DEIVATHIN KURAL # 143 (Vol #3) Dated 27 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 143 (Vol #3) Dated 27 Oct 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 642 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.)

175. In the matter of food, there is no question of bringing in the caste considerations at all. For the sake of a mistaken notion of equality, to insist that whosoever be the cook, people of all castes should eat that food, is all quite unnecessary. You start with an idea that there should be no castes, then bring in the matter of caste in totally unconnected areas of cooking of food, then say that, "all are equal", is some thing like, putting the cart before the horse and then bring the horse in front of the cart, by which time the cart is turned to face the other direction, ad infinitum ad nauseum!

176. Let me make this very clear. On the matter of one person to cook and another to eat it, there is a basic difference between what the saastraa-s say and what these reformers say. Having made a wrong nomenclature as higher and lower castes, to say, "You can eat and or You cannot eat", is found to be not acceptable to some. For people who are convinced that there is no 'higher and lower' castes, and that the differentiation if any, is based on their respective roles and duties, they feel sincerely that the differentiations should remain for the sake of avoiding confusion and chaos. They are not prepared to eat anybody's cooking on the mistaken notions of equality. For them it is more important to retain their individual purity and cleanliness, which is mistakenly taken as 'holier than thou attitude', by others.

177. For some it is a problem if you say "yes" to the policy that, "any body can cook, everybody may eat"! For some others, it is a problem if you say "No", to that very policy! This becomes the cause of class struggle! Caste differentiation is for the role one has to play in the society, not for struggle and fight. That too in the matter of food, to bring in all this, is rather painful! The only solution for all this is 'Swayam Paakam'. Then there can be no higher/lower caste question then. 'The question does not arise' as they say! Total self reliance in this matter is the only solution to obviate all possible conflicts and confusion. I will not eat even if it is cooked by a man of my own caste or my own wife or mother. I will do my own cooking. Once 'Swayam Paakam' becomes the universal policy, all these questions of who may cook, who may handle it, who may eat it, in whose company, etc., will all disappear!

178. If you have to share something in a public gathering, then we may restrict it to beverages and fruits. May be you can give rations to others as packets. To do so is also hospitality only. Except for prasadam given in the temples and what is given as Guru Prasadam in the Matams, all other food should be cooked by oneself only. In South, till now the accepted method used to be that, you could take food from people who were cleaner than you in their being and aachaaraa-s. In North even this was not acceptable. Swayam Paakam was the general rule there.

179. Swayam Paakam as a custom also caters for improvement in ones environs and personal habits. That also enables disciplining one self. Instead of lounging lazily and spend time in gossiping, cinema, cards games and so on, the need to cook ones own food will be a binding factor on time. Then we will not look for variety in materials and tastes, salivating with our tongue hanging out! So the tongue is brought under control. Then so that the food may be full of sattva guna, we may be motivated to chant God's names while preparing the food. If you deliberate on the subject deeply, what looks like a minor issue of cooking ones own food has so many advantages. That is why, it is a Dharma Aachaara as given in our Saastraa-s.
180. Males do not have to be aghast as to how they are going to manage that. Once we have come to accept the necessity of doing so, we will learn. Do not the girls learn by the time they are 12 years of age? Sans variety, some rice or chapatti, one vegetable and some curd; pronto our food is ready! What can be prepared in 15 minutes can be learnt in four days practice!

181. We have to eat to live. This is a basic need. So Swayam Paakam can be included in the basic syllabus of education for all boys and girls. I am very clear about this that, the existing so called secular education should be replaced by religious orientation along with all technical and professional education. As food is the main input for physical, mental and spiritual growth, making food should be a part of the basic syllabus.

182. All over the world, there is an effort to make women do all sorts of jobs originally thought to be men's exclusive domain. At the same time there is a lot of heart burn that women have their hands full at home, cooking, feeding, cleaning, mending, washing and ironing; while the men folk behave like the Lions amidst their pride! Swayam Paakam is a solution to this anomaly too!

183. In education, they say that there are three 'R's, which are the basic requirements. First 'R' is reading, second 'R' is writing, the third 'R' is arithmetic. I would put knowledge of cooking as the first basic essential ahead of these three 'R's!

184. Jawaharlal Nehru often makes fun of this Hindu religion as 'Kitchen Religion'. He thinks that he is being very humorous in making that statement. But he may or may not be aware as to how close he is to the truth! Veda-s are the basic authority in our religion. The foremost in the Veda-s are what is called the end of Veda-s, that is, the Upanishad-s known as 'Vedanta'! Amongst them, Chandogya Upanishad has virtually said the same thing!

185. Narada famously known as the authority in the Bhakti Marga, having written the Bhakti Sutra-s, goes to Sanat Kumara seeking to be advised in 'Atma Gnaana'. Towards the end of his teachings, in the penultimate chapter of Chandogya Upanishad - 7.26.2., Sanat Kumara says, "...aahaara suddhou sattva Shuddhi:..". 'Start with clean food, wherein lies the way to cleanest inner qualities of sattva'! Thus once your mind is cleansed to perfect purity, then only the mind will dwell on contemplation of God, leading to removal of all ties and liberation. That is where it all finishes - in kitchen religion! That is basis, foundation and start point.

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 142 (Vol #3) Dated 25 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 142 (Vol #3) Dated 25 Oct 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 para on page 636 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.)

165. I have always been saying that Brhmachari-s (that is, young, as yet unmarried celibate boys while still in the learning stage of the Adhyayanam,) should do ‘Bikshacharyam’, (that is, beg for alms as a drill every day and live on what ever is obtained as alms). This may sound contrary to my views on ’Swayam paakam’. Throughout the period of some 12 years, that is normally taken to reach some accepted standards of learning and grasping any Veda Shakha, I cannot expect the student to earn his keep by begging! If someone does it I am happy, but it will be a very rare individual. Generally in to-days circumstances, I wish that all students of Veda-s should practice at the least one year of ‘Biksha Charyam’ with Guru Kula Vasam. Rest of the years, he should do Swayam Paakam.

166. Brahmin who is a householder and is in the profession as an Adhyapak, while taking dakshina, should be given rice, pulses and vegetables, in the raw condition and not as cooked food. Only Sannyasi-s and Brhmachari-s have the right to receive cooked food. It is stated that, “...yati cha brhmachari cha pakva anna swadeenow ubow...”. But, this not however mean that, like a Yati/Sanyasi, the brhmachari also is required to beg for food. The reasons why the brhmachari is to beg for food are totally different from the reasons why a sanyasi does so.

167. Yati is to spend all his time in contemplation of the self. He is not have any material as property. He cannot be owning a house with a kitchen! So he was required to beg for food with no commitment what so ever. He is not to become obliged to anyone either. More over he is not to remain in the same place for more than a day. If he took food from one locality one day, next day he is to go elsewhere. If particularly one or two people make it their duty to take care of a sanyasi, then it is likely that he will have to become beholden to them. Having broken all relationships, this arrangement will be as good as creating some fresh relationships! So, the whole society has the responsibility to take care of this carefree sanyasi. That is why he is not to have any thing to do with fire, neither for any Havan or Homa nor Hearth! The moment he takes sanyasa, his Agni Karya-s such as, Oupasanam, Agnihotram, etc., are stopped. He is not to cook his food either. That is the reason for his being entitled to get cooked food which he is required to get through Biksha!

168. The reason for the brhmachari having to get his food through Biksha, is different. Humbleness that is, Vinayam is the essential quality for Vidya that is, education. He is not to be proud. So he has to go to houses one by one and say, “Bhavati bikshaam dehi!”. So that the Guru-s wife may not be over burdened, he may get cooked food also. But in olden times house holders knowing their responsibility towards such, would give the choicest portions of their cooked food and not some left overs! The brhmachari is not forbidden to do Agni Karya, since he is required to do ‘samita danam’ twice a day.

169. Though he may not be able to do begging for all the number of years of Brhmacharya, at the least he should do so for one year, in my opinion. After that they could preferably take up Swayam Paakam, that is self cooking. Since the costs are becoming unmanageable and running of Veda Patashala-s are becoming extremely difficult, the students may be encouraged to do their own cooking. In the bargain, we may be able to achieve some saving in the over all costs by cutting down on Over Heads and varieties in the menu.

