We are living in war-times. Although
there has been no overt major war in the last four decades, few would claim
that they enjoy real peace. The U.N.O. has been able to defer the dreaded
‘Third World War’ for more than half a century, but smaller wars have been and
are still being fought all over the world. Indeed, so common are instances of
violence and aggression that it is impossible to pick up a newspaper, leaf
through a magazine or tune in the radio for news without learning of some
frightening new atrocity. It seems that only the fear of total extermination of
the human race from the face of earth has somehow prevented the ‘Third War’.
But it has been replaced by international terrorism, the latest form of War.
War, which used to be fought in the bygone days on the battlefield away from
towns and villages, has now come to the citizen’s door-steps. In desperation
the U.N.O. had called for the observance of an International Year of Peace in
1986. This is symbolic of the distress of the world.
At the individual level the situation is no
better. Although science and technology have made life easy, they have also
multiplied human wants. While shaking man’s faith in God and traditional
values, science has not offered a better substitute. Consequently life of man
has become shallow and unsteady. The unprecedented expansion and proliferation
of the media and means of communication have increased the input of
information, but man has not learnt to utilize it effectively. Competition at every level of life has
increased hurry and worry and has contributed further to unrest. All these and
many other factors have made man restless, nervous, tense and insecure.
What
is peace ?
But what after
all is peace ? According to the
Upanishads, santam, the peaceful, is one of the names of the formless
absolute Reality. It is also described in many Sanskrit hymns as one of the
attributes of the Saguna Brahman, the God with attributes. This Tranquil
Ultimate in the absolute sense is the substratum and the matrix from which the
manifest universe arises and on which it rests. This again is the substratum of
all the mental disturbances a person may experience. To know, to experience and
to become one with it is the ultimate solution of all the problems. Says Swami
Vivekananda, “Waves may roll over the surface and tempest rage, but deep down
there is the stratum of infinite calmness, infinite peace and infinite bliss.”
This much about the Vedantic concept of ultimate peace. Vedanta, however
does not close its eyes to the other facets of peace—individual, social,
international. Take for example the
famous peace chant from the Vedas :
“Om ! May
there be peace in heaven. May there be
peace in the sky. May there be peace on
earth. May there be peace in the
water. May there be peace in the
plants. May there be peace in the trees. May there be peace in the Gods. May there be peace in Brahman. May there be peace in all. May that peace, real peace be mine.”
Vedanta believes that real peace is cosmic
and everyone is an heir to it.
All Vedantic texts begin and end with a peace
chant. And each peace chant, again,
concludes with pronouncing the word “Shanti” or peace thrice. The threefold pronunciation is meant for the
pacification of three types of disturbances: (i) those caused by the elements
of nature; (ii) those caused by living creatures, tiny or large; and those
affecting one’s own body and mind.
But Vedanta certainly does not deal with the
social or political causes of unrest and discord directly. Its emphasis is on attainment of peace at the
personal level. The whole system of
Vedanta is developed and organized for individual peace. A society can be peaceful only to the extent
the units constituting it are tranquil.
It is this theme, which has been elaborately discussed in Upanishads—the
Vedanta.
Peace
and the three gunas
By tranquility
is not meant the peace of a stone or a wall.
Nor is it the peace experienced in deep sleep, however refreshing,
soothing or blissful. Worldly objects or
achievements, however satisfying, are never permanent and are always fraught
with fear or loss. “To the
discriminating, everything is painful either as consequence, or as anticipation
of loss of happiness, or as fresh craving arising from impressions of happiness
and as contradiction of qualities or Gunas.”
In deep sleep Tamas predominates.
Craving for sense-enjoyments makes the mind restless and dominated by
Rajas. In the tranquil Sattvika mind
alone does the bliss of Atman shine forth.
The mind becomes restless either by external stimuli or by desires and
passions and by promptings of ego arising from within. Therefore, “He alone attains peace in whom
all sense-objects enter even as rivers enter the ocean, which remains
unaffected though being filled, and not one who is desirous of enjoyments. Giving up sense-objects, the person who goes
about unattached, free from the idea of ownership and egoism, attains peace.”
Holy
Mother’s Message
Coming down
from the concept of peace, and the means of attaining it, as described in the
Vedantic texts, to the day to day living we can best learn this from the life
and teachings of the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. People often consulted her for their social
and psychological problems, and she has prescribed various recipes for peace
and happiness. Once, when she received a
letter from a devotee complaining of Ashanti
The way the Holy Mother faced the various
situations in life is another object lesson for us. She never chose nor denied; never aspired for
any specific situation, nor rejected any when it presented itself. She accepted every situation—pleasant or
painful—with perfect ease, without getting perturbed by it. When rumours were heard that Sri Ramakrishna,
her husband, had become mad, she did not curse her stars for being married to
an eccentric person. Instead, she coolly
decided her course of action: firstly to check the news personally, and
secondly, if it proved to be true, to go to her mad husband and serve him. There was no depression, no condemnation, no
confusion—the common reactions of people under such circumstances.
Finally let us remember her famous message,”My
child, if you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. No one is a stranger, my child. All are your
own. Learn to make the whole world your
own.”
