Introduction to Vibheeshana Gita
– Understandings from Swami Swaroopananda ji’s talk for Youth Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
– Understandings from Swami Swaroopananda ji’s talk for Youth Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Everyone wants to be successful. Yet, there are only a few who
taste success. Why is this so? If we could find an answer to this, it will be
like cracking the ‘Success Formula’.
Firstly, let us try to define ‘success’. What is ‘success’ or
who is a successful person? A common answer would be – those who achieve their
ambition in life can be called successful people. In that case, Osama Bin Laden
was also famous. In fact, he successfully carried out his activities with his
army and was able to achieve his ambitions. That, definitely, is not success.
When a person is successful, he becomes a contributor to the society and people
are not hurt because of him. Who are the successful people whose names flash
into our minds? The most common examples would be of business tycoons, sports
persons, celebrities, etc. So, can we say ‘Success = Fame’ or ‘Success =
Wealth’? If that is so, then what happens to their success when their fame
& money is lost? The people who achieve their goals are no doubt
successful, but only in their particular fields. Most of them are not
successful in other areas of their lives. Some of them have a very sad personal
life. One of the best examples of such a person would be Charlie Chaplin. A man
who could make the audience burst into roars of laughter by his mere presence
on the screen was a very unhappy man in his personal life. He had admitted that
he had even thought of committing suicide many times. In the newspapers we can
read of renowned doctors, celebrities and other personalities committing
suicide. That means these people, whom we call as successful personalities,
could only earn fame, wealth, good careers, etc but were very miserable in their
life as a whole.
Some say, success is Power. A king attacked his neighbouring
kingdom and won the battle. He now ruled two kingdoms. But after 6 months,
another king attacked and captured both the kingdoms. So, the power of the
first king lasted only for 6 months. The new king was thrown away by his own
brothers. He also lost his power in no time. So, can we say, ‘Success = Power’?
If fame, prosperity, power, etc, these are not components of
success, then what is success? How can we define a success?
The best example of a successful man is Lord Rama. He had to
spend a golden part of his life in forest for fourteen years, he had to send
Sitadevi away when she was expecting, he did not conquer any kingdoms and
gained power; still, even today, people sing His Glory. That is Success!
Success is not measured in terms of wealth or power. Success
depends on what values in life you live upon, it depends on how good individual
you are, it depends on how much you are willing to sacrifice for the well-being
of others, it depends on how many hearts in which you reside in. Lord Rama was
Famous – for his good deeds & virtues. He was Rich – with a strong
value-system. He had Power – for, he conquered not lands, but hearts.
The problem arises when we run behind success, but we ourselves
are not very clear or rather, have a wrong definition of success. We all are
striving for success but the path is not clear to all of us. This path, this
Ultimate Success Formula is what Lord Rama explains to Vibheeshana in
‘Vibheeshana Gita’. Vibheeshana Gita is a part of the poetry ‘Tulsi Ramayan’,
written by Goswami Tulsidas in Avadhi dialect of Hindi. Here, Lord Rama
explains to Vibheeshana, what are the things required by a man to be
successful. If we are able to contemplate upon these verses given by Lord Rama,
and instill those values in our hearts, then there is no doubt that success
will be at our feet.
How
beautifully the ‘Art of Being Successful’ is capsulated by Tulsidasji in a few
lines of poetry, shall be seen in the articles that follow.
---
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Most of us are familiar with the name Bhagavad Gita – the
Eternal song (Gita) of the Lord (Bhagavan – Shri Krishna). The similarity
between Bhagavad Gita & Vibheeshana Gita is that, both were sung by the
Lord and that too in the battlefield. Yet there is a difference. Lord Krishna
gives the knowledge of the Self in Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna because Arjuna,
despite of having the best of skills and knowledge, loses his identity and
purpose of living at the time of war. To such an individual who is facing identity
crisis (like most of us), the Lord gives Bhagavad Gita. Vibheeshana Gita has a
different story. It is the last stage of war when all the soldiers & army
generals of Ravana are killed. At this point, Ravana enters the battlefield in
his chariot which is equipped with the best of missiles and armour to shield
him. His opponent, Lord Rama, does not have a chariot, or armour, not even
footwear; still he stands firmly on his foot facing Ravana to fight the battle.
On seeing this, Vibheeshana’s (Ravana’s brother who is on Rama’s side) eyes are
filled with tears…tears of concern for his love for Rama. He goes to Rama and
says,
Ravanu rathi birath raghubeera
Dekhi bibheeshana bhayau adhira,
Adhika preeti man bha sandeha
Bandi charan kaha sahit saneha.
Dekhi bibheeshana bhayau adhira,
Adhika preeti man bha sandeha
Bandi charan kaha sahit saneha.
“Ravana has come in his chariot and Rama doesn’t even have one.
Seeing this, Vibheeshana became anxious. Due to immense love in his heart, a
doubt arose in Vibheeshana’s mind…”
Naath na rath nahi tan pad traana
Kehi bidi jidab beer balvana
Sun hu sakha kaha krupaa nidhaana
Jahi jai hoi so syandana aana
Kehi bidi jidab beer balvana
Sun hu sakha kaha krupaa nidhaana
Jahi jai hoi so syandana aana
“Oh Lord, you don’t even have a chariot, nor anything to protect
your body or your feet. How are you going to win the valorous & mighty
Ravana.”
Vibheeshana’s question is not out of his doubt of Rama’s
strength, mind you. His question is out of concern how a parent has over his
child. The parent knows that the child is capable of giving his performance on
stage. Still, out of his love, he is anxious about his child.
Whilst having seen Vibheeshana’s state of mind, we need to look
at Lord Rama. How can a man who is so ill-equipped with no weapons and armour,
even think of fighting a mighty opponent like Ravana? Ravana was not just an
opponent, he was Beer Balvana. There are some people who are courageous, but
lack physical strength. There are some who have physical strength but get
scared even at the sight for a rat. Ravana had both physical strength &
courage. He had fought even star wars. To that opponent, a man is facing. We
should not mistake this courage as that of a Bollywood hero who faces an army
of opponents and defeats them single-handedly. Rama knew that he is going to
win because he knew his strengths and Ravana’s weaknesses – a very important
quality of a leader.
There are five types of courage:
1. Ranaveer – a person who shows his courage in the battlefield.
2. Vidyaveer – a person who shows rich with knowledge.
3. Dayaveer – a person who is ever compassionate towards everyone.
4. Daanveer – a person who always shows courage in charity.
5. Tyaagveer – a person who shows courage in sacrifice.
1. Ranaveer – a person who shows his courage in the battlefield.
2. Vidyaveer – a person who shows rich with knowledge.
3. Dayaveer – a person who is ever compassionate towards everyone.
4. Daanveer – a person who always shows courage in charity.
5. Tyaagveer – a person who shows courage in sacrifice.
Ravana was only a Ranaveer, but Rama
was a combination of all five – which is called Mahaveer.
