SOME AMAZING/INTERESTING EXTRACTS FROM A FEW POPULAR WORKS IN SANSKRIT
D.RAMESH
1.I have tried to cull out some information, which many may not know, that are really amazing, on various aspects of life. I have tried to do this from the shrutis and smritis.
The original mantras and shlokas and their interpretations have been reproduced from the originals. In some places I have given my own interpretations. If this is not acceptable to scholars, I would humbly offer my apologies to them while submitting to them simultaneously one word about our shrutis and smritis:our traditions allow an amazing liberty to interpret the texts as the reader sees fit.
2.Before I write anything further, I would like to say one word. I am not a scholar of Sanskrit. I have not had the privilege to study it as a subject, deeply. As my fortune would have it, coincidentally, about 18 years ago, I got the opportunity to serve in the Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, near Jigani. While there, I had the unique opportunity of listening to the lectures by extraordinary people, greatly learned, greatly experienced. Hearing these wonderful discourses I was deeply affected and somehow got pushed to studying Sanskrit texts at least in their English and Kannada versions. At this time, most fortunately for me, Shri Phanirajji and his wife Dr.Ramaa were giving discourses in their house, which was also not far from mine. Their discourses on the various Upanishads, Bhagadvad- Gita, works of Shankara and others were given daily. I have never heard such wonderful and interesting discourses anywhere else. They were incomparably lucid, particularly because Phanirajji is an exceptionally patient man who would not object to a student stopping him in the middle to ask for clarifications. He would never admonish them or ask them to seek the clarifications at the end of the talk. He would clarify the doubt then and there till the seeker was satisfied. And all this he did with his wonderfully smiling face. He would then resume his discourses from exactly the spot where he had been stopped. Dr.Ramaa would also give similar talks.
3. These talks changed our outlook on life completely. We happily realized, but unhappily a little late in life, the oceans of deep knowledge waiting to be enjoyed. I can never ever express adequately my gratitude to these Gurus for what they have done to me and my wife. (At about this time, my wife was stricken with a terrible nervous disease which made her bed ridden for almost 18 months. This situation forced us to stop the great experience of listening to the discourses).
4. Fortunately for us, my wife, my children and I have the hobby (the only hobby) of reading: fiction, autobiographies, science, and all other forms of literature. This included some books on Vedanta and similar lore. Thus, mostly from the discourses of the learned, a little from self study, however inadequate, I came across some passages which were sometimes surprising, others amazing and yet others giving very appropriate guidance for living .This I thought was an unusual privilege given to me and I was eager to share with others who may be interested, some of these great passages. At the same time, I had the greater ambition, if you will, of the possibility of at least a few of the readers getting inspired into trying to change some of the most cruel and despicable practices existing in our society.
5. The slokas selected in this write-up and the situations are deliberately done randomly, so that at least something could be presented on as many topics and subjects as possible. Because of this, there may be no direct connection at all from one item to the next and it may take a few moments for the mind to adjust to the new topic! It is my stupid anxiety and enthusiasm to refer to one or the other topic so that readers who are not familiar with the subject could get some information. I crave pardon from the readers for this imposition.
6. After this introduction but before I proceed further, I must mention another point. Our society has been cleft apart by considerations of caste, sub-castes. This has resulted in great harm. But one thing must be clearly understood: the concept of ‘varna’ which appears in our smritis has absolutely nothing at all to do with the today’s concept of castes, upper and lower. We can pause to examine as to why this must have begun and the reason for the present mess. In the Bhagavadgita (Jnanayoga, chapter 4, sloka 13), Krishna says:
Chaaturvarnyam mayaa srishtam gunakarmavibhagaasha
Tasyakartaarapimam vidya kartaaramavyayam//
What he is saying here is not applicable merely to the people of India but to the whole mankind. It applies to every individual in the society. Every individual in the society possesses his own special guna (tamas, rajas, sattva) and special aptitude towards work. Two children even born in the same womb have totally different personalities in them. Then in the society in its entirety, how many and how wide must be the differences!
7.Even in the western countries, there was the system of ‘Freemasons’. This exists even now. There was no way a person could move from one profession to another. Thus we have a Smith, a Barber, Goldsmith, Miller, Baker and so on. These were the castes there. Even after the industrial revolution, it continued for a couple of centuries. But in our society, in the early period,
Janmataa jaayae shoodraha
Karmataa jaayaae dwijaha
was accepted. (At the time of birth, everyone is a sudra, only after his real nature and aptitude to work did he become a Brahmin, a kshatriya, a vaishya etc).
8.The Gita says (18-42):
Shamo damastapah shoucham kshaantiraarjavamevacha
Jnaanamvijnaanamaastikyambrahmakarma
svabhaavajam
Serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness, uprightness, also knowledge, wisdom and faith are characteristic of brahmana born of his nature. Thus, it did not matter in which family one was
born, one could move from one varna to another, purely on the basis of one’s own natural gunas and aptitudes.
