Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya talks about ‘Vinayam’/humility,  Sri Adishankaracharya who composed beautiful verses of ‘Saundharyalahari’ in this work of art entire verses praising the splendor of  Supreme Goddess who symbolizes the epitome of beauty, every stanza describes the incomparable loveliness of  Goddess that is why it is called ‘Saundharyalahari’/stream of beauty, Acharya at the end of the composition humbly offering all those verses at the  lotus feet of supreme Goddess, it shows the altitude of humbleness.  Further, he says that the supreme Goddess is the source of excellence in the construction of words, therefore all those compositions belong to her.    Usually, at the end of every composition, poets who compose the verses put his name as a signature at the end, or describe the fruitfulness of recitation of the particular verses in the form of Phalashruthi.  Sri Adishankaracharya who is divine personified on Earth, composed the endless beauty of his consort with humbleness, even the deities incarnates on Earth will follow all the disciplines of an ordinary human, they do not reveal themselves as divine personified, they live with utmost humility and they will maintain this quality in every walks of their life.  They came down to Earth to fulfill an objective; during their lifetime on Earth, they follow the rules of an ordinary human, so that they can attain the objective of their incarnation.    It is a lesson for people like us to learn those virtues.  We should learn to live without ego; it is a bigger obstacle for attaining self-realization and God-realization.   The divine personified did not reveal their immense strength, they have shown endless attributes, and they were void of impurities.  Supreme Lord personified as Sri Adishankaracharya in order to teach us the true nature of a devotee.  Goddess Sita who was a personification of Goddess Sri Mahalakshmi taught the lessons of humility.  Sri Adishankaracharya composed numerous sacred hymns and dedicated all those to respective deities. 

Vidhya Vinayasampanne Bhramane  Gavi Hasthini| Shuni Cheva Kshapake Cha Panditha: Samadharshina: || (Srimadh Bhagavath Gita – V-11 )

Therefore, the essential requirement for learning all the art form is humbleness, an individual without humility is considered as dull even though he is prominent in all scriptures.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya talks about Paropakara/ practice of benevolence, whenever we get an opportunity we should be willing to perform charity, it will bring permanent happiness and eternal appreciation to the family, society will always remember those great souls even after their death, generous-minded people will always be in the hearts of the people for their contributions made to society, in this way they made other peoples life better.  There are various ways to assist people, digging well will quench the thirst of a large part of the community and even the animals, building shelter house will be beneficial for the people who conduct long journeys, building shrine and conduct worship would bring endless bliss and piousness, construction of garden and serve people with buttermilk during summer, the highest of the pious act is serving the meal to needy, sharing knowledge is considered as the supreme act of benevolence.   Whenever we get an opportunity to perform the charity we should do it immediately without any second thought, children should practice benevolence from the early years of childhood.  The art of ‘giving is a joy’, it will bring supreme bliss to the doer.  God has given us wealth to perform charity, he gave us money to wipe off tears of distressed people, not to feed our sense organs limitlessly, if we do so, he will take away all that wealth.  Everyone should keep one-tenth of their income for charity purposes, this habit should put into practice from childhood.  Then the child grows up into a responsible adult who will perform charities abundantly.  Charity is another form of righteous deed, piousness earned by performing these deeds will follow an individual even after his death, expenses in our life are endless, but whenever we get opportunity we should spend for charity as well, we should not postpone charity at any cost, later we may not get the opportunity, or we will not have to heart to do so.   Whenever we meet great souls who constantly served our society, we should take a vow to perform charity, in this way we can collectively take part in building a better society.   Therefore we should make the practice of performing charity according to our capacity.  In this way, we can attain welfare while living in this word and piousness which follows even after death.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya continues, everyone should practice non-violence with their Thrikarana/words, action and intellect, if a child set fire on the house, we take immediate action to shut down the fire, we should have this attitude towards the people who commit crime, it helps to purify the intellect of others too.  A twice-born while initiating to asceticism accept non-violence as a primary vow, it ensures the safety of creatures in the vicinity of an ascetic, vow of non-violence applicable to all Ashramadharma, but an ascetic has to undergo strict disciplines to follow his vow of non-violence, he is not allowed to cook, he should abstain from any activities which are listed as violence.   