Articles By M L Swamy
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1) "Beware!You are going to be a Centenarian"
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One of the esteemed members of India Community Center, Sunnyvale, CA, Mrs. Pramila Desai suddenly accosted me a few days ago at the center. I happened to know her only recently, as a co passenger in the Outreach trips to ICC. I was surprised! She suddenly asked me “Mr. Swamy, I hear you are 80 years old. But I see you are keeping good health and fit and active and cheerful. I am only 74 years; but I am not that fit and active and cheerful. What is the secret?” I was taken aback. No one asked me like this before, at least in ICC. I grappled for an answer. I blabbered something. She heard. I don’t know how far she could make out and how much she was convinced with my reply. At that time luckily my wife, Mrs. Rangamani Swamy joined us. She answered. No! She was the answer. The topic changed and I was saved.
Am I really that healthy, that active? No. No. I had a heart attack as early as in 1984. I had a stroke in 2000. I had Angeoplastery done in 2004, when they had fixed 3 stunts and did 2 balloons. I have other ailments. Of course, in spite of these, I have been carrying on fairly well. Later, I was musing about the question of Mrs. Pramila Desai and this led me to my thinking deeply about the subject of “Longevity and Quality of Life” of men and women in general.
Going back to my childhood days, I have seen many children and young people dying like flies very early in life. Diseases like smallpox, typhoid, malaria, plague and others used to take a large toll of the lives. Though a few people lived upto 60 years and beyond, the average life span in India was only around 35 years. The age of retirement in Government was 55 years. Even from the age of 45 or 50, employees used to develop a mental attitude that they are already retired. They used to think that retirement is virtually their preliminary death. Very few people took pension and even if they took, it was not for too many years after retirement. I remember that as children, we used to think and treat people around 45 as old people. In fact, they looked like that! They behaved like that!
We, especially Indians, believe that the dates of our birth and death are already fixed by God, Almighty and nothing can be done about it. It is also the belief that our health and other factors are also fixed already by God. We also believe that all these things happen due to our own ‘karma’ in our earlier births. Of course, we also say that we should not keep quiet on this, but must continue to do our karma.
But things over the years have proved a little different and otherwise. People started living longer and healthily too. There are many factors governing the ‘Longevity and Quality of life’. Speaking of longevity, the average life span of people of the world has increased substantially over the decades. The average life span of people in US in year 2000 was 77.1 years. Even in our country, India, the average life span was 40 in the year 1950 and increased to 62.5 years by year 2000. This is mainly due to the meteoric advancement of our medical technology. There are now no deaths due to deceases like plague, cholera, typhoid, small pox, malaria and others, which used to take heavy tolls of life. We have now got medicines to take care of major diseases of heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and other parts of the body. Even organs like heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, eyes, etc. are being transplanted. Knees and shoulders are being replaced with artificial ones. Due to this advancement, the life span of men and women has increased substantially.
It is an admitted fact now, that more people are living longer. Thirty years ago people scarcely lived upto 70 years, especially in India, China and other countries. But that is changed now. People are now living much longer, very much longer. There are now many centenarians, who are living beyond 100 years. According to studies in the US there are approximately 10 centenarians per 100,000 people. Some surveys say that there are now 40,000 centenarians in US. The Census Bureau also predicted that USA would have 5.3 million people aged over 100 in the year 2100. Most western countries are similar to US. Astonishingly, in Dominica, a small Caribbean island, there are 23 centenarians in a total population of 71,500 i.e. about 32 per 100,000. In Okinawa, Japan, there are 34 centenarians per 100,000 people. So, the message is very very clear. You, I mean you, you and you, may have to live upto 100 years and beyond. Even if it is a little less, you have a long way to go. So, don’t be pessimistic and go on saying ‘my days are over.’ You have to plan for your years, many years ahead, to lead a healthy, happy and fruitful life, to serve yourself, your family, your society and your country. To be successful in this, you have to keep good health, good demeanor and good attitudes to yourself and others. In this endeavor of yours, you may take the experiences of others, who had lived or living very long and get inspiration from their lives.
