‘Better standard of living is not better life’

Why is it that inspite of a better standard of living today, the joy of living in its truest sense continues to elude people? The pulls and pressures on the common man have increased manifold and life has become stressful. Where are people making a mistake?

Many have found answers to these troubling questions in the talks on Vedanta given by Sunandaji, the well-known daughter and disciple of Swami Parthasarthy.

Beginning this Tuesday, from November 30 to December 3, she will deliver her discourses in English on chapter 17 of The Bhagvad Gita at the Nehru Memorial Hall from 6:30 pm  to 7:45 pm.

Having spent most of her childhood with her spiritualist father, Swami Parthasarthy, who founded the Vedanta Academy at Malavli near Lonavla, it was natural that Sunandaji (Sunanda Leelaram) came under his strong influence. The Vedanta philosophy, she says, helped her grow as a woman and lead an ordinary life with extraordinary thought.

Over the last three decades, she has emerged as a  popular commentator on the Gita. Her forthcoming discourse will focus on chapter 17 of the Gita; specifically on the yoga of threefold division of shraddha (faith).

Speaking to DNA, Sunandaji emphasised at the outset that Vedanta is a science and not a religion. When applied to practical life, it brings joy, success and peace. “People seldom have success, joy and peace together because the intellect has fallen which is different from intelligence. While ‘intelligence’ is an artificial thing which brings success, ‘intellect’ comes from higher values A better standard of living is not better life,” she says.

According to her, while intelligence helps a person become successful, “It is with intellect that you balance life and attain peace and joy.”

Strongly recommending Swami Parthasarathy’s book, The Fall of Human Intellect, she elaborates that intellect is developed from higher values. “Problems are taken care of when you adopt and apply higher values in life. Vedanta tells us how to do this.”

A grandmother now, Sunandaji says Vedanta helped her balance her family and spiritual life and face various challenges. “The supreme knowledge in our ancient books filled me with energy. At the emotional level, you identify yourself with others and develop clarity of thought. That helped me grow as a woman and manage my life as a wife, mother and a teacher,” she says. Even her son who is an automobile engineer is actively pursuing the study of Vedanta.

Although she is satisfied with the number of women interested to gain the ancient knowledge, Sunandaji says there are not many female preachers or commentators, as one needs to dedicate a lot of time.

“The challenge is to explain what is embedded in the verses, decode it so that the common man understands the sanatan dharma.”

What fascinates her most about The Bhagavad Gita is that its philosophy is timeless and it will remain relevant generation after generation.