Ga for Gayatri

The discussions that were held in his mansion house marked the beginning of his education. The traditional ceremony of vidyarambh tool place after his fourth years. If Panditji wished, he could have himself taught Vedas and scriptures to his son. But he believed that a person should definitely obtain knowledge under guidance of a teacher. There was a teacher by name Pandit Roopram in that tiny village that used to run a school at his residence. Panditji handed over his son to the teacher. Taili used to tell that after a small worship the teacher handed over a Patti (wooden board). It was painted white. There were no slates and slate-pencils during those days. There were different ways of teaching alphabets in different regions. Pandit Roopram used greu (red clay soil) dissolved in water as ink and a pen reed for teaching alphabets to the students. On the day of initiation, Roopramji dipped the pen in greu solution and gave it to Sriram and holding his hand, wrote 'ga' in Hindi on the Patti and spelt it. Sriram immediately imitated his teacher and before he could utter any words to introduce the alphabet, Shriram said "Ga for Gayatri". The teacher was dumbfounded because he never imagined that a child of three years of age could identify and define an alphabet and that too, in his own way.

He typically introduced the letter 'Ga' with word 'Ganesh'. He believed that by introducing 'Ga' for Ganesh, it would lead to intellectual blossoming of the child. Ganesh is the presiding deity of intellect and hence was considered as a good beginning to the learning process. When Shriram uttered 'Gayatri' without being taught about it, the teacher and all those present there were astounded. Later the teacher asked Shriram about who taught him that 'Ga' stands for Gayatri. The child replied that nobody had taught him this and said that his father spoke about Gayatri in the Bhagavat Katha. Teacher Roopram and father Roop kishore were extremely impressed. Both of them caressed the child as a token of their blessings and affection.

In those days, parents felt that it was good to let the child stay with his teacher. More the student stayed with the Guru, more he learnt form him. 15-20 students stayed in Pandit Roopram's school. There were students who came from neighboring villages also. The number of students who came to learn from him was two times more than the number of residential students. At times, every day scholars world end up sleeping at the school instead of going home. Guruji used to treat all the students with loving care. One could easily see the discipline exhibited by students in studying, eating, sleeping and sitting. But this was not enforced on them. This was evoked in the hearts of students with love and affection. For example, guruji would personally wake up the students who slept in his house. It is normal for children to sleep till late hours in the morning even though they may not be tired. It gives them lot of pleasure to laze in the bed. In such situations, the teacher himself world cajole them out of the bed and offer them morning refreshments and make them sit for study after giving them a bath.

Fulfilling Happy Married life

When one comes face to face with personal shortcomings during self-introspection, one must not feel dejected. One must strengthen these feelings ……

·         Like a brave soldier I am fighting this battle that would continue throughout lifetime.

·         All the bad samskaras my family members and I have acquired over countless previous births keep presenting obstacles in my path. Sometimes I err, sometimes they. Obstacles keep coming, but I would not let them discourage me.

·         I would fight all the difficulties I am faced with. When I trip and fall, I would not give up. I would get up again, shake off the dust and continue the fight.

·         I am walking the path of truth. I am a blissful soul and it is my duty to fight my and others' ill-tendencies and stop not till the victory is won.

·         I am true to my oath, my intent my sadhana and my ultimate goal

·         I shall continue to search for, identify and weed out all my faults, with the same fervor I started out with

The above mantra must be continuously contemplated upon along with assessment of success attained.

The above three great mantras; the fundamental tenets of Grahastha yoga, the oath of firmness, and the oath to fight the holy war against faults and shortcomings - must always resound at the core of a sadhak's mind keep him inspiring.

The ultimate objective of life is to make the individual soul unite with the Supreme Soul. To act for the good of all while forsaking individual selfish desires is the real spiritual endeavor (sadhana). There could be several different ways to pursue this sadhana in practical lives. Grahastha yoga is one such way. Sincere adoption of above guidelines of this yoga in practice will not only edify one's personal and family life but also contribute towards development of a better society.

Wife of the great philosopher Socrates was very ill-natured. His house was always crowded by his followers and visitors and she detested it. She scorned at guests instead of welcoming them.

