Content area
Full Text
Introduction
In an episode in the South Indian version of the Ramayana by Kamban,1 Rama, in hiding, shoots one of the monkey kings, Vali, in the back. As he lies dying with Rama's arrows in him, Vali asks Rama, how he, the epitome of the perfect human, the incarnation of Vishnu, the honourable warrior, could do such a cowardly and unjust thing? Rama replies that it is because Vali had taken the wife of his brother Sugreeva after killing him. Vali says he did not try to kill his brother, that Rama had gotten only one side of the story, and that, in his culture of monkeys, taking care of one's brother's wife after his death was quite common and expected. Besides, why is Rama imposing his human values on him and castigating him and his kind for not following them? Rama tells Vali that he is intelligent enough to know that there are higher ideals, and even if they are human and not monkey ideals, he still expects Vali's kind to meet these higher standards. In effect, Rama is saying: "don't give me any of your `monkey values' argument, what I'm advocating are universal values to which all should aspire." Vali finally acknowledges his inferior way of thinking and concedes that Rama is justified in shooting him in the back after all; it is his pleasure to die at the hands of such an honourable man and for such a noble cause. This single incident of the Ramayana captures many of the themes contained in this essay.
Parochial Universalism2
Throughout history there have been similar, although perhaps less allegorical rationalizations of parochial universalism. Alexander the Great was one of the first to invoke the concept of "a Universal Conqueror," known in Indian thought as a cakravartin, to rationalize his own far-flung conquests.3 In retrospect, the "Universal ideals" found in Pax Romana, Pax Sinica, Pax Britannia, and Pax Japonica are familiar. And now, we have Pax Americana declaring the ideals of democracy and human rights as universal doctrines. In all these cases, it is the conquerors like Rama (or those who were in control) who have argued that their parochial values were universal, while the conquered, like Vali (or those not in charge), have invoked...