FESTIVAL OF “TWIN-BIRTH DAYS” OF THE BAHA’I FAITH ----Dr.A.K.Merchant.

FESTIVAL OF “TWIN-BIRTH DAYS” OF THE BAHA’I FAITH 

----Dr.A.K.Merchant.

Dharma or Religion plays an important role in how we understand time–both the linear time of history and the cyclical times of social and spiritual events.  It may be also viewed as the unfoldment of the Divine Plan. As the world celebrates Deepavali other festivals the Bahá’í Community will be celebrating the Anniversaries of the twin founders of the Bahá’í Faith—the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh on 26-27 October 2022 respectively. 

The Báb, means the “gate” or “doorway to divine knowledge”, as described in the Bahá’í writings.  He exhibited unusual piety and knowledge from his earliest days.  He lost his father at a tender age and was raised by his maternal uncle.  As an adolescent, the Báb was renowned for his very handsome appearance, his charming manners, and great nobility of character. After a few years the uncle, who conducted his export and import business of silk and tea from Shiraz and the port city of Bushi’hr, absorbed him in the trade.  Although the Báb soon gained a reputation for his integrity there was a deepening anxiety in the family because he used to spend much of his time in prayer and meditation. The turning point came in May 1844 the month and the year when Samuel Morse transmitted the first telegraphic message from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington D.C. with the words from the Bible: “What God hath wrought.” The night preceding the morning when the when the message was sent was the time when the Báb disclosed his true identity as the Avatara of a new Age. He proclaimed the unity and truth of all the great religions, enjoined upon his disciples to break with past rites and ways of worship and to live in harmony with people of all beliefs, and prepared them for the coming of  Bahá’u’lláh, whom the Báb described as the “One Whom God would make manifest.” 

The Bahá’ís are hopeful and take comfort in these words of the Báb: “…You are the witnesses of the Dawn of the promised Day of God. You are the partakers of the mystic chalice of His Revelation….”   

Bahá’u’lláh, a title that means "the Glory of God" in Arabic, was born in Tehran, Iran. His family could trace its ancestry back to the Sassanian dynasty of Iran's imperial past. His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, said this concerning His childhood: "… Bahá’u’lláh, belonged to the nobility of Persia. From earliest childhood He was distinguished among His relatives and friends… In wisdom, intelligence and as a source of new knowledge, He was advanced beyond His age and superior to His surroundings. All who knew Him were astonished at His precocity. It was usual for them to say, 'Such a child will not live,' for it is commonly believed that precocious children do not reach maturity."  

In a letter Bahá’u’lláh recalled as a child seeing an elaborate puppet show about war and intrigues in the court of a king and the riches of those in authority. He renounced the worldly pleasures and stated: “…Erelong these outward trappings, these visible treasures, these earthly vanities, these arrayed armies, these adorned vestures, these proud and overweening souls, all shall pass into the confines of the grave, as though into that box….”  

Bahá’u’lláh taught that divine Educators such as Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Christ, Prophet Muhammad, and the Báb, have successively prepared humanity to reach its present state of development and now was the time for its collective maturity. Bahá’u’lláh, therefore, presented the blueprint of a new World Order and wrote: “Let your vision be world embracing…” “The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing Order appeareth to be lamentably defective.”  

Bahá’ís  believe that the tensions and sufferings now prevailing in society are due wrong decisions, squabbling over petty issues, destroying each other for a larger share of the planet’s finite resources with lethal weapons, the complete annihilation of civilization is a certainty. “My object,” Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “is none other than the betterment of the world and the tranquillity of its peoples. The wellbeing of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”  

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*The author is a social worker, independent researcher as well as General Secretary, Temple of Understanding India Foundation, and an active member of the Baha'i Community of India