The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important message from Vidura wherein he stressed upon the fact that if a person scolds, insults or abuses a woman either verbally or physically or sexually would directly go to Hell! This is the sixteenth category of people who according to Vidura deserve a rightful place in Hell and here too he stresses the importance of respecting women and treating them rightfully. By this point Vidura once again fumes over with anger to King Dhirdiraashtra that he is at the brink of hell because of the ill-treatment that Duryodhana and Co. metted out to Draupati, the wife of the Paandavas during that infamous gamble game that was played. When the outrageous crime of insulting Draupati was staged, King Dhirdiraashtra should have immediately stopped it and should have condemned his son for it, however he kept silent and let the whole incident unfold stage after stage in the open public. This was his biggest mistake and Vidura slams him that despite his advice at that point, King Dhirdiraashtra went against it and failed to condemn Duryodhana’s cruel actions. Now things are going beyond control and it is going to be too difficult for him to change things.

Thus from yesterday’s episode the message is very clear that we should never ever think of insulting or abusing a woman in our life – be it our mother or wife or sister or any other woman in this world! We should learn to respect them with care and affection and make sure that they’re happy and are at peace.

Now moving on with the last (seventeenth) category of people going to hell, Vidura says thus,

“Yaschaapiladhvaa na smaraameeti vaadi!!”

Here Vidura explains in a funny manner – If a person takes something from us at a particular time, and if he fails to return it back to us, he straightaway goes to Hell and nowhere else! 🙂 Sometimes we see this happening in today’s scenario also – Some people might act smart here – They might borrow something from us for a while and after few days if we go and ask them for that item back, they might say “Oh really? Are you sure that I took it from you?” Such people who ask “smart” questions like this, are sure to reach Hell! Thus the message from this point is that, if we cheat someone by taking something from them and not returning it back properly, we would go to hell without any further investigation from Bhagawan. We should thus be very careful here – Many a times the dispute between people with money matters starts from here only! At some point when we’re in need of money desperately for our survival, we would have borrowed some money from a friend of ours who was generous enough to lend some money at our time of need. But once my financial situation improves a little bit, isn’t it my duty to pay back my friend? Can I go and tell him that I never borrowed any money from him? This is where many people get entangled into a fight and this goes to courts, and with the kind of Judiciary system that we have, it would take 20 long years for a verdict to come and thus, the generous friend is going to lose his entire money for it.

By doing this, we might think that we’re smart enough not to repay the money that the poor friend has lent us at our time of need, but Bhagawan is not like our Indian judiciary. Bhagawan is extremely smart unlike people in our judicial system. He keeps track of all our right and wrong doings perfectly and when the time comes, he would make us repent extremely badly for all our wrongdoings! Hence we should make sure that we do not go into this trap of cheating somebody unwantedly for some petty personal gain. We can cheat one person today, we can cheat ten people tomorrow and we can cheat 100 people within 5-10 years. But we should always remember we can never cheat Bhagawan! He has the ultimate verdict to give at the end of our life. We should always note and remember that Bhagawan’s verdict would not be as stupid as that of our Indian judiciary. It would be too perfect and punishment would immediately follow thereafter. Most importantly, there is no question of getting a “bail” from Bhagawan’s punishment, unlike how we get bails today in courts! Nowadays it has become a fashion that the moment a judgement goes against a person and he/she is at the verge of imprisonment, this person would immediately apply for a bail and the same court would shamelessly grant the bail too! Nobody could understand then what’s the point in giving a punishment to that criminal and after just 5 minutes, a bail is granted to that same criminal! However, Bhagawan’s court doesn’t do crappy things like these – There is no concept called “bail” there. If there is a wrongdoing against our name, there is no choice but to experience the requisite punishment!

Hence the message here is that, we should not try to cheat anyone for anything in life. The more straightforward we are in our life, the more confident we can become, so as to face any problem or challenge life throws at us!

Similarly, Vidura adds one more clause here – He says that even if we tend to give something to someone, we should never popularize it in a big way. In fact, people say that if we give something to someone with our right hand, even our left hand should not know that the right hand counterpart has given something! This is an extremely important point and needs lot of explanation to be made. We shall wait till the next episode for a detailed explanation on this above point! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important advice and a warning from Vidura wherein he said that if we go behind women apart from our marriage agreement with our wife, it is going to be one of the most heinous crimes that we commit on this earth and eventually we’re going to meet the direct clutches to Hell. Hence we should try to control our unwanted desire in terms of going behind women with infatuation. Of course this is not only applicable for men, but also for women. Women also should ensure that they do not breach the agreement with their husbands and go behind another man, just for sexual pleasures.

Now moving on to the next important point – Vidura is explaining the sixteenth category of people who go to Hell directly. Vidura says thus:

“Sthryancha yah parivadate athivelam!”

Here Vidura again discusses an important point and this again pertains to women. He says that if a person scolds, insults or abuses a woman either verbally or physically or sexually would directly go to Hell! This is a critical point for all of us to note here – Irrespective of the woman abusing us or not, we should never abuse a woman in return. This is an extremely bad habit. Normally we might see in our daily life that other people might even not abuse or scold our wives – The majority of the abuse and scoldings at home happens only by the husband to the wife! 🙂 if at all there is a mis-communication of any sorts at home in between a husband and a wife, the husband should take steps to solve it amicably without blowing up the issue with his wife. Even if the wife is angry or gets frustrated for any reason, the husband should be patient enough to allow some space for his wife to cool down and then talk and solve the issue peacefully.

