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TMI Blog1996 (3) TMI 580X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g devotional songs - a practice devolved by custom and usage from over a century. According to the petitioner, the office of archaka is succeeded from forefathers in accordance with the Vaikhanasa Agama Shastra rules which govern the temple on the principles of heirs in line of succession among four families, viz., Paidapally family, Gollapalli family, Pethainti family and Thirupahanna Garu family. The petitioner belongs to the Paidapally family. According to the petitioner, being Hindu vaishnavas, they render Archaktwam service in the holy temple of Lord Venkateswara situated on the top of seven hills or Saptagiri, Thirumalai. The temple is presided over by Lord Venkateswaraswamy known by different names. 3. Religion is inspired by ceaseless quest for truth which has many facets to release and free the soul from ceaseless cycle of birth and death to attain salvation. Hindus believe that worship consists of four forms of which idol worship is one such form. Mode of worship varies among persons of different faiths. It is an assimilation of the individual soul with the infinite. For its attainment diverse views and theories have been propounded and one of them is idol worship. Hindu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ower of the Lord are transmitted into the Deity, the image of the Deity becomes fit to be worshiped. Rules have been provided to conduct periodical or daily worship for securing continuance of the divine spirit in the image. According to Marishi Maharishi in his discourse to his disciple on need for worship for salvation had ordained that worship of Deity in the temple will bring all the benefits. The purpose of the temple is to provide opportunity for public worship of the Deity. When congregation of worshippers participate in the worship, a particular attitude of aspiration of devotion gets developed and confers great spiritual benefit. 7. The priest preserves the image from pollution, defilement or desecration. By performing rituals, rites and reciting hymns he makes Lord present in definable and describable way and Vishnu manifests in the hearts of the devotees. It is the religious belief of Hindu worshippers that when the image is polluted or defiled, the divine spirit in the image is diminished or even vanished. According to the Agamas, an image becomes, defiled if there is any departure or violation of any of the rules relating to worship. It would then become necessary to p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Dharmakartas (Padda Jeengar). Equally other classes of persons like Chinna Jeengar, Acharya, Purrushas and Gamekars were in charge of making prasadams, like Laddu and doing other forms of services like maintenance of the temple by shepherd community and other local communities, are part of the hereditary system. 12. All of them are given certain rights known as Mirasidars rights . They earn their livelihood through these mirasidars rights which include lands given by the temple for performance of services. Besides, archkas have shares out of the offerings made to the temple, while persons in charge of preparing prasadams will get percentage of share out of the sale of parasadams. All persons in charge of various activities of the temple succeed hereditarily. The right of management was acquired by birth and every person born in the respective classes is entitled to a share in the perquisites incidental to management. The temple is managed by these persons by turns among them. Dharamkarthas and archakas had framed rules for management of the temple, Even after the statutory take-over of the management by the Endowment Department or Government, custody of the properties, particularly ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ence with religious and customs which are part of religion. The Act should not look at archakas or other office-holders in isolation; they should be considered in its pragmatic whole whose impact would be to destroy the concept and content of Hindu religious belief itself. The scheme of the Act as such is an unwarranted and outrageous interference with the religion, that is to say, it aims to abolish all existing religious office, religious usages and practices and confers on the secular State power to decide as to who should be appointed as archaka, measured and other office-holders destroying the existing customs, usage and traditions which are integral part of religion. Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution deal with guarantee not only of matters of doctrine and beliefs but also the practices of it, to be ascertained with reference to the tenets and doctrine of the religion itself as is evidenced by custom and usage. Where the religious affairs and ceremonies are carried on in accordance with a particular Agama Shastra, deviation therefrom is impermissible. The archaka is part of the temple worship and the rights of an archaka are succeeded by heredity from generation to generat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lification or suitability for appointment. Therefore, though being secular act, hereditary right of an archaka may be abolished since qualification for appointment flows from the Agamic rule, only descendants of particular family are competent to conduct worship and they alone have the right to appointment and they cannot be tested nor can their competence be determined by the Commissioner. 18. Public interest requires that rites or rituals must be performed by an archaka and public duty towards the general worshippers demands that archaka who is interested in ritual form of worship would alone be appointed as priest. They would be available only in the families of archakas from generation to generation. Payment of share in the offerings is part of religious practice and usage. No question of money consideration or emoluments in that behalf for the performance of his duties, would arise. Archaka is entitled to the share in Parsadams, laddus and collections in the prescribed manner as part of religious customs and usages. The scheme under the Act and rules are wholly misconceived and repugnant to the established religious practice. 19. There is nothing in the Act to show that it was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... haka is a secular activity. Archakas, Jeengars and Ors. are employees of TTD. Though the Pedda Jeengars and Chinna Jeengars have the status of Mathadhipathi in relation to their Math, in relation to TTD, their status is only that of employees. The Commission had gone into these aspects and recommended for their abolition. There had been compromise with the TTD by hereditary archakas and mirasidars on May 30, 1979 to receive emoluments at certain rates which would establish that sharing of food offerings and laddus etc. is not part of religious practice. The archakas and gamekars have not been rendering any service personally but only through their deputies working for and on behalf of head priests for consideration. The hereditary nature of the right, therefore, became irrelevant. Vaikhanasa Agama nowhere mandates that the members of the families referred to in the writ petition alone are entitled to perform the service, though they belong to Vaikhanasa sect and are Srivaishnavites. Hereditary right which governs the appointment of archaka is a secular usage which could be regulated by law. The mere fact that in some temples elsewhere, the hereditary principle is being followed wou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n 2(5). Section 2(15) defines hereditary office- holders . Religious institution has been defined under Section 2(23), Temple under Section 2(27) and Thirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams under Section 2(28). Section 34 abolishes hereditary rights in mirasidars, archakas and other office holders and servants and reads thus : 34. (1)(a) Abolition of hereditary rights in Mirasidars, archakas, and other office-holders and servants : (1)(a). Notwithstanding anything in any compromise or agreement entered into or scheme framed or sanad or grant made or judgment, decree or order passed by any Court, Tribunal or other authorities prior to the commencement of this Act and in force on such commencement, all rights, whether, hereditary, contractual or otherwise of a person holding any office of the Pedda Jeeyanagar, Chinna Jeeyangar, a Mirasidar or an archaka or Pujari or any other office or service or post by whatever name it is called in any religious institution or endowment shall on the commencement of this Act stand abolished. (b). Any usage or practice relating to the succession to any office or service or post mentioned in Clause (a) shall be void; (c) All rights and emoluments of any natu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Act to Thirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, constitution of Board, powers and functions of the Board of Trustees etc., making the Act a complete code as regards the management and maintenance of the institutions or endowments belonging to Deity. 