Buddhism and Bhagawad Gita: The Age of Universal Religions

If you have followed the announcement of Nobel prize for Sciences, there is a curious phenomenon that you may have observed. Many a times, there are joint winners of the prize from opposite  ends of the planet, who happened to work on the same scientific problem. They have either arrived independently at the same solution around the same time or come up with different solutions that were equally effective. We can only wonder how this happens! In much the same way, during the 6th and 5th century of BCE, many enlightened spiritual masters attempted to solve the riddle of human suffering in everyday life. For example, we have Socrates in Greece, Buddha  and Vyāsa in India and Lao Tsu in China, all of whom took on this same problem and arrived at answers that were not very different.

As you may recall, the Hindu civilization had by the 6th century BCE, settled down into many small kingdoms in the Gangetic plains and assimilated the indigenous population into its fold. A process of consolidation of these kingdoms through wars were also going on. The society was getting structured with groups of people assuming different roles like farming, metal working, trading etc. From a religion point of view, the ritual traditions of the Hindu religion and some purāna stories were commonly known but the philosophic  side of the religion remained mostly obscure. If one had an interest in the philosophical aspects, he or she would have to embark on an extensive search to find a suitable teacher or Guru. The reality of the situation was that the Hindu religion was doing very little at that time to help the average person deal with the everyday issues of life. To this scene had arrived Gautama Buddha with his incredible compassion for the sufferings of the common people.

Buddha's  sole quest was  how to avoid the suffering like old age, sickness and death that everyone, both rich or poor, had to undergo. He accepted the prevailing Hindu concept of rebirth and according to him, the soul experienced life in an eternal, recurring cycle returning to life from death through rebirth. Caught into the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth, the soul experiences the same suffering over and over. How does one escape from this? Buddha had found a way and was ready to travel around and spread information on this to everyone on how it could be done. No one had to go searching for Buddha. Instead, he went to them, or at least close enough where they could find him easily.

To enable souls to gain a release from the eternal birth/death cycle, Buddha suggested a method that included four fundamental principles (a.k.a., 'noble truths') and an eight fold path. He called this as the 'middle path'. The 'middle path' was a deviation away from both the purely ritualistic, God-appeasing path as well as the atheistic, 'you only live once' kind of mindless enjoyment. This approach, originally called as 'Baudhayana'  or the 'path of Buddha' later on became the religion of Buddhism and was set apart from Hindu religion.  Though the religion appealed easily to the common people,  it also posed couple of issues. Turning to Buddhism in the way Buddha preached, required a person to become a monk, giving up his societal connections. This was very disruptive to the society's functioning. Secondly, Buddha's insistence on Ahimsa weakened the defensive power of societies, increasing their vulnerability to external aggression. The real need of the time was for a religion that supported one to take on a spiritual path that enabled better life while remaining right in the middle of the society. The Hindu religion came up with a great answer for meeting this need through Bhagawad Gita. (The religion of Buddhism also has evolved since to better address these issues)

Bhagawad Gita, that is found in the middle of the Mahābhāratha epic, was most likely a 5th or 4th century BCE insertion into the original epic that dates back to earlier centuries of BCE. It is thought that Mahābhāratha  was originally composed in 24,000 verses and was later expanded to its current form of 100,000 plus verses. The Vyāsa who was the author of original Mahābhāratha is potentially different from the Vyāsa wo authored Bhagawad Gita. Bhagawad Gita itself appears to have been constructed in three distinct parts that were possibly compiled over different periods of time. The core message of the Bhagawad Gita, as presented in the first part consisting of chapters one thru six,  is that  spiritual transformation is a personal journey that could be undertaken while living right in the middle of the society.  A spiritually enlightened person as well as a non-enlightened person, both may engage in performing the same actions in life but with extremely different levels of internal clarity. And, as Buddha had done, Bhagawad Gita also professed a liberation from the eternal cycle of birth and death for such a person. In contrast to Buddha's middle path, Bhagawad Gita offered a path of synthesis that skillfully combined Spiritual knowledge, Devotion, Meditation, Yoga. It offered an interpretation of the Hindu religion that could be practiced equally well by a hermit in an Himalayan cave as well as a warrior in the middle of a battlefield.

