Thus Spoke Mahapragya - Vol.1: 06. Eternal Happiness (2)

Eternal Happiness (2)

The disciple's inner desire was re-kindled when the guru spoke about the solitary happiness and how one can seek this solitary happiness. What is the path to it? If one knows the path, he can reach the destination. Knowledge of that path is very important. A passenger was traveling by train. He travelled the whole day and night and yet did not reach the destination. The TTE - Train Ticket Examiner came to check the ticket. The passenger asked him “Sir. I have been traveling from the past twenty-four hours and yet the train has not reached its destination Mumbai. What is the matter? When will the train reach Mumbai?”

The TTE looked at him and said “This train will never reach Mumbai. This train is headed towards Lucknow. You are travelling in a wrong train.” The passenger said “You should have told me this earlier.” The TTE replied “You should have asked before.”

If one has to reach the destination, then the path leading to it should be decided first. If you do not know the path first, you will end in problems, confusion and you will never reach the destination.

The biggest discovery is the discovery of this path. In Jain literature there is a word Margana - discover your path first, the right path. The disciple said “Gurudev! You said that solitary happiness exists. What is the path to this?” The Guru told him the path, which is also considered to be the royal path. One can close his eyes and walk on this path. This path is a path, which has no curves, no road blocks or any kinds of hindrances. In a narrow shortcut path, one might encounter problem. They may even encounter a dead end in such paths. Acharya Bhikshu had said that one cannot trust such narrow shortcut paths. Sadhu and Sadhvi are very fond of such paths during their journey. Whenever they come across this, they change their direction and after roaming for two to four kilometers they came back and join the main road.We just experienced this on our way.

The first important sutra for solitary happiness is - “Take care of your guru and old people properly”. There is tremendous knowledge in the books. The knowledge, which is earned with experience, can never be in books. Guru has the experience, knowledge and holds the right keys to show you the right path. He can tell you the essence and the truth. It is difficult to understand the essence. On this subject, I will narrate an incident, which had happened during Mahabharata.

In the battle between Kaurava and Pandava, Duryodhana was winning. Bheema and Duryodhana had enmity since their childhood. The army of Kaurava was almost killed in the battle. Among the hundred Kaurava brother's, the only one left alive was Duryodhana. Hence it was decided that Duryodhana would fight with one of the Pandava brothers and whoever wins, the kingdom would belong to him. Duryodhana decided to fight with Bheema. Both of them were experts in the gadayuddha (Mace fight). The mace fight began. Bheema was continuously hitting Duryodhana with the mace. However it didn't seem to hurt Duryodhana at all. Defeating Duryodhana looked very difficult. One blow of Bheema's mace was sufficient to knock out even a powerful monster. Duryodhana seemed to be least affected with it. Bheema was tired and looked at Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna knew Duryodhana's body was made of iron and hence nothing would hurt him.

Shri Krishna, signaled Bheema to target the lower abdomen - thigh of Duryodhana. The essence here is that after a Yagna (religious puja), it was said that whoever stood in his birth suit (no clothes) in front of mother Gandhari, his body would be transformed to an iron body. Duryodhana felt ashamed to go in his birth suit in front of mother Gandhari. Hence he covered his waist region with leaves. When mother Gandhari opened her eyes, the powerful rays from her eyes transformed the body of Duryodhana into that of iron. The centre part that was covered remained weak. This part could not be transformed into iron. Shri Krishna knew this secret. Hence Bheema took advantage of this and broke Duryodhana's thighs into pieces.

It is very important to understand the essence. People do not understand the essence. There are some people who cannot even understand the periphery of the matter. A thief had stolen the box. The guard was sitting nearby. The owner woke up and asked the guard if he had seen the thief stealing the box. The guard nodded his head in agreement. The owner questioned the guard why he allowed the thief to take away the box. The guard replied, “I thought you had the keys. What is he going to do with box anyway?” The guard could not understand this even at a gross level.

