|
|
|
A Practical
Indian Philosophy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ayodhyaakaandda 111
Dohaa: Shreeguru-charana-saroja-raja, nija-manu-mukura sudhaari: 111.
Tulaseedaasa submits, "I polish my mind, as if it is a mirror, with
the dust of my Guru's feet, to reflect the glory of Shree Raama, the
Lord of Raghu's Royal dynasty, which I now describe. Describing this
glory gives us the four most precious objects." Tulaseedaasa
commences the chapter Ayodhyaakaandda of the Book, with his
homage to his guru. In addition, he is thinking not of Shree Raama
alone but also of Bharata. In this chapter, Tulaseedaasa highlights the
pre-eminence of these three. (See 190-191, 209)
A mind
purified by ridding it of power of senses, passions and desires is
comparable to a mirror polished by dust. That dust is the discourses of
Tulaseedaasa's guru on Brahmajnaana. The dirt polished off is
Tulaseedaasa's nature superimposed over his inborn divine nature. (See 242)
This polished or purified mind reflects man’s divine nature in its
benevolence for all, including towards those who hate or hurt
him. The four
most precious objects are also the innate urge of our life. They are dharma,
to be righteous and be on the path of truth, rectitude and justice; artha,
to earn livelihood or material wealth; kaama, to have a desire
and fulfil it; and moksha, to expand with compassion and get
liberated from the here and now into the ever and everywhere. This
sequence of these objectives sums up Sanaatana Dharma. It shows that
the first resolve is to earn and spend artha or our livelihood or
material wealth through dharma or righteousness. The second
resolve is to have only one desire or kaama to attain moksha
or liberation. In isolation and without bounds, artha and kaama
become selfishness, greed, miserliness and lust and cause havoc in
misery for us. Bound by dharma and moksha,
respectively, they are blissful. (See 363). The
Vedas
prescribe for us only one desire and that is for moksha. To get
rid of lower worldly desires is as to get rid of excess baggage for a
comfortable journey for success through life. The bounds of dharma
and moksha to all activities in society give them virtue, and
us freedom from need, disease and from fear of all kinds. These four
objectives sum up, as we should forget the harm others do to us as also
the good we do to others. We should act from now onwards for the
happiness of all and hurt none nor diminish nor destroy others'
happiness. Do unto others, as we would like them do unto us because
there are no others. It is all 'I' or all 'you,' one in God. (See 240[1, 2,
6, 5,
9, 10]) Living in these objectives, we live in our dharma or
divinity and a spiritual life and not in the outward religious
life. We acquire
the above four precious objects firstly by taking stock as frequently
as possible of, or being alert to our intent in every thought, word and
deed lest it be motivated by passions and not by selflessness,
righteousness and compassion. (See 272[2,
15]) This
is vivayka or discrimination. Secondly, we do it by
perseverance in the faith that this alertness will invite God's grace
to strengthen our desire to live in our divinity, which frees us from
worldly desires and from consequent suffering. This is vairaagya.
The acquisition of Vivayka, Vairaagya and Vichakshana
(the capacity to see the right and the reality) is acquisition of dhana,
which is spiritual wealth as distinct from artha, which is
worldly wealth. It was this spiritual wealth which Arjuna acquired that
entitled him to be called in the Geetaa as Dhananajaya by Shree
Krishna. Sanaatana
Dharma does not prohibit becoming rich or owning property if the means
for their acquisition is dharma or righteousness, selflessness
and vairaagya or unconcern about their quantity. An example of artha
through dharma is service as a doctor, surgeon, lawyer,
consultant, adviser, teacher and so on,
without prescribed fees and being content with whatever clients or
patients give. This is not utopian. It was the norm as late as three
scores years ago among all hakims and Aayurvedic
practitioners and many lawyers towards the poor at least in 112
Chaupaayi: Bisama-ya-harasha-rahita Raghuraa-oo: tumha
jaanahu saba Raama-prabhaa-oo:: 112. Gods
said to Saraswatee, "Shree Raama is not affected by joy or sorrow.
You know the equanimity of his nature. As the consequence of their
deeds, pain and pleasure are only for human beings. For the good of
gods, please go to Ayodhyaa." Only Shree
Raama could destroy the gods' demon enemies in the forests. Gods prayed
to Saraswatee to prevent Shree Raama's coronation at Ayodhyaa and
arrange for his exile into the forests for the sake of the gods. To
remove her hesitation, the gods assured her that Shree Raama was an
Incarnation of God and was above the law of karma and suffering. (See
Geetaa 7:12, 9:9) Saraswatee would not be blamed for her help to
gods, 113
Chaupaayi: Jayhi jayhi jauni karama-basa bhramaheen: tanha
tanha Eesu dayva yaha hamaheen:: 113. Shree
Raama's childhood friends said to each other, "It is our prayer that
in whatever physical body we may be born on the earth, God may make
Shree Raama our master and we his servants and this relationship should
be for ever." Devotion to
God in any form of 'Thou' and 'I' relationship, for example, mother and
child or master and servant, is called bhayda bhakti. (See 275, 358) Swami
Ramakrishna explains it. ‘The "I" that makes one a worldly person is
the wicked "I." You may indulge in thousands of reasoning but still the
"I" comes back: let the rascal remain as the servant "I." You should
say, O God, Thou art the Master and "I am Thy servant." The "I" (so
transformed) does not injure one as long as he (the human being) is
conscious of "I" and "you," it is not good to cherish the idea of "I am
He." ’ (RK 170, 908) (Parentheses Author's) 'I am He' is the
concept in Advaita. (See 241[7-8])
This prayer
of the devotee for rebirth on the earth to serve God in person is one
of the most selfless forms of sacrifice of love. (See 148) Good
prayers are
also thanking God for what He gives us and for what He does not, that
is, any of the million forms of miseries, and asking for what He thinks
best for us. A good
prayer is also to ask for the capacity to bear God's will. A
comprehensive prayer is Aum Shaanti, Shaanti, Shaanti (peace). Aum
is the symbol of Universal Brahman. Peace is invoked thrice to free us
from material, physical and spiritual sufferings; to encourage peace in
the human, godly and natural milieu; to develop peace, in the body,
mind and intellect and in the three worlds, namely, the nether region,
the earth and heavens. (A Simple Prayer of Shree Raama's Devotee)
114
Chaupaayi: Ko na kusangati paa-yi nasaa-yee: raha-yi na neecha
matay chaturaa-yee:: Ak24 114.
Tulaseedaasa says, "Who is not ruined by bad company? None. It is
not wise to act on the advice of the vile." For our use
today, Tulaseedaasa gives the moral of Kaikayee acting on her crooked
maid Mantharaa's advice. (See 433) (A
Lesson) 115
Chaupaayi: Raghu-kula-reeti sadaa chali aa-yee: praana jaahu baru
bachanu naa jaa-yee:: Ak28 115.
Dasharatha said to Kaikayee, "It is the age-old tradition of Raghu's
royal dynasty that even at the cost of one's life one honours one's word. " To assure
Kaikayee, Dasharatha staked his word on his dynastic tradition and on
his son Shree Raama's life. Dasharatha's thoughtless promise caused
havoc. The lesson is that we should first know what we can do. Promise
that and fulfill it for our honour. We should not however search for an
excuse and not do anything for anyone. Not doing what we can with a
little sacrifice, is against our dharma
of service for the sustenance of society. (See 241[10], 317 and
Geetaa
3:24) (A Proverb) 116
Chaupaayi: Nahin asatya sama paataka punjaa: giri
sama hohin ki kottika gunjaa:: 116.
Dasharatha said to Kaikayee, "Just as billions of creepers cannot be
equal to a hillock, any number of sins of a
man cannot be equal to one lie. All virtuous deeds rest on truth. This
precept is well known in the Vedas, in the Puranas and to sages, " Truth is
the identity of our thought, word and deed in goodness, that is,
benevolence, for all. Sometimes a lie becomes necessary to fulfill
selfish desires. To obviate the need to lie, we align our intellect
with our inmost Self. This intellect eliminates selfish desires and
frees us from the need to lie to fulfill them. (See 42, 259)
117
Chaupaayi: Tanu tiya tanya dhaamu dhanu dharanee: satya-sandha
kanha trina-sama baranee:: Ak35 117.
Kaikayee said to Dasharatha, "A man true to his word treats his own
body, wife, son, home, and his wealth and property as if they were a
piece of straw." Kaikayee's
taunting remark to Dasharatha has wisdom in it. It expresses the faith
that all objects, including our family and ourselves, belong to God.
Regardless of what we do, God will give us what He thinks best for us
and nothing else. So, why not stick to truth? This faith gives the
strength to stick to truth and invites His grace. Any selfish desire
can prompt falsehood for its fulfillment. Our surrender to God fulfils
our needs to eliminate desires. So, as brought out here, mental
detachment from worldly attractions or vairaagya is necessary
for a truthful life. 118
Chaupaayi: Sunu jananee so-yi suta barhabhaagee: jo
pitu-maatu-charana-anuraagee:: 118. Shree
Raama said to Kaikayee, "O mother! The truly fortunate son in the
world is he who loves to obey his parents' commands. It is a rare son
in the world who gives contentment to his parents." Dasharatha
felt too weak to order Shree Raama to go into exile. Kaikayee
heartlessly conveyed that order to Shree Raama. Yet, Shree Raama
addressed her as his natural mother to convince her that he still loved
and respected her as he respected Kaushalyaa, Faith in
the law of karma makes children keenly await a wish or command of their
parents and treat it as an opportunity for invoking God's grace on them
for a better fortune. Children fulfill wishes with joy. It makes duty a
service of God through their parents. If the wish appears faulty, the
consequence is on the parents. The child's disobedience as failure in
duty brings adversity to it. A constructive discussion, not argument
with parents to ensure their satisfaction is the duty of the grown up
child. To insist upon its view against the parent is its failure. This
insistence arises from not correctly understanding the law of karma and
not having faith in God who gives consequences according to the intent
of a person. A parent’s incorrect command will bring suffering to
parent and obedience will bring fame to the child under the law of
karma. (See 174,
213)
A noble son
was rare even in Shree Raama's age. Only parents having firm faith in
the law of karma to accept what they have are percipient, caring and
selfless to find that they have such sons today. It fills them with
gratitude to God for their good fortune. Ignorant of the law of karma,
some parents have expectations and cannot see their sons in that light.
