In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Kaushika interacting with the meat vendor, and he too was able to guess Sage Kaushika’s intentions very clearly! As the meat vendor requested Sage Kaushika to come along to his home, Sage Kaushika took a step back, and this made the meat vendor blurt out all that he knew about Sage Kaushika. He clearly said that Sage Kaushika didn’t want to come here, but for that woman who urged him to go and meet this meat vendor! Upon hearing this, Sage Kaushika was utterly surprised and he asked the meat vendor as to how he knew all this! The meat vendor clearly replied back to Sage Kaushika that he was none other than an ordinary human being, selling meat for his survival. However, he had been following the “Dharma” of taking care of his aged parents meticulously, and it is this “Dharma” that makes him foresee a lot of things. It is this “Dharma” that is protecting him from many dangers that he encounters in his life. Upon hearing this, Sage Kaushika was visibly taken aback and with this, Sage Kaushika realizes how “Pathivrata Dharma” and the “Dharma” of taking care of one’s aged parents are extremely important in the life of a human being.
Moving on thus, as Sage Kaushika is now about to leave thoughtfully, he quickly asks the meat vendor a question – “Oh meat vendor! You say that you know so many things about “Dharma” and the “Dharma” that you do is protecting you at all times. However, why are you doing this wretched profession of selling meat? Why don’t you do something better in your life for your survival? Selling meat to others is a sinful job isn’t it? Why don’t you think of something better than this?” As Sage Kaushika asks thus, the meat vendor replies back, “Oh Sage Kaushika! Who are you to decide which job / profession is bad or good? Who gave you this authority to decide what is good and bad for me in my life? You are not supposed to make such decisions! I’m saying this to you because, you’ve to understand that any job in this world is good / bad according to the person who does it. There is nothing in this world called “good job” or “bad job”. It all depends on the situation in which the person is at that point in time to take up that job or not. For me, my situation at that time of taking up this job was conducive for me to do this, and hence I’m till date performing this job for my survival. Hence for everything in life, situations decide the course of people’s actions and jobs. For instance, if a hunter is chasing a cow and the cow is going and hiding inside a Maharishi’s house – When the hunter asks the Maharishi as to where the cow is, and the Maharishi boldly replies that the cow that he is hunting down never came here! We might ask how come a Maharishi who is profound in his spiritual practice is simply and blatantly lying? But at that point in time, the situation demands the Maharishi to tell a lie, so as to protect the cow, isn’t it? If the Maharishi would have been true by saying that the cow is inside his house, immediately the hunter would have entered and cut the cow into pieces, isn’t it? However, due to the compelling situation to save the life of a poor cow, the Maharishi had to lie! Thus, we can understand here as to how the situation in which a human being is living determines the way in which he / she behaves and also the job that he / she performs!”
We can also witness this in today’s scenario – We shall today perform a small exercise within ourselves. Now let us ask this question within us – The job that we are in today – Are we in this job by interest and passion, or, are we in this job today because the situation that I’m in currently, forces me to take up this job? Moreover, the behavior and attitude that I have at this moment – Is it because I want to behave purposefully like this, or, is it the situation that is forcing me to behave in certain ways? If we ask these questions within us, we would get startling answers! So for today, let us explore within ourselves with these questions and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 