41. धर्मप्रचारनिरतः Dharma-pracāra-nirataḥ

One who was intent on propagating dharma

Bhagavatpāda says that when, over time, because of the intensification of desires in the minds of adherents, adharma that is caused by the waning of discriminative knowledge gives rise to the decline of dharma and the predominance of adharma, …¹¹⁴ such is the time when the Lord incarnates, and having re-established dharma, ensures its sustenance and propagation in ways that are appropriate to that age.

When Śiva incarnated as Bhagavatpāda, He not only uplifted dharma that had become decadent, but also established Maṭhas in the four directions (as mentioned under nāma 36) and mandated the pontiffs of the Maṭhas to sustain dharma by propagating it amongst the masses. Coming as He did in the Śaṅkarācārya-guru-paramparā (the tradition of Gurus beginning with Śrī Śaṅkarācārya) His Holiness discharged His duty as the pontiff of the Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, with great devotion.

Further, as seen under nāma 27, His Holiness’s Guru, the 34^th pontiff, had instructed Him to carry out His duties as a protector of dharma. His Holiness carried out His Guru’s instruction to the letter.

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His Holiness set out in 1956, at the age of thirty-nine, on His first tour of South India. From 1956 right up to when He cast of His mortal frame in 1989, He undertook a total of 35 tours, long and short, that covered the whole of India thrice and also extended to Nepal. He graced not merely cities and

112 41. Dharma-pracāra-nirataḥ towns connected by good roads, but also remote villages. He thereby reached out to millions, blessing them regardless of their caste, creed or religion. He relentlessly drove Himself to the verge of exhaustion, only to inculcate dharma and spirituality in the hearts of people.

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On His tours, it was customary for His Holiness to give at least one benedictory discourse at every city, town or village that He visited. Though He delivered thousands of discourses, not one of them was discordant with another, even when the verses taken up by Him for exposition had dissimilar meanings. This was because He put things in the proper perspective.

Another aspect of His benedictory addresses was His practical approach. For instance, speaking on the study of the Vedas, He said, “A parrot and a man may utter the same words. A person goes to another in response to the latter’s call but does not give the same weightage to the same words uttered by a parrot. The chanting of a Veda-paṇḍita and that being played back by a tape recorder may sound similar. However, the former is chanting the Veda, while the latter is not. The scriptures specify that the Veda must be learnt only from a Guru if it is to be efficacious. It may be possible to learn by rote Vedic passages by employing a recorder. However, this will not confer the puṇya that learning from a Guru would. Nowadays, however, some have difficulty in finding a good Vedic scholar to teach them regularly and for long; also, because of their hectic work schedules, they seem to find it difficult to go to a Veda-vidvān’s place every day for long. Even such persons will do well to learn at least a few times from a teacher and get the words and intonations right. Thereafter, it does not matter if they employ recordings to strengthen and refresh their memories.”

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He met members of the armed forces in numerous places and conversed with them to answer their questions (vide episode under nāma 39) and solve their problems (vide episode under nāma 14). He also addressed large gatherings of them in many places and by exhorting them to diligently discharge their duties, boosted their mental strength and resolve.

For instance, addressing the armed forces at Hyderabad in 1967, He said, “I am pleased to see you all here to receive me in your midst. The purpose of life must be clear in your perspective. Man is bound by his duty. What is your duty? In ancient times, the task of protecting the nation and its people was enjoined on the kṣatriyas. That duty has now been entrusted to you. Whatever subgroup you may belong to, all of you of the armed forces have a paramount duty and that is to guard the nation. In this, you should not be half-hearted, come what may. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has said in the Bhagavad-gītā that fortunate is the warrior who gets an opportunity to wage a war against evil and for righteousness, and that the doors of heaven are thrown open to him. Do keep this in mind and execute the tasks assigned to you, diligently and to the best of your ability.

“To attain the objective of life, salvation, one should cultivate qualities such as compassion to all beings. You should practise them to the extent possible, with a clear understanding of their essence, taking into consideration the context. There is a teaching that is pertinent to all of you who have chosen to render the yeomen service of protecting the nation. Śrī Kṛṣṇa advised Arjuna on the battlefield, ‘Think of Me and fight.’ You too should do so. Pray to God before you set out to do anything and then perform your duty. That is enough for you and will fetch you great good. By your very performance of your duty duly accompanied by the thought of God and acting with sincerity and whole-heartedness, you will have served God well.”

On another occasion, He told a soldier who was troubled by the thought that he would incur sin because of his having killed many people in war, “You would not incur sin. You only did your duty and followed the orders given to you. You did that action for the sake of the nation and not for your own sake. If you had killed anyone out of animosity or for your selfish end, you would have been a sinner. However, you stuck to your duty for the sake of the nation. Lord Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna, ‘For a kṣatriya, waging a righteous war is an act of virtue and not a sin.’ You soldiers are in the position of the kṣatriyas referred to by the Lord.”

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His Holiness pointed out, “Since time immemorial, we have been one as a nation, despite the fact that there were many kingdoms ruled by many monarchs of varied dispositions. The oneness of the nation was never lost on us. What was the spirit that held us together? It was the underlying dharma practised by the vast majority that unified us. Thus, though divided by kingdoms, we were united by the spirit of dharma.

“A glorious demonstration of that spirit can be seen in the life of Śrī Ādi-Śaṅkara Himself, centuries ago. He established four monasteries to sustain, uphold and propagate Sanātana-dharma. He was born in Kalady in Kerala. However, He chose to establish His monasteries in the four corners of India – Sringeri in the south, Dwaraka in the west, Puri in the east and Badri in the north. Moreover, He had no petty concerns such as regionalism. His actions are an illustration of this. Look at His choice of His principal disciples as the first pontiffs of those Maṭhas. He appointed Sureśvarācārya who was from the current Bihar to head the southern Maṭha at Sringeri; Padmapādācārya, a southerner, was appointed to head the western Maṭha at Dwaraka.

“The famous temple of Lord Viśvanātha is in Varanasi in the north; in the south, we have the celebrated temple for Lord Rāmanātha at Rameswaram. Yet, what was the ethos induced in us by our ancients? One from the northern belt cherished as a lifetime ambition a pilgrimage to Rameswaram and bathing Lord Rāmanātha with the waters of the holy Gaṅgā. Likewise, for the southerner, a pilgrimage to Kashi and darśana of Lord Viśvanātha there were lifetime goals.

“Besides, even something so seemingly commonplace as the custom of naming our children has a definite stamp of the oneness of our nation. While names such as Ramnath and Sharada are seen in the north, Viswanatha and Dwarakanatha are common in the south. How could all this have been if the great had not seen our nation as an integral entity?”

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A devotee, Sri T. S. Nagarajan, narrated the following.

I once said to His Holiness, “Even those who hardly do a good deed take to boisterous propaganda. The Sringeri Sharada Peetham is involved in initiating and executing so many dhārmika activities for the welfare of people but does not publicise such good deeds. Many people are not even aware of the good work of the pīṭha. I am agonised at this state of affairs.”

His Holiness retorted, “Śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda established this pīṭha for dharma-pracāra (propagating dharma) and not for the pracāra (broadcasting) of its own dharma (good deeds).”

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