ॐ श्री गुरुभ्यो नम:

You are a साधक. You have lived life engaging with ideas of सनातन धर्म. These ideas came to you from your parents, family, books and/ or some Gurus you have encountered. You value the knowledge systems of सनातन धर्म. And while you have not become a ज्ञानी and remain a साधक at the current stage of your life, you have children who have grown up watching you indulge in the various क्रिया conveyed in सनातन धर्म (नित्य पूजा undertake pilgrimages, doing दान, etc). You have kids who, owing to some positive पूर्वजन्म सुकर्म, have grown up mature and intelligent. They become inquisitive about deeper questions of life and approach you one day to learn more about सनातन धर्म. Ideally, if you had access to a ज्ञानी who is a स्थितप्रज्ञ, you would have directed them to such a person. However, you do not have access to such a person. So the responsibility to convey the ideas of सनातन धर्म have come directly onto you. How will you go about conveying धर्म to them? Here is a dialogue given in a question and answer format created to make such a discussion meaningful. And since I am no ज्ञानी myself, I will love suggestions/ inputs that can make this dialogue richer and more effective. Enjoy!!!!

Child: सनातन धर्म is very confusing for me. When we go to temples, in one temple, शिव is shown as central and big and all other देवता are shows as subservient to शिव. When we go to a विष्णु temple, विष्णु occupies the centre and all others are subservient to विष्णु. In a राम temple, राम & सीता are central and all others are shown as subservient to राम & सीता.  How is it possible that all of them are both primary at some places and secondary or tertiary in other locations? Who is primary and who is secondary in सनातन धर्म? 

Parents: That is a good question

Child: Are there answers to this question? This is very confusing. To compound the confusion, we see people praying to a river and also to सूर्य. Again, there are temples of सूर्य also where सूर्य is primary and all others as shown as subservient to सूर्य. Who is the ultimate among all of them?

Parents: I will certainly clarify this doubt but for this you have to confirm to me that you are serious about this question. You will not get a one line answer but will have to spend an hour or two to understand certain basic tenets about सनातन धर्म. Once you are able to absorb the basic tenents, answers given by me will start becoming meaningful. Unless you are serious about this question and not in a reverse-psychology mood, any answer I will give will not sink-in into your mind and it will therefore be a waste of time for you and me. So I ask again – are you serious about this question? 

Child: Yes I am very serious and am willing to listen to your explanation. 

Parents: So first things first, there are four aspects that one needs to be aware of when one talks about सनातन धर्म – first about the ultimate reality or Truth of universe which is called as ब्रह्म, second about the nature of the Universe where ideas of पुरुष and प्रकृति, देवता व्यवस्था and गुण are essential to understand, third about the key rules that govern our lives viz धर्म and कर्म and last about उपासना meaning actions that we need to undertake to attain the goal of सनातन धर्म viz मोक्ष.

Child: What about God and His existence? What about prayers to God which people seem to undertake to seek our welfare and beg for their attention to solve our miseries?

Parents: Let me respond to usage of words God or gods. There is no God in सनातन धर्म and therefore the question of prayer to God or gods does not arise.

Child: What? Isn’t श्रीकृष्ण or राम or विष्णु  a God or देवी a Goddess?

Parents: What do you mean by God?

Child: God is one who created the world and who dispenses justice by helping good people and punishing bad people. 

Parents: And why does God create the world and is this God only bothered about human beings and not plants and animals?

Child: I have no idea. But why do we pray to God or gods as a beggar even though we do not even understand the “what” or “why” kind of questions relating to these gods? 

Parents: In सनातन धर्म, we do not pray to God or gods. You see – when you use English language, you use the words like “pray to god”. But if you speak in your own native tongue and ask anyone why, for example, they are going to a temple, they will reply – “to have दर्शन of the Divine”.

Child: But isn’t God or Divine one and the same?

Parents: Technical word that is used in सनातन धर्म for Divine is ब्रह्म. And ब्रह्म is seen as the primary particle, the foundation from which the whole universe as sprung from, in which the universe subsists and into which it integrates. It is expressed as the primary truth knowing which all becomes known.

Child: This sounds like a quest of science as in “What is the fundamental particle within the Universe which may have been the source material that exists before Big Bang”? In that sense, I can understand that it will be good if we can see or witness, or as you say, have दर्शन of such a primal source material. But if that is the case, we do we see people praying or seeking favours from ब्रह्म? It does not seen sensible that people are praying to the source material?

Parents: People pray. But not to ब्रह्म. They pray to deities or देवता – ब्रह्म and देवता are different and not one and the same. 

Child: What is देवता now?

Parents: Leave aside what is देवता for the time being;  I will come to this later. What in your opinion causes someone to pray to anyone higher? What is it that all of us seek primarily?

Child: To seek happiness, I guess. 

Parents: OK – and what is the purpose of our life?

Child: To be happy – it is the same reason as conveyed above.

Parents: Good. So what makes people happy?

Understanding पुरुषार्थ – four goals of life

Child: I guess all of us are seeking various events to happen in our lives and/ or goals to achieve/ objects or experiences to acquire. And if we keep obtaining these from time to time throughout our life, we are happy. 

Parents: That is a good answer. सनातन धर्म says that there are four पुरुषार्थ or engagements that collectively define quest of our lives – धर्म, अर्थ, काम and मोक्ष. What do these mean?

1. धर्म denotes “that which holds together the different aspects and qualities of an object into a whole”. While a loose translation of the word has found various meanings – duty, righteousness, morality, etc – a closer definition of this word has been given as “that which makes a thing or being what it is”. Accordingly, धर्म of the सूर्य is to provide heat & light and thereby sustain life; धर्म of a tree is to give fruits/ flowers. From your perspective, what is your orientation, attribute, etc in which you have proficiency, using such an attribute to help yourself and others that causes least harm to the society can be taken as your धर्म. Sticking to your aptitude or pursuing interests that are dear to you means I am living life as per my स्वभाव. And if you live life as per your स्वभाव, you remain joyous and the value you add to the society gives joy to people and environment around you. And therefore all such acts in tune with your स्वभाव are labelled as स्वधर्म
2. अर्थ refers to wealth and other accumulations that you will acquire by following धर्म. So being in a profession or pursuing a vocation in a sincere manner that adds value to the society will also lead to yourself adding value in the form of wealth, house and other comforts.
3. काम refers to pleasure or entertainment that is Dharmic in nature that gives you happiness. Watching movies, playing games, reading books, etc can be included in this zone.
4. मोक्ष however denotes the REAL purpose of life as per our texts. So what is मोक्ष? Says Abhinavagupta, मोक्ष is nothing else but awareness of our own true nature, our स्वरूप. This is the ultimate goal of life meant to be pursued by all of us. मोक्ष makes us free from all our limitations and turns all our acts divine.

Child: I can connect with धर्म, अर्थ and काम. I do agree that we must pursue wealth as well as काम through Dharmic means that is in tune with our स्वभाव and derive joy in our lives. And my earlier answer about all of us seeking happiness is akin to काम. But I am unable to connect with मोक्ष? What do the words “our true nature” mean?

Parents: What do you think is the purpose behind pursuit of any goal? Let me make this easier – why do we pursue climbing a mountain?

Child: There is joy to be gained in climbing a mountain. Especially if the mountain has a difficult terrain, there is a feeling of achievement if we have successfully navigated through dangerous terrain to eventually reach the peak.

Parents: Now, can you reach the peak without knowing about the mountain and its difficulties?

Child: No. We usually get a map or take the help of a guide who has probably scaled the peak earlier than us. And taking their help in knowing all about the mountain, we prepare ourselves thoroughly in terms of acquisition of materials necessary to scale the peak. We do therefore make an attempt to study about the mountain before we attempt to scale this.

Parents: Perfect. Similarly, when we work to take a spaceship to Mars, does the same principle apply?

Child: Of course. We design a spaceship after studying properties of space, distance, learn navigation challenges, etc and then take the journey towards Mars.

Parents: Perfect again. Now, do you not see that your own life journey is akin to travel in space or climbing a mountain?

Child: In a sense – yes. And for this purpose, we undergo education, take lessons from parents and well-wishers, read books, etc to prepare ourselves to conduct the journey of life.

Parents: Good. But do you know about yourself?

Child: I know that I am a human being having certain attributes. Of course, I have a faint idea of my attributes, strengths, weaknesses, etc though I am not sure in a real sense.

Parents: What you are referring to are the outer aspects of your being called as स्वभाव. But what is your स्वरूप? I have told above that मोक्ष is about your स्वरूप, not स्वभाव. 

Child: Yes – you have. But I do not know the distinction between these two words.

Parents: In a gold ornament, the nature of design (necklace, ear-ring, etc) is स्वभाव of the ornament while the gold-ness of the ornament is its स्वरूप. So while the ornaments may differ from one another, intrinsically, all of them have the same स्वरूप viz that of gold. Are you with me on this?

Child: Understood. If you therefore ask me what is my स्वरूप, I guess “life” or “living-ness” is my स्वरूप which is common among all human beings while our inclinations, attributes, etc may vary from person to person. Am I correct to therefore state that all humans have the same स्वरूप though each of them have a different स्वभाव?

Parents: Brilliant!!! But why just humans? “Life” or “living-ness” is common to even plants and animals, isn’t it?

Child: Yes, life happens through humans, plants and animals though each of them have differing attributes and pursuits. But why is it important to know our own true nature?

Parents: As we discussed, only if you know about the mountain or space journey, you can navigate the mountain or space. However, since we are talking about your own life, isn’t is necessary to know your own self to the best of your ability before you commence or while you pursue your journey?

Child: Using this logic, I agree that knowing one’s real nature is essential. But I know my स्वभाव which is enough to pursue धर्म, अर्थ and काम – why should I know my स्वरूप? 

Understanding ब्रह्म – Ultimate Reality or Truth

Parents: Now we are getting into the root of the question. As per सनातन धर्म, if you know the truth of the Universe, the real nature of the Universe which is also your own real nature, you have attained the goal of life.

Child: What? Truth of Universe is also my own स्वरूप? I do not understand.

Parents: To understand this, I will convey to you three “thought” ideas or principles. 

Child: What do you mean by thought principles?

Parents: Thought principles means ideas or perspectives that one will use in all our experiences to frame opinions. Just as we apply Newton’s laws to explain many phenomena that we observe in the universe, the thought principles are akin to certain धर्म laws that we need to apply to understand the world better.

Child: Understood. So what are these principles?

