Holy Wednesday - fast friend and tireless romantic

Indic dharmas too say,  that  'God is love'.
But that does not mean everyone escapes consequences of their actions and intents, in this world.

Instead, the Divine offers a new birth; with opportunities for purification and transcendence.

His compassion and love for the jiva, or living individual self, finds expression in offering appropriate support for evolution.
In this sense He is seen as a fast friend and a tireless romantic.

Once, a white woman asked me for proof of this reincarnation theory.
I didn't argue.
I gave her an assignment.
I asked her to collect data of all newly borns, in a nearby hospital.
A pandit who could speak English, accompanied her.
Soon, she presented her report.

And she said,
"One baby looked enormous, one looked thin and weak, one was well proportioned, one just put me off. One was born in a luxurious ward. Another was born amidst untold difficulties to an utterly poor woman."

And I spoke, 
"Let us leave speculations about what  happens after death. Now you have seen and documented for yourself, the beginnings of many lives. Why are they diverse and disparate. Rich, disproportionate, poor, healthy, proportionate, weak. If one goes by the argument of just one birth for every individual self, then God is not being fair, to this sample of your study. It indicates a God, who is unloving, non- compassionate, un - intelligent and erratic. Apart from the theory that rebirths are articulated by the fruits of past deeds, what can possibly be the explanation that satisfies?"

She happily agreed , and left with a smile.

- Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi

Holy Tuesday - A white man

Semitic religions do not speak of Karma theory.
'Cause and effect' consequences are not articulated.
Nor do they speak of reincarnation of a living self.

Indic dharmas say that virtuous and vicious deeds produce fruits that accrue to the doer.
 And the 'effects' may not be produced immediately.
A living self may experience the fruits of his deeds in another life.

White people take strong objection to this.
Generally, their contention is that one needs to live only this present life.
And after death, one stations oneself somewhere, till judgement day.
After judgement, this lived self is evaluated and sent either to eternal paradise or eternal damnation.

These days, I am visited by many white people.
Now this man was an author of many books -  and he jovially shared his experience.
He could not come to terms with a contradiction in the Bible which says, 'God is love', and also speaks of  'eternal damnation'.
He approached a priest in church.
And received reply, 'Presence of eternal hell is real; but it is always empty.'

Coming to think of it, God cannot send anyone to hell - for He is love.
And rebirths are ruled out.
So all can be sent only to heaven.

Jokes apart, if one looks at it honestly, this can only lead to chaos, to anarchic attitudes.

- Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi

Holy Monday - Persian dharmas

'There is no need to go in great search of the Self. 
It is above, below, aft and fore, to the left and right. 
Begin with purity of food. 
In due time, purity of consciousness will happen.
Contemplation will follow.
And soon enough, one will experience absorption in the Self,." says Sanat Kumara in Chandogya Upanishad.

'He is Skanda!
He is Skanda!,'  
proclaims the Upanishad.


Chandogya Awastha has morphed into 'Zenda Avesta' of the Zorastrians.
Paarsi dharma is alll about fire worship.
Someone who hailed from Sau-rashtra region, is it's founder.
Saurashtrar became Zororhushtra.

'Saura' indicates the Sun.
Sun, fire and poetic meter Gayatri, are special forms of Shambu, says Sancara in  'Prashna-uttara-ratna - malika'.

'Skanda is  the flame of consciousness, that dispels darkness,' says Chandogya Upanishad..

Vedic dharma is fundamentally a fire worshipper's path.
The very first word in the Vedic scripture is 'Agni' or fire.
Everyday fire rituals at home, are known as Oupasana.
And these daily rituals, are common, to all hues of people.

- Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi

Lent Vrat - Week 6 - Word

An important concept in the Old Testament is a fundamental principle of Vedic dharmas.

Vedic traditions speak of  'Naadha Brahmam', 'Shabda Brahmam'.

Contention of the Vedic traditions is, that Naadha or Shabda (Sound) was the first manifestation of the Divine. Only later, did physical universe come to be.

Vyakarana Shastras include 'Shabda Brahma waadha'.
And Pranava or 'AUM-kara' is known as the 'Beginningless' or Anaadhi.
Upanishads and the Gita speak of oneness of  'AUM-kara and eternal self, the Param-atman.

This is echoed in lines of the Old Testament too.
" In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God; and the Word was God."
Later, when Semitic based dharmas lost contact with Vedic roots, the 'Word' also lost its context of  'Nadha Brahma, Shabda Brahma or AUM-kara'.

-Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi

Lent Vrat - Week 5 - norm of grammar

One who eats the pippala fruit is the Jiva.
One who does not eat, one who has realised him as self, is the eternal self.

This Jiva has beome Eve in Hebrew dharmas.
Ji becoming Ee - is a norm in grammar.
It is common for ja  sequences to become Ya.

