The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bheemasena and Draupati raising queries to Sage Shaunaka whether they would be getting back their kingdom in due course, for which, Sage Shaunaka declined a direct answer. He replied in a very generic manner by saying that if they follow all the above-mentioned aspects of “Dharma”, they might still get back their kingdom at some point in time. Irrespective of whether they get back the kingdom or not, it is their bound duty to follow the path of “Dharma” at all times. Sage Shaunaka makes it very clear that he is not interested whether Yudishtra goes back to Indraprastha or not. All what is important for him is whether he follows “Dharma” or not. As Sage Shaunaka expresses his thoughts clearly thus, Yudishtra once again raises a query – If he’s unable to feed all the sages and brahmins who had accompanied him, wouldn’t it create a deviation from his path of “Dharma”? Of course, the Maharishis can feed themselves at any point in time, but the question here is whether Yudishtra is following the path of “Dharma” by feeding them. As Yudishtra asks a genuine question thus, Sage Shaunaka is going to give an important reply. 

Sage Shaunaka explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! This is your big concern, isn’t it? I totally understand. It is your Grihasta-Dharma” to serve all the Brahmins and Maharishis. Now that you’re not having sufficient infrastructure to serve everyone, let us think of some method to solve this issue!” As Sage Shaunaka and Yudishtra start thinking of various ways to resolve this, Sage Dhoumya stood up from amidst the crowd! We’ve already witnessed who is Sage Dhoumya. Now here is a test of memory for all our readers. Who is Sage Dhoumya? We’ve witnessed a “Upa-Parva” by name “Chaitrarasa Parva” wherein Chitrarasa was a “Gandharva” by nature. As the Paandava brothers were proceeding towards the Paanchaala Desha to meet Draupati for the first time before their marriage, it was this Chitrarasa who introduced the Paandavas to Sage Dhoumya. We’ve witnessed earlier that Chitrarasa initially came for a fight with the Paandava brothers, even though they were dressed as “Brahmana Rishis”. He clearly found out that these five people were not Brahmanas at any cost. As Arjuna and Chitrarasa began fighting, Chitrarasa realized that these people were Kshatrya princes and were extremely talented in nature. Thus, a long dialogue between Chitrarasa and the Paandava brothers followed by, and in fact, Chitrarasa showed them the way to Paanchaala Desha. However, he did not want them to go there all by themselves, and hence he advised them to take Sage Dhoumya along.  

Thus, from that day onwards, Sage Dhoumya is with the Paandava brothers at all times. Even when Yudishtra was ruling at Indraprastha, Sage Dhoumya was one of his important advisors. Even now, Sage Dhoumya is walking along with Yudishtra in the forest, as this conversation between himself and Sage Shaunaka is going on. Not only at this stage – Sage Dhoumya is going to be there along with Yudishtra and Co. even in the future as well. Whenever Yudishtra gets into any trouble, Sage Dhoumya is always with him to bail him out! In fact, even Bhagawan Krishna is going to express His gratitude to Sage Dhoumya at a later stage. Bhagawan Krishna is going to say to Sage Dhoumya thus, “Oh Sage Dhoumya! It is only because you are alongside these Paandava brothers, I’m relieved. I’m confident that if you’re with Yudishtra and Co., the Paandavas are safe and secure. I do not need to worry too much about them!” If Bhagawan Krishna had to utter these words to Sage Dhoumya directly, we can understand how significant Sage Dhoumya’s role was with the Paandavas in nurturing and protecting them. In other words, Sage Dhoumya was the mentor for the Paandavas at all stages! 

So now, Sage Dhoumya is going to give an important accord, both to Yudishtra and to Sage Shounaka. So for today, let us understand up to this point, as to who Sage Dhoumya was and what was his role towards the Paandava brothers! We shall wait till the next episode to witness what Sage Dhoumya opines to Yudishtra, pertaining to this problem. Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Shaunaka rendering a very important advice to Yudishtra with regards to “Atma-Gnyaana”. He says that the only thing that grows in a human being is “Gnyaanam” or Knowlege. This is something that all of us are experiencing in our regular routine too. If we get involved and interested in a subject, we tend to go deeper into it and explore more to understand many intricacies and nuances of it. For instance, if one is interested in music, he / she tries to learn from an accomplished musician and gets more and more involved. Moreover, he / she tries a lot of improvisation and innovation in various aspects of music and tries to grow it further and further, isn’t it? Such is the case in almost all domains that we see today. Similar is also the case for learning about the “Atman”. The more we devote time, interest, effort and involvement in understanding about the “Atman”, the more we would learn. However, the gross difference between learning about the “Atman” and other forms of worldly education is that we tend to show more interest towards worldly education as compared to the “Atman” education. Why is that so? The primary reason is because whatever we learn as part of our worldly education can be seen right in front of our eyes. Hence, we’re easily able to connect what we learn and what we see and experience. However, this feature is somewhat lacking in the “Atman” education. Whatever we might learn from our “Sanaatana Dharma” literature, we might not be able to visualize and experience immediately. This creates a disconnect in us, and eventually we tend to lose interest. Thus, for pursuing the “Atman” education, “Vairaagya” or “Will power” is extremely important. Of course I’m not saying that we would never see the connect between what we learn and what we see here. The point is that, this “Atman” education would require some time, persistent effort, and consistency to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hence, we’ve to take the effort for the same! 