The guidance from the Guru is very important. The first stage in this path is to, take proper care of the Guru and seek his blessings in the form of essence and unravelled knowledge. There are more than hundred important points in our body - to be precise one hundred and fifty seven as per the Ayurveda Acharya Sushrutha. The energy of the body is concentrated in these points. The Japanese had identified more than seven hundred points. The people, who meditate, know the secret that if one focuses on these points, then one can concentrate. Ayurveda calls these points Marmasthan, Hathyog calls them chakras, Preksha Dhyan calls them chaitanyakendra, and Psychiatrist calls them psychic points. There are numerous such points in our body and they serve different purposes. According to the medical science, the secreting glands are very important points where lot of activities happen which one is not aware of. The person, who understands the essence and knows the unravelled knowledge, his outlook towards the world would have changed completely. If one doesn't understand this essence, then understanding at a gross level, is of not much importance.

One lady had heard in some spiritual discourse that one must sing Vasudev's hymns. She had heard this when she was a child. This girl got married and co-incidentally her husband's name was also Vasudev. In some regions in India there is still a practice where the women folks do not call out the names of their husband. The lady lacked the humility and did not understand the essence. She did not want to call out her husband's name and neither give up singing the hymns. She came up with an idea. There was a girl called Champa in the house. This lady replaced the word ‘Vasudev’ with 'Uncle of Champa' and started singing the hymn 'Uncle of Champa tum sharanam' instead of singing 'Vasudev tum sharanam'.

It is very difficult to understand the essence. Even the smart and intelligent people also get confused at times. Hence the guru said that to achieve the solitary happiness, one must take proper care and serve the Guru. One must follow the path shown by him. There is one more difficult task and that is finding a guru. A combination of fortune and hardwork is required to find the right guru. Once you find a guru, then the path of life becomes much easier and one can accomplish a lot of work.

The Indian Society had the concept and tradition of a Guru. Lot of things has been achieved under the guidance of a guru. In the Jain literature, there is a special mention of a guru named Paadliptsuri. He was a very knowledgeable person and possessed special skills. He knew to make a paste, which once applied to the feet of a man; man could fly like a bird. At that time, there was another expert in the chemical process who was known as Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna came to know about this paste, which gives man the flying capability. He decided to visit Paadliptsuri. Paadliptsuri had just finished flying and had landed on earth when he visited him. Nagarjuna politely urged Paadliptsuri that he wanted to wash his feet. After washing the feet of Paadliptsuri, he tasted the water to know the content of the paste. India has been the land where lot of unusual skills had developed. Nagarjuna developed similar paste based on the water he had tasted. It is worth to note here that the paste would have had close to hundred different chemicals in different ratios. Just by tasting, Nagarjuna had analyzed the entire chemical composition of the paste. Today you need a full-fledged laboratory to diagnose the contents. Such was the skill that was present in the ancient times. This skill was known as Indriyapaatav. One can find detailed information about indriyapaatav in Jain literature also. One can develop special sensitivities in his ears, eyes, nose, and tongue etc, such that lot of special things can be done with them.

Nagarjuna, after analyzing prepared another similar paste and wanted to test that. He applied that on his feet and could fly. He could fly but not for a very long distance. He came back to PaadliptSuri and said that he wanted a solution to a problem he was facing. PaadliptSuri knew the reason for Nagarjuna coming back to him and told Nagarjuna that he knew why he came back to him. He said “You have prepared the paste, but it is incomplete and you have not got the complete results with it. You will achieve that only with the right direction from a guru”. Nagarjuna nodded his head in agreement and said that was the reason why he was there to meet him.

PaadliptSuri further said “Nagarjuna. You have added all the chemicals except the extract of the rice which is missing in the paste you have prepared. Hence your test is incomplete.” Nagarjuna understood his mistake and prepared the complete paste.

A guru knows a lot of unrevealed knowledge. That could be the reason that we call them guru as they are knowledgeable and they know a lot of unrevealed things. There are lot of characteristics, specialties of a guru. The two traits, which are prominent in them, are:

• they are a source of unrevealed knowledge
• they have a solution for any kind of a problem

Hence, it is very important that one takes care of his guru very well and serve him.