A real life example of this transformative spiritual journey is found in the story of Sage Valmiki. He had an amazing life journey from being a wayside robber in the forests to becoming a renowned spiritual master. Sage Valmiki was also a highly imaginative, creative poet. He managed to metaphorically etch his own spiritual journey within the epic of Ramayana while painting the picture of a perfect human being in Lord Rama. (For more detailed reading on Ramayana and Valmiki, check this blog post http://oupanishadam.blogspot.com/2015/03/ramayana-autobiography-of-rishi.html )

It will be delusional to play down the role of faith and belief in religion. As the  human society expanded,  the chaos and uncertainties only continued to increase. And, in times of uncertainty, what has served the individuals and society well is faith in order brought about by a higher, omniscient and all-powerful being, referred to as 'God'. As the influence of Buddhism declined and popularity of the Purāna stories increased, the Hindu religion strengthened itself with a new found means of temple worship of Purānic Gods. The spiritual masters went along with this trend, again skillfully embedding spiritual principles within the iconography of the God images and temple rituals. More on this major transformation that defined the final shape of Hindu religion as we know it today, in the next blog post.

Meanwhile, grab a copy of the Bhagawad Gita if you haven't yet. It is a book that can help you tremendously! (You can find a quick summary of what Bhagawad Gita offers on this blog post: http://oupanishadam.blogspot.com/2014/02/bhagawad-gita-what-is-in-it-for-you.html)

Darshana: The Age of the Philosophers

Since we had talked about the story-centric Purāna and Ithihāsa last time, let's start this discussion with a good story. The story below from the Kenopanishad (approx. 750 BCE), is also indicative of an important turning point in the history of Hindu Religion.

The Devas: Indra, Agni, Vāyu, Surya

Once the Devas, the divinities we saw in the Vedas, had an epic battle with their 'not very nice' cousins, the Asuras. The Devas won the battle and were celebrating the victory, gloating over the powers they had used to defeat the Asuras. At that time a strange looking, mystical figure appeared little away from where they were assembled. Unsure of who this mysterious being  was, the Devas asked Agni, the God of Fire,  to go and find out. Agni approached this strange being and asked 'who are you?'. The being responded asking who Agni was. Agni pompously answered, 'I am the Lord of Fire and I can burn anything down'. The being threw a dried blade of grass in front  of Agni and said, let me see you burn this. Agni gave a contemptuous laugh and just glanced at the blade of grass with the tip of a flame. Nothing happened. Now he tried to go at the blade of grass with all his fire power. Again nothing happened to the grass. Agni was half scared and half ashamed of himself and went back to the Devas saying he was unable to find out who the being was. The Devas now asked Vayu, the God of wind, to go and find out who the being was. The same events  repeated with Vayu  who in spite of his hurricane power,  was unable to make the blade of grass move even an inch. Now, this got the King of Devas, Indra, all worried and he said 'I will go myself and find out'. As soon as Indra approached the strange being, it vanished and in its place appeared the Goddess Uma, adorned in her beautiful white clothes. She told Indra,' That strange being you were trying to know is Brahman;  all of you Devas  have your powers that is bestowed by him'.

Why is this story important? First of all, it boldly admits the limitation of powers of the  divinities worshiped by the rituals. Secondly, it points to the single, higher truth that is to be known through inquiry and wisdom and not rituals. The depiction of 'Wisdom' as a woman is an universal mythological theme spanning the oriental and occidental cultures. Essentially, what we are witnessing here in the story is the beginning of critical philosophical inquiry in India.