170. The Condition in North India. Normally we carry an impression that in North India, people are less orthodox and less particular about following all the do’s and don’ts of aachaaraa-s. But in many areas, they are even more orthodox than us. I am told that after independence, there is a general loosening of standards there too. But till very recently they are really models to be emulated in many areas. They do not make use of tamarind, salt, red chilly and asafoetida, as much as we do here. These are all gate ways for Rajasa guna only. In this I must make a special mention of Bengal, where as I said before, for some compulsions, they are all ‘fish eating brahmins’!

171. When we had gone there, they had made arrangements for our stay there. We had gone as a big party there. They had made provisions for the food for some 400 to 500 people to eat every day! But there was no tamarind! For us, how can we make food without tamarind? Without tamarind, no rasam or kuzhambu could be made. Without kuzhambu/sambar and rasam, our eating is next to nil! There was plenty of Aatta (wheat powder) and dhaal (variety of pulses). When we asked for tamarind, from some distance away, they brought some fresh tamarind pieces! That would have been as good as ‘dissolving perungayam in sea water’! “What can we do with this drop in the ocean? We need much more”, we said. They made fun of us asking, “What is your staple food? Rice or tamarind?”

172. Like Bengal, there are many people from all caste-s of strict vegetarianism in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Sourashtra and Kutch. In a place like Dehradoon, brahmin coolie will lift a foreigner, tied to the cane seat on his back, up the mountain path. Having reached his load of a human to his destination, he will have a bath and then cook his own food and eat it. Darwan, house maid and such, may work like a dog in their master’s house. But they will not eat any left overs from the master’s house! They will go home and cook their own food. That is Aachaaram with a capital ‘A’ for you!

173. Here in the name of reformation, what is happening is against all norms! Amongst equal caste-s having branded them as higher and lower, they pose an unnecessary question as to why the so called higher caste man cannot eat in the lower caste man’s house! This is totally unwarranted! In the name of reform, we are racking muck. There in the North, even the really lower level worker in a rich man’s household does not eat in the house in which he is working the whole day. Thus Swayam Paakam has nothing to do with caste, but for self control and discipline! In the North, the Samabandhi-s, (that is, those families between which there has been exchange of bride and bride-groom), even they, eat together only at the time of marriage or on anniversaries!

174. If everyone tries his level best to advance and progress, not only materially but individually spiritually, then he should try and maintain his distance and purity. In such behaviour lies the welfare and benefit of all.
(To be Continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 141 (Vol #3) Dated 23 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 141 (Vol #3) Dated 23 Oct 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 para on page 631 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.)

156. To hear people claiming that oneness and integrity will only be achieved if both Veg and non-veg cooking is done in the same kitchen and served together, to each his own, I do not know whether to laugh or cry. Before starting the World War in which all the countries were involved in some way or the other, hurting the humanity at large, the so called leaders of these countries responsible for pulling the whole world down in to the mire, were toasting and hosting each other in such parties only! Having done that they started destroying each others countries with utter disregard for civilian and military targets.

157. It is a pity that then they advice that such combined eating will lead to unity and integrity! These Tea parties and combined eating can give some temporary relief as a stop gap arrangement. But the fact is very clear that, despite such things being introduced for quiet some time now in our country, day by day, social tensions and disputes are on the increase. These sort of Tea parties are arranged like some magic tricks to hood wink some sectors of the society while encouraging certain other sectors of the masses. “You scratch my back and I will scratch yours’, is the quid pro quo arrangement in such parties for some ulterior gains unnoticed by the general public. These are like award of Doctorates on politicians, done with some ulterior motivation!

158. The way to permanent unity is not through eating together, but by working together in social service. As I have often said before, all classes of people should come together in doing combined service, irrespective of caste or creed. That can bring us all together. But, the trouble is that even in the area of social service, a lot of politics is brought in by various segments of the society in trying to grind their own axes! Against all Aachaaraa-s and Saastraa-s, the so called political sense of equality is brought in, especially in the matter of Aahaara, that is, food habits, pulling down everyone in the mire.

159. What is cooked by oneself should be eaten also alone, instead of sharing, as that would again bring in competition, comparison, contrast, variety and give in to the vicarious vacillations of the tongue! What is cooked separately should also be eaten separately. It is enough if equality and socialism is brought in, by other means! In the name of common food and 'Sama Bhandi' ideas of reformation, cruelty to animals has increased and many who were vegetarians for eons of generations have become non-vegetarians! This is nothing but degradation in the name of reformation!

160. Look at the whole world. They are all non-vegetarians every where. Vegetarians are a fragile small percentage in all those countries. There they are trying hard to propagate vegetarianism as though it is something new and refinement over their existing culture! Here we have had a majority of vegetarians running into many crores. To lose this legacy in the name of reformation and refinement of culture in the pretext of equality, is nothing short of foolishness! Having been born as human beings, bringing the idea of equality of status in the matter of food and for that equality to be responsible for the cruel killing of so many birds and animals; is all atrociously barbarian. Then to claim that in Gandhism there is 'Ahimsa' and Equality, is sheer affront!

161. I was telling you about the many advantages in cooking one's food oneself. I will tell you one more additional advantage in doing so! Veda vidyabyasam will grow on swayam paakam! You may wonder as to how this can be related to self-cooking?! Let me tell you. I have personally witnessed this during my visit to North India. In Orissa, Bengal, U.P., Assam and such states, though they do not have Veda Patashala-s as we have here in the South, they have Sanskrit Patashala-s. In the whole of Tamil Nadu we may not have some 30 or 40 such schools, with hardly any strength. In the North, I came across hundreds of such schools. They call such organizations as Doles. Even in Assam, considered to be a rather backward state, there were 200 such Doles. Further astounding fact was that these schools had hardly any capital funds to talk about!

162. Though we think that in maintaining our age old customs and traditions, we are far ahead in the South, again despite there being sizeable capital and landed property, why are these Veda Patashala-s in South are on the decline and why these Doles in the North are going strong? This was a puzzle beyond my understanding for quite some time! Then I got the hang of it. I asked, "You say that there is no capital. How is that you have so many students?" They countered with, "For more students, why do we need more capital?" I said, "At least, if you give free food, more students will join."

163. "Yes, we need to give them food. But for that we do not need any capital. We have our local Kirana shop Bania or the local Marvari. When children go to him claiming that they are studying Sanskrit, he gives them some 'Aatta', that is wheat powder and some butter. the student themselves make their own bread on the Tava, that is the hot plate. They can either make 'Sukha Roti' or role it in to balls, cover with some green leaves and directly put it into the fire. They get baked in to edible breads! Some time we make some Dhal, that is lentil soup. The shop keepers do not hesitate to help. They can anyhow recover the cost. But they do love to be of help in such noble quest!" Doles were true to there English dictionary meaning too, as they were places of charity! (KTSV adds:- I cannot help commenting that recently it was front page news that in Karnataka under BJP govt, that they had recently increased the Scholarship for students of Sanskrit, from Rs.4/- per month to Rs.8/- per month! Other states did not put their foot in their mouth as Karnataka did! They were conveniently keeping their mouth shut and their fist tight too, I am sure! I do not know as to how many Doles are surviving to day, as I translate this, in the North Indian States, based on the largeese of the local Bania and Marvari! I hope that some of them do survive somehow!)

164. Here when we establish a school like that, our first area of interest will be the kitchen, utensils, store room, grinder, mixer, slicer, electricity, heater, stoves, water supply and so on and so on. Then with the increasing inflation, management of food alone takes the major amount of time and resources. Then only we can think of pay for the Adhyapak and stipend for the student! That is why such organizations are in the decline! So I could gather that one of the main reasons for the decline was, not letting the student depend on 'Swayam Paakam'. (KTSV adds:- Not many seem to have taken this idea forward, seemingly. In a place like the Sankara Gurukulam Veda Patashala in Malkajgiri, Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, the effort is to make the student feel as well looked after as he would have been in his own house! But that survives out of liberal donation by good Samaritans!)

