The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we had witnessed a major explanation by Vidura with regards to how a ruler or an administrator should conduct himself with respect to money and property. In today’s world this has become such an important talking point wherein we’re seeing widespread corruption in any domain pertaining to the government machinery and its officials. We might wonder why is corruption being spoken about with such intensity. The main reason for corrupt practices to take place is the lack of responsibility and accountability on behalf of the administrators and officials involved at various levels starting from the grass-root. As levels cascade, sadly the level of corruption only tends to get higher and higher in developing countries like India. We see this entire happening in our day-to-day life. It is so sad to note that India, which was the only country to preach the “Raaja-Dharma” to the world, is stooping down to such low levels of cheap and petty politics.

As discussed yesterday, the main cause for such corrupt activities taking place in India is the lack of severe punishments meted out to criminals who involve themselves in such heinous and third-rated crime. The weak (or almost inefficient and defunct) judiciary system of India seems to be the one that motivates and encourages criminals to go about their “job”. Only if severe punishment is meted out within a stipulated time frame to the offender for keeping his hands on public money, will India see light at the end of the dark tunnel!

Thus in summary of what Vidura explains here, just because a person is in the position of an administrator today, it doesn’t mean that he/she can misuse the power and authority to amass wealth illegally and illegitimately. Else, there would be a huge punishment waiting for him/her at the end of the tenure of office.

Moreover in the same sloka, Vidura explains one more important aspect – “Sthaane vriddhau tathaakshaye!!” This means that if we foresee a heavy loss coming its way in a business activity, it is better to stop doing that business rather than pumping more and more money into it. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a company should know the limit here – If the level of loss widens beyond a particular amount, he/she should be ready to close down the business without wasting further money into it. Similarly in government-run institutions too, this aspect assumes lot of significance. This is a marked difference between businesses run in India and those run in the Western countries. Businesses in the west do not shy away from closing down overnight if things do not go well with respect to their financial numbers, whereas businesses in the eastern part of the world are the contrary – We tend to think of so many aspects before making the extreme decision to close down. For instance, we think about how many people would lose their jobs and salaries if this company has to be shut down. Of course we need to think of it and is very important. However, this thought should have been there in the beginning of the business. This is why we always insist that before commencing a business, planning is very important. This planning would envisage lot of challenges that would arise in the future course of the business and based on that we shall be able to build up strategies to counter them.

Thus in the planning stage we should think of all the possible potential challenges that would creep through in due course. Once the business is commenced and becomes a running entity we need to put the maximum effort to sustain the entity and make profits from it. Once the entity is running, it should never be stopped at any point, but at the same time, we need to have a target in mind that if there are losses and if the losses aggregate to more than a certain amount of money, we should be prepared to close down without wasting further money into it. This is because, there is no use of pumping in more funds into a loss-making entity as it is going to swallow up all the hard-earned money as well!

For those people who invest money regularly in “Stock-Exchanges” need to be careful because the applicability of the above point is more here. We should always remember that stock markets are sentimental and it can drive beyond the roof on some days, but plunge below the ground on some other days! This is exactly like our human lives, which also witness numerous ups and downs throughout. Thus people who trade in the stock markets regularly should keep a limit or a threshold for the profit or loss that they make. If they breach that upper or lower limit, they would end up in big trouble.

Thus through this important point, Vidura is explaining thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! You’re trying to keep the entire undivided Hasthinaapura kingdom with you to earn more and more wealth and profits! However, you’re committing the mistake of keeping in possession the portion that is due to the Paandavas too, just for the reason for making more money through taxes. This is wrong! Please give away what is due to the Paandavas. You’re trying to enjoy the fruits what the Paandavas are due to enjoy. This is utter selfishness and please refrain from doing this!”

Hence for today let us reflect upon this important point that we should not go behind profits and money too much, in such a way that it would create jealousy and greed (like King Dhirdiraashtra), but at the same time we should also keep a constant check on the losses (if any) and shouldn’t allow it to escalate beyond a particular point. Thus as business leaders, we should ensure a balance between heavy profit and heavy loss in our business activity. Let’s wait till the next episode to continue this discussion forward! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had commenced to witness an important advice from Vidura with respect to earning wealth. Vidura clearly says that a king should earn wealth only via legitimate ways and means and if a king tries to amass wealth through an illegitimate way, it would backfire at him at some point in his tenure of office. Of course for the today’s context we can equate the word “King” to an “Administrator” of a state or a country. Vidura continues to list out several important aspects that are directly applicable to today’s administrators. We shall witness Vidura’s explanation first and then go into the applicability of it to the modern day.

Vidura continues to “poke” King Dhirdiraashtra thus: “Oh King! You’re refusing to go by the path of “Dharma” only because of your status and position of being a king, isn’t it? Just for a thought, let us assume that you are not a king and you’re in an opposition party! Won’t you ask the same question to the ruler if you’re the leader of the opposition party? Hence, you’re taking harsh and unrighteous decisions only because of the “Status” that you possess today! A king should know exactly how to use his powers in a diligent manner and not to misuse it just because he is sitting on the throne! For instance, a King should know exactly how much of wealth is present in the treasury of the kingdom. Moreover, a King should also be aware of his age and his capacity to perform righteous actions according to his age. Only if a king exactly knows all these aspects, he can be successful!” Vidura beautifully puts forth these points in the following sloka thus:

“Yah pramaanam na jaanaati sthaane vriddhau tathaakshaye!

Koshe janapate dhande na sa raajye na thistathe!!”

Thus a person, who does not know about his “limits” and is not aware of his responsibilities towards his kingdom, can never be a successful king! “Sthaane” means “Status” or “Designation”. “Vriddhau tathaakshaye” means, “profit” and/or “loss”. “Koshe” means “Gajaana” or “Treasury” “Janapade” means “country” or “Kingdom”. “Dhande” means “punishment” as many of us might know. Thus, in all the above-mentioned aspects if a person does not identify his limitations while being in that position, he is termed as an unsuccessful king.

