RUPEE SERIES ASPECTS (en 7 OUR=RELIGION RYT UEC elects fe Er h(a] GENERAL EDITORS K. M. MUNSHI R. R. DIWAKAR — og Mh. ioeWhat J Bharatiya Vidya Stands for Bharatiya Shiksha must ensure that no promising. young Indian of character having faith in Bharat and her culture Bharatiya Vidya should be left without modern educational equipment by reason merely of want of funds. 2. Bharatiya Shiksha must be formative more than in- formative, and cannot have for its end mere acquisition of Knowicdge. Its legitimate sphere is not only to cevelop natural talents but so to shape them as to enable them to absorb and express the permanent values of Bharatiya Vidya. 3. Bharatiya Shiksha must take into account not only the full growth of a student's personality but the totality of his relations and lead bim to the highest self-fulfilment of which he is capable. 4. Bharatiya Shiksha must involve at some stage or other an intensive study of Sanskrit or Sanskritic languages and their literature. without excluding. if so desired. the study ‘of othes languages and literature. ancient and modern5. The reintegranon of Bharauya Vidya, which ws ine primary object of Bharatiya Shiksha, can only be attained through a study of forces, movements, motives, iddas, forms and art of creative life-energy through which it has expressed itself in different ages as a single continuous process. 6. Bharatiya Shiksha must stimulate the odent power of expression, both written and oral, at every stage in accordance with the highest ideals attained by the great literary masters in the intellectual and moral spheres. 7. The technique of Bharatiya Shiksha must involve— (a) the adoption by the teacher of the Guru attitude which consists in taking a personal interest in the student; it ing and encouraging him to achieve distinction in his studies; entering into his life with a view to form ideals and remove psychological obstacles; and creating in him a spirit of consecration; and (b) the adoption by the student of the Shishya. attitude by the development of — (i) respect for the teacher, (ii) a spirit of inquiry, (iii) a spirit of service towards the teacher, the institution, Bharat and Bharatiya Vidya. 6 The ultimate aim of Bharatiya Shiksha is to teach the younger generation to appreciate and live up to the permanent! values of Bharatiya Vidya which flowing from the supreme an of creative life-energy as represented by Shri Ramachandra, Shri Krishna, Vyasa, Buddha and Mahavira have expressed themselves in modern times in the life of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, and Swami Vivekananda, Shri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi. 9. Bharatiya Shiksha while equipping the student with ev: tind of scientific and technical fain must teach the student, a to sacrifice an ancient form oy attitude to an unreasoning passion for change: not to retain a form or attitude which in the light of modern times can be replaced by another form or attitude which is a truer and more effective expression of the spirit of Bharatiys Vidya; and to capture the spirit afresh fos each generation to present it to the worlday ay wat: saat org fara: Let noble thoughts come to us from every side 4 —Rigveda, 1.89.i ii BHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY RUPEE SERIES General Editors K. M. MUNSHI R. R. DIWAKAR 42 ASPECTS OF OUR RELIGION By Sri CHANDRASEKHARENDRA SARASWATI © (Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham)BHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY Organising Committee : Livavatr Munsu1—CuammMan K. K. Brera S. G. Nevarra J. H. Dave 8. RamakrisunanBHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY ASPECTS OF OUR RELIGION By SRI CHANDRASEKHARENDRA SARASWATI (Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham) 1966 BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN CHOWPATTY : BOMBAYAll Rights Reserved First Edition, March 1966 Price: Re. 1.00 PRINTED IN INDIA By P. H. Raman at Associated Advertisers & Printers, 505, Tardeo Arthur Road, Bombay-34, and Published by S._ Ramakrishnan Executive Secretary, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay-7, y Fiennes ailGENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE The Bhavan’s Book University volumes had rare success. About a million and a quarter volumes have been sold in about eleven years. However, there is an insistent demand for the stray volumes which the Bhavan has issued from time to time at a lower price. In order to meet this demand, it has been decided to issue the new One- Rupee Book University Series side by side with the Book University Series. I hope this new One-Rupee Series will have the same good fortune which the other Series had, of being useful to those who are interested in the fundamental values of Indian Culture, and of reaching out to a wider audience. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chowpatty Road, Bombay-7. Vijaya Dashami September 28, 1963 eae eet18, RRL td Ph ame ig eae pierrePUBLISHERS’ NOTE This book has been compiled out of the pub- lished English translations of the discourses deli- vered in Tamil by His Holiness the Sankaracharya, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetha in Madras during His Holiness’s visits to that city in 1932 and in 1957 to 1959, and from material gathered during privileged inter- views with His Holiness.Il. Ti. IV. VI. VII. VIII. IX. XI, CONTENTS Our RELIGION Ours—A UNIVERSAL RELIGION “AGE” OF THE VEDAS CONTENTS OF THE VEDAS THE SPIRITUAL PATH THE Gira Way THE STRENGTH OF OUR RELIGION SOME OF OUR RELIGIOUS INSTITU- TIONS Moorti Poosa or IMAGE WorRSHIP THE CURRENCY OF DHARMA SECRET OF HAPPINESS Page 10 14 17 33 4l 48 Sil 66 70Bien PMOL AOL Pare Caer Ee)I. OUR RELIGION There are many religions in the world today. Each has a name of its own. These names are personal and indicate the founders of the respec- tive faiths. Buddhism, Jainism, Mahomedanism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism are examples. They are all founded religions. They were found- ed each at a certain time in the history of the world. The founders of these religions were personages of great holiness. They had the power to attract many men to their way of thinking. They acquired a large following. If an English-educated youth belonging to our religion is asked what his religion is, he would re- ply that he professes the “Hindw’ religion. Go to a village and ask a peasant what his religion is. He will not be able to give a name to his religion. The name ‘Hinduism’ which is used now to denote our religion was unknown to our ancestors and is also unknown to the common man among us. What then is the name that is given to our religion? The fact is that our religion has no name. This may appear to be strange. But there is no- thing strange about it. Just consider. When and why is a name given to a thing? We give a name to a thing when there are more than one of the same kind and to distinguish one from the other or others. If there is one only of a thing, there is no need to give it a name. The same is the case with our religion. Other religions did not exist before the time of their founders. Ours is a religion which existed long before the founded religions. Obviously, itwas the only religion in the world ministering to the spiritual needs of mankind as a whole. There was no second religion from which it was required to be distinguished. Hence, there was no need for a name for it. It was, and even now continues to be nameless. We have no evidence as to when our teligion ‘began’. Obviously, it did not ‘begin’ at a particular time. It must be said to be beginningless. Tt has been existing always. It is sanaatana. The nearest Sanskrit word for religion is dharma, though dhar- ma signifies much more than religion. Our re- ligion, cannot be named after a founder; for there was no founder for it. So, if at all it is necessary to give a name to our religion, it can only be called Sanaatana dharma or the eternal religion. The founded religions derive their authority from the words of their founders. These words are collected together as a sacred or Holy Book which is the Scripture or the Testament of the respective religions. The Holy Koran, the Holy Bible, the Tripitaka are examples. Each of these holy books is the source book of a particular religion. What is the source-book or scripture of our religion? The Vedas are the scripture of our religion. They ex- press eternal Truths which govern the universe and the conduct of men. They are absolutely authori- tative. Frequently, when challenging the state- ment of a person, it is asked in Tamil ‘What? Is his statement a Veda-vaak?’ signifying that Veda- vaak, a Vedic statement is inherently true. There are two main sects among the Christians, the Catholics and the Protestants. But, the name 2of God is the same to both of them. The Catho- lics do not refer to God by one name and the Pro- testants by another. Both have a common Holy Book, namely the Bible. The same is true with Muslims who also have two main divisions among them. But both of them call their God Allah and the Koran is their Holy Book. Among Hindus too, there are two main divisions, Saivites and Vai- shnavites. But they do not refer to God by the same name. The Saivites call Him Siva and the Vaishnavites call Him Vishnu. In the Tamil Nad each goes by a separate Holy Book, Tevaaram for the former, and Divya Prabandham for the latter. But the basis for these two scriptures is the Vedas. Divya Prabandham is called Tamil-Vedam. The Saivites too acknowledge allegiance to the Vedas. So, the Vedas are the taproot of all sects of our religion. Whatever denomination we may belong to, our common allegiance is to the Vedas. The Vedas are the source of our religion. They are spoken of as the breath of God. In the Vedas, there is an identity of sound and sense, of the word and its meaning. The meaning resides in the sound. The fullness and the correctness of the meaning depend on the fullness and correctness of the utterance of the sound. The Vedic sentences are called mantras which embody sound and mean- ing in one. Any fault or deviation in their ut- terance will detract from the meaning or distort it. This accounts for the fact that in our tradi- tion, the Vedas were not put to writing. They were received through the ear and transmitted by the mouth to another through his ear. The Vedas are 3called Sruti, what is heard. They were handed by word of mouth from generation to generation by a competent teacher to a qualified pupil. In fact, it was never intended that the Vedas should be written. In Tamil, the Vedas are spoken of as ‘hidden’ (marai) and as an ‘unwritten book’ (ezhudaakkilavi). Anything written is liable to the faults of omission, commission, alteration and in- terpolation consciously or unconsciously. Such faults are likely to be augmented when copies are made from an original by hand, and copies of copies are continuously being made over the years. There are devices relating to learning of the Vedas through hearing which help to preserve them in their original form in the process of oral transmission through centuries. These relate to the number and the order of words in every Vedamantra, the time interval between the sounds, the pitch of voice for each