9.There is a beautiful example in the scriptures for this. (There seems to be some difference of opinion among scholars on the dating of this incident. Some scholars put it at the time of Vasishtha-Janaka while others place it at the time of Shri Shankaracharya. However, from the available evidence, this would indeed seem to belong to the earlier period). Jabala was a beautiful sudra woman who seems to have had relationship with several men. From this, she begot a son called Jaabaali. He was a brilliant child with a razor sharp mind. He was anxious to study the Vedas. Jabala tried her best to persuade him against it, knowing her own circumstances and origin. Finally she gives in and he approaches the great sage Vasishtha. The sage asks him as to what gotra he belonged. To this, Jaabaali replies that he does not know his gotra, that his mother had relationship with many men and that he was born out of wedlock. Vasishtha is extremely pleased with the answer and remarks: ’Despite the bitterness of it, truth has been spoken by you and therefore you are a real Brahmin. Come, I will take you as my pupil!’. He teaches Jaabaali all he scriptures and he develops into a great scholar.
10. In this way, movement between the varnas depended on the gunas of the individual and his own special aptitudes. Now, however, the son of a vokkaliga is a vokkaliga, the son of a bania is a bania, the son of a barber will belong only to that caste, etc. This has resulted in great disquiet in the society. Thus, whenever the word brahmana is used in the shrutis and smritis, it refers not to a caste but to a person who is clean physically and in the mind, serene, austere, endowed with knowledge and wisdom etc. With this background, our past President Abdul Kalam is a Brahmin, Deve Gowda is a kshatriya, Vijay Mallya a vaishya and so on. (Valmiki rishi was a hunter, Vishwamitra a kshatriya and some other rishis were born out of pots or from fish!). There was no fixed connection between birth and varna. Thus the word brahmana occurring in our shrutis and smritis must be viewed in the background described above and not as someone born to the caste.
11. The interpretations on and the original mantras/slokas quoted are as given in the original. In some places, I have attempted to give my own interpretation. If some scholars find this unacceptable, permit me to say a word even while tendering to them my apologies: to give one’s own interpretation on the scriptures is a freedom given to all in our culture, at all times. Such freedom does not perhaps exist elsewhere is indeed a matter of great pride for us. It is because of this freedom that vedantins, saankhya, chaaruvaakas, atheists, dwaitis, adwaitis, vishishtadwaitis and so many, many other schools of thought arose and flourished. I am therefore sure that even if a scholar does not agree with the views of a none-too-bright person like me, he would never question my right to say it.
13.The Hindu society and the widows
13.1Till very recently one of the most degrading aspects of our society was the attitude towards widows. These were most cruel and inhuman. Admittedly, there have been great changes for the better. But for thousands of years, in the South, East, West and North of India, in how many ways did our society oppress the widows: they were tied down by the concepts of madi/mailige (not easily translatable to English but roughly, special types of ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’). Till recently their heads would be shaved, they were made to wear only red or white saris, not allowed to wear anything stitched, allowed to eat only one meal a day, made to attend to all the household work, take care of the new- borns and their mothers while they themselves may never even have had sex before having become widows! Their lives were worse than those of slaves. In Brahmin families, I have myself seen that till at least the 60’s and 70’s of the twentieth century, how cruelly such practices were enforced. If someone saw a widow on the road, it was considered a very bad omen and she would be cursed!
13.2 In Benares and Brindavan, have the widows of Bengal and other states not been living a dog’s life ? When Mira Nair wanted to make a movie on this, she was chased out. That this practice exists even in Rajasthan and Punjab was something I learned recently to my great surprise. This then is the situation in our society as it exists/existed. To justify such actions, perpetrators condoned, and are condoning, the practices by saying ‘this is what our dharma says’.
13.3 But readers will be amazed to discover the reality: a woman is sitting by the side of the dead body of her departed husband and is weeping. What do out shrutis say on this?
In the Rig Veda Samhita, 10th Mandala, 18th Sutra, 8th mantra addresses the woman saying-
Urdeeshva naaryabhi jeevalokam
Gataasu metamupa sesha ehi/
Hastagraabhasya didhighostavedam
Patyurjanitva mabhisambaghoothaha//
Hey, woman, why are you weeping sitting by the side of a corpse? Get up, go and find a good husband, get married and live happily~
13.4 What amazing words! Is it that our forefathers deliberately suppressed this mantra to perpetuate their suppression of woman? When the woman had been given such amazing freedom, thousands of years ago, by our scriptures, why was it kept hidden? As for me I did not even know till recently (I am 75 now!) that such a mantra even existed. This one mantra is so full of social significance that I feel that whatever else I have read in such great deal, is all worthless. This one mantra could have torn asunder the cruel practices against the widows thousands of years ago!
13.5 Permit me to digress for just a bit and then proceed.
The shlokas which appear in the shrutis are called ‘mantras’. That on which we contemplate or repeat leads to our being protected are the mantras (tra-protect, man-contemplate, remember).
