The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we had witnessed the culmination of an extremely important discussion on controlling our senses in the right way. Initially we witnessed Vidura explaining to us that it is very difficult and is virtually impossible for us as normal human beings to control our five senses and the way they take us into the world of illusion. However Vidura doesn’t stop at this point. He continues to explain that there is a solution for this menace. If we are able to develop a “fear” of committing a mistake because of our senses, this fear would tend to drive us away from it. This of course should not be mistaken for the “fear” of losing our self-confidence and things like that. All what Vidura is explaining here is that, if we develop this “constructive fear” in us, we can tend to be more careful in whatever we do and whatever we talk to people. This “constructive fear” is nothing but creating an awareness within ourselves that we shouldn’t walk the wrong path. Even then of course it is very difficult to completely eliminate our wrongdoings, as our “Karma” would still be sticking on to us somewhere. However, we can try our best to minimize our wrongdoings by creating this self-awareness within us.

Moving on thus, Vidura explains few important strategies through which we can increase our life span! This is another interesting discussion and Vidura explains thus:

“Adhyartham punaruthsargaha saadayeth daivathaannapi!

Maarthavam sarva bhoothaanam anasuyaa kshamaa dhruthihi!

Aayushyaani bhudhaah praahuhu mitraanaancha avimaananaa!!”

It is to be noted here that we’ve witnessed several factors that serve as a “knife-point” in bringing down our lifespan drastically. Vidura has given a detailed accord on what are those elements that would reduce our lifespan and how! Here Vidura explains some factors that serve as “boosters” for our lifespan. What are they? Let us witness one by one:

“Maardhavam” – Here Vidura says that if a person has a “Saathvic” character, his life span can be increased. This means that if a person has a calm demeneaur, he can be devoid of innumerable physical problems. Why do we think we’re having blood pressure, diabetes, etc. plaguing us nowadays? It is only because of our “urgent” lifestyle that we’re following today! For anything and everything in life we keep running and running. Every minute we’re tensed and nervous in whatever we do. All this results in an increase in the blood pressure and the body’s sugar levels. This results in innumerable problems that we’re witnessing today. Hence the point here is that, if a person can manage to maintain a calm and a composed nature at all times, he can be assured of a peaceful and a longer lifespan.

“Sarva bhoothaanaam anasuya” – This is an extremely important point here. If a person can maintain himself devoid of any sort of jealousy towards other fellow people, he can be assured of a long and a peaceful life. This is again a menace in today’s world. For anything and everything we’ve started to compare ourselves with others. In a way it can be constructive, but many a times, it turns into a disaster. We end up comparing ourselves with others for all the wrong reasons – Money, name, fame, social status, etc. For attaining something on par with someone, we are even prepared to go to any extent! This is where the problem lies – If a person can maintain himself devoid of this kind of craziness and jealousy, we can avoid lot of problems and finally we can attain a peaceful and a longer lifespan.

“Kshamaa” – As we’ve already witnessed in our earlier episodes, “Kshamaa” means “Patience”. If we exhibit patience in whatever we perform in this world, it leads us to a peaceful and a longer life span.

“Druthihi” – Finally Vidura says that if a person is exhibiting patience, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to keep losing every time. In other words, we should have the “Confidence” and “Courage” (Druthihi) to undertake any challenge in life. This is also extremely important. Thus, “Dhrutihi” (Courage) coupled with “Kshamaa” (Patience) can take us to an entirely different height of success. We’ve witnessed innumerable examples in this world of people who have been successful by following these points meticulously!

So for today let us ponder over these important points of Vidura and let us try to implement them in our routine life. We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next point of discussion! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

We are at a critical juncture of an important discussion on controlling of our five senses. In yesterday’s episode Vidura has asserted his view point that it is extremely difficult in controlling our senses as we’re exposed to innumerable challenges in the form of illusion or “Maya” in which we get carried away easily. If Vidura has to give such an explanation in the “Dvaapara Yuga”, we can imagine what would be the state of affairs in our existing “Kali Yuga” 🙂 Thus given innumerable disturbances and their sources, it becomes extremely tough for us to control the mind from going behind our five senses. Of course in the last episode we had also witnessed an interesting story of “Garuda” (Bhagawan’s vehicle) who was also no exception to this menace! We witnessed how and what he spoke to his own mentor, Bhagawan Vishnu when he was denied his prey! Thus we can witness how hunger can play spoilsport even in maintaining our basic relationship with our people and most importantly with Bhagawan! If we’re extremely hungry, we can even go to the extent of criticizing Bhagawan with abusive words for the condition we are in!

