Taming the pride

In my previous post – "Main or May", I started a thought on the pride. Pride can come to a person in many forms – overconfidence being one of them and probably the most destructive too. Pride is a great feeling to have and is a great asset if in moderated quantity. Being a necessary evil, it helps one to move forward and overcome the inherent fear of failure, and at the same time, creates a path for self-destruction through complacency and too much of confidence on self or other. Pride comes with the sense of belonging and ownership. However, the nature makes no such claim. This is a human mind construct and creates boundaries.
We have all seen both the benefits and the destruction caused by pride. Let's see the symbolism of the same as seen in our scriptures!
Who better to kill pride or tame the feeling than Lord Shiva. Shiva took the form of "Bhairava" as a young child devoid of all the emotions of ownership and pride. Bhairava is always accompanied with a dog. A dog is a faithful companion of its owner. One would have noticed that the dog never walks away from the owner and strives for the owner's love. The dog wags its tail when it needs to be loved or petted and barks when it needs attention. Bhairava's dog is a parallel to human pride. The more you pet it, the stronger it grows. And like it or not, it always follows you. Bhairava, however is unmoved by the dog. The scriptures also represent the innocent looking Bhairava with a severed head in his hand. The severed head belongs to Brahma (Brahma's fifth head) which was severed to curb his pride.
History is full of examples where the great achievers became great losers just because they let their pride take over themselves. One must realize that we are all mere actors in the nature fulfilling our part in the grand scheme. If we do achieve something today, someone else shall be able to do the same sometime later or someone would have done so many times in the past.
Indra – the king of gods, was very happy with his arrangements and his rule. He had built the most amazing palace in the heaven and had all the very best apsaras in his court. This filled him with pride. The pride grew so much that he forgot all the steps required to keep heaven in shape and move forward. To make him realize, Vishnu took form of a small child and visited hi palace. Indra, the proud guide to his riches asked the child at the end of the tour – "how do you like my palace? Isn't it great". The child answered – "Yes. Definitely it is. But probably, the earlier Indra's were better". This made Indra realize that he too is part of the nature and the pride could be his destruction too.
Pride is a great motivation. Use it with caution!

What do I want - "Main" or "May"

I took a little time thinking on what do I want and what do I need. While doing so, I thought whether am I looking for "Main" (myself in hindi) or "May" (pride in hindi). Though a very glib pun on the sounds, yet a very profound meaning that changes the character of a person.

Below is my attempt in penning my thoughts.

कुछ ढूँढ रहा था मैं ,
कुछ पाना चाहता था मैं,
श्रम से बीज बोता मैं,
सोचता था फल खाऊँगा मैं।
                                       कभी मन को समझाता मैं ,
                                       कभी खूब मचल जाता मैं ,
                                       दूर भी जाना चाहता था मैं ,
                                       और अमर भी होना चाहता था मैं।
मन को शांत करता मैं ,
सब कुछ शांत करना चाहता था मैं ,
चाँद को चूना चाहता था मैं,
सूर्य से भी ज्यादा तेज चाहता था मैं।
                                         थोडा कुछ तो पाया भी मैं,
                                         और साथ ले आया मय।
                                         जिस मय से डरता था मैं,
                                         उसी मय मय हो गया मैं।
सभी कुछ तो जीत चूका था मैं।
फिर भी सबसे दूर हो चूका था मैं।
क्यों सब कुछ प् सका हूँ मैं?
क्यों अकेले रहने को अभिशप्त हूँ मैं?
                                           एक उत्तर ही तो चाहता हूँ मैं।
                                           वही एक सत्य तो ढूँढ रहा हूँ मैं।  
                                            प्रेम ही तो चाहता हूँ मैं,
                                            इस मय को ख़त्म करना चाहता हूँ मैं।

Devyani

I am sure that all of us have been stirred by the Devyani Khobragade arrest incident that has shaken the diplomatic ties between India and US for now. I spent much time yesterday reading through the news reports and talking to people with experiences into diplomatic scenarios. We spoke at lengths on the measures being taken by the various authorities and the excessiveness being exercised in matters deemed necessary. We all concluded that there were some gaps in the manner the situation was handled. This article today is dedicated towards the lamentation of these gaps.

