Hindu Article - Man reaps what he sows

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Man reaps what he sows

 

 

CHENNAI SEPT.10 . The scriptural texts adopt different means to

explain the nature of the Supreme Being, who is infinite, as any

description can only provide a glimpse into the Absolute Reality. The

method of negation in the Upanishads is a case in point. At the level

of human beings the same technique can be used to understand that the

Self (Atman) is the Reality. The Taittiriya Upanishad, for instance,

analyses the human personality as comprising five levels— the

physical body, vital, mind, intellect and the blissful sheath— to

show that the Self is beyond these five sheaths.

 

Just as in the instruction of worldly knowledge it is possible to

explain what is unknown by pointing out something, which is familiar,

and proceed step by step from there, so also in the case of spiritual

knowledge a seeker has to start from the known and progress to the

unknown. The quest will take one further on the spiritual path until

it becomes apparent that what one is seeking outside is within.

 

The first lesson a spiritual aspirant has to learn is not to make

others the scapegoat for one's lot in life. This is a very natural

human tendency and one has to make effort consciously while facing

the vicissitudes of life to overcome the inclination to shift the

blame on other factors without accepting the fact that one is only

reaping the fruit of one's Karma (actions). Further, when a person

does not get his due in life he erroneously thinks that someone is

responsible for impeding his progress. Though in life situations one

could correlate such instances it was important to remember that

every individual got his deserts according to his Karma in the end,

said Sri K.Srinivasan in his discourse.

 

There is an incident related in the life of Sage Yajnavalkya who was

the teacher of King Janaka to underscore the fact that Karma is not a

theory to be established by debate and that concepts related to

spiritual truth have to be understood at a one-to-one level of

preceptor-disciple and also only when the aspirant's mind is ready to

grasp it. When the king had declared to gift cows to one who could

remove his doubts Yajnavalkya sent his disciples and asked them to

bring all the cows to his hermitage. When questioned about his action

he offered to answer all the queries posed to him. It was when the

discussion steered around Karma that the sages Artabhaga and

Yajnavalkya explained that Karma was responsible for man's joys and

sorrows and also rebirths.

 

 

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