Another difference between Ravana and Lord Rama was that –
Ravana always wanted to be the best. But Lord Rama always did his best. A very
important lesson for all of us – if you always want to be the
best, you will lose confidence. Just do your best and leave the rest.Because
of his desire to win always, Ravana’s mind was always unrest. On the other
hand, Rama knew exactly why he was fighting this war. It was not to take
revenge on Ravana for abducting his wife; rather it was to have the victory of
good over evil. Rama even asked Ravana just before they fight; to give up Sita
and Rama would return without a war. Rama had no personal grudge against
Ravana. Even his anger to Ravana was ‘issue-based’ not
‘person-based’.Thus, Rama’s mind was always tranquil and he could
even give out a beautiful piece of knowledge to Vibheeshana during the war even
though his body was tired after a long travel in search of Sita, and fighting
the war since the past few days. And this was Ravana’s first day of war. He had
not entered into the war till now. Despite of all the physical energy he had
because of this, he could not win Rama. That was the power of values Rama had,
the strength of knowledge he possessed.
Thus,
to Vibheeshana, Rama gives out the Success Mantra which is one of the best
Management Mantra given by anybody till date. What is it…we’ll see in the next
article.
---
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
On listening to Vibheeshana’s doubt, Lord Rama replies…
Sunahu sakha kaha krupaa nidhaana, jahi jai
hoi so syandana aana
“Listen oh my dear friend”, says the storehouse of compassion (krupa nidhaana), “the chariot of real success is
something different”
Look at the words Tulsidasji has used here – Krupa Nidhaana.
Rama is referred to as a storehouse of compassion.
Rama calls Vibheeshana as His sakha (friend).
He did not look at Vibheeshana as a devotee and Himself as a Master. He was
talking to Vibheeshana as a friend. Such are the qualities of great Masters.
Out of their compassion for others, they come down to the common man’s level
and interact with them. Tulsidasji could have said, ‘Sunahu
sakha kaha shri rama’, but the reason he is using these qualities of
Lord Rama so that we can contemplate on these qualities of Lord Rama while we
are listening to these verses and imbibe the same in us.
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Valour and Fortitude are the wheels of the chariot
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Valour and Fortitude are the wheels of the chariot
Shri Rama goes on explaining the Ultimate Formula for Success by
personifying it as a Chariot of success. Valour and Fortitude are two qualities
that are like the wheels of the Chariot. Without the wheels the chariot cannot
move ahead.
In Ramayana, we can see these qualities in Lord Rama at many
instances.
When Rama was told by Kaikeyi to go to the forest, he happily
agreed. He was not the least scared to leave the royal comforts and lead a life
in the jungles for 14 long years. Not only did he show courage initially, but
even after he started living a hard life in the forest, he showed fortitude by
not changing his mind to go back to his kingdom.
Another incident that portrays Shri Ramji’s Valour and Fortitude
is in his search for Sita. He roamed through many forests for many days in
search of her. He had no idea where Ravana had taken her. However, he did not
get depressed at any point and give up his search. He knew that Ravana was very
strong and had a mighty army. Initially, Rama had only Lakshmana with him.
Still he went ahead in search of Sita…sought friendship with Sugreeva…helped
him kill Bali and achieve his throne…and with his army of monkeys, went to
fought Ravana. Even on his way to Lanka, he came to a point where he had to
take the monkeys across the ocean to fight Ravana. This would seem like an
impossible task for anybody. But Rama’s Valour and Fortitude made even this
herculean task happen with his monkey soldiers. Ravana’s army had very
sophisticated weapons, whereas Rama’s army of monkeys had only stones &
trees as weapons. To any ordinary mortal, this would appear like a one-sided
battle and it would be suicidal & foolish to go ahead. Yet Rama went ahead
with the battle, for, he was very clear of his goal, His Dharma and being possessed
by the qualities of Valour and Fortitude, nothing could stop him.
Men of success, even in the material front, can be seen having
this quality of Valour. To start anything new, one needs to have courage to
fight against all odds. We can see in the life of successful businessmen,
freedom fighters, celebrities, etc that they knew they would have to face a lot
of struggle and resistance when they would start their move to achieve their
goal. Still they were ready for it. They did not have the least of worries nor had
a doubt whether they could attain their aim or not. Valour was the first wheel
of their chariot of success.
A quality that is rarer than courage is fortitude. It is the strength to withstand all the opposition faced until the objective is achieved. Some people have courage and start new ventures. But very soon, they give up when they face many odds. Their dreams and hopes get shattered when they are faced by hurdles. One needs to have patience and stamina to walk the path they have chosen to achieve their goal. Many people participate in a marathon race, but the winner is always the one who has the best stamina.
A quality that is rarer than courage is fortitude. It is the strength to withstand all the opposition faced until the objective is achieved. Some people have courage and start new ventures. But very soon, they give up when they face many odds. Their dreams and hopes get shattered when they are faced by hurdles. One needs to have patience and stamina to walk the path they have chosen to achieve their goal. Many people participate in a marathon race, but the winner is always the one who has the best stamina.
A
chariot cannot move forward on one wheel. Success cannot be achieved with
Courage alone. It has to be coupled with Fortitude.
----------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Truthfulness and Noble Character are the flags of the chariot
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Truthfulness and Noble Character are the flags of the chariot
Flag represents victory. In those days, there used to be two
flags on the chariot which would be visible from a long distance. There would
be a main flag (Dhwaja) and another small flag
below it (Pataka). As long as the flags are seen, that means the
warrior is undefeated. Even today, we see in sports, when a team is winning its
supporters will wave the flag.
The flags of victory that is said here are – Truthfulness &
Noble Character. All of us have heard about this virtue – Truthfulness – since
childhood and most of us would agree that saying the Truth did not always yield
good results in our lives. It’s because Truthfulness does not go alone. It has
to go along with Sheelta. The nearest word for sheelta in English is ‘noble character’, but
the English synonym cannot complete the actual meaning.
When Shri Ramji went to mother Kausalya to inform her about his
Kaikeyi’s wish to send Ram to the forest, he did not go and tell her, “Mother,
look how foolish your husband has acted. He made some stupid promise to Kaikeyi
and now I’ve to bear the burden of it by going to the forest.” Anybody of
today’s generation would have reacted in this way probably. Even if Rama would
have said this statement, he wouldn’t be wrong. He would have been Truthful
100%. But Rama said, “Oh Mother! Look, my father has gifted me the huge land of
the forests and crowned me as its king.” No doubt, this too was a shock for
Kausalya, but the way Rama passed the message lessened the intensity of the
grief. The way he spoke to his mother displays the sheelta in him.
