DEIVATHIN KURAL # 79 (Vol #4) Dated 29 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 79 (Vol #4) Dated 29 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page number 431 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
63. Our fine tuned traditions of the past were something like the sign posts for the whole world. If they are destroyed and lost, we will not be able to create them again ever! This has to be explained to our own people in power in government and administration. If we believe that they will come around, and have faith in our sincerity of purpose with trust in God, I am sure that they will. Our new administration of the republic is still young only. However much respectable an old man may be, his own grandson may play with his dress or turban and smudge it. The old man cannot achieve anything by getting annoyed! May be our own politicians are taking liberties with their religion, thinking that they are being very clever! It is for us to point out their blunder through as many forums as possible! Let us believe that we will be able to correct the wrong. But it is true that thinking that they are correcting the mistakes in the Saastraas and traditions; they are being totally on the wrong path!
64. As a part of such inadvertent blunders is the erroneous decision to let all people have the right to vote as well as stand for elections to become a member of the legislature assemblies as against ownership of landed property being a qualitative requirement! Instead, they have laid the requirement that an aspirant should deposit some amount. I do not understand the logic of this. When India is full of poor people, what does this requirement of depositing money mean? First of all, this is against equality. OK. Standing for election should not become a farce like just entering a cinema hall or something! So, you put a premium. But, do they want that a poor aspirant should take a loan for this purpose? Does this not open the route to corruption and partiality, straight away? That the aspirant should have some land on his name and have a constructed house on that land; would mean that some motivation for corruption is obviated!
65. Looking at human nature, a man with some land and a house may not be easily a prey for the lure of corruption. The moment I say this, some of you may come forward to pick up a quarrel with me, saying that you have seen many cases of people with five or ten Lacs up their sleeve, still thirsting for more to be gained by hook or crook! That is why Mahatma Gandhi said that, “there is enough in this world for everybody’s need but, there is not enough in this world for even one man’s greed!” But this sort of greed is an occurrence of recent times only. We in India were not always like that. Self control has dwindled while paper money has become a way of life! With the opening of Banks with the facility to amass and stash it in the banks, people have got in to the habit of doing so endlessly! Earlier on, greedy miserly people used to dig the earth and inter some coins and gold. But the miserly man was a marked man looked down in the society! Now, it has become the aim of life for many, uncaring for other’s opinions as well as the directions of Saastraas! Even today, you may note that the pauper without morals, if he suddenly comes into money, becomes an intolerable entity. There is a proverb of those days when the umbrella was considered a status symbol which says, ‘when a worthless character comes into money, he will use an umbrella over his head even on a rainless night!’ In the name of equality, we should not be ignoring these practical aspects of life.
66. Even today for jobs like a Cashier we require the applicant to deposit some amount of money as a security deposit, do we not? Where is equality then? Does not a poor man become disqualified for that Job? The reason for the security deposit is that, it is likely that a man handling money may go astray. So also a man handling people as a member of these Sabhas is likely to take some bribe for favours legally or illegally made possible!
67. In the Sozha Saasanam, this bribe has been referred as ‘kai oottu’. Literally translated, it would be ‘hand feed’! To mishandle money is called ‘kai aadal’ or ‘sleight of the hand’, that is done by the handler. Here, there is one feeding and one being fed! When you directly feed somebody in the mouth, nobody knows what was fed and what was swallowed. This is the ‘kai oottu’ to obviate which, it was required that the aspirant for election should be well off financially. If he is already having landed property and a house on the land, first of all, he is not likely to be keen on making money on the side and secondly, if he does, his property could be as good as the security deposit! So here there is no question of talking about partiality and equality! The aim was that the society’s assets should be managed fairly. That is how it was being done those days. Then a person with landed property is not likely to abscond and is likely to be knowledgeable about the local problems and methods of solving them! When a person works to earn and save to be able to create some assets, he is likely to have some care and attachment for his properties. Similarly when you come to inherit a piece of land or a house, you will agree that you are likely to have some special attachment for it. That sort of an attachment will not be there for things got as grant or gift. Those who live on the King’s largesse may have to be ready to leave it and go any day! That is why, the rule was that he should be in possession of landed property of his own for which he should be paying taxes.
68. Those that are learned in Vedas and are teachers of Veda Vidya, were known to be not too fond of acquisition and worldly possessions. They were practically seen to be living a simple life, happy with minimum needs and wants. That is why, the condition {as given in earlier para 41(a)} of ‘having a quarter Veli land’ was further relaxed for Vedic scholars as half of that! The wordings of the Saasanam as a sub-clause was, “ariak kaanilame udaiyaayinum oru vedam vallaanaai, naalu bhashyathilum oru bhashyam vakkaaNithu arivaan” could be permitted to stand for election. Even for him it was not an exemption but, only a relaxation. Even a Vedic scholar should have some land at least on his name and not be a total pauper, was the rule.
69. There is one more reason as to why the potential members of the Sabhas were required to be owners of some property for which they were paying taxes. They should be having the knowledge about taking care of public properties, know the methods of reasonably utilising public finance and keep accounts of such expenditure. If they were not aware of the ways and means of taking care of properties, it was more likely that they may be too careless or be too ignorant of the rules and regulations! Either way they would have been a stumbling block in the administration. Keeping all these points in mind, land and property ownership was kept as a qualitative requirement of aspirants for election.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 78 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 78 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page number 427 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
54. Desecration of temples, destruction of idols and architectural beauties and forcible conversion of the masses to their religion and peaceful coexistence with the Hindus, were both prevalent at various times at various places in India, like the ebbs and tides in the riverine areas near the ocean! But, while making rules for the Hindu people, the Muslim rulers refrained from forcing their way of life on the Hindus and let them follow their own Saastraas. For example Hindu women were not enabled to divorce / remarry and they did not bring in rules for matriarchal system of entitlement of properties amongst the Hindus! Whatever their inner intension, being minority rulers by force, they may not have wanted to totally antagonize the majority populace and expect to run the government peacefully! This may be the reason that they did not interfere with the Hindu’s internal way of life and let them be!
55. This situation of not interfering with majority Hindu’s internal arrangements, continued even after the transfer of power to the Britishers. If the Muslims used forcible methods more, the Britishers used underhand means and duplicity more. The net effect was that the Hindu Dharma was made to disintegrate and deteriorate inwardly. The Victoria Proclamation onwards the Acts and Laws enacted looked as though they were least interested in interfering with our religion! The carrot before the donkey was the lure of lower bureaucracy known as ‘babudom’! To get so employed, you had to study in their schools and learn their language and their manners, dress, and culture. This was the meanest cut of all in that, while they recruited clerical and managerial cadre, they caused the younger generation simultaneously to lose their trust and belief in our own Hindu Dharma Saastraas! In the name of modern political and management concepts, social upliftment, historical research, study of languages and scriptures and so on; claiming to do so impartially that too; they did everything to completely undermine and bring down the very edifice of Hinduism! (There were many westerners who got completely sold on Hinduism like Arthur Avlon, Madame Anne Besant, Bertrand Russell, Franc Humphrey, Harry Dikman, Raphael Hurst, later known as Paul Brunton, Edwin Arnold and so on. But that is a different story.)
56. A Hindu does not have to convert to any other religion. All the religions of the world are already included in it. If you are a nature lover, you are welcome. You think of plants, animals, birds, fish, pig, elephant, rat, eagle, tortoise et al., they are all adored and revered as God in this land! We worship the Earth, Space, Fire, Water and Air as the Five basic building blocks of the whole world! You talk of reasoning and absolute logic; we have it all and still be able to give you some beyond your comprehension; in our Vedanta! Surrender as a principle of the Muslims, is the same as the Visishtadwaitam of the Ramanujacharya. If you are keen on materialism as the end of human existence, we have the Madhva’s Dwaitam to take you beyond what is existentialism! Take the ultimate experience of oneness of the Sufis or Catholic priests of ‘I am that I am’, you cannot do better than experience the Adwaita Anubhava of Adi Sankara! So we do not believe in having to convert but believe in inversion! Not knowing the real value of their own religion, many Hindus that too Brahmins converted to Christianity. Britishers better bettered their own expectations and were more than successful in inflicting a mortal blow on the Indian Hindu Society. If the Brahmin can walk away from his appointed role of Adhyayanam, Adhyaapanam, Yagnam, Yaajanam, Pratigraham and Daanam (of Learning the Vedas, Teaching the Vedas, Conducting the Yagnas oneself and for others, Receiving alms and giving alms to others respectively); all other castes could also move away from their appointed roles in the Hindu society. The resultant attitude was one of a total collapse of all checks and balances!
57. Around the time of the arrival of Europeans on our shores, all over Europe, there was a constant tussle for supremacy between the Church and Royalty. The very coming into being of Protestantism was a rebellion against the control by the Catholic Church. This led to a situation wherein in England it was the Church of England and elsewhere in Europe it was Lutheranism the State Religion. Basically there was a parting of ways between the Church and Governments all over Europe. Europeans came to Asian shores more in search of lands to conquer and for expansion of trades as a competition amongst the European countries! It was the custom and tradition to send away the trouble creators on such voyages of adventure. If they get lost forever, it was good riddance of bad rubbish and if they come back with victories over virgin lands, it was good use of bad material!