The early Upanishads  as well as the Samhita part of  Veda, share the visions of truth that the Rishis had seen. But they don't detail out how the answers were arrived at or why the knowledge shared by them is valid. This is the fundamental difference between Religion and Philosophy. Religion relies on faith and credibility of the messenger to support the answers and the means it professes whereas Philosophy relies on the logical validity of its analysis to justify the conclusions it arrives at. Same time, we have to keep in mind that a philosophical inquiry is more of an intellectual exercise where as a religious inquiry is a quest for personal transformation. And, we see in history  a number of brilliant philosophers who happened to lead not so an exemplary life.

Sage Yagnavalkya (Sage of Brihadāranyaka Upanishad)

The questions posed by in a philosophical inquiry as well as religious inquiry are more or less the same; where did all these in the world originate from? what is the true nature of things? how did all these come into being? Philosophy, specifically epistemology, is also concerned with the process of knowledge, examining how reliable are our means of knowledge. We see examples of such analysis  In the early Upanishads like Chāndogya and Brihadāranyaka, appealing to logic rather than faith for validating conclusions . Later on, the scope of this type  of critical philosophical examination in the Hindu religious system expanded, resulting in the emergence of Hindu schools of philosophy known as 'Darshana', or 'Insights'. Six of these Darshanas are namely, Sāmkhya, Nyāya, Vaiseshika, Purva Mimāmsa, Utthara Mimāsma and Yoga are recognized as part of the Veda. The rise of philosophical thinking during this time period was

Aristotle and Plato

not limited to India alone. The pre-socratic Greek philosophers had also started to lay down the foundation for western philosophy approximately around the same time as Chāndogya and Brihadāranyaka upanishads were being compiled. There are also considerable number of parallels between the thoughts of later Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle with that of their Indian counterparts in Darshanas.

The six Darshanas can be classified into two broad types, the objective analysis and subjective analysis. The Sāmkhya, Nyāya and Vaiseshika are objective analysis focused whereas the Purva Mimāmsa, Uthara Mimāmsa and Yoga are subjective analysis focused. Objective analysis is an analysis approach that is focused on the nature of things with the intent of explaining everything from a physical perspective.  The oldest school that took this approach is the Sāmkhya. We know very little about its originator, Sage Kapila and his original text on the subject is not available today. Whatever we know about Samkhya comes from later works that are an elaboration of the original text. Sāmkhya introduced the concept of Purusha (manifests as consciousness) and Prakriti (manifests as matter and nature) that was leveraged by the other later schools o philosophy. The Vaiseshika school proposed that everything is composed of foundational elements and atoms with generic and particular properties. It's proponent was Sage Kanāda. The Vaiseshika thought process was later reinforced using logic and epistemology in the Nyāya school that was proposed by Sage Gautama. The Nyaāya and Vaiseshika schools had significant overlaps and merged in later days.  

Sage Patanjali (Author of Yoga Sutra)

The subjective analysis focused Darshanas were more focused on the nature of mind, intellect, conscience, cognition, cause/effect relations, soul etc. The oldest of these three schools of thought is the philosophy of Yoga. Though a proper compilation of Yoga thoughts happened in 2nd century BCE by Sage Patanjali, the approach was already prevalent in the centuries preceding. The Yoga philosophy also draws heavily from Sāmkhya. The next younger philosophy is Purva Mimāmsa that offered an abstract concept of power inherent in rituals and incantations. It proposed a way of living based purely on the rituals specified in the Brāhmanas. The Uttara Mimāmsa philosophy, more popularly known as Vedānta, is the youngest and most popular of all these schools of thought. While relying on the analytical approaches that other schools of philosophy used, Vedānta pointed towards a truth that lies beyond the means of objective knowledge.  The Sanskrit word Vedanta means end of knowledge. Uttara Mimāmsa inherited this name from the subject matter of its analysis that transcended regular knowledge as well as its foundation on Upanishads which are found at the end of Veda. The foundation text for Uttara Mimāmsa is the Vedānta Sutra which is better known as Brahma Sutra.

All these sound like academically interesting subjects that are incomprehensible to ordinary minds. What does Religion have to offer to the common man to enable him or her to deal with the issues they face in everyday life? Admittedly there was a major shortfall on the part of religious and philosophical thinking in making this connection with ordinary people. But that vacuum didn't last too long. Next time, we will look into how  India's religions addressed this question.

