Beyond Discovery of God

Sages and elders in the Vedic society were blessed with practical wisdom. The society they envisioned flourished with the values and norms imparted by them and accepted by people with all restrictions on individual freedom of action. The values or ‘Sanskars’ were needed to avoid conflicts in the society. The system began faltering as evils grew because people understood that God would punish only after death and not during their life time for all their acts in this life.  Evil doers thought of enjoying this life rather than bother about the next. Be it rebirth, heaven or hell. They felt that for the same offence God would not punish them twice as it would be an act of injustice. Since doubts arose in the minds, people began thinking about ‘Souls’ too afresh.

People began asking questions what actually ‘Soul’ is. It is like God unborn and immortal. Is it a part of God and if so how is it possible? They were not convinced that God’s parts in so many numbers could be extracted leaving Him whole as He was.  They doubted that miracles could simultaneously happen in such enormous numbers of ‘Souls’. They asked whether ‘Soul’ is a separate entity from God. A debate on’ Dwaitwad’ and ‘Adwaitwad’ ensued as some accepted ‘Soul’ existed physically. They wondered how could a formless ‘Soul’  like God could keep a record of good and bad deeds. A few intellectuals could understand it as an imagination of a fertile human mind. A meaningless and futile exercise continued creating doubts in the very existence of ‘Soul’, physical or otherwise. Hairsplitting on this issue continued.  

With increasing doubts God became quite ineffective in their present lives. Need was felt for fresh thinking. Elders found a way to circumvent this situation. They created a system of Rulers, Rajas, Maharajas, Kings, etc. This was also followed later in other societies and Caliphates and Pharaos were created. Rules and regulations were generated for punishment to instill fear in the minds of evil doers in their existing lives. In Islamic society Sharia was imposed. Eye for an eye became the custom. As the society grew along with many more norms, institution of marriage was established. In Vedic society as per ‘Niyog’ men and women were treated equally.  A man could have five wives and women five husbands at the same time. (Refer Draupadi in Mahabharat). A widow could produce five children from different spouses. (Refer the births of Dhritrashtra, Pandu and Vidhur in Mahabharat). As time passed customs were modified, altered or changed altogether. Society willingly accepted changes as per the prevailing conditions for its well-being.  

Though Vedic societies flourished in various parts of Bharat Varsh at the same time, perhaps in isolation, none needed the crutches of ‘Religion’ for God for enforcing norms and values in the society. Vedic elders and Sages never created ‘Religion’. Yet the society remained intact. Sages learnt that basic human nature never changes. They used this information well. Once a faith is embedded in the mind it remains there. Other societies used this for the creation of physical God and took recourse to religions to spread their views.  

Hinduism in Nutshell

HINDUISM IN NUTSHELL

Hinduism now connoted as a religion is in fact not at all a religion. It pertains to Vedic way of life. Word religion has no equivalent word in Sanskrit or even in Hindi. Commonly referred word ‘Dharma’ means only duty. For example menstruation is called ‘Stree dharma’. When foreigners crossed Khebar pass and reached an obstacle called Sindhu river, which was pronounced by tribals living in its vicinity as Hindu nadi.  ‘S’ was pronounced as ‘H’. I learnt this when in 1946 a worker from this area introduced his real sister to my father ‘yah meri hagi hagai bahen he’. Though amusing it opened my mind. Foreigners named the inhabitants living across the river as Hindus and the country as Hindustan. An Arabic word like Afghanistan, Balochistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan etc. They were not aware of Bharat Varsh.

