Dear all
SANATANA DHARMA PART 15 K RAJARAM IRS 3524//4524 VEDAS LDN AND KANCHI
1 There are books aplenty in the world dealing with a vast variety of
subjects. The adherents of each religion single out one book for special
veneration, believing that it shows them the way to salvation. The
followers of some faiths even build temples in honour of their holy
scriptures. The Sikhs, for instance, do so; they venerate their sacred
book, calling it the "Granth Sahib" [and enshrine it in temples].
2 Thus the followers of each religion have come to have a work showing
them the way to their spiritual uplift. Such books are believed to enshrine
the utterances and commandments of God conveyed through the founders of the
respective faiths. For this reason they are called the revealed texts. We
call the same "apauruseya" (not the work of a human author). What men do of
their own accord is "pauruseya" and what the paramatman reveals, using man
as a mere instrument, is "apauruseya".
3 What is the authoritative work of our Vedic religion? People of other
faiths are clear about what their sacred books are. Buddhists have the
Tripitaka, Parsis (Zoroastrians) the Zend-Avesta, Christians the Bible, and
Muslims the Qur'an. What work is basic to our religion, common to Saivas,
Vaishnavas, Dvaidins (dualists) and Advaitins (non-dualists) and the
followers of various other (Hindu) traditions? Most of us find the answer
difficult. Why?
4 There is an important reason. People born in other religions are taught
their sacred texts in schools. Or they receive instructions [at home] in
their respective faiths for two or three years, and then have what is
called "secular" education. So even at a youthful age they are fairly
conversant with the religion into which they are born. We Hindus receive no
religious instruction at all. How has this affected us? Whenever adherents
of other faiths go seeking converts, we become a convenient target for them.
How is it that people belonging to other religions do not leave their faith
to embrace another in any considerable numbers? The reason is that they
learn about the tenets of their religion in childhood itself and remain
firmly attached to it. In contrast, we are not taught even the elements of
our religion in our early years. Worse, we speak ill of our scriptures and
have no qualms about even destroying them.
5 Our education follows the Western pattern. We want to speak like the
white man, dress like him and ape him in the matter of manners and customs.
We remain so even after our having won independence. In fact, though we
keep speaking all the time about our culture, about swadeshi and so on, we
are today more Westernised than before. Remaining a paradesi (alien) at
heart we keep talking of swadeshi. Religion has been the backbone of our
nation's life from time immemorial. If we wish to remain swadeshi, both
inwardly and outwardly, we must receive religious instructions from
childhood itself. The secular state is of no help in this matter because,
in the secular set-up, education continues to be imparted to our children
on the Western pattern, and the children are taught that our sastras are
all superstition. The result is that most of us do not know what the sacred
text is, that is common to all Hindus.
6 Our Atma-vidya (science of the Self) is extolled by people all over the
world. (In our country learning even subjects that are apparently mundane
like political economy, economics, dance, etc, has a transcendent purpose).
Foreigners come to India in search of our sastras and translate them into
their own languages. If we want to be respected by the world we must gain
more and more knowledge in such sastras as have won the admiration of the
world. We cannot earn more esteem than others for achievements in fields
like science and technology. We feel proud if one or two Indians win Nobel
prize but the rest of the world hardly takes any notice of it. Its attitude
may be expressed thus: "The strides we have taken in science and technology
do not give us satisfaction. So we go to the Hindus seeking things that are
beyond. But they themselves seem to forsake the philosophical and
metaphysical quest for our science and technology". We must be proud of the
fact that our country has produced more men who have found inner bliss than
all counties put together have. It is a matter of shame that we are
ignorant of the sastras that they have bequeathed to us, the sastras that
taught them how to scale the heights of bliss.
7 Many Hindus are ignorant of the scripture that is the very source of
their religion - they do not know even its name. "What does it matter if we
don't know? " they ask. "What do we gain by knowing it? "
8 Though we are heirs to a great civilization, a civilization that is
universally admired, we are ignorant of its springs. "Who cares about our
culture? Money is all that we need, " such is the attitude of our people
and they keep flying from continent to continent in search of a fortune.
