Deivathin Kural # 77 of (Vol 2) of 29 Jan 2008.

Om Namah Sivaya.

Deivathin Kural # 77 of (Vol 2) of 29 Jan 2008.

(Note 1. We are to remind the readers that herein, 'he' as a word stands for 'she' as well. When Tamil or Sanskrit words are transliterated in English, the single vowel will indicate a short utterance and a double vowel will indicate a longer pronounciation. Words in Sanskrit script not being available, the transliteration spellings and thereby the pronounciation, especially of names may be at variance from what it should be! I offer my sincere apologies for the likely errors, as the one doing the translation. ---KTSV Sarma. Note 2. It may please be noted that the talk is dated some time in the late 1930's to early 60's.

(Continued from Deivathin Kural # 76 of (Vol 2) of 27 Jan 2008.)

37. So, we are not to stop with simply doing our Karma only. We have to do only what has been declared as our duties by Vedas and as expected of us in our position and standing in the society. Then we have to offer all our actions and the effect of such actions, to Krishna / Easwara. Having attained to total clarity thus,of the mind, ie., Chitta Suddhi, we should take the Mantra Upadesa from a Satguru, take Sannyasa, stop all our Karma, rivetting all our attention on the Mantropadesa, through Dhyana and Vichara, and make the Atma Anubhava permanent. Adi Sankara guides us through these steps, to Adwaita Anubhava!

38. Karma Kandam, that was supposed to be the first tottering steps of the toddler, were made into an end in itself by the Meemamasakars, with no chance of getting out of the vicious cycle. That is the reason, that Adi Sankara objected to their stopping at the initial stages of the journey and pointed to them the way beyond, the Bhoga Bhoomi of Swarga to Adwaita Anubhava!

39. While talking about the Meemamsakas, their expertise in explaining the rules about the Karma related procedures, should all be accepted 100%. Because, while investigating the Veda Sabdas, that Saastram completely surrenders to the clarity and purity of the Sound of the Vedas! So it establishes the veracity of the Veda Sounds, beyond any doubts. Yes, Meemamsai stopped short of surrendering the Karma Phala to the Easwara! But when you look at it from another angle, it comes to my mind that, they did surrender to the 'Naada Brhmam' totally. Yes, they did not make an effort to get to know the God with their eyes and mind. How does it matter? They did surrender to the Veda, to the sound of the Veda as God! Their allegiance, steadfastness, staunchness, integrity and loyalty, to the Sabda Brhmam can only be classified in one word as 'High Fidelity' or 'Hi-Fi'. They did surrender to the God who could be heard, with their ears, if not seen with their eyes! They did not trust their brains. They did not trust their eyes. But they trusted the Sound of the Vedas! I do namaskar to them. I say, Hats off to them!

How Was the Meanings of the Veda Sounds Determined?

40. There is one sentence of the Veda or one Adhyaya, let us say. How to come to the decision on what is the meaning? How to come to a conclusion as to the message? How to know this? There are some rules for this. The Sastram of Meemamsai talks about these things. For the Law that is the Veda, Meemamsai is the Law of Interpretation. When the Government makes many Laws, there will be doubts about the purpose and meaning of mny of the Laws. Then they will create a Law of Interpretation, to explain the other Laws. Meemamsai has come into being for that purpose of interpretting the Vedas. So they have created some rules for that. They are namely, Upakrama-Upasamharam; Abyasam; Apoorvatha; Palam; Arthavadam and Upapaththi, are the six ways, by which, we can interpret the Veda Mantras, says Meemamsai.

41. Upakrama-Upasamharam. If the start and ending of a lecture or essay, makes similar statement on an issue, (whatever may be there in between), we can safely decide that the content of the preamble and conclusion, to be the main message. Upakrama, means the Opening and Upasamhara, means the Ending. Abyasam. Whatever is repeatedly contented in an essay or presentation, is likely to be the message. Let us say that you are at a seminar or an introduction to a concept, without any forewarning, suddenly on the request of the editor of the newspaper. You are at a loss for a few minutes, to know as to what is going on? You are likely to catch on to the crux of the matter, once you have heard a theme being iterated! That point being repeated is the message. That is Abyasa. Apoorvata. Say that you are listening to a series of talks, may be over a number of days. You have an idea of the continuity. You have heard ideas and concepts being iterated. Then you hear a new idea being introduced. May be that, this point being introduced now, is the thing. May be that all other concepts preceeding were quite complimentary to each other. This novel idea may be it! Not said earlier is Apoorvata. Palam. In any procedure or process, the resultant effect is the Palam. Artha Vaadam, is like the moral of the story, brought out through symbolic examples or parallels. Upapatti, is the proof of a concept and it's appropriateness.

