This Prakarana discusses about the four indispensable constituents of Vedantic study, namely Anubandha Catustaya, the four-fold eligibility criteria of Sadhana, Guru and Pramanas the means of knowledge. The prime purpose of this text is to provide the doctrine and the discretive knowledge of the Advaita Siddhanta directly as expounded in Sankara Bhasya [commentaries on Prasthana Trayam - triad of sources of Vedanta]. Logical reasoning employed in this text in the context of the Pramanas is subservient to this purpose. However, the need for Sraddha (faith) in Sruti is elaborated a little here for the reason that Sruti happens to be the only means of knowledge regarding Siddhanta, the established conclusion.
We notice in history that civilizations acquiring a lot of material affluence in the beginning lose it after something and go into oblivion. Why?
Affluence begets vices like profane sensuousness arrogance and laziness in the people and eventually the balance in life is lost. It is easier to retain equanimity in poverty than in prosperity. Therefore, one should know how to retain the good things after acquiring them once. Success in this needs the practice of Dharma.
'What is Dharma?' Right action. 'What is Right? Even the most intelligent person or even a cohesive group of such persons cannot answer this question.
'Then who decided it?'
'Is Sri Krishna's conduct in Ras according to Dharma?'
'What is my Dharma as a student?
'I am a house – holder. What is my Dharma?'
'I am a retired person. What is my Dharma?'
'I am a woman. What is my Dharma?'
Read this book for unambiguous answers and take guidance for both material prosperity and spiritual progress.
Pujya Sri Paramananda Bharati Swamiji is an yathi sreshta and seer in the lineage of the Advaita tradition with an unusal purvaashrama background of academic excellence in both attainments and teaching & research in science and mathematics in an institution of national importance for higher learning.
He is a thought leader in Vedanta. He has been reaching out to the contemporary seekers with the precision of a modern scientist and the knowledge of a traditional vedantist. The modern tools and examples from scientific knowledge, now available to explain vedanata, have been extensively used by Swamiji, within the framework of the related Shankara Bhashyas. His book 'Vedanta Prabhoda' is a treatise which enables structured and easy understanding of the difficult texts of Vedanta.
Swamiji's scholarship and exposition of Vedas have dispelled many doubts and questions which had remained unanswered. His incisive exposition of Vedanta in the framework of the Shankara Bhashyas has gained wide recognition and is regarded as the true conflict-free basis for the understanding of Advaita Philosophy of Adi Shankara.
Realizing that insufficient knowledge and misrepresentation of the truth have given rise to many doubts in the modern minds, Swamiji was requested by seekers and devotees to simplify and explain more basis questions such as: Does God exist? Who wrote the Vedas? Is there Rebirth? In addition, the never ending questions about our Life, Happiness, Value Systems and Dharma which haunt modern human society, have also been addressed from time to time by the Swamiji.
In the last three years, a series of lectures based on the Vedas, were delivered by the Swamiji in Bangalore on the theme Foundations of Dharma; the lectures were invariably followed by questions and answers sessions relating to a wide range of subjects. On the request of devotees and seekers, some basis issues covered in these deliberations, have now been brought out in the form of this small book-Foundations of Dharma-to help wider dissemination and to help dispel the darkness surrounding traditions and beliefs in Sanatana Dharma. The book aims at providing a foundation for the seeker to understand the basis questions and to help and encourage him in his tradition to seek the Eternal Truth- addressed by Swamiji in depth- in his book entitled Vedanta Prabhoda.