(See 174)
(A
Lesson in Good Conduct) 119
Chaupaayi: Dhanya janama jagateetala taasoo: pitahi promodu charita
suni jaasoo:: 119. Shree Raama
continued, "Only the birth of that son is blessed, whose father
rejoices upon hearing of his son's noble character and conduct. The son
who loves his parents as his own life holds in his hand all four most
precious objects." Sanaatana
Dharma emphasizes children's debt to parents for giving them birth.
Human birth is a rare opportunity. (See 390)
Children
repay this debt in the form of obedience to, service of and love for
parents. Grown up children's communication with and prayers for
parents, regardless of what they did or do to children, transform
parents. Children should not hesitate to be overruled by parents by
having faith in the supremacy of God over the law of karma for
themselves and the faith that parents never intend them any harm. This
contributes to unity in the family and invites grace to secure more for
both than they expect. To compare what siblings do for parents or
siblings do for each other can detract from the individual's duty to
all in the family, and so, is harmful. An effort for our own success
and happiness is not as fruitful as it can be if parents are happy. A
spiritual discipline is fruitless if it hurts parents. Shankaraachaarya
could not take to sannyaasa without his mother's consent. The
exception to obedience is when parents obstruct children following a
path to God which takes care of parents and which is not a cult. Shree Raama
will demonstrate in his life that a child who undergoes hardship to
carry out parents' wishes gets the best of both worlds. The child who
does not denies himself the happiness from grace earned by his caring
for parents, especially old ones. That good comes out of good and that
obedience to parents and benevolence in conduct invite God's grace
cannot be tangibly proved. If we have faith, the law of karma
under the supremacy of God, proves it if we are percipient. (See Geetaa
12:4) Shree Raama
is shown to point out here that in the old Indian tradition those
children are praiseworthy whom others praise before their parents.
Parents do not ruin children's deserts by praising them before others
and by implication asking for others' appreciation. (See 356)
Besides
praise can develop in children its expectation, disappointment on not
getting it and a weakness for flatterers. This Indian tradition teaches
children not to be affected by success or failure, to forget the past
and its achievements, not to rest on laurels or nourish grievance, and
to concentrate on the step ahead for continuing progress in excellence.
They should remain unaffected by praise or blame. (See 160, 295 and
Geetaa
9:30) Where praise reigns, duty is a fugitive. Addicted to
praise, they forget duty to their dependants and benefactors because
this duty does not invite praise from them. Lessons such as this for
keeping society healthy are the practical philosophy in the Book.
120
Chaupaayi: Satya kahahin kabi naari-subhaa-oo: saba bidhi
agama agaadha duraa-oo:: 120. On
hearing of Kaikayee's moves, citizens of Ayodhyaa expressed in anger
and despair, that, "Learned men say that one cannot fathom a
woman's nature. A smart man may catch his own shadow but even he cannot
know a woman's moves. What is it that fire cannot burn, an ocean cannot
drown, death cannot claim or a powerful woman cannot do?" The Hindi
word ablaa means both powerless and a woman, and the word prabala
means powerful. A woman's power is compared to that of fire, ocean and
death. She is powerless and powerful both. Woman's
diseases are more than man's. Physically she is not as strong. She has
the burden of bearing and bringing up children. Ever since man was out
hunting in the forest for food, woman had to remain helplessly alone.
She faced her fears with her weaknesses. These weaknesses are in her
lot. Women
generally have a longer life span. They are endowed with greater
resilience than men for fears and reverses of life. The rate of suicide
among women in enlightened society is less than that among men. Their
love for and its response from babies offset their burden of bearing
and rearing them. These assets make them mentally strong. (See 449) As
dependants upon their husbands and children, women serve them and pray
for their wellbeing. Their devotion makes them spiritually stronger
than men. This also gives strength to their husbands. By not taking
care of their spouses, some husbands lose this strength today. (See 222) In
their
unique way, women control powerful husbands. Nature bestows these gifts
upon women to make them stronger than men. Woman's physical weakness
made her seek protection and love in her husband. To make this secure
she lived in and for him and his happiness. She received security,
chaste love and leisure in the home for freedom of expression through
literary, artistic and spiritual pursuits to sustain the culture of the
nation. Children grew up in security. Her nature became self-abnegation
as a duck took to water. Her prayers became the service of her husband
and his family. She taught her children by example of her
self-sacrifice for the family. Devotion to God secured her intuitive
and psychic powers beyond logic, for selfless use. Her salvation became
easy. Her security created civilization based on a happy family. (See 216-222)
When man in
his male ego denies her security and chaste love, she is forced to give
up her divine nature, which bestows bliss. Man loses the asset of her
power and destroys the family. It was Raavana's similar ego which
blinded him to Mandodaree's intuitive knowledge of Shree Raama being
God. Raavana's ego also destroyed his race. Tulaseedaasa
emphasizes woman's role according to Indian belief and its philosophy
for a peaceful civilized society and to bring about happiness all
round. Shakti, which is power or energy, is designated as a
woman in Indian scriptures. It is personified in the inseparable
consorts of gods, for example, Shiva and Paarvatee. (See 85) Maya is
the
power which binds man to rebirth in the world. Man's lust personified
in a woman also does the same. Maya is personified as a woman. A
woman's life revolves round the service of others, namely, husband,
children, in-laws and relations. Service is the mark of a devotee of
God. So devotion to God or bhakti is also personified as a
woman. A man cannot understand how a soft and gentle-natured woman
sometimes becomes hard as steel. She shows a duality in her. So maya,
the cause and form of all dualities, is called a woman. (See 439) It is
difficult to understand the working of the creation, which is brought
about by maya. The word for creation, srishtti is feminine. A
man's salvation does not lie in the pursuit of selfish pleasures from
the mayaic world. It is in detachment from the world and its service.
In the same way man's salvation is in offering his woman service of
love she needs. He should expect nothing to bind him to her; true love
gives and not grabs. So, salvation or mukti is also feminine.
If the woman is not her man's single-minded devotee, she too does not
get salvation. (See 220)
The views
against women expressed by different persons in different situations
are given in the Shree Raamacharita Maanasa. The views are so because
of man's helplessness against woman, which hurts man's ego. These
views, which are found in the later scriptures, are not Tulaseedaasa's
own views. (See Geetaa 9:32) They are subject to common sense and test
before attributing them to any woman. (See 334, 340 and
Geetaa 18:63)
The instant couplets give the views of the citizens of Ayodhyaa. They
were angry when they learnt that Kaikayee prevented Shree Raama from
being crowned as the king. Instead, he would be exiled. Views in anger
are views of the ignorant and should not guide us. Sometimes we notice
today some people expressing in thought, speech and practice somewhat
similar ignorant views about women. (A Lesson in Conduct) 121
Chaupaayi: Jaun kayvala pitu-aayasu taataa: tau jani jaahu
jaani barhi maataa:: 121.
Kaushalyaa said to Shree Raama, "My dear son, if it is only your
father's command and not that of your mother Kaikayee, then do not go
to the forest. Mother takes precedence over father. If both so wish,
then do go. The forest will be as blissful for you as a hundred
Ayodhyaas. " According
to Manu's Smriti, the guru commands ten times the respect the
disciple owes to his lecturer, the father a hundred times that which he
owes to his guru, and the mother commands one thousand times that which
he owes to his father. Kaushalyaa freed Shree Raama from the duty he
owed to his natural mother. She set an example of sacrifice for her son
to follow to demonstrate an ideal life. Kaushalyaa
shows that by their own example, parents can teach children best. Age
is no bar to parents or grandparents to learn to be exemplary, be
always giving and never demanding. Old age is also for prayers for all,
including for our children. (See 205) (Kaushalyaa's
Self-sacrifice for Peace in the Family) 122
Chaupaayi: Na-yana-putari kari preeti barrhaa-yee: raakha-un praana
Jaankihin laa-yee:: Ak59 122.
Kaushalyaa continued, "I developed love for Seetaa by protecting
her as the apple of my eye. I put my heart and soul in her. (See 110) My
son!
How can she live in a forest when even the picture of a monkey scares
her? Considering all this, please tell me your wishes so that I can
advise Seetaa accordingly." Kaushalyaa
weighed Dasharatha's unhappiness at Seetaa going into exile and his
desire for support by her company at Ayodhyaa, Seetaa's painful
separation from her husband, the hardships of forests and Kaushalyaa's
duty to fulfil her husband's wishes. She gave dharma precedence
over tradition. Seetaa's duty to her husband took precedence over her
customary duty to her parents-in-law. So, Kaushlyaa left the
decision to Shree Raama. Kaushalyaa
shows how a mother, son and the daughter-in-law should relate to one
another. Over her husband's and her own wishes, Kaushalyaa yielded to
her son's wishes where his wife was concerned. Shree Raama advised
Seetaa to serve his parents. When Seetaa persuaded Shree Raama to take
her along, Kaushalyaa did not assert her position of a mother-in-law to
ask Seetaa to stay back. Kaushalyaa's sacrifice of love is worth
emulating. Kaushalyaa
demonstrates the difference between love and attachment. Attachment is
self-interest in the garb of love. Love is selfless and is motivated by
the welfare of the beloved. Kaushalyaa's own interest and that of her
husband was that Seetaa should stay back to give them the joy of her
company. Seetaa's welfare lay in being with her husband in exile or
wherever he was. Kaushalyaa's true love, which was selfless, ensured
that her beloved Seetaa should get what was best for her. 123
Dohaa: Maatu-pitaa-guru-swami-sikha, sira dhari karahin subhaa-ya: 123. Shree
Raama said to Lakshmana, "Those who, by nature, fulfil respectfully
the teachings of their parents, guru and master derive the full benefit
of being born on the earth. Those who do not do so waste their lives."