But having said this, can it be taken as a license to do all sorts of wrongful activities in this world? Just because we cannot control our senses, can we take this weakness as granted? Can we be happy about it? Vidura continues this discussion forward by saying that, even though we’re unable to control our senses properly, we should have that constant fear within us that what if something wrong happens because of this menace. The moment we develop this fear within us, we can gradually reduce the impact that is created owing to the lack of control of our sense organs. The problem comes only when there is absolutely no fear for anything and when we go hammer and tongs in misusing our sense organs to commit nonsense activities. The moment this fear creeps inside that Bhagawan is watching each and every action of ours and we’re going to be graded according to the actions that we perform, we would start being watchful in whatever we’re doing. Of course I’m again not saying that we can completely eradicate all the bad activities that we perform due to our senses. All I’m saying here is that, we can minimize them in such a way that we’re trying to live up to Bhagawan’s expectations.

Also here, someone might ask a counter question – Why should we develop fear within us? Won’t this fear cripple our self-confidence? If we develop this fear, won’t it spill over to all our routine activities, thus bringing down our productivity? This is a very valid question and here we’ve to differentiate very clearly – The “fear” that I’m talking about is not “fear of self-confidence” or “fear about our own capabilities”. This is very different – The “fear” that I’m talking about here is the “fear of wrongdoings”. This is no way to be confused with the other “fear” that might bring down our self-confidence. This is a “constructive” face of fear which all of us should have. When we say that we’ve to be “God-fearing”, it doesn’t mean that we should be afraid upon seeing Bhagawan! The point here is that, we should fear our wrongdoings, in a way that if Bhagawan comes to know about it, we would be punished. For instance, there are road rules while we drive our car. Can we say that we are driving our car on the right lane and with the right speed owing to the “fear” of the traffic police? We never say this isn’t it? However, we have the fear internally within us that if we do not drive properly, we would end up in jail or paying a hefty fine. This “constructive fear” makes us drive more carefully by not drifting into the wrong lane and by obeying all the traffic signals properly. Similarly here also, if we develop this “constructive fear” of not doing something wrong owing to the wrath of our five senses, it doesn’t mean exactly that we’re getting afraid, but it is just that we’re trying to be “careful” in what we do!

This is exactly what Vidura means by saying that it is impossible for us as human beings to control our five senses. Indirectly he is warning us to be careful in what we do, so that we do not repent for our wrongdoings at a later stage in life. Hence for today, let us ponder over this important point and try to apply and reflect it into our daily lives. Let us all create a change in our behavior and actions by taking this point into consideration! We shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to witness Vidura’s next important point! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed Vidura’s important explanation on who are those two categories of people whom it’s very difficult to bank and trust upon. Vidura says that those people who are brainless and stupid can never be trusted, simply because it is very difficult to decipher what they’re trying to do. In other words, such people are so unpredictable in terms of their actions and reactions to certain situations. Secondly Vidura explains that it is very difficult to trust people who try to “twist” their words and actions in their selfish favor according to the situation. Such people are even more dangerous to trust because we would never know which side they would take at what time! They can suddenly make a “U-turn” in their words and actions and because of that, we would be made to look like fools and jokers! Ultimately Vidura says that we would become embarrassed if we go behind such people in life.

This is exactly where King Dhirdiraashtra’s problem is. Vidura thus slams King Dhirdiraashtra and says thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! The irony with you is that, both these two categories of people make up your close level of contacts in the palace! One is your son Duryodhana, who is completely brainless and crooked and is a wonderful combination of both! The other one is Sahuni (Duryodhana’s uncle & King Dhirdiraashtra’s brother-in-law) who is famous for taking big “U-turns” in whatever he does, to satisfy his personal agenda! Thus both crooked people are at the behest of you and what kind of an administration can you give to the people of Hastinapura with these two people around you? If you’ve to prosper and move forward from this deadlock situation in some way, you should isolate these two from your close vicinity somehow! Although Duryodhana might be your son, it is always better to keep him at a certain distance, because he simply lacks maturity to deal with complex situations. Moreover, his lack of maturity is coupled with arrogance, power-mongering attitude, etc. which put together is a deadly combination! Hence King Dhirdiraashtra, the earlier you realize this, the better it is for you! Please wake up from this slumber and understand the seriousness! It is now or never! If you’re not going to show these people their places, it is going to be too late for the future! Your entire “Kaurava” clan is starring at being extinct because of the wrath of your son Duryodhana. Please realize this fact and act immediately!”

Saying thus, Vidura slams and advises King Dhirdiraashtra simultaneously. With this, Vidura concludes this point of discussion thus:

“Vibharjaheetha medhaavi tasmin maitree pranashyati!”

Vidura thus says that with these two dangerous categories people around, an intelligent person would always keep a safe distance from them. Saying thus, he now moves to the next important point – Here he’s going to talk about the five senses of a human being and how uncontrollable they can be! Vidura says thus:

“Indriyaanaam anussargaha mrithunaapi vishishyate!”

Here Vidura extorts the fact that as a human being it is very difficult to establish complete control over our five senses – Eyes, ears, nose, taste and touch. It seems that Bhagawan has given us these five senses only to keep troubling and torturing us in this world! It’s a huge test for all of us as to whether we are getting carried away by the “Maya” (Illusion) of this world, through these five senses or whether are we defeating these five senses and still thinking of attaining Bhagawan’s feet.