Puraana and Ithihaasa: The age of imagination and innovation

What is the difference between 'creativity' and 'innovation' ? (Don't google it, yet!) . These words are commonly used as synonyms. As you know, both these words refer to producing something new, physical or non-physical. And, both require a mind that is able to think outside of what is obvious. However, though we would call a Michelangelo or Da Vinci as creative, we would rather describe an Edison or Marconi as innovative. So, what is the difference?

Innovation is creativity that has a purpose. Purely creative efforts  are done for the sake of the creation or the process of creation itself and carries with it an element of beauty which is appreciated. Most works of art are great examples of this. In the case of innovation, it is not beauty but its intended purpose and associated utility that are primarily appreciated. For example, an iPhone may have great aesthetics, but it's ease of use and convenience are more appreciated, right?

The Hindu puraana and ithihaasa texts, commonly referred to as the Hindu mythology, are highly acclaimed for their rich creativity. Over the many centuries, they have acted as an undiminished source of inspiration for great works of fiction in India's many languages. However, what is less known is the fact that the Puraana and Ithihaasa were also products of a great innovation; an innovation that made it possible for India to discover a lasting unity among its vast diversity.

In the Indian city of Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh., we find the great confluence of the rivers Ganga and Yamuna. The Kumbh Mela, which is the world's largest religious gathering, happens in the sprawling sand dunes of this confluence. The city of Allahabad was known in the Vedic times as Prayaag. Just as the dark blue waters of Yamuna and light blue waters of Ganga came together in Prayaag, the culture of the Hindu civilization that moved into the heartlands of Indian subcontinent and the indigenous civilization that had existed prior to its arrival also had come together in these plains. What resulted was more likely a gradual fusion of two great cultures than a violent invasion of one over the other. How can we say that? The clues for this are hidden in the Puraana and Ithihaasa framework.

The Hindu civilization of Vedic time was predominantly a hunting culture where as the indigenous civilization was more agrarian. The Hindu civilization had the Vedic divinities, who were  super humans or symbols of various principles. As we have seen earlier, these divinities were propitiated through the Yaaga rituals. The indigenous civilization contrarily had no structured rituals but were full of myths, folklore and deities who were worshiped using icons or images.  Every indigenous population in the world have had this collection of myths. The interesting fact about myths and folklore is that they encapsulate the learnings of a society, allowing for that knowledge to be transferred from generation to generation in an unwritten fashion. Most of such myths also have heroes who set examples for the society to emulate. The myths and folklore were thus another kind of Veda, expressed in stories and not injunctions or rituals.

As we saw earlier, the Yaaga rituals were a way of expressing the underlying Vedic philosophy. Could there be another way to express the same Vedic philosophy, may be by using stories and folklores in the way of the indigenous? The Puraana and Ithihaasa were most likely born from this thinking. The brilliant innovator of the framework of Puraana and Ithihaasa was Sri Veda Vyasa, the author of a number of first Puraanas and the epic story of Maha Bharatha. He also happens to be the organizer of Veda texts into the four books. Through this framework of Puraana and Ithihaasa, Veda Vyasa invented a means to not only bring two very distinct cultures together but also enable assimilation of many more cultures into the future. As the religion of Hinduism spread through the continent, the stories that expressed the Vedic philosophy in stories of Gods and heroes simply resonated with  everyone. And, through these stories, the culturally diverse civilization preserved the same great Vedic philosophy, sometimes unknowingly.

