Sign of Divinity Character

Meaning: The line of Athervaved 10/8/44 has given instruction for us that — "God patiently serves the living beings without selfishness. Those who follow these qualities of God, they always enjoy bliss y becoming free form fear.

Message: The Supreme Father, God has made this vast creation. He only is its controller, creator, is present everywhere and provides movement to it. Has he made this tremendous effort for Himself? He is always 'akaam' (i.e. without desire). Always complete, always whole, undivided, immovable, and immortal, without fear, that God is always sober. He has made the creation of this universe for the welfare of living beings like us. He has no personnel interest; even then he has filled this world with abundance of various materials keeping in mind the interest of all.

Helping and obliging others is a great quality of God. We can obtain God's grace by adopting this quality of God. The meaningfulness of this human body also lies in that only. There is no religion comparable to helping or serving others. One whose mind is involved in helping others for him nothing is difficult to achieve in this world. Only they are called saints in whose minds, speech and deeds, the sentiment of helping others is present.

There is great importance of yagya in Vedic religion. Yagya is necessary for the celibate, for the house-holder and for the vanprasthi (one who is a house-holder but who has given up the material activities of the world). Yagya does not mean merely offering oblations of butter-oil and other things into the holy-fire. That is one meaning of yagya. The wider meaning lies in making the entire life like yagya. The real objective of yagya is to dedicate one's capacities and insight by giving up one's all facilities for making other's capacities and insight by giving up one's all facilities for making others' lives fragrant. Every man's aim should be to oblige others. Idanna mama' i.e. all this is not mine; it all belongs to God, the Supreme Father. With that sentiment we should serve others with our body, mind and money, and help others. This only should be the objective of our life.

Fie upon that body which did not observe religion, did not perform yagya and did not do any work of service or help to others? Nobody can be meaner than those, who having got this human life do not help others.

This excellent body which we have receive as compared to other animals, the blessing which God has given us of money, education, strength as compared to other men, what is it meant for? Is it only for our personal benefit? No, we should make its use for the good of others.

Everyday we should do some work of obliging others. It should be a part of our daily lives to 'show' the path to the blind, to those who have strayed from the moral path. Every deed of helping others is a step towards heaven. We should help others; oblige others if we wish to achieve heavenly joy and bliss.

Helping others is a sign of divinity of character.

Akaamo dheero amrutaha swayambhuhu

rasena trupto na kutashchanonaha

mrutyoraatamaanum

dheeramajarum yuvanum. (Athearvaved 10/8/44)

Satsang is the Good Path for Character formation

Meaning: According to the line of Rigved 6/21/12 — "Those who do good to others, tread the religious path and also lead others on the good path, they only are learned. This attitude is awakened by 'Satsang'."

Message: Great benefit is achieved by the satsang of learned and religious men. Great is the grandeur of 'satsang'. The saying in Hindi is 'sath sudharhin satsangat pai' which means even the foolish become reformed by the company of the saintly. The great poet Kalidas before his transformation was such a big fool that he was sawing the very branch of the tree on which he was sitting. Some people through a peculiar, strange procedure got him married to an unusually learned scholarly lady called Vidyottama. What a contrast! On the one hand the height of foolishness, while on the other hand the height of learning. But this contact created an intense desire in the heart of Kalidas who wrote the Sanskrit epic 'Dhaakuntala'. Tulsidas, who was a lecher, because of his wife's admonition became a 'mahatma (great soul) and became a saint.

Innumerable men's lives have been changed by 'satsang'. The best means for making the life great and divine is the company of learned men only. The Sanskrit saying is —Chandanum sheetalum loke, chadanaadapi chandrama

Chandanandrayormadhye sheetalaa sadhu sangathi.

Which means, sandal is cooling, but the moon is cooler and the company of excellent and learned men is cooler that both. The learned people have the treasure of knowledge and the energy of experience, by which they are able to charge of, enliven anyone. They have the capacity to provide solutions to every kind of difficulty. They are patient, sober and restrained and they are always ready for every type of cooperation. Just a gentle smile from them is capable of giving peace to the man suffering from physical, material and other difficulties. There is only benefit and nothing but benefit through their company.

In this world full of disease and material-ills, the company of really saintly and knowledgeable people is extremely difficult. One will be able to get everywhere the wicked and hypocritical persons moving about with the religious marks on their foreheads and bodies. The bad company of such person's increases sins, corrupts the intelligence, destroys fame, kills morality, increases immorality and intensifies anger. Bad company destroys man's present in this world and his future in the world after death.

When a person sits under the keekar-tree, he is hurt by the thorns; similarly difficulty is certain with the company of wicked men. Therefore, one must keep away from people with bad tendencies. What can one get except bad thinking in the company of atheists, and those who deride Vedas, religion and God? If we wish to do something good in life and become great, then we must keep the company of gentlemen, men of good conduct and men who are learned.

Satsang is helpful in the formation of character.

