The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important quality of a “Panditha”, as explained by Vidura to King Dhirdhiraashtra. Here, Vidura had said that a “Panditha” is a person who has enormous patience to listen to others, before talking. Moreover, a “Panditha” is a person who does not talk unless extremely necessary. We discussed the application of these two important attributes of the “Panditha” in the modern day context, wherein almost all of us waste a lot of time in unwanted gossiping and talking unnecessary things that would create unwanted controversies. Eventually, we concluded that talking unwanted things would only show out and expose our ignorance and foolishness. Moreover, by entering into loose talks, people around would brand us that we are “chatter boxes” and even if we’ve to talk something important, nobody would listen to us! Thus, a “Panditha” is a person who talks only when necessary and this is an important lesson for all of us today!

Now moving on further, we shall see the next attribute of a “Panditha” as narrated by Vidura.

“Na appraapyam abhivaamchanthi nashtam nenchanthi shochithum!!”

Here Vidura explains that a “Panditha” is a person who does not worry about what he/she has lost in life. Also, a “Panditha” is a person who doesn’t grow desires on those things that should be ignored!

To elaborate this further, there are certain things that we should not over-desire in life. We see a lot of people today having a “craze” for many things in life – Little do they know whether that particular thing would add any value to their lives, however, just because of maintaining a “social status”, they would like to go behind those things. For instance, all of us now have a mobile phone. Normally if we go to a mobile phone retail centre, we would see various price segments for a mobile phone. That is, there are phones starting from Rs. 2,500 ranging till Rs. 1 Lakh. However, many of us would go for the most expensive mobile phones, just because someone else amongst our peers would be having one! The irony in this case is that, many of them would not even know the salient features of a Rs. 1 Lakh mobile phone! All they would know is to press the “Call” button and to send an “SMS”. My question is that, if a person doesn’t know any application on an expensive mobile phone and if the person’s usage is to just make calls, why to invest so much of money in a mobile phone? Rather, that money could have been diverted into some charitable activities or by doing some service to the needy!

Thus we should realize that we should desire and possess only those things or objects that would really add value to our lives. As per the old proverb, “The value of a thing is in its use!” Thus we should desire only for those things that would be of use to our daily lives. If we keep some objects that are way too expensive and without the knowledge of how to use them, we are inviting lot of unwanted complications – What if that particular expensive mobile phone gets lost? We would then crib by saying “Oh! I’ve lost that phone worth 1 Lakh rupees!” We would only tend to think of the money that is behind that object, rather than the object itself! Moreover, this person would not even have used that mobile phone fully too! All he knew was to make calls and nothing else! However if we closely analyze this situation, this person would have used that 1 Lakh-rupee mobile phone only for a worth of Rs. 2,500 – Because, he only makes calls and nothing else, which ideally a Rs. 2,500 mobile can easily do. Hence, ideally this person has lost a mobile phone worth of Rs. 2,500, but our mind would say that we’ve lost a mobile phone worth Rs. 1 Lakh. Thus, we should analyze our needs and wants and then buy only those kinds of objects that would fulfill our needs and wants.

However, the readers should note here that I’m not discouraging people to go for expensive products. That is not the point here! The point is that, if our needs require expensive products, we should definitely go for them. However, going for expensive products without understanding their significance and usage and just for attaining a “social status” is what is wrong!

Thus the important message from today’s episode is that, all of us should cultivate the habit of not getting into lavish and unwanted expenses. We should of course spend money for what is required, but care should be taken not to “over-spend” money! Rather, the money can be used for useful activities like offering to temples, charitable activities, etc. wherein the society can benefit as a whole, rather than only one individual benefitting from the money! Let us for today, think and introspect about this important attribute. We shall wait till the next episode to find out the next attribute of a “Panditha”. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed two more important attributes of a “Panditha” as explained by Vidura to King Dhirdhiraashtra. We witnessed that those who tend to “pass the buck” on to others by involving themselves in “blame-games”, would never succeed as a leader. A leader should know to see the good in everybody or everything and only then he can spread the positivity to his team or organization. He should learn to take positives out of problems too and also should not underestimate anybody or anything. Also in due course, we witnessed that “Perfection” is a very important attribute for a “Panditha”. Yes, multi-tasking is important but at the same time we need to prioritize and focus on attention on a particular task at a time so as to attain perfection in it.

Now moving on further, we’re going to see few more important attributes of a “Panditha” today, as explained by Vidura to King Dhirdhiraashtra.

“Kshipram vijaanaathi chiram shrunothi!

Vignyaayachaartham bhajathe na kaamaath!!

Naasam prishto vyupayunkte paraarthe!

Tath pragnyaanam prathamam pandithasya!!”

 This sloka explains quite a few important characteristics of a “Panditha”. We shall see each of them one after the other:

“Kshipram vijaanaathi” – A person who has a tremendously high grasping power. A “Panditha” should be a person who is shrewd enough to understand anything and everything with extreme ease!

“Chiram shrunothi” – A person having a tremendously high listening and reasoning capability. As leaders, we should develop the attribute of “listening to others”. This is extremely important for the success of a leader because, if he/she lend ears to subordinates or employees, it is a way to assure and instil confidence in them in a way that there’s someone to listen to their views and/or grievances.

“Vignyaayachaartham bhajathe na kaamaath” – Whatever task has been taken in hand, a “Panditha” would definitely finish it with perfection.

“Naasam prishto vyupayunkte” – A “Panditha” is a person who doesn’t open his mouth and talk unwantedly and unnecessarily when there is no requirement! Now this is an extremely important attribute and it needs some amount of description. Many a times we have this habit of talking in between when others are talking. We tend to do this just like a ”show-off” that we also know something about this particular topic! This is an absurd behavior! Many a times I’ve observed myself, whenever I’m going for a conference or a seminar I see many people talk in between while the presenter is presenting his/her work. They tend to ask “doubts” or question the presenter even before he/she finishes talking! This is an extremely bad habit and by doing so, they are demeaning their own respect amongst others! Thus we should realize that at any point in time we should never “show-off” ourselves by talking too much! It is to be noted here that I’m not saying that we shouldn’t talk at all! Let us be very clear here – We should ensure that we talk only when it is required to. If we just keep on blabbering something or the other continuously, others would not respect us!

