The Vedic prayer uplifts the spirit of man. The basic aim of praying to God is to achieve a communion with him. Generally speaking, the Vedic prayer helps an individual to achieve happiness. It is happiness of the soul as well as of the body. The body and soul go together in achieving this celestial joy. The Vedic prayer helps an individual achieve perfect coordination of body and mind and also enables him to have social interaction. The spirit of social work is a natural corollary of spiritual attainment. A man or a woman who is spiritually enlightened through Vedic prayers will never be a loner or a social outcast.

Sociologists call homo-sapiens social animals. A man may have animal instincts but he is different from animals. As a human being he has not only superior intellect but also puts that intellect to use and in this mission he is guided by the Ved Mantras. Recitation of Ved mantras during the Vedic prayers motivates man to rise above selfishness and imbibe the divine  qualities of love and compassion. The Vedic prayer takes a man forward towards the attainment of the four-fold aim of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. An individual is encouraged to follow the path of righteousness, acquire wealth through the sweat of his brow, fulfill rightful desires and ultimately attain liberation of soul from the bondage of the cycle of births and deaths. The Vedic prayer is a powerful instrument in cleansing the mind of man so that he attains the four-fold aim described heretofore.

Maharshi Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the socio-religious movement - the Arya Samaj in the 19th century and a writer of numerous Vedic treatises says in his first ever work, Adya Sandhya (book of Vedic prayers): the word sandhya means meditating properly, that is, concentrating on the almighty God Himself. In other words, doing Dhyan, properly is Sandhya. The prescribed time for the Vedic prayer is twice a day - at the crack of dawn and in the evening at twilight when the cows come home. It is called the Sandhi time; that is when the day meets night and again when the night meets day.

To help an individual concentrate his mind on the Vedic prayer, Pranayam is an integral part of the Sandhya. Control of breath, inhaling and exhaling and holding the breath in the lungs helps in concentration. Among the Ved Mantras included in the Sandhya are the ones wherein a prayer is recited for attainment of a bright and inspired intellect to tread on the path of righteousness and also for making the praying man strong in body, mind and soul. Some mantras also remind the praying man of the Srishti or God's creation which has been going on in an ever continuing cycle. It steels a man's nerves when he realizes that his soul is immortal and is a part of continuing creation. It is neither his first life nor the last one. This  divine realization makes a man absolutely fearless. In the Vedic prayer man takes a spiritual walk from darkness unto light as he rises above sin, he sees bright objects like sun and moon which in turn derive their brightness from the ever glowing and ever bright supreme being. Man is inspired and prays for a hundred years life, Jeevem Sharadah Shatam - a life of health, happiness and absolute independence.

The Vedic Rishis had a clear-cut concept of running the world like a closed knit family. They had realized that there would be different kinds of people who would profess different faiths and would like to run their societies in their own way. Of course, the life style of people of different regions, nay, different continents cannot but be influenced by the history, geography and racial traits of the specific region. The Rishis recognized, what we call, `individual differences among the members of a small family or what we call today a nuclear family. To brothers or a brother and a sister born of the same parents have different aptitudes and IQ and like to live in their own way. However, notwithstanding all the differences listed herein and not listed herein, the Rishis not only conceived of the whole world as one family but put it into practice too. They gave a nomenclature to it: VASUDHAIV KUTUMBAKAM, that is all peoples inhabiting different parts of the globe are members of one family. 

With a view to administering the peoples of the world, even when they form a global village or a global family, one requires a philosophy of life. The Rishis conceived of a philosophy, which pervaded the political system and made it morally correct. Today, when six billion men, women and children inhabit this earth of ours, we cannot just think of a mere political system running our day-to-day lives smoothly. There are more discords, strife, crimes and last but not the least terrorist strikes today than ever before in the entire history of mankind. On the one hand we want to go back and implement the philosophy of world republic, global village, treating the humanity as a family and on the other hand we find it difficult to live in peace and harmony with our neighbours within the country and outside. Apparently thought and action are not going hand in hand. Even some of the greatest religions of the world have not yet succeeded in taming the animal spirit in man. Under these circumstances we cannot keep politics and morality apart. They have to join hands together to make the Man survive the lurking dangers posed by nukes of all shapes and sizes. 

