Pitra Paksha - Homage to our ancestors

Just a week after the Ganesha Chaturthi, the Pitra paksha has started as per the hindi calendar. This period of 15 days is associated with our ancestors. This period is meant for us to remember them and all they have done for us. This is the period to pay our homage to them before starting the journey of a whole new year of festivals. A similar concept exists in people across USA, however it has lost its meaning and is today reduced to a scary fancy dress show - Halloween.

I have often wondered the meaning and the reasoning behind the fortnight dedicated to our forefathers. The curiosity piqued as this period is considered inauspicious and starting something new is not advised. I often wondered why shouldn't my forefathers be happy for me if I try to do something new? Its only later I realized that everyone is busy in praying to their ancestors and trying to strengthen their bonds for this life and afterlife, that starting something new is pushed off until later. This fortnight is kind of reserved for the living to tie their bonds with the forefathers and others who have deceased and have still not reached their destination - heaven or hell.

The story of Karna in Mahabharata did not end with his death at the hands of Arjuna. In the continuation of the story, Karna, upon his death, rose directly to the heaven. On his arrival into the heaven, Karna was greeted with great food made of jewels and gold. Karna asked Indra for the real food. He was told that all his life he had donated only gold or jewels. But Karna never donated food or homage to his ancestors. Hence he shall only get the jewels and gold for food. Since Karna was unaware of the rituals and his ancestors, he was granted a 15 days on the earth to make amends. It is said that the 15 days given to Karna are today known as the Pitra Paksha.

The hindu thought is cyclical in nature and emphasizes the Newton's third law of motion in many more ways than even Newton would have described. Per Newton's law - every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The karmic theory in hinduism says that your life is a result of your deeds in the past lives and even in the present life. Thus extending on the story of Karna, he got food to eat, when he provided for his ancestors and many others who were in need. The hindu thought has evolved over the ages and the periods of time. However, the centrality of the thought has remained the same. As per the Hindu thought, the souls of the preceding generations remain in a realm between the earth and the heaven known as the Pitra Loka. When the a soul from the next generation enters this realm, an older generation soul moves unto either the heaven or descends on the earth again based on their deeds. This movement is also based on the rites performed by the living for the dead. If the living pay their homages well and provide for the dead during the fortnight period as Karna, their ancestors gain their passage to heaven rather than returning back to the earth or being stuck in the Pitra Loka forever. Mostly the rites are performed by the sons of the family. The rites are also explained to the living as their debt to the ancestors for everything they left for the living to enjoy. This is why the male child is highly sought after in man hindu families. The Garuda Purana which is read only on the death of someone, speaks "there is no salvation for a man without a son". Though the ever changing Hindu thought about the male child was more prominent in the time period when the wars were fought and many died. To propagate the human race, the offsprings were needed. And, to increase the importance of the offspring, it is said that once a child is born, the ancestors who would have passed on that day have found their reprieve.

In my last post on the homage to the ancestors, I spoke about how the pind is prepared for the pind daan. In the Markandeya Purana, it is said that if the ancestors are content with the Shraddha rites performed for them, they shall bestow health, wealth, knowledge, longevity and salvation on the performer.

The shraddha is performed only at noon, usually on the bank of a river or lake or at one's own house. Families may also make a pilgrimage to places like Varanasi and Gaya to perform Shraddha. The shraddha is performed on the specific lunar day during the Pitru Paksha, when the ancestor—usually a parent or paternal grandparent—died. There are exceptions to the lunar day rule; special days are allotted for people who died in a particular manner or had a certain status in life.

• Chautha Bharani and Bharani Panchami, the fourth and fifth lunar day respectively, are allocated for people deceased in the past year. 
• Avidhava navami ("Unwidowed ninth"), the ninth lunar day, is for married women who died before their husband. Widowers invite Brahmin women as guests for their wife's shraddha. 
• The twelfth lunar day is for children and ascetics who had renounced the worldly pleasures. 
• The fourteenth day is known as Ghata chaturdashi or Ghayala chaturdashi, and is reserved for those people killed by arms, in war or suffered a violent death.
• The fifteenth day, Sarvapitri amavasya (all fathers' new moon day) is intended for all ancestors, irrespective of the lunar day they died. It is the most important day of the Pitru Paksha.

Though the rites of the Shraadha are usually performed by the eldest son in the family, the rites on the Sarvapitri amavasya can be performed by the daughters as well. Not only this describes the inclusion of the females in the Hindu thoughts, but also explains that the ancestral debt is equally shared between the sons and the daughters. However, since the females are associated with the ones who give the birth to the next generation, are considered to have paid their image through bearing the child.

Why should I learn my language?

The popular management theories revolve around measurements, corrections and rewards. You measure everything through the eyes of meeting success, correcting what doesn’t and reward what does.

A great thinker and a philosopher has remarked – “As is your belief, so is your behavior and hence so is your business.” In a nutshell, it means that to understand one’s business, it is important to understand what the person believes in. Looking through his glass, one finds a paradox – measurable business, but immeasurable belief. Yet, it’s the belief that leads to the business. How did it happen?

Belief is the truth or the ideas that shape up the persona – identity, thought and the aura around the person. The beliefs make the person’s opinions. The beliefs are made out of the subjective truth the person lives by. They may not mean the same to others but mean the world to the person concerned.

Hence, they are not the objective truth or absolute but subjective truth or relative given the circumstances. Belief is made and enhanced through the stories, symbols and signs around oneself. The stories that have a meaning in a context, yet meaningless to others. This is also same as mythology.

Charles Darwin, a well renowned scientist, explained the evolution of humans from monkeys. The fact that remains is that the humans are still animals with an enlarged brain. It’s the brain or the mind that distinguishes the humans from animals. It’s the mind that gives the limitless power to the humans through imagination. And it’s the mind and the power of imagination that turns the humans fearful. The fear is a result of the thought that emanates from the unfavorable imagination or something beyond imagination.

The humans deal with their fear everyday and every moment. This defines their behavior. Since everyone’s fear is different, their behavioral pattern differs. The person living in the poverty fears about his food for the next day, while a well-to-do person fears for the food and the luxury for his future generations. An even better-to-do person fears for his name and fame. Thus comes the Maslow’s pyramid of needs.

To deal with their fears and the need for a better future, humans created boundaries across everything – event the thoughts in their mind are contained. The boundaries create a structure – a measurable fundamentalist unit called society or a culture. The Indian society leans heavily on the brahmanical society revolving around the pinnacle – Brahmin. Unfortunately, in the quest to get to the highest form, we have forgotten the true meaning of the Brahmin – “Greater Mind” (Brah + Man). A mind expanded to infinity is attaining divinity!

The best way to understand a person and his behavior is to understand his beliefs. And the beliefs are created through the stories and symbols shared with them since their childhood. Just like the same rice and pulses cooked in every house has a different taste to itself, the stories told in every household differs in the point they make.

The Indian mindset has been trained or cultivated with the stories of Rama and Krishna as separate identities yet forgetting the point that they are different incarnations of the same Vishnu. One most important learning from the Indian Philosophy is that nothing lasts forever. And everything happens in a context. Without the context, anything is meaningless.

To understand the Indian philosophy, we must understand what our scriptures tell us. The stories, symbols, signs and messages that each of them have for us. The best way to understand them would be to read them in the language they are written to understand the true meaning and the context. This is where I believe the true value of “Vedic Vidyalaya” lies.

