The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Vidura’s important point of discussion wherein he says that “Luxury” and “Education” can never go together. In other words, he asserts that if a person scores high on his education and if he is striving to excel more and more in it, he should be able to and be prepared to sacrifice his luxuries and other forms of pleasures. This is because, if the mind is getting carried away with the worldly luxuries, it would find its “sweet spot” in it, and would not co-operate when it comes to knowledge improvement and learning something new. Even today, it is a proven practice that if we’re striving hard to improve our educational qualifications, we’ve to “sacrifice” and “let go” of many things in life.

In ancient days, there was a practice called “Gurukula”, wherein the student goes to the place of his teacher for a period of 12 to 14 years, experience a hardship-filled life and learn his lessons with it. He is not going to get even good food to eat. Normally, the food that is served to these students at the place of the teacher is not of a high quality standard. For instance, when we consume food everyday, many of us have the practice of adding one or two spoons of ghee to it. Usually, consuming ghee with food is considered to be of a higher standard, however we cannot expect this in a “Gurukula”. Normally, instead of ghee, food is served only with oil, which is considered to be a tad inferior. If, as a student we would question why are we given oil instead of ghee, the immediate reaction from the teacher is to throw us out of the “Gurukula”. This might sound harsh to many people, but the real point behind this is that, if we’re starting to give importance to our taste and are craving for good food, it means that our mind is no longer prepared to learn something new. If our mind starts to focus on the food and its taste, it gets shut for learning! This is the reason why ancient “Gurukulas” gave more importance to the learning part, rather than other physical requirements like food, clothing, shelter, etc. If we look at the facilities that a “Gurukula” offers, everything would be a bare minimal – Right from food (as mentioned above), to shelter, to clothing and other forms of basic requirements of a human being.

Even today in the present scenario, many of us would have observed that those people who succeed in their academic education would primarily be from poor families, who struggle to meet their three meal requirement per day! For instance, if we look at the people who come out as state / national toppers in the 10’th and 12’th board exams today, many would be from very ordinary or poor families. When media people go and take interviews from these successful children, they would recall the amount of challenges they face at home, without food, without proper electricity, without proper infrastructure to study, etc. and such people would know the value of obtaining good education and high marks in the exams! Even normal children, when they study for board exams, we would be able to witness that they would sacrifice their sleep, burn the midnight oil and study with all the seriousness, so as to score good marks. This is how the practice is, even in today’s world too.

One big example is our own former president of India – Dr. Abdul Kalam. When he was a child, it was a known fact, he was brought up in a remote town called Rameshwaram in south Tamil Nadu, wherein he did not even have a electric light at his house to do his studies. He did most of his studies under the street light and to make a living, he used to sell newspapers to local residents and make money with it. Such was the level of poverty during those days and Dr. Kalam was able to come over all this, and be successful in his education! In fact, he was so much revered as the “People’s President” in India only because of the struggles he had faced all through his life and the way he had mitigated all of them and come out with flying colours!

Thus the message from this episode is that, if we’ve to excel in our academic education and professional life, we’ve to at some point in time, sacrifice on our luxuries and pleasures. If our mind is going into the worldly pleasures and starts to go behind luxuries, it is going to become very difficult to focus our concentration on education. This is exactly what Vidura is saying here too. If we’ve to become successful in whatever we’re doing, we need to compromise on our comforts and luxuries, so as to achieve what we need to!

So for today, let us think over this important point and we shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next point. Stay tuned! 😊

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another extension of an important discussion of Vidura’s point wherein he emphasizes repeatedly that if we’re going to touch money or any form of wealth that is coming to us in some or the other illegal method, this is going to contribute to a great extent to our account of sins that we keep doing! Most importantly, for those people who think that they can easily escape the law of the land, even after swindling hefty amounts of money illegally, can never escape the law of Bhagawan that accounts to even the smallest of the small sins that commit in this world. We should always remember this important point in our daily lives and should be extremely careful while dealing with money and other forms of wealth and luxuries. We should be as legitimate as possible when it comes to monetary matters, especially in today’s world.

There might be arguments to counter this point by saying that, who is going to know if we’re going to swindle money? Given the competitive world wherein everything and anything is measured in terms of money, isn’t it a necessity in today’s world that we stack up more and more money for our “future needs”? These are of course valid points and valid questions. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t earn money at all. We should do it, but legitimately. If we’ve to earn more money, we need to qualify ourselves better and better and thus earn money legitimately. Our qualifications should be the factor to decide our merit of earning more money, not muscle power or the power of harassing people or cheating people to achieve it. So let us understand this point very clearly in the modern day context. Duryodhana and all his brothers met a disastrous end only because they tried to harass the Paandavas and pull out their due share of wealth and kingdom. Had Durydohana gone the legitimate way to earn his bread and butter, he could have earned much more than what he actually did by abducting the wealth of the Paandavas. Unfortunately he did not realize this fact and this is the lesson that we’ve to learn.

Thus from our scriptural texts, there are many instances wherein we should learn how to lead a peaceful life according to the principles of “Dharma”, and there are many other instances from which we should learn how not to lead a life in the path of “Adharma”. Hence, it is upto us to choose our path and go accordingly with the proper understanding.