A man complained, “I always say the Truth. Yet people hate me.”
There was another who said, “She asked me how she looks. I replied – TERRIBLE.”
These people might be saying the Truth. But that truth can do more harm if it
is not said with sheelta.
We can take examples in our own lives. Do we love people who
bluntly say the bitter truth to us? Or do we love the people who do false
praises? Or do we love people who say the Truth in such a way that it does not
hurt us, at the same time we get their message clearly?
When we learn that we should be always truthful, we should
always remember that Truthfulness is of no use if it is not coupled with sheelta. If we look into our lives, we can find
many incidents that we encounter everyday where we have said the truth but that
has brought a frown or anger in the face of the other person. It’s because we
have not learntsheelta.
There are some people who talk very sweetly displaying a lot of
outer sheelta, but not speaking the Truth. That is notsheelta. It is not impressing people. Sheelta is what Ramji did – speaking the Truth in
the sweetest way by not hurting anyone.
Sheelta can be of great
help many a times. There’s a famous story of a king who called in an astrologer
to look at his horoscope. The astrologer told the king that the king going to
die in 6 months. The king ordered his guards to behead the man. The king called
in for another astrologer. He was a wise guy, but a truthful one too. When he
saw the horoscope, he understood the king’s future. He said, “Oh great king!
You son will be crowned as the king in six months from now.” And the king had
the astrologer rewarded.
When we read Ramayan, we can find innumerable instances where
Lord Rama expressed his sheelta throughout his
interactions with the world. That was the reason why everybody loved him. When
Rama left Ayodhya for the forest, the whole of Ayodhya followed him to the
forest because they could not live a single moment with him. For them, being in
the presence of Rama itself was Ultimate Happiness irrespective of it happening
in the town or in the forest.
Sheelta is such a wonderful
emotion that can be expressed only in Sanskrit. We have to remember, when such
languages are getting lost, it is the loss of such emotions.
Satya
& Sheelta were Rama’s flags of victory by which he won
the hearts of all the people he came in touch with.
-------------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Strength and Discrimination are two of the four horses of the chariot
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Strength and Discrimination are two of the four horses of the chariot
As we saw in the first two lines – Courage & Fortitude;
Truthfulness & Noble Character – these qualities come in a pair. If we take
these qualities alone, they might not be that effective as much as they work in
a combination.
The qualities said in these verses are the essentials in an
effective leader. A leader needs to have Courage to take
up a new venture, to put faith in his team. Sometimes the expected result may
not be immediate. He needs to haveFortitude and
patience to give time for the work to blossom. A team will have faith over its
leader only when he isTruthful to them. At times,
there may be errors from the side of his team members. He should be able to
point them out in such a way without hurting or demoralizing the team (the art
is – Sheelta).
Next is Strength & Discrimination. Strength, in this context, refers to
mental strength. The journey of life will not be smooth all the time. Only a
person with immense inner strength can stand firm on his values when faced with
adverse or tempting situations. A person who compromises on situations can
reach nowhere nor can he lead people anywhere. Even the thought of compromising
comes because he lacks inner strength. When the Lord of Death offered Nachiketa
all the pleasures of the world, the young boy declined every offer, for, he
knew exactly what he wanted and did not fall for the tempting offers. And
because he stood his ground, Lord Yama had to give him the Knowledge of the
Self that he was asking for.
A recent example is of Anna Hazare. Despite his ailing body,
old-age, he shook the entire Government with his sheer will. Who was he? What
support he had? He came up with an idea…and he knew that he is not going to
compromise on it. In no time, the whole nation stood with him. It is said, when
you take a Sankalpa, the whole universe works towards manifesting it.
On one
hand we have the examples of great men of enormous inner strength who have
created history, like Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, the
great freedom fighters, etc. On the other hand we have the lives of men who
have shook the world in terror and crumbled down nations because of their inner
strength. One man’s hatred initiated a world war. One man with huge inner
strength, who followed his religion in a wrong way, caused havoc to so many
countries – Osama bin laden. One man’s desire of conquering the world caused so
many deaths, made so many children orphans, caused darkness in so many lives.
Even they were men of inner strength, but what did they lack? Discrimination.
If inner strength is like the water flowing in a river, discrimination is like
its banks that decide the course of the river. What makes man an evolved being
is his faculty of discrimination. Strength, if not backed by
discrimination, will make man worse than an animal.
------------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Self-control and Concern for others are the other two horses of the chariot
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Self-control and Concern for others are the other two horses of the chariot
Self-control is a scary word for many. It looks like a word
which says ‘No’ to all the pleasures. It is definitely not like that.
Self-control can be understood as Self-management – the way we manage
ourselves. All our five sense organs run wild behind the objects of the world.
A walk in the shopping malls, or by the restaurants, listening to the latest
musical hits, etc are indeed tempting situations in our lives. Self-control
does not mean we should not enjoy any of these, rather it means, how well-managed
we are on our own senses. When we see dresses displayed in a shopping mall, are
we able to stop ourselves to fall for it when we don’t require it at the
moment? Does the thought of tasty food take away all the other thoughts from
our mind? Do we keep our TV always tuned to the channels that we cannot resist?
These are the kind of questions we need to ask ourselves. If the answer is
‘Yes’ to a question, then we are not able to manage ourselves. We are a prey to
our sense organs and to our mind.
What is the problem if we don’t have sense-control? People who
don’t control themselves look so happy in life. A man bought a dog to guard his
house. The dog was very strong and of a good breed. Its one bark would scare
off anybody. But there was a problem with the dog. It would not listen to
anyone, not even its master. In fact, the dog behaved like the master and the
master behaved like its slave. When others look at the dog, they might
appreciate it for its beauty and strength. But for the master, it is useful or
a pain? The people who keep no self-control over themselves only look happier
than others. But, truly speaking, they are a slave to their minds. They do not
have a freedom from their own mind. Swami Chinmayananda used to say, ‘Not to do what you feel like doing is true freedom.’
We usually think freedom in terms of ‘freedom of expression’,
‘freedom of life-style’, ‘freedom of thought’, etc. But are we really FREE…from
our own Mind? Are we not a slave to our mind? How many times we fall for
temptations (the word is rightly used – FALL for temptation)? Falling for
temptations is truly a fall which we mistakenly think as freedom of choice.
Can a company run well if there are no rules & regulations
in it? Why do we have traffic rules or laws governing a nation? Can we have a
safe and happy life if there are no systems to oversee? Our society, our
company, etc have such rules for their well-being. Shouldn’t we have such
controlling systems for our well-being?
A man of self-control can always take best decisions at any
situations because his judgment is not biased based on his likes and dislikes.
