Crime Against the Society

Meaning: As stated in the line of Yajurved 23/21 — "the woman or man who spreads adultery by indulging in sexual lust, must be punished, mead-eaters too should not be spread punishment. They are criminals in the society".

Message: The influence of the bad deeds and bad thinking is like a continuous dose of poison gripping the conscious and the subconscious mind. These poisons are then transformed as the high mobility, agitation, impulsiveness, anguish of the mind and make a man like a half-mind person. He is not able to do any deed with a focused mind and is always torn between the states of whether to perform the deed or not. As a result he receives failure at every step and stumbles along. Because of his unbalanced conduct and therefore failures, he sulks, becomes dissatisfied, non cooperative, and a criminal. A man used to quarreling with everyone in the family and the society is always in an abashed and anguished state of mind. He is not able to think properly. A man in ill health and in mental anguish is suffering hellish torture and spoils the societal atmosphere also.

Addiction is more painful than death. An addiction free man obtains happiness after death also, whereas a man trapped in addictions dies every moment in downfall. The reason for a man's grace is his lack of addiction. A man who does not take intoxicants is certainly considered better than a man taking intoxicant. A man not eating flesh will be considered better than as meat eater. Similarly a non gambler gains honor and reputation compared to a gambler.

A man trapped in bad deeds, bad conduct and addiction not only becomes the cause of his own downfall, but also commits grave crime against society. Because of him anarchy and unrest prevails in society and nobody knows how many people's lives are badly affected by such men's influence. A man indulging in adultery and rape suffers lifelong mentally.

Where these bad habits or addictions are a crime against the society, meat-eating is a crime against all living beings. It makes man wild and uncivilized and warps the intelligence. With meat-eating, the sentiment of pity disappears from a man's heart. It obstructs his physical, spiritual, mental and intellectual progress and leads towards downfall. Meat, fish and eggs are not man's food, (i.e. they are a food for meat-eating animals, but not for man). Therefore they must be considered taboo. Almost all the great thinkers of this world have been vegetarians and have condemned meat-eating because of its bad effects on man and because of the violence involved. Meat-eating is done only by rejecting non violence. Our sages have always praised the grandeur of non violence. It has been clearly mentioned in Mahabharat "Ahimsa paramo dharmaha; sarwapranbhootaam vara" i.e. not killing any animal is the supreme religion. There is no religion higher than non-violence.

These people committing crime against the society and other living beings in the world, these opponents of humanness must be punished properly. We must plan projects for rooting out these bad activities. Only then can we properly fulfill our societal responsibilities.

Gambling is not Good

Meaning: According to the line of Rigved 10/34/10 — the wife of a gambler suffers grave hardships. His mother keeps weeping. He is always sunk under debt and entering other people's homes, steals money from there, Gambling is a very obscene adduction. One must also save himself from it.

Message: Superficially it appears that dishonesty is necessary for earning quickly and more. Most wealthy person seems to be working with dishonesty in their work. Most honest persons appear poor. Therefore, by ordinary understanding it appears that if we also remain honest then we shall become poor. There is tremendous importance of money in the present times and only with money can comforts, facilities, means success and honor be achieved. That is why people are busy in becoming wealthy very quickly through dishonesty or some such means.

But if the situation is studied closely, this distortion in thinking vanishes and we come to know that we made a great mistake in accepting the glory of dishonesty. Wealth cannot be earned in this way and if earned so, then it cannot be maintained steadily. When does not mean that the result will be beneficial only. Daring, hard work, insight and understanding, pleasant talk and organizing ability are the qualities which contribute to earning. The earning with the sweat of one's brow is pure as nectar. Only bad name, non cooperation, distrust, hatred, state punishment, dejection etc, result from money earned through dishonest and improper means. Real earning is made only through good qualities contain the elements of productivity. Big projects, big trades, big plans in this world have been established and succeeded only on the basis of honesty. Not with wealth, but with good intelligence and good activity only progress is achieved. A man of good character (and not a man with wealth) becomes happy.

