VEDIC CULTURE
-Pandit Ganga Prasad Upadhayay
MEANING OF CULTURE
Today, meaning of the word ‘culture’ is very unclear and it has been misused a lot. Different people take different meanings of this term. All the nations believe that they have their own cultures but these cultures have failed to stop the beastish dance of humans. Today, because of absence of some ‘regulatory force’ in the form of true culture, man is moving towards destruction in all fields. Only vedic concept of ‘culture’ can enable man to move towards progress and development. As such, we give below certain thoughts of Pandit Ganga Prasad Upadhayay on the subject:
English word ‘culture’ has been originated from the Latin root ‘colere’, which means to cultivate. The word ‘culture’ is also found in the words like agriculture, horticulture et cetra. This means that meaning of the root ‘colere’ is inherently present in the terms-culture, agriculture, horticulture et cetra. Agriculture or cultivation is a process by which hidden powers of a seed are manifested. The best cultivator is one, who in no condition lets any of the powers of a seed remain in underdeveloped state. In the same way, This world is like a garden where all the souls are like tiny seeds having immense powers. As for manifestation of all the powers of a seed, it is necessary that the soil, in which the seed is sown, is good and the farmer is intelligent et cetra, in the same way, for the development of living beings, certain types of circumstances and environments are necessary. All those small and big things, which contribute cumulatively for development of a soul can collectively be called ‘culture’.
As we have developed a habit of speaking of man in a light-hearted spirit without giving a thought to the meaning of the term ‘man’, in the same way, we are used to talking of cultures. We call all human beings as man whether that human being is a child, unintelligent or foolish person whereas the term ‘man’ means a thoughtful person. Such a usage of the word- ‘man’ is with regard to social customs. Same thing applies to the word-‘culture’. There is difference among cultures. The culture which helps man to develop his dormant qualities without any unnecessary hazards and with smoothness is said to be a good culture and the culture, which fails to meet this objective is called bad. As such, we can say that a culture is worth being called a ‘culture’ to the extent it is nearer to its true meaning. As there are good, bad, ignorant cultivators in this world, in the same way, there exist many ‘cultures’, which produce men of different attributes and sanskaaras.
When one country fights a war with another, it does not say that it wants to capture its market but says that it wants to make the people of that country ‘cultured’. The people, who are responsible for killings of innocent people, too, say that they have indulged in killings for welfare of human beings. Such people are responsible for destroying the beauty of this creation by catering to their horrible selfishness in the name of culture. All this happens because of our forgetting the true spirit of the word ‘culture’. Today, there are many organisations with attractive names like religion, utilitarianism, social-science et cetra, which propagate that their principles are the best for development of man-kind. Because of presence of so many cultures in the market, a lay man gets puzzled as to which culture he should adopt.
It is established that for centuries western countries have put forth their cultures before the world by pushing the old cultures behind. Man thought that western cultures will enable him to develop and progress but selfishness and chaos prevalent in the society have proved him wrong. It has been proved that we are wandering in a fantasy-land, where there is no talk of spirit. Things are not what they appear to be. If by the prevalent cultures, we have not been able to bring peace and development in our spirits and society, then we must try to find out as to what and where mistake has been committed by us. We must find out the ‘TRUE CULTURE’. In the work of finding out the true meaning of the word culture, we need be guided by the successes and failures of our forefathers.
CULTURE and CIVILIZATION
The words-‘culture’ and ‘civilization’ are not synonyms but they are very much inter-related. Today, many people consider that persons having white skin are civilized, persons having yellow skin are somewhat civilized and persons having black skin are uncivilized. They consider that colour of skin of man rather than qualities like justice, humanity and respect for human-life are the yardstick of civilization. To consider a man with white skin civilized even if he has impure heart and a man with black skin uncivilized even if he has pure heart is very illogical and unprogressive.
The word ‘civilize’ is a verb of the root ‘civil’, which means ‘related with society’. As such, ‘civilization’ is a thing which enables man to build a society, which in turn fulfills his goal of life. Vastness of the social area to which a person belongs is in direct proportion to vastness of the heart of that person. There is only one method of being civilized and that is increasing vastness of our heart by getting concerned about welfare of more and more beings.