(To be Continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 140- (Vol #3) Dated 20 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 140- (Vol #3) Dated 20 Oct 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 625 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.)

146. (Note:- What was mentioned in the last para 145, should have been, Swayam Paakam and not Bhagam. I have spelt it as we pronounce it in spoken Tamil. The error is regretted. However, Periyaval himself had to give this same correction, that it is Paakam and not Bhaagam. Paakam means the cooked food.) In talking on this subject, I am going to sing differently than usual. Normal song is that women should stay at home instead of going to offices and colleges and do the cooking. Now the new tune is that men should also learn cooking and all should resort to cooking their own food as, 'Swayam Paaki-s'!

147. There are many reasons for recommending this 'self cooking'. When we cook for ourselves, all the time spent in cooking could be spent in chanting the God's names or chanting some portion of the Veda or sing some prayer songs of devotion. The food so cooked will be saved from any contamination and rendered more Saattvic.

148. We do not have to stand next to the cooking range all the time. Having put the oven on simmer, we could go and do our japa or meditation or reading of scriptures. This essence will automatically add to the 'nava rasa', that, is the nine tastes of the food. We should not make our anxiety about whether the food would have been cooked or not, become the 'paaraayana mantra'! Initially it may be the case, till a sense of time becomes natural and we would be able to achieve perfect concentration.

149. The material cleanliness, coupled with the our devotional purity will become God's Grace as we offer that food as 'Naivedyam' to God and then we partake the same as, 'Bhagawat Prasada'! Then while eating we should chant God's names, "Govinda, Govinda". The rule is that while eating there should be silence, "...mounena bhoktavyam...". What is meant is that while eating we should not be gossiping and or ordering about, 'bring that and serve that and so on!'. Whatever falls in the leaf or plate should be eaten with reverence to the Almighty as Govinda Rasa. The 'Jatara Agni' in the stomach will digest that and give you 'clarity of mind and health, strength, vim, and vigour of the body!' So says Sri Krishna in the Bhagawat Gita, Ch-15, Sloka-14. "Aham vaiswanaro boothvaa praaninaam deham-aasrita: I
praanaapaana samaayukta: pachaam-yannam chaturvidham II"

150. Food is of four types (annam chatur vidham). What is munched, like cooked rice or bread, is 'khadyam'. What is crushed, like chips or fried crisp, is 'choshyam'. What is gulped not requiring the use of teeth at all, is 'lehyam'. What is poured in to the gullet as a liquid is 'peyam'. All these four types are digested by the 'vaisvaanara agni' in the stomach. It then sends the energy all over the body. 'Praana - apaana' are the first and second of the five airs which are responsible for breathing, absorption, distribution, assimilation, rejection and balancing; in the body. The 'vaisvaanara' agni with the five airs, is responsible for this process of digestion of the food. Bhagawan says that He is the power which does all this.

151. Every time we have food, those authorised to say these mantra-s, sprinkle some water around the food, (part of the reason I suppose is to prevent immediate onslaught by the ants), cleanse the food by some Ghee and the Gayatri mantra. Then the food is offered in oblation to the five vital airs, exactly like they do in a Homa. So this becomes a mini Yagna in the fire in the stomach! It is the power of God in us, who has made this food available to us this day. With gratitude to Him, let us pray that this food may be absorbed in us with His blessings. That is the purpose. What is offered is for the Easwara. The food being offered is also Easwara. The digestion is done by the fire in the stomach, which is also the same Easwara. The person eating the food is also Easwara. Finally the abode to be reached is also the same Easwara. As said in Bhagawat Gita, Chapter 4, Sloka 24 :-
"brhma arpanam brhma havir, brhma agnow brhmanaa hutam I brhma eva tena gantavyam brhma karma samaadinaa II" .

152. One additional advantage in doing this 'Swayam Paakam' is that there will be a general tendency to cut down on the quantum of work and hence we are not likely to make too elaborate arrangements. So we will not spoil the mind with indulgence. When you relate cooking with chanting God's name and intend to offer the food as Naivedyam, we will desist from cooking items too Rajasic or Tamasic. Since non-veg items will take more time to pare, sort and cook; we are likely to avoid such items on our own. Even if we do not care to follow what is said in Dharma and Yoga Saastraa-s, by the simple fact of saving our time, vegetarianism will become preferable. Once it comes in to practice, automatically the mind will start preferring the ease and comfort of vegetarian food over non-vegetarian! Anyhow the individual will be benefited with the 'Punyam' of Dharma and 'Chitta Shuddhi' of Yoga. As the number of items become less, expenditure will also be less. So the method of 'Swayam Paakam' is economical too!

153. One more point. When others cook the food, we tend to comment variously. This results in dissatisfaction to ourselves and some disgruntlement to the one who cooked. When we have cooked ourselves, then the food will taste very nice and beyond reproach! Satisfaction is the result by which, the food will be more easily absorbed and will do good to the mind. Other people's mind set, personal magnetism, aura and such things that are talked about by para psychologists, will not affect the individuality that is innate. Thus 'Swayam Paakam' is multi beneficial! This system further obviates any discussion on subjects such as, higher and lower castes and who can eat whose cooking and so on.

154. That brings to my mind an aspect that I have not covered so far. While talking about food materials and its handlers as the farmer, tradesman, handlers, cook and the server, I have not touched the presence of yet another third party. They are the people with whom we have our food! While partaking our food, those who are present in the company also do affect all those present. There are those who affect all present in a salubrious manner, known as 'pankti paavanaa-s'. There are also those who affect all those present in a negative manner, known as 'pankti dooshakaa-s'!

155. Not only this. When a vegetarian sits to have meals with a non-vegetarian, one is likely to experiment, there by lose one's control and discipline. In the name of equality, if a Sannyasi who is supposed to eat only roots and fruits; is made to sit with people eating all sorts of things of fragrances and aromas; that may lead to his going astray for the first time as a prelude to further fall and degradation! Those who claim to be working towards social parity and equality, should stop and think of the greater loss to the society. Sama-pankti, common mess in hostels, cooking non-veg and veg items in the same cook-house and such arrangements, can only bring down all equally!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 139 (Vol #3) Dated 18 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 139 (Vol #3) Dated 18 Oct 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 page 620 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.)

136. Chatur Masya Vratam. To talk about this four month's period of abnegation, I have to talk to you about 'Sauramanam' and 'Chandramanam', the two types of Panchangam or calenders, based on which these calculations are made. Sauramanam, is the system followed in Tamil Nadu, which is based on the movements of the Sun. According to this, as the Sun enters Mesham, Rishabam, Mithunam, et al., the twelve Rasi-s representing 12 of the nearest galaxies closest to the solar system, with which the Sun is aligned, (as seen from the Earth?). On the first day of such alignment, is the first day of the month of Chithirai, Vaikasi and so on as per the calculations. After 12 such months when the Sun again enters Mesham, is the first day of the New Year, as per the Tamil Calender.

137. In our country, most of the other regions follow the calender of the Moon, known as 'Chandramanam'. According to this, the first day or 'Pratamai' after the New Moon or Amavasya, till the next Amavasya is one month. On the Prathamai after last Amavasya in the month of Panguni or Phalgun as per Tamil calender, is the New Year for Teluguites and Kannadigas, called Yugadi. Malayalis follow the Tamilian's system. They also have their month of Medam, as the Sun enters the Mesha Raasi. They call it the 'Vishu'. Only in naming the months, they use the name of the Raasi itself. So the names of the months are, Medam, Edavam, Mithunam and so on. The point of difference between Malayalam and Tamil calender is that, we Tamilians follow the system of 'Chandramanam' in naming the months, like Chitrai, Vaikasi and so on. That is, the name of the month is derived from the Star on which that month's Full Moon occurs. In Chitrai, the full moon occurs on the star Cithra. (This has been clearly described under the heading 'Sikshai; the Nose of the Veda-s', in the Second Volume of Deivathin Kural, which may be referred for more details.) Another point of difference between what we Tamilians follow and what the Malayalis do. They do follow the system of 'Sauramanam' but call their month's names based on the Raasi in which the Sun is entering is one difference. So our New Year's Day coincides with their 'Vishu'. But that is not their New Year's Day. That happens to be, our fifth month of Avani.