In recent days people are showing an increasing interest in Spiritualism. It is not only in our country; it is all over the world. Nevertheless, people of other countries seem to be especially inquisitive about the thoughts and customs of our country. They generally believe that it is the philosophy, the customs and the traditions of this country that can clear all their doubts and give them the much-needed peace of mind. Those who are conversant with the Sastra, know that this is true. But common people have many doubts and pundits can answer them. However, sometimes even intelligent people feel that they are not receiving satisfactory answers to their questions from our traditional scholars. They are perhaps justified in feeling so. The reason in that the scholars use a technical language with which the common people are not familiar. Thought the answers are indeed satisfactory, the ignorance of the technical language prevents one from understanding the answers. What is the solution for this? One may say that those who want the answers should learn this technical language. But majority of the people are too entangled in worldly affairs and they have no time to study the Sastra. Therefore, there is only one way to remove the doubts of intelligent people and that is to use non-technical language. Of course, this may be a little difficult. The answers provided may also not be precise. Nevertheless, if an attempt is made in this direction, it is possible to meet the spiritual needs of these people. This will result in an increased Sraddha in them towards the Sastra. This may further induce in them a desire to learn the technical language of the Sastra even in the midst of their entanglements. The listeners are also intelligent and they certainly have a great desire to understand the Sastra. It is also possible to explain the Sastra in common language. Nobody loses anything by explaining things in simple terms.
There is another question faced by common people. "We have faith in the custom and traditions of our elders. We will continue to follow them. Maybe more intelligent people raise question; maybe we are able to answer them either What it? There will certainly be a favourable result for our Satkarama. That is sufficient for us". True, good Karma always leads to a favourable result. However, Karma done with understanding is certainly more fruitful than Karma done without it. Therefore, getting doubts clarified is good for everyone. Not only that; Sraddha in Dharma also increases when all doubts are cleared.
Some young men and women have another attitude: "God, rebirth, etc., may be true or may not be so. Anyway we cannot perceive them directly. Therefore, why bother about them? We will only indulge in Seva and Dana, which perceptibly uplift the afflicted people. We will spent our lives in such a way that it does not cause Himsa to anyone". No doubt that such people are good idealists; but sometimes, they look at the traditional people with some contempt. They have a righteous indignation towards ritualistic worship. They say that it is all a show-off. They are convinced that they are spending their time more usefully. But there is a lacuna in this attitude: Suppose someone asks them "what is the use of your Ahimsa, Seva and Dana? Non-violence cause discomfort to you and service is generally followed by ingratitude of the served and giving Dana is plainly a loss for you". What could be their answer? As long as one is not getting into difficulties, these questions may like to continue with these ideals. Therefore, for anybody, it is absolutely necessary to know correct answers for these questions.
Sometimes, youngsters pose inconvenient questions to their parents. "You are always criticizing me that I don't do Puja, that I don't respect tradition and so on. But if I ask you, 'Is there god? If He is, how He is? What is the relation between me and Him? Why should I follow the tradition?' etc., you do not even try to give any answers. You simply shout at me 'Do as elders do. Gradually you will know everything yourself.' But certainly you have been doing what your elders did. What have you understood there by?"
Youngsters, who talk like this, are not always impertinent. They have good conduct. They are intelligent. They may develop faith in the tradition of their parents if at least some, of their questions are suitably answered. But if they do not get answers to any of their questions, they conclude that all tradition is superstition. In due course, they may not only give up the tradition totally but may also oppose it when they become adults. Obviously, this is not good either for the parents for the children.
Therefore, from whatever angle one may view, doubts have to be cleared. These doubts occur to everybody. "What is the meaning of all that I am doing? Every event that is happening is like a water bubble that appears, stays for a short time and is lost totally later. If at all anything lasts it is only it's bad taste. How are they happening? Why are they happening? What is the relation between them and me? Maybe sometimes, some things happen due to myself. But more often, they are happening without my effort or sometimes in spite of my effort. Who is responsible for them? My Prarabdha? What is Prarabdha? Who am I? How did Prarabdha get tied to me? Indeed, why am I born? How did it come? Why did it come? Or, can it be that some mysterious power has forced me to take this birth, thought I did not have any desire to be born? Is this invisible power playing with me? Is this so sadistic? What is this power? If everything is happening because of this, why should I make any effort at all? Alas! I am not able to even keep quiet without doing anything. Do I have any role in my own life?" These are indeed agonizing doubts. Those who want to do good, do not know that is good. Those who want to prevent had, do not know what is bad. If they ask anybody, they get different answers from different people. Who is to be believed? Who is not to be believed? People feel lost in this confusion. Finally they will say "Let anything fall to ruins; if I am able to meet both ends, that is sufficient". They end up in such despair.
