Saturday, April 23, 2011

the good, the bad and the ugly.


जानीयात् प्रेषणे भृत्यान् बान्धवान् व्यसनागमे।
मित्रं च आपत्तिकालेषु भार्यां च विभवक्षये॥
चाणक्यनीतिसारं
jānīyāt preṣaṇe bhṛtyān bāndhavān vyasanāgame|
mitraṁ ca āpattikāleṣu bhāryāṁ ca vibhavakṣaye||
cāṇakyanītisāraṁ

"One will realize the true worth of a servant when the latter is sent on a errand, The sincerity of a relative will be known when one is overcome with sorrow. The friendship will be tested when one is facing danger and one's wife's affection  will show its real face when his financial resources are dwindling."

Here more than giving a value judgment Chanakya is offering us some food for thought. 
 If we have a servant, he will be very solicitous, apparently efficient and alert in our presence.
When an occasion arises and he is sent out to do something or fetch something, it is time that his efficacy is on test. 
 A good subordinate will do the right thing and if necessary do something more also for the benefit of the master.(Let us remember what Bhagavan Anjaneya did for Lord Rama). 
 Some servants are neutral and show reluctance to go, while away the time and  repeatedly come back with  replies that the material or the person at the other end is not readily available. 
 But some gems of servants will go, blotch up the matter on hand and also do whatever supplementary damage they can manage to happen  in their exalted wisdom.
When grief strikes and the family is in agony, well-meaning relatives come to us, comfort us and try to do all things at their disposal to mitigate our misery. 
 Some relatives take a neutral attitude, pay lip sympathy and keep quiet. 
 Other star relatives use our grief as a plank to insult us, announce in public about all the bad things done or not done by us and and about the greatness of the fate which gives every person what he deserves.

When we are in danger, a good friend somehow gets the wind of it, rushes to us and does all things at his disposal to bail us out, and in this process, even places our interests above his own safety. 
 Some friends who will be seen in our company sharing almost all we have, would feign lack of information about the danger, and make excuses about their very urgent preoccupation or mortal illness which prevented them from offering help in time. 
 If the danger vanishes such friends will rush to us and make huge claims as to what they could have done, or what they have done in private to bail us out. 
 If we have succumbed to the danger, such friends will be never seen anywhere near us. The worst type of friends capitalize on our distress to berate us and loot us. When the house is on fire, run away carrying off all available boulders and doors.--this is their policy.
And a faithful wife, when the fortune is on the wane will be ready to share our woes willingly. 
 For the aggressive wife this will be the time for the intervention of her own relatives to put to shame the hapless husband and also demand for claiming here share  in the existing property so that she will be safe even if the man may be ruined. 
 The completely unfaithful wife will simply abandon him and leave for greener pastures.

Life is an assorted mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly.

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