Sharing What I Read

by CJ Varughese

The following is what I read today. It is in question-answer form:

Que.(Y): I desire to hear about truth.

Ans.(B): "Truth is the duty of every human being. It is an eternal duty. Truth is the highest refuge. Truth is the greatest penance. Truth is the highest yoga. It is the sacrifice which is greater than all other sacrifices.

All the three worlds rest on Truth and nothing else. Truth is of thirteen kinds: impartiality, self-control, forgiveness, modesty, endurance, goodness, renunciation, contemplation, dignity, fortitude, compassion and abstinence from injury. All these are aspects of Truth. Truth is immutable, eternal, unchangeable".

Que.(Y): What is that good thing which one should strive for?"

Ans.(B): This world is ever threatened by death. The nights which come and go do but lessen the span of one's life. Death waits for no man. It is nearing every creature every moment. Its progress is imperceptible, but it is very steady. With the passing of each day, man's life is shortened.

Death comes before man's desires have been fulfilled. When he is busy plucking the flowers, death snatches a man away like a beast of prey carrying away a ram. What you have planned to do tomorrow must be done today. What you have planned to do in the afternoon must be done in the forenoon.

Death is ruthless. It will never wait and see if all your acts have been carried out. Man should hurry and practice virtue in the prime of his/her life. Life is so uncertain and only death is certain. It may come now or it may come years later. The readiness is important. Virtue will grant you fame in this world".

Que.(Y): What makes a man a sinner and what makes him virtuous? What helps him to achieve renunciation? How does he attain emancipation?

Ans.(B): "Desire is responsible for making a man a sinner. When it sees an object of the sense, desire seeks it. For the sake of getting what he wants, man begins to strive for it. The objects of the senses appear so agreeable that man tries his best to get them.

Attachment follows in the wake of desire. Immediately follow aversion, greed and error of judgement. The mind becomes confused, clouded, and man does not any more follow the path of virtue. Assuming a virtue which he does not possess is now the policy of man, and he becomes a hypocrite.

Acquiring wealth with the help of hypocrisy is easy for a man who has begun the downward path to sin. In spite of the advice of well-wishers and elders, man begins to act in a sinful manner. There is no more hope of salvation for a confirmed sinner like the man just described.

The man who is righteous seeks the good of others, and so he wins good for himself. He is wise and knows how he avoid the pitfalls called the senses. He is wise as to the real nature of happiness and sorrow. Man attains mastery over the senses, and that is called virtue. But still he is discontented. He will not rest until he has mastered the art of renunciation. Knowledge helps him to be free of desire.

Finally, realizing that the world is but a passing pageant, that it will be destroyed any time, he tries to cast off virtue with its inwards in the form of heaven and happiness, and tries to attain emancipation".