For All Mankind

With a few virtues only but with scholarship vast, 
What good can one do? What honour can one gain? 
With ten acres of land on which no crop can grow, 
What can one gain? 
'Tis enough if one has a fertile patch.

Embodiments of Love!

The Rigveda, the first among the four, has come down to us in exactly the same way that it was recited in the past. It is a far-spreading tree, with many branches. Of the 25 that once existed, only two are now available. But, these have been preserved intact by means of an elaborate system of memorisation, by which while one set of pupils recite seriatim, another does so back and forth, a third with alternate syllables omitted, etc. The techniques have distinct names like Jata, Mala, Shikha, Danda, Ratha, Dhwaja, Ghana, etc.

The reality in man is laid down as prana (Vital Energy) in the Rigveda. But, this is inconsistent with the view also found there in that the atma which is embodied in man and all living beings is eternal Universal Consciousness having no attributes or characteristics or modes. The Rigveda speaks of three bonds that encumber man - adhyatmika, where atma means the person and adhyatmika bond refers to the illnesses and diseases that affect the person, physically and mentally - adhibhautika bonds bring about pain and suffering through involvement with other living beings, especially poisonous insects, scorpions, wild animals etc. Adhidaivika bonds cause terror and loss by what can be called 'acts of God', against which man is helpless, such as flood and drought, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, avalanches, thunderbolts and meteors. The Rigveda prescribes means to overcome or modify the consequences of these calamities, by achieving progress in physical, mental and spiritual fields of activity.

Karma Is To Be Regulated By Dharma

The Rigveda is primarily concerned with karma and is part of the Karma-kanda (the path of action, to attain the Absolute). There are three stages in the soul’s journey to its source: karma, dharma and brahma.

Karma is the sincere discharge of one’s duty, as laid down in the scripts and as beneficial to our standard and status. Through karma done for some benefit in view, man progresses towards karma with no benefit in view, so that he does it as a rightful obligation, undeterred by defeat or unaffected by success. He does karma, regulated by dharma (virtue). Then his consciousness is purified and elevated and can help him to become aware of his Reality as the Self which includes all, Brahman (Omni self).

Without bud and bloom, no fruit does emerge; 
Without tiny fruit, maybe trite and tender, 
No taste of sweetness can grow and gratify.

The flower is karma, the tender fruit is dharma and the taste which gratifies is Brahman. The bud blossoms through devotion and the fruit emerges into virtue and ripens by the acquisition of the awareness of One. The three are inevitable ingredients. To give you a familiar example, the coconut chutney you make at home has four ingredients: salt, chillies, tamarind and the kernel of the nut. To procure all these, clean and pure, in the required quantities is karma, the path of action. To put them together and press them into a paste is also karma, part of the Path. Then, you put a little on the tongue to discover whether it tastes aright, as the genuine chutney. This is the Path of Dharma. When you find that if a sprinkle of salt would make it authentic, you add it at this stage. Or, if it is more, you mix with it some more saltless paste, until it is just right. And, you derive delight, as a reward. This is the stage of joy, of contentment, the end of desire, Brahman.

Being born, brought up and grown in age is karma; we realise that to live for oneself is not the way to happiness. We take to the path of dharma or virtue, sacrifice and service. But we discover that involvement with problems does not give lasting joy. So, we turn towards the ever-lasting Source of Peace, Harmony and Delight - Brahman, God.

Vedas Have Universal Validity

The Vedas teach not only karma (rites, rituals, vows, sanctifying observances) but also dharma. In fact, it is said that the Vedas are the roots which feed dharma and hold it fast- "Vedo’khilo Dharma moolam," Since dharma is the sustainer of the entire world and Law regulates the Cosmos, Vedas have universal validity. There are latent as well as patent forces that urge every particle or wave in the Cosmos. When they are operating in coordination, all is well. But when they are unbalanced and operate without equilibrium, disorder and disaster are caused. For example, the sun, the moon, the earth, the fire, air, water, all these have to maintain a balance in order that order reigns. When the environment is disturbed or distorted, danger is imminent. Water is contaminated and man suffers physical and mental illnesses thereby. Science and technology boast of their achievements in conquering the five elements - space, air, fire, water and land. They are dealing with them, as if they are playthings amenable to their whims. They do not deal with them as means for the peace and prosperity on the earth, for all its inhabitants. Their attempts to analyse and take advantage of the five elements are resulting in fatal pollutions and natural disasters like droughts and even earthquakes. The five elements have to be adored and treated reverentially, as the Rigveda directs; Worship them in humility. Then, they would reward you with plentiful power. Today that reverence has disappeared in the greed for exploitation.

