Three Types of Values

SIVARATRI 2023 TALKS

By Swami Paramarthananda

Transcribed by Sri A. Venkatesan

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 Svāmi Paramarthānandā’s Śivarātri Talks-2023 – Held At Chennai 18-2-2003

Three Types of Values

ॐ सदाशिव समारम्भाम् िङ् कराचार्य मध्र्माम् अस्मदाचार्य पर्यन्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॥ ॐ ॥

There is a ślōka, in which we offer namaskāra to Lord Dakṣiṇāmūrti, who is

considered to be an expression of Lord Śiva himself and who has given us the

vēdic-way of life. And therefore we offer namaskāra to Dakṣiṇāmūrti for giving

this vēdic-life. So the ślōka goes like this: Śivam śivakaraṁ śāntaṁ śivātmānaṁ

śivōttamaṁ, śivamārga pranēdhāraṁ praṇatōsmī sadāśivaṁ. Dakṣiṇāmūrti has

got another name Sadāśivaḥ ever auspicious one. So praṇatōsmī sadāśivaṁ, I

offer my namaskāra to sadāśiva Lord Dakṣiṇāmūrti who is śivam śivakaraṁ

śāntaṁ. Śivaṁ, means who is none other than Lord Śiva himself. There is no

difference between Śiva and Dakṣināmūrti and Śivakaraṁ one who gives

auspiciousness to all people who worship him; Śivātmānaṁ one who is in the

form the every auspicious ātmā in everyone; maṅgala-ātmā in every one. And

Śivōttamaṁ the one who is the highest-auspicious principles, greatest auspicious

principle. Śivamārga praṇētāraṁ. Śivamārga means auspicious-mārga,

auspicious-way of life through the vēdic-teaching; śivamārga is vaidika-mārga,

vēdic-teaching who has given that through Sanakādi r̥ ṣayaḥ, through the guru

śiṣya parampara. To that Dakṣināmūrti, I offer namaskāram. That is why before

every class Sadāśiva samārambhāṁ śaṅkarācārya madhyamām|... . So this we

offer namaskāra to Lord Śiva as Dakṣināmūrti who has given the vēdic-way of life.

What is vēdic-way of life? In vaidika-mārga, we have got three type of values. The

first type of values is a general set of values, which are meant to refine the

human-beings as a social-living-being. So by following these set of general-

values, the society will have peace, harmony and prosperity. So this set of values

is the general-values. Sāmānya-mūlyāni or sāmānya-dharma. In fact we can

arrive at these values with the help of our own common sense. But śāstra also

reinforces the set of values. I will call them sāmānya-dharma: general-values.

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Then we have got a second-set of values, which are religious-values. So by

following these values, we will be able to lead a religious-way of life. The first one

refines me as a human being. Second one helps me follow a religious-life-style.

And then we have the third set of values which are spiritual values. By following

these values I can lead a spiritual-way of life. Thus general-values, religious-

values, spiritual-values; all put together is vaidika-mārgaḥ.

And the scriptures consider that all these three values are important for a human

being to discover total fulfilment in life. Therefore we should give importance to

all of them. There are some who like the general values. They call it secular-

values. And they are not interested in religious and spiritual-values. Materialistic-

people. There are some other people who like general-values and they like

spiritual-values. They don’t like religious-values. But to follow vaidika-dharma, I

should give importance to all the three. We have to go through religious-values

and with the help of that, we have to enter into spirituality. And through that we

have to discover fulfilment. Therefore I would like to discuss, briefly the

distinction between or among these three types of values.

First we will take up the general-values. There are many general-values talked

about in our scriptures. I would like to highlight three important ones. There is

one ślōka which says aṣṭādaśa purāṇēṣu vyāsasya vacanam dvayaṁ । parōpakāra

puṇyāya pāpāya, para pīḍanaṁ. Simple Sanskrit. You may be able to understand.

Aṣṭādaśa purāṇēṣu, in all 18 puraṇās, if you want to find Vyāsācārya’s message,

they are given in two sentences. Vyāsasya vacanam dvayaṁ. These are the two

lessons we have to learn from all the purāṇās. What are those two lessons?