Moving on thus, as Sage Shaunaka explains all these points to Yudishtra, he concludes by saying thus, “Oh Yudishtra! This thirteen-year period is a golden opportunity for you, which not many kings would get. Hence, rather than considering this as an exile or a punishment period, you should feel happy that you’ve got this chance to understand about your “Atman”, various aspects of “Dharma” that revolve around the “Atma-Gnyaanam”, etc. Hence, go to all the sages who are experts in all these aspects of knowledge and try to learn as much as possible. This is your learning phase, and once you finish this phase successfully, you would be able to execute your duties as a king with all the aspects of “Dharma” in place! Thus, once you go back to Indraprastha, people should see a visible change in you – A change towards the path of “Dharma”!” 

As Sage Shaunaka concludes thus, Bheemasena and Draupati look up in surprise! Till that point, both of them were frowning and were hanging their heads down and now, the moment Sage Shaunaka talks about going back to Indraprastha, both of them look up in awe! Draupati asks thus, “Oh Sage Shaunaka! What is the meaning of your last sentence? Are we still going to get back our kingdom anytime soon? Is that really going to happen?” As Draupati asks thus, Sage Shaunaka doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry! He quickly replies to Draupati thus, “Oh Draupati! I never said in assurance that you would get back your kingdom very soon. Please do not mistake my words. Did you not hear all the advice that I rendered till now? Why do you only want to capture the last sentence that I uttered? What I meant to say here is that, if at all you get back your kingdom in the future, all these aspects of “Dharma” that you would learn for the next thirteen years would be of immense usage. If by any chance you’re not able to get back your kingdom, then also these aspects of “Dharma” would be of immense usage. I’m not an astrologer to exactly predict whether you would get your kingdom back or not, and when you would be able to go back to Indraprastha! I’m just a normal sage who knows “Dharma” and I’m explaining to you about it! Hence, please do not come to a conclusion that you would surely get back your kingdom! Time would give an answer to all these things and you’ve to be patient!” 

As Yudishtra listens to all these conversations and accords from Sage Shaunaka, he slowly replies thus, “Oh Sage Shaunaka! I’m indeed extremely happy that all of you are here with me to make me understand the various aspects of “Dharma”. Please do not think even for a moment that I would deviate from my path of “Dharma”. That is never going to happen. However, what I’m more concerned about is that, feeding all of you is also a part of my “Dharma”, and because of my current state of affairs, I’m afraid that I’m deviating from my path of “Dharma”. I totally understand that you can live on your own without any food and water – Thanks to your immense power of penance! However, my concern is not that. My concern is that I would not be able to satisfy my “Dharma” by not feeding you! Moreover, you were talking about money, wealth, etc. Never in my life till today, have I accumulated money and wealth for myself. I’m least interested in the luxuries that I want to experience. My intent behind earning the wealth and money is only to feed all of you and to ensure your happiness. This is my “Dharma”. Hence, Sage Shaunaka! Please clarify my concern and throw some light on it from your rich knowledge about “Dharma”!”

As Yudishtra asks thus, Sage Shaunaka is going to render a very important answer! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue witnessing Sage Shaunaka’s important answer! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on how money and wealth can be extremely impermanent in nature. Sage Shaunaka compares our youth and physical beauty and uses these two variables as proxies to describe the impermanent nature of wealth. Just like how youth and physical beauty can be highly impermanent, something that is our possession today can easily be someone else’s tomorrow! Hence, life is extremely transient and Sage Shaunaka advises Yudishtra to move on with it, without getting carried away by any of those impermanent materialistic pleasures of the world. However, having said all these, Sage Shaunaka explains now about something that is always permanent! He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Even though there are so many things that might be impermanent, there is something that is permanent too – Your “Gnyaanam” (Knowledge of the Atman). This is something that is totally undestroyable in nature. If you have this knowledge within you, it would automatically lead you towards the ultimate “Moksha”. Hence, try and develop this “Gnyaanam” in you for the next thirteen years!” 