sound and the part of the body from which it should come. All this cannot be learnt from writing, but must be learnt by imitating the manner in which the teacher utters the mantra. Learning in this manner, imi- tating the teacher, is called Veda-adhyayana. Tf the Vedas are written, or if they are printed as now, one may know the words and their meanings; but such knowledge will not help the proper utterance of the mantras. When not properly uttered, they will not be efficacious, and what is worse, they may even be harmful, producing a meaning and an effect contrary to what is intended on account of wrong intonation, accent and emphasis. Therefore, in the Hindu tradition, a person who learns the Vedas reading from a book or 4manuscript is included among the inferior class of learners and he is also considered to be blame- worthy. Giving a list of such offenders, a sloka says : geeti seeghri sirahkampee tathaa likhitapaatakah anarthajnah alpakantascha shaidaite paatakaadhamaah. The meaning of this is: ‘He who sings the Vedas, he who chants them very fast, he who shakes his head while chanting, he who reads from writing, he who does not know the meaning and he whose voice is low—these are very inferior learners of the Vedas.’ Thus, the Vedas have been preserved not by being written, but by the process of oral learning or adhyayana. It is the duty of the Braahmanas to engage themselves in this task. It is a whole-time job, in fact a function extending all through life. Pursuit of other avocations of life will interfere with it. That is why Braahmanas are forbidden from engaging in other pursuits. That is also the rea- son why other persons to whom other avocations in life appropriately belong are not entrusted with this task of thus preserving the Vedas. They have been prohibited from learning the Vedas. This is not to be understood as discriminating against them. This has been ordained only to ensure that they discharge their own functions in society un- distracted by other pursuits. As the Braahmana is not to engage in any other worldly profession, he could not earn his livelihood as others do. So, it became the duty of society to maintain him in reasonable comfort to help him to discharge his duty of Vedaadhya- 5yana, learning the Vedas and Veda rakshana, pre- serving them. This is not to be understood as giving the Braahmana a privileged position in society, nor is he to be considered as a parasite on society. As the other members of the society func- tion to promote the secular welfare of themselves and their fellowmen, the Braahmanas are charged with the duty of doing whatever is necessary to pro- mote their spiritual welfare. Providing for their livelihood was accepted as an obligation and in ancient times it was discharged with joyous willing- ness. : On their part, it is the duty of the Braahmanas to engage themselves in Vedaadhyayana, because that is their function in society. Unfortunately, in mo- dern times, most Braahmanas have neglected this duty and are pursuing professions proper to others in the society. Or, the duty has been relegated to a very small minority among themselves who are classed as Vaidikas. We forget that all Braahmanas are Vaidikas, that is those who must perform Vedaadhyayana.JI. OURS—A UNIVERSAL RELIGION We said that the Vedic religion was the earliest religion of mankind. All other religions arose only after it. There are evidences to conclude that it was prevalent all over the globe. We shall mention a few of them. An inscription unearthed in Egypt and dated 1280 B.C., contains the terms of a treaty between Rameses II and the Hittites. In this treaty, Mai- travaruna, a Vedic dual deity has been cited as a witness. (Vide: H.R. Hall’s “Ancient History of the Near East” pp. 364 et seqg.). Ancient Egyptian kings bore names like Rameses I, Rameses II, Rameses III etc., resembling the name of Rama who was the incarnation of God Vishnu. In the island of Madagascar off the eastern coast of South Africa, most of the place names have affinities with that of Rama. In regard to the Sahara desert in North Afri- ca, geologists advance the theory that it is the dried- up bed of an ocean. Ocean in Sanskrit is Saagara. May it not be that the modern name Sahaara is a corruption of the Sanskrit Saagara? It is also said that when Sahara was under water, there were peo- ple all round its shores whose names were mostly Sanskritic. Some of them were said to be related to the lord of Kosala. (Vide Encyclopaedia Brit- tannica Vol. XXIII, under Sahara) . In far off Mexico, they celebrate a festival call- ed Rama Sita. The time of the festival corresponds to our Dussara or Navaraatri period. (Vide p. 56 A, 0. R—2of the Text and Plate 24 in T.W.F. Gann’s “The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan, North and Bri- tish Honduras’). Excavations made in that coun- try have brought to light a number of Ganesa idols. (Baron Humboldt quoted in Harbilas Sarda’s ‘Hindu Superiority p. 151). The ancient inhabi- tants of those parts were Aastikas, (i.e. those who believed in the Vedas), a term which still lingers in its corruption as Aztecs, as the people there are now called. In Peru, in West South America, the inhabi- tants were Sun-worshippers. Their principal festi- vals of the year fell on the solstices (vide—Asiatic Researches Vol. 1 p. 426). They were known as the Incas, from Ina meaning the Sun. We know the Puraanic story of the King Sa- gara and of his sixty thousand sons who were burnt to ashes by the sage Kapila. The princes dug the earth to go to paataala loka in their search for the sacrificial horse which they found near the sage Kapila who