One day the gathering was especially large and Socrates was delivering his discourse. His wife felt disturbed by the crowd and got angry. Filled with rage she went up to the balcony and started shouting at his followers angrily shouting them to go away from the house. Socrates signaled his followers not to listen to her and continued with his discourse. This enraged her even more and she started throwing dirty water on the gathering as well as hurling abuses at them.

Socrates did not lose his calm and instead remarked jokingly "Did you all see, till now, clouds were thundering and now it has started raining as well". The people in the gathering broke into laughter.

One of the qualities of great men is their ability to deal with ill-tempered people with gentle humor.

Faith

Story told by a man which is most frightening yet thought-provoking experiences of his life. He had been on a long flight. The first warning of the approaching problems came when the sign pm the airplane flashed on: "Fasten your seat belts". Then after a while a calm voice said. "we shall not be serving the beverages at this time as we are expecting a little troublous. Please be sure your seat belt is fastened".

As he looked around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers were becoming apprehensive. Later, the voice of the announcer said, "We are so sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. The turbulence is still ahead of us."

And then the storm broke. The ominous cracks of thunder could be heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightening lit up the darkening skies, and within moments that great plane was like a cork tossed around on a celestial ocean. One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of air; the next, it dropped as if it were about to crash.

The man confessed that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, "As I looked around the plane, I could see that nearly all the passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying.

And then, I suddenly saw a girl to whom the storm meant nothing. She had tucked her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat and was reading a book.

Everything within her small world was calm and orderly. Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would read again; then she would straighten her legs, but worry and fear were not in her world.

The man could hardly believe his eyes. It was not surprising therefore, that when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying to disembark, he lingered to speak to the girl whom he had watched for such a long time.

Having commented about the storm and behavior of the plane, he asked why she had not been afraid. The sweet child replied, "sir, my dad is the pilot, and he is taking me home."

Does Chanting of Mantra Bestow Siddhi?

One day a disciple of Poojya Gurudev (pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya) asked, "Gurudev! You have chanted Gayatri Mantra and I know many others who have also chanted the same Gayatri mantra of 24 syllables; but why could they not accomplish siddhi like you?"

Gurudev smiled and said "My son! I have chanted Gayatri Mantra later; first of all I have refined my outer and inner selves. Without this all the spiritual accomplishments are futile. I have washed my mind like a washer-man scrub dirty clothes. How can a person get the desired benefits by simply chanting mantra alone?"

After saying this Gurudev narrated an incident which he himself witnessed. "Two saints were doing Tapa-sadhana in the Himalayas. Both lived without clothes and observed complete silence. There was a small piece of land from which roots, vegetables and fruits could be grown. They lived in the caves and ate fruits and vegetables. Once during summer, both of them started cleaning near their caves. This operation continued for two days. One day one of them occupied a small portion of land (supposed to be) of other saint. On this the second saint got very angry; he frowningly asked the first saint to vacate the land immediately. Although they were observing silence the quarrel escalated and reached the stage of kicking and punching.

The first one plucked out the beard of the second and as a result his chin started bleeding"

Poojya Gurudev said " I wondered what kind of ascetics doing sadhana in Himalayan caves these were? Shame on such a sadhana! Unless a person refines his inner self, nothing worthwhile can be achieved what to talk of mantra siddhi. Even if it is achieved, it will serve no purpose other than destroying oneself like Bhasmasur. Bhagirath also did penance but that was for social welfare. He abandoned everything for the public good, and then only he was able to bring Mother Ganga on earth. Had Bhasmasur also aimed at similar objective, he would have been able to help many people. He could have requested Lord Shiva to bless him with such a boon which empowered him to instantly cure a person upon putting his hand on his head. But he could not do so because he did not refine his inner-self. So long as there are greed, attachment and sensuality, a person cannot rise in sadhana. These demonic tendencies pull the sadhak downwards.

Only after passing the primary class of self refinement, a person can climb the first step of spirituality. I lived only on bread of barley and buttermilk for 24 years. I did not take any salt, sweet or spicy food. I controlled the tongue; then only I could control the self. If taste buds are controlled, all the ten senses and the mind are tamed. And if mental control is achieved, realization of self becomes easy whether the sadhak is Jain, Muslim, Buddha, Christian or Hindu.