He takes a decision that is good for him and his surroundings even if it means
sacrificing his own desires. People respect such masters who live like real Men
and not like animals who fall for instincts.
No matter how successful one becomes, one should have concern
for others. There are some people who have concern for others till they gain
power or a particular position. Such people can never be true leaders nor will
their power last for a long time. Concern for others is the sign of a good
leader. Shri Ramji was concerned even about his enemies. After killing Ravana,
Rama asked Vibheeshana to do the final rites of Ravana’s body in the proper
manner & respects that a king deserves.
The growth of a person is seen not only in how much he grows as
an individual, but also in the number of people he’s able to support in their
well-being and upliftment. Whatever we have, money, power, intellect, are all
gifts from God. We have been provided with them so that we can use it in the
right way to be an instrument in helping others.
Thus,
Lord Rama says, strength, discrimination, self-control & concern for others
are the four horses of the chariot of success that he possesses.
---------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Forgiveness is the first rope of the chariot
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Forgiveness is the first rope of the chariot
In Avadhi, kshama is said
as chama.
In the rope, lies the control. Without a strong rope, the
powerful horses cannot be controlled.
A child may not be able to forgive his parents for any bad
behavior towards him, but no matter how bad a child behaves, the parents
forgive the child. Why is this so? The child has come through the parents due
to which the parents feel he’s a part of them. They know that the child is
acting out of ignorance. And ignorance needs help, not punishment; for,
ignorance is not a crime. They know that if they will not help their child, who
will? Parents, due to their maturity, love & affection towards the child
can easily forgive and forget the whole issue. A child cannot do so because he
still has to grow intellectually and emotionally to understand the whole thing.
If we bite our own tongue accidentally, will we punish our
teeth? We know that any punishment towards our teeth is a punishment towards
ourselves. When we forget how we all are connected, we find it difficult to
forgive. It also becomes a part of our prestige and ego that we should win over
the other person.
Even in spiritual organizations, we can see people fighting
against each other. But the leaders usually forgive them because they know that
all are working for the same cause. The difference in opinion is because of
their difference in nature. Punishing any of them would mean, punishing the
organization. When a person is able to think like that, he becomes a leader
with a broader vision. He can forgive anybody who might behave in a
disrespectful way or do something wrong to him because he’s not concerned with
his prestige but with the well-being of the organization, for achieving the
objective.
What happens when we do not forgive? Forgiveness does not happen
most of the times because our ego is hurt. When the ego is hurt, all it wants
to do is to take revenge. As a result, every moment is spent by the mind in
thinking of how to take revenge and quench the thirst of the ego. When this
happens, all our energies are spent in a negative direction. We also lose a lot
of energy and body metabolism is also affected in a bad way resulting in
hypertension, stress, anger, etc. Finally, if we are able to avenge our hurt,
we end up in hurting someone else. In the process, we might have satisfied our
ego, but the loss would be much more. We start building more enemies with whom
we are always at war. It becomes difficult to work with them anymore. In many
cases, people leave noble causes because of internal clashes. How sad! Just
because someone is unable to forgive, a great cause is being affected.
What happens when we forgive? The matter ends there. As simple
as that. No hurt feelings, no revenge, no negative body metabolism, no stress,
no hurting someone, etc. Everything gets back to normal pretty faster and life
is absolutely fine once again.
It’s
easy to speak about forgiveness. But how to cultivate it; is the question. We
will discuss on that later.
---------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Compassion is the second rope of the chariot
When Vivekananda travelled all over India, he was saddened to
see the plight of majority of the Indian population. He had seen so much sorrow
that he couldn’t stop thinking how the people could be uplifted. He had no
other thought in mind. It was his compassion towards his countrymen that made
him work, the great work of Awakening Indians to India. He could have sat in
some Himalayan cave and meditated over the knowledge what he gained from his Master
and through his own contemplation. But his compassion for others, didn’t allow
him to do so.
Once, when Swami Chinmayananda saw river Ganga flowing down to
the plains, he thought – how cheerfully the Ganga flows down to the plains for
serving the humanity! It is then he got a thought that he should come down from
the Himalayas and share the knowledge he learnt from his master, Swami Tapovan
Maharaj, with the common man who’s devoid of the knowledge of the scriptures
and lives a mechanical and pathetic material life. For him, there was no need
to come down from the lap of the majestic Himalayas and work tirelessly for 41
years. Yet, he did it, for the sake of the common man. That is compassion.
Compassion is the quality of a very strong person. Weak ones
cannot think about others. They can only think about themselves or at the most
their own family members. Only the brave ones can think and work for the
welfare of others, expecting nothing, gaining nothing…working only for others’
good.
In Lakshmanopadesha (Upadesha – advice, to Lakshman) of Adhyatma
Ramayana, Lord Rama patiently advises to the angry Lakshmana who’s fuming with
hatred for their own father because of whom Rama had to leave to the forest.
Rama is compassionate towards Lakshmana because Rama knows that Lakshmana is
angry only because of his ignorance. And ignorance is not a crime. Most of us
get annoyed when we see people performing wrong actions. It’s because we see
them doing bad things but we do not realize ‘Why are they acting in such a
way?’ Is it not due to their ignorance?
Great men are able to forgive because they are
compassionate towards everyone. They are fully convinced
that the Self that shines in them is the same as the Self that shines in
others. In reality, every person is good. People behave in a wrong way only out
of ignorance. The root cause of every incorrect action is ignorance.
Compassion comes out of understanding…understanding why a person
acts so. Our minds get disturbed by someone else’s actions only because we are unable to understandthem, or rather, find out a
logical reason why they are doing this. At such instances, if we put across
this question to ourselves that ‘What is the reason for his conduct’ and keep
thinking over it, we will arrive at a conclusion where we find that the other
person acted out of his ignorance. Had he possessed the right knowledge, he
would definitely have behaved well. All the negative traits we come across –
ego, rudeness, jealousy, greed, pride, etc; are born out of ignorance only.
Ignorance
is the root cause of all misery. Understanding it, is first step of the cure.
Once we understand, then compassion comes automatically. If we are able to be
compassionate towards others, then we can accommodate more people in our life.
--------------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Equanimity of mind is the third rope of the chariot
Souraj dhiraj tehi rath chaaka,
Satyaseel dhruda dhwaja pataka
Bal bibek dam parahit khore
Chama krupa samata raju jore
Equanimity of mind is the third rope of the chariot
Only an equanimous mind is capable of taking good decisions,
for, it is not prejudiced. When the mind is excited, we tend to make hasty
decisions, which we later regret. There’s a saying, ‘Never make a promise when
you are happy and never take a decision when you are sad’. A happy or sorrow
mind cannot have a longer vision. One needs to calm down his mind to take good
decisions.
