Call to be a Cosmic Force

Tribal communities in India and elsewhere are often accused of indulging in superstitious 'ancestor worship', which I consider is a great injustice done to their cultural repertois; only the persons who are ignorant of their faiths and belief system can make such a derogatory remark. There is nothing as rich and noble in other religious traditions, as the tribal concept of 'ancestor worship'. Maybe it is time that the major religions look at this notion sympathetically, and borrow from them what may enrich their own belief system.

I really do not know how other tribal communities value and believe in ancestor worship, I know for sure that among the Santal tribals, it is one of the key aspects of their belief, so much so one of their festivals -Sohrae - is closely associated with them. While the harvest festival bid goodbye to the departed souls, they also bring them home, to the Manjhithan, where the ancestral spirits are to dwell permanently.

Those who die, in other words, are not lost forever, but are brought back to the very village community, and they claim their due place there. Every time a Santal offers sacrifices to the deities, the ancestral spirits have theie due share; every time a Santal drinks handipaura, the rice beer, he/she is expected to offer a few drops first before taking the first sip. These spirits also have the responsibility to safeguard the village from any natural calamity or danger. Is it not a noble concept, that all the dear departed are there in the village, hovering over the air!

During a ritual called bandan (bone-drowning ceremony), the dear departed during the liturgical year, are given a beautiful farewell. The relative who carries the collar-bone of the departed collected after the cremation, is given all the little pleasures the man/woman loved so much. The villagers offer small niceties in the name of the departed soul. When their bones are drowned in a river, they join the cosmic forces, and become one with nature, not only symbolically, but also literally.

We are part of the cosmos, and whether living or dead, we are part of the forces which operate and govern the cosmos. It is good to remember this, for there is a temptation to consider that an untimely death is a loss for the world; no, it cannot be. All are present in the cosmos, and join the eternal, undying, undiminishing power of the cosmos. The evil that men do lives after them; and their good too! They are written large on the clouds and trees, birds and beasts, air and water. And if you wish to believe, the other name for these cosmic forces is God!