The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 23)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II) 

The yagyopaveet (sutra) has nine threads and three knots.

The knots are symbols of the three granthis (extrasensory roots of ultimate realization)
1. the Brahma-granthi
2. the Vishnu-granthi
3. the Shiva-granthi

these also represent the three segments of the Gayatri Mantra that encode the sublime streams of manifestation of the omnipresent eternal sound of "Om".

The nine threads symbolize the nine planets and the nine divine-powers (manifestations of shakti, called the nav-durgas) implied in the nine words (after the shirsha) of the Gayatri Mantra.

The yagyopaveet is like an idol of the deity Gayatri.

You enshrine the idol in the temple of your body by wearing it.

Wearing this sacred sutra on the shoulders, keeping it near the chest, should remind you of the nine duties, nine virtues, nine principles that are taught and inspired through the nine words of the Gayatri Mantra, which are:
1. industriousness
2. humility
3. austerity
4. orderliness
5. cooperation
6. wisdom
7. integrity of character
8. sense of responsibility
9. courage

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 22)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II) 

The shikha represents the shirsha (top) of the Gayatri Mantra.

It reminds the devotee of the subtle presence of the pure divine intelligence in the human mind.

Tightening the hair knot right above the suture induces marvelous psychological benefits.

It helps in harmonious blood circulation in the brain in normal conditions and augments alertness.

As described in the yoga-scriptures, it also provides support in increasing mental concentration and meditation.

In terms of its sublime spiritual effects, the shikha works like an antenna in the outer domain of the Sahasrara Chakra (topmost extrasensory centre), to link the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness in the elevated state of Gayatri sadhana.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 21)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II)

Now we should also understand and propagate the importance of wearing the sutra and keeping shikha.

Initially when I used to explain some points on its underlying philosophy and science while conducting a yagya, people used to find it very unusual.


They would request me - "Why don't you just complete the rituals; we have come to offer the ahutis in the sacred fire of yagya; what have we to do with all the teachings and scientific effects?"

There was strong opposition from several swamis and pandits to my allowing women, and people from all castes and cults, to chant the Gayatri Mantra and participate in yagya.

But you see our impact now!!

Truth and righteous attempts cannot be checkmated by anyone for long.

Now you see thousands of women priests, ably conducting and guiding Gayatri Yagyas and the Vedic sacraments under the banner of this mission.

People from all walks of society, all creeds, live together, work together, like members of a large family, in this organization.

We have just lit the torch of truth and knowledge; humbly attempted the renaissance of the divine Rishi culture.

You all have to spread its light across the globe.

Do this by spreading the disciplines of shikha and sutra.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 20)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II)

I hope the Gayatri Pariwar, all of you, my children, the future of this nation, will take up this task of social reformation and cultural awakening through the religious platform.

I am happy that the Gayatri Pariwar has given boost to my initial efforts in this regard and we have been able to eliminate, to a great extent, the misconceptions about Yagya and Gayatri.

We have been able to remove the barriers of so-called caste, creed and discrimination on the basis of gender and social status.

Anybody interested in religious philosophy, humane culture, and desirous of self-refinement and enlightenment can participate in social and religious programs of the Gayatri Pariwar.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 19)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II)   

This is the age of intellect, scientific thinking.

We should learn to adopt religious teachings not just by convention, but by prudent thinking through an open mind.

Many a times it is seen that neither the elders in the family nor the priests are able to explain the meaning or purpose of the rituals during any religious ceremony.

Instead of satisfying the queries of the youngsters, they would often either scold them or simply declare that it was our tradition.

I remember one interesting incident.

The daughter of a rich advocate in Mathura was getting married to a foreign-returned, well-educated young man. The girl had also completed her M.A. The wedding ceremony was organized gorgeously.

In the lagna-mandap, the priest (Pandit) kept on asking the bride and the bridegroom to do several things, one after the other, as part of the ceremonial rituals. He was chanting some mantras in incomprehensive Sanskrit. He never bothered to see whether anybody was listening to him or not.

 All this had really bored the couple.

Unaware of this, the Pandit continued with - "Keep these many paise here with flowers, these many rupees there with rice grains", and what not!

Finally, the bridegroom interrupted him and humbly said that he was unable to understand what the Pandit was saying or doing and why?

The smart Pandit tried to pose as a guru and warned that interrupting him would be inauspicious, etc.

The young man then said - "Anyway, if you could pray to God on our behalf, why don't you also complete the rituals on our behalf. In the meantime we both will go out and take care of the guests who are waiting for us since long?"

Everybody around just laughed.

I had also gone to attend the wedding. This incident made me think seriously about the pitiable state of our rituals and customs.

What kind of social reformation and progress we would make if we can't even maintain the grace of important sacraments and convey the underlying teachings to our younger generation?

Why boast of our cultural heritage when we don't have the dignity to follow its values?

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 18)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II)  

What we now see everywhere and also follow in practice is mostly a mockery of our religion.

Look at the Kumbha Melas for instance!

