da,da,da

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Dear members,

There is a story in the Brihadaranyaka upanishad.

The Devas, human beings and Asuras went to Prajapati, their progenitor.

The Devas requested Prajapati to instruct them. Prajapati uttered just one letter, "da', and asked them, "Have you understood what I said?". The Devas replied, "Yes, sire". Prajapati asked them, "Tell me what you have understood". The Devas replied, "You have told us to cultivate dama, self-control".

Then the human beings went to Prajapati. Prajapati told them also the same letter 'da' and asked them what they had understood. They said, "You are asking us to give 'daanam'; that is, to share our wealth with others.

Then the Asuras went to Prajapati and to them also he told the same letter 'da' and asked them what they had understood. They said, "You are asking us to have 'dayaa', to cultivate compassion".

The Upanishad concludes this story by saying that this is the instruction conveyed by thunder, which is the divine voice of the clouds, when it sounds like 'da, da, da'.

What is the lesson conveyed by this story? Sri Sankaracharya explains this in his commentary (Bhashya) on this Upanishad. It is only human beings who are referred to here as Devas and Asuras. Some human beings, though possessed of many good qualities, are always intent on enjoying sensual pleasures. These are the persons referred to as Devas. The advice to them is to curb their desire for enjoyment and cultivate self-control. There are others who are greedy and want to amass more and more. These are referred to as human beings. They are asked to give freely of their wealth to the needy and thus cultivate detachment towards possessions. Yet other human beings are cruel by nature. They cause injury to others by thought, word and deed. These are referred to as Asuras. They are asked to cultivate compassion and refrain from injuring others in any manner.

 

This story elucidates the teaching given by Bhagavad gita, chapter 16, sloka 21 which says: Lust, anger and greed are the three gateways to hell. They are destructive of the self. So one should give up these three if one wants spiritual advancement.

 

Pranams,

S.N.Sastri -