Atman vs. Paramathman vs. Brahman

Disclaimer: The views I have presented here has nothing to with Swami Sandeep Chaithanya or School Of Bhagavad Gita. They are my own views, interpretations and understanding but of course inspired by his discourse and writings. For whatever little I know about Gita and Vedas I am deeply indebted to him.

What follows was not part of the Gita discourse, but some information I have gathered from some other books.

So, we have been discussing about ourselves and that we are not what we are. It is clear from the common statements like “My Body”, “My Mind”, “My Brain” etc. It is exactly like saying “My Car” and what does this mean. The car is a different entity from me hence I say “My Car”. So since we say “My Body” or “My Mind”, it can be understood that I am different from this body or mind and hence to say I am not what I physically am is very apt.

Before we go further into Gita and its messages let us try to know more about ourselves and what Vedas have got to tell about the same. What we plan to discuss here are called the chaturvakyas (four statements) or mahavakyas in Vedas and they very well sum up the idea. Deeply indebted to the book “Hinduism – Frequently Asked Questions” by Chinmaya Mission for setting this very clear.

The chaturvakyas are in form a conversation between a disciple and his Guru and also the self declaration of the disciple.

The first vakya is “Prajnanam brahmanam” - Here the guru explains to the disciple that your “Consciousness itself is Brahman”. Our consciousness makes us do all our actions but itself does not do anything. It is aware of all actions but still does not do anything by itself. It is omnipotent and thus exists everywhere.It is the same Spiritual Core in all beings and things. This verse is taken from Aitareya Upanishad, Rig Veda. This is lakshana vakya - Statement of Definition

The second vakya is “Tatwamasi” – Here the guru says “That Thou Art” or “That Brahman is you”. This statment clarfies the doubt of the student and reinstates that "That Brahman is you". This also pushes the idea that the student is not merely the physical body that he thinks he is and thus his powers are unlimited. This also triggers the step of Self-enquiry as Guru says that Brahman is within you and yourself only. So you need not look for him outside as He is in you only. In fact, He is not either inside or outside but everywhere. I hope this vakya most of us has come across when ever we have seen an Ayappa Temple. Tatwamasi is the slogan that catches your eye when you climb the 18 steps at Sabarimala. Tatwamasi proclaims that each individual (though we cannot call it Individual after realizing the oneness, individual here refers to the bodily individual) is the same and one Brahman. We have heard of the song which goes as "swami thinthakathom, ayappa thinthakathom". Though now it is a rhyming lyrics that makes our feet tap but the real lyrics was "swami nintakatu OM, ayappa nintakathu OM". how wonderfully have our people twisted the lyrics and go the entire philosophical greatness go upside down. "swami nintakatu OM, ayappa nintakathu OM" - where one devotee (all devotees call each other swami, not by names which is a wonderful thought that all are swami or God or Brahman) calls other and says "it is OM that is in you" and that devotee replies "Ayappa it is the same OM in you too". This is one reason I always love to go to Sabarimala because there is no divide of caste or religion there. Any person practising any religion can go there. Perhaps, the only temple were you find Ayappa and his muslim friend Vaavar being worshipped - Tatwamasi. This verse is taken from Chhandogya Upanishad of Sama Veda. This is upadesha vakya - Statement of Instruction.

The thrid vakya is "Aham Brahma Asmi" - Here the student through Dhyana or meditation realizes that he himself is the Brahman. He frees himself from the burden of the thought that he is different from the Brahman and finds oneness with Him. The Atman and Paramatman are the same.This verse is taken from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of Yajur Veda. This is anubhava vakya - Statement of Experience.

The fourth vakya is "Ayam Atma Brahma" - The guru then tells the student to revel in Self as "This Self is the Brahman". Though these verses seems to be overlapping and hence may rise doubts in our minds, we need to understand all this tries to achieve the same and hence cannot be different at core. This verse is taken from Mandukya Upanishad of Atharva Veda and is called anusandhana vakya - Statement of Constant Practice

To summarize these vakyas,

1. Prajnanam Brahma - Lakshana vakya - Conciousness is Brahman

2. Tat Tvam Asi - Upadesha vakya - That Thou Art

3. Aham Brahma Asmi - Anubhava vakya - I am Brahman

4. Ayam Atma Brahma - Anusandhana vakya - This Self is Brahman

So our Vedas hit at the roots of the thoughts that man is different from others or even non-living objects. The Brahman is the same in all and we are that Brahman only. As explained in a previous post, we are not the physical body but Atman and Atman is nothing but Paramatman.

When we say Brahman here it does not refer to Braahman - one of the varnas is Chatur varnas. We will go more into details of these varnas when we discuss the Karma yoga chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

Grief and Love - A Selfish Showoff

Shri Bhagavan uvacha
Ashochyaananvashochastvam
Pragnavaadamscha bhaashase
Gathasoonagathasoomscha
Naanushochanthi panditaah

Meaning: You are lamenting about someone who need not be lamented upon. And then you speak like a wise man as well. Learned people do not mourn over either living or dead

Nah thvayvaaham jaathu naasam
Nah thvam nay may janadipah
Na chaiva na bhavishyamah
Sarvey vayamataha param

Meaning: There never has been a time when I have not existed, you have not existed, and these kings have not existed. There shall never be a time in future as well, when we all do not exist.


Na jayate mriyathay va kadachith
Naayam bhootvahbavitah van a booyaha
Ajo nithyaha shaasvathoyam puraano
Nah hanyathay hanyamaanay shareeray

Meaning: Atman has never taken birth nor has it ever died. Never has it perished nor regenerated. It has always existed from time unknown and does not die when the body is killed.

Jaathasya hi dhruvo mrithyur
Dhruvam janma mrithasya cha
Thasmadparihareyarthay
Na tvam shochithumarhasi

Meaning: Death is sure for all that has taken birth. And rebirth is sure for all that has died. So you have no rights to lament upon something that you cannot change.

