Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems

The Bhagavad Gita suggested that one has only the right to work and not for the fruits of one’s action, which is an excellent postula- tion to the modern world of managers and professionals. Whatever be the effort, brilliance and power, the outcome is not directly pro- portional to the input factors. Something beyond determines one’s success or failure, guided by the merits and demerits of actions in the previous births. This explains the gross inequality in the world, success and failure, joy and sorrow and infinite diversity of creation and events. SURRENDER TO GOD Krishna in his Bhagavad Gita teachings has also given a num- ber of ideas on how to make life fulfilling and rewarding. He has suggested that the best way to get happiness is to do all actions in the name of God, surrendering oneself to Him. Such an attitude removes anxiety and tension about the outcome and paves the way for mental peace. And, finally, actions do not get tainted which only would lead to consequences in the next birth. Hinduism is not fatalism, as is commonly interpreted in the West. There is suffi- cient room for removing sins by Bhakti and action. Even the gravest sinner can get redemption, provided he approaches the Almighty through spirituality. Thus religion comes to the rescue of Man to pass through the Samsara of life. Buddha realised that life is full of sorrow, and one should find happiness by right conduct. The Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the eight codes of conduct of the Buddha, Patanjali’s Yama and Niyama all are ethics and morals to govern one’s life. The theoretical basis for all these is the Hindu concept of non-dualism, re-incarnation, cause-effect relationship, the three gunas - Sattwa, Rajas, Tamas - methods, Yoga, meditation and so on. Patanjali also gave excellent methods for achieving physical health and mental peace in the world. While Westerners accept only heredity and environment as re- sponsible for one’s physical and mental characteristics, Hindus de- clared boldly that the third element is the Prarabdha, inherited from the previous birth. This explains why dull parents beget brilliant children and vice-versa. Musicians and scholars are born to illiter- ate parents. Children are born blind and maimed though they were born to healthy parents and forefathers. There is something beyond the hereditary factor. Thus the theory of successive births and the concept of Prarabdha explain such unexplainable phenomena. Unlike Western concepts, such as Man is born in sin, Indians consider that everybody is divine, and accepts that a few realise it, while others are ignorant of it. Hindus also consider that one can reach God through Bhakti maarga, Gnana maarga and Karma maarga. They clarified that Bhakti is the easiest way for the common people, while Gnana is for the most highly evolved per- sons. Universal Appeal : It can be seen from the above that Indian thought and wisdom, theories and postulations, philosophy and mysticism, religion and spirituality are of Universal and eternal value. Modern civilization which has been guided by science and technology and the various social disciplines can take advantage of these for reducing sorrows and resolving conflicts as well as for increasing peace and happiness. Mankind is losing a great deal by not getting a proper understanding of the relevance of these teach- ings to modern times.

SANSKRIT India is the only civilization which evolved a grammatically, scientifically and phonetically structured language - Sanskrit. Vidya is learning, Vidyapathi is teacher, Vidyarthi is student, Vidyalaya is school. There is no other language having such facility. Further, it is the most phonetic of all the world’s languages, based on the movements of the tongue, vocal cord etc. In fact, the Vedas are written in prose and poetry in such a way that reciting them will create changes in the body metabolism. India’s dance, music, painting, sculpture, architecture and art forms — all are around spiritual themes and have no conflict with secularism. Vegetarianism : Yet another of India’s contribution is its concept of vegetarianism. It has now been realised in the West that tre- mendous damage is being done to land and water resources due to the non-vegetarian habit. It is estimated that an animal has to be given 10 kg. of food grains in order to produce one kg. of food, showing the huge wastage that takes place when food is tracked through the animal chain. If non-vegetarianism is practised, at the present rate of the West, by all humans, some parts of the world will become desert due to overutilisation of land. Vegetarianism is proved to be far more prudent from the point of view of health, longevity, temperament of the people, economics and ecologically sound. Vegetarianism is a part of humanitarianism. Three hundred million people in India are vegetarians. It has been proved all over the world that vegetarian food serves all the needs of human beings and that non-vegetarian food is positively harmful to health. Man-Animal-Nature : Apart from the economic and ecological aspects of Man-Animal relationship, Hindus inculcated spiritual relationship between Man and the other creations. Inert matter plus life is plant, plus consciousness is Animal, plus awareness is Man, plus realisation is God. At the awareness level all are same, which gave rise to the concept of Non-duality, the Advaita concept of Sri Shankaracharya which has been considered as the most rational of all theories. The Aatman is the same in all beings, which is the same as Paramaataman, i.e. the Divine Principle. The West accepts only three levels of consciousness - waking, dreaming and deep sleep. Hindus have postulated the fourth state - Turiya, a kind of super consciousness level which is beyond the five senses. Thousands of saints and sages have experienced this state of Turiya, even in this century itself. Ramakrishna, Ramana and Aurobindo have experienced the Turiya state. Ramakrishna lived as Christian and Muslim in order to understand their faiths and declared that one could go to God by any route. Today Sai Baba has devotees from every part of the world, and h$ has thus paved the way for a universal religion, which is not a substitute for the existing ones, but common to all faiths. Hindus postulated the four Ashramas — Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa— taking into account the spiritual and mental state of mind during the successive years of one’s growth to adulthood and old age. They evolved the four castes, based on the attributes of persons. Though it has been corrupted and brutalised with perverse connotations now, it was an appropriate social organisation at one time. They suggested the four Purushaarthas — Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha — right- eousness, wealth, desire and freedom. They insisted that Dharma should guide and restrain pursuit of Artha and Kama. In other words, means are as important as ends. When one goes beyond his needs and capabilities, he cuts corners and takes to devious ways.

(N.S.Ry)