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Akhand Jyoti May-June 2015 33Akhand Jyoti Jan.- Feb. 2016

||O® bh¿rbhuva¡ sva¡ tatsaviturvareñya® bhargo devasya dhºmahi dhiyo yo na¡ prachoday³t ||(May Almighty illuminate our intellect and inspire us towards the righteous path)

- Rigveda 3/62/10; Samveda 1462, Yajurveda 3/35, 22/9, 30/2, 36/3

Volume - 14Issue - 1Jan.-Feb. 2016Date of Publication: 10.1.2016

Annual SubscriptionIndia: Rs. 100.00

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Amrit Chintan

Welcome Youth!The year 2016 is being observed by All World Gayatri Pariwar as the ‘Youth Revolution Year’. Inthis context, let us recall the clarion call of Swami Vivekananda to the Youth.- Editor

“I want young men. ‘It is the young, the strong, and healthy, of sharp intellect that will reach theLord’, say the Vedas. This is the time to decide your future — while you possess the energy ofyouth, not when you are worn out and jaded, but in the freshness and vigour of youth. Work — thisis the time; for the freshest, the untouched and unsmelled flowers alone are to be laid at the feet ofthe Lord, and such He receives. Rouse yourselves, therefore, or life is short. There are greaterworks to be done than aspiring to become lawyers and picking quarrels and such things. A fargreater work is this sacrifice of yourselves for the benefit of your race, for the welfare of humanity.…… Life is short, but the soul is immortal and eternal, and one thing being certain, death, let ustherefore take up a great ideal and give up our whole life to it. Let this be our determination, and mayHe, the Lord, who ‘comes again and again for the salvation of His own people’, to quote from ourscriptures — may the great Krishna bless us and lead us all to the fulfilment of our aims!”

- Swami Vivekananda

‘Akhand Jyoti – The Light Divine’ TeamWishes its readers a Happy, Healthy and Harmonious

New Year 2016

Extend your “best before” date by living a youthful life. - Lorii Myers

Akhand Jyoti Jan.- Feb. 20164

Contents01. Amrit Chintan

Welcome Youth! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------03

02. From Chief Editor’s DeskThe Year of Nation-building through Building of National Character -------------------------------05

03. Are We Utilizing Properly the Source of Our Talents? ------------------------------------------------10

04. A Great Opportunity is Offered Each Moment, If Only We Can Recognize It! -------------------15

05. Science and Spirituality

Seeds of Extrasensory Cognition Lie in Every Brain --------------------------------------------------18

06. Odyssey of the Enlightened – 47The Endeavor of Purification – 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------23

07. Silence is the Best Self-control ----------------------------------------------------------------------------28

08. Prana Therapy– 11Self-Treatment by Prana Therapy -----------------------------------------------------------------------31

09. Meditation is an Expression of Tranquil Mind-----------------------------------------------------------34

10. Youth ColumnHow to Make Your Personality Magnetic? -------------------------------------------------------------36

11. Talks on the Gita – 48Renunciation of the Fruit of Actions Leads to the Grace of the Lord - 1 ---------------------------38

12. Our Thoughts Shape Our Lives ---------------------------------------------------------------------------43

13. Nails Indicate Your Fitness Level -------------------------------------------------------------------------45

14. Amrit VaniPlans and Preparation to Usher in a Bright and Blissful Era -----------------------------------------47

15. Shantikunj News ---------------------------------------------- (Inner cover pages & back cover page)

Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the abilityto see beauty never grows old. - Franz Kafka


From the Chief Editor’s Desk

The Year of Nation-building throughBuilding of National Character

Golden Sunrise for IndiaNew Year is all set to dawn. If you look up to the skies or listen to the sounds of the space, youwill see many indications of upcoming changes. Sun rises every day at a pre-ordained time. Wedo not see anything special in that. However, there is something different about this year. Thissunrise symbolizes the rise of India and the change in destiny for the entire humanity. Yes, it istrue that the destiny of the entire world is interlinked with the destiny of India. India andIndians should realize this important national role. In order to fulfill this, we need to understandthe uniqueness of our nation and build its character.

Somebody asked Annie Besant once – “Can you tell us what is special about India when compared toother ancient and modern countries?” She said, - “Whatever God has given to India, He has not givenit to any other country. Whatever He has given to other countries, he has given all of that to India. Godhas given beauty to Greece, tradition to Rome, religion to Israel and spirituality to India that is capableof shouldering the welfare of entire creation. Beauty, tradition, religion, justice, rituals, literature,ideals, customs are all embedded in spirituality that God has bestowed on India. So, if anyone wantsto see all the boons that God has bestowed on every country in one place, they have to come to India.”

India is unique, India is extraordinaryMax Muller added more meaning to this experience of Annie Besant. He lived in India for severalyears studying and learning the Vedas and Upanishads. After realizing and imbibing the Indianway of life, he said – ‘If anyone were to ask me for a place under the sky that provides holisticdevelopment to the mind, where the most deep-seated problems of human life have been solved,a place of which Plato’s and Kant’s followers also sing praises of, I would unanimously say that thename of that place is India. If anyone was to ask me about a country that has given the literaturethat transforms our inner mind and leads to fulfillment of human life and makes us truly human,literature that not only refines the physical body but also transforms our subtle body and fills itwith bliss, I would again take the name of India for providing the vast and holistic literature.

Irish lady, Sister Nivedita, disciple of Swami Vivekananda, painted this picture of India in herletter – ‘India is unique and special among all the nations of the world. Each and every atom ofthis country is filled with the divine consciousness. This is the land of spirituality. Spiritualityhas assumed a body and taken birth on this holy land. The entire creation is propelled by themovement of this spiritual land. God has bestowed rituals and methods of worship to othercountries, but India has given philosophical knowledge that encompasses both the animate and

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. - Ogden Nash


the inanimate world, an experience not known to others. That is why India is the Jagadguru. It isthe birthplace for philosophy that encompasses the science and art of living.’

The saint of Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna experienced the Absolute Brahma on this sacredland. He did not differentiate between man and God, and said – ‘O people, who take pity onother creatures, listen to me. Who are you to shower your sympathy on creatures? They are alsoa form of Shiv, the almighty. Why are you taking pride in showing mercy on them? All creaturesare forms of the same Almighty. Serve them with the attitude of gratitude that they gave you anopportunity to serve. Do not boost your ego that you served them.’ There are so many anecdotesand examples from the lives of greatest of people regarding the Indian philosophy that even ifwe were to follow one of those, not only India but the entire world can be free of its troubles.

Ideals are lofty, why is their practice not so?We have observed that though the ideals are lofty, there is no corresponding action. While thereis equanimity and oneness, there is also disparity. While the ancestors are great, the next generationsare low on character. Why is it that the great country has fallen into such dilapidated state? Whyis it scared of its glorious past and responsibility of ushering the illustrious future? Why is it notable to accept its true identity? Sri Guru Golwalkar, the head of RSS went to meet LateMahommedali Currim Chagla, renowned Indian jurist and union cabinet minister, who also servedas chief justice of the Bombay High Court, after he returned from his trip to Russia. Both of themtalked for a long time. Golwalkarji asked him, ‘What is the difference that you observed betweenthe people of Russia and India?’ In reply to this question, Chaglaji recounted an incident. He hadgone to a playground in Moscow and asked the youth playing there, ‘How many hours do youplay and exercise here every day?’ They replied that they play for 6-7 hours in a day. Chaglaji wasvery surprised and said – ‘Brothers, why do you waste so many hours in sports and play?’ Theyreplied, ‘So that we can make our country proud among the other countries of the world. Weaspire that our country wins in each and every sports event.’ He found each and every person ofthat nation to be striving for the glory of his country, be it in a laboratory or in a playground. Thisis the state of affairs in other countries like Germany, America, Japan, France and England as well.How is it in our country? In our country, we still have to define what the glory of our nation is,what its historical greatness is, who its national heroes are and what its glorious past was.

In nutshell, there is dearth of national character here. Patriotism has become limited to cricketgrounds. This is an extremely sad state of affairs. There is lot to be learnt and implemented tomake things better on this front.

Where is our love for the country?After so many decades since India got its independence, even today it is not counted among thedeveloped countries in spite of India being a diverse and huge country with infinitepossibilitiesand capabilities. The reason for this depressing failure is the lack of love and respect

If you’re young and talented, it’s like you have wings. - Haruki Murakami


towards one’s own country. This is the fundamental flaw without correcting which we cannotlead our country towards success and prosperity.

What is National Character?In simple words, national character means love for the nation and the ability to keep the welfare of thecountry as the supreme priority in all walks of life. Whenever a nation has achieved progress, theprimary reason has been love for the nation. Without this enthusiasm, no country can achieve outer orinner progress in any field. In all these years the nations that have been successful in evoking thisemotion in their countrymen are Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Japan and have emerged as developednations. The question remains as to why our country has remained far behind in this respect. The oneand only reason for this is we are trying to achieve the possible with impossible means.

There are many possibilities of developing national character in our country, but it has so happenedthat we have started treading the wrong path. And once we are afoot on a wrong path, it iscertainly tough to get back on the right path. After independence, India was born in terms ofpolitical and geographical view point. However at psychological level, where emotions andfeelings are at play, we have not reached there. For the kind of country we envisage, our nationalleaders had proposed a technique that is based on shared heritage. There were three mainaspects to this – religious unity, historical unity and cultural unity.

The meaning of religious unity is that basically all religions are the same. It was believed that ifthis was instilled in the minds of people there would be unity among all the people in the nation.This premise was wrong from a historical perspective. History is witness to the fact that wheneverthe essence of religion is not well-understood, people of the same religion have fought terriblewars. For example, in Mahabharata war, both sides were Hindus and they belonged to the samefamily too. In the first and second world wars, people on both sides were Christians. There aremany such examples. Efforts to bring religious unity have been present ever since the times ofAsoka. Akbar also played an active role in this and provided political basis too.

Religion is ancient and timelessIn the modern times, great scholars like Bhagwandas tried to solve this issue, but things did notwork out. It is an irrefutable truth that the methods of worship and rituals are bound to bedifferent for different religions. But the truth is also that at the fundamental level, all religionsare timeless and one. If this is understood, then people following different faiths would look atone another as human beings, as members of the same family of humanity and as patrioticIndians. This would lead them to loving and respecting one another.

It is believed that a country where people of multiple faiths live, making them understand thenation’s history can evoke patriotism. When this is lacking, one must strive to put this in theminds of people. In all countries, be it a small one like Singapore or a big country like America,people from different faiths reside there. So they too have different facets of historical heritage.

The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming. - Oscar Wilde


But these countries do not force their citizens to believe in shared heritage. This is the reasonwhy different religions lead a harmonious life in spite of their historical differences and focuson sharing their responsibility for building their nation.

Culture cannot be imposed on someoneThe third issue is regarding acceptance of a shared culture. There are problems with this as well.Culture is typically a result of a long historical process. It cannot be imposed on someone orsome group through external means. After the Second World War, a movement was started inAmerica with an objective to Americanize the entire nation and bring about a unified culture. Asimilar process was started in Canada as well but it failed in both the countries. Eventually, theyhad to relinquish the idea of a unified culture and accept multiple cultures.In spite of innumerable internal turmoil and differences, patriotism is what binds the nation inharmony. When a person or group feels that their future is dependent on the nation and thattheir success is linked to the progress of the nation – this is patriotism in its truest sense. Thewelfare of the nation should be the primary concern for all. If there is a need to sacrifice for theprogress or protection of the country, we need to gladly offer ourselves. Without this kind oflove for the nation, no country can successfully be on the path of progress.

When national ideals are developed, patriotism will awakenIf we want to build a strong nation, the clash between religion, history and culture should cease.A very broad meaning for these words should be researched. Only then can the emotions of allthe people be successfully imbibed in those words. Our main goal should be to develop patriotism.And the basis for this patriotism will be a past that is glorious, a present that is focused onachieving the goal of a promising future. The only way to achieve this is when the mind of eachand every person is filled with love for the country. On the foundations of this inclusive patriotism,a strong national character can be built that can handle the heritage of the past, responsibilitiesof the present and the challenges of the future.

All of us should be inspired by our noble national ideals. There is irrefutable power and inspirationinherent in the ideals. Without noble ideals, a man may progress in the material sense but he cannever realize the true meaning of human life. Science and technological advancements can increasethe speed of trains and airplanes; they can create deadly weapons, but cannot awaken theconsciousness of a society or nation and impregnate the seeds of idealism. Only when a manassociates himself with lofty ideals, can his life become noble. The follies of human nature cannotbe refuted, but that should not stop us from imbibing noble samsakras and instilling humanevalues in ourselves. The rich spiritual heritage that Almighty has bestowed on our countryconsiders hurting others to be an irreligious act. It does not consider anything other than wishingthe welfare of others as the most religious act. One should understand this definition of dharmaand adharma and guide his actions in life. When you empathize with the sufferings and happinessof those around you, automatically a sense of social responsibility springs forth within you. This

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives ofpeople you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age. - Sophia Loren


is called the Narayana Shakti. It is this power that pulls out the person from his self-centerednessand links him with his family, society, nation and the world at large. The life of a person startsfrom one point and it finally comes back and merges to the same point. This philosophy ofinterconnectedness of birth and death is a unique contribution of India to the world.

Indian culture is the basis for a peaceful worldSome people might raise the question – a country in which the people are completely connectedto their nation, will there be no corruption, tyranny, violence and harassment? The answer isthat they are all there but the magnitude is not such that lack of character itself is defined astheir character. This also happens because of those compatriots who have been lured by wealthand not to the ideals of their nation. They are connected to materialism and not to God. Theyare connected to the body and not to sacrifice and auspiciousness of the creation. They havescience and technology, but they are unaware of the divine energy and sanctity present withinman. There is life but no ideal in it. This is the reason why they are not able to contribute tobuilding a noble human being and a peaceful world.

India and its citizens have to develop empathy for Nature and culture. It is true that othercountries have had their own experiences and, as a result, they have different perspectivesabout life. Similarly, India has its own fundamental view about life. And the experience of thisway of life is not just hundred or thousand years old but millions of years old. These experiencestell us how the Aryans-Dravidians, Shaivites-Vaishnavites, Hindus-Muslims forgot their enmityand lived a harmonious life. They fought wars together and emerged victorious. The Indianfreedom movement stands as a testimony to this fact that people of all religions came togetherand attained Independence for the country. Now is the time for heralding another significantNational Movement. We should all come together and build a glorious life for each other basedon building a noble character for the nation. We should ascend the steps of individualdevelopment, familial development and social development and take responsibility for nationaldevelopment. The destiny as ordained by the Almighty is entrusting us with this importantresponsibility this year. We all should respond to this clarion call, prepare ourselves and moldothers too. During this New Year, there is a need for courageous words and even more courageousactions. New Year is giving us the message of awakening. Our country and the entire world areburning in the heat of enmity and violence. How can you sleep during such a moment? Mahakalis also calling out to you again and again. He has brought forth the dawn of a glorious future.Let us all absorb the nectar and knowledge emanating from the rays of that rising Sun. Ourancestors have given us the means for building a noble humanity and harmonious world. Duringthis New Year, let us put that knowledge into practical use and act on it.