This has been a longer run with verses unlike previous posts where we went one by one. But this was done as I felt all these verses read together would make more sense. Let us try to analyze the same

In fact these sentences are self explanatory and hence needs very less analysis. The underlining statement is we are not what we physically “are”. Basically we are not what we call each other by names. We are actually the Atman - Atman, which never dies.

Bhagavan in the first verse mentioned in the post states that grief of losing beloved ones or things and intelligence cannot co-exist. We feel sad either on loss or on fear of loss of our life or our beloved ones. But then that grief does not have any base, once we realize that our beloved ones have not died and have in fact just changed their bodies just like we change our soiled or torn down dress. This is again a comparison beyond compare. So a learned person never falls indefinitely sad over the death or loss of the beloved.

It is to be understood that there never has been a time we never existed. So we are not we the physical body that we have taken shelter temporarily but the Atman. And one thing is for sure, those that have taken birth shall surely die – the one that takes birth is this body as Atman has always been there; it has never died so there raises no question of it taking birth again.

Then do not we have right to fall sad or cry when our beloved departs? Even Swami Vivekananda cried our loud when his beloved friend died. But when his disciple queried, he said “It is just a reaction of my senses it is bound to happen”. But we should not allow it take over our brains or thoughts and spoil this wonderful life. As a fact, most of the sadness that we show is just show off. We feel our love for someone at its maximum when we feel we are losing them, right? But on thinking deeply, is this love not selfish. We mourn because we may not be able to see them or love them anymore. How many times would we have wept thinking that those who left us would miss us or will not be able to be with us anymore? No, it is not the same.

Many times it would have happened to us that we start hating or at least stop loving a person who was once our best friend or whom we loved very much (could be our relative as well) just because they do not reciprocate the same any more. So was not our love to them conditional? We hear people saying “I would not be able to live without you for even a moment” and the same people living happily ever after separation.

Earlier I was mentioning that the sadness that we show is more or less a show off. How many of us would have actually regularly called and spoke to the family in which a death has happened before the event and how many of us do the same, say after a month or so. Then what was all that we showed off during the ceremony. I know I may be sounding too practical or even cruel. But I myself have felt this many times. Many times after I have cried, and later questioned myself. I know I am not able to put what I want to communicate in the right words, but I hope I might have ignited a spark or two in the reader’s minds.

Our mind is very much conditioned. We actually cry because we are expected to cry. We walk into a house where somebody has died and we find the in mates roaming around, welcoming guests and speaking to all without carrying a sad face, our immediate comment would be “Oh!! They are not at all sad in the demise of that person” or “It seems they were waiting for him to die”. So our society has set some unwritten rules which lies deep beneath in our minds and comes up as time arises.

Many times we see people who have well controlled themselves after initial outburst suddenly show a sad face accompanied with saddest of dialogues on seeing somebody who has come to pay homage. Till that time he or she was OK but then suddenly what happened? The most humorous scene is like say after a month or two; somebody walks in who was not able to see us during the death ceremonies. People who were till that moment laughing, watching TV or Cinema, show up with a sad face.

We have a habit of keeping us reminded of all good moments and then make ourselves sad. We believe we have no right to laugh, speak loud, be happy or even smile, if someone near has died. We can even see people scolding young children, who are totally unaware and telling them “you are not supposed to laugh or play when someone has died.” We can hear people saying especially women “see her husband is dead and still she wears bindhi, wears silk saree etc”.

Dears, I know there are exceptions and may be my examples too are a bit over board. But I hope I have been able to communicate what I intended to.

I am not saying we should not be sad and that we should never miss or remember people. But yes there is a limit to it. In fact, I adore the South Indian clan who take out the dead to cemetery in a procession, like a celebration with musical band and dance. It actually celebrates death. Death is nothing to mourn but a natural progression of the Atman. And if we really take this message to heart, next time we will not leave our senses out of control and our brains shall definitely rein them in.

Earlier, I said Love is selfish but let me add only one relation that I have found as an exception to this is love of parents to their children. With exceptions, the love of children back to their parents is also conditional and driven by selfish motives. Else we will not see parents complaining after marriage of their kids, or we may not even see so many Old Age Homes coming up. Just doing a flash back to our story as in movies, just see how much pains they have taken to bring us up to this stage. When we were not capable to so anything for ourselves, how much pains they would have taken to give us everything we need even without us asking for the same. How many times our parents would have cleaned our excretions? And today we cannot stand to listen to their advices. “Mom, there is a huge generation gap. You never know what we need”. Yes, there needs to be a change in approaches here and there but then are we doing right? We cannot wait to hear our parents say something more than once, the third time we say “come on, enough is enough. How many times would you tell the same thing? I am sick of it”. But they never fell sick hearing us cry in our babyhood, cleaning our excretions or whatever it may be. And even today however we may treat them; they would be the only ones and only ones who would be there for our aid when we would be in some trouble. Yes, they can be wrong but then there is a way to correct them as well. We can always tell them “with due respect, I disagree to your point of view.” But no, we straight away shout on their faces.

Ok coming back to the verses, we can summarize it as: We are not what we look we are. We are nothing but Atman and this Atman is never destroyable. This Atman is nothing but the Param Athman, the Para Brahmam. And this is well said as Aham Brahma Asmi meaning “I am Brahman”

How I killed a cow

It so happened while I was returning from the Gita Discourse by Swamiji, I saw this cow lying on its sides, near the railway track. First I thought it could be rubbing its sides but then I saw it moving only its legs. I kept moving forward but something held me back. I took a U-turn and went besides it and waited near it, still on my two-wheeler. I hoped someone else to come so that we could together do the needful, but no one turned up. Many of them gave it a glance and walked away. Confused and feeling helpless I too turned back and left for home.