Thus, just because if I have the position and status of an “Administrator” and I tend to misuse it to amass enormous wealth, it would give me extreme pleasure at this point in time. However tomorrow if someone else is going to adorn my status as an “Administrator”, he is going to start investigating into all the irregularities that I had committed in my last term and for all what I’ve done, I’m going to face the punishment! This is what Vidura explains here that just because a person is a king, he cannot and should not misuse his position to harass people and amass huge amounts of wealth!

Now how relevant is Vidura’s explanation in today’s world! In fact, I needn’t even explain the relevance here because each and every one of us are witnessing similar cases almost every passing day! If we take the example of India alone, how many politicians do we see today with tainted and tarnished images? Everyday we hear of some politician or the other getting involved in amassing “disproportionate assets”, involving in corrupt activities like bribery, stacking huge stashes of cash in foreign banks, amassing excessive amounts of expensive goods like gold, silver, high-end mobiles phones, high-end cars, etc. As a responsible citizen of India, do we have the guts to ask these third-rated politicians as to what is his source of income to buy such expensive items for themself? Afterall we should realize that these third-rated corrupt and anti-national politicians are eating away our hard-earned money that we pay as “taxes”. Do we stand up as a country and ask them for accountability? The sad answer is “No!”

Worse than all this, politicians are brazenly supported for their illegal activities by our judiciary system, perhaps the most incompetent of all countries in the world put together! I know that I’m making a blunt statement, but this seems true in many examples. Let us think for a minute – On an average, what is the time taken to close one case of corruption challenged upon a politician or a bureaucrat? It is pathetic to note that the average time taken for the closing of one case is about 10-15 years! If this is the situation, how can we expect these uneducated politicians to be honest? If the law of the land is made stricter and only if the stick called “punishment” is shown to them, these fools will realize their folly!

Hence to summarize, Vidura’s explanation here is that, a king should not misuse his powers to amass wealth in an illegitimate way, which sadly our modern-day so-called “Administrators” are sadly doing! Thus, unless the law of the land becomes strict with intense punishments for such heinous crimes, things would not change for good. Hence let us hope and pray to Bhagawan that things change in the near future for the betterment of our country! Let’s wait till the next episode to continue our discussion more on this important aspect! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed an important discussion as to why is Vidura continuing to advise King Dhirdiraashtra repeatedly, even though he knows that it is a waste of time. We can compare this to a real-time analogy here – If a son is going into a wrong path in life, it is the duty of the parents to advise him and try to correct and mend his ways. However, even though the parents are advising him, what if the son doesn’t pay heed? Will any parent stop advising their son just because he is not willing to listen to them? Why do parents keep on advising then? It is with the belief that if not today, this advice might be able to reform their son some other day in future! Moreover, if the parents refrain from advising their son, it becomes a crime! It is equivalent to encouraging their son to walk the wrong path in life. Hence to avoid this mistake from happening, elders should keep advising, irrespective of the outcome.

This is exactly what Vidura is trying to do here as well. He’s trying his best to convince King Dhirdiraashtra with his words again and again, with the hope that atleast one or two of his sentences would reach King Dhirdiraashtra’s mind and conscience so that he takes a step forward to correct his attitude and actions. Most importantly, Vidura’s important duty is to provide expert advice as a minister in King Dhirdiraashtra’s cabinet. If he refrains from advising, he would commit a mistake of not giving proper advice at the time when it is needed the most. Thus we should understand here that we should provide advice to people in the right direction irrespective of whether they are interested or not.

We can witness few examples of this in the Ramayana and the Mahaabhaarata as well. Let me explain this important point with two such examples from the Ramayana – There was a “Raakshasa” by name “Akampana”. We’ve discussed about this during our previous project as well, but it’s worth recollecting in this context. Lord Rama wages war with 14,000 Raakshasas during his tenure at Chitrakoota, however he kills 13,999 of them! One of them escaped and fled the war area and this fellow was none other than “Akampana”. He was the person who straightaway made his way to Lanka and to Ravana’s courtroom to apprise Ravana as to what has happened. When Akampana reaches Ravana’s courtroom he explains the significance, valor and the power of Lord Rama. Till now everybody have been praising only Ravana in his courtroom, but today we have Akampana who is praising someone else other than Ravana. This irritated Ravana as he became furious. Upon seeing Ravana getting angry, Akampana did not fear for himself. He replies back to Ravana by saying, “Oh King Ravana! I know that my words are not pleasing for your ears, but however it is my duty to apprise you of the truth! One Kshathrya prince by name Rama has managed to kill all the 13,999 Raakshasas within fraction of minutes and his valor and confidence is extremely good! Please be careful of him!” From this instance we can understand that although Akampana knows that Ravana is going to get angry by his words, he still carries on with his appraisal of the situation.

The second best instance from the Ramayana to emphasize this point is the advice given by Hanuman to Ravana in the courtroom. When Indrajith captures Hanuman and brings him to Ravana’s courtroom, Hanuman starts to advise Ravana to mend his ways and give Sita back to Lord Rama. He advises Ravana that he is walking the dangerous path of Adharma and is going to get punished for his unrighteous actions very soon! Here too, Hanuman knows that Ravana is not going to pay heed to his advice, yet he’s continuing to advise Ravana. Just like King Dhirdiraashtra in our present context, all of us know that Ravana too failed to pay heed to Hanuman’s advice and ordered his tail to be set on fire!

Hence, from these two instances we can clearly see that if we see an unrighteous action happening in front of our eyes, it is our duty to advise people not to go on with such activities, irrespective of whether they would listen to us or not. We should not misunderstand here that we should use harsh words or actions to correct others. Of course there are ways to explain things in a soothing manner to people so that they would pay heed to our words of advice. Thus if we feel that we are trying to advice the “Dharma” to someone, we should go ahead in doing it in a soft and a smooth way so that the other person would try and consider our words.