Even Garuda was not an exception for it. If we look at the story behind it, Garuda (Bhagawan Vishnu’s vehicle – The Eagle) was extremely hungry once upon a time and was chasing a snake called “Sumuka”. Fearing Garuda’s aggressive chase, this “Sumuka” goes straight to Bhagawan Vishnu and seeks refuge on his feet. Accordingly Bhagawan Vishnu grants refuge to “Sumuka” with the assurance that he would not give into Garuda’s aggression. When Garuda comes chasing, he finds that Sumuka has played a smart game by going to Bhagawan himself! 🙂 So Garuda goes to Bhagawan Vishnu and asks him to release Sumukha from his custody, since he was in extreme hunger. But Bhagawan being an epitome of protecting those who have surrendered to him (“Sharanaagata Vatsalaha”) refuses to release Sumuka for the only reason that he had surrendered to him unconditionally.

Hearing this, Garuda becomes angry with hunger and asks Bhagawan a question thus, “Oh Bhagawan! So far till today I’ve been carrying you and Mother Lakshmi on my back wherever you wanted to go. Is this the way you treat a person who has aided all your travel across the three worlds? Please give me the food that I deserve!” Hearing this from Garuda, Bhagawan doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry! He asks Garuda back, “Oh Garuda! Only today I realized that you can talk anything and everything if you get hungry! You’re saying that you were lifting me every time when I wanted to travel! Really? Now let me pose a challenge to you! Here’s my finger from my hand – Try to lift it if you can, with all your strength!”

When Garuda tries lifting it, he couldn’t even move Bhagawan’s finger an inch and thus realizes his folly! Immediately he falls on Bhagawan’s feet and says thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Please forgive me for my ignorance! Even with so many years of being with you, I’m still unable to control my hunger (one of the five senses) and I uttered words that I shouldn’t have! I take back my words and I request your forgiveness!”

From this episode we can clearly understand that even Garuda was not an exception in controlling our senses. If even Garuda couldn’t do it, how can we? We are after all normal human beings born in this world as a result of our “Karma”. Hence Vidura drives home the point here that it is extremely difficult for us to control our five senses.

But having said that, is this the solution? Does it mean that just because we’re unable to control our senses, can this be taken as a license to do whatever wrongful activities in this world? Let’s ponder over this and wait for Vidura’s answer till the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed Vidura’s interesting description on who can be best friends or a couple in this world. He says that only those two people whose wavelengths of minds exactly match with each other, whose intellect and intelligence go together and who share the same or similar kinds of secrets in life would be deemed best friends or companions for life! We can see the practical applicability of this statement by Vidura in the practical world today wherein by applying what Vidura has just said, we ourselves can judge who our best friends are!We’ve in due course of yesterday’s episode witnessed a very significant application of this to how and why a marriage takes place. An ideal couple which is “made for each other” is created only if whatever Vidura has narrated would take shape.

Moving on further thus, Vidura takes us through with the next point – If a person is an intelligent chap, he/she would smartly move away from two important categories of people, just like how we would move away from a pothole on the road if we see it at a distance. Who are those two categories of people from whom we should move away? Vidura explains thus:

“Durbuddhim akrithah pragnyam chhannam koopam trinairiva!!”

Here Vidura explains that those who are intelligent and smart enough will keep away from those people who doesn’t have brains in whatever he/she does (“Durbuddhihi”) and those people who do not have the art of remembrance (”Akrithah pragnyam”). Why is said so? It is because, it is extremely dangerous to trust these kinds of people! One is, if a person is crazy and acts brainlessly and foolishly under critical situation, how can we trust such a person? What if we get entangled into unwanted problems because of this person in future? Why should we take such a risk? Coupled with it, if a person is devoid of the art of remembering whatever he/she did or said, how would we trust this person? What if he says something today and completely makes a “U-turn” tomorrow? Just like how modern day politicians are, what if he makes promises that might turn out to be empty tomorrow? This is why Vidura is advising us not to go behind such people who are not trustable in nature. It would become very difficult for us if we follow these kinds of people and we would never know when they would ditch us down!

This is exactly what is happening to King Dhirdiraashtra as well – He’s going behind people who are precisely and exactly of these two categories! One is his own son Duryodhana who is completely brainless and stupid in whatever he does, and the others who support him with all their personal agendas hidden within! Thus through this point Vidura warns King Dhirdiraashtra that he is making a big mistake in his life in going behind such people who are completely not trustable in any manner! Those people whom King Dhirdiraashtra is trusting so strongly are all going to ditch him some day or the other in the near future! Vidura is thus trying hard to make King Dhirdiraashtra aware of this and to make him understand this reality of life!

