Dharma, artha, kama, moksha - the four purusharthas.
When only artha (wealth), and kama (desires) are taught as goals to a generation the decline of that civilization begins.
Dharma (one's larger duties), and moksha (independence from the sway of likes and dislikes, or sthithapragya) need to be inculcated. For the sake of the child, of the generation, of the civilization.
Narayana Sarma Hiranya kashyapa instructed Prahlada's teachers to teach him only the first three aspects of life. Yet Prahlada chose and mastered the fourth that no one taught him!
Narayana Sarma - Dharma there meant duty
Aparna Krishnan - Dharma always means duty. And much more English has no word as vast as Dharma. So it translates it to Duty.
Narayana Sarma - What society prefers to teach is always so different from what the children choose to learn! (wow I love this line of mine! 
I was talking to my daughter. About what it is that drives people.
In the same family, through same upbringing, same schooling. One child migrates to USA, and one child moves to work in villages or slums
Poorva janma punyam, she said. Good deeds of past lives maturing into good directions in this life.
I told her. "But in the village, each person is generous with their very little. It's not individual karma. Its collective nurturing of values by rooted community."
She said that the punyam of each of them brought them to be born there. In this village of landless labourers.Where goodness, generosity and lived dharmam was nurtured further.
I stopped.
It was a very important thought she had articulated. A thought, extremely Indian. That I have been trying to face clearly.
To have the heart, opportunity and environment to serve. Is a far greater gift and blessing. Than even a full stomach.
That space to serve has to be earned. Thro good deeds. Thro punyam.
Every villager understands this. The secondariness of material richness as opposed to moral and spiritual richness. It is all about understanding Dharmam.
I remembered all the patronizing comments from leftists and atheists. On how our gods are crutches for poor people ...And i wonder at the height of arrogance one needs to stand on, to look down on an entire country, an entire civilization.
One friend who had gone past a temple was commenting, "So many poor people. With so much devotion. They must be coming to god to pray for succour. They lead such difficult lives. If this gives them peace, so be it ..."
How could I explain to her.
The role of god in the lives of people of this land.
Where religion is simply a way of being.
Where temples. The small village temple. And the larger pilgrimage sites. Are part of the very being of oneself. Of the personal and social.
It is not 'poor superstitious helpless people praying for succor'.
It is people, rooted in the ethos of this land. To whom god and goodness, devudu and dharmam are one.
And who pray for succour. For oneself and for all. For the well being of creation.
To whom god is that which gives courage to give away ones last glass of rice to him in greater need. Dharmam.
Dharmam. From the root Dhr. That which sustains.
This country is rooted in religiousness. That is the point of the post.
To not tune into that is to lose the country.
To immerse in that celebration, the rasa leela, gives one the right to correct all that needs corrections and celebrate all that should be celebrated.
Otherwise as on outsider with half understanding one may crib.....
(via Gokul Kenath)
The easiest way to subjugate a community or a society is to make them feel inferior about their culture and system; there by make them feel inferior for just being themselves. All these are conscious and organised effort of varying levels, towards that end; not just trolls.
Note that it is the so called 'forward and progressive' Hindus, who easily fall prey to it. Ironical? Perhaps not. Because they are the ones who have moved away from 'the roots'; moved away from the very base of their identity for generations in favour of some hollow excitements provided by the modern material world and its life style.
On the other hand; the ones, who are firmly in touch with their roots will never be pushovers. They are capable of seeing through such gimmicks, theatrics and much more.
Culture is everything. It really is everything.
Gokul Kenath
10 mins ·
For certain sections of the society, who have got tuned by the various delusions of modern media, modern movie & entertainment industry, the so called intellectuals etc, to the level of considering it to be a discrimination against married people to have only un-married lot enjoy legal rights to illicit affairs; it is no wonder that they see the same discrimination against women at Sabarimala.
That is all they could see. They want everything to be in a set template that fits well into their narrow understanding of fairness.
How can they appreciate the beauty of vastness & variety and comprehend their relevance among the different practises of Hinduism? Simply not possible; all those go way over their collective understanding.
