Ideal Family

Meaning: According the line of Athervaved 3/30/2 — in an ideal home, children are obedient to their parents. The parents are well-wishers of their children. The husband and wife's mutual relationship is sweet and happy. Only such families always thrive and are happy.

Message: On the basis of the Vedas, the rishis (sages) have divided the human-life into 4 'ashrams'. The four ashrams are - brahmacharya ashram, gruhastha ashram, vanprastha ashram, and sanyas ashram. Considering a life-spam of a hundred years, these ashrams have been specified. Only in the Vedic religion, these ashrams of 25 years each have been categorized and this is the specialty of the Vedic streams of thought. The word brahmacharya is made of two words i.e. 'Brahma' or God and 'aacharan' means conduct. Thus it implies the conduct as followed by God. The second meaning of brahmacharya is celibacy. Thus the combination of two meanings implies the attainment of physical, mental intellectual and spiritual strengths, through celibate living up to attainment of 25 year for a successful material and spiritual life. During gruhastha ashram which means the life of a householder, the above powers are used and the man employs his earnings in deeds connected to a householder's duties and to fulfill to his wife's and children's needs. Then he reinforces his powers in the 3rd phase i.e. vanaprastha ashram through 'brahmacharya' (i.e. celibacy), self-study, japa (i.e. recitations) and tapa (or(austerities). In the sanyas-ashram he distributes to the society his acquired knowledge, wisdom and experience. This organization of a man's life into four ashrams is a very great specialty of Vedic religion.

If brahmacharya ashram is the foundation of life, then gruhastha ashram is a beautiful building constructed on it. Gruhastha ashram has its own importance, usefulness and achievements. In gruhastha ashram, the sentiment of self denial gets strengthened. The family members with love and cooperation for each other are eager to bear hardships for the sake of other members of the family. And in what words to describe the great sacrifice of a woman? She is the very incarnation of self denial. As wife, sister, and daughter or as mother her self denial contributes to the divine joy in the family. A restrained life contributes to excellent health. The householder making a living through pure means maintains sweet relationship with his relatives, associates to get the facilities for making his life happy, peaceful prosperous, and so also the society.

A family is made up of more than one person living together. Thus besides the husband and wife, there are; son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, grand-father, grand-mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law etc. The sweetness and purity of relationships between them creates an atmosphere of a special cheerfulness, happiness, joy and lively bustle. If there is a closeness of love and trust between the husband and wife, then the feelings of love, affection, faith and service for each other will be created. All will think of the interest of each other and will do beneficial work, and the situation of giving importance to money above everyone else, including family members, will not arise. With a sense of belonging, generosity and cooperation, all will serve each other and there will be joy and happiness in the family.

Only love and friendliness are the foundation of an ideal family.

Identity of a Man with Character

Meaning: As expressed in the line of Rigved 10/117/8 — "In this world all are not equal in status. All are in ascending order, someone wealthier than the other, someone more learned than the other, and so on. To compare one's own self with someone with more capacity is always painful, therefore whatever we have received should be considered as a favor from God and we should go on ddoing our duty."

Message: 'Gyanmay karma evam karmamay gyan' is a proclaimed truth of Nepalese philosophy which means our deeds should be backed with knowledge and our knowledge should be in action i.e. there is a need for harmony in knowledge and deeds. The goal of all our scriptures and learning is only this that the light of the ultimate knowledge within our hearts should continuously brighten up our path of life.

All are not alike in this world. Not only the birds, animals and insects, but even men differ in their worth and capacities. Each man in not capable of carrying out every task, nor is he capable of every attainment. Mostly men themselves run away from work and keep on carrying for not obtaining various achievements. Most men in this world are unhappy 'why should others be happy'? They themselves do nothing and expect that they should get all the happiness, comforts, money wealth and achievements in the martial world. Such ignorant people who keep building castles in the air create a hell like life for themselves and simultaneously create an anarchic atmosphere in the society. Such distorted thinking only blunts their knowledge. Only their difficulties are visible to them and they always keep on crying. They neither have the time nor the knowledge to understand the sorrow of the millions of people living in want.

When the proper knowledge of the reality enlightens the mind, then accordingly, man decides the actions to be taken. For this harmony, he requires constant practice. To cultivate this habit is at first difficult, even impossible, but gradually by practive it is achieved. The Hindi saying is, 'karat karat abhyaas ke jdmut hote sujaan' i.e. by constant practice even dull persons become knowledgeable. A person, who does not know swimming, becomes mortally afraid when taken into the water, but within the next few days he is able to swim like fish. Similarly, by constant practice the entire life can be made full of knowledge.

