India and Russia have been great friends as nation states for six decades if the Soviet period is taken into account, but contacts between the two at the social level, and at the level of individuals, has been virtually nonexistent, although in both countries there has traditionally been substantial goodwill for one another. The recent controversy over the status of the Bhagavad Gita (or the Gita, as the famous 3,000-year-old text is commonly known), as revealed from details of a case filed in a court at Tomsk in Siberia, doubtless owes much to this gap. It is a pity, nevertheless, that the Russian authorities are yet to squelch the problem.
The Indian authorities too could have been more alert to the possibility of the Gita being unnecessarily dragged into controversy by elements of the newly liberated Russian orthodox church, which was officially
suppressed in the Communist era just like any other form of religious expression.
During the Communist rule, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) — which spreads the message of Lord Krishna’s teaching to Arjuna of not falling prey to illusory earthly bonds while performing one’s duty, the essence of the Gita — had come on the radar of the authorities in Moscow. The anti-religious state questioned all this on first principles, but (like in the case of the Falun Gong in China), though there was also the underlying anxiety that no community organisation should emerge which furthered a cause other than the officially sanctioned version of Communism. Reportedly, Krishna’s message had slowly begun to attract adherents. In Russia, after the demise of the Communist state, it won’t be the authorities who would worry about the Gita but notables or followers of the local church, who might perceive competition.
It is laughable that the Gita should be challenged in a Siberian court as “extremist” literature. The truth is that it is not only a great text sacred to the Hindus, but also widely viewed in the world as a marvel of world literature and a heritage of humankind. There will be no shortage of Indologists in Russia who would know this as well as the next Indian. The point, however, is that there is lack of such knowledge among ordinary Russians. For this reason, Indians ought to explain things to the friendly people of a friendly country, rather than get hot under the collar. The uproar in the Lok Sabha on Monday, and external affairs minister S.M. Krishna’s statement in the House on Tuesday, should persuade anyone that secular parties and groups are as concerned over the Gita controversy as avowed proponents of political Hinduism might be expected to be.