Parents: These principles are a guide to understand the world and your place in it. You must not see सनातन धर्म as a religion talking about some supernatural being to who, all should pray and beg for a good life but a body of work that is focused on defining or arriving at truth of existence or its primal source material. So what are the principles? First principle is called as नित्य which means eternal. The proposition is that there is a primary particle or a foundational principle or truth that is eternal – It always was, It always is and It always will be.

Child: What is the “it” we are referring to here?

Parents: Let me give an example which is typically used in the शास्त्र. If you take an ornament of gold, the same gold can be seen as a necklace, then one can convert the necklace into hand ring, into an anklet, etc. While the ornament keeps changing, what is common about all these ornaments is the gold within it. You can therefore state that ornaments in various shapes, sizes and forms are temporary but gold is eternal. Take the gold away from the ornament and the ornament is no longer an ornament. The “gold-ness” of the gold is that only real aspect that is the truth about the ornament. So the first proposition is that the foundation or primary source material of this universe is नित्य or eternal – It always was, is and will be while the entire changing aspect of the universe is like the ornament which keeps taking various shapes and forms. 

Child: Is it necessary to have a foundation or a primary source material at all?

Parents: Whenever some asks a question – “who are you” or from what has the universe emerged from in its pre-Big Bang state”, one is attempting to get to the root or foundation of ourselves and/ or the universe. There has to be some core from which everything has emerged. Universe is “something” and since “something” always has to come from something else just as the effect comes from a cause, there is reasonable ground to postulate that there should be a foundational principle – a “something” from which the various multiple aspects of the universe have come about. First principle suggest that this foundational principle is eternal.  

Child: Understood but how can anything be नित्य in the sense that everything keeps changing its form. Nothing is eternal, is it?

Parents: Let me give another example which is often used in शास्त्र. When we make a pot, we use  Earth or mud. Now once a pot is made, it can be broken away and the same Earth can be remodelled into a plate, etc. We can therefore state that while Earth/ mud is eternal in this example, the pot or plate, etc is temporary or not-नित्य.  Similarly there is a foundational aspect of this universe may be seen as eternal while the changing aspect is just a change in the form of the One that is eternal. Do not take this as a proven idea – take this as a working hypothesis. Even physicists are attempting to locate the primary particle that may have been the building block of the visible universe – implying that everyone is working with a belief that there must be “something” from which “everything” has come about. All the first principle states is – the primary element or foundation of the universe is eternal. Fine for internalizing this as a working idea?

Child: Fine. What is the next principle?

Parents: Principal two is that change happens on a changeless foundation. One can see a change in anything only if there is something that is changeless in or around it. So if a train is moving, the movement can be perceived only because it is running on a foundation of rail-tracks that is unmoving. When two trains move parallel to one another at the same speed, the passengers in both the trains cannot discern any movement unless they see something which it is not changing and the moment they spot the unchanging (like a tree or a mountain in the distant background), they realise that they are moving. 

Child: So the second principle is that if the Universe is seen as continually evolving and changing, and we witness the change, there must be an underlying substratum that is unchanging. Is that the message?

Parents: Correct. The word used is अविक्रीयम् to describe the changeless aspect of the primary source material. One can witness this all around us. If I take myself, throughout life, my body changes its shape and at every moment thoughts keep changing one after another but the one which is me as an observer observing the body and mind remains changeless. Put this another way, only because I remain changeless, I am able to witness the changing aspects of my body and mind. श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता uses the analogy that body and mind are akin to clothes that we wear and while they keep changing day after day, the one within me is eternal and changeless. Therefore, if we see Universe as a continually evolving, moving, expanding and changing, it must be having as its substratum a foundation that is changeless.

Child: Understood. What is the third principle?

Parents: Third principle is that the foundational particle of the universe is सूक्ष्म or subtle. Subtle is something that cannot be seen though its presence is perceived. How do we understand this idea of subtlety? Analogies in our life experience may help here. Many experiences that we are able to witness are termed as स्थूल or gross but the cause of such a gross outcome is सूक्ष्म. Gravitation cannot be seen but because it is present, an apple falls down. Taste cannot be seen but we can experience taste when food touches the tongue. Thought cannot be seen but when the thought crystallizes, the body gets into action which can be seen. Therefore gravitation, taste or thought can be expressed as सूक्ष्म while apple falling down or act of eating or external physical actions may be described as स्थूल or gross. Take this further and the digestion process operating within us is सूक्ष्म as we cannot see this, hydrogen and oxygen cannot be seen and are therefore सूक्ष्म but physical water that we can see using our eyes is स्थूल. Just observe all around and one can see this स्थूल – सूक्ष्म aspect prevalent in everything around us. If therefore we take this principle as valid, we have to necessarily postulate that since we are able to see or experience the physical universe, its foundation principle or the original cause of this visible universe is something which cannot be seen with physical eyes because it is सूक्ष्म.

Child: While this is logically tenable, how can we ever know a principle that cannot be seen? If we can only see its effects and can never ever see the cause, how will be ever get to a scientific basis for prove anything as the cause of the universe?

Parents: Wonderful question. But you will not get an answer in the manner that you get if you ask a question – “What is 1+1?”. You have to imbibe these principles, live life applying these principles into day to day life and question every aspect that you experience using these principles. And if you maintain this approach, you will eventually reach a state when the answer will reveal itself to you – and that is the state of मोक्ष which is the most important पुरुषार्थ of our lives as our texts. 

Child: Understand. So are there just three principles to describe the primary source material or foundational element of the universe?

Parents: These principles need to be used as props to enable you to discover the primary source material of the universe. Such props or support are necessary only till you reach your destination and once you reach the destination, the truth of these words will form part of your direct experience – at such a state, the props can be discarded. And there are many other such words described in the वेद – अप्रमेयम् (not describable), निरन्तर (continuous or one without and end), निष्क्रिय (one with no activity), नि:सीम (one which has no end), असङ्ग: (one which cannot be associated with anything else or unattached), पूर्ण (one which is complete), सदाशिव: (one which is forever auspicious), शुद्ध बोध स्वरूप: (one whose essence is pure knowledge), केवल: (one which is absolute or the only One), अद्वितीयम् (one without a second), परम् (one which is ultimate), शुद्धम् (pure), नारायण(foundation of the universe), अखण्ड बोध: (unbroken essence of knowledge), निरीश्वर: (one which has no foundation or source since it is the foundation itself), अशेष साक्षी (eternal witness), निरुपमम् (unparalled), and many more words.

Child: Can you tell me what is वेद?

Parent: वेद is a body of work composed by numerous ऋषि. Over many millennia, various ऋषि had दर्शन of the ultimate reality of the Universe. They experienced it. And they experienced a thrill when they discovered this. And they expressed the wonder of what they observed or experienced in the form of मंत्र. And these मंत्र represent word-expression of the ultimate reality that they uttered spontaneously. They then felt that if they preserve these मंत्र, people in the future will be able to use these मंत्र and will be able to also experience the fascinating glimpse of the ultimate reality which they too experienced. And via a गुरू-शिष्य परंपरा, these मंत्र were preserved and passed on for thousands of years till today. वेद therefore represents a body of texts which have a compilation of मंत्र that denote expressions of दर्शन that numerous ऋषि had of the primal foundational source of the Universe. 

प्रकृति, पुरुष and गुण- the building blocks of the visible universe

Child: Understood the वेद. Coming to the number of words you have used to express the ultimate, that is a lot of them. I am glad you said we will focus our discussion only on three principles., I have a question on the Changeless principle – how can the changing universe emerge from an unchanging foundation? How can स्थूल emerge from the सूक्ष्म? It seems improbable in a rational sense.

Parents: Three words is adequate for now. Your excellent question has been asked at the right time. An analogy may be useful here. So there is a film director who is happy and peaceful. Broad contours of a story enter her mind and she then decides to make a film based on the storyline that emerged in her mind. Next, once the idea is laid out, the director decides to create an ecosystem where the story can be translated into a visible drama. This ecosystem incudes a stage or a platform where the story can be played, actors who will act out the various roles conveyed within the story and above all, an audience who will watch the play and derive joy out of it.  Do you not see that the idea in the mind of the director is सूक्ष्म while the actual play and its ecosystem including audience that came together to make the play possible is स्थूल?

Child: Yes. But there is a question. To create a universe that is स्थूल, physical materials are necessary.  So where did these materials come from? 

Parents: So here is where I will introduce two technical words which are fundamental to understanding सनातन धर्म  – these are प्रकृति and पुरुष. Both together are necessary for creating the universe, the सूक्ष्म and स्थूल, the unseen and the seen are simpler ways of understanding the idea of प्रकृति and पुरुष. So you can say that the changeless aspect is the पुरुष and the changing dynamic aspect is the प्रकृति. The static is the पुरुष and dynamic is the प्रकृति. प्रकृति is often referred to as the feminine (not female) and पुरुष as the masculine (not male). प्रकृति is also referred to as the matter and पुरुष as the spirit. प्रकृति is the dependent principle while पुरुष is an independent principle.

Child: How can प्रकृति come out of पुरुष? If both have different attributes, how can one emerge from the other? How can a foundational principles which is changeless and सूक्ष्म become observable or visible? Besides, and since you have used the example of ornaments, when a goldsmith decides to make an ornament, he gets gold FROM OUTSIDE and then works on it to make the ornament. Similarly, if a potter wants to make pots and vessels of various sizes and shapes, he needs to obtain Earth or mud FROM OUTSIDE but if पुरुष is changeless, where did प्रकृति come from using which the universe got created?

Parents: This is an excellent question and the answer is that प्रकृति has come from पुरुष itself. How so? One of the उपनिषद् gives 3 analogies –

1. Just as the spider web comes out of the body of the spider,
2. Just as grass comes out of the earth and
3. Just as human hair comes out of the human body

similarly the physical manifestation of the universe comes out of the unmanifested पुरुष. So while in the case of our day-to-day experience, the physical material is something that is not part of the creator, in the case of the universe, the physical material is also created from within पुरुष itself.  Simply put, the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता and many शास्त्र also state again and again that पुरुष and प्रकृति both are eternal aspects of the One foundational truth only.

Child: While the analogies are interesting, it is difficult to conceive of a state where one can imagine that पुरुष and प्रकृति are part of the one only.