13.6 Read on. Some years ago there was a Hindi movie song which you may remember:’bhaabhi thera devar deevaanaa..’. (For South Indians, the way the brother in law plays with his elder brother’s wife sometimes seems rather embarrassing). As though the background for this, addressing a woman who seems very happy and sporting, the Rigveda (mandala 10, sutra 40, mantra 2) says:
Kuhasva doshaa kuhavastorashvinaa
Suhaabhi pitvam karataha kuhoshatuhu/
Kovaa shayatraa vidhavena hetaram
Maryam na yethaa krunute sathasthane//
Having married her brother in law (devara), she is eagerly awaiting his return home!
13.7 Now listen to what Maharshi Manu has to say about the freedom of woman and the rights of widows:
Devaraadhvaa sapindaadvaa striyaa samyagnayuktaa/
Prajessithaadhi gantavyaa santaanasya parikshaye//
A woman who is issue-less and has become aware that she cannot bear children (from the man she is with), she can take the permission of her husband or the elders and then proceed to have children from the elder brother of her husband or a relative of her choice.
13.8 This indicates that there indeed was widow remarriage, that she could marry her own brother in law. (It would appear that such marriages do occur in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand etc. even now). A statement in the shrutis is not to be disputed. Why then has that statement not appeared anywhere else? Is this another example of the later domination over women?
13.9 In the Skandapurana, there is a dialogue between Shri Krishna and Yudhishthira which describes the ‘phalashruti’ (fruits of a particular puja) of the ‘varasiddhivinayaka kalpokta’ story (sloka 34), there is a passage: ‘vidhava poojayitvaa vai vaidhavyam naapnuyaat kvachit’. (In fact, this passage is recited by all of us who perform the Ganesh Chaturthi festival at home). This passage means that if a widow performs this worship, she will not become a widow again. This could mean the present birth or the coming births. But that the Skandapurana also talks about widow remarriage is clear from this.
13.10 Again,
Vidhavaayaam niyuktastu ghrutaakto vaagyato nishi/
Ekamutpaadayetthattram n dviteeyam kathanchana//
With widows or when someone’s wife is unable to bear children from her husband, the (other chosen)person who has intercourse with that woman, must smear his whole body with ghee, have the intercourse only in the night and beget only one son; never a second one.
13.11 It is clear from the above that a widow also, if she desired to have an issue, could have it and also choose the man to have it with.
14.Freedom of Women
14.1 From the issues discussed above, it is obvious that the women had a great deal of freedom. Now let us examine two slokas (which are very popular and oft quoted);
yatra naaryastu poojyante ramante tatra devataaha/
yatraitaastu na poojyante sarvaastatra phalaakriyaaha//
Where the woman is worshipped (respected), the gods too rejoice there. Where there is no respect for the woman, all the good deeds done there are wasted because the gods are not happy.
14.2 Baalai piturvashe tishteth panigraahya youvvane/
Putraanaam bhartari priye na stree bhajet stree swantrataama
The woman should be protected by the father in her childhood, by the husband in her youth, the son to protect her after the death of her husband and never should she be left unprotected. (There is a version where the verse ends with
‘ nastree swatantram arhasi’).
14.3 Some have interpreted this sloka to mean that women do not deserve any freedom. But, considering the place which Manu has given to women, the meaning should rightly be that a woman should never be left unprotected.
14.4 The above statements of Manu have been reproduced from the book “Manusmriti saara” by Shri NK Naraimha Murthy. My grateful obeisances to him.
15. Social graces
15.1 The ‘Hindu’ race, believing in the sanaatana dharma, has wittingly or unwittingly changed its social attitudes according to the requirements of time, but without letting go of the traditional values of ‘dharma’. Social values such as meat eating, freedom for women, inheritance of property, administration etc, have undergone changes either suddenly or over time. In the long chain of such changes, the Hindu Code Law enacted in the decade of the 1950’s is a strong link. The gram panchayats now working at the village level, the majority of women therein generally, the proposal to give women a representation of 33% in legislatures etc are recent developments. Such revolutionary changes in the basic tenets of a religion have perhaps not happened in any other religion. Although , thanks to the courage of Martin Luther, Christianity divided into the Catholics and the Protestants, no striking social changes have been visible. As far as Islam is concerned, only recently have some intellectuals begun striving for equality for women etc. But a majority of the followers of Islam seem to insist that the literal meaning of not one word of the Holy Quran, revealed about a thousand years ago, be changed in any way. But like in all religions, changes have to come one day or another. That is the human spirit.
16. Meat Eating
16.1 From the rites described in the Vedas, it would appear that animal sacrifice was in vogue. Even risihis were meat eaters. According to McDowell, Indra is the most senior deity in the Rigveda and then, even higher than the position of Rudra is that of Soma. Somarasa (wine or beer) was almost universally consumed. Some have opined that the Vedas were written under the influence of Somarasa!
