Ancient Vedic Civilization--- Unique Example of A Functional Democracy

At the outset it is considered necessary to appreciate the distinction between 'Science','Faith / Belief',and 'Fiction'. Science establishes 'truth' by proving it and demonstrating it repeatedly. Faith / Belief intutively assumes 'truth' which can neither be proved nor demonstrated repeatedly. It may perhaps be felt by the inner self. Fiction is complete imagination devoid of basic tenets of truth.
Primitive human beings needed to live together for their very existence. Their only means of learning was by watching the behaviour of animals in their vicinity. Survival instinct brought the people together to live as a society . Individual societies thus erupted all over the world where human beings lived .
Initially there were no major problems as there were neither clothes to wear nor any personal possessions. Each day all will go and eat whatever was available and edible in the jungles. This continued till the time man developed the art of stitching the leaves together to make a receptacle ( Dauna). A social revolution had taken place. A storage device was in existence. Every one collected the edibles for future to avoid the necessity of going to jungle every day. Soon there was shortage of food and fights and quarrels became the order of the day . Thus a need arose for discipline in the society to avoid a possible extinction.
An accepted code of morality was required. Rules for morality had to be framed for individual conduct. Some one had to be put in authority for ensuring and enforcing these rules. Easiest way was to accept the strongest member as head as was prevalent in animal kingdom. Fear of punishment had to be instilled in the society. So the need for awarding punishments for delinquency emerged. Head's position was coveted by all young adults . Regular fights ensued to asume this position. The society was on the brink of disintegration. Ways and means had to be found out to avoid this .
The wise men among them felt the need of some one Supreme from outside the existing society . They had observed that among all there was fear of the Unknown , who was controling the bounties and furies of the nature. They used this vital information in creating a concept of a Supreme Being who would control every thing in this world including human beings. Then they needed to connect all the beings with the Supreme Being to justify their hypothesis to the other members of the society . Hence they wisely and cleverly thought of the concept of 'souls'( Atma ) in all nonliving and living beings on earth. They logically related these 'souls' with the highest and noblest 'Soul' - "Paramatma"- the Supreme Being with all powers at His command. This divine view was easily acceptable to all the members of the society without questioning. Supreme Being is now called by various names ,such as , God, Allah etc
Then the wise men , we now call them 'Sages' or 'Rishies",held long discussions on connecting the Paramatma with the universe and imparting Him with qualities which would be acceptable to all the persons just as a simple corollary to the basic tenet. This had to be a conscious effort for general acceptance.
Thus unwittingly and spontaneously a modern Democratic process was evolving in such ancient times. They thought that a single person be He a Supreme Being should not be assigned all the powers and authority , lest He may appear to be a Despot , a Dictator or an Autocrat . They felt that human beings would copy the Almighty some time or the other and absolute power would corrupt them with evil results. They thought of devolution of power just as democratic societies do now. A trinity was created of three semi gods. Brahma was given the responsibility of creation of universe, Vishnu for its sustenance and Mahesh / Shankar / Shiv for destroying the evil . The feature of destruction or punishment was necessary to instil fear in the minds of errants. Powers were further devolved into many more lesser gods , syuch as , Indra for controling rains, Surya for light and heat , Varun for air etc ,etc. Thus each lesser god was assigned a specific regime. They all were vested with advisory and implementing authority by the tiinity , who themselves were responsible to Paramatma for their actions.
After so many centuries modern democratic concept follows the same intutive knowledge of our old Rishies and Sages. Modern democracies have a powerful Prime Minister or President who exercises authority through his cabinet and is held in bounds by the trinity - Legislature ( Creating laws), Executive (Sustaining the society through implementation of rules and regulations ) and Judiciary ( Destruction of evil through punishment ) . This can not be brushed away by mere coincidence. Humanity owes a great deal to our wise ancestors. We pay our homage to them.

Inevitability Of Death

Inevitability of Death

Death is the only certainty in this life. That is the only Truth. Yet no one wants it to be even mentioned. It is so scary that it is better forgotten. The very thought of leaving this world all alone and empty without any support and not knowing what awaits us is itself frightening. One has to prepare for this happening in time much before the end like any other event so that the parting is easy and natural.
In Vedic philosophy death is a transition from one body to another. The soul which is indestructible departs from one body to enter another depending upon the ‘karmas’. Perhaps the next life may not be an extension of what we are living today .It undergoes
uncountable transitions before finally returning to human body to begin the cycle again.again . Even those souls which have got ‘Moksh’ would after a long long period would return to human body This way the world would never be empty of human beings.
The uncertainty of life should create a sense of urgency in us to complete the tasks we have undertaken at the earliest treating every day as special as it could be the last.
There should be no sorrow as we should enjoy every moment of our life and also ensure that we let other human beings enjoy theirs. Our hearts should be warm and humane to all other living beings.
R.K.Singhal
4.9.07