A knowledgeable person has a quiet and balanced attitude. He considers all his achievements as a favor from God and remains satisfied. He does not have any emotion of jealousy or malice. He does not have ill-feelings on seeing others' happiness, comforts and progress. Never does he cry or get irritated or angry. He knows the sanctity of deeds and with a broad outlook keeps a compassionate attitude for all animals. With the attitude that all animals possess a soul just like his own, he is not satisfied merely with personal progress, but understands that in the progress of all lies his own progress.

This is the identity of a man with character.

Ekpaadrbhooyo dwipado vi chakrame

dwipaatripaadamabhyeti pashchaat.

chatushpaadeti dwipadaambhisware,

sampashyanpaktirupatishthamaanah .. (Rigved 10/117/8)

Keeping Good Company

As we go through the biographies of great souls, we find that whenever the supremely benevolent have incarnated on earth, slanderers have left no stone unturned in maligning them.

The intellect becomes mean with the association of slanderers but remains stable in the association of equals and become superior with the association of those who are superior to us. You reap fruits according to the kind of company you keep. Therefore you should always be careful in selecting the company you keep.

Long ago, there lived a man named Chajju Bhakta in Lahore. One day he was down the lane shouted, "Acche san…..tare, acche san… tare… (Buy good oranges)". Chajju Bhakta asked his companions. "Do you hear what that man is saying?" They said: "He is selling santaras (oranges) Bhaktaji"!

Bhaktaji said, "You did not understand. Listen carefully, he is saying. "Acche sang…tare (good company redeems)". He is saying that those who associate themselves with good people are redeemed, while those who fall into bad company meet with destruction."

Bhaktaji told a story to illustrate this: A crow and swan had become friends. One day the crow took the swan to its house and made him sit on   dry and wilted Babool tree. Two places stank of dung, flesh and bones that were scattered all around.

The swan said, "Brother! I cannot stay in such a dirty place, even for a moment. If you know of any pious place, you take me there."

The crow then took him to the secret grooved of the king and made him sit on the tree, and then sat near him. Beneath the tree he was resting. As the swan looked down, he saw the king sitting under the tree with his head exposed to the sun.

A swan is kind by nature, and out of compassion it spread out its wings to provide shade to the king who felt some relief from the sun.

A crow, however, is uncaring by nature. So it dropped its excreta on the king's head. The king shot an arrow upwards which brought the swan does, while the crow flew! I am not the crow that dropped the excreta. I am the swan that lives in pure water, but due to the company of the mean crow, my life has been ruined."

In the Sundara Kandam, section 45.4 of the Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Ram says to Vibhishana, "may providence keep us from the company of the wicked! It would be better; O respected one, to live in hell." (Because the company of the evil leads to the cycle of birth and death and repeated relegation to hells.)

Evil company destroys good virtues and is feared by those who recognize this truth. All scriptures and great souls have taught the jiva with great emphasis on the importance of staying clear of bad company. Bad company leads one to degeneration very quickly.

For example, one has to make great efforts to climb a tree, but there is no effort required in falling down. Similarly, one has to make great effort to attain spiritual power and earn the wealth of sadhana; but all our efforts carried out for over a long period of time will come to naught in a moment by keeping the company slanderers.

Many Path to Bliss

Sanatana Dharma, which means 'eternal principles of wisdom' can be approached and accessed in three ways: Through the Vedas, through the Upanishads and through the Purans like Shrimad Bhagavatam and Devi Mahatmyam.

The fire rituals or havens that we perform today have come to us from the Vedic age. Despite this the pure austere lifestyle of that age is impossible for most of us to practice in this hectic, demanding modern world.

The Puranic approach is generally for those of us who are more religious in the traditional sense as it establishes a culture or sanskar of rites and ritualistic worship. Though primordial, pure, cosmic consciousness is beyond time and space, it is easier for the verge individual to relate to God through divine forms with specific attributes. So, with their own changed consciousness, they invoked this primordial energy to manifest through a form. Mantras came to be revealed in the process. Each mantra has the divine power to invoke a particular deity. It begin with 'Oam' the seed syllable, concluding with salutations to that particular deity like a bridge that connects us to our own soul at one end and  to Divinity at the other. So, whenever we chant that mantra with faith and devotion, we start vibrating to the frequency of that deity to receive Grace. The 19 major Puranas of Santana Dharma describe the qualities, origin, mystical symbolism and power of these deities through vibrations.