Moreover, many of us have this habit of “gossiping” about others – We often involve ourselves in talking about others by saying that, “He did this! She did that! He is behaving in this fashion!”, etc. Let us think for a moment – What do we gain by involving ourselves in such unwanted talks about somebody else? The hard fact is that we lose lot of productive time and energy that could be put to use to achieve something significant! Thus we should understand here that we should talk only when required to talk, and try to avoid unwanted talks and gossips. This would show our ignorance as well as expose our shallow thought process. There is a bigger danger to this – If in an organization we are engaging ourselves in unwanted gossiping about various employees, it results in something called as “Organizational Politics”, which has the potential to even ruin our professional career! We would lose respect and trust in front of our boss or even amongst the top-level management. Hence we need to be extremely careful in what we talk, when we talk and where we talk! Even if someone approaches us for gossip, we should be smart enough to avoid those kinds of people. This is extremely important for us to become successful leaders! This is exactly what Vidura is trying to explain here too by the phrase “Naasam prishto vyupayunkte” wherein, unwanted talks should be avoided at any case! 

Thus for today, let us think over and introspect within us, all the above attributes of a “Panditha”. We shall continue witnessing more attributes through the next sloka, for which we need to wait till the next episode! 🙂 Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed two important characteristics of a “Panditha” as narrated by Vidura to King Dhirdhiraashtra. In that context we witnessed how an action plan is important for the success of a leader and that, a person should focus on the task in hand rather than daydreaming about the result that is going to evolve out of the task, thereby wasting precious time due to inaction.

Now moving on to the next sloka, Vidura is going to explain another extremely important attribute of a “Panditha” as follows:

“Yathaa shakthichi keershanthi yathaa shakthi cha kurvathe!!”

 Here Vidura explains that a “Panditha” is a person who analyses and knows his strengths and weaknesses. Also, he strategizes his work and tasks according to his strengths/weaknesses, rather than desiring for something that he cannot perform!

Isn’t this what we call in management terms, “Smart thinking” and “Smart way of working”? When will the world appreciate a person? The world will not appreciate a person only if he/she is super-rich and/or is a great achiever of innumerable tasks! The world would rather appreciate a person who works according to his/her strengths/weaknesses with perfection, thus achieving his mission successfully. The work might be even a small thing – But completing that work successfully is what is important! Thus here comes the significance of the term “Perfection” in whatever we do. Each and every one of us should strive to attain this quality in whatever activities we do. We should give our 100% effort wholeheartedly to the activity we perform, thus it would result in perfection! This is exactly what Vidura is explaining here – A successful “Panditha” is a person who strives to attain perfection in whatever he does, by analyzing what he can do and what he cannot! This is extremely important for our modern day life.

Nowadays we see lot of people claiming that they are great “multi-taskers”! The term “multi-tasking” has gained lot of prominence in today’s work environment. Even in HR interviews, candidates use this term as a “selling point” for them to impress the interviewer. Here a question may arise – Is “multi-tasking” a right or a wrong attribute? Should we multi-task or not? The answer to this question is that, if we are striving to attain perfection in our tasks, it is better not to multi-task, because, if we start multi-tasking, we would not have the 100% focus on one particular task. Our concentration would be diverted into so many other activities that our main task might lose track!

If there are multiple jobs to complete at the same time, the best way would be to prioritize which job requires urgent attention and which job does not! This would solve half of the problem! This is where many of us fail – Lack of prioritization of our work activities. As a result of lack of prioritization, we end up doing half of everything, thus none of the activities gain completion! Of course, at some point in time, we do need to multi-task. I’m not saying “no”. However if we’ve to multi-task and if the situation is demanding us to do so, we need to be extremely efficient in doing so! Else, it might backfire at us at some stage.

Hence, this is where we need to focus today – The important message is that, we need to prioritize, plan and give our 100% effort into our work, so as to attain that perfection. Also, we should spend time in analyzing ourselves and introspect our strengths and weaknesses, so that if at all we are required to multi-task at a certain point, we would be able to cope up with it by not compromising on our efficiency and productivity.

Now moving on to the next attribute, Vidura explains to King Dhirdhiraashtra thus:

“Na kinchith avamanyanthe naraah panditha buddhayaha!!”

Here is a very important attribute of a “Panditha” – Never underestimate anybody or anything in this world. Never look at the faults and shortcomings in a person or an object, rather look at the positives from them! How significant is this in the modern day!

Basically, how much of time do we waste in our lives, “criticizing” others? There are people today who would criticize others for anything and everything for whatever they do – These kinds of people exist in every walk of life. For instance if we’ve to look at our Indian constitution, why do we have an “Opposition party” in both Central and State government setups? The main purpose behind an “Opposition Party” is to critically analyze the activities of the ruling government, point out the government’s shortcomings along with constructive solutions to overcome the shortcomings. In the modern day, do we see this happening? If we’ve to look into the way the opposition parties behave today, it seems pathetic. There are people only to look at the negatives of the government, but none of them are prepared to offer a counter-solution for the existing problem! To be more blunt, all the opposition parties put together are only interested in propagating that, “Oh! Modi did this! Modi did that! Modi did not do this! Modi failed in that!” Fine! Let’s assume that Modi ji has failed! However, what is the corrective action that could have been taken to solve the issue that is raised? Nobody in the opposition ranks have a concrete answer! Is this the way responsible opposition parties behave?

Hence, we should understand that involving ourselves in continuous and a perpetual “blame-game” is not going to work. As a successful leader, one should come up with “constructive criticism”, that is, “Projecting an issue in hand, along with the steps that could be adopted to solve that issue!” If the leader is only interested in “blame-game”, he/she is not going to gain any respect from anybody! Thus a leader can be successful only if he/she is able to derive positives out of any problem in hand, rather than just keep blaming and “passing the buck”. Leaders in the opposition parties need to realize that the country is looking up for “constructive criticism” rather than “destructive criticism”. How many times are we seeing the Parliament is held hostage to the unwanted ruckus created by opposition parties? Is this what the people of this country had elected them for? Where is the sense of responsibility in them to honour the people’s mandate?