Don't quit, do your best

Don’t quit, do your Best
( Martina Navratilova )


Know how good you are and what your limit is and you are satisfied that you did your best .Lead by example and you will be able to achieve lot more and make a difference to people’s lives and ways.
But just kind of coasting won’t inspire anybody. Athletes just do not quit until they get it right ,whether it is shooting free throws or practicing serves or practicing one particular shot. It is getting up when you don’t feel like getting up for your training session ; it is going to bed early even though you want to go out with your friends, it is only drinking half a beer when you really want to drink two. Everything it takes to get to your goal- That’s the mentality of an athlete or a successful human being. Period.

Invocation to God--Bhagwan kee Stuti

Invocation Of God ---- Bhagwan Kee Stuti
( Excerpt From Shri Maithali Sharan Gupt’s Jaydrath Badh )

Ho nirvakar tathapi tum ho, bhakt vatsal sarvada,
Ho tum nirih tathapi , adbhut shrishta rachate ho sada.
Akarheen tathapi tum, sakar satat sidh ho,
Sarvesh hokar bhee sada tum prem vashya prasidh ho.

Karte tumhara hee manan muni rat tumhee mein rishi sabhee,
Satat tumhee ko dekhtein hein dhyan mein yogendra bhee.
Vikhyat vedon mein vibho sabke tumhee aradhya ho,
Koi na tumse hei badha tum aik sabke sadhya ho.

Pakar tumhein phir or kuch pana na rahata shesh hei,
Pata na jab tak jeev tumko bhatakata savishesh hei.
Jo jan tumahare pad kamal ke asal marm ko jante,
Ve mukti kee bhee kar anichha tuchh usko manate.

Hote tumahare karya sare goorh bhedon say bhare,
Hridayastha ho jo kuch karate ham vahee karte hare.
Anuchit uchit key gyan ka nirnay hamein tum sonp kar,
Bhagee banate dosh guna ka kyon hamein hey pujyavar.

Anuchit uchit key gyan ko kuch bhee nahin ham jante,
Chanchal maha ma rag dweshi key nachaye nachte.
Spasht yah bharpur hae is vishva ka natak mahan,
Yadyapi tumahara hee kiya hei jo jagat mein ho raha.

Banate nahin ho kintu uske tum swayam karan kahin,
Kya hee chatur ho dosh gun karte swayam dharan nahin.
Bahu vigya tatwa gyanion ne bat yah satat kahee,
Bhagwan! Tumhen jo isht hota sarvada hota vahee.

Jo kuch kiya tumne swayam hey dev dev huaa vahee,
Jo kuch karoge tum swayam aage sabhee hoga vahee.
Jo kuch swayam tum kar rahey ho , ho raha hai ab tatha,
Hein hetu matra sadaeev ham karta tumhee ho sarvada.

Hey Sachidanand prabho! tum nitya sarva shakti ho,
Anupam agochar, shubh paratptar eeshwar avayakta ho.
Tum dheaya gyeya ajeya ho nij bhakt par anurakta ho,
Tum bhav vimochan padma lochan punya padma sakta ho.

Tum aik hokar bhee aho rakhate anekon bhesh ho,
Adyantheen achintya adbhut atma bhu akhilesh ho.
Karata tumheen bharta tumheen harata tumheen ho srishti ke,
Charon padartha dayanidhe phal hein tumaharee drishta ke.

Hey Eesh ! bahu upkar tumne sarvada ham par kiye,
Upkar pratupkar mein kya dein tumhe iske liye.
Hei kya hamara srishta mein yah sab tumhee se hei bani,
Satat rinee hei ham tumhare tum hamare ho dhani.

Jay deen bandho sokhya sindho dev! dev dayanidhe,
Jay janma mrityu viheen shashvat vishbandhu mahanidhe.
Jay poorna purushottam janardhan jagannath jagatpate,
Jay jay vibho achyut hare mangal maye maya mate.

End




“ Twamev mata cha pita twamevam, twamev bandhushcha sakha twamevam ,
Twamev vidya dravinam twamevam , twamev sarvam mam dev devam.”

