14 Sep 2019
[Several devotees from various places, ranging from illiterate to highly qualified, came to Swami, seeking the clarification of their doubts in spiritual knowledge. Some of the prominent questions, along with the clarifications given by Swami, are given here.]
Swami replied: Maturity is normally expected in old people because of the physical weakness of the body, which prevents them from practically committing sins. But this idea is not completely correct. The judgment given by the judge might, sometimes, not get implemented due to the inefficiency or incapability of the executing department. But it can get implemented whenever the department becomes capable, such as by recruiting new staff. The intellect is the judge, which, forced by the mind and senses, makes the decision to commit sin. However, the old and weak physical body is not able to practically commit the sin. The main issue, which is the decision or intention to commit sin, very much exists in the old person. The person’s inability to act upon it, is only secondary. Therefore, one cannot rely on this so-called maturity of old people. Based on this very imperfect idea of maturity, there is a saying that an old man and an old woman are always chaste (Satīvrato naro vṛddhaḥ, vṛddhā nārī pativratā)! In fact, such a ‘mature’ person is a fraud as per the Gita (Mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate—Gita).
Real maturity is the result of the intensity of spiritual knowledge and not mere old age. Of course, there is a possibility that old people may get some amount of this real maturity due to their long experience in life. By old age, the soul has a long account sheet of actions done in life and their corresponding results, which the soul can recollect. By analyzing several incidents in life, the soul begins to link causes with their corresponding effects.
Usually, by observing an effect, its cause can easily be traced if one has prior perception of the cause-effect relation between the two. One has already seen the fire, the smoke and the cause-effect link between the fire and the smoke in the kitchen. Based on this prior perception, one can infer the existence of the unseen fire on the mountain, upon observing smoke rising from it. But sometimes, even without actually having observed the link between cause and effect, cause-effect relations can be identified using the principle of similarity. Seeing a lump of gold and a golden chain side-by-side, one can infer gold to be the cause of the golden chain, even without any prior perception of the cause-effect link between the two. This inductive inference is based on the similarity between the two, which is that both the lump and the chain are gold.
The soul identifies the connection between the good and bad deeds done by it and the corresponding results received later, using this principle of similarity. Let us say that a person unnecessarily hurt another person. Later, the first person was also unnecessarily hurt in a similar manner, by someone else. Analyzing both these incidents, the person is able to infer the cause-effect link between his hurtful action and the subsequent suffering he had to face. Kalidāsa has said that the causes of effects can easily be inferred by the similarity in their natures (Phalānumeyāḥ prārambhāḥ, saṃskārāḥ prāktanā iva).
The long experience of old people provides them with several incidents in which they can identify such cause-effect relations and repeatedly verify them until they are firmly established. The essense of these firmly-established cause-effect relations is that both good and bad deeds yield their corresponding fruits to the doer, in due course, without fail. This concept is further reinforced by the concept of the existence of the unimaginable God who is omniscient and omnipotent. It is the omnipotent God, who grants the fruits of the actions of souls. He is the intelligent implementing authority. The action, the fruits and their cause-effect links are all inert by themselves. They cannot be the intelligent implementing authority. Old people realize that they have inevitably received the effects of their bad deeds. They realize that they were unable to escape from these God-given results, even though they had managed to escape the law of land through crooked tricks like bribery and the use of influence. Once this concept in spiritual knowledge, which is related to pravṛtti or worldly life, is well-established in the person’s mind, the person has gained some real maturity.
Such old people are capable of giving good advice to youngsters in society. Thus, in general, older people generally have a better understanding of the inevitability of the results of a person’s deeds. But this general rule certainly has exceptions. A youngster with a higher I.Q. could arrive at the same understanding at a much younger age, after observing just a few incidents in life. The youngster also has the advantage of the advice of old people who have already reached this understanding after long years of experience. Such youngsters can get perfect knowledge, with the combination of anumāna pramāṇa, which is the inference from personal experiences and śabda pramāṇa, which is the advice from reliable elders. On the other hand, there are several people who are unable to analyze and arrive at this conclusion even in their old age. They spend all their time worrying about their grand children and other worldly bonds (Vṛddhastāvat cintāmangaḥ—Śaṅkara). Hence, the general rule that an old person gains maturity due to knowledge, has several exceptions on both sides!
Age does have some value in providing maturity through knowledge as old people have long experience and by analyzing their lives, they can reach the right conclusion. But age only provides a person with an opportunity to gain maturity. It does not necessarily bring maturity as there can be several exceptions. Spiritual knowledge and logical analysis is the only reason for gaining true maturity, irrespective of age. Kālidāsa has said that one can become old even before reaching old age (Vṛddhatvaṃ jarasā vinā). He was referring to gaining maturity even before reaching old age. Hence, it is said that scholars are mature due to the spiritual knowledge they have gained (jñāna vṛddha) and not as a result of growing old (vayo vṛddha). Śaṅkara, a boy of sixteen years, advised an old scholar of ninety years near the temple at Kāśi by singing “Bhaja Govindaṃ...mūḍhamate”. In this composition, the boy Śaṅkara addressed the old man as a fool! Śaṅkara was not being egotistic to call the old man a fool. He scolded the old man because the man had not gained maturity even at that old age, which was the fag end of his life. The situation was really horrible! If a student has not opened the text book thoughout the year and refuses to open it even during the preparatory holidays just before the final exam, will you not scold that student?
It is said that, among scholars, the greatness in knowledge is respected and that, among agriculturists, the years of experience in agriculture is respected. The years of experience have no value if the old person does not do any analysis. Even a young person can very well gain the experience of an old person by studying the scriptures written by old people. Of course, it is said that knowledge gained through experience is always stronger than the knowledge gained from books. But if the youngster has full faith in the scriptures written by the elders, such bookish knowledge can also be very strong, even in the absence of personal experience. In this case, faith is the main factor instead of one’s personal analysis of life experiences.
Satiivrato naro vruddhah vruddhaa naarii pativrataa Mithyaachaarah sa uchyate phalaanumeyaah Praarambhaah samskaaraah praaktanaa iva Anumaana Pramaana Shabda Pramaana Vruddhastaavat chintaasaktah Sankara Vruddhatvam jarasaa vinaa Bhaja Govindam Muudhamate Kaashi
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