
Myfrench book just published last week is a translation and anexplanation of a book done by my indian philosophy teacher :Satyanarayana das.
The title : Conte de l'Inde ancienne
For those who do not read french I will copy here parts of his articles on this subject.
I copy thm here in case you cannot see it on his web site : http://www.jiva.com/
(the original article was at this location: you can also see other articles there)
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Best of Hitopadesha—Part - II
The Four Goals of Life
by Dr Satya Narayana Dasa

In India, the minister was well-received and aided by the sages. He scoured the mountains for the herbs and trees to make the elixir. No mixture he made, however, could bring the dead back to life. Finally, the disappointed minister concluded that the information was false.
Greatly distressed about returning empty-handed and disappointing his king, the minister asked his hosts what to do. They led him to a famous philosopher, who once searched in vain for the same elixir, and in the end discovered that the elixir was actually a book.
The philosopher explained that the story about the elixir was allegorical. The high mountains in the story represented the wise and learned men of lofty intellect; the trees and herbs, which are the products of the mountains, indicated the various writings of those sages; the elixir itself denoted the wisdom extracted from the sages’ writings, which revived the dead intelligence and buried thoughts of ignorant materialistic men.
Relieved and elated, the minister begged a copy of the book from the philosopher, translated it, and returned to his king. That book we know today is a variant of the book of Hitopadesha.

Hitopadesha, or “Good Instructions”, is famous for its wisdom and is one of the most popular books on ethics and polity. It uses the story-within-a-story format, with animals as the main characters. It is popular with children because of the fables, in which characters of animals are used to personify certain traits found in humans. I am happy to have been able to translate this book from its original Sanskrit couplets. This will surely expand the reach of Hitopadesha and help children and grown-ups alike by being a tool while taking decisions. It will also inspire them to overcome their daily problems.
Below is an extract taken from the first chapter of Hitopadesha. I have selected the twenty-sixth couplet from this chapter. This is the second write-up of a series of total three articles that will be published in future.
“If one does not attain any of the goals of religion, economic development, regulated sense-gratification, and liberation, one’s life is useless, like the milk-less nipples hanging from a goat’s neck.”
The Four Goals of Life

The first among these is Dharma Shastra (theology and liturgy) that explains and lays down a person’s religious duties according to his or her age and nature of work. Second comes Artha Shastra (economics) that elucidates on the use of ethics by people while acquiring wealth by fair means. It also advises rulers on better public administration and offers instructions on proper conduct. The third guiding light is Kama Shastra (treatise on sex) that describes the process of gratifying one’s sexual desires without transgressing religious principles. Moksha Shastra is the fourth Dharma Shastra that describes how to attain liberation from the cycle of death and re-birth.

The Goal that Demands Self-Restraint
Here, I would like to throw light on the Kama Shashtra which is often mistaken for a means to encourage promiscuity. A case in point is Kama Sutra, a treatise on sex authored by Vatsyayana. Vatsyayana does not prescribe unrestricted sensual pleasure, nor is he opposed to it. A person who indulges excessively in the enjoyment of the senses cannot expect a happy and a long life. He therefore prescribes self-restraint and celibacy during the student life so as to channel one’s energy solely into acquiring knowledge. He also explains the importance of dharma, artha, and kama and concludes that artha is superior to kama, and that dharma is superior to artha.
Amazingly enough, Vatsyayana himself was a lifelong Brahmachari (celibate) and he wrote the book to encourage self-control, not sexual pleasure. He declares this in the concluding verses: “This Kama Sutra has been compiled by me, while observing celibacy and trance to teach proper human conduct, not attachment to sex. One who knows the essence of Kama Sutra and who protects dharma, artha, and kama by his dealings in society, will certainly become jitendriya—a master of his senses.”
The Ultimate Goal
Observing the above discussion, Narayana Pandit says in Hitopadesha that an intelligent human being must pursue one or more of these four goals according to his or her respective shastra. Otherwise, his or her life will be compared to the useless udder-like appendages hanging from a goat’s neck from where kids cannot expect milk. The pursuit of artha and kama while ignoring the scriptures will not lead one to the ultimate goal of life because although the living entities are naturally attracted to sensual gratification, the real goal is to become free from it.
Hence, the ultimate purpose of the sanctioned sense-pleasure is Nivritti (renunciation). When artha and kama are pursued according to the shastras, they can be counted as the Supreme Goals as they ultimately lead to the detachment of the body from its by-products. This is in addition to the fact that ultimately there is only one Supreme Goal—the attainment of moksha. The other three goals enable one to realise the fourth by dovetailing one’s natural human propensities.
The Fifth Goal

Today, everyone is searching for the perfect person to love and be loved by, but, by forgetting the Almighty, the source of love, we have created so many false objects of affection. Without a loving relationship with someone as perfect and worthy as God Himself, we cannot be one with Him and be happy. This propensity to love is gained by chanting the Lord’s names without offence under the guidance of a bonafide guru.
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