Lord Rama is the best example of Samata. It
is said that when Rama was told that he would be crowned as the king the next
day, he had a smile on his face. The very next day, when Kaikeyi told him to go
to the forest, he had the same smile on his face.
Sugreeva and Rama had a deal that Rama would kill Bali and
Sugreeva would help him find Sita. But when Bali was killed and Sugreeva got
back his kingdom, he was so happy that he forgot his promise to Rama to help
find Sita. Yet, Rama did not lose his poise.
Even at this instance when Rama is giving the success formula to
Vibheeshana, we can imagine how equanimous his mind must be to face Ravana.
Even though he doesn’t have any armour, chariot or much weapons to fight, his
mind is not disturbed at any point. His mind was always equanimous in all
situations.
In the life of Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, we can see many
instances where he displayed this quality. Once, a group of religious fanatics
came to him. Their faces were red with anger when they heard Swamiji say that –
Heaven & Hell are not geographical locations but exist only in our minds.
One of them walked towards Swamiji and held him by his collar and asked, “So,
you are saying there is no Heaven & Hell?” Before he could continue,
Swamiji laughed and said, “There open are the gates of Hell for you”. The man
realized his mistake and immediately released his hand. Swamiji said, “There
open are the gates of Heaven for you.” The group returned back without saying
anything. He was another perfect example of Samata.
Buddha also had this quality. One day a man came and started
abusing Buddha because his brother had become Buddha’s follower. Buddha calmly
sat looking at the man. After some time, the man stopped. So, Buddha asked,
“Have you finished talking?” He said, “No” and continued abusing. Again after
some time, the man stopped. Buddha asked, “Have you finished talking?” The man
said angrily, “Yes. What do you have to say?” Buddha replied, “If I gift you
something and you don’t take it, with whom does the gift stay?” The man said,
“With you.” Buddha smilingly replied, “Dear Sir, I do not accept your gift.”
That was his level of equanimity.
We need to tame our mind inorder to achieve our purpose of life.
Hence, equanimity of mind is compared to the rope that controls. The means to
tame our mind as prescribed in the scriptures are regular Satsang (Company of the good which helps
us entertain positive thoughts), regular Japa (Chanting
the name of the Lord thus maintaining one line of thought) and regular Meditation (Contemplating on the form of the Lord
thus attaining single-pointed focus). This will help mind gain back its balance
quickly even if it loses its poise at any instance.
A good
leader should have these three qualities – Forgiveness, Compassion and
Equanimity of Mind; the ropes with which he can manage himself as well as
others.
---------------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Ees bhajanu saarathi sujaana
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Devotion to God is the charioteer
A Ferrari without a good driver can be a curse more than a
blessing.
When Arjuna & Duryodhana went to Lord Krishna before the war
to seek his help, Krishna said that he can’t be partial to either side. So, one
of them can have all the army and weapons of Krishna and the other one can have
Krishna himself but Krishna will not fight in the war. Duryodhana chose
Krishna’s army and Arjuna happily agreed to have Krishna by his side. As the
war was about to begin, Arjuna, despite being the finest warrior of Pandavas, went
into a dilemma and was psychologically broken down when he saw that he had to
kill his kith and kin on the other side if he has to win the war. He even
decided to run away from the battlefield. It was then Lord Krishna gave him the
knowledge of Bhagavad Gita after which Arjuna realized his true nature and got
up to fight the war.
Arjuna was the unsurpassed student of Drona. In fact, when the
Pandavas were in exile, Arjuna had defeated the entire Kaurava army all alone.
Even after doing so, even he possessed the ability to do it again and that too
with an entire army on his side, if such a mighty warrior can breakdown at the
time of war, what to say about ordinary individuals like us? But Arjuna had
wisely chosen Krishna as his charioteer due to which he was saved from the
situation. Arjuna knew that all the army of Krishna and his weapons couldn’t
match Krishna. Here, we need to remember that Arjuna did not look at Krishna as
God. He looked at Krishna only as his friend. At that time, he didn’t even know
that Krishna was the Lord Himself. Still he had full faith on Krishna because
as a friend Krishna was always there for him and his family to help in their
state of distress.
On the other hand, Karna had Shalya as his charioteer. Shalya
was a very good charioteer but his mouth was very bad. Throughout the war, he
kept demotivating Karna. He wouldn’t shut his mouth even for a moment. And look
at the fate of Karna. He was as equally skilled as Arjuna. He even had
Brahmastra which he had kept to kill Arjuna. But still he failed.
When people start achieving success in their lives, pride slowly starts coming in. They start feeling that whatever they have achieved is due to their effort alone, and now they are superior to others. They forget that it is due to the Lord’s grace that they have achieved this. They fail to remember who gave them the strength, the intelligence, the opportunity to excel. The success of such people is short-lived. Whereas, if we make Lord the charioteer, allow Him to take charge of our life, then we don’t have to worry. We just have to keep doing our duties and He will take care of the rest. He will then direct the course our life like He did in the case of Arjuna.
When people start achieving success in their lives, pride slowly starts coming in. They start feeling that whatever they have achieved is due to their effort alone, and now they are superior to others. They forget that it is due to the Lord’s grace that they have achieved this. They fail to remember who gave them the strength, the intelligence, the opportunity to excel. The success of such people is short-lived. Whereas, if we make Lord the charioteer, allow Him to take charge of our life, then we don’t have to worry. We just have to keep doing our duties and He will take care of the rest. He will then direct the course our life like He did in the case of Arjuna.
Always keeping this thought in mind is ees bhajan. With an
attitude of total surrender to the Lord, if a person starts living his life,
then how the Lord will start working through him is beyond our imagination.
When Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda came down from the Himalayas and started
giving talks on the scriptures, he had only four listeners on the first day.
But he was not sad when he saw that only four have come to attend his talk. He
always believed it was the Lord’s work that he was doing and let Lord work as
He wishes to. And in his working life of 41 years, Chinmaya Mission became a
world-wide organization with millions of followers, over 250 centres, 70
schools, publications, hospitals, societies for helping the backward people
from rural areas, etc. Even at adverse situations, Swamiji would say, “If this
is Narayana’s will, let it happen that way.” It was his attitude which helped
him head such a big organization without any stress or mental strain. In fact,
his childlike behavior and cheerful nature cannot be seen even in CEO’s of
today’s MNC’s. It was possible for Swamiji because he considered himself as an
instrument in the Lord’s hands and never took any reward to his credit.
Let us be a flute in His hands and let Him
sing His tune through us.
WE ARE TOOLS IN THE HANDS DIVINE.
– a poem by Vanaja Ravi Nair, 2005
– a poem by Vanaja Ravi Nair, 2005
The pen in hand
With which I write,
Is helpless, bound,
To do its work.
For, I made it my tool
To scribble this down!