DISCLAIMER - I wrote this article for the annual magazine for "Vedic Vidyalaya" 2015. Most of my thoughts and writing are inspired from Dr Devdutt Pattnaik. I make no claim that my thoughts are original, but I am proud that I am starting to understand the purpose. My earnest request to all of my readers is to share your views and stories with me to keep me going. 

Loyalty - Towards whom and for what?

A few years ago when Ramanand Sagar directed “Ramayana” and then “Uttar Ramayana”, all of us suddenly became aware of the stories and the knowledge imbibed in the great epic. While Ramayana focused on the life and character of Sri Ramchandra as growing into a great king or ruler, the Uttara Ramayana focuses on the life of Sri Ramchandra as a ruler of Ayodhya. Along with the faces of Arun Govil as Ram and Deepika Chikhliya as Sita, Ramanand Sagar also became a face in every family. Ramanand ji touched upon the topic of Sita and Ram’s end very carefully and delicately so as not to hurt the public sentiments.

While reading through the Valmiki Ramayan, when Ram finds out about Luv and Kush, he offers them to come to their kingdom as princes. When asked about Sita, Ram responds that he had never exiled or left his wife but the queen of Ayodhya. Ram had always upheld his principles. Knowing it all, Sita chose to return back to Mother Earth. Later Ram requested for solitary time in his chamber. Lakshmana vowed at Ram’s request and told that he would guard the door and if yet someone sneaks in, he would cut his head off. When Lakshman was guarding the door, he saw Sage Durvasa hurriedly heading towards the door seeking a conversation with Ram. Lakshman stopped in his tracks and requested to come later as Sri Ram seeked solitary confinement gathering himself. Sage Durvasa, known for his anger upon not meeting his conditions, told Lakshman that he shall curse whole of Ayodhya to burn if his request is not granted. Horrified at thinking of Ayodhya’s feet, Lakshman opened the door of Ram’s chamber and fell on Ram’s feet telling him about Sage Durvasa. Ram smiled at Lakshman. Turning around Lakshman saw there was no Durvasa. Ram explained to Lakshman that finally the thought of Ayodhya took precedence in Lakshmana. Lakshmana felt sorry for his behavior and also to keep his vow, went to the banks of Saryu to chop off his head and end himself.

Ram explained to Lakshmana that all his life he followed every promise to uphold his family principles. All his life he lived and performed his duties towards Ayodhya. He gained name, his prowess, friends, love of his brothers and immense knowledge in his performance of duties. However, as an individual, he had lost everything – his wife, his kids, his home and his life while following his duties. Lakshman on the other hand exemplified his loyalty towards Ram throughout his life. He was so devoted that he left his own wife back at the place and walked into the forest following his brother and sister-in-law on their path to exile. Fulfilling his loyalty towards Ram, Lakshman fought in the war against Ravan and got severely hurt. However, he got his life back when Hanuman brought the Sanjivani herb from Himalayas overnight. But, when he changed his loyalty towards Ayodhya, he had to give away his life.

Similarly, when it was time for Ram to meet Yama, he had to send Hanuman to nether world else Yama could not have entered the periphery of Ayodhya. Hanuman’s loyalty was towards Ram. However, fulfilling his duty, he missed the point what Ram wanted.

Loyalty is always a great asset. Every good leader needs to have at least a few loyal followers with him. At the same time, loyalty helps one to safeguard them and follow a proven path easily. However, it is a question as to how much of loyalty is actually good? Should I give in to my leader’s voice completely? Should I reason with what is being asked of me? Should my subjects reason with me? What if all my people blindly follow whatever I suggest?

My thought is to reason, ask and understand while being loyal. This not only saves yourself, but also helps to be of some value to your leader as well.

Story taken from the book "Sita" by Dr Devdutta Pattnaik.

Beating Retreat or taking stock

It’s been a long time since my last post. One can say that I was running out of ideas or possibly thinking less. Well, looks like all the assumptions are going true at this time. But once again, thanks to an old mate who reminded me of the “Beating Retreat” ceremony performed by the Indian Armed Forces at Raisina Hills, better known as the front of the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President’s house).

“Beating Retreat” ceremony was initially instituted by the King James II of England (James VII of Scotland) ordering the patrolling troops to return to their base castle with drum rolls, parading through the streets. This order was later improvised over the years to suit the need of the times. Yet, the central idea of the ceremony remained – return of the patrolling troops to base camp and deployment of new unit in its place.

Though an English ceremony, this is now practiced by most of the commonwealth countries today. The ceremonial celebrations may have changed due to the place, people or time. In India, beating retreat is celebrated three days after the republic day, denoting the end of republic day celebrations. The armed forces troops – military, navy and airforce – are then ordered to return to their bases, after having participated in the Republic Day celebrations.

In a way, this is an important business phenomenon. Consider this as a manager deploying his resources to achieve a task, and reviewing their performance periodically. Having learnt from the performance and gauging the challenges faced during the execution, an effective manager redeploys a new set of resources. This helps rejuvenating the exhausted resources and provides efficiency in the task execution. Look around, isn’t this a daily procedure we all go through whether or not we are in military? If you or your managers are not performing this exercise, you are missing out on your resources and execution ability. Exhaustion lowers the morale and reduces one’s ability to perform. At the same time, poor knowledge of current affairs is harmful while making decisions. Thus, information technology plays an important role in decision making.

Taking a step towards the beliefs, I consider Vishnu as the supreme manager and a great leader. Observe him carefully – he has four hands. And in each of his hands he holds an instrument playing an important role –

1.        Conch (Shankh) – The conch is used to blow and make sound. With this sound, he makes sure that his voice is heard and he beckons every one of his followers to himself.

2.        Rotating wheel (Sudarshan Chakra) – The rotating wheel reminds of the 360 degree view that he has and demands from everyone. The chakra is also a symbol for review for what has been done in every perspective.

3.        Lotus (Kamal / Pushp) – The lotus flower is a prize or a gift to everyone who has followed the principles and has done well.

4.        Mace (Gada) – The mace is for those who haven’t been good followers or have done good deeds. Both mace and lotus are the outcomes of the review performed by Vishnu himself.

Always remember, reviewing a deed is as important as executing it. Without a review or an introspection, one is never allowing for the corrective action and hence a chance for improvement. No answer is always right. No situation is always the same. Think always as the parameters always change. There are never any absolutes.

Do you know your successor?

Today - January 15th, Indian Army is celebrating the Army Day. Its a great day and a proud moment for India. For many, who just like me who do not know the importance of this day - you are in luck! A refresher course is here. Today is the day when, in 1949, the outgoing British commander-in-chief General Sir Francis Butcher passed on the strings of the Indian Army to Lt General Kodandera Madappa Kariappa. Today, this day is marked by parades and other military shows in Army headquarters. Similar to the Army Day, the Navy celebrates Navy Day on December 4th and the Air force celebrates Air Force Day on October 8th.

A friend of mine jolted me to read and think about this day and urged me to write about the significance. However, knowing the slight bent in my thinking, I acknowledge this day to be of great significance in understanding the most important event of our life - planning for our successor.

We have all understood that nature changes itself continuously. And so are we. Many learned people have all said - “Change is the only constant in life”. Then what do you believe of leaving behind? What do you think shall happen when you are gone? What impact do you want to leave behind?

The world always remembers and respects the great leaders for all the wonderful work they have done. However, the respect lasts only till the time the work remains into effect. With the passing of time, the policies and philosophies of the leaders fade away. The leaders, who have carefully planned out their successors through training and coaching, ensure that their philosophies last as long as their successors remain in effect.

History is full of examples when the kings have planned their dynasty carefully by choosing the correct heirs. And mankind has paid severely for the mistakes committed – Mahabharata – when Devdutta did not succeed Shantanu.

