Methods Of Biblical Reading And Hermeneutics Emerged In India: Dvani And Adivasi Readings Of The Scripture
1.0
Introduction
The significance
of Biblical hermeneutics is beyond explanation these days, it is very important
so much so that the Bible is always at the centre of every theological agenda. This
issue is no less important in India than any other country. We all know that
India is a land of religious plurality, with grinding poverty and dehumanizing
social evils. In the context of this, is it possible to interpret the Bible
from Indian perspective which is suitable to address Indian issue is a big
question. In this paper, keeping these in mind, we will deal with two methods
of biblical reading and hermeneutics in India viz. Dhvani
and
Adivasi readings of the Scripture.
2.0
Emergence of methods of biblical reading and
hermeneutic in India
The
quest for Indian reading of the Bible is not a recent phenomenon. Attempts have
already been made from the time of missionaries like Robert de Nobili
(1577-1656) and Constantine Beschi in Southern India. Both of them heavily
depended upon the Indian tradition of story-telling. For them, it appears that
hermeneutics is not the re-reading of the old texts but re-telling of old
stories for new context.[1]
After them, Krishna Pillai, Sadhu Sundar Singh and others borrowed largely from
the Sanskrit and Tamil mode of story-telling. They did their re-telling in
their mother tongue.
However,
this kind of re-telling of Christian stories, according to Dr. Sampathkumar,
was not systematic. Its hermeneutical attempts do not conform to scholarly
system, and set aside as lacking of methodological firmness. In the
post-independent India, attempts were revived. As more systematic studies began
to appear, he categorized the attempts into three categories,[2]
viz.
(a)
Reading with the
help of looking back into India’s past.
(b)
Reading looking
at India’s social problems.
(c)
Integrated
Christian readings.
Thus, taking the above three
categories of Indian biblical reading into consideration, it can be said that dhvani reading falls under ‘reading with
the help of looking back into India’s past.’ So also, adivasi reading can be categorized under ‘reading looking at
India’s social problems.’
3.0
Dhvani readings of the
scripture
3.1 What is dhvani?
Dhvani is
a Sanskrit word which literally means sound, tone, echo, etc. but in aesthetics
it means evocation or a poem that evokes. As a method of interpretation, it
stresses the suggestive possibility of the text, its evocative nature and its
emotional grip on the reader or hearer.[3] It
is a category of medieval Indian poetics, according to which the artistic
enjoyment from literary works is achieved not by the images that are created by
the direct meaning of the words but by the associations and ideas that are
evoked by these images. Anandavardhana elaborated the theory of dhvani
in the middle of the ninth century. It became a part of the poetics of Indian
literature.[4]
Many scholars have attempted to interpret the Bible by following this method.
3.2 Dhvani-
Indian Interpretation of the Bible
The dhvani method of biblical interpretation
has been initiated by Anand Amaladass and Sister Vandana. As we had mention
above, it is a ninth-century method of interpretation worked out by
Anandvardhana.[5] Dhvani is an Indian indigenous tool that
usually employs to exegete the Bible. It is a Sanskristic method of exegesis to
interpret Christian texts. It stresses the evocative, the beauty of the
passage, and its emotive grip on the hearer or the reader.[6]
There was a feeble attempt in the late 1970s which used the dhvani method as a way of dispensing
with Western methods.[7]
Some issue of Bible Bashyam, an
Indian biblical quarterly journal, featured articles with exegetical examples. E.g.
Soares-Prabhu’s And there was a Great
Calm: A Dhvani Reading of the Stilling of the Storm (Mark 4:35-41) in Bible Bashyam 5 (1979). Another such example of dhvani reading of the Bible is Sister Vandana’s essay, Water – God’s Extravaganza: John 2:1-11
in R.S. Sugirtharajah edited work, Voices
from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World, (1992). Jeevadhara 25 also featured R.J. Raja’s Seeking God, Sought by God: A Dhvani-Reading
of the episode of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:10) in 1995.
3.3 Methodology
Let’s take a look
to the words of R.S. Sugirtharajah regarding dhvani reading,
“A dhvani
reading of the scripture goes beyond the explicitly stated meaning to the
suggestive and evocative nature of texts, and to hold on the hearer, spectator,
or reader. It does not dispense with the gains made through the different
critical methods such as historical, literary, and rhetorical, but goes beyond
them, adding not only the possibility of aesthetic joy in the reading but also
a strong commitment to social reconstruction.”[8]
The dhvani way of interpretation supposes
the use of normal exegetical method of interpreting the text. But it draws
special attention to the evocative process that work through the factors of
language phenomenon. It emphasizes the role of the reader whose cultural
background and aesthetic sensibility enable his/her to gain new insights to the
textual context.[9] In
simple way, we can say that in the dhvani
reading, when a reader read a scripture, normally it evokes in him/her a
certain experience as well as knowledge. It might evoke different feelings to
different hearers. It gives new perspective of looking at the reality to its readers
and hearers.