16.2 As is well known, Shri Rama goes to the forest to honour the word of his father. The group had to cross the river Ganges. They received the help of Guha in this. It was then that Sita worships Bhagirathi (Ganges) and seeks boons such as that Rama must return safely to Ayodhya to assume the throne etc. She vows that if all this is granted, she would gift a hundred thousand cows, distribute clothes and arrange a great and sumptuous feast besides offering a thousand pots of liquor to the Ganges as also undertakes to do a big animal sacrifice.(Ramayana, Ayodhyakanda, Sarga 52, Slokas 82-89):
Suraaghata sahasrena mamsabhootaudadena cha/
Yakshai tvaam prayataadevi pureem punarupaagataa//
16.3 What needs to be noted here that Rama was a kshatriya and is not forbidden from consuming meat.
16.4 How tall was Shri Ramachandra? For those who lived in the Kritayuga, there was no hunger, thirst, tiredness, diseases or old age. In the Tretayuga, though to a lesser extent, dharma, dedication and health etc were of a high order and people were built tall and large. In this backdrop, has Valmiki, while describing Shri Rama, mentioned his height? See this situation: Sita has been abducted. While searching for her, Rama and Lakshmana reach Kishkinda. Then the friendship with Sugriva and Hanuman, the killing of Vali. As soon as the rainy season ended, the army of vanaras was divided into groups and sent separately in the four directions. Hanuman goes to the south and, with his yogic powers, jumps the ocean to reach Lanka. He searches for Sita everywhere and finally finds her in the Ashokavana. (From here, in the Sundarakanda of Ramayana, sarga 35, shloka 6 to 20, Hanuman describes all the body parts of Shri Rama. While interpreting this, the scholars have pointed out that it is not the intention of Valmiki to mean that Hanuman had seen all the body parts of Shri Rama but that whatever is described as an ideal body in the Samudrika Shastra is present in Shri Rama). In Sloka 19, while interpreting the latter part of the sloka :
Chatushkashchaturlekhashshkushchatuhtamah
scholars have interpreted to say that Shri Rama had a height of four kishkus (that is, 96 inches or 8 feet). If he was 8 feet tall and taking into consideration that Shri Rama would place his bow on the ground before shooting an arrow, his bow must have been at least 10 feet tall! (Incidentally, in Kannada, the word ’aajaanubaahu’ is generally used to mean a tall person with broad shoulders. But the meaning is really the person who has arms long enough for his hands to reach his knees. Like the gorillas!) ( I have sometimes received nice scolding for interpreting the word ‘aajaanubaahu’, occurring in the Ramaashtottara , as indicating the evolution of man and that Shri Rama was in the stage of gorillas!) My dearest lord Rama must have only laughed at my words and certainly not got angry with me.
16.5 I have already mentioned that Shri Rama is my ‘ishtadevata’. To describe how huge he was, a shloka from the Ramayana has been quoted. When he was so large, it stands to reason that Lakshmana and Sita must have also been accordingly physically endowed. If so, what was the quantity of the food they were consuming?
16.6 Situation: Shri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana have departed from Ayodhya and, accompanied by Sumanta (-with the help of Guha-) have crossed he Ganges. With great difficulty, Shri Rama persuades Sumanta to return to Ayodhya. It was now evening and they had to think about the food for the night. After all being Kshatriyas, the brothers go hunting and what do they bring? Valmiki says (Ayodhyakanda, sarga 52, shloka 102):
Tau tatva hatvaa chaturo mahamrigaan/
Varaahamarushyam prashatam maharurum/
Aadhaaya medhyam tvaritam bubhukshitau/
Vaasaaya kale yuyuturvaspatim//
“They felt that needed food. Then Rama and Lakshmana hunted one boar and one each of the three types of deer namely rishya, trushata and mahaaruru. After consuming the cleaned meat of these four animals, they took shelter under a tree for the night’.
Four animals for the three stomachs! Our dear cousin Usha Rao often remarks ‘adenu hotteno, kannambadi katteno? (is it a stomach or the kannambadi dam?). But one must remember that every dimension in the Ramayana is larger than life. This is just an example of how small we are in Kaliyuga.
16.7 Later, Bharata comes to Chitrakoot in search of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana. Lakshmana, who observes from the top of a tree the huge army coming towards them, gets into a rage. At the same time, Rama, sitting on the flat ground beneath, has placed meat in front of Sita and persuading her:’ Dear, this is well cooked (eat it)”. (Ramayana, Ayodhyakanda, sarga 96, shloka 2):
Idam medhyamadamsvaadunishtaptamidamanninaa/
Kevamaaste sadharmaatmaa seetyaasaha Raghavaha//
16.8 The huge numbers of followers of Shri Rama do not look down on him for his meat eating. Instead, they worship him for his magnificent and incomparable virtues. While it is evident that meat eating was prevalent, over a period of time, societal attitudes changed and social pressures perhaps forced change in food habits. In fact in several sections of society, ‘maasha’ (black gram) vadas are offered in the Shraadha ceremonies in place of ‘mamsa’ (meat). What is to be noted here is the important aspect of the multifaceted aspects of life among the Hindus and the acceptance thereof by society. There was almost never any forcing on what one should or should not do: you must only eat this, never that; my own God is the real God, worshipping Him must be only in this way etc. That is how we have what has become a cliché: ’unity in diversity’.
