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A Brahmin should be friendly towards all living beings. He should be the protector of all living beings. Only a Kshatriya or the ruler has the authority to punish. Astika performed his duty as a Brahmin by stopping the massacre of serpents in Janamejaya's Sarpa yajna.
In Sanskrit, Itihasa means इतिह आस्ते अस्मिन् - that which contains advice to live a fulfilling life. They are based on real incidents of the past. The two Itihasas are Ramayana and Mahabharata.
What is dharma for? To get happiness. There is no other purpose, other than this. When you say by observing dharma you can go to Swarga or Vaikuntha or Kailasa why should you go there in the first place? To be happy, to be perpetually happy. Not like how a dog becomes happy when you throw a biscuit in front of him. Waiting eagerly for the next biscuit to be thrown. That is a beggar’s life. Not that happiness. Our Sages realized that happiness is an internal experience. When you see something that you like, that makes you h....
What is dharma for?
To get happiness.
There is no other purpose, other than this.
When you say by observing dharma you can go to Swarga or Vaikuntha or Kailasa why should you go there in the first place?
To be happy, to be perpetually happy.
Not like how a dog becomes happy when you throw a biscuit in front of him.
Waiting eagerly for the next biscuit to be thrown.
That is a beggar’s life.
Not that happiness.
Our Sages realized that happiness is an internal experience.
When you see something that you like, that makes you happy, like your favorite actor.
They realized that happiness is not in the eyes, it is somewhere inside you.
When you hear a song that you like, you become happy, happiness is not in the ears.
It is somewhere inside you.
So they experimented and found that to get that happiness inside, you don’t need what you see and what you hear even.
This happiness can be generated internally without the need for any external object.
Mind you, it is not imagining happiness.
It is real happiness.
It is not imagining that I am happy.
It is not an assertion that motivational speakers talk about.
This is real happiness.
This is like happiness that is contagious.
When you are happy, you are making others around you also happy.
This is real happiness.
A boy was getting pocket money of 50 rupees every day.
For that, he has to go and stand in front of his father every day.
His father will ask him so many questions:
How did you spend the money yesterday?
Why did you come late yesterday?
Why have you scored less in maths?
He will question him for 10 mins and then give that ten rupees.
One day, suddenly father tells him, take this card.
That is the debit card of the father’s account with crores and crores in it.
Take this card and take as much money as you want.
There is no restriction anymore, you don’t have to come and stand in front of me anymore.
What Sages realized was this.
When you can access that happiness without having to beg somebody, even your own eyes and ears, please give me some happiness, please give me some happiness.
You would be stupid not to do that, get that.
The Sages are so kind that they wanted everyone to benefit from this.
They devised small simple principles following which this huge account of happiness opens for you. You get the login id and password of that account.
These simple principles are dharma.
Observe them and in some time you get access to that huge happiness.
They tried to convey these principles to others in so many ways.
Some through hard statements, some through stories, some through poems.
I like reading serious books, you like children’s stories
Taste differs from person to person.
They conveyed these principles in so many different ways that everyone should benefit.
Now what Valmiki did was -
Before him, these principles and stories were scattered across so many scriptures, stories.
When you hear one you understand one thing, not everything.
Then by the time you hear the next one, probably the connectivity is lost.
You may not be able to connect them with each other.
So he thought, we need something that is linear, like a straight line.
From birth to death how a person should live following these simple principles.
Facing every conceivable situation in life which comes in everybody's life.
It should be like a ready reckoner that you can easily refer to and get your answers.
One book.
That anybody can refer to instantly and say: this is the situation, how should I behave if I want to get perpetual happiness.
But then what should be the content of that book?
Valmiki was very lucky.
He came to know that Lord Sri hari Paramatma had taken avatara and he was very much alive and around as the son of king Dasaratha of Ayodhya.
And he follows these principles unfailingly in every step of his life
To demonstrate to others how to achieve happiness in the easiest and most stable way..
They said that was the very purpose of his avatara.
Valmiki got his content.
He just described Rama’s life from beginning to end and he had the book the way he wanted.
This is Ramayana.
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Atharva Sheersha
Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavatam
Bharat Matha
Devi
Devi Mahatmyam
Festivals
Ganapathy
Glory of Venkatesha
Hanuman
Kathopanishad
Mahabharatam
Mantra Shastra
Mystique
Practical Wisdom
Purana Stories
Radhe Radhe
Ramayana
Rare Topics
Rituals
Rudram Explained
Sages and Saints
Shani Mahatmya
Shiva
Sri Suktam
Story of Sri Yantra
Temples
Vedas
Vishnu Sahasranama
Yoga Vasishta