The Hindu : Goal of human life is to reach God

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Goal of human life is to reach God

CHENNAI JUNE 21 . "Why was I born" is a question often asked by a person. The purpose is to reach God and be rid of the cycle of rebirths. Ultimate happiness lies in reaching the Supreme Being. One may well wonder as to how to attain such a seemingly difficult goal. God Himself has declared that He can be gleaned only from the Vedas and devotees can seek out mystics to interpret these utterances enshrining the philosophy of life in order to reach Him.

The cosmic force resides in every individual as an entity and cannot be perceived by the regular sensory organs. In fact an Upanishad states that it is this inner presence, which empowers the senses to act as they do. However reaching this "resident God" is difficult and saints like Azhwars and Adi Sankara have commented on this difficulty and emphasised the need to devote oneself to scriptural study.

Caught in the turbulence of life at an emotional keel, man needs an external guiding force to rise above himself. To this end scriptural and other texts serve to answer the need. Worshipping the "Salagrama" as Lord Vishnu, Sankara touched upon every nuance of devotion including recipes for preparing devotional offerings to God. Every tenet of their teaching is an embodiment of their deep insight.

The holy books bring home to man the Almighty's purpose of incarnation wherein He lived among the ordinary and the laity to inspire and instil divinity in them. Aeons after the manifestations the deeds live on and continue to offer peace to mankind by acting as philosophic guides. Man is in possession of a body subject to physical and biological laws, a complex of mental and sensory processes. He is the perfect consciousness, holding within himself the perfect, the infinite, the pure awareness that is identical in nature with the Almighty Himself. Adi Sankara's work codifies this intuitive knowledge of the Ultimate Reality within oneself.

All worldly learning acquired with material advancement in mind is quickly forgotten when not used. Spiritual learning on the other hand is so fundamental to a good life that it serves forever. In the Bhagavatam, Krishna's exploits among the simple, guileless cowherd community show how He came down to their level to teach and instruct, said Sri P.V. Vijayaraghava Sastrigal in his discourse.

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