Lots of crowds and commercial fan-fares! Hordes of people bathing in the rivers without even taking minimum care of hygiene; and instead, dirtying the holy rivers in an effort of purifying themselves!

Or the hordes of the so-called sadhus and sanyasis fighting with each other to have the honored privilege of taking the first dip into the sacred waters... and so on!

In their original form, the Kumbha Melas used to be the truly rare and auspicious occasions, of the majestic gatherings and conferences, of the great saints, sages and sincere devotees from all parts of India.

Disciples and other people used to reach there, despite all difficulties in traveling far distances, to be blessed by the nectar of knowledge, spiritual light and affectionate guidance, from the discourses and meetings of these noble masters, the saintly scholars and accomplished sadhaks.

Personal and social problems of the pilgrim-devotees used to be resolved by their eminent guidance; these altruist seers also used to focus on global problems and find amicable solutions for the welfare of the whole world, of all beings - men, women, birds, animals, plants, trees, rivers, mountains, everything in the Nature.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 17)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II) 

The japa of Gayatri Mantra with devotional meditation is carried out twice a day; preferably around the times of sunrise and sunset (this is also called sandhya vandan),

but the sutra (yagyopaveet, the symbol of Goddess Gayatri) is enshrined on the body all the twenty-four hours.

Doing japa or yagya, etc., has become a superficial ritual for most of us today, partly because we are not aware of their underlying philosophy and science, and partly because of our extrovert, selfish attitude, which always looks for materially gainful results.

We feel that doing this or that will bring worldly benefits, eliminate our sins, and what not!

Is this rational thinking?

Nothing will be bestowed upon you by doing all this.

Remember! Vedic scriptures do mention of miraculous effects and supernatural potentials associated with these sacraments, but these materialize only when we adopt the essential disciplines of sadhana connected with them.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 16)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II)

The commencement of wearing of the sutra and tightening of the shikha at the time of initiation (diksha) into Gayatri sadhana is referred in the shastras as dwijatva - the second birth - and the one who wears the sacred thread (sutra) and keeps the shikha is called a dwija (born anew - as Brahmin).

That means: whatever family one may be born in, wearing the sutra is his second birth, which is that of a Brahmin.

What does that imply?

It conveys that the beginning of wearing the sutra symbolizes the initiation into the life of a true Brahmin.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 15)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Nov_Dec/v1.ShikhaSutra_II)

Many people have great faith in doing havan (yajna or yagya).

This faith is inculcated in their minds since the childhood.

Havan is generally performed in every religious ceremony in the Hindu families.

But nobody knows about the intimate relation between yagya and yagyopaveet.

Yagya symbolizes noble deeds and yagyopaveet (sutra) indicates noble qualities that should be an integral part of a Brahmin's life.

Who is a Brahmin?

The one who strives for his inner enlightenment; who expects minimum from the society, and gives his best to the society. 

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 14)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/) 

The military officers wear different kinds of stars/stripes/badges as signs of their rank; the police uniform also has different kinds of badges stitched on it, which reflect the identity of the rank / post / state, etc. of the wearer.

If any police or army personnel is found guilty of deviating from his duties, the first punishment is that his medals and badges are taken away. This is like wiping out his identity. No penalty would be more painful to him than losing his uniform.

The Christians wear a cross; few people would know that even the custom of wearing necktie had begun as a mark of wearing the thread-symbol of the holy cross.

The Sikhs keep kirpan (tiny sword), comb, and maintain their hair uncut; they also wear a turban.

Then what do the Hindus have as a sign of their identity of being the followers of the Vedic religion?

If a Hindu has left shikha and sutra, should not he/she be regarded as someone who has disowned his religion?

Friends! I am not telling you to become fundamentalists.

But I am trying to make you aware of the importance of the symbols of our cultural dignity, which our forefathers, the great seers and sages, the scientists of yoga and spirituality, had invented.

These are not only the symbols of the eternal values and disciplines suitable for men and women of all ages, in all eras, but also have scientific and spiritual relevance.

I have mentioned about these in some of my articles.

I have also requested the parijans of the Gayatri Pariwar to propagate these teachings in scientific light, with logical justifications, during the yagyas and other religious ceremonies.

If we explain the meaning, purpose and importance of these sacred symbols of our faith, there is no reason why our children, our acquaintances, would not respect and adopt these basic symbols of the Vedic culture.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 13)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/)

If we go to some college and ask the students whether they wear the sutra, they would look at us blankly. They would not have even heard about it.

It is not their fault. We have never bothered to tell them about these things.

How will we explain the meaning and purpose behind these symbols when we ourselves don't know it?

We have just shunned such things as signs of superstitions, blind faith and backwardness.

The braided or tied hairs of women have at least preserved the custom of shikha.

But look at the boys; they may have long hair as per the fashion, but maintaining the shikha! Just don't talk about it!!

On one hand we are running blindly after modernity, and on the other, we have let ourselves entrapped in blind customs in the name of religion; for example, in many parts of the Indian society, girls / women are deprived of chanting or even knowing the Gayatri Mantra; they can't wear or even touch the yagyopaveet (sutra).

