Hari
Om
Each 'Choose-day' we will investigate the process by
which we can reassess our activity and interaction with the world of plurality
and become more congruent within our personality.
The next text which will guide the
Choose-day posts is "Tips for Happy Living - jIvnsUÇai[
/jiivanasuutraani", by Swami Tejomayananda (Guru-ji). Choose-days writings
are here to prompt deeper thinking on the choices made on a daily basis and
seek to provide prompts for raising the standard of one's thinking and living.
This text composed in format of Sanskrit traditional teachings, speaks directly
to this purpose. As ever, the full text may be obtained from CM Publications - or your local centre
(see sidebar).
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| Sanskrit class, Sandeepany Sadhanalaya. |
Aphorisms
are little 'word pockets' of useful information. Aphorism is the English word
for suutra. In Sanskrit, the suutra and shloka forms developed as teaching
methods because the tradition is actually an oral one and if one is to learn
something aurally (by listening), it is best served up in a fashion whereby one
can repeat it and therefore set it to memory. In gurukulas over the whole
India, from ancient times till even today, this is still the method; the
aachaarya chants, the shishyas repeat and retain. Once the chanting is done,
the exploration of meanings are then unpicked. Sanskrit is a language in which
semantics looms large! Let us take a closer look at what exactly is a suutra.
ALpa]rms<idGx<
sarvt! Ivñtae muom!,
AStae_amnv*<
c sUÇ< sUÇivdae ivdu>.
Alpaaksharamasandigdham
saaravat vishvato mukham,
Astobhamanavadyam
cha suutram suutravido viduH.
The knower of suutras defines it as that which has
minimum words, is free from ambiguity, meaningful, multifaceted, without any
superfluous words and is flawless.
Now
let us look at this using each word in this first suutra.
Alpaaksharam - with minimum words. For the most
part, human beings are verbose. Particularly if we are talking with loved ones
and friends. For the most part, such verbosity is about the minutiae of life…
'small talks'. However, if we are in a situation of having to convey important
news, a sense of urgency focuses the language and a brevity of usage will
enter. If we recall the days of telegrams, the messages were pared to the
absolute essentials. "Father in hospital, come quickly", or
"It's a boy!"… Suutras may be considered as telegrams of
philosophical teaching. Deep and important meanings are there to be imparted
and must be done so with a sense of urgency, but in a manner which can be
digested. Too many flowery words will tend to lose the message; which is why we
must have -
Asandigdham - free from ambiguity. Whilst
minimum words are an essential part of conveying the message in a suutra, there
ought to not be so few as to lose the message altogether, neither ought there
to be any word used which may lead to a possibility of a rather different
interpretation. For example, if the telegram delivered to your door read only
"Father. Return" we might be left wondering if our father was
returning to visit with us, rather than we are to return to the family home for
any reason. Naturally, there may have been a context set up in which a greater
clarity pertaining to the message will be there. In suutras, there must always
be context.
Saaravat - meaningful. Each word will have been
chosen well to convey full meaning. Suutras do not talk of mundane or worldly
matters and neither are the words to be understood at face value; learned and
wise mean have revealed a wealth of meaning in the established suutras, with
thorough commentaries and treatises. Those who are writing suutras must guard
against the use of words for the words sake and for their own intellectual
vanity. Every word must play its part within the message and sit well with the
other words around it. In modern terms, think poetry - another good equivalent
is the Japanese Haiku form. Conveying maximum in the minimum without loss of
meaning or disguise in excess or unnecessary usage.
Vishvato mukham - multifaceted. A suutra should
be able to throw light on many aspects of the topic in hand and in such a way
that we can view it from varied angles. In a sense, this means, giving options
for the meaning, so that anyone from any standpoint can gain from it.
Astobham - without superfluous words. As
previously stated, any words which are beyond the necessary to convey the
message run a risk of causing confusion or distracting from the main. In this
statement we find one of the key differences between suutra and shloka. The
latter is a poetic form, requiring a metric rhythm for chanting and this means
that within shlokas we can often find 'padding' words such as 'cha' or 'vai'.
They are placed there so that the chanting holds its beat, (in Western terms
think iambic pentameter!) In suutras, however, which are spoken sentences not
requiring metre, even these are discarded for they provide no meaning of their
own and cannot shed any extra light on the meaning of the words which are
included. Every word in a suutra is important to the overall meaning of its
message.
Anavadyam - flawless. Sanskrit is a very strong
linguistic discipline with complex grammar which, by the use of one letter
(akshara) differently could alter the meaning significantly. Thus, in the first
instance, the grammar itself must be flawless in a suutra.
Secondly,
remember that suutra means thread and thus the words must act as a thread for
the principles of the topic under discussion. The Bhakti suutrani hold together
the philosophical discussion of devotion; the Brahma suutrani hold together the
discussion on the very nature of Truth. Topic must be consistent
(philosophically flawless) throughout all the suutraani of a single suutra
text.
Thirdly,
suutras indicate meaning of concepts. It is up to us to contemplate on the
meaning indicated by these concepts. It requires that we dive deep, seeking the
lakshana - the hidden pearls - within each word and the grouping of words.
Words can only ever be clues, they
cannot ever be that to which they point. The clues must therefore be as pure
and pertinent to the case as can be.
Finally,
by their very nature, suutras are designed as "carry-out" knowledge
capsules. The are the equivalent of mathematical formulae, making it easier to
remember what went before and able to be used to prise open later
formulae/clues. For this reason they must be as pristine as E=mc², something to
carry around waiting for that moment when we need to open it out and explore
the fullness of its meaning.
