Three to Infinite

Number three seems to be very special in creation. Starting from three Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (for creation, sustenance and resolution) to three states of materials as solid, liquid and vapor, most things can be classified into three. Let us see three important threes to understand the universe, individual and God (Brahman) the cause of all that exists.

 Three Gunas (qualities)

The entire universe is made of three gunas (qualities) called satva (pure, wise), rajas (active) and thamas (dull). Paramaatma, the Supreme God is nirguna (beyond qualities). Maaya (Sakti or energy) is the original material cause of three gunas blessed by Pramaatma, the Supreme God.

Bagavad Gita describes these three gunas in human beings: Satva guna is pure, illuminating and connected to subtle form of pleasure and knowledge. Rajo guna is of colored mind, causes longing and attachment. It is connected to action. Tamas is born of ignorance and causes delusion. It binds the person completely by indifference, slothfulness and sleep. Every person has all the three gunas. When you contemplate, Satva is the dominant guna, when you are in action, you are dominantly Rajas, when you sleep you are dominantly Tamas. Satvic people are mostly contemplative, composed, free from egotism, perform duty with no expectation of results for themselves.  Rajasic people are mostly active, emotional, greedy, unsteady and do things for getting respect and honor. Tamasic people are mostly inactive and sleepy, have deluded understanding, are immature and harm others. So it is clear that by attaining the good qualities of Satva, a man becomes subtler and gets purity of mind. Such a wise person, guided by Guru and scriptures gets to know his real Self.

When a wise man understands that all he sees is just these three gunas and realizes that he is really beyond these three gunas, he gains the nature of Supreme God. The wise man crosses the three gunas that are the cause of the body, released from birth, death, old age and sorrow, gains immortality. Such a person’s mind is cheerful; he does not grieve for anything and feels all beings are the same as himself.

Three Sarirams (bodies)

Human beings have threefold body called sthoola sariram (gross body), soochma sariram (subtle body) and karana sariram (subtle body) as stated in the scriptures. The gross body consists of the five elements - space, air, fire, water and earth. The head, hands, and legs are the parts of the gross body. This gross body is considered as temporary residence of jeeva (individual) by the scriptures. The gross body is like the residential address of an individual. He/she occupies this for a certain period, say, 100 years and vacates this to take another body. The gross body of the individual grows, weakens and finally dies, whereas the jeeva (individual) takes another body after the death of the current body.

The subtle body also consists of the five elements but in subtle form. The subtle body has nineteen parts. They are the five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin) ; five organs of action (mouth, hands, legs, excretory organ and reproductive organ); five Pranas or functional organs (respiratory, evacuating, circulatory, digestive and reversing); and Anthakarana or internal organ consisting of mind, intellect, memory and ego. Like the gross body, the subtle body is also subject to change. However the subtle body has longer life until resolution of the world and available to oneself only.

The causal body is the potential form before the creation of subtle and gross bodies. This is made of subtlest form of matter known as maaya or prakriti.  Causal body is neither evident to oneself nor others. Causal body has the longest life and not destroyed even during resolution (pralayam). Causal body goes only at the time of moksha or liberation. A wise person getting Self knowledge attains moksha and becomes one with Paramaatma the Supreme God.

Three Avasthas (states)

All beings exist in three avasthas (states): Jagarad avasta (waking state), Swapna avasta (dream state) and Sushupti avasta (sleep state). In waking state the mind is fully functional and the external world is available through sense organs. The experience is available to oneself and others as well. Waking state is dominated by the gross body (sthoola sariram). In dream state only the memory faculty of the mind is functioning (ego, intellect and thinking do not function). This state is internal to the individual; others cannot experience this with the dreamer. The experience is abstract and not concrete. In dreaming state the dominant medium is subtle body (soochma sriram). In sleep state there is neither the external world nor the internal world. It is total blankness, experiencing just ignorance. In this state the dominant medium is the causal body.