The story of Veda Vyasa, whose original name is Krishna Dvaipayana, is very interesting and connected to the cultural confluence we discussed above. He was born to a fisher-woman, Satyavati who was an indigenous, and the Sage Paraasara who was a great Vedic Rishi. Vyasa was dark skinned (krishna) and was born from the 'journey in an island' (Dvaipayana). He was supposed to have been conceived by his mother in an artificial island that the Rishi created right in the middle of Ganga! I hope you are catching on to the symbolism here. Ganga, the river of knowledge, had for its banks the Vedic interpretation of the knowledge on one side and the myth based interpretation of the same knowledge for the other. And, Sage Paraasara created this island in between the two that Krishna Dvaipaayana claimed to be his birthplace. Coming from this 'island', he organized the Veda into the four books, wrote a number of Puraanas and then completed the great Ithihaasa of Maha Bharatha. The brilliance of Sage Veda Vyasa is that he had managed to express the same philosophy in these three ways, so different from each other! There are a number of later works like Brahma Sutra and Srimad Bhagavatha that are attributed to Veda Vyasa, but they are very unlikely to be the works of the same person who wrote the Maha Bharatha and organized the Vedas.

 Just as the Ganga flowed down from the northern plains, the civilization of the Hindus flowed to the south and east of India, nurturing the land and letting the population quench their thirst for knowledge. These were the times when imagination literally caught fire and a number of works with excellent stories came into being. In total, there are 18 puraanas including Vishnu Puraana, Siva Puraana, Padma Puraana, Skanda Puraana etc. They are complemented by the two Ithihaasa, Maha Bharatha and Ramayana. The path of Bhakti or devotion took its initial roots at this time though it came to its culmination much later, closer to 10th century CE. 

But there was another greater Sun that had stated shining in India at the time, one who brought back philosophical thinking into prominence once again, though in the name of a different religion. More on the times of philosophy including Budhism in the next post. Meanwhile, please find some good puraana stories to read and enjoy. I can bet that they will beat the Harry Potter stories any day!

Veda: The age of philosophy and enlightenment

One of the hobbies my daughter and I enjoy is to observe the night sky and try to guess what planet or star is being seen in the horizon. We use an App on the iPad called Starwalk to locate the planets and stars. But, as you may have noticed, the night sky is not very clear for those of us who live near big cities. The city lights interfere and mask many of the stars. Where as, if you go more to the country side and away from city, you are more likely to get a better view. Very similar is the case with philosophy and deep questions about life. They are difficult to consider and clarify  if one is completely embroiled in the noise of  everyday life!

As the Hindu people started settling down into small towns and villages, performance of the rituals became a common practice. The chiefs and kings were great sponsors of the rituals and with their sponsorship, these rituals continued to get more and more elaborate. And, obviously associated negativity of competition,  favoritism, greed and positioning would have also started to develop. Few of the ascetics chose to withdraw from this environment to the forest for quieter environments and contemplation. They were the authors of what came to be called as the 'Aranyaka' i.e 'forest' part of  the Vedas. Some times,  few of the chiefs and kings also joined these Rishis in forest to engage in philosophical dialog. The Rishis of Aranyaka did not completely give up the ritual parts. In fact they had even incubated many new ones which were later elaborated by others. The significant difference was that the philosophical leaning of the Aranyakas helped to lay foundation for the wonderful  scriptural texts called Upanishads. 

The Vedas thus came to be structured into three parts, Samhitas, Brahmanas and Aranyakas. The Samhitas had the original hymns of the Rishis in poetry, Brahmanas the ritualistic elaborations in prose and the Aranyakas, a mixture of rituals and philosophical dialog done as a mix of poetry and prose.  To these were added the very distinguishable text of Upanishads. Mostly the Upanishads  appear in the Aranyaka part but are also found in the Samhita and Brahmana parts. The 19th century German Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer described the Upanishads as 'the production of the highest human wisdom'.  That should give you an idea of how revered the contents of Upanishads are, even among  the extremely critical western philosophers!

The word Upanishad can be interpreted in two ways in Sanskrit. One, it means to sit next to someone, like students sitting next to a teacher, to learn. Second, it can also mean 'where all doubts get eliminated'. Both interpretations appear to be accurate since the mode of instructions in the Upanishads is very personal and at an individual level. The instructions are also geared towards conclusively answering all kinds of questions one may have about life, world, God etc. 

