The 24 Gurus

In the last part of Srimad Bhagavatam, when Krishna is about to leave his mortal body, he imparts the highest wisdom to Uddhava. In that teaching, there is this discussion between a Avadhuta (Dattatreya) and the King Yadhu about what the Avadhuta has learnt and from what source it came from.

Maharaja Yadu once observed a certain brahmana avadhuta, who appeared to be quite young and learned, wandering about fearlessly. Being himself most learned in spiritual science, the King took the opportunity and inquired from him as follows.

Sri Yadu said: O brahmana, I see that you are not engaged in any practical religious activity, and yet you have acquired a most expert understanding of all things and all people within this world. Kindly tell me, sir, how did you acquire this extraordinary intelligence, and why are you traveling freely throughout the world behaving as if you were a child? Generally human beings work hard to cultivate dharma, artha, kama and moksha, and their usual motive is to increase the duration of their lives, acquire fame and enjoy material opulence.

You, however, although capable, learned, expert, handsome and most eloquent, are not engaged in doing anything, nor do you desire anything; rather, you appear stupefied and maddened as if you were a ghostly creature. we see that you are devoid of any contact with material enjoyment and that you are traveling alone, without any companions or family members. Therefore, because we are sincerely inquiring from you, please tell us the cause of the great ecstasy that you are feeling within yourself.

The Avadhuta said: My dear King, with my intelligence I have taken shelter of many masters. Having gained wisdom from them, I now wander about the earth in a liberated condition. Please listen as I describe them to you.

I have taken shelter with twenty-four gurus, who are the following: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon, python; the ocean, moth, honeybee, elephant, the deer, the fish, the prostitute Pingala, the kurara bird (Hawk), the child; the young girl, arrow maker, serpent, spider and the wasp. My dear King, by studying their activities I have learned the science of the self.

Earth

People when they are harassed should understand that things are happening helplessly under the control of providence, and thus he should never be distracted from progress on his dharma. This rule I have learned from the earth.

A wise man should learn from the mountain to devote all his efforts to the service of others and to make the welfare of others the sole reason for his existence. Similarly, as the disciple of the tree, he should learn to dedicate himself to others.

Air

Every person is surrounded by innumerable material objects, which possess good and bad qualities. However, one who has transcended material good and evil should not become entangled even when in contact with the material objects; rather, he should act like the wind. Though the wind may carry various sweet and bad scents, it is never contaminated by it and the scent neither belongs to the breeze.

Sky

A thoughtful sage, even while living within a material body, should understand himself to be pure spirit soul. Similarly, one should see that the spirit soul enters within all forms of life, both moving and nonmoving, and that the individual souls are thus all-pervading. The sage should further observe that the Supreme Person as the Supersoul, is simultaneously present within all things. Both the individual soul and the Supersoul can be understood by comparing them to the nature of the sky: although the sky extends everywhere and everything rests within the sky, the sky does not mix with anything, nor can it be divided by anything.

Although the mighty wind blows clouds and storms across the sky, the sky is never implicated or affected by these activities. Similarly, the spirit soul is not actually changed or affected by contact with the material nature. Although the living entity enters within a body made of earth, water and fire, and although he is impelled by the three modes of nature created by eternal time, his eternal nature is never actually affected.

Water

O King, a wise man is just like water because he is free from all contamination, gentle by nature, and by speaking creates a beautiful vibration like that of flowing water. Just by seeing, touching or hearing such a saintly person, the living entity is purified, just as one is cleansed by contact with pure water. Thus a saintly person, just like a holy place, purifies all those who contact him because he always chants the glories of the Lord.

Fire

Saintly persons become powerful by execution of austerities. Their firmness is unshakable because they do not have anything to do with the material world. Such naturally liberated sages accept foodstuffs that are offered to them by destiny, and if by chance they happen to eat contaminated food, they are not affected, just like fire, which burns up contaminated substances that are offered to it.

A wise man sometimes appears in a concealed form and at other times reveals himself like fire hidden in the woods. For the welfare of the jivatma who desire real happiness, a wise man may accept the worshipable position of guru, and thus like fire he burns to ashes all the past and future sinful reactions of his worshipers by mercifully accepting their offerings.

Moon

The various phases of one’s material life, beginning with birth and culminating in death, are all properties of the body and do not affect the soul, just as the apparent waxing and waning of the moon does not affect the moon itself. Such changes are enforced by the imperceptible movements of time.

