spiritmag@centerforinnersciences.org

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume I, Number 5-8, June 2008



Modern age is that of science. Nobody accepts anything that doesn't meet an intellectual scrutiny. As the scientific spirit has gained its currency, a number of religious books were re-interpreted. There was a time when Galileo was tortured because he said that the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa while the Popes were of the opinion that the sun moves around the earth. Thereafter, the Popes punished Bruno who said that the earth is round and is not 'flat like a mat' as stated in the Bible. Bruno was tied to an end of wood log and the other end was ignited with fire. He was asked to change his views. Else, he would be burned alive. True to his scientific temper, he sided with the truth and embraced the death in one of the cruelest manner. Thank God, the humanity has come a long way that the science is accepted worldwide and the church is losing its ground. The churches in Europe are seeing falling attendance and a number of church buildings have been sold. There is a frantic effort by Christian community to compensate for the losing ground by converting people in India and elsewhere.



We must view it as natural – it's the human nature to seek and love truth. We have been given an intellectual faculty by the benevolent God and human inquisitiveness is our primary asset. This is where Vedoday has an edge against all kinds of so-called religious scriptures. Bible and Koran state so many things that are unacceptable to an intelligent human mind. We must ask Christians and Muslims, especially the educated ones, to study Bible and Koran, respectively in a critical manner. That will open their eyes and they will disown these books as it has happened with many educated and intelligent Christians in the western world. On the other hand, we must study the Vedas seriously and adopt their teachings in our life. This will empower us thoroughly. Also, we will be able to appreciate the rational, logical and scientific basis of the Vedas.



The Word – Its Meaning and Essence



The Indian tradition treats Vedas as God's revelation. We will return to this statement at another occasion that the Vedas indeed must be so. There must be 'the Word' at the very onset of human generation on the earth otherwise we would neither be able to speak and nor function with adequate intellectual and moral base. We know that if a child doesn't hear a word then she can never speak a word – a deaf child is dumb, too. The very fact that we are able to speak out by exciting the human vocal cord proves that the first humans heard the word, and that word is the Vedas. It has to appear in the very beginning and not in-between. On this token, all other books cannot be His Word because they appeared when humans were already on the earth. Thus, Vedas – universally acknowledged as the first book in the library of the humankind, can only be the revealed word.



Our forefathers took great care to transmit the word to later generations. They devised a number of methods to recite them so as to keep them intact and indeed they succeeded in it that the word has come to us even after millions of years. The Vedas have to be scientific because they and science originate from the same Cosmic Spirit. This is what has been beautifully narrated by Badarayana, the author of the treatise Brahma-Sutra, also called Vedanta and Uttara-Mimamsa. His first four aphorisms are,



Athato Brahma-Jijnasa

Janmadyasya Yatah

Sastra-Yonitvat

Tat-tu Samanvayat



i.e., Now we desire to know Brahma. The inquiry is about Brahma – the Cosmic Spirit. Due to Him, the universe exists. Also, due to Him, the Vedas exist. And, there is one-to-one correspondence between the two – the events seen in the universe and the words read in the Vedas. The laws of the nature that govern the universe are due to God as well as the Vedas. Maharşi Dayananda Sarasvati (1824-'83) beautifully paraphrased the above into the first principle of Arya Samaj – All true knowledge and the things that are known through them are due to God.



This being the case, where did we go wrong when we were armed with the true knowledge? We preserved the word but didn't care to know its meaning. We began to interpret the Vedas using Sanskrit grammar as if it's a Sanskrit (man-made) text. We didn't care to utilize the etymology of Nirukta and Nighanţu that form an important member of Vedanga – a limb of Vedas necessary for one to interpret them. Thus, we became intellectually weaker and weaker that all kinds of religions began to mushroom.



Vedoday (A New Dawn of the Vedic Teachings among the Entire Humanity) is directly dependent upon our ability and courage to get to the true meaning of the Vedas and then to be guided by them in our day-to-day life. We must live by the essence of the Vedic teachings. Then only there can be a new lasting peace in the world. Then only the human potentials will blossom in total and pure sense – physically, mentally, intellectually and spiritually.



Patanjali, the author of Yoga-Sutra has stated the same:



Taj-japas-tadartha-bhavanam



Contemplation is truly based on the meaning (artha) and essence (bhava). We must transcend the hierarchy of word, meaning and essence (sabda, artha and bhava) by sincerely getting to the meaning and essence of the Vedic teachings. Thanks to Maharşi Dayananda, now we are able to do so. He revived the lost tradition of correct interpretation of the Vedas. Now it is in easy reach for anybody to study the Vedas. There are a number of simple books based on the correct interpretation of the verses appearing in the Vedas – for example, at www.vedicbooks.com. The depth of the Vedic teachings and their lofty nature will attract any human being. His sun, moon, earth, air, water, etc. are for everybody, and so are the Vedas. In the present age of science, the Vedas will gain easy acceptance because they are scientific in nature – there is nothing in the Vedas that go against the laws of the nature.



The Vedas Say:



Rco aksare parame vyoman yasmin deva adhi visve niseduh

Yastanna veda kimrca karisyati ya ittadvidusta ime samasate Rgveda 1.164.39



Its meaning: The Vedic Rcas (hymns) originate from the eternal God and are eternal in nature. Knowing their meaning gives rise to the tastiest bliss that is enjoyed by the noblest souls. If one doesn't care to know their meaning then who is to blame?



Purport: The word has a meaning. If one knows the word and recites the same without knowing its meaning then it is waste of time and energy. It is almost like a donkey carrying the weight of saffron without being able to get its taste. We humans must be true to our human potentials. We must seek to know the meaning of the Vedic hymns that are the most precious gift from God to us. Unlike His other gifts of air, water, food, sun, moon, earth, etc. that are for us and other conscious species, Vedas are for humans alone - for all human beings without any distinction whatsoever as long as we have the gift of the human vocal cord, we have the inalienable right to recite the Veda-mantras.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: We think that reciting the Vedic mantras alone will do good to us. That is a dream and will remain a dream. Things have come to such a pass that even wrong mantras are recited on a given occasion. For example, anybody would characterize it as a senseless act if one is reciting the mantras seeking well being of a departed soul at the birth of a child. But such things are happening because nobody knows the meaning of the mantras being recited, not even the priests who memorise some of them for their living. The Vedas are for every human being and everybody should seek to know their meaning, this is what the Vedas say. One common complaint is that how can we study the Vedas consisting of about 20,000 verses. Obviously, a common man doesn't have to study these many verses. Instead, we can study the books that enlighten us about the message contained in some selected verses of the Vedas. One verse a day is a practical approach. One could read books authored by Maharsi Dayananda that explains true meanings in some Vedic verses. One such prominent book could be Light of Truth (English translation of Satyratha-Prakasa) and then proceed to his book An Introduction to the Commentaries of the Vedas (English translation of Rgvedadi-Bhasya-Bhoomika) – both available at the above source.

- Dr Harish Chandra

B. Tech. (IIT Kanpur)

Ph. D. (Princeton, USA)



Vedoday2050 News


Bangalore, Sep 5-6: Dr Harish Chandra will conduct a stress relief workshop at Bangalore, Saturday, Sep 5, 2 to 5 pm (99001 31387). Also his lectures and talks will be held there on Sunday, Sep 6 (080 2852 4856).

Lecture Tour USA/Canada: We are pleased to announce Dr Harish Chandra's lecture tour to the USA-Canada Sep 12 to Oct 15, 2009. His lectures, talks and workshops are scheduled at several locations: Sep 12 - Bridgewater, NJ (908...), Sep 13 - Newark, NJ (201...) and Chappaqua, NY (914 741 2261), Sep 19-27 - Calgary, AB (403 680 2030), Oct 1-2 - Windsor, ON (519 979 6767), Oct 3-4 - Toronto, ON (416 287 2003), Oct 8-10 - Montreal (514...), Oct 11 - Ridgewood, NJ (201 405 1240), Oct 15 - Queens, NY (718 343 9647).