Undoubtedly, development of science has done a great good to the human society but it has done a great harm also. It has brought narrowness of our hearts. Scientists like Darwin have tried to show that this nature is ruled by selfishness. Actually, in this nature or world, rules for existence of animals are not the same as for existence of human beings. Unlike human beings, in animals there is total lack of unselfishness. Destruction of others is not at all a characteristic of civilization. To be civilized, one is required to develop the attributes of justice and humanity in him. Kindness is a quality of strong beings. The scientists, who consider kindness a curse, do not comprehend the true meaning of science. Nature does not teach us only to be unkind towards others. Human-mother not only, takes care of her child but also teaches him the primary lessons of civilization, which is to sacrifice everything for the welfare of others.How? At the time of our birth, we were weak enough to meet our physical needs and our existence was at stake. Then, our mothers came to our rescue and they sacrificed great many pleasures for safety of our lives and for enabling ourselves to meet the worldly challenges before us.
Above, we have said that the word ‘civilization’ means ‘a thing related with society’. Broadness of mind and heart, sacrificing spirit, justice, humanity et cetra have been mentioned as characteristics of civilization. All these characteristics are also that of ‘culture’. Then, what is the difference between these two terms? Meanings of ‘culture’ and ‘civilization’ are very inter-related. In short, we can say that the rules for manifestation of hidden powers of soul are ‘culture’ whereas, the life style, which gets generated because of following these rules is termed as ‘civilization’. For this reason, farming, industry, language, literature, art, science and religion are said to be the components of ‘civilization’. A civilization is meaningful only if it acts as a mean of culture. We must see whether a particular civilization is helpful in manifesting the hidden powers of souls, who have come together to form a society? If it is helpful, then, to what extent? Can a civilization be called civilization in true spirit if it tries for the development of one segment of the society at the cost of another segment? Is the civilization in question ignoring the manifestation of hidden powers of some of the members of the society? If it is so, then that civilization loses its cultural base. A society can be called civilized only if, all its members and not some of its members shine.
CULTURE AND EQUALITY
There is a notion that in the eyes of God, everyone is same. But nowhere in the vedaas, has such a notion been supported. No two things are ever equal. How can bodies of an elephant and that of an ant be equal? How can souls, which lie on different platforms of progress be equal? Slogan of ‘equality’ is totally imaginary and the use of this word was started to mean ‘Oneness’ of things by some illogical persons.
Because of this inequality among things, the concept of ‘culture’ has become difficult. The persons, who are needed to be made civilized stand on different platforms of progress. Had there been equality among them, the work of ‘culture’ would have become very easy. How easy the work of teachers, having students of same physical and mental capabilities, same age, same objective, same means, would have been? In a small garden, a gardener has to deal with the seeds of different qualities and capabilities. Requirements of every seed is different. Equal cultivation, equal fertilizers, equal irrigation et cetra do not help them. Difference in requirements of all the seeds make the task of the gardener more complicated. What is true in respect of a small garden, is also true in respect of this world.
There is a saying in ‘Phaarasi’ language that God has not created all the fingers equal. Now, the question arises as to why inequality is there in the world. Inequality among different things is for the purpose of bringing cohesiveness among them. Vedic culture thinks of development of all the beings of this universe but the other cultures think of the development of human beings only, as if whole of this world has been created for man only and creation of man is not for any other being. Other cultures do not talk of development of other beings. All cultures agree to the fact that man is the best creation of this universe. How can this vast universe be for man only and not for other beings? Man does not want to ponder over these points logically like a lion. Lion knows only to kill others. He has nothing to do with logic. Just because of his power and ability to kill others, lion cannot be called civilized. Civilized person should think in a different way. His main aim is to find out the truth. Creation of man is the best, only if he has the ability to respect the existence of other beings. If a person thinks that his existence only is important irrespective of that of others and other beings have been created to fulfill his purpose only, then such a person can be called nothing but a fool.
