Hindu Dharma: The Universal Way of Life

827 Pages·1995·3.06 MB·English

by  Chandrasekharendra Saraswati

VOICE OF THE GURU
PUJYASRI CHANDRASEKHARENDRA SARASWATI SWAMI
HINDU DHARMA
The Universal Way of Life
Hindu Dharma

Foreword

"Man is no different from animals," says Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada in his
Sutrabhasya. "Pasvadibhiscavisesat".
Texts tell us: "Human beings and animals have the same urges. They eat and
sleep and copulate and besides, the feelings of fear are common to both.
What, then, is the difference between the two? It is adherence to
Dharma that distinguishes human beings from animals. Without Dharma
to guide him man would be no better than an animal."
"Aharanidrabhayamaithunam ca samanyametat pasubhirnaranam
Dharmo hi tesamadhiko visesah dharmena hina pasubhissamanah"

The Lord says in Bhagavad Gita: "When a man thinks of the objects of
sense, attachment to them is born; from attachment arises desire; and
from desire arises anger. Anger causes delusion and from delusion springs
loss of memory; loss of memory leads to the destruction of the sense of
discrimination; and because of the destruction of his sense of
discrimination man perishes."

Dhyayato visayan pumsah sangastesu pajayate
Sangat samjayate kamah kamat krodho bhijayate
Krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrtivibhramah
Smrtibhramsad buddhinaso buddhinasat pranasyati
Commenting on these two slokas of the Gita, Swami Chinmayananda says
that evil develops from our wrong thinking or false imagination like a tree
developing from the seed. Thought has the power to create as well as to
destroy. Rightly harnessed, it can be used for constructive purposes; if
misused it will be the cause of our utter destruction. When our mind
constantly dwells on a "sense-object" an attachment is created for that
object. When we keep thinking of this object with increasing intensity,
our attachment to it becomes crystallized as burning desire for the same.
But as obstacles arise to the fulfilment of this desire, the force that at first
caused the desire now turns into anger.
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Swami Chinmayananda further observes that anyone whose intellect is in
the grip of anger becomes deluded and loses his sense of discrimination
since he is also deprived of his memory. A man who is the victim of anger
is capable of doing anything, forgetful of himself and his relationship with
other people. Sri Sankaracharaya observes in this connection that a
deluded fool will fight even with revered persons like his own parents and
preceptors, forgetting his indebtedness to them.
Says Socrates: "The noblest of all investigations... is what man should be
and what he should pursue". And Samuel Taylor Coleridge observes: "If
man is not rising upward to be an angel, he is sinking downward to be a
devil. He cannot stop at the beast."
It is perhaps because of his understanding of the instincts of man and the
need for human actions to be inspired by dharma that the famous poet
Nilakantha Diksita said: "If, even after being born a man, one does not
have any sense of discrimination, it would be better for such a one to be
born an animal since animals are not subject to the law that controls the
senses."

Our rishis knew that "all except God will perish". Man with his capacity
for discrimination must be able to grasp the truth that the Atman is not
different from the Bhraman. The Atman has neither a beginning nor an
end. Every individual goes through a succession of births and, determined
by his karma, either sinks further and further down or rises further and
further up. But in life after life the Atman remains untainted.
There is a difference of opinion even among the learned as to the
meaning of the word "dharma". The word is derived from "dhr" to
uphold, sustain or nourish. The seers often use it in close association with
"rta" and "satya". Sri Vidyaranya defines rta as the mental perception and
realization of God. The Taithriya Upanishad also uses it with "satya" and
"dharma". It exhorts students to speak the truth and practise dharma
("Satya vada"; "Dharmam chara"). According to Sankara Bhagavatpada,
satya means speaking the truth and dharma means translating it (Satya)
into action.
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"Satyamiti yathasastrarthata sa eva anusthiyamanah dharmanama
bhavati."

