What is the way???

A discourse by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
26 February 1971 DMC, Jammu

The subject of today’s discourse is “What Is the Way?” 

Regarding the proper way, it has been said in the Mahábhárata:

Shrutayo vibhinnáh smrtayo vibhinnáh
Naekamuniryasya mataḿ na bhinnam
Dharmasya tattvaḿ nihitaḿ guháyám
Mahájano yena gatah sa panthá.
Shrutayo vibhinnáh: 

The word shruti means “spiritual code.” The ancient people did not know how to write, because they were not acquainted with the scripts A, B, C, D, or A, Á, Ka, Kha, etc. The people of those days were quite scholarly, no doubt, but the alphabets were not yet invented.

 Teachers or preceptors used to impart lessons orally, and students would learn by heart from listening to them. There was no way to read or write books. In the absence of script, the scriptures could not be written down. As the pupils would memorize the scriptures by hearing, with their ears discourses from their preceptors, the Vedas were called shruti which in modern Saḿskrta means “ear”.

Now, there is a great deal of difference amongst these religious texts. Naturally the question arises: What will the masses do? Which one will they follow, and which one will they reject? 

The mutual difference amongst the extant texts is bound to pose a baffling problem to common people. Some scriptures suggest that while worshipping a deity one should sit facing the east, while others advocate sitting facing the west. Under such circumstances, what should people do? Obviously this question agitated people’s minds – which one to accept, and which to reject?

Next let us consider the social codes. The purpose of a social code is to formulate relevant laws and provide necessary guidance regarding the establishment of a society free from exploitation – for example, Manusmrti, Parásharasmrti, etc. But here again there are mutual differences amongst the various social codes. So again people face the same problem of who to accept and whom to reject.

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