So for today, let us ponder over this important point and we shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to expand on it more and further move into Vidura’s next point of discussion! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we witnessed Vidura giving four beautiful examples on how do we convert our weaknesses and drawbacks into great opportunities for success and growth! He said that firstly, if we’re silent and polite at a time when we’re caught red-handed for some wrongdoing of ours, this might result in reduction of our punishment owing to our good conduct. Secondly, at times our physical strength should also play a role to rescue us if we get entangled into certain kinds of peculiar issues. Thirdly, if we’re going through a situation of extreme anger or frustration, we can divert our mind by chanting our “Mantra”, wherein our mind can get an opportunity to calm itself down. Finally Vidura explains that if our weakness is not being attractive and beautiful in looks, we can always overcome this weakness with our robust value system. Beyond a point in life, physical and external beauty would not matter much for the outside world. The world would hail us only if we have an excellent value system that we build for ourself.

Saying thus, Vidura explains the important message that it is not wrong to have weaknesses in us as human beings. But the main focus here is that we need to take a conscious step to convert that weakness into an opportunity through some means or the other, which we need to figure out for ourselves, using our intellect.

Moving on thus, Vidura explains the next point – Here he talks about sustained friendship with someone. Who can be best friends in this world? Vidura explains thus:

“Yayoshchityenavaaschittham nibrutham nibhrutena vaa!

Samethih pragnyayaah pragnyaa tayoor maithreena jeevathi!!”

Here Vidura explains that, those two people whose intellects and intelligence go together, those two people who share the same kinds of secrets in life, those two people whose thought processes are exactly the same as that of the other would be excellent friends! Thus Vidura says that the match between two people should be impeccable in such a way that two people’s wavelengths of mind are exactly the same in terms of lot of things! This is being proved in today’s studies on human psychology! In Behavioral sciences we infer this as “Chemistry” between two human beings.

Even during a marriage when a boy marries a girl, how can be a great couple or a “Divya-Dhampathi”? Only if both of them can complement each other well with different aspects of life, can they become an excellent couple! For instance, if the boy is an introverted person and the girl is also an introverted person, there would be no communication at all within both of them! Whereas if one of them is extroverted and the other might be somewhat introverted, it can compliment the balance between the two people properly! Thus if one person is somewhere lacking in something and if the other person can balance it out, it would become a perfect match, and can be termed as “Made for each other”!

Nowadays there is a debate raging as to whether a person should marry another person who is from the same profession of work or not! Some people say yes, and some say no! However if for instance, both husband and wife are working in the IT field, and both have office timings of 12 hours a day, how do they balance their work and personal life? They might be earning lumpsum amount of money, but what about their personal happiness and enjoyment together? Hence it is always required that both the husband and wife balance out their time so that they would be able to spend quality time with each other. This is extremely important for every couple in this world.

So the message here from Vidura is that, two people can make “best” friends or “best” couples in this world only if their mind wavelengths match, their thought processes match and their secrets in the form of intimacy would match! So for today let us spare a thought for this important point and we shall expand this point further in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important accord of Vidura explaining the four different ways through which our wealth would dissipate away from us forever! If we’re trying to protect our wealth in a proper way, we should make sure that these four aspects are taken care of. The first aspect is that, if we’re dropping some expensive item of ours in the sea waters, it is never going to be got back! Hence we need to be careful with regards to this and take care of our belongings accordingly. Secondly, if we keep talking something on our own, either without any proof or backup or without any kind of references to credible sources, our words will lose credibility over time and thus will fade away! By doing so, we would also risk of entering into a zone of uncertainty wherein we might have to face some legal litigations. This might drain away our energy and wealth gradually. Hence care should be taken to talk meaningful stuff with back up of data. Thirdly, if a person tries to accumulate knowledge from various sources, but without the control of his/her five senses, all the knowledge that he/she accumulates goes to the drain! This again directly results in us entering into an unwanted zone of problems that would again trigger the exit of all our wealth and reputation that we’ve tried to build on for years together. Finally, if we’re doing a spiritual offering to “Agni Bhagawan” (God of Fire), we should never do it when the fire in the “Agni-Kundam” is smoky and without a flame. This is also extremely important because spiritual offerings are to be given only according to a set of procedures. If we’re trying to manipulate them for our own convenience, we should be prepared to pay the price for it later on!

Saying thus, Vidura moves to the next point of discussion – He says that all of us have some kind of drawbacks as human beings and it is normal! But the real test comes in the way of how we convert our weakness or drawbacks into opportunities to grow and succeed in life! Vidura here lists down four examples to highlight this important point.

“Akeerthim vinayo hantheem hanthyanartham paraakramaha!

Hanthinithyam kshamaah krodham aachaaro hanthyalakshanam!!”

Here Vidura tells King Dhirdiraashtra thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! I do not have a problem in you having certain weaknesses in you! That’s normal for every human being! But the problem with you is that, you’re trying to play the ‘victim-card’ with the weaknesses you’re having! You’re not taking steps to mitigate those weak points that you possess!” Saying thus, Vidura lists down few of the weakpoints and how can we come over it! This is a very interesting and a very important discussion.