Sun

Just as the sun evaporates large quantities of water by its potent rays and later returns the water to the earth in the form of rain, similarly, a wise man accepts all types of material objects with his material senses, and at the appropriate time, would return such material objects. Thus, both in accepting and giving up the objects of the senses, he is not entangled.

Even when reflected in various objects, the sun is never divided, nor does it merge into its reflection. Only those with dull brains would consider the sun in this way. Similarly, although the soul is reflected through different bodies, the soul remains undivided and nonmaterial.

Pigeon

One should never indulge in excessive affection or concern for anyone or anything; otherwise one will have to experience great suffering, just like the foolish pigeon.

There once was a pigeon who lived in the forest along with his wife. He had built a nest within a tree and lived there for several years in her company. The two pigeons were very much devoted to their household duties. Their hearts being tied together by sentimental affection, they were each attracted by the other’s glances, bodily features and states of mind. Thus, they completely bound each other in affection. Naively trusting in the future, they carried out their acts of resting, sitting, walking, standing, conversing, playing, eating and so forth as a loving couple among the trees of the forest. Whenever she desired anything, O King, the she-pigeon would flatteringly cajole her husband, and he in turn would gratify her by faithfully doing whatever she wanted, even with great personal difficulty. Thus, he could not control his senses in her association. Then the female pigeon experienced her first pregnancy. When the time arrived, she delivered a number of eggs within the nest in the presence of her husband. When the time was ripe, baby pigeons, with tender limbs and feathers created by the maya of the Lord were born from those eggs. The two pigeons became most affectionate to their children and took great pleasure in listening to their awkward chirping, which sounded very sweet to the parents. Thus with love they began to raise the little birds who were born of them. The parent birds became very joyful by observing the soft wings of their children, their chirping, their lovely innocent movements around the nest and their attempts to jump up and fly. Seeing their children happy, the parents were also happy. Their hearts bound to each other by affection, the foolish birds, completely bewildered by the maya of Lord Visnu continued to take care of the young offspring who had been born to them.

One day the two heads of the family went out to find food for the children. Being very anxious to feed their offspring properly, they wandered all over the forest for a long time. At that time a certain hunter who happened to be wandering through the forest saw the young pigeons moving about near their nest. Spreading out his net he captured them all. When the lady pigeon caught sight of her own children trapped within the hunter’s net, she was overwhelmed with anguish, and crying out, she rushed toward them as they cried out to her in return. The lady pigeon had always allowed herself to be bound by the ropes of intense affection, and thus her mind was overwhelmed by anguish. Being in the grip of the maya of the Lord, she completely forgot herself, and rushing forward to her helpless children, she was immediately bound in the hunter’s net. Seeing his own children, who were more dear to him than life itself, fatally bound in the hunter’s net along with his dearmost wife, whom he considered equal in every way to himself, the poor male pigeon began to lament wretchedly.

The male pigeon said: Alas, just see how I am now destroyed! I am obviously a great fool, for I did not properly execute pious activities. I could not satisfy myself, nor could I fulfill the purpose of life. My dear family which was the basis of my dharma, artha and kama is now hopelessly ruined. My wife and I were an ideal match. She always faithfully obeyed me and in fact accepted me as her worshipable deity. But now, seeing her children lost and her home empty, she has left me behind and gone to heaven with our children. Now I am a wretched person living in an empty home. My wife is dead; my children are dead. Why should I possibly want to live? My heart is so pained by separation from my family that life itself has become simply suffering.

As the father pigeon wretchedly stared at his poor children trapped in the net and on the verge of death, pathetically struggling to free themselves, his mind went blank, and thus he himself fell into the hunter’s net. The cruel hunter, having fulfilled his desire by capturing the head pigeon, his wife and all of their children, set off for his own home.

In this way, one who is too attached to family life becomes disturbed at heart. Like the pigeon, he tries to find pleasure in mundane sexual attraction. Busily engaged in maintaining his own family, the miserly person is fated to suffer greatly, along with all his family members. . The doors of liberation are opened wide to one who has achieved human life. But if a human being simply devotes himself to family life like the foolish bird in this story, then he is to be considered as one who has climbed to a high place only to trip and fall down.

Python

The Avadhuta said: O King, A living entity automatically experiences sorrow in heaven or hell. Similarly, happiness will also be experienced, even without one’s seeking it. Therefore a person of intelligent discrimination does not make any endeavor to obtain such material happiness.