In this connection, the explanation given by Sri.K.Balasubramania Aiyar is
relevant:: "An analysis of the significance of these three words (rta, satya
and dharma) brings out clearly to us the fundamental basis of dharma as
the ideal for an individual. While rta denotes the mental perception and
realization of truth and satya denotes the exact true expression in words
of the truth as perceived by the mind, dharma is the observance, in the
conduct of life, of truth. In fact, dharma is the way of life which translates
into action the truth perceived by the man of insight as expressed by him
truly. In short, rta is truth in thought, satya is truth in words and dhrama
is truth in deed."
To right-thinking people "dharma" and "satya" are interchangeable words
and their goal is --- as it has always been --- to rise higher so as to realize
Him who alone is the Truth. For them there is no pursuit higher than that
of practising truth in thought, word and deed.
"Bhutahitam" is Sri Sankarcharya's answer to the question (that he
himself raise), "Kim Satyam?" It means that truth (or truthfulness) is what
is spoken for the well-being of all living beings. To the question,"Ko
dharmah?", his answer is "Abhimato yah sistanam nija kulinam". It means
that dharma is that which is determined by the elders and by learned
people.

Of the four purusharthas or aims of life, dharma is always mentioned
first, artha second, karma third and moksha last. The four stanzas of the
Mahabharata that together go by the name of "Bharata-Savitri" contain
these profound truths: Dharma is eternal but neither happiness nor
sorrow is eternal; the Atman is everlasting but not that which embodies
it; and from dharma arise artha and kama. They also contain Vedavyasa's
lamentation: "With uplifted arms I cry but no one listens to me, 'From
dharma spring artha and kama. Why is dharma then not practised?' "

Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada observes that even the wise and the learned,
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even men who have a vision of the exceeding subtle Atman, are
overpowered by tamas and do not understand it even though clearly
explained in various texts.
The Reality is perceived by one who has sraddha or faith which, according
to the saints, is acceptance of the truth as proclaimed by the scriptures
and as taught by the guru. By following the reasoning of the sastras and
the path shown by the guru the bonds of avidya are broken and one
becomes aware of the Atman. One's own experience obtained through
one-pointed meditation of the Truth is another means to achieve the
same goal. These moments are indeed blessed, the moments during
which the Truth dawns on us as we receive instruction from our guru and
as we gain wisdom that is supported by the authority of the scriptures.
Yes, these indeed are moments of bliss when the senses are quietened
and the mind is firmly fixed on the Atman. Thus dharma, to be precise
Veda Dharma, has been and is essential for man to become a real man.

According to Sri Chandarsekharendra Saraswati, the Mahaswami, dharma
is our only protection. In this book, the Great Acharya recounts all that
we need to know about dharma and presents in an integrated form the
various systems of thought that have flourished in this country. "The
Vedas", Sri Mahaswami affirms, "represent the lofty principle that it is the
one Truth that is envisaged as all that we perceive."
The discourses that make up this book are remarkable for their simple
and enchanting style. The most complex of ideas are explained with such
lucidity as to make them comprehensible to the ordinary reader. Sri
Mahaswami deals not only with the wisdom of the Samhita part of Vedas
and with other scriptural matters, he takes in his stride even modern
scientific concepts like those of time and space. It is all at once so wide-
ranging and so profound that we bow our heads in reverence to the
Great Master of our time, the Sage of Kamakoti Pitha. His approach
shows that he has no doubts in his mind, no hesitation in affirming the
truths in the Vedas and sastras.
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The point to be noted is that if you believe in the sastras, you must
believe in them fully. If you are an atheist, you could of course reject all
the sastras. But to make a show of being very clever and twist the sastras
as you like, accepting some parts and rejecting and changing some
others, is an offence more grave than that of being an atheist. To think
that Mother Veda should dance to your tune is also a great offence.
Learning the Vedas with such an attitude is tantamount to ridiculing
them.

"I am not angry with the reformists, nor do I suspect their intentions.
They go wrong because of their ignorance and thoughtlessness. If they
wish to pull down the fence so as to go to the other side, they must think
of the possibility of the few still remaining there crossing over to this
side."

The Great Acharya has commanded us to protect the old dharmic
traditions and keep them alive:
"All old dharmic traditions must be protected and kept alive. Sri Sankara
Bhagavatpada has commanded us to do so. I bear his name; so it is my
duty to remind you of his command. Whether or not you will heed his
command, I should like to impress upon you that the sastric customs have
the purpose of ensuring the good of all mankind."
I am aware of the alarm sounded by Vedavyasa, but I still sincerely
believe that the words of the Great Master of our time shall rekindle the
lamp of wisdom and lead us from darkness unto light. It is my great
privilege to write the Foreword to this book. The translator has done a
service to people like us who believe in the saha-chintan and the words of
the Yajurveda:
"Vayam rastre jagryama purohitah".
Let us be awake and alert to the noble cause of the nation, to the India of
the Rigveda our svadesa from the Himavan to the ocean. There is need
for a fresh commitment on the part of its people to the ideal expressed
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by the time-honoured saying, "Janani janmabhumisca svargaadapi
gariyasi."