was engaged in tapas. As they offend- ed him, he looked at them with angry eyes and they were reduced to ashes. Paataala loka corresponds to the Antipodes of India, namely America. May not California there be Kapila Aranya? The pro- bability is strengthened by the fact that there is an Ash Mountain Park in California and a Horse Is- Jand in Alaska in North America. Figures 128 and 129 on page 621 of the book, “The Native Tribes of Central Australia’ by Spencer and Gillen (Macmillan, 1899) depicted a kind of dance said to be current among the wild native tribes of Australia. The dance is described in the book as “Siva’s Dance”. On closer exa- 8mination, the dancers appear to have painted on their foreheads a third eye, a fact suggestive of the possibility that the people of even such distant lands as Australia were acquainted with our Vedic lore and Vedic gods. In the Eastern Archipelago, evidences of our religion are to be found. In Java, there are numerous relics of Hindu cult and worship. In Borneo there is a forest which used to be spoken of as Virgin Forest (Wallace: The Malay Archi- pelago pp. 44-45). A party of explorers discovered a stone which contained an inscription comme- morating in detail the performance of some yaagas and yajnas by a certain king (Yupa inscriptions of Mula Varman of Koeti, Borneo). All these evidences serve to show that our re- ligion was once prevalent throughout the globe. It may have been that for causes which we are not able to ascertain, the tenets and practices of our religion began to decline in other parts and their prevalence came to be confined to the land of their origin originally known as Bhaarata Varsha, India. When it lapsed into oblivion in other countries, and when due to lack of any re- ligious consciousness, the people became godless and unethical, there arose in those lands great pro- phets who brought to light one aspect or another of this forgotten religion. They declared them- selves to be founders of new religions and came to be revered as such. But it must be noted that the fundamental moral principles underlying these new religions only emphasised some feature or other of the universal Vedic religion with certain theological variations. 9Ii. “AGE” OF THE VEDAS It is customary to speak of the ‘Age’ of the Vedas. The sacred books of Buddhism, Christiani- ty and Islam have dates assigned to them by the yotaries of the respective religions. The Buddhist Tripitakas are said to have been written about the time of Asoka, though according to certain authori- ties, Buddha’s age can be carried to many centuries earlier. The New Testament originated about 2,000 years ago. The Koran which is the Word of God conveyed to the Prophet was written about 1,200 years ago. All these holy books have historical dates assigned to them. But it is different with the Vedas. No one can say with any cer- tainty when they came into being. Yet, Orienta- lists are anxious to discover when they were ‘com- posed’. Some of them say it was in 1,500 B.C. Others say, 3,000 B. C. Lokmanya Tilak fixed it at 6,000 B.C. and some Orientalists agree with him and others differ from him. Modern Orientalists are inclined to bring the date further down. Buddhism revolted against the Vedas and the Buddhists criticised them. They themselves did not know when the Vedas ‘began’. Buddha was born 2,500 years ago, and he too did not know when the Vedas ‘came to be’. The Vedas are anaadi and nitya (beginningless and eternal). Sound (sabda) which is the framework of the Vedas is eternal. According to us, creation and dissolution of the universe, srishti and pralaya alternate. At a fresh creation after a pralaya, the eternal sound is caught 10through their ears by the Vedic seers (mantra drashtaarah) and they transmit them to the world. A method to determine the ‘age’ of the Vedas is said to be based on the evidence of styles of the Hindu scriptures as they changed from the Vedas through the Upanishads and the Sutras to the Kaavya literature. In the case of any spoken lan- guage, it is computed that it undergoes modifica- tions gradually with the passage of every 200 years. Taking Tamil, for an example, the Tamil of modern times is different from that of the Sangham Age. It is a far cry from Old English to Modern English as we see itin England. American English is different from the orthodox English of the Londoner. The style of writing and speaking a particular language undergoes modification through the passage of time. On this basis, allowing a difference of 200 years for the wearing out of an old style and the emergence of a new style, it is roughly estimated, calculating backwards, that the Vedas should have been written 1,500 years before Christ. Vessels used in Maths and in big temples are in daily use to prepare food for hundreds of peo- ple. Constantly put over the oven, scrubbed and cleaned, they wear out and have to be repaired or replaced. On the other hand, in every rich man’s house, there are some big vessels which are used only on rare occasions like marriage feasts and they are put away after such use. They are scarcely in need of repair; they are generally intact. In old days, before the introduction of the pipe system to provide water, wells near railway stations and other places of public resort were the only source of water for the use of people. Many dents will 11 "be found on the tops of the protecting walls of these much-used wells. The abutting walls of wells taised near places where there is pipe-water supply are not worn out, but are as whole and entire as when they were first built. These point to the fact that things wear out by use, and