It should not be understood that vedic culture supports all types of inequalities among different things. Inequalities are good and bad. Good inequalities generate a sort of ‘oneness’ whereas bad inequalities need be opposed with all our strength. To have better understanding of the concept of ‘equality’, we take the help of an example. Again, we take up the example of creation of our fingers of different shapes and sizes. It is only because of their differences that they can unite. Had they been ‘equal’ in their shapes and sizes, it would not have been possible for them to unite. Only a particular sort of inequality can bring ‘oneness’. All other sorts of inequalities are harmful to ‘oneness’. Same thing applies to human society. Take another example. Analyse the ingredients like sugar, salt et cetra of juice of an orange. All these ingredients are different or unequal but they have been mixed in such a proportion by the Mother Nature that juice of an orange tastes sweet. This is true in respect of beings of the universe also. Man should respect and take care of differences or inequalities among various beings and should try for their development so that purpose of creation of this universe is achieved. Being the best creation, man has to think of welfare of his own self as well as of other fellow beings just like a father. A father is duty-bound to take care of his children, who are unable to take care of themselves. Same attitude should dictate the behavior of men towards other beings of the universe. Such a thought process is an unbeatable and unparallel contribution of the vedic culture.
CULTURE AND SOUL
We love our children, husband, wife, money, knowledge, power, other beings, happiness of all et cetra not for their sakes but for the sake of our own self. Undoubtedly, soul is that central point around which whole of the world of man, that is, parents, teachers, children, husband, wife, friends, career, job, property, money et cetra revolves. All this smells selfishness but this is a great philosophical truth and on this truth, true culture is based. That person is selfish, who forgets his own self and remains engrossed in other worldly interests. In realisation of difference between self and non-self and in making non-self, the slave of self lies the spirit of this truth. True selfishness does not mean doing all acts for the sake of self but it means doing all acts for the sake of non-self. A civilised person should save himself from the acts, which drop his self down, like a person, who avoids dirt towards meeting his desire to keep his clothes clean.
As pivotal point of a garden is seed, central point of all our acts is our self. Our own selves are the measuring rods of our successes and failures. It is our self, which decides our relation with the outer world. It is because of this reason that it is said that on realizing self, everything of the world is known. Now, the question arises as to why should ‘self’ be considered to be the best measuring rod? Following thought of ‘Kadopanishad’, an important book of vedic literature, answers this question. It says- ‘this body is a vehicle, whose driver is intellect, mind is break and accelerator, senses are engine.’ The beauty of the vehicle is meaningful till the time it operates for the welfare of its owner towards achieving his purpose, otherwise it is a waste irrespective of its strength and good-looks. Today, whole of our concentration is on our bodies, as if these bodies are the ‘real men’. We need thoughts, which tell us that we are not bodies but souls.
CULTURE AND GOD
It is natural for a culture, which talks of development of soul to be related with God. Development of soul is the very purpose of a good culture but development is always in accordance with certain rules. What are these rules and who is the creator of such rules? ‘We should speak the truth.’ is one of the rules for development of souls. Only God has made these rules. He is the controller of whole of this world. He is framer of the rules for living and non-living things. Eyes are to see with, ears are to hear with, law of gravitation, movement of celestial bodies et cetra are some of the rules framed by Him for non-living things. Modern science has limited itself to accepting laws, controlling inert objects only. It is a hard fact that there can be no rule without its framer. It is a paradox that modern science accepts the rules on the basis of which inert objects move, but it totally neglects their creator. In this sense, modern science is totally unscientific. A culture, which does not accept definiteness of the rules framed by God is unworthy and meaningless. The world, whose creator and ruler is not bound by any definiteness would be nothing more than a fool’s show. If one does not accept God as framer of the rules for governance of living and non-living objects of the world, then by which entity, will God be replaced? Would that entity be blind- accidental-ism? How will such a thought help ‘culture’? On the ground of such sort of indefiniteness, no culture can develop.
