Quotes on Kulachara

[Guest guest]

O Devi! Purity is of two kinds, external and internal. The dedication

of oneself to Brahman is known as internal purity, and the cleansing

of the impurities of the body by water or ashes, or any other matter,

which cleanses the body, is called external purity.

Let there be external purification upon awakening from sleep,

after sexual intercourse, making water, voiding the bowels, and at

the close of a meal, and whenever dirt of any kind has been touched.

The worshippers of the Brahma-Mantra have performed their

Vaidika Sandhya when they have made Japa of the Gayathri, realizing

within themselves the identity of the Gayathri and Brahman. In the

case of those who are not Brahma-worshippers, Vaidika Sandhya

consists of the worship of and offering of oblations to the Sun and

the recitation of the Gayathri.

When the Kali Age is in full sway, the twice-born shall alone

be entitled to the Gayathri, but this restriction is not for the

other Mantras. In the Kali Age the Savitri should be said by the

Brahmanas, preceded by the Tara, and by the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas,

preceded by the Kamala and Vagbhava Bijas respectively.

The seat, clothes, vessels, bed, carriages, residence, and

household furniture of the worshipper should be as clean as possible.

At the close of the daily prayers the householder should keep himself

occupied with household duties or the study of the Vedas; he should

never remain idle. In holy places, on holy days, or when the Sun or

Moon is in eclipse, he should do inward recitation, and give alms,

and thus become the abode of all that is good.

In the Kali Age life is dependent on the food that is eaten,

fasting is therefore not recommended, in lieu of it, the giving of

alms is ordained.

The River Ganges and all the great Rivers, the house of the

religious Teacher, and the places of the Devas are holy places. But

for those who, neglecting the study of the Veda, the service of

mother and father, and the protection of their wife, go to places of

pilgrimage, such holy places are changed to hell.

Those born in the Kali Age are by their nature weak in

intellect, and their minds are distracted by lust. By reason of this

they do not recognize the Shakti to be the image of the Deity.

Therefore, O Parvati! One should, in place of the last element of

worship (sexual union), meditate upon the lotus-feet of the Devi and

the practice inward recitation of his Ishta-mantra.

The letters of the Mantra are the Devata, and the Devata is

in the form of the Guru. To him who worships them as one and the

same, his is the greatest success.

If there be an omission to worship an image for a day, then

(the next day) the worship should be twice performed; if for two

days, then the worship should be four times performed; if for three

days, then it should be celebrated eight times. If the omission

extends three days, but does not exceed six months, then the wise man

should worship after bathing the Deva with eight jars of water. If

the period of omission exceeds six months, then the excellent

worshipper should carefully consecrate the Deva according to the

rules already laid down, and then worship him/her.

So long as a man has not real knowledge, he does not attain

final liberation, even though he be in the constant practice of

religious acts and a hundred austerities. He who knows that all which

is in this universe from Brahma to a blade of grass is but the result

of Maya, and that the Brahman is the one and supreme Truth, that man

is released from the bonds of action and he, renouncing name and

form, attains complete knowledge of the essence of the eternal and

immutable Brahman. Liberation does not come from Japa, Homa, or a

hundred fasts; man becomes liberated by the knowledge that he himself

is Brahman. Final liberation is attained by the knowledge that the

Atman (Soul) is the witness, is the Truth, is omnipresent, is one,

free from all alluding distractions of self and not-self, the

supreme, and, though abiding in the body, is not in the body. All

imagination of name-form and the like are but the play of a child. He

who put away all this sets himself in firm attachment to the Brahman,

is, without doubt, liberated. If the image imagined by the (human)

mind were to lead to liberation, then undoubtedly men would be Kings

by virtue of such kingdoms as they gain in their dreams.

The merit acquired by a hundred Abhisheka, by the performance

of a hundred Purashcharana, ten million times that merit is acquired

by the initiation of one man into the Kula-Dharma.

A man should consider as wife only that woman who has been

married to him according to Brahmana or Shaiva form. All other women

are the wives of others. A man who ravishes a woman, even if she be

the wife of a Chandala, should be punished by death, and should never

be pardoned.

Devi! if a man says, "I tell the truth," at the same time

touching any of the following – a Kaula, the Guru, a Brahmana, water

of Ganga, an image of a Devata, a Kula religious Book, Kulamrita, or

the offerings made to a Deity, he has taken an oath. If after that he

speaks an untruth, then he will go to hell for one Kalpa.

Even the Kula-dharma, if not followed according to Truth and

the injunctions, not only fails to secure final liberation and

beatitude, but leads to sin.

The understanding of men is clouded by the drinking of wine,

whether in small or large quantities, according to the difference in

the quality of the wine, to the temperament of the individuals, to

the place where and the time when it is taken.

The Kaula who drinks excessively of wine, be it consecrated

or not, should be renounced by all Kaulas and punished by the King.

Should a man be unable to complete a religious devotion which

he has undertaken, if he walks across the remnants after the worship

of any Devata, or if he touches an image of a Deva when he is

unclean, then in all such cases he should recite the Gayathri.