The waker is called Vishwa, meaning fully functional, the dreamer is called Thaijasa, meaning internally illumined; the sleeper is called Prajna meaning blissfully ignorant. A human being constantly moves from one state to the other. The dreamer becomes waker and understands that he was the same person who was dreaming. In the same way the sleeper after waking knows that he was the same person who was sleeping. From this it is clear that the real person is different from the sleeper, waker and dreamer. In fact he is the witness of the sleeper, waker and dreamer. The experiences in different states are like the pictures on the screen when we watch a movie. The screen remains the same even as different scenes occupy screen. Maandukya Upanishad teaches the way to transcend the three states by worshipping Omkara. As we have seen above that a wise person knows that he is beyond the three gunas, a wise person also knows that he is different from the waker, dreamer and sleeper, but the witness of all the three and unaffected by any of them.

Infinite

Brahmavallee chapter of Taittireeyopanishad starts with the statement, “The knower of Brahman attains infinite.” Then a Rig mantra is quoted by the Upanishad where in Brahman is defined as Satyam, Jnanam, Anantham meaning Existence, Awareness, Infinite. Though three words are used for our understanding, they all refer to the same Brahman which is indivisible. This is to be recognized in one’s own heart as the very ‘I’. By this one attains total fulfillment as being one with Brahman. The Upanishad then elaborately explains the creation from Brahman. The aim of the Upanishad is to introduce creation from the grossest level and shift our attention from creation to Brahman. The world consisting of the above three gunas, is the effect and Brahman is the cause. The effect (world) does not exist without the cause (Brahman). Having created all beings, Brahman has entered them as the very experience. Hence the very experiencer reveals the existence of Brahman. Therefore a wise man who has understood the above three gunas of prakriti and established in Brahman, is fearless, secured and blissful. For this wise man, anything good or bad is non-different from himself. Nothing in this world stands separate to threaten him.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Soul and science

I was replying to a mail on the internet. Suddenly the computer went off; the room became dark, noise from the air conditioner stopped. Oh God, it is electricity breakdown. This happens often in summer in the place where I live. My thought turned to electricity….

The lamps don’t glow, fans don’t rotate, TV goes blank, bell doesn’t ring! -Everything is dead without electricity. No wonder we say, “Oh God!” when electricity goes off. We can’t think of a world without electricity today. In a way discovery of electricity helps to understand the concepts explained in scriptures on God. The entire universe consists of just two things – Atma (sentient principle) and anatma (insentient matter). Atma, the life principle is like electricity without which nothing moves. The trees grow, birds fly, men walk only in the presence of Atma; just like the fans rotate, lamps glow, bells ring in the presence of electricity. We realize the importance of electricity only when the lamps stop glowing and the fans stop rotating. In the same way we wonder about life principle only when a man is dead and his body has lost its heat, his eyes cannot see, mouth cannot speak. 

Kenopanishad mantra says, “Indeed Atma is the Ear of the ear, the Mind of the mind, the Speech of speech, the Prana (breath) of prana, and the Eye of the eye. The discriminative ones, who know the Atma, give up the identification with body and become immortal after leaving this world.” For the eye to see, you need the power of the eye besides light and an object. Even a dead body has an eye but it cannot see. The above mantra in Kenopanishad says Atma is the real eye behind the eye with which you see. Therefore Atma cannot be seen by your physical eyes, which are just insentient material, which exist because of the support of Atma.

Another mantra of Kenopanishad says, “Brahman is the very consciousness which one does not perceive with the eyes and by which (consciousness) one perceives the eyes”. The same electricity makes the fan rotate, heat the stove, makes the radio sing. These objects are media showing the existence of electricity. Pure electricity is not visible to our eyes. In the same way Atma the cause for our existence is not available to our sense organs. The universal electricity is indivisible but just appears to be separated in the wires into these objects. In the same way indivisible Atma (Brahman) present in jeeva (individual) appears to be different. Therefore Atma is not an object to be known, but the very subject (Self) by which all objects are known. The electric lamp reveals the existence of all objects around us as well as the existence of electricity. In the same way one should recognize Atma (consciousness) that pervades every object, which is different from the objects and reveals the objects.

