july 2004 (new) - advaita ashrama · 2020. 3. 4. · one’s selfish interests. it was again a...

� Traditional Wisdom �

HOLY COMPANY

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Holy company dispels our mental inertia, fills our speech with truth, enhances ouresteem, prevents us from committing sin, makes our mind serene and happy, andspreads our fame everywhere—say, what does holy company not do? (Bhartrihari,Nætiùataka, 23)

Jhk vJo;=wduoMw C{tà;k Jlahi& mn > l bqFoslmövfoU& mwhuà={CJlu˜Jrv >>

It is far better to roam in the forest with hill tribes than to live with fools even inheaven. (Nætiùataka, 14))

[Holy company] begets yearning for God. It begets love of God. Nothing whatso-ever is achieved in spiritual life without yearning. By constantly living in the com-pany of holy men, the soul becomes restless for God. … There is another benefitfrom holy company. It helps one cultivate discrimination between the Real and theunreal. God alone is the Real, that is to say, the Eternal Substance, and the world isunreal, that is to say, transitory. (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 96-7)

By keeping the company of good men, you will get your mind set properly. If youtry to mould your life according to the instructions of holy men, you will easilyavoid the pitfalls and temptations of life. Following in their footsteps you will reachthe goal attained by them and fulfil your life’s purpose. (Swami Brahmananda)

You will always have the benefit of holy company. Try to have the company of sat,or eternal Existence (Brahman), who is within you. And one needs the association ofholy people in external life—God will provide you with that. One should praydeeply and sincerely from one’s inmost heart. Always be prayerful. (SwamiTuriyananda)

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Vol. 109 JULY 2004 No. 7

PRABUDDHA

BHARATAArise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached!

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� This Month �

Árjava, an important sign of knowledgementioned in the thirteenth chapter of theBhagavadgita, means uprightness, simplicity,straightforwardness and more. Uprightness,this month’s editorial, discusses the conse-quences of crookedness on human personal-ity, the significance of uprightness and someaids to its cultivation.

Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years Ago fea-tures excerpts from an article, ‘ConcerningIdeals’, by Advaitin.

Reflections on the Bhagavadgita is SwamiAtulanandaji’s commentary on verses 27 to29 of the ninth chapter of the Gita. How totransform life into a continuous worship byoffering everything to the Lord; the all-im-portant sannyasa yoga, or the yoga of renun-ciation, which nullifies the good and bad ef-fects of karma; and how God remains impar-tial to all—the author discusses all this herewith admirable clarity. The author disabusesthe Lord of partiality and says that the dif-ference is in us, not in God, just as the differ-ence is in the mirror and not in the sun.

Sanskrit Studies and Comparative Phi-lology in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-cen-tury Europe is the third and final instalmentof a research article by Swami Tathagatanan-daji. The author discusses with copious ref-erences Max Müller's love for India and hisimmense contribution to the spread of San-skrit literature, Paul Deussen's fascination forand contribution to the spread of Vedanta,and Russia's interest in Vedanta. The authoris a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Orderand heads the Vedanta Society of New York.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—An Exposition

is a commentary by Swami Premeshanandajion sutras 11 to 33 of the fourth chapter, ‘Kai-valya Páda’. This is the final instalment ofthe author’s illuminating reflections on theYoga Sutras. We are grateful to Swami Suhi-tanandaji, Assistant Secretary, RamakrishnaMath and Ramakrishna Mission, for theoriginal Bengali notes of this exposition. SriShoutir Kishore Chatterjee, translator of thenotes, is a former Professor of Statistics fromCalcutta University.

Parabrahma Upaniøad is the first instal-ment of a translation of this important San-nyasa Upanishad by Swami Atmapriyanan-daji, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Vidya-mandira, Belur. This instalment discusses thegreatness of Brahman and certain character-istics of a knower of Brahman. The elaboratenotes are based on Upanishad Brahmayo-gin’s commentary.

‘May the guest be your God,’ teaches theTaittiriya Upanishad. Glimpses of Holy Livesfeatures an incident from the life of Ilayan-kudi Mara Nayanar, who lived up to thisdictum even when he himself had nothing toeat.

The human mind is an enigma. Vedantagrants it material status; only, it is consid-ered subtler than the body. In his researcharticle A Survey of the Mind, Swami Satya-swarupanandaji examines certain theoreticaland empirical perspectives about the mindby Western thinkers and compares them inthe light of Yoga and Vedanta. In the first in-stalment he analyses some experimentalstudies and physical theories about themind. The author is a monk of the Ramakri-shna Order from Belur Math.

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Uprightness

EDITORIAL

Mullah Nasruddin found a diamondby the roadside, but, according tolaw, finders become keepers only if

they first announced their find in the centre ofthe marketplace on three separate occasions.Now, Nasruddin was too religious-minded todisregard the law and too greedy to run therisk of parting with his find. So on three con-secutive nights when he was sure that every-one was fast asleep he went to the centre of themarketplace and there announced in a softvoice, ‘I have found a diamond on the roadthat leads to the town. Anyone knowing whothe owner is should contact me at once.’ Noone was wiser for the mullah’s words, ofcourse, except for one man who happened tobe standing at his window on the third nightand heard the mullah mumble something.When he attempted to find out what it was,Nasruddin replied, ‘I am in no way obliged totell you. But this much I shall say: Being a reli-gious man, I went out there at night to pro-nounce certain words in fulfilment of thelaw.’1

That was observing religious injunctionsto the letter, holding fast at the same time toone’s selfish interests. It was again a manifes-tation of crookedness, a trait not uncommonamong out-and-out worldly people. Thereare, of course, honourable examples to thecontrary. Sri Ramakrishna’s father KhudiramChattopadhyay had to lose his possessions inhis native village Dere for refusing to bearfalse witness to a greedy landlord. He was apoor brahmin and an embodiment of virtueslike devotion, truthfulness and uprightness.He had a price to pay for his virtues, but hadSri Ramakrishna, adored by millions as an in-carnation of God, as his son. As the well-known saying goes, ‘Those who don’t stand

for something, fall for anything.‘ Sri Ramakri-shna’s father was upright and stood for truth.

The Consequence of Crookedness

Though crookedness appears to rule theroost in the world and conduce to the materialadvancement of its practitioner, it too does notcome without a price: Any compromise wemake in principles leaves its mark on our char-acter. Every action or thought leaves a subtleimpression in our mind, impelling us to repeatthe action or thought. This effect may not seemto be of much consequence in the beginning,but the kinks in character and their power be-come evident only when one begins to turn anew leaf. One then begins to appreciate Dur-yodhana’s predicament. A bundle of bad im-pressions, he let his notorious uncle streng-then them by his bad designs. When the situa-tion went beyond his control, Duryodhana re-marked, ‘I know what is dharma, but am notable to practise it. I know what is adharma, butI am not able to refrain from it.’2

The Significance of Uprightness

According to Vedanta we are divine inthe core of our being, but it remains hiddenfrom us. Animal nature, human nature and di-vine nature are intertwined in our personality.Divinity remains an unknown component inus until we transcend our animal nature andhuman nature and begin to manifest our di-vine nature. And true religion, says SwamiVivekananda, is supposed to bring about pre-cisely this: transformation of character.3

All lasting happiness and knowledgestem from our divine nature. Human life be-comes meaningful to the extent this hidden di-vinity becomes manifest. Sri Shankaracharyaglorifies human birth and says that not striv-

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ing to attain Self-knowledge is tantamount tokilling oneself, since one holds fast to unrealthings of the world.4

If crookedness forges one more link in thechain that binds us to the world, uprightnesshelp us manifest our hidden divine qualities.The Bhagavadgita lists árjava, or uprightness orsimplicity, as a sign of Knowledge.5 Like thetraits of a man of steady wisdom listed in itssecond chapter, uprightness too is a virtue anaspirant needs to assiduously cultivate on thepath to perfection.

Connotations of Uprightness

Sri Shankara explains árjava as simplicity(saralatá) or the absence of crookedness (akuôi-latá). True simplicity entails tallying one’swords with one’s thought. And Sri Ramakri-shna considered this quality inevitable forsuccess in spiritual life: ‘There is a sect of Vai-shnavas known as the Ghoshpárá, who de-scribe God as the “Sahaja”, the “Simple One”.They say further that a man cannot recognizethis “Simple One” unless he too is simple.’6 SriRamanuja explains árjava as a uniform dispo-sition towards others in speech, mind andbody.7 Simplicity thus goes much deeper thanour dress or habits. Perfect alignment inthought, word and deed constitute true sim-plicity.

Sant Jnaneshvar elaborates on árjava a lit-tle more. In his celebrated commentary on theGita, called Jnaneshvari, he gives the followingmeanings for árjava:8

Favouring all equally without likes or dis-likes: As a corollary, this amounts to loving allequally. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi taught a

little girl how to do that: ‘Do notdemand anything of those youlove. If you make demands,some will give you more andsome less. In that case you willlove more those who give youmore and less those who giveyou less. Thus your love willnot be the same for all. You willnot be able to love all impar-

tially.’9

Not making any distinction of ‘mine’ or ‘ofothers’: Lack of simplicity arises primarilyfrom selfishness and a feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’that characterize human life. How can we getrid of our ‘I’ and ‘mine’? Certainly it is not easyto give up this sense of ‘unripe ego’ all of asudden. Sri Ramakrishna advises us instead tocultivate the ‘ripe ego’, which says, ‘I am achild of God.’ He further explains how to livein the world as a maidservant does in a richman’s house:

Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God.Live with all—with wife and children, fatherand mother—and serve them. Treat them as ifthey were very dear to you, but know in yourheart of hearts that they do not belong to you.

A maidservant in the house of a rich manperforms all the household duties, but herthoughts are fixed on her own home in her na-tive village. She brings up her master’s childrenas if they were her own. She even speaks ofthem as ‘my Rama’ or ‘my Hari’. But in her ownmind she knows very well that they do not be-long to her at all.10

Sri Ramakrishna also advocated an attitude oftrusteeship to one’s wealth and encouragedspending it in service of God and his devotees.

An upright mental attitude: According toJnaneshvar, an upright person does not beargrudge against anyone. His mental attitude isstraight like the sweep of the wind and he isfree from desire and doubt. He does not holdhis mind on a leash, nor does he leave it abso-lutely free. An aspirant, however, needs tokeep his mind on a leash for a long time, till it is

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382 Prabuddha Bharata

True simplicity entails tallying one’s wordswith one’s thought. And Sri Ramakrishna

considered this quality inevitable forsuccess in spiritual life. … Perfect

alignment in thought, word and deedconstitute true simplicity.

sufficiently trained and puri-fied and begins to act as his truefriend.

A disciplined sensory sys-tem: His sense organs are pureand free from deceit. The undis-ciplined mind and the sensesact as our enemy and deceive usinto sense pleasure, making usbelieve as if that is the goal oflife. With his senses controlled, a man ofKnowledge does not let his senses deceivehim. For Arjuna Sri Krishna prescribed sensecontrol as the preliminary discipline to get ridof desires.11

Uprightness Necessitates Discipline

All may not be as crooked as Duryodha-na, but shades of it inhere in everyone until thedawn of Self-knowledge. In other words, per-fect alignment in thought, word and deed ispossible only when we attain perfection. In ev-eryday life we know how difficult it is to carryout resolutions: acquiring a new good habit orkicking a bad one. Where lies the difficulty?The problem stems from the kinks in our char-acter or the knots in our mind. Any attempt todiscipline the mind invites its instant resis-tance, since by nature it likes to follow the pathof least resistance. That is, it always likes to tagitself to sense organs and their respectivesense objects. This link applies not only togross objects, but also subtle enjoyments. Aweak will and a dormant buddhi are responsi-ble for this tendency of the mind. The first steptowards uprightness is disciplining the mindand the senses and freeing the will from theirhold.

Cultivation of Uprightness—Some Aids

Need for an ideal: Without a purpose noteven a fool embarks on an undertaking, goes awell-known Indian saying.12 Uprightness toohas a purpose behind and a lofty one at that:transformation of character and God-realiza-tion, which amounts to Self-realization or the

manifestation of our potential divinity. Withthis ideal before us cultivation of noble virtuesbecomes a rewarding challenge. An ideal be-fore us can serve as a radar for our spiritualjourney: we can become aware of the pitfallson the journey and correct our course. Howimportant having an ideal is becomes clearfrom Swamiji’s words: ‘Unfortunately in thislife, the vast majority of persons are gropingthrough this dark life without any ideal at all.If a man with an ideal makes a thousand mis-takes, I am sure that the man without an idealmakes fifty thousand. Therefore, it is better tohave an ideal.’13 In other words, a man with anideal knows if he commits mistakes, since hehas a reference point with which he can judgehis actions. He commits less mistakes thansomeone who does not have an ideal.

Purifying the means: Work is not an end initself, but only a means to purification of mindand manifestation of divinity. When this pointis lost sight of, the end becomes more impor-tant than the means and often justifies it. Butsuch an attitude does come with a price. Wemay accomplish the work all right, but thequestionable means adopted will leave an im-pression in the mind, strengthen the bad im-pressions already in store, and thus forge onemore link in the chain that binds us to theworld. In his illuminating lecture ‘Work andIts Secret’ Swamiji assures us, ‘Let us perfectthe means; the end will take care of itself.’ Andwhat follows is more significant. Swamiji ex-plains what means and end mean: ‘For theworld can be good and pure only if our livesare good and pure. It is an effect and we are themeans. Therefore, let us purify ourselves. Let us

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Uprightness 383

Where lies the difficulty? The problemstems from the kinks in our character orthe knots in our mind. Any attempt todiscipline the mind invites its instantresistance, since by nature it likes to followthe path of least resistance.

make ourselves perfect.’ (2.9; emphasis added)Doing work as worship: Augmenting our

good impressions by noble thoughts anddeeds is an important step towards purifica-tion of mind. When performed with concen-tration of mind, work affords us an opportu-nity to observe the vagaries of the mind. Try-ing not to be distracted by mental gyrations isa good exercise in training the mind andstrengthening our will power. Says Swamiji,‘When you are doing any work, do not thinkof anything beyond. Do it as worship, as thehighest worship, and devote your whole lifeto it for the time being.’ (1.71) ‘Whatever youdo, devote your whole mind, heart and soul toit. I once met a great sannyasin who cleansedhis brass cooking utensils, making them shinelike gold, with as much care and attention ashe bestowed on his worship and medita-tion.’14

��

‘It is simple to be happy, but it is difficultto be simple,’ according to an old adage. Trueand lasting happiness is possible only in ourinner Self, the infinite dimension of our per-

sonality.15 This bliss is ours tothe extent the kinks in our char-acter get straightened, makingus more and more simple. Thedifficulty in being simple is dueto an undisciplined mind. Andsimplicity or uprightness issomething to be cultivated byworking on ourselves, by disci-plining the mind and the sen-sory system with a strength-ened will. �

References

1. Anthony de Mello, The Prayer of the Frog, 2vols. (Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1989),1.121.

2. Jánámi dharmaó na ca me pravìttihjánámy-adharmaó na ca me nivìttih.

3. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1-8, 1989; 9,1997), 5.409.

4. Vivekachudamani, 4.5. Bhagavadgita, 13.7.6. M, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami

Nikhilananda (Chennai: Sri RamakrishnaMath, 2002), 505.

7. Parán-prati váï-manaë-káya-vìttænám ekarépatá.8. M R Yardi, The Jnaneshwari (Pune: Bharatiya

Vidya Bhavan, 2001), 380-1.9. Swami Nikhilananda, Holy Mother (New York:

Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1962), 129.10. Gospel, 81.11. Gita, 3.41.12. Prayojanam anuddiùya na mando’pi pravartate.13. CW, 2.152.14. Vivekananda: His Call to the Nation (Calcutta:

Advaita Ashrama, 1971), 37.15. Yo vai bhémá tatsukhaó, nálpe sukhamasti.

—Chandogya Upanishad, 7.23.1.

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Augmenting our good impressions by noblethoughts and deeds is an important step

towards purification of mind. Whenperformed with concentration of mind,

work affords us an opportunity to observethe vagaries of the mind. Trying not to be

distracted by mental gyrations is a goodexercise in training the mind and

strengthening our will power.

The art of simplicity is simply to simplify. Simplicity avoids the superficial, penetrates the

complex, goes to the heart of the problem and pinpoints the key factors. Simplicity does not

beat around the bush. It does not take winding detours. It follows a straight line to the objec-

tive. Simplicity is the shortest distance between two points.

—Wilfred Peterson

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Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years Ago

July 1904

Concerning Ideals

To those who are early drawn into the whirlpool of life, what battle, courage and persistence are

required to maintain their ideals. They see people affected by the deleterious influences around

them, yielding to the clamorous appeals of the senses, and pursuing pleasure—which in too

many instances becomes the sum total of existence. There is nothing so important for us as to re-

solve to have an ideal, and be zealous followers of the same. It will restore our perspective, correct

our vision, so that we see things in their right proportion. A man, to be of value, to be true to himself,

must hold to an ideal; he must be able to think beyond his work and precedent, and have power to

show in the line of life he has chosen, in what his heart is centred. He will then be able to wrestle

more intelligently with the problems of life as presented in his daily round.

The ideal should be for the inspiration, direction and organization of our moral, social, intellec-

tual and religious forces. … The fundamental principle of the ideal is to bridge the chasm of life, mak-

ing it possible not merely to fix a role of conduct, but bring about a revolution in one’s life, absolutely

inconceivable before. Ideals are full of the deepest meanings, assertions of new beauties, incentives

to fresh endeavours, demanding devotion of the human mind to all that is noble and untried. They ap-

pear radiant with suggestive wisdom and full of rare excellence. Things that seem permanent and fi-

nal become unsettled and provisional in their light, for they provide other standpoints. They must be

judged as they conduce, more or less, according to the qualitative and quantitative advance due to

their influence, to a higher and ampler standard of life.

The loyal, cool qualities indispensable to the carrying out of our ideals must be impregnated with

love, gentleness, and forethought, in touch with the best conceptions of the day, disclaiming at the

same time any illiberality regarding the ideals of others. They will thus prove a world-power in a spiri-

tual sense, a pacificator among men of all creeds.

The same spirit illumines diverse natures, and the most various and the most different can as-

similate similar ideals, with the differences necessitated by their natures and their interior aptitudes,

and it is this unity and this variety which, in their true reality, realize the supreme Principle. Without

this spiritual understanding we shall fail to deepen our knowledge, for the things of the intellect may

become either a help or a hindrance to the attainment of our ideals. Therefore, let us listen to the

voice within, and try to rouse this sense of knowledge which lies dormant in each one of us. Its cho-

sen soil is the pure heart, and we shall do well to ponder over the ever-recurring suggestions of our

reflective and serious moods, and seek to enlarge the spiritual vision to the perception of something

infinite. We cannot hope to realize our ideals if the mind conforms to any worthless inclinations, for in

order to make our labours fruitful we must be conscious of our inherent pure nature. Beyond all else

in the world, ideality demands an invincible strength and an indomitable energy—it must never be al-

lied to weakness.