But, why did the Rishis create the Upanishads in the first place? What made them dwell on such boring questions as to the meaning of life? The reason is that even after accomplishing the best one can have in life, when it comes to facing one's own death at old age, the question on the meaning of life becomes unavoidable. And, at that point one would realize that life could have been lived better if the truth about it and its purpose were known in the beginning. You will find that most of the students depicted in the Upanishads were young adults who had completed their formal education and were  getting ready to start the family life. Having understood the limitations of the education received, they had sought out the the Rishis  to find answers to their unanswered questions. There is an excellent display of great innocence and courage,  very typical of young adulthood, in their mode of questioning. To make it less boring for you all, the Rishis have also embellished the Upanishads with many interesting stories!

Same time, the truth was that there were only a few who would  make the choice to delve into the Upanishads and philosophy. The majority were in fact more engaged with rituals. (You will see he same trend even today. While a big crowd may turn up for a puja, only a handful will show up for an Upanishad discussion!) There were many different schools that came up during this time, educating large number of students on the Veda and rituals. The works of these schools were integrated back into the Veda texts as different saakha or branches. Each of the Vedas thus came to have more than one saakha for the Brahmana and Aranyaka parts. Unfortunately a good number of these different works are now lost forever as they were never written down but passed from generation to generation, orally.

During this period, the Hindu population had started to settle down in the banks of rivers like Yamuna and Ganga. These settlements were called as Janapada.  In the Janapada, the Hindu civilization were increasingly coming in contact with the indigenous population that existed prior to their arrival. A slow assimilation of culture both ways started happening during this time. The indigenous population had many legends and myths with them and were practicing deity worship. The Hindu population had the Vedic divinities they were propitiating through the sacrificial rituals. The confluence of the two cultures resulted in another wonderful phenomena where the imaginations of poets were literally set on fire! And, from this explosion of imagination were born the amazing literature of Purana (stories of Gods) and Ithihasa ( Epics) that continue to be dear to the hearts of many. We will see more of this age of wonderful imaginations and how they helped to fuse two cultures without violence, in the next blog post.

Veda: The Age of Sacrifice and Rituals

Which is that one day in a year that makes you most happy? Your birthday, right?  Now, tell me this, what exactly makes you happiest on a birthday? Is it the gifts, the fun time, becoming the center of attention for the day or just the love and affection shown by family and friends?  (All answers are right, including 'all of the above'!). The answers will vary, especially depending on your age. As one grows up in life, the latter things in the list are likely to become more important than the former. So, by the time you are my age and reasonably successful in life, the primary factor that makes you happy will most likely be the demonstration of genuine love and affection.

I can completely attest to this having been very fortunate to be touched by such an experience recently, celebrating my fiftieth Birthday! My family and friends had organized this grand birthday party, a total stealth operation, to give me a wonderful surprise. My joy had no bounds that day. But, here is one other thing that I observed. Those who had worked so hard to create this surprise, they actually appeared to have a greater joy in it than I did! So, the next time you receive a gift that you value for your birthday, do remember that the joy of the person who gave it to you is likely to be much greater than yours!

The human nature of finding happiness in doing things for others or even sacrificing oneself to save someone else is extremely puzzling to scientists. You must have heard stories of courageous soldiers who have sacrificed their life to save the lives of their colleagues. If we strictly applied Darwin's theories of evolution to human kind, something like this will not be possible. Instead, we would have all been more focused on self-preservation and never be altruistic at all. The Biologists use a term called 'group  selection' for this behavior and are still trying to know more about it.  The fact that sacrifice is more fulfilling than pleasure is a truth that the Rishis had discovered many centuries ago.

The ancient Hindu civilization, when they moved further from the northwest India towards the central plain, had conquered a lot of land and experienced tremendous success. There was an abundance of food and wealth and great excitement in the society about the material prosperity awaiting them. There were also the perils of migration like deaths in battle and from diseases. The Rishis, who were great thinkers, were not overwhelmed by all this. They had in fact started asking questions like what is that makes people happy or unhappy, what is true joy and how does one get it?