With which I write,
Is helpless, bound,
To do its work.
For, I made it my tool
To scribble this down!
The words those flow
Through this pen, of course,
Not mine, at all,
And I can’t help
But, to pen this down,
For it is HE
Who Makes me write.
Through this pen, of course,
Not mine, at all,
And I can’t help
But, to pen this down,
For it is HE
Who Makes me write.
This pen might have
Been still, where it laid,
Until a writer’s hand
Came to its aid!
This pen is bound
To do its work,
The Writer’s Idea
Not its own!
Been still, where it laid,
Until a writer’s hand
Came to its aid!
This pen is bound
To do its work,
The Writer’s Idea
Not its own!
We too,
are tools,
In the Hands Divine;
HE makes us do,
All our work,
Whether day or night
With all our might!
Who helps us think?
Who give us health?
Who helps us work?
Who guides us right?
Or else, we lay
Unable to move today
Like any pen
Untouched by men!
In the Hands Divine;
HE makes us do,
All our work,
Whether day or night
With all our might!
Who helps us think?
Who give us health?
Who helps us work?
Who guides us right?
Or else, we lay
Unable to move today
Like any pen
Untouched by men!
------------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Ees bhajanu saarathi sujaana
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
(Vairagya) Dispassion is the shield
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
(Vairagya) Dispassion is the shield
We can easily see our enemies outside. But it’s difficult to
notice the ones inside. As we grow, we learn to shield the enemies outside but
fail in tackling the enemies inside. And the first and foremost enemy inside us
is Lust or Passion. Lust is generally considered as a desire for the opposite
sex. Well, that desire is only one of the kinds of lust. Lust or Passion is a
strong desire to obsess something. It can be for food, clothes, T.V. programme
or any particular habit. The thirst becomes so strong that to satisfy the
desire, a person will be ready to compromise on anything. He will compromise on
his faculty of discrimination just to gratify the craving. And how many such
desires do we entertain every day?
Passionate cravings drain away our energies and we land
ourselves in miseries. Many a times, once the lust is fulfilled, we regret it
later. Sometimes, we don’t even realize how passion makes us a weakling and we
go on indulging in it. One runs behind passions for happiness. No doubt we
experience happiness while the passion is fulfilled, but it’s only momentary
happiness that we are able to eke out of it. In the long run, it harms us
because we have already become a victim to the passion. A sensible businessman
would consider this as a bad deal because here he’s earning quick profits but
he’s sure that he’s heading for a big loss. One is unable to realize the
problem with lust when he lacks farsightedness. He gets stuck up with momentary
joys and mistakes that it will give him happiness forever.
The word ‘passion’ is often mistaken for ambition. Ambition is expressing our capabilities and potentialities. Desire
is something which we may not even require in our life. Not
being passionate does not mean one should not have any goal in life. Of course
one should have an ideal in his life and work towards achieving it. However, it
is not necessary that desires be entertained and fulfilled in the process.
But how can we escape desires? They come so unwarned. And we all
are not Self-Realised Masters to break away from all such perils. Gurudev Swami
Chinmayananda used to say just two words to escape desires – GROW UP! That’s
the only way to get away from desires. As a child, we all must have cried for
toys, balloons, etc. But as we grow up, we easily give up those desires as they
no longer attract us. Passion for things will continue to haunt us as long as
we are not ready to grow up. Nature takes care of our physical growth, but we
need to take care of our spiritual growth. Some think spirituality is a
colourless life. It is not. It has an altogether different colour scheme which
cannot be perceived until that path is walked.
Vairagya (Dispassion)
is the growth. When lust comes, the remedy is Dispassion. One of the best
prescriptions of Dispassion is Adi Shankaracharya’s Bhaja Govindam. It’s a must study for all those
who wish to master themselves.
-----------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Ees bhajanu saarathi sujaana
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Contentment is the sword
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Contentment is the sword
Arrows and missiles can kill enemies far away. But, for the
enemies very close to us we need something like a sword. And what are those
enemies that are so close to us and attack us anytime? Anger, jealously,
frustration, greed, etc are the enemies not outside, but within us. The sword
to kill these enemies is Contentment. How can contentment kill these negative
emotions? Let’s try to analyse this.
What is the cause of anger? Something that we desired did not
happen. Cause of jealousy – We don’t have something that the other person has.
Cause of frustration – Unable to satisfy the desire. Cause of greed – A feeling
that what we have is not enough. In all of them, we can see that we are
expecting something more than what we already have. Hence, we can say, when
there’s a discontentment with what we have, such negative emotions arise. So,
if there’s no discontentment, there should not be any negative emotions. Let’s
check if this is true with a common example in the lives of working people.
Suppose a fresh graduate is desperately looking out for a job.
He’s willing to work for any salary because his family is going through a big
financial crunch. He attends many interviews but does not get a job. He’s now
frustrated and angry. Finally, he gets a job in a good company with a decent
pay. He is now happy, contented. But after his first job appraisal, he comes to
know that his salary is not raised. He thinks, “For all the slogging and
hardwork I did for the company, this is what I get? The guy who joined with me
an year ago, got a salary hike three months back.” He is now angry, frustrated
and jealous. However, he continues to work for another year and luckily for
him, in the next appraisal, he gets a good pay-raise even more than what he
expected. He’s once again happy, contented. The next day he comes to know that
some other colleague of his got more percentage salary-hike than him. He spares
no time in losing his contentment. Once again, the negative emotions overpower
him.
We might feel that this is natural and this is the way how
everyone is nowadays. We feel we have to keep changing jobs when we see better
offers in the market. If a job with a better pay-package should give us
happiness, then it should be able to give us happiness throughout our life. But
it does not happen that way. Every job that we change is able to give us
contentment only for a short period after which we start grumbling once again.
So, is it the fault of every other company in the market or is it something
else?
If we have a look at people in the past, who used to work in a
particular company throughout their life, we might feel that they were not
career-oriented. They had no dynamism or drive in their life. Their life was so
boring. They stuck themselves in a company throughout their life. But, we
cannot ignore the fact that they were a lot happier in their career and life
than we are. In short, they were very contented in their lives because of which
they were happier in their lives.
What is the basic reason we look for a job change? It is nothing
but discontentment in the present one. It’s not just our job, but in our lives
too, we are not contented because of which there’s no end to our wants.
Luxuries start becoming our necessities. In the earlier days, food, clothing and
shelter were considered as basic needs of a man. But now, we have a list of
other things that have come in. A colour TV is not enough; we need the best TV
that we see in the newspapers Ad, even though we know that a better TV is going
to come in the market within the next couple of months. If number of desires
fulfilled or more sophisticated and luxurious life gives more happiness, then
there should not be so many cases of suicides and divorces in countries like
USA, UK, Australia, Netherlands, etc.
