THE 3 GUNAS AND CAST SYSTEM

    One of the black mark that Indian or Hindu society is that of the caste system . Th MANU SMRUTI , as I was told has also mentioned the Cast system and the inheritance . If a  higher class man is married to same class woman, she gets higher percentage of his property than the lower cast women who is also married to the same man. So we as society have decided that the cast system is based on birth . In Bhagwat Geeta also there is mention of cast system. One of the shloka states that 'even Shudra and women can achieve me ---"So we have cast system and that was based on the birth and not on QUALITIES that one has . 

   The cast system is based on or is supposed to be based on what qualities one has and should not be based on which family one is born. This is related to 3 Gunas. The 4 casts are BRHMIN, KSHATRIYA,VAISHY AND SHUDRA. The Brahmin is supposed to be higher cast and Shudra is suppose to be lower cast. But in reality the basis for this classification is , on predominance of 3 Gunas. When the SATWIC Guna is dominant and  the Rajasic is less prominent and Tamasic  is minimal then the person is BRAHMIN. The the Brahmin are suppose to be teaches and priests and may be in professions which help people . They are not Fighters or soldiers and certainly not business people.

   When a person has prominence of Rajasic Guna and some of Satwic Guna and very little Tamasic Guna, then that person is kshatriya . These are soldiers or fighters . They do have Tamasic Guna proportion more than seen in Brahmins but Rajasic is much more and Satwic is less than seen in Brahmin.

   When the person has predominant Guna of Rajasic and less of Satwic and some of Tamasic , then they are VAISHYA or businessman . The Satwic is less than seen in Kshatriya and certainly much less than Brahmin , and Tamsic is much more than seen in Kshatriya. 

   The Shudra cast is suppose to be determined by predominance of Tamasic Guna . They do have some Rajasic and some Sattvic , but much less than Kshatriya and Vaishya casts. 

   The interesting part is that in reincarnation, one is reborn to fulfill his or her DESIRES and so one who is addicted to alcohol is likely to be born in family where alcohol is easily available and consumed . So the person born in  a family of one cast is more likely to have same Guna proportion as mentioned above , though there are exceptions. So though the cast should not be determined by the birth family cast, many may have same attitude and so they are menially and by birth belong to the same cast. 

  Again I FEEL THAT CAST SYSTEM IS BLEMISH ON HINDU SOCIETY AND BIRTH SHOULD NEVER DETREMINE THE CAST, BUT THE QUALITIES SHOULD DECIDE IT 

THREE GUNAS AND HUMAN BODY

     We in Hinduism ir Vedic religion talk about 3 Gunas. So how do they come to existence and what do they represent? The answer is in the Vedic concept of Origin of Universe. As I have stated in some of my blogs , the Universe has no REAL END. The cycles of Beginning and End continue for eternity and there is no first cycle and there will be no Last cycle. So when the universe end EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE goes to a Singularity . At the start of New universe, there is a disturbance in the 3 GOONAS or 3 Qualities , which till then were in balance. I would not go through the stages of development of the universe , and human body or so called BHOOTAS. But just mention as to what comes out of each Goonas. 

  The TAMASIC GOON COMBINES WITH 5 Great elements - 5 MAHABHUTASA and that leads to the substrate for the 5 sense organs ,namely the SOUND(SHABDA) TOUCH(SPARSH), TASTE (RAS),LOOK (ROOP),AND SMELL (GANDH).Remember that the Mahabhootas are changed when they are involved in formation of Universe - and Bhuootas. 

  The SATVIC GOONA combines with 3 Great elements or MAHABHUTAS and the leads to 5 Sense Organs and ANTAHKARAN . There is no suitable word for this Sanskrit word. 

   The RAJASIC  GOONA combines with 5 Great Elements or PANCHMAHABHUTAS and then it produces the 5 Organs of ASCTION or KARMENDRIYE. They are HANDS . LEGS , PROCREATION , EXCRETION and SPEECH . 

तमेव् प्रत्यक्षं तत् त्वं असि -YOY ARE THAT

  तमेव् प्रत्यक्षं तत् त्वं असि  is from Ganpati Atharv Shirsh .and that is first statement after bowing done to Lord Ganesh and many of us say it but never think about it. So I thought of doing a small blog on it तम् त्वत् असि is very well known , famous line in Hindu scripters and was stated in CHHANDOKYA UPANISHADA. UDYALAK who is father of SHWETAKETU and is teaching him about THAT PRINCIPLE which is PARAMATMA or BRAHAMN and he states that YOU ARE THAT. So he is telling son that you are not body -mind -intellect , but you are THAT. Now in the line that I stated above , there is one more word , which is प्रत्यक्षं. This means 'AS SEEN BY EYES'. So now the statement is you are that which is seen by eyes . The BRAHMAN is not something that ca be seen -the word BRAHMAN means VAST . But we also have other qualities , principle of which is one which cannot be perceived . So if we can see it - it cannot be BRHAMAN . But here they are telling us that BRAHMAN which can be SEEN is Lord Ganesh or the form of BRAHAN that for out understanding or convenience is nothing other that Ganesh which is visible to human eyes .

