The very first lesson Swami gave when He declared His identity at Uravakonda was: "Manasa bhajare Gurucharanam, Dusthara bhava sagara tharanam." That is to say: First know that you are in this cycle of birth and death. It is the ocean of worldly life. Resolve on crossing it fix on a Guru or the Name and Form of God which appeals to you; lastly, dwell on His Glory, do bhajan, but do it with all your mind. One, who is deluded by this relative reality is the worldly person, one who is aware that it is only relatively real is the spiritual practitioner (sadhaka).

By chanting of the Divine name, even mountains of sin will vanish like mist into thin air. Human should think of God at all places, at all times, and under all circumstances with pure love and total faith. The mantras are like the addresses of the deities. When they are chanted with proper intonations, they will yield the desired results.

Angavathi refers to the worship of the five elements - earth, water, fire, air, and ether - considering them as manifestations of the Divine. The Bharatiyas (Indians) extol the Earth as Bhudevi (Mother Earth), water as Gangadevi (goddess of water), fire as Agnideva (god of fire), and air as Vayudeva (god of wind) and offer their salutations to them.

Anyavathi refers to picturing the many faceted Divinity in various names and forms and worshipping them.

Human is not simply a co-ordinated collection of limbs, senses and sensations. Human is much more than a total of all these organs and parts - they are but the crude image that came out of the mould. Human is all these, governed by intelligence, sharpened by the modes and memories earned through many births. They have to be ground, scraped, polished, perfected, smoothed, softened, through the intellect and the higher impulses and the pure intentions and ideals. Then, human becomes the ideal candidate for Divinity, which is human's real destiny.

The impulses will be rendered pure and the intentions will be raised to the higher level, if human decides to dedicate all deeds, words and thoughts to the Lord. For this, faith in One Supreme Intelligence, which conceived, conserves and consumes this Universe, is essential. Human's intelligence itself is an instrument with a limited range of efficiency; there are many goals which it cannot achieve. These can be reached only by the descent of Grace and Power of One Supreme from above.

There was a famous painter who approached Krishna and arrayed before Him all his masterpieces and all his titles, medals and trophies. He offered to paint a portrait of Krishna, an offer which was gladly accepted. Sittings were granted and the portrait was ready; but it was discovered by all that looked at it that the picture was somehow different from the Krishna who gave the sittings. The painter was graciously given a few more chances, but every time his picture was found quite off the mark, for it depicted a figure which all agreed was not that of the Krishna who gave the sittings. The pride of the artist was pricked fiat; he hung his head in shame and left the City utterly humilated. Narada saw him on the outskirts of the city and hearing his plight, the sage told him, The Lord has a multitude of forms; indeed, all forms are His. So, you cannot fix one form on Him and succeed in painting Him. I shall advise you how to proceed and took him aside.

The influence of the Divine is such that while you are contemplating it, all traces of envy and greed will disappear from the mind. Here is an example. The boy Krishna had entered a gopee's house and was just standing beneath the pot of curds when she discovered Him. Krishna ran out into the street and the gopee (cow-herd girl) pursued Him, and wanted to catch Him soon, for she was so pained that the boy was running in the hot Sun. She never worried about the loss of curds or milk or butter, but the very thought of Krishna's tender feet walking over the hard stones in the Sun was something she could not bear. The Divine love that Krishna showered, made every one forget everything else. The illiterate simple gopees, the old revered warrior and persons of all types, grades and professions found in Him their chief source of wisdom, grace and inspiration. That is the characteristic of Divine Incarnations, at all times.

In one of his speeches Nehru had to acknowledge that there is a destiny that shapes events, irrespective of individual efforts. Everyone has to come to that conclusion, sooner or later, for, there is a limit to the capacity of human to control events. Beyond that, an unseen hand takes over the wheel of events. You may call it destiny, another may call it providence and a third call it God. Names do not matter. It is the humility and purity of heart that matters, the wonder, the sense of awe that matters.