As Sage Shaunaka explains this point, there is an interesting connotation to this – Till now, we’ve witnessed that youth, physical beauty, money, name, fame, wealth, etc. only keep diminishing every passing day, isn’t it? But when it comes to “Atma-Gnyaanam”, it only keeps growing day by day! Why do we say that? If we learn something today with deep involvement and interest, it would motivate us to learn more and more about that something, isn’t it? We’re witnessing this phenomenon in our ordinary modern-day education itself. For instance, if one is highly interested in smartphone technology and its latest trends and upgrades, everyday morning he / she might be searching all over the newspaper, online articles, etc. with regards to some news on mobile phone technology, isn’t it? Now if he / she ends up buying a latest smartphone, this person would spend hours together getting to know how the phone is functioning, what are the salient features that the phone consists of, etc. isn’t it? Moreover, if we’re having even more deeper interest, we would even start comparing the features of this smartphone with various other smartphone brands in the market! Our analysis would go deeper and deeper with more and more interest and involvement, wouldn’t it? 

Hence, what are we observing here? If we have the interest and involvement, obtaining the “Gnyaanam” (Knowledge) will only keep increasing and it would never come down. We would love to learn more and more of our interested subjects, even without someone pushing us to study, won’t we? This is exactly what Sage Shaunaka is explaining here – The more involved we are in knowing about our “Atman” and Bhagawan, the more we would get to understand the intricacies on the subject. Thus, “Gnyaanam” would only keep growing on and on without a break and this is the thing upon which Yudishtra should focus for the next thirteen yeas, according to Sage Shaunaka! Of course, it is not only for Yudishtra, but it is an important lesson for all of us! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we’re going to witness an important conversation, wherein Draupati is going to chip in with some questions! Till now, Sage Shaunaka and Yudishtra were conversing and all the others were mute spectators to the conversation. Now Bheemasena and Draupati try to sneak in with a few important queries and observations. What are they? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Shaunaka emphasizing a very important point to Yudishtra, which is extremely relevant to all of us even today. He says clearly that if we run behind excessive money, it would only result in us becoming extreme misers! We would not have the heart to spend it in the right way. Instead, excessive money would give rise to excessive anger, frustration, jealousy, etc. In fact, if we’re getting to a stage wherein we become obsessed with money and materialistic property, we would even go to the extent of forgetting Bhagawan completely! Moreover, the more obsessed we become towards money, the more brave we would become to do anything and everything to earn that money. In other words, we would start resorting to unethical means of earning wealth, for instance, corruption, taking bribes from someone for something, stealing other’s property, etc. Hence, money and property are extremely dangerous items that have an extreme potential of pulling us away from the path of “Dharma”, and this is where we’ve to be very careful not to fall into the trap. Of course, money is important for sustenance of life and basic requirements, but that should not escalate into unreasonable demands and desires. 

This is exactly the trap in which Duryodhana and Co. have got into. If we deeply analyze the Mahabharata story, at every point whenever Duryodhana is bursting out in aggression and anger, it would be because of the jealous feeling that Yudishtra has more wealth and kingdom than what he has. Hence, this is the basic problem which King Dhridiraashtra as a father failed to analyze and mend Duryodhana. Whereas, Yudishtra and Co. were steadfast in their “Dharma” of truth, non-violence, serving others heartily, etc. and this made them successful in the end. Thus, these are all some examples that we should consider while designing the roadmap for our life ahead. If we’ve to go the Duryodhana way, disaster is awaiting us at some point in time. However, if we try and walk the Yudishtra way, it might be tough initially, but in the long-run, we would obtain unimaginable success! Thus, it is up to us to decide which path to take! 

Moving on thus, Sage Shaunaka is now going to explain something very interesting – He now talks about “Youth”, and how youth can bring about a variety of things. Sage Shaunaka says thus: 

“Anithyam yauvanam roopam jeevitam ratna sanchayaha!”

This is a very important sloka again. Here Sage Shaunaka explains that youth is something that is completely impermanent in nature. Today we might be an eighteen-year-old boy, fresh from school, just into a college for undergraduation, etc. However, does this stage remain permanent over time? As days, months and years roll by, we’re going to get older each passing day and we’re going to finish our undergrad, go for a postgrad, work in a company, get married, have a family, etc. isn’t it? Thus, nothing is permanent in one’s lifetime. Similar to this, money and wealth are also not permanent in one’s possession. As mentioned yesterday, we might be owning an expensive car or a villa today, but what is the guarantee that we might still be owning the same property ten years from now? What if suddenly an earthquake or any natural calamity occurs? The villa can be reduced to rubble within no time, isn’t it? We’ve witnessed this in many occasions. Twenty-four hours earlier one might have been an owner of a seven-star hotel, but twenty-four hours later, that same person might have become a popper, because his entire property came crashing down because of a sudden earthquake, or his property might have got damaged due to a tsunami wave! Or, chances are high that somebody else might have dragged him to the court owing to some legal issue and pulled out that property from his possession! 