Thus moving on, Vidura commences his next part of valuable advice to King Dhirdiraashtra on various principles of “Dharma”. So what if King Dhirdiraashtra rejects or accepts Vidura’s advice? We shall accept it and try to implement it in our life, isn’t it? So let us begin to witness them one by one.

“Mitthyo pethaani karmaani siddheyur yaani bhaaratha!

Anupaaya prayukthaani maasmaneshu manah krithaaha!!”

Here Vidura is driving home a very important point that the property or money that is earned in an unrighteous way might give happiness and pleasure for a short-term, but would backfire at a later time. Only that property or money that we earn in the righteous way would be sustainable for us in the long-term. He’s advising King Dhirdiraashtra thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please note this point – You’re trying to grab the property (kingdom) that is due for your brother’s sons, which is an unrighteous action. Moreover, you’re trying to give that grabbed property to your son, which indicated your selfishness and greed! With this, you’re trying to gain happiness and victory! Please try to refrain from this heinous act! Please let your mind go according to the path of Dharma. The unrighteous path would be very attractive to follow in the short-term. But if you get carried away with it, you would fall into a pit and you would never be able to get up from it! Whereas if you follow the righteous path, it might be difficult to follow initially, but if you persist with it, it would yield you permanent happiness with name and fame! Thus oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please try not to let your mind and soul travel the wrong path of “Adharma”! Please listen to my words atleast now!”

Such is the initial advice of Vidura. From this we should learn an important lesson that whatever wealth or property we earn in our daily life, it should be in the method of righteousness (Dharma) and not by cheating or dumping anybody! For today let us begin our introspection on this important point and we shall continue this discussion in tomorrow’s episode as well, to get a strong hold on it! Stay tuned! 🙂

The previous episode witnessed the beginning of the second “Adhyaaya” of Vidura Neeti wherein King Dhirdiraashtra once again expresses his frustration and anguish to Vidura. He explains to Vidura that he knows what’s happening around him and he is also aware that he had made several blunders in that. However, the only problem with King Dhirdiraashtra was that, he was not prepared to have an “open mind” so as to listen to Vidura’s advice. He was expecting Vidura to console him and reply something that is in favor to what he is doing currently. But Vidura being an incarnation of “Yama-Dharma-Raaja” who is none other than the Lord of Dharma, cannot twist his arguments to favor someone’s vested interests. Vidura talks only the “Dharma”, even though it might poke, punch or hurt King Dhirdiraashtra in the wrong place!

From this important episode, the message for all of us is loud and clear – Whenever we go to seek advice from elderly or experienced people, we should go with an open mind so that we can grasp their words and try to implement them in our life, to witness a change in our status. Rather, if we go to someone for advice with a closed and a pre-set mind, there is literally no point in listening to anybody! This is exactly what is happening to King Dhirdiraashtra here. He is approaching Vidura with a pre-set mind and attitude and this is why, even though King Dhirdiraashtra had the incarnation of Dharma as his minister, he ended up in a disaster!

So now let us start to witness what Vidura is going to reply and how is it going to be a poke for King Dhirdiraashtra. Vidura’s first reply to King Dhirdiraashtra goes thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra!! I’m prepared to give you my inputs on this. However, I’m not sure if my inputs are going to be of any impact for you! Even if it’s not going to impact you in anyway, it is my duty to explain you the Dharma! Please listen to me!”

Here we can obviously see that Vidura knows pretty well that King Dhirdiraashtra is not going to listen to his advice. Yet, he is continuing to give his advice to King Dhirdiraashtra. We might think here for a moment that why is Vidura wasting his time to advice King Dhirdiraashtra, inspite of knowing that all what he’s advising is going into the drain! Rather, Vidura could have kept quiet and minded his own work without wasting his energy in advising a person who is not going to implement any of his good words. The fact here is that, Vidura cannot afford to go away without giving the advice! If I have the good intention that someone should not meet a disaster by going through the wrong path in life, irrespective of that person liking or not, I should render the good advice and show him the correct path. This becomes my duty.

We can witness this even in our family and friends’ circles today. Even our own spouses or children might sometimes walk the wrong path. For instance, our spouse might be an atheist. In the modern day I come across many people arguing, “So what if my husband/wife is an atheist? It is his/her problem and is not mine! We are married, yet I give importance to his/her individuality and privacy!” Let me tell something here very bluntly – This whole argument mentioned above is a bullshit! Yes, of course independence and individuality is required and should be respected, but not in this way. If we are part of a family setup, all of us should be God-loving, and there is no question of being an atheist. How can a husband and a wife be happy in their married life without the presence of Bhagawan in every action that they do?

Moreover, many of us have this wrong notion – The sole purpose of a marriage is to have kids, earn lot of wealth and live happily! Trust me – All these three things will never give us permanent happiness. How many families we’re seeing today, getting split because of property, money and children! Thus the main purpose of getting into a marriage is to stay united with each other and follow the principles of “Dharma Shaastra” and focus towards the implementation of the principles of Dharma. Eventually, both the husband and wife should strive towards attaining the “Brahmagnyaana” (Knowledge of the Divine) and ultimately attain “Moksha” (Salvation) together. Thus the institution called “marriage” is like a bullock cart pulled by two bulls. Only if both the bulls pull the cart together, will the cart move in a uniform direction. If both the bulls start fighting with each other and pull the cart in different directions, what would happen? The cart would fall on the ground broken into pieces! Hence, just like the two bulls unanimously pull the cart together towards the destination, the husband and wife should unanimously pull the cart called “life” towards the destination called “Moksha”. Thus, if either of the husband or wife derails from the path of Dharma, it is the bound duty of the other person to explain the Dharma and bring him/her back to the track of Dharma.