Indian
parents teach children dharma, religion and tradition.
Lakshmana asked Shree Raama's permission to accompany him in exile. He
reminded Lakshmana that to fulfill the purpose of their lives,
Lakshmana should serve his parents and Shree Raama obey
his father's command. This advice by tradition had to yield to dharma,
the universal law, or religion, which comprises our beliefs. Reminded
of dharma, Shree Raama changed his advice both to Lakshmana and
Seetaa. (See (121-124)
in the Story) Dharma is given in the Shrutis
or the Vedas. Examples of its precepts in the Shrutis are
these. The human soul or our reality is of the nature and substance of,
and always one with God. God incarnates in a human form. There is a law
of karma and of rebirth. The aim of all correct work is to give
happiness to all as one with us in God. This oneness is jnaana.
These precepts are eternal. The Smritis are remembered
traditions, injunctions and codes called yugadharma or the
religion of the age. They are sometimes contradictory in certain
situations. For example, Arjuna's dilemma in Mahaabhaarata was
to fight persistent injustice or show respect to its perpetrators who
were his elders, kith and kin. Even sages are puzzled in deciding right
or wrong or doable or not doable in some situations in life. They have
to give up tradition and seek a solution in dharma. (See 240[3, 4,
21]) Smritis contain traditions such
as the age of marriage, the difference in the marriageable ages of
spouses, the restriction on spouses being blood relations for a number
of generations and so on. Customs, traditions and laws change from age
to age and place to place. For example, freedom of sex, bondage of
marriage, polyandry, polygamy and monogamy have all been valid in
different times and places. Faulty conduct follows when religion is
confused with some changeable traditions as is done by some Hindus
today, for example, some obnoxious practices of caste system as pursuit
of precepts of religion. This confusion explains the dichotomy between
the precepts of Sanaatana Dharma and their practice by some of its
Hindu followers. (See 259)
The Smritis
also lay down what is righteous conduct and exceptions to them.
Examples are, help all, hurt none, defend the weak and the self,
protect person and reputation, our duty in different situations,
truthfulness, oneness with all in
compassion and so on. The Smritis also contain duties, codes,
customs and conventions for living a righteous life for peace and
prosperity in society. They are all called neetis. Those neetis,
which stand the Vedantic test of Satchidaananda and Praymaswaroopa
and so help our progress in self-realization, are dharma
such as the Geetaa, which is a Smriti text. The rest are the
changing norms of society of the age. The Indian caste system and its
pernicious concomitants such as differentiation, hierarchy and
untouchability, are not a Shruti, or Vedic and perennial
concept. It is a concept from Manu Smriti or some other Smritic
concept, which should change with times. Smritis gave high
status to Brahmin caste as distinct from Brahmajnaanee
qualification for becoming a Brahmin. Smritis lowered the
status of women from the respect they enjoyed in Vedic times. A
shameful custom followed in some Hindu homes today is not to clean with
a long handle brush even water borne
toilets and make a hired sweeper or the housewife do it. Some
examples of changing injunctions in the Smritis are statecraft,
crime and punishment, women's share in property and her treatment by
society, social etiquette, the propriety of dress, the manner of living
and foods. Tulaseedaasa practically ignored such changing norms in his
Book. A word is
necessary about religious activities such as sacred rites, ceremonials,
festivals, visit to temples and places of pilgrimage, which are
associated with religion. They are necessary for minds not spiritually
advanced to devote to the formless aspect of God. These sacred places
attract people by their common urge and effort to realize their
divinity. The gathering of people strengthens their unity in faith and
in God. Places of pilgrimage lift peoples' hearts to a higher plane of
devotion and strengthen their faith to sustain them in unbelievable
hardships of life. Our defective education today sometimes makes us
lose our capacity for faith to sustain us in some hardships of life.
(See 414)
True
religious activities bring together people in distant lands in a
feeling of oneness, for example, a priest from the sea coast of Kerala
to officiate in each of the four sacred temples set up by
Shankaraachaarya in four corners of India. Participation of Indians in
festivals in foreign lands and gathering of people from all parts of Religious
practices with conscious intent to bestow bliss around us for all are
spirituality in practice as symbolic of service of society. Practices
without it are rituals or superstition. To treat these as religion
detracts from religion and causes bigotry. 124
Chaupaayi: Taata tumhaara maatu Baidayhee: pitaa Raamu saba
bhaanti sanayhee:: 124.
Sumitraa said to Lakshmana, "My dear son! Your mother is Seetaa and
your father is Shree Raama, who loves you in every way. Where there is
Shree Raama there is Ayodhyaa. It is in the same way that where there
is the sun there is a day." Sumitraa
was aware that Shree Raama was an Incarnation of God. She told her son
Lakshmana that the palace, pleasures, pomp, and the pageantry of
Ayodhyaa were false wealth. The service of Shree Raama and Seetaa was
Lakshmana's real wealth and religious duty. This service would sustain
Raghu's royal dynasty. (See 136, 182) For
Lakshmana, Sumitraa
surrendered her position as mother to Seetaa and released him from
filial duty. (See 123)
Notice that Sumitraa gives an elder brother the
status of the father particularly in his absence. This wisdom
establishes respect for elders and their response in selfless care for
the youngsters. Hearing
Sumitraa's advice to Lakshmana, his consort Urmilaa wanted Lakshmana to
attain the most for himself. By being by
his side in exile, she would distract him and detract from the best for
him. If there is no reference to Urmilaa’s decision in the Book, it
does not detract from her exemplary selflessness for the sake of her
husband. Maybe Tulaseedaasa left something for readers’ healthy
imagination. Sumitraa
never thought about herself when Shree Raama, who loved her so much and
her son would be in exile. Her motherhood would be fulfilled if her son
remained a firm devotee of God. Sumitraa exemplified the Indian wisdom
that by proper upbringing of children women preserved our culture and
kept the nation on an even keel. (A Lesson in Good Conduct) 125
Chaupaayi: Raamu praana-priya jeevana jee kay: swaaratha-rahita sakhaa
saba hee kay:: 125.
Sumitraa continued, "Shree Raama is loved by everyone as one's own
life. He is the breath of life in, and the selfless friend of all.
Those who are worth loving and worshipping are as such through Shree
Raama. Knowing this, O Lakshmana, go with Shree Raama and serve him to
secure the benefit of your life." Sumitraa
told Lakshmana that because Shree Raama was God, Who was underlying the
life principle in men, they were alive and commanded relationship.
Lakshmana should attain the purpose of his life by serving Shree Raama.
(See 136)
Kaikayee chose the best for her son in the material, Sumitraa
in the spiritual and Kaushalyaa in both fields. To the reach of their
mind and spirit, all mothers chose the best for their sons and were
therefore noble. 126
Chaupaayi: Putravatee jubatee jaga so-yee:
Raghupati-bhagatu jaasu sutu ho-yee:: Ak75 126.
Sumitraa continued, "Only that mother reflects the glory of
womanhood whose son is Shree Raama's devotee." Sumitraa
shows that it is more important for a mother to teach her children the
value of devotion to God than the manner, form and object of that
devotion. (See 101, 446) To
Sumitraa, the purpose of motherhood was to
train children in vivayka and vairaagya to attain their
purpose of life through devotion to God. Without this, it was better to
be barren than be a mother. This was Sumitraa's concept of her role as
a mother as her service to God. Sumitraa
did not even caress Lakshmana at his departure for the forest. She did
that on his return. She showed that her love for Lakshmana was not
attachment caused by self-interest. We are advised that ‘The guru, (and
elsewhere, the mother and scriptures) can only repeat, remind, inspire,
instruct, persuade, plead; the activity, the disciple must himself
initiate. He must jump over the stile himself. No one can hoist him
over it. " (BS 7 157) (Parentheses Author's) A mother
cannot train children alone without the father chipping in his best.
Children learn healthy lessons in self-confidence and security from
parents' harmonious conduct. (See 240[1-6,
9, 10,
21], 241, 259)
Children suffer if parents are ignorant and unable to teach children
the value of enlightened faith in God and how to make beneficial use of
faith in day-to-day life. 127
Dohaa: A-ura kara-yi aparaadha ko-u, a-ura
paava phala bhogu: 127.
Dasharatha said in despair, "Somebody commits an offence and
somebody else suffers the punishment. God's ways are strange indeed.
Who can understand His ways?" Kaikayee's
maid-servant Mantharaa's and Dasharatha's faults apparently made Shree
Raama suffer unjustly the hardships of the forest for fourteen years.
