“Smelling the fragrance of Rama and Lakshmana, like a dog smelling a tiger, certainly you will not be able to stand.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 21.31-32)

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न हि गन्धमुपाघ्राय रामलक्ष्मणयोस्त्वया
शक्यं संदर्शने स्थातुं शुना शार्दूलयोरिव

na hi gandhamupāghrāya rāmalakṣmaṇayostvayā
śakyaṃ saṃdarśane sthātuṃ śunā śārdūlayoriva

“Let’s put you in this hypothetical situation. You have a guest over the house. It could be a close friend or someone within the family. You are relaxing after having eaten. You are in a room that has large bookshelves which extend across several walls. This guest understands the general subject area of the books. They also acknowledge your interest in that subject area. They are not known for their scholarship, their interest in books, or their inquisitiveness into philosophical discourses.

“Nevertheless, they casually pose the question to you. They want to know if you have actually gone through the books that line the shelves. They wonder how you find the time to read so much. Moreover, why is there so much? How can a single subject matter, like religion, be discussed across thousands and thousands of pages, across thousands and thousands of years?

“They ask you to explain what the books are about. What topics do they actually cover? Is it merely about religion and how man should worship? Is it a practical guide outlining the procedures and timings for the various rituals that should be observed throughout the course of a year? Is it the passing on of mythological tales, meant for the general upliftment of man during their times of trouble and fatigue? You know, stories of triumph in order to give people hope.

“This guest asks you to explain what the books are about. If found in that situation, what answer would you give? Knowing that you have been immersed in the culture of bhakti-yoga for so long. Understanding that these books belong to you. How would you explain their importance, their relevance, and their place in this everchanging world, to someone who is genuinely inquisitive?”

One response is to say that these books explain how the world works. From human tendencies to the differences between the species themselves. Covering the modern sciences of biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and even astrology. A guide on how to eat, on what the purpose to eating is, on how to navigate the difficult life experience, on what to expect in the afterlife, and on what the essence of life itself is.

How could works put to paper thousands of years ago cover subjects that were only recently categorized? How can a book from five thousand years ago appropriately deal with issues such as advancements in technology? For instance, we have the television. We have the smartphone. We have the radio. How can shastra cover these topics prior to their very invention?

If we think about it, the interactions are always the same. The same five senses. There is a sixth sense, if you include the mind. The living being is always struggling in this area. They come under the control of the senses instead of enforcing self-restraint.

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः
मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति

mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.7)

Whether someone is watching a live performance while seated in a theater or taking in a recorded version of the same on an electronic screen, the interaction is the same. Listening to recorded music is still hearing. There is the same back-and-forth in dealings with the opposite sex. The same issues with health, in putting controls on eating and sleeping. Nothing has really changed, though we think it has.

Shastra even references scientific principles pertaining to the tendencies within animals. Sita Devi, the wife of Shri Rama, talks about the behavior of dogs when they sniff the presence of a tiger. They may have never seen that specific tiger before, but from the air carrying the aroma they are able to both detect the presence and understand that there is imminent danger. Today, scientists stumble upon the same principle after receiving grant money and investing considerable resources into research. All to reach the conclusion that was available to the cultured person thousands of years ago.

The person hearing those wise words from Sita was a Rakshasa named Ravana. We may have never come across a ten-headed ogre before. We might believe that Ravana is a product of imagination. We speculate that his presence is like an allegorical reference, but in truth we see people of the Rakshasa variety all the time. They fall within the same tendencies that lead to defeat in their opportunity for liberation, for true success in life.

मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतस:
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिता:

moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo
mogha-jñānā vicetasaḥ
rākṣasīm āsurīṁ caiva
prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ

“Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.12)

If I have access to books that explain how the world operates, how it flows, how it functions, how it manifests, and how it eventually gets destroyed, then I should take advantage. Why throw away the opportunity? There is nothing to lose in the endeavor. In the process, I just might discover a purpose to my existence, a new reason to wake up every morning with boundless enthusiasm, utsaha.

अव्यक्ताद्‍ व्यक्तय: सर्वा: प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे
रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके

avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ
prabhavanty ahar-āgame
rātry-āgame pralīyante
tatraivāvyakta-saṁjñake

“When Brahma’s day is manifest, this multitude of living entities comes into being, and at the arrival of Brahma’s night they are all annihilated.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.18)

In Closing:

Wondering about books of mine,
That shelves along walls to line.

Simplest explanation to give,
That insight into how to live.

How the world operating so,
Since time immemorial to know.

In the process meaning to discover,
Purpose-driven life to uncover.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, encylopedia, history, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana, science