Cleanliness

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Culture is a behemoth defying definitions.  But we understand culture both as the life of the body and life of the mind. The pattern of life constituting a society as well as the ideas and imagination expressed in a manner or style comprise culture. But, however, we read culture the most important thing in culture is undisputedly cleanliness. If the life and living of a society is dirty, shabby, or the activities of the mind are prejudicial to accepted values we call that culture unclean. In short, cleanliness of body and mind defines a culture and highlights the refinements of a society. In the context of the Indian society before the foreign aggressors occupied our country and the present day attempts by the government to reintroduce the inherited culture, I may ask how is it this great culture did not emphasize cleanliness? Yes, they wrote the greatest works in philosophy, literature; the Vedas, Upanishads and also the great epics Ramayan and Mahabharat. The Indian mind is universally acknowledged as the most profound of its time. Indian culture had completed its cycle of maturity before the European culture was awakened to a life of the mind. Why then cleanliness was not focused as the primordial foundation of culture?

They built temples, massive architectural masterpieces. They spoke of man’s transformation, plurality, multifocal reality, created myth-magic- mystery of creation but don’t seem to have emphasized the physical cleanliness of man. Can spiritual cleanliness be a realizable essence in an unclean environment? After seventy years of freedom and democratic self rule we still argue-‘ Ganga is dirty but pure’. Can purity which involves the spirit exist in an unclean body and shabby environs? I’m not sure.

 Go to any temple in Beneras, Puri , Mathura, Ujjain or Gaya you will see filth, flies and fluttering litter. Go to any river you may not feel like washing your hand in it, leave alone taking a bath. Go to any village you will see at early dawn and dusk illiterate, half- literate and even educated women go in small groups for stealthy defecation after suppressing the urge for hours. Men, however, prefer to go for open defecation without a slight sense of shame. Families which can afford to build latrines or toilets would argue that going out for morning ablutions serves the purpose of a morning walk and also breathing free morning air. The village roads are usually meant for the defecation of cattle and other quadrupeds whose epicortex is almost nonexistent. Fakir Mohan Senapati’s  Asuradighi  the only tank for the villagers (in Chha Mana Atha Guntha) is meant for all unclean practices of the body and mind. How is it such a great culture and primordial civilization did not have a sense of hygiene - one really wonders. And when you think of ecology or environment consciousness illustration are too few to write home about in our culture.