Question / प्रश्न 54

What is :

The Essential Nature, Character, Morality and Ethics.

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धर्म, चरित्र, सदाचार और नैतिकता क्या है? 

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Answer / उत्तर :

The "nature" is the word unanimously accepted by all and everyone to denote the Sanskrit word  प्रकृति / Prakriti.

SAmkhya / साङ्ख्यदर्शन also begins with this Reality as the unambiguous basis for elaborating upon its Principle.

This too is a fact acceptable to one and all that this Nature / प्रकृति is ever so undoubtedly the "Observed" , while the "Observer" is "The Timeless and the Underlying  consciousness Principle"

This Underlying Self-evident or the self is the Conscious Reality known to  and available to all and everyone with no exception any.

The Existence of This Bare Reality could never be denied, refuted or falsified by anyone either through logic, example or in experience.

The Knowing and The Existence are therefore two prominent aspects of the one and the same Principle. 

This is verily therefore the "Dharma" no one could who-so-ever be devoid of. 

Therefore Existing, being, becoming and knowing are the essential characteristics of "Dharma"

Therefore what is accepted by all as the "Nature" / "Prakriti"  is identically the same as and with "धर्म" / "Dharma"

This "Nature", Prakriti, प्रकृति or Dharma is thus either the manifest, the "known" or apparently the un-manifest, latent, or the "unknown" Underlying Principle.

Again this is true either at the individual level or as an experience of all and every individual collectively as a whole also.

Therefore the same "Underlying and the  Essential Un-manifest Principle", that is "Dharma" or "Prakriti" is the "observed" and also the observer together and at the same time.

In manifestation, this same "Dharma" assumes and exhibits in the form of  the "behavior" of the individual as a person and also as a collective whole identity of the manifest.

"Behavior" is the totality of interactions between many an individual persons at the collective level. The character of the individual therefore differs from person to person.

At the social level however, in order to live in harmony, everyone has to follow and observe some basic rules.

This defines  सदाचार / "Morality" .

This too therefore changes from one to another society, and in this context, it is called the "social morality" or "mores" / सामाजिक सदाचार .

The next stage is :

नैतिकता / "The Ethics".

What is basic rules that ensure harmony and cohesive social existence.

"Dharma" or the essential nature is the way common to all life-forms, be it any of the plant, animal, insects, birds, fish or the humans, and they spontaneously follow the same without conflict any, but in the case of the humans, the inherent conflict appears as soon as the person has to deal with the other.

One can then either follow the certain rules determined and dictated by the society or can find out in one's own way. One can either seek help from teachers, scriptures or learn in oneself as well.

There is always the risk of getting lost and / or mislead and / or misguided too, in this endeavor of discovering the way.

Ultimately, it is the earnestness, the keen-ness and clarity of the purpose, that really matters.

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जड और चेतन (वैदिक)

Question / प्रश्न  53.

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How the ancient-most scriptures were written?

प्राचीनतम शास्त्र किस प्रकार से लिखे गए थे?

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 Looking for an answer to the question :

"In what form - the prose or the verse - originally the Hebrew Scriptures were written?"

In the answer I learnt whether written either in the verse or prose form, they followed the ab-jad style. 

This means a form where there were no letters other than consonants to write a word and the same letter was used to write a vowel and was treated as vowel according to the convention.

For example the letter "य" that was "य" as a consonant in the Sanskrit was also used as "इ / ई"  as a vowel.

This grammatical provision in Sanskrit was called गुण / संप्रसारण (?).

इको यण् अचि 

Might be the sUtra justifying and related to this. 

This same rule could be seen applicable of the structure followed in the Hebrew, Arabic, Persian and even in languages while structuring many of them either  written in the L To R,  or the R To L way.

Understanding this convention, it may be observed that many scripts might have been evolved likewise in the beginning.

Not only this, another example may be of the same  "य" "y" that became "j" and "i".