138. Another peculiarity about the Chandramanam system. Their month starts on every Prathamai or the first day after Amavasya. Thus their months are always less than 30 days and the total for 12 months will never add up to 360 days. But a year is supposed to be of 365 and a quarter of a day, the time taken by the Earth to go around the Sun! To compensate for that in Chandramanam system, they add a month called, 'Mala Masam' after every three years. During that month no auspicious activities are undertaken.

139. In trying to explain the 'Chatur Masya Vratam', I went in to the details of 'Sauramanam and Chandramanam' systems. In the month of 'Aashad / Aadi', on Sukhla Paksha Ekadasi, (S.P.E., for short, that is, one day after the new moon), Bhagawan Mahavishnu goes to sleep in the Ocean of Milk - Ksheera Abdi. He continues to have his nap in Aavani/Sravan, Purattasi/Badrapada and Aaswina/Aippasi. He wakes up in Kartik S.P.E. This period of four months are known as Chatur Masya, that is S.P.E., in Aashada to Kartika month. The Full Moon in Aashada is known as Vyasa Poornima or Guru Poornima. There is a notion that the four months start from Guru Poornima. But, actually it commences from the Ekadasi preceeding that.

140. Most of the festivals occur during these four months only. Gokulashtami, Ganesha Chaturthi, Nava Rathri, Deepavali, Mahashashti, Kartigai are all occuring in this period. But in this four months of the Sun's Southward journey or Dakshinayanam, we are not supposed to conduct Subha Karyam that is auspicious functions such as Marriages, Upanayanam, Kumbha Abhishegam and such. Though the period is full of common festivals, they are not suitable for auspicious events of individuals and Temple's festivals, basically because of Dakshinayanam. This is the time for sincere regular prayers and vows of abstinence. In this Aachaara Niyamam, that is, discipline in food intake is important!

141. Amongst even such materials that is normally accepted as OK in other times, in each of these four months, one variety of item is set aside as taboo. As I said before, this vow could be from Ashad S.P.E., to Kartik S.P.E., or Month of Sravan to Kartik. First month we are not to have any vegetable. For side dishes you are to have only Appalam/Papad, Vadam and such. Since Tamarind and Green Pepper are also Vegetable, they are not to be used. You can use butter milk and ginger for mixing with the rice. In Badrapada month curd and butter milk are forbidden. In Ashwin month, no milk. In Kartik no ghee and no pulses! With rice or bread, you can have simple boiled vegetables!

142. To some extent the Madva-s are maintaining this Four Month Vratam religiously. Even if they are not doing so in daily food at home, at least in Sraddha they are keeping upto the requirement. Others are not caring for any of these restrictions. Only Sanyasi-s who are followers of Aachaara traditions, are maintaining these taboos. When even taking of Sanyasa is not as per the Saastraa-s and going askew, I feel diffident of commenting on this subject!

143. What is essential at times are to be avoided at other times. Whatever is a must for the householder including Vaidic Aachaaraa-s, are all to be done away with, when one takes the Sanyasa Ashrama. The very Aachaaraa-s which tell us as to how to control the food inputs, also tell us as to how on other times we are to do without some materials. I told you some of those Do's and Dont's. In them there is one rule known as 'alavanam', which means 'no salt'! On the one hand there is a proverb which says that, "uppu illada pandam kuppaile", meaning, 'material without salt is as good as dirt', to go on to do without salt, seems an anachronism. Hyper sensitivity is due to salt. Relate this to the often levelled taunt which says, "Dont' you have any shame? Dont' you add any salt to your food?"

144. When you are a travellor in the path of Self Discovery, these senses of insult to one's ego, shame, taking offence, hurt to one's pride and such things, are best avoided by cutting down on salt completely. Sanyasi-s are supposed to be having bland diet. If Doctors prescribe such diet for certain reasons, Saastraa-s do so for certain other reasons! You can practically see this when 'Varuna Japam' is done praying for rains. When those who are chanting the mantra-s are on bland diet, the Japam is effective and otherwise when they fail to do so! Fasts related to Murugan such as, Tuesday, Shashti and Kruttika are all done 'alavanam'. These are all examples of the fact that on occasions Saastraa-s proscribe certain items, which are normally acceptable.

145. 'Swayam Bhagam'. That means, 'To cook one's own food'. I spoke about the need for the physical and attitudinal cleanliness of those who cook and or handle your food. Though we may not be able oversee the cleanliness of the farmer and the tradesmen, at least look at the server of your food. So, I had not approved of eating in hotels, messes, canteens and hostels. Having generally approved of cooking and serving by Mother/Wife, I had insisted on their need to be clean physically and be deeply into devotion! All that was only preperatory to my final instruction to you to cook on your own. This is the main topic of further discussions!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 138 (Vol #3) Dated 16 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 138 (Vol #3) Dated 16 Oct 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 page 615 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.)

125. So, I hope that the point is clear that milk and its products is not to be avoided but, used only on the principle of controlled and balanced usage. It is criminal to deny milk to the calf and not to let it reach the person who needs it more, like poor children and sick people. Instead, it is being consumed after being poisoned by adding coffee. This has a double negative effect that it is going to hurt the user as well as hiking the price for the poorer people. The user becomes the addict while hurting the genuine needs of the poor patients, by making it beyond their reach. If you stop drinking coffee and assist in distributing the milk to the poor, you will be moving in the right direction.

126. Chewing the Betel Leaves. Like the urge to 'drink' liquor and 'blow' smoke, there are many who are addicted to the habit of chewing the betel leaves. The three ingredients are betel leaves, areca nuts and calcium in the form of lime! It is known as 'paan' or 'vetrilai-pakku' or 'Tamboolam'! The fourth addition is fine cut tobacco that is treated to make it invitingly fragrant, known as 'zafrani' or 'panneer pugailai'! This is a detestable habit peculiar to us Indians.

127. Many are slave to the habit of constantly having a mouthful of these ingredients, continuously replenished. The tongue gets thickened. Hunger is lessened. They do this all of the time, while doing whatever like talking, causing a steady spray of red saliva falling uniformly on all the bystanders or sometimes leaking from the corners of their mouth. There is no 'Aachaaram' here, no status symbol either! 'Snuff' is another of such horrendous habits! A fine powder of tobacco is sniffed in to the nostrils. The one chewing the tobacco will spit every where and the one sniffing it will sneeze every where! Those who have both these habits along with the habit of chewing the 'paan' or 'Tamboolam' can be quite a menace to the God-fearing common man, against all civic sense!

128. There is nothing wrong in married people having the Tamboolam after meals, especially the ladies. In moderate quantities it helps in digestion and the lime adds to the supply of calcium. In 'pooja' of Gods, 'Tamboolam' is the final offering after food. It is a symbol of 'Sowbhagyam', that is, 'wedded bliss'. It is digestive, cleanser of the blood flow, and a source of calcium. Despite all this, it is not 'Saattvic'. That is why it is not prescribed for bachelors and Sannyasi-s! The house holders have to have some Rajasa guna-s. So they are permitted Tamboolam. But it does not mean however, that one does so endlessly! What ever it is, the user should have the habits under his control and not become a slave to the habits! Sweets and items made out of ghee are only Saatvic. Since they satiate within limited use, they are OK. Even here, over usage leads to diabetes and obesity!

129. In trying to explain the cleanliness of materials, I have gone far a field. Vegetarian food while enabling us to inculcate the Saattvic guna-s, does not hurt or harm other living beings. As this spreads in the world, there will be less and less of murders, rapes and thefts. If you take a census of the murderers, you will find hardly any vegetarian amongst them!

130. So, if we want peace in the world, we should become peaceful. For this we should imbibe Saattvic qualities through our food. As we said before, the food is the nutrition not only for the body but also for the mind. So, our Saastraa-s have approved use of some and forbidden use of certain other materials. As far as food is concerned, vegetarian is approved and non-veg is not. Simply by the severity of their observance of ‘Ahimsa’ that is, non-cruelty in all their thoughts, ideas, concepts, speech and action, some great saintly souls have so influenced the atmosphere that there was apparent unconditional love in their surroundings. You came across in their vicinity, a lioness feeding a baby elephant,; a calf would be guided by a tiger; a baby snake would be given shade by the spread of a peacock’s feathers; baby rat would be protected by a cat; and so on! It was in one such place on the banks of the Thunga river in Sringeri, when Aadi Sankara came across a snake guarding a pregnant frog, that he established one of his Peetam-s known as the Sarada Peetam.

