Truth, the Mind, and the Vedas

Interview with a priest
Adi Shankar Viman Temple, Allahabad


I have been working here for eight years. I perform pujas in the temple. This is the Adi Shankar Viman temple [literally, the “aerial vehicle of the primeval Shiva”] . It was built by a Swami Ji of the Mukudi pitham in Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. His name is Shankaracharya Ji. He has built several temples. There is a small one in Dharaganj. That is called the Siddheshvar temple. In Allahabad we have the big Hanuman temple. Then in Civil Lines (a business district in Allahabad) there is another Hanuman temple. In Dharaganj there is another temple called Venimadhav. And there is a Ram-Janaki temple here, built by the Shankaracharya of Badri. It took 15 years to build this temple here. These temples are all intended to give everyone a chance to have darshan of bhagvan. After bathing in the Ganges, one has to get a darshan of bhagvan, that’s why these temples have been constructed.

I used to live in the state of Karnataka. After that, I came to Kanchipuram. I studied in the math of Shankaracharya Ji. After finishing my studies, I went to Vijaywada. There I was a teacher of the Rig Veda, the most ancient of the Hindu scriptures. After that, Shankaracharya Ji sent me here. I am a teacher of the Rig Veda. In the Rig Veda I have studied, first of all, samhita. After that I studied padam. After that, there is what is called prayog. Within that, there is garvati homam and sabhavan, types of sacrifice, and I know all of that. I know all about havans. And I was teaching about these Vedic rituals in Vijaywada.

[Concerning rituals] There are four Vedas, which are writings about bhagvan. These four are the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sam Veda and the Atharva Veda. And I am a specialist in the Rig Veda. In that Veda, the bhagvans are all one bhagvan. Their names are all different. One has to perform all the havans. Havan means yagyam. Different gods are given ahuti of ghee. This is all what we mean by havan. When we put ghee in the fire and offer it to the various bhagvans, whichever bhagvan it’s offered to, along with saying svaha, it reaches that bhagvan. As for arti, when it is done for a particular bhagvan — all bhagvans are manifested in the svarup of fire. This is why, in India, when we write the names of bhagvans, we write the word shri. The sacrifice reaches the bhagvan when we use his name, just as when we mail a letter with somebody’s name, it reaches that person. In performing a havan, one has to cut a piece from a tree, which we call samidh, and put it in each fire. These days, they say that the atmosphere is very dirty, and putting the samidh in a havan helps to clean the atmosphere. This is why in early times, we didn’t have all these sicknesses, such as we have these days — cancer, etc. In the early days, havans were performed more frequently.

In the Vedas there are mantras, different ones for different bhagvans. And we say those as we perform the havan. When you see blue light in the flame, then you know that the bhagvan has received the sacrifice. There is never a time when we don’t see a blue flame — the blue flame occurs always. The blue flame only comes when the bhagvan is satisfied with the offering.

As far as the role of the intellect in Hinduism, it is wed for the practice of yog. The intellect is important for reading and learning about the Vedas. For example, Jagatguru Adi Shankaracharya had a very good intellect and that’s why he was able to teach so many people. He had a great mind for the Vedas, so he has a very high place in our system. We feel that if his knowledge was a hundred times, then ours is only ten times. There is a Sanskrit verse which goes like this, [“The whole world is in bhagvan’s hand”]. That’s the way it is. And those who know all the mantras of bhagvan, they are the ones who are favored and forgiven by bhagvan. The Brahmins who know the mantras are like our devtas.

In my personal life, it’s like this. I have houses, fields and property. I have everything. My brother is a lecturer in a government junior college. I am not married. I intend to get married after two or three years, but I am thinking that I need to live according to the Vedas which I have studied. If I don’t do that, I’ll have to work in some other type of place. Now here, they have no teacher of the Vedas, so they are calling me here. I am also getting letters from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Center in New Delhi. They also want me. But this is Shankaracharya Ji’s math, and that is where I have studied. This is why, in accordance with the orders given by Jayandra Sarasvati Swami Ji Maharaj, I have come here.

In my home, we are two or three brothers. We also have a sister. Everyone’s marriage has occurred, except for mine. My younger brother is still at home. There are no difficulties at home. As long as we keep serving bhagvan, then he won’t take his hand off of us. It is in this life of trust that we exist. Everything that I have asked of bhagvan, he has given me, up til now. I wanted to do something with the Vedas, this is what I asked of Makshi Devi. I have now arrived at that position, working with the Vedas. Then I said that I wanted a good job, and that request also has been granted.

