(...Contd)

The individual is neither a body merely, nor only a mind. The human individual, at least, is a composite structure, a complex of physical forces, vital urges, emotional stresses, moral aspirations and rational needs.
Nothing that does not comprehend these in its compass or contribute to the training and development of these aspects can be called an integral culture.
Culture is the reflection of the soul in man, and it is complete in proportion as it answers to the original, viz. internal perfection. Pure thought, decent speech, nobility of character, impartial love, truthfulness, honesty, straightforwardness, forbearance - such virtues are, therefore, the natural insignia of right culture, which can be regarded as an index of self-fulfillment. According to Sage Patanjali, perfection is a state that can be reached by steps:- harmony in the body (Asana: bodily perfection), harmony in the vital forces (Pranayama), harmony in the senses (Pratyahara), harmony in the mind (Samyama), which we have to understand, has to be extended to family, society, nation and the world at large. All this is rooted in ethical discipline (Yama-Niyama).
Here we have a statement of the highest conception of culture, and anything else that we say in this regard is only a commentary on this inviolable truth of the mysterious relation of man, the world and God.
True culture is impossible without one’s having a definite aim of life. Hindu scriptures speak of four aims--Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha--referring to the moral, economic, vital and spiritual values that are governing our existence every moment. Here is a complete scheme of life, the anatomy of the background of a permanent culture.
The principle of Rta and Satya (both terms meaning ‘truth’), as enunciated in the Rig-Veda, enables us to mould ourselves into any pattern of culture. Rita is the unalterable law of the unity of the cosmos, and Satya is its relative manifestation in life, which takes into consideration the evolutionary structure of creation and the law of action and reaction that is regulating it. The range of this ‘Satya’ as the determining power in Creation is wide enough to include all the laws of the world. In the moral realm it can be crystallised into the ‘categorical imperative’ of the five Yamas or restraints.

(Contd...)