But in reality do we do this? Of course some of us might, but many of us fail miserably in this manner. When the wife gives some blastings with lot of force, we husbands only tend to give her back the same amount of blastings with either equal force or with a greater force! 🙂 We should always remember that no problem in this world can be solved by getting angry or frustrated. This is the time wherein Bhagawan puts us to test, whether we keep ourselves calm and composed. If we’re going to shout and abuse our wife with equal force, the problem is never going to get solved and only the ego of both of us get escalated and blown out of proportion. This further leads to unwanted frequent quarrels and eventually the danger is that this can even lead to divorce in some extreme cases. Of course this message is not only for husbands, but also for wives too – There is no point in repeatedly arguing with the husband just because the wife has to prove her point. 

Hence we should make sure that such things do not happen. If we’re married, our marriage should exist for life. We should always understand that in our Hindu Sanaathana Dharma there is no concept called “Divorce”. We were the ones who invented these things gradually as generations passed by! If we are married to a person for once, it stays forever till we die. The bonding between the husband and wife should be so strong that no external force should be able to dent it even a little bit. Of course there would be problems, there would be ups and downs in our lives. But these things are bound to happen to everybody in this world and we should understand that these things should not be blown out of proportion in such a way that it finally ends in divorce. Whatever maybe the matter, we shall always talk it out and try to solve it amicably together. Moreover, if there are grave problems and challenges in life, both the husband and wife should stand up united and fight them out together. There should never be a question of separation or divorce between a husband and wife at any cost! Our readers should understand this point very clearly.

Thus the point here is that, even though there might be quarrels, misunderstandings, etc. between the husband and wife, the husband should handle these smoothly and this is totally his responsibility at home! This is because every woman in this world are considered to be on par with Goddess Mahalakshmi and they should be respected in that way. Thus Goddess Mahalakshmi dwells in those homes wherein women are treated with immense love and respect. If it is on the contrary, Goddess Mahalakshmi would just disappear from there forever and we would end up in lot of unwanted problems at home!

This is exactly what Vidura is explaining here too – He’s laying so much of stress on respecting women at any point because this is one of the main reasons for King Dhirdiraashtra’s miseries. All these untoward incidents had conspired only because of the ill treatment of one woman by name Draupati! Had this not happened, Hastinapura would have been a much better place for everybody! Vidura had already warned King Dhirdiraashtra against the infamous ludo gamble game much before it took place and when Duryodhana and Shahuni planned it out! Yet King Dhirdiraashtra let it happen! Even if it took place, Vidura opposed Duryodhana’s move to stake the kingdom and play with Yuddishtra. He didn’t listen! He also warned him when he asked Yuddishtra to stake Draupati and play the game! Thus at every point Vidura warned King Dhirdiraashtra and your son! But neither of them paid heed to Vidura’s words of advice and warning! Vidura fumes thus: “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! You should have stopped all those nonsense at that time only! You were having the full powers to do so, yet you failed in your duty! How shameful it is! You’ve abused and insulted an innocent woman for no fault of hers! This is never going to make you live at peace henceforth! You and your kingdom are going to doomed only for this one great crime that your sons have done!”

Thus from today’s episode the message is very clear that we should never ever think of insulting or abusing a woman in our life – be it our mother or wife or sister or any other woman in this world! We should learn to respect them with care and affection and make sure that they’re happy and are at peace. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the last (seventeenth) category of people who go to Hell according to Vidura! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed two more important points wherein Vidura explains that if a father-in-law makes mockery of his daughter-in-law by using abusive words, he makes himself eligible to knock the doors of Hell! This was directly applicable in the case of King Dhirdiraashtra and we saw how Vidura poked him with this point indirectly. He made King Dhirdiraashtra’s conscience prick with guilt in the case of the infamous Draupati episode. Following that, we witnessed the practical application of this point in today’s world. We discussed how in-laws should be able to adjust with the new daughter-in-law of the house and treat her with respect and affection. The next point was of course the extension of the above point wherein we witnessed that if both the mother-in-law and the father-in-law realize that they should live under the mercy of their daughter-in-law only, it is better not to show tantrums to her. Thus on the whole it is evident that the relationship between a girl and her in-laws at her married place should be an amicable and a lovable one. There is no point showing tantrums to each other and this will only deteriorate the peace in the family.

Now moving on to the next point, Vidura now explains the fifteenth category of people who are destined to directly go to hell. Vidura says thus:

“Parakshetre nirvapathi svabheejam!”

This is another extremely important point here – If a person involves himself in illicit relationships with other women apart from his married wife, involves himself with other women in sexual affairs and makes them pregnant, would definitely go to Hell! This is one very important point wherein Vidura stresses that if a man involves himself in extra-marital relationships outside of his marriage, it might be a pleasant experience at that point in time, but at the end of his life he would be in the verge of going to Hell! This is of course a point that is related to the moral character of a person – We should be faithful and loyal to our marriage and should never go behind another person’s wife at any point. We’ve seen many examples in our “Sanaathana Dharma” wherein people have met disastrous ends to their otherwise luxurious lives due to the desire for women – We saw Vaali as an example, wherein he tried to abduct Sugriva’s wife and met his end to Rama’s arrow. Similarly we witnessed the case of Ravana wherein he abducted Mother Sita for no fault of hers and tried to behave in a wrong manner with her. Ultimately he met his end in a ghasty manner in the hands of Bhagawan Rama.