17. What is ‘saashtaanga namaskara’?
17.1 Pranipaata is the prostration before the elders or the guru. When we were young, we were trying to locate the eight parts of the body which make up the ‘saashtaanga’ in the prostration. Perhaps others too must have pondered similarly. But ‘saashtaanga’ is:
Do bhaagyam padbhyamcha jaanubhyaam urasaa shirasaa drushaa/
Manasaa vachasaa chaiva pranamoshtaagnaeeritaha//
17.2 The hands, feet, knees, chest, head, sight, mind and words – these are the eight parts. That is, while paying respects, it is not merely the bodily gesture but one should do it with the mind and words.
17.3 This passage is presented, in the Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p 67) of Shri Vaman Shivrama Apte:
Jaanubhyaam cha tathaa padbhyam panibhyaamurasaathiyaa/
Shirasaa vachasas drishtachaa pranaamoshtaangi eeritaha//
GUESTS
18. An ‘atithi’ is a guest who has come unexpectedly,without an appointment. Some scholars define such a person as one who stays for only one night and leaves. How does one behave with an atithi? This is explained in more than one text. The general substance is this (Mahabharata, sabhaparva, Shounaka rishi is being assured by Dharmaraya): when an atithi arrives, the head of the family should exhibit a friendly and happy countenance. Secondly, his words should be polite. Then, with genuine feelings of affection, he should seat the atithi in a suitable seat and offer water or some cool drink. He must please the guest with the items which the guest likes. For the tired ones, he must offer a comfortable bed, for those who are tired by standing, offer a seat, water for the thirsty, food for those who are hungry – the householder must offer all this. Finally, when the guest is leaving, the host must accompany him for some distance at least. In some places, it is mentioned that the host must walk with the guest till the ‘bahirvaatika’ or the outer gate (Mahabharata, sabhaparva). The Taittreya Upanishad rules that ‘na annampratyaachksheeta’ (food cannot be refused) and ‘na kanchana vasatau pratyaachaksheeta’ (irrespective of who it is for, shelter should never be refused). These are defined as ‘vratas’, meaning that they have to be followed.
19. Why do we need others at all?
19.1 There was a very great rishi Yaagnavalka. He appears both in the shrutis and smritis. His wife was Katyayini. Another woman, Maitreyi, wishes to become a pupil of the rishi. He does not agree. Maitreyi persuades Katyayini and marries Yagnavalka. But theirs is a platonic relationship. Maitreyi is able to gain
deep knowledge about Brahman etc. Her capacity to learn endears her to Yagnavalka.
19.2 Yagnavalka decides to leave for paarivraajaka that is take sanyasa.He leaves all his property to Maitreyi. She asks him why he wants to take sanyasa.He explains that Brahman only is truth,that all the wealth and belongings here are non-permanent and such other things. If that be so, says Maitreyi , why would she be needing all that. She would accompany him to the forest, she says. Their discussion goes on like that when suddenly, Yagnavalka makes a stunning statement.
19.3 Maitreyi asks if she can attain immortality by having a very wealthy existence. He replies that there is no hope of immortality with wealth. She repeats that she does not want something which does not lead her to immortality and pleads him to teach her his knowledge about this.
19.4 Agreeing to do so, he gives an interpretation of immortality. There are several commentaries on his reply. Readers may give their own interpretation. Yagnavalka says(Shukla yajurveda, shatapata brahmana, brihadaaranyhaka upanishat,munikaanda,5th brahmana,6th mantra):
Narvaare sarvasya kaamaaya sarvam priyambhavati/
Aatmanastu kaamaaya sarvam priyambhavati// etc
“The wife is not dear to the husband for the sake of the wife. The wife is dear because of her use to the husband. The husband becomes dear to the wife because he is of use to her. It is not for the sake of the children they are dear to the parents but because the children are of use to the parents. Money is not dear for the reason that money is useful but because it is useful to man that money is sought. Similarly,animals,Brahmins,kshatriyas,the various worlds, the gods,the Vedas etc. Not all are dear because they are useful to all but only because they are useful to a particular person”.
19.5 This may read like a over simplified interpretation. But this too is one interpretation. And, by our own experiences and on some honest reflection, what a fantastic truth! Do you not feel the goose pimples? My appeal to the Jnaanis is: pardon me if I am wrong. But you know better than me the system in our sanaatana dharma. Anyone if free to interpret any work in any manner one deems right. Pardon me for at least this reason.
20.1 In the four paths of yoga viz., raja, jnaana, karma and bhakti, many (including sages like Narada) feel that bhaktiyoga is the best path. And in the bhaktiyoga,the easiest path is ‘naamajapa’, that is the repetition of the name of the lord. This name could be one prescribed specially by a guru or one selected by oneself.And this japa is the simplest and easiest method of achieving the realisation of God.
