Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies | Michael Sheludko - Russo-Ukrainian War and Problems of... @HinduStudies | Uploaded August 2022 | Updated October 2024, 29 minutes ago.
Russo-Ukrainian War and Problems of Violence Justification Among Russian and Ukrainian Vaishnavas
Michael Sheludko - Deacon (Kyiv, Ukraine) Head of the Eparchial Commission for Promoting Christian Unity, Pereyaslav and Vyshneve eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Establisher of the स'धम$पथः Satya Dharma Path — A Hindu-Christian Initiative for Dialogue
The Russo-Ukrainian war started in 2014 with the seizure of Crimea by the troops of the Russian Federation, but the most intense phase of the war began on February 24, 2022. The Ukrainian people are giving a decisive rebuff and fighting operations of this scale have not been carried out in Europe since the Second World War. The Hindu community in the countries that were part of the Soviet Union before 1991 is mainly represented by various Gaudiya Vaishnava missions, which were practically unified until February 2022. Some Vaishnava missions, such as Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, were directly run by leaders from Russia, and others, like ISKCON, had their own Ukrainian administration, but were quite strongly integrated with the Russian Federation and other post-Soviet countries. After the laws restricting the freedom of preaching were tightened in Russia, festivals and congresses of Russian-speaking Vaishnavas began to be held in Ukraine. The impression was formed that the Vaishnavas of the entire postSoviet space constituted a single organisation. The language of inter-Vaishnava communication was Russian, however, everything started to change after February 2022. In general, the full-scale war confused the minds of Russian and Ukrainian Vaisnavas and raised questions to which they had no ready answers. Despite the unfriendly attitude of the Russian state representatives towards Vaishnavas, their regular persecution, lawsuits, restrictions on religious freedom and missionary activity, the majority of the Russian Vaishnavas are supporting the actions of Vladimir Putin’s government. By quoting scriptures, they justify the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine and encourage their soldiers to further violence. The image of the enemy, which has been planted in Russia for years, is used as an excuse for "preventive" aggression; the spiritless "collective West" opposes “the spiritual Russian civilisation”. On the other hand, the Ukrainian devotees of all missions are practically united in condemning the aggression against their people and state. The most authoritative Ukrainian Vaishnavas call for defending their country with weapons in their hands, and Ukrainian Vaishnavas criticise those who want to remain neutral. In addition, some Russian-speaking Ukrainian Vaishnavas have begun to definitely switch to Ukrainian, even if they did not attach any importance to this before. There was a split, and in some missions they started talking about the need to separate from the Russian control centre of the organisation. The position of the leaders who condemned or supported Putin's actions impacts the attitude of their followers towards them. Considering that a number of leaders have the status of initiating gurus, the problem is not so much social as theological. Both 21 obedience and disobedience to a guru, according to the teachings of the Vaishnavas, directly affects the spiritual life of his disciples. The 21st century poses new challenges for the Vaishnava community, and the pacifist rhetoric that has characterised it all these years has been subjected to the biggest test of its existence.
Russo-Ukrainian War and Problems of Violence Justification Among Russian and Ukrainian Vaishnavas
Michael Sheludko - Deacon (Kyiv, Ukraine) Head of the Eparchial Commission for Promoting Christian Unity, Pereyaslav and Vyshneve eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Establisher of the स'धम$पथः Satya Dharma Path — A Hindu-Christian Initiative for Dialogue
The Russo-Ukrainian war started in 2014 with the seizure of Crimea by the troops of the Russian Federation, but the most intense phase of the war began on February 24, 2022. The Ukrainian people are giving a decisive rebuff and fighting operations of this scale have not been carried out in Europe since the Second World War. The Hindu community in the countries that were part of the Soviet Union before 1991 is mainly represented by various Gaudiya Vaishnava missions, which were practically unified until February 2022. Some Vaishnava missions, such as Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, were directly run by leaders from Russia, and others, like ISKCON, had their own Ukrainian administration, but were quite strongly integrated with the Russian Federation and other post-Soviet countries. After the laws restricting the freedom of preaching were tightened in Russia, festivals and congresses of Russian-speaking Vaishnavas began to be held in Ukraine. The impression was formed that the Vaishnavas of the entire postSoviet space constituted a single organisation. The language of inter-Vaishnava communication was Russian, however, everything started to change after February 2022. In general, the full-scale war confused the minds of Russian and Ukrainian Vaisnavas and raised questions to which they had no ready answers. Despite the unfriendly attitude of the Russian state representatives towards Vaishnavas, their regular persecution, lawsuits, restrictions on religious freedom and missionary activity, the majority of the Russian Vaishnavas are supporting the actions of Vladimir Putin’s government. By quoting scriptures, they justify the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine and encourage their soldiers to further violence. The image of the enemy, which has been planted in Russia for years, is used as an excuse for "preventive" aggression; the spiritless "collective West" opposes “the spiritual Russian civilisation”. On the other hand, the Ukrainian devotees of all missions are practically united in condemning the aggression against their people and state. The most authoritative Ukrainian Vaishnavas call for defending their country with weapons in their hands, and Ukrainian Vaishnavas criticise those who want to remain neutral. In addition, some Russian-speaking Ukrainian Vaishnavas have begun to definitely switch to Ukrainian, even if they did not attach any importance to this before. There was a split, and in some missions they started talking about the need to separate from the Russian control centre of the organisation. The position of the leaders who condemned or supported Putin's actions impacts the attitude of their followers towards them. Considering that a number of leaders have the status of initiating gurus, the problem is not so much social as theological. Both 21 obedience and disobedience to a guru, according to the teachings of the Vaishnavas, directly affects the spiritual life of his disciples. The 21st century poses new challenges for the Vaishnava community, and the pacifist rhetoric that has characterised it all these years has been subjected to the biggest test of its existence.
