Charaiveti . . . Charaiveti ...

Charaiveti Suktam (From Aitareya Brahmana)

नानाश्रान्ताय श्रीरस्तीति रोहित शुश्रुम। पापो नृषद्वरो जन इन्द्र इच्चरत: सखा॥
Nanashrantha sreerastheethi rohitha shushruma
Paapo nrushadwaaro jana indra ichaarathah sakhaa
Charaiveti  Charaiveti                                     7-15-7

This particular Sukta is known as 'Charaiveti Sukta'. It is part of'Aitareya Brahmans' and consists of five Mantras. Vedic Mantras give a clear indication ofthe life and philosophy lived and preached by our ancient Rishis who are men of high spiritual realisation. They are known as Mantra Drishtas. Their sole objective was to guide humanity in the right direction with a view to enable them to achieve total fulfilment of life. These Mantras are not only prayers addressed to the Supreme God under various names, butthey are also meant to enlighten the path for the fulfilment of all round prosperity in this world, here and now. They clearly express a positive and optimistic view of life, affirmative and all embracing; they are a mine of inexhaustible and dynamic practical wisdom. 'Charaiveti sukta' which consists of five Mantras are glowing example of what has been stated above.

These suktas exhort us to wake up, be dynamic and keep moving forward. Charaiveti means move forward and still forward, because only those who wake up and move forward achieve success in life. Human life must be successful and the way to success is to constantly move forward in the right direction. It figuratively speaks about the temperament of different types of men by relating them to the fourYugas. When a man is inert, idle and virtually sleeping (though he may be literally awake), he is in the Kaliyuga. When he wakes up and become alert it is Dwapara Yuga for him.

When the same person stands up, with his senses alert he enters Treta Yuga. When the same person sets his foot forward and starts walking Krita Yuga begins. Each Yuga is seen in the same person during these different stages.' Krita Yuga' means Yuga created by his own effort. We can together create Krita Yuga, also known as Satya Yuga by our own effort. For that we have to wake up and keep constantly moving ahead. You are the Master of your own Destiny; you can make it or mar it. If you only sit down your fortunes also stagnate. When you stand up there is an up rise in your fortune. When you sleep your fortune will also sleep. Only one who goes about seeking gets the sweet fruit in life. They alone can show the paths to prosperity who move forward constantly.

Sun is the source of inspiration and energy for all because he never sits idle, takes rest or sleeps. Make sun your ideal and not only you will succeed in life you will also bring light and dynamism to all others. All the five Mantras give us a positive energy to achieve success not only individually but for the whole society.

Vivekananda Kendra after two years of totally dedicated and country-wide hard work as mark of the 150th anniversary celebration of Swamiji is now entering upon the next phase.ln this context it is useful to remember that we never conducted a concluding function of the celebrations. It was a deliberate decision because we felt that Swamiji's work never concludes. It continues. It should continue. It should continue till Swamiji's vision of divinising humanity is achieved. He gave us the Mantra. 'Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached'. Is it not the same as the vedic suktas Charaiveti?

