Satbir Singh posted on his wall on facebook today:
Peene Ki Aadat Thi Mujhe,
Usne Apni Kasam De Kar Chhuda Di,
Baitha tha Mehfil Main Yaroon ki,
Aur Yaaron Ne Uski Kasam Dekar Pila Di
I commentedTabhi to Ghalib ne kaha tha 'Ghalib chhuti sharab to lekin kabhi kabhie'.
More comments are pouring in but the couplet set the ball rolling and made me ponder, “Where does drinking stand in the books of religion and spiritualism”? As we see it most of.. rather almost all the religious books have something to say against drinking. All those religious books say that one should not drink.. that it is 'sin' to drink.. it is paap. Whereas most intellectuals have a different take on it. Ghalib's shayari, Bachchanji's 'Madhushala' are just a few of many examples.
Peene Ki Aadat Thi Mujhe,
Usne Apni Kasam De Kar Chhuda Di,
Baitha tha Mehfil Main Yaroon ki,
Aur Yaaron Ne Uski Kasam Dekar Pila Di
I commentedTabhi to Ghalib ne kaha tha 'Ghalib chhuti sharab to lekin kabhi kabhie'.
More comments are pouring in but the couplet set the ball rolling and made me ponder, “Where does drinking stand in the books of religion and spiritualism”? As we see it most of.. rather almost all the religious books have something to say against drinking. All those religious books say that one should not drink.. that it is 'sin' to drink.. it is paap. Whereas most intellectuals have a different take on it. Ghalib's shayari, Bachchanji's 'Madhushala' are just a few of many examples.
But is there really something against drinking in the original scriptures? Here I consider these religious books different from the scriptures. Scriptures are the real and authentic compilations of very basics of a particular religion and these 'religious books' are the guidelines, do's & don'ts based on the understanding of those scriptures. So basically, or scripturally, is any religion really against drinking?
I find drinking or non-drinking is not really an issue with any religion. No religion actually prohibits or promotes drinking or use of other drugs or intoxicants like tobacco or even 'afeem', 'bhang' etc. In fact why it should? An intoxicant for one could be a medicine for other. Even for same person different quantities of same drug or syrup could mean different things under different conditions. One spoonful of an expectorant is medicine, two is an overdose and more could even be fatal. It is said that even wheat has intoxicant effects... one might remember Sany Kabir's couplet:
'Kanak Kanak te sou guni maadakta adhikaye,
I find drinking or non-drinking is not really an issue with any religion. No religion actually prohibits or promotes drinking or use of other drugs or intoxicants like tobacco or even 'afeem', 'bhang' etc. In fact why it should? An intoxicant for one could be a medicine for other. Even for same person different quantities of same drug or syrup could mean different things under different conditions. One spoonful of an expectorant is medicine, two is an overdose and more could even be fatal. It is said that even wheat has intoxicant effects... one might remember Sany Kabir's couplet:
'Kanak Kanak te sou guni maadakta adhikaye,
ek khay bauraat jan, ek paaye bauraay'
So how would any religion differentiate and quantify something as a life saving medicine or as a mere drink or as a narcotic drug and intoxicant. And also why would any religion get involved in such nitty gritty. Even simple food can make one feel sleepy at a particular time during the day. To quantify the dose universally is not an easy task and, as stated earlier, not the real issue with any religion. Bhagwan Mahesh or Shiva is known to use all these different Som Rasa's and regularly consume all sort of intoxicants like Bhang etc. So why would he stop his followers from using the same?
We can very easily see that no religious scripture actually prohibits consumption of intoxicants. What any religion really warns against is 'getting drunk'. And actually that's the real matter of concern. Drinking is not considered bad, only getting drunk is. Loosing one's senses is bad. And though almost everything has its quantity of intoxicants in it, the degree varies from one item to another. From water to milk to tea to beer to rum etc the degree of getting drunk differs, quantity of drink remaining the same. Many a medicinal syrups have alcohol. Using all these drugs and many other such things can not be bad as long as it improves one's health and well being or atleast does not adversly affect one's health, finances or senses. If one loses all one's senses even after a glass of milk then even that glass of milk is not good and will fall under the prohibited category.
But yes intoxicating effects of certain items like alcohol, narcotics etc spread much faster and can even be fatal if not controlled. It requires a very high degree of discipline and control to stay within the limits. Such items are included in religious books and guidelines under prohibited category. It is not simply drinking which is feared... mere drinking is no vice.. but the real fear is that uncontrolled it may make one lose one's senses, lose his powers of discretion, 'vivek'. And in that condition one might not be in a position, albeit temporarily, to distinguish between a good act and a bad and may actually committ an act by body or by mind which might be sinful and, in which one would not have got involved under one's full senses.
So how would any religion differentiate and quantify something as a life saving medicine or as a mere drink or as a narcotic drug and intoxicant. And also why would any religion get involved in such nitty gritty. Even simple food can make one feel sleepy at a particular time during the day. To quantify the dose universally is not an easy task and, as stated earlier, not the real issue with any religion. Bhagwan Mahesh or Shiva is known to use all these different Som Rasa's and regularly consume all sort of intoxicants like Bhang etc. So why would he stop his followers from using the same?
We can very easily see that no religious scripture actually prohibits consumption of intoxicants. What any religion really warns against is 'getting drunk'. And actually that's the real matter of concern. Drinking is not considered bad, only getting drunk is. Loosing one's senses is bad. And though almost everything has its quantity of intoxicants in it, the degree varies from one item to another. From water to milk to tea to beer to rum etc the degree of getting drunk differs, quantity of drink remaining the same. Many a medicinal syrups have alcohol. Using all these drugs and many other such things can not be bad as long as it improves one's health and well being or atleast does not adversly affect one's health, finances or senses. If one loses all one's senses even after a glass of milk then even that glass of milk is not good and will fall under the prohibited category.
But yes intoxicating effects of certain items like alcohol, narcotics etc spread much faster and can even be fatal if not controlled. It requires a very high degree of discipline and control to stay within the limits. Such items are included in religious books and guidelines under prohibited category. It is not simply drinking which is feared... mere drinking is no vice.. but the real fear is that uncontrolled it may make one lose one's senses, lose his powers of discretion, 'vivek'. And in that condition one might not be in a position, albeit temporarily, to distinguish between a good act and a bad and may actually committ an act by body or by mind which might be sinful and, in which one would not have got involved under one's full senses.
Drinking alcohol in itself is not a sin- nor even a dangerous thing but only as long as it is within limits. But only a small quantity of it comes within the category of limit. It is very easy to cross limits with an alcoholic drink. And when the limit is crossed then the faculty that is affected the most is our power of discretion- our 'vivek'. And when 'vivek' is gone one may actually committ a sinful act which one might not have committed otherwise.
So cheers all ye tipplers. No problems with drinking... just be careful of getting drunk...
