Religious fervour and 'A Tale of Tub'

      A Tale of Tub

Hello,

        This blog is based on "Religious Fervour and A Tale of  Tub". This blog is given by Kavisha ma'am Department of English in Mkbu.

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.

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  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. 

Due to ritual traditions preserved in normative texts from Vedic times until the present, but also due to its great variety of local and regional practices, South Asia offers a vast richness of textual and ethnographic material on Hindu rituals. Since the Hindu gods are not always present at fixed places, they have to be invoked and addressed, and rituals and prayers are the favorite means for that. In nearly every Hindu household, people, mostly women, worship “their” gods daily; in cars, Gaṇeśa is invoked, while shopkeepers adorn a picture of the goddess Lakṣmī with flowers and incense. Along with this lively everyday religiosity, there are special religious occasions for rituals—festivals, pilgrimages, or life-cycle rituals. There are elaborate rituals with a long tradition involving many well-educated Brahmins, but also a great number of small, folk rituals performed by individuals; there are old Vedic rituals that are still performed today.

• Try to connect your understanding and interpretation of such religious practices with Swift's work. 

 Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), the greatest satirist of the Enlightenment Movement and of all times, worked as a churchman over 30 years. He was ordained Anglican priest, obtaining a small parish in Northern Ireland for about a year.  Swift became Chaplain to Lord Berkeley and was instituted as Vicar to Laracor, Agher, and Rathbeggan just outside Dublin. Swift was appointed Dean of St Patrick’s in Dublin, and stayed in that position until 1742, when he resigned due to poor health. As a cleric, he was devoted to his duty, preparing his sermons arduously, serving his congregation full-heartedly, and defending the Church of Ireland militantly. However, his attitude toward church and religion was contradictory. Christianity to him, besides being a profession, was more like a choice in dilemma. An unwavering Enlightener, he never gave up his right of criticizing religion, especially the evil practices of churchmen and dissension among different branches. His criticism can be seen in his religious essays, as well as in Gulliver’s Travels, a mastery satire of all the time. 

Conclusion: -

Conclusion :

    The Criticism of Swift experienced an enlarging and deepening process: from accepting one sect of Christianity with conditions, to admitting only its social function, to negation of all religions, the sword of his satire is thrust deeper and deeper. That is closely related to his Enlightenment thinking. After all, which religion can withstand the scrutiny of such a thorough and sharp critical mind?