Thus from this episode, the message is that, criticizing is fine, but it should be done with a proper constructive agenda focusing on real improvement. Criticizing should not be done just to corner another person. This would bear no fruit. Hence for today, let’s think about it and introspect within us. We shall wait till the next episode to find out more! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had discussed an important quality of a “Panditha”, which is nothing but “Secrecy”. Eventually we also witnessed that a leader can be successful not only by his hard work but also with his smartness and acumen. For this smartness to prosper, “secrecy” in terms of strategy and planning is extremely important. We’ve witnessed in the previous episode few instances wherein leaders from different walks of life, be it sports, politics, science, etc. have been successful by keeping their mission secret and shielded from the outside world until the mission is accomplished successfully. Thus, secrecy is extremely important and it is not me who is saying this – It is Vidura who is saying this, thousands of years back! Here we can see the richness of our Indian Scriptural texts – We should realize that our ancient Hindu texts not only pertain to the religious aspects or spiritual perspectives of a human being, but also describes the ways in which a person should live his/her life in this world, successfully.

Now moving on to the next sloka in the same sequence, Vidura narrates to King Dhirdhiraashtra the following:

“Yasya krithyam na vignanthi seethamushnam bhayam rathihi!

Samudrirasamriddhirvaa sa vai panditha ucchyate!!”

Here, Vidura explains that a successful person (“Panditha”) is the one who is completely focused only on his mission, irrespective of whatever happens around him! It might be burning hot, or freezing cold, or scary with respect to innumerable sets of problems – This man cares a damn to all of them! And this man can be assured of success!

For instance, if we have to attend a music concert today evening, however it is raining cats and dogs outside! At one point in time we would start thinking within ourselves that, “Oh! It’s raining so heavily outside and if we now have to go in the rain for the concert, we might end up falling sick! We have a whole week of work awaiting us! So why to take risk by venturing out in the rain? Let’s stay put at home only!” This is one way of approaching the situation. The second way of looking at it maybe, “Oh! So what if it rains? This concert is one of its kind and we are fortunate enough to have this person coming to our place to perform! Hence it’s our bound duty to be present at the venue irrespective of whatever happens! If we get sick, so what? We can cure it by going to a doctor or by taking a few strips of tablets! But if we miss this concert today, we won’t be able to listen to such a wonderful concert again in our lifetime!”

We can see the difference very clearly – In the first case, we are trying to resist ourselves from going through for the concert by falling into the obstacle!

Now moving on further, Vidura explains the next important aspect of a “Panditha”:

“Yasya samsaarini pragnyaa dharmaarthaa anuvarthathe!

Kaamadhartham vrineetheyaha savai panditha ucchyathe!!”

 Here Vidura explains to King Dhirdhiraashtra that in order to be successful, a person should focus on the way to achieve the success, rather than wasting time by daydreaming about the taste of success! To explain it more clearer, I shall give an example: For instance, I’m wishing to start a restaurant that would cater to a particular locality. While doing so, my focus should fully be on how to start the restaurant and how to multiply the business that I would get out from it, rather than sitting in the corner of the wall and daydreaming that “Oh! If I start a restaurant tomorrow, I would start earning 300 rupees per day. Out of which, I can put 200 rupees into enhancing the business further and thereby earning 600 rupees! Out which, I can put 500 rupees more to enhance my business further and build a bigger restaurant, catering to the need of more people! Eventually over a period of time, I can build a huge restaurant and have crores of rupees as turnover!” If we daydream in this way, nothing is going to move an inch forward! Rather, we should get to the ground, soil our hands, slog hard with all our blood and sweat, and establish the restaurant for the money to flow in. This is what is an important characteristic of a “Panditha” – Vidura says that a “Panditha” is a person who focuses his entire effort in building up the mission and successfully executing it, rather than sitting in a corner and daydreaming about the success that might come some day in future!

Here, the readers should not mistake the above statement – It is not wrong to have high dreams and expectations for ourself. These dreams might serve as a motivation for us to work hard. I’m not talking about this. However, wasting all the precious time “Only” in sitting and daydreaming is wrong. If the dreams are not converted into reality, then what’s the use of dreaming? Hence, we should be able to convert our dreams into a suitable action plan and chug along to succeed in our mission! We can see examples in our own nation – Our “Father of the Nation” – Mahatma Gandhiji, was only focused on getting independence for our country. He was planning innumerable missions, strategies, etc. and executed them successfully too! We would’ve heard and read a lot about it. However, did Gandhiji ever think and daydream of experiencing and enjoying the independence even a day before 15’th August 1947? He did not, because his focus was only on the action, but not in the end result. This is what we need to learn from great leaders like Gandhiji.

Thus for today, we’ve seen two more important aspects or characteristics of a “Panditha” as narrated by Vidura to King Dhirdhiraashtra. Let us think about it and introspect within ourselves! We shall wait till the next episode to find out more! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had a detailed discussion about a very important modern day phenomenon called “Work-Life Balance”, wherein we tried to link the last two steps towards Bhakti to this important aspect. In due course we had witnessed some practical modern day situations wherein we tend to fail in achieving a proper balance between our personal, professional and spiritual lives. We concluded that having a regular time frame for every activity of ours is extremely important and should make sure that we do not “over-do” anything.

Thus so far we’ve discussed all the seven steps leading to Bhakti in detail – Viveka, Vimoka, Abhyaasa, Kriya, Kalyaana, Anavasaadha and Amuddarsha. So now we can evaluate our own self as to where do we stand and which step are we in currently. Even if we’re not even in the first step, there is nothing to worry about! What has gone, has gone and we cannot regain it back. Atleast from now on we should make a conscious effort to follow these seven steps meticulously. Let me also tell something – Following these seven steps is not a difficult task and all we require is the proper mindset to follow.

