Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) again courted controversy recently when left-affiliated student groups in the institution protested against the decision of the administration to place a statue of Swami Vivekananda on campus. The protest is not just against the statue but what the left believes it symbolises – a resurgence of Hindutva politics.

It is not uncommon for the left wing, whether in India or beyond, to celebrate their icons through statues and memorials and so they might not be entirely unaware of the inner consciousness that houses itself in any art and sculpture. But what they could be missing is the ‘root metaphor’ that houses itself in such installations.

The word “image” comes from the old Latin and French word “imago”, which closely resembles the connotation of “likeness”. The word image has a close parallel in Indian words like prakriti, pratima, vimba. The word “vimba” means reflection and it is used to resemble the images of divinities.

In Bengal, at the time of the annual autumnal worship of goddess Durga’s clay images, a mirror seated on a copper or brass bowl is placed in front of the deity in such a way that the image can be reflected in the mirror and then the water, called snana-jala, for bathing the deity is poured on the reflection in the mirror. This way the ritual bathing is conducted realising the true meaning of the word “vimba”, or as one may say, “likeness”.

In Indic parlance, statues of divinities, great men and women, or ancestors each have a root metaphor that make the sculpture more than just a piece of stone or wood and infuses it with a philosophy, a likeness, or what Stephen Pepper calls ‘root metaphor’.

So, while the left can only see politics in the statue, an Indic engagement would entail decoding the ‘root metaphor’ reflective in the life and work of Vivekananda and that would explain why the statue deserves a place of prominence at JNU.

Vivekananda And The Confluence Of Indic Thought And Scientific Temperament

Few people know that Vivekananda, apart from ushering in a Vedic renaissance, played a key role in making the West aware of the areas of convergence between Vedic thought and scientific temperament. His life and work were critical to convincing the Western world that India is not a nation of uncivilised people with barbaric practices. He emphasised that there is no chaotic world here that needs to be civilised by converting people to Christianity.

An interesting example of Vivekananda’s understanding of the science in the Vedas is the influence he had on Nikola Tesla. The inventor was taken in by the monk’s work that he started using Sanskrit terminology while working on his scientific investigations and tweaked his way of looking for the secrets of the universe. Tesla was introduced to Vivekananda through actress Sarah Bernhardt, and after that he pursued the coded scientific language of Vedas with all sincerity.

Vivekananda mentions Tesla in one of his letters dated 13 February 1896: