The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we witnessed yet another important message from Vidura, through Dattathreya’s words, illustrating the point that we should somehow control our instincts to avoid a situation wherein we get provoked by someone unwantedly and we shout back at them. We should exactly know when to talk and when to observe silence! Thus it is always better to avoid those situations wherein we tend to burst out with our words and the best way to avoid such situations wherein a fight is becoming inevitable is to quickly move out of that place completely! If we do so, our energy is preserved carefully within us, and most importantly we do not accumulate unwanted sins in us!

To continue and add a few more points to this above discussion, we should also understand that there is no use of being a “chatter-box” and keep talking all the time. If we do so, the world will brand us as an “empty vessel”, as per the old English proverb – “Empty vessels make the maximum noise!” Thus we should learn to control our tongue and we should talk only when it is required. We should also remember the fact that the world would respect us only if we talk lesser and lesser. Whereas, if we keep talking something or the other with everyone around, we would waste precious time and this time could be used effectively in focusing on Bhagawan within us! Many a times we spend lot of time in gossiping about others in their absence! This is the first thing that we should avoid. We should never talk ill about others especially in their absence. This habit of unwanted gossiping lays the foundation of what we call “Organizaional Politics” in modern-day management. In other words, when we’re within a company, we spend lot of time in talking ill about our colleagues, our supervisor, etc. and this starts spreading as a “bad word of mouth” very quickly amongst many other people within the organization. At some stage, the person whom we’re gossiping about, comes to know that we’re talking about him/her and thus the problem begins. Unwanted politics start happening and finally the workplace becomes so messy that we lose our peace of mind while we perform our organizational duties.

Whereas, if we reduce our unwanted talking and gossiping about others, we would have more time to focus on improving our quality of work and also to introspect within ourselves with regards to our shortcomings and weaknesses. We should remember always that everybody in this world would definitely have some positives and some negatives too. Nobody can be a perfect or an ideal human being in this world! So rather than focusing only on pinpointing others’ negatives everytime, why don’t we spend that time creatively on working on our own negatives and converting them into positives? This would not only be beneficial for us as individuals, but also for the family that we’re part of, but also for the organization with which we work as well!

Thus we should always understand that whenever the situation demands us to maintain silence, we should always rise up to the occasion and maintain silence. By this, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t talk! We should definitely do so, when the situation demands – But in a way that others wouldn’t feel offended by our words. Our words should be in such a manner that others should want to listen more and more! People should come to us and say that they loved listening to us, rather than making them say that they were waiting for us to stop talking!

Thus the strong message from the past couple of episodes is that, we should try to control our tongue at all occasions. We should be in a position to quickly move away from the place where someone is trying to irritate and provoke us unwantedly. If we stay there for a while, we would rather get tempted to give a mouthful back to that person, which is extremely undesirable. Moreover, it is always better to remain silent when some controversial issues take place – Both within the family as well as within our workplace. If we try and poke our nose unnecessarily into sensitive issues, we would only end up flaring up the issue and blow it out of proportions! If we start gossiping about others in their absence especially, it would lead to unnecessary politics and our relationships would get spoilt because of it!

So for today, let us introspect once again on this extremely important point. I’m stressing on this point a lot because of the only reason that too much of talking is the root cause of many problems in the society today. If we were able to control our tongue in a proper way, the world would definitely become a better place to live in! It is not only me who is giving so much of importance to this point. It is Vidura too who is emphasizing this point with innumerable slokas. This is because King Dhirdiraashtra and Duryodhana are also tangled into the problem mainly because they failed to control their tongue. Duryodhana became the biggest crook in the world only because he did not realize that what he was talking was nonsense and is totally against the will of “Dharma”. He went on to insult and abuse the Paandavas in whatever way possible. He used his tongue to pronounce their thirteen-year exile. He used his tongue to utter innumerable lies to defame the Paandavas in many ways! Hence from all this, we should learn that talking is an art and we need to use it constructively when it is required!

We shall wait till the next episode to explore more of Vidura’s explanation on this point! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important message from Vidura as he invokes the episode of Dattaathreya to highlight his message to King Dhirdiraashtra. He tries to convey that if we scold someone for no fault of theirs, all of their wrongdoings and sins (“Paapa”) get transferred to us, and all our good deeds (“Punya”) gets transferred to them! Hence we need to be very careful here – Already through the course of our everyday life we’re accumulating so much of sins and we should be careful not to deliberately “acquire” more sins by scolding someone unduly. Here is where we need to have a control over our natural instincts and we should remind ourselves with this important point when such situations arise.

