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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...