My friend was very upset this morning over some nominations going on for who had served society most in these difficult times.
Why promote names, why seek fame she asked. In times of such desperation and sufferings.
Yes, these are times when society and individuals are rudderless. And actions, even if supposedly for greater good, often only bolster ego.
Unless every actions draws us into deeper humility, and growing awareness of the utter smallness of our actions, it is a wasted action.
The 'I' has to become 'i' and then vanish ..
But these simple essentials are forgotten in times of virtual name and fame and Insta likes.
Some schools seem to be giving credits, marks, for 'social work'. Colleges seem to be looking for these credits.
Another madness unleashed..
The surest way to destroy genuineness and potential good in a child is this.
Service is that which is done in silence, in humility, in gratitude.
It is not a token of exchange. That is business.
....
....
I have some youngsters calling up these days. High school children. Asking if they can help with the PaalaGuttaPalle bags.
Which is a great thing. High school is the age to get into understanding the details of survival, livllihoods, disparity, our own role in this. Collective answerabilities.
I try to think with them on how we can work together.
But then sometimes it comes up that they need it for their college resume. And they want to know what they will be given, a citation, a prize ...
And then I stop. Think.
Of the need for essentials. Always.
AmAnatvam, Adhambatvam. Humility.
Service done in silence. The only valid way.
How when acts are planned without the essentials, so much may get done, and yet in a sense nothing is done ...
The reality today ...
Sundaramoorthy Olaganathan, "God is the visionary leader voluntarily elected by the collective conscience of the country to organise and guide itself. What is wrong to have belief in god?
Had this so called superstition ever prevented this country from being a leader in science,art,culture, trade,philonthrophy,philosophy and self reliant social organism. If such a belief system in spite of all its ills could allow space for the mass to perform as well as any atheistic and rationalistic person, then what e.v.r said is absolutely foolish"
in response to,
EVR, "There is no god, there is no god at all,
He who invented god is a fool
He is propagates god is a scoundrel
He who worships god is a barbarian."
" Religions codify such concepts of consciousness and values of a society. A society with a fairly comprehensive religious thought stream (that mean values and consciousness) becomes a civilization. Religion stands as a custodian and repository of such values and for a civilization. This is the reason religions always become the most potent identity tag for human beings."
My daughter's Sanskrit teacher had come home. Wise and wonderful. What all she said from the scriptures were what my village people tell me in homely Telugu.
The Pandavas practiced goodness and still suffered - so the worth of goodness was questioned by some, the teacher said. But the teacher asked them back if they felt that the Pandavas themselves had felt that goodness had been worthless ! It was Eashwaramma's logic again, that the reward of goodness is always given by god - and the reward is manashanthi. Not happiness ! Not material benefit !! But satisfaction at a certain plane for having followed one's belief.
And then the teacher said that there is peeda - which is part of life, which comes and goes. And dukham which is different and which one needs to transcend. Peeda, pain, cannot and need not be avoided. In the village Ratnakka said, 'If we are born as people, there will be sufferrings. Even the Gods suffered, see."
The teacher said she was reading the Kunti stotram ... where Kunti begs the god to keep her cup of sorrows full - as that keeps her thoughts close to God. Annasamy Anna told me the same thing - how the mendicant who begs for his daily meal is most fortunate because he remembers god all the time.
Everything that is in the Geta or the Mahabharatha, I am able to find echoes of in the words and stories of the common, illiterate people of the villages.
Half A Pomegranate
by Brian Conroy
Early one morning, the Buddha and his disciples set off on an alms round. He announced that on that day all of the offerings they received would be given to the poor.
The community sat beneath the red blossoms of a sala tree and waited. Soon all of the most important dignitaries from the surrounding area came to make offerings.
First to arrive was King Bimbisara. He offered lavish gifts of gold coins, gilded lanterns, and necklaces sparkling with precious gemstones. The Buddha accepted these offerings with one hand.