Vedic period began about 4000 years ago.  Its way of living continues till today as ‘Sanatan’ dharma though with little aberrations here and thither.  Intellectuals called Rishies understood that inherent nature of human beings would never change with time. They had to propound to humanity the ways of living a fruitful life. They understood that God had given body to humanity without their asking for it. They made serious attempts to know ‘What is the purpose of life’, ‘Is there a mission in life’, ‘Is life an empty and meaningless incident’.  But they observed that this body was needed and had to be maintained for doing anything. Towards this end people had to be advised. Since the art of writing was not evolved, message was given in the form of ‘shloks’ ‘verses’ like hymns or ‘samhitas’ which could be memorised easily. These were later compiled by Maharshi Ved Vyas in four Veds—Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Veds. The word ‘Ved’ is from the root ’Vid’ meaning to know. Thus Ved means ‘Knowledge’.  Veds satisfy the needs of the body, mind and intellect. For keeping the body fit, Yoga and Ayurved have been dealt with exhaustively. Veds enumerate rituals / brahamanas to be performed by common men to keep their minds satisfied and occupied. Bodies had to be fully functional to perform. Veds deal with needs of intellectuals through ‘Aranyakas’ or ‘Upnishads’ which contain philosophy in life. In Ved enquiry is into the very nature of Reality (Brahm, Paramatma). The Veds suggest techniques and hypothesis which the seeker may adopt. For better understanding of philosophical life by the common man need was felt for simple narrative stories describing complex matters. Hence several ‘Purans’ giving chronological narratives explaining the wisdom of Upnishads were written. Only a few were major ones. Hundreds were of frivolous nature dealing with mundane matters. However Purans were and are the way for spreading Vedic knowledge among the masses.

During this era Vedic society developed democratic values. Almighty shared His powers including that of reincarnation with a trinity comprising of gods Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiv) for creation, sustenance and death to maintain balance in society. Their spouses, Goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati, took on themselves to provide learning, and prosperity to masses and punishment to the evil doers. Later Shiv-Parvati’s son Ganesh began mitigating the suffering of humanity. Vishnu’s incarnation of Shri Ram strengthened the value system (Maryada) in society. For a decaying society Vishnu’s incarnation as Shri Krishna later in Dwapar Yug provided practical reasonability for eradication of evil. He expounded the knowledge of Veds and suggested that while performing ones duties one can lead a fruitful joyous life.

Ved Vyas wrote Adi Puran which narrates stories based on Ved’s wisdom. This was the most authentic and knowledgeable Puran. Later several Purans were written based on Adi Puran. Ramayan and Mahabharat came out of Adi Puran. Gita as narrated by Shri Krishna in Kurukshetra was part of Mahabharat. These Holy books, accessible to common man show the Vedic way of living a meaningful life.

Essence of Upnishads

Hinduism symbolizes spirituality. Hindus pursue spiritualism. Self-realisation leads to detachment. One realizes that that the imperishable bodiless soul is lodged in a perishable body. The soul is divine in origin, pure and immortal. Hindus through wisdom seek the relation between individual soul to the Supreme Spirit (Paramatma). Supreme spirit manifests and is immanent in everything living or nonliving. On realization that your soul becomes one with the Supreme-being you attain the greatest bliss. Joy and happiness comes when your selfishness, desires and attachments disappear from your mind unawares. Your all actions then become godly. (Refer Kathopnishpad)

After death only body perishes and the immortal soul just moves into another body depending on the quality of your deeds both good and evil during this life. One should not neglect ones assigned duties towards society but discipline his mind and control his senses. Bad deeds and good deeds cling to your soul and the cycles of death and rebirth  continue till one secures ’Moksha’, i.e. passing after death to immortality, through self-realisation and attaining enlightenment. (Refer Isawasyopanishad)

Essence of Gita

Compiled by Maharshi Vyas, Gita, like other Vedic scriptures, follows the traditional way  of teacher – disciple discussions to remove all doubts and misgivings  in the mind of seeker. Arjun the disciple freely expresses dissent when doubts engulf him. Gita is essence of all cherished values of Vedic ages. It has the main ingredients of all upnishdic philosophies.

Shri Krishna enunciates three basic principles (Sankhya) truths of life.
1. Soul/Spirit is eternal, deathless and indivisible.
2. Body is transient. It perishes.
3. Swadharm (one’s natural vocation or assigned duty towards society, e.g. Kshatry’s dharm to fight and destroy evil) is essential and inescapable. It cannot be thrust aside. Life is to be lived for the fulfillment of swadharm.