In the “Sundara Kaanda” of the Valmiki Ramayana, if readers would remember, there was an important point wherein Mother Sita advises Ravana of the same thing – She says thus, “Oh Ravana! Please divert your mind from another person’s wife to your own wives who are waiting for you in your palace! This is a wrong thing that you’re doing and if you continue doing this to me, you’ll definitely meet a ghasty end in the hands of Bhagawan Rama very soon! Going behind others’ wives would be pleasurable at that moment of time, but in the long-run, it is going to destroy all your wealth, luxuries and people together! Just because of your crooked desire, you’re going to spoil the whole kingdom and destroy millions of people for no fault of theirs! So please correct yourself and even now it is not too late – If you hand me over to Bhagawan Rama even now, He would be so merciful to forgive you for your grave mistake and would leave you free! Even if he doesn’t leave you, I myself shall recommend to Rama to leave you free without any trouble! Whatever might be the case, my husband Rama would listen to my words and will never go against them! Whereas if you’re still not realizing your mistake, please realize that you’re going to meet your end in a miserable manner!”

Such were the words of our beloved Mother Sita to Ravana and from this we can clearly understand that going behind other women apart from our marriage agreement is a heinous crime. If we intend to go into this trap, we should realize that we’re inviting Bhagawan to give us direct tickets to Hell and nothing else! So for today let us realize this important aspect of life and do the needful! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the last two categories of people who go to Hell! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed the twelvth category of people going to hell, wherein Vidura clearly explains that those of us who have unwanted and uncontrollable desire on something or someone, which is illegal, will definitely knock the doors of Hell! Of course this is directly applicable to all of us both in our personal and professional lives. We come across innumerable people and things in our every day life and there is always this possibility that we would fall into the trap called “desire” on something or someone at any point in time. This is where we need to use our sense of discrimination to analyze if this desire at this point in time is good for us or not. Even in our professional life we might come across many situations wherein we feel that we should go ahead with a lucrative professional deal immediately, only to come to know later that the deal sucked away all our hard-earned money! Hence we should be very careful while we’re at our work place and should make sure that we do not get carried away by some so-called “lucrative” deals, which might many a time be unethical and unwarranted against the rules and regulations of our organization. If we do so and budge into the hands of some unwanted people, our life would become a mess – If the organization comes to know of our secretive deals of making extra money, we would get a “Black mark” in our career and would not be able to get a job in our entire future! Hence we need to be extremely careful in this regard by not falling into the trap of anti-social elements in the workplace!

Now moving on to the thirteenth category of people going to Hell, Vidura explains thus:

“Vadhvaavahasam shasuromanyateyaha!!”

Here Vidura conveys an important message – If a father-in-law makes mockery of his daughter-in-law by using abusive words, he makes himself eligible to knock the doors of Hell! This is directly applicable to King Dhirdiraashtra wherein he was instrumental in the public insult of Draupati (Wife of the Paandavas). Of course King Dhirdiraashtra’s brother was Paandu (Father of the Paandavas) and after his passing away, the Paandavas treated King Dhirdiraashtra as their own father. Hence it is the duty of King Dhirdiraashtra to protect the basic moral rights of his sons’ wife Draupati. He becomes a father-in-law in this case. Now clearly when Draupati was abused physically and sexually in front of the whole courtroom, the father-in-law was completely silent and gazing at those people who were insulting the poor woman! Hence in this way, Vidura pokes King Dhirdiraashtra that he has a “confirmed ticket” to Hell, because of this one big fault of his!

Of course an important point here in today’s world too. Today we see many families getting into this trap by insulting and abusing the daughter-in-law who comes to their house with lot of aspirations of a happy married life. This of course is not only applicable to the father-in-law, but also for the mother-in-law too! As parents, we should always ensure that the girl who comes into our house is like Goddess Lakshmi entering our house and hence it is our duty to respect and revere her. We should make sure that she is treated as our own little daughter and should ensure that we do not insult her in any way. We should ensure that she is happy without shedding tears. If we end up insulting a woman for no fault of hers, we would get into the curse of that woman and this curse would ensure that we reach Hell in some way or the other.

Now moving on to the fourteenth category, Vidura explains thus:

“Vadhvaa vasan abhayaha maana kaamaha!”