The books authored by Dr Harish Chandra can be viewed at:

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume I, Number 9, July 2008



Europe has seen much of barbarism in the last couple of thousand years. The early part of Christian history is full of killings and that continued until the last century when two great wars took place in Europe. No ideology was involved. Christianity has caused bloodshed outside Europe, too. Europeans wiped out almost the entire population of the North and South Americas, Australia and New Zealand. In Africa, they traded in humans as slaves. In Africa and Asia, they brought in the concept of colonies and ruled over the indigenous populations with their guns. The Christian missionaries were protected in the colonies and they converted a large number of people into Christianity. For a poor man, bread is more important than the religion and white Europeans knew it best. They exploited everybody very cunningly. Other than Christianity, Islam has been a source of similar bloodshed. India has suffered in the hands of both these religions. There is no record of India invading any country though its civilization was at its zenith for most of the time before 2000 years. Apart from the religions of Christianity and Islam, Communism has been a source of much bloodshed. Stalin and Mao killed their own people in millions. Pol Pot was not far behind though he had a shorter reign. India continues to suffer due to the Maoists culture even now. In this background, let us discuss how much the world has changed for the better.



Vedoday2050 initiative requires consolidating the positive events that are seen in the present world. In earlier articles, we have discussed the collapse of communism in the erstwhile Soviet Union and global rise of meditation and vegetarianism. These events point to the acceptance of the universal truths by the humanity and that is what the Vedic teachings are. The Vedas are fountain-head of all true knowledge and they do not contain anything that is sectarian. Thus, it can be safely stated that the humanity is inching towards the Vedic teachings under the natural instinctive force of "moving away from pain". A well orchestrated Vedoday2050 initiative can certainly expedite this progress and save the humanity from its agonies. In this background, we want to discuss the classical Indian culture that "the world is one family" that can make this earth an abode of peace and void of conflict, strife and war.



The World – A Small Village



There is much talk about globalization these days. The present world is said to be a global village due to swift transportation and communication networks. But what are the true intentions behind it? The corporations and nations are more interested in expanding their markets. They see the world as a market – bazar. On the other hand, our culture always looked the world as one family – parivar. There is a great difference between the underlying concepts of bazar and parivar. In a bazar, one may want to exploit another by making huge profits whereas in a parivar, everyone wants to benefit others. We are familiar with the Sanskrit saying vasudhaiva kuţumbakam (the entire earth is one family, and indeed, a small family – the word kuţumbam would mean a family, whereas the word kuţumbakam means, a small family!).



The concept derives its weight and strength from the view that all living beings are children of God, the Cosmic Spirit. Therefore, we ought to live in the world the way the children of the worldly parents live in their family as brothers and sisters. Nobody cheats, harms or exploits his brother or sister. This is a God-given instinct that almost all of us preserve. Likewise, as we grow and mature, we must learn to view the entire world as one extended family. While our relationship with God is unique in nature, the Vedas explain the same through different worldly analogies that we are familiar with. The commonest analogy is to see Him as our father and mother:



Tvam hi nah pita vaso tvam mata … Atharvaveda 20.108.2



i.e., You are OUR (as opposed to that of mine alone) father and mother. Once this concept sinks in, we are bound to view every other living being (humans, animals, birds, fishes, included) as our siblings and then we would live in a much loftier manner. Then the world will be truly a small village. Indeed, Yajurveda encourages us to view the universe as small as a bird's nest:



yatra visva bhavatyekam nidam



So being the ground attitude, we would always be interested in collective well being. For own sake, we cannot harm others. We must live in a manner that our progress is not at the cost of others' loss. It must be a win-win situation in true sense. Our common prayer carries the same meaning:



Sarve bhavantu sukhinah sarve santu niramaya



i.e., May ALL be happy and ALL possess good health. The Vedic culture has been of the universal nature. It thrives on the sensitivity towards others, To Live and To Let Live. This is why even in our glorious days, we never invaded any country. But our knowledge and its light went throughout the world. The name of the country Bharata reflects the same: Bha (light) + rata (to be deeply engaged in) – the country that gave light (of knowledge) to the world. Nobody ever feared from us.



This is the true human nature: love and compassion. The humanity is inching towards its true nature though at a slow pace. Recently, when the USA wanted to attack Afghanistan and Iraq then there were massive protests throughout the world, from Sydney to San Francisco. Even if 10-15 people are killed in Iraq or elsewhere then it becomes major news and the media brings it to us in a vivid form in no time. Nobody likes to hear about anybody's death. Gone are the days when millions of people were killed in the hands of Christianity, Islam and Communism, and there was no outcry. Now, the humanity will win and cruelty will vanish. That's the human nature and that's the teaching of the Vedas. We must remember that our true instinct and nature is due to God and the Vedas are due to Him, too. This gives rise to one-to-one correspondence between the true human nature and Vedic truths. Thus, the Vedas appeal to both head and heart of ours. It raises our intellectual and moral stature both. Vedas can expedite our journey to a new world of universal love and peace.



The Vedas Say:



Abhayam mitrad-abhayam-amitrad abhyam-jnatad abhayam paroksat

Abhayam naktam-abhayam diva nah sarva asa mama mitram bhavantu Atharvaveda 19.15.6



Its Meaning: May I be fearless from friends; fearless from those whom I do not know yet, fearless from what is ahead of me – known and unknown; fearless during the night; fearless during the day; and May ALL directions be friendly to me.



Purport: The fear is the root cause of our aggressiveness, assertiveness and even nervousness. It causes us to lose our peace. I must learn to live in the world to be fearless. If I align with the most powerful and almighty God then I can find absolutely no cause of fear from anybody, anything, anytime and anywhere. Once I make Him my true friend (that is, when I become His friend) then there can be no fear and I can live with peace.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: We think we must get physically/militarily stronger than our adversaries to become fearless. This attitude sees no end. This is a vicious circle. We have seen great wars and even the shadow of the 'cold war' some decades ago was quite fearsome. For instance, we see that the entire military might of the USA doesn't bring the desired result in Afghanistan and Iraq. We must gather both, the spiritual strength by aligning with God and material/military strength for legitimate defensive purpose to meet an adventurous adversary in today's misguided world. When we have influenced the world to a significant state that there is no adversary left over then the latter need will gradually diminish.

- Dr Harish Chandra

B. Tech. (IIT Kanpur)

Ph. D. (Princeton, USA)

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume I, Number 10, August 2008



Among all living species, mother-child relationship bears some special features. This is true among us, too. The child feels totally secured with her mother. It's a two-way relationship void of selfishness. Vedic culture is strong on this front. This has led to strong bonding in our family relationships, too. Vedas encourage us to view our tiny soul's relationship with God in the images of the worldly relationships that we are familiar with, such as, our relationships with mother, father, teacher, friend, companion, etc. Let us discuss an important aspect of the mother-child relationship, namely, child's direct relationship with her mother. Every child has a direct link with her mother and nobody can ever become an intermediary between the child and her mother. No child will ever accept this. This is where a number of religions went wrong. They glorified one human being or another between our tiny spirit and the infinite spirit that God is. Christianity is based on accepting Christ as the saviour who was the only son of God. So is the story with Islam where instead of Christ, it is Mohammad and he claims to be 'the last prophet' of God after a whopping number of 100,000+ prophets before him. Can anyone believe that after sending these many prophets God suddenly decided to press the button for once and the final time? But, one billion+ population want to believe this. This is the kind of ignorance that prevails in the present age of science!