Now moving on further, Vidura explains yet another important point as he continues his narrative further. He now talks about two important things – “Luxury” and “Education” and he says that both never go together in a person’s life. In other words, people who are only interested in enjoying worldly luxuries would never be able to excel in education and those people who never care for luxuries would be the ones who would become meritorious in education! Vidura explains thus:

“Anritheja samuddarshaha raajagaameesha baishunam!

Sukhaadhinah kutho vidyaa naasthi vidyaadinah sukham!!”

This is a very important and an interesting sloka. As mentioned above, Vidura indirectly pokes King Dhirdiraashtra about the educational acumen of his son Duryodhana. Many of us, readers might be aware of a small incident that took place during Duryodhana’s childhood days. Vidura is trying to recall this incident, not directly though, but he bases this point entirely on that one incident. I shall quickly narrate this incident in brief for the benefit of our readers here:

Once when Duryodhana and the Paandava brothers were in their childhood days, they were learning their lessons of artillery, archery, etc. from Guru Dhronaachaarya. As their education progressed forward, Guru Dhronaachaarya wanted to conduct a “test” to all his students just to check their proficiency in whatever they’ve learnt till date. He took all the kids to a nearby tree and showed them a small bird that was sitting in one of its branches. The criteria to “pass” the test was that, they should hit the eye of that bird with the bow and arrow and whoever does that correctly would be the winner!

Accordingly, Duryodhana was the first kid to come forward with his bow and arrow. Before he releases the arrow from his bow, Guru Dhronachaarya asks Duryodhana as to what does he see. Upon which, Duryodhana replies back, “Oh Teacher! I’m able to see everything around me – Trees, birds, beautiful forests, etc.!” Hearing this, Guru Dhronaachaarya asks Duryodhana to step aside. Similarly he calls up one kid after the other, and asks the same question. All of the kids come up with relatively the same kind of answer as Duryodhana did. Upon hearing the answers, Guru Dhronaachaarya was not feeling very happy and finally he called up Arjuna (One of the important Paandava brothers) to come up to the stage. Guru Dhronaachaarya asks the same question to little Arjuna as to what is he able to see at the moment! Arjuna replies back, “Oh teacher! At this moment, I’m only able to see the eye of that bird! Nothing else is coming in front of my eyes for now! I’m so focused and my whole concentration is only on that bird!” Upon which, Guru Dhronaachaarya asks Arjuna to go for the hit! As Arjuna releases the arrow from his bow, it straightaway goes and hits the eye of the bird and the bird falls down on the ground, dead! Bingo! 😊 Guru Dhronaachaarya calls up Arjuna and appreciates his level of concentration and his interest for learning.

It might be interesting, why wasn’t Duryodhana able to have the same level of acumen as what Arjuna had! The main reason is because, Duryodhana was bought up in a luxurious palace and he never knew anything other than that! The more, the mind goes towards luxuries and their enjoyment, the lesser is the concentration towards studies and education! As the interest towards luxuries increases, the acumen to learning starts decreasing! Thus Vidura is trying to point out this instance and indirectly telling King Dhirdiraashtra that his son’s excessive obsession towards a luxurious living, is never going to take him anywhere in this world!

So for today, let us ponder over this important point and we shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to continue this important discussion further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the extension of an important discussion on what happens if we touch wealth that comes to us in an illegal way or through an unrighteous path. It might also be through abduction of other people’s wealth, blackmailing people, stealing, etc. The list goes long enough. Vidura explains clearly here that if we do such things, we’re doing one of the greatest sins ever in the world. We witnessed Vidura slamming King Dhirdiraashtra for virtually “abducting” the wealth from the Paandavas and illegally favouring Duryodhana, just because he is King Dhirdiraashtra’ son. Such an unjust and an unfair action is highly unwarranted and Vidura explains that King Dhirdiraashtra and his entire clan of Kauravas are going face destruction because of this one reason alone!

Moving forward, we discussed how certain people as characterized by Valmiki Maharishi in the Ramayana also walked the same dangerous path and ultimately met up with disaster. We witnessed Ravana’s fate and how Ravana ruined himself from being a great king to just pieces of rubble under the hands of Bhagawan Rama. Eventually we witnessed a glimpse into the modern-day scenario how this one point is killing many people across the world. Today we shall witness an extension of this discussion as we eventually move on with the next point.

Today we’re witnessing an unprecedent craze of people who run behind money – Be it any profession or industry or institution or whatever. Right from politics to running corporate organizations to running academic institutions to NGO’s, to even spiritual organizations, money has become the “talking factor” everywhere and it is so sad and unfortunate to witness such a degradation of “Dharma”. Of course this is “Kali Yuga” and such things are bound to happen, however, as ardent followers of our Sanaathana Dharma, we should be very careful not to fall into these traps laid by Bhagawan. In the political domain we witness every passing day wherein someone or the other is being murdered cold-blooded, for the want of revenge and possession of his property, wealth, money, luxuries, etc. Of course, one might discard the behavior of these third-rated cheap politicians by saying that they’re uneducated people and they’re bound to do all these kinds of activities. But what about learned and educated people like us? Are we doing the right thing and setting us apart from these third-rated politicians? In some way or the other, we too keep running behind more and more money and at some instances, we too fall over the line to make as much money as we can, isn’t it? I’m of course not pointing out at individual people for this, but we should think about this as a society and as a community.