Here Vidura is giving an extension to the thirteenth category – If both the mother-in-law and the father-in-law realize that they should live under the mercy of their daughter-in-law only, it is better not to show tantrums to her. The best way is to fold hands and respect her at home! 🙂 Else if the in-laws are hell bent on their stance that whatever might be the case, the daughter-in-law should “respect” them in each and every way, they’re sure to go to Hell only! Here we should also understand that “Hell” might not only be the real Hell that Bhagawan gives at the end of our lifetime. This might also signify the “Hell” that we create by ourselves at our home! If the in-laws are going to demand undue respect from their daughter-in-law in today’s life, they’re definitely going to be doomed in no time! 🙂 Hence adequate care should be taken by the in-laws to adjust and find a way to satisfy both themselves as well as their daughter-in-law! As we discussed in the last episode itself, if we identify someone to be a “Balavaan” or a person with more physical strength, it is better to respect them and make friends with them, rather than going for a fight with them. Similarly here too, if the daughter-in-law proves herself to be a “Balavaan”, it is always better for the in-laws to make friends with her, rather than constantly keep fighting with her for everything! 🙂

Of course this might be a bitter pill to chew for many of us, but if something is a fact, we need to accept it and move on. So for today let us introspect these two important points of Vidura pertaining to the daughter-in-law and let us find ways to adjust and lead an amicable and a peaceful life. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the last four categories of people going to Hell, according to Vidura! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important point out of the seventeen categories of people who go to Hell, as explained by Vidura. The last two points that we’ve seen this far pertains totally to a Management and a Business context wherein we witnessed that we shouldn’t directly collude with a competitor who is many a times stronger than us. If we’re doing so, this competitor is capable of wiping us out totally from the market, which marks the question on the very existence of our business! Subsequently in yesterday’s episode we witnessed that we need to recruit the right person for the right job at the right place and at the right time. This is how we hand over a job to a well-qualified employee to obtain a successful result or an output! By analyzing these points closely, we can witness how Vidura was an excellent Management consultant some five thousand years ago!

This concept is more applicable to people who come to ashrams, temples, etc. nowadays to offer service! Now what is this concept called “service”? A “Service” is something that is done by a person voluntarily out of his/her own interest, without an expectation of anything in return. This is a difference between working in an organization professionally and doing service – If we’re in a professional setup, we’re getting paid by the organization and we’ve to be diligent and legitimate in our work. Whereas, if nobody is paying us for our service, and if it is something that we do voluntarily, we tend to take it quite easily and without much dedication to it. In fact, this is what I’m saying, should be avoided! If it is a voluntary service that we’re doing in any ashram or a temple, we should take it up more seriously than even a job in the professional environment. Unfortunately this is what is lacking in today’s world – The moment we say “Service”, people tend to take it for granted as if it’s their moral birthright to come and sit on top of many people’s heads! If we’ve to do service, we should realize that Bhagawan is directly supervising our activities and He’s keeping a check on the quality and dedication towards our work. Hence, given that Bhagawan becomes our direct supervisor here, we should be even more careful while discharging our duties as part of service. Hence the message from this small discussion is that, “Service” is something that should be done with utmost sincerity and dedication because we are doing something for Bhagawan and not for ourselves. We should always realize that Bhagawan is our ultimate boss or supervisor and if we’ve to directly report to him, we need to be perfect in our work! Thus as an employer in these kinds of organizations such as ashrams, charity hospitals, temples, etc. we need to make sure that we employ those people who are really interested in doing service for the betterment and upliftment of the society at large! We should be very careful not to hand over important tasks to those people who come for time passing and doing nothing!

Now moving on to the next point, Vidura explains the twelvth category of people who deserve to go to Hell. Vidura explains thus:

“Yascha akaamyam kaamyate narendra!!”

Now Vidura explains one of the most important points for our daily life here – If a person desires on someone or something that he/she shouldn’t desire upon, Hell is waiting for this person without a doubt! For instance, if I’m affected by Diabetes or Blood pressure, my doctor is going to advice me not to consume certain food items. However due to my excessive desire, if I’m going to consume those food items, which the doctor has strongly advised me not to consume, I’m definitely going to end up in the world of “Naraka”! How? The after-effects or the repercussions that I’m going to face after consuming the unwanted food items itself is equivalent of a Naraka world only. This is because, the doctor is going to torture me with injections, drips, more medicines, etc. and this itself would serve as a “Trailer” show of what we’re going to experience when we enter the Naraka world in the near future! 🙂

Similarly there might be many other aspects too – For instance, if I’m going to go after another person’s wife, I’m sure to enter Hell! If I’ve to go behind someone’s wealth or property or money or whatever, I’m definitely going to go into Hell very soon! Thus the message from this point is that, if we start desiring for those things that we’re not supposed to desire for, we can be sure that Bhagawan is going to push us into Hell! So for today, let us realize this point and ponder over. Let us check within ourselves if our desires are under control. If we uncontrollably desire for something, this is the right opportunity for us to correct ourselves and mend our ways! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the next category of people who are destined to enter Naraka! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important point, which is also one amongst the seventeen categories of people who go to hell! Vidura explained the tenth category wherein a person who tries to wage a physical war with another person who is powerful than him will surely go to Hell! This is why we always say that if there is a person who is physically well built and powerful, it is always better to respect him and keep him in good looks! We should realize that there’s no point in proving our supremacy by going and fighting with a person who’s powerful than us physically! If we’re prepared to do it, we should also be prepared to go to Hell!! 🙂

How is this point applicable to the modern day business and management world? If we witness in the Indian context, we’re seeing today that India is opening itself to something called “Multi-Brand Retail”, wherein huge foreign retail brands come inside India and pour in enormous money as investments, knowing that India is a huge market for them to make enormous profits. Of course we always keep having this debate in India that this “Multi-Brand retail” strategy adopted by the government, has a huge threat of wiping away small and medium scale businesses that are homegrown! This is a debatable topic on any given day, wherein one side of the argument would be that India should not be shutting doors for big retail brands since we’re now living in the world of technology and scientific advancements. If we’re shutting doors for big brands to come and invest in India, we’re always going to lose out to other countries like China in terms of investment potentials and new business opportunities. Of course on the other hand if we see, big brands are always a threat to the small and medium scale industries in India. These people cannot directly compete head-on with the big brands and if they try to do so, they would be wiped out from the market in no time!