Swami Vivekananda was an ancient Rishi reborn as a modern Sanyasin to preach the same message. Only the idiom changes because the times have changed and the people understand the same fundamental Truth when expressed in the modern idioms. Swamiji was the tallest Rishi, who brought about a tremendous historic renaissance. He also wanted more and more Rishis to come up from the sacred soil of Bharat and preach the ancient Truth in the modem medium all over the world. He was confident that many more Rishis will come up to carry out this mission. He exhorted us 'Each one of you will have to become a Rishi to enlighten the world'. Eknath Ranade was a stalwart among such modern Rishis. During the centenary celebration of Swami Vivekananda he took up as life mission to establish the wonderful Rock Memorial to Swamiji and setting up Vivekananda Kendra as an efficient machinery to carry on the work forward. He gave us the motivation to work hard, move forward and achieve total success, 'Charaiveti,' 'Charaiveti'. Exceptthe Ultimate Reality everything else is on constant move. Movement is the law of life. The  river keeps on flowing, so it remains pure. If it stops moving, it becomes a pool of muddy water. The wind moves on, so the air we breathe is pure. The seed breaksoutofthe shell to become a plant. It grows and emerges out and gives us fruit. Man is no exception. From the time, the baby is bam, he grows and undergoes various stages of development and ultimately dies. But that is not the end. It is the beginning of a new life. The same is true of organisations too. Every organisation must remain a movement. Otherwise it stagnates. Movement means emerging into life. There is constant self renewal in life going on all over. If the process of self renewal stops, then it becomes fossilised .. Fossilisation is death-the end of the life. According to Sanathana dharma there are three concepts- Satya, Ritam ( ~ ), and Dharma. Satya is the absolute Truth, changeless and eternal. That is the seed from which all that exists comes into being. The entire cosmos with all its forms and names, all level of existence, past, present and the future are the expressions of Satya. The cosmic existence is relative. It is a mighty movement governed by the Ritam which is the cosmic law. The sun and moon, the stars and the planets, everything keeps on moving, strictly within the orbit, because ofthe Ritam governing them. 

Dharma is the manifestation of Satya, Ritam sustains all beings, living and non-living. Dharma is what sustains the world. It operates spontaneously in the animal world. The operation is instinctive to them. In the level of humanity it is conscious application. Dharma is consciously applied. So long as Dharma is observed, society keeps on functioning in a healthy way. If there is a lapse in the application of Dharma, society degenerates. lfthis goes unchecked society degenerates and may ultimately destroys itself. Then again the Divine intervention comes in the form of an Avatar and the movement goes on leading to the progress of the society. The wheels of Dharma are again set in motion. This is called 'Dharma Chakra Pravarthana'. All the renaissance movements that have occurred in our national life are initiated by Avatars as promised by Lord Krishna in Gita. Sri Ramakrishna was such an Avatar and Swami Vivekananda took up his vision which is now expressing itself in multifarious forms and ways. Vivekananda Kendra is part of this mighty, multilevel renaissance movement.

The story of Vivekananda Kendra is an excellent illustration of how the Vedic mantra can work wonders. After Swami Vivekananda visited Kanyakumari and sat in meditation on the rock, it was in deep slumber till the centenary celebrations started and Sree Devi was keeping vigil over it. Suddenly the sleep was disturbed and gradual awakening started creating a stir all around. The local people felt the stir. They started to move but it was slow and when hostile forces started opposing they felt helpless. Some even thought that Swamiji would not have swam and sat on the rock and a nominal memorial on the main land is sufficientto commemorate Swamiji's visit. Butthe stir within and the voice all around made them restless. A committee was formed to erect a memorial on the rock. One did not know how to go about the work. After that divine forces intervened and Man. Eknathji rushed to the spot with his rousing call to the people. People got up and sat to plan the future campaign with Man. Eknathji taking a bold initiative to achieve what seemed unachievable. People all over the country came forward with whole hearted support to the move. This was followed by the entire people standing up ready to take up the challenge, face all hurdles on the way and fulfil the objective. Thus came up the present magnificent Memorial with Swami Vivekananda symbolically standing up to his full stature setting the right foot forward and the movement began. After the earlier three stages or Yugas, the Satya Yuga was ushered in followed by a powerful movement in the name of Vivekananda Kendra.

The hostile forces have been thoroughly defeated. All the divine forces have come together. Next phase is Dharma samsthapana, an ideal state of society with spirituality as its central core, with the society well ordered on the basis of Sanathana Dharma-well organised, socially and economically strong, powerful and progressive, spreading the message of spirituality all around starting from Bharatto the world. Nothing less and nothing else is the mission entrusted to Vivekananda Kendra.

The workers of the Kendra could feel not only proud but also responsible to move further forward carrying the society with them and gradually establish the dream of Swami Vivekananda and Man. Eknathji in actual national life. Till that, there is no looking back, no rest midway. 'Charaiveti', is our mantra. 'Arise awake and stop nottill the goal is reached' is the call. Let us move forward.

P. Parameswaran

President

Vivekananda Kendra