The first one – “Akeerthim vinayo hantheem” – If we’re polite during a time when we’re experiencing a harsh punishment for our wrongdoing, this politeness has the capability to even reduce the intensity of the punishment. For instance, when a person is jailed for some wrong activity for a period of say 10 years and if this person realizes his mistake and doesn’t further indulge himself into any wrongdoing of any sort inside the prison, the government or the judiciary considers the “reduction of the punishment” for this person. This is quite common in today’s world and we’ve been seeing this quite often in the news too! Why do we have something called “mercy petition”? It is only to state that this person who is punished for a crime, has realized his mistake and has taken a vow not to repeat this again in his life. Hence this person is rightfully deserving a better lifestyle along with the normal people of the country and hence should be realeased from prison! Thus we can see here that with astute politeness, one can get over even harsh punishments with ease. Of course, doing the mistake is fine and is normal. Even if it is a capital crime, the newspapers and media would keep talking about it for just a few days and that’s it! It is at this time when lot of buzz would go around, spoiling our reputation and if we’re trying to be polite and astute at this time, we can prevent lot of further damage to our reputation.

Next, Vidura says, “Hanthyanartham paraakramaha” – There are of course certain situations in life wherein our physical strength should be exhibited to overcome them! Not all the time we can be polite in life! Sometimes the stick should talk as well! 🙂 Hence we need to clearly judge and analyze such situations in our lives, and act accordingly.

Next, Vidura explains, “Hanthinithyam kshamaah krodham” – If we’re having extreme anger or frustration towards someone or something, the best medicine for overcoming it is by having and developing “patience”. Why do we often advice people who get angry, to chant a “Manthra”? If we start chanting the “Manthra”, our mind would get calmed down and the anger would slowly and eventually vanish! This is where we need to develop the remedy – It is nothing wrong to get angry or tensed. But it is upto us how we control this anger and tension and channelize it in the right way.

Finally Vidura explains “Aachaaro hanthyalakshanam!” – If a person is not so attractive in terms of looks and appearance, what can replace it? How do we overcome this defect in us? Many of us have this question lingering in our minds everytime isn’t it? Of the crores and crores of people living in this earth, how many would be beautiful in appearance? Only a few of them! However, in what way can we compensate this lack of beauty? This can be done with our “Value system” and discipline that we follow in our life. If we have good values and virtues built within us, external beauty can be no match to this in anyways! Hence, it is fine and normal if we don’t have the external beauty in us. We can use this as an opportunity to rather build up on our core value system and hence succeed in our life!

Thus Vidura gives four beautiful examples on how do we convert our weakness and drawbacks into opportunities for growth and success! So for today let us ponder over closely on these four important points and try to relate to ourselves. Let us meticulously take a step forward in converting our weaknesses into opportunities for growth! We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next point of discussion! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the last couple of episodes we had witnessed six important doors to be shut if we’ve to safeguard our wealth carefully. Vidura explains King Dhirdiraashtra the six important doors as “Madham” (Arrogance), “Nidra” (Excessive Sleep), “Avignyaanam” (Lack of Self-Awareness), “Aatma-Sambhavam” (Lack of control on our expressions & moods “Dushta amaartheshu vishrambham” – If a king keeps corrupt people as his ministers) and finally “Vishrambam dhootascha aakuchalaalapi” – If a king has messengers who are inefficient and useless, the wealth would start exiting through them.

Explaining thus, Vidura uses this opportunity again to slam King Dhirdiraashtra for his indifferent attitude towards the Paandavas and towards his corrupt set of people around him. In fact, while Vidura explains the last door, he pinpoints to King Dhirdiraashtra that his messengers should never lack the credibility as they are the key dissipants of vital information of the kingdom. If there is any instance wherein there is a lapse of secrecy from the messengers’ side, there is a huge risk of important secrets of the kingdom getting leaked out! Saying thus, Vidura concludes this section of the discussion.

Now moving on to the next, Vidura explains the different ways and means a person loses his wealth for good! In other words, he explains how a person incurs irrepairable loss to his property. Vidura explains thus:

“Nashtam samudre patitham nashtam vaakyamashrinvati!

Anaathmani sutham nashtam nashtam punathagnikam!!”

Here he says, “Nashtam samudre patitham” which means that if we throw something into the sea or ocean waters, we’re never going to retrieve it back! It’s going to be gone forever! This is why we always maintain our vigil whenever we go to the beach, either on a casual outing or while doing a religious offering. It is because, if we accidentally drop something into the ocean waters, it would be washed away forever and chances are grim that we’re going to get it back. Hence we should be careful! Next, Vidura explains an important point – “Nashtam vaakyamashrinvati!” Here he explains that if we keep talking something on our own, either without any proof or backup or without any kind of references to credible sources, our words will lose credibility over time and thus will fade away!

