Arya Samaj

Shishya · Last edited by Shishya on Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:06 pm; edited 1 time in total

A Statement of My Belief
A Belief in Harmony with Reasoning
by
Maharishi Swami Dayananda Saraswati

I believe in a religion based on universal and all-embracing principles which have always been accepted as true by mankind and will continue to command the allegiance of mankind in the ages to come. Hence that religion in question is called the primeval eternal religion, which means that it is above the hostility of all human creeds whatsoever.

Whatever is believed in by those who are steeped in ignorance or have been led astray by sectaries is not worthy of being accepted by the wise. That faith alone is really true and worthy of acceptance which is followed by aptas i.e., those who are true in word, deed and thought, who promote public good and are impartial and learned. But all that is discarded by such men must be considered as unworthy of belief and false.

My conception of God and all other objects in the universe is founded on the teachings of Veda and other true Shastras, and is in conformity with the beliefs of all the sages, from Brahmadown to Jaimini. I offer a statement of these beliefs for the acceptance fo all good men. That alone I hold to be acceptable which is worthy of being believed by all men of all ages.

I do not entertain the least idea of founding a new religion or sect. My sole aim is to believe in truth and help others to believe in it, to reject falsehood and help others to do the same.

Had I been biased, I would have championed any one of the religions prevailing in India. But I have not done so. On the contrary, I do no approve of what is objectionable and false in the institutions of this or any other country, nor do I reject what is good and in harmony with the dictates of true religion, nor have I any desire to do so, since a contrary conduct is wholly unworthy of man. He alone is entitled to be called a man who possesses a thoughtful nature and feels for other in the same way as he does for his own self, does not fear the unjust however powerful, but fears the truly virtuous, however weak. Moreover, he should always act worthily towards them even though they be extremely poor and weak and destitute of material resources.

On the other hand, he should constantly strive to destroy, humble, and oppose the wicked sovereign rulers of the whole earth, though men of great influence and power they be. In other words, a man should, as far as it lies within his power, constantly endeavor to undermine the power of the unjust and to strengthen that of the just. He may have to bear any amount of terrible suffering, he may have even to quaff the bitter cup of death in the performance of this duty, which devolves on him on account of being a man, but he should not shirk it.

King Bhatri Hari and other wise men have composed verses on the subject which I subjoin with the hope that they will prove useful:-

"The worldly-wise may praise one or censure him; fortune may smile on him or frown on him; death may overtake him immediately or he may live for ages, but a wise man does not swerve from the path of justice." BHARTRI HARI.
"Let a man never renounce dharma (righteousness) either through lust or through fear, or through greed or even to save his life, since dharma is imperishable, while pleasure or pain is perishable, the soul is immortal, while the body is mortal." MAHAABHARAAT.
"There is only one true friend that accompanies one ever after death. All others desert one as soon as death has overtaken him." MANU.
"It is truth that conquers, not error. It is the path of rectitude alone that men of learning and piety have trodden, and it is by following this path that the great sages of righteous desires have reached the highest citadel of truth - (namely) God." UPANISHAD.

"Verily there is no virtue higher than truth; no sin blacker than falsehood. Verily there is no knowledge higher than truth; let a man therefore, always follow truth." UPANISHAD.

Let all men have the same kind of firm faith (in the power of truth and justice) as has been expressed by great souls (in the above verses).

Now I give below a brief summary of my beliefs. Their detailed exposition has been given in this book (Satyarth Prakash) in its proper place.