Hence we need to realize this point in our everyday life. But are we conscious about it? Many a times we are not! This is because the “Paapa” and “Punya” accounts are intangible in nature! In other words, these accounts cannot be seen or felt with our sense organs. Whereas if we consider the other types of tangible things, we can definitely see with our eyes and thus we tend to believe them. For instance, accounts with respect to money can be seen with our naked eyes and hence we’re very careful with money matters. Whereas, the “Paapa” and “Punya” accounts are intangible in nature and we’re unable to see them with our eyes. Hence we sometimes refuse to believe that such things exist in this world! If however the “Paapa” and “Punya” accounts were tangible in nature just like money, everybody would come into the “Punya” route and would all be excellent in their approach towards life. None of us would ever go near “Paapa” or sins! But unfortunately this doesn’t happen in life! 🙂 There’s someone invisible sitting above us, who’s maintaining all these accounts and because of His invisibility, we’re refusing to accept this truth! The moment we start believing firmly over the fact that our “Aathman” is more significant than our “Deham” (Physical Body), then we would automatically start believing those facts that we’re not able to witness with our naked eye! Just because I’m unable to see something, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. For instance, there are thousands of viruses and bacteria that we cannot see with our naked eye. However, there are so many diseases that are caused by them. Yet, how do we believe that these invisible viruses are the cause of these many diseases today? It is because the doctor tells us with a firm contention that this disease is because of a viral infection and we tend to believe the words of the doctor! Similarly when our great Maharishis and Mahatmas (Gurus) explain that there are invisible “Paapa” and “Punya” accounts that keep accumulating without our knowledge and feelings, we should believe in their words and act accordingly! This is extremely important and if we do not have the fear for “Paapa” or sins, we would start indulging in any sort of crime so easily! Hence we need to be very careful not to fall into this trap!

Thus Dattathreya explains “Aakroshtaaram nirdahati sukrutham chaashya vindathi!” This means that if a person is unduly scolding and abusing someone, this is going to backfire at him very badly at some point in time!

“Paraschedhena abhividyedha bhaanair brusham!

Sutheekshnair anala arka deeptaihi sa vidyamaanoh pradhidahya maanaha!!” 

Dattathreya continues further thus, “If we get scolded and abused by someone continuously, and if we maintain our serenity and calmness, it means that we’re escaping a great deal of sin or wrongdoing! If we’re rather, gearing up for an even bigger fight than the other person, and there is going to be a tough competition as to who is going to acquire more sins than whom!” 🙂 Moreover, this is never going to end too – If a fight commences in a small way with a verbal argument, there are huge possibilities that this small verbal dual would blow out of proportions very quickly to transform itself into physical attacks, throwing abuses on each other, etc. However if we quickly move out of that place, the fight would abruptly come to an end wherein the other person would even lose interest to scold us!

If we take the example of the popular game of cricket, who can be considered as a good batsman? Can a person who hits the ball to the boundary everytime be considered as a good batsman? Especially in the “Test” format, a batsman who knows to “leave” the ball that comes outside the off-stump and some sharp bouncers aimed at his head is considered to be the best batsman. To become a good batsman in Test cricket, lot of temperament and patience is required. If the batsman goes fishing for the ball outside the off stump, he is definitely going to be caught behind or at the slips and hence, he should exactly know which balls should he score runs and which balls to leave! Similarly in life, we also need to understand very clearly as to which are the times we should talk back and which are those times that we should keep silent and avoid talking unnecessarily. If we keep answering all of what people keep asking us, it doesn’t mean that we are brilliant or intelligent. A really brilliant person would always exhibit silence at critical times, exhibit calmness and eventually win over the situation easily! This is why we always keep telling, “Silence is the secret for success!”

So for today, let us ponder over this important message of when to talk and when to observe silence! It is always better to avoid those situations wherein we tend to burst out with our words and the best way to avoid such situations wherein a fight is becoming inevitable is to quickly move out of that place completely! If we do so, our energy is preserved carefully within us, and most importantly we do not accumulate unwanted sins in us! We shall wait till the next episode to explore more on this regard! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed Vidura fuming in anger against adamant and an arrogant King Dhirdiraashtra. He bluntly exudes the fact that his close “confides” of his son Duryodhana himself, Sahuni, Karna, etc. are the biggest crooks the world has ever seen so far! They had taken every ounce of opportunity to insult, abuse and torture the Paandavas in whatever way possible. Vidura continues to slam and drive home the point that this Hasthinaapura Kingdom is never going to prosper if it goes into the hands of these crooks. Moreover, Yudishtra and the Paandavas have been steadfast in their love and respect towards King Dhirdiraashtra, but he never reciprocated their respect in any way!

This is where Vidura is trying to invoke yet another story to illustrate and highlight this point. This time he is going to talk about a person called Dattaathreya. With this, now we enter into the 36’th “Adhyaaya” of Vidura Neeti wherein Vidura is going to explain some extremely important points in an “indirect” manner and is going to poke King Dhirdiraashtra once again with illustrations and examples. But now it’s going to be about Dattathreya and his important message to the world.

Now before we go into this story, we shall first set up the context quickly – Dattaathreya was living along with “Saadhya-Devatas” (A kind of Celestial Beings). Dattaatreya is flying over the world in his “Hamsa-Vaahana”. (“Hamsa” – A particular kind of bird) This context what Vidura is going to talk about, stems from the conversation between these “Saadhya-Devatas” and Dattaatreya. Vidura feels that this explanation would be apt for King Dhirdiraashtra to understand and introspect within himself.

