1. NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Bhagavatas,
We conclude our postings on Purusharthas (objectives of life) with this third and last part of our series on the subject.

Dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy

2. Excerpts from Chapter 12 of "Hinduism Rediscovered"

Hinduism advises that we should grudge none, forgive all. So long as we remember an injustice (real or imaginary), we have not forgiven either the person or the action. There is more suffering in the world than wickedness. If we realize this fact we would be only too willing to forgive and forget. There is no virtue like forgiveness and no vice like harboring ill will.
" Dayaa Samam Maasti Punyam, Paapam Himsaa Samam Na Hi "

Hinduism advises "Forgive and Forget". How to do this? Ignore some, accept others. Nobody will care for you, if you get angry all the time and for everything. Hinduism advises us to develop the habit of receiving any news with a calm mind and never to get upset. When a lady M.P. angry with Sir Winston Churchill told him that if he were his wife, she would give him poison. To this, Churchill answered in a repartee that if she were to be his wife, he would drink the poison gladly. This is the attitude one should develop in meeting the challenges in life.

Paradoxically, however, It is 'Kama' or desire that impels one to action. It is desire that is responsible for all the advancement of man (if channeled on right lines) and all the misdemeanor of man (if stoked in the wrong direction). It is desire that is ever expanding - all consuming. It is desire that never says "Enough is Enough". It is desire that prompts one to go to races, indulge in gambling and lottery, addicts one to permissive, intemperate and incontinent sensual life styles.

If you gain one dollar on the way, your mind yearns to gain dollars all the way; If you get something without effort, your mind starts calculating why everything else should not be secured as effortlessly. See how desire grows! When a jobless person gets a job on say $50/-, he is happy - but not for long. The mind craves for $100/-; when that is got, the desires soars upto 500/-, 1000/- 5000/-, 10,000/- and soon with only the sky as the limit. Ultimately, one might wish the power to print currency if possible and counterfeit! Thus, at any stage, the mind does not say - 'Thus far and no further'.
Where desire does not turn avaricious, contentment dawns. Where desire stops, realization starts. Eventually, self realization will lead to God realization. But, is this possible? Yes. But, it is only for a very few. Rarely does it happen, maybe one in a million who can thus control the mind. Again, where desire stops, criminal tendencies stop. If crime is absent, how would man experience what is good and what is bad? Probably, God wills that man should learn through experience. So, he permits men to indulge in self indulgence.

Hinduism recognizes 3 kinds of desires : Desire for land (Mannasai) Gold and other riches (Ponnasai) and sex (Pennasai). Nobody is totally free from one or the other or a combination of these desires. That is why, Hinduism preached the gospel of a detached way of life. Detachment does not mean escapism; It means the development of an attitude of contentment that whatever one is destined to get, one will get. In other words, absence of covetousness is what Hinduism advises. When you expect more and you get less, you are dissatisfied; when your expectation is low, your disappointment is also low. Only a person falling from a height gets all the more hurt than one who is near about the ground. That is why Hinduism advises you to be 'down to earth', Reduce your expectations. Be satisfied with what you get. Hinduism does not deter you from action to achieve better; but it only asks you to do your duty unmindful of the fruits of your actions. The moral laws of Hinduism are only for the elevation of the soul by a qualitative improvement.

There is a belief that the strength and weapons of the enemy one vanquishes pass into the hands of the Victor; So, we gain the strength of the temptations we resist.You would have read the famous Leo Tolstoy story in which a man ran as far as he could on being promised that extent of land for himself but who died at the end of the run due to heart failure and needed only a 6 foot grave, no more.

God's creations also point to the need for moderation : If there is more water than the field could hold, the plants rot , if the rain is too much, the floods submerge whole cities, If the wind is too violent, it turns into a tornado. So, anything that is immoderate leads to disaster.

