Philosophers From India

"Tulsidas wrote 12 books, but, by far, the most important is the Ramacharitamanas (the holy Lakes of the Acts of Ram), a Ramayana written in old Hindi (Avadhi) couplets. The book was written under the direction of Hanuman himself. It is read all over North India, and particularly during the time of the Ramlila. It is sung aloud in large groups for devotional purposes."

"Although all have extolled Vaikuntha (my divine Abode), which is familiar to the Vedas and the Puranas and known throughout the world, it is not so dear to Me as the city of Ayodhya: only some rare soul knows this secret. This beautiful city is My birthplace; to the north of it flows the holy Saryu, by bathing in which men secure a home near Me without any difficulty. The dwellers here are very dear to me; the city is not only full of bliss itself but bestows a residence in My divine Abode."

"In the year sixteen hundred and thirtyone bright, With my head lowly placed at my lord’s feet I write; On Tuesday, the ninth day of Chaitra, month pleasing, In the city of Avadh my story releasing. ‘Tis the birthday of Rāma, as scriptures declare, And the day when the pilgrims are gathering there. All demons, birds, serpents, men, saints and gods too There are meeting to bring their lord homage true; On this festival day of lord Rama’s birth They all sing with acclaim his high praises and worth."

"This fair city opens to all Rama’s heaven, The whole world knows well here is holiness given. Beyond number souls from the four wombs are born. But the souls who in Avadh die never return. Well knowing this city the home of delight, The giver of wealth, source of all that is bright, Its history pure I’ll begin to relate; Once heard it destroys passion, envy and hate."

"Placing my head on the feet of Sri Hari I commence this story in the Samvat year 1631 (AD 1574). On Tuesday, the ninth of the lunar month of Caitra, this story shed its lustre at Ayodhya. On this day of Sri Rama's birth the presiding spirits of all holy places flock there — so declare the Vedas — and demons, Nagas, birds, human beings, sages and gods come and pay their homage to the Lard of Raghus. Wise men celebrate the great birthday festival and sing the sweet glory of Sri Rama. Numerous groups of pious men take dip in the holy water of the Sarayu and, visualizing in their heart the beautiful swarthy form of Sri Rama mutter His name."

"There is no difference between knowledge and devotion, Both of them save the soul from the miseries of worldly life."

"To follow the path of knowledge is to tread on the edge of a sword. Once you get into it, there is no escape."

"“Listen, Vibhishan, Angad, Sugriv! Pure and clean “Is my city; my land is the fairest e’er seen! “Tho’ for beauty men always of Paradise dream, “And tho’ scripture, as all know, declares it supreme, “Tho’ but few know the secret, yet this I declare- “That dear to me is Avadh beyond all compare! “Here’s my birthplace, this city delightful, secure; “On the north River Sarju flows, sacred and pure, “In which bathing, without any labours or pains, “His abiding-place with me forever man gains; “Very dear to my heart are all those who here dwell; “They attain thus my realm, there and here all is well.”"

"This story shed its lustre at Ayodhya. on this day of Sri Rama's birth the presiding spirits of all holy places flock there..."

"Paradheen sapanehun such naheen."

"In dependence, there is no happiness, even in a dream."

"Faith in the Creator, who is mainly in his Godness and Godly in his man-ness, is like a human-self and can take him along."

"As the Ruler, so the people."

"I call him Rama. You can call him by any other name but have faith in him, surrender all worldly desires and passions to his will and without effort, become disciplined and principled."

"Unless one cultivates slave-master relationship with the Lord, No one can go across the ocean of this material world. Who is as virtuous a master as Rama? And who is as vicious as I am?"

"I honour Ayodhyā, all holy within; And the fair Sarju River, destroyer of sin. All honour again to that town’s sons and daughters, Whom Lord Rāma loved with love deep as deep waters. For their sake he Sita’s defamer forgave, That a realm free from, sorrow they always might have. I honour Kausalya, like eastern sky bright, Whose fair fame has spread, to the world giving light. From whence Rāma fair as the moon has arisen, By whom the world’s blest, evil’s blooms are all frozen.(After Dohā 15)"

"Yatha Raja Thatha Praja"

"The story of Ramachandra, as narrated in the Valmiki Ramayan and the Adhyatma Ramayan, after reinforcing and revitalizing it with the essence of whatever the Puranas, the Vedas, and other scriptures could give, I, Tulsidas, am writing for the delight of my own soul."

"He walks without legs, hears without ears, does all the deeds without hands. He enjoys all the juices without a mouth, spells all the truth without a voice, touches everything without hands. He see very object without eyes and inhales all the scents without a breath."

