DEIVATHIN KURAL # 132 (Vol #3) Dated 30 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 132 (Vol #3) Dated 30 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page 582 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

63. Though we do not give much publicity to ‘Ahimsa’ as the Buddhists do, those who have opted to become Sanyasi-s in our religion, cannot even dream of eating meat dishes. But when their religious Bikku-s eat all sorts of non-vegetarian dishes, it is but natural for the common man to make fun of such behaviour. But, their reply on being questioned about this is a facile one! They say, “Our Buddha did not talk about Aahaara at all. He told us not to kill. We do no kill any animal ourselves. But when others kill and sell the meat, we purchase the same as any material for food.

64. Is it the supply which creates the demand or is it the demand which creates the supply? Is the meat eater purchasing the meat out of his kindness for the butcher to sell his merchandise? I am sure that Thiruvalluvar had this very conundrum in his mind when he wrote this Kural, “thinnar poruttaal kollaadu ulagu enin yaarum vilai poruttaal oon tharuvaar ill” - Kural 256. This means that, ‘if there were no meat eaters in the world, the butcher’s shop would have had no business to be!’ The culpability for killing clearly rests with the non-vegetarian, says Thiru Valluvar.

65. Whatever people like Valluvar may say, Buddhists remained fond of their meat eating. The religion was on the wane in India and found new adherents and followers in Ceylon, Burma, Malaya and far eastern countries. We in South India have had a long standing relationship through sea trade with these countries. So the information spread far and wide that there were not many selling dressed meat in these countries. This need was filled by the Muslim families who were living on the east coast of south India from Tanjore - Nagapattinam - Ramanathapuram.

66. In our country itself, in places where Buddha and Asoka’s influence was mainly felt such as Eastern U.P. and Bihar, there are more per capita non-vegetarians. In these areas and Bengal where people are affected by floods and heavier rains, dependence on other than vegetarian food becomes a compelling necessity. In a lighter vain, the fish in these areas is called. ‘jala pushpam’, meaning ‘flower of water’. In Tamil there is a similar phrase for fish as, ‘neer vazhakkai’, meaning ‘water banana’! So, I was drawing attention to the fact that in some places the habit is borne out of economic and natural contingencies. But in other areas, if there are more non-vegetarians sans any valid excuse of contingencies, it is only due to the influence of Buddhists, amongst whom, ‘Ahimsa’ was a general rule, not followed by any! When you go to extremes, contrariness becomes the rule!

67. Successive progression from where we are towards the Ideal, is what is possible and practical. That is the way our Saastraa-s have indicated. The material used to make the food, and the persons doing that should both be suitably of the Saattvic quality, is the ideal situation. Gradually even the common man should be able to do so. For all others to get motivated to aspire towards that ideal, there should be some who are demonstrating to others, living a life seen to be worthy of emulation.

68. That is the role of the Brahmin in the Hindu society. So, it is essential that he should learn (that is, Adhyayanam) his portion of the Vedas and some additional art and craft such as Jyotisham or Ganitam or Handicraft such as Carpentry or war like arts such as Wrestling or Archery, etc., faultlessly to be able to teach others and train the trainers (that is, Adhyapakam)! His teaching does not end there. By example he is to teach others the high ideals of sacrifice, by living uncaring for name or fame, power or position, material or status or influence! It is this teaching that is more important! Saastraa-s have given this heavy responsibility only to the Brahmin in the whole social set up! Instead of understanding this, people are mistakenly complaining that he has been given too many facilities and privileges!

69. The Brahmin has the onerous responsibility of maintaining the Veda Mantra-s in memory in a letter perfect, intonation perfect and emphasis perfect condition. So, such a person’s body and mind is not to be corrupted by inputting liquor, meat and such stuff as per the Saastraa-s.

70. ‘Saiva’ Aahaaram. The most palatable items of Saattvic quality are these vegetarian ‘ahimsa’ food only, known as Saivam. Thiru Valluvar devotes a whole chapter of ten couplets for this vegetarianism called ‘pulaal maruttal’! This word ‘Saivam’ came into being because amongst non-brahmins in the South, they were mainly devotees of Siva who were uniformly vegetarians! So Saivam as a word evolved to mean vegetarianism and ‘A-saivam’ came to mean non-vegetarianism! Actually these devotees of Siva used to meticulously avoid anything with the slightest capability of affecting their minds and brains. They were known as those who had abnegated the ‘three Kaayam-s’. Here it does not mean the Sthula, Sookshma and Kaarana Sariraa-s. It means, those who have set aside usage of Venkaayam (onion), Ullikaayam (garlic), and Perunkayam (asafoetida). All these three items are required for making any non-vegetarian dish. All three are materials which impart Rajasa and Tamasa qualities!

71. It is funny to note that if it is Saivam denoting vegetarianism in the South India, in the North, it is Vaishnavam which is indicative of vegetarianism! In the South, Siva, Ambal, Pillaiyar with Murugan and sometimes with Ayyappa too, is the divine & happy, first family. Here Siva is a peaceful Shanta Swaroopi, a family man! In the North, Siva is Rudra the Kaala Bhairav and Parvati is Kali or Durga, both ferocious war like figures. Their devotees have always imbibed liquor and eat meat. Then in the North, Vallabhacharya, Ramananda, Chaitanya have all been influential enough to have mass following. They all preached certain philosophies very close to what Ramanuja Acharyar stood for. They all believed in Vishnu Pooja. North Indian Jains, who were staunch vegetarians already, when they returned to Hinduism, were all absorbed into Vaishnavism, there by adding to the number of Vegetarians who were Vaishnavites. So, Vaishnava Aahaaram in the North India is synonym for Vegetarian!

72. In the South, the motto of Saivam is ‘Anbe Sivam’, meaning, Love is Sivam. Here when Jains converted back to Hinduism enmasse, the one who caused such conversion was Thiru Gnana Sambanda Moorthigal. Thiru Naavukku Arasar and Appar were contemporaries of that period. They were all in some way responsible for the mass movement of devotees of Siva. So, it is but natural for vegetarianism and Saivam to be synonymous in the South India!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 131 (Vol #3) Dated 28 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 131 (Vol #3) Dated 28 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page 577 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

53. Though in general, what is called 'pazhaiyadu' in Tamil, meaning, old or previously cooked, is 'yaata yaamam' (mentioned in the previous paragraphs quoting B.G. Chapter 17 Sloka 10), it is not forbidden for the hard working farmer and labour class of people. It is also not taboo for the poor, who cannot afford to waste rice already cooked. He has no access to the modern amenities such as fridge. When you have such amenities, we should still cook only enough to last that particular meal and not dump the fridge with left over's of every meal!