Attaining long life is always good if one can have a good and healthy existence. Having to suffer through life is not the same as healthy living or good living. One study says “Most centenarians are in extraordinary health and shape, where they were energetic, youthful looking, lean and had very low rates of heart deceases and cancer.” Another research states that “Okinawa’s (Japan) elders, age 70 or greater and centenarians in particular, also seem to have experienced a slower age-related decline and markedly delayed or avoided entirely the chronic diseases of aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease”
In January 2006, Elizabeth Israel of a small Caribbean island of Dominica is the world’s oldest human at her age of 131 years. She ascribes her longevity to a simple life style, diet of natural foods, a diet of bush tea, hard work, loving families and strong belief in God.
Thornhill, a centenarian says "As long as God gives you life, do good all your day, so, wherever you go, it will follow you. It does not pay to do wrong. The good I have done in my young days, helped me to live longer than many of my family. When you do good, you will not be bogged down with an overactive mind of guilt and regrets, where your thoughts and emotions could trigger off bodily reactions, leading to stress, tension and depression, resulting in quicker aging and sickness.”
We in India have many senior seniors, who are very healthy and successful. Some of them have given the reasons of their success in having long lives:
1. Mr. Mohan Singh Oberoi, the great Hospitality king, who established a chain of Hotels around the world, at the age of 101, said “What actually keeps me going is the fact that my mind is always occupied. I am a firm believer in the fact that as long as you are mentally alert, you are healthy.”
2. Mr.Arun Shorie, father of Mr. Arun Jetley, at the age of 91 says “The secret of longevity is in my habit of looking at the lighter side of things. If a person tries to spend his life proving useful to others, his quality of life will automatically improve. If you spend all your time worrying about yourself, it will tell on your health.”
Creative people live longer than their peers. Strong interests and pursuits not only extend the life span but also enhance the quality of that extended period of life. This point is proved if you look at the lives of some of the great musicians and artists like Ustad Bismillah Khan (89), Mr. Naushad Ali (87), Pundit Ravi Shankar (72), Lata Mangeshkar (72), and Vaijayantimala Bali (70) and others. Even in our own India Community Center, we have our respected Arya Bhushan Ji, who has completed 87 years of healthy, active and fruitful life and is still going strong. He is young in mind and going strong day by day. I am sure he will be a centenarian and will be the first centenarian of our India Community Center, Sunnyvale, CA.
Some people say that our longevity depends on our heritage, our parents, grand parents and great grand parents. Scientists have recently discovered 10 genes that they believe may carry the secret of longevity. But facts reveal that the parents and grand parents of some of the centenarians did not live to be centenarians, but died at much younger ages.
Mere longevity and living to be a centenarian is no good. It will turn out into a curse. We cannot merely live long and suffer as a vegetables. Quality of life is equally and very, very important. We have to do all that is necessary to maintain good health and keep ourselves fit. We must develop proper attitudes to life. We have to lead lives without stress. Stress creates tension, anxiety and depression; and that is the root cause of all our illnesses. We have to love people and extend our love to all people, all animals and all living beings. Hatred is the root cause of our stress and downfall. As we live longer and longer, we will have more and more shocks in life like death of our close relatives, close friends and others. Simply because we are a centenarians, all our kith and kin and relatives and friends cannot be centenarians. Their life spans will be their own makings. So, we have to take all these incidents, as they come in their own stride. If we develop these attitudes and be actively active throughout, we will have healthy, fulfilling and rewarding lives and will be centenarians.
So, friends, our ends, yes, ends, are not close and near. We have a long, long way to go. So let us plan our lives and our ways of life properly and in a good way. We will all be centenarians, happy, good and useful centenarians! The message is very clear! Lead stress-less, purposeful, active, cheerful and healthy lives, taking things in their own stride, giving love and solace to everyone and not hating any one. You will be jewels in God’s creation! “Beware! You Are Going To Be A Centenarian”! Good Luck. Thank you.
