November 17, 2013

Today, our class started off by discussing the importance of knowing the reason behind each action. We cannot simply follow the smaskaras blindly without understanding why we are doing so. Why do we do certain things in our culture? Why do we follow rituals, chant prayers, do pooja, offer naivedyam - why do we do anything that we do? We chant prayers to appeal to God, to ask Him, to reach out for Him, and to show our devotion.

    Chanting prayers is our communication with, and expression to God. It is through our actions that we can convey what we intend. Our words must be conveyed in our everyday actions - not just towards God, but towards everyone around us. Our parents, family, friends, even strangers whom we do not know very well. We say thank you, or sorry- but how do others know that we truly mean it? It is through our action, that we convey our intentions. Without actions, our words are meaningless.

    How do we express love? Everybody expresses love differently. Helping out parents without they asking, shows love for your parents. Being there for your friends during hard times because you know they need you shows how much you care about them; watching a T.V show every week unfailingly without ever missing any episode shows your love for that show! Love is not simply an expression, but an action.

    This brings us back to the rituals and prayers. They are our actions that convey our faith and devotion to God. If we have faith in the Supreme Power, then chanting our prayers and following the rituals proves that we believe in this power. This is why we follow our prescriptions - they are the guide to our actions that tell God that we are thankful to Him, and that we are loyal to Him.

    The Rishis are dedicated to God, so much that they descend to the mountains to find the secret of God. Their actions obviously show how committed they are. They start on a lifelong quest to find God and the ultimate truth. Stephen Hawking once said, “There is no God before Universe came, nothing was there. When I die, I don’t go anywhere.” Is this true? Was God here before the Universe began? Rishis searched and searched, to find the truth behind all. However, in the end, it was decided that it is beyond our comprehension to know whether there was anything before God, let alone what was before God. After all, we believe that God is all powerful, and exists always.

    Sanatana Dharma not only gives us prescriptions to follow, but also states that we can worship whatever we want in whatever form to represent the idea. We do not worship the God or Goddess; we worship the ideas that they represent, the ideas that they stand for. While some people can comprehend the thought of worshipping the idea itself, others comprehend easier through other means, such as praying to a more connectable form, such as God. Everyone is different, and everybody thinks and understand differently as well.

    Some are emotional. Others are analytical. Many are observant. We use words that label us, and label others. We confine ourselves to identity and we do not understand that it restricts us. All these identities that put upon ourselves and others make us forget that, in the end, we are all one and the same. The karma kandas help us remove these restrictions. For example, when we go weddings, do we know what is being said by the priest? The guests simply talk to one another, because they do not know what is being said. However, chants or prayers are very important. They are very significant. They are part of everyday rituals. One such ritual is the Upanayanam.

    Upanayanam is a tradition that all Varnas followed- in the beginning, even the woman followed this tradition. Until children turned 8 years old, children were not required to work very hard. However, when they were ready(usually when they turned eight), they were given a sacred thread and sent to the Gurukulam. This ceremony, the Upanayanam, marked the start of a long journey that required hard work. The children woke up early, did all the chores, and were educated. There are three strings that are part of the Upanayanam. Each string in reality symbolizes something specific. The first string symbolizes our debt to our ancestors, as it is believed that whoever we are now is all because of our ancestors. The second string for the Devas, and the and the third string for the Rishis and society. Another three strings are added when a man is married- again, the three strings bearing a very important meaning. The string is called Yagnyopavitam, the symbolic reminder of the duties and debts of a man. Yagnyopavitm has many names in many different languages- Poonal in Tamil, Janoyam in Gujarat, and Dhanjyam in Telugu. This is the reason behind the Upanayanam, and why this tradition is followed to this day.

    We wrapped up by discussing the importance of the Gayatri Mantra. The Gayatri Mantra is also the mantra that is chanted into a boy’s ear by the father when receiving his Yagyopavitam. The Gayatri Mantra is chanted for the benefits of the intelect of the student, praying to both Savitr (Sun), as well as Paramatma(consciousness).  The Mantra is as follows - OM bhur bhuvah svaha tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dhiyo yonah prachodayaat. The first part is not really part of this Mantra. It is merely stating that this mantra can be beneficial to those who belong to the three worlds (Bhur, Bhuvah, Svaha).  The rest of the Mantra prays, praises, and appeals to Savitr. This Mantra is very powerful, and we concluded the class by chanting the Gayatri Mantra continuously three times.

 -Pranati Ambati