54. But this 'pazhaiyadu' has a special attraction of its own. After the days meals are over, they used to soak the balance cooked rice in water, to temporarily stop the process of its bio-degradation. In the morning some salt, butter- milk, coriander leaves and green chillies and gingelly oil used to be added. Now this mix, with avakkai oorugai used to make a delightful combination! Sick people are also permitted some of these forbidden items. After they are cured of whatever the illness, they are to expiate by some 'praayas chittam' by partaking 'pancha kavyam'! Children below eight years and old people above 80 are not forbidden anything! Mostly by that age one would have overcome most of the vicarious desires anyhow! As it is, they would have learnt also, how to avoid the temptations, with the failing health and poor digestion! So, as a matter of grace as though, Saastraa-s give them full freedom of their choice.

55. Instead of having all rules, restrictions and regulations uniformly applicable to all people of all ages and ashrama-s and varna-s; the Saastraa-s have variations in it's applicability. This is a peculiarity of this Sanatana Dharma, which is also the reason for its longevity. In the matters of food, the restrictions applicable to others are not as stringent as applied to the Brahmins. The avoidance of extremes and over indulgence, is applicable to all.

56. For the person who has to work hard, putting in physical labour, the restrictions as per Saastraa-s are not very harsh. For the Brahmin the rules are rather stringent so as to keep his desires reigned in, that he has to sacrifice most of the luxuries and live an ideal life, for emulation by others. Since only some are required to be strict vegetarians, looking at them, others are also motivated to at least avoid animal meat and hard liquor on some special days. Later this vegetarianism and avoidance of hard liquor becomes preferable. In many castes above the age of 60 and 70 people are becoming non drinkers and vegetarians by preference thus.

57. When you keep the ideal as exemplary and be more practical, then the ideal becomes more preferable, with maturity. If you make the ideal universally applicable, then the observance is more in breaking of the rules. "Saattvic aahaaram is ideal. Liquor and animal meat is to be avoided and abhorred eventually, if not immediately now." That is the message to all castes, in our system of graded applicability.

58. Vegetarianism as an ideal, being a must only for one set of people in our country, others are motivated to follow the example on their own volition, without compulsions by Saastraa-s. This is clearly borne out by the fact that amongst us are more vegetarians then anywhere else, under any other system in the whole world! When other caste people are able to say with pride in our society that they are vegetarians for more than two or three generations, it is proof enough that there is respect for self-control! Another variation is when some say, "In our house they do take non-vegetarian food. But they would rather not make a show of it in my presence"! This shows that when the ideal is the compulsion for some and option for others, there is encouragement for people to follow the ideal voluntarily!

59. Any subject when spoken about a lot, becomes less so in action. It is a vicious cycle that you talk more about it as though to cover up the fact that you are not doing enough. From the time of Gandhi, there is more talk about 'Ahimsa' that is, non-violence, while at the same time there is every variety of violence, in all walks of life! For generations when the brahmins have been vegetarians, the brahmin boys are erring in this respect too!

60. In the Buddhist Religion there was wide spread talk about not causing any harm to any life form by mind or word or body by anyone! Doctrine of non-violence is very pleasing to hear. But the question as to whether it is practicable remains a question only. Then it is seen that in countries where Buddhism is wide spread, like Japan, China, Tibet, Bhutan and so on, what is anathema for other non-vegetarians, such as, snake, frog, dog and such are also eaten away. A small fraction of animals that are sent to the abattoir, when sacrificed in a Yagna, Buddha felt very bad and moved to tears! But it is a fact of life that Brahmins are strict vegetarians for generations and Buddhist Bikkus can eat anything moving!

61. Not only now when Buddhism has spread all over the world, in our own country too this has been so for many hundreds of years. In Sanatana Dharma, other than Brahmins, anyone who takes up a life of renunciation as a Sannyasi is required to be a strict vegetarian. That happens so in practice too. But in the Religion where 'Ahimsa' is the main thrust, the Bikkus who are of the same status as a Sannyasi, are all non-vegetarians! This is so mentioned very clearly in a drama written by Mahendra Pallava, some 1,300 years back.

62. In that drama, a Kapalika is searching for his begging bowl, which has gone missing. The begging bowl happens to be a skull. Some one says, "That begging bowl had some piece of meat sticking to it. It may have been taken away by a dog or a Buddha Bikkus!" Then there is a Buddha Bikku depicted in the drama. He is happily mentioning, "Dhana Dasan the merchant, gave me a good feed. It was all very tasty and filling. How many fragrant and colourful fishes were in that dinner!" This drama is of a period of time when there were many Buddhists in Kanchipuram and the author is the King of renown of that period. So the scene is a clear picturization of that period in history.

(Please note that Periyaval is not drawing any aspersions on the behaviour of the Bikku. He is making a point as to how, in any religious system where the Ideal is made applicable to all, then it is followed by none!)

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 130 (Vol #3) Dated 26 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 130 (Vol #3) Dated 26 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page 570 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

45. Even one time food on an otherwise day of fast, still remains quite tasty, filling and satisfying. There are many fruits and vegetables not on the discard list. They are of the quality of ‘Sattva’ and nourishing. Saambaar, Rasam, Kari, Koottu, Pachadi, Togaiyal, and many such items on the menu have the stamp of approval of the Saastraa-s. Then there are Iddly, Dosai, Pongal, Uppuma, Adai, Sevai and so on, with each of them having their own variations. For example there is Kudalai, Rava and normal amongst Iddlies; Pesarattu, Rava, normal and Karaicha amongst Dosas; Arisi, Rava and Semiya amongst Uppumas! Then there are Bajji, Vadai, Vadaam, Bonda, Appalaam, etc.

46. For each special occasion of the celebration of the Devata-s Birth day or Thiti such as Akshaya Thritiyai, Pillaiyar Chaturthi, Naaga Panchami, Maha Shashti, Ratha Sapthami, Gokulashtami, Rama Navami and Vijaya Dasami; there are special items with their own method of preparation leading to special taste! Seedai, Vella Seedai, Murukku etc for Gokulashtami. The Modakam or Kozhukkattai is as important as Pillaiyar in Ganesha Chaturthi! For Deepaavali, we have to eat as many sweets and savouries as they are or offered; as per the boon obtained by Narakasura from Krishna Paramatma! Navarathri means nine different varieties of Sundal, each day! Is it Pournami Pooja for Ambal? Then there will be Sarkarai Pongal (dripping with fragrant clarified butter of cow’s ghee), Vadai, Chitra Annangal. For Subrahmanya Sashti, there will be Thenum Thinai Mavum, (Honey with powdered cereal from the mountains) and Thinai Payasam too. On Rama Navami there will be Paayasam, Paanagam and vadai paruppu. We do keep fast on Vaikunta Ekadasi, Siva Rathri and Shashti. But, throughout the year, there are more occasions for feasting than fasting!

