Philosophy and Science

Philosophy and Science

"Is this concept scientific ?"

I have been seeing and hearing this above question ever since I started attending school. This validating has reached such a frenzy that even religious concepts are no exception. In fact, in today’s India, religion is the first thing to be questioned.

We note that it is philosophy that is questioned since it is what makes up a religion. Is this process of validation correct ? Is philosophy below science or above it ? Let us see here.

Science

What is science ? Science is the description of naturally occurring phenomena and of comparing the same with universal laws (like law of gravity, law of motion, etc)

Philosophy

Philosophy is the understanding of life, the relationship between man and the creation, finding the answers to some eternal questions like, “why am I born?” , “why am I made this way ?” “why are people not equally born ?” “ why is there so much pain in this world ?” etc and so on.

Validation:

In the eighteenth century, there arose a movement in Europe, that asked for scientific proof for everything proposed including science. The Industrial Revolution had started and people thought that they had to be scientific in whatever they did. For example, the biblical theory of creation in 4004 BC was put to severe questioning and discarded. This is on the realm of mythology. But philosophy also was put to the same test.

The most suffered concept was of God Himself. Science was throwing postulates after another in the form of Big Bang theory, nebula theory and so on and was denying the concept of a creator God. Added to this was the theory of evolution which said that every organism had the capacity to evolve and suggested the possibility of evolution from a single celled organism.

Science or Philosophy ?

The plight of the common man was understandable. He was driven to despair in knowing that the religion he dearly loved is no longer scientific. He pondered over what may be truth. I was also one of such people. My convictions steadied once I saw through the history of science.

What was consistent in the history is that there have been a spate of theories one criticizing another and superseding it. The atomic concept of Dalton is no longer valid now. Newton’s laws of motion are no longer universal since Einstein proved the theory of relativity and showed that a moving clock indeed runs slower.

What do all the above indicate ? It is, that science is still on its way to finding the secrets of creation and CANNOT be in a position to decide whether a religious concept is correct or not. In other words, science itself is in evolution towards perfection.

In the 18 th century Europe, Micael Faraday loathed the term ‘scientist’ and wanted to be called as ‘natural philosopher’. Why ? The answer is, till that time, science was considered part of philosophy. It was only after that period that the scientist started to look down upon philosophy.

The greatest drawback in scientific enquiry is that it is an utter flop in matters regarding purpose of life on earth ,the reasons for creation, and the intelligent design of life on this universe. These are BIG questions of life and till date science has never even tried to answer them.

And the tragedy was that the Christian led primitive theories were simply not able to stand the scrutiny of scientific enquiry.

Christian Philosophy and science:

Christianity, with its God in heaven theory, cut a sorry figure. Swamy Vivekananda asked, if God is in Heaven , where is it ? If it is somewhere in this Universe , then you must be suggesting that the heaven is occupying space.

Whatever occupies space is matter. Matter is subject to change. It means birth and death. So the Heaven and God must be subject to birth and death. They become limited, which is absurd.

Their satan theory was far worse. The satan meant that there was another force (and in turn energy) independent of God, thus making God limited. Anything limited is not absolute and hence God , according to the semitic theories, becomes limited.

Einstein proved that the sum total of all energies in this universe at any point of time is the same. The semitic religions never could explain what happens when a man dies. They propagate the concept that this man himself is the spirit. When the creation is one man short, what happens to this universal energy balance ? Does this energy go to God ? And their God in Heaven must be so heavy with all the souls’ energy since the time of creation !

Hindu Philosophy:

On the other hand Hinduistic philosophy answered all questions effectively. Sankara’s advaita shines like a brilliant star among the religious postulates of the world. Sankara said ‘there are no two’. It means, creation and creator are not different. The name of ‘sachhidananda’ (sat-chit-ananda) meaning existence- conciousness- bliss for God is so apt. It means there is existence for none other than this trio of existence – consciousness- bliss.

There is a Vedic Hymn which reads

Om

Purnamada: purnamidam purnAt purnamudachyate |

Purnasya purnamAdAya, purnameva avasishyate ||

(Om. That is whole. This is whole. From the whole (this) whole emerges. Even after (this) whole emerges from (that) whole, the whole alone remains.)

There is oneness only. No two. Such is the depth and subtlety of Hindu Philosophy.

Also the theory of reincarnation has fantastically explained why there will be energy balance even after death.

Science or Philosophy- which is superior ?

The God theory has one extraordinary condition. Many thinkers attained a stage from where they claim they have unravelled the secrets about themselves, God and creation in general. But without exception they all declared that that experience is beyond the human faculties of senses, mind and intellect !