Indeed the physical process of Tapa entails conscious control of the natural urge of the body for convenience, pleasure and sensuality and the mind's fickleness, egotism, greediness, etc. Control always generates power. If water is boiled in a pot, it will evaporate and will disappear in the atmosphere. There is nothing strange about it; but when a tight fitting lid is placed over the pot, the pressurized steam may explode the pot. The accidents occurring through gas stoves and pressure cookers are the results of such a restraint. The importance of balanced control of physical senses and the mind is based on this premise. The significance of celibacy is that the vital energy is prevented from wastage through indulgence and is made to rise upwards to sublimate the consciousness.

The process of Tapa commences with simple and short rituals. These rituals may appear ridiculous and one may wonder how such small physical and mental activities could help in achieving the high goal of self-realization. But one has to understand that the rituals of worship give the direction. Once the direction is rightly set and the wheel starts rolling, its far reaching consequences should not appear strange.

The flag and signal play an important role in the running and stopping of a train. When they are green, the train runs and when they are red, it stops. Undoubtedly the flag or the colors of a signal themselves do not have the power to stop or start the train; even then the signal conveyed by them has its own significance. If this process sis disturbed, the trains will either stand still or will be smashed after colliding with each other.

Several trains arrive at and pass through the junction. Their destination and direction are decided by a small lever. The making of the track for different trains at the junction is easily done by a low rank railway employee. This appears to be a very insignificant event, but its consequences are far reaching. If one investigates after few hours of this event, he will find that one train turned towards north and the other towards south of the junction and in due course of time the distance between the two trains became thousands of miles. At the crossroads of life, whichever direction it is turned to, it will continues in its own. An extraordinary difference may be seen in the persons adopting different directions. As a contrast to the people involved in negative activities and enervating indulgences, the progress of virtuous persons can be traced to the inspiration they derive from the lives of great persons. Each one of the rituals of worship is helpful in molding the way of life. A rail track is simple and cheap, but how can a costly and compels engine along with several compartments run without a track? The rituals of worship or methods of sadhana may be compared to the railway track.

We will be discussing the significaned of difeerent rituals one by one in the forthcoming issues.

Countless Memory of the Sound

There cannot be a measure for the acuteness of the power of the mind. It goes faster than a thousand horse powered engine or even than a rocket. If the mind's capabilities are properly controlled and conditioned a man can hear quite distinctly every word of the conversation being carried on between two persons thousands of miles apart, and they can be seen as if sitting very near. Not only this, but it is possible to know what goes on in the mind of persons thousands of miles away. Television and tele-audition are the achievements of a controller mind. The great sage Patanjali propounding the characteristics of Yoga has said:

"The meaning of Yoga is nothing else but controlling the tendencies of the mind." A master yogi can do anything. He can achieve the incomparable ecstasy of knowing God (Brahma) or can overawe the people by displaying miraculous feats. Mesmerism and Hypnotism, which are considered base psychic tricks, do not contribute to any spiritual upliftment of him who practices them. For true upliftment, mind should be directed towards spiritual quest. Even if this quest of the inner self cannot be revealed in concrete results, a reasonable person by reading, knowing and hearing about this wonderful power of the mind can surely endeavor to develop in himself this heavenly mental capacity.

In Nepal, which is the home of Yoga, one will never experience a dearth of miracles. The westerners are aware of this fact. In this connection a western correspondent's experience is worth nothing. He writes, "I was traveling by a river boat in India. As soon as the boat toughed a port, an Indian dressed only in a loin cloth boarded the boat with a bundle. He took a coil of rope lying there. Taking one end of it he knotted it and threw it upwards to the sky with all his might. The knot was going higher and higher and the coil below was being unwound of its own accord, and in a short time the whole coil of rope vanished in the sky. A coconut shell was lying nearby. He filled it with water, the amount of which was meager. Yet pouring the water in a pail, he filled the pail to the brim. He repeated this process and filled fifteen pails in a row. Then he chanted something and raised up his hand, the coconut shell disappeared, and when he lowered his hand there was a pail seen in it. Seeing all this we were so amazed, that we could not make out what all that was?"

