The Mantra Round Your Wrist

The five-lettered word WATCH can be as potent a mantra in promoting the five basic Human Values—Truth, Righteous Conduct, Peace, Love, and Nonviolence—as the Panchakshari mantra—Namashivaya—in promoting the spiritual progress of a sadhaka.

Three categories of people support and sustain human society—those who produce, those who guard, and those who guide—the workers, the soldiers, and the teachers—the karsaka, the Rakshaka, and S_hikshaka_. A society can be strong only when those who produce the food, clothing, and shelter are well-equipped and active, when the guardians of law and order and those in charge of the frontiers are patriotic and skilled, and when those who open the eyes of children and unfold their innate richness are full of love and understanding.

These three are like the three legs of a tripod. But as a mere structure with three legs, the tripod cannot be useful and efficient. The people who are the concern and under the care of the three categories form the plank on top of the three. The seat has to be screwed tight to the legs—the screws being peace, love, and truth and the process of screwing and tightening being the eager enthusiasm for progress, prosperity, security, and unity, the sincere effort to accept and promote the human values—Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Non-violence, and Love. These five values are as essential for a full and worthwhile life as the five vital airs or Pranas mentioned in the scriptures.

The Teacher’s Role

The teacher embodies these values and establishes them in society. That is his opportunity, his duty, the justification for his profession. Therefore, he becomes responsible for the efficiency and excellence of the other two categories also. He has to bear the burden of shaping and perfecting the producers and the guardians too. Why? The peace and prosperity of the world depend on the teacher—his personality, his character, skill, and outlook. The fruit of his efforts must be liberation itself, from the dual sufferings of pain and pleasure, grief and joy. “Ya vidya, sa vimuktaye” (“Vidya is That which liberates”), say the Upanishads. The teacher should not confine himself within books; the universe is his text. He must imbibe and transmit the knowledge and experience that the Universe is divine, true, and holy. A good teacher is a perpetual learner; for him, Nature or prakriti is the best teacher.

The word prakriti is usually rendered as Nature to indicate all that the Divine Will has projected. People in Karnataka use that word to denote one’s body. When one desires to convey that his health is not good, he says, “My prakriti is not good.” The meaning of the word prakriti comprises not only the physical body but also the conduct, the activity, the feeling, the speech, and the motives that govern and exemplify it. The teacher teaches not merely by his words or through books, but more by his attitudes and aptitudes, his prejudices and preferences, the means and methods he employs, and his conduct and habits. A good student is an offering that a good teacher makes to the nation, the student who has learned from the daily life of the teacher not to hurt others by harsh words and not to allow the mind to entertain bad thoughts.

The Teacher Must Elevate Himself By Dedication

When Kalidasa was at the court, Emperor Bhoja pitted one famous scholar against another equally famous opponent. When he found that no one failed before the arguments of the other, he invited one pupil each from those taught by the scholars and encouraged them to engage themselves in a debate to discover which master-teacher was superior, judging from the performance of the students. But they too failed to overcome each other. The thousands who witnessed the end-products of the teaching by the masters acclaimed their greatness in unanimous appreciation.

A President or Prime Minister rises to that position because of the teachers who fostered him and implanted courage, confidence, and elements of leadership in his formative years. The teacher should not condemn himself as weak nor think of his job as the last desperate resort. He must give up lamenting his lot. He must elevate himself and his job by dedication to the five human values.

Message Of The Wrist Watch

Today, everyone wears a wristwatch; the watches are of many varieties—of shape, size, and cost; the straps too are of different materials and monetary value. They tell us the time; they also serve as a decoration and an ornament. When they first came into the village of Puttaparthi, they created commotion and wonder. I was then nine years old. I wrote a limerick on the wearers of the strange contraption and on the leather strip around the wrists. Now, the watch has become a part of every wrist. Only, the wearer has not learned the message of the watch, its potential to arouse the latent divinity in man. The name, WATCH, has five letters!

The mantra that leads the sadhaka to God (Shiva), Na-mah-shi-va-ya has five syllables. WATCH is as much a Panchakshari (five-lettered) mantra as Namasshivaya, and, if meditated upon, is as meaningful and momentous.

W: The first letter reminds us of the sadhana of watching the Word. One should not revel in idle gossip, or spreading slander and scandal, and wound others and pollute oneself. Examine the word before the tongue pronounces it; is it true, will it hurt, is it necessary? Warn the tongue against relishing falsehood or indulging in outbursts of vilification and the like. Adhere to Truth, at all costs. It is the basic human value.