Parōpakāra puṇyāya, helping other people is a noble action; puṇya-karma. So

one value every human-being should try to follow is as much as possible, in one

way or the other, whatever help we can do to others, doing that makes me a

refined human-being. And if you look at the creation also, you will find the entire

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nature is giving. Only human being is a consumer and over-consumer and

exploits all the resources and puts next generation into trouble. Parōpakārāya

phalanti vṛkṣāḥ, parōpakārāya duhanti gāvaḥ । parōpakārāya vahanti nadyaḥ,

parōpakārārthaṁ idaṁ śarīraṁ. Look at the plants. They give plenty of fruits

without consuming even one, they give to others. The rivers are flowing to give

water to people. And the cows are there. They give plenty of milk for the benefit

of others. You look at nature, animals, plants, etc; except human-beings all others

give more, take less. Human-beings alone takes more and gives less. And that is

why human-beings themselves say you plant more trees and you reduce the

number of human-beings, indicating we ourselves are a burden. So if we should

not feel a burden we should help. We should give more. So parōpakāraḥ is one

value.

And the second value Vyāsācārya says is even if you don’t help others doesn’t

matter; can you guess; at least you don’t harm others; pāpāya parapīḍanaṁ;

ahimsa paramō dharmaḥ. One of the greatest-values is never hurt another

person, through thought, word or deed. Ahimsa is considered to be a very, very,

important general value to refine a human being.

And śāstra says that there may be exceptional cases where we have to take to

hiṁsa, for protecting dharma; hiṁsa may become a necessary evil sometimes.

That is an expression in English; It is evil, but necessary-evil it might be. Like police

people maintaining law and order. They may have to hurt others. Śāstra says:

even if you required to take to hiṁsa, make it as minimum as required. Adrōhēna

ca bhūtānāṁ alpa-drōhēṇa vā punaḥ । vyāvṛttiḥ tāṁ samastāya viprō jīvē

anāpati; adrōhaḥ or alpa-drōhaḥ. Second important value is ahimsa. First one is

parōpakāraḥ, second one is ahimsa.

Then the third one is kṣama or titikṣa, tolerance which is becoming more and

more rare when people stand in ques you can see how much tolerance people

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have got; because when we don’t have tolerance we will take to hiṁsa. Violating

the value of ahimsa. If ahimsa has to be maintained, tolerance is a very, very

important value. If the three values are followed, then I become a refined human

being.

And all the other values that are talked about, like truthfulness, etc., they are

nothing but derivations of these three values only. All values if you take, the

essence they will get reduced to parōpakāraḥ, ahimsa and kṣama. In the

Bhagavad Gīta, Lord Kṛṣṇa talks about all these values. Bhagavat Gīta is

considered to be the essence of all our vēdās, all our scriptures. Thus we have

got general-values which will make a human being more refined and less and

less selfish. And these three values are not unknown; we all expect these values

from others. We want all others to do follow these values. We follow them

whenever there is convenience. That is the problem; without double- standards,

may you follow these values, is the first message of vaidika-karma; be a good

human being.

Then comes the next stage of religious-values. It will require lot of puṇyaṁ for a

person to come to religious-values. There are many religious-values talked about

in scriptures. I will confine to three of them.

The first religious-value is faith in our scriptures, which is called śraddha. Very,

very rare, but very, very important to come to the religious-life. Faith in the

validity of the scriptures and faith in the utility of the scriptures. This faith is

possible only if we have done pūrva-janma-puṇyaṁ. If puṇyaṁ is not there, we

will not have that śraddha. And that is why when the boy is initiated into Gāyatri,

there are several prayers chanted. In that, one prayer is: O Lord may I have faith

in the scriptures; śraddha mēdhāṁ yaśa prajñāṁ, vidyāṁ buddhiṁ śriyaṁ

balaṁ, āyuṣyaṁ tēja ārōgyaṁ dēhimē havyavāhana. O Lord give me śraddha.

Faith in the vēdas which are the primary scriptures, at least in the Bhagavad Gita

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which is the essence of all our scriptures. So the first religious-value is faith in the

validity and utility of the scriptures for improving the quality of our life. Even if

we don’t have faith, at least we don’t have a prejudice against; we have got an

open-mind and desire to understand what is said in the scriptures. Because lot

of misinformation is going one; only when we study at least the Bhagavad Gita,

we know how valuable and useful it is. Therefore either positive-faith or at least

open-mind with regard to scripture is a very important religious-value.