One should also help and take care of the old people. One can get old by age, knowledge or experience. One can take all the three factors into consideration. One who is old by age, he has tremendous experience about life. They are the witness to most of the events that have occurred. They would have heard a lot of things and would have come across many people. It is because of this long experience that they develop paarinamiki (mature) intelligence. There are four types of intelligence:

Along with paarinamiki (mature) intelligence, the old people develop other kinds of intelligence too. We normally see that a child who is five years old has less intelligence and a less developed brain when compared to a person who is twenty years old. With age, intelligence grows. It is an old belief that a person who is sixty years old becomes crotchety or irritable. Science has proven this wrong. If the person uses his brain even at the age of sixty, then he will be healthy and live longer. If he doesn't use his brain, then he would turn crotchety or irritable even at the age of thirty years. The more one uses his brain, more knowledge one would develop. If one continuously uses his brain, then a person who is seventy years old will become more learned than a person who is sixty years old. People with eighty years can become more learned too. Intelligence is associated with neurons. With the increase in knowledge, the neurons would also increase. One who doesn't use his brain, his knowledge will decrease and so will the neuron count.

A person who doesn't use his brain, his knowledge would be less developed. Someone has jokingly said which fits best on the politicians. One person visited Israel and met one scientist. The scientist asked him “How can I help you?” The person replied “I have come here to buy a brain. I have heard that the people from Israel have a very well developed brain.” The scientist showed him a brain of a dead scientist and quoted its price five thousand rupees. Then he showed the brain of a businessman and quoted the price as ten thousand rupees. Like this the scientist showed the person numerous different brains. Finally the scientist showed the person the brain of a politician and quoted its price as five lakh rupees. The person was surprised to hear this and asked for the reason. The scientist said “It is simple. The dead scientist would have used his brain to the maximum extent and, hence a low price of five thousand rupees. The politician would not have used his brain and the wear and tear is minimal. Hence a higher premium of five lakh rupees is demanded”

We have to change our mindset that with age intelligence decreases. I read sometime back that a person who was eighty years old was pursuing his PhD in a university. In India there is a belief that once you attain the age of over forty five-fifty years, the student life elapses. The true age of studying is actually after sixty years. This is the best time to read. The sadhu and sadhvi should also think in this context. They should not think that they are getting old and there is no use of studying at their age. The age between twenty to thirty years is the nascent stage of study period. The right age to study with the Paripakva brain is after fifty - sixty years. If the life span is there it can extend until eighty years.

The old people had a very important place in ancient India. Today with the changing times, this has reversed. The newspapers, media and the data gathered from various sources are pointing that the old are becoming a problem. This is not the correct fact. The old people are not the problem. They can be of immense importance to the society. Their knowledge could be used for the betterment of the society. We have to bring about a change in the mindset that one has towards the old people. The old people should also stop thinking that they are of no use to the society. The young also should stop thinking that the old people have no importance in the society and are a burden. People from both the ends, young and old, need to change their mindset. Once this mindset changes, one can prove that the old people too have a very significant role to play in the society.

In the Sanskrit Sahitya, it is written that one must make use of the experience of the old people and obey their advice and judgment. I agree that the energy in their legs, hands have decreased. They cannot do more physical work. However their brain becomes well developed. If one doesn't have a well developed brain, what is the use of strong muscles? Even in the Panchatantra, there are stories of birds and monkeys. There was a flock of birds. There was a hunter who was very clever. To catch the birds, he laid a trap where he threw some grains and covered it with a net laid below and got trapped in the net. There was an old bird among them. He warned them and said “These grains don't seem to be wide spread naturally. Let's fly from here, else we will be in trouble.” The other birds said that they were getting so much of grains in one single place and they don't have to go to different places in search of food. The rest of the birds did not listen to the advice of the old bird and flew down to pick the grain. The old bird said that greed is bad and it can put us in trouble. The old bird then flew away. The rest of the birds got trapped in the net laid by the hunter. Hence one must listen to advice of the elders.

