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||O® bh¿rbhuva¡ sva¡ tatsaviturvareñya® bhargo devasya dhºmahi dhiyo yo na¡ pracoday³t ||(May Almighty illuminate our intellect and inspire us towards the righteous path)

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

Volume - 5

Issue - 2

March-April, 2007

Date of Publication: 01.03. 2007

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Amrit chintan

Evolution The Inherent Urge of Life

Every living being has a natural urge to find its original source in a higher, evolved andenlightened state. This subliminal impulse of inner consciousness is what generates the naturalcycle of progressive evolution of consciousness through ascending order of life forms. A seedgrows into a tree which fructifies in the developed state and gives rise to its origin –– theseed. A child’s inner desire is inclined towards becoming a fully grown up man. The forceof evolution in human life manifests as quest of human mind, through its curiosity to knowand interact with its surroundings, with the systems, and mechanisms of his personal andsocial life, and its wonderstruck appreciation of the beauty and mystery of Nature.

The perception of Nature works like a mirror for the human mind. It tries to seek and visualizeits evolved states in the ever-new expressions of Nature. This is how it acquires knowledgeand experience and endeavors for further progress.

Life in the unlimited expansion of the universe manifests itself in progressive and dynamicstates of consciousness. Rigidity, backwardness, complacency and self-centeredness areagainst the laws of evolution. Evolution is a perpetually progressive manifestation of DivineConsciousness. The dimensions of the gradual evolution in human life are much wider andhave their higher horizons rooted in the sublime realms of divine consciousness. Theseemanate from the aspiration of the soul to awaken and unite with its Supreme Source.Spiritual transmutation is a progressive evolution of consciousness towards this ultimategoal.

–Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

( c.f. “Rishi Chintan”)

March-April 20074

Contents01 Amrit Chintan

Evolution – The Inherent Urge of Life -------------------------------------------- 03

02 From Chief Editor’s Desk:Life is Incessant Change -------------------------------------------------------------- 05

03 What is Fate, Who Regulates it? ---------------------------------------------------- 06

04 Health for AllRejuvenation without Medicines -1 ----------------------------------------------- 14

05 Know the Essence of Tender Emotions------------------------------------------- 13

06 Siddhi through Sadhana- 2The Need of Refined Environment for Success of Sadhana ----------------- 16

07 Yagya Therapy –2 Yagya: Medicinal Effects and Therapy for Eyes ------------------------------- 19

08 Art of Living – 7Develop Self Respect---------------------------------------------------------------------- 24

09 Youth Column Shantikuj’s Campaign for Awakening of Youth ------------------------------- 26

10 Science and SpiritualityCan Animals Predict weather? ----------------------------------------------------- 29

11 On the Road to Freedom ----------------------------------------------------------------- 33

12 Companions in Solitude-13The Inner Aspect of My Sadhana of Life -II --------------------------------------- 39

13 My Life: Its Legacy and Message- 24That which I am Doing at Present -------------------------------------------------------- 43

14 Amrit V³ñºAmrit V³ñºAmrit V³ñºAmrit V³ñºAmrit V³ñºFour Pillars of Self-Development - II ---------------------------------------------------- 47

15 Shantikunj news ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 50

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From Chief Editor's Desk

The two-month period of March-April is the transitional link when the vibrantly alive andradiantly fragrant spring peaks out and there are subdued signals of the slow advent ofdry, sunny and scorching summer.

Change is the fundamental law of Nature and Life. Of all the creations on earth only humanbeings have been gifted with the free will and wisdom to make choices and yoke the Law ofChange for self-improvement, self-growth and collective well-being. At present, changes areoccurring in nature and humanity at an unprecedented pace; and call for conscious, concentratedand enlightened efforts by human beings individually as well as collectively to rise out of ego-encaged, divisive consciousness into the unitive cosmic consciousness. This alone can reversethe present helpless hurtling down of Earth with all its myriad manifestations of Life (includinghuman) into the abyss of Doom.

In the modern era it is our Gurudev who had clearly visualized the gravity and grimness of thesituation (mostly brought about through man’s own diabolic exploitation of Nature for self-aggrandizement) and had outlined a precise plan of action for ushering in an era of peace,holistic harmony and happiness – ensuring universal well-being – through life-transformingGayatri Sadhana. We Gayatri Pariwar Parijans, have therefore to work wholeheartedly andresolutely towards the fulfillment of our Gurudev’s vision and mission. The coming ChaitraNavratri (March 19-26) will be a special occasion for us to undertake intensive Gayatri Sadhanathrough Laghu Anushthan of 24000 Gayatri Mantra Japa during this holy Parva for self-purificationand spiritual recharging.

19th March (The first day of the Parva) will also mark the beginning of the new Vikram Samvat –2064, which makes the Navratri Parva all the more auspicious for Sadhana. All Parijans are exhortedand advised to take up an intensive Laghu Anushthan for their own as well as humanity’s spiritualwell-being.

The annual school examinations in many parts of the country will be held during March. Wesend our best wishes to all examinees for excellent performance. Faith-filled Gayatri Japa will bea source of special inspiration for them.

All worthwhile and purposeful change in human affairs begins through individual self-awakening,which then spreads as a ripple effect in the society. In this connection, let us as Sadhaks listen tothe clarion call of Swami Vivekanand:

“Arise, awake, sleep no more. Within each of you there is the power to remove all wants and allmiseries. BELIEVE this, and that Power will be manifested….”

With Navratri Parva and Ramnavami Greetings,

-Pranav Pandya

Life is Incessant Change

March-April 20076

Most of us are generally curious to knowour future. As rational beings we feel

that it is by and large determined by ourefforts but still can’t create or predict it. Someof us may consider the uncertainty to begoverned by some ‘unknown’ random law ofNature (or Murphy’s Law!). Whatever be thecase, the word “fate” or destiny is very mucha part of our natural inquisitiveness to know— why different people have different fates,or why people born in the same family,brought up in same environment, having thesame qualifications and talents end up gettingdrastically different destinies in theirprofessional and social lives? To a variedextent, we do feel concerned about ‘our stars’,horoscope, palm-maps, ‘cards’, etc that arecommonly regarded as ‘indicators’ of fate. Solet us examine what this fate is?

The Indian mythology states that“Chitragupta” maintains the records of ourkarma, which shape our future destiny. Butwho is Chitragupta? Is it another name of God?Or, does it refer to a superhuman, angel or isit simply an allegory?

What is Fate,Who Regulates it ?

The Indian mythology states that “Chitragupta” maintains the recordsof our karma, which shapes our future destiny. But who is Chitragupta?Is it another name of God? Or, does it refer to a superhuman, angel or is itsimply an allegory?

The number of human beings inhabiting thisearth itself is in billions. If we take into accountthe other living beings of millions of non-human species, the total number would bebeyond mathematical calculation. It would bean impossible task for an individual being,howsoever superbly evolved, to work day andnight without rest for millions of yearsmaintaining records of each moment of life ofinnumerable beings of the cosmos.Impracticability of maintenance of such astupendous record puts a question mark onthe very existence of Chitragupta. Modernscience, however, substantiates the realityunderlying the metaphorical descriptionsgiven in the scriptures.

Science has now established that all mental,verbal and physical activities carried out byan individual having a discriminative mindleave subtle impressions on the deeper levelsof the psyche. In this way, like thecompressed audio-visual recordings of eventson a microchip of the computer or compactdisc, all good and evil deeds are beingrecorded in the hidden chambers of the

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subconscious mind. This record, like that ofan ultra compact disk, remains in storage tillit is required to be processed at a desiredmoment through an appropriate mechanism.

In Indian science of spirituality, karma standsfor any physical, verbal, mental or socialactivity. Because of the evolved state ofhuman-consciousness, each karma‘automatically and instantaneously’ generatesa subtle mental imprint. These imprints cannotbe erased before the karma results in theconsequent effect (karmaphal) at theappropriate time – in this life or in any futurelife in any form. The scriptures also describethat the Supreme Creator (Lord Brahma)inscribes the destiny on the forehead of ahuman being and this Divine Inscriptioncannot be erased by anyone. Let us examinethis concept from a scientific point of view.Studies based on sophisticated mapping ofbrain activities by functional MRI etc, showinnumerable furrows in the grey matter allover the brain. Medical science has not so farfully deciphered the biological implications ofthese indentations. Comparative studies ofdifferent subjects have shown that density ofthese crenulations in the grey matter of highlyevolved persons and thinkers is much more,than in the case of common masses. It showsthat these ‘microscopic’ lines in the grey matterof the brain are nothing but compact subtleimpressions created by external activities. Thisfinding supports the possibility of imprints ofmental, vocal and physical actions. The recordof activities (good and evil deeds) on theneuronal ‘memory chips’ proves the existenceof an adept, intelligent mechanism, whichHindu Mythology refers to as Chitragupta.

Linguistically, the Sanskrit word “Chitragupta”means “a hidden picture”. This refers to ourinner mind, the unconscious mind or moreprecisely the “chitta”. [The impressionsrecorded on chitta could be understood insimple terms by automatic backup storage inthe CPU of all the programmes executed on acomputer].

As per the deeper science of spirituality,human consciousness works at four subtle‘processors’ or ‘cores’ of consciousness;namely – mana (conscious mind), buddhi(intellect), chitta (the subconscious and theunconscious mind, the core of intrinsictendencies) and ahamk³ra (the sense of self-identity). These collectively define anindividual self (jºv³tm³) and are carriedforward with the subtle body life after life.The subtle imprints on the ‘hidden register’of chitta — hence the gupta-Chitta (orChitragupta) control the future course of life.It is a scientifically established fact that theactive part of the human brain, which is onlya tiny fraction of its total capacity (~ 7% incase of the most trenchant, most intelligentand most active mind!), itself has an infinitepotential for storage and processing ofinformation. It has also been affirmed thatthe subconscious and the unconscious mindscontrol the continuous functioning of thebrain. Thus there is no doubt about thelimitless capacities of the unconscious mind.So the “Chittragupta” referred in the vedictexts is indeed ageless and limitless Super-consciousness which continuously maintainsthe records of every action, every thought,every feeling of individual beings.

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How do Chitragupta’s records account forfate?

The self-regulated mechanism of the eternalConsciousness Force keeps a continuous micro-record of our deeds in a subtle form, as mentalinscriptions. Upon death, these ‘shorthandnotes’ (in the subconscious layers of chitta)serve the purpose of ‘testimony’ for objectiveevaluation of the total span of our present life.

As we all know, the human mind works attwo levels: one external and the other internal.The outer mind, which we experience all thetime except while in the state of sound sleep,is analytical. It analyses the pros and cons,accepts and discards, infers, aspires as per theurges of the senses and is driven by extroverttendencies. It takes decisions with the help ofintellect, but frequently changes itsresolutions. The inner mind, on the otherhand, is like an innocent but resolute child. Itneither accepts nor discards anything, but asthe true faithful representative of the divine,functions impartially toward divine justice.

The external mind may think of escapingpunishment by suppressing or overlooking therecordings of the lines of evil deeds andhighlight only the virtuous deeds for reward.The inner mind (conscience is one of itsconstituents), on the other hand, worksdifferently. It takes decisions like an unbiasedjudge of highest integrity, who cannot beinfluenced by allurement, fear or any vestedinterest. It is said that in each human beingthere co-exist a saint and a devil. You mayconsider the sublime inner mind as arepresentative of divinity and the externalmind, which is ever engaged in reasoning,

rationalizing, deliberating, conspiring andhypocrisy, as a tool of the devil. The externalmind may deceive the soul by justifying eachand every action of a person. The inner-mind,on the contrary, is the flame of the soul and aprojection of the Absolute Truth. It is,therefore, incapable of conceit and deceit andis innately calm and detached. That is whyGod has entrusted it with such crucialresponsibility. For the common man, it is thedeity Chitragupta. Being absolutely impartial, thisdeity has been given the high seat of DivineJudge. Like a secret service agent, this deity isall the time vigilantly shadowing a person andrecording his actions in its secret diary.

In human society, there are two departmentsfor punishing the violators of law- namely thepolice and the judiciary. The police arrests theaccused, collects the evidence and presentsthese before the judicial court. Thereafter theprocess of justice takes over. The judgedelivers the judgment after considering allaspects of the offence and relatedcircumstances. Depending on thecircumstantial evidence, individuals arehanded down varied sentences for the sametype of offence.

Let us consider an example. Three persons areaccused of killing a person. Because ofdifferent circumstances associated with thecrime, one is set free, the second person issentenced to five years of imprisonment andthe third is sent to the electric chair. Theperson, who was released, was a mason. Whileworking at an elevated level, he hadaccidentally dropped a brick, which killed apasserby. The presiding judge found that thebrick was dropped accidentally and

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unintentionally, without an ulterior motive.Hence the accused was released withoutpunishment. The second accused was a farmer.Finding a thief stealing his crop, he had givenhim a fatal blow, killing the offender. Takinginto consideration the circumstances, whichprompted the offence, the judge surmised thatthough it was natural for the farmer to showhis anger towards someone stealing hisproperty, nevertheless, since he had over-reacted to a small offence, a sentence of fiveyears imprisonment was appropriate. Thethird person was a notorious robber who hadrobbed a rich man and intentionally killed himin the process. In this way the worldly courtof justice pronounces judgment after minutelyexamining all circumstantial evidences.

In the inner-mind the ‘coded’ notes ofChitragupta discharge the dual responsibilityof God’s police and court of justice. In thematerial world, if the prosecutor presentsinadequate or false evidence, the judgment ofthe court is likely to be flawed, but in the inneroccult world there is absolutely no possibilityof such miscarriage of justice. The inmostmind, being the direct and transparent witnessto all physical as well as mental activities of aperson, is fully aware of the intentions,motives and circumstances of each and everyaction. Being fully aware, it does not requirethe testimony of the external mind or intellectto arrive at a conclusion. In Divine Justice thegravity of a sin (vice) or merit of a virtue isdecided on the basis of the motive and degreeof emotional involvement with the deed.Whereas in the material world objects aremeasured materially on the basis of theirmundane worth, this measure is irrelevant fordispensing Divine Justice. The material world

may ignore a poor donor of ten cents andadmire a person donating ten thousanddollars, but in Divine Jurisprudence the worthof such acts of altruism will not be assessedon this gross physical basis.

Let us take an example. In a remote,undeveloped tribal area, one may barter akilogram of food grains for sugar, but in adeveloped country one has to pay in hardcurrency. In the material world, people doearn fame and name by making largecontributions to charity, helping in popularwelfare activities, joining religious orcharitable institutions, delivering or listeningto sermons and participating in pilgrimages;but the “Domain of Chitragupta” does notaccept this currency. The ledgers of thisdomain record only debits and credits ofmotives and emotional involvements in theperformance of deeds and convert these intovirtues and sins accordingly.