This is where we apply Vidura’s point of advice – As a small or medium scale company, if we’ve to compete with the bigger brands, we should do it gradually and slowly rather than going head on against them! At the beginning, we may join hands with one or two big brands as a collaborator and learn the nuances of how to do business with them and how to make money out of it. Eventually as we make more and more profits, we can of course think of denouncing the deal with the big brand at a later stage, wherein we also might be pretty confident enough to run the show by ourself! But this would initially take lot of time! Hence we can see here that if we are a small brand, there’s no point in directly competing with a huge foreign brand head on, and if we do so, we need to be prepared to get wiped out from the market completely! This is because, these big guys know the technique as to how to stamp over us and make money! Of course, these brands come with lot of money power and tremendous support from the government and hence we cannot take on these brands directly. This is why in Strategic Management; we have a term called “Wait-and-watch strategy”, wherein we wait and see what the competitor is all about, how strong/weak is he, and what are his product/service offerings. Based on this, we frame our strategy to counter his competition in the market to make profits. It’s amazing to see how Vidura’s words are impeccably applicable to the modern day world, even in business!

Now moving on further, Vidura explains the eleventh category of people who go to hell! Vidura explains thus:

“Asshradhadhaanaaya cha yohbraveeti!!”

Here Vidura explains yet another important context with respect to business and management – He says that if a person hands over a job to someone who is not sincere and perfect in his working (No “Shraddha” in what he does), this person goes to hell! Thus it’s clear from Vidura’s above statement that if we’re handing over an important task to someone, we should analyze this person whether he would be able to finish this task properly or not. Only after the analysis, should we hand over the task to that person. If we fail to do this analysis and still go ahead in handing over the work to that person, we’re supposed to go to hell, according to Vidura!

However, leaving the “Hell” argument apart for sometime, if we look at this in a Management point of view, this has a lot to do with managing the Human Resources (HR) in an organization in a proper way! Here Vidura is talking about an important HR concept – Recruiting the right person for the right job at the right place and at the right time! It is always important for the organization to recruit a well qualified and a well-suited person for a particular job. If that is not done, the quality of the organization’s output is going to suffer very badly! Today we see in many cases that certain organizations fail to follow this thumb rule of HR, and end up recruiting the wrong people for the job. There might even be cases of “Nepotism” (A case wherein a person recruits his close aides such as friends, family members, etc. for the job, and not the regular qualified people), etc. wherein the right person doesn’t get recruited for the right job! Hence for any organization to succeed, this is a very important principle to be followed!

Moreover, is it enough if the right employee for the right job is selected? What about the place? The right person for the right job at the right place is also extremely important. If a critical project is lined up in the Bangalore office, and if a well-qualified person who can handle the project criticality well, sits in Chennai, what is the use of having this person in the organization? Hence, “place” also gains lot of significance. In addition to this, the qualified person should be recruited at a time when there is a critical requirement to fulfil a project’s criteria. What is the use of recruiting fresh qualified people after the project is over? Hence, “time” of recruitment is also very important. This is why we say in HR that the right employee should be placed in the right job, at the right place and at the right time!

This is exactly what Vidura is explaining here – He says that as an employer, one should know correctly as to whom this particular job is to be handed over! If the employer fails to know this and acts in a haphazard manner, he would be eligible to go to Hell without any hassle! 🙂 So for today, let us ponder over this important point and introspect! If we are in key posts in any organization, this is one point that we need to understand and implement in our professional career! We shall wait for tomorrow’s episode to witness the next category of people going to Hell! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed that we should never compromise our “Varnaashrama Dharma” at any point and if we do so, we should be prepared to go to Hell! This was the ninth category of people as explained by Vidura who directly go to Hell without any sort of hiccups! 🙂 We’ve also had a detailed discussion on the four important categories of people as prescribed by the Vedas along with their important roles, duties and responsibilities towards the society. We’ve also witnessed yesterday that all four categories of people are of equal importance and the entire concept of treating one category higher than the other, is nothing but nonsense and our readers should realize this very fact that our Vedas and Sanaathana Dharma has never ever distinguished people like this. It is only the work of a few anti-Hindu elements who spread this venom of dividing people so that they can get some personal gain out of our lack of unity!

Now moving on further, Vidura is explaining the tenth category here thus:

“Yascha abalaha balinaa nitya vairi!!”

Here Vidura explains that a person who tries to wage a physical war with another person who is powerful than him will surely go to Hell! This is why we always say that if there is a person who is physically well built and powerful, it is always better to respect him and keep him in good looks! For instance, if I’ve to proclaim to the world that I’m more powerful than the Sun (Soorya Bhagawan) and I’m going to wage a battle with the Sun and win over him, it is just going to be rated by people as a mad man’s talk! Immediately people would come up to me and take me to a mental hospital! 🙂 Can anybody oppose the Sun and do something against Him? It’s never going to be possible!