It has been almost 2000 and 1400 years that these two religions have been in existence, respectively and they have caused rivers of blood flowing with millions of human beings killed in the most barbaric manner. They know it well that such dogmatic ideas will never find universal acceptance among the entire humanity, and therefore, they will remain as a cause of strife, conflict and war in the years to come. But, they want to continue to exist and even attempt to bring more people under the shadow of their ignorance. India has been a civilization in its declining phase during the last 5000 years after its glorious past for several millions of years. The bottom trough came a few centuries ago when to outdo the above two religions the custodians of Hinduism floated the idea of incarnation of God. They declared that Rama and Krsna were God in human forms. Intellectual bankruptcy comes in many colors and shades that it can blind anybody! Let us accept this that the more you glorify one to a super-being, the more he/she will become mythological and the less historical. We have suffered a lot in the last 5000 years and so did the humanity. Nobody has gained except for a tiny minority of the custodians of these religions who have a selfish motive in maintaining the darkness of ignorance. The larger is the size of population in their fold, the more is their strength. The humanity as a whole must rise and throw away the yoke of these religions and bring a new dawn of dharma – a universal religion for the entire humanity. If we rationalize the religions and/or spiritualize the science then what we get is dharma and that's what Vedas talk about. It's high time that we heed the simple, natural and sensible message of the Vedas – that of Veda-Mata (the Mother Veda vide Atharvaveda 19.71.1) to Her children. The mother's words to her children are of pristine beauty and immense utility!



Being with the Cosmic Mother Apah



Indian tradition consists of Sandhya (also, called Sandhya-Vandanam or Sadhyo-Pasana) performed by every individual twice a day – before the sunrise and soon after the sunset. Sandhya means meditation properly performed – dhyana for meditation, the prefix sam for proper. One wants to be with the Cosmic Mother twice a day – once in the morning before the day begins and then as the day ends. We seek Her inspiration before we set out for the day and after the day gets over. No religion encourages its followers to sit alone in isolation and seek communion with God – to be like a child and enjoy being in the mother's lap. On the other hand, there are religions that do collective military style drill in the name of prayers! It is only the Vedic teachings that encourage us to sit alone and seek communion with God in real time conscious mode.



Sandhya begins with the following verse, Yajurveda (36.12):



Sanno devirabhistaya apo bhavantu pitaye. Samyor-abhisravantu nah.



We want to discuss the word apah here. It's a peculiar word in the Vedas that it appears always in plural and it's feminine in gender. Maharshi Yaska's etymology states its meaning in the Vedas as one who is omnipresent (sarvatra vyapti, i.e. apah), and therefore, it refers to God. In day to day usage, this word means water also. In the above verse, apah is a devi (note that this word is feminine) that quenches all types of our thirsts as water does to our bodily thirst. So, at the outset, the devotee reminds himself in the beginning of the Sandhya that now he wants to be with the Cosmic Mother who gives us everything that we seek, both material and non-material needs. Not only that apah is a multi-dimensional quenching agent, it has another property because of its being omnipresent. Let us consider an instance when we get thirsty Then we begin to search for water. Sometimes, there may be a significant duration that we require to get to a source of drinking water, and hence, we feel the pinch of thirst for quite some time. Imagine that we were under the shower of drinking water so that there could never be such painful moments - no sooner we felt the thirst, it was quenched because we had to go nowhere. That is the nature and character of apah – it quenches our thirst of any kind anywhere instantly.



The essence is that God has sent us into this world with wonderful assets of body and mind. The essential substances for our survival are present. What is more essential, is more easily available. For example, air is the most essential life support substance and air is available everywhere on the surface of the earth. We need to make no effort to get air. For water, we have to make some effort and still much more for food. As a child, I was born in my mother's lap who provided everything that I needed. As we grow, we begin to seek one pleasure after another. However, the feeling of genuine contentment gets farther and farther away as a mirage. The devotee has now gained some maturity and begins to understand that the ultimate absolute pleasure can be obtained from apah devi only, the Cosmic Mother, the omnipresent God.



The paradox of human life is that what we seek is closest to us but we wander here and there in search for it. We overlook what is next to us. In an earlier issue we had discussed the beautiful Vedic verse yo vah sivatamo rasa... (Rgveda 10.9.2, Yajurveda 11.51, 36.15, Atharvaveda 1.5.2) – the absolute bliss is as easily available to us as is mother's milk to a newly born child. We have drifted far away from the Cosmic Mother. We forget that we are Her child.



The Vedas Say:

Apam madhye tasthivamsam trsnavidajjaritaram.

Mrda suksatra mrdaya. Rgveda 7.89.4



Its meaning: I am in the midst of water and I have grown old while remaining thirsty. O God! You are the saviour. You are the infinite reservoir of happiness; make me happy.



Purport: The human life has a strange characteristic that it never stops from its wants. It wants to fulfil all sorts of pleasure. But, the paradox is that the absolute pleasure is in our closest reach but we do not care to obtain the same, and keep wandering after a mirage-like illusion that the worldly pleasure will quench our thirst, and in so doing, we get old.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: We seek pleasures in life. We are ever thirsty for pleasures. There is nothing that quenches our thirst in a permanent sense. The result is that we keep wandering from one source of pleasure to another, endlessly to the extent that we get old enough when our strength to enjoy sensual pleasures diminishes. The wealth that we had gathered laboriously stares at us and we are even unable to enjoy it for the fact that our body has lost its vigor and strength. It never occurs to us that there is something called absolute pleasure and that is with God and He is in our closest proximity. We have to merely seek Him with genuine love and then and there He is with us. The paradox is that we are almost like a fish in water that is thirsty, too. We have nobody to blame except our own ignorance. We must come out of it. The moral is that we must everyday seek out God within us and purify ourselves out of our deeds that our inner self is chaste pure and clean. So, we would be able to 'see' Him and quench our thirst for pleasure in a permanent sense. Once that tastiest sap has been tasted, we will never be thirsty again.



- Dr Harish Chandra

B. Tech. (IIT Kanpur)

Ph. D. (Princeton, USA)



Vedoday2050 News



Lecture Tour UK: Our spiritual director, Dr Harish Chandra is currently on a lecture tour to the UK. He will deliver talks and workshops as follows:

London:

Short Course on “Science of Yoga”

Saturdays, Nov 14, 21, 28 and Dec 5

3 to 5 pm

At Arya Samaj London, 69A Argyle Rd, London, W13 0LY, Tel: 020 8991 1732



Balaji Temple, Birmingham:

Lecture on "Essentials of Vedic Teachings and Their Relevance in Modern Times", Sunday, Nov 15, 11 am to 12 noon.



Smethwick, Birmingham:

1. SCOPE workshop – Stress Control for Personal Enhancement

Wednesday Nov 18

7 to 9 pm

2. Short Course on “Science of Yoga”

Wednesdays, Nov 25 and Dec 2, 9, 16

7 to 9 pm

At Muskaan Estates, 1 Norman Road, Smethwick, B67 5PP, Tel: 0121 429 9783



Liverpool:

1. Short Course on “Science of Yoga”

Thursdays, Dec 10, 17, 2009 and Jan 7, 14, 2010

6:00 to 7:45 pm

2. Short Course on “Vedic Philosophy: Practical and Pragmatic”

Saturdays, Dec 12, 19, and Jan 9, 16

3 to 5 pm

At Greenbank Sports Academy, Greenbank Lane, Liverpool L17 1AG, Tel: 0151 280 7757



Birmingham:

1. Sandhya, the Vedic Meditation

Mondays, Nov 9, 16, 23

6:30 to 7:15 pm

2. Short Course on “Vedic Philosophy: Practical and Pragmatic”

Mondays, Dec 7, 14, and Jan 11, 18

7 to 9 pm

At Arya Samaj West Midlands, Erskine Street, Birmingham B7 4SA, Tel: 0121 359 7727



Coventry:

SCOPE workshop – Stress Control for Personal Enhancement (three hours)

Sunday, Dec 6 and 13 (To be confirmed)

Tel: 0247 666 1116



Books: We have published a number of books authored by Dr Harish Chandra. You are welcome to look at their brief description at http://www.centerforinnersciences.org/publications.html. They may be excellent gift ideas, besides to gain an understanding of life issues from a scientific perspective. They convey the Vedic principles in a simple and scientific language.

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume I, Number 12, January 2010



Last month we had discussed three-fold functions humans are engaged in: 1) acquisition of knowledge, 2) performing karma, and 3) being communion with God. The corresponding Sanskrit terms are: Jnana, Karma and Upasana. The purpose of knowledge is to select the right kind of karma among diverse choices that we have. Performing good quality karma enables us to seek nearness to God when we attempt to sit for meditation. In this respect, one could say that karma is more important than Jnana because the purpose of the latter is to select the former. Similarly, one could further say that Upasana is more important than Karma because the purpose of the latter is to succeed in the former.


