On the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima, the following is a discourse by the Guru of Swaha, the late Shankaracharya, Pundit Hari Prasadji, from the television programme, Satsangh with Shree Shankaracharya.
If understanding is not there, then what will scriptures do? If a person is too deaf to listen to the truth, if a person’s mind is too scattered to assimilate the good ideas, then what will preachers do? What will holy institutions do?
Scriptures were compiled for men to know their identity. Every individual is divine by nature. There are two sides to the body – the physical side and the spiritual side. The spiritual side is the soul, which is within all. The soul is eternal, everlasting and, of course, indestructible. That is the internal part, the spiritual part. Everyone possesses this spiritual part, the atman (individual soul). And the atman is given to recognise the Paramatman, the Creator.
Scriptures say we possess all the holiness within us. We are possessed with divinity. If we do not recognise that, then what will the holiness do, what will the atman do? So, this human body is given to awaken the inner spirit, which is divine consciousness, and to put up a battle against the lower forces like kaam (immoral temptation), krodh (anger) and lobh (greed). These are the things that attack the mind, time and again. So when one awakens the inner consciousness, they can rise above the lower tendencies and pursue life in the right direction. They realise their identity, that my body is divine, that it was given to me by a divine being.
Good actions will bring goodness to me, but if I perform bad actions, if not in this life, maybe five lives later, I’ll suffer the consequences and it is the reason why we don’t have answers to many things. In many places, people are very happy, prosperous and they live in tranquillity and luxury while many places have oppression, hardship and drought. From statements in scriptures, we know, evil actions follow every man. This is divine law. So, man is bound in duty to awaken and make yourself good and others good. Inside us, everyone is divine in nature. So the binding duty of all is to tap that substance of divinity, live right, do right and set good examples for others to follow.
