The Veda is the Mother of all the Sastras. The Veda emanated
from God Himself as inhalation and exhalation. The great sages,
who were the embodiments of the treasure gained by long ascetic
practices, received Veda as a series of sounds and spread it over
the world by word of mouth from preceptor to pupil. Since it was
'heard' and preserved by generations, the Veda is known as Sruthi,
'that which was heard or listened to.' The Veda is endless. Who
composed the Vedas? Until today, it has not been possible to
unveil their names. Those who recited it had perhaps no desire to
earn renown, for the names are nowhere seen mentioned in the Veda.
May be they had attached no importance to their names, or clans or
sects, or it is likely they had no kith or kin or clan. Whoever he
or they may be, the sages were sure they were masters of all
knowledge, for the sense of equality and equanimity found in the
Veda is the innate quality of only such wise persons. So it is
very appropriate to infer that the Veda was given to the world
only by persons endowed with all powers.
The word 'Veda' originated from the root 'Vid', meaning 'to
know', "Vidana thu anena ithi Vedah", "That which reveals and
makes clear all knowledge is Veda". The Veda can be mastered
neither by limited intellect nor by limited experience. The sacred
Veda instructs all that one requires for his spiritual
advancement. It instructs one the means and methods to overcome
all sorrows and grief. It instructs one in all the spiritual
disciplines which can give unshaken peace. No one has understood
correctly the beginning of the Veda or its end. So, it is hailed
as Anaadi (Beginningless) and Sanathana (Eternal). Since the first
and the last of the Veda are not known, it is Nitya, Everlasting.
The intelligence of humans is tainted but since the Veda has no
trace of taint, it is concluded that it cannot be a human product.
So the Veda is also characterised as A-pourusheya (Non-personal).
The Veda is its own authority. Each Vedic sound is sacred
because it is part of the Veda. Those who have faith in the Veda
and its authority can personally experience this. The great sages
were enriched by such experiences and they have extolled it as the
source of wisdom. These experiences are not bound by time or
space. Their validity and value can be recognised not only in
India but by people of all lands. They lay down basic truths, it
can be asserted.
The Vedic religion originated, we do not know when; others came
later. This is the difference. So, if the Absolute has to be
known, it is not possible to succeed with the help of the skill
and strength that man has. Human intelligence can operate only
within certain limits. Buddhigrahyam atheendriyam. But the Veda is
beyond the reach of intelligence. Intelligence is restricted. It
can deal only with facts discoverable by the senses and
experiences related to these. It can act only in the area of the
visible, the viable.
Mother Veda has been kind to her children - the human race. To
sanctify its cravings and to uplift the race, she has posited the
concept of Time - and its components, the years, months, days,
hours, minutes and seconds. Even gods were declared to be bound by
Time. The individual or Jiva is caught in the wheel of Time and
Space and rotates with it, unaware of any means of escape. But,
really he is beyond the reach of Time and Space. The Veda is bent
upon the task of making him know this Truth, and liberating him
from this narrowness. Mother Veda is compassionate; she longs to
liberate her children from doubt and discontent. She has no desire
to inflame or confuse; wise men know this well.
Gravitation has existed on earth since we do not know when. It
had its origin along with the Creation of the Earth. The Earth and
the Force of Gravitation are both inseparable, indistinguishable.
Just because it is not recognised by a few or because it is not
visible as such, it will be foolish to deny its existence in the
Earth. But the fact is, no one knew the existence of this
universal force, though it was there along with the Earth! The
force was operating even when man was unaware of it. At last,
after analysing various principles and observing various
experiments, the Western physicist Newton announced that the Earth
had the force of gravitation. The world accepted his statement and
placed faith in its truth. But, the force was operating all the
time, even before the announcement by Newton. It did not start
operating all of a sudden, when the experiments demonstrated it.
The Vedas are Eternal Truths; they existed even before the
people of this land discovered, practised and experienced them.
