DEIVATHIN KURAL # 145 (Vol #3) Dated 03 Nov 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 145 (Vol #3) Dated 03 Nov 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 653 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.)

197. I have been talking to you, almost drilling it in to you, (From Deivathin Kural # 125 onwards), on the subject of 'Ahaaram and Aachaaram'. I am going to recapitulate on this subject now. The one simple act of 'Swayam Paakam' has many salubrious effects. First is Chitta Suddhi, second is health, third is thrift, fourth is obviating class / caste based quarrels, fifth is enabling adherence to Saastra-s rules that old men are not to remarry young girls on the pretext of having to have a cook at home, sixth is to give a boost to learning of the Veda-s, seventh is to lessen cruelty to animals, eighth is to demonstrate the ideal of simple Saattvic Aahaara to the society at large! There can be no greater social service than to spread peace!

198. More than anything else, it would evoke a compassionate response from God, that 'this child is persevering, taking efforts to control his tongue, so let us bless him!' For everyone to attain to this ideal, they should do Swayam Paakam from now onwards, at least for one day a week, to start with. Having said so much on this topic, I hope at the least some of you may be convinced to follow my advice. All that you have to do is to put it in action.

199. Aahaaram is not only the food we eat. Each of the five Indriya-s, that is the sense organs, have their own aahaara. Scenes and sights are the food for the eyes. Music and all the talks are food for the ears. All the inputs from the sensory organs become food for thought! In all this, we should ensure that they are not having a harmful effect on our senses, thereby corrupting the mind. Dirty scenes and pictures should not be seen, Unworthy talks and gossip should be avoided meticulously! All that we do, see, say and hear, should be enabling us to progress on the path of God Consciousness!

200. Amongst all the sense organs, it is the tongue which has the maximum potential for corruption, with the taste buds and power of spoken expression! That is why, a whole lot of do's and don'ts are about food only. On the one hand, we cannot live without food. On the other, if it is not moderate, balanced and controlled, it can lead you to untold miseries and problems. Heavy eating leads to obesity, inefficiency and many diseases. Most importantly if you eat too much, whenever you sit down to do meditation, you will go to sleep! In Tamil, there is a saying that man is, "sorraal aditha paandam", that is. 'food filled vessel'! For this vessel to be hale and hearty and for the mind inside that body to be clean and effulgent, we should be following the rules and regulations as evolved by our great Rishi-s of yore. I pray to God to make us understand the importance of these aachaaraa-s, to be observed diligently!

201. There is a prayer in Christianity which says, "Give us this day our daily bread!", telling us to pray to God for our daily needs. It is also said, "Man shall not live by bread alone!", in the Bible. It implies that man lives by devotion, awareness, love, compassion, humaneness and such noble qualities and not by food alone! The aachaaraa-s with regard to food, in our religion as given in our saastraa-s, clearly delianate the approach to this important subject. There is a Upanishadic statement which says, "...annam brhma iti vyajaananaat...", meaning, 'know that food is God!' In the words of Adi Sankara Bhagawat Padaal, I am praying to Mother Annapoorni Visalakshi, to grant you all not only a hale and healthy body, but also Gnaana and Vairaagya, that is Realization and Dispassion. "Annapoorne! Sadaa Poorne! Sankara Praana Vallabhe! Gnaana Vairaagya siddhyartam bikshaam dehi cha Paarvati II". Sambhomahadeva