TA'TTVIKA DIIPIKA' (Caturtha Parva)

official source: The Ta'ttvika Diipika' pamphlets came out as a series of six. 
	No copy of the first is presently available. Parts 2 through 5, so far as 
	is known, came out only in English. Part 6, so far as is known, came out 
	only in Hindi. (It has not yet been translated into any other language.) 
	The series as a whole has not yet been published in book form in any 
	language. They may be published in the future in a small book to be called 
	Ta'ttvika Diipika'.

cross-references: none

this version: is the printed 1956 pamphlet version (spelling  mistakes only may 
	have been corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the 
	present Electronic Edition.

	JA'TAKARMA

	Ja'takarma is the first step in raising the social life in the light of this great ideal. Its aim is to give social recognition to the new born. Anyone present in the ceremony may actively participate, because according to A'nanda Ma'rga any social duty is a combined responsibility of all men belonging to the Sama'ja. In this occasion no covering of the child has been prescribed so that such a fine picture of the occasion may be stamped in the minds of those present in the ceremony, as will not fade even when the child will be full-grown. In later years, when the child will come to him dressed as a gentleman, he will look on him as the self-same child of the past Ja'takarma ceremony and not as a gentleman of the present day and will express signs of tenderness and responsibility in his dealings. The fact that he had taken oath regarding the child will rise afresh in his mind. When the child also, thus dressed as a gentleman, will learn that he is one among those who took part in his Ja'takarma ceremony, he will respect and regard him as a father and this will result in a sweet social relation.

	It has been prescribed to spell the mantra's in one's mother tongue, because to read out words of oath in some other language without understanding their meaning is nothing but a farce. It is not possible to realize the responsibility of uttering oaths without knowing their meaning. 
	
	Onm' madhuva'ta' rta'yate madhuks'arantu sindhava ma'dhvirn'ah santvos'adhi
	Madhunaktamutas'aso madhumat pa'rthivam' rajah madhu dyaorastu nah pita'
	Madhuma'nno vanaspati maduma'nastu su'ryo Ma'dhvirga'vo bhavantu nah
	Onm' Madhuh Onm' Madhuh Onm' Madhuh

	This mantra has not been adopted here or elsewhere as the guiding mantra of the occasion. It is a hymn of peace and hence can be chanted equally on all occasions. 

	It is the absence of social-mindedness which is at the root of all evils of mankind. The rich spare no pain to engage five tutors for their dull-headed sons and in case of the meritorious students of the poor they would say - "What is the use of learning? Send them to my house. They will work there. If everyone becomes Judge or Magistrate, who will do the work of servants?" You will generally see such things. What is it? Neither the sense of social responsibility nor the sense of affection is found here. The mantra of Ja'takarma is the first step of human approach in rousing the sense of responsibility and affection in man.

	Those, who will be present on the occasion of the child's Ja'takarma, must also indirectly have to bear the responsibility of bringing up the child. In other words it will not do to sit inactive saying that the direct responsibility in this connection is on its parents. 

	Every man must realize the duty which he owes direct to the babe in his family, and on which depends the developments of the child in all spheres. This duty may be demanded from every man by every child of the world. Hence, thinking in favour of family babes only will not suffice. Even if it were not possible for particular persons to discharge properly the duties towards each and every child of the world owing to crude worldly reasons, they must always be conscious of their duties towards children within their acquaintance. The oath taken on the occasion of Ja'takarma will reawaken the sense of that duty again and again. Any grown-up person or any father shall not forget his duty when he has once looked at the helpless face of the child. It does not end here. In pursuance of the mantra of Ja'takarma in A'nanda Ma'rga, a child has not simply been regarded as a child only but also a manifestation of Brahma in the child. So, serving the child, shall be a part of Sa'dhana' (Brahma-Sa'dhana') to him. The credit for his services to the child will not create pride in him. The same feeling will recur in mind when the child is bathed with water consecrated with the mantra. The persons taking part in the function will think anew that the child is once again being bathed with their blessings and that they must take fatherly responsibility of the child.

	It is for her recovery from the weak condition that a mother has been prescribed twenty-one days rest after delivery.

	You must remember that the newcomer who comes to your society for the first time is fraught with every human prospect, potentiality and possibility. Hence, it is useless to think what treasure he possesses and to what extent. Any question as to the superiority or inferiority in respect of wealth, caste, quality and beauty or education does not arise at all. You belong to a company of pilgrims. Why should you then allow anybody among you to starve or to lag behind? You shall not allow such a circumstances to creep up in any way, as it will mar the very charm of pilgrimage. 

	How can you allow some of you to be cheated by being befooled. Up till now a section of money-hunting people taking advantage of the ignorance of men, has been exploiting this social spirit of going together for all time to come in social, mental and spiritual spheres.

	A'nanda Ma'rga is against all kinds of exploitation, because exploitation always breaks the pace of advancement. These feelings of anti-exploitation have to be given a shape through the medium of social organization. A healthy social outlook has to be adopted. The parasites which live on exploitation do not want that the throes of inactivity should disappear from the society as it is on this filth of stagnancy that they exist and grow. They are like sores on the social body. External application of ointments will not cure this type of sores. So long as the blood affected with the harmful germs of the sore is in the body, the sore will come out again and again. So the best way of treating such sores is to keep them clean by washing and sponging them externally or to apply mild medicines and to increase the supply of fresh blood corpuscles in the body. To increase the blood within, the speed of every limbs and joints has to be increased and do you know on which depends this speed in case of the society? The more is the adjustment between the social body and the elements; - time, place and person, the greater is the speed. The social customs of A'nanda Ma'rga have been formed with a view to intensifying the speed to supply fresh blood to the body - to stream fresh spring water into blocked water storages.

1 December 1956