Prayer-filled New Year Wishes and Vasant Parva Greetings to all our readers.

(Pranav Pandya)That’s the duty of the old, to be anxious on behalf of the young. And the duty of the young

is to scorn the anxiety of the old. - Philip Pullman


On a road we see only the wheels of thevehicles in motion whereas their source ofpower lies in the combustion of fuel withinthe engine which is not visible externally. Thebattery and dynamic parts of machinery havetheir own role in the motion. They functioncollectively and make the vehicle run. Human‘entity’ is also like a car. His apparent activitiesare performed through the medium of hands,feet, head, torso, eyes, mouth, etc. Beneaththe skin lies the ‘dynamic system’ comprisinginternal organs, circulating flow of bloodthrough heart, contraction and expansion ofmuscles, exhalations and inhalations ofrespiratory unit, etc. Auto-regulatedfunctioning of this system generates energythrough which every component of the bodyperforms its (natural) tasks.

The source of this energy, the ‘epicenter’ ofthis vital force, and the (biochemical andbioelectrical) energy of still subtler parts (atcellular and molecular levels), lies still deeperin extrasensory core in the central ‘processor’of the brain. This core is referred in the yogicscience as the brahmrandhra. This focal sourcetoo is incapable of generating energyindependently. It derives the necessary powerfrom the supreme energy (Mah³ Urj³) of eternalConsciousness Force that pervades through theentire cosmos and sublime domains of Nature.All the physical and mental potentials andtalents, and capability of development of

humankind, are nurtured by this very force(consciousness-energy) dwelling in the innerself. Thus the seeds of pratibh³1 also exist inevery one, but whether and how these wouldsprout and blossom depends upon one’sawareness and ability to righteously use thisinherent source.

Most often, only a tiny fraction of this energyis used — mostly in ordinary day to dayactivities, satisfying the physical and mentaldesires and aspirations. If left in idle state forlong, the natural activity and defencemechanism of the body would weaken andfall prey to the attacks of bacteria and viruses.The same holds true about the brain (andmind). The faculties which remain unutilizedtend to become dull, dormant and wane outover time. On the contrary, if awakened anddeployed prudently, the inherent immensepower and capability hidden in one’s own selfcould bestow riddhi and siddhi (paranormalpotentials and supramental talents).

Here it is meaningless to talk about thosewhose interests are confined to fulfillment ofcarnal cravings and who do not think itnecessary to rise above their base instincts ofpersonal greed, attachments and ego. On thecontrary, those who aspire to achievesomething significant in life, find alternativesin endeavors for activation of these dormantnuclei of consciousness-energy and strengthen

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Are We Utilizing Properly theSource of Our Talents?

You are as young as you feel. If you begin to feel the warmth of your soul, there will be youthfulness in you that noone will be able to take away from you. - John O’Donohue


them by constant practice to a level at whichthey become capable of undertaking big tasksand achieving higher goals. One should makeit a point to be least dependent on others.Exuberance of competence and industry makesthe seed of talents inherent in a person bloomlike a flower which naturally makes butterflies(of brilliant success) hover around and bees(people around) sing in its praise.

For generation of heat (thermal energy),friction is required. Movement or progress toois dependent on it in one form or the other.Similar process is needed for awakening oftalents. Who can ever become a gymnastwithout practicing hard in gymnasium?Soldiers are subjected to rigorous exercisesand drills regularly. In order to flow forward,a river has to remove obstacles and breakthrough many rocks on its path. For successon a war-front one has to exhibit valor as wellas strategic experience. Only that boatman isgiven the honor of efficiency who exhibits thecourage to negotiate the boat fast across therapids in a river. On every front of life, devoutendeavors and prudent endurance areessential for attaining expertise in any chosendiscipline.

Prepare to Identify & Utilize InherentTalents:When “have-nots’ face problems one hardlygets surprised but one feels bewildered infinding people who own grand resources, yetthey appear lost and confused because ofignorance of appropriate know-how forfruitful utilization of what they possess.Unfortunately, most of the so-called well-offpeople fall in this deplorable category ofignorance.

There is a tale about some layman selling apiece of diamond inherited from his fatherignorantly as a piece of glass; as a consequenceof which he spends his entire life in poverty.An ignorant person always remains unawareof his full potential. It is said that the muskdeer continues to wander here and there insearch of the aroma which emanates from themusk located in its navel itself. There isanother tale about a man dying with cold inthe midst of heaps of dry grass, as it did notoccur to him that he could produce heat bylighting it with the match box in his ownpocket. It is often amazing, amusing, and alsopainful to see that ignorant of the treasureburied in his own house, a man spendshisentire life in abject poverty.

Ignorance always brings unhappiness andmisery. In unknown terrains, nomads wouldwander away from their destination duringthe night on losing sense of direction. Inabsence of knowledge of proper direction,people are known to have died in wildernessafter getting lost, exhausting their potentialof thinking in a state of hurry, confusion andapprehension. One often quotes example ofherds of deer dying in deserts by endlesslyrunning after mirage of water pools. There isa tale about a cub of a tiger that had somehowlost its way and joined a flock of sheep. Itbegan to behave like a lamb, till it came toknow its identity on rejoining the tigers. Whileasleep, people usually experience meaninglessdreams; under the influence of narcotic drugsalso man begins to think of things far fromreality.

Such instances show that inadequacy or lackof proper knowledge misleads a person and

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The beauty of collaboration between older and younger generations is that we combine strength with wisdom—asurefire way to accomplish more for the glory of God. - Brett Harris


also brings him unhappiness and misery. Thereis nothing so surprising if we come acrosssome stray incidences of ignorance, but it doesappear shocking that most people in this worldspend not only a part but almost the entirelife in thralldom of incongruous ignorance andillusion. Everyone seems to have his specificload of confusions, obstacles, problems,worries and commitments, always looking forsomeone to help in unloading this burden.Occasionally one might get some help fromsome odd quarters, but who can undertakethe responsibilities of someone else for longand how much help one can extend to others?That too, when every other person is caughtin complexities and challenges of his ownproblems!

Apart from ignorance, most people also havea characteristic drawback of extrovert hunt forother’s faults. One hardly ever makes anattempt to look for one’s own shortcomings.One of the most self-convincing delusions manhas is in assessing the happiness and prosperityof one’s neighbor which appear moremagnified in comparison to one’s ownpossessions. The grass on the other side of thefence always appears greener.

Everyone knows in his heart that a perfectflawless person probably cannot exist in thisworld. Still, one hardly likes to think of hisown mistakes, since it casts a shadow on self-professed complacence and self-esteem andscares one of failure, losing face, and apparentdegradation in society. Hence a simple formulafor disowning one’s own responsibilities offailures, mistakes or mismanagement is foundin putting the blame on some other person.To avoid confrontation with an apparently

powerful fellow, a scapegoat is found in someinnocent weak person, who does not have anycourage or competence to counter the charge.There are also many, who continue to findabstract reasons for their failures such asinauspicious periods of destiny, unfavorablecircumstances, adverse planetaryconfigurations, will of God etc. Since suchexcuses are based on unilateral reasoning,which is not refutable by facts, the personlooking for such excuses does not find itdifficult to develop a firm conviction in hisreasoning.

In addition to general weakness of findingfaults with others for own failures, people arealso found suffering from another degradingtendency in which they find it difficult to carryout a self-appraisal. Many, even otherwisehealthy and capable people, are found firmlyconvinced about their ‘insurmountable’limitations and do not think that much can bedone to increase their competence. Theycontinue to believe that in the past best ofpersonal endeavor was made under the thenexisting circumstances and nothing bettercould have been done. Entangled in suchrigmaroles, people lose all opportunities ofself-appraisal, self-improvement, self-reformation and self-development. Finding noway out to stop recurring failures they becomehelplessly irritated, stressed, troubled,complaining, anxious, and worried. It is quiteeasy to become mentally strained by harboringapprehensions. Most people in today’scompetitive world are found prone to thisnegative trait.

The foregoing traits of human decadence havebecome so pervasive that they have assumed

This world demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of theimagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease. - Robert F. Kennedy


the dimensions of an epidemic. In theprevailing environment an individual hardlygets an opportunity to appreciate that thepowers within his own inner-self are so potentthat if energized and activated from their stateof dormancy, they are capable of converting aperson of average capacity into a superman.There is no myth or miracle in this possibility.Thorough study of ancient and modern historywould show numerous examples testifying toextraordinary feats performed by ordinarypeople who meticulously charted the courseof their progress with self- confidence andprofound courage and created better andbetter opportunities successively. The ultimatelevel of achievement of these persons was sohigh and surprising, that it appeared nothingshort of a ‘divine boon’. On the contrary, therehave also been many such disgraceful andunfortunate incidences, when, in spite ofpossessing abundant resources and unusualopportunities, men became victims of self-worthlessness and gradually fell deeper intoabyss of decadence.

Overcome the Familiar Obstacles:

We know that our planet which appears staticis, in fact, continuously revolving around itsaxis and at the same time moving in its orbitaround the sun. The same holds true abouthuman life. It is not static. It is full ofpossibilities of progress and evolution. Theonly obstacle in progress is one’s ignoranceand deep-rooted negativities in one’s mind.Generally, man is so much obsessed with self-pity and helplessness that he begins to believein what he considers his limitations, withoutrealizing the immense potential for excellencelying dormant in his inner-self.

Even if a relatively more aware person makesan effort to extricate himself from themistaken concepts and illusions, his attemptsare often nullified by the influence of theprevailing social ambience.

For example, the power of money is ubiquitousin this world today and so is the glamour ofcreature comforts which can be acquired byit. Bodily charm and external beauty seem tohave become more important than character.No doubt, there is no dearth of successfulbusinessmen, artists, scientists, and otherswith distinct expertise. But amongst them wesee very few who have also enlightened thepath of progress of mankind after overcominghurdles by their courage and valor, who havelifted the downtrodden, gave support to theinfirm, provided motivation to the energeticand enthusiastic, and helped in enhancing theefficiency of others. There is nothing notableif one is capable of looking after one’s owninterests. Commendable are those who alsomake many others move forward on the pathof progress. This is what would make a talentworth glorifying.

It is pitiable that in spite of having enormouspower and capability hidden within us forself-improvement and for motivating manyothers, we are unable to utilize it because ofour ignorance and apathy. Ignorance of self isa bane which one knowingly or unknowinglycarries throughout life as an unwelcomeburden. In spite of distinguished skill orability, this would amount to sheer absenceof talent (pratibh³). Surprisingly, at times eventhe most robust wrestlers are found lackingself-confidence of their internal strength, orlacking in moral strength of character. But

The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience, while the error of age is to believeexperience is a substitute for intelligence. - Lyman Bryson


then, their wrestling skills and grand successwould be no better than exhibition of physicalstrength and swift and clever movements,which could be exhibited even in the locked-horn fight between animals.Even rogues, terrorists, sadists and immoralpersons are found exercising their skilledpower with impunity. What is the worth ofsuch brilliance and strength? Should they behailed as ‘talented’? The same is true aboutthe power of mind, intellectual faculties, andphysical resources like wealth. Theirmisutilization too brings self-reproach andnumerous problems for others. Creativity toohas often been used for obscenity, disdainfuldesigns, exploitation, or evil effects. Debasinginstincts of physical exhibitionism, carnal lust,sensual passions and immorality have oftenbeen encouraged by music, art and literature.Should we honor and expand such creativefaculties, which attract and influence many andare also remunerative but directly or implicitlygenerate powerful but debauching effects,negative psychological influence and lead todecline of the society?

We must note that an achievement is not anend in itself. It must be assessed whether anachievement is accomplished righteously?Whether grand possessions or celebrity statushave contributed anything for the welfare ofhumanity? This can be the only yardstick forapplauding one’s talents. Nature has endowedus with abundant support and opportunity tomake prudent use of our inherent abilities anddevelop and refine our talents. We should alsoremember that — unless we use them towardsfruitful objective worth the grace of Natureand its Creator, our powers, our talents,would be no better than the beautiful hornsof an antler, or attractive artifacts in ashowcase, which are good to look at but areof no practical use.

Notes:1. Pratibh³: Distinguished skill or ability with

a brilliant, brave, and virtuous character.(Unless otherwise mentioned, in this article“pratibh³” is referred as talent).

Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because life is sweet and they are growing. - Aristotle

Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met thegreat philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Have you made absolutely sure that what you areabout to tell me is true?”“Well, no,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”“All right,” said Socrates. “Now, is what you are about to tell me about my friend somethinggood?”“Umm, no, on the contrary…”“So,” Socrates continued, “Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful tome?”“No, not really”“Well,” concluded Socrates, ”if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor evenuseful, why tell it to me at all?”


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Each opportunity is a possibility. If we canturn this possibility into reality then the wholelife can be oriented towards a new directionand its present state can be completely altered.Opportunities are either veiled or manifest, butto recognize, accept and make best use of themis entirely dependent on an individual. Someopportunities are hidden and some othersevident. Some of them knock at our doors andsome have to be searched. Sometimes peopleneed to seek opportunities, and sometimesopportunities search for the right people!

Opportunities can be ordinary or very special.It is possible to turn an ordinary occasion to aspecial one, but often special opportunities alsolook like ordinary to normal people. Itcompletely depends on an individual how heuses the opportunities he is offered, what hedoes with them and how much he gets out ofthem. A stone may look ordinary to a commonbeing, but to a jeweler or a connoisseur it couldbe a very high valued diamond. Till a personbecomes wise enough to understand theimportance of opportunities, he keeps wastinghis life, regarding them as ordinary stones. Incontrast, a wise person understands the valueof even ordinary stones and knows how tomake good use of them.

This life that is bestowed upon us by theAlmighty is also a great opportunity for everyhuman being. How one makes use of his life

depends upon each individual. The action heperforms today becomes the basis todetermine what will be his future life.

Life as a compilation of moments of time isoffered to every individual as a gift by theCreator. Utilizing this one person becomes agreat ascetic, another becomes a famousbusiness man, while another becomes just acommoner and yet another becomes a beggarwho lives a life dependent on others. Makinguse of opportunities offered as time, some earnso much that they donate immense wealth incharity, while not making use of theopportunities some others become so poor anddowntrodden that their arms are alwaysraised to seek alms. Some become so strongand brave that none can rise to oppose them,while others become so timid that they areobliged to bow down before everyone.

Opportunities are always invaluable; theirworth cannot be compared to anything else.By making a good use of these some reachgreat heights and become rich starting frombeing poor. Opportunities are like stairs thata person can use to climb and succeed. On theother hand, missing opportunities sometimesbecome like deep gorges, which push a personinto depths that are difficult to scale.

