How do you become a Hindu?
Vedacharya Dr. M.R. Rajesh

There are two answers for this
1.You have not become a Muslim by doing circumcision

2.You have not had the Holy Communion to become a Christian.

So, it means that by mere chance ,we have become Hindus. Is this the way to become one?
We have to become Hindus by strictly observing certain rites and rituals. It is not by scolding others that we achieve our goals. So, do we have a regular practice system?
Yes, we do.
Is it possible to practice them in today’s busy world? If we have twenty minutes to spare daily,then we can definitely finish all these basic rites and rituals.We cannot go forward in life without practicing our basic rituals.It is just for want of these practices that we are not able to achieve success in life.Today our community does not have a goal or vision of their own in any aspect.
Let us take this example .A person starts doing a business for the first time.He achieves great success in his venture.Soon another person starts the same business .Within a short time half a dozen people in the same locality will have started the same business in the hope of duplicating the first one’s success.And finally what happens?All these persons will be forced to close down their business,because it has failed.Just because one individual has started a business and made profits, does not mean that everyone should blindly copy him.But this is exactly what we do.Such ventures which are begun without any insight are sure to shut down in ashort while.There is no doubt about it. Because we do not have an insight of our own,we make our life’s journey in the path illuminated by others light.The main problem here is to acquire this insight.
We cannot move forward in life with the help of only two eyes.We very badly need the third eye too. Two ordinary eyes are not enough to bring us prosperity or progress.Just like Lord Shiva,we need the third eye. Ezhuthachan, in his ‘Harinamakeerthanam’,refers to this ‘mind’s eye’.We are sure to be saved if we possess this third eye.That is why we have a clarinet call in all our scriptures to become Shiva (Shivoham) –which means that I am Shiva .The secret behind this saying is also the same because there is really a ‘Shiva’ within our being. “Shivobhutva Shivam Yajeth”. This technical word itself explains everything.This means that one should worship Shiva visualizing oneself as Shiva.We should experience that Shive feeling.Eventually an exquisite and unique wisdom exudes within our being.This is called ‘Tapas’.The mystery of tapas and its characteristics will be dealt with later on.Then we will realize the great truth that our Indian traditions are so simple yet extensively scientific.Many people say that that Hinduism is very complex.One does not know from where to begin.Even if this religion is very vast,it definitely has a beginning.Just like the great ocean,our Hindu religion is also very vast.But does it have a beginning?Yes-it has.
Simple are the Vedas and simpler still is Hinduism.Even a mall child will understand if you say that the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west.It is as complex as it is simple.But a regular study of this necessary.Along with that,’Sadhana’ is also necessary.You cannot achieve anything with Vedic study devoid of Sadhana(making the impossible possible).That is why it is said that learning the Vedas is a Vrita(fast).But don’t think that you can learn the Vedas just like that and give discourses on this,just because you have nothing else to do.This requires an immense teaching –learning process.It has a specific initiation process.There is maxim which is( AACHARA…….)- meaning that practice is the most important factor.
What is meant by this ‘practise’? It means the Tapas that we do daily.This Tapas is just like a small lamp .We are now in a great darkness.It is difficult to have a great deal of light in such intense darkness.Besides,we are incapable of producing such a beam of light of our own .So we take the help of a small lamp.With this,you will be able to see clearly about two feet in front of you. Now, this is a small ‘Sadhana’.Walk along this two feet and you will see the next two feet area.Walk along this area and you will see the next two feet area. Thus you can proceed treading miles and miles.This very same attempt is referred to as Sadhana or Tapas.So we have many words like Sadhana(austerity),Tapas(penance) and so on.