P.S.Mishra,
Judge,
High Court of Madras,
Chennai,
March 13,1995

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Preface

When India was straining at the leash during the unique "Weaponless
War" conceived, planned and led by Mahatma Gandhi to win freedom,
some of the finest flowers of Indian manhood and womanhood were
forced to languish in prison for long years. During his ninth incarceration,
this time in the Ahmednagar Fort Prison (August 9, 1942 to July 15, 1945),
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the best among them, embarked upon a
voyage of "Discovery of India". He "discovered" for himself and for us, the
common people, an India that is "a myth and an idea, a dream and a
vision and yet very real and pervasive."
Nehru, with the poetic touch so characteristic of him, looked upon India
as "a lady with a glorious past, whose deep eyes had seen so much of
life's passion and joy and folly and looked deep down into wisdom's well".
It is this "wisdom’s well" that is represented by our Vedic heritage, the
"living words", as Gurudeva Rabindranath Tagore put it, "that have issued
from the Illuminated Consciousness of our great ones."
This offering of Hindu Dharma: The Universal Way of Life deals with
another kind of discovery of India, a discovery in the spiritual realm,
made by Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal, the 68th
Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Pitha. The Sage of Kanchi was
spiritually supreme, intellectually pre-eminent. He was verily an
akshayapatra - inexhaustible reservoir - of the spiritual wisdom of India
dating back to the beginning of Time, and of Vedic Dharma. So was he
with regard to modern knowledge, current affairs and contemporary men
and matters.
In a special easy in the Bhavan's journal this true sanatani hailed Gandhiji,
a staunch Hindu and a secularist nonpareil, as one of the "greatest
redeemers of Hinduism". Hailing Gandhiji's services to Hinduism, he said:
"From the time Gandhiji came into the arena, he augmented his political
movements by his spiritual researches and devotion. Almost all the
features of Hinduism that were discarded as weeds by the previous
reform movements were clearly explained by Gandhiji as being of
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indispensable utility. His views on Ramanama, the Ramayana, Varna
dharma, Aharaniyama and his definition of God are such that the most
faithful Hindu cannot but profit spiritually by digesting them."
During one of the satsangas, some members of the Bhavan’s family were
privileged to have with him, this remarkable advaitin said that Jawharlal
Nehru was "an advaitin at heart."
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The Mahaswami will shine forever as one of the greatest exemplars of
sanatana dharma, the Universal Way of Life. This sanatani extraordinary
personified in himself all that is best and noblest in Hinduism. He always
stressed that Hinduism is the latter-day name given to mankind's earliest
religion - sanatana dharma. It is beginning less (anadi), endless (ananta)
and hence eternal (sanatana), because it is in consonance with Nature's
Laws.
To drive home the eternal or the sanatana aspect of our religion, the
Mahaswami used to narrate a telling episode: "There was a palm-tree
around which a creeper entwined itself. The creeper grew fast and within
months it entwined the entire tree. 'This palm has not grown a bit all
these months,' said the creeper laughing. The palm-tree retorted: 'I have
seen tens of thousands of creepers in my life. Each creeper before you
said the same thing as you have now said. I do not know what to say to
you'. Our religion is like this tree in relation to other faiths."
We were fortunate to have lived in the times, and to have had frequent
darshans, of one with such "illuminated Consciousness", whose nearly
100-year- long Pilgrimage on Earth ended on January 8, 1994. He was a
realized soul, and whenever he spoke, he spoke in the accents of the
Vedic seers precise, profound and authentic words that found a
permanent lodgment in the hearts of his listeners.
The Mahaswami's words of distilled wisdom, as compiled by his ardent
devotee Sri Ra. Ganapati run into six volumes covering more than 6,500
pages. Sri Ra. Ganapati and Sri A. Tirunavukkarasu of Vanadi Padippakam,
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