Thus the point is very clear here – It is the bound duty of elders, experienced people, etc. to advise those who come to them seeking their advice, irrespective of whether they are going to follow it or not. Moreover, those people who render the advice to us are those who do not expect anything in return from us. All they want is that the principles of Dharma should reach us by hook or crook. Hence, if someone is advising us without any expectations in return, it becomes our bound duty to listen to them and implement their words. For instance, why should all of us listen to Vidura’s advice? It is because Vidura doesn’t expect anything in return from us or from King Dhirdiraashtra. All what he is interested in is whether the Dharma gets propagated to the world or not. Hence we should make it a point that we listen to Vidura’s expert advice carefully and try to implement it in our everyday life.

I had emphasized this point in yesterday’s episode as well. Hence let us think about this once again for today! We shall continue this important discussion in tomorrow’s episode as well, as we move to the next point gradually! Stay tuned! 🙂

We are at an important juncture wherein the previous episode saw the conclusion of the first “Adhyaaya” (Chapter) of the Vidura Neethi and the commencement of the second “Adhyaaya”. Till now Vidura had explained an overview of all the important principles of our Indian Sanaathana Dharma. We’ve taken quite a long time (around 103 episodes) to witness them one by one in detail. Now as we move into the second Adhyaaya, Vidura is going to raise the bar – He’s now going to explain some “tough and bitter pills” to chew. Yes, it might be tough for many of us, because at some point in our lives, we might be committing or falling into the trap of certain activities of Adharma. However, all is not over yet and we still have the time to resurrect and correct ourselves. In fact, we should consider this as an opportunity given by Bhagawan to correct ourselves, rather than cribbing about our past wrongdoings.

In the previous episode I had given a brief overview of what are we going to witness in this second “Adhyaaya” and now let us commence our discussion in detail.

“Jaagratdo dahya maanasya yath kaaryam anupashyasi!

Tath bruhi tvam hi nasthaatha dharmaartha kushalosyasi!!” 

Thus here is the first sloka of the second Adhyaaya of Vidura Neethi, wherein King Dhirdiraashtra is trying to express his inability, anguish and frustration once again to Vidura. King Dhirdiraashtra says thus, “Oh Vidura! The person who is a master of all the principles of “Dharma”! Whatever you’ve explained to me so far is correct and I agree completely without any doubt! However, I feel that it is easier to tell by words, but is far tougher to implement whatever you’ve said! I know that I’m the person who is guilty here and it is because of this one blind man, the whole dynasty of mine is facing extinction. Still, I would like to listen to more of the “Dharma” through your words. Please explain me more of whatever you’ve said so far with deeper insights. I’m so frustrated and I feel as if a huge fire is burning me. My body feels the heat of the fire. Apart from my body I feel that my mind and soul are also burning. My mind is wavering so much and is not able to focus on one aspect completely. Hence oh Vidura! I want to listen to more of your valuable advice and will try to control my mind with your divine words!”

Thus, King Dhirdiraashtra is requesting Vidura for more inputs and insights. This is why we always say that if we feel mentally disturbed and upset, it is always good to listen to the advice of elders and highly evolved “Mahaathmas” or “Spiritual Masters”.

There are two types of people here – The first category of people are those who feel mentally disturbed and seek the advice of elders to wholeheartedly mend their ways and to come out of their problem. This is the correct approach that we should adopt. Else, there is a second category of people – Those who feel mentally disturbed, go to elders seeking their advice. However, they would never show an interest to follow that advice and mend their ways to correct themselves. If this is the case, what is the use of listening to the advice? Let us judge ourselves as to which category we would fall into!

For instance, we have a disease and we go to a doctor for treatment. If we meticulously follow the doctor’s advice by taking medicines on time and with 100% involvement and positivity that we would be cured soon, we would definitely get better. Else if we do not follow the doctor’s advice by not taking the medicines on time, but keep proclaiming to the world that “I’m sick and no medicines can cure my illness”, then what is the use of going to the doctor? This is exactly the category in which King Dhirdiraashtra is also falling into. He knows that he is having an issue. He is seeking Vidura’s advice. However, he would be able to come out of his issue only if he follows Vidura’s advice isn’t it? Instead, what is King Dhirdiraashtra doing here? He listens to Vidura, but is not having the inner belief that Vidura’s advice is true and implementable. If this is the case, what is the purpose of listening to Vidura’s advice?

This is exactly what we are undergoing today too! Thus the message from today’s episode is that, whenever we have an issue and when we seek the advice of elders, we should go to them with an “open mind” and listen to them. If we have our own “pre-set” thoughts and go to them and seek their advice “based on our thought process”, things are not going to improve! This is where King Dhirdiraashtra is falling into the trap – He is seeking Vidura’s advice with a “pre-set” mind. He indirectly wants Vidura to talk in favor of what his actions are. But how can that possible? Vidura is not a person who would favor a person and render advice. Vidura will only provide advice that favors Dharma. This is why King Dhirdiraashtra is unable to digest what Vidura is telling him. This is also the reason why King Dhirdiraashtra failed to implement Vidura’s valuable advice, even though he had the opportunity to listen to it directly from the “Incarnation of Dharma” himself! How pathetic!!

In the entire Mahaabhaarata text we can witness two important phases – The Bhagawad Gita – Bhagawan Krishna explains all the Dharma to Arjuna in the battlefield and ultimately advises Arjuna to surrender himself to Bhagawan. However if we have a deeper look into the entire Mahaabhaarata story, we would never come across even a single instance wherein Arjuna has surrendered himself to Bhagawan Krishna’s feet! Similarly here during the Vidura Neethi, King Dhirdiraashtra is also not prepared to implement Vidura’s advice. However, those people who were born in the subsequent generations have tried to implement Bhagawan Krishna and Vidura’s advice and surrendered themselves completely to Bhagawan’s feet. Of course they were successful in attaining “Moksha” or ultimate “Salvation”. This is the beauty of Mahaabhaarata!