He, who is called Brahma or the Most High; who is Paramatma, or the Sprit who permeates the whole universe; who is Truth, Intelligence and Happiness; whose nature, attributes and doings are holy; who is omniscient, incorporeal, all-pervading, unborn, infinite, almighty, just and merciful; who is the Author of the universe, its Protector and Destroyer; who weighs the merits and demerits of individuals according to the requirements of absolute justice and equity, - even Him I believe to be the Lord of the Creation.
The four Vedas, the repository of Knowledge and Religious Truth, are the Word of God. They comprise what is known as the Samhita – Mantra portion only. They are absolutely free from error, and the supreme and independent authority in all things. They require no other book to bear witness to their Divine origin. Even as the sun or a lamp is, by its own light, an absolute and independent manifester of its own existence, - yea, it reveals the existence of things other than itself – even so are the Vedas.
The commentaries of the four Vedas, viz., the Brahmanas, the six Angas, the six Upangas, the four Upavedas, and the eleven hundred and twentyseven Shakas, which are expositions of the Vedic texts by Brahma and other great Rishis – I look upon as works of a dependent character. In other words, their authority is to be followed only so far as they conform to the teachings of the Vedas. Whatever passages in these works are contrary to the Vedic doctrine, I reject them entirely.
That which is devoid of partiality, which inculcates justice and equity, which teaches truthfulness of thought, speech and deed, - in a word, that which is in conformity with the Will of God, as embodied in the Vedas, even that I call Dharma. But that which is intermixed with what is partial, which sanctions injustice, which teaches untruthfulness of thought, speech and deed - in a word, that which is antagonistic to the Will of God, as embodied in the Vedas, that I term Adharma.
The immortal, eternal Principle which is endowed with thought and judgment, with desire and hate, which is susceptible of pleasure and pain, whose capacity for knowledge is limited - that I term Atma, Soul.
God and Soul are two distinct entities. Each has certain attributes which are not and cannot be predicated of the other, and each performs certain functions which the other does not and cannot perform. They are, however, inseparable, one from the other, being related to each other as the pervader and the pervaded. Even as a material object is, was, and shall always be, distinct from the space in which it exists and as the two cannot, were not, nor shall ever be one and the same, even so God and Soul are (in relation) to each other. Their mutual relation is that of the pervader and pervaded, of father and son. The one worships and the other is worshipped.
Three things are eternal, namely God, Soul, and Prakriti (the material cause of the universe). These are also known as the eternal substances. Being eternal, their essential qualities, their functions, and their natures remain eternally the same.
Things, properties, and functions, which result from combination, are destroyed on the occurrence of a separation. But the power or force, by virtue of which a substance unites with anther or separates from it, is eternally inherent in the substance, and that power will compel it to seek similar unions and disunions in the future. The unions and disunions, as well as the power by virtue of which they take place, are also eternal, in consequence of the regularity of their succession.
That which results from a combination of a primary elements compounded together consistently with a thorough and complete knowledge of the distinctive properties of every separate element and with all the perfection of design, - even that, in all its infinite variety, is called Creation.
The Purpose of Creation is the essential and natural exercise of the creative energy of the Deity. A person once asked, “What is the purpose of the eyes?” “Why, to see with, to be sure," was the reply. The same is the case here. God’s creative energy must be exercised. The enjoyment of the fruit of their actions by Souls, and so on, is also the Purpose of Creation.
The Creation has a Creator, and that is no other than the aforementioned God. The existence of a design in the universe as well as the fact that dead unconscious matter is incapable of forming itself into seed or any other thing endowed with life and vitality, shows that it must have a Creator.
Earthly Bondage (Samskara) has a cause. This cause is Ignorance (Advidya), which is the source of sin as, among other things, it leads man to worship things other than the Creator and obscures his intellectual faculties, whereof pain and suffering is the result. Ignorance is termed Bondage, as it involves the Soul in pain which everyone wants to escape but which he must undergo.
The Emancipation of the soul from pain and suffering of every description, its enjoying, unburdened by the gross physical body, a career of freedom in the all-pervading God and His immense Creation for a stated period, and its resumption of earthly life after the expiration of that period - this I term Moksha, Salvation.
The means of Salvation are the worship of God (Havan) or the contemplation of His nature and attributes with concentrated attention (Sandhya), the practice of virtue (Dharma), a thorough control over the passions during the period of study (Brahmacharya), the society of the wise and learned, the love of true knowledge, purity of thought, active benevolence, and so on.
Artha is wealth acquired by honesty and fair-dealing; but that which is the fruit of dishonesty and fraud, - that is Anarth or unrighteous wealth.
Kama or true enjoyments are those which are the combined fruit of uprightness of principle and honestly-acquired wealth.
The ‘caste’ of an individual is determined by merit and sterling worth only.
He alone deserves the title of ‘king’ who is endowed with exalted qualities and benevolent intentions, who delights in virtuous deeds, whose mind is free from bias and partiality, who follows the dictates of justice, who loves and treats his subjects as his own offspring and who, as such, is ever engaged in promoting their interests and their happiness.
He alone deserves to be called as ‘subject’ who, possessed of excellent qualities and actuated by good motives, delighting the virtuous deeds, free from the influence of prejudice and following the behests of justice, is ever engaged in furthering the happiness of his fellow subjects and that of his sovereign, whom he regards in the light of a parent, provided the said sovereign is not an enemy of the empire.
He who always thinks and judges for himself, who is ever ready to accept truth and reject falsehood, who puts down the unjust but patronizes the just, who has as much regard for the happiness of others as his own – even him I call Just.
Devas are those who are wise and learned; Asuras, those who are foolish and ignorant; Rakshas, those who are wicked and sin-loving; and Pishachas, those whose mode of life is filthy and debasing.
Devapuja consists in showing honor and respect to the wise and learned, to one’s father and mother, to the imparters of knowledge, to the itinerant preachers of the true doctrine, to just and impartial sovereigns, to lovers of righteousness, to the women who are chaste and faithful to their husbands, to the men who are devoted and faithful to their wives. The opposite of this is called Adevapuja or the worship of demons. To respect the good (as explained and detailed in this para.) is real worship, but he worship of dead, unconscious objects I utterly abhor.