The python never attempts to go in search of food. It accepts what happens to come of its own accord, whether such food be delicious or tasteless, ample or meager.

A wise man should remain peaceful and materially inactive, maintaining his body without much endeavor. Even though possessed of full sensual, mental and physical strength, the wise should not become active for material gain but rather should always remain alert to his actual self-interest.

Ocean

A sage is happy and pleasing in his external behavior, whereas internally he is most grave and thoughtful. Because his knowledge is immeasurable and unlimited he is never disturbed, and thus in all respects he is like the tranquil waters of the unfathomable and unsurpassable ocean.

During the rainy season the swollen rivers rush into the ocean, and during the dry summer the rivers, now shallow, severely reduce their supply of water; yet the ocean does not swell up during the rainy season, nor does it dry up in the hot summer. In the same way, people sometimes will receive by providence great material opulence, and sometimes will find materially destitute. However, like the ocean never rejoice in a flourishing condition, nor feel morose when poverty-stricken.

Moth

One who has failed to control his senses immediately feels attraction upon seeing a woman’s form, which is created by the maya of the Supreme Lord. Indeed, when the woman speaks with enticing words, smiles and moves her body sensuously, his mind is immediately captured, and thus he falls blindly into the darkness of material existence and destroys himself just as a moth maddened by the fire rushes blindly into its flames.

Honey Bee

Just as the honeybee takes nectar from all flowers, big and small, an intelligent human being should take the essence from everything.

The honey bee collects honey and stores it in excess out of greed. It never gets to use it, whereas the bee's are forcibly thrown out and the honey is enjoyed by others. Similarly the wise should not store more than what is required of him, which would only result in anxiety in protecting it and sorrow. A greedy person accumulates a large quantity of money with great struggle and pain, but the person who has struggled so much to acquire this wealth is not always allowed to enjoy it himself.

Elephant

A sage should never touch a young girl. In fact, he should not even let his foot touch a wooden doll in the shape of a woman. By bodily contact with a woman he will surely be captured by illusion, just as the elephant is captured in a ditch by the attraction towards a she-elephant due to his desire to touch her body.

Deer

People given to self control should never go in search of sensual pleasures like listening to songs motivated by wordly desire music promoting material enjoyment. Rather, a saintly person should carefully study the example of the deer, who is bewildered by the sweet music of the hunter’s horn and is thus captured and killed. Attracted by worldly singing, dancing and musical entertainment of beautiful women, even the great sage Rsyasrnga, the son of Mrgi, fell totally under their control, just like a pet animal.

Fish

Just as a fish, incited by the desire to enjoy the taste of the bait is fatally trapped on the fisherman’s hook a foolish person is bewildered by the extremely disturbing urges of the senses and thus is ruined.

The Prostitute

O son of kings, previously in the city of Videha there dwelled a prostitute named Pingala. Now please hear what I have learned from that lady. Once that prostitute, desiring to bring a lover into her house, stood outside the doorway at night showing her beautiful form. O best among men, this prostitute was very anxious to get money, and as she stood on the street at night she studied all the men who were passing by, thinking, “Oh, this one surely has money. I know he can pay the price, and I am sure he would enjoy my company very much.” Thus she thought about all the men on the street. As the prostitute Pingala stood in the doorway, many men came and went, walking by her house. Her only means of sustenance was prostitution, and therefore she anxiously thought, “Maybe this one who is coming now is very rich...Oh, he is not stopping, but I am sure someone else will come. Surely this man who is coming now will want to pay me for my love, and he will probably give lots of money.” Thus, with vain hope, she remained leaning against the doorway, unable to finish her business and go to sleep. Out of anxiety she would sometimes walk out toward the street, and sometimes she went back into her house. In this way, the midnight hour gradually arrived. As the night wore on, the prostitute, who intensely desired money, gradually became morose, and her face dried up. Thus being filled with anxiety for money and most disappointed, she began to feel a great detachment from her situation, and happiness arose in her mind.

The prostitute felt disgusted with her material situation and thus became indifferent to it. Indeed, detachment acts like a sword, cutting to pieces the binding network of material hopes and desires.