Every moment of life brings with it a uniqueopportunity making best use of which one can

A Great Opportunity is Offered Each Moment, If Only We Can Recognize It!

A boy’s will is the wind’s will, and the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.- H. W. Longfellow


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become special from being a commoner. Butsometimes there come some specialopportunities that are capable of changing theentire orientation of life. Astrology indicatesthat there come special times which have aunique alignment of heavenly bodies. Thesetimes come rarely and persist for a short while,but when special spiritual practices areperformed during these opportune moments,astonishing results are obtained. And whensuch moments have passed then the samespiritual practices do not produce the samekind of results. Likewise in life alsoopportunities lead to greater successes at somesuitable times as compared to at other normaltimes. So these special moments are soughtafter and their importance is extolledeverywhere.

To identify good opportunities one needs toacquire the keen eye akin to an experiencedjeweler who can accurately differentiatebetween a precious and a normal stone. Butsuch a knack does not get developedautomatically. For this, a lot of effort has tobe put in and the art needs to be perfectedwith practice. Similarly, every person mustlearn how to understand the importance ofpresent situations. One must observe thedrifts of time, recognize the directions inwhich the world is headed, and listen to thedoor-knocks of opportunities. Normal peoplecannot make good use of special opportunitiesbecause they lack the necessary expertise orcapability to recognize their importance.

The only way to make good use of the specialopportunities is to put in efforts to enhanceour capabilities, develop acumen to overcomedifficulties and hindrances, and instill courage

to fight adversities. There is a rule of life that ifa person’s mental balance gets disturbed whenfaced with ordinary difficulties, then he wouldnever be able to recognize the great opportunitiesthat present themselves before him.

If a person does not take steps forwardtowards his goal and makes good use ofopportunities that come, he will continue tostay exactly where he was. Also if a persondoes not change his outlook with changingtimes he would not be able to grab goodopportunities in unfamiliar circumstances. Toidentify good opportunities, one needs to havea keen eye, capability to fight adversities andability to act differently from the normalpeople.

Benjamin Disraeli, the famous politician andnovelist of England has said that the true secretof success is to be ever prepared foropportunities and whenever any opportunitycomes by, grab it. Favorable opportunitiesknock at our doors only for a few moments.If we lose those moments, then we may endup wasting months or years to succeed.Inspirational author Swett Marden has said‘Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities.Seize common occasions and make them great.Weak men wait for opportunities; strong menmake them’. Wise people also say that peoplewho wait for opportunities are only theordinary beings. Extraordinary people createopportunities for themselves. So rather thansearching for opportunities, we must regardeach moment of life as invaluable and make agood use of it.

Better utilization of present circumstanceshelps create great opportunities. Good

Youth is but the painted shell within which, continually growing, lives that wondrous thing the spirit of a man,

biding its moment of apparition, earlier in some than in others. - Lew Wallace


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opportunities can lay hidden anywhere; to findthem we must make good use of presentcircumstances and search for solutions ofproblems at hand. There is an interestinganecdote in this regard. A king once placed alarge rock right in the middle of a path andhid himself behind the trees to observepeople’s reactions. First he saw richbusinessmen pass by. They cursed at the rockand maneuvered their carts around it andmoved on. During the day a number of peoplepassed by but none moved the rock. In theevening a farmer came. Seeing the rockobstructing the road he decided to move itoff. After considerable effort he succeeded indoing it. There was a packet lying under therock. In that there were gold coins and a letter

Youth is the golden period of life, and every well-spent moment will be like good seed planted in an

auspicious season. - Eliza Cook

“Beauty is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or thereflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. You have only a few years inwhich to live really, perfectly, and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it,and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you...Time is jealousof you, and wars against your lilies and your roses. You will become sallow, and hollow-cheeked, and dull-eyed...Ah! Realize your youth while you have it....Live! Live the wonderfullife that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations.Be afraid of nothing...The world belongs to you for a season...how tragic it would be ifyou were wasted; for there is such a little time that your youth will last. The common hillflowers wither, but they blossom again. The laburnum will be as yellow next June as it isnow. In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the greennight of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth. The pulse ofjoy that beats in us at twenty becomes sluggish. Our limbs fail, our senses rot. Wedegenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which wewere too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yieldto...Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth.”

- Oscar Wilde

written by the king that said – this is a prizefor the person who removes the rock from theroad. This anecdote tells us that efforts toovercome obstacles are also a gift likeopportunity. If we focus not on the obstacles,but the opportunities that lie behind it, the wayto reach our destination can be easily simplified.

Yugrishi Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya saysthat a person must always work hard toenhance his capabilities and competence. Thiswill help him in utilizing the opportunities welland identifying them easily. This way, lifegiven to us in the form of time will be usedwell, special opportunities would come to uson their own and we will not have to gosearching for them.


Science and Spirituality

The number of neurons (nerve cells) in adeveloped human brain is almost double thehuman population on the earth! Each of thesetiny cells is comparable in capacity andefficiency to a multi-talented, august and stouthuman being. In fact, people could sometimesbe lazy, disorderly, dishonest, or inefficient,but the tiny neurons never ignore their ‘duties’and continue contributing to the adeptinformation processing and the other vitalfunctions of the brain and the body.

The network of over ten billion neurons(‘brain-cells’) works like a ‘super computer’.The nerves — ‘biological channels’ of inter-connected neurons are spread in the entirebody and constitute the Nervous System.These are broadly categorized as of two types– the sensory nerves and the motor nerves;that make possible the perceptions of ‘signals’of the sense-organs and the locomotionactivities respectively. The sensory nerves arelinked with the sense- organs. Whatever wesmell, watch, hear, eat, or experience by touchis perceived with the help of the instant signalprocessing between the sensory nerves andthe brain. The motor nerves and their controlunit in the brain conduct the activities ofmovement, walking, chewing, bathing,reading, etc. This ‘physical’ understanding ofthe nervous system, together with the generalanatomy and associated physiologicalfunctions of the brain have been known to the

scientific community since the advent ofneurological research in the past century.

For a longtime, the brain was recognized onlyas the controller of the motor functions andthe perception of the sense organs. The factthat this rather small organ in the human bodyis a repository of astonishing potentialsbecame clearer with the advancement of neuro-scientific research. Research into cognitivefunctions of the brain and expression of talentson the one hand, and studies in endocrine(hormonal) secretions on the other has shownthe crucial role of the mind. Mind can bebroadly defined as the subliminalconsciousness-core of the brain and source ofcognitive functions and feelings (emotions,sentiments). Progress in contemporarycollaborative studies in the fields ofpsychology, parapsychology, and metaphysicsappear to be bringing the modern sciencecloser to the areas of Vedic science that dealwith the ‘extrasensory’ powers of human mind.It is now accepted by many groups of eminentresearchers that, as described in the IndianPhilosophy, the human mind is a reflection ofthe Brah®1. The impulses of whatever ishappening, is going to happen, or hashappened, anywhere in the infinite expansionof the cosmos reach and can be captured bythe inner cores of the mind.

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Seeds of Extrasensory CognitionLie in Every Brain

Today is not just another ordinary day. It is an opportunity to do, or say, something that just might inspire some-one to greater becoming...especially a wayward youth. - T.F. Hodge


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Our minds are endowed with the power toknow about the past, present and the future,at will. However, this supernormal talentremains dormant in general. Dull and drowsyminds or extra-agile, haphazard minds can’teven properly experience, recognize, oranalyze the present. Brilliance of intellect andforesightedness help the sagacious mindsknow and shape the future growth of thesubject matter of their interest and expertise.This explains why alert and focused/illuminedmind of a person is said to be the architect ofher life. However, the extrovert attitude, self-centered inclination, and complacence andexcessive attachment with the present and theimmediate future, often restrain its trenchantvision and talents from reaching the wider anddeeper domains of knowledge. Cultivation ofintrovert and deeper thinking and successiveendeavors of intellectual and spiritualerudition gradually arise its hidden powers.This elevation can eventually excel theilluminated minds to the higher realms ofprecognitive realizations.

Live experiences of great personalities andsagacious minds do illustrate from time to timethat the evolution of the inner-powers canindeed exalt the individual self tounimaginable heights. Child-prodigies areoften found to have exceptionally giftedbrains. Some of them are born with evolvedminds and extraordinary talents; whereas insome others, such powers are found activatedaccidentally.

Accidental Emergence of E.S.P.:Our mind can store past memories for ages.At a superficial level, we seem to forget manythings quite rapidly. What we seem to have

memorized with great efforts also appears tofade out from our memory after some time,as we are unable to recall it. However, as theneurological experiments reveal, whatever weever encounter remains inscribed in the ultra-sensitive microfilms of some sub-networks ofneurons for hundreds of years. For instance,in one such experiment when Dr. Penfield hadelectrically stimulated the memory strip in asubject’s brain, that person started singing thesongs of a film, which he had seen over twodecades ago. The story of the film alsosurfaced afresh in his memory as though hehad watched the movie just now. As discussedbelow, sometimes the ‘memory’ of the pastlives, or some ‘supernatural’ sensory orcognitive centers also get activated due toaccidental stimulation.

Molly Fencer was born and brought up in amiddle-class family at Brooklyn. She got fondof horse riding in young age. She used to gofor it every evening with her friends.Unfortunately on 10th May 1864, she fell downfrom the back of the running horse. Shesuffered some head injury and sprain butgained normal vigor in a few days. However,the accident recurred in less than a month on8th June. This time she could not recover sofast and was even not able to eat properly.She appeared to be getting normal at a slowpace. After about seven months – on 3rd

February 1865, when a renowned expert ofhis times, Dr. Robert Spiegel examined her andfound nothing serious, her aunt Susan Kansaiand other relatives and friends felt so relieved.However, their hopes diminished when thesame evening she went into coma. She couldregain clinical consciousness only after severalmonths but had lost her memories of the

Spontaneity is the province of youth. - Jacqueline Carey


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present life. She could not recognize her familydoctor, neither her aunt who had been lookingafter her since childhood.

She remained in this state for nine years.Though her left hand was paralyzed, she wasable to sit and manage things using the righthand. In this duration she wrote about sixthousands letters (to some unknown‘friends’!), which were remarkably thoughtfuland carried deep sense of knowledge.

February 1873, she suddenly got up andstarted walking. But what a fate! She lost herbalance and fell down from the stairs and onceagain suffered head-injury. This time Dr.Robert’s brother, Dr. F. Spiegel had come toattend her. Looking at him she asked – “HelloDoctor! What is your brother, Dr. Robertdoing in his new house? Why didn’t he cometoday?” She was startled by seeing the changein her aunt’s looks and shrieked – “How comeAunti! Your hair got all grey just in one night?”When she was told about the tragedy and alsoshown the letters written by her, she couldnot believe it. She somehow felt as though theletters were written by some departed soul.

The letters were just the first expression ofthe extrasensory power awakened in Molly.Later on, after yet another accident, this ladylost her eyesight. It is so surprising that despitebeing declared blind clinically, she was ableto see everything – even much beyond thepower of normal vision. In her words –– “Ifeel that I am seeing through an eye betweenmy eyebrows. Many a times I can see distantor remote objects too. I feel as if some brightrays emit from my forehead and collide with(or even penetrate) the objects around me;these are reflected back to me with the ‘visualinformation’ of the corresponding thing orscene”.

Prof. Henry M. Pasture, a physicist of theBrooklyn University had investigated Molly’sextrasensory perceptions (E.S.P.) in late 1875.He was keener on finding two things. Firstly,whether this lady indeed possesses E.S.P. orsmartly plays some tricks? And, if she has anypower of E.S.P., how she makes use of it inday-to-day transactions – e.g. whether shetouches the things with her forehead or justlooks at them from a distance, etc.?

Tolerance cannot seduce the young. - Emil Cioran

The one characteristic of authentic power that most people overlook ishumbleness. It is important for many reasons. A humble person walks in a friendly world.He or she sees friends everywhere he or she looks, wherever he or she goes, whomeverhe or she meets. His or her perception goes beyond the shell of appearance and intoessence. …….The next time you feel unworthy, inadequate or inferior, remember thatthese experiences have nothing to do with humbleness; any more than lowering yourselfto connect with another individual has to do with humbleness. There are no lower orhigher individuals in the perception of a humble person. There are only souls. There isonly love.

- Gary Zukav


Once he gave her an unfolded sheet of a letterenclosed in a thick cover. Molly was able toread it even when the envelope was closedand kept at a distance in front of her. Anothertime he gave her some papers from an old file– again she read them all clearly irrespectiveof whether the papers were left open or keptinside opaque folders. Prof. Pasture conductedseveral such experiments and tests at random.Finally he certified her power of E.S.P. andconcluded that Molly can see through her thirdeye. He however had no explanation – in thelanguage of physics or biomedical science – ofhow it could happen?

Today, when a lot more is known about thehuman brain, someone might attribute Molly’svision through the sixth sense as a result ofsome extraordinary or abnormal function ofthe neuronal network that might have beenexpressed because of the accidental distortionand partial derangement in her other faculties.Whatever the cause, but it proves that humanbrain does possess some faculty/potentials ofE.S.P. There was a time when the eminent yogisand spiritually enlightened s³dhakas used toactivate these potentials at will by controlleduse of their elevated pr³ñas2 and spirituallyenlightened mind.

Several books, such as “The Third Eye” by T.Lobe-Sang, “Spiritual Journey to the Land ofHermitage” by Al Zahir, and “The Making ofHeavenly Trousers” by Daniel Bayer, give usa firsthand view of the extrasensoryexperiences of the authors. These intellectualshad had the divine experience of theawakening of the Âjó³ Chakra (– the ‘sixthsense’ or the ‘third eye’). What they had

experienced as clairvoyance and glimpses ofthe past and the future in the specific states ofmental engrossment in deeper consciousness– was also authentically verified. Suchexperiences prove that human mind is indeedendowed with a divine eye in its subliminalcore.

Renowned German philosopher and writer,Goethe mentions at one place in hisautobiography that –– once when he wassitting in his house at Wilma, he suddenly‘saw’ that the island of Sicily, several thousandmiles away, is being shaken by horrifyingseismic tremors. The feeling was so strong andclear that he even discussed this uniqueexperience with some of his friends. But noone paid any attention. What else but “illusion”could such an experience be called in general?How could one see or explain the happeningsof several thousand miles away without anymode of communication? It was only afterabout a week that the newspapers brought thetragic reports of a devastating earthquake inSicily. This had occurred on the same day, atthe same time, when Goethe had ‘watched’this horrifying event ‘live’ (through the hidden‘telescope’ of his mind!).

In his popular book “The Gulliver’s Travels”,Jonathan Swift had described that –– Mars hastwo moons orbiting around it; one at a velocitydouble than the other. His imagination wasthought to be mere fiction because, until then itwas not known that the planets other than theearth could also have their satellites. After about150 years, in 1877, a giant telescope in the NavalObservatory at Washington, traced the presenceof the two moons of Mars and also proved thatthe velocity of one is double that of the other!