That, of which the fruit is the acquisition of knowledge courteousness and good behavior, uprightness of principle, and purity of thought, which dispels ignorance, -even that is Education.
The Puranas (ancient commentaries of the Vedas and other works on theology) are the Aitreya Bahmana and similar compositions by the great Rishis like Brahma and others. In Itihas or history I include the Kalpa, Gatha, and Narashansi. The Bhagvat and other books of that sort are not Puranas.
Tirth is that by means of which the ‘sea of pain’ is crossed. It consists in truthfulness of speech, in the acquisition of true knowledge, in cultivating the society of the wise and good, in the practice of morality, in contemplating the nature and attributes of the Deity with concentrated attention, in active benevolence, in the diffusion of education, and so on. Bathing-places, etc., are no Tirths.
An energetic and active life is preferable to passive acquiescence in the decrees of fate, inasmuch as destiny is the consequence in the decrees of fate, inasmuch as destiny is the consequence of acts. A life of virtuous activity will secure the Soul a good destiny as a life of wickedness will produce the opposite result. Hence acts, being the maker of destiny, virtuous activity is superior to passive resignation.
The most approved behavior of one man towards his fellow-creatures lies in his treating every one according to his worth, in sympathizing with him, from the core of his joys and sorrows, in his losses and gains. The contrary conduct is reprehensible.
Sanskar or ceremonial is that which contributes to man’s physical, mental, and spiritual improvement. The Sanskars (ceremonies), from conception to cremation, are sixteen in number. Their due and proper observance is obligatory on all. Nothing should be done for the departed after the remains have been cremated.
The performance of Yajna is a most commendable duty. It consists in showing honor and respect to the wise and learned, in the proper application of the principles of the chemistry and physical science to the affairs of life, in the dissemination of knowledge, in the performance, of Agnihotra, which, by contributing to the purification of the air and the healthy growth of vegetables, directly tends to promote the well-being of all sentient creatures.
Aryas are men of exalted principle, the Dasyus those who lead a life of wickedness and sin.
This country is called Aryavarta, because it has been the residence of the Aryas from the very dawn of creation. It is bounded on the north by the Himalayas, on the south by the Vindhya mountains, on the east by the Attak, and on the west by the Brahmputra. The tract within these limits is alone Aryavarta, and those that have been living in it from times immemorial are Aryas.
He alone is an Acharya who can teach the sciences of the Vedas and their commentaries, who inculcates, both by example and precept, the practice of virtue and the avoidance of what is impure and immoral.
He alone is Shishya (Pupil) who has the capacity for assimilating knowledge and grasping truth, whose moral character is impeccable, who is eager to learn, and devoted to his teacher.
By the term Guru is meant father or mother. It also applies to all those through whose instrumentality the mind is grounded in truth and weened from falsehood.
He is a Purohita or Priest who wishes well to his Yajmans, and preaches to them Absolute Truth.
An Upadhya or Professor is one who can teach certain portions of the Vedas, or who can teach the Angas.
Shishtachar consists in accepting Truth and rejecting untruth, realized and detected after deep and prolonged study, carried on in perfect purity of heart, and after a careful examination of the laws of nature. The man who practices shishtachar is called a gentleman.
I admit the validity of proof based on ocular demonstration, and with it the remaining seven kinds of proofs.
I call him Apt whose veracity is unimpeachable, who is man of pure moral character, and who labors for the good of others.
Those are really principles of truth that can satisfy five tests:
- They must not militate against nature and attributes of God.
- They must be in accord with the teachings of the Vedas.
- They must be in keeping with the well-known eight kinds of proofs based on natural laws.
- They must be consistent with the thoughts and ways of men of pure lives.
- They must be approved of by the internal spirit.
Every doctrine must be subjected to these five tests, and accepted if it can satisfy them all.
That is Paropkar or philantrophy which reclaims men from their vices and alleviates their sufferings, which implies them on in the direction of virtue, and thus promotes the general weal.
The Soul is a free agent, at liberty to act as it pleases, but it is dependent on God for the enjoyment of the fruit of its actions. God is free and independent in dispensing justice and in enforcing every one of His just and righteous law.
Swarga is a prolonged enjoyment of happiness and the possession of things which conduce to this happiness.
Narka means prolonged suffering suffering and everything that contributes to pain and suffering.
Janma or birth is the Soul’s assumption of the gross, visible body. Viewed in relation to time its existence is three-fold, viz., past, present and future.
Birth means the union of the Soul with the body, and death their separation.
When according to the rules prescribed by the Shastras, a person bestows, as the result of reciprocal affection, his or her hand upon one of the opposite sex and in a public manner, he or she is said to contract marriage.
Niyoga is a temporary union of a person with another of the opposite sex belonging to his or her plane or moving in a higher sphere for the raising of issue, when marriage has failed to fulfill its legitimate purpose. It is resorted to in extreme cases, either on the death of one’s consort, or when protracted disease has destroyed productive energy in the husband or wife.
Stuti (or praise) is the enumeration of Divine attributes and qualities, with the view to fix them in the mind and realize their meaning. Among other things it inspires us with love towards God.
Prarthana is praying to God, after one has done his own best, for the gift of knowledge and similar, other blessings which result from a communion with Him. Its principle fruit is humility and serenity of mind.
Upaasanaa is conforming uourselves, as far as possible, in purity and holiness to the Divine Spirit. It is feeling the presence of the Deity in the Soul by ther realization of His all-pervading nature. Upaasanaa extends the bounds of our knowledge.
Sagun Stuti is praising God by the enumeration of qualities and attributes which He possesses, but Nirgun Stuti is praising God by those qualities and attributes which are foreign to His nature.
Sagun Prarthana is praying to God for virtuous qualities; Nirgun Prarthana is imploring the Deity to cast out from us that which is evil.
Saguna Upaasanaa is the realization, in the Soul, of the presence of God as possessing attributes which are inherent in Him, while Nirguna Upaasanaa is the realization, in the Soul, of the presence of God as distinct from what is foreign of His nature.