The Prostitute sang: Just see how greatly illusioned I am Because I cannot control my mind, just like a fool I desired lusty pleasures from an insignificant man. I am such a fool that I have given up the service of that person who, being eternally situated within my heart, is actually most dear to me. That most dear one is the Lord of the universe, who is the bestower of real love and happiness and the source of all prosperity. Although He is in my own heart, I have completely neglected Him. Instead I have ignorantly served insignificant men who can never satisfy my real desires and who have simply brought me unhappiness, fear, anxiety, lamentation and illusion. Oh, how I have uselessly tortured my own soul! I have sold my body to lusty, greedy men who are themselves objects of pity. Thus practicing the most abominable profession of a prostitute, I hoped to get money and sexual pleasures. This material body is like a house in which I, the soul, am living. The bones forming my spine, ribs, arms and legs are like the beams, crossbeams and pillars of the house, and the whole structure, which is full of stool and urine, is covered by skin, hair and nails. The nine doors leading into this body are constantly excreting foul substances. Besides me, what woman could be so foolish as to devote herself to this material body, thinking that she might find pleasure and love in this contraption? Certainly in this city of Videha I alone am completely foolish. I neglected the Supreme Person, who awards us everything, even liberation, and instead I desired to enjoy sense gratification with many men. The Supreme Person is absolutely the most dear one for all living beings because He is everyone’s well-wisher and Lord. He is the Supreme Soul situated in everyone’s heart. Therefore I will now pay the price of complete surrender, and thus purchasing the Lord I will enjoy with Him just like Laksmidevi. Men provide sense gratification for women, but all these men, and even the gods in heaven, have a beginning and an end. They are all temporary creations who will be dragged away by time. Therefore how much actual pleasure or happiness could any of them ever give to their wives? Although I most stubbornly hoped to enjoy the material world, somehow or other detachment has arisen in my heart, and it is making me very happy. Therefore the Supreme Person, Visnu, must be pleased with me. Without even knowing it, I must have performed some activity satisfying to Him. A person who has developed detachment can give up the bondage of material society, friendship and love, and a person who undergoes great suffering gradually becomes, out of hopelessness, detached and indifferent to the material world. Thus, due to my great suffering, such detachment awoke in my heart; yet how could I have undergone such merciful suffering if I were actually unfortunate? Therefore, I am in fact fortunate and have received the mercy of the Lord. He must somehow or other be pleased with me. With devotion I accept the great benefit that the Lord has bestowed upon me. Having given up my sinful desires for ordinary sense gratification, I now take shelter of Him, the glorious Narayana.

I am now completely satisfied, and I have full faith in the Lord’s mercy. Therefore I will maintain myself with whatever comes of its own accord. I shall enjoy life with only the Lord, because He is the real source of love and happiness. The intelligence of the living entity is stolen away by activities of sense gratification, and thus he falls into the dark well of material existence. Within that well he is then seized by the deadly serpent of time. Who else but the Supreme Person could save the poor living entity from such a hopeless condition? When the living entity sees that the entire universe has been seized by the serpent of time, he becomes sober and sane and at that time detaches himself from all material sense gratification. In that condition the living entity is qualified to be his own protector.

The avadhuta said: Thus, her mind completely made up, Pingala cut off all her sinful desires to enjoy sex pleasure with lovers, and she became situated in perfect peace. Then she sat down on her bed. Material desire is undoubtedly the cause of the greatest unhappiness, and freedom from such desire is the cause of the greatest happiness.


Hawk

The avadhuta said: Everyone considers certain things within the material world to be most dear to him, and because of attachment to such things one eventually becomes miserable. One who understands this gives up material possessiveness and attachment and thus achieves unlimited happiness. Once a group of large hawks who were unable to find any prey attacked another hawk who was holding some meat. At that time the hawk gave up attachment to the piece of meat and experienced actual happiness.

The Child

In family life the elder people are always in anxiety about their home, children and reputation. But I have nothing to do with these things. I do not worry at all about any family, and I do not care about honor and dishonor. I enjoy only the life of the soul, and I find love on the spiritual platform. Thus I wander the earth like a child.

The Young girl

Once I noticed a young girl husking the grains, The bangles on her hands were continuosly making noice as she worked. So she broke all the bangles until only 2 bangles were left. Even this didn't stop from making noise, so she broke one of the bangle and continued working with a single bangle on her hand. From this I've learnt that if more people live together, there would be lot of disagreements which would create a lot of noise in our lifes, there would be noises even if its reduced to people. Therefore, to avoid conflict, one should live alone, as we learn from the example of the bracelet of the young girl.

