--- In tiruvengadam@xxxx, "Sudarshan M.K." <sampathkumar_2000@xxxx> wrote: Dear friends, There are many lessons one can draw from the opening 'anuvAkam' of the "brughuvalli" of the Taittiriya Upanishad. One of them is that it very, important to regularly study our religious or scriptural literature. In fact such study should become a lifetime habit. The young Brghu goes to his father Sage Varuna and asks him "adhIhi bhagavO brahmEti" --- "Sir, please teach me all I need to know about Brahman". Varuna replies, "tad vijignyAsasva, tad brahmEthi" - "Begin intense study, so that you may succeed in knowing That Brahman". And the young Brughu then goes away to perform the 'tapas' of intense study - "sa tapO tapyata, sa tapastaptvA!". Why is it important to devote ourselves to such intense study as Brghu undertook? The answer is quite simple and practical. We need to regularly study the literature of our scriptures for the same reason why in our professional careers we regularly read literature related to our respective field of work or specialization. The doctor or surgeon who passes his MD or FRCS does not stop studying; the lawyer or attorney-at-law never stops reading legal journals, digests and manuals. The same is the case with architects, accountants, engineers, IT-specialists or fashion designers. No matter how old or rich in experience a professional is, he knows that he is only as good as the knowledge he possesses is thorough and up-to-date. And to ensure that he is up-to-date, he will go to any length, undergo any pain and perform any kind of 'tapas' necessary, isn't it? A professional who is not constantly on what is called the "cutting-edge" or "leading-edge" of his field of work or specialization gets "left behind" rapidly. And in these modern days of 'knowledge-workers', as all professionals know, the world shows no respect whatsoever for an out-of-date professional. Which is why "continuing professional education" has become so important for all of us. Sooner or later, we all realize that either we continually study or we perish. What is true of our professional careers, unfortunately, holds good for our spiritual careers too. Our professional careers span, say, only 40 or 50 years ? at best, we can all hope to sustain our worldly careers only as long as our lifetimes. But our spiritual careers extend well and far beyond our bodily lifetime on earth. Every faith in this world, be it Vedic, Christian or Buddhist, tells us that each of us has a soul - a 'jeevAtma' - and this soul is eternal. So as 'jeevAtmAs' all of us have eternal career spans to look forward to. There is a second and greater career awaiting us after we have all spent our time upon earth. Now, being the first-class professionals we all like to believe we are, should we not therefore begin preparing a career plan for ourselves in the after-world? Should we not be asking ourselves questions such as the following: (1) "What will my second career in the spiritual realm be after I have left these worldly shores?". (2) "What will be expected of me in that second career of mine? What sort of duties and responsibilities will I be carrying out then? What demands will be made upon this soul of mine in that career-role?". (3) "In order to succeed in that eternal career, what kinds and varieties of knowledge should be acquired by my spirit? How should I qualify myself for that great second career which awaits me? What knowledge or 'atma-gnyAnam' should I be gaining?" (4) "And how, where and from whom or from which institute should I gather that sort of knowledge?". There is one answer only for all such questions and it is this: Great Religious Literature. The greatest religious literature that we as Indians have are the priceless Vedas handed down to us by our ancient 'rshi-s' and which have in fact one primary purpose only: viz. to prepare us for our spiritual careers in the after world. And in doing so they serve the very same purpose as any of the literature we all avidly seek in our professional life viz. "continuous education" for a better and ever more prosperous future career. The study of the Vedas, or any scriptural literature for that matter, involves, no doubt, discipline and hard work. It is a kind of 'tapas'. (Attending 'vedadhyAyana' classes, for example, thrice a week at Sri.IVK Chary's house here in Kuwait, is perhaps a sort of 'tapas'too on our part).If we are successful in our professional careers it is because of the "tapas" we undertook voluntarily, isn't it? We must remember how hard we toiled for the expertise we eventually gained in our field of work. Similarly, it is only through the 'tapas' of regular and earnest study of scriptural literature that we can also hope to succeed and prosper in great "second career of the spirit" awaiting us. So studying the Vedas regularly should be looked upon by all of us as a holy 'tapas'... "sa tapO tapyata, sa tapastaptvA!" This is one of many wonderful messages of spiritual wisdom contained in that opening episode of the "brghuvalli" in the ancient Upanishad. ****************************************** We will continue in the next post. Regards, dAsan, Sudarshan --- End forwarded message ---
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