Great empires have fallen to dust due to lust. So many dacoits have been caught in their paramour's places; Hunger and desire are inevitable, but controlling them and keeping them under check is what intellect has to achieve over the runaway mind. It should be remembered that the reproductive organs are meant only just for that; any pleasure they yield can only be a byproduct. A Hindu woman who does not get full orgasm does not run amuck like an animal or end up in a divorce court as it happens in the so called 'advanced' countries. She gets her satisfaction in merely breast feeding her baby.

It is the practice with Hindu woman not to mention her husband' name. Everytime she refers to him, she would refer to him as the father of her child. Indirectly, this is a kind of acknowledgment and reiteration of her fidelity to her husband.

Drug, Dope and prostitution cannot be eradicated by mere legal provisions. It is the revamping of the human mind to respect value based codes of conduct enunciated by religion that can truly reform human behavior. The claim of some that they booze or take to drugs 'to overcome worries' is an exercise in self deception. As poet puts in the words of SUGRIVA it is like "using fuel to smother fire". The drink ingested to forget worries will only create more worries leading to liver cirrhosis and other dreadful diseases thus compounding physical pain with mental agony. The bar- tender who is a beer vendor is in reality a purveyor of cirrhosis of the liver and much worse ailments.

The drug scene in the U.S.A has reached really alarming proportions and seem to lead the country to a point of 'no return'. This is a paradox when we consider the positive aspects of American Society. American society has amazing features, which other nations find hard to emulate. The breathtaking technological advances, high intellectual standards, almost palpable quality of honesty at least at the grass root levels and the insatiable pursuit of excellence are only a few among the virtues that distinguish the American nation.

Then, why is it that hundreds of thousands of Americans fall prey to drug addiction and why the vulnerability rates are reaching new highs with a seeming determination to cause a total brain drain on the nation's intelligence and skills?

The answer seems to lie in the emphasis on wrong values on individual's rights against larger national interests. The cohesive family system obtaining even in the drug producing countries with its close parental guidance and discipline at home and school imbibe in the individual the faculty to discriminate and practice decent behavior in society- all going to make the fabric of individual's character a bastion against temptations. American society seems to overplay the individual liberty to the detriment of the individual's character. The sense of belonging, the feeling of cohesion, respect for moral obligations, the appreciation of ethical value systems, an abhorrence of tearing away from the moorings fostered by parental guidance, care and respect for the elders are some of the cohesive family virtues that stand as impregnable fortresses against disintegration. And, it is these virtues that are at a low ebb, if not totally absent in the American family systems. In the name of individual's liberty ,'each unto himself' has become the ethos of American society. No wonder the phenomenal strides of development American society has had turns out to be lopsided and reduced to a mockery.

Lack of mutual trust and understanding and the ease with which divorces could be obtained have led to a preponderance of 'single parents'. Naturally, the emotional integration of children becomes the worst casualty. Even at an impressionable age, children turn out to be school drop outs, exposed to all that which contribute to the depravity of character.

The problem in school and among youth is a symptom of social conditions and personality problems. It is part of a larger one- of the adult drug culture. What should be subtle, subdued and kept within reasonable decent standards- especially in the presence of children- are blatantly discussed and unabashedly practiced in public. The kind of subjects discussed shamelessly in the various talk shows in the media deal a deleterious blow to all values in the minds of even mature adults and much worse in the case of children who may view them. This naturally arouses curiosity and incalculable damage to the psyche of the children and the immature. This has resulted in a situation where such members of society need counseling, psychotherapy and psychiatric attention sometimes all through the rest of their lives. It is indeed a funny situation where these very counselors, psychotherapists and psychiatrists themselves are confirmed addicts so that the patients often have to turn round to say " Physician! Heal thyself first"

Belief that medicines magically cure all ills and solve all problems drive many adults to take to drugs. Children seeing parents abusing drugs take to drugs as naturally as' fish to water'. The mass media's glamorization of 'support groups' of say Gays, Lesbians and other deviate behaviors affects children's outlook on drugs and encourages people to escape and forget rather than face and solve their problems. Easy accessibility to drugs coupled with abundant amount of money and leisure in the hands of misdirected, dissatisfied, disillusioned and rebellious youth who have no goals in life and no motivation to enthuse drive them in search of new thrills which they hope to get out of drugs.