We perceive, then, that to grasp our ideals is no easy task to be undertaken lightly, seeing that

they involve a vast change in ourselves. Consequently we must never slacken in our pursuit of them.

Spasmodic efforts in this or that direction will be of no avail until we have been brought to acknowl-

edge that there is a definite and wisely ordered purpose in our aims. They should also not be irrecon-


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cilable with practical work, though we have misgivings, grope about, now and then start off in the

wrong direction, oftentimes discouraged, or again gloomy fears brood over our resolutions and long-

ings. Only few can retain the ideals with sufficient firmness to apply them consistently at all seasons,

but a false step or failure of application is of no more consequence here than in other paths of life. …

External activity is in itself only the shadow of the profound life which has its source in the Self—

therefore, it is possible to participate in the contemplative and the active aspects of life. There is much

that is good and beneficial in the interchange of activity and retirement. As activity sweetens retire-

ment, so retirement prepares the mind for renewed activity and reinforces the springs of inward cogni-

tion.

… First and foremost, the truth ones strives for is the truth one grows into, that pervades our

consciousness, rather than something that manifests itself to the outer world—a perception whereby

the eyes of the soul are unsealed.

Our great thoughts, the truth of our lives, must never quit us. Our convictions will be a resistless

potency to spur us on to unlimited self-sacrifice for the ideal that possesses us, a devotion to it mak-

ing straight for the goal firmly and calmly under its disciplinary influence.

To take the spiritual ideal, quiet and meditation will lead us much farther than we had thought

possible, and noting the immensity of that power, we shall ask ourselves how it had been gained by

the old rishis in their mountain solitudes. We believe that they were nearer the solution of the myster-

ies of life than we are, just because they recognized spiritual purity as higher than intellectual devel-

opment. Far back in the traditions of humanity there exist deep echoes of these saints, which are

re-awakened at a touch. It is surely worthwhile to contemplate those things that have been be-

queathed to us, and to recall to the memory of men the ideals which so seldom arrest their attention.

… We are almost astonished to find that men of such austere simplicity should have been competent

to grapple with stupendous philosophic ideals, forgetting that ‘concentration is to thought, what heat is

to the plant.’ They steadily directed their attention towards the Self, and their philosophy strove to in-

culcate in them a contempt for human happiness and all the vanities of this world. Contemplating the

Eternal, their keenness of vision, in this way, became strong in spiritual perceptions, and detachment

from material environments obtained for them the supreme Self-light, and the most exquisite purity of

soul. Thus, these consecrated beings, in whom the tremendous growth of religious ideas entered,

helped to reveal to mankind their divine origin.

When we revert to the world, we forget ourselves from the point of view of that which is real,

seeking and finding ourselves from the point of view of that which is false. It lures us with Utopias,

soothes us with fallacious expectations, pandering to our fancies and foibles, and offering dead

sea-fruits for our acceptance. So much for the fragility of earthly bliss! The realization of the real even

in part is nothing less than a spiritual realization, and demonstrates how we can become conscious of

our Self. We shall then discover ourselves again, as though we had regained a part of ourselves that

was essential and unknown, in which the passions of life have been hushed to a perpetual silence,

and our will is coalesced in that of Him, who is all in all. We should cling with all our might to this tran-

scendent, penetrative life, having that spiritual virility that appeals to the high Self and subtly exalts life

by ministering to the cravings of the God-nature, for in it we shall attain what we can attain nowhere

else. Our life is crowned by breathing this rarefied air of benediction and revelation, for ‘the soul is still

oracular’ and by communing with the spirit that quickens, we enter into the secret place of the Most

High, winning that holy peace, which is the greatest joy of an illumined soul at one with Itself.

—Advaitin

Reflections on the Bhagavadgita

SWAMI ATULANANDA

Chapter 9 (continued)

Because the Lord is so much pleased withwhatever His devotees offer to Him in love

and because that love brings the highest result,namely moksha, the Lord says:

27. Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as oblation, whatever yougive away and whatever austerities you perform, O son of Kunti, do that as an offering to Me.

St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘Whethertherefore ye eat or drink or whatever yedo, do all to the glory of God.’1 We see

that the yoke of God is easy indeed and Hisburden light. None need do any special thingfor Him; but in the performance of the ordi-nary acts of life He is fully worshipped if theyare performed for His sake alone. The interiorspirit is superior to all works. ‘And whatso-ever ye do in word or deed, do all in the nameof the Lord Jesus.’2

How blessed is such a life, free from fear,free from anxiety, and it would be so simple ifour natures were not so perverted. We have to

eat and drink and sleep and work. We cannotbe without it. Why not then make the best useof all these necessities and make every actionan offering to God? Then it will serve a doublepurpose. We will be fed physically and spiri-tually as well. Our physical thirst as also ourspiritual thirst will be satisfied. We will restthe body and we will find rest in the Spirit; wewill work performing our allotted duties inlife and we will at the same time work for theglory of God.

Of him who with a simple and trustfulheart can thus practise the presence of God atall times, Sri Krishna says:

28. Thus you will be freed from the bondage of actions that bear good and evil results,and with the heart steadfastly engaged in this yoga of renunciation, liberated, you will cometo Me.

This practice of offering everything to theLord is called sannyasa yoga, the yoga ofrenunciation. It purifies the heart and

frees us from the bondage that follows all ac-tions good and bad, because there is no desireto reap any fruit from the action, the whole lifebeing offered to God.

Otherwise every act good or bad causesbondage. Every deed, word or thought is likea seed planted in our life and the fruit willcome in time, sweet or bitter. A golden chainbinds as much as an iron chain. Good deedsbind as well as evil deeds, unless these good

deeds are performed to please God or in obe-dience to His command. Then we can performthe deeds, but we are not attached to the out-come of the act. Such deeds cannot bind us toearth. The fruit has been renounced by offer-ing it to God. Our deeds are then like a ropethat is burnt. It still looks like a rope, but noth-ing can be bound with it. Thus, we work outour karma. Thus, we pay karma’s debts. Thenthe soul is free, free even while living in thebody. And when the body is laid aside, thesoul is reunited with God.

The highest life that man can live is a life

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in which every act, every thought, every wordis dedicated to God. What do we mean bythat? Is it possible to live such a life? We allknow that when we love a person intensely,few moments of the day pass by when the be-loved one does not live in our consciousness.No matter what we do, no matter how we areoccupied, that picture so dear to us is beforeour mental eye. We live constantly in the pres-ence of such a person though physically wemay be far away. The relationship between thebhakta and his God is just like that. He cannothelp thinking of his Beloved. His thoughts gotowards Him without any effort; love drawsthem there. And every act we perform whileour mind lovingly goes towards the Lord is anact dedicated to Him. For then it becomes im-possible to do things which we know will dis-please Him. We cannot think of the Onewhom we love and then deliberately do an actthat we know would greatly grieve Him. Thatwould be insincerity. And therefore this prac-tice of living in the presence of God is such agreat help in our daily life to keep us fromwhat is wrong and to incite us to noble and vir-tuous deeds. It will give a beautiful colour toour whole existence. We cannot then utter un-kind words, we cannot cause sorrow to otherswillingly, we cannot harbour undesirablethoughts, we cannot but do such acts as weknow will be pleasing to God.

That is the practical side of religion. Iflived, religion cannot but make us better andbe an influence for the better on our surround-ings. And as we rise higher in spiritual knowl-edge our life will also express higher and no-bler ideals. If we come to know God in spiritand in truth, our life will be the embodiment ofspirituality and truth. Then we will know Godas the Reality, the enduring Soul, in all bodies.In every person good or bad we will see Godmore or less obscured by an ignorant person-ality. That is the glory of the spiritual man thathe sees God everywhere and always. God cannever be hidden from him, no matter behindwhat manifestation He is. And so the bhakta’s

life will be filled with the feeling that he is al-ways in God’s presence.

But like everything else, this is an accom-plishment born of previous practice. Thescholar has to study many years before he be-comes a scholar; the artist also has to workmany years before he can count on success. Itis so in every department of life, and the spiri-tual life does not offer any exception. The suc-cessful devotee is one who has tried long andhard. Often, forgetting God, he stumbles andfalls, but remembers Him again, gains hisfooting and rises up. So at last success hascome.

First our actions are the outcome of grossselfishness. We want riches, name and powerover others. But when we grow older andwiser we begin to realize that after all very lit-tle is gained. Our wealth, power and fame,some way or other, are not what we expected.These do not make us as happy as we hadhoped they would. We are rich but are stillmiserable; fame has come to us, but it weighson us rather like a burden. No, the secret ofhappiness must lie in a different direction.Then we discover that selfishness cannotmake us happy. And perhaps we have noticedthat we have been happy only in the few in-stances where we have brought joy to others.Then a light gleams in the horizon. Can it betrue that by making others happy we becomehappy in return? And then, service as an idealis introduced into our lives. And as we live ourideal, as service to others becomes a practicalpart of our life, happier and happier we be-come. But still, we shall meet with many dis-appointments, for the selfishness in us is stillstrong and we are looking for gratitude andrecognition. And these we do not always meetwith. We discern that something is still lackingas an element to secure happiness to us. Andthen the voice may be heard far away; faint,very faint, sounds that voice at first but gradu-ally it gains in strength and volume and wehear distinctly a new message: ‘If you long forhappiness, then care not for results. To work


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you have the right, but not to the fruitsthereof.’ That is a great revelation. The secrethas been revealed. ‘Renounce. Renounce, andpeace, joy and fearlessness will be yours.’

That is the voice of the Spirit. The voice ofthe little self has called out, ‘Possess, take,gather up, wield power and command re-spect.’ The Spirit speaks, ‘Renounce, give, dis-tribute, serve, honour others and work, butcare not for results.’

But how can we work if we do not carefor results? Where is the motive for work inthat case? ‘Make Me your motive,’ says theLord. ‘If you want results, good and well, butoffer the results to Me. Do not hold them; donot be attached to them. Make it a practice tooffer all to Me.’ That is the yoga of renuncia-tion, which leads to freedom. All actions goodand bad lose their binding effect when done asan offering to Me. We cannot live without do-ing acts all the time. Every act binds. Every actforges a new link in our chain of karma, unlessit is done unselfishly, unless it is performed asa sacrifice, an offering, to the Lord.

This is the main teaching of the Gita. Itshows us the path of liberation: to be in theworld and at the same time to rise beyond theworld. Not by running away from the fieldshall Arjuna rise in Spirit, but by fighting arighteous war; not by avoiding, but by over-coming, not by idleness but by industry, notby serving self but by service of God. ‘Be upand doing, but do everything for Me. Do notstarve yourself and neglect your duties andlive a miserly life. No, whatever you eat, what-ever duty you perform, whatever you give, dothat as an offering to Me. Then doing all thesethings, you will be free from sin and bondage.’

That habit we must establish: to offer allto God, by remembering him constantly andwith great love. He is always watching us, al-ways near us, for does he not dwell in ourheart? Is He not our very Soul, our inner Be-ing? We cannot escape from ourselves. Let usknow the Truth. We are God. The real ‘I’ in usis God. He works and manifests through this

personality, this body and mind and ego, andwe know it as Mr So-and-so. This living in thepresence of God and offering everything toHim is no superstition. It means doing con-sciously what we ordinarily do unconsciously.It means knowing the fact instead of the delu-sion, serving Truth instead of falsehood. Nowwe know only the animal man in us and we of-fer everything to him. Then, we shall know theGod man in us and we shall give all to Him.The animal man and the God man are one andthe same Spirit working through an animal orspiritual medium. We are the beast and we arethe man, and we are the angel and we are theGod in us. There is but One and He appears asmany-sided. One and the same man is the lov-ing husband and father and the cruel, tyranni-cal master. The same man working throughlove is the praiseworthy husband and fatherand working through cruelty he is the despi-cable master. And working through jnana thatsame man will become a saint. The husbandand the master and the saint are the differentmasks behind which the one man is hidden.These are the differently coloured glasses be-hind which he is seen. Remove all masks, allcoloured glasses, and the true man, the God inman stands revealed. The different steps inour spiritual life mean clearing the spectacles,replacing the black glasses with grey ones, andthe dark grey ones with light grey, and thelight grey ones with pure glass; always becom-ing purer and purer, always driving out thedarkness of ignorance by the light of wisdom,always trying to see God as He is in His purityand not as we imagine Him through our col-oured minds.

It may interest you to know how in India,this idea of offering all to God takes a concreteform. We have seen in an earlier lesson howsannyasins are regarded as living Gods. Theyare addressed as Narayana, the God livingwithin man, and food is offered to them as if itis offered to God. To feed the sannyasinstherefore is a great privilege and a meritoriousdeed. At festivals sannyasins and brahmacha-

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rins and brahmins are always invited and en-tertained. But not only in the sannyasin doesthe Hindu try to see God, but he regards everyhuman being as the deity. And in greeting theHindu does not shake hands as we do, but heholds his hands before him and bowing thehead he salutes the divinity in the other per-son. ‘Namaskar, I bow down to you’ is thegreeting; high and low, intimate or stranger—anyone becomes great in that way, when webow down to the divine in him.

In India food is prepared not for thehouseholder but for the deity worshipped bythe householder. The cook belongs to thepriest caste. Cooking is a religious act. Thekitchen is like a temple and only the priest canenter there. Even the householder is not al-lowed to enter a certain part of his ownkitchen. The cook cooks for the Lord andwhen the food is prepared no one is allowed totaste it until it has been offered to the house-hold deity. The cook takes the prepared foodto the worship room (which every Hindu pos-sesses) and there he places it before the familydeity and after performing a short ceremonythe food is removed and the members of thefamily are served.

Of course, under our conditions we neednot imitate Eastern customs, but if not in theseexternal things, at least in spirit such ideas arewell worth practising. The so-called idol in In-dia is a great help to the bhakta there, to drawthe mind towards God, for the idol stands forGod. And God is regarded as personal anddear and near to the bhakta. He loves his idol;it reminds him of God, who is the indwellingSpirit. He treats the idol with great respect as ifGod were present before him in living form.And the mind of the devotee often during theday visits the worship room while he himselfis at work or elsewhere.

There are bhaktas to whom the idol is nolonger an idol but God Himself, living andreal. They speak to Him and hear His voiceand to Him they go for comfort and guidance.And God does not disappoint them. Perhaps

we all have heard the story of the little boywho was told to take the food to the idol andoffer it to the deity. For some reason or otherthe father could not take the food inside theworship room himself on that day. So he toldhis son to take it. The boy took the food, placedit before the idol and offered it to the Lord.Then he waited for the idol to partake of thefood. But the food remained the same. It wasnot touched by the idol. Therefore the boy be-came very sorry. He prayed very sincerelythat the Lord might be pleased to take thefood. It was getting late and he was also hun-gry. He asked again and again that the Lordmight take the food so that he might go. Andhe also felt very sorry that the deity was notpleased to take the food when he brought it,while daily He took it when offered by his fa-ther. Once more the boy sat down, closed hiseyes and prayed, ‘Lord, please take the food.Why do you not take the food from me? Areyou angry with me?’ But when he opened hiseyes, all the food was gone. Then the boy washappy and he went to take his dinner. The fa-ther said, ‘Son, where is the dinner? Did younot bring it from the worship room?’ ‘No, fa-ther,’ said the boy. ‘How could I bring it? TheLord has finished every bit. The plates are allempty.’ Then the father went and saw for him-self. And he was surprised for the deity hadnever taken the food from him so perceptibly.He realized how great is the love of the Lordfor His devotees who have real faith. For theboy’s faith had worked this miracle.

Sri Krishna has said that the devotee thuspractising sannyasa yoga will be liberated andwill come unto Him. We have seen thatthough the Lord is not partial, to some devo-tees He is granting them what he would notgrant others. But now another question arises.Though impartial to His different devotees, isHe not partial in bestowing this highest bless-ing on His devotees and not on others who arenot bhaktas? Does not the Lord make a dis-tinction between the pious and the indiffer-ent? Not so. Listen!


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29. Alike am I to all beings; hated or beloved there is none to Me. But those who worshipMe with devotion, they are in Me and I am in them.

The Lord says that He is alike to all beings.He neither hates nor loves anyone in thesense that we human beings love and

hate. Still there is a difference in His relation-ship to men. Some men live in Him and He inthem. We cannot say that fire is partial, that ithates one person and loves another. Still tosome it does great harm and to others greatgood. It gives heat to those who draw near.And so God’s love is felt by those who drawnear to Him. The heat of the fire is for all and sois God’s love for all who desire it. God’s gracefalls upon all, but not all open their hearts to letHis grace shine there. The wind blows for allalike, but only those who unfurl the sails oftheir boats will speed on their way. The otherswill lag behind; the wind will not benefit them.Sun and rain are alike for all, but only the fieldthat is worked and prepared will be benefitedby the rain and the sunshine. God’s graceworks in the heart of the bhakta, but not owingto any attachment on His part, but because thebhakta has prepared his heart to receive and tobe benefited by that grace.

The sun is reflected in the clear mirror,but not in the mirror that is covered with dust.So the divine Light of God shines in the heartof only those who have cleansed their mindsof all the dirt of ignorance through the practiceof devotion, the minds of the bhaktas ren-dered fit to reflect God’s light. So the Lorddwells in those clean hearts as a matter ofcourse. The difference is in us, not in God, just

as the difference is in the mirror and not in thesun. ‘… He maketh his sun to rise on the eviland on the good and sendeth rain on the justand on the unjust.’3 The just and the goodknow how to receive the sunlight and the rainof grace, but the evil and the unjust close theirhearts to God’s influence. It is our own fault.How can God be partial? Has he not created usall? Are we not all, every one of us, His mani-festation? What does He care for our good orevil deeds? A mother loves even her sinfulson. And should God be less than His crea-tures? No, the difference is in us. We put upbarriers that prevent the light from shiningthrough. Did not Job say, ‘If thou sinnest, whatdoest thou against Him, or if thy transgres-sions be multiplied, what doest thou untoHim? If thou be righteous, what givest thou toHim? Or what receiveth He of thine hand?’4

Love, devotion to the Lord, removes all obsta-cles. ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shallbe as white as snow,’ said the Lord.5 And hearin the next verse what Sri Krishna says aboutthe excellence of devotion.

(To be continued)

References

1. 1 Corinthians, 10.31.2. Colossians, 3.17.3. St Matthew, 5.45.4. Job, 35.6-7.5. Isaiah, 1.18.