   In Patanjali Sutra Yoga there are different proofs or PRMANAS that are described . They are 3 proofs .PRATAKSHYA -ANUMAN AND AAGAM . When we are talking to someone about a story , we often say that 'I actually saw him doing such and such or drinking  alcohol or beating someone etc. . So when we actually SEE something , we are sure that it is REAL But that may not be 100%  The second type is 'conclusion When we see smoke , we conclude that there is fire. But not all smoke means fire. The mirage does not have water and not all that looks like snake is snake - the typical old standard example So the conclusion could be wrong and deceptive But we still believe that when we see something , it is real .The last one just to complete - is AAGAM. This is what is told by enlightened souls or Lord himself . So now one knows that for practical purposes what we see is what we believe and so the worj PRATI AKSHYA - AS PER (SEEN BY ) EYES . 

BRIEF HISTORY OF ORIGIN OF UNIVERSE

   The universe has origin even in the physical concept and so it has origin in all the religions. The Christianity states 7 days or the origin and what THE GOD took 7 days to create universe. In Hindu or Vedic concept the whole thing is cyclical and there is no real beginning or end as such. It may be compared to the Mario brother's original video games -where the screen continues . So there is no real beginning of the TIME. As I have mentioned in some other blogs , the Time is not part of ultimate reality the BRAHMAN and so one cannot ask what was BEFORE that. 

  But here I am going to try to talk about origin of one of the cycles as the universe starts and end and starts again. At the end of the Cycle everything ends in singularity and everything is in balance . All the BHUTAS-JIVAS-Life are dormant and the 3 GUNAS the qualities are dormant and in perfect balance . Then there is some disturbance, so called GUNASHOBHINI. The DORMANT or quite state is called ALINGA AWASTHA. . The LINGA means sign -so at this stage there is sign or characters to it or may be qualities to it. With the disturbance, and imbalance of 3 GUNA So, the qualities , The state of universe with disturbance is origin of or called MAHAT TATWA. This is LINGA AWASTHA. and that is origin of I-NESS or AHANKAR. The universal I-NESS is AHNAKAR and limited to individual body is called ASMITA .JIVA is reflection of the CHAITANYA and is covered by AVIDYA or Ignorance. The 5 great elements combine with TAMOGUNA and that starts 5 TANMATRA .namely SHABDA -SPARSH-RASA-ROOP-GANDH-sound-touch-taste-appearance-smell.These 5 things are objects of 5 organs of DNYAN-perception. So, the TANMATRA form is called AVISHESH AWASTHA .

   The 3 GUNAS are TAMAS-RAJAS-SATWIC . The RAJASIC quality - the activating quality combines with 5 Great elements and form 5 organs of ACTION or KARMENEDRIYE. The SATWIC GUNA and 5 Great elements (PNCHA MAHABHUTE) combine and gives rise to 5 organs of Perception -DNYANEDRIYE. plus something called ANTAHKARAN. This state is called VISHESH AWASHTHA .

 There is relationship of 5 Great Elements and 5 organs of perception which will be discussed in different blog. Hope this has not put reader to sleep. 

SO THE 4 STAGES ARE ALING-LINGMATRA- AVISHESH- VISHESH .

FOUR PURUSHARTH IN HINDU DHARMA

     In Hindu Dharam they have described 4 PURUSHARTH. The word Purusha does not mean male . It is suppose to be for EVRYONE. The Purusha here is meant to be the SPRIT and Dharma i is religion. The meaning of the word DHARMA can be different when used in different context. When we say that the wood floats in water or iron sinks in water -we say that that is it's DHARMA or GUNADHARMA . Her the term Dharma is used as quality. Like sugar is sweet. The Dharma is also used as in question -religion as in what is your religion. Her we are talking about religious FAITH. Then comes the same word used as in ARJUNA was asked to KILL KAURAWAS as that is HIS DHARMA . Here we are talking about JOB or occupation. We also state that being a father or mother we have certain dharma. Her we are talking about the responsibility as parents.