Now moving on with our Vidura Neeti, in the coming sloka, we are going to witness some more important characteristics of a “Panditha”.

“Yasya krithyannajaayanthi manthram vaa manthritham pare!

Krithamevaascha jaananthi savai panditha ucchyathe!!”

Here, Vidura is discussing about an extremely important characteristic of a “Panditha” or a “Learned scholarly person”. Who is a Panditha? He is a person wherein he never discloses to the outside world, his strategy and action plans as to how to go about and finish a task or a mission. We can see this in the modern day too – For instance let us take sports – Cricket for example. Each team has its own strategy to counter the opposition, both in terms of batting and bowling. We would see captains strategizing each and every move of the game, making plans to counter each of the important opponent team’s batsmen and bowlers, but not letting the opposition know about it even a bit. Why is this secrecy important? If the opposition team comes to know the strategy of ours, they would be prepared to take on, and thus they would become unbeatable! Eventually our team would end up being on the losing side of the match.

Thus we can understand here that, planning and strategizing are very important for a leader and for his/her team. More than just planning and strategizing, secrecy behind the plan and strategy is important. Finally, when the strategy or plan is executed successfully and when we see the opposition crumbling because of our well-thought about and secret strategy, only then success evolves and the whole world would be in awe to see us successful! It should be noted that only with the “Secrecy” behind the plan and strategy, we can see successful leaders emerging and this is the way through which successful leaders can outsmart others.

Even if we see in modern day business organizations, every organization would have something called “trade secrets”, which they strictly maintain within the four walls of the room. Why is it like that? It is because, if the competitor comes to know about the “trade secret” of this organization’s successful business model, he/she can easily replicate the idea and snatch away the success from our organization. Thus it is important that while we work on a task or a mission, the strategy and plans undertaken to execute the mission should always be kept as a secret. However, once the execution is over and the outcome of the mission is in the public domain, we can always share our strategies to the outside world as to how did we achieve the desired result. This is an extremely important quality of a “Panditha”. Thus here we can see that a “Panditha” is not only a learned person, but also a smart person too!

We can see many more instances too – We would have heard of our great country undertaking a great nuclear test at Rajasthan in a place called Pokhran. This nuclear mission was conducted under extreme secrecy wherein none of the countries like the United States of America, Britain, France, etc. did not even have a clue of what was going to happen! After the mission was successfully executed by our ex president of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the whole world was shocked and awestruck with India’s achievement! This is the power of secrecy!

Also, with the present day Indian government under the able leadership of our Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, we can witness a very important example – “Demonetisation”. The entire world is talking about it and appreciating the mission only because of its secrecy. In fact, the entire mission was a success only because of the secrecy behind it. On the 8’th of November 2016, when the Prime Minster announced that all 500 and 1000 rupee notes cease to exist, the entire nation was taken aback with utter disbelief and shock! In fact it was a masterstroke move because, if this secrecy would not have been maintained, all those corrupt people who possess truck loads of black money, would have been alerted and they would have found ways to escape the onslaught of the Prime Minister. It was only because of the secrecy and daring attitude of our Prime Minister, the “Demonetisation” scheme gained huge success!

Thus from all these instances we can see the importance of secrecy in our plans and strategy towards executing any mission. Only when the mission is accomplished, the “secret behind success” story should be narrated to the world! Let us think about this important idea today and try to appreciate it’s significance. We shall wait till the next episode to discuss the next important aspect of a “Panditha”. Stay tuned! 🙂

 In the past three episodes we had seen seven important steps with which the progression towards the path of “Bhakti” or “Devotion” happens. They are, “Viveka”, “Vimoka”, “Abhyaasa”, “Kriya”, “Kalyaana”, “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddarsha”. We’ve alongside witnessed several application and relevance of adhering to these steps in the modern day. Now before we move further, I had concluded the previous episode by saying that there is one more important point to be discussed! What is that? Let’s witness it today as we move on.

As we had spoken about the seven steps leading to “Bhakti”, when we were discussing the last two steps of “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddarsha”, we witnessed that we should develop a “Balanced” frame of mind in our daily lives. We shall elaborate on this further with respect to our modern day life. In the previous episode we had discussed one direction of analysis of these two important steps – In terms of treating happiness and sorrow on the same plane with a balance. Today, let us extend the analysis of these two steps in a different direction.

In the modern day, many of us are employed in private organisations across the country and across the world. As competition and the requirements increase, our workload also substantially increases day after day. Thus in management terms if I’ve to explain, the “Expectations” from the employer towards the employees have tremendously increased over a period of time. This leads to employees putting in more amount of work time at office. Subsequently what is the side effect of this? Employees are also human beings and they too have a family to address and take care of, along with other personal needs. Excessive workload can have a potential danger of hampering and eating away the quality time that an employee spends with his/her family. This leads us to an important discussion about the modern day terminology of “Work-Life Balance”. This is where we can apply the steps of “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddarsha”, wherein we need to try to find a suitable balance between our office hours and the time that we spend with our families and also for ourselves.

As we move forward in our modern day lives, we need to pay extra attention to this important fact – Money is important for our survival. However, we should not run behind money too much, by sacrificing our own happiness! This is where we should try and strike a balance. Of course I do agree that everything in this world is becoming expensive and also (many a times) out of reach for the common man. Inflation is rising every day! I do understand that earning money is important in life. However, what is the limit until which we would earn? Who fixes this limit? It is we who’ve to fix this limit for us – The moment we get a decent standard of living with a house, three meals a day, good family, settled children, we should slowly try putting the “brakes” on our efforts to earn excessive money. Again – Please note that earning money is not wrong, but earning “excessive” money, more than our requirement is what is wrong! This needs to be understood by us as we move ahead in our daily lives. We should try and spend time with our family, nurture our kids in a good way, so that they would become future leaders of this great country! All of us should make a conscious effort together in making this happen!