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Reflections on the Bhagavadgita 391

The Lord is constantly with us. … If one seeks God earnestly for a moment, He appears before

that person. But who seeks Him? We only babble: our prayers come from our lips and not

from our hearts. The Lord is omniscient and knows what is in our hearts. We read this in the

scriptures but don’t believe it. Krishna says in the Gita, ‘I am seated in the hearts of all.’ (15.15)

‘An eternal portion of Myself has become the living soul in a world of living beings.’ (15.7) Are

these statements untrue? They are true, but they appear to us to be untrue. Why? Because we

only read these things; neither do we believe them nor do we search for God. That is why we are

in this pitiable condition.—Swami Turiyananda

Sanskrit Studies and Comparative Philology

SWAMI TATHAGATANANDA

(Continued from the previous issue)

Friedrich Max Müller

We look to the great German philoso-pher and Sanskritist Max Müller,who realized ‘how small a strip [had]

as yet been explored of the vast continent ofSanskrit literature’, to express the impact ofSanskrit studies. In his book India: What Can ItTeach Us? the learned professor dealt withsome facts of Indian culture of which Sanskritwas one. He wrote of the mind-invigoratingand mind-inspiriting cause of Sanskrit stud-ies:

Sanskrit literature … is full of human interests,full of lessons which even Greek could neverteach us. … Sanskrit literature allows you an in-sight into strata of thought deeper than any youhave known before, and rich in lessons that ap-peal to the deepest sympathies of the humanheart. …

I may perhaps be able [to show] how imper-fect our knowledge of universal history, our in-sight into the development of the human intel-lect, must always remain, if we narrow our ho-rizon to the history of Greeks and Romans, Sax-ons and Celts, with a dim background of Pales-tine, Egypt, and Babylon, and leave out of sightour nearest intellectual relatives, the Áryas ofIndia, the framers of the most wonderful lan-guage, the Sanskrit, the fellow-workers in theconstruction of our fundamental concepts, thefathers of the most natural of natural religions,the makers of the most transparent of mytholo-gies, the inventors of the most subtle philoso-phy, and the givers of the most elaborate laws.1

Urged by Burnouf to carry on the work ofthe Vedas in 1844,2 Müller settled down at Ox-ford as a professor in 1850 and began his life-long study of the Vedas. His highly authentic

(and the first) English edition Rig-Veda withSayana’s Commentary was published in six vol-umes (Oxford, 1849-73).3 It is a landmarkwork in the history of Sanskrit studies. Prior tothis edition, only a small part of the Rig Vedahad been published by Friedrich August Ro-sen, whose Rig-Veda Samhita: Sanskrit et La-tines, published posthumously in Calcutta in1838, attracted many Western scholars to theVedas, known as the ‘The Great Book’. AfterRosen’s death, Rudolf von Roth (1821-95)published the Atharva Veda in Germany in1856 along with other works on Vedic litera-ture and history.

The publication costs for the Rig Vedawere borne by the East India Company at first,and later by Queen Victoria’s privy purse.4

Müller received solid support from Wilsonand Christian Karl Bunsen (1791-1860). Ac-cording to Henri Martin, Bunsen believed that‘the Aryan spirit alone had discovered the Bi-ble’s universal and historical meaning.’5 Wil-son and Bunsen persuaded the board of direc-tors of the East India Company to sustain allexpenses of editing and publishing the com-plete Rig Veda in six volumes at Oxford Uni-versity’s printing press (1849-75). This was fol-lowed by the publication of Rig-Veda Samhita(1869), Rig-Veda Pratisakya (text with Germantranslation, 1859-69) and Rig-Veda (text only,1873).6 In 1859, History of Ancient Sanskrit Liter-ature, Müller’s treatment of Vedic religion,was also published.

In 1899, Swami Vivekananda comment-ed on Müller’s work:

The Rig-Veda Samhita, the whole of which no

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Sanskrit Studies and Comparative Philology inEighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Europe

one could even get at before, is now very neatlyprinted and made accessible to the public,thanks to the munificent generosity of the EastIndia Company and to the professor’s prodi-gious labours extending over years. The alpha-betical characters of most of the manuscripts,collected from different parts of India, are ofvarious forms, and many words in them are in-accurate. We cannot easily comprehend howdifficult it is for a foreigner, however learned hemay be, to find out the accuracy or inaccuracyof these Sanskrit characters, and more espe-cially to make out clearly the meaning of an ex-tremely condensed and complicated commen-tary. In the life of Professor Max Müller, thepublication of the Rig-Veda is a great event. Be-sides this, he has been dwelling, as it were, andspending his whole lifetime amidst ancient San-skrit literature.7

‘If I were asked,’ Müller once said, ‘what Iconsidered the most important discovery ofthe nineteenth century with respect to the an-cient history of mankind, I should answer bythe following short line: Sanskrit Dyaus Pitar =Greek Zeùs Pater = Latin Jupiter = Old NorseTyr.’8 H G Rawlinson quoted Müller’s remarkand added:

This work was carried on by Burnouf, Roth andMax Müller, and from their patient researchessprang the study of Comparative Religion,which has had an effect upon modern thoughtonly comparable to that of Darwin’s Origin ofSpecies. Max Müller said that the two great for-mative influences in his life were the Rig-Vedaand the Critique of Pure Reason.9

From Oxford Müller embarked upon amassive project, a labour of love that culmi-nated in the publication of The Sacred Books ofthe East (Oxford, 1879). It was a work of fifty-one volumes, which he edited in collaborationwith nineteen outstanding scholars from vari-ous countries. As chief editor, he contributedthe translations of the Upanishads and theDhammapada. One can see his scholarly outputby going through the select bibliography of hiswork. The Sacred Books of the East containedEnglish translations of twelve principal Upa-nishads, each with annotations and introduc-

tions, in the first and fifteenth volumes. One isamazed at his scholarly enthusiasm, hard la-bour, sharp intellect and love for Indian wis-dom. Müller wrote in the introduction to thefirst volume, ‘ … the earliest of these philo-sophical treatises will always, I believe, main-tain a place in the literature of the world,among the most astounding productions ofthe human mind in any age and in any coun-try.’10 In the introduction to his second vol-ume of the Upanishads, published as Volume15 of The Sacred Books of the East, he wrote of‘the dark side of the Upanishads’ and that ‘thetrue scholar will find even in the darkest anddustiest shafts what they are seeking for, realnuggets of thought and precious jewels offaith and hope.’11 Forty-eight volumes werepublished during his lifetime and three werepublished posthumously, including two in-dexes. Of the forty-nine volumes, twenty-onediscuss Hinduism, ten Buddhism and twoJainism; the rest are devoted to the religions ofthe Persians, Mohammedans and Chinese. Itwas an epoch-making series, the first authori-tative and comprehensive translation of theUpanishads. Müller receives singular creditfor broadcasting the wisdom of the Upani-shads to the world.

In 1882, Müller delivered a bold series oflectures at the University of Cambridge. Hegave his lectures the title, ‘India: What Can ItTeach Us?’ These lectures became a landmarkpublication of 315 pages on the historical re-cord of Europe’s understanding of Indian phi-losophy and religion.12

In the first lecture he expressed the high-est admiration for India:

If I were to look over the whole world to findout the country most richly endowed with allthe wealth, power and beauty that nature canbestow—in some parts a very paradise on earth—I should point to India. If I were asked underwhat sky the human mind has most fully devel-oped some of its choicest gifts, has most deeplypondered on the greatest problems of life, andhas found solutions of some of them which welldeserve the attention even of those who have

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studied Plato and Kant—I should point to In-dia. And if I were to ask myself from what liter-ature we, here in Europe, we who have beennurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts ofGreeks and Romans, and of one Semitic race,the Jewish, may draw that corrective which ismost wanted in order to make our inner lifemore perfect, more comprehensive, more uni-versal, in fact, more truly human, a life, not forthis life only, but a transfigured and eternal life—again I should point to India.13

Sixteen years after delivering another se-ries of Hibbert lectures about India’s place inthe historical origin and development of reli-gion, Müller delivered three lectures aboutVedanta at the Royal Institution in London, asignificant centre of the British establishment.Three Lectures on the Vedanta Philosophy waspublished in 1894. In this work, Müller de-scribed the passion for truth for the welfare ofhumanity that was the pure motive drivingthe ancient sages in their quest:

I believe much of the excellency of the ancientSanskrit philosophers is due to their havingbeen undisturbed by the thought of there beinga public to please or critics to appease. Theythought of nothing but the work they had deter-mined to do; their one idea was to make it asperfect as it could be made. There was no ap-plause they valued unless it came from theirequals or their betters; publishers, editors andlogrollers did not yet exist. Need we wonderthen that their work was done as well as it couldbe done, and that it has lasted for thousands ofyears?14

It is significant that prior to these threelectures, Müller had never spoken or writtenabout any Greek or Christian philosophy.15

He substantiated his conviction that the Grae-co-Roman-Judaic-Christian mind of Europeneeded India’s ‘corrective’ of the Vedantateachings in order to become ‘more perfect,more comprehensive, more universal, moretruly human’. In the very first lecture, he gavethe competent testimony of three Europeans:Sir William Jones, Victor Cousin and Friedrichvon Schlegel. Each had testified to the great-ness of Indian thought.16

While in England, Swami Vivekanandamet Müller and gave a hint of his deep appre-ciation when he assigned to him a great dis-tinction: ‘Max Müller is a Vedantist of Vedan-tists.’17 Swamiji’s engaging account of his twovisits to Müller at his Oxford residence andMüller’s inspired works on Sri Ramakrishna,including his article ‘A Real Mahatman’,which caused many learned Europeans to be‘attracted towards its subject, Sri Ramakrish-na Deva, with the result that the wrong ideasof the civilized West about India … began tobe corrected’18 according to Swami Viveka-nanda, can be found by the interested readerin the present author’s book, Journey of theUpanishads to the West.19 Müller’s deeper inter-est in Sri Ramakrishna resulted in his bookRamakrishna, His Life and Sayings. It was pub-lished on 18 October 1898.20 Many copies ofthe book were sold and three editions werepublished in May of the following year.Müller wrote that he gave a fuller account ofSri Ramakrishna’s life and utterances in thisbook for the benefit of the reading public, be-cause

every human heart has its religious yearnings, ithas a hunger for religion which sooner or laterwants to be satisfied. Now the religion taughtby the disciples of Ramakrishna comes to thesehungry souls without any outward authority.… If they listen to it … it is of their own free will;and if they believe in any part of it, it is of theirown free choice. A chosen religion is alwaysstronger than an inherited religion. … There canbe no doubt that a religion … which calls itselfwith perfect truth the oldest religion and phi-losophy of the world, viz. the Vedanta … de-serves our careful attention.21

Striking a universal chord, Max Müllerevokes great feeling in those who share his ex-perience. His expression at the end of his lifebeautifully expresses the appreciation of Ger-man scholars for Hindu philosophy and cul-ture:

We all come from the East—all that we valuemost has come to us from the East, and in goingto the East, not only those who have received a


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special Oriental training, but everybody whohas enjoyed the advantages of a liberal, that is,of a truly historical education, ought to feel thathe is going to his ‘old home,’ full of memories, ifonly he can read them.22

Max Müller’s work has been preservedfor posterity in numerous works, includinghis Rig Veda (6 vols, 1849-74), Chips from A Ger-man Workshop: Collected Essays (4 vols, 1865-75), A Sanskrit Grammar (London, 1866), A His-tory of Ancient Sanskrit Literature (London,1869), India: What Can It Teach Us? (1883),Physical Religion (1891), Three Lectures on theVedanta Philosophy (1894), The Sacred Books ofthe East (51 vols, 1879-94), Contributions to theScience of Mythology (2 vols, 1897), Ramakrish-na, His Life and Sayings (1898), and The Six Sys-tems of Indian Philosophy (1899). The publica-tion of Rig Veda brought him world fame. Inthe field of philology he had few equals, whilein early Sanskrit learning he was almost an in-novator. He viewed Sanskrit as a pivot of cul-ture; he urged talented scholars and interestedindividuals to study seriously Sanskrit gram-mar, literature and thought. It was the way heprescribed for them to gain entry into what heconsidered to be the most ideal wisdom of In-dia. In his introduction to Müller’s India: WhatCan It Teach Us? Professor Alexander Wilderagreed: ‘In that study of the history of the hu-man mind, in that study of ourselves, our trueselves, India occupies a place which is secondto no other country.’23

Paul Deussen

Paul Deussen, Müller’s successor, ex-pressed his appreciation of Indian thought inthe value he placed on Vedanta as a singularhuman accomplishment in man’s quest fortruth. He captured the essence of the Upani-shads in his Philosophy of the Upanishads, whichformed the second part of his General History ofPhilosophy: ‘The Atman is the sole Reality (sat-yam, satyasya satyam); for it is the metaphysicalunity that is manifested in all empirical plural-ity.’24 Deussen ‘was the great pioneer who,

like no other man in his time, contributed to-wards securing for Indian philosophy its dueplace in the entire field of philosophy,’ Glase-napp wrote in his great work, Image of India.25

Beginning in 1883, his translations andcommentaries of Hindu scriptures, especiallyVedanta, formed a powerful conduit throughwhich the Vedanta philosophy flowed to Eu-rope. He gave the first important exposition ofShankara’s system of Vedanta in 1883.26 An-quetil-Duperron’s Oupnek’hat had been newlytranslated into German from Dresden in 1882.Deussen translated it again fifteen years later,when he was a professor occupying the chairof philosophy at the University of Kiel, a posthe kept from 1889 until his death. (362) In 1887he published the Sutras of Vedanta with Shanka-ra’s Commentary in German. His monumentalannotated and cross-referenced translation,Sixty Upanishads (1897), which included inter-pretative introductions to each Upanishad,was considered the most scholarly translation.(363) Collaborating with his brilliant pupil,Otto Strauss (1881-1940), he added the philo-sophical texts of the Mahabharata in 1906. (363)

Deussen’s History of Philosophy was pub-lished in six volumes. The first three expoundthe Indian philosophy and the remainingthree the philosophies of Greece, the MiddleAges and the period from Descartes to Scho-penhauer. Deussen understood the impor-tance of Vedanta’s message for the West betterthan his contemporaries did. His Spirit of theUpanishads was published in 1907—from asfar west as Chicago. It extracted the choicestessence of the philosophy of the Hindus.

Deussen’s most prodigious work on thephilosophy of the Upanishads appeared inGerman from Leipzig in 1899.27 A S Gedentranslated it into English in 1906. The Philoso-phy of the Upanishads still enjoys singular pres-tige due to its rare systematic, linguistic andscholarly comprehensiveness. Deussen’s pre-diction in the introduction to the monumentalwork is recalled:

The identity of the Brahman and the atman, of


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God and the soul, is the fundamental thought[of the Upanishads]. … It will be found to pos-sess a significance reaching far beyond theirtime and country; nay, we claim for it an inesti-mable value for the whole race of mankind. Onething we may assert with confidence—what-ever new and unwonted paths the philosophyof the future may strike out, this principle willremain permanently unshaken and from it nodeviation can possibly take place.28

There are many other eminent GermanSanskritists who delved into the meaning ofthe Vedanta and published translations, cata-logues of Sanskrit manuscripts and accom-plished brilliant Vedic studies. Although theyare worthy of mention together with GermanIndologists, whose more recent scholarshipindicates their primary focus on Sanskritalong with recent studies of modern Indianlanguages, we are unable to include them.Indology is stronger in Germany than in anyother Western country today. We encouragethe reader who wants to learn more of the de-pendable works of scholarship that came fromGermany to read the present author’s book,Journey of the Upanishads to the West.

Russia’s Interest in Vedanta

Towards the beginning of the nineteenthcentury, Russian scholars and writers sharedwith Western Europe an intense interest in In-dian studies, especially studies in Buddhism.During the same period that Anquetil-Duper-ron was writing his Latin translation, Oupne-k’hat, in Paris, the message of Vedanta was en-tering Russia. N I Norikov, whose work reliedon Wilkins’ English version, introduced it in1787.29 It was the first Russian translation ofthe Bhagavadgita.

At the request of Czar Alexander I, Gera-sim Lebedev (1746-1817) set up the imperialprinting house of Sanskrit with Devanagaritypes at St Petersburg.30 In 1801, he publisheda grammar from London with a long, descrip-tive title—A Grammar of the Pure and MixedEast Indian Dialects … according to the Brahme-nian System, of the Shamscrit Language … with a

Recitation of the Assertions of Sir William Jones,Respecting the Shamscrit Alphabet … Calculatedfor the Use of Europeans. In 1805 he publishedhis Unbiased Contemplation of the East IndianSystem of the Brahmins, Their Religious Rites andPopular Customs in Russian from St Peters-burg.31

From the middle of the nineteenth cen-tury, Russia’s interest in Sanskrit and Hinduliterature produced a growing commitment toIndian studies by her scholars. Uvarov waschancellor of the University of Saint Peters-burg. Projet d’une Académie Asiatique (1810),the work of Uvarov, the chancellor of the Uni-versity of Saint Petersburg, described his planto establish an Asiatic Academy at the Univer-sity and was inspired by Calcutta’s Asiatic So-ciety. Russian instruction of the Oriental lan-guages, with a preference for Sanskrit, finallybegan in 1818 when Uvarov, who had becomea government minister, inaugurated the Asi-atic Academy at the University of Saint Peters-burg.

Initially, foreign scholars taught Sanskritand other oriental languages at this Academy.(79, 449) Most of them came from Germany,like Friedrich Adelung. (79, 450) Adelung,who was a councillor of state, became the di-rector of the Oriental Institute at St Petersburgin 1823 after writing his German papers on therelationship between Sanskrit and Russian in1811. The Institute was attached to the Minis-try of Foreign Relations. He was also the firstto compile a bibliography of Sanskrit works,which was titled Bibliotheca Sanscrita in thesecond edition (1837). (172)

Count S S Novarov created a Sanskritchair when he was appointed a Minister ofPublic Instruction and the president of the Im-perial Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg.Robert Lenz (1808-36) filled the chair as a pro-fessor of Sanskrit and comparative philologyat the Academy of Sciences in St Petersburgfor only one year due to his early death. Thesustained interest of Russian scholars in San-skrit studies required a replacement. Pavel


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Yakovlevich Petrov (1814-75) was appointedto two chairs of Sanskrit, one at Kazan Univer-sity in 1841 and the other at the University ofMoscow from 1852 to 1875. (79) Petrov trans-lated part of the Ramayana into Russian, add-ing grammatical notes and a Sanskrit glossary,in 1836.32

A significant event occurred between1852 and 1875. The Academy of Sciences pub-lished the unexcelled Saint Petersburg San-skrit-German Dictionary in seven volumes thatwas the fruit of Rudolf von Roth and OttoBöhtlingk’s labour.33 Nearly all of Europe wasnow potentially in the realm of wisdom con-veyed only through Sanskrit. The Chandogya,Brihadaranyaka, Katha, Aitareya, and PrashnaUpanishads—all containing the Devanagariscript—also became available. By the latenineteenth century, partial translations of theRig Veda, the Ramayana and the Mahabharataalso appeared in Russian.