Thus, we can see here that money and property are highly impermanent just like how our youth is! In other words, we might be having very happy and carefree days during our childhood and youth days, but can this continue all throughout our life? Whenever there are problems in life, we’ve got no other option but to face the problem and move on, isn’t it? This is the maturity that all of us need to cultivate within ourselves, and this is exactly what Sage Shaunaka advises Yudishtra as well. Quite similar to this is our physical form. During our youthful days we might be handsome or beautiful to look, but as days, months and years roll by, do we maintain the same physical form? No, isn’t it? We’ve to get older and with age, we also lose our physical beauty. Finally at one stage, we would reach an older state wherein people would start ridiculing our physical form! Thus, life is extremely impermanent and transient in nature and we’ve to understand that going behind wealth and money also should have a balance and a limit. We should of course possess money for our life’s sustenance, but beyond that if we’re going to run behind it, we’re only risking ourselves of walking the path of “Adharma”. 

So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and let us wait till the next episode to witness this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Shaunaka talking to Yudishtra, wherein he concludes his conversation by conveying an important thing – All the sages and the Brahmins are rallying behind Yudishtra, for the sole reason that he has the most priceless property with him called “Dharma”, and not because he might be having all the other worldly properties and luxuries that a king might have. Sage Shaunaka thus makes his point very clear – “Oh Yudishtra! Please do not worry about taking care of us. We can take care of ourselves very much! We’ve been in deep penance all these years and we know how to deal with natural catastrophes, shortages of food, non-availability of water, etc. In fact, we’ve been without food and water for several years together! Hence, we’ve not come behind you seeking food and water. We’ve come behind you only because of your “Dharma”, and we would like to be in a place wherein “Dharma” is prevalent. Oh Yudishtra! Just think for a moment – Many people came behind you along with all of us. The moment you gave them an assurance that you would come back after thirteen years and protect them, many of them left. But some of us still decided to follow you. Why? It is only because of your “Dharma”. The path that you follow is attracting great sages like us. Hence, please be confident about the “Dharma” that you follow and always be steadfast in your approach towards “Dharma”. Do not worry about the opportunistic people around you. Nature and time would provide a healing lesson for all of them. Now your focus should completely be on learning many more aspects of “Dharma” from various experts in the forest!” 

Moving on thus, Sage Shaunaka explains some other important aspects of “Dharma” to Yudishtra, which are excellent lessons for all of us. Sage Shaunaka explains thus: 

“Tasmaath arthaagamaath sarve mano moha vivardhanaaha!

Kaarpanya dharpamaanouscha bhayam udhvega yeva cha!!”

This is a very important sloka here. Sage Shaunaka explains through this sloka thus, “Oh Yudishtra! The more you think of money, materialistic properties, etc. the more you would become a miser! You would not have the heart to spend it. At the same time, you would also get the motivation to earn more and more of the materialistic property! If someone asks for it from you, you would become extremely angry and if you see someone earning more than you, jealousy will creep in. Thus, see the dire consequences of possessing materialistic property in this world! You would imbibe unwanted characteristics such as being a miser, anger, frustration, jealousy, unwanted tension, etc. Hence, you should be happy now that you do not need to go through all the above characteristics for the next thirteen years! Please leave all of it and try to be content with whatever you have!” 

This is an important message for all of us too – Every passing day we keep running back and forth for what purpose? For earning more and more money! If we earn a certain sum of money today, are we satisfied with it in the long run? In the short-term, perhaps we might say that we’re content with whatever we get. But in the long-run, we would start feeling that we should earn more. For this, we would tend to do something extra than the work that we’re doing currently. Of course, even if it is in the legitimate way, we still keep qualifying ourselves better, we gain a lot more experience in our job over time, with which, we demand more salary, more incentives for our exceptional performance, etc. If we get a good incentive package from our organization this year, we would tend to push ourselves even more for the next year to obtain more incentives! This cycle only keeps repeating year after year and we only keep running behind more and more money! The more money we get, the more luxuries we tend to buy, which in turn increases our expenses! To meet these increased expenses, we need more and more money! Thus, this is a vicious cycle that keeps going on and on! 

However, even though we might earn a lakh rupees as a salary per month, and if someone from any ashram or mutt or any temple requests for a donation, we might not be ready to donate! Even if we’ve to donate a hundred rupees, we might think ten to fifteen times before giving it! Even for that, we would start searching for “tax benefits” to compensate for our “expensive donation”! Thus, we can see here that earning more and more money, would make us a miser if we’ve to spend for the right reasons! We might end up spending enormous money to upgrade our lifestyle, which is only temporary in nature! Little do we realize that all the luxuries that we accumulate during our lifetime would never stick on to us on a permanent basis. What is ours today, would be someone else’s tomorrow. However, the “Punya” that we accumulate by donating things to the needy, is a permanent entity that will stick to us even after this birth is over! However, because of the “Maya” (Illusion) that we are in, we forget to realize such important things, isn’t it? This is exactly what Sage Shaunaka is explaining to Yudishtra, and this is a very important lesson for all of us to learn in today’s scenario as well. 