An endeavour has been made here, to answer all such questions, keeping modern people in view. This indeed is a difficult task. The difficulty is not in giving the proper answers, because the great Sankaracharya has answered all the queries of all the people of all times in his writings. But recapturing them in simple language is an uphill task. However an earnest attempt is made to convey his guidance on these vital issues without losing the originality. Inconvenient and unfamiliar beliefs are not thrust upon the readers. Very simple language is used throughout the book so that even those who have absolutely no idea of the Sastra can benefit by this book. This book can stimulate in the minds of the readers a greater interest to study the Sastra. If they do it, their perception will become clear, their mind will because pure and they would turn to a disciplined purposeful life, which they will enjoy.
The Sastra does not discuss thing which are directly perceptible because there is no need for a discussion about them. But the things we want to understand here are not directly perceptible. So they need to be discussed and understood at the mental level. No room should be allowed for superstition in this process. In that case, how does one go about understanding things that are not perceptible directly to the senses? It is mainly through inference and analogy. In common parlance this goes by the name Science. For example, in order to understand the intrinsic nature of the physical is of a house built by cement, stones, wood, steel, sand, etc. The inference is that all objects are built similarly out of atoms. Each atom has specific qualities and there are specific forces acting between them. These forces bind the atoms in the shape of the objects. This is atomic theory. But in the analogy quoted above, it is possible to demolish the house and see the cement, bricks, etc. But in the case of the objects one cannot see the atoms and forces likewise. Thus, analogy itself is not sufficient and inference is unavoidable. In that case, is it correct to believe the atomic theory only on the basis of analogy? Of course, not! In order to confirm the inference, Science tells the following: "On the basis of the inferred atoms and the atomic forces, one should be able to understand all the perceptible qualities of objects. Success in this will confirm our inference. When this is not possible, gives up the inference as faulty".
Therefore, if this explanation of the perceptible qualities is possible in terms of the inferred atoms and the forces between them, then inference becomes valid. In other words, unless it goes against the observable properties, inference is as valid as direct perception. To a large extent, people use analogy and inference for the enrichment of their knowledge. On the other hand, the invisible and inherent nature of objects is discussed by Vaidikas on the basis of the Vedas. The basis for the validity of the Vedas as an effective means of knowledge will be discussed at the end of this book. However, the Vaidikas do not reject inference, just as the Nastikas reject the Vedas. Hence inference is acceptable to all. That is the reason why inference is adopted in this book as the main basis for discussion. Of course, there are lots of things that are not accessible to inference, but accessible to the Vedas. However, such things are discussed here.
The summary of this book may be described as follows: Generally, all the doubts of common people pertaining to Dharma mainly come under three questions. Since Dharma depends mainly on the existence of God. "Does God exist?" is the first question. Now, all the actions of Dharma do not necessarily yield results here and now. Indeed, people with faith in the Vedas perform Satkarma in the hope of reaping the fruits in another birth. Therefore, "Is there a rebirth?" is the second question. Even after both these questions are answered, the further questions that arise are: "What exactly determines the relation between Karma and Karmaphala? How to decide what is good Karma and Karmaphala? How to decide what is good Karma and what is bad Karma?" If the decision is left to human beings, each will give his own opinion based on his ability for inference; there can be no universal agreement on this. Therefore the Vaidikas decide it on the basis of the Vedas. Now this is based on the belief that Vedas are not written by any human author as in the case of other books. They are the words of Isvara.
Therefore arises the third question "Is this statement just an eulogy or a fact?" Thus the existence of God, the existence of rebirth and the non-human authorship of the Vedas are the three issues under which a host of questions develop. So when these three questions are answered, it would be the first step for further spiritual progress. Therefore only these three issues are considered in this book. An Astika is one who has no faith in them. The presentation of these arguments in the following pages is in the form of a dialogue between the Nastika and the Astika. Since this book is very small, there will remain a number of sub-questions unanswered even after studying this. But it is hoped that it will create interest for future study in the readers. Let more questions arise and let there be more discussion. Let this lead to a clearer understanding of the nature of God. Let this further lead one to Vairagya from unethical pleasures.