28. The concept of Hindu religious faith and practice referred to in the judgments in the narration of the facts needs preface with inner depth of religion as revealed by (1) Swami Vivekananda's scholastic concepts in his The Complete Works , Vol. I, at page 124; and (2) broad spectrum of self-realisation by Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda had stated that : Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy-by one, or more, or all of these- and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. Religion is based upon faith and belief, and, in most cases, consists only of different sets of theories, and that is the reason why there is difference in form. Thereafter, at page 341 he had stated that : Get rid, in t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd the aesthetic and ethical and practical being of man, and to inform and govern these members of our being by the higher light and law of the spirit, Religionism, on the contrary, entrenches itself in some narrow pietistic exaltation of the lower members or lays exclusive stress on intellectual dogmas, forms and ceremonies, on some fixed and rigid moral code, on some religion-political or religio-social system. Not that these things are altogether negligible or that they must be unworthy or unnecessary or that a spiritual religion need disdain the aid of forms, ceremonies, creeds or systems. On the contrary, they are needed by man because the lower members have to be exalted and raised before they can be fully spiritualised, before they can directly feel the spirit and obey its law. (Emphasis supplied) At pages 168-69 he added that : Only by the light and power of the highest can the lower be perfectly guided, uplifted and accomplished. The lower life of man is in form undivine, though in it there is the secret of the divine, and it can only be diminished by finding the higher law and the spiritual illumination.... The spiritual man who can guide human life towards its perfection ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e better life. At pages 546-47, he concluded his thoughts on brotherhood thus : Yet is brotherhood the real key to the triple gospel of the idea of humanity. The union of liberty and equality can only be achieved by the power of human brotherhood and it cannot be founded on anything else. But brotherhood exists only in the soul and by the soul; it can exist by nothing else. For this brotherhood is not a matter either of physical kinship or of vital association or of intellectual agreement. When the soul claims freedom, it is the freedom of its self-development, the self-development of the divine in man in all his being. When it claims equality, what it is claiming is that freedom equally for all and the recognition of the same soul, the same godhead in all human beings. When it strives for brother-hood, it is founding that equal freedom of self- development on a common aim, a common life, a unity of mind and feeling founded upon the recognition of this inner spiritual unity. These three things are in fact the nature of the soul; for freedom, equality, unity are the eternal attributes of the Spirit. It is the practical recognition of this truth, it is the awakening of the soul in ma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tifully made, Shri Aurobindo says in his magnum opus Life Divine : World- existence is the ecstatic dance of Shiva which multiplies the body of the God numberless to the view; it leaves that while existence precisely where and what was, ever is and ever will be; its sole absolute subject is the joy of the dancing. In Rig Veda, the Hymns of Bharadwaja, spoke about universal Force that The heights of heaven were measured into form by the eye of this universal Force they were shaped by the institution of the Immortal. 32. The world is the creation of the braht conscientious energy of the Supreme Spirit apraketam salilam sarvam idam tapasas tan mahina ajayata ekam . (Out of all the ocean of in conscience it is that one spiritual Existent who is born by the greatness of his own energy). Braht Vedic thinkers, like ancient Greeks in their search for the first ground of all changing things, looked upon water, air, fire etc. as the ultimate elements out of which the variety of the world is composed. In the pluralistic stage several Gods like Pavana, Indra, Agni etc. were looked upon as the authors of universe. In monistic philosophy there exist unsolved question whether God created world ou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n, how is religiousness distinguished from various other types of awareness such as the aesthetic and ecstatic - what Abraham Maslow (1964) calls peak experiences and Marghanita Laski (1961) terms non-religious ecstasy and the states of altered consciousness produced by various psychosomatic techniques or drugs ? On Hindu religion, at page 290 it is stated that yet deep within ritualism there is inherent the concern for accuracy and faithfulness. This is the essentially sacramental nature of ritual that arises from its nature as an ordered symbol system. Thus both symbol and ritual are perceived as intrinsic embodiments of the sacred essence, the supersensible and indescribable untimely of a religion. Thus ritual and symbol bring the real presence of the religious depth-dimension into the lives of its experiments and in so doing become incredibly precious . 35. At page 292, it is further stated under the caption Religion and Modernity that the question whether religion, at least, in its traditional forms, will survive the ongoing cultural changes of modern times is often discussed. Certainly many traditional and current formulations, and perhaps entire traditions, will radically ch ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s or T.V. sets or washing machines per person is not merely unnecessary, but bad Quantity of material production is a means to a further end, not an end in itself. 38. The Upanishads teach us that India has sought in religion not an absolute or finished dogma to believe in, but a method and means to pierce the veil that hides every present meaning and mystery of existence. Robert Ernest Hume in his the Thirteen Principal Upanishads at page 30 footnote states that the earnestness of the search for truth is one of the delightful and commendable features of the Upanishads . 39. Swami Vivekananda in his lecture on Religion and Science incorporated in The Complete Works (Vol. VI, Sixth Edition) had stated at page 81 thus : Experience is the only source of knowledge. In the world, religion is the only science where there is no surety, because it is not taught as a science of experience. This should not be. There is always, however, a small group of men who teach religion from experience. They are called mystics, and these mystics in every religion speak the same tongue and teach the same truth. This is the real science of religion. As mathematics in every part of the world does not diffe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vouch for its truth, which religion has. 41. Swami Vivekananda in his The Complete Works , Vol. VI, Sixth Edn. at page 81 said that : Religion deals with the truths of the metaphysical world just as chemistry and the other natural sciences deal with the truth of the physical world. The book one must read to learn chemistry is the book of (external) nature. The book from which to learn religion is your own mind and heart. The sage is often ignorant of physical science because he reads the wrong book-the book within; and the scientist is too often ignorant of religion because he, too, reads the wrong book-the book without. 