In other words I believe what is worthy of belief in the eyes of all, such as verity of speech; while I do not believe what is considered wrong by all, such as untruthfulness. I do not approve of the mutual wrangling of the sectaries, since they have, by propagating their creeds, led the people astray and turned them into each other's enemy.

The sole aim of my life, which I have also endeavored to achieve, is this: help to put an end to this mutual wrangling, preach universal truths, bring all men into the fold of one religion whereby they may cease to hate each other and, instead, may firmly love one another, live in peace and work for their common weal.

May this doctrine, through the grace and help of God, and with the support of all truthful, honest and learned men who are devoted to the cause of humanity (aptas) reach every nook and corner of this earth so that all may acquire righteousness, wealth, gratify legitimate desires and attain salvation and thereby elevate themselves and live in happiness. This alone is the chief object (of my life).

A Word To The Wise

"Mayest Thou, O God (AUM), Who art Friend of all (Mitra), Holiest of all (Varun), and Controller of the Universe (Aryama), be merciful unto us. Mayest Thou, O God Almighty (Indra), Lord of the Universe (Vrihaspati), Support of All, endow us with knowledge and power, Mayest Thou, O Omnipresent (Vishnu) and Omnipotent Being (Kurukrama), shower Thy blessings all around us."

OM

Shishya · Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject:

Namaste,

This is posted here for references purposes. If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in Swamiji's "Statement of My Belief", feel free to start a new topic with an appropriate title in either the General Discussion Forum or the Arya Samaj Q & A Forum.
_________________
Namaste,

Shishya
ॐ

ॐ सह नावतु । सह तौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै । तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ॥
"Together may we be protected. Together may we be profited. Together may we do a hero's work. May we learn intelligently. May we never hate one another."
-Brihadaranyaka & Taittiriya Upanishads