The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important message given by Sage Kapilaachaarya, which Sage Sukhaachaarya beautifully explains to King Parikshit. As we move on, readers should not get confused as to who is talking to whom. In fact, the entire text of Shrimad Bhagawatha Puraana encompasses through several characters talking with each other, and all of this is summarized by Sage Sukhaachaarya to King Parikshit. It should be remembered from our earlier episodes that this entire text is presented to King Parikshit by Sage Sukhaachaarya, who is trying to make King Parikshit understand the essence of our entire Sanaathana Dharma text. Hence the point here is that, readers should be very attentive in understanding who is talking to whom and in what context, to have the continuity of reading.

In this way thus, Sage Kapilaachaarya explains an important aspect of human birth as to why a baby is born upside down from the mother’s woumb! We’ve witnessed scientifically what happens exactly during this process and in the spiritual context too! As Sage Kapilaachaarya explains this to his mother, he correlates this event to the “Karma” theory! He explains that this entire life of a human being is fully dedicated to wash away our Karma and thus attain Moksha at the end of it. From this context, it can be visibly understood by the reader that the life of a human being doesn’t start at the time when he / she takes birth in this world. Rather, it starts even during the ten-month-period when the baby grows inside the mother’s womb. Yesterday we’ve witnessed Sage Kapilaachaarya’s declaration that the entire essence of human life is to transform ourselves from an “upside down” position to an “upright” position. In other words, we’re born in this world to wash out all our previously accumulated Karma and thus pave our way to attain Bhagawan’s feet.

In this context, we had witnessed in the middle of yesterday’s episode that in the present day, a surgical methodology called “Cesarean” is often employed to bring out the baby from the mother’s womb. Of course, if it is a medically complicated surgery, this methodology can genuinely be used and there’s no doubt about it. However, if this methodology is used otherwise, I feel it’s a great disservice to the entire humanity. The reason behind this blatant statement of mine is two-fold. Firstly, it is sad to come across in the news that few hospitals try and make money by employing such procedures, just by convincing the woman. If it’s a clear-cut case of a normal delivery, why do we “force” unwanted medical procedures, which might have cascading damages to the child’s growth and life?

Secondly, few people have this mindset that the child should be born on an “auspicious occasion” and hence, they try to prepone or postpone the actual date of delivery, which for me is utter nonsense! If it’s a clear case of  a normal delivery, it should be left to nature for doing its job, rather than we forcing something that should be according to our “convenience”. It should be understood that whatever should happen in this world, would keep happening at any cost! We don’t have the right to change the course of nature at any point in time! Hence even in this case, it should clearly be understood that just by choosing an “auspicious time” of birth for a child, the fate can never be altered. All of us have to undergo both happy moments and sufferings in our life and this remains a constant. Hence, my point here is that, rather than “forcing” the delivery process to happen, if it can happen as per the laws of nature, it would be better for the next generation and also, to avoid unwanted medical complications for the newly born child! As ardent followers of Dharma, we should give this a thought!

Now moving on further, Sage Kapilaachaarya continues with he discussion on the cycle of birth and death of an Atman thus:

“Soham vrajaami sharanam akutho bhayam me!

Ye ne drisheegadrisha sa ta anu roopa taa!!

Atyantam khatu theekshna lavanaihi maatru bhoojanaihi!

Athi thaapaabhi viratyartham vardhamaana athi vedanaha!!”

Here, Sage Kapilaachaarya expands his explanation further by talking about the vicious birth and death cycle. In the last episode itself I had mentioned a small note on this aspect, and now let us expand it further. As we might know according to the “Karma” theory, we keep falling into this vicious trap called “birth and death”, owing to our actions and deeds. Our “Atman” (Soul) is full of “Avidhya” (Ignorance or Darkness) and this is the main reason why we end up doing misdeeds after misdeeds in each and every birth that we take. In simpler terms, every time we take birth as a human being, we end up accumulating loads of “Karma” at the end of it. Based upon the “Karma” that we had performed in this birth, we take the next birth with a vow that we would wash all of them off! However, due to our ignorance and “Avidhya”, instead of washing away our previous birth’s Karma, we end up accumulating even more of it in this current birth! For washing these away, we’re mandated to take another human birth in this world! However, when we again take birth, we once again keep accumulating further and further Karma, in the pretext of washing away the previously accumulated ones! This cycle keeps happening every time and there seems to be no end for this at all!

However, is this the end of the story? Should we keep on taking birth after birth and keep accumulating more and more Karma? The answer is a surprising “No”! There is one way through which we can liberate ourselves from this vicious cycle. What is that? It is only through surrendering our self to the lotus feet of Bhagawan and exhibiting ardent devotion towards Him (Bhakti). Thus, Sage Kapilaachaarya explains this point to his mother and brings out the significance behind why we should exhibit “Bhakti” or innocent devotion towards Bhagawan.