58. In England it was the tradition for the King to appoint some of the Bishops and appoint them to the House of Lords. Arch Bishop of Canterbury used to do the coronation of the King. Still there was not much love lost between the Crown and the Church! Christians never had a religious book of law like the Shariat amongst the Muslims. Before Christ, among the Hebrews there was something like a legal-religious book of morality like the Ten Commandments. Jesus Christ Himself had given many very cogent Do’s and Don’ts covering all aspects of life on various occasions. But there was no codification of those rules and regulations that, there was a constant tussle daily between the Popes, Bishops and Governments. In the end there was a clear parting of ways that Governments established Jurisprudence as a separate secular authority on social behaviour! All these developments were concurrent with the ever new findings of Science! The truths of Science were so far from the religious beliefs resulting in a clear erosion of religious beliefs, that there were more non practicing Christians in Europe. Anyhow the Muslims were more regular with their Namaas than Christians were with their Mass!
59. What I was coming to say was that under the situation, when the Britisher’s belief in their own religion was waning and had deeply fallen into a black hole of sensual degeneration abetted by modernity and science; they were not liking the idea of a country that was a slave nation under them, having such a glorious religion as Hinduism. So it was in their interest to rub the nose of Indian Hindus in the mud and get a good name as great evangelical champions of Christianity! So they did their zealous best for a cause of undermining Indian Hindu Religion and spreading Christianity by whatever means! Still, when it came to enactment of Laws, they did not do anything to directly interfere with the Hindu way of life!
60. What the Muslims rulers or Britishers did not dare to do forcing the Hindus, is being done by our own independent government of free India in the name of secularism! Calling all others a minority, in the name of national freedom, they are freely changing and interfering with each and everything of the Hindus, having become slaves of western way of life in style, dress, thought process, economics and industry!
61. Only for name sake is it a secular government. In practice, it is pro Christian, pro Muslim and anti-Hindu. The Muslim and Christian votes are the swing votes! They are precious and so handle them with love, kindness and kid’s gloves! The Hindu votes can be manipulated every which way because they can never vote on any issue en bloc! In reality Hindus are the most fissiparous minority, who cannot see eye to eye with each other on any issue! So in India secularism has come to mean breaking whatever is said in the Saastraas, blame the so called casteism for all the ills of the society, teach them equality, reform Hinduism!
62. Under the situation, there is no meaning in being annoyed. It is our duty to point out the fallacy, with a prayer in our hearts! We have to tell our own people and the whole world that in the name of reformation, we should not be ending up destroying a glorious Religion and a way of life that can never be recreated, if once destroyed! If we have never been pontificating, we should do so now, not to convert others but to save and protect the Hindu religion from extinction!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 77 (Vol #4) Dated 25 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 77 (Vol #4) Dated 25 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page number 419 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
44. Other authoritative scriptures such as Artha Saastram and Sukra Needhi were mainly centred on economics, diplomacy and politics; were still mostly amenable and complimentary to the Dharma Saastra. For convenience of practicality, in some areas they do deviate from the constraints of Dharma ever so slightly. But even here they are not to go against the directions of Dharma in their basic effect on the situation. Dharma Saastra which is one of the four Saastraas amongst the 14 Vidyas of the Veda will still hold the place of authority of primary importance when there is an apparent conflict between applicability of the Saastraas. The Kings of Tamil Nadu took pride in claiming to have implicitly followed the Manu Needhi and not Artha Saastraa!
45. What I mean to say is that, at the time of the rule by the Tamil Kings, it was not that once an order was passed it was draconian that cannot be amended, nor was it that the rules could be amended to suit the whims and fancies of the people in power, at the drop of a hat! Basically it was that, the Dharma Saastraas’ rules had to be kept intact. When the very tree of governance was having the Dharma Saastraas as the root; it had to be protected. Whatever changes that were brought in had to be without any deleterious effect on the root! When required some pruning was done by these amendments at the branches and not at the root! That is how the third qualification of the aspirants for election was revised.
46. Knowledge of the Saastraas and Work Efficiency. The fourth of the qualitative requirements: The aspirants had to be learned enough to know as to what is Vedic Dharma and know about our Saastraas. Along with that they should also be practically capable of managing things. The wordings in the edict are as follows: - “vedattilum saastrattilum kaaryattilum nipuNar”. The next requirement is very important. The fifth qualitative requirement says that their wealth should not have been ill begotten! This is like a moral fencing around material wealth, that the future holders of membership in the Sabhas which are going to run the administrative show be incorruptible. Then only they can even stand for election for becoming a member! The wordings are: - “artha suddhamum aatma suddhamum udaiyaar”.
47. This election is yearly. Member this year cannot expect to be a member the next year also. Actually he is not permitted to be a member for the next three years. The wordings of the edict reads: - “moovaandin ippuram vaariyam seidilaadaar”! Evidently this is to ensure that the members are not enabled to gain any untoward advantages accruing due to their own actions or decisions as a member. So you could be elected any number of times to this membership as long as there are clear three years gap between each time. Automatically you are prevented from spreading your influence and getting the roots of corruption firmly established.
48. The next condition is also complimentary to the fifth and sixth conditions. It says that the new members should not be close relatives of those who have been a member in the past! The wordings of the edict are as under: - “vaariyam seidu ozhiththa peru makkaLukku aatma bandukkaL allaadaar”. Now let us look more closely at these conditions of requirements.
49. First the aspiring contender has to have at least a ‘kaal veli nilam’, that is some quarter acre of land say! He should be having a constructed house on that land and paying ‘theervai’, meaning a land or property tax. You may feel that when there is land, there must be tax. But that is not necessarily so. Brahmins and some poor craftsmen were normally donated land by the king and such lands were not taxed. To be a member of the Sabha, the aspirant has to own land for which he should be paying tax, is the rule!
50. Ideal and Practical. You may question the logic of this ruling on the grounds as to why a poor man should not be permitted to stand for election? This argument may be ideal but not practical as per the views of our ancestors. Anyhow, you will agree that a poor man should be utilizing his time in eking out a living and not wasting it on analysis and discussions of administrative and legal matters! The Dharma Saastraas are ideal but practical. Otherwise if you let anybody and everybody become members of these Sabhas, it is likely to be an exercise in futility and hypocrisy! That is the reason why, the Saastraas have divided the society into so many VarNas and Ashramas, with their Aachaaraas, duties and appointed roles to be played. That is how the ideal has been tightened for some and loosened for some others. This does not mean that ideals have been compromised, but only made practical. That is, without bringing down the high ideals, raise human capacity step by step to obviate and avoid human foibles successively thereby fetching one to the level of the ideal! This is the way in all walks of life applicable to all people. Since politics is concerned about daily changes, practicality has to be more down to earth, amenable to human psychology. That is how the rules were made and the people making the rules were controlled! The Sozha system is a clear evidence of this statement.
51. In the times of Sozha Kings that we are referring to, politics was not totally divorced from religion as is being done nowadays. Even my talking as though Dharma and Divinity are two different things is an error! Nothing in life can ever be considered in isolation without connecting to God! Let alone politics, we cannot even breath or utter a word without that divine sanction and blessings. To talk about morality sans divinity is simply insincere and pompous rhetoric!
52. Those Rishis of yore who understood God and God’s ways and methods, devised these Saastraas. If we think of ourselves as too smart setting aside the Saastraas as superfluous or unnecessary from politics, we will only end up deifying the market forces and such nebulous concepts leading to chaos! The political ideologies of the west and the communist bloc of countries, all suffer from the same fallacy.
53. During the Muslim and British Rule. Before the Britishers, many areas of this country were under Muslim rule. They were a mix of Turks and Moguls, who came in as herds of marauders. But once having attained the power, they settled down to establish fairly stable rule of law, leading to inevitable mixing of the cultures in the bargain! The Muslim rulers had much devotion to their religious beliefs. Like us they had the Shariat which was something like the Dharma Saastraas only. But their aims being one of destroying Indian Hindu culture and Aachaaraas, there was wide scale desecration of temples and historical monuments, going hand in hand with large scale forcible conversions of Hindus into their religion. So the governance was anti-Vedic in more ways than one! However I must mention two mitigating developments. Though there were forcible conversions in to their religion, not all the Sultans were so interested. Actually some of them even tried to prove themselves to be benign rulers of all. So wherever forcible conversion was not the main agenda, they let the Hindus to sort out most of their problems through Jaati NaattaaNmai! To that extent, our ancestral procedures continued to be applied. Jaati NaattaaNmai system worked even better as people basically wished not to escalate and go outside the community to settle their differences! The second point was that the Muslim rulers did not thrust their rules and laws of Shariat on the Hindu population in general.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 76 (Vol #4) Dated 23 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 76 (Vol #4) Dated 23 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the second para on page number 413 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
36. These days the whole country is divided into States, Districts, and Tehsils which is further divided into so many wards. In earlier times, each city and village was divided into so many ‘Kutumbs’. Some 50 years before Uttara Merur edicts there is a first Aditya Sozha edict on stone at a place known as Chandra Lekha, Chaturvedi Mangalam, dividing that Oor into so many ‘Kutumbs’. The Graama Sabha was made up of a representative each from these ‘Kutumbs’. These reps (short for representatives), were members of the Oor Sabha. They were not detailed by King or any agent of the government but, elected! Neither was the membership by a hereditary lien nor an appointment by the government. There was something like a voting done and people selected based on that voting. It was not universal franchise. If you ask me as what it was, I will tell you about that a little later. There is more pleasure in making you wait for the truth. So, wait!
37. The details of how they are to elect the members of the Sabha is given not only in the edicts etched on stone at Uttara Merur but also in many copper plates and inscriptions on stone available in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. In Mayavaram Taluqua there is a village called Thalaignairu, where there is a temple of Siva known as, ‘Kurtram Porutteeswarar’, meaning the ‘God who tolerates defaults’! As though to emphasise the point that errors of commission and omission are tolerated only in the private life of individuals and not in public life; there is a stone carving of the Sozha period. It says that the members to be elected should have a certain minimum age; should not have served earlier within certain number of years and should not be related to any existing members who have served in that capacity within certain number of years! This edict is also on the same style as that of the one at Uttara Merur.