gradually lose their original shape and form. But, what is carefully or sparingly used, what is not handled by all and sundry, is as it was in the beginning. The same is true of language also. English, Tamil or Hindi, any language for that mat- ter, has changed its style through the centuries, be- ing commonly used in all sorts and manner of ways leading to its being worn out and distorted. But it is remarkable that the language of the Vedas today is the same in form and feature as it was since time immemorial. There has been no distortion or deterioration. The reason for this is that the Vedic chanting has been so carefully guard- ed as not to allow any possibility of a lapse or _ change from its pristine form. This has been se- cured by the several devices mentioned earlier. Making a rough ‘estimate’ of the so-called ‘date’ of the Vedas is to go on an ‘evidence’ which has no bearing on the Vedas. Not only have the Vedas been without a beginning, but they have continued in their identical form through the eons of succes- sive periods of deluge and creation alternating with each other. The word Veda comes from the root Vid, to know. The Vedas are a body of knowledge, a sum of Truths. Truth is not man-made. Truth exists for ever, from an infinite past. What man can do and has done is only to perceive the Truth, to 12receive it, to understand it, to utter it in words and to convey it to others. The great sages of the past perceived these Truths with the ‘eyes of their soul’. They are known as mantradrashtaarah, those who intuited the Truths. They were highly spiritual personages who tuned their higher consciousness fo catch the eternal Truths ever present in the firmament through the divyasrotram stated in the Yoga Sutras and they spoke them forth in the form of the several Vedas. The various parts of the Vedas are associated with the names of distinct sages, not because they were their authors, but for the reason that those sages received the Truths and gave expression to them. Not only the ideas of these Truths, but even the language and the words and letters in their particular sequences and the manner of their utterance were thus received by them. The process of intuiting and receiving the Vedic sounds is analogous to that in a tadio receiv- ing apparatus. Tuned to particular wave lengths, it is able to receive sound waves of appropriate frequencies. The rishis too tuned their minds by the practice of Yoga to receive these eternal sounds which are not audible to the physical ear. This is even as Sri Krishna endowed Arjuna with divine eyes (divya chakshus) to be able to see His vis- yaroopa. The Yoga-Sastra speaks of the method of acquiring this power by the spiritual process of srotraakaasa samyama.IV. CONTENTS OF THE VEDAS The Vedas represent what should be known and acted upon to enable a man to attain libera- tion. It is a cardinal principle of our religion that suffering and sorrow of every one should be over- come by realising one’s true nature, by a know- ledge of one’s true self, namely God. Our scriptures provide such knowledge in various ways suited to the status and capacity of the person seeking it. The sources of such knowledge are called Vidyaas- thaanas. Says a verse: angaani vedaascatvaarah meemamsaa nyaaya vistaarah Puraanam dharmasaastram cha vidyaa hyetaaschaturdasa Another verse says: puraana nyayameemamsaa dharmasaastraangamisritaah vedaah sthaanaani vidyaanaam dharmasya cha chaturdasa These fourteen sacred books or Vidyaasthaa- nas are: 1 to 4 The four Vedas 5 to 10 The six Vedaangas 11 Meemaamsaa 12 Nyaaya 13. The Puraanas and 14 The Dharma Saastras. The Tamil Tevaaram praises God by saying: He became the Vedas and the six angas; (Veda- modu aarangam aayinaanai). The most important of these scriptural texts are the Vedas, They are said to be infinite (anantaavai Vedaah). About 5 ,000 years ago, at the conjunction of the Dyaapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga, the sage Vyaasa is said to have classified theVedas into four parts. It is to be noted that we haye little or no knowledge of the identity of the great personages of our religion. They have assum- ed anonymity under the feeling that their work is more important than themselves. Vyaasa literal- ly means a ‘compiler’. As the Vedas are too ex- tensive and manifold to be mastered in the span of a single human life, Vyaasa divided them into four parts with the object that it might be possible for a person to master at least one branch (Saakha) of it. He took care to see that each saakha contained all that was necessary for one’s life and liberation. His four disciples, Paila, Vaisampaayana, Jaimini and Sumantu learnt under him the Rg, Yajus, Saama and Atharva Vedas. Each of the Vedas is divided into two portions, the Samhita, which is another name for the Mantra portion, and the Braahmanas. The word Mantra comes from man (a in man pronounced like u in but) meaning to think. The meaning of the mantra is intended to be meditated upon for attaining spiritual wisdom. Tn sacrifices, the mantras are required to be recited on various occasions along with the act of offering oblations. The Rg Veda is generally in poetic form. The Yajur Veda has more of prose than poetry and is used in worship (from Yaj: to worship or to sacri- fice). There are two main versions of this Veda known as the Krishna or Black Yajus and the Sukla or White Yajus. The first is of the School of the Taittireeyins and the second belongs to the Vaajasaneyins. The Saama Veda consists entirely of stanzas (excepting 75) taken from the Rg Veda and arranged solely with reference to their place 15in the Soma