47. As per instructions of the Saastraa-s, you have to get up early in the morning around four, keeping yourself busy with a series of karma-s including physical hard labour till noon with hardly a glass of milk or kanji to sustain you. After all that, this sort of nutritious food will be rather welcome! Even on days when you may be busy with Sraddham till three in the after noon, the food served to the reps of pithru-s is served to all. Then the food being made with black pepper and cumin seeds as the main spice are more body friendly. On such days ‘gingelly cum jaggery balls’ (ellurundai) and ‘adhirasam’ (a sweet patty of rice powder, jaggery fried in clarified butter of cow’s milk), are the additional attractions!

48. All said and done, you never go totally high and dry! On normal days, you may appease your hunger with some kanji (that is, a kind of porridge,) with butter milk and some fruits. If you bring this in to habitual routine, one main food, call it lunch or supper, followed by some light food in the night, is what we can easily get adjusted to. It is not good to keep on munching and eating, filling your stomach. Neither is it good to starve this body. Amongst the five spheres of Anna, Prana, Vignana, Gnana, Ananda Maya Kosha-s, Anna Maya Kosha is the first. It has to be taken care of and not indulged in! The Upanishad itself says, literally, “Do not insult food. Grow more food” and so on. At the same time however, it does not mean that you can eat what you want, when you want, taking it from whomsoever you want! There is a proverb to the effect that, ‘Yogi eats one meal a day, Bhogi eats twice and the one who eats thrice is a Rogi!’ Evidently the one who eats many times with endless number of coffee, tea and other drinks is the repository of many diseases!

49. People call this the Yuga of Democracy in which, quantity is more important than quality. The same has become true in the matter of food also. Every alternate shop is a hotel or motel or tea shop or a bakery or a canteen! So there is a constant urge to eat or drink, without ever a care about the quality of food. Then having said that mother and wife as the cook and server are preferable, I have immediately put a spoke in the wheel saying that there is no assurance that they will be functionally within the parameters of what is conducive to ‘Saatveekam’! So, the question is natural as to what does the Swami want us to do? Cooking ones own food is the best! I will come back to this shortly. Let me delineate some more on the food materials having Saatvic quality, before coming back to this ‘swayam bhagam’ that is, cooking ones own food!

50. Amongst materials which are palatable, let me talk to you about what is Saatveekam, Rajasam and Tamasam, from what Bhagwan Sri Krishna has described in the 17th Chapter of the Gita. In Sloka 8 He describes the food that is acceptably Saattvic. I quote:- “aayu: sattva bala aarogya sukha preeti vivardhana: I rasyaa: snigdhaa: sthiraa hrudyaa aahaaraa: saatvikapriyaa: II” This means that, ‘those which increase Ayus (life), Sattva (purity), Bala (strength), Arogya (health), Sukha (joy), Priti (cheerfulness and appetite), rasyaa: (savoury), snigdaa: (oleaginous), sthiraa: (substantial and not too flimsy), hrudyaa: (agreeable and fetching), aahaaraa: (foods), Saatvikapriyaa: (are dear to Saatvic nature)!

51. How is the Rajasic food? “kat-vamla-lavanaat-ushna-teekshna-vidaahina: I aahaaraa rajasasya ishtaa: du:kha-shokamaya: pradaa: II” The foods that are bitter, sour, saline, excessively hot, pungent, dry and burning, are liked by the Rajasic and are productive of pain, grief and disease. The word ‘ati’ meaning excessive should be taken to apply to all the seven qualities. (This is Sloka 9 of B.G. Chapter 17.)

52. Now about the Tamasic food. “yaata yaamam gatarasam pooti paryushitam cha yat I uchchishtam api cha amedhyam bhojanam tamasapriyam II” That which is stale, tasteless, putrid, rotten, refuse and impure, is the food liked by the Tamasic. Cannabis indica (Ganja), Bhang, opium, cocaine, charas, are all tamasic. Yaatayaamam is stale, literally cooked three hours before. Gatarasam is similarly whose freshness is gone. Paryushitam is rotten. Uchchishtam is what is left on the plate after a meal! (This is B.G. Chapter 17, Sloka 10.)

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 129 (Vol #3) Dated 24 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 129 (Vol #3) Dated 24 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page 567 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

38. So, whether it is Mother or Wife, the one cooking and or serving should be doing all their house hold duties singing and chanting God's Name. Starting from paring the vegetables and sorting the rice grains from likely grains of sand, to cooking and serving, they should be doing either 'naama smaranai' or singing Bhajan-s. The person eating too could be chanting, 'Rama, Rama' or 'Govinda, Govinda!' When you do that, with the six 'Rasa-s' of the food, 'Naama Rasa' will also add up removing whatever the 'Dosha' that may be there!

39. Yes, Naama of God is all powerful. They say in English, "Do not take the God's Name in vain". The idea is to ban using God's Name in swearing and cursing. But we believe that we could take His Name always and every time, in adulation and adoration! We could take His Name, to block all other unnecessary thoughts. It is the Omni-potent cure all! But, you may ask as to, "if it is not important to take His Name in all the intense concentration we can muster? Is it not true that in the daily chanting of His Name, when the mind takes it as a mechanical iteration, would it not be tantamount to, 'taking the Name of God in vain'?" That is a real problem to be addressed and sorted. You might have expected that Swamiji will say no to frequenting the clubs and canteens and hotels! Here unexpectedly, I am raising a question about what one's own wife or mother does in the home itself!

40. I am afraid that I cannot approve of any of the clubs or canteens, hostels or messes! Who am I to approve, as though I am the Comptroller of Canteens? The Saastraa-s do not approve! I am only iterating what they say! In clubs and hostels, cleanliness and hygiene itself is a doubt. However much may be the outer neatness, the inner cleanliness is a doubtful area. Even if we take it for granted that they are all clean and neat, there will be zero 'aachaara shuddhi' and 'manas shuddhi' of the people working there! There is not likely to be any 'bhagawat smaranai' or wishing for our well being, whatsoever! To eat the food cooked by someone with no love, or compassion, or good will towards the rest of humanity, is not likely to give any good results! He is likely to have come to that job, having been found to be unfit for any other. He is likely to be motivated mainly by some crass needs, wants, desires, hate, lust and politics. Eating out of his hands, one is likely to suffer than benefit!