Readers might remember that this same concept was explained in the Ramayana by Valmiki Maharishi, but in an indirect manner. We’ve discussed this point during our Ramayana project at the context wherein Bhagawan Rama kills the demoness called Thaataka. We shall recall that instance once again and try to link that context with this explanation of Sage Kapilaachaarya, in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re at the midst of a very important and an interesting discussion on how a human being takes birth in this world and how does the human being take shape inside the woumb of a mother. Sage Kapilaachaarya gives a heart-melting narrative on this accord and we’ve witnessed few glimpses of it in the last episode. We’ve seen how the child is facing so much of uncertainty and suffering as it grows up inside its mother’s woumb. At one stage, the child is unable to bare all of these and cries to Bhagawan thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Look at my suffering as I’m inside this woumb! Will I start feeling better if I come out into the world or will I start feeling even worse when I come out?” Bhagawan gives a beautiful reply to this child thus, “Oh little one! Please understand that whatever you face inside your mother’s womb is just a minuscule of suffering as compared to what you would face when you’re born outside! Consider your mother’s womb as the safest place for you to dwell inside! Once you’re outside, you’re going to face thousand times more of sufferings and pain!” As the child starts sobbing thus, Bhagawan consoles the child: “Oh little one! But don’t worry! If you’ve to get liberated from this birth-death cycle, you’ve to burn all your “Karma”. For burning your “Karma”, you’ve to be born on this earth and there is no other option! Hence, take it in the positive sense and use your birth as an opportunity to reach me once and forever!”

Consoled by the reply given by Bhagawan, the child waits till it takes birth into this world. We’re now progressing into the ninth month of pregnancy. The mother and other family members around are eagerly waiting for the “good news”! At this stage, when the mother goes to the doctor for the regular check-up, the doctor gives her two possible scenarios through which the child birth can happen – One is the “normal delivery”, wherein no much medical procedures are required and the second is the most complex one, called the “Cesarean”, wherein some surgical procedures need to be employed to “bring out” the child from the mother’s womb! In fact, in the present day, we’re often seeing people go for this “Cesarean” methodology of delivering a baby for various reasons. If not for a genuine medical reason, some people have started using this medical technique to make the child take birth on an “auspicious” day and at an “auspicious” time! To be frank, I have serious doubts on all these! Of course, this has its own advantages and disadvantages, and this can be reserved for a detailed discussion during a different context and in a different episode.

As these discussions between the doctor and the mother take place, the child keeps listening to all of these with keen interest! The moment when the child hears the words “surgery”, knife”, etc. it starts to shudder in fear! The child again starts worrying thus, “Oh goodness! Just now I was taking solace in Bhagawan’s assurance, but this looks even more scary than what I thought! Till now I was under the impression that getting out from the mother’s womb isn’t that difficult, but listening to all of these, it seems that this is the scariest part of the whole story! What if the doctor doesn’t perform the surgery precisely and what if the knife falls on my head instead of somewhere else? Does this doctor possess the required expertise to perform such a complex operation? What are the implications of all these surgical procedures during the rest of my life in the world?” Innumerable questions like these arise in the child’s little mind as it slowly progresses towards the final stages of its stay inside the mother’s womb!

Finally when the time comes for the baby to get out of the womb, the mother starts to get the labor pain and is rushed to the hospital. Within the womb, the child is equally tensed as to how is it going to come out. As the doctor commences the operation, all of us are a touch nervous! It might be a known fact to many of us that when the baby is taken out of the mother’s womb, the head portion of the baby should come first and then the rest of the baby’s body. Whereas, if the legs come out first, it means that the baby is upside down and can be in for a major complication and must go for further medical procedures to resurrect the position of the baby. If this is not done on a timely basis, the baby’s life is in threat!

As Sage Sukhaachaarya explains this aspect of the human birth, he answers an important question here – Why is the head portion of the baby coming first, rather than the legs? Sage Sukhaachaarya gives the answer here that the baby is going to be born upside down! For the rest of the lifespan on this earth, all we do is to try and stand straight, from this upside-down position! In other words, all we do during our 80-90 years of our lifespan is to lift ourselves up straight, from how we were born upside down on this earth! This simply means that this human birth starts with all our previously accumulated “Karma” (Good and bad deeds), which makes us upside down. As we progress in our life forward, we try to “straighten” ourselves by correcting and mending our ways, so as to wash all the “Karma” that we had accumulated! Once we’re able to wash out the entire set, we would be able to attain Moksha! If, however we fail in this attempt, we would again take birth like how Sage Kapilaachaarya described, and we would have to start from “Ground zero” all over again!

So, for today, let us ponder over this important point and let us take a resolve that we would take meticulous steps in the positive direction to wash off all our deeds. It should be remembered that only if we are successful in this washing process, we would be able to liberate ourselves from the vicious cycle of birth and death! Let us do the needful hence! We shall wait for the next episode to continue this discussion forward! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear All,

As I had been travelling for the past one month or so, I wasn’t able to keep up my commitment of continuing to maintain my blog page. I had been receiving many concerned messages with regards to my health and to my prolonged absence in the online space. My sincere apologies that I couldn’t respond to the messages, as I was pre-occupied with many compelling commitments.

As I’m settling back to my normal routine life, I’m re-commencing the blog series on “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana”. Till now we’ve done 90 Episodes and I wholeheartedly thank our readers for the constant motivation and support! Moving on, we shall commence with the 91’st Episode wherein, we’re at the midst of some important messages conveyed by Sage Kapilaachaarya to his mother.