Just as Western physicists announced the existence of gravitation
after their experiments, the ancients of this land demonstrated
the innate authenticity of the Vedas through their own experience.
Here too, the Veda existed long before it was discovered and put
into practice. Newton's Laws of Gravitation benefited the whole
world; they express universal truths applicable to all places and
times. They are not confined to Western countries only. So too,
the Veda is Truth, not merely for Bharath but for all people on
earth.
It is not correct to claim that Bharath or India is the
birthplace of the Vedas. The utmost that can be said is that they
were discovered by the people of Bharath. To ask why a happening
in one place did not take place in another place also is the sign
of a confused mind. The Divine Author decides what should happen
when and where. As He decides, so it takes place. The atmosphere
in India was congenial for the revelation and the growth of the
Vedas. The Vedas were drawn towards the hearts of the sages of
this land, this Karma-bhoomi, this Yoga-bhoomi and this
Tyaga-bhoomi. Other lands pursued Bhoga and so their atmosphere
was overcharged with worldly aspirations and achievements. The
Vedic message could not therefore be easily understood there.
Since in India, the spiritual quest was sincerely pursued, along
with material objectives, people here had the good fortune of the
Veda Matha, Mother Veda, incarnating.
Of course, this does not mean that the Veda Matha has not
blessed other lands or is absent therein. It is like the force of
gravitation present everywhere. The Veda is omnipresent. The
heroic sages of Bharath were able to receive the Vedic Message as
a result of their Sadhana of denial and detachment as well as
their capacity to concentrate, and to experience the Bliss
resulting from practising it. They were so selfless and full of
compassion and love that they shared with those who approached
them what they had heard and enjoyed. They are therefore called
"Manthra Drshta". Through the long line of their disciples, the
message has come down the ages and spread all over the land. Like
a continuing flood, the mysterious Veda was 'visualised' by the
Sages as Drshtas. The Bharathiyas, people of this country, are
well aware of this debt.
The scriptural texts of India - the Vedas, Vedangas,
Upanishads, Smrthis, Puranas and Ithihasas - are repositories of
profound wisdom. Each of them is an ocean of sweet sustaining
milk. Each is sacred and sanctifying. The waters of the Ocean can
never be diminished in volume however many pumps you ply to drain
them. Enormous quantities of water are turned into steam by the
hot rays of the sun, bundled into clouds, and returned to the
earth as rain. This helps the harvesting of grain and renders the
land green with vegetation. The wonder is that in spite of this
tremendous uptake and downpour, the level of the ocean does not go
down even by an inch. Furthermore, even though thousands of live
rivers pour their waters into the seas; the level is not seen to
increase. Similarly, the persons who have supplemented their
knowledge of the scriptural texts with the awareness of their
validity acquired by practising the lessons contained in them, are
not affected by praise or blame, whatever the source and quantity.
Their hearts will stay pure, unaffected and calm. The holy
scriptures of India are strongholds of such sustaining lessons.
However, one can imbibe those lessons only to the extent of
one's patience and intelligent skill. After mastering the texts
and gaining experience in putting the lessons into actual
practice, one can share the light and the joy with others. The
texts of India insist on the value of actual practice and the need
to confirm the truths by experiencing their impact.
If a person desires to understand clearly the sacred books and
scriptural texts of India, to imbibe their message, he must learn
the Sanskrit language; he cannot avoid that responsibility and
that duty. The very mention of Sanskrit immediately arouses in
many among us a prejudicial attitude. "It is the dead language of
a dying culture; it is boosted by the fanatic attachment of
antiquated conservatives", contemporary moderns declaim. They
condemn the language as surviving only in meaningless formulae, in
fast vanishing rituals and ceremonies, in wedding rites and other
futile exercises. It is a very difficult language to learn, it is
said. Such beliefs have dug themselves deep into the minds of
moderns. These banal opinions and false attitudes have to be
exorcised from the minds of men.