Next to arrive was Prince Ajatashatru. He extended offerings of intricate carvings, mouthwatering foods, and sticks of fragrant ox-head sandalwood incense. Again, the Buddha accepted these offerings with one hand.
These were followed by offerings from minor kings, brahmins, elders and laypeople. The Buddha accepted all of their offerings with a single hand.
Late in the day, a disheveled old woman appeared before the Buddha. She bowed respectfully and said, "World Honored One, by the time I heard you were accepting offerings, I had already eaten half of this pomegranate. I am just a poor old woman. The only thing I have to offer is the other half of this pomegranate. I hope you will accept it."
Those gathered looked on in embarrassment at the old woman's meager offering. But the Buddha extended both of his hands and gratefully accepted the half a pomegranate.
When the old woman was gone, the Buddha's disciple Aniruddha asked, "Why did you accept the old woman's offering with both hands, but all of the others with only one hand?"
The Buddha replied, "This woman gave all she had without expecting reward. I needed both hands to accept such an abundant offering."
And:
"And (Jesus) looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had."
(Luke 21:1-4, King James Bible)
What a civilization. An uninterrupted history since 5000 years.
The Apah Suktam from the Rig Veda was being chanted at a roadside temple as I passed. One of the finest and most elevating chants is part of the routine of ordinary people. The Mahabharata is enacted in village after village, and the stories therein are part of the daily lore. And people, therein, find strength to share out of their minimal, with ever hungry person who asks at their hut door. The framework gives them eth power to stand by what they call Dharmam.
Sometimes, against all logic, hope is rekindled. All invasions, and all colonization did not uproot the basics of this civilization. Maybe modern day consumerism and the havoc let loose today by it will also be a phase that will be dealth with, and will pass.
There is something called Covid Warriors award. People are seeking votes for themselves.
People are giving numbers of how many 'migrants' they 'helped'.
The fall is total. The fall into endless ego.
Service is done in silence. Service is a duty. Extending a hand deserves no applause.
Service is done do quietly they neither the giver or receiver carries the memory. Nor the burden.
Service is done in silent invisibility. In gratitude for the opportunity. And forgotten the moment it is done.
Anything more is a business transaction.
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"Science and religion are both attempts to help us out of the bondage; only religion is the more ancient, and we have the superstition that it is the more holy. In a way it is, because it makes morality a vital point, and science does not."
"In India everything is connected with Dharma and/or Ishwara. Rightly understood this has the ability to create a wholesome human being who is responsive, creative, intellectual, humble, and righteous, all at the same time." via Prasad Krishnan
There was a post admiring some country that was introducing acts of kindness. Instead of class tests.
Sounds good. On the face of it. But it is the most unwise thing to do. To associate good deeds to assessment.
Goodness is done for its own sake. Dharmam is followed because it is that which sustains. (The word comes from the root Dhr, that which sustains.)
Goodness is done in silence. Humility. Each act to be done in the awareness that one us not the doer.
These are things that only a community can teach. A community rooted in values, in Dharmam. That lives these values. In simplicity.
A school cannot teach what only a community can.
These are the lessons that my village taught me.
A lady called up and said that some agencies could supply ayurvedic medicines for poor children if they could get some advertisment for themselves and their generosity.
I refused.
Amalorpavanathan Joseph I would have considered the offer.As long as the children get well and if some companies seek some advertisements, so be it would be my view
Aparna Krishnan Giving needs to be done, knowing that one is in debt to be able to give. In humility and gratitude. And silence.
Giving can only be done with these cautions.
Taittiriya upanisad (siksavalli)
sraddhaya deyam | Give with Devotion/Sincerity
asraddhaya'deyam | Give not without Devotion/Sincerity
shriya deyam | Give in Plenty,
hriya deyam | Give with Modesty,
bhiya deyam | Give with Fear
samvida deyam | Give with Sympathy.
Taitreya Upanishad.
Aparna Krishnan And yet, I understand what you are sayimg. Let those companies do it in their places, with all banners and we will certianly assist them. They want to pay for the medicines (not the milk which is the bigger cost), and want banners floating - no need !
