THE SCHOOL OF REVOLUTION-SCHOOL OF CULTURE

“I shall establish such a university which despite being an NGO shall fulfill that lack which the government fails to do so. It’s futile to wail aloud that the government should change the education system. They shall continue working as per their intelligence and their methods. I shall set up a gigantic education program at the public level and on the basis of public cooperation shall raise its stature so high that government authorities shall perforce thinking it apt and most required to follow suit. Teachings given by this school of revolution of mine shall play a glorious role in creating new individuals, new society and a new era”.

……………..Revered Gurudeva Shriram Sharma Acharya

Apno se apni baat-Yugparivartankari shiksha aur uski ruprekha

Akhand Jyoti Magazine, June 1970, Page 55

Truly this is a school of a great revolution. Simone Dennis who had arrived here to India from USA spoke thus to her friends. For the past few days some people arriving from various countries were residing in Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya or Divine Culture University. Apart from Dennis were Australia’s Dr Connell, Germany’s Prof Klause and Schmike and Russia’s Nina Frastova. Despite arriving from different countries their goal was one. All of these along with understanding the true nature of education also wanted to learn about Indian Culture. Further all of these yearned to understand spiritual wisdom in daily social living.

With this thinking all of them had traveled here. Regarding Shantikunj (HQ All World Gayatri Family-Haridwar-India) they had got a bit of information. Maybe they were unable to dive deep into Gurudeva Shriram Sharma’s great thinking yet since the past few days they were introduced to it a wee bit. They had clearly understood that the framework of contemporary education system was just not enough to fulfill the task of human welfare because thought waves can never get sanctified by merely evolving memory power and amassing mountains of information regarding various subject fields. Despite completing education right from the 1st grade to high school human personality remains as unruly and uncontrolled as ever. This is to the extent that despite attaining a Ph. D degree a person fails to imbibe the true art of living life.

All of these foreign guests had undergone higher education in their respective countries. Whichever other countries they had visited they had noted and gauged the prevalent education system there. In all these places they found that the underlying aim of education was to imbibe the art of earning as much wealth as possible. It appeared as though none of them had any interest in imbibing great human qualities and uprooting social taints. Yet when they came here to Divine Culture University they saw that the situation was very different. At first glance itself they felt this university which was watered by the sacred River Ganges stood on a glorious piece of land and standing in the cool shade of the lofty Himalaya Mountains was definitely a hallowed temple of culture and glorious psychic imprints called Sanskaras. When they visited various departments in order to analyze the education methods here, they were very enthused with the bond of soul oneness between professors and students.

Over here these visitors found that students of this university instead of merely aiming for a big post, a high status or a lot of wealth instead opted to become great visionaries. Over here whether students are males or females they all aspire to surrender their very beings for society and human well being. They all felt that young men and women students here possess the brightness of revolutionary sparks within their soul. Dr Connell was quite surprised as to who taught them and told them all this at such a young age? Although he was only mentally mulling thus yet he got an answer: It is our Chancellor who has inspired us to become great human beings. He regularly teaches us Bhagwad Geeta and meditation. Today too we have a class scheduled with him. If you all so wish, you are welcome to attend it.

This utterance of a student called Anupama appeared very apt to these foreign guests. They looked at the skies and the sun was setting. It was about 6.15 pm. Initially they had all planned to visit the River Ganges shore. But then Simone felt let us all today bathe in the Ganges of thoughts. She told her friends about this. All of them happily accepted her views. Till the time they reached the big classroom above the mess area the hall was full of eager students. Hence the guests had to rest content with seats behind.

In a few minutes the class commenced. All students present there, very attentively heard what their Chancellor was teaching. In that serene environment one heard the sound of the 12th verse, 9th chapter of the Bhagwad Geeta being chanted:

Moghasha moghakarmano moghajnana vichetasaha.

Rakshasim asurim chaiva prakriti mohinim shritaha.

Agitated spiritually ignorant people full of vain desires, vain actions and useless knowledge imbibe the nature only of demonic delusion.

After chanting this verse the Chancellor said: This then is the dire state of today’s education system which elicits hope, makes people carry out difficult tasks, creates an illusion in people that they are very wise and as a result renders a person a demon oozing with greed for more and more wealth to be attained at any cost, a wicked tyrant who drowns in the hope of getting more and more sense titillating objects of merriment and deluded by tainted vile mental qualities. Such a person can never identify his true inner nature or that of his own people. Such a person despite being literate with degrees of higher education is rendered devoid of great inner qualities and true pious culture.

Whereas true education encompasses the following as told by Lord Krishna:

Jnanayajnana chapyanye yajanto mamupasate.

Ekatvena prithaktvena bahudha vishwatomukham.

…………….Bhagwad Geeta (9/15)

One is considered a true aspirant of knowledge/wisdom who looks upon his studies as a means of Yajna. Such a one gathers wisdom and renders it a medium of selfless dedicated service to society. Service should be such wherein one’s soul and psyche gets sanctified and thus one experiences soul oneness with the entire cosmos. In the form of experience of separateness, such a person by sympathizing with others sorrow helps them overcome grief. By daily extending this attitude towards the entire world, one now experiences God as present in every pore of the cosmos and realizes that he is its sole lord and master.

It seemed now as though Simone and her friends understood the education philosophy of India via these 2 illumining verses of the Bhagwad Geeta. Along with this they experienced that in society for very great tasks there is a need of glorious people. Wherever such people reside there positive transformations shall definitely take place very naturally. These guests found that Dev Sanskriti University is a center that moulds such great visionary personalities. They looked upon the observations of the Chancellor as fire Mantras. All of them in unison experienced that it is only after being initiated into such a Fire Mantra that one can paint a picture of a changing India and a reforming world.