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The secret to youth is to fill your mind with beauty! Amen. - Linda Ballou


Possibilities in Every Individual:Nature has gifted all of us with the fount ofmany talents and potentials. But, we keephunting for petty things and supports in theexternal world; because of our incomplete andsuperficial knowledge of our own being, wespend all our efforts and energies in fulfillingthoughtless ambitions, short-term gains, andinsignificant achievements. We should learnto focus our thoughts, look inward, andcontemplate and meditate to realize ourhidden capabilities. Little more care andsincere efforts3 to save and raise our vitalenergy, and to awaken the hidden potentialsof the mind would help us acquire brightersuccess and strive for higher goals.

Seeds of riddhis-siddhis4 are also immanent inthe inner self. Each one of us could graduallyactivate and evolve these extrasensorypotentials through firm determination, adepts³dhan³s and unperturbed perseverance. Theancient Indian science of yoga and spiritualityenlightens the path to such extraordinaryattainments. Authentic reports andexperiences of supernormal talents of self-control, absolute mental-concentration, andimmense willpower of the spiritual mastersand yogis have drawn the attention of many

researchers towards the yoga practices ofdhy³na-dh³rañ³ (meditation) and s³dhan³s(devout spiritual endeavors).

Great yogis and spiritual masters purify theirmind, focus its intrinsic tendencies in righteousdirection, and awaken its subliminal powersby unflinching self-restraint, ascetic disciplinesand s³dhan³s (spiritual endeavors). Indeed,spiritual refinement of personality andawakening of the inner force of consciousnessenable the ‘individual self’ emancipate itselffrom the thralldom of ignorance and activateits sublime linkage with the limitless ‘cosmicself’. In this process, the domains of mentalexperiences and cognition naturally expand beyondall bounds of time and space.Notes:1. Brah®: The Omnipresent, Eternal,

Consciousness-Force.2. Pr³ñas: Vital Spiritual Energy.3. Effective Efforts: Fasting with self-restraint

over tongue and sensual lust, yoga exercisesof ³sana

and pr³ñ³y³ma are very effective andsupportive in this regard.

4. Riddhis-siddhis: Supramental intellect andsupernatural talents and physical powers

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Music and imagination are made of the same substance -they contain soulful substancesthat are more real than reality. - Aniekee Tochukwu

Youth is not a time of life—it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of redcheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a temper of the will; a quality of theimagination; a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life.Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetitefor adventure over a life of ease. This often exists in a man of fifty, more than in aboy of twenty. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people growold by deserting their ideals.

- Samuel Ullman


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Odyssey of the Enlightened – 47

The Endeavor of

Purification – 3Fund-raising through Bhagvat KathaShriram adopted a new method. He tried torecollect the stories of Bhagvat Katha that hehad heard several times through the discoursesof his father. Then he arranged those contextsproperly in his mind and announcedconducting of Bhagvat Masa Parayana in theSanatan Dharma temple near the bank ofYamuna River. Normally, the discourses onBhagvat are completed in a week; devoting sixhours per day for this task. However, there isalso provision of reading through it in a month,but this is done at the individual level by thedevotee. Shriram decided to do thisexperiment for the masses. Due to his busynessin political activities and the work of ‘Sainik’it was not possible to devote six hours dailyfor this purpose. By spreading this programover a span of one month, it was also the aimto motivate the audience through discoursesfor such a long time.

The management of Sanatan Dharma templeaccorded permission to conduct the program.They also started helping in the arrangements.But as soon as they came to know that theDakshina (offerings) collected through MasaParayana would go to Harijan Fund, theyrevolted. They blamed Shriram of deceit,cancelled the permission to conduct theprogram; and started propagating – “Shriramis plotting to corrupt Sanatan Dharma;foreigners are providing funds for this

purpose, etc”. Some people also blamedMahatma Gandhi. Shriram didn’t care forthese allegations. Inconvenience was certainlycaused due to the cancellation of Katha programin the temple. But he didn’t give up. He startedpreparing to conduct Katha Pravachan in openspace outside the temple on the bank ofYamuna. Congress volunteers too cooperatedin this venture and within three days thearrangements were made for the Vyaspeeth(stage for discoursing) and that for the seatingof about one hundred fifty people.

On the four corners of Vyaspeeth four bambooswere tied and they were covered with bananaleaves. There was no roof. The audience wasmotivated to sit in open space. The Pravachanbegan on Magh shukla pratipada (first day ofbright half of the lunar month of Magh). On thefirst day, thirty people attended the discourse.Shriram began his address like this – “BhagvatKatha is for purifying everyone. MaharshiVedvyas has written this Purana to explain theessence of Dharma to the common man whocannot understand the complexities ofscriptures like Upnishads, etc. Even the evilspirits get salvation by listening to it.Therefore the common people should notworry at all.” By his strong arguments hesettled the traditional sanatan followers’ hash,though he didn’t mention anybody’s name.After this introduction, he made a dailyroutine of Katha of one and half hours.

Youth is the pollen that blows through the sky; and does not ask why. - Stephen Vincent Benet


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After the completion of Katha, everyday peopleoffered one or two paisa or sometimes one –four annas. The task of keeping the account ofofferings was given to Mangilal. He was fromDalit community. He could not get theopportunity to go to school, but he wasintelligent. In spite of being illiterate he wasgood in accounting. He used to take part inthe freedom movement also. When he saw theobstacles coming in the way of Bhagvat Katha,he came forward and told Shriram - “We willtake the responsibility of doing the requiredlabour and supplying the necessary items.” Hehad four more volunteers with him. So therewas no problem in the tasks requiring physicallabour or running here and there.

Dalits managed the affairsWhen the responsibility of managing theaccounts was given to Mangilal, he firsthesitated. Shriram explained to him that theevent was being organized for the benefit ofbackward and suppressed people; it would beappropriate if some person from the samestratum of society takes the responsibility ofmanaging the affairs of money also. After thisadvice, Mangilal agreed to take up the task.

Within eight –ten days, the Pravachan startedthriving. Apart from common public, peoplethe volunteers of freedom struggle, writers,correspondents, etc also started participating.The comrades working in the office of ‘Sainik’newspaper used to invite the public for KathaPravachan. Some of them contacted even theintellectuals and people who had interest inliterature. So they also dropped in, once in a while.

One day Babu Gulabrai also came to attendthe Pravachan. He had good reputation as a

litterateur. He knew Shriram as a journalist.This incarnation of his as a reciter of Katha wasnew for him. When the Pravachan was over,he got up from his seat, went to the stage andsaid some words in praise of Shriram. He said– “The style of Katha - recital of Shriram is likethe Ganga descending from the Himalayas andcoming onto the planes, which is fast, crudeand carefree but it is pure and pious.” BabuGulabrai laid stress on his carefreeness. Theimportant message of this lecture was - “Tillnow I knew Shriramji ‘Matta’ as a journalist, awriter and a social volunteer. It is his newincarnation as a Katha Vyas. On this occasion, Iwill call him ‘Panditji’; in future also I will callhim by this honorific name. I will be happy ifyou (audience) also call him by this name.”

And now Pandit ShriramThe people present there delightedlyapplauded the announcement of BabuGulabrai. Shriram Sharma ‘Matta’ now gotrecognition as Pandit Shriram Sharma ‘Matta’.In those days, the title of ‘Pandit’ was notconferred easily. A person was called Panditonly when he had mastered the knowledgeof scriptures, and achieved purity of mind andthought. A learned and respectable personused to give this kind of recognition. Theauthoritative declaration of Babu Gulabrai wasaccording to that tradition. From that day on,people coming to Katha started calling himeither as ‘Mattaji’ or ‘Panditji’. For the seniorvolunteers, elderly people or friends, ofcourse, he remained Shriram later on too.

By the time Masa Parayana was completed,Pandit Shriram’s resolve too was fulfilled. TheDakshina offered on the Pothi (book) of Bhagvatamounted to Rupees one hundred and seventy

The period of youth is the glory of nature, and the healthful development of all the resources of strength depos-ited in our nature is the glory of youth. - Elias Lyman Magoon


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one. The expenditure of the program was borneby Shriram himself and other volunteers likeMangilal, etc. It was decided that the entireamount received in the offerings, though it wasmore than the target, should be given to theFund. The amount could have been easilycollected by going to the village or contactingsome twenty – thirty rich men. The realachievement was to convey the message ofpurification of society to about 250 -300 people.

Taiji had got the news of Bhagvat Katha fifteen–twenty days earlier. She was happy that herson was following in the footsteps of his father.She bowed in front of Thakurji (idol of LordKrishna) and said – “Lord! Guide my darling(son) on the footsteps of his ancestors.” Thenshe changed her mind. In the emotional moodthis thought did come, but immediately sheregretted also – “Does Thakurji not know whatis good for Shriram? He will himself guideShriram on His path. I should not have shownhaste.” With these counter thoughts she got upand moved away from Dwarkadheesh (sameidol). Two weeks after that request to the Lord,the news came that the society had started callinghis darling ‘Panditji’; she got deeply moved.

Mother’s waitThat day she was really waiting for Shriram.From the day she got the news of KathaPravachan, she had an intense desire that sheshould meet Pandit Shriram; call him asPandit. The day Shriram was to come fromAgra, she had gone to the main gate of theHaveli (ancestral house) several times. Earlierthree –four times, when he came home afterbeing released from jail, he went straight tohis friends. With a view to stop this happenagain, she had instructed all concerned that

Shriram should come straight to home. Shealso told his friends – “Don’t stop my son onthe way; let him first meet his mother.”

Apart from Taiji, there was one more personin the Haveli – the better-half of Pandit Shriram- who was overpowered by waves of emotion;but she was silent. In the Haveli, she was calledBahurani (literally meaning daughter-in-law).Friends of Panditji called her Bhabhiji(brother’s wife). Panditji himself used to callher by the name of his son ‘Om Prakash’. Lateron, after the birth of the daughter, he startedcalling her ‘Daya ki Maa’ (mother of Daya) orsimply ‘Daya’. It appeared as if the name andidentity of that silent Sadhika (Saraswati Devi)were almost forgotten. The Sadhana of GrihasthaAshram cannot be accomplished without meltinglike this. According to the tradition prevailingat that time, Bahuji also called Pandit Shriram inthe guise of his son. There were hardly anyinstances when there was any reason to call him.After the marriage, Pandit Shriram hardly stayedat home. Most of the time, he was busy either infreedom movement or in the work of ‘Sainik’.Whenever he visited home and if there was anyurgency to call him, Bahuji would follow thetradition of her time. Probably, she too waswaiting for her adored husband, and it waslikely that she too might have been impatient tomeet him; but she was controlling herself.

Meeting with the familyFrom the hustle and bustle at the main gate,Bahuji understood that Pandit Shriramji hadarrived. The joy on the face of Taiji was quitevisible. The way the widowhood and old agecauses the Indian woman to wither, that wastotally absent in Taiji’s behaviour at that time.Taiji was behaving boastfully for the obvious

The Youth of a Nation are the trustees of Posterity. – Benjamin Disraeli


reason that her child, treading the rightpath, had achieved first success and hadbrought home his first earning. She wascoming forward (to receive him) saying –‘Now my Shriram too has become Pandit. Ihave heard that great scholars have calledyou as Pandit. What have you brought forme? Did you bring any gift for Bahu or not?You would have certainly brought dolls forOm and Daya?’

There was a kind of torrent of queries. Assoon as Shriram gifted his mother a Sari, thetears of joy rolled down her eyes. With thesetears of love, she became eager to see the giftsfor Bahu and children. She was unable tomanage her joy. She took her darling straightto Puja room, bowed her head in front ofThakurji and then patted him on the back as amark of blessing of her Lord.

For a full day Shriram remained at home;caressed the children, enquired about thewell-being of his wife. There was neitherany complaint nor any expectation from herside. When asked about the generalwelfare, she replied humbly – ‘There is nodearth of anything here. Of course, I wouldhave considered myself more fortunate,had I got the chance to serve you there. Evenin the present condition, there is nocomplaint.”

Shriram said – “If Taiji says, I will immediately callyou there. Anyway I will be visiting home moreoften. Let Om grow up a little more. We will admithim in some school in Agra. So he will be with usall the time.” Bahuji was listening silently. Hersilence itself was a sign of her acceptance.

Meeting again with BapuIn the meantime Mahatma Gandhi came toAgra. His public meeting was arranged atKachahari road. He was to stay at Agra onlyfor four hours. Therefore, only two programswere kept – a meeting with volunteers and apublic meeting in the evening. Meeting withvolunteers was arranged in the office ofCongress. There Gandhiji said – “I have taken avow to forget about the freedom movement forone year. In our society, there are eighty percentpeople who belong to suppressed classes -Harijans, aboriginal tribes, backward classes orDalits. Without uplifting them there is nomeaning of independence. Such independencewould be useful only to ten-fifteen percentpeople. Majority of the people will still remainunder the yoke of poverty and slavery.”

Pandit Shriram was also introduced toGandhiji in that meeting. Paliwalji mentionedabout his contribution to Harijan upliftmentin that region. When he was informed aboutthe Dakshina of Bhagvat Pravachan, Gandhijismiled and said - “Offerings on the Pothibelong to God. The idea of using God’s moneyfor his subjects is unique. I got an idea for thepublic meeting in the evening.”

About one thousand people attendedGandhiji’s meeting at Kachahari road. At thattime the population of Agra would have beenhardly twenty five to thirty thousand. Thus,the gathering was quite good. In his address,Bapu mentioned about Shriram’s BhagvatPravachan. His inspiration was that the moneybeing spent in the temples and religiousfunctions should now be utilized in Harijanupliftment. He said – “Pandit Shriram hascollected some money through Bhagvat Katha.

The elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time. - Mark Twain


This has given me great pleasure. It doesn’tmatter how much money is collected. Whatmatters is that he has shown the righteouspath to the public. The gentleman who hascalled him Pandit is very right.”

Mention of Panditji in the address

In his address, Bapu elaborated about hisHarijan upliftment program. He stressed theneed to allow Harijans to enter the temples andto draw water from public wells; given equalstatus in community functions and evenwelcomed in upper caste homes. When the timefor giving contribution to the Harijan fund came,the volunteers asked Shriram to lead them.Gandhiji said – “On behalf of this city, a Panditis coming to donate. This is a good sign. We,the upper caste people, should take the initiativein this direction. If we try to rectify the errorcommitted by our ancestors, the upliftment ofHarijans will not take more than a year.”

‘When Panditji (Shriram) reached near Baputo hand over the contribution of Agra toHarijan fund, Bapu became emotional. He gotup and held both hands of Shriram in hishands. He touched his closed fist with his nose.As elder people smell the forehead of children,in the same way he expressed his love towardsPanditji. Then he said – “Bhagvat Shastra is foreveryone. Is it? I have heard that this spiritualinstruction is only for those who possess aloving and compassionate heart. It is not forthose who use logic and intelligence, areinflated with ego and consider themselves tobe high-class. Is it true?”