Thus from this small anecdote, we should realize that it is not enough if we just listen to the advice from elders. We should meticulously take a step forward to implement the advice and bring them to practice. Hence for today, let us take a pledge that it is not enough if we as readers just read this blog and let it vanish! Each of us should take a conscious step forward to start following the content and implementing them in our day-to-day lives! We shall wait till the next episode to explore into what Vidura is replying to King Dhirdiraashtra’s words! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed a direct advice from Vidura to King Dhirdiraashtra over changing his mental stance towards the Paandavas. Vidura sends out a strong message in terms of his advice that King Dhirdiraashtra is getting along with the bad intentions and actions of his wicked son Duryodhana, who is not only ruining his own life, but also the life of the entire kingdom of Hasthinapura. It is because of Duryodhana’s hunger and greed for power, money and women, the entire “Kaurava” clan is facing extinction very soon in the hands of the Paandavas and Bhagawan Krishna. Vidura elucidates in detail that although Duryodhana puts the Paandavas to several rounds of immense torture, they have an extremely high regard and respect towards King Dhirdiraashtra. Although the Paandavas are a force to reckon with and they are as powerful as Indra and the other Devas (Celestial being), they never show it out and still abide by their respect towards the kingdom and King Dhirdiraashtra. Thus Vidura advises to split the kingdom and distribute the due share to the Paandavas to avoid major disasters that are coming by the way.

But is King Dhirdiraasthra ready to listen to all this important advice? Sadly the answer is “No!” The beauty of the whole context here is that, he himself knows very well that he is committing a mistake here – The moment when he took a stance that he is not going to split the kingdom and give a portion of it to the Paandavas, he has committed the biggest crime! Of course, he is also feeling guilty about it. But the problem is that, he is knowingly sticking on to his mistake without repenting and relenting for it since he is completely immersed into “Puthra-Vaatsalya” (Excessive affection towards his sons) and thus unable to appreciate Vidura’s excellent advice. However, Vidura is not going to give up. He is still going to try and convince his King with all the Dharma again. He is continuing that if King Dhirdiraashtra pays heed to him, he can lead a happy, peaceful and a contented life along with the path of “Dharma”.

With this note we come to the end of the first “Adhyaaya” (Chapter) of Vidura Neethi! We’ve so far witnessed Vidura’s different “packages” of “Dharma”. We had seen slokas explaining one aspect of Dharma, slokas explaining two aspects, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and finally ten aspects of Dharma packed into each sloka. We’ve also seen how all these important principles of “Dharma” are exactly applicable and relevant in our present day scenarios as well. We’ve already witnessed in the beginning that the Vidura Neeti comprises of eight “Adhyaayas” (Chapters) under the “Prajaakara Parva” under the main “Udyoga Parva”. In that way, we’ve taken 102 episodes to explain only one “Adhyaaya” and we still have seven more to witness!

Today we officially mark the commencement of our discussion pertaining to the second “Adhyaaya” and let us see how Vidura is going to structure his narrative, so as to convince King Dhirdiraashtra. In today’s episode, I shall give a brief introduction and an overview of the second “Adhyaaya”  for the benefit of our readers and what is in store for detailed discussion in this part.

Here, Vidura is starting with an important explanation on how significant is “limit” in our lives. All of us know and are aware that there is a “limit” for everything in our daily lives. For instance, if we eat more or less than the prescribed limit of food everyday, we are going to land up in severe health problems. If we’re going to scold or yell at someone beyond limits, it is definitely going to backfire at us. Similarly, for everything in life, we need to have a limit and a control. Here Vidura gives a beautiful explanation with regards to this “limits” and what are the extents to this limit and how do we practice it in our everyday life.

While explaining this important aspect, the first thing what Vidura is focusing here is that, we should never hurry up too much to complete our tasks. If we perform a task with too much of a hurry, many a times we would end up in a disaster and the output would not be of any use to anybody. Secondly he talks about the ways, in which a king should collect taxes from his subjects, how diligently people should pay their taxes dues to the government, how efficient and righteous a king or a ruler should conduct himself, (of course in our modern day context, we can assume “king” as “leader of the country, state, city”) etc. Thirdly, this chapter is going to talk about three important types of “crazy ways” in which human beings can behave or conduct themselves, and how do we meet our downfall because of these “crazy ways”. It also talks about how do we prevent ourselves from falling trap into these three “crazy” and “bad” ways of life. Fourthly, Vidura is going to talk about how do we control our five senses at all times. If we let our senses go as per their wish, it would eventually lead us to downfall and disaster and our life would become full of miseries. Thus Vidura is trying to teach King Dhirdiraashtra and all of us, how to gain complete control of our senses. Finally, Vidura is going to talk about how do we control our tongue! Irrespective of whether we implement the above-mentioned aspects or not, this one is extremely important. If we try and follow all the above aspects, but fail to control our talking and words, everything goes into the dustbin! Hence we should know what to talk, when to talk and how to talk. In this chapter, Vidura is going to explain in detail about how do we achieve this.

Thus today we’ve seen a very brief overview of the second “Adhyaaya” of Vidura Neethi and I hope our readers would have got a rough idea of what is going to be discussed from now. Of course we had to take a lot of time and episodes to discuss the first “Adhyaaya” in so much of detail, since this was a huge one and had all the fundamental aspects of our Indian Dharma in it. We needed to spend so much of time in understanding the basics and from now we shall move a little quicker. We shall wait till the next episode to commence our discussion on each of the important points that we’ve discussed in the overview of the second “Adhyaaya”. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion as to what are some important qualities of a successful “Guru”. Of course we can see here that these qualities are not only pertaining for a “Guru” in the modern day, but for all of us. In the previous episode Vidura had made a special reference to the “Art of Giving” and explained its significance to King Dhirdiraashtra. In fact it was an indirect poke at King Dhirdiraashtra because he is refusing to give a portion of the Hasthinaapura empire to the Paandavas. He is unfortunately getting along with the unjust demands of his wicked son Duryodhana.