However, this view is true only in a small part. Maharshi Kapila, the author of Samkhya states:


Jnanat-Mukti



i.e., one achieves emancipation through Jnana, the knowledge. Thus, the ultimate objective of the human life, namely salvation is obtained through knowledge (Jnana). That is to say, Jnana brings the greatest reward and hence, Jnana is the most important. This contradicts the earlier observation that Upasana is the result of Karma and that, in turn, is the result of Jnana.



Supremacy of Jnana, Karma or Upsana



Let us try to reconcile the seemingly paradoxical statements about the supremacy of Jnana as stated by Kapila and its subservient status in the description that we laid out in the beginning. Kapila’s concept of Jnana is experiential knowledge about the self, i.e. self-realization and not the trivial worldly knowledge that is acquired from books and others. Self-realization is gained in the highest echelons of Upasana when the practitioner has subdued the functions of (body and) mind thoroughly as prescribed by Patanjali in Yoga treatise. A devoted practitioner when proficient in Yoga practices captures a certain flash of subtle knowledge and then begins a new life. Knowledge so gained is received direct from the omni-present and all-pervading God. It may be referred to as intuitive knowledge. This is well summarized in the trilogy of Aditi, Anumati and Sarasvati. Aditi is the universally prevalent instinctive knowledge that is present among every human being. Anumati is the intellectual knowledge that we gather from diverse sources that allows us to tread on the righteous path. Sarasvati is the state of the higher intellect that obtains the intuitive knowledge. All the three mechanisms have the common origin, namely God, the creator of the universe and knowledge, too.



Today even the great professors in reputed academic institutions lack the true spiritual knowledge. The present system of education doesn’t encourage one to obtain the sublime subtle spiritual knowledge direct from God. There is another lacuna that needs to be pointed out. A sharp intellect is fine for the intellectual knowledge (Anumati) but it is important that the same sharp intellect must be pure too and must obtain the Grace of God to deserve the flash of spiritual knowledge. This is what was missing in the last 5000 years of the world history. After the Great India war (Mahabharata) the greatest casualty was the great Vedic tradition of knowledge – the Rsi tradition – literally, the ‘seers’ blessed with the intuitive knowledge in the high state of Upasana. Then several scholars began to interpret Vedas from their sharp penetrating intellect without reaching the required proficiency in the Upasana faculty. The result was that their interpretations were faulty and lacked the depth and height of the spiritual knowledge that Vedas discussed. The greatest contrast can be seen between Professor Max Mueller and Maharsi Dayananda (1824-’83), both contemporary. The former was a representative of the modern academic intellectual tradition that emphasizes knowledge (Jnana) that may be void of Upasana while the latter inherited the true Vedic tradition of backing the intellectual prowess with purity and loftiness of Upasana. The result was that Max Mueller’s interpretation of the Vedic literature was un-inspiring but Maharshi was able to open the closed vistas of true light of the Vedic knowledge. Today’s absence of ‘Jnana backed by Upasana’ has led the humanity to all kinds of miseries and there is a vicious nature of the downslide that the decline gets rapidly accelerated. Further decline in the human quality leads to further decline. Indeed, nobody would today bother if the top scientist in a university lives a wrecked personal life, say, having extra marital relationship. The moral code of conduct may not be necessary to obtain high laurels in the modern society though such a person may not deserve the true spiritual knowledge experientially.



In summary, the three-fold human pursuits of Jnana, Karma and Upasana present echelons of human progress in a continuous sense that every day must include each of the three pursuits. A truly developed human being gradually reaches a superior quality of all the three pursuits and then comes a time that the knowledge (Jnana) is not merely second hand (from books, teachers and other external sources) but is obtained experientially by Grace of God in deep meditative moments. Generally, there is a shift in the particular human beings from gross knowledge of matter to subtle knowledge related to spirit as they progress.



The Vedas state:



Yasminnrcah sama-yajunsi yasmin-pratisthita rathanabhavivarah

Yasminscittam sarvamotam prajanam tanme manah sivasamkalpamastu. Yajurveda 34.5



Its meaning: In that mind converge the hymns (of Rgveda), lyrics (of Samaveda) and prose (of Yajurveda) as do the spokes of a wheel into its axle. The all-pervading and omnipresent God inspires it in the intellect of a noble soul. May my mind (of such immense attributes) harbor benevolent thoughts.



Interpretation: Our mind is a fantastic instrument. Besides performing karma through the five organs (for manipulation, locomotion, speech, excretion and procreation), acquisition of knowledge through the five organs (senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch), a wonderful memory and its ability to extrapolate events in different space-time (thinking), it can obtain true intuitive knowledge from the all-knowing (indeed, the creator of knowledge) that God is. In order to obtain true intuitive knowledge, the mind, particularly its innermost intellect (referred to as citta in the above verse) must be made receptive by:

1. subduing the functions of karma
2. subduing the functions of acquisition of knowledge through senses
3. subduing the ‘thinking’ operations [These three ensembles are collectively referred to as ‘overall subduing of the mind operations’ by Patanjali – Yoga 1.2]
4. purity of intellect by repetitive Upasana as only the proximity of God can cleanse the intellect of the inhibiting impressions (called Samsakaras).

Where Do We Go Wrong? There is a skewed thinking in the modern world that ones intellectual ability is judged based on IQ alone. Besides IQ, EQ and MQ are important too – the Emotional Quotient and Moral Quotient, respectively. IQ refers to the intellectual strength whereas the EQ refers to the intellectual health and MQ will refer to intellectual purity. Then regular practice of Sandhya, the Vedic meditation will enable one to raise the SQ, the Spiritual Quotient. Now there is increasing awareness about EQ besides IQ because even if one is intelligent the poor balance of emotional health may not deliver intelligent solutions. For example, one could get angry unprovoked and spoil an important negotiation. Furthermore, one must be morally upright otherwise one may utilize the intellectual faculty to harm the society, say, by popularizing alcohol instead of spirituality. In the above-referred verse of Yajurveda, God has put important conditions for the humans to be able to receive true sublime knowledge from Him.

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume II, Number 1, February 2010



The last two months saw the discussion on our three-fold human functions known as Prasthana-Trayi, namely Jnana, Karma and Upasana (knowledge, karma and communion with God). One activity is the means to another and improves the quality of the latter. Dynamism of life requires that we should continue to progress on all the three fronts simultaneously. We also discussed that it’s not easy to say what activity is superior to others. However, the ultimate objectives are derived from Jnana, the experiential knowledge of self-realization obtained in the highest state of Samadhi and that amalgamates the triad of Jnana, Karma and Upasana. In the middle ages (the period of the last 6000 years that saw India’s decline) the suggestion came in the form of three distinct streams of activity and even the nomenclature of Jnana-Yoga, Karma-Yoga, and Bhakti-Yoga gained currency. Erroneously, some people began to believe that different paths led to salvation and they might be traversed by concentrating either on Jnana, Karma or Upasana. Thus, people began to go astray from the true Vedic tradition that emphasized the holistic nature of the triad. True success in Yoga requires optimum proficiency of Jnana, Karma and Upasana. One alone is of no use.



Human Quality and Prasthana-Trayi



The entire triad of Jnana, Karma and Upasana is best summarized in the Upanishadic parable referred to as Pangvandha - Pangu (lame) and Andha (blind). The instance pertains to a forest fire. All humans have escaped except for two - one is lame who cannot walk and a blind who cannot see. Now they can be saved from the fire only if the lame person sits on the shoulders of the blind person. Once together in such a manner, the lame can see and guide the blind who can then walk. The lame person represents Jnana (knowledge) who can see but cannot walk whereas the blind represents Karma who can walk but cannot see. The moral of the story is that Jnana and Karma must come together, giving rise to loftier direction of Upasana. Indeed, Jnana and Karma can be seen in proper perspective as two wheels of a chariot that must move together leading the chariot to its destination of Upasana, being together with God through meditation. Repetitive attempts of Upasana refine the quality of Jnana and raises the level where Jnana and Karma function - a higher quality of human existence, or to the higher human quality.