41. There is no scope for the presence of the integrating power of Aachaaraa-s, which combine the inner cleanliness of the mind and outer cleanliness of materials, in a place like the club or mess. Not only the food but the cutlery and crockery too has to be shared! All dirtied by, 'echchil, paththu and theettu'! ('Echchil' is a touch by saliva. 'Paththu' is a touch of the cooked food, on people or materials and 'theettu' is coming into contact with 'dosha-s' of any sort!)

42. Can you expect someone to do smearing the surface areas with 'gomayam' that is cow-dung, to remove the 'echchil'! Can you even think of doing 'paricheshanam' (that is, to sanctify the food by placing drops of water around the plate or plantain-leaf while chanting the necessary mantraa-s, this also serves the purpose of keeping the ants at a distance temporarily) and 'praana aahuti', (that is, offering the food first to the five Devataa-s of 'praana, apaana, vyaana, udaana and samaana' before starting eating), sitting at a table? Will the server remember to do 'abhikaram' , (that is, sanctifying the surface area of the plate or the plantain leaf with a drop of cow's ghee), before serving the food? If the aim is to just eat some thing and grow the hulk of this human body, made of flesh and bones, catering mainly to the fickleness of the tongue, then no Saastraa-s are needed and God need not have created us, the human beings with an additional sixth sense and could as well have stopped at creation of animals!

43. I told you about the cleanliness of the persons preparing and serving the food. Before this it is essential to ensure the purity and sanctity of the material being used in cooking! List of what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten is the general rule. Then there are separate approved lists for 'pithru karma' days and other days on which we have 'upavasam', that is, partial or total fasting! Then there are other rules proscribing certain items in the night and in certain months of the year! Can we expect all this to be observed in the mess or club?

44. In our own house it is not difficult to ensure material purity and sanctity. Here we can do this easily by controlling our tongue! There is no inhuman self flagellation prescribed in our Saastraa-s to be suffered. Even when you are to have only one time food and one time light meal known as 'phala aahaaram', it generally proves to be quite yummy and sumptuous. There are many fruits and vegetables always acceptable that you are not going to miss the forbidden items too much. You will easily get used to doing without them. When you fast on some occasions, you start realizing how your own body thanks you for your sparing them from over work!

(Note:- A Tamil poet says, "It is very difficult to live with you, my stomach! You will not fast even a single day, when I do not get food to eat, evidently! You will neither eat a double helping, when luckily the availability is more! You are a pain in my stomach with which I have to live!" Ramana Maharshi turned the tables, as though the stomach sings addressing the man! That goes, "Not a single day goes without your eating all the times. Why don't you eat once in two days? My dear man, you are the cause of all my pains that it is difficult to live with You!" We will come back to what Periyaval has to say, in the next e-mail!) Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 128 (Vol #3) Dated 22 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 128 (Vol #3) Dated 22 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the last few lines on page 564 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

Going Beyond The Three Guna-s.

28. The one who has risen above the three Guna-s, would be in Nirvana or Samadhi, in a natural way, with no assumed airs about him. He knows himself very well. He also knows that it is that one ‘I’ or Self, that is all that is! We ordinary human beings have some hazy notion of who or what we are. We are all mostly identifying ourselves with this body. The phrase in Sanskrit for that is, ‘deha aatma buddhi’, all the wrong notions about ourselves arises from that original sin of wrong identification! But the one in ‘sahaja samaadhi’ , with no thought to separateness, considers himself as a tool in the hands of the powers that be, for universal well being. He is capable, efficient and extremely hard working, much more than any man of the Rajo Guna. What we do with attachment and involvement, he will do much more, efficiently with apparent indifference.

29. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are the three Guna-s and the stage described above is called, ‘Tureeya’ or ‘Gunateeta’ stiti. This is the true, real state, much talked about in Saankhya Saastra. Deliberating on the three Guna-s or qualities or attributes, Bhagwan Sri Krishna advices Arjuna in B.G. 2.45., “nis thrai gunyo bhava” - ‘go beyond the three guna-s’! There is a full chapter, the 14th, ‘guna thraya vibhaga yoga:’, in which He clearly defines the nature of the three qualities.

30. Then in the 16th Chapter of the B.G., he dwells on “daiva asura sampat vibhaga yoga:”, that is, The Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal. Whatever He says in describing the Divine Qualities are all either Sattva or Gunateeta. The Asura or Demoniacal qualities are all a combination of Rajas and Tamas! Then there is yet again a 17th Chapter on, “sraddha traya vibhaga yoga:”, ‘The Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith’, in which He says that, depending on which of three Guna-s are predominant, all our actions of ‘pooja, Yagna, tapas, daana and so on’, can also be classified as, divine or demoniacal! Then He comes to a discussion of how food is also contributive towards the three types or natures!

31. Here He gives a detailed description of ‘Aahaara’ in relation to the preferable ‘Saattveeka’ Guna. Pure food increases the vitality and strength of those who eat it. It augments the energy of the mind also. Saattvic food produces cheerfulness, serenity and mental clarity and helps the aspirants to enter into deep meditation and maintain mental poise and nervous equilibrium. It supplies the maximum energy to the body and mind. It is easily absorbed and assimilated. A Saattvic man relishes juicy food and other foods attractive in form, soft to touch and pleasant to taste, which are small in bulk but great in nourishment like the words from the lips of a spiritual preceptor. Saattvic food is highly conducive to good health.

32. Eat that food which will develop Sattva in you. Milk, butter, fresh, ripe fruits, almonds, green pulses, barley, parval, tinda, torai, karela, plantains, etc are Saattvic. Abandon fish, meat, eggs etc., ruthlessly if you want to increase Sattva and attain Self - realization. The mind is formed by the subtle portion of the food. It is said that, ’As is the food so is the mind’! If you take Saattvic food, the mind also will be Saattvic.

33. The seven elements (Dhatu-s) of the body (namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen) are formed out of food. Ideas and concepts are generated in the mind corresponding to these seven elements. As is the constitution of these elements so is the constitution of the mind, which again in turn depends on the food intake.

34. I was trying to make you understand as to what is meant by the word, ’Saattveekam’ and I had to explain about all the three qualities or Guna-s. Amongst them, the highest is ’Sattva’. The controlled, peaceful, balanced, considerate, loving, and unagitated mind is indicative of Sattva. Above that too is the ‘Gunaateeta’ or ‘Manoteeta’ or ‘mano nigraha:’ level. All that is beyond our comprehension. Let us first aim at ‘Sattva’! Only after that, much later is the maturity into the ‘beyond’. Let it happen when it does. Let us make it possible by doing the ground work for ‘Sattva’, first!