Another Samanyadharma is truthfulness, any action which is followed by word and intellect is called truthfulness, Supreme spirit has given us the ability to speak the truth, to convey the ideas in the heart, truth should provide welfare to all,   desire and anger lacks truth if someone finding fault in other with an intention to degrade the person won’t be considered as a truthful act, truth should not hurt anyone or bring afflictions, while conveying a truth it is essential to bring out in a composed state, it should be pleasant to listeners.  Every individual should practice a vow of truthfulness with Thrikarana/body, mind and action.  Truthfulness has an Avantharaprayojana, when a person practices truthfulness with his Thrikarana, he is forced to think of truth, and eventually every word come out of him would become truthful, it is called excellence in speech/Vaksidhdhi, legend of Abhiramibhattar is an example for this incident, Bhattar a staunch devotee of Goddess Abirami mispronounced New moon day as Full Moon day, Goddess Abirami proved his words are right.  The practice of austerity, cleanliness, and abstaining from theft, are Samanyadharma which should be compulsorily followed by all.  Bodily hygiene augments mental strength, now a day’s people have lost interest in following basic hygiene, cleanliness is essential for all the religious and spiritual rites, if we cannot follow even the basic hygiene how can we achieve mental control? This basic hygiene would bring overall wellbeing to an individual, it should put into practice from early years of childhood.  Our Samnyadharma which is common for all is the practice of  perfect control over sense, we should not keep feeding our senses without any control, we should be controlled in feeding senses.  These five significant Samanyadharma which is the practice of non-violence, truthfulness, personal hygiene, abstaining from theft, and control over sense are the essential requirements for the people of all Varnna.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya!

Paramacharya continues, we have to learn to control the swiftness of thoughts, the practice of  Yoga is the medicine for control over thoughts, it should be reachable for all those people who are suffering from the illnesses, therefore we have to thoroughly understand the fact that Yoga is not only meant for Rishis or ascetics, it is meant for all common people like us.  Lord Krishna who symbolizes Yoga, has perfect control over his senses, like our preceptors.  Our illustrious Yogis Vidhyaranya and Sri SadhashivaBhramendhral recommend two powerful instruments that are internal and external to control our thoughts.   These two tools are the performance of charities, the performance of spiritual and religious rites of Swadharma, sun worship, the performance of fire sacrifices, recitation of Veda,  and help people who are suffering from poverty and distress if we engage our mind in doing any of these practices it will become serene.  You can see collective efforts in the practice of spiritual and religious rites, a number of people contribute physically as well as financial help in the performance of various tasks like initial preparation for spiritual rites, and these are the tools to bring perfect control over senses.  A person without control over senses is equivalent to an untamed elephant. Our mind has the power of an elephant; if it has no control it will be of no use.  We have heard about Sage Vishwamithra and Lord Anjaneya who had won over senses, that is why they have immense strength, we also have the same intellect, but we often neglect the usage of it.  Vedanta describes the whole Universe and its living beings were created by the intellect, once we controlled our intellect with intense practice of meditation and Yoga, afterward it will start to obey our commands, hence the important limb of Yoga is the practice of non-violence.  Manusmrithi, as well as Yogashasthra, persistently says non- violence as the essential requirement for achieving control over senses.  Every pious deed has endless merits, which involuntarily follows the primary deed, we are visiting Mutt to pay obeisance to a preceptor and witness spiritual rites, in between we get the opportunity to see numerous Veda Pundits and scholars, ascetics, happens to listen to religious discourses and music etc… these are called Avantharaprayojana.  The practice of non-violence with the Thrikarana/mind, deed, and words gives purity of intellect.  It is one of the greatest weapons to maintain peace in the family as well as in society.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya speaks about Samanyadharma/disciplines which are common for all the Varnnas which was written in the Manusmrithi.  The basic and essential virtues are respect and devotion to Mother, Father, Preceptor and deities, non-violence is another important virtue, we should not give any physical affliction to any of the creatures on the Earth and sense of non-violence are one of the major instrument for the practice of Yoga.  Yogashasthra defines the meaning of Yoga as bringing perfect control over senses, and control over thoughts.  Desires are the root cause for rousing all the emotions, it keeps burning like fire, and therefore we are undergoing various mental and physical afflictions because of lack of control over our thoughts.  Our mind is an instrument for worldly bondage as well as Moksham, our thoughts has great influence in our lives, we have two choices before us, we can use our intellect for building up worldly bondage or liberation from birth, aging and death, intellectuals and wise people choose the latter.  