38. There are many stone carvings on orders by Uttama Sozhan, Sundara Sozhan, First Rajarajan, First Rajendran, First Kuloththungan and others, talking about governing of Oors and Villages. There are also copper plates known as ‘Anbil Plates and Leyden Plates’ on the same subject. But the Uttara Merur Saasanams are most exhaustive, covering the entire subject of how these elections are to be held! To be more precise, there are two Saasanams in Uttara Merur itself. One is earlier and the second one two years later. The first one is in brief and the second one which is more elaborate and also more famous. It is that one that I am going to talk about in detail. This edict on stone is by Parandaka Sozhan and is dated 920 A.D. It comprehensively covers all that is given in bits and pieces in all the other stone carvings and copper plates!
39. If there was any complaint or failure in public service, to investigate and correct the system the Sozha Raja (or for that matter any king), used to send his reps. Thus this King Parandakan in short, otherwise known as Veera NarayaNa Parandaka Deva Parakesari Varma Sozha Maharaja, had sent one official by the name of Dattanur Moovenda VeLaan and after two years had sent another official by the name of Srivanga Nagar Somasi Kramavitta Bhattan; for correcting the procedures for elections and reforming them. The procedure as evolved by these two officials was the main subject matter in the two stone carvings. You can make out that the procedure for election of the Oor Paripalana Sabha had been worked out by the very people so involved, which formed the main thrust of the Uttara Merur stone Carving Saasanams, as supervised and approved by these two officials.
40. Brahmin and Agriculturist Officials. Amongst these two officials, one is VeLaan, who evidently is from the agricultural community. ‘Somasi’, ‘Kramavittan’ and ‘Bhattan’ are all indicating a man from the Brahmin community. Somasi is not a eatable snack! In Sundara Murthy Naayanaar’s life there is a character by that name as, ‘Somasi Maara Naayanaar’ who is one of the 63 revered devotees of Siva. Someone who has conducted the Soma Yaaga is called Somayyaji which in Tamil becomes Somasi! Kramavittan is someone who has learnt the Vedas up to the level of ‘Krama Paata’. In the various methods of committing the Veda mantras to memory, we have VarNam, Kramam, Jadai and Ghanam. Ghanam is the final level after which the person is called Ghana Paati. Jada Vallabha is short of it and Krama Vit is a step further short of it. So Kramavittan is the one who has studied up to the Krama level. In many of the stone carvings by Sera, Sozha and Pandya kingdoms, we come across many a mention of this word ‘Kramavittar’! From this we can gather that there were many learned Brahmins all over Tamil Nadu. Bhattar, Ayyar, Sastry and Sarma are all names of Brahmins. Kshatriya used to be called Varma or Verma; Vysyas were known as Gupta or Chettiyar and the fourth caste people were generally called Daasa. Bhattar of Tamil Nadu is the same as Maharashtrian Bhattoji, Bhat of Mangalore and Bhattacharya of Bengal; all indicating Brahmins. Here one VeLaan of the fourth caste and one Bhattan of the Brahmins were the important reps from the King, as may be noted.
41. From Uttara Merur inscriptions, we get to know the qualitative requirements of people desirous of standing for being elected to Oor Sabha. These are as described hereinafter:-
(a) He should be the owner of at least a quarter Veli of land (a measurement of land as applicable those days approximately an acre), for which he should be paying tax. (The language used in the Saasanam is, “kaanilaththukku mel irai nilamudaiyaan”. Irai means cess.)
(b) He should be having his own house in his land. (The Saasanam says that “Than manaile agam eduththuk kondu iruppaan”).
(c) He should not be older than 60 and not less than 30, says the first inscription. After two years, this has been amended to read, “Not more than 70 and not less than 35”. This is also evident that after some experience these rules were reconsidered and amended.
42. While talking about amendments, we have to pay attention to another aspect. These rules should not be amended so as to enable the rule makers to become corrupt and selfish. Initially they may not be interested in gaining any extra advantage for themselves or their own caste or community over others and later the very power to amend could lead to becoming corrupt. In this matter, in all the regions in any part of India, it was the Dharma Saastra that was like the enacted Constitution of India. Amongst them all, it was Manu Needhi Saastram that was very clearly the main guide line as though. Wherever and whenever a king has been praised in any classical literature or edict in stone or copper plates, uniformly and invariably we find the phrase that, ‘He did not deviate from the strictures of Manu Needhi Saastra’! There were no amendments to that basic authority!
43. Manu Dharma Saastra is all about fairness and righteousness in all possible human, animal and material inter actions of life. In it the society is divided into many parts that talks about their effective functioning with the main aim of establishing a fair and equitable, morally upright atmosphere. The aim of the Dharma Saastra is to ensure both in individual life and in the social life of communities and the nation as a whole, the establishment of Dharma as a living thing. Dharma is all encompassing, inclusive of the concepts of fairness, equity, justness, righteousness, judiciousness, rectitude and virtue. All other ideas were secondary or tertiary to the requirements of Dharma. Our ancients were of the opinion that the very existence of the individual human beings has to be based on the bedrock of this one principle.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 75 (Vol #4) Dated 21 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 75 (Vol #4) Dated 21 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the second para on page number 407 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
27. Let us look at the Employment market. When we select people for jobs, out of the many applicants who will all claim that they have the qualifications as given in the advertisement say, we still have a process of filtering, interviewing and selecting the suitable candidate. The selection committee is made up of people who know what they are looking for! If the applicant has certain qualifications, the selector has to have qualifications too. Is it not so? Here we are going to select people who are going to rule over the country, including ourselves! Do we not owe it to ourselves that we do a good job of the selection, instead of suffering later due to our own poor selection as voters? So, you will agree that it is essential that the voters know exactly what they are opting for! So, they have to be capable of doing so and the data for such assessment should be made available before they exercise their franchise!
28. For the rule to go to the correct and capable hands, the electorate has to be knowledgeable about governance, policy matters, national and international relations and their immediate and long time impact on life! Otherwise we run the risk of endlessly putting the round peg in the square hole and the square peg in the round hole, ad infinitum ad nauseum! Most importantly, it will be tantamount to handing over the guard duty to a gang of thieves! We have to agree that even knowledgeable people could be selfish and corrupt. But we have to opt for reasonable checks and balances instead of gambling on our responsibilities. So it is felt that as a reasonable safe bet, instead of giving the option to elect, in the hands of unread, poor proletariat, it should be in the hands of people with certain minimum qualifications to be able to assess and evaluate the relative worth of the contestants.
29. In view of all the above, some people are of the opinion that we should first decide on a minimum level of age, education, real estate properties as assets, political and general knowledge; who should be entitled to cast their votes in these elections. Such right to vote should be irrespective of the caste or religion. Then only it will be a true democracy. Instead if we go for simply adult franchise, in a country like ours with a majority of uneducated poor people, it is likely that the power of governance will go to unworthy characters of unclear loyalty to the nation! That is the fear of the ‘some’ knowledgeable people that I am talking about, whom these so called leaders of progress describe as the ‘old, ancient and archaic bandicoots’!
30. These leaders of India had instigated the entire population of India and got them involved in the freedom struggle for independence that caused the Britishers to quit India. So it is but natural that if they did not get them involved in the next big thing of elections and started assessing and evaluating their relative merits, there was a genuine fear as to what could be the reaction of the masses! There was apprehension that what they had taught the general public to do against the erstwhile rulers, could be turned against themselves! If the general public is such, that they could misuse what was meant to be against the foreigners, against their own people; it evidently means that they are lacking in political acumen! The universal suffrage in India is thus a power given to the general public out of fear of their potential for mischief! So, it is more than likely that their voting rights will be misused. It is also equally likely that politics being the muddle that it is, irresponsible selfish elements are likely to exploit those conditions.
31. Our old ancestors of that period of Sozhaas could think of all such possibilities and devise ways and means of avoiding those pitfalls! So, while ensuring that regional leaders are locally elected instead of being appointed from the centre, they opted against universal suffrage! In giving the right to vote selectively, they also ensured that such an arrangement does not lead to any rupturing of the social fabric either, avoiding any superiority or inferiority complexes! Thus what I am now going to tell you may look ‘vichitram’ or strange in which both appointments of persons from outside the local area and universal suffrage are both obviated! The moment I have used the word ‘vichitram’ to mean odd, strange, queer and stupendous; your desire to know it might have been kindled. So, I am not going talk about that ‘vichitram’ matter just now. I am going to come to that point after covering certain other connected matters!
32. Sozha Vamsam or Dynasty. In Tamil Nadu there were Sera, Sozha and Pandya kingdoms thriving as early as the 3rd and 4th Century B.C., as accepted by the modern historians. Many of the Sozha kings have been eulogized by the literature of that period in history known as the Sanga Kaalam. Those who were famous as per the PuraNas were for example Muchukunda Chakravarty, Manu Needhi Sozha and such. Historically accepted greats were Kari Kaalan and Kochchengat Sozhan and others. Then Sozha dynasty went into a period of decline. Around the 5th Century A.D., it was the Pallavas more heard about, expanding in all directions. Sozhaas again came up to prominence around the 9th Century A.D., when Vijayalaya followed by Rajaraja and Rajendran were holding the flag of Sozhaas high till the thirteenth Century.
33. Amongst them after Vijayalaya Sozha there was Parandaka Sozha. An edict etched on stone of his time in the year 920 A.D., describes in detail the election procedure I am talking about. This edict is in Uttara Merur near Kanjipuram etched on two stones. That place is known today as Perur. That edict is not about the election of the parliament or state assemblies for a whole state. It is about a general proclamation about election of local bodies in each city or town.