To me people's religious beliefs are often a result of their relationship to their culture and environment. Some people seem wired to believe whilst others do not. I'm not sure how much, if any, choice we have in what we do or don't have faith in as individuals. Whilst it is easy to see the value of traditional belief systems in indigenous communities that encourage reverence for the natural world it is, to me at least, harder to see the same advantages for the Abrahamic religions which have been changed and adapted to suit imperialism, racism, warmongering, heirarchical societies and patriarchy. It is hard to respect a religion which can be used to justify the horrors of so called manifest destiny. In northern Europe at least most athiests are primarily against the inequality and compulsion that seems integral to states that tie themselves to religions and vice versa. Our problem here is people mistaking their right to freedom of religion for a right to force their religions on others. That produces a reaction, often badly worded or over simplified, which probably unfairly seems targeted at all people with a religious belief rather than those who wish to use a religious dogma to gain or maintain power over others.
"It's like that Karna's story - if someone wants to give it should be done immediately. Apparently he gave with his left hand and when someone said you shouldn't use left hand, karna is supposed to have said, by the time the money moves from left to right, mind will ask questions - shud you give so much, should you give it to this person etc etc and stop you. Never delay giving. " - from a friend.
Religion, in its essence, gave some ethics.
Yama and Niyama are the first two steps of Ashtanga Yoga.
The 5 yamas-
Ahiṃsā (अहिंसा): Non-violence, non-harming other living beings
Satya (सत्य): truthfulness, non-falsehood
Asteya (अस्तेय): non-stealing
Brahmacharya (ब्रह्मचर्य): temperence
Aparigraha (अपरिग्रहः): non-possessiveness
As religion gets negated, and there is nothing else put in place to give these values, what we have is a society that believes that the way to happiness is more and more consumption and personal gratification.
In a finite world, this desire for infinite indulgence,has led to where we are no standing - and complaining !
A poor man, with the ability to share of his little.
A 'successful' man, too insecure to give but a tiny fraction of his assets.
Whom would we bow to ?
Whom would we aspire to be ?
Which model would we show our chilren as the ideal ?
Words like charity, donation, philanthrophy need to go from vocabulary.
We can only talk of returning, of reparations.
When we have more than another, it was never ours.
The earth has enough for everyones need, but not enough for anyones greed.
Our greed impoverished another.
We are simply returning what was not ours, when we give. A small part of all we need to return.
We give just that small part that allows us to lull our conscience to sleep for one more night.
This is exactly what Eashwaramma and Lakshmamma taught me in my village. The deepest Vedantic learning are part of the soil of this land.
(from another post)
"I have a friend who simply does not believe in God, he feels most beings waste enormous amount of time and energy in life in praying or thinking about this non-existent entity. He reasoned: if I fall in this ditch then who will help me? Rama, Jesus or Allah. No one, I will have to get up or pay money to an ambulance and get treatment in a hospital. For every physical or emotional wound we have none to help us except ourselves. Why create God and add to the confusion and misery. I agree!"
Prasad - "The notion of a "Old man in the sky" is the "God" that is being denied here. This is the God of Abrahamic religions. "Rama" cannot be straightjacketed in the same category as Jesus or Allah. The Hindu conception of Ishwara is both as the antaryaami and the sarvavyaapi. It is incorrect to reject this Ishwara simply because one cannot "feel" His aid. According to the shaastra, the very inspiration to help oneself is got from Ishwara, who instigates all beings towards Dharma from within."
The term 'begging' is of a colonial heritage. We had people who would come singing songs, or not even singing songs, and as they stood, the householder would rush to give them rice respectfully. Gratefully. I have done so so many times in my village. There is no giver-receiver heirarchy. These are the indian truths we need to hold on to and revalidate in eroding times.
In India the giver feels beholden to the receiver. Which is as it should be. As it helps the giver grow in ways too many to list. The word 'beg' is a perverted term belonging to perverted times.
Karma Yoga is to dedicate the act to the god, and disown oneself as the giver (or the do-er). And whoever enables one to practice that, one is beholden to. To rise of the path of deepest understanding. That is how the Indian thinking goes. Still valid in villages. That is what we need to reclaim, among many of our identities we need to reclaim.
