Shall we play a game of snakes and ladders?

I am sure many of us would have played the game of Snakes and Ladders while growing up. It is a multiplayer game where each player takes turns and throws in the dice and moves the number of squares as indicated on the face of the dice. The first player to reach the finish line wins and the last one to have been left behind is the loser. When I was a kid, the fun was not just the winning  but also  watching how many times and when a player gets bitten by the snake. Though we all played to get the ladder for the easy escape, we knew that getting bitten is inevitable as well. 

This is an ancient Indian game which was brought to UK in late 1800s from where it got its world wide acceptance and variations!

In one of the Ancient Indian variation, the game had the ladders displaying the virtues that one must aspire to lead a righteous life - Generosity, Faith, Reliability,  Humility, Knowledge  and Asceticism. While the snakes represented the vicious vices that are always ready to cloud one's mind and bring them down - Disobedience, Vanity, Vulgarity, Lying, Rage, Greed, Pride, Lust, Anger, Murder and Theft. In this game of morality, it was expected that one attains Moksha - the final goal of the game when one defeats or refrains themselves of being bitten by the vices. Having the morality ladders shall help you attain moksha aster, but the key is not to be falling for the vices. 

Another similar version of this this game was popular in the Muslim world was based on the Sufi philosophy representing the dervish's quest to leave behind the trappings of the worldly life and achieve union with God. 

When this game reached UK, it was slightly modified to resemble the virtues and vices prevelant in those days to boost morality amongst people.

Even today, this game is very popular in various parts of India. In TamilNadu, this game is often played by the Vishnu devotees during the Vaikuntha Ekadashi to stay awake through the night. 

While growing up, my mother taught me the concepts of dharma, adharma and karma. My childlike mind  understood the concepts of abiding by the dharma or else the evil adharma will come like a serpent to bit me. Probably I learnt everything through the method of fear. Instilling fear of the punishment, bound me to the path of the dharma. Whose dharma? Which dharma? Who knows!

Recently, I learned an other ancient variation of the "Snakes and Ladders" game, that comes from the Jain philosophy. In their version, they call the snakes as "Paap" (Similar to the versions described above), and also the debt you incur during your life, while, the ladders resemble the scenarios when you gave debt to others. The goal is to reach the finish line debt free. As debt of any form would force you to take a rebirth and repay it in your next birth. 

Interesting, isn't it?

Stay tuned for my next post on similar thought process.

चिता

चिता 

यह कैसी आग है ?

सभी तरफ फैली हुयी,

ऊँची लाल तपती लपटें ,

सब कुछ जलाती हुयी ?

                            बढ़ती उफनती यह ज्वाला ,

                            मेरी तरफ ही आ रही है। 

                            और वो मोहल्ले के बाबा,

                            देखो तो कहाँ जा रहे हैं ?

और यह पड़ोस की नानी ?

सुनती थी रोज कहानी,

आज किधर जाती हो ?

मुझे दूर कहाँ जाती हो ?

                            देखो तो बालसखा मेरे ,

                            जाते हैं कहाँ मुझसे मुंह फेरे ?

                            बचाओ मुझे इस आग से ,

                            क्यों भागे जाते हो अपने इस मित्र से ?

अब यह चिल्लाना कैसा ?

कौन कराहा ? क्या चरमराया ?

आज यह आग क्या जलायेगी ?

किस किस की चिता सजायेगी ?

                            बचाओ यह तो मेरा ही घर है ,

                            अंदर मेरे सपने हैं, मेरा संसार है। 

                            घर में मेरी खुशियां हैं ,

                            संजो संजो कर रखी जीती जाती पुतलियां हैं। 

बचाओ यह मेरे अपने हैं ,

यह चिता मेरे सपनों की है ,

मेरे अरमानों की है ,

मेरे अपनों की है। 

Empathy and its value

 We just concluded our Govardhan Pooja 2023 or Annakoot for this year. We displayed Sri Krishna in 4 different forms as he is worshipped in different parts of India and elsewhere. This was an eye opening for many as some of us didn’t realize that these were forms of Krishna!

One of the most interesting form amongst all was the Lord Jagannatha!

Lord or Bhagwan Jagannatha is any form is depicted as an incomplete form but with big rather huge eyes for its form. The question is why? The Lord has big eyes because he sees it all. He sees you, me and all of us. He sees all of our issues and our problems. He sees and watches each of the hardships we go through and supports us along the same. 

But really what does he see? You me, others or our acts, wants, needs, stories and thoughts?

Sri Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison. But he was transported to Gokul and was celebrated by a doting mother and a father –Yashoda and Nandbaba. He was always surrounded by the people of Gokul, Vrindavan and surrounding villages that accused him of stealing butter, but adored him dearly. Krishna was always surrounded by love and all he saw was love. 

Later in life, Sri Krishna saw Kansa – a despotic ruler who sent his father to prison to assume his throne. Kansa was also the reason why Sri Krishna’s parents were in prison. Kansa tried to kill Sri Krishna multiple times through his growing up years. Did Krishna see him like a villain or as a child who was born out of angst? Did Krishna see Kansa as a tyrannical ruler or a person longing for love? Did Krishna killed Kansa and looked at him in disdain or granted him peace?