Even if we take large corporate organizations, there are certain top-level people who are greedy for money! I’m sure all, or many of us might be aware of a large multi-national Information Technology firm headquartered in Hyderabad, India wherein the top-most person involved himself in “forging” balance sheets of the organization to make enormous amounts of illegal money! There used to be one airline company that was being run by a famous business tycoon from India who, for his personal gains, let the airline company to shambles, rendering thousands of people jobless overnight and eventually escaped out of India to the United Kingdom, where he’s currently leading a luxurious and a carefree life! There was another diamond and jewellery businessman who recently swindled crores of rupees from a bank and fled off to an undisclosed foreign location. This list is endless and we can keep writing episode after episode on cases like these!

If we analyze all these examples closely enough, we would be in such a state of shock as to where the world is going towards! Is money everything in life? Is money the top-most priority for anybody in this world? Is money the deciding factor for everything in life for a human being? Where are we heading towards? It’s really alarming to witness thousands of young families suffering and bearing the brunt of few tens of people who want to make money at any cost! This is where all of us are falling into the trap laid by Bhagawan and as Vidura clearly explains, if we’re starting to make money and luxuries at the expense of others’ blood and sweat, this is going to be the greatest sin that we’re committing in this world! If we’re going to swindle money like these infamous examples explained above, just for the purpose of fulfilling personal agendas, we would end up having terrible consequences and Bhagawan is never going to let us go scot-free. Some people might escape the law of the land for whatever nonsense they do, but there is a bigger court maintained by Bhagawan, wherein nobody can escape even a single small wrongdoing. We need to make ourselves aware of it, before we tend to touch money that has not come to us the right way.

So for today, let us give this thought a serious pondering as this is one of the most important points that Vidura stresses and re-stresses upon to King Dhirdiraashtra. We should understand the significance of money and wealth and should make it a point, not to go crazy behind it at any instant of time. We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next important point! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed one of Vidura’s important assertions as he gives the final touches and concluding remarks to the long advice that he has given to King Dhirdiraashtra. Here he emphasizes that a person who touches the wealth or luxuries that has come to him through illegal means, is doing one of the greatest sins in his life! In other words, Vidura is strongly advising King Dhirdiraashtra not to go behind the portion of Hastinapura kingdom that does not rightfully belong neither to him nor to his son Duryodhana. By explaining this point, Vidura again slams King Dhirdiraashtra for his unwanted desire that is leading him to the brink. Vidura says thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! You’re not realizing that you’re going to make your son Duryodhana rule a kingdom that rightfully does not belong to him in any way. It is you who had made the agreement after your brother Paandu’s demise that the Paandava brothers have a rightful share in the Hastinapura kingdom. Now because of your and Duryodhana’s selfishness and arrogance, you’re going back on your promise that you’ve made! The moment you had agreed for the partition of the kingdom between the two camps, that apportioned property does not belong to you anymore! However, with your lust, greed and arrogance, you’re still enjoying the wealth and luxury of that portion which does not belong to you rightfully! This, King Dhirdiraashtra, is one of the greatest sin that you and your crooked son Duryodhana is committing and you’ll have to pay a huge price for this!”

How relevant is this point in the modern day? In today’s “Kali Yuga”, the world is becoming extremely competitive in all aspects and domains. Every profession in this world is not deprived of competition. At times, the competition becomes so fiery and intense, that people go to any extent to win over the other person. Of course I’m not saying that competition is bad and shouldn’t be there. But what is alarming is that, this competition is leading many people to take extreme steps against the opponents. For instance in today’s world, competition has literally transformed into something called “rivalry”, wherein people go to the extent of even killing the opponents, so as to win over their share. This is what is extremely dangerous! We can see this live in today’s political environment – How many cases are we witnessing today wherein people who are attached to one political party being brutally assaulted by people who belong to another political party! At times, it even goes to the extent of murdering people, setting their houses on fire, ransacking their property, torturing their other family members, etc. The list goes on and on as to what extent people can stoop down to! Ultimately, all this is done for what? The answer is to win over the other person, abduct his / her property, obtain power, position and using it, make enormous amount of money!

Thus, this is the pathetic state that we human beings are moving into in today’s world! Professional rivalry is ruling tall in almost all domains today. Apart from this, there is also something called “lobbying” that happens between corporate organizations and politicians. For instance, if a company wants to set up a huge manufacturing plant at a particular location outside a city, there should be many approvals, “go-aheads”, permissions, etc. that has to be obtained by the company from the state and central governments of the country. Several departments of the government are involved in this, for instance, pollution control boards, water boards, electricity boards, environmental boards, etc. To get all these approvals within a short notice and within a very quick span of time, corporates start lobbying with the government officials by bribing them with truckloads of money. In this way, even if there are genuine concerns or opposition to this manufacturing unit from local people, all of them are subdued with money power! This is where the problem starts!