34. The Sozha kingdom was sub-divided into many smaller areas for administrative convenience. Nowadays, we know of Jilla, Taluqa or Tehsil and Fuqua; from whose names we can make out that they are of Muslim origins and later clearly defined during the British times. Much before all this, the entire area under the Sozha Empire was divided in to Mandalam, VaLa Nadugal, Coortram, Kottam and finally Oors. These Oors were normally villages. More than trade and commerce, agriculture was the major occupation. So there were not very many Nagaras or towns. Normally a Mandalam was thus made up of some 18 villages. You need not think of these villages as too small. Uttara Merur under discussion had an area of some 32 wards of the present day structure as discerned from the edict on stone.
35. In such a Oor or village, on the basis of SreNi of Vedic period arrangement, for each Jaati, that is division of the society on the basis of their profession, there was a NattaNmai. In this, in places where the business community had a fairly autonomous control over their area, at least as far as Tamil Nadu was concerned; it was known as Nagaram. That is how in Ramanatha Puram district, the business community in Nattukkottai area have a specific name as ‘Nagaraththaar’! Similarly when you say ‘Sabha’ it meant an association for a particular caste to meet and discuss their specific matters of concern. So you had separate Sabha for each community and then you had Oor Sabha or Graama Sabha or Graama Maha Sabha, where all the communities were represented. The two stone etching edicts I am referring to were thus meant for Uttara Merur Graama Maha Sabha.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 74 (Vol #4) Dated 19 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 74 (Vol #4) Dated 19 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page number 401 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
19. At the level of a nation, a King has to rule as suggested by the various advisory groups, whereas at the level of a town or region, the governing council will have a leader as the figure head. We have to know the subtle difference between the two. For the nation, the King is the final authority where the buck stops. The advisory groups give him advice only. Decision making is his responsibility. At the regional or town level, the members of the Sabha form a team of ministers or administrators who have a leader. King, his advisors and regional Sabhas together ran the government. Anybody cannot be a King as he is hereditarily so! For all other positions such as ministers, members in the various advisory Sabhas and regional governance, it is not hereditarily bequeathed. But these jobs cannot be done by any Tom, Dick and Harry either! Though management at the regional and township level is not very complicated as at national level; here too there is need for solving of problems by using various means of Saama, Daana, Bedha and Dhanda, without losing sight of national aims and directions! So, only capable and worthy people were selected for filling up these positions. In doing so they adopted a method of selection in which the people felt that they had a role to play.
20. What I am driving at is to tell you as to how, the process of election that is considered as the very life breath of democracy was already in vogue here in India! I wish to tell you about the very sensible election process that was in place during the time of ChoLas here in Uttara Merur and that in many ways it is more preferable to the present day chaos! (KTSV adds: These talks on Election Methods and procedures in Uttara Merur, starting from Deivathin Kural # 72 (of Vol #4) Dated 15 Sept onwards, were given sometime in the period 1945-48, much before India opted for a Democratic setup in 1950. It is interesting to note that what PeriyavaaL says is even more topical and true to the state of affairs existing today in various States and Indian politics! )
21. If we agree on the point that, ‘whether it is the nation or the region, everybody cannot do the job of governance’ is true as a principle, then it is necessary that there has to be a method for the selection of such people. At the national level, when the prince came to power, the advisors that were there at the time of his father would continue. If they happen to retire from public life on personal grounds or die in office, the King would make efforts to find a suitable replacement from within his team or find and induct a new face based on experience, knowledge and maturity. By then as the King would have gained some experience and discretion and so will decide the next person to fill the vacancy. Here the King is the ‘Appointing Authority’!
22. Let us look at the regional level. The members of the governing council or assembly at the regional level too should have certain capabilities for holding public office. Instead of being appointed by the King or the King’s representative, this was done by the local populace! So that people may not feel, ‘as to why someone from somewhere else come and boss over us’, the locals should be enabled to participate with pride, in the process of selection. We find a method of selection in this ChoLa model imbedded with this above idea. So, OK! Does it mean that the common man was entrusted with the task of selecting their representatives on their own?
23. I am afraid that, that is exactly what is happening now! (PeriyavaaL is talking in1949. He is talking about how the common man is being entrusted with the task of selecting the future rulers, without an iota of knowledge about those person’s character qualities, physical, material, and mental assets, weaknesses and strengths!) Not only in one place. All over the country, in every State, District and Tehsil; people are going to vote for electing people’s representatives as members in the Parliament at the centre and Assemblies in the States!
24. Now at the present juncture, Monarchy is not possible in India. East India Company slowly and slowly, bit by bit got its hold on every part of India and finally when it handed over to the British Crown, there was no one King or Monarch for the whole of India. There were many Rajyams known as Swadesha Samasthanams. When we got Independence some of them were under some Kings or Nawabs called Native States. Sometime before that there were more than 500 such States! By hook or crook, many were gobbled up by the Britishers and brought under the ‘King Emperor’ of England! The Kings were only figure-head Rajas. We need not go into all that history now. Point I am making is that when we got Independence from that one King of the British, there were no clear entitlements with many claimants as the King for these Native States! So, whether you like it or not, there was no one from a rightful royal dynasty in waiting to take over. We did not get back the nation after an armed struggle but by an unarmed ‘ahimsa’ struggle. So, anyhow we as the citizens of this country were the rightful, entitled claimants! Thus it had to be a rule by the masses.
25. After all, even in a democratic republic you cannot make everyone a ruler either! There have to be some representatives who should run the government on behalf of the others. So it had to be a democracy as it could not be an aristocracy by the elite or theocracy by the religious leaders or autocracy by a dictator! So, it had to be a democracy alright. So it is alright that all the castes and community had to be represented. The one area where there is some difference of opinion is universal suffrage or franchise! It is not just some difference of opinion. But, since only some small percentage of people think on these lines, I have to say that there is some difference of opinion. Let me explain the objection to this universal suffrage, which we are suffering anyhow!
26. Like we say that the people in government should have some basic qualifications and aptitudes to act as representatives of the masses, the person electing such representatives also has to have some basic qualifications to elect them! If there is an aspiring contestant for the election, he may be independent or belong to some political party. Either way he has to stand for some principles and some declared intensions and purposes, declared by him personally or as spelt out in the party manifesto. The electorate should be able to understand such declarations and assess if the aspiring contestant can be trusted to do what he promises. Then they have to be sensible enough to make up their minds if these policies are what are needed for the nation under the prevailing economic and other conditions existing! If the aspirant is asking for your votes on some assurances, the electorate should be in a condition to evaluate if these are what is required and whether they are feasible and not outlandish day dreams! Otherwise the whole system can be corrupted and a democracy could become a crazy mockery! So though democracy is meant for all class of people and the people’s so selected should be from a true and fair representative cross section of all people; the aspiring contender for the job as well as the voting public each have to have their own separate basic qualitative requirements. Along with the right to vote, there has to be a responsibility. Similarly along with the right to stand and win elections, there has to be a responsibility and answerability!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 73 (Vol #4) Dated 17 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 73 (Vol #4) Dated 17 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page number 396 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
12. Jaati NaattaaNmai. We notice another aspect of democracy in our Indian setup that was present from time immemorial! Not only that all castes and communities jointly supervised the concerns of the country as a whole; when it came to matters of internal disputes within communities, we had what was known as ‘Jaati NaattaaNmai’ who had the power to adjudicate without interference from people of other communities! I wonder if there was any parallel arrangement in any other country elsewhere in the whole world!
13. ‘Kulam’ is an arrangement about a family and their relatives. Rashtra is the nation and Jana Pada is country side. Town, pur, puram, county, palayam, palli, colony and village are all divisions of living areas. There is another word ‘ShreNi’ or ‘Lines’ of the same genre, which means a series of houses in which people with similar occupations used to settle down for life. Like a line of houses in which people are working on looms making yarns and weaving clothes are known as ‘SeNiyar’ which is a word derived from ‘ShreNi’, a guild of handloom textile workers. From very old times, when none of these western countries presently thought to be at far advanced levels of modern civilization could know anything about what is being civil; in our country people were enjoying what is decentralized self government at every lower levels containing all the endearing elements of freedom, democracy and self rule! From those days of antiquity the common man in this country was not only a citizen who was ruled but, a man who had a say in how the country be governed! I wanted to convey this important message to you all, before I go deeper into the subject of how the election was done in Uttara Merur!
14. Still, management of a State is a big thing; a complicated business. To run a government, to protect a huge mass of population, to defend a nation, to enact laws, to ensure that people abide by those laws of the land, are all such gargantuan tasks that would require vast knowledge, abilities, statesmanship, discretion and worldly wisdom! If to run a hose hold itself is a big thing, to run a nation is no joke! When the world is full of people who cannot manage themselves, let alone managing a house hold; if you give them the task of running a nation, what will happen? So the point is clear that firstly, it is not one man’s job. Secondly, it is not everybody’s job either. Then when you relate to the dictum that, ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’, you will agree that; a state machinery has to be run in the name of one man, call him King or President or Prime Minister or whatever; ably supported by a team of some, who are specially selected, trained and fitted for their jobs!
15. Head of a Nation. Those in the Government have to have a head who will exercise control over the others with discipline. For the country and its people being ruled too, instead of simply being so much of population in a given geographical area, they need to have love, respect and loyalty for their own country. For all this, there has to be a leader who has in him the qualities of the monitor, shepherd, processor, instructor, hunter and benefactor all rolled into one! So, they selected someone and called him the King. When such a person was endowed with the privilege of royalty by birth, he learnt by observation and by being trained. More than that, his back ground, circumstances, upbringing, tradition and what was carried in the blood (identified as the D.N.A. today, which could get another fancy name later), were making it possible for him to inherit and refine the characteristic qualities of royalty! To prevent him from going astray there were Saastraas on Dharma (righteousness), Artha (economics) and Neeti (justice) and experts as Raja Guru, Ministers and community elders whose advice was morally binding, though the King had the power of discretion and decision!