42. Again in his The Complete Works, (Vol. V, Eighth Edn.), pages 192-93, he says that: The basis of all systems, social or political, rests upon the goodness of men. No nation is greater or good because Parliament enacts this or that, but because its men are great and good.... Religion goes to the root of the matter. If it is right, all is right... One must admit that law, government, politics are phases not final in any way. There is a goal beyond them where law is not needed.... All great Masters teach the same thing. Christ saw that the basis is not law, that m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... manifesting the dignity of God. 45. The purpose of religious experience, as stated earlier, is to integrate human life, socially, materially and morally. It must, therefore, produce a share of material goods and bear a pinnacle for human experience. The dualism of Spirit and Matter, should be kept clear. John Macmurray has stated in this behalf thus : Worship is certainly specifically religious, and it is an attitude of mind which is not compatible, with science. Science does not worship, It enquires, and analyses, classifies and does sums. On the other hand, religion is not merely worship; and worship may be merely superstitious. If superstitious worship is religion, then astrology and palmistry are sciences. Religion cannot simply sit down and worship anything and everything; it must claim reality for what it worships; and it must make some statement about this reality and assert not merely that it is true but that it is supreme truth. A religious temper which is indifferent to any truth, scientific or otherwise, it ipso facto, superstitious Religion is not merely the worship of God, but the knowledge of God, for if it does not known its God then God is a figment to the imaginati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ents and the siddhi are indicative of the progress in the path leading upto the various ways in which the bimbarupa, i.e., the parmesvarachaitanya appears. It is also useful to recollect the beautiful shloka in the Geeta where Lord Krishna says अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मा ये जनाः पर्युपासते। तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगश्रेम तहाभ्यहम्॥ Ananyash Chintayanto man ye janah paryupaste, Tesham nityabhiyuktnam yogakshemam Bahamyaham. (Those men, who, meditating on Me as non-separate, worship Me all round to them who are ever devout, I secure gain and safety.) 46. Thus there can be no doubt that religious experience is an internal experience and the Deity in a temple is supposed to provoke that inner experience. The image of the Lord in a temp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ence transform the life of a man from a mere temporal pursuit of limited vision into an expansive pursuit of equality, seeing one's own self in the others and ultimately losing one's ego and dissolving it into the subaudited symphonic testament of love, joy and peace ? The ascent from an empirical experience of personal life which is the first assertion of a religious experience is to be followed right up to the stage of mutual communion, i.e., of the individual self with relationship outside becomes inevitable. 51. John Macmurray once again in Reason and Emotion says thus: There is, then, a definite field of empirical experience which is the field of religion. It is the field of personal life - not, of course, the field of individual isolation. When Professor Whitehead says that religion is what a man does with his solitariness he is saying what is almost the reverse of the truth; although he is, unlike many philosophers, moving in the right universe of discourse. Religion is what a man makes of his personal relationships. This field of personal relationships is the center of every human life. That is a mere statement of fact. But it does not follow that every human life r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... experience of God thus : The dualism of mind and matter reflects itself all too easily in the dualism between secular and sacred, natural and supernatural, the human and the divine. The result is that we think of God as isolated from the world and, therefore, that the religious life involves a turning away from man to God, from this world to another world, so that religion becomes something apart, instead of the fundamental activity of human life. But now, having made that point clear, I should like to indicate in closing how essential to the view that I have outlines is the idea of God. All experience at any level is the experience of the finite in the infinite. Even a triangle, as Spinoza pointed out, can only be seen, or imagined, as a limitation of infinite space. At the material level, we apprehended all materials objects as finite and dependent upon the material infinite. This is not matter of reflection but of immediate common experience. Similarly we apprehend all organisms as finite dependents of infinite life. And when we come to the personal field it is not different. I have already insisted that our apprehension of our dependence upon what is not ourselves. We can now ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the state of knowledge. Thus seers and thinkers have in fact reduced rituals to the bare minimum and some-times even decried them because a non-essential adherence to them is only bound to be an obstacle or impediment in the attainment of true knowledge. It would be very useful to note that if religious experience is an internal experience, rituals beyond evoking the necessary environment and atmosphere and as it were painting seascape of purity must yield to the unrelenting pursuit of true knowledge which is identical with true religious experience. The pursuit of knowledge, the knowing of the being, ever has been described by eminent philosophers as incapable of sustaining observance of rituals. The belief is that observance of rituals and the devotion to true knowledge cannot co-exist. 55. Shri Acharya Pada in the Sarva Vendantha Sidhanta shlokas 857-862 says : ज्ञाननिष्ठातत्परस्य नैव कर्मोपयुज्यते । कर्मणोज्ञ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 9;ि योग्यता ।। Gyan nistha tatparasya nait karmopyujyate Karmano Gyan nishthatahaya na sahsthiteh Paraspar Birudhyatwat Tayor Bhinna Swabhhbaiyoh Kartitwa Bhawana Purbam karm gyanam vilakshanam Dehatma-bvudherbichhitye gyanam karm Bibridhaye Agyanam Mulakam Karm Gyanantu bhai nashkam. Gyanen karmano yogah katham sidhyati berina Sahyogo na ghatate yatha timirtejsoh Nimeshonmesyorwape tatheb gyan karmnoh Pratichi Pashyatah punshah kutah prachibeloknam Pratyam Pravamchittasya Kutah Karmani yogyata. (When the mind becomes motionless, in that case, the life also becomes immovable. Hence the yoga with meditation should be practised for the control of chita (mind). One devoted to the pursuit of knowledge no longer remains fit for action. The co-existence of knowledge and action is not to succeed. Due to their being mutually contradictory in nature, involvement in action with a sense of self-performance causes the absence of knowledge. But the renouncement of the sense of bodily-self, goes for the promotion of knowledge. The action and knowledge emanating from the ignorance, are destroyers of both. How there can be the union of kn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 346;्रत्यथसन्तानकरणभिनिवेशश्चज्ञाननिष्ठा ।। सा च प्रत्यक्समुद्र गमनवत् कर्मणा सहभावित्वेन विरुध्यते । पर्वतसर्षपयो रिवान्तरवान विरोधः प्रमाणविदां निश्चितः । तस्मात सर्वकर्म संन्या सनैव ज्ञाननि ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. They are clouds of gas or tiny particles, or lumps of uniform matter like crystals, with almost endlessly repeated atomic patterns. They do not, at least by biological standards, have intricate working parts. Even large physical objects like stars consists of a rather limited array of parts, more or less haphazardly arranged. The behavior of physical, non-biological objects is so simple that it is feasible to use existing mathematical language to describe it, which is why physics books are full of mathematics. 