I learnt all that i learnt from a village. and by seeing people live it.
To a post bashing religion - "We need to search and address the essential problem. I think it is modernity and alienation and centralization. I do not think it is religion, after having seen what religion means in small simple communities. Religion, as all else, gets perverted in large soulless settings."
Yerpachchamma temple, Dalitwada.
15 February 2015 at 23:10 ·
"Religion - the term does not capture what Dharmam is.
Dharmam has no relationship with what is known as Religion.
Religion is about obedience to a dogma. Dharma is about discovery via constant engagement. The term religion could be dropped altogether from the Indian discourse." (via Rajiv Varma )
My village had a very logical and powerful code of ethic they call dharma. They have sacredness around trees and anthills and rocks and temple. And simple rituals. It is all an integrated symphony - India.
Rajiv Varma Aparna Krishnan ji, thanks for posting the excerpt. We could continue this dialogue over here, as personal mails tend to clog due to SPAM etc. I will add to your comment by stating a hypothesis that most if not all rural India knows only about Dharma. Rural India may not be corrupted by "Religion".
Aparna Krishnan Yes, that has been my point when urban intellectuals try to seperate 'religion' and 'spirituality'. In villages a true sense of ethic or dharma, a certian pattern of festivals and rituals, the evening lamp - everything is integrated. And seeing how all that gives them the ability to practise a deep generosity that I and my urban compatriots cannot - i would not. for one, try to seperate religion from spirituality for them.
Can someone help me understand this.
The modern people, in the modern political framework, who are Right in the sense of the Religious, and stand by the culture of the people, are often also Right in the sense of Economy, and stand by capitalism. Capitalism nd personal profit, and a convenient trickle down theory as far as the poor are concerned.
I see a disconnect here, between commitment to Religion and commitment to the Poor
This is so in the Modern Sector. Which is largely a deracinated world.
Not in the Real india.
The village people, the rooted people, are as rooted in their Religion and Gods as in their Dharmam. Dharmam is a vast ethical framework everyone in the traditional India, the rooted India lives by. Dharmam includes sharing from what small portions one has. Dharmam includes giving in silence. Dharmam goes hand in hand with God. In my village, Dharmam and Devudu are the most commonly used words. Spoken and lived.
As in Gandhi also. A true religiousness coexisted with the deepest lived concern for the poor. Gandhis learnings came from the people of this land, and he himself was personally rooted and deeply religious in a way Nehru and others were not.
So also in Nanak and Narayana Guru.. And all others of the traditional India.
I have some youngsters calling up these days. High school children. Asking if they can help with the PaalaGuttaPalle bags.
Which is a great thing. High school is the age to get into understanding the details of survival, livllihoods, disparity, our own role in this. Collective answerabilities.
I try to think with them on how we can work together.
But then sometimes it comes up that they need it for their college resume. And they want to know what they will be given, a citation, a prize ...
And then I stop. Think.
Of the need for essentials. Always.
AmAnatvam, Adhambatvam. Humility.
Service done in silence. The only valid way.
How when acts are planned without the essentials, so much may get done, and yet in a sense nothing is done ...
The reality today ...
There is no charity, or philanthrophy.
There are only reparations we can make.
Our wealth is amassed out of unpaid and underpaid labour of many many people.
By underpaying the farmers and workers we became rich.
Rajeev Khare As a location head in a factory I suggested that one third of the profit should be distributed among employees in a certain ratio. People in the room gave me a look that made me feel i was being plainly stupid.
Aparna Krishnan Immorality has got normalized. And legalized.
Aparna Krishnan But society needs clear structures. Legal and also Cultural. Depending on 'goodness' is foolish. We all falter. Islam and Sikhism demand that followers contribute a definate percentage. Sikhism enjoins anonymity. Hindusim has the panch mahayagnas demanded of each gruhastha, but these have been forgotten. Norms for these times have to be structured, or re-discovered.