How important is this point today? We can witness direct applications to the current day scenario – As a leader if we’re talking something in the public domain, we should always have some credible back up of data to support our points. If on the contrary we’re going to keep talking whatever and wherever, maybe for the first few days, there might be some interest amongst the people to listen to us. However as days pass by, people will start loosing interest in whatever we’re saying. This is because, they don’t see credibility in what we say! Today in the national political scene in India, we can find a perfect example of a leader who just gives “empty talks” without any sort of proof and ultimately gets bashed down! We can witness the main so-called “Leader of the Opposition” making empty claims of a scam in a popular defense dealing repeatedly over time, without any credible data to back up his claim and allegation. Initially it sparked up lot of interest amongst the public (Thanks to the biased media that India has), however as time progressed, people have started realizing that this leader only makes “empty allegations” without any solid proof behind it. Thus this leader has started to lose respect amongst the public and is currently risking his public image at a crucial time when the general elections are slated to take place within a couple of months time! Such is the risk of spreading “information in the air” without any credibility.

Moreover, if it involves religious “Upanyaasams”, whatever the person talks, should be credibly backed up with relevant references from the corresponding spiritual texts. Of course there is no dearth of information in our Hindu Sanaathana Dharma literature for anything and everything for our modern day life. Thus the message here is that, whatever we speak, should be backed up with credibility and authenticity, else we would risk our image taking a beating amongst people.

Next, Vidura explains amother important point here – “Anaathmani sutham nashtam!” If a person tries to accumulate knowledge from various sources, but without the control of his/her five senses, all the knowledge that he/she accumulates goes to the drain! Basically if we’ve to see, the sole aim of acquiring all the knowledge through proper education is to develop a control over our senses. This is the basic requirement and expectation from a human being who is called “Educated” and “Literate”. If this basic control of senses is not there, then all what we’ve learnt would go in vain, isn’t it? For instance, if a person involves himself in pick pocketing in a crowded bus and is getting caught red-handed by the public, what would be the first question that people would ask? Everyone would ask “Which school or college did you study in? Is this the value system that your teachers and parents have taught you?” Hence it is evident that if we’re calling ourselves as “educated people” we need to understand and uphold our basic value system in life. This of course directly comes with our education and the way in which we are brought up at home. Hence we should be very careful here.

Finally Vidura says, “Nashtam punathagnikam!” – If we’re doing a spiritual offering to “Agni Bhagawan” (God of Fire), we should never do it when the fire in the “Agni-Kundam” is smoky and without a flame. Such an offering, Vidura explains, is useless! We should note here that when we make offerings to Agni Bhagawan, we should do it only when the flame is bright and well-lit without too much of smoke. This is an extremely important point that all of us should note. If the fire is half-burning and with lot of smoke, we first need to make the fire burn with the flame, and then give the offering into it.

Thus through all these points, Vidura explains clearly the important ways through which a person loses his property and offerings. So for today let us ponder over these important points and we shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to witness the next important point of Vidura! Stay tund! J

The last couple of episodes had witnessed an extremely important discussion wherein Vidura explains six important “doors” or “gateways” through which our wealth would vanish away from us. Hence it is important for all of us to identify these six doors and try our best to close them one by one, so that our wealth remains intact without any problem. So far we’ve discussed five important doors namely, “Madham” (Arrogance), “Nidra” (Excessive Sleep), “Avignyaanam” (Lack of Self-Awareness), “Aatma-Sambhavam” (Lack of control on our expressions & moods) and finally “Dushta amaartheshu vishrambham” – If a king keeps corrupt people as his ministers. We’ve been discussing the last point that we mentioned just now, half-way in the previous episode and we shall take this forward today. Subsequently we shall witness the sixth important door and its significance.

When it comes to the point on corruption, it might be surprising for us that this menace had been existing even during “Mahabharata” times and this phenomenon is never new to the world! Saying thus, Vidura by using this context, indirectly warns King Dhirdiraashtra that all his “so-called” educated and high-profile ministers are having their own personal agenda to be fulfilled and because of that they are directly or indirectly supporting Duryodhana’s atrocious activities. Vidura explains thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! This is a serious warning for you! As a king, it is your duty to evaluate each and every minister of yours and make sure that they fall well within the permissible limits to be ministers. However, I don’t see you doing any sorts of such evaluation to check the credibility of your people around. If you have ministers who are money minded and selfish, what is the purpose of having such a huge kingdom and wealth under your possession? Given an opportunity, all of them are going to loot the kingdom in no time and this is their mindset! If this is the case, how is your wealth going to sustain?”

Launching a scathing attack on King Dhirdiraashtra, Vidura continues thus, “Oh King! Look at the irony here! All your so-called “educated” ministers have their own personal agenda to fulfil and are least bothered about the welfare of you or the people of Hastinapura! Just because of their closeness and relationship with your crooked son Duryodhana, they’re prepared to do anything and everything for him. I’m observing right from the beginning – When the Paandavas were subjected to so much of illegal punishments and torture, none of your ministers either advised you or Duryodhana! All of them were quiet! For instance, when Duryodhana enacted the ploy of burning down the Paandavas inside the wax palace, all your ministers supported his atrocity! When the infamous gambling game took place, your ministers were only aiding the game to happen, instead of stopping it. When Draupathi was insulted, all of your ministers enjoyed it by applauding and laughing aloud at the poor and helpless woman! Even now, when Duryodhana has exiled the Paandavas for no fault of theirs, not even a single minister opened his mouth and opposed it! When Bhagawan Krishna came to meet Duryodhana and yourself, none of them dared to give even the basic respect to Him! What kind of behavior is this? My question here is that, are they even fit enough to be called ministers to a great king? It just means that your ministers are just a set of selfish goons who are only interested in their personal agenda and nothing else! Imagine if this is the condition today, what would be the condition if at all Duryodhana wins over the Paandavas and captures the whole of the kingdom for himself? What kind of atrocities would happen in Hastinapura? Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! The moment I think of all these, my mind and body starts to tremble with fear! But here you are as a king, who is least bothered about all this and you still keep supporting the atrocities of your crooked son! This can’t get more pathetic than this!”