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2)Bush and the Congress
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It was the year 1958. I was a young Executive Engineer, 33 years old, of the Godavari Head Works Division, at Dowlaishwaram, Andhra Pradesh. I was in charge of Godavari River, the third largest river in India, its Conservancy, a two mile long anicut across Godavari River at Dowlaiswaram, 300 miles of flood banks (levees) of the river and, a big workshop, catering the whole state of Andhra Pradesh and many others. It was one of the largest divisions of Irrigation Department of Government of Andhra Pradesh. For the execution of the major and urgent works in this division, I had to take important decisions on the spot and many times, which are beyond my powers. Mr. K.V. Srinivasa Rao, who was later Member of Central Water Commission and Chairman, Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board, was then my Superintending Engineer at Dowlaiswaram. Whenever I took decisions, which are beyond my powers, I used to tell him and he used to approve them. All this used to be done orally and I was not writing to him and taking his written approvals. This was all done in good faith on both sides. After nearly three years, Mr. K.V. Srinivasa Rao was transferred and was posted to Central Water Commission, New Delhi, as Director. Just before leaving for Delhi, Mr. Srinivasa Rao called me and said "Swamy, all along you had been executing works and taking decisions, which are beyond your powers and I approved them orally. It is necessary that you take my written orders and ratifications now before I leave. Please bring all the drawings and letters for ratification to me before I leave. I will approve them and it will be good and safe for you". At that time, I was young and dashing. I told him "Sir, you already approved all of them, there may not be any need for your signatures now. You are in a hurry to go to Delhi. Why unnecessarily spend your time on this, Sir?" Mr. Srinivasarao insisted; and so I collected all the drawings and papers and took them to him. He took them one by one and signed all of them without seeing and without asking any questions. That was the confidence he had in me and my work. Incidentally, he was one of the three eminent engineers of the country, in whose names the Institution of Engineers (India) later instituted an Endowment Lecture "L.Venkatakrishna Ayyar, K.V. Srinivasa Rao and M.L. Swamy Endowment Lecture". Mr. Srinvasarao handed over charge to his successor, Mr. T.V. Krishna Rao and left for Delhi to take up his new assignment.
Mr.T.V. Krishna Rao was just then promoted and it was his first posting as Superintending Engineer. He was a very good and a very honest man too. But, he was not dynamic like Mr. Srinivasa Rao. He was very timid. He was a Doubting Thomas! He was afraid of taking any decisions, much less to give any written orders, lest he may get into trouble. He does not allow any works to progress. He was afraid of his own shadow!
A few weeks after he joined, I found that one of the works, which I had executed on an emergency basis earlier, was not put up to Mr. Srinivasa Rao for approval. I routinely sent it to the Office of the Superintending Engineer and it was put up to Mr.T.V. Krishna Rao by his office. He kept the file for quite some time. He used to read the file and put it back without any orders. This, he did a number of times. After that, one day he called me to his office and mentioned to me about this file. I explained to him about the work and the need for executing the work emergently, in view of the impending floods in the Godavari River. I also told him that it was done in Mr. Srinivasa Rao’s time and he knew about this work and he had approved it orally; but the file was not put up to him for written ratification. Mr. Krishna Rao turned the file a number of times up and down and finally asked me "Mr. Swamy, is the work really done?" I got a shock of my life! What was he talking? Does he think that money was paid to the contractors without executing the work? I was upset. I strongly told him "Sir, the work was inspected by me and Mr. Srinivasa Rao. The work is still there on the Godavari river flood bank. You can now inspect and see it yourself." He cooled down and asked me a number of times "Can I sign this file? Is there no risk? Can you assure me of that? and so on". I told him and assured him that the work was done and done successfully, it is safe to sign and there is no risk. Finally, after a number of dialogues, he signed the file and finally said "Mr. Swamy, I am signing the file! I am signing the file! I am signing the file! Now, I have signed the file." He finally signed the file. Then he said "I have signed the file! Now the entire responsibility is yours!" I did not know what to say, whether to laugh or to cry! It was one of the funniest experiences in my life!
I am reminded of this incident that happened nearly 5 decades ago, when I am reading equally funny news in US, about "The Iraq war controversy". President George W. Bush has pushed US into unwarranted war with Iraq, due to his own fancies and prejudices and telling all lies to the people of US about the existence of devastating chemical weapons of mass destruction and others in Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussain. All these were later found to be wrong and false. More than 2,500 young American soldiers unnecessarily died so far in this war. Many more hundreds are waiting to die. Tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed. Hundreds are dying every day. There is now a civil war in Iraq. All the American people are against this war. Every one is blaming President George W. Bush for unnecessarily going to war without any provocation. US Congress is also blaming Bush for his hasty action in going to war and sacrificing valuable American lives and spending hundreds of Billions of Dollars of American money. Every one, including the members of Chejju ka Chowbara and India Community Center, think that Bush is a war-monger, liar and the culprit. Bush ratings have now come down miserably low.
