Madhwa's Teachings--His Holiness Shri Satyatama Teerth Swamiji’s Amritopdesha on 02-08-09 – Address to the youth (2)

August 8, 2009

Madhwa’s Teachings.

08-08-09

His Holiness Shri Satyatama Teerth Swamiji’s Amritopdesha on 02-08-09 –

Address to the youth (2)

Dear Reader,

Vidwan Vidyshimhacharya provided the preamble to the Swamiji’s address to the youth. Speaking in English, the Vidwan dealt with the question debated for millennia “Is the human being the captain of his own soul or is his life shaped by divinity?” Quoting Nani Palkhiwala, the jurist, from his book “We the people”, he said that divinity indeed shapes our lives.

Every one tends to believe that he is the captain of his own soul; unsuccessful men blame destiny for their failures; less successful men blame others for putting obstacles in their progress; and successful men believe that it is their own efforts that have paid adequate dividends. A very few successful men, like Nani Palkhiwala, give credit to divinity for their success.

It sounds rather uncharacteristic of Palkhiwala to believe in individual faith for his symbolized success. He was a director on the boards of many of the Tata Enterprises, a jurist, an authority on Indian Constitution, an eloquent speaker, a distinguished writer and an economist. He was a celebrity in diverse circles. His views become more intriguing for, as an economist, he championed, all his life, the cause of free market economy; laissez-faire, an economic philosophy, which inter alia assumes ceteris paribus produces results for one’s efforts. It is a system which is characterized by the inter play of the human efforts and nature. However, Palkhiwala was an intellectual, a thinker, a believer but not a dogmatist and hence perhaps believed in divine play at work at individual level. Palkhiwala has given an interesting episode of his life about his views.

In 1975, he met an astrologer on board the plane on his return journey from New Delhi to Mumbai. It was the period when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. The astrologer told him that the Mrs. Indira Gandhi would rise further in terms of power. Palkhiwala disbelieved him for, as an authority on Indian Constitution, he knew that the Prime Minister was the de facto Head of State and the President the de jure Head. Under the conditions prevailing then, the prime minister assuming more constitutional powers was out of question. However, the next day he was surprised to read in the newspapers that a state of emergency had been declared in the country, endowing her with sweeping powers making the Prime Minister the most powerful Head of State.

The Vidwan said that divinity does shape our lives. We call it faith. Every human being experiences pleasure and pain in his life; when he confronts unpleasantness, he blames his faith, which is of his own making, a result of his past bad karma, or “papa” that has started yielding results. One can fight the faith but only with faith. He said that Lord Narayana, God Supreme, is above the regulatory principle of fate. He alone, through his subordinates and devotees, over-rule the fate, if one completely surrenders to Him and sincerely seeks His forgiveness.

Continuing with the previous Sunday’s topic, His Holiness said that it was the de-linking with our glorious past that has resulted in the creation of the miserable conditions we have now found ourselves living in. We have forgotten about the inexhaustible wealth our ancestors have bequeathed to us. Our position, he said, is like that of a man who has a large bank balance but is unaware of it and is asking for alms. All that the man is required to do is to approach his bank and withdraw the cash he wants. Only a few of us approach the “bank”.

Giving an example, His Holiness said that an Ayurvedic doctor in Karnataka could diagnose the ailment of a patient by just looking at his face. Unlike other doctors, he would not allow the patients to talk but would himself describe the problem including its periodicity to the utter surprise of the patient and then would give proper treatment. Another Ayurvedic doctor, he said, would diagnose the ailment just by feeling the patient’s pulse. He would not touch women. He would diagnose the ailment by holding the end of a string tied to a lady patient’s wrist!

To test the knowledge of the doctor, some mischievous people told the doctor that a lady patient desired his treatment. They said the lady moved with a veil. The doctor agreed to examine the patient behind the veil. One of them with a veil tied the string to a wooden block and gave the other end to the doctor with a malevolent smile. The doctor felt the “pulse” through the end of the string and remarked, “The patient is as stiff as a dead wood”!

His Holiness said that Ayurveda is a medical science that offers cure for all aliments. One has to undertake a serious study of it and practise it with all seriousness. Unfortunately, Ayurveda has not been accorded the importance it deserves. Instead, we have been following other branches of medical science which, he said, are also good but the doctor practicing them rely mostly on different medical apparata for diagnosis. There has been a great progress in medical equipments and doctors although very efficient, prefer to rely on the equipments for diagnosis without relying upon their own brain that possesses a far superior capacity for the purpose. He, therefore, asked Ayurvedic doctors to undertake deeper study of our ancient medical science and Allopathic doctors to tap their own faculties, which they possess to a far greater degree. He said that a similar state of affairs prevails in other subjects. The youth, which has time at its disposal, can apply its mind and reach higher levels, he observed.

Explaining further, he said that evolution of the human soul is a very complex process. To be born as a Brahmin and Vaishanava is a rare occurrence. One is born as a Vaishnava because of immense merit, punya earned in earlier lives; he has an unseen, unimaginably large wealth. Every one of us has inherited that wealth that entitles him to the deeper knowledge, he said. One may be in any profession; he can attain the highest position. All that we have to do is to link ourselves with our past and follow the Shastraik injunctions.

As explained, we are very fortunate to have been born as Vaishnavas with such a large inherited ortune. In fact, we should be very proud that we are all Vaishanavas. “Garv se kaho hum Vaishnav hai” said His Holiness and the whole audience responded from their heart, accompanied by an applause that lasted many minutes and during which His Holiness turned his calm and serene face towards Lord Venkatesha with his eyes fixed on the Lord evidently praying to Him to bless all for their his real upliftment.

With best regards,

Ramachandra Tammannacharya Gutti.

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