Moreover, we should also realize that working for “extra” hours at office is not going to result in any kind of an extra achievement. Some people have this habit of leaving for office as early as 7:30 AM in the morning and coming back home by 11:30 PM at night! Literally these people come home only to sleep. By doing this, all we are going to earn is poor physical and mental health. It is important that we should develop this habit of saying “NO” for an answer. On a personal note, when I was in France during my PhD days, one thing that I observed there impressed me a lot – The French people have strict working hours. If the closing time of office is 5 PM, the office completely shuts down by 5 PM, and there is no 5:01 PM! Whereas in India, if we’ve to close down by 5 PM, we start our work only after 5 PM! This is the result of poor planning and poor execution of the workload in most cases. Thus we need to understand that planning our workload and charting out a clear time schedule for all our priorities and activities is extremely important.

By failing to do so, we should understand one more important aspect here too – If we’ve to totally devote time only for my professionalism, then where is the time for Bhagawan? Where is the time for focusing on ourselves, and on our “Aatman” or “Soul”? Where is the time for our regular prayers and our “Nithya-Anushtaana”? Nowadays, people even talk about having a “Balanced diet”. Even in this we are not balanced today! Unable and (many a time) lazy to cook at home, we’ve become so much dependent on restaurants and fast food outlets. Little do we know and realize the consequences of such food habits and it is a pity in the modern day world that we have started having “Blood Pressure”, “Diabetes”, etc. at a very young age!

Hence, let this important episode be an eye-opener for all of us to work towards a change in our lifestyle! Let us think within us, ponder within ourselves and look for solutions to come out of this menace. The important message from this episode is that, everything in life should have a time – Be it our professional commitments, prayers, recreation, fulfilling family roles, taking care of kids, parents, etc. We should be able to balance our time accordingly to satisfy all requirements perfectly.

Let us join hands together and make a conscious attempt to implement this in our day-to-day lives! We shall wait till the next episode to witness yet another important aspect from the “Vidura Neeti”. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the last couple of episodes we had been witnessing seven important steps that would potentially lead us in the path of “Bhakti” or “Devotion” towards Bhagawan. In that sequence, we witnessed the first three steps day-before-yesterday and the fourth step yesterday. Thus the steps that were covered so far are Viveka, Vimoka, Abhyaasa and Kriya. In the last episode we had witnessed a detailed description of “Kriya” wherein we understood why are we focusing on our daily prayers along with the importance of performing the “Brahma-Yagnya”. We offer this Yagnya to purify ourselves from the innumerable sins that we keep accumulating day after day unknowingly!

Now moving on further, we are going to discuss the fifth step towards “Bhakti”, which is nothing but “Kalyaana”. What does this word “Kalyaana” signify? It is nothing but our “character” or our “Gunas” that we are comprised of. When we were discussing the Valmiki Ramayana in our previous season, the readers might remember that we had a detailed discussion on Lord Rama’s sixteen “Kalyaana Gunas”. We learnt innumerable important lessons for life as well as successful leadership from these sixteen “Kalyaana Gunas” of Lord Rama. This is what exactly we are going to recall at this step. If we’ve to list out a few of those important “Kalyaana Gunas” that we require to travel in the path of Bhakti, they are “Dayaa”, “Sathyam”, “Shoucham”, “Dhaanam”, “Soulabhyam”, “Sousheelyam”, etc.

If we come across the people who are needy, we should have the Guna of “Dayaa” wherein we would automatically empathize with them and help them in whatever way we can. Given any circumstance or situation in life, we should always stand by the “Sathya” or “Truth”. We should always speak only the truth and be straightforward to everybody irrespective of who they are and what is the situation in hand. “Dhaanam” is nothing but donating one’s property to someone who is in need. “Sousheelyam” is a very important Guna, wherein we go to the level of other people and move with them, so as to understand their problems, thus making them feel comfortable. Thus, all such “Kalyaana Gunas” are extremely important as we progress towards “Bhakti”.

Now moving on, we shall look into the sixth and seventh steps together – “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddarsha”.

What is this “Anavasaadha”? This is a phenomenon wherein we tend to feel bad and uncomfortable whenever we encounter a change in lifestyle. For instance, when we are travelling from one place to the other, the climatic conditions, varieties and tastes of food items, water, etc. keep changing and are not constant. Thus, if we start cribbing about these changes and if we are unable to adjust quickly to the practicality of that particular place, this is called as “Anavasaadha”. So from this step, we can understand that we should not feel bad about such changing conditions and we should develop the capability to adjust and tolerate tough situations.

At the same time, if we happen to go to a place that is more luxurious and posh compared to our present place, we shouldn’t feel overwhelmed and jump up and down with happiness too and this is called “Anuddarsha”. Thus we should realize from these two steps of “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddarsha” that we should develop a balanced frame of mind irrespective of whichever condition and whichever place we are subjected to!

We shall now discuss the implications of these two steps in the modern day life scenarios. In short, we can summarize this into one term called “Tolerance”. This tolerance is extremely important if we’ve to progress forward towards Bhakti. For instance we would have heard from many sources that if one has to be a “Brahmachaari”, he should sacrifice all the luxuries of life – Refraining from using a pillow or even a proper bed to sleep, refraining from involving oneself into worldly pleasures like travelling by a luxurious car, sitting under an air-conditioner, using expensive gadgets like mobile phones, etc. Why do we have this many restrictions as a “Brahmachaari”? It is only to test if that person is able to exhibit real tolerance in facing life as it is, without giving into any worldly pleasures. Given man’s advancement into technology and luxuries so much today, this is why we say often that it is extremely difficult to practice “Brahmacharyam” in the modern day scenario.

