Legitimate Inquiry

It is the very nature of a human being to be inquisitive, humans are know as rational beings, this rationality  makes a human being become inquisitive and distinguish between good and bad. This rational behavior is not found in the animals of any other species on this Earth. This inquisitive nature of human being is God gifted and should be used very responsibly. The Vedas which are the oldest scriptures to be found in human society mention that this human form of life is very unique owing to its higher intelligence, than that of animals. It is mentioned that out of   8,400,000 species of life forms in the entire universe human species are 400,000 in number. Out of these 400,000 species most of them are uncivilized.

So looking at the statistics above, this feature of being inquisitive is very rare. The question here is how should this rare gift of being inquisitive be used ? Today this inquisitiveness is used in exploring the earth or in trying to gossip about people.Certainly, this feature is only available in human form of life, so there has to be some special significance attached with it. Though animals are inquisitive , their intelligence to inquire is limited to only four topics namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending. These are the four things which are common in humans and animals. Animals and humans both are inquisitive to find suitable food stuff to eat, a comfortable place to sleep , a partner to mate and ways to defend themselves from enemies. So we can say that these four objects are by default awarded to any living entity. Animals eat, we also eat may be in a better way, Animals sleep we also sleep in a nice apartment,  animals have sex life we also have sex life and animals defend from enemies , so do we. The basic activity is the same, but we humans do it in a more sophisticated way.  But the only difference between animal species and human species is, the concept of religion, which exists in human society. It is due to our advanced intelligence and power of inquiry that in every country on earth, human beings follow and practice some religion.

Some believe religion to be some hypothetical , impractical method which is a solace to weak hearted people, and others follow their religion with determination  to best of their capabilities. Leaving aside the debate on this topic , it is important to understand, whether you believe in religion or not, but this concept still exists. Irrespective of whether a person believes in God or not, one must understand that all of us suffer from miseries of this material world namely birth, death , old age and disease. Everyone on the face of this earth whether a human being or an animal has to go through these four stages. Lord Krsna explains in Bhagavad Gita that these four phenomenon, are the real problems of a living entity.



janma-måtyu-jarä-vyädhi-                                          
duùkha-doñänudarçanam [ B.g. 13.9]


"the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease"

Vedic literature inform us that, besides these four problems, living entities are always attacked by threefold miseries in this material world ädhyätmika, ädhibhautika, ädhidaivika.  Adhyatmika means pertaining to mind and body, many times we feel some ailments in  the body and sometimes the mind is not in good order, we have some pains in the body  etc. Adhibhautika is miseries inflicted by other living entities, like mosquitoes,flies, other animals, or other enemies in the human society etc. Adhidaivika, means miseries inflicted by providence, like too much snow, hurricanes, earthquakes, no rain or more rain etc. Vedas explain that every living entity is becoming afflicted by all or any of these miseries all the time. We have accepted these as normal occurrence and do not bother to think to much about it, since we are not able to find a solution using our methods for these miseries, we have left the pursuit thinking it to be natures way, just like the grapes were sour for the fox who could not reach them. But from the great sages of antiquity and the Vedas, we understand that this is not our natural position. Constitutionally a living entity is anandamaya,  means a living entity is eternally looking for pleasure, this explains the fact that nobody in this world is looking for misery, every living entity performs any activity  in order to derive some pleasure from it. But it often happens that though we try to derive pleasure from everything , many times these threefold miseries are inflicted upon us even if we do not want them. We accept them as normal and find solace by looking at other people who are suffering from similar miseries.

These miseries are present even in the animal kingdom, but they do not have the advanced intelligence to inquire into the cause of these miseries, but we the humans, can do so.  The point here is the best use of our intelligence and inquisitive nature is to inquire , that "I do not want any miseries, they why and who is forcing these miseries onto me?" , Why am I sometimes punished for things I did not do wrong? Who am I? Where have I come from ? What is the purpose of this life? .  Vedas call these inquires to be the purpose of human life, scriptures mention that unless a human being does not inquire into these questions, he or she is not better than an animal, since the basic inquiries about eating , sleeping, mating and defending are there in animals also. Bhagavad Gita is one such book of knowledge which explains these causes scientifically, provided they are understood from an  appropriate person who knows the truth, Lord Krsna advices Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita to approach a bonafide  spiritual

tad viddhi praëipätena
paripraçnena sevayä
upadekñyanti te jïänaà
jïäninas tattva-darçinaù [ B.g. 4.34]


"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth."


It is very unfortunate in this Age of Kali which is said to be a ocean of faults, there is so much misunderstanding and misconception in the minds of the people,  that due to these misconceptions, many people are not very much inclined to asking these basic questions about life. Trapped in numerous anxieties and controversies people loose this great opportunity of human life to make a solution to the real problems of life namely, birth, death , old age and disease. If we are able to transcend them the there will be no miseries. Therefore it is imperative for every sane person to make an effort in this precious human form of life to understand one's position, with a neutral mind ,keeping one's opinions aside for sometime and with a sincere heart try to find out a bona fide spiritual master who can answer these important questions.