1. NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Bhagavatas,
In addition to our usual features, we commence a series entitled " What is God?" to be followed by " Who is God?", "Where is God?", "The Descending God (Avataras)" and " The condescending God (Archa)". Hope you will find them interesting.
Dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy

2. RAHASYA TRAYA SARA

Adhikara 20 : Niryana Adhikara ( The Departure of the soul)
SECTION 1 : The two faces of death Death? The very thought would send a chill through the spine to any person especially one who is face to face with death. Those who are impervious to such a sensation would be those driven to suicidal proclivity by deep distress, untold miseries, jilted love, betrayal by trusted ones, financial breakdown or mental alteration caused by drug , dope and the like. Though the media blares forth day in and day out cases of murder, loot, arson and rape along with a good sprinkling of suicides - the suicide instances are comparatively few and far between.

On the other end of the continuum, there are of course, a few exceptional cases who 'liked to live and not die' for very different reasons. For example, when Sri Rama beckoned Anjaneya to ascend with him to Paramapada, the latter declined politely saying that the relationship he had acquired with Sri Rama on earth would be unavailable in Paramapada and therefore preferred to ' live' here on earth! Similarly, Thondar Adippodi Alwar also liked to stay back saying that he would not trade in the pleasant experience he had in this world serving Sri Ranganatha with any of the pleasures that Paramapada itself could offer !.

Swami Desikan also saysTvam Chet Praseedasi Tavaasmi Sameepatas Chet Tvayi Asti Bhaktir Anagha Kari Saila Naatha Samsrijyate Yadicha Daasajanaas Tvadheeyah Samsaara Yesha Bhagavaan Apavarga Eva

" O! Lord! If thou art gracious, if I am always by thy side, if there is in me pure devotion to thee, if I am in the company of those who are thy servants- Then, this Samsara itself is salvation"

Death and total non-existence are unbearable and unacceptable to the ordinary mortal in spite of the trauma attaching to the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest. THE MAJORITY, HOWEVER, WOULD RATHER LIKE TO LIVE THAN 'JOIN THE MAJORITY'. This has been very vividly portrayed in the Puranic story of a man hounded by a wild animal and falling into a deep well surrounded by poisonous snakes clinging to a branch that was being gnawed by rats- still going in for the momentary pleasure of tasting the rare drop of honey dripping from the honeycomb nested on the branch of the tree just above his head.

Life of man on earth is likened to the flight of a sparrow through a banquet hall in winter, with a good fire in the midst, while storms of rain and snow batter abroad. The sparrow is flying in at one door and immediately exiting out at another. During the passage in the hall he is safe from the wintry storm but after a short sojourn of fair weather, he instantly vanishes into the dark winter from which he emerged. The only difference is that the sojourn here is really not that rosy while the Scriptures say that the beyond is beautiful to the one who has played by the rule while on earth. Says Dr. Radhakrishnan " The fleeting is enclosed on both sides by an eternity which is real"

Another reason for the dread is the prospect of one's having to contend with death 'all alone'. Even when one is involved in a collision dash on the road or, or a train smash or a plane crash or a ship wreck when hundreds die, each one has to go through the throes of death 'all by oneself'..

More than the inevitability of death itself, the fact of the pangs involved in the process is forbiddingly threatening.

It is here that our Vedas, Sastras, Itihasas, Puranas and in fact the entire gamut of our sacred scriptures step in to assure that one could actually look forward to death as a welcome guest, LIVE PEACEFULLY TILL IT ARRIVES AND DIE GRACEFULLY.

Lord Krishna , the Charioteer friend turned Acharya of Arjuna intended to convey this comforting formula to us under the pretext of advising Arjuna. He deliberately goaded Arjuna to ask a leading question by feigning to slip out an apparent indiscretion when he said to Arjuna " I taught this great truth to Vivaswan (the Sungod), he to Manu and Manu to his son Ikshvaku etc."

Arjuna promptly seized the slip to question Krishna that since they themselves were just contemporaries, how could Krishna have taught anything to Vivaswan. The launching pad thus set adroitly, Krishna proceeds to explain the secret of his Avatara, how the imperishable soul transmigrates to newer bodies and therefore he should not imagine he was killing the soul and how the perishable body is cast away by the soul in successive births so that he should not feel sorry for the destruction of the body which, in any case, was going to perish.

" Many births of mine have passed away, Arjuna! as well as many of yours. I know them all but you know them not, Slayer of foes"

He further explains how even though he has no birth he is born out of his own sheer will while others are born due to their karma.