Upon being exhorted by his Divine TeacherLord Krishna, Arjuna got millions killed inthe war of Mahabharata . This greatArmageddon, during which the entirebattlefield became littered with corpses,took place because Arjun agreed to take partin the war. In this way, Arjuna could havebeen considered a great sinner, butChitragupta gave credit to his motive forwaging the Mahabharata war. Arjuna’sintentions were pious. He had fought onlyto re-establish the ‘Supreme Moral Order’(dharma sth³pan³). Chitragupta’s ‘ledger’ didnot take into account the slain bodies of thesoldiers. Physical objects have no relevancein the invisible realm. Chitragupta simply

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ignored the number of toys of flesh and bonesdestroyed during the war.

Does a king bother about the number of toysbroken or the number of grains spilled? In thisworld billionaires are held in high regard butin the realm of God they are paupers and non-entities. On the other hand a poor man of thisworld, if he is kind hearted, could be countedin His realm amongst the king of kings.Whatever a man does, only his motives - goodor bad - are recorded in the correspondingaccount of Chitragupta. A public executioner,who, in course of duty, hangs a personcondemned to death without any malice, couldbe considered a virtuous person by Chitragupta,whereas a priest, who meticulously follows therituals, but is secretly engaged in corruptpractices, will be labeled as a sinner.

In the realm of the Lord of Divine Law(Dharmaraj), the decorations of the exteriorworld have no values. There only the interiorworth is evaluated. It hardly matters whetherexternally an action of a person appears goodor bad. The determining factor is the interioror emotional input. The roots of vices andvirtues unquestionably lie in the intentions, inthe nature and intensity of the intrinsictendencies, the motives, the desires, and notin the external deeds.

To understand that the type and intensity ofmotive is directly proportional to the gravityor greatness of the sin or virtue respectively,take the example of two individuals nursing asick person. Apparently both are engaged inthe same service, but whereas one is doing itindifferently, the other serves with tenderness,sympathy, large-heartedness and love. Here,

in spite of apparently identical service, themeasure of virtue will depend on the qualityof emotional involvement and love. Similarly,amongst two thieves, one of which iscompelled to steal because of starvation andthe other steals for acquiring drugs, the sinwill undoubtedly be considered greater in thelatter case.

In the foregoing paragraphs we havediscussed how Chitragupta, a component of ourown inner self, impartially records our goodand bad deeds on the sub-microscopicelements of our inner conscience and that thissubtle recording is popularly known as the“Lines of Fate” (Karma Rekha). We have alsounderstood that the process of divine justicedoes not regard an act as sinful or virtuousby the external appearance of the activity buton the basis of the quality of the motive of thedoer. In God’s jurisprudence, there issignificant clause for treating each individualindependently according to the state of purityof the soul. The laws of Spirit hold that eachsoul is perpetually in the process ofprogressive evolution i.e. purification throughthe course of successive cycles of birth anddeath. That is, at each successive stage the soulacquires greater purity and is given a body inthe species of higher consciousness (wisdom).Being born as a human being is regarded asthe most precious gift of conscious evolution,as this is the only life form where theindividual self gets a chance with full libertyto do good or bad karmas and accordinglywrite his/her destiny. Human life alone offersthe chance for liberation from the cycles ofbirth and death. It is up to us how we, thearchitects of our own destinies, make use ofthis invaluable opportunity.

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Health for All

What causes weakness and disease?

The root causes of both the weaknessand the disease are same. Whenadequate life force is not generated for

normal functioning of body, it is called‘weakness’; and when this conditiondeteriorates further and creates a problem fora specific body part or the entire body, it iscalled a ‘disease’.

There is a half-baked theory that diseases arespread by viruses. This creates a falseimpression that diseases come from outside;if one protects oneself from viruses, there willbe no disease. To a large extent, this is nottrue. In a healthy body, there is so much acid,alkali and heat that any external germs orviruses are easily destroyed; externalinfections get shelter only in a weak bodywith low vitality. During the spread of highlyinfectious diseases like plague, cholera,smallpox, etc healthy volunteers serve thepatients and also cremate the dead but nothinghappens to them. The mothers keep theirchildren infected with smallpox tucked in their

Nature has innately gifted all living creatures with vibrant health. Every creature is born with naturalresources to be able to lead a healthy and happy life. It is only at the level of human species that oneobserves a vast majority suffering from some or other kind of illness, affliction or weakness. Whenall other creatures, in spite of having nominal intelligence, keep themselves healthy, it is surprisingindeed that human beings, claiming themselves to be intelligent, should be suffering from all kindsof diseases?

In this serial we bring to our readers, in abridged form, Poojya Gurudev’s practical suggestions forimproving health and vigour and attaining longevity (from his popular booklet in Hindi titled “Binaaushadhiyon ke kayakalpa” meaning ‘Rejuvenation without medicines’). We begin with: What causesweakness and disease?

Rejuvenationwithout Medicines -1

laps. Patients suffering from tuberculosis arealso nursed by their relatives but it has beenobserved that nothing happens to the personsattending to them. The sweepers, whose onlyjob is to clean the dirt, are seen to be muchhealthier than the people who are all the timeafraid of germs/viruses.

It has also been observed that in the so called‘high class families’, where every care is takento keep the homes clean and disinfected,residents suffer from many incurable diseases.When so much care is taken to protect theenvironment, how are the germs or viruses ofdiseases able to attack the residents? Even ifwe assume that the disease comes fromoutside, then also we will have to accept thefact that disease-causing germs/viruses areable to make their homes only in weak bodies.If they enter a healthy and strong body, thenthe life force will immediately eliminate them.

Normally the root cause of weakness anddisease lies in the stomach. When the foodintake is not properly digested, it does not

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produce healthy blood in sufficient amount,resulting in low production of life energy.Therefore, people with disordered digestivesystem suffer from low vitality. This resultsin the weakness of inner as well as outer bodyparts giving rise to many ailments likeconstipation, acidity, burning sensation,headache, stiffness, pain, laziness, etc. Thusthe weakness in itself is a kind of disease.

The disturbed digestive process results inrotting of food in the stomach. Suppose wheatflour mixed with water is kept in a pot in awarm place. Soon it will rot and produce afoul smell; the mixture will become toxic andgerms will be produced. Likewise, theundigested food in the stomach becomes toxicand these toxins spread over all parts of thebody. Wherever they accumulate, they createtrouble or inharmony there. Such troubles orinharmonies are called diseases.

A healthy body removes toxins and unusedmatter daily from the body through excretion.Excrement, urine, sweat, mucous, ear wax, etcare manifestations of the removal of toxins.But the body with low vitality cannot do thiscleaning efficiently and hence the toxins go onaccumulating in it. When this condition isaggravated, it is manifested in the form ofdifferent diseases.

The white blood cells (WBC) in the blood arelike soldiers of the defense system of the body.As soon as they find foreign invaders in theform of toxins, germs or viruses, they gatherand start a counterattack and fight till theinvaders are eliminated. This processproduces heat and swelling in the affectedbody part. If this battle field is spread over

A young aspirant went to a rishi to attain supremeknowledge. After initial testing of his sincerity,the latter accepted him as a disciple. At thecompletion of a particular phase of learning, thedisciple wanted to offer gurudakïiñ³ as a markof gratitude. The guru perplexed him by askingfor ‘something that was totally useless’. Thedisciple went in search of such a thing. Consideringthe soil beneath his feet as a waste, he bent downto collect it, when he ‘heard’ it screaming – “Hay!What are you doing? You regard me, the soil, asuseless? Don’t you know that all the boons ofmother earth are born through my womb? In fact,it is my attribute, which accounts for the shape,taste and smell of everything”

After searching for a long time, the youngaspirant found a stinking heap of rubbish; hejust couldn’t stand there. Suddenly he thought thatthis abominable stuff was really useless. Hethought of collecting it to fulfill the peculiardemand his guru. But the next instant he ‘heard’the response from the garbage heap: “Will youfind a better source of fertilization than me? Allthe crops find the essential nourishment from me.All the food grains and fruits grow because ofme. Still you regard me as useless!”

Suddenly the truth dawned upon the aspirant. Heunderstood that, if soil and garbage could be sovaluable, then nothing could be without worth inthis world and that even the tiniest particle ofNature has its own importance. Useless andvalueless is one who regards others as inferior.Yes! Ego or arrogance is such a discardable non-entity. He went back to his master and imploredthat he would offer nothing but his own ego, asthe gurudakïiñ³ at the latter’s feet. The guruhugged him affectionately and blessed him saying“Now you have completed the course ofinstruction. Indeed, acquisition of knowledgebecomes meaningful and beneficial only after thecomplete elimination of ego.”

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the entire body, the whole body will beheated. This is called fever. The body removestoxins in different forms; for example, phlegm,vomiting, loose motions, mucous, sweat, etc.When these symptoms appear, one should beneither perturbed nor should these besuppressed; rather they should be allowed torun their course slowly so that the task ofcleaning is done properly. If the symptoms aresuppressed, the toxins will remain in thebody; and upon getting a chance, will againstrike in some or other form of illness.

What is pain? It is nothing but the effect of atussle between the life force and toxic elements.In this struggle, if WBC win, then disease willbe cured; and if toxic elements win, then theyharm the body. A poisonous abscess canemaciate even the adjacent bone; a very highfever can cause death; aggravated diarrhoeamay cause excessive weakness; etc. These areexamples of the victory of toxins. Defeatingthe foreign invaders/toxins and helping thearmy of WBC in keeping the body healthy isthe objective of therapy. It should be the dutyof a therapist not to suppress the symptomsof the disease but help strengthen the immunesystem of the body so that it becomes capableof fighting the foreign elements.Unfortunately, the modern methods oftreatment aim at demonstrating the miraclesof medicines by suppressing the disease. It istrue that the patient feels some immediate

relief by this method but he is not curedcompletely. Strong medicines, especiallyantibiotics, accomplish the task of destruction.They destroy both the viruses as well ashealthy cells, leaving the side effects thatcontinue for weeks and sometimes even formonths. Supposing our army is fighting thatof the enemy; and a poisonous gas is spreadso that both the armies die and then rejoicethe end of war. Indeed the war ended but ourarmy also vanished along with the enemy’s.It would have been praiseworthy had the armyof the enemy died and no harm had been doneto our side. Medical treatment must be done.However, it should be such that it neutralizesthe body poisons and protects the healthpreserving cells, even though it may takesome time.

Please remember! Weakness and disease, both,are one and the same thing. Improving thedigestive system is the basic treatment for allthe diseases. By this method, the weakness aswell as the disease both are removed and thepatient acquires good health. In thesubsequent issues we will discuss theprinciples and practices of strengthening thedigestive system, the techniques ofrejuvenating the weak, infected and diseasedparts of the body, and finally the method ofachieving Kayakalp (rejuvenation).

(To be continued)

Physical fitness depends on the balanced state of mind. No illness is as painfulas the illness of mind. A vulture feeds only on dead flesh. Similarly, illness seeksshelter in the body of a person who is mentally dejected and depressed. Nomedicine has been manufactured so far which can cure a person when hehimself keeps his mind preoccupied with negativity.

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Aha® tasÚeva vandhura® paryach³mi h—d³mati®. Kuvitomasy³p³miti.

- Rigveda 10/119/5

Meaning: As the carpenter mends the sittingarena of the chariot, so do I refine my intellectwith my (pure) heart. Have I, indeed,consumed soma?

Tender emotions are the pivot of jivanasadhana. All the virtues in life flow from andrevolve around them. It is emotions that givethe sense of contentment in life. Whatevernew heights of development and progress arescaled in disregard of emotions will leave anagging feeling of emptiness and vacuity. Allthe acquisitions of wealth, power, respect andhonour fail to give inner satisfaction; theinterior always feels thirsty for something else.The lack of emotional warmth makes one feelpenurious in the midst of opulence. This isintensely felt by those who have seen theirsentiments being crushed to pieces, whosetrusts have been betrayed in life, who havelonged for some warmth and got none, andwho have suffered in silence the agony ofrepeated emotional blows. Their vacant eyesand throbbing hearts are pointers to the factthat emotional pains dissolve like a slowpoison in life. From this poisonous admixturespring innumerable mental disorders. The

origin of all psychological ailments lies inhidden, crushed, betrayed and tormentedemotions.

On the other hand, if there is a propersprouting of emotions in life and they arenurtured with care and love, miraculouschanges are inevitable. Such persons becomemasters of innumerable virtues and thefragrance of their personalities permeates thewhole surrounding. Not only they themselvesfeel contented but even those in their contactand vicinity find their lives becomingmeaningful and joyous. This is so because itis the golden truth of life that where themagnetic force of emotional sensitivity is veryintense, there is a continual and proportionategeneration of virtues. Contrariwise, whereverinsensitivity grows, there is a matchingupsurge of vices and evil tendencies allaround.

The aspiring minds may want to know howto create tender emotions in life, how to feelemotional contentment? The answer is verysimple. The flow of tender emotions increasesby expression, but dries up by suppressing.It is a type of wealth which the more youspread around, the richer you become, but aniggardly attitude leaves you a destitute.Hence the seekers of emotional fulfillment are

Know the Essence ofTender Emotions

The aspiring minds may want to know how to create tender emotions in life, how to feelemotional contentment? The answer is very simple. The flow of tender emotions increasesby expression, but dries up by suppression.

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advised that rather than trying to get thewarmth of someone else’s emotions, they giveout their own warm emotions to the needyand the sufferers. The result of this pious andselfless action will be, in all circumstances,highly satisfying.

The words of a holy seer in the spiritual lifeof India, Swami Ramtirtha, are veryenlightening in this context. Those days hewas in America. His personality, aconfluence of tapa, wisdom and love, hadacquired a divine magnetism. Countlessnumber of people rushed to him in distressand returned with a smile. One day awoman came to him, she was a picture ofgloom and despondence. Someone had senther to Swami Ramtirtha. Come she hadsomehow, but was unable to speak anything.Deep depression had made her tongue-tied.For a long moment she remained sittingstatue-like, saying nothing. SwamiRamtirtha, too, said nothing to her, only keptgazing at her with compassion in his eyes.This silent shower of compassion andempathy melted the ice of accumulated pain,and it began to pour out of her eyes. Shekept weeping and weeping and Ramtirthakept looking at her with affection. Thepanacea of love and understandinggradually enabled her to regain her voice.With tears in her eyes and throat, shenarrated her story. Its gist was that aftersacrificing everything – money, body, mind,life, she had been betrayed and had got onlydejection in return.

After patiently listening to her, Ramtirthaspoke somberly: “Sister, everyone in thisworld behaves according to the level of his

capability. One’s physical, mental, intellectualand emotional capacities bound andcircumscribe him and limit his conduct to theavailable measure. Those whose emotions aresoiled in selfishness and venality are onlyworthy of forgiveness. They should beforgiven with a loving heart. Very helplessare these poor souls”. “Is it impossible, in thatcase, to get true love in life”? The womanasked. “No, it is not so, “Swami Ramtirthareplied, “true love comes, but only to thosewho know how to love truly”. “My love wasalso true”, the visitor remonstrated. “Nosister, your love had expectation. Also, therewas a poisonous element of lust dissolved init, whereas true love appears only in the formof selfless service, compassion and reverentialfaith.”