It should be noted here that Vidura himself talks only of Dharma, yet he would at times invoke some messages that others had conveyed in the past, to illustrate his points. Why should be do that? Can’t he go on listing the points of Dharma to King Dhirdiraashtra and to all of us? Why does he need to invoke the points from Dattaathreya and others to drive home his explanation? The reason is very simple – If he would have went on to illustrate Dharma only with his perspective, neither King Dhirdiraashtra nor any of us would have realized the credibility of Vidura’s words. It is only when he invokes the words and messages of great people, will King Dhirdiraashtra and all of us develop that trust towards Vidura’s important advice! Thus the message from this point is that, it is not enough if one preaches the Dharma by just listing down point after point and if done so, people like us would never be able to comprehend and understand anything out of it. The principles of Dharma would reach people like us only if each point is explained with some illustrations, interesting stories, etc. Only then the credibility of a person’s words is established and people would be in a mindset to listen to that person’s advice towards Dharma.

“Charantham hamsa roopena maharishi samshrutham vratham!

Saadhyaa devaaha mahaapraagnyam parya pruchhanthavai puraa!!”

Thus the context is set for Dattathreya’s message. The “Saadhya-Devatas” are asking Dattathreya few questions and Dattathreya is going to reply to all of them.

“Aakrushyamaanaha na krochen manyureva tithikshataha!

Aakroshtaaram nirdahathi sukrutham chaasya vindathi!!”

 Here Dattaathreya explains the important message – If someone looks at us and starts slamming us with scoldings left, right and center, how do we react to it? If that person scolds or abuses us, it is not correct to scold him back with equal force! But why should we keep quiet? If we follow the path of Dharma and on top of it if someone comes up to us and scolds us, all our sins get transferred to him! In turn, all his “Punya” (Good deeds) get transferred to us! Now how do we react to that person? We should only laugh at him and tell “Thank you so much!” But the real question here is that, will we get that intuition to give such a bold reply to him, without shouting back? This is where we need to work on! We need to develop that will power to control our natural instinct of scolding back at those people who scold us. If we understand this truth correctly and deeply, we would definitely cultivate the will power. The more and more a person scolds us unduly for no fault of ours, the more and more of my sins would get transferred into him. In addition, all his good deeds would get transferred to us! This is an extremely important message for all of us.

But why aren’t we able to control our instincts at that moment? It is because, our emotions run high and our ego takes over! Because of this, we tend to derive pleasure from scolding the other person with equal force! At this stage if we’re able to maintain our calm and cool, we can earn more of “Punya karma” in our life.

So for today, let us introspect on this important point. If we feel that someone is irritating and provoking us on purpose, let us not get carried away by our instincts and ego to irritate him back! Let us try to maintain our balance and realize that he is giving away all his “Punya” to me and is taking away all my “Paapa” in return! We shall wait till the next episode to explore more into this point and see how is it applicable to King Dhirdiraashtra and Co.! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed the next important message from Vidura that Mother Earth (Goddess Bhoomadevi) would definitely respect and honour those people who are highly selfless in their service to others, educated and courageous people who can have the will power to face any sorts of adversities in their life with a positive intent. In the meanwhile, Vidura highlighted to King Dhirdiraashtra that the origin of certain aspects in this world can never be ascertained – Just like the source of a river, source of a family heredity, etc. By saying so, he tries to warn and slam King Dhirdiraashtra that it was his son’s great fault to insult a woman in public and also to grab away Mother Earth (Hasthinaapura Kingdom) illegally from the people who are rightly eligible for it.

Now moving on further, Vidura is now slamming the entire family of King Dhirdiraashtra wherein he says that all of them are useless people and are only instilling poison in him to defame him in some way or the other.

“Duryodhaneta sahunou moode duchhaasane tathaa!

Karnecha aishwaryam aadhaaya kathanthvam bhoothimichhasi!!”

 Now it is clear and evident from the above sloka that Vidura is fuming in anger! He blatantly scolds King Dhirdiraashtra for his sheer ignorance and for not understanding the fact that his family members are nothing other than “Mooda” (Fools). Vidura angrily says thus: “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! I’ve never seen a bigger fool than you in my life! You’re having a thought that fools like Duryodhana, Sahuni, Ducchaasana, Karna, etc. would be the most eligible people in your courtroom to take over the reins of the kingdom from you, isn’t it? I’m amazed at your ignorance and I do not know whether to laugh or cry here! Are you doing this on purpose or without knowing the practicality of the situation? I’m sure you might know the reality, but you’re refusing to accept that your son Duryodhana is the biggest crook in this whole world! This Hasthinaapura kingdom is never going to prosper if it goes into the hands of these crooks!”

Slamming thus, Vidura continues further,

“Sarvaihi gunaihi upetaastu paandavaaha bharata rishabha!

Pitruvaktvai vartanthe teshu varktasva putravath!!”

 Saying thus, Vidura explains thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please realize that Yudishtra has already exhibited and is still exhibiting the Bhakti (Devotion) towards you as his own father! Now it is your turn to reciprocate his wholehearted devotion. You need to show love and affection towards him and give him the kingdom of Hasthinaapura rightfully. Oh King! Please understand that Yudishtra has perfectly done his duty without any blemish, under the expert guidance of Bhagawan Krishna!”