The third key to solitary happiness is Vivajjana Balajanassa Doora (staying away from young). Young doesn't mean young by age. It means one who is not knowledgeable. One should stay away from those elements which can ruin our lives. It is also said that friendship with an ignorant is always a problem. We have observed the people who are rich businessman, industrialist, and politician; there is always a race to trap their sons. Once they get trapped, they ruin their own lives. One who is an ignorant will never help you to move up in your life. They only know to pull people down. Hence it is very important to identify such elements in your group and go with the right people.

It is very important to know how your friends should be, how your life-partner should be and whose help you can seek. We often hear that there was a boy from a good family, and he started consuming alcohol. It is because he got into a wrong companionship. In the Indian literature lot has been written about good companionship - the people with whom one can go around. Goswami Tulsidas, Acharya's, Politicians and even Chanakya have written about importance of good companionship. They have all written based on their experience. Hence it is very important for one to choose a good companionship; one must know who his or her friends are. If one is not careful, the consequence can be disastrous.

One must keep away from ignorant or deluded people. One has to be away from people who can influence you negatively. People who are bad can influence a person badly. They leave some trace of evil element or a bad habit in you. Acharya Bhikshu and Jayacharya have analysed this in depth. Jayacharya had written that - once a guru scolded his disciple. An ignorant person will advise him to reciprocate. He would advise a tit for tat strategy. When the disciple shows intolerance and reciprocates and adopts a tit for tat strategy, then one can be sure that he is pushing his rest of the life towards darkness.

Acharya Bhikshu in an anecdote has explained beautifully as how one's circle of friends or people can influence him. There were two oxen. One was white in colour and was very calm. The other ox was black in colour and was contrary to the white ox and was very wicked and evil. These two oxen were tied together. The white ox picked up the evil habits of the black ox. The white ox was then tied next to a donkey and it picked up some bad habits from the donkey also. The only thing that the white ox did not pick up was the colour of the black ox. The rest of all bad habits it had picked up. Hence it is very important that one is very careful in choosing his circle of friends and people. It is very important for one to be careful and find out and know who his companions are, whom he is speaking to and from whom he is seeking advice. One must remember that the one can easily absorb the bad things but to absorb good things it is very difficult.

One must not play or develop companionship with a Shudra^[1]. It must have been just a few days after I had taken Diksha. I must have been just twelve or thirteen years old. Gurudev had left Rajgarh. We came across a village after Tamkor. We were seated very close to Acharya Kalugani. He always had the habit of teaching the young munis whenever they sat next to him. He has always taught us many things. There are six things, which demean a man:

1. Do not make friendship with the kids. Do not play with them always. You will also start behaving like them. One should not be childish in his behaviour.
   
2. Do not laugh without any reason. Laughing without any reason one becomes childish.
   
3. Do not argue with ladies. If you win the argument people would say what a big deal and if you loose an argument, they would say what a shame that one has lost an argument with a lady.
   
4. Do not entertain a wicked man. One easily learns wicked things than the good things. This could ruin one's life.
   
5. Do not ride a mule. There is a place in Rajasthan, where people use mules to till land. People call it as 'Minister's Vehicle'. One does not ride a mule, but it has a different context during Holi (Festival of colours in India). Generally it is prohibited to ride on a mule. Sometimes for entertainment a festival of Great Fools is organized. Fools are honoured here. One, who is the greatest fool, rides a mule and the rest of the fools follow him in the procession. The great fool who rides the mule sits in the opposite direction, where his face faces the mule's tail. One who rides a mule is considered a fool.
   
6. Do not speak impolitely. Do not speak a language which is grammatically incorrect and impure.

Hence, one must keep away from ignorant, deluded person, one who gives harmful advice and one who is a fool.

Hence to summarize, the three sutras, which lead to solitary happiness, are:

• Taking care and serving the Guru
  
• Taking care and serving the old people
  
• Keeping away from ignorant and deluded person

On a 11th January