sacrifice. They are intended to be sung during the sacrifice and so, they are called the Book of Chants. It is known as Saama gaan. These three Vedas, the Rg, the Yajus and the Saama are known as trayee, a collection of three. The Atharva Veda contains occult mantras for acquiring my- sterious powers. The Braahmanas give directions for the per- formance of the sacrifices and the explanation of words, formulas and hymns which are difficult to be understood. They show the connection between the hymn and the ceremony with reference to which it is recited. They consist of two parts, the Vidhis prescriptions or directions for the performance of the sacrifice and arthavaadas or explanations. The last portion of the Braahmanas is taken up with a part of the Vedas known as Aaranyakas which include in themselves some of the famous Upanishads. As their name implies, they are forest treatises. They are intended for the use of pious men who have retired to the forest. Owing to the superior sanctity of their contents, they are to be communicated in the seclusion and solitude of the forest. As the Aaranyakas are part of the Braah- manas, the Vedas may be said to be of two groups the Samhitas and the Braahmanas. The Upanishads deal with spiritual knowledge as such. They are said to constitute the jnaana kaanda. These are a series of dissertatory treatises about Man, Nature and God or the Supreme Rea- lity and the relation between them. They also describe the mental disciplines by which man is enabled to realise the Supreme and obtain release from the bond of successive births. 16V. THE SPIRITUAL PATH 1, KARMAANUSHTHANA The entire course of a Hindu’s spiritual life has been succinctly stated in the Pentad of Instruc- tion known as the Upadesa Panchaka of Sti Sankara. It is a cardinal tenet of our faith that the present life of any man should be the last in the succession of infinite lives that he has had in the history of his soul. The soul by itself is in- corporeal; its association with the body is due to the operation of avidya, or nescience which itself is beginningless. The present life of every man is a glorious opportunity to be used in such a manner that there will be no more lives hereafter. The death that will come inevitably at the end of this life must be the last, and the soul surviving that should not thereafter enter into another body by the operation of the Law of Karma. Since residual karma brings the soul in conjunction with the body, all karma should be liquidated, burnt out, with the body of the present life. It is to this end that every man must strive. For this purpose, says Sankara, following the Vedas every one must go through certain disci- plines. They refer to work, worship and wisdom, Karma, Bhakti and Jnaana. All spirituality must be firmly established on a high moral code, which involves the doing of what is prescribed and the avoidance of what is prohibited. Frequently in the context of our daily life, we have to determine the nature of our duties. Kumarila Bhatta, the great 17Meemaamsaka posed the question: What is Dhar- ma? What is its ground? Ordinarily we say that the Laws of a State determine our duties. These laws are the enactments of a legislature which is a part of our Constitution. Who gave the autho- rity to this Constitution? It was drawn up by the tepresentatives elected by the people. It does not require much argument to show that the voters are of various kinds of intellectual and moral calibre and that the representatives whom they return are not always the best. That is inevitable in this im- perfect world. We also see that in some cases Law and Justice do not coincide. Our courts are called Courts of Law. They are not Courts of Jus- tice in the strict sense of that expression. Not un- often, our judges feel helpless in the face of an unjust law, and, in their decisions, they recommend that the law may be modified in consonance with the requirements of justice. The enactments of legislatures regulate pub- lic conduct. But what about individual morality? What is the criterion of personal action, of what a man should do by himself and for himself? In our religion it has been declared that in matters of conduct one should be guided by the ordinances of the Vedas. Vedokhilo dharma moolam: the Veda is the source of all Dharmas. The Vedas are au- thorless, apaurusheya; they are not man-made. They are intuitions of Yogic sages into eternal Truths. Suppose a situation arises in which no guid- ance can be obtained from the Vedas. Many of the Vedas have been lost. If the extant Vedic texts cannot guide us in our conduct, it is prescribed that 18we should look for guidance to the writings of sages like Manu, Yaajnavalkya, Paraasara and others who have left behind what may be called aides memoire or Smritis which should determine our conduct. There is a mistaken belief that the authors of these Smritis were law-givers. That is wrong. They did not enunciate new laws. Simriti implies what is remembered. Smiriti is a record of the memory of the sages of the Vedic texts includ- ing what might have been lost in the passage of time. Smriti follows and is in accord with Sruti or the Vedas. Kaalidaasa picturesquely conveyed this when he said that the queen Sudakshina fol- lowed her husband, King Dileepa, and walked a little distance behind him, as he took the cow Nan- dini to graze in the forest, with accordant mind even as the Smriti follows the footsteps of Sruti. Sru- terivaartham smritiranvagacchat. Thus we have the authority of Kaalidaasa, the mahaakavi, our national poet for saying that Smritis derive their au- thority from the Vedas and that their