Sanskrit is an immortal language; its voice is eternal; its
call is through the centuries. It has imbedded in it the basic
sustenance from all the languages of the world. Revere Sanskrit as
the Mother of languages. Do not ignore its greatness or talk
disparagingly about it. When you yearn to slake the thirst for
nectar offered by the Vedas, you have to learn Sanskrit. In order
to interpret the Vedas and elaborate their inner meanings and
mysteries, the sages have left behind text books of complementary
sciences like grammar, poetics, philosophy and astrology. Their
researches and books range over several fields of knowledge like
astronomy, geography, jurisprudence, ethics, epistemology, music,
psychology and rhetoric. Western scientists are struck with
admiration at the wonders of astronomy they have unveiled and the
truths they have unravelled in other sciences; they have benefited
by the clues provided by these sages and they are engaged in
further research encouraged by the discoveries of these ancient
seers. They have acknowledged that these rshis had advanced far
more than the Greeks in their astronomical knowledge. In the Vedas
and the supplementary literature they produced, we can find
already revealed many secrets of nature, hailed as revolutionary
discoveries by modern science, like the existence and explosive
possibilities of the atom. Many sections of the Atharvana Veda are
found to be mines of such important information when examined by
westerners. The Germans established special institutes and
universities in order to conduct research on the contents of the
tons of palm-leaf manuscripts of the Naadi texts and horoscopes,
and on astronomy, medicine, chemistry, toxicology, mathematics,
etc. They are learning Sanskrit so that this work may proceed
successfully. In America, Russia and even in Afghanistan, the
Universities are not only themselves eager to introduce Sanskrit
as a subject of study but they are being pressed by scholars to do
so! Foreigners are revering these texts from India as gems of
lucky discovery.
The science of Yoga was assigned great prominence in the past
by Indians. Even now, in many countries of the world this science
is being studied and practised. Institutions where yogasanas are
taught exist in great numbers throughout America and Russia. In
India, however, when the practice of Yoga or Meditation is
mentioned, people respond with the feeling that it is a spiritual
path related to the Vedantic school of thought. As soon as Yoga is
referred to many who hear the word get pictures before their minds
of lone hermits in the depths of thick forests, wearing the ochre
robe of monks and living on fruits, tubers and roots. Their
opinion is that Yoga-sadhana is the ancient discipline practised
by such homeless ascetics. This is an ignorant guess; it is not
true at all. The Yoga science is today being probed by physicists
and others in Western countries.
In this era of technology, it is becoming increasingly
difficult to lead peaceful lives. Men are becoming the targets of
various types of mental ailments. In countries on the frontline of
civilisation like America and England, people have lost the
delight of natural sleep at night. They experience only artificial
sleep induced by the tablets they swallow. As a consequence of
these and many other drugs taken to ward off other ills, they
suffer more and more from diseases of the heart and blood
pressure. In the end, they render themselves unhealthy wrecks.
Such lives are highly artificial. People are sunk in fear and
anxiety; mentally on one side and physically on the other, they
have no rest. Drugs, tablets, capsules and pills are produced in
millions but the general health has not improved. Besides, new
varieties of illness have emerged and are developing fast. A few
intelligent westerners have realised that their only refuge is
Yoga; they have confirmed their conclusion by means of
experiments; they have taken to Yoga with increasing faith.
The Vedas are the oldest literary creations of man. Now the
word 'literature' is used to connote writings scribbled while
eager to find something to spend the time hanging on hand. They
have no inner worth or significance; they destroy the traits of
good character in the reader and implant bad attitudes and habits;
they do not adhere to the path of Truth. But, Literature is a term
that cannot be applied to writings or poems that reel off tales
that are false. It should not emerge from the egotistic fancies of
the individual.
The Vedas are the soul that sustains the spiritual life of
Bharath; they are the breath that keeps the people alive. They
possess a divine power, amazing in its effects. They are charged
with the vibrations of mantras, which can be experienced by those
who go through the process scientifically. They can impart also
the strength derivable through symbols and formulae of Tantric
nature. 'Tantra' means 'the means and methods of utilising the
mantras for one's own good'. Man has physical and material power
only. His Karma becomes holy and sacred when the mechanics
(yantra) of life are ruled by Mantra and Tantra. The technique of
this Sadhana is in the Karma Kanda of the Vedas. The ancient sages
became aware of this and have preserved it for mankind in the Four
Vedas.