35. For the ‘Sattva’ noun, ‘Saattveekam’ is the adjective in Sanskrit. I used the word ‘suddha Aahaaram’, which is not only clean and hygienic, served in clean and steamed cutlery and crockery, but also, food that is predominantly ‘Saattveekam’. That is the main requirement for any progress in the spiritual path!

36. This is the reason that it is preferable to have food cooked and served by the hands of Mother and or Wife. However many questions raise here too. Generally they are likely to be loving and kind towards their children/husband! The food cooked and served by them is rendered clean and ‘Saattvic’, because of that. But, at the time of cooking and serving, are their minds overflowing with their love and kindness towards their wards / spouse? If their minds are preoccupied with irritation and hate towards anyone, it is likely to affect the quality of food too!

37. So, even if it is Mother and or Wife, who is the cook /servers, there is cause to be doubly careful here too! (To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 127 (Vol #3) Dated 20 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 127 (Vol #3) Dated 20 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the second para on page 560 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

21. The story of the King and Guru seems slightly exaggerated. Unless that is done somehow, people do not give the necessary attention. In the story, the cooks who got the food prepared are the first set of people concerned. The servants who served the food and the King are only connected in a secondary level. The thief is only connected in a round about manner. If his 'Guna Dosham' is powerful enough to affect the otherwise morally upright Guru's behaviour, there could be more influences of the shop keeper and the farmer and so on! If we go on to assess all that before eating, we will never be able to eat anything at all! They say that we are not to investigate the 'Rishi Moolam' and 'Nadi (River) Moolam', that is, the origin or starting point of River and Rishi. Similarly we cannot afford to investigate the origins of all the ingredients that go to make a day's food.

22. That is why Saastraa-s tell us to look at the material per se and two directly involved persons; that is the cook and the server. Since we pay a price and buy the materials used in making the food, we can assume that the subtle ill effects have been countered or nullified. More than the raw materials, it is the cooked food that could be carrying the positive and negative influences of the cook and the server. See to it that these two are of the 'Saattvic'.

23. (Note:- Here the word 'Saattvic' requires to be explained in more detail. All people and materials in this world have three distinct qualities, namely, Saattvic, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva is the best. Rajas comes next. Tamas is the lowest and worst. The three qualities indicate three different attitudes. Each animate and inanimate object in this world may exhibit these qualities in varying degrees on different occasions. The same person may display more of one and less of the other Gunas at times. Sattva is calm, quiet, contained, happy, pleasant, and so on. Rajas is active, outgoing, excited, energetic, bubbling with anticipation and expectations. Tamas is sick, morose, lazy, inert, sloppy, dirty, slouching and lounging. While we have to successively, get over Tamas through Rajas and get over Rajas by way of Sattva; finally we have get beyond Sattva too, if we aim to attain freedom or perfection! For a more detailed analysis of the three Guna-s, see Chapter 14 of the Bhagawat Gita, known as 'Guna Thraya Vibhaga Yoga:'.)

24. As I said, both good and bad influences get transferred to the consumer through the food that he partakes. In olden times, before Brahmins started getting employed and earn, they used to get all their material requirements in kind only as alms donated to them. But whosoever gave them 'daanam', did so with due respect and love, neutralizing any 'dosha' that could have been there. Here too the King had given food to the Guru with respect and love only. But the fact that it was stolen and recovered property, still 'sub judice'; that the negative influences were powerful enough to temporarily cause the Guru to go astray.

25. In the days gone by, I am afraid, normally people were more well behaved and law abiding. Even then, we were warned to be careful by Saastraa-s, so that we may not run the risk of 'Aahaara Dosha'! But, these days when deviation from Saastraa-s is the accepted in-thing, if we make an assessment of the good and bad influences likely to be there, after all good and bad influences cancel out each other; the bad effects are likely to be predominant. So we have to be careful to avoid smuggled and black-market goods! That is why food cooked at home is preferable to the cook and server being unknown or unknowable factor! A wife or mother is preferable as the cook and server, for this reason only.

26. I used a word 'Saattvic'. Food is not only meant for bodily growth. It is also meant to sustain the body so that the man could evolve mentally and spiritually. So the Saastraa-s lay stress on a number of rules and regulations regarding food. Most important Aachaaraa-s are concerning the Do's and Don’ts of food. The food should be amenable and conducive to inculcating the Sattva Guna.

27. To be without anger, agitation, lust, desire, while at the same time not be a dullard, to be calm, cool and collected with a brilliant brain, high efficiency and having the potential and latent power for sustained action when needed; is Sattva Guna. Agitation, anger, excitement and lust are indicative of the Rajas. This is one end of the spectrum. On the other end is Tamas, which is lazy, dull, slipshod, brainless, imbecile idiocy! The central balance is Sattva. Rajas is activity oriented. Where Sattva is predominant, the thoughts and actions are well controlled. There is a stage higher than Sattva too. There one crosses the level of thoughts and actions. If Tamas is falling and failure of the mind, this is complete annihilation of the mind, 'mano Nigraham'! In Tamas, he will be sleeping and in this state of 'Tureeya', he will be in 'Samaadhi'. The difference lies in the fact that in sleep he will be unaware of his self, while in 'Samaadhi', he will be totally aware. He will be aware of his self. Not only his self, but the only Self, call it what you want, as Atma, God, the micro and macro cosmos! We are all feeling and saying 'I', 'I', and so on, thinking ourselves to be great while wrongly identifying ourselves to be simply the mortal human body. The one in the 'Tureeya' state will know clearly this dichotomy between the play of Ego and the Self!

(More about this dichotomy between the Real Self and the Usurper Ego, in the next e-mail.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 126 (Vol #3) Dated 18 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 126 (Vol #3) Dated 18 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the middle of page 555 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

12. Food contains not only proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and such things. It also contains the subtle shades of the effects of the environments in which it is grown, matured, stored and sold; and the physical and mental attitudes of the people who handled it in whatever capacity! All these are the inputs in to the system of the person consuming it and he is what he eats; at least at the level of the 'sthula sareera' i.e., gross body level! So the one consuming the food, is affected by the conditioning of all those who handled the food in some capacity. The negative aspects of these are known as 'Anna Dosha'!

