Page:My Dear Pranav.pdf/15

 it will be increasingly clear as you grow and think. Take your name, for example; Pranav or Aum is the original expression of brabman. It is called the First Mantra. It is a symbolic expression common to all religions born in India. All our prayers and religious ceremonies start with aum.

It is the beginning of the Vedas. It has three different syllables. A, U and M. The beginning and end of the Sanskrit (Nagari) vowels is A and M. (Ah). The Vedas consist of all alphabets (Aaksharas) and each alphabet is a Mantra. If you make words out of them it is your commentary on them. It is not original. Akshara (letter) is that which does not diminish. Aksharas are original. Words and sentences are commentaries or interpretations given by others(3). So how do you propose to put meaning into these three syllables? It is upto you. Your parents have given the mantra to you. You have to search for its meanings.

That reminds me of a beautiful story which Vinoba narrated in his early writings. You do use a dictionary when you come across a difficult word. Don’t you? What does a dictionary give to you? Does it give meaning? No. It gives another word which is possibly simpler or better known. It gives a synonym. Vinoba said that in Sanskrit the word for horse is ashva. What is the meaning of ashva? No, not a horse. The meaning is grazing or running a race. What you get in a dictionary is a similar word. You don’t get meaning in a dictionary. You have to search for it in life. You have to search for it in living. This is the beginning of education or learning.

In Sanskrit, there is no direct word for teaching. The right word is “learning”. The teacher makes learning possible. The meaning of a word is to be learned by you. It is to be searched for in real life. We use a lot of words, but we do not always understand them. We do not experience them. And unless we experience them they do not become a part of our understanding or knowledge. Take the simple word fear. Unless you see something fearful or a car passes very near you and your hairs stand on their ends you do not understand

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