All these words created a great misunderstanding because they do not mean the same as they meant before. On hearing the word ‘sadhu’ or ‘tapas’, the picture that comes to our mind is that of a long-haired, bearded man of the Sadhubeedi advertisement. When we hear the word ‘sadhana’, we wonder what kind of an extraordinary thing it is. When we hear ‘japa’ the image that flashrs in our mind is the chanting of a lakh or a million Japas(incantations).In fact none of our scripture advise us to chant the name of our favourite deity a lakh times,or two lakh or three lakh times.So what we do is to take two simple steps to brighten up our daily life.This is a very simle technique and not a severe or a strenuous one.We may call this as’Bhramacharyam’.
Another greatly misunderstood word is this ‘Bhramacharyam’. Many take it as keeping away from sexual relations.This is not true at all.Why this misunderstanding occurs is because of the fact that no one tries to properly understand the actual meaning imported by these words. For instance, take the phrase ‘It rained cats and dogs’ Does this mean that in reality, cats and dogs fell out from the sky? No- in fact it just means that it rained heavily.So even a simple phrase in English gives rise to mistaken meanings. As a result we have meaningless words and even more meaningless practices.
Remaining constantly established in identity with Brahman is called Brahmacharyam.It has no connection at all with having sexual relations.I wake up in the morning and chant the Bhagyasooktha, so that I always bow before the Brahman within me. I brush my teeth. Of course I need my teeth so that the Brahman within me is well manifested.I take bath for the sake of Brahman.In other words whatever I do is for the all pervading Brahman.When Shiva is present in the body,we bathe it and keep it clean.If this Shiva is not present,then this body is a mere corpse.Body devoid of Shiva is a Shavam (corpse).After bathing the Shiva within,we decorate it with ‘tilak’, talcum powder.garland of flowers,cosmetics,etc.All these chores must be done with the pure intention that each and every thing is done for the sake of Brahman within .Next, the Brahman within us has to be fed..So we take food with the consciousness’ that we are feeding Brahman or the Shiva within us.That is why we say that we should not talk or get up while eating.The very act of having food is an ‘Agnihotram’.Five offerings are made, for the Brahman or the fire within. “ Pranaaya swaha,apanaya swaha,udanaaya swaha,samanaaya swaha and so on.All this with much consciousness. Thus when you doall these chores for the sake of Brahman what do we call them?Brahmacharyam-of course.
But some people misunderstand it as an anti woman approach.But this is not so. Once sage Narada came to a river bank..He could not find any means to reach the other bank.In the mean time,a Rishi came there.He told Narada-“If you could say who in the world is the greatest Brahmachari, then the river will part and give you way”.Narada reflected for a while and then said-“Of course it could only be me. Till this day, I have not eyed even a single woman.”The rishi said” O river, if Narada be the greatest Brahmachari in this world,please part your waters”.The river did not part.Narada was surprised.The rishi smiled and said “Mentally you are not a Brahmachari.Why don’t you just try Lord Krishna’s name.Perhaps the river might give way.”Narada laughed and said “How could Krishna,the keeper of 16008 wives be a Brahmachari?”The rishi said”That may be true, but still why don’t you give another try?”So Narada said “ O river, if Krishna be the greatest Brahmachari,then please give way ”.To his utter astonishment, the river parted to give way.
Even then Narada was pondering over the thought that how could Krishna,inspite of marrying a number of times stil remain a Brahmacharin?This is what makes Krishna ,the Krishna that he is.Whatever be one’s true nature ,try to become that.This is what Krishna said. What is the true nature of each one of us?
What each one of us tries to do is to imitate others. A rose flower can never become a lotus .A rose is great in its own way as a rose,and a lotus as a lotus. Even the tiniest blade of grass in this world has an importance of its own. Devoid of this blade of grass, the world will be an imperfect one.So also each one of us is a letter in this world of poetry. The Atharva Veda has a reference as follows” Pashya Devasya Kavyam”-which means, “look at the great poem of the divine”. Each one of us form a letter or word, without which this poem will not exist. That is why it is said that God is in the pillar as well as the post.