Faith in God is the best reinforcement for spiritual victory. When you revel in the contemplation of the splendour of the Lord, nothing material can attract you; all else will seem inferior; the company of the godly and the humble alone will be relished. Spirit can only be awakened, realised through individual discipline and the Grace of God. These two can be won through Love, purity and service to others.

Do not serve for the sake of reward, attracting attention, or earning gratitude, or from a sense of pride at ,our own superiority in skill, wealth, status, or authority. When you succeed, ascribe the success to the Grace of God who urged you on, as Love within you. When you fail, ascribe the failure to your own inadequacy, insincerity, of ignorance.

This is the age of a novel civilisation. Science and technology have expanded vastly today. Their gifts have made life more comfortable and pleasant. But they have brought with them grief and fear, loss and calamity in far greater degree. More than all, they have bred domination and concentration of authority.

The emergence of discordant notes has silenced the call of the Divine from within human. Human is eager to make own life a merry-go-round but it is turning into a painful tangle of troubles. Person does not try to discover the cause of this contradiction. Instead, one wastes years in empty ephemeral pomp and pretense. Person is caught in the coils of speed and splash - films, planes, radio, video, television etc. Person is restless and has to encounter countless worries. Fear of imminent war or famine has gripped human. Fear, while alone at home, fear while on the street. When insecurity prevails, how can human being be happy?

What is the meaning of the expression "human progress"? It means raising the level of moral life and brightening daily lives with goodness and godliness. Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness. The individual is valued only on the basis of the level of transformation he has attained. Human's freedom is independence from externals. Perfect freedom is not given to any human. Lesser the number of wants, the greater is the freedom. Hence perfect freedom is absolute desirelessness.

Close friends of worldly desires are closely connected greed and miserliness. Which may be is the result, when ones follow their impulses tells a story-parable below.

Two brothers were famous for their miserliness; the elder was the worse culprit. One day, he had to go some distance to another village. Half way along the road, about five miles off, a doubt arose in his mind whether his younger brother had put out the oil lamp at home as soon as he left. So, he returned fast and asked the brother inside. He said, "Do you doubt my intelligence? I put it out as soon as your back was turned; but, pray, why did you walk back? Consider how much your chappals have worn out by these extra five miles!" The elder brother replied, "What? Do you doubt my intelligence? I have tucked the chappals under my arm; I walked back barefooted."

But, do you know the result of their miserliness. The younger brother was stung by a scorpion in the dark; the elder was bitten on the bare foot by a cobra on the road.

Education must reveal the path which enables human to tap the dormant spring of Divinity within, without getting entangled with the mass of created objects. It has to lay stress on spiritual transformation as more fundamental than even moral uplift.

The real sign of an educated person is the attitude of sameness towards all. Education does not lead from nature to the all pervading Atma. It leads human to study nature, with the unifying Atmic outlook. When the powers of Nature are harnessed to narrow selfishness, they recoil on him/her as plagues. When they are revered as revelations of the Atma, they become beneficial. (Education equips human with this insight. The process by which human foregoes his/her freedom and is bound in the net of desire can never be education).

Education has to make a person the concrete embodiment of the higher Reality, that is the basis of the material universe, of life in the world, of the expanding dominions of the mind, and of the human community. Individual is the mirror which reflects the Divinity inherent, evident in every expression of character. The process of education has to inspire to discover the Truth, seeking it through the study of the objective world. Fulfilment lies in the awareness of that Truth which, when once known, does not need correction or modification or revision.

Below is a parable for contemplation. Enjoy how the sage Narada respects the Lord's contemplation and the Lord respects the devotee and serves him/her, as He indwells in devotee's heart.