Sage Vishwamitra who had been a king himself coached Rama. And Sage Vashishtha who was the most learned of all educated Rama. Both the sages made sure that Rama became a benevolent king, yet strong and powerful.

Bhishma also entrusted Dronacharya and Kripacharya to identify the successor for Dhritrashtra amongst Pandavas and Kauravas.

Providing a successor is also seen as a debt to ancestors in the Hindu way of thinking as per a story, a hermit Jaratkaru had a vision of his forefathers hanging upside down in a dark abyss. Jaratkaru asked them how could he help. His ancestors told him that in order for them to be reborn, he had to give up his chastity and produce offsprings.

A few years ago when I visited my hometown Lucknow, all of our family went picnicking at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Park on Rae Bareli Road. This park is dedicated to the farmers and village living, which is a predominant part of India. At the center of the park, there is an unfinished building with a big rotunda and stairs rising to nowhere. The park also houses an amphitheater that shows no sings of use. Upon enquiring, I was told that this was a pet project of the BJP government when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM. The park was being developed with a vision of a VIP guesthouse and a world-class amphitheater to bolster the economy of the nearby villages. However, as the political parties in power changed, so did the ideologies and funding for the ongoing projects? The park today is unfinished.

Organizations today choose their successors very carefully as this drives their market potential and strength. GE has been known for a great track record in succession planning. And look they have produced world-class leaders. HP and Yahoo on the other hand have had their handsful of leaders playing the musical chair.

Lakshmana Rekha – The boundary for females

For the last couple of weeks, I have been tied down to a corner due to my broken foot. I am unable to move and unable to do anything. On top of it all, the painkiller keeps me drowsy and throws me off-balance when concentrating on something important. Yet we are doing well. My family is well taken care of and the kids are happy. All thanks to my wife who stood up as a pillar on whom the household stands. True, everyone has cracked jokes at her for her being busy with her community work. I am sure that they do realize the load she carries on her shoulders of taking care of her two daughters and a grown up kid.
Last evening I was watching one of the soap-operas on the television, where the lady of the house takes it on herself to expose the bad guys all around the work place playing with the lives of their co-workers slyly. Despite of her solid plan, she failed in her attempt as the evil guys got to know of her plan somehow. The situation was then turned in such a way that the lady became the culprit and a villain to the social structure. Probably, the only folly of her plan right from inception was working alone. She had never included her family or told them about her ideas. Even the family turned against her and saw only what was shown as the situation demanded. At the same time all the evil male members walked freely laughing at the poor protagonist.
I'd like to ask, why? Why such a social structure when it comes to the females and not the males? Why do we blame only the females in cases of any untoward happening and not the male counterpart for having indicted such an indecent behavior upon the girl? A few months ago when another horrific crime against women came to the fore, nobody gave a wink. No matter what people said, at the end everyone exclaimed the girl shouldn't have had done this. Many years ago when I was in college, a few friends of mine used to have fun dancing in front of any marriage procession passing by the hostel. Encouraged by this fun activity of theirs, a few female students too joined in dancing. Guess what, a few boys from the procession tried to take advantage of the girls and later also tried to abduct them when walking alone. As common sense prevailed, the girls were reprimanded for their behavior while the boys were left alone. Poor girl students were blamed for trying to have fun even within their limits.
Many a times we forget it is the same female who is playing the role of a daughter, sister, wife, mother, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law or a friend. She is the one who assumes different roles as per the demands of the situation and adapts herself so well that we have a happy household. She adapts herself and balances between the many relations that are near and dear to us. How many times do we – males – play these many different roles? I am positive a good percentage of us leave the relationship to our better halves to manage. We are so busy or pretend to be busy in playing the role of a provider to the family that we do not pay heed to the rest. Then why blame the woman?
To a good extent I blame the Lakshman from Ramayana for this apathy towards females. It was the single act of creating a "Lakshmana Rekha" and suggesting to Sita that she would be safe within the confines of the boundaries made by him. The boundary representing the captivation of the female was thus introduced to us. Ravana requested Sita to step out of the boundary and he abducted her on doing so. We all know what happened later. Even though Rama killed Ravana and Sita gave the chastity test by passing through fire, Rama exiled Sita to live in forest as her image had blemished. Creating boundaries around oneself is not natural. It is nature's tendency and the progressive path that is expands in all directions. One may try to contain it, but someday the boundaries are broken. In an artistic and even scientific notation, such a behavior is well represented by a circle. And a boundary to contain the females, restricting their growth is best represented as a square bound inside the circle. Dr Pattnaik has given a beautiful explanation of this figure and has tried to identify the female role models who try to break out of this square to expand themselves.

All men are created equal, but some are more equal

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the US Declaration of Independence, he coined the famous phrase "All men are created equal". For centuries since then the phrase has gained popularity and has exuberated its meaning in different forms. The phrase has been used in decorating the speeches, writings and reflecting the intellectual bent of mind by many. Well, I am not untouched by the vast sense of meaning of the phrase either. I love it!
The challenge though comes with what follows the initial phrase – "All men are created equal,…..". It is left for the others to supplement the phrase with additional words forming a statement. And this too has been a very populist subject. I remember in the late 1990's, the editorial of one of the leading newspapers of its time used the phrase to cause quite a stir. It read – "All men are created equal, but some are more equal". This became one of the common themes for essays, group discussions, debates and other literary works. To top it all, it was used as screener to filter out eligible candidates from future jobs or colleges.
I guess, we rethink the statement and question its validity – how can some be more equal when everyone is equal?
It's been a classical management problem of comparing samples for equality and then classification based on the differences. If there was no difference, where did classification come from? Mostly the comparison happens based on the tangible attributes – possessions, family, caste and creed. The intangible attributes are actually overlooked because they cannot be measured. And anything that cannot be measured, cannot be compared.
A staple food during lunch in the north of India is chapatti and pulses. Almost everyone eats the same food. But no two kitchens produce the same taste of pulses or cooks exactly the same type of chapatti. In south of India, invariably everyone easts sambhar and rice. But they are never the same across the various kitchens despite using the same ingredients. Almost all of us went to school wearing the uniforms. Yet not all of us were the same. Each one of us grew up hearing the stories from Ramayana or Mahabharata. But we all heard the same stories in a different way. Some days we empathized with Rama, while the other day we empathized with Surpanakha, who was punished for voicing her love. It's these subtle messages that start shaping up the mind with the thoughts and later become opinions. And before you know the person next door having the same meals as you and listening to the same stories turns out to be different from you.
The 3B Model "Business = Behavior = Belief" is very well explained by Dr Devdutta Pattnaik. And trust me it holds true 100% of the time. It states that the Business or an act of transaction is affected by the behavior of the parties involved. And the behavior is affected by the beliefs of everyone involved in this transaction. While you can measure the transaction, you are unable to measure the behavior. In order to understand the expected behavior, you must try to understand their beliefs. The beliefs or the thoughts and opinions define the stance one takes while in a situation.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote "All men are created equal", he certainly missed the inequality that the men created amongst themselves.

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.