20.2 In fact, this action of japa is prevalent in all religions in one or the other form. Jews, Christians, muslims, Sikhs and all others practice this. After the bhakti movement covered India (Tulsidas, Surdas,Meera,Guru Nanak, Chaitanya , the alwars(vaishnavite) and nayanmars (shaivite) of Tamil Nadu, the Dasas of Karnataka, etc) the stress on japa was universal: sumiranakarale mere mana, naamajapana kyu chodadiya mai, ramanaamava nudi nudi, harismarane mado nirantara,etcetc.
21. Methods of Japa
21.1 ‘japa’ means constant repetition of a short mantra (whether selected by oneself or taught by a teacher). This is also considered as a yagna that is,a sacrificial ceremony and is named japayagna. 21.2 These are of three types:
pronouncing the words clearly and loudly, which can be heard by others also, is vaachaka japayajna; if others can see the lips moving and hear the person repeating some name but softly, it is called upaamshujapayajna; repeating the mantra mentally without anyone else being able to hear it is maanasajapayajna. (This is explained in the shantiparva of Mahabharata -194,10).
21.3 Manusmriti (2-85) says that japayajna is ten times superior to vidhiyajna, a hundred times superior to vaachaka japayajna,and maanasajapayajna is a thousand times superior to the upaamshujapayajna. Most of us have heard one or the other of our neighbours reciting mantras very loudly. The above is a message to such neigbours.
22. Methods of Debate
22.1 We have seen/heard in the Parliament and in he State Assemblies the members not debating issues but fighting, shouting and otherwise behaving in a way that we do not know who is saying what. In this situation, what do our scriptures say about debating?
22.2 According to the scriptures, there are three ways of debate: jalpa, vitanda and vaada. Jalpa is the debate with the sole purpose of defeating the opponent. (The examples which occur to me are our Deve Gowda and the poor spokesman of the Congress party, Dr.Abhishek Sanghvi. Whenever and wherever Deve Gowda speaks, has anyone heard him speak of the nation’s development and prosperity? He is always criticizing either the BJP or pouring venom on Mr Kheni of NICE. Apart from these two subjects, has he spoken on any other subject, or, done anything for the country? Then, the poor Dr.Sanghvi:he has to somehow prove that whatever his party has done is the right thing, whether it is really the right thing or not.)
22.3 Without bothering to give arguments on behalf of his beliefs, one can keep criticizing the opponent’s, for the sake of opposing. This is vitandaa vaada. There are followers of some philosophical belief who, instead of pointing the greatness and truth of the teachings of their own guru, simply indulge in criticizing the guru of another philosophy. Thus, there is a group which keeps criticizing Shri Shankacharya and his teachings instead of bringing any greatness in the teachings of their own guru.
22.4 After properly listening and understanding the opponent’s point of view and then placing his own arguments cogently so that the two sides understand the stand points of the each other, is vaada. Normally, this is followed by researchers, scientists. It is not that they do not fight! But intellectually honest people who seek truth, they follow the path of vaada. In our Parliament examples of such people are Chidambaram, Advani, Jaswant Singh and Vajpayeeji.
23. TV DINNERS
23.1 Generally in the lower and middle class families the dinner time coincides with the prime time on the TV channels i.e., the channels compete for viewership by offering their best programmes.
23.2 Also, in the present time, more and more families have both the husband and wife working to augment the income. Coming home tired and then cooking some dinner, they hold their plates in their hands, sit in front of the TV and eat from the plate held on their knees! Perhaps this is the only relaxation for them. This is called the TV Dinner in America.
23.4 But Manusmruti (4-19) says:
Nakurveeta vraacheshtaam navaaryamjanaapribet/
Notrange prakshipedagnau chapaadautrataapayor//
“Do not shake your hands and legs unnecessarily; do not drink water from your cupped hands; never hold food on your thighs (legs) and eat; do not show interest in things that do not concern you.”
23.5 A sage like Manu would not make these admonitions without some logical grounds for making them. These are not explained in he sloka itself but scholars must, I am sure, be able to explain why Manu has said what he has. While all the admonitions are applicable to our daily life, what is relevant to us is the one about not eating off a plate held on one’s thighs. Those who want to ignore this may do so. But when sitting for the night dinner, the parents and children are all together and eating their food and that is the time when they can exchange ideas on what happened that day or what needs to be done in a given situation. The children could ask and obtain from the parents clarifications on points that are exercising their minds. Otherwise, when can the family members –elders and he young -do that? Also, if they ignore Manu’s injunctions and continue to eat their meal off their thighs, they would also be, in a way, breaking the injunction in the Taittreya Upanishad: ’annam no nindyaat’. Further,since he mind is on the TV and not on the food, the metabolic activities leading to the digestion and absorption of the food would be affected.
23.6 My adopted mother, that goddess, the late Smt. Indiramma, used to say again and again: ’a family must have eat at least one meal a day all sitting together. This ensures the security in the family.’ And this wonderful lady showed this act and its result in her own not-small family.