To understand how the Rishi's answered these questions, we need to first look into what makes us unhappy. There are many things that could be on that list but we can put all of them into four buckets:

1. Bad things happening: Physical injury, loss of things or people, accidents, disease etc. and brooding over them
2. Anxiety: Worry and fear of what may happen, what if something happens or doesn't happen etc
3. Disappointments: Defeat, failure, not living up to expectation, not getting what you expected etc.
4. Negative emotionS: Jealousy, arrogance, isolation, delusion, guilt etc.

(These are the BADS of life. Can you think of something outside this? Let me know if you do)

If we can minimize or eliminate these BADS, then we have a better chance of seeking what is joy. For this the Rishis came up with a set of practices that included the following:

1. Yagna (Worshipful action): There are two parts to worshipful action, Prarthana (Prayers) and Prayatna (Effort seeking success).  As you know, there are always a lot of things that are out of our control in everyday life. Prayer is the way to connect with the uncertainties of universe so that we can be less anxious about them. Prayer also helps us to steel our resolve with positive thinking so that one may overcome adverse situations if they happen in life. This is why you will find a number of  prayerful hymns in the RigVeda. Prayatna is a commitment to apply 100% of oneself to achieve life's goals. A life without goals very quickly dwindles into a meaningless meander. Again, you will see a number off hymns in the Veda, celebrating life and calling on the warrior to march forward to bring back success. 
2. Dharma: (Ethical Living) A commitment to live a self-restrained ethical life founded on values and virtues. Unbridled engagement with the world will only lead to disappointments and ruin. A self-restrained, ethical living ensures an avoidance of future suffering as well as creates a sense of fulfillment of a greater purpose. Again, you will find detailed instructions in Veda enumerating the different values and virtues as well as do's and don'ts.
3. Dhaana (Sharing): What should one do when success is achieved? Hoard it for  future, enjoy it mindlessly, foolishly waste it out of arrogance? The Veda advocates that for a greater joy that lasts, share the success. There is more joy to be had being in the position to give and share rather than hoard and enjoy
4. Thapa (Contemplation):  'I think, therefore I am' is a famous quote from the 16th century philosopher Descartes. The Vedas encourage us to always take some time to think about why we do, what we do. Also, many of our sources of unhappiness originate from a lack of understanding or misconception. Contemplation helps to correct these.

If these are the four practices to do to avoid unhappiness, then where is the joy of life? The Rishis answer to this was that the real joy of life is in achieving peace and contentment and not in pleasures. Therefore, you will see the vedic hymns always ending with 'Om Shanti Shanti Shanti', where 'Om' indicates the state of 'poornatha' or perfect contentment and 'Shanti', peace.

You may find these as difficult concepts to understand. You are not alone and the semi-nomadic society of Hindu civilization in the second millennium of BC would have been no different either . Therefore, the Rishis developed a scheme of rituals that encapsulated these concepts. For example, they prescribed prayers that were to be performed 3 times in a day; at day break, after-noon and end of day. These rituals were meant to remind that to reduce anxiety, one should pray before undertaking any task, at the peak of performing it and again when concluding the task .

Other elaborate rituals like Aswamedha (the horse sacrifice) involved letting a war horse run through the country, bringing those parts of the country covered by the horse under the rule of the King owning the horse. When the horse returned to the starting point, it was sacrificed to the Divinities. While this sounds gruesome, the intent was to create a metaphor on seeking success and sharing the results. At the end of sacrifice, everyone partook a drink called Soma that was also offered to Divinities. This drink was a metaphor for the contentment of a person who has achieved the goals and shared the results with others.

However, over the next few centuries the meaning of the metaphors behind the rituals fell off from people's mind and only the mere performance of rituals remained. A kind of darkness fell over the Hindu civilization during this period when rituals were performed devoid of their meaning. But, soon few enlightened people managed to resurrect the original thoughts of the Rishis. Thus was born the age of philosophical enlightenment. We will see more of this next time.Meanwhile, wish you all the happiness in life!

(Image courtesy to sources on Internet including yuvasakthibanaras.wordpress.com for the yaga image)