"God refuses to be mine, thine or his. For him the truth is but one but the proud and the vain have forged many out of their desires and fancies."

"Am a servant of Rama, Accredited to His Court, What for should I Be a Courier of man?"

"What did I not do, where did I not go, to whom did I not bow."

"[I] begged for crumbs and morsels door to door...Plodding and dawdling around lanes."

"Faith is that which dispels desire, Devotion is that which generates knowledge. And Vedas say that knowledge is that which fashions freedom."

"Mine is no caste or cult, what care I for one or the other... No one is of any use to me, nor am I of any use to anyone. Don’t have a son to need, someone’s daughter to wed. Tulsi is the slave of Rama, whoever may say whatever he likes. Begged for food, slept in a mosque, have nothing to take and nothing to give, call me a swindler or a saint, call me a Rajput or a Julaha."

"On Tuesday, the ninth day of Chaitra, month pleasing, In th’ city of Avadh my story releasing. 'Tis the birthday of Rāma, as scriptures declare, And the day when the pilgrims are gathering there. All demons, birds, serpents, men, saints and gods too There are meeting to bring to their lord homage true; On this festival day of the lord Rama’s birth They all sing with acclaim his high praises and worth.(After Dohā 33)"

"No virtue is equal to the good of others and no vice greater than hurting others."

"Mother and father abandoned me at birth and the author of my life also did not write any worth or merit on the page of destiny."

"It can be said without reservation that Tulsidas is the greatest to write in the Hindi language. Tulsidas was a Brahmin by birth and was believed to be a reincarnation of the author of the Sanskrit Ramayana, Valmiki."

"The world knows that to quell the belly-fire, I ate crumbs and morsels given by men of caste, high-caste, low-caste or no cast."

"You are so much after this bundle of flesh and bone? If you had half of that devotion to Rama, your life would be worthy and it will make you immortal."

"This [Journalism] is not a profession of my choice. Nor is it family traditional occupation. God must have created this profession as a fit theater for all my struggles...Whatever I have written so far is about politics or philosophy, literature, music, poetry or even speeches I made either in the floor of assembly or from public-platforms-all these in a way touch one aspect of journalism or the other"

"Journalism is meant to educate the people. To do this effectively, journalists will have to equip themselves adequately."

"Any journalist worth his salt, should have to study literature to some extent."

"… there is nothing peculiarly British or European in these ideas [of liberalism]. Their validity is universal. So far as India is concerned, the ideas are implicit in the Hindu concept of Dharma. […] Dharma is individual self-sustenance or one's being oneself… None can perform the Dharma of another. The eye cannot hear; the leg cannot taste… Liberty is opportunity for … self-fulfilment. Sva-tantra or liberty is a condition indispensable to Sva-dharma. It should be noted that, while the word liberty, denoting absence of restraint, is negative in its import, the word Sva-dharma (one's own duty prescribed by the principle of the general good) is positive. The notion of duty is implied and not explicit in liberty, while the notion of Sva-tantra (liberty) is implied and not explicit in Sva-dharma (duty). The relative emphasis in the two phrases is characteristic of the two scales of value. That liberty is incidental and ancillary to Dharma is the Hindu view…[…]Self-fulfilment is not in solitude, but in and through society… Law or Nyaya is the working of Dharma.[…]Dharma is thus charity or philanthropy, citizenship, or public spirit… The progress of the soul is from self-expression under the law of justice to self-dissolution in life universal--from Dharma to Moksha, from individualism to universalism, from life limited to life limitless."

"What is the character and nature of the people of India? What are their life-ideals? These are primary and basic questions that need to be asked in our politics... [in the ideals of our people], the world is just an instrument; the other world is a possibility, that is, it’s something that needs to be attained. A thirsty man needs water. What is required for water is a utensil. Thus, the utensil acquires a value because of water. In the same manner, worldly life acquires a value because it enables the attainment of the goal of reaching a higher world. And politics acquires a value because of worldly life. This is the chief tenet."

"...our national leaders demanded ‘Swarjaya’ [self-rule]. It was equally true that everybody had joined that demand. But the key [element] in that ‘Swarajya’ was the ejection of foreigners. But it wasn’t crystal clear in anybody’s mind as to the sort of people who would take the place of these foreigners. “Let the foreigners get out first, we’ll rule our country ourselves” – this was the only definite opinion back then... thus, the leaders of India artificially embraced to their hearts a political system that wasn’t convenient to our people...the pundits who authored Bharata’s political statute were bookish pundits..."