While riding my bike, I thought if only I could get number of any Animal Welfare organization, I can pass on this information. I reached home and then there are no marks for any right guesses. I “Google”-ed. I got a few numbers and saw two of them close by, with little knowledge of Bangalore that I have. The first one I tried was one Ramakrishna Goashram and since Goashram was meant for cows only I thought it should click. But no one picked the call.

The next number was of CUPA, but the number given on the site was wrong. I tried all 2 to 3 numbers given there but all failed. But then I saw something on a site which hinted me that I should try the same number but this time after prefixing it with a “2”. And to my surprise it worked. These are times when you feel the presence of HIM. And exactly this is what he said in Gita “sambhawaami yugay yugay” – he would take incarnations in our mind as and when so required.

But then no one responded to the first number and a lady picked the call when I tried the second number.

“Hi, is it CUPA office”

“No, this is a residence”

“I found this number on one of the websites”

“This is not CUPA office but a residence. I am a CUPA volunteer and you can tell me”

“I found a cow lying on roadside near to the railway track and since I could not find any help from anyone, searched the Internet and got your number”

“Ok, what has happened to it?”

“I don’t know might be it is hit by the train or any other vehicle. If it was hit by train probably it should have breath it’s last by now so may be it has some other issue”

“See, we have received another call from Koramangala, is it the same cow?”

“I do not think so as this incident is near Indiranagar, to be more precise near Bayapanahalli West Railway Cabin”

“Ok, what’s your good name?”

“I am Venki here”

“See Venki, we have only one ambulance to pick injured animals and that is now somewhere in Koramangala. It is a pregnant cow which has got its forelegs fractured. So only once it returns and then, you see, if it has not died then we can immediately attend your case. So may be in the morning at about 6:30 – 7:00 you can go there, check and let us know if the cow is still alive and then give me a call back”

“6:30 – 7:00? Now the time is 8:30 in the night and you mean to say the cow would survive the 11 to 12 hours of pain. I do not think so, it should die by then.”

“But what to do Venki, there are so many cases like this in Bangalore and Bangalore is a very big place to cover. We receive many incidents like this but then since we have limited infrastructure, you know, we may not be able to attend all cases.”

“But then…”

“Ok you do one thing. I will give you a number. It is the number of the reception of CUPA. You can speak to one Mr. Anil there and apprise him of the situation. Let us see what he has got to say and then we will proceed further. Give me a ring back and let me know what he has got to say”. There was an air of commanding in her voice but then I decided to keep that aside and work towards our common goal.

I rang the number she gave me.

“Hello, CUPA”

“Hi, I am Venki here and I would like to report about a cow which has been badly hit it seems.”

“Is it in Koramangala? Then our people are already there?”

“No, it is not in Koramangala. It is near Bayapanahalli West Railway Cabin”

“What happened?”

“I really do not know. I saw it lying there and then rang you guys up for help”

“Is the owner of the cow there?”

“I do not know. I saw it, waited for some help, no one came and then I called you guys.”

“Ok Sir, we will call you back in five minutes”

I called up that lady and informed her about the same.

“Venki, please do give me a call and update the status when Anil calls you back”

“Ok”, I confirmed.

Anil called me up in 10 minutes

“Sir, we can go and pick the cow in another 30 mins. Can you please tell me the exact location?”

I was not aware by what name the road is called or even the place’s name. But I made an attempt by explaining the route I normally take

“See, when you come from Indiranagar 100 ft road and take a right you are in Old Madres Road, right? A few meters and then we can see a turn to the left, before we reach the turn to the 80 ft. road.”

“Yes Sir”

“And then you would see a railway cross. You should not cross it but take the left road which goes parallel to the track and then about half-a-kilometer ahead you would see another railway cross and the cow is lying there.”

“Sir, I am not much aware of that location”

“Ok, if you guys can come till Banaswadi Railway Station I can take you guys to that location”

“That would be nice sir. I will call you once the driver comes”

I called up that lady and updated her. She was happy

“See Venki, now you should think about becoming a volunteer of CUPA”

“Hey!! See, I do not want to make any commitment and then go back on it. I came across a situation and called you up guys.”

“No Venki, there are so many cases like this in Bangalore. And we have very less local support or volunteer to help these poor animals.”

“I understand and would always be happy to help you. But before I commit, let us meet up in your office sometime and then we will decide”


“Ok.”

“Ok, I shall update you once the driver calls me”

“Thanks Venki”

I waited for sometime but there was no call. I was about to have my dinner when I got a call from CUPA office.

“Sir, it is about that hit cow issue. I am the driver speaking, where is the location”

I told him the route again but this guy knew the place very well and was also supporting me with the place name and road name. The road is supposed to be Jeevana Halli main road.

“Since you know the location, I think you can go on your own and pick the cow. But in case you face any difficulty in locating the cow, please call me. I shall come and show it to you.”

“Ok Sir.”

I thought all has ended well. But about an hour later I got a call

“Sir, we spotted the cow but the owner is not allowing taking it”

I was surprised. I never thought such an issue would arise and I was even more surprised what I could do in this matter when the owner himself is disagreeing. And here begins my personal degradation

“See, I have never been in such situation before and do not know what needs to be done. You can probably speak to your managers, get them involved and solve the issue”

“Ok sir, I shall call you back”

I called that lady and told her what happened

“See Venki, the owner wants the cow to die so that he can sell it for meat at ShivajiNagar or so. Can you go there and tell them that we have come with police aid and that the owner would be in trouble if he does not co-operate. Also I do not know kannada. If you could go and tell the owner”

“Even I do not know kannada, and frankly I have never been into this before. It would be nice if yourself or your managers can go there and take control of the situation”

She was furious

“Ok, so you do not want to go”

“No” I said in a lower tone filled with guilt

“Ok then, let me see what I can do else we have no option but to let the cow die”

“But please do update me the status, if possible”

“No Venki, it is not possible. We get numerous calls like this daily and then it is not possible to call each back and update the status. If you want you can call CUPA office tomorrow and ask for yourself”

“Thanks”

“Thanks and bye”

Frankly, I was really disturbed by this. I should have made one more attempt to help that cow but then something stopped me. I would not list any of the reasons that has happened in the background for all of them would be a mere excuse compared to the life of a poor creature.

