The MEANING of the word ":DA" ......

[Guest guest]

In the Brihadaranyaka upanissads , there is a Beautiful STORY

relating to the word "da" .... "da is the root word for many words -

from 'da' comes the word 'dana' meaning charity . from 'da' comes the

word "daya" meaning 'compassion' or mercy . From 'da' comes the

word "hrldaya" - the heart which is a seat of compassion -daya,

again. so on and so forth.

 

 

Once Prajapati (brahma) was sitting with his three sets of disciples -

Gods (devas) , human beings (manavas) and demons (danavas or asuras.)

 

 

The devas were the first to be trained in spiritual instruction .

before taking leave of their Guru(prajapati) they asked the guru to

give them the final instruction.

 

Prajapati replied with one syllable "da"

 

Then he asked them, "Have you understood what I mean by this?"

 

the Devas REPLIED, , " Yes, oh Lord. We as the guardians of heaven

are a bit too prone to enjoy all the celestial pleasures. You are

hinting that our challenge is to overcome this delight in sensual

pleasure. "Da" means Damana or the control of the senses. It is only

by controlling the senses and then the mind that we can develop

detachment. And it is only by so doing that we can attain the

realization of the Absolute." SO, THE DEVAS REPLIED "DA MEANS

dAMYATA -SElF CONTROL."

 

Brahma was pleased and said, "You have understood rightly."

 

The manavas also received their SPIRITUAL TRAINING and it was time

for them to bid farewell to their guru. so, they also asked Praja[ati

for his final instruction.

 

Prajapati uttered the syllable 'DA" and asked " Now, have you

understood?"

 

"Oh yes! Da means Dana or charity and generosity. We should not be

grasping and covetous. We should be helpful and share what we have.

Only thus will our hearts be purified of the sin of greed and we

attain the Absolute." replied the manavas .

 

Prajapati was pleased with this response and congratulated the

manavas for understanding the right meaning of the word "da" .

 

 

It was now the turn of the Danavas . They marched up to Prajapati

and demanded that they should be given the final

instruction as well .

 

Prajapati uttered the syllable "Da" loud and clear.

 

 

"Yes, we understand. "Da" means Daya. the quality of mercy and

compassion. We are cruel and ruthless by nature, and consequently

always unhappy. This lack of compassion prevents us from ever gaining

the Absolute." answered the danavas or demons .

 

"You too", said Pajapati " have understood rightly."

 

 

----

Tthe moral of the story is the same "syllable" da meant different

things to different sets of people BASED ON THEIR LEVEL OF

UNDERSTANDING AND CONSCIOUSNESS . To the devas, da meant "self-

control" . to the manavs, "da" meant charity or dana and to the

demons , "da" meant " compassion or daya" .

 

This is true of the word "dana or charity" also. Some people give

away in charity because it pleases them to do so - they do not care

if the charity is going to a worthy cause like earthquake victims,

cancer research or 9/11 survivors - they give for the sake of giving

for the "act" of giving pleases the Giver.

 

Then there are others who give because they want name, fame or with a

view to earn "punya" from doing good deeds ... ur even to a take a

tax write off. such charitable deeds have an "ulterior" motive

attached to it.

 

In between are classes of people who want to make sure that every

penny they donate is being used in a proper fashion and is not used

by unscrupilous elements .

 

In reality , we are not "giving" anything . Nothing belongs to us, to

begin with . Everything belongs to the Lord . We are only caretakers.

 

When Gandhiji was asked what he considered to be the

essence of Hinduism, and he replied that the whole of Hinduism was

contained in the first verse of the Isa Upanishad which he translated

as follows:

 

All this what we see in this great universe is permeated by God.

Renounce it and enjoy it.

Do not covet anybody's wealth or possession.

 

Namashkar