Some people feel that religious-bents of people have effected badly the cultural welfare. This thought has been propounded by worshipers of inert objects and it is being followed by the fools without considering its merits and demerits. There is no denying the fact that religious beliefs too can be wrong. This does not mean that spiritualism should out-rightly be rejected from the ambit of culture. Let us try to understand this thought through an example. If wrongfully, food of a person contains poison, then he cannot be advised not to take food at all. Rather, he is advised to take poison free and healthy food and he is guided to the means of obtaining such food with the acceptance of the necessity of taking healthy food for maintenance of body. Similarly, if certain religious beliefs are adulterated because of selfish gains of some sorts, then we should try to remove those wrongs instead of out-rightly rejecting spiritualism. We must remember that a society is not harmed as much from the wrong spiritualism as from the belief that naturalism is everything.
Civilized persons should know fully the morals, immorals, duties, non-duties, what is good for their own selves and what is good for others. One cannot know these without knowing the self and God. Knowledge and realization of self is incomplete without the knowledge and realization of God. Knowledge of morals, immorals, duties and non-duties are the basis of good societies. One does an immoral act only if he does not realizes the true sawroop or nature of his own self and God. Knowledge of the true sawroop of self is possible only through devotion to God. Devotion to God develops respect towards the rules or systems framed for running the kingdom of world. It is only through devotion to God that we start accepting ourselves a small segment of this whole universe and start believing that our own welfare is very well linked with welfare of others. A society, whose members have such sort of feelings is said to be a civilized society and a society, whose members do not have respect for their own life, life of other beings and universal truths cannot be said to be a civilized society.
Above, we have established the imperativeness of God in ‘culture’. Now, towards following a true culture, vedic swroop only of God should be accepted. We can see a lot many ill-effects of accepting swroop of God different from that mentioned in the vedaas. Here, we explain a few attributes of God as mentioned in the vedaas and the ill-effects of not accepting them in our society.
In vedaas, God has been called ruler of this universe. This ruler is just, looking for welfare of all and is free from any desire. Now, we analyse these facts in relation to corresponding ideas prevalent in our society.
- In every sect of the world, God is called ruler of this universe and it is accepted that God has no equal. Then, how is it possible that His works have any sort of contribution of souls, who are negligible to Him in intelligence?
- All the works of the ruler are for the welfare of the ruled, that is, living and non-living objects. Ruler does not tolerate that one segment of the ‘ruled’ harms another segment of the ‘ruled’.
- Image of the ruler in the minds of the ‘ruled’ decides whether his or their acts would be for the welfare of the kingdom or not. If the ‘ruled’ has a notion that his ruler is unjust and impulsive, then either he would be caught by inferiority complex or he would become a rebel. If he feels that his ruler is weak, then a desire for change of regime will develop in him. If he feels that his ruler is intelligent, kind, powerful and just, then an adorable and helping attitude towards the ruler develops in him. Similarly, if God is thought of an impulsive being, who is not bound by rules of justness et cetra, then his followers would undoubtedly be unintelligent, blind-followers, yes-men, flatterers and unprincipled. Their upaasanaa too is farce and ludic. The behaviour of such people towards the persons, having opposite thoughts is very cruel and hostile. A society, which believes in an impulsive God is inhabited by bad men.
- Bad acts of a man will beget bad results. This principle of God is eternal and cannot be suppressed by any act of so called religious persons.
- All the acts of God are totally for the welfare of souls. A soul, while enjoying different things of this world with attachment brings distress for himself and this sorrow can go only when he realizes greatness of God. When he knows God as all-knowledgeable, enlightened and creator of this world, then all his sorrows vanish. All this, pin-point that with the feeling of God, moral values develop in a soul. Mind is filled with filthy thoughts till it feels God. A society is well organized only if its members have a feeling of welfare and love amongst them out of spiritual brotherhood. Kins belong to physical brotherhood, which loses its fineness or bondage with increase in the length of family. This is the reason that physical brotherhood fails to beget a good culture. To love kins and hate others is not the symptom of civilized persons. Animals too love their children. Racism, sectarianism et cetra originate from the feeling of physical brotherhood. There is a saying in yujurved that one, who feels God in all beings remains away from grief. God is a supreme entity, who combines one soul with another. This spiritual of brotherhood, that is considering all souls children of God is the base of a good culture. Many people say that they consider others as children of God. They can know how well they understand the concept of spiritual brotherhood only when they do not feel shy in considering donkey as their brother.