The Arrow maker

When one is concentrated on a particular task completely, other activities do not disturb him. The best activity in this world is to contemplate on the supreme, When we are established in the supreme bliss the three gunas do not disturb you. This I've realised noticing a arrow maker who was so immersed in making the arrow, that he did not even notice the king pass by.

Serpent

People living in a temporary material body try to construct a happy home, the result is fruitless and miserable. The snake, however, enters a home that has been built by others and prospers happily.

Spider

The Lord of the universe, Narayana, is the worshipable God of all living entities. Without extraneous assistance, the Lord creates this universe by His own potency, and at the time of annihilation the Lord destroys the universe through His personal expansion of time and withdraws all of the cosmos, including all the living entities, within Himself like a spider builds a web and draws it within itself finally.

Wasp

If out of love, hate or fear an embodied soul fixes his mind with intelligence and complete concentration upon a particular bodily form, he will certainly attain the form that he is meditating upon. O King, once a wasp forced a weaker insect to enter his hive and kept him trapped there. In great fear the weak insect constantly meditated upon his captor, and without giving up his body, he gradually achieved the same state of existence as the wasp. Thus one achieves a state of existence according to one’s constant concentration.

O King, from all these spiritual masters I have acquired great wisdom. Now please listen as I explain what I learned from my own body. The material body is also my spiritual master because it teaches me detachment. Being subject to creation and destruction, it always comes to a painful end. Thus, although using my body to acquire knowledge, I always remember that it will ultimately be consumed by others, and remaining detached, I move about this world.

How to Control the Mind? The Five Dharmas

What is the obstacle to one-pointed meditation?

The answer is the unstill mind.

All problems are caused by the mind, by the desires arising in it. It is not easy to control the mind and keep it away effectively from desire. If we ask the mind to think of an object, it seems to obey us for a moment, but soon it takes its own course, wandering off. When someone speaks to us about meditation and tranquility, for a moment our mind will perhaps become still and we will be happy. But in a trice it will go astray and the calm we experienced for a few seconds will give place to un-quietness.

If we bid your mouth to keep shut, it obeys us for a brief moment. Similarly, if we close our eyes asking them not to see anything, they shut themselves off from the outside world for some moments. But try to tell our mind not to think of anything, it will not listen us.

The mind must be kept under control. Thinking and non-thinking must be governed by your will. Only then can we claim that it is under our control, that we are masters of our consciousness.

Lunatics are usually referred to as people with no control over their minds. In fact none of us has any control over the mind. A mad man keeps blabbering. But what about us? We let the mind go freely to keep blabbering inwardly.

Do you know what it means to have mental control? Suppose you are suffering from a severe pain. If you ask your mind not to feel the pain, it shall not feel it in obedience to you (that is you will not feel the pain). Even if a tiger comes face to face with us and growls, we will feel no fear if you ask your mind not to be afraid of the beast. Now we keep crying for no reason. If the mind is under control we will keep smiling even if there is cause for much sorrow. And under the gravest of provocations it will not be roused to anger and will remain calm.

First we must train our mind not to keep wandering. One way of doing it is to apply it to good activities. When oil falls in a steady flow, without spraying, it is called "tailadhara". The mind must be gathered together and made steady. It must be accustomed to think of noble and exalted objects like the Lord. Eventually, the very act of "thinking" will cease and we will dissolve in Isvara (God) to become Isvara.

Before we pass on, we must find a way to control the mind. Otherwise, we will be born again and we will be subject to the constant unquietness of the mind again. So we must use the opportunity of this birth itself to subdue the mind even while we are in the midst of so much that can rouse our desire or anger. A man who has succeeded in bridling his mind thus is called a "yukta" by the yogins. He is a "sukhin", one who truly experiences bliss, so says Sri Krishna.

You must not turn away from yoga thinking that it is meant only for people like the sages. Who needs medicine? The sick. We suffer from manovyadhi, mental sickness. So we must take the medicine that cures it.

There are two different ways of mastering the mind - the first is outward (bahiranga) and the second is inward (antaranga). We must have recourse to both. The Matha has a cartman and a cook. Their work is outward in nature. Then there are those who prepare the wicks of the lamps, gather flowers for the pooja-they are "inward" workers. Both types are needed for the functioning of the Matha. By employing both the outward and inward means, the mind must first be applied to good things one-pointedly and eventually led to a state in which it does not think of anything at all.

The ourward means consists, for example, of sandhyavandana, sacrifices, charity and so on.

The best inward means is meditation.