Overpowered by maya, Dasharatha forgot the law of karma and believed as
a reality that Shree Raama would reap the suffering, which Dasharatha
sowed. Kaushalyaa had the jnaana, but Dasharatha did not, that
Shree Raama was God beyond karma and suffering both. (See 85) To
perform his role, Shree Raama himself, as an Incarnation of God, set
the sequence of events for the hardships of his exile into forest. The
pain of his exile for Dasharatha and others was the consequence of
their own karma. 128
Chaupaayi: Ganga sakala-muda-mangala-moolaa:
saba sukha karani harani saba soolaa:: Ak87 128. The
sacred river Gangaa is the source of all happiness. It bestows joy and
takes away all suffering, One of the
traditional stories about Gangaa says that it came down from the
heavens to the earth to sanctify all beings, including gods. In 129
Chaupaayi: Tay pitu maatu kahahu sakhi kaisay:
jinha pattha-yay bana baalaka aisay:: Ak89 129. A
forest woman said to another, "O friend! What kind of parents could
send their charming children to the forest?" King Guha's
Nishaada tribesmen and women saw the charmingly youthful figures of
Shree Raama, Seetaa and Lakshmana. They wondered how heartless would be
the parents to send royal scions to the forest. All manner of feelings
of forest folk are expressed in this simple couplet. (For Shree
Raama's Devotee) 130
Chaupaayi: Bolay Lashanu madhura-mridu-baanee:
jnaana-biraaga-bhagati-rasa saanee:: 130. Lakshmana
spoke to Guha endearing words of wisdom sweetened by jnaana
or Knowledge, vairaagya or detachment and bhakti
or devotion. "None can give pain or pleasure to anyone else. O
brother! Everyone suffers the consequences of one's own deeds." Just before
this couplet, Guha said painfully, 130A
Dohaa: Kaikaya-nandini manda-mati, katthina
kuttilapana keenha: Kaikayee,
the daughter of King Kaikayaa, was of a crooked mind. She made a
vicious move. It caused Shree Raama, Lakshmana and Seetaa pain at a
time of joy for them. Lakshmana tried to
remove Guha's pain by a discourse, which is also known as the Lakshmana
Geetaa, To assuage
Guha's anguish, Lakshmana explained the law of karma to Guha and Shree
Raama being above its sufferings. (See 185) The
words
'one's own' have
significance. Under the law of karma, nobody can suffer pain or enjoy
pleasure as a result of someone else's doing. (See 72) So,
Dasharatha's
honouring his word or Kaikayee's crooked move could not cause the
exile. Being God, Shree Raama himself planned his exile and everything
in his life for his self-appointed role. (See 65, 135, 138 and
Geetaa
9:9) A question
arises here. What is the use of doing something for someone when our
actions can neither decrease nor increase another's pain or pleasure?
This question arises when we forget four precepts: An act can
apparently hurt or help another. This help or hurt is the deserts of
the recipient’s past karma. In administering the law of karma, God
selects us for help or hurt because we have to do it as a consequence
of our past deeds under the law of karma. So, not really but apparently
only we help or hurt. (See 86) It is God
who ensures that none can exist for a moment without doing action
(karma). So, why not do good deeds prompted by love for everyone's
happiness rather than bad deeds, which hurt others by our selfishness
of 'we' and 'they'? In Sanaatana Dharma, service of others is called
the highest religion. (See 54, 259)
The human
body is for securing our bliss and liberation in life itself. (See 390-393)
As our duty, when we pray and dedicate to God all our acts for
the happiness of those we can reach, God gives us happiness in
consequence. We reap what we sow. If we do not sow bliss we cannot reap
it. In God's
scheme of things, the happiness or pain of one also flows from another
doing his normal work. (See 72) This
sustains
society. The performance
of our duty is the means, which takes care of another's needs. For
example, old parents are taken care of by performance of duty by their
children and the infant by that of the mother. If parents had not
earned that care by their good deeds earlier, they would not have their
children perform their duty. If parents had earned comforts, others
would have come forward to provide it, if their children failed them.
In Sanaatana Dharma neither the old parents nor infants have any
rights. All have only duty of love to perform in their own interest.
Happiness is not our right. Performance of our duty gives happiness to
others and to us which each of us earned by our deeds. Similarly,
others' duty gives them and us happiness or otherwise as we earned.
Deliberately avoiding duty is a sin. In this scheme of things one man's
deed is not the cause of, but only the means for another's happiness or
unhappiness. The cause is his past karma. As a
follower of Sanaatana Dharma, we know that in our reality we are all
one with God. So, we do what He does: sustain the world by our duty
imbued with benevolence to our family, expand it to include society and
dedicate in advance all that we do and are to God, being His work. (See
325 and
Geetaa 3:20-25) We thus become His instruments. He keeps His
instruments efficient, that is, keeps us healthy, free from strains,
fear, need and disease. To do our duty and get its inherent fruit are
our only rights. We surrender both to God for His better choice of the
fruit to us. We think we
did good to somebody. If we humbly analyze
the totality of factors culminating in that good, we find that our
contribution was infinitesimal. There were innumerable factors, which
we could not control but which could prevent that good from coming
about. So, we realize that God brought about that result and we got the
credit for it. He does all. This occasional introspection keeps our ego
of 'I,' the achiever, in our control to keep us humble yet diligent,
which is a sign of greatness, It is the
dull-witted who make this couplet an excuse for not doing their
compassionate service to others for the good of society. They harm
themselves. Our noble interest is in this service to others. (See 259)
(Lakshmana's Discourse to Guha Begins) 131
Chaupaayi: Joga biyoga bhoga bhala mandaa: hita
anahita madhyama Bhrama phandaa:: 131.
Lakshmana continued, "The union with, and separation from the
loved ones, the good and the bad results, or profit and loss, friends
and foes or those who are neither, are all snares of our imagination.
Birth, death and all traps of worldly attractions, prosperity and
adversity, deeds and times..." After the
law of karma, Lakshmana now introduces Guha to Advaita, namely,
Brahman is the Ultimate Reality and the world though unreal appears as
real as a dream. (See 67, 241[9-11])
Yoga is
being with a friend, the family or a loved one. Viyoga is
separation from them. Here yoga means getting whatever we desire and viyoga
means losing it. (See 135)
What is
birth? We think that we are what our physical body and our brain are
and apart from this we have no existence. This thought is the birth of
our ego or the 'I consciousness' and its persistence is our life in
this world. This thought makes us believe that we are the doer of all
deeds, that is, the ego of the 'doer.' (See 66) As a
doer, we
get
consequences and rebirth. Sri Ramakrishna calls the ego of a doer as
unripe ego. It is the
death of our unripe ego when we discover that we are not our physical
body and that the 'doer' of all deeds is God. We are His servants. This
discovery ripens our unripe ego of a doer into that of a servant. It
frees us from our attachment to acts or karma as a doer and so from
their consequences for us and from our rebirth. The soul of a such a liberated man does not leave his body.
It enables him to live with this ripe ego of God's servant to continue
to work and enjoy the bliss of liberation on the earth itself. (See 450[10]
and Geetaa 5:26) When we
sleep, our intelligence, senses, body and our activities and the
phenomenal world disappear for us. It is our death in the waking world
and a birth in a dream world. We can treat our waking up in the morning
as a birth and sleep at night as death. On waking up, we can pray to
God to guide us. On sleeping, we can ask Him to receive us. These two
prayers make us a twenty-four hour devotee of God. We do not
necessarily have to leave our daily work in hand, which is our duty,
for meditating upon or praying to Him. Instead, we concentrate upon our
work as any other man. We can dedicate it to Him by remembering Him at
the beginning or end of our work or of the day or as often as we can.
That becomes our incessant prayer through work. All current
situations, which are good or bad, giving us gain, loss, pleasure or
pain, exist for us as a reality because of their impact on us. If
something has no impact upon us, as a distant earthquake, it
practically does not exist for us as a reality. We can make use of the
law of karma to reduce or eliminate the impact on us of our situation
as a consequence of our past deeds. Without this use, the situation
persists to cause us suffering. With knowledge of the law of karma and
faith in God's grace to rid us of the impact on us of the situation, we
get the strength to withstand the situation to persevere in virtue.
(See 241[9-11])
The purpose
of knowing what is unreal and real is to know our divinity and develop
the ability to see reality around us for correct decision for our
success in day to day life. This helps us to
understand our reality as God's instruments to develop in us a selfless
and benevolent attitude towards people and situations and in our
service of society. This understanding enables us to bear whatever
comes or does not come to us by God's grace. This strength frees us
from all anxiety, fear and strains because we know that our master God
will see us through. 132
Chaupaayi: Dharani dhaamu dhanu pura
parivaaroo: saragu naraku janha lagi byavahaaroo:: 132.
Lakshmana continued, "...the earth, our home, wealth, city, family,
heaven and hell, our dealings in the world, whatever we perceive by
hearing or seeing or we imagine, all cause our attachment to them. They
are not of any value for us." Our
reliance on our family and possessions attaches us to them in the form
of our expectations from them. Expectations generate desires.
Expectations and desires make them all more real for us than they are.
Desires make our mind uncontrollable as a whirlwind. So, we analyze the
role of desires in our actions. A desire has no role in such actions as
breathing and obligatory duties. (See 265[5]) We
learn
to eliminate
base desires and anxiety for specific fruit of all our actions by
surrendering the fruit for us to God. This elimination makes our
actions desireless. If still some expectations bother us we should
attach them to God. He fulfils them in the manner to serve our best
interest. This attachment to God strengthens our selflessness as a karmayogi
for our daily duties. We become free from what we relied upon
earlier which could not be reliable as a certainty. (See 42 [3,
6-13], 325-327
and Geetaa 6:28, :34-35) We see that
not our family, possessions and all, nor our duty towards them, but
only our attachment to, and non-fulfilment of our expectations from
them, causes our pain. So, we give up this attachment. (See 136) We
realize that the family and possessions are not our precious objective.
Maya makes them so for us. They are mere facilities for mutual
advancement and bliss. Our objective is continual bliss for us and for
all. Our role is of diligent duty towards them motivated by
selflessness. For acquiring this vivayka or awareness of
reality, we do not set apart any time but just understand it. It
frees us from attachment and maya. For what maya does, please see 237-239, 407 and 440.