- Vedic concept of God does not consider any mediator between God and souls. He is as near to one soul as to another soul. Undoubtedly, all teachers are greater than their pupils, whom their teachers show the right path but by being greater than pupils, teachers do not get the authority to represent their pupils before God. Majority of the ill-will noticed in religious regions is not because of the difference in concepts of God or His communion but it is because of the people, who say that they or their pupils have the copyright over spirituality.
INTERDEPENDENCE OF SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURE
In this context, a question is asked that when meaning of culture refers to development of potential powers of souls, then what is the necessity of social development in a good culture? Answer to this question is very simple. Actually, potential powers of souls cannot develop on their own. It requires some external help. Development of a soul needs the contact of other souls as well as a good and healthy body. Development of physical elements can lead us to good and healthy body but for development of the soul, we need non-physical elements, that is contacts of other souls. By development of a soul, we mean those un-seeable and subtle effects, which a soul generates on another soul towards development of certain internal attributes like love, kindness, tolerance, self-control et cetra. These qualities cannot get generated in a soul on their own. For upcoming of a good culture, role of a good social organization is irrefutable. Accordingly, in vedaas, great emphasis has been laid on social health. ‘Society’ is a collective name of the members and a society has no existence of its own. As such, in a developed society, there cannot be any difference between interests of its members and interests of the society. It is the duty of the society to think of the interests of all its members. For this, every member of the society must understand not only his rights towards his individual interests but also his duties towards interests of others. Let’s elaborate this point with the help of an example of a body. Only that body can be called healthy, whose every part is healthy. If in a body, there is a headache, then not only head but because of that whole of the body suffers. If there is an discomfort in a body because of pain in any of its parts, then it must be understood that there is some lack of cohesiveness among the body and its parts. It is not possible that a part, forgetting that it is a portion of the body, can bring discomfort to the body. This is true, in relation to a society also. To the extent, an individual considers the necessity of sacrificing social interests for the sake of his self-interests, to that extent body of that society should be considered to be ailing. If there is a conflict in the interests of the society and that of its member, then interest of the member would have to be subdued either by the society itself or by some external force towards betterment of interests of other members of the society. Practically, the social ailments in the form of individual weaknesses and self-interests remain present all the time in every society but till the time, proportion of such individual weaknesses and self-interests is negligible, the society is not called ‘ailed’. The nearer we are to moral standards, the more spiritual we are.
Racism and Social Bondage
We can put social necessities into following three categories:
- Fulfillment of physical requirements
- Protection from unnecessary interference
- Fulfillment of intellectual and spiritual quests
Everyone needs to fulfill these basic requirements for development of his personality but he cannot do it on his own. Accepting the difference of interests among people, vedaas have categorized people of different interests in four divisions namely, brahamanas (catering to the requirement of the people for fulfillment of their intellectual and spiritual quests), kshatriyas (catering to the requirement of the people for protection from unnecessary interference), vaishayas (catering to the physical requirements of the people) and shudras (for carrying out the works of physical labour on the requirements or commands of brahamanas, kshatriyas and vaishayas) and this system is known as vedic varn system.
The persons, who have interests in agriculture, animal husbandry, arts, making goods through industries, supply of goods from one place to another were allotted the works of their respective interests and were called vaishayas. The persons, who have interests in getting power and glory were allotted the work of protecting the interests of others and were called kshatriyas. The persons having finer interests were allotted the work of increasing knowledge in the society and were called brahamanas. Now, fourth and last type of persons are those, who are less in intelligence and are unable to select any work for themselves because of their tendencies of inertness. But in vedic thoughts, such people were not discarded or ignored but were given an opportunity for their individual development by doing the works of physical labour such as cooking, digging a pit, carrying goods et cetra on the orders of other three above mentioned categories. Such persons were called shudras. As such, vedaas envisage the fullest use of all the capabilities of every member of the society towards individual and social development. Individual development is possible only if, the capabilities are used with willingness of the possessors. As, an organ acting against the welfare of the body, of which it is a part is said to be ailing, similarly, above mentioned categories of persons are ailing, if they operate against the development of the society. After categorizing the society as per varn system, vedaas divided the life-span of man (assuming life-span of man to be hundred years) into four segments of 25 years each. Each such segment was called ashramas.