I went to bed with my heart full of shame and guilt

Next morning, I called up CUPA and asked.

“Sir that owner did not let us take the cow and it seems it died”

It died or not, I died that moment. I have killed a cow!!! Hopefully next time I get a chance, I do not end up going to bed with shame and guilt.

I salute the selfless service given by CUPA for this cause. In this world, when man kills man and does not care for him, here are a lot of people who at 10 in the night go to pick an injured cow and help it recover. Hats Off!!! And let God Bless!!!

For those who would like to call up CUPA and help them in helping these poor animals; their number in Bangalore is 080-22947301.

Radha Sankalpa - Body and Chariot

Before adding more about the subject, let me add something about the war itself. The war as already stated is a war in our minds not on the battlefield. But for a minute let us think about Mahabharata war as something on battlefield itself and analyze who is fighting whom. Is it not brothers fighting brothers? Even if we say Kauravas and Pandavas many not be born of same parents but is not there a person fighting for Kauravas who is the eldest brother of Pandavas. I had touched upon this in my blog on Apr 16.

At the end of the war when Kunti asks Pandavas to do post-death rituals for Karna and that Karna was their elder brother, they are shocked and even go up to level of cursing Kunti. There they say had you told us before this war would not have happened.

Now let us see the bigger picture. Though today we see brothers and sisters fighting each other, a true realization that the person being affected also came from my mother’s womb would definitely stop us from fighting. It is the Dritharashtra in us that makes us fight with our brothers and sisters – the maya that forces us not to see the truth behind the veil. Now let us think about our neighbor or anyone for that matter – are we all not sons and daughters of that great God. If we can overpower our feeling of selfishness cannot we consider them as our brothers and sisters? And once we do that will not the war within us cease to exist. As all wars and conflicts are first formed in mind before they actually happen. That we had seen in case when Draupadi insulted Duryodhana (blog of Apr 16). The bad feeling that Duryodhana developed there culminated in the Kurukshetra war.

Now back to warfront. After coming back to their chariots, Arjuna asks Krishna his charioteer to take the chariot and park it in middle of the two armies.

He says let me see for once all those who have come desiring a war and Krishna obliges. And then standing there Arjuna sees people of age of his great grandfather, grandfather, father, son, grandson and great grandson. It may be remembered that at fag end of the “Ajnathavasa” Arjuna himself had fought with and defeated all these Maharadhis, all alone, that too not revealing himself.

More than what he physically sees, this more of introspection. He feels he is fighting his own people; the impact of this is going to be on even two generations to come. This is a great enlightenment, a very noble thought.

The war that Krishna asks Arjuna to fight is never the physical war with Kauravas but is his war within. Krishna has never asked Arjuna to fight with Kauravas. A political blood shedding war is never preached and can never be preached by Him. It is our misunderstanding that makes us think so.

This could mean before we actually pick up any fight, it is also good to think for once whom are we fighting against – are they not our own people. No, we are not speaking of any kind of attachment here; but a quick thinking as to what and who benefits out of a war. Now, after speaking of Kurkshetra war as a symbolic war of the good and evil within us, it also may be asking us to take stock of all the evils that we have accumulated over a period of time, to know what we are going to fight against. And then there are all chances that we may feel there is no point in living on this earth after sacrificing all those evils (which we consider are essential to our living) and that going to beg is much better than that, exactly as Arjuna felt and communicated to Krishna in following verses

arjuna uvacha

nihathya dhartharaashtran nah

ka preeti syaajanardhana

papamevaashreadasman

hathvai thanathaayina

(hey Janardhana, what happiness do we get by killing sons of dritharashtra? Even by killing this dushta we would be doing nothing but sin)

Arjuna keeps his bow and arrow down telling he cannot fight them. Before we continue there is one more big point to be discussed here which is the Radha Kalpana.

It can be noted that Arjuna himself did not walk down to the centre of the area where two armies were standing but being owner of the chariot asked Krishna his charioteer to take the chariot to the centre. It is said in Kadopanishad that human body is like a chariot and the same has been brilliantly illustrated by Ved Vyasa. The Upanishad says:

Aathman radhin vidhvi, shareeram rathamevacha

budhvim tu sarathim vidhvi, manaha prigahameva cha

indriyani hayaanyahu vishayamstheshu ghorochan

Aatmendriya manoyuvantham bhothethyahurmaneeshin

Which means: - the body is a chariot whose owner is the Atman, the horses are the Indriyas or senses, the reins represent the mind and the charioteer is our brain - a comparison beyond comparisons. Now let us analyze the same. It is the charioteer who guides the horses using the reins to take the owner to the destination that he needs to go to. Similarly in this world it depends on how well we control our senses. The four horses above also indicate the senses we have - eyes, ears, nose and skin (tongue is counted with skin). These senses always create a thrive in us to behave in certain ways. But then on what does our behaviour depend? How we use our mind or heart to react to that situation. If we leave things to our mind only (when we say mind only it means we react without thinking without using our brains) we are sure to be carried away in most of the cases. It would be like a chariot (body) without charioteer (brains) moving without any direction and control. But then if we control this reins (mind) with our charioteer (brains) then we are sure to take the horses (senses) to the place that the owner (atma) wants to move. So Atman can be taken to its destination only when the brain controls our senses using our mind. This is the Radha Sankalpa.

