॥ Shri Hari ॥
The Essence of Spiritual Truths
(Dharma ka Saar)
Tvameva Maata Cha
Pita Tvameva
Tvameva Bandhusha Sakhaa Tvameva
Tvameva Vidyaa Dravinam Tvameva
Tvameva
Sarvam Mama Deva Deva
Swami Ramsukhdas
The Essence of “Dharma”
Shrooyataam dharmasarvasvam shrutvaa chaivaavadhaaryataam|
Aatmanah pratikoolaani pareshaan na samaacharet
|| (Padmapuraan, shrushti 19/357-358)
“Dharmasarvasva” meaning if the entire “Dharma” (spiritual and moral
laws) can be said in a few words, then it is - that which is unfavorable to
us, do not do that to others. In this is the
essence of all scriptures. Just as you
may have the inner sentiment that may each and every person be of aid to
me, may they protect me, may they trust
me, may they do that which is agreeable to me, and may no one else do that
which is disagreeable to me, may no one cheat me, may no one cause any harm to me, may no one disrespect me; then the meaning of all this is that I must
be of aid to others, must protect
others, must trust others, must do that
which is for other’s good, must not do
that which is unfavorable to others, must not cheat anyone, must not cause any
losses to anyone, etc. In this manner, honor your own experiences, then you will
become virtuous person.
May no one cause
me a loss - this
is not up to us, but may I not cause any
losses to anyone - this is entirely up
to us. May all-in-all be of aid to me - this is not up to
us, but from this point it is proven
that may I become such that I can be of help to everyone. Whoever needs something from me, may I be of
help to them. Whoever wants something
from me, may I
be the kind to assist and support them.
May no one consider me evil - from this we must learn a lesson that
I should not consider anyone to be evil or bad.
Being so, is entirely in our hands. That
which is in our hands,
we must do and that
itself is the observance of our duty. Those
who do so become virtuous and righteous “dharmaatma”. All
like those who are “dharmaatma”. All have a need for such people. Think! Who do we not like? He who is selfish, who is
only watching out for his self-interest,
who is causing losses to others is not liked by anyone. But all want persons who do things for
other’s welfare, with their body, mind, speech, wealth, knowledge, abilities, position,
privileges, in whose heart there is the sentiment of being helpful to others
and to give happiness to others. He who
everyone likes, is
a more happy person. The reason is that we
alone are making an effort for our own happiness, then how can there be joy in
that? But when others are putting forth
effort for our happiness, then we will become more joyful and we will also
benefit more. (to be continued)
How can everyone
conform to our wishes? Or may we not be adverse or contrary to anyone. May we not do anything that is against anyone. Due to our
selfishness and pride we disrespect others, we condemn them, we insult them and consider others to be bad,
thinking that this man is bad, then we are not deserving of the respect and honor from others or being considered
good by them.
As long as we consider any person
to be bad, till then we are not deserving of - “may no one consider me to be a bad
person”. We become deserving only
when we consider no one to be bad. Now we say that how to not consider anyone to be
bad? They have caused us harm, they have
destroyed our wealth, they have insulted us, they have
criticized us! Then think deeply and
seriously about this! The losses that have
been incurred were inevitable. It is
impossible that anyone can cause us to incur losses if it was not supposed to
happen. In Paramatma’s (God’s) kingdom while
He is present, how can anyone dare to make us lose when it was not meant to
happen? The
losses that incurred were inevitable.
The other party became a partner in the sinful
act by becoming an instrument, a vehicle, therefore
one must feel compassion for them. If they
had not become a means, then too the losses would be
incurred or we would be disrespected.
They now shares in the sins with us, by causing us a loss, insulting and
disrespecting us therefore it is them who are lead astray. For
one who is led off course, it is our duty to lead him to the right path, and not
to further condemn him and kick him! If
someone falls in a ditch,
than is it our duty to save him or to push him down? Therefore that poor soul must be saved that even
though he has harmed, he should not continue to harm others. Whoever has such sentiments within, he is
virtuous and righteous, a great soul “mahatma” , a very good
gentleman.
There was a very
good “Pandit” named Jayadev,
the author of “Geet Govind”. A king used to have deeps faith and devotion
in him and used to provide for all his amenities. That Brahman devata
(Jayadev) was a renunciate,
and though being a householder he had no
desire for any material things from anyone.
His wife too was a chaste “pativrata stri” wife, as his marriage was arranged by God himself, as
he was not very keen on getting married.
One day, the king gave him lots of treasures in the millions. When returning home passing through a forest with
this treasure, some
robbers came to know and they attacked Jayadev and
looted all the treasures. The robbers
thought that since this man is a spiritual guide of the King, if he informs the king, then they will
get caught. Therefore they cut off both
the limbs of Jayadev and threw him in a dried up
well. Jayadeva
remained in the well for two three days when he was discovered by the king and
his men who came to the forest. The men
were about throw a bucket in the well to retrieve water when they heard a voice
“brothers be careful,
I might get hurt. There is
no water in this well, what are you doing?”
The men recognized the voice of
their spiritual master. They inquired
and pulled him out of the well and saw his helpless state without the limbs. The king inquired how this happened, to which
Jayadev only replied, that it was destined therefore
it happened. They insisted on trying to
find the culprits, but he said nothing at all except that he was undergoing the
fruits of his past actions.
Hence forth the
king arranged for his caretaking and seeing to his well-being. (to be
continued)
One day those four
thieves who had cut of Jayadev’s hands were passing
by dressed as ascetics. Jayadev was with the King when he saw the thieves and
recognized that these were the same thieves.
Jayadev said to the king! You have time and again asked me to take some
money from you, therefore if you really wish to give, then give it to these thieves that are
passing by, as they are my friends.