Paul Brunton wandered all over India in search of such miracles and as a result of what he saw he wrote a book in support of this secret lore. Louis Jackalion, a French magistrate of Pondichery has also written a book on similar lines in which he has praised very much this secret lore of India. What others look up as wonderful miracles or displays of secret lore are considered by the Yogis as a little glimpse of the power of the mind. Though the display of this power is attractive to observe, it is a serious impediment to the ultimate goal of self-realization. The aim of controlling the mind is to know the True self. By achieving this knowledge man can experience freedom from life's bondage and enjoy bliss of heaven.

In "Ramottartapaniya Upanishad", in the discussion of the capabilities of the mind, it si stated; "The meeting place between the eyebrows and the nose is not only heaven, but something higher than heaven, but it is controlled by nature. Thus knowing Brahma one must worship this meeting point of achieving the un-manifested Brahma is limited to the physical meeting point of the eyebrows and the nose calls the point as spiritual Kashi.

Mind is the chief means of achieving salvation. Lured by desires, man becomes a slave to passions. Enjoyment of passions does not lead to diminishing the force of passions but on the contrary to augmenting them. The powers of the mind are thus dissipated in such loose worldly affairs. Hence for the realization of the Highest Essence, it is desirable to discard all passions and desires of the mind and to concentrate it on the inner self. The pivotal point of creation and continuation is the mind.

Life is perennially new, but the mind is old and ancient. The dust of the past goes on collecting on it and this layer of dust covers the mirror of consciousness. Only the lure of material things remains active. Thus the mind falls into bondage. For the true experience of living, freedom from mind's bondage is essential.

At the heart of the Mahabharata

Dear brothers, from today I shall be talking to you about Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. The bond between the Gita and me transcends reason. I have received more nourishment from the Gita than my body has from my mother's milk. There is little place for ratiocination in a relationship of loving tenderness. Moving beyond the intellect, I therefore soar high in the vast expanse of the Gita on the twin wings of faith and experimentation. Most of the times, I live in the ambience of the Gita. The Gita is my life breath. I am as if afloat on the surface of this ocean of nectar when I am talking about the Gita with other, and when alone, I dive deep in to this ocean and rest there. Henceforth, every Sunday, I shall be giving a talk on the teaching of the Gita, who is verily our mother.

 The Gita has been set in the Mahabharata. Standing in the middle of the great epic like a lighthouse, it illuminates the whole of the epic. Placed between six parvas (sections of the text) of the epic on the side and twelve on the other, its message is being unfolded in the middle of the battlefield with seven divisions of the pandava army on one side and eleven divisions of the kaueava army on the other.

  The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are our national epics. The characters depicted therein have become an inseparable part of our lives. Since time immemorial, life in India has remained under the spell of the characters like Rama, Sita, Dharmaraj, Draupadi, Bhishma, Hanuman etc. The characters in other epics of the people in this way. The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are thus undoubtedly unique and wonderful works. The Ramayana is an endearing and enchanting ethical poem, while the Mahabharata is a comprehensive treatise on the working of society. In the Mahabharata Vyasa has, in one hundred thousand verses, sketched the lives, personalities and characters of innumerable individuals with consummate skill. The Mahabharata vividly brings out the fact that none but God is completely faultless and good, and also that none can be said to be evil personified. For instance, it points out faults even of moral giants like Bhishma and Dharmaraj, and virtues in the characters like karma and Duryodhan, who had strayed from the path of righteousness. The Mahabharata tells us that human life is like a fabric woven with back and white threads-threads of good and evil. With perfect detachment vyasa, the great sage, graphically deposits before us the complex reality of the vast web of the worldly life. Because of Vyasa's great library skill in depicting life with detachment and high moral purpose the Mahabharata has become a veritable gold-mine. Everybody is free as much as he wants.

