From Ancient Religious Texts to Modern-Day Censorship: The Divine Watchers Have Been Replaced by Mortal Gods
By Bikram Biswas
I grew up in a Hindu family in India. From childhood, our home was filled with religious stories — the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, TV serials, Durga Puja pandals, and late-night mythological shows. One message was repeated again and again: the gods are always watching.
They never sleep. They never miss anything. From their home in Swarga, they see every action, every thought, every whispered word. In the Mahabharata, Krishna watched over the Pandavas and guided them through the great war. When the Asuras grew too strong and women’s dignity was being crushed, the gods created Ma Durga to defeat Mahishasura. Again and again, the same pattern appears — when balance breaks, the gods step in. They destroy Bhasmasura, help the good side win, and restore dharma.
In our stories, the gods even had their own pleasures — Apsaras dancing in the celestial halls — while they watched over us humans. As a child, I used to joke that they had a giant 26-inch monitor up there to watch everything happening on earth. They were the perfect surveillance system: always present, all-knowing, and supposedly fair.
That belief was more than just mythology. It worked like an invisible rulebook for life. The simple idea that “God is watching” kept many people from doing wrong. Even when someone felt like lying, cheating, or hurting another person, the thought that the gods above saw everything could stop them. It helped keep society disciplined.
Now fast-forward to today.
The internet arrived. Smartphones entered every hand. Cameras appeared on streets, in shops, and in our pockets. Satellites, data centers, algorithms, and intelligence agencies took over the job that once belonged to the gods. Politicians and powerful people now sit in their own version of heaven — fancy offices, big houses, sealed rooms — and they claim to see everything too. They track our calls, messages, searches, locations, likes, and even what we say at home.
The pattern feels strangely familiar. In the old stories, when power became unbalanced or some voices became too loud, the gods stepped in. In the modern world, the new “gods” step in too — but not with divine weapons. They use censorship, surveillance laws, tracking tools, and controlled media. They help their favorites win elections and shape narratives, just like Krishna helped the Pandavas. They create their own version of Durga through PR campaigns and algorithmic boosts to protect their side.
But here is the dangerous difference.
The gods in the scriptures had no human weaknesses. No greed. No hunger for power. No need for money or praise. Their watching was meant to protect dharma and keep the world balanced.
Today’s watchers are human — and that changes everything. They are politicians and officials driven by power, wealth, and the desire to stay on top forever. They do not watch to protect the weak. They watch to protect their own control. They do not intervene to support the righteous — they intervene to silence anyone who questions them.
Surveillance has become their holy right. Censorship has become their new dharma.
They want us to only say good things about them. Even inside our own homes, the old fear has returned: “Someone is watching.” But now it is not a divine god. It is a power-hungry human with technology in his hands. You cannot speak freely with your family anymore. You cannot criticize the powerful without worrying about the consequences.
The ancient fear that once helped people become better has now been turned into a tool to make us quiet and obedient.
It is a sad twist. The same religious stories that once taught morality through an all-seeing heaven have been turned upside down. What was supposed to free the soul is now being used to trap the mind. The tools that could have brought people closer have instead become chains.
We are living in a time when heaven has been replaced by servers, and the gods have been replaced by the people who control those servers.
Unlike the old stories, these new gods do not come down to fix what is wrong. They only come down to tighten their hold.
As someone who grew up with both ancient wisdom and today’s technology, I keep asking myself one simple but important question:
When the watchers are no longer divine, who will watch the watchers?
They only want you to say good things about them. Even in your own home, you cannot discuss the truth because “ Mortal God is watching.”
Until we find a real answer, the old warning feels more important than ever — but this time, it is not the gods we should fear. It is the ordinary humans who have taken their place…