Parents: I agree this is complex but this is precisely the idea that is contained in our texts. The ऋषि visualized the universe springing from a mother and father – it is because of this reason that in our temples, whenever one sees representation of ब्रह्म, one sees both प्रकृति and पुरुष which means that शिव is seen with उमा, विष्णु is seen with लक्ष्मी or राम with सीता. These are not to be seen as wife and husband but in reality temple deities are an expression of प्रकृति and पुरुष as the foundation of the universe just as a sperm and an egg for life to emerge or a seed and earth for a tree to emerge. Therefore, Universe cannot happen unless both पुरुष and प्रकृति are part of the original scheme of things. Even within us, you may see the foundational idea of awareness within you as पुरुष and physical aspects like the body, mind, intellect and idea of “I as separate from the world as प्रकृति. All of life anywhere in the universe is a mix of प्रकृति and पुरुष. All male species are a mix of प्रकृति and पुरुष and equally, all female species are also a mix of प्रकृति and पुरुष. 

Child: It is still a struggle to conceive that a physical comes from the non-physical but the spider and the spider web example is an interesting analogy Can I therefore state that when पुरुष does not want to conceive the universe, प्रकृति is dormant within पुरुष but when पुरुष want to express the universe just as a film director wants to express a play, then प्रकृति becomes active and visible.

Parents: Brilliant. Both always exist and it is just that at sometimes प्रकृति is dormant and at other times प्रकृति is active. It is as simple as that.

Child: I have understood the idea of four पुरुषार्थ, three principles (viz नित्य, अविक्रीयम् and सूक्ष्म) and have some understanding of the fundamental idea of पुरुष and प्रकृति. The first idea focussed on individual, the second on foundation of the visible universe and the third idea seems to relate to both individual and the universe. I must say I am confused – how does all this relate to my original question about which expression of भगवान् is primary?

Parents: Did I say that the foundational principle of the universe is eternal?

Child: Yes. 

Parents: Did I also say that प्रकृति and पुरुष are eternal and inseparable?

Child: Yes

Parents: If the foundation principle is eternal and what we see around us is प्रकृति, since पुरुष is inseparable from प्रकृति, even पुरुष is everywhere?

Child: Logically yes – the foundation principle should be everywhere just as gold is present in every part of the ornament.

Parents: Correct. I can give you another analogy. Earth and planets have emerged from the सूर्य. Sunlight is everywhere in the Universe. So some aspect of सूर्य is present on the Earth as well as other planets. If this is so, if you want to study the nature of sunlight, can it be done only on one part of the Earth?

Child: Of course not. One can know the properties of the sunlight from Mumbai or Dubai or Singapore or London or Tokyo – the property of the sunlight is the same everywhere.

Parents: Precisely. The शास्त्र have made a similar prescription stating that what is true at a ब्रह्माण्ड level (macrocosm) is also true at a पिंडाण्ड level (microcosm). This means that the truths that apply at a macrocosmic level also apply at a microcosmic level. Therefore, if you want to know about the Universe, you can explore within yourself. And once you do this seriously doing intense साधना, you will discover the foundational truth of the Universe within yourself. And this idea of discovering truth within oneself comes in Taoism and other non-Indian mystical traditions too. The idea is simple – what is नित्य, what is अविक्रीयम् and what is सूक्ष्म is also everywhere and the source of life within us too. If you find a way to tap into this and then access this, you will know everything – that is the idea.

Child: Wow!!! This is therefore we often hear the lines – ब्रह्म is within you, अहम् ब्रह्म अस्मि. 

Parents: Absolutely – Truth or reality within you is given a technical name viz आत्मा while the same Reality at a Universal level is परमात्मा or ब्रह्म. In a sense, just like Earth in one vessel is the same as Earth in another vessel or just as sunlight in Kyoto is the same as sunlight in Kashi, what is residing within you or any other life or at the Universal level is one and the same.

Child: But there is a problem here. Sunlight is the same everywhere – whether in Tokyo or Dubai. Similarly, grass is the same everywhere. But Universe is different everywhere – there are different colours, different shapes, different properties, etc. Everything is different. Even if I can take your example, the spider web has the same property across the web. How can difference come about from the One substance only?

Parents: You are correct. Variety is the way of the Universe. The idea being conveyed is that the variety rests on a Unity just as a single drama can only be expressed by means of a variety in the form of a stage, different actors, different settings and actors playing different scenes and reciting different dialogues. All such variety has emerged from a single mind of a director. Seven colours of सूर्य also emanate from their original white colour only. Therefore, diversity emerges from unity only. Diversity is प्रकृति and unity is पुरुष. In picture art, शिव representing पुरुष is shown in meditation with half-closed eyes and everything around is snowy white, quiet and peaceful. When शिव opens His eyes meaning when the Universe manifests, there is उमा, गणेश, कार्तिकेय, नन्दी and numerous गण along with शिव meaning again that diversity has come about in and around शिव. Do note that शिव is also witnessing this diversity and actively engaging with this but not outside the Universe.

Child: Fair point. But are there some core principles around which diversity comes about or is it a random uncontrolled diversity?

Parents: Diversity is not random or uncontrolled – there is a method to the madness, if we can use this expression. The idea of diversity is based on the idea of गुण. When प्रकृति is dormant, the गुण, which represent the genetic constituents of प्रकृति, are in perfect equipoise within the पुरुष. There are three गुण – सत्व, रजस् and तमस्. 

Child: Can you elaborate on गुण?

Parents: In Her unmanifested state, प्रकृति holds the गुण in perfect equipoise. Given below are three expressions in which ech गुण makes a certain kind of manifestation happen in the visible universe:

Nature of expression	सत्व	रजस्	तमस्
In the order of being, characterized by	Brightness and lightness	Activity or movement	Principle of darkness or inertness
In the psychological order, characterized by	Transparency, joy and peace	Craving and passion	Dullness, delusion and dejection
In the ethical order, characterized by	Principle of goodness	Principle of ambition and greed	Principle of degradation and debasement

Child: I am unable to appreciate the above fully. Can you please elaborate a little more?

Parents: The idea of गुण remains fundamental to understanding of सनातन धर्म. It is a detailed topic. Simply put, all three गुण are present in all of us as well as the entire visible universe. When the गुण are in equilibrium, our आत्मा is in a सत्, चित्  and आनन्द  state. However, if the गुण matrix is changed, activity happens. श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता and many texts therefore state that one’s true nature is गुणातीत meaning beyond all three गुण. But what does गुण do within us? The idea of activity or movement that happens in the universe or within us is on account of the presence of रजस् present within us. A person with excessive रजस् is driven by greed and ambition, a person driven by सत्व is focussed on knowledge, kindness, etc while a one driven by तमस् is prone to laziness and sleep. And while all three गुण are present in all of us, one of them tends to be dominant to a large extent throughout our live thus given us our स्वभाव. The idea of solidity in the universe comes from the attribute of तमस् and our outer body is therefore a product of तमस्. Idea of movement comes from रजस् and therefore those aspects in our persona signified by Prana (Circulation, respiration, digestion, excretion, etc) comes from रजस्. Idea of gaining knowledge and being compassionate towards others comes from presence of सत्व within us (which is why our sense organs like eyes, ears, mind, etc which are the tools that aid us in knowing the world better are products of सत्व). 

Child: So is this why the idea of सात्विक आहार (food) has come about in the sense that if we eat such food, the सत्व aspect within us will gain prominence and will not be side-lined by the रजस् and तमस् aspects of our being? So what you are stating is that when ब्रह्म is stable and joyful within Himself just like the film director we referred to earlier, there is no creation but when the same ब्रह्म wants to express His joy in a visible manner, He introduces a change within the गुण matrix within Himself and thus the physical universe comes about abounding in the diversity that is visible to us. 

Parents: That is correct. And it is गुण that makes us see the diversity in the Universe – in humans too, while all three गुण are present, there is always a preponderance of one गुण over the other two for most of our life.

Child: Is the caste system related to गुण? We have read in school that caste system promotes inequality and looks at people in an unequal manner.

Parents: Caste system is not a word used by सनातन धर्म. There are three aspects that are relevant to understand human beings. First is the family a child is born into viz कुल. One kid may be born in a rich house, another in a poor house, one in a house where parents are intellectuals while another in a family of warriors – there is therefore inequality at the time of birth itself. Next is the profession one is engaged in called as जाति – so one may be in a family of lawyers but the specific child may have taken by Medicine as a choice of career. Third is वर्ण and this is where गुण is relevant.

Child: So the caste system that we find in India seems more linked to कुल since modern India is identifying people based on the family they are born. What is meant by the वर्ण categorisation of people and how is गुण related to it?

Parents: Modern India has taken कुल to be the basis for categorizing people. But वर्ण categorisation is based on attributes of a person. In the अजगरपर्व of the महाभारत where युधिष्ठिर is asked this precise question, he also states clearly that one’s वर्ण is based on one’s conduct and not the family of birth viz कुल or profession of choice viz जाति.

Child: So what are these वर्ण?

Parents: There are four वर्ण – ब्राह्मण is one in whom सत्व is primary backed by रजस्. क्षत्रिय is one in whom रजस् is primary or dominant backed by सत्व. वैश्य is one in whom रजस् is dominant backed by तमस् while शूद्र is one in whom तमस् is dominant backed by रजस्. Therefore, in a ब्राह्मण, since सत्व is dominant, all activity that is undertaken is triggered by compassion, kindness and knowledge. In a क्षत्रिय, activity orientation is high but such activity orientation is restricted to protecting others, helping others and taking care of people in society. In a वैश्य also, activity orientation is high but because force of तमस् backs the activity orientation, they like material possessions like wealth, private plans, etc. Lastly, a शूद्र is a commoner who lack yearning for knowledge, yearning for power or material possessions but if encouraged, they will work hard under the guidance of other three वर्ण and live a happy life. That is the idea of वर्ण.

Child: So one’s कुल or जाति has no bearing on one’s वर्ण?

Parents: It is a yes and no answer. So there are saints like Nisargadutta Maharaj in recent times who are not from a ब्राह्मण कुल but gained the ultimate while there are others like Ramana Maharishi who was from ब्राह्मण कुल. Bottomline is that while people may belong to any कुल or जाति, if compassion and study are the primary attributes of a person, he or she may be seen as a ब्राह्मण. Do however note that the idea of four वर्ण is not limited to human beings only but also to plants and animals – ancient texts have classified certain plants as ब्राह्मण, certain others as वैश्य, etc and even animals have been classified accordingly.

Child: Agree that attributes must be the basis to differentiate between people and in that sense, वर्ण method of categorisation is a reality in all societies. But how is this classification of people to be applied in a society?