In the Devyani case, the US officials have reported to have acted as per their rules and regulations. Their reports said that since the Indian Diplomat failed to align with their rules and regulations, they were supposed to take a corrective action and force the punishment on the accused. What were these rules? Putting appropriate salary to the domestic help (which is allowed as per US rules and regulations) in the visa application. However, the standards for the salary are too high and cannot be meted out since the employer is not paid enough. In such a case, the rules and regulations leave a case by allowing the domestic help to a diplomat, yet cut it down by raising the salary bar too high. In any case, the fact of the matter is, Devyani is in trouble which she may or may not have caused at all. She is at the center of mayhem being caused by someone else with different other motives that what is evident at this time.

At the same time, we ought to ask the question – how do you determine what is right? In the case above, it is seen that aligning to the rules makes a person right. If so, what makes the rule right? If following the rule makes a right or a good person, all law abiding people would be good people. If following the rule made good people, why did Jesus broke the law of the land? Why did Moses break the law and guided Jews out of slavery from Pharaohs? If the rules were good and following them made you a good person, why does every government changes the laws or rules set by the previous ones?

Rules or laws cannot be definitive. They are context based and time and place sensitive!

Sri Ram followed the rule of his ancestors to follow the word of his father. He went to exile renouncing his claim to the throne for fourteen years. Bhishma later followed the same rule to uphold his father's wish and renounced his claim to the throne forever and decided not to have children. The same law! In one case is considered great boon and in the other a great disaster! Had Bhishma laid claim to the throne, the entire Mahabharata could have been avoided. Duryodhana always followed the law. As per the law, he won Draupadi. He could do whatever he wished with her. She was no different than other courtesans in principle. However, we do consider him evil and his act of disrobing Draupadi the most evil of all – Why? He was just following the law. As per the law, Duryodhana was the eldest son of Dhritrasthra (elder of the two brothers – who ruled Hastinapur). Lawfully, he was the rightful heir to the throne. Yet we understand that he did injustice to the Pandavas. Following the law but not the principle behind it, will not make you a good person. Any rule or law which is applicable to a set of people in a particular timeframe at a place will not be applicable at other place as the parameters or the environment has changed. When Shabari fed half eaten fruits to Sri Ram, he ate them fondly. Though Lakshmana was enraged that how could a old, uncivilized woman offer leftover food to Sri Ram – future king of Ayodhya! Sri Ram pointed it out to Lakshmana that they and not Shabri were privy to court manners. It was they and Shabri who knew who they were. How could they expect the same court manners from Shabri when she hadn't been informed of the same? Thus the same rules do not apply to both! At the end of the war between Sri Ram and Ravana, the gods poured Amrit – or the nectar of life. Though Amrit fell on both the monkeys and demons, no demons got their life back. Doesn't the same rule applies to both?

Similarly, even in the US, every state has its own set of rulings with respect to certain topics. It is because the same rules do not apply to people when the environmental and social factors change. While such a dichotomy over the rules exist in a country, how could one be so sure that they take steps to jeopardize the relationships in a grave manner as this?

 

The Vishnu Avatars – looking through the glass

Last night we were watching the movie "Dashavtaram" for the umpteenth time. We love the movie and also have many good memories attached with the song – "Mukunda Mukunda". My wife taught dance to this number and the kids performed beautifully on the stage. Now that we watched it again and again, we tried to make sense of the name – "Dashavtaram" which undoubtedly refers to the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Interestingly enough, Lord Vishnu is known to have descended upon the earth many a times to uphold the dharma or the laws of nature. Though our scriptures and wise learned people have often differed on the number of times Vishnu took different forms, there is no difference in understanding the common themes and the principles in each of these avatars. My attempt shall be to just have a look at those and understand the same.

As per the most well-read purana scripture – Bhagwat Purana describes 22 avatars of Sri Vishnu. While the most commonly known 10 avatars of Vishnu referred in multiple purana scriptures as per their appearance on earth are categorized as -

Yuga	Avatar Name	Story
Sata Yuga	Matsya	Vishnu appeared as the fish who saved Manu and the accompanying creatures on a boat during the great deluge.
	Kurma	The tortoise or the turtle on whose back, the mount Mandar was set so that it could be used as a stirrup to churn the ocean.
	Varaha	The boar who fought Hiranyaksh and rescued the mother earth (Bhudevi)
	Narsimha	The half man, half animal with the characteristics of lion infused into a man – appeared to save Prahlad and kill Hiranyakashyap
Treta Yuga	Vamana	A dwarf Brahmin appearance who went to the Asura king Bali asking for land covered in his three steps
	Parashurama	Another Brahmin appearance who vowed to free the earth of Kshatriyas with diminishing values and even beheaded his own mother when she digressed from her values
	Rama	The king of Ayodhya who laid the rules and established an order of living for the society
Dwapara Yuga	Krishna	The most colorful appearance of Lord Vishnu, where he plays roles of rule breaker, upholder of values, romancing the people and guiding them through the intricacies of the society
	Buddha	Well known as Gautam Buddha, who enlightened the man kind of a middle path to attain salvation while fulfilling their worldly duties
KaliYuga	Kalki	Kalki avatar is expected to appear in Kaliyuga or the present era. He is expected to end the world of its miseries and establish the laws again.