Vedic varn system, that is, system of categorization of society into four segments namely brahamanas, kshatriyas , vaishayas and shudras does not support racism rather it is very liberal and gives weight-age to personal interests of members of the society. This system ensures that none of the members of the society is devoid of opportunities towards his individual development.
The real problem of today’s social-ills lies in looking at all the things from physical angle only with complete ignorance of spiritual angle. The beauty of vedic varn system and ashram system is that they are totally based on intrinsic qualities of a soul. People commit crimes only when they forget to differentiate a good act from a bad act. The only solution to removing ills from the society is to adopt ‘vedic thoughts for social development’.
Family
When animals do not require the institution of marriage for increasing their numbers, then what is the necessity of this institution for man? Some people feel that institution of marriage is unnatural in the sense that it forbids man and woman to directly link or attach themselves with the society like other beings. As such, why should family be another link between man and society? Such people consider marriage a sort of slavery, loss of independence and an unwanted institution burdened on man by his predecessors. But such sort of thoughts are advocated by the youth, who have a lust for leading luxurious lives.
It is very wrong to compare human beings with animals, who are neither independent in their actions nor capable of differentiating between a good thing and a bad thing.It is only the capability of human beings to move on the righteous path. When a person moves on the righteous path, he proves himself to be higher than animals. Only man has sacrificing spirit and capability to control his senses. Animals do not have these powers. With the help of his intellect, man can know righteous and non-righteous paths. Dharam is nothing but differentiation between right and wrong.
We must accept the truth that as compare to animals, man is more prone to fall before the sensual pleasures. Dharam, that is, differentiation of righteous and non-righteous path is a necessity to control his natural instincts.
Patience, love, sacrificing spirit et cetra are some of the attributes which can be developed, while going through the institution of marriage only. Without marriage, there is no meaning of the relations like brother, sister, grand-father, grand-mother, uncle and aunt. When man gets birth, he finds himself surrounded by all these relations, who are ready to sacrifice everything for him. There cannot be a better beginning of life.
Looking at the importance of the institution of marriage, vedaas have given ample instructions for the good health of this institution.
Problems observed in the institution of marriage cannot be resolved by ending this institution. These can be resolved by understanding the actual meaning of this institution and by behaving in accordance with its real meaning.
AGRICULTURE AND CULTURE
For sustenance, food is the primary requirement of every living being. Man cannot depend wholly on nature for his food. The need of going beyond nature to fulfill his requirement for food turned to be a boon for him because otherwise he would have to satiate himself with whatever nature provided him, as animals do. For fulfillment of basic need of food, agriculture was certainly man’s first endeavour. For production of various crops, land has to be cultivated. Man is bestowed with very high qualities or attributes, which become meaningful only on using them. In vedaas, there are hundreds of mantras, which talk of different crops, scientific means to supplement fertility of land, importance of irrigation, methods of cultivation et cetra. The society, which had the knowledge regarding production of different crops and their uses could not have been uncivilized. Today, even in developed countries, agriculturists do not have that much respect as was had in vedic times. ‘Following vedaas’ mean increasing the status of agriculturists in the society.
ANIMALS AND CULTURE
Today, man has invented many machines, which are more productive and comparatively easy. These machines have replaced animals and as such, the thought of giving importance to animals may be laughed at by the modern people. But howsoever proud we may be over our scientific successes, these are not 100% correct. It clearly means that by replacing the animals by the man-made machines, we have seized the opportunity of development from these beings. Looking from a broad perspective, the shepherd, who taught his dog to watch his sheep lest they should go astray did a great favour for his race and that of dog. This work could have been done by inventing some electric machine for the purpose but he fulfilled his duty of being head of the family.
