DICHOTOMY OF PEOPLE’S BLIND FAITH AND INTELECTUAL’S REASONABLE DOUBTS AND NON-ACCEPTANCE

Proof and Faith- the place of evidence in Science and Religion.

Welcome Readers!

Here you must have sensed the very idea of this blog through its title and the above-mentioned infographic design which says the evolution of science and elimination of blind beliefs. But the question still remains- how far this message would be accepted by general people? To what extent will they agree with the idea of eliminating religion / God? How to rationalize the grassroots?

This blog is prepared on the grounds of an assignment task assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir to ponder upon the points mentioned by Sir in his blog themed on the conflict between religion and science with special account of Shitala Saatam and reflect my thoughts by writing a blog. Please click on the link to view Sir’s blog or the main framework of “Shitala Saatam -Religion Vs Science; Inoculation Vs Vaccination; non-acceptance of intellectuals”.

Iconography of Shitala

When we refer to the history of this myth, we come to know about the general facts like Shitala Saatam, followed by “Randhan Chhath”, in Gujarat comes in the month of Shravan, so it is also known by the name of ‘Shravan vad Satam’. It is observed on the dark fortnight. People worship Shitala who they believe as a deity who cures smallpox and measles and this particular day is observed for the welfare of children and others to escape from measles and smallpox.

The origin of the myth of Shitala lies in Skand Purana which states that Shitala holds the broom in one of her hands and a Kalash (larger form of glass which contains water) in the other hand. The most astonishing thing is that people also take 'vrat' on this day! Well let me clarify why it seems absurd as because earlier there used to be a highly serious disease of smallpox is popularly known as શીતળા (Shitala) which was impossible to cure before Edward Jenner found a vaccination.

The myth is taken so seriously in most parts of India that they even blindly worship Shitala anywhere, like on the road itself where they find the empty place! There are some YouTube videos describing the (false) glory of Shitala, there are various myths surrounding this glory which you might be familiar with.

Have a look at one such video of a local news channel -

Religion plays a vital role in almost every field in India. Whether it is politics or education or even a major disease, it jumps to offer a very amazing thing of its own glorification! People use it as if they are the only pioneers to spread these amazing thoughts. It is a matter of wonder how they connect god with the disease.

“S. C. Dube (1955) says that in ancient times disease was regarded as a punishment from the god and goddesses, or the work of evil sprites, or supernatural powers. People think that propitiation of the god or goddesses was the sure antidote against these diseases. Worship of the goddess is also connected with smallpox and organized annually in the South. The village community organizes this annual worship of Pochamma on Thursday or Saturday in the month of Shravan (July-August). The Muslims also participate in the festival but don't participate in worship, as they don't believe in the Hindu god, but were as afraid of the village god and goddesses as the Hindus."

Source- Smallpox inoculation started in India before the West.

Not only the north-eastern part of India believes in Shitala and are afraid of it but also we find the same story in South India of ‘Mariamman’.

Tamil folk believes "Mariamman" as their deity who cures smallpox

Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chickenpox. People blamed God’s anger, poison earth gases, and “imbalances” in body fluids.

Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chickenpox. She caught smallpox and begged from house to house for food, fanning herself with leaves of the neem or margosa tree to keep the flies off her sores. When she recovered, people worshipped her as the goddess of smallpox. To keep smallpox away, neem leaves are hung above the main entrances of South Indian homes.

The Tamil word 'Muthu' means pearl. In the ancient usage of the language 'Muthu Maari' appears to have been a poetic metaphor for raindrops, which were equated with precious pearls bestowed as the gifts of the Nature goddess. Mariamman was also called Muthu Mariamman, which meant the goddess who gives prosperous rain. From a religious perspective that survived in Mediaeval Europe as the equally poetic doctrine of signatures the pearls of rain may have been thought to heal the pearl-like boils that occur during chickenpox.