59. No wonder, the concept of justice too based on a sense of equality, whether distributive or corrective, always carries with it a connotation of a sacred and religious dispensation. If ultimately the Atman which resides in all beings is that one auspicious and pure which alone remains over, there can be no manner of doubt that all beings are necessarily equal. The Atman, irrespective of the body and its temporal abode with attendant of earthly appellations, is the same for all. It is described by Shri Shri Acharyapada in the opening verse of the Dasasloki: एवं सामान्यतोऽहं प& ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2369;पश्रो यत्र धर्मः सुदुर्लभः । दुष्करः प्रतिसंख्यातु तत्केनात्र व्यवस्यति ।। प्रभवार्थाय भूतानां धर्म प्रवचनमं कृतम । यः स्यातप्रभवसंयुक्तः स धर्मइति निश्चयः ।। धारणार्द्धम मित्याहुधर्मणे विधता&# ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... #2352;तिजानेमहे । तदभिधीयते चोदनालश्रणोऽयो धर्मः || Sa hi Nihshraisen Purusam Sanyunakteeti Pratijanimahe Tadabhidheeyate Chodana Lakshanartho Dharmah. Dharma is that which is indicated by the Vedas as conducive to the highest good. Madhavacharya, the Minister to Hakka and Bukka, founder kings of Vijayanager Empire, in his commentary on Parashara Smriti, has briefly and precisely explained the meaning of Dharma as follows: अभ्युदय निःश्रेयसे साधनत्वेन धारयति इति धर्मः । स च लक्षण प्रमाणाभ्यां चौदनासूत्रैव्यवस&# ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ociety regarding every human being as the creation of God and treating him on a footing of equality. The last rhyme of the Rig Veda throws light on the Rig Veda concept of dharma laying down that all human beings should move together, speak together and their minds be of one accord . संगच्छध्वं सर्वदध्वं सवोमनासि जानताय देवा भाग यथापूर्व संजानाना उपास्ते (Samgachhdhwam Sambaddwam Sambo Manasi Sanatnam Deva Bhagan Yathaturbe Sanjananam Upasate - Rv. X, 191, 2.) At page 5, he states that the concept of dharma was not static. Its content changes with the changing contexts of time, place and social environment. Dharma is that which holds together all living beings in a harmonious order. Virtuous conduct contribute to social welfare and vice is its bane. In the Sutra literature both these aspects of dharma are discu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 357;तन्ति मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ॥ Ye yatha main prapadyante temptathaiva bhajamy-aham pama vartmuvartante manusyah nartha sarvasag In whatever way men identify with Me, in the same way do I carry out their; men pursue my path, in all ways. (Bh.G.IV. 11) यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्तः श्रद्धयार्चितुमिच्छाति । तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहम् ॥ Yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktah Sraddhayarcitumicchati. Tasya tasyacalam sraddhan tam-eva vidhamy-aham) Whatever from any devotee with faith wishes to worship. I make that faith steady. (Bh. G. : VII. 21) This philosophical ap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rsity, Bangalore, Dr. S.D. Sharma expounded the meaning of 'dharma' thus : What does Dharma mean ? The word is clearly derived from the root 'Dh.r' - which denotes : 'upholding', 'supporting, 'nourishing - that which upholds is Dharma. In the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, Verse-58 in Chapter 69 says : (Dharma is for the stability of society, the maintenance of social order and the general well-being and progress of humankind. Whatever conduces to the fulfilment of these object is Dharma; that is definite.) 67. The Brhadaranyakopanisad identified Dharma with Truth, and declared its Supreme status : स नैव व्यभवतच्छ्रीयो रूपमत्य धर्मतदेतन्क्षत्रस्यक्षत्र यद्दर्मस्तमाद्वर्मात्पर नास्ति &# ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ah. (From the ancient times the constitutional system depends on the foundation of Truth and social sympathy. Truth is the fundamental basis of the State; indeed the whole universe rests on Truth.) The Rig Veda states that the Law and Truth are eternal - born of sacrifice and sublimation : ऋत: च सत्यं चाभी दूधात तपसोऽध्यजायत Ritam cha Satyam Chabhidadhat Tapsodhyajayat. The Niti Vakyamrit begins with the statement: अथ धर्मार्थ फलाय राज्याय नमः Ath Dharmarth Falai Rajyaya Namah. The Yajnavalkya Smriti states : श्रुति स्मृति सदाचारः स्वस्थ च प्रियमात्मनः । सम्यक्ताड् कल&# ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... may express each other's happiness, that there may be welfare of all, all being free from fear and disease; cherish good feelings and sense of brotherhood, unity and friendship) 69. It is this stress on the identification of Dharma with truth and social well being, Duty and Service that impelled Yudhisthira to express his own ambition, as Dharmaraja, in the words: नत्वहं कामये राज्यां न स्वंग न पुनभर्वमा कागये दुःश्व तप्ताना प्राणिनां भाति नाशनम् ।। Na Twaham Kamaya Rajyam Na Swargam Na Punarbhawam Kamye Dukh Taptanam Praninam Artnashnam. (I seek no kingdoms nor heavenly pleasure nor personal salvation, since to relieve humanity from its manifold pains and distresses is the supreme objective of mankind). 70. It is in this context that the phrase & ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ave a content of universal value which is something more than the merely political, social or national. The value is the ethical and spiritual content. Without that content, our democracy will be nothing more than a mere carbon copy of what happens in the democratic countries of the West. The science and democracy are shaping the growth and development of human culture and civilisation with the development of science, an amount of force and power, scientific and political is itching for a fight creating new tensions, creating instability and insecurity. The nation has to handle the force and the power in such a way as not to result in corruption in the wielders and in the confusion to harm the people at large. India holds science and spirituality/harmonious and hospitable co-existence fostering human values. Vedantha enables the Indians to digest the forces generated by science. The spiritual meaning of democratic living and fulfilment, i.e., spiritual oneness of humanity taught by ancient and modern Indian seers has to be received and reactivated in men's thinking and day to day living and its powerful influence brought to bear on these new and ever newer forms of scientific a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The 'religion' carries to some at least of the modern world a bit of bad odor. It is unfortunate. It is due to the fact that religion became identified with untested beliefs and dogmas. And these got shattered in the progress of scientific inquiry. In the history of Europe, religion has often functioned as an 'enemy' of science. But that experience is not universal or invariable; it is a story with its background in the West only and not in India. Our entire mental make-up proceeding from our long cultural experience is not only hostile, but is very sympathetic and hospitable to; the scientific spirit. In his book, the Discovery of India, our Prime Minister, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, has expressed the view that science, which has much leeway to make in India compared to Western countries, is bound to make increasing advances here in the future because of the hospitality of the Indian national heritage to science. That science is a fundamental force and that it does have a great message for all men is understood in India, no less than elsewhere. Human welfare partly depends upon the knowledge and control of the human environment, natural and social. Vedanta has always ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ss for foundation, the structure of civilization raised by science and democracy becomes strong and steady; without it, it sways in periodic crises to topple down eventually. Without the inspiration of religion, civilization shall ever remain an unstable structure. Besides the integral unity of man and his interests, Vedanta also proclaims the unity and solidarity of all existence. The objective of Vedanta is the happiness and welfare of man; not man as divided into sects, creeds, castes, and classes, but man as man wherever he may be found. Based on this unitary and universal view of man upheld in her philosophy, religion in India taught that man, in the course of his development, in the course of his self-expression, generates various forces, physical or mental, social or political, and that the development of these forces needs to be matched by a corresponding development of his inner spiritual resources, which alone can provide the factors of stability to an evolving personality or social system. True democracy is inconsistent with a narrow self- sufficient nationalism or sectarianism; it must