The Vedic Rishis prescribed `the spirit of sacrifice' as the panacea of all ills. The Sanskrit word for it is `Tyag'. The sloka runs like this: Ayam nij parovaiti ganana laghu chetsam Udar charitanam tu Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam
Engraved at the entrance of the Central Hall of the Indian Parliament the above sloka when freely rendered into English means: It is only petty minded men and women who fail to rise above selfishness and keep counting this is mine and that is yours on the other hand the large hearted ones treat the entire humanity as members of their own family. Once this noble idea gains control of minds of men and women, the basic cause of many a conflict will cease to exist. A doubting Thomas may say that the concept of a global family is easier said than done. He may even call it a utopia that can never be realized. How wrong is he we all know. When the concept of introducing a common currency for the European Union was mooted, prophets of doom announced from rooftops that such a ship if ever floated was bound to sink. On January 1, 2002, the Euro (common currency for European Union) will change from fiction to fact. Will we be too wrong if we prophesy that the day is not far off when the concept of the Vedic Rishis would see the light of the day on this earth?

Rome was not built in a day. The global republic will take more time to be built than Rome took. A beginning has to be made. And it is now. The idea has to take roots in the minds of men all over the world. The good word has to be spread. For this good cause we have to enlist the support and active cooperation of the ladies and gentlemen of the fourth estate. Both the print and the electronic media have to be convinced of the cause. And once they are convinced of the cause, they will fight for it. They will generate public opinion in favour of the Global Republic. They will convince the common man with their writings and speeches. They will do so day in and day out. 
Once the common man is convinced of the cause of the World Republic, he or she will have courage of conviction to face the opposition of the entrenched vested interests. The vested interests comprise the local politicians who would not like to part with their political power or influence that gives them the monetary returns. Even the politicians will have to be eventually convinced that their loss of influence will eventually be a gain not only for them but also their kith and kin. When convinced they will not fight against the Global Republic forces but join them. We have to train and motivate many people who will fight for the Global Republic like soldiers. Myriad forces will oppose the formation of the Global Republic but they cannot cow down the World Republicans who have morality on their side. The World Republicans have to be motivated day in and day out so that first they are convinced and in turn they convince others. When a soldier is not convinced of the cause he is fighting for, his heart is not there in the battlefield and he keeps on looking for an escape route like the American soldiers in Vietnam. If a soldier is convinced of the righteousness of his cause, he wages war and calls it a `Dharm Yudh' like Chatrapati Shivaji's horsemen in their cavalry charge against the mighty Mughals. The victory was of the Maratha warriors. 

One may say that the basic idea of forming a Global Republic is for banishing war forever from this earth. And yet we are advocating here fights, battles and motivation of soldiers. Well, there is no basic contradiction in this. When the whole world becomes a Republic there will be no opposition camp armed to teeth unless men from Mars invade our earth. However, before formation of the Global Republic battle of books and battle of minds, may be an odd skirmish of armed men here and there cannot be absolutely ruled out. Forewarned is forearmed. So those who advocate the formation of a Global Republic have to be mentally and physically prepared for all eventualities. Nonetheless it is going to be a battle of the minds. 

Osama bin Laden and the surviving Al Qaida top brass are confined to caves located somewhere in the high hills of southeastern Afghanistan,or may be in the alleys of Pakistan. Are they praying or meditating or simply lamenting on their failed plans. Of course, caves are the ideal place for uninterrupted meditation. One wonders why the fall guys there never learnt the art of meditation. The humanity would have been spared the catastrophe of September 11 and the common Afghans would not have become refugees in their own land if old Osama knew how to meditate.Ground Zero would not have burnt and smoldered for one hundred days. Meditation helps to lead a better lifestyle where one gains health and happiness. 

