1. Rukmini: In any cosmic cycle, there are times when one has to subordinate kuladharma for a higher calling.
2. Nahusha: My experience is that the man who bestows alms on the deserving, speaks kind words, tells the truth and abstains from doing injury to any creature attains moksha.
There can be no omnibus prescription as regards choosing the higher between truth and giving alms, or between kind behaviour and not harming any creature. A fine sense of judgment in accordance with the context is the proper Dharma for that occasion. In certain situations, speaking the truth may harm a person, and in other situations, not harming a harmful creature may cause harm to the entire world. Hence, you have to fine-tune your sense of relative merit of Dharma.
By his own acts, one may move in the Karmic cycle to human existence, or heavenly life, or birth in the lower animal kingdom.
The sentient being, who follows the tenets of virtue and righteousness will be born as a human being; if he attains the highest consciousness, he may be liberated; and if he indulges in base and foul actions, he may be born in the next cycle in the lower animal kingdom.
The Atman is beyond the Kāranas of sound, taste, smell, sight and touch. The beauty is in discovering it through your intellect, and then by going beyond the intellect and into the realm of the highest consciousness.
Through illusion, the Ātmā becomes subservient to the intellect. The intellect, though known to be subservient to the Ātmā, becomes the director of the latter. The intellect is brought into play by acts of perception; the mind is self-existent. The intellect does not cause the sensation, but the mind does it through sensory perception. This is the difference between the mind and the intellect.
3. Vasudeva: Let us not take democracy to the extremity. We have already seen the consequences of this malady. Extreme democracy ends up in Kamsa.
4. Kapila Muni: The Sāṃkhya system teaches you the interplay between matter, energy and void. You can perceive the four gross elements of earth, water, fire and air with your sensory perceptions, but the subtle element of Akasha (Space) can only be perceived through deep consciousness. That is the crucial element that produces the duality between Purusha (The Cosmos) and Prakriti (Nature, as on Earth) through mutation of elemental balance. Understand the value of Om. It is this shabda that will lead you to an understanding of the Akasha. Cosmos is within you, remember.
5. Uddhava: By studying the Vedas and the Upanishads, you would understand the ephemeral nature of life on earth and the evanescent nature of the Ātmā that occupies this temporary abode called the body. Vedānta relieves you of your sensory attachments. You should look at Krishna as a manifestation of the divine as in yourself, or in me, or in everyone else. The mind is clouded by ignorance of Maya. By learning yoga, you will be able to control the functions of the mind in a way that will enable you to reach the highest stage of consciousness and unite yourself with the Brahman. Achievement of this unity is yoga. You will be absolutely blissful when you reach this state. Anahada chakra of the body unifies with the cognition with shabda. Mere memorization of the shāstras is not enough. One needs to live through the līlā of an accomplished yogi to be accomplished in Dharma.
The pitfalls of entrusting responsibility to own blood, and not the ablest, have been the undoing of many an empire.
Weapons only give expression to what is there in your mind. No just war can be won without understanding the nature of the enemy. When battles are fought not on current evidence of tactics and strategy but on historical dogma and authorities, defeat is guaranteed. Fighting an unscrupulous enemy with high morals and ethics is sure suicide.
Battles are won when tactics and action are in perfect unison. Wars are won when wisdom and action are in perfect unison.
A powerful adversary away from your range of weapons is a deadly cause of stress by the sheer apprehension it produces.
Dharma is scared to stay in a house where greed and arrogance are co-residents.
6. Rādhā: Krishna is Jagadguru. The nature of such great gurus is that they learn from everyone, not just from men but also from every animate and inanimate being. If they did not, they would not know the nature of mortality and immortality. They would not be able to distinguish between chitta (human Consciousness) and Chit (Universal Consciousness).