If we look back at our Ramayana project, readers might remember that we discussed a section in the “Yuddha Kaanda” wherein Angadha goes to Ravana’s courtroom and warns him of Lord Rama’s presence in Lanka and Bhagawan’s invincible powers. While giving Ravana the warning, Angadha recalls one incident wherein Ravana encountered his only failure in life till date. Vaali says to Ravana thus, “Oh Ravana! I know who you are and what is your level of power! In fact I know two or three different types of Ravana and maybe you might be able to clarify which category of Ravana are you!” Upon hearing this, Ravana was surprised and asked Angadha to explain further!

Angadha now explains thus, “Oh Ravana! Let me tell you a story – My father Vaali was once performing his “Sandhya-Vandanam” in the evening and during this time, there was a silly guy by name Ravana who came to my father! This silly fellow was fighting wars with all people across the world and eventually all people said that they would accept Ravana to be the most invincible person in this world only if he is able to win over Vaali! Accordingly Ravana came to my father Vaali and called him for a fight! But when Ravana came, my father was doing his prayer and he wasn’t able to leave it and come! Hence he asked Ravana to wait for a few minutes! This silly fellow did not have the patience to wait for Vaali to come and he repeatedly called him for a war! He even termed Vaali as a person who is an embodiment of fear! Upon hearing this, Vaali got angry, rushed towards this Ravana with all his fury and power. He caught Ravana in between his palms and fingers and crushed him bitterly. Thus, he took this silly Ravana along with him inside his palms to all the three oceans, finished his “Sandhyavandanam” and finally released him from his clutches! Now Vaali asked Ravana whether he’s ready for a war now! What could this silly poor Ravana do now? He just shook hands with Vaali like a gentleman and quietly left the place without any fuss!” 🙂

Saying thus, Angadha continues further, “Oh Ravana! On that day, this silly fellow wasn’t even able to stand in front of one powerful monkey in terms of valor and I guess, it is this same silly fellow who is sitting in front of me today and boasting to the world that he’s the most powerful guy in this earth!” Upon hearing this from Angadha, Ravana started to feel ashamed of himself! He did not expect a second monkey to come and storm into his court (By that time, it should be remembered that Hanuman had already done this before, but Ravana took him too lightly and paid the price earlier by getting the entire Lanka city burnt down to ashes!) and make fun of him in front of the entire courtroom!

From this we can clearly understand that if we have someone who might be physically more powerful than us, it is better that we fold our hands and pay respect to that person, rather than unwantedly going for a fight with him to prove our supremacy! There is no point in doing so as well and if we’re doing so, we’ve to be prepared to go to hell only! So for today, let us introspect on this important point and we shall wait till the next episode to witness the next category of people going to hell! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed two important categories of people who directly go to hell. So far we’ve discussed nine different categories of people going to hell, according to Vidura, the ninth one being that if a person is failing to live up to the duties and responsibilities of his/her clan or community of birth, this person would straightaway go to Hell or “Naraka”. Eventually we discussed the significance of the “Varnaashrama Dharma” of each religion and for each community of people in this world. We had concluded yesterday’s episode by saying that we have an important discussion to follow, pertaining to this point. In today’s episode we shall have the detailed discussion and then subsequently move forward with the next category.

If we take an exploration of the “Varnaashrama Dharma” according to our ancient Vedas, it has been prescribed that each sect of people are meant for a certain occupation and this constitutes the balance in the world. Of course this sect division comes along with a human being’s birth and it has to be respected. We might know that the Vedas prescribe four different sects of people – Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra. The Brahmana’s “Varnaashrama Dharma” is to learn the Vedas, scholar them thoroughly, interpret its meaning and essence and propagate it to the world for global well being. The Kshatriya’s “Varnaashrama Dharma” is to stand up and fight for the cause of the country’s safety. If there are enemies coming and invading the country, it is the bound duty of the “Kshatriyas” to fight the enemy and protect the nation. The “Vaishya”’s “Varnaashrama Dharma” is to do business – buying and selling of all kinds of products that are required for the funcitioning of normal life. It might range from utility items to grocery items to food grains, etc. Finally the “Varnaashrama Dharma” of the Shudra is to take care of all the household activities such as cleaning, maintaining the house and the country at large properly. Thus we can see here that each sect of people had their own duties, roles and responsibilities to fulfill, so that the balance in the world is maintained.

However, people who came much after the Vedic period started to misinterpret this concept according to their own whims and fancies! People started to wrongly interpret that the Brahmins occupy the highest position in the society, followed by the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and finally the Shudras. It is to be noted very clearly that the Vedas have never prescribed one sect of people to be high/low compared to the other. For the Vedas, everybody are equal and each person has his/her own “Dharma” to fulfill. This doesn’t mean that one person is of a high level and the other is of a low level! Over a period of time, people failed to understand this logic and tried to inflict lot of pain and pressure on the lower categories of the societal strata and this lead to a big lack of unity amongst people! Even today, we see this societal divide amongst people very clearly in India, although politicians try their tricks in the trade to “proclaim” to the world that India is a united society! In fact, it is only the politicians who fuel the divide, just for their vote bank politics and as common people, we should be aware of such goons and we shouldn’t fall to their prey at any cost! Hence the point here is that, each person irrespective of which class or community or sect he/she might belong to, has their own “Varnaashrama Dharma” and we should meticulously stick to it.