Sa no bodhi pureta sugeshutga

durgeshu pathikrudwidaanaha

Ye ashramaas urvo vahishthaastebhirna

Indraabhi vakshi vaajum. (Rigved 6/21/12)

Deed should Perform on Religious Conduct

Meaning: The line of Athervaved 17/1/29 has described about our deeds, that can be expressed as — "Human life will be safe only with good deeds and religious conduct. Therefore let us be sinless and praise worthy and always go on acquiring higher knowledge".

Message: Religiousness means religious conduct. To respect religion in every field of life to follow the injunctions of religions, is itself called 'dharma-achaaran' (or religious conduct).'Dharma' not only means religion (as regards spiritual science and worship), but it has several other meaning including 'moral duty', but unfortunately politicians and the so-called intellectuals are twisting the interpretation of the word 'dharma' to suit their selfish ends.

In reality religion is beneficial to man in every field. The question of narrowness does not at all arise in religion. In fact religion contributes to a wide and vast viewpoint. Real religion does not talk of putting blindfolds on the eyes, but enjoins us to remove them. No religion produces jealousy, malice and such perversities. Religion in the real moral sense creates an atmosphere of good thinking and love. Religion and humanity are mutually complementary. Man can never remain without religion and religion cannot remain any where except in man.

Religion means a rule for carrying out one's responsibility, in other words, 'self-accepted imposition for achieving excellence'. Every field of activity has its own 'dharma' such as teacher's dharma, student's dharma, people's dharma, leader's dharma, soldier's dharma, servant's dharma, father's dharma, women's dharma etc. Religion does not mean mere worship or rituals. Dharma is a symbol of the entire life, because it pervades every aspect of life.

Dharma is good activities, good deeds and truthful conduct. A dharmik man is a man of good conduct, is satisfied, quiet (at peace), disciplined and restrained. Never does he get angry, has no malice, does not ridicule others, nor disrespect others. His main qualities are mental purity, truthfulness in conduct and excellent sentiments for public-welfare. A religious man does not show off his religion. He is busy in his duties with a quiet and unselfish attitude. He relies upon excellence in thinking and simplicity in life. He always utilizes his total capacity and insight for deeds of public-welfare and removes the obstacles in the path with patience and firmness. A life of simplicity propounded the ideal of high thinking. Prosperity lays in simplicity only and in that only lies one's reputation.

To disrespect religion is like discarding humanness and acknowledging animal-ness. For animals there is no religion except fulfilling the needs of their bodies. If an animal coming in the path creates an obstacle, then to drive it away with its horns, to frighten it or to kill it (i.e. selfish survival) is the only 'dharma' of animals. Animals do not have a sense of respect, sentiments, discretion, tradition, society and culture. These exist for man only and therefore at every step in life he has to conduct himself according to the rules laid down in religion. The essence of religion lies only in obliging or helping others, mutual cooperation, compassion, and living together.

Conduct according to the rules laid down in the religion is the only basis for excellent character.

Respect should be done to our Older

Meaning: The line of Yajurved 16/32 says us that — "The higher and the lower, the older and the young, all when meeting should greet each other and say 'namaste' (I bow down to you) and thus honor each other. With it mutual pleasantness and harmony is maintained."

Message: The character of a man is known by the way he deals with others. A person with wickedness, ego and bad tendencies will behave discourteously with others. His speech will be dripping with harshness and rudeness. He will speak with others in a way to show them as inferior, to tease, condemn and prove them foolish. Such persons are not able to impress others about their greatness; on the contrary they become despicable because of their malice. Harsh words penetrate the heart and the affected person is shaken up because of it and becomes a permanent enemy. A person with bitter tone increases his enemies and reduces his friends.

We have to live in the society, and then we must also learn to deal with others properly. Excellent, generous and gentlemanly people always respect others and speak sweetly with them. With politeness we can get respect from others, make them our own and can also expect the same polite behavior from them. Man's real greatness lies in his gentlemanliness and its proof can be found in sweet speech and courteous behavior.

Politeness is the other name for humanness. One who lacks it must be called a human animal. Gentlemanliness begins with courteous behaviour with all, whether high or low. Whenever we meet others or when someone meets us, we should greet him by expressing pleasantness. Proper greeting is a part of common courtesy. By keeping both hands folded near the heart and saying 'namaste' (I bow to you) with bowed head, we declare that we are greeting the person with our mind, intelligence and heart. In this way mutual love, trust and friendliness increases. By addressing the youngsters with 'aap' or 'tum' and greeting them with love, increases their confidence. Without taking into consideration the age, education, wealth or status of others, the dealing or behaviour should always be polity and respectful.

In the great battle of mahabharat prince yudhishthir first went into the enemy camp, greeted with all respect his elderly relative Bhishmapeetamaha, his Guru Dronacharya and Krupacharya, the senior advisors in the enemy camp and then only commenced the battle. We must always honour those who are elder to us. The mahabharat says,"Abhivadanashilasya nityavruddhopasevinaha, chatvar tasva vardhante aayurvidya yashobalum", which means the longevity, learning, fame and strength of the person increases when he honour the elders.         

