Hari Om Parents,
We began with the Opening Prayers. Again significant portion of the class was spent to plan for our monthly program.
Recap: In our earlier class we talked about Samavartana which is "returning home" after studying in a Gurukula. This is the second Samskara. The first Samskara is the Upanayana after which a student gets ready to join a Gurukula. These come under the Brahmacharya stage. Here we must recall the four stages or ashramas a person goes through in his lifetime; namely, Brahmacharya, Grihasthashrama, Vanaprastha and Samnyasi. So after the Gurukula stage, one is ready to enter the next stage which was today's topic.
The next stage is the third Samskara which is Vivaha or wedding. After acquiring knowledge and skills in the gurukula, the individual is ready to serve and give back to the society. So, with the Vivaha ceremony one enters the Grihasthasrama or becomes a householder. This is an important asrama because it supports the other three asramas, that is, a householder takes care of the brahmacharis, vanaprasthas and sannyasis.
We discussed Vivaha or the wedding ceremony in some detail. It is little too early for ninth graders, but always interesting to know what the ceremony entails. If any of you have attended a Hindu wedding conducted as prescribed, you probably thought it was too elaborate or boring. So it is good to know why. Our traditional Hindu wedding ceremony is 5000 years old and performed in sanskrit, the language of the vedas. Rituals in the wedding have a spiritual and philosophical importance. It is a spiritual union of the bride and groom in the presence of God. There is symbolism too, examples, the four cornered mandap as altar representing four corners and four pillars representing parents, the flowers for joy, throwing of grains for prosperity, fire God, Agni as witness, etc..
There are several steps involved in the ceremony.
Briefly - the day begins with mangala vadyam or auspicious music with nadhaswara and drums. The groom's family and friends are welcomed by the bride's family. The groom is taken to the mandap/stage consisting of four pillars. The bride is brought to the stage and they exchange garlands. The father gives away the bride, this ritual is called kanya danam.
The couple goes around the fire lit in the center of the mandap. They do it four times to represent Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, meaning, they follow a life of values as per the scriptures, acquiring wealth by righteous means, enjoy the pleasures of life and fulfil desires keeping dharma in mind and seek liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The bride and groom take seven steps together, the reason being people of true greatness become friends if they take seven steps together. Each step signifies friendship and strengthens the bond of marriage between them. It is never said that one is above the other, it is friendship with mutual love and dedication to each other. The groom ties a necklace or mangalsutra around the bride's neck and places sindhur in the parting of the bride's hair. The parents and elders bless the couple with flower petals and rice. The bride joins the groom's family and bids farewell.
It is said the beauty of a householder's life lies in service to people and worship of the Lord eventually this will lead to liberation. So, next time if you attend a traditional Hindu wedding pay attention to the rituals and the steps involved in the ceremony.
We then transitioned to the fundamental pursuits by humans.
We again encounter the word Purushartha in this lesson. Here it means four goals sought after by humans. The Vedas classify these four human pursuits as:
Dharma - ethics, values
Artha - wealth
Kama - desire for enjoyment
Mokasha- liberation
Recall the four rounds around the fire by the bride and groom in the wedding ceremony; they signify these four pursuits.
A couple lead a life together based on Dharma or moral values. If rules and values are not pursued it will lead to degradation of family life. Just like when we drive if we don't follow the rules there will be accidents and delays; disarray and chaos.
The following Vedika prayer explains succinctly how to follow dharmic values:
om bhadrañ karãebhiß õråãuyëma devëß bhadrañ paõyemëkçabhiryajatrëß, sthirairaógaistuçéuvëñ sastanïbhiß vyaõema devahitañ yadëyuß.
"O Lord, with our ears, may we hear what is good and what is auspicious. May our eyes see beautiful, auspicious and noble things. May we have firm limbs to serve others. May we live our allotted life on this earth singing your glory."
Simply put, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil which we are familiar with depicted by three monkeys. The above prayer also includes, we must use our strong limbs in the service of the others. So, once the values get imbibed in our personality we will automatically lead a righteous life. Hence Dharma should guide all our pursuits.
Next pursuit is artha / wealth. We all need wealth for our security and protection. But earn in dharmic way. To enrich our lives we need money that requires a lot of effort. That should not be an excuse to resort to adharmic means. The wealth we acquire should be used for self-improvement as well as for the benefit of the society. This prevents us from getting greedy and resorting to illegal means. In addition our ego or pride is not inflated. Supreme Self has provided us with the essentials free for living, remembering this let us be happy, content and not aggrandize. If we follow Dharma, Artha automatically increases and using that money to serve the world will leads us towards mokhsa.
Next purushartha is desire or Kama. The enjoyment of the world is through many ways. We enjoy the world through our senses and mind. Kama is desire for something that is absent in present and raga is affection for what has been obtained. It is through these two emotions that individuals, societies and nations express their might. Expression of the might if done in an undharmic way can lead to disasters. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavat Gita " I am the strength that is devoid of desire and attachment". (VII, 11)
Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita "I am the desire in the beings unopposed to Dharma" (VII, 11). Desires should be fulfilled in a dharmic way. Constant agitation of the mind expressing as an uncontrollable impatience to gain something is called kama/desire. When something or someone comes in between us and our desired object, the impulses that are deflected by the obstacle take the form of anger. So desire and anger are two sides of the same coin; these are the inner Satan in our mind that compels us to compromise with our values and commit sins. Hence we should always have a control on our desire impulses, which can happen only when we pursue dharmic way of life.
Pursuit of Moksha – is the final purushartha.
Once a seeker approached Swami Vivekanandaji who was taking a bath in Ganges and asked that he really wanted to see God, how can he realize? He kept repeating his question. Swamiji did not immediately answer, but took the head of the person and pushed it under the water. After a while he pulled his head out of water. The seeker was quite upset with Swamiji's behavior. Swamiji asked "Under water what were you thinking?". Seeker said only thought in his mind was to get some air so he could breath. He did not think about his wife, children, wealth, problems etc only about air! Swamiji then answered "If you desire God, you have to want it as urgently as you wanted air. If all you can think of is God, and you want it real bad, you will realize Him."
A burning desire is required to accomplish any pursuit, for great results. Likewise, a strong urge is required to realize God and for liberation from life.
Pranam,
Rukmani Sriram
Devender Akula
