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Discourse Delivered at the Launch of 鈥楲iving Through Changing Times鈥� Written by I. V. Chalapati Rao

You can say it is a very rare occasion for all of us to have such function where we can get enlightenment through not only speeches but a wonderful book which just now Swami Jnanadanandaji has released. Sri Chalapati Rao is a special person because he not only writes books but whatever he writes he tries to practice in his life. That is his uniqueness and moreover I must congratulate Dr. Sreedhar Murthy for his efforts to bring out such wonderful literature for the betterment of society.

We know the aim and purpose of human life. The Poet says this human life without knowledge is just like animal life. So that is the uniqueness of a human being in coming to this world. That is what Vivekananda said while defining religion, 鈥淩eligion is the idea which is raising the brute on to man and man on to God鈥�. Uncultured mind and ignorant mind has to be elevated. For that we need proper training. Knowledge is so vast and life is very short. In such a short span of life we have to learn many things.

Vedas say there are two types of knowledge Apara Vidya and Para Vidya (secular knowledge and spiritual knowledge). We have wonderful literature, you can say a wonderful treasure of spiritual knowledge. We have Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata epics, and Bhagavad Gita. We have so many Puraanas, Upa Puraanas, Tantras and what not. So much knowledge is available for us. But the so-called modern man is not much inclined towards that. He thinks that it is in Sanskrit, outdated, not necessary and therefore he is not showing much interest in ancient literature. There are great scholars, and great Pandits who study all these scriptures but they are not interested in modern knowledge, modern science and technology because they think this is all worth less. They think that the wisdom of India is the highest and we should not bring down our mind to all these modern mundane things. They always keep themselves busy in studying the scriptures. They can quote Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc., but they are not aware of the modern progress and therefore there is need, to combine these two aspects, 鈥揳ncient and modern, spiritual aspect and secular aspect.

Therefore, we need such books where within short time you can learn both these things and that is what exactly Chalapati Rao garu has done. He has presented the wisdom of the sages. If you go through this book you will see that he has combined here many things from Photography to Philosophy, from Physics to Metaphysics. All these aspects of day-to-day life we need. He has covered thoroughly all skills, modern skills to live in this world and at the same time you will see there Shankaracharya, Buddha, Vivekananda and the great sages. That is the beauty of this book and not only this book, whatever books he has written. All of them contain this combination. That is what the modern man is waiting for. He has no time to go into the depth of voluminous writing. He wants to learn quickly. Now a days everything is fast. You need to learn everything within a short time because the readers are always busy. They do not have enough time. Whatever little time they have they want to spend it on something worthwhile, so that they can study and assimilate. For such majority of the people in this world and for their sake Chalapati Rao garu is taking trouble even at this age.

We can say at 85 he is not old but young. His 85 years young mind is engaged in bringing out all these wonderful pearls and offering to the society in the form of books. We have to try for both, as Vivekananda said science and technology coupled with Vedanta. Only when we combine both, our education is complete and we can achieve fulfilment in life. The ultimate goal of everybody is peace and happiness. But the only trouble is we do not know where it is. So, we are searching in wrong places, when all the time it is there within us.

We are like the deer which goes searching in all places when Kasturi (fragrant substance) is in its own navel. Likewise, human beings though everything is with them, they do not know how to manifest it. Vivekananda said religion is the manifestation of divinity already in man. So, each and every soul is potentially divine. Though Atman is within each one of us, because of our negligence and ignorance, we do not pay attention to it. Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha, that is Parama Purushartha. That is the goal to break all these bondages, but then most of the time we forget, we forget our goal and pursue petty goals. Entire life is dedicated to those petty goals. Those petty goals may be some jobs, money or this or that and ultimately we miss the wonderful opportunity. That is what Shankaracharya says: There are three things which are rare indeed and are due to the grace of God, namely 鈥榓 human birth, the longing for liberation and the protecting care of a perfect sage.鈥�

In this human birth alone we can achieve whatever we want to achieve in life. It is not possible in any other birth because they are all controlled by nature. They don鈥檛 have freedom. They don鈥檛 have thinking power. They do not have discrimination. Even a wicked person can become a great sage. That is how Ratnakar, the robber, became great Valmiki. Even if we commit sins, if we realize that it is not the way, we get enlightenment and when we change our way of life or direction certainly we also can achieve that Goal Supreme. That is why Manushayatvam human birth, is unique. That鈥檚 why Shankaracharya, once in Banaras, when he saw the people keeping themselves busy memorizing all these great scriptures, he pointed out the mistake in Bhajagovindam. Shankaracharya wanted to awaken them. We have political freedom but spiritually we are lagging behind.聽 Siddartha became Buddha when he saw the condition of the people. So, that is the ultimate goal. We should be aware of the goal of life. When we get in contact with great people we are again and again reminded about our goal. That鈥檚 why such type of books are necessary.

Now a days it is very difficult to get company of holy people because there are many people masquerading in the garb of holy people. It is difficult to find out who is holy and who is unholy but there are good books. Swami Vivekananda said I may give up my body but I shall continue to inspire people for one thousand years. So, all the great people have come to give us the ancient wisdom and when it is combined with modern science and technology then certainly it will be very useful and we can put into practice. You cannot say that it is not practical, or relevant. It is very relevant to the modern society.

People like I. V. Chalapathi Rao garu who combine these two will have tremendous impact on the society. When people think that a person living as a householder and at the same time is trying to achieve something higher not only writing but practicing in his life, that will certainly encourage people to follow the right path. The path of righteousness, the path of Dharma. That is what we want. It is not possible that within one life we can achieve everything and many births may be necessary to attain perfection. Let us start our spiritual journey, let us move towards the goal and ultimately one day or the other we are certainly going to reach and that is what Vivekananda said 鈥楢rise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached鈥�. That is the great mantra from Kathopanishad Uthishtatha Jagrotha Praptha vyaran nibhodhitha.

Once again I congratulate Sreedhar Murthy garu and I am really thankful to Chalapati Rao garu for giving us such a wonderful treasure for the modern men so that within a short time they can learn and improve their quality of life.

* The book was released by Swami Jnanadananda, President of Ramakrishna Math on 24-11-2007. Swami Srikantananda delivered the speech. 听听听