Ivan Pavlovich Minayev (1840-90) wasappointed a professor of Sanskrit in 1869 and aprofessor of the comparative grammar of In-do-European languages in 1873 at the Univer-sity of Saint Petersburg. He travelled exten-sively throughout India, lecturing in Sanskritand mixing with Indians from all stations inlife. Minayev’s first journey, from June 1874 toDecember of the following year, includedtrips to Calcutta, Nepal and Sri Lanka. His sec-ond visit five years later, from January to May1880, took him to many cities throughout In-dia. On his final visit, begun in December of1885 and lasting five months, he travelled toCalcutta and Burma. He spent much moretime in Calcutta on this last visit and met manyleading Bengali intellectuals, including the lit-erary luminary, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee(1838-94).

Throughout his journeys, Minayev ac-quired a vast collection of Indian works andbrought them back to Russia.34 His meetingswith Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837-1925) and other Indian scholars greatly aidedhim in this work. Bhandarkar was later elected

to the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1888 asan honorary corresponding member.35 TheSanskrit and Pali manuscripts Minayev col-lected are preserved at the State Library ofSaint Petersburg; his collections of art and ar-chaeology are housed in the museum of theRussian Academy of Sciences in St Peters-burg.36

Theodore Stcherbatsky was drawn to In-dian literature and philosophy. Two impor-tant works that he published were a study ofHarikavi’s epic poem of the seventh century inGerman (1900) and a work on the theory of In-dian poetry in Russian (1902). In 1903 he pub-lished the first volume of Theory of Knowledgeand Logic in the Doctrines of Later Buddhism inRussian, followed by the second volume in1909. In 1909 he was also appointed assistantprofessor of Sanskrit at the University of SaintPetersburg and later occupied the chair of San-skrit until his death. His subsequent masteryas an interpreter of Indian philosophy and hisdiscovery of rare Sanskrit, Buddhist and Jainmanuscripts earned him high regard as a lead-ing Western authority on Buddhism. Aftertravelling to India in 1910-11, he received thehelp of traditional Sanskrit scholars and trans-lated the essence of Nyaya logic into Russianwith their help. He preserved many rare, an-cient texts on Nyaya logic by photographingthem (they could not be purchased) for lateruse.37

In 1916, London’s Royal Asiatic Societypublished Stcherbatsky’s Central Conception ofBuddhism in English. His greatest work, Bud-dhistic Logic, included references to the sixmain schools of Indian philosophy. It waspublished in two volumes as part of the Biblio-theca Buddhica series in 1935. He publishedmany translations of works on Buddhism andSanskrit, including Dandin’s DashakumaraCharitam in three instalments in Russian be-tween 1923 and 1925 and AbhisamayalankaraPrajna Paramita by Maitreyanatha (270-350AD) with the Sanskrit text and an Englishtranslation in 1929.

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Stcherbatsky was the director of the Rus-sian Institute of Buddhist Culture from 1928 to1930 and head of the Indo-Tibetan section ofthe Institute of Oriental Studies from 1930 to1942. Because he presented Buddhism in anon-theistic way while he was living in Rus-sia, his contributions on Buddhism survivedthe Communist regime.38

Mikhael Tubyanski (1893-1943) lecturedon the Sanskrit, Hindi and Bengali languagesat the Leningrad Institute of Modern OrientalLanguages from 1920 to 1927, and later taughtat Leningrad University. He published theSanskrit text of Nyaya Pravesha accompaniedby the Mongol and Tibetan equivalents, an-other work on Bengali literature in 1922, andleft other unpublished works.39

Sergei Oldenburg (1863-1934) becamethe professor of Sanskrit at the University ofSaint Petersburg and sponsored the BibliothecaBuddhica series under the auspices of the Rus-sian Academy of Sciences in 1897. His expedi-tions to Central Turkestan, Mongolia and Ti-bet resulted in a vast collection of archaeologi-cal artefacts and literary materials. He was ap-pointed the director of the Asiatic Museum ofthe Russian Academy of Sciences in 1916. TheMuseum and its collection were transferred tothe Oriental Institute in 1930, after which Ol-denburg reorganized the Institute. His worksinclude Buddisskrija Legendi (1894-95) andNotes on Buddhistic Art (1897). (359-60)

E E Obermiller (1901-35) joined the Acad-emy of Sciences and assisted the editor of theBibliotheca Buddhica series. He edited the San-skrit and Tibetan Index Verborum to Nyayabinduaccording to the Nyayabindu Tika in 1927. Hetranslated the Sanskrit text of the Abhisama-yalankara into Tibetan and published it withStcherbatsky as co-editor in 1929. In 1931 hepublished a Russian translation of the Uttara-tantra of Boddhisattva Maitreya with Asanga’scommentary. Other works include a study onthe doctrine of the Prajna Paramita and a his-tory of Buddhism in two parts; both workswere published in 1931-32. (358)

Alexei Petrovich Barannikov (1890-1952)published several Russian translations ofHindi works, including the Ramcharitmanas ofTulsidas. As head of the Oriental Departmentat the University of Saint Petersburg, he lec-tured at the Institute of Oriental Studies of theAcademy of Sciences on ancient Indian litera-ture and on Sanskrit language, grammar andpoetics. He translated Adi Paravan’s Mahabha-rata and Aryasura’s Jatakmala into Russian forthe Bibliotheca Buddhica. (286-7)

The works of other Russian scholars andartists who were inspired by Vedanta are be-yond the scope of this article and may also befound in the book, Journey of the Upanishads tothe West. Today, Soviet intellectuals in reputa-ble posts in Russia are gradually showingtheir sustained interest in the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda phenomenon. Dr Chelishev wasthe director of the Institute of Oriental Studiesof the Russian Academy of Sciences in Mos-cow and the vice president of the Committeefor Comprehensive Study of the Ramakri-shna-Vivekananda Movement. He was headof the Indian Languages and Literature Sec-tion at Moscow University’s Institute of Inter-national Relations before assuming his post asthe director of the Institute of Oriental Studies.Dr Chelishev was a member of the SovietWriters Union and the Soviet Peace Commit-tee and the vice president of the Indo-SovietFriendship Society. He also received theJawaharlal Nehru Prize for Peace. Several ofhis articles appear in Swami VivekanandaStudies in the Soviet Union, including ‘SwamiVivekananda—The Indian Humanist, Demo-crat and Patriot.’ The lengthy article was cho-sen to be included in the Swami VivekanandaCentenary Memorial Volume.40 Russian schol-arship on Swami Vivekananda has been goingon for the last thirty years.

From the 1980s, Professor V S Kostyu-chenko’s monograph, ‘Conception of Neo-Ve-dantism,’ Rybakov’s ‘Bourgeois Reformationof Hinduism,’ and other Russian studies of thereligious and philosophical heritage of Rama-


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krishna and Vivekananda have been pub-lished in Russia. In October 1984, Swami Lo-keswarananda’s visit and lectures in Russiaculminated in meetings with eight Russianscholars in order to study India’s culture andphilosophy. Harish C Gupta translated theirworks from Russian into English for the au-thoritative book, Swami Vivekananda Studies inthe Soviet Union, which was published by theRamakrishna Mission Institute of Culture,Calcutta, in 1987. The 150th birth anniversaryof Sri Ramakrishna was observed the sameyear in a three-day seminar held by the Insti-tute from 16 to 18 January. It was organized incollaboration with the Cultural Affairs Com-mittee of the Academy of Sciences in Moscowand the Soviet Writers Union. Fourteen Rus-sian scholars from various disciplines led by RB Rybakov participated in the seminar.

We close with a poignant example of theprofound and far-reaching capacity of San-skrit scriptures to inspire and transform peo-ple. Theodor Springmann, a German officerduring World War I, translated the Bhagavad-gita and carried the sacred scripture into thetrenches with him. Only months before hisdeath while performing his duty as a com-mander of mine-throwing, he wrote the Pref-ace to his translation and gave a meaningfulepigraph:

One can never find anything right in life with-out abstraction and metaphysical knowledge,thoroughness and piety. What is needed is aneducated overview of the whole, the fervour ofthe faith and feeling, which inspires to actionand which gives them real value; also needed isthe self-discipline acquired through long effort,the ability to concentrate instantly all the pow-ers on one single point. Thus, the various sys-tems and ways of salvation are mobilized in theBhagavad Gita to show the necessity to fightagainst the enemies of justice and to give moralstrength to those fighting in this battle. The verybrahmanic cult of sacrifice can teach us to lookat the entire life as a sacrifice. The greatest sacri-fice is the sacrifice of the warrior’s life upon thealtar of the battle. The gates of Heaven are open

to him.41

Theodor Springmann’s sentiment high-lights the potential to transcend pessimisticthought, which is typically grounded in ac-tions of the will in the West, and from whichthe Western philosophers sought releasethrough the inspiration they received from theEast. �

References

1. ‘India: What Can It Teach Us?’ in CollectedWorks of the Right Hon F Max Müller (London,New York and Bombay, 1899), 13.5-15 passim.

2. Raymond Schwab, The Oriental Renaissance:Europe’s Discovery of India and the East, 1680-1880 (New York, 1984), 110.

3. Prabuddha Bharata, October 2000, 41. See Gaur-anga Gopal Sengupta, Indology and Its EminentWestern Savants (Calcutta, 1996), 108; 119, n. 6.

4. Oriental Renaissance, 44.5. Ibid., 465.6. Indology, 106, 120-1. See also Swami Tatha-

gatananda, Glimpses of Great Lives (New York,1999), 213-14.

7. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1-8, 1989; 9,1997), 4.409.

8. Cited from Oriental Renaissance, 127.9. H G Rawlinson in Legacy of India, ed. G T Gar-

ratt (London, 1937), 35-6.10. The Sacred Books of the East, gen. ed. Max Mül-

ler, 51 vols. (Oxford, 1879-1894), 1.lxvii.11. Ibid., 15.xx.12. R K Das Gupta, Sri Ramakrishna’s Religion

(Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission Institute ofCulture, 2001), 106.

13. Collected Works, 13.6.14. Max Müller, Three Lectures on the Vedanta Phi-

losophy (London and New York, 1894), 39-40.15. Sri Ramakrishna’s Religion, 107.16. Ibid., 107-8.17. CW, 4.280-1.18. Cited from Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakri-

shna As I Saw Him (Madras: Sri RamakrishnaMath, 1970), 33.

19. Swami Tathagatananda, Journey of the Upani-

31 PB - JULY 2004



shads to the West (New York: The Vedanta Soci-ety of New York, 2002), e-mail: [email protected]; available from Advaita Ashrama, 5 DehiEntally Road, Kolkata 700 014; e-mail: [email protected].

20. Sri Ramakrishna’s Religion, 115.21. Max Müller, Ramakrishna, His Life and Sayings,

(Mayavati: Advaita Ashrama, 1951), 10-11.22. Collected Works, 13.31-2.23. Max Müller, India: What Can It Teach Us? (New

York, 1883), xv.24. Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads

(New York, 1966), 404.25. Helmuth von Glasenapp, Image of India, trans.

S Ambike, 1973; cited from R K Das Gupta,Swami Vivekananda on Indian Philosophy andLiterature (Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission In-stitute of Culture, 1996), 38.

26. Art, Culture and Spirituality (Calcutta: AdvaitaAshrama,1997), 362.

27. Prabuddha Bharata, December 1946, 472.

28. Philosophy of the Upanishads, 39-40.29. Indology, 163.30. Ibid., 163; 347.31. Oriental Renaissance, 343.32. Indology, 163-4 passim; 362.33. Oriental Renaissance, 79.34. Indology, 164-71 passim.35. Gordon Stavig, ‘India in Russian Thought’ in

Bulletin, October 1999, 476.36. Indology, 169.37. Ibid., 233-5 passim.38. Bulletin, October 1999, 478-9.39. Indology, 386-7.40. Swami Vivekananda Centenary Memorial Vol-

ume, ed. R C Majumdar (Calcutta, 1963), 505-18.

41. Translation of German citation from DorothyMatilda Figueira, Translating the Orient—TheReception of Sakuntala in Nineteenth-CenturyEurope (Albany, 1991), 210-11.

PB - JULY 2004 32

Judgment

God won’t ask the square footage of your house,

but He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet,

but He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.

God won’t ask what your highest salary was,

but He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won’t ask what your job title was,

but He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

God won’t ask how many friends you had,

but He’ll ask how many people you were a friend to.

God won’t ask in what neighbourhood you lived,

but He’ll ask how you treated your neighbours.

God won’t ask about the colour of your skin,

but He’ll ask about the content of your character.

God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek salvation,

but He’ll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of hell.

—from cyberspace

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—An Exposition

SWAMI PREMESHANANDA

(Translated by Shoutir Kishore Chatterjee)

Chapter 4 (continued)

11. Hetu-phaláùrayálambanaië saïgìhætatvád-eøám-abháve tad-abhávaë.As desires are held together by cause [the pain-bearing obstructions (2.3) and actions (4.7)],

effect [species, life and experience of pleasure and pain (2.13)], support [the mind-stuff] and [ex-ternal] objects [which present themselves to the senses], in the absence of these [factors] is its[desire’s] absence.

Comment: Endless varieties of play of mani-festations of life ranging from a blade ofgrass up to human beings go on in this cre-

ation. It generates awe in our mind when wethink about what tremendous efforts every jivamakes in its life to achieve the twin purposes ofpreservation of life and enjoyment of sense ob-jects. A little attention would show us what animmense struggle is going on day and nightwithin our bodies. What elaborate provisions aremade for the alleviation of suffering! Nobodyknows what the purpose of all this is, wherefromit started or what its outcome will be!

Yet the state of the matter is ratherstrange—it is just like that story about ‘all for apiece of loin cloth’.1 Nobody knows the meansto get relief from this misery. One does not suc-ceed even if one tries somehow to know a littlebit. That is why the Lord has said, ‘Among

thousands of men one perchance struggles forperfection. Even if one or two among such menachieve success, rarely do we find someonewho attains complete liberation.’2

According to Yoga shastra, all activitiesof this life are just like the working of a ma-chine. As long as the machine is not removedfrom our presence, we are sure to experienceits working and it is impossible to prevent thereaction to that. Therefore if one can restrainthe mind-stuff by following the prescribedpractice of yoga and thus gradually get rid ofthis ‘unripe I’, all troubles will cease. Sri Rama-krishna used to say, ‘All trouble and bother-ation come to an end when the ‘I’ dies.’3 SriKrishna said, ‘All action in its entirety, O Par-tha, attains its consummation in knowledge.’4

This implies that no misery remains if onecomprehends one’s true nature.

12. Atætánágataó svarépato’sty-adhva-bhedád-dharmáîám.The past and future exist in their own nature, qualities having different ways. [That is, the

past and future, though not existing in a manifested form, yet exist in a fine form, since existencenever comes out of non-existence.]

13. Te vyakta-sékømá guîátmánaë.They are manifested or fine, being of the nature of the gunas. [That is, past and future arise

from the different modes of manifestation of the three gunas.]

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14. Pariîámaikatvád-vastu-tattvam.The unity in things is from the unity in changes.

Comment: We see time as divided intothree parts. We observe the changes that occurin nature with the passage of time and thinkalong the lines that ‘something is not presentnow’ and ‘something will be there in the fu-ture’. But ‘The unreal has no existence, and thereal has no non-existence.’5 How can what ex-ists be not there; and from where will come theexistence of what is not there? Hence the wise(jnanis) understand that even if something isnot present before us, it inheres within itscause; and what will materialize will also ap-

pear out of what is already present. If an objectbecomes manifest, we see it as existent at thepresent time and if an object becomes unma-nifest, we think it is no longer there. The ap-parent changes in an object with change oftime are but illusory. The wise do not makethis mistake because they have realized thetrue natures of what is sat (Real) and what isasat (unreal). Basically, there is no secondthing other than the One. It is only one naturecomprised of the three gunas that appears tous in various forms.

15. Vastu-sámye citta-bhedát-tayor-vibhaktaë pantháë.Since perception and desire vary with regard to the same object, mind and object are of dif-

ferent nature [that is, there is an objective world independent of our minds].

16. Tad-uparágápekøitvác-cittasya vastu jðátá-jðátam.Things are known or unknown to the mind, being dependent on the colouring which they

give to the mind.

17. Sadá jðátáù-citta-vìttayas-tat-prabhoë puruøasyápariîámitvát.The states of the mind [which is continuously changing] are always known, because the

Lord of the mind, the Purusha, is unchangeable.

18. Na tat svábhásaó dìùyatvát.The mind is not self-luminous [that is, not essentially intelligent], since it is an object [for the

Purusha to perceive].

19. Ekasamaye cobhayánavadháraîam.From its being unable to cognize both [itself and its objects] at the same time.

Comment: Even though the object may re-main same, it does not always become manifestin the mind-stuff of a jiva. That is why there is somuch difference in knowledge between one manand another. If that is so, is it that somethingwhich nobody knows does not exist? It is not likethat. Actually, the process of cognition takesplace in relation to the mind-stuff.

The Lord of this universe, chit or Con-sciousness, quietly looks on at nature througheternity. Therefore He can always know all the

happenings in nature. Our mind and intellectare objects being viewed by chit or Purusha.This is because when we perceive somethingwith the help of the senses we can cognize theprocess, but when the mind-intellect combina-tion perceives something [directly] it becomesidentified with that and cannot [at the sametime reflect on itself and] cognize that it is per-ceiving the thing. Therefore Purusha alone isthe perceiver; all else are merely perceptibleobjects.

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20. Cittántara-dìùye buddhi-buddher-atiprasaïgaë smìti-saïkaraùca.Another cognizing mind being assumed, there will be no end to such assumptions, and

confusion of memory will be the result.

21. Citer-apratisaïkramáyás-tad-ákárápattau sva-buddhi-saóvedanam.The essence of knowledge (the Purusha) is unchangeable; when the mind takes its form, it

[the mind for the time being] becomes conscious [and seems as if it were itself the Purusha].

22. Draøôì-dìùyoparaktaó cittaó sarvártham.Coloured by the seer and the seen [both of which are reflected on the mind], the mind is

able to understand everything.

Comment: Some philosophers used to as-sert that when the mind cognizes an object byassuming the form of the object, another mindposits itself behind the earlier one and cog-nizes the separateness of the latter’s existence.But such a proposition is out and out illogical.If we assume a second mind then it becomesnecessary to assume another mind to perceiveits function. In this way we have to go on as-suming mind after mind and never reach theend of our assumptions. But if we realize thetruth that there is one Purusha, who is the seerof mind in its entirety, then the problem be-comes completely solved.

How can the mind, which is insentient,know the distinctiveness of an object? Being

posited before the Purusha, the mind becomesillumined by Purusha’s luminosity. As a re-sult, objects become reflected on it. Then, aperson deluded by ignorance erroneouslythinks, ‘I have seen’; a person of realization, onthe other hand, perceives that the external ob-jects have merely been reflected on the mind.The secret of the matter here is that when bythe influence of maya the play of creationstarts, the Purusha (or chit) finds the mind orintellect before Him; and as creation is presentbefore the mind, it also gets reflected on themind. The play of creation begins as soon asthe mind is placed in front of the Purusha andthe universe is placed in front of the mind.