More of Gita in next

Who is dritharashtra - none but you and me

Before I begin this blog, I would like to touch upon a remark made in my previous blog. Regarding the joining of Yuyutsu with Pandavas I had observed - "we also find that in the task of overpowering the evil in us, the easiest should be to overcome the tendency to pick a fight". Readers may please understand it was my own interpretation and not Swamiji's words. But on further thinking, I felt it could be considered as follows: We should use our spirit to fight, not to fight against the right but against the evil or the wrong. Some people prefer to use the word incorrect rather than wrong which too is a polite way of putting it. Needs to practice on that for time being, so I continue writing the way it naturally comes to me now.

It is said the purpose of a "grantha" is understood by reading the first and last word of it. For example in case of Gita, the first word is "Dharma" and last word is "mama" which read together is "mama dharma" meaning "My Dharma". So Bhagavad Gita tries to explain "The Dharma" that we need to follow.

The first sloka of Bhagavad Gita is

"Dritharashtra Uvacha

Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra
Samavetha Yuyutsuvha
Mamakah Paandavaaschai
Kimkurvatha Sanjaya"

Literally translates into - Dhritharashtra asks

Hey Sanjaya, what are my sons and Pandavaas, who have come with desire to battle, doing in Dhramkshetra or Kurukshetra

So how is this Dritharashtra like you and me? It comes from a similarity in our thoughts, the thoughts which makes us feel that things, events, people are mine or somebody Else's'. It is these thoughts that is the seed for all our miseries and these miseries are not less than a war within us. This sense of attachment we have makes us possessive when we lose or tend to lose or fear to lose something. This sense of attachment is so pervasive that we bind ourselves to a thing as small as pen or a pin. "It is mine" we usually tend to say. "My father, my mother, my siblings, my house, my car" and so on. And how many times would we have cried, forget crying atleast really really felt bad when someone Else's father died, mother died, sibling died or a house was shattered into pieces in an earthquake or we saw a car on the road totally battered after an accident. But when it happens to us..yes we react. Even Lord Buddha had said the same..desires leads to miseries.

In yet another incident, Dritharashtra himself says to his father Ved Vyasa "Father, I know all that you know. I know what is Dharma and what is Adharma. I know how they are different as well. But still this selfishness of mine and selfish world makes me think for those who are mine.

So this is another beautiful symbolism we see in this epic story. Dritharashtra's blindness represents the blindness that we have accepted. With all knowledge that we have and is required, we still tend to behave like fools. We are selfish. We distinguish between those that is ours and those that are not , forgetting we walked in alone and will also go alone from this earth. We turn our eyes away from the truth because that suits our situation more but at same time lament somebody doing it crying out loud that it is wrong.

We fail to do our duty but blame others for not doing it. We never vote for an election but we blame the leaders. We always spit on roads but we curse those who spit from bus when we are walking on roadside. We always put garbage on roadside though there is a bin nearby, or on railway tracks, in a cinema hall but blame authorities not for cleaning it. When it comes to our parents, our kids, our siblings we tend to be selfish. Then we may bribe people, we may break rules but when the same is done by others we cry foul.

So our brain is blinded by the veils of attachment, selfishness, unnecessary lamenting on those that need not be lamented upon. It is this sense of attachment, Gita primarily targets. It encourages to do our duty without attachment.

So who does Dritharashtra represent - none but you and me. It is advisable every day before we go to sleep, to think - what did I do today that was like Dritharashtra - did I turn a blind eye to some truth, did I cheat someone, did I lie to someone, was I selfish, did I show any favouritism. It is the removal of this Dritharashtra from us that this Dharma Yudha is all about

Kurukshetra - not a political war but a war within ourselves

Yesterday happened to be the first day of 10-days Gita Jnana Yagna by Swami Sandeep Chaithanya. Contrary to my expectations, Swamiji arrived in time. After some really good inspiring inauguration speeches, the proceedings stated. Of the inauguration speeches, what attracted me was speech by Mr. Alexander. He himself said that we may wonder what a Christian would be doing in a Gita discourse, but he rightly justified his presence aptly quoting verses in Sanskrit from various scriptures. No, it never seemed a mugged up speech at any point of time. He really had a point; not only he but all speakers when they said Gita helps you to look into yourself, cleanse yourself and channel your life to moksha. They were also right when they said Gita never asks you to abandon your samsarik life but live it with a sense of detachment; i.e. to be a sanyasi, to attain moksha you need not be a bachelor, you need not wear saffron – all you need is a to live with love but also with a sense of detachment

I was really thrilled to see Swaniji in person, the same person whose discourses I heard on Doordarshan and was inspired to read Gita. His style is something unique and engrossing – taking instances from our day to day life and through various stories – he is a champion speaker.

To recollect what Swamiji said yesterday:

The Bhagavad Gita is not an independent work of literature but is part of the epic Mahabharata written by Ved Vyasa, and then locus of the story is the war and more importantly The Gita. This war is not a mere political war between two families to get hold of the land that they are rightly entitled to, but is a symbolic representation of the war within us. Yes it is a war between the right and the wrong and hence is a war within us as well – to tread the path of righteousness or wrong. Very aptly, Ved Vyasa has plotted the entire war in Kurukshetram (kshetram meaning body).

The war is narrated through Sanjaya. Sanjaya after seeing 10 days war comes and tells the proceedings to Dritharashtra. In a never precedent way and in a way that would never be seen in future, once the armies were arranged on either side, Yudishtir, the eldest of Pandavas, walks down to the side of Kauravas taking all there by surprise. All his younger brothers – Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva ask him the reason but he keeps walking. They turn to Krishna, but the Lord asks them to wait and watch. Yudishtir walks literally into enemy camp with no arms, totally sanitized.