Moreover, we also see in the modern day that more and more people are becoming intolerant. (Of course the word “Intolerance” is politicized heavily today, and readers should not mistake the meaning of this important word). What is real “intolerance”? Intolerance is our failure to adjust and cope up with the surroundings. Forget “brahmachaaryam”! Nowadays people are becoming more intolerant towards any situation and this is one reason why we see innumerable people suffering from “Mental depression”. For instance, our level of patience is declining day after day and we keep running here and there, always wanting all things to be completed instantly without any delay! If there is some delay due to some reason, we are not able to tolerate it! Our patience runs out and we start fuming and yelling at others! Why? This is because, most of the time nowadays, we are living so much in an “imaginary” world that our expectations have become so high! Once those expectations do not get satisfied, we cannot accept it and thus go into the “depression” mode! In a nutshell, we are nowadays failing to accept life as it comes! Thus, if one can overcome all these luxuries and still tolerate (we hardly can see handful of such people), it implies that we are in the right track of Bhakti and we’ve fulfilled the fifth and sixth steps called “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddarsha”.

Lord Krishna in his Bhagawath Gita also emphasizes the importance of having this balanced frame of mind. He says,

“Sukha duhke same krithvaa laabhaa laabao jayaa jayau!”

 Through the above verse, Lord Krishna preaches to Arjuna that we need to develop the attitude of seeing happiness and sorrow on the same plane and not to get carried away by both!

Immediately we would think, “Oh! Am I a lifeless stone so that I do not react to any of the instances that life throws at us?” It is to be noted here that a mere stone or any non-living object cannot differentiate between happiness and sorrow. But we as human beings have the ability to differentiate between both! However, we should strike the balance between the two, and that is the challenge! Thus we should have the patience to tolerate both! If we’re happy, normally we enjoy like heaven and when we’re sad, we cry like hell! This is what needs to be avoided!

There is also one more important reason why we emphasize on “Tolerance” – In the modern day lifestyle, we are under tremendous work and family pressure and this gets reflected both on our job as well as within the home. For instance if there is a bad fight within the house between the husband and the wife, and if both are intolerant towards each other and are not willing to compromise, they tend to take their personal problems to someone else and vent out their frustration to a third person. Now we’ve to understand that a third person should never come in between matters that happen between a husband and a wife. However, if this wife or husband is going to share their personal problems with a third person (We do not know the intention with which this third person is coming forward to console us) and unexpectedly this person might take an undue advantage to get closer to this wife. This is where all illicit and extra-marital affairs start blooming and this would pose a serious threat to a peaceful family life! How many such instances are we witnessing in today’s stressful world? If we do not get the love and affection that we require from our home, we tend to go after it with someone else from outside! This is why we say that we need to treat problems and happiness in the same plane and shouldn’t get carried away by both!

Thus for today, let us think about this societal menace and try to introspect this within our lives. If we have an impression that we are failing in these two steps of “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddarsha”, let us try and correct ourselves and progress further! There is another important point to be emphasized with respect to this context and for that, we shall wait till the next episode to do so! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we commenced an important discussion on the seven important steps that would lead us to the ultimate level of “Bhakti” or “Devotion” towards Bhagawan. In due course we had discussed three out of the seven steps – Viveka, Vimoka and Abhyaasam. We saw that the first step towards Bhakti is cleanliness – both externally and internally. Once we pass through this step, we need to put a check on our desires and expectations from something or somebody. We should be able to practise detachment in whatever actions that we perform. The third step was “Abhyaasa” wherein we witnessed the significance of chanting a “manthra” repeatedly. It gives us immense power and a positive aura around us. Moreover, “Abhyaasa” is required to enhance our understanding about Bhagawan – About his appearance, about his significance, etc. This is extremely fundamental for the practicing of “Meditation”. Nowadays, why do we find it difficult to focus our mind even for 5-10 minutes at a stretch? It is because we lack the quality of “Abhyaasa” and thus we do not have the “prototype” of Bhagawan in our mind. Thus we can see here that only with “Abhyaasa”, we can be able to think about Bhagawan continuously without a break in the middle!

Now moving on, we shall see the next important step leading to “Bhakti” in today’s episode: Till now we’ve seen the steps that are quite easily understandable for all of us. Starting from today we are going to discuss a few tough steps and I request readers to be more focused and vigilant while reading through. There might be a few terminologies that we might not be able to understand – I shall try and explain them as lucidly as possible.

4. “Kriya” – To explain this important step of Bhakti, we need to understand an important term called “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagnya”. All of us should perform this as per our sect and sub-sect. The “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagnya” consists of five (“Pancha” means Five) important “Yagnyas” namely, “Brahma-Yagnya”, “Deva-Yagnya”, “Rishi-Yagnya”, “Manushya-Yagnya” and “Bhootha-Yagnya”. When I use the term “Yagnya”, please do not feel scared that all of this need to be done on a grand manner. It’s not like that! All these “Yagnas” are a kind of “Puja” or “Prayer” that all of us need to do every day at our home, during our regular prayer time. Thus, this forms an integral part of our “Nithya-Anushtaana”.

We might immediately ask the question, “Why should we do this “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagna”? I shall briefly explain the significance – All of us in our daily lives are entangled in a situation called “Pancha-Suunai”. This means that, even without our knowledge, we are doing five different types of sins – Wherever there is a grinding apparatus (with which we make food stuffs at home), a vessel with water, stove and a cleaning apparatus.

Let’s understand this in a lucid way. Whenever we have to cook some food dishes, we need to grind some raw materials like rice, dhal, etc. in a grinder. During this process, we would be unknowingly killing innumerable number of small insects, germs and microbes! Whenever we have to light the gas stove, innumerable germs and microbes lose their lives because of the heat! When we have to purify drinking water, nowadays many of us have sophisticated water-purifying mechanisms like Aquaguard, “Reverse-Osmosis” technology, Ultra-Violet filtration, etc. While performing all these, we would end up killing thousands of bacteria and other living organisms. Also, nowadays for cleaning our house we use technology like “Vacuum cleaning” and also use some chemical solutions for mopping our floor. This again kills innumerable viruses, bacteria and other organisms. Eventually we also dust our house regularly and by that, we destroy spider webs, kill many spiders, cockroaches, mosquitoes, etc. The list goes endlessly! Thus summing up the whole thing, every passing day we are ending up killing thousands and thousands of living organisms knowingly or unknowingly! This is exactly what our Vedas term as “Pancha-Suunai”.

