Blog 2- Monica Vemulapalli

Swasti Bhattacharya dedicates the book Magical Progeny, Modern Technologyto bioethics using a Hindu perspective, while Broyde writes about cloning in his work Modern Reproductive Technologies and Jewish Law using a Jewish perspective.

Within Bhattacharya’s work, she mainly relies on interpretations of theMahabharata, an epic narrativethat is widespread across the realm of Hinduism, to discuss the bioethical nature of assistive reproductive technology. However, the Mahabharataisn’t a centralized sacred text that is studied by every Hindu, as opposed to the Torah or the Bible, an important difference to note between her work and Broyde’s work. In this blog, I will thoroughly examine the main principles that Bhattacharya discusses, as it is imperative in order to understand her Hindu perspective that she presents. It is important to note, however, that Bhattacharya’s perspective should not be misunderstood as “the” Hindu perspective, but one of many Hindi perspectives. She constructs her own views using the context of several sacred texts, which involve six themes stemming from Hinduism. Along with discussing the principles outlined, Broyde’s work on cloning can be used compare and contrast in terms of already established religious and traditional Jewish law. Broyde provides a thorough analysis on cloning, whether it is permissible, and the conclusion that he comes to on the basis of familial status of clone and Jewish standards. These distinct works give insight into very diverse, yet some surprisingly comparable views of utilizing assistive reproductive technologies.

Bhattacharya highlights six main elements, in Chapter 4 of her book, that showcase the main aspects of Hinduism used to understand views on assistive reproductive technologies. We will examine these elements individually, while utilizing Broyde’s book as a resource to provide us with religious comparison and outside perspective into Bhattacharya’s list. The first element discusses how one needs to put the society’s needs above personal goals. The example Bhattacharya uses from the Mahabharatais using a “divine sperm donor” as opposed to a “human sperm donor,” and Kunti and Pandu choose Dharma, a god of merit and “the cosmic judge” in order to act acceptably within society as Dharma would not do anything unlawful. Therefore, we can see that even in using reproductive technology, the consideration of what society will think and what is right is maintained. There is a similarity within Judaism as Broyde states “the general Jewish obligation to help those who are in need, and particularly compounded by the specific obligation to reproduce, thus inclining one to permit advances in reproductive technologies that allow those unable to reproduce, to, in fact reproduce. On the other side is the general inherent moral conservatism associated with the Jewish tradition’s insistence that there is an objective, God-given morality, and that not everything that humanity wants or can do is proper” (296). What Broyde says is consistent with the dilemma that Kunti and Pandu had when choosing sperm donors, but also wanting to fulfill their duty to bear children. We can see a similarity where Hindu and Jewish views show that there is a central need to help society, but also to believe in tradition.

The second element that Bhattacharya highlights, “the underlying unity of all life,” is difficult to use to interpret the view on reproductive technologies. This principle unity emphasizes an interconnectedness and “how the world, humans, gods, animals, plants, and everything else comes forth from a cosmic primeval being, Purusa.” This is similar, yet still different from Jewish scriptures, as God created the heavens and the Earth, according to the Book of Genesis.In Judaism and Catholicism, the cosmic power is God himself, not a primeval being, an entity from the earliest of time, predating “God” in Hinduism, who created Gods . To understand views on reproductive technology, the cosmology and religious component forms a basis for how the world is viewed in terms of creation.

The third element, dharma, is a central element to Hinduism, translating roughly to duty. Yet, the power and significance that dharma has in Hinduism cannot be emphasized enough. Childbearing and reproduction are thought of as a form of dharma, or to fulfill societal expectations.  In the Mahabharata, Pandu realizes that if he’s childless, he cannot fulfill his dharma. Therefore, Pandu and Kunti proceed to have children through other means, but only after assuring themselves their actions are seen legitimate by the society as that they are acting according to dharma, by God and in their duties within society. (69) On one hand, they need to fulfill dharma, but to do that, they need to deviate from the normal societal expectations to have children as Kunti needs to find another man to father her child. In the end, they fulfill their dharma within society, even if through a different form of reproduction. There is no true equivalent of “dharma” in Jewish scripture, but there lies a central importance placed on reproduction. The Book of Genesis explicitly states “to be fruitful and multiply,” and as Broyde states in his conclusion, “the fulfillment of the biblical mandate to conquer the earth (ve-khivshuha) is understood in the Jewish tradition as permitting people to modify—conquer—nature to make it more amenable to its inhabitants, people. Cloning is but one example of that conquest, which when used to advance humanity, is without theological problem in the Jewish tradition.” (317) Broyde justifies cloning as a means of fulfilling the expectation to reproduce, a statement written in the sacred text that Jews follow, even if it’s not the typical way. Hence, we can see that in both religions, reproduction is sacred, and using assisted reproductive technology to foster humankind is seen as permissible within reasonable terms.