"The higher we go, the ups and downs at the lower level would gradually fade. If what we do is to be worth while and if we are to get job satisfaction, we have to study more and work hard. The more we work, the stronger the profession would become and grow."

"The rights that we upheld can be termed Theoretical Rights. They weren’t directly related to the common citizens’ daily life...what we demanded was democracy; what we’ve got party-cracy. [...] But the questions that some folks had asked me back then continue to remain intact. Mahatma Gandhi himself led this haste. The day after the riots at Vidurashwatha, he sent a telegram to Diwan Mirza [Ismail] thus: “Give the Responsible Government immediately. People have registered their qualification for it.” What’s the import of this? That mob enthusiasm is a proof of qualification, right? [...] Why has what appeared as an attractive political system become so abhorrent in practical experience? To state the truth, we cheated ourselves...back then, we didn’t have an estimate of how wretched human nature will become when confronted with the treasure called power. Our activist zeal concealed basic, natural human weaknesses from us."

"In the…varṇāśrama polity of ancient India, the State did not occupy so prominent a place in the non-kshatriya man’s life as it does now. Family was the hub of the universe…Family life was for every man. State life or civic duty was only for the kshatriya ordinarily. It was Greece that first developed the notion of the State as a moral annexe to…the family."

"Before the advent of Gandhi there was an open atmosphere in public discourse… After Gandhiji took the stage, this culture of free and open disagreement and debates vanished. It was said that the political stand of the entire country should be one, and that Gandhiji’s frontal leadership should be unhindered. It was said that if Gandhiji spoke, the nation spoke. The reasoning offered was as follows: unless the nation adopted this unquestioning mentality, we would not get freedom from the British… from then onwards, People were prohibited from taking his name without the mandatory honorific of “Mahatma.” Gandhiji’s thought was the nation’s thought."

"Never think of attempting a Utopia. Utopias are built either with self-perfected men and women or with brainless robots of obedience; but not with such mixture of good and bad as we are. Attempt at Utopia is therefore a delusion. It causes diversion of attention and energy which should go to little improvements that are achievable. The Utopia is thus the enemy of the practicable good."

"…you should both make up your minds to set apart 5 or 10 minutes every day, early in the morning, for what I would call the practice of approach to the Principle of Life… You may, in a low pitch of voice and slowly, read at first—and recite from memory after a time—some selected verses or songs embodying those ideas. I won’t insist on Sanskrit. Take the verses from Shakespeare or from Shelley if you like. All I suggest is that the passages should be such… as will readily call your mind to the deeper side of life. Whether you keep an image or a picture in front of you is a matter entirely for your choice. Image, flower, incense, a definite place, a particular seat and posture, [vibhūti] or [nāma] – these are of value only as initiators or aids to a heightened attitude of mind…You ask for no boons or favours in your prayer. You pray because prayer is a joy in itself. Prayer is contemplation of the source of life and of the forces which shape life. The reward for it is of the same kind as the reward for the contemplation of sunrise or moonrise."

"The craze for power among elected representatives is the deathtrap of democracy. Once they get in to the positions of power, they become gluttons, like the hungry at the dining table."

"History, if it should serve its purpose of stirring emotion, instigating inquiry and directing thought, must first of all be exciting. Is it impossible to be both truthful and warm-hearted, both factual and moving? Are imagination and conscience necessarily enemies to each other? In reconciling them is the art of the true historian. The flow of the story must be swift, vivid, vibrant."

"For some people belligerency and divisiveness are inbuilt qualities and if they come to power, unity becomes a far cry. Belligerent and divisive attitude are but natural in power politics."

"But a nationalist shall not merely have control over these weakness but would cultivate the qualities of politeness and cordiality."

"When the mind was disgusted with the ways of the world, when obstructions were feared in the path of duty, when people became excited and lost their reason, when friends lost their spirit and suffered inner disquiet on any account, [Sastry used to recollect these Slokas. Tulya nindastuti] – equal and unmoved by praise or insult - is an injunction which ought to guide our public men..."

"We must endeavour to bring about a correlationship and complementarity between the spiritual and secular. Let there be whatever changes in our style of living or in the conditions of society. The recognition of the soul and conscience, the acknowledgement of the supremacy of Divine, faith and devotion to Dharma, and the limitation of selfishness and greed - if these four are kept alive, we can boldly assert that the teaching of the Gita will remain alive."

"The work of samskriti or culture is the work of scrubbing, washing and cleansing the mind...the road of culture is one without a trace of stubbornness or crudeness; instead it is the road of humility and respect, for what is the difference between a life without humility and respect and the life of a dog that lunges for."