Relief to ancestors

The river Ganga – one of the pillars of Indian Vedic culture is also known as "Bhaagirathi". This name came from Raja Bhagirath who is said to be reason why Ganga had to leave her heavenly abode and descend to flow on Earth. It is said that once there was a great king Sagar of the Surya dynasty. He was a Suryavanshi and a forefather of Lord Rama. Once he performed an Ashwamegha yagna in which his army follows the yagna horse. All the area that the horse travels upon then belongs to the king who performs the yagna. If anyone resists, he shall face the king's army. Unfortunately, Sagar lost his horse and then he ordered his 60,000 sons to find the same. They went all over the place uprooting life and burning forests to look for the horse. Finally they reached the ashram of Sage Kapila and found the horse tied in a corner. Enraged, they thought the meditating sage was the thief and disrupted Sage's meditation and tried to burn the ashram down. Horrified at the accusation and the enemity of the princes, the sage cursed the princes and turned them to ashes. Prince Bhagirath, one of the surviving descendants of King Sagar, approached Sage Kapila to forgive his forefathers and allow them to move to the next world by freeing their souls. He learnt that if the Ganga flows through the land where the ashes of his forefathers lay and the holy water carries the ashes, they shall be absolved of their sin. Bhagirath then worshipped Indra, Brahma, Shiva and Ganga to make her flow through the land.

Sage Agastya had a dream and saw his ancestors hanging upside down in darkness above the river Vaitarni. Upon inquiring the state of his ancestors, they responded that their condition is due to Agastya's celibacy and his refraining from producing offsprings. They told him to allow the nature to grow and help them pass on to the next world. Sage Agastya then married and had children. He found his ancestors happy then.

One of the sages held his desires close, practiced celibacy and thought of controlling nature through the power thus achieved. As a result, all women, animals, land around him became barren. The land around him started to experience draughts as there was no rain or water. In his attempts to control nature, the cycle of nature was stopped. To allow the nature to take its course, the sage had to enter matrimony and lead a the life of a household. This was Sage Rishyashranga – husband to Shanta – Lord Rama's elder sister.

In the chapter 1 of Srimad Bhagwat Geeta, Arjun examines the Kaurava army and then lays down his weapons in grief and tells Sri Krishna that he cannot fight. The most populist reason we all have heard is that how could he harm or kill he loved ones and relatives. But on detailed reading, he explains that through this war the Kauravas and their sons along with the sons of many others would die in the battle. This would destroy the families and finish off the family tree. Per his explanation, the sin of killing descendantss and one's family tree is more than not fighting in the battle.

All of the stories emphasize on the cycle of the nature. And another important aspect – when the next generation is born, the previous moves on to the next world. The cycle repeats itself. There are multiple rituals that take place during the course of this cycle. In my previous article, we saw some of the reasons for the pind daan ritual. This article emphasizes the role we play in the afterlife of our ancestors.

Pind Daan – Homage to ancestors

We celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi about a week ago. Right after the great veneration all of us immerse the Ganesha idol into water symbolizing he deportation and mingling with the five elements of the nature. When devotees carry the idol to the nearest water body or the place for immersing the idol, they chant hymns to invite the lord again next year. What we often overlook is the philosophy we emphasize through this ritual –the cycle of nature.

Hinduism follows the lunar calendar – based on the cycles of the lunar phases – waxing and waning of the moon. Following the lunar phase where we bid farewell to Lord Ganesha, the phase is used for remembering our ancestors and paying them homage. Well known as Pitra Paksha, this lunar phase lasts 15-16 days.

During the Pitra Paksha, it is expected for everyone to pay homage to their ancestors in form of "Pind Daan" and pray for their wellness in the other world. The "Pind" is actually a ball made of cooked rice & barley along with Ghee and black sesame seeds. While rice and barley define the rejuvenation hinting at the cyclical nature, the ghee and the black seeds denote the "Punya" (Good Deeds) and "Paap" (Bad Deeds). The pinda daan ritual is followed by a prayer to Lord Vishnu and Yama. Yama being the god of death and the keeper of the nether world is prayed to allow our ancestors a better stay. And the prayer to Lord Vishnu is to help our ancestors attain freedom from this cycle of life and death.

The pinda daan is performed by the living for their parents or siblings who have passed away. It is said that when the newer generation moves to the nether world after death, the generation before them enters the world again through a rebirth.

An important aspect and rather an unusual one is the prayer to crow! A good part of the pinda is separately arranged as an offering to crow. A crow is never considered as a symbol of beauty or happiness. A crow is considered as a bad omen and a piece of irritation as they sound like squeeking or Caw. Hence it is never invited into a household. But, the crow is considered as a messenger of Yama. His sound is actually understood as the first letter in Hindi alphabet – ka. The sound is also the start of many questions like what, when, how, why and where. It is said that in form of a crow, Yama comes to ask these questions for us to retell the stories that we have for our ancestors. These stories shall help him in his judgement.

As a ritual, after the prayers and the pinda daan, the devotees are expected to offer their gratitude to the Brahmins acting as agents connecting them with their ancestors. Incidentally this period is considered inauspicious for carrying out new initiatives. Practically speaking, with all the learned people busy dining and connecting the living with their ancestors, there aren't many left to bless the new initiatives. Thus come the inauspiciousness. Who is to blame – the ancestors or ____?

Importance of storytelling

Today we were celebrating July 4^th – the US Independence day. While waiting for the fireworks show to begin, the kids asked me to tell them a story. Even before I could start, the younger one interrupted me with a question – "Why do we tell stories? And how do you know all the stories?" the question left me thinking for a long time. Today's blog is my attempt to answer the same question with inspirations from many great storytellers.

Recently, I had come across another alumni of my college. He has taken up a full time profession of being a story teller. At the same time, a lot of other colleagues have been stressing the importance of storytelling. What is storytelling and why is it so important?

Let's first understand what is a story? A story is an expression of an idea along with the situation that helps explain the idea in a better manner. The entire scenario is laid out in such a manner that the central idea is easily understood by listener or the reader. The perception and meaning of the same idea might change from one place to the other and also from time to the other. Thus creating differences in how one values the idea as compared to the other. Remember the readers of Jane Austen refer "gay" to happiness, while the readers today have a completely different meaning for the word. Similarly, when the food in the western countries is meant to be served in multiple courses as controlled by the chef, the food in India is served as a meal – allow the person eating to create his own taste.

In our day to day life we experience multiple transactions – whether in the market while buying something or dealing with others. Negotiations happen every moment, everywhere whether we talk to our children or our bosses. Each transaction is a business of its own capacity where something is exchanged causing gain to someone involved in the exchange. The tangible value of the transaction can be measured but how could we measure the intangible value? The intangible value differs in the perspective of the parties involved in the transaction as well the ones observing the same. The key to understanding the intangible value is understanding the psyche or the thought process of the parties involved. In order to understand the psyche of someone it is important to understand the ideas that form their belief. The belief is constructed using the stories that a person hears and grows up with.

We all tell stories to our kids. Sometimes as a bedtime story, sometimes to put our point across. Many times, we tell the same story to our kids. But none of the renditions are all the same. They differ as per our own understanding and our beliefs. It also reflects what happens in our background. These are the stories that stay with our kids too when they grow up. In a large manner, these stories shape them up as well. Thus, the responsibility to make the next generation "good" lies on us.

Tell the right story, tell the right meaning and also appreciate that there might be other possible renditions as well.