tend to reach out to the universal. Breaking the barriers of caste and creed, race an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... heritage conceives of a synthesis between these two great values. One does not contradict the other but complements the other. True secularism is humanism in action and perceives divinity in everyone. True spirituality is not refuge in other worldliness and has a factor of universality where even on the material plane every human being is seen as of equal value and potential as every other member of the human family. We have to steer clear of all narrow religious denominations and communal classifications by emphasising that in secular affairs all will be dealt with on the same footing, whether one belongs to the 'minority' or the 'majority' community . At page 205 the author has stated that Equality and fraternity, basic to national unity and amity, is impossible without the broad base of Human Rights. So it is that today we have to be eclectic and accept not religion with the capital 'R' but soul force which resides in everyone's bosom.... We need a social order whose life-breath is secularism, whose dynamics is social and economic justice. It is our fundamental duty to be secular in politics, not in rhetoric nor in cosmetics, but in every fiber of ou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he experience of the man has to be propelled and to be brightened rather than dimmed by the myriad tribulation of knowing the system of rituals or feelings of inferior and inaccessible or unnecessary to realise the Supreme Being. The need to over-come this is the pursuit of spiritual religion. 77. The importance of rituals in religious life is relevant for evocation of mystic and symbolic beginnings of the journey but on them the truth of a religious experience cannot stand. The truth of a religious experience is far more direct, perceptible and important to human existence. It is the fullness of religious experience which must be assured by temples, where the images of the Lord in resplendent glory is housed. To them all must have an equal right to plead and in a manner of such directness and simplicity that every human being can approach the doors of the Eternal with equality and with equal access and thereby exercise greater freedom in his own life. It is essential that the value of law must be tested by its certainty in reiterating the Core of Religious Experience and if a law seeks to separate the non-essential from the essential so that the essential can have a greater focus ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f religion, and these forms and observances might extend even to matters of food and dress. 82. In Sri Venkalaramana Devaru and Ors. v. The State of Mysore and Ors.: [1958] 1 SCR8 95, this Court surveyed the historical background in enacting the Madras Religious and Charitable Endowment Act (29 of 1951) which is a pre-cursor to predecessor Act 17 of 1966. The question therein was : whether Sri Venkataramana of Moolky Petta was a private or a public temple or a denominational institution? This Court had held that with the growth and importance of temple and of worship therein more and more attention came to be devoted to the ceremonial law relating to construction of temple and conduct of worship of the Deity and numerous other trusts that came to be established for its existence. While explaining the expression matters of religion used in Article 26(b), this Court said that practices which are regarded by the community as part of its religion and under the ceremonial law pertaining to the temples, who are entitled to enter into them for worship and where they are entitled to stand for worship and how the worship is to be conducted are all matters of religion. In The Durgah Committe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , that what are matters of religion and what are not is not an easy question to decide. It must vary in each individual case according to the tenets of the religious denomination concerned. The expressions 'matters of religion' engrafted in Article 26(b) and 'activities associated with religious practice' do not cover exactly the same ground. What are exactly matters of religion are completely outside State interference, subject, of course, to public order, morality and health. But activities associated with religious practice may have many ramifications and varieties - economic, financial, political and other such activities as are contemplated in Article 25(2) covering a field much wider than that covered by either Article 25(1) or Article 26(b). No demarcation can be classified as to which are essentially and purely of a religious character and those which are not essentially such. Considering the question whether ex-communication is a part of religious practice, on the facts in that case, majority had held that it offends Article 25(1) and accordingly the provision was declared unconstitutional. 85. Articles 25 and 26 deal with and protect religious freedom. Rel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ach to construe the protection of religion or matters of religion or religious practices guaranteed by Articles 25 and 26 must be viewed with pragmatism since by the very nature of things, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to define the expression religion or matters of religion or religious belief or practice. 87. In pluralistic society like India, as stated earlier, there are numerous religious groups who practise diverse forms of worship or practise religions, rituals, rites etc.; even among Hindus, different denominants and sects residing within the country or abroad profess different religious faiths, beliefs practices, They seek to identify religion with what may in substance be mere facets of religion. It would, therefore, be difficult to devise a definition of religion which would be regarded as applicable to all religions or matters of religious practices. To one class of persons a mere dogma or precept or a doctrine may be pre-dominant in the matter of religion; to others, rituals or ceremonies may be pre-dominant facets of religion; and to yet another class of persons a code of conduct or a mode of life may constitute religion. Even to different persons ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rism, therefore, consciously denounces all forms of super-naturalism or superstitious beliefs or actions and acts which are not essentially or integrally matters of religion or religious belief or faith or religious practices. In other words, non-religious or anti-religious practices are anti-thesis to secularism which seeks to contribute in some degree to the process of secularisation of the matters of religion or religious practices. For instance, untouchability was believed to be the part of Hindu religious belief. But human rights denounce it and Article 17 of the Constitution of India abolished it and its practice in any form is a constitutional crime punishable under Civil Rights Protection Act. Article 15(2) and other allied provisions achieve the purpose of Article 17. 90. The religious freedom guaranteed by Articles 25 and 26, therefore, is intended to be a guide to a community-life and ordain every religion to act according to its cultural and social demands to establish an egalitarian social order. Articles 25 and 26, therefore, strike a balance between the rigidity of right to religious belief and faith and their intrinsic restrictions in matters of religion, religious ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... integral part of the religion. It must be decided whether the practices or matters are considered integral by the community itself. Though not conclusive, this is also one of the facets to be noticed. The practice in question is religious in character and whether it could be regarded as an integral and essential part of the religion and if the Court finds upon evidence adduced before it that it is an integral or essential part of the religion, Article 25 accords protection to it. Though the performance of certain duties is part of religion and the person performing the duties is also part of the religion or religious faith or matters of religion, it is required to be carefully examined and considered to decide whether it is a matter of religion or a secular management by the State. Whether the traditional practices are matters of religion or integral and essential part of the religion and religious practice protected by Articles 25 and 26 is the question. Whether hereditary archaka is an essential and integral part of the Hindu religion is the crucial question? 