The woman realized the essence of Ramtirtha’swords. She now knew that love is only given;it does not demand anything. Love is thename of unconditional giving. It is the nameof emotions that are free of lust, longing andegoity. Having assimilated this wisdom, shejoined a hospital as a nurse. Her emotionsfound an outlet in selfless service. When, aftera long time, she met Swami Ramtirtha again,she was a transformed person. Herpersonality radiated a unique glow, the glowof contentment. At the same time, she wasgetting the goodwill of many without asking.The taste of pure love had blessed and satiatedher. Really, only they who simply give, andnot demand, know the essence of tenderemotions. Under the soothing comfort of thiseffusion grow various qualities of thepersonality, among which is includedenhancement of intellectual capability too.

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The paramount importance of Sadhana –Upasana is repeatedly stressed in theIndian Philosophy and the scriptures of

Yoga. In spite of this, it has been observed thatsometimes people following all the prescribedrules and rituals do not get the benefits ofSadhana – Upasana, which have beenmentioned in the scriptures. This is due to thenegative effects of the environment. It is truethat some Siddha ascetics change theenvironment with their will power and TapaSadhana (penance). But it is also true that theeffect of environment is quite significant in thedevelopment of human beings. As Sadhana –Upasana is related to one’s traits and eachenvironment has its own good or bad aspects,the quality of place and environment becomesall the more important for higher levelSadhanas. Many positive and negativeexamples illustrating the forceful effects ofenvironment may be found in history as wellas in daily life.

There is a famous story of Mahabharat. Inorder to select the place for the great warbetween Kaurvas and Pandavas, Lord Krishnaappointed a special adept in the subject. Hesearched for a suitable battle-field around

Hastinapur which had strong vibrations offratricidal conflict. Upon returning he narratedone incident in which he saw two real brothersfighting in Kurukshetra. Lord Krishna chosethis very place for the war, because he had adoubt that Arjun, being very sentimental,might refuse to fight with his own kith andkin. Similar incident is narrated about ShravanKumar. When he was taking his parents in aKanwar on a holy pilgrimage, he came to a placewhere he not only threw down the Kanwar butalso abused his parents. After crossing thatregion, he felt deeply remorseful for hisunbecoming behaviour. His father consoledhim and told him that it was none of his fault.That place once belonged to a demon – Maya,who imprisoned his parents and then killedthem there. It is a fact that the land too has itssubtle vibrations and they can be felt byvisiting sacred tanks, temples or graveyards.

The soil of Kullu is famous for apples. Suchapples cannot be grown elsewhere even byproviding best manure, water andconditioning. The oranges of Nagpur and thebananas of Bhusaval are not availableelsewhere. Whereas Muzaffarpur is famous forlychees, Lucknow is famous for muskmelon.

Siddhi through Sadhana-2

The Need of Refined Environmentfor Success of Sadhana

A sadhak (devotee) should be considered fortunate, if he gets an opportunity to do sadhanaunder the shade of Himalayas, in the lap of Ganga, in a devotion-filled environment andunder powerful protection and guidance.

March-April 2007 17

The tasty mangoes that are grown inMalihabad and Banaras, are rarely foundelsewhere. Sandalwood trees grown in theforests of Mysore have their own specialfragrance. A vast difference in the quality ofgrains is observed due to the variation ofenvironment. The wheat of Punjab is muchbetter as compared to the wheat grown inother parts of India. Cows, giving milk, canbe found in the entire country; but there is nomatch for the cows of Haryana. It is theAzerbaijan region of Russia that is famous forcentenarians. Death before 100 years there isconsidered untimely. These are all the effectsand qualities of environment. One cannotremain unaffected by them.

The same principle applies to the vegetation.The herbs are the same, but when they aregrown in different regions, their qualities vary.A significant difference is observed in theproperties of Brahmi (a medicinal herb) grownon the bank of the Ganga in the Himalayanregion and that grown on the banks of riversin the plains. The same rule applies to otherherbs too.

According to the regional peculiarites, thedifference is found not only in the humanconfiguration but also in the behaviour.Although, a human being is free and, inprinciple, he is fully capable of transformingall the traditional pressures with his own willpower; but on the practical plain, it has beenobserved that the regional environment goeson moulding the residents. In spite of givingrecognition to originality of a person, it hasto be accepted that the majority of the peoplein society does not live thoughtfully but it livesunder the influence of environment. The castes

and families too have their own peculiarties.The religiousness in Brahmans, bravery inKshatriyas, economic shrewdness in Vaishyas,artistic skills in sculptors, etc. are morepronounced as compared to others. Sometribes have the habit of theft and pilferage astheir inherent traits. Some classes arenotorious for cowardice and foolishness. Whenwe search for the causes of these behaviouraldifferences, only one prominent cause that isencountered is that when a person lives in aparticular societal environment, he developsthe virtues or the vices accordingly.

Any normal work can be done in the normalenvironment, but if it is desirable to do someextraordinary work, then an appropriateenvironment has to be searched. From thispoint of view, India’s Himalayan region hasearned the unique distinction of being themost suitable place for doing high levelspiritual sadhana. This region has been praisedas the land of gods (devabhoomi). Importantexperiments on Ayurveda, chemistry, literatureand Yoga have been conducted from time-to-time in the extensive laboratory of Himalayanregion. This has been the land of action of SaptaRishis (seven seers), great ascetics and divinepersonages. Gurukuls for students and Aranyaksfor persons involved in righteous deeds andconducts used to be run here. Tapasthalis (placesor regions where an ascetics do their penance)of persons like Vashishtha – a religious leaderand a spiritual guide of Suryavanshi monarchsand Vishwamitra – an ascetic and visionaryof Gayatri Vidya were located on this very soil.Persons with divine vision say that the cosmicspiritual consciousness has been descendingon earth specifically in this region. Scientistsconsider Polar regions to be the centres where

March-April 200718

the physical cosmic vibrations descend onearth. The same recognition is accorded toHimalayas in the field of spirituality. Thisregion is a descending point for vibrations ofuniversal divine consciousness where thesincere devotees, through hard penances,acquire divine qualities. This cold region isuniquely suitable for Sadhana. It is believedthat the water of Ganga is a mixture of divineherbs.

Due to the hard penances done by Yogis andascetics in this region, the environment hereis filled with special spiritual vibrations. Onentering this environment, noble thoughts andsacred emotions start flooding theconsciousness spontaneously. It seems thisregion is still largely untouched by the pollutedenvironment engulfing every corner of theearth.

A sadhak (devotee) should be consideredfortunate, if he gets an opportunity to doSadhana under the shade of Himalayas, in thelap of Ganga, in a devotion-filled environmentand under powerful protection and guidance.

The aim of establishing Gayatri Teerth,Shantikunj at Hardwar in Uttarakhand Stateof India, is to provide such an environment tothose who are desirous of doing higher levelGayatri – Sadhana. Through the seer-vision ofits founder, the seer-savant-scholar parexcellence, Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya,Shantikunj has grown into a uniquefountainhead of moral, ethical and spiritualawakening of the masses in India and abroad,with its message of universal love, peace,harmony and unity-in-diversity. In order tointegrate science and spirituality, Acharyasri

also established Brahamvarchas ReseachInstitute near Shantikunj Ashram. In thelaboratories of this Institute are scientificallyanalyzed the effects of spiritual sadhana,rhythmic chanting of mantras, music, treatmentby medicinal herbs and Ayurvedicpreparations, and yagyopathy. The Institute isequipped with state-of-the-art apparatus andequipments. Hundreds of thousands ofanalyses done by the Institute so farunequivocally prove the scientific veracity ofspiritual search and sadhana. Participants ofnine-day Sanjeevani sadhana camps and one-month Yug-shilpi camps are regularlyexamined in the Institute before the start andafter the completion of their training.

Thousands of persons who stay at or visitShantikunj daily are deeply impressed andinspired by the refreshingly different modelof human life, lived in the light of a practical,ever-progressive spiritual vision embodyingthe perennial truth of VedicHeritage.Everyone, whether a visitor or aparticipant in the various trainingprogrammes, is provided free boarding andlodging. Shantikunj is truly the abode of peace.Whosoever enters into the orbit of its aura feelsthe sublimating, rejuvenating, revitalizingpeace-inducing vibrations of this Haven ofPeace.

[For further details please contact: Shantikunj,Haridwar , Uttarakhand, India 249411 ;Website: www.awgp.org]

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Yagya Therapy-2

Yagyopathy or yagya-therapy incorporatespulmonary drug-administration byinhalation and infusion through skin

pores during yagya (agnihotra, homam)conducted with selected herbal (plantmedicinal) preparations that are offered in firealong with chanting of specific Vedic hymns(mantras). The types and quantities of herbsused in the preparation of the material (havansamagri) for oblation in the fire of yagya, thetype of medicinal woods used in the fire, theselection of mantras to be chanted during theherbal-oblations, the timings of yagya etc arespecific for specific effects. Typically, thematerial (clay or metal) and design of the agni-kuñÃa (fire-pit) is also chosen as per the Vedicscriptural prescriptions for desired effects.

The medicinal firewood (samidh³) used inyagya are cellulose-rich and have less calorificvalue, the arrangement of selected firewoodto control the air-supply and temperaturevariation are also optimized so that the firebreaks up molecule-to-molecule bonds of thesacrificed substances causing them to

YagyaMedicinal Effects & Therapy for Eyes

The technique of yagyayagyayagyayagyayagya for the treatment of physical and mental diseases does not compriseonly of the decomposition and transformation into vapor phase and release of medicinalphytochemicals from the herbal medicinal preparation; medicinal samidh³ssamidh³ssamidh³ssamidh³ssamidh³s (wood pieces)and healthy nutritional substances offered in the fire of yagyayagyayagyayagyayagya are also processed to help ininducing increased vigor and immunity

sublimate or vaporize, rather than triggeringtheir independent combustion process[1].

The technique of yagya for the treatment ofphysical and mental diseases does notcomprise only of the decomposition andtransformation into vapor phase and releaseof medicinal phytochemicals from the herbalmedicinal preparation; medicinal samidh³s(wood pieces) and healthy nutritionalsubstances offered in the fire of yagya are alsoprocessed to help inducing increased vigorand immunity[2].

The medicinal and nourishing output of theyagya are naturally inhaled through the nose(via deep breathing) and mouth (via rhythmicchanting of mantras). Moreover, because ofbeing spread in the surrounding air thevaporized substances also enter the bodythrough the skin pores. Doing yagya in theearly morning (few hours around the sunrisetime) at a neat place is most effective as theatmosphere is relatively clear and air is fresh(free of pollutants). If yagya is performed

March-April 200720

regularly at the same place, after several daysthe surrounding environments would becomepurer and remain so almost the entire day.Still, early morning time gives the best effectsin terms of cleanliness of our skin (soon afterbathing), metabolic state of our body, bestimpact of sunlight, etc.

People have a common belief that the smokeproduced during this fire-ritual kills thebacteria so the effect of yagya is nothing butwhat could be achieved by burning the woodor dry cow dung. However, scientificexperiments[1, 4] conducted to study the effectsof – (a) proper yagya, (b) burning wood or cowdung, (c) control (no treatment) upon samplesof same bacterial culture, incubated inidentical conditions, show significantdifference. The effect of yagya was foundconsistent and remarkably better (about 75%bacterial growth reduction, on an average)better than the controls while that of (b) wasinconsistent; on some samples, it showed slightreduction (at the most 15%) as compared tothe controls.

The duration of yagya, the selection of mantrasand the type of herbal/plant medicinalpreparation (havan s³magrº) to be used in itdepend upon the nature and extent of thedisease. As per the sagacious guidance ofVedmurti Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya, thethorough studies on Ayurvedic Medicines atShantikunj, Hardwar and the researchexperiments and clinical trials in the yagyopathylab of its research wing – Brahmvarchas ShodhSansthan, Hardwar, has pioneered scientificrevival of this ancient inhalation therapy. Thisseries on yagya-therapy (yagyopathy) willhighlight these aspects for treatment against

Takshashila was a prosperous princely stateof northern India when Alexander The Greathad marched into the Indian borders inpursuit of his mission of world conquest. Thethen king of Takshashila was a religious manwho used to spend major portion of the royalincome for the welfare activities of hissubjects and for the running of the world-renowned University of Takshila. Only asmall fraction of the resources was used forthe defense budget of the small army of hisstate.

Alexander attacked this state without muchplanning because defeating a handful ofsoldiers was quite easy for his heavily armedand battle – tested warriors. The King ofTashshila tackled the situation with immensepatience and wisdom. He applied athoughtful diplomatic policy of friendlydiscussions before launching a counter -offensive. He met Alexander with some giftsand arranged for a royal guest-like welcomefor him. He talked about the global reputeand unique structure of the University of theDivine Culture and showed how much ofhis state’s resources were used for thepurpose of spreading the light of knowledgeacross the world.

Alexander was quite impressed by the King’splans. He offered many times more wealthto the King than what was gifted to him as agesture of friendship for furtherance of thenoble aims of Takshila University. Headmired the ideals and activities of theUniversity for which the King had generouslydonated his resources. Alexander’sadmiration for the noble values of the DivineVedic Culture had further increased after thishistoric incident.

March-April 2007 21

some major and/or common diseases (healthproblems).

Here we present the method and materials ofyagya-therapy prescribed to cure the diseasesof eyes. It can be practiced along with oral orintravenous intake of modern and/orAyurvedic medicines. Yagya also serves as anexcellent mode of preventive medicine. It isan easy and least expensive mode oftreatment provided the patient spends sometime (say about 30-40 minutes or so, on anaverage). It is often called havana or homa®while performed at a small scale, say, everydayat home. The readers who are not familiarwith the procedure of doing yagya or who havenever participated in any, are advised to attendsome of the yagyas organized by GayatriPariwar in their city/locality and are alsowelcome to visit Shantikunj, Hardwar for thispurpose. The books listed in the referencesgive necessary introduction[5] and details[6]

together with syllabic structure and meaningof relevant mantras (hymns) chanted duringyagya.

Yagya to Heal Eye-Ailments: Usually bydisease of eyes one thinks of infections likeconjunctivitis; by eye-problems one thinks ofweakness of eyesight, Hypermetropia orMyopia, cataract, partial or total blindness, etc.Except perhaps in the case of infections, it isdifficult to see what role medicines, other thaneye-drops or ointment would have. More sowhat the inhalation through yagya would doin case of eye-problems? It should be notedthat the functioning of the optical nerves andrelated system of eyes, its retinal membraneand tissues, etc are sensitive to changes inblood biochemistry and blood flow rate and

pressures, resulting in varieties of problemsranging from irritation in eyes, weak eyesight,partial blindness, fibrous growth or tumorsin the eye-region.