 

Now that we have the ten most important avatars categorized, let's look at the evolution in them.

• Number of avatars
  
  • SatYuga saw four avatars
    
  • Treta saw three
    
  • Dwapara saw two
    
  • Kaliyuga is supposed to see only one.
    
• Form of avatara
  
  • The Satayuga's avatars were evolving from the body of an animal and slowly developing as a human.
    
  • The Treta avatars were well formed humans who displayed their supremacy over other forms of nature.
    
  • The Dwapara avatars displayed supremacy over other humans or self.
    
  • The Kalyuga avatar is yet to be determined
    
• State of society at the time of avatara
  
  • During the Sata Yuga, there was no society. The nature was just forming and taking shape. The need was to develop the laws and set the principles based on which the further creations can live and coexist.
    
  • As the nature evolved, the different groups of people formed and so did their beliefs. The avataras played the role of binding them together
    
  • During the Treta Yuga, the society was formed however in the initial stages. The concepts of settlement and developing the culture was taking form. At the same time, the need was to move from the barbarian or animal instinct to a more humane instinct. This is seen in the act of Parashuram killing the Kshatriyas when they debased themselves using their power and refused to protect the other forms of the society. Sri Rama at the same time, took help from the animals (mainly monkeys and bears) to fight with Ravana – the king of Asuras. Thus displaying the growth or evolution of the human being from the animals.
    
  • During the Dwapara Yuga, the society was well formed and the human kind had progressed much further. The laws set by Sri Rama for the society were well followed. However, the requirements of the society and the nature were changing yet again. The laws applicable in the Treta Yuga were no longer applicable. They were still being followed though only in the form of letter and not in principle or philosophy. This is where the advent of Krishna infuses the fresh air. Sri Krishna, often viewed as rule breaker, broke the unmanageable rules and laws and taught to follow what you understand and what is right. In his teachings to Arjun (Sri Madbhagwat Gita), he lays the principles for the human beings. This is the same theme seen in Gautama Buddha. When the rules of the society became too rigid and impractical to follow, he infused a new path breaking all beliefs to lead life in a better manner.
    
  • The society today is the most advanced as compared to what we have seen in the past yugas. At the same time, we have seen the degeneration as well. Which is nothing but the turn of the time. Time runs in a cycle. What is up today will go down tomorrow and what is down today will come up someday.
    

I also wanted to touch upon a very sensitive yet important aspect in here, along with the evolution and maturity of the society we should also notice the change in the way the incarnations have appeared. At the time, when society was yet forming, the incarnations took the form of Brahmin as the source of knowledge. When the society was a little mature, they appeared as kings or Kshatriya as protectors. When the maturity reached even higher and society was looking for their path on deeds, Sri Krishna appeared – born as a Kshatriya, lived as a Viashya (cowherd in Vraj) and acted like a Shudra (Charioteer for Arjuna). I understand the forms of the society are a touchy topic and I may be hurting someone's sentiments, but when God himself made no difference, how can we?

Jeevan

Now that you got me started, I will croon out another one from my pocket. This may not be a fantastic piece of work, but is definitely close to my heart and in a way quite true to its meaning!

The best part is when it was composed? Almost 20 years ago!

                      आज जीवन का अर्थ कहो तुम ?
                      किसी कि हंसी छीनना ही क्या जीवन है?
                      किसी को दुःख देना ही क्या जीवन है?
                      अत्याचार करना ही क्या जीवन है?
जीवन तो एक अमूल्य धन है,
मानवता के निर्माण का साधन है। 
जीवन का तुम लाभ उठाओ,
संसार के मार्गदर्शक बन जाओ।। 
                       सच्ची राह बतलाना तुम,
                       हृदयसेतु बन जाना तुम,
                       जीवन का अर्थ प्रेम बतलाना,
                       नहीं किसी को द्वेष सीखना।।