Yudishtir first walks upto Beeshma, the great grandfather (not exactly a grandfather, but yes of course by age) of the Kuru dynasty. He bows before him and Beeshma says, “I would have cursed you, had not you come to me”. After blessing his great grandson, Yudishtir asks him, “Kindly tell me how we can kill you?” Beeshma replies “It is not possible for anyone else to kill me. Only I can decide when I want to die. So it is futile to think about that”. Then he walks towards Dronacharya, his Guru. Does the same exercise there and gets the same reply as well. On further insistence, he gets a reply “If you bring me to a situation where I would not fight anymore, I would put my arms down, and then you can kill me”. The great guru has disclosed the secret and this is one allegation we make against Krishna. We say Krishna asked to mask the death of an elephant “Ashwathama” as Drona’s son’s death who also happened to be called as Ashwathama so that Drona would put his arms down and Pandavas can kill him. More light on this episode shall come from Swamiji himself, I believe.

In between, Krishna walks upto Karna.

It may be remembered that Krishna had met Karna on his way back from the “peace” talk at Hastinapura court. Krishna knew that Karna was Kunti’s first son and hence Pandavas elder brother. Krishna had asked Karna to join the Pandavas and wage war against Kauravas, but Karna insisted to fight for Duryodhana in name of friendship. Karna should also have known that for the righteous to win, the war was essential and if Pandavas know that Karna was their elder brother the war would never have happened. Same should be the case with Krishna as well, else why he never disclosed the same to Pandavas?

At the warfront, Krishna asks Karna “Heard that you would not fight till Beeshma leads the army, then why don’t you fight from Pandavas side till Beeshma falls?” but the reply was the same.

By this time, Yudishtir comes back visiting all elders and announces “If there is anyone among Kauravas who would like to join us and fight Kauravas, they are welcome” – an invitation targeting Yuyutsu – who in their childhood had tipped that Bheema was poisoned and dumped into river by his elder brother, Duryodhana.

Analyzing the story till here, Pandavas represent the righteousness in us and Kauravas the wrongs. And life is nothing but a big war of this righteousness against the evil with in us. Thinking more into this, we also find that in the task of overpowering the evil in us, the easiest should be to overcome the tendency to pick a fight, from the incident where Yuyutsu (meaning “Yudh keliye yutsukh” or “charged upto fight”) joins the Pandavas. Futher thinking into this, the seed for the war in us is nothing but us. How? Let us analyze the seed for the Mahabharata war.

Mahabharata war’s seeds were sown when Duryodhana visits the palace at Indraprastha (built for Pandavas by Mayan after buring down Kandavaprastha, place given to Pandavas by Dritharashtra). The palace was nothing but a showoff by Pandavas. It was a place where exactly your indriyas could be fooled – where it seemed was a pool of water it was actually land and where it seemed land was actually water. And Duryodhana fell into a pool of water when he stepped into it thinking it is land. And Draupadi, the queen of Indraprastha, who should have actually lent a helping hand to Duryodhana (“aditi dhevo bava”, moreover he was elder to her and also elder to Pandavas even) , laughs at his plight and cries out loud “Son of a blind mad (Dritharashtra) is blind as well”. It is said that when Duryodhana fell even his dress got loosened and he was semi-nude. This actually triggers the anger in Duryodhana and he pledges to do same to Draupadi and rest is history.

So basically what led to war is the ill feeling of Druapadi, the way she behaved to Duryodana. It might be noted he is called as Suyodhana as well and may be it was at this moment that Suyodhana became Duryodhana. I will add more to this later, now stopping for lack of time

Convert to Christianity !!! Embrace Jesus !!!

Yes..this was what those two strange young gentlemen had to tell me when I met them on road. Revisiting the incidents as it happened..I had just reached home after attending the CRY meeting when my dad asked me if I could go to the post office to open a Savings Account. I don't know why but today I decided to go walking instead of taking my bike - post office being just 5 minutes walk from my home. After sending about half an hour there for a five minutes job; thanks to the eternal "taking for granted" service of the public sector enterprise, I was returning home. Two young guys probably of my age walked up to me and asked

"Are you interested for free screening of a movie"

Surprise !!! They handed over a pamphlet to me, a glance at it and I was sure it was a Christian movie and I asked them

"Where is it being screened?"

They told me some place near COX town junction but I politely declined stating that I have exams tomorrow and that I would like to prepare for the same. When I thought all ended there, one of the guy asked my name. I introduced myself and shook hands with both of them. One name struck me, he said

"I am Rahul".

Agenda was clear - Conversion. The other lad whose name I cannot recollect asked me

"Have you ever lied?".
"Yes".
"Have you ever stolen things ?".
"Yes"

I replied affirmatively considering the little stealing which I did in childhood - biscuits, chocolates hiding from the eagle eyes of parents and even the incident when I took few audio cassettes without telling anybody at home to share with my friends. He interrupted my flashback with the next

"Ever shown lust for women?"
"No"

I could see the disappointment in his eyes, he lost a very valid point to argue. But he continued.

"What would you be if you die today?"
"I would die as a very happy person."
"No my question was what after this life?"
"I would take another birth as when I die only this body dies,perishes and I am not this body"
"Will you go to Heaven or Hell"
"Brother, heaven or hell is on this earth only. It is how we make out of it?"
With a trace of disappointment in his face, he asked
"Don't you think this lying stealing etc are sins ?"
"Yes".

Yes they are however small, insignificant, inconsequential. Pat came his question

"How do you think you can compensate for these sins"..

"These small sins I did long before and since then I have done a lot of charity and good deeds, definitely not to compensate for the sins but yes I believe I have done and will continue doing".

"That notion is wrong. To believe that you can undo your sins in the past by your deeds in the present is wrong."

How correct? I thought. Many times this happens to us. we do think so. It is primarily because we sin and we ourselves pass the judgement and decide what needs to be done.