13. The King immediately gave orders to the concerned minister to find out all the details about the previous day's lunch. After some passage of time, the minister came back with the following reply. Some days back there had been a dacoity in the bazaar. From a grains merchant, some high quality rice had been stolen. Later the thief had been caught. The stolen article of rice had also been recovered. For some reason the owner shop keeper had not taken back the rice and so, the stolen article had remained in the King's go down. Since it was good quality rice, the store-keeper had made it available for the lunch to be cooked for the Guru the previous day, as a special offering!

14. Both the King and the Guru could immediately identify as to what had gone wrong. Though the stolen property was rightly in the King's possession, it was against the Dharma of the renunciate Guru to be partaking it. That had affected him adversely. However, as he was not aware of the 'Dosha' in the food, and as he had not been responsible for any act of commission or omission, it was but natural for his body to have arranged for it's evacuation through loose motions! So it was God's will through the powers of Nature, for him to be rid of the 'Dosha'! Guru said, "See! As per the rules meant for a renunciate, I was keen that I should not be eating in your household. But you were insisting that I should have food in the palace. Since I agreed to your request, all this happened."

15. "As the infectious diseases spread through air and water, materials involved in unlawful activities do carry some of the traces of criminal intensions and can spread to anyone coming into contact! My own experience of the past few hours is a clear proof of, how true my statement is". The King accepted his culpability and totally absolved the Guru. The Guru also absolved the King of any blame as his action was an earnest expression of his devotion to the Guru. Thus the story ends!

16. The point to note is that, the mental attitudes of all the people who had handled any aspect of the agriculture, irrigation, production and food processing; will all affect the physical and mental being of the eventual consumer of the food! Knowingly or unknowingly, we could all find ourselves in a similar condition as the Guru. Remember that you are running a big risk whenever you accept other's invitation to have food in a hotel or club or any restaurant! All of us cannot be lucky enough as that Guru was. If such a great man as the Guru also temporarily went astray, the risk is greater in our case!

17. Most of the mistakes are committed only unknowingly without any intension on our part only, initially! That is how we go astray, to start with. Then later, it becomes a habit. That is why our ancestors have endowed us with the Saastraa-s. Though many things are not apparent initially, God has given us the Saastraa-s through our ancestors, to enable us to open our eyes. We do many actions, wherein our discretion has to come in to play. As we grow, we do become aware of the rightness and wrongness of our action. Then there is always, the Saastraa-s given to us by our elders as God's directions, for reference! So, where is the excuse for going astray? So, come to think of it, we can never claim that we have unknowingly committed a crime!

18. So, till now, even if you have been making a mistake about 'Aahaara Suddham', since to day I have clarified the issue, you have no more excuse for 'Aahaara Dosham'! (Smilingly Periyaval adds), even if God has been pardoning you for this error, he will not do so, here after!

19. One more argument also. Even when you interact with someone without knowing that he is infectious, the germs do not spare you for your ignorance. That germ may not be seen by the normal eyes, but visible to the microscope. Similarly the subtle effects of good and bad influences of thoughts and actions spread affecting one and all unseen.

20. Clean food is dependent on a number of factors. One is the inherent quality of the very material. The cereals and vegetables should be clean, not dirty or rotten. Secondly, items like onion, radish and garlic have an inherent quality to affect the mind sensually. Thirdly, the person cooking and serving the food should be clean. As this cannot be ensured in public places, food at home is always better in many respects. That is why I told you the story about the King and the Guru.

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 125 (Vol #3) Dated 16 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 125 (Vol #3) Dated 16 Sept 2009.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page 550 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated. Next hundred pages [that is about 25 e-mails] are covered under the common heading, 'Aachaaram and Aahaaram', to mean Rituals and Food.)

'Aachaaram and Aahaaram'

1. Haaram and Aahaaram. Chain or Garland and Food. There was a King. He had a Guru. The Guru was a great saintly soul. He often used to visit the King and give him advice on various matters concerning justice, statesmanship, administration and humaneness. One day, as he was deeply involved in the subject matter of his talk, he lost track of time. It was well past noon, that the King requested him to have food in the Palace itself. He said, "I will arrange for your Biksha, here in the Palace itself. I will see to it that it is done worthy of your grace and kindness, specially made for you!"

2. Unable to deny the King's request, the Guru accepted the invitation. As it was sufficiently hot at the end of a good food, the Guru further acceeded to the request of the King to sleep for some time. By the time he woke up after resting, the Guru happened to notice a garland of pearls belonging to the King, hanging by the wall. It was evidently very attractive and costly. Normally a dispassionate man the Guru, not given to flights of fancy, got a strong urge to misappropriate that pearl garland. He suddenly got that 'Haaram' hidden in his clothes.
3. Committed by anyone, theft is a sin. That great soul, the respectable Royal Teacher, without any hesitation, simply walked away to his Ashramam. After some time, there was agitation and pandemonium in the palace, when the fact of disappearance of the pearl garland was noticed. They searched everywhere, not sparing anybody from the suspicion. Guru was never suspected as he was considered above such weaknesses, as proved by his track record!

4. Many were questioned. Enquiry and investigations were conducted quite vigorously, some physically man-handled and some put through embarrassing questioning. But there was no indication of how the garland disappeared. One day went by. That night, the Guru did not have proper sleep. The guilt feeling in the consciousness did not let him rest properly. It was a mixed bag of guilt and some exotic temptations!

5. Heavy food, led to sleeplessness, nightmare and indigestion which were automatically succeeded by loose motions. There was virtually total evacuation and physical debility. As his body became rid of the food of the previous after noon, there was clarity in the mind. He rushed back to the Palace with the pearl garland. He gave back the garland to the King.

6. "I do not know as to what is the reason! Since yesterday afternoon, my mind is in a turmoil. In that very abnormal state, I only did that henious act of stealing and that too when you were my host! Having eaten your food, I do not know as to how I could stoop so far down to steal from you! You punish me as you would a common criminal. Actually, you should be giving me a double punishment. I have not only stolen but, was also responsible for many a person's physical hurt and embarassment! My feelings of guilt will be got rid of, only when you give me exceptional punishment, as many innocent people have suffered due to me", he said!

7. The King laughed. " As I am your disciple, give me some credit as your Anugraha, to discern the truth! You could never have done that. I am sure that the real culprit must have approached you to save him. It is your kindness that so as to save him from possible reprobation and retribution, you have taken it upon your self! Once someone comes and surrenders himself, to save him is the greatness of people like you! I will not accept your confession."

8. The guru felt further bad that, in addition to being a thief, he has become liable to be called a liar! He pleaded repeatedly for his confession to be accepted. "If I am you Guru, you have to listen to me and punish me as I am asking you to do! That is your dharma. Is it not so?"