7. Vidura: The Purusha Sukta places the feet as the most inferior among all organs. So, the question as to why we express respect towards elders by touching their feet is only natural. The Purusha of Rig Veda is the Cosmic whole. In this wholeness, where would you locate the head and where would you locate the feet? The tree of creation has its roots at the top and the roots ingest the Cosmic spirit from the top. The Cosmic Purusha can be imagined sitting in the state of shirshasana. The Prakriti is in the same state, to begin with, but it gets modified due to the imbalance of the various gunas (properties of the self): sattva (righteous), rajas (warrior-like) and tamas (depravity), which leads to mundane creation. Samsāra is a cycle by definition, so the feet and the head exist in oneness. For a lay observer, feet are the most important part of a person. Feet are the foundation. A man is able to stand with his spine erect because of our feet. That is the secret of his evolution. A man is the only creature in the universe that has the possibility of evolution along the chakras located in his erect spine--from muladhara to sahsrara chakra is an evolution path. The feet keep him erect, so the feet are like amrita (nectar). That is why we accept charanamrita (nectar of the feet) of respected deities and gurus. A great penance in a place imbues with it great concentration of Shakti, which one can receive if one knows the proper way of meditation. One should sacrifice one's individual interests for the kula, interests of the kula for the town and the interests of the town for the country.
Too much of blind faith to the throne is a weakness.
A king should wish for the prosperity of all and should never set heart on inflicting any misery on any group.
He should pay attention to those who have fallen in distress and adversity. He should not ignore persistent sufferings of those who depend on him, even if the suffering is small.
He should show compassion to all creatures, do what is good for all creatures rather than a select few.
He should never impede the development and growth of agriculture and economic activity by anyone.
He should always be prepared to protect those that depend on him for their safety and security.
He should be fair and accessible to his people. By means of virtue should he attain success, by means of virtue should he sustain it.
He should consider the welfare of his people as his personal responsibility.
He should encourage learning and transmission of knowledge.
He should encourage profit and virtue. Prosperity depends on good deeds. Good deeds depend on prosperity.
He should avoid friendship with the sinful.
He should never misuse wealth, use harsh speech nor inflict extreme or cruel punishments.
He should appoint only those as ministers (senior positions in his staff) whom he has examined well for their history of virtue, dispositions, activity and whether they give others their due.
8. Rishi Gargāchārya: Rituals are only symbolisms that mimic Cosmic phenomena.
9. Parashurama: Literacy (sākshartā), qualification (shikshā), education (gnana) and wisdom (vidyā) are four different aspects of learning.
An Avatāra is a human being who has realized his Self, the chitta, and has achieved a union with the Universal Consciousness, the Brahman or the Chit. Such a human being can choose to o into eternal samadhi and be liberated instantaneously. Yet, when such a divine being consciously chooses to stay back in the mundane world to guide other human beings, he or she is called an Avatāra. They are equal to rishis in the sense that they have the same level of wisdom and elevation of consciousness, but they are far higher than rishis because the rishis do not possess the capacity to perform the Karma of dynamic change by themselves. They have to depend on the dynamic action of the Kshatriyas to put their guidance into practice. An Avatāra is a unique combination of Brāhma, or high consciousness, and Kshātra, dynamic action. Kāla is the greatest mystery and also the easiest to understand if you are guided in the right way by a guru. Veda, Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Nyāya and Vaisheshila can make sense only if you understand the movement of Kāla first. yasyāmatam tasya matam matam yasya na veda sah|
avijnātam vijānatām vijnātamavijānatām|| Of the one who has not come to a conclusion and is open, he has the potential to know. Of the one who has formed a definite opinion, he has closed the door to knowledge. For those who [think they] know, they do not know. For those who [think they] do not know, they know. Everything in the Cosmic Order, the Rtam, and all other universes are in the nature of curves and cycles. There is no straight line anywhere. So, Kāla moves in a cycle. It is for you to recognize the cycle. Once you recognize Kāla, you transcend it. If you move through a circle, you reach the same point again and again. You can term it as moving backwards or moving forward. The arrow of time is a spiral cycle. You can roll it out and roll it back. It is definitely not a straight line. At an infinite distance, it becomes a cycle from a deeper perspective. Once the five fundamental elements of space, fire, water, air and earth combine with the transformative energy called Shakti, and the consciousness called Shiva, the manifestation happens. The substance is always in the Universal Consciousness, or Brahman. Brahman is not what the eyes can see, but it is that by which the eyes can see. When Shiva and Shakti fuse into Brahman, unlimited energy is released, fusing everything into one.
The play of consciousness, energy and intellect is depicted in various ways in tantra philosophy. While you are able to find the Brahman within through yoga and Sāṃkhya, and even through jnana, here is this method of finding the Brahman in the elements, in Nature itself. This is truly the divine in every little nook and cranny of the universe.