Parents: Essentially, the classification is useful to manage conflict of interest. The idea is that the most intense power that exerts itself in a society is the intellectual power – even today, people who win Nobel prizes in fields of Science, Medicine, etc command a lot of respect. However, if such people are given positions of power, it is possible that such a position may make them misuse such positions for personal benefit – intellectual arrogance can be the worst kind of arrogance and therefore the ancient rule was that ब्राह्मण must subsist on alms that he may obtain living by giving advice to others. Similarly, people in leadership positions, the क्षत्रिय, have a huge influence (just as politicians today) and while it is fine for such people to engage in leadership activity, they must not have access to wealth directly (which they must seek from the वैश्य) and they must work under the guidance of a ब्राह्मण rather than pursue their own pet projects while being in power. A वैश्य similarly must not be given position of power (today, businessmen are turning into politicians and therefore misusing their money power which is dangerous for the society). Last is the majority of people in a society or commoners called as शूद्र who work under the guidance of the other three. This is therefore a natural way of any society across the world and applies universally. If capability alone is the basis of people taking on roles but not their value system, it is possible that capability is misused just as bomb making in the hands of a terrorist or intellectual who is very weak in the social sphere made a leader of people – both will be misfits to do their roles even though they may be capable.

Child: So is a ब्राह्मण superior to others?

Parents: How can anyone born in one कुल be deemed as superior to others? Equally, why should choice of profession that signifies a जाति be deemed as superior to other जाति? After all, a nation requires people doing all types of professions – nation having only warriors or only scholars or only carpenters will certainly have a stunted way of life as compared with other societies having all kinds of people. People must pursue a profession as per their स्वभाव and any profession followed as per one’s स्वधर्म is noble and laudable. श्रीकृष्ण says in the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता that irrespective of one’s वर्ण, each and every one will have access to the Highest Truth or ब्रह्म provided their perform their स्वधर्म effectively. Performing स्वधर्म that is in tune with one’s स्वभाव makes one eventually transcend their गुण construct and make them qualified to attain मोक्ष – that is the idea.

Child: So while there are differences in society or variety based on one’s own गुण, at the root, all are One.

Parents: Perfect. At the primal or innate level called as परमार्थ, everyone is not just equal – everyone is One ब्रह्म only. At the level of practical world called as व्यवहार, there are differences or variety based on one’s गुण orientation. Just because a porcupine has the same ब्रह्म residing within it as myself, at a व्यवहार level, I will no go out and embrace it. A murderer has to be put into jail irrespective of which कुल or जाति one belongs to – the aptitude or behaviour is the determiner of justice at a व्यवहार level too and similarly, to attain मोक्ष, one’s गुण plays a role. Therefore, irrespective of कुल or जाति one belongs to, as long as everyone has access to live out their life as per one’s innate aptitude or गुण, one will live happy and society will also be happy if individual people are able to pursue their goals.

Child. Understood. Coming back to the foundation principle, am I therefore to understand that if we take ब्रह्म as the eternal principle, It is very much the part of the universe providing sustenance to it directly as against the analogy of a potter and a pot where there is no potter who has to be present within the pot. Correct?

Parents: Yes, it is within the Universe or you can say, ब्रह्म IS BOTH THE CREATOR AND THE CREATED. These are not separate – these are one only just as the same person can be a father, a son, a husband, an office employee, a manager, etc., it is the same ONE foundation principle that is present within the many.

Child: While I can rationally understand this, I do not feel as if ब्रह्म is within me. In fact, your words seem to indicate as if I am ब्रह्म myself but this is ridiculous, is it not?

Parents: Let us take a sane person who was sane for 45 years of his life but he has an accident post which he becomes mad. Now, if this mad person behaves abnormally based on a certain understanding of himself in his mad-state, can we say that the sanity-aspect of the person is also present within the mad person but he is unable to experience his earlier sane state?

आत्मा (ब्रह्म at a personal level) and its distinction from प्रकृति

Child: So what you are saying is that while ब्रह्म indeed resides within me, I am unable to connect with this state of mine. And owing to this, I think I am a girl or a boy or a dog or a plant. While I am indeed the primary source material that exists everywhere in the Universe, I am unable to connect with this.

Parents: That is true. We have lost connect with our true nature. When we connect with the आत्मा, we will have cracked the code of life and of the universe – there is nothing else left to be known. We have attained मोक्ष – we have become freedom from the self-imposed limitations that have shackled our understanding of the Truth.

Child: What exactly is आत्मा? How do we discover this within oneself?

Parents: तत्वबोध (composed by आदि शंकराचार्य) defines आत्मा as “That which is other than स्थूल, सूक्ष्म & कारण शरीर, which is beyond the five कोश (sheaths), which is the witness of the three states of awareness (waking, dream and deep sleep) and which is the nature of सत्, चित् & आनन्द is आत्मा.  स्थूल शरीर refers to the physical body which is a “receptacle” to earn the experiences of सुख and दु:ख. सूक्ष्मशरीर refers to seventeen items namely -five ज्ञानेन्द्रिय (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin), five कर्मेन्द्रिय (hands, legs, mouth, excretory organ and genitals), five प्राण (प्राण, अपान, उदान, समान & व्यान), मन & बुद्धि. That which is inexplicable, beginning-less and in the form of a अविद्या, the cause for the other two bodies (सूक्ष्म & स्थूल), ignorant of one’s own real nature (viz आत्मा), free from duality or division is the कारण शरीरं (causal body).

Child: So are you saying that are two “Me”s present within myself. The first “Me” is an unreal “Me” that is a lower-self while there is a second higher-self called as आत्मा that is my true स्वरूप?

Parents: Absolutely. You may call the first “me” as the “small I” or अहंकार while the real “Me” as the “big I” viz आत्मा. The अहंकार feels disconnected with आत्मा and thinks of itself as an island that is separated from the mainland. In this state where अहंकार is dominant (meaning the idea of separation from others and the universe is intense), we are referred to as जीव. In रामायण, the narrative states that राक्षस lives in लंका (which means an island) and there is therefore a suggestion that those who are disconnected with the higher reality and live life focussed on self-obsessions in self-imposed cocoons are राक्षस. If I am driven by my life by my own selfish desires without any connection with the rest of the universe, I am actually a राक्षस only.

धर्म and कर्म – two core rules that drive our lives

Child: And why does one become a राक्षस or an अहंकार-driven person?

Parents: The disconnect comes about because of accumulation of वासना (impressions triggering habitual behaviour within us). Suppose you go for a first foreign holiday, fall in love with this so much that you decide to repeat such a holiday every six months, what has actually happened is that you have developed likings based on certain experiences. And then you tend to repeat such experiences again and again. Similarly, you may dislike a person owing to a certain experience and you develop a prejudice against the person and every time you engage with this person, you see him or her with prejudiced/ preconceived notions. Presence of such preconceived notions or prejudices forces you to confirm to habitual behavioural patterns and such prejudices, which could be both positive and/ or negative, are the वासना within you. The more and more you are immersed in the वासना, the more you steer away from your own true nature, the सत्, चित् and आनन्द स्वरूप of yourself. 

Child: You have stated that my physical body, my physiological aspects, mind and intellect and my own fundamental “I-ness” – all these aspects are collectively not my true reality and आत्मा stands outside all these aspects. Given the dialogue we have had till now, I have some appreciation of what you are trying to convey. However, I am unable to comprehend the meaning of कारण शरीरं (causal body). 

Parents: कारण शरीर represents the third innermost layer over आत्मा. As the name suggests, कारण means causal or cause – why is this layer called as कारण (cause) and what is its कार्य (effect)? Just as seed is कारणं and fully grown tree is कार्यं, similarly, the कार्यं (effect) of the कारण शरीर is the सूक्ष्म & स्थूल शरीर (viz mind. Intellect and the physical body). So our body and mind have come about, the reason that triggers our birth is our accumulated वासना we have accumulated over many previous lives. And the more positive and negative impressions we gather via our experiences, the more our वासना layer gets deepened or thickened. And the more it gets embedded, the more we become disconnected with our आत्मा. 

Child: OK – so this is where the idea of multiple lives comes about in सनातन धर्म. And it is inevitable to conclude that we must have had previous lives especially because if there is no such वासना baggage that we carry, there would have been no reason for us to be born. But we always keep doing some actions or another all the time and we keep gaining experiences out of these actions.

Parents: The goal of सनातन धर्म is a ज्ञान goal – goal is not to impress some “big daddy” to go to heaven and avoid hell. By ज्ञान goal, it is meant that the yearning is the make a person realise or experience his or her own true nature. And because one element of our true nature is eternality or सत्, even when the body is shed, it will take on to another life in some or other life form. Our own कर्म takes us to स्वर्ग (heaven) or नरक (hell) but living in heaven or hell is temporary and not permanent. Unless one has realised his or her own true nature, how can मोक्ष happen? Even a “big daddy” cannot give us मोक्ष unless the ज्ञान of our own true nature descends into our persona. Therefore, heaven or hell may be seen as ‘kindergarden’ expressions of religion that can be conveyed to kids who are younger to make them behave sensibly – however, the real goal is सनातन धर्म is ज्ञान as once we realise our own true nature, we become पूर्ण and blissful.

Child: Understand – by it does seem like an inconceivable goal. Can we ever connect with the आत्मा since prejudices (positive or negative) are inevitable for anyone who lives. How can we really be unbiased or objective in all our actions?

Parents: No. There are two kinds of actions one does – actions driven by habitual patterns of actions based on prejudices (वासना) are called as कर्म and unbiased & objective actions reflecting most appropriate action (given the circumstance and our own character) in any situation is called as धर्म. Pursuit of various कर्म leads to कर्मफल meaning consequences which may be positive or negative. Pursuit of धर्म does not accumulate कर्म; while all other कर्म (whether good or bad) generate कर्मफल which gets accumulated and resides within us in the form of वासना/ संसकार (impressions). And the more वासना layer gets thickened, the more it has to necessarily fulfil itself and create or take on a body of live out वासना/ संसकार. In a sense, all that happens in our life is our own वासना since all of us have to face consequences of our own actions even though some other person or circumstance may have impacted my life. We are responsible for all events of our lives – that is the fundamental idea of कर्म and कर्मफल

Child: So कारण शरीर is the कारण of us taking on a certain kind of body and mind. But if we are able to get rid of this कारण, the obstruction that my particular kind of body and mind that I have been born with becomes wiped away and my body and mind then reflects the bliss of आत्मा in an unadulterated manner. Is that correct?