The Upanishads give us the knowledge beyond the grasp of our ordinary intellect. Science is not opposed to scriptures; rather scientific discoveries help us understand the statements of scriptures. Electricity is perhaps the most important discovery thus far in human history we know. More and more such scientific discoveries take us closer to advaida (non dual) knowledge taught by the Upanishads through great Rishis and Acharyas such as Veda Vyasa and Adi Sankara. The atomic science states that the origin of all elements is the same - Energy. The source of energy (Sakti) is called Ekatma (Universal Consciousness) in scriptures and it is beyond the reach of the sense organs.  Its manifestation is known to us as plurality of objects. The Upanishads, taught by a Guru, reveal the ultimate truth of the individual soul merging with the cosmic soul.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Make your life happy

”I don’t know what to do with you. You just irritate me. I hate to see you” -This young man’s voice was trembling; his body was shaking when he shouted at the other guy in the room. Then he pushed the guy out and shut the door. Such things happen in our hostel, home and work place, when the disagreement goes beyond limits. Just one word made his face red, voice tremble and body shake. What did he say? -’hate’. If this word can be removed from our thoughts, most of our problems vanish. What happens when we hate some one?  It affects us more than the person hated. Sometimes the person we hate may not even be aware of the hatred. Think of a colleague you hate at your work for some reason. Every time he walks across, you feel uncomfortable. Your colleague may not be aware of this. He will be doing his routine as usual without any affliction. You are the person affected because of your hatred towards him.

 Hatred is the number one enemy of mankind. This has been the cause of most of brutal actions including killings. Likes and dislikes are the root cause of hatred. Whenever someone prevents you from getting what you like, you hate that person. We often read in News papers about incidents where someone who is in love with a person or thing has attacked another person who stands in the way and prevents. In a moment of hatred, even loved ones are attacked brutally. Whenever there are likes, the dislikes equally grow in parallel. Whenever the likes are not fulfilled, you dislike the situation and the persons who stand in the way. This starts from childhood. Now a days we hear even a child telling the mother, “I hate you mummy”, when the mother refuses to give the child’s favorite toy. The mother also liberally uses such statements whenever the child refuses to obey her. This has even become a fashion. It is unfortunate that without even our knowledge we are sowing the seed of hatred, the biggest enemy within ourselves from childhood.

As human beings all of us have likes and dislikes. This is natural. But there are good things to like and bad things to dislike. Just like it is good to help others just like it is good to listen to devotional music, disliking tobacco is also good. But in life there are many occasions where our likes clash with each other such as business, employment, education etc. There is competition among the contenders. How can we deal with such situation and avoid hatred? There are three steps to practice:

·         Discourage immoral and unhealthy likes and dislikes

·         Accept different likes and dislikes of others and accommodate them

·         You be the master of your likes and dislikes, do not lose your freedom to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to your likes and dislikes.

Most of our problems are due to our attitude of non acceptance of difficult situations. No one is exempted from facing difficult situations. Even incarnations had to face difficult situations. This is law of nature. We consider difficult situations as threat to us and resist them. The best way is to undergo the difficult situations wisely as no one can completely avoid such situations. When you resist and hate a situation, you magnify the reality, your mind is over powered and you lose your ability to solve the problem. Above all, when you hate, you create a negative thought. Negative thought attracts negative power. Mind has a tremendous power to create negative events of negative thinking and positive events of positive thinking.

 In God’s creation everything is meaningful. We don’t understand the reasons on many occasions. At a later stage when the events have already passed, we understand some of them. In Bagavad Gita, God describes the qualities of a bhakta (devotee) beloved to Him: “The one who has no hatred for all beings, who is friendly, compassionate, free from possessiveness, free from doership, equal in pleasant and unpleasant situations, accommodative, completely satisfied, always united, who has mastery over his mind, whose mind and intellect are resolved in Me is beloved to Me.”

