THE EARLIER ONE STARTS DHARMA SA'DHANA' THE BETTER

official source: A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 8

cross-references: none

this version: is the printed A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 8, 1st edition, version 
	(spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most 
	up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition.

      `Sukham' va'unchati sarva hi tacca dharma samudbhu'tah
	Tasma'ddharma sadah ka'rya sarva varn'aeh prayatnatah.'

      The urge for happiness is a natural instinct for every created being. Every living being strives to attain happiness and avoid sorrow. All of the world's created beings are engaged in a constant endeavour to attain peace and happiness.

      Humans are the most developed, the most intelligent of all beings. They most certainly cannot be classified as animals. What is the fundamental difference between human beings and animals? An animal's pleasure is predominantly body-centered. If they are given good food and a comfortable place to sleep they are very happy. Very few animals bother about the pursuit of mental peace. This is not true of humans, however, as they are intelligent beings. They know that worldly happiness is limited and will not provide them with eternal happiness. From time immemorial, since the advent of human life, they have been on a quest for eternal happiness. This quest has taught them that mundane pleasures - good food, comfortable accommodation, etc. - will never last long. A person who loves rasagollas may get some pleasure when a rasagolla is first placed in the mouth but will get nothing once it is swallowed. Rasagollas are finite: their taste will not stay long on the tongue.

      What is the source of permanent happiness? Only that object which is itself unlimited can provide unlimited and permanent happiness to human beings. How can a finite object give infinite happiness? Today it exists; tomorrow it disappears. `Yah a'gaccha ti sah gacchati' - Whatever comes, goes. Every finite object comes and ultimately goes. When you come in contact with an infinite entity you will continue to enjoy eternal happiness even though you are a finite entity. How much mundane knowledge will a person in quest of knowledge be able to absorb? Mundane knowledge is limited to books. Suppose there are a billion books in the world: the amount of knowledge they contain is limited. Even if there were two billion books, the knowledge they contained would still be limited. But intuitional knowledge (brahmavidya or brahmavijinana) is unlimited. In the scriptures, brahmavidya is called vijinana (spiritual science). The other branches of science from which people obtain mundane knowledge are termed avidya' in Sam'skrta. Unless people attain that infinite entity, they will never be able to attain permanent happiness.

      ` Sukham' vaunchati sarva hi tacca dharmah samudbhu'tam.' In their search for happiness, human beings formulated the concept of dharma. With the help of their limited intellect they realised that to run after finite objects is foolish. Wise people will never do this, but will rather move along the path of dharma sa'dhana' in quest of the infinite entity. Dharma sa'dhana' or spiritual cult is mandatory for every human being, both old and young. Some of those who are young today may never see old age; they may die at the age of twenty-five. If they postpone the practice of dharma sa'dhana' until their old age, they will miss their chance to practice it in this life. Dharma sa'dhana' does not depend on age. It is advisable for people to start practising the spiritual cult at the age of five or six. If one lives a long life, so much the better, as one will get ample scope to explore the spiritual cult for a longer period. If, however, one unfortunately dies a premature death, it will not matter as one will have already started the spiritual cult in early childhood and continued it while one was alive.

      ` Tasma'ddharmah sadah ka'ryah'. The practice of dharma is mandatory for all human beings: for young and old, rich and poor, male and female.

      You all know there was a great devotee of Narayan called Dhruva who started intense meditation at the age of five. Seeing such a young boy absorbed in deep meditation,the older devotees felt threatened - their hearts missed a beat at the thought that this young devotee, having started his meditation so early, would surpass them spiritually, would make more progress than them by the time he had grown up. So Narayan asked Narada, `Can you go and test the boy and find out how ardent a devotee he is?' Narada went to where Druva was meditating and said, `Why do you bother doing such deep meditation? Why don't you wait until you're older?'

      Druva replied, `First, some boys die when they are still very young. It would therefore be unwise for me to wait until I have grown up. Second, it is rare to attain a human body. The worms, insects, flies, birds and animals are all expressions of Parama Purus'a. The problem with them, however, is that due to their small intellects, they do not feel the necessity of practising spirituality. But I, having attained a human body, strongly feel the need to follow dharma. Why should I waste my time? Narada, your words are incorrect. Being an elderly person, why do you misguide me? You shouldn't do that.

	`The human body is the rarest of all, and thus the most difficult to acquire. Only after passing through millions of lives, through constant clash and cohesion, does one attain a human body. Human life is rare, but rarer still is the person who has realised the meaning of life through spiritual practice. Thus, Narada, human beings should start spiritual practices as early as possible in their lives. They should not waste time by waiting until old age. That would not be wise. Hence it has been said, "Durlabham' ma'nus'am' janma tadapyadhruamurthadam".

      `Sukham' va'unchati sarva hi tacca dharma samudbhu'tam
	Tasma'ddharma sada' ka'rya sarva varn'aeh prayatnatah.'

      Those who are intellectuals, those who are intelligent, should realise that spiritual practice should be started from this very moment. Those who are not well-read, not intellectual, but who are heroic people or ks'attriyas (represented by the colour red) also feel the necessity to start dharma sa'dhana' at a young age as the physical strength and capacity of human beings does not remain constant. Physical strength reaches a peak and then fades. The business-minded people (vaeshyas) also feel they should commence spiritual practices early in life as all the wealth they possess today will not remain with them after death. The only thing which accompanies a human being after death is dharma.

      `Ekamava suhrdharma'. Human beings have but one faithful friend: dharma. Dharma remains faithful even after death. What should we do to ensure that dharma accompanies us after death? While carrying out our worldly duties we should do spiritual practices.

      The last class of people, the labour class, the toiling masses who depend upon manual labour for their livelihood, should also remember that they, too, have attained a physical body by the grace of Parama Purus'a. When they lose this body there is no guarantee that they will get it back again - they may be reborn as a goats, dogs, cows or bullocks. So it is also mandatory for them to undertake spiritual practices.

      Hence it has been said, `Tasma'ddharmah sadah ka'ryah sarva varn'aeh prayatnatah.' For people of all classes and vocations, for every human being, spiritual practice is a must - it is mandatory for all.

21 February 1979, Bhopal