Pulmonary administration of effectivemedicines, which do not have any side-effects,is therefore effective in most diseases orproblems of eyes. Hence the importance ofyagya, as the specific plant medicinalpreparation (havan s³magrº) used for thispurpose consists of good combination ofeffective medicines, natural disinfectants andhealthy substances that cause no risk of side-effects and are naturally soothing. Thepreparation and mode of use is as follows.

The special havan s³magrº for eyes is preparedusing equal proportions of dry coarse powderfor the following plant medicines/herbs:camphor, clove, turmeric, l³la chandana, d³ruhaldi, rasauta, laudhra, mulaiÚhº, nºma leafs,devad³ra, bacha, dham³s³, gorakhamunú, bab¿laleafs, kachura, and lotus. [Botanical andavailable English names of all plants/herbs aregiven in the Table underneath]. Yagya isperformed using this special havan s³magrºmixed with the common havan s³magrº in 1:1proportions.

Common havan s³magrº is used for generalpurpose (in daily yagya for normal sustenanceof vigor and healthy atmosphericenvironment). It consists of agar, tagar, devad³ra,giloya, l³la chandana, aïwagandh³, guggala,cloves, J³yaphala and sandalwood powder inequal proportions. Substances with healthyconstituents like ghee (clarified butter) of cow’smilk, Hordeum Valgar (Barley), Sesamumindicum (tila), together with sugar and Vitis

March-April 200722

Vinifera (big resins or dried grapes) smallquantities (~ 1% of total quantity of the havans³magrº) are added to common havan s³magrº.

Oblations (³hutis) of this preparation are madein the yagya-fire with rhythmic loud chantingof the Surya-Gayatri Mantra. On an average,the ³hutis (made with the sound of “sw³h³” atthe end of the mantra) should continue for 20-25 minutes every day; or, at least 24 ³hutisshould be offered.

The Surya Gayatri Mantra: Om Bhur Buva¡Swa¡, Bh³skar³ya Vidmahe, Diw³kar³ya Dhºmahi|Tanna¡ Surya¡ Prachoday³t|| Sw³h³|| Afteroffering each ³huti, one should say “Ida®S¿ry³ya, Ida® Na Mam” – implying an altruisticfeeling that it is for the benefit of the world(through yagya) and not for my selfish benefits.

The problems of eyes including weak eyesightare also caused by severe tension or physicalstress. Yagya induces soothing effects ofcalming mind and thus offers added benefitsin such cases as well.

For rapid healing, a decoction of the followingAyurvedic prescription should also be taken.Make fine powder of equal quantities ofturmeric, l³la chandana, giloya, d³ru haldi, kutakº,chir³yat³, saunÚha, nºma bark-skin, chitraka, v³saroot, patola leafs, anval³, haraÃa, baheó,n³garmoth³, k¿taja bark-skin, barley,gorakhamunú, ïat³vara, s³riv³. The powdershould be kept in airtight container and everyday about 50gm of this powder should beboiled in half-liter water. Keep the decoction

continuously boiling (on mild flame) till only100 ml is left. Let it cool. Filter it using fine,neat cloth and drink it fresh in the morning.

References:

1. Raghuvanshi M. (2006): SomeInvestigations into the Chemical andpharmaceutical Aspects of Yagyopathy.PhD Thesis, Dev Sanskriti Univ., Hardwar(India).

2. Raghuvanshi M., Pandya P. and Joshi R.R. (2004): Yagyopathic Herbal Treatmentof Pulmonary Tuberculosis Symptoms –A Clinical Trial. Alter. & Compl. Therapies.V 10 (2), pp. 101-105.

3. Saxena M. (2006): Air Quality modelingand Non-Conventional Solutions to theEnvironmental Pollution Problems withReference to the Vedic Sciences. PhDThesis, Dev Sanskriti Univ., Hardwar(India).

4. Acharya Shrama S. (2005) Saral aurSankïipta Gayatri Havan Vidhi. 24th Print.Yug Nirman Yojna, Mathura. (EnglishTranslation by S.Potdar: “The Procedureof Yagya” 1st ed. 2004. Yug Nirman Yojna,Mathura.)

5. Acharya Shrama S. (1995): Yagya – EkSmagra upchar Prakriya. Pt. Shriram SharmaAcharya Samagra Vangmaya Vol. 26Akhand Jyoti Sansthan, Mathura; UP,India.

Distributing your joy and sharing in other’s grief is true Yagya.

March-April 2007 23

Table: List of Herbs/Plant Medicines cited above

Indian Name Common English Name Botanical Name

Agar Aquilaria Agallocha

Aïwagandh³ Rap-seed plant, Winter cherry Withania Somnifera Dunal

Ânval³ Emblic Myrobalan Emblica officinalis Geartn

Bab¿la Indian Gum Tree Acacia nilotica

Bacha, Sweet flag Acorus calamus

Baheó Beleric Myrobalans, Beddanut Terminali belrica

Chitraka White leadwort Plumbago zeylanica

Chir³yat³ Chireta Swertia chirayata

D³ru haldi Indian Berberry Berberis aristata

Devad³ra Himalayan cedar Cedrus deodara

Dham³s³ Fangonia arabica

Giloya Tinospora, Guduchi Tinospora Cordifolia

Gorakhamunú Monkey bread tree, Baobab Adansonia digitata

Guggala Indian Bedellium tree Commiphora Mukul

HaraÃa Chabulic Myrobalans Terminalia chebula

J³yaphala Nutmeg Myristica fragrans Houtt.

Kachura Zedoary Curcuma Zedoaria

Kutakº Black Hellebore Picrorrhiza Kurroa Royle ex benth.Kutaja Tellicherry Bark Holarrhena antidysenterica

Laudhra Symplocos bark Symplocos resemosa

L³la Chandan Red Sounders Pterocarpus Santalinus

MulaiÚhº Liquoric Root Glycyrrhixaglabra Bois

N³garmoth³ Nutgrass Cyperus rotundus

Nºma Margosa tree Azadirachta indica

Patola Sespadula Trichosanthes dioca

Rasauta Extract of Indian Berberies Extractum Berbris

SaunÚha Dry ginger Zingiber officinale Roscoe

S³riv³ Indian sarsaparilla Hemidesmus indicus

Ïat³vara Asparagus Asparagus racemosus

Tagar Moonbeam, East Ind.Rose berry Ervatamia coronaria

V³s³ Malabarnut Adhatoda vasica

March-April 200724

Sa® chedhyasv³gne pra cha vardhayema®uchcha tiÌtha mahate saubhag³yaM³te riÌannupasatt³ro agnebrahm³ñaste yaïaÌa¡ santu m³nye

- Atharvaveda 2/6/2O Fire-God Agni! You are resplendent. Makethis sacrificer (me) prosperous. Rise forbestowing great fortune. O Agni! May yourworshippers never perish. May the singers ofyour glory be honoured.

The meaning of self-respect is inherentin self-dignity. It is experienced onlyby those who are conscious of their

virtue-based dignity and never deviate fromit. Those who care a fig for their dignity andreadily stoop low for the slightest gain arealways deprived of it. Self-respect is nevergiven by others; it is self-earned. It is not thename of some civic honour, or columns ofpraise in newspapers. It is a very privateexperience which takes place in our innerconsciousness. The experiencers of this feelingremain happy and contented irrespective ofwhether or not they are getting worldlylaurels. Those bereft of this feeling alwayssuffer from an undefined emptiness anddissatisfaction within inspite of getting all theworldly honours and praises.

To emerge out of this dissatisfaction, the onlyway is to re-invent self-dignity and redefineself-respect, because the outer identity, of

which people are normally aware, is in no wayconducive to the process of jivana sadhana.

Normally, respect for the ego or I-sense istaken to be self-respect. Even the smallestslight to the ego is deemed a blow to self-respect. This being so, it is but natural for a‘self-respecting’ person to avoid any suchactivity as will hurt his ego. This erroneousidentification has made the society’s elite shunphysical labour, because this is supposed tobe a domain of the downtrodden and thelowly placed; how can the so-called‘respectable’ people do it!

From the overlap of ego and self-respect havesprung many evil practices in the realms ofindividual and social lives. Man is so deeplyimmersed in false sense of ego regarding caste,clan and lineage that he has detached himselffrom normal human values and behaviour. Intrifling matters his ego gets hurt, and he isbent upon punishing the offender. Of late,new lows have been reached and even killingsare being done in the name of protecting thehonour of caste and family.

To reverse this perverse trend, it isnecessary to redefine a noble emotion likeself-respect. Self-respect is the ineffaceableline of normative bounds which must not beviolated in any condition. Right conduct and

Art of Living - 7

DevelopSelf-Respect

March-April 2007 25

righteous qualities define our self-respect.Noble sentiments and sublime values of lifeare its symbols. Their correct awareness,unshakable faith in them, and full alertnessabout the inviolability of their normsexemplify our self-respect. If we actaccordingly, we feel honoured in ourselvesand experience an exhilarating pride within,while a converse behaviour drags us into thegloom of self-pity and remorse.

There are many events in the life of YugrishiPoojya Gurudev which make the essentialmeaning of this truth evident. The incidentbeing mentioned here is of his Mathura days.Gayatri Tapobhumi had come into existence.Gurudev alongwith Vandaniya Mataji regularlyparticipated in the morning yajóa. That dayalso when he reached for yajóa at theappointed time, his eyes fell on dog’s excretalying near the Tapobhumi gate. The passers-by were making their way around it.

He observed this proceeding silently for a fewminutes. Then without saying anything toanybody he moved towards the gate andbefore others could react, he had cleaned theexcreta and washed the place thoroughly.After this, he went for bath and having madehimself clean and pure again returned to theyajóashala.

Those who were witness to all this feltawkward. Why did Gurudev have to do thiswork himself? He could have told a cleaningstaff or some worker. Such thoughts arose inmany minds but none was bold enough tomention this to him. Gurudev, of course, in hisinner vision was aware of these thoughtspassing through their minds. After purñ³huti(concluding offering of oblation) he addressedthem: “Gayatri Tapobhumi is the holy peeth(seat) of Mother Gayatri. It is home to all ofus. Its cleanliness is also the duty of us all.Live we will in it but clean it somebody else -what could be more shameful than this?”

Having said this Gurudev looked at thosepresent and continued: “To clean excreta is amatter of self-respect for me. Loss in self-respect comes from tolerating filth and lookingup to others for its removal”. He warned onthis occasion that self-respect increases byinculcation of the attributes required, for self-development. By neglecting these attributes,we can only become hypocrytic egoists. Thesense of self-respect comes to those who servethe needy, give comfort to others and whosehearts are brimming with noble sentiments.Ask yourself daily how much you have movedforward in this direction today. Thiscontinued introspection and self-evaluation vis-à-vis inner qualities will lead to the emergenceof true self-respect

Air, water and food are essential for the nourishment of the physicalbody of a living being. Similarly knowledge that leads to integratedrefinement, development and activation of the potentialities of theheart, head and hands is true nourishment of the soul.

March-April 200726

Introduction

As spring is the most vibrant andverdant amongst the seasons, so isyouth in the changing phases of life -

a fountainhead of joy, enthusiasm, valour andcourage. Self-disciplined youth committed tonoble ideals are a source of infinite energyleading to ever higher progress andprosperity. History bears testimony to the factthat youth have always established newbenchmarks with their wisdom, courage,indomitable energy and strong willpower - beit the domain of materialism or spirituality.Indeed, whatever bright chapters are foundin the history of the world, they have beenwritten by the youth.

It is the youthful divine urge of Ekohambahusyam that created the whole cosmos. Theyouthfulness of Nature is expressed in theform of its beauty. The youth, Ram, painfullymoved by the cultural degradation of his timevowed–‘Nishichar heen karahu mahi’ (meaning:I vow to eliminate all evil traits from the faceof the earth). When the youthful message ofthe Geeta aroused from within the

youthfulness of Partha, the latter won thegreat war of Mahabharat. The youthfulnessof human compassion transformed princeSiddhartha into The Buddha. The youthfulnessof Guru Gobind Singh became a challenge forthe tyrants. When youth get surcharged byTapa (penance), they become BhagwanMahavir, Swami Dayanand, SwamiVivekanand, Swami Ramteerth, etc. It is theyouthfulness of the martyrs which broke thechains of slavery of Mother India. Theyouthfulness of Param Poojya Gurudev PanditShriram Sharma Acharya and VandaniyaMataji laid the foundation of Gayatri Mission– committed to ushering of the New GoldenEra. Youth is the passionate urge to grow bothin matters mundane as well as spiritual.

Unfortunately, at present we are passingthrough a dark period of cultural debauchery.Materialistic consumerism and self-indulgenceare on their climax; and directionlessness, eviltendencies and lack of creativity are makingour young generation hollow from within.Over and above that unemployment, drugabuse, and western style of living are draining

A Creative Movement for Moral, Intellectual and CulturalAwakening of the Future Leaders of the Nation.

Shantikunj’s Campaign forAwakening of Youth

Youth Column

March-April 2007 27

off their energies. In such a dismal situation,it becomes essential to acquaint the youth ofour nation with our cultural heritage and makethem realize the true purpose of their lives.What is needed for a bright future in thetwenty-first century – is the totaltransformation of the present way of life –from crass materialism to life – affirmingspirituality.

In order to organize the youth into the nation’senlightened power, Shantikunj has initiated anation-wide ‘Youth Movement’.

Four–fold Concept of Youth Movement

1. Serene Youth – Superior Nation

Protecting the youth from the ill-effects ofconsumeristic culture and acquaint themwith our glorious cultural heritage

Cultivation of virtues like humility,cooperation, industriousness, self-discipline, etc; amonst the youth

2. Devoted Youth – Happy Nation

Development of compassion, sensitivity,devotion to social service and relatedqualities in the youth

Utilization of time, effort, resources andtalents of youth in creative work

3. Healthy Youth – Powerful Nation

Motivation of youth for achieving holisticphysical, mental and spiritual health

Cultivation of a superior art of livingthrough Pragya Yoga and self-discipline

Protecting the youth from the vices ofaddiction / drug abuse and engaging themin creative work

4. Self-reliant Youth – Prosperous Nation

Awakening of self-respect through self-reliance

Eradication of unemployment

Self-reliance through self-employment

Awakening of an attitude of dignitytowards work

Seven Steps of Youth Movement

1. Sadhana

2. Education

3. Health

4. Self-reliance

5. Environmental protection

6. Women’s empowerment and awakening

7. Deliverance from addictions; andEradication of evil customs.

Nature of Organization

In order to solve the present – day problemsand lead this process of transformation, the

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nation is seeking the support of youth. In factthe future of the nation lies in the hands of itsyouth. Thus, there is a dire need of organizingthe youth and properly utilizing their talentsand potentialities.

The progress of any nation does not dependon its vast majority of unorganized masses buton its energetic, service-oriented youngleaders. True leaders are those who couldsolve their own problems and utilize theremaining energy in the upliftment of others.Only such leaders will inspire the masses tofollow them.