The bhagvans don’t ask anything of us. The only thing is that the bhagvans want us to perform the pujas. That’s why I left my position as a teacher of the Vedas to come here and do this work. Bhagvan is all one. Even in the heart of man, Brahma is there. That’s why, when we do any work, we put our hand over our heart, because it is not us who are doing the work, but rather it is bhagvan who has caused it to happen through us. This is why bhagvan is in us. Bhagvan is also in the form of man, as well as within man. Whatever we do, we say we did it, but only with our hand over our heart.

The bhagvans have heard my prayers, but still sometimes I do experience doubts. I’ve been working here in the temple for eight years. Some time during that period, I took a year’s leave from here. After that year was over, I still didn’t want to come back, so I didn’t. But then bhagvan came to me in a dream and said, “Why have you left me and gone? Do you have any intention of coming back or not? If you come back, you will have good fortune.” So that’s why I returned. Actually, I don’t only have to do pujas and worship. I can also be a teacher. In fact, I could even be a farmer and my farming could be blessed and approved by doing pujas. So I don’t have to only be a priest. If I didn’t worship bhagvan, it wouldn’t be good for my mind or my heart. In the end, I would not be favored by bhagvan. So up to now, I haven’t stopped doing worship. Even when I’m at home I keep it up. Just like all rivers flow into the seas, so all gods are one. That’s why everyone goes to some particular bhagvan. So one can worship Shiva, Vishnu or a devi.

The point about worshipping, even though we ourselves are bhagvan, is that not all of bhagvan is in each of us. One out of a hundred powers of bhagvan may be in each of us. Ninety-nine percent of Brahman is separate from us. Ninety-nine percent of bhagvan is outside of us. One of his powers may be on you, and one may be on a cow. Bhagvan is in each and every one in some small measure. That’s why in everything, such as cows, etc., bhagvan is there.

The world is illusion because we desire something, we get it, then we have a further desire, and so on. So it’s all illusion. These desires come from many different directions. Someone might want a piece of land, and after he gets it, then he wants money. This illusion is connected to always hoping for things. It is not wrong to hope for things, but one shouldn’t hope too much. Hope is important because by hoping we are able to come up in life.

Man’s births are few. There are many rebirths, hundreds of thousands. In the form of an insect or a dog, and so on, there are many such rebirths, but being reborn as a human being is much less frequent. That’s why when one is reborn as a human being it is very necessary to spend one’s time remembering bhagvan, because there are many births in which one comes back as a cow or a dog, and so on. One can even have a small birth, as a frog. The difference between us and these animals is that we have an intellect, a mind, and they have much less of a mind. They do not have the capacity to be concerned about bhagvan, whereas we do. They do not have a capacity for laughter, but only for crying. In the Vedas also it is written that we should practice yog. This is very good for the body.

Even though things are illusion, the bhagvans are not illusion. The idols we make of them are not illusion. For example, there is surya bhagvan, the sun god. Now if there wasn’t such a bhagvan, what would happen? The world would be dark. That’s why for those who do religious rituals, it is written in the Vedas that bhagvan is up above. Surya bhagvan is reality, not illusion. Some people think that if they commit sins, there is no one to see. But Agni is there, vayu bhagvan is there, surya bhagvan is there, the earth is there. They are all there watching us. They all go and tell about us over there, to Chitragupta.

There is a great difference between truth and falsehood. Those who conduct their lives according to truth live very good lives. As far as those who base their lives on falsehood, you can observe for yourself how they are suffering in many ways, such as contracting leprosy, and so on. Those who live in small, little huts, such people previously used to live according to falsehood. Those who have a trouble-free life now are reaping the reward of living according to truth in previous lives, and those who suffer are reaping the fruit of falsehood. How do we know if someone has the truth? Such people will believe that one shouldn’t tell ties. One has to tell lies sometimes, but not too much. Also, one shouldn’t shed the blood of others. And also, one shouldn’t steal other people’s money. Those who do not hurt others, this shows that they are people who have truth. Those who are doing immoral deeds in this life itself, at the age of 60 or 70, they are very repentant. Some of them don’t have children. If we function according to truth, we will see that our prayers are answered. As for those who do evil and still prosper, they think that there is no afterlife, that this life is all there is. That’s why they do a lot of evil. But later on they come to realize. They come to realize their error because of the fact that, for example, children are not born to them, or their son dies when he’s still only seven years old. Seeing all these troubles come to them, they begin to see their error and regret what they have done. Money isn’t the only way in life, even those who have money sometimes are childless.