Monday, November 23, 2015

idiots are invincible.



idiots are invincible.

________________

शक्यो वारयितुं जलेन हुतभुक् छत्रेण सूर्यातपो
नागेन्द्रो निशिताङ्कुशेन समदो दण्डेन गोगर्दभौ।
व्याधिर्भैषजसङ्ग्रहैश्च विविधैः मन्त्रप्रयोगैर्व्विषम्।
सर्वस्यौषधमस्ति शास्त्रविहितं मूर्खस्य नास्त्यौषधी॥
भर्तृहरेः नीतिशतके ११



śakyo vārayituṁ jalena hutabhuk chatreṇa sūryāatapo

nāgendro niśitāṅkuśena samado daṇḍena gogardabhau|
vyādhirbhaiṣajasaṅgrahaiśca vividhaiḥ mantraprayogairvviṣam|
sarvasyauṣadhamasti śāstravihitaṁ mūrkhasya nāstyauśadhī||
bhartṛhareḥ nītiśatake 11


हुतभुक् जलेन वारयितुं शक्यः( भवति) Fire can be extinguished with water.

सूर्यातपो छत्रेण वारयितुं शक्यः( भवति) Intense sunlight can be avoided by using umbrella

समदो नागेन्द्रो निशिताङ्कुशेन वारयितुं शक्यः( भवति) An elephant in rut can be controlled applying sharp goad with sharp hook

गोगर्दभौ दण्डेन वारयितुं शक्यौ( भवतः) 
The bull or the donkey can be kept in place by thorough beating with a stick

व्याधिःच र्भैषजसङ्ग्रहै वारयितुं शक्यः( भवति) Disease also can be treated with the right combination of medicines.

विषं विविधैः मन्त्रप्रयोगैःवारयितुं शक्यं ( भवति) Poison ( by snakebite) can be nullified by various chants and spells

(अस्मिन् लोके) सर्वस्य औषधं अस्ति In this world, there is some medicine or some solutions for any problem or illnes

परन्तु मूर्खस्य औषधी नास्ति. But there is no medicine available to cure the foolishness of an idiot..

This is from the great philosopher poet Bhrtruhari..

There are some medicines cures or solutions for almost all the problems in this world.. 
Fire can be doused with water.. 
Umbrella gives shelter from midday sun. 
Even the ultimately roguish elephant can be forced to obey if a sharp goad is applied in its appropriate place.. 
Cattle and Donkeys can be brought into utter obedience just by applying the stick. 
Doctors have combination of medicines for all ailment.

Even the venom from a snakebite could be neutralized through spells and chants ( of course now we have antivenins)

But if a fellow is idiot by nature or has chosen to be an idiot nothing can cure him

Friday, November 13, 2015

How can there be another Venkatesha anywhere...?



Venkatdhri samam sthanam brahmande nasthi kinchana Venkatesa samo devo na bhuto na bhavishyathi ” 

वेङ्कटाद्रि समं स्थानं ब्रह्माण्डे नास्ति किञ्चन।
वेङ्कटेश समो देवः न भूतो न भविष्यति॥
veṅkaṭādri samaṁ sthānaṁ brahmāṇḍe nāsti kiñcana|
veṅkaṭeśa samo devaḥ na bhūto na bhaviṣyati||


How can there be another Venkatesha anywhere...?

There is no place on this brahmandam (the universe created by Brahma) which can be equal to the holy Venkatadri..

And there never was or there will never be any God equal to that Merciful Venkatesha who occupies the Seven Hills.

We can make replicas.. but how can there be any comparison?

Advaitis may say God is present everywhere.. But even they may not say so after seeing the Glory of Govinda in Tirupathi

Thursday, November 12, 2015

No one is really satisfied with anything..



No one is really satisfied with anything..


In the preface to Valmikiramayanam, we read a slokam

यः पिबन् सततं राम चरितामृतसागरम्।
अतृप्तस्तं मुनिं वन्दे प्राचेतसमकल्मषम्॥
yaḥ piban satataṁ rāma caritāmṛtasāgaram|
atṛptastaṁ muniṁ vande prācetasamakalmaṣam||
it is a eulogy to Valmiki..


Meaning...." He drank the nectar of the whole ocean of ambrosia that is the history of Rama.. still he was unsatisfied and wanted to have more.. we pay respect that Sage Praachetasa.. son of Prachetas,Valmiki.."

The difference between great and not so great appear to be that they choose the subjects about which they should never be satisfied..

Those who pursue wealth and pelf, continue pursuing them and never getting satisfied and always frustrated..

Those who pursue the great and sublime too continue their pursuit without complete satisfaction, but without any reason to get frustrated..

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

contradictions galore...




I cannot help contradicting myself often because I am just a human being..

It should be the same with others too..

But many consider that they should dish out platitudes and appear to be rational and intellectually correct.. 
That is only one stage in life.. 
The spiritual, and philosophical being inside us will tell us many things and ask us to behave is a prescribed manner.. 
Of course, that facet should be the core ideal inside us.(imho)..


But the intellectual, and the child are also working with us.

The child might make us frivolous and even silly.. 
The intellectual will force us to play roles and prod us to put on a face which would be appealing to the audience.. 
The interaction, the camaraderie and conflicts among these three is an ongoing process which no one can escape.. 
We can see this idea germane in Indian thoughts as also in western philosophy...
Actually the Parent Adult Child model and the transactional analysis, are products of this line of thinking..

But I am just trying to articulate the idea in my own layman's naive fