Oh Man! When you come out of the mother's
womb
You have no necklace of any kind round
your neck,
Neither of pearl, nor of gold, nor a string
of gems;
But there is one garland round your neck
with which the
Creator has sent you.
It is the heavy chain of you good and bad
deeds
carried from all your past lives.
That unbroken chain is all that you bring
into the world.
Embodiments of Divine Love!
Karma (one's deeds) is responsible for birth. Every man is a
child of Karma. Born on account of Karma, Dharma (Righteousness)
becomes one of the primary goals of human life. Dharma governs all
conduct (Dharma) pertaining to one's caste, vocation,
or stage in life (Asrama), people are supposed to regulate their
lives. This is regarded as Dharma. But this is not the correct
meaning of the term. Dharma in its exalted meaning is that which applies
to all people in all countries at all times.
Dharma conceived in this way transcends the barriers of space, time and circumstance. Hence it is called Sanathana Dharma - the eternal verities.
There are in the world various rules of conduct which are related to
conditions governing time and space. Such rules are liable to change
from time to time and country to country, according to changing situations.
But if Sanathana Dharma is changed, humanity will cease to be human. Just
as burning charcoal, if it loses its heat, becomes mere charcoal, and a
pieces of haggery, if it loses its sweetness, becomes a lump of clay, likewise
man remains truly human only as long as he adheres to the eternal Dharma
(which is represented by purity in thought, word and deeed - "Trikarna
Suddhi:). Without this basic quality, man is only human in form and not
in his true nature.
The fourth affliction to which the mind is prone is envy (Vipralipsa).
This is an evil quality. The envious man cannot suffer others being prosperous
or happy. He has a carping spirit, He always wishes ill for others.
Envy converts a man into a veritable master. This is a most sinful vice.
In this context, the supreme importance of love should be recognised. Love is your nature. But modern man, in his preoccupation with the world of external phenomena, is failing to discover his own true nature. Of what avail is alll the knowledge about the physical world if a man does not know what he really is? Love is the means and love is the proof.
Self-enquiry calls for earnestness (Sraddha) and undertsnading
of Rita (the principle of cosmic order governing the universe).
Rita transcends the categories of time an dspace. It is the eternal verity
represented by the unity of thought, word and deed (Trikarna Suddhi).
The Buddhi (intelligence) is the instrument for making the enquiry
into the Real. Buddhi is superior to intellectual talent. The ancients
accorded a higher place to Buddhi because it confers the power of discrimination
between right and wrong, between the permanent and the passing. Modern
man attaches higher value in intellectual ability. the falsity of this
view was demonstrated centuries ago in a debate between Adi Sankara
and Mandana Misra. In that debate Sankara conclusively proved
that Buddhi (the power of discrimination) was superior to intellectual
ability(medhas).
The scientists, in their exploration of the nature of matter, have discovered
the existence of various sub-atomic particles like electrons, protons and
neutrons. The divine energy that is present in all these particles is one
and the same. Once the divine energy is understood, there will be no need
to pursue other explorations. If, for instance, you understand that sugar
is the basic constituent of different kinds of sweets, there will be no
need to examine each of them.