Thus, by doing so, many people might be able to earn enormous amounts of money and luxuries. However, can we come to a conclusion that all of these people live happily with a good night’s sleep? They can never do this! Every now and then, they might have this fear within themselves as to what if they get caught with Income Tax officials for possessing exorbitant amounts of cash in hand! What if the CBI comes and raids all their luxurious premises? What if the police comes and knocks at their doors at an odd time of the night? What if some thieves come and abduct all their wealth? Thus, as fear starts creeping in, we tend to lose our sleep and peace of mind. This would again lead to various physical-related problems as well and this is a terrible vicious cycle.

This is what Vidura initially explained when he spoke about different categories of people who are sleep-deprived. I’m sure, our readers would remember the discussion that we have had during the initial days of “Vidura Neeti”, wherein we described that those people who are having excessive greed, jealousy and arrogance in them, would never be able to sleep well. Thus, the message from today’s episode is that, if we start going behind wealth and property that is acquired through an illegal way, we would land up into a huge trap of a terrible vicious cycle. Initially it might give us some enjoyment, but as we move on in life, it becomes a huge headache, which might lead us to fear, lack of sleep, loss of happiness and peace of mind, physical problems like depression, blood pressure, diabetes, etc. and finally would end up in the hospital bed! This is what Vidura is exactly trying to convey by explaining that such a heinous act would result in doing a great sin, not only to ourselves, but also to the whole world! We as human beings should conduct ourselves in such a way that we are of some benefit to this world! Never should the world criticize us that we’re a disgrace to the human society!

Hence for today, let us ponder over this important point, and let us develop that awareness and consciousness while we acquire wealth. We should be extremely careful not to fall into the trap of acquiring something through illegal means. We shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to witness Vidura’s next important point! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed an important extension on Vidura’s point stressing on the significance of paying heed to the advice of elders and experienced people whenever we tend to take up any task or a mission. Even in our routine day-to-day activities, if we’re seemingly deviating from the path of Dharma knowingly or unknowingly, and if we’re having elders, Spiritual Masters, etc. beside us who advice us on the “Dharma-Maarga”, we should respect them and pay heed to their golden words of advice. Eventually, we had witnessed few examples from the Ramayana wherein, Ravana perished because of his indifference towards all of his people including Vibhishana, Kumbakarna, etc. He failed to pay heed to the words of Hanuman, Angadha and even to the final warning given by Bhagawan Rama himself on the battlefield. Thus, Ravana although being a great king and a scholar, had to meet his end in the worst possible way because he hadn’t paid heed to any of the golden words of advice of returning Mother Sita back to Bhagawan Rama.

This is exactly where King Dhirdiraashtra and Duryodhana are losing out here as well. Inspite of many people including the likes of Guru Dhronachaarya, Pithaamaha Bhishma, Bhagawan Krishna himself, Vidura, Sanjaya, etc. advising King Dhirdiraashtra to solve the property dispute with the Paandavas amicably, all their words went into the dustbin as King Dhirdiraashtra encouraged his son Duryodhana to be more and more aggressive and arrogant towards Yudhishtra and Co. Eventually this is what is going to lead all of the Kaurava clan towards the path of complete destruction. Had they split the Hastinapura kingdom as per the agreement righteously and given it to the Paandavas, as per the advice of all the elderly people and Bhagawan Krishna, both the clan of brothers would have had a peaceful and a bright future ahead! But that was not to be the case! In a way, these episodes of the Mahabharata serve as great lessons to all of us for today’s life to understand the repercussions of excessive greed, jealousy, arrogance and turning deaf ears to the advice of the elderly and experienced people around us.

Now moving on further, Vidura highlights the next important point. This is in continuation with the previous one, wherein he emphasizes that a person who has the mental capability to ignore any kind of property that is coming through to him in the path of any kind of “Adharma”, will be the most successful person in washing away all his sins in his life! Vidura explains thus:

“Mahaanthamithyamadharma muktham yaha santyajathtyanapaakrishta yeva!

Sukham sudukkhaanyava mucchyete jeernaatvajam sarva ivaanu muchya!!”

This is an extremely important point for us too. Through this point, Vidura drives home the important fact of life that if we’re trying to accumulate wealth through the path of “Adharma”, this wealth is never going to stay with us forever and is going to dwindle away very quickly. Moreover, if we’re able to realize that the wealth that we’re obtaining has some component of “Adharma” in it, and if we’re able to tame our mind not to touch it, we’re preventing ourselves from committing a great sin! For instance, when we go to a temple or even a public place we might see someone accidentally dropping his or her wallet on the ground or on the road while walking. Just because that wallet is on the road unattended, and it contains more than 50,000 rupees of cash, should we take possession of it? Now here comes the distinction between the path of Dharma and Adharma. If we’re having the courtesy to immediately call that person and handing over the wallet to him or her, it means that we’re taming our mind not to go near money that might have been obtained in the path of “Adharma”. Rather, if we’re going to silently take that wallet and put it into our pocket and walk away, this is one of the greatest sin that we’re committing, because this wealth that has come to us is not in the path of Dharma. Due to this, we’re bound to face lot of repercussions later on!

