Satyopanisad

[Guest guest]

Swami! Man is not behaving in the way expected of him. He is losing his very

human nature. How should he transform himself at this juncture? How about

society, if he remains like this, Swami?

 

You do not know that you are using certain words without knowing their meaning.

If you understand the words that you utter, you will notice that they are

self-explanatory and convey their meaning in unambiguous terms. What is the

meaning of this word manava, man? `Ma' means maya or illusion, `na', `dati '

(Telugu), `va', vartincu (Telugu). In other words, ` manava ' means `the one who

crosses maya and conducts himself accordingly' and definitely not one who is

enslaved by maya. It can also be interpreted in another way. The word `manava'

means, `ma ', not, `nava', new. Thus `manava ' means `not new'. Man had many

births earlier and the present one is not new.

 

Man is also called narah (Sanskrit). Na means `not', and rah means `perishable'.

Thus, narah, means `not perishable'. Obviously, the one, which is imperishable,

is eternal that is, immortal, or atma, Truth. There is another word vanara

(Sanskrit) denoting a `monkey'. Va denotes vala or tail. So nara should be

viewed as man without vala or tail. Man is saksara : sa, divine and aksara,

undiminishable or permanent. Thus, saksara is one who is undiminishable,

permanent or eternal, Atma. He who has the awareness of such Atma is saksara.

But alas! Man today is behaving as raksasa, demon. Man is expected to have dama,

control of senses, but he is full of mada, pride and conceit. So, when we

understand the meaning of these words, we shall know that man or vyakti, the

individual, should exhibit and express the quality of atma, which he truly is.

 

A community or a group of individuals makes a society. A single vr ks a, tree ,

cannot make a vana, forest. A single grha, house cannot make a grama, village.

What is the meaning of samaja, society? Sama, equality or equanimity, ja, born

out of. Thus samaja, is that which maintains equality and equanimity. What are

needed for ideal society? They are samaikyata, unity; samagrata, co-ordination;

samarasa, integration; saubhratrata, fraternity; and samanata, equality. These

are the features of an ideal society.

 

We hear people saying that society should change. However, in my opinion, it is

wrong. If the individual changes, society will automatically change. A small

example. A father presented a map of India to his young son. The boy, by

mistake, tore it to pieces and was reprimanded by his father. After some time,

the son brought the map intact. When asked by the father how he could do it, the

boy replied that on the reverse side of the map there was the picture of a man.

He said the only thing he did was to correctly assemble the torn pieces of the

man to make it into the original picture. Then the original map formed itself

automatically.

 

Thus, when individuals reform, society will automatically get reformed. Every

person should know that the happiness of the individual depends on that of

society. Man's welfare, progress and prosperity depend on society. This truth

must be fully understood by everyone. For example, when there is a fire in the

neighbourhood you make an attempt to extinguish it. Why? If you do not, your

house will not be safe. When all the other houses in the neighbourhood are burnt

down by the fire, your house too will be burnt. When there are epidemics like

cholera, you will be extra careful; otherwise, you will also become one of the

victims. Similar is the relationship between an individual and the society he

lives in.