This concept of transmigration of the soul , the central theme of Hinduism imparts the much needed solace to the troubled minds of those fearing death. It presents the prospect of death as a welcome experience not to feel sorry about, prepares us to cast off our mortal coils, 'IF THE TIME COMES, WHEN IT COMES' with absolute ease and equanimity.

"To understand man's life as important, but not all important, as good but with a chance to be still better, is to relax the grip of terror a bit, and to see things in perspective. When one does see things in perspective - 'freedom from existence' can become the goal which transcends and transforms the threat of death to a sweet promise."

How the soul escapes at the time of death has been engaging the attention of researchers all over the world. They experiment with persons with ' paranormal' and 'Near- death- experiences' (NDE). Even recently, in the USA, a person terminally ill with a prognosis of imminent death was enclosed in a glass domed cubicle. When he actually died, the scientists wondered how the breath could have escaped through the air tight, hermetically sealed cubicle. They noticed a minuscule - less than hairline fracture in the glass that was not there earlier when the dome was examined with sophisticated instruments before the experiment. The experiment conclusively proved that the soul must have pierced through the glass dome.

Long long ago, in fact, millions of years ago, our Sastras have explained graphically and with minute details not only what processes the soul undergoes 'At death' and what happens 'After death'.

Sri Ramanuja's SriBashya based on the Vedas and Upanishads clearly portrays these aspects and Swami Sri Vedanta Desika has incorporated these in Adhikaras 20.21 and 22 of his Rahasya Traya Sara in his own inimitable style. We discuss below the subject as told by these pioneers.

3. " Hinduism Rediscovered" Sources of Knowledge ( Contd)

2.2. BRAHMANAS ( Ceremonial handbooks)
The Brahmanas that followed are detailed handbooks, manuals or guidelines specially formulated for the benefit of the hotas, adharvyus, udgathas and brahmas - the priestly classes for the proper observance of the procedural chores involved in the sacrifices. One of the important Brahmanas is the 'Sata patha brahmana" of 1000 paths forming part of Sukla Yajur Veda which deals with modes of worship.

Together, the Samhitas and the Brahmanas were known as `Purva khanda' (Earlier works) or `Karma khanda' (Action works) as they occur in the earlier parts of the Vedas and deal with rituals, formulas and formalities called `Karma'. Brahmanas relate to holy performances while `Samhitas' to holy dictates.

2.3. AARANYAKAS( Ritual interpretations) and 2.4. UPANISHADS ( Metaphysical Dialogues)
The Aaranyakas and Upanishads which came later deal with philosophical disputations and intellectual discussions and explanations about realisation of God or `Brahman' - the ultimate reality (not to be confused with the four-headed Brahma). While the Aaranyakas were mantras recited usually in the hermitages or forests (Aaranyaka means `belonging to forest') Upanishads were the ones that contain the essence of wisdom enshrined in the Vedas.

Together, the Aranyakas and Upanishads are called `Uttara khaanda' (Later works) or Gnana khanda (knowledge works) or Brahmakhaanda (works relating to Brahman) and they embody an intellectual approach.

When we refer to Veda in general, we usually refer to the `Upanishads'. There are very many Braahmanas, Aaranyakas and Upanishads but attached to the Vedas either individually or collectively. In fact, we are told that there are more than a hundred Upanishads but only 10 of them are accepted as most authoritative by all sections of Hindus - known as `Dasopanishads' - the principal ten Upanishads, while a few others are listed as supplementary. "Upanishads generally present an objective view of the universe and rational approach to the problem of reality far in advance even of the flashes of intuitive knowledge that illumine occasional passages of the Vedas and Brahmanas. Thus, the expressions `as if' or `as it were' occurring in the BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD accords well with the modern scientific view that despite the manifold appearances of the phenomenal world, the entire universe both known and yet unknown is essentially one". ISAVASYA UPANISHAD says -

"The man who understands that every creature exists in God alone and thus perceives the unity of being has no grief and no illusions".

2. 5 SRAUTA SUTRAS ( VEDIC APHORISMS)
`Sutra' means `thread'. Later, this term was applied to compositions written in an `aphoristic' style. The `Sutra' conveyed the meanings of ancient wisdom with utmost economy of words. They are so constructed as to kindle the thought process conducive to reconstruction of reasoning and provided an opportunity to test the veracity and the validity of the truths expounded.

The earlier Vedic Sutras' based on SRUTI were law manuals called `Grihya sutras' (family aphorisms) dealing with sacrificial rites of the householder. The later Sutras based on SMRITI were the `Dharma sutras' (Societal Aphorisms) dealing with the relationship of the individual with the community. While the former may be understood as `personal law', the latter constituted `social law'. Together, they emphasised the individual's responsibilities to his own self to attain salvation and the moral law governing not only the individual's interaction with the community but also of society at large.