Parents: Perfect. कारण शरीर is the reason that makes us unaware of our स्वरूप viz आत्मा. सनातन धर्म tells us to do धर्म which helps in reducing accumulated कर्म stock (कर्म क्षय) residing in our कारण शरीर but more importantly paves the way for ज्ञान. And once complete ज्ञान descends onto us, अज्ञान is washed away and we are free. It is through pursuit of धर्म alone that one gains freedom – not by any magic or blessing by an external भगवान्. Therefore, know your जीव condition, know the Real आत्मा identity and then work hard to realize ज्ञान and finally one will attain मोक्ष.

Child: One small question – do life forms like plants and animals also accumulate कर्म?

Parents: Good question. The ability to do धर्म or do कर्म is only for human beings. Plants, animals and even देवता are merely exhausting the वासना present within their कारण शरीर . The sense of “I-ness” or अहंकार is negligible within them. And since the idea of agency or “I am doing” idea is limited within them, they live their lives in an instinctive manner only. And there is therefore no धर्म that they can do nor कर्म that they can accumulate further. They merely exhaust their existing accumulated कर्म, that is all. Therefore, as per सनातन धर्म, one is very lucky to be born as a human being since the opportunity to attain ब्रह्म status is only available to a human being.

Child: All of a sudden, in the last few sentences, there are so many new ideas that you have conveyed that my mind has started rolling. 

Parents: That is true. This topic is a domain that is intricate. One has to read texts, listen to Gurus but more importantly, observe life based on the ideas given here intensely. If you absorb the basics of these ideas at a younger age, as you live out your life, you can observe life and through this, deepen your understanding on each of these ideas.

Understanding आत्मा in terms of its nature viz सत्, चित् & आनन्द

Child: Understand. But all that I know about myself and my entire persona is expressed as not-आत्मा. If everything that I know about myself is not आत्मा, what is left here? There is nothing left at all. I am unable to comprehend my true nature which you have described as आत्मा. How do I understand आत्मा in this situation?

Parents: Understand this confusion. Here we come back to the original foundational principles we had talked about – आत्मा is eternal, आत्मा is changeless and आत्मा is the most सूक्ष्म aspect of our identity. But how do we still connect with it? What is its स्वरूप, its nature? It is of the nature of सत्, चित् & आनन्द. What is सत्? सत् is that which remains unchanged in the three periods of time. What is चित्? It is of the nature of absolute knowledge. What is आनन्द:? Of the nature of absolute happiness.

Child: Kindly elaborate on the idea of सत्, चित् & आनन्द.

Parents: Here we go:

1. All of us naturally exist and like to continue existing. Existence is so natural and ceasing to exist disturbs us. Universe exists. Planets also exist. Sun also exists and even after Sun goes away, another Sun takes its place. Existence as an idea is eternal. Even we want to live on. And live as if we will always exist. While we may rationalize death and accept it, death troubles almost all people as it represents a break on the idea of existence. By default, all of us see suicide as a deviation. Why does ceasing to exist be seen as a deviation? It is because our स्वरूप from emanates from our आत्मा is सत्. सत् means to exist and आत्मा ALWAYS exists since that is its स्वरूप. But we make a mistake when we superimpose this स्वरूप onto our body and mind which is a जीव state. Such super-imposition is called अध्यास and this makes us want to live forever. While a jiva cannot live eternally, आत्मा that powers a jiva is an eternal existing substance. This need within us of wanting to live forever is not an idea of the mind but is coming from our own स्वरूप.
2. Next is चित्, the ज्ञान principle that makes us cognize or know things – it is the knowing principle within us. All of us cognize all happenings around us. We watch news, we read books, we gossip about other people, we want to see places, we want to learn about best ways to sleep good. Why this innate obsession to know throughout our life? It does not stop with rising age though the ability to learn may slow down. It is the चित् principle that is our स्वरूप that makes us invest our life always seeking to know the aspects that we either do not know or do not know enough. To know, to cognize, to yearn for more and more information is the चित् aspect of our being that plays itself out through our बुद्धि – मन complex.
3. Third is आनन्द. Pursuit of happiness is a universal goal. No one wants to be unhappy. Based on our वासना orientation, we may pursue differing pursuits (like mountaineering, art, sports, etc) but the quest is one viz pursuit of happiness. Even when a child cries, we get disturbed – unhappiness comes to us as an unnatural deviation. Why so? Once again, this natural urge to seek happiness comes from आनन्द which is our स्वरूप.

Child: So you are stating that सत् चित् & आनन्द is the true nature or स्वरूप of every individual life form and referred to as आत्मा and also that of the Universe where at the universal level, it is called as परमात्मा or ब्रह्म?

Parents: That is correct. सत् चित् & आनन्द is the primary source principle of the Universe from which the entire visible universe has sprung forth. Know this and you know all.

Child: But there is a problem with your line. If you say that सत् चित् & आनन्द is the source and substratum of the Universe, all aspects in the universe must have all these three attributes. But a stone does not have life nor does an ocean? How can you therefore state that सत् चित् & आनन्द is the foundational principle of the Universe?

Parents: सत्, चित् & आनन्द is indeed the foundational principle of the Universe. However, in a stone, the सत् aspect is dominant while other two are dormant, in plants and animals both the सत् and चित् aspects are dominant and आनन्द is dormant while in humans, all three are active and alive.

Child: If one looks at everything in the universe in this way, all of a sudden, the universe does seem magical and possibilities become immense. It seems to suggest that even stone has the capability to move around if the चित् & आनन्द aspect are activated within the stone. आत्मा appears like a wi-fi signal that is present everywhere but all are not connected with it owing to their own limitations and once one clears the cobwebs within oneself, the whole of humanity can exude ब्रह्म. But while at one end, it sounds fascinating and offers science-fiction type of possibilities, at the other end, it does seem unreal too.

Parents: Hahaha!!! Do not try to get answers to all questions today itself. Take this as a working hypothesis, engage with or wrestle with this idea all your life. Accept this as true only if this line eventually seems meaningful to you or reject this after thinking through this thoroughly and working in its possibilities. I will also not ask you to accept all ideas as valid today itself – but do not reject this just because you are unable to contend with this today.

Child: Fair!!! Let me return to myself. If सत् चित् & आनन्द is the स्वरूप of all of life, why are none of us able to connect with this?

Parents: I have already conveyed above. The वासना layer presents in our कारण शरीर makes us do actions as per pre-existing habitual patterns of conduct. Such acts that emerge from the idea of separateness from others are labelled कर्म and the more कर्म we do, the more the वासना layer becomes deeper and the idea of a distinct “I” (अहंकार) gets more and more entrenched. And because the वासना content of each and every person is different, some like taking holiday for सुख, some from rafting, some from pilgrimages, some from rock-climbing and some sleeping. If सुख is present within rock-climbing, sleeping, etc, all people who pursue these would have experienced the same quantum of सुख – but that does not happen. What happens is that our स्वभाव makes us pursue differing pursuits and when we attain these, आत्मा releases some stock of आनन्द present within it and शरीर then experiences सुख.

Fundamental idea that सुख & दुःख come from something outside us stems from a disconnect or separation we have with others and the world. अहंकार causes a जीव to chase happiness in a distorted manner and such continuous acts of कर्म cause a binding called as कर्म-बन्धन and we suffer. This “suffering” does not mean unhappiness but it means deepening of our limitedness or disconnect with ब्रह्म.  Put another way, all acts born out of prejudice or incomplete thinking, even though they may be correct actions, are bound to attract a कर्मफल since such acts are based on incompleteness within us. A careful person will evaluate his or her life in terms of experiences of कर्मफल that he or she undergoes and uses them to question his or her orientation in life – such a one is a genuine साधक, a true learner.

There are three kinds of कर्म. आगामि refers to कर्म that accrues to a ज्ञानी – while ज्ञानी has no association with his कर्म since he has stopped being guided by the whims of his अहंकार, however, कर्म continues to accrue to a ज्ञानी too and this is called as आगामि. संचित however refers to the entire stock of accumulated कर्म that we have earned over multiple lives. And that specific stock of संचित that is released for this particular life that we are born into is प्रारब्ध. Which is why whenever we experience good or bad in our current life, we say that it is our प्रारब्ध कर्म.

So is there an escape route? How do we enjoy our स्वभाव fully without experiences getting sullied by अहंकार? By doing all acts that enhance our connect with the others. The moment my life gets oriented with the “other” where the “other” is also seen like me, we expand from our limited-ness. In such a state, a carpenter enjoying carpeting because it gives joy to others, an accountant enjoys accounting because accurate accounting gives joy to others, a writer enjoys writing not to experience personal fame but because the writing adds value to the other. And this expansion takes us closer of ब्रह्म viz our own स्वरूप. Such acts are labelled as धर्म.

Child: Understand. So the cause of our inability to connect with our true nature of सत् चित् & आनन्द is that we indulge in कर्म as per our स्वभाव as against धर्म. And the more and more we indulge in धर्म, we will be able to return to our true nature. And when we connect with our आत्मा, we connect with परमात्मा too. 

Parents: Perfect. 

Are there multiple gods in सनातन धर्म?

Child: You have conveyed a lot of things. How is all this related to my original question with which we started this discussion – why सनातन धर्म  has different temples with each temple showing different deities as primary and subservient? Who is the real ब्रह्म as per सनातन धर्म ?

Parents: Referred to as परमात्मा or ब्रह्म, it is the foundational aspect of the Universe which is in सत्, चित् & आनन्द स्वरूप. It is eternal, it is changeless, etc. Now, this परमात्मा projects the Universe. He creates this jointly with His own प्रकृति and therefore, in this aspect as one who birthed the Universe, He is called as ईश्वर . ईश्वर is reflected as husband and wife and this is why all temples reflect the ultimate as a dual aspect. So far with me?

Child: Yes – all temples reflect a dual aspect. Even if it is a श्रीकृष्ण temple, there is another विग्रह where रुक्मिणी is shown along with श्रीकृष्ण. Even if it is a देवी temple, there will be a शिव विग्रह next to Her which represents the masculine aspect. राम is shown with सीता. So what you are stating is that any temple विग्रह is actually a representation of ईश्वर  and the masculine and feminine aspect is effectively conveying the idea of प्रकृति and पुरुष.

