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The life of a Hindu householder is very different from that of a materialist, as discussed in the previous article of this series – Grihasthashrama versus Materialist living.There is no independent doing or activities in grihasthashrama. Every sphere of life revolves around Bhagavan.
Now, let us explore how a Hindu householder can evolve spiritually and progress towards attaining mokṣa. Pujyapad Shankaracharya of Puri (Maharajaji) explains, as follows.
Expanding our Home
‘Griha’ means home. There is also a “grihamantri” (home minister) of the country. If the area of attachment and responsibility of our griha extends, we can keep expanding. We can consider the whole neighbourhood as our griha or home and this can grow into the country, the world and the entire universe – that is the whole Brahmanda. Then, the meaning of griha expands.
For example, if the king or raja of the Brahmanda (universe) is Narayana Bhagavan, then grihamantri will be Brahmaji.. If Brahmaji is raja then Bhagavan Indra Deva is the grihamantri. The word griha can keep extending in this way.
If you are limited to earning money just for yourself and your family, then grihasthashrama will drown you. Our livelihood is for our life, life is not meant just for earning a livelihood. Life is meant for attainment of the biggest wealth, that is – Jagadishvara.
So, the idea is to expand your region of concern and responsibility. If a mother expands her love that is normally just limited towards her own children, to all children, then she becomes ‘jagat jananī’ – a mother to all. Similarly, every father can extend his care to all children.
‘Griha’ means home. ‘Stha’ means stationary.
So from ‘grihastha’ (griha + stha) we must aim at expanding ‘griha’. Then, grihastha will take us to moksha.
Individual love must be transformed into an all-pervading love.
Often, people assume that being a baba (one who renounces worldly living) would be an easier route to moksha, compared to being a grihastha(householder). Maharajaji explains that the path of a baba can be more risky than that of a grihastha. He gives an example from his own life and then, moves on to sharing a story of a man from Bhopal.
The stomachs you can fill
As a baba, Pujyapad Shankaracharya of Puri, travelled all across the country by foot, from Badarinatha to Rameswaram. He sustained himself on alms or bhiksha. Some people would think he is mad and throw sticks or stones at him, some would try to attack and kill him too. There were all kind of such experiences.
May no one go hungry due to poverty. He was a baba, that’s another matter, but if someone is alone and compelled to beg, then his existence is limited to filling his stomach. Sometimes he would get food sometimes not, sometimes he would get a cloth to cover his body and at other times, not.
However, a grihastha(householder), even if not living in a joint family, feeds at least five people, and takes care of them. Compare him to the single poor person who cannot even fill one stomach.
The grihastha takes responsibility of at least five people if not more. Now, imagine if he gets attached to the whole neighbourhood, and is concerned about taking care of everyone as his family. Such a grihastha would never go hungry himself either. The whole neighbourhood will be available to take care of him.
Mehtaji of Bhopal
There was a gentleman in Bhopal, named Mehtaji. He was well-known in the whole of Bhopal for being available to help any Hindu in trouble. He had an unmarried daughter. The whole of Bhopal considered her as their own daughter. Mehtaji was living to serve Hindus. He was not very wealthy. When it was time to get the daughter married, the whole of Bhopal took care of the expenses of her marriage. This one man dedicated his entire life to the Hindu samāj, maṭha and mandira, and the whole town took care of his daughter.
The above example shows how grihasthashrama can extend.
Grihasthashrama can drown you or help you reach the goal of moksha. There are more dangers to babas.
Tulasi Dasji stated in Ramcharitmānsa –
जननी जनक बंधु सुत दारा। तनु धनु भवन सुहृद परिवारा॥2॥
This implies, that a grihastha would have attachment to a minimum of these ten things – mother, father, brother, son, wife, body, wealth, home, friend and family.
A tyagi baba (one who has renounced the world), renounces nine attachments out of the ten mentioned above, but his sense of attachment gets concentrated in his own body. This means, after letting go of the nine other attachments, the one strong attachment that remains, is that of his own body and hunger. Such a big sacrifice can become so destructive. Anyone going through this must pray to Bhagavan, and wish for the nourishment of the entire Brahmanda.
We can conclude that grihastha can pave the path for moksha beautifully, for us all. All we need to do is – follow the dharmic guidance of vedas and shastras, offer all our activities at the lotus feet of Bhagavan, and expand our sense of attachment and belonging to the whole world.