Unable to grasp these truths, those who pride themselves as
'moderns' proclaim that the Vedas contain only verses and mantras
which are learnt by rote and repeated by aged cronies. Not only
'moderns' but even those who earned distinction as "the foremost
Pundits", those who expound to the people gathering fame, use the
Vedas for promoting their material well-being and not for helping
them on the spiritual path. They are unable to discover the sacred
task for which the Vedas exist. Whenever the chance arises, they
benefit by the scholarship, but they are not eager or able to use
the Vedas to purify their daily lives.
As a result, 'moderns' find it impossible to develop faith in
the Vedas. When the Pundits do not seek to practise the Vedas they
have learned and parade their lack of faith by not instructing
their own children on the glory of the Vedas, they naturally cause
lack of faith in the entire society.
Many others, in spite of their ignorance of the meaning of the
Vedic hymns, walk through busy places reciting the sacred texts in
mechanical orthodoxy. Foreigners, - especially German scholars -
though they have not learnt the Vedas by rote, have realised that
the mantras possess and transmit profound power. They have during
the centuries carried to their own country, portions of the Vedas
and conducted patient and painstaking research on them.
Consequently, they have unravelled strange mysteries. They found
that the Vedas contain the secrets of all the arts which confer
progress on man.
As adjuncts to the Vedas, many scriptural texts emerged. Th
Veda (knowledge) of Archery, the Veda of Ayu or Maintenance,
Prolongation and Preservation of Life (medicine), the Veda of
Planets and Stars (Jyotir Veda) - many such texts were composed
and promulgated.
Sage Viswamitra discovered the mantra named Gayathri, which is
addressed to the energy of the Sun, Surya. This mantra has
infinite potentiality. It is a vibrant formula. It has immense
powers, powers that are truly amazing. For, the Sun is its
presiding deity. Students of the Ramayana know hat the same sage,
Viswamitra, initiated Rama into the mysteries of Sun-worship,
through the mantra Aditya Hrdayam. The Gayathri enabled Viswamitra
to use rare weapons which bowed to his will when the mantra was
repeated with faith. Through the powers he attained in this way,
Viswamitra was able to become a great scientist and create a
counterpart of this cosmos. A person who is able to increase the
capabilities of his hands and his senses is now considered a
'scientist', but, the term (Vijnani) was correctly applied in the
past only to those who developed spiritual power and discovered
the formulae for delving into the Divine within, those imbued with
faith and devotion who could spontaneously demonstrate that power
in actual day to day living. On the other hand, the 'scientists'
of today know only a bit here and a bit there; they exaggerate and
boast of what they have managed to learn. They are fond of pomp
and proud display. They rise skyhigh on the fumes of praise. Such
absurdities are quite contrary to the true behaviour of a
scientist. For he is humble and meek. He is aware that, however
much he knows, there is a far vaster field which he has yet to
know. He is conscious that Divine Grace is responsible for what
little he knows.
Viswamitra was a scientist who had recognised this truth. So,
there is no scientist yet greater than he was. But, though a sage
of such immense eminence and with so expansive a heart lived in
India, he is not remembered by the people of this land. They
honour foreigners who have glimpsed his greatness; they have
placed their faith in those researchers who have elicited valuable
lessons from the Vedas. The Veda is the Mother of Bharat. But the
children do not revere the mother any more. They revere the
stepmother and believe in her! This is the result of anglicised
educational system.
Probing further and further into the scientific attainments of
the sages of ancient India, the construction of Vimanas, vehicles
capable of flying in space, is described by Sage Bharadwaja.