Hence the message from the above point is very clear – If we entrust our wealth or money to someone who has his/her own personal agenda and is corrupt, we just have to forget about all our money! Hence it is important that we either handle all our money matters by ourselves or if we’ve to entrust it to someone, we need to carefully evaluate and choose the right person for it. This is not only applicable for King Dhirdiraashtra who is utterly careless in all these things, but also to all of us. Thus we should be very careful here.

Slamming King Dhirdiraashtra thus, Vidura with a heavy heart, moves on to the sixth and the final door that needs to be shut to safeguard wealth. He says, “Vishrambam dhootascha aakuchalaalapi” – If a king has messengers who are inefficient and useless, the wealth would start exiting through them. As a king or a leader, it is important to have the right people as messengers. Else, all secrets pertaining to business, money, profits, etc. would be leaked out to the public domain, which is extremely risky and dangerous! Hence while choosing people to be messengers or representatives, we need to be extremely careful and selective.

Thus these are the six doors that need to be shut so that our wealth stays with us intact! Vidura gives this as a beautiful accord with loads of meaning within each of the six aspects. So for today let us introspect all these six important points and we shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to witness the next point of discussion! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had commenced an important discussion on six important “doors” that need to be shut in order to safeguard our wealth carefully. We’ve discussed two of it already wherein we spoke about “Madham” or arrogance and “Nidhra” or excessive sleep. If we start displaying arrogance in whatever we do, there is a huge risk that we’re going to lose all our hard-earned money. This is where we can witness many people who have a huge public life displaying arrogance and get trolled and pulled to courts for litigation and defamation. Whatever we talk on public domain should carefully be backed up by relevant data to support and validate our points. If on the contrary, we make public statements without back up, and if we occupy a top position, it only displays our arrogance to make wild allegations and ultimately we risk the possibility of being dragged into court proceedings by the affected party. Hence if we’re in the public domain, we should be very careful of what we talk! Thus arrogance is one important door that needs to be shut at any cost, so as to safeguard our wealth properly. Similarly, Vidura speaks about the next door called “Sleep”. Too much of sleeping only enhances our “Thaamasic” (Lethargic) character and thus our productivity and thinking power comes down. This would make us careless in whatever tasks that we perform and we in turn face huge risks of taking the wrong decisions in terms of money matters and thus end up losing all our property to someone else!

Moving on further, Vidura explains the third “door” called “Avignyaanam”. This means, “Lack of Self-Awareness”. If we’re not able to understand or strengths and weaknesses ourselves, how are we going to protect all our wealth? People would take advantage of our weakness and try to exploit us to take away all our money! Such things should be avoided and for avoiding it, we should examine and introspect ourselves frequently to ascertain our own strengths and weaknesses.

This is why at the end of every episode I keep telling all our readers that we need to introspect the points that we discuss in each of the episode. This is because, each and every episode contains a message and if that message is to be followed and incorporated in our daily life, we need to introspect what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong! This introspection is extremely important for both professional and spiritual growth of a human being. Thus the message here is that, the door called “Avignyaanam” or “Lack of Self-awareness” should be shut completely so that our property or wealth stays safe within.

The next door that Vidura is talking about is “Aatma-Sambhavam” or “Lack of control of our expressions”. Many of us have this habit – The moment we feel angry or distraught with someone, we immediately tend to show it on our face, in front of that person itself! This is an extremely wrong habit. Whatever might be the situation, we should never try to “show it on our face”! We need to work keenly on our facial expressions and the way in which we present ourselves in public. If we start showing “faces” to people even for small things, the trust factor goes for a toss, which in turn leads to unfortunate hostile happenings that have the probability to pull down our wealth and property. Thus the message here is that, we should “shut” the door called “Aathma-Sambhavam” or “Showing faces” to everyone around us for all the wrong reasons!

Especially when we get angry on someone, this is why we always advice that we quietly move out from that particular place without uttering anything or without showing that anger on our face. The moment we start exhibiting our anger through our facial expressions and body language, this would lead to escalation of the anger and ultimately would lead us to disastrous consequences. Hence we should be extremely careful not to fall into the trap and this is why Vidura is cautioning us on this.