This is a groundbreaking explanation of Sankaracarya's Bhasya on the first four sutras of Vedanta. Through this book, the venerable author has given us a bird's eye view of the entire prasthantrya Bhasya. Its greatest achievement lies in pointing out to us how, because of misinterpretation of the very first word of the Brahmasutra Bhasya, modern Advaitins have deviated from the original meaning itended by Bhasyakara.
The author is a sannyasi in the lineage of Sankaracarya, having been initiated into sannyasa at Sringeri. Undoubtedly, he is one the greatest scholars of Advaita Vedanta of this century. His pure life has been a source of constant inspiration for his devotees.
The ninety year old problem of quantum measurement in Physics involves the interaction of the mind and the quantum system. The nature of this interaction being unknown, has given rise to six different guesses. It is generally told that some of them are even bizarre! On the other hand, Niels Bohr made the hypothesis that mind is a quantum system and it was further developed by von Neumann and David Bohm. Somehow, their works have not been made use of by anyone to solve the quantum, problem. An attempt is made in this monograph to use this hypothesis on the lines of Vedanta, which does a holistic analysis of the mind and the intellect. It has led to a disarmingly simple solution of the quantum measurement problem.
Further as is clear from the appendices, this holistic approach of the monograph is sure to give rich and new ideas to researcher in many branches of science.
Vedanta is unique since it is the only subject which deals with the whole universe on the premise that it is one coherent system. Its simplicity is deceptive and its complexity is challenging. It looks falsifiable everywhere , but never falsified anywhere. Its infallibility is revealed by the commentaries of the great sankaracarya on the Vedanta texts, written when he was a lad of 16 years, which I took up for study 5 years ago. By a chance, I had an informal 8 hour opportunity to explain the basic ideas of Vedanta to group of good physicists at the Indian institute of science. Bangalore.
My grateful thanks to professor John Polkinghorne for his kind reply, which is presented here as the foreword. I thank Prof. M.V Satyanarayana for the preparation of the figures and Sr. Jayanth/Sri. Srihari for typing the manuscript.
This book describes the life and philosophy of Shankaracharya. It uses a fast paced narrative which reads almost like a novel. The book succeeds in exploring the depth and breadth of Shankaracharya's personality, witnessed in the part played by him in resurrecting a rapidly declining dharma. This biography is not written in a 'Western historical sense', rather, it follows the style of our timeless Puranas and includes inspiring material interspersed between stories about Shankaracharya. Indeed, it fills a gap felt by many; namely a book which explains Shankaracharya's philosophy in a simple and interesting manner. This is the greatest achievement of the book.
The author is a sannyasi in the lineage of Shankaracharya, having been initiated into sannyasa at Shringeri. Undoubtedly, he is one of the greatest scholars of Advaita Vedanta of this century and his pure life is a source of constant inspiration for his disciples.