16. This was the arrangement for the whole nation or country. Then when it came to each region and locality, there was a separate local authority. You cannot have a king for every sub-division without losing cohesion and unity. Then if freedom is to be ensured to every lower level sub-division, it has to be in a manner as not to ruffle or create inconvenience to neighbouring areas. Thus localised decentralization of powers has to be balanced with certain centralized checks and balances. So, you need a King as the central authority, army as the safe guard against foreign interference with sufficient decentralized local autonomy at the city or township level. At the top level at the centre, the King is needed for instilling and sustaining a sense of nationalism, while at the same time every local leader should not be a king because regional loyalty will already be there naturally.
17. Let us be clear as to how this loyalty works. First loyalty is to oneself, whether here, there or anywhere. (There is nothing wrong in being selfish! Problem accrues when you are selfish while being dishonest about it, unfairly exploiting other people or countries and or Mother Nature!) Then loyalty is to one’s family; then the community; then the city or region; then only the nation. People always ask us to be having an expansive outlook of considering the whole world as, ‘my world’ with the emphasis on its being mine! Let that be aside. In practice we find that loyalty to the nation comes only after regional loyalty. That is human nature. You get used to certain set of things as your family, your street, river, temple, school and people; (add a ‘your’ before every one of those words); before expanding your horizons to unseen places, unheard of languages and unknown people! As a symbol of that expanded loyalty, you need a King, whereas you do not need a symbol for regional loyalties. Then to have too many kings for every regional area will undermine that position, image and power of what would be the King of a whole nation!
18. So, now what do we have? For every lower level organization we do need a leader, call him a Mayor or Chairman or Head. He has to be a functional head and does not need an image and he does not have such onerous responsibilities either. Again it is not necessary that he has to have such subtle hereditary powers either. As long as he is ready to take care of regional requirements under the Kings supervisory control, it is enough. Actually this should not be accruing hereditarily, as that would lead to avoidable problems. When the person is going to feel that there is a vast area of land under his management and that he has to acquit himself well in the eyes of others and his own; such a prince is likely to work hard to deserve such responsibility. At lower levels, if the power was hereditary with no possibility of being pitted against competition, such a person is likely to become complacent. Thus it came about that at the highest level of the country / nation the King was hereditarily selected and at further lower and regional levels, the leader was chosen by other means of selection.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 72 (Vol #4) Dated 15 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 72 (Vol #4) Dated 15 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page number 391 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)

UTTARA MERUR : UTTAMA TERDAL MURAI
1. The title means that it is about a method of electing the civic body in a place known as Uttara Merur, which makes it clear that in Vedas too there is evidence of rule by the masses, as in a democracy. It is generally the opinion of all that in olden times when the country was ruled by the kings, the common man had no say in governance. When we think of a King, we think of not only him as an individual but some from his team of ministers and some family members as the few persons who mattered in all decision making, administered and executed by some officers of the King, as the aristocracy.
2. As the British writers and teachers of Indian History have moulded us to think, we have another thought coming immediately that, these Kings were all of the time so much controlled by the Brahmin community, who were grinding their own axes that these Brahmins were dominating the society to their exclusive advantage! So the trend was to make us think that it is the westerners who have taught us as to how to make democracy a functional thing in this country, as though we were uncivilized brutes before their coming to our lands!
3. In reality from the time of the Vedas our method of governing had the wherewithal to enable everybody’s point of view to be expressed and taken into consideration before any decision is arrived at on any issue! In Veda itself there are three words, talking of three different arrangements. They are ‘Sabha’, ‘Samiti’ and ‘Vidhata’; meaning an assembly, committee and controller respectively. In them knowledgeable people got together, discussed, consulted each other and exchanged views; thus enabling arriving at a consensus for decisions. The King was bound by those decisions to a large extent normally. Nowhere is it indicated that such assembly was purely made up of Brahmins or Brahmins and Kshatriyas only. They were evidently made up of all castes and communities.
4. Rudram is chanted regularly in the temples whenever the Gods are ceremonially bathed and anointed with water, honey, oil, Vibhuti (i.e., ashes), chandan (i.e., sandalwood paste), kumkum (red powder of vermillion and turmeric), milk, curd and so on. In that Rudram a part of it contains repeated utterings of ‘namo namaha’ thereby to mean, repeated prostrations to God in so many forms (as mentioned in Yajur Veda Taitreeya Samhita). In it we pay our obeisance to God in all static and inert forms to mobile and animate forms, since the indwelling spirit in all forms of existence is God as per our belief. There we say, “prostrations to Him in the form of all assemblies and heads of assemblies!” We are mentioning Sabhas as the People’s Assembly and the Sabhapathy as the Chairman of such Assemblies and doing prostrations to Him, God Rudra in that form!
5. Nowadays we talk of many Sabhas, amongst which the Sangeetha Sabha seems to be most important. If somebody says that he is going to the Sabha, we presume that he is going to the music concert. But, in Vedic times the word Sabha had the meaning mainly of a People’s Assembly for civic governance. It is this word Sabha that became ‘Avai’ in Tamil. When people assemble to do good for the public, such a Sabha so formed is considered ‘Easwara Roopa’ i.e., a form of God and so is respected. Hence prostrations to it are announced as part of Sri Rudram!
6. Parameswara in the form of a Statue, a Vigraha Roopa is in Chidambaram and there, his Sanctum Sanctorum is known as the Sabha. As the Golden Assembly, it is called Kanaka Sabha. That Omniscient Omnipotent Power itself dancing, making the whole universe of animate and inanimate worlds dance around itself; has four more Sabhas. One is the Rajata Sabha of silver in Madurai; Ratna Sabha of gems is in Thiruvaalankaadu; Taamra Sabha of copper is in Thirunelveli; Chitra Sabha of only drawings sans any statues is in Thirukkurtraalam, making the total of five. He presides over these Sabhas, not as a speaker but, as the dancer!
7. Him we call the Nataraja, the King of Dance! The 3,000 Dikchidars of Chidambaram refer to the temple as the ‘Sabha Naayakar Koil’. He is not only the Sabha Naayakar or Sabha Pathy but, also the very assembly of people! It is to drive home this idea into our heads that it is said in Sri Rudram, “Prostrations to Him as the Head of the Assembly and the very Assembly”. ‘Will of the people is the will of God’, is not a new concept to us Indians, but what is already soaked and marinated in every iota of our very being!
8. People who deliberate on governmental affairs should have well rounded knowledge; be persons of good character; be capable of logical consideration and impartial analysis of the problem at hand and the power of expression. These very qualities are prayed for in the Vedas. We know that the Rishis of yore were brilliant brains of excellent character qualities! Some of them were so socially inclined as to wish to have the power of expression to be able to put across their view points in such assemblies effectively.
9. This prayer Sthuti known famously as ‘Rudram’, talking about Sabha and Sabhapathy, occurs in Sukhla Yajur Veda. In Rik Veda too, five Suktas addressed at Easwara collectively are known as, ‘Pancharudram’. In it too there is such a prayer where a person who has these three distinct qualities of brains, character and expression is called a ‘Sabheyan’ as a person worthy of being a member of such a Sabha! It is not enough to be a King by birth; these three qualities are essential for someone to be a ‘Sabheyan’! (Rik Veda, 2.33.15.)
10. Those who have been entrusted with the task of analysing people’s welfare, considering all the pros and cons and take decisions; should be functioning co-operatively keeping the collective responsibility in view. Such an advice being given to the members of such an assembly is to be found in the closing portion of the Rik Veda. (Rik Veda, 10th Mandalam, 191st Suktam.) Learned people who have read this have felt that this, as one of the earliest original documents of human kind, deserves to be revered as the Motto of the United Nations Organization’s charter! It says, “Unite, meet and have open discussions. World’s welfare and common man’s benefit as the one mission before you all may unite you all! Let your hearts and minds become one on this. May you find the way for universal happiness through unity of thoughts and minds!” This is the message of the Suktam!
11. The country’s administration was done by true representation of all castes in such Sabhas. To say that the word of the Brahmin by his whims and fancies was the law of the land is totally false. Like the Purohit, GramaNi and Senaani were all equally valuable. GramaNi was evidently the civil representative and the Senaani was the Police / Military man. This also means that at least two thirds of the assembly were non-brahmins. This must have been so, right from the beginning. This word GraamaNi must have been the fore runner for the later day ‘Grama MaNiyam or MaNiya Kaarar’! Similarly when we look at the mantras for the King’s Pattabhishekam, that is coronation, there is clear mention of the acceptance from each and every major social division of castes or communities, of that person as their King. So at least in India, they had already arrived at balancing between Monarchy and Democracy, which went hand in hand from very old times. The ChoLa Raja driving his chariot on his son, as a punishment for his son’s having driven his chariot over a calf rashly and negligently, based on a complaint from the grieved cow ringing the bell of justice; the kings dealings and discussions with the hawk chasing a dove, when the latter took asylum under King Sibi Chakravarty; were all not simply stories only!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 71 (Vol #4) Dated 13 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 71 (Vol #4) Dated 13 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the last para on page number 383 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
{Note: In these talks, PeriyavaaL is talking about Educational Institutions of yore, which were bigger than a single Guru Kulam, of the size of a School or College or even University, with a number of teachers, curriculums and syllabuses. These were called variously as Gatika or Gatikai or Katika or even Kadigai. As per English grammer rules, a pronoun can be spelt differently based on the pronunciation. In these translations, I am sticking to Gatika and Gatikai.}
578. Make Research and Analysis Closer to Life. Even now there is some amount of research that goes in to our ancient Saastraas! But that happens more academically with no relevance to day to day life and its problems. People write some thesis, conduct seminars or symposium, read some papers in the presence of a few selected scholars and publish some books sold at exorbitant prices, so that the process of further research and analysis and publishing of books can continue endlessly! Such books are so costly that they become suitable only for being kept in the libraries, collecting dust anchoring spider webs! At the time of release of the books, ministers and judges will speak highly about our ancient culture, to be emblazoned in the next day’s news paper, to be forgotten quickly by the very people who have spoken and written about it! In the present set up, though it is true that we should be appreciating these efforts, I cannot but raise the issue as to what is the practical use of such efforts? My point is that we should make these Saastraas living, bringing them closer to life, by creating the tradition of Guru – Sishya tradition.