While affluence points to the road to drug abuse, poverty in pockets of society ( especially among blacks and Hispanics) leads them to the same end in their search for escape from hunger and misery- since they have no hope for a better life. And, drug seems to be the only escape from frustration.

Besides family influence, peer group pressure represents a major causative factor. No one wants to be different; everyone wants to be accepted, liked and loved. Drugs are currently the ' in thing ' to do on campuses today; the one who does not take to it is looked down upon as an outcast not fit to be ranked along with the so-called sophisticated lot.

Lack of self- confidence, immaturity, curiosity to try drugs to 'have a feel' of what they are like are also some of the other causes which lead to drug abuse.
The cumulative effect of the unholy alliance of these diabolic forces have one thing in common - reducing the ' human ' to a ' beastly' existence, putting the clock back by centuries to a period when man's life was in the words of Hobbes " selfish, brutish and short"

No wonder there is such an outburst of violence and crime of unprecedented magnitude. It will be well for Society to remind itself of the golden sayings of Mahatma Gandhi who said that violence is caused by the 7 blunders:
" Wealth without Work;
- Pleasure without Conscience;
- Commerce without morality;
- Politics without principles;
- Knowledge without Character;
- Science without Humanity and
- Worship without Sacrifice"

Even in the USA. claimed to be the most developed nation in the world, hunger due to unequal distribution of food has been dramatically depicted. The Tuft university center on hunger, poverty and nutrition has estimated in September 1992 that hunger has increased by 50 % in the United States since the mid-1980s and that 30 million Americans now go hungry - all because of drug culture.(reported by Associated Press).

Also, reported in Newsday and quoted in Patriot News, Harrisburg on December 11, 1992, that inspite of the strong Senior Citizens' movement, American Elderly are killing themselves in great numbers. Though the senior citizens account for 26% of the nation's population, they commit an estimated 39% of the country's suicides - all because of the breakdown of family values that drive the elderly to desperation.

Being on the subject of statistics based on random sampling as quoted above, one is struck by the obsession of American people with statistics. For example, judging by the statistics projected in the media on the hundreds of syndromes each claiming patients in the range varying from 1 million to 200 millions, one is led to believe that the entire population of about 250 million in USA must be suffering from several ailments, some affected by almost all the syndromes known to the medical community and that there can be no person who could be deemed healthy by any standard. Some of the syndromes reeled out are: Obesity, Carpel tunnel syndrome, Bowel irritation syndrome, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( AIDS), Alzheimer's disease, Hyperactive child syndrome, Sudden Infant death syndrome ( SIDS), Fetal alcohol syndrome, Down's syndrome, False memory syndrome, Tempro- mandibular joint syndrome, Toxic shock syndrome, Micro-cellular stratal syndrome, Gorge- Purge syndrome, Cerebro-Vascular-syndrome, Radiation-syndrome, Attention-deficit-syndrome (ADDS), Multiple Sclerosis, Restless leg syndrome, Endo-metriosis, Macular degeneration ,etc.- all because of intemperate habits and indiscriminate eating habits. Of course, it may be argued that even odd cases get reported in the West unlike in the Oriental countries where there is no proper system of reporting.

Let us now consider the other factor that has great influence on one's character-SEX

Why do we Hindus call all womenfolk "Amma" (i.e.) Mother? 'Mother is the only concept that cannot corrupt one's mind with even an iota of lust. To develop an attitude of Yogi, Hinduism inculcates this mother figure approach (to all women other than one's wife). In fact, recognizing the deep attachment and reverence to this mother concept in India, the national invocation song "Vande Matharam" - 'obeisance to Mother India" - visualizes the whole country as the Holy mother.