The addictions of gambling and lottery are also spreading wide on the basis of quick money through any means. Every man wishes to become wealthy by earning the maximum money in the shortest time. This act goes against the tenets of religious book and is a condemnable act. It leads to internal division and leads to quarrel. To bet with one another on the slightest excuse, and speculation and similar act re various forms of gambling only. Its addiction destroys the essential purpose of man's life. He is busy only with one thought that, if not today, certainly tomorrow the number on which he bets, will win and whirling in this vicious circle, he bets more and more. As a result he goes on wasting away his wealth. Whereas he does not get the wealth of a win, he loses whatever he has got. In the ensuing hopelessness man starts sealing his family's ornaments, utensils, and even clothes and puts the money on bets. Becoming poverty stricken, the person even resorts to suicide. In addition, the family undergoes hell.

Because of gambling only, Dharmaraj Yudhishthir along with his brothers had to become a slave of Duryodhan and had to undergo the terrible torture of witnessing the evil Duryodhan trying to disrobe his wife Draupadi. Gambling produces such horrendous results only.

If you wish personal welfare, never gamble in any way. Reject it completely.

God has Handed Wife for me.

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 14/1/52 —, O wife! God has handed you over to me. The responsibility of maintaining you lies with me. Let us both have children and live up to hundred years.

Message: The responsibility of a happy home-life lies with both husband and wife, although of course, the responsibility of the husband is more because the wife leaves her family to join the husband's family. God the Supreme Father has created the opportunity for the union of two souls and the conduct of both must be excellent. By doing this, happiness in family and good luck are achieved. Good luck of married life does not lie merely in getting married, but there should be loving adjustment between the husband and wife and only by that type of behavior, permanent happiness is achieved. Good luck remains stable where there is mutual sharing of love and happiness or sorrow between the two. To maintain this happiness of married life, it is necessary to maintain this tradition and to have healthy children. In this way both remain happy and achieve longevity with good luck.

For a happy future of the bride-to-be, it becomes necessary to evaluate the qualities of the husband-to-be. A worthy, learned and addiction-free man can carry the burden of a successful and happy family. He should not only be highly knowledgeable and with good qualities, but simultaneously physically strong and free from bad tendencies, bas activities and addictions. Addictions are like poison in a family. A man trapped in liquor, gambling, etc destroys the family's happiness and peace, and gets insults and bad name, and along with him his wife also undergoes mental pain.

From a practical view-point, the wife's area of work is within the home and the husband's area of work is outside the home. His responsibility is to look after the family with a proper display of his worthiness, learning etc. The woman's work area lies in properly organizing the home. It is the woman's duty to make proper use of money earned honestly by the husband to maintain house, cleanliness etc and to feed the family. Both must make proper adjustments in their above duties and make arrangements to run the family satisfactorily within limited means. It is the wife's duty to maintain a cheerful atmosphere within the family even by bearing hardships. A man is not as skilful as a woman in organizing the home. A heavenly atmosphere prevails in a neat home

A man must be prosperous as far as food-grains and other means of comfort are concerned. He should be bright and cheerful. Only such husband can fully satisfy his wife and keep her cheerful.

Ideal Family

Meaning: According the line of Athervaved 3/30/2 — in an ideal home, children are obedient to their parents. The parents are well-wishers of their children. The husband and wife's mutual relationship is sweet and happy. Only such families always thrive and are happy.

Message: On the basis of the Vedas, the rishis (sages) have divided the human-life into 4 'ashrams'. The four ashrams are - brahmacharya ashram, gruhastha ashram, vanprastha ashram, and sanyas ashram. Considering a life-spam of a hundred years, these ashrams have been specified. Only in the Vedic religion, these ashrams of 25 years each have been categorized and this is the specialty of the Vedic streams of thought. The word brahmacharya is made of two words i.e. 'Brahma' or God and 'aacharan' means conduct. Thus it implies the conduct as followed by God. The second meaning of brahmacharya is celibacy. Thus the combination of two meanings implies the attainment of physical, mental intellectual and spiritual strengths, through celibate living up to attainment of 25 year for a successful material and spiritual life. During gruhastha ashram which means the life of a householder, the above powers are used and the man employs his earnings in deeds connected to a householder's duties and to fulfill to his wife's and children's needs. Then he reinforces his powers in the 3rd phase i.e. vanaprastha ashram through 'brahmacharya' (i.e. celibacy), self-study, japa (i.e. recitations) and tapa (or(austerities). In the sanyas-ashram he distributes to the society his acquired knowledge, wisdom and experience. This organization of a man's life into four ashrams is a very great specialty of Vedic religion.