The price of growth

When Parikshit was bitten by Takshak, his son Janamejaya started a yagna to burn all the snakes in the fire. All the snakes rose in horror and cried foul over this mindless massacre. At this time, Astika – newphew of the serpent king Vasuki, told the story of Indraprastha to Janamejaya. Many years ago, the Pandavas approached the king of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra for their share of the kingdom. The kauravas very shrewdly gave a forest – Khandavprastha to the Pandavas to build their own city. Under Krishna's suggestion, the Pandavas burned the forest in order to clear ground for Indraprastha. Arjuna build a barge of arrows all around the forest and all pandavas killed any living creature – Yaksha, human, demon, bird or animal that tried to escape the burning forest. The forest incidentally was home to the families of serpents. Living under the earth, they escaped the burns but were forced to flee to save themselves from the heat and the manhunt. On this cleared ground, the Pandavas built the magnificent city of Indraprastha. Indraprastha was envied by kings, gods and asuras equally. It rivalled the Indra's palace in beauty and graciousness. Astik told Janmejaya that the seeds of revenge were sowed in Khandavaprastha. At that time, the serpents were the victims and were burnt to support the cause of Pandavas and today, Janmejaya is burning the serpents to avenge his father. This will continue to enrich the enmity between the two creatures.

The story bring out two main points –

1. Every action has a reaction – could be equal and may be opposite too! But every action, even inaction, has a reaction.
   
2. There is always a price for every growth – however the payee may not be the same as the one who benefits
   

The first point was also the focus of my previous article – "What I learned from Bhishma?". Sri Krishna explained the importance of action and fulfilling the purpose in his discourse to Arjuna, known to us as Geeta. This is the same idea seen in the story of Rama. When Rama tries to be an upright king to hold the virtues of his kingdom, he has to part with his innocent wife. Even when Ahilya tried to follow the wishes of her husband he was punished to lie down as a rock – just because she was disillusioned as Indra disguised as her husband. Hence, actions – your own or of others – associated to you will have consequences. Never worry about them. They will happen – like it or not. Do your best and stick to your principles and remember the purpose.

It's the second point that excites me today. There is a price to everything. We all have heard it in multiple formats – "there are no free lunches!", "nothing comes for free". In a yagna, the yajman provides offerings to the gods to obtain their blessings in return. In a business, the entrepreneur puts in his ideas, efforts and capital to produce and appease customers. Professionals have to react as per the requirements of their employers and help them succeed in return for their own employment.

Innovation – probably the most sought after term in the business vocabulary today – focuses on growth by performing the tasks differently. However, with every innovation, there is a change introduced – sometimes good, sometimes bad. When the calculator were invented to help people with the calculations, the mental math lost its glory.

Thus, when someone asks the measure of success, I laugh! I simply ask the person to define the parameters of success. If the Indraprastha was a success, Khandavprastha was burnt for t. To build a great palace for 5 Pandavas, innumerable living beings had to die. Whose success was it? And at what cost? Many finance professionals develop deep purses rapidly, however need to retire soon as they start missing the family and other factors in the life. While reading in the newspapers, I came across great many sportspersons, who earned millions just through a single game. However, you may also read many different stories about the same people later. One such example is Justin Bieber's story!

In common societal terms, the success is still measured by the financial capacity of oneself. Any social gain as a family is considered as a greater success. As per the Indian scriptures Lakshmi is associated with Wealth, Durga with Emotions and Saraswati with Knowledge. Knowledge is the basic requirement to gain either wealth or emotions.    

What I learned from Bhishma

At a time when there is no dearth of historical or mythological serials on the television, Star Plus went on to produce yet another version of Mahabharata. And they made it big – making it India's most expensive TV series – spent close to 100 crore as per statistics disclosed in September 2013. The producer of the show commented that it took him nearly 20 days to shoot the most iconic scene – "Draupadi's cheerharan" due to the grandeur that needed to be created. Since both, my wife and I grew up watching BR Chopra's – then state-of-the-art, now lackluster – retelling of Mahabharata, often find the current TV series appalling for various reasons. The topmost being the time spent in bringing out the emotions during the 'most iconinc scene rather event'. Definitely this is the turning point in the history which started the avalanche brining the entire India to a halt. This event is also a reminder of shame.

While we kept discussing the efficacy of the epic and its retelling, I always watch it with the curiosity of a kid. And alas, I found my golden nugget yesterday!

The scene was of Bhishma plundering the Pandava army and Arjun refusing to cause any harm to him as Bhishma is his elder. Inspite of being advised by Krishna, Arjuna was not ready to raise weapons against Bhishma. Bhishma, on the other hand agitates Krishna and keeps on with his attack on the Pandava army. Rightfully, there is no match for him. Also equipped with the boon of immortality from his father, Bhishma is invincible. Krishna took an oath prior to the war that he would not fight in the Mahabharata war as he supported both Kauravas and Pandavas in different capacities. Bhishma took opportunity of this oath of Sri Krishna and continues to agitate him. Finally, Krishna took the wheel of a chariot and ran towards Bhishma as if to chop his head using the Sudarshan chakra. At this time, there is an interesting dialog in between the two which intrigues me.

Bhishma asks Krishna for what he did wrong to cause Krishna break his oath and run to kill him? Bhishma goes on to say that all his life he followed the promise provided to his father, and caring only for the betterment of the throne of Hastinapur. Bhishma asks that "Is giving up every personal aspiration is a crime? Is following my promise a crime? Is protecting the rule established by my ancestors a crime? Then for which crime am I being punished?"

Imagine Krishna's answers!

Krishna answered "To follow one promise, you gave up on your all your karma. To follow the dharma you gave up on karma. What was needed was to follow the karma, and leave out the expectation from the same. Your crime is to stop the nature taking its regular course. Your crime is to follow the promise even when the times changed. Your crime is to follow the promise when the entire system failed. Your crime is to make follow is to follow your own duties, rather than enforcing others to perform their duties as well. Your crime is that you lived for yourself and did everything to make yourself upright. Your crime is not to think about other's dharma". Krishna then reminded Bhishma of the various extremities subjected to others to help him keep his promises – to princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika; to princess Gandhari; to Draupadi by keeping quiet in his reverent duty to the throne; and later when Duryodhana refused to give Pandavas what was rightfully theirs. Krishna accuses Bhishma to have turned away from his duties just to follow one promise. Bhishma had shied away from the harsh decisions that were needed at the appropriate times to have steered the mankind for a better future.

Doing the right things is not always the correct option. Doing the appropriate thing which is considerate of everyone is most important. Never turn away from your duties. Leaders are born when decisions are taken. It's the leaders who take the decisions, followers only follow the decisions. Decisions may be right or wrong. Their responsibility lies with the leader. Hence, the win or the loss is said to be of the leader and not of the follower. Never shy away from the decisions you have to take.

The world is all yours. Don't shape it like Bhishma. He was great, but selfish. Please don't be so.

Have you asked the question - WHY?

Time and again I have questioned the purpose of the happenings around us or even my own actions. Many a times, I have been able to find a suitable answer and sometimes I have suited myself to the answer that came to me and moved on. My teachers in college and school always complained that I lost my focus quite easily ad went too deep looking for meanings when others kept moving higher. Probably, I never grew as fast as them because of my questioning why. But ask yourself the importance of the question "Why?"
The importance of the purpose in everything we do is critical. The purpose is what defines the path taken in the journey. A very famous quote of all times is that life is but a journey and we all need to travel it tirelessly till the last breath. Sure we do. But how? What path do we take, what companions we shall have, what company we shall keep, what shall we see and what we will choose to avoid – all of this depends upon what we want to experience during the journey. Even when the destination is known, the path taken or the mode of transport shall define the journey.
Have you seen the rangoli made by the south Indian women outside of their homes? It is a geometrical pattern of dots connected by lines – constrained by only two principles – cover as many dots possible and never take off your hand while drawing the lines. Sometimes, the number of dots is more and sometimes, the colors used. No two designs are ever the same. While the mission statement and the objective statements are both defined clearly for them, yet the outcome are very different. Ever wondered why? The design patterns, the colors used and their complex arrangements represent the thoughts churning in their mind. It's the journey they take from the dots to the rangoli depending upon the state of mind.
If only the life was simple as start to end, or there were only two colors – black or white, the management principles would have been great. But someone actually described multiple shades of grey! And went on to mix multiple other colors and played with hue, saturation and other factors to make it incomprehensible to a human eye.
A very basic fact of the management is anything that is measurable, can be managed. In order to manage, every measurable factor is considered and it optimized within acceptable limits. Any factor falling outside of the acceptable limits needs to be controlled. The question is – What is acceptable? Who determines the limits? It is the purpose of the act that will help us determine the acceptable outcome.
To make the matters worse, the purpose may seem different for everyone. It is the perspective that one takes with what they want to do. An interesting parallel from the Indian Scriptures is summed as follows (Thans to Dr Devdutt Pattnaik) –