So for today, let us understand this point clearly and in the next episode, we’re going to witness yet another important point that Sage Shaunaka is going to emphasize – We’re thinking that youth is something that gives us more and more joy, isn’t it? Let us see what Sage Shaunaka has to say on this! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important point that Sage Shaunaka is emphasizing to Yudishtra – An accord on “Vairagya”. What is true “Vairagya” or “Will power”? If we have the resources to go behind something, yet we refrain from going behind it – This is real “Vairagya”. We should not mistake “Vairagya” with the phenomenon wherein we do not have the resources and because of that we do not go behind something. For instance, if we have adequate financial resources to buy an expensive villa property, but still we do not want to go behind luxuries in life, this is “Vairagya”. Of course, if we do not have enough financial resources, we’re never going to go for a villa ever! Thus, we need to understand this demarcation very clearly as we move on with life. 

Moving on thus, Sage Shaunaka is making yet another important point here – He now talks about something that many of us know – “Detachment”. Many of us might have come across this term at various instances in our Sanaatana Dharma literature, wherein many great Sages and even Bhagawan Himslf has explained in many contexts. Here, Sage Shaunaka is explaining to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! It is understandable from your pain that your own brothers, Duryodhana, uncle Sahuni and the others let you down very badly. It is very unfortunate that you were insulted in the public courtroom in a manner that anyone might feel deeply hurt. However, remember one thing – This is just a temporary phase of life. Every action has got its own equal and opposite reaction. You need not worry about all these things for the next thirteen years. Just like how water doesn’t stand upon the petals of a lotus flower, all these things that happened to you are just like the water droplets! These are all impermanent. What is permanent here is your Atman and Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet. Your focus should be completely on that. Relationships in this world are temporary in nature and do not worry about the ill-effects caused due to these relationships. They would fade away as time goes by!” 

As Sage Shaunaka says thus, he adds another important point here – “Oh Yudishtra! Look at the characteristics of the so-called human relationships in this world. People will come behind you only up to a point wherein you have some wealth in your possession. If a day arrives wherein you do not have any wealth by your side, all your relations and friends would desert you and go behind another person who might have the wealth that you might not have! This is how the world is! This is why I’m saying that relationships are temporary in this world. For instance, you would have seen that all of us, Sages are coming behind you – Why do you think so?” As Sage Shaunaka asks this question, Yudishtra for a moment thinks that they are coming behind him because he still has some possessions with him with which he can feed all of them. But he was wrong. Sage Shaunaka immediately gives the answer himself thus, “Oh Yudishtra! You might be thinking that we’re behind you because you would feed us everyday. But that is wrong! We are all behind you because you have the most important property called “Dharma” behind you! Other people in the world look at the property called “money” that is there with you, but as Maharishis, we look at the property called “Dharma” that you possess. Unfortunately in this world, not many of them possess this unique property called “Dharma” which you have. Hence, until and unless this property called “Dharma” stays under your ambit, all of us would be around with you! In this way, we are also selfish isn’t it? 🙂 Hence, Yudishtra! Please do not worry! Things would improve as days progress. Now your focus should only be on how to enhance the “Dharma” in you!” 

Saying thus, Sage Shaunaka tries to calm Yudishtra down. In turn, Yudishtra too realizes that he has a major task in hand now. His fundamental duty at this point is to be a learner and should learn as many aspects of “Dharma” as possible from various Maharishis who are residing amidst the dense forest. So for today, let us also take a pledge that we would become a learner along with Yudishtra and Co. We shall slowly start deliberating on whatever Yudishtra is going to learn in the coming episodes and from now onwards, readers’ attention to minute details is paramount for better understanding. We shall continue this discussion forward in the next episode and also witness what is Yudishtra’s next point of action is going to be! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Shaunaka’s accord to Yudishtra, wherein he talks about consistency in whatever we do. Many of us have this issue as well – We might start something good with a lot of fanfare, but whether we continue the effort on a sustained manner is something that we should ponder within ourselves to check. For instance, we might listen or read about some spiritual practice like chanting a Mantra. We might be able to appreciate the significance of chanting the Mantra, and we might even approach a Guru for obtaining the “Mantra-Deeksha”. However, after obtaining it from the Guru, we must chant the Mantra regularly, isn’t it? This is where we would falter! We might start chanting meticulously on day one, but as days progress, we might end up losing steam! After a few months, chances are very high that we might even forget the Mantra that we had obtained! This should not be the case, isn’t it? If we’re following a spiritual practice, we should continue doing it continuously without a break. Thus, the more we are consistent with our Spiritual Saadhana, the easier it becomes for us to get closer to Bhagawan. This is exactly what Sage Shaunaka is advising Yudishtra too. He explains that if Yudishtra meticulously follows the path of “Dharma” at all times, Bhagawan Krishna is always going to be behind him at all times. 