Vidura continues further, “Normally it is a routine habit in the world that younger people would falter in their duties and the elderly people would correct them. Here the situation is reverse! The younger Paandavas are steadfast in their duties and respects towards you. However, you being the eldest in the family are going the other way! Thus as an elderly person, isn’t your duty to reciprocate their love and respect towards them? You should realize that although your sons Duryodhana and Co. had insulted and harassed them innumerable number of times over these many years, the Paandavas have respected you a great deal! Do you even realize what kind of a great thing that the Paandavas are doing? Thus looking at them, you need to buck up, forget the past and pay your respect and love towards Yudishtra and the Paandavas. Also please remember one thing – More than anybody else, Bhagawan Krishna is watching all of this very closely. You are right under His nose and are under His close scrutiny. He is way too patient with what is going on currently. The moment his patience runs out, you’ll be ruined completely along with your sons in an unimaginable way!”

Saying thus, Vidura is now going to invoke another story to try and make King Dhirdiraashtra understand the reality and mend his ways. He is now going to narrate the story of Dattaatreya. Now who is Dattaatreya and what happened to him? Why is Vidura invoking his name here? Let’s wait for the answers till the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important message from Vidura wherein he was critical of King Dhirdiraashtra’s money power and arrogance. He was poking at King Dhirdiraashtra indirectly that he is trying to shield and hide his crime by using his money power and his position as a king. By doing so, he is trying to escape from the punishment for all the innumerable blunders that he had committed – Right from being a mute spectator when Draupati was physically assaulted in public, to being a mute spectator when the Paandavas were exiled for 13 long years illegally for no fault of theirs, to Duryodhana’s plot of killing them by setting fire at their home and finally trying to deny their rights to rule a portion of Hasthinapura. This is where King Dhirdiraashtra is trying to use his power and money to defame and deny the Paandavas their legal rights over the kingdom.

Thus the message is very clear and loud: We cannot cover up a sin with money power or any kind of influence from any quarter. If we’ve to face punishment for our sins, it’s evident that we need to undergo it without escaping! If we try to cover up our mistakes through any means, it only means that we’re trying to accumulate more and more sins! Hence let us realize this fact that Vidura explains and let us try not to fall into this trap!

Now moving on to the next message, Vidura talks about the importance of “Origin” of certain important phenomena in this world. He says thus:

“Rishinaam cha nadheenaam cha kulaanaam cha mahaatmanaam!

Prabhavo naadhi gandthavyaha streenaam duscharithascha cha!!”

Here Vidura says that the origin of the following three aspects in the world can never be ascertained – The age of a great Maharishi (Sage), the exact origin of a river and the exact origin of our clan of the family. Finally Vidura says, “Naadhi gandthavyaha streenaam duscharithascha cha!” – If a woman is spoilt and because of that, a family gets ruined, the original reason as to why this woman was spoilt would never be known!

Moreover Vidura explains thus,

“Suvarna pushpaam prithiveem chinvanthi purushaashtrayaha!

Soorascha kritha vidyascha yascha jaanaathi sevithum!!”

 Those people who perform selfless service for others, those people who are highly educated and those people who are powerful and courageous, will be the happiest lot of people in this world! Goddess Bhoomadevi (Mother Earth) would bless them with all the good things in life!

Now Vidura uses this sloka to corner King Dhirdiraashtra. He says thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! You’re trying to play with this earth! If this kingdom remained with your son Duryodhana, it would get spoilt like hell and whereas if this kingdom goes rightfully to the Paandavas, it would be hailed and cherished with Dharma!”

Saying thus, Vidura is going to lash out on King Dhirdiraashtra’s entire family including Sahuni, Duryodhana, Ducchaadhana, etc. and explain how is the kingdom getting spoilt in all of these people’s hands! Stay tuned for the next episode to witness this point in detail! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed Vidura’s important and an emotional advice to King Dhirdiraashtra, which is also important for all of us to comprehend. He explained how we shouldn’t forget the help rendered to us by others at any time in our life. Similarly the love and affection shown by people towards us should also be gratified and respected. While driving home this point, Vidura pokes King Dhirdiraashtra emotionally by reminding him of the innocent love and the pure heart that Yuddhishtra and co. exhibited to him and now because of the desire for the kingdom and property he is forgetting everything of it. Moreover, Vidura advises King Dhirdiraashtra not to underestimate Yuddishtra and co. just because they’re showing their love and affection towards him, without attacking him with weapons. Vidura says that the Paandavas are not taking the weapon in hand only because of the sheer respect and love towards King Dhirdiraashtra and not because they lack the power or capability to wage wars.

Overall thus, Vidura explains that Yuddishtra has never forgotten the food and love that King Dhirdiraashtra had fed him during his childhood days, but King Dhirdiraashtra has now forgotten and has underestimated Yuddishtra’s respect and love towards him.

Now moving on, Vidura drops the next bombshell here thus:

“Dhanena adharma labdhena yadchidramapi dheeyathe!

Asamvritham tath bhavati tathonyadh avadheeyate!!”

Now what’s this bombshell that Vidura is dropping? Let’s assume that a person is indulging himself in a capital crime and is getting caught too! However, to escape from the crime and the punishment, this person is trying to use his money power (earned via the “Adharma” way). In other words, this person is trying to shield himself from the crime by using his money power, and also to project to the world that he is an innocent person!