Quality	I follow all the rules	I will break all the rules
What I think of myself	Rama	Krishna
What the superiors thinks of me	Duryodhana	Ravana
Why the difference	Duryodhana is the pretender – who follows all the rules but never accepts them. Typically a professional, who abides by the organization rules but may not agree to them.	Ravana is an epitome of a non-follower and a rulebreaker. While Krishna broke the rules that lost their meaning, Ravana chooses the blanket statement – All rules are meant for breaking.

 
Without the "Y-" axis of the purpose, all of the characters look the same. It is the purpose and the philosophy behind the act that differentiates them.
Please do ask yourself the purpose, or try answer the question "WHY"

Rejuvenation

We were celebrating our daughter's birthday over the weekend. She chose to enjoy the day with her friends in the water park. While playing in the water park, I accidently pulled the lever on one of the taps and a jet of cold water soaked me and my mind almost immediately. My very lovely daughters offered a facial for me to help revitalize my facial tissues later that day. The water and the facial left me thinking of something that had always amused me and troubled me at the same time.

Years ago, when I was a little kid, I visited Sri Shravanabelagola – a small city in Karnataka, close to both Mysore and Bangalore. The city is a famous pilgrimage center in Jainism for the statue of Gomateswara Bahubali. Every twelve years, the giant statue is bathed in water, milk, sugarcane juice, saffron paste and is sprinkled with powders of vermillion, sandalwood and turmeric.

Later, I visited Jatipura – one of the many villages around Mathura – a place associated with the advent of SriNath Ji and also the place where the people of Braj offered their worship to Lord Govardhana upon instructions of Sri Krishna. At Jatipura, every morning devotees offer buckets of milk and water to bathe the lord in the hope that their demands shall be met by the lord himself.

Every year, during Janmashtami, Sri Krishna idols are bathed in various ways common being water, milk, oil and honey.

Observing all the rituals I have often been appalled by the wastage of the resources in the name of belief at a time when many are deprived of their bare minimum hunger needs. I have often asked the question on the necessity of the pompous show and the prodigal use of the resources that could have been utilized elsewhere?

After all these years, I have realized that this is the belief system of many and possibly I shall not be able to modify the same. However, if a conscious effort is done to understand the symbolism and the meaning behind the ritual, the human kind may be benefitted.

Each of the above acts of belief symbolize the act of rejuvenation or rejoice. We bathe the statues symbolizing washing away all the wrong doings that the God has taken away from us and helping him revive himself to come again with new vigor. Every time the idols are bathed, they are said to have reorganized themselves and our belief in them. Drawing a parallel here, it is quite similar to us taking a bath every morning to feel fresh and infused with new energy. Almost every time the bath is followed by "Abhishek" or anointing and sprinkling of herbs. This symbolizes recognition of the grown mental state. Remember humans have a bigger head as compared to animals as they have a better developed mind. And the expansion of the mind is what leads the humans to divinity. The ritual of abhisheka recognizes the well developed and grown mind. This is similar to the house hold ritual of applying tilak on the forehead before starting any important work. The tilak symbolizes a reminder to grow the mind.

So, the rituals were started for a reason – a good cause. However, our execution of those rituals turned them into monstrous criminal acts. And yet, the popular thought is to shun the rituals and anything related to religion or our history without understanding the meaning. What are we doing? Are we avoiding the sin or are we committing the sin in a new name? Or are we performing ablutions through the pompous display of devotion?

The God never wanted greatness in offerings. All he wanted was truth and knowledge in heart. Why else did Rama ate the fruits at Shabari' hut? Why else did Krishna refused the grand reception in Hastinapur and dined with Vidur?

In my views, physical rejuvenation happens through our daily schedules and activities. A mental rejuvenation is required. It is an act which we all need to go through and experience. Unfortunately, it cannot be measured or recorded. However, the easiest form is introspection.

So what are you rejuvenating?

Think, seek answers and think again.

Upanishads – their formation and crux

The Upanishads are a collection of Vedic texts, also known as Vedanta and are considered to contain the revealed truths about the ultimate reality – brahman and the character and the form of human salvation – moksha. While more than 200 Upanishads are known, the first dozen are considered to be the oldest and the most important, thus referred to as principal or mukhya Upanishads.

Ever guessed when and how were they formed?

So the story dates back to Sri Rama's father Dasharatha. Dasharatha had a daughter – Shanta – elder to Sri Rama. When the kingdom of Anga faced severe draught the king Rompada approached Dashratha and offered to adopt Shanta and marry her off to Sage Rishyashringa. This was to break Rishyashringa's celibacy and his father Vibhandaka's urge to control nature. Vibhandaka had realized the cycle of life and how the new life was created through the seed. He realized that no living beings had control over shedding their seed except humans. He understood that through holding the life bearing seed inside the human body, one can create great power in oneself. This is controlling the nature and rising above the mad race that nature imposes on every living being. The self control is known as Tapasya and it generates Tapa or heat. So strong was Vibhandaka's tapasya that Indra had send an apsara to break him. Vibhandaka couldn't control himself when he saw the apsara. He considered his son as a result of his failure and hence kept him close away from the world and women. Not only he controlled himself, he controlled his son's nature too. Their controlling of the nature caused enough heat and caused draught all over the region where they lived. Rompada requested Shanta to woo Rishyashringa and break this control and bring rains to the kingdom. Rishyashringa and Shanta married, brought joy upon themselves and the nearby kingdoms. Rishyashringa later helped Dashratha in the yagna to get sons. And thus Rama, Bharat, Lakshmana and Shatrughna were born. At every step, we see how the nature was controlled or was made to change its course to meet the needs of the king and the people.

About the same time of the birth of the princes in Ayodhya, Janak of Mithila found a daughter in Sita and his wife Sunaina gave birth to Urmila. His brother Khushdhwaja also had two daughters – Mandavi and Shrutakirti. While everyone in Janaka's court requested him to conducted yagna to obtain sons just like Dashratha, he replied that mother earth gave him a daughter in the same manner as the fire gave Dashratha his sons. Impressed with his approach, a female ascetic Sulabha approached Janaka and requested him to conduct a congregation of learned people all over the land. She explained to Janaka that humans have the capability to imagine and think and take different perspectives on the same point! She explained that the mind should be expanded to understand nature than control it by containing it as Vibhandaka and Rishyashringa did. Inspired by her words, Janaka invited all the learned people and rishis of Aryavarta to his court and share their knowledge of Vedas. This conference allowed exchange of ideas, opinions and beliefs and thus formed the basis of what we today known as Upanishads. It is interesting to note that this was the education that Sita and her sisters received. It was during this conference that we also hear about Ashtavakra, Gargi and Yagnavalkya. Gargi asked questions about pupose of everything that irked many sages and they cursed her that her head would fall off. But her hunger of knowledge kept growing another head when one fell off.