Then once you enter the scriptures, they give us the second and very important

religious- value. And that religious-value, which is the crux of religious-life is

Īśvara bhakti: devotion and reverence towards Īśvara. And this Īśvara or

Bhagavān is talked about only in the scriptures, not in university books. No

science book will talk about Bhagavān. We get to know Bhagavān only from the

scriptures and to lead a religious- life, we should have Īśvara-bhakti. For that we

should have a general knowledge of who is Bhagavān? And what is the definition

of Īśvara or Bhagavān according to scriptures? The scriptures define Bhagavān

as jagat-kāraṇaṁ, the cause of the entire universe; the cause of śṛṣti, the

origination, sustenance or laya, the resolution. Śṛṣti- sthiti-laya-kāraṇaṁ Īśvaraḥ,

Bhagavān.

That the universe originated is accepted by modern science also. They also talk

about the big bang theory and from that the creation evolves. The cosmologists

study that. So much research is going on. That big bang took place 13.7 million

years ago, thereafter from singularity, the world evolved. That gradually time,

space, soup of the stars etc. They talk about evolution of the universe. They say

before the big bang, what was there we are not able to find out. It is a mystery.

It is a point of no- information. They are not able to know what was before and

here alone scriptures come and say that there must be some cause before the

creation. Because without the cause, an effect, a product cannot come. From

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nothing, nothing can come. Therefore, there must be some cause. That cause of

the creation is Bhagavān, is the general-knowledge that the scriptures give. For

leading a religious life, it is enough we get this general-knowledge that scriptures

give and for leading a religious life it is enough we get general-knowledge. There

is Bhagavān. I have no doubt about the existence of Bhagavān, because

Bhagavān is defined as jagat-kāraṇaṁ. There is a the cause for universe. It is not

a blind-faith but my conviction, because without kāraṇaṁ, universe cannot come.

Therefore as jagat-kāraṇaṁ, Īśvaraḥ asti. So this knowledge of the existence of

Bhagavān as jagat-kāraṇaṁ is the religious-value which is very, very important.

And who is that Īśvara, what is the nature of that Īśvara, requires a deeper-study.

And that will be taken care of when we enter into spiritual-life. Spiritual-life will

be enquiry into the details. But for leading a religious-life, I require this much

knowledge that there is Bhagavān, who is jagat kāraṇaṁ, whose existence I have

no doubt at all. It is not a faith but it is a knowledge.

Then the scriptures point out that once you accept Bhagavān, you know we are

all born out of Bhagavān alone, who is the ultimate- cause. Therefore Bhagavān

is our original parents and we don’t know what is the nature of Bhagavān.

Therefore until we understand Bhagavān, temporarily the scriptures give various

deities as the representation of Bhagavān. Who is that Bhagavān we will know

later when we go to spirituality. For religious-life, accept Bhagavān, symbolised

by Lord Śiva or Viṣṇu, or by Lakṣmi or Pārvati. May you have the appreciation of

Bhagavān. Vāgarthāviva saṁpṛktau vāgartha pratipattayē । jagata:pitarau vandē

pārvatīparamēśvarau. So thus various deities are finite representation of that

jagat-kāraṇaṁ-Bhagavān. And thereafter the scriptures point out that since

Bhagavān is the original-cause of all of us, our primary-relationship is with

Bhagavān and Bhagavān alone. So every-one of us is born out of Bhagavān. And

we are all sustained by Bhagavān. And we all ultimately go back to Bhagavān; like

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rivers originating, from the ocean and going back to the ocean. We are all

fundamentally related to Bhagavān. Therefore may you acknowledge your

relationship with Bhagavān. And acknowledgement of this fundamental

relationship is bhaktiḥ. Bhakti is defined as the acknowledgement of our

fundamental relationship with Bhagavān, who is eternal. And all our other-

relationships are temporary, subject to arrival and departure. But our

fundamental- relationship is with Bhagavān. Therefore may you cherish this

relationship and nourish this relationship; which is called Īśvara bhaktiḥ.

And the scriptures say: not only Īśvara is the source of the creation, Īśvara is the

source of all our inner strength, courage etc. Whatever resources, inner-

resources we require, we have to tap from Bhagavān. The very definition of

Bhagavān is, one who is embodiment of courage, one who is embodiment of

śānti, peace, one who is embodiment of knowledge; that is the meaning of the

word Bhagavān. Īśvarasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasa śriyaḥ; jñāna

vairāgyayōścaiva ṣaṇṇāṁ bhaga itīraṇam. The word bhagaḥ means the inner

wealth in the form of courage, strength etc. Bhagavān is the source of all this.