Uttaram yat samudrasya Himadreshchaiva Dakshinam
There are several citations as above which depict the fact that Bharata which extends from the Himalayas in the north to the legendary Rama Setu in the south has been a nation from times immemorial, but modern intellectuals deny this fact. They cite the examples of kingdoms of the past being perpetually at war with one another and thus question how such people could constitute a nation. But those who raise this objection do not know the difference between a state and a nation as understood in our tradition. A king has the natural tendency of extending the boundaries of his kingdom. If he is devoid of this quality, the very essence of kingship is lost: "Asantushto dwijo nashtah, santushto hi mahipatih" - A discontented brahmana and a contented king are sure to be destroyed. It is something unique about Bharata that though there were different types of kingdoms in different places, and the kings were at war with one another, it has remained a nation from Himalayas in the north to the ocean in the south. "Samrajyam bhojyam swarajyam vairajyam parameshthyam rajyam maharajyamadhipatyamyam .... prithivyai samudra paryantaya ekahraat - Samrajya, Bhojya etc. are different kinds of states in the country. Nevertheless, it is one Rashtra - Nation." is what the Vedas declare. "Vayam rashtre jagriyama purohitah" - it is the bounden duty of the purohita to be vigilant and safeguard this unity. Such is the exhortation to the purohitas. If one asks, "What is the distinguishing mark of this nationhood?" It is to be found in the values and ideals that the people of this country cherish. It is the firm faith of our people that moksha is the ultimate goal of this life and that one should lead a life that is compatible with this ultimate ideal. Only because these values and ideals have still survived that people go on pilgrimage to innumerable holy places located in different parts of the country. Their ardent desire is to bathe in all the rivers of this country, as every river flowing through this land has the potency of washing off sins. The Kumbha Mela holds an irresistible attraction for all. The prevalence of such common beliefs and values can be attributed to the Vedas, the puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata and other holy scriptures as well as the great sages who initiated these great traditions in this country. The Shastras give valuable guidance not only to the common man but also to warring kings. Even war has to be fought in a legitimate way as laid down in the Shastras. Keeping in view the kingly desire for conquest and extension of territories, the Shastras prescribe performance of Ashwamedha and the notion of a single sovereignty over the whole country. This spirit of unity and patriotism still survives in our people. When our country attained independence 64 years ago after a continuous struggle of nearly twenty five centuries, the incredible event of 600 kings voluntarily giving up their separate kingdoms to be merged in the new republic witnessed in this country, is something unheard of in the history of any other country of the world. Further, when the government declared the policy of "land belongs to the tiller", landlords voluntarily gave up their land to the government. Such a willing sacrifice can happen in no other part of the world. There would have been bloodbath if such a policy had been attempted in any other country. Thus, it is amply clear that Bharata was and continues to be a nation and will certainly survive as a nation. But those modern intellectuals who desire to know the essence of this dharma cannot do so unless they free themselves from the vicious influence of western culture.
Shastras reveal that even this dharma established by the sages of yore gradually loses its hold on the society in the course of time. Dharma which stands firmly on four legs in the Krita Yuga, with the advent of new yugas gets deprived of these supporting legs one by one, till in the Kali Yuga it is left with only one leg for its support. With the entry of the Kali Yuga, Parikshit, who was none other than the scion of the noble Pandavas, being the son of Abhimanyu and grandson of Arjuna, behaves like a depraved youth. Offended on getting no response to his query from Shamika, who was seated in deep meditation, Parikshit garlands him with a dead snake. If such is the effect of the Kali Yuga even on a person of noble descent, what could be its effect on common people! They begin to lose faith in the Vedas and start to value more their own little knowledge. Varnashrama dharma, which is the bedrock of a healthy social order, gradually loses its hold on the society. Some clever people, who depend solely on mere perception and inference, formulate their own individual ideologies. In the early stages this is done with a semblance of respect to the Vedas. But later, like the Jaina ideologues, they totally abandon the Vedas. Further on, ever opposed to the Vedas like Sugata, some individuals begin to put forth independent ideologies. Those who are opposed to the Vedas try to get primacy for their individual theories by organizing partisan groups. The validity of such ideologies is then decided by the number of members of the partisan group. And thus, people begin to adopt deceit, force or violence to increase the membership of their group, which leads to disruption of the social order. This is what has happened in Bharata during the last 2500 years.