The fourth element, the multivalent nature of Hindu traditions, can be explained as the flexibility and malleability of life and society. There is not one tradition, one law that is stated in Hinduism due to circumstances and individual adaptiveness. Broyde also states something similar, in my opinion, – When looking at Jewish views based on Broyde’s work, he says that “Jewish law insists that new technologies—and new reproductive technologies in particular—are neither definitionally prohibited nor definitionally permissible in the eyes of Jewish law, but rather are subject to a case-by-case analysis. (295). Broyde expresses the view that there is not an authoritative answer to using reproductive technology, but it depends. Bhattacharya might not be saying the exact viewpoint in terms of reproductive technologies, as Broyde is talking directly about this, but she also acknowledges the fact that there is not a specific judgement, that every circumstance is different in the realm of Hinduism and its traditions. The reason for no one judgement stems from there not being a central authority in Hinduism, as compared to Catholicism, where the Holy Bible and the Pope hold paramount importance, and Judaism, where the Torah does the same. There is no central sacred text that Hindus follow apart from several religious scriptures, which still does not equate to the Bible or Torah, hence the numerous sources and multivalent nature.

The fifth element, karma, contrary to stereotypical understanding, means action. Bhattacharya states that “According to the Mahabharata, everyone, regardless of gender, social status, or philosophical commitment, is subject to the constraints of karma; all will reap the fruits of the seeds planted by their actions.” (71) In the context of assisted reproductive technologies, Bhattacharya points out that “acting in the present can transform he current and future course of karma. Kunti, Madri, and Gandhari all took decisive actions that altered the course of their situations regarding having children.” She uses the examples of the three queens and their reproductive difficulties to say that they took action to fulfill their childbearing duties. Similarly, Broyde states that there is a qualification of the action that a Jew does in society, however the familial status also plays a pivotal role in the conduct. He says that “whether the cloning process is permissible (mutar), prohibited (asur), or a good deed (mitzvah). However, the determination of whether any particular conduct is good, back, or neutral is not dispositive in addressing the second issue: the familial status of an individual (re)produced through cloning in relationship to other humans generally…” (296). Even though karma and the Jewish qualifications of action are not identical, we can see them as each religion promoting certain actions to usually reward reproduction.

Broyde addresses not only the classification of cloning, but also the main dilemma after deciding to clone to be the status of the family. He comes to conclusion that “the vast majority of Jewish law authorities rule that children produced through other than sexual means are the legal children of the inseminator, and indeed such activity is considered a positive religious activity (a mitzvah)—a good deed” (301). Broyde argues throughout the section of the permissibility of cloning in the context of Jewish law as it “views cloning as far less the ideal way to reproduce people, however, when no other method is available, it would appear that Jewish law accepts that having children through cloning is a mitzvah in a number of circumstances and is morally neutral in a number of other circumstances.” (315) In addition, examining cloning through a Hindu lens, Bhattacharya states that “in regard to fetal stem cell research and cloning, the Hindu belief in the underlying unity of all life acknowledges the sanctity of fetal life, of all life..” (107) The principle of unity is used to discuss the possibility of cloning as Broyde discusses.

The final aspect of Hindu bioethics that Bhattacharya uses as guidelines for usage of assistive reproductive technology is the commitment to ahimsa, or no-harm. Bhattacharya says that this concept relates to the other five elements as “by acting in the spirit of ahimsa, one is acting in a manner that would most likely support the good of society and positively affect one’s dharma and karma.” (74) Bhattacharya also highlights the dynamic state of life as ahmisa and the other values are malleable in each situation. When compiling all of these concepts together, she states that “while biology and social status are not insignificant, of greater importance are those who intend to take on the parental dharmic responsibilities.” (96) She expresses that dharma and the duty to have a child is an important factor in general when discussing form of reproduction that results in a fetus. This principle, again, lies deep in Catholicism and Judaism, as written in sacred text and just simply been a natural and expected way of societal existence.

Bhattacharya gathers these six principles into the topic of assistive reproductive technologies and applies them in her conclusion. She concludes that one can clearly argue that the Mahabharatawould not only permit surrogacy, sperm donation, participation in gene selection, and embryonic manipulation, but also condone such practices. (52) When comparing with the Hebrew Bible, she says that “in the Hebrew Bible, God is unquestionably in ultimate control of the process of producing offspring.” (56) However, there are stances where assisted reproductive technologies are permitted, which Broyde’s work outlines. Broyde implies that Jewish law allows these forms of reproductive technologies if it fit the family’s needs. Bhattacharya uses the Hebrew Bible and Roman Catholicism viewpoints as comparative analyses to contrast, but also share how the theme that religion is the basis for belief surrounding reproduction is seen across both Hinduism and Judaism.

In looking at and analyzing the works of two different authors, writing about two different perspectives and religious outlooks, we are presented with dissimilar viewpoints on reproductive technology. However, looking more closely and examining the basis for why each of the authors comes to their conclusion, both Jewish and Hindu perspectives seem less different than at first thought. Both offer viewpoints that accept the use of assisted reproductive technologies for the most part, but also state that the usage is circumstantial and can be attributed to a diverse set of beliefs. However, when examining the reasoning for reaching their respective conclusions, the causes are different as they stem from their own religious texts that comes from Judaism and Hinduism, which influence Broyde and Bhattacharya, respectively, which contain a unique set of culture and traditions.