Vedic Prachar on Attributes of Bhag on 02/22/09

Atlanta Vedic Temple on 02/22/09 (Summary provided by Mr. Vikas BaggaSummarization of Discourse delivered by Acharya Ved Shrami & Dr. Sahadeo Hariprasad at

The complete name of Gita is known as ‘Srimad-Bhagwad-Gita'


Question: Can we become ‘Bhagwan'?
Answer: Yes, if we have all of these:


Bhag
Aishwarya
Dharm
Yash
Jyaan
Shree
Vairagya


The discourse continued the further elaboration of the attributes that define ‘Bhag'. Further elaboration on Dharm was made by referencing Sage Vyas, that Dharm is what we should accept (Dhaaran) into ourselves and make it a part of our lifestyle. As we educate ourselves with true Vedic knowledge and become a practitioner of the true knowledge we start the path of driving ignorance out from our lives and becoming Dharmik. Once we become Dharmik, only then can we truly become Bhagwaan. To be Dharmik one has to follow the principles of Dharm as outlined on 02/15/09. Only if we dutifully follow these principles we will be able to avoid evil, Machiavellian thoughts that destroy our soul. We do a lot of things out of ignorance of the truth, and we need to be able to accept and imbibe activities that help strengthen our soul and character.


Yash: Is to perform acts that make you famous. A person who attains fame is - Yashasvi (famous). Why are Sri Krishna, Sri Ram, and Lord Shiva so famous even after thousangs of years of their existence? They performed acts that made them so famous, that their name and achievements surpassed their lifetime and spanned thousands of years. So perform acts that will propel you in the community, country and the globe. Again to do this you have to gain Vidya through Swadhayaya (Study of Vedic Scriptures). To cite an example, take Lord Shiva he gained spiritual knowledge that transcended the three worlds. Only through his third eye (The eye of Vidya, Jyaan) he had attained these super qualities of Bhag, by becoming a Yogi, practicing austere meditation and tapas.
Shri - is another attribute of Bhagwaan. A person who donates a partition of his earning attained through hard and honest work, for the betterment of the society is the only person truly worthy of the title of Shri. The wealth which remains after the donation, is then called Shri.
Jyaan - Jyaan is another attribute of ‘Bhagwaan'. Jyaan is to obtain knowledge through study that leads to revelation of Vidya - Vedic Spiritual Knowledge and Avidya (Worldly Knowledge). Jyaan can be obtained by study - Svadhyaya of the Vedas. Mastering the information in the Vedas will make us Jyaani about the information as God had willed and will make us a ‘Bhagwaan'
Vairagya: The Lord has said in the Gita:


Anaashritah Karmafalam Kaaryam Karma Karoti Yah
Sah Sanyaasi cha yogi chaNiragnirna Chaakriyah


He who does the prescribed deeds without looking for its fruits is a sanyasi and a yogi, and not the one who has renounced the world and given up his duties.
Bhagavad Gita, Chap.6, sh.1

It means that we have to continue to perform our duty and not be detracted by the rewards. If we start doing an act for its rewards then our mind will be influenced by evil thoughts and our actions may be not be the desired action, leading us astray from the objectives of the task. Vairgya does not ask you to renounce anything. A Vairagi is full engaged in life's activities. Vairagya is the inner state of mind and has nothing to do with the gross activities of the material world. This inner state of mind is achieved by performing selfless deeds based of the knowledge and understanding of the Vedas.



Significance of Shivratri:

The night of Shviratri is very significant for Arya Samaj. This is the Night when Mool Shankar (Swami Dayanand Saraswati) at the age of 14 was forced by his father to observe a fast during an all-night vigil at Shiva's temple on the occasion of Shivratri. Sometime after midnight, all the devotees were asleep except Mool Shankar. He wanted to gain the merit of perfect worship by staying awake. When all the other devotees were asleep, his attention was diverted by the sight of a tiny mouse jumping all over around temple's Shivalinga, a symbolic representation of Shiva. This sight shook Mool Shankar's faith. He woke his father up and started asking the kind of questions that annoyed his father. He was perturbed that how this statue that he had grown to revere could do nothing to protect from being defiled by a mere rodent. This was the night that persuaded MoolShankar to go in search of the truth.

We should be devoted to anything but with knowledge. If devotion is without the knowledge, that is called superstition. We should not be superstitious. Whatever idols we see, they have some logic behind them, there is a science behind them. We should go beyond the idol/picture and apply our mind to understand the logic behind its creation. If we are just stuck with the picture and keep offering dhoop and flowers to it, without understanding beyond just the picture that will be Andh Shraddha (Superstition).