India: Holy land of
Godward action
India
(Bharath) is designated as the Holy
Land of Godward activity (karma-bhumi
or karma-kshetra). All people
everywhere are pilgrims trekking toward the Holy Land of Godward activity. Karma is the sine qua non of India; it
holds forth the divinity of activity and turns all activity into spiritual
discipline (sadhana). This is the
reason for the names by which India is known.
The
sacred scriptures (sruthi) of this
land loudly proclaim that the individual is the architect of their own fate,
high or low status in society, luxury or poverty, liberty or bondage. “Whatever
form the person craves now, while alive in this world, that form the person
attains after death (Sa yatha
krathurasmin loke purusho bhavathi; thathethah prathye bhavathi)”, declare
the Vedas.
Therefore,
it is clear that karma decides birth and that luxury or poverty, character,
attitude, the level of intelligence, the joys and grief of this life are the
earnings gathered during previous lives.
Birth, progress based on
desires, activities
Some
people, though of noble birth, engage themselves in evil deeds. Others, though
born in castes considered low, are engaged in good deeds. Why? This problem
agitates us often. Some people born as brahmins perform bad deeds; in other
words, they descend into passionate (rajasic)
and ignorant (thamasic) levels.
People born in inferior castes rise into the pure (sathwic) level and do good deeds. Brahmins of the type mentioned
are brahmins by birth only and not by virtue of their deeds. The others are low
only by birth and not low at all by virtue of their deeds. The Vedas require
coordination of birth and behaviour in castes.
Let
us consider an example. Kausika was a warrior (kshatriya), that is to say, a person of passionate (rajasic) nature. However, as the result
of his deeds in previous lives, pure (sathwic)
tendencies and attitudes entered his consciousness, and he went about adhering
strictly to truth. He transformed himself and sublimated his consciousness into
a pure state. The mantra that he uttered and that emanated from that level of
consciousness is the Gayatri. He is known as Viswamitra, the friend (mithra) of all (viswa), for he became the well-wisher of the entire world!
Brahmins
have accepted and acclaimed that mantra as a divine gift; they have revered and
recited it and derived immense bliss from it. Kausika was therefore a warrior
by birth, but he became a brahmin by activity, and he was accepted as such by
the Vedas, which emanated from the voice of God.
Social divisions reflect
time, place, circumstance
Modern
thinkers may have some doubt about this. This is quite natural. Let us see what
that doubt is. When it is said that divine will laid down the castes, should
they not exist in all lands? Surely, they should not be confined to this
country, India (Bharath), they say.
But there is no rule that whatever is created is necessarily to be found to
exist everywhere! It is not possible to realize that expectation.
It
is only natural that restrictions and preferences concerning the process of
living comprising the code have to be established with reference to each
region, its atmosphere and climate, its peculiarities and specialities.
Only
God knows and decides what should happen to which, and where, and why. All else
are powerless. Events like birth are determined by circumstances of space,
time, causation, and the like. They are not bound by our needs or reactions,
favourable or unfavourable. For this reason, mere observation and study of what
is patent will only lead to confusing doubts about castes. Such doubts are
inevitable, for they are bred by the ego. The core of reality is separate and
distinct from the fabrications of the ego. When people start acting according
to the whims of fancy and speak whatever comes to mind, we can only
characterize them as models of sheer ignorance.
Love.