Whether you give me or you give my friends, it is one and the same. The king was astonished that for years he had
never heard the “panditji” (Jayadev)
asking to take or give for anyone, but today he is saying so! The king called the thieves, the thieves
seeing “panditji” with the hands cut off, recollected
who he was and they became scared for their lives thinking now certainly they
will receive some severe punishment!
Instead the king spoke to them with great reverence and honored them and
gave them lots of treasures in gold, silver, jewels etc. They were escorted by the guards along with
all the treasures to their dwelling. On
the way there, out of curiosity the guards asked the thieves, what is your
relationship with Jayadev that he wanted to give you
all these treasures? It is so unlike his
nature to ask for anything from the king.
The thieves who were also great liars, said they saved Jayadev from death, and while trying to save him, his
hands were cut off. Being indebted to us
for his life, he arranged for gifting us these treasures. Even the Mother Earth could not tolerate
such lies, therefore she split open and all four of these thieves were buried
in the earth! The guards returned and
shared this incident with the king and Jayadev. Jayadev began to
cry profusely, and
while his tears were falling his hand reappeared. Meantime, the King wondered that surely these
men were extremely close to Jayadev. He said to Jayadev, that you lecture us
not to grieve , not to worry, then why
are you crying for the death of your four friends? Why are you grieving so much? Jayadev said that
these four men had stolen my treasures and cut off my hands. The king was even more surprised, that how
could he call such people his friends? Jayadev said, one person teaches through words, and
another through his deeds. The one who
teaches through his deeds, his actions is superior. The hands with which I took your
treasures, should be cut, but this work
was already done by the thieves, and
they also took the wealth, therefore they have done me a favor, they have
graced me and blessed me, by which my sins will be wiped out, therefore they
are my friends. I cried because people
consider me a saint, a
good person, a righteous “pandit”, but because of me these men lost their lives! Therefore I was crying and calling out to the
Lord, that though all consider me to be good, I am a great sinner , and
therefore to please forgive me! What
else can I do besides praying? It is not
in my hands. The King was totally overwhelmed
and said that if you were sinful, how did you get your hands back? To this Jayadev
said that God never looks towards the faults, sins, bad conduct of his
children! It is only out of his grace
that he got back his hands. The king said that these men caused you so much
suffering, then why did you arrange to give them
treasures? Jayadev said that these men were greedy
and for wealth they may cut some other people’s hands,
therefore I thought that if you give them plenty of treasures, they may never
have to cut off innocent people’s hands.
The king said why did you not tell me all this before? Jayadev said that
if I had told you earlier,
then you would punish them, and I did not wish that they be
punished, because they have wiped out my
sins by cutting off my hands. I must have been deserving, as in God’s kingdom, in His presence can anyone
improperly punish anyone? No one can do
so.
This is their favor to me that by
making me reap the fruits of my sins, they purified me. (to be continued)
From this story it
becomes clear that there is no one
out there that can make you pleased (happy) and displeased (unhappy). To think that someone else makes you pleased
and displeased is ignorance (foolishness) - “sukhasya
dukhasya na kopi daataa paro dadaateeti
kubuddhireshaa”
(Adhyaatma 2/6/6). Pain is due to
our past deeds “praarabdh”,
but in that someone becomes the cause, the motive “nimmit” then we must have compassion for
that poor person who for no reason becomes a sharer “bhaagi” in
the sins! In
Ramayana it is said that while passing through the forest, at night fall, Lord
Ram stays at Nishaadraaj Guha’s
place. Nishaadraj
says -
“kaikayinandinee mandmati
kathin kutilpanu kinh | jehi raghunandan jaanakihi such avasar dukhu dinh|| (Manas 2/91). Then Lakshmanji said – “Kahu na koyi
such dukh ker data nij krut karam
bhog sabu bhraataa.” (Manas 2/92/2) Therefore someone else is - giving me pain, unhappiness “dukh”,
insulting me, complaining about
me - such thoughts are foolishness “kubuddhi”, “base
thoughts”. In reality, the fault is not
theirs, the fault is our sins, our past deeds. In the Lord’s
kingdom, no one
can displease us, give us pain, suffering, unhappiness (dukh)
at all. The pain that we get is only the fruit of our sins. By undergoing the suffering, the sins will be
destroyed and we will be purified. Therefore
when someone is causing us to incur losses, when they are insulting, criticizing,
complaining about us, it is
destroying our sins - by such
understanding one must look upon it as a favor that the other party is doing for
us and thus we must become pleased.
If through any
one we experience some displeasure then it is the fruit of our past deeds; but if we consider that person to be
bad, an enemy, and we speak ill of him, condemn him, make him suffer, or have the sentiments of hurting him, then
our inner faculties will become impure, and
harm us! Therefore it is the nature of saints that if others cause
harm to them, then too they only see to their good - “uma sant kayi ihayi badhai, mand karat jo karyi bhalaayi
||” (Manas 5/41/4).
We have to make our nature
saintly. If someone gives us
unhappiness, then too have good feelings and sentiments for them. Have the feeling that “May they be happy”. Ill feelings towards others, which cause impurities
of the mind is not humanity.
Therefore with body, mind, and speech, see to everyone’s
well-being, do not cause suffering to
anyone. He who does not cause displeasure to anyone with body, mind or
speech, becomes
so purified that even by seeing him other’s sins are destroyed.
Tana
kara man kara
vachan kar det na kaahu
dukh |
Tulasi
paatak harat hai, dekhat usko
mukh ||
Narayana! Narayana !! Narayana !!!
From "Saadhan, Sudha, Sindhu" in Hindi by
Swami Ramsukhdasji.
नारायण
! नारायण
! नारायण
!