By Bal Ram Singh, PhD
Goswami Tulsidas describes certain public values during the Ram Raj.
राम भगति रत नर अरु नारी। सकल परम गति के अधिकारी॥
Men and women alike were devoted to Sri Ram’s worship and all were qualified for final beatitude.
सब गुनग्य पंडित सब ग्यानी। सब कृतग्य नहिं कपट सयानी॥
Everyone recognized the merits of others and was learned and wise nay, everyone acknowledged the services and benefits received from others and there was no guileful prudence.
How to understand the process that leads to such things in public behavior to suit swatantrata (swa – self + tantrata – system) that is supposed to being celebrated after 75 years of freedom from the British. One needs to find appropriate framework of language, and someone who embodies those qualities or gunas. Sattva binds one to material happiness; rajas conditions the soul through mind toward actions; and tamas clouds wisdom and binds one to delusion. What kind of gunas a righteous king like Ram ought to possess that leads to Ram Raj need further examination to realize the Ram Raj.
A new world order is in order, and that could be Ram Raj World Order of Chakravarti Samrat. The Sanskrit word chakra translates into a wheel or disk. In yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda, this term refers to wheels of energy throughout the body. There are seven main chakras that align along the spine, starting from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. The spheres run along the spine, but extend through and past the front, back, and both sides of your body. Chakras are a spinning vortex of energy that is not seen by the human eye but can be seen, felt, and sensed with intuition. This invisible healing energy, called prana, is a vital life force, which keeps us vibrant, healthy, and alive.
Chakras store the energy of thoughts, feelings, memories, experiences, and actions. They influence and direct our present and future mindset, behavior, emotional health, and actions.
In RigVeda:
इमं रथमधि ये सप्त तस्थुः सप्तचक्रं सप्त वहन्त्यश्वाः।
सप्त स्वसारो अभि सं नवन्ते यत्र गवां निहिता सप्त नाम।।Rig-Veda 164.3।।
imaṃ rathamadhi ye sapta tasthuḥ saptacakraṃ sapta vahantyaśvāḥ।
sapta svasāro abhi saṃ navante yatra ghavāṃ nihitā sapta nāma।।
The seven who preside over this seven-wheeled chariot (are) the seven horses who draw it; seven sisters ride in it together, and in it are deposited the seven forms of utterance.
सप्त – sapta: Either the solar rays, or if the year be typified, the seven portion of it; as the ayana or solstice, season, month, fortnight, day, night, hour. Sayana considers the seven wheels as well as the seven horse to be the solar rays.
Seven sisters: The commentator repeats the interpretation either the rayas of the sun , or the six seasons and the aggregate year, or the six double and one intercalary month.
गवां ghavāṃ: seven forms of utterance – The seven notes of music as employed in chanting the praises of the sun ; or if ” gavam” be used in sense of water ,the seven forms may be seven divine rivers.
Thus, chakra is the prana, the energy, the thought, the link with nature, the connection to all
Varta (वृत्त).—(Usually at the end of comp.) Living, livelihood.
यदा हि बुद्धिकर्म तदा वर्तमाना भविष्यति
Vata is thus where one lives in, or what is at any moment in action and behavior;
Therefore, chakravart would mean the living with one’s nature at the highest level.
Chakravart initiative
There must be a Chakravart initiative in the service of the society, which is suffering due to the mismanagement of the affairs of the planet. There are fundamental connections of humans to the nature, from an atom, microorganism, plants, animals, other humans, celestial being, brahmand, to the brahm (parmatma) from atma point of view.
There has been a system of Chakravarti Samrat, who from time to time re-established dharma as a fair system of existence for all beings and non-beings. Chakra literally means “wheel of time” or “wheel of dharma, as defined in RigVeda.
Chakravarti basically means someone who lives and acts in accordance with the highest level of dharma based on evolved chakras of one’s body and mind.
Indians are the natural heirs, more aptly uttaradhikari (meaning deserving candidate to respond to such call of duty in the tradition of their ancestors), as was Ram as an heir of several Chakravarti samrats amongst his ancestors.
More discussion to follow on this concept chakravart, and how to prepare a system of generations form learning, implementing, and sustaining the fair and just system of Chakravart!
Balram Singh is a Professor and the President of the Institute of Advanced Sciences, Dartmouth, Massachusetts, researching Ayurveda, Yoga, Vedic education, and Vedic social and political traditions. He is also adjunct faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