Our intellect never follows our intentions, most of the time it wanders through the darkness of ignorance, it never co-operates with the individual, we can control speech by observing the vow of silence, we can close eyes to avoid contact with the things, but it is impossible to control the mind, hence one thing is very evident that our thoughts are not in our control.  If the mind was under our control, it should listen to our commands, but often it reacts opposite to our intention.  A lunatic cannot control his speech in the same manner, we are not in a position control our thoughts, if we have perfect control over mind it should listen to our orders, it kindles various emotions like sorrow, fear, anxiousness etc.  It is essential to practice meditation and Yoga to bring perfect control over senses, it brings the permanent presence of Supreme spirit in our hearts which remove all the impurities, ego, pride, jealous, anger, etc..  When there is calmness in the mind we can feel the presence of the Supreme Lord who is supreme bliss.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya continues, people of all these four Varnnas should practice living in harmony and peace, should be always willing to help others in sufferings of poverty, and distress.  We cannot lend a hand to all our thoughts; it has a short-living nature.  The legend of ardent devotee of Lord Shiva is an ideal example for Varnnashrama Dharmam, Nandanar who was born in a low rank, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva refused to enter inside the shrine though he was reverentially invited by the priests, Lord Shiva ordered Nandikeshvara to slightly move from his place so that Nandanar could envisage the idol of Lord Shiva, in this way Nandanar strictly followed his Varnnadharma.   In the olden days, in every village there were people of four Varnnas lived amicably, even though they had minor issues with the neighboring villages, they had compassion, unity and mutual understanding with the Varnnas in their own village, they stand for the rules of their village with other Varnnas.  Those days are gone, wealthy people migrated from villages and settled in big cities and started living in solitude with no sense of compassion or unity, they have forgotten their custom and religious rites, it has become a great opportunity for other religions to interfere in their lives, it happened in villages too.  We have failed to protect our religious and spiritual rites in the initial days; it resulted in the absence of unity and compassion within the Varnnas.  Why should we copy western style in all walks of life? Why not they copy our style of living? All Varnnas should put into practice their duties and responsibilities without any fail because it is not for any personal benefit, it is performed for the welfare of the Universe and its people, it will definitely protect the doer during the troubled times.  Therefore we should not leave our spiritual and religious rites for our livelihood.  We should be caring and compassionate to each other; all Varnna should be able to follow their disciplines fearlessly and sincerely, it would purify their intellect and removes sins and impurities.  Supreme Lord has established the four Varnna and disciplines for the welfare of the soul, each and every one of us is liable to follow those duties and responsibilities; He will give us the strength to follow the Varnnarshramadharma.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya continues, those days there was strict discipline in the four Varnnas, therefore a country outlived without a King, there was a Village committee to ensure the safety and the welfare of the people, so there was not much crime because people were strictly followed their Varnna Dharma and they had a firm belief in scriptures.  As the year’s passes by, people lost their interest in following Varnna Dharma, they lost respect for each Varnna, and crimes were increased though there was a large number of police and prisons.   We have four Varnnas and each Varnnas follows different disciplines but these four Varnnas earns the same fruit of piousness while lifetime on Earth and after leaving mortal coil, probably that will be the reason for the continuation of Sanathana Dharma.   Acharya beautifully narrates about labor specialization, if there are four sons in a family, the eldest one will be doing spiritual and religious duties, the second one will be keeping a record of income and expenditure, the third one will be buying things for the family and the last one will be taking care of the agricultural and farm related works, in this way four of the sons divide their labor between them, it helps to run the family smoothly.  In the same manner, we have four Varnnas/Chathurvarnnya, and each Varnnas strive for the welfare of the Universe and its people.  A twice-born has to follow strict disciplines and austerities, recite Veda and performs Vedic rite for the welfare of Universe and its people, Kshathriya ensures peace and safety of the country, Vaishya takes care of commerce and agriculture, and Shudhras serves above three Varnnas, these are established for the smooth functioning of worldly matters, ultimately it provides peace and welfare.  This distinctiveness of our Sanathana Dharma is the reason for its permanence.  It is our responsibility to ensure peace and compassion among the Varnnas, we should have unity but it should not create any obstacle for the performance of rite or following austerities and disciplines.  We are not aware to strike balance between the Varnnas, therefore we need to have unity as well as difference.  We should have a love for all the Varnnas, like a mother who showers unconditional love to her children; it should not be an obstacle for them to follow their disciplines.

