A rare blend of legal wisdom and Sanatana Dharma

After ten years in office under Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (a beacon of philosophical insight), two years under VV Giri, three years under R Venkataraman and five years under Shankar Dayal Sharma, the last Brahmin to hold the post, strangely not a single Brahmin was ever considered for this august office in the last 33 years!

Representingthe Center for Brahmin Excellence (CBE) along with four other members (Harkara Srinivasa Rao, Cheruvu Rambabu, Sesha RSR Prasada Kondapalli, and Vijay Oddiraju), I had the privilege of spending an enriching 45 minutes on July 27, over a thoughtful interaction, with the distinguished legal luminary and former Supreme Court judge, Justice V Ramasubramanian.

The Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) exemplifies the ideal blend of intellect, integrity and public service.

Justice Ramasubramanian’s humility, sincerity, and measured wisdom left a deep impression on us. As we entered his hotel room, he initiated the conversation, by warmly acknowledging my blog post (Why not the next vice-president be a Brahmin), which insightfully addressed the question of Vice-Presidential candidacy for the Brahmin community in the ensuing election.

The NHRC team while in Hyderabad, conducted a two-day (July 28 and 29) open hearing at Dr MCR HRD Institute, to address cases of human rights violations in Telangana.

Justice Ramasubramanian not only shared a couple of heart touching personal anecdotes that included as to how he stood at the financial crossroads immediately after his retirement, but also narrated how he had witnessed the divine miracles of God. He reflected on how he made a conscious decision to live within his own means after retirement.

The result of his leaning on faith eventually culminated in his elevation as NHRC Chairperson. He credited this particularly phase to divine grace. All these reflected his deep commitment to self-reliance and simplicity, grounded in the values of dharma.

Reflecting on the larger forces at play in human life, he spoke of the power of punya (virtue) accumulated by the ancestors. The virtuous deeds of forebears, he explained, can manifest as blessings to the future generations, bringing strength to the mind, body, and fortune.

Justice Ramasubramanian also shared briefly significant parts of his speech at the felicitation function of spiritual teacher Samavedam Shanmukha Sharma, with rare frankness about spiritual matters that weigh heavily on sincere seekers of truth.

He explicitly expressed his concern on many of his contemporaries, who had gradually drifted away from the path of dharma-an individual's moral responsibilities or duties. ‘The pursuit of material survival had eclipsed the pursuit of spiritual truth. In their preoccupation with worldly obligations and economic anxieties, many had consciously or unconsciously abandoned their dharmic duties and inner disciplines.

It was not just a matter of individual choices but a collective forgetting, a civilizational forgetfulness creeping in, even among those who once stood close to the fire of wisdom’, he opined.

According to Justice Ramasubramanian, it is time to take stock of how the cultural transmission chain has weakened. For instance, he cited that, in the pursuit of modern life, practices such as daily prayers or frequent visits to temples have slipped away. He called for a quiet but determined revival of such traditions, so that that the subsequent generations could rediscover spiritual identity. He made a genuine appeal to every Hindu household that children must be introduced to dharma early and intimately.

Every parent, he said, should ensure that their children should be guided in simple daily prayers by making them stand before the image of God at home, reciting at least one shloka, and be taken to temples regularly, not as a ritual formality, but as a formative spiritual experience. Such seemingly small acts ‘shape the soul and anchor one’s life in the eternal values of Indian tradition’.

With intellectual precision and spiritual depth, he brought in the example of Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, referencing him not as a celebrity Guru but as a contemporary voice speaking to the timeless wisdom of the vedas. In yet another spiritual narrative that transitioned seamlessly to a subject visibly close to his heart, and also that blended theology with environmental consciousness,

He revealed the birth and mission of Adi Shankaracharya, and said that ‘Lord Shiva himself incarnated as Adi Shankaracharya’ to restore cosmic balance. He noted that during the cessation of Vedic Rituals such as Homas by some, ecological and spiritual disequilibrium emerged. With the advent of Shankara’s divine mission, this was realigned. Depicting it as divine mystery, he presented an evidence-based elucidation that it was a cosmic essentiality.

Justice Ramasubramanian differed with unfair tendencies of rationalism, where sacred symbols are stripped of meaning and turned into academic curiosities, without substantiating aptly. He affirmed that, precisely in such times of decline and distortion, the divine intervenes through Avatars or Incarnations. The birth of Adi Shankaracharya, was one such divine intervention. He further elaborated how God Agni together with Lord Shiva incarnated as Adi Shankara, to revive the flameof Sanatana Dharma when it was flickering dangerously low. He said that sacred intervention, preserved, rearticulated, and re-anchored the eternal path in the consciousness of Bharata. In one of the most compelling parts of his talk, he traced the symbolic and metaphysical cycle of divinities, Agni, Varuna, Indra, Soma, Vayu and Surya, who in the Vedic pantheon are part of a larger network of vedic Gods representing various aspects of the cosmos and human existence. Ignoring their significance, by dismissing the Vedas, amounts to intellectual arrogance and spiritual blindness, he cautioned.

We, the five CBE members, presented the vision, goals, and ongoing initiatives of the organization, right from its conceiving, launching, civil services advocacy program, proactive role in several ways etc. Justice Ramasubramanian appreciated the effort and acknowledged the significant decline in Brahmin representation, particularly of south Indian Brahmins, in national policy and administrative roles. He acclaimed CBE efforts that seek to reverse this trend.

In this framework, it may not be out of context if the subject the ensuing Vice-President election is discussed. After ten years in office under Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (a beacon of philosophical insight), two years under VV Giri, three years under R Venkataraman and five years under Shankar Dayal Sharma, the last Brahmin to hold the post, strangely not a single Brahmin was ever considered for this august office in the last 33 years!

The reasons may be political, apolitical, or shaped by evolving democratic factors. While democracy rightly celebrates diversity, the legacy of Brahmin leadership merits serious reflection. Selection of a Brahmin for the V-P post carries subtle, yet profound, advantages in India’s pluralistic democracy. It can restore long-overdue balance and reaffirm the country’s commitment to diversity in leadership and inclusive constitutional values.

Despite representing dispersed and non-dominant community, Brahmins have contributed significantly in education, constitution, law, spiritual, civil services, and science, among others but the number is on the decline.

The multifaceted Justice V Ramasubramanian stands as an exemplary Vice-President candidate. He brings to public life a rare combination of legal wisdom and Sanatana Dharma. The interaction was a momentous occasion for me as I could present my Telugu book ‘Sajiva Vahini sanatana Dharmam’ to Justice Ramasubramanian.