91. Justice B.K. Mukherjea in his Tagore Law Lectures on Hindu Law of Religious and Charitable Trust, at page 1 observed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bestowing grace on the worshippers. The root 'Div also means that Devas are the embodiment of unfragmented consciousness, which is ultimately one and non dual. Likewise, the Vedic sacrifice is an act of re-enactment of the cosmic creation; in our mundane life, our life of action is simply a life of fragmented acts. This is because of Raga Dvesha whereby the perception is limited. The fragmented acts emanate from our deep rooted attraction and hatefulness. The Vedic sacrifice moves towards Poorna , i.e., plenitude and thus overcoming the problem of fragmented action in our lives. Onwards, the seeker moves towards the knowledge of self or the Brahaman. So many Upasanas are taught in the Vedas but not elaborated. The Agamas have elaborated these Upasanas such as Madhu Vidya and Dahra Vidya. 96. Upanishads speak of Para Vidya and Apara Vidya. Apara Vidya deals with Jnana through various methods. Agamas explain these Para Vidyas. The Agamic texts contain four parts, namely, Vidya Pada, Kriya Pada, Charya Pada and Yoga Pada. 97. Each text of the Agamas has the first portion, called 'Samhita' which contains the four parts namely the Vidya Pada, Kriya Pada, Charya Pada and Yog ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... new the texts, receiving uninterruptedly from their predecessors in the family or from Guru. This succession either through family or through the Guru is called Parampara. It has now taken shape in Agama schools established by the State wherein Agamic education is taught. Purohit, thus educated, becomes an accomplished priest fit to perform rituals according to particular Agama and Sampradaya. The dispensation of these rituals in accordance with the Agamic Shastras is meant for enlightened ones and not as a common rule. The entire Indian history of art owes its development of Agamic texts which elaborate rules of temple architecture, image making, ritualistic celebrations, music, paintings and dance etc. 101. The entire life is thus woven around the temples and the rituals taking place all over the year. This is to symbolise the philosophy that these actions are religious. 102. Worship is a mystic act by which the devotee identifies himself with the Deity which in turn represents the Cosmic Supreme. Thus the form of worship varies from simple 'panchopachara' pooja to 'Shodhsaopchara' pooja. The offerings of articles is related to elements of nature identifying ourse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rituals, the Yupa or the post outside the Mandapa corresponds to the Dhuaja . Offerings of articles in the Agamic worship correspond to offering of the Ahuti in Vedic Sacrifice. 106. Temple has become the most important center of activities -religious, cultural and social among the people, in particular rural India, Temple is conceived in the likeness of human body. Parts of the temple are named accordingly, by which the organic unity of the temple is emphasised. Obviously, therefore, religious people endow their property for upkeep of temples or propagation of religion. Majority people in India are dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, Ganpathi and Hanuman of Hindu Gods. The cardinal principle underlying idol worship is one of the four modes for self-realisation. Daily routine life in performing rituals to Deity will be gone through with minute accuracy of Abishek (bathing), changing of clothes, offering of food and the retirement (rest). Religion, therefore, has occupied a significant place and role in the public life in our country. Hindus, therefore, believe that religion is an essential and powerful factor in raising humanity to higher level of thought and being. The priest (arc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntala (1.22), where King Dusyanta in-quires whether Sakuntala observes Vaikhanasa-Vrata. Vaikhanasas were entrusted with the management of temples and their land and property, they entered into agreements with the revenue officers and the assemblies in matters relating to the cultivation of assigned lands and sometimes also of unassigned lands. They were the hereditary trustees of Visnu temples, managed their properties, and conducted the divine service. Shrines of Ramanuja and the Alvars were added, and in the associated temples in Tirupati town and Tiruchanur, the pancharatra form of worship was introduced. Jiyars (monks of the Ramanuja school) took charge of the Balaji temple, where the services were performed by vaishnavas of that School. Yet pooja to Balaji (Sri Venkateswaraswamy) in the sanctum sanctorum continues to be done by the Vaikhanasa according to the Vaikhanasa Sastra which is purely in Sanskrit. There are more temples in South India today under the Vaikhanasa Agama than under the Pancharatra. Devotion (bhakti) and self-surrender (Prapatti) to His will are together the master keys to open the gates of divine grace. Vaikhanasa's chief contribution to spiritual lif ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... things himself prohibiting others to participate. The order of Guru was described as binding as an order of a king. The right to live in comfort on the provisions made by the owner of the temples was intended to keep the priest above want so as to enable him to attend to his duty without worry and the same finds mention in Prakirnadhikar, paras 17, 84. and 86. It is also insisted that Guru (Priest) or in his absence his son or grandson or great grandson or brother or his disciple or his disciple's disciple or a Brahmachari should be chosen in succession. As is found in Prakirnadhikara, the selected priest must be well-versed in Vaikhanasa Sastra with qualities like gentleness controlling senses, purity, character and devotion to the worship of Shri Maha Vishnu etc. The idea is that one devoid of divinity cannot get into any association with divinity. Shri Paramapurush in Chapter II prescribes in para 35 appointment of archaka. The owner of the temple without executing a gift of land in the aforementioned manner fixes monthly salary to the archaka, failure thereof leads to ruination of the owner's life. The owner should not feel jealous of the earnings of the archaka and hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in Padma Samhita that for conducting worship for others, Brahmins only are entitled to perform worship. At page 165, he has stated that thereafterwards the text prescribed that in the matter of performing worship for others only the descendants of the family of Kashyapa etc. have the right, which is not universal. But that text is found only in the manuscript in Telugu script, There is some scope to conclude that this portion might have been contrived by some elements who wanted to establish their own exclusive right to perform worship for others in the temples. That portion is also against arrangements prevailing these days. In a narrative dialogue, he has stated that Rishi Marich is stated to have said that 'O Padma' only those who are initiated in the Diksha spoken by you have a right to do the worship of Vishnu. All others have no right in that worship. The worship for others should be performed by persons born in the best gotra of the Kashyap Muni etc. If the worship for others is done by other Bhagavatars on account of ignorance, there will be much fall of the kings and the country. Therefore, through all efforts one who is born in Kashayapa family duly initiated, tho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ive Agamas of either Vaishnava or Saiva form of worship, priests appointed are from amongst the sects who have implicit faith, devotion, dedication of a man of good character, integrity and piety. He must also be an accomplished man to perform ritual in ceremonial form of worship steeped with profound knowledge in Agama rules, proficiency in recitation and performance of rituals accurately and systematically with total identification and personification. The right to work as priest is traceable to an appointment for life. The priesthood was systematised among the families of priests having faith and devotion initiated with Diksha