But is it happening today? Of course we see lot of division in the society with resepect to religions, communities, castes, creeds, etc. Even if we keep all this aside, given that we’re a part of a particular community, are we following our Varnaashrama Dharma today? For instance, how many Brahmins today are doing “Veda-Adhyayana”? Most of us have started to do every other thing apart from learning the Vedas – We go for a formal school and college education, go for jobs, handle money, do business, etc. In strict terms, Brahmins are not supposed to touch money by their hands! Of course we would argue back by asking a counter question – Is it possible to make a living in today’s world with only the “Veda-Adhyayana”? Of course not! This is where we’re deviating from our “Varnaashrama Dharma”. As per the Vedas, the Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Sudras should in their respective ways, protect the Brahmins who perform the “Veda-Adhyayana” to protect the world! But is it happening today? Who is protecting the Brahmins and in what ways? In today’s society, “Anti-Brahminism” is on the rise due to whatsoever reasons and this has resulted in a huge exodus of Brahmins to many foreign countries like the United States, Europe, Britain, Australia, etc. over the years. Of course, since Brahmins are born intelligent, they tend to excel in every profession they enter into, thus making a successful professional career worldwide! However at this point, if there can be one request or a suggestion to all of our readers, irrespective of whichever profession we might be in, and in any part of the world – We should make sure that we learn the Vedas, and perform our “Varnaashrama Dharma” in the correct way. There should be no compromise on this, although we might be into various other professions in our daily life! We should make sure that we never compromise our “Varnaashrama Dharma” and go into another profession, irrespective of who we are, what we are and where we are! Similar to the Brahmins, other categories of people should also follow their respective “Varnaashrama Dharma” without fail. First of all we should realize that no category is high or low here – All of us are equal and interdependent on each other. In fact, the Vedas has prescribed these four categories, only with the parameter called “Interprependancy” and there is no question of high or low! Hence people should neither feel jealous that they’re of a “higher” community nor feel low that we are from a “lower” community. We should never feel ashamed to follow our duties and responsibilities in this world, no matter who says what!

Thus the important message from today’s episode is that, we should never compromise on our “Varnaashrama Dharma” and if we tend to do so, we should be prepared to go to hell! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the tenth category of people who would reach hell! Stay tuned! J

In the previous episode we had witnessed two very important points as part of the discussion on the seventeen categories of people who directly go to Hell! We had witnessed an extended discussion on why we should refrain from talking about or glorifying an enemy and most importantly why we should not consume food at an enemy’s place. We saw how Bhagawan Krishna himself was an epitome of this point and how did he practically illustrate the significance of this point to the world. Eventually we moved on to the next category wherein we witnessed that those people who are using their daughter as a source of income and luxuries, and eventually delaying her marriage and happiness would also go to hell!

Now moving on to the next important category, Vidura explains thus. So far we’ve discussed seven categories and now we’re moving to the eighth category here.

“Yascha ayaachyam yaachyate kathyate!”

Here Vidura explains that if a person goes and begs for money or whatever to a wrong person by glorifying him/her with some wrong attributes, would go to hell! Normally in this world, there are two ways through which one can glorify another person – One way is to glorify him/her with the attributes that are present in that person, and the other way is to glorify him/her with the attributes that are absent in that person! But in our daily lives, which way do we normally adopt to glorify someone? We would mostly adopt the second way! It is because, only if we try and glorify a person in some way or the other, we would be able to get our things done! For instance, if a person is a bald-headed fellow, but he’s a wealthy guy, I would still go to him for the want of money and praise him that he has wonderful hair on his head! 🙂 This is how the world functions today! We’ve started to become selfish and can go to any level to get our things done! However according to Vidura such things would only take us to the brink of the Naraka-Loka or Hell! If we either sing false praises of others or if we constantly keep praising ourselves amongst everyone, we’re sure to reach Hell! We should make sure that we do not go for an obligation to a person who doesn’t deserve that status. If we do so, we should be prepared to either be insulted very badly by that person, or to get used by him/her in a wrong way! We keep witnessing this in many movies and even in real life too! If we go for an obligation to a wrong person, that person may exploit us in some way or the other and we should be extremely careful about it. Similarly, it is also wrong to sing false praises about people, just to fulfil our wishes and needs. This is also a big mistake and we should avoid it at any cost!

Now moving on to the ninth category, Vidura explains thus:

“Yascha abhijaataha prakarotya kaaryam!!”

 Here Vidura explains a very important point – If a person is born in a particular highly respected clan or community and he involves himself in activities that are not behest of that clan, he goes to Hell too! If I’m born in a particular clan, or a particular caste or a particular “Varnaashrama”, I should make sure that I stick to my “Varnaashrama Dharma” at any cost and I shouldn’t deviate from it even for a single moment! For instance, if I’m born in a Brahmin community, I should make sure that I peform my “Sandya-Vandanam” thrice a day, perform my “Gayatri-Japa” regularly, be a scholar in the Vedas and make sure that I follow the principles laid by the Vedas in my life. This is my “Varnaashrama-Dharma”. Similarly, all of us should make it a point that we follow our “Varnaashrama-Dharma” correctly without fail, and if we fail to do it, we should be prepared to go to hell!

