SATVA-GUN SUSTAINS DHARMA WHICH SUSTAINS ENTIRE CREATION
Ved: The Eternal Universal Knowledge of Creation, Sustenance and Re-Creation
Posted by Champaklal Dajibhai Mistry. Last updated on September 21, 2002.

 

SATYA & DHARMA
THE ETERNAL EVERGREEN FOUNDATION
OF KALYAAN IN THIS UNIVERSE

 

"What is the nature of satya (Truth)?"

satya is the statement that 
 expresses tattvaM
 
which is true state or condition of anything under examination
or real nature of aatmaa or material world both of which are brhmah

 and is
 nirdosh
meaning is
 faultless and defect less
.

satya is that
 which when spoken is
 not contradictory to dharma.

 satya is that
 which is spoken by those
 who are solely devoted to dharma.

 satya is that statement
 which is spoken after
 taking into account
 the place and time
 by good persons
 and
 which causes no offence
 to good persons.

 satya is 
 non-injurious to
 all creatures.

satya is that
 which is non-violence. 

 satya is that
 which bestows
all desires.

 satya is that
which is ancillary to
dharmik acts.

satya is that
 which when spoken is
 not contradictory to dharma.

 satya is that
 which is spoken by those
 who are solely devoted to dharma.

 dharma is that
 which provides kalyaan
 
(benevolence and welfare)
to all the worlds.
(worlds of devo, humans, asuraao,
 all animate and inanimate things)

  dharma is the
icchaa (will) of the person
 who has vivek and vignaan
 to know the difference between
dharma and adharma.
(
vivek is power of distinguishing
 between physical world and aatmaa (soul)
 and vignaan is knowledge - these two  are
 powers of buddhi (intellect)
 to know what is right and wrong)

 That which is antagonistic to
all kalyaan
 
( benevolence and welfare)
 is known as asatya.

satya is that
which is opposed to
all 
adharmik
and asatya karma.

 

 puraano are part of ved. There are 18 major puraano and 108 total puraan in existence in this kali-yug puraano simplifies the knowledge contained in ved through describing the history and science of creation and created through the narration of major events that has already happened in the current kalpa of 4.32 billion years of which about 2.16 billion years has already elapsed.

The above teaches us of eternal and evergreen dharma on which humanity's well-being rests on. But dharma's foundation is satya (Truth). And satya cannot exist without dharma. We always seem to use the word satya or truth often without realizing the fundamental meaning. This slok defines some of the basics by which one can determine what satya is. The slok also shows the mutual relationship of dependence between satya and dharma. satya and dharma cannot exist without each other.   

dharma is the foundation of our well-being and sustenance of continuation of life. And therefore dharma is protected and kept established by vishnu-dev who is the manifestation of the sattva gun of prakruti out of which the entire universe and everything in it are created This can be interpreted in another way that sattva shakti of brhmah in the naam (name) and ruup (form) of vishnu-dev protects and upholds dharma in this universe.

vishnu-dev has taken 9 major and numerous minor avtaar to protect dharma. vishnu-dev is the manifested form of sattva-gun of 3-guni mahaa-maayaa. mahaa-maayaa is the manifested form of the fundamental shakti of our creator brhmah. mahaa-maayaa through her 3-guno creates, sustains and re-absorbs all creations into herself in each creation cycle of 4.32 billion years. 

Therefore it is one's dharma to be satya or truthful if one wishes to live by dharma and uphold dharma in one's life. This is why the mandate of  Prajapati Vishva Aashram Foundation (PVAF) which is being currently constitutionalized will be binding all managment, volunteers, donors and receipents of donations to dharma based on satya and satya based on dharma. 

As satya is non-injurious to all creatures as per the above slok,  the mandate of PVAF based on satya and dharma can only bring prosperity and happiness to all at PVAF.  

The PVAF mandate has education as its base and means to remove poverty with the help of dharma. And this PVAF mandate is prayed to be realized with two of the four supports of dharma which is daan (charity gifts) and dayaa (compassion) flowing from the hearts of all prajaapatio and all humans who have the fortune to share their blessing of fortune with their fellow beings. 

This PVAF mandate is also prayed to be supported by the other two supports of dharma which is tapasya (penance) by humanity and realization of satya (Truth) that the fellow beings who are suffering poverty are truly another manifestation of brhmah-self like themselves. This satya means that by helping the poor to break out of poverty one is performing sevaa (service) to please and propitiate brhmah-self.     

The question about satya in the above presentation was asked by king bhagiirath who was the 14th great-grandfather of shree raam of ramaayaN. The answer to the question was provided by bhRugu-muni when king bhagiirath was informed by dharma-raaj (yam-dev or god of death) that it was dharma of king bhagiirath to release his 3rd great grandfather's 100 brothers from narak (hell) by immersing their ashes in the waters of gangaa-nadi (river ganges). At that time gangaa-nadi was only flowing in svarga (heaven). That meant king bhagiirath had to bring gangaa-nadi's flow from svarga to pruthvi which was not a mortal task. pruthvi in ved means domains of mortal living beings. Therefore king bhagiirath decided to perform tapasya (penance and mediation on a dev) to propitiate brhmah and ask for a boon for gangaa-nadi to flow onto pruthvi. king bhagiirath gave his kingdom to his sons to rule and went to himaalayaa to do tapasya. On his way to himaalayaa he paid a visit to bhRgu-muni's aashram and asked for an explanation of satya, dharma, paap and punya.  

bhRgu-muni is the mind born son of brahmaa-dev and is one of the first seven mind born sons of brahmaa-dev who are collectively called sapta-rushi (seven rushio). These sapta-rushi are the fathers of all prajaapatio who creates all animate and inanimate creations in the universe at the beginning of each kalpa and manvantra. A kalpa is 4.32 billion year cycle of creation followed by 4.32 billion of re-absorption into brahmaa-dev. A manvantra is a time division which is equal to 1/14 of a kalpa meaning there are fourteen manvantra in each kalpa. Each manvantra has it own ruler called manu  

This slok confirms what shree krishna, in the naam (name) and ruup (form) of brhmah teaches us in bhagvad gitaa in Chapter 3 titled karma-yog: " that one should perfrom karma according to the rules of dharma and should be based on satya or the karma-phal would be paap (sin)."  paap's fruits which one must recieve are very painful and could lead one to commit more paap. The cylce of paap becomes very difficult to break once one gets into it.....so be dharmik and avoid anything adharmik.......

 

(The slok on satya and dharma are extracted from naarad puraan, 1.16:19-29: Translated and annotated by Dr. G.V. Tagore, 1980 - Reprint: 1995. The extracted slok has been compiled with sanskrit words and its sanskrit glossary and supplemented with the ved study that has been presented on this web site by champaklal daajibhaai mistry. The words in italics are sanskrit words whose glossary could be found in the SANSKRIT GLOSSARY on this Prajaapati Vishva Aashram Foundation web site.)

September 21, 2002.)

 


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