Therefore, under the aegis of Global GayatriPariwar, with its headquarters at ShantikunjHardwar, a ‘Youth Cell’ has been establishedunder the dynamic leadership of Revered Dr.Pranav Pandya and Shail Jiji. This cell isstriving to organize dedicated and energeticyoung men and women from all walks of life,ready to participate enthusiastically in themaking of the nation. This cell will work atascending levels starting from village/townto the state. The aims and objectives of the‘Youth Cell’ are as follows.

Develop positive personality traits in theyouth

Cultivate the virtues of self-discipline,leadership, compassion and courage inthe youth

Properly utilize the talents and energiesof youth in creative tasks

Awaken self-esteem through self-reliance

Develop the spirit of cooperation withsociety amongst the youth

Prepare prudent, honest, responsible andbrave young men and women

An Apeal

We appeal to all our fellow citizens tocooperate with us in this campaign ofawakening of the youth so that this vibrant,energetic and dynamic force could be utilizedfor the development of the Nation and thewelfare of the world at large

For details contact:Youth Cell, Vichar Kranti Abhiyan, Shantikunj, Haridwar, Uttarakhand 249411 (India)

Phone: 91-1334-260602, 261328, 260403 Fax: 260866 Email: email@awgp.org Website: www.awgp.org

Ambitious Joshua Levmann designed several strategies for future and wentto scholarly Yukatchi to ask how he should plan to fulfill those. Yakutchiwent through the list thoroughly and said, “My child, among all thesepolicies you have not mentioned the very first strategy without which allyour plans are worthless.” Shockingly Joshua asked, “What should thatplanning be?” He replied, “Building of your temperament and character,without which one can neither rise nor accomplish bigger goals.”

March-April 2007 29

Meteorology departments or weatherbureaus in most parts of the worldare now well equipped with

sophisticated satellite based data collectiondevices, geo-information systems and remotesensing devices to continuously record thesignals and signs of the variations deep underthe sea, beneath the earth and far away in thespace. However, the multiple dimensions ofparameters, random nature and complexity ofthe data make the analysis difficult and soprecise and reliable inference models andaccurate predictions continue to elude fromtheir sight. Perhaps this is the reason peopleoften joke that – “If the weather bureaupredicts heavy rains, one should better notbother to take any umbrella or raincoat withhim, because the atmosphere is known to notonly ‘disobey’ but also ‘contradict’ theirestimates”.

Electronic media keeps spreading the‘predictions’ of the local and global weatherdepartments throughout the day so there isno dearth of information. But the question ishow reliable that information is? No doubt,the accuracy of predictive methods hasimproved significantly over the past two

decades, still the lack of precision and time-lapses witnessed in the tragic occurrences ofthe recent calamities of earthquakes in Gujarat,Indonesia, Tsunami at south-eastern Indiancoast, Katrina in the USA, necessitates the needfor further advancement of science andtechnology to face Nature’s challenges withtimely preparations.

The present trends indicate that thepredictions using modern technologicalgadgets are correct on an average scale formore-or-less periodic events. For example, theoverall nature of monsoon in a given yeargenerally is in good agreement with what hasbeen inferred a month or fortnight before itsonset. Prominent among the geological eventsthat are prone to bring a drastic environmentalshift for South Asia are – El Nino (associatedwith the temperature of the Pacific ocean inregions towards coasts of Peru, LatinAmerica) and the pressure belt from Darwin(Australia) to Argentina.

Correct inference of monsoon plays a key rolein national and global economy. It is moreimportant for countries like India, where thestate of agricultural production controls the

Science and Spirituality

Can Animals Predict Weather?Inspite of all the expertise deployed in data-collection, modeling and inference in which alarge number of talented, skilled and well trained brains are employed for doing the jobwith high-tech communication and computational instruments and networking, it isamazing to look at the natural capabilities of several species of birds and animals in sensingthe future weather and geo-events far more precisely than by the well-known expertsusing high-tech instruments.

March-April 200730

gross economic growth and this crucial sectorlargely depends upon monsoons for irrigation.In terms of the best-validated models so far,the inference of monsoon status is made basedon estimation of sixteen parameters. Six ofthese deal with temperature variation pattern,two with snowfall, two with the speeds anddirections of winds and five with thepatterns of atmospheric pressure in specificregions. Estimators of these based on thecurrent season and previous few years’ dataare analyzed to assess the ‘state of monsoon’in general. Thousands of scientists and dataprocessors are required to work hard forseveral months, using high-performancecomputers with specialized statistical andmathematical software for this analysis.

In broad terms, if the model fitting andsimulation shows indices based on all of theseparameters as satisfactory then the monsoonis predicted as “average”. Similar criteriasatisfied by ten to twelve of these indicateabove average rainfall during the monsoon.More that twelve of these being favorableimplies very good monsoon. The statistics ofthe Meteorological Department of Indiasupport the validity of these criteria. In theyear 1988, fourteen of these indices werefound favorable. The monsoon that yearproved the simulations right, as the rainfallwas higher than the record of past fifty years.The scenario was the contrary in the previousyear (1987) when only five indices wereestimated as above threshold. Most part of ourcountry suffered a drought that year. Similarwas the case in 1979 when only two indiceshad passed the test. Though the data collectiondevices, simulation technology and methodsof modeling were inferior at that time, no

index was found satisfactory and the countryfaced acute drought and almost a famine inmany parts.

In case of extraordinary variations in globalgeological and weather changes, e.g. thelikelihood of Al-nino, etc, the up-to-date dataand results of global information systems arealso required for adept analysis. Thisdemands on-line communications andInternet processing. The tasks of predictingthe likelihood of storms, cyclones,hurricanes, etc, demand dedicated researchby large number of teams of specialists indifferent centers across the globe. Some ofthe data-collecting centers for suchpredictions are placed in the high-risk zoneson the coasts and on high-altitudes withextremely tough weather conditions. Indeedtheir job is creditable, as their efforts ofaccurate predictions well in advance amountto saving lives of millions of people andproperty worth several billions.

The important sectors like fisheries, tourism,aviation, naval and air force services, armedforces posted on the arduous mountain heightsalso highly depend on the predictions of theweather bureaus. On regular basis, they issuetwo to three bulletins each for the farmers andfishermen. Separate bulletins are issuedthrough wireless communications for theNavy and similarly for the Air Force andMilitary officials posted in remote regions. Incase of the possibility of some abnormalitythey even release six to ten bulletins givingupdated information. Usually, the warningabout a likely cyclone in the sea or asnowstorm on the mountains is now given 48to 72 hours in advance.

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The civil aviation units also need updatedinformation on the pattern of weatherconditions esp. fog, thick clouds, darkness dueto heavy rainfall, or clear sky etc, for the nexttwelve hours. This information is desired atleast a day in advance to (re)schedule theinternational and domestic flights accordingly.For example some white clouds are thick upto 14 to 18 km and the surface of such a cloudcircumvents an average area of about a circleof diameter 5 to 15 km. It can produce staticelectrical potential of the order of thousandsvolts and thus char the aircrafts passingthrough it into ashes in no time.

Be that organization of mega global events likethe Olympics, World Cup tournaments,international conferences, national or statelevel events of sports, meetings, rallies, etc,or the out-door planning of an industrialproject, a film-shooting or a family picnic/outing, the information on the whether (of thenext month week or day!) is desiredeverywhere for better planning andpreparation.

Inspite of all the expertise deployed in data-collection, modeling and inference in which alarge number of talented, skilled and welltrained brains are employed for doing the jobwith high-tech communication andcomputational instruments and networking, itis amazing to look at the natural capabilitiesof several species of birds and animals insensing the future weather and geo-events farmore precisely than by the well-knownexperts using high-tech instruments.

If black ants suddenly appear in large numberseven in the forests, it is a definite sign of rise

in temperature in the coming days. If theyqueue up and are seen moving in a hasteholding their tiny white eggs, there will berainfall in a day or two. Wild elephants giveprior warning of heavy rains by running ingroups in a peculiar manner – keeping theirtrunks raised towards the sky. A fish foundin Japan can naturally change its colors like achameleon. When it appears in red color, thenthere is a strong possibility of rains; its greencolor corresponds to fall in the temperature.It adopts white color before the onset ofsummer or rise in temperature. Many peoplein Japan keep it at home in small aquariumsor specially designed jars as a weatherforecaster.

White pigeons are also experts in weatherprediction. They fly much higher than usualand in a queue a few days before off-seasonrains. A wild spider called “Leha” is found inthe thick forests of Latin America. If all of asudden it furiously breaks its huge web thenone should take note that there would beheavy rains with stormy winds in next 24hours. Several birds are also gifted with theexpertise to predict cyclonic rains andhurricanes. Saras in the hills of Tibet andDarjiling are famous as most advanced sensorsof thunder- showers or heavy rains. Daysbefore, when even the radars of weatherdepartments don’t capture the clouds, theseare seen shifting with their ‘families’ to thecaves or similar protective grooves betweenhuge rocks. Local residents get alerted by thiswarning and plan their activities with dueprotection and safety.

Several birds found in the gigantic mountainsin the Northern hemisphere, amaze the

March-April 200732

researchers, as these birds sense snowfallalmost a month in advance and fly away tosafer and warmer places. It is really stunningthat even the high-tech instruments of todayare able to make predictions of suchphenomena only 24 hours in advance, that tooonly with some probability!

Most importantly, many animals sense theseismographic vibrations more accurately froma longer distance and much in advance ascompared to any of the seismographdeveloped so far. Moreover their sensorsdon’t miss it for reasons like weak signals ornoise. Most of the wild animals sense theoccurrence of earthquake or eruption ofvolcano from a long distance few days beforeand behave unusually; they often run awayfast in a panic. The pets are also not deprivedof this potential. A study in China has affirmedthat dogs tied inside the house hurriedly andaggressively attempt breaking their chainsand running away more than 24 hours beforean earthquake in the surrounding region. Evenif not tied they behave unusually a couple ofdays before an earthquake strikes their or inthe neighboring areas a few kilometers away;they stop barking and fighting and also hugeach other, as though a mark of ‘goodbye’before the final journey. Similar behavior isobserved in rats, cats and some other pets.The ‘Chibie’ birds of Japan fly away to fardistant places a day before the eruption of anearthquake.

Many a fish lay their eggs on the seashore onlywhen there is no chance of any wave reachingup to that spot. Just imagine if they wouldhave relied on our high-tech devices andsimulations which can never be precise, evenin predicting the normal course of high andlow tides, beyond a range of several hundredmeters (of the size and range of strike of thewaves) and an hour or so (of the instance ofhigh or low tide). A mistake of even half aminutes and a foot in the ‘calculations’ of thefish would risk its eggs being swept away bythe waves. But see! These marine creaturesnever miss it, as though the ocean itself adjustsits waves with due care for their safety.

Many examples of this kind make us pause andfeel humble and small before the wonder-filled wisdom of Nature at so-called sub-human levels. How and why Nature has giftedthe tiny creatures with such marvelous sensorsand processors? Is it only to remind man notto boast of his technological and innovativeachievements and desist from ruling over theentire animal kingdom? Or is it to offer anatural help to mankind to be alert andprotected from calamities? As stressed bynoted scientist Dr. Bill Schul in his interestingbook “The Psychic Power of Animals”, weshould respect the existence of animals andbirds and attempt to know and modify ourpredictions about the happenings in Naturewith their help.

Golden era is certain but its descent will rest on theshoulders of ascetics and not garrulous people

March-April 2007 33

I came to Brahmavidya Mandir, Paunar in1970, and I spent a lot of time here incleaning my surroundings. People ask me

why I give so much time to this work, and Itell them what Saint Jnaneshwar said: ‘He whostands one moment at the door of the Lordattains four kinds of freedom.’ The Lord Rama(in the form of the statue of Bharata..Rama)has come to our courtyard; while cleaning it Ifeel the joy of His presence, and at the sametime I have got the four kinds of freedom.

The first is freedom from outward activity.After being occupied in works of service from1916 to 1966 I entered on the inward path,and from then on I am in fact free fromoutward action. It is true that for three or fouryears I had to give some attention to the greatwork of Bihar-Dan, which involved someoutward activity, but by now (October 1970)that too has come to an end. The second isfreedom from books. From now on I shall dono more book-writing. The third is freedomfrom study. What do I read? Nothing! Thefourth is freedom from teaching. I beganteaching in 1911, teaching my school friendsand class-mates. Later on I taught the people

in the Ashram. I have been teaching for aboutsixty years, but now that also is finished.

As for my continued cleaning work, there wasan additional reason: I looked to it as a wayof meditation. If instead of a broom I hadpicked up a rosary and started telling mybeads, no one would have said that I waswasting my time! Picking up rubbish acts forme like a rosary - with every straw picked upthere is a remembrance of the Name. There isno thinking involved, it is purecontem-plation. A man who cannot toleraterubbish around him will not tolerate rubbishinside him either, and will feel a strong urgeto get rid of it. That is a spiritual urge. Verysoon however I shall take leave even of thiswork.

In the same way, (in July 1972) I stoppedsigning copies of Gita-Pravachan (‘Talks on theGita’) and other books. I have beenpopularizing it for forty years-1932-72-and Ihave now no wish to go on doing so. Inaddition, (in 1976) I took some further steps,which I announced on the holy Christmas DayDecember 25. ‘From: today on,” I said, I will

On theRoad to Freedom

This idea of kshetra-sanyasa, of confining oneself to one single place, is certainly an oldone. People practiced it for the sake of meditation and the welfare of the soul. My purposehowever is not that; I seek to realize a deeper inward power for the sake of the welfare ofsociety. This welfare cannot be achieved by outward activities alone. The more deeplyinward the action becomes, the more is achieved.

March-April 200734

not share in the management of anyinstitution, nor act as adviser to party, evento those which I myself have founded. Thesecond thing is that whatever talks I have willbe ‘with individuals at an individual level, andI have already said what subjects I am ‘readyto discuss - science and spiri-tuality. Scienceis going ahead by leaps and bounds, and I nolonger try to, keep up with it except as itrelates to physical health. As for spirituality, Ido not mean by this any philosophical analysisof such terms as Brahma (the Supreme), maya(illusion) or jiva (individual soul); I mean thatwhich can loosen the tangled knots in the mindand make it pure. Anyone who wishes toexchange thoughts on these two subjects maycome. And just one thing more, these talks willnot be held in private.

Kshetra-Sanyasa (Renunciation of Travel)

On November 2, 1969 I came from my travelsthrough my homeland (India), to my specialhome in Wardha, and spent seven days inSevagram. I decided to plan ahead for sevendays only, not more. The idea was to keepmy mind fresh, and at the same time alert.And who knows, by planning for seven daysat a time I might well stay in the same placefor a whole year!

So from Sevagram I moved on to Gopuri, andthen on June 7, 1970 I came to BrahmavidyaMandir. On that date, four years earlier, I hadlaid all my work of service at Bapu’s feet,obtained my ‘discharge’, and entered upon thepath of inwardness. On that day therefore Idecided to go to the Brahmavidya Mandir. ‘Idon’t wish to tie myself down’ I said to thesisters. ‘Over in Bihar the Naxalites are

uttering threats against the Sarvodaya. Workers,and Jayaprakashji has therefore given up thefew days’ rest which he had planned to take,and is going from village to village to helpthem. It is impossible for me to close my mindto these things.