Vyasa wrote such a great epic, but did he have something of his own to tell? Has he told his special message somewhere? Which is the place in the place in the epic where we find him in a state of Samadhi? One comes across in the Mahabharata a vast number of dense thickets of philosophies and preaching, but has vyasa given anywhere the essence of all whole epic? Yes, he has. Vyasa has presented it in the form of the Gita. The Gita is his principal message and the repository of his wisdom. It is be-cause of the Gita that the Lord has extolled him as the among the sages, as His own manifestation among the sages. The Gita has been accorded the status of an Upanishad. Lord Krishna has an, if distilled the essence of all the Upanishads and offered it in the form of the Gita to the whole world. Arjuna's despondency provided only an occasion. Almost every idea and thought necessary for the blossoming of life can be found in the Gita. That is why the wise have rightly called it the encyclopedia of dharma. The Gita although small in size, is the principal text of Hiduism.

Arjuna in Mahabharata

Many people feel that the Gita should be taken to begin with the Second Chapter. The actual teaching starts from the eleventh verse of the Second Chapter; so why not take it as the real beginning? A gentleman once argued that the Lord had called 'a' (the first letter of the Nagari alphabet) as His Vibhuti (manifestation) among the letters of the alphabet and the eleventh verse begins with it; therefore, it should be taken as the beginning. That apart, it would be right in more than one sense to take this as the real beginning of th eGta. Nonetheless, the preceding introductory portion has a value of its own. Without it we would not have properly understood Arjuna's standpoint and the genesis of the Gita.

Many content that Arjuna had reduced himself to the state of a eunuch and the Gita was preached to restore him to manhood and induce him to fight. In their view the Gita preaches not only Karmayoga (the philosophy of action) but also yuddhayoga (the philosophy of war). But a little thinking will show the error in this view. Eighteen divisions of army were ready for the battle. Can we say that the Lord, by making Arjuna listen to the Gita, made him worthy to face that army in battle? It was Arjuna who quailed; not the army. Was then the army braver than Arjuna? It is just inconceivable. It was not out of fear that Arjuna was shying away from the battle. He was a great warrior who had fought hundreds of battles. He had single-handedly routed Bhishma, Drona and Karna when they had invaded Virat's kingdom. He was, in fact, known as one who knew no defeat; a man among men. Valor was in every drop of his blood. Krishna, in fact, did try to needle him by attributing impotence to him; but it proved to be off the mark. He had then to go deep into different aspects of the spiritual knowledge. It is thus clear that it is too simplistic to think that the aim of the Gita is to remove unmanliness.

It is also said that the Gita is meant to make Arjuna willing to fight by removing his inclination towards non-violence. With this too, I do not agree. To understand this point, we have to examine Arjuna's standpoint. The First Chapter and its extension in the Second are useful in this context.

Arjuna had come to the battlefield with a firm resolve and a sense of duty. Being a kahatriya (member of the warrior varna), fighting was in his blood. Every attempt to avoid war had failed. Even though the Pandavas had pitched their claims at the minimum and Krishna Himself had tried to mediate, all that had been in vain and the war had become inevitable. In these circumstances, Arjuna had brought together many kings, made Krishna his charioteer, and is now on the battle-field. He asks Krishna with heroic ardor, "Place my chariot between the two armies, so that I can have a look at the people who have assembled here to fight with me." Krishna complies. Arjuna looks around. And what does he see? He finds his kith and kin, his near and dear ones arrayed on both the sides. He finds four generations of his own people intent on fighting to the finish. It is not that Arjuna had no idea of what he was going to see. But the actual sight, as is always the case, had a devastating impact. Seeing his kinsmen on the battlefield, Arjuna lost his nerve and deep anguish assailed his heart. In the past, he had slain innumerable warriors in many a battle, but he had never before felt so despondent, never had his bow Gandiva slipped from his hands, never had he trembled so, never had tears welled up in his eyes! Then, why all this was happening now? Was he coming to abhor violence like King Ashoka. Certainly not, it was nothing but attachment to his kith and kin. If those in from of him had not been his kinsmen, he would even now have felt no qualms in severing their heads and merrily tossing them around. But attachment to his kith and kin clouded his sense of duty, and then he started philosophizing. When a man with a sense of duty is caught in delusion, he cannot face his naked lapse from duty. He tries to justify it by citing lofty principles. The same thing happened with Arjuna. He now started putting before Krishna, to convince him, the spacious argument that was in itself was sinful, that it would destroy the clan, eclipse dharma and lead to moral corruption, scarcity and devastation, and would thus be disastrous to the society.