One may
argue that there would be nobody without desires. True. Desires are there in
each and every one of us. But what is the quality of the desires we entertain?
Desire to get a good education for our children, desire to provide quality life
for our family, desire to do something for the society, etc. are very good and
important too. However, we need to keep a check on ourselves whether our
desires are positive desires for the well-being of others or it is greed? Are
we losing our level of happiness while chasing comforts and luxuries? Are we
forgetting to count all the blessings God has showered upon us, and instead
grieving over one particular thing that we are missing in our life? Ultimately, who is responsible for the happiness in our lives – We or the Rest
of the world?
-------------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Ees bhajanu saarathi sujaana
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Charity is the Axe
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Charity is the Axe
We cannot cut a tree with arrows or a sword. Only an axe can cut
something as thick and mighty as a tree. The mightiest enemy to fight and win
is our own ego. There’s no way to kill the ego by arrows or using the sword.
Heavy blows with an axe are required to cut it.
Everyone knows what charity is. Today, even corporate have to
(they might not want to, but still they have to) spend a percentage of their
revenue as CSR (Corporate Social Resposibility) for some social cause. The
world agrees that helping the needy is one’s social responsibility. But how can
this kill the ego? And why should one kill his ego? To find answers to both
these questions, let’s discuss on what is ‘ego’?
Every living organism has got its ego. Ego means ‘knowing who I
am’. When an elephant knows that it is an elephant, that is its ego. A crow
knows that it’s a crow and not an eagle, it’s the crow’s ego. This ‘ego’ is not
bad. The ego that we are talking about here is a feeling of superiority (or
even inferiority) complex – a misapprehension that we are greater than what we
actually are.
Once when Swami Vivekananda was in the West, a wealthy man went
to see him. He was a renowned personality and everybody greeted him with honour
and respect. He was expecting a similar treatment from Vivekananda but
Vivekananda didn’t even look at him. The next day, he went and gave Vivekananda
a big donation. Vivekananda simply accepted the donation without speaking a
word. The man lost his temper. Never ever in the past had anyone treated him in
such a way. He said, “I’m giving you a big donation. At least, have the
courtesy to say Thank You.” Vivekananda immediately replied, “You should be
thanking me that I’m accepting your donation.”
When a person does charity, he is the one who gets the merit of
his kind deed. But he should be thankful to the person who accepts it without
whom he couldn’t have done the noble act. In Hindu weddings, the father of the
bride does ‘Kanyadaanam’ (donating the daughter) to the groom and bows in front
of him, signifying that ‘The father gives donates his daughter (prosperity) to
the groom’s family. May he (the father) not have the ego that he is the giver’.
In return, the groom bows down to the girl’s father in gratitude for what the
father has donated. Thus, both, the receiver and the giver, bow down to each
other without taking any pride in their action. Hence, Kanyadaanam is said to
be a Mahadaanam (Great Donation) in Hindu scriptures.
Charity is not a physical act of donation to poor people.
Rather, it is a mental attitude with which one gives. Without having this right
mental attitude, the physical charity can lead to increase his pride and ego.
How can a person develop qualities like humility, love, forgiveness,
compassion, etc when his heart is full of pride? When there is pride in a
person, the most important person to him becomes the person himself and there
is no room for others’ concern.
With
the right mental attitude, if one does charity (donating anything that he has
in excess – be it time, money or knowledge); he can cut his ego thus taking
quicker steps for his inner evolution.
----------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Ees bhajanu saarathi sujaana
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Intellect is Immense Strength
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Intellect is Immense Strength
‘Strength is Life. Weakness is Death’ – Swami
Vivekananda
The strong always has victory over the weak. This is the law of
nature. We can see this rule in the jungle, in countries at war, corporate
world, sports, and everywhere in the world. The weak always perish. We need to
make ourselves very strong inorder to ensure that nobody can win over us.
Some people try to show off their strength by overpowering the
weak. That is not real strength; in fact that is portraying one’s inferiority
complex as a superiority complex. One should equip oneself with strength so that
no one dares to attack him. This strength definitely does not mean physical
strength because if it were so, then an elephant won’t have been tamed and
ruled by man. Mental strength is required for withstanding a difficult
situation or taking courageous decisions (Souraj and Dhiraj). Strength in this
context means Intellectual Strength. Unless one is intellectually strong, he
cannot excel. Had Rama possessed only Courage without the knowledge of using
weapons or strategizing the war, could he have defeated the mighty Ravana? In
our life, we should equip ourself with all the knowledge that we can gather.
Knowledge is food for Intellect. One needs to keep himself updated of the
current happenings around him. A businessman should know the market trends,
market needs, tastes of the consumers, etc so that he can be a successful
businessman. If we look at the CEOs of top companies, we can see that they will
be very good in Sales, Finance, Taxation, Law, Administration and in every
other field pertaining to their business. They might not have learnt all these
in their college education but they would study those subjects so that nobody
can cheat them.
One of the greatest intellectual economists India has ever
produced is Chanakya. His work, ‘Arthashastra’, is being taught in Management
schools even today. He clearly explain how intellectual and shrewd a ruler
should be. Shrewdness is not cunningness. Lord Rama possessed all noble
qualities like Compassion, Humility, Restpect & Love for others, yet even
the Devas in Heaven would not dare to fight against him. Ravana was advised by
his own people – Vibheeshana, Kumbhakarna (both brothers), Maarech (uncle),
Mandodari (wife), etc to let Sita go and that getting into a battle with Rama
would only lead to Self-destruction. Thus, Rama’s strength was shown in his
personality even though he displayed soft characters outside.
Intellect
is the faculty of man which has made him the crown of all creation. The way he
uses this faculty determines his evolution into Divinity or fall into
Animalism.
--------------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Ees bhajanu saarathi sujaana
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Bara is the avadhi word for Sanskrit word ‘Para’. Bigyaan (Vigyaan) means Knowledge. Bara bigyaan means‘Paravidya’ Self-Knowledge. Kodanda means Bow (bow of bow and arrow). Kathin kodanda means ‘firm bow of Rama’
Ees bhajanu saarathi sujaana
Birati charm santosh kripaana
Daan parasu budhi sakti prachanda
Bar bigyaana kathina kodanda
Bara is the avadhi word for Sanskrit word ‘Para’. Bigyaan (Vigyaan) means Knowledge. Bara bigyaan means‘Paravidya’ Self-Knowledge. Kodanda means Bow (bow of bow and arrow). Kathin kodanda means ‘firm bow of Rama’
In Mundakopanishad (2.2.3), Bow refers to Pranava (Om / The
Self). Vishnu Sahasra Nama verse #92 is Om Dhanurdharaaya Namah; Meaning: The
wielder of the bow.