Lord Vishnu asked Narada which among the five elements was the greatest. Narada replied earth is the greatest. Vishnu remarked, 'Three-fourth of the earth is enveloped with water. In such a case, which among the two is greater?' Narada agreed that water was great. Vishnu said, 'But the sage Agastya drank up the ocean in a
single gulp. So, is Agastya greater or water?' Narada replied, 'you are right my Lord, Agastya is greater than water.' Vishnu asked again, 'But this Agastya is a tiny star in the sky (akasa). Now is this star greater or the sky?' Narada replied, 'It is the sky that is greater.' The Lord agreed and said, 'Your understanding is correct.The sky indeed is greater. In His incarnation as Vamana, the Lord asked for three steps from king Bali. And in the course of taking the gift of three steps, Vamana assumed the form of Thrivikrama and covered the entire earth in one step, and the space from the earth to the sky in second, and there was no room for the third step. King Bali had to offer his head for the third step. So, now, is God great or the sky?'. Narada replied, 'Swami, when the mere foot of the Lord covers the entire sky, how much greater His full form would be? God indeed is greater.'

'God, who envelops the entire cosmos, dwells in the heart of His bhakta (devotee). So now, is the heart of the devotee greater or God?' asked Vishnu. Narada replied, 'Indeed, the devotee is greater than God.' God is Bhakta Paradheena, He is the servant of devotees. There is none superior to a devotee in this world.

God is asking to come near, but very often person are drifting away from Him. Such person is pictorially as an old man who was warned when he proposed to go through a narrow road that there was a cobra on the road side; but, he said that he had not seen it and so, he was not prepared to believe it. He had to believe it when it bit him, but then it was too late to benefit by that knowledge.

Never forget that you are the Infinite, Cosmic Consciousness (Atma); with that consciousness, you can play any role on the world stage. The Om remembers you it in every second. The Om indicates the Omniself, the Paramatma, the Cosmic and Trans-Cosmic Consciousness. Every moment, in every cell, in every atom, the Om resounds, reverberates, activates, energises, sustains and fills the Universe. The Vedas assure: "Ayam Atma Brahma" (This Atma - Soul - is Brahman).

Due to lack of rest, the body weakens. This causes the breathing process to speed up. This in turn spoils the lungs. As the blood circulation also speeds up, a stage arrives when blood pressure sets in. Medicine cannot cure it completely and hence Yoga is prescribed. (It was shown that the bliss and vitality enjoyed after two hours of sleep, could be got by just twelve minutes of Yoga).

Pathanjali prescribes some major disciplines as prerequisites for deriving the benefits of Yoga, notably with respect to diet. The food taken is to be both limited and nutritious. Since food and water are only medicines to cure the ailment of hunger and thirst, they should be taken in that spirit. Pathanjali states that excess food weakens the nerves, causing blood pressure problems. Man becomes prone to excitement easily.

Some directions about Pranayama. This kind of Yoga consists of three parts, each to be done one after the other. It starts with Puuraka, then Kumbhaka and finishes with Rechaka.

Puuraka is the inhalation of breath. One must note carefully the time taken for this process, the duration of time can be justified as per the capacity of the person. Care must be taken to see that gasping and such kinds of exhaustion must not occur during the process.

Rechaka: Once thus retained, it must be exhaled in the same time limit as that taken for inhaling and retention. Caution to be exercised while doing Pranayama. While doing Pranayama, one must not concentrate or aim to hold the breath for as long as possible. One must instead concentrate on assuring that all the three processes take the same amount of time. Otherwise, this process spoils the lungs. Doing the same under an inexperienced teacher also can prove to be disastrous.

Dharana is the singlepointed concentration of some chosen object. If practised well, it leads us on to Dhyana (meditation) easily. It is said that with the power of Yoga, one can control anything, including the evil from entering the mind through the senses, in any form.

Puurva Meemaamsa (analysis of Vedic statements concerning rituals) deals with the Pravritthi marga (path of worldly desire) and the Utthara Meemaamsa with the Nivriththi marga (path of renunciation). Puurva Meemaamsa deals with the Kaarana (reason) and the Utthara Meemaamsa, with the Kaaryam (duty), which is Jnanam.

