The Rubbishness of Indian History as taught in Indian schools

The Rubbishness of Indian History as taught in Indian schools

As a boy, I grew up in the government schools that taught standard curricula for everyone. In my fifth standard, I first studied the History of India. The best thing that I read was that the Vedas were written about three thousand years ago. I also ‘learnt’ that the Vedic Aryans did yagyas and drank soma. That was all.

Now, thirty five years later, when I opened my first son’s history book who is in Ninth standard (he is 14 years old), I saw nothing about Hinduism . But it had significant chapters on new religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Another notable addition was a large chapter on new European thinkers such as Marx, Engels and so on.

HONOURING A GREAT CIVILIZATION

Obviously, I was aghast. My revulsion is understandable. There is proof in our existent literature and the internet not to mention the new archaeological proof

1.that the Aryan Invasion Theory is a hoax created for the benefit of the British.

2. The term Aryan never meant a race but just an attribute of a people who strived to be noble.

3. The Vedas were the world’s oldest living texts, preserved by an ingenious way and presented with the brahmanas and six angas(limbs) for an error proof study for anyone who wants to study it. It predates every civilization in the world.

4. Even the modern religions inside the Hinduism such as Vaishnavism, Saivism are at least three millennia old.

5. There is emerging proof that the whole world including the Americas, Europe, Arabia and Australia and Africa were practicing Hinduism once

6. Indians were the world’s first intellectual race par excellence and have been responsible for major scientific advancements since the beginning of creation.

(please click on the highlighted texts to actually verify the proof for yourselves)

(Shiva Statue in a public fountain Bologne, Italy and misrepresented as Neptune . Courtesy www.stephen-knapp.com)

THE RUBBISH HEAP OF OUR HISTORY BOOKS

Now despite all this evidence, our history books are not updated. I think our children must grow up with a feeling of superiority of our heritage. I wonder who is in charge of fixing syllabi for Matriculation and CBSE curriculum. They all bear contorted versions of our history and bear nothing relevant to enable the child to know its own country, its people and history.

I learn from my sources that apart from the British, treacherous writing belittling India started with Jawaharlal Nehru himself who, for political reasons, advised the historians of his day not to dwell on some horrible events of the past such as the demolition of Somnath temple, Akbar’s massacre of 32,000 Rajput soldiers in a single day, the desecration of Kashi, Mathura , Ayodhya temples among lakhs of others.

MANIPULATIVE HISTORIANS

The Historians sensed an opportunity and have clung to the pattern. One of the universities where such historians are most active is the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. I hear that the whole university has been hijacked by politically coloured professors who owe allegiance to Marxist ideologies.

And I am sad. We know the Marxist led propaganda that Hinduism is bad and Indian culture is bad and horrible. With the whole world turning to India for its unique culture be it in terms of Familial love, Educational virtues, piety, righteousness and spirituality, these claims of the Marxists have been defeated. But still these people are calling the shots in fixing the official history in India.

But the worst thing in all this is that NO Government at the centre barring the BJP tried to correct this menace in the 60 years after independence. It is a shame that such things are happening in a democracy. All the elected representatives of the people are overly afraid of this or that section of the people. For example, calling Akbar a murderer of the innocent might offend the muslims and so on.

This is outright cowardice.

WHAT EDUCATION SHOULD BE ?

In a recent seminar on education , a disciple of Aurobindo, Mr Michael Denino told the gathering about Aurobindo’s views on Education They are

1. Nothing can be taught
2. The Child must learn from the near to the far

I am interested in the second point. The child’s education must progress from his near to the far. From his village, then his town, his district, then his state, his country and this world , this universe and so on.

But what is the situation ? Afifth standard child of age 10 learns about American democracy and nothing about his own beautiful district which has many unique features. Is it not rubbish ?

HONOURING OUR TRADITIONS:

Take, for example, Vedic Mathematics. When it was introduced during BJP rule, many newspapers even wrote editorials stating that it was totally rubbish. Now, just five years or so, Vedic maths created a niche for itself. A newspaper, The Hindu, which wrote so caustically on this, now voluntarily teaches it in schools. The trend is so hugely popular that, all those ‘get rich quick’ institutions which once offered abacus , now offer Vedic Maths. You will find many CD s marketed by many people in this subject alone.

Everyone knew the Indians were proficient in Mathematics, but not to this extent ! It is one area where the truth has come out. But we have to bring out the historical truths of our superiority in the fields of textile, armour, agriculture, medicine, education, astronomy, linguistics, literature, story telling( all the fairy tales are crude copies of Indian stories), science, hydraulics, geometry, navigation and many others.

THE WAY FORWARD:

Everyone in India should write to the newspapers, to the concerned schools, education departments, ministers and the union government of the disaster of this self defeating education system which is based on self degradation than truth. Most important, every parent, every elder must educate the child on what is not taught in the schools. They must be made proud of our heritage.

Dissent is Democratic, Consensus is Fascist

Dissent is Democratic, Consensus is Fascist

I still remember those days in my early twenties when I got to read the novel `Atlas Shrugged' by `Ayn Rand' loaned to me by my cousin sister. Ayn Rand was a born rebel who had her own vision of a society based on an idealistic objectivism.

If someone mentions `capitalism' to me ,then Jefferson , Washington and Ayn Rand only come to my imagination. Such has been her influence on American society.

Ayn Rand and democracy:

She will tell in one of her works- " Whenever you hear words such as `unanimity, consensus, etc, immediately know that the organization is fascist. Democracy has dissent built into it. No two men think alike and act alike.

So , in a large organization like a business corporation or a political party, if there is such a thing as consensus, it simply means that views of one man or a few are pushed down the throats of those down the hierarchy. The result ? Oppression , obviously.