Sage of Kanchi -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Parmacharya describes, we have to strictly follow medication to get rid of any illness, during this period of medication doctor advise us to follow harsh food habits, body causes illnesses, if there is no body there would not be any illnesses at all, a doctor knows what type of medicine and dosage should be given to a patient, surprisingly there is a way we can strive for not to get trapped inside the body.   Veda affirms Dharmashathra is the instrument as well as   best cure for the mental and physical afflictions of worldly existence ultimately liberates the soul from repeated births.   Manu who is the author of Dharmashasthra/Manusmrithi advise various techniques to get freed from repeated births and welfare of the soul.  We have seen the difficulties in curing physical ailments, if this is the case with the physical ailments just imagine the strictness we have to undergo to cure ailments of our soul.  Water carried in various pots added in a pond cannot make out any difference in the water which represents supreme knowledge.  Manusmrithi describes truthfulness as the highest of virtues; an individual should have basic requirements like respect and devotion to Mother, Father, Preceptor, and deities.  He should be helpful to needy people. He should have good control over senses, he should follow simplicity, should not be a spend thrift, he should have a habit of spending money on charities, he should strictly follow truth, Bhramacharya/chastity, celibacy, non-violence, and should not steal other's properties or should not have illicit relationships.  Every individual has to follow Vishesha Dharma according to their Varnna, it is essential to provide seclusion while observing those rites, it would help them to perform the rite with intense devotion and without any disturbance.  Everyone should practice selflessness, love, and compassion.  The reasons for constant conflicts, arguments, mental and physical afflictions are the results of lack of observance of righteousness; we are following harsh food habits while undergoing medication to cure our bodily illnesses, in the same manner, we have to strictly follow our spiritual as well religious rites to attain overall well-being.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya narrates the four branches of Varnna such as Bhramana, Kshathriya, Vaishya and Shudhra mentioned in scriptures, each Varnna has to follow certain duties and responsibilities, they should strictly abide by the rules, should not duplicate the duties of other Varnnas.  A twice-born has to follow his traditional dress-code; he has to perform spiritual and religious rites, he has to wear a symbolic mark on the forehead according to his family traditions, he should carry out sun worship three times a day, he should  learn and recite sacred chants, he should give lessons on Vedic chants without expecting any financial benefit, he should strictly follow disciplines, duties and the responsibilities mentioned in scriptures, he should not take intoxicating drinks or any drugs which forms the addiction.    Although these four Varnnas belongs to the same religion, it is definitely unacceptable to copy the duties and responsibilities of a Varnna by a person from another Varnna, they are not allowed to sit together and eat, or partake meals from the house of another Varnna, or should not live in the same house or  perform marriage from other Varnna.  Ours is a unique religion with diversified disciplines, even though we are amicably living in a society, all are willing to follow our sacred scriptures, a person who follows duties and responsibilities of his Varnna becomes righteous, but when it is copied by another Varnna becomes an immoral act.  We have a firm belief in our sacred scriptures /Smrithi and Shruthi, and Dharmashasthra which recommend disciplines for the welfare of Universe and its living beings.  