DEIVATHIN KURAL # 168 (Vol #3) Dated 26 Dec 2009.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 168 (Vol #3) Dated 26 Dec 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 No 771 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://Advaitam. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

11. In addition to mastering his portion of the branch of the Veda-s for which he considered himself to be a student for life (Adhyayanam), to learn everybody else's trades, crafts, intricacies and embellishments was the job of the Brahmin who was Achaarya (Adhyaapanam) for all other castes and professions. They are required to learn all arts, sciences and crafts, become experts and teach it to those respective tradesmen or craftsmen. To people of other castes they are to teach all the tricks of their trade in all its nuances.

12. But, they are not to trade or fight or use their knowledge and make a living out of it. When it comes to their own earning a livelihood, they are required to do 'yaachagam' , that is, beg! To protect the Veda-s, they are to learn, practice and teach the Veda-s in its pristine form. That is his 'swadharmam'! Parasurama and Dhrona are some rarities who wielded arms to fight real battles, for which we notice that they have been soundly criticized and ridiculed by their opponents!

13. In Germany all the people of the country were trained for war, which was to a large extent the reason for two world wars! Our country's ethos are not like that. Neither were we so gone on Ahimsa that we were a nation of cowards and losers! One fourth of the population was meant to do administration, policing and soldiering as the Kshatriya caste! They were to learn and practice Dhanur Veda as the profession to which born! Dhanur Veda talks of effective use of force against external aggression!
14. As per the Dhanur Veda, a king is supposed to be ever prepared for war. Now-a-days we often hear people in power saying that, whether it is China or Pakistan, if anybody tries to be nurturing any thoughts of aggression, we are ready with military preparedness. One is to be so prepared in reality. Other is to say so, to bolster civilian morale and deter the enemy from aggression. All this comes under diplomacy. Two things. We should not be saying that we are well prepared militarily, when we have been preparing and stocking our Army, Navy and Air Force extensively, as we will be branded as war mongers. We should not be claiming so when we are under prepared also lest, the enemy is motivated to go on the offensive! All these posing and manipulations come under another Upaveda by the name 'Artha Saastra'!

15. As per Dhanur Veda a King is required to be always prepared for war. He has to be so prepared, so as to deter other Kings from entering his territory and create chaos. It is the duty of the King to ensure this preparedness by employing Kshatriya soldiers.

16. Why the Word Dhanur? The main subject of Dhanur Veda is Weapons and their usage. Then why should not this Upaveda be called Weapons Veda or Ayudha Veda? Out of the weapons used, it is the Dhanush the bow, which enabled you to hurt an enemy from a distance. If you use a spear or a sword, once it goes off your hands, it does not come back. This matter of use of the bow is different. Arrows are light weight missiles. Carriage of arrows in the back pack is no problem, because of its being light weight. You can be at a distance and still be accurate. One after the other, you can continuously dispatch a whole series of missiles, depending only on your dexterity and mastery. The bow remains with you!

17. Weapons are of two variety called, Astram and Sastram. The power of the weapon and the users mastery are the main inputs in Sastram. You can say that they are the same two inputs in all weapons, after all. So are they all only Sastram? Yes in to-days world the power of the weapon and the combatant's artistry are the only two things applied in weaponry. There was a time when Mantra was the third element applied. That weapon would be called Astram! There have been great Maharishi-s who could use a blade of grass with mantra power as Astram against a whole army of soldiers and vanquished them!

18. But generally the very Sastra-s were used with mantra shakti, making them into Astra-s. Among all these weapons Dhanush was the main launching pad. Brahma’s power could be put in an astram known as Brhmastram. So there were, Vishnu's power invoked in Narayanstram and Siva's power invoked in Pasupatastram. Then there were other Astra-s with the power of other deities namely, Varunastram (of Varuna), Aagneyastram (of Agni), Garudastram (with the power of Garuda the white necked eagle, the carrier of Vishnu) and Nagastram (with the power of Snakes)! They were all arrows despatched by using those mantras, launched from a bow that is a Dhanush!

19. Now we know as to what wide spread destruction can be caused by an Atomic explosion. It is learnt that when these Astra-s were used they could do worse damage. Before these atomic explosions came to be known as a reality, the descriptions in the Purana-s were a matter for sniggering derisive comments. "Humph! One chap is said to have thrown a missile. Immediately there was supposed to have been a smoke and cloud cover from the ground to all the heavens! All the lakes, ponds and rivers were dried up and birds fell down dead it seems! Even the yet to be born foetus in the womb fell out dead, it seems! Hum! All cock and bull stories".

20. The power of a small yield atom bomb, the damage due to radiation, the fire effect and blast effect, should make us sit up and realize that may be there was some truth in what is said in the Purana-s! More than the power derived out of breaking an atom, there can be much greater power behind the Mantra-s, because before all creation there was the sound! First there was the prime ordial sound!
( To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.