When the Earth and the Poor Cry Out, We Hear ‘What the Thunder Said’. Lessons from the <i>Brihadaranyaka Upanishad</i> and Hindu Social Teaching for a More Just Socio-Political Economy

This essay is an attempt at framing a ‘Hindu’ response to Anthony Annett’s ‘Cathonomics: How Catholic Tradition Can Create a More Just Economy’. I begin with the caveat that my understanding of Hinduism is that of a practitioner and an archaeological anthropologist specialising in state formation and socio-political and economic complexity, but not a theologian or scholar of religion. The views expressed and the analyses outlined in this essay are those of a single Hindu (myself). I use a phenomenological and interpretive approach to draw upon and combine moral-religious teachings on socio-economic justice as recorded in ancient texts and the larger narrative of growing social complexity drawn from archaeological anthropology. I engage with political, economic, and environmental injustices and excesses in our contemporary global political economy. In so doing, I draw a straight interpretive line between Hindu and Catholic social teaching, specifically linking the lessons from the story: ‘What the Thunder Said’ from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (5.2: 1–3) to the Cries of the Earth and the Poor identified by Pope Francis in Laudato Si. I argue that Hindu, Catholic (as laid out by Annett), and other religious social teachings on political economies converge on three key behaviours that should guide all human interactions with each other and the earth: Datta (generosity/sharing), Dayadhwam (compassion/mercy), and Damyata (self-restraint/discipline). I conclude that of these three, Damyata or self-restraint is the crucial characteristic and necessary virtue for leadership if we want to move to just global socio-political economies.