Human beings are different from other species on several counts and one of them is that we can become good or bad humans. An animal remains what it is – a cow is a cow; a tiger is a tiger. There is nothing like a good tiger or a bad tiger, not at least in their community though we humans may characterize them in such a way for our own purpose, say, for a circus. Good and bad humans are basically on account of their karma though their choice of karma is influenced by their proficiency in Jnana and Upasana. As we discussed earlier, Jnana helps one select the right kind of karma. The virtuous karma can entitle one to progress on the path of Upasana. The three elements of the triad being closely inter-linked, we need to discuss the overall human quality and how it can be quantified. This is very important in the present context when there are several indicators pointing to the overall decline of the human quality in many parts of the globe. How can we judge a human being on the scale of ‘human quality’ and possibly devise a method to improve the same?


Human life may be viewed as a journey that begins on a plane of square formed by two lines of Jnana and Karma. Now if we construct a pyramid on this square then the apex point represents the objective of the human life, attaining self-realization. Thus, the height of the pyramid (the third dimension) represents the progress in Upasana. To begin with, the person transcends the base plane by acquiring the knowledge and realizing the corresponding karma. Now if the person gains some proficiency in Upasana then the person elevates his/her stature thereby living at a higher plane of the pyramid, getting nearer to the apex point. If one doesn't care to make progress in Upasana stream then the entire life can be spent at the base plane. In such a case, the person might have gained quantitatively huge proprtions of Jnana and karma, but their quality from the point of view of overall benefit to the humanity may be quite low. Of course, every individual begins life at the different plane; fortunates are those where the life journey begins at a base plane nearer to the apex point. Nearer to the apex point one is, the quality of Jnana and karma get better.




The Vedas Say:



Brahma krnoti varuno gatuvidam tamimahe.

Vyurnoti hrda matim navyo jayatamrtam vittam me asya rodasi. Rgveda 1.105.15



Its meaning: O God! You are the supreme knower and giver of the knowledge through the Vedas. We pray for newer scholars within us who are blessed by you with superior knowledge in their inner self.



Purport: Those of us who have genuine love for truth and whose deeds are pure can obtain flash of true sublime knowledge within if they sit in deep meditative mood.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: God is the original teacher of all true knowledge. Every piece of knowledge comes to us from Him direct or indirect. In case of the superior knowledge, we must become deserving for the same by assimilating the three dimensions of Jnana, Karma and Upasana. We should have love for true knowledge and must make efforts to obtain it; we must engage in positive karma and we should practise meditation as described by Patanjali and as coded in the classical Sandhya that includes all the eight limbs of Yoga, called Astanga Yoga. Otherwise, we will remain incomplete and furthermore may even become an arrogant self on account of the bookish knowledge.

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume II, Number 2, March 2010



Indian tradition is that names have meanings. Even the name of our country, Bharata, has a meaning. Bharata comprises the syllables Bha + rata. Bha means light. Many other words are derived from Bha, using different prefixes, such as abha, anubha, prabha, sabha, pratibha, vibha, etc. The word rata refers to being deeply engaged in a practice or activity. For example, one who is keenly dedicated to learning is called ‘adhyayana-rata’ and a person who is devoted to actions is described as ‘karya-rata’ and so on. So, India ‘by definition’ has - right from the beginning - been a country dedicated or devoted to enlightening the whole world, by disseminating the light of knowledge.



The previous three issues of Vedoday2050 provided an introduction to the three most important or desirable elements of human functions collectively known as prasthanatrayi – jnana, karma and upasana. Now we begin to consider them one by one, the initial discussion will focus on jnana (knowledge) and its origin.



Knowledge should be defined as knowing the reality of an object; seeing a thing as it is - in its true and complete form. Obviously, if a thing exists then it must have certain attributes and characteristics that are recognisable by us, directly or indirectly. So, the object and all that there is to know about it must have come into existence simultaneously. In other words, the creator, namely God, is not only the creator of the entire universe but also the creator of all the knowledge pertaining to the creation.



Origin of Knowledge



There are two caveats to the origin of knowledge. Firstly, we pick up knowledge from other sources – our parents, teachers, books and the media etc. Inevitably, this raises the question as to how these other sources obtained their knowledge. The only answer can be that they received it from their teachers; thus there is a chain of teachers ad infinitum with God being the original teacher of the first generation of humans. He gave the Word in the form of the Vedas which represent the original body of knowledge that was first transmitted to our earliest ancestors. Secondly, various humans historically have come up with brilliant original and novel ideas. For example, scientists have pioneered all kinds of new theories and principles that were previously unknown. It must be emphasised that even this knowledge is due to the grace of God; He transmits it to the scientists and philosophers and even to ordinary beings in their moments of seeking internal inspiration.



Patanjali summarizes these two modes of gaining knowledge in Yoga-Sutra (1.26),



Sa esa purvesamapi guruh kalenanavacchedat



i.e., He (God) is (our) original teacher and His knowledge is eternal.



There are basically two types of things in the world – matter and spirit. Knowledge relevant to these is respectively referred to as material sciences and spiritual sciences – apara vidya and para vidya. Both originate from God, who is omniscient. He transmitted them to humankind through his Word, the Vedas. However, there is an important distinction in the form the Vedas contain them. While material science (apara vidya) is in a seed form, spiritual science (para vidya) is in a fully developed form so that humans cannot add or refine it further. In contrast, material sciences are developed by humans from the seed form to a more detailed form; ‘science’ evolves over time.



Badarayana, the author of Brahmasutra (1.1.3) states this as:



Sastra-yonitvat



i.e. God is the original cause (source) of the body of knowledge that we have.



That western thought tacitly accepts this view of the origin of knowledge is supported by the fact that, for instance, it is conventional to state that Einstein discovered the theory of relativity, not that Einstein ‘invented’ it. However, this does not fully reflect that even Einstein’s discovery was directly due to God because such enlightenment as his occurs at that point in time when the human body-mind combine is in still and calm state (Samprajnata/Savicara/Savikalpa Samadhi) so that the recipient’s tiny soul is in direct link with God. So, the western world does not quite understand that our relationship with God is also one between student and teacher, in addition to His being our mother, father, friend, companion, etc. Thus, true spirituality is that which inspires us to be with God not only for attaining absolute bliss (amrta) but also for acquiring true knowledge.



Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya

Asato ma sadgamaya

Mrtyorama amratam-gamaya



May He lead us from darkness to light, from untruth to truth, and from temporal pleasure to the permanent one.



The Vedas state:

Ya ma visva jatanyasravayati slokena

Pra ca suvati savita Rgveda 5.82.9



Its meaning: That who delivers the knowledge of all that exists in the universe through the spoken word, May that Creator God inspire us.



Interpretation: Knowledge of everything is generated by the creator, as is that thing. Thus, the creator creates the creation as well as all knowledge associated to it. He is the origin of all true knowledge. He delivers it to us through the original Word. We should seek it from Him and from those who have truly obtained this pure knowledge.



Where Do We Go Wrong? All of us must become more questioning, that is, we must critically test all that we see and hear. Only if it meets such intellectual scrutiny should we accept an item of knowledge as being true or valid. A further test of truth is that it should be easy to persuade other (reasonable and open-minded) people to accept such knowledge as being factual. Such scrutiny will ensure that we acquire only true knowledge, that is which has its origin from God, to guide us in the right path towards attaining joy and happiness. Conversely, ill-founded knowledge will continue giving rise to pain and suffering. Our learning must come from teachers who have a moral character of excellence; to allow them to derive truth from a quality of education of the highest calibre.