Sri Krishna later established Dwarka and was known as Dwarkadhish. In this capacity, he intervened in the popular battle of Mahabharata where he tried to mediate between the Pandavas and Kauravas. He even promised his army to fight against himself in the battle. But did he really see two cousins fighting themselves? Or did he see Duryodhana – a child deprived of love. 

Duryodhana had a father who could not see due to his blindness since birth, and a mother who would not see due to her blindness in order to support her husband. Imagine a child in place of Duryodhana! Wouldn’t the child be scarred for life? 

Sri Krishna saw Duryodhana for what he was and admired him and showed his blessing in every bit possible. Possibly that’s the reason for the large eyes of Lord Jagannatha. He sees it all. Yet he showers his blessings on us. 

I wish we all grant the Krishna in us a chance. Be able to see the other for what they are – Do not judge by appearance or one event at all…. See who they really are, why are they the way they are! Have an empathy towards everyone. Not only will it make us Krishna, but will also help us develop a better human being.

Taadaka vadh

 दषरथनन्दन, रघुकुल वंदन  

हार्दिक अभिनन्दन 

स्वागत 

आप पधारे हमारे मठ 

यहाँ हैं सभी सुख 

मंत्रोचारण करते सभी मुख 

ना ही कोई होता भय 

सभी का पेट भरता यह अक्षय 

पर ताड़का है 

यह बड़ी भरी 

कृत्यों से राक्षस 

पर है यह नारी 

कभी नष्ट कर देती 

हवन समिधा  

तो कभी ले भागती यह 

यग्न फल 

उद्धार करो

हे कौशल्यानंदन 

उठाओ बाण 

कर दो छिन्न भिन्न 

जो हमारा है 

दिलाओ हमें 

अधर्म से छुटकारा 

दिलाओ हमें 

मत करो विषाद 

त्रिमातृका अपत्य 

यह नारी नहीं 

निशिचरी है या है दैत्य 

पशु घात या नारी पे आघात 

ऋषि कल्याण या समाज निर्माण 

राम के प्रश्न कई 

क्या समझ सका है कोई?

राम ने ठाना था 

राम राज्य का स्वप्न 

कर दिया विश्व निर्माण में 

अपना भी हवन 

विश्वामित्र की आकुलता में 

राम ने त्रिजटा का कर दिए वध 

राम राज्य की स्थापना 

की थी यहीं से प्रारब्ध 

करो यज्ञ, करो व्यापार 

लेन देन से बढ़ता है यह संसार 

छीनो मत, उठाओ मत,

बिना कर्म ना उसपर तुम्हारा अधिकार 

कर्म होगा तो फल मिलेगा 

क्या मिलेगा, न उसपर कोई जोर होगा 

कर्म से ही धर्म है 

और धर्म वही है जो जोड़े सभी को 

ना वह जो मुंह मोड तोड़े सभी को

Holi - 2021

आओ खेलें होली, 
रंगों से, 
उमंगों से, 
दिल की उन तरंगों से, 
जो अनंत रंग देखतीं हैं और अंतरंग भी।  

त्यौहार है यह रंगों का, 
रंगों के एक हो जाने का, 
रंग संग मन के मिल जाने का, 
एक संग मिल उमंगों की पींगें बढ़ाने  का। 

त्यौहार नहीं रंगों में भेदभाव का, 
त्यौहार नहीं आपस में क्लेश बढ़ने का, 
त्यौहार नहीं कलुषित विचारों का, 
त्यौहार नहीं व्यभिचारों का। 

जलाओ चिंगारी,
विचारों की,
कुरीतियां मिटाने की, 
द्वेष दूर भागने की, 
सद्भावना बढ़ाने की।  

खेलो होली, 
लगाओ रंग, 
मचाओ हुड़दंग, 
पियो भंग, 
पर मत करो किसी का
मान भंग। 

आओ खेलें होली, 
रंगों से, 
उमंगों से, 
दिल की उन तरंगों से ,
जो अनंत रंग देखतीं हैं और अंतरंग भी। 

Nahusha - Lessons to learn!

 Just as we learned from the story of Yayati, there are a few lessons to learn from his father Nahusha too!

