Monthly Archives: April 2011
The core tenets of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism)
Yama & Niyama are the first 2-stages of Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali
The 10 Yamas – Restraints or Proper Conduct
- Ahimsa …………………or Non-injury
- Satya ……….. …………or Truthfulness
- Asteya ……….. ………..or Nonstealing
- Brahmacharya ……….. or Sexual Purity
- Kshama ……………….. or Patience
- Dhriti ……….. …………or Steadfastness
- Daya ……….. ………….or Compassion
- Arjava ……….. ………..or Honesty
- Mitahara ……….. ……..or Moderate Diet
- Saucha ……….. ………..or Purity (Hygiene)
The 10 Niyamas – Observances or Practices
- Hri ……….. …………….or Modesty
- Santosha ……….. ………or Contentment
- Dana ……….. …………..or Charity
- Astikya ……….. ………..or Faith
- Ishvarapujana ………….or Worship of the Lord
- Siddhanta Sravana …….or Scriptural Listening
- Mati ……….. ……………or Cognition
- Vrata ……….. ………….or Sacred Vows
- Japa ……….. ……………or Incantation
- Tapas ……….. ………….or Austerity
How simple they sound and how difficult they are! Are they truly difficult? Anything you are not accustomed to – appears difficult. For a person who has not even seen a swimming pool or pond before – swimming appears difficult. Familiarity removes the fear and makes it easy. Then, once a person starts familiarizing with the above – they progressively become easy and practicable.
MSR Ayyangar
What ails India ?
What ails India fundamentally? To this simple question, one can expect 1.2 billion answers from the 1.2 billion people of this country – in complex permutations & combinations. Is it rich-poor divide? North-South divide? East west divide? Religious divide? Multiple political parties divide? Linguistic divide? Cultural (Indian – western) divide? Regional divide? Generational divide? Gender divide? Poor governance? Irrational reservations on cast basis? Power in the hands of incompetent?
Well … it could be all and none! One absolute common denominator of all the above is Corruption! Fundamental corruption of Minds – ie- loss of “Ethics & Morals”. But why? What is the reason for our ethical & moral degradation? Spiritually the answer lies in the Karma theory – but philosophically it is in the History! Karma theory is good for knowledge – but history is a good source for solution. So, let us look at history! We have been ruled for centuries by Invading Mughals and Europeans.
They robbed our possessions first. They robbed our confidence later. Finally they robbed us of our “self-esteem”. Material possessions are easy to rebuild with some determination. Confidence can be rebuilt with some collective action & cooperation. But what about self-esteem? That of both individuals and collective population? It appears that we lost it forever (individually & collectively) and never attempted to regain! We have not even recognized the need for it. We beg for importance from the powerful or impose it on the weak – but never attempt to earn it.
Material poverty can be more easily corrected than the mental poverty. Mental prosperity will help us regain material prosperity easily – but not vice versa. We have fairly succeeded in progressively overcoming the material poverty – though not sufficiently as yet. But our mental poverty, which is a more serious issue – has not even been recognized to exist and hence not addressed. The single most important issue to be addressed by both individual Indian citizens and collectively as The Nation (which aspires to become a super power) is to recognize the importance of regaining our lost self-esteem – which is the foundation of ethics & morals. What ails India? Absence of ethics, morals and self-esteem … corruption!
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MSR Ayyangar's Blog 