Parents: Correct. Which is why when we go to a temple, the real purpose is not prayer but actually to have दर्शन of the fundamental source of the universe as well as ourselves. Now, that aspect of ईश्वर that projects the intent of ईश्वर  to become manifested as the Universe is ब्रह्मा. That aspect of ईश्वर which maintains the Universe and ensures that the intent is played out appropriately is विष्णु. Lastly, that aspect that brings about a positive change, the change principle (movement of time, movement of ideas, etc) is रुद्र or शिव. Therefore, in all पुराण where महाविष्णु is shown as dominant, trio of ब्रह्मा-विष्णु-रुद्र is shown as subservient to महाविष्णु. In all texts where शिव is dominant, when the words शिव and उमा are indicated, what is indicated is प्रकृति and पुरुष and the trio again are shown as subservient to ईश्वर. When any temple reflects राम and सीता as परमात्मा, once again, all other deities shown as subservient to convey the same idea.

Idol worship vs विग्रह पूजा

Child: Understand – so unless one learns about these ideas as principles that essentially form the universe, one will always be confused by asking silly questions like the one I have asked. One question comes up often when the temple deities are seen as idol worship and criticised by other religious traditions as an inferior practice.

Parents: विग्रह पूजा is not the same as idol worship. The temple deities are not merely sculpted stones. Once they are sculpted, they are installed within the गर्भगृह (sanctum sanctorum) of a temple and मंत्र are chanted while installing the idol – these mantras actually do प्राण प्रतिष्ठा (infusing life into the stone). Once प्राण प्रतिष्ठा happen, a मूर्ति becomes a विग्रह and the deity becomes a living deity. Hindus therefore undertake दर्शन of a living deity and not a bland stone. And these मंत्र are chanted on a daily basis throughout the day which breath life into the विग्रह on a continuous basis to ensure that people visiting the temple engage with a living deity.

Child: I was not aware of this aspect of temple rituals but now I can understand how temples are different from, say museums. Another question comes to mind – why should there be the need for different expressions of the one foundational परमात्मा?

Parents: As you would have realized by now, there is only One truth. No matter what name you give it, there is only one principle that is the foundation of the universe and everything within the Universe. Correct?

Child: Yes – that much I have understood.

Parents: Now over the millennia, various ऋषि have experienced their connection through different forms just as differing sports people win the same-looking gold medal through play of different disciplines. Some have done meditation with राम and सीता as ultimate and then expressed them as ultimate. Some have done mediation using शिव and उमा symbology and gained their स्वरूप. There are differing people with differing tastes and over the eons, different such expressions have come about. But the foundation idea of सनातन धर्म  remains the same viz that the Truth is One which we call as ईश्वर which is composed of प्रकृति and पुरुष which expresses the Universe using the गुण of प्रकृति and create the diversity. Besides, instead of looking at राम and शिव as different, one needs to go beyond the physical depictions of these diverse expressions. राम means one who is joyful within Himself, शिव means one who is auspicious, विष्णु means one which is present in everything, गणेश effectively means leader of the aggregate (aggregate here means the variety that we see in the Universe and the leader of these variety is the पुरुष referred to as गणेश). So by going to different temples, we are effectively expressing our connection with the primary One only. 

Child: Aha!!! Now I finally get it. So all your long descriptions which seemed as digression from the main question was not really a digression after all…

Parents: Hahaha – no. Certain basics are essential before we understand the idea of differing expressions of the divine. 

Where does the idea of देवता fit within सनातन धर्म?

Child: While I see that pursuit of Truth and wanting दर्शन is what is meant to drive people pursuing सनातन धर्म, most of the people who are routinely seen as religious temples across the country go to do prayer to gods seeking some favour or another? How can you say that there is no idea of gods under सनातन धर्म?

Parents: As I said there are no gods under सनातन धर्म – there is a primary source material called as ब्रह्म while what you see as prayer to gods is nothing else but seeking favours from देवता or deities.

Child: Is देवता not the same as god?

Parents: No – gods is a wrong translation of the word देवता in English since English language has no equivalent. I will use a close approximation by using the word deity. Let me explain by means of an analogy – I have stated earlier that all aspects of physical body come under प्रकृति. Now, for the body to run effectively, there are numerous forces at work – we have a force of vision that makes one see, force of hearing that makes one hear, force of smell, forice of locomotion, force of excretion, force of digestion, force of reproduction, etc. Now, you will agree that जीव symbolized by अहंकार or “I-ness” at an individual level has no control over these forces since digestion happens whether जीव wills it or not, vision happens whether जीव wills it or not. These forces that operate within the individual are referred to as देवता within us. However, these देवता can operate only and only till the time the primal life force is present within us and once life departs, all these forces cease to operate. Taking this further, since principles work the same way at a ब्रह्माण्ड and पिंडाण्ड level, the very same forces operate at a individual level and are also responsible for running the Universe. And the statement made is that India has 33 crore देवता, the line suggests that there are numerous forces that operate our inner world as well as external world. And we will certainly hope and pray that all these unseen forces operate effectively enabling us for live a great life. 

Child: By this logic, all people of all religions or even atheists pray to the देवता since these forces are essential for all of life.

Parents: Absolutely!!! These forces are universal. देवता may be seen as forces which are essential in creating an ecosystem to enable the universe to fulfil the purpose for which पुरुष willed this into existence. देवता may thus be seen as the agents of प्रकृति while the of पुरुष is distinct and separate from प्रकृति – one cannot equate or put देवता in the same bucket as ब्रह्म and translate both these separate words with a single word – God. It is a big mistake and completely wrong.

There are some who desire proficiency in Engineering or architecture they are praying to विश्वकर्मा, there are those who are seeking power and they are praying to इंद्र, one seeking knowledge is praying to सरस्वती, one seeking intellect is praying to गणेश, one seeking good health is praying to अश्विनी कुमार and one praying to हनुमान् is actually seeking intelligence/ discipline/ humility, etc. The whole universe is filled with देवता and everyone including plants and animals are actually praying to देवता to sustain their lives effectively, is it not?

Child: While I agree to see देवता as beneficial forces, do we really need to be reverential to them? Sun or river or Earth or our digestion principle will work anyway – is it not? How will praying to these enable me to connect with ब्रह्म?

Parents: We pray to beneficial forces that we hold as पवित्रम् (sacred or pure).  So what can be deemed as पवित्रम्?  One that is the cause of our life is पवित्रम्. One on whom we depend on in पवित्रम्.  One that sustains our life is पवित्रम्.  But above all, that one is पवित्रम् which sustains us without seeking anything in return. It is पवित्रम् in the sense that its act of giving is not tainted by selfishness.  Thus,  Sun is पवित्रम्. Our माता is पवित्रम्. Our पिता is पवित्रम्. The tree that give us fruits is पवित्रम्. The air we breathe is पवित्रम्. The land which gives us food is पवित्रम्. The ground that we play on is पवित्रम्. These keep “giving” again & again.  We owe tremendous gratitude to so many of them – thus all of them are पवित्रम्. They can go on without me but I cannot imagine myself without them. Hence, I hold them with reverence.  I will stand up in their presence,  I will be respectful in front of them,  I will be in our best behaviour in front of them,  I will not indulge in silly talk in front of them. My behavior of humility in front of them is not an imposed rule; it comes out of my reverence for them. This is why Indian traditions encouraged reverence to nature,  not because the early primitive man was in awe of nature (as we are taught in school) but because of the inherent पवित्रता of nature as well as all of life in this Universe.

Do note that in संस्कृतम्, we say – मातृ देवो भव, पितृ देवाे भव, आचार्य देवो भव, etc but we do not say माता ब्रह्म भव, पितृ ब्रह्म भव, etc. नदी or वृक्ष is seen as a देवता and we pray to them to continue to be around us to benefit our lives. In English, even ब्रह्म is translated as God and even देवता is translated as God. However, while सूर्य is a देवता, it is not the primary source or particle viz ब्रह्म. But seeing देवता with a reverential attitude opens our mind to the virtue of gratitude and humility. This attitude then extends to other in society including humans and animals. And when we look at सूर्य, चंद्र, माता, पिता, नदी, etc and do नमस्कार to them as देवता, since all of them are sustained by ब्रह्म, when we offer our नमस्कार to the देवता, we are really offering our नमस्कार THROUGH the देवता to ब्रह्म only. Nothing is separate from ब्रह्म and when one prays to देवता seeking continuation of beneficial forces in our life, we seek benefit of the temporal to sustain our lives as well as eternal that eventually sustains the temporal too. To see the beneficial forces solely as utalitarian will extend this attitude to see other humans, animals and universe too as utalitarian – such a mind will eventually take to irreverance/ agnosticism which may eventually take one to psychological afflictions like depression. And therefore, whether one is religious or not, having an attitude of bowing down to देवता is essential to advance in our quest for the ultimate too which is ब्रह्म.

Child: But while we pray to the देवता, our endeavour is to live well in tune with our स्वभाव and therefore seek continued कृपा of the देवता – but seeking देवता to pursue a Dharmic life will eventually also enable us to seek स्वरूप, is this the message I should take?

Parents: Absolutely, live in tune with our स्वभाव  but align to our स्वरूप – that is the goal since once you obtain this, all your pursuits will be a joyful and blissful experience that binds one to the whole universe.

Child: But I ask again that if Truth is One, why are there so many expressions?

Parents: This is because ब्रह्म is not something that can be explained using words – one of the expression of ब्रह्म is that is it अप्रमेयम् viz indescribable. Let us take a cricket bat – you can take anyone across the world and once they see a bat, they can describe a bat to anyone else with a few words and the answer will be consistent across all the people. But if you take an emotion like anger or greed, more words will be required to explain the same idea and the answers will be slightly more complicated than that of a cricket bat. If you go deeper and take up a word which is intellectual in nature, eg., courage, “not lying”, “perseverance”, etc., these attributes may require pages if one has to explain the meaning of these to others who do not know the meaning of these words – and besides, how each person chooses to explain intellectual ideas will vary as per culture and background. Idea of ब्रह्म is not an external text book concept – it is an idea that can only be known with experience. Try explaining the beauty of moonlight to someone who have lived inside a dark cave all their life!!! Only when one has a दर्शन of ब्रह्म, one can describe the experience – but given that ऋषि who have attained this have stated that the state is indescribable, they have used words and expressions to describe their state but have also added that words have limitations to convey their experience.

Where does religion fit under सनातन धर्म ? Do all religions give the same message?

Child: Understand. ब्रह्म is not a concept that can be explained but to know it, one has to experience this. Are there multiple ways in which people in ancient India have expressed the Truth or ultimate reality?