I once again thank you for your concern and support during my period of absence and request your ever-ending motivation to continue in the days, months and years to come. So with this note, let us go into the continuation of Sage Kapilaachaarya’s messages, extracted from Shrimad Bhaagwatha Puraana!

Stay tuned for Episode 91… Coming up very soon!!! 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important message for our modern times, that we shouldn’t be blaming our “fate” for not achieving something significant in life. This might be applicable both for professional and spiritual achievements. Sage Kapilaachaarya clearly states here that there is always a possibility to change the course of our fate with our sincere hard work, dedication and determination. In this accord, we had witnessed a beautiful example of little Prahlaada, wherein he was born as a son to a Raakshasa father, yet was able to attain Bhagawan’s divine feet! Similarly, we had witnessed the case of Vibhishana too – Although he was born amidst Raakshasaas, he was the only one amidst his entire set of people to follow the path of Dharma persistently at all times. During our Ramayana project, we had witnessed how Vibhishana stood by his Dharma in two main occasions – When Ravana was about to put Hanuman to death, for killing many of his army men and when Ravana had kicked him out of Lanka. At a time when the whole courtroom of Ravana was hell-bent on punishing Hanuman with a death sentence, it was only Vibhishana who stood by the Dharma and convinced Ravana to defer it. This shows Vibhishana’s persistence to Dharma, irrespective of whatever happens to him. Even when his own life and status as Ravana’s brother was at stake and even when Ravana himself publicly insulted him, Vibhishana was unperturbed! He still chose the path of Dharma over Adharma and came to Bhagawan Rama seeking His surrender and blessings. Such is the persistence that is required, if one has to achieve Bhagawan’s feet.

Thus the point here is that, if we’re dedicated and persistent in our effort, and of course coupled with ardent and innocent prayers, Bhagawan’s heart would definitely melt and would ensure that we reach him without any hassle. Given this fact, we should understand that there is no point in blaming our failures or inefficiencies to our fate! We should be ready to buck up and work even harder than before, if we encounter failures in whatever we do in life.

Sage Kapilaachaarya continues further thus. Here, he describes beautifully how a baby takes form inside the mother’s woumb:

“Karmanaa daiva nethrena janthur devohapaththaye!

Sthriyaah pravishtamudharam pumsaha pretah kanaahsrayaha!!”

Kalalam tu eka raatrena pancha raatrena budbudham!!”

Sage Kapilaachaarya explains that the little baby takes the shape of a small egg in the first day and gradually as the fifth day and subsequently the tenth day passes, the egg grows bigger and bigger and by the end of the first month, the egg becomes prominent in the mother’s woumb. As the time enters into the second month, the head portion of the baby starts to become more and more prominent. During the third month the baby starts getting its hands and legs in place. As the fifth month is in progress, the bones, muscles, nails, tissues, etc. start growing slowly one by one. As all of these organs start taking shape, during the last few months of the pregnancy, the child gets connected to the mother’s woumb through the belly button. At this time, the uterus of the mother is filled with water and as the child gains growth, the water becomes more and this is why the woman’s stomach starts bulging. As the amount of water increases day by day within the woumb, there are also thousands and thousands of germs like some bacteria, viruses, etc. along with it.

During this time, Sage Kapilaachaarya explains that the child goes through immense suffering because of all these germs, congested place, etc. The child thinks within itself, “Oh! Why am I suffering like this within this closed place amidst all these bacteria, viruses, etc.? Am I a show piece amidst an exhibition? Why am I caged like this, just like how animals are caged inside the zoological parks? Just like those poor animals, I’m also stuck in between crores of germs, which is getting tougher and tougher to manage day by day!” More than all these, if the mother consumes some food stuff that is hot or spicy in nature, it directly affects the baby. The woumb’s temperature starts to increase and the baby starts feeling uncomfortable inside. Similarly, if the mother consumes something cold, again the baby starts feeling uncomfortable inside, because the temperature of the woumb starts to decrease. Thus, for the entire ten months of pregnancy, the child suffers inside the mother’s woumb owing to various reasons.

As the child completes the seventh month inside the mother’s woumb and as the child gets its hands and legs prominently, Sage Kapilaachaarya explains that this child folds its hands and prays to Bhagawna thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Look at my suffering as I’m inside this woumb! Will I start feeling better if I come out into the world or will I start feeling even worse when I come out?” Bhagawan gives a beautiful reply to this child thus, “Oh little one! Please understand that whatever you face inside your mother’s woumb is just a miniscule of suffering as compared to what you would face when you’re born outside! Consider your mother’s woumb as the safest place for you to dwell inside! Once you’re outside, you’re going to face thousand times more of sufferings and pain!” As the child starts sobbing thus, Bhagawan consoles the child: “Oh little one! But don’t worry! If you’ve to get liberated from this birth-death cycle, you’ve to burn all your “Karmas”. For burning your Karmas, you’ve to be born on this earth and there is no other option! Hence, take it in the positive sense and use your birth as an opportunity to reach me once and forever!”

