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by
Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL
No. 76
June: 2007
PRASTHANATRAYAM – THEIR IMPORTANCE IN SANATAN PHILOSOPHY.- Part 1
QUESTIONS FROM READERS
QUESTION 1 FROM Prof K Raghupathy
Dear Sir! Is corporal punishment, physically harming a wrong doer, torturing social outcasts etc. justified spiritually?
ANSWER: Never. Along with the advancement of civilization and refinement of human intellectual behaviour, man has also come to a better understanding of the concept of crime and punishment.
In the barbaric mind set, when the mind has not learnt the virtues of dharma, especially qualities like dama (self restraint), kshama (forgiveness), intellectual analysis (virtues of dhi), the root causes of behaviour patterns (virtues of vidya), control of anger (akrodha) etc. it was perhaps natural to think, corporal punishment, inflicting physical injury etc as the best ways to crime prevention.
But as dharma began controlling the life, (or at least considered as the best approach to life), the enlightened mind, aware of its own limitations saw the fallacy and futility of such judgements.
Admitted that an all-perfect social system is still far away, but a measure of the enlightenment of the human mind has direct bearing on the checks after checks, measures after measures the society has brought into the system to eliminate crime and not the criminal.
Unfortunately there are still many subscribers to the idea of barbaric punishment in our present society. But this should not deter others from the path of dharma.
There is an interesting point when we speak ‘civilisation’. The word is translated as sabhyatA meaning noble characteristics. Rabindranath Tagore used it as ‘sadAcAra’ meaning noble conduct. Corporal punishment is not noble.
QUESTION 2 FROM Sri CHANDRAKANTA SAHA ( and similar questions from others)
What is your take on the present controversy of erotic and vulgar display of hindu themes in modern art forms?
ANSWER: There is a world of difference between the so-called erotic depictions in the hindu mythology and the modern peddling of the same in the garb of artistic freedom. The hindu religion which has its roots in the sanatan philosophy, always looks at things beyond the obvious. The obvious is chosen as a means to explain the esoteric.
People of small minds, who can not see or refuse to see beyond the obvious, will always justify their own actions by simply bringing down the lofty concepts to their own level. It is a moot point whether their action should evoke anger or pity. After all, in a continuous process of evolution and development, everyone can not be expected to be at the same stage of mental perception.
Often people speak about the temple figures in India. Let us go back to the initial concept of the creation and its sustenance.
The great endevour or ‘yajna’ which is this creation, is sustained solely by the created beings and their propagation is crucial to the continuity of the creation itself. Its importance (not reducing it to the physical sex angle, but from its essentiality point of view), has been emphasized well (see The Bhagavad Gita 3.10) by the creator ordaining to maintain the propagation as a divine task. When the flow of propagation stops what remains of the creation?
The flow of creation is by the union of the male entity with the female entity. This union is not discouraged but celebrated at all levels of the creation.
A perverted mind can look at it as an encouragement to carnal pleasure. But a balanced mind will look at it always with its esoteric purpose, not getting carried away by the pleasure alone. The depictions on the walls of temples – a place of worship – are to lift it above the pornographic overtones. The panels of figures celebrate the creation and its desirable continuity.
There is another important issue involved here. The explicit sexual acts depicted involve generic figures of ‘a’ man and ‘a’ woman. They do not depict specific revered figures of Gods. Wherever a God and his consort are depicted, one would notice a great amount of restraint exercised by the sculptor without sacrificing artistic liberty. There is nothing explicit about their posture and what is more, the gods are always with their own consorts and never with some one else.
The true Indian ethos does not allow any misdemeanor associated with the respected, revered and loved ones, which may even appear to be vulgar. Many of us may enjoy looking at an aesthetically done nude picture of a woman. But not many would have the stomach to appreciate it if the woman happens to be your dear mother or your darling daughter.
We now come to the often-discussed topic of the shivalingam inside a yoni. It is amusing when some see them as an erotic representation. Here again the idea is not to draw attention to any specific physical features. If we keep in mind the concept of creation as we discussed earlier, we return to the union of the male entity with the female entity. We come to understand the essentiality of the union of purusha and prakriti. Shiva represents the eternal purusha, the original vijaprada, the seed giver. Lingam is symbolic of this aspect of the creator. No creation is possible without the involvement of prakriti, the shakti of creation. The source of that shakti is represented by the yoni of his consort. The yoni receives the vija and transforms it into the creation – the virata.
Trivialising these concepts with titillating pictures or tongue in cheek stories is juvenile thinking.
QUESTION 3 FROM Ms APARNA PASSI
I have two questions:
1.Why even spiritual sadhaks are so critical of each other’s view points?
2.Even after achieving some control over desires … suddenly a craving for something that was denied to you by fate for a long time catches hold of you. All effects of Vairagya are lost. How best to deal with such situations?
(contents edited)
ANSWER: People do get critical of others when their own view point is not readily accepted. But that is precisely the part of the learning process. It shows that their spiritual enlightenment is still at an inadequate level. But as they advance after gaining more knowledge they also learn to accept differing viewpoints and the fact that everyone’s level of knowledge can be different from another. A differing viewpoint always provides another opportunity to re-test your own convictions. Instead of being critical, the wise feel grateful for this opportunity. Ultimately one truth only prevails.
As for your second question, we must be clear that complete vairagya is never achieved as long as the individual remains attached to the world. Vairagya comes in slow progression. It is in degrees that you build up strength to understand the true value of things and protect yourself from their binding influence.
When something one has been cherishing, suddenly comes your way and re-ignites your longing, it reveals some plain truths. That you have certainly not cultivated enough strength (vairagya if you wish) to overcome the power that thing exercises on your mind. The longing may have been dormant but was very much alive within you. You have not yet appreciated the futility of this longing. That is a hurdle in the path of sadhanA. ( Even great sages like Jada Bharat, Narada, Viswamitra etc have stumbled in their sadhana.)
How can you get rid of this longing or the hurdle? - only by experiencing it yourself and quickly discarding it and resisting its temporary influence.
The Lord in His kindness knows this too well. So he grants this to you. If you are able to see it through and do not fall a prey, you have risen another step in the path of vairagya and your sadhana. But if you fail to pass the test, the object of desire will revisit you in some other form at some other time until you have purified your mind completely.
Pray to Lord to give you strength to accept the thing but not get overcome by its influence.
QUESTION 4 FROM Sri RAJAGOPALAN C V
Instead of The spiritual Approach to Life the title "The approach to spiritual life" would have been apt.
ANSWER:The point you are making is valid from one angle. However please look at it this way. As a ‘living being’, “life” is our primary concern, day in and day out, lives after lives. Aharni aharni bhutani gacchanti yamamandiram. Apare jivitum icchanti. Day in and day out beings are devoured by death, yet the rest wish to cling on to life for ever. That can not change.
Hence the wiser attempt for all is rather to understand life and then live the right way, the way life is meant to be lived, approach spiritually.
We are all essentially spiritual. Only the degree of awareness varies from being to being. The problem lies in bringing in this spirituality into the realm of life and not being myopic looking for small material gains- not to miss the forest for the woods.
That is humanity’s problem. There also lies the solution to it. A spiritual approach to life is life’s solution to peace and happiness.