There are five inward (or antanranga) means to aid meditation. They are

1. ahimsa (non-violence),

2. satya (truthfullness),

3. asteyam (non-stealing),

4. saucha (cleanliness) and

5. indriya-nigraha (subduing the senses, if not obliterating them).

To practise ahimsa is to imbue the mind with love for all and not even think of harming others. Asteyam means not coveting other people's goods.

For satya, or truthfullness, to be complete one's entire being, including body, mind and speech, must be involved in its practise.

Saucha is hygiene, observing cleanliness by bathing, maintaining ritual purity, etc.

Indriya-nigraha implies limits placed on sensual enjoyment. "The eyes must not see certain things, the ears must not hear certain things and the mouth must not eat certain things" - restrictions with regard to what you can see, listen to, eat and do with your body.

The body is meant for sadhana, for Atmic discipline. The senses must be "fed" only to the extent necessary to keep the body alive.

These five dharmas are to be practised by all Hindus without any distinction of caste or community.

Haathon ke bhi aakhein hotin hain...abhyaas..: Yuvraaj Veem

Veem to Arjun..

Vinamrata se hin pragati ke maarg khulte hai : Acharya Dronacharya

Acharya Dronacharya to Duryodhan.

DARSHAN SHASTRA

There are six Darshan Shastras called the six schools of philosophy. They are:
(1) Poorv Mimansa by Sage Jaimini,
(2) Nyay by Sage Gautam,
(3) Vaisheshik by Sage Kanad,
(4) Sankhya by Bhagwan Kapil,
(5) Yog by Sage Patanjali, and
(6) Uttar Mimansa (Brahm Sutra) by Bhagwan Ved Vyas.

All the six Darshan Shastras are in sutra form.

Significance of the Darshan Shastras and their period.

The Vedic literature is so extensive that it is hard even for a Vedic genius to comprehend and remember the theme of all of them. So Sage Jaimini, who was the pupil of Ved Vyas, wrote the Poorv Mimansa Sutras to facilitate the correct understanding of the Vedas. Nyay and Vaisheshik Sutras describe the logical steps of how to determine the rights and the wrongs in terms of finding the absolute good for a person. Sankhya Sutras explain the extent of mayic creation and the Divinity beyond that. It tells that the entire mayic creation is worth discarding and only the Divinity is to be attained because that is the only source of Bliss. Yog Sutras then explain the practical process of heart purification which may qualify a person to experience the absolute Divine. Then the Brahm Sutra (Uttar Mimansa) reveals this secret that God is absolute Divinity and absolute Bliss, and He is Gracious. So, yearnfully remember Himand with His Grace experience His absolute Blissfulness forever. This is the general outline of all the six Darshan Shastras.

Brahm Sutra.

Brahm Sutra by Ved Vyas has four chapters and each chapter has four sections. It starts with,

defining the prerequisite which means that the Brahm Sutra is only for that person who is fully renounced and has a real deep desire to know God. Then it declares,

“The true liberation could only be attained by lovingly surrendering to Him.” Further it tells,

“God has unlimited and absolute virtues.”

In this way, from the very beginning, the Brahm Sutra in simple wordings reveals the true theme of the Upnishads, that God has His Divine personal form with all of His Divine virtues. The formless (nirakar) aspect of God cannot have Divine virtues as it is formless, and thus action-less and virtueless. Thus, the loving form of God is desirable; and because He is Gracious, kind, loving and all powerful, His Grace would eliminate the mayic bondage of any soul when (tannishthasya) he wholeheartedly engrosses his mind in His loving remembrance.

Brahm Sutra, at the end of the first chapter, describes the existing status of the universe and tells that the universe is not the manifestation of only maya as Sankhya Darshan says, it is also the embodiment of God. This sutra is the exact translation of the Upnishadic statement, This world is a representation of both: God and maya.

For a soul, who has a material mind, this world is only a manifestation of maya. But for a Divine Saint who has attained God realization (according to our scriptures) the whole world becomes the form of his God.

In the second chapter it details the existing form of a soul and says,. “The souls are unlimited in number and infinitesimal in form, and are (ansh) a fractional part of God.” God is absolute and unlimited and logically there cannot be fractions of the absolute. Although the word ansh means fraction, but it also means that all the souls are God-like Divine by nature, like a drop of water of the ocean is substantially the same as the ocean. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu clarifies this issue and says that God has a power called the ‘jeev shakti.’ All the souls are the part (ansh) of that.