This degradation became rapid with the coming of Buddha who repudiated the Vedas. Though there is clear evidence that Buddha was opposed to the Vedas, some modern scholars deny this. Buddhism was' limited to the kingdom of Magadha up to three centuries after the demise of Buddha. Later on, as Buddhism began to expand beyond Magadha and the number of its adherents grew, Buddhist scholars wrote many treatises wherein they expressed divergent views. But every scholar claimed that he was faithfully reproducing the opinions of the Buddha. Whatever that be, the one common theme of all these scholars is the repudiation of the Vaidika tradition. The opinion of some recent researchers is that Buddha was not opposed to the Vedas but his followers have misunderstood his ideas. But there are contradictory opinions among the Buddhist scholars regarding this view also. It is futile to enter into these endless disputations. If in course of time it is unanimously accepted that Buddha was not opposed to the Vedas, it will be only a matter of joy and satisfaction for us. That in the name of Buddha several books have been written during the last 2000 years, which have only contributed to the downfall of our country, has been irrefutably proved by history. The kings who were converted to Buddhism gave up war altogether and became impotent. In pursuance of the kings' edict that people must support Buddhism, overzealous adherents of Buddhism forcibly converted people to Buddhism. Those Buddhists who wanted to destroy the Vaidika way of life did not hesitate even to help the foreign invaders to occupy this country. Stretching the idea of ahimsa to ridiculous extremes, the Buddhist kings made meat eaters untouchables. Having thus destroyed the nation, they themselves got destroyed by the very enemies of the nation - the Huns and the Muslim invaders whom they had helped. This is the reason why Shankara speaks very bitterly at the end of his denunciation of Buddhism. When the depredations of Buddhists reached an intolerable limit, Pushyamitra, a brahmana, adopting apaddharma, became king and drove out the enemies of the nation and put down the traitorous Buddhists and established his unchallenged supremacy over the whole country. Maharshi Patanjali, the author of the Yogasutras, got consecrated the Ashwamedha at the hands of Pushyamitra.
About thirteen centuries ago, by the time of Shankar a, the Buddhist religion was limited to a few scholars and some ignorant people. But the wrong traditions initiated by Buddha, in course of time gave rise to diverse individualistic ideologies and cults and even superstitious beliefs. Vaidika learning waned and varnadharma got derailed. It was only with the tireless efforts of Shankara that this dharma was restored. But the so-called modern intellectuals raise a noisy protest against this. This is nothing new. It started with the Buddha himself. This is how their argument runs: "The concept of the division of varnas as practiced now is erroneous. Any attempt to protect it is not correct. It is wrong to say that people born in the respective castes of brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya or shudra naturally belong to that particular varna and it is also wrong to prescribe unique functions and a unique way of life for each varna on the basis of birth. This is because the supposed characteristics that are the distinguishing marks of different varnas are really not unique to the members of that particular varna only. The so-called unique qualities - gunas - of a particular varna are not exclusive but found in the members of the other varnas also". This argument needs to be examined carefully with a balanced mind.
Before critically examining this argument one has to consider what this argument has already concedes and then analyze what remains to be decided. It concedes that for an orderly social life a division into four groups based on the principle of varnadharma is necessary. It is also conceded that this arrangement should be based on gunas. Further, what the Shastras prescribe as appropriate guna for a particular varna should be the deciding factor for inclusion in a varna - whether the varna be decided on the basis of the present gun a of the individual or on the basis of birth. Their argument is that varna should be decided by worth and not birth - by an individual's actions and character - acharana and charitra.
How far is this contention correct? It is evident that all the three gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas, are found in every individual. Each individual sometimes acts in a sattvika manner while at other times he may act in rajasic or tamasic manner, which means that the manifestation of a particular guna depends on circumstances and its presence cannot be detected if it is not manifest. Further, the very same guna gets manifested in different persons differently. Tamas may render a person lazy and keep him without activity. But it may send another person to sleep and may induce somebody else to get drunk. A person may be angry under the effect of rajas while one may just frown, another person may thrash and another may even kill. When sattvaguna is predominant one may embrace a child with love while some other may begin to study a holy book and yet another go into deep meditation. Why do such differences exist? It depends on the intensity of the other two gunas. Though all the three gunas are present in everyone, different persons are driven to act differently. It may also drive a person to act differently at different points of time. Therefore, if only one could decide by observing a person the proportion in which these gunas exist in him and in what direction these are changing, then one may perhaps be able to decide his varna. But is it humanly possible to decide or measure these changes? Can any doctor examine his pulse and give a certificate for this? Or can it be measured with the help of any instrument? Even if it is possible, will anyone accept such results arrived at by another person? Even if someone can decide it, what can be the criterion of this validity? If one can decide it unilaterally for oneself, it should not lead to conflict in society because the system of varna is only for peace and harmony in the society.
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