Think of an organization or society where plurality of opinion is accepted rather than tolerated and even welcomed. There, my friend , democracy blooms. Where the freedom to think, speak and act is inherent in the society, democracy shows its fragrance.

Suppression is fascism. Liberation is Democracy.

The ideal society

Rabindranath Tagore, in his Gitanjali, writes

Where the mind is without fear and the held is high

Where knowledge is free

Where words come out from the depth of truth

……………………

Have you ever heard of a land where these values were actually practiced ? Well, it was the wonderland called Bharat. The sons of Bharat , a fearless intellectual group, dared to differ from the mundane and visualized a society based on free enquiry. We see much of it even now in India though the society lost many of its golden standards.

The village level self management, freedom for self enquiry and self realization ( as later summarized in the Gita) speak volumes of the society. It was in Bharat that is India that the 'free education for all ' policy was proclaimed and practiced till 1850 when the indigenous Gurukuls were destroyed.

An example of a Democratic village:

A small village in the erstwhile Chola Kingdom , Uttiramerur, Tamilnadu, (which is a temple village), has a written constitution in the temple complex devoted to Lord Shiva. This temple is typical of Chola Grandeur in stone. There , in a mantap, the gram Sabha met and elected its chief. The tenure was fixed and the election process was by dropping the choice written on a palmyrah leaf into a pot. The votes were counted and the winner declared by the village nobles.

The norms were also stringent. The contestant must not have married more than once, not have had illicit relationship, who has not usurped public property and so on. This happened thousand years ago under Rajaraja I.

The Present India

The India of present is a mix of honest, pious, religious and law abiding citizens headed by a few dishonest, deceitful, bigoted , nepotist and corrupt leaders. They have perfected the art of dividing the population on the basis of religion, caste and language in order to keep the throne for perpetuity.

Democracy was made into a laughing stock when a single family of Father, Daughter, Grandson, and his wife were all raised to the throne in almost regular succession. The family employed all the untruthful means to remain in power thus ridiculing the price of the blood of freedome fighters.

Undoing of Indians in Democracy

They realized that the only true bond of all Indians is their religion. So, they employed all means to keep the Indians disconnected from their umbilicus. To this end, they invented a novel formula of secularism which meant several things to several people.

The Hindu was taught that secularism meant sacrificing his rights of his religion over his motherland. It also meant forgiving of all oppressions of the past by other religions. It also said that tolerance even in the face of grim oppression was secularism.

The Muslims and Christian were free from such indoctrinations. For them secularism meant they were free to practice their religions and convert anyone to their religion by whatever means. They could even use force on Hindus who had to be complacent as a rule.

The Hindu, by such vicious inculcation of untruths, became indifferent to his society. His temples were nationalized and their lands and properties were stolen by the government. He dare not show off his religious affliction as it is a sign of aggression. If he formed a party, he was termed as communal. But the other religions were free from such injunctions and they were as secular as ever.

The average Hindu is longing for real democracy. His plight is his own making. He simply has to look back in time and realize what a tradition he belongs to. His tears will vanish and so will the suppressive , fascist , secularistic bondage.

J Venkatasubramanian

The Four Types of People who worship God

The Four Types of People who worship God

This is my Krishna Jayanti (23-08-2008) gift to all of you.

Right now I am in the seventh chapter ( Gnana Vignana Yogam) of Srimad Bhagavad Gita in my daily parayana. I have already read the 16 th sloka at least thrice before. I thought it as a plain sloka that tries to classify Bhaktas.

Only after I studied Swamy Ramsukhdas ji Maharaj’s commentary (Sadhak Sanjeevani) my perception of this sloka changed. Swamiji deals with this sloka ver very subtly. The sloka is

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(Please download the Sanskrit font here )

chaturvidha bhajante mAm, janA: sukrutino (a)rjuna |

Artho jignAsur arthArthi, gnAni cha bharatarshabha ||--- 7/16

The sloka means

“Oh best of Bharatas ! Four types of Men of virtuous deeds worship me. They are the one who is grieved, the one who desires worldly things, the one who seeks knowledge and the man of wisdom.”

Let us analyze what and who these four are.

FOUR BHAKTAS

Arhta: - This is the classical grieved person who remembers God in the midst of his predicament. Imagine a man, whose son is in the ICU of a hospital and to whom the physician says 'nothing is in his hands'. He now stands there alone, torn by grief. He then sees the small temple there and prostrates in front of God begging for his son’s life. He worships God for release from grief. He is the Artha.

Artharthi: This man is the one seeking material from God. When someone of us need a car, we turn to God for this.

Jignasu: He is the man full of curiosity of the nature of self, the world and God. And this person turns to none other than God to get cleared of this.

Gnani: He is divine wisdom personified. Krishna inserts a conjunction ‘cha’ to denote the speciality of this worshipper. He is a man of God.

You might want to grade these people. The Gnani comes first , followed by Jignasu, Artharthi and finally Artha. But the common thread among these all is that they all worship the Lord . Krishna also says that these are men of good deeds meaning they are devoid of demonic tendencies.

Now please read on to enjoy Swamy Ramsukhdasji’s brilliant explanation of this sloka. For some it might be boring, but press on. It is worth the effort.

DESIRES AS PER SHASTRAS

The three excepting the Gnani has the desire as a driving force for their worship. This desire is of two types The first for this present life and the other for the after life. The latter is all about mukti. The Jignasu yearns to know the truths about mukti (emancipation). Thinking deeper here this yearning is a need and not a desire per se. The search for truth is a fundamental need. Such needs, once satisfied never rise again unlike desires which rise again and again and are never satiated. This ‘need’ belongs to the ‘sat’ (truth) category. But 'desire' belongs to the ‘asat’ (untruth)

The other yearning is for the Lord’s love. Though this Love is a priceless one, the benefits of such Love is never one’s own. They are God’s only. The seeker surrenders himself to God totally. We can instantly say that these two are not desires at all.