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 12)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/)

This body is the fort of the individual self, upon which the flag of shikha is hoisted, as the mark of the dignified values and virtues of humanity.

The foreign invaders, the crusaders against the Vedic (Indian) Culture, had attempted to eliminate the roots of this divine culture, by first cutting the shikha and removing the sutra from the bodies of the followers of Hindu religion. Thousands of innocent heads were cut off just for protesting against this attack.

It was for protecting the glory of these universal emblems of human religion that Maharana Pratap, Veer Shivaji, Guru Govind Singh, and other great martyrs of India had dedicated their noble lives.

Today, we have forgotten their sacrifices, and done what even the foreign invaders of the medieval times could not do - we have let ourselves be swept away from our roots, by the storm of cultural pollution coming from the West.

We have lost faith in our own values.

We feel ashamed in wearing the sutra and keeping the shikha.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 11)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/)

The moral and social duties of human life are worn on our shoulders, and kept attached to our heart in symbolic form as the sacred thread of yagyopaveet (Sutra).

It also hangs on our back. It has tied us from all sides, as a reminder of the moral disciplines and ethical duties as human beings.

With the advent of different religious doctrines and diversities in the religious practices, shikha and sutra might have been confined only to the Hindus, but the principles and teachings associated with them, are eternal and universal.

I have written several articles and booklets to elucidate these facts with historical evidences.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 10)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/)

Shikha and Sutra:

What are the emblems of this divine culture (the Rishi Culture / the Indian Culture) that remind us of its principles and disciplines to be followed in human life?

These are Shikha and Sutra - the idols of Gayatri that are enshrined in the temple of the human body.

[Shikha is a knot of hair, tied at the crown-point (right above the suture) on the central top of the head; this point is given distinctive importance in the science of yoga and spirituality, as the point of contact with the brain-centre of intellectual and emotional sensitivity.]

[Sutra is the sacred thread, also called yagyopaveet, which is worn on the shoulders and the chest after the sacrament of upanayana or thread-ceremony.]

Shikha symbolizes the presence of discerning intellect, farsightedness and the deity of knowledge upon our head.

It is a flag of human culture.

It reminds us of the religious principles of morality, righteousness, responsibility and dutiful awareness.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 09)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/) 

You all should also adopt the spiritual devotional practice of the Gayatri Mantra, together with whatever other mode of worship you are used to.

You may keep the written script of the mantra at your place of worship, or enshrine an idol or picture of the deity Mother Gayatri, as symbolized by the Rishis, to represent the divine power of this mantra.

Collective efforts from all of us will lead to convergence and unity of all cults / sects, and revive the glory of the divine culture, which emanated from the universal (Vedic) religion.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 08)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/) 

What is the origin of the Vedic Religion and the Indian Culture?

It is the ultimate knowledge, the pre-eminent force of spirituality, the divine light, and the eternal values, embedded in Gayatri Mantra.

I have therefore motivated you all towards the sadhana of Gayatri Mantra.

This mantra is the root of the Vedas.

Lord Krishna himself was a devotee of Gayatri Mantra.

Look at the Valimiki Ramayana; it mentions that Lord Ram was also given the deeksha of Gayatri Mantra.

Further back, this mantra has been described in the Vedic scriptures as also being the root of inspiration and activation of the powers of the eternal Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

It is said to be the source of all creation and existence, in the gross and the subliminal realms of manifestation.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 07)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/)

Origin of Religion and Culture:

If we are to revive the glory of religion, we will have to look into its origin.

The varieties of communes and sects, mushroomed in the field of religion since the post Vedic Age, need to be converged towards their fundamental unity.

Recalling the emblems (and the associated knowledge) of this origin could be one effective way of achieving this goal. I have always believed in that.

Our national flag is the symbol of our national unity, strength and prestige; we all, irrespective of whether we are Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or someone else by faith, respect it. See how a symbol unites us!

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 06)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/)

The blind attachment to the gross symbol, with a desire of gaining favor from this inert God, in return for the offerings of worship, make a mockery of the deep philosophy and psychological intensity underlying idol-worship.

It is this superficial devotion and emotional excitement of affinity with the symbols of deities, that correspond to blind faith and superstition, which are criticized by the savants.

These misconceptions and associated insane customs were at their peak in the medieval times. The real meaning and importance of the emblems of Indian Culture, founded by the Rishis (the seer-sages of the Vedic Age), were also lost in the mist of this dark phase of ignorance and religious anarchy.

The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra (Translation of a discourse of Revered Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)

(Post 05)

(http://literature.awgp.org/akhandjyoti/2004/Sept_Oct/ShikhaSutra/)

Our worshiping the idols is no better than kids toy game:
- if we do not have any living aspiration to imbibe divine attributes and values, and
- make no efforts to materialize our worship by following the disciplines and teachings of the divine incarnations in real life.

What is the point in saluting the book of Bhagavad Gita or lighting a lamp near it, if we don't read it and learn from what Lord Krishna had taught to Arjuna?