Miscellaneous - Religion   

Obligatory duties

CHENNAI : Man is the acme of all living beings as his creator has endowed him with a highly evolved body, mind and intellect. It is apparent for one who has insight into the functioning of nature that everything has a place and purpose in God's scheme. So the human body-mind-intellect personality must be used for the purpose for which it is intended. If these instruments are not utilised properly, great harm will befall the individual. As a person incurs Karma by his every action it becomes incumbent on him to act with the awareness of the consequences of his actions.

In his discourse, Sri Mani Dravid Sastri said the scriptures had codified the actions that a person must do everyday. These are known as Nityakarma and are obligatory, and there are optional ones that can be done according to one's capacity and inclination. The mandatory Karma must be done without expectation of the result as its non-performance incurs sin. The rationale of all actions is to aid the person to progress spiritually as this is the objective of human birth. The first compulsory action that everyone has to do is cleansing oneself on waking up. This may seem a mundane act that seems superfluous to draw attention to but bathing according to the scriptures is a ritual. One has to get up during the auspicious hour of Brahmamuhurta (one and half hours before sunrise) and it is said that a person who sleeps during this time incurs sin and his intellect becomes dull.

Bathing is not only an act of cleansing the body but when done ritualistically with the chanting of the prescribed Mantras it purifies the subtle body thus aiding spiritual progress. The next Karma is the worship of the Sun (Sandhyavandana) three times a day— sunrise, noon and sunset. As this ritual includes control of breath (Pranayama), repetition of the Gayatri Mantra and meditation the benefit of this practice is immense as it encompasses the well-being of all the aspects of the human personality: the body, mind and the soul. Sacrifice (Oupasana), worship of God and providing food to guests are the other daily duties of a householder.

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