But although I kept an open mind, I remainedwhere I was. I was ready to consider leavingif some happening somewhere in India shoulddemand it, but otherwise I felt strongly that Ishould stay, and concentrate onstrength-ening Brahmavidya Mandir. Thework of the Mandir was being carried on bymutual consultation and agreement among allits members, and so it would continue. Apartfrom that, I thought, I would be ready to answerthose who came to me individually with theirquestions and opened their hearts to me.

A month or two later (on October 6, 1970) Iannounced that I was going to become asthanakavasi, a dweller in one place only. Thissthanakavas is a practice among the Jains. Justas they renounce possessions, so also theyrenounce place. I proposed to begin it on thefollowing day, October 7. One shouldcertainly regard every day as holy, butOctober 7 has a special importance for me, forit was on that date forty years ago that I beganto write the Gitai. On that date therefore Ientered my ‘detention camp’. The Jains call itsthanakavas, the Hindus call it kshetra-sanyasa,the modem word is ‘detention camp’. When aman halts in one place like this, it makes iteasy for everyone to find him. This is not myown decision; it is an inward call which Iregard as a command. I hope that my friendswill come to see me sometimes, forfriendship’s sake or even for a game!

March-April 2007 35

Entering More Deeply into the Inward Life

This idea of kshetra-sanyasa, of confiningoneself to one single place, is certainly an oldone. People practiced it for the sake ofmeditation and the welfare of the soul. Mypurpose however is not that; I seek to realizea deeper inward power for the sake of thewelfare of society. This welfare cannot beachieved by outward activities alone. Themore deeply inward the action becomes, themore is achieved. Now the time has come topractice this deeper inward action. I enteredon this inward path five years ago, butcircumstances then compelled me to use theoutward path also; it was needful to carryforward the work of Bihar-dan to a certainpoint. Now that the local people have taken itup, and Jayaprakashji has staked his life on it;I have settled down here in the middle ofIndia.

This deeper inwardness means that onecontemplates this whole created universe andsees in it the image of the divine. It means tostand face to face with humanity and loseoneself in the soul within. The individual whoenters on this path will be reduced to nothing,to less than nothing; that is the test. It isinwardly experienced, and bears fruit in theindividual life. For society it means the releaseof a power which, like the power of the atom,is inward and hidden, but whose effect is fargreater than that of outward force. Thisinward energy is just as great as that of theatom, but it cannot be described in materialterms.

The work which our friends have donerecently, the collection of a Gram-Swaraj

Fund” has, I think, been done very well. Yearsago a Swaraj Fund was collected in the nameof Lokmanya Tilak when he was at the peakof his fame. That is not the case with me; myreputation is now at the lowest ebb! Theremust be many people in the country who feelaffection for me, but who regard my gramdanwork as bogus. That is only what I expected.I said in Bihar that bhoodan is a cash transaction,something definite, so much received, so muchgiven away. But gramdan work is not like that;as I said, it could have infinite results, or nonewhatever; there is no middle way. Today itlooks like a zero. Jayaprakashji and others aretrying to turn the zero into infinity, and Ibelieve they will succeed, because that is thedemand of the age.

But having settled down in one place I findthat my mind is inclined towards silence. Mybody also has become very weak. People askwhat I am thinking about nowadays, and Ianswer that I am not thinking at all, it is as ifI had no mind at all. I take a morning walkand see the planet Venus shining before me,and the people going to and fro, and the trees.I am conscious of nothing, for much of thetime, but a ‘mindless’ bliss. When I talk withpeople my intellect comes into play, but notmy surface mind.

I have stopped thinking about the state of thecountry, and leave it in the hands of God. Nordo I keep particular individuals in mind; mythoughts are only of the Lord. But I do readthe newspapers, and so have some idea ofwhat is going on, especially just now (1971)the happenings in East Bengal. Apart from thatI just sit here like a reference book, ready forany who may wish to consult me.

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People ask me what I am planning to do next,and I tell them that today I have been engagedin meditation, but as for tomorrow, who cansay? There was one thing I never acceptedfrom Gandhiji, the writing of a daily diary. Inthis I had the blessing of the ancients; theirwords, ‘abandon all attachment to the past,all anxiety for the future,’ had a great influenceon me; I neither remember the past nor troubleabout the future. People tell me that I oughtto write my autobiography. (The Hindi wordis atma-katha, ‘Story of the Self’.) But if I did,it would be only the story of the body, for itis not possible to write the story of the Self.In the preface I should have to say that thereis no guarantee that what is written here istrue, because I am ‘Vinoba the Forgetful’. Ihave forgotten a great deal and I go onforgetting. I don’t allow the past to become aburden on me.

I am however engaged in one experiment, andit has two sides; on the one hand to keep theworld in my remembrance, on the other tosend out my blessings by the channels ofthought. Remembrance of the world impliesremembrance of oneself. This is the basis ofmy experiment in abhidhyana, ‘specific’meditation. I ask everyone of our workers towrite to me once a month, but I do not answertheir letters in writing. I read them, I reflecton them, I seek to unite the power of my ownthought with whatever is good in them andso to strengthen it.

This intensive reflection, this meditation onspecific people and their endeavours, bears fruitonly if two con-ditions are fulfilled. On my partthere should be complete freedom from egoism.On the part of my correspondent there should

be, as it were, a radio receiving set, an openmind. Then the results will appear.

I am practicing this intensive meditation onfive specific themes, following the pattern offivefold worship which Shankaracharyabegan, and which is called Shan-na-ra-ga--de.‘Shan’ stands for Shankar, ‘na’ for Narayan,‘Ra’ for Ravi, the Sun, ‘Ga’ for Ganapati orGanesh, ‘De’ for Devi, Goddess. What then ismy fivefold Shan-na-ra-ga-de? My Shankar,who watches’ over the welfare of all, isBrahmavidya, for without that knowledge ofthe Supreme we shall never obtain our truewelfare. Those who regard our movement asmerely economic and social are taking acompletely one-sided view and have notunderstood it at all. The movement is spiritual,and founded on Brahmavidya. Spiritualdisciplines such as meditation, prayer, self-examination and striving for inward puritymust always be a vital part of it. Then comesNarayan, the god of human society; Narayanstands for gram-swarajya, village self-government, and that is my second theme. TheSun is the Shanti-sena, the Peace Army, my thirdtheme. The sunbeams shine upon all, so let ourShanti-sena shed its light upon the whole ofIndia. The fourth, Ganapati, is the god ofKnowledge, so the Acharya-kul is a theme ofmy meditation. And the fifth, the Devi, is theDevanagari script. I am very deeply interestedin what my fellow-workers have done and aredoing about these five matters, and what theirdifficulties are.

The Gift of Fasting

These days (December 1973) I have startedfasting for a half day on the 11th of the month

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and for a half day on the 25th. These dateshave meaning for me; the 11th is my birthday,the 25th the day on which I left home. Bothdays are good for reflection, and the twotogether make up a full day’s fast with no badeffect on health.

My food costs about three rupees a day, so inthis way I save three rupees a month, thirty-six rupees a year. I thought I would give thisamount to the work of the Sarva Seva Sangh.It seemed to me that it would be a very bigthing if every one of the workers,sympathizers and supporters of Sarvodayaideas would fast once a month and give theamount saved each year to the Sarva SevaSangh. Up to now we have been accepting allkinds of gifts for our work, and in that waywe have worshipped the Sarva Brahma, theSupreme in all. Now let us worship the VimalaBrahma, the pure Supreme, with a pureoffering. Fasting purifies; a gift derived fromfasting is a pure gift.

One Year of Silence

(In December 1974) my mind was full of theidea of keeping silence for a time. The 25thwas approaching. It was the holy eleventh dayof the half-month of Magh in the Hinducalendar, the ‘birthday’ of the Gita, and alsoChristmas; I decided that beginning on thatauspicious day I would keep silence for oneyear.

But should I not then complete the work whichI had already planned? A spiritual decisiondoes in fact entail breaking such commitments,it cannot wait until some work or other hasbeen finished. To accept sanyasa means that

such ties have to be broken, otherwise nothingis gained. So from December 25 I kept silencefor a year.

Before entering the silence I told people thatin one sense I had been observing silence evenwhile speaking, and that now I should go onspeaking even in my silence! Silence is an activepower. The Sun shines outside the door, butif the door is closed, the sunlight does notpush its way in. This silence is not like that, itpushes, it presses forward.

This silence means not only no speaking, butalso no writing. I shall write nothing but Rama-Hari, the Name of God. Even after I tookkshetra-sannyasa I was involved in a fewoutward matters and in discussions aboutthem, for these too seemed to me to be in thenatural course of things. Then I began to thinkthat though there was nothing wrong withthese natural activities, the power of intensiveinward meditation could only be released byentering more deeply into the inward life. SoI decided that I should stop speaking andwriting.

God had already stopped my ears. I was senttwo or three hearing aids, and I put them onand tried them, and found I could hear well. Iused the hearing aid for ten or twelve days,but then I gave it up. Why should I use an aidto get back what God in his grace has takenfrom me? By God’s grace I have alreadybecome one of those three (Chinese) monkeys,the one who is stopping his ears. Now I amgoing to become the second monkey whokeeps his mouth shut. But I am not going tobe the third monkey and keep my eyes closed,instead of that I shall stop using my hand, that

March-April 200738

is to say I shall do no more writing. I shallkeep the use of my eyes, in order to read theletters of all those friends and fellow-workerswho write to me regularly, and of those whowrite occasionally as they feel the need. I wantto go on reading these letters and to givemyself to intensive meditation about each oneseparately. The inward thoughts which theletters reveal can be influenced, the knottyproblems loosened, by the power of thisintense meditation. When I stop speaking,even those who do not have ‘receiv-ing sets’will be reached by this power. The silence willbe aggressive; it will push its way into theheart of the one who wrote.

Some will ask, why one year only of silence?Why not more? The answer is that in suchdifficult spiritual matters one must be guidedby experience. This is a small first step, a yearonly. I have not thought any further ahead.Experience will decide.(Vinoba then remained silent until December 25,1975)

- Sant Vinoba Bhave

[From his Memoirs ‘Moved By Love’ – with gladpermission of the compiler – Kalindi Behan ofBrahma Vidya Mandir]

China’s emperor Mao was then a smallchild. His grandmother fell ill and henceunable to move. She gave her grandson theresponsibility to take care of her smallgarden. The grandson assured her that hewill not let the garden dry off.

After a month the old lady recovered andwent to garden only to find most of theplants withered. A few had even wiltedcompletely.

The grandmother called the child and said,“Mao, you have not kept your words. Youhad promised to keep this garden fresh andblooming.”

Tears rolled down the child’s eyes. He said,“Grandmother, I wiped the leaves daily,loved them, and kept bits of my bread intheir roots. Even then they dried. Where didI go wrong?”

Seeing the nervous boy, the grandmothersaid gently, “Child, you should haveirrigated their roots. They are strong enoughto extract their nutrition from earth forsurvival, if kept moist.”

The child sank deep into thoughts and askedthe grandmother, “Then where are the rootsof man?”

“They lie in his courage and his arms. Ifthese are not nourished no man can prosperand flourish,” she replied.

The grandmother died but Mao Tse Tungcaught hold of her words. To keep peopleprosperous and flourishing, he always kepton doing the same and became thesovereign leader of China.

March-April 2007 39

Companions in Solitude – 13

When I began to feel myself as animmortal soul – a spark of TheDivine - and my conscience to be

the sacred seat of God, orientation of the mindbecame inward. My only concern was to keepthe flame of the soul ever alight and effulgentand to be guided by its light. The path wasclear and sunlit. Live only a sublime life andadopt idealistic methods of work. Those whoare not familiar with this path are scared thatthis way of life entails a lot of problems anddifficulties and that poverty, want, abuse andhazards will have to be faced. Friends willturn foes, and relatives will oppose. Ithappened in my case too in the beginning. Atthe beginning I also had to endure ridiculeand reproach. It is the people at home andclose relatives who opposed mostvehemently. They felt that they would losethe benefit which they expected to get throughme. So they declared me foolish on accountof their possible loss. But it did not last long.Goodness by itself is wealth that takes its owncare and remains steady under allcircumstances. Opponents and accusers realizetheir mistake after a little while and offer co-operation instead of placing hurdles in theway. The higher the faith and firmness, thesooner do hatred and misunderstandings

disappear. Opposition at home did not lastlong. As soon as they realized the truth, theirapprehensions and misgivings were removed.In fact there is no loss in spiritual ‘commerce’.Though externally appearing poor, such aperson remains happy due to inner peace andcontentment. This happiness and contentmentinfluence others and prove helpful inconverting opponents into collaborators. Myproblems too were solved in this way.

When the chain of lust, desire and greed forhigh position, pelf, power, fame and applausewas broken, I felt a sense of liberation fromworldly bondages. The persons who arefastened by these chains are dragged alongthe miserable and rough path of mundaneexistence and keep bemoaning their perpetualstate of discontent and distress. Once thefutility and insubstantial nature of these threebonds are realized and the attitude of gettingand grabbing is converted into one of sharingand caring, one may be assured of attainingsalvation while living in the mortal state itself.As goes the saying, “As you believe so yousee”; with the dawn of the self-knowledge,the darkness of misconceptions vanishes. Aftersuch a concrete experience of my identity,neither want nor discontent remained. After

The Inner Aspect ofMy Sadhna of Life -2

- Gurudev Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

My conclusion from personal experience is that there is more loss than gain in the pursuitof a greedy and lustful life. What I had to lose is inconsequential but what has been gainedis so rich and great that I wish to request everyone to adopt ideal and sublime tradition ofliving a life of spiritual pursuit.

March-April 200740

fixing up the minimum requirement forsustenance of the body and maintenance ofthe family, arrangements were made to meetthese requirements. When the roots of greedand lust were pulled out of the psyche,immense amount of energy and enthusiasmfilled the heart. Anyone can test andexperience it on oneself. But people want toextinguish fire with oil. People want to satisfygreed with wealth and satiate lust withsensual enjoyment. Who will make themrealize that these efforts will only ignite thewild fire more fiercely? Those who tread sucha path will be wandering in wilderness. Likethe evil spirits and devils of the graveyard,they will remain restless and disgruntled andcan do only evil things. How can anyone teachthem?