24. PROTOCOL IN SERVING MEALS
24.1 Normally, in our marriages, the persons from the boy’s side get the priority to eat in the first serving. The girl’s side is fed later. But let us see what our smrutis have to say on this aspect.
24.2 In Manusmriti, Manu (Chapter III, slokas 38-43), lays down a specific protocol. After offering oblations to the gods, offerings in all the four directions outside one’s house, India(East), Yama (South), Varuna (West), Soma(North) must be made (of rice and water, flowers, incense).
24.3 Next, dogs, outcastes, those eat the flesh of dogs, persons suffering from leprosy and other diseases, beggars, crows, insects –for these, food must be carefully on the ground so that the food does does not get spoiled. After this, before the householder has his food, he must feed the guests and give alms to the Brahmins who have come for it.
24.5 Here the word atithi needs to be explained again. Tithi means a specific date ad time. But without any of these and without prior notice, those who come to your house are atithis. Another explanation, given earlier also, is that the person who stays over for only one night. ‘Abhyagata’ is the one who has accepted an invitation and come. You must receive guest arriving in your house with a smile, seat him in a suitable place and arrange for his food as per your status. If your classmate and such others come to your house, they must be received with respect and the host and hostess must sit with such guests for the meal.
24.6 Those girls who are newly married, the daughters-in-law of the house, girls, unmarried girls, persons who are not well, pregnant women-for all these, without any hesitation- feed them even before the guests are fed.
25. TECHNICAL PROWESS IN THE VERY ANCIENT DAYS
25.1 HELICOPTERS!
25.2 To witness the grandeur of the Rajasooya yaaga of Dharmaraya at Indraprastha, he assorted gods like Indra and others had arrived there. When they arrived, they parked their respective airplanes on top of the buildings allotted for their stay, walked down to the yaaga hall to view it! Does it now remind us of he present day top brass alighting on their offices from their helicopters? (sabhaparva, end of 35th chapter).
26. CANNONS IN THE TIME OF MAHABHARATA/
26.1 When Yudhishthira asks Bhishma as to what are the duties of the king, the latter answers in great detail. (Mahabharaata, shantiparva-which is the longest parva in the whole of the epic-)In he shantiparva , in the 69th chapter, the 45th sloka reads:
Dwareshu cha gurooneva yastrani sthaapayetsadaa/
Aaropyechvataghneescha svaadheenaani cha kaarayate//
26.2 The great scholars of the ‘shrimanmahabharata’ by the Bharatadarshana Prakashana have commented on he above sloka as follows:
Large machines must be set up in those entrances. Cannons must be mounted on those machines. The king must have complete control these equipments.
27. SCIENCE AND HIDDEN MEANINGS IN THE TEXTS OF THE OLD SCRIPTURES
27.1 It is said that every mantra/sloka has a hidden meaning. When an elder had told me so when I was young, I had insulted him in rather harsh words. I was, after all, a great student of science! But to know about the hidden meanings, the knowledge of only Sanskrit is not enough. One must also know mathematics, astronomy, algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry etc. It would seem that people who are thus equipped are able to access the hidden meanings.
27.2 In the University of Maryland, USA, Dr.Satish Kak is the Professor and Head of Computer Science Department .He has interpreted the ancient texts (example:the use of mathematics in the construction of the ‘yagnakundas’) etc. He has written a great deal on similar ancient texts. In fact, he visits the Indian Institute of Science every year to deliver lectures.
27.3 I had occasion to correspond wih him. One fascinating thing I remember is this: most of us know the lines of ‘Purushasukta”. The first lines are:sahasra sheershaa purushaha sahasraaksha sahasrapath sabhoomim vishvato vritvaa attyattishtha dashaangulam……”. When Prof.Kak processed these few words by cryptographic analysis on the computer, he obtained the distances of the sun from the moon, the moon from the earth and of the earth from the sun. He says that theses estimates are 99.9 % accurate to the present day estimates based on the most sophisticated equipments and methods. Of course, I am not able to understand how but I am deeply impressed that one line of an ancient prayer should yield such astounding results.
27.4 When I was trying to explain this work of Dr.Kak to my grandson Naren, that unusually bright boy brought to my notice one fascinating book which he had read. That was the ‘Introduction to Vedic Mathematics’ by Shri S.Keshavamurthy, 2000. As an example of secret writing, Shri Keshavamurthy has reproduced the following sloka:
GOPIBHAGYA MADHUVRATA SHRINGEE SHODHAADHI SANDHIGAHA
KHALAJEEVITAKHADHABA GAHALAARA SANDHARAHA
27.5 Shri Keshavamurthy says that there three meanings to this sloka:
1.Fistly, this sloka is in praise of Lord Krishna
2. Secondly, it is in praise of Lord Shankara.
3.Thirdly (this is very valuable in a Mathematical sense)-it gives one tenth the value of ‘pi’ to 32 decimal places! (‘pi’ is the resultant of dividing the circumference of ANY circle by its diameter). The answer is, always, 22/7. The value which the above sloka gives is:
0.31415926535897932384626433832792 !