Shriram was overwhelmed by these words ofGandhiji. He could not answer. He wanted to

say – “You are right”, but could only nod hishead in agreement. Bapu asked one more question– “What have you given in the fund from yourpocket? The sum of rupees one hundred seventyone belongs to Bhagvatji. What is yours?”

“I want to keep it secret.” Panditji composedhimself and said – “If you allow me then I cantell you in your ear with the condition thatyou will not tell others.” Bapu agreed. Shriramtold him in the ear. Gandhiji’s face glowed withjoy. He patted him lightly on the cheek.

Several years after this incident, Poojya Gurudevtold that he gave his father’s gold buttons usedin his Kurta in Bapu’s fund. In order to get thesebuttons, he went to Aanwalkheda. Taiji hadentrusted these gold buttons to Bahurani. WhenTaiji came to know about it, she felt proud ofher son’s virtue of selfless giving.

Bapu said – “Something is still left with you.You have hidden it. Give that also to me.”Panditji was surprised and started looking atGandhiji; and then said – “I have hiddennothing.” Gandhiji said – “See the pocket ofyour Kurta. I can see it from here. Perhaps onerupee coin is there.”

Shriram put his hand in the pocket. Bapu’spenetrating view, humour and forthright talkmade Shriram laugh. Smilingly he took out thecoin and kept at the feet of Bapu. Raising hishand Bapu said – “Now it’s alright. A Brahmanshould believe in God and stop worryingabout the subsistence of self. I too don’t keepanything with me. There is no pocket in myclothes. By caste I am Bania (of the class ofbusinessmen); even then I have resolved toobserve aparigrah (non-possession).”

O youth whose hope is high, Who dost to Truth aspire, Whether thou live or die,O look not back nor tire. - Robert Bridges


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By remaining silent or by speaking less, notonly do we learn control over what we speak,we also conserve our life energy. Silence savesus from unnecessary disputes and also fromthe problems that get created after disputes.On the other hand, those who cannot remainquiet habitually and keep talking to exhibittheir intelligence, are often more likely to getinto difficulties. It is possible to expressourselves even by remaining silent. Thoughthere is no language in silence it can still cast agreat influence upon others.

Not talking is not silence. Often peopleconfuse silence with discontinuation oftalking. But if thoughts are creating a chaosin mind, or if tides of attachment or jealousytowards another person are waxing andwaning inside the mind, then this cannot becalled silence. Restraint of speech is onlyexternal silence whereas silence of mind isthe inner and the true silence. The true andcomplete silence is when both mind and voiceare completely silent.

Silence helps in restraining our senses. Themental energy that gets expended while talkinggets conserved by silence. It is said that aperson who can control his tongue saveshimself from a lot of sufferings. We can learnand realize deep, intricate aspects of life onlyby remaining silent. From time immemorialpaeans extolling virtues of silence have been

sung. The great rishis and spiritual mastersadopted silence as an integral part of theirlives during their penance and carried outintense spiritual practices. By remainingsilent they could stay away from worldly,materialistic affairs and attain the innerpeace.

We can get acquainted and then trulyunderstand ourselves only by remainingsilent. Silence gives us an opportunity to lookat and analyze our activities, actions andbehaviours minutely. Introspection andanalysis of our inner selves is possible onlyby remaining silent. Through this alone canwe discover the complexities of our mind andweed out its distortions. As more and moreperfection gets attained in the practice ofsilence, the hidden capabilities of a personbegin to emerge.

Silence is a golden pathway of spiritualitywhich leads to conservation of inner energyand development of personality. Silence takesa person to immeasurable depths of sadhanaand brings serenity and equipoise in hispersonality. Just like in the great depths ofoceans there is stillness and serenity and nomovement, similarly as the practice of silencenears perfection the inner stillness increaseswithin a person and in this state he succeedsin achieving whatever he wishes for.

Silence is theBest Self-control

Youth is the ultimate limited resource. - William Shatner


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When a person speaks a lot and withoutrelevance, he not only wastes his energy, hismind also becomes unsteady. Just like wavesin a river keep rising and falling, thoughtskeep wavering from one useless fantasy toanother in the mind of a talkative person, andsuch a person is never successful in any worthytask. So it is necessary to develop timelyawareness of this habit and save ourselves fromspeaking unnecessarily so that a comprehensiveconservation of inner energy is possible.

This does not mean we must be silent always.Whenever necessary we must speak, butexpress our thoughts in pithy and meaningfulsentences. We must not get involved inunnecessary arguments. A famous saint MalukDas has said, “No result comes out ofmeaningless arguments. Disputes generateanger. Both fighting sides compete with eachother to prove them better, more truthful andmore intelligent than others.” When one side’sargument counters the opinion of the otherside, anger brews. There is only one way tosubdue this anger; we should stop trying toprove ourselves as wiser than our opponent.On the contrary we should behave as if we donot know anything. The opposite side would

not continue arguing for too long then andwould become quiet on its own after a while.There is a wise saying – the person who knowswhen to keep quiet can defeat hundreds.

We normally disregard our inner mind andget involved in external activities. Ourattention is always in finding others’ faultswhich distracts us from our goal. Our minddoes not get silent and focused and we losesight of success. Once Guru Atmanand taughta lesson to his four disciples. After the lessonhe told his disciples, “Study the lessoncarefully. Make sure that none of you speaksa word while studying. I will discuss aboutthis lesson with you after sometime.”

Guru Atmanand left and all the four disciplessat separately and began to study the lesson.Suddenly it grew dark and overcast and rainsseemed imminent. A disciple spoke out,“Looks like it is going to rain heavily.” Onhearing this second disciple said to the first,“You should not have spoken.” The thirddisciple said, “You two have broken thediscipline, Guru ji is going to punish you now.”Only the fourth disciple kept quiet andcontinued studying.

Youth is the time when hearts are large. - Herman Melville

Love is the currency of happiness

The practical currency or the money or coinage for transaction of joy is Love. Heis the richest person who gives the most, and this giving is never in the form ofmaterialistic money. Rupees and Paise are just symbolic, nothing more. Most of thetime, they become bondage with worldly matters. Sometimes they symbolize theaffection, which can release us from rigidity; but they can never give the real happymoments of perfect joy.

- Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya


After sometime, Guru came back. Seeing himthe first disciple pointed to the second discipleand said, “Guru ji, he did not stay quiet andtalked.” The second replied, “But you did notremain quiet as well.” Third disciple alsojumped in and said, “Guru ji, both of themspoke and broke the discipline.” This angeredthe first two and they spoke sharply, “You alsodid not remain quiet.” The fourth one stillremained quiet.

Looking at them Guru said, “Only this fourthdisciple has truly followed my instructions. Intrying to point out mistakes of the others, youall three made the same mistake. This is whatpeople normally do. They look for others’mistakes and in pointing them out, theycommit the same mistake themselves. Theydo not even realize and begin to walk thewrong path themselves.” All three disciplesrealized their mistake and felt sorry for thesame. They vowed never to make the samemistake again.

Yug Rishi Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya haslaid out four disciplines of sadhana – (i)worship, (ii) abstinence, (iii) conservation andaccumulation of prana and (iv) silence.Extolling the virtue of silence Acharayaji hassaid that by learning silence not only the abovedisciplines can be easily perfected, butadditional activities like self-study, self-control, service to others etc can be carriedout easily as well. By staying silent we notonly conserve our energy, we also get therequired concentration to properly utilize thisenergy. So silence is an absolutely essentialspiritual practice. With attainment ofperfection in silence, all other difficult spiritualpractices can be perfected too.

In the days of thy youth seek to obtain that which shall compensate the losses of thy old age. - Leonardo da Vinci

A man, travelling in the woods,was searching for the shadow. He founda tree, which happened to be aKalpavriskha (a wish fulfilling tree).

He sat down under the tree andthought: “I am hungry, so it would be niceif I can get some food right now.” Whenhe was just thinking about this, a platefull of tasty delicacies appeared beforehim. After filling his stomach, he thought:‘it would be nice if I get some cleanwater to drink’; and a bottle of cleanwater appeared immediately. Afterdrinking water, he was feeling sleepy;so he thought: ‘it would be nice, if I get abed so that I can take rest’’; and thereappeared a nice comforting bed.

Lying on the bed in the shadowof the tree, he started wondering: ‘Whythese miracles are happening? May besome ghosts are residing on this tree.’Suddenly the ghosts appeared. Theywere terrible and looked like heimagined them.

The man became scared andthought: ‘now they will kill me!’; and theykilled him.

Life is Kalpavriksha. We getwhat we aspire for.


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Prana Therapy -11

When thinking about the constituents of humanbody, one thinks casually only about itsphysical parts like bones, flesh, skin andarteries, whereas a microscopic examinationof parts of body reveals that there are manymore elements in the body. Under microscope,a drop of blood shows numerous livingparticles in motion. Each one amongst theseparticles is propelled by energy for itsanimation (Chaitanya Shakti). In spite of theirapparent variation in shape and size, each ofthese particles possesses the same element oflife. The existence of same element of life inthe different units of living cells in a personitself is responsible for their agglomerationinto the whole body of man. In the same way,in the variety of flora and fauna of biologicalkingdom of this planet too, there are units(cells) having the same element of life.

The presence of units of this one life elementeverywhere in all living beings, is also thereason for their being interactive. Thisinteractivity itself induces the natural

dynamics of life in plants and animals for theirgrowth and makes them interdependent forsurvival. Had this Super Energy been absent,all living beings would have remained in astate of detached, inactive and immobileexistence. In the parlance of spirituality, thisSuper Element of life is known as “Prana”.People address it by various names like“Human bioelectricity” or “Bio-electromagnetism”, “working power of body”(Kriya Shakti), etc.

This energy of Prana promotes growth in theliving beings and replenishes the elements ofdeficiencies experienced during course of itsdevelopment. Rejuvenation of damaged cellsin the body exemplifies this phenomenon.When skin is damaged on account of a woundit is this energy of Prana which helps the bodyin recuperating the loss. In the earlier articlesin this series it has been demonstrated howone can cure a disease by potentiating thePrana energy of some diseased person withthe help of one’s own energy. We shall now

Self-Treatment byPrana Therapy

A youth without fire is followed by an old age without experience. - Charles Caleb Colten

Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelationship of means and ends. But merethinking cannot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. To make clearthese fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional life ofthe individual, seems to me precisely the most important function which religion hasto form in the social life of man.

– Albert Einstein


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discuss how one can get relief from one’s owninfirmity and disease by potentiating personalPrana energy.

A weak infirm individual is regarded as a half-sick patient. Many small disorders in aphysically weak body manifest as severalminor diseases in various organs of the body.Infirmity brings with it many ailments like lossof appetite, indigestion, nonchalance inattitude, inactivity, dullness, lethargy,unsteadiness in gait, frequent pain in head andwaist, abnormal tiredness after little strain,dryness in throat, inflammation in eyes etc.Such disorders disappear as soon as the bodybecomes strengthened on restoration ofrequisite level of Prana energy.One can become healthy and strong and getrid of common ailments by building up asufficient reserve of Prana energy by carryingout the following exercises:

1. Collect Prana Energy While Drinkingand EatingElements of all eatables required forsustenance of life contain Prana energy.Water should not be consumed by gulpingit hurriedly. It should rather be sippedslowly, as one drinks milk or tea. Whiledrinking water, conceptualize that the lifeenergy in water is being filled in all overyour body and that extracting Pranaenergy from it, you are absorbing it withinyourself. With each sip, mentallypronounce ‘om’. While eating food toofollow the same procedure. Chew eachmorsel thoroughly and while swallowingmentally pronounce ‘om’ with each morsel.(Enunciation of this mantra facilitatesabsorption of energy.)

2. Use Auto-suggestion by Gazing at yourMirror ImageStanding before a mirror, watch each partof your face minutely. Mentally affirm thatyour cheeks are radiating energy. Eyes aresparkling. There is a smile on your lips.Nostrils are inhaling pure energized air.Ears are hearing properly. Now open yourmouth. Looking into its interior in themirror and affirm that your tongue likesthe taste of only healthy food and uttersonly pleasant words. Similarly give auto-suggestions for throat, palate, teeth, jaws,gums and salivary glands that these too areactive, energized, are functioning properlyand will continue to do so in future.

3. Absorb Prana Energy from SpaceChoose a lonely place which is neither toocold nor too warm. Keeping minimumclothes required for decency, removeother clothing from the body. Closely lookat various parts of your body – yourhands, feet, chest, abdomen, waist andother organs. Affirm that these are healthyand strong and be convinced about it. Ifusing oil for massage, affirm that the Pranaenergy in the oil is being absorbed by thebody, making it energized.

4. Meditate on All-pervasive Prana EnergyGo to a quiet, lonely place and relax on anarm chair, or lie down flat on a softmattress laid on ground or on a raisedplatform. Let the legs be a little raised bykeeping a pillow underneath. Relax thebody totally, as though it is made up froma ball of cotton. Make it so relaxed asthough it had become dead.

Try to hold on to youth and it mocks you while it sprints away. - Frank Herbert


Conceptualize that you are floating in animmense expanse of blue space intenselycharged with the energy of Prana. Thinkyourself lying in absolute solitude. At thismoment no thought about any naturalfeature, manmade object or living beingshould enter the mind. After a few dayspractice, it would be possible to achievesuch a state of absolute tranquility. Whenit transpires, a miracle will take place.Within ten to fifteen minutes the body willfeel totally relaxed, fresh andinvigorated.

5. Acquire Prana Energy by a Hearty LaughterOne more way of potentiating personalfield of Prana is to find opportunities for

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art. - Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

laughing heartily. Besides acquiring surplusPrana from space, laughing accelerates thecirculation of energy in the body.When regularly carried out for a few days,the above exercises result in miraculousbenefits. The advantages are far superiorto those accrued by using expensive foodsor tonics.

The efficacy of the exercises describedabove lies in the depth of conceptualizationand degree of conviction in the result. Thepromptness and the advantage gainedwould also be commensurate with thefirmness and conviction in the results ofaffirmations.

Krishna once told Arjuna that Rama was the greatest warrior ever – even betterthan him. When visiting Rameshwaram, seeing the Nala Setu, a doubt arose in Arjuna’smind. He wondered why Rama, who was supposedly the greatest warrior, needed theVanara Sena to create the Setu, when he could have just created a bridge with arrowsusing his powers.

Hanuman found Arjuna engaged in such doubts and went up to him, disguised asan aged Vanara. He explained to Arjuna that the bridge of arrows would not be able towithstand the weight of the Vanars. Challenging Hanuman, Arjuna said that he wouldcreate such a bridge and if the Vanara could walk on it, he would win. Otherwise, he wouldburn in the bridge of arrows. After building the bridge with his powers, he asked the Vanarato walk on it. Hanuman uttered the name of Rama, and merely kept his tail on the bridge.The bridge collapsed.