This is exactly what Vidura is trying to explain here. He slams King Dhirdiraashtra left, right and center for his illegal “possession” of the undivided Hastinapura kingdom and asserts clearly that such an attempt is only going to increase his sins to a great extent because of denying this kingdom to the person who is rightly endowed upon.

Thus it is a clear message that goes out from this episode and from this section of Vidura’s advice – If we’re going to encourage desire on the wealth of others’ and if we’re going to channelize our focus on the wealth that we’re getting through illegal and “Adharmic” ways, we’re digging our own grave! Hence, let us ponder over this important assertion of Vidura for today and we shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to witness the relevance of this point in the modern day! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed the culmination of the 39’th Adhyaaya of the Vidura Neeti and the commencement of the final 40’th Adhyaaya. This is a very short one as mentioned yesterday and here, Vidura is going to give some impactful golden pieces of advice and remarks before he puts a full stop for his conversation with King Dhirdiraashtra. We witnessed the first of the few important impactful words of Vidura, wherein he says that if King Dhirdiraashtra is going to undertake tasks that aren’t of the approval of the elderly and experienced people around, they’re going to end up in a disastrous failure very soon! Here he uses this point to once again slam King Dhirdiraashtra for his indifference in his attitude towards wise decision making. If he’s not willing to listen to any of his able and experienced people around him, then Vidura questions him as to why does he have all of them in Hastinapura. Why can’t he run the show all by himself? Thus, if elderly and experienced people are putting forth some important pieces of guidance and advice, it is our bound duty to listen to them and act accordingly by mending our ways in that direction.

This is exactly where Ravana made the mistake as well – During our Ramayana project, we’ve witnessed innumerable instances wherein Ravana discarded all the words of advice from many people around him and finally had to perish. Even during the initial days when Ravana was preparing to abduct Mother Sita, his close aide Maareecha warned him not to do this. He narrates his experience that Bhagawan Rama had given to him in the past. We might remember that when Bhagawan Rama was a child, he had pushed away Maareecha far and deep into the ocean with just a single arrow and this heavy drubbing was still afresh in Maareecha’s mind. So he warns Ravana thus, “Oh Ravana! I still have the wounds of Rama’s fiery in my body! If you dare to go behind his wife, you’ll also have the same experience as I had! Hence, please drop this idea of abducting Sita and go back to Lanka!” However, as fate would have it, Ravana fails to listen to Maareecha’s words here.

After Ravana abducts Mother Sita, his brothers Vibhishana and Kumbakarna advised Ravana to give back Mother Sita to Bhagawan Rama. In fact, Vibhishana made repeated attempts to convince Ravana to deter from such a heinous crime, however, Ravana turned deaf ears to all of it! When Hanuman came into Lanka and found out the whereabouts of Mother Sita through his search, he made his way into Ravana’s palace and warned him of dire consequences if he’s not handing over Mother Sita to Bhagawan Rama. Again, as fate would have it, Ravana disobeys and Hanuman set Lanka on fire and went back! Eventually when Vibhishana took up this matter again with Ravana, he again discarded Vibhishana and kicked him away from Lanka! As a final word of advice, Kumbakarna tried his best and yet, Ravana didn’t pay heed!

Thus we can witness here that inspite of innumerable opportunities given by Bhagawan, Ravana never utilized any of them and thus met a ghasty end to his illustrious stint as a great king! Thus the lesson that we should learn from all these scriptural evidences is that, if someone elderly with truckloads of experience is rendering some guidance, it is our bound duty to listen to it and mend out ways towards the direction of Dharma. Especially if these words are from our parents or the teacher or importantly from the Spiritual Master, there should not be even an iota of thought of disregarding their advice. On one hand we witnessed Ravana’s bad example and on the other hand, we can witness how Bhagawan Rama was an epitome of this one characteristic. When his father, King Dhasharata wanted Rama to go along with Sage Vishwamitra for the “Yagna”, he did not speak a word against his father and followed Sage Vishwamitra the very next moment! When his step-mother Kaikeyi conveyed the harsh decision of the 14-year exile, Bhagawan Rama took it upon himself immediately without speaking a word against anyone, although he knew it was a big conspiracy that was pinned up against him! If the words have come from his parents, no matter what, it is Bhagawan Rama’s duty to obey them without asking a counter question. This is what we’ve to learn from the Ramayana and Bhagawan Rama’s life events that are documented by Valmiki Maharishi.

Thus the message from both yesterday’s and today’s episode is that, at whatever situation we are in, it is our bound duty to respect and obey the words of elders and experienced people, as their guidance would be of prime importance for us in pursuing our path of Dharma. Especially, if the advice comes from a great “Satguru” or a “Spiritual Master”, we shouldn’t even have a second thought about it, but to follow each and every word what he or she tells us!