Moving on thus, Sage Shaunaka comes to the next important point here. He answers an important question: “What is real “Vairaagya”?” Here, “Vairaagya” means “Self-control”. Sage Shaunaka gives an important and an interesting explanation here. For instance, there is a very expensive item in front of us – Gold. A gold necklace that costs around Rupees one lakh. I do not have the financial capability of purchasing such an expensive gold necklace. Hence, can I say that I’ve developed the “Vairaagya” not to desire for such expensive items? Let us look at another example – I’m a very mediocre student and I struggle to pass my board exams in the twelfth standard. Can I say that I’ve developed the “Vairaagya” not to try for an medical seat? This is actually not “Vairaagya”. This is mere escapism! But what is real “Vairaagya”? If for instance, I earn more than five lakh rupees per month and if I come across an expensive gold necklace costing Rs. 1 Lakh, and if I move out from that place without even looking at it, this is called “Vairaagya”. Now I can say that I never desire to buy any expensive item for myself, even though I have the financial capability to buy it. 

Many of us grossly misunderstand this in our everyday life – We think that we can be happy and content if we have all the facilities in the world – A three or four bedroom apartment, three cars, five servants, air conditioned house, etc. But such things are all temporary in nature. One can never be satisfied with all these facilities. However, if we’ve to be really happy and satisfied with life, we should minimize our desires, which would lead us to buy all these facilities. The moment we’re free of desires, automatically our needs and wants would come down, which would automatically give us a lot of happiness and satisfaction. We should think about this very deeply. We shall even conduct a small interview with people with all the luxuries. We can ask such people a simple question – “Oh! You have all the facilities in the world, don’t you? Now tell me – Are you happy?” Most of the time, the answer would be “No”! These people would only keep lamenting that they want more and more facilities, or they might be lamenting that they are under a financial crunch because they’ve invested all their money in buying all these facilities! Or, some people would even go on to say thus, “Oh! I’ve invested so much money and time in buying all these items, but I do not know how am I going to maintain all these!” This is where the problem lies. Isn’t it a mere common sense that the more we buy stuff, the more we’ve to spend time in maintaining them? Is it easy to maintain a luxurious car? Is it easy to maintain a four bedroom apartment? We’ve to constantly keep dusting it, sweeping, mopping, etc. to make it look spic and span, isn’t it? Now if we do not have anything of these, we can save a lot of time which might otherwise be spent in maintenance, isn’t it? 

Thus, readers should spend some time pondering over this important point. Of course, I’m not saying that we should leave all our possessions and come to the platform. We shall have facilities as per our basic requirements of sustaining life. However, if we start going for “extra” facilities, this is where the problem comes. We would end up running behind those “extra” items forever, and this would indeed suck away all our productive time and effort! Thus, we should develop the attitude of “Vairaagya”, not to go behind luxuries beyond a certain point, even though we might have the financial strength to do so. This is real “Vairaagya”, and this is exactly what Sage Shaunaka explains to Yudishtra. Hence for today, let us understand this important point and let us ponder within ourselves as to how do we develop this “Vairaagya” within us! We shall wait till the next episode to witness this further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Shaunaka’s morale-boosting accord to Yudishtra wherein, he is talking about how friendships can sometimes be dangerous at critical times. If a friendship blossoms during a critical time, we might have to be bonded to that person even when that person is slowly using us to walk the path of “Adharma”. At that point, even if we realize that we’re going on a wrong path, we might not be able to revert back. This is something that all of us need to understand – Excessive affection towards someone or something would always lead us to disaster. In yesterday’s episode, we had asked a few counter questions thus – “Oh! Sage Shaunaka is telling all this because he is not married! Only if he gets married and has children, he would know the pain of a father or a mother towards the children and family! How can we not have affection for our children? If we do not have affection for them, how will we grow and nurture them into good citizens?” These are extremely valid questions pertaining to our present-day situation and we shall witness the answers today. 