Let me recap Nahusha’s story and then we can look at the lessons –

Nahusha was a great ruler of the mankind on the earth. He had performed many yagnas and was well known for his principles and generosity. Just as fate would have it, Indra – the king of the gods had to serve a period of penance and left the throne vacant. Indra’s court and the advisors suggested to appoint Nahusha as the king of the Devas while Indra was serving the penance. Nahusha was initially surprised, thrilled but finally accepted the appointment. He did a great job of governing the court of the heaven. However, the extremities of the heaven and the powers started to catch on to Nahusha. He started to believe that he was superior to all and had all the powers in himself. He forgot how he ascended to the throne. In his pride and presumptuousness, he started to become arrogant, haughty and swell headed. He started to behave rudely in the court and disrespected the gods and the sages. One day he saw Shachi – the beautiful wife of Indra. In the moment of lust, he asked Shachi to accept him as her husband. When she refused, he asserted himself on her as he was the king. To teach him a lesson, Shachi requested him to come to her in a palanquin lifted by the seven revered sages – Saptarishis. When Nahusha was going on the palanquin, he cursed the sages and shouted at them to move faster. Sage Agastya at one time, stumbled while carrying the palanquin. Blinded by the lust and his power, Nahusha kicked him in the back and asked him to stop acting like a Sarpa (Serpant or Sanke) which crawls and move faster. Rishi Agastya infuriated at this treatment, cursed Nahusha to loose all his good deeds, kingdom and become a python himself and fall on the earth and live there forever. This way he shall never attain salvation. When Nahusha realized his mistake and pleaded for forgiveness, Rishi Agastya told him that he shall be relieved of the curse when one of his descendants Yudhishthira shall help him many generations later. We shall revisit this story later.

Pic credit - Devdutt Pattnaik

Things to learn from Nahusha’s story are as follows –

1. One must never forget that the importance or power they wield is because of the position they hold. Once they lose the position, there is no difference between them or the person next door.
2. The strength of character and knowledge are the only virtues that remains with the person forever
3. Every action has reaction (Think Newton again!) – No action ever goes unnoticed. There shall always be a reaction. If it is in your favor, you shall enjoy it.
4. Never underestimate and disrespect others – Nature has given different qualities to each one of us. Each quality may come in handy at a given scenario. If one person is not able to act according to a situation, it may be that their qualities are for a different situation.

Happy new year 2021

 In the last few days of 2020, I watched the recently released Disney movie – Soul with my family. It was an amazing enriching experience. The movie had a great message – find your purpose in life, and don’t let your life be governed by the goals you set forth for yourself. The goals are stepping stones towards your purpose and not the final destination themselves. This came in just handy as we were preparing for our goals for the new year and setting our resolutions. It is always important to work towards your goals but not let the purpose of life slip away from your view and thoughts.

In this regard, I would like to take a slight spin on the story of Yayati. Please indulge with me in this story and the message I looked upon for myself.

A long time ago, there used to be an Asura king Vrishaparva and his main advisor as well as teacher was the rishi Shukracharya. Their daughters Sharmishtha (daughter of Vrishaparva) and Devyani(daughter of Shukracharya) were good friends. They used to play and pass all their time together. However, once due to some misunderstanding, Sharmishtha got angry with Devayani and in her moment of rage and pride asked her soldiers to throw Devayani in a well. Devayani cried for help and another king – Yayati happened to pass by the well and hear her prayers. Yayati helped Devayani out of the well. Devayani was smitten by the good looks, well built and the helpful nature of Yayati. Yayati too fell in love with Devayani’s beauty. When Yayati escorted Devayani to her father’s ashram, he asked Shukracharya’s permission to marry Devayani. Meanwhile, Shukracharya was very angry with Vrishaparva and Sharmishtha for Sharmishtha’s act towards Devayani. Vrishaparva, knowing his teacher’s anger and importance, pleaded for forgiveness. Sharmishtha too filled with guilt over her actions, pleaded for forgiveness. While Sharmishtha’s rage was over, Devayani was filled with the similar rage and the thirst to prove herself superior. She demanded Sharmishtha to serve as her servant. In the same order to prover might, she took Devayani as her servant even after marriage to King Yayati’s kingdom. What she did not realize was that the same  Devayanai could become her challenge later. Yayati fell in love with Sharmishtha later on seeing her princess like beauty and took her as his new wife. When Devayani found out about this relationship, she became angry and complained to her father. In his fit of anger, Shukracharya cursed Yayati to loose his virility and youth. Yayati later regained his lost youth when his own son Puru accepted Yayati’s curse.

Picture credits - Yayati symbol inspired from Netflix's Sacred Games show

In this story, multiple points happen –

1.        Actions are taken in fit of rage and anger – These actions led to other issues and much more twisted tail of events than initially envisioned by the actors

2.        Yayati’s lust for youth and virility – Yayati set his goals on the youthfulness and enjoyment. In this goal setting, he forgot the purpose of life and tried to govern the nature. He forgot that everything that rises, must fall down. For his own selfishness, he destroyed his own son’s youth

3.        Yayati’s clan – Yayati’s sons later become the forefathers of the famous Kuru clan which fought the Mahabharat war. If only Yayati had controlled his lust and selfishness, the Mahabharat war could have been avoided.

4.        Every action has a reaction – Call it Newton’s law or Karma – no act goes unnoticed and has a repercussion. Devayani’s act of proving herself superior costed her husband!

5.        Do not try to control the nature or the flow of events – Whenever the natural phenomenon or circumstances are controlled, unexpected results are seen. Will talk in detail in many more articles to come…

6.        Yayati's story is a also a classic example of a pessimistic / optimistic view of life. The trick is in maintaining the balance. And that is something you shall achieve when you have the goals and purpose properly set for yourself!

Let’s start the new year with the proper thoughts and the learnings from Yayati’s story – not to let the selfishness or anger overpower you and never to loose the purpose of life. It may not be an easy task to determine your purpose, but keep looking for it!