In fact, at the end of this important discussion, Vidura directly addresses King Dhirdiraashtra thus, “Oh King! So far you’ve heard many important aspects that is essential for leading a righteous life in this world. Especially after listening to the last explanation on the “Art of Giving”, please introspect within yourself whether your mind has changed. Please try to mend your ways by doing the right thing atleast from here on. Please divide the Hasthinaapura empire in due accordance and give its due share to Uddishtra and his Paandava brothers!”

“Vane jaathaaha shaapa dagdhasya raagnyaaha!”

 Vidura continues further, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Rather than solving this issue by splitting the kingdom duly, you’ve let your wicked son Duryodhana to resort to “Adharmic” means, by sending the Paandavas on exile to the forest and made them experience immense sufferings so far! Please think for a moment whether this is right on your part as a righteous king to let such things happen right under your nose?”

“Paadoh puthraaha pancha panchendra kalpaaha!!” 

Vidura continues further, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please think for a moment here – The five Paandava brothers, Udishtra, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahaadeva – Each of these five brothers are equivalent to Indira and other Celestial Beings in terms of their strength and power. They are capable of ruling all the three worlds together at the same time. Please remember King Dhirdiraashtra! These Pandavas grew up with you only as your own sons after your brother Paandu passed away. So these five Paandavas are like your own kids. Now why do you suddenly have such a lot of hate towards them? What wrong did they do to you? It was you, Bhishma, Guru Dhronachaarya, etc. who grew them up, accepted them as their students and educated them, etc. But now just because of this silly property issue, why did all of you change your stance against the pure-hearted and innocent Paandavas? Afterall this empire is just a piece of dust! Just for the sake of being a king and with the hunger for power, you are prepared to sacrifice even the fundamentals of humanity – Love, affection, teacher-student relationship, family-relationships! Thus with this non-realization of yours, all the slokas whatever I’ve told till now, would be rendered a waste! This is the effect of “Kaama” (Desire) and “Krodha” (Anger), “Mada” (Greed), etc. Thus oh King Dhirdiraashtra! I plead to you! Please come out of all the above-mentioned bad qualities and only then you’ll be able to realize what I’m trying to tell you.

Thus I advise you again! Please change your stance and try to split the kingdom into two and give away the due share of it to the Paandavas. Please do not make a mistake henceforth. Please give them what is to be given, and please give the kingdom to them with the good intention that they would rule this kingdom in a righteous manner. This would be good both for them and for your entire clan and dynasty!”

Thus Vidura tries his best to convince King Dhirdiraashtra and makes him understand the reality and practicality of the situation. But does King Dhirdiraashtra relent his stance atleast now? We need to wait and witness in the upcoming episodes! However, irrespective of King Dhirdiraashtra relenting or not, we should make it a point that we honour Vidura’s each and every word of advice and caution and we should make it a point that we implement these important principles of Dharma in our everyday life. We shall wait till the next episode to find out more! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed Vidura’s important and a mind-blowing explanation on what are those aspects that make up an excellent “Guru” or a teacher. In that, he had listed out a few important “do’s” and “don’ts” of a “Guru”. Some important points that we had witnessed yesterday were that, a teacher is one who doesn’t create or blow up small issues amongst students into something big, he’s a person who is devoid of jealousy or head-weight, he hides his financial weakness on inability from students and avoids illicit ways of going about things in real life. If a person is able to follow such things meticulously, he would be able to set a tremendous role model for his students to follow and thus eventually become a successful “Guru”.

Further to the above explanation, Vidura adds more points. Let us witness them one by one. Here he’s going to explain some important qualities that would prevent a person into falling trap of any kind of evil or danger that might come on the way.

“Mitham bhunkthe” – A person who eats less but sufficient food and not overeating – It should be remembered that we need to have sufficient food and a “balanced diet” that would satisfy our appetite as well as keep our mind rejuvenated and active. Only by taking proper food at the proper time we would be able to achieve this. However, on the pretext of “eating”, one should not end up “over-eating”! If we happen to eat more food than what is required, our mind starts becoming inactive and lazy. This is because, more amount of blood circulation is required to digest the excessive food in our stomach, and because of this, sufficient blood doesn’t reach the brain to make it remain in the active mode. It is for this reason that we feel sleepy after having a heavy breakfast or lunch or dinner. This is why our “Sanaathana Dharma” advises us to eat what is required but to avoid over-eating. How relevant is this in today’s scenario as well! Let us try and follow this meticulously from today!

“Samvibhascha aashruthebhyaya” – A person who has the courtesy to share his/her food with others while eating – “Sharing” is one important character that all of us should inculcate in us as well as in our children. If we are not ready to give anything to anybody, what is the point in having so much of money or property or any kind of wealth? We should realize that whatever things we have with us in possession today, is not going to be ours forever. For instance, every single minute of our life we are inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. In other words, we are taking in some air and releasing some air outside. Can we argue by saying that I would only keep inhaling air and will never exhale anything outside? What will happen if we start doing this for few minutes? We’ll start feeling giddy and fall on the floor unconscious! 🙂 Hence we should focus on both earning money and donating it simultaneously. We should develop the “art of giving”. So rather than claiming ownership of whatever we have, if we are able to share a little of our money or food or any kind of property with those who are in need, it would be a great service and a help to our society and for building our nation. Of course I’m not saying that we should donate all of our property to others and go and start begging on the streets from tomorrow! 🙂 It’s our right to use the property of ours for satisfying our basic needs and save it for future. But apart from this, we need to develop a habit of saving some amount of money for helping the needy and make contributions for doing “Seva” or social activities.