The Puurva Meemaamsa deals with the regulations and methodologies of devotion and wisdom. Both are related to the Karma kanda (the field of action). It traces the route to realising Brahman as first starting with Karma, then on to Dharma and finally to Brahma. This is mentioned as Karma Jignaasu, Dharma Jignaasu, and finally Brahma Jignaasu.

Karma Jignaasu pertains to all the actions performed by human. Even breathing and blood circulation are described as a kind of Karma. In terms of worldly explanations, the actions in daily life must be in ideal proportions.

Dharma Jignaasu may be compared to the tasting of the chutney made. Tasting brings out any defects in it. This may hence be compared to the identification of defects.

Brahma Jignaasu can explain by understanding that there is no permanent joy obtainable from this world is the Dharma Jignaasu and introducing this bliss into daily life through introspection is the Brahma Jignaasu.

Sage Jaimini investigates the paradox that though the body is temporary, why emphasis is laid on our Karma (bodily action). This, he concluded, was necessary to purify the mind. Hence the body must enter into actions.

Jaimini states that good education must impart good habits, ideals, truth, responsibility and discipline besides intellectual knowledge.

The text advocates a very logical method to anger control and to counter obstacles. For example when grief strikes, it advises that one must think of joyful incidents. Control of anger and overcoming the obstacles in daily life, is also dealt with. The Puurva Meemaamsa states that one must slowly analyze the situation when angry. By the time a conclusion is reached, tempers cool down considerably. One may also do any one of the
following to control temper:

1. Drink a glass of cold water;

2. See the mirror, where your distorted features will repulse you enough to cool you down;

(The war of Kurukshetra, for which the Mahabharatha is the background and the stage, lasted for eighteen days; other wars have lasted longer, seven years,' thirty years and even a hundred years. However long, they ended. But the battle between Jivi and Maya, the individual and the fascinating, deluding wiles of the really unreal Nature with its enticing multi-fariousness - this battle is continuous. But in trying to recognise the Divine Self, human may perform different rites and create some crude forms and consider it as the Divine).

There are some disciplines and some dharma to follow if human desires to take off the bandage and see the Divine Light and all things in this new Light. This worldly disease can be cured by the Vedic drug and the regimen of restrictions and regulations, the various do's and dont's which these Brahmins are following. They are very hard limitations on conduct and on the details of daily life. It requires great faith, courage and hardihood to hold them as true and put them into practice. Honour those who have that faith and that courage.

One of main rite's done as per the Karma kanda (a part of the Vedas dealing with action) is yajna (sacrifice). The Veda Purusha (Vedic God-head) is the spring out of which Ananda wells. The meaning and significance, of every single hymn and rite of the Vedas is yajna.

If bhrama (delusion) dies, you become Brahman (the Supreme Spirit), or rather, you know that you are Brahman. All this literature, all this effort, all this yajna, all this teaching is just to hold a mirror before you, so that you may see the Divine Yourself.

Human is born from Brahman, grows through Brahman and merges in Brahman. Brahman pictorially means freedom from bhrama (delusion).

In the world, God has incarnated as human incarnation in five different forms. These forms are based on the different aspects of the Divine.

1. Nitya Avatar.

2. Visesha Avatar.

3. Avesha Avatar.

5. Poorna Avatar.

Nitya Avatar, Visesha Avatar and Avesha Avatar have five to nine kalas (aspects) of the Lord. Only in the Poorna Avatar has all the sixteen aspects of the Divine present.

In this context, every human being must be deemed as Avatar as he has some aspect of the Divine. There is really no difference between the Avatars and yourselves except with regard to the number of aspects of the Divine present in each one. These aspects can be enhanced by right conduct and by developing Divine love.

Except as Avatar, God does not give a separate vision of the Divine to human in any other form.

