Page 20 - Seniorstoday September 2022 Issue

knowledge about brahmastra), the main
protagonist’s imperviousness to fire, the
antagonist invoking the supreme power
of what looks like a Shiva silhouette and
going after certain brahmansh members to
harness the brahmastra, bandying about
words like brahmadanda, agnyastra,
etc. Notwithstanding the creative licence
and liberty of the film’s creators, it is at
best a fatuous reference to the scriptures
and beliefs of the Hindus. To be fair, and
thankfully so, religious sentiments have
not been hurt, though sections of the social
media have tried to raise a controversy to
disgrace the film and troll it. Hopefully,
Part Two and Part Three in the planned
trilogy will do justice to a serious topic that
the title represents and make it meaningful
and relevant.
This begs the question about the
awareness of brahmastra or its scriptural
significance even amongst the followers
of the religion. While the story (it is the
usual masala mix of love and action) did
not resonate with me much and I did not
like it except for the VFX and I said so to
my family, I got an incredulous look of
surprise from one and a justification that it
is all about the Hindu mythology. Hardly
that, I will say. We agreed to disagree in
a conciliatory note. I also talked to some
of my friends and acquaintances to know
about their understanding of brahmastra.
Not surprisingly, except for a vague
impression about it being some kind of a
weapon (astra) of mass destruction, none
knew about it in detail or its reference in
the scriptures. One added a metaphoric
dimension to say that it is a generic term to
mean a ‘solution of last resort’ in life.
It is not about just Hindus. I suspect
that across religions, be it Christianity
or Islam or Zoroastrians or Jews, except
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for the basics of rituals and festivals and
prayers and visits to temples, churches,
mosques, agiaries and synagogues,
99.99% of the respective religionists will
be clueless, save at a superfluous level,
about their scriptures, genesis, evolution
and the deeper significance. Less said
the better about their understanding of
the other religions; that is asking for too
much, I suppose. The confusing overload
of a million information on the net and
media and the notorious WhatsApp (WA)
University disseminations only add to the
pitiable state. When the scriptures are not
taught in the formative years, how can
there be any knowledge or wisdom about
any religion at all, except at superfluous
levels dished out on celluloid.
Quite frankly, I do not remember the last
time that my children or nephews or nieces
or friends’ children (from across religions)
might have visited their respective places
of worship. In a lighter vein, a Christian
friend of mine had this simple story to
tell: There was this smart schoolgoing
kid full of bean and enthusiasm who was
not particular about visiting the church
regularly. Her mother used to keep telling