Majority of the so-called seekers and teachersnow-a-days are both making the mockery ofspiritual sadhana. I have attended severalSatsangs and discourses, but did not find anyone who had dived deep into spirituality andwho could inspire others into it. When thediscoursers’ doings were delved into, the dirtand rubbish in them were found to be muchmore than in those whom they wereaddressing. So I was disgusted. Greatdiscourses and communions were taking place,but I found none of them interesting andcapable of delivering the desired results.When enlightenment occurred it was from theSelf within. Only when I valiantly snapped thebondages, mustering the courage from withinthe soul, did the aim get fulfilled. Had I waitedfor and relied upon others to do it for me Itoo might have become hoax, pretending topossess knowledge. I now feel convinced thatif any one gets enlightenment, it happens only

from within. In my case this is the proven fact.If one wants to tread the path of spirituality,the huge mountains of obstacles cannot becrossed over and one cannot reach the top,without an unshakable faith, indomitablecourage and a highly charged spirit ofadventure. The courage worked in my casetoo. When I stood firm, help also came by.From Gurudev to God everyone came forwardto help me at every step of the path. Slowlybut firmly I marched forward. This is howthings have got on so far.

People say that spiritual life is difficult. Butmy experience is to the contrary. In fact lifefraught with greed and lust is very difficultand complicated. Compared to the amount ofefforts being made, worries being carried,pain being endured and the complicationsbeing put up with by people of lustful andgreedy nature, the inconveniences in spirituallife can be considered insignificant. So muchlabour, so much thinking and planning, somuch worry; and yet not a moment’s peace!Before the efforts to fulfill the earlier needare completed, scores of further needs cropup due to which man remains unsatisfied anddiscontented. Though it is difficult to fulfilleven small needs, he takes upon himself theresponsibility to meet larger and larger needswhich call for ten times harder work. Alongwith accelerated speed, more problems ariseand create complications. Mind and soul gettired in trying to find solutions to theseproblems. Ordinary physical and mentalefforts cannot meet the requirements that goon widening their jaws endlessly. So, immoraland undesirable means are required to beresorted to. Despite carrying on with flagrantsinful activities, the desires do not get fulfilled.

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Considering the damage caused by theconstant anxiety and the dark future, theattainments can be said to be insignificant. Ingeneral, people, instead of living the life, carryit like a corpse - weeping, lamenting, cursingand complaining. In fact these people shouldbe called ‘saints’. Had they taken as muchtrouble, endured as many hardships, gonethrough as much worries and anxieties andsuffered as much for the sake of spiritualprogress, these very people would have risento the state of a Yogi, a Siddha Purush(enlightened soul), a Mahamanav (great man)and Devata. In fact, real renunciates, self-sacrificers and martyrs are these folks who didall sort of adventures and misadventures foracquisition of worldly pelf and possessionsand then distributing all the gains among theoffsprings, and relatives, and remaining emptyhanded in the end. To my mind these peoplewho suffer so much for the sake of others aregreat men and philanthropists in the real sense,even though they consider themselves to begreedy, fallen and degraded!

When I look at the internal and external lifesystem of innumerable people and therepercussions and results of their life style, Ifeel that I lived a far more happy andcomfortable life than they did. The worstdisadvantage, if at all, has been that I livedwith less wealth and luxury; I commanded lessrespect and was looked upon as a poor man.Being not wealthy, the world considered meto be a small fellow and had little regard forme. But these so called shortcomings did notaffect me any way. While others were eatingspicy foods, I lived on barley and gram. Thepleasure of taste leads people to sufferings,pain and agony. My cheap food was easily

digested and kept me healthy. What did I lose?Instead of catering to the fleeting pleasure oftaste buds, I stuck to the theory that hungeris the best spice and proved its veracity. Asfor the enjoyment of taste my coarse breadwas more delicious than that of the luxuriouspeople. People in the pursuit of wealth, inorder to cater to their ego, endeavoured toimpress others by show of costly clothes,beautiful mansions and catchy decorations.Though I could not put up any matching showwith my limited resources, the happiness andcontentment I enjoy are not any less. Albeit,silly hollow-minded people may have thoughtit childish and ridiculous, people of eminencewho possessed the ability to perceive thesubstance and penetrate below the surfacecommended the greatness concealed behindthe simple looking exterior and bowed inreverence. On subjecting myself to severe tests,it can be confidently said that I have physicallyand mentally been not only more happydespite less labour, less risk and lessresponsibility but the respect showered on mehas also been of a nobler measure. I do notleast mind in not being respected orappreciated by the deluded ones. I have noregrets or sense of remorse for shunning theworldly ways. Right from the Soul to theSupreme Soul and from gentlemen to prophetseveryone appreciated the plan and mode ofmy working. Less risk, and yet more profit!For carrying the load of expensive, greedy,luxurious and pompous life, one needs a cartwith the wheels of sin and downfall. In mycase the luggage was so light that I could carryit myself and walk on without fatigue orworry. My own experience is that the ideallife is simple. There may be apprehension ofgetting harmed by evil people. But there is a

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far greater fear in the lives of those who livesinful and detestable lives. Materialistic peoplehave to face greater risk of competition,jealousy, revenge etc. These days we heardaily of killings, loot, accidents, and suchhorrible news. In these incidents the victimsare mostly those whose orientation ismaterialistic. Had such people voluntarilycome forward to sacrifice their lives and topart with their wealth for noble causes theywould have become great saints indeed. Saintslike Jesus, Socrates, Gandhi and others of thatorientation had made the supreme sacrificesto uphold righteousness. The number ofunethical and immoral people who aremurdered is thousand times more. People likeBhama Shah, who donated all the wealth forthe noble cause are very few; but rich peoplewho become paupers due to fraud, loot,burglary, litigation, illness etc. can be countedin lakhs these days. The danger of loot andattack is less in spiritual field, but many timesmore in materialistic field. If this truth wererealized, people might not have been scaredto adopt ideal life and would not havecommitted the folly of plunging into the vortexof materialistic lust and greed. My conclusionfrom personal experience is that there is moreloss than gain in the pursuit of greedy andlustful life. What I had to lose isinconsequential but what is gained is so richand great that I wish to appeal to everyone toadopt ideal and sublime tradition of living aspiritual way of life. But it is not easy. Citingmy own personal experience, I have long beenappealing to people at the top of my voice toadopt the noble way of life; but how manyhave cared to listen to me and among thosewho listened, how many have cared to practiceit?

Late in the evening, it was a cloudy day.Drizzling had started. Air had growncolder. Those at work had returned homeafter completing their tasks. It wasslippery on the way making it difficult foranyone to pass through. At that momentan attractive teenaged boy was runningbehind a cart and uttering, “Stop the cart,stop the cart.” The gentle man sittinginside the cart heard the voice and askedthe driver to stop the cart.

When the boy came near, he asked, “Tellme, what the matter is?”

The boy said, “Three days back, yourdriver bought from me a matchbox wortha paisa to light the lamp in the cart.Instead of a paisa you had given me fiftypaisa. I could not see then because ofdarkness but now you please take backyour fifty paisa and give me a paisa ofmy matchbox.”

Surprised at the child’s words, thegentleman said, “Fifty paisa must havedone some good to you. Why are youreturning it back?” “Why should I keepthe fifty paisa which is not mine?Whatever I earn in a days work issufficient for me,” replied the boy.

The gentleman again said, “But you hadnot stolen the fifty paisa.”

The boy now replied, “To make out fromthe others’ possession this way is also athievery. One should always believe inone’s own earnings.”

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Gurudev is always with me, he is withinme and he satisfies all my curiositiesand queries. Right from the

translation of ancient scriptures to the writingof Prajó³ Pur³ña he has been guiding me like ateacher. My tongue repeats his teachings. Ihave been acting like a horse who changes hisdirection and speed on signals given by itsrider. When he calls me to the Himalayas torecharge my battery he does so without sayinganything special. My achievements are similarto those of a weak person who improves hishealth by living in a sanatorium.

This time, I thoroughly understood the processof s¿kÌmºkaraña. Just as Kunti had given birthto divine progeny, I will have to transformmy Annamaya, Pr³ñmaya, Manomaya, Vijó³nmayaand Ânandamaya koÌas present within myphysical body into five Vºrbhadras. I haveunderstood the process of this s³dhan³. I havebeen asked to remain in Shantikunj, transferall my responsibilities to others and retain thisphysical body as a nest of these five Vºrbhadrastill they become fully powerful. The processof S³vitrº S³dhan³ has also been started for this

purpose according to the instructions ofGurudev. I have also got the answer as to thework that would have to be entrusted to thesefive Vºrbhadras and how they would function.

There are even today several geniuses whowill be able to do comparatively much moreimportant work than they are doing now, iftheir minds are diverted to higher ideals. Forthis a mighty power is required. This workwill be done by my five Vºrbhadras and thetransformation in human thinking will bemiraculous.

Narada changed the course of lives of Parvati,Dhruva, Prahlad, Valmiki, Savitri etc. whoabandoned their past activities, took torighteous paths and set examples worthemulation by others. Bhagvan Buddhachanged the hearts of Anand, Kumar Jeev,Angulimal, Ambapali, Ashok, Harshvardhan,Sanghmitra; and they dedicated themselves tothe path of spirituality shown by theEnlightened One, and became renownedthroughout the world. Vishwamitra madeHarishchandra so great that simply by seeing

There are even today several geniuses who will be able to do comparativelyThere are even today several geniuses who will be able to do comparativelyThere are even today several geniuses who will be able to do comparativelyThere are even today several geniuses who will be able to do comparativelyThere are even today several geniuses who will be able to do comparativelymuch more important work than they are doing nowmuch more important work than they are doing nowmuch more important work than they are doing nowmuch more important work than they are doing nowmuch more important work than they are doing now, if their minds are, if their minds are, if their minds are, if their minds are, if their minds arediverted to higher ideals. For this a mighty power is required. This workdiverted to higher ideals. For this a mighty power is required. This workdiverted to higher ideals. For this a mighty power is required. This workdiverted to higher ideals. For this a mighty power is required. This workdiverted to higher ideals. For this a mighty power is required. This workwill be done by my five will be done by my five will be done by my five will be done by my five will be done by my five VºrbhadrasVºrbhadrasVºrbhadrasVºrbhadrasVºrbhadras and the transformation in human thinking and the transformation in human thinking and the transformation in human thinking and the transformation in human thinking and the transformation in human thinkingwill be miraculouswill be miraculouswill be miraculouswill be miraculouswill be miraculous.

My Life: Its Legacy and Message – 24

That Which I am doing at Present[Autobiography of P¿¿¿¿¿jya Gurudev, continued from the previous issue]

March-April 200744

a drama based on his life, Gandhi becamevenerable for the entire world. Bhamashah, agreat miser, donated all his treasure toMaharana Pratap, having been inspired bysaint Vithoba. Adya Shankaracharya inspiredMandhata to build MaÚhs in all the four dh³ms.Ahilyabai, inspired by a saint, renovatedseveral temples and gh³ts and built up newtemples at several places which wereinaccessible and far beyond the reach of thepeople. Hardly could have Shivaji played sohistoric a role if he had not been inspired bySamarth Guru Ramdas. It was RamakrishnaParamhansa who pursued Narendra andmetamorphosed him into a Vivekananda. Thecredit for diverting the mind of RajaGopichand towards renunciation goes to saintBhartahari. History is full of such examples oftransformation through the inspiration ofillumined souls.

This has happened in my case also. If Gurudevhad not inspired and metamorphosed me, Iwould have also been following the professionof a pandit (priest) or some other activity likeother members of my family and would nothave attained the present position. Persons,who are geniuses in their fields, are neededto facilitate the change of the era. Learnedpeople are needed, who may, by their logic,facts and figures, provide a new way ofthinking to the people. Artists are needed whomay inspire people to imbibe the teachings andlives of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Meera, Soor,Kabir. Affluent persons are needed who may,instead of squandering away their money inluxurious living, give away their all to fulfillthe noble aims of the Time Spirit. Statesmenare needed who may, like Gandhi, Rousseau,Karl Marx, Lenin etc. guide people to follow

new, revolutionary ways of reassuringequality, fraternity and freedom for all. Whatto speak of illumined souls, saints, sages,savants and seers? They have totallytransformed persons who came in theircontact, just as a P³ras stone, by a simpletouch, converts iron into gold.

My Vºrbhadras will do all this. I have also donethe same. I have radically changed thethoughts and activities of millions of peopleand prepared them like saty³grahºs of Gandhi,bh¿d³nºs of Vinoba, parivr³jaks of Buddha, tosacrifice everything for the sake of a noblecause. The army of Prajó³-putras are playingthe role of monkeys of Hanuman. Whenmiracles have been played by my directphysical activities there is no reason why theseVºrbhadras, who are part and parcel of my soul,will not be able to persuade and inspireinnumerable persons to turn towards nobilityand sublimity of soul.

It will be necessary in the near future toeradicate several evil tendencies. For this,persons like Arjun will be needed who maydefeat and decimate akÌauhiñº (well-equipped)army of the Kauravas. Hanumans will beneeded who may by setting fire to their tailsburn Lanka, the fortress of Evil, and turn it toashes. Such changes are possible by changingthe inner consciousness of human beings.Abraham Lincoln and George Washington ofAmerica were born in very ordinary familiesbut they changed the course of their lives andbecame the Presidents of America.

Leaving apart vicious persons who apply theirintellect in acts like theft, dacoity, cheating etc.persons full of noble emotions and sentiments

March-April 2007 45

can do a lot in changing the era by their heroicefforts, courage and industriousness. SwamiDayananda, Sharddhananda, Ramteerth etc.were capable of changing the course of life ofinnumerable persons. These days intelligentpersons are engrossed in luxuriousness,accumulation of wealth and satisfaction oftheir ego and thus all their powers andresources are being frittered away. If only afew of them are able to turn around towardsfulfilling noble and high aims, they can do suchmarvelous and exemplary work as was doneby Jaidayal Goenka of Geeta Press,Gorakhpur.

Which intelligent person has to be changed?How he has to be changed? What work hasto be taken from him? These are matterswhich are decided at the higher level. Thosewho are at present thinking in terms of aworld war causing utter devastation will, ongetting their minds changed, think in termsof utilizing their intellect, power andresources for creative purposes. This willbring salutary changes in the environment.When tendencies and directions of the mindshave changed, actions and activities of such

persons will also be completely changed.Persons going ahead on the path ofrighteousness are bound to get divine help.They can then do miracles like Baba Amte,Hiralal Shastri, Laxmibai etc.

Perversion of intellect has made all humanactivities vicious, sinful and of criminal nature.Whatever is earned is squandered immediatelyin undesirable acts. If someone is able tochange the thoughts, ways, attitudes andtendencies of such persons they can becomeso great that millions of people may considerthemselves fortunate by following in theirfootprints.

As a result of my S³vitrº S³dhan³, which isgoing on at present, invisible Mah³balis arebeing prepared who will slowly and silentlyenter into the inner consciousness ofinnumerable persons and will not restcontented until immorality has not beencompletely banished from human scene. Thiswill result in the creation of human gems andrubies who will make the task of changing ofthe era, which appears to be very difficult atpresent, much easier.

A king was going alone through a forest. On the way came a hamlet of intruders. Whilehe was passing, a parrot in the village shouted, “Grab him, hit, run. He has ornamentswith him.” Hearing the parrot’s voice, the robbers followed him but could not get holdof the king.