Mental Science had advanced so much that they could reproduce what
had happened or predict what would happen. The Science of Medicine
was highly developed in India. It was Sage Bharadwaja who taught
this science for the benefit of mankind. Sage Atreya took up the
task of propagating this science and technique of healing. Saint
Charaka compiled all the discoveries into a Samhitha or
'Collection', named after him. It deals elaborately with the
diagnosis of diseases, methods of healing and cure, foetal
development and other essential but not easily discoverable facts
of medical science. The doctors proficient in that science could,
in those ancient years, surgically remove or correct various
diseased parts of body when the illness could not be cured by
drugs. Saint Susruta has written in his compendium on many
surgical processes. This text has been discovered and is available
for study. Dhanvanthari, Nagarjuna and other sages have brought to
light many other medical discoveries of Ancient India, made by
adherents of the Vedic tradition of scientific reasearch. There
are also many valuable texts on ethics, jurisprudence and other
social sciences which are invaluable treasures for all time, like
the Dharma Sastra of Manu and the Nyaya Sastra of Gautama.
Vedanta is the legitimate property of every section, every
caste, every community, and every race, of the followers of any
faith and persons of both sexes. Vedanta means Wisdom or Jnana.
'Wisdom' relating to which field of knowledge? It is wisdom based
on the knowledge of the Atma. This wisdom is the supremest gain
that can be earned in life. What greater gain can there be for man
than becoming aware of his Self, himself knowing himself. Faith in
the possibility of knowing oneself is necessary for every student
of Sruthi (the Vedas) and Smrthi (the Moral Codes).
The object seen is clearly separate from the subject who sees.
This is a universally accepted Truth. Who is this I that sees? All
things that have Form are recognised and seen by the sense organ,
the eye. The eye sees the physical body, other individuals, even
insects, worms and things. It sees everything that is within its
range. The body too is a thing that the eye sees, along
with the rest. So, how can we conclude that the body is the
I?
Then, who really is this I? Fire burns and also brightens. It
burns things by heat and brightens them by the light it sheds.
Fire is different from the things it acts upon. Now, who is it
that knows this truth - the truth that 'fire' and the 'things that
it burns' are different? It is the Atma. When a log burns, the
fire is present and active in all of it. Similarly, the
Atma pervades the entire body, and enables it to perform deeds and
to move itself and its limbs.
The light shed by the lamp is the instrument that informs us at
night: "This is the cup", "This is the plate". The eye is similar
instrument which informs us "This is a house", "This is a thorn",
"This is a stone". The eye is not the Atma. In the absence of the
lamp, the eye, or, in the absence of the eye, the lamp cannot
cognise the house, the thorn, the stone, the cup or the plate.
Both the lamp and the eye are media or instruments of
'illumination'.
The instrument, eye, sees the body, where it is
situated. The body that is seen cannot therefore be other
than a similar instrument. The senses are the experiencers of
hearing, tasting, seeing, touching and smelling. When the eye is
known as an instrument, the other four senses too have to be
recognised as tools. All these senses are under the control of the
mind which is their master. Even this mind is being controlled and
conditioned by some other master. The mind cannot be the core of
man.
The intellect or buddhi examines the information materials
offered by the mind. It is the instrument that judges and decides.
For example, imagine a sharp knife. However sharp, it cannot cut a
fruit on its own initiative. Nor can it cut the thinnest thread by
itself. It can do so only when it is held by the hand of some one.
The intellect is similar to the knife. It is helpless without the
'I', the Atma which has to wield it.
Then, we have to consider another equipment of man - the Prana
or the vital air. Let us consider whether we can nominate it as
the 'I'? During deep sleep, man is not conscious that he is
breathing and that the 'vital airs' are alert! Of the three states
- the waking (Jagrat), the dreaming (Swapna) and the sleeping
(Sushupti), though the prana is existent in all, the man is not
aware of the experiences of the waking state while dreaming, nor
of the experiences of the dreaming state while in the wakeful
state. During sleep, the Pranas do not activate the intellect or
the memory. They appear to be quiescent. When the boss is active,
the dependents cannot keep quiet. Since thy are not uniformly
active always, Pranas or the Prana principle cannot be considered
as the 'I' or Atma.