Here, there are people who ask everyone to embrace Sanyasam, without trying to understand one’s true nature. What they are asked to, in the scriptures is not to have to much attachment. India’s vision is one of non-attachment. Non-attachment means renouncing both attachment and detachment. Instead some people do not dare to look at womenfolk, dare not look at their pictures, dare not hear their voice etc. On seeing this it might appear that womenfolk are the cause for their non-attachment. This cannot be presumed as non-attachment. This is also a kind of attachment. It is just a camouflage to cover the intense feeling of attachment within oneself. If this not be the case then it should be understood that this feeling is nothing but hatred towards women. A woman is an indispensable factor for the sustenance of this universe. The birth of every individual in this world, rich or poor, male or female, prince or pauper, good or evil ,takes place from the womb of a female, a mother, a’ woman’. A woman is a unique creation of God-one who is blessed with the power to give birth. So a woman has to be respected and revered. But the modern Vedantis consider women as the door to hell.. This attitude is due to the fact that these people have never learnt the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavat Geetha properly.
Some people’s attitude towards money is also the same. Some proclaim very proudly that they do not touch money There is no evidence till date that money has ever troubled anyone. We cannot say that hatred towards money can be called non-attachment What is our attitude towards money, towards women? Take this example We have an element called water. Now, what is the true nature of water? When it is heated, it becomes. When cooled, it becomes cool. Thus the true nature of water is neither hot nor cold. Just take another example. What is the state of eyes? While sleeping, they are closed and while we are awake, they are open. So. Our true nature is jus like the examples shown above. Whatever we attach to our true nature , we tend to change accordingly. Lord Krishna knew this fact. Some people cannot see the dawn of the day without women, while others hate the very sight of women. Both these are attachments. One is attachment to women. The other is attachment towards anti-womanism. The former is identifiable. The latter can never be identified. Sri Krishna identified both these. Hence Krishna became a ‘ Brahmachari’. But, we do not achieve anything because we do not. study anything.
Lord Krishna was a talented singer, a marvellous poet, a great artist, an unrivalled orator, a political pivot, a matchless warrior, an envoy and an excellent charioteer. Inspite of being all these he never forgot his true nature .Everyone says that Sri Krishna was Eeshwara( God).Whatever it be , he lived on earth as an ordinary man.He once proclaimed aloud to one of his devotees to be like him .On another occasion, while on his way to Duryodhana for a conciliation, he stopped his chariot and performed ‘sandhya vandanam’. But today’s exponents on the Geetha say that all these rituals need not be performed. When Sri Krishna asks his devotee to do ‘ sandhya vandanam’ and himself does the same, those people who have a monopoly in the marketing of the Geetha, say that there is no need for doing all this. What is the reason behind all this ?. There is a big answer bigger than the question itself. It is as a result of such contradictory teachings that our present society has lost all its valor and vigor which it once had. Remaining constantly established in identity with Brahman or abiding with Brahman is the paramount dharma . What Lord Krishna teaches us through his own vision of life is that one should never deviate from one’s ‘ aacharanam’. When we protect dharma, dharma protects us in turn. That is the meaning of the term ‘Dharmorakshatirakshita’.
We have one group of people who are totally against worship and we have another group that is fanatical about worship.Crushed between these two antisocial elements and illusionists, the true followers of Hinduism are in a dilemma. What should we do? Is it enough to read only the Geetha? Or should we sit idle? There is only one answer. That is, accept that which makes you a man- energetic ,creative and dynamic. Take the following example. A person gets a guide for an exam. He studies his guide very well and writes his exam. Unfortunately he fails. After this incident do you think that anyone will buy this guide ,if he advertises on the T.V in favour of the guide saying that ,he failed just because he bought that particular guide?
This is the case with a Hindu too. He speaks at length about his own glory, but lives a life of abject poverty. Eventually our religion turned out to be the guide which makes everyone fail in their life. The Vedas always taught one to be successful in life. But the Hindu has understood it in an entirely opposite way. It is only because we do not have the key to open the door towards prosperity, fortune and success. Indirectly speaking, we have the key but we don’t know which lock it opens. We are still searching for that lock.