Some of them come to me and tell me: "People abroad ask us about our
religion, about the Vedas, about the Upanishads. They want to know all
about the Gita and yoga, about our temples and Puranas and about so many
other things. We find it difficult to answer their questions. In fact we
seem to know less than what they already know about these matters. We are
indeed ashamed of ourselves. So would you please briefly put together the
concepts of our religion and philosophy? "
9 What does this mean? We are proud of living as foreigners in our own
land, but the foreigners themselves think poorly of us for being so. We are
inheritors of the world's oldest religion and culture; yet we have no
concern for them ourselves. How would you then expect foreigners to have
any respect for us?
10 Perhaps it would have mattered much if we were an unlettered people.
Others would have thought us to be ignorant, not anything worse. But what
is the reality today? We read and write and talk a great deal. Science and
technology, politics, cinema, fiction -- these are our interests. Yet
foreigners think poorly of us because we ignore what is unique to our land,
the sastras relating to the Self.
11 *There are so many books on our religion but we seem to have no need
for any of them. All our reading consists of foreign literature*. {words of
Maha Periyava} We know all the works of Milton and Wordsworth, but know
precious little of the poetry of Bhavabhuti and Ottakootar. We are
acquainted with th3e history of the Louis dynasty and of the Tsars, but we
know nothing of the solar and lunar dynasties of our own country. Why, we
do not know even the names of the seers of the various gotras. We are
thoroughly acquainted with things that are of no relevance to us, but of
the subjects that have aroused the wonder of the world we are ignorant,
ignorant even of the names of the sastras on which they are founded. Even
if men learned in the scriptures come forward to speak about them we refuse
to listen to them. It causes me great pain that our country and countrymen
have descended to such abysmal depths of ignorance.
12 The reason for this sorry state of affairs is that we are not as
anxious to know about our culture, as we are to find out how much it would
fetch us in terms of money. Indeed the true purpose of earning money and
other activities of ours must be to know this culture fully, live in
consonance with its spirit and experience a sense of fulfilment. Why should
we care to know about our religion? A question like this absurd. Religion
itself is the purpose of all our actions --it is its own purpose. The need
be no purpose for religion although the performance of religious rites
brings us great benefits such as tranquillity of mind, affection for all
and, finally, liberation. Unmindful of all this, we want to know whether it
would fetch us money. If we were truly interested in religion and truly
attached to it, we would never be worried about the purpose served by
it."Brahmanena niskarano dharmah sadango Vedadhyeyo jneyasca, " so say the
sastras. It means that a Brahmin must learn the Vedas and sastras not
because there is any reason for it, not because there is any purpose served
by the same. It is only in our childhood that we learn the subject without
asking question about how useful it is. A school going chiild does not ask
:"Why should I learn history or geography? "
13 Our religious texts must be taught early in life. When a child grows
up and goes to college, he believes his studies will prove useful to him.
If he reads for a B.L. or L.L.B. degree, it is to become a lawyer.
Similarly, if he reads for an L. T (or B. Ed. ) degree or on M. B. B. S. ,
it is to become a teacher or a doctor. If you ask a teenager to study our
religious texts, he would retort: "Why should I learn them? How will it
help in my career? " So religious texts should be taught in childhood
itself, that is before the youngster is old enough to question you about
their utility [or harbour doubts about the same]. Only then will we develop
an interest in our religion and sastras. Do we pay our children for their
being interested in sports, music or cinema? Similarly, they must be made
to take an interest in religion also and such interest must be created in
the same way as in sports and entertainment. If children take to sports and
entertainment which afford only temporary pleasure, they are bound to take
religion which will confer on them everlasting happiness. The present sorry
state of affairs is due to our basic education being flawed.
14 Today we have come to such a pass that people ask whether knowledge of
religion is of help in their upkeep. This is a matter of shame. The sastras
admonish: "Do not ask whether Vedic education will provide you food. We eat
and live but to learn the Vedas. " Your approach must be based on this
principle. A child born in a faith which has such high ideals is cut off
from all opportunities of religious instruction at his very birth. Our
concern is imparting him worldly knowledge from very start. Our children
must be brought up properly and faith in God inculcated in them early in
life.
15 We spend so much on our youngsters- but what do we spend on their
religious instruction? A father spends thousands on his son's upanayana.