Now about the Ego. There are two fields in which it operates
and so, it has two meanings:
- Self-love, Ahamkara, the 'Dehatma', Body-consciousness, the
Exterior I and
- the Inner 'I', the Pratyag-Atma.
Persons who do not know this distinction confuse themselves and
assert that 'I' is applicable to the Dehatma. But, this is wrong.
The body as we have seen is a tool, it is an object; it is the
seen and not the see-er. How can the Ego, identified with it, be
the Atma? This Ego also is of the 'seen' category. It is absent in
sleep and plays false in dreams. Truth has to persist unaffected,
in the past, present and future. That which is absent in two
states, how can it be true?
As a result of this inquiry, it has become plain that the
senses, the mind, the intellect, the vital airs - not one of these
can be accepted as Atma and accorded that validity. Therefore, the
question arises: What else, who else, is Atma?
It has no entry or exit, no hands and feet, no organs and
limbs, no blot or blemish. It is the minutest among the minute,
the hugest among the huge. Like space, it is everywhere. It is
all and so it is free from 'I' and 'mine'. It is consciousness, as
fire is heat, and the sun is light - it has no affinity with
distress or delusion; it is supreme everlasting ecstasy,
Param-ananda. It is the core, the heart of all beings; it is the
awareness in all. It is the see-er of everything 'seen'; it sees
all objects seen. Everyone, whatever his nature or stature, who
declares, after being served by the senses, "I see", "I hear", "I
taste" etc., is really only talking of lamps, of tools and not of
the Atma. The Atma is not a part-see-er, a series-see-er, a
non-see-er or a pseudo-see-er.
The Buddhi, like the moon, has no light in itself. Like the
moon it reflects light from another source adjacent to it, namely
the Atma. Buddhi can operate only by reflecting the Cosmos
Intelligence, represented by the Atma.
The Sun is designated the Cosmic Eye, Jagat Chakshu, a name
based on the Sun's involvement with and proximity to other
objects. The Sun has no ego-sense or a sense of possession and
property, and no will or want or wish. By His very presence
darkness disappears and light envelopes the world. So, He is
called the Enlightener. But He is not consciously doing so, as if
in duty bound. The Atma too has neither obligation nor
application. If asked how the Atma becomes a 'doer', the reply is
- is the magnet a 'doer', simply because the needle which is in
its neighbourhood moves?
The basic question may now be raised. Does the Atma exist? If
it does, how and with what proof can it be established? There is
no need to prove that the Atma exists, for, if the Atma is capable
of being proved by certain arguments and lines of reasoning, the
existence of a person, who uses those arguments and follows those
lines of reasoning, has to be posited. That person will again be
the Atma!
Of course, some men may reply that the Vedas are the authority
for the existence of the Atma and that the Atma can be experienced
and validated through the Vedas. The Vedas do prohibit certain
activities as Un-atmic or opposed to the norms expected from a
believer in the Atma; they do recommend certain other activities
like charity, moral behaviour, as Atmic. But, the Atma is its own
proof, its own witness. Its existence cannot be established by
other facts, or things.
The Sastras, which are texts supplementary to the Vedas,
declare that God resides wherever six excellences are evident:
Enthusiasm (utsaha), determination (sahasam), courage (dhairya),
good-sense (sad-buddhi), strength (sakti) and adventure
(parakrama). The inaugural prayer of man has to be directed to God
(Ganapathi) to gain these six gifts which can purify consciousness
and reveal the Atma. One has to undertake the discovery of one's
Atmic core, with bravery in the heart; this is no exercise for
cowards. Wicked persons, waverers in faith, doubting hearts,
woeful countenances, are destined to go through life as rogis
(sick persons) and not yogis (dwellers in Atma).
