== PROPER DEFINITION? ==
Namaskar,
By Baba's divine grace He has graciously given various special teachings
for building up a spirited & singular human society. Each point has its own
unique aspects and beneficial results-- including His divine teaching on
'vivaha'.
However the recently released AM Dictionary (2005) defines vivaha in a most
ordinary and mundane way. Yet as every margii knows, Baba's grand guideline
about vivaha is anything but common and ordinary-- rather it is
extraordinary. Please read the following.
POINT SOCIETY TOWARDS A SPIRITUAL GOAL
Since the very beginning in 1955, Baba's has graciously guided us to form
one human society. Because the whole aim of the Ananda Marga mission is
Atmamok's'a'rtham' jagaddhita'ya ca-- 'self-realisation and service to
humanity. But without building up one human society this can never be
achieved'. So Baba has taken strong steps to form a single human society
whereby people can move towards their spiritual goal.
NEVER DONE BEFORE
In the past neither Lord Shiva nor Lord Krsna could do this. They were engaged
in other ways and could not manage the strong planning necessary to bring
the entire humanity within one thread. But Baba has indeed taken up this
great endeavour.
SOLVING THE NEGATIVE SIDE AND BUILDING UP POSITIVELY
To bring anyone on the path of dharma a proper environment is necessary and
for that one human society is needed. Towards this end, Baba has taken
numerous steps.
On the one hand He has involved deeply in repairing work-- addressing and
solving society's ills. In this way And He has exposed and given the
solutions for all those negative aspects. Such as: religious dogmas,
casteism, racism, communalism, sentiments, exploitation, untouchability,
color, economic disparity, etc. Indeed so many inequalities and injustices
in the society Baba has addressed.
And simultaneously Baba infused one very positive feature for humanity to
follow. And that is His revolutionary concept of society building: Which
includes the creation of more WTs and the formation of more revolutionary
marriages.
Society building ensures a certain stability and dynamism as well as the
love and compassion necessary for enabling people to grow in a healthy and
proper way. So this is one key for developing one human society.
And indeed when that society is formed then there will be huge scope for
people to grow in all sorts of ways and devote maximum time for spiritual
pursuits and ultimately become one with Parama Purusa.
So society building has a special role.
REVOLUTIONARY MARRIAGES
Indeed revolutionary marriages (RM) are a special feature of AM life and
come within the scope of the society building department of AMPS. Actually
the main basis of for marriage in Ananda Marga is society building.
In the past Lord Buddha also neglected this important social factor so he
could not form the society properly. Lord Buddha's teachings were deficient
in this regard. And many religions also have not been able to create solid
systems and ideals for marriage. And certainly the materialistic societies
around the globe are also severely lacking on the point of marriage.
But the tantric system which has been coming since the last 7000 years has
a special meaning and practical aspect. And we have seen this in our lives
especially in DMC when Baba used to give blessings to marriage couples.
Then as I recall, His system was like this.
BABA'S MARRIAGE BLESSING
First the newly married couple would approach the dais and do sastaunga
pranam to Baba. And then with both of their hands the couple would jointly
offer a flower garland to Baba. Then Baba would then place His own hands
around their hands along with the mala (flower garland). And then Baba used
to chant the blessing and mantra as follows,
'Be like Shiva and Parvati, go on doing your worldly duties along with your
psychic and spiritual pursuits, be the assets of the entire civilisation,
and by your service the whole society should be benefited'.
Baba also used to repeat the mantra 'Shubamastu...', meaning 'May you be
blessed'.
And then He would give the mala to the bride. To English speaking Margiis
Baba used to say, 'little girl take this mala and keep it with you'. And
when He spoke to Margiis in Bengali or Hindi this was the translation:
'mother keep this garland along with you'.
So hundreds of times during DMC we have witnessed how Baba used to give His
marriage blessings. And always He would begin by saying 'Be like Shiva and
Parvati...'
Here the special significance 'Be like Shiva and Parvati' is that during
Lord Shiva's entire married life He took care of Parvati, and Parvati took
care of Lord Shiva. Their marriage was ideal. It was not based on any
material satisfaction or gain. Rather it was starting point of "building
one society", ie human society.
NO SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE PAST
Prior to Lord Shiva's advent society was not at all properly formed as
there was not such a marriage system. And the ones who suffered most were
the children and their mothers. Basically males were escaping from their
responsibility after producing children. So the whole responsibility of the
children's physical, psychic and sentimental needs fell upon the mother
alone. In which case the condition of the baby and mother was terrible.
LORD SHIVA'S CONTRIBUTION
Then Lord Shiva came. And for the first time in human history He gave the
system of marriage. And that marriage system was primarily for the welfare
of the child who will become in future a bonafide member of the civilized
society.
In this same spirit, Baba has created the society building dept in our Marga.
THE PRESENT SCENE
And it is the common view in western / European countries the real spirit
of society building is not being followed. Because in the general society
children are not properly cared for. Mostly children are not able or
allowed to live along their mothers, or sleep and get love and affection
from mothers even in nighttime. Unfortunately this is the common fashion
these days, it is well accepted. So a sentimental deficiency is clearly
visible in the children.