Therefore through Īśvara-bhakti, may you gather all these inner resources. And

by gathering these inner-resources you feel that I have the support of Bhagavān

to confront the varieties of situations of life. Because the most important-

resource that we require is self-confidence and courage and the emotional-

resilience to come out of difficult situations. And to gather this inner-courage,

may you hold on to Bhagavān, who is only śāśvataṁ, permanent. So if you have

travelled by bus, you will experience a situation; sometimes, that you enter the

bus, if you have a seat it is very good. If you don’t have a seat, first thing you look

for is, there will be for the will the metal bar and there will be straps hanging

down. The first thing you do is to hold on to that bar with the help of the strap.

Because you know what type of bus-ride you will have; so you will go forward,

you will go backwards; you will go right or left; the driver will turn rashly and

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therefore you will also be going round, like the wet-grinder stone. But whatever

happens, you never fall. You know why? Because you have got something to hold

on to, which is stable, steady and permanent. And therefore you don’t worry.

Whatever happens you are able to stand on your feet. The entire life of a human

being is like such a bus-ride. So many things happen in our life. People come,

people go; money comes, money goes; everything is changing; everything is

perishable, and if you don’t have something permanent to hold on to, we will feel

tremendously insecure. Fear cannot be avoided. Anxieties cannot be avoided.

Stress cannot be avoided. The scriptures point out, the only way to remain stable

in and through all the ups and down of life is to hold on to one thing, which is

permanent. And in the entire-creation, the only permanent-thing is Bhagavān

and Bhagavān alone. Therefore value the relationship with Bhagavān, with

Īśvara-bhakti.

And the scriptures give several devotional-exercises to maintain this relationship.

Let the day start with Īśvara-smaraṇaṁ and let the day end with Īśvara-

smaraṇaṁ and may you maintain the saṁbandha, connection with Bhagavān

with one devotional-exercise or the other. And varieties of exercises are

mentioned; śravaṇaṁ, kīrtanaṁ, viṣṇōḥ or saṁbhōḥ smaraṇaṁ, pāda-sēvanaṁ,

arcanaṁ, vandanaṁ, dāsyaṁ, śakyaṁ, ātma-nivēdanam. So listen to the

religious-literature which promotes bhakti towards Bhagavān. Śankarācārya who

has written many jñāna-granthās, spiritual-works, has written many bhakti works

also like Śivānanda-lahari; one of the beautiful works, where Śankarācārya says:

“Hold on to Śiva; you will not worry about tomorrow; you will not worry about old

age; you will not worry about losing your people”; constant insecurity is there;

not only our problem, insecurity of our children and grand-children abroad in

America, lay-off is taking place; many of our people are losing the job; what will

happen to them; whether they will be able to continue there; so many things are

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happening; giving us stress and tension. In and through all of them, if we have

to maintain mental-balance, Śankarācārya says hold on to Bhagavān.

And according to our temperament, it can be nāma-japa, it can be temple-visit; it

can be Śivarātri function like pūja, abhiṣēkaṁ; whatever devotional-exercise you

take to, understand, it is maintaining the bond with Bhagavān and as even you

tighten this bond, there is an inner-feeling; there is the support of Bhagavān,

whatever happens, I will be able to manage. As I very often quote, yadyad

bhavyaṁ, bhavatu bhagavan, pūrva-karmānurūpaṁ; Oh! Lord, according to my

pūrva-karma, what all things should happen, let it happen; I am not afraid,

because with your support; I will be able to tide over any situation. And therefore

my prayer is not that I don’t have problems. If problems have to come because

of karma, they have to come; my prayer is not that I should not have problem;

my prayer is: I should not forget you in the middle of the problem, because I

remember you, I have got the shock-absorber. I can tell myself, I am ready to go

through it and I will come out these with least scar. Therefore it is said, real-

adversity is not the problem; forgetting the Bhagavān is the danger. Real-wealth

is remembering Bhagavān; because with Īśvara-smaraṇaṁ, I can confront my

life. So thus use Īśvara-bhakti for inner-resources, like courage, peace etc.

Of course there are some people, some upanyāsakās; they advertise bhakti by

saying Bhagavān will fulfil all your desires. Very attractive statement. But the

problem is they say Bhagavān will fulfil all desires. An listening to this, people will

expect miracles to happen all the time. If miracles do not happen they begin to

doubt Bhagavān and lose bhakti. Somebody called me and said Swāmiji, I want

to sue Bhagavān in Consumer Court for deficiency☺; another person said I want

to give a hearing-aid to Bhagavān.😄 Because he doesn’t listen to my prayers at

all. Remember Bhagavān will not fulfil our desires. We have to work for fulfilling

our desires. Bhagavān has given you resources, icchā-śakti jñāna-śakti and kriyā-

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śakti. With that we have to work for our desires. We have to use bhakti for inner-

courage, inner-strength etc., so that we can face ups and downs in life.