131. If we are to perpetuate such traditions of peace that could overcome even natural innate enmity, we are to practice and propagate ‘Ahimsa’ through Vegetarianism. Even in Saattvic food items, extremes of bitterness, sourness and spices are to be avoided. Similarly, onion, garlic, radish and drum-stick are against Sattva Guna.

132. Even in completely Saattvic quality food, the quantity is also important. Ideal is one meals a day. May be you could stretch it to, one meals and one Tiffin. Two meals and one light Tiffin is the order of the day, these days. At the least we should see to it that we do not over eat. As per Dharma and Vaidya Saastraa-s, the stomach is supposed to be half filled with food, one fourth with water and another quarter left for possible gas / air! Even if you are maintaining a system of two meals a day with a Tiffin in the morning or afternoon, it is better to cut down on some eating and or keep complete fast on days like, Chaturthi, Shashti, Kruttika, Pradosham and such days. Having fasted the next meal should not be too heavy! Once in a fortnight, you should fast completely one day. That is the Ekadasi ‘Upavaasam’! I will talk about this in more detail later.

133. Hunger is like a disease. For disease, we will take the medicines as per the dosage prescribed by the doctor, will we not? Exactly similarly, the food should be eaten as we would consume medicines. That is how Aadi Sankara has advised, “...ktchud vyaadischa chikitsaam...”, there by meaning, ‘take food as the medicine for the illness known as hunger’! Do not eat for the tongue. Do not search for tasty food. “...swaad vannam na tu yaasyataam...”! Be happy with what you get by chance. “..vidhi vasaat praaptena santushyataam...”.

134. When we eat for satisfying the taste buds, eating goes beyond control. But when our attitude is such that, we feel the need to appease the hunger, then we will not cross the limits. We will then not suffer from, indigestion or gastric acidity or obesity!

135. On occasions, some of the accepted materials also become taboo. Milk and curd are both Saattvic. But during night time, curd is to be avoided and butter milk preferable. After noons are not OK for plain milk. Many of the normally acceptable pulses and vegetables such as, Bengal gram, okra and pumpkin, become forbidden during Sraddham for Pithru-s. Even in bitter gourd, the long one is acceptable and the small one is not. Similarly, there are some special rules for the ‘four-month-vratam’ known as ‘chatur masya vratam’.

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 137 (Vol #3) Dated 10 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 137 (Vol #3) Dated 10 Oct 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 page 609 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.)

114. Tobacco in Tamil is called ‘pugai ilai’, meaning ‘smoke leaf’. This weed is rolled in to a cigarette, cigar or beedi and smoked. It is also mixed with betel leafs, areca nuts and munched. This is forbidden as per the Saastraa-s. The smoke hurts the eyes, chest and lungs. The tobacco causes some kick which makes the user addicted to the habit. The habit is unhealthy and harmful not only to the user but also to the innocent bystander. One could claim to do as he pleases, standing on individual civic rights. But he has no civic liberties or rights to cause hurt to the non-smokers. I do not know as to why this is not being totally banned. Making a big issue of prohibition, they are turning a blind eye towards this social evil of the first order! I am told that, some who do much propaganda against drinking, have the habit of smoking. While there is a stigma attached to the habit of drinking, there is no such thing with this habit. This is rather considered as a sign of high fashion!

115. Tobacco, beedi, cigar and cigarette et al; are not approved by the Saastraa-s. Having opted for Sattva Aahaaram, it is not in the rightness of things to continue with smoking. With Sattva food, the drinking and smoking habits have to be got rid of for ever! (Luckily in recent years, there is international awakening against the harmful effects of smoking. So, the movement has gathered momentum in India too, leading to banning of smoking in public places, planes, trains and buses. But he flip side of the coin is that, ‘Prohibition’ is being paid only lip service and drinking is becoming a status symbol!)

116. Normally these ‘to be avoided’ items have the power to grab the mind and keep it under its control. The user gets the feeling that, “he cannot do without it”! It will make the user feel like a lost case, half insane, suffering head ache, loose motions, constipation, indigestion and so on. The user becomes the used. He becomes a slave to the habit. In other words he becomes an ‘Addict’! More over these habits have a capacity of attracting each other. If you have one habit, it means that you are mentally weak. So you are a potential victim for other habits. Drinks, cigarette/cigar/beedi, Ganja, aphin, charas, grass, horse, LSD and so on and so on! The list endless. Some how with these habits, prostitution, gay/homo sex and sexually transmitted diseases are close at call.

117. Though Coffee and Tea do not affect the user’s mind so badly like ganja or aphin, they also do have the power to cause addiction. They may not be intoxicants, but they are very much stimulants and so do affect the nervous system of the consumer. It has been recognized that it is the ‘caffeine’ in the coffee, which is the culprit. Tea is also to be avoided. It is also made from a process of heating the tea leaves, through the much acclaimed process of ‘curl-twist-curl’, which is another name for dry frying carbonization!

118. Tea is also not approved by Saastraa-s. In comparison with coffee, if you have to have something as a ‘pick-me-up’, you may have tea. Do not misconstrue my statement to mean that I am recommending consumption of tea! If you cannot help it you may drink tea with the idea of eventually leaving it too! Milk does not have to be spoiled by any of these additives. Morning time you may have milk as it is. Later in the day, you may have either plain butter-milk or with a porridge known as ‘kanji’.

119. Not stopping at telling you all this, I am asking you to give me a promise with Lord Chandra Mouleeswara as a witness that you will give up drinking coffee, visiting cinema and use of silk clothes made by killing thousands of silk worms! Why? However poor the family may be, they incur more expenses for these three unnecessary things which are assuming huge proportions of becoming social evils! The expenditure on coffee is over taking expenditure on food. Not only do they drink coffee at home, anywhere and every where on seeing a hotel or outlet, the urge to drink a cup is so overwhelming! They may not even brush their teeth on getting up in the morning, but prefer a bed-coffee! Coffee is bad, bed coffee is worse! Is it not pathetic that we have slowly made it an unavoidable necessity?

120. This dependency has reached such levels that modern day Sannyasi-s may not be carrying ‘Dhandam and Kamandalam’ but have to carry a stove! They are not supposed to cook. They should go any where near a fire! Even if they have to get up in the ‘Brhma Muhoortam’ of 4 A.M. to sit down for meditation, the first thing they do before that is to get coffee decoction ready! This is the ‘swayam bhagam’, that is, self cooking, that goes on these days! I feel compelled under the circumstances to record my strong protest against ‘coffee drinking’!

121. Packed in tins, there are many beverages that are popular these days. I do not know what all are the ingredients in them! Just because they are nicely packed they cannot get universal acceptance. Similarly what is the certainty that cakes, biscuits, bread and buns do not contain, one particular item? (Periyaval is referring to eggs as that one particular item!) People are turning a blind eye to this ‘Anaachaaram’ on the pretext that, even if it contained that item, it is not yet fully alive to be considered as a living one!

122. Whether alive or not, whether before being born or after death, it is not to be considered as edible at all. Neelakanta Deekshidar was a great soul. He worked as a minister under Thirumalai Naicker. At the time of his retirement, he requested the king that he may be allotted some land in any part of the country, where there was no sound of ‘kukkudam’ the Cock! He got Palamadai Agraharam constructed on the banks of Tamira Bharani river. That is the kind of ‘Ahimsa’ that we are beholden to. We should not bismirch such reputation of our noble past. Unseen by our eyes, if some thing is packed in some factory, it cannot be considered as clean and approved by our ‘Aachaaraa-s’! A rice or wheat porridge made at home is million times preferable to such processed foods from anywhere in the world. If someone is too sick and has to take such food on doctor’s advice, if inescapable and unavoidable, let that patient do so. After he or she recovers from the illness, let them expiate for their transgression in the prescribed manner by taking ‘pancha kavyam’.