And the second point is that mothers are getting exploited because males
usually break the marriage for one or another reason. Though sometime
females are the cause of this also.
In our Marga society the situation is improving a lot, but in the true
sense society building has not yet taken proper shape. If we look back over
the history we will find out innumerable examples how on one or another
ground the spirit of Baba's marriage system has been sacrificed.
Although the name is society building, but in the real sense society is not
getting built-- but I have deep faith that with firm determination we will
reach to the goal which Baba has established.
BABA'S DIVINE TEACHING OF VIVAHA
Here this following teaching will make this entire subject more clear.
BABA says, "At the beginning of evolution, humans used to lead libertine
lives without any consideration for family obligations..."
"The male libertines would not take responsibility for their offspring.
They used to wander freely, and as a result, the entire responsibility for
raising the children in their infancy would devolve on the mothers. But it
was not possible for the mothers alone to bear the responsibility of
maintaining the children, as a result of which many children died in early
infancy. Those who survived felt themselves to be in a sea of troubles
after they were weaned from their mother's breast-milk. Then they would be
deprived of their mother's love, since she had to take care of the next
baby. Those were the days of the prehistoric humans..."
"By declaring the males to be bhartta', or husbands, Shiva fulfilled a
major portion of His task for human society. But Shiva did more than that:
He declared the women must be kalatra, which means that women must
discharge their obligations to their husbands and their children in such a
way that the latter will not have the least difficulty. Those who accepted
this new arrangement were declared married..."
"The Samskrta equivalent for marriage is viva'ha (vi-vaha + ghain): it
means, after the ceremony, the man and the woman can no longer live as
libertines or as irresponsible so-called family people. They have to
discharge their full obligations as bhartta' and kalatra, responsible
husband and responsible wife...."
"The literal meaning of the term vivaha is 'to live one's life in a new way
with a special type of responsibility.' This is the underlying significance
of the Shaeva system of marriage." (NSS, Shivokti 3)
Namaskar,
Mahendra
Note 1: DADA'S MISTAKE IN THE AM DICTIONARY
So Vivaha is one special way for developing the society; it is one
revolutionary form of marriage that brings the fulfillment of human
potential through responsibility and commitment and spiritual growth. So
vivaha cannot merely be defined by a single mundane term. That is why Baba
Himself takes several paragraphs to explain the meaning of vivaha. But
unfortunately if you look up vivaha in the AM Dictionary all you will find
is the singular mundane term 'marriage'-- nothing more. By this way people
will think that vivaha just means one crude love marriage where males later
divorce when their sensual desires get directed towards some younger female
etc. It would have been far better if those in charge defined vivaha as
'the special system of a dharmic marriages first introduced in Lord Shiva's
time' or 'a union between husband and wife based on fulfillment of an
ideal' etc. Any of these type of definitions would been much more
appropriate. Because to only say 'vivaha = marriage' is totally misleading.
Just imagine if in the dictionary someone defined dharma as 'religion'--
without saying anything more. Then people would think dharma was just one
dogmatic thing. How misleading and unjust that would be. Similarly to
define vivaha using one simple mundane term like marriage which is so
commonly abused in this present era. Where the divorce rate is 75% in some
states and where males regularly cheat on their supposed wives, and
vice-versa. So in this crude era where the institution of marriage has been
reduced to dirt it cannot be told that vivaha means 'marriage'. The
Dictionary definition must carry the inner spirit or dharmic quality of the
term. Because AM means dharma; so without that, the goal of making an AM
Dictionary remains unfulfilled, lacking, or faulty.
Note 2: NOT EXISTING IN ISOLATION
The problems associated with the "AM Dictionary's" definition of vivaha do
no exist in isolation. Because there are dozens and dozens of terms-- if
not hundreds-- that are improperly defined in that Dictionary. That is many
of the definitions do not reflect Baba's given teachings of Ananda Marga.
That is why the entire Dictionary needs a critical review, not just one
single definition. No one should be confused about this.
Note 3: IDEA IS GOOD; PERFORMANCE WAS POOR
A couple Dadas and lower grade type of helpers seem to have been involved
in making the AM Dictionary. If done properly then surely it will be a
benefit; but when a Dictionary itself is not good, then it is not just a
common error. Because this book is meant as a guideline or reference for
the entire society. Thus stringent efforts must be taken in future to
create one proper and well-referenced dictionary. Everyone is invited to
participate and help. Kindly write in with your suggestions.
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Remedy Of Disappointment & Frustration
Baba says, "Very often people become victims of disappointment for the sole
reason that they forget their goal in life. If they look towards their
goal, then their disappointments and frustrations will cease. Whenever a
human being is created, they come within the Cosmic Mind. So when the
microcosms move towards Macrocosmic Consciousness, Parama Purusa is
watching-- Parama Purusa is with them holding their hands. It is the humans
who do not look towards Him-- this is their misfortune." (SS-12, p.5)
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