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Thoughts of pure intellect : scriptures for the modern age (Pragyopanishada): Vangamaya Vol-38

The Vedas, Upnishadas, Brahmanas and Aranyakas areconsidered to be the most ancient scriptures of Indian Philosophy, Science and Culture. All branches of knowledge are said to be assimilated in this treasure of the first civilization on the earth. The eighteen Puranas had emanated from these scriptures in the pre-historic times to make common people understand the purpose and art of living a righteous life with the help of stories and allegorical descriptions…. There are about twenty thousands mantras (hymns) originally compiled in the Vedas. The total number of mantras in the Puranas are over one billion. While the Vedas contain pure knowledge in abstract form with special configuration of the eternal power of sound in the mantras (refer volume 18 of this series for details), the hymns in the Puranas are poetic narration of different aspects of life supplemented by illustrations with the help of stories of some mythological characters.
The characters described in the Puranas belonged to the ancient times and were most suitable to convey specific lessons to the people of that era…. Though the Puranas remained popular among the people in the later ages too, the descriptions contained there had lost their relevance…. In the modern age, Puranas were mostly read either as part of scholastic studies in ancient literature or because of orthodox traditions…. Misinter-pretations drawn from the myths had rather reversed their impact and had led to the ‘deformation’ of the Hindu religion and Indian culture in several ways.
It was the moral responsibility of the scholars and saints of our times to have presented the lessons of the ideal philosophy of life in new light, having similar intimacy with people’s psychology today as was the influence of the Puranas in the times of yore. Among the sincere efforts made in this regard, the recent contributions of Pt. Shriram Acharya are most remarkable.
It was sometimes in 1960-61 when Acharya Sharma had translated all the 4 Vedas, 108 Upnishadas, Yogavashishtha, all the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and the 18 Puranas in Hindi to enable even the non-scholastic, common people get an idea of what the ancient scriptures were like… This was also aimed at eliminating the misconceptions, superstitions, unreasonable customs and blind faith which were propagated because of the misinterpretations of the hymns written in the classic language of yore.
Gurudev Shriram Sharma was a rishi of the present era. He had felt the pains of humanity through heart. Every moment of his life was devoted to the welfare of people and refinement of the environment of life…. His sagacious wisdom and spirituality had a reach into the deepest depth of Human Psychology. He could therefore identify the root cause of the ailing state of human life as – the crisis of faith, ignorance about the power of the inner self and lack of righteous attitude. He realized the need for substituting the Puranas by eloquent literature which would present the eternal principles of happy, progressive and ideal life in scientific light with practical guidance relevant in modern circumstances… He wrote on almost all aspects of human life covering thousands of topics pertaining to – day to day life, familial, social and professional interactions, personality development, self-reliant education, viable economy linked with welfare and progress, human psychology, science of entertainment, ancient and modern systems of medicine, bio-electricity , bio-magnetism, sociology, philosophy, comprehensive knowledge of yoga, meditation and spirituality, integration of science and religion, fundamentals of astronomy and astrology, origin and expansion of Indian culture, future of the world, etc….
Acharya Sharma’s pen carries the force of his inner self and has the power to make his thoughts reach deep in the minds and hearts of the readers. Each of his book is a milestone in the fields of trenchant knowledge of life. The volumes of “Pragya Purana” written by him in the late 1980’s are significant parts of this precious contribution.
“Pragya” literally means pure intellect. The volumes of “Pragya Purana” as the word suggests are going to be the Puranas of the years to come. These were written by Acharya Sharma in the introspective style of the Upnishadas and are therefore also referred as Pragya-Upnishada. Matching with the style of the Puranas there are shlokas (hymns) in Sanskrit language which address the important topics by way of question-answers and narration of stories. The interpretations and the stories etc are all presented in Hindi, which can be understood by most of the common people too. The simplicity of presentation and illustrations by way of realistic stories and rational discussions which having direct relevance in the day-to-day life, would certainly help the message of these Puranas reach the masses.
The present volume of the Vangmaya series compiles the essence of the first six volumes of the Pragya Puranas. This mainly focuses on the views of Gurudev Shriram Sharma on social welfare. His thought-provoking deliberations on the crisis of faith existing today, his ideas and constructive planning of the revival of the method of teaching of the vedic age and predictions on the resurrection of the age of truth in the next millenium are also presented here as prologues of these novel Puranas. The epilogues as narration of stories are compiled in some other volumes of the Vangmaya series.