   In Hindu religion we are told to follow 4 PURUSHARTH one of which is DHARMA. The next one is ARTH ,then KAM and lastly MOKSHA 

     The DHARMA in this context is righteous behavior. This is related to the other 2 PURAUSHARTH. The ARTH is money - certainly includes gold ,silver , diamond , house , car -all the the things that needs money. But getting money or earning money must be done in RIGHT WAY. We must follow righteous path. One should not make money doing bad things - stealing, lending money with outrageous interest or sex or drugs , alcohol sell etc. So we need money to survive and it should be our goal to get it but it must be done in RIGHT WAY. 

   The next one should be combined with ARTH , as it is called KAM. KAM means desires . pleasures , enjoyment. So all have that and we should do it. some one may have pleasure in eating , enjoying watching movie or even having sex. But again we need to do it with RIGHT WAY. The God has created universe with beauty and we should enjoy but  do it in RIGHT WAY and not wrong way. Indulging in any of these sense organ pleasure is not good . We should not have lust and attachments with theses things. So again when we want good food or music etc. we need money and so the ARTH and KAM go hand in hand. 

   The last is MOKSHA or NIRWAN - freedom from the cycle of life and death. The goal of human life should be to get free from this cycle. Most of us do  not even think about it till we are old. The we have few more things to be fulfilled in out bucket list and then we have attachments with grandkids . So most of us do not do anything till we die and then get another birth. When we are in doing ARTH - KAM , and doing that with DHARMA , we should think of MOKSHA . And if we do things in moderation , without attachment and righteous behavior then MOKSHA is not far away or difficult.

   These 4 PURUSHART are some what connected to 4 ASHRAMA - namely BRAHMACHAR,GRUHASTH, VANAPRASTH AND LAST SANYAS. The studentship then family and then retirement and then renunciation. ARTH and KAM are related to Family life and GRUHASTH. The last 2 are related to trying for Moksha or NIRVAN .  

ONE MORE WRINKLE IN CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE APPERENT WORLD

    I am kind of interested and some what baffled or confused by different descriptions of the Consciousness. Every time I listen to someone . who is supposed to be authority on theses things , I get more confused. I understand , but at the same time have more questions. The same people that tell us that we are not the (physical ) body , subtle body - mind intellect or ego, and we are not even the causal or KARAN Sharir, seem to act as if they don't believe in what they said. If I am THAT BRAHMAN, how can we meditate or worship deity and at the same time talk about NONDUALITY. Then we are told that at VYAVAHARIC or Transactional level it's different than at Spiritual level. 

    To add to this confusion , they talk that the BRAHMAN or CONSCIOUSNESS is not PERVADING everything . but EVERYTHING is happening INSIDE THE CONSCIOUSNESS ,like our dream. This is new wrinkle to our understanding. In our dream WE control the things the characters and the story line and the same way everything is happening INSIDE the consciousness.   

   I have a simple mind and I can understand the example given of Light. The light makes me see things around me. The light DOES NOT do anything to make things . Even if there is no light the things are there but we cannot see them . If we remove a thing from our surroundings, nothing will change in Light. So Light does not do ANYTHING but it makes us SEE things . 

   This leads to 2 questions . If I am BRAHAMN then what I am mediattiong upon or worshiping . and secondly if everything is happening INSIDE the consciousness , then who is DREAMING or who is controller? 

LIMITATIONS FOR ORDINARYTHINGS AND BRAHMAN

     When one is talking about BRAHMAN, not about BRAHMA or Brahmadeo .we are often told that it is different from ordinary things . To understand the simple difference in VEDIC  religion, they talk about these limitations that are there for EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT Brahman. We often say 'O GOD come and help me .' But if we believe in REAL God , then as we say the God is omnipresent. He is everywhere . So, if he is everywhere , how can he COME . If I am here - and does not matter where here is , then I am not there and does not matter where there is. So we have limitations and the God or Brahman does not have it.  

       These limitations are stated as DESH-KAAL- VASTU. .The Desh is Place , Kaal is Time and Vastu id an identity. The limitation called DESH is the PLACE that something is . Desh means region. So I am sitting in living room in a chair , I am not in family room or I am not sitting in sofa . This is limitation by place . Easy to understand . The Brahman or the God does not have that limitation. The next one is KAAL or the time.. If I am sitting in a chair NOW then  the chances are  that I was not there yesterday and I may not be there tomorrow. All of us age and dye. The things that appear to have not changed like stone , are also changing and certainly livings things do and we do witness that . So this is second limitation. We are bound by TOIME or Kaal. Lastly the VASTU or the identity . I am writing this blog in computer and the computer is not me and certainly is not chair that I am sitting in and writing. So the identity of the thing is called VASTU . Nothing like that can be said about the Brahman as it is EVERTHING and it is NOTHING that we see in this world .    .