During the conference, Yagnavalkya explained – "Atma is the brahman, a fully expanded mind. Atma is the mind that does not fear death or yearn for life. It does not seek validation. It witnesses the world as it is. Atma is Ishwar, also known as Shiva, who performs tapasya, is self-contained and self-sufficient. Atma is bhagavan, also known as Vishnu, who conducts a yagna to nourish everyone even though he needs no nourishment. May Brahma's head keep falling off till he finds the brahman".

This retelling has been adopted from Dr Devdutta Pattnaik's book – "Sita". In my wake for learning, I hope I found something that we all can benefit from.

Change comes from within

During the twelve years of exile, the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi roamed around different forests and came in contact with many sages. The sages helped them by telling stories of their ancestors and of importance that had far reaching impact on their thoughts. In a way, the sages were helping the Pandavas grow as leaders. In their early years, with all the education and fun, the Pandavas had grown to be good warriors, administrators and providers. The exile years are considered as the bridge between the princes to the common man that gave birth to great rulers. However, the sages were not the only ones to have taught the Pandavas.

In the period of exile, Arjuna once met a forest dweller Kirata, who challenged Arjuna to show his skill and claim the prize. Despite using all his skills, Arjuna could not come close to Kirata. Finally, Arjuna realized that he was no ordinary human being and prays the Kirata to reveal his true being. Upon surrendering himself, Arjuna then realizes the Kirata to be Shiva who taught him the lesson of humility. Later Shiva praised Arjuna and gifted him his own "Pashupatastra".

In another story, Bhima once brought a divine looking flower to Draupadi in his attempt to appease her. She is pleased but demand more flowers of this kind. The sages suggested that the flowers came from the heavenly lake up above the mountains. Bhima climbed the mountains in search of the flowers. On his way he found an old monkey lying on the path. Since it is considered rude to walk over someone, Bhima asked the monkey to move away. The monkey requested Bhima instead, telling him of his ill health. Bhima who is considered by all and himself the mos powerful of all, could not move even the monkey's tail. Having realized that the monkey is not ordinary, Bhima prayed to the monkey. It was no other than Hanuman who had come to teach the lesson of humbleness to Bhima.

One day while wandering in the forest, Draupadi saw a jamun tree and one mouthwatering ripe jamun fruit close to the ground. Instinctively, Draupadi reached out and plucked the jamun. As she did so, the tree cried as to what had she done? The tree was holding the fruit for 12 years for the sage who had been meditating without food or water for nearly the same time. The sage was to wake up from his meditation this day and eat the fruit. Now Draupadi deprived the sage of the fruit, he waited for twelve years. Draupadi asked her husbands to help put the jamun back in its place. But no one could. The tree again said, Draupadi could do so if she was chaste and was true to her husbands. Much to the astonishment of the Pandavas, they realized Draupadi harboring a secret in her heart. She spoke of her yearning for Karna. Had she not insulted Karna and married him, all the insults to her would have been saved. Pandavas though angry about her secret, were ashamed of having failed her collectively. Hence kept quiet. As Draupadi shared her thoughts and having cleansed her heart, she was chaste again and was able to fix the fruit back in its place.

Bhima was once captured by a python who kept encircling him and wanted to eat him. The python knew how to speak. He said that he was looking for Yudhishthra as he can provide answers to the queries and absolve him of his sins. The python was King Nahusha. When Yudhishthira came to Bhima's help, Nahusha posed him the question – "Who is a Brahman". Yudhishthira thought and replied "A Brahman is one who has mastered his senses, disciplined his mind and learnt Brahma-Vidya, who has attained knowledge of infinite eternal and boundless soul. A brahman is one who is content, generous, and gentle and is always with truth. He may or may not be the one who is born to a Brahman."

In another story, four of the pandava brothers collapsed on the ban of an enchanted lake. They refused to acknowledge the lake's guardian and tried to quench their thirst. Yudhisthira acknowledged the guardian and answered the questions wisely. (We will delve into the questions in the later blog). The guardian was no other than the god of dharma – Yama. At the end, Yama asked him to choose one brother whose life could be granted. Yudhisthira thought again and asked for Nakula. His reason being Nakula was the son of Madri and hence both the wives of Pandu shall have one of their sons living. Yudhishthira had not shown the same thought during the game of dice. He had gambled Madri's sons in the first chance. He had not even thought of any consequences earlier. Clearly something had changed!

All of the above stories, humbled and taught the Pandavas. They changed, matured and became better during their period of exile.

Some say the stories are a work of fiction. Some even laugh at the events or characters in the story.

But look at the idea carried in each story. What we learn from here is that the change comes from within. All the external factors or situations are the triggers that help us understand the need for the change. It is us who have to change and we decide how much and how? We control our own destiny through the path we choose. Its not the situations but us who decide how we fare. The success or the failure is always relative depending on one's perspective of the scenario and their decisions. At the same time, since one controls their destiny and only theirs, no one can change the world without changing oneself. Hence, in order to bring a change, one needs to change.

Karna’s Death

Mahabharata has many stories and many heroes. Some of the stories have been narrated to us from ages and are imbibed into our beliefs. However, there are a few stories that have lost the attention even though they have carried enormous amount of knowledge and meaning for all of us.

One such story is of the greatest warrior Karna. Karna’s archery skills were as illustrious as his teacher Parashurama and other students of his teacher – Bhishma and Dronacharya. Having learnt the art of war from Parashurama himself, he was second to none. His skills were noted even by Bhishma and Sri Krishna. He was acknowledged as undefeatable and surpassed Arjuna on many counts except one – Sri Krishna’s closeness. Along with being a great warrior he was a great man of principles too. Devotion and principles were just as great assets to himself as his weapons.

It was his devotion to his friendship that made him stand in the court of Hastinapur when Draupadi was disrobed. An act, that Karna regretted throughout his life. It was his devotion that kept him on the side of Duryodhana, despite all his wrongdoings and knowing that Pandavas were his brothers. At his death, Kunti and Sri Krishna told Pandavas to pay respect to their elder brother Karna.

Arjuna cried asked for forgiveness from Karna’s wife Uruvi and requested to perform the list rites for his brother. Uruvi, then asked Arcjuna not to mourn or repent for killing Karna for he was killed at least 6 times before Arjuna. Let’s see how -

 

Guru Parashurama’s curse

Once Parashurama rested in the forest keeping his head in Karna’s lap. At that time a bee started to bite and probe into Karna’s thigh. He sat unnerved even when the bee kept drilling him so as not to disturb his teacher’s sleep. When Parashuram woke up and saw the lacerating wound on Karna’s thigh, he became angry for Karna having hidden his identity of being Kshatriya or the warrior class as others are incapable of bearing such pain. He cursed Karna that he would forget all his knowledge just at the time he needed it most.

 

Angry Brahmin’s curse on killing of his cow

Once Karna was practicing his archery skills and shooting upon the slightest of sounds. During his practice, he mistakenly killed a brahmin’s old wailing cow. The Brahmin cursed Karna that just as his cow was helpless when she died, he shall be helpless at the time of his death.

 

Mother Earth’s curse

Once Karna saw a young girl crying in the village market. Upon asking she told that she was to buy ghee or vegetable oil and take it home. However, the pot fell down and the ghee was impure now. Even when Karna offered to buy a new pot, she insisted on the same impure ghee to be taken home. Karna then took the ghee from the ground and squeezed it hard to remove the impurities. The girl was happy to get what she wanted. But then Karna heard another woman’s gurgled cry. Upon opening the palms of his hand, he saw the mother earth or Bhudevi being strangled through his squeeze. She then cursed Karna that she shall squeeze hold him and he would be stuck in the earth sometime.

