Swami Shivapadananda on the four disciplines

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 490

(Pictured – the western porch off Sri Ramakrishna's room- overlooking the Ganges)

Now take all five Maha Yajnas [great sacrifices or duties] and see the completeness of the householder's [lay devotee or person's] life. This service to the different deities is projected as karma yoga [yoga of offering the fruits of one's labour to God] in the Bhagavad Gita.

What we have learned is that we must observe the five Maha Yajnas in conjunction with dharma [righteousness or religious duty]. We have to serve the gods in conjunction with dharma. My dharma and your dharma will differ from second to second. Then there is a general dharma and a universal dharma. As a teacher in class your duty is one thing, as a husband at home it will be another, and as a friend it will be another. So dharma has to be known from all sides. Our scriptures, like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, spell this out for us completely.

The four disciplines of righteous life are dharma, artha, kama, moksha. When a householder practices dharma, which is performing righteous deeds, he gets artha, which means wealth. Whether this artha implies money, knowledge, physical health or strength, it leads to kama. Kama means 'getting pleasure' in performing our duties righteously. Wealth earned righteously encourages you to be 'dharmic'. One, who gets pleasure in performing duties righteously, attains liberation or moksha. You are sure to attain moksha if you lead a dharmic life. One has to perform all these disciplines to get the last one, namely, moksha or liberation.

In Hinduism the whole quality or life-style of a sadhaka [spiritual aspirant or practitioner] is so geared, so oriented, that it ultimately leads to liberation. Life is not to be lead haphazardly. One should not indulge in animal-like behaviour. Our actions (thoughts, words, and deeds) must be well thought out and specifically directed to attain a chosen goal called moksha. Righteous duty gives us a certain moral standing and this encompasses truth.

There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order. Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.