Science of Life Spirituality through Materialism (Upanishad)
A man is a pensive creature.
Only on account of being pensive or full of thoughts he is called a man. It is the thoughtfulness that gave birth to the social system and it is the social system which differentiates a man from other creatures of the universe. If the thoughtfulness and the social system had not existed, there would have been no difference between a man and an animal. To give perfection to the humanity through the social system, the Karma was divided in two categories.
1. Duty deeds worth doing or what to do
2. Sinful deeds or what not to do
Duty or Kartavya: A work that does not arouse dislike from within while being executed, is inclusive of the Purushartha or sincere efforts, is not with an intention to cause harm to others and is based on the well-being of self and others is known as duty or Kartavya. A violence committed during the course of duty or Kartavya is deemed as an act of non-violence. To cite as an example if a doctor cuts a body-part off or inflicts surgery on a patient with an intention to cure him, it can not be treated violence. Similarly, if soldier commits violence while performing his solemn duty to defend his country, it is not to be treated as an act of violence.
Sinful Deed:- An act which begets a sense of remorse and utter dislike from within, is devoid of Purushartha or sincere efforts, is done with malafide intention to cause harm to others, is executed merely to further financial resources or materialistic means for the sake of self-interest can be termed as Akartavya or sinful deed for what not to do such as theft, robbery, cheating, fraud, conspiracy etc. If the money acquired through sinful deeds cited as above is put into worship of God, charity or donations it can not be virtuous and all such charitable acts performed with the money acquired through immoral means come under the purview of Asatkarma or bad deeds. Thus, if a man wants to remain a man in true sense, he has to follow Kartavya Karma or good and sincere efforts for the journey of life. This is because we can go ahead towards perfection of human life only by following Kartavya Karma. A human being should acquire materialistic objects only through Kartavya Karma or moral deeds. If we earn and acquire materialistic things by Kartavya Karma or deeds worth doing, that materialistic perception turns into spirituality. In other words, wealth earned by following Kartavya or Satkarma epitomizes religion.
Many of the people must be aware of the communication between Yama and Nachiketa as contained in the Kathopanishada. It has been cited there in that spiritualism can not be achieved through materialistic means; Nitya can not be achieved through Anitya. Religion is not possible to be achieved through wealth and soul through body. (Here meaning of all the words like materialism, Anitya, wealth, body etc. is the same and similarly, meaning of spiritualism, nitya, religion, soul etc. is also the one and the same). However, after this statement, Yama told Nachiketa that the Kartavya Karma, on having been done with inclusion of three fires, gives materialism acquired through Kartavya Karma a form of spiritualism. That Anitya then becomes Nitya, that wealth becomes a symbol of religion and that corporal body becomes the soul.
What are the three fires in human life . According to the Vedic Philosophy, Fire is of two kinds :
1. Jad Agni or non vibrant fire
2. Chetan Agni or Vibrant fire.
The fire produced from objects like wood, stone etc is called Jad Agni or non-vibrant fire. The fire in the form of knowledge, erudition, thoughts, wisdom and deep thinking is known as Chetan Agni or vibrant fire. Lord Sri Krishna has also stated in the Gita Oh Arjuna, fire in the form of wisdom is able to burn all the evils of Karma. In this context, Guru Yama has spoken about three kinds of Chetan Agni or vibrant or fire. As friction of two trees or two objects produces fire, similarly; human life also has three major joints and in all these three joints, three fires in the form of deep thoughts of man come into being. With the help of these fires in the shape of deep thoughts a man performs his journey of life earning wealth through Kartavya Karma.
Three Joints of Human Life
1. Joint of Adolescence and Young age:- Infancy has not been brought under the system of joints on the ground that infancy is a period during which, a process of building up of those kinds of natures takes place that are attributed to parents, guru or teachers and public contact (that what he sees with his own eyes all around in the social atmosphere). But at a point when joint of Adolescence and young age becomes functional, an innovative or new kind of thought starts emerging. This is the joint-period of Adolescence and a younger age between the age of 15-25 when the first foundation of living art of the human life is laid and it is of a great help for Kartavya Karma. This joint-period plays a crucial role during whole of the life. If the first fire of the human life i.e. deep thought is in good shape and direction, the first joint of Adolescence and young age is the base of life and its perfection.
2. The joint of Young age and Adulthood: – A man enters into domestic phase of life or Grihasthashrama to lead a marital or conjugal life after getting proper education and this is must to promote the Generation-cycle. During this phase of life, he has to shoulder so many responsibilities such as producing children, getting them properly educated, earning wealth and the like. When with advancing his age, he is on the peak of his maturity equipped with all abilities and knowledge like the Sun at noon, he is called adult. This stage has more stability in thinking. He does not think only for himself and starts feeling responsibilities towards the society and the country along with his family. Then he deserves to be called as an Adult. The material changes that are perceived at the age of 40-50, belong to the second joint of life. Thoughts of this joint are to be understood as the basic ground of the family, society and the country. Whosoever is able to push the fire of thoughts in the right direction, his philosophy of life becomes spiritual, adoration of God and religion.
3. The Joint of Adulthood and Old Age:- This is the third and last joint of human life. During the course of this joint, a Fire of last thoughts emerges and the person starts feeling the account of his deeds or Karma done during the entire past life. Some people often remember their past life. Some people often remember their past brevity, strength and abilities, some others dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the public welfare, thinking that this is the law of the generation, cycle and the universe. In the ancient India, people on the verge of old age used to teach the future generation about the art of living and rich experiences gained by them, without any greed. The old age has been named as, Renouncement of the World or Sanyas in the Indian Philosophy.
4. Sanyas means renouncing the world. That is to say, a feeling of full sacrifice for the welfare of family, society and the country, a feeling of seeing the entire world without any discrimination, spending the money earned during young age and thereafter on own children as well as for the help of the downtrodden and other backward people of the Society, leading the life mediating the God, the holy saints and sages and the great people. The third joint of the human life is challenging for some people. In spite of thoughts and wisdom even during this joint period, he succeeds in making his life all happy by devoting himself to the well-being of the people with a sense that it is the law of the Universe. The third fire of deep thoughts emerges between the age of 65 and 75. When a man equipped with the aforesaid three fires of thoughts, performs his journey of life in the right direction following his duty or Kartavya Karma, his body takes a shape of soul, his wealth is transformed into religion, his materialism changes to spiritualism and his Anitya becomes Nitya. His philosophy of life and the life-journey are then treated as adoration or worship of God.
