The Auspicious Beginning

Chapter 1: The auspicious beginning

Good life with 16 types of boons

 

The technique to avoid all obstacles

 

While starting education, at the time of marriage, when going to a new place, when leaving a lace, at the time of war – like these I can list one by one – in "all activities" – only one person does not have any obstacles:

 

"vidyarambe vivahe cha praveche nirgame thatha |

sangrame sarva karyeshu vignas tasya na jayate||

 

"vidyarambe": - while starting to study. From that age the "brahmacharya" stage of life begins. Therefore, there will be no troubles in the "householder" stage of life.

Only very few people take up the "sanyasa" stage of life, therefore by saying the former two stages one can say that a normal man's life is covered. That means, there will be no obstacles during his whole life.

 

What is life? There are several waves. What is there today is not same tomorrow, and one keeps doing something either mentally, vocally, bodily, intellectually, and even in terms of wealth to change them. If we think about it, "life is a series of movement" and nothing else. In this, the bodily movements are most obvious. Even among that, the travel – i.e. shifting bodily from one place to another appears to be the most important one. This is called "praveche nirgame thatha". Pravecham means to go into a place. Nirgamam means to leave a place. In this way, for any type of movement we move into a matter, and leave another. In all these there will be no obstacles.

 

I told you that life is a movement. There is another definition, and grammer for this. Magazines use this definition, which is popular. Of we hear "life struggle". Darwin's theory and Herbert spencer's theory state that creation took place by "struggle".

 

If we think about it, there is connection between movement and struggle. Only when there is movement for one individual, but there is no movement for the rest, the individual can go about freely (I mean all types of activities). Actually, is it so? All beings are constantly engaged in movement. Even the plants and trees have some movement. Even inside an atom there is constant movement at the speed of electricity. Like this if all beings and objects are moving about at the same time, there should be definitely some collisions – and therefore some struggle, is n't it?

 

If we go on like this deeper, the movement of any being or object is because of some struggle. If there is peace, is it clear now that there will be no more movement? Therefore, where there is movement there is "no peace"! The absence of peace is struggle. Therefore, War and peace are opposite words.

 

Though life itself is a struggle, particularly we notice the confrontations between two persons. This is called "sangramam" – it means war.

There will be no obstacles during a war. The person will be triumphant.

If we extend the meaning of this stanza, one will come out triumphant in all his life's travel from one place to another and all types of struggle, without any obstacles.

If we further extend the meaning, we can even say that he will reach a complete state which is devoid of movement or struggle, called atma Samadhi.

 

In the way I had mentioned that by "vidya aramba" one reaches bramhacharya stage; by "vivaha" he becomes an householder; we can take the meaning that he will reach the destination of sanyasa stage –i.e. "Samadhi".

 

Why this and that stage of life be mentioned? Therefore, the stanza ends stating that there will no obstacles "in all activities" – sarva karyeshu – and only victory.

 

Tasya is "for him" sarva karyeshu means – all activities; vigna – obstacles; na jayate – will not happen.

 

When some thing is told like this, with elaborate explanation then it gets absorbed into our mind. If the stanza had just stated "no obstacles in all activites" we would not get the meaning imprinted that well in our minds. After saying many situations, it is said "not in any activity" – so that it gets imprinted in our minds very well.

 

"sarva karyeshu vignas tasya na jayate – means there is no obstacle in all activities.

 

Who is the he referred to here?

 

The answer is in the previous line – that line reads as follows:

 

Shodasai thani namani ya padech – srunuyathpi

 

i.e. shodasa ethani namani ya padeth srunayath api

 

ethani means this i.e what was stated above; shodasa namani – 16 names' ya – who; padeth – reads; api – or (in this sentence); srunuyath – listens.

 

 

Who reads or listens to someone reading these 16 names, for him there are no obstacles in all activities – vignas tasya na jayate.

 

"Readers and listeners" is a commonly used phrase. Big epics and discourses are read and explained by a qualified reader/speaker. Others will listen to him. This "reader and listener" became "vakta – srotha".

However, in this case the subject is no big epic story. Just 16 names make the subject and so though the use of reader and listener is used, the principal expectation is that everyone should memorize the 16 names and recite them.

 

Only those who have not memorized can read from a book or listen to another person reading.

 

Like this, if one reads of listens to the 16 names—or even better recite from memory – for him there will be no obstacles at the start of education, marriage, arrival, departure, and war -- in all activities.

 

What are those 16 names? Who do they praise? All of the same form? Or many forms?

 

One form only.

 

From "no obstacles" we can guess who that one form is.

 

The vigneswara – lord Ganesha.

 

He has many names. 1008 and 108 names. There are 21 names for doing archana with 21 types of leaves. Similarly there are 21 names for doing archana with 21 types of flowers, and another 21 names for doing archana with doublets of kusa grass. But here for avoiding obstacles in our activities, only 16 names are mentioned.