There is a huge misconception that the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra helps you conquer death. Mrityu is not death because it is not a cessation. It is just a new beginning. Once you understand the nature of Kāla, you will welcome it and not be afraid of it. Why would any sane person wish to remain attached to this body form? As soon as you have discovered the Self, the body ceases to matter. It is then just a vehicle to take your energies to the highest chakra. The vāk, or the reflection of shabda of Akasha is divided into four parts. The one that you utter in your wakeful state through your lips is called vaikhari, the one you communicate in your dream state through your imagination is called madhyamā, the mode of communication in your deep sleep state is called pashyanti and the one that is attained in the highest stage of consciousness is called parā. Brāhma and Kshātra are the greatest qualities, but in human existence, vaishya-like and shudra-like qualities are equally important as that is what allows human beings to remain in a state of service to the highest consciousness of the Self and the Universe, and to be useful to the other human beings by being able to provide goods and services.
10. Prince Vainateya: We must know that there is something higher in this world beyond the affairs of our tribe. That something is called Dharma. Even an animal can live a life and die, but a human being must live and die with honour and dignity. There is no honour and dignity greater than protecting Dharma, the order of nature. When we follow Dharma, our Karma gives us the wherewithal to beat the wheel of Time.
11. Bhishma: In a Dharmic tradition, rights are adjuncts of duties. Rights are given to a king so that he can perform his Rājya Dharma. The concept of Dharma envisages an organic existence of mankind as a whole, joined by consciousness as a wave in an ocean with many different waveforms as part of one whole.
A king who does not rule with Dharma on his side is bound to come to grief. He not only brings himself to ruin, but also brings the Rājya to ruin, affecting the subjects as well.
12. Rishi Sandipani: Sanātana warriors have repeatedly made the mistake of wounding the lion and letting him go. If you wound a dangerous animal, it will kill you in its second strike. Do not wound to chase away. Wound to kill. A king's only duty is to his people, not to his ego. Bravery alone is not enough for a victory. A victory requires a combination of guts, blood, brains, tactics, strategy and uncommon common sense.
Women are the ones who carry Dharma on their shoulders. When men go astray, it is the women who bring them back on the path of Dharma. This is why women occupy the central place in a Dharmic society. It is also the reason that women and Brahmins are the first ones to be targeted by marauders who wish to destroy Sanātana Dharma.
13. King Revata: No worldly objective can be fulfilled without Shraddhā. Shraddhā is not blind faith. It is that state of conviction that gives you a glimpse of both true and false and gives you an anchor on which to base your journey towards truth.
14. Yudhishthira: Listen to the essence of Dharma and absorb it; do not do unto others what you do not like done to you. One who possesses truth, charity, forgiveness, good conduct, benevolence, observance of the rites of his order and mercy is a Brahmin. One who pursues the attainment of Brahman is a Brahmin.
Brāhma makes the sun rise and ascend. The goddess of earth perambulates about the Sun. The Dharma sets the Sun. Truth is the actual Sun and the Sun is established in Truth only.
The self-study (Swadhyaya) of the Vedas is divinity in a Brahmin. Penance is the quality like a virtuous person in a Brahmin. Death is human-like quality in a Brahmin. Criticizing others is a conduct like a non-virtuous person. Nobody is born a Brahmin. Unless he has these qualities, he cannot be termed as a Brahmin.
The art of archery instills divinity in a Kshatriya. Oblation is the quality of virtuosity in a Kshatriya. Fear is his humanity. Abandoning people who are under the protection of a Kshatriya is conduct akin to a non-virtuous person in the Kshatriya.
Breath is like a mantra in the performance of rites. The mind is the performer of all rites in the course of yajna. Only shlokas of the Vedas, termed richa, accept oblation. The yajna cannot surpass or transgress the riches.
One's mother is heavier than the earth, one's father is higher than the heavens, the mind is faster than the wind and our worries are more numerous than straws.
The friend of a traveller is his companion. The physician is the friend of one who is sick and a dying man's friend is charity.
Pride, if renounced, makes one lovable, renouncing desire makes one wealthy and to renounce avarice is to obtain happiness.