In the Upanishadic approach we understand how to recognize and realize divinity in us in relation to the cosmic power. Our sages experimented in subtle inner realms by following a set of principles with complete awareness for long periods until they reached a state of bliss which was automatic and ecstatic. In this enlightened state, they found that they were permanently free of thoughts, desires, negativity expectations and limitations of all kinds. So, they codified these principles in Upanishads and passed them on to their disciples. In Sanskrit 'Upa-ni-shad' means 'to sit close to the sadguru', i.e. to sit at the lotus feet of the guru as a disciple and imbibe wisdom.

The Sadguru triggers the notion of self-enquiry in the disciple, thus activating his inner most core. The disciple's life then follows a path of dynamic motion and evolution within. Satsangs are spiritual forums where inner exploration is done with fellow seekers and guidance of the sadguru. This is the true 'gurukul' where we are inspired to practice self enquiry. When the sadguru enters our lives and we imbibe His wisdom, it shatters our egoistic mindsets and attitudes, dissolving the karma which had prevented us from feeling the presence of our own soul. His energy ignites our awareness invoking divinity, inner faith and stability. So as we evolve spiritually, our worldly life also becomes free from troubles, problems and worries because we start burning our karmas away. Each day is stable, joyous and fulfilling. The soul's qualities of love, peace, patience, tolerance, compassion, care and share blossom in us, harmoniously integrating spiritual progress and material prosperity.

Sanatana Dharma gives us simple, effective and practical formula to reorient our lives within the framework of satya, dharma, ahimsa and prema or truth, noble principle, non-violence and unconditional love. By walking in the footsteps of realized sages, we learn how to shed our limitations and live constantly in the blissful core of self.

Purity of Thinking

Meaning: The man, who robs a woman of her virtue, commits a friend's murder and does not obtain knowledge despite becoming aged, achieves downfall.

Message: The Vedic religion lays great stress on good conduct and morality. Every act should be for all regions, supreme and applicable at all times. It should not be related to a particular region of time. Speaking the truth, serving others and obliging others are such deeds only. Sadachar (good moral conduct) means those deeds which satisfy man's conscience and which give him the feelings of cheer and enthusiasm. By doing such good deeds, a man will never feel ashamed and his soul will be satisfied. This virtuous and moral deeds itself is called "Sadachar" or good deeds or good conduct. The opposite of it, i.e. the deeds by which a man feels ashamed, sorry or grief-stricken is called 'doorachar' or bad deed or bad conduct.

The general broad meaning of 'doorachar' is bad conduct and wicked dealings, but one of its meanings is also adultery. Obscenity and bad conduct are very closely related and the possibility of a man who accepts obscenity going for 'doorachar' always exists. Our ancient sages have laid great stress on 'vaasanaatmak pavitrataa' (i.e. purity as far as the desires for sex are concerned). The means for this purity is freedom for addictions and staying away from addictions are imbibing of liquor and other intoxicants, eating meat, fish and other animals, obscenity, adultery, and gambling, which becomes the cause of man's downfall. Among these the addiction of sexual lust is the most dangerous and therefore keeping it under control is the most important 'sadaachar' (or good conduct). As long as the fire of man's sexual lust is not aflame, till then man's greatness, learning, gentlemanliness, status and discretion remain. This itself is the measure of Nepalese 'sadaachar' or good conduct.

The man who decides to keep his eyes, ears, speech and mind in a pure state and keeps them pure, i.e. uncorrupted, he surely will be saved from obscenity. To save oneself from bad thoughts, not only are these restrictions necessary, but also along with it one has to adopt devotion to God, reading of god books and the company of morality pure men. Obscene thoughts will be away from us in proportion to our devotion to God, and bad thoughts will be away from us in proportion to the reading of morally good books. The company of good men will inspire us to proceed on the path of 'sadaachar' (morally good conduct).

The objective of Vedic religion and culture is to reach God while making use of means provided by Nature. God is 'shuddha swarup', i.e. God is the embodiment of purity itself and nothing but purity. Therefore to reach this pure Form, man's soul will have to become cleansed and pure. For refinement and purity of the soul, good conduct must be adopted along with the rejection of all addictions and bad habits. Good moral thoughts are produced in the mind only when 'saatvikta' (a combination of morality and simplicity) is made the basis of our lives. With that, high clean and pure thoughts are produced, which inspire us to adopt moral conduct.

Purity of thinking is the principal basis of 'Sadaachar'.