Killing so many organisms is a sin, isn’t it? How much of sins are we accumulating even without our knowledge? If we’ve to prevent all these sins from happening, we should stop cleaning our house everyday, stop cooking and drinking clean water! Can we do that? Is it possible? The answer is “no”! Then how do we escape from these sins? Is there a solution for all this? This is where our Vedas prescribe the “solution” called the “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagnya” and this is what is described as “Kriya”. Thus, if we do not perform this “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagnya” regularly and allow the accumulation of our unknown sins, Bhakti would not prosper! If we’ve to focus on Bhakti, the primary important step is to reduce our sins. For reducing our sins on a daily basis, we should meticulously perform our “Nithya-Anushtaanam” along with the “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagnya”.

Normally, as Brahmins, we perform this ritual called as “Brahma-Yagnya” along with our daily “Sandhya-Vandanam”. This “Brahma-Yagnya” would satisfy majority of the requirement of performing the “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagnya” since it has three main parts – “Deva Puja”, “Rishi Puja” and “Pithru Puja”. This will take care of all our unknown sins that we do regularly. Thus, the significance of performing the “Brahma-Yagnya” is that, this would destroy all our sins that we do unknowingly, just like how a fire would burn a piece of cotton roll into ashes! Along with the “Brahma-Yagnya”, chanting our regular prayers, helping the needy, sharing food with those who are our guests, providing food and shelter for animals, etc. would also enhance the requirement of the “Pancha-Mahaa-Yagnya”. Thus through all these techniques, we are trying to weed out all our sins slowly and slowly so that we are able to propel ourselves towards Bhakti.

Thus so far we’ve seen four steps for attaining progress in our “Bhakti” – Viveka, Vimoka, “Abhyaasa” and “Kriya”. The next step is “Kalyaana”. What does the term “Kalyaana” mean? What is the significance of this step? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! 🙂

 

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important sloka wherein Vidura explains to King Dhirdhiraashtra the important attributes which a “Panditha” should avoid. These attributes are in turn the characteristic of a “Moodaathma” or a person who deviates from the path of “Dharma”. Vidura advises King Dhirdhiraashtra that he better mends his ways towards Dharma, before his entire clan of “Kauravas” is completely destroyed. However, King Dhirdhiraashtra is still reluctant to mend his ways, but we can mend our ways by heading to Vidura’s valuable advice! Let’s continue to witness what Vidura is going to say next!

Now, Vidura continues to talk about how a “Panditha” is a person who is also an epitome of “Bhakthi” or “Devotion”. I’ve started this discussion in the previous episode itself, and we shall take it forward today. Before we see what Vidura says on this, there is an important set of 7 steps discussed in the “Brahma-Soothra” (authored by the same Sage Veda Vyaasa) that would lead us to “Bhakthi”. In the modern day, all of us think that we’re experts in exhibiting “Bhakti” towards Bhagawan. Now let us check if we are really experts in “Bhakti”. If we are correctly following the steps that I’m going to discuss now, we are really on the right track. Else, let us try to follow these steps from today! 🙂

The seven steps are “Viveka”, “Vimoka”, “Abhyaasa”, “Kriya”, “Kalyaana”, “Anavasaadha” and “Anuddharsha”! If we are able to cross these seven steps successfully, we reach the stage called “Thallabdhihi”, wherein we can really become an epitome of Bhakti. This is exactly what Vidura is saying in this context also. Let us now discuss each of the seven steps in detail:

1. “Viveka” – It can also be referred to as “Deha-Shuddhi”. This directly means “Cleanliness of our physical body, mind and heart”. Before we commence any divine task towards Bhagawan, we should always ensure that our physical body is clean. This is why we have the habit of taking bath before doing our regular prayers, or even before we cook something to offer it to Bhagawan. This is with respect to our external body cleanliness. The more important point is the internal cleanliness of our body – “Aahaara-Shuddhi”. This means having food items that would improve our “Sathva” Guna”. “Sathva Guna” is the one that is directly related to our patience, calmness, balance of mind, etc. “Rajo Guna” directly pertains to anger and “Thamo Guna” directly pertains to laziness. Thus, we should ensure that we consume food that would enhance our “Sathva Guna”, thereby reducing our “Rajo” and “Thamo” Gunas. For this, we should have a strict control on our diet. We should somehow make up our mind to avoid those food stuffs (predominantly non-vegetarian food items) that would directly increase our “Rajo Guna” (Anger) and “Thamo Guna” (Laziness). In the modern day, of course we are so time-stressed that we’ve almost stopped cooking at home. We’re depending on restaurants, fast food outlets for our food. However, many medical experts keep writing in blogs, newspapers, magazines, etc. that we should avoid certain food items for maintaining a good health, but still we do not exercise that advice given by them! Thus, we know that our food habits are going in the wrong direction but still we aren’t able to change our habits just because the whole world is going towards it! Moreover, our physical exercise has considerably reduced these days, owing to our urban lifestyle! Thus, from this episode, one of the important messages for all of us that, we should maintain our “Aahaara Shuddhi” properly for the enhancement of “Sathva Guna”. This “Sathva Guna” is extremely important for us to strive towards the path of “Bhakti”.
2. “Vimoka” – This means, “Controlling our desires”. We need to understand that we should not keep more expectations and desires on something or someone. This is why we always say that we need to develop the important quality of “detachment” while undertaking any task. Lord Krishna also preaches this same thing through the Bhagwath Gita. If we start desiring for the end result, we would loose the “Shraddha” or “Perfection” in the process to attain that end-result. Rather, if we perform our duties with the utmost detachment, we would be able to give our 100% efforts into it. This is the second step towards “Bhakti” – Detaching ourselves from worldly pleasures and surrendering the fruits of our actions to Bhagawan. We might ask back as to how is this possible in the modern day, given innumerable challenges that we go through every passing day! Here is where our “will-power” comes! Will Power or “Vairaagya” is very important for us to sustain and stick to the path of detachment. I understand and agree that practicing detachment is extremely difficult in this modern day set up. However, we should realize that if we’re getting too much attached to something or someone, we are going to be pulled into a trap – Just like a fish gets into the net-trap of a fisherman! Let us think about it and introspect!
3. “Abhyaasam” – If we try and learn something important, it is necessary to recollect it again and again (“Punah-punaha”) so that we remember and understand the significance of it. Right from our academic education till learning of Vedas, Upanishads or Bhagawath Gita, this is applicable. “Punah-punaha Abhyaasam” is extremely important for us to appreciate the significance of a concept or a teaching. Spiritually too, we need to recollect and perform “Abhyaasam” repeatedly to store Bhagawan’s image in our hearts! Why is it that we are chanting a “manthra” or a “sloka” 108 times, 1008 times, 100008 times, etc.? It is only when we repeatedly chant a “manthra”, will the intensity and the power increase for it! Also, if we repeatedly chant a “sloka” or a “manthra” as part of our regular prayers, we are indirectly increasing our memory capacity. Thus, “Abhyaasam” is extremely important for developing “Bhakti”.