Unfortunately in the USA this regard for women's position is not only totally absent, but there is also such abominable depravity, where there are no holds barred in deviate behavior as can be been from the degeneration glorified on the idiot box.

A recent survey revealed that more than 2 / 3 of the Americans believe

television contributes to violence and fosters a distrust of Government. US News magazine watched in Mid March 1996 the kind of messages the public receives over the ABC, CBS, and the FOX networks and found that of the 58 shows monitored almost half contained sexual acts or references to sex. No wonder, the news of the kind mentioned below hit the headlines.
(Vide Associated Press release quoted by Plain Dealer dated April7, 1996.

One Dr. Jacobson is reported to have inseminated his own sperms to hundreds of women patients who came to his 'fertility clinic' and this impregnation led to his fathering hundreds of children, who became adults now and are facing problems of genetic incompatibility in their community - all having become siblings12.

Another example is of an 80 years old woman who had an 'in vitrio' surgery and became a 'surrogate mother' to her own Son's son thus becoming a mother and grandmother - ' a two-in-one ' trick all at once.!13

A reverse case was reported recently in1994 that a father impregnated his own daughter and fathered half a dozen children through her and was hauled up in court for incest long, long after - when nothing could be done to nullify the feat!14

A recent survey says that more than a quarter of school going girls in their teens were becoming 'drop-outs' on account of extra -marital teen pregnancy .15

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given the following figures on teen age pregnancy (out of wedlock): Teen birth rate : 59.6 per 1,000 women; Overall birth rate: 15.5 per 1,000 women; About 10% of women and girls 15 to 19 become pregnant each year: More than half a million babies are born to teen agers each year; Of the 4.2 million births to women overall in 1993, more than 513,000 were to teens; The CDC estimates that 10% of women and girls 15 to 19- 835,000 - become pregnant each year.( Vide Associated Press release quoted in Plain Dealer dated September 22,1995).

And, the report that unmarried females (especially teen aged girls) had more than one sexual partner and 41% had four or more. The study by JACQWELINO DARROCH FORREST AND KATHRYN KOST at Alan Gutmacher Institute,
has revealed such astonishing facts about promiscuous behavior in American social life16.

One is led to believe that the so called loudly trumpeted "American dream" after all is nothing but a dream of adultery and sexual promiscuity for which even the sky does not seem to be the limit.

It is not surprising that people have developed skewed up notions of family life. What is astonishing is that they have begun to worship these notions. There is nothing new for people fed up with their partners in life to look for newer pastures but what is considered modern is the attempt to justify it. Pent up vicarious feelings are bandied about as progressive thought. A woman who forsakes her husband for another is made a matinee idol and applauded for her courage in demolishing what they imagine to be unjust battery. The one who stands by her husband through thick and thin is dubbed as a coward and victim of unfair traditions. Sex abuse does not send shock waves any more; on the other hand, it is becoming more respectable and sought after.

In 1994, One Susan Smith, a mother of two wonderful kids put them in a car and drove them into the depths of a lake, killing them by drowningall because her ' boy friend' did not like to take over responsibility for the children born through her estranged husband.!

A boxing champion, Mike Tyson served term for 3 years for raping a woman. His original sentence was for 6 years but it was reduced in view of his ' good behavior' and released in March 95.!

Normally, the genealogical tree is represented with the grand old patriarch on top with generations of his children, grand children and great grand children branching out so that the chart looks like a pyramid. The chart seems to be topsy turvy in the American permissive society where an individual may have a biological or a surrogate or a mother who had been inseminated through In-vitrio fertilization (IVF), Gamet-Intrafallopian-transfer(GIFT), Intrauterine-insemination-(IUI), Zygote Intrafallopian-transfer(ZIFT) or Intra-cyto-plasmic-sperm-injection(ICSI) from even a faceless and unknown donor or married to several husbands who themselves were perhaps products of similar parentage.