579. If our Saastraas are to be really protected and saved, it is not just enough to make books of it and store them in libraries! Even if we were to do so, enabling further research and scholarly studies, it cannot be of any use. Just simple and pure material knowledge can actually be harmful as it can be a waste or abused and misused. These things of Aachaaraas done with mantraas, that have been evolved by years of the process of thinking, verbalizing, refining and chanting, have to be taught to a student who has humility, control of the senses, disciplined good conduct, good attitude and devotion to God. Then only that individual benefits and in turn the world is benefitted.
580. The best method for this is Guru Kula system of education. Following such a system when the student receives instructions with model behaviour as demonstrated in the life of the Guru; all aberrations will vanish. Even secular education (that has nothing to do with Hindu Religious practices), would be much better if the students stay with say a retired lecturer or professor, serving him physically but, living as part of the teacher’s household, with the facility to write the exam privately; would prove my point of the effectiveness and high value of the Guru Kula system in your minds! Think that your son has failed a year in exam and try this alternate method of Guru Kula and see for yourself. Whatever you would have spent in the school give it to the teacher. Try this at least for two months during the annual academic holidays. I am often reiterating this with the hope that there will be sunrise one day! After the system of Guru Kula, the next best is the system of Residential Schools where the students live within the same complex of buildings with a number of teachers and learn our Saastraas in the traditional vein. To encourage you all to adopt one of these two methods, I spoke for so long in so much detail about Guru Kulam and Gatika Sthanams. (That is, whatever he has been saying for the past 580 paragraphs are all about how there have been Guru Kulam as well as many bigger educational institutions in India, much before Nalanda and Dakshashila!)
581. May God’s Blessings Be There! However much I may talk, for even a little of it to reach your minds and heart, AmbaaL’s Anugraha is needed. Our AachaaryaaL Sri Adi Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL says in his Bhashyam for Kenopanishad, that wherever you notice the spark of light in all arts, crafts, learning and expressions; know it to be that of AmbaaL who is ever one with the Omniscience of God! It is She who has to enter our hearts and minds to cause us to learn and protect the ancient arts of India. It is Her Grace that should cause us to work so that the brilliance of this country is not lost in the darkness of ignorance! AachaaryaaL says that Vidya is the real light of all lights. It is not only Uma Maheswari that is shining with the light of Vidya but, anybody whosoever learns any of these Vidyas, shines instantly with the brilliance of knowledge!
582. In the Upanishad when the name “Haimavati” is mentioned, it can be understood in two ways. One interpretation is as follows. Himam is ice or snow. So Himawan is the Himalayas range of mountains asking of hills. His daughter is Haimavati. Like Siva’s becomes Saivam, Hima’s becomes Haimam. Similarly Ekam becomes Aikyam and Kekaiya’s becomes Kaikeyi. Hemam means gold. So Haimavati could also mean Golden, which is ever shining. So here the Upanishad itself is saying that the AmbaL is as brilliant as the gold! AachaaryaaL uses both the meaning as applicable to Himavan’s daughter Haimavati shining with golden brilliance. Then he says that, “viroopo api vidyaawaan bahu shobate” to mean that, ‘even an otherwise ugly person, if that person is learned, shines brilliantly!’ This can be practically noticed in the faces of some people who are well read and scholarly. I pray to Haimavati to spread the light of erudition in all the faces of the Indian people!
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 70 (Vol #4) Dated 11 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 70 (Vol #4) Dated 11 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the page number 379 of Vol 4 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 updated constantly)
{Note: In these talks, PeriyavaaL is talking about Educational Institutions of yore, which were bigger than a single Guru Kulam, of the size of a School or College or even University, with a number of teachers, curriculums and syllabuses. These were called variously as Gatika or Gatikai or Katika or even Kadigai. As per English grammer rules, a pronoun can be spelt differently based on the pronunciation. In these translations, I am sticking to Gatika and Gatikai.}
571. Normally everywhere the property rights goes from father to son. In Kerala it goes down through the maternal route. (KTSV adds that he had noticed that similar is the case in Meghalaya amongst the tribals of Khasis. There not only do the assets are endowed to the women of the family, but also all decisions are taken with the approval of the girls and that too the youngest. Similarly in Andhra Pradesh I have noticed that the parents do Namaskar physically to the daughters and consult them and take their advice for all decisions in the family especially amongst the Yadava community. Among the Bhutias the Hindu/Buddhist tribals of the Himalayan Mountains, to get a girl in marriage, the groom has to present so many ‘Chori Gaays’ to the girl’s father! ‘Chori Gaays’ are the cattle of Yaks, which are like financial assets. You get milk, cheese and wool when they are alive. When the Yaks die the skin is used as dress material for making cover all like an overcoat, which protects them during extreme cold climate of winter months. The meat is cut and hung over the everlasting fire in the middle of the hut. So they get somewhat heated and smoked. This is cut in to pieces and carried in the pockets of their overcoats, wherever they go. While out of the house grazing the cattle, they will be out for the whole day or at times even for a couple of days. They will keep these pieces of meat and cheese in either of their pockets which they will keep munching! So, you can imagine that to make a gift of so many cattle is a big prize for getting a girl in marriage! But she will become a major work force in the new household! These are the regional ways of countering the male chauvinism of the societies I suppose. In Kerala, the system is slightly different, which PeriyavaaL explains.)
572. So, in Kerala the property goes to the Mother. Anyhow as a keeper of the house, she will not be able to manage the property herself. So, on her behalf it is her brothers who take care. When that elder or younger brother dies, it will devolve to the daughter on whose behalf her brothers will act as the managers. So the ladies retain the power while management is that of Mama / Uncle to Marumagan / Nephew and the process continues. This is known as the ‘Marumakka Daaya Murai’! Daayam is a Sanskrit word. This means the right on property. Those who have such property rights are known as ‘Daayaadis’, by tradition.
573. In the Kodungalur area many of these Rajas were Kings by such relationships. Though they were all Raja by name they were all average middle class or even poorer. In our place if only the poorest had ‘Kanji’ that is thin gruel as the meal, there these Rajas had it as the main and only course! At least our poor people had a mud pot as the utensil; those Rajas did not even have that! They had to make do with the leaves of the Jack fruit tree plentifully available in Kerala. Though so poor materially, in their knowledge of the Saastraas, they were all past masters! When I say this I am not exaggerating but telling you the truth. Not only the men folk but the ladies too had expertise in some art or the other. Though they did not make any effort to earn name and fame, some names did become widely known to the outside world. Actually one of these Rajas was famous enough to get the title of ‘Maha Mahopadyaya’ from the British. I would recommend that these poor Rajas who were so great in knowledge of the Saastraas, should be taken as an ideal to be emulated by all with an interest in this line!
574. I had visited this place in Kerala prior to 1930. After another 40 years, I came across a similar place, this time in Andhra Pradesh! It was not spread over the whole village or township as before. But the family was big enough in which each of the members were experts in some Vidya or the other! It was both surprising and satisfying to come across a whole family so motivated and so well qualified! They were known as ‘Hari Sodarulu’ or ‘Hari Brothers’! There were five brothers from Eappur near Tenali. I met them in their house in Vijayawada. The elder was known as Hari Venkatasubbhaiya. He had four younger brothers. They had all specialized in Vedas, Veda Bhashyam, Smruthies and PuraNas. They had published books connecting the subjects of their studies. Not only that, they had taught all that they knew to their children. Their children are all taught Sanskrit from age five. It was immensely pleasing to hear their children of varying ages conversing fluently in Sanskrit!
575. In olden times without any let, people were all well educated and knowledgeable including the women folks. There are stories of some visiting Vidwaan spending the night prior to a debate, running away after listening to the house-maid speaking fluent logic in chaste Sanskrit, as he realized that the level of education in that village must be very high! In another story, the visiting expert gets disheartened listening to the domestic parrots conversing among themselves! These we hear only in stories. But for once I could experience such overall high standard of learning in a whole family!
576. If such erudite scholars consider their learning as a loving offering to the divinity of God, without any expectations of worldly gains, on the one hand their Vidya will shine and I am sure that they will not be let down even otherwise! There have been many like that. It is not that only Thyagaraja Swami as the supreme devotee of Sri Rama never bothered about name, fame or royal recognition. There have been many such people who had different priorities! For an artist more than money, it is the name and fame which are difficult to do without. When we think that we have brains and have had the opportunity to gain proficiency in some field, immediately we look for recognition, appreciation, awards and doctorate. This is how ‘Vidya Garvam’ affects us. Then we start thinking that this world does not deserve our brilliance! So, the need is that as we aspire for knowledge, we should persevere to become ‘vinaya sampanna’, a repository of humility!