But people still harp on science being the ultimate judge even in the realm of spiritual philosophy. Swamy Vivenakanda declared thus

“ When that energy from which al the energies of the universe emanate, is found, then all study in Physics will come to a close”

“When that substance is known, from which every other substance is made, Chemistry attains its completion”

“When the source of all thought is found out, psychology will see its perfection”

“When that knowledge is known, knowing which everything is known, the quest of a Gnani is fulfilled”

(the last two are mine)

That endpoint is what Hindu Philosophy calls the “Godhead” or “Realisation”. Science , with its limited tools of inquiry, can scarcely dream of such things.

So what do we conclude ? That Science is Bigger than Philosophy ? It is just the reverse. Science is just a subset of Philosophy. This gives it a due place. That is also the great Indian tradition.

Religion and Spirituality

Religion and Spirituality


Of late, one thing I see quite often see making rounds in philosophical discussions is, the mix up between the words 'spiritual' and 'religious'. Do they denote the same ? Let us analyze here. What is Spirituality ? This will be discussed in the Indian context as it was here that the first seeds of spirituality was sowed at the dawn of creation. Spirituality can be explained as a person's journey into himself in pursuit of the secrets about his own self. This has resulted in the famous discovery by the Hindu Rishis of the 'Atman' (or the Self) many many millennia ago.


They saw, through a series of subtle processes called as yogic methods, that the Self was the dweller in the sheath of body with its paraphernalia of senses, mind,and intellect. The process of inner search was called saadhnaa and the end point was called as realization. And What is Religion ? As the seeker refined and refined his search towards this realization, he saw that his own experiment can be replicated in others too. And the Rishi started teaching this to others. For this many lifestyle changes were necessary.

Also, the student needed to be put through a different routine of growth than he previously used to. Over a period of time, many such Rishis emerged in India . They all emphasized a lifestyle suitable to self realization. These set of guidelines were later famously called as religion. Religion is the practical expression of spirituality in life.
Religion and Spirituality- Is there a conflict ?

As we saw, spirituality is the terrain on which religion flourishes. The stronger the spiritual belief the stronger is the religion. The more refined the spirituality, the more refined the religion. The universal the spirituality, the universal the religion.

Where did the misunderstanding arise ?

Since time immemorial, there was only one spiritual theory and only one religion, that is of Sanatana Dharma or Arya Dharma or Vedic Dharma. They had its roots in Bharat that is India and spread its roots across the globe. Sanatana Dharma, which came to be called as Hinduism later, gave its valuable thoughts to Buddhism and Jainism. Buddhism later gave its ideals to Judaism and Christianity. Islam evolved out of Christianity and Judaism. So, there emerged many spiritual theories. The problem with emerging theories was that they confused religion with spirituality. There was no clear marking. I would even say that religion predated spirituality in the case of Christianity and Islam. They adjusted spirituality to adjust religious practices. For example, Christianity was born as a refined version of Judaism. But Judaistic religion predated them and as a result the hold of religion on matters of spirituality was great. In Al Qoran, one will see only a great deal of commands rather than descriptions of the Self. Notice that a way to a place is spirituality and religion is only a map. The rulers of those times in Israel and Europe found that spreading religion was more profitable than infusing spirituality. Thus was born the Church culture. In other words it meant every person had to be a churchist before he is christist. So religion took a front seat.

Not even that, religion was so inseparably mixed with spirituality that the Semitic religions became a mixture of these two. This can be told like this. If one is spiritual, he automatically HAS TO BE religious and vice versa. There was no escape. And the way to salvation was wholesale. Sentences like "the Church is my body" as being said by Jesus were added to the Bible.
The Indian context:

The scene in Bharat was and is totally different. The way to realization, called yoga, saw each human being as unique with his/her own ideosyncracies . Thus Hindu Rishis had come to a bold, divine, unprecedented conclusion that " The path to Realization is Individual". This is the single, most brilliant , and mind boggling aspect of Hinduism.

As each individual has the freedom to explore his inner self, the aspect of religion became optional or irrelevant. That is why you see intensely spiritual people in India, who have conquered their senses, mind and intellect who are totally devoid of any religious binding. India then became home to an enormous amount of Yogis who achieved the ultimate in their own unique ways without the bondages of religion. Kapila saw the oneness of the Self with the universe, Vyasa saw the Ultimate in Himself or rather saw himself in the Absolute, Sankara saw there was no two existences between the Absolute and the individual.