I also thought Bush is wrong in going to war with Iraq and pursuing it; but not too long, much less now. I applied for Citizenship of US in November 2005. In early March 2006, I got a letter from the US Naturalization Service, asking me to appear for interview on 06 April 2006. It said, I have to appear for Civics and American History test. They have also given a model question paper, with answers. I was preparing for the interview and studying the 96 questions in Civics and History, with answers. One of the questions there, Question No.71, reads "What group has the power to declare War?" What is the answer given? Can you tell? The answer given in the paper is "The CONGRESS"! It is the Congress only that has the power to take America to go to war with any country. No other group or person in US has any powers, whatsoever, to approve or order to go to war with any country. So, Bush has not gone to war with Iraq all by himself. Has not the Congress given prior approval and stamp for US going to war with Iraq? Having approved this, why is Congress blaming Bush for going to war. Bush, as President, is only the Head of the Executive wing of America, the other two wings being Judicial and Legislative. Having given the approval, why is the Congress which is the Legislative wing of the Government, blaming the Executive, the President? Even now, if the Congress does not like to continue the war, they can give orders to the Executive, the President, to withdraw from Iraq and stop the war? This, the Congress has not done so far. It is not going to do it. Congress simply made Bush a scapegoat, when they found that all the people of US are against the war with Iraq.
When I think of this incident and US Congress, I am reminded of my old Boss, Mr.T.V. Krishna Rao at Dowlaiswaram. He had gone through the case thoroughly and a number of times and finally approved my action and signed the file. After that, he said "Swamy, I have approved the file. I have signed the file. Now you are responsible for this, you are entirely responsible for this!" Responsible for what? His signature? His approval?
US Congress appears to be no different! It has approved America going to war with Iraq. It has signed the orders. Bush, as Head of Executive Wing had only implemented the orders of Congress. But Congress is now saying that Bush is responsible, entirely responsible, for the Iraq war and its outcome! How strange! Has Mr. T.V. Krishna Rao gone up to the level of Congress! Or Congress has come down to the level of Mr. T.V. Krishna Rao! Why cannot the Congress raise up to the level of Mr.K.V. Srinivasa Rao and take full responsibility for the war? Only History will tell!
Thank you.
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3)BHAKTHA RAMADASS
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Hinduism like many other religions believes in the existence of God. We have Vedas, Upanishads, scriptures, puranas and others to establish the existence of God. The ultimate salvation or Moksha of Hindus is to see God and to become one with God. Many of our sages, saints, priests, pundits and others tell us about the glory of God and teach us ways, means and methods of seeing God and becoming one with God. But if you ask any of these sages, saints and others, whether they had seen God at any time, the answer will be ‘No’ an emphatic ‘No". But there are, in recent times, a few cases in which man has seen God! Surprisingly, the men that had seen God, the Hindu God, are not Hindus! They are men of other faiths. They are Muslims, following the faith of Islam! They had not seen the Muslim God "Allah". But they had seen the Hindu God! Of course, they had seen the God in their dreams; but it is materialistically proved that they had seen God!
Hyder Ali was a Muslim king in South India. He was a Muslim fanatic. He was known for destroying many Hindu temples in India. Once, he was told about the famous temple of Lord Venkateswara, (Balaji), at Tirumalai, Tirupathi, in Andhra Pradesh, India and about large number of Hindus worshipping at the temple. He got angry and determined to destroy the temple. He proceeded with his army to destroy the temple and enroute, he halted with his army for the night at Chandragiri, a place about 10 miles from Tirumalai, the place of the temple. In the night, Hyder Ali in his sleep got a dream. Lord Venkateswara in all his holiness, grandeur and kindness appeared before him in the dream and blessed him. Seeing Lord Venkateswara in all his viswarupam and grandeur, Hyder Ali was flabbergasted; no words came from his mouth. Immediately all his animosity for Hinduism, Hindus and the temple were erased from his mind. He got up from his sleep and immediately ordered halt to his army and the destruction of the temple. He immediately gave orders to make a big "Gangalam" of pure gold. "Gangalam" is a big cylindrical vessel with a spherical bottom and an open top, with two circular handles on the sides to lift it. Hyder Ali presented the Gangalam to the Temple of Lord Venkateswara, with a request to use it at the worship of the Lord at the temple. The temple authorities (Mahants) accepted it and started using the Gangalam for the pujas of the Lord in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple every day. Even today, it is being used every day at the sevas in the temple. It is called ‘Hyder Gangalam". I have personally seen the Hyder Gangalam in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. So, a Muslim could see a Hindu God, whereas many Hindus had failed to see their own God! How strange! How benevolent is the LORD!
