Sri Sadhguro Pahimam Parama Dayalu Rakshamam

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Dear Members

" Hindu Dharma " is a book published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan which contains

English translation of two volumes of the Tamil Book " Deivatthin Kural " ; which

is a collection of invaluable and engrossing speeches of Sri Sri Sri

Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamiji.

 

http://kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap19.htm

 

The Celestials and Mortals Help Each Other

 

The sacrifices, you will have seen, are of the utmost importance to our Vedic

religion. The Lord himself has spoken about them in the Gita. When Brahma

created the human species he also brought the yajnas or sacrifices into

existence, bidding mortals thus: " Keep performing sacrifices. You will obtain

all good fortune. May these sacrifices of yours be the cow (Kamadhenu) that

grants you all you desire "

Saha-yajnah prajah srstva puro'vaca Prajapatih

Anena prasavisyadhvam esa vo'stvista-kamadhuk

If we assume that Brahma " created humans and with them sacrifices " , it is

likely to be construed that he first created human beings and then sacrifices.

But actually it is stated in the Gita that Prajapati created yajna along with

humankind (saha-yajnah prajah srstva). Yajna is mentioned first and then praja

(mankind).

Since the mantras of the Vedas are the source of creation, the vibrations

produced by chanting them will bring the divine powers invested with the

authority of performing certain functions. To recite such mantras at a sacrifice

is like writing the address on an envelope. It is by performing homa in this way

that the oblation is conveyed to the deity invoked by Agni.

The dog is stronger than the cat, the horse stronger than the dog, the

elephant stronger than the horse, and the lion stronger than the elephant. To

extend this sequence, who are stronger than men? The devas, or celestials. While

in this world they remain dissolved in the five elements, in the celestial world

they exist in a visible form. Those who have obtained siddhi or perfection by

chanting the mantras can also see them in their gross form in their celestial

abode besides receiving their blessings in their subtle form. The gods emanated

from the Paramatman as a result of the vibrations produced by the mantras. We

may therefore describe the mantras as the " sonic " form of the deities.

The deity appears during a sacrifice when he is invoked with mantras. Those

who are wise and mature will perceive them with their eyes. Even if they do not,

the power of the deities will be subtly revealed to them. However, offerings

cannot be made directly to them. When you write a letter you have to stick a

stamp on it or put the seal of the registrar. According to the " regulations " of

the Vedas, any oblation intended for the celestials must be offered in the

sacred fire in a form acceptable to them.

What remains after the sacrificial fire has consumed the offering

( " yajnasista " ) is taken as prasada by the performers of the sacrifice. The

question is asked: how does the same reach the deities invoked? We should not

entertain such doubts. The deities are not like us created of the five elements.

So they do not require food in the gross form. Even in our case the food we eat

is burned (digested) by the gastric fire. Its essence alone is conveyed to all

parts of the body in the form of blood. The subtle essence of the offerings are

conveyed by the sacrificial fire to the deities invoked.

You know how a toast is proposed to the guest of honour at a dinner or

banquet. The host and invitees drink to his health. This means that, when a

group of people drink or eat ceremonially, the benefit goes to someone else. Do

you ask how this is possible? Such things can be explained only on the basis of

a certain mental attitude. Good intentions and good thoughts have their own

creative power.

When the thought waves of the Paramatman have come to us in the form of

mantras, they must truly be pregnant with the utmost power for good. The

offerings made to the deities with the chanting of mantras will increase their

strength. The celestials are of course strong but they are neither almighty nor

full. They too have their wants and desires and these are met by the sacrifices

performed by us. If they help us by making our mundane existence happier we have

to help them by performing sacrifices. If we conduct yajnas so that they may

flourish, they will in return bless us with well-being. Sri Krsna says in the

Gita:

Devan bhavayata'nena te deva bhavayantu vah

Parasparam bhavayantah sreyah param avapsyatha

Our religious texts are replete with accounts of how people have merited the

grace of Isvara and pleased the celestials by performing sacrifices.