In the third chapter, the Brahm Sutra further explains the situation of a soul which is under the bondage of maya and keeps on reincarnating in various forms of life. It also tells about the nirakar form of worship and the disciplines, and at the end it tells about the greatness of bhakti and says that, through bhakti a devotee easily receives the Grace of God.

In the fourth chapter, it mainly explains about the devotion and meditation, about the personal and impersonal (sakar, nirakar) forms of God, and the outcome of such practices. It also gives a detailed description about the gyanis and yogis who reach Brahm lok, the abode of Brahma, and out of them, some are liberated and some are not.

In the beginning of chapter four it tells that, a devotee should repeatedly try to remember the devotional teachings all the time, and do his regular devotions while, lovingly meditating upon the form of his beloved God. At the very end of the fourth chapter it tells that, the devotees doing bhakti to a personal form of God receive a very special unimaginable Divine gift and that is their experiential synonymity with God in His Divine abode. It means that the bhakt Saint, in the Divine abode of God, enjoys the same amount of Divine Bliss as his beloved God experiences. It is the absolute kindness of God that He makes an eternally maya- inflicted soul equally Blissful as Himself.

This is the Brahm Sutra in a nutshell. It represents the theme of the Upnishads which are the essence of the entire literature of the Vedic realm.

SMRITIS

Smritis.

Smritis* are the books of codes related to the social living. They describe what are the sins and the good deeds, define what penances, or what kind of fasting, or what kind of charity could redeem which sin, or what should be the punishment for a particular sin. They also describe what kind of rites and rituals a person is supposed to observe in the family, and what is the right conduct and right behavior for the people of various orders of life in the society, and so on. A lot of Sages and eternal Divine personalities have written Smriti books. Out of these Manu Smriti, Yagyavalkya Smriti and Parashar Smriti are important. Parashar Smriti is suitable for the people of kaliyug, but the other Smritis are suitable for other yugas. However, the last verse of Parashar Smriti says,

which means that a person who is desirous for celestial pleasures should study this. It means that it is not directly related to God realization.

* Eighteen Smritis: Manu, Brihaspati, Dakch, Gautam, Yam, Angira, Yogishwar, Pracheta, Shatatap, Parashar, Samvart, Ushna, Shankh, Likhit, Atri, Vishnu, Yagyavalkya and Harit.

Upsmritis: Narad, Pulah, Garg, Pulastya, Shaunak, Kratu, Baudhayan, Jatukarn, Vishwamitra, Pitamah, Jabali, Skand, Logakchi, Kashyap, Vyas, Sanatkumar, Janak, Vyaghra, Katyayan, Kapinjal, Apastamb, Kanad, Deval, Paithinasi, Gobhil, Vashishth, Bharadwaj, and more. Only some of them are available.

VEDAS, Upvedas and Vedangas.

There are four Vedas: Rigved, Yajurved, Samved and Atharvaved. According to the Muktikopnishad they had 21, 109, 1,000 and 50 branches, respectively, having a total of approximately 100,000 verses in their 1,180 branches. Nowadays only 20,379 verses in total are available. 10,552 verses of Rigved (arranged in 10 sections called mandal), 1,975 verses of Yajurved (in 40 chapters), 1,875 verses of Samved (in 21 chapters) and 5,977 verses of Atharvaved (in 20 chapters).

These verses are in the praise of celestial gods and goddesses and some of them are also for the Divine form of God. They are called mantra bhag or sanhita. Then there are the same number of branches (1,180) called the brahman, and the same number of branches (1,180) called the aranyak which have the same number of (1,180) Upnishads. This whole collection is called the Vedas.

The Upnishads have their own Divine character and they are directly related to God and show the path to God realization, whereas the sanhita and the brahman section of the Vedas are related to the attainment of the celestial luxuries. So, generally speaking the term Ved mainly refers to its mantra and brahman section and the Upnishads have their own Divine status.

Brahman and aranyak.

Brahman. The brahman section of the four Vedas are the explanatory part of the yagyas explaining in great detail as to which yagya should be performed in what manner. It gives every minute detail, whatever is needed by the priests. Every branch of the Ved had its own brahman which was 1,180. But, nowadays only a few are available, out of them, Aitareya, Shankhayan or Kaushitaki, Shatpath and Taittariya brahman are important .

