Madhya Pradesh Chauhan invokes mythology

Desperate to introduce a semblance of activity into his government, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has taken to wrongly quoting the scriptures

By N D Sharma

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is obsessed with mythology. He will very often quote a word, a phrase or an anecdote from the Puranas in his public speeches, without a care if it has any relevance to the occasion.

In early January, he organised a two-day conclave of secretaries and Collectors in Bhopal to learn from them the mantra of development —and gave it the name “Manthan”. He made it amply clear that he meant by Manthan the mythological Samudra-Manthan, saying that the emerging nectar (Amrit) would go to the public and the poison he would take himself. He did not explain how a meeting of bureaucrats could be likened to the Samudra-Manthan.

The legend of the Samudra-Manthan goes that the gods, having been thoroughly defeated and humiliated by the demons, repaired to Lord Vishnu to seek from him renewed vigour and the gift of immortality. Vishnu directed them to collect plants and herbs of diverse kinds from every quarter of the globe, drop them in the ocean, and then churn the brew (Samudra-Manthan), using the Mandara Mountain as the churning stick and the Vasuki serpent as the rope.

The Samudra Manthan yielded 14 items including a celestial cow, a white elephant, the goddess of wine, Apsaras (the nymphs), in addition, of course, to terrific poison and a pitcher of nectar which Dhanwantari (the gods' physician) himself carried in his hands.

It is, thus, entirely absurd to compare the bureaucratic assemblage with the Puranic Samudra-Manthan. Speaking plainly, it was perhaps for the first time that the head of the elected representatives of the people had besought the bureaucrats to guide him as to how the state could be developed, instead of telling them: "This is the ruling party's agenda and you have to implement it."

The Indian Administrative Officers officers at the conclave took the opportunity to vent their own grievances, mainly against the political leadership. Unpleasant issues such as corruption and the establishment of rule of law were scrupulously avoided.