23. Tad-asaókhyeya-vásanábhiù-citram-api parárthaó saóhatya-káritvát.Though variegated by innumerable desires, the mind [cannot work for itself; it] acts for an-

other (the Purusha), because it acts in combination [that is, as a compound of various things. Thecombination is for the sake of the Purusha].

Comment: If we observe the functioningof the mind-stuff, it seems that the intellect isengaged in multifarious activities to meet itsown needs and as if there is no end to its needs.But however busy the intellect (buddhi) maybe, it cannot do anything on its own; the ego,

the mind (manas) and past impressions stand-ing behind it, keep it engaged in activity. Fromthis it conclusively follows that the Purushafrom behind contrives this arrangement andmakes the intellect toil like a servant; the intel-lect is not independent or autonomous.

24. Viùeøa-darùina átma-bháva-bhávaná-nivìttië.For the discriminating, the perception of the mind as Atman ceases.

Comment: The intellect of man gets verysharp through long observation of such pas-times of nature. We always find in this worldthat long cultivation of an art by a person leads

to the development of the sharpness of his fac-ulties with regard to it. In matters of agricul-ture we have to take advice from a farmer. If alearned and intelligent person has to graze cat-

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—An Exposition 403

35 PB - JULY 2004

tle, he has to learn the art from somebody whohas grazed cattle for a long time. The power ofdiscrimination becomes manifest in the intel-lect of one who carries out investigations intocosmogony for a long time. When that powerreaches its culmination, it is calledviveka-khyáti, or discriminative knowledge.When the intellect attains that state, the aspi-rant can clearly see the distinction between theinsentient [nature] and Consciousness.

The process is like a chemical reaction. Toseparate out curd from milk, we mix a little

acid in the milk. Just like that, if we mixviveka-khyáti in our faculty of understanding,the Purusha on the one hand and nature (ornescience, or maya) on the other become com-pletely separated. Then one can distinctly seethat one’s ‘I’ is neither the mind nor the intel-lect, nor the ego, but completely separate fromall this. At that time one no longer has anythought or worry about oneself.

25. Tadá viveka-nimnaó kaivalya-prágbhávaó cittam.Then, bent on discriminating, the mind attains the previous state of kaivalya (isolation).

Comment: This condition of the mind rep-resents the stage immediately preceding theattainment of kaivalya. At this stage, buddhi

remains completely immersed in viveka-khyáti.

26. Tac-chidreøu pratyayántaráîi saóskárebhyaë.[At this time] the [other] thoughts that [occasionally] arise as obstructions to that [through

breaks in discriminative knowledge, making us believe that we require something external tomake us happy,] are from [past] impressions.

27. Hánam-eøáó kleùavad-uktam.The destruction [of such obstructing thoughts] is in the same manner as [that of the

samskaras such as] ignorance, egoism and so on, as said before.6

Comment: It is strange that even in thisstate one sometimes feels bits of indications ofpast impressions. We have already mentioned

that celestial beings try to distract the mind ofa yogi.7

28. Prasaïkhyáne’py-akusædasya sarvathá viveka-khyáter-dharma-meghaë samádhië.Even when arriving at the right discriminating knowledge of the essences, he who gives up

[that is, loses interest in] the fruits [thereof, such as omniscience], to him comes, as the result ofperfect discrimination, the samadhi called dharma-megha, or the cloud of virtue, [and as the con-sequence, peace, calmness and perfect purity become their own nature].

29. Tataë kleùa-karma-nivìttië.From that comes the cessation of pain and works.

Comment: There are a few who afterreaching this state can preserve their viveka-khyáti. They do not utilize the omniscience andomnipotence attained by them and can keepthe mind and intellect directed towards libera-

tion. No trace of delusion or suffering remainsin their lives and they become embodimentsof purity. By the influence of their purity, any-one coming near them also feels himself pure.


PB - JULY 2004 36

30. Tadá sarvávaraîa-malápetasya jðánasyá’nantyáj-jðeyam-alpam.[At this stage] the knowledge, bereft of covering and impurities, becoming infinite, the

knowable becomes small.Comment: In the Gita the Lord has said, ‘I

exist supporting this entire universe by a por-tion of Myself.’8 Sri Ramakrishna saw the cre-ation of the infinite universe in the cidákáùa(space of Consciousness). Swami Turiyanan-da used to say, ‘When Brahman is realized inthe essence of one’s consciousness, this cre-ation seems to be insignificant.’

This creation is nothing but the play ofmaya. Nature, or maya, performs tilting andswinging movements of her body and createsthis world with the help of the three gunas. Weremain so deluded by its diversity that we cannotat all see the reality behind this phenomenon.

Around us evaporate masses of waterand rise to the sky; the vapour condenses to

appear in the form of clouds. Anyone who haskeenly observed knows what shapes, whatlustre of light and what play of lightning areexhibited in the clouds. The root cause of suchwonderful play of clouds is only that vapour.Likewise, all the happenings of this creationare nothing but the varied sport of maya con-stituted by the three gunas. To those who foronce find out their real Self, this sport seems soinsignificant that they do not have the least in-terest in turning their eyes towards it. Further,the thing which they realize in the essence oftheir consciousness, is absolutely the mostsublime in every way. That is called Brahmanbecause there is nothing greater than It. ‘TheGreatest’—that is what Brahman means.

31. Tataë kìtárthánáó pariîáma-krama-samáptir-guîánám.Then are finished the successive transformations of the qualities (gunas), their having at-

tained the end.

32. Køaîa-pratiyogæ pariîámáparánta-nirgráhyaë kramaë.The changes that exist in relation to moments and which are perceived at the other end (of a

series) are [called] succession. [But for the mind that has realized omnipresence there is no suc-cession; to it the present alone exists and everything is known to it like a flash.]

33. Puruøártha-ùényánáó guîánáó prati-prasavaë kaivalyaó svarépa-pratiøôhá váciti-ùakter-iti.

The resolution in the inverse order9 of the qualities [gunas], [when they are] bereft of anymotive of action for the Purusha, is kaivalya [or isolation], or it is the establishment of the powerof knowledge in its own [isolated] nature.

Comment: When the yogi attains thisstate, he no longer looks back at nature. There-fore all the transformations of nature whichhad been going on so long, completely ceasenow. So long, nature had been playing andkeeping the Purusha charmed by offering var-ious experiences. Now with the cessation ofthe gathering of experiences, the Purusha be-comes re-established in his forgotten true Self.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier (in the Introduc-

tion, August 2003, 424), although the essentialpoints of Yoga shastra are not difficult tograsp, the many subtle arguments containedin the aphorisms and discussed in the numer-ous commentaries and glosses are generallyincomprehensible to common people. Side byside, we have the lucid exposition of SwamiVivekananda, which to the general publicwould seem to be quite extensive.10

The present exposition is mainly basedon Swamiji’s explanation. However, in thecase of the intricate aphorisms, we have con-

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—An Exposition 405

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sidered merely the gist of the meaning. Forvarious reasons, novel explanations have beenprovided at certain places. Understandingwill be easier if one reads the present exposi-tion along with the exceptionally lucid andmeaningful explanation given by Swamiji.

Swamiji said that the life of Sri Rama-krishna fully harmonizes knowledge, work,yoga, and devotion. Doubts may arise in themind of some that raja yoga dwells exclu-sively on concentration of the mind; wheredoes it discuss devotion? If somebody tries toconcentrate his mind on something, shouldwe not take it that he regards the thing as ex-tremely dear to his heart? It is for this reasonthat one should get one’s Chosen Deity (spiri-tual ideal) from the right teacher. In our coun-try the guru instructs the disciple specificallyabout the mantra corresponding to his ChosenDeity. �

Notes and References

1. The story is about a hermit who had re-

nounced everything except a piece of loincloth. To ward off mice that tended to biteholes in that loin cloth, he started rearing a cat.Then to provide milk for the cat, he had tomaintain a cow. Ultimately in order that thecow could be properly cared for, he had tomarry and start a household. —Translator.

2. Bhagavadgita, 7.3.3. M, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami

Nikhilananda (Chennai: Sri RamakrishnaMath, 2002), 149.

4. Gita, 4.33.5. Ibid., 2.16.6. See sutras 2.10-1.7. See sutra 3.52 and the corresponding note

(May 2004, 320).8. Gita, 10.42.9. That is, from effect to cause; see sutra 2.10, No-

vember 2003, 568.10. While translating, we have condensed this

portion slightly; the original here repeatssome observations made in Subsection 7 of theIntroduction. —Translator.


PB - JULY 2004 38

Beautiful Pearls

Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl. One day her mother bought her a plastic

pearl necklace worth $2.50. How Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere—to kin-

dergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother to run errands.The only time she didn’t

wear them was in the shower. Her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green!

When Jenny went to bed, her father would get up from his favourite chair every night and read

to her a favourite story.

One night when he finished the story, he said, ‘Jenny, do you love me?’ ‘Oh yes, daddy, you

know I love you,’ the little girl said. ‘Well, then, give me your pearls.’ ‘Oh! Daddy, not my

pearls!’ she said. ‘But you can have Rosy, my favourite doll.’ ‘Oh no, darling, that’s okay. Good

night, sweet dreams.’ The same thing happened a week later, when Jenny was prepared to give

him a toy horse, not the pearls. Some days later, when her father came to read her a story, she

was sitting on her bed with her lips trembling. ‘Here, daddy,’ she said and held out her hand.

She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father’s hand.

With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and with the other he pulled out of his pocket a

blue velvet box. Inside the box were real, genuine, beautiful pearls. He had had them all along.

He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap stuff so he could give her the real thing.

So it is with God. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things of life so He can give us

beautiful treasures. Isn’t God good?—from cyberspace

39 PB - JULY 2004

Parabrahma Upaniøad

TRANSLATED BY SWAMI ATMAPRIYANANDA

Synopsis

Apart of the Atharva Veda, this Upaniøad discusses the following: Brahman-knowledge(bramha-vidyá) as the highest wisdom, the greatness of action performed without desires,the means to realize the ‘three-footed’ (tripad) Brahman, the true significance of the tuft

and the sacred thread (ùikhá and sétra), the nature of the attributeless Brahman and the means tobe adopted by a seeker of Liberation.

Peace Chant (Ùánti-mantra)

` C={k fUKuorC& ¶]Kwgtb =uJt& C={k vˆgubtGrCgosºtt& > Âô:hihEiô;w xwJt âT mô;lqrCÔgoNub =uJrn;k g=tgw& > `

Ntrà;& Ntrà;& Ntrà;& >>

Om. O gods (shining ones), may our ears hear what is auspicious.1 May [we], while en-gaged in sacrificial worship, see with our eyes what is auspicious.2 May [we], while engaged insinging the praise (glory) [of the Divine], obtain our [full] span of life as graciously ordained bythe Supreme [deva, God], [being blessed with] perfect (literally, ‘steady’, ‘firm’) limbs and or-gans and [healthy] bodies (that is, energetic and strong physiques).3 Om. Peace, Peace, Peace.

Brahman-knowledge (Brahma-vidyá), the highest wisdom

Jrh˜Xt c{ÑrJ‘t

y: nilk bntNtj& NtilfUtu~rE¸hmk CdJà;k rvËvjt=k rJrÆtJ=wvmªt& vv{åA > r=Ôgu c{Ñvwhu mkv{r;r˜X;t

CJÂà; Fjw > fU:k m]srªtÀgtÀbl YM brnbt rJCßg YM brnbt rJCw& fU& > YM ;ôbi m ntuJta > Y;ÀmÀgk

gÀv{c{Jerb c{ÑrJ‘tk Jrh˜Xtk =uJuÇg& v{tKuÇg& vhc{Ñvwhu rJhsk rl˜fUjk NwC{bGhk rJhsk rJCtr; m rlgåAr;

bÆtwfUhhtˆgt rlbofU& yfUboôJvwhÂô:;& fUbofU& fUMofUJ;T VUjblwCJr; > fUbobboÒtt;t fUbo fUhtur; > fUbobbo

ÒttÀJt fUbo fwUgto;T > fUtu stjk rJrGvu=ufuUlilbvfUMoÀgvfUMor; >>1>>

1. Well, then, Ùaunaka, the great householder, approached the venerable sage (bhagaván)4

Pippaláda of Aïgiras lineage in the proper manner and asked him: [All created things in theworld] are indeed surely well established in the divinely luminous city of Brahman.5 How doesthis great Lord6 project them7 out of Himself in [diverse forms] through [the process of] differ-entiation? Who is this great and omnipresent [Lord]? To him [that is, the questioner, Ùaunaka,the well-known sage Pippaláda] said [in reply]: The noblest [the most excellent] knowledge ofBrahman, which I [now] expound—this [Brahman] is the Truth.8 It shines with splendour in thesupreme city of Brahman, devoid of [the three guîas like] rajas, unfragmented [whole], [spot-lessly] pure, imperishable, [sustaining the powers of] the shining ones (the senses) and the vitalforces.9 He is the creator of the group of bees [the conglomeration of individual souls]; [further]He [the creator God] restrains [their outward-going tendencies].10 He remains established in Hisown [interior] city [of inner Self, which is]11 actionless.12 [On the other hand, one given to out-ward vision becomes] a performer of actions and enjoys the fruits [of his action], like a farmer.13

[Thus] the knower of the secret of work performs [all] actions [in the right sprit].14 [Therefore,


PB - JULY 2004 40

one should] perform actions after knowing the secret of work. Which [discriminating] personwill throw the net [of actions with desires] on Brahman, the One [without a second]?15 [The ac-tions performed by such a desireless person] do not drag him down [to wordliness]; [verily,]they do not drag him down.16

(To be continued)

Notes

1. That is, the words of the holy scriptures; elevating, noble thoughts.2. If the word yajatráë is taken to mean the gods (in the vocative case, in the sense of addressing them),

then it would mean ‘worshipful ones’, so that the sentence would mean, ‘O worshipful ones, may wesee with our eyes that which is auspicious.’

3. It is significant to note that the Vedic ìøis were not world-negating ascetics: their sense of dispassion,or vairágya, was not negative, but had a definite and highly elevating positive content. Their prayer isfor living a long life of health, strength and vitality, so that they would be able to spend their whole en-ergy and life absorbed in the contemplation of the Divine and in singing the glory of the supreme Be-ing, in a mood of joyous abandon of their little selves in the infinity of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss(sat-cit-ánanda).

4. Sages endowed with godly qualities are usually referred to in the scriptures as bhagaván. The mean-ing of the word as found in the Viøîu Puráîa (and quoted by Ùaïkarácárya in his commentary on theGætá, 3.37) is as follows: ‘Bhagaván is one in whom the sixfold bhaga ever abides collectively and in per-fection.’ Bhaga means the divine excellences (of the Lord): absolute glory, rectitude, honour, splen-dour, dispassion and freedom.

Another verse quoted by Ùaïkara in the same context is as follows: ‘He who knows the origin anddestruction (evolution and dissolution), the course and movement of (all) beings and (the meaningand purport of) knowledge and ignorance—such a one is called bhagaván.’

5. That is, the ‘space of Consciousness’ called the heart (hìdayákáùa) or the Cosmic Person (known as hi-raîyagarbha). —Upaniøad Brahmayogin’s commentary.

6. Bhagaván, endowed with the power to make the impossible possible. —Upaniøad Brahmayogin’scommentary.

7. That is, the things which are (already) present within himself.8. The word satyam used in the text in regard to Brahman means Truth as well as Existence. Brahman is

the only pure Existence; all else is naught (sanmátram asadanyat). It is absolute Existence, the One with-out a second.

9. This is in answer to the question, Where is this Brahman realized? In reply the Upaniøad asserts that Itis realized in the city of Brahman (which has already been identified as the hìdayákáùa, the ‘space ofConsciousness’, or the heart) and characterized by a transcendence of all guîas (triguîátæta), part-lessness or wholeness (niøkala), absolute purity (ùubhra), immutability or indestructibility (akøara).Further, it is this power of Brahman which sustains and maintains the powers manifested through thesense organs and vital energy (compare Kaôha Upaniøad, 2.1.3: ‘Yena répaó rasaó gandhaó ùabdánsparùáóùca maithunán; Yetenaiva vijánáti kimatra pariùiøyate; etadvai tat). The word deva in the text is in-terpreted by Upaniøad Brahmayogin as the senses. Alternatively, it could perhaps also mean the vari-ous gods who derive their power from the power of Brahman (compare Kena Upaniøad, 3.1: ‘Brahmaha devebhyo vijigye, tasya ha brahmaîo vijaye devá amahæyanta’; 4.1: ‘Sá brahmeti hovaca brahmaîo váetadvijaye mahæyadhvamiti’).

10.Upaniøad Brahmayogin interprets ‘bees’ as symbolic of jævas, or embodied souls. The supreme LordParameùvara has created groups of jævas characterized by bondage and endowed with the capacity

Parabrahma Upaniøad 409

41 PB - JULY 2004

for liberation alongside, till the moment of final dissolution (samplava). The supreme Lord, out ofcompassion for spiritual aspirants who eagerly seek liberation, restrains, or completely obliterates,their outward-going propensity and grants them the blessing of inward vision through which Brah-man is realized.

11. From the Advaitic point of view the blessing of inward vision that is granted to the aspirant is, in fact,the grace that comes from his own Self. This grace is thus the supreme prize that the Self of manawards Itself, thereby remaining established in Self-hood as pure Being. This is figuratively called thecity of the inner Self (brahmapuri or átmaloka).

12. The question arises: What work does an aspirant of interiorized vision do? In reply, the ùruti says,‘Karmaîá badhyate janturvidyayá ca vimucyate; Tasmát karma na kurvanti yatayaë páradarùinaë; One isbound by work and released by Knowledge. Therefore monks (or ascetics) with transcendental vi-sion do not engage themselves in work.’ A deep contemplation of the meaning of the above statementand the realization of its true import lead to a state of mind in which there is absolutely no sprout ofdesire in the heart. Such a person of realization hence becomes actionless and a mendicant monk, forhe enjoys the bliss and contentment of inner fulfilment born of absolute desirelessness (nirvásaná).Again, there is this ùruti statement: ‘Kartavyaó naiva tasyásti; He has verily no duty to perform.’

13. Whereas a person of inner vision becomes actionless on account of absorption in his higher Self, theopposite is the case with one who is given to outer vision. Such a one is constantly engaged in doingvarious types of activities with a desire to attain the fruits thereof in this world and the next. Like afarmer he reaps his harvest, which is of the nature of taking repeated births in a variety of wombs.

14. The idea is that a wise man seeking liberation from his own world of illusion ought to do work know-ing fully the secret of work and perform actions pertaining to his own order (áùrama) with a height-ened awareness and devoid of all desires. The question ‘Who on earth will try to get entangled in anetwork of various kinds of activities calculated to fulfil one’s desires, rather than perform desirelessaction leading to the knowledge of the attributeless Brahman?’ does not really seek an answer. It hasthe thrust of asserting that ‘None will do so.’

15. On account of the knowledge of the secret of work—that work done with desire is the cause of birthand so on—he performs all work for the purification of the mind and with the awareness that all workis actually worship of the supreme Lord.