Another instance is in the case of Sri Rama Temple at Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh, India. This is a part of Dandakaranya, where Lord Rama spent his exile of 14 years. Parnasala is a village about 20 miles from Bhadrachalam, on the banks of River Godavari, where Lord Rama had his parnasala, from where Sita was lifted away by Ravana. You can even now see that, for 30 miles or more, the hill ranges on the right of Godavari River are cut vertically in one line, like a geological fault. It is said that with the weight of Sita, the Pushpaka viman of Ravana could not lift high enough and the wheel of the Pushpaka viman had to cut the hill ranges for miles. Incidentally, I belong to that area. My grandfather was a landlord and liquor baron of that area in late 19th century and early 20th century. I also happened to work in that area and I went through these hills and forests.
The legend runs as follows. When Abul Hasan Tanishah, the last Kutub Shahi ruler, was reigning at Golconda, an unlettered tribal woman, by name Dammakka, was living in a hamlet near the hill of Bhadrachalam. She saw in her vision the images of Sri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, lying in an unfrequented spot on the top of the hill. Next day, she and her daughter climbed up the hill and discovered the idols at the spot, which she had seen in her dream. Dammakka had a small Mantapa, with bamboos and leaves constructed on the top, for housing the idols. At that time, in a neighboring village called Nela-kondapalli, one Gopanna, who was the nephew and son-in-law of the King's Minister Akkanna, was living. Gopanna, with his friends, while going through the Bhadrachalam hills, came across Dammakka and the idols of Sri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana and appreciated and helped the efforts of Dammakka in protecting the idols.
Gopanna later was appointed as the Tahasildar of Bhadrachalam area. At that time, he visited the idols of Sri Rama again and decided to build a big temple for the idols. This he did with the help of the villagers and devotees around. Also, as Tahasildar, he is authorized to collect Taxes from the people and remit to Tanisha, the head under Golconda Nawabs at Hyderabad. Tanishah, the last of the Golconda Nawabs, came within the political purview of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, which ruled from Hyderabad. Gopanna collected the Taxes alright, but spent all the money collected for the construction of the temple for Sri Rama at Bhadrachalam. This news went to the notice of Tanisha. Gopanna was summoned to Hyderabad and was imprisoned for 12 years in the Hyderabad Jails, undergoing rigorous and tortuous imprisonment. During his imprisonment, he was praying to Lord Rama and also sang a number of songs in praise of Lord Rama. Lord Rama was pleased with Gopanna. One night, when Tanisha was sleeping, Lord Rama and Lakshmana appeared in the dream of Tanisha. They told him to release Gopanna. Also they gave him Six lacks of Moharis, which Gopanna had used from the treasury money for the construction of the temple at Bhadrachalam. And then Lord Rama and Lakshmana disappeared. Tanisha got up from his sleep and was amazed at the dream. When he looked at the floor, he saw a huge heap of money coins lying on the floor, equivalent to the money spent by Gopanna for the construction of the temple. Tanisha immediately realized his mistake and ordered the immediate release of Gopanna from jail. He was requested to go back to Bhadrachalam and complete the balance construction of the temple. He was also given the money for the construction! He also allowed Gopanna to mint gold coins, popularly known as 'Rama-tangi', in the same shape in which Lord Ramachandra showered the coins before him. Gopanna was later called Bhaktha Rama Dass. He had written and sung a number of Telugu kritis in praise of Lord Rama and Sita. These songs are all house hold songs in the homes of all Telugu speaking people. He was thus a mystic, who had become saturated with the Lord's name and had lost himself in the contemplation of the Lord. Bhaktha Rama Doss is revered as a great saint of recent times in Andhra Pradesh.