133
Dohaa: Sapnay ho-yi bhikhaari nripu, ranka
naakapati ho-yi: 133.
Lakshmana continued, "In his dream a beggar becomes a king and
Indra, the Chief of gods, becomes a beggar. On waking up, the one
neither gains nor the other loses anything.
Similarly the world is as a dream for us." When the
soul enters our human body, God gives us a path, namely, the dream.
That path was revealed to the ancient Indian sages. They found that by
treating the world as a dream, we could live in it as in a dream and
escape from suffering, secure continual bliss and freedom from rebirth,
and all in this life. In both, a
dream and waking state, everything appears true to us with the same
impact upon us. Before and after the dream we remain empty-handed.
Similarly we enter life empty-handed and leave it empty-handed. There
is no stability or firmness in the happenings in the dream. Events in
life also occur unpredictably and cannot be relied upon. Sleep creates
the dream world with events in it. Maya creates the unreal universe,
which is relatively real with events in it. Waking up from sleep frees
us from the suffering we experience in our dream world. Vivayka
and vairaagya wake us up in the phenomenal world, after which
we become free from its sufferings. As in life,
we see in the dream that we perform deeds and bear pain and pleasure as
a consequence. After the dream we are free from them all. Life does not
give us that freedom inasmuch as we get a rebirth. If, however, we can
finish our actions and their consequences in life itself, as we do in a
dream, we can be free from rebirth after it. The
consequences of our acts in a dream appear real but do not stick to us.
This is because in reality we are neither doing those actions nor
enjoying or suffering their consequences. In a dream, we merely witness
them. Similarly in waking hours of our life, we can become a witness of
our actions and consequences without their sticking to us. For that we
have to realize that in truth we are the soul pervading our body. Our
soul merely inspires us. It neither acts nor enjoys nor suffers. It is
a mere witness of the acts done by the body. Our reality is not our
body and brain, which we mistakenly think it
is. (See 66)
Acting with our body with that understanding, the real
'we,' or our soul, remains free from acts and remains a witness. (See 265[5,
11-12]) If we pray
to God that we are nothing and God is all and He does everything, and
act in that faith, we become God's instruments. In this role, we do all
deeds after testing them on the touchstone of the Geetaa as summed up
in 240[23]
or
do all deeds motivated by love to help all and hurt none.
We perform all deeds with diligence as our duty to God after dedicating
them to Him. For dedication, see 325. After
that
we are performing
those deeds only apparently but not in reality. As a surgeon, God is
the real ‘doer’ and we are His mere instruments as a scalpel. (See
Geetaa 5:8-9) So, as a surgeon, God reaps the consequences of all acts
of our present life. No consequences accrue to us. We accumulate
nothing for rebirth. Simultaneously, we exhaust the consequences of our
karma of our past lives by suffering them as we do in a dream. This
suffering is minimized by our realization that it was earned by our
past lives and secondly by repentance and surrender to God and resolve
to eschew error from now onwards. This resolve invokes God's grace for
our relief to strengthen our persistence in this redeeming path.
We go out of such a life as free as from a dream. We cannot cheat God
and dedicate the results of our deeds motivated by passions to God. Our
passions make us the ‘doer’ because they attach us to specific results
from our acts to bear their consequences. In this
way, the world has a purpose for us. We live in the world as a selfless
karmayogi as feelingly as we live in a dream. It is
difficult to live in this manner. Surprisingly, however, a devotee
unconsciously lives in this manner. It does not matter to him whether
the world is real or a dream. He repents for and surrenders his past
and all to God, eschews sin, lives a life of selfless service dedicated
to God as his devotion to God and thereby secures all manner of relief.
He is free. (See 318-319
and Geetaa 9:30) When we see
a movie we become attached to it. We laugh, enjoy, shed tears and
suffer pain. The moment we realize that it is a movie and not real all
sensations cease. We are free. The source of happiness or suffering is
not the movie, real or unreal, but our attachment to its plot. The
moment we get detached we cease to suffer pain. The same mental
detachment is needed in our perception of our world. The actors in the
movie only apparently suffer and enjoy. They know they are actors doing
their work or duty. They neither suffer nor enjoy. They are not
attached to events in the story. If we know our reality and become
mentally detached from our acts in the world we become mere actors. A
detached man suffers much less than others because detachment or
unconcern takes away intensity of expectations, feelings and
frustrations and makes him content in himself. Contentment itself
reduces misery. Moreover the awareness of our attitude of being God's
instruments prepares us for hardship and gives us increased capacity to
bear suffering, which reduces its impact upon us. God's grace gives us
relief because we are trying to live in our divinity. In the same
way, the world is unreal as a movie. Brahman or our soul is the screen,
which remains unaffected by actions displayed on it. Our 'I' makes it
difficult for us to be detached from the world and from our deeds. The
'I' is eliminated by realizing that we are not the body and, secondly,
by surrendering the 'I' to God. (See 42 )
When we
realize that our present situation is caused by our own past, our
perspective of injustice and of bitterness against persons and things
softens. None remains our enemy, the pain of bitterness disappears and
we develop evenhandedness towards all. This reduces or frees us from
suffering. That the
world is a dream is of no use to a householder or many of us who are
devotees of a personal God such as Shree Raama. He and the world are
real for His devotee to whom the devotee dedicates his service to his
family and society, his devotion and also himself. After his dedication
and surrender to God, he realizes that he is merely an actor on the
stage and all suffering is a passing phase as a gift from God to be
witnessed and not be affected by it. This knowledgeable attitude of a
devotee minimizes the impact of his suffering, to become
bearable. For an Advaitin
to convince this devotee that Shree Raama and the world are a
dream harms the devotee and his devotion. Similarly, if this Advaitin
whose 'I' is active, acts as if the world is unreal and he is one with
Brahman, he also harms himself. This Advaitin needs
purification of his mind to de-activate his ' 134
Chaupaayi: Asa bichaari nahin keeji-ya roshu:
kaahuhi baadi na day-iya doshu:: 134.
Lakshmana continued, "Realizing this, do not be angry with anybody
or hold him responsible for anything. Everybody is sleeping in the
night of ignorance through his attachment to the world. He is seeing
myriad dreams in his sleep." In 133, we
saw that life is a dream. We are awake when we acquire Knowledge,
non-attachment to worldly attractions and devotion and attachment to
God. (See Geetaa 2:69) Without these, we ignorantly sleep in the world.
Attachment (raaga),
detachment (vairaagya) and non-attachment (parama vairaagya)
are important concepts in Sanaatana Dharma. Our desire for something
creates attachment to it, which makes us its slave to pursue it. In
this pursuit, we develop weakness for it, and become ignorant of better
things and so unaware of reality. So, maya as ignorance is deeply
rooted in the passion of our attachment to worldly attractions.
Detachment makes us free to be what we in reality are. I enjoy rich
food immensely. If I miss it, I am attached to it. If I am equally
happy without it, I am detached from it. If the food is tasteless and
it does not matter at all to me I am non-attached to it. My control
over my taste is my control on one of my senses and my freedom from its
hold on me. To develop this detachment of all the senses from worldly
attractions is the first step in spiritual discipline for freedom to
become what I am. By this freedom I cease to be a mere bundle of
desires. We acquire
detachment by often reminding ourselves that in reality all that we
think as ours, such as property, family, friends and circumstances,
belong to God and He has entrusted them to us for our care and use for
His service. God can take away all any moment. This reminder also frees
us from any pride, which may lurk in us on their account and thereby
also secures their remaining with us for His service. Detachment needs
our being alert to the power of our senses and passions in our thought,
word and deed or motivating the three by benevolence and love as a form
of our service of God. (See 259, 413) This
control
over the five senses
is the aim of a disciplined follower of Sanaatana Dharma. We can go on
enjoying the best but we are unaffected when we cannot have it. We are
free from desires and passions. The practice of vairaagya
starts when after checking if it is absolutely necessary, we say no to
a desire, which we can easily afford to fulfil. This checking is our vivayka.
Detachment
or non-attachment is attained when we do not loathe worldly objects but
are not attracted by them. We are detached when we realize that nothing
belongs to us and we give up the feeling of possession. We are detached
when we remember that we can lose our dear ones and possessions without
any notice and that our attachment will increase our pain on their
loss. We are detached when we are ready to accept failure or success of
our effort even-mindedly. We are detached when living in society, we curtail our needs and desires by
careful discrimination, economize in everything and be content. We are
detached when we dedicate our all and ourselves to God and accept good, bad and indifferent, which come to us as
His grace. We are detached when we develop an attitude of unconcern
with but not aversion towards people, things and events and welcome joy
or grief as our deserts. We are detached when we develop
even-mindedness. This even-mindedness means that we do not
discriminate, be averse to or hate any and have an attitude of equal
love for all. This purified non-attached attitude prepares us for
equanimity in prosperity and adversity or freedom from want or from
frustration of desire. A little thought shows that the foregoing
experiences are mere aspects of our persistence in an enlightened
attitude towards our surroundings. A householder can acquire this
attitude for the fulfilment of the purpose of his life through selfless
performance of his household duties. Detachment or acquisition of any
virtue is difficult unless we have a purpose of our life to which we
are always alert. This mental
detachment or vairaagya from worldly attractions must be
accompanied by attachment to God, without which detachment is
purposeless. (See Geetaa 6:4-9) Detachment saves us from suffering and
diverts us from selfish gratification to nobler pleasures such as the
continuing joy of our giving, sharing and seeing happiness around us in
compassion, charity, culture and festivals. Detachment frees us from
both happiness and unhappiness, from the desire for more body comforts
and from the ceaseless effort for either. Detachment secures continual
peace for us. When we practise non-attachment we notice that the
demands of our self diminish. As long as these demands remain strong,
non-attachment is not within our reach. Thus the stronger the
detachment and non-attachment the weaker the self till it is totally
deactivated. So, the deactivation of our self becomes our aim in life
for our continual happiness. To secure detachment and non-attachment,
and attachment to God simultaneously, we dedicate all our desires,
expectations and deeds to God for giving us what He thinks best for
us, Detachment
or vairaagya is diligence in our duties to family and
compassion in society and to be involved very much in it but not be
bound by it by anxiety for success and fear of failure. We should not
avoid contact with others or with external nature nor escape from the
world. The world is necessary for the fulfillment of any noble purpose,
which we have for our life and our role for it. As a householder too
the purpose can be selfless service as that of a jeevanmukta
such as Janaka. The power
of maya to attach us to the world or moha is strong. We may
have few cares but maya makes us create attachment for ourselves. For
example, we buy a pet animal. In caring for it, we may do deeds, which
bind us to consequences and rebirth. Attachment makes things around us
possess us instead of our possessing things for our minimum needs.