Keeping his word, Arjuna burnt the bridge and turned to walk in it. That very moment,Krishna appeared in the form of a saint and asked them to perform the task again, withhim as a witness. But this time, the bridge did not crumble. When they turned around, theysaw that the saint was supporting the foundation of the bridge with his shoulders bleeding.In the saint, Hanuman saw Rama and Arjuna saw Krishna. Krishna hugged Hanuman andthanked him for what all that he had done for him.


Meditation cleanses and purifies the mind. Itnourishes the soul and makes us firm andfocused. It can calm down and rejuvenate ourvacillating and tensed mind and also augmentits potential. To meditate - means to recall.But, whom to recall? There are two options.Either we memorize something andcontemplate upon it. Else, we meditate byforgetting everything and focus on the innerfaculty. Deep contemplation is like a beaconlight, which can eliminate the darkness ofmalicious sanskars. Accumulated sanskars ofprevious birth present in seed form in thepsyche mature with time and yield good orbad results.

There are four states of consciousness. Theyare the three usual states of waking, sleeping,dreaming and the elevated state of turiyaawastha (a state beyond the other three). Thecase of meditation is, however, different. Indeep contemplation, there is little awarenessand one could dream, even while one is awake.But, the person is neither sleeping nor is he inturiya awastha. Even though his body isinactive, his mind remains active. He canvisualize his mind, as if he is dreaming. Yet,it is not a dream, but a perception of theawakened and fully conscious state.

Meditation is the process through which theperson can free himself from all hisattachments. Meditation is not possible unless

this is done. Usually, people stress more onaggressive and depressing thoughts. Theythink more about pain rather than pleasure.We remember our oppressor more than ourhelper. In this way, we forget happy momentsand keep clinging to the sad ones and thus,remain dejected. But, through the process ofmeditation, our consciousness becomes freefrom all adverse sentiments and we begin tolive in the present, liberating ourselves fromthe shackles of the past.

Meditation is to be free from these bondages.Usually, people are either not able to comeout of their past or are tensed about theirfuture. Thus, they cannot deal with theirpresent properly. This is because their presentis either overshadowed by the memories ofthe past or the plans of the future. Planningcan prevent people from entering into deepcontemplation. Similarly, the memories of thepast are like those shackles, which do not letus enter in the depth of meditation. Contraryto this, contemplation is the process of livingin and accepting the present.

Meditation not only makes us stable, but alsohelps us in concentrating in the present. Bypracticing it, we can accumulate our innerenergy and use this accumulated energy togive our best to life. Meditation calms ourmind and gives us knowledge of the innerfaculty. Meditation can connect us to the

Meditation is An Expressionof Tranquil Mind

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To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth. - Pearl S. Buck


universal consciousness and we can perceivethe bond between us and the universe. Whenwe feel empathy with all, our negativeinstincts get destroyed and give place to thebroader concept of ‘aatmavat sarvabhuteshu’,eventually leading us to the source of eternalbliss.

Meditation is like the seed which germinateseasily if it is cared for and given manure andwater. It is similar to the foundation of abuilding. The deeper it is dug, the strongerstands the building. Similarly, by practicingmeditation and deep contemplation, we candevelop our body, mind and nervous system.It invigorates every cell of the body, augmentsthe mental strength and leads us to inner bliss.Before entering into meditation, one may facenumerous hurdles, the biggest being ourpride. Therefore, while meditating, we shouldkeep thinking ‘I am nothing’. Any desire maydestroy our concentration. So, duringmeditation we should think- ‘I have nodesire’. The state of meditation can never beachieved by our efforts, it happens on itsown. When one tries to do something inmeditation, then he cannot actually enter intodeep contemplation. So, during the process,we should try to do nothing. Thus, it is aprocess of inactivity accompanied byalertness and awareness, rather than a stateof activity.

Meditation is the journey of our inner facultyand it is one such journey in which we have towalk alone. There is no companion to walkalong and accompany us on this path. Our solecompanion is our mind. If it is stable, calm andfocused, it will support us. If it is unstable,restless and perplexed, it cannot proceed even

one step with us. The purity of mind helps inmoving forward easily on the path ofmeditation. Its impurity and disorders arelike pointed thorns which hurt us whilemoving on the path of meditation andprevent any further journey. Thus, thosewho are able to focus easily, who are ofsatvik nature and whose heart is pure find iteasy to concentrate. On the contrary, thepeople of rajsik and tamsik nature find it abit difficult to concentrate.

Before beginning meditation, one shouldpractice dharna (primitive concentration) andother yogic practices. Therefore, whileelucidating the Ashtanga marga (the sequenceof various yoga techniques, which are to bepracticed one after the other), the eminentsage Patanjali kept meditation at the seventhnumber. The first six steps are – (i) Yama,(ii) Niyama, (iii) Aasana, (iv) Pranayama, (v)Pratyahar, and (vi) Dharna. After meditation,comes Samadhi (going into awakenedtrance), which is the ultimate goal of yogsadhana. If the steps before meditation areskipped and one starts directly withmeditation, then one may not get the desiredbenefits.

People, who wish to practice meditation,should also practice the yogic life-style. Onlythen they may get the real benefits ofmeditation. Further, common people couldalso obtain these benefits by incorporating itin their routine. It may be practiced any time- in the morning, at night or at any other time,when the mind aspires to enter into the realmof meditation. If adopted as a regular routine,one would feel its miraculous impact in hisquality of life.

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The aged love what is practical while impetuous youth longs only for what is dazzling. – Petrarch


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Youth Column

How to Make YourPersonality Magnetic?

The present-day young generation is beingincreasingly attracted towards personalitygrooming programs. Scores of young menand women, and even teenagers, are joininggrooming institutes and spending heftyamounts with a view to improve andsmarten their personalities. Many suchplaces charge as much as ten to twentythousand rupees for 5-7 day courses.Nevertheless, the youth are not getting thedesired benefits. In spite of all the labor andexpense, their personalities fail to developthe magnetic pull which they so cherish, orthe character traits which could ensure theirsuccess in life. The famous maxim “All thatglitters is not gold” is proving right inregard to these institutes.

There is, however, a positive aspect to thisphenomenon. It signifies an increasinglystrong desire in the youth to refine andreshape their personalities, their awakenedawareness about themselves and theirgrowing sense of responsibility towards life.This pleasant trend gives a sense of hope.Lucky indeed is the nation whose youth arealert about their overall personalitydevelopment. They appear to have realizedthat now-a-days labor by itself is not sufficientfor opening the doors to success. Thepsychological impact cast by the personality,too, is important.

If we want to make a mark in the world, wewill have to cultivate some specific attributesin our personalities.

The first of these is effective witnessing: That is,objectively witnessing with deepunderstanding what occurs or exists beforeand around us. Only those who have thispenetrating understanding are able to utilizetheir strengths effectively. Witnessing requiresa very keen and perceptive vision; a vision,which is free from the defects of prejudice andego-sense and whose essence is what thescriptures call ‘nºr-kïºr-vivek, that is, the subtlediscriminative power. We should be able toassess, in the very first meeting, the generaltemperament, firmness of character, grasp ofthe subject matter and foresight of the personwhom we are meeting. It is this discerningability, which will tell us how we can deal withthe concerned person in the best possible way.If we are able to do this, every encounter willbecome an educative experience. This method isparticularly effective in times of interviews, etc.

The second attribute required in this connection isfar-sightedness. It has been a much talked-aboutquality for ages but very few actually knowthe art of its effective application. Those whodo are able to ensure a bright future forthemselves as well as for their co-workers.What is required is to pick up clues and trendsfrom the present and make a projection on this

Youth is incredible because you really do feel invincible. - Paul Stanley


basis about what could possibly happen in thefuture. Chess players, successful businessmenand good administrators possess this qualityof penetrating foresight.

The third characteristic feature of a magneticpersonality is pragmatism. This quality is alwaysbeneficial, whether it be a matter ofexamination or carrier advancement. What isour correct position and situation vis-à-vis thecircumstances? What are our strengths andweaknesses? We must have an objective andrealistic assessment of all these factors.

The fourth attribute is thirst for knowledge. Peopleacquire some degrees and think that the taskis over and now the only thing they have todo is to earn a livelihood, somehow. Thisthinking is retrogressive. Personality acquirespower of attraction only when it has a never-satisfying eagerness to acquire wider anddeeper understanding and knowledge of itselfand the world. In modern parlance it is calledupdating. All experts of career counseling

advise that one should keep acquiring moreand more knowledge, and learning newer andnewer skills in one’s field of work. They evenrecommend that, apart from inculcating areading habit, one should try to develop thecapacity for effective writing, too.

These are some of the salient guidelines forbringing about refinement of the personality.The questions like “Where are we?” “What arewe doing?” etc have their importance but ofthe greatest importance is the luster ofpersonality. That is why Dev SanskritiVishwavidyalaya at Gayatri Teerth, Hardwarhas compulsorily incorporated ‘The art ofpersonality improvement and living’ in all itsprograms. It is another matter that at thisunique center of sacred and mundane learning,one has to repay for his or her education notin terms of money but altruistic service;because selfless service of society throughone’s talents and expertise is the only genuinecertificate of success of any worthwhilepersonality grooming program.

Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth,

every going to rest and sleep a little death. - Arthur Schopenhauer

There was a magical young man living in a small village in Uganda. He left each morning at 4 am, to getto school by 7 am... On Foot. Yes, he walked - Every day. When class let out at 6 pm, he walked all the way home.6 hours a day on foot, from age 14-18. And in his last year, when his mom fell ill, and he ran out of money to goto class, he took a year off and hauled timber from the forest, and loaded it onto the big trucks. He got paid $1 aday. Some of that money went to medicine for his mother...and some he saved for his tuition. To make a longstory short...he PAID his way into school...with sheer will. He let nothing stop him. Now he’s in Santa Barbara,California...going to college...with a 4.0 grade point average. And he’s the star player on the soccer team....boundfor the state championships. So, did he cast a magic spell to get what he wanted? Absolutely...and he doesn’teven really know it.First of all, he BELIEVED, with all his heart, he would go to the U.S. and study.Second, he FOCUSED all of his energy on his desires.Third, he was THANKFUL for everything he already had.These 3 things MUST be a part of every task you undertake. If they are, you’ll be shocked by the surprises instore for you.


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Talks on the Gita – 48

Arjuna’s Last QuestionIn the Fourteenth Chapter, life or karma wasdivided into three categories: sattvik, rajasik and tamasik. We learnt that whatis rajasik or tamasik should be given up and whatis sattvik should be cultivated. The SeventeenthChapter taught the same thing in a differentway. The essence of life is yajna-dana-tapas; orto use a single word, yajna. Actions like eatingwhich are necessary for the performanceof yajna should also be made sattvik and turnedinto a kind of yajna. Only such actions shouldbe done; all others should be given up. Thiswas hinted at in the Seventeenth Chapter. Wealso saw why we should constantly rememberthe mantra ‘Om tat sat’. Om denotesconstancy, tat denotes detachmentand sat denotes purity. Our sadhana shouldhave these three things: constancy, detachmentand purity. Only then can it be dedicated tothe Lord. All this indicates that only some andnot all of the actions are to be renounced.

If we look at the whole message of the Gita,we find it advocating at several places thatactions are not to be renounced. What it asksus to renounce is the fruit of actions.Everywhere in the Gita it is taught that weshould act ceaselessly and renounce the fruitof our actions. But this is one side of it. Theother side appears to be that certain actionsshould be renounced while certain otheractions should be done. That is why Arjuna

asks, at the beginning of the EighteenthChapter, “On the one hand, it is said thatwhatever action we do, it should be followedby renunciation of its fruit (falatyaga) and onthe other hand, it also appears that someactions must be strictly abjured while someactions should be done. How to reconcilethese two positions?” This question has beenasked to understand clearly the direction inwhich life should proceed and to have aninsight into the true meaning of therenunciation of the fruit of actions. Actions inthemselves are to be renounced in what thescriptures call sannyasa, while inthe falatyaga there is renunciation of the fruitof actions. Does renunciation of the fruit ofactions as enjoined by the Gita needsrenunciation of the actions themselves? Thisis the crux of the matter. With reference tothe criterion of the renunciation of the fruit,is there any role for sannyasa? What are thelimits of sannyasa and falatyaga? This is whatArjuna asks.

Renunciation of the Fruit: The Universal TestThe Lord has made one thing absolutely clearwhile answering this question: Renunciationof the fruit is the universal test. It can beuniversally applied. There is no contradictionbetween renunciation of the fruit of all theactions and the renunciationof rajasik and tamasik actions. The nature ofsome actions is such that they automatically

Renunciation of the Fruit of ActionsLeads to the Grace of the Lord - 1

Youth has no age. - Pablo Picasso


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fall off when the test of renunciation of thefruit is applied. When it is said thatrenunciation of the fruit should be associatedwith the performance of actions, it invariablyimplies that some actions will have to be givenup. When we act in conjunction withrenunciation of the fruit of actions, it naturallyinvolves abjuration of certain actions.

Let us think over it in depth. When we saythat whatever actions we do, we shouldrenounce their fruit, actions prompted bydesire for the fruit, actions prompted by selfishmotives cease immediately. Such actions, aswell as actions which are forbidden, beingimmoral and unrighteous, are ruled out whenit is said that the fruit of actions is to berenounced. To act with renunciation of its fruitis not something mechanical, something donewithout application of mind. In fact, when weapply this test, it becomes clear which actionsare worthy of doing and which are not so.

Some say that the Gita enjoins us to act withrenunciation of the fruit; it does not suggestwhich actions should be done. It does appearso, but it is not true. When it is said that oneshould act and renounce the fruit of actions,it becomes clear which actions should be doneand which should not be done. Actionsintended to harm others, actions full offalsehood, actions like stealing can never bedone if their fruit is to be renounced. The sunilluminates all things, but does it illuminatedarkness too? No, it just disappears. That iswhat happens to selfish or forbidden actions.All the actions should be subjected to this test.When we intend to do something, we shouldsee whether it is possible for us to do itwithout any attachment and expectation of

returns. Renunciation of the fruit is the onlyunfailing test for actions. When this test isapplied, actions with desire or selfish motivesshow themselves up as fit to be rejected. Theymust be renounced. Then pureand sattvik actions remain. They should bedone with detachment, selflessness andhumility. Renunciation of selfish actions is alsoan action and it should also be subjected tothis universal test. Renunciation of selfishactions should not require any effort.

Thus, we have seen three things: (i) Whateveractions we do, we should renounce their fruit.(ii) When the test of renunciation of the fruit isapplied, rajasik and tamasik actions, selfish andforbidden actions stand rejected. (iii) The sametest is to be applied to such renunciation too.There should not be any vanity aboutrenunciation, any feeling that ‘I have made somuch sacrifice.’