As the question goes – Should we have affection towards our family and children? Yes. We should definitely have the affection, but we should draw a line for it as well. We should of course discharge all our duties towards our family and children and give the best possible life for them, however, we’ve to stop at that point. Whereas, if we’re going to continue the affection to such a stage wherein we’re going to be of service to subsequent generations of the family, it means that we’re getting carried away by the pleasures of family life. In other words, it is our duty to raise our children as good citizens of our “Sanaatana Dharma” and of our country. Our duty stops there. But we do not stop at that point. We go on to worry about our grandchildren, great grandchildren, their education, their other requirements, etc. and waste all our precious time in that. Thus, we’ve to take a stance that after a certain stage of life when our children settle down with their respective families, we should take a backseat from the “Grihasta-Ashrama”. We should henceforth start spending more time in being of service to some temples, ashrams, etc. and should strive to enrich our knowledge on various aspects of our “Sanaatana Dharma”. Till the time we’re going to work, we never have the time to sit and read something on this. However, after retirement and after our family is settled, we should devote time to this, isn’t it? However, many of us fail to do this. Now what would Bhagawan think on the sidelines? He might think, “Oh wow! Until the age of 60, this fellow did not even have time to think about me, and I was patient. But even after the age of 60, he is only interested in his family life and not me! Why did I even give him a birth in this world?” We shouldn’t make Bhagawan think this way, isn’t it? So let us think about this and do the needful. 

Thus, the point here is that affection towards family is required until a certain stage, but we should not go overboard. We should also have the affection towards Bhagawan and the passion to attain His divine lotus feet. In fact, the latter is the sole purpose upon which all of us have taken birth in this world. However, in due course, we deviate completely from this purpose and move into something else that keeps attracting us every passing day. So what do we do for maintaining the balance, or increasing our affection towards Bhagawan? We should listen to, read about, sing in praise of Bhagawan more often. The more we follow these, the more involved we would be towards Bhagawan, and slowly we would start getting detached from our excessive family pleasures. This of course, is not an overnight process, but would happen slowly and steadily. The most important thing here is that, we’ve to be consistent in our approach. The problem with all of us is not about starting this process. I’m sure that the moment we read all this, we would have that “enlightened” feeling that we should start reading a lot about Bhagawan, listen about him, etc. We would also commence it with a lot of enthusiasm today itself. But the real question here is whether we would continue doing this tomorrow, day after, two days later, etc. As days progress, our normal tendency is to switch back to our daily family routines and gradually this “beginning” that we’ve made today would be forgotten! This should not happen, isn’t it? 

Thus, it is not important that we start certain things. The more important factor is how we sustain this effort with consistency. This is why we call it as “Spiritual Saadhana” – It means, we’re regularly doing it without a break. Hence, readers should make it a point that we maintain the balance between family and Bhagawan, spend time for Bhagawan consistently without breaks and thereby strive to attain Bhagawan. If we’re not maintaining consistency in this approach, we would easily be dragged back into our family routines, from which, it would be a herculean task to come out of, for the second time. Hence, for today, let us understand this philosophy behind Sage Shaunaka’s words and let us try and implement the same in our daily lives as well. We shall wait till the next episode to continue with the next point that Sage Shaunaka is going to make! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Shaunaka’s important pieces of advice to Yudishtra for his upcoming thirteen-year period of exile. As Yudishtra had asked a pertinent question about how he could feed all the sages who had accompanied him, despite knowing the fact that he is a popper, Sgae Shaunaka replies him with a soothing consolation, but aptly pertaining to “Dharma”. In that way, in yesterday’s episode, we had witnessed Sage Shaunaka explaining to Yudishtra how one can get easily fooled by an opportunist. If we have a problem and keep brooding over it, someone might approach us in terms of “being a good friend at a needy time”. However, the intentions behind that person might be different. At this time, rather than getting carried away, we should stop for a moment, think, analyze and then move forward with that person. Else, whatever we think should not happen, might happen right in front of our eyes! Thus, new friendships during a tough time might be a dangerous affair and can lead us to disastrous consequences. This is exactly what might potentially happen to Yudishtra here – Since he is going to be on exile amidst the forest and might have to undergo enormous ordeals moving forward, there might be some people from the enemy camp who might approach him as “friends”. If Yudishtra is going to trust any of them by sharing his problems, these “friends” are going to use Yudishtra’s weaknesses and capitalize on him! This is where Sage Shaunaka is warning him to somehow try to keep such people at bay. 

As a continuation of this conversation, Sage Shaunaka reiterates his point thus, “Oh Yudishtra! For the next thirteen years, do not get in touch unnecessarily with people outside your purview. Trust only upon very few people. One of the most important people in your trusted group should be Bhagawan Krishna. Hold on to His feet strongly. He would ensure that all of you are safe and secure. Moreover, you may listen to the important advice from various sages amidst the forest. Use this as a learning opportunity and try to understand various aspects of  “Dharma” during this thirteen-year-period. If you keep talking to people who are outside this focus group, you would be grossly misled!” Moving on thus, Sage Shaunaka talks more about friendship. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Unwanted friendship only would give you more suffering! Please do not enter into such friendships ever. It would derail your focus from the path of “Dharma”!” 