Next, Vidura explains that if a king has ministers who are corrupt and crooked in his courtroom, all his property would start dwindling in no time! Here again, Vidura pokes King Dhirdiraashtra about the credibility of his ministers who adorn his courtroom. He indirectly points out that many of his so-called trusted people are only interested in their own personal agenda and not on the welfare of the king or the kingdom. We can witness this today too – If the leader doesn’t appoint the right people under him or her to carry the administration forward, corruption starts happening at every level and thus the entire country’s wealth gets swindled even without the knowledge of the leader! Unfortunately we’ve seen this happening in India from 2004 till 2014. All we can do at this point is to pray that India does not go back into the hands of the same political dispensation that was ruling the country during the above said time period.

So for today let us stop with this and let us try to introspect on all these important points. We shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to build on the last point further and thus take to the sixth important “door” to be shut. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed an important assertion from Vidura over King Dhirdiraashtra’s counter question on why should he solely take up all of the responsibilities of his brother Paandu’s sons (Paandavas). King Dhirdiraashtra poses a series of questions to Vidura as to why should he part with the kingdom of Hastinapura with the Paandavas, which is anyways his ultimate aim. Here we can clearly find that King Dhirdiraashtra is trying to find his comfort zone and is very particular to build up counter arguments to challenge whatever Vidura is trying to tell him. Ultimately the sole aim of King Dhirdiraashtra here is that he would find some hook or crook way to defend himself from whatever Vidura says!

However having said that, Vidura knows this too! He coins his reply to King Dhirdiraashtra in a smart way that his defence would be blunted out. Vidura replies to King Dhirdiraashtra thus, “Oh King! I never said that you need to part away with your kingdom fully nor write off all your property to the Paandavas! All I’m saying is that there should be equality amongst the two groups of brothers, the Paandavas and Kauravas. All I’m saying is that, as a king you should abide by the decision that has already been made much earlier that the Paandavas also have a right to rule the kingdom. It is you who made this agreement earlier, and now you yourself are going back on it, just because this agreement doesn’t suit your son’s prospects and wishes! Just because your son is opposing this, you’re forgetting your “Raaja Dharma” by betraying the Paandavas their due share. By doing so, you’re only going to face a huge backlash and your sons are going to be doomed in no time!”

Saying thus, Vidura conveys the message to King Dhirdiraashtra that rather than trying to act “smart” in finding loopholes in what he’s advising, he should get up and act tough on his son. By doing so, King Dhirdiraashtra would establish himself as a righteous king who stands by the “Dharma”. If he fails to do so, he is not only ruining himself or his kingdom, but also is ruining the entire future prospects of his sons!

Now moving forward, let us witness what’s Vidura’s next point here.

“Manthrabhedasya shadpraagnyahadvaaraani imaani lakshyeth!!”

Here Vidura is narrating an important point. He says that if a person wants all his money and property to be well within his close proximity always, should shut out six types of doors! All of us know that there are many types of doors that exist in our present day today, however, Vidura is not mentioning any of what we know! Upon hearing this statement from Vidura, King Dhirdiraashtra is puzzled and asks Vidura what are those six doors that he needs to close! He’s very keen here – Because maybe if King Dhirdiraashtra can implement this for himself, he thinks that he might be able to save all his wealth and property from being passed on to the Paandavas! As King Dhirdiraashtra thinks thus, Vidura gives the reply thus:

“Artha sangathi kaamasya lakshye dethaani nithyasaha!”

As King Dhirdiraashtra expects an answer from Vidura, the reply from Vidura is quite unexpected to what King Dhirdiraashtra. The reply is going to convey lot of inner meaning here – he explains that for a person to accumulate loads and loads of wealth, we should first shut the door of “Madham” or simply “Arrogance”. Vidura says that if we have this arrogance in us, all the money that we try to accumulate would keep going away from us! Hence it is important that we shut the door of “Madham” or “Arrogance”.

Second door to be shut is “Swapnam”, which means “Excessive sleep”. If we keep sleeping more than what is required, Vidura explains that our money and property would start going away from us! The problem here is that, if we’re sleeping more than the prescribed limit, our brain loses its capacity of thinking power and thus our alertness and awareness to what is happening around us, starts coming down. This results in we becoming careless and thus, we invite people to cheat us and take away all our money!

Moreover in the present day world, we have a wrong notion that all those people who are rich, enjoy their life to the maximum and are always relaxed and sleeping! This is extremely on the contrary. We would see that those people who are filthy rich would only spend most of their time and effort in protecting all their riches from someone who’s trying to take them away! For instance, we can see that those who are filthy rich would keep worrying about sleuths from the Income Tax department, because most of them wouldn’t be paying their taxes properly! If at all they earn so much of money legitimately, what if some servants or some other close relatives or friends take advantage of it and steal away all the money? So these are all some grave risks that come along with excessive richness. Hence the message here is that, if we tend to sleep a lot, our wealth would start moving away from us!

So for today let us ponder over these two “doors” for wealth to move out of us! Let us consciously put an effort in “shutting these doors” in order to protect our hard-earned wealth! We shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to witness the remaining four “doors” and their significance! Stay tuned! 🙂