If brahmacharya ashram is the foundation of life, then gruhastha ashram is a beautiful building constructed on it. Gruhastha ashram has its own importance, usefulness and achievements. In gruhastha ashram, the sentiment of self denial gets strengthened. The family members with love and cooperation for each other are eager to bear hardships for the sake of other members of the family. And in what words to describe the great sacrifice of a woman? She is the very incarnation of self denial. As wife, sister, and daughter or as mother her self denial contributes to the divine joy in the family. A restrained life contributes to excellent health. The householder making a living through pure means maintains sweet relationship with his relatives, associates to get the facilities for making his life happy, peaceful prosperous, and so also the society.

A family is made up of more than one person living together. Thus besides the husband and wife, there are; son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, grand-father, grand-mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law etc. The sweetness and purity of relationships between them creates an atmosphere of a special cheerfulness, happiness, joy and lively bustle. If there is a closeness of love and trust between the husband and wife, then the feelings of love, affection, faith and service for each other will be created. All will think of the interest of each other and will do beneficial work, and the situation of giving importance to money above everyone else, including family members, will not arise. With a sense of belonging, generosity and cooperation, all will serve each other and there will be joy and happiness in the family.

Only love and friendliness are the foundation of an ideal family.

Music of the Soul

Tension is triggered when we stretch ourselves beyond our mental, physical and financial capacities and capabilities. The root cause is our expectations. When what we expect to happen does not happen, frustration lead to tension. This in turn leads to compression of the spiritual heart, which is the foundation of Bhakti or devotion that connects us to our soul.

To overcome stress, we need to release tension and come to enjoy a serene and a tranquil life and for this we need to introduce Bhakti into our lives. You might ask, is devotion different than prayer? Prayer is a concentrated effort from us directed towards God, where in devotion is to acknowledge that energy as God.

Devotion helps to release pressures of unwanted thought. Thinking without incorporating devotion creates jagged thought patterns which strain the mind, creating pressure, leading to more stress and tension. Wherein thinking with devotion - that is, thinking with love creates soft, soothing thought patterns which bring about calmness, serenity and lends that musical resonance to our thoughts without pressure, stress or tension. This kind of devotion was followed by great Bhakti saints like Kabir, Namded, Mirabai, the Namazhwars, Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa, Tyagaraja and Tansen.

Devotion helped Bhakti saints to cultivate an awareness of soul through music. This awareness brought them clarity from the ocean of thoughts that tend to cause storms and imbalances in the mind. Devotion brings about focus and awareness with devotion makes possible the experience of unconditional love. A sincere devotee comes to understand the import of true love and its essence.

Remember here the difference between alertness and awareness. Alertness is focusing our thoughts on a particular task externally through the mind where in awareness is being in focus of our tasks all the time through devotion and love.

Devotion and love lubricate the soul and the absence of any friction makes possible the creation or discovery of the rhythm of the soul that is reflected in the cosmic rhythm. Music loosens the knotted heart knot known as rudragranthi. Seamless and fluid love helps to remove rusty thoughts and rigid mindsets and thus begins the clearing of all doubt. Shruti or rhythm converts itself in a musical form and rhythm converts itself in a musical form and this we call raga.

The rhythm we experience creates in us positive, divine thoughts from within like a series of air bubbles rising up to oxygenate fish in a fish tank. We enjoy these patterns of thoughts which bring about visualization and a state of realization in us.

Raga like Pahaad, Bhoopalim Kalayani and Yemen in classical Hindustani music traditions and Mohana, Ananda Bhairavi, Yemen Kalayani, Hindola and many more in classical Carntic tradition. Bach and Tchaikovsky for instance in classical western tradition or just devotional renderings lead one to experience joy and peace and could well lay the foundation to progress on the path of bliss-attainment.

Therefore, sing, dance and experience joy for life is beautiful.