and learning in the respective Agamas. They succeeded from generation to generation subject to good conduct and were terminable due to acts of misconduct. Hereditary succession is not an exorable rule. Due to non-availability of persons from the family eligible to be priest, outsiders would also become eligible. Normally, succession to the priesthood upto the lifetime of the priest is open to his successors. In some instances, priests from same Gotra were inducted and in their absence, even the disciples of the Guru and Ors. were initiated. The property de ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the doing away of the line of succession on hereditary basis but not hereditary right itself. This Court had upheld hereditary right as such and given acceptance to legislative sanction to doing away with the line of succession to hereditary descendant from the same family and gotra. On the other hand. Sri Rao contended that the office of archaka is not done away with. Archaka is an important employee of the temple to conduct daily ritual ceremonies in accordance with the Agamas, customs, practices or Sampradayamas prevalent in the concerned temple. His service is akin to that of any other employee of the temple. The hereditary right offends Articles 14 15(1) (2) and 16(1) of the Constitution. 118. There is a distinction between religious service and the person who performs the service; performance of the religious service according to the tenets, Agamas, customs and usages prevalent in the temple etc. is an integral part of the religious faith and belief and to that extent the legislature cannot intervene to regulate it. But the service of the priest (archaka) is a secular part. As seen earlier the right to perform religious service has appointment by the owner of the temple or ki ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ks according to the procedure therein. This court had further held that the act of his appointment is essentially a secular act. He owes his appointment to a secular authority. Any lay founder of a temple may appoint an archaka. The Shebait or Manager of temple exercises essentially a secular function in choosing and appointing the archaka. Continuance of an archaka by succession to the office from generation to generation does not make any difference to the principle of appointment. No such hereditary archaka can claim any right to the office. Though after appointment the archaka performs worship, it is no ground to hold that the appointment is either religious practice or a matter of religion. It would thus be clear that though archaka is normally a well-versed and accomplished person in the Agamas and rituals necessary to be performed in a temple, he is the holder of an office in the temple. He is subject to the disciplinary power of a trustee or an appropriate authority prescribed in the regulations or rule or the Act. He owes his existence to an order of appointment - be it in writing or otherwise. He is subject to the discipline at par with other members of the establishment. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f religious practice, Section 34(1)(b) is unconstitutional. It is true that in Seshammal's case the issues whether appointment of an archaka should be made on the basis of custom or usage prevalent in an institution or whether such appointment is in contravention of Article 25(1) of 26(b) of the Constitution were not directly addressed. So long as the statute did not intervene regulating the secular appointment of an archaka, the appointment according to prevailing usage or custom was upheld by the courts. Consequently, the right to succession or appointment remained valid. But with the statutory intervention, unless the custom or usage is held an integral part of the religion, the legislature has power to regulate the appointment of an archaka or other office-holder. In view of the settled legal position that the appointment of an archaka is a secular act, the previous custom or practice or usage in making an appointment to the office of an archaka is regulated under the Act. As an object in that behalf the hereditary right or custom or usage, prevalent in that behalf, was statutorily abolished. 122. In Gazula Dasaratha Rama Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors.: [1961] 2 SC ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s institution or endowment in respect of which such powers are exercised or functions are performed. In Shirur Math's case this Court had upheld similar State action whether the offending provision was in conformity with the rules, practices, usages or customs of the Math in dealing with the right of the head of the Math. Similarly, Section 142 preserves continuance of existing customs etc. by a savings clause as under : Savings : Nothing in this Act shall - (a) affect any honour to which any person is entitled by custom, the performance of or interference with the religious worship, ceremonies and poojas in religious institutions according to the sampradayams and Agams followed in such institutions ; or (b) authorise any interference with the religious or spiritual functions of the head of a math including those relating to the imparting of religious instructions or rendering of spiritual service. 124. A conjoint reading thereof preserves the existing customs, performances, religious worships, ceremonies and poojas according to Sampradayams and Agamas followed in such institutions. Section 142 issues an injunction against officer from interfering with such observances. Yet it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation and learning and ample opportunities to improve excellence to seek advantageous avocation, a child in traditional Vedic family may not fall in line with father to practise his archakatwam, avocation or services and no one can compel him to do so, Therefore, what would be relevant is not that the candidate who seeks to serve as an archaka must be from that family etc., but must b e an accomplished person in Agama rules having faith and devotion in that form of worship and also proficiency to perform rituals and rites, ceremonial rituals appropriate to the temple according to its customs, usages, Sampradayams etc. In other words, the faith and belief in the religion, customs, usages or Sampradayams in that particular Agamas and proficiency in performance of the rituals to the image of God in those particular rituals are conditions precedent to be eligible to hold office of the archaka. One who fulfils those pre- conditions is eligible to be considered and appointed to the office of archaka or other similar offices. The regulation of this secular activity, therefore, does not offend any faith or belief in the performance of those duties by a person other than one hailing from th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the archaka and other office-holders have a right to a share in the Prasadam offered to the Lord. It cannot be characterised either as an economic, political or secular activity associated with religious practice. Food offered to God becomes Prasadam. The devotee as well as office-holders are eligible and entitled to a share in the Prasadam. The archakas are entitled to remuneration from the worshippers for services rendered to the worshippers. For instance, 1/2 of each broken coconut is offered to the Deity as Neyvedyam. Similarly, in Anjitasawas, worshippers make payment for such services. Devasthanamas/temple charges fee from devotees, and from it archakas are entitled to their share as they render services to the Deity. They are entitled to separate remuneration for the services they render to the worshippers. The denial thereof, therefore, is unconstitutional, unjust and unfair. He placed strong reliance on a decision of the Madras High Court in Tirumalai Tiripati Devasthanam Committee, by its Commissioner v. Archakam Seshachalam Dikshithulu and Ors. (1990) 1 LW 34 - Journal Section, Shri Rao resisted the contention and pointed out that the archaka and other mirasidars and und ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h an office equally stood abolished under Section 144. Section 144 is consequential to Section 34 and other similar rights like Section 16 of the Act. Resultantly, the right to receive a share in the Prasadam etc. stood abolished. Holder of an office is entitled to payment of salary prescribed under the rules for services rendered by an archaka etc. Consequently, the right to a share by customary practices or usages or under a contract with management also stood abolished. They are regulated by making payment of the monthly salary to the holder of an office in accordance with the scales prescribed under the rules made thereunder. The Division Bench of the Madras High Court had gone into the question prior to the abolition of the rights. Therefore, principle laid therein no longer operates in view of the statutory interposition abolishing those entitlements. 