THE SPIRITUAL PATH

It does not require much argument to show that the voters are of various kinds of intellectual and moral calibre and that the representatives whom they return are not always the best.  That is inevitable in this imperfect world.  We also see that in some cases Law and Justice do not coincide.  Our courts are called Courts of Law. 

They are not Courts of Justice in the strict sense of that expression. Not unoften, our judges feel helpless in the face of an unjust law, and, in their decisions, they recommend that the law may be modified in consonance with the requirements of justice.  

The enactments of legislatures regulate public conduct.But what about individual morality?  What is the criterion of personal action, of what a man should do by himself and for himself? In our religion it has been declared that in matters of conduct one should be guided by the ordinances of the Vedas.  Vedokhilo dharma moolam:   the Veda is the source of all Dharmas.  The Vedas are authorless, apaurusheya;   they are not man-made. They are intuitions of yogic sages into eternal Truths.   

Suppose a situation arises in which no guidance can be obtained from the Vedas. Many of the Vedas have been lost.  If the extant Vedic texts cannot guide us in our conduct, it is prescribed that we should look for guidance to the writings of sages like Manu, Yaajnavalkya, Paraasara and others who have left behind what may be called aides memoire or Smritis, which should determine our conduct.

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