But if he were to spend one tenth of the sum towards achieving what
constitutes the very purpose of the upanayana ceremony - making the child a
good brahmacarin - faith in our religion would be kept alive. To repeat,
far better would it be to spend money on achieving the goal of upanayana
than on the upanayana ceremony itself. The child must be given religious
instruction by a private tutor and taught the duties of the brahmacarin.
Why should teachers conversant with such matters be denied an income? If
religion is taught in childhood itself, people will be free from doubts as
they grow up and the teacher too will be benefited. Today the situation is
so lamentable that most of us do not know even the name of the text that
forms the foundation and authority of our religion.
16 The fact that our people are not taught religion at an early age is
one reason why there are so many differences among them. One man is a
theist and another an atheist. One performs religious rites without
devotion while another is devoted but does not perform any rites. The
differences and disputes are many. As for the doubts harboured by people
about our religion there is no end. If our religion were taught in
childhood itself there would be unanimity of views and freedom from doubts.
We know it for a fact that there are not so many doubting people among
followers of other religions as there are among ours: the reason is that,
unlike us, they are better informed about the concepts of their respective
religions.
17 What is the book of our religion? A definite answer even to this
question seems to be a difficult task for people these days. However, if we
follow the truths of that book which is the basic work of our religion
there will be universal uplift.
18 Followers of most religions point to a single book as their sacred
text even if the matters mentioned in it are dealt with in other works of
theirs also. A man may write one book today, tomorrow a second man will
come up to write another. There may be good as well as bad points about
them and it would be difficult to determine the value of each. So is it not
to our advantage if a single book is accepted for all time as our basic
religious text? That is why every religion treats such a single book as its
prime scripture.
19 What are the works that tell us all about our religion? The libraries
are chock-full of books on Hinduism; indeed there are hundreds of thousands
of them. The subjects that come under our religion are also numerous. It
all seems to cause confusion. But we must remember that there are a few
texts that constitute a common basis for all the other numerous works.
20 By practising the tenets of our religion many have had the beatific
experience and remained in tranquil samadhi, without knowing death and
oblivious of the outside world. We see such men even today. There are books
from which we learn about Sadasiva Brahmendra, Pattinattar, and similar
realised souls. Other religious systems have not produced as many realised
souls as has our own faith. Is it possible that a religion that has been a
source of inspiration for such a large number of great men should have no
authoritative texts?
*Why Religion?*
21 Why do we need religion? Why do we listen to a religious teacher? We
do so hope to have our problems solved and our faults corrected. We do not
seek a preceptor when we are not in trouble or when we feel that there is
nothing lacking in us. The more we are besieged by troubles the more often
we go to worship in temples or seek the darshan and advice of great men.
22 We approach great men, saintly persons, hoping to find a remedy for
our suffering and to have our doubts cleared. When we are harassed by
difficulties, we try to find solace in books or in listening to the advice
of men of wisdom and virtue. Or we go on pilgrimage and bathe in sacred
ponds or rivers. Thus we hope to find mental peace by and by. Those who
know utter tranquillity remain in bliss. It does not matter to them in the
least whether they are stabbed or injured otherwise, whether they are
honoured or maligned.
23 Great men arise in all jatis, great men who experience inner peace.
What is religion? It is that which shows the way to santhi, the peace that
passeth understanding. Religion is known as "mata" or "dharma". Dharma is
the means to attain the ultimate good that is liberation -- and it is the
same as "mata". The pursuit of dharma is first meant for happiness and
well-being in this world. When it is practised, without desiring happiness
here, it will lead to liberation. Yes, this is dharma; this is mata.
"Dharma" which is the term used by the sastras for religion denotes all the
moral and religious principles that constitute the means to obtain fullness
of life. We have many a work that teaches us this dharma, but we remain
ignorant of them. Since they deal with matters that are the very basis of
dharma, they are called "dharma-pramanas". "Pramana" is that which
establishes the truth or rightness of a thing (or belief). We have fourteen
basic sastras that pertain to dharma, that is canonical texts that deal
with what has come to be known as Hinduism and what has been handed down to
us from the time of the primordial Vedas. These treatises tell us about the
doctrines and practices of dharma.