It is interesting to note that God mentions ‘no hatred for all beings’ as the first quality of his beloved bhakta. The entire creation is His; in fact He Himself is the manifest universe. Therefore the first thing one should learn is acceptance and no hatred for all beings. God is the controller of results of our actions and He gives us the situation including the difficult ones. Therefore when we accept such situations with reverence to God and the world, we will have the strength to face them and solve the problems without hatred. There are only different situations given to us, nothing to hate. So, whenever you come across a difficult situation, suggest to yourself to accept the situation and pray God to give you the strength to face the situation. This will pass. Practice this and see the difference that it makes in your life. Think of the benefits of dropping this word ‘hatred’ form your dictionary. The first benefit is that your BP will not go up; you will live a long and healthy life. Your mind will be always peaceful, thereby increasing your efficiency many times; you can achieve your goals much easier. You create a peaceful atmosphere at home, at work, wherever you are. Just forget this one word and make your life happy.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Glory of Vedas

 Vedas are the source of knowledge guiding human beings from the embryo stage till the end. The word veda in Sanskrit is derived from the root ‘vid’- to know.   Vedas guide human beings through command in the beginning and later by teaching and protecting like a mother. People are of different nature with different likes and dislikes. Some are dull and inactive; they need to be activated first before going into abstract knowledge. Some are active by nature, they have to be regulated and guided to become contemplative. Vedas consider all these factors and give guidance stage by stage to all.

Aim of Vedas

 The aim of Vedas is to guide one to attain liberation (Moksha) while living in this world. Vedas remove ignorance that covers our true nature and leads us to eternal bliss. This is the ultimate goal. Liberation (Moksha) is a state where we are released from bondage. In short Vedas make the unknown known to us, considering our nature. This is the glory of Vedas. Vedas stress the well being of not only human beings but also plants and animals. Vedas emphasize the inter connectivity of human beings, mountains, rivers, planets and stars. The inter dependence of human beings and devatas (divine powers) are discussed in detail. All Vedic injunctions consider both individual and universal well being.                       

Vedas are anaadi (no beginning)

Vedas are ‘anaadi’, without a beginning. Vedas have existed at all times. There is no human authorship for Vedas. Rishis (sages) have seen these vedamantras by their drishti (vision). Already existing Vedamantras were brought to human knowledge by them. That is why Rishis are called seers.  ‘Paramatama’ the Supreme, is beyond time; so are the Vedas. Vedas coexist as breath of Paramatma. Even Brahma, the creator of manifest universe, has a life time (one day of Brahma is 8640 million years) but Vedas are not limited by time.

Vedas and Vedangas

Vedas are vast. At present we only have the knowledge of limited Veda Saakas (branches). There are about thousand two hundred Veda saakas revealed to the Rishis, but at present we only have knowledge of about eight of them. Each saaka (branch) of Vedas have three portions called Samhita, Braahmana and Aaranyaka. Samhita is collection of mantras systematically arranged. The main text of a Veda is its Samhita portion. The Braahmana portion of Veda lists and explains the way of performance of the vedic karmas (rituals). The Aranyaka portion explains the inner meaning and philosophy of Vedas. Upanishads are in the final part of Aaranyaka. Upanishads reveal the Supreme Self through Self knowledge. This knowledge is imparted traditionally by a Guru to sishyas (disciples). Veda Vyasa divided the saakas into four major groupings for our understanding:

·         Rig Veda - The Rig Veda Samhita is in the form of verses, known as ‘Rik’, or hymn in praise. Each Rik is a mantra.

·         Yajur Veda - The main purpose of Yajur Veda is to give the mantras practical shape in the form of Yajna or worship.

·         Saama Veda - The Riks or mantras are set to music in melodious hymns in Saama Veda

·         Atharva Veda - The Atharva mantras are in prose as well as in verse. The mantras in Atharva Veda were brought to light by the Rishi Atharvan.

 Vedas have six Vedangas (organs):

·         Siksha (pronunciation and euphony) - Siksha is the breath of Veda mantras. It fixes the parameters of Vedic words.

·         Vyaakarana (grammar) - Vyakarana of sage Panini is mostly used. It is in the form of sutras or aphorisms.

·         Chandas (poetic meter) - Vedas are also known as Chandas as they are mostly in the form of  verses . It defines the boundaries of metrical composition.