The Nizam of Hyderabad from then on, sends a large quantity of valuable pearls to the Bhadrachalam temple every year at the time of "Sri Rama Navami", on which day the "Sita Rama Kalyanam" is celebrated with all grandeur. Devotees from all over India and abroad, come to this festival. The valuable pearls sent by Nawab of Nizam are used as "Talambralu" at the Kalyanam of the Lord and are distributed to the devotees. Thus, Bhadrachalam has a unique feature, where the sanctity and sacredness of the place have been increased by the mixture of tradition and history. This is perhaps the solitary and unique instance of Muslim patronage of a Hindu temple. Even now, after the rule of Nizam ceased, the successor Government of Andhra Pradesh sends these valuable pearls and also some money to the temple at the time of Sri Rama Navami every year. The Chief Minister or a representative of the government will be present at these sevas and the celebrations!
Again here, it is to be noted that Lord Rama, a Hindu God, had given darshan to Tanisha, a Muslim, who believed in Islam! How strange! How nice! How I wish Allah, the Muslim God, gives Darshan to me and Blesses me!
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4)GAYATRI MANTRA AND ITS SCIENTIFIC MEANING
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BY M.L. Swamy
“ Om bhur bhuvah swah
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dheemahi
Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat ”
This Gāyatrī Mantra is a highly revered Mantra, based on a Vedic Sanskrit verse from a hymn of the Rigveda (3.62.10), attributed to Maharishi Viśvāmitra. The mantra is named for its vedic gāyatrī metre. As the verse invokes the deva Savitur, it is also called Sāvitrī. Its recitation is traditionally preceded by OM and the formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ, is known as the mahāvyāhṛti ("great utterance")
The Gayatri Mantra is repeated and cited very widely in vedic literature and praised in several well-known classical Hindu texts such as Manusmriti, Harivamsa, and the Bhagavad Gita. The mantra is an important part of upanayanam ceremony for young males in Hinduism, and has long been recited by Brahmin males as part of their daily rituals. In the later 19th century, Hindu reform movements extended the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra beyond caste and gender limitations. In 1898, Swami Vivekananda began initiating non-Brahmins with the sacred thread ceremony and the Gayatri Mantra. He based this on the interpretations of the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita that Brahmin status is earned and not hereditary. The Arya Samaj notably spread the teaching that recitation of the mantra was not limited to males, but that women could rightfully be taught both the Vedas and the Gayatri Mantra. In his writings, S. Radhakrishnan encouraged the teaching of Gayatri mantra to men and women of all castes.
There are Notable paraphrases or free translations of Gayatri Mantra, given by many eminent personalities:
Sir William Jones:
"Let us adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the god-head, who illuminates all, who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress toward his holy seat."
Swami Vivekananda:
"We meditate on the glory of that Being, who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds.”
Sir S. Radhakrishnan:
1."We meditate on the effulgent glory of the divine Light; may He inspire our understanding.
2."We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun; may He inspire our intelligence.
Arya Samaj:
"O God ! Giver of life, Remover of all pain and sorrows, Bestower of happiness, the Creator of the Universe, Thou art most luminous, adorable and destroyer of sins. We meditate upon thee. May thou inspire, enlighten and guide our intellect in the right direction.
Brahmo Samaj:
"We meditate on the worshipable power and glory of Him, who has created the earth, the nether world and the heavens (i.e. the universe), and who directs our understanding.
Gayatri mantra has been bestowed the greatest importance in Vedic dharma. This mantra has also been termed as Savitri and Ved-Mata, the mother of the Vedas.
Let us now go to the Scientific meaning of Gayatri Mantra. The Mantra reads as:
Om bhur bhuvah swah
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dheemahi
Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat
The literal meaning of the mantra is:
“O God! You are Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Almighty. You are all Light. You are all Knowledge and Bliss. You are Destroyer of fear. You are Creator of this Universe. You are the Greatest of all. We bow and meditate upon your light. You guide our intellect in the right direction.”