We can see a lot of differences in the lifestyle of these four Varnnas, it hurts sometimes, but the truth is that scriptures insist individuals follow their duties and responsibilities to cross the ocean of worldly existence.  Hence, Sanathana Dharma is perpetual, the uniqueness of Sanathana Dharma lies in its diversified disciplines.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya describes about the deeds which could provide permanent bliss to the soul, all the deeds should be performed as Eshvararpanam/ with the complete sense of surrendering to Supreme spirit, supreme Lord Parameshvara symbolizes wisdom and knowledge, therefore all the deeds should be surrendered to Him, and it will bring permanent bliss to the worshiper.  Performance of any righteous, religious or spirituals deeds which are followed by our ancestors for several years is considered as propitious, therefore it is always favorable to pursue the same rites followed in the family for several years,   it should not be performed for personal motive, or for the welfare of the family, and it should be performed selflessly and capitulate to supreme spirit, any deed performed without the influence of anger and greed is treated as promising.  We have to perform righteous deeds with the intellect, words and body, all our earning should be converted as righteousness; these pious deeds will give its fruits to the doer during his difficult times.  A righteous person will be treated with great admiration in the society he lives in; even the animals will respect him. Srimad Ramayan describes the pathetic plight of Ravana who was abandoned by his own brother Vibheeshana for his unscrupulous act, though he had numerous army of demons, he had to face a terrible death.  Rama who is the essence of Dharma was persistently served by humans as well as monkey warriors, therefore whoever follows Dharma without desire or anger or selfish motive, whoever performs righteous deeds fearlessly with strict discipline would be protected by Dharma always, and it will give permanent bliss.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Sri Paramacharya describes,  Newton’s Third Law  is  every action has equal as well as the opposite reaction, even our scriptures explain the same.   In the first phase, we have discussed earning for living to keep us comfortable while living on the Earth, in the second phase we have to strive for the welfare of our soul which has no death.   Performing righteous deeds, learning sacred scriptures, sharing knowledge, building worship place, conducting pilgrimage, holy dip in sacred rivers,  performing charity, following certain disciplines according to one’s belief, wearing Rudraksham and sacred ashes, regular sun worship, the performance of homage to ancestors, are some of the pious deeds which provide an abundance of meritorious reward.   These are fruitful acts that could bring merit while living on Earth as well as follows performer even after his death.  A twice-born performing the sun worship three times a day, serving Vedic people,  performing Vedic rites, fire sacrifices, the homage to ancestors, sharing knowledge in scriptures, performing the recitation of sacred chants for the welfare of the Universe.  Every country has its own ruler and currency in existence, supreme Lord Parameshvara is the ruler of the whole Universe, and he has established a kind of currency that is legally binding in the entire Universe that is called righteousness.    Srimadh Ramayan narrates an  incident while Rama leaving Kingdom of Ayodhya in order to follow his father’s vow, Devi Kaushalya immerses in deep thought, Rama leaving for woods for fourteen years, if it was a  journey for short period of time she could have packed his favorite meal, she speaks “ Oh! Raghava, I need not do anything to guard you, there is Dharma to protect you always, you have sincerely followed all the disciplines and followed all the pious deeds fearlessly for all these years, all those fruitful deeds will protect you.”  Hence, it is our responsibility to protect Dharma, without any doubt that will protect the doer.

