Sources of Good Qualities

Meaning: The line of the Yajurved 34/3 expresses all the sources of good qualities within our bodies. It can be expressed as - Our mind is the source of good qualities of excellent knowledge, contemplativeness and patience etc. In order that it is not dragged into darkness, that is, wicked deeds, may our mind be filled with auspicious and beneficent thoughts?

Message: For our material and other worldly progress, the biggest means is our body. The all powerful mind within the body administers all our senses. Both auspicious and inauspicious or good and bad flow knowledge starts from there only after reflection and contemplation. The mind is also the source of patience, restraint, cleanliness, tenderness, discretion etc. To a large extent the people's lives are peaceful, tender and clean by all such qualities as discipline, organization, the habit of consistency in every work, respect for other, the desire not to hurt others etc. For obtaining these qualities, we will have to worship and cultivate 'satvagun'. Thoughts full of 'tamogun' like hardship, cruelty, disrespect, hatred, etcetera will have to he thrown out of the mind.

'Tamaso ma Jyotirgamaya' (kindly lead from darkness to light) is our principal prayer as well as teaching. We should remove our mind's darkness by lighting up the flame of knowledge. With that, mind becomes clean and pure, and the deeds that are worth discarding, are unable to enter the mind.

Deeds worth discarding are those which are harmful to the society and the country. By giving up such acts any society or nation moves forward on the path of progress, and our interest lies only in the progress and interest of all. It is every man's duty to give up all his bad qualities and wicked acts. Untruthful speech causes man's moral downfall. Those who make false allegations on others, they invite their own destruction by themselves. Therefore untruthful speech is worth discarding.

Man is destroyed by sins; therefore sins must be completely given up. There is a saying in the Vedas that those who do not work at all and the non-believers (those who do not believe in God) die under the weight of their own sins only. Their supremacy passes on to others. It is not that sins are committed by deeds only; sins are also committed by thoughts. One, who steals, also commits mental sin. Similarly thinking about another woman, reading of obscene literature, exhibition of perverse and obscene dance of another woman etc are considered mental sins. The wicked thoughts arising in the mind inspire a man towards sinful acts. Such a man gets trapped in various immoral and undesirable acts which are fit for discarding only. If there is any power capable of saving us from the temptation of sinful acts, it can only be the firm power of the strength of the soul i.e. will power. Only that power is able to save us from the dark well of wicked acts.

The reflection of our spiritual power lies in freeing the mind from all types of sinful thoughts and to awaken 'saatvik' thoughts (i.e. morally good thoughts). Only such men can achieve success in life. We should recognize the endless power of our mind and open up the road for personal development.