Attachment diverts our mind from concentrating on the worthwhile or on
our highest good. It is like leaks in our boat for our journey to our
objective. The word moha
or attachment in the couplets also means ignorance. This arises from
our attachment to something, which makes us forget the lesson of our
past experience of it. An example is this. A parrot is attracted by the
spring flowers of a saimal tree (Salmalia Malabarica).
Its fruit gives not flesh and juice but inedible fiber. Forgetting its
last season's experience, the parrot is drawn to the fruit by its
attractive flowers every year. Smoking or drinking continues by our
repeatedly forgetting their bad effects upon us. Sanaatana
Dharma does not demand that we deny ourselves the good things of life
and become ascetics. This demand would end all progress. All Indian
festivals are full of vivacity. No periodic religious group activity is
based on sorrow or mourning. We can enjoy family life, conjugal love,
rich food, dance, music, drama, fine arts, crafts and sculpture. The
fine Indian heritage in culture, life and arts surviving today portrays
it as a wonder. Yet, except when society had a fall, almost every
traditional activity in Sanaatana
Dharma warns us not to run after and become slaves of pleasures to be
miserable without them. When we give happiness to others, we get more
of it and of a higher quality ourselves as the fruit of the giving.
This giving means a little sacrifice, which is a valued austerity in
Sanaatana Dharma. The control over and not slavery of our pleasures for
our happiness is not austerity. It is freedom from the burden of our
excess baggage of life. (See 210) We
develop
this control by our choice
by trusting God as our reliable provider. (See Geetaa 9:22) The pursuit
of comforts and pleasures, which is treated as a quality or standard of
life and a sign of civilization, is our being asleep in the world.
Happiness is much more than physical comfort and sensuous pleasures.
The pursuit of continual happiness shareable with others, but free from
passions and hurt to others, keeps us awake in life and is our
objective. Sanaatana Dharma shows us that through Brahmacharya
early in life we attain that happiness throughout life. (See Geetaa
2:58) Sanaatana
Dharma warns us that happiness is in our purified mind such as
Vasishttha and Vishvaamitra achieved. They attended royal festivities
including dances of celestial maidens, which needed their patronage. In
the same manner as lotus petals reject even pure dewdrops as a
pollutant, the sages remained unaffected because they were attached to
the reality underlying worldly things and were awake. They lived in the
world without the world living in them. This means that the world and
its attractions could not affect them. 135
Chaupaayi: Ayhi jaga jaamini jaghahin jogee:
para-maarathee prapancha-biyogee:: 135.
Lakshmana continued, "In this night of ignorance of the
reality which underlies this world, yogis remain awake with the
desire to seek the most precious objective and detached from the snares
of the five elements forming the phenomenal world. A man should
be treated as awake in the world when he is non-attached to its
attractive pleasures.” These
couplets become clear by understanding five concepts, namely, sleeping,
waking up, the most precious objective, the five elements and a
yogi. A yogi, a bhogee
(the sensual) and a rogee (the sick) remain awake at night. The
rogee seeks freedom from his experience the bhogee repeats
experience and the yogi experiences continual bliss in the fourth state
of tureeya or the state of sleepless sleep of the purified
mind of a yogi. For a purified mind, normal sleep is not essential for
a healthy life. A purified mind attains the objective of yoga, which is
control over senses and passions or over maya, and attains
vairaagya, vivayka and oneness in love with all in God. (HM 113,
164) (See 318)
‘Jaamini’
or night
is the darkness of ignorance or maya. Advanced yogis remain awake in
the tureeya, the fourth state of awareness after wakefulness,
dream and deep sleep states. If a man
treats his body as a reality and remains ignorant as described in 66,
he is asleep in the ignorance of his reality. His love for worldly
attractions for his happiness arises from his ignorance of the
continual bliss within, which is available to him. (See 66, 390 and
Geetaa 2:69) We are
awake, when we seek answers to, ‘Who am I in reality? Where have I come
from? What is my destination and for how long?’ (See Geetaa 2:54-72) We
are awakened when we realize that our reality is not our body and brain
but our jeevaatmaa one with God, that we have come out of God
and our final destination is God. For some this awakening can happen on
suffering a tragedy, or by a shock or by continuing miseries, or by
frustration from ceaseless effort to secure fulfilment of worldly or
sensuous desires, or from their satiety and so on. All get awakened in
their own time. The awakened become yogis to develop mentally
vairaagya, vivayka and attachment to God and to secure
control of senses and passions. They apparently live a worldly life.
Inside, however, they live spiritually and reach God more rapidly than
others. (See 210)
Our most
precious objective is continual bliss and reaching God in life through dharma,
artha, kaama and moksha as explained in 211. To
persist in that objective is to be awake in this world. Beyond
that needed for our sustenance, the pursuit of worldly wealth, name and
fame are a false objective. This is because the objectives of our
pursuit are not our security in all crises. They do not give continual
happiness but often worry and frustration. (See 27)
Their
pursuit
is being asleep in the world. Five
ingredients, space, air, fire, water and earth, make the universe a
phenomenon. Everything in it has a name and a form. It exits (satya)
when we experience it by the five senses. It does not exist (asatya)
when we sleep. So, it is satasata or truth and untruth or mythya.
So, it is called Prapancha or
a snare. Maya makes this changing world as a reality that is attractive
for us. We are therefore asleep when we treat it as a reality. When we
wake up, we discover the true world as imbued with Shree Raama, that
is, all are one in God. None is good or bad. Each has a separate role
for which he displays a variety of qualities. Awake as a yogi, we
become benevolent towards all, including those who hate or hurt us.
(See 259)
We
avoid the wicked and get them punished. We are alert to
our passions in judging men. Our love towards all prays for the
betterment of all and sharing of our happiness for the material and
spiritual advancement of society. The
phenomenal world has mayaic dualities of ‘I' and ‘you,' knowledge and
ignorance, pain and pleasure and so on. Under the influence of
passions, particularly our 'I,' dualities have impact upon us. (See 67, 407)
Passions make power, name, fame, and particularly wealth and the
opposite sex, and so on attractive and our failure to secure them makes
us unhappy. When we develop detachment from the world, we find that
love of oneness of all in God is the source of our continual bliss.
Dualities cease to affect us because we know that they are for their
roles. Yoga is a
discipline, which secures the purification of the mind to attain mental
calm in harmony with the cosmos and the continual bliss for us thereby.
A pure mind is fit for realizing God. The paths of deeds, meditation,
Knowledge and of devotion are also called yogas. Yoga is also the
converging of all our faculties for securing the objective before
us. Scriptures
lay down many yogas such as Hatthayoga (body control), Layayoga
(mind control), Raajayoga (discrimination control), which
includes Karmayoga, Dhyaanayoga, Kunddaliniyoga (control of
seven energy centres in our body), Samaadhiyoga and others. No
yoga is fruitful without our sincerity in ceaselessly basing our
thought, word and deed upon love for all as one with us or upon
jnaana. (See 259)
So, this love expressed in compassion in our
conduct towards the less fortunate than us, combined with remembering
our personal God of our choice and as often as possible, makes us a
devotee. Our devotion secures the benefit of all yogas and is
recommended as the practical by both the Geetaa and the Shree
Raamacharita Maanasa. (See 139 and
Geetaa
18:66) 135A
Chaupaayi: Naama jayhi japi jaagahin
jogee: birati Biranchi-prapancha-biyogee:: Bk22 Tulaseedaasa
says, "The repetition of Shree Raama's name awakens the yogis to
keep them detached from Brahmaa's world of five ingredients." (see
Geetaa 6:47, 8:7, 12:2) 136
Chaupaayi: Ho-yi bibayku moha-bhrama bhaagaa:
taba Raghunaatha-charana anuraagaa:: 136.
Lakshmana continued, "When man acquires discrimination and the
delusion caused by his worldly attachment disappears, he
acquires devotion to Shree Raama. O friend! The highest wealth is
the development of love for Him through thought, word and deed." The cause
of suffering in this world is our attachment to objects in it. We love
the lands we own. We sell them and we love the money. That is put in
the bank. We love the passbook. What we love is not the thing itself
but the prestige of possession, comfort, show or greed. They are all
inside us. Our own self attaches us to things, which by themselves give
us no happiness or unhappiness. Once we understand how our uncontrolled
mind attaches us to worldly objects, we develop detachment from them.