A: The second letter reminds us of the additional sadhana of watching Action. Be vigilant that every activity conduces to your moral progress, to the welfare of society—that is to say, follows the moral code, dharma. Dharma also means innate nature. Fire has to spread warmth and light and also to burn. These are its dharma. Without them, it is but coal. Sugar without the sweet taste is but paltry powder. A rose without fragrance might as well be a plastic substitute. Man’s dharma is to love and serve fellow men, practicing truth without causing injury to others. A teaches us to manifest dharma in every action of ours. Dharma is another great human value.

Thoughts Must Reinforce Innate Peace

T: The third letter T indicates an additional sadhana, a third one, watching our Thoughts. While adhering to the earlier two, one trains the mind not to react vehemently or vengefully when one is blamed or extolled. Why should one worry if the blame has no basis? Thoughts must reinforce the innate peace and tranquility which are one’s heritage. They should not create anxiety or anger, arrogance, or envy, which are alien to the Divine Core of human beings. Thoughts, when watched and warned, promote Shanti, another precious human value. Shanti is the jewel won by the sages. It resides in hearts free from pride and greed.

C: The fourth letter of the Panchakshari teaches one to watch the Character. Character is three-quarters of life. The sadhaka has to direct himself to the acquisition of the three values already mentioned, through steady vigilance. Man is the very embodiment of Love; so, his character finds expression through life saturated with love. A life without Love is really living death. Every thought, word, and deed must emanate from Love. Love must bind the community as one; it must strengthen the feeling of brotherhood and satisfy the craving for expansion. Love must reach out to all mankind and to God. When such a steady selfless character is absent in man, he is a lampless home, a barren cow, a runaway kite drifting helplessly down, a counterfeit coin. Is he observing Truth? Is he virtuous? Has he serenity? Does love motivate him for every action? These are the tests.

Watch The Heart And The Feelings It Originates

H: The fifth letter 'H' instructs us to watch the Heart and the feelings it originates. It reminds us of the human value of Ahimsa (Non-violence). Heart does not mean the fist-sized physical equipment we have to purify and pump blood. It is the center of emotions, good and bad. It has to be watched so that good emotions alone are manifested. It must expand to include all living beings to feel kinship with all creation. “My reality is the reality of all”—this truth must be ever springing forth. Then, the idea of violence can never find a place in the heart. The sense of unity cannot produce competition and confrontation. The fifth human value—ahimsa—is promoted by the sadhana indicated by the letter H.

For want of these five human values, mankind is in the throes of distress and disaster. The morning newspaper is full of murder, massacre, arson, and dacoities. The brain and the mind have been polluted to a dangerous extent. Education aims only at providing information and promoting skills. It has not tackled the problem of moral degeneration, of the sublimation of low desires, of sense control, and the development of spiritual insight. Man is converting himself into a brute with a human form. Vali, the monkey, is said to have argued that Rama wounded it with his mortal arrow, despite the fact that the sin it had committed was pardonable and even proper among monkeys. But, Rama replied that Vali was only a monkey in appearance; it knew both right and wrong, and so deserved punishment. Man, today, is a beast in human garb. When he develops and demonstrates human values, he would have to discard the beast in him and become man, the pilgrim to God. Contemplation on the watch is the best means for achieving this end.

God Can Be Attained By The Wise Use Of Time

The watch will teach Satyam. It warns against evil and alerts you to be good, Shivam. It is worn as a jewel, so it is Sundaram too, besides being a teacher and reminder of human values. The watch is the symbol of Time. We are powerless before Time, but Time’s Creator and Director can be won and attained by the wise use of Time. Instructing others on this inner meaning of the Watch and the Panchakshari mantra derivable from the five letters WATCH are not enough to fulfill your duty.

The watch advises you to watch yourself, whether you have the credentials to teach. A hundred eyes will be watching every word and deed of yours to discover whether you have mastered the human values and whether you are practicing them.

And, most important of all, God, the Universal Watcher, is witnessing and weighing your every thought, word, and deed. The God in you examines and judges, and you are able to acquire self-satisfaction through sincerity and serenity. Prove your humanness by the practice of the values which are the unique qualities of man.

Discourse delivered at the inaugural function of the workshop for teachers and field workers involved in the program of Education in Human Values at Prasanthi Nilayam on 7-3-1986.