We might be wondering here as to why Sage Shaunaka is repeatedly talking bad about friendships. We might have read in many other modern-day books, watched in movies, etc. that friendships and relationships are of paramount importance to mankind, isn’t it? But why is Sage Shaunaka differing from all these schools of thoughts? He gives a very interesting and an important explanation thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Now the state in which you are is quite dangerous. If you forge friendships with people at this stage, as I mentioned before, you might be used! You might get into a stage wherein you are extremely attached to that friend of yours, and you would get prepared to do “anything” and “everything” for that friend, out of extreme affection! That “anything” and “everything” would mostly be against the path of “Dharma” and finally, you would only end up accumulating your sins (Paapa Karma). Hence, why should you get into all this? Thus, it is better for you to stay away from all of these atleast for now, if not forever!” 

This is something that all of us need to understand – Excessive affection towards someone or something would always lead us to disaster. We might ask a counter question here – “Oh! Sage Shaunaka is telling all this because he is not married! Only if he gets married and has children, he would know the pain of a father or a mother towards the children and family! How can we not have affection over our children? If we do not have affection over them, how will we grow and nurture them into good citizens?” These are extremely valid questions pertaining to our present-day situation. So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to find out answers for these above-mentioned questions, as to what exactly Sage Shaunaka means! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

We are in the midst of an important accord of Sage Shaunaka wherein he talks in detail about the disastrous consequences of “Mano-Vyaadhi” or “Mental depression”. If a person enters into this state, he / she would have all possible complications in the physical body slowly and steadily. The point here is that, even if our physical body might be externally healthy, the “Mano Vyaadhi” would ensure that our physical body develops all sorts of diseases slowly. We might also be seeing this in our daily lives – If we’re accumulating too much of mental stress, slowly we would start having blood pressure, diabetes, etc. which would in turn start killing our physical body slowly and steadily. This is why we always keep saying that stress is a very dangerous thing to have, and we should relieve our mind from it by performing meditation, spiritual practices, etc. Once our mind becomes calm and positive, our physical body also remains healthy. If the mind is fully occupied with a lot of problems and confusions, we might not even be able to get a sound sleep. This also leads to several complications to our physical body. Thus, the overall point here is that, “Mano Vyaadhi” is extremely dangerous and we should learn from Sage Shaunaka’s accord to keep our mind in the positive zone always. 

Moving on thus, Sage Shaunaka now explains how to come out of the “Mano-Vyaadhi”. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Rather than the “Mano-Vyaadhi” setting fire to your physical body, you set fire to the “Mano-Vyaadhi” and destroy it! Now how do you do that? The best way is to get rid of your “Ahankaara” and “Mamakaara” completely!” This is one aspect. Moreover, Sage Shaunaka also says something very important and is very pertinent to all of us as well: 

“Manaso dukhamoolandhu sneha ithyupalabhyate!

Snehaathu sajjathe jantuhu dukhayogam upaithicha!!”

Here, Sage Shaunaka explains how all of us go and fall into the trap of “Adharma” and how we get carried away. He explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! It all starts with our mind getting frustrated. Our mind would feel upset and eventually we would start feeling worried, scared, etc. At this point in time, somebody would come near us, sit nearby, put a hand around our shoulders and pacify us. That somebody would assure that he / she would always be there by our side and help us out of this problem. At this point, since we’re getting some soothing words of assurance and affection, we would immediately tend to believe this person. Now, our mind loses the “Viveka-Gnyaana” (The sense of discrimination) to analyze and understand whether this person is genuinely good or opportunistic. Many times, people would be opportunistic and would try to use our problem to make merry. Thus, since our mind is at a confused state now, we would lose this sense of discrimination and would believe this person blindly. At a point, even if this person harms us in some ways, we would tend to discard all of them and go behind him / her. At the end of the day, we would end up facing the same disaster which we would have been dreading all these days!”

Thus, Sage Shaunaka is very clear in his advice here. He explains how dangerous a friendship can be during the time when our mind is confused! When we are frustrated and sad and if someone comes to us with soothing words, we should be extremely careful. This is where our “Viveka-Gnyaana” is very important. We should discriminate, analyze and check who this person is, before entering into friendship or relationship with him / her. In today’s scenario too, we see several cases of people being taken for a ride because of this. At a point of financial difficulty, we would be brooding over it, and someone would promise a lump sum amount of money if we do a “small help” to him. That “small help” would turn into a huge disaster and we might even end up behind bars! Thus, whatever should not happen to us, would happen if we enter into a wrong companionship! 

This is exactly the point that Sage Shaunaka is trying to tell Yudishtra. Now that Yudishtra is seemingly sad that he has lost his kingdom and wealth, there are chances that some outsiders would try and mingle with him in an opportunistic way and would use his problem to make merry. Through this point, Sage Shaunaka cautions Yudishtra to be careful with his friendships that he makes. This is not just a caution for Yudishtra, but for all of us as well! So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