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?

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

(Post 04)

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

Prophet Hazarat Muhammad had opposed idol worship because of the sinful customs that were propagated and practiced through it during his times.

The place where he was born was dominated by the blind rule of might is right, those days. Dacoits and hoodlums used to rob the villages, and take away all the crops, cattle and young women for their pleasure; some of them used to possess ten to fifty women. Some of the children born by them were allowed to grow to serve as bonded laborers or work in the dacoit gangs. As it was found a waste to raise the rest, those kids were killed in the name of sacrifices before the giant idols, made in the lands occupied by the dacoits.

The angelic soul of Hazarat Muhammad was born in human form to eliminate such heinous acts and insane customs.

He destroyed the roots of such evils by opposing the mindless and cruel rituals of worship.

It was the necessity of that time and that place.

This does not mean that all kinds of idol-worship are bad or irrational.

You must remember that all the idols of Divine manifestations are simply the source of reminding us of God.

We may, for example, go to the temples of Lord Krishna, and also bend our head and offer prayers.

But we should know that this pranam and prayers are not for the stone that is enshrined in the temple. Rather, these are for Lord Krishna, whose divine incarnation in human form had taken place to bestow the light of divinity, to establish the law of righteousness, to give new direction of enlightened progress to the world.

The idols simply help to awaken our devotional sentiments.

These may activate the linkage of our inner mind with Him during meditation or emotionally engrossed prayers, if we have really purified our mind and have adopted the true meaning of devotional faith in our lives.