असुर्या नाम ते लोका अन्धेन तमसावृताः ।
तांस्ते प्रेत्याभिगच्छन्ति ये के चात्महनो जनाः ॥ ३ ॥
asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ |
tāṃste pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātmahano janāḥ || 3 ||
asuryāḥ – sunless ; andhena – blind ; tamasā – gloom ; āvṛtāḥ – enveloped in ; nāma – indeed ; te – those ; lokāḥ – worlds ; ye ke – they who ; ca – and ; janāḥ – people ; ātmahanaḥ – slayers of their souls ; te – they ; pretya – having passed / in their passing ; tān – those worlds ; abhigachati – resort to ;
Translation:
Verily, those worlds of the asuras are enveloped in blind darkness; and thereto they all repair after death who are slayers of Atman.
Commentary:
The word ‘Asuras’ in the mantra refers to those people within India or elsewhere in the world who were not Aryans, i.e., who did not believe in Atman. Devoid of this belief in Atman, the quality of life will be entirely different from that of an Aryan. If an ‘Asura’ awakens belief in Atman, he becomes a ‘Sura’, or ‘Deva’, or ‘Arya’.
It is in the background of this history that we can appreciate Swamiji’s words: “This is the only work, to call upon mankind to ‘Awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached’. It is renunciation, Tyaga, that is meant by religion, and nothing else[Source]…Too much of inactivity, too much of weakness, too much of hypnotism has been and is upon our race. O ye modern Hindus, de-hypnotise yourselves. The way to do that is found in your own sacred books. Teach yourselves, teach everyone his real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity[Source]…I direct my attention to the individual, to make him strong, to teach him that he himself is divine, and I call upon men to make themselves conscious of this divinity within. That is really the ideal – conscious or unconscious – of every religion.”[Source]
- The man who, having by some means obtained a human birth, with a male body and mastery of the Vedas to boot, is foolish enough not to exert himself for self-liberation, verily commits suicide, for he kills himself by clinging to things unreal. (Verse 4)
- What greater fool is there than the man who having obtained a rare human body, and a masculine body too, neglects to achieve the real end of this life? (Verse 5)
- Whoever leaves aside what should always be attempted, viz. emancipation from the bondage of Ignorance without beginning, and passionately seeks to nourish this body, which is an object for others to enjoy, commits suicide thereby. (Verse 83)
- Whoever seeks to realise the Self by devoting himself to the nourishment of the body, proceeds to cross a river by catching hold of a crocodile, mistaking it for a log. (Verse 84)