This is an important message for all of us. It is amazing to witness how beautifully Sage Kapilaachaarya explains the process of pregnancy and how the little child yearns for Bhagawan, because of all the suffering that it has to undergo inside the mother’s woumb! So for today, let us ponder over these important points of Sage Kapilaachaarya and let us wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the extension of Sage Kapilaachaarya’s major point of ponder, wherein he explains how the Atman and the physical body are independent of each other in terms of performing their respective actions, but interdependednt on each other in terms of co-ordination of execution. With the help of our Atman thus, we should come to the conclusion and take a resolve here that we should only focus our mind, body and actions that derive out of them, only in the right direction that would ultimately take us to Bhagawan. In due course of yesterday’s episode, we had also witnessed whether this is always possible for us to do! Of course, we have innumerable disturbances and “n” number of issues that we keep facing day in and day out, and it does become difficult to have our entire focus on our Atman and the physical body’s co-ordination in the right direction. Here, Sage Kapilaachaarya in this context, explains how we’re bound by the “Karma” that we have accumulated over previous births. He says that we take birth in the mother’s woumb, grossly based on whatever the nature of our “Karma” is. Mostly, our entire life would also revolve grossly over our “Karma” that we’ve carried into this birth. However, day-to-day activities, successes, failures, etc. cannot be attributed to our Karma directly. These day-to-day incidents in our lives are grossly because of our carelessness many a times! This should not be confused with our “Karma”.

Yesterday’s episode had culminated with an important set of questions thus: I’ve born in this family, with this lifespan, health conditions, etc. Can we not change all of these at all throughout our life? Do we need to undergo the entire suffering, just because we were born in this particular state of affairs? We shall witness the answers to these questions in today’s episode, as we move on further. To answer the first question – Can we not change our fate at all throughout our life? We can change it! But this requires lot of determination, focus and willpower! But is it still possible? We have quite a few instances of this sorts in our Sanaathana Dharma literature itself! What happened in the case of Prahlaadha? By nature, he was born in the clan of “Raakshasas” isn’t it? Hence, given his nature, he shouldn’t have fallen into the path of Dharma. But what happened here? Although Prahlaadha was born to a Raakshasa by name Hiranya Kashibu, he still was able to focus on Bhagawan and ultimately attain Moksha too! Readers might be very familiar with the story of Prahlaadha and how Bhagawan incarnated as Narasimha Moorthy to save the little child from his wretched father. I’m not going into the details of this story as of now, because this is going to be explained in much detail at a later stage in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text itself. In the same way, what happened to Vibhishana? He was also born in the Raakshasa clan as the brother of the treacherous Ravana! However, wasn’t Vibhishana able to focus on Dharma and achieved the greatest feat of being Bhagawan Rama’s ardent devotee?

Thus, it all depends on how we take life to be. If we’ve to blame our fate and keep the same status-quo going, then nothing productive is going to happen! Even if we consider modern-day examples too – What happened to Dr. Abdul Kalam? He was of course born out of a poor family in a small village called Rameshwaram in southern Tamil Nadu, India. Didn’t he work his way up to become India’s most successful scientist? Wasn’t this a remarkable achievement? What happened to our great former Indian cricket captain, Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni? He was once a porter at Kharagpur railway station, and with his hard work and focus, became one of the most successful cricket captains India has ever produced till date! Thus, if we have to look into the life stories of many successful people, all of them would have had a very humble beginning, and with their steadfast attitude, focus, determination, hard work, dedication, etc. these people became successful in their respective fields. Thus, we should understand here that there is no use in blaming our “Karma”, or “Fate” and sitting in one corner without doing anything! If we have the right attitude and the desire to change our suffering into an opportunity to succeed, not even Bhagawan can stop that from happening! In fact, upon seeing us making a dedicated and a conscious effort, Bhagawan Himself would melt in happiness and joy, just like how He did for the little Prahlaada. Upon seeing this little child craving for Bhagawan’s presence, inspite of innumerable tortures metted out to him by his father, Bhagawan’s heart melted down to tears! He was waiting for an opportunity to save this innocent child from the clutches of his wicked father! Similarly, if we too make the right effort with the right focus, Bhagawan’s grace would automatically shower upon us and we too would be able to make a remarkable turnaround in our fortunes in our lives too!

So for today, let us ponder over this important eye-opener from Sage Kapilaachaarya and we shall wait till the next episode to take this point further! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Kapilaachaarya’s beautiful illustration to drive home the point, how Atman and our physical body (Deham) are independent of each other and at the same time, interdependent of each other. Although, both Atman and Deham have their own separate functions, only if both of them complement each other, will we be able to progress in the right direction, so as to attain “Moksha”. Saying thus, we also witnessed in the sidelines, the importance of “teamwork” and how do we complement each other and perform any task in the present day. This is not only applicable to the “Atman-Deham” combine, but also for many other aspects in our day-to-day routine professional and personal life too.

