Vyasa's questions

In Santi parva of Mahabharata, Veda Vyasa says that everyone should ask oneself the following questions[1]:

• Where am I?
• Where shall I go?
• Who am I?
• How I came here?
• How or for whom should I grieve?

He further says that one should try to answer these questions oneself and answering these questions gives tranquility[1]. He mentions that qualifications required for deliberations for self-knowledge are viveka (discrimination [of right from wrong]), vairagya (indifference for worldly objects and life); six qualities of calmness of mind, control of organs, withdrawal into oneself, endurance, concentration, and full faith on self-enquiry[1].

Through these questions Vyasa encourages inquiry and gave the qualifications required to answer the questions objectively. In a way he tells everyone to put aside all religion, dogma, tradition and scriptures and pursue self-enquiry like a scientist. The idea of self-enquiry or spirituality can be considered as a science. On how the theory of self-knowledge might have originated, Shankaracharya tells that once there lived a wise man who directed the out-going senses into himself and deliberated and then the light of self-knowledge shed upon him. The source of knowledge for humans are the five senses (vision, sound, smell, taste and touch). These senses are outwardly directed, i.e. they perceive the external or material world. All regular science is based upon the knowledge understood my men through these outward directed senses. Whereas in spiritual science these senses have to be directed inwards and enquiry should happen within oneself.

As much as scriptures, practices and tradition might help in self-enquiry, they are still only tools and should not undermine understanding and wisdom. All of them have to be questioned and everything has to be taken with a pinch of salt. A practice cannot be justified just because it is a tradition or a popular belief or human nature. The qualities of objective thinking mentioned earlier should be developed steadily over time. General knowledge about current affairs, politics, history, cultures, sciences and art help develop viveka (discrimination of right from wrong) and give insights into human nature. Self-enquiry is not something that can be left for later in life. Self criticism and a little cynicism along with some good humor help a lot.

Reference(s):
[1] The Message of Mahabharata - The Nation's Magnum Opus. Pg: x|viii. Author: Justice P. Kodandaramayya.

The Bourgeois and the Samurai

Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) is an Indian nationalist and a yogi. He participated in the Indian freedom movement during the early part of 1900s and later on developed a spiritual path called "Integral yoga". His life is very amusing. His father was very impressed by the European way of living and wanted Aurobindo to be a complete European without any traces of Indianness. So Aurobindo was taken to Europe at a very young age and was brought up with European education and lifestyle. But after he returned to India in 1893 he was completely transformed. He became a nationlist and participated in the freedom movement. He turned to spirituality and become a yogi. He was also a great poet.

Recently I happened to read an essay by him titled The Bourgeois and the Samurai. Its a lengthy but nice essay which talks about the weakening of the spirit of Indians under the rule of British through the creation of an environment that rewards such weakness. It describes the creation of a class of people who valued security, stability and ease in life, even if it meant to be weak and subjugated, over liberty and individuality which require strength and courage and are strenuous. And he calls upon all Indians to shed such weakness. I recommend everyone to read it.

Indian moral stories site

This site - http://moralstories.wordpress.com/ - contains lots of excellent Indian moral stories. They are very interesting and inspiring. They are grouped by main characters in the story and by the moral the story conveys. They also have stories in Telugu language with very clear and beautiful font.

I remember a story I learnt in my childhood. Once there was a dove which was chased by a vulture. In order to save itself the dove flees to a king and seeks his protection. Now the king is in a dilemma. It is his duty to protect everyone who seeks his protection but at the same time he shouldn't deprive the vulture of it's food. So the king pleads the vulture to accept some other meat instead of the dove. The vulture refuses to accept any other animal's meat except the dove's or equal amount of king's own flesh. The king happily agrees to offer his own flesh and starts cutting meat from his body and places it on a scale to weigh it against the dove. Surprisingly no matter how much of his flesh is placed on the scale the scales do not match. So the king finally places himself on the scale and offers his whole body to the vulture. Impressed by his charity the dove and the vulture reveal themselves as gods who have come to test him and bless him with gifts.

I did not remember the king's name and searched on the net and found this website in the process. The king's name is Shibi, popularly known as Shibi Chakravarthy. Of all the stories, I find the stories of kings most inspiring - Shibi Charkravarthy, Satya Harischandra, Raghu Maharaja, Sri Rama Chandra, Bheesma, Karna etc. My favorite is the story of Harischandra, more about it in a later blog. I strongly recommend everyone to visit that website and read the stories.