*Angani Vedascatvaro mimamsa-nyayavistharah*
*Puranam dharmasastram ca vidya hyetascaturdas *--- Manusmrti
*Purana-nyaya-mimamsa-dharmasastrangamisritah*
*Vedah sthanani vidyanam dharmasya ca caturdasa*-- Yagnavalkyasmrti
The term "caturdasa" occurs in both verses. It means "fourteen". We learn
from these two stanzas that we have fourteen authoritative works on dharma
embracing all aspects of our religion.
24 "Vid" means "to know". From it is derived "vidya" which means a work
that imparts knowledge, that sheds light on the truths of religion. That
there are fourteen treatises on vidya is mentioned in the above two stanzas:
"vidya hyetas caturdasa" and "vidyanam dharmasya ca caturdasa".
*The fourteen are not only sastras that impart knowledge* but also
treatises on normal principles. That is why they are called "vidyasthanas"
and "dharmasthanas" : "sthanani vidyanam dharmasya ca caturdasa". Though
"vid" means to know, the word does not connote every type of knowledge. The
"vid" in "vidya" means knowledge of truth. The English words "wit" and
"wisdom" are derived from this root. And it is from the same root that we
have "Veda", which term may be said to mean literally the "Book of
Knowledge". As sources of knowledge the fourteen sastras are called
"vidyasthanas", that is they are "abodes of knowledge or learning". The
dharmasthanas("abodes of dharma") are aThe Fourteen Abodes of Knowledge (Hindu
Dharma: , The Vedic Religion And Varna Dharma) The fourteen "abodes" of
knowledge are: the four vedas; the six Angas or limbs of the Vedas;
Mimamsa, Nyaya, the Puranas and Dharmasastra. You must have seen at least
references to the Vedas and the six Angas. The Tamil work Tevaram says:
"Veda moda rangamayinanai". According to this devotional work Isvara is the
form of the four Vedas and the six Angas.
The fourteen dharma-pramanas (authorities of dharma) are called
"caturdasa-vidya". The well-known poetic work 'Naisadham' mentions that
Nala was conversant with these fourteen branches of learning. The poet
(Sriharsa ) plays on the word "caturdasa": he says that "Nala accorded
caturdasa to the caturdas-vidya", meaning he gave the fourteen branches of
learning four dasas: reading, understanding what is read, living according
to the teachings contained in what is read, and making others also live in
accordance with them. “Caturdasatvam Krtavan kutah svayam, Na vedmi
vidyasu caturdasasvapi---Naisadham, 1. 4 All religious knowledge is
encompassed by these fourteen branches of learning.
25 There are yet four more vidyas. If you add to the fourteen already
mentioned, you will have eighteen vidyas - astadasa-vidya which are
all-inclusive. Of them, the fourteen already mentioned are directly
concerned with dharma. The remaining four - Ayurveda, Arthasastra,
Dhanurveda and Gandharvaveda - do not directly deal with dharma. They are
not dharmasthanas (abodes of dharma) but they qualify to be
vidyasthanas(abodes of knowledge). The first fourteen, as already
mentioned, are both dharmasthanas and vidyasthanas (abodes of dharma as
well as abodes of knowledge).
26 The dharmasthanas and vidyasthanas are together commonly known as the
sastras. The word "sastra" means an order or commandment. We speak of a
royal "sasana", meaning a royal "edict". There is a chapter in the
Mahabaharaaata in which Bhisma expounds the ordinances of dharma to
Yudhisthira and it is called "Anusasana-parva". Aiyanar is called "Sasta"
because he keeps the hosts of Siva under his control (through his orders ).
Works on sastras incorporate the ordinances that are calculated to keep us
disciplined and ensure that we tread the right path. While all the fourteen
sastras are basic and authoritative texts, the Vedas are their crown. Just
as Buddhism, Zoroastrianism (Zarathustrianism), Christianity and Islam have
the Tripitaka, the Zend-Avesta, the Bible and the Qur'an respectively as
their scriptures, we have the Vedas as our prime scripture. Of the fourteen
branches of learning the first four (the four Vedas) form the basis for the
subsequent ten. Together they constitute the complete corpus of sastras on
which our religion is founded. So the abodes of vidya.