In this background, it is an 'unsolved mystery' why there is so much of insistence in the U.S.A. on the 'family name' or the 'last name' as they call it, when the family itself exists in 'name only'. This perhaps is the much vaunted 'American Agenda' and the restoration of real family values is bound to remain forever as a distant 'American Dream.'

The instances cited above are purely representative of the reported cases and form only the tip of the iceberg; The plethora of unreported cases defies imagination and when exposed would reveal the incredible extent of the cranky cancer that has eaten into the victuals of American family life - all because of the total disregard for family values and point to the crying need for preserving family harmony instead of pandering to the selfish needs of the individual.

When a Yogi of India who is so conditioned by this mother culture happens to touch a woman, it would not create in his mind any more vicarious vibrations than what he would feel when he touches say, a piece of paper. For him, gold and stone are equal. He does not seek after any 'treasure box.'

There is a saying coined recently which reads "Smoking Kills Cancer". This is true of any enjoyment as well. If 'Bogam' or indulgence is not controlled, it will lead to 'Rogam' (or disease); when subdued, it will lead you to 'Yogam' (or self control.)
Why cardiac disease that was a rare occurrence in the past has become so prevalent and such a routine today that one expects heart attack as surely 'as one expects the mail man?' This is not only due to intemperance and incontinence but also because of a lack of faith in the value system that our scriptures prescribe. Hinduism is the only religion that takes care of both body and the soul. Cleanliness of the body and purity of mind are integrated in the daily chores of a Hindu.

The nature of temptation, however, is that more you seek to resist, the more it tries to overcome you. Just as a mirror, clean it howsoever, it gathers dust again and again. It demands a constant and conscientious effort to keep it at bay.
Lord Krishna says
'As a flame is covered over by smoke, and a mirror by dust, as a fetus in the womb is enveloped in the womb, so by this (desire), this world of embodied beings is enveloped'.17

As algae or moss in the waters of a pond cannot be kept apart by hand, as flowing water in a river cannot be parted by a mere fork, the enveloping desire cannot be resisted by a mere desire to resist.

Resisting temptation is not possible by one's efforts only. Divine help is also needed. That is why in the daily purificatory invocation to God, we request God to help us to get rid of all the 'Papas' arising out of indulgence thus :
"Save me from all sins, committed knowingly or unknowingly, during night or during daytime in thought, word or deed, by foot or belly or genital organs. Please purify me immediately -( During-midday - sins attaching to eating remnants and those eating of which is prohibited, in short, all my transgressions) - so that I may deserve your grace".18

SECTION 4 : ARTHA ( MATERIAL PROSPERITY )
ARTHA : means 'wealth', material pursuits, 'material prosperity' and all that it stands for. In Hinduism, it denotes all the things a person can amass, possess, share, enjoy, lose and destroy. To realize the Artha one must concern oneself with 'Vartha' (i.e.) means of earning a living like agriculture, husbandry, industry, trade, moneylending etc. and also with 'Dandaneethi' indirect means like politics and jurisprudence. He has to combine friendship, knowledge, morality and action in such a manner that secures optimum dividends in the form of both wealth and success. 'The Artha Sastra' is the science which treats of the means of acquiring and ruling the earth. An efficient system of espionage, rotation of officers, judicial matters, elimination of enemies, are some of the techniques dealt with in detail in the Raja Neethi ( Real politik) portions.
Mahatma Gandhi observed:

"Those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means"19 We may perhaps add as well that they do not know what even politics means .

For Hinduism, it is not 'how much' one earns that matters, but 'how' one earns it. Wealth accumulated through Dharmic means is encouraged but not those secured through stealing, cheating, falsehood and the like. So long as gullible, credulous folk are around, it would not be difficult for a trickster to rip them off and appear to prosper. But, sooner or later he will fall by his own tricks. He is sure to leave some traces which would haul him up and punish him for all his misdeeds.