577. When I say that Pundits should not run after name and fame, I do not mean that they should essentially be poor and should not be given recognition and kept under the blanket of poverty and penury. I was talking about what their attitude should be! But it does not mean that such should be the society’s look out too. Wherever we see them it is our duty to support them in whatever way we can. Each one of us should sacrifice some time or resource to take good care of such capability, knowledge and mastery! It is our job to see to it that they are looked after and their ability and mastery is well transferred to the children of the next generation!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 69 (Vol #4) Dated 09 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 69 (Vol #4) Dated 09 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the page number 375 of Vol 4 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 updated constantly)
{Note: In these talks, PeriyavaaL is talking about Educational Institutions of yore, which were bigger than a single Guru Kulam, of the size of a School or College or even University, with a number of teachers, curriculums and syllabuses. These were called variously as Gatika or Gatikai or Katika or even Kadigai. As per English grammer rules, a pronoun can be spelt differently based on the pronunciation. In these translations, I am sticking to Gatika and Gatikai.}
563. We talk about all these Vidyas and Arts so as to project our image to foreigners for the pure and simple purpose of attracting them to our shores and thereby earn some foreign exchange! Neither is it in any way related to our belief and trust in God or done the way as laid out in the Saastraas! You cannot expect anything more out of what is done officially commercially! We cannot even blame them as we should be happy that they are doing at least this much!
564. So, now generally the common Vidyas should be cultivated by the common man and the special Saastraas be the responsibility of Guru Peetams and the followers of disciples of these religious organizations like ours. It is time for us to wake up to our, this responsibility. It is in one way good that the Governments are not doing much for this. As long as the Governments or rather the Kings of yore were taking care of it, the common man could be uncaring about this. Now it is best that we wake up to our responsibility with the feeling that these Saastraas and their continued well being are the biggest treasured legacy as well as responsibility of ours! So, we have to apply our minds to it and get involved whole heartedly.
565. When you look at the existing state of affairs, there is cause for alarm. As the time goes by, the standard of Vidyas are all generally dwindling down and or vanishing. Many of the arts are becoming extinct! This degeneration is so wide spread that when we come across some slightly knowledgeable person, we end up praising such a person to the skies and he in turn decides that he more than deserves all the kudos and that he does not have to know anything anymore! It is like comparing the lights from a firefly to that of a Light House! Talking about firefly I am reminded of an actual event involving Nilakanta Diktchidar and Pazhmarneri Mahadeva Saastrigal.
566. Nilakanta Diktchidar was a minister under the Naickar King in Madurai. As the grandson of the famous Appayya Diktchidar, he was well known for his erudition, discretion and devotion! Pazhamarneri Mahadeva Saastry was also a great scholor and devotee of AmbaL, but not as famous as Diktchidar. As the story goes, Mahadeva Saastry happened to be in Madurai visiting the Meenakshi Amman temple. There was a chance meeting on the roadside, when the minister was being carried in his palanquin. He looked at the Saastry who happened to scurry across the road right in front of the palanquin and made an inadvertent derogatory remark. Mr. Saastry replied promptly in pure and chaste Sanskrit, in the verse form to the effect that, “In a dark world lacking in real knowledge, even the light of a firefly is praised to the heavens!” This spontaneous response had the effect of deflating Diktchidar’s ego from its flight of fancy!
567. We are all in a similar situation as that Diktchidar, with even less knowledge, awareness and devotion to God. We have to successively move from this light of the fireflies to that of stars, to the brilliant Moon Rise to that of a Sunlight! The light of Vidya has to be amplified and enhanced as the Light of Asia for the whole world! Now there are some qualified Vedic scholars of Vidwaans and Pundits; Sthapathys who are Shilpa Saastra experts; Vaids, who are masters in Ayur Veda; Singers and Dancers of classical Music and Bharata Natyam; Astrologers knowledgeable in Jyotisham; Vastu Saastra exponents and so on! But, when the world is giving more attention to only show-off and blowing of one’s own trumpet, the experts who are really good, do not get good publicity, name, fame and in the bargain, not the required support! Then party and caste loyalty comes in the way. Those with the gift of the gab, with peripheral knowledge are able to get their half cocked ideas and concepts published while real research and analysis gather dust in the waste paper baskets! Nobody is ready to publicise or publish their findings. It seems as though boasting is more the need of the hour than real worth! The reason for this is the fact that the level of knowledge of Saastraas has really gone down. Though people are well qualified in western education, they have next to nil knowledge of our own Vidyas and Saastraas. This leads to a situation of not being able to correctly assess the real value of ideas and concepts and so one ends up praising and supporting anything foreign over our own!
568. Without patronage and the much needed income, those with real knowledge loose heart and fail to convey their expertise to the people of the next generation. You can often hear them say, “Let this knowledge die with me. I do not want the future generations of my family to suffer like me. Let them survive by any means!” I am talking so much to prevent exactly this sort of a thing from happening that the very few remaining knowledgeable experts in Saastraas and Vidyas should not disappear from the face of the earth without imparting that knowledge to the children of the next generation! Simultaneously I am duty bound to request the knowledgeable few remaining Pundits as under. “You as the few remaining experts in your fields, whatever the sacrifices that you have to make, please have a big heart uncaring for the presence or the lack of support, take pains to impart your Vidwat to children of the next generation as an offering to God Himself!”
569. Ideal Vidwaans That I Have Come Across! During my visit to various places all over India, I have come across a few such Masters of erudition, who uncaring for name, fame or wealth, being totally devoted to the Goddess of Learning. Meeting them, I have had the greatest pleasure! One such place I came across, when I was roaming around Kerala in the year 1927-28 was Thiru VanjikkaLam. Once upon a time it was the capital of Kerala. One amongst the 12 Aazhwaars (that is devotees of Vishnu) Kulasekara PerumaaL and one amongst the 63 Naayanmaars (that is Devotees of Siva) Seramaan PerumaaL, both kingly devotees and both having the surname of PerumaaL, were rulers from this place. {This is the only place (oNNe oNNu kaNNe kaNNu) in Kerala which has been mentioned in the Tevaaram songs eulogising Siva. All other place names mentioned in the Tevaaram are in Tamil Nadu. This Malayala Desam of Kerala contains 13 of the 108 Divya Desams mentioned in the Aazhwaar’s paasurams of 4,000 songs eulogising Vishnu!} Near Thiru VanjikkaLam is the famous Bhagawati temple town of KudungaLur which has been made in ‘Kranganur’ by British map makers! It is in that place and villages around, which have many such Pundits who practice the Veda Vidyas uncaring for worldly possessions and support! In KodungaLur and the villages around have all got a Raja each. That is, each small place is a royal Kingdom of its own unique sovereignty and freedom.
570. Normally as it is, in the Malayala Desam there are more Kings than the common man. Everybody is special in some way. So there are more Rajas in Kerala. They have a peculiar lineage by which the family assets accrue to the ‘maru magan’, which is slightly different from maternal hierarchy! This is known as ‘marumakka daaya murai’! Let me explain.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 68 (Vol #4) Dated 07 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 68 (Vol #4) Dated 07 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the page number 370 of Vol 4 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 updated constantly)
{Note: In these talks, PeriyavaaL is talking about Educational Institutions of yore, which were bigger than a single Guru Kulam, of the size of a School or College or even University, with a number of teachers, curriculums and syllabuses. These were called variously as Gatika or Gatikai or Katika or even Kadigai. As per English grammer rules, a pronoun can be spelt differently based on the pronunciation. In these translations, I am sticking to Gatika and Gatikai.}
556. Let the Time Normally Wasted be Devoted for Learning a Vidya! “We have many problems. We are very busy with office work and household duties, running from pillar to post all of the time! You do not know these things sitting in some corner of the world in a Matam, without a care in the world, telling us to learn this and that! We are sorry that we just cannot obey all your injunctions!” You may give me such a reply. I only ask you to consider as to how much time do you spend on gossip, reading News Papers, seeing cinema in theatres or sitting in front of the Tele Vision watching soap-opera, playing cards and so on! If half of that time is spent on social service and learning some new Vidya, I am sure that the individual and the society will be better off and the particular line of Vidya will also get brighter! You may ask me a counter question as to why we the persevering, hardworking proletariat be denied some entertainment. “Do not we deserve the diversion?” If you sincerely get started with practicing some such Vidya, let me tell you, that it will be the best diversion! For your tired minds, that will instil enthusiasm and perk you up. I am not telling you to spend all your spare time on such things but only some fraction of it. You analyse yourself and evaluate as to what is the time you are usefully spending or wasting. Then out of that a portion may be spent on the sort of pursuits that I am recommending that is one of these Vidyas of our ancestors!
557. Having taken birth as a human being, if we do not make use of the sixth sense that is not to be found in just animals then, it is as good as wasting of a human life! For the animals it is no discredit to die as an animal as it is their Dharma. Nature has endowed us with a superior intelligence capable of logical inference. If we do not make use of it to raise and refine ourselves with the shining knowledge of one of these Vidyas, it will be tantamount to misuse of our endowment. We can discard all this for only one thing and that is attaining to clarity of comprehension and understanding of our very existence! Anything short of it is just not worth it. Not to try to ennoble oneself and simply ask the question as to why do all this is a lazy man’s excuse!