GRIEFS AND PAINS AS PER SHASTRAS

Now let us see the other desire. That is, the desire for this present life. This desire is one directed towards the world. They are of two types. The first is for seeking pleasures in this life and the other is for removal of pain from this life.

The pleasure seeking expresses itself in seeking fame, material comfort, physical comfort, sensual gratification, sexual satisfaction and so on. Secondly, there is that desire that wants pains or obstacles removed. What are these pains ? They are of three types. Adi Daivikam, Adi Boudikam, and Adhyatmikam.

The pain or grief arising out of flood, draught, earthquakes, wind and cold form the Adi Daivikam.

The grief arising due to animals, birds and evil people are called Adi Boudikam.

The grief produced due to the body and the anta: karanas ( senses, mind and ahankara) is called Adhyatmikam. Adhyatmikam is further divisible into two. They are Adi and Vyadi. Worry is Adi. Bodily disease is Vyadi. Adi is of two types. First is mental disease. Second is due to worry, grief, shock, and suppressed emotions. The second is due mainly to ignorance and wisdom (gnana) dispels them. But mental disease per se is due to karma and will remain as long as the fruits of Karma remain.

THE ULTIMATE BHAKTA- WHAT KRISHNA SAYS

The above text marked in blue show the technical or scriptural aspect of desires and their effect , grief.

For one who can see through the four different people who worship God, a simple difference can be ascertained. The first three , namely Artharthi, Artha and Jignasu are clinging lesser and lesser to the world in their given order. In other words they represent different aspects or levels of worship. When they reach the stage of the Gnani, the world no longer exists for them.

By this, I do not degrade the the first three. The Artharthi is not contented with his possessions. The Artha cannot tolerate grief. Jignasu cannot satisfy his curious intellect. But the great aspect that differentiates from mere money mongers and knowledge seekers is that they seek help from God himself.

They are burdened by matters of the world since sensual pain, matter and intellect are all connected with the jagat or world or the ‘asat’ category. As long as they carry the world with them they are variously called Artha, Artharthi and Jignasu. Once they cease to carry it, they become true Gnanis instantly.

To the Gnani, the realization of ‘Vasudeva: Sarvam’ happens.The Gnani no longer carries the world in his consciousness. He has transcended the above three to attain that stage where he sees God only everywhere. Bhagavan acknowledges this Gnani in the sloka 7-18 where he says “ gnAni tvAtmaiva me matam” ( my view is that this Gnani is verily of my nature)

Hare Krishna
Venkat

BHAGAVAD GITA AND VIGRAHA ARADHANA

SEEDS OF ICON WORSHIP IN SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA

This is in continuation of my previous post on 'Icon worship in Hinduism'.

I have always pondered whether or not Gita was the starting point of worship of forms! Such has been my thinking all along. And when I went into the Gita in such an angle, I found that Gita is indeed the fountainhead of icon worship in Bharat. Before the Mahabharata period ,we did not have temple worship.

Icon Vs Idol or Love Vs Fear

Before we begin, let us look closely. In Hinduism we have 'icons' (Vigrahas or Murthys) and never an 'idol'. Wherever you see the word 'icon' you may interchange it with Vigraha or Murthy.

It will be worthwhile to differentiate between an idol and an icon. A lay person in the ancient times , suddenly saw the full view of a big mountain from a clearing in a valley and was awed by it. Over a period of time his awe gave way to a kind of devotion and he started worshipping it. Similarly many people in Europe worshipped Sun for its attributes. This is idol worship. That is worshipping a revered (or feared or respected or useful) object.

But imagine a learned person who knows by his intellect and perception about the reality and existence of God. This man, out of love for Him, personifies Him in many forms and images of his liking and creation. This is Icon worship. An icon is a superimposition whereas an idol is an object of existence to which man fearfully submits.

Icon worship created forms such as the elephant faced Ganapathy, the Linga, Kali etc. The same forms are worshipped for the attributes of God which are superimposed on them. Ganapathy symbolizes the Pranava, Linga denotes the philosophy of creation, Kali denotes the energy of cosmos, Vishnu symbolizes the Yoga Nidra where the Kundalini has arisen (sleeping on snake bed). Worship or Upasana or Pooja is never possible without a form of God and Love towards Him.

In another way of expression, the fundamental aspect of Idol worship is fear. In icon worship, the fundamental aspect is love or Bhakti(devotion). My mother, who studied in a British run Christian school in Coonoor, used to say that the arch at the entrance read ,” Fear in God is the beginning of Wisdom”. The religions which shout against idol worship are having all the fundamental qualities of idol worship. They simply have adapted the earlier(pagan) religion !

In idolation, we only pray. But we worship the icons. Prayer is begging for things earthly and heavenly. Worship is honouring God through a chosen icon. We honour Him in love and in unbearable longing of the separation from Him.

Bhagavad Gita and Worship of Form

Coming back to the Gita , one is struck at its very presentation. That of God giving upadesa (advice) to his friend turned disciple. A God in form !

1. Then one sees in Chapter 2- 61 , where we see the words 'matpara:' (meaning- who takes refuge in me) for the first time.

tani sarvani samyamya yukta asita mat-parah |
vase hi yasyendriyani tasya prajna pratisthita ||
( After keeping his sense under his full control, the striver should meditate and fix his heart and soul upon Me. One who has control on his senses has a stable wisdom.)

2. In Chapter 6, (Dhyana Yoga), sloka 14 , we see one of the most explicit commands of Sri Krishna to meditate on Him ! This meditation is one on His form only as many commentators pause at this sloka to give a detailed explanation and even list out the forms most suitable for meditation.

prashantatma vigata-bhir brahmacari-vrate sthitah
manah samyamya mac-citto yukta asita mat-parah

(Thus, with completely calm and subdued mind, without any fear, devoted in Me and firm in the state of sexual abstinence, the Yogi should mediate on Me as the Supreme Goal.)