Kannappa Nayanar Saw God by his violent devotion, while the refined Appar saw him with a disciplined devotion. Even atheism is a legitimate part of Hinduism. The Indian born Nobel laureate, Sri Chandrasekar, said, "I am a Hindu atheist". In no other religion does rebels get accommodated. The reason is Hinduism is a spiritual way first. Second is it is not God centred but has God as the ultimate achievable.

The Hindu can be spiritual without being religious and vice versa. The Hindu also has a most beautiful religion, which is coloured by an endless array of cultures, distinguished by an equally endlessly different human varieties, flavoured by more than a hundred sweet languages.

The Hindu religion- will it reinvent itself ?

Since Hinduism showed such care to its individual member, and since each member continued to refine his ways to realization, Hinduism was never a rigid body of ideas. It has, over the period, shown an enormous ability to reform itself and evolve. All this was because Hinduism was born of an effort at free enquiry. For example, over two thousand years ago, Hinduism was totally different than the present one. Vedic thoughts reigned supreme. There were no temples. People worshipped the Absolute Brahman through Yagyas .

When this Vedism developed religious rigidity, great Rishis like Sankara, Maddhwa, Ramanuja, Appar, Sambandar and a host of saints gave a new way to Hinduism. When Buddhism had all but swallowed up the whole of India, Hinduism, invented itself anew. Thus was born the new Vedantic religion as envisaged by Sankara and others. Temples came up. Gita became a new beacon light in Hinduism. Hinduism, the resurgent, had such force that it absorbed Buddhism and Jainism into itself. Over the period, there have been many unwanted flab like casteism that have crept into the religion. But as usual, the Hindu diaspora will shrug it off and march on, giving the world newer directions.

J Venkatasubramanian

A TRADITION ALIVE AND KICKING

A TRADITION ALIVE AND KICKING

PUNYA BHOOMI BHARATAM

In this divine land of Bharat, everything is dedicated to the Lord. Whenever a new dress is worn, first it is kept in front of God and kumkum applied on it and then only worn. My mother and many mothers will make a small ‘Pillayar’- even in the floor paste prepared for making Chappatti and Murrukku. My wife will murmur “Krishnarpanamastu” (Dedicated to Krishna) after every dish was prepared in the Kitchen. Such is the character of this punya bhoomi.

In the same manner, music , dance, painting and all fine arts were dedicated to the Lord only. In the entire Karnatic music, you will see almost 99% of songs are on one God or another. Ditto for Bharatanatyam.

THE MOVIE SANKARABARANAM

This is the outstanding scene from the immortal movie 'Sankarabaranam'. The Thyagaraja Kriti "Broche Varevarura...." comes alive in this beautiful sequence.



When I was fourteen or fifteen years old, the Telugu movie “ Sankarabaranam” was released. The movie made such an impact that in non Telugu areas like Kerala and Tamilnadu, it ran to packed houses for months together without dubbing.

The movie resurrected an image for the traditional music of Bharat, the Karnatic music. The story itself was such that a traditionalist singer remains uncompromising till the end even at the grave prospect of poverty. He regards his art as the ultimate music that started with God and leads to God. Finally the world rediscovers him and he leaves to the world another talent that will carry forward his tradition.

ONSLAUGHT OF TECHNOLOGY

But, I was a bit unnerved at the onslaught of modern technology on every aspect of music. And I feared it will impinge on traditional music too. With many youngsters moving onto the soulless western music and the new generation Indian light music , the danger to traditional music was real.

Recently I watched in youtube, some videos during my search for songs to help train my son in his classical music classes. These videos left me stunned. These videos were of small kids of age 9, 10 and 16 singing like accomplished Vidwans.

Erode Anantaraman, a ten year old sweet kid, with his ‘Pibare Ramarasam” "பிபரே ராம ரசம்..."


Abhilash, aged nine , with his majestic ‘Ananda Nadamaduvar…” " ஆனந்த நடமாடுவார் தில்லை ......."


The 16 year old, Kashyap Mahesh, in a sublime voice, with his “Kaithala Niraikani..” "கைத்தல நிறை கனி ....."


I am now a much reassured man. I know that traditional music is in the hands of some prodigal talents. The level of performance of these kids are beyond description and is simply divine as is our very tradition.


PLEASE SAVE OUR ARTS:

I request every reader of this blog to make efforts to patronize our fine arts. We should let our children learn at least one art form and keep the chain of ancient arts alive. This will also help feed poor artists who will have enough to make ends meet. The whole world will be a better place when our peaceful, divine arts remain supreme.

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
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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