by Swamiji

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

[Appeared in Aug 1989 and Oct-Nov 1994 issues of the monthly journal ‘Vicharasetu – The Path of Introspection’]

[It was a time when I used to give regular talks in Madras.  I was staying with Dr Sarada Subrahmanyam and her husband Sri R Subrahmanyam.  Sri Subrahmanyam was practicing in the High Court.  Though generally averse to the usually religious and allied matters, he was a regular listener to my discourses.  His merits were hidden.

One day he told me : “Swamiji, you should write a book exposing how Bhagavadgeeta as an insight and outlook came to be evolved in this country by our society.  Many persons have written commentary on the Geeta.  What I have in mind is not any such commentary, but an exposition of the Bhagavadgeeta in the spirituo-religions culture of our country.  Such a presentation would be very useful to thinkers, and an addition to Vyasadeva’s Epic and the much discussed Bhagavadgeeta itself….”

Generally, if some one dear to me makes such a proposal, my mind works on it.  It verily helps my mind to think or write on the subject.  “Song of the Soul”, which is verily expressed in the whole of spirituo-religious literature of our country, began to flow from my mind and finger tips.  The book was begun and pursued vigorously for some months, every portion written being printed simultaneously.  At one stage, the printing press  changed its management, which disrupted the printing and also brought a stop to the writing.  Although there have been suggestions that the printed pages should be released , it has not been done so far.

I don’t know whether and when the subject will be continued and what will be the outcome of the ‘Song of the Soul’. I am however happy that Aroop feels sufficiently drawn to the contents, which has resulted in the following presentations and few others he proposes to bring forth in later issues.     --  Swamiji]

AARYA is not a race or community.  He or she is an Aarya who has his sentiments, knowledge and deeds given to goodness, love and purity: who looks to peace, wisdom and immortality beyond anything else as the fruition and fulfillment of life, in contrast to anything external or material.  The Aarya is not satisfied with what he sees.  He also wants to think of them.  He feels for them.  He has an urge to determine his position, his efforts, their manner and meaning.  His mind and heart want to express and radiate love, fellow-feeling.   It is not a show or semblance, but a vital sentiment flowing out like the air he breathes.  It begins to load him, ache his heart, make him heave under its spell.

THE SENTIMENTS in him blend with his quest, yearning. His curiosity stands allied with his emotional facet.  This is the marked fusion which will make man greater, higher, abler and happier; later if not soon. A mere thought or quest is not sufficient.  It should be aligned with the strength of sentiments, the power of feeling.

The Aarya is always sober. He detests rebellion. To rebel, he knows, is to hate. He hates but hatred. The true Aarya is given to patience and forbearance. He never negates or derides. He can only accept and compliment. The world is curious he knows, even inexplicable at times. But what can he do?

The WORLD is not his creation.  He is its.  So he can only accept it as his mother, father, grandparents, nay, the one Supreme God.  He goes to God from the world and has not come to the world from God.  Through the steps of the ladder does he reach the top, not from the top to the bottom.  Bottom first, and then alone the top.  This is the rule, the law, the truth everywhere.  He, a seeker of Truth, honors it, loves it, accepts it wholeheartedly.

WHEN the mind feels the load, the heart is made to bleed unseen, when the intelligence begins to wonder about Reality, then the seeking verily germinates and grows.  Until then it is just a show of words, of oratory, the skill of experience, the ability to dupe others.

The Aarya is our example, the model man, the ideal human.

The people of this land struggle to become  Aaryas. The child in good families is to told now and then of this goal, this ideal, this sure need.  The grown up is asked to think of him. Through the books of religion, through epics and mythology, the thoughts and deeds of the Aarya alone are taught, exemplified, adored, sought as a blessing.

Harischandra was an Aarya. Rama was one.  Krishna another. Vasishtha was yet another.  Through them all, through several others like them, the lessons of goodness, wisdom and truth, of life made noble, great and immortal, is the one story, the unique subject discussed, debated upon and concluded without doubt.

THE PATH before the Aarya may not be easy.  He will have his risks, ordeals, persecutions.  But all of them he meets in his own hands, in the hand of the object and ideal he cherishes, clings to firmly.  None he blames any time, not even the Creator.

If at all , he has only appreciation, love, a sense of accommodation and acceptance for anything, for all.  With every moment, incident or accident, he is determined to grow and he succeeds also.  His failure can never be due to another.  When his beloved pursuit dies, then alone can he fail.  And that he finds is improbable.

This is the Aarya  Sri Krishna places before Arjuna (Geeta–II-2) to evaluate the standard of his (Arjuna’s) conduct, of his thoughts and decision either to fight or to retreat.  The aaryatva  must inspire him, guide his thoughts, instill in him strength, resolve his will and ideal.  But for aaryatva, Arjuna’s life would be worth nothing great.  It will be fully hollow, empty of virtues and loftiness.

