Virtues of true saintliness

All religions of the world accord high respect and veneration to men of spiritual attainments.

They may be saints, renunciates or men who have mastered the scriptures. Society looks up to them as upholders of spiritual and moral values who serve as role models for lesser mortals.

India, with its long and hoary history has seen innumerable ascetics, sages and saints down the ages, who have made invaluable contributions to mankind through their works and teachings aimed at lifting men from the quotidian life and setting them on the path of higher verities of life.

The Vedas, regarded as the very revelation of God himself to the sages of yore has been passed down through the oral tradition by the uniquely Indian system of preceptor to pupil, the preceptor being a man of exalted attainments and virtues.

The concluding portions of the Vedas, called Upanishads or Vedanta are repositories of some of the noblest and elevating thoughts ever to have been conceived of by man. Among these, there is a group of seventeen Upanishads which expound on the duties of a Saint, the necessary qualifications, their attributes, their responsibilities etc.

Two important points made here are that suppression of worldly needs is not recommended and while a gradual withdrawal from sense pleasures is prescribed, renunciation is regarded only as an accessory for spiritual realisation, not as an end in itself. Renunciation, ‘Sanyasa’ in Sanskrit should come in the natural course of spiritual evolution of the soul and should not be imposed by force from outside.

While extolling the qualities of a true saint, the Upanishads say that just as the sun absorbs water from everywhere, just as fire consumes everything in its path, in the same way a Yogi sees and enjoys everything, but yet remains unattached and untainted by merits or sins.

A true saint is one who possesses nothing, yet for whom the world is home. Flattery neither elates him nor does abuse anger him. Living a life of solitude, he is always immersed in the bliss of contemplation of the supreme reality. The Upanishads tellingly declare that such a true saint is indeed rare to find in this world, not to be found in plenty.

If he exists, he alone is the ever pure, the embodiment of non-attachment and supreme knowledge, one who has transcended the dualities of life and who is to be worshipped. His mind is serene and tranquil, who radiates the effulgence of divinity. He who dons the external accoutrements like ochre robes, who eats anything, who is devoid of knowledge , who is attached to sense pleasures, he is a fraudulent saint.

Trying to attain realization without purity of mind is like trying to enjoy fruits on a tree from its reflection in water.

Those who are great in riches or age or erudition, all these are mere servants of those who are great in wisdom or even the servants of their pupils. For one who has attained to supreme awareness, whom does he have to fear or bow to?

He is a true saint, who revels in the supreme knowledge, with pure mind and pure deeds. He is the one to be revered.