Aranyak. Out of 1,180 aranyakas only a few full branches are available nowadays. But the Upnishads, which are the main section of the aranyakas, are available in quite a good number, about 200. The sanhita and the brahman part of the Vedas relate to the yagyas and Vedic rituals only along with the performance of general good karmas. Although they tell about the supreme God (like in Purush Sookt and Ishavasyopnishad, etc.), they never really emphasize on the worship to the supreme God.

Aranyakas start telling more about God and they prescribe some forms of worship to God. Their mode of worship relates to various forms and aspects of God and it is designed to be performed in a technical manner with some rituals. It is called the vaidhi bhakti, which means devotion to God in a strict formulative manner such as: how to sit, facing to which side, which part of the early morning is good for devotion, what mantra to repeat, what ritual to perform before and after the devotion, and so on. But the Upnishads which are the prime part of the aranyakas directly teach to renounce the worldly attachment and surrender to God to receive His Grace. So, Upnishads are called the gyan kand (the true knowledge) of the Vedas. If we consider in a voluminous manner, about 75% of the entire Vedas (sanhita, brahman and aranyak) relate to yagyas and rituals, 19% of it relates to the vaidhi bhakti, and only 6% of it relates to the gyan kand (the Upnishads).

The Upvedas.

There are four Upvedas (up means subsidiary). Arthved (science of sociology and economics) is related to Rigved; Dhanurved (science of defense and war and the making of its related appliances) is related to Yajurved; Gandharvaved (science of music, both singing and instrumental) is related to Samved; and Ayurved (the medical science) is related to Atharvaved. The first three are almost extinct, the fourth one, Ayurved, is still in existence but all of its books are not available. Our Sages wrote a number of books on the science of the preparation and the uses of herbs, roots, gems, metals and pearls etc., for all kinds of diseases but only some of them are available nowadays, although the basic theory of Ayurved is available in full.

The Vedangas.

There are six Vedangas (parts of the body of the Vedas): Vyakaran, Jyotish, Nirukt, Shikcha, Chand and Kalp Sutras.

Vyakaran (Sanskrit grammar).

The very ancient Sanskrit grammar books are all extinct. It is believed that there was a Mahesh grammar produced by God Shiv, and there was also an Ayndra grammar. Both are extinct. The grammar that we have now is Panini grammar. It has eight chapters so it is called Ashtadhyayi. It was directly Graced by God Shiv. There is a famous verse in this respect:

Once God Shiv, at the end of His Divine ecstatic dance induced by the enthrilling effects of Krishn love, played on His damru (the mini hand-drum which Shiv holds in His hand). Fourteen very distinct sounds came out of it. Sage Panini conceived them in his Divine mind. Thus, Graced by God Shiv, Panini, on the basis of those Divine sounds, re-established the science of Sanskrit grammar which already eternally existed. Those Divine sounds are:

There are total 52 letters (16 vowels and 36 consonants including nasals).

The last two vowels are called anusswar and visarg respectively; and the last three consonants are called sanyuktakchar which means two consonants joined together .

According to our needs we had two sets of grammar, one for the Vedas (sanhita part) and the other for the Puranas and for common use, because the formation of certain words and their phrasing is different in the Vedas as compared to the language of the Puranas. It is just the character of the Vedas, not any seniority or juniority in their reproduction because all the Vedas, the Upnishads and the Puranas were produced at the same time and are all eternally in the same form. Nowadays only very few sections of ancient Vedic grammar are available; the rest are extinct.

Panini’s grammar has 4,000 sutras (short sentences) and they are arranged and categorized in such an easy-to-understand way that it reflects the marvel of his presentation of the Sanskrit grammar. For the convenience of the scholars, he added dhatu path at the end of Ashtadhyayi which is the dictionary of the root words of the Sanskrit language. There are also unadi sutras at the end of Ashtadhyayi. These sutras describe the formation of the words of the Vedic sanhita which could be used along with the Nighantu and the Nirukt. Nighantu is the special dictionary of the words of the Vedic sanhita, and Nirukt is the main book that gives further detail of the words of the Vedas which is like a detailed dictionary of the Vedic words. Thus, even though the ancient Vedic grammars are not available, still, with the help of the unadi sutras of Ashtadhyayi and the Nirukt, the true meaning of the Vedic words could be understood. But if someone tries to draw the meaning of the Vedic mantras only on the basis of the Ashtadhyayi without using the unadi sutras and the Nirukt, he will get the incorrect meaning of the mantras and that’s what the European translators have done.