WEAKNESS is inborn in man.  It is a sure symptom of growing life. It has to be recognized no doubt, but only to be overcome, gradually though not suddenly.  Weakness is to give man its caution! It should point out the need, bestow inspiration to work for its redress, to gain ample strength and resolve.

Yes, the presence of an opposite helps one to gain its opposite.  It should be precisely so.  Success of human life depends upon the discovery of this unique mystery, this basic truth , this fundamental lesson!  Weakness is the opposite of strength.  To find oneself weak is surely to work against it, to eliminate it and gain abiding strength.

DEATH must give the caution to win immortality. The mortal is one who needs immortality.  He alone can indeed work for it.  Mortality first perceived is what paves the way for gaining immortality later.  If mortality were not to be with us, immortality too could not be thought of. One of these alone cannot exist; it does not.

TO EXIST,  the one must be allied with the other.  The other should be equally so with the one.  But the allied ones are not friends, but enemies.  They stand against each other.  To be against is, therefore, really to be.  It is to be the grand One, to be the Supreme, to be the Real, the Transcendental. The two are really one.   To be known, to be dealt with, the two came to be.  But what became the two is really the One.  To become,  the One gives rise to the two.

The difference is visible, no doubt, but is only apparent.  It is just on surface, never in depth, never in the field of reality or the sphere of truth.  The surface is only superficial.  At best it can denote and imply the depth beneath.  Without the beneath, the depth, can surface at all be?

THE BAD is then to suggest its opposite, the good.  To be bad oneself is to be constantly at work for being good, to need and desire the good.  The bad is the sure signal for its renunciation.  It gives the call for its own transcendence.  Bad teaches man, compels him to replace it, to overcome it,  to be the master of it, to work his way above it.

Then will come the role of good.  He who has risen above bad alone gets to the good.  He becomes the noble, the august man.  But his task does not terminate there.  It brings in another need, a new ideal, a fresh object to seek, gain and establish himself in.

THE GOOD too, like bad, is not to be clung to in the end.  The good should also be transcended.   It has to be clearly risen above while reaching the goal.  Then will come  the grand victory, the most decisive fruition, the ultimate fulfillment of human life.  The crowning of humanhood, the zenith earmarked for sound thinking, the pinnacle of mind’s civilization, the reward for the great morality of man on earth, will be then and then alone.

To be above good as above bad, to be free of the involvement and concern for both, to behold and contain the allotted redemption of man—the intelligent mortal of the world—is the life lived face to face with the Supreme Reality, the Ultimate Truth, the invisible yet realizable presence called God.  The grand mystery of the entire creation, the unseen but not unheard grand magic of the Creator, the mystic delusion enfolding and conquering the human mind right before it begins its existence in the world—all this becomes clear and precise then.  And that marks the final release of man, the dawning of his supreme gracefulness which never waxes or wanes but remains, and remains eternally to be the same as long as life, experience and knowledge prevail for him.

The Aarya is the  evolving human,  the man or woman standing on the path of progress, committed to it wholeheartedly.

He eats, drinks, sleeps and acts no doubt, but what he wants and cherishes to gain by all these is to think and feel, to grow rich and richer in  understanding .  He has the body like others, but  his strength is not in the body but in what dwells within it.

The SPIRIT  within the body is vital for him.  The body is its servant, a useful appendage produced and preserved by Nature.  He thinks and tries earnestly to follow his thoughts.  He dissects thoughts, sifts them clearly, then tries to select and distinguish the good from the bad amongst them.  He acts, but his aim is to do so in strict pursuance of his thoughts.  He is determined to narrow the gap between ideals and actual, beliefs and behavior, and if possible, make it nil.

By this very nature of his Aarya  is destined to evolve, steadily and successfully, either fated by accidents or led forcefully by incidents.  CHANCE may have a role in his life but he never stops to worry whether it will turn favorable or not.  By the very law of Nature and the force of Truth, chance cannot but befriend him at every stage.

THE GEETA of Sri Krishna presents this Aarya  with his characteristic goodness, but not without his typical problems, the initial conflicts of his moral mind.  The steps by which the Aarya  is led towards his destination, the virtues and skills he has to learn and equip himself with, these and a lot more are laid down and taught effectively throughout the contents of the dialogue.  One who reads it or hears it read, not merely learns the true qualities of life but is also simultaneously stimulated to practice his knowledge.  The approach to knowledge by learning as well as by constant practice of it in life’s daily happenings is the unique compulsion one finds in the Geeta.  In this does the text become a  living book of practice  as much as a  Scripture of wisdom.

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