If the celestials bring us rains, bless us with food, health, etc, why should

we perform sacrifices so as to provide them with food, we are asked. " Why

should we feed the deities when we ourselves are dependent on them for our food

and clothing? Why cannot they manage to obtain food on their own? How would you

explain the Lord's statement (in the verse quoted above), 'Parasparam

bhavayantah'? To say that we must regard the celestials as great beings and make

obeisance to them seems reasonable enough. So let us worship them. But, instead

of this, why are we seemingly elevated and placed on an equal footing with them?

What is the meaning of our being told: 'You sustain them and let them sustain

you - you feed them by performing sacrifices and let them bless you with rains'?

"

When I consider such questions, it seems to me that the world of the

celestials is like England and that they themselves are like Englishmen. Is

there much agricultural land in England? No. Yet Englishmen lorded it over the

world. They boasted: " The sun never sets on our empire. " What was the secret of

their world dominance?

England is poor in food resources. It has plenty of coal and chalk - coal that

is black and chalk that is white. These are the main resources of Englishmen but

they cannot eat them. If machines and factories are to be installed in countries

where food crops are grown in plenty, they will need a lot of coal and chalk.

That coal is essential to industry is well known. (Petrol and electricity came

later. Now there is atomic power also. ) For some industries like cement, chalk

(limestone) is essential.

Englishmen thought up a shrewd plan. They induced other countries to start

factories using machinery and fomented new, unnecessary desires among people

there. And they sold lumps of coal and chalk to these countries and got in

return foodgrains, cotton, etc, in abundance. In this way they brought country

after country under their heel.

There are no agricultural lands in the celestial world. The vedas have no

means to feed themselves. " Durbhiksam devalokesu manunam udakam grhe " , so it is

said in the first prasna (first part) of the Taittiriya Aranyaka. Rain is

produced when the clouds precipitate. It is only on earth that rain can be made

use of - it fills the rivers, lakes and wells. The celestials have to come to

our households for water. On earth alone there is plenty because of cultivation

carried on by irrigating the fields. There is famine in the celestial world

since it has no agricultural land: this is the meaning of the words quoted from

the Aranyaka.

However, we need the grace of the gods if we are to be blessed with rains. To

deserve such grace we must perform sacrifices. Otherwise there will be no rains

on earth. The result will be famine or the rain will fall into the sea and not

on land, or it will be either ativrsti (too much rain) or anavrsti (no rain). We

have to depend on the denizens of the celestial world to send us the right

quantity of rain to create abundance on this planet.

Just as England has plenty of coal but does not have sufficient agricultural

land, the celestials have an abundance of grace but no crops to grow - they

cannot also sustain themselves with their power of grace. Because they send us

rain we are able to raise crops and sustain ourselves. For our part we can

enhance their power of grace by chanting the Vedas. The oblations offered in the

sacrificial fire with such chanting become their nourishment.

Our country grows cotton. When our spinning mills did not prosper, the English

took our cotton to Lancashire, made " nice " cloth and sold it to us, making in

the process four times profit. The celestials produce rain for us from the water

vapour formed from our own seas. But, unlike the English, they do not make any

profit out of it (in the transaction). In fact the blessings they give us are

far more than the sustenance we give them. As I said earlier, the celestials are

much stronger than we are. The Lord has assigned us the duty of performing

various rites and the celestials have to find satisfaction in them. By doing so,

it seems, he has raised us to the level of the celestials. " Parasparam

bhavayantah " he says in the Gita. The gods and mortals support each other.

 

 

 

JAYA JAYA SANKARA HARA HARA SANKARA

 

Thwameva Maathaa Cha Pithaa Thwameva

Thwameva Bhandhuscha Sakhaa Thwameva

 

Thwameva Vidhyaa Dhravinam Thwameva

Thwameva Sarvam Mama Dheva Dheva.