Teamwork

Dakhsha Prajapati is a famous character in Hindu Mythology. Most of us remember him as a loving father who adored his daughter and doted her so muc that he did not approve of her marrying a hermit. His only flaw being the love of his daughter that eventually drove him to limits of sanity and eventually claimed the life of his daughter – Uma and thus forced Shiva to perform the tandav.

What we overlook is that Brahma created Daksha as his son to be a "Prajapati" – a provider for his creation and help Brahma's creation grow. Of all the Brahma's son, Daksha was chosen to be a ruler who would create a mankind and would establish ways for it to grow. He was known to be the skilled one in every field and hence got the name – Daksha. He is known to have more than a thousand sons.

Once Daksha wanted to teach his sons important lesson for future. He invited them all to his palace for a grand feast. He asked his cooks to prepare the best of the food and make sure that they cater to the needs and favorites of each of his sons. On the day of the feast, when all the sons arrived his palace, he asked them to sit in columns facing each other. When all of the sons were seated, he spoke to them about a few rules for the feast –

1. No one should waste any food served to them – This is considered an insult of the food and indirectly to the host
2. No one should bend their arms to be able to eat the food – The arms are where the strength lies, bending the arms are like showing weakness

Some of his sons left the feast listening to the rules calling it an insult to their dignity. Some were seen to be lying on the floor with their faces smeared with with the food as they tried to eat it directly from their mouth. Daksha was disgusted at the sight and was about to resturn back to his antechamber filled with sadness, when he heard sounds of laughter and burps. He turned around to see a group of his sons laughing and enjoying the feast. He looked at them affectionately and saw an innovative solution to his rules – they did not bend their hands but chose to feed the person in front of them from their plates! Daksha was thrilled – he had taught his sons the lesson of teamwork.

I had read this story in a book by Devdutta Pattnaik a few months ago. When I saw this rendition from Caritas International (See blow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhU5JEd-XRo), the story just reverberated itself. As important as it can be, there is no alternative to teamwork and the food must be respected. It is our lifeline and some of us are really fortunate to have enough of it. Just the thought of not having enough food for future invokes the animal instincts in us that drive us away from humanity. Remember – we worship 'Pashupati nath' for having overcome the animal instincts and not relishing them.