In today’s world we see innumerable cases like this – Politicians in India typically undertake this method to “prove” to the world that they’re the most innocent people that this world has ever seen! 🙂 These third-rated people of the country would indulge themselves in illegal activities like corruption, bribery, etc. and would go to any extent to “grab” money for their personal gains and status. However, when they get caught, they would have to escape through some means isn’t it? So what would they do? They’ll “suddenly” have a chest pain (Only Bhagawan knows from where would they get it exactly at that time!) and immediately create a ruckus and an alibi! So they would be “rushed” to a hospital and would be admitted there for treatment! In this way, they would escape from going to the prison!

Thus what’s happening here? Politicians in the modern day use their money power and try to create an alibi for themselves so as to escape from the punishment that they’re due to receive! These people would get all sorts of diseases only at this particular time of their arrest! Till then, they would happily roam around, harass people and grab money from all of us and during these times, they would never get chest pain or any other disease! So what do we learn here? The typical case here is that, some people use their money power and influence to safeguard themselves from their crime. How accurate a prediction is this from Vidura! It’s amazing to see here that Vidura has exactly pointed out what would happen in the Kali Yuga, some 5000 years ago!

Now the question here is that, is this method right or wrong! Here is where Vidura clarifies – He says thus: “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! By doing so, you’re only accumulating one more crime to your Paapa account! Bhagawan would never tolerate this in any case! You’re doing a crime first up. To cover it up, you’re trying to use your position and money power and by this, you’re accumulating sin after sin! You’ve committed a huge crime by sending the Paandavas on exile for thirteen long years! You had committed another huge blunder when you were witnessing Duryodhana trying to kill them by setting fire to their home. You’ve committed another blunder when you were witnessing Draupati being harassed in front of your courtroom!To cover up all these blunders of yours, you’re trying to use your position as a king to deny them their due share of the Hasthinapura kingdom. This is the biggest blunder of all and you’re earning the wrath of Bhagawan Krishna more and more! This big sin is not going to let you live happily in future!”

So for today the message is very clear and loud: We cannot cover up a sin with money power or any kind of influence from any quarter. If we’ve to face punishment for our sins, it’s evident that we need to undergo it without escaping! If we try to cover up our mistakes through any means, it only means that we’re trying to accumulate more and more sins! Hence let us realize this fact that Vidura explains and let us try not to fall into this trap! We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next important message. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed a beautiful explanation of the modern day English proverb – “Prevention is better than cure!” Here, Vidura explains to us that we’ve to take precautionary steps (along the path of Dharma) in this birth of ours, so as to lead a peaceful and a satisfied life with Bhagawan at Vaikunta at the end of this birth. Not everyone of us can get that opportunity – Just like how we prepare ourselves well in advance for an important examination or for a job interview, we need to prepare well in advance to attain “Moksha”. Vidura used an analogy of ants to explain this important point – Just like how ants in the summer months would collect its food requirements and store it up for the winter months, we should also anticipate our future requirements and prepare ourlselves now.

Now moving on thus, Vidura is going to explain yet another important point here – He says to King Dhirdiraashtra, “Oh King! Just recollect your good olden days a little bit! Go back a few years in your past. When these Pandavas were children, how much of love and respect did they show to you? After the death of your brother Paandu, these five children saw you as their father, philosopher and guide. Even today they have the same respect towards you. However what is your reciprocal to them? Just because they’re grown up now and are demanding for their rights, you’re forgetting the colourful and the lovely past with them and is up in arms against them! How can you become such a stone-hearted person by forgetting the love and affection that they’ve showered upon you in the past?”

This is a really emotional and a heart-touching request from Vidura to King Dhirdiraashtra. Here we’re witnessing that Vidura is trying his best to convince King Dhirdiraashtra to somehow mend his ways towards “Dharma”. Vidura advises him, slams him, pokes him, uses some emotional arguments, etc. to make him understand. Here we can see different types of communication channels that a person can use to convince people. These are exactly the ways and means that are employed in modern day management as part of “Business Communication”.

Now let us witness what Vidura has to say with respect to this emotional point:

“Jeeranam annam prashamsanthi bhaaryancha gatha yavvanaam!

Sooram vijitha sangraamam gathapaaram tapasvinam!!”

Here Vidura explains with several analogies to drive home this important point: he says, “Jeeranam annam prashamsanthi” – For instance, a person has fed us with tasty and nutritious food and we’ve consumed that food too with full satisfaction. After this food gets digested, can we forget the person who gave us the food? Can we deny the fact that this person had fed us the tasty food and can we disrespect him/her in any way? Shouldn’t we respect them for the help that they’ve done to us? Next up he says, “Bhaaryancha gatha yavvanaam” – In the similar lines, can we disrespect and leave our wife/husband just because his/her beauty is lost because of advancement in age? Whatever maybe the age and/or ailment, we would always care for our wife/husband, isn’t? Similarly Vidura says, “Sooram vijitha sangraamam” – If a person was once a very powerful person and had done a lot of help for us in the past and now that person has become aged and is suffering from ailments, can we forget that person and that help that he had rendered to us? Even today we respect those people who were freedom fighters and had given their lives as a sacrifice for our nation. Do we forget them just because they had passed away or because it is almost 70 years now after India gained independence? We never forget them isn’t it?