Next on the way was a hermitage of saints. As he stepped inside a gurukul, a parrotsitting on the tree started saying, “Come King! A guest has arrived. Please bring a carpet.”

While talking to the saint, the king wondered about the difference in character of thetwo birds of same species. And the saint resolved the dilemma with a single word‘companionship’.

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Sw³dhay³ means study of andcontemplation over the elevatedthoughts of enlightened personalities.

You should examine your convictions, yourprejudices, blind beliefs and illusions in thelight of discerning wisdom and guidance ofthe thoughts and works of those who havelived glorious and purposeful lives. Many ofthe great personalities, saints and sages maynot be living anymore in the physical bodies;many of them might be living far away.Moreover, even if some sagacious personalityis staying near your place, it won’t be possiblefor him or her to give precious time to you, asper your convenience; he/she will have somany things to do, will have so many seekerslike you who would be waiting to meet him/her. Thus, having a satsang with the greatpersons in their physical being is indeed a rareopportunity. But you can always communicatewith them, have their guidance and experiencethe benefits of their company by havingproximity with their thoughts through theirbooks, compilations of their speeches, writingson their lives and works, etc. Reading goodliterature and pondering over it is essentialfor wholesome nurturing of human intellect.

The intellectuals or educated ones among youmust be aware of the significance of goodbooks (reading material). Anyone who wantsto prevent mental degeneration must read andthink. If reading is a problem, one may listento what is written in a book. But, in eithercase, our reading should not be confined only

to university texts or worldly knowledge.What is underlined in sw³dhy³ya is ponderingover good thoughts that link our minds withthe radiance of the sagacious wisdom andsaintly inspirations and thus illuminating andre-orientating our own thinking accordingly.In order to engage the mind in sw³dhy³yasinging devotional songs, mental engrossmentin spiritual music, listening to recordings ofenlightening discourses may also beincorporated in it, along with studying thethoughts of elevated souls.

However, adoption of the teachings of greatsouls is not so easy! Sw³dhy³ya gives you thedirection and inspiration but it is only you whohas to make a resolute attempt towardschanging your deep rooted animal tendenciesand your old habits and remold your ‘nature’by inculcating the values inspired bysw³dhy³ya. In short, the purpose of sw³dhy³yais fulfilled only by s³dhan³.

(iii) S³dhan³S³dhan³S³dhan³S³dhan³S³dhan³:

The third important discipline for ascent ofhuman self is s³dhan³ – devout endeavor ofself-refinement and improvement. It includesup³san³ and tapa. Most of us understandup³san³ as some kind of devotional practicesuch as – worshiping a deity, praying beforeit, chanting a mantra, meditating on divineattributes, etc. Well, these are certainly thesteps or methods to attain the real purpose ofup³san³. But we should also know its real meaning.

Amrit Vani

(Translation of a discourse by Poojya Gurudev Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya on“Atmonnati Ke Char Adhara “ delivered in 1980 - Continued from the previous issue)

Four Pillars of Self-Development –2

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Up³san³ of God means faith in divine values,sitting near divine realms, invocating divinity.If we sit near fire, we feel the heat and ourclothing and body parts also get warmer.Sitting near a rock of ice similarly generates acooling effect around us. The areasurrounding a sandalwood tree is alsopermeated with the fragrance of sandalwood.The soothing fragrance also makes the nearbyplants fragrant. So you see the effect ofproximity! Up³san³ is a process of mental andemotional proximity with the Almighty. Withenhanced purity of our inner self, our sincerityin the devotional practices, and depth of ourfaith, up³san³ gradually connects our“individual self” with the Supreme Self.Inculcation of divine virtues, awakening of ourindwelling divinity is a natural consequenceof devout up³san³.

Up³san³ and s³dhan³ go hand in hand. Eitheris incomplete without the other. Up³san³induces the inspiration and strength requiredfor s³dhan³ and the latter is vital for thepurification and inner engrossment requiredfor thorough up³san³. The word “s³dhan³”means to perfect. It includes excellence ofqualities, deeds and behavior, eminence ofpersonality. Uprooting the vices, eviltendencies, bad habits, etc and cultivation ofvirtuous tendencies, good conduct andattitude is s³dhan³. The wild animals aretrained in circus to perform skilled feats someof which are difficult even for humans.S³dhan³ is also an arduous training of the mind.It is two-folded: refinement by tapa, that is byascetic disciplines, penance etc andimprovement by encouraging, inspiring andengaging the mind in illuminating benefits ofvirtuous qualities and activities. Eminent

transmutation of personality by s³dhan³ is likethe tedious process of clearing the wild shrubsfrom a field and making beautiful gardenthereon; converting raw metal into shininggold by processing it in fire; or the Herculeantask of ploughing a barren rocky land andharvesting healthy food grains from it.

A little pondering will make you aware thatsa®yam is necessary for the reforming processof s³dhan³ and sw³dhy³ya (+ satsang) for thetransmuting phase. It is a time-testing processthat requires patience and unflinching faithtogether with the zeal for enlightenedprogress. For this, up³san³ lends the desiredsupport. You also need to be introspectiveand should analyze yourself everyday by aquick but sincere review of what you didwrong and what right and good during theday. Convince your mind, pledge and strivefor not repeating the wrong, overcoming theshortcomings and encouraging the good thenext day. At least few minutes before sleepshould be kept for daily exercise ofintrospection and self-analysis. A few minutesbefore getting up every day should be keptfor self-planning. Regard every new day as anew birth by which God has given you anopportunity to rectify the past errors andmake a new, better and brighter beginning.

You are taught here to practice pavitrºkaraña,pr³ñ³y³ma and dhyana (meditation) while doingup³san³. During this you should also attemptto feel that you are surrounded by the radiantaura of divine protection; that you havesurrendered yourself to this beatifyingprotection of the Almighty, which expels allnegative effects, guards against their re-entryand also removes your inner blemishes and

March-April 200748

weaknesses. But, when you practice self-analysis you have to be strict and scrupulouslike an esteemed judge and find out all yourflaws and infirmities. Be firm and fair inscrutinizing your good and bad tendencies,your wrongs and rights. Don’t let your minddrive you away with deluding excuses.

You are an intelligent being, a devotee of theOmniscient! Let your discerning intellect takecharge of your mind. This will not be difficultif you are truly motivated for self-improvement and sincere in meditation andsw³dhy³ya. Infinite force of the Almighty ishidden within each one of you. If you aredetermined and have faith in your divineorigin, you will surely reach great heights onthe excelsior of life. S³dhan³ will illuminate youand bestow great benefits on the worldly aswell as spiritual domains of your life.

(iv) Sev³Sev³Sev³Sev³Sev³:

Man is a social being. He is indebted to thesociety in several ways. The food he eats,clothes he wears, house he lives in, etc -everything is available to him because severalpeople have contributed to making themusable. Whatever he has achieved in life isbecause of the direct or indirect cooperationof so many others. God has bestowed humanlife upon him so that he would offer hisservices for beautifying the world-garden, formaking this world a better place to live. Youas a human being have this responsibility ofoffering your altruistic services to the society,to the world. You are supposed to helpmaintain Nature’s ecosystem, you aresupposed to contribute your level best to thehealthy survival and happy growth of all itsanimate and inanimate components. How else

can you thank Mother Nature for theenormous boons She has blessed you with?How would you be the crown prince of Godif you do not discharge your duties towardsHis creation?

All of you should remember time and againthat you are not born only to live a materialistlife. We are humans. Our life should not beconfined to earning and enjoying sensualpleasures. We should also be living a nobleand altruistic life. Our abilities and potentialsshould also be used for welfare and upliftmentof others.

Your tapa-s³dhan³ is incomplete without sev³.You must offer your sev³ – voluntary altruisticservice for the welfare of others. Your wealth,your talents, your intellect, nothing is of anyuse if even a fraction of it cannot help upliftingsomeone else. Even in worldly terms, justimagine, how happy a self-centered affluentperson could be if all others around him arepoor, downtrodden and agonized? Youcannot enjoy your success and happinessunless you share your joys with others. Youcannot expect love, cooperation and respectfrom anyone unless you learn to care andshare. Every religion of the world, everyspiritual school enjoins giving in charity forthe welfare of the needy. You may not berich, but just think, there must be someone inthe society who is more deprived. Try to dowhat best you can to alleviate the pain andsufferings of others. More than material helpit is your compassion, your cooperation, yourtime that counts more in sev³. Selfless serviceis said to be the noblest deed of human life.

Sev³ of the world is said to be the true ar³dhan³(devotional service) of its Creator. You may

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offer your alms and worldly services to thesociety in several ways depending upon whatis needed to allay the sufferings and pains ofothers to some extent, or to uplift theconditions of the deprived ones around you.But one service, which is universally requiredand which is regarded as the supremedonation, is – the gy³na yagya, disseminationof knowledge. The best service of humanreligion, culture, nation and society today isto give righteous direction to people’sthoughts. Imparting positive thoughts andencouraging guidance to a depressed ordepraved person is the biggest and most usefulhelp one could offer, as it would not only savehis life but would also mold him into aprogressive and happier person.

Gy³na – pure knowledge – is a source ofpower, it enlightens one’s thoughts andemotions with the pristine radiance ofspirituality. That is why donation (d³na) ofgy³na is revered in the scriptures as Brahmd³na,most precious religious duty. If you coulddistribute it among the masses today,humanity will be grateful to you, because itwill be the best means of their welfare. Gy³napulls one out of the dark den of ignorance,lifts one from slippery lane of decline, givesone the direction and courage for removingthe evils, blemishes and follies and foradopting the values and directions that wouldmake one a human being in the true sense.

Saints and sages of all ages are revered becausetheir lives were dedicated to attainment anddissemination of gy³na. While acceleratingyour endeavors of attaining gy³na by sa®yam,sw³dhy³ya and s³dhan³, you should also donatesome fraction of your time (samayad³na) and

resources (anïad³na) for gy³na-yagya. Easiestway to do this is to purchase some Vichar-Kranti (thought-revolution) books of ourmission and read them.; This way you yourselfwill be doing anïad³na as well as sw³dhy³ya.Devote your time to circulate the Vichar Krantiliterature to as many persons as you can andmotivate them to read and then continue thecycle. This will be your ideal samayad³na andsev³. Try to donate your one hour of timeand 50 paise of money per day on an averagetowards this noble cause of gy³na-yagya.

Thus, by adopting four foundational principlesof self-transformation you can elevate yourlives to glorious heights and also help thewellbeing and upliftment of the society as awhole. If we reform and refine ourselves,transformation of the people worldwide willproceed gradually, like the harmoniousprogression of currents in a sea. Yug Nirman(creation of an evolved era) will emerge fromevolution of the individuals, families and theentire human society.

I have initiated this epochal experiment in thetiny laboratory of our mission and I requestall those who visit here and all those who areassociated with our Gayatri Pariwar to helpexpand it. So if you want to be a part of YugNirman project, start the experiment of self-transmutation on yourself by adopting sa®yam,sw³dhy³ya, s³dhan³ and sev³ from today itself.Maybe at a minuscule level in the beginning,these should certainly be integral parts of yourlife from now on. Wish you all the best foreminent success.

|| OM SHANTI ||

March-April 200750

ShantikunjDiary

AMU-DSVV COLLABORATION:21 postgraduate students fromAligarh Muslim University(AMU) visited Dev SanskritiVishwa Vidyalaya (DSVV) andtook membership as volunteers of‘Khushi Foundation’ establishedunder the aegis of Divine IndiaYouth Association (DIYA) fordiagnosis and healing of mentaltension and disorders. The AMUstudents also attended a three-dayworkshop on the aims and objectsof Khushi Foundation. Theparticipants were visibly touchedby the inclusive and integrativeprocess of education at DSVV –inculcating virtues of universalharmony and understanding –cutting across artificial divisionsof creeds, castes, races, etc.

VICHAR KRANTI ONLINE:Gayatri Pariwar centres at DelhiPalam, Meerut, Pune, Bangalore,Mumbai and that in USA aremaking full use of Internet fordissemination of Gurudev’s life-transforming teachings. The Delhibranch has developed a databaseand software through which theytransmit thoughts of Gurudev tothousands of people through e-mail daily. You can also become amail recipient. To become amember please email toatmiyabandhu@gmail.com . In thesubject line type subscribe. You arealso welcome to become a memberof following yahoo group:g r o u p s . y a h o o . c o m / g r o u p /gayatri_parivar.

Hindu Pilgrims from Pakistan VisitShantikunj:A group of Hindus, who had comeon pilgrimage to Haridwar forGanga-Snan also visitedShantikunj Ashram and DSVV.They were deeply moved by theGayatri Pariwar’s work towardsinterfaith harmony andunderstanding and wished thattheir children had anaopportunity to study at DSVV.They also met revered Dr. PranavPandya and Shail Jiji and hadtheir blessings.Guddorani ofRawalpindi, who hails from awell-to-do family had visitedShantikunj last year and has beendisseminating the message ofGurudev amongst HinduCommunity in her area.

Pranic Healing Workshop for IranianDelegation:A special workshop on ‘PranicHealing’ which was conduced fora 26-member delegation from Iranconcluded on January 19, 2007 atDSVV. The delegation was led byProfessor Nazarghai Farshadwho is Vice-President of IranYoga Society and Head ofResearch and EducationalInstitute for Mind and BodyPurification. At the valedictoryfunction of this workshop DrPranav Pandya, Chancellor ofDSVV, announced that DSVVproposes to hold a ‘PranicHealing and Meditationworkshop’ in Iran in the nearfuture in which he himself will beone of the faculty.A Two-member Delegation of DSVVvisits ChinaA two-member delegation (DrSuresh Varnawal and Sri

Shailendra Kumar Dube) of DSVVpaid a one-week visit to a numberof reputed yoga, martial arts/sports institutions in Chinaduring December 2006 and hadwide-ranging discussions withthe authorities of theseinstitutions for collaboration inareas of mutual interest. They alsohelped the Director and faculty ofChan Tzu Yoga Institute indrawing up a three-month yogainstruction course/curriculum.Dr Suresh and Sri ShailendraKumar were invited to be visitingfaculty of the Institute.

A Novel way of DisseminatingGurudev’s literature:A parijan, Sri Vinay Chauhan, hasset up a purely vegetarian hotel-cum-restaurant facility onHaridwar-Bijnaur road, named“Vyanjan Vatika”. The enterprisehas become popular andsuccessful beyond expectation. Atone time Sri Chauhan had becomea broke and had gone into a longperiod of deep depression. Hebelieves he owes his bouncingback to a state of self-reliance andsuccess in his enterprise due toGurusatta’s blessings. As a tokenof his gratitude he has hit upon anovel way of sharing Gurudev’steachings. With the cash memo hehas started giving, free of cost,packets of Gurudev’s literature tohis customers. He has giftedliterature worth amount Rs.10,000/- during the past twomonths. It is an example worthemulation – we can serve thecause in whatever way we cannaturally do –whatever ourvocation. Our paeans of praise forSri Chauhan.