Anger is the invincible enemy. Covetousness constitutes a disease that is incurable. He is noble who desires the well-being of all creatures and he is ignoble who is without mercy.
He who has no debts is truly happy. The greatest wonder is that countless people die everyday, yet the living wish to live forever. Argument leads to no certain conclusion, the Srutis are different from one another; there is not even one rishi whose opinion can be accepted by all. The truth about Dharma and duty is hidden in the cave of our hearts, therefore, that alone is the path along which the great have trod. This world full of ignorance is like a pan. The sun is fire; the days and nights are fuel. The months and the seasons constitute the wooden ladle. Time is the cook that is cooking all creatures in that pan with such aids. That is the news.
15. Krishna: To ask for material prosperity from a deity is silly. After all, the goal of life is liberation. Why would any deity grant a devotee more chains of bondage even if he asks for it? Does the uninformed choice of a devotee matter to the highest consciousness of a deity? One only has to focus on the inside and realization will come to one, that there is little to choose between the Cosmos and your inner consciousness. Shabda, or word, is not a mere verbal delusion which we call viparyāya. It denotes one's state of consciousness. It is in accordance with Dharma to minimize depravity in the land.
Do not worry about bad Karma. Karma is related to your mental state, not the outward action of kriyā.
When one is helpless in front of krodha (anger), māda (arrogance) and matsarya (envy), one is not fit to be called a Brahmin. Anger is useful for a warrior, useless for a sage. Arrogance is useful for a shudra, for it makes him produce more in competition with others, but envy is useless for all. Shikshā (studies) and vidyā (learning) are totally different. You can get shikshā from any ordinary person, but you come to a gurukula to get vidyā. Vidyā defines and guides the human life itself, whereas shikshā simply refines your brain. Vidyā equips you to go to the root of the relationship between Chit and chitta, Purusha and Prakriti, Jeeva (Individual) and Ātmā, and Ātmā and Brahman.
When you seek morality in a book, you do not need to raise your consciousness. Even animals have their code of morality, which comes to them instinctively. As a human being, you are bestowed with the gift of self-awareness. Using that awareness, you can rise to the level of the highest consciousness and witness the ultimate pramāna of samadhi. Vidyā is what you get with an open mind; morality is what you get from a closed Book. Nobody learns anything without the flame of desire in his heart. Good desire leads to good results. Karma-Saṃskāra is the cycle of good and bad desires; their channelization is done by active intellect. Only then, the path of going beyond the intellect and Individual Consciousness, or chitta, opens up. We have the pramānas for the Prakriti, and pramānas for the Purusha. War is not limited to just fighting the army of the enemy. One has to fight the mind, energy and resources of the enemy as well. Conservation of our own resources till the time we have the right opportunity is more important than the Kshatriya code of honour.
Exalting leaders to superhuman status is a sign of escapism in the population. One is protected only by protecting Dharma, and this principle is applicable to each one in the public. Only when each limb of the population protects his svadharma and subordinates his svadharma to the larger Kula Dharma and Rashtra Dharma, does the Rashtra become great. Rāja Dharma is about securing the best interests of the subjects. It is not about the honour of the king, but about the honour of the public and the kingdom. The ego of the king should, in no way, affect the decision-making. The purpose is always more important than the process. A king should have the wisdom to comprehend the nature of his life's purpose. That purpose ought to be secured by exercising all available choices of sāma, dāma, danda and bheda--reconciliation, allurement, punishment and subversion. It ill behooves a king to go into a frontal battle if he is not well-prepared for it because it will not only bring misery to his people but also invite sure defeat. The defeat would result in plunder and deprivation of his public and devastation of the countryside. Truly, nobody can save one's deep convictions without backing them up with arms and valour. Tolerating intolerance will surely be the end of tolerance, as the intolerant will emerge victorious and finish off the tolerant. There is no blame of violence upon a person who kills the violent.
No soldier is forced against his will to take part in a war. There is no conscription in Aryavarta. Soldiers join the Army for the twin objectives of serving their land and for a generous pay or artha. Even if they are draftees, they enjoy superior status within their communities. Fighting for their king is their svadharma and dying for him in a war is their natural Dharma. They have done it consciously, and must be treated as a part of the overall persona of their king. If their king is vile, those fighting for him partake the king's character. It is, therefore, not right for us to grieve for them. They have earned their liberation by an honest performance of their job. Their dedication to the job they took up in their life is beyond their Self.