So for today, let us ponder upon this important point, which King Dhirdiraashtra had failed upon! It is always important that we do not fail in the same way as King Dhirdiraashtra did. We’ve been given a golden opportunity by Bhagawan to mend our ways in the right direction. Let us utilize this opportunity for our betterment and spiritual growth to the maximum possible! We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next important and impactful point! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another extension to Vidura’s final pieces of advice to King Dhirdiraashtra that he has to somehow come out of his selfish attitude and should develop the mindset to share his belongings with the Paandavas, who are his near and dear sons. This is perhaps the only solution to the brewing issue that is going to lead to a nasty and a disastrous war between the two rival camps. Vidura is advising King Dhirdiraashtra that as the seniormost member of the family and of the kingdom, he should have the maturity to take a neutral stance, analyze the situation and act accordingly, rather than taking sides, just because his sons are involved. Vidura is pleading King Dhirdiraashtra to consider and re-consider the Paandavas as his own sons and not like third-party people and this would create peace and happiness in the Hastinapura kingdom.

Thus with this point, Vidura completes the 39’th Adhyaaya of the Vidura Neeti and now we move on to the last and the final Adhyaaya – the 40’th. This is a small one and here Vidura places some impactful and remarkable words of advice for King Dhirdiraashtra. Vidura commences the 40’th Adhyaaya thus:

“Yobhyardchirasahbirasabhyamaanaha karohthyartham shakthi mahaapayikthvaa!

Kshipram yastham samupaipi santham prasannaahi sukhaahi santhaha!!”

Here Vidura explains clearly to King Dhirdiraashtra that whatever task that he has currently undertaken is never going to yield any victory, because he is trying to disregard all the words of advice of good people. In this case as we might have seen all through the Mahabharata story, there were innumerable people who advised King Dhirdiraashtra and Duryodhana to mend their ways and follow the path of Dharma. The list of good and kind-hearted people are too long – Starting from Bhishma himself, who is considered as the “Pithaamaha” or the senior-most member of the Hastinapura royal family, Dhronaachaarya, the greatest teacher of Hastinapura kingdom, Sanjaya, Bhagawan Krishna himself, and now Vidura! Inspite of all these people explaining the Dharma to King Dhirdiraashtra, he is still discarding all their pieces of advice and going down the path of Adharma. Such people can never be straightened and their doom becomes inevitable.

This is exactly what Vidura explains here. He slams King Dhirdiraashtra thus, “Oh King! Till date, over the past so many years, there were innumerable people who had tried to stop you from doing Adharma and re-direct you to the path of Dharma. Unfortunately, you’ve not paid heed to any of them and you still continue to do what you want, even knowing the fact that you’re walking down the dangerous path of Adharma! Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please take my words here – If you’re disregarding the golden words of advice of people who follow Dharma, you’re going to meet a disastrous end very soon! If you’re not going to follow their words of advice carefully, your entire Kaurava clan is just going to be reduced to rubbles very soon! Leaving aside all of us – Myself, Sanjaya, Dhronaachaarya, Bhishma, etc., Bhagawan Krishna himself is coming to you and is advising you on the Dharma! How fortunate you are to listen to pieces of advice from Bhagawan himself? What more do you want in life to change yourself and to mend your ways? If you’re not paying heed even to Bhagawan’s words, then nobody can ever change you and nobody can ever protect you!”

Slamming thus, Vidura continues his words of advice to King Dhirdiraashtra, “Oh King! Please realize the fact of this world that if you take up any task, that is against the advice of the great scholarly people and Mahatmas, this task is surely going to fail and is going to end you up in a great disaster! Please try to obey Bhagawan Krishna’s words and try to take a step forward to doze down this brewing issue between the two camps. Please part with your ego and try to divide the Hastinapura kingdom as per the earlier agreement with your brother Paandu. If you had given a word to someone, it is your duty to stand by your words and not to go back on them! By going back on your own words, you’re only ending up cheating someone, which directly implies that you’re walking the path of Adharma and nothing else! So please understand the repercussions of your actions and try to mend them now, before things become too late! Please remember one thing – You can never defeat the Paandavas because Dharma is in their side, in the form of Bhagawan Krishna! At any point in time in this world, Bhagawan will always stand by the Dharma and he would ensure that Dharma would have the upper hand always. Hence, there is no point in you or Duryodhana in standing up in arms against Dharma in anyway. You are surely going to be defeated for it. Rather than taking this disastrous path, please think and act in a progressive manner so that your kingdom and your sons can be saved!”

Thus the lesson that we can learn from this episode is that, if we’re trying to go against the words of our elders and Mahatmas, we are going to meet up with disaster at some point in life, wherein there is no point in regretting for it later. Hence it is advisable that we mend our ways to follow the words of our elders and whoever is trying to advice us towards the path of Dharma. We shall wait till the next episode to extend this discussion forward and witness the applicability of this point in our everyday life! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we witnessed the extension of the discussion on why should live and let everyone around us live in peace and harmony. If we’re able to control our ego and let go of certain things, this can be achieved easily. However, this is what we’re not able to do, including King Dhirdiraashtra and Duryodhana! It’s mainly our ego which comes to the fore as we try to defend ourselves and our stance even when the situation becomes inevitable. It is only due to the ego that we’re simply unable to give up what is required at that point, and due to this, the situation escalates into something unwarranted! This is the main reason why we witness quarrels between close family members over various issues like property, money, etc. At times when we’re over possessive over something, our ego easily takes over us and ultimately we lose our thinking ability. Thus the important point here is that, such things should not happen. There should not be any rift between close family members, unlike the case of Duryodhana and the Paandavas, wherein Duryodhana is fueling the crisis more and more with his ego and arrogance. We should ensure that all of us along with our near and dear ones are happy and with peace of mind. We should ensure that we make our near and dear ones happy by giving what they require and what they deserve rightly. If we start becoming possessive with what we have, this is where the problem starts. So we should learn this lesson from Duryodhana and King Dhirdraashtra as to how not to lead a possessive and a selfish life.