Do you see the magnificence of this? Those who do not care at all for the Vedas and vedangas would perhaps be awakened to the possibilities by these examples. I am greatly indebted to Shri Keshavamurthy for this sloka.
28. RAJADHARMA (RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT)
28.1 FARMERS
28.2 In the sabhaaparva of Mahabharata, Narada questions Dharmaraya as follows:” I hope you are not allowing agriculture to be dependent purely on the rains but that you are building large ponds and lakes? And then seeds for the sowing are kept carefully, as also food grains protected from being destroyed by pests? Are you advancing loans for the development of farmers at the interest rate of one percent per annum?” Notice that Narada has covered irrigation, seeds for the next season, food grains, pesticides and loans to the farmers at nominal interest rates! We now have great and very, very, rich leaders claiming to be sons of poor farmers doing nothing at all for the farmers but a lot for their own sons and daughters in law!
29. HANDICAPPED
(We are supposed to use the phrase ‘physically challenged’ and not say ‘handicapped’. As long as our heart goes out to them and we do our best to help them, what is the point in quarreling over a name. In Kannada, we can say ‘a person who cares for the sheep’ but we cannot say ‘shepherd(kuruba)’! Rishi Shounaka advises Dharmaraya: “Your another very important duty is to take care of the blind, dumb, the limbless, the physically handicapped, the orphans and he sanyaasis just as a father takes of his children”. Is this not a wonderful way of taking care of one’s citizens irrespective of who they are and how they are?
30. ABOUT REPUBLICS
30.1 In the shantiparva of Mahabharata (Chapter 107) Dharmaraya asks many questions of the great Bhishma. Bhishma answers all of the queries with patience, love and in detail. Dharmaraya asks an interesting question:” How do the people in the republics obtain prosperity and progress? The root cause of the destruction of the republics is lack of unity. In the counsels of the republic where there are a large of number of people, it is difficult to keep secrets. Please enlighten me on how the republics should behave so that they do not break up”. (sloka 7,8). (This question seems to be about the coalition governments which we see at present!)
30.2 Bhishma answers: The tools with which the fire of hatred is fuelled in the groups is greed and lack of tolerance (‘aamarsha’). One tries to grab the money of the other. On seeing this greedy person, another’s mind becomes intolerant. Influenced by greed and intolerance, groups of persons (like the present day smaller parties) fight each other, resulting in the loss their membership and finances. They get destroyed thus. (slikas 10,11). How fascinatingly true to what is happening today!
30.3 The king (read Chief Minister) and other groups try to break the opposition by sending their own agents. They conspire to destroy each other. They use the traditional saama, daana, bheda and danda methods. They try to destroy the other groups by doing all they can to reduce the numbers of the opposition (aayaaraam, gayaaraam) and through making the opposition lose their resourses. Present instances: persons, who like bees hop from flower to flower without any remorse: Bangarappa, Siddaramaiah, Shibu Soren and many other innumerable senior and junior politicians.
30.4 The respectable persons in the Republic would unhesitatingly punish their own sons and brothers if they are breaking the law, without any fear or favour. (The former Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher’s son was involved in some corruption charge in a third Country. He was punished according to law. Similarly, the son of Prime Minister Tony Blair was found driving drunk. He was unceremoniously taken to the police station, duly charged and punished). In our own country how many of our ‘leaders’ run over people with their BMW’s. For decades, they are not punished. Have we ever heard of any such person bring punished? (Our ex Prime Minister Deve Gowda’s grandson and his friends drove in his BMW to a hotel and beat up the workers there. Did they get punished? Another interesting point: how did the grandson of ‘the son of a poor farmer’ get to have a BMW?
30.5 The leaders of the various groups must secretly meet and discuss ways of building up the Republic. Otherwise, if the groups are separate and having a lot of difference of opinion, works for the public welfare will not get done at all. Besides several other types of problems get created. (sloka 26).
30.6 As we are seeing leaders who have left a party after some quarrel or other, join another party and after some time, come back to the same earlier party. This is a national shame. Of course, the politicians are shameless, anyway. Bangarappa, Siddaramaiah, Deve Gowda, Mahima Patil, Shibu Soren – the list is endless.
30.7 If I keep on writing like this, it can never end. Irrespective of the subject: humour, societal behaviour, mathematics, astronomy, drama, music, dance, devotion, god, Brahman, universal consciousness, food, cooking ,etc. etc. –whatever the subject, remarkable extracts of which we can feel proud, are available from really innumerable texts. The only limitation is the capacity of my own mind and brain.
31. Like a bee jumping from flower to flower, I have hopped from one subject to another wholly unconnected subject. This may have even irritated some readers. My desire was to cover as many subjects as possible. As already submitted by me, my effort is like a person collecting a mug of water from the ocean and saying that he has collected the water of the ocean.
32. I have a desire to write a couple of more articles after this. I will be able to do it if there is the blessing of my Guru. However if this article has tickled your curiosity even a little, I feel blessed.