·         Nirukta (etymology) - The vedic dictionary is called Kosa or Nighandu. The Vedic Nighandu explains the origin of each word in the Vedas.  

·         Jyotisha (astronomy) - It is useful in seeing the disposition of planets and stars in time. Garga, Naarada, Paraasara, Varaahamihira and Aarya Bhatta are well known names for their contribution to Jyotisha sastra.

·         Kalpa (procedure) - Kalpa induces one to Vedic action. Kalpa explains how rituals should be done by giving the right mantras, materials and devatas.

 There are also four upangas (subsidiary organs): Meemaasa (interpretation), Nyaya (logic) Purana (mythology) and Dharma sastras (codes of conduct). All the above fourteen are called Dharmapramana, that which give true meaning of Dharma.

 Authority (Sabda pramaana)

Vedas are vibrations and sounds that establish rapport with the Cosmic Breath. The sound while chanting the mantras activates our nerve centers as well as affects the atmosphere, resulting in collective well being. The Rishis were able to capture these vibrations through their penance and capabilities.Vedas are called Pramana, authority. Our five sense organs, eye, ear, nose, mouth and skin are ‘pratyatcha pramana’, giving us direct knowledge of form, sound, smell, taste, and feel. Vedas are considered as our sixth pramana to realise the Self. Hence Self knowledge is attained by learning Vedas through a Guru. Vedas have been passed from one generation to another from mouth to ear and from Guru to sishya tradition. This is made possible because of exclusive rules of pronunciation and prosody followed.

Action and knowledge

The early part of Vedas is known as Veda poorva or karma kanda dealing with action (rituals).The later part of the Vedas is known as Vedanata or Jnaana kanda dealing with knowledge. Karma kanda of Vedas deal elaborately on Yajna (performance of Vedic ritual). Yajna is exclusive to Vedic way of life. Yajna is performance of prescribed rituals with the aid of fire. Yajna purifies the mind when done for the well being of the world. Karma kanda helps man initially to fulfill his personal desires in the righteous way, and then leads him to selfless action and thus purification of mind. With purified and matured mind one pursues self enquiry guided by jnana kanda. Both stages are important to finally attain liberation. Though certain subjects are relevant in the initial levels, they are not relevant at the higher levels of self enquiry. The Upanishads ultimately show us the truth that the individual soul (Jeevatma) merges with the cosmic soul (Paramatma). Adi Sankara selected ten Upanishads and wrote commentary on them. They are: Isa, Kena ,Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Taittireeya, Maandukya, Aitareya, Chandogya and Brahadharanyaka Upanishads. Other Acharyas have also written their commentaries on these ten Upanishads.

Understanding Vedas

Vedas are also known as ‘Sruti’ as they were originally heard from the Rishis and passed on to next generation by hearing. There are only a few in the world today who can understand the original texts properly with the help of commentaries. Number of facts on astronomy, astrology and mathematical equations found in Jyothisha Saastra are astonishing even to modern scientists. Calculations on origin of creation, division of yugas (unit of cosmic cycle) as Krita, Treta, Dwaapara and Kali with specific number of years, the concept of numeral zero, calculations on planetary positions are a few examples.

 As the Vedas are complicated to comprehend by all, there are other layers made available by Rishis. Sutras (aphorisms) are capsule statements. Smritis (remembered wisdom) are in elaborate form.  Puranas (upanga) mentioned above form the next layer. Pura means ancient and nava means ever fresh, therefore Puranas are ancient but valid and fresh forever. Puranas are much more magnified form of the statements made in Vedas for the understanding of common man. For example one statement of Vedas, “Satyam vada” (speak truth) is the theme of entire Harishchadra Purana. Ramayana and Mahabarata are itihasas, meaning history based literature. We further have bashyas (commentaries) by great acharyas like Adi Sankara. It will be misleading and confusing to study the Vedas without these commentaries and guidance. Therefore it is very important to unlock the scriptural literature with the guidance of a qualified Guru.

-Arasu Ramanujam