Now moving further, Vidura re-emphasizes this important point in a different angle here – Vidura explains that all the inhabitants of this earth such as, crops, trees, fruits, vegetables, rain, water, air, cows, etc. are for everyone’s benefit in this world and not just for one person. If we start becoming selfish with all this, there is no point in being a king and being a righteous king at that! Vidura says thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Just think for a while here – You’re behaving in such a selfish manner along with your son Duryodhana! If everybody in this world start behaving selfish like you and your son, what would be the status of the world today? For instance, what if the river Ganges becomes selfish and what if Mother Ganges drinks up all her water for herself? If that happens, how will the world survive without water? If the tree becomes selfish and eats all the fruits that it bears, how will the animals and human beings in this world survive? If the cow becomes selfish and feeds its milk only to its calf, how would other living beings in this world get nourished? Thus all these beings are more for the world, than for themselves isn’t it? Has the cow ever been selfish? Has the river Ganges ever been selfish? Has the tree ever been selfish? Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please realize that it is only we human beings who are selfish to the core and are destroying the whole world with our selfish nature! Please realize that nothing in this world is only for you. Whatever Bhagawan has created in this world, including fellow human beings, land, water, animals, plants, air, etc. is for the benefit of every living being in this world and there is a definitive ecosystem behind it. You’re not understanding all this because of your ego and your selfishness. Why don’t you share whatever you have with others, so that all of them would be able to live in harmony and peace?”

Vidura continues thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please don’t mistake me here – I’m not asking you to share your property and things with someone who goes by on the road and who is a stranger to you! All I’m asking you to do is atleast to share your property and things with your own family members and your own step-sons. In fact, you should be generous enough to share your things with anybody and everybody. However, I’m not going to get into that at the moment. Atleast you should have the basic courtesy to share the kingdom with your own sons, who are the right propreitors of it, isn’t it? This is the basic level of sharing that I’m talking about. I’m just saying that you’ve to share the kingdom’s reins to the Paandavas who have a right upon it. This is your duty as a king and you’re somehow refraining from it, fearing the wrath of your crooked son! Hence King Dhirdiraashtra! Please give it a thought and do it immediately!”

Saying thus, Vidura advises King Dhirdiraashtra to come out of his possessive attitude and to take a progressive step forward to doze down the tension between the two rival camps. Thus the lesson that we’ve to learn from today’s episode is that, we should also try and come out of our selfish attitude and should develop our mindset to share our belongings with others, atleast our close near and dear ones, so that all of us can live with contention and peace of mind. So for today, let us ponder over this point and shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s further continuation of his final piece of advice to King Dhirdiraashtra! Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed the next important point of Vidura’s advice to King Dhirdiraashtra, which make up the final few important points before he concludes the Vidura Neeti. Here we had clearly witnessed Vidura literally pleading to King Dhirdiraashtra to understand that as a king, he should make everybody live in their world of peace and harmony. He reiterates this point to King Dhirdiraashtra by saying that everybody has their own place in this world, which is an individual’s fundamental right in this world. We have no rights to deny that right to anyone by employing illegal means, just to fulfill our personal wills and wishes and to satisfy our needs. Vidura advises King Dhirdiraashtra also to reconsider his stance with regards to splitting the Hastinapura kingdom, so that both the Kaurava and Paandava camps of brothers can lead a peaceful life henceforth. Excessive and unwanted greed of Duryodhana to somehow abduct the due share of the kingdom to the Paandavas, is only going to lead him and his Kaurava clan to mass destruction.

This is of course an important message not only to King Dhirdiraashtra and Duryodhana, but also for all of us. The moment we become greedy for more, we start forgetting lot of things in life. We forget our relationship factor with others most importantly than anything else in life – Many a times of late, we’re witnessing innumerable families getting split because of issues pertaining to ancestral property and other financial matters. The moment people set sight on money and other forms of property, they even go to the extent of forgetting brothers, sisters and even parents in the worst case! As a result, relationships get cut and there is a huge ruckus and fight within close family members and thus the entire family gets ruined! This is exactly what happened in the Mahabhaarata also. Just because of the greed on one kingdom called Hastinapura, two camps of brothers fight amongst each other to reign supreme, and ultimately this led to the complete destruction of the entire Kaurava clan altogether. However, after winning the war, were the Paandavas happily ruling the Hastinapura kingdom henceforth? The answer is again no! They had their own set of problems after that, and the trauma of losing all their brothers including Duryodhana started to haunt the Paandavas even more. Moreoever in the process, they had to kill their own relatives and their teacher too! These added to their woes and post-war trauma. Thus we can see here that the peace of mind is completely lost when we are entering into a fight! This is of course on a larger scale, but at our homes too, if we start fighting within our close family members and if it escalates beyond a point, it becomes a real traumatic experience for all the members in that family and it gets very difficult to get out of it, even after several years.