- Dr Harish Chandra

B. Tech. (IIT Kanpur)

Ph. D. (Princeton, USA)



Vedoday2050 News



1. Dr Harish Chandra’s Mar 2010 Events in the UK: We are pleased to announce the following sessions that would be conducted in the UK:

a) Sunday talks on Vedic Psychology 12:30 to 1:00 pm at Arya Samaj West Midlands, Birmingham B7 4SA (see www.arya-samaj.org for directions), Tel 0121 359 7727

b) Vedic Meditation, Sandhya - Mondays 7:30 to 8:15 pm at Arya Samaj West Midlands, Birmingham B7 4SA (see www.arya-samaj.org for directions), Tel 0121 359 7727

c) Science of Yoga - Patanjali Meditation - Drop-in Sessions, Tuesdays 7:30 to 9:00 pm at 1 Norman Road, Smethwick, Birmingham B67 5PP, contact 0121 429 9783

d) Vedic Meditation - Drop-in Sessions, Thursdays, 6:00 to 7:45 pm at Hindu Cultural Organisation, 253 Edge Lane, Liverpool, L7 2PH

e) Vedic Meditation, Sandhya - Saturdays 9:00 to 9:45 am, at Arya Samaj West Midlands, Birmingham B7 4SA (see www.arya-samaj.org for directions), Tel 0121 359 7727

f) Science of Yoga - Patanjali Meditation (Drop in Sessions) - Saturdays, 3:00 to 4:30 pm, Brunswick Room, Greenbank Sports Academy, Greenbank Lane, Liverpool, L17 1AG, Tel: 0151 280 7757

2. Calgary, Canada: Dr Harish Chandra will deliver lectures, talks and workshops at Calgary, Canada April 8-11, 2010. Contact Mike (403) 541-1485

3. Ishopanishad: Dr Harish Chandra’s talks on Ishopanishad (40th chapter of Yajurveda) have been condensed into brief articles at www.arya-samaj.org
4. Previous Vedoday2050 articles: Dr Harish Chandra's previous Vedoday2050 articles may be seen at: http://groups.google.com/group/vedoday2 ... =srg&pli=1

[Dudee]

Volume II, Number 3, April 2010



We noted that the human life has three-fold pursuits of knowledge, karma and worship (communion) – jnana, karma and upasana. Last month we discussed the origin of knowledge. God is the creator of the entire creation and that of the knowledge, too. As He creates every thing in the universe, He only determines every attribute, property and characteristic thereof. Thus, He is the origin of all true knowledge. He is benevolent that He passed on a set of knowledge through His Word, the Vedas at the dawn of the human civilization on the earth. We can take pride in this tradition that the Vedas have been transferred down to our generation over a period of millions of years in absolutely unchanged form through an elaborate and intricate reciting mechanism. Now we want to discuss other mechanisms by which God educates us besides through the Veda-Mata – the Mother Veda, His Word of pristine beauty.



Instinctive Knowledge



Our instinctive behaviour is identically exhibited by every human being in identical circumstances. For example, when our finger accidentally gets into a flame then we automatically remove it from the flame. We do not think and then decide after weighing all our options, such as to remove it or not to remove it, or put all our fingers in the flame. We remove our finger almost in an automated manner and every human being does so in the given circumstance. It happens as if we have been “programmed” by God to behave so. Thus, we can say that this piece of knowledge is imparted to us right at the time of our birth and everybody has obtained it in correct measure. This is called instinctive knowledge. As opposed to animals, birds and other species we humans have much less instinctive knowledge while their knowledge is mostly instinctive. A larger body of knowledge is gained by our intellectual faculty that leads to diversity among us that we behave differently under the influence of our intellectual knowledge. Thus, we could say that humans are much less “programmed” while animals, birds, etc. are greatly “programmed” for their most of the behaviour. The result is that one builds a house different from another person’s and even the same person builds another house a few years later in a very different manner. While one member of a particular bird species makes its nest exactly the same manner as other members do and the way their ancestors did centuries ago. Nevertheless, instinctive knowledge is the type of knowledge that is obtained by us directly from God. Obviously, the instinctive knowledge must pertain to a circumstance that is very important for us to circumvent. For instance, the above example of escaping from a fire relates to our ability to survive.



There are similar other important functions where instinctive knowledge is passed on to us although at a later part of our life. We will now consider the example of motherly instincts. A human mother instinctively loves her child and takes her tender care. There is almost universality among all mothers in the world. Every mother behaves in almost the same manner with her infant child even though they might not have been trained by any human organization to behave so. The strong bonding between a mother and her child and consequent behaviour that a mother exhibits towards her child is again due to God in a natural manner. Through this instinctive knowledge, God educates every mother at an appropriate time.



We have seen above the mechanism whereby God educates us uniformly and universally in certain matters that are of extreme importance to us. Every child must receive mother’s love in her tender age and God ensures that by way of educating every mother through the knowledge that is instinctive in nature. We know that God’s way of administration is such that it allows all of us to progressively become a loftier person. For this to happen, the first and foremost requirement is our survival. If we do not even survive then how would we be able to blossom our physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual faculties. At a very physical plane, we see that air is the most essential substance for our survival and that is available to every human being and other conscious beings in equal measure. The less important a substance is, the less is its universality. For example, we eat diverse food depending on who is able to gather more because food is less essential than air, and hence, there is less universality in food.



The same feature can be seen in the knowledge plane. The knowledge that is absolutely essential for our survival is transmitted to us instinctively in an equal measure. Other pieces of knowledge that can improve the quality of life are made available to those who deserve it. That is to say, God transmits certain pieces of knowledge to an individual person in a selective manner, too. This is where lies the significance of the Gayatri mantra wherein we seek His inspiration for our intellectual faculty. His knowledge is true and beneficial, and it would be wonderful if our intellect is aligned with God that it obtains inspiration from Him alone. [The readers will kindly recall that the Inaugural Issue of Vedoday2050 in November 2007 contained a brief write up on the Gayatri Mantra; it was re-sent in May 2009.] Thus, we have seen God’s different mechanism of transmitting knowledge to us:

1. Vedas: He gave a set of knowledge to us at the dawn of human civilization in the form of the Vedas.
2. Natural surroundings: Also, God educates us through what we see in the nature. We have built ships in the image of fishes and airplanes in the image of birds.
3. Direct, Instinctive knowledge: Furthermore, God transmits direct to every human being a set of instinctive knowledge at the time of our birth. We pick up other instinctive knowledge from Him as we grow, one example being that of motherly instincts shown by every mother.
4. Intuitive knowledge: There is selective knowledge that selected people pick up due to His grace, one example being Einstein picking up the theory of relativity. This pertained to the material part of the world what Einstein was interested in. We have examples of Rsis, such as Kapila, Patanjali, Kanada, Gautama, etc. who picked up spiritual knowledge of yet finer nature. Those who are blessed with such superior knowledge are extraordinary people. They are true teachers for humanity for their knowledge is true.



The Vedas Say:



Agne naya supatha raye asman visvani deva vayunani vidvan

Yuyodhyasmajjuhuranameno bhuyisthante nama uktim vidhema Yajurveda 40. 16



Its meaning: O God! May you take us to the righteous path traversed by noble people giving rise to true knowledge and other wealth through lofty karma. Furthermore, keep us away from vicious and heinous paths. Therefore, we profusely and humbly worship you.



Purport: There are two aspects of the human life – the right way and wrong way. We are instinctively guided by God on the right path.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: We ignore the conscience. If we do so habitually then we even deny its very existence. We must lead a life that respects the natural instincts of righteousness.

- Dr Harish Chandra

B. Tech. (IIT Kanpur)

Ph. D. (Princeton, USA)

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume II, Number 4, May 2010



Three months ago, we discussed the three-fold journey in any relationship – knowledge, karma and communion, or jnana, karma and upasana, particularly in the context of our relationship with God. Then we began with a discussion on knowledge – the first element of the human journey, initiating with the origin of knowledge. Last month, we discussed the natural method of gaining knowledge, known as instinct. What is most relevant to our survival is gained by us in a natural and direct manner from God. The instinctive knowledge is universal, too. Everybody exhibits the same instinctive behaviour in an identical situation. Now we want to discuss the tradition of education that humanity has developed in an elaborate manner. We have schools, colleges, universities, libraries, and many other institutions to transfer knowledge to people, particularly the next generation. We think it very important to preserve the body of knowledge that we have and for this purpose we take pains to store them in books and other media and transfer the same to our children. Furthermore, we even improve our understanding through research, etc. Building up and transfer of knowledge is a major activity in the human society. This is probably the most distinctive feature that separates us from other living beings.



