In Praise of Idleness –Bertrand Russell
“I think that there is
far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief
that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial
countries is quite different from what always has been preached.” –
Bertrand Russell in the first paragraph of his essay ‘In praise of Idleness’
written in 1931 after the First World war, but before the Second World War.
Thus the timing of this essay is very important. If European nations had
heeded to Russel’s wisdom the Great World War II could have been avoided. (For
the full essay
Russell reiterates, “I want
to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the
modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to
happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work.”
The GITA vis-a-vis
Russell’s opinion/conviction about work, born out of experience.
Russell’s
essay resonates with the Sloka 2:42-43 of the Bhagavat Gita. Gandhiji’s
explanation of these verses is as follows :- “Ignorant people, that is, persons
who are learned and yet devoid of knowledge, utter flowery speech, that
is, speech which is attractive, on which blossom new flowers everyday.
Men who wrangle over the meaning of the Vedas; men filled with endless desires
( men who have many wishes and teach others to be like them); men
who are ever thinking of heaven (who are merely for enjoyments , who
always talk of enjoying even this world thoroughly and paint glowing and
attractive pictures of life in heaven) and who assert that there is nothing
beyond heaven; who always say that our actions in life unfailingly bear
appropriate fruits and persuade people to perform innumerable rituals to secure
enjoyments and win greatness (there are people who say these things even
today);who advise us to propitiate a great many gods and so make us feel
helpless; who induce us to offer fanciful prayers to
imaginary gods and turn us away from prayer to the God of all gods-such men
push us deeper and deeper into quagmire. The fancies and thoughts which
often trouble our minds are also evidence of an intellect branching out
in many directions. Even in small matters, we can say, our intellect is not
resolute. It will be resolute only if we fix our minds on one purpose and cling
to it with discrimination, only if we work without looking for immediate
results. At present, whether in politics or social reform we leap from
one branch to another.”
The words used in sloka 2:43(Mal. (a)കാമാത്മാനഃ സ്വര്ഗപരാ ജന്മകര്മഫലപ്രദാം,Sanskrit.(a) कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम्, (b)ക്രിയാവിശേഷബഹുലാം
േഭാഗൈഗശ്വരൃയഗതിം പ്രതി,(b) क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति ) is
very telling .The first part (a) says that those filled with desire, to enjoy pleasures, such as those available in heaven,
are bound to the cycle of birth and death(suffering) , due to their deeds(works). It is cautioning
to desist from replicating or even attempting to replicate ‘heaven on earth’ in
the materialistic sense. The second part (b) says that such persons desirous of
enjoying ‘heavenly pleasures’ , will be constantly engaged in endless
work/karma, and they may even succeed in creating resplendent wealth. But since these resplendent wealth leading to heavenly pleasures
are materialistic, it is fleeting/ephemeral, resulting
in sorrow.(Europe is a concrete example) Moreover such endless karma, will lead
to a fragmented intellect and also contributing to an increase in the rajasic nature (रजोगुण) of
the person.The end result of all these is suffering in this world.
In
the post-modern context the second part of the sloka क्रियाविशेषबहुलां,
is staring out at us. The multiplicity of human activity, bordering on lunacy,
has tipped the climatic system of the world. All over the globe we are
witnessing , extreme climactic phenomenon. And these appears not as isolated
events, but is happening with regularity !!!!
Rapid
industrialisation, denoting ‘karma-bhranth’, or maddening work and the sudden apparent prosperity it entailed led to the
two world-wars. Now these explict methods and forms of violence have taken an
invisible body. It is now the era of trade-wars, aids and sanctions. Is it not
any coincidence that the Gita was expounded in the
middle of Mahabharatha war. War denotes extreme karma, in terms of its violent
and macbre form, as also the raising the resources to fight the battles. These
resources require an army of people and continuous and extreme efforts.In fact
the whole people of an entire nation will have to contribute(do karma/work) for
the war efforts. And history shows that such works binds the people and its
nation, to further violence. If one refers the book ‘The Economic consequences
of peace’ written by John Maynard Keynes, after WWI, this
idea will become clearer.
We cannot go with Russell, the whole way in his understanding of work.
Compared to the Gita , his definition of work, is limited only to the physical
movements. Russell defines work as
follows “First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the
position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such
matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and
ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of
indefinite extension: there are not only those who give orders, but those who
give advice as to what orders should be given.”
Then he goes on to
define politics in terms of the work already defined “Usually two opposite
kinds of advice are given simultaneously by two organized bodies of men; this
is called politics. The skill required for this kind of work is not knowledge
of the subjects as to which advice is given, but knowledge of the art of
persuasive speaking and writing, i.e. of advertising”
As per the Gita, work/karma involves or is done with mind, sound(vak) & body.
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