is not a killing disease like cancer. Many false stories are framed against LAPs (Leprosy affected persons). Today we know that with regular and prescribed dose and time schedule there is complete cure. The deformity can be prevented by regular counseling and physiotherapy. There is no need for segregation of such patients. Even there medical and social rehabilitation is possible. But even now there is a great need for social awareness.

Astha, faith and belief in positive direction is not bad for the society. But in negative sense just for personal benefit, it is criminal. Hindus worship Lord Rama as God but He too had to take the help of a doctor for the treatment of His brother in the war field. One should have trust and Astha on religion, but it does not mean that one should not take medical help when necessary.

These days the young generation is not giving respect to parents and elders. They forget that they will get the same behavior from the generation to come. They forget that they are in their present position due to the sacrifice by their parents. They don’t even respect the law. This encourages asocial and antisocial tendencies in the people.

From ancient times various noble souls have been taking birth on this earth, which always made sacrifices and worked for the welfare of the society. People worship them and build places where many people can assemble and pay homage to them. They listen to what they had advocated for the welfare of the society. This helps people to refrain from bad deeds. They have astha in those great people. They even call them God or Messenger of God.

This kind of Astha is a must. People obtain moral support from the preaching’s of such great and noble souls. Every human being passes through a phase of sufferings. This Astha helps them bear their grief’s and sorrows. Common men are   sentimental entities. They share their griefs and sorrows with each other and pray the deities to give them strength to bear the impact of their miseries. Astha teaches humans to care for human values. It teaches them to respect each other’s religion or faith. It makes them live in an emotional bondage.

When many people have Astha on some concept or person, it makes them live in a congenial environment. What fear of law of the land cannot do Astha can do. Thus it concludes that leave aside a few who are selfish and self centered, belief, faith, trust and Astha binds the masses together and help in making the global environment harmonious and worth living. The history tells us that there are many heroic deeds that people have performed with the help of inner strength of highest order. Astha gives humans this inner strength. Astha gives tranquility to the agitated minds. Astha teaches us to differentiate between good and bad deeds.

Thus without positive beliefs, faiths, trusts and Astha the human race cannot survive. Astha teaches us to be simple, humble, generous and pious. In our miserable times, Astha imparts us inner strength to tolerate and overcome our miseries. It gives us a sense of physical, mental and social well being. This is the state of being healthy. If we are healthy, we can work hard to be wealthy and prosperous.