3. In Chapter 4, slokas 6, 7, and 8 Sri Krishna gives the most potent statement that he in fact is born in this world again and again.

4. And in the 11 th chapter, sloka 54 Krishna assures Arjuna that he is indeed perceivable in FORM !

bhaktya tv ananyaya sakya aham evam-vidho ’rjuna|
jnatum drastum ca tattvena pravestum ca parantap ||

(But O Subduer of enemies! Only by undivided devotion, one can understand, see and know the reality of this form of Mine. O Pandava! Those who engages in My work (surrendering all this actions to Me), is whole occupied by Me, devoted to Me, is without any attachment, and is free from malice, attains Me)

This is by far the direct acknowledgement of His Saguna nature. Krishna also assures that He goes to his devotees in the same manner as they perceive Him ! The 10 th chapter 'Vibhooti Yogam' is nothing but Krishna's self explanation of His attributes IN TERMS OF OBJECTS OF EXISTENCE !- a clear foundation for icon worship.

5. In chapter 9, 26 th sloka He says he be worshipped with 'Leaf, Flower, Fruit or water' clearly setting a precedent for today's temple worship.

patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati |
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam asnami prayatatmanah ||
(The thoughtful devotee who offers Me one leaf, flower, fruit, water with devotion, I accept the offerings of this effortful devotee.)

Someone may argue based on sloka 24 of chapter 7

avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah
param bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttamam ||

(Unintelligent men, who do not know My Supreme, inimitable and immortal form, assume My imperceptible form as manifested.)

that what Krishna means is after all his transcendental nature. But the entire seventh chapter is devoted to the sadhak who wants to know the real nature of Krishna and the context in this sloka is one where Krishna is thought as being born and died in the normal sense as applicable to mortals. So it is not a valid argument.

Whenever we think of a Vigraha, we need develop Bhakti only and not a feeling of guilt.

Jai Sanatana Dharma

Zero Budget Farming- Bharat's need of the hour

Subhash Palekar Raises Agriculture to Spiritual Levels

For over sixty years, Indian agriculture was in a slumber. Our lands were scandalized by an unknown thing called as synthetic fertlizer. This was done to help the farmer get a 'better' harvest.

As the farmer started using it, he immediately noticed that, his soil had become infertile and could no longer bear crops for the next season. He was advised to add more and more fertilizer to the soil to compensate for the nutrient loss. Soon he was faced with another threat. The plants that grew with fertilizer needed pesticides. Soon, he started using these pesticides, which are deadly poisons. He noticed that the pests had become resistant to these chemicals as time went by. He was puzzled.

Our farmer forgot the ancient lesson that the soil HAD LIFE. He forgot that there were natural laws that governed the soil which his ancestors had obeyed from time immemorial. By thus obeying the laws , they had taken bumper harvests and had kept the land well cared for and transferred the land intact for posterity.

Subhash Palekar

It was at this time that a great mind set out to work in this field. He himself was a graduate of Agricultural science from a 'modern university'. He set out to work in his field using the British devised ways of Fertlisers and Pesticides and became an utter failure. He also ruined his land.

Then he set out to research on how our ancestors did so well in Agriculture without any of these chemicals. He consulted the Vedas, and the ancient wisdom literature. The result is a revolutionary, path breaking method, which Sri Subhash calls as 'Zero Budget Natural Farming'. Sri Subhash tried his method in his own soil and replicated it in various other fields tasting success every time.

An inspired Sri Subhash set out to teach this method to his countrymen. He has so far conducted not less than 1000 workshops, all heavily attended, to spread this new way of life for farmers.

The fundamental concept in Sri Subhash's work is that
1. Soil does not need nutrients to be added.
2. The soil has micro organisms which GENERATE NUTRIENTS for the soil.
3. It is possible to revive a fertliser damaged soil back to the natural ways.
4. That the new method require no money to do Agriculture.

Fascinating, is it not ? Read on for some more.

Sri Subhash says the pivot of 'Zero Budget Natural Farming' is the desi cow. He says that the desi cow's Urine, Cow dung and Milk have all the qualities required to rejuvenate the soil. Just ONE desi cow, says Sri Subhash, is all that is required to maintain a 30 acre Farm. He laments that the Desi- Jersi hybrid cows are of no use in his scheme of things.

What a sad thing ? The desi (country) cow is now has such a dwindling population that we need to revive them on a war footing. I wondered why the hybrid Jersi cow is unfit. A publication of 'Govardan', a voluntary organisation for Cow protection, says that the high yield Jersi was produced by crossing a wild pig and an Australian cow breed !

Sri Subhash has some formulas to revive the soil. One is 'Jeevamrutam'. This is not a replacement for Fertlizer , he says. Jeevamrutam is only a catalyst for the soil to generate its nutrients. He says that the 'organic manure','earthworm manure' are fads and are another recipe for disaster.

Sri Subhash condemns the university taught concept of burning the leftover plants after harvest. He says that these are to be left over in the soil itself by turning them over into the soil. This process of 'Mulching' helps the soil prepare its own manure.

And what about pests ? Subhash maintains that a naturally grown plant fights pests. But the plants in transit in chemical ravaged field can be protected by simply prepared 'natural pesticides' which arwe usually buttermilk, pepper and such simple combinations.

The Government Sponsored Chemical Mafia

A govermental survey states that the fertliser subsidy alone was abot Rs 13,000.00 crores in the year 2000. Add to this the pesticide subsidy and the farmer's burden. A report says that the pesticide business in India is the fourth largest in the world! Imagine what would have happened if the money is spent on raising desi cows, strengthening ponds and lakes, and protecting the village fiorests !