16. The actions performed by such a wise, desireless person of discriminating intellect do not drag himdown even a wee bit towards worldliness. The repetition of the statement ‘They don’t drag himdown’ indicates that by the performance of selfless actions without desires, one shall attain the stateof supreme Blessedness through mental purification followed by Knowledge. It also indicates thatthe sádhaka should strive to attain the supreme state of Brahman-realization by Knowledge obtainedfrom purification of the mind arising from a faithful discharge of his duties.

How to Work

One need have no fear so long as one clings to the idea ‘I am thankful that I am able to do His

work, to serve Him through this (work).’ One should keep strict vigil over one’s mind, ana-

lysing it at every turn. Whenever you notice that the course of the mind is altering even slightly,

you should at once start praying to Him in all humility, and you should apply yourself more in-

tensely to your spiritual practices. Not that one has to work all the twenty-four hours of the day.

And even while working, one has to maintain a constant current of thought about Him.

—Mahapurush Swami Shivananda

Glimpses of Holy Lives

‘May the Guest Be Your God!’

It was raining heavily throughout the day inIlayankudi. That remote village in TamilNadu had not seen such a heavy down-

pour for a long time. Maran was confined tohis house. He had had just a glass of water thatmorning; nothing more throughout the day—not because he was on some fast, but there wasnothing to eat. It was late in the evening now.Across the room lay his wife. Theirs was a lifedevoted to the service of Lord Shiva and hisdevotees. Before entertaining a sannyasin forthe day, neither of them ate anything. Butthere was no visitor that day yet. When theythemselves had nothing to eat, the heavydownpour proved a blessing in disguise: noone could possibly visit their house now.

Maran was a devoted farmer. There wasa time when he reaped rich harvest from hisfield. Both he and his wife loved to entertainguests. Satisfied by a sumptuous meal andtheir loving hospitality, the guests left thehouse with a cheerful face and kind words forthem. Sannyasins would assemble in front ofhis house awaiting his arrival from the field.When Maran was back home, his wife wouldbe ready with food for more people than nec-essary. He would wash his face, hands andfeet, apply sacred ash on his forehead andprostrate before the sannyasins along with hiswife. They would then feed them with greatdevotion. The sannyasins would leave afterexpressing their gratitude and blessings in thename of Shiva. Maran and his wife would eatthen, considering the food as prasad.

All that was past. Maran was in povertynow thanks to repeated crop failure. Morethan his hunger that day, it was his inability tofeed a sannyasin that disturbed Maran more.Amid flashes of lightning and thunder, Maranheard a knock on the door. He and his wife

went to the door with an earthen lamp inhand. ‘Shivo’ham’—there stood before them asannyasin. They welcomed him. ‘I am hun-gry,’ said the visitor. ‘I was told that a devotedfarmer lives here, so I came here straight.’ ‘Youdid well, holy one,’ said Maran. He gave thedrenched visitor a new ochre cloth and madehim comfortable. ‘Be seated, holy one; foodwill be ready in a moment.’

Maran looked at his wife, who said therewas nothing to cook. She had borrowed fromothers many a time. Now she did not knowwhat to do. Maran suddenly thought of some-thing and rushed to his field, covering hishead with a basket. In that dark night hewaded through knee-deep slush, retrievedwith difficulty a fraction of the paddy he hadsown that morning and rushed back to hishouse. His wife wondered what they woulddo for firewood. Maran removed the woodenbeam that supported a major part of his houseand hacked it to pieces. He then got somegreens from the backyard. His wife cooked therice grains and made some dishes from thegreens. The rain intensified in the meanwhile.As his wife spread a leaf for the guest, Maraninvited the sannyasin for food. There was aflash of lightning—not from outside but in-side the house. The sannyasin vanished andthere stood Shiva, His luminous form lightingup the room. He said, ‘You didn’t care for yourown hunger, My dear, but retrieved the sowngrains from the field for a sannyasins’s sake.Come here, My child, with your wife. You willbe with Me for eternity. All the gods will be atyour service.’ Both Maran and his wifemerged in the luminous form of their Lord.

Ilayankudi Mara Nayanar is adored asone of the sixty-three Shaiva saints of TamilNadu. �

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A Survey of the Mind

SWAMI SATYASWARUPANANDA

Amidst the Gita discourse, when Arjunaconfessed his helplessness in getting toterms with his mind, comparing it to

the impossible task of controlling the winds,he was not just speaking out the minds of allspiritual aspirants; he could well have beenspeaking for the endless stream of thinkersand scientists whose wits and imaginationshave been engaged in cracking the riddle ofthe mind. For, just as spiritual aspirants havealways been struggling to master their ownminds, philosophers and empiricists havebeen trying, with limited success, to under-stand the nature of the human mind in intel-lectual and scientific terms. The human mind,however, has remained an enigma. Be that asit may, the range of knowledge and disciplinethat has been brought to bear on these investi-gations has been truly phenomenal, and evena brief review of some of these conceptual andempirical efforts can be highly educative.

Early Philosophical Theories

The classical Western1 concept of themind has been defined by Rene Descartes’dualistic view of it as an ‘unextended andthinking substance’ distinct from the body, aview that could be traced back to the Socraticand Platonic concept of the ‘psyche’ (a wordtraditionally translated as ‘soul’) as distinctfrom ‘soma’, or the body. Of course, what Des-cartes actually meant by ‘substance’ has re-mained obscure and this has been a cause ofmuch confusion in Western thought; but thisposition lead to what Gilbert Ryle called, the‘ghost in the machine’ view of an immaterialentity called ‘mind’ controlling bodily func-tion. Termed dualist-interactionism, this theoryis also favoured by some neuroscientists whoare convinced about the inadequacy of neural

events in explaining mental phenomena.2

However, nobody has been able to provide aplausible explanation as to how a non-mate-rial mind could bring about physical changesin the brain. Monistic viewpoints of an imma-terial mind were also propounded as a reac-tion to the rising popularity of materialism.Bishop Berkeley took an idealistic positionand argued that ‘existence is perception’ (esseet percipii), for one is aware of even the so-called objective world only in terms of the im-pressions it leaves on the mind. Bradley in-sisted that there is only one infinite Mind, Ideaor Experience that comprehends all of exis-tence within it. Spinoza considered both mat-ter and mind as attributes of an underlyingsubstance called God or Nature.

In contrast, almost all mainstream Indianphilosophical positions since ancient timestook a materialistic view of the mind eversince the Sankhyas conceived of a sharp dis-tinction between the conscious Purusha andthe material Prakriti. The latter (comprised ofthree basic constituents called gunas3), withall its evolutes (which include the mind), hasbeen conceived of as dynamic but devoid ofconsciousness. The Vedantists essentially ac-cept this duality, though they discovered atranscendent unity, of the nature of pure con-sciousness, in Brahman. While the Sankhyasconsidered the mind to be one of the earlyevolutes of Prakriti (there being twenty-threeother evolutes), the Vedantists conceived it ascomposed of a combination of the sattvic com-ponents of the five elements in their subtle (ortanmátra) form. The Naiyayikas, or logicians,on the other hand, proposed that the mindwas a distinct material category (at par witheight others, namely the five elements, time,the directions and the soul).

43 PB - JULY 2004

With the progress of the Enlightenment,the triumph of the Scientific and IndustrialRevolutions, and the concomitant rise of em-piricism and positivism (which recognizedonly scientifically established facts as valid),Western thinkers veered progressively to-wards a material explanation of mental phe-nomena.

Gilbert Ryle, who was for many years theeditor of the reputed philosophical journalMind, in his well-recognized and polemicalwork Concept of Mind tried to refute the Carte-sian view of the separation of mental andphysical existence—‘the ghost in the machine’concept. He argued that human nature differsonly in degree from a clockwork and thatthought, imagination, perception, feeling andthe like are nothing but expressions of differ-ent physical states (a position termed reductivematerialism) if not, on occasions, simple mean-ingless verbiage (eliminative materialism). Inhis later days, however, Ryle was more dis-creet about writing off mental phenomena,probably realizing that doing so would reduceall his arguments also to meaningless ver-biage; arguments after all are not physical en-tities. Although Ryle’s was essentially a lin-guistic analysis, his ideas were also boosted bythe behavioural school of psychologists, re-markable advances in neuroanatomy andneurophysiology, and the early ideas of theexponents of artificial intelligence.

Early Experimental Studies

The first half of the twentieth century sawthe behaviourists describing human behav-iour as determined responses to environmen-tal stimuli. Pavlov demonstrated the classicalconditioned response of involuntary bodilyfunction to a conditioning environmentalstimulus—the famous Pavlovian dog salivat-ing in response to a bell that was earliersounded regularly before food. Skinner andhis associates studied the process of operantconditioning whereby voluntary behaviour iscontrolled through rewards and punishments

—rats learning to run in a maze or pigeonspressing a lever for food are typical examples.Behaviourists like Watson and Skinner wereconvinced that all observable human behav-iour could be explained in terms of condi-tioned learning. Although behaviourism re-mained very influential through much of thelast century, it is now well recognized that agreat deal of what is distinctively human be-haviour is not simply conditioning but is ac-quired through cognitive learning, a processthat involves understanding how a task is ac-complished. Comparison of the languageused by chimpanzees and humans illustratesthis very well. Although chimpanzees havebeen taught to communicate through sign lan-guage, this chimpanzee language has been en-tirely of the expressive and signalling variety,totally devoid of abstraction. In contrast, evena two- or three-year-old human child sponta-neously learns to speak according to the rulesof grammar (though rudimentary to beginwith), and uses language for abstract descrip-tive and argumentative purposes.

Around the middle of the last century sci-entists and clinicians were also making rapidadvances in their understanding of neuronaland cerebral structure and function. By selec-tively stimulating or destroying small por-tions of the brain, in experimental animals aswell as humans, Penfield, Old, Gazzaniga,Sperry and others dramatically demonstratedhow discrete areas in the brain subserved dis-tinct sensory, motor or emotional function.This was the beginning of the idea of a ‘modu-lar’ brain, wherein the brain was seen as an en-semble of specialized units or modules, eachsubserving a specific mental function. Mentalfunctioning thus became identified with de-finitive brain activity, a position upheld bymost scientists. Physicists went a step furtherand attempted to simulate this activity. Neu-roanatomists had shown that the human ner-vous system, including the brain, was essen-tially a massive mass of extensively intercon-nected neurons along which information


PB - JULY 2004 44

could flow in the form of electrical impulses.In 1943, McCulloch and Pitts, in a classic pa-per, presented A Logical Calculus of the Idea Im-manent in Nervous Activity,4 essentially amathematical algorithm that could be used bya computer (which were at that time at a rudi-mentary state of development) to simulateneural function. The idea caught on quickly. Ifthe function of one neuron could be simu-lated, then so could that of an entire mass ofnerve cells, and thus, essentially of the entirebrain. Subsequently, phenomenal advances incomputer technology as well as neurophysio-logy have kept alive this idea (termed artificialintelligence or AI) of man-made machines be-ing able to simulate human brain functionsome day.

The development of rudimentary com-puters in the first half of the twentieth centurywas preceded by the attempt by mathemati-cians to work out a set of algorithmic proce-dures that could be used to solve any, and ev-ery, mathematical problem. This was the fa-mous Hilbert programme, essentially an at-tempt to show that every mathematical prob-lem could be reduced to a finite series of calcu-lations (and was therefore amenable to com-puter simulation). This effort was given a deci-sive blow by Kurt Godel through his classical‘incompleteness theorem’ (formulated in1930) which indisputably established that noformal system of sound mathematical rules ofproof can ever suffice, even in principle, to es-tablish all the true propositions of ordinaryarithmetic. Although the formal proof of thistheorem is complicated, it essentially amountsto showing that even if one managed to con-struct a ‘super-algorithm’ that could consis-tently be used to check the validity of othermathematical propositions, it could not logi-cally be used to prove its own validity.5

Tremendous advances in recent times incomputer technology and cybernetics, how-ever, testify to the fact that the failure of theHilbert programme has in no way deterredpeople in their attempt to develop AI systems;

and they have achieved no mean success. Cy-ber-systems can handle massive volumes oflogical operations at phenomenal speeds aswell as electronically store and retrieve entirelibraries of information as ‘memory’. Modernrobotics has been used to carry out complexoperations, and ‘servo-control’ mechanismshave been developed not only to fine-tune ro-botic ‘intentionality’ but also incorporate ‘ex-periential learning behaviour’ in robots. Ma-chines have also been programmed to senseand respond to apparently subjective issueslike human emotion. A lie-detector is a simpleexample.

The Criterion of the ‘Mental’

Despite these remarkable achievements,no one is willing to grant machines a ‘mental’status—all these efforts remain mere simula-tions. What, then, characterizes mental activ-ity? While a lot of phenomena are commonlytaken as mental, a strict defining criterion formental events has been difficult to formulate.The subjective nature of mental events—ofconsciousness, of ‘raw’ feeling and the privacyof the mental world—has been recognized.Awareness (including self-awareness), under-standing (or abstract thinking), purposeful orintentional behaviour, emotional disposi-tions, and the ability for introspection and re-flexive thinking (knowing that one knows)have all been proposed as phenomena sug-gesting the presence of a mind. The very sub-jectivity of these effects has made an objectivedefinition difficult to come by. This, in itself, isan indicator of something fundamental in-volved in that consciousness which typifiesmental phenomena, the thing-in-itself inKantian terms that remains unknown and un-knowable.

Physical Theories of the Mind

While the subject-object dichotomy hasbeen taken as an inviolable principle by manyphilosophical systems, the empiricists and po-sitivists—who constitute the dominant philo-

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sophical position in the present scientific com-munity—have either tried to avoid the issue ofsubjectivity or tried to wish it away, naivelytaking it to be an epiphenomenon or a by-product of objective events in the brain.6 Thisepiphenomenalism, as also the more reductiveidentity theory, which takes the mind to be sim-ply another description of physical events inthe brain, unfortunately runs into severalpragmatic problems. First, none of the laws ofphysics or neurobiology has anything to sayabout the emergence or existence of con-sciousness, which is a fundamental attributeof mental phenomena. Second, till date, it hasnot been possible to show that consciousnessemerges spontaneously at a certain level ofcomplexity in a material system. The recent in-terest in theories of Chaos, that is, the study ofhighly complex and irregular systems deter-mined effectively by a few initial physical pa-rameters (for example the behaviour of a com-plex cyclone, which could dramatically changewith small changes in the weather conditionsat the origin), has failed to provide any mean-ingful insight into consciousness, although itis true that the apparently random train ofthoughts emerging from an idle mind could,technically speaking, be quite accurately de-scribed as chaotic. So to aver that with furtheradvances in the neurosciences, all mental phe-nomena, including self-awareness, would beshown to result from specific brain activity re-mains wishful thinking. This position hasbeen termed promissory materialism by the phi-losopher of science Karl Popper.

There have also been dissenting voicesfrom within the scientific community. Onesuch person is Roger Penrose, a mathemati-cian and theoretical physicist of renown, whohas in recent times contributed substantiallyto the understanding of the fundamental sci-entific and philosophical issues involved inthe working of the mind. Penrose believesthat, as empiricists, scientists must try to ex-plain mental phenomena in terms of physicalprocesses—consciousness, after all, manifests

itself through the physical medium of a brain—but he is convinced that ‘any genuine prog-ress in the physical understanding of the phe-nomenon of consciousness will also need—as aprerequisite—a fundamental change in ourphysical world view.7 And how does Penroseview the physical world? ‘We might well ask,’says he, ‘What is matter according to the besttheories that science has been able to provide?The answer comes back in the form of mathe-matics, not so much as a system of equations(though equations are important too) but assubtle mathematical concepts that take a longtime to grasp properly.’8 He adds, ‘Every oneof our conscious brains is woven from subtle,physical ingredients that somehow enable usto take advantage of the profound organiza-tion of our mathematically underpinned Uni-verse—so that we, in turn, are capable of somekind of direct access, through the Platonicquality of “understanding”, to the very waysin which our universe behaves at many differ-ent levels.’ Penrose is referring here to theworld of ‘Absolute Ideas’ that Plato conceivedof as underlying (and, in a way, of greater per-manence than) the perceptual world. He con-cedes that some people find it hard to conceiveof this Platonic world as existing on its own—they may think of mathematical conceptsmerely as idealizations of our physical world(a useful tool for understanding it)—but isquick to add:

Now, this is not how I think of mathematics,nor, I believe, is it how most mathematicians ormathematical physicists think about the world.They think about it in a rather different way, asa structure precisely governed according totimeless mathematical laws. … One of the re-markable things about the behaviour of theworld is how it seems grounded in mathemat-ics to a quite extraordinary degree of accuracy.The more we understand about the physicalworld, and the deeper we probe into the laws ofnature, the more it seems as though the physicalworld almost evaporates and we are left onlywith mathematics. The deeper we understandthe laws of physics, the more we are driven into


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the world of mathematics and of mathematicalconcepts.9

Anybody involved deeply in theoretical phys-ics should be able to corroborate Penrose’sthoughts. Eugene Wigner had also discussedthis issue in a paper titled ‘The UnreasonableEffectiveness of Mathematics in the PhysicalSciences’, written in 1960. The ability of scien-tists to arrive at physically valid resultsthrough thought experiments, the high degreeof experimental accuracy of apparently coun-ter-intuitive propositions like ‘warping of thespace-time continuum’ as the Einsteinian ex-planation of gravity, and the ability to makestrong, experimentally verifiable predictionsas a test of validity of any new physical theory—all suggest a close link between the ‘mental’and the ‘physical’ world.

Mathematical truths, in fact, constituteonly one of the Platonic absolutes. Plato alsoconceived of Beauty and Goodness as abso-lute values. Physiologists tell us that the hu-man brain with its two cerebral hemispheresoften shows a clear distinction between its twohalves—the left hemisphere is involved pri-marily with logical operations, as in mathe-matics, and the right in appreciating spatio-temporal configurations essential to the aes-thetic sense. Of course, many people have aharmonious blend of these faculties. Paul Di-rac, the famous quantum physicist and Nobellaureate, was reputed to judge the validity ofhis mathematical formulations in terms oftheir intrinsic aesthetic ‘beauty’. As regardshuman ethical values (the correlate of good-ness), however, biologists have, till now, verylittle to offer in terms of explanation, althoughthe idea of a conscience or of dharma has beentaken by various civilizations as intrinsic tohuman nature.10

(To be continued)

Notes and References

1. In an era of globalization the use of the termsEastern and Western may appear anachronis-

tic. However, the fact remains that modernscientific discipline is closely aligned to valuesdeveloped in the Western hemisphere, whileYoga and Vedanta still remain largely identi-fied with Eastern cultures, though millions ofpeople in the West are actually using it in oneform or other. Also, the world-views espousedby these two paradigms are very dissimilar insome respects. This article highlights some ofthese dissimilarities with the aim of suggest-ing a fusion of horizons at a deeper level.