ordinances are not man-made with the possibility of error or liability to be set at nought. Suppose again that there are no Smriti texts to guide us at a crisis, what are we to do? The conduct of those who know the Smiriti, seelascha tadvidaam is to be observed and we must act ac- cordingly. As these persons who know the Smritis are well-versed in the eternal basic principles of conduct, their declarations are expected to be in tune with the spirit of the Sruti. But when per- sons well-versed in Smritis are not available, we have to model our conduct on the virtuous actions of good people, aachaaraascha saadhoonaam. Sadhus 19are good people who are pure in heart. If these exemplars too are not to be had to instruct us in the determination of our conduct on a particular occa- sion, then we have to abide by the intimation of a pure conscience: aatmanastushtirevacha. Pray to God for guidance with a pure and devout heart and act in accordance with the light that you then ob- tain. That is how Dushyanta in Kaalidaasa’s Saakuntala, approved of his own decision to make love to Kanva’s daughter. He said: Sataam hi sandehapadeshu vastushu pramaanamantahkaranapravrttayah. ‘In cases of doubt, when there is no other approved means to solve it, the good people rely on the voice of conscience.’ From the above, it will be clear that the ap- peal to conscience or the inner voice must be made only when all the other forms of guidance that have been enumerated, namely, Sruti, Smriti, the way of life of those well-versed in Smriti and the example of good men are not available. Then, and only then, can we act as our conscience bids us act. Now-a-days, however, the fashion is to make it all topsy-turvy, to give the first place to what is called one’s conscience relegating all the other prescribed guidances to a secondary place, or, as is often done, to condemn them as meaningless and irrational. The ancient view, however, about the pramaanas, or criteria of dharma has stood the test of time. It has the support of mahaakavis who, as their name connotes, can see farther than others. (kavih kraantadarsee) . Tn order, therefore, to know what may be done and what may not be done, we must be guided by 20 »the pronouncements of the Vedas which state pres- criptions vidhis and prohibitions nishedas. Sri Krishna said in the Gita: yaha saastravidhimutsrjya vartate kaamakaarathah na sa siddhimavapnoti na sukham na paraamgatim, XVI 23 ‘He, who, having cast aside the injunctions of the saastras, acts according to his own sweet will, attains not perfection, or happiness or the highest goal.’ ‘Therefore,’ says Sri Krishna, ‘let the saastra be your authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Knowing what has been prescribed in the saastra, you should perform your action here.’ tasmaat saastram pramaanam te kaaryaakaarya vyava- sthithau. jnaatvaa_saastravidhaanoktam karma kartumihaarhasi. XVI-24 Thus, to know how we should act in the course of our lives, we must turn for guidance ultimately to saastra, i.e. the Vedas. To know what the Vedas say, it is necessary to learn them and keep uttering them everyday lest, by reason of their not being put to writing, they should be forgotten. Therefore, Sri Sankara opened his Pentad of Instruction with the words : Vedonityam adheeyataam. The Vedas should be learnt and kept alive in the utterance every day. Having learnt them, the next thing which fol- lows is: taduditam karma svanushteeyataam 21The duties prescribed by them should be properly performed. What will be the result of such good conduct according to the Vedas? God is pleased by it. tena eesasya vidheeyataam apachitih. ‘Dis- charge well and truly’, says Sri Sankara, ‘the kar- ma which is yours, and that will be worship most pleasing to the Lord’. To lead a good life, we must get rid of evil in our mind, speech and conduct. To this end, we must be continuously engaged in thinking good thoughts and doing good deeds prescribed by the saastras. An old sanyaasi was asked how he over- came the promptings of lust, kaama. He replied that when kaama knocked at his mind’s door, it found him so busy that it went away of its own accord. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. If we are always busy with good deeds, evil will not come near us. In the very process of doing good deeds, the evil automatically vanishes from our mind. Doing good deeds keeps us constantly think- ing of God and thereby we earn His grace all the more. Singing of God Varadaraaja of Kaanchi, Sri Appayya Deekshitar, the philosopher-devotee said: ‘There may be other poets, O Lord! who can com- pose verses in Thy name very quickly. I am a slow poet. But my good fortune is greater than theirs. For, while I struggle to versify, my mind lingers for a longer time on the features of Thy resplendent Person. So, the first stage in the spiritual ladder is the due performance of the obligatory duties prescrib- ed in the saastras. This should be done not with a view to enjoy the fruits of those actions; but purely from a sense of duty and in a spirit of dedi- cation to God. This karmaanushtaanam gives 22mental purity and also makes one eligible for God’s grace. The loyal fulfilment of one’s own individual Dharma is true praise and true worship of the Lord. 2. DEVOTION TO Gop A spiritual man is one who lives his days in contemplation of God. What is God? In every re- ligion God is referred to as the creator. He is spoken of as the kartaa. He is said to be respon- sible for the creation of the world and its main- tenance. Every effect must have a cause. The ultimate cause is God. Further, God is the dis- penser of the fruits of