|
|
The Introduction has been written by no less than Nobel Laureate
William Butler Yeats, who earlier wrote the introduction to
Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali. In his own words,
"I wrote an introduction to the beautiful Gitanjali
of Tagore, and now, twenty years afterwards, draw attention to a
book that may prove of comparable importance. A little more than
a year ago I met its author, but lately arrived in Europe, at
Mr. Sturge Moore’s house. He had been sent by his Master, or
spiritual director, that he might interpret the religious life
of India, but had no fixed plan. Perhaps he should publish his
poems, perhaps, like Vivekananda, go to America."
The book describes
Shree Purohit Swami’s life and adventures. In fact, in his own
words, it is about his "concrete life, not an abstract
philosophy." The Swami is like a minstrel and storyteller.
In his belief he can only offer to God the service learnt in
service of man or woman. Shree Purohit Swami possessed heroic
ecstatic passion prolonged through years, through many
vicissitudes.
The Swami echoes
the ideal placed before mankind by ancient rishis — "Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam" — the world is one family.
The most
fundamental of all fundamental principles is that a supreme and
unchanging Spirit pervades the entire universe and the material
world is merely a manifestation of that Spirit. Thousands of
years ago, India perceived this principle more clearly and
understood its implications more deeply than the civilised
nations do today. It is precisely because the spirit alone is
the everlasting reality that the infinite mystery of the
material world can never be explained merely in material terms.
The vastest knowledge of today cannot transcend the buddhi of
the rishis; and science, in its most advanced stage, is closer
to Vedanta than ever before.
It would be hard
to improve upon the sense of values that made ancient India so
great. Our sages judged the greatness of a State not by the
extent of its empire or by the size of its wealth, but by the
degree of righteousness and justice that marked the public
administration, and the private lives of the citizens. Their
timeless teaching was that man’s true progress is to be judged
by moral and spiritual standards, and not by material or
physical standards. Sacrifice was far more important than
success; and renunciation was regarded as the crowning
achievement. The citizen ranked in society not according to
wealth or power but according to the standard of learning,
virtue and character that he had attained. The finest example of
this is the story of Emperor Ashoka, a true follower of Buddha,
making it an invariable practice to bow in reverence before
Buddhist monks. His minister Yasha thought that it was wrong and
improper for a great Emperor to bow before monks. Ashoka’s
answer was: "After all, I am doing obeisance to them as a
mark of my deep respect for their learning, wisdom and sacrifice. What matters in life, Yasha, is not a person’s status or
position, but his virtues and wisdom. The finest minds and
hearts may be hidden in ugly mortal frames."
Shree Purohit
Swami, being fluent in both Sanskrit and English, was
instrumental in popularising the wisdom of Indian spirituality
and philosophy through his translations of ancient Indian texts.
His other books include The Geeta: The Gospel of the Lord
Shri Krishna, The Ten Principal Upanishads, The
Song of Silence, Aphorisms of Yoga, In Quest of
Myself, Harbinger of Love, Honeycomb, and Gunjarao.
The volume is an
important edition on the subject and here one can find a
philosophy that could satisfy the intellect and be all one
wants.
|
THE
values taught in India over the past 5,000 years have great
relevance to the times we live in. And yet so few Indians are aware
of our priceless heritage. It has been a longstanding conviction
that India is like a donkey carrying a sack of gold, not aware of
what it is carrying, content in moving along with the load on its
back.