Secondly, it is equally important for Hinduism how the wealth accumulated is expended - whether on the poor and the needy or for a social cause or whether it is siphoned off to evil purposes. A man who enjoys all his wealth for himself without sharing with the poor and needy is also deemed a thief.

There is a saying in Tamil "Selvarku Azhagu Sezhunkilai Thangutal"* meaning that the wealthy should support financially their less fortunate kith and kin.20
You would have heard of the motivational message sold through plaques on 'What money can buy' - to reveal that while money is necessary, it is not the 'be all and end all' of life. It is worth repeating and remembering - MONEY WILL BUY -
"A bed but not Sleep
Books but not Brains
Food but not Appetite
Finery but not Beauty
A house but not a Home
Medicine but not Health
Luxury but not Culture
Amusement but not Happiness
A crucifix but not a Savior
A church pen but not Heaven"

Money should be like our footwear. If it is too big it would not fit; nor would it fit if it is too small. It should be of just that size that would fit your foot comfortably. So also, money should neither be more nor less than what would be absolutely necessary for carrying on life without pangs and without getting into debts. Anything less would be miserable; Anything more would spoil you.

We cannot rise to the level of Sri Vedanta Desika who spurned riches in his Vairaghya Panchakam, in which he had conveyed his total detachment to worldly benefits, his attitude of renunciation. We should at least learn to earn and spend on the lines indicated by the Sastras.21

That money is important but not all important is the message that Hinduism offers. We have a parallel in the saying of Jala-ud-din Rumi: " Once the noble Ibrahim, as he sat on his throne heard a clamor and noise of cries and heavy footsteps on the roof of his palace. He looked out of the window and shouted " Who goes there? ". The guards bowed and said " We are searching for our camels". The King asked " Will anyone search for camels on rooftop? " They replied " We follow your example, Sire. since you seek union with God while sitting on the throne"

Together with Dharma, Kama and Artha constitute what is known as 'Traivarga 'in contrast to 'MOKSHA' which means liberation..

SECTION 5 : MOKSHA
Soteriological studies reveal that the ultimate goal is liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. Paul Deussen describes this as "the most precious jewel of Indian faith...
"The word symbolizes freedom, liberation, release, escape, solution, deliverance, fulfillment and realization. The impermanence (Astiratvam) and futility (Asaratvam) of Kama and Artha have revealed one thing. Life with its endless repetitions was too heavy a burden to be borne and had to be got rid of at the earliest and once for all and become free. But, how ?-22

Life, even without major sorrows was dull and unsatisfying. Innumerable births, death and rebirths projected a bleak prospect of monotony and continual suffering. The best minds of the times found by deep study and austere asceticism that the road to escape lay in mystical knowledge."21

Let me tell you a story of how an old man tried to cross over Samsara :This story was narrated by Srimad Azhagiyasingar, Pontiff of Ahobila Mutt in one of his Kalakshepam discourses.23

There lived in a village an old couple. The wife was a devout Hindu. She used to go to the temple and attend a religious discourse there every night but the man was not so devout and he used to remain at home. One day the lady fell ill and wanted to take rest. She asked her husband to go and listen and report back the gist of that night's lecture. She went to sleep. But, at dead of night, she suddenly woke up and was startled to find her husband repeatedly jumping over her from one side to the other. She asked him what he was doing. Replied the man "I am sorry that I did not attend the lecture earlier. Tonight, the lecturer said that one can get 'Moksha', if one jumped over 'Samsara'". The word 'Samsara' also means 'Wife' besides its natural meaning of cycle of births and deaths. He mistook the word 'Samsara' to mean his wife and was therefore doing the jumping exercise !.

This is definitely not the way to achieve Moksha. Moksha can be reached only when a person is Karmafree (i.e.) when there is no backlog of causes playing into his present state. In principle, that he has learned to attune himself absolutely to the cosmic pattern as it is at that moment so that there is no kind of stress or conflict between what is taking place within his individual monadic field and what is happening in the Universe.