Sleep Is A Short Death, Death Is A Long Sleep

Things that confer joy can also confer grief, when their real nature is not understood. The counsel of the wise calms our mind and enthuses our hearts. But, sometimes, it may disturb the mind and depress the heart, when we feel it is denying or discouraging our pet plans and pleasures. But the quality of the counsel is, on both occasions, wisdom. For example, showers of rain are comforting, and therefore, quite welcome. But the drops, sometimes, turn into hailstones and hit hard causing pain. They too are the same materials, welcome in another form. Within minutes, the stones run as water on the ground and become desirable gifts.

Peace is inherent in man. When ego becomes egoism, the aham becomes ahankaram by enfolding itself in a form. 'I' - pure and simple, maintained pure and simple - is still 'being', it 'becomes' when the 'I' identifies itself with something other : I am a man, I am a monk , I am a student. The 'I' has become an 'ism' has put on a form, a vesture which it is loath to give up, the akar which has rendered it aham-karam, egoist!

When you are in bed, asleep, dreaming and wandering through varied escapades and experiences, what has happened to the body which you had fostered as you yourself? And while in deep sleep, where have all the levels of consciousness taken refuge? Sleep is a short death; death is long sleep. You, the 'I' in you, endow the inert material vehicle called body with consciousness. You are the Cosmic Consciousness, God, being temporarily in the role of 'I'. The body-mind-complex is the instrument to be utilized for that role. Use it for furthering God's purpose and executing God's will. This is the message of Rigveda.

Another mistaken idea some people entertain is that they can kill themselves by suicide or atma-hatya. So, they plan to punish and destroy the body which is inert and incapable of initiative. The mind has to be punished, for the despair which overwhelms the will to live is caused by the erratic mind, not the body. Delve into the vagaries of the mind, learn to direct it along straight paths and emerge as the victor over despair.

Vedic Hymns Have Great Potency

The hymns of the Rigveda have been used down the ages to sanctify widely different events and experiences of man, spiritual and apparently secular. The distinction is artificial, for all of life has to be spiritualised. When the boy is initiated into Vedic studies or the recitation of the Gayatri and other mantras, when someone has to be blessed on some happy occasion, when a wedding has to be ceremoniously performed with the invocation of God, and when the body is buried or burnt after the soul has left, the Rig Vedic hymns are chanted. They have great potency and arouse beneficial thoughts on reciters and listeners.

The seers who saw the hymns of the Veda, chanted and communicated them. They were 403 in number. Vashishtha is the foremost of them, with 104 hymns which he visualised. There is a story about the sage Bharadwaja who sought to visualise all that has to be known through the Vedic Voice of God. He prayed to the Lord of Heaven, Indra, to give him longer and longer leases of life but Indra, after obliging him more than once, laughed at his tenacity and said, pointing to a huge mountain range facing him, "All that you have mastered so far is but three handfuls of sand, from these peaks. How can you ever master the Veda fully?" But, the sage did not wince. He said, "I shall bear the burden gladly.” Burden in Sanskrit is Bhara and bearing is Dhvaja, he was known as Bharadwaja. Vamadeva and Agasthya are the other seers of note, whose vision helped the origination of 56 and 27 hymns or suktas. Vishwamitra has contributed another 56.

Accept Blame As Medicine And Benefit By It

Vishwamitra was able to hand down the potent Gayatri Mantra to posterity. His name means "Friend for All" “Well-wisher" for the world.” It was the Gayatri that entitled him to earn that name. Rigveda is entirely the product of the insight of such sages. Every name you use for God, every illustration we imagine of His Glory, are in the Rigveda. Rama, Krishna, Sai, Ishvara, are all the very essence of the glory it describes, though you may not recognise the sources. Mantra means “words that save those who meditate on them.” So, whatever is uttered with such intention becomes holy, charged with love for fellow–men, for the world, for the elements.

Rigveda teaches the lesson of serenity. Praise is like rose water scent; when it is sprinkled on you, suffer it but don't drink it - that is to say accept it and thrive on it. Blame is like a medicine. Examine yourselves whether you have the illness and if you have, accept the blame and benefit by it. Serenity is a divine virtue. All the Vedas are intent on helping man to become aware of Divinity in him and all around him. Picture for yourselves the peace that seers gained by that awareness, and yearn to learn the lessons the Vedas treasure, for all mankind irrespective of caste, creed, race or nationality.

Dasara Discourse, Prasanthi Nilayam, 20.10.1982