"God does not measure our sins the way we do and there is only one way to redeem yourself; it is with the Blood Of Jesus. It is said in Bible too. "

All this time Rahul was silent. Just looking at each of us while we were talking as if watching a tennis match.

"I disagree. I too believe in Jesus but I believe in Krishna and Allah in the same way and I think each religion tries to achieve the same though paths are different."

"See" he tried to explain. "All this are delusions created by people. There in only one God and that is Jesus. Only he is the Saviour. He took birth on this earth as a human being only to be crucified for mistakes done by all others and it is said in Bible that only by accepting this blood that He shed and taking refugee with him that one can compensate for all his sins. Only God can undo sins done by man and not man himself and it is said in Bible only holy blood can wash away the sins. You can have a peaceful mind only if you submit yourself to Jesus"

"Friend, I agree. God and only God can set off our crimes, it is only he who can forgive us. But to say that if only I accept Jesus and only Jesus and that Jesus alone is God is a mistake to which I cannot agree"

Here, Rahul started

"Let me please share my experience. I am Rahul Anantharaman. I was a hindu, in fact a hindu brahmin. I was never happy. I always had complaints with myself, with system. I used to be part of all rituals, whatever my parents said. But I always used to shout at them. Though I had many 'friends' I was always lonely. I was jealous, envious and angry. I had my schooling in a Christian school and even my plus two. But all this time I has never thought of Christ; in fact not even about sins I was doing. But all this changed when I met a guy during my college days. He was so happy, so contended with himself and life. I asked him and he replied that he too was like me only earlier and had done even some things which I could never see even in wildest of my dreams. But then all changed as He came in touch with Jesus, once he started interacting with Jesus."

Rahul continued.

"This took me by surprise and now after accepting Jesus even I feel the same peace in my life. Now I show more respect to my parents and my friends and family have started seeing the change. Hence, my parents did not stop me from embracing Jesus. Any sin done by us is like a in blot on a white paper and we can do nothing to remove that. Only Jesus can"

He stopped as if he was looking for a feedback

"Rahul, see I understand you point and also that you have seen a sea change after you met that guy and embraced Jesus, but I am contended with my religion and its rituals and practices"

The other guy interrupted ..

"See but Jesus is the only God all else are stories created by misguided people and we should accept this truth"

"I see God in all living and non-living things, in you, in him and in myself too. We all are part of that Parabrahmam, we all are subsets of Him"

Rahul pointed out

"Even in Bhagavad Gita, Krishnan says it is only by shedding blood that sins can be erased and this blood in not impure blood but pure blood and that is what Jesus did. Even Samaveda has said that God will take birth on this earth as a human being and die accepting sins of all people on the earth."

"Rahul, tell me was it Vedas that were written first or Jesus came first".

No answer

"Rahul, you will accept Vedas came first and now you vouch that it is true. Do not use any Vedas according to your convenience. If you accept the Samaveda is true then accept all verses in it. I do not know, but I agree it is said in Samaveda that God will take birth and be crucified too but then the same Vedas speak about Brahma, Vishnu, Siva and parabrahmam. So just like you have accepted Bible is true and will not just use some verses in it, 'copy & paste' the same according to your convenience, take it out of context and twist its meaning, the same you cannot do with Vedas too. So it would be wrong now, for you to argue that Jesus in the only God"

Rahul was speechless and I could see his head hung down.

"Still I would say Jesus is the only God.." the other guy argued. I could feel a sense of disappointment in his voice as he was more or less certain that I could not be convinced.

"I agree Jesus is also God but then it would be wrong to say only He is God. Let your faith save you but then I am truly running out of time. It was really nice meeting you guys, have a great day"

I shook hands with them and we parted ways..

To be frank, I felt so happy. God gave me an opportunity to use the little knowledge I have gathered reading various religious books. Not that I could convince them to come back and embrace Hinduism (neither do I want them do it) but I felt satisfied. But I would have been happy to put to test my faith and learning, not to prove myself to anyone but to myself to reinforce that what I believe is true.

This blog has been pretty long but then incidents have given me few insights and post this incident when I shared this with my family members I got a few more points. So for now I stop and rest in next..

Science and Religion - II

Adding to my previous blog on the same subject, in ancient temples the idol is kept at (garbha griha) such a place that has some magnetic properties. And when we circumnavigate the temple we actually cut these magnetic lines and this has a positive impact on our health as well (remember magnetic therapy ?)

When we go into temples we go bare footed. and when we walk on the ground (usually on sand or stones) we actually put pressure on various important points on our foot that again has positive impact on our health (heard of acupuncture..right?)

It is also worth noting here that even the architecture of temples resemble human beings ( a male). In Vedic Hindu view, an individual's body is referred as a temple with the in dweller as God. In Gita, Lord Krishna even says this in following verses: "Idham shareeram Kounthaya kshetra mithyavadheeyathay"

The Vedic seers (Rishis) having realized God within themselves gave designs and functions of temples in scriptures (agama shastras) of Vedic Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma). Its purpose is to enable a devotee to use a physical temple and the ritualistic worship as a reminder to the spiritual journey to be carried out within oneself. In addition, it also serves as a place for celebrations of Hindu religious festivals. A Vedic Hindu temple's architecture is a divine and yogic representation of a human being as shown in the figure (ref: Agama kosha by S.K. Ramachndra Rao). The feet represent the spire (rajagopura). The hands represent the walkway (prakaara) encompassing all around the temple. The main hall (mandapa) represents the abdomen. The entrance porch (antaraala) represents the heart. The sanctum sanctorum (garbha griha) represents the head. The deity is consecrated with religious rites in the sanctum sanctorum. There is proportionality between the size of the deity in the sanctum sanctorum and the sizes of the temple construction details.