Past Glory and Present Shame The Sastras And Modern Life
27 The fourteen branches of learning were taught in our country from the
remote past until the inception of British rule. Let me tell you something
interesting about them. You must have read about the Chinese pilgrim
Fahsien and Hsuan Tsang. The former visited India early in the fifth
century A. D. and the latter in the seventh century A. D. They have both
recorded impressions of their travels here and given particularly glowing
accounts of the big universities of Nalanda and Taksasila. We learn about
these institutions from archaeological investigations also. They were at
the peak of their glory when Buddhism flourished in the country. It is
noteworthy that syllabuses of both these universities included the
caturdasa-vidya. Of course Buddhist religious texts were also taught, but
only after the student had learned the fourteen Hindu sastras. The reason :
acquaintance with Vedic learning was a help to any religious community in
acquiring knowledge and in character building. The Buddhists thus believed
that education to be called education must include a course in the Hindu
caturdasa-vidya.
In the South also these sastras we taught at gatikasthanas and other
institutions established by the rajas of Tamil Nadu. In the copper-plate
inscriptions, dated 868 A. D. , there is a reference to an educational
institution at Bahur, between Cuddalore and Pondicherry, where it is stated
that the fourteen vidyas were taught. Similarly, there was a school at
Ennayiram, between Vizhupuram and Tindivanam, where the ancient sastras
were part of the syllabus as evidenced by an inscription of Rajendra Cola
(11th century). There are many more similar examples.
28 Nowadays considerable research is conducted into Tamil history. It
has inspired stories and novels. However, nobody seems to have dealt with
the information that I have gained from my own historical inquiries -- that
the Tamil rulers supported the Vedas and sastras in a big way. There is
much talk about the need for impartiality in all matters and about the
importance of having a scientific outlook, but we do not see any evidence
of it in practice. The Buddhists were opposed to the Vedas, but they
believed that an acquaintance with the fourteen Hindu sastras was necessary
to nurture the intelligence and shape the moral character of the students
learning in their institutions. But people here who claim to have faith in
our religion (it does not matter that they do nothing to promote our
sastras) maintain silence about the work done by Tamil kings in the past in
the cause of Vedic learning.
29 We have come to such a pass that, if we are asked about our vidyas,
we can do no better than keep silent. Indeed we do not even know what is
meant by "vidya". In all likelihood we think it to be jugglery, witchcraft
or magic. Vidya and kala are the same. Kala means knowledge that waxes like
the moon. Now most people think that "kala" means only dance. we must no
longer be ignorant of our sastras our indifferent to them and we must try
to be true to ourselves. That is why I want to speak briefly about the
fourteen--or eighteen--branches of learning. You must atleast learn their
names.
30 Siksa, Vyakarana, Mimamsa, and Nyaya are among the fourteen
sastras. You may find these subjects somewhat tiresome and think that they
do not serve the Self in any way. But I ask you, what about all your daily
activities? You take so much time to read the newspaper which has a whole
page or two on sports. What purpose does it serve in your daily life? Or,
for that matter, in your inward growth? One day, some years ago, I
happened to be in a certain town. It was noontime and, as I went out, I saw
a big crowd in front of a shop. The radio was blaring out the news and I
was told that the crowd had gathered to listen to it. I asked a passer-by
what was so exciting about the news. He said that a cricket match was being
played somewhere, some thousands of miles away across the seas in a far-off
continent, and that the latest score was being announced.
31 The fact is that people are prepared to spend their time, money,
and energy on things they fancy but are of no practical value to them. Now
I ask you to take an interest in our sastras. They are certainly more
useful than cricket and such other things. They may not seem to bring you
any direct spiritual benefit. While their ultimate purpose is to take us to
the path of enlightenment, they are essential to our knowledge and to
making us mature. Knowledge is a treasure and it is a gift of the Lord. If
you sharpen it with good education and the spirit of inquiry, the Ultimate
Reality will be revealed to you in a flash. Man alone is the recipient of
the divine blessing called speech. If it is used wisely he will have an
abundance of good will. That is why so many sastras relating to speech like
Vyakarana, Nirukta, Siksa have been developed. Every one of you must have
atleast a basic knowledge of these subjects.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx PART 15 3524//4524 SANATANA DHARMA XXX
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