558. When Everybody Was a Vidwaan! When you look at some of the inscriptions about the proceeding of the meeting of village elders’ known as Maha Sabha Saasanam-s, you will find a phrase, ‘asesha vidwat janaa:’, which means, ‘all those learneds without any exception’! You will find such a phrase in this Matam’s official letters also. It is indicative of the fact that amongst all the assembled, all had expertise in some subject or the other. This is not an exaggeration at all. Though many of the non-brahmins may not have gone to school, they were the authorities in their own line of carpentry, agriculture, sculpture, pottery, fishery, music, dance, drama, playing on the flute or mrudang or some such thing! If you take Brahmins, mostly they were experts in at least two Vedas as Dwivedis! The Gurus of the Peetams were also omniscient experts in siddhantas like being worthy of titles such as Sarvagna or Sarvabhouma. They were like lions in their own field of expertise, to be feared and admired! These days when I ask some Pundit to explain the meaning of a word or padam in some portion of the Veda which may not be very clear to me say, his reply is, “I will check up the Bhashyam and tell you!” Me as the head of this Peetam and him as the Vidwaan both are typical of the modern age!
559. So you can consider as a self interest from my side that if you are all knowledgeable, I will be under some compulsion to keep up to it in my level of awareness and knowledge. As I said earlier, the standard of the students do decide the standard of the teacher too! If you are all very sharp and well informed, I better be on my toes! Otherwise, if I look at askance when you have a doubt, it will be pathetic, is it not so? So it works both ways. It is your responsibility to keep the Guru on the hop! If the Guru has to be clear about his knowledge of the Saastraas, it is the responsibility of the followers of the Matam to keep him sharp.
560. Way of Life and Age is no Bar! “Somehow we have lived our life so far. Suddenly if you say that we have to study the scriptures or learn an Art or Science, how can it be done? Is not there an age for learning? Is there not a saying that, ‘what cannot be bent at five cannot anyhow be bent at fifty?’” I agree with you that there is an age for learning and that there is a learning season in one’s life. But, if you have the feeling of inadequacy that despite being a citizen of this country, you are ignorant of any of its Vidyas, then there is always a chance that you could pick up anything at any age! The very process of learning some new Vidya will give you the bubbling urge and keenness of the youth, with its own inexorable logic!
561. If you have lived life in some manner because of which you may not be able to learn something new, then it is evidently the wrong way! Let us at least now follow the path that should have been ours, namely one of readiness to learn ever new things! Instead of asking ‘will it bend at fifty’, let us take it as a challenge that the proverb is meant to be taken as an affront! There have been many who have proved this point like Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela and Stephen Hawking! For example, recently there was this Professor Sundar Rama Iyer. He studied Saastraas only after crossing 50. Then in the Vidwat Sabha meetings, held when the Matam was located in Kumbakonam, attended by very knowledgeable expert pundits with years of authority and expertise, he would surprise all with his erudition of understanding of the import of the Saastraas! So, we have to endeavour to not only create a fresh crop of disciples but also try our level best to find our way back to Brhma Vidya through practicing at least one of the Saastraas or Arts!
562. Not the Government; People and Disciples Have the Onus. In the times gone by, even the Kings were great Pundits. So the King’s council used to be full of knowledgeable experts. The Kings used to honour the learned Masters with gifts, presents and endowments. Thus they used to nurture growth of Arts, Crafts and Sciences. Now it is needless for me to comment as to how with the formation of Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry and so on, only some face saving gestures are being made! Otherwise in such a big country with the population crossing 100 Crores, honouring some ten Pundits; giving some grants to two or three schools on the name of promotion of Sanskrit; one or two Chairs being formed in one or two Universities; conducting festival in the name of Village Arts for three or four days; are all only sops. Nobody is really interested except for promoting some kith and kin! Then when it comes to giving speeches about projecting the image of the country to foreigners, they are all ready. In doing all this we are not to talk about God, as we are a secular democracy! Any references to Rama and Krishna or Nataraja are supposed to be only as mythological figures! There is no meaning in cribbing about it. We should not expect anything better from the Governments either, whether it is Centre or State!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 67 (Vol #4) Dated 05 Sep 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 67 (Vol #4) Dated 05 Sep 2010.

(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. Today we are proceeding from the page number 366 of Vol 4 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 updated constantly)
{Note: In these talks, PeriyavaaL is talking about Educational Institutions of yore, which were bigger than a single Guru Kulam, of the size of a School or College or even University, with a number of teachers, curriculums and syllabuses. These were called variously as Gatika or Gatikai or Katika or even Kadigai. As per English grammer rules, a pronoun can be spelt differently based on the pronunciation. In these translations, I am sticking to Gatika and Gatikai.}
549. These Vidwaans who have no students for reasons of penury and poverty should be given the position of a ‘Chair’ in the Universities and given the same respect and income. Our national tradition is one which holds that the King is respected in his own land while the learned is revered wherever he goes! We should not let that culture of ours be ignored. Actually I wish to retain such rare Pundits in ancient Saastraas in the Kamakoti Matam itself and take care of them. Through them I wish to create a lineage of disciples to continue the process. Hopefully AmbaaL’s blessings will be there for it! If any student who is interested in such old Saastraas, with true sincerity happens to come along and ask about such subjects, I do not wish to tell him, “There is no qualified teacher for that subject! You find your own way through that blind alley, may be by reading some books!” I desire that I should be able to tell him, “Come my dear Son! We have searched and found such a specific teacher especially meant for you! He is also waiting for such a student who is interested in that subject Saastra! Come, you are welcome!” I am interested for such an eventuality hopefully!
550. I wish to bring around even such Pundits who do not know as to how to teach or are not interested in teaching, so that their knowledge does not become extinct after them but reaches at least some four disciples. Even if such Pundits were not going to be a teacher or never get a disciple, we still have to honour and take care of them. Do not we honour and give life time pension to some people who are supposed to have gone to jail for making salt by heating the sea water? Similarly we have to honour those who have sacrificed themselves at the altar of knowledge, and learnt whatever the art or science or Saastraas with all its parts, sub-parts and subtle nuances! We are duty bound to provide them with respect, awards and all creature comforts. Even if they do not have disciples, somehow their expertise will out itself. May be that some experts could carry out interviews & take notes of the conversation. We can identify the grey areas in the subjects in which they are clued up and bring out their views on those blind spots! We must do our level best to retrieve as much of the subject knowledge out of them as possible.
551. It is not only the need to enable some Guru to teach some students. While your contribution of time, money and other resources in doing so is very important, there is one more important task in front of you all! You yourself individually have to study, practise and gain expertise in at least one of these Vidyas / Arts / Crafts / Sciences or Saastraas! Instead of simply saying, “Well I was born, did some job, earned some money and lived some life and contributed something for some teachers and some students;” you should be able to become a disciple under some Guru and learn some Saastraa, good enough to become a master yourself and teach some students before your innings in this life is over!
552. If you have interest in languages, you could learn about VyakaraNam or Niruktam. If you are interested in legal arguments, you could read Tarkam. May be that you can learn Music or learn to play an instrument of music such as Jala Tarangam or Veena or Mrudang and so on. You can pick up a chisel and hammer and learn about sculpture! It is what many hundreds of thousands of people have hacked away with a chisel and hammer in their hands that have become the historical edifices of monuments reaching for the skies that speak so eloquently about the greatness of Indian culture! You can also add your might to it!
553. The way that chisel got related to Easwara and the sculptor made an offering of his art to the divinity, similarly all arts and crafts should be presented to God as an offering. Otherwise we will find that silly pride overtake us that we are too good! These Aachaarya Peetams like mine are there for this very purpose of deflating the human being’s pride. While I am telling you all to pick up some art or craft and become masters and Maestros, I am duty bound not to forget that basic duty of mine! I should not do anything to boost your egos, is it not so? That is the reason for my telling you that all of you should become learned masters in some arts or science or crafts or Saastraas, while still retaining humility and devotion to God! All that we learn are with God’s Grace; all the arts and crafts are His Blessings; and so whatever we do should be in a way of not forgetting this basic fact!
554. If you go into ‘Pada Artham’ of Philology, it should lead to Shabda Brhmam! Going in to Music, it should be pointing to Naada Brhmam! If you enter into intellectual gymnastics of any subject, it should directly fetch you on to the Ultimate Principle of all! Mathematics and numbers should take us to the infinite of universal unity! You only have to read the starting invocation or ending dedication of the books by Bhaskara Raya and Arya Bhatta, to realise how devoted they were to this idea of Divineness! Biology or Zoology, we just cannot bypass or avoid appreciating and admiring the powers of Nature and super intelligence of that supreme Power in Being, call it what you want! Simply take that one subject of Geography. We can never stop wondering at the variety of hills, mountains, deserts, rivers, lakes, plains, islands, archipelagos and ever changing kaleidoscope of climates of varying temperatures, humidity-s, rains, winds, eddies and typhoons! It is all his play Maya, is it not so?
555. Just give your mind to Astronomy! How many zillions of planets, stars, quasars, pulsars, black holes and galaxies are all hanging in mid space by the mysterious powers of a simple scientific term known as Gravitation Pull! What is that gravitational pull? We are not even aware of its existence, let alone trying to understand the same. Then we will say that there is a scientific explanation. When all Science is based on human observation and the observer human being himself is part of the scene being observed, can you imagine the likelihood of fallacies and aberrations in subjectivity versus objectivity? The one lesson we can all learn from observing nature is this that, there are inviolable laws of nature of inter dependent disciplines! That observation should motivate us to abide with our Manushya Dharma of responsibility for each other of the humans and other life forms. Thus every Vidya of these sciences of Astronomy, Maths, Physics and so on, are known as so many disciplines only. In the Parama Atma Tatva, we should try and understand this one principle of the need for discipline and enable others also to understand similarly! This is very important. Otherwise, what I have told you about learning something and becoming experts would only mean that I have shown you the way to the worst of all prides, of ‘Vidya Garvam’!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.