3.4 The employment of dhvani and various
literary theories and other philosophical and logical system are utilized by Indian Christian theologians
as a way of entering into mainstream
national life. Indian Christian theologians played a crucial role in
creating national consciousness by explore into ancient Hindu text to earn
their acceptability as true nationals.[10]
As a result, comparative studies between Hindu religious texts and the Bible
have been made. According to Thomas Manickam, this kind of cross-cultural study
on religious scriptures has aroused re-newed interest among the scholars
recently.[11]
Cross-cultural hermeneutics provide the meaning of various scriptures, and also
paved the way for many religions with one Christ.
The deployment of
dhvani method are seen not only as celebrating India’s glorious past, but also
as recovering an authentic Indian identity for Christians. Such
hermeneutical endeavors have enabled Indian Christians to get rid of their
antipatriotic label, but also have enabled them to invent a self-image.[12]
This is largely because Indian Christians were seen by the majority Hindus as
anti-nationals. Since Christianity had been brought into India from foreign
country, largely by colonialism, it was considered as foreign religion,
anti-national or anti-Indian. So, we can see it is positive that the Indian
Christians on their part as per the context, read and interpreted the Bible
with indigenous methods.
4.0
Adivasi readings of the Scripture
4.1 Who
are adivasi?
Adivasi is a Sanskrit word which
literally means original inhabitant (adi-original,
vasi-inhabitants). It is the word by
which the tribal in India are known outside North East India.[13]
It
is an umbrella term
for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a
substantial indigenous minority of the population of India.[14]
They are estimated at around seventy million in the early 1990s.[15]
Today,
they constitute about eight percent of India’s population i.e. about
eighty-five to ninety million. They can be classified under three major racial
and linguistic groups: the Austric Munda language family group; the Dravidian
group; and the Tibeto-Burman Mongoloid group.[16] There
are many as
400 tribes exist in India.[17] These people are found in almost all the states and
UTs of India. They are of two categories- frontier tribes and non-frontier
tribes. They have their own history, traditions and religion
4.2 The condition of adivasi people
The adivasi
people generally have lived through exploitative, oppressive and suppressive
social and political structures in India. According to Nirmal Minz, they have
long been unacknowledged, unrepresented and unrecognized by the mainstream
theologies of India.[18] A
tribal theologian, A. Wati Longchar said that,
They are the most exploited and divided people in
the world. Their history is a history of defeated, suffering and oppression.
They suffered discrimination, genocide, exploitation and alienation at
different stages of history. As a result of slavery and subjugation, they have
lost their self-esteem and confidence and have developed a feeling of inferiority.
They are looked down upon as backward, primitive and uncivilized people living
in hills and forests.[19]
The term adivasi itself carries a very strong
pejorative, negative and derogatory sense. They are stigmatized as
untouchables. Many of them are today threatened as they have been uprooted from
their habitats due to industry, mining, construction of dams, deforestation,
lack of work and migration to cities. So, they need their own
reading of the scripture that will bring out their existential reality, inventing
their future that link up with biblical paradigm.
4.3. Reading the Bible in the eyes of adivasi
As it has been said, reading the Bible
with the eyes of the poor is a different thing from reading it with the eye of
the rich man. The understanding and interpretation of the Bible can be
differing from one perspective to another. That is why the context of the adivasi demands a new hermeneutical
paradigm that should meet the contextual demand. And so, the hermeneutics of
biblical interpretation of particular group of people should begin with their
social context.
The biggest problem among the adivasi people in India is alienation.
Thus a hermeneutical paradigm addressing this issue has to be developed. The
hermeneutical paradigm has to be drawn from the experience and suffering of the
gerim (aliens). The issue of alien
occupies the central place in the Bible,[20]
especially in the Pentateuch. It is clear that the Israelites themselves were
once an aliens (Exodus 22:21; 23:9, Deuteronomy 24:18, 22).
When they were settled as a nation, there were aliens among them (Exodus
22:22; 23:19). More importantly, God commanded them
to protect the aliens, they should not oppress aliens (Deuteronomy
5:12-15). Aliens should be helped (Deuteronomy
14:28; 24:19-21). They should do justice to aliens (Deuteronomy
24: 14-22), aliens should participate in the worship and
covenant ceremonies. Justice for the aliens and weaker section of community is
one of the central themes of the Bible. Hence, the issue of alien or alienation
in the Bible becomes a theological challenge and provides a hermeneutical
paradigm for the adivasi.