Sage of Kanchi -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya speak, humans always choose money over grains or rice, money can be useful for a long time, but the grains and rice has perishable nature.  In the olden days, there were not many facilities available to travel, but that did not stop anyone from traveling from one place to another, moreover, it reduced the unnecessary expenditures like ticket fare, food, personal expenditure etc.. They have adopted walking as a means of commuting from one place to another, it kept them hail and healthy in all their lives.   Our tendency to earn money, possession of wealth, properties, cattle etc…never ends, it keeps continuing without knowing the truth of our life span, because everyone wants happiness in their life.  The above is necessary to keep us alive, but it will not follow us after death.   Our body has a perishable nature, but the soul never dies.  Therefore it is necessary to work for the welfare of the soul which has no death.  We all believe in insure our lives while living on Earth, though it is definitely not going to help the insured after his death, in the same manner, we should perform some pious deeds to ensure our soul which has no death at all.   We spend our whole life for the welfare and happiness of our body while living on Earth; we often forget to think of life after death.  A soul has no death, so every individual has the responsibility to perform various righteous deeds to protect his soul even after death.    It is human nature to ensure safety and comfort while traveling, we seek all those coziness not to put ourselves in any kind of troubles, in the same manner, we should perform various pious deeds for the welfare of our soul even after it leaves mortal coil, these good deeds will help our soul to travel in another world without any difficulties, we should not commit any of the sins which put our soul in trouble after death.  We can understand those righteous deeds with the help of sacred scriptures.   The well-known saying   ‘Every action has a reaction’ is pertinent to human life too.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Sri Paramacharya speaks about ‘Manushyadharmam’/duties and responsibilities of humans who perform various deeds in order to earn money and remove hunger, a headache can be removed with swallowing pill, but hunger does not stop with medicine, it keeps coming and going, this illness is one of its kinds same for all and it does not require medication other than food.   Therefore he is working for earning grains or money, he should constantly use his body for various deeds otherwise, it will become waste.    He is utilizing his body for various types of labor to earn grains or money, he works for the family, works for his dependents, and work for himself.  People who are at home has the responsibility to keep the house clean, the number of families constitute a village,  in this way it is the responsibility of  the people of a village to keep their village clean with basic amenities,  people of the village should be responsible like members of the families.  He has to perform duties for himself and others as well. He has to work for the family and for the society as well, work for the welfare of the society, building hospital, park, garden, digging well, etc..  Humans are born with certain responsibilities; he has to take care of himself as well as others too.  A child is taken care of by its parents during childhood when he grows into the young man he is taking care of his aged parents like the rich classes of the society have to contribute substantial money for the weaker sections of the society.  This method of living keeps continuing, this is applicable for animals too.  Humans’ need three types of necessities of life, firstly food for hunger, secondly clothing for covering nudity, and finally shelter place to relax.   He has to work to remove his illness like hunger, he should adopt simplicity in every walk of life, he should not chase for a sumptuous meal, and a person should not be a glutton, he should eat for a living.  Human has to do some more responsible work other than earning and eating. 

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya!

Paramacharya describes pronunciation and clarity is very important in Vedic chants, any of the mispronunciation could bring adverse effect, same with the hymns of the sun worship/Sandhyavandhanam.  Goddess Adhishakthi has a sacred name ‘Mathrukaswaroopini’, there are 51 syllables in Sanskrit and these are collectively called ‘Mathruka’.  These sacred syllables are most promising recited for earning piousness.   Bhramin/twice-born has the duty and responsibilities to learn Veda and teach others without expecting any monetary benefits.  The other three Varnnas have the responsibility to protect the twice-born, provide an abundance of charities, and serve them tirelessly.  A twice-born rendering service to humanity and to the whole Universe by reciting most promising sacred chants, therefore the other three Varnnas should relentlessly support him with the supply of ingredients required for the performance of Vedic rites and spiritual rites.  It is the duty of a twice-born to make sure the welfare of the whole world and humanity by performing various Vedic rituals, none of the duty is performed for a personal motive; therefore it is obvious that the rest of the Varnna should work for the progress of twice-born.  He is performing religious and spiritual rites for all the Varnnas, therefore, it is the task of other Varnnas to ensure goodness in his life too.  Other Varnnas should give generous contributions for the performance of Vedic rites, providing ingredients for the performance of Vedic rites, and provide physical as well as financial assistance for the performance of Vedic rites, in this way rest of the Varnna  could earn abundance of piousness which could remove all their sins, ultimately liberates them from repeated births.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya!