Adding further to this point, Sage Kapilaachaarya explains that the Atman should understand in due course that it is not responsible in any way for whatever bad activities that the physical body performs. But why does the physical body of ours go into wrongful activities and undergoes suffering? It is purely because of our “Karma” (Both good and bad) and our “Vaasanas” (Tendencies). As I had explained in the earlier episodes, our “Vaasanas” are after-effects of our “Karma” and here too, there is an excellent teamwork and complementing between our Karma and Vaasanas! J Both of them work at tandem to either uplift us towards Bhagawan, or downgrade us further into worldly pleasures, thus make us move away from Bhagawan’s scheme of things. Thus, the important message from this extened discussion is that, it is only because of the presence of our physical body, all the so-called wrongful activities are being executed. If this physical body is not there, how can these bad activities be performed? This is what Sage Kapilaachaarya says thus:

“Ahankriyaa vimoodaatmaa karthaami tyahtaasmi ithyabhimanyate!”

Thus to give a more detailed explanation to this point, we perform all the tangible actions in this world, only with the presence of our physical body. If this body is not there, will we be able to do any of these actions? For instance, I had slapped someone very hard on his face! Now, why did I do that? It is only because I have something called “hand” as part of my physical body! If this hand wasn’t there, would I be able to slap someone like that? Similarly, I had kicked someone for something, out of anger! Why did I do that? It is only because I have something called “leg” as part of my physical body, which I use to kick another person! Had this leg not been there, would I be able to kick anyone? The answer is no! Similarly, in a good sense, I’m going to help someone by giving something, only because I’m having my hands as part of my physical body. If my hands aren’t there, how am I going to do it? Thus, the Atman instructs us what to do, and the physical body executes the instruction. However, if the body is not present, the Atman is useless! The Atman will only be thinking and discriminating, but who would execute the actions that are discriminated? Only if we execute the actions, will those be categorized into what is right and what is wrong. Thus, it is imperative again that the Atman works in tandem with our physical body, and our Atman should take the determination that the physical body (which should be in its control) should only do the right things as prescribed by Bhagawan himself in our Sanaathana Dharma texts and literature. With the help of our Atman, we should come to the conclusion and take a resolve here that we should only focus our mind, body and actions that derive out of them, only in the right direction that would ultimately take us to Bhagawan.

All said and done, this might sound very simple and beautiful! Will this practically be possible? There are of course “n” number of obstacles that might arise in due course of our journey. This is what Sage Kapilaachaarya is going to explain next. He now explains right from the stage how a child takes birth in a mother’s woumb. Of course we know that only because we owe some specific “Karma”, we take birth in this particular place, to this particular mother, in this particular family, etc. All these decisions are done at a gross level by Bhagawan that, this Atman would take birth with this specific lifespan, in this family of people, in this particular place, etc. However, the day-to-day activities that we keep performing, are not decided at this gross level, and is not based out of our previous “Karma” too. For example, if we fall on the floor accidently and hurt our leg, we cannot say that this accident happened because of our past “Karma”. It is just because we were careless at that moment and hence we got into this accident. Moreover, we have the common practice of attributing everything to something called “fate”! For instance, if I fail in an examination at school or college, can we attribute it to our fate? It is only because I did not prepare well for the examination that I had failed. Thus, it is a wrong perception today that whatever happens in our everyday life, is to be attributed to our “Karma” and our “Fate”. Of course, on a broader perspective, our nature, our character, health, lifespan, luxuries, family, etc. on a gross level would be controlled by our “Karma” and our “Fate”.

Now we might ask the next question thus: Okay! I’ve born in this family, with this lifespan, health conditions, etc. Can we not change all of these at all throughout our life? Do we need to undergo the entire suffering, just because we were born in this particular state of affairs? An interesting answer awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the next important point of discussion wherein Sage Kapilaachaarya explains how our Atman is in no way responsible for the actions performed by our physical body. In other words, Sage Kapilaachaarya puts forward the point that our Atman and our “Deham” are two entities that are independent of each other. The Atman is an entity which has the capability to think, discriminate between the good and the bad, based on whatsoever reasoning. However the Atman has no capability to execute the subsequent actions that are discriminated. It is the physical body that is responsible for the execution part. Thus Sage Kapilaachaarya explains that the Atman and the physical body are two separate entities and further substantiates his point with a beautiful small story. We had left yesterday’s episode at this point and today let us take it forward. Let us witness the story that Sage Kapilaachaarya has to convey to us.

There was once two people – A blind person and a handicapped person who couldn’t walk. Both these people once had to cross over a forest to reach a certain destination. Both did not know what to do. As they somehow came in contact with each other, they make an agreement thus: The handicapped person (without the legs) decides to sit on the shoulder of the person who is blind. The blind person thus takes the handicapped person over him and starts walking. Thus, the person who is able to walk, starts walking, but it should be remembered that he cannot see, as he is blind. However, the person who is sitting on the shoulder of this blind person can see, but not walk! Thus, the person who sits on the shoulder keeps guiding the blind person as he walks through the dense forest. Such was the “teamwork” of these two people who had their own deficiencies in them. Just like how both of them complemented each other, Sage Kapilaachaarya explains and drives home the point that the physical body which Bhagawan has given to us has to complement with the Atman that we have, in crossing over the dense forest called “life”! 🙂 If we compare this small anecdode with our life, our physical body is like the person who is blind. Our Atman is like the person who is without his legs! Our Atman can guide us along the right path, just like how this person without legs is guiding the blind person. Similarly, our physical body can execute the guidance given by the Atman, just like how the blind person is able to walk through the dense forest and cross it. Such should be the way in which our “Deham” and “Atman” should complement each other, towards crossing over this “life” and ultimately reach “Moksha”.