Parents: A 14^th century scholar Madhavacharya wrote a text on 14 दर्शन or expressions of Truth. The text identifies all the various expressions that were prevalent at that time and classifies these into two broad categories – the नास्तिक category which includes चारवाक, बौद्ध and जैन expressions and a second category titled as आस्तिक category where the दर्शन is aligned to the Vedic texts which has many sub-categories like योग, सांख्य, पूर्व मीमांस, द्वैत, अद्वैत, etc. There is an extensive discussion/ elaboration of each category and sub-category – while चारवाक suggests that visible universe has sprung from dead matter accidentally, अद्वैत sees the entire universe as One and manifestation of one primary source material. Between the two, there are multiple variants and one has arguments for and against these disciplines within the text. The beauty is that each text uses the same common language of understanding Truth in ancient India viz आत्मा, कर्म, धर्म, प्रकृति, पुरुष, etc but the way these words are understood, explained and related with one another has multiple variations. अद्वैत sees the whole universe as an expression of the One ब्रह्म, विशिष्ट अद्वैत sees relationship of ब्रह्म and जीव like that of a body and a cell within the body, द्वैत which in simple terms sees a duality between ब्रह्म and the जीव, सांख्य proposes that while there is a single प्रकृति, once one attains मोक्ष, one does not merge into पुरुष but remains a distinct पुरुष – these texts are serious texts with lots of argumentation that make a case for each kind of दर्शन.

Child: Wow!! I never knew ancient भारत invested so much of their energies in the pursuit of Truth. It would have been good if we are taught these ideas in school which will then make us choose that seems most rational to us while appreciating the beauty of arguments made by other दर्शन. And given your description, सनातन धर्म does not appear like a conventional idea of religion in the way it is understood in mainstream society.

Parents: That is correct. सनातन धर्म is a body of knowledge that provides insight into multiple “ways of seeing” the world and this is why the 14 expressions explained by Madhavacharya are called as दर्शन (ways of seeing).

Child: How can any body of ज्ञान be सनातन or eternal? Everything changes with time, is it not? I am aware of the idea of युग where people are good in सतयुग but as we progress towards त्रेतायुग to द्वापरयुग and now at कलियुग, people become more corrupt and selfish?

Parents: The word सनातन itself means eternal and and the core idea that there is only One Truth viz ब्रह्म which is eternal, idea of पुरुष & प्रकृति, देवता व्यवस्था, कर्म & धर्म are eternal aspects that are valid not just in all four युग but also in any part of ब्रह्माण्ड. Hence, this ज्ञान contained in all four वेद viz ऋग्, यजुस्, साम & अथर्वण including the उपनिषद् is collectively referred to as श्रुति and श्रुति is eternal. Now, as we progress over various युग, what is happening is that the idea of separation from ब्रह्म caused by अहंकार deepens. And because अहंकार deepens, selfishness and corrupt behaviour rises. But even in कलियुग, once one connects with the ideas contained in the श्रुति, one will crack the code of life and can attain मोक्ष. However, what changes with time, place and people are living practices – hence, there have been many ऋषि who wrote texts called as स्मृति who provide guidance on living practices as per the general स्वभाव of the relevant society to enable to people of the society to align as per the श्रुति. Over the thousands of years, there have been a large number of समृति texts written from time to time to enable people to mould their lives as per the Truth contained in the श्रुति in a contextual language that is practical for their society and timeline.

Child: I agree that texts and prescriptions must vary from time to time and cannot be static. Given that modern world is organized around the concept of a nation state and run by their respective Constitutions, our Constitution may be seen as the most recent स्मृति?

Parents: Modern Constitution cannot be labelled as a स्मृति. While there is no doubt that modern Constitutions focus on mutual conduct among people for a just and respectful society, it is not aligned to the Truth or ब्रह्म. It does not guide people on how to live their daily lives, it does not regard plants and animals has having the same तत्व as humans nor does it give its precriptions on the premise that pursuit of Truth is the prime goal of all. This document does not get into स्वभाव of people to formulate its prescriptions – having said that, it is well-intentioned and helpful in creating conditions of peace in modern societies. It is just that I will not label this as a समृति.

Child: Understood the idea of श्रुति & समृति. But coming back to सनातन धर्म, or Hinduism, can we call these body of texts as religious texts?

Parents: सनातन धर्म is certainly not a religion. It is certainly not a way of life since all religions are also some or the other way of life only. It is a body of knowledge interested in pursuit of Truth – and therefore, सनातन धर्म will have an open mind towards any body of knowledge that is interested in exploring the pursuit of Truth and/ or the ultimate reality of the Universe/ ourselves.

Child: In that case, where does religion fit within सनातन धर्म?

Parents: You have a high level view of दर्शन. Now, under दर्शन, there will be पंथ or paths that one will follow. Over time, numerous schools of thought emerge that postulate certain variations within each दर्शन – therefore, under अद्वैत, वेदान्त is one school of thought while Kashmir Shaivism is another or there are other mystical paths that may have emanated from India or out of India (Taoism). We can thus see multiple पंथ under अद्वैत only. Similarly, there is द्वैत, सांख्य, etc., numerous schools of thought come about. So the word “religion” can be equated to पंथ or path. In fact, one can tabulate पंथ from all parts of the world and relate these with one or other of the 14 दर्शन.

Child: Then what about sects?

Parents: An equivalent word that may be considered in धर्म  tradition is परम्परा or संप्रदाय. A certain गुरू comes up, propagates a new परम्परा, gets followers and this परम्परा passes on from generation to generation. Thus, across the world, various पंथ or religions have sects which may subscribe to the broad rules of the पंथ but follow special rules and practices of the specific परम्परा. Many of the families across the world tend to align themselves to a certain परम्परा and tend to be possessive about the speciality of their परम्परा and may even fight/ debate with other परम्परा within the same religious tradition. 

Child: We often read that religion has been a cause of hate. How do we understand this?

Parents: When someone is obsessively tied to their पंथ or परम्परा and keeps them glorifying specific practices of their पंथ or परम्परा and looks at others as enemies, then such an obsession is the cause of clashes. 

Child: Do all religions convey the same message?

Parents: As stated, only those पंथ or परम्परा which are aligned to rediscovery of ब्रह्म within us convey the same message. Those पंथ or परम्परा which claim that they are exclusive and make their focus on aspects other than gaining knowledge of the ultimate reality cannot therefore convey the same message – the message, focus, mannerisms, etc will be different. So a message that states that all पंथ or परम्परा convey the same message is merely a “feel-good” line but does not have much substance.

Child: But often read that भारत is great because it is plural meaning it has people who follow numerous religions and we must protect each and every पंथ to retain the beauty of plurality. Country with many religions is compared to a person having garlands with multiple flowers and it is a beautiful expression, is it not? 

Parents: Plurality is not an absolute. What is the use of having a country having people following multiple पंथ when each such पंथ regards itself and exclusive and privileged? It is like a country having different states each warring with one another rather than being aware of the innate factor or principle that binds them all. What is the use of having a country where each and every individual wears a single flower (meaning their पंथ alone) and displays his or her difference from the other. Instead, such a country is beautiful where each and every individual is well-versed with all 14 दर्शन (or more and wears a multi-flower garland (garland having 14 flowers means people having knowledge obtained from each of the दर्शन) while being focussed towards attaining to Truth or reality. If Truth is not primary goal of people and they are going around merely displaying only one flower as the source of their identity, such a country is a recipe for disaster with people perennially fighting with one another. 

Child: Understood. Pursuit of Truth makes us open minded and attempting to reach the Truth which is like a lotus flower by living through knowledge coming from any of the दर्शन is indeed the best attribute that citizens of the world can have. This discussion has been heavy and you have given me lot of new technical words and I am not sure if I have imbibed the meaning of many of these ideas to the full extent. 

Parents: I have given you a very basic overview merely to kindle some kind of interest in you to understand सनातन धर्म better. If these ideas appeal and as you get deeper into your thinking, you will certainly learn and imbibe these ideas better through enhancing the quality of your living. So start living life with a questioning attitude (even questioning my ideas conveyed to you), you will be able to understand life better and your experience of life will be richer.

Child: One last question. You have told me that I am a जीव. You have told me that the primary source material within me, the life-form within me, is सत् चित्  आनन्द  स्वरूप. But my वासना give me my स्वभाव. Does it mean that I need to work towards erasing my स्वभाव to attain my स्वरूप?

Parents: Noooo!!! Your स्वभाव  gives beauty to the society as well as yourself – it is your special signature that you must always cherish. What is the use of a society which has people only interested in sports? We need a society that is interested in sports, reading, research, politics, singing, etc. But just as diversity in a drama where every actor in the drama acts not as per the will prompted by his अहंकार but as per the will of the drama director, we must live our स्वभाव  by associating ourselves with धर्म . And if we follow धर्म , we are living in tune with our सत्, चित्  आनन्द  स्वरूप. And while living with धर्म  will be very difficult when our अहंकार is deep and embedded, over time, by continuous living with धर्म , it will become our real nature and over time, we will attain to our स्वरूप. And to give another analogy, we will become like a beautiful flock of birds that fly alone individually but together, they move around with a single purpose – and that makes the flock beautiful while at the same time, the individual bird within the flock is also blissful – that is the idea of सनातन धर्म in a nutshell. 

उपासना – the way to attain मोक्ष

Child: What does one have to do to attain मोक्ष?

Parents: This is where idea of उपासना comes in which are essentially means or practices or rituals that we undertake or live by to attain the ultimate reality in our lives. Our texts of सनातन धर्म give out various उपासना कर्म that we need to undertake throughout life – doing नित्य कर्म  (daily पूजा, reading texts like the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता or the उपनिषद् daily), नैमित्तिक कर्म  (special कर्म  to be followed during special festival occasions), doing योग, doing यज्ञ, etc. उपासना therefore includes practices of ध्यान, जप, सन्ध्यावन्दन, यज्ञ and योग – each word can be expanded into many books to get a deeper idea of these pactices.

Child: But rituals are seen as negative. We have read that many Gurus criticise rituals or people who spend their whole time doing rituals. So can we attain मोक्ष without rituals?

Parents: What is a ritual? An act is called as a ritual only if it is undertaken without a clear understanding of the purpose of the act. Therefore, if one does जप mechanically, one chants स्तोत्र without being conscious of its meaning, one does योग only for health purposes, one is actually being ritualistic. However, if one is doing all these actions but keeping in mind all the discussion we have had since the past two hours, then one is no longer doing a ritual, one is doing उपासना.

Child: Ooh!! I was under the wrong impression that rituals are bad and one must therefore avoid doing daily पूजा or chant स्तोत्र.