our actions, whether they are good or evil. God is known as karmaphala- daataa. God may be the creator of the world and also the dispenser of the fruits of our actions. But why should we have devotion to Him ? Why should we show bhakti to Him? The answer to this question is provided in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Yoga is defined as chittavrttinirodha. It is the control of the mind’s activity. But how to control the mind? This can be brought about by worship of God. The world is full of things which distract the mind, which make it shake and waver. To keep our body in balance without being tossed about, we hold fast to a strong pillar. Even so, to keep our mind steady, we should make it stick to something that is unchanging and unshakable. It must be some- thing that is fixed, sthaanu, unmoving and perma- nent among the unstable things of the world. God who is the all-knowing Intelligence is the One Per- 23 A.O.R.—8manent in this world of impermanent things. We should hold Him before our mind to control it and steady it like a flame in a place where there is no breeze. Tf you meditate on a thing with concentration, you acquire its qualities, and, at last, you become that thing itself. Meditation on God who is omni- scient, who is unaffected by want and unmoved by desire, makes one like God Himself. To steady oneself even as God is steady, one should have devotion to God. Saint Tiruvalluvar says that we must attach ourselves to Him who has no attach- ments to rid ourselves of all attachments. Attach yourself to God to be detached from the world. What really is the core of bhakti? It is the condition of mind which is continuously drawn to and anchored in the feet of the Lord of all crea- tures, the Pasupati. Sri Sankara has a verse which brings out the nature of bhakti by a few beautiful examples from Nature and human relations. Ankolam nijabeejasantatih. It is traditionally believed that there is a tree called the ankola tree, Its seeds fall down from the full-grown tree. By some internal compulsion of its nature, it moves of its own accord towards the foot of the parent tree, Having reached it, it gently ascends clinging to the trunk and eventually becomes one with it. Ayaskaantopalam soochikaa. The needle is drawn to the loadstone, gets magnetised by it and becomes itself a magnet. Saadhvee natjavibhum. A pativrataa woman intensely longs with all her heart and soul for the company of her lord who is all the world to her. Lataa kshitiruham. A creeper meandering on 24the ground is on the look out for a tree to twine itself round. Having found it, it envelops it on all sides and cannot be separated from it even with great force. Sindhussaridvallabham. The rivers which take rise in distant mountains rush forth with turbulent avidity to flow into the sea. The rivers become one with the waters of the sea and their water becomes salty even as the sea water is salty. The attraction in all these cases is natural and spontaneous, not a calculated or artificial one. At the start they feel separate from that to which each of them is attracted. But they cannot subsist in their separation. The seed, the needle, the saadhvee, the creeper and the rivers find the fulfilment of their being in the union and eventually, in their identity with that which alone makes for their com- pletion. To the saadhvee i.e. the pativrataa, the true wife, her husband is her all. He is her very life. Separation from him even for a second causes her intense anguish. The rivers rise on mountain tops, where clouds pour out what they took out from the sea, their original source and the ultimate goal. They flow in torrents and fall in cascades. roaring with fury betokening their eagerness to meet their lord, the saridvallabha and then they merge in its bosom. In these successive ways does the true devotee pine for God and draw himself to Him. The final example illustrates the intense thoroughness of devotional attraction with the background of the ultimate Adyaitic truth. Devotion is the link between the devotee and Deity. The devotee is unhappy in separation 25from God. He longs for union with the Supreme Being. Separation signifies duality, dvaitabhaava. The goal of bhakti is the annulment of duality and the attainment of oneness, a-dvaita bhaava. The ankola seed becomes one with the tree indistin- guishable from it. The creeper twines round the tree for the rest of its life. The needle getting mag- netised itself becomes a magnet. The saadhvee loses her separate individuality in the personality of her pati, her lord. All the rivers of different names and forms lose their distinctness when they become one with the sea. What was the river water be- comes the sea-water. These examples also show that God is our source and our sanctuary. Ultimately, being oneself is to realise one’s true Self which is God. That is the consummation of bhakti. True prayer is not asking for this and that which are alien to us, Which are things outside of us. The true devotee prays to God to give Himself to himself. “Give me my own nature” madeeyam eva svaroopam dehi. In the last analysis, since each man’s true nature is God Himself, “Give me to myself? means ‘give Thyself to me’. This truth is wonderfully brought out in an- other prayer that Sri Sankara sang in his Sawndar- yalahari. The prayer starts with the words Bhavaani tvam daase mayi vitara drshtin sakarunaam, Addressing the Mother of the universe as Bha- vaani, Sti Sankara prays: ‘Be pleased to cast Thy gracious look on me, Thy servant’. The interest- ing words here are, ‘Bhavaani tvam’, which mean ‘Oh Bhavani! Thou’ (mayest be pleased to shed 26