Having said thus, both the Atman and the Deham should understand that they should do the right things by complementing each other. It is not enough thus to complement each other, but go into a wrong direction leading to worldly pleasures and attachments. The Atman should do a stupendous job of discriminating the correct actions in the correct way. Similarly, our Deham should also listen to our Atman’s words and put all of them in practice every passing day. Only if this complementing happens between these two entities, will we be able to reach “Moksha” without any hassle in between!

Looking at such wonderful explanations in our Sanaathana Dharma text, it is extremely interesting to understand how our ancient Maharishis have explained high-end spiritual principles in simple and lucid wordings, which people like us today can understand too! Moreover, it is amazing to witness Sage Kapilaachaarya talk about “teamwork” in this particular context. As many of us might know, “teamwork” is an extremely important modern-day management and leadership concept, which is directly applicable in the organization’s development overall. Nowadays, all of us talk about working in teams and functioning as teams. We’re now slowly realizing what Sage Kapilaachaarya has explained thousands of years ago! Just like our Atman and physical body work in tandem to attain the ultimate goal of realization, a task in a company is also achieved to its 100% with proper and efficient team work, wherein different people come together, (independent of each other though), working at tandem and with co-ordination.

So for today, let us understand these important words of Sage Kapilaachaarya and let us wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further. Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the last two important characteristics of those people who have absolute control of the mind in whatever they do in life. With this, we’ve completed the discussion on the ten characterisitics of a person who has wrested control of his / her mind totally, according to Sage Kapilaachaarya. As we culminate this discussion, we now have the full list of ten characteristics and we shall start analyzing ourselves from here on. It is now time for us to check how many of these characteristics have been achieved by us till date. If we feel that we’ve achieved all of the ten, it is imperative that we have complete control over our mind! I really do not know at this stage as to how many of us would fall into this “unique” category! J We should be very honest to ourselves here – We should take a true feedback about ourselves and only then we would be able to work towards betterment. If we’re rather untrue to ourselves, we would never be able to progress any further. Thus, I would take this opportunity to urge all of us to make a thorough and a true self-analysis and start working on ways how to control our mind. It should be remembered that Sage Kapilaachaarya has also spoken exclusively about the ways through which we can achieve complete control of our mind, which we’ve discussed in the previous episodes. Readers can browse through and get to understand things better.

Now moving on further, Sage Kapilaachaarya is explaining the difference between our “Atman” and our “Physical body”, otherwise called “Deham”. This is called as “Prakriti-Purusha-Viveka-Gnyaana”. This is a fundamental spiritual concept that all of us need to understand properly. Only if we understand this, we would be able to make speedy spiritual progress, to obtain the true knowledge. Sage Kapilaachaarya explains thus:

“Tavyaakrithithve gunataha vyakthisthaatma yeva cha!

Tejastvam tejasah saadhvi roopamaatrasya kinchit!!

Ahankriya vimohaatma karthaamih thyabhimanyate!!”

Now what Sage Kapilaachaarya is going to say here, might send shock waves to all of us! He says that for whatever actions that our body does in this world, our Atman is not responsible. In other words, it is not the Atman that makes us do whatever activities we’re doing with our physical body (through our hands, legs, sensory organs, etc.)! The Atman is like a mute spectator, which is watching all of our actions done by our physical body every day. Now the question comes – If our Atman is not involved in whatever we do, why and how does our physical body do what it keeps doing every day? It is only because of our past “Karma” (Actions) and our “Vaasanas” (Tendencies) that we’ve carried all along with us over the past infinite number of births. It should be remembered here that our “Vaasanas” are extremely tough to get rid of (If they’re bad in nature). We’ve spoken about this before also! These “Vaasanas” are the “driving forces” which thus makes our body and mind act in a particular way, either good or bad. This “good” or “bad” depends on the nature of our previous “Karma” (Actions). All of these actions are being mutely witnessed by our Atman!

Another question might arise here – Our Atman is within us isn’t it? The Atman is carried by the body only. How can we say that the Atman is not responsible for what the body does? It should be clearly understood that the Atman does not have the capacity to execute any tangible action in this world. Only the physical body has all the possible ways and means to execute something that can be considered as a tangible output. Our Atman might give us directions as to what to do, or what not to do, and in some cases, the Atman acts as an agent of discrimination. However having said thus, the function of the Atman stops here. The execution of the discriminated action is done only by the physical body.

This might be a little confusing and ambiguous to start with, but readers should be very clear here. Our physical body and Atman are way different from each other in terms of their functions. The Atman has the “thinking” and “Analyzing” capacity and the physical body has the “execution” capacity. These ttwo functions of “thinking” and “execution” cannot be swapped between the physical body and Atman. It is because, the physical body does not have the capability to think and analyze. Similarly the Atman does not have the capacity to execute any tangible or credible action on the ground. This should be understood very clearly.