9. The King after deep mulling over the situation said, "Though I fear to say this, since you are insisting, I have to accept your confession, that you stole the Haaram! But as the judicial authority, I have to look at some of the connected issues too. Even if you were the one to have committed that act, I have to look into, your past reputation, immediate causes and circumstances. I have to look in to what went wrong, to have caused you to have done an act very abnormal! I also have to take in to consideration the fact that, you have come and accepted the act of commission; entirely on your own and surrendered the stolen property! Under this light, I have every right, not to punish you at all and exhonorate you, as permitted by the Saastraa-s!"

10. The Guru further pleaded. "Giving such logic, do not let me go unpunished. I will not be able to face myself if you do so. I must be given at the least, the minimum punishment, because I am not able to identify as to how I got the urge to steal!" The King replied, "Swami, if a man like you cannot analyse and discern as to how and why, you got the urge for aberrant behaviour, how can others do so? So I pray that you do this yourself!" The Guru replied, "OK. My Buddhi which had gone bad yesterday, at least got clear today. I pray to the God who motivated me to accept the crime and take the punishment for what I did'. Saying so, he sat down for meditation.

11. After some time, the Guru declared. "Yes. I am able to see some connection and cause. If I go in to the aspect of what was abnormal in yesterday's events, on your request, I had my food here, instead of my normal routine in the Ashramam. Then only I was criminally motivated, which lasted during the whole of the night. The urge slowly dwindled, as the loose motions took effect today morning and with God's grace I was able to regain my normal state of the mind! So I think that, there was something wrong with the food I had partaken yesterday. To confirm this either way, please investigate and find about the food inputs in yesterday's lunch", the Guru said. The King agreed to do so!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 124 (Vol #3) Dated 04 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 124 (Vol #3) Dated 04 Sept 2009.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page 544 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)

257. We pay for washing the clothes in the laundry. Then we wear those clothes for days together, without washing again! So it adds the ‘theettu’ of our own bodily sweat, contact with others in various levels of theettu, in the bus train and so on. No regular bathing, eating all sorts of things, in all sorts of hotels, dhabha-s, corner tea stalls and so on! Spending our precious time in cinema and reading gossip and novels! Then we have the conceit that we are very modern, up to date, who has left behind all blind beliefs. Even on a cursory glance, we cannot but help noticing that we are on the wrong path, going down the vicious cycle! We have to turn the corner, before it is too late!

258. What is the real state of affairs? We have to simply open our eyes to the reality. Our ancestors have laid a right royal path for us to follow, with no pot holes and not too many ups and downs! Instead of thinking that we are pioneers trail blazing in a new world, we should come to realize that in addition to spoiling ourselves, we are corrupting the way for generations to come! When we have shown no respect to our ancestors, what prevents the next generation from jettisoning us and our ideas out of hand? Let us just now retrace our paths and make amends. We have almost reached the stage of ‘kaN kettapin surya namaskaaram’. Surya Namaskaaram is a wholesome exercise comprising many Aasanaa-s combined in one, accompanied with the mantraa-s addressed to the Sun God, for physical fitness and overall health. The proverb says, “what is the purpose of doing Surya Namaskaaram, when you have become blind already?” We have to make amends before we reach such a stage!

259. The patient is in his last stage. It is time that we gave him Oxygen and revived him. The very fact that one has reached this worst condition, should give us the lesson that we should recover from here, for which we should start working sincerely! Looking at other countries suffering, if we keep copying their mistakes, it is a greater insult to our very being. Because their ancestors have not endowed them with the sort of prophylactic drills, as our ancestors have done! Their giving us the Aachaaraa-s in book forms is not as great as, their having lived exemplary lives for generations, worthy of emulation. They have proved by living such a life, that it is practical and that, we will be doubly foolish to ignore such a legacy!

260. I think that I should explain this point further. I talked of living an exemplary life and about writing a book. Yes there are many books of Saastraa-s delineating on our daily and periodic rituals. But, the point to note here is that, these rituals did not come in to being after some one wrote them down. The rituals had been perfected, refined, improved upon, by generations of ancestors, much before the books were ever written! That means that, much before the books were ever written as Saastraa-s, the Aachaaraa-s had been evolved by heuristic methods, to perfection! You cannot pick holes in this, ever! That is what has been written for the sake of future generations, as Saastraa-s.

261. Life was not conducted as per Saastraa-s. Saastraa-s were written as per life! Whether you take the Manu Smruti or Aapasthamba or Aasvalaayana Sutra-s or the compendiums known as Nibandana Grantha-s, they have not claimed authorship or copy-write for even a small fraction of their huge efforts! They do not claim to have made even a single small rule of their own! They have clearly stated that they have only collected and collated the existing rules, regulations, methods and practices!
262. This is a wonder! The Hindu Religion is known as Sanatana Dharma. It means, ever lasting, eternal, meritorious custom and or practice. True to that definition, before the books came in to being, our lives had already been well regulated in to orderly sequence, for individual and collective advancement, from chaos to clarity! Who created ‘pancha katcham’? Who inaugurated ‘Aachamanam’ of three sips of water, uttering, ’Kesavaaya Namaha, Maadhavaaya Namaha, Govindaaya Namaha’? No one can answer these questions. They have been doing these things from time immemorial. From the time this world came into being, they have been in touch with the ‘omniscient, omnipotent’ power in being. So, they always knew as to what is the method by which, they could extricate themselves from over involvement with this material world, to gravitate surely and certainly towards eternal, permanent, daily bliss! They showed the way by living. Their methods and procedures have become embedded in our conscience and registered in the Saastraa-s as Dharma-s and Aachaaraa-s.

263. Who laid this path of Sanaatana Dharma Anushtaana? No one can answer that! But we know that there is a path. That is why, this Hindu Dharma has been compared to a foot track. You can see the path existing. No one can say as to why laid it first. Other roads such as a tar road or a high way, you may be able to answer. So and so councilor made plans, so and so commissioner sanctioned, so many worked for so many days and so on. You cannot do that with a foot track. It was never planned. Other roads are used after they are made. This one has happened by the fact of it’s being used for moving. The rules and regulations in this are not laws after enactment, but laws that have evolved by being acted upon!

264. All other religious laws have been made after due deliberation on them by some set of people. They are well planned. You can move fast on them. Your foot path cannot take such traffic. Yes. But, the point is that, we do not require special funds for it’s maintenance. Other roads get worn out by usage, The foot track gets strengthened by usage. Other roads planned cannot match its longevity and resilience. That is how, the old religions of the Greeks, the Hebrews and the Confucianism, have all dissipated and disintegrated in to bygones! Whereas this Sanaatana Dharma of Hinduism of daily and periodical Aachaaraa-s have carried on. May you cannot travel fast here. But, not required to. Those who arrive real fast do not opt for fame and name! There can be accidents enroute in other highways, Here there can never be an accident. Some times this may be faster too, by being a short cut!