The `Sutra' style was later adopted in all liturgical works and in all quasi philosophical systems, but necessitated commentaries to explain in simpler terms the purport of the aphorisms to make them understandable by lay folk also. The brevity of the `Sutras' defeated the very purpose for which they were composed viz. to explain the Vedas, and the `Sutras' had to be explained sometimes making the process more difficult than explaining the Vedas themselves. Since the Brahmanas had become obscure, the `Sutras' were devised to elucidate the sacrificial instructions contained in the Brahmanas.

4. WHAT IS GOD?
FROM CHAPTER 6 OF " HINDUISM REDISCOVERED"-
( What is, Who is, Where is, this Descending and Condescending God?)

Any religious person would be shocked at my temerity in devising such a title for this chapter, when a definition of God has eluded even the greatest minds all over the world from time immemorial. And my posing the Query as `What is God?' would be even more shocking. A rephrasing into `Who is God?" may be less revolting but nonetheless it is not going to make the answer any simpler. We will identify "Who is God?" in the next chapter limiting ourselves now only to the Question "What is God?".

I would be foolish to rush into an area where `angels fear to tread' if only I hazard a definition. What I am attempting is a Quest for a near approximation to the concept of God.

SECTION 1 BRAHMAN
GOD IN THE NEUTER And, in this attempt, I am not alone. The Vedas themselves have addressed the Supreme of Supremes not by any gender appellations but by the neuter expression BRAHMAN". Aphorisms such as

'TAT TVAM ASI' - `That thou art" (in Chandogya Upanishad)
'AHAM BRAHMOSMI' - I am Brahman (in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
'PRAJNANAM BRAHMA'- Pure consciousness is God ( in Aitareya Upanishad)
'AYAM ATMA BRAHMA'- This soul is God -( in Mandukyo and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads)
SARVAM KALUIDAM BRAHMA' -`All this is verily Brahman' ( Chandokya Upanishad)
'AASITH EKAM ADVITIYAM.' -`There was but one without a second "(ibid.) etc.

The neuter is one of the most wonderful expressions in human language. It represents an overwhelming presence of something which is omnipresent. Thus, the neuter Brahman is indeed an expression of such ubiquitous divinity.

The concept of `Brahman" is a courageous attempt to verbalise an essentially mystical experience which defies description. The changeless principle that holds the changing world together and gives it coherence, that on which the warp and woof of the world are interwoven, that which is abiding in the earth, which is other than the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body is earth, who controls the earth from within and without - This unknown, unknowable something, the Hindus of ancient times called the `Brahman'.

"Brihat means great, It also means `to expand', `to grow', `to fructify'. Brahman is the vivifying expansive force of nature in its eternal evolution" 1

The word is made up of BRIH (Great) + MANAS (Consciousness) or 'Cosmic Consciousness' - the Cosmos that is entirely alive, entirely spiritual, entirely eternal - consciousness that every being has eternal life and undergoes only transformation and never destruction. That Cosmic Consciousness, they called Brahman `into which no evil had ever entered or will ever enter' says Rigveda 10.129.

This Brahman is both IMMANENT (Indwelling) and TRANSCENDENT (Pervading). It pervades the entire Universe 'EXISTING WITHIN AND WITHOUT' the created Cosmos. At the same time, it is ABOVE AND APART from its creations and is not subject to the limitations of its creations.

" Yasmin Sarvam, Yatah Sarvam, Yah Sarvam, Sarvatas Cha Yaha" In Tamil, it is tersely called `KADAVUL' - `KADA' meaning `transcending' and `VUL' meaning indwelling - all at once.

Religion becomes speechless after exhausting all the epithets at its command and after recognising their limitations in relation to the limitless and infinitely wider perspective of BRAHMAN - which transcends all the narrow boundaries of our futile perception. Nobody can adequately express the innumerable qualities of Brahman because every positive expression we venture fits the concept but soon is found to fall far short of the actual qualities of the divinity. That is why the scriptures acknowledging their failure to express qualities in a positive way resorted to the term `Akhila Heya pratyanika' meaning totally devoid of any blemishes, defects and deficiencies. Thus, if we are `finite' - Brahman is `IN-FINITE; If we are temporary - Brahman is E-TERNAL; if we are subject to pain and death - Brahman is IM -PASSABLE and IMMORTAL. Sastras have become silent not because the qualities of Brahman are limited but because their capacity to enumerate has been exhausted.