(See 134)
Detachment develops into discrimination to accept the
essential and reject the non-essential or objectivity for success both
in life and in spiritual progress. (See 458)
All
suffering is in our mind and is caused by its pollution or our
ignorance. (See 66,
318)
We
can reduce our suffering in many ways. (See 30, 50)
Selflessness and
surrender to God in Shree Raama is one of the
ways. (See 139,
386)
We
are advised that surrender is the awareness
that the deed, the doer and the object are all God. (See 325)
Surrender
to God makes us use our mind for meditating upon Him, our voice for
singing His praise and our daily work dedicated for His worship and
service. His grace replaces our suffering by contentment that is the
highest happiness. The means
available to us for a life on the earth and their enjoyment are called artha
or material wherewithal or wealth. If we become non-attached
to them, that is, not treat them as the end in itself, we acquire
discrimination and acquire Knowledge. This acquisition is
paramaartha or our great spiritual wealth. When we dedicate all
detachment, discrimination and Knowledge to God and surrender ourselves
to Him and become His devotees, we acquire our greatest wealth, the
highest objective or paramaparamaartha. (See 239 and
Geetaa
4:33) Material
wealth or artha is earned through dharma and is enjoyed
fully by following the Varnaashrama Dharma. (See 111) The
desire to
know if material
wealth is all that there is to happiness in the world,
evokes true discrimination with detachment. This awakening is our
paramaartha. When we strive for the highest continual happiness,
that objective is paramaparamaartha. The end objective of
Sanaatana Dharma according to Geetaa, is
the highest innocuous and continual bliss of selflessness in life of a karmayogi
before we reach God in life itself. This objective is not lofty. It is
achievable by a constant link to our inmost Self. (See 26, 42 [3,
6-13], 72,
259,
318)
137
Chaupaayi: Raamu Brahma paramaaratha roopaa: avigata alakha
anaadi anoopaa:: 137.
Lakshmana continued, "Shree Raama is the personification of our
greatest wealth, namely, Brahman or God. Brahman cannot be known,
cannot be seen, has no beginning, and is unique and free from all
changes, differentiation and dualities. The Vedas ultimately describe
Brahman by saying, na-iti, na-iti," that is, not this, not
this but endless. We can say with certainty what God is not, but not
what He is. Tulaseedaasa
experienced the truth in the three schools of Vedanta. He saw
Brahman of Advaita, Naaraayana of Vishishttaadvaita and
Vishnu of Dvaita in the reality of Shree Raama. (See 241[30,
35] ) The world is unreal though visible. Shree Raama is both real and
visible. (See 68-70
and Geetaa 9:19) For most of us, it is difficult to
worship the one Ultimate Reality in Brahman in Its formless aspect. So,
Tulaseedaasa recommends Its worship in Shree Raama to attain continual
bliss in life and regain our oneness with Brahman thereafter. Immediately
preceding Tulaseedaasa, Kabeera emphasized the formless aspect of
Brahman. Revering Kabeera but reaching beyond him, Tulaseedaasa revived
jnaana bhakti. (See 17, 437) It
combined both the formless and the
with form aspects of Brahman in Shree Raama. Tulaseedaasa considered
dangerous our concentrating upon the formless aspect of God while
living in the world. (See 136, 438, 441)
Guha
had earlier said: 137A
Chaupaayi: Siya Raghubeera ki kaanana jogoo: karamu
pradhaana satya kaha logoo:: Ak91 "Are
Seetaa and Shree Raama fit to live in the forest? It is truly said that
karma is supreme." The pessimistic belief
in the supremacy of karma and man's helplessness against their
consequences has been dinned into the peoples' ears in 138
Dohaa: Bhagata bhoomi bhoosura surabhi, sura
hita laagi kripaala: 138.
Lakshmana continued, "For the good of his devotees, the earth,
Brahmins, the cow and gods, the merciful Shree Raama assumes a human
body and performs his play. One gets freedom from rebirth by listening
to and understanding His message through his stories." To remove
Guha's pain on seeing the royal scions suffering in the forest,
Lakshmana clarifies that unaffected by karma,
Shree Raama was performing an earthly role by His choice. To hear about
it, understand His message, and to remember Him freed one from rebirth.
(See 49)
138A
Chaupaayi: Jaba jaba Raama manuja-tanu dharaheen:
bhakta-haytu leelaa bahu karaheen:: Ak75 Kaakabhushunddi
said to Garurha, "Whenever Shree Raama assumes a human form he
performs many deeds for the good of His devotees." This and the
transformation of others to live in their divinity is one of the
apparent reasons for God's earthly role in all the four ages. He is,
however, for all. (See 65[2-15,
18, 20], 73,
415)
(Lakshmana's
Discourse to Guha Ends) 139
Chaupaayi: Dharmu naa doosara satya samaanaa:
aagama nigama puraana bakhaanaa:: 139.
Shree Raama said to Sumantra, "The Vedas, the Puranas and the
Shastras declare that no dharma equals adherence to
truth. I acquired that duty easily. To give it up brings
dishonour in all the three worlds." Dasharatha's
duty was to honour his word to Kaikayee. He did it by sending Shree
Raama into exile. Shree Raama found his dharma in obeying
Dasharatha’s command, which would honour his word or dharma.
This brings out a very important concept. According to the Vedic or
perennial dharma, everyone has duties and no rights and
privileges in society or in our relationship with God. We have only the
right to self-discipline, to performance of duty, to devotion to God
and to seek relief from God. Smritis prescribe the social code.
It changes and is not Sanaatana Dharma. (See 123) To
treat all
that Smritis
contain as religion results in perverse practices such as that of caste
system or restrictions on entry to temples, child marriage, sati,
dowry, inferior status and maltreatment of women and many divisive
rituals. This Smritic Hinduism is separate from nascent Vedic
Sanaatana Dharma. The former is recognizable by its practices that we
see as Hinduism today. The latter is inside us with its observable form
only in a conduct of love for all as one with us or Advaita.
In 54, 259 and 386,
the highest dharma is thinking of and serving or doing good to others, which are the concrete
forms of love. In 453,
it is non-violence and here it is truth. The
apparent contradiction is in defining, explaining or arguing about the
three. When we live in them, they become one. We profit nothing by
being untrue to the one we offer benevolence without expectation of any
return from one, nor do we hurt such a one. Love, selfless conduct and
benevolent acts pre-dedicated to God become our highest practical dharma
and its opposite the highest error or
sin. Dharma does not mean a defined
divine law or the law of God nor our duty of obeying it. It is because
we do not know what that law is. (See 148) We only
know our
divine Satchidaananda
dharma, or our inalienable nature, which is
love, care and compassion for all and rectitude and justice in our
thought, word and deed. We protect our dharma by setting for
others an example by living in it. Then this dharma protects us
through God's grace. We do not protect dharma by fighting for
it as many ignorantly think. Some of these ignoramus people can
quote scriptures. (See 242) We
fight
only to defend our property,
family, country and ourselves. 140
Chhanda: Pada-kamala dho-yi, charrhaa-yi naava, na naatha
utaraayee chaha-un: 140. The
ferryman besought Shree Raama, "O Lord! I shall take you aboard only
after I have washed your feet. I swear by your father Dasharatha and
you, that all that I say is true." The
ferryman, Kayvatt, had heard that the touch of the dust of Shree
Raama's feet transformed a piece of rock into a woman, Ahalyaa, who
later vanished in the sky to be welcomed by her husband. (See (96) in the
Story) Lest the same dust should make planks in his boat fly away as
women, the ferryman prayed to wash first Shree Raama's feet in a wooden
trough. The ferryman was so spiritually advanced that by just hearing
about and not seeing the miracle, he knew correctly that Shree Raama
was God in person. The ferryman says here why he was not charging any
fare. 140A
Chaupaayi: Naatha aaja main kaahu na paavaa: mittay
dosha-dukha-daarida-daavaa:: Ak102 The
ferryman prayed, "My Lord! What is it that I have not gained today?
The fire of all my faults, suffering and poverty from my karma is
extinguished." (See 269) When
Shree
Raama Himself asked the
ferryman for something, which he could give, how could the ferryman be
poor or wanting in anything thereafter? His prayer made Shree Raama
smile. God needs
something from all of us to free us from need and fear. That something
is the dedication to Him of our thought, word and deed and of ourselves through love of all as one with
ourselves in our conduct. How do we know this? We know that all these
are forms in which love expresses itself. God himself teaches every one
of us His own dharma of love since our birth, which we all
know, practise and experience its joy through selfless dedication to
the family. (See Geetaa 9:26-28) We can hardly ever know when God comes
to our door to ask for a favour or as a beggar. But that He does, is the actual experience of lucky devotees
who find confirmation also in inexplicable good fortune that follows
this experience. God's ways to create faith in Him and strengthen it in
receptive hearts are stranger than fiction. (See 36) The cycle
of rebirth is called an ocean. God is the great ferryman to take us
across it. Knowing Shree Raama as God, the ferryman could not charge
for his service from a co-professional according to an Indian
tradition. Imagine a
man so low in society, backward and ignorant of any spiritual
disciplines, of Knowledge or of forms of worship and without any guru
or satyasanga. He could be more aware spiritually than Janaka.
By merely hearing about Him, he recognized God in Shree Raama
instantly. Janaka's Knowledge created a doubt in his mind because he
was affected by maya. (See 97) The
ferryman's
devotion to God, however,
protected him from maya. (See 275) High
and low
in everything
respectively, Janaka and the ferryman were one in their yearning for
God. The yearning of a purified heart secures God. Devoid of selfless
compassion or spirituality, intellectual acumen immersed in scholarship
or in the worldly attractions and its achievements in society do not
secure either continual bliss or God. (See 262, 318, 415)
The
ferryman claimed co-professional status with God and refused what God
offered him. He displays the intimacy our sincerity can have with God.
It teaches us not to fear God. The ferryman is aware of and mentions
his sins and faults and yet he is fearless of God to take liberties
with Him. Our sins should not frighten us of God but evoke a yearning
in repentance for relief from Him. This is practical philosophy in the
Book for us. Another
lesson is that it is unwise to judge another person's spirituality,
which is his nearness to God. A person’s calling, appearance or outward
acts as for example the ferryman's, rarely reflect his spirituality.