The author writes in the preface to the Pragya Purana that – ” The circumstances, convictions, modes of living, traditions, needs and expectations, responsibilities and problems of human life keep changing with the dynamic flow of time. The methods of solution, guiding principles and forums for expressions of people’s voice should also keep abreast with these changes…” His ideas of total psychology and comprehensive analysis of the science of spirituality as the science of refinement of thoughts, sentiments and faith are unique and revolutionary. These correspond to inculcation of spirituality in human life while maintaining harmonious integration with scientific logic, liberal thinking and practical implementation in every dimension of life….
Successive Chapters of this volume are associated with the different parts of the Pragya Purana. The first chapter focuses on the problems and challenges faced by the world today and highlights the silver line of bright future in the next millenium. How the philosophy and science of spirituality can be brought into practical use and certainly lead to devastation of the evil tendencies and atrocities in different walks of life is presented in the second chapter. Adept guidance on the cultivation and adoption of the virtuous value system based on truth, prudence, self-restrain, sense of responsibility, discipline, sincerity, affability, amity, altruist co-operation, etc is eloquently discussed here in the illustrative style of questions and answers. Readers would find that every doubt and query of their mind has been addressed here with detailed explanation and experienced guidance.
The third chapter covers the important issue of the duties and problems of family life. Be that the secrets of happy and successful married life, justification of the equality of men and women, ideal development of children, family welfare, role of elderly citizens, or the management of social responsibilities etc, all are covered here in detail, considering different circumstances and psychological makeup of the concerned people…. How the righteous progress of individuals and families leads to social elevation and global welfare is illustrated here under realistic approach. The author’s own family and the families associated with the mission founded by the author have set living examples of how his teachings could indeed be adopted against all odds….
The fourth chapter is devoted to those facets of the divine ancient culture of India which have been forgotten and have been practically out of scene in the present age….. Common men’s query on religion, ancient systems of varna and Ashramas, different festivals, fasts and rituals, pilgrimage, hermitage, life after death, ….etc, are responded here with thorough analysis of the original scriptures. Interpretations given here with the lessons of special relevance in today’s circumstances add to the importance of these descriptions.
The fifth chapter gives a glimpse of the human-religion based on eternal values of serene love, compassion, co-operation and collective endeavors of refinement of human self…. Excellent conjugation of the basic philosophies and teachings of different religions is considered here in essence. The necessity and promising benefits of feasible ascetic practices, introspection, self-analysis, self-refinement, religious disciplines and faith in divine laws and value system, etc, are eloquently discussed here with logical arguments and authentic guidance in the “conversational” style of the Puranas.
The last chapter comprises of precious information on the subtle aspects of the science of spirituality. The topics ranging from – the inspirations (of the great yogis) transmitted from the holy Himalayas, the unresolved mysteries of Nature, ...etc, to – the integration of modern and ancient sciences, are covered here in a comprehensive manner. The questions and detailed answers presented in this section also elucidate important features of the science and philosophy of mantras and Yagya, Ayurveda and herbal medicines and many esoteric aspects of human life….
The first four volumes of the Pragya Purana were published in 1980s…. Several thousands copies of the same have been sold since then. The popularity of these among the masses is clearly indicated by the fact that eight new prints of each were published in a span of a decade…. Part 5 and 6 of these Puranas – which are also covered in the present volume – are under print. As per the original plans of Acharya Sharma, and in the tune of the eighteen Puranas written by Maharshi Vyas in the Vedic age, there are expected to be total 18 parts (volumes) of the Pragya Purana.
The present volume is precious like the ancient scriptures. Everybody who feels the need for finding viable solutions to the manifold challenging problems of the day and who knows that nothing could be more effective than understanding and adopting the righteous life and enlightening the masses by this knowledge, must read and take it to the common people who might not have had the opportunity to read or listen to such thought- provoking discourses…. This volume also offers excellent opportunity for scholastic studies to the researchers of ancient scriptures and literature of Indian Philosophy and Culture.