An article worth reading on Vaastu related to temples is: http://www.hindutempleokc.org/TempleArchitecture.pdf. It is really fascinating to see the even things that seem most trivial to us, has some much of facts and science into it. More in future blogs or in an edited version of this itself. Watch Out !!!

Science and Religion

Many times I have thought about this and still keep questioning the various rituals in religions especially Hinduism; and to my astonishment have found a great amount of science and symbolism in these rituals - from the 4 castes to Upanayanam, marriage and even death ceremonies. It is also amazing to find how they have been misinterpreted over a period of time leading to many many superstitions and unnecessary practices. Below are few scientific explanations..thanks to Neetu Chechi..(my dear Anil sir's wife) for the forward. I plan to add more to it in future so keep tuned to my future blogs..
1. The Effect of Going to the Temple .

In the temple, the Sanctum sanctorum is completely enclosed on three sides. The effect of all energies is very high in here. The lamp that is lit radiates the heat and light energy. The ringing of the bells and the chanting of prayers gives the sound energy. The fragrance from the flowers, the burning of camphor and incense sticks give out the chemical energy. The effect of all these energies is activated by the positive energy that comes out of the idol. The water that is used for the Pooja is called "holy water" or "Theertham" because it receives the positive of all these energies. When people go to the temple for the Deepaaraadhana, and the doors open up the positive energy gushes out onto the people who are there. The water that is sprinkled onto the people passes on the energy to all. That is the reason why, men are not allowed to wear shirt to the temple and ladies have to wear more ornaments because it is through these jewels (metals) that positive energy is absorbed in ladies. It is proved that Theertham is a very good blood purifier, as it is highly energised. Hence it is given as prasadam to the devotees.
2. Worship of Tulasi and Peepal Tree {Aalamaram}
Tulasi should be worshipped by prostrating before it. As it is not tall the oxygen passed out from the plant, along with its positive energy, can be obtained only at the lower level. Whereas the Peepal tree should be worshipped by going around it, to get the full effect of the oxygen and the positive energy. The oxygen layer is very close to the leaves of the tree and as these leaves shake at the slightest breeze, it passes the energy more effectively. While going round the tree, our negative energy passes out of us through our right side and is absorbed by the tree and transformed into positive energy. This is passed on to us when we go round the tree.
3. Positive Energy.
[This is measured with a pair of 'l' shaped rods held horizontally facing the object to be tested]
a. All flowers that are used in the temple for Pooja are proved to have positive energy.
b. Gingerly oil [Nallennai] is proved to have more positive energy than other medium. Hence, best for lighting the lamp.
c. The fresh sandalwood paste given from the temple has more positive energy than the one, which is kept for a day or two.
d. The use of the traditional wick lamps is very effective in passing out the energy, as there is a regular movement for the flame. The energy is passed out through the waves of movement. So the lighting of electric lamp does not serve the purpose of passing the energy.
4. Aura and its Measurement.
There are various rings around us that form the aura of our body.
The first is our 'SAREERA' or the BODY itself.
The next is 'AATHMA' or the SOUL.
The third is 'MANAS' or the MIND.
The fourth is ' VIGNYANA' or KNOWLEDGE.
And the last is 'ANANDAM' or HAPPINESS.
This aura can be measured scientifically by the rods. A person's aura was measured and was found to be of one-foot radius. The same person was asked to chant prayers for a few minutes. Then, again, his aura was measured. The radius of the aura had increased by another foot and showed two feet. This proves the positive effect of prayers/mantras.
5. Aspects regarding sleep...
Normally children are found rolling a lot in their sleep. It is proved that they do so because their bodies can detect the positive energy even in sleep. When they roll they move to the place where there is positive Energy. If their cot is moved permanently to this place, they stop rolling. This is applicable to older people also. We are asked to sit and chant prayers before we go to bed and also chant them before getting up. It has been proved that 23% of the heart attacks occur when people lie down. This is because a person who has been vertical the whole day suddenly lies down causing an irregularity in the heartbeats. So, to stabilise this, it is proved that sitting on the bed and chanting prayers for two minutes will be effective. And it has the same effect when done before getting up also. It is proved that chanting 'Narayana naamam' 108 times comes to exactly two minutes.
6. Any object's energy could be measured.
One such object is the cell phone. This is a thing with negative energy. This can be made positive. A picture of a God was placed on the cell phone in such a way that the picture was facing the phone. The energy was still negative. Then the picture was turned and kept so that it faced the user. The energy immediately became positive. A small sticker of any God is sufficient to make it positive.
7. Aspect regarding energy in houses.
In the present living conditions, people mostly live in small houses or in flats. In such situations it is difficult to follow the 'VAASTHU SASHTRA'. It is proved that it is enough if the house has a Pooja room. This room will be able to cover the whole area of the house and harmonise the energy. Whereas in a big house the area is too much for just a small Pooja room to harmonise the energy. In such cases the 'VAASTHU SASHTRA' should be followed. Pictures of Gods or Goddesses, if kept in the entrance of the house, is proved to ward off all negative energy. In a person's life of 60yrs, he spends nearly 20 years in bed. So the bedroom should be kept clean and bathroom must be kept closed always. This is because we eliminate all our wastes in the bathroom. The wastes are full of negative energy. When the door is kept open, this negative energy passes out into the bedroom and affects the occupants. Keeping a flower vase with plastic or artificial flowers in the corner of a room is equal to the garbage bin. It is proved that these flowers absorb all negative energies in the room caused due to arguments or ill thoughts. So, the flower vase with plastic flowers should not be kept in the centre of a room or on the dining table. This is a harmoniser of energies. Garbage bins are never kept in the centre of a room. Chanting prayers in a group is very good for the house. It activates the positive energy and spreads to all parts of the house. If this is not possible, keeping tapes of devotional songs, melodious music and prayers will also give the same effect.