123. There are some extreme view points on what is ‘Sattva Aahaaram’. As milk is like the blood an expression of the animal body, some people abjure partaking milk, curd, butter, ghee and all milk products. But, our authority is Saastraa’s dictates. It is considered as a Sattva Aahaaram only. For an item to be abjured, two conditions have to be met. It should not involve cruelty to animals. Then it should not be mind boggling or corrupting. By milking the cow, we are not being cruel to it. In the nature of its creation, it produces more milk than needed for it’s offsprings. If all the milk is drunk by its calf, it will die of over feeding. If you do not milk the cow fully, it will have some different type of problem of painful accumulation in the glands and udders!

124. God has so created that animal as the provider of milk for the sustenance of humanity too. While man is ready to exploit this fact through all the dairies of the world, he may be vary of accepting this statement of mine. Milking the cow is not ‘cruelty to it or the calf’ and not to milk the cow could prove to be harmful to the mother cow and calf. Finally by drinking milk no one is going to go mad! If it was to be abjured, Sri Krishna could not have been so fond of milk and butter that he was ready to steal! If milk was an item to be abjured, Saastraa-s could not have approved use of milk to do ‘Abhishekam’ for Gods in temples. If it was to be avoided, ‘Vishnu’ could not have been said to abide in the Ocean of Milk - The Ksheera Saagaraa! (Tobe continued.) Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 136 (Vol #3) Dated 08 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 136 (Vol #3) Dated 08 Oct 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 page 605 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.)

105. In olden times, all people had respect for Saastraa-s, devotion to God, regards for elders and with utmost humility cared for earning a good name from the society. So, people of all walks of life had the basic discipline to be good and to be seen to be good. Even in matters of control of the senses, their behaviour was far superior to present day state of affairs because their attitude was better. In the name of freedom of thoughts and expression now-a-days, there is blatant display of crassness coupled with erosion of real values!

106. In the name of personal freedom, there is total lack of discipline, which is encouraged by the cinema, TV and the print media! Turn anywhere, there is endless feeding of the craving of the senses. In the olden times, even those who ate meat and consumed liquor, did so within certain self imposed limits. Unlike the comfortable life of the present day with all sorts of modern amenities, people of olden times had to physically work hard to be able to do justice to the diet. So they were not so affected mentally or physically, by the inputs in to the system. With the changed circumstances of greater ease and comforts of present day life, cutting down on non-veg food and drinking of liquor is strongly recommended for people of all walks of life.

107. Compared to the olden times, in the present day world, there is more inter mixing of all castes and communities due to there being greater population. If some of the aachaaraa-s as practiced by Brahmins were being picked up by other communities, now, there is more chance of the Brahmin copying other's way of life! Ever since the Brahmin started doing well in the English based education, he started grabbing a lion's share of all jobs, from the clerk to the highest Indian Civil Service. Leaving Adhyayanam and Adhyapakam aside, he started filling up all sorts of professions as engineers, lawyers, doctors, to joining Police, Army, Navy and Air Force! It pains me to say that when the Brahmin starts copying, he invariably does one better than the original!

108. If Brahmins become non-vegetarians, that will be a great loss not only to himself individually, but the whole world will lose an Ideal. That loss can never be made up or compensated for! Even to-day if there is some quality worthy of pride still sticking to us as a nation, it is this fact that, in the whole world the greatest number of Vegetarians are in our country, amongst our Hindu population. Hindu is still generally believed to be a man of peace. It is that reputation that has to be guarded.

109. 'Hindu' is a sobriquet given by foreigners to us. You cannot see this name in our Saastraa-s. We have construed that word 'Hindu' as having been derived from the root word 'Himsa'. "himsaayaam tooyate ya: sa: hindu ityabhideeyate", meaning, 'one who refrains from hurting others because he feels very bad about being cruel'! That is the meaning of 'Hindu'! Though the word was meant to be a bit of a deprecation, the definition given is based on real facts. This big honour and good name should not be lost forever.

110. Prohibition. Amongst the forbidden items as per Saastraa-s, liquor in whatever form or name is the first of the evils to be got rid of! If non-veg food items affects a person indirectly, liquor does so immediately, directly! It affects the consumer's physique, mind, health, finances, family and the society, all of them negatively! When Saastraa-s say that what we consume affects our mind, it may not be clear in respect of other food items. In the case of liquor, the point is very clear.
111. Drink is taboo. It spoils the drinker. Then it affects the family and society. Even those who were permitted to drink liquor in earlier times, should preferably not do so anymore! We are in complete agreement with the Gandhian movement in the matter of 'Prohibition'! In the Matam, our Social Service Sabha has formally endorsed the principle behind prohibition. We are followers of the Veda-s and Tamil Aagamaa-s. Both have ruled clearly that this social evil is against our religion. It is our bounden duty as per our religion, not to drink!

112. Thiru Moolar's Thirumandiram has clearly spoken against both abjuring non-vegetarian food and drinking of liquor. The 26th and 93rd Adhikaaram of Thirukkural, are about abjuring 'Flesh Meat Eating' and 'Drinking of Liquor'! We distributed to the general public as a notice endorsing the Gandhian principle of Prohibition, giving it more weightage on religious grounds. We exhorted the general public to take it up as an undertaking to be sent to the Matam in writing that the person signing will henceforth will not imbibe liquor in any form. We arranged to send them 'Tulasi and Vibhuti Prasadam', in recognition of their undertaking with divine blessings.

113. The bit notice was worded as given hereinafter. "Vedas clearly forbid imbibing liquor. Tamil Aagamaa-s when talking about Deeksha, advice Prohibition as the first step. As per Thiru Moolar's words, Veda-s and Aagamaa-s form the basis of our religious beliefs. Every Tamilians who has come in this tradition, has to take this vow of abstinence from liquor, in writing and send their undertaking to the Matam. We will arrange to send them Tulasi/Thiruneeru prasadam." The wording of the undertaking was as under:- "I undertake not to touch liquor from to-day, as per the dictates of our Veda-s and Tamil Aagamaa-s. Thus I give a promise to Aadi Sankarachariyar."

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 135 (Vol #3) Dated 06 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 135 (Vol #3) Dated 06 Oct 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 page 599 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.)

95. Though doctors do prescribe some non-veg dishes for some rare diseases such as T.B., for all other diseases they would advice the patient to either stop completely or go slow on non-veg. It is also said that non-vegetarians do not recover quickly from any ailments either! Dieticians will confirm this point. In our Ayur Veda discipline it is clearly believed that 'Patyam is half the treatment', meaning, that it is the control of diet, which enhances or decreases the curative powers of the medicine.

96. I would draw your attention to another aspect of the issue, to prove the point that veg food does give energy, strength and vigour. You take any powerful carnivore animal, such as Tiger and Lion. You will be surprised to note that they will eat the meat of only herbivore animals and not touch the meat of another carnivore animal! A lion and a tiger may fight each other and kill, but they will not eat, each other's flesh. Now what do you understand from this peculiar fact? It is the grass, grains and fruits that gives all the energy and strength.

97. Though we may talk any amount about preferability, taste, energy and strength producing capabilities of veg food, non-veg has always been there since time immemorial. Scholars say that this is due to the nomadic compulsions of pre-historic man. Agriculture was not yet known. Bows and arrows were the main means of procuring food by hunting animals. Later even when he started settling down in the riverine plains and picked up agriculture, I suppose the habit of hunting the animals for food was not completely given up till he started domesticating many of the animals! Accepting this practical aspect, our forefathers decreed that while permitting most of the society to have non-veg as the food, some were required to be strict vegetarians. The idea was that as they grow older, all are to slowly give up non-veg and totally switch over to Saattvic vegetarian food.