To illustrate this important distinction, Sage Kapilaachaarya is going to narrate a beautiful story. We shall witness the story in the next episode, as it might be a bit lengthy to fit into today’s episode. So for today, let us ponder over this important point and understand this distinction between the Atman and the physical body clearly. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the beautiful illustration that Sage Kapilaachaarya is going to give. Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed two more important characteristics of a person who has gained an absolute control over his / her mind. In fact, we’ve witnessed eight out of the ten characteristics over the past three episodes that Sage Kapilaachaarya is listing out and today let us continue with the ninth and the last one. For our reference, we shall re-visit the important slokas that convey this message. Sage Kaplaachaarya says thus:

“Tithikshavaha kaarunikaaha sugruthaha sarva dehinaam!

Ajaatha shatravaha shaantaaha saadhavaha sadhu bhooshanaaha!!

Mayiananyena bhaavena bhaktim kurvanti ye dhrudaam!

Math krutetyakta karmaanaam tyakthah svajana baandhavaaha!!

Madaashrayaaha kathaa mrshtaaha shrunvanthee kathanyanvi cha!!”

So far we’ve witnessed brief explanations of the characteristics “Tithikshavaha”, “Kaarunikaaha”, “Sugruthaha sarva dehinaam”, “Ajaatha shatravaha”, “Shaantaaha”, “Saadhavaha”, “Mayiananyena bhaavena bhaktim kurvanti ye dhrudaam” and “Tyakta karmaanaam”  . Today we shall move on to the next one in Sage Kapilaachaarya’s list. In fact, for our convenience and continuity, we shall witness both these last two characteristics together. Sage Kapilaachaarya says thus:

“Madaashrayaaha kathaa mrshtaaha shrunvanthee kathanyanvi cha” – A person who is able to let go of his / her worldly pleasures completely and focus on listening and enjoying Bhagawan’s stories and the scriptures, is an indication of him / her having complete control over the mind! It is to be once again reminded that Sage Kapilaachaarya has said all of these during the Trethaa Yuga itself! In those days, the world was supposedly totally devoid of the kind of external disturbances and distractions that we have today. Even then, Sage Kapilaachaarya had his own concerns and says thus! If this is the case, we can really wonder what would have been the reaction of Sage Kapilaachaarya upon seeing all of us today in this Kali Yuga, if he was alive by chance! 🙂

So the point here is that, a person who has wrested control over his mind, does not go behind wordly pleasures, disturbances, distractions, etc. and is totally focused on Bhagawan only! This is the first point here. When we mention the words “worldly pleasures”, “disturbance”, “distraction”, etc. all of these words signify anything that is other than Bhagawan in this world. In simpler terms, any task or activity that pulls us away from spiritual growth and Bhagawan are considered as disturbances and distractions! Of course, in the present day scenario, I don’t even need to talk about disturbances and distractions that we are posed to, every passing day! We’re in the advent of the “technology era” and all we talk of today is “data”, “cloud”, “big data”, “social media”, etc. The world has shrunk in size and distances owing to robust technological growth in the present day! However having said that, the real question here is, are we using this technology in the right way, so as to improve our spiritual pursuit and increase our focus towards Bhagawan? The answer to this question is both a “Yes” and a “No”! For instance, whenever I log in to my social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, etc. I’m extremely happy to see innumerable “Groups” and “Pages” dedicated to our Sanaathana Dharma, wherein “Satsangs”, important messages from holy Spiritual Gurus, etc. are being shared. This is a great tool to create a mass awareness amongst our society and community and this serves to educate our people with the significance of our great religion called Hinduism. It is very heart-warming to see many people coming forward and voluntarily taking the initiative to start all these groups and run it efficiently. This indeed shows the commitment that our people have towards our Sanaathana Dharma.

Whereas on the other hand, the same technology tool is sadly being misused by many others as well! Every passing day we read and listen to the news saying that people are being abused, killed, and put to various kinds of torture by using the same social media and other technological advancements! This is the “pain” part here. Thus we should understand that technology is like having a knife in our hand. Just like how a knife can constructively be used for beautifully cutting vegetables, fruits, etc., technology should also be used constructively to spread awareness about our Sanaathana Dharma, so that it can aid more and more people in their spiritual progress. In fact, many people around the world are keen on making considerable spiritual progress in their lives, but unfortunately lack awareness and vital guidance. If we can spread this awareness to people like them by using technology in the right way, it would be a great service to the world! Similarly, just like how the same knife can used in a destructive way by stabbing people, technology can also be used in many bad ways, which would ultimately pave the way for total destruction of our human race! Hence, it is up to us to choose the right path!

Once we’re able to control our mind from going behind such worldly pleasures, disturbances and distractions, our mind would automatically start focusing on Bhagawan. This would lead us to gain interest in knowing more about Him and His “Leelas” (Divine Plays). The more we gain the interest to know about Bhagawan, we would automatically start liking our scriptural texts like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Of course in our Bhaarata Desha (India), almost all of us have both the Ramayana and Mahabharata in our blood, as we are repeatedly exposed to these texts right from our childhood days. This interest should grow further and we should cultivate the keenness to dig deeper into these texts and analyze what messages that we can take for our present-day life from these important texts. Of course, we can never discard both the Ramayana and Mahabharata by saying that these are “olden day stuff”! In fact, many excerpts from the Bhagawad Gita for instance, are being examined by many Management experts and consultants worldwide and find extreme relevance to what is happening in today’s scenarios as well! Thus, the point here is that, the moment we start listening to Bhagawan’s divine incidents and tales, automatically we fall in line with our spiritual development agenda, which in turn melts Bhagawan’s heart!

