As the author had clarified, we are not going to
limit all these instructions only for “Brahmacharya” Ashram. So we will try to
introspect on each instruction at universal level, at deep philosophical
level, no matter how many posts we take for each of the 40 instructions.
Tad Uditam: “Duties ordained”. These are duties
prescribed according to the Vedas.
Karma: This is a technical
term, having a specific contextual meaning, in spite of many other meanings of
the word. In the science of self-development, Karma means actions performed as well as the reactions produced by
such actions.
Vihita or actions approved by
the Vedas are classified into 4
types. They are:
i) Nitya
Karmas: One’s daily round of duties.
When performed well and regularly, they bring about our self-purification. They
work out and reduce our Karmic bundle.
ii) Naimittika
Karmas: The actions performed on
special occasions.
iii) Kamya
Karmas: Actions arising from personal,
legitimate desire. Kamya Karma is permitted to the extent that
they do not deny others their rights and do not violate Dharma or the Laws of
Righteousness. (We covered this under “Kama” when we dealt with 4 Purushartha in our Karma session/ Karma blog
posts.
iv) Prayaschitta
Karmas: Expiatory actions which are necessary
to wipe away the effects of unknown Karmas
from past births and those being done unconsciously moment to moment in this
birth.
Scope of Work in the Gurukula:
The student is given many tasks to do in the
Acharya’s household. Through these tasks, the household is kept running. So it
is not just a laboratory exercise, but is actually fulfilling an important
function. The students virtually produce their own needs by engaging in these
tasks. They take care of themselves under the direction of the Acharya and his
wife.
A sense of responsibility gets instilled in
them.
The cows had to be tended; Lord Krishna as a
child loved this task greatly and has given dignity to it. India’s traditional
love and care for cows has a rich scriptural support which comes from the life
of Lord Krishna in Brindavan.
Today the tasks may have a different nature, but
their essential purpose is the same namely, to survive. The content of the work
is immaterial.
The supervision of the students by the Acharya
and his wife, the Guru ma, made all such tasks a Sadhana. And Sadhana is
what this text is all about.
There are two ways of looking at how a disciple
undertakes his duties in Gurukulam to the best of his abilities.
1. Diligence: From an ordinary
level, ability may be viewed purely as diligence. It pays to be diligent, to
have a hard-working disposition. Diligence brings with it success in any venture.
There is much more to one’s ability than just that.
2. Perfection: At a deeper
level, one may view “best” as the desire for Perfection in work, regardless of
any material gain, i.e. the pursuit of perfection for its own sake. This, too,
will improve the profitability of the work, but the gain in character outweighs
that.
To attain this perfection requires a highly
developed mind, not just a hard-working mind. It requires a level of
concentration of a very high order to keep focused on the details of a
particular task. To be meticulous, orderly, neat, and fully focused brings out
the “hidden benefit” of Perfection. These are found to be very essential for
our Sadhana later.
We will take a break and see how Guru guides His students, His disciple, to perfection.
Nothing pleases the guru more than seeing the
disciple stand on his or her own two feet; at some point the disciple must do
the practices alone, eventually reaching the goal.
“Once a young man
went to a saint and became his disciple. The saint said to him: “You write down
whatever you have known and learned about religion and spirituality. It will
benefit you. Then come and show it to me”.
The disciple,
heeding fully to the Guru’s command, started writing in a big notebook whatever
he knew so far in life about religion and spirituality. It took one year for
him to complete it. He brought the notebook and handed over to the Guru.
The saint opened
the notebook and glanced over several pages for a while. Then he said, “This is
indeed written with clarity and mental focus. It can really give the reader the
needed spiritual fillip to tread the path of spirituality. Your one year of
hard work is reflected in the contents. However, it is rather too long. Can you
please do a precis writing and reduce the length?”
The disciple agreed
and went back. It took five years for him to condense his ideas and reduce it
to half of its original length. He brought it to his Guru. The guru leafed
through it and said, “Well done! Ideas are very clear and the writing style is
excellent! However, I want you to make it considerably more brief”.
The disciple was
disappointed when he heard this. However, bowing to the Guru’s wish, he started
rewriting it. It took 10 years for him to finish the task of condensing all his
ideas to just 5 pages. He submitted it to the Guru saying, “Master, I have
condensed all that I have understood on spirituality in these 5 pages. I am
thankful to you for making me fit for grasping this truth”.
The guru went
through the five pages fully and thoroughly. Then he said, “Extremely well
written! You have achieved it purely through your concentration and spiritual
austerities. Yet, there is a little shortcoming in this. Try to rectify it”.
Years went by. The
guru was getting old. He became bed ridden. The time had almost come for the
guru to leave his mortal body.
The disciple came
to the guru and prostrated before him. He handed over a piece of paper to the
guru. The guru glanced it. There was nothing written in it.
Continued……
Love.