GOD, INDEED, IS THE SOURCE AND THE END; THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. HE IS ANADHI ( BEGINNING LESS) AND ANANTHA(ENDLESS)

A similar sentiment is found expressed in " The Vision of God" by Nicholos- Published by E.T Salters Ch XIII (1928)
" O! You are entirely beyond all being. O! Lord! My God! The helper of them that seek you; I behold you but know not what I see for I see nothing visible; Only this I know that I know not what I see and never can know. And, I know not what you are. If anyone were to tell me what you are or called you by this name or that, by the very fact that you had bees so named would I know that it was NOT your name"
Says Scotus Erigena- " No nomad or triad can express the all- transcending hiddenness of the all- transcending Super- essentially, Super-existing, Super deity."

This Brahman on the positive side, is "Asankhyeya Kalyana GunaGana" - collection of countless virtuous qualities. It is said that Brahman itself does not know how to keep a tab on its own auspicious qualities.

SECTION 2 .CHARACTERISITCS OF BRAHMAN
This phenomenon of BRAHMAN by whatever nomenclature you
call - Nature, Force, Power -( if you do not like the word God)
exerts its influence on human mind and life in several ways.
It is Transcendent like a horizon, Frightening in its dimensions yet
Enchanting in its charms.

TRANSCENDENCE implies that it is beyond our comprehension. There is something `wholly other' about it, something `wholly beyond', something which is opposite of every limitation that can be thought of, something supernatural, something you can only FEEL without being able to give it a clear conceptual expression, something mysterious, unusual, invisible, puzzling, occult, concealed, imperspicuous and wonderful.

FRIGHTENING implies something that instils awe and wonder, a fear, a tremor that can even reach the point of being gruesome and grisly in some cases. It can also mean an upsurge of `creature consciousness' - a feeling of utter dependence on it. There is something very baffling in the way in which it manifests itself. It is like sudden torrential downpour, a powerhouse fully charged with electricity ever ready to discharge itself upon anyone who dares to come into contact with it. It is incalculable, vibrant, resonant and oftentimes seems arbitrary and even tyrannical to an ordinary beholder. It can appear startling, formidable, even appalling, macabre and intimidating, oppressive and threatening to the uninitiated. Its tremendous majesty and might has an absolute over-powering-ness, triggering strange excitements bordering on hysterical frenzy and intoxication to the evolving soul. Its vitality is passionate, kindling emotional temper and trepidation as if in a wrathful urgency of energy. Its will forces an impetus to all movement and activity.

ENCHANTING : At the same time, it is also bewitching. It is uniquely attractive. The mystery is that it en-thralls and en-trances, bewilders and confounds with its benevolence. You are captivated by it, engrossed by it and transported with a strange ravishment of an irresistible kind by bestowing on you such noble sentiments like love, mercy, comfort, felicity, bliss and even pity. This prodigious frightening force when channelled along benign lines can transform its burning strength into an all consuming fire of love and endearment. It can shower an all embracing bliss which all religious doctrines have invoked thus boosting us from the mundane to a rapturous, overcharged, exuberant beatitude. Through devout worship it can ensure a moral uplift and transport one to the zenith of ecstasy.

SECTION 3 . PURPOSE OF LIFE
Now, let us take a few concepts to show how this Brahman's transcendence, tremendous-ness and tranceful enchantment act on various aspects of our life or to put it conversely how we react to the impact of these characteristics in our daily life.

A little reflection on how one spent one's life span is beautifully depicted in GARUDA PURANA. Out of say 100 years a man could be expected to live, 50 years went in sleep; Another big chunk of about 25 years in infancy, boyhood and old age; A major part of the remaining was clouded by grief, misery and may be service to his kith and kin and possibly society. The rest was changeful and transient like the waves of the ocean. What does glory, fame, honour or riches signify?2

An introspection would reveal that in spite of all these disincentives, life was not without a purpose - which however eludes us as transcendent, the bleak side seemingly tremendous while we cannot but be enchanted by whatever joy accrues to us even in the midst of this struggle and misery.

What is the purpose of life? Why there is water? To quench thirst and make the fields yield. Why there is fish? To cleanse the water and maybe to serve as food for bird and man. There seems to be some purpose in both animate and inanimate objects. If this is so, there should be some purpose in our lives also. Are we born only to eat, mate and sleep? We seem to understand everything except our `selves'. At best, we can only conjecture.

Well. What can be that purpose? What does man want to achieve in whatever time he is allowed to utilize or enjoy for himself? In short, what does he desire? ( To continue)