So for today, let us ponder over these last two points put forward by Sage Kapilaachaarya and this marks the end of this phase of the discussion. In the upcoming episode, we shall commence the next discussion which Sage Kapilaachaarya is about to begin! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed two more important characteristics of a person who has gained an absolute control over his / her mind. In fact, we’ve witnessed six out of the ten charactersitics over the past three episodes that Sage Kapilaachaarya is listing out and today let us continue with the seventh and eighth ones. For our reference, we shall re-visit the important slokas that convey this message. Sage Kaplaachaarya says thus:

“Tithikshavaha kaarunikaaha sugruthaha sarva dehinaam!

Ajaatha shatravaha shaantaaha saadhavaha sadhu bhooshanaaha!!

Mayiananyena bhaavena bhaktim kurvanti ye dhrudaam!

Math krutetyakta karmaanaam tyakthah svajana baandhavaaha!!

Madaashrayaaha kathaa mrshtaaha shrunvanthee kathanyanvi cha!!”

So far we’ve witnessed brief explanations of the characteristics “Tithikshavaha”, “Kaarunikaaha”, “Sugruthaha sarva dehinaam”, “Ajaatha shatravaha”, “Shaantaaha” and “Saadhavaha”. Today we shall move on to the next one in Sage Kapilaachaarya’s list:

“Mayiananyena bhaavena bhaktim kurvanti ye dhrudaam” – Here Sage Kapilaachaarya explains another important point – If a person has wrested control over his / her mind, he / she is supposed to focus the mind in its full entity towards Bhagawan, and not anywhere else. It is imperative that these people are profound devotees of Bhagawan with 100% faith in Him and love towards Him. This is an important characteristic that all of us should make a mote of. All of these days we’ve been cribbing within ourselves that our devotion towards Bhagawan never reaches 100% at any point in time. Why is it so? It is because we do not trust Bhagawan completely. We have some or the other prejudice sticking with us in whatever we do. In other words, we have the ego within us that we’re accomplishing our tasks all by ourselves and that, Bhagawan has no role to play in it. However, if we encounter a failure, we put the onus conveniently on Bhagawan and say that we failed because of lack of “Grace”! How unfair this can be on Bhagawan? When we experience victory or success in any task that we do, we attribute that success on to ourselves, and when we encounter a failure of any sorts, we put the blame on Bhagawan, directly or indirectly! Thus, the point here is that, whatever might be the situation – Success or failure, are we able to surrender the whole thing to Bhagawan, 100%? Many a times, the answer would be “No”! This is where we need to work on! While Sage Kapilaachaarya talks about complete devotion and surrender to Bhagawan, he tries to drive home the point that we should let go of our “Ego” completely. Only if we let our egos disappear, will Bhagawan’s grace flow on to us infinitely! Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) puts this beautifully into perspective – If we try and hold on to our ego, we are indirectly blocking Bhagawan’s grace to flow into us. Rather, if we’re able to break this barrier called “ego”, this would automatically pave the way for Bhagawan’s grace to flow into us endlessly!

Hence, the message is that, we should work on reducing our ego levels slowly and steadily. Of course, this is not going to be an easy job by any means! This would take tremendous amount of effort and determination from our side to make this a reality. So let us strive towards it and make a head-start from today!

“Tyakta karmaanaam” – Moving on to the next point thus, Sage Kapilaachaarya drops a huge bombshell here! If we’ve to prioritize between our personal commitments and to address the urgent needs of an ardent Bhakta of Bhagawan, what would we choose? Would we choose our personal work or helping another person who is in a dire need? Most of the time, we would choose only the former and junk the latter! This is the nature of the world today! We give more importance to our own needs first, more than that of the others who are in dire need! Thus in other words, we’ve become too selfish and self-centered over the years and over generations! Now the question comes – Who is that person who has complete control of the mind? A person who is able to junk his / her personal commitments completely for helping another person who is struggling, is a real conquerer of his / her mind! Why is Sage Kapilaachaarya saying thus? The simple reason is, if we’re running behind our mind, it would direct us only towards our self-centric needs! We would never give even a little space and time for others. Whereas, if we’re wresting our mind under our control, we would be able to throw away our selfish needs, for a bigger cause of helping another person who is in dire need of help! Such a person is extremely loved by Bhagawan Himself, and His infinite divine grace is guaranteed for this person!

So for today, let us ponder over these two important points and let us make a self-analysis of ourselves here. If we’re able to overcome our self-centered nature and open ourselves to the service of the world, we would be at the start point of receiving Bhagawan’s endless divine grace! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the last two points of Sage Kapilaachaarya’s accord! Stay tuned! 🙂