(adapted from a new year talk by Swami
Paramarthananda)
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in Gita (18-5):
Activity in the form of yajña,
dhana (charity) and tapas (austerity) should not be given up. They have to be
performed necessarily. Yajna, dhana and tapas are purifiers according
to the wise (people).
The above three disciplines yajna,
dhana and tapas that are emphasised by the scriptures for
purification of mind also lead to a purposeful life. A purposeful life is a life lived with a
conscious intentional goal. We shall see
the three disciplines as can be followed even by an ordinary spiritual person, in
a little more detail individually.
Yajna
Yajna means worship. What we usually understand by worship is going to
temple, offering puja, doing abhisheka etc.
But the worship that acts as purifier of the mind is a higher form of
worship where one converts one’s very life itself into worship. Swami Chinmayananda makes a wonderful
statement “The life that we have is a wonderful gift from the Lord and what we do
with this life is our gift, our offering to the Lord.” Lord Himself has earlier given the formula
for such a life in Gita(9-27) thus.
O Arjuna, whatever you do,
whatever you eat, whatever you offer (as oblation) whatever you give (in
charity), whatever austerity you undertake --- dedicate that as an offering to
Me
We should live our life in such a way that it is a
worthy offering to the Lord i.e. It must be the best, i.e a dharmic life of
love and positive emotions. This way let
us start living from today itself without postponing it to a future date for
every day spent is like a sword cutting into our life span as the Tamil poet
Thiruvalluvar says in his kural no. 334
நாளென வொன்றுபோற் காட்டி யுயிரீரும்
வாள துணர்வார்ப் பெறின்.
வாள துணர்வார்ப் பெறின்.
(Naalena
ondrupor kaatti uyir Eerum Vaaladhu unarvapperin)
The wise get this : Time, that manifests itself as days; is a sword that
slices off life.
As Swami Paramarthananda says while leading such a dharmic life of love
and positive emotions let us love and enjoy what we have to do and that will be
the best yajna
to the Lord.
Dhana
Dhana means a charity which we do for others. Lord Krishna
defines a satvic gift thus in Gita (17-20)
That
gift which is given to a proper person at the proper time at the proper place, with
an attitude that giving is a duty, without expecting the person to reciprocate is
considered to be satvic gift.
Taittriya Upanishad contains
advice on dhana in a passage where Guru addresses the students on the
occasion of their leaving gurukula after Vedic studies to start life in the
outer world. This is similar to a
convocation address and in this address guideline for dhana is
given. It runs as follows:
Sraddhaya deyam – Whatever you give, give it with faith i.e. gladly
and willingly
Asraddhaya adheyam - Don’t give
without faith i.e. unwillingly
Sriya dheyam – Give with a sense of plenty i.e. to your capacity
Hriya dheyam – Give with humility
Bhiya dheyam – Give with sympathy
Samvida dheyam – Give with knowledge i.e. understanding of cause
Apart from complying with the
above guideline governing a satvic gift there is a very important gift which must
accompany all the gifts. Accompanying a
gift, it makes the gift more valuable and also all people, rich or poor, crave
for it at all times and in all circumstances. That is the gift of love. Without
love all other gifts remain incomplete, while love makes all other gifts
meaningful. Love is invisible; it is an
inner feeling, a feeling of the mind. So when
we talk of love, we mean expressed love.
Love is both the consequence and cause of spiritual growth. The best expression of love
is giving our time and attention to the other person, to share their stories
and their feelings. It should start from
one’s own family members in the house, especially the elders and children. One can share their happiness and unhappiness
without judging them. Today when many
families are nuclear families, the gift of giving quality time and to respect
other’s feelings is the best dhanam.
Giving time to others especially the elders is one of the indices of
spiritual growth. Dhanam made without the gift of love is only
mechanical and the gift of love regularly and continually made makes one’s
scriptural studies also meaningful.
Tapas
Tapas is the discipline of austerity. There are
a variety of disciplines one follows in austerity like fasting on important
days like ekadasi. Of all of them the most important tapas is vak tapas – austerity or discipline at
the verbal level, as speech is an important instrument of communication between
human beings and more problems arise from spoken words than even action. Sri Sankaracharya says in Vivekachudamani (verse
368) “Yogasya prathama dwaram vak nirodhaha” (The first doorway to Yoga
is discipline of speech). Lord Krishna gives four criteria for speech to
qualify as an austerity. They are:
- Anudhveshakaram - No verbal violence. One
must avoid verbal violence which is the most powerful and worst form of
violence.
- Sathyam
- Truthful, sincerity in words, no hypocrisy. There should not be chasm
between our mind and words. When we say something, it is because we mean
it.
- Priyam -
kindness. Our words must be soft, polite, and gentle.
- Hitham
- Beneficial, to the other person. Before speaking any words we
should pause and apply the filter whether it is beneficial to the other
person. Better remain silent than speaking something not beneficial in the
name of speaking truth.
Vak tapas requires
that we remain alert to subject the words coming out of our mouth to a quality check
always to ensure that they are sweet and good for the people, truthful and is
for welfare of all
So a life that conforms to the
cardinal principles of dharma where gift of love and vak tapas is
practiced is a purposeful life and let us start living a purposeful life from
today.
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