Vivek Shah Current model of distribution of wealth is short term lucrative and self destructive in long run. There s a need to internalize a model which doesn't work on capitalist, exploitative principles. As said above me, such thoughts are liked upon as ones presented by a stupid, senseless fellow.
Vivek Shah Cannot rely on government to enforce a fairness model either. All their "progress" depends upon the said labour
Aparna Krishnan GDP needs to be questioned. And chucked.
Vivek Shah Long overdue. Such arbitrary indexes are robbing us of our humanity in the name of material progress
Aparna Krishnan It is also a meaningless average.
Aparna Krishnan People are not statistics.
"In All Beings, I am The Desire that is Not Opposed to Dharma."
-Gita.
Is the Desire to eat in glass-walled-restaraunts, where the hungry poor gape from outside, opposed to Dharma ?
My daughter's Sanskrit teacher told her. That when the Niti Shashtras, codes of law, failed to resolve. Those deeply versed on Dharma Shastras, codes of ethics, were called. To show the way. In the times of long ago ...
When manmade law fails. One seeks a higher law. A cosmic law. Dharmam. For guidance.
(via
Narayana Sarma
) I am convinced, that no amount of twisting of words and meanings can extract a comprehensive 'materialistic' sense (that can explain away something like, say, Darwin's evolution) out of this 'origin of the world' theory of Hinduism.
Hindu idea of srushti is essentially a non material understanding of life, hence valid all the time. It is about how an undifferentiated entity gets divided into 'me' and the 'other.'. NOT at all about the head torso or feet of a being of paleolithic era giving birth to human beings of various castes.
I also hold the view that any attempt at such physical interpretation actually downgrades the philosophical sophistication of the sacred, and defeats it's own purpose.
Rama Subramanian
An atheist indian is killed for his social media posts. Freedom of faith, freedom of expression, human rights, right of different view in a minority community, non compliance to a globalized identity... All of these and more involved here. I think this deserves condemnation. India has traditionally been a great place for rebels and people who don't comply to systems as long as it does not cause suffering to others, we venerate them as a Buddha even. This space for rebellion and non compliance cannot be sacrificed. Atheism is a recognised form of faith in india and this society has lived with them for long. Singer atheists even initiate and mobilise great political movements.
(via Rajiv Varma )
Lokesh writes: "... We Hindus have Dogmas too, like Karma, Reincarnation, single god, atman-that we are spirit and not body. ..."
This is an incorrect understanding of "dogma". A dogma is handed over to the people by a broker (prophet), by an 'a priori' God, which is ruthlessly enforced by the Church/Ummah. Second commandment is such a dogma, that prohibits worship of graven images (anti-idolatory). Throughout the Abrahamic history one can see how many metric tonnes of blood was shed to enforce this dogma.
On the contrary to what you list above, Karma and Punarjanma (Reincarnation) are not dogmas. These are parameters of upholding a Dharmic system, where the onus on performance and subsequently its rewards is on the individual. Classic case is that of Valmiki and his wife, where the wife refuses to share the burden of bad Karma of her husband. This is Hinduism at its best. Very few people understand this nuance. A woman can be married to a man, and yet is not obligated in any way to share bad Karma of her husband. There is no compulsion of any kind. This is real freedom and liberty.
The Brahmin was mandated poverty and learning.
He was given a higher nominal position that the Kshatriya and Vaishya so that power and wealth don't override learning and wisdom.
Poverty was the balance to rein in the arrogance that learning can also give birth to.
When the Brahmin gave up the mandated poverty, his dharma, the decline began ... of all.
Some people object saying that I am not deeply appreciative of charity.
What I give, what people give, is a very very small part of what we need to return to the common pool. We have claimed more than what our share is. Payback time, friends.
Voluntary poverty is neccsasary. Some castes which had enjoyed privileges should do more. Otherwise how does one explain positive discrimination
Don't think it was about poverty. It was more about dependency I guess (and the humility that comes from mutual dependencies).
...
All people are good people 
. And all of us have our weaknesses and selfishnesses and insecurities. We need to restore those learnings, those systems, those societies that enable gooness, and discourage insecurities.