98. We have heard some people saying that in olden times even brahmins were non-vegetarians. Rishi-s were essentially non-vegetarians only and so on! But there are others with evidence that all this is not true. What ever names of items mentioned as non-veg, are the names of certain vegetables, herbs and grains only. 'Kalyan Kalpataru' is a periodical published from Gorakhpur in Eastern U.P. They have done much research of old scriptures and proved that our Saastraa-s have never ever approved use of non-vegetarian items in any of our religious functions. For example, it used to be thought of that, in Aswamedha Yaaga the body parts of a horse were sacrificed in the oblatory fire. In truth the item sacrificed was a herb of that name says the report in Kalyan Kalpataru! The point to understand is that by the time the Saastraa-s came to be evolved, I am sure the Indian Civilization and the Religion of Sanaatana Dharma had progressed and refined enough to cherish the value of Saattvic Aahaara and vegetarianism!

99. Anyhow, even if we take it that in the bygone ages everybody were non-vegetarians, it is of no relevance now! As related to the previous Yuga-s of Dvapara, Treta and Krita/Satya, man has become dimunitive in all his physical and mental capabilities. So, the Saastraa-s have made it clear that in the Kali Yuga, Brahmins as a Varna are to be strict vegetarians and in the Sannyasa Ashrama, one is to maintain strict Ahimsa, not only in food but in our thoughts, speech and actions!

100. In one place in Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad in the Bhashyam that Sankara Bhagawat Paadaal had written on Upanishads, one can gather that there is a vast difference in the capabilities of human beings of this and previous Yuga-s! One of the four statements known as Maha Vaakyaa-s which says, " Aham Brhmaasmi ", meaning "I am Brhma", occurs in it. This is not a statement to be made, addressed towards anyone but, is to be realized intrinsically oneself! There are many Deva-s and Rishi-s who did so realize. For example there was this Vamadeva, who claims that he had been Manu and Surya the Sun. Why only then, even now, to-day this is possible. When such realization dawns on anyone, his greatness cannot be undermined by anybody.

101. While explaining such mantra-s of the Upanishad, Aacharyal goes on to say that, "...even in this Kaliyuga when the intensity of individual power is rather minimized and weakened compared to the previous Yuga-s, Self-Realization is still available and open to those who are ready to so endeavour!" The aim and purpose of his commentary is to assure one and all, that even in this present day of 'alpa veerya or heena veerya', Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana that is, Self Realization, is very much possible and so, we are not to give up trying!

102. Then I come back to my point that, even if in the previous Yuga-s, whether Brahmins were eating non-veg food or not, we are not to do so now! Just because a healthy man is having a feast, the sick man is not copy him. He better stick to his medicines and diet! I am only saying this for the sake of arguments that even if we assume that in olden times even great Brahma Gnani-s were non-vegetarians, we today have neither the physical digestive capability nor are we strong in mind to overcome the negative effects of Non-vegetarianism! In the past Yuga-s, they used to live for thousands of years. By mind control they could go forward or back in time and space. We can do none of those things. So let us not try to copy their ways!

103. Let me give you an example. There was a forest with a river flowing in it. There was a pond in it. Once there was a forest fire, which was fanned by gale sized winds. The burning embers, and pieces of burning wood were flown hither and thither. They virtually filled up the pond and it was dried up completely. The debris that fell in to the river however, were simply washed away to the ocean. The debris erased the pond. The river erased the debris! Similarly, what was not a good habit, could make no deleterious effect on the super-humans of the past. But if we adopt those habits, the negative effects of will overwhelm us to our disadvantage. It will be best for us to opt for the path of 'Ahimsa' and stick to vegetarian food!

104. If it so happened that our fore fathers were meat eaters, it is not to be taken as the ideal. At the same time if by years of family tradition if some of us are non-vegetarians, we are not to waste our time and energy in trying to convert them! The ultimate stage is that one day the whole of humanity should become vegetarians. Total abstinence cannot be brought about in a trice. But it can be done over a period. Initially we could take a vow of abstinence from meat eating on days of festivals / pithru karyam / own birth days / on one's own birth star days every month and so on.

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 134 (Vol #3) Dated 03 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 134 (Vol #3) Dated 03 Oct 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 593 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.)

84. Normally the non-vegetarians make fun of the vegetarians, for being consumers of cereals and pulses in a big way. Foreigners make fun of Indian visitors that we are wasting all the available meat in our country and eating only such vegetarian things as to become weak and debilitated. Mostly since it is the Hindu-s who are vegetarians, there is a concept that we lost the nation to Muslims and later to the Europeans, (Britishers mainly), because of the weakness caused by being vegetarians! We will touch this issue once again later. But, first let me teach you as to how to reply the non-vegetarians.

85. The suggested reply runs something as follows:- "There are some African and South American tribes known to be fond of eating human flesh. They are ridiculed by you people as some crude, atrociously crass and uncivilized aborigines and called derisively as cannibals. You cannot on the one hand make fun of them as well as us who do not eat any meat at all. We have every reason to feel proud and superior to both youand cannibals, as we are more civilized. You hold the view that, if all Indians give up their vegetarianism, their will be no scarcity in India. There are occasions when there is scarcity in your countries too. You have better cold storage facilities. I offer you a counter suggestion that you could store your dead bodies instead of burying them and wasting them, to overcome the needs of scarcity situations?!" I am just loudly sharing the counter argument with you!

86. Another point. Vegetables perish. Then they do smell bad. Even the water used to wash the rice, prior to cooking, smells bad. But the smell of fish can be very bad, even when not yet rotten! The other items of non-vegetarian items could be offensively nauseating, to say the least. Some of these vegetables like cabbage and beet-root can also smell bad like the non-veg items! That is why they are not preferred on religiously ceremonial occasions.

87. Not only are those non-veg items offensive to the olfactory nerve ends, they are not body friendly too. The fact that they are not easily acceptable to the digestive system, is made very clear every time the World Vegetarian Congress takes place. They do a comparison of the teeth, nails, intestines and stomach of the carnivores and herbivores. By the by, you will be surprised to note that, by that token, human beings are herbivores! So, they prove that humans are not meant to eat non-veg at all!

88. Now think of it. Can you make the animals such as goat, sheep, cow, deer, horse, zebra and elephant; eat meat? But man endowed with the sixth sense that is not available to the animals, still is stupid enough to eat non-veg that he is not supposed to eat! Yes amongst animals, there are carnivores, herbivores and some who are ambivalent, such as dog, cat, crow, sparrow and so on. Should man remain at their level only?

89. God also retains his option to play His ‘Leela’ and see the fun! Having given man the power to discern, having not given the man the digestive system for non-veg items, He has not made it absolutely impossible for man to digest the non-veg food either. Does man eat sand or stone or iron? No. Similarly, had it been totally impossible for man to eat and digest non-veg food, Man would not have thought of non-veg as an option at all! God’s ‘Leela’ it is to see the tussle between, man’s difficulty in digesting the non-veg food and his discerning power to avoid it for reasons of Ahimsa and Sattva, is the dichotomy! If the whims of the tongue wins and man’s mind power of discernment fails; it is sheer stupidity on Man’s part!

90. Now let me come back to the point about the wrong notion that physical power is due to consuming and absorbing more protein in the form of animal flesh! How do you compare strength? We do not talk of Lion power or power of the Tiger! We talk of Horse Power or Elephant Power. The earlier ones are destructive while the latter are constructive. Elephant is cool, calm and docile, not easily perturbed. When it gets mad, a forest is not enough to contain it! Is its power resultant of eating meat? Elephant would not even give such things a second look!

91. “sashays trunair vanagaja balino bhavanti”, says Bhartruhari. Sushkam is dry. When the ‘ginger’ is dry, it is called ‘sukku’ in Tamil. ‘Sukku’ is the Tamil derivative of ‘sushkam’. When someone is tight fisted, we call him ‘sushkam’! Here the elephant eats only the dry leaves and grass, that is, ‘sushkais’! ‘Trunair’ means, bits and pieces. Eating such things, the Elephant is so mighty and powerful. Despite being endowed with so much power, it is embodiment of peacefulness and ‘ahimsa’! Look at the Tiger and Lion, you will see them with so much of agitation, restlessness and fearfulness of attack from others! With physical might, it is also full of memory and intelligence. It co-operates willingly with man. In places like Kerala, Burma and Malaya, it moves very heavy trees and works as a handy tool of man. By vegetarian food it gets all the Sattva qualities of, brains, humility, co-cooperativeness!