Education: Transfer of Knowledge



The Vedic tradition puts enormous emphasis on education. At the outset, it is declared that we go through a three-tier process of formal education when our mother, father and teacher educate us Satapatha Brahmana (14.6.10.20), Chandogya Upanisad (6.14.2):



Matrman pitrman acaryavan puruso veda



i.e., the mother, father and teacher educate us so that we can know the individual soul/Infinite Soul. It is of utmost importance that we have a correct understanding about, Who am I? Where I have come from? Has someone sent me into this world with specific objectives? Who is the creator? How can I achieve the objectives?, etc. While we must gain the knowledge of matter so that we can survive in this world, we must obtain correct answers to these questions to set out the correct objectives of human life. This is where the current educational system is flawed. While it teaches to become a good engineer, physician, lawyer, architect, accountant, etc. it fails to educate our children to become good human beings. The Vedic education system was holistic in nature. Its strength was that the entire society was conscious of its importance and hence, everybody participated in the mechanism. One segment of the society was full time engaged in education and research, called Brahmana. They were learned people with genuine love for knowledge, particularly the Brahma-Vidya, i.e. spiritual sciences. Furthermore, they were of superior moral character that the society would characterize some of them as Acarya, whose acarana (conduct) could be emulated by every pupil.



At an individual level, the first part of the human life is characterized as brahmacarya among the four asramas. This was full-time engagement for everybody to gain knowledge. In classical times, a child whether a boy or girl, would stay away from the parent’s family (pitr-kula) and reside in a gurukula/acaryakula (teacher’s family) to gain knowledge. This way, the child was unconcerned with the worldly affairs and she concentrated on education. The emphasis was not on growth alone, but it must be necessarily with the build up of a sterling moral character as well. Both, the intellectual and moral stature should rise. One without another will give rise to a skewed society that cannot sustain itself meaningfully. A highly intellectual person but without a moral base will be a liability to the society, and can even harm others. A morally upright person but without an intellectual base will not be able to contribute to the society in all respects. This is where the nomenclature of brahmacarya becomes important. We know it that a wavering mind picks up all kinds of distortions at a tender age, particularly kama, krodha, lobha, mada, moha, and matsara – lust, anger, greed, ego, undue attachment and envy. The child, both boys and girls, must refrain from these human weaknesses in order to gain true knowledge. God doesn’t grant the true refined knowledge to anybody who is inflicted with these nuances. Vedic Rsis emphasized the importance of brahmacarya, literally meaning brahma-carya, i.e. to obtain (root car, to obtain) Brahma. Closeness to Brahma, the Cosmic Mother/Father, helps one get away from the negative tendencies. The idea is to put the child on a positive path, rather than rebuking the negative tendencies. Obviously, the teacher (Acarya) had an enormous responsibility. Today, our schools, colleges and universities employ teachers based on their intellectual qualifications but without a serious scrutiny of their moral base. This gives rise to a snowball effect on human degradation, particularly in the moral sphere. There is a strong need to arrest this trend otherwise the younger generation will indulge in smoking, drug, alcohol, pre-marital sex, and many more vices. The present education system must borrow Vedic concepts to reform and revamp itself to become a more responsible system of education. No society can say that building the next generation is less important than building roads, bridges, cars, airplanes, etc. This is the area where greatest care must be taken.



The Vedas Say:



Acarya upanayamano brhmacarinam krnute garbhamntah.

Tam ratristisra udare bibharti tam jatam drastumabhisamyanti devah. Atharvaveda 11.5.3



Its meaning: The teacher (Acarya) takes charge of the pupil in his/her womb for 'three nights' and then when pupil takes the second birth then all noble souls desire to see him/her.



Purport: The child is brought to the Acarya. The latter keeps the former as a would-be mother would keep her child in her belly giving her own breath, water, air and even blood to her child. Likewise, Acarya takes so much care of the pupil until the pupil has attained the age of 24 years, or 36 years, or 48 years, as the case may be. Then, at the time of his/her second birth from the Acarya, all noble souls desire to see him/her.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: Vedic education system lays highest standards for both, the teacher and taught. The teacher promises to take care of the pupil to the extent a mother does to her foetus. There can be no greater sacrifice by one human being towards another. This is where the present education system is failing miserably. Our teachers are not necessarily better quality human beings that their all actions are worth emulating by the students. Secondly, their sacrifice is not to the extent that Vedic standards tend to set forth. Thirdly, the syllabus is defective that the education makes a student a teacher, accountant, architect, and so on and not necessarily a good human being who is an asset to the society that every noble soul in the society can be proud of him/her. This has led us to a vicious circle that even teaching is a profession like so many others. We do not have true Acaryas in any significant number. The world urgently needs Vedoday to make a turn around. We have to give much greater importance about bringing up next generation of human beings than we give to building houses, roads, bridges, fields, factories, etc.



- Dr Harish Chandra

[Dudee]

To:
vedoday2050@googlegroups.com

Vedoday2050



Volume II, Number 6, July 2010



We have been discussing different mechanisms of obtaining knowledge. Acquisition of knowledge is the most important and sacred activity among humans. We are in the midst of discussing the mechanism of knowledge transfer from God to humans, and also, human-to-human. We had discussed these two mechanisms under the heading of instinct and education, respectively. We are now returning to the mechanism of God’s way of transferring knowledge to us at certain occasions. Besides the instinctive knowledge, that God has determined that every human being must possess, we find that God communicates with us through the second line of communication, commonly called conscience. In particular, we noted that when we begin to harbour the idea of a wrongful act then we are warned by God in terms of doubt, fear and shame. Now, we will discuss the intuitive knowledge that some ‘chosen ones’ obtain due to the grace of God, the third line of direct communication from God in the hierarchy of:

1. Instinctive knowledge
2. Inner voice of conscience in the form of doubt, fear and shame when we are about to commit a wrongful act
3. Intuitive knowledge to the ‘chosen ones’ in Samadhi, selective knowledge



God to Humans – Selective Knowledge



Every householder is expected to perform agnihotra twice a day, also called, homa, havana, devayajna, etc. During agnihotra, we recite three mantras while sprinkling water around the homa-kunda, the act being called jala-prasecana:



Adite-anumanyasva

Anumate-anumanyasva

Sarasvatyai-anumanyasva



This represents a three-layer mechanism of God’s way of transfer of knowledge to the humans – as Aditi, Anumati and Sarasvati. Aditi, as the name suggests, is indivisible – it is the universal knowledge that every human being possesses, the instinctive knowledge we discussed three months ago. It is inherited by every human being because of its paramount importance. Every child knows how to breathe air and sulk mother’s milk, right at the moment of birth. We refer to God as Aditi who gives us this type of instinctive knowledge to every human being, and also to other living species.



There is the second type of knowledge from God to us that can save us from falling into pitfalls. Last month, we had discussed the instance as if I am walking on a sidewalk of a street and I see somebody’s money purse. There appears to be a dialogue within me. One voice encourages me to lift the money purse quickly and pocket it as easy money. Another feeble voice tells me to think of the distress of its rightful owner and suggests that I should locate him and return it to him. The first voice is mine – my mind. The second one is that of God, called Anumati in this instance because She is worth following – the prefix ‘anu’ refers ‘to follow’ and ‘mati’ means an advice or opinion. The second voice is also called as the conscience. Some people ignore the second voice to the extent that they may even deny its existence. On the other hand, there are some people who simply follow Anumati that this becomes their true nature. Such people have truly learned the message of the Gayatri Mantra – dhiyo yo nah pracodayat – that is, may my intellect be guided by You!



