February 26
FROM THE WORLD OF RELIGION
Among the many saint-poets who have enriched the Hindu world, Tulsi Das
(born: 26 February 1532) stands out pre-eminently. His lifes work has had
greater impact on millions of Hindi-speaking people over almost half a
millennium than any other. What is remarkable is that the contents of his
chef doeuvre are not original to himself. His Raama-charitra-maanasa is a
transcreation in Hindi of the much more ancient Sanskrit work of Valmiki
which narrates the life story of the divine incarnation Rama.
As is common, some tales have been associated with his birth: he was born
during a planetary conjunction which, when mentioned by the astrologers,
caused some worry in his parents. When they saw their new-born with two rows
of well-formed teeth, the parents were stricken by panic, and they are said
to have abandoned the child under a tree. A passing mendicant picked up the
child and took care of it.
When little Ram Bota (as the child was named) grew up and came of age he was
married to a fair maiden called Ratnavali whom the young man loved very
deeply. The two had a son, but the child died very young. One day, Ratnavali
went to visit her parents who lived on the opposite bank of the river
Jamuna. But within a couple of hours the young man began to miss her. It was
raining hard, the river swelled, and there was thunder and lightning.
However, Ram Bota braved it all, swam across the wild river, for no boatman
would dare venture in the water, and presented himself to his bride.
Ratnavali was impressed but she told him something to the effect that if his
love for God were as intense as his worldly attachment for her, the world
could be turned into gold. This terse comment jolted the young man who
decided right away to renounce it all and dedicate his life to the quest of
God.
The immortal fruit of this quest was his magnum opus. This is no mere
narration of the deeds of the God-hero Rama, it is not just the re-telling
of an ancient epic. Rather, it is a divinely inspired composition of the
life of God incarnate, uttered with consummate devotion for God Almighty,
rendered magnificent by the crystal purity a poets heart. The stanzas, read
and repeated millions of times in the Hindu world, strike us, not as meters
calculated in the mind, but as joyful melodies brimming with bhakti
(devotional love of God). Its appeal is to all who have grown up in the
tradition, its simplicity demands no intellectual sophistication, only a
capacity to immerse oneself in pious thoughts of Gods glory. Bereft of this,
it would still be a good and long story poem.
All through the work, Tulsi Das intersperses the story with his own words of
wisdom. He extols the spiritual glory of Varanasi, the sacred city of
Hinduism, he emphasizes the importance of unconditional love of God, and
unquestioning surrender unto Him. He insists no less on service to others.
Mahatma Gandhi rendered a stanza from Tulsi Das as follows.
This and this alone is true religion: To serve thy brethren. This is sin above all sin: to harm thy brethren. In such a faith is happiness; in lack of it is misery and pain. Blessed is he who swerveth not aside from this straight path. Blessed is he whose life is lived thus ceaselessly in serving God.
Great composers, of music and poetry, have served the cause of religion in
the best sense of the term as much as enlightened preachers and those who
help the poor and the needy.
FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE
If one were to ask for two most outstanding achievements of 19th century
physics, they would be: (a) the recognition that light is essentially a wave
motion; and (b) the recognition of the relationship between electricity and
magnetism and the associated formulation of the laws of electromagnetism.
Among the scores of physicists who contributed to these accomplishments in
that period, we must mention Dominique Arago (born: 26 February 1884).
The controversies as to the nature of light: whether it consisted of tiny
corpuscles (as Newton had imagined), or was made up of undulations in space
(as suggested by Huygens and Descartes), were going to be resolved after the
discovery of the property of interference of light in 1801. Arago was one of
the first to be quickly persuaded by this discovery that light is indeed a
wave phenomenon. The question now was whether light waves were longitudinal:
i.e. waves in which oscillations were taking place in the same direction as
the wave propagation (as in the case of compression waves in a slinky); or
transverse: i.e. waves in which the oscillations are perpendicular to
propagation (as with water waves in an ocean). Arago suggested that the
relative speed of light in water and in air should resolve this question.
Longitudinal light waves would travel faster in water. Measurements (by
Foucault) revealed just the opposite to be the case. It was thus established
that light consists of transverse waves. Arago also investigated the related
property of polarization of light.
In the context of electromagnetism, Arago devised several experiments to
demonstrate and study the relationship between electricity and magnetism
which had been discovered accidentally by Oersted. His performance of these
experiments on 11 September 1820 at the French Academy of Sciences is said
to have inspired the young Ampere to investigate the matter further. Arago
discovered how an ordinary bar of iron could be temporarily magnetized if a
current flowed in a wire surrounding it. This simple discovery is at the
basis of all electric motors, and was first used in telegraphy. The
so-called Arago disk or wheel is simply a rotating circular copper plate
which can affect a magnetic needle in the vicinity. This was so remarkable -
copper creating a magnetic effect - that the Royal Society awarded him the
prestigious Copley Medal for it.
Arago studied atmospheric and astronomical phenomena too, even devised an
instrument for measuring the skys blueness. He was one of the first to
observe the Suns chromosphere (part of the Suns atmosphere), and also to
determine the diameter of some planets.
He inspired a young mathematical astronomer to keep track of the erring path
of Uranus, which led to the discovery of the planet Neptune. Arago wrote
extensively on physics and science. His article on polarization was
translated into English as an entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Arago was more than a technical physicist. During a scientific expedition in
Spain he was taken as a prisoner of war. He took active interest in
politics, was elected to the Chambre de Deputis more than once, served as
minister of the navy and of the army. He was a political liberal who worked
for the education of the masses, abolished corporal punishment in the French
armed forces, fought for and succeeded in banning slavery in French
colonies. He refused to take an oath of allegiance to Louis Napoleon when
the latter declared himself Emperor in 1852.
Though highly talented, because of his interest in so many different
matters, Arago did not make any revolutionary contribution for which he will
be remembered.
V. V. Raman
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