Judgment is the most difficult thing in taking a decision whether we need to follow svadharma, kuladharma or Rashtra Dharma in a given situation. Never let a powerful enemy escape when you have him cornered. Either kill him or de-fang him. If you do not destroy his capacity to wage another war, there is nobody more foolish than you on this earth, as the Rashtra would suffer for this folly, even if you are, yourself, not killed or destroyed.
Winning the war of Righteousness, the Dharma Yuddha, is the ultimate goal. Winning the war means that we should win the last decisive battle. In between, there will be many battles. If we look to win each one of them, we will lose the war. We must conserve our resources, our civilian public and our armies to win the war. The retreat is as important a part of war as fighting a battle. We should be able to choose our battle, and not give battle at the time and choosing of our enemies.
There is great merit in insecurity. It usually keeps men on the straight and narrow. A secure man rarely feels compelled to do his duties. That is why gurus have recommended continuous churning of consciousness through various rituals and examinations of character. A satisfied king soon comes to grief, so does an unsatisfied Brahmin. It is the duty of the Brahmin to goad the kings to greater glory in pursuit of Dharma, and duty of the king to meet the meagre wants of the Brahmins.
Those who do not have the capacity to mould public opinion are condemned to follow it in a way that may not always be in the interest of the Rājya, Dharma or Rta.
The problem of democracy is that it engenders hope in every person that he, too, can wield power, not just an enabler of performing duties, but as an end in itself. The democratic form of government places more stress on counting the men, rather than weighing the men. When the count becomes more important than the weight, extraordinary situations arise.
The Shāstras do not confer the status of a Brahmin or a Kshatriya by birth. It is the quality that a man acquires that gives him his distinction.
As far as possible, our processes should be commensurate with the nobility of the objectives they set to achieve. Objectives, however, are greater than the process.
The universe is like an inverted banyan tree. The roots are going upwards link to the Brahman. With its roots upward and branches downwards this primeval tree is everlasting. With roots upwards refer to our Brahmā with four faces, the secondary creator who is situated above the seven worlds of Bhur, Bhuvah Svah, Mahah, etc. The branches downwards refer to all the denizens of creation in the form of humans, animals, birds, fish, plants, insects, etc. The indestructible nature of this tree is due to its being avyayan or everlasting like a river with no end; a tree it is impossible to uproot until one is weaned from sense gratification and material desires by the mercy of the Supreme and ātmā tattva is achieved by His grace. The word chhandamasi refers to the injunctions and prohibitions of the Vedic scriptures, which are symbolized by the leaves that flourish or dwindle in proportion to the Karma or reactions to the actions one accrues by adhering to or ignoring such provisions. Leaves are very instrumental in preserving the longevity of trees. Whoever has knowledge of this tree, as just explained, comprehends the Vedic scriptures as the knowledge of non-attachment and knows ways and means of uprooting this tree and allows one to achieve ātmā tattva. If anyone in this universe thinks that his sensory perceptions that are like a few leaves in this endless maze of trunks, leaves and roots is all that there is to this tree, he is totally under delusion. The journey from asatya to satya is a very exciting journey if only you realize that there is a journey. Otherwise, you come with your eyes closed and you will go away with your eyes closed. The sum of total energy in the Universe will always be constant. What we perceive through our ordinary senses is just the form that can be sensed, the sound, the form, the smell, the taste and the touch corresponding to the various elements in the universe. This knowledge is but gross knowledge. The real knowledge or satya is like going up this tree into the single root that is connecting you to the top--to the Brahman.
Those whom the Ishvara wants destroyed; the first thing that he does is to deprive them of discrimination and discretion. Rta and Dharma are intertwined. You cannot destroy Dharma without upsetting the forces of Rta, and that will destroy not just your body, but the quintessence of collective consciousness as well. The gift of identity, and intellect is given to us so that we can use them to go beyond the intellect and into the nirākāra, nirguna, nirvikalpa state of Chit. However, that is the state of niranjana, and it is not possible to reach that state with attachments and greedy affiliations.