Parents: That is a silly thing to do. Doing ध्यान, जप, etc are essential. Initially, one may do these mechanically. Once you gain proficiency in doing these mechanically, one must move to doing these imbuing the meaning of these acts. Over time, meaning will also not be important as one becomes absorbed in the idea of universal one-ness. But even when one reaches the idea of Oneness, one continues with these practices but that is not because they may be required but these practices have become part of the personality of the one who has attained मोक्ष. Most of this confusion has arisen either because someone has not read the message of the saints properly or did not appreciate that the message of the saints was given in a certain context. And besides, it is easy for people to quote a saint (improperly) and avoid doing acts like नित्य कर्म and this is a reflection of तमस् rather than any serious reasoned analysis of the शास्त्र.

Child: Understood. Can you explain why do people undertake उपासना of the Sun? How can it benefit?

Parents: From the context of our lives, Sun is changeless while Earth is moving and changing around the Sun. Sun is eternal vis a vis the Earth. Sun is present everywhere just as ब्रह्म is everywhere. Sun is therefore accessible to all and even available in the night in the form of the moon. Sun lights up the Earth just as ब्रह्म lights up life in all. Therefore, the उपासना of the Sun is the best way to truth since when one does उपासना to the Sun, one can connect with all the special attributes of ब्रह्म via the Sun. Do note that we are not praying to the Sun as the ultimate, we are doing उपासना of the Sun as a practice to attain ब्रह्म. Sun उपासना is therefore deemed as the best form of उपासना.

Child: Last question – usually, whenever we talk of धर्म, we talk of value systems. You have thus far not mentioned about these at all.

Parents: This is the best question. Of course, a value system is essential. But one needs to understand why a value system is necessary. Unless one knows the key reasons for cultivation of value systems, one will pursue them blindly as a ritual. But now that you are suitably informed, this is the best time to share the values conveyed by धर्म. In fact, if one does not cultivate value systems, the idea of even doing उपासना will not arise in one’s mind. Either you need to live in a good ecosystem where the values are being followed or you are intellectually gifted, to follow value system is relatively rare. उपासना is possible to be undertaken consistently only if and when we cultivate a value system. पतंजलि योग सूत्र points out to 10 value we need to cultivate – 

1. अहिंसा: Nonviolence, non-harming other living beings
2. सत्य: truthfulness, non-falsehood
3. अस्तेय: non-stealing
4. ब्रह्मचर्य: chastity or disciplined lifestyle
5. अपरिग्रह: non-avarice, non-possessiveness
6. शौच: purity, clearness of mind, speech and body
7. संतोष: contentment, acceptance of others, acceptance of one’s circumstances as they are in order to get past or change them, optimism for self
8. तप: persistence, perseverance, austerity
9. स्वाध्याय: study of Vedas, study of self, self-reflection, introspection of self’s thoughts, speeches and actions
10. ईश्वर प्रणिधान: contemplation of the ईश्वर  (Supreme Being, ब्रह्म, True Self, Unchanging Reality)

श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता also points out to cultivation of the following attributes:

1. Freedom from fear (अभयं),
2. purity of mind (सत्त्वसंशुद्धिः),
3. steadiness in (commitment to) ज्ञान and योग (meaning practice) (ज्ञान योग व्यवस्थितिः),
4. charity (दानं) and
5. control of ways of external behaviour (दम:),
6. यज्ञ (performing daily prayers or नित्यकर्म),
7. (scriptural) study (स्वाध्याय:),
8. austerity (तप:) and
9. simplicity or straight forwardedness (आर्जवम्);
10. Harmlessness (अहिंसा),
11. truthfulness (सत्यम्),
12. resolution of anger (अक्रोध:),
13. renunciation (त्यागः),
14. clarity (शान्ति:),
15. not exposing defects of one person to another (अपैशुनम्),
16. kindness to creatures (दया भूतेषु),
17. absence of agitation of senses in the presence of objects (अलोलुप्त्वं),
18. gentleness (मार्दवं),
19. modesty (ह्री:),
20. absence of (meaningless) restlessness (अचापलम्);
21. Brilliance (तेजः),
22. accommodation or patience and understanding (क्षमा),
23. resolve (धृतिः),
24. cleanliness (शौचम्),
25. absence from malice (अद्रोह:),
26. absence of demanding respect from others (न-अतिमानिता)

Whenever one reads इतिहास texts like the रामायण and महाभारत or पुराण texts like शिव पुराण or विष्णु पुराण, one is actually attempting to learn how to cultivate the value systems listed above and how these value systems have enabled ऋषि over the millennia to attain to मोक्ष. So do श्रवण (reading and listening to the शास्त्र), doing मनन (doing introspection of the ideas contained in these texts) and then undertake निधिध्यास (experiencing life doing उपासना क्रिया) and thereby learn about life through practice of the value systems contained in the texts. If one lives out life like this, मोक्ष will certainly be available to a genuine seeker – that is the idea of सनातन धर्म. 

Child: Now really my very last question. We often hear even learned people commit to अधर्म. What is the use of gaining such ज्ञान and become a गुरू and still commit crimes?

Parents: The ज्ञान given by सनातन धर्म is also called a अपरोक्ष ज्ञान – प्रतयक्ष ज्ञान is external ज्ञान which is visible to the naked eye and normal mind, परोक्ष ज्ञान requires a higher intellect and one need to study and think deeper to gain such type of ज्ञान while अपरोक्ष ज्ञान is the most सूक्ष्म ज्ञान that can be imbibed only by experience. This ज्ञान is not of the school ज्ञान which you can mug-up and vomit. And forget धर्म ज्ञान, can you become an ace surgeon in a medical hospital just because you know English? One has to study medicine, do practice, gain experience through years of practice, make a lot of mistakes and eventually one becomes an ace surgeon. What then to say more about the most सूक्ष्म of all ज्ञान? Therefore, even when people study hard to invite this ज्ञान, people do falter andअहंकार takes over their persona. Just as many attempt to climb Everest but fail to do so, unfortunately, there are people who take to study of धर्म seriously, become proficient enough to become a गुरू but fail to become a complete ज्ञानी owing to wrong influences.

Child: You have made me realize that सनातन धर्म is a path of exploration and adventure rather than blind prayer and morality. How do I learn more about this path?

Parents: At a fundamental level, धर्म is a path where one needs to “experience” the path and not just read and assimilate information. And for this, the orientation towards practice is critical. Therefore, first things first, get into the habit of a few basics – lighting up a दीपम् inside the home once in the morning and evening or at least once in the morning every day. Pick up any स्तोत्र (आदित्य हृदयम्, विष्णु or ललिता सहस्रनाम) and chanting this either daily or weekly, as it suits your timetable. Do not question why you are doing this or whether you know the meaning of these स्तोत्र or not as over time, continuous practice will get you closer to the meaning. Visit temples and do pilgrimages whenever you get an opportunity. 

As for a study regimen, this is a vast topic and even after taking multiple lives, one will never be able to learn enough. And while there are numerous approaches, I will list below some ideas that I have felt as valuable:

1. Pick up प्रकरण ग्रंथ like प्रश्नोत्तर रत्न मालिका or तत्वबोध or आत्मबोध to get familiar with the terminology used by धर्म texts
2. Whichever स्तोत्र you are chanting, pick up a text which gives the meaning of the words so as to have some idea of the wisdom contained in the स्तोत्र of your choice.
3. Read the lives of Saints from time to time – they could be the 20^th century Gyanis like Ramana Maharishi or Nisargadutta Maharaj as well as earlier ones like Adi Shankara or Maharashtra Saints listed in the Bhakta Vijaya viz Eknath, Gyaneshwar, Guru Nanak, Andal, Meera and Tukaram. Knowing their lifestyles will give you useful insights into the domain. Lifestyles of mystic saints outside Dharma tradition like Rumi, etc are also helpful.
4. Take up the text of श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता and read multiple commentaries on the same text – the ones I found valuable are by Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Krishnananda and Swami Ranganathananda and above, all lectures by Swami Paramarthananda
5. As for इतिहास texts like रामायण and महाभारत or पुराण like श्रीमद्भागवतम्, while reading is fine, listen to commentaries on these texts by गुरू, preferably in native language. Why this is important is because these गुरू not just convey the story but also explain the stories from three दृष्टि – अधिभूत (external धर्म lens), अधिदैव (intellectual lens) and अध्यात्म (परमार्थ lens). This will give you a realization that these texts have much more to share than a simple story and will thereby enhance the depth of your thought process.
6. Then there are deeper texts like the उपनिषद्, शिवसूत्र, योग पतंजलि, etc. I personally also follow modern studies in psychology and physics as they also support the endeavor in a positive manner – best to be open to all domains rather than restrict yourself to certain kind of texts only.

Do note that even if you focus on the above, as you get deeper, the path will lay out itself in front of you on its own. And as you follow your own path, you will develop a style that is uniquely your own suited to your own स्वभाव. 

One additional point about पात्रता – who are the people who can give you better insight into this exploration? Those who are practicing this path are more suited to teach you rather those who can speak well but do not practice this path for their own lives. Just as one will not learn Physics from a historian or practice of surgery from a non-practitioner or mountaineering from a journalist, only those who practice this path in their day to day lives will have the experiential perspectives that they can share with you as insights that will deepen your own insights. If the person is a practitioner, irrespective of which कुल or जाति or पंथ or परंपरा he or she belongs to, as long as they are धर्म practitioners, their insights of their own that they will bring into the discussion will deepen your own insights. And once you choose your teachers well, you can then listen to non-practitioners also who speak about धर्म and you can then easily note the difference between one who conveys information vis a vis one who conveys experience. 

Last point I will make is about the five obligations or पञ्चऋण that are kept in mind by all धर्म practitioners. And because we are obligated to five primary forces, we undertake actions that will give us wisdom about our True nature. These are भूतऋण, obligation to primary natural elements around us (and therefore we also practice giving to other life forms like animals, trees, insects, etc), ऋषिऋण , obligation to numerous ऋषि who have passed on the highest wisdom to us ( and we honour them by regularly reading their texts), पितृऋषि, obligation to our parents and our ancestors (and we honour them by taking care of parents as well as performing ancestor rituals), मनुष्यऋषि, obligation to fellow human beings in society ( and we honour them by helping fellow human beings) and देवऋषि, obligation to देवता, the natural forces without whom our lives cannot happen (and we honour them by worshipping deities).

Child: Understood. I guess we can bring this conversation to a close. I will try to absorb these ideas and learn more over the course of my life. My appreciation for the depth of सनातन धर्म  is better now and I will approach this topic with respect and humility throughout my life.

Parents: ॐ तत् सत् || स्वस्ति ||