Shri Krishna then tells us how to bring these truths into practice to attain godliness (enlightenment). Gita’s skill lies in providing practical suggestions to follow. For this Karma, Gyan and Bhakti have to be united (Yog). Gita tells us to act and perform without expecting the fruit. Leave the fruit to God. One must meditate on God with knowledge (Gyan), Sagun (worship God with form) Bhakti, or Nirgun (worship God without form) Bhakti. When a stage comes that Karm is performed whole heartedly and mind is fully absorbed with work without caring for the result, work becomes ‘Vikarm’. When mind and body act in unison in the performance of swadharm it becomes ‘Akarm’, i.e. one has achieved inaction in action. One does not know he is performing. In a state of perfection one becomes a Sanyasi. Finally even a Nishkam Bhakt (Devotion without interest, selfish desires and attachments) has to totally surrender himself to God. In effect he merges with God and all his acts become godly. Your life becomes blissful and joyous.

     

Discovery of God

DISCOVERY  OF  GOD

We need to go back to primitive times when human beings, fully evolved, began living on the earth. Since they needed water and food they had to live near rivers and forests where fruits, animals, birds and fish were available. They learnt from animals and lived together for security. They went to the forest, ate fruits and returned to their shelters on trees. Since they were few, society had no problems till an intelligent person thought of making a sort of “dona” by connecting large leaves and using it as  a storage device—a receptacle to bring more fruits so as to avoid going to forest again and again. Unknowingly a great social revolution took place, leading to conflict of interests. A race for collecting fruits ensued. Those left out began snatching or stealing fruits from others. Hence elders thought of curbing absolute freedom of individuals and imparting value system in society. In Vedic society about 4000 years back institutions of marriage, Rajas/ Maharajas kingdoms, assignments of specific duties to sections of society namely Brahaman, Kshtry, Vaish and Shudra along with rituals were created. These were described in hymns and samhitas for easy remembrance as writing did not exist till then. Much later Maharishi Ved Vyas compiled them in Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharv Veds. Veds included ritual manuals or brahamanas and the philosophical  texts or aranyakas. To enforce the values they made the strongest in-charge as per their observation of animal behavior. This worked for a long time. Since there were quite a few men of same strength the system faltered.      

Elders then thought of some one from outside to create fear in the minds for possible adherence to society norms. Obvious outsider was one above, whose actions were visible in lightening, rains, hail storms, light, darkness, tornados, snow etc. Each society gave its own name to Almighty above, eg, Bhagwan, God , Allah etc. He would be watching the actions of all persons both good and evil. They would be rewarded or punished accordingly. This worked very well for a considerable time, till intellectuals began asking questions as to how this Almighty could watch so many.

Intellectuals again in every society thought of a way to convince fellow beings. They propounded the idea of “soul” in their bodies which remained in touch with the Almighty without interfering with them in any way. In Vedic period Almighty was called “Parmatma”, i.e. greatest of all atmas – “souls”. This worked for ages, till intellectuals began doubting and desired to see physical Almighty. They questioned as to how souls without organic matter could store all acts good and evil.

Each society solved this problem in its own way. Jews and Christians described Jesus as son of God. Muslims told their followers that Holy Quaran has been dictated to Mohammed Saheb by Allah. Their followers were satisfied that Almighty was a physical being. Vedic society had a difficult time as their Parmatma was formless. By the time of Puranic phase chronicles known as Purans were created. They evolved a novel way of showing formless Almighty.  They took recourse to  great epics, the Ramayan and Mahabharat where Shri Krishna bestowed Arjun with ‘Divya Drishti ‘ , i.e. an insight into the mind and showed him the supernatural actions Paramatma does and not as Almighty is expected to be. Arjun beseeched Shri Krishna to take off the Divya Drishti as he could not bear the vision any more. Thus everyone was satisfied about the existence of Almighty above.

What lies in the future no one knows. Both intelligent reasoning and intensity in faiths may exclusively play crucial parts. But this is also certain that man being helpless, for attaining peace of mind needs some one to fall back on in adverse times. He feels that he is carrying out only His bidding. So be it. Almighty is needed.

Wisdom demands that intelligence and faith be combined and Almighty be imagined as residing in our minds to be contacted as and when  needed.