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.