 

Indra stripping Karna of his kavacha and kundala

It is well known that Karna was the son of the Sun or Surya. While Arjun was the son of Indra. Karna was born with an undefeatable armor and earrings as gift from Sun god which protected him from all evil. When it was inevitable that Krana and Arjuna would see each other in duel and there would only be one survivor, Indra plotted to strip Karna of his armor and earrings. A man of principles and generosity, Karna never allowed anyone to return empty-handed from his home in the morning. Indra disguised as a Brahmin visited him just then and asked for the gifts from the Sun god. Despite being warned by the sun, Karna did not deviate from his principles and gave what the Brahmin asked for. And thus he became vulnerable to Arjuna’s weapons.

 

Kunti’s love for her son

Kunti was Karna and the rest of Pandava’s mother. However she hid the fact of Karna’s birth all the time to save her own skin. When the Mahabharata war was inevitable and Karna was identified as an undefeatable warrior on the Kaurava side, she went upto Karna and told him the story of his birth. Karna always had a soft corner for his mother and always wanted her to accept as her child. He wanted to tell the world that he was indeed a warrior class and not a shudra. In his love for Kunti, he promised that Kunti shall always have 5 sons and he would not harm anyone but Arjuna. Thus at the end of the war either he or Arjuna shall be the survivors.

This was a great promise from Karna to Kunti. Apparently, this was not enough for Kunti. She also took another promise from Karna – possibly the most dreaded one. She asked him never to use the same weapon twice. Thus even when he was gaining an upper hand at Arjuna, he could not use his godly weapons as his promise to Kunti prevented him.

 

Shalya’s role

Shalya was a great charioteer. He was in fact a master of horses. He was also Nakul and Sahdev’s maternal uncle under whose supervision, Nakul became a great horseman. Shalya never wanted to be charioteer to Karna considering him to have born in the lower caste. Upon insistence from Duryodhana, he accepted the job half-heartedly. He was supposed to be equal to Krishna’s skills in guiding the chariot. Even though, Shalya admired Karna’s devotion to his friend, war principles and bravery he refused to help when Karna’s chariot was stuck in the earth during the final battle.

All the six anecdotal stories exemplify one super power above everything – destiny. We all try our best and do our best too. But, sometimes it is not enough. Call it “Karma” or “destiny” or “god’s will” there is something beyond which controls and overpowers everything. What is it?

I hate you because I do not know you

I was listening to the radio this morning and was stuck with a nice quote – “I hate you since I do not know you.” Quite true, isn’t it?

In the last few weeks, I read Rajiv Malhotra’s “Being Different” and listened to my all-time favorite Dr Devdutt Pattnaik. While their story telling is a little different, the central idea remains the same – “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” and the measure of ugliness or beautifulness actually represents the mental state of the observer not the subject itself.

Love, Hope, Fear, Hate are all the different attributes of human emotions that come into play when different people come in contact. Different mixes of these emotions help one formulate their stand during the interaction. This is the same concept as commonly referred to as “Stereotyping” or “Forming Opinions”. The interesting point however is which emotion is stronger?

Like it or not the first default reaction of a human towards anything is of Fear. The fear of the unknown – possibly the largest and the most well-known emotion to mankind. Many a studies have suggested that the human mind is very capable of understanding and remembering ideas that stem from comparisons. It is easier to digest and assimilate the information when presented in a tabular format than a textual format. Images that exhibit comparative information are most liked in communication means. Note that all the different pieces of information utilized help one to understand. The more information available, the better comprehensible is the subject and thus infuses a comfort factor in the minds of the observer.

All humans are capable of the great powers of imagination. However to provide a structure to their imagination, one develops frameworks of ideas and beliefs. The framework keeps changing as well with levels of maturity and information. Everything that happens must fit inside the framework else it causes stress and grief to the one who houses them.

Applying the same understanding towards others, we can easily comprehend that anything unknown is fearsome and hence loathed. This also includes concepts that are a little difficult or are not easily fitted into the well-established frameworks in one’s mind.

Rajiv Malhotra goes to great lengths describing how different incomprehensible structures have often been discarded. But is that right? Being different is no wrong. Just because I do not conform to your framework, does not means that I am wrong. I may be complying with someone else’s framework or probably my own! How do I say what is right and what is wrong? In the story of Shabri, Rama explains his brother Lakshmana not to judge Shabri by their standards as she is neither exposed to their level of thinking or upbringing.

Recognizing differences and acceptance of diversity helps one expand their horizons.

Overcoming one’s primary reaction of fear or hatred towards the unknown makes one an entrepreneur in all aspects. One who is ready to embrace world with utmost zeal and excitement, and I ready to change all around him with all of their energy. Such a person pleases himself and everyone around him.

What do you see?

Once Dronacharya sent Yudhisthira and Duryodhana to go in the city of Hastinapura and bring to him the most corrupt of all citizens. Yudhisthira returned empty handed, while Duryodhana returned with so many prisoners that it needed him almost an army to control.

Dronacharya was the teacher of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He had a difficult job! He had two competing factions of students – Pandavas, who were trying to gain their excellence and kingdom that they lost upon the demise of Pandu; and Kauravas, who were hell bent on roving themselves worthy of the throne that their father Dhritrashtra sat upon since Pandu’s demise. Dronacharya’s task was to impart the education impartially and then choose the better successor for the throne of Hastinapur.

So who should he choose – Yudhishthra, who found to corruptipn or Duryodhana, who basically ransacked the entire kingdom for the corrupt people?

The question is much deeper than the visible statements.

Yudhishthira found no evil as he had no evil in his heart. He looked every one with the same purity and empathy that he had held in himself. On the other hand, Duryodhana went by the laid out rules and captivated everyone who was not in compliance with even a miniscule rule. What does this show?

There is a saying in hindi – “Jaaki rahi bhaavna jaisi, Prabhu murat dekhi tin taisi”. Which means that you see the god in the same way as you hold his image in your heart.

The same spirit is reverberated when Arjuna is asked to aim at the eye of the wooden bird in a class or at the eye of moving fish by looking at the image in boiling oil. A clear vision leads you to the goal. 

The images in heart, are a reflection of one’s thoughts and the working of the mind. After all, the mind thinks, while the heart helps to live. Yudhishthira, though Dharmaputra, abides by the principles all through his life, is sympathetic to the needs of humans. Duryodhana, on the other hand complies by the rules and cares nothing for the empathies of others. He is a rule follower but does not believes in them. What does this tells us?

Rules or laws or principles are created with a purpose. The purpose is explained given the scenario. Once the scenario changes, they tend to lose their meaning. But what doesn’t changes is the principle or the philosophy behind them. While Yudhishthira is said to be a believer in principles, Duryodhana is a firm believer in rules.

Rules have a constrictive mindset as compared to principles that allow one to be creative. Rules bind while principles allow innovation. Who wins? I am not in a position to say so! Mahabharata was a war between the rules and the principles. And it was named as Jaya – Victory, without saying over whom? Cleverly, Veda Vyasa never named his epic – “Vijaya” – victory over others.

Have we understood the meanings on rules and principles well? What do we follow today? If principles then why do we uphold rituals? What are best practices? Do we understand them? Why do we say what once was correct, will always be so? Wasn’t Bhishma the cause of Mahabharata?

Too many questions, and not a clear answer. This is the meaning of Mahabharata or Jaya – the epic by Veda Vyasa. It means victory but over oneself!