In what form can you worship the Divine whose form is cosmic? What is it that you can offer to the One who is everything? The world has worshipped Him under different names but all these names represent the One Atma. True worship consists in regarding all the forms as one and worshipping the Divine in the form of Love and Truth. It is subtler than a sub-atomic particle. From ancient times to the present all kinds of terms have been used to describe the Divine but no one has been able to demonstrate the real truth about the Divine. How can the omnipresent Divine be described or demonstrated? Can anyone declare that something is Brahman and something else is not Brahman?

Today one can give an amazing scientific discourse on the world, society and many other things. One may appear logically convincing. One may even expound in different ways the nature of the Divine in human form. A pandit may attempt to describe the Divine, but no one has known or can know the true nature of the Divine as Absolute in its Cosmic and Universal fullness.

Forms of worship, rituals and beliefs from universal aspect are purely personal and do not relate to the universal. "Divinity" means that which is whole, all-embracing. Though God may be worshipped in various forms, it is essential to recognise the unity that subsumes all of them. Worship may assume any form, but worship itself is one and the same is the conclusion by the Vedas and the Upanishads.

It has to underline there is no meaning in worshipping God as the embodiment of Truth, and not adhering this truth in daily life.

Some examples for personal contemplation. People torture the draught cattle that they use in cultivation, but worship the stone image of a bull (the sacred vehicle of Shiva).

The Vedas are called Veda-matha (Mother Veda, the heritage of spiritual treasure that reveals the aim and purpose of human life and takes one step by step, towards the goal of Self-realisation). The Vedas are the basic teaching for all humanity; it has the Karma kanda, the Upasana kanda and the Jnana kanda. Bhakthi or Upasana (through the karma which it sublimates and sanctifies) will lead you on to the highest jnana (wisdom). It is enough if you take a ticket and sit in the "through" carriage of the train; it will take you through many junctions to the distant destination. The karma of purchasing a ticket and getting into the carriage and the bhakthi or intense desire to reach the terminus (without any urge to alight at intermediate stations) will take you through a series of junctions and stations, right to the very place where you want to go.

The Vedas are a reservoir of joy. The proofs and arguments they quoted for the purity of the rites and establishment of a happy social order, which is the product of the rites, they are in you already, they are for you. You have those messages whispering their words of warning and encouragement in your inner ear; it is up to you to be silent for a while, so that you may hear it and benefit by it.

The saints said that the word is itself Rigveda. The Yajurveda is the form of the Mantras that originate in the mind and life is itself Samaveda. (Words originate in the mind. But, when it comes to the tongue it appears different under different situations. When it goes beyond the mind, the word becomes Truth itself. Vedas call this truth as Bhur. It is the radiation. In the materialization of body, this truth is all-pervasive and is the vibration of that truth which is the conscience. Hence from Radiation comes Vibration; from Vibration comes Materialization). Samaveda (life) gives breath. From this breath comes the song. The three Vedas hence collectively state that God who is the effulgent One is most pleased by songs.

Six great works based on Vedas. They form the ancient Philosophical systems,the Shad-Dharshanas that shed light on Indian culture. Explaining the Vedas explicitly, they share with the world the wisdom contained therein.

They explain incidents and events that pertain to all the three times of past, present and future. They have taught human how to avoid suffering, restlessness etc., and lead a purposful life by removing the dirt and delusions. They explicitly state that the Vedas, the Vedantas (The final part of the Veda in which the true principle of God is described), the Vedangas (Six branches of post-Vedic studies revered as auxiliary to the Vedas) and the knower of Vedas are all one and the same. They explain the nature of the mind which is responsible for all intelligence, intellect and discrimination. These six great Dharshanas (texts) are: Nyaaya, Vaisheshika, Saankhya ,Yoga, Puurva-Meemaamsa and Utthara Meemaamsa.

Anumaana pramaana is based on doubt and inference. One sees cranes in the distance, for example, and infers that water Could be available there. Similarly, one infers about fire by seeing the smoke.