There are some criminal agricultural scientists who sit and lord over every governmental commission on Agriculture. These are the very people who are in hand in glove with the synthetic mafia and have been the cause of so much decline in production. Sri Subhash has alleged that our country imports foodgrains of about 5 million tonnes every year. This fact is not known to many Indians. The governments cheats here also.

Recently, a central minister went on record stating that poor Indians are eating more and this is causing problems. It is no wonder with such people at the helm, our Agriculture remains without policy.

Follow Subhash ji

But, what I admire Sri Subhash is for his unassuming nature and his patriotism in spreading the truth to his countrymen. He calls his method a spiritual farming, a saadhna.

I salute the spirit of a great son of Bharat, who is not afraid to speak the truth.

Jai Bharat , Jai Sanatana Dharma
Venkat
My other blog sites
Bharat's Hoary Vedic and Agamic Tradition
Sanatana Dharma- Religion forever
Gita study group
Bhagavad Gita Blog

Swamy Ramsukhdas- Rishi Extraordinary

Swamy Ramsukhdas- The great Gita Exponent

In my mid thirties, I started my exciting spiritual journey through a copy of Bhagavdad Gita published by ‘Gita Press’,(in Tamil, called Tattva Vivechani) which cost me Rs 50 in 2000. The original was written by Poojya Jayadayal Goendka.

The commentary was so beautiful, I continued to read it one sloka a day, memorizing it and contemplating on that sloka’s purport. This is called ‘Parayana’ in Sanskrit. I did two full rounds with this commentary (which means 700 slokas read in two rounds) and it took me almost six years. Even though I had two other commentaries of Gita by Swamy Chidbhavananda and Srila Prabhupada, I used ‘Tattva Vivechani exclusively.

It was in 2006 that I chanced upon another commentary of Bhagavad Gita in a book fair at the Gita Press book stall. It was called ‘Sadhak Sanjeevani’ by Swamy Ramsukhdas. This was in two big volumes. For my third round of parayana, I started using this.

Swamy Ramsukhdas surprised me with his handling of each sloka. Slowly it was dawning on my not so quick mind that I was studying the words of one of the greatest saints of this century. The commentary was extraordinary and so was the Tamil translation.

As I entered the second chapter, the explanations simply amazed me. Swamiji’s words hit me with such force, I was awe-struck and was eagerly awaiting the next sloka. Now I am in the sixth Adhyaya (chapter) called Dhyana Yoga (or Atma Samyama Yoga) and enjoying each step.

What I am realizing now is that Swamy is no ordinary word to word commentator with linguistic or literary brilliance. He was a realized master who lived the Gita and he was giving his own experiences in words. For example his explanation on ‘kriya, karma and karma yoga’ is unique and to be found nowhere.

About a year back I wanted to meet him and surrender to him . I enquired at ‘Gita Press’ at Gorakhpur through phone. What they told me was shattering! Swamiji had attained Samadhi in Rishikesh in 2004. I asked if they had a photo of him. The answer was another surprise. Poojya Ramsukhdas ji never allowed himself to be photographed in his life span of 103 years !

Gita Press , I heard always was operating under the sage advices of Poojya Swamiji. Gita Press is, in my opinion, a sterling example of how dedicated work by a few Hindus can effect a change in the whole society. They have always produced great books, neatly printed and given to the public at subsidised prices. They print in many languages of India, and have established branches all over India. As Hindus, we should make it a habit to patronize this holy institution.

Our Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) has seen many great saints and masters in its glorious history. Swamy Ramsukhdas ji is undoubtedly among them. Together with his spiritual depth, he knew the problems faced by Bharat. He was a very vocal advocate of Hindu unity.

He condemned abortions and contraception terming them acts against nature. He experienced agonizing pains on hearing cow slaughter. Swamiji reminded his countrymen that here is the only race sworn to protect the cows, and in our very midst, cows are feasted by people of other religions !

Swamy was so concerned about the dwindling Hindu population. He has warned that if Dharma should stand in the world, Hindus must maintain a significant population.

Swamiji continues to be the inspiration behind my spiritual activities on the ground and on the net. I request my brethren all over the world to study the word of a great , great Rishi of our times.

Jai Bharat, Jai Sanatana Dharma !

Venkat

What do Kriya, Karma and Karma Yoga mean ?

Kriya, Karma and Karmayoga

When one thinks of the words of Kriya, Karma and Karma Yoga one immediately thinks of Bhagavad Gita only. Nowhere does one find Karma Yoga so thoroughly analysed and explained as in the Gita. Any student of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) will want to know the real meaning of these terms.

Before proceeding we need to know about the Prakruti or nature. Prakruti is defined as the combination of Kriya and Jata (or matter). These both have a beginning and an end. For example, the changes that happen in our bodies are kriyas . The material body is the matter.

What is Karma ? Karma happens when there is an ‘ownership’ to a Kriya. In a person’s life many kriyas are continuously happening. But, the moment that person feels that they are his deeds, ‘Karma’ is born. Here the ‘person’ is the ‘Chetana- the Self’ who is the very source who illumines the body (which is made up of Kriya and matter).

River Ganga flows on her own and irrigates the land wherever she goes. This flow is a ‘Kriya’. Whether she destroys are irrigates, there is no Papa (sin) or Punya attached to its flow.

A person’s body grows from childhood to Youth and untimately to old age. This process is a ‘Kriya’. But when he thinks that ‘he’ is getting old and changing, that moment a ‘Karma’ is born. Karma is the marriage of the Self and the Kriya. To put it simply, the ‘I’ feeling in a ‘Kriya’ leads to a Karma. This is called the eternal bondage of the Self and Nature.

