Archi Devi Dasi (Ekmekchjan Adelaida) - Aryans and We

The basis of the activity of pious persons is the sense of duty, the external regulating force is honor and the ultimate goal is liberation. What does “the sense of duty is the activity basis” mean? When one is sure that he/she is the eternal spiritual parcel, he/she can easily understand all delusiveness of the connection with this world. From this point of view, one’s attitude to life and situations formed around the life is greatly different from the atheist’s attitude. When one knows his/her eternal nature and understands the reincarnation concept, such person becomes free from miserly thinking which is generated by the death (destruction) anxiety. The concept of our own eternity gives us the strength to sacrifice our one life without degradation of our virtues, if the life has not happened to be very successful from the point of view of material happiness and welfare. It is a very important mood and it is not be possible to be an Aryan without it. The atheist’s heart is filled with envy and the consecutive hatred which one starts to nourish to all people successful from the point of view of material welfare. The ultimate goal of an Aryan is to restore the spiritual consciousness. Such person has to solve various psychological problems which require а balanced condition. Such person understands that the more his/her behavior is instable and heedless, the more he/she will be entangled in material existence, in the cycle of birth and death. That is why, on the one hand, one tries not to have extra false attachments to temporary (from the point of view of soul) objects of sensory pleasures (as we can see it is the internal attitude); on the other hand, one sets a high value on the necessity to fulfill duties (the external behavior). Such person understands that it is not by mere chance that he/she has got into a certain situation and he/she tries to behave in a way so as not to attain such outcomes which could cause sufferings to him/herself and others. Activities of really virtuous people are based on their high conscience of their own duty. We need to highlight that the Aryan society was different from all other civilizations by its ability to bring up these very personalities. Nowadays the ability to bring up well-doers is also the main problem which people are trying to solve but to the best of our belief they have selected the incorrect route.

The Bhagavad-Gita (Chapter 3, Verses 18-21) says:

A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his duties prescribed by the Vedas, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being.

Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty; for by working without attachment, one attains the Supreme.

Even kings like Janaka and others attained the perfectional stage by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.

Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.

As we see, the determining factor in people’s upbringing was the example given by the leaders of society. Society can never be virtuous, if its leaders are not. Therefore, the Aryan society paid a great attention to the purity of religious figures and state leaders. The higher caste which a person belonged to was, the stricter requirements were applied to him/her in terms of qualities of this person. The least significant requirements were applied to commoners.

As said above, the external regulating principle of the Aryans’ behavior was their honor. This factor played a great role in the Aryan society. When Arjuna refused to fight, Krishna told him (the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 2, Verses 31-36):

Considering your specific duty as a kshatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.

O Pārtha, happy are the kshatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.

If, however, you do not perform your duty of good fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter.

People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.

The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you insignificant.

Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful for you?

These texts in fact give the component by which one can reach eternity in this material world. In the material world our eternity is the glory. A virtuous person understands that he/she does not possess independence in this world. We are connected with people by familial bonds and our glory is their honor and our disgrace is their dishonor. Upon a closer view, it can be seen that actually in human society honor plays a great role. The sense of dignity which is felt by a well-reputed person cannot be changed for anything. Good reputation makes the life of a person and his/her family comfortable. Honor, thus, in the Aryan society was more valuable than wealth. For the sake of honor, people without a moment of hesitation gave their lives. The most disgraceful act of the Aryans was so called “civil death”. This ceremony was very humiliating. In the Aryan society, honored men wore ancestral jewelry, grew long hair and moustache. When a man acted inappropriately in his position, he was taken off his jewelry, got bald-headed, got his moustache and eyebrows cut off. This ceremony was very difficult to pass through. Mostly such persons left the Aryan society and became members of less developed communities. Aborigines found these persons divine but in fact they were only human driftwoods of the Aryan society. It took only a little time for such outcasts to exhibit their vicious nature. As a rule, these persons mixed with natives and eventually completely lost their pious (Aryan) nature. But natives composed legends about them and handed them down from generation to generation. The Eastern wisdom tells, “The camel, even when dead, is the burden for seven donkeys”. Similarly, these persons even though they had been expelled from the Aryan society and could not fit to live in it, for those who lived outside the Aryan society were simply gods. There are many examples when such “fallen” Aryans came to some societies and impart to local aboriginal people the knowledge that they had got and became authoritative persons alongside with gods. In some cases such an event even became the basis for the whole civilization still in existence until now. We would avoid giving specific examples in order not to raise discontent of representatives of this civilization. The greater importance is placed on the positive attention to the values of the Aryan society than the necessity for an unprepared person to accept an unusual truth requiring historical evidences. We have mentioned it only for the purpose to note this very fact as we are interested only in the ethical value system of the Aryans. Therefore, please kindly forgive us dear readers that we have not proved the above said by examples.

What is the reason for loss of sublime qualities? It usually happens under the influence of pride or lust. The guna of goodness gives rise in a person a peculiar superiority complex and it is dangerous. If a person does not use the power of mind to overcome this superiority complex (pride), he/she becomes vulnerable. Pride or, in other words, contempt to other living beings makes a person cruel. Acts of cruelty cannot keep one under the influence of the guna of goodness. One’s heart is filled with improper amount of lust which triggers degradation. This happens because the material nature has got the educational function. Once a living being in the material world overestimates some fact, the nature acts in such a way so as to devaluate it. It is a very important secret when perceived it helps a person to be fixed on the guna of goodness. The pious activity starts from the self-control when one freely accepts instructions of the Vedas as regulating principles for behavior. If one uses happiness and enlightenment coming from the guna of goodness as the privilege and the chance to humiliate and despise others, he/she degrades.