92. sarppaa: pibhanti pavanam na cha durbhalaaste
sushkais trunair vanagaja balino bhavanti I
gandai: phalair munivaraa: kshapayanti kaalam
santosha eva purushasya param nidhaanam II
This slokam is by Bhartruhari as I told at the start of the previous para. It means:- ‘Snake which intakes only air is not so weak. Eating only dry leaves the elephants are so powerful! Eating roots and fruits in the forest, the Rishi-Muni-s could live long keeping death at arm’s length! So mental contentedness is the main cause of health and happiness!’ It is understood that the cause is not food, and not ‘asaattvic food’ anyhow!

93. When I was a small boy, there was a young professor Rama Moorthy. He used to be known as ‘Ramamoorthy Sandow!’. He was a Telugu speaking man, who owned a circus company. As he himself was a show man, he would demonstrate many feats. In one he would tie himself with ropes around his waist, to two Ford cars on either side. Then he will let the cars be started simultaneously. He will hold them on either side, literally at arms length, with the palm of his hands, without much ado! The audience would be flabbergasted!

94. When his company was camping in Kumbakonam, he tried his level best to invite me to visit his circus. But the old people in the Matam said that, such visit is against the customs and traditions of the Matam! There was a huge open space behind the Kumbakonam Matam those days. So, Mr. Ramamurthy Sandow, visited us with his entourage and gave demonstration of a few ‘items’ of theirs! We were wondering as to how someone could be so powerful! I am mentioning all this to you because, he was a Vegetarian! Anyhow, you know that, the mighty powerful Anchaneya was a vegetarian monkey only!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 133 (Vol #3) Dated 01 Oct 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 133 (Vol #3) Dated 01 Oct 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 para on page 587 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.)

73. In North India, during the time of Vallabha Aacharya Jains converted into Hinduism enmass. In the land of Kannadiga-s, by the influence of Ramanuja Aacharya all Jains including their King, returned back to the fold of Hinduism and became Vaishnava-s. In the North the followers of Vallabha Aacharya were known as the ‘pushti margi-s’! Around Gujarat, such erstwhile Jains who became Vaishnava-s and happened to be all of the business class, were known as ‘pushti margi baniya-s’. In Sanskrit what is ‘Vanijya’ became ‘Vaaniyan’ in Tamil and ‘Baniya-s’ in Hindi. They used to apply the ‘Naamam’ on their forehead using the saffron. They would all wear the ‘Tulasi Mani Maalai’ (of basil beads), in their neck. Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, the Father of the Nation was one of such background. It is that ancestral Jain background that made him too passionate about, “ahimsa paramo dharma:”!

74. In the ‘pulaal maruttal’ Adhikaaram, Valluvar asks a very pertinent question. “How can the grace of kindness and compassion happen to be in a person who nurtures his own body by the meat that is obtained by killing another life form?” I quote:- “tan oon perukkarkku taan piridhu oon unbaan enganam aalum arul?” When he does not have grace and compassion, how can he become worthy of God’s grace and blessing? You cannot talk of Grace, Arul, Love and then keep eating flesh of living beings in whatever form! The one God is Mother and Father for all of us. We are all children of the same God. That includes all human beings, birds, animals, fish and all life forms. To kill any one of them is nothing else but fratricide! If I support this killing of life forms for food of human beings, there is no meaning in talking about universal brotherhood whatsoever!

75. The only ‘tongue in cheek’ response to this charge is, “Why only birds, animals and fish; even the plants have life. Can you cook and eat them without cutting, hurting and killing them? Jagdish Chandra Bose and others have said that plants also have life, feelings and senses. So even vegetarian food fratricide only!”

76. I have to answer this. Many Yuga-s before J.C.Bose, Saastraa-s have held that all these plants, creepers and grass; are all life forms only. In the way of life, good and bad, ease and difficulty, pleasure and pain, positive and negative; are all co-existing, in this bi-polar world. In that some animals instinctively have to live by applying force with cruelty. It is in their nature to be so. But, man has the God given power to discriminate and weigh his actions. So, in this worldly drama, he is tied down by God by the laws of Nature that, he cannot avoid discomforts, problems and difficulties totally. Within the limitations of his own Nature, he has to look for justifiable gratification of his senses and satisfaction of his physical needs.

77. Though one in a billion may be able to walk away from life refusing to play the game as per Nature’s dictates, all the others have got to eat something to survive or perish! ‘OK, If I have to eat something to survive, let me find out the best method of getting the same while giving the least amount of trouble to self and others!’ Within the available options, the minimum hurt to others is in agriculture only!

78. Crops are harvested only when they have had a useful life and are anyhow about to finish. Then we separate the grains from them. When these vegetables are plucked, the hurt is about the same as the twinge we feel when our hair is plucked! It is also proved by scientists that the plants are not endowed with very high sensitivity to feel the pain. The greens and root vegetables, if not pulled out the earth, will anyhow be dried up and wasted where they are! So, the point is very clear that all said and done, vegetarian food is the one involving the minimum of ‘Himsa’ or hurt to anybody and we as human beings have accept that fact!

79. Sannyasi-s are to keep total ‘Ahimsa’ and so. are not entitled to even this. They cannot afford the vegetables as they are not to cause even a little bit of hurt, even to plants! So, they are to eat only the fruits and leaves that fall from the plants. Saastraa-s mention, “...jeerna parna asina: kvachit...”. Let me translate these words/phrases:- ‘jeerna parna’ are dried and dead leaves. ‘aasina:’ means, those who eat. ‘kvachit’ means, some times! That means that, they are to eat those dried leaves that have fallen from the trees on their own, as and when they get it, where ever they get it! It also means that, they are not to go looking for food! This is another occassion of keeping the Ideal as required of only a small fraction of the society!

80. The ‘Sannyasi’ is not to eat grains of cereals and pulses. They are all in some way seeds for future plants. So, they are not to eat that! While eating even fallen fruits, they are to carefully remove the seeds! Those Rishi-s who maintained such self control with discipline, were the ones who became Brhma Rishi-s! That was real ‘phala aahaaram’ and not what we eat these days! Now-a-days, leaving the cereals, to eat Iddly, Dosai, Uppuma, Vadai etc., with chutney, saambaar, gothsu, milagai podi and so on, is what is called, ‘phala aahaaram’! This ‘phala’ cannot mean fruit, but ‘many sided’ or rather ‘fully loaded’ aahaaram! Real ‘phala aahaaram’ would cause peaceful qualities of Sattva. Sexual urges will be less and without any effort on our part, family planning and population control will be achieved!

81. There is one more justification for Vegetarianism in this! We were first considering the quantum of hurt that we are inflicting on animals and plants and taking note of the fact that the sensation of pain in plants is rather subdued! Now we are looking at the flip side of the situation, that is, at the effect of the veg/non-veg food on the consumer. If we are interested in Sattva, purity and clarity of the mind and heart, non-veg is anathema. High protein diet of red and white meat, may be good for body building, but, not for exercises such Dhyana and Yoga. Though there are some items to be set aside in veg food too, they are all far better than the non-veg items per se.

82. Let us sincerely look at how much is the difference between the acceptance in our own minds, in partaking veg / non-veg food. Does cutting vegetables really make us feel as heartless and cruel as cutting and killing a living goat or fish or chicken or cow? This psychological factor has an importance, however much you may ignore it!

83. Within non-vegetarians there are some who are critical of those who eat the pig or swine. Some say that they draw a line at cipher, meaning that they only consume eggs. Some make a ‘holier than thou’ claim of eating only fish. Then there are hard core non-vegetarians who look down upon people such as Chinese and Japanese, who do not spare even the snails, frogs or crustaceans. During the Second World War, the Western allies used to make fun of Germans who had to rely on Horse meat due to scarcities forced by war! This gives me an idea as to how the vegetarians can score a point or two against non-vegetarians, who make a virtue of their vice, making a joke of the vegetarians!

(Note:- KTSV adds. Recently I happened to see video clippings of how the workers in poultries slaughter the birds every day in tens of thousands for outlets like those of Kentucky Fried Chicken! The utter dehumanizing scene had a traumatic effect on the viewer‘s mind and being!)

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.