Relavent Legendry Sayings

Relevant Legendry Sayings


1. Jar, Joru,(Wife), Jamin (Land) - Enemies of brothers

2. Akla, (Wisdom), Charitra, ( Character), Hunar,(Skills) -No one can steal

3. Teer Kaman Say, (Arrow from the bow),
Bat Zaban Say, ( Spoken word), Pran,(Life) - They never return

4.Ma, (Mother), Bap, (Father), Javani (Youth) -You get once in a life time

5. Budhi Patni, ( Old wife), Paltu Kutta, (Pet Dog),
Pas Ka Dhan, (Money in hand) - They would always remain with you

6. Samay, (Time), Mrityu, (Death), Grahak, (Client) - They do not wait for any one

7. Aurat, (Women), Daulat,(Wealth), Aulad, (Children) - They are likeable

existence of God -- a riddle and mystery -- what the philosophers say

Existence of God – Profound riddle and mystery
What the Thinkers say

God is one, Truth is His name : He is the creator, complete in every thing , beyond time and beyond birth. By the guru’s grace shall you worship Him.
- Guru Nanak Dev
( The Moolmantra or central tenet of Sikhism ---- Ik Onkar Satnam/ karta purkhnirbhau nirvair /Akal murat ajuni seibhan / Gurparsad jap )



Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Kshema Yisroel, Adonal Eloihanu, Adonai Ehad .
- Deuteronomy, Old Testament
( The central tenet of Judaism. It is seen in Quranic surah, ‘The Unity’, which says;’ Qul’u’Allahu Ahad, Allahu Samad --’ “ Say, that God is one, God is eternal --”



And god said unto Moses,
‘I am that I am’
- Exodus, Old Testament



He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is Love
- The Gospel of John, New Testament


Formless is the Being bright, within and yet outside the soul; The goal of both life and mind ; unborn, the Transcending God
-Mundaka Upnishad


There is one divine Mind that keeps the universe in order and one providence that governs it. The names given to this Supreme God differ; He is worshipped in different ways in different religions, the religious symbols used in them vary.
-Plutarch, Roman Historian


God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.
- Empedocles
( Greek philosopher)


He worships God who knows Him
- Seneca
- ( Roman Historian)


Do not take liberties with the gods or weary them
- Confucius
( Pillar of old Chinese thoug



He was a wise man who invented God.
-Plato
(Greek philosopher, known to Islam as ‘Aflatoon’)

Maharshi Veda Vyasa - a great scholar and teacher

Maharshi Veda Vyasa – A Profound Scholar and Guru

Maharshi Veda Vyasa was born on a full moon day in the month of Ashadha ( July- August). The day is now known as Guru poornima or Vyasa poornima. He edited and compiled the four Veds , wrote 18 Purans, the Mahabharat and the Srimad Bhagwata Gita. The 18 major purans alone have approximately four million verses. He also taught Dattareya, a great Guru himself. Sage Vyas is called ‘Vishal-Budhi’ ( great intelligence )
. He was assisted by Lord Ganapati in writing the Mahabharat.

One of his most influential texts on philosophy is the Brahma Sutra, a short metaphysical work of 550 short sentences. Vyasa is a word synonymous with both scriptural knowledge and experience. The seat from which a guru or master delivers a talk is still called ‘ Vyasa Peeth’ as homage to Maharshi Vyasa.

Vyasa was a love child born of a Rishi and a fisher girl. Once his father, Sage Parasara, grand son of the great Sage Vasishta (one of the ancestral Sapta Rishis or Seven Sages of Hinduism ), wanted to cross the Yamuna . The boatman was having lunch just then, so his daughter Matsyagandhi rowed the Sage across instead. So charmed was he by her beauty that he created clouds of mist around the boat and the couple fulfilled their desire.The child of a Rishi is born instantly according to Hindu myth ( rishi garbham, aterm still used to scold impatient people’ What do you think this is, Rishi Garbham’

A dark complexioned son was born in nine seconds to the couple on an island ( Dvipam ) in the river. They called Krishna Dvaipayana, the ‘Dark One Born on an Island’

Matsyagandhi next attracted the eye of King Shantanu, who married her and took her home as Queen Satyavati. When Satyavati was left as a widowed queen mother , with both of her sons dead as well and no heir to the kingdom , she sent for her son Krishna Dvaipayan.

By the ancient rule of ‘ Niyoga ‘ he was asked to sleep with Satyavati’s two widowed daughters-in-law, Ambika and Ambalika, the former princesses of Kashi. Their sons were prince Dhritrashtra , father of Kauravas and Prince Pandu, whose wives Kunti and Madri ,gave birth to Karna and Pandavas. The rest is well known

Source – Seema Burman’s article in Hindustan Times