Thus bhakti will become fruitful if we are able to find inner peace. So I give the

criteria. What is the criteria to know, whether I am real bhaktā or not? When there

is FIR- reduction, so the frequency of emotional-disturbances come down;

intensity of emotional-disturbances come down, and recovery-period also comes

down, when the emotional-disturbances comes down, it means my bhakti is

becoming fruitful; I have got the 3 CCCs. Calmness, Cheerfulness and Confidence:

I can face my life. A bhaktā is free from fear. Bhaktā is free from worry. Bhaktā is

free from anxiety. This is the result of Īśvara-bhakti. And my emotional-

dependence on worldly-people will come down. From world-dependence, I

progress to god-dependence. So if we depend on human being, that is a risky

dependence; because human beings are non-permanent; relationships are also

not permanent. Therefore, dependence on impermanent-people and things is

risky dependence. A bhakta will reduce the dependence on people, including

family-members; if you ask him who your support is in old-age, he will never

name any human-beings around. My support is Bhagavān. If there are people

around, wonderful; if there are not there, also wonderful; let people come and

go; let things come and go; I have no fear, because I have got Īśvara with me,

who will give all the required-resources. Therefore vairāgyaṁ increases.

Emotional-dependence on family members. Lord Kṛṣṇa tells

asaktiranabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu; may you not be over-attached to

spouse, children etc, it will lead to fear, anxiety, etc. May you depend less and less

on others; May you depend more and more on God. So Śraddhā, bhakti and

vairāgyaṁ, these three are cardinal-principles of religious-life. Śraddha in the

scriptures; bhakti towards God and vairāgyaṁ towards the world; vairāgyaṁ

means not emotionally-leaning on the world. This is religious-life. And then this

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has to lead me to spiritual life. So what is spiritual-life? That also I will briefly

mention and conclude.

The spiritual-life will begin when I want to know more about God. Because the

various deities that I worship, whether it is Śiva or Viṣṇu or Dēvi or Gaṇēśa; they

are only finite-representations of God. They are not God themselves. Because

God is not a finite entity. God is not therefore subject to arrival and departure.

Then God will be like any one of us; one of the products in creation. If Bhagavān

is the cause of creation, he has existed even before time and space came. He

transcends time and space; therefore he cannot be one of the deities or finite-

versions that I worship. For devotional-exercises these are provisional-versions.

So I should have a desire to know, if this is not God, then who is blessed-God? So

in the Bhagavad Gīta, Lord Kṛṣṇa tells

avyaktaṁ vyaktimāpannaṁ, manyantē māmabuddhayaḥ; unintelligent-people

think that Bhagavān is subject to arrival and departure; Bhagavān is subject to

appearance and disappearance. If Bhagavān is also one of the persons like you

and me, in what way he will be different? He will also be mortal. Therefore I want

to know, who the real God. Lord Kṛṣṇa says abuddhayaḥ, unintelligent-people

think that Bhagavān comes and goes, based on purāṇic stories. Param bhāvaṁ

ajānantaḥ, they do not know the real God; higher nature of God. Kēnōpaniṣad is

more bold; Nēdaṁ yaditaṁ upāsatē; the deities that you are worshipping is not

the real-God; it is useful for religious life. But we have to come to spiritual-life and

ask who is God, the jagat- kāraṇaṁ. This is called jijñāsā. The moment desire

comes to know more about God, that is called athātō brahma-jijñāsā. And then,

we have got another type of literature which is different from bhakti-literature,

which is jñānaṁ-literature, which is exclusively dedicated to enquire into the

nature of God. Is God a finite person sitting in Vaikuṇṭa or Kailāsa or in

Brahmalōka or Amarnath or Himalayas? Can Īśvara be such a finite entity? When

this enquiry begins, it is an intellectual-pursuit. And we have got jñānaṁ-

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 Svāmi Paramarthānandā’s Śivarātri Talks-2023 – Held At Chennai 18-2-2003

literature exhaustive to make a through enquiry into that. Bhagavad Gita is there.

