Saints of Aryavart(contd.)

We will start from where we ended last; everyone was astounded to what Jabali tried to preach Shri Ram. His materialistic words that disapproved spiritualism, the very basis of dharm, for a moment created discomfort around putting the wisely sages in a tight spot. And it happens when an acclaimed sage or intellect decides to play contrary. They were also anxious as how Shri Ram will deal with this new school of thought, he being the supporter of ideals and traditions those coming straight from the vaidas(being rational).

But Shri Ram was steady and calm like always, his composure never got disturb by any situation. Though there was more gravity in his talks this time; he not just addressed Jabali, but everyone around, explaining every aspect of dharm that Jabali tried to counter. Dharm, that acts as a guide, as a companion for all mankind to live an ideal life also saves from any involvement in peccancy.  It directs their conduct and thoughts towards truth without getting corrupt and the ones who disbelieve never gets respected in the society. It is the conduct of  a person that describes his/her roots, whether he is pure or distorted.

The conduct that Jabali preached might make a man look noble if he follows it but in reality it would be un-sanctified, it was actually adharm in the guise of dharm.

' I will be the corrupt one and will be taken as disgraced, if I follow to whatever you just said. Charity, rituals, ascesis and vaid- these all stand on a strong basis of satya, therefore everyone should be truthful and so am I and I swore on truth following my father’s oath and why shouldn’t I do it? I won’t  betray my father breaking morality by following your instructions. Whatever sin a man commits from his body is first well thought in his mind, only then he is able to deliver it through his words and action, and it happens whenever there is absence of vaidas, shastras.'
{Valmiki Ramayan; Ayodhya Kaand; Chapter 109}

He further  spoke on the essence of vaidas that is only possible from the divine inspiration that comes from the devotion one has towards the almighty. In this earth, it is the sages who educate the being, the gist of dharm delivering him/her towards emancipation. The existence of a soul/spirit cannot be denied(even modern science validates it) and so are the rituals which connects the alive to the deceased. Yes the rituals performed in the shraddh karm promote donation, but that's a miniscule dimension of the real picture. A soul is indestructible and immortal, it originates from the almighty and arrives in this mortal world through a body that is mortal. A body is a mere mode for a soul to function, it will deteriorate after a span of time but the soul is eternal, it will travel other realms based on the deeds it performed through the body and then again will be born with a new body(look around, take your smartphone for instance, functions amazing, isn't so. But without the battery it's nothing, the battery too functions with the help of electric charge. With the course of time, the smartphone and battery will perish, what will remain is electric, likewise, a human body is nothing without a heart and brain, but they too can't function without a soul). A death happens to a body, but the souls remain alive and hence can connect, the rituals of shraddh karm are the means of communication between us and the deceased, physically we make the donations in the form of food and clothes, but it is our true devotions and emotions that connects our soul to the deceased's  and the services reaches them hence.

Jabali was a virtuous sage, he was aware of what Shri Ram told, he apologized to Shri Ram and others for his behavior as he did so to induce Shri Ram so that he might change his mind. Vashishth also assured Shri Ram of Jabali's motive.

So this was sage Jabali; as I told in my last post, he was neither a revolutionary nor an atheist, but a royal sage who tried a different approach in order to propel Shri Ram, that's it.

The mentioning of Bharadwaj's and Jabali's episode shows a different side of our saints. Usually what we read or hear is they being preaching, teaching or penancing. Grand hosting or hate speech is never found in our scriptures(the welcoming of Vishwamitra by Vashishth was limited to edibles).

My friend asked once whether other sages also were this powerful and did they indulged themselves in such pleasures?

My answer; not just Bharadwaj, there were many profound sages who were equally or more powerful, yet composed. We need to understand the essence of a sage’s life, he doesn’t perform ascesis and achieves miraculous boons and powers for his enjoyment, he does attain them for society's benefit, the only reason why that is, as only that person can be a sage who is free from all desires and has won over his senses. There’s not an obligation to be a sage as even anyone can get booned by the Gods or devas through ascesis but that is for him only, but sageship is meant to be for the society’s good and that’s what Bharadwaj did. He was pleased by Bharat’s will and devotion so he used his tapobal to greet them for a day. Another merit of doing so was that the huge army that Bharat brought was motivated with it as they were personally serviced and now they could go ahead with new energy.

Our saints laid the basis of this world's civilization; Vishwamitra, who founded the Gayatri Mantra, Dadhichi on whose bones was the mighty Vajra was made, Gautam laid the foundation of Dharm-Sutra, Kashyap who was the father of the humanity and all other races and so many sages were there to guide humanity. They are and will always be the reason of our pride, a few incidents what we see or hear today won't change this truth. Such individuals are not eligible to be acknowledged as a saint who doesn't have in them to qualify, humility is the biggest prerequisite and they lack it. What we must learn that a few bad examples won't change our legends, we will be able to identify the good ones only if we are aware of our heritage.

Like I always say, be proud.

"One must be open and know the subject thoroughly in and out and then arrive at an opinion"

 'सियाराम'

[Visit- https://www.amazon.in/s?k=rohit+omar&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 to read, understand & learn our glorious heritage. It is only an aware mind that can be the change, to bring the change.]