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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00116 Feb 2003

 
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--- RR <rr@xxxx> wrote:
> Dear Sri Dileepan,
> vi) we find the many youngsters employed in IT services' companies
> practically living or imitating the life of Westerners (the current
> divorce
> rates in these metros (in the forward communities) are alarming,
> This is a very very serious situation and i do not claim to know
> the> answers.
>> But I do know that ALL of us have to get together and take
> immediate steps> to revive the traditional Sanskrit education which
to state the> least is in> utter doldrums and has to be the strongest
doses of Oxygen.


Dear friends,

Adiyane has been following this thread of discussion on the list for
some days. It keeps coming up again and again in one form or the
other in all lists. It seems to me it is the eternal schism in the
brahmin's soul and troubles him to no end like a recurring relapse.

Re; this subject I have always admired what the Sage of Kanchi, Sri
Chandrasekharendra Saraswati had to say in his book "deivattin
kural". He may not be our own 'achArya' but the substance and
significance of what he said cannot be ignored by us. And it is so
thought provoking and passionate it is simply marvellous. It is
reproduced below for your information.

Regards,
dAsan,
Sudarshan

QUOTE:

?People today are caught between two groups holding opposing views.
On the one side they feel the pull of individuals like (me) who
maintain that they must take to the path shown by the (vedic)
sAstrA-s; on the other hand they find themselves drawn in the
opposite direction by reformers who want these ?sAstrA-s? to be
changed?.?

?Even now there are people who at heart long for a life of peace
lived according to the old (vedic) tradition. But they do not have
the courage to give up the either the trammels of modern life or the
feeling of pride in the changes effected under reformist movements.
They are in an awkward predicament because they are not fully
committed to the traditional way of life or to the new. 

?Let me tell you how people cannot decide for themselves? of how they
are neither here nor there. In most of their homes you will see
Gandhiji?s portrait and mine too. Now Gandhiji advocated widow
marriage? and I advocate wearing the ?sikhA?. Those who respect
Gandhiji do not however have the courage to marry widows. Those who
say they respect me also do not have the courage to wear ?sikhA?.
Poor people are these! They do not have any moorings and keep
swinging between one set of beliefs and another. Instead, I tell you,
we must have courage of our convictions and unflinching faith in the
?sAstrA-s?.?

?If we start to make small compromises in our adherence to the
sAstrAs it will eventually mean following only such scriptural
practices as we find convenient in our everyday life. Some people
tell me with all good intentions: ?The dharmasAstrAs are the creation
of r-shis. You are like a r-shi. So you must make (appropriate)
changes in the sAstrA-s in keeping with the times?. Their view is
that just as we remove weeds from the fields we must change (vedic)
customs and duties according to our times. If I take out some rites
and observances from the sAstrA now, thinking them to be weeds, later
another man will turn up and remove some more for the same reason. At
this rate, a time will come when we will not be able to distinguish
the weed from the crop and the entire (vedic) field will become
barren.?

?It is my duty to see that the sAstrAs are preserved as they are?
founded as they are in the Vedas which are nothing but what the
?parabrahmham? has ordained. I have no authority to change them.?

?We must not give up the sAstra-ic way of life thinking it to be
difficult to follow. If we are not carried away by the glitter of
modern mundane life, if we reduce our wants and do not run after
money, there will be no need to abandon the customs and rites laid
down by our canonical texts. If we are not obsessed with making money
there will be plenty of time to think of the Lord. And peace and
contentment and happiness will reign.?

(unquote)
********** ************* *************

Continuing to quote the same ?AchAryA?, here is another extract from
his speech:

(quote)
?The brahmin, if he is true to his dharma, HAS to spend all his time
in learning and chanting the vedas, in performing sacrifices, in
preserving the sAstrA etc. What will he do for a living? If he goes
in search of money or material he WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND TO HIS
LIFETIME MISSION?. and this mission IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED ON A
PART-TIME BASIS. And if he takes up some other work for his
livelihood, he is likely to become lax in the pursuit of his dharma.
It would be like taking medicine without the necessary diet regimen:
the benign power gained by the brahmin from his vedic learning will
be reduced and there will be a corresponding dimunition in the good
accruing to mankind from his work.?

?This is one reason why brahmins alone are permitted by the sAstrA-s
to beg for a living (?Unchavrtti?). But the sAstra also has it that
the brahmin must not accept more charity than what is needed for his
bare sustenance. If he received anything in excess, he would be
tempted to seek sensual pleasures and thereby an impediment would be
placed to his inner advancement. There is also the danger that he
would become submissive to the donor and of his twisting the sastrA
to the latter?s liking. 

?The vedic religion prospered in the past ? because people belonging
to all varnA-s contributed generously to the brahmin's upkeep and to
the nurturing of the vedic tradition. In Tamilnadu the nAttukOtta
nagarattArs, the kommutti chettis and the vEllAlas raised funds for
Vedic institutions. They felt the vedas were essential for social
good.

?If the brahmin had not been tempted by the European (or American)
life-style and if he were willing to live austerely according to the
dictates of the sAstrA, other castes (even today) would come forward
to help him. It is not that the others deserted the brahmin. He
himself ran away from his dharma, from his agrahArA, from his village
and from the vedic school because of his new appetite for the life of
luxury made possible with the new technology of the West. He forgot
the high ideals? All told, the argument that the brahmin was
compelled to abandon his dharma because he was denied his daily bread
does not hold water. We cannot but admit that the brahmin became
greedy, that he yearned far more than what he needed for sustenance.?

?Let us concede that the brahmin left his village because he could
not feed himself there and came to a city like Madras. But did he
find contentment here? What do we see today in actual practice?
Suppose a brahmin receives a salary of Rs.1000/- in Madras today. If
he gets a job in Delhi with double the salary he runs off there. When
he goes to Delhi he would abandon totally the dharma he was able to
practise at least to a small extent in Madras. Later if he were
offered US$4000/- a month in America he would leave his motherland
for that country, lured by the prospect of earning a fortune. There
in the US he would become totally alienated from his religion, from
his dharma, from all his traditions. The brahmin is willing to do
anything, go to any extent, for the sake of money?. The usual excuse
trotted out for the brahmin deserting his dharma does not wash?. Were
he true to his dharma the brahmin would tell himself, ?I will
continue to adhere to my dharma come what may, even at the risk of
death.?

?There is no point in suggesting what people belonging to the past
generations should have done. I would urge the present generation to
perform duties that the past generation neglected to perform. To
repeat, you must not forsake your dharma even on the pain of death.
Are we going to remain deathless? As things stand today, we
accumulate money, suffer humiliation and earn the jealousy of others
and finally we die losing caste by not remaining true to our dharma.
Is it not better then to starve and yet be attached firmly to our
dharma so long as there is breath in us? Is not such loyalty to our
dharma a matter of pride? Why should we care about how others see us,
whether they honour us or speak ill of us? So long as we do not
compete with them for jobs they will not have any cause for jealousy
or resentment against us. Let them call us backward or stupid or
think we are not capable of keeping abreast of the times. Are we not
now already their butt of ridicule? Let us be true to our dharma in
the face of the mockery of others, even in the face of death. Is not
such a lot preferable to suffering the slings of scorn and criticism
earned by forsaking our dharma for the sake of filling our belly??

?People ask me: ?What is the remedy then today? Do you expect all
brahmins to leave their new life-style and return to vedic learning??

?Whether or not I expect them to do so and whether or not such a step
seems possible, I must ask them to do so. 

?Where is the need for a ?guru-peeTam? or a seat on which an AchAryA
is installed if I am to keep my mouth shut and watch idly as the
dharma that is the source of everything is being endangered?

?Even if it seems impossible for brahmins to return to their
varnAshrama-dharma it must be shown to be possible in practice? that
is the whole purpose of the institution called ?mutta-s?. They must
harness all their energies towards the attainment of this goal.

?It is not for me to say that the return of the brahmins to their
vedic dharma is not possible. To take such a view would be contrary
to our very dharma. It is up to you all to make it possible in
practice or not to make it possible. All I can do is to keep
reminding you of the message of the dharmasAstrA-s?.

(unquote)

************** **************** *************



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