“Mitham swapithi” – A person who sleeps less but sufficiently enough – I’ve discussed this already during the initial episodes of “Vidura Neeti”. This is where King Dhirdiraashtra is exactly suffering and Vidura “hits him where it hurts”. From this, the lesson that all of us should learn is that, when we go to bed every night, we should try to keep our mind devoid of worries and tension. If we’re able to do this successfully, we can get an undisturbed sleep for the stipulated period of time. Only if we have proper sleep, will our body be able to rejuvenate and refresh itself for the next day’s activities. Moreover, our sleep should be balanced between a particular time frame – A minimum of 6 hours – Between 10 PM to 5 AM. We should not sleep more or less than this! Let us slowly cultivate this habit and we shall witness a phenomenal change in our lifestyle as we progress.

“Amitham karma kruthvaa” – A person who has the capability to put more effort and to work more, but at the same time, sleeps very less – This is a continuation of the previous point. If we go to bed at 10 PM just because the time is 10 PM, we would never be able to sleep! We should work hard, get tired physically and mentally and then go to bed at 10 PM. If we’re able to do this, we would automatically get a sound sleep! If we look at the labourers who work in the agriculture, construction and other related domains, they would be able to get a sound sleep whereas we would not be able to! The reason behind it is that, the labourers perform extremely tough physical jobs, that tire out their bodies by the end of the day. With this tiredness they would easily go into the sound sleep mode. So the point here is that, we should make sure that we put in more effort and dedication in whatever we do during the day, so that we would be able to get a sound and a peaceful sleep during the night.

“Dadaathvamithreshvapi” – A person who helps others irrespective of being a friend or an enemy – This is the highest level of “Benevolence” that a person can have. If we are able to extend a helping hand to people without distinguishing them as friends or enemies, it is the best thing that we can do to the society and mankind. Thiruvalluvar explains this beautifully in his “Thirukkural” in Tamil,

“Innaar seidhaare orutthar – Avar naana nannayam seidhu vidal!!”

Here he explains that we need to do more help or good things to our enemies, than friends! Of course, it is a difficult task, but if executed well, the enemy would feel ashamed that he/she has done something bad for us! This would make that enemy feel guilty and automatically he/she would repent for the mistake.

Thus if the above characteristics are embodied in a person, he/she becomes devoid of any evil or danger that comes by in his/her life. We shall wait till the next episode to find out more such characteristics. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed ten important categories of people whom we should avoid in our lives. With this we complete one section of the Vidura Neeti wherein Vidura has explained some basic attributes, qualities and different categories of people whom we should follow and whom we should avoid. From today we’re going to commence an entirely different section wherein Vidura is going to explain key aspects of some people who are important role models for our day-to-day lives. As a first, Vidura is going to explain the important characteristics of a “Guru” or a “Teacher”. Now who is a real “Guru”? Vidura explains thus:

“Na vaiyram uddeepayathih prashaantham na dharpam aarohathi naasthvamethi!

Na durgathosmeeti karothyakaaryam tam aaryasheelam paramaahur aaryaaha!!”

Here Vidura beautifully explains the important characteristics of a “Guru” or a “Teacher” – The first and foremost quality of a “Guru” is “Na vaiyram uddeepayathih prashaantham” that means, a “Guru” is a person who does not trigger a fight between his students unnecessarily or does not blow up a dormant issue within two people into something huge. Such a person is considered to be an excellent “Guru”. For instance if two people in the classroom or the “Gurukula” might be in loggerheads and would be on the verge of an open spat. If this issue is shrugged off, most probably it would automatically come to an end and a consensus between the two people would arise. However, on the pretext of “solving” the issue, if the teacher comes in between the two students and starts to “investigate” what went wrong, this might be the beginning of a huge fight! Thus indirectly, on the pretext of “investigating” into the matter, the teacher ends up blowing up a fight that was non-existent till now. If a person involves in such things, he is not considered to be a good teacher.

For instance, if we go for attending some concerts or “Satsangs”, we would see a blanket or a mat on the floor that is spread across for people to sit on the floor. Sometimes due to over usage of the blanket or the mat, some threads would start veering out from it. Here we can see two types of people – The first type of people is patient enough to reinstate the thread that has veered off, press the edge of the mat and fold it nicely, so that the thread doesn’t come out again. In this case, the mat has been given a fresh lease of life! There is a second category of people here wherein, just because one thread has veered off the mat, they start pulling out all the other threads as well! We should never get into that category of people. Whatever it might be, the mat is important for us and not that small thread that had veered off. Thus similarly, if there is a small fight or misunderstanding, we should never try to blow it out of proportion and make it a huge issue. Thus the important role of a “Guru” is that, if there is a small fight or an issue amongst his students, he/she should try and close the issue amicably, rather than blowing it like a huge balloon and making it burst.

The next quality – “Na dharpam” – Here Vidura explains that a “Guru” should be completely devoid of self-pride or head-weight! He should not project to his students that he is a master of all subjects under the sun! Thus a person, who wants to prove himself in front of his students that he’s the most brilliant fellow in this whole world, can never be a good teacher!

Now Vidura is talking about an extremely important point – “Na durgathosmi” – Even if a teacher is in a financially poor state, he should not show that out to his students and should not project himself as a “Daridhra” (Poor or downtrodden). This is because, if the teacher projects himself in this way, students will slowly start losing respect for him. Of course, not many teachers are in this poor state today, thanks to the upliftment of this noble profession in the modern day times.