Why should rajasik and tamasik actions beabjured? Because they are not pure; andbecause of their being impure, they smear themind of the doer with impurities. But ondeeper observation, one findsthat sattvik actions too are flawed. In fact,every action has some or the other defect init. The swadharma of farming comes to mindas a pure and sattvik occupation. But even insuch work, which is of the natureof yajna, some violence is involved. Ploughingand other operations destroy a number ofliving beings. When we open the door in themorning, the sun’s rays enter the house andkill a number of living beings. What we callpurification turns out to be a killing operation.Even sattvik work is thus flawed. What is thento be done?

Everybody’s youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness. - F. Scott Fitzgerald


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I have already said that we have yet todevelop to the full all the virtues. We havebeen able to have just a fleeting glimpse ofqualities like wisdom, devotion, service andnon-violence. It is not that they had fullyblossomed sometime in the past. Mankind islearning from experience and making progress.In the Middle Ages, it was thought thatagriculture involves violence; so it should beavoided by the people believing in non-violence and they should prefer trade andcommerce instead. It is strange that to growgrains was considered sinful, but to sell themwas not considered so! To avoid actions inthis way does no good. Restricting the sphereof actions in this way will ultimately provesuicidal. The more a man thinks of escapingfrom actions, the more will he get entangledin them. If you have to trade in grains, is itnot necessary for someone else to grow them?

If so, are you not an accomplice in the violenceinvolved in farming? If growing cotton is asin, it should be equally sinful to sell it. Notto produce cotton on the ground of it beingan impure work is a sign of warped thinking.An attitude that goes on rejecting actions ofall the types on different pretexts is not a signof compassion; on the contrary, it shows lackof true compassion. We should understandthat when the leaves are plucked, a tree doesnot wither away; it rather gets fresh foliage.In the contraction of the sphere of activities,there is contraction of the Self.

The Right Way to Extricate Oneself fromActivityThe question then arises, ‘if all the activitiesare flawed, then why should not all of thembe renounced?’ This question has already

been answered. Renunciation of all the actionsis indeed a very attractive and fascinatingidea; but how to renounce innumerableactions? Is the way of givingup rajasik and tamasik actions applicableto sattvik actions too? How toavoid sattvik actions that are flawed orimpure? The curious result of saying ‘Indraytakshakay swaha’ [1] (‘Let Indra along withTakshak be offered as sacrifice in the yajna’)is that Indra, being immortal, does not die,and Takshak too escapes death and becomesstronger. Sattvik actions have a good deal ofmerit and a little flaw in them. When you tryto sacrifice them because of that flaw, the meritin them does not die because of its inherentstrength, but the flaws survive and growbehind the shield of the merit. The flawswhich otherwise could have been removed,get strengthened because of such indiscreetsacrifice. If we drive away the cat because itcommits the violence of killing the rats, weshall have to suffer the violence committed bythe rats. If snakes are done away with becausethey commit violence, a lot of pests willmultiply and destroy the crops, resulting inthe death of thousands of people. Renunciationmust, therefore, be accompanied with wisediscrimination.

There is a story that Machchhindranath askedGorakhnath, his disciple, to give a boy a goodwash. Gorakhnath literally washed the boylike a piece of cloth by thrashing him on awashing stone, squeezed him and put him onthe clothes-line for drying! Is it the way togive a boy a wash? Clothes and boys are notwashed in the same way. Similarly, there is alot of difference betweenrenouncing sattvik actions and renouncing

Everything is pretty that is young. - Samuel Richardson


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rajasik and tamasik actions. Sattvik actions are tobe renounced in an altogether different way.

Actions bereft of wise discrimination canresult in something adverse and unexpected.Has not Tukaram said, ‘If I outwardlyrenounce the desires and passions, they willenter my heart. O Lord! What am I to dothen?’ Even if one tries to make a little sacrificeoutwardly, the subtle urge for indulgenceremains in the mind and grows there instrength, rendering that sacrifice meaningless.If a little bit of renunciation is going to leadus to build palatial houses, it makes no sense;it would have been better to live in a hut. It isbetter to continue to be dressed in the coatand the turban than to wear a loin-cloth andamass wealth and wallow in worldlypleasures. That is why the Lord has prescribedan altogether different way for renunciationof sattvik actions: they are to be done, but theirfruits should be severed from them. Whilesome actions themselves are to be renounced,fruits of some other are to be severed fromthem. A stain on the body can be washed off;but if the natural colour of the skin is dark,what is the point in white-washing it? It isbetter if no attention is paid to it.

There is a story about a man, who thoughtthat his house was filthy and inauspicious andtherefore left and went to another village. Hefound filth in that village too and thereforewent to a forest. There, as he sat under amango tree, a bird’s droppings fell on his head.Disgusted, he cursed the forest and went andstood in a river. There he found big fish eatingup the small ones, and that heightened hisdisgust. Convinced that the whole of creationwas abominable, and there was no way out

except through death, he came out of the waterand kindled a fire to end his life. A gentlemanwho was passing by enquired, ”Brother, whydo you want to end your life?” The manreplied, “Because the world is an abominableplace; it stinks.” The gentleman said, ”Butimagine how it would stink when your fleshbegins to burn! How awful the stench is wheneven a single hair burns! What would happenwhen your whole body gets burnt? We livenearby. How would we bear it? Where couldwe go?” The man was bewildered andexclaimed, ”One cannot live in this world, norcan one die! What is one to do then?”

The moral is that if you go on condemningeverything as abominable and try to escapefrom it, you simply cannot carry on. If youtry to avoid a small flawed act, an act with abigger flaw will become inescapable. Thenature of karma is such that it cannot be gotrid of by outward renunciation only. If a mantries to fight the karma that has come to his lotin the natural course, if he tries to swimagainst the current, he is bound to getexhausted in the end and be swept off by thecurrent. His interest lies in acting in tune withthe current of swadharma. Then the coatings onthe mind will peel off gradually and the mindwill go on getting increasingly purified.Activities will wither away of themselves eventhough actions will continue to bedone. Karma will remain, but activity willdisappear.

There is a difference between karma (action)and kriya (activity). Let us take an example toexplain this. Suppose there is a greatcommotion at a place and it is to be stopped.A policeman goes there and shouts at the top

It is the way of youth that each fresh piece of knowledge of life should go to its head, and that once uplifted by anemotion it can never have enough of it. - Stefan Zweig


of his voice. To make the people silent, he hasto do the intense action of shouting. Someoneelse may go, stand up and raise his finger; andthat will be sufficient to quieten the people.Another person may just go there and his verypresence will stop the commotion and thenoise. In the first case, activity is intense; inthe second case, it is gentle; and in the thirdcase, it is subtle. But action is the same, thatof quietening the people.

As the mind gets purified, intensity of activitywill go on diminishing. Activity will go onbecoming gentler and subtler, and willaltogether cease in the end. Action and activityare different things. Even grammatically, thesetwo terms are different from each other.

This must be clearly understood. A man mayexpress his anger either by shouting or bykeeping silent. He may thus resort to differentactivities for the sake of one and the sameaction. A jnani does no activity, but his karma isinfinite. His very existence inducesinnumerable people to take to the right path.Even if he is just sitting still, he doesinfinite karma. As activity goes on becomingsubtler and subtler, the karma goes ongrowing. Thus, one can infer that when themind is completely purified, activity will ceasealtogether and karma will become infinite.Activity will progressively become gentler and

subtler till its complete cessation in the end,and then infinite karma will take place by itself.Karma cannot be got rid of by rejecting itsuperficially. It is possible only graduallythrough selfless, desireless work. There is apoem by the poet Browning wherein a manasks the Pope, ‘Why do you bedeck yourselfwith robes etc.? Why do you have all thisparaphernalia? Why do you keep a sereneface? Why this pretence?’ The Popeanswers, ‘I do all this because it is possiblethat as I go on play-acting in this way, faithmay touch me one day, without my evenrealizing it.’ One should, therefore, go ondoing desireless activity; it will finallyculminate in the state of no activity.

[To be continued][Reproduced with kind permission ofParamdham Publication, Pavnar fromChapter 18 of ‘Talks on The Gita’ by SantVinoba Bhave, 16th edition (Jan 2005)]

References:1. King Janmejay performed a yajna named

sarpasatra, involving sacrifice and thuskilling, of all the snakes as a snake hadkilled his father, King Parikshit. The snakechief Takshak then took refuge with Indra,the King of the Gods, who was immortal.Along with Takshak, Indra too was thenoffered in sacrifice.

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It is with youth as with plants; from the first fruits they bear we learn what maybe expected in future. – Demophilus

The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learnedits necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselvesequal to great things—and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather donoble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning....All their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdoeverything; they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else.

- Aristotle


Life is not a bed of roses. It is full of ups anddowns and keeps oscillating between goodand bad, pleasure and pain, gains and loss,winner or a looser. Those who look at the darkside often lose confidence and faith in life.They get upset and believe life to be a curse.Life is meaningless - they say. Such thoughtsfurther deepen and make one feel helpless.They lose faith in themselves. They are alwaysdepressed and become pessimist. No ray ofhope can be seen to transform life. Thedarkness around further drowns one into thedeep well of failure, with no way out.

Here is an instance which advises us how tothink and act in adverse situations. A personnamed Parth started a business of dry fruits.Within a short span of six months he wasforced to shut down the business due to heavyloss. He was too upset to restart any otherkind of work. He couldn’t overcome his griefand so the future remained uncertain. Thenews of Parth’s failure reached his Spiritualteacher (guru) Shreevatsa Krishnaji. He atonce called him. Parth told him that he hadworked hard but failed in business and alsoexpressed his inability to restart any kind ofwork. He also confessed that he was unawareof the reasons about his failure.

The Spiritual Guru held Parth’s hand and ledhim to a garden. Pointing at a withered littletomato plant he said, ‘‘I planted it carefully. Ilooked after it. I watered it regularly still it

died. It couldn’t bear the untimely hail, anatural calamity. This factor was beyond mycontrol and also quite unpredictable. We workbut within our limits. It’s the Lord who rulesthe world and decides the results.

Parth eagerly asked, ‘‘Why should we strivehard when the result is uncertain and beyondour control?’’ The teacher explained, ‘‘Manyof us think likewise and lose faith in God aswell as ourselves. We don’t attempt to dowhat we really can. Before the truth unfoldsitself in front of you, open the door to yourright.’’ Parth opened the door. He was still,his mouth and eyes wide open as he saw aheap of fresh red tomatoes. Krishnaji thenexplained, only some of the tomato saplinghad withered, not all. When we keep trying,the chances of our being successful increase;but when we don’t try at all or give up at anearly stage of a trial or two then chances ofbeing a loser are high. The doors of successare shut down. You begin deciding your owndestiny. You reject fortune. You acceptmisfortune in the deal. That’s unfair.”

The story imparts a good lesson - that failuredoesn’t mean the end of success. One shouldn’tstop and repent over it. Rather one should set hisfeet strongly on the paddle and begin soon tomake up for the loss. Change your working style;think differently. Execute the same task with newtact and vigor. This changes the thought processand makes the mind strong and creative.

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Our ThoughtsShape Our Lives

Youth is an emblem of heaven; there alone its bloom is eternal. - F. Valentyn


Our mind is basically ruled by two major traits- the positive and the negative. When wedecide to begin a task the positive traitsupports it and fills us with enthusiasm andconfidence. We are happy, contented andefficient in the beginning but when weencounter any challenge the negative traitbegins to show its effect. Inability andinefficiency cloud the mind leading todejection, anger, tension and frustration. Itsimpact is so strong that it shakes theconfidence, shatters the dream. It gives no wayto the positive thoughts to balance themselvesagain; but this doesn’t mean the positivethoughts are weak or feeble. It’s time to becautious and careful not to uproot the positivethought but to strengthen it soon sheddingaway the negative ones before they spreadstench all over. The moment you realize thatthe negative one is on the slightest backfoot,start driving it out without any hitch. Drag itout and push it away as far as you can.The negative thoughts are like weeds. Themoment they appear they start growingintensely. Their impact is too deep and strong.In the beginning they can be uprooted easilybut once they gain strength they cannot beuprooted or destroyed.

Both the traits dwell in a common home. It’sour own mind. They originate from it on thebasis of previous knowledge or experience ofthe past. By our conscious effort we can trainour mind so as to control their growth inadverse situations, demolish the negative onesas soon as they begin showing up. Cleanse themind regularly and timely to be a person richin positive thoughts. In the clear mind andclean heart dwells the pure soul which is ablessing of God.

Sometimes life appears to be a battlefield fullof foes but sometimes it’s quite easy andcomfortable, full of joyous and jolly moments- no challenge, no problems, and no hurdlesat all. If we forget the past and don’t botherabout the uncertain future, slowly we willgain the strength to fight the odds of life.Actually the challenges or hurdles in thejourney of life refine us. They compel us torinse our thoughts, mind and way of thinking.The change leads to the right direction thatends in success. Without controlling theongoing thought process in our mind we can’tprogress or achieve anything worthwhile.Hurdles in life are true teachers. The fear toaccept great challenges vanishes as we handlelittle problems confidently. The thought processchanges, experience gained makes us mentallystrong and tactful to face adverse situations.We gain maturity and stability to face variousunpredicted and unwanted situations in life.Our weaknesses are visible to us. We learn toovercome them as we move ahead. That is whythe renowned clinical psychologist Dr. RonBreazeale considers that facing the odds in lifehas its own meaning and one has to prepareoneself for it; it can be done.

Problems, tensions and hurdles of life toughenus. Failures dishearten us. We feel dejected andare lost in the race of life but if we gather courageand accept challenges, face them confidentlywith optimistic outlook, then life can be shapedand set in the right direction according to ourown desire. Nobody can defeat us.

Our Revered Gurudev has rightly said: ‘Manis not the slave of circumstances. He is thecreator, controller and master of them.’

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Youth is not like a new garment which we can keep fresh and fair by wearing sparingly; youth, while we have it,we must wear daily, and it will fast wear away. - John Foster


Nails reflect the state of one’s health. Even ifone tries to conceal the reality, his nails andtheir color can give an idea about his health.Nails of a patient can be examined to find outthe disease from which he is suffering and thepart of the body associated with it.

The relation of nails with medical science isnot new. Even in ancient days, doctors usedto diagnose the disease by examining the nailsof the patients. Earlier, when there was nofacility of diagnostic tests, the type andseverity of the disease was ascertained byexamining various parts of the body. In thisprocess, the color of the nails was alsoanalyzed. Even today, Ayurvedic andHomeopathic practitioners, duringexamination, note the nails’ color of the sick.This is because nails and their color are areflection of physical ailments. Our nails arecomposed of keratin. It is the key structuralcomponent of hair and nails, and it providesthe necessary strength and toughnessfor masticatory organs, such as the tongue andthe hard palate. This layer gets adverselyaffected when the body suffers fromnutritional deficiency or any ailment. With this,the color of the nails also begins to changerapidly.