Man by keeping useful animals in their homes, unintentionally taught these animals the first lesson of civilization. How? A cow of a village or town is more civilized than a cow living in a forest. There are a lot many mantras in vedaas referring to animals. Looking from this angle, successes of vedic period in the area of animal husbandry were great.
Some people think that in vedaas, there is a mention of cow-killing, eating of cow meat et cetra. But to treat vedaas as a culprit when there is no such thing written in them, as is evidenced by history of vedic rishis and that of vedic morals, is very incorrect and unjust. There is a flower which is called in English as ‘cow’s lips’ because of its structural likeness with lips of a cow. If, after 100 years, people, forgetting actual meaning of this word, think that this word connotes a part of cow, wouldn’t it be a great folly? As such, in order to avoid such sort of problems utmost care should be taken while explaining meaning of words. In vedaas, killing of animals is allowed only when they behave unjustly or become dangerous for lives of others.
ARTS, INDUSTRIES AND CULTURE
Industries are required for converting the produce of farmers into products, useful for human society. Also, industries are required for making the instruments, necessary for agriculture. Crops are not produced automatically. For this, it is necessary to bring human-intelligence into action. God is the greatest creator and this quality of creativity is inherent in man. Making different things through various industries is nothing but bringing out that creativity. Man is not like animals, who are satisfied with whatever nature provides them for food, shelter et cetra. Animals do not do anything on their own for fulfillment of their requirements except spider, honey bee, ant et cetra. Animals like spider, honey bee, ant et cetra do try for their development but in their work, there is no progressiveness or betterment, which is there in human exertion. Man, who remains dependent for everything on God-made things and does not contribute anything out of his own creativity cannot know God’s swaroop or nature. A pupil, who praises a lot, of the attributes of his teacher but he himself does not do anything or manifest his learning inspite of the opportunities, cannot be called a good pupil. Same is true in relation to man.
There are many being in this world and every being is different from others with respect to his capabilities, tendencies, powers, interests and requirements. These differences give rise to development of various types of occupations, which have a cumulative effect of development of human society. In vedaas, a lot has been mentioned about industries. Actually, all the things of daily use whether that be a pin or a pen of a political person or a gun of an army depend upon industries. If one goes through vedic literature in good spirit, he can very well realize that credit of foremost development of art and industries goes to aryas, practitioners of vedaas.
CLOTHING AND CULTURE
Though clothing is very important in a culture but a clothed person may not be epitome of true civilization. A civilized person needs to be social and a social person needs to be clothed.
Spiritual development is not instant like an act of a magician. There is a great distance, lying between fulfillment of gross bodily requirements and development of minute needs of the spirit, which is covered gradually before reaching our ultimate goal. It is necessary to understand this gradual progress in the path of attaining our ultimate goal to be eligible to demarcate the right place to different things in relation to culture and civilization.
Between production of cotton and making of a coat, there are many steps in between and if the person wearing the cloths realizes that cloths are only a mean for realizing his ultimate goal, then his this act of wearing cloths becomes helpful in his spiritual development. Above mentioned thoughts are very well supported by several mantras of vedaas. We must realize that our relation with clothing is not ever-lasting.
‘GOING TO OTHER COUNTRIES FOR BUSINESS’ AND CULTURE
The produce of our agriculture and industries should go to other places so as to have real utility of our work, art and intelligence. An important part of the society, talked of in vedaas refer to the persons, who are enshrined with the duties of doing the activities related with agriculture, art and business. A strong society is the basis of a good culture and going to different countries for business purposes strengthen the society.
ART OF HOUSE-CONSTRUCTION AND CULTURE
A place to live in is a basic requirement of a being. Animals fulfill this basic requirement by natural habitats. But man makes use of the intelligence given by God to him only to fulfill this requirement. Intelligence has not been given to animals. The development of art of house-construction is a step in this direction.
Actually, everything, which has been developed by man towards sustenance of body, wherein soul resides, becomes a part of culture.
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