The one possibly sympathetic story says-

One day, when the Rishi was away, the ‘Trimurti’ came to test the truth of her famed beauty and virtue. Not knowing them and resenting their intrusion, Nagavali turned them into little children. The gods were offended and cursed her, so her beauty faded and her face became marked as if she had smallpox. The Rishi returned, found her disfigured, and drove her away, declaring she would be born a demon in the next world and cause the spread of a disease which would make people look like her. She was called Mari, meaning 'changed.

Hence, according to the myth, Mariamman cures all so-called "heat-based" diseases like pox and rashes. During the summer months in South India (March to June), people walk miles carrying pots of water mixed with turmeric and neem leaves to ward off illnesses like the measles and chickenpox. In this way, the goddess Māri is very similar to the North Indian goddess Shitaladevi.

Source- Wikipedia page of Mariamman.

This epidemic was not only in India but in America also people were suffering from this disease. The virus had arrived in the world and had badly crept in some regions as the most serious issue. The people of England also did the same thing of connecting the disease of smallpox with God. In his book called “Smallpox”, Adam Furgang writes-

“Some Puritans saw this epidemic as a gift from their God, showing his favor toward them and his displeasure toward with the Native Americans. One of the first president of Harvard College, a clergyman named Increase Mather, had this to say about the epidemic:

‘The Indians begin to be quarrelsome concerning the bounds of the land they had sold to the English; but God ended the controversy by sending the smallpox amongst the Indians at August, who were before that time exceeding numerous. Whole towns of them were swept away, and some of them not so much as one soul escaping the destruction’ (as quoted by Ian and Jenifer Glynn in The Life and Death of Smallpox).”

The fact is that not the deity but the man; Edward Jenner founded a vaccine for which he is well-known as the pioneer of smallpox vaccination which had helped to eradicate the disease. And India slowly and gradually accepted the vaccination and people are now in better condition.

The arm of Sarah Nelmes, a dairymaid, who had contracted cowpox. Jenner used material from her arm to vaccinate an eight-year-old boy, James Phipps. Edward Jenner, An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variola vaccine, a disease discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the cowpox (1798).

The ‘father of immunology’ was often satirized by the public during his time. Even today, people do not except the novel or different idea, it takes time to make them aware regarding the concept. In the same manner, Edward Jenner’s vaccination was also disapproved and criticized by the public and one of an illustration is a caricature attached below-

Vaccination was not without its critics. In this cartoon from 1802, the British satirist James Gillray implied that vaccination caused people to become a part cow.

By now intellectuals have rejected the idea of worshiping Shitala but people still observe the so-called ritual of eating cold food on the day of Satam. This may be because they have fear, a fear that they will have to be a victim of the rage of Shitala. This fear is the main cause for them that they worship Shitala. This is the main point that should be debated that why so many people waste human hours in doing such nonsense acts! And not doing productive works! So many people during Shravana month goes to temples even if they are not in a condition to climb stairs.

Some highly religious people climb the stairs of temples which are actually situated on the hills like Pavagadh, Chotila and so on to convince the idol to fulfill their wishes. And if the wish is fulfilled they climb again to say thanks but demand another wish to be fulfilled again. This looks totally absurd! Human beings try to search for peace and this never-ending process progresses from generation to generation without any rationality in it. I find a lot of similarity with the myth of Sisyphus.

In his classic essay, the ‘Myth of Sisyphus’ the existentialist philosopher Albert Camus compared the punishment to humanity’s futile search for meaning and truth in a meaningless and indifferent universe. Sisyphus repeatedly tries to complete the task and so do mortal beings repeatedly go to the temple and embrace the idol as their own which is totally absurd.

In a nutshell, it can be said that religious people celebrate Shitala Satam maybe because of their thinking, they may still believe in the age-old myth of Shitala or by eating cold food they think that they would gain vitamin B12 just in one day! The diagram attached below shows at its best the reasons for the blind faiths in this so-called a festival in which human working hours are thoroughly wasted.