The Ahankara or ‘I- feeling’ is the source of all bondage. Because of this bondage , man forgot the real immense power inside him and came to identify himself with his body (and mind and intellect) which are a part of the nature. 'yagnyArthat karmano(a)nyatra loko(a)yam karma bandhana:' ( Gita 3-9)

In this context, how shall we define Yoga ? Well, yoga is that process that strives to release the self from its bondage to the nature.

When this process is focused on the actions going on in this world and helps man to get a release from these actions, it is called as karma Yoga. Karma is bondage. Yoga is release. Karma is centred on this world. Yoga is centred on 'Self' or God.

Krishna says that man can never be without doing Karma (Gita 3-5). Even when he thinks he is idle and still. His body is changing per second, his mind is rushing into every possible direction. His intellect is also continuously analysing every thought. The wise distances these kriyas as that of the nature. He has realized that his real 'Self' is untouched by these kriyas.

But , is there a message in all this for a common man ? There is. Only as long as the 'I' feeling remains in oneself, he will be bound to the world. The way to release from this is simple. First, he has divert all his karmas towards the welfare of the world at large. This is the first step. Here, the 'I' feeling is blunted. This leads to real Karmayoga. Karmayoga in turn destroys the bondage of the Self -' yagnyAcharata: karma samagram pravileeyate' (Gita 4-23). And finally the man realizes his eternal relation with ParamAtman.

Karma yoga is one of the four Royal paths of realization as expounded in the Gita. Karma Yoga is a speciality of Sanatana Dharma and every modern Management exponent finds in it the ideal tool for defining work and result.

Karma Yoga affirms emphatically that man has no right over the fruits of his actions. It is only in working that he has the right. This is being confirmed by almost every management guru now. Stephen R Covey, (of 7 habits of highly successful prople) writes this : " There is nothing such as success and failure, There are only results".

Krishna goes further saying that the 'I' feeling and the resultant expectation of the outcome of karma is what binds man to the world more and more. The only way out , therefore, is doing your duty regardless of the outcome. Even better, do it for others' sake. Still better, dedicate the whole work in the feet of the Lord.

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Why communism is incompatible with Sanatana Dharma ?

Why communism is incompatible with Hinduism ?
As a small boy, when I started reading newspapers, I was struck by the force and hatred of the communist leaders when they wrote about Sanatana Dharma (read Hinduism) and its practices. During college years, when I stopped to listen the road corner meetings, I started to realize that this is a definite pattern. The young person I was, I was trying to figure out why these speakers, almost all of them Hindus, were spewing such venom on my Dharma.

Not till I wrote my blog post on Truth , I realized the truth behind communism and their hatred. Now, let me share my perception of the 'How' and 'why' of their hatred.

The distilled wisdom of the Upanishads, Shastras and the Gita is that, this world, as we see it, is transient and really has no existence. I am now repeating some of what I wrote in my earlier blog for clarity. (between the lines )
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In Bhagavad Gita , Sri Krishna says, (2nd chapter ,16th sloka)

nAsato vidyate bhAvo , nAbhAvo vidyate sata: |
ubhayorapi drushtontas tvanayos tattvadarshibhi: ||

"That which is untrue has no existence. The truth has no non existence. The conclusion about these two has been visualized by the knowers of truth."

Now, view the statement about truth vis a vis the above sloka. It says That the untruth has no existence! The material objects belong to the prakruti or nature. The nature is an ever changing entity. The human body and it five sheaths is also a part of nature and it is subject to birth and death.

In fact the changes in the body is so fast and persistent that it changes by the second, nay even millisecond so much so that the body you saw before closing your eyes is not the same when you opened your eyes. If you observe closely, you will realize that the body was not there when one was not born nor it will remain when one dies. The body travels from non existence to non existence. And ,the untruth has no existence. What else can one call the body and its extension , the nature ,except as an untruth ? All the theisms calling the body and this world real are untrue!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now , let us analyze the fundamentals of the communist doctrine. Communism is founded on the premise that ALL HUMANS are created EQUAL and it is one man's wickedness which is suppressing others. Communism also declares that the material world is true and pooh poohs all claims on the soul.

You would now know what the Sanatana Dharmic concept on the above is. According to my Dharma, every creation is unique. There is no similarity or EQUALITY either. Each organism, whether a worm, or a bird, or a man, is born according to eternal laws of karma based fully on the previous embodied birth of its self or soul or spirit.

I think this conclusion in our scriptures of 'NO EQUALITY " is bothering the comrades and they , for this very reason, are making fun of our scriptures and our saints. This statement is the one that shakes their very foundation. But these ignoramuses are forgetting the fact that communism is just an economic concept with no real grasp over life, creation or the creator. They simply focussed on material which is a transient entity which travels from non existence to non existence.

And these men based their doctrine on such a shallow concept (not even a philosophy). It made man an automaton and taught that a scientist is equal to a sweeper and the Wrestler is equal to the frail. And, horror of horrors, it justified emptying one pocket to fill another.

They could not explain why different children born to the same mother were unlike each other and did not fare equally in life. For them the material, the eternal untruth, was the truth. This is the reason why communism was chased out of Europe. According to even a modest estimate, nearly 4 million people lost their lives directly during communist rule in Europe and Russia. China is till limping with communism because they compromised on 90 % of their values !

Sanatana Dharma really does not need these foolish concepts since we had an advanced society based on Dharma and referenced by the Shastras.

But why Communism is soft on Christianity ?

On the other hand, one also wonders why the communists are soft on Christianity and even bends over backwards to accommodate it. The reason is Christianity of today shares some of Communist ideals. They both deny the supremacy of the soul over body, and believe existence is supreme. After all, Communism is the brainchild of Christians only !