This is the distinguishing mark that separates the 'wise'
(jnani) from the 'unwise' (ajnani). Krishna spoke, laughing with
an outburst of joy; Arjuna listened while over-powered by sorrow.
The jnani is always full of joy; he laughs. The ajnani is
afflicted with sorrow; he weeps.
In order to achieve victory while inquiring into the nature of
the Atma, one has to pass through the Asramas - the Four Stages of
Life recognised and recommended by the scriptural texts of
Sanathana Dharma. Each one while passing through each stage, aware
of the duties and responsibilities prescribed in the texts, learns
for himself a quantum of the knowledge that leads to Atmic
awareness.
It is only after the childhood years that the Asram routine
will have an impact on man. Until then, he cannot gather any
special knowledge about his duties and responsibilities. Man has
boyhood, adolescence, youth, middle age and senescence, as stages
of growth; there are also corresponding stages in the growth of
wisdom in him.
In the first stage of boyhood, he is led from ignorance and
'innocence' into the world of knowledge, when he is accepted as a
pupil by a Guru (Preceptor). After that, he has to serve the Guru
and obey him, without feeling burdened and bound. In the second
stage of youth, he has to share with society the means and
measures for its progress and security; he has to start earning
for his livelihood and spending his income with intelligent care;
he has also the duty of providing examples to those younger than
himself and guide them into socially useful paths. At the same
time, he must follow the footsteps of elders and learn from them
lessons for his own advancement.
In the third stage of adult-hood, intelligent attention has to
be paid not only to one's own advancement and the advancement of
the family and society but also to the advancement of the people
generally. That too is the responsibility of the grown-ups and
they must acquire the skills necessary. They must have wider
visions of the peace and prosperity of all mankind, and try to
contribute to both, within the limits of their capacity and
resources.
Old age is the fourth stage. By the time one reaches this stage
of his journey, he must have discovered that the joys available in
this world are trivial and fleeting. He must be equipped with the
higher knowledge of spiritual joy, available through delving into
the inner spring of Bliss. Through his experiences, his heart must
have softened and be filled with compassion. He has to be
engrossed in promoting the progress of all beings without
distinction. And he must be eager to share with others the
knowledge he has accumulated and the benefit of his experiences.
Thus, occupations and resultant attitudes have been assigned to
the various stages of human life. Practice is as important for
confirming one in wisdom as reading is important for confirming
one in knowledge. Alongside of knowledge, youth has to cultivate
the good qualities of humility, reverence, devotion to God and
steadfast faith. He has to engage himself in good works and enjoy
them for the sheer elation they confer. During adult-hood, along
with the earning of wealth and involvement in the improvement of
Society, attention must be paid to the promotion and preservation
of virtues and to the observance of moral codes. Steps should be
taken for improving one's righteous behaviour and spiritual
Sadhana. All levels of consciousness have to be purified and then
directed to holy tasks.
During middle age, besides fostering the family and society,
man has to live an exemplary life to inspire his children and hold
forth before society, elevating ideals worth practising. No
attempt should be made to belittle Society and benefit only the
family, for, it is bound to fail. The Brahmam principle can be
realised only by purifying one's activity and utilising that
activity to serve oneself in all. It can never be realised so long
as one relies on the caste into which he is born, or the
intellectual equipment he has added unto himself or the mastery of
the Vedas.
He who is born cannot escape death, some time, somewhere. Every
moment, many are born and many die. But man has to discover how to
'avoid' death. Now, the Atma which is the core of man, is not
born; since it does not take birth, it does not meet death. Death
happens to the body with which it is associated, with which it
mixes. The delusion that the body is the core, that the body is
real, that verily is the death. Affliction by that
falsehood is the act of dying. To be free from that delusion is to
attain Immortality. The body it is that disintegrates, not the
Atma, the Soul, the Self. The body is undergoing change every
moment and the final change is death, when the Self, changeless,
remains. When one believes that the changing body is oneself and
starts referring to it as 'I', that 'I' dies, but the real 'I' is
deathless.