Don’t you desire that your children should study well? If so, there are provisions in the Vedas for that. Don’t you wish that your children should have the grace of goddess Saraswati? Help is available in the Vedas. Don’t you want to get rid of the never ending cycle of poverty, disease, failure etc and achieve progress and prosperity in life? Vedas will give you an answer to all your problems. Now this problem needs to be elaborated a bit. That is, we have to realize that there are remedies in the Vedas to solve our day-to day problems. So it becomes necessary for us to make an earnest attempt to learn the Vedas.
A lot of questions may arise in our mind. Is it necessary to learn Sanskrit in order to study the Vedas? Can everyone, including women study Vedas? And so on and so forth.. In fact everyone has to learn the Vedas because it contains the ways and means to have a happy and prosperous life. Today the cause of worry for many parents is the education of their children. Most parents worry about their children’s intellect.. In fact in olden days, we had a specific scheme existing here as to how to bring up each and every individual child. One has to chant the ‘Medha Suktha’ regularly to be intelligent. The revered great Rishis are of the opinion that children start developing their intellect if they are made to chant the Medha Suktha regularly for three months in the morning. The Medha Suktha is nothins but a set of four mantras, which means beseeching God as follows-“May my intellect gain the power to grasp every thing with single pointed concentration.” On chanting these mantras, the fire in our brain is lit up brilliantly to enhance our intellectual power. On pronouncing these mantras correctly, the cells and tissues of our brain are awakened with a new energy. The moment you start chanting these mantras, a radiance like that of Brahma, the valour like that of a kshatriya, a scintillating beauty, affluence and all start flowing into our being.
The effect of Saraswati Suktham is also exactly the same. If children start chanting the Saraswati Suktham , after waking up in the morning, we find to our astonishment that a tremendous change has taken place in them. A transformation in our nervous system also takes place on chanting the Saraswati Suktham. This can be discussed later on. Anyway, the word Medha means intellect and Saraswati refers to the goddess of learning.That specific power generated in our system on chanting the above sukthas, turns into fire within us. In other words that spark of fire starts blazing in our system and radiates a mesmerizing glow. In the same way, to get rid of poverty, the Sree Suktha has to be chanted.. On chanting that particular array of words along with the ‘chandas’ of Sree Suktham, the sound waves of that mantra create a remarkable change in our brain and nervous system. This so called change , gives birth to a new horizon of thought and pushes open new avenues and novel ways of making money. These matters are to be devised at length separately. Well, there are mantras which , if performed with great intent makes intellect, wealth and prosperity available in abundance at your arm’s length. Let us examine the following mantra
Karagre……………………………………………………………………………

One chants the above sloka, looking into one’s open palms, soon after waking up. This ritual is nothing but an affirmation of his realization that he is capable of making money with his own strong hands. That is the wisdom that dawns on him, when he proclaims that Goddess Lakshmi dwells at the tip of his fingers.So when he realizes that he is capable of making wealth on his own , he is also simultaneously awakened to the fact that he should never live the life of a pauper. This is what it implies. So the line, which means that Goddess Saraswati dwells in the middle of his palm. Goddess Saraswati is the Goddess of learning. In other words, he is capable of learning and has the potential within. Further, Goddess Gauri is linked with anything that is auspicious. In short, when one has intellect and wisdom, then nothing can make him retreat, whatever be the obstacles that come his way in this materialistic world. This is the confidence that gets boosted in an individual on chanting all these slokas. Today, this confidence booster is indispensable not only in the Hindu community, but also in the entire society at large.
Similarly due to the chanting of the mantra-‘Kleem Kaamadevaaya Namah’ while brushing his teeth, the root letter ‘Kleem’ sends such a tremendous vibration in our being, which helps us to develop into an individual with a highly attractive, amicable and wonderful personality.