. And all of us have our weaknesses and selfishnesses and insecurities. We need to restore those learnings, those systems, those societies that enable gooness, and discourage insecurities.I see a deep disconnect of us educated with the 'common people' of this land. And many of the over-educated have lost a basic connect with the simple religiousness of this land. This simple religiousness is what is the warp and weft of the community life of the villages, as it permeates birth and death and sowing and harvest and cattle and gatherings and a million other things. By losing that connect one gets alienated in many many ways. And alienation has larger repurcussions for the country as we see today. An alienated edcated elite making laws for a country whose pulse it has lost.
Anyway, in this context I have had friends (try to) educate me on 'spiritual versus religious'. I know how invalid this division is for the 'common people' where each feeds into the other. As my 'education' proceeds, these friends have explained to me how they disagree with a god on the clouds meteing out punishments, or a god who judges, or a god who watches implacably when there are famines. The Hindu philosophical path also takes one to a point where all these picturesque descriptions stand negated.
And the simple people, even as they perambulate their temples know this. That even gods follow the larger Law. Which they also have to follow. Dharma and karma which words are part of common daily vocabulary in all villages.
In this sense atheism and theism dissolve into the larger in the Hindu philosophy.
The western divide of theism and atheism does not fit into our discourse, as our concept of god itself is very different. Though at a stage of growth the istha devata concept is there, which matches the abrahamic picture of god, it moves onto a far vaster notion as god as the law itself and the lawgiver. And as the entire creation. The Nasadiya Sukta transcends all western divisions around theism, for instance.
A JNU professor, an acquaintance,when we told him about #JeevaniMilk and how the malnourished children recovered health and well being, in village after village ... sniffed superciliously, "That is 'social work'."
In the village each person, through drought feeds each hungrier person. Eashwaramma, earning through daily coolie work contributes a sack of rice for annadaanam at the ashram. Her contribution as per her ability.
SriKrishna to Yudhishtra, "Dadasvaanam, dadasvaanam, dadasvaanam, Yudhishtra." ("Give food, give food, give food, Yudhistra.")
JNU Professor beggged to differ.
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD, VERSE 1
One NGO wrote offering money for school bags. I thanked her saying the children did not need bags now.
She wrote, "We will help the poor village in the future."
I wrote back, "When we give, we help ourselves. We give because we have too much, and others have too little. When we have claimed more than our share of resouces, we need to return. That is how I understand it."
Maybe she will not offer to help again. It does not matter. Because we cannot help anyone. The universe spins on its own. We can only help ourselves. Into greater simplicity, into realizing that our assets are not ours. That our answerability is to all children, and not just the child in our home. And in these and such understandings alone do the real changes start.
Rajeev R. Singh Refreshing change! Its logical and very well said!!
Aparna Krishnan There is no other logic. NGOs and funding have distorted this essential reality.
Raghurama Rao Suswaram That means that for you holding on to your interpretation is more important than getting the work done. Think about it.
Aparna Krishnan Work gets done, when the hearts are pure. When understanding is clear. When humility leads the work in the right direction.
Niranjan Pant Respectfully, there is often a thin line between the 'right' and the 'self-righteous', but sometimes they might work for contra purposes.
Aparna Krishnan When understanding gets clear, there will be little self righteousness. Because each of us is compromised in a million ways, even as we attempt to do right.
The Gurus a society chooses are a reflection of the times. A consuming society seeks Gurus who validate them.
The gurus who live in austerity and advise simplicity wait in the wings.
Dharma, artha, kama, moksha - the four purusharthas.
When only artha (wealth), and kama (desires) are taught as goals to a generation the decline of that civilization begins.
Dharma (one's larger duties), and moksha (independence from the sway of likes and dislikes, or sthithapragya) need to be inculcated. For the sake of the child, of the generation, of the civilization.
My friend said today, "I am tired of hearing of temple visits and homams. If people wish to help the poor, let them act. Otherwise let them just stay quiet !" I agree with her completely.
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