As intense elevating activity and fearless inquiry into one's
Truth are practised more and more, the consciousness that the
'body is oneself' can be overcome and negated. Consider the fruit
of the tamarind tree. When unripe, it is not easy to separate the
rind, the pulp and the seed. So too, those who have stuck to
sensual desires and to fondling and feeding the body, cannot earn
the awareness of the Atma. When the tamarind fruit becomes ripe,
the rind can be broken off, the pulp gets detached from the seed
and the seed can be isolated without effort. Inquiry and unselfish
activity ripen the consciousness and the Atma can be isolated from
the body, clear and pure.
The body has five encasements which hide the Atma. There are
grouped under three categories - the gross, the subtle and the
causal. The physical case (flesh, blood, bone etc) and the vital
case (breath) form the gross body. When these two sheaths, the
sthoola body (the gross body) fall or disintegrate, the body too
falls and cannot rise.
The word 'sukshma' which is generally translated as 'subtle'
means in Sanskrit 'small'; it has another meaning too, "that which
expands." Air expands more than water; space is more expansive
than air. Compared with the expanse of the liberated soul, even
space has to be considered 'gross'! Steam is more expansive
(subtle) than water. Though a block of ice or a lump of camphor
appear 'gross' they become subtle when heated or lit.
The rule of the world is that the seen causes the unseen, the
manifested explains the unmanifested. But, the rule in the realm
of the Spirit is different. The latent Atma causes the patent
world. Being is behind Becoming, and finally, Becoming merges in
Being; the patent is absorbed into the latent. As milk from the
cow, from the Supreme Person flows the Power of Maya or Relativity
as the Five-element constituted Cosmos (Prakrithi), the patent
manifestation. The Cosmos is cognised as a composite, just as milk
is a composite of cream, curd, and butter, which can be got out of
it by the action of heat and cold, and the addition of sour drops,
and the process of churning thereafter. The churning separates the
butter from the milk. In the same manner, through cosmic processes
and upheavals of heat and cold, the Five Fundamental Elements
(earth, water, fire, air, and space) were separated and Earth,
this Ball of Butter, emerged as the product of the churning. If
any person or thing has one of the three character-traits
(balanced, passionate, dull) predominant in the makeup, we denote
him as having that trait. So also the Element, which is
predominant in any created entity, gives its name to it. This is
the reason why the world on which we live is called Bhoomi, the
Earth. The realms in space where the element of water predominates
are known as Bhuvarloka and Swarloka. The materials therein flow
in currents and streams.
In short, what appears as the Five Element-Constituted Cosmos
is only the superimposition on God, of the non-real Individual
Self and the Five Elements. God seen in and through the non-real
appears as Nature. This is but a distorted picture of Reality,
this everchanging multiplicity. The fault is in the mirror that
reflects, the mind that perceives, the brain that infers. What the
mirror presents as true has no authenticity. The mirror is coated
with dust and its face is not plain at all. God has no maya; He
has no intention or need to delude, nor does He will that it
should happen. But man in his ignorance sees things which do not
exist and believes that they do exist just as he sees them. This
weakness of his is named Adhyasa.
When God is reflected as Nature, the reflection becomes Maya.
As milk curdles into yoghurt, God becomes Jagath or the World of
incessant transformation, or Maya or the Image of the Unchanging
Divine. His Will causes this unreal multiplicity on the One that
He is; He can by His will end it. He is the Master of Maya.
God is omnipresent, omnipotent. Of the three entities, the
Overself, the Self and Nature, Nature has, as its purpose, the
fulfilment of the wants of man. God has no wants or wishes. He is
the fullest and highest Attainment. The Ananda of every
Being and for every Being flows spontaneously from God; His
words to Arjuna in the Geetha are, "I have no duty to discharge, O
Partha, in the three worlds." He has created duties only to foster
the consciousness of all living beings. He has no activity and no
obligation. He brings about the result for every activity. Without
Him, no activity can yield result! He decides which result should
accrue from which act.