Down the memory lane

Blame it on my wife! She started it a few weeks ago right from the day I was born a few years ago. She coaxed me to introspect and start squeezing out the thoughts on what I wanted to do in my life, realize what I couldn't and what I could. I know she wanted to make worthwhile of a day that meant special to us. However, no introspection is complete without the trip down the memory lane. In my case I call those as the dark ages. I am positive everyone goes through the dark ages at least once in the life. And yes, not everything in memory is worth remembering, but I am glad I found a few pieces that I would want to share here.
All these works are my own. However, please do not try to read much into the lines. I assure you that "Dark Ages" should be considered as dark. Remember, coal is dark but there are diamonds hidden somewhere along. So these are my diamonds –
One day I won't be there
I don't know how we would fare
But certainly I tell you
I won't ever forget you
In dreams and in action
You'll have eyes in me
I'll be there even when you don't need me
You may not remember me
But I'll live by your memories
I'll comfort you through all miseries
And I'll give you all my life
One day when I won't be there
And if my thoughts bring tears
Precious are those pearls for me
Please don't let them go away at least for me

Togetherness contd

Still full of the joy of our anniversary and pondering over the bliss of togetherness, I want to take another deeper dive into some of the well-known couples to all of us. This time, I just want to touch upon the ideas that brought them together and how they complemented each oher. May be if we are able to imbibe some qualities, we can rise to some heights as described.

Ram and Sita

The Sita-Ram couple is definitely the most revered and most worthy candidate of an idealist couple. Sita is the most obedient wife and offers every comfort to Rama. Rama in turn, loves her the most and performs every duty as needed for a husband.

• Sita follows her husband, when he goes to the forest as exile to keep up with the laws / principles of the Raghu clan.
  
• Sita leads her life in simplicity though being a princess, just because her husband chooses to do so. Ram vows to take care of his wife and fulfills all her needs.
  
• Sita observes the chaste of her husband when he shooes away the deautiful form of Surpanakha. Rama is also known as Maryada Purushottama – the ideal ma who followed all rules and never looked at any other woman.
  
• Sita quietly follows the Raghukula dharma when she crosses the Lakshmana Rekha to feed the disguised demon king Ravana. Ram trustd Sita and went away to fulfill her request.
  
• Sita undergoes the fire test to prove her chaste after having been kept captive in Ravana's kingdom against her wishes. Ram accept Sita for whatever she is, but accepts the firetest to subside the questions from the society.
  
• Sita quietly accepts the rule of the land and proceeds to forest when the people question her chaste again in Ayodhya. In order to setup an ideal state and its rules, Ram sacrifices his and Sita's personal life.
  

Saraswati – Brahma

Amongst all the goddess, only Saraswati is revered for her knowledge and not for beauty or appearance. Saraswati provides the calm and stability to the otherwise ever-moving nature of Brahma. Whle Brahma is always tryis trying to create something new to satiate his desire, Saraswati provides the knowledge to understand the creation and its purpose.

Parvati – Shankara

Parvati transformed the ascetic hermit Shankara into a household to benefit the cosmos. She provides him a way to understand the nature, the creation and its purpose. She helps Shankara to get involved with the nature and help it grow its own course than sit aside and discard the flow. Even though Shiva or Shankara play his role of the destroyer in the nature, he has to play his part in growing the nature at the same time.

Radha – Krishna

The fair skinned Radha and the dark handsome Krishna have been the ideals of the lovers for the ages. Having personified the love themselves, the duo have been worshipped for ages for their selfless for each other. Like it or not, every couple today compares themselves to them all the time. Radha provides a contrasting yet complementing perception to the Krishna's image.

• The love of Radha – Krishna brings out the play of the nature
  
• Fair skinned Radha represents the multiple colors of nature, while the dark skinned Krishna merges with the colors to bring them to life
  
• Radha and Krishna's love together brings about the creation of the Raasleela – the play of the damsels and the ideas and the perceptions
  
• While Krishna plays the asura wrenching youth fighting the might of Kansa, Radha provides the peaceful consort who calms him down
  
• While Krishna goes around breaking all societal barriers and rituals, Radha provides the calm and loving balm to him and to the society that has been broken to the shackles.
  
• Owing to the pressures, Krishna moves on to marry Rukmini and settle in Dwarka, Radha on the other hand devotes herself and her life for Krishna.
  

Laskhmi – Vishnu

Lakshmi and Vishnu have been much talked about and how Lakshmi keeps herself by the side of Vishnu. Vishnu also takes care of Lakshmi just as if it was himself. They complement each other.

The point we see is that both the parties in the couple play an important role in coming together. Once they are a couple, it is very hard to say who is because of whom! Both resemble each other and both complete each other.