Please Value Compromise

If you can't go that extra mile, meet someone halfway. Value compromise, but don't compromise your value. Life is not a smooth journey. It should not be. It is marked by ups and downs. People and situations move in and out of life. Some are easy to handle while others are difficult to deal with. It is the difficult ones that always come to us to test out abilities of how smoothly we manage to cope with them with least resistance and friction offered in the effort.

We may not always get what we want. Does that mean we should not seek to get what we want? Or rue over the fact that what we set out to achieve is different from what we actually did?

Disagreement occurs, not so much for want of agreement as to the lack of our desire to agree. Our entrenched disinclination disposes us not to agree to something or with someone that is half as good. When we say half as good, we presuppose the half as bad already. This conflict between half as good and half as bad holds us back to arrive at a solution with regard to people and situations that are not past resolve in themselves.

When faced with people and situations caught in the patio-temporal warp, different from our own, we fall to see them in objective light. Our subjective thinking gets the better of us. As a result what's obvious to others is not so to us.

The solution to resolve a deadlocked situation or parties involved in it exists outside this warp. But for that to happen, people need to cede their stance.

This ceding of position is not acceptance of defeat or meek surrender. It is not something to be ashamed of or to feel conscious stricken about. Rather it is the brave attempt at surmounting the inflated sense of ego that comes in the way of us arriving at an agreement. It is a conscious choice.

Adoption of such a way requires us to recognize others' point of view. We can start looking for merit in others' cane only. When we presume an element of demerit in ours. For truth is never absolute. We mistakenly chase the shadow and miss the image.

Compromise is intrinsic to nature's scheme of things to avoid resistance. When a fierce wind threatens to blow away and uproot all that comes in its path, even the mighty tree, otherwise firmly standing begins to sway and bends and bows.

The fury of wind doesn't last but the submissive bending of tree manages to see it through the rough path. A blade of grass flattens itself against the swift current of water only to pop up its head when the current slackens. Nature uses this defense mechanism for survival. It also teaches us to live in harmony with one another and at peace with ourselves.

Nature provides us with the option of compromise as an effective means to achieve harmony and peace in times of personal conflict and emotional turmoil and interpersonal clash and collective wars. We only need to wake up to the idea and bring it into play to attain peace with in and outside.

It is certainly not a big price, rather welcome value addition in the objective evaluation of compromise. What are we waiting for?

Person with Good Moral Conduct

Meaning: According to the line of Rigved 1/41/8 — "Those who befriend people who are religious and with good conduct, protect them and honor them with good dealing, meals, clothes etc, they always get happiness. One should always be away from wicked people. Those who befriend religious souls are learned."

Message: The relationship of father and son, mother and son and husband and wife exist in animal species also, even though it may be for a short time only. But the 'Guru-shishya' relationship i.e. the one between the teacher and the student, more specifically the one between the saint or sage and the disciple exists only among human beings. Animals and birds do not impart their knowledge and skill to others. This specialty is in human beings only. It is man's natural activity to give others the benefit of his knowledge and to benefit through others. Man constantly gives and takes knowledge, experience, imagination and feelings or sentiments. Because of this specialty only, the tradition of 'Guru and shishya' has developed.

Animals of various types are physically more powerful compared to man, but in intelligence, only man is the best and the fruit of knowledge available through this intelligence is in itself like nectar. Everything in the world is perishable. Man also is subject to death, but becomes immortal because of his knowledge. There is great importance of sympathy and compassion in human-life. It is animalism to use alone whatever is available. The activity of distributing the available so that others too benefit by it, makes the person a human being. A Guru gives not only the knowledge from the books, but also contributes to a man's culture. Only school-teachers or some people in charge of a hermitage are not the only teachers. We keep on learning something or other from innumerable religious men of good conduct. Sometimes we come into contact with such people whose conduct has molded our conduct, whose life has influenced our life, whose personality has shaped our personality. Without their saying anything, we imitated them and learnt quite a lot.

It is man's pious duty to serve, welcome and honor such learned great men. The friendship of such men is always helpful in increasing the god qualities within us, and brings happiness, peace and prosperity.

But today, the situation has turned upside-down. Why blame the teacher only? Everywhere in the society uncultured men with bad tendencies are found. At a very tender age,, the minds of children are influenced with very bad type of culture. As a result, all-round indiscipline and anarchy prevail. Wherever you see, you find wicked men of bad conduct. Men of good conduct can be counted on fingertips only. Even then if we wish, good men also can be found.

We must always protect ourselves from wicked men of bad conduct and keep friendship of religious, gentlemanly persons of god conduct only.

Maa vo dhanantum maa shapantum

prti voche devayantum

sumnairidva aa vivaasay. (Rigved 1/41/8)