2. For example see Sir John Eccles and Daniel NRobinson, The Wonder of Being Human: OurBrain and Our Mind (Boston and London: Sha-mbhala, 1985).

3. The three gunas are tamas (inertia), rajas (ac-tivity) and sattva (the principle of equilib-rium). In the physical world tamas and rajasmanifest as matter and energy while sattvamediates consciousness (sattvaó laghu praká-ùakam).

4. Reprinted in W S McCulloch, Embodiments ofMind (Boston: MIT Press, 1965) and quoted inRoger Penrose, Shadows of the Mind (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1994), 352.

5. See Roger Penrose, The Emperor’s New Mind(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), 138-41;also, Swami Atmapriyananda, ‘Vedanta andMathematical Logic’ in Prabuddha Bharata, Mayand June 1999.

6. Darwin had wondered why thought as a se-cretion of the brain should be consideredmore wonderful than gravity as a property ofmatter.

7. Shadows, 391.8. Ibid., 419.9. Roger Penrose et al, The Large, the Small, and the

Human Mind (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 1999), 2-3.

10. See Swami Vivekananda, ‘The Real Nature ofMan’ in The Complete Works of Swami Viveka-nanda, 9 vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama,1-8, 1989; 9, 1997), 2.70-87; also, Swami Bhaja-nananda, ‘Why Should We Be Moral?’ in Pra-buddha Bharata, January 1985.

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Review Article

Journey of the Upanishads to the West

Swami Tathagatananda. The Vedanta Society of New York, 34 West 71st Street, New York, NY10023. 2002. E-mail: vedantasoc@aol. com. 599 pp. Rs 200. Available at Advaita Ashrama,

5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014. E-mail: advaita@vsnl. com.

Swami Tathagatananda, a senior monk ofthe Ramakrishna Order and spiritualhead of the Vedanta Society of New York,

who has impressed us with publications suchas Meditations on Sri Ramakrishna and SwamiVivekananda (1993) and The Vedanta Society ofNew York (2000), has now come up with a gemof a book, very appropriately titled Journey ofthe Upanishads to the West, detailing Westernscholars’ contribution to the dissemination ofthe Truth that was first discovered by the an-cient rishis of India.

The Upanishads contain the very essenceof the Vedas and are also referred to as Vedan-ta because they constitute the concluding por-tion of the Vedas. Vedanta is a philosophy anda religion at the same time. In India philoso-phy is called ‘darshana, that which providesthe vision of Truth’. To the extent Vedantaconstitutes a search for the supreme Truth, it isa philosophy and to the extent it ordains waystowards the realization of the supreme Truththrough intense spiritual practice, it is a reli-gion. Both as a philosophy and as a religionVedanta holds that the ultimate fulfilment ofhuman life lies in the search for and realizationof the supreme Truth that the Atman is Brah-man and that man is divine (‘Tattvamasi, Thouart That.’) ‘This declared oneness of the indi-vidual and God,’ as Tathagatananda mostperceptively observes, ‘is the most inspiringmessage of Vedanta. … The discovery of Ve-danta in the most ancient times of the supremeidea of the in-depth Reality within human be-ings is not found in any other ancient or mod-ern literature. Knowledge of the impressivespectrum of power hidden within us as the At-

man is the singular contribution to the worldof the Indian heritage.’ (35)

Tathagatananda gives a graphic descrip-tion of how the leading countries of the West—Greece, France, Germany, England, USAand Russia—received the Indian Upanishadicthought. It will be instructive to give a sum-mary of the vastly detailed discussion pre-sented in this regard in as many as six chaptersof the book.

II

As regards Greece, he refutes the popu-lar notion that with Alexander’s inva-sion in 326-27 BC, India became open to

all sorts of influences from Greece, and showsthat long before Alexander’s invasion, Pytha-gorus had perhaps travelled to India in thesixth century BC and that his theory of the har-mony of the spheres reflected the ‘esoteric useof numbers in the Vedas and the Upanishads’.(111)

Further, Socrates (469-399 BC) had occa-sion to meet an Indian philosopher in courseof roaming on the streets of Athens and wasgreatly moved by the latter’s Upanishadic ob-servation that humans—the relative—couldbe properly understood only in the light of anunderstanding of the Divine—the Absolute.

The Indian influence is most discerniblein the writings of Plato. His ‘myth of the cave’reflecting the Vedantic doctrine of maya, hisconcept of nous showing its similarity to theUpanishadic concept of Atman and his idea ofomniscience, somewhat similar to jnana yoga,the way of knowledge in the Upanishads andthe Bhagavadgita—all indicate the influence of

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Indian Upanishadic and religious thought onPlato. Indeed, Max Müller was startled to notethe similarity between Plato’s language andthat of the Upanishads. And Urwick went tothe length of observing that most of Plato’s Re-public was a paraphrasing of Indian ideas.

In modern times, the Greek mind turnedto India in the quest for its spiritual wisdomwhen Demetrius Galanos of Athens (1760-1833), a self-effacing scholar acclaimed as ‘thePlato of this age’, embraced India as his sec-ond motherland, lived a life of penury in hisadopted country and breathed his last in hisbeloved Varanasi, proving himself to be one ofthe earliest and ablest pioneers of Indology.

On the whole, the Greek culture, of whichthe rest of Europe is the inheritor and descen-dant, was practical rather than contemplative,this-worldly rather than other-worldly. Yetthere were points of confluence, as notedabove, between Greece and India; and to theextent India, with her spiritual culture of theUpanishads, reminded Greece that liberty ofthe soul was also to be striven for along withthe liberty of the body, India was able to do herbit for the enrichment of Greece and throughher for the enrichment of the rest of Europe aswell.

III

The crucial initial role in bringing aboutthe expansion of India’s spiritual cultureto France was played in the year 1671 by

a French traveller to India by the name ofFrancis Bernier, who brought to France in thatyear the Persian translation of fifty Upani-shads made by Prince Dara Shukoh in 1656.The French interest in India’s spiritual litera-ture, awakened by this event, received a boostwhen Voltaire received the gift of a copy of theYajur Veda in 1760, which he regarded as themost precious ‘for which the West was ever in-debted to the East’. The distinguished Frenchphilosopher Victor Cousin (1792-1867) pouredhis heart’s reverence for the Vedanta philoso-phy of India by acknowledging it as the high-

est philosophy that mankind had ever pro-duced.

Among the early French scholars noneopened the soul of India to the West betterthan Anquetil-Duperron (1731-1805). Afterforty years of dedicated struggle he broughtout his Latin translation of the Upanishads.The work titled Oupnek’hat, which was a Latintranslation of Dara Shukoh’s Persian versionof the Upanishads, attracted the minds of thegreatest philosophers of Europe includingSchopenhauer and Paul Deussen. This Latinmagnum opus of Anquetil was published in1801-02. Anquetil died not long afterwards,exhausted, no doubt, from the extreme pen-ury in which he lived while working on thislife’s work of his. Of the same nature as thesages of India to whom he dedicated his work,Anquetil wrote, ‘I live in poverty [one-twelfthof an Indian rupee for his daily food] … bereftof all worldly goods, all alone. … With perfectpeace of mind I await the dissolution of thebody which is not far off for me.’ That thegrinding poverty could not unnerve the sagethat Anquetil was could be seen from what hewent on to write of himself: ‘With unceasingeffort I aspire to God, the highest and mostperfect Being.’ (186)

Like Anquetil-Duperron, Eugene Bern-ouf too died a martyr to the cause of learning.Among his Indic research are French and Lat-in translations of extracts from the Brihadaran-yaka Upanishad.

The French appreciation of India’s spiri-tual culture, carried on through Sylvain Leviand Louis Renou, found its culmination inmodern times in Romain Rolland (1866-1944).Rolland expounded to the West Vedanta’stwo greatest exemplars—Sri Ramakrishnaand Swami Vivekananda—by publishingtheir biographies, namely The Life of Ramakri-shna and The Life of Swami Vivekananda and theUniversal Gospel, published in 1929 and 1931,respectively. Rolland’s purpose in writingthese two inspired biographies was to bring,as Rolland himself said, ‘the good effect of that

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great thought … into the soul of the West,wounded but still hard and contracted. It is aserious moment for the West, which has learntnothing from the troubles it has already had. Ifit doesn’t do something to gain possession ofitself, the spell would be cast.’ No Western sa-vant has ever spoken more prophetic wordsabout the eternal value of the message of Ve-danta and has ever sounded a more relevantwarning to the West.

IV

Among the German scholars whoplayed the pivotal role in promotingthe journey of the Upanishads to the

West, Friedrich Von Schelling (1775-1854), Ar-thur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), FriedrichMax Müller (1823-1900) and Paul Deussen(1854-1919) deserve special mention. Schel-ling’s admiration for the Upanishads followedfrom his study of the Oupnek’hat. He was socharmed by the ideas of the Upanishads thathe wanted their widest possible circulation inGermany and to that end he set Max Müller tothe task of translating a portion of the Upani-shads.

Schopenhauer, whose The World as Willand Idea was influenced by the Chandogya Upa-nishad, held that the Upanishads were themost beneficial and elevating study that theworld had ever produced and that ‘it has beenthe solace of my life, it will be the solace of mydeath’.

Max Müller devoted nearly 25 years ofhis life to editing the 51-volume Sacred Books ofthe East and was known for his voluminouswritings on India and Indology, including the6-volume Rig-Veda with Sayana’s Commentary,Three Lectures on the Vedanta Philosophy andWhat Can India Teach Us? He became the great-est exponent of Oriental sacred literature andwas the most forthcoming among the Westernscholars to acknowledge the fact that theVedanta philosophy contained thoughts un-equalled in any language of the West and thatIndia with such philosophy and culture of

thought could indeed teach the West to be-come ‘more perfect, more comprehensive,more universal [and] more truly human’. (53).Extolling the silent forests of India as infinitelybetter observatories of the soul than the noisycentres of Western civilization, Müller raised aquestion that has been at the centre of theUpanishadic thought and Vedanta philoso-phy: ‘What shall it profit a man, if he shall gainthe whole world and lose his own soul?’ (57)

Max Müller rendered another service tothe cause of Vedanta in the West. His meetingwith Swami Vivekananda in London on 28May 1896 set him to the task of writing Rama-krishna, His Life and Sayings, which was pub-lished in 1898. The West came to know Sri Ra-makrishna, the guru of Swami Vivekananda,as the consummation of Vedanta in our timesand this, together with Swami Vivekananda’sbrilliant success at the Parliament of Religionsat Chicago in September 1893, greatly facili-tated Vivekananda’s mission of preachingVedanta to the West.

Paul Deussen, acknowledged as his heirand successor by Max Müller himself, im-mensely enriched Upanishadic studies in theWest with publications such as Sixty Upani-shads, The Philosophy of the Upanishads andSpirit of the Upanishads. Deussen found the es-sence of the Upanishads in the doctrine of theidentity of Brahman and Atman and held thatthis Upanishadic idea had ‘a significancereaching far beyond their time and country;nay, we claim for it an inestimable value forthe whole race of mankind.’ (291)

V

The services that England gave to thecause of Indic studies through scholarssuch as Sir William Jones (1746-94) and

others that followed him were glorious by allmeans. Jones founded the Asiatic Society inCalcutta in 1784. Under his able guidance, In-dic studies in general and Vedic studies in par-ticular received an organized focus and direc-tion. ‘One correct version of any celebrated


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Hindu book would be of greater value than allthe dissertations or essays that could be com-posed on the same subject,’ stated Jones, whoalso asserted that ‘without detracting from the“never-fading laurels of Newton” the wholeof Newton’s theology and part of his philoso-phy were to be found in the Vedas and otherIndian works.’ Known for his 6-volumeWorks, Jones’ English translation of the Ishava-sya Upanishad was also the first translation ofany Upanishad into a European language.

Sir Charles Wilkins (1750-1836), knownfor his memorable contributions to the re-search of the Asiatic Society, was the first tobring out a translation of the Gita into a Euro-pean language. ‘The essence of the Hinduthought, as elegantly and concisely put forth inthe Bhagavad Gita, was disseminated through-out all of Europe thanks to Wilkins’ translation.His Gita was later translated into all major lan-guages and reached a universal audience.’(341) It carried in its preface the assertion ofWarren Hastings, the first Governor-Generalof India and a great patron of the Asiatic Soci-ety, that ‘the study and the true practice ofGita’s teachings would lead humanity topeace and bliss.’ (339)

Horace H Wilson (1786-1860)—the founderof the Sanskrit College in Calcutta in 1824 andone of the architects of the Hindu College (re-named Presidency College) in 1817, and thefirst European to study the Puranas seriously—also made his valuable contribution to-wards making the Rig Veda known to Euro-pean scholars by rendering it in English versein as many as six volumes, covering in themSayana’s commentary as well.

Sir Monier-Williams, a noted student ofWilson’s at Oxford, who succeeded Wilson asBoden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford from1860 to 1888, distinguished himself in Indolo-gical research with books such as Hinduism(1877) in which his proclaimed thesis was that‘the Hindu faith was universal and accommo-dated all other religions.’ Tathagatanandabrings out succinctly the difference in the ap-

proaches of Deussen and Monier-Williamswith the following observation: ‘In compari-son to Deussen’s thinking that Vedanta’ssages were “equal in rank to Plato and Kant”,Monier-Williams accepted the Vedas as thefoundation of Hinduism and as the quintes-sence of all religious thought. The untram-melled truth-seekers of Vedic times had al-ready journeyed through many schools ofphilosophy, commonly thought to have origi-nated in the West, namely, atheism, agnosti-cism, nihilism, materialism. spiritualism, the-ism, deism, pluralism, dualism, monism andmonotheism. Monier-Williams recognizedthat the sages had actually anticipated Plato,Kant, Hume, Hegel, Schopenhauer and otherWestern philosophers.’ (353)

William Blake and other English poets ofthe Romantic period such as Wordsworth andShelley, researchers such as Sir Edwin Arnold(The Light of Asia, 1879), E B Havell (The Idealsof Indian Art, 1911) and Arthur B Keith (The Re-ligion and Philosophy of the Vedas and Upani-shads, 1925), and others like Annie Besant,Margaret E Noble (Sister Nivedita) and John GWoodroffe are among English people of emi-nence who played a considerable part in facili-tating the Vedantic and cultural journey of In-dia to the West.

VI

The popular notion is that Vedanta madeits journey to America for the first timethrough Swami Vivekananda in 1893

with the message he broadcast at the Parlia-ment of World Religions in Chicago in Sep-tember 1893. But the ground for the receptionof such a message was prepared during thenineteenth century by the American transcen-dentalists such as Ralph W Emerson, HenryDavid Thoreau and Walt Whitman. The tran-scendentalists’ basic message that life was notlimited to the five senses and that the individ-ual ego was to be transcended for knowingtruth, ultimately went back to the Upanishads.Emerson, the first prominent American to em-

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brace Indian thought, received the gift of acopy of the Bhagavadgita (the English transla-tion of Charles Wilkins) from Carlyle andmade this most inspiring book his lifelongcompanion. Among the Upanishads it was theKatha Upanishad that influenced him most. Hiscomments on the ‘Over-Soul’ showed hisawareness of the Upanishadic concept of theParamatman. His poems ‘The Celestial Love’and ‘Wood-Notes’ reflected his knowledge ofthe immanence of the supreme Being. Aboveall, his poem ‘Brahma’ indicated his profoundharmony with the Indian scriptures. Indeed,in this poem ‘American Vedantism’, as Tatha-gatananda puts it, ‘reached its highest level’.(431)

Thoreau stood on an equal footing withEmerson as an avatara of Indian wisdom inthe United States. By his own acknowledge-ment, he acquired such wisdom from hisstudy of the Vedas. As he said, ‘What extractsfrom the Vedas I have read fall on me like alight of a higher and purer luminary.’ (441) ExOriente Lux (’light from the East’) was the pro-claimed motto of Thoreau’s life.

Whitman’s compositions, especially hisLeaves of Grass, bear such strains of Upanisha-dic message—transcendence of the ego, im-manence of God and intuitability of knowl-edge—that one could see very clearly that hewas very deeply influenced by the Upani-shads and that he was thoroughly seized ofthe oriental spirit.

Apart from the American transcenden-talists, two other agencies—the American Ori-ental Society, formed in Boston in1842, andHarvard University through the Harvard Ori-ental Series, started in 1891—gave a boost tostudies of Indian wisdom in America.

Such was the state of Vedic and Indianstudies in America when Vivekananda cameto America to address the Parliament of Reli-gions. As the embodiment of Vedanta, his jobwas to give life to the dry bones of Vedanticideas presented by Emerson, Thoreau andothers. To describe the mission of Swamiji in

the words of Tathagatananda:

Entering into this glorious history of journey ofVedanta to the West, Vivekananda came toteach Americans for the first time about their di-vinity, about the inner self, the Atman and itsidentity with the Brahman. He did this job inde-fatigably, from his appearance at the Parlia-ment and throughout his life in the UnitedStates during his two visits: July 1893 to April1896 and August1899 to July 1900. By givingAmerica its individual and national soul,Vivekananda helped Americans to understandtheir true freedom of expression. (496)

And if in today’s America there is a resur-gence of interest in Sri Ramakrishna, ‘Vedan-ta’s greatest exemplar’, according to Christo-pher Isherwood (Ramakrishna and His Disci-ples, 1964), and ‘the prophet of the New Age’,according to Richard Shiffman (Sri Ramakrish-na: A Prophet for the New Age, 1989); if the con-cept of man totally devoid of the divine sparkand the concept of a God extra-cosmic andseparate from mortal man are being increas-ingly criticized; if there have been increasingemphases on ‘the physics of consciousness’;(501) and if ‘turning to the East for inspirationhas been a repeating pattern in the chronicle ofreligious life in America’ (457)—it only provesthat the Vedantic teachings given by SwamiVivekananda, after all, has had its impact onAmerica. And in keeping up such impact theVedanta Societies founded by Swamiji himselfand those established subsequently by the Ra-makrishna Order have certainly played a verypositive role.

VII

The Russian interest in Vedanta began asearly as when Anquetil-Duperron waswriting his Latin translation of the Upa-

nishads, Oupnek’hat, but became pronouncedwith Tolstoy’s expressing his keen interest inthe Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita, the Tirukku-ral (a Tamil classic) and in the spiritual litera-ture of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveka-nanda. Having read Swamiji’s Raja Yoga andtwo volumes of his speeches and articles, To-


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lstoy rated Swamiji as ‘India’s greatest mod-ern philosopher’ and ‘placed him among theworld’s greatest thinkers, along with Socrates,Rousseau and Kant‘. (528)

The Russian interest in Vedanta and In-dian thought continued during and after theCommunist regime through works of dedi-cated scholars such as Stcherbatsky, Olden-burg, Vostrikov, Vladimirostov, Roerich, Che-lishev and Rybakov. Swami Vivekananda in theSoviet Union, a collective work by Russianscholars, published in 1987, is an evidence ofsuch interest.

