Religious fervour and A Tale of Tub

" Thinking Activity "

" Religious Fervour and A Tale of  Tub"

 Hello readers! Here I am going to write down another blog. This blog is inspired by kavisha Ma'am - Department of English, Bhavnagar university - Mkbu. This particular blog is a part of our thinking activity. I am going to discuss about our Indian festival - "shitala satam" in this blog. 

 We have " A Tale of Tub" by Jonathan Swift in our syllabus. It is religious satire. So, Through this blog I am going to compare the festival - " Shitala satam" With " A Tale of tub, " On the basis of my understanding. 

 As we all know that Religion and Science both work in a parallel way. The difficulty in approaching the question of the relation between science and Religion is that its requires Elucidation ( Explanation) that what do we exactly mean by either of the terms - " Religion " and " Science". We also have to understand the connection between these two. We all are living in 21st century. With the help of Science and technology we can do our works very easily. But, still we are blindly following some of our traditions in one or the other way. Without knowing the reason, we follow our rituals. But, we have to question people that why we are doing all these. 

  Many people simply acknowledge that the two institutions - Science and Religion deals with different realms of human experience. Science deals with Natural world. It is based on Evidence & proof. While, Religion deals with supernatural world or we can say spiritual world. Hence, the two can be complementary.  

  "Shitala satam" Also known as shitala saptami. This festival is dedicated to goddess shitala. Devotees of goddess shitala in Gujarat celebrate shitala satam on the saptami tithi (seventh day in the month of shravan). This festival falls one day before Janmashtami, the birth of Lord krishna. On this day when devotees observe a vrat and follow certain rituals. By fasting, they pay tribute to goddess shitala. People do not cook fresh food on this auspicious occasion. They prepared meals on the previous day.  It is believed that mainly women worship 'shitla Mataji' for the good health and long life of their children. 

Hence, devotees worship this deity to cure disease like chickenpox and heart problems. 

  There are some steps which everyone followed on shitala satam vrat, including us. 

  1. The food should be prepared the day before. 

  2. Perform puja in front of Goddess's idol on shitala satam. 

  3. After finishing puja, start your vrat. 

  4. On this day food should not reheat. 

  By the grace of goddess, a person suffering from any type of illness can be easily cured. Children with serious problem may be able to get rid of it. and as a result of that women fast for the sake of their children's health. 

    According to hindu mythology, the goddess is carrying a voyage and a dustpan in her hands.  Sheetla Satam procedures are observed by many communities, notably in Gujarat, In order to get their wishes fulfilled. Goddess shitala is said to protect from illness such as measles and chickenpox. Worshipping Maa sheetla may help you to get recovery from illness. 

   This Images clearly suggests us that A very large number of people, especially women are following certain kinds of rituals on this day. 

  " The science VS. Faith :-"

     Science is based on Observations. The scientific method is proved by its success. While Faith means complete trust or confidence in something. Science is mostly based on proof and evidence. While, Faith is based on spiritual Conviction rather than proof. 

  There are so many examples which we can consider. If we look at the Food on that particular day we can see that women prepared food on the previous day, which is known as - " Randhan chhath".  People have blind faith that if we don't eat cold food on satam than Goddess will punish us Or something bad will happen and that is  why for this reason on this occasion of sheetla satam people don't use gas stove and chula. 

 

  In our country whenever we are trapped in any kind of difficulties we never try to found it's solutions scientifically and rationally. We always look forward towards religious point of view rather than rational. Shitala satam is the best example of this. 

When the child is suffering from chickenpox at that time his / her relatives prefer religious remedies, rather than consulting a doctor and sometimes it proves  Fatal. 

   Science:-

                      As we all are living in the world of science & technology.. It made our every work very easier. It grows very rapidly in the 21st era. Edward Jener was a British physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines including creating the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine.

    Edward Jener first diagnosed Cowpox rather than smallpox. He realised that this was his Opportunity to test the protective properties of Cowpox by giving it to someone who had not yet suffered Smallpox. This is how Edward Jener followed up this experiment with many others. 

     In the year 1798, he published all his research into Smallpox in a book. and he found the first Vaccination of Smallpox. 

   Corona virus & Blind faith of people :-

    If we want to take another example we can connect this things with corona pandemic. As we all know that, Corona virus is the biggest crisis of the 21st century in India. Several countries across the globe have witnessed of this deadly virus. And Due to this, governments imposing a second round of lockdown. 

     But, Even during a pandemic blind faith of people is dominating reason due to Orthodox people who refuses to part ways with their traditional methods and beliefs. 

 

     During Corona pandemic, people rather than following corona guidelines they used to gathered for worshiping God, who they believe can save them from corona virus. Moreover, we can say that after corona vaccine found people refused to take it because of some personal beliefs. 

   We all blindly follow the religious beliefs and traditions. But, we need to understand one thing that no any vaccine found to prevent blind faith. I am surprised on the fact that educated people also refused to take corona vaccine. We have to convince people about all this things. 

    But In 21st century - a modern world of science & technology, we should not follow the things which don't have any kind of rational point. Others are following everything without even thinking about it. That's a wrong thing. We all need to understand that there are Scientific reasons also. 

 

Conclusion :-   To sum up my topic I would like to say that we all should think before  doing something rather than blindly follow everything in a same manner. 

   I hope that this blog is helpful to you... 

     

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