Then, in due course, such people are granted with the special piece of knowledge by God, now referred to as Sarasvati. One who has been routinely going by the conscience in his life joins an exclusive orbit of God. God gives them special flash of knowledge that is of immense benefit to them, and through them to the entire humanity. Such people come up with new discoveries, sometimes at the most unexpected times, provided the mind is free to receive it. The mind should be in a state of ‘stillness’ to capture such a flash, called intuitive knowledge. There is a formal mechanism to obtain such flashes by practicing meditation. Maharsi Patanjali describes such a state as Savicara Samadhi, Samprajnata Samadhi, Savikalpa Samadhi, etc. This is how God communicated the words of Rgveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda to the four Rsis in the beginning of the creation. The precondition of the Samadhi state is called Dhyana, i.e. meditation, when the mind should be free from any activity, thought, fluctuation, etc. While in Dhyana, one has made the mind screen blank and now in the state of Samadhi, God ‘writes’ on the mind screen as a flash of intuitive knowledge. He imparts us a piece of knowledge that He would determine for our good if we deserve it. May we become His ‘chosen ones’ by our quality deeds that we may be blessed with the superior quality of loftier knowledge.



The Vedas Say:



Yasmin-rcah sama-yajun-si yasmin pratisthita rathanabhivarah

Yasmins-cittam sarvamotam prajanam tanme manah siva sankalpamastu Yajurveda 36.5



Its meaning: The hymns of the Vedas enter into the mind the way spokes of a wheel converge at the axle. That mind is pervaded by the Infinite Spirit of God that permeates through the entire fabric of creation. May that mind of mine bear positive thoughts, ideas and attitudes for universal benefit.



Purport: The spokes of a wheel move inwardly and converge at the axis of the wheel of a chariot. Likewise, the knowledge from the Infinite Spirit of God converges at the human mind. As God happens to be the finest stratum in the creation, He pervades through our mind, too. I must develop my personality to become a loftier one by performing lofty deeds so that I can become worthy of such knowledge direct from Him as the most ancient Rsis obtained it in the form of the Vedic verses.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: We are gifted with a wonderful mind, besides the body. However, the mind is a tool as the body is. The tool can be applied towards a proper use and misuse, too. We often use this wonderful tool of human mind for narrow and short-term gains by cheating and outsmarting others. When we act clever and cunning, we are indeed misusing the mind, and thereby, we have made ourselves great fools. We all were born as an innocent little child. The proper way of developing is to acquire true knowledge while preserving our innocence so as to qualify to become ‘His child’. While we obtain more and more knowledge by all means, we must maintain purity and innocence, too. Let us be sensitive to others’ pain, loss and grief. We should never gain anything at the expense of others’ loss. Furthermore, we should graduate to cause others’ gain.



- Dr Harish Chandra

B. Tech. (IIT Kanpur)

Ph. D. (Princeton, USA)

[Dudee]

Vedoday2050



Volume II, Number 7, August 2010



Some months ago (December 2009), we had developed the three-dimensional requirement of maintaining a relationship in terms of jnana (knowledge), karma and upasana (communion). In the context of the God-human relationship, we called it prasthana-trayi – three-fold journey. We have devoted the preceding five articles on its first element of jnana. We had noted that God is the creator of the universe, and the related knowledge, too. He is the first teacher of ours. Any true knowledge that we know is from Him, directly or indirectly. Whatever we learn from others, was learned by others from another set of people, giving rise to a chain ad infinitum. The chain ends with God. There are many ways we learn directly from Him, both the instinctive and intuitive knowledge. Now we want to discuss two distinct types of knowledge.



Two Types of Knowledge



Today is the age of specialization where we see a number of areas of specialization in a university. However, broadly speaking, there are basically two types of knowledge because of the fact that there exist two types of things in the world – material and spiritual, insentient and sentient, non-living and living, whichever way one looks at the world. As we noted, the knowledge is to know a thing as it is, and hence, there must be two types of knowledge pertaining to the two types of things existing in the world. In Upanishads, we find the terms of apara vidya and para vidya pertaining to the matter and spirit, respectively. Yajurveda 40th chapter has an interesting terminology for these two terms, namely, avidya and vidya. Some people will be definitely startled to hear that the term avidya for knowledge pertaining to matter because the usage of this term is generally for ignorance. However, this is an opportunity to appreciate the Vedic words. The word vidya is formed from the root vid that has its root meanings for knowledge and also for existence – root vid jnanrthe as well as sattarthe. Obviously, what exists ought to be known. Therefore, vidya is one branch of knowledge faculty relevant to the things ever existent and that are: our tiny spirit, God’s Infinite Spirit and primordial state of matter, the material cause of the creation – three entities that are ever existent. And, avidya pertains to those things that are temporal, namely, the material world that is ever changing through a myriad of manifestations. In other words, vidya means spiritual sciences and avidya refers to material sciences.



We need to emphasize two aspects here: 1. balance in the Vedic way of living, and 2. strict intellectual scrutiny of any piece of knowledge. Firstly, the Vedas implore us to create a balance in life. We should learn material sciences so that we can survive in the world, say, by agriculture, house building, construction of roads and bridges, etc. Then we should attempt to gain an in-depth understanding of the spiritual sciences, which is the primary objective of the human life. Yajurveda 40.14 beautifully states this as:



avidyaya mrtyum tirtva vidyaya amrtam-asnute



Through material sciences, one can push the death away for some years, and then we should gain spiritual sciences, which will bring immortality (i.e., the permanent blissful state). In brief, we eat to live and not that we live to eat. Our objectives must be clear. We must lead a dharmic life on the path of righteousness and develop a bonding and nearness to God filled with genuine love and surrender.



The Vedas Say:



Andhan-tamah pra visanti ye-avidyam-upasate

Tato bhuya-iva te tamo ya-u vidyayam ratah



Anyadevahur-vidyaya anyad-ahuravidyayah

Iti susruma dhiranam ye nastadvicacaksire



Vidyam ca-avidyam ca yastadvedobhayam saha

Avidyaya mrtyum tirtva vidyayamrtamasnute

(Yajur-Veda 40.12-14)



Its meaning: Those who pursue worldly knowledge fall in the blinding gloom. Those, who pursue spiritual knowledge only, sink into still darker gloom. Different is the fruit of worldly knowledge, and the fruit of spiritual knowledge is different. Thus we have been hearing from the sages, who instructed us clearly in these matters. One must gather both material knowledge and spiritual knowledge together. The former helps us prevail over death (for some years!) so that we can pursue the latter, and that alone delivers the bliss.



Purport: The human life should be utilized to obtain both the discipline of knowledge, material and spiritual. While material knowledge allows us to survive, the spiritual knowledge helps us explore deeper meanings of the human life and attain a state of absolute bliss that we instinctively desire. In other words, material sciences bring temporal happiness whereas spiritual sciences can bring permanent pleasure.



Where Do We Go Wrong?: We all need money and we begin with a career to earn money along with pursuing our interests. But, then, we get so much entangled in these pursuits that we gradually forget the objectives of life. Even when we are reminded by some people or certain events in life, we tend to take a recluse that we will seek spiritual knowledge in post-retirement phase of life. So, we lead life in parts. The first part of the life is to study that is generally devoted to the subjects related to the worldly knowledge, such that, we can have a cosy career growth. So, even in the student life, our eyes are set more on money than anywhere else. The second part of life is our professional life when we work for money, and the pressures are still more because we are married and have a spouse and children. The third part of life is retirement, which is now being pushed as far as possible. The final result is that we lead a worldly life centred on money for most of the time. As opposed to this, the Vedas are telling us to balance life in a day to day sense. While I spend time in my studies and profession, I must devote some time to gain spiritual knowledge. In order to do so, I should engage in three ‘s’ – Sandhya, Svadhyaya and Satsang – meditation, self-study of the Vedas and spiritual gathering in a nearby Arya Samaj or similar institution. This should give rise to the fourth s, namely Seva – self-less service to others. This will refine our attempts of meditation that we will gain superior knowledge in experiential mode. Maharshi Dayananda describes the cycle of progress as: loftier karma leads to success in Upasana (that’s what Sandhya is – Sam + Dhyana, well performed meditation according to Patanajali’s prescription of Astanga Yoga) and that in turn brings true knowledge – karma, Upasana and knowledge is the cycle of progress in human life.



- Dr Harish Chandra

B. Tech. (IIT Kanpur)

Ph. D. (Princeton, USA)



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