What’s so significant about the bow? Bow is signifies
Self-Knowledge. Self-Knowleldge is the only weapon that can kill the ultimate
enemy ‘Ignorance’. But why is Self-Knowledge considered the most important? To
understand this, we need to discuss about ignorance.
If we try to analyse the cause of all negative actions,
emotions, desires, etc, we can see that all of the rise from ignorance. All our
actions are prompted by two aspects of the mind: Dukha Nivritti (removal of
sorrows) and Sukha Prapti (achieving happiness). That means all our actions are
aimed at achieving maximum happiness. Some feel power gives happiness, some
feel wealth, some feel its pleasure, some feel its fame. Whatever is one’s
thought accordingly one performs the actions to enjoy happiness. Be it a nation
attacking another, be it a man who likes drinking, be it siblings fighting over
property matters, be it a celebrity striving for fame, all are running a race
in which they feel that if they achieve their goal, then they can be happy. No
doubt they can be, but the question is – For how long? Will they be satisfied
after they achieve their goal? Will the objects they run after give them
happiness at all moments of time? If happiness resided in the objects, it
should give happiness to everyone.
Any intelligent person will say that all the above statements
are not true. Objects cannot give permanent happiness. If happiness is in an
object, say Music, then will music give happiness to a person when he has lost
a dear one? Is it necessary that the same music will give happiness to another
person? So, music, or any object, cannot give happiness to everyone nor can it
give happiness to the same person at all points of time. Hence, the Rishis
concluded that Happiness does not reside in the objects. If that is so, then
how can we find permanent happiness when we are looking for that in the wrong
place?
It was on such questions the Rishis enquired and realised that
Happiness is in the Subject, it’s in Us. We discover this happiness when we
come in contact with something that we like and it disappears when we lose
contact with it. But it is sure that Happiness resides within us. In fact,
Happiness is nothing but our True nature – Bliss! We become sad when we view
the world from our body (B), mind (M) or Intellect (I) thinking that we are the
BMI.
In the discussions between the teacher and the student of the
Upanishads, this Self-Knowledge is revealed. That is why we are advised to
study the Upanishads. Once a person is Self-Realised, he lives in the world but
is never of the world. The ever-changing world no longer affects his level of
Happiness. He has come to a point where he is beyond the BMI. Just like how
gravity pulls everything that is within its purview but cannot touch anything
that has gone beyond its reach.
There
were others who carried the bow, but there was none like Rama. That’s why Rama
is given the name –Dhanurdhara Rama: the wielder of the Bow of
Self-Knowledge.
-----------
- Understandings from Swami Swaroopanandaji’s talk for Youth
Empowerment Programme – 6th batch
Amal achal mann trona samaana
Sam jam niyama sileemukh naana
Kavach abhed bipra gur pooja
Ehi sam bijaya upaaya na dooja
Amal achal mann trona samaana
Sam jam niyama sileemukh naana
Kavach abhed bipra gur pooja
Ehi sam bijaya upaaya na dooja
Amal – clean; without
any impurities.Achal – firm; unshaking. Mann – mind.Trona –
Quiver. Samaana – is like. A clear/pure and firm mind is like the quiver.
In his visit to Chicago, USA, Swami Vivekananda was once walking
on a bridge when he saw a group of young boys trying to shoot egg shells
floating in the river below. They fired their air gun many times but were
unable to shoot the shells even for a single time. Vivekananda stood there
watching with keen interest. The boys asked him whether he would like to try a
shot. Vivekananda took the air gun, focused on the egg shells for some time and
fired twelve times. Each time the bullet hit the target. The boys were stunned.
They asked him with all wonder, “Sir, who taught you to shoot?” Vivekananda’s
reply was something like this – “I’ve never handled a gun in my life. Your teacher taught you to shoot. My teacher taught me to
concentrate.” What a powerful line!
A quiver is where an archer keeps his arrows ready. If the
quiver is not tied firmly to his back, the archer, however efficient he may be,
might not be able to take out at the right time when he is in a battle. All his
knowledge and training can go unfruitful if he neglects the quiver. And the
quiver has to be clean so that there’s no trouble in taking the arrows on time.
In the case of Vivekananda, his mind was clean and firm. The power of Self-knowledge,
study of the scriptures and Sadhana had made his mind pure. All the words he
has spoken reflect the firmness of his mind. With such a mind, he could achieve
almost anything he wanted to do.
Everybody has got desires, be it selfish or selfless. Not all of
them get fulfilled. But if we look at the life of great people, we can see that
they could achieve such herculean tasks which nobody could even dream of. Like
the case of Swami Chinmayananda. One man’s wish to serve the society, to spread
the knowledge of the scriptures to the common man in the common man’s language,
resulted in a global organization with more than 300 centres all over the
world, more than 80 schools and colleges, hospitals, rural development centres,
International Research Centre, much more and still growing. It was nothing but one man’s wish. But that wish came from a pure and firm
mind. Hence it brought out such an unimaginable result.
Purity of mind is not just possible for saints and sages.
J.R.D.Tata is an inspiring example in quote in this context. He was a visionary
leader who didn’t think of merely making money. A businessman he was, no doubt,
but he had a greater vision for the country. He wanted his country to grow and
not just himself or his business organization. That purity, that clarity in
thought brought about the growth of one of the biggest business empires in
India.
They say it is a competitive world today. There is cut-throat
competition. The one who is able to beat the rest, wins the race. But
J.R.D.Tata’s attitude towards competition was quite different. In 1930, the Aga
Khan Trophy was offered for the first Indian to fly solo from India to England
or vice versa. J.R.D. competed, taking off from Karachi to London. When he
landed at Aboukir Bay in Egypt, he found that Aspy Engineer, the other
contender, flying from London to Karachi, was stranded in the desert airfield
for want of a spark plug! J.R.D. sportingly parted with his spare one and they
continued their journey in opposite directions. Aspy beat him by a couple of
hours. “I am glad he won,” said J.R.D., “because it helped him get into the
Royal Indian Air Force.” Later Aspy was to be the second Indian to be the chief
of the Indian Air Force. And in 1932, India’s first airline, the Tata Airlines,
was inaugurated.
Such
clean are the minds of successful individuals in any field, be it spirituality
or materialism, purity and firmness are must. Most of our desires usually come
out from an unclean and wavering mind. But the lives of such successful people
show how purity mind and vision helped them in achieving success. When we aim
at success, we generally work on all other factors like gaining knowledge,
skill, power, etc. But a thought of cleansing our mind seldom comes to us
probably because we do not consider it as a factor determining success. And
Tulsidas ji aptly compares it with the example of a quiver which might be
ignored by an archer who thinks that skill and knowledge can earn him victory
in a battle.
-------------
No comments:
Post a Comment