Thus what do we see in all these above analogies? It is very clear that we should never forget the person who fed us nourishingly at a time of need. We should never forget our spouse just because they no longer look attractive because of age. We should never forget those people who were once powerful and had rendered some important help to us some day! Thus the message from this episode for all of us is that, we should never stop respecting those people who are near and dear to us at any instance and at any point in time. We should always remember their timely help and should be grateful for what they’ve done for us.

This is exactly what Vidura is trying to educate King Dhirdiraashtra. He emotionally asks King Dhirdiraashtra how can he forget the pure and innocent love and affection that the Pandavas shower over him and how can he behave in opportunistic manner to cheat and deny them their due rights. Vidura says with tears in his eyes, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Just because of this kingdom called Hasthinaapura, you’ve gone to the extent of forgetting that pure and innocent love and affection from the Paandavas! They respect you as their own father and love you with all their pure heart! When they were children, you were the person, who fed them with food, isn’t it? Yuddhishtra has never forgotten all of that. How could you ever forget all this in just a jiffy? However given your wickedness, why didn’t Yuddhishtra fight against you? He could have done that easily. But he doesn’t do that only because of the respect and love that he has for you! Please do not forget that! You’re underestimating his love and affection towards you!”

Hence for today, let us introspect upon this important point of Vidura. Let us not forget the help that was done by others to us at crucial times and let us be grateful to them for our entire lifetime! We shall wait till the next episode to witness more of Vidura’s messages! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed a very important explanation by Vidura wherein he had emphasized on the point that all our actions that we’re performing everyday irrespective of whether it is good or bad are all because of our “Vaasanas” that are a resultant of our actions in our past innumerable births. If we’ve accumulated bad actions during our previous births, the “Vaasana” is bad and even in this birth, these “Vaasanas” would push us to perform the same bad activity in some form or the other. Similarly if our actions of the previous births were good and towards “Dharma”, our “Vaasanas” would also be accordingly good and thus in this birth too, our good activities would continue. However, can that be an excuse that I’m doing bad activities just because my “Vaasanas” are bad? Can I take this as granted to continue doing bad actions? How do we overcome it? The best way is to practise detachment. If we try distancing ourselves from the results of whatever we do and if we just focus our mind on our duties, we can get rid of our “Vaasanas”. Of course, this is not easy to practice in real life, but in order to get rid of our “Vaasanas”, this is the best way to approach. So let us try consciously everyday!

Now moving on further, Vidura is going to emphasize a very beautiful aspect but an important one. He asks King Dhirdiraashtra thus, “Oh King! By all this, you’re only thinking of the pleasures that are coming to you during your present birth. These pleasures are carrying you away and you’re unable to think further. If you’re getting addicted to these worldly pleasures in this birth, what about your future births? Did you ever think of it?” Saying thus, Vidura explains a beautiful analogy to drive home this important point. Vidura says thus:

“Divasenaiva tath kuryaath yena raathraou sukham vaseth!

Ashta maasena tath kuryaath yena varshaaha sukham vaseth!!

Poorve vayasi tath kuryaath yena vriddhaha sukham vaseth!

Yaavat jeevena tath kuryaath yenah prethi sukham vaseth!!”

This is one of the most beautiful slokas in the entire Vidura Neeti that conveys an important aspect of life in a lucid and an attractive manner. Here Vidura explains, “Divasenaiva tath kuryaath – Yena raathraou sukham vaseth”! This means that, we human beings work hard during the day and because of the tiredness and satisfaction of a full and a long day’s work, we tend to enjoy a good night’s sleep. Thus we can infer that, to enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep we slog hard during the day.

Next, Vidura says “Ashta maasena tath kuryaath – Yena varshaaha sukham vaseth!!” Similarly if we look at what ants do, these ants would go here and there during the summer months and collect all its food requirements for the winter and the rainy months. This is because, during the rainy and winter months the ants would find it difficult to come out of their dwelling place owing to the water everywhere around. Moreover, during the rainy season, it would be difficult to find grains for their food requirement, as the water would wash most of the grains away. Hence as a precautionary step, ants make sure that they collect and store enough food during the summer months itself, so that they needn’t come out for food during the winter and rainy months.

Now Vidura raises the important question – “Poorve vayasi tath kuryaath – Yena vriddhaha sukham vaseth!” Just like human beings work in the day to have a peaceful and a contented night, just like the ants work during the summer months to have a contented rainy season, what are we doing in this present birth so as to have a contented future birth? From these two analogies, we can understand that if we’ve to be happy and comfortable at one stage of our life, we need to put in the hard work during the previous stage, so as to enjoy the benefits now. Similarly for our future birth to be good and comfortable, we should do the groundwork during this birth isn’t it? This is where we struggle to understand as to what do we do such that we would get freed up from this vicious birth and death cycle that we are into currently. All we need to do is to follow the principles of “Dharma” and by that we should try and accumulate our “Punya Karma” by eliminating the unwanted “Paapa Karma” in this birth. If we’re able to do this successfully, Bhagawan is going to feel happy and contended with us and ultimately it is He who’s going to grant us “Moksha” at the end.