As mentioned above, one should develop a sense of self confidence and enjoy progress and prosperity in abundance in his life. At the same time, he should be highly spiritual. The Vedic rishi Deerghatamas, who discovered that the earth is a sphere was a married man and led an ideal family life. He was both a forerunner in the study of the science called physics and at the same time, he was a great sage also. That is exactly what the Vedas visualize. One can be both an ultra modern person to the letter of the word and at the same time a true rishi in his inner self. Rishihood does not mean the comical character straight out of a fourth rate stage drama. It really means something great. There was a time when the entire Sethuhimachalam was brimming with rishis. During those days everybody was a ‘Rishi’. They were married and led the life of a modern man. Hence in those days, life had an intent brilliance and luster of purpose. Even today, only those rishis who have deotion and intension of purpose are blessed with prosperity.
During the Tsunami disaster which damaged life and property in the regions of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and southern India ,in December 2004, there was only a single Hindu sanyasin who was ready to donate 100 crore rupees to the victims. And the most modern temple in the world also belongs to the Hindus. Besides we can proudly proclaim that the Lakshminarayana temple in London, which is considered one of the greatest wonders of the world was constructed by the Vedic people. Living a scientific way of life does not mean living without rites and rituals . One has to live a meaningful life, but with strict adherence to the principles.
For example, let us take any Hindu Goddess. All of them have certain basic characteristics. Every Goddess has her one leg firmly placed on the ground, while the other is on the lap. This implies that I am in this materialistic world-meaning to say that one has to face all the wordly hurdles that come in the way and be successful. But at the same time, I have to detatch myself from all these temporary wordly pleasures and attach myself to God. This is the principle underlying the posture of the Goddess In those days, strict adherence to this moderate way of life was the sole reason for the affluence and prosperity of our motherland Bharat, which is protected by Vishwamitra. That is, the vision of living a wordly life in firm adherence to God. Side by side, gave them the vigour, strength and spirit to achieve paramount progress and prosperity in life.At the same time, the spiritual vision was assimilated by the ornate Goddess bedecked with crowns and priceless jewels., sitting in the posture of the ‘ wisdom’ mudra.
In the same way, the Goddess possessed a number of symbolic instruments like the trident, peacock feather, skull, conch, wheel,mace,lotus, etc, which were in fact the houses of energy which illuminate our true innate potential to the maximum.Thus, when we look up to the Vedas with such an attitude, we can say that, in short they are the guidelines for man to lead a happy and prosperous life, crossing all the hurdles that confront us in our day to day life.
Look at this example. Suppose we buy a DVD player. We get an instruction manual along with the device, telling us how it works, how to use it, how to take care of it and what to do in the case of device malfunction. Exactly, in the same way, God has also in this ocean of wisdom, given us the entire know-how about this universe. That know-how. Or knowledge is called the Vedas. That is why the meaning of the word ‘Veda’.turned out to be ‘knowledge’. So , we can say that the knowledge of every object in the world is present in the object itself. For example, let us take the element sugar. Wherever sugar is present , the knowledge that it is in fact C6H22011 is also available.
That is why we have the saying that God is in the pillar as well as in the post because whatever be the object , it is overflowing with the entire know-how of that very object in every detail. This knowledge is called Eeshwara by the Vedas. So when we say that Vedas contain all the knowledge, it does not refer to the knowledge contained in the Vedic texts, but the knowledge contained in the very object itself about itself.You are not going to get any benefit by just reading the Vedic texts in the book form. If one gets all the knowledge just by reading books, then no doubt it is the proof reader who has to get the entire benefit. And till date, there is no knowledge of such happenings, that is the availability of attaining Moksha in such an easy way by just reading. It means that there is something called Sadhana, which is much beyond the reading of these Vedic texts.Any amount of learning of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Vedantas devoid of the element called Sadhana does not help anyone to obtain any kind of benefit. In short , what is most important in achieving success in any field is Sadhana, which means nothing but –the intense, uninterrupted and incessant perseverance in achieving their goal. Just as the saying goes- ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’.