We are happy to introduce our new contributor, Shashikanth Bhargava — a student of Vedic philosophy who refers to himself as a “primary school level teacher of Vedic Philosophy.” He is a software engineer by profession and currently lives in Rochester, NY, USA. He earned his B.E. from NITK, Surathkal, and his M.S. from Kansas State University, USA. He has been instrumental in teaching Vishnu Sahasranaama to nearly 100 people since 2001. He has also been a priest volunteer at the Hindu Temple of Rochester since 1998. — Editor
Today, most “Hindus,” whether at home or in a temple, can recognize a certain form, picture, or idol as a particular devata. They know to ring the bell, do namaskaara, apply tilak on the forehead, take aarati, teertha, prasaada, put some money in the hundi… and if pushed a little, may chant a popular bhajan — and that’s it. Nothing beyond that.
You may ask: “Isn’t that enough?” Well… let’s think about it.
Back in nursery school, we struggled to remember just the 26 alphabets. Yet we learned them — perhaps to keep our parents happy. But when we moved to primary school, our little minds wondered: “I already know the alphabets. Isn’t that good enough?” What would have happened if we had stopped there and our parents had not pushed us further? We resisted going to primary school then… but do we regret it today? Certainly not.
Likewise, there is much more to “Hinduism” than namaskaara, tilak, aarati, teertha, and prasaada. Just as we progressed from alphabets to words, to sentences, to paragraphs, and to full articles, we shouldn’t stop at rituals. We must learn further.
But the challenge is: to continue learning, we must first consider ourselves nursery school children again — and our ego doesn’t permit that. Nor do we have that “parental push” anymore.
With this preamble, let us understand the problems that prevent us from going further into Hinduism.
Problem 1
For various reasons, our textbooks glorified ruthless invaders as “the great,” while labeling those who upheld dharma as thieves or dacoits. Our great epics were reduced to comic book stories. Our devis and devatas were treated as no more than superheroes.
Think of an infant given a jigsaw puzzle — the child puts the pieces in its mouth, steps on them, throws them… because it doesn’t know their purpose, let alone the big picture.
Similarly, we were never taught to assemble the stories of our epics or extract the wisdom they hold. We missed the big picture.
Problem 2
When we feel an urge to learn about Hinduism, we jump directly to the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, or YouTube scholars.
Why is this a problem?
Just like our nursery days — did our parents hire a college professor to teach us alphabets? No. A professor teaches PhD students — he doesn’t have the patience to work with toddlers. A nursery teacher does.
In the same way, in a spiritual journey, too, we need a “nursery school level teacher” who:
- patiently explains basics,
- repeats them until we get them right,
- offers us a “spiritual lens.”
A nursery school teacher may not know how the Hubble telescope works. But he/she can certainly give you a lens and show you how to focus the sunlight on a piece of paper and let you watch it catch fire. He/she may not be able to distinguish all the germs that you see through a microscope. But he/she will give you a lens and show you the presence of germs.
We don’t start reading Shakespeare or Calculus without first learning alphabets and numbers. Likewise, we need a foundational teacher before diving into high philosophy.
Problem 3
Many say:
“I already know the basics. For anything else, there’s Google… or AI. Why waste time with a teacher?”
My response:
The first lesson my guru taught me:
“I do not know anything.”
There’s an old saying:
- He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him.
- He who knows not, but knows that he knows not, is humble. Teach him.
- He who knows, but knows not that he knows, is asleep. Awaken him.
- He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise. Follow him.
As for AI, it can only summarize what is already on the Internet (with a disclaimer: “may include errors”).
But AI cannot:
- tell you what the right questions are,
- guide you when you face loss, illness, conflict, crisis, or suffering.
A teacher helps you live the knowledge — not just store it.
Takeaway for Today
Adhyatma must be useful in daily life. It is not “just tradition” or “orthodoxy.” We follow only what makes sense to us.
So here is a humble attempt to present Adhyatma in a way that made sense to me — with the hope that it may make sense to you as well.
Please watch this space every Sunday for the next “Primary School Lesson.”