42. Now these are the six methods used singly or in combination or collectively together, in interpreting the purport of the Veda Mantras. So the slokam says:- "upakramo upasamharou abyaaso apoorvata palam l arthavaada upapaththee cha lingam taatparya nirnaye ll". In Sanskrit, 'lingam' means identification or indication. For the 'Parmatma Tattva' or the conceptual idea of God without a start or a finish, and the Universe of Time and Space of the form of Ellipsoidal shape; the Lingam in the Siva Temple, is only a representative indicator. Lingam can also be said to be a symbol. The six principles used by Meemamsai, can also be used or is being used, in establishing or checking as to what is the message of any statement or contention. Anyhow, as far as Meemamsai goes, it tells you the method of correctly identifying the message of the Vedas, using these six lingas. It is only sad that they stopped at Karma Kandam only!

43. The Idea of Meemamsai. Let me clarify a little more on the attitude of Meemamsakars. We need not bother about whether there is God or not. Let Him be or let Him not be there or wherever. All that we have to do is to do things as given in the Vedas. That would mean strictly adhering to all the Karma Anushtana as required of us. That itself will give the needed results. The very action has to have the reaction. What do we need a God for, inbetween? If we take a leaf or fruit from our own garden, do we have to pay the Vegetable vendor? Like that, for our actions we will reap the benefits and why should we give credit to a third party? We do farming and harvest rice or wheat, depending on what we sow. If we have done a good job, we get a good crop and if we have not done our duties, the crop is not good or it fails if our work has not been satisfactory. Like that, Vedam tells us to do certain things and we do it. What do we need a God for? If you say that it is God who created this world, we couldn't care less. World has always been there, as far as we know. Why should we accept that, suddenly someone created it? "...na kadaachit aneedrusam jagat...". 'This world has never been not there! Do the work. That will give the result.' (KTSV adds:- There are many of this mentality, even to-day in this world, without knowing that they are like Meemamsakars. It used to be, crank the handle, the engine will run. It has become, press the button, things will happen!)

44. Vedam anyhow talks of things beyond the mind's reach. But if we do as per what Vedam says, it gives the necessary results. Sound is eternal. So is Vedam, like Time and Space. Vedam is there to tell us about what is beyond our comprehension, If we do good, we get good results. If we hurt others or harm others, we also get hurt or harmed. Action / Karma keeps giving us the Phala or fruits of our actions. We enjoy that and carry on. For this no need for a Swamy. We keep doing what is laid down in the Vedas for us. We should not refrain from doing so. That is Papam / Sin. That will take us to Naraka / Hell! Stopping karma is Paapam. Karmas are three types namely, Nityam, Naimittikam and Kamyam. Nitya Karmas are to be done everyday. Nimittikam is occassional, such as Grahanam or Amavasya, when Tarpanam for departed souls is to be done.
If some elder visits our house, we have to welcome him or her in a proper way. On Bhishma Ashtami day, we have to do Tarpanam for him, since he lived and died a celibate. All that is naimittikam. Kamyam, is done for a purpose. For the sake of rain, we do Varuna Japam. Dasaratha did Putra Kameshti Yagnam, for getting an off-spring, by employing Rishyasrunga Muni. He got four children. For a long life, we do the Ayush Homam. These are all Kamyam. It is not necessary that they should be done. You may do it, if you felt the need. This is the Meemamsaka Madam. There are some 'Yuktis' meaning, arguments / connections / tricks, that they talk about.

45. Nitya Karma has been defined by them as, "...akarane pratyavaya janakam, karane abyudayam...". If you do the daily Nitya Karma Anushtana, such as Sandhya Vandanam and Brhma Yagnam, it will give you, 'abyudayam', to mean those effects that will give you happiness. Good house, money, name and fame and so on, to include all material benefits and creature comforts. What is beyond all this, the highest level of what is Liberation or Self-Realization, the Atma Anubuthi, the Nirvana or Moksha; Meemamsai will not talk about that! All other benefits including 'Swarga Vasa' or stay in Heavens, can be included in, 'abyudayam'. Work means that it is measurable and has the appropriate effect. Good action giving good effect is one type. But if you do not do it, if it can create problems, it is another variety. Not doing Nitya Karma will create problems!

46. Now-a-days, youngsters are capable of talking back. If you tell him to do the daily Sandya Vandanam, he says, that is alright, I do not want the benefits of doing it. Meemamsai gives him a suitable reply! It says, that doing it is not optional! If you do not do it, it can create problems to you! If you do it and get the effect of you action, there is logic and justice. But not doing an action and so facing problems is not correct. There is injustice there! Doing Sandhyavandanam will not give me any 'Sreyas', then to say, not doing it will give me, 'upadravam' is just not on! We go to a temple and do 'Archana, Abhishekam, Annadanam' and we get special 'Phala' is all right. That is the 'karane abyudayam', type. What is this 'akarane pratyavayam'? This is not correct, we will say. Is there any justice in this? Are there situations like this elsewhere? Yes. We will talk about that in the next e-mail!

(To be continued)

Sambhomahadeva.