Aim of the scriptures

All religions have their sacred texts and literature which are held in reverence by the followers. That these scriptures are moral codes and guides for men to lead a life of righteousness is also a known fact. How this aim is achieved varies. In Indian philosophy, the Puranas and the epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, along with the Vedantic literature of the Upanishads, serve this purpose. Shankaracharya in his work ‘Upadesha Sahasri’ delineates on this point in detail.

Man always desires happiness and wishes to avoid sorrow. This is inherent in human nature. Nobody would like to face difficulties, hardships and misfortunes. It is everybody’s dream to always have a smooth, hassle-free existence and avoid the undesirable as far as possible. But   men are ignorant of the means to achieve the desirable and avoid the undesirable. It is the knowledge of the means alone that can help men to accomplish this task. It is the gradual removal of this ignorance by giving reasons for the evolution, dissolution of the universe, the unity of the individual self with the universal self, etc  is the aim of the scriptures, he says.

Because, this correct understanding of the difference between the means to achieve the desirable and the means to avoid the undesirable is the key to transcending  the cycle of transmigratory existence, of repeated births and deaths. When this ignorance is uprooted with the aid of the scriptures and backed by reasoning of the individual, the intellect acquires one-pointedness, a steady stream of awareness of the oneness of everything and it gets established in pure consciousness, like a homogenous lump of salt, all pervasive. This is a state achieved by the Yogis, where there is no hint, no trace of impurity or taint of any sort. This is why such realised souls are revered by society as divinity incarnates.

They have risen above the desire for any wealth, progeny, identification with any particular caste, creed or sect, for, they have realised that the non-dual self is beyond any such limitation. This is the outcome of the right understanding of the scriptural words, he says.

When such firm understanding and awareness sets in, there is no room in the mind for anything contradictory to it, for, the two are mutually unsustainable. Admitting to anything contrary to such knowledge would be as foolish as saying that there is coldness in fire or immortality and freedom from old age for men.

Here, the significance of the statement that proper knowledge obtained from the scriptures enables man to rise above the limitations of  caste, creed and religion must be noted. As Shankara says, the scriptures are far above such narrow thoughts. Therefore, in his Upadesha Sahasri he advises mankind to heed the words of the scriptures, expand their horizons and lead better lives.