Realising the Ideals of the Puranas

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Realising the Ideals of the Puranas from Hindu Dharma

 

The noble characters who figure in the Puranas serve as an ideal for

all of us to follow. When we read their stories we are inspired by

their example and we ask ourselves why we cannot be like them

ourselves, why we should not share their qualities. But, even if we

wanted to emulate their lives, would we be able to live like them

without deviating at any time from the high principles that they

upheld?

 

Man by nature is always unstill: he cannot keep his mind quiescent

even for a moment. Bhagavan says in the Gita : "Not for a moment can

a man remain still, without doing work". So one must know the right

path for work. One must make one's mind pure, acquire the highest of

qualities and, finally, transcending these very qualities, realise

the Brahman.

 

How can we live according to the tenets of our religion? How can we

wash away our sins and cleanse our Self? And what must we do to

attain everlasting happiness? Is not our present birth a consequence

of the sins we committed in our past lives? We have to free ourselves

from them and be careful not to sin afresh. We must elevate

ourselves, our mind and character, so that we are not embroiled in

sin again. The purpose of religion is this, to ennoble us and turn us

away from sin. But how? How do we live according to the teachings of

our religion? We do not know how.

 

In our present condition, what do we claim to know? Perhaps a little

bit of Ramayana, the Bhagavata and other Puranas. We learn about the

religious life lived by the characters portrayed in these works. But

neither the Puranas nor the epics deal with the rights in a codified

form, nor do they contain directions for their proper performance.

 

The Puranas and the epics give a dominant place to devotion. Is it

possible to be engaged in devotion all the time, or to keep singing

the glory of the Lord day and night? Or, for that matter, to be

similarly engaged in a puja and meditation throughout? No. We have a

family to look after. We have to bath and eat and we have so much

other work to do - all this takes time. The remaining hours cannot be

set apart for puja. It would all be tiresome and we have, besides, to

do other good works. How do we get such information?

 

>From the Dharmasastra.

 

Of the fourteen branches of learning (caturdasa-vidya) Dharmasastra

comes last. Puranic characters, who represent our ideal, show us the

goal. The path to attain that goal starts with the performance of

karma, works. The Dharmasastra contain practical instructions in our

duties, in the rites to be performed by us. In the Vedas these duties

are mentioned here and there. The Dharmasastra is an Upanga that

deals with them in detail and in a codified form.

 

There is an orderly way of doing things, a proper way, with regard to

household and personal matters including even bathing and eating. The

ordinances of Vedas cover all aspects of life and to conduct

ourselves according to them is to ennoble our Self. Whatever we do

must be done in the right manner - how we lie down, how we dress, how

we build our house. The idea is that all this helps our being. Life

is not compartmentalised into the secular, worldly and the religious.

The Vedic dharma is such that in it even mundane affairs are inspired

by the religious spirit. Whatever work is done is done with the

chanting of mantras and thus becomes a mean of Atmic progress. Just

as worldly life and religious life are integrated, harmonised, so are

the goals of individual liberation and common welfare kept together.

 

The devotion we imbibe from the Puranas is part of the Vedas also.

But with it is associated a good deal of karma. When devotion takes

the form of rite called puja there are certain rules to be observed.

Apart from puja there are sacrifices and rites like sraddha and

tarpana as important elements of the Vedic dharma. But these are not

codified in the Vedas nor is any procedure laid down for each of

them.

 

"Vedo khilo dharmamulam, " says Manu (The Vedas are the root of all

dharma. ) The work that the Vedas bid us perform for our inner well-

being also serve the purpose of bringing good to the world. What is

called dharma is that which fosters both individual and social

welfare. The Vedas are the root of this dharma, its fountainhead.

 

But the rites and duties are not given in an orderly form in the

Vedas, nor is the procedure for works laid down in detail. Of the

Vedas that are infinite we have obtained only a very small part. And

we do not comprehend fully the meaning of many of the passages even

of this small part.

 

As we have seen the sixth Vedanga, Kalpa, contains the Dharmasutras,

Grhyasutras and Srautasutras, relating to rites based on the Vedas.

But the sutras are brief and do not constitute a detailed guide. The

dharmasastras elaborate upon them without leaving any room for doubt.

 

The Dharmasutras (by Apastamba, Gautama and others) are terse

statements and are so according to the very definition of the

term "sutras". The dharmasastras (by Manu, Yagnavalkya, Parasara and

others) are called Smrtis and are in verse and detail in treatment.

Their basis, however, is constituted by the Vedas. The function of

Dharmasastra is to analyse and explicate the sutras of Kalpa which

have to some extent systematised the Vedic rules and injunctions. If

Kalpa gives instructions about the constructions of the Vedic altar,

of houses, etc, Dharmasastra provides a code of conduct embracing all

human activities.

 

We want to perform a ritual, but how do we go about it? We do not

know where the propriety or otherwise of performing it is mentioned

in the Vedas. Nor do we know where instructions are given about it.

What are we to do then? We do not know anyone who has mastered all

the Vedas. Extracting information from them about the rite we want to

perform is impossible because they are like the expanse of a vast

ocean. If the Vedas bid us "Do like this, " we do so. But since we do

not know their ordinances well enough, what are we to do? The answers

to this questions are given by Manu: "The sages who had mastered the

Vedas composed the Smrtis. Find out what they have to say. "What we

call Smrtis make up Dharmasastra.

 

"Vedo'khilo dharmamulam / Smrtisile ca tadvidam".

 

"Smrti" is what is remembered. "Vismrti" is insanity. Manu

observes :"There is Smrti for the Vedas in the form of notes. The

sages who had a profound understanding of the Vedas have brought

together the duties and rites (dharma and karma) mentioned in them in

the form of notes and they constitute the Smrtis. They are written in

a language that we can easily understand. Read them. They tell you

about your in detail, the do's and don'ts, and how the rites are to

be performed. "

 

We have seen that the sixth Vedanga, Kalpa, contains instructions

about the Vedic works. The Grhyasastras, Dharmasastras and

Srautasastras of Kalpa deal with sacrifices and other rites. The

Smrtis elaborate on them and contain detailed instructions with

regard to the rite one has to perform through one's entire life.

Actually, there are rituals to be conducted from the time of

conception until death. The Smrtis also lay down the daily routine to

be followed by all of us.

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