Acharya Tulsi
The greatest living creature in this world is man. The criteria of his greatness are thought, discretion and behaviour. No other living creature has the brain like man. From this point of view, his thinking process is fantastic. No other living creatures have man's ability to distinguish between what needs to be forsaken and what is beneficial. He is extraordinary from this point of view. There is no possibility of the behaviour of other living creatures being elevated to human behaviour. Considering this, he is capable of reaching the peak of perfection. Despite this extraordinariness and speciality and his potential to reach the state of perfection, he is agitated, strayed and exhausted. In this age of science, in the age of so many achievements he did not cease to be agitated, his illusions were not dispelled and he found no relief from exhaustion. Why? This is a pressing question which is unanswered even today.
Men's achievements are limitless. It is difficult to enumerate them. In his anxiety to get and collect new things and preserve them, he forgot that he has also lost something. He has lost 'faith' which is his greatest wealth, Today man has no faith in religion, no faith in God, no faith in principles and he has no faith in himself. A person, who is tied with the thread of faith, never goes astray even when he moves aimlessly. When that thread of faith is snapped, what else would one find except mental disturbance? The jungle of illusion does not grow on the soil of faith. The horses of the chariot of life protected by faith never get exhausted.
Men have replaced faith with his attachment to wealth. It is a one-sided statement to say that wealth is the root cause of all the grievously wrong things. Wealth too has a special purpose. It has been considered useful and essential for life. But it is also one-sided thinking to suggest that wealth alone is everything. But today's man believes that wealth alone is everything. The word artha has two meanings —
(1) Summum bonum or with a purpose or terse,
(2) Wealth. The followers of Bhagwan Mahavira were so fascinated by the philosophy formulated by him that they exclaimed, "This school of thought of Nirgrantha certainly has a meaning, and it is terse. It is indeed the summum bonum of life. The rest is all meaningless and has no use". But the ordinary people cannot grasp this meaning of artha. They consider wealth the only meaningful thing, the summum bonum of life and the rest as without any meaning. But considering wealth as the sole purpose, the supreme purpose, is an open invitation to mental disturbance.
People say that they are living in Kaliyuga. What else there would be in Kaliyuga if not mental disturbance? It is true that this is Kaliyuga. But the question is—who is Kali? This question has been answered in the Taittriya Upanishad:
"The age that slumbers is Kali. The age which abandons sleep is Dwapara. The age which stands is called Treta and the age which marches ahead attain truth."
The language of the Upanished is symbolic. How can an age asleep or be awake? The age never waits for anyone. With its advent, people think it would last for some time. But the age moves forward like the current of a river. By the time people are awakened, the age slips out of their grip. The four ages have been defined with reference to the people living in those ages. The age in which people are in deep slumber is Kaliyuga. The age in which people come out of their slumber and stir into awakening is the Dwaparayuga. People in the Tretayug try to rise. This attempt leads them to the Satyuga. People of the Satyuga do not sleep. They do not sit with their hands folded. They are always on the move. Only he who walks finds honey in the form of attainment of his goal. That is why it is said, 'Keep walking. Keep doing good deeds. Even the Kaliyuga would become for you the Satyuga."
कलिःशयानो भवति संजिहानस्तु द्वापारः।
उत्तिष्ठन् त्रैता भवति कृतं संपद्यते चरन्॥
The truth which was revealed through the sanctified words of our sages thousands of years ago is being forgotten. Man has pledged his brain to the computer. Probably that is why he is forgetting what needs to be remembered. The computer is very useful. But if one remains solely dependent on it, one may have to fall a victim to this kind of dependence. Before depending on others, it is necessary to depend on one's own self. Only he can depend on himself whose faith is alive. Anuvrat attempts to revive faith. The age in which dwindling faith in moral values is revived would be the Satyuga in the true sense. People living in that age would be able to break through the walls of their misguided ideas and would be able to have a peaceful and balanced life.