Paramacharya continues, wealth and richness is the source of momentary happiness, in the same manner these two are essential for the performance of righteous deeds which could bring permanent bliss, any moral deeds which bring happiness and goodness is called righteousness, its piousness will follow the individual even after his/her death, any righteous deed without any personal motive will bring Moksham, it purifies the intellect of the individual.  Dharmapramanam are scriptures which elaborates the righteous deeds and its fruitful results. These sacred scriptures are four Vedas, Meemamsa, Nyaya, Puranas, and Dharmashasthras, and Veda and Vedangas are the embodiments of supreme spirit.  Therefore the twice-born has the prime responsibility to learn these scriptures, secondly learn with the purpose of gaining knowledge,  thirdly understand the essence and apply into his life, and fourthly inspire others to learn and follow the same.  It is the essence of knowledge, therefore who is proficient in all these scriptures are considered as scholarly, which could provide the highest of the piousness known as Moksham.  Vedas are held highly significant position in scriptures,  these are nectar like sacred chants  divided into four branches such as Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana, Vedanga has six auxiliary disciplines in Vedic culture such as Shiksha/phonetics, pronunciation, Chandass/meters, Vyakarana/grammar, Niruktha/explanation of words, Kalpa/procedures for Vedic rituals, Jyothisha/astrology as well as astronomy.  Hence recitation of Vedic chants should be done with utmost clarity and devotion, every sound and pronunciation produces auspicious and extremely powerful vibes in the atmosphere, it should be handled with great care.   Women are not allowed to recite any of these Vedic chants because they are already in charge of the abundance of responsibilities such as making arrangements for the performance of spiritual as well as religious rites.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Sri Paramacharya describes the nature of Purusharththa,  Arththam/wealth means richness,  possession of cattle and properties,  and abundance of grains,  these have the nature of bringing happiness for the short term but definitely bring miseries and grief.  Kamam/desire, there are two types of desires, one is desire towards worldly matters, and another one is permanent bliss which is yearning for the unison with the supreme spirit.   Happiness in human life has temporary nature, happiness originates from worldly affairs are momentary that keeps coming and going, eternal bliss is something which resides in the heart forever, it can be achieved with the knowledge of self and God-realization,  Moksha is the final state which is liberation from birth, aging, and death.  Our soul is trapped in the body made up of muscles and skeleton; therefore it has to undergo constant sufferings, afflictions, miseries, and grief, once it is freed from the body it will merge with the supreme bliss.  Once this body has become a means for happiness and proud turns out to be part of shame, guilt, illnesses and unhappiness in the later years.  Supreme bliss is not subject to region, seasons, or material objects, extreme heat makes us sweat, as a result, we yearn for the cool breeze, during extreme winter we need to cover our body with woolen clothes, supreme bliss will not undergo any changes in any circumstance, and therefore we all should strive for achieving that supreme bliss.  Permanent bliss can be achieved with the performance of righteous deeds, Nishkamyadharma which is any righteous deeds without expecting any personal benefit would remove the impurities of an individual, ultimately it will lead to Moksham.  Wealth has two benefits; it can be used for personal happiness which has fleeting nature and for the performance of righteous deeds which provides supreme bliss.  There is a vast difference between music and literary composition, music provides instant happiness like sprinkling water on the dry sand, but the metaphorical composition would keep giving happiness whenever we recollect.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya describes that every religion has its own sacred scriptures that elaborates the ways to liberate the soul from repeated births, therefore we worship the sacred scriptures and prostrate before them, Sikkhism builds a shrine for their sacred scripture ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ which was compiled by ten preceptors and worship them, these scriptures narrate attainment of serenity, peace, and liberation from worldly existence.  Vedic religion has various scriptures, eighteen scriptures, and sub-divisions of them; great epics Srimadh Mahabharath and Ramayan, Veda and Vedanga, Srimadh Bhagavath Gita, Srimadh Narayaneeyam and the list goes endless.  In all the religion, children learn their holy scriptures in the early years of childhood after that they enter into worldly matters, hence their faith in their religion is firm and they never get attracted to any other religion or change their beliefs.    In our religion there is no such system prevails, therefore, it is easy to get changed the beliefs and faith, we are not aware of our sacred scriptures in childhood.  Thus, it is essential to practice Veda and Vedanga from the early years of childhood, immediately after Bhramopadhesham.  Parents should introduce their children with the habit of reading books of cultural values and beliefs from the early years of childhood.  