Only God knows it. (See 45, 347, 389)
141
Soratthaa: Suni Kayvatt kay bain, prayma
lapayttay attapattay: 141. Hearing
Kayvatt's strange but loving prayer, Shree Raama looked knowingly
towards Seetaa and Lakshmana and smiled. Kayvatt,
the ferryman, treated Shree Raama as his co-professional. (See 140) His
love for Shree Raama was so intense that he swore by both Shree Raama's
father Dasharatha and him. Traditionally, such swearing was
disrespectful. It could mean getting killed by Lakshmana, who had an
excitable temper. The ferryman was not afraid because in truth he was
talking with God. Kayvatt shows that no power can interfere with our
fearless intimacy with God. (See 246)
The
ferryman did not know the heights he could reach if he washed Shree
Raama's feet. It was a small service for him for his limited purpose.
Shree Raama's smiling look towards Seetaa and Lakshmana hinted how the
simple and sincere love of a devotee took him to great heights
unknowingly. In Shree Raama's story, Kayvatt is a famous example of
spiritual awakening through devotion to God of our own concept without
the need for understanding and strengthening of our faith through its
philosophy, study of any holy book, gurus, holy company and any
intermediary. Kayvatt shows the height and intimacy of a devotee's
trust in God comparable to the guileless trust of a baby in its
mother. 142
Dohaa: Karama bachana mana chhaanrhi chhalu,
jaba lagi jana na tumhaara: 142.
Hearing Shree Raama's narrative from Yaajnavalkya, Bharadwaaja
commented, "A man cannot get peace and happiness even in his dream
by millions of methods. He gets the two only when he first gives up all
guile in his thought, word and deed, and then becomes devoted to you,
Shree Raama, as his master." Bharadwaaja
brings out that some living being seeks mental peace and happiness
through hypocrisy and deceit and others otherwise. But neither secures
what they seek. We secure them by devotion and surrender to God to
invoke His grace. This is because bliss is our Satchidaananda
nature one with God and is in our mind when it is aligned to Him. It is
not in things outside us as maya makes us think. (See 42, 318, 443, 325)
143
Chaupaayi: Koti manoja lajaavani-haaray: sumukhi kahahu ko
aahin tumhaaray:: 143. The
village women addressed Seetaa, "O beautiful lady! How are these
two related to you? They are so handsome that they put to shame
millions of Kaamadayvas." Hearing these affectionate words, Seetaa
smiled within herself, hesitated a little
and sweetly replied, "The one who has a soft nature and is fair in
complexion is Lakshmana, a younger brother of my husband." Seetaa then
covered her moon-like beautiful face with a corner of her
garment. In the delicate manner of the beautiful eyes of a bird Khanjana,
a species of wagtail, Seetaa arched her brow. She cast a
side-glance to indicate Shree Raama as her husband. Modesty in
women and humility in men are the arch jewels of their crowns. (See 369)
Tulaseedaasa gives here an example of woman's modesty in her
deportment, which is a highly valued feminine virtue in the Indian
tradition. Her devotion to her husband through self-sacrifice and this
virtue make a woman an ideal teacher by her example without need for
words to convey her message to her children. On seeing
the royal scions, the forest folk's feelings and conversation among
themselves and with Seetaa were artistically described by Tulaseedaasa
in dohaa 114 to 121 in the Ayodhyaakaandda of the
Book. 144
Chaupaayi: Aagay Raamu Lashanu banay paachhay:
taapasa-bayshu biraajata kaachhay:: 144. Shree
Raama is followed by Lakshmana. In these
couplets, Tulaseedaasa has beautifully shown the Vedantic relationship
between Brahman, Its power maya and the jeeva or the human
being. (See 241[9-29])
Shree Raama is Brahman. His power maya, in its Vidyaa
maya and Avidyaa maya aspects and in His service, is
personified in Seetaa, who follows him. Jeeva is personified in
Lakshmana. Jeeva, though one in its reality with Brahman, is
separated from Brahman by the intervention of maya between them. In the
sacrificial ceremony performed by Dasharatha praying for a son, the
fire god gave a gift of food for sharing by the Queen Mothers. Shree
Raama, the Incarnation of God, and Lakshmana, the human being, were
born as a result. Therefore their substance for birth was the
same. By
following Seetaa, or both Avidyaa and Vidyaa aspects of
maya, Lakshmana serves her. He always concentrated on her feet and
never looked at her face. He was following the doings or movements of Avidyaa
maya, or the phenomenal world, but was not charmed by her. In other
words, the attractions of the mayaic phenomenal world did not affect
him. (See 438)
The selfless service of Avidyaa maya is that of
its form that is the phenomenal world. Lakshmana's service of Avidyaa
maya aspect of Seetaa was rewarded by his getting Knowledge from her Vidyaa
maya aspect. This Knowledge united him with Shree Raama, that is,
God. We can
follow Lakshmana’s example. By dedicating to God our daily work as the
service of society or of the phenomenal world, we serve Avidyaa
maya. (See 241[25])
This service detached from worldly
attractions makes our passions or Avidyaa maya gradually
powerless. (See 407)
Free from Avidyaa maya, Vidyaa
aspect of maya gives us Knowledge of our oneness with Brahman. The
lesson is that the selfless service of those around us with detachment
saves us from Avidyaa or ignorance and secures us Vidyaa
or Knowledge. This is dharma. We can also
force ourselves upon maya through wasting its resources and exploiting
it for our selfish worldly desires. So, maya does not yield to let us
see God but ensnares us in worldly suffering here followed by rebirth.
To secure our happiness, we have to adopt the phenomenal world by
becoming its benefactor. (For Shree Raama's Devotee) 145
Chaupaayi: Ajahun jaasu ura sapanayhu kaa-u: basahin
Lashana-Siya-Raamu battaa-u:: 145.
Tulaseedaasa says, "Even today whosoever finds even in his dream
that Lakshmana, Seetaa and Shree Raama, travelling together, are
established in his heart, will secure the path to Shree Raama's
abode. This path is rare even for sages." It is
difficult for a man to find Lakshmana, Seetaa and Shree Raama
established in his heart. (See 233) In
this
couplet the word dream is
not metaphorical. When God in any form or a guru, appears in one's
dream, the contact is real. It is by their will and not by the
dreamer's strongest wish. So, some devote themselves to a deity for
years and do not see even his shadow in their dream. While others who
are more casual see their deity dancing in their dream. (See 183, 267)
Such a vision is said to destroy the impact upon us of the consequences
of some past deeds. (See 47, 185[2, 8,
16,
24]) It exhorts the dreamer
to wake up, live in his divinity and take the path to God's abode. (See
269)
The
dreamer should keep this auspicious dream to himself and not
lose the blessedness of its repetition by talking about it. (See 34) (For
Shree Raama's Devotee) 146
Chaupaayi: Tumha tri-kaala-darasee
muni-naathaa: bisva badara jimi tumharay haathaa:: Ak125 146.
Reaching Vaalmeeki's hermitage, Shree Raama respectfully asked him,
"You can see the past, the present and the future. You know the
world as if it were a bayr, a fruit, (ziziphus Indica)
on your palm. Please tell me where I should erect a hut of my
liking with leaves and straw and stay there with Lakshmana and Seetaa
for some time." In his
famous reply to Shree Raama's question, Rishi Vaalmeeki informed Him
that He was an Incarnation of Brahman. Shree Raama confirmed
Vaalmeeki's view, adding that the rishi possessed Brahmajnaana
and was liberated in life itself. The rishi then enumerated fourteen
kinds of devotees whose hearts were fit for Shree Raama's stay in them.
(See 150-168)
147
Chaupaayi: Jagu-paykhana tumha daykhani-haaray:
Bidhi-Hari-Sambhu nachaavani haaray:: 147.
Vaalmeeki said, "O Raama! The world is a play. You are its
witness. You are its director and producer too. You make
Brahmaa, Vishnu and Shiva, dance as puppets. When even they and
other gods do not know your secret, who can know you?" Calling
Shree Raama witness, the producer and director, Vaalmeeki treats Him as
Brahman in Its personal aspect as Vishnu and Naaraayana. (See 241[2]) God has not
revealed his law or secret to the consciousness of man because it is
polluted. There is nothing hidden from the reality of man in His jeevaatmaa.
When the consciousness becomes one with his reality on attaining kaiwalya,
or Self-realization, everything is revealed to man. One of God's
secrets is the scope of His omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience,
another is how He administers the law of karma and another is the
answer to the last why about any phenomenon or entity. The
manifestation of the world, the creation of gods, demons, human beings
and all living and nonmoving beings, their inner working, their
relationship with the Creator, their continuance and destruction
cyclically and the dualities of maya, all these raise many unanswerable
questions. There can be many other unknown and unimaginable laws and
secrets. (See 293)
God is the repository of all knowledge. The totality
of God's form, which includes His capacity, His work and its cause, all
this is God's secret. He reveals it to the seeker. (See 148 and
Geetaa
7:1-2, 10:2, :14, 18:63) How did
Vaalmeeki know that the gods did not know God's secret? Man reaches
gods' world or heaven and knows their attainments and aspirations.
After a sojourn in heaven, man is reborn on the earth to fulfil any
desire he may have. (See 450[11,
14] and
Geetaa |
|
Home
Dedication
Reviews
An
Appeal
Author's
Note
Arrangement
of Book
Hindi
Spellings
Table
of Contents
Tribute
to Gandhi
Introduction
The
Raama Story
Philosophy
Baalakaandda
Ayodhyakaandda
Aranyakaandda
Kishkindhaakaandda
Sundarakaandda
Lankaakaandda
Uttarakaandda
Index
Glossary
Proper
Names
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Appendices
Ghazal