Upamaana pramaana is based on comparison. It enables us to understand many things that cannot be otherwise easily understood, by comparing them to some others that can be. By studying the Praathibhasika (apparent reality) and the Vyaavahaarika (empirical reality), one can infer about the Paaramaarthika (transcendental). For example, by studying the foam (empirical reality) that originates from the waves (apparent reality), one can understand the reality of the Ocean (transcendental reality). This is possible because both the foam and the waves originate from the Ocean, and mirror its character in them.

Shabdha pramaana is based on the testimony of the sound that the Vedas, Vedantas, Upanishads (the phylosophical sections of the Veda's. Aspirant is receiving knowledge by conversations between self-realized souls and aspirants) and the Bhagavad Gita came into existence, intended to understand the personal character of the Absolute Truth. But, to be able to perceive this testimony, one must be properly attuned and extremely careful. It needs one to travel beyond the mind and the senses. At this stage of Samaana chittha (mental equanimity), sound becomes the very form of God.

Shabdha Brahma mayee (sound),

Charaachara mayee (all pervasiveness),

Paraathpara mayee (Transcendental nature),

Vaang mayee (speech),
Nithyaanandha mayee (blissful),

Jyothir mayee (Effulgence),

Maya mayee (illusion) and

Shree mayee (prosperity).

In this way, Nyaaya Dharshana lays down the four methods of gathering proof. Nyaaya Dharshana declares that it is the human conscience that is the best judge. Conscience is beyond the mind, it is the vibration of life.

This scripture speaks about different specialities of unchanging five elements (from aspect of human's perception), of different kind of sounds and uncahnging Primordial Sound, Om.

The truth propounded by the Vaisheshika Dharshana is equality of men and women. Men and women differ only in gender and one is not weaker than the other. Just as woman cannot work without man's help, man also cannot function without woman's help. Basing its proof on the world, this Dharshana also states that society is in trouble when it does not accept this equality and attempts to diversify the essential unity in both men and women.

Do good to the society is another speciality expressed in Vaisheshika Dharshana. When human constantly asks for happiness and peace he/she expects the society to give it. If human asks what namely he/she has done for the good of the society, there is no answer Only if one does good to the society and strives to promote peace in the world, can human expect good from the society and peace from world.

The Shukla Yajurveda has made an exhaustive study of unity in diversity. The same shows up in the Vaisheshika Dharshana, which states "All are birds of the same house (family); all people are children of the same mother; all are flowers of the same creeper; all are citizens of the same nation."

With these explanations, the Vaisheshika Dharshana points out the essential unity among all people. (Thus the Vaisheshika appeals to them not to fight over petty matters).

3. Saankhya Dharshana gave to the world Sage Kapila. Saankhya Dharshana is also called Kapala. Elucidating that only a person with sense control is true human, it states that it is impossible otherwise to live in this physical frame with infinite powers.

At sight, this Dharshana appears to refute the statements in the Nyaaya and Vaisheshika Dharshanas. It argues that nature is a combination of numbers and is full of conflicting forces. The Saankhya Dharshana splits these conflicting forces into just three subheads to facilitate an easy understanding - that of the Jivi (Individual), Prakrithi (Nature) and Paramatma (Creator).

Yet another fact elucidated in the Saankhya Dharshana is the relation between human and Atma. Human has to submit to Divinity one day whatever be his/her reservations. That is the goal of life. Instead of realizing it at some later stage of life it is better to do it now and start the process.

This Dharshana states that it is a demonic quality to forget God. Human must remove the demonic quality, develop the human quality and reach to Divinity. Namasmarana is the best way prescribed for the Kali Yuga to attain liberation.

Human also must never neglect anything however small, teaches the Vaisheshika. Tiny termites may destroy an entire block of wood.

The Vaisheshika Dharshana states the differences between two atoms. But the Saankhya Dharshana states that the entire Creation has in the microcosm an atomic* structure.

(The article "Swami teaches.... The Vedas are the root of all dharma" continued. Read part 2).