So for today let us ponder over these two important points and reflect upon ourselves. There is an important discussion that is to follow with respect to the last point that we discussed just now. We shall wait till the next episode for this important discussion! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed two very important points from Vidura’s explanation pertaining to the seventeen categories of people who directly go to hell! We’ve seen that Bhagawan is carefully watching those people who “smartly” commit an action that is against “Dharma” and He ensures that these people directly reach Hell without any hassles! 🙂 Moreover, those people who try to glorify an enemy and respect or worship him, he goes to hell! We also witnessed the modern day applications of these two points in the previous episode in great detail.

As we witness each and every point here, we should ponder about them and check whether we would fall under any of these categories knowingly or unknowingly! As we explore these categories deeper and deeper, it would be astonishing and/or stunning for all of us to realize that we would somehow or somewhere fall under atleast one of the seventeen categories! We might wonder how! Every passing day, we keep performing unwanted activities that neither adds value to us nor to Bhagawan nor to our society around us! Every passing day we knowingly keep committing sin after sin and we keep thinking that nobody is noticing us! However, if we think that we’re smart, Bhagawan is ten times smarter than us and he knows each and every action that we commit in this world! Of course all of us make mistakes in this world as human beings and none of us are perfect. But at the same time, we should realize that we can slowly and steadily cut down on our mistakes every passing day and this itself would please Bhagawan’s heart. Bhagawan also knows that all His children do make mistakes, but all what he’s interested is whether we realize that we’re doing mistakes and come to Him with a total surrender or not! If we’re able to do that, Bhagawan is going to take care of us in every way possible and we needn’t worry about anything after that.

More than this, when we witnessed the explanation on the sixth category that a person shouldn’t glorify an enemy and should not consume food at an enemy’s place, we can witness Bhagawan Krishna himself as an example for this illustration. When Bhagawan Krishna visits Duryodhana just days before the war commences, Duryodhana asks Krishna thus, “Oh Krishna! I heard that you had gone to Vidura’s house a few days ago and had lunch at his place! Who is Vidura after all? He’s the son of a third-rated servant! Rather than going to his place, you should have either come to my place or to Bhishma’s or Dhronaachaarya’s! Why did you do this?” As Duryodhana questions thus, Bhagawan replies him back, “Oh Duryodhana! Aren’t you aware of the ‘Raaja-Dharma’ that one shouldn’t consume food at an enemy’s place? If I would have come to your or Bhishma’s or Dhrona’s place for food, I would have got indebted to an enemy in terms of food and thus the enemity would disappear! Rather, I would be obligated to return a favor for an enemy, which is not correct as per the “Dharma”! If I would have done as you said, this world would find me at fault as long as the sun and moon exist!”

Upon hearing this from Bhagawan Krishna, Duryodhana asks back, “Oh Krishna! Why are you saying that you are my enemy? My enemy is not you, but those Paandavas! I do not have any kind of problem or dispute with you! All my problems are with those five Paandavas only and hence how do you say that I’m your enemy and you wouldn’t consume food at my place?” Now Bhagawan replies back, “Oh Duryodhana! Please note that the Paandavas are like my breath! If you consider the Paandavas as your enemies, it goes without saying that you’re considering me as your enemy as well! There is no difference between them and me! I would always stand by the “Dharma” and the place where “Dharma” dwells and unfortunately, the Dharma doesn’t dwell on your side! Hence I can never be on your side and you automatically qualify to become my enemy!”

Hence from this small episode on the dialogue between Duryodhana and Bhagawan Krishna, we can clearly infer that we should always keep our enemies at bay and should be very careful in dealing with them. We should not get carried away by their whims and fancies and should neither praise nor even talk about them! This is why even today people say that if the dispute between two people is in the judistriciton of the court, it is better neither to talk about it with each other, nor in the public domain.

Now moving on to the next category of people going to hell, Vidura explains thus,

“Stryasyato rakshati bhadramashnute!!”

Here Vidura explains the next important category – Here he says that if a girl’s parents are sending their daughter to work to earn money and thereby trying to make a living out of it, thus eventually delaying her marriage and her life, would go to hell! Sadly we see many families today who act this way – Parents delay their daughter’s marriage just for the pretext of her career growth and eventually these parents start making a luxurious living with their daughter’s earnings! In the modern day we see this going to the next level too – Wherein, even if the parents marry their daughter to a boy, they keep pestering her “behind the scenes” and finally disrupt her peaceful and happy married life with her husband! We’re witnessing many young couples bearing the brunt of their parents’ torture in many ways, which eventually leads to unwanted quarrels and finally end up in divorce too! Hence, such things should be avoided. Parents should realize that the very purpose of giving their son/daughter in marriage is for their happy and peaceful life. Rather than this, if the parents are going to look at their own self-interests out of their children’s marriage, the children are never going to live happily post their marriage!

Hence for today, let us realize this important point and ponder over it! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the next category of people going to hell according to Vidura! Stay tuned! 🙂