Wisdom & Its Significance
Having realised that, which is without sound, without touch, without form, without decay, and also without taste, without smell, without beginning, without end, beyond the Mahat, eternal and unchanging, is freed from the jaws of death. The Shruthi is explaining the transcendental nature of the inexplicable Atman, which is the absolute state of perfection. It…
Arise, awake; having reached the great ones know (Atman). Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, hard to tread and difficult to cross — thus say the wise. Arise and awake refer to arising and awakening from this life of samsara, terrestrial entanglement. When you experience tragic moments, shocks of life, or a…
Mahat can also be referred to as macro intellect, contrary to micro intellect. Microcosm is the individual, and macrocosm is the totality. Microcosm has no existence without the macrocosm. It is the total mind and intellect around us, and we are influenced by the thoughts of the totality. If you are in an environment that…
Lord Yama is talking of the chariot metaphor and the importance of the intellect. ‘Know the Atman as the Lord, body as the chariot, know the intellect as the charioteer and the mind as verily the reins.’ Arjuna represents the state of mind; the battlefield is the world. ‘They say, the senses are the horses,…
Know the Atman as the Lord, body as the chariot, know the intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as verily the reins. The very famous chariot metaphor, which appears in the Kathopanishad, got prominence in the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 1, verse 14. In the battlefield of Kurukshetra, the Gita was imparted in the chariot…
Nachiketa was given three boons. First, he asked the Lord to satisfy his father. Second, he is asking to teach him the Vedic fire ritual of performing yagna, which is a community worship. The second boon he is asking to give him the capacity to perform actions that will serve society at large. One should…
Scriptures describe a brahmana as one who is endowed with the quality of wisdom and humility. He is not the one who was born in the lineage. The four caste systems, brahmana, kshatriya, vyshya, and shudra, are classified based on gunas – sattva, rajas, and tamas. A brahmana is one who is able to uphold…
Q: What is the difference between sense contact and sense control at various levels of one’s personality—material, physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual? A: Sense contact (or indulgence) is driven by the mind and is generally negative, whereas self-control is driven by the intellect and is a positive quality. Material Level Sense contact: An uncontrollable urge…
The story so far reveals Nachiketa’s noble qualities. He had shraddha, an understanding of the context of the shastras and Vedic rituals, and was mature enough to sacrifice himself and abide by the words of his father. In this mantra, Nachiketa objectively says that “I am well qualified as a student.” He says he is…
Any miserly act or one who gives an unholy gift attains a joyless world, determined by the law of karma. The motive, intention, attitude we carry behind the action determine whether an action is good or bad. Action, per se, is neither good nor bad. While doing charity, if the interest of the receiver is…