Hence the message from today’s episode is that, just like we take the precautionary step beforehand for a bright future in this birth, we should also take that same kind of a precautionary step during this birth with all our “Punya Karma” so as to attain a bright future with Bhagawan! This is what we convey by the popular English proverb – “Prevention is better than cure!” That is, if we’re able to take precautionary steps now, we can be happy and contended later! So for today, let us realize the significance of this important message and commence our activities accordingly. We shall wait for the next episode to explore Vidura’s next important message to King Dhirdiraashtra! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important discussion from Vidura with respect to how King Dhirdiraashtra’s courtroom has failed him and is continuing to fail him at all crucial junctures. The courtroom that comprises of veterans like Bhishma, Dhronachaarya, Ashwatthaama, etc. although they might be advanced in age, but failed to stand by their “Dharma” at important junctures – Especially when Duryodhana and Co. went ahead to do the most heinous crime of insulting a woman in front of the courtroom, none of these veterans raised their hands up to stop this from happening! Vidura thus uses this opportunity to slam these so-called veterans and establish the fact that although these people might be advanced in age, they are still far away in terms of standing by the “Dharma” and “Sathya” when it matters the most. Only those who stand by the “Dharma” and always talk the truth should be present at the courtroom.

Vidura goes on to slam the entire lot of people and says that unfortunately even Bhishma hasn’t conducted himself in that fashion and hence he and the others are unfit to be part of the courtroom of a king. Of course they know the “Dharma” as per the textbook. As we say in the modern day law, “Interpretation of Statutes”, the application of the “Dharma” or the Law is very important. Hence it is not enough if we just know what is there in the “Dharma” textbook. We should also know the interpretation of the “Dharma”, when, where and how to apply it to the right context. Thus, when the “Adharma” was happening in King Dhirdiraashtra’s courtroom, Bhisma, Dhrona, etc. were silent and this is a major blunder from their part.

Thus the message from this sloka is that, “Sathya” and “Dharma” are extremely important for people in a king’s courtroom and those people who try to flex the truth for their personal gains cannot be considered the right people to advise a king on various subjects! And moreover, the truth should come from a person’s heart by default! It should not be used as a weapon to win over someone at some point in time!

Now moving on further, Vidura explains thus:

“Paapam kurvan papa keerthihi paapameva ashnuthe phalam!

Punyam kurvan punya keerthihi punyam athyantham ashnuthe!!

Tasmaan paapam na kurveetha purusha shamshithavrathaaha!

Paapam pragnyaam naashayathi kriya maanam punah punaha!!”

Here Vidura explains an extremely important aspect – Wherein, a person who commits one sin, is automatically pushed forward to commit more and more sins. For instance, if we eat a food dish and if we like it very much, we would go on to eat more of that food dish till our apetite gets satisfied, isn’t it? Nowadays we even go to the extent of getting addicted to certain food dishes in such a way that we keep eating/drinking it once in every 3-4 hours. This is what is called as “Vaasana” in Sanskrit, wherein we get so addicted to that item and at one stage we come to a level wherein we cannot live peacefully without consuming that material at that stipulated time.

Similar to this food example, there might be other activities in our life that we would like to keep on performing again and again and at some point in time, we involuntarily start doing that activity whenever and wherever we would like to do it. This is what we call as “Vaasana”. According to the “Karma Theory”, these “Vaasanas” transcend over us through numerous births. That is, if we’ve been doing an activity with lot of addiction in our previous birth, we would be pushed to continue doing that same activity even in this present birth!

Now the question is that, are these “Vaasanas” good or bad? Some might be good and a majority might be bad! If the “Vaasanas” are good, then we needn’t worry much about them. For instance, if we’re devoted to Bhagawan completely by chanting our Manthras, performing our daily “Nithya-Anushtaanas” correctly without fail, it means that we’ve imbibed the good “Vaasanas” of “Bhakti” from our previous births. However if we’re going to go behind unwanted activities like experiencing some worldly pleasures, going behind drugs, alcoholism, women, etc. it means that we’re transcending through our bad “Vaasanas”. But at some point in time, we need to wash away these bad “Vaasanas” and get rid of them isn’t it? If we continue to live with these bad “Vaasanas”, these would never allow us to progress spiritually. How do we do that? The only way to wash them away is “Detachment”. If we do not have the will power or “Vairaagya”in our life to act against our sub-conscious desires, it would become very difficult to wash away or eradicate our “Vaasanas”.

This is exactly what Vidura is explaining here – If a person is induced into doing a “Paapa Karma” or Sin, he is repeatedly pushed to committing that same sin again and again throughout his life! Nobody from outside might have induced him into committing the sin. It is only his “Vaasana” that is inducing him into the sin again and again. On the contrary, if a person’s “Vaasana” is towards the “Dharma-Maarga” (Path of Dharma), of course he follows that meticulously without any blemish. Thus Vidura advises King Dhirdiraashtra “Oh King! Please do not get carried away by your “Vaasanas” of doing bad things. Please take this as an opportunity to correct yourself. Don’t fall into the trap. Else you’ll only end up doing more and more wrong things. Already you’ve done enough and more of sins. Please do not accumulate further. Please try and wash away your “Vaasanas” by practicing strict detachment!”