Now the next quality – “Karothhyakaaryam” – Even though the teacher is amidst innumerable problems and facing numerous challenges, he must not resort to getting into illicit ways of doing things to try and solve his issues. For instance, if the teacher is poor and struggling to meet even his three meals a day, he should not afford to resorting into wrong means and practices to obtain what he lacks. If such things happen, students would either disrespect the teacher or some students would even try and imitate the bad things that the teacher is doing. So what kind of role models are teachers setting up for the kids? Hence the teacher needs to be extremely cautious with his actions and words.

Thus, only a person who is an embodiment of these above characteristics are considered and appreciated to be an excellent “Guru” or a “Teacher”, by the world. For today, it is the time for all our beloved teachers to introspect the content of this episode. Of course I’m not competent enough to advise my own teachers who have held my hands and brought me to what I am today! But it is wise on the part of all of us, to take a moment and introspect within ourselves to check if we are on the right track. We shall continue this discussion with some more important points in the next episode. Stay tuned! 🙂

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed Vidura’s important explanation that we should consider human body as a city that is enclosed within nine different gates or entry/exit points! What are the nine-entry/exit points in our human body? We have two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth and our two excretory outlets. If we total these together, we would realize that we have nine gates in our body! Eventually we also saw a glimpse into the fundamental principle of Ayurveda wherein three important aspects namely “Vaatam”, “Pittam” and “Kapam” are primary to determine the health of a human being. If all these three elements are in balance, it can be concluded that a person is healthy, fit and fine. Problems start occurring only when there is an imbalance between one or two out of the three elements.

Now moving on further, in today’s episode we are going to witness Vidura’s explanation of ten important things in one sloka. What’s it about? What is Vidura going to talk about today? Let’s witness:

“Dasa dharmam na jaananthi dhridiraashtra nibo dadhaan!

Matthaha pramartha unmatthaha shraanthaha kruddhaha bhubukshitaha!

Tvaramaanascha lubdhascha bheetaha kaameecha te dasa!!”

Here Vidura is going to explain ten different types of people who do “Adharma”, and advises King Dhirdiraashtra to stay away from all of them. This is an important advice from Vidura and we should listen and try to implement this advice carefully in our life at every stage. Let us see the ten types of people we should avoid:

“Mattaha” – This implies those people who are obsessed with alcoholic drinks every time. Such people are bad companions and if we are around them, we would also be pulled into this menace. All of us know how severe a problem is “drinking” in today’s Indian society and I needn’t go deeper into this explanation.

“Pramartha” – This implies those people who lack concentration and focus in whatever they do, and those who make blunders in life due to the absence of dedication. At any point in time we should maintain our concentration, focus and dedication towards whatever tasks we undertake. Our mind should only be focused on the task in hand and not be allowed to deviate around. If we come across people who do not have this focus in them, it is better to avoid them completely.

“Unmatthaha” – This implies those people who are mentally unstable or mad people. Such people of course should be kept at a distance all the time.

“Shraanthaha” – Here, this implies those people who are always feeling sick and tired, especially when they’re expected to fulfill an important task or a responsibility. Some people have this habit – They would always project themselves to be sick and tired when they see an important work approaching them. For instance, if there are a few guests visiting our home, some people might be reluctant to have them. Hence they try to cite some sort of illness to escape from the extra work that would be incurred because of the guests’ visit. Such people who tend to escape from key responsibilities are to be avoided completely.

“Kruddhaha” – A person who exhibits anger and frustration every time should definitely be avoided at any cost. This is because, we would never get that pleasant feeling when we talk with them. We never know when would they yell at us and for what reason! Hence it is better to avoid such people.

“Bhubukshitaha” – A person who always feels hungry should also be kept at a distance. Sometimes we might also come across such people today, who seems to be hungry all the time and eating something or the other every minute. We should avoid such people primarily for two reasons – One is, if they feel hungry all the time, how much of food would we be able to provide them? Our kitchen would become empty in no time! 🙂 Secondly and more importantly, those people who eat a lot tend to be lazy. Their mind does not have the capability to work in full capacity and hence they tend to sleep and laze around all the time, thus shunning responsibility and work. This is why we say that we should eat, but never over-eat!! Hence, such people are to be avoided.

“Tvaramaanascha” – A person who is always nervous, tensed and over quick should also be kept at bay. In our day-to-day life, we would be able to see many such people today because of the changing lifestyle conditions. Some people would always be on toes, running here and there, tensed and doing tasks quickly but making a mess out of them! Such people are extremely dangerous to be with, because we might also fall into this trap if we are with them! Hence such people should be avoided.

“Lubdhascha” – Here’s a person who does not want to help others or share any of his possessions with anybody. Such people are termed to be “misers” and these misers are to be avoided completely because we do not stand to benefit in anyway out of them!

“Bheetaha” – A person who is always under a constant fear or threat should also be kept at bay. If we are associated with such people, we might also get into the “fear” mode and eventually we would lose our confidence level in whatever we do. We should realize that we should not fear for anything in life. Rather, we should strive boldly to face whatever problems come our way.

“Kaamee” – A person who is full of lust and desire should also be kept aside. Lust and desire are those that would eventually pull a person to shambles and hence we need to be extremely careful here. We’ve of course discussed about this many times in the past and here Vidura is reminding us one more time to be careful.

Thus Vidura has listed down ten different types of people from whom we should keep ourselves away. For today let us introspect within ourselves and our companion groups to check who all would fall under these ten categories. J If we find some of our friends, family members, etc. falling into these ten categories, it is better that we try and avoid them as much as we can.

Thus with this explanation, we come to the end of Vidura’s explanation on different kinds of “Dharma” and “Adharma” and different kinds of people to be in relationship with and people to avoid. From tomorrow’s episode we are going to witness an entirely new dimension of Vidura’s explanation wherein he commences a detailed accord on what are the important qualities of a teacher (“Guru”). Stay tuned for the important episode tomorrow! 🙂