It has become a tendency among the higher classes of the society to perform Bhramopadhesham in a large scale, instead of spending money on the Vedic rituals; before the ceremony parents should appoint a priest to teach the child about the importance of the Upakarma , so that it will create an enthusiasm in the child to practice the sun worship on a regular basis, simultaneously a Vedic Bhramin will get benefited financially.  The practice of learning scriptures from the early years of childhood would remove various disparities within the religion; put the teachings from the scriptures into practice would bring discipline, happiness and welfare.  We have heard of Jeevanmuktha’s/liberated souls who constantly contemplated upon the supreme spirit, yearning for the unison with the Universal spirit.  It has become a habit among us to visit shrines, carry out pilgrimage and take a holy dip in sacred rivers and seeking advises from Yogis when the sufferings go beyond the limit, these things provides peace and serenity.  The same results can be achieved by reading scriptures and visiting preceptors, it is called religion/righteousness which is the source of Purusharththa/ Dharma, Arththa, Kama and Moksham.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya describes, vow of silence and meditation keeps an individual from worldly matters, it is a pious act, it keeps the person away from accumulating sins, the intellect should be utilized for the performance of righteous deeds, the practice of meditation is compulsory for all, and it should be practiced on a daily basis like we consume meal for removing hunger.  Practice of meditation keeps a person pure; it reflects in every action of the individual throughout his/her life.  In the same manner, we should perform righteous deed with this body too, visiting shrines, circumambulates and prostration before deity are the simple gestures, surrendering to supreme soul with the constant remembrance of his sacred names and gesture of bow down before the supreme Lord is the act of giving away the body which we have received from him as an instrument for the performance of righteous deeds.  This gesture would remove all the sins, it reduces the ego and pride of the individual.  A woman need not make regular visits to shrines, a simple prostration before her husband would bring all the piousness in her life, therefore Vedas and scriptures have given so much of importance and special consideration for a woman. We are committing sins with the Thrikarana, all those sins can be negated with the performance of Dharma/ righteousness, and it is our responsibility to remove all those sins with the Thrikarana / intellect, speech, and actions.  These sins can be annulled with the performance of charity, and meditation, it should be performed while the person is healthy.   While leaving the mortal coil, an individual should be free from fears, it is possible only if the person is free from sin, and therefore performance of charity remove the fears of death, and it lessens the burden of sin.  Supreme spirit is an ocean of mercy, that is why we are having all these comforts and luxurious in this life even though we have committed endless sins.  Self-less service to supreme Lord reduces the sins, in this way we should constantly engage in various services with the mind, body, intellect, and words to eradicate our sins.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Sri Paramacharya narrates  excessive desire/Kama is our enemy, failure to achieve the desired thing results in anger/ Krodha, hence  an unsatisfied desire arouse anger, eventually anger kills a person, it creates enmity,    in this way, desire turns out anger. Parmacharya continues, an unconventional truth is that desires never ends, it never gets satisfied, unlike food remove the hunger of living beings,  therefore desire is like a colossal fire which keeps burning while pouring any ingredient on it works as fuel, a fire never gets satisfied, the fire has another name ‘Krishnavarthma’, it has the nature of leaving a black stain.   Initially, desires bring happiness, after sometime when we fail to meet our desire, it creates extreme distress.  Kali era has two warriors Kama/desire and Krodha/anger, desire has great power to influence every single individual except Sage Durvassa, anger is one step ahead of desire, it resides in the heart of Sage Durvassa.  All our sinful deeds are caused by the influence of desire and anger which has never ending nature and causes severe sins; these are the produce of Rajasik nature.  Hence desire and anger are the two powerful enemies of a man.   We are constantly engaged in committing sins by Thrikarana/word, deed, and intellect, people who commit sins with words would be born as cattle, words should be used for praising the glories of Lord, not for bringing conflicts, spreading rumors or hurting people,   in this way we can stay away from sin, it purifies the intellect and multiplies piousness.  We have to practice performing righteous deeds and meditation, it will remove the impurities of the mind, and it changes the overall perception of an individual.  Our heart should be the abode of the supreme Lord, therefore it should be pure and free from all the dirt.    All that money earned is not ours, we have to keep a certain portion for charity purposes, these selfless acts will follow the individual even after his death.  Therefore children of all age groups, youngsters and elderly people should put into practice the habit of charity.