According to medical experts, those withcracked or broken nails are often found tosuffer from the deficiency of vitamin C, folic

Nails IndicateYour Fitness Level

acid and proteins. But, this condition may alsoarise due to the deficiency of zinc or whenone is suffering from psoriasis. But, in thelatter case, holes also appear on them alongwith cracks. The growth of nails varies withseasons. They grow rapidly in summer, whiledemonstrate a slower growth during winter.Tension and anxiety adversely affect theirgrowth, because stress disturbs thehemoglobin level of the blood. Dermatologistsare of the opinion that it is not essential thatthe changing color of the nails may indicatethe same disease in everyone. Many a times,their color, stripes and thickness may be thesame for more than one disease.

Thick nails, a bit elevated from the nail bed,indicate fungal infection. Low immunity levelcould make them dry and colorless, whilepresence of pus in the body could turn themblack. Curling of nails indicates heart disease,while appearance of white lines on them is asymptom of kidney disorder. In case ofDiabetes, they either turn white or are markedby few pink lines, while red lines could be seenon the nails of heart patients.

Yellowing of nails could indicate anemia, heartdisease, malnutrition or liver disorder. But,this may also be due to jaundice, thyroiddisorder, diabetes or psoriasis. Thick yellownails indicate problem in lungs. White colorednails or presence of white spots on them

Tell me what are the prevailing sentiments that occupy the minds of your young men, and I will tell youwhat is to be the character of the next generation. - Edmund Burke


indicate diseases related to liver, heart andintestines. Nails which are half pink and halfwhite indicate kidney disorder.

If the nails are raised or the nail folds areswollen, then this could mean swelling of thelungs and intestine. They could turn blueeither if the body is not getting sufficientamount of oxygen or due to other diseaseslike pneumonia, lung infection and heartdiseases. Nails could acquire a convex shapelike that of a spoon in case of blood deficiency,hereditary diseases and many other diseases.In medical terminology this condition isreferred to as ‘clubbing’ of nails.

Fungal infection may also be a reason behindthe changing color of the nails. Initially, theyappear white or yellow. But, with increasinginfection, they get discolored and turn roughand thin. Experts believe that the chances ofinfection in nails increase when our body comesin contact with various microbes and germs. Ifthe skin is infected and the affected area isscratched with nails, then they also get infected.Those who swim a lot or spend more time inwater or those who wear shoes for long hoursare also prone to nail infection. Usually, thisinfection distorts their shape. Also, itching,swelling and pain occur around them. Doctorssay that it could take upto six months to cure

the infected nails of the hands, while those of thefeet could require a treatment of nine to twelvemonths. In many cases, the infected nail needs tobe removed all together. If one wants healthynails, he should look after them properly. Forthis, it is essential to take healthy food. This wouldnot only keep the nails healthy, but would alsoprevent them from cracking or breaking.

The consumption of vitamin B would augmenttheir beauty. They may be kept healthy andbeautiful by protecting the nail folds. Oil orsome other lubricating agent should be appliedon them to maintain their softness and preventthem from drying or turning lifeless. Theapplication of chemical products should beavoided, or at least, restricted. Smooth andclean nails, which are light-pink in color, are amark of fitness. Yet, full care should be givento their cleanliness, otherwise they may getinfected and eventually, cause diseases.Disease-causing bacteria grow rapidly in thegap present between the skin and the nails.Therefore, one should give special attentionto keep this area clean. The hands and the nailsshould always be washed properly aftervisiting the toilet and before cooking andeating. Nails should be cut and cleanedwhenever they grow long and appear dirty.If anything unusual appears in them, then thephysician must be consulted.

Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old orderif the world is to move on. - William Allen White

“There are two kinds of people. One kind, you can just tell by looking at them at what point they

congealed into their final selves. It might be a very nice self, but you know you can expect no more

surprises from it. Whereas, the other kind keeps moving, changing... They are fluid. They keep moving

forward and making new trysts with life, and the motion of it keeps them young. In my opinion, they are

the only people who are still alive. You must be constantly on your guard against congealing.”

- Gail Godwin


Let us begin with collective chant of the

Gayatri Mantra:“|| Om Bh¿r Bhuva¡ Swa¡, atsaviturvareñya®

Bhargo Devasya Dhºmahi , Dhiyo Yona¡

Pracoday³t ||”Sisters and Brothers,

Our Yug Nirman Yojana (mission to lay thefoundation of a new era of peace, progressand bliss) has begun with the noble aim ofrefinement and evolution of thoughts,sentiments, and emotional development ofthe masses. Of the many wonderful facultiesbestowed upon human beings, the faculty ofemotions, the source of sensitivity, love, andunalloyed joy, is supreme. More than thecircumstances, environment of life, or anyresources, it is this faculty which is responsiblefor one’s happiness, or tensions and sorrowsin general. Evolution and righteous use of thepower of emotions can also solve most of theproblems faced by the world today. How?

Nature has provided substantial means andresources for ‘naturally healthy and joyful’survival of all creatures. Have you ever heardof wild animals being dissatisfied orfrustrated of their lives, or being concerned,worried, and sad about anything? The

domestic or captured animals, or the animalsharassed by mankind might fall sick or sufferin several ways, but not the wild ones. Thenwhy is it that a human being, despite beingendowed with so many potentials and thesplendid faculty of intelligence, often becomesunhappy, desperate, anxious, annoyed,jealous, frantic, etc.; suffers in several ways,and keeps complaining about something or theother? The root-cause of these complicationslies in his emotional core, which influences hismental state, and hence his attitude, thoughtsand behavior in a significant way.

It is ironical that in spite of making amazingprogress and advancement in producing andpossessing enormous tools of comforts andpleasures, today’s society is starving forhappiness and peace of mind! Surprisingly thiscomplexity and problem appear to be moreprominent in the urban society than the rural,or the less privileged sections. Is it that theyjust remain ‘contented’ with whatever they getto fulfill their hunger, whereas the more‘privileged’ ones strive for further progress?Well, but why in the endeavor of higherprogress they have to embrace negativity, losethe peace and natural joy of their minds? Lookat our ancestral history of Vedic Age! Howour rishis enjoyed unalloyed bliss and peace inutterly austere and ascetic life! Moreover, inspite of having no materialistic resources andfacilities, they were far more advanced than

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Amrit Vani

(Translation of a discourse given by Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya sometime in mid 1960s onthe topic “Yug Nirm³ña Yojan³ Aur Usake Bh³vº K³ryakrama”)

Plans and Preparation toUsher in a Bright and Blissful Era

Youth are diamonds in the sun, diamonds are forever. – Alphaville


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us in terms of physical and intellectualpotentials, progress and knowledge.

On the contrary, think of the life of the giant,mighty, intrepid, brilliant and talented kingslike Ravana! Ravana was supposed to haveconquered many parts of the world andgrabbed gigantic treasures and facilities; whatis more, his kingdom was made up of gold!Still he remained dissatisfied and unhappy inhis life and generated adversities for otherstoo wherever he went. You may also findsimilar examples today. What is wrong withsuch people? Mainly, they lack humanesentiments, they might have accomplishedadvancement on worldly, extrovert fronts oflife but their inner selves have remained crudeand might have even accumulated the filth ofvices and negative impressions of unethicalthoughts and deeds.

Impurity of blood is at times manifested inappearance of acnes. If one acne or pimple isremoved by minor surgery, by applyingmedicinal gel, or by some other treatment,another will crop-up, and so on...; theirgrowth and consequent effects would continueto trouble the patient till the real cause –infection, or impurity of blood – is cured.Similarly our emotional complexity, our mentalimpurity, our wrong attitude would continueto create one problem or the other for us andalso our family, friends and others with whomwe interact. At a larger dimension, similar isthe case of adversities and problems faced bythe world today. Emotional impurities likeselfishness, untoward passions, greed,cravings, excessive ambitions, arrogance,envy, hatred, anger, cruelty, animosity, etc,of individuals have given rise to numerousproblems, disorders, disparities, anomalies,

disturbances, complexities, adversities, andchallenges at personal, social, national andglobal levels.

The ancient history of India is that of holisticdevelopment, prosperity and divine peace andhappiness. This land was reputed as the landof gods. But there weren’t technological tools,facilities, comforts there; no one there wouldhave even dreamt of the superbmaterialistically advanced development,transportation and communication facilitiesthat are seen today. In spite of this, ancientIndia was so progressive and prosperous!People were so happy; life was so majestic herethat ancient India was glorified as swarg³dapigarºyasº (superior than the heavens)! This wasbecause people lived for high ideals; theirhearts (emotional core) were full of selflesslove, compassion and mutual respect.Sacrificing self-interest and bearing discomfortand pains for the service of others, for the goodof the society, was common. Social harmonyand mutual cooperation, coupled withadoption of simple living and high thinkingled to all-round prosperity in ancient Indiansociety. Disciplined life and hard-work andblissful attitude blessed them with superbphysical and mental health.

And, what is the state of our society, our livestoday? We have chosen to forget our greatcultural heritage and ignore the ideals ofhuman life, and have let ourselves deluded,allured, and driven by the glitter of name,fame, glamour, and passions of instinctivepleasures. In the rat-race of materialistic gains,outer progress and false-pride and mindlessambitions, we have lost the nectar of soothingpeace and emotions indwelling in our inner

Youth is the season of hope, enterprise, and energy, to a nation as well as an individual. - William R. Williams


self. Driven by artificiality, our sentiments oflove and compassion, our feelings of joy andcalmness too have become artificial andadulterated. Before it is too late, we mustrectify this mistake, remove this impurity, andprotect, nurture and rejuvenate the naturalspirit of humane emotions. Yug Nirman Yojnahas emerged to motivate and help more andmore people in this endeavor, irrespective oftheir creed, caste, religion, and faith.

Thought-Revolution (Vich³ra Kr³nti), anddissemination of scientific spirituality(Vaigy³nika Âdhy³tmawad) and adept art ofliving a worthy and progressive life (SanjºvanºVidy³) are our major initiatives as part of YugNirman Yojna. It is a global socio-spiritualmovement aimed to give positive andrighteous direction to people’s thoughts, toenlighten their mind, to awaken their divinesentiments, and thus reverse the wrong,declining trends of the present, and transformadversities into opportunities for courageousrise. The problems and challenges before theworld are many and appear intractable. Butthey all could be checked and resolved if theirroot-cause is removed.

Most of the problems of today are self-created,and consequent adversities and threats areinvited by mankind. The origin of these liesin people’s own thoughts, attitude,aspirations, and mental malice and emotionalweakness. For example, if one is lured byglamour, lavish life-style, or pompous status,etc, his needs would never be satisfied and sowould be his thirst for more money. If income/production is less and the population and itsexpenditures and demands are more, theeconomy of a family, a country is bound to be

trapped in debt. Artificial life-style, addictions,and luxuries, and the culture of inflatedconsumerism and commercialization has notonly weakened our health but also disruptedthe eco-system and the environment.

To a large extent, cravings of the consumersfor instinctive pleasures, lavish comforts, andexcessive possession, and passions of theindustrialists/businessmen and traders formaking huge profits and expanding their holdon market-power, are responsible forcorruption at a grand scale. Self-obsession,greed, and mentality of immediate gains,success without merit, etc., spread this evil onother fronts of personal and public life. As weall know, an arrogant, short-tempered,narrow-minded, self-obsessed, revengefulfellow generates foes and spoils the harmonyof ambience wherever he goes. In a moreexpanded form, this emotional malice andmentality of individuals and its cascadingeffects are directly or indirectly responsiblefor disharmony and conflicts at social, nationaland even international levels. Therefore, apartfrom contributing to, and cooperating with,multifaceted approaches to save the future ofthe earth and mankind, our mission’s mainfocus is — treatment of the root.

Religious teachings and sentiments have deepimpact on emotions and thoughts of those whohave faith. More than 80% of the Indian massesfall in this category. If their superstitions,blind faith, and emotional exploitation in thename of religion are to be stopped, if they areto be awakened, taught the truth ofreligiousness, and shown the light of prudenceand reasoning, this can be most effectivelydone only through the medium of religion. As

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Youth is the gay and pleasant spring of life, when joy is stirring in the dancing blood, and nature calls us with athousand songs to share her general feast. - Joseph Rigdway


they are mostly illiterate, innocent, anddeluded, we have chosen to disseminate goodthoughts, cultivate scientific temperament,guide and motivate them through religiousplatform for their uplift, welfare, andintelligent and emotional development. Socio-cultural and grass-roots educativedevelopment activities, and self-reliance andpersonality refinement training programmesalso are integral part of Yug Nirman Yojna.

The power of religious organizations is no lessthan any government in the social context.Religious organizations should therefore comeforward to help social reformation and uplift.In India there are about five to six millionhermits, sanyasis, saints, priests or religiouspersonalities, who have been surviving on almsor devotional offerings. They are spreadalmost across the entire country. There arenearly seven hundred thousand villages here.So if about eight of these ‘religious masters’adopt one village each and work for theawareness and welfare of its people then thegoal of all-round progress would be achievedin a short time. They may begin with teachingbasic hygiene, literacy and inspiring story-telling, and discourses; they may generate socialharmony, and motivate people for collectiveefforts to resolve the problems specific to theirvillage, help them make adept use of theexisting grants, if any, and seek support of non-governmental organizations, in the nearbyregion. Most importantly, they should inspirepeople’s devotional sentiments in righteousdirection to help spread goodwill and courage,dutifulness, and spirit of collective progress.

In many parts of Indian society, peopleconfuse devotion or religiousness with some

traditional rituals, idol worshiping andofferings made in a shrine. Such blind faithand practices should be uprooted. People mustunderstand and also make others learn thattrue worship, devotion or service of God isoffered through compassion, altruistic serviceof the needy and sincere efforts for thewelfare of all, for the beautification(betterment) of His creation – the world. I amhappy to see that our Yug Nirman Yojna hassucceeded in generating mass awareness in thisregard and has also motivated many tovoluntarily join this noble mission.

Many of the grand shrines in our country areso affluent that even if a fraction of theirmonthly income is used for social reformation,and skill-development projects and farsightedself-reliant progress, it would significantlystrengthen the economy of our villages. Somefraction of the charity received by religioustrusts should be used to develop and supporteducational institutes that would producededicated talents who would disseminate themessage of humanity, and divine Indianculture and wisdom that has the potential notonly to help revert the declining trends andallay the adversities, but also to guide holisticwellbeing and progress to usher in the era ofunalloyed love, enlightenment, and lastingbliss. In spite of its meager resources, YugNirman Yojna has taken pioneering and trend-setting steps in this direction*.

|| Om Shanti||*Remark: As per Acharya ji’s vision, his missionhas now accomplished a milestone in its gloriousjourney with the establishment and successfulcompletion of a decade of first of its kind, full-fledged university — the “Dev Sanskriti VishwaVidyalaya”, Shantikunj, Haridwar.

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Youth, enthusiasm, and tenderness are like the days of spring; instead of complaining of theirbrevity try to enjoy them. – Ruckert

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