129. The gamekars (who prepare food items offered to God including Laddus) are species of mirasidars doing service to Lord Deity on hereditary principle. Though they perform the duty of preparing food etc. according to Agama prescription, usages and practices obtaining in each temple, their right being founded on hereditary prin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... within the grinding teeth of Article 25(1) of the Constitution. It is his contention that each temple has its own rules laid down by Agamas, practices and customs prevalent in that temple; archakas will have special knowledge of working in the temple; an archaka transferred to another temple of transferee-substitute bereft of that knowledge in the performance of rituals defile the image of the presiding Deity, leading to serious repercussions and, therefore, Section 39 is ultra vires the Constitution. We find no force in the contention. It is seen that Sections 13 and 142, which have already been adverted to, would take care of the apprehended catastrophe. On mere apprehension, Section 39 cannot be declared to be ultra vires. If in any individual case any transfer was effected of a person who had no accomplishment of Agamic rules, customs, practices or Sampradayams applicable to that particular temple, it would be considered and dealt with accordingly. It cannot be expected that the Commissioner would act in violation thereof and would act in a way inconsistent with Sections 13 and 142. Each case would be considered on its own merits and correctness of such transfer would be tested ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to perform the ritual worship of the Deity. As indicated earlier, the State is required to determine his service conditions, scale of pay and other emoluments according to the grade of the temple in which he works and to regulate the period of duty and of service. That apart, welfare measures in addition should be initiated as a measure of social welfare to the archakas and other employees of the temple and pandits working in the temples and under the supervision of the Commissioner. Therefore, the State should come for-ward with a scheme to provide the archakas, other employees and their family members like suitable accommodation, education by way of refresher courses and courses in Agamas in the respective region, medical facilities, educational facilities to their children, loans for construction of their own houses, and wherever accommodation in the temple is available letting the same to them on reasonable rent, group insurance scheme, unforeseen contingencies like accident, death etc., rehabilitation of the widow or educated unemployed youth or such other measures as may be incidental and part of economic welfare. The extent of the similar facilities already existing and prov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e open to the Government to seek donations from other charitable institutions within or outside the State of Andhra Pradesh or from non-resident Indians. The State Government would also approach the Income-Tax Department and the Government of India to exempt from the income-tax the said donations as well as the income derived by way of interest or otherwise on the corpus of or further amounts deposited into the Fund. 136. When the matter has come up for admission, on June 22, 1987, this Court had directed status quo as to the rights of the hereditary archakas, trustees and mirasidars as on the date the Act had come into force. This Court had further directed that the archakas, trustees and mirasidars shall keep an account of the offerings, both in case and in kind, and the value thereof as may by taken by the hereditary archakas, trustees, mirasidars as their remuneration, salary and perquisites as used to be taken by them immediately before the commencement of the Act and submit the same to the Executive Officer or to the Commissioner of Religious Endowments, as the case may, every month by the 15th day of the next succeeding month. The first of such accounts shall be submitted by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... difference in my own way and to say that our constitution makers had used the word religion in these two articles in the sense conveyed by the word dharma . 141. Very often the words religion and dharma are used to signify one and the same concept or notion; to put it differently, they are used inter-changeable. This, however, is not so, as would become apparent from what is being stated later, regarding our concept of dharma. I am of the considered view that the word religion in the two articles has really been used, not as is colloquially understood by the word religion, but in the sense of it comprehending our concept of dharma. The English language having had no parallel word to dharma, the word religion was used in these two articles. It is a different matter that the word dharma has now been accepted even in English language, as would appear from Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary which has defined it to mean : Dharma : n. (Skt. fr. dharayati be holds;) akin to L firmus firm : custom or law regarded as duty : the basic principles of cosmic or individual existence : nature : conformity to one's duty and nature. The Oxford Dictionary defines dharma as : Right behavior ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y it. 148. In Verse-9 of Chapter-5 in the Ashrama Vasika Parva of the Mahabharata, Dhritrashtra states to Yudhisthira: the State can only be preserved by dharma - under the rule of law. 149. Ashoka mentioned about victory of dharma in his rock edict at Kalsi which proclaimed his achievement in terms of the moral and ethical imperatives of dharma, and exemplified the ancient dictum : (where there is Law, there is Victory). 150. We may with profit refer to another learned speech given by the President of India at the valedictory session of Parliament of Religions held at Calcutta on 19th September 1993, Dr. Sharma was there principally speaking on the contributions of Swami Vivekananda to our religion and referred in this connection to the address of Swamiji given at the International Conference of Religions held at Chicago in September 19, 1893, when he explained many salient features of the Vedic and Vedantic body of thought and defined the characteristics of a religion whose whole, scope, whole force, will be centered in aiding humanity to realize its own true...nature. The President further quoted another thought of Swami Vivekananda where he had said : Religion is neither word n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e who follow the path of selfless service. Defending one's nation and society is the dharma of soldiers and warriors. In other words, any action, big or small, that is free from selfishness is part of dharma. 157. Swami Rama has further stated that dharma has been a great force in uplifting the human race. Dharma can help up today as it did in ancient times, but only if we start living by truth, not merely believing in truth. Turning away from dharma and distancing oneself from the Truth is not a desirable way of living. It ultimately leads to misery. In the practice of dharma, one is advised to shed the veil of ignorance and practice truthfulness in one's thoughts, speech, and actions. How can dharma be secret, having revelation as its source? Withholding nothing, all the great sages in the world shared their knowledge with humanity. In the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, Koran, and Dhammapada - Knowledge, like the sun, shines for all. 158. It is because of the above that if one were to ask What are the signs and symptoms of dharma? , the answer is : that which has no room for narrow-mindedness, sectarianism, blind faith, and dogma. The purity of dharma, therefore, cannot be com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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