Upaniṣads are the primary sources of knowing or understanding the real nature

of God. And not only have we got jñānaṁ-literature, to study the nature of God,

we have got beautiful guru-śiṣya-paraṁpara also to help us understand the

scriptures. Therefore, we should change our śraddha, from bhakti-literature to

jñānaṁ-literature. Upaniṣad, Brahmasūtra, Bhagavad Gīta etc. When we turn our

attention, śraddha is turned towards jñāna-granthās. Not stories of finite-

versions of Bhagavān. That is for bhakti. For jñānaṁ, we have got the Upaniṣadic

text book and we have got guru-śiṣya-paraṁpara. Sadāśiva samāraṁbhāṁ

śaṅkārācārya madhyamāṁ. And our Īśvara-bhakti is switched over to guru-

bhaktiḥ, Īśvaraḥ I look upon as the guru himself. Therefore śraddha towards

spiritual-literature, bhakti toward the spiritual-teacher and dedicated-enquiry

into the nature of God. And when you enquire into the nature of God, that

enquiry leads into other two things also; the nature of world created by God, and

the nature of ourselves, we, the living beings who are created by God. jīva-jagat-

Īśvaraḥ; this triangle we enquire into; Who is God? What is this world? And who

am I? And if we can do that enquiry, which is not a one minute job, it is for a

length of time. Consistent and systematic study of spiritual-scriptures for a length

of time under the guidance of a competent ācārya, which is called jñāna-yōga,

which I called śravaṇa manana nididhyāsanaṁ. And you know what is the

ultimate-teaching? The teaching is: that there is only one-absolute-reality;

śāntaṁ, śivam advaitaṁ. And that one ultimate absolute-reality alone, through

the prism of māyā. Māyā is the mysterious power. Through the prism of māyā,

one-reality alone appears as jīva, jagat and Īśvaraḥ. One-Brahman, through the

prism of māyā, just as one light through prism appears as seven colours, one-

Brahman alone is appearing as jīva-jagat-Īśvaraḥ and truth behind jīva; jīva

means every living-being, the truth behind the world; the truth behind Īśvaraḥ.

There is only One and the jñāni, the wise-person declares I am that Brahman.

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 Svāmi Paramarthānandā’s Śivarātri Talks-2023 – Held At Chennai 18-2-2003

And I alone appear as jīva-jagat and Īśvaraḥ. And therefore only there is a very

beautiful ślōka which I quoted before also last Śivarātri. Wonderful stōtra: ōm̐

naṁsivāyēti śivaṁ prapadhyē, śivaṁprasīdēti śivaṁ prapadhyē, śivātparaṁ nēti

śivaṁ prapadhyē, Śivōhasmi iti śivaṁ prapadyē. First I surrender to Lord Śiva

saying Namaśivāya; I offer my namaskāraṁ; then I say śivaṁprasīdēti śivaṁ

prapadhyē; Oh! Lord may you be gracious towards me; help me; Give me inner

strength. I approach with that prayer; then I say śivātparaṁ nēti śivaṁ

prapadhyē; there is no other truth greater than Śiva. I declare that way and

surrender and finally I say śivōhaṁ asmi īti śivaṁ prapdhyē. That Śiva and me

and the world, all of us are nothing but one reality. Appearing in this manifold

form. When I have got śraddha in spiritual literature when I have got bhakti

towards guru and when I make a vicāra, enquiry then it becomes spiritual-life.

Thus spiritual-life consists of three values śraddhā, bhakti and vicāra. Religious-

life what are the three-values? Śraddhā bhakti and vairāgyaṁ. What is the

difference between two Śraddhās? Śraddhā in religious-life is śraddhā in bhakti-

literature, whereas in spiritual-life, śraddhā is in jñānaṁ-literature. In religious-

life bhakti is towards God. In spiritual-life: gururbrahmā gururviṣṇu: gururdēvō

mahēśvara: bhakti is towards the guru. Then vicāraḥ, enquiry, not Tamil vichāra;

it means worry.

So thus with general-values we start with; go to religious-values and religious-

life. Then come to spiritual-values and spiritual-life. And discover ahaṁ brahma

asmi. This is the whole teaching of vaidika-dharma. And this teaching has come

down to us from Sadāśiva, Lord Dakṣiṇāmurthy, who is worshipped today.

On this auspicious Śivarātri day, let Lord Dakṣināmūrti help us go through all

these values and discover fulfilment in our life. With this words I will conclude my

talk.

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 Svāmi Paramarthānandā’s Śivarātri Talks-2023 – Held At Chennai 18-2-2003

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णममदं पूर्णणत्पुर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णश्य पूर्णमणदणय पूर्णमेवणवशिष्यते ॥

ॐ िणन्तः िणन्तः िणन्तः ॥

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