The mantra, however, has a great scientific importance too, which somehow got lost in the literary tradition. The modern astrophysics and astronomy tell us that our Galaxy called Milky Way or Akash-Ganga contains approximately 100,000 millions of stars. Each star is like our sun having its own planetary system. We know that the moon moves round the earth and the earth moves round the sun along with the moon. All planets go round the sun. Each of the above bodies revolves round at its own axis as well. Our sun along with its family takes one round of the galactic center in 22.5 crore years. Like our galaxy, there are approximately another 100,000 million galaxies in our universe. All galaxies including ours are moving away at a terrific velocity of 20,000 miles per second. There may also be many, many universes like ours.
And now let us go to the alternative scientific meaning of the mantra step by step:
(A). OM BHUR BHUVAH SWAH:
Bhur the earth, bhuvah the planets (solar family), swah the Galaxy. We observe that when an ordinary fan with a speed of 900 RPM (rotations per minute) moves, it makes some noise. Then, one can imagine, what great noise would be created when the galaxies move with a speed of 20,000 miles per second. This is what this portion of the mantra explains, that the sound produced due to the fast-moving earth, planets and galaxies is Om. The sound was heard during meditation by Maharshi Vishvamitra, who mentioned it to his other colleagues. All of them, then unanimously decided to call this sound Om, the name of God, because this sound is available in all the three periods of time (bhuta, varthamana, bhavishyat) and hence it is set (permanent). Therefore, it was the first ever revolutionary idea to identify formless God with a specific title (form) called upadhi. Until that time, everybody recognized God as formless and nobody was prepared to accept this new idea. In the Gita also, it is said, "Omiti ekaksharam brahma", meaning that the name of the Supreme is Om, which contains only one syllable. This sound Om, heard during Samadhi, was called by all the seers ‘nada-brahma’, a very great noise; but not a noise that is normally heard beyond a specific amplitude and limits of decibels suited to human hearing. Hence the rishis called this sound Udgith musical sound of the above, (i.e.) heaven. They also noticed that the infinite mass of galaxies moving with a velocity of 20,000 miles/second was generating a kinetic energy = 1/2 MV2 and this was balancing the total energy consumption of the cosmos. Hence they named it Pranavah, which means the body (vapu) or store house of energy (prana).
(B). TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM:
Tat that (God), savitur the sun (star), varenyam worthy of bowing or respect. Once the form of a person along with the name is known to us, we may locate the specific person. Hence the two titles (upadhi) provide the solid ground to identify the formless God, Maharshi Vishvamitra suggested. He told us that we could know (realize) the unknowable formless God through the known factors, viz., sound Om and light of suns (stars). A mathematician can solve an equation x2+y2=16; if x=2; then y can be known as 6 and so on. An engineer can measure the width of a river even by standing at the riverbank just by drawing a triangle. So was the scientific method suggested by Maharshi Vishvamitra in the mantra in the next portion, as under:
(C). BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI:
Bhargo the light, devasya of the deity, dheemahi we should meditate. The rishi instructs us to meditate upon the available form (light of suns) to discover the formless Creator (God). Also, he wants us to do japa of the word Om (this is understood in the Mantra). This is how the sage wants us to proceed, but there is a great problem to realize it, as the human mind is so shaky and restless that without the grace of the Supreme (Brahma) it cannot be controlled. Hence Maharshi Vishvamitra suggests the way to pray Him as under:
(D). DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAT:
Dhiyo (intellect), yo (who), nah (we all), prachodayat (guide to right Direction). O God! Deploy our intellect on the right path.
The full scientific interpretation of the Mantra is:
The earth (bhur), the planets (bhuvah), and the galaxies (swah) are moving at a very great velocity and the sound produced is Om, (the name of formless God.) That God (tat), who manifests Himself in the form of light of suns (savitur), is worthy of bowing/respect (varenyam). We all, therefore, should meditate (dheemahi) upon the light (bhargo) of that deity (devasya) and also do chanting of Om. May He (yo) guide in right direction (prachodayat) our (nah) intellect dhiyo.
So, we notice that the important points hinted in the mantra are:-
1) The total kinetic energy generated by the movement of galaxies acts as an umbrella and balances the total energy consumption of the cosmos. Hence it was named as the Pranavah (body of energy). This is equal to 1/2 mv2 (Mass of galaxies x velocity2)
2) Realizing the great importance of the syllable OM, the other later date religions adopted this word with a slight change in accent, viz., Amen and Ameen.
(Writer is a Former Chief Engineer of Andhra Pradesh State, India and former World Bank Consultant.)
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