Prof. Anil Kumar (AK): Swami! Man is not behaving in the way expected of him. He is losing his very human nature. How should he transform himself at this juncture? What happens to society if he remains like this?
Bhagavan: You do not know that you are using certain words without knowing their meaning. If you understand the words that you utter, you will notice that they are self explanatory and convey their meaning in unambiguous terms. What is the meaning of this word manava, man? ‘Ma’ means maya or illusion; ‘na’, means daati (Telugu) or crossing over; ‘va’, means vartincu (Telugu) or to conduct oneself. In other words, ‘manava’ means ‘the one who crosses maya and conducts himself accordingly’, and definitely not one who is enslaved by maya. It can also be interpreted in another way. The word ‘manava’ means, ‘ma’, which means ‘not’, and ‘nava’, which means ‘new’. Thus ‘manava ‘ means ‘not new’. Man had many births earlier and the present one is ‘not new’.
Man is also called narah (Sanskrit). ‘Na’ means ‘not’, and ‘rah’ means ‘perishable’. Thus, narah, means ‘not perishable’. Obviously, the one, which is imperishable, is eternal, that is, immortal, or atma, Truth. There is another word vanara (Sanskrit) denoting a ‘monkey’. ‘Va’ denotes vala or tail. So ‘ nara ’ should be viewed as man without vala or tail. Man is saksara: ‘sa’, divine and aksara, undiminishable or permanent. Thus, saksara is one who is undiminishable, permanent or eternal, Atma. He, who has the awareness of such Atma, is saksara. But alas! Man, today is behaving as raksasa, demon. Man is expected to have dama, control of senses, but he is full of mada, pride and conceit. So, when we understand the meaning of these words, we shall know that man or vyakti, the individual, should exhibit and express the quality of Atma, which he truly is.
A community or a group of individuals makes a society. A single tree cannot make a forest. A single house cannot make a village. What is the meaning of samaja, or society? Sama, which means ‘equality or equanimity’, ‘ja’, is ‘born out of’. Thus samaja, is that which maintains equality and equanimity. What are needed for ideal society? They are samaikyata, unity; samagrata, coordination; samarasa, integration; saubhratrata, fraternity; and samanata, equality. These are the features of an ideal society.
We hear people saying that society should change. However, in my opinion, it is wrong. If the individual changes, society will automatically change. A small example: A father presented a map of India to his young son. The boy, by mistake, tore it to pieces and was reprimanded by his father. After some time, the son brought the map intact. When asked by the father how he could do it, the boy replied that on the reverse side of the map there was the picture of a man. He said the only thing he did was to correctly assemble the torn pieces of the man to make it into the original picture. Then the original map formed itself automatically.
Thus, when individuals reform, society will automatically get reformed. Every person should know that the happiness of the individual depends on that of society. Man’s welfare, progress and prosperity depend on society. This truth must be fully understood by everyone. For example, when there is a fire in the neighborhood, you try to extinguish it. Why? If you do not, your house will not be safe. When all the other houses in the neighborhood are burnt down by the fire, your house too will be burnt. When there are epidemics like cholera, you will be extra careful; otherwise, you will also become one of the victims. Similar is the relationship between an individual and the society he lives in.
Source: ‘Satyopanisad’ by Prof. Anil Kumar Kamaraju