265. Even if we accept the modern historians’ assessment, Vedic Civilization is possibly as old as 3000 B.C., we have no business to go against what has gone on for so many generations. Not only have reneged on the legacy, we are creating insurmountable problems for the future generations! If we do not use it, the foot path will get covered and forgotten, is it not so? God the ever Compassionate should save us from this heinous sin of closing the past to the future! At least now we should think of all this and return to our old ways. May God bless us with sense to do so!

(Thus ends the talks on Matters Aachaara, since Page 434, till 549, of the III volume of Deivathin Kural.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 123 (Vol #3) Dated 02 Sept 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 123 (Vol #3) Dated 02 Sept 2009.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the middle of page 540 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)

249. For more than two generations all these Aachaaraa-s are getting ignored. Ever since English based education became the criteria for employment, Brahmins have hogged the lime light and grabbed most of the available jobs from Indian Civil Service to Tehsildars to the exalted clerk in the lowly arm of bureaucracy at the village level! “Now if you tell us to follow the Aacharaa-s, in our households, even elders are not aware of what these are supposed to be!”, is the complaint from ladies. Whosoever is your family Vaadyaar or Sroutigal, he is the person to approach on this. There are the following books available:-
(a) ‘Smruti Muktapalam’ known more popularly as ‘Vaidyanatha Deekshiteeyam’, in six parts, which is very exhaustive.
(b) ‘Goutama Dharma Sutram’.
(c) ‘Bhodayana Dharma Sutram’.
(Note. These three are published by Veda Dharma Saastra Paripalana Sabha, Kumbakonam.)

250. Then there are some more books.
(a) ‘Dharma Saastra Surukkam’, by R.Muthuswami Iyer, Publisher, KMNagaraja Iyer, Keezh Vidayal, Karuppur, Koda Vasal PO, Tanjore District.
(b) ‘Sadaachaaram’, by Srivatsa Somadeva Sarma, Publisher Bhavani Book Center, 19, Station Road, Chennai- 600 033.

(c) Saivam. ‘Nitya Kanma Neri’, Dharmapuram Adinam, Dharmapuram. Mayiladuthurai.
(d) Vainavam. ‘Sri Vashnava Nitya Anushtana Kramam’, Pubkisher LIFCO, T.Nagar, Chennai-600 017.

251. Very old books in Tamil have spoken in detail about Vedik Daily Rituals. There is a book known as, ‘Aachaarakkovai’. In it, starting with Thirukkural, Nanneri, Avvai Padalgal, Aranerich-charam, while giving detailed notes on the daily rituals. All the concepts of Saastraa-s are literally translated and given in a book called, ‘Needi Venba’. In the olden times, wherever there was mention of a King’s rule, in books, Purana-s, Literature or etched on metal plates or inscribed on temple walls; they all invariably mention that he ruled over the Kingdom without any let in the Rules and Regulations as per Manu, maintaining Law and Order as per the Varna - Aashrama system, ensuring that proper Aachaaraa-s are maintained meticulously.

252. The book ‘Aachaarakkovai’ that I mentioned, not only lists all the daily aachaara-s but also clearly states as to how each action is to be done, with reason why. Now you will be further surprised that this book has a place of eminence in the Tamil Literature. There are 18 books of literary merit, highly regarded under the name, ‘PadineN Keezhk KaNakku‘. One amongst those 18 books is the famous Thirukkural and Aachaarakkovai is another. Now you will be able to understand as to how eminently important it is! Tamilians can get to know to know everything about Aachaaraa-s by reading that book.

253. The Greatness of the Past and Present Day's Depravity! There is no doubt that our forefathers were very healthy, full of vim and vigour, with brilliance of brains, effulgence of the inner self, power of the mantras they chanted, with the quiet contentedness and peacefulness of the soul, evident to all especially the foreign visitors. Comparatively to-day, we are full of all sorts of diseases, with no name or fame to talk of, followers of all and sundry in the lower rankings in all walks of life! The reason for this state of affairs is clearly the fact that, we have given up our aachaara anushtaanaa-s as being too difficult to follow! In the bargain we have come to accept much greater difficulties in our day to day life. Once we understand that this is the reason, we can turn a corner and restart doing those things which we gave up thinking them to be too tough. Initially it may be tough. But in a short while, we will come to realize that our aachaaraa-s are meant to benefit us in this life as well as in our later lives! They are not the trouble creators but are highly beneficial in the material as well as the spiritual life of ours.

254. Getting up at four in the morning, taking a cold water bath, doing the Prata: Sandyavandanam, giving 'Argyam' as the Eastern horizon turns red at 'Arunodayam', doing Gayatri Japam till Sunrise, then do Oupasanam, Pooja, Madyanhikam, Vaisvadewam, Atitisatkaaram, then take the day's food, which is 'saatveekam' that is, not very spicy and titillating the senses. Similarly in the evening taking a bath, doing the Sayam Sandyavandanam, giving Argyam to the Sun God at the time of setting of the Sun, then chant the Gayatri mantra till the stars become visible, then agnihotram, deva aalaya darsanam and or hearing of purana-s and have a light dinner, before going to sleep.

255. Such a life has a pleasant aura about it with blissful happiness as the main content. Instead of being dirty, cribbing and fretting, scheming somebody's down fall or exploitation of someone else all of the time! Such distasteful unwanted activities, do not lead to fulfillmnent either, resulting in nightmares. You have to search for satisfaction elsewhere. So, your sleep is spoiled. You do not feel like getting up till even 8 in the morning, groggy eyed with a possible hang over!. As against this our man living strictly by the dictates of the Aachaaraa-s, has got up at 'pancha pancha ushat kaale' and has got going with the next days activities already for four hours! Their inner satisfaction and contentedness was due to observing the Aachaaraa-s meticulously. They were mentally and physically hale and hearty! ('Pancha pancha ushat kaale' is the early morning time around 4 AM, when the birds are still hesitant as to whether they should start chirping or not and the night sky has not yet started brightening.)

256. They were individually keeping themselves pure in mind and heart, not letting any corruption touch them. By their personal purity, they were contributing for the society's purity also. As against that, to-day, we are corrupt, polluted and besmirched. In the name of social awareness and universal brotherhood, we are not only losing our pristine quality but, corrupting the whole society.

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.