Saturday, December 04, 2010

keep the cake and eat it too

फलं पापस्य नेच्छन्ति पापम् कुर्वन्ति यत्नतः।
फलं पुण्यस्य चेच्छन्ति पुण्यम् नेच्छन्ति मानवाः॥
चाणक्यसूत्राद्
phalaṁ pāpasya necchanti pāpam kurvanti yatnataḥ|
phalaṁ puṇyasya ceccanti puṇyam necchanti mānavāḥ||
cāṇakyasūtrād
 
ഫലം പാപസ്യ  നേച് ഛന്തി പാപം കുര്‍വന്തി യത്നത:
ഫലം പുണ്യസ്യ ചേച്ഛ്ന്തി പുണ്യം നേച് ഛന്തി മാനവാ:
ചാണക്യന്‍

people commit sinful activities with great effort but they never want to face the consequence of such sins.
 They always expect the bounties of virtuous acts to be showered on them but they have no inclination to perform any virtuous action.



It is really a funny state of mind germane in all of us.   We would not hesitate to commit any sin if we can get away with it.
 But we are always expecting good fortune, blessedness  and peace ,

which are stemming from acts of virtue to visit us..
Funnier people among us also attempt to expiate their sins by visiting pilgrim centres or by handing out alms..in the hope that the sin  will disappear. 
We entertain the foolish  hope that slaughtering a cow can be compensated by free gift of leather shoes to  the so called holy men. 
 Is it not better not to eat too much and avoid problems in the tummy than to gobble up everything and getting the malady treated by a doctor?  

At the same time, if we are advised to be virtuous, the very idea will be scoffed.   

However, without being virtuous, if  we are offered  some shortcut to earn all the good results of such action, we will jump at the idea with all enthusiasm.  

We always want keep the cake to be intact and we want to eat it too.

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