This is of course not applicable to just King Dhirdiraashtra, but to all of us today! The more we get into the trap of performing sins, we should remember that we’re getting carried away by our “Vaasanas”. We should thus develop the awareness to try and wash away these “Vaasanas” by distancing ourselves from these sorts of unwanted sinful activities! Let us make a conscious attempt towards this task from today! We shall wait till the next episode to explore further into Vidura’s next piece of advice! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important aspect in the Vidura Neeti wherein Vidura is slamming King Dhirdiraashtra left, right and center for his relentless lacklusture attitude with regards to wealth and how to protect and sustain it. Vidura slams King Dhirdiraashtra for his lack of smartness in settling the issue with the Paandavas when they had just asked for five small villages! Had he given that, these issues would have not come up to this extent! He had missed a great opportunity to solve the issue once and for all by just giving up five villages! This means that King Dhirdiraashtra did not have the smartness to act at the right time and in the right way.

Moreover, from the previous episode we learnt how to accumulate wealth, sustain it and develop it further. The lessons for all of us are very clear from this sloka – If we’ve to earn sufficient amount of wealth, we should do so in the legitimate way with our actions benefitting the world. IF we’ve to grow this wealth further, we need to be steadfast in our approach and give our 100% effort to it. Finally if we need to sustain it, we need to have the capability to make the right decisions at the right time so that people around us do not get affected! If we get these three things right, wealth would sustain and dwell with us forever!

Now Vidura continues to lash out at King Dhirdiraashtra further. He is now going to talk about the constitution of King Dhirdiraashtra’s courtroom. Vidura now explains that a king should have in his courtroom only those people who really deserve to be there! In other words, a king should have only those people who can give wise ideas and solutions to critical problems around him. In this aspect he again lashes out thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Your coutroom contains of several ‘stalwarts’ like Bhishma, Dhrona, Kripa, Ashwathhaama, etc. isn’t it? Of course they are of an extremely high stature and I’m nobody to talk about them! However, I don’t have a choice now. I’ll narrate their main characteristics to you!”

“Na saa sabhaa yatra nasanthi vriddhaaha na te vriddhaaha yena vadanthi dharmam!

Naasau dharmaha yathra na satyamasthi na tath sathyam yatchalena abhyupetham!!”

Through the above sloka Vidura boldly and courageously slams the whole of the courtroom of King Dhirdiraashtra. So far till now he was lashing out at King Dhirdiraashtra only. But now he is going to lash out on the entire lot of people who make up his courtroom. He says thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! The so-called courtroom that you have, is totally unfit for anything! (“Na saa sabhaa”) A typical courtroom should consist of a blend of both youngsters and aged people!”

Listening to this, King Dhirdiraashtr quickly quips back with a heavy sigh – “Oh Vidura! I have one experienced person in my courtroom – He’s perhaps the most aged of all of them put together – Bhishma! If Bhishma is here, why do you say that I don’t have aged people in my courtroom?”

Even before King Dhirdiraashtra could complete his sentence, Vidura changes the course of his argument. He now replies back saying “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! I never completed my sentence still and why do you want to jump in and shut me up? I did not say that you do not have an aged person in your courtroom! I’m totally aware that Bhishma is there. I’m talking about “Dharma” here. Those people who do not talk and highlight the “Dharma” in the courtroom, is not considered to be an aged person! (“Yena vadanthi dharmam!) Thus, only a person who talks and preaches “Dharma” can be considered to be advanced in age!”

Upon listening to this from Vidura, King Dhirdiraashtra is still confused! Why? Bhishma is a person who always stands by the “Dharma” isn’t it? Yet why is Vidura taking Bhishma’s name now into the list of those people who preach “Adharma”? As King Dhirdiraashtra thinks thus for a moment, Vidura is quick enough to read his mind and immediately quips back, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! I’m not talking about customizing the “Dharma” according to your likes and dislikes! I’m talking about a person who follows the “Dharma” as per the rule book! Where there is “Sathyam” (Truth), there would be “Dharma” in that place! But when the infamous gambling game was taking place and when Draupati was badly insulted, why did your ministers like Bhishma and Dhrona keep quiet? Even if we assume that the Paandavas deserved that insult because they had lost the game, this is a capital insult of a woman and an aged person with experience in knowing about “Dharma”, should have stopped this from happening! Did he do that? No! Then where is the question of “Dharma” and “Sathya” in your courtroom? This is why I’m saying that your courtroom is totally unfit! Nobody has the guts to stand by the “Dharma” and “Truth” when it really matters. Then what is the use of having such people in your courtroom even though they’re advanced in age? (“Naasau dharmaha yathra na satyamasthi”)”

Vidura continues further, “Oh King! You’re also having a wrong misconception that you can interpret the truth in whatever way you want it to be. Your companions Sahuni, Karna, etc. are experts in doing that! But please remember one thing – Truth (“Sathya”) can never be morphed! Truth can never be flexible for your own personal gains! (“Sathyam yatchalena abhyupetham!”) You can never change the original form of truth at any given point in time!”

Thus the message from this sloka is that, “Sathya” and “Dharma” are extremely important for people in a king’s courtroom and those people who try to flex the truth for their personal gains cannot be considered the right people to advise a king on various subjects! And moreover, the truth should come from a person’s heart by default! It should not be used as a weapon to win over someone at some point in time! So for today, let us introspect this point within us and let us try to stand by our “Dharma” at all times! It is of course a complex subject to comprehend at one go, and I request all our readers to read this episode multiple times, so as to understand the discussion clearly before we move on further in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