So far, we’ve discussed three out of the seven steps that would lead us to the path of “Bhakti”. We shall continue this important discussion in the next episode to witness the remaining steps. Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode we had been discussing some important attributes of a “Moodaathma” (Unrighteous person). Eventually we also witnessed the application of these attributes in the modern day world and how people today misuse power, authority, responsibilities, etc. to resort to fulfil their own personal needs rather than the societal ones! Hence this discussion gains significance, given the innumerable modern-day societal issues that we’re undergoing every day! We concluded the previous episode by witnessing Vidura’s explanation on who is a “Moodaathma”. He has listed down several characteristics of an unrighteous person in the sloka that we had witnessed in the previous episode. Let us continue the discussion of it today.

Thus, a person who is devoid of extreme anger, extreme happiness, greed, arrogance and over-confidence is considered to be a “Panditha”. This means to say that an unrighteous person has all the above-mentioned characteristics.

Normally we would see in the modern day also that an extremely learned or a scholarly person would be an epitome of silence, balanced frame of mind and confidence. They would have innocence in their face and this is the best identification mark for a learned person! We have a proverb too in the modern day – “Empty vessels make more noise!” How true is this proverb? This is exactly what Vidura is explaining here too – Only half-learned or a “Mooda” (Fool) would boast around by saying that “I’ve done this! I’ve done that!”, etc. On the contrary, highly learned scholars like our great Maharishis of yesteryears appear as if they do not know anything at all! Yet, they are masters in Dharma and all its principles! Nowadays we see lot of people, institutions, organizaitons, etc. boasting around their “so-called” success stories and propagating them in the name of “marketing” themselves to the world! According to Vidura, such things do not add any value to anybody! Thus, a true learned person or a scholar is like a child with innocence and would never show their scholarliness outside unless it is extremely necessary.

Also we’ve witnessed in the sloka that Vidura has said – A “Panditha” should be an epitome of calmness. This directly means that he/she has complete control over “Anger” (Krodha). Whatever the situation might be, patience is very important. We’ve already seen the significance of being patient, in one of our previous episodes and we should recollect it. If there is a problem, we shouldn’t get too much carried away by it and cry non-stop! Also we should realize that on the contrary, if we taste success during our journey, we should not become too overwhelmed with it too! We can see this also in the modern-day wherein people jump up and down from earth to sky if they’re succeeding in a mission or a task! This over-exhibition of happiness is also not advisable. This is what Vidura explains by the term “Harshascha”.

The third important quality – If in the modern day if we ask someone whether he is doing his “Sandhyavandanam” or “Nithya-Anushtaana” properly every day, he would feel “shy” to say that he is performing them correctly! Why? It is because of the inert fear that what if someone would make fun of him by saying that he is “old-fashioned”!

This is a popular menace in the society nowadays. For instance, if we’ve to wear our traditional dresses like “Dhoti” or “Saree”, etc. we feel “shy” to wear it, because of the western influence! Many of us are now accustomed to wear jeans, tshirts, shirts, pants, etc. and over the period of time, we’ve forgotten our traditional dresses and their significance.

I shall just brief this point with an example: Why do we in India wear “Dhoti”? We can see this traditional form of dress being worn by men across south India. Why do we wear this? It is because of the simple reason that our climate is extremely hot and blazing, especially during summer months. Temperatures easily cross 38-40 degree Celsius. In such a situation, if we have to wear a jeans or a trouser, our private parts do not get enough air circulation and thus we end up getting some fungal infections due to the sweat and the lack of air circulation. Thus it is for this reason we wear the “Dhoti” which is nothing but a long thin cloth that can be wound around the waist. This gives lot of air circulation to the important parts of our body, thus keeping us comfortable! However in the modern day, we are so accustomed to wearing western wears, that if someone is asked to wear a “Dhoti”, he feels shy to do so! This is exactly what we should avoid! We should first realize that we should never compromise our individuality for someone else! This is very important!

However, we should feel shy only for one aspect in life – Whenever we are going against the “Dharma” and if someone points it out to us, we need to feel shy and ashamed! We should realize that we are going wrong and someone has pointed it out to us! Thus, this is what Vidura explains by the term “Hreehi”.

The next quality – “Sthambaha” – Arrogance is also a menace in today’s world! We see many instances wherein people exhibit their arrogance or over-confidence over something or somebody! This is also one thing that should be avoided as a “Panditha”.

Thus, through the above discussion we’ve enhanced our understanding on who is a “Panditha” and who is a “Moodaathma”. These attributes also serve as a foundation for “Bhakthi” and “Spiritual growth” for a person. All of us are striving to increase our “Bhakthi” or “Devotion” towards Bhagawan and thus are trying to grow “Spiritually”. In that process, we need to introspect within ourselves if we have these above-mentioned seven attributes in us. If we try to consciously imbibe them, we would automatically fall in line with “Bhakthi”. We shall have a detailed discussion on this in the next episode and then move on to the next topic. Stay tuned! 🙂