As for the interest of post-CommunistRussia in Swamiji and Sri Ramakrishna, it willbe in order to quote the observations of twoRussian scholars, R B Rybakov and NataliaTots. Rybakov had the following to observe ina commemorative volume on Swami Viveka-nanda published in 1994: ‘A preacher of aneternal philosophy, Swamiji is the most suit-able person to help our country today. What isrequired by a tormented land is moral rejuve-nation. Swamiji himself has said that even if allthe wealth of the world were invested in onevillage of India, the conditions there wouldnever improve. What is required is the awak-ening of the sleeping souls.‘ Rybakov believedthat such awakening could only come fromthe philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, ‘a per-fect blend of religion and science’ and unlikemost ideologies, free from ‘an imposed rigid-ity’. (533)

And Natalia Tots, a young lady whosought to capture the essence of the volumi-nous Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita in an 80-page book titled The Teachings of Sri Ramakrish-na, had the following to say in 1997 about theever-present relevance of Sri Ramakrishna: ‘Iwas absolutely bowled over by the philosoph-ical message of ‘jata mat tata path, as manyminds, so many paths.’ In a world torn apartby religions, I found this to be the only answerto peace. Tots has pithily given expression tothe feelings of millions of lovers of humanitytoday who, no doubt, would also heartily ap-

prove of Swami Tathagatananda’s concludingobservation that the message of SriRamakrishna and Swami Vivekananda ‘wasrelevant in the past in India and in the world atlarge, but it is still more relevant in the presentIndian context and in the context of the con-temporary world.’ (553)

VIII

To cut the long story short, the book underreview shows who were the first amongscholars to play the pioneering and piv-

otal role in bringing the Vedanta philosophyas contained in the Upanishads to the shoresof the Atlantic and the Pacific; how the emi-nent Western savants of Indology in the sixWestern countries of Greece, France, Ger-many, England, America and Russia madesustained efforts towards translating the mes-sage of the Upanishads from the classical In-dian language of Sanskrit into classical Latinand modern European languages; how theirefforts—in many cases lifelong and selfless inthe true, spiritual sense of that word—to-wards translating and interpreting the eternalspiritual thoughts of Vedanta contributed to-wards the enlightenment of humanity; andhow the truth of Vedanta and its leading ex-emplars in the persons of Sri Ramakrishnaand Swami Vivekananda can serve the causeof human happiness and welfare by showinghumanity its ultimate identity—its divin-ity—and thereby helping it transcend its little-ness in terms of ethnicity, language, religion,material interest and the like.

Thus, if this book, spread over 599 pagescomprising eight chapters, bibliographic ref-erences, index and photographs of the leadinglights of Vedanta and Western culture (Sri Ra-makrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Viveka-nanda, Socrates, Plato, Romain Rolland, Syl-vain Levi, Max Müller, Paul Deussen, Scho-penhauer, Sir William Jones, Sir Edwin Ar-nold and two associates of Swami Vivekanan-da, namely Goodwin and Josephine Mac-Leod) has any extended message, everlasting


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and relevant as ever, it is this that humanity isone in its essence, that so-called barriers of lit-tleness—the real sources of the current spiri-tual crisis of humanity—are to be brokendown and that humanity is to celebrate not itsdifferences, not its otherness but its oneness.The ancient rishis realized the truth of thatmessage through their sadhana in the forestretreats of India. The scholars of modern timestook the pains of disseminating it throughoutthe world and it is for humanity at large to ab-sorb it in its consciousness, making this worldan infinitely better place to live in.

Swami Tathagatananda’s efforts to-wards putting across the truth of Vedanta andtowards distilling the essence of the Upani-shadic message from the writings of scholarsof six Western countries are, to say the least,monumental. But for years of dedicated andenormously painstaking research, docu-mented with quotations from the works ofdistinguished scholars, a work of such magni-tude could not have been produced. SwamiTathagatananda has indeed very deservinglyearned the gratitude of humanity with this

work of lasting value.A few words about the get-up of the

book. The frontispiece is embellished withbeautiful drawings of ships sailing across theseas (symbolizing the journey of the Upani-shads from India to the West). The top of thecover page has the picture of a fully risen sunscattering from the Eastern sky its rays ofknowledge over the Western hemisphere dulydepicted by a map of that part of the world.Besides the get-up, the book is so exquisitelyprinted and so beautifully cloth-bound that nowords are adequate to appreciate the goodwork that the Vedanta Society of New Yorkhas done in this respect; and all this for an un-believably low price of Rs 200 for a book of 599pages. May the book, with its quality andaffordability, be the proud possession of ev-erybody who cares for the really good thingsof life. And that the book should be compul-sory reading for all students of Indology andthe history of civilization needs no saying.

Dr Anil Baran RayProfessor of Political Science

University of Burdwan


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Why the Righteous Suffer

Rabbi Dov Ber, known as the Maggid of Mezritch, explains with the following parable why righ-

teous people may at times experience suffering and the wicked may prosper:

A father who wishes to teach his child to walk will, in the beginning, walk together with the

child and hold its hand. Then he will move away from the child, leaving it on its own. The child

will then take a step toward its father and the father will retreat a bit further so that the child

will take a few more steps on its own. The father will repeat this process in order to get the child

to walk greater and greater distances. To the child it may seem that the father is moving away

and ignoring it, yet the father does this out of love and care, for he knows that the child’s growth

and development depends on this.

It is the same with righteous people. At times it may seem that God is ignoring them, yet, in

truth, as they come closer to God He will move away from them so that they will continuously

move closer to Him. Through this process, the righteous person ascends higher and higher spiri-

tually.—from cyberspace

Reviews

For review in PRABUDDHA BHARATA

publishers need to send two copies of their latest publications.

55 PB - JULY 2004

� Reviews �

Bhagavadgita and Modern Problems.Compilation of papers at an international sem-inar. Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram andGita Swadhyaya Samithi, Samskriti Bha-vanam, Fort PO, Thiruvananthapuram695 023. 2001. 420 pp. Rs 250.

The Bhagavadgita, the basic holy book of the Hin-dus, has always had an eternal charm and irre-

sistible appeal to all thinking minds ever since itwas composed thousands of years ago. Saints andscientists, secularists and spiritualists alike, havefound it to be a practical guide to solve life’s com-plicated problems. No wonder the book has beentranslated into several languages of the world andhas been received with warmth everywhere, cut-ting across religious, geographical and otherbounds.

The encomiums paid to the work are immense.Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, a staunch advocate of ra-tionalism and an avowed secularist, described theGita as a poem of crisis, of political and social crisis,and even more so, of the crisis in the spirit of man.To Aldous Huxley, the Gita is the most systematicspiritual statement of the Perennial Philosophy notonly for Indians but for all mankind. Even AlbertEinstein, the greatest scientist in living memory, ad-mitted that the Gita had been the source of his inspi-ration and guidance for the purpose of scientific in-vestigation and formulation of his theories. Ma-hatma Gandhi likened the Gita to a universalmother who welcomes everyone. Her door is wideopen to anyone who knocks. A true votary of theGita dwells in perennial joy and peace. There hasnever been a person who had worshipped the Gitain that spirit and gone away disappointed, saidGandhiji.

Several thousands of volumes and articles havebeen written on the Gita, yet its charm and appealare fresh and inexhaustible. It is indeed gratifyingthat such an accomplished book was the theme ofan international seminar held at Thiruvananthapu-ram from 7 to 10 December 2000.

The Gita Swadhyaya Samithi and the Bhara-theeya Vichara Kendram, the twin organisers of theseminar and publishers of this invaluable book,have been working for the all-round cultural andsocial regeneration of the nation in a non-sectarianand non-political way.

The book under review is a fine compilation oflearned papers presented at the above seminar byeminent scholars representing a vast cross sectionof society, such as educationists, scientists, man-agement experts, spiritual dignitaries, judges, jour-nalists, diplomats, social activists, doctors and po-lice officials. The interpretations and presentationsby a wide variety and range of thinkers clearlydemonstrate that the Gita is a relevant guide to thecontemporary problems of the world and not just aholy book preaching individual salvation.

Social scientists have found out that hatred, bit-terness and frustration arise out of undue attach-ment to the fruits of our actions and identifyingourselves with our successes and failures. The Bha-gavadgita helps us to overcome this by exhorting usto work without expecting the fruits of our actions.

By advocating simple offerings to God like aleaf, a flower, a fruit or water instead of the elabo-rate Vedic sacrifices involving animals and largequantities of firewood, the Gita teaches us to be en-vironment-friendly—an imperative need of theday, says Sri Adiyogi, a former vice chancellor.

The Inspector General of Kerala, Dr AlexanderJacob, points out that the three fundamental func-tions of the police force, namely protection of thegood, destruction of the wicked and establishmentof the rule of law have their roots in the Gita, andtherefore concludes that the police force can find in-spiration and guidance from the Gita.

While management science teaches one to man-age efficiently one’s finances, raw materials, capitalequipment, inventories, subordinates, superiors,competitors, neighbours, bankers, government of-ficials and clients, the Gita alone teaches one how tomanage oneself, says Dr V R Panchamukhi.

The book contains references like the ones men-


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tioned above and calls upon the Government of In-dia to declare the Bhagavadgita as the national scrip-ture.

A book everyone ought to read.

Swami AbhiramanandaAcharya, Probationers’ Training Centre

Belur Math

Handbook of Vastu. B Niranjan Babu. UBSPublishers’ Distributors, 5 Ansari Road,New Delhi 110 002. 2001. 176 pp. Rs 175.

In the last decade vastu shastra suddenly gainedpopularity due to the publication of many books

on this ancient science of dwellings. An interestingattempt is made by Sri Niranjan Babu to compilethe basic principles of vastu with diagrams and ta-bles for easy understanding by common people.

The book is divided into five sections, of whichthe first three are divided into several chapters,each beginning with an at-a-glance paragraph. Thefourth section answers some common queries,while the fifth illustrates a few building plans for aworking knowledge of vastu.

Spread over eighty pages, Section I introducesvarious technical concepts like vastu purusha, im-portance of directions, selection of sites, orientationof buildings on sites, ancient systems of measure-ment (like angula and hasta), building formulae(ayadi shadvarga), brahmasthana, location of differentfunctions in a house (like kitchens and master bed-rooms) and location of main doors.

Section II covers forty pages and has eighteenchapters discussing details of room layouts in ahouse with instructions on location of equipment,furniture and fixtures in every room. Section IIIruns into ten pages and has notes and diagrams onopen spaces, apartments and multi-storeyed build-ings, and landscaping. Section IV answers in aboutseventeen pages common questions on the direc-tion in which doors should open, the need of havingverandas around the house, size of furniture andthe like. The last section shows in nine pages dia-grams of house plans with discussion on their vastusuitability. The book has a two-page index.

In all, the book provides in a short span goodhints on the specifics of vastu as related especially tothe house, the site and the landscape without get-ting too technical. The language is lucid and simple.It is a book containing practical hints meant for gen-eral reading. Except for a few names of original

scriptures, there are no detailed references to thesources based on which observations are made. Afew diagrams, for instance those depicting thefour types of houses (figures 15.05 and 15.08) andmain doors (figures 16.05 and 16.10), are not clear.

Swami TattwajnananandaPrincipal, Ramakrishna Mission Shilpamandira

Belur Math

Vedanta in Practice. Swami Lokeswara-nanda. Ramakrishna Mission Institute ofCulture, Gol Park, Kolkata 700 029. e-mail:[email protected]. 2001. 212 pp. Rs 40.

Vedanta is not only a philosophy but a way oflife. Swami Lokeswarananda has done an ex-

cellent service in presenting a deep philosophy inan intelligible way, relating it to today’s problems.Covering 105 topics in about 750 words, this bookpresents the author’s views on varied topics ofcommon interest such as feminism, racism, schol-arship, faith, renunciation, spirituality and cul-ture.

The author rightly observes that scholarship isuseful only if it is backed by wisdom. Knowledgeby itself is not of much use, because it could beused for harming others. Wisdom is character, theby-product of a man’s evolution in moral and spir-itual terms.

On religion and ethics, the author is of theopinion that both go together. Religion endowsman with more self-control as he progresses on thestraight and narrow path. Ethics is the forerunnerto religion, and as ethics grows, religious feelinggrows stronger.

The author clearly brings out that the essenceof Vedanta is belief in the divinity of humanbeings. According to Vedanta, Self-knowledge isthe highest goal of life. But where is the Self? Ve-danta says, the Self is hidden in our heart. It revealsItself when our mind becomes pure. But what ismeant by a pure mind? One becomes pure whenone becomes free from the sense of ego. The Selfwill reveal itself when the ego is removed and onesees Oneness everywhere.

I would recommend this book especially toyoung people for whom it will be especially bene-ficial.

Aspi T ContractorMumbai

57 PB - JULY 2004

Reviews 425

Value Education. Seminar Proceedings. Ra-makrishna Mission, New Delhi, Ramakri-shna Ashram Marg, New Delhi 110 055.E-mail: [email protected]. 2002. viii+ 113 pp. Rs 100.

The term ‘education’ itself means a teaching ofvalues to the student, a regularizing of his emo-

tions and sculpting his vision of what he wants to beand what he wants to achieve. Of late, however, theterm has fallen into evil days and there is a sneerthat accompanies a reference to an ‘educated’ per-son. This is mainly because the goings-on in an in-creasingly materialistic world that is aided by mas-sive globalization is setting aside those niceties ofbehaviour and subtleties of thinking that markedhigh civilization. India has always stood in the fore-front in matters of education, having mastered allthe arts and crafts as also the sciences of man-madecivilization. At the same time India guarded theeternal verities too in education which gave a spe-cial glow to the educated Indian abroad. But now?

The need to inculcate good values has been feltjust in time. Fortunately, India is a land of acharyasamriddhi (‘profusion of teachers’). The organizersof the seminar on value education on 4 March 2002as a part of the platinum jubilee celebrations of Ra-makrishna Mission, New Delhi, have been able todraw freely from these creative springs of India’spast. Each one of the participants harks back tosomeone or other of the great educators of yester-day. In his presidential address, Dr Karan Singh hasunderlined the need to inculcate social values, eco-logical values (the ‘Bhu Suktam’ of the Atharva Vedais a great help), inter-faith values, spiritual valuesand the value enshrined in the phrase, bahujanasukháya, bahujana hitáya. For what is the value of ed-ucation if it does not help to bring the greatest goodto the greatest number?

Swami Prabhananda gets down to the brasstacks in his keynote address. The twentieth centuryhas been an age of sweeping transformations in therealms of science and technology. Between theatom and the byte, we have garnered plenty ofknowledge but very little of wisdom. The swami

has two valid suggestions: Students must have ac-cess to the biographies and teachings of great per-sonalities and an inspirational ethos must be cre-ated by recruiting teachers who exemplify high ide-als. These teachers should interact with the stu-dents at all levels and place the stress upon the dy-namic aspects of values.

Several scholars have presented papers at theseminar and each has a special approach. P P Sri-vastava has experiential wisdom and refers to theWestern mindset of post-Independence India,which has also taken a deep draught of the no-reli-gion cry of communism fascinated by the RussianRevolution.

Students see around them a ceaseless greed formoney, lust for power and the criminalization ofpolitics and breathe the foul air all the time. But ifthings are still not totally doomed, it is due to thevoluntary work of idealist schools like those of theRamakrishna Mission in the difficult Tirap Districtof Arunachal Pradesh. Swami Yuktatmanandagives a pointed reference in this regard to the Ra-makrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Educa-tion in Mysore and a gist of Swami Vivekananda’steachings that inspire such activities.

Our seminars do a lot of good but their majorcontribution is in getting people to interact duringthe question hour. The present seminar seems tohave had enriching interactions but the best mes-sage comes from Swami Chinmayananda who toldthe story of the cow Bhagavati, which is a lesson forall seminarians:

‘The whole day we have been thinking aboutvalue education. Don’t just leave it here, for God’ssake. Take it to your home, go on pondering over it,give a good thought to it and be a good teacher, be agood student, be a good citizen and give good edu-cation to your children so that they can become thebest educated citizens.’ (91)

That way Swami Vivekananda’s dream wouldcome true.

Dr Prema NandakumarResearcher and Literary Critic

Srirangam

One of the saddest things about envy is its smallness, the narrow compass within which it

lives. To be envious is to turn eternally like a caged rat within the tight radius of malice.

—Karl Olsson

� Reports �

Started. A sub-centre of Ramakrishna Math,Chennai; in Cuddapah; with land and build-ings received from Sri Ramakrishna Seva Sa-mithi, Cuddapah; in April 2004. The addressof the centre is: Ramakrishna Math, 5/476Trunk Road, Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh516 001 (Phone: 08562-241633).

Visited. Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama,Chandigarh; by Sri O P Verma, Governor ofPunjab and Administrator of the Union Ter-ritory of Chandigarh, Sri Binod Roy, ChiefJustice of Punjab, and Sri Vishnukant Shastri,Governor of Uttar Pradesh; on 2, 3 and 4April, respectively.

Inaugurated. The new monks’ quartersbuilding; at Ramakrishna Mission, Shivana-halli; on 22 April (Akshaya Tritiya).

Inaugurated. ‘Sri Ma Sarada Darshan’, a na-tion-wide exhibition project to commemo-rate the 150th birth anniversary of HolyMother Sri Sarada Devi; by Sri T N Chatur-vedi, Governor of Karnataka; at Ramakrish-

na Ashrama, Mysore; on 9 May. Sri Chatur-vedi released Adarsha Nagarika, Sri Ko Chan-nabasappa’s Kannada translation of SrimatSwami Ranganathanandaji Maharaj’s En-lightened Citizenship. Dr H N Muralidhara,Professor of Kannada, VVN Degree College,Bangalore, spoke on the occasion and SwamiSureshanandaji Maharaj, former President ofthe centre, presided over the function.

Each exhibition kit consists of 40 multi-colour posters measuring 730 mm x 480 mm,printed on thick duplex boards, laminated,mounted on plastic flute boards and framedwith black PVC channels. The bilingualwrite-up on each panel is in English and oneregional language (Assamese, Bengali, Guja-rati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi,Oriya, Tamil and Telugu versions are avail-able). Most of the 800 kits produced have al-ready been despatched to various organiza-tions and individuals across the country.

(Interested persons may send Rs 1000 per kitby demand drafts drawn in favour of ‘Sri Rama-krishna Ashrama, Mysore’, to President, Sri Ra-makrishna Ashrama, Yadavagiri, Mysore 570

020; e-mail: [email protected], giving their fulladdress, phone numberand the language pre-ferred.)

Distributed. 16 sets ofdhotis, saris, towels,mosquito-nets and car-pets; by RamakrishnaMission Ashrama,Malda; among 16 fami-lies whose houses weredestroyed by a fire inShyamsundartola,Malda district; inApril.

PB - JULY 2004 58

Sri Chaturvedi inaugurating the exhibition

july 2004 (new) - advaita ashrama · 2020. 3. 4. · one’s selfish interests. it was again a...

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