In the north east states of India, where Christianity was allowed unlimited access to evangelize an innocent tribe population, it was the communists who were the beneficiaries by capturing the assembly seats. The collusion continues to this day. When Ramakrishna Math wanted to start schools in those states, they found that all the existing schools taught only upto 5 th standard to deliberately keep the population undereducated. Such is the typical Communist- Christian fears on Knowledge! If the knowledge empowered the converts, then these colluders will have nowhere to go!

Kerala is also a classic example where the communists and Christians are made for each other.

Now, you realize why the senile communist comrades hit out at all Hindu groups and Saints ? The growth of Sanatana Dharma is their death. Once the knowledge of the indestructibility and Eternality of the embodied Self reaches the common man, he will know that the purpose of life is Self realization and not self denial and self oblivion. At that point, the rout of the communism will be complete. The average communist will rue another precious birth wasted by his useless doctrine.

http://sanatanavenkat.blogspot.com
http://bharataagamas.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gita_dharshan (Gita study group)

TRUTH ALONE SHALL PREVAIL

THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUTHS

Satyameva Jayate- Truth Alone Shall Prevail. So declares Mundakopanishad. These words are on our national emblem. They affirm that truth alone will prevail. Is it a mere declaration or a spiritual truth ? Let us analyze here.

What is truth ?
We should define Satyam before proceeding further.
Truth is a statement regarding existence. We cannot make a statement on non existent objects. Then it becomes an untruth.

Gita on Truth

In Bhagavad Gita , Sri Krishna says, (2nd chapter ,16th sloka)

nAsato vidyate bhAvo , nAbhAvo vidyate sata: |
ubhayorapi drushtontas tvanayos tattvadarshibhi: ||

"That which is untrue has no existence. The truth has no non existence. The conclusion about these two has been visualized by the knowers of truth."

Now, view the statement about truth vis a vis the above sloka. It says That the untruth has no existence! The material objects belong to the prakruti or nature. The nature is an ever changing entity. The human body and it five sheaths is also a part of nature and it is subject to birth and death.

In fact the changes in the body is so fast and persistent that it changes by the second, nay even millisecond so much so that the body you saw before closing your eyes is not the same when you opened your eyes. If you observe closely, you will realize that the body was not there when one was not born nor it will remain when one dies. The body travels from non existence to non existence. And ,the untruth has no existence. What else can one call the body and its extension , the nature except as an untruth ? All the theisms calling the body real are untrue!

Then , what is the true one ? That which exists always. What is that ? It is that which does not die when the body withers and that which is not born when a body is born. It is what we call as Atman (soul or spirit in English) . The atman, is never born , never dies, and it is changeless and eternal. It occupies all matter both living and non living.It is equally true for a human , an animal, a plant and the inanimate. In short , it is for all those which are subject to change. Atman is the absolute, and the material universe exists in relation to it.

Now, let us come to statements about truth. The statement on the law of change, for example , is always true since it reflects an eternal law. Same for the laws of motion, Gravity, Relativity etc.

The discoverers of Truth
Sanatana Dharma ( Hinduism) is a collection of theisms that focus on truths, the eternal truths. The only ancient society that discovered what remained changeless when everything was changing. The processes were subjective and objective enquiries. The Rishis , who founded Sanatana Dharma were rare beings who choose seclusion and introspection instead of wealth and pleasure.

As the pleasure objects were born and dying, so were the pleasures that were associated with them also were changing from birth to death. In short, they also travelled from non existence to non existence! So our Rishis wanted to hold on to the truth- the unchanging one. And they ended up finding the changeless, the birthless, deathless , ever blissful , omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient – The Atman.
And they thundered to the whole world
“ I have known that God, who shines like like the sun transcending the darkness; it is by knowing Him alone that you can conquer death, there is no other way” – svetasvara Upanishad- 3/8

And they roared
“ hear, ye children of the deathless” (svetasvara Upanishad- 2/5)

The messengers of Untruth

So we know what are TRUTHS. We have been subject to an endless barrage of evangelists pouring untruths about creation and the creator. Apply their statements to the touchstones of Vedic wisdom and the hollowness of their statements stands out. Their concepts are the Untruth since they do not accept the Atman, the changeless. Instead, they glorify the human body, and even promise heaven with this body!


Such is their fear of death that their philosophy is afraid to talk even about it. They forget that they are preaching in a land that produced illustrious sons who found ways to conquer death and transcend birth and death. These missionaries fear death and glorify the body.

Vedas declare that death is only a transition and this knowledge is the Truth. The body is an instrument for realizing the truth.

Vedas- the fountains of Truth

Swamy Vivekananda- above

Our rishis explored the ‘Untruths’ also. They found that the untruth has no existence without the truth. Truth is the other side of Untruth. They have such a complimentary existence. Between the untruth and Truth, there exist various shades of truth. Swamy Vivekananda, the acetic extraordinaire of the last century declared “Man travels not from falsehood to Truth; But from Truth to Truth; from a lower truth to a Higher Truth”

The thought that ‘the body is a man’ is the absence of truth. The thought that ‘ the man is eternal and the body is not’ is the Highest Truth. Vedas, The scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, speak only the truth. Those that negate it have chosen the path of untruth.

Is it any wonder that the “Truth Alone Shall Prevail” ? It is a profoundly scientific, and spiritually satisfying statement.

‘Satyameva Jayate’

PRANA OR LIFE FORCE

THE FORCE OF LIFE

Lots of scriptures of Sanatana Dharma ( Hinduism) talk about Prana (or Vital Force). You may ask, what is special in it ? Many other books also talk about it. Many medical philosophers also talked about it. What’s so special about Hindu scriptures talking about Prana ?

The answer is : Hindu scriptures were the earliest to discuss this topic. We can even say that the source of all other writings about Prana are the Hindu scriptures.

Works of Sanatana Dharma talk about Prana in a complete holistic manner while the derived works used it for some specific purpose. For example the Chinese system discusses it for medical purposes. Homeopathy , perhaps was the first western system that developed a healing doctrine based on the life force.