Yamuna became Jamuna.
Yogendra becomes Joginder.
Christian Joseph becomes a Moslem Yusuf.
And Jiv became Eve, in the story of Genesis.

Old Testament carries concepts that are common not only to Jewish and Christian dharmas, but also to Islamic dharma.
This is evident when we look at some nouns.
Abraham morphs as Ibrahim, Solomon to Suleimon,  David to Dawood.

An important concept in the Old Testament is a fundamental
principle of Vedic dharmas.

-Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati.

Lent Vrat - Week 4 - flowering apple tree

Mundaka Upanishad speaks of two birds in a tree.
One bird eats the pippala fruits.
Another simply looks, and does not eat.

The inner meaning is,
Tree is the human body.
A person who considers oneself as the Jiv-atma (living self) feasts upon the fruits of sense experiences. He is the eating bird.

In the same body, Param-atma (eternal self) resides as the second bird.
His presence animates His companion -the eating bird
Param Atma being very still, remains a witness to all activities of the Jiva.
Merits and demerits of  the jiva's activities do not accrue to the Param-atma.

This is what is conveyed poetically by the Upanishad as 2 birds perched in a tree.
This speaking has undergone distortions in the flow and ebb of time, place, context - to the extent that the original concept itself is lost. 

Jiva has become 'Eve', in Hebrew dharmas.
Atma has morphed as Adam, Pippala to apple.


The clarity that shines through a subdued human being, and helps people transcend material embodiment, is symbolised as the Pippala tree.
 In the changed narrative, the tree of Bodha, or clarity, has become the tree of knowledge.
A tree of worldly knowledge that bears fruits of sensory experiences, fraught with pleasure and pain.

Bereft of its guided classical study and associated rituals, the Upanishad narrative loses its original intent.
In the Old Testament, the story gets distorted to the extent that even the Paramatma or the Witness, eats the fruits of sensory experiences.

-Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi.

Lent Vrat - Week 3 - stories and layers

While delineating concepts, one often resorts to the format of storytelling -  so it reaches a wider audience.

And I do not subscribe to the school of thought that says,
'Stories retold in the Puranas, are merely allegories.
They are not to be considered as chronicles of real events.'

Puranas are chronicles of real life events, even while they serve as pointers to values and concepts.

With flow of time, stories may get distorted.
Hidden layers that communicate inner meaning, may get switched off.
And vital details that need to be communicated, may even get erased from people's memories.
This is what has happened to the ancient dharma that was prevalent in various lands of the globe - when newer religions came to grow alongside.
 
Now we can look, at an example.

-Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi.

Lent Vrat - Week 2 - Communicating concepts

There is something we need to pay attention to.

While delineating concepts, one often resorts to the format of storytelling -  so it reaches a wider audience.

Another option is to offer it as a ritual - where people learn by doing.

While doing the rituals religiously, in due course of time, one comes to understand the underlying vision.

But I do not subscribe to groups that claim, 'it is enough if one understands the  underlay of vision; one need not do the rituals as such.' 

Because even a ritual by itself, has its own prowess of generating beneficial energy.
Rituals help it's performer, reap benefits.
When sustained, these rituals aid in cleansing of consciousness or 'Chitta Shuddi'.
Soon, wealth of  virtue accrues, as the performer  conducts the same rituals, wishing for well-being of fellow life forms.

With flow of time, rituals and stories may get distorted.
Hidden layers that communicate inner meaning, may get switched off.
And vital details that need to be communicated, may even get erased from people's memories.

This is what has happened to the ancient dharma that was prevalent in various lands of the globe -  when newer religions came to grow alongside.

-Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi.

Lenten Vrat - Week-1 - Ancient Dharma

Presence of Indic religious signs and symbols, all over the globe, prompts some researchers to opine that,

 ' Some Indic people traveled beyond their shores; some other people traveled to the subcontinent, And there was exchange of thoughts, ideas and culture'.

However I feel that the reality is different.
Culture of consciousness and knowing, initially prevailed all over the globe.
And the signs and symbols belonged very much, to local cultures.
Some of these signs are more ancient than 4000 years.
The Semitic and Hebrew dharmas had elements of Varnashrama dharma, over 2000 years ago.

Even before civilizational elements appeared, these signs and symbols of a culture of knowing, were familiar to peoples. Alongside the ancient dharma, a culture of building grand temples to various Gods, came to be - in Greece.
None of these ancient civilizations, like the Hellenistic, are fully alive today.
But studies say that roots of ancient dharmas can still be seen in tribal dharmas of South African woodlands.
Worship of elements of Nature by Mexican tribes chimes with ritualistic worship of Vedic people.

Will give an example to throw light on this.
But before that there is something we need to pay heed to, . . .

- Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Kanchi