For the adivasi, Israelites movement in Exodus provides a hope and new
paradigm. They become a bridge connecting the hermeneutical gap between the
liberating events of the Bible and today’s events. The past experience provides
hope for the present; the present experience confirms God of the past, creating
a unity of past and present, history and reality. Thus, in a socio-economic or
socio-political sense, the biblical liberating events are clear paradigms for
God's intervention in history, and such intervention takes place in the
socio-economic arena of our today.[21]
The biblical interpretation from
subaltern theologies viewed the life of Christ as a movement towards
liberation. With a new consciousness of social reality, the adivasi re-read the Bible with a new
eye. As we find in the Nazareth manifesto (Luke
4:16-20), Jesus himself declared that his mission is to liberate those who
are oppressed. He opposed the unjust rulers and structure of the society. From
a tribal perspective, he is a liberator who broke the entire obstacle. Jesus’ life
and ministry is a movement of restoration, liberation and reconciliation of broken
relationship between communities. In the Bible, we see that the poor, the
oppressed and the marginalized people are the beloved of God. This is very true
to even for the adivasi.
4.4 The need of the day
In the light of what has been discussed,
we can determine the need of re-reading and re-defining the Bible from a new
perspective. We can say that there had been a paradigm shift in Biblical
hermeneutics. Nowadays, liberation for the marginalized and oppressed,
upbringing the vulnerable section of the society became the principal
theological agenda in India. Above all, the most essential task for the adivasi is finding a life-affirming and
empowering theological motif in the Bible. Thus, an adivasi reading of the scripture is the need of the day.
5.0 Conclusion
Among many others, dhvani and adivasi
readings are sort of Indian interpretation of the Bible. All Indian
hermeneutics concerned to highlight or reveal the main purpose of the various
meanings of the scripture in a simple way to the readers and the believer, how
God has manifested Thy truth, wisdom and will to human beings. While the dhvani method of interpretation aimed to
recall in the conscious mind of the reader certain experiences with the exquisiteness
of the text, the adivasi reading of
the Bible aimed for liberation of the oppressed and marginalized.
To conclude, what
I would like to say regarding biblical interpretation is, we should always keep
in mind Indian concerns and drawing on Indian life experience. This will enable
us to enter into hermeneutical dialogue with the text, and discover the
specificity of Indian meaning to the bible and its passages.
[1]
Dr. P.A. Sampathkumar, “Current Trends in Indian Biblical Studies,” Bible Bashyam: An Indian Biblical Quarterly
25/1 (March, 1999): 65. Hereafter cited as Dr. P.A. Sampathkumar, Current Trends in Indian Biblical Studies.
[2]
Dr. P.A. Sampathkumar, Current Trends in
Indian Biblical Studies, 65-74.
[3] Dr. P.A. Sampathkumar, Current Trends in Indian Biblical Studies,
67.
[4] http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Dhvani
(24.6.2013).
[5] R.S.
Sugirtharajah, Asian Biblical
Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism: Contesting the Interpretations
(Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press Ltd., 1999), 6. Hereafter cited as R.S.
Sugirtharajah, Asian Biblical
Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism.
[6] R.S.
Sugirtharajah, ed., Voices from the
Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World, (Maryknoll, New York:
Orbis Books, 1991), 117.
[7] R.S. Sugirtharajah, Asian Biblical Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism, 131.
[8] R.S. Sugirtharajah, Asian Biblical Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism, 6.
[9] Dr. P.A. Sampathkumar, Current Trends in Indian Biblical Studies,
73.
[10] R.S. Sugirtharajah, Asian Biblical Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism, 107.
[11] Thomas Manickam, “Bibilical Hermeneutics:
An Indian Approach,” in Indian
Interpretation of the Bible, edited by Agustine Thottakara (Bangalore: Dharmaram
Publications, 2000), 115.
[12] R.S. Sugirtharajah, Asian Biblical Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism, 107 & 108.
[13] Jonathan H. Thumra, “The Primal Religious
Tradition,” in Religious Traditions of
India, edited by P.S. Daniel, David C. Scott and G.R. Singh (New Delhi:
ISPCK, 1988), 46.
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adivasi
(24.6.2013).
[15] Nirmal Minz, “A Theological
Interpretation of the Tribal Reality in India,” in Frontiers in Asian Theology: Emerging Trends, edited by R.S.
Sugirtharajah (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994), 41. Hereafter cited as Nirmal
Minz, A Theological Interpretation of the
Tribal Reality in India.
[16] Sathianathan Clarke, “Viewing The Bible Through The Eyes And Ears
of Subalterns in India,” in
[17]
B.
Zirsangliana, “ Bible from the Indian-Tribal’s perspective” in http://zetesa777.blogspot.in/2008/09/bible-from-indian-tribals-perspective_18.html
(24.6.2013). Hereafter cited as B. Zirsangliana, Bible from the Indian-Tribal’s perspective.
[18]
Nirmal Minz, A Theological Interpretation of the Tribal Reality in India, 41.
[19]
A. Wati Longchar, “An Emerging Tribal/Indigenous Theology: Prospect For Doing
Asian Theology,” The Journal of
Theologies and Cultures in Asia vol. 1 (February, 2002): 5.
[20] B. Zirsangliana, Bible from the Indian-Tribal’s perspective, n/p.
[21] B. Zirsangliana, Bible from the Indian-Tribal’s perspective, n/p.
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