So , what is prana ? We shall see here.

What is Prana ?

Prana is a general term used to denote the life force or Vital force in Man. The discovery of Prana dates back to the Upanishadic times, which is before Bhagavad Gita period, which places it to before more than five thousand years. It is discussed in the Mundakopanishad(3-1-9). The Gita also mentions the five pranas.

The Upanishadic masters found out that the prana is in fact flowing inside the body in the form of “Vayu” (air currents). Their further discovery was that there were slight variations in it and they sub divided Prana into ten. They are

1. prAna
2. apAna
3. samAna
4. udhAna
5. vyAna

The above five are the first five principal pranas. The below five are the next set.

6. nAga
7. krukara
8. kUrma
9. devadatta
10. dhananjaya

Srila PrabhupAda, founder Acharya of Iskcon, writes thus on these ten Pranas as they are manifest in the human body.

“...The movements of the body are first generated from the heart, and all the activities of the body are made possible by the senses, powered by the ten kinds of air within the body. The ten kinds of air are described as follows: The main air passing through the nose in breathing is called prana. The air which passes through the rectum as evacuated bodily air is called apana. The air which adjusts the foodstuff within the stomach and which sometimes sounds as belching is called samana. The air which passes through the throat and the stoppage of which constitutes suffocation is called the udana air. And the total air which circulates throughout the entire body is called the vyana air. Subtler than these five airs, there are others also. That which facilitates the opening of the eyes, mouth, etc., is called naga air. The air which increases appetite is called krukara air. The air which helps contraction is called kurma air. The air which helps relaxation by opening the mouth wide (in yawning) is called devadatta air, and the air which helps sustenance is called dhananjaya air.

All these airs are generated from the center of the heart, which is one only.”

Cosmic equivalents of Five Pranas:

The further discovery of the Vedic seers is that the first five pranas have their cosmic equivalents. Prasna Upanishad ( Atharva Veda) says (3.8)

“the sun is the reservoir of the cosmic light or Prana. He rises helping the microcosmic Prana to see objects. The goddess who presides over the Earth (Bhumi) is the cosmic Apana and she helps man by attracting the downwards the apana of the person. The space which is between the Earth and the Sun (antariksa) is the cosmic Samana, (and it helps the Samana inside man). The atmosphere or Vayu is cosmic Vyana (and helps the Vyana inside man).”
Attributes of Prana as a whole:

Prana or life force is part of ‘apara’ meaning the relative part of creation. The ‘para’ being the absolute. This can be explained in this way : When the very life or the ‘Atman’ leaves the body, the prana inside withers. Prana does not leave the body. Except the Atman, the rest form part of Prakriti, the nature.

Nature is the combination five elements controlled by the three Gunas (attributes – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) and is subject to change. The vital force also is subject to change as it is strong in youth and weak in old age. Prana inside a living being is not renewable. A person with a sound prana is healthy and vice versa.

The prana counterpart of other living beings and also the cosmic prana can affect the individual prana. Thus disease spread from one to another. A diseased prana extends its sick aura to another. Conversely, the aura of a healthy or superior Prana affects a weakened one and rejuvenate it . That is how the healing methods like Reiki, Pranic healing etc become possible. The cosmic prana also can influence the individual prana. See how winds, rains, sun rays affect one’s health.

The Hatha Yoga and Pranayama are excellent routines in stabilizing and strengthening one’s Prana. Try doing pranayama late in the night. You will be wide awake in bed that night. This is the result of excess prana which made you fresh.

Where is Prana ?

There will still be a question about the possible location of prana. Given its air current like nature, can you pinpoint its location. Well, the Vedic seers answered that too. They found that the human body is made up of five sheaths. They are

a. The outermost is the Annamaya kosa , symbolizing the material body.

b. The second inner one is Pranamaya kosa , symbolizing the sheath of vital force or prana.

c. The third inner one is Manomaya kosa, symbolizing the sheath of the thoughts, the mana

d. The fouth inner one is the Vignyana maya kosa, symbolizing, the sheath of the intellect

e. The fifth and innermost is the Ananda maya kosa, symbolizing the sheath of Bliss.

Sickness, exists from the physical sheath to the mental level affecting the respective layers individually or collectively. It was Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of Homeopathy, who first pointed out the mental and psychical aspects of diseases. In other words , he found out that many purely physical diseases like a flu, a constipation or even cancer had an accompanying mental symptom showing the depth of the affection.

Medical aspect of Prana:

Ayurveda , Siddha, Unani , Traditional Chinese Medicine and Homeopathy are the primary systems that recognized Prana and have treatments accordingly. Homeopathy, though a western system, is 100 % based on the fundamental tenet that “ when a person is sick, it is his Vital force that is deranged”. (http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html). In 1790, it was a revolutionary concept in Europe and the materialistic Allopathic school has been critical of them from then onwards. It continues even now and more vigorously.

The land that is Bharat

A typical Brahmin , when preparing to eat, says many mantras, for purification of the food and himself. Before eating , he tells , ‘prAnAya svAhA, apAnAya svAhA, samAnAya svAhA, udhAnAya svAhA, vyAnAya svAhA’ each time partaking a miniscule quantity of food and placing it deep in the tongue and swallowing it. I always wondered at the significance of this procedure. This procedure is as old as Hinduism itself. Roughly more than five thousand years !

Coming to the Brahmin’s eating ways, is it any wonder that the Brahmin remembers and honours the five fundamental pranas before eating ? Not only this, every ritual, even after some corruption over the millennia, still signify great scientific and spiritual temper. After all, they are from the land that is Bharat, that is the cradle of the greatest civilization the world has seen.

http://sanatanavenkat.blogspot.com
http://bharataagamas.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gita_dharshan (Gita study group)