Meditation is a part and parcel of the Vedic way of life. It is open to one and all to adopt and lead life as per Vedic injunctions. The entire humanity is entitled to it because Vedas are for one and all. At the beginning of the creation, God transmitted divine knowledge to mankind for a style of life generating inner happiness. God gave Man Vedas without discriminating between man and man on grounds of caste, creed, color, race or sex. As a matter of fact, saints and sinners are equally entitled to delve deep into the Vedic realm. One has just to make an effort and the happy results would not be far to find. 
"Vedo Akhilo Dharm Moolam'' - Vedas are the roots of righteousness. When one walks on the path of righteousness one is doing one's Dharma as a good man ought to. Who is a good man? One who is socially efficient is a good man or a woman. He or she is an achiever of right goals through right means. This Mister Right cares as much for the society as for himself. Should there be a conflict of interest between the self and the society, self must be made subservient to the society. This is what the Vedic way of life is all about. This path of social efficiency is paved with and illuminated by the Ved Mantras. The Ved Mantras always show light at the end of the tunnel and bring in optimism and become a source of inspiration to lift a man or a woman when down in the dumps. It may also be understood that the Vedas are considered to be infallible. Other branches of knowledge originate from this pristine source. 

The Vedas are four in number: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda. At the beginning of the creation, the Rishis in whose hearts the four Vedas, Rig, Yaju, Sama and Atharva were revealed are Agni, Vayu, Aditya and Angira respectively. Now let us take a close look at them and meditate on at least one Ved mantra relevant to the international scenario today. The Rigveda is the Ved of Sciences. There are ten thousand five hundred eighty nine mantras spread over ten mandals or ten major cantos. With a view to understanding the spiritual import of Ved Mantras, quite a few vedic scholars of yore like Sayan and Mahidhar wrote Ved Bhashya or Vedic commentaries in simple Sanskrit. In the 19th century India a Vedic renaissance took place. Maharshi Swami Dayanand Saraswati had the distinction of being the first rishi to write commentaries on the holy Vedas both in Sanskrit and Hindi. The Vedic wisdom was unlocked and the biggest beneficiary was the common man on the street. It was a religious revolution. Unlocking the Vedic knowledge and letting the deprived segments of society reap the harvest definitely enriched quality of life of an average man.  The Yajurveda comprises one thousand nine hundred seventy five mantras. Its basic emphasis is on Karmakand, correlating mantras and yajna. The mantras inspired men and woman to realize God in their inner self. Mantras motivated men and women to banish the evil and imbibe the noble. Making donations for charities is one of the ways to attain nobility on the path to attain Moksha, that is liberation of soul from the bondage of repeated cycles of births and deaths. The Samaveda comprises one thousand eight hundred seventy five mantras. This is known as Upasanakand or the prayer sung for realization of the Supreme Being in one's inner self. The word SA-AM, inter-alia, means a communion of soul with God. SA means the Almighty and AM is soul or Jeeva and SAAM is a synthesis of the two. 

The Atharvaveda comprises five thousand nine hundred and seventy seven mantras. It is known as the Jynankand. The mantras of Atharvaved enlighten men and women in their quest of God and help them seek Him in "Matter or objects of this mundane world''. The Vedas propound the philosophy of Trinity, i.e. existence of God, soul and matter before the Creation, during the Creation and after the Creation is over. The three exist as independent entities with myriad opportunities to interact. God,of course, is supreme, always and everytime. Correlating the Vedic knowledge with the mundane matters of today, one may like to take a look at the scenario of terrorism and what the Vedas have to say on the subject. Does a Vedic sanction exist against wanton killings of human beings and destruction of property with a view to terrorizing human beings? Of course it does. The Rigveda gives a definite direction to punish the killers and eulogize the warrior who wields Vajra. Punishment of the criminal killer is a must. The Rigveda defines a warrior as one who wields the invincible weapon of war, Vajra, for the common good of the society. He fights the battle with self confidence,high morale and valour against terrorists. A Vedic warrior against terrorist has to keep himself cool,calm and collected. Let the like-minded men and women consolidate the forces of good people against the evil terrorists and eliminate them once for all. It is high time the saints wielded the Vedic Vajra and killed the sinner-killers.