This is the reason why Vidura advises and tries to doze down this level of anger that is simmering between the two camps. The moment this anger breaches limits, just like how a river floods the whole town if banks are breached, it is going to end up in a destructive and a nasty war, which is going to drink the blood of thousands and thousands of people! In our daily lives too, every day we are fighting some kinds of wars, both in our personal and professional life, and also within ourselves! If we’re able to develop that practice of taking things calmly and with patience, it is going to solve innumerable amount of problems with ease! For a small instance, if a big fight brews between two close brothers, and if one of them has the guts to go up to the other and apologize whole-heartedly, half of the problem would be solved! Sadly but, are we doing this? Are we taking a conscuious step to take the lead to apologize for whatever is happening? If we look at many aspects of life closely, it is only our ego that triggers lot of tension and fights amongst people. By nature, no human being is bad! But it is only we ourseleves who make ourselves bad and we do not require an external enemy for this purpose. If we are somehow able to control our ego, we can actually solve many problems with ease. In a way we are trying to be more open and receptive to problems and can have the mindset to treat problems as challenges in life, and work progressively to overcome it!

So for today let us ponder over the extension of this particular important point and let us do accordingly! We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next important point of conclusion. Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the extension on the discussion that for every aspect of life, we cannot achieve what we want to, without the right approach. If we take the wrong approach, it is going to definitely lead us to disaster. This is what Vidura is advising King Dhirdiraashtra, with regards to the attitude and approach towards solving the burning issue between the two rival camps, the Paandavas and the Kauravas. Given Duryodhana’s crooked mindset and attitude, Vidura warns King Dhirdiraashtra that if he gives Duryodhana a free hand in the matters of the kingdom, it means that he is indirectly inviting a great disaster, both to himself as well as for the kingdom as a whole. Because of the greed that Duryodhana has, which almost never-ending in any ways and means, he is eventually going to harass the people and loot away all their wealth and ultimately leave everyone in the lurch!

Thus Vidura advises King Dhirdiraashtra again by explaining him the reality of life. He beautifully and emotionally says to King Dhirdiraashtra that there is a place for all kinds of people in this world – Both rich and poor. A person with crores of rupees as income every month, lives a certain way of life, however a person who earns less than 100 rupees a month also leads a certain way of life. Ultimately there is space for everyone in this world and there is no point in distinguishing people in this way and harassing those who do not have wealth and comforts. Vidura puts this point into perspective beautifully thus:

“Sahasrenobhi jeevanti jeevanti shatinastathaa!”

Through the above sloka, Vidura emotionally advises King Dhirdiraashtra thus: “Oh King! Look at the beauty of this world – Everyone who takes birth in this world are for a specific purpose and all of us have our definitive place in this world! Irrespective of whether you are rich or poor or whatever, you’re still going to lead a life here. In that case, why do you want to create a rift between people unnecessarily? If it is especially within your own family members, why do you want to do it? Afterall these Paandavas are none other than your brother’s sons, which also means that they are your sons too, especially after your brother’s death. So why do you want to create a rift between your own children like this in such a hostile manner? If for instance, you have thousand rupees, why don’t you give half of it to the Paandavas so that they also lead a happy and a peaceful life? Why do you have this selfish attitude that all thousand should be with you alone? The more you give, the more you get! Why don’t you change your attitude in a way that you accept the Paandavas and give them what is required to be given? Why don’t you call up Duryodhana and try to make him understand all what I’ve said to you so far? Isn’t it the duty of the father to teach all the principles of “Dharma” to the son, especially at a point wherein he is deviating from the path of it?”

Vidura continues again thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Don’t you realize that if there is this small relenting mindset from either your or Duryodhana’s side, the entire cloud of war would be solved within minutes? All it requires is just that “give-and-take” attitude from both you and your son. So what if the Paandavas rule the kingdom? Anyways, they are righteous in nature and they can efficiently administer the kingdom without any blemish. They are perfectly capable of doing so, and I’m sure you also know it very well! The only thing that is stopping you from realizing your folly is your excessive attachment towards Duryodhana! Please come out of it atleast now. Even now if you get your acts together, you can prevent the war and bloodshed from happening and this is entirely in your hands now! You’ve to take the initiative and support the cause. You cannot sit lazily thus, and let the brothers fight amongst each other!”

Saying thus, Vidura plays the emotional card in trying to make King Dhirdiraashtra understand the point here. These are the final few words of advice that Vidura is giving, and these points thus assume lots of significance. Every word that Vidura is trying to advise King Dhirdiraashtra is extremely important to all of us as well in every way of our life. Hence, let us take them upon ourselves to understand and make a conscious effort to improve ourselves slowly and steadily and day after day. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the continuation of Vidura’s final few points, as we come to the end of the Vidura Neeti. Stay tuned! 😊