Bhubaneswar, Sep 3 — Gitanjali Angmo, wife of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, on Thursday said that Sanatan Dharma is very liberating as its fundamental purpose is liberation, adding that the conventional political division between the Left and Right does not fully fit the Indian context.
Speaking to IANS, Angmo said, “For me, Sanatan Dharma is very liberating, because its fundamental objective itself is liberation. If liberation is the goal, then for me, Right also becomes synonymous with Liberal. Therefore, the usual political division between Left and Right does not completely fit the Indian context."
She said that historically, the political distinction between the Left and Right emerged from different approaches to social and political thought.
“During Napoleon's time, those on the Left wanted a new way of thinking about the world, while those on the Right favoured following tradition,” she said.
However, Angmo argued that the Indian philosophical tradition cannot be understood through the same framework.
“But in India, Sanatan Dharma has always had an eternal quest, a spirit, a reality, to be discovered. There can be different paths to reach that reality, different philosophies and different ways of expressing it. Therefore, it fundamentally possesses a liberal mindset,” she told IANS.
She said the Left-Right classification is often applied to people based on their religious or philosophical beliefs, but that such a distinction can be misleading in the Indian context.
“This division between Left and Right is not that meaningful in the Indian context. It is generally believed that those who are atheists or believe in a philosophy that does not include the concept of God are on the Left, while those who believe in Hinduism or any religious philosophy are on the Right,” she said.
Angmo further referred to Sri Aurobindo's interpretation of Indian philosophy and said that Sanatan Dharma has continuously evolved over thousands of years.
“But if we understand Sri Aurobindo, these two things merge seamlessly. What we call Hinduism is actually Sanatan Dharma. It is not a fixed or rigid philosophy. It has been evolving over the last ten thousand years from the Vedas to Vedanta, from the Gita to Meera's Bhakti movement, and up to today,” she said.
She added that Sri Aurobindo's perspective is also part of this continuing evolution.
“The word ‘Dharma’ comes from the root ‘Dhri’, which means ‘that which holds, that which holds together’. Therefore, Dharma is not just a religion. Dharma is the principle that holds you together through life's ups and downs. It gives direction to your life and connects you to your own dharma. Therefore, viewing Dharma only as a method of worship or religious identity would be a very narrow interpretation,” she added.