In the Arabic maybe this is what we find in Urdu as ز,  ی, .

We can see how "i" might be turned into "j" or vice-versa., that may explain why this resemblance is not just coincidence.

About Hebrew :

However, this style was known as the :

ab-jad form of the script where there were no different symbols for vowels and consonants.

"Ab-jad" or the "ab-jada" is cognate of the Sanskrit word "अव-जड", where the vowels are the स्वर, and the consonants are व्यञ्जन.

According to the वैदिक Vedika thought, all the vowels / स्वर together constitute the 12 आदित्य -- Aditya, or the 12 sons of Goddess of speech, - वाग्देवी  devI Aditi - the voice / the preciding conscious divine spirit of phonetics, thereby a चेतन देवता - conscious / sentient chetana devatA, while the consonants / व्यञ्जन are the secondary material forms.

A vowel letter / phoneme / sound could be pronounced independently, however a consonant has to be supported always and inevitably by a vowel.

That could be said as how this word : - "ab-jad" might have been cognate of the Sanskrit word "अव-जड".

***

व्यक्त - अव्यक्त

Question प्रश्न  52

Manifest and the Unmanifest.

व्यक्त क्या है और अव्यक्त क्या है? 

What is the Manifest and,

What is the Unmanifest?

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अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि

येन सर्वमिदं इदं ततम्।।

विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य

न कश्चित् कर्तुमर्हति।।

अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि

व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत।।

अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव

तत्र का परिदेवना।। 

--

Know that the Existence is that, what is permeated with,  pervading all that whatever is the manifest and whatever is  the unmanifest as well, and is indestructible, imperishable that can be neither destroyed through and by an action nor by any means.

Thus is pointed out in the Gita.

This implies there is neither Creation nor Destruction, but there is only the Manifestation and the Dissolution of That, that in the Gita is referred to as in the above verse. 

Mundakopanishad / मुण्डकोपनिषद् 

Begins with : 

ॐ ब्रह्मा देवानां प्रथमः सम्बभूव

विश्वस्य कर्ता भुवनस्य गोप्ता।। 

As is described in the Gita, this tells us how brahmA /  ब्रह्मा  was the manifest First amongst the devatA /  देवता .

The verb-root of देवता is दिव् > दीव्यते इति देवता, Whatever manifests is devatA / Divine.

Brahma /  ब्रह्मा is the First amongst the devatA. The Principle Imperishable and the Indestructible is indeed the :

ॐ / AUM. 

This manifest / unmanifest principle itself is the origin, essence and also the substance that is this whole existence.

From this very principle emerges out the BrahmA principle उपाधि / adjunct, and Brahma is therefore the First / प्र-स्थ.

There are again Purusha and Prakriti, the manifestations of the same core Principle  ॐ / AUM .

Manifestation take place in and as the  नाम-रूप  -- The Manifestation takes place in and as the name and the form - नाम-रूप, the लिङ्ग / symbolic / लक्षण .

This manifestation has therefore two prominent forms and names - The male and the female, The Purusha and the Prakriti - the Father Principle and the Mother Principle respectively. This is not the same as that is the cause of the generation of plant and animal forms and species. Animals and plants are the Outer / External manifestations, बाह्य प्रकृति,  while devatA is the अन्तःप्रकृति  / inner or / the internal Prakriti.

From Brahma emerged out पञ्च महाभूत / 5 cardinal names and forms that are :

आकाश, अग्नि, आपः, वायु, पृथिवी.

These are Sanskrit words respectively for these five  elements :

Ether / Sky, Fire, Water, Air and Earth.

अन्तरिक्ष is a word for "Space", which is used to denote :

"What is seen within and without also."

These 5 elements themselves are also kind of devata / Divine.

However, the three devatA who play the major role in the manifestation and the dissolution are said to be the following :

Brahma is the primal cause of existence / world, ViShNu is, who preserves and protects the existence / world and the Rudra dissolves this existence / world. The three keep playing their Role, but ViShNu yet in another way protects it. ViShNu reincarnates as an avatar to save the existence. Therefore all these three together are known as the Trinity of the higher devatA.

These are basically 33 in Number and the same when propitiated through the yajna or other rituals fulfil our desires. There are elaborate ways but for those who don't know the secrets of Vedika knowledge too can connect and contact them by means of Idols. Patanjala Yoga  helps us understanding how this takes place through dhAraNa, dhyAna and  samAdhi. But to connect to the Supreme devatA, this is the only way available to normal persons.

Thus is the significance and importance of the idol-worship. Therefore there are as many ways of worshipping and the detailed rituals too. 

The one who doubts this can not see the point. As pointed out in the Gita :

अज्ञश्चाश्रद्दधानश्च संशयात्मा विनश्यति।। 

नाऽयं लोको न परो न सुखं संशयात्मनः।।

*** 

 

स्वतंत्र चिन्तन

Question / प्रश्न  51.

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What is :

स्वतन्त्र चिन्तन?

Or,

The Freedom Of Thinking?

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I could have said :

"Freedom of Thought."

But in my opinion, the words "thinking" and "thought" have different meanings.  "Thinking" is a process but "thought" in the Grammatical sense is either a noun-form or a verb-form.

"Thinking" is therefore a process that is done or happens now, in the present.

"Thought" as noun is though of the past or future also, however a "Thought" has inevitably a reference to either the past or the future. Associated with memory or imagination.

Still the "Thinking" and The "Thought" both are a movement in the "mind" of and in the "consciousness", because any movement in the "mind" is always and inevitably belongs to and is subject to the "consciousness" pertaining to some "conscious" being only. A machine can never consciously "Think" and has to follow only the commands given to it. A machine has neither "conscious" mind, nor the sense of freedom that is there in the case of a "conscious" mind.

Consciousness implies "Life" and similarity  "Life" implies "consciousness" or a state of being "conscious".

"Life" and "consciousness" both therefore are neither created nor made, but either are latent or manifest, either happen to appear and disappear in any "organism" efficient enough to possess and be possessed by "Life" or the "conscousness". When and as soon as the "Life" or "consciousness" appears in any organism well-equipped so as to possess and be possessed by "Life" or "consciousness", is called the "birth" of the conscious organism. 

Appearance and disappearance of sentience is therefore coincidental and concurrent to manifestation of "Life" or "consciousness".

Hence the Question could be restructured, reformulated or rephrased as :

What is a conscious mind?

स्वतंत्र मन क्या है?

Before going into this let us see :

What is Consciousness and What is the mind.

Is not consciousness the mind, and the mind verily the consciousness itself? 

In the absence of consciousness could there be mind, and in the absence of mind, could there be consciousness?

The two are but two aspects of the one and the same sentience. Originally it's non-specific, but as soon as associated with an organism, becomes "person-specific", which assumes the form of the "ego".

So, saying :

"One should get rid of or become free of ego" is simply absurd and so ridiculous also.

What is non-specific consciousnesses or mind at one end, is itself the ego or the person-specific ego on the other.

When and as soon as this fundamental and basic error is removed, at once it is  revealed, understood and clearly seen that the person-specific consciousness is but an idea and gets removed itself on its own without any extra effort.

The ego or the person-specific mind is but a bundle of various ideas bound together and held firmly in the idea :

"Like all those so many innumerable persons, I too am but a specific person other and different than all the others, I too was born and going to die someday in the assumed, in an imagined future."

Having realized this Reality, what one could say about if really there is a free mind or consciousness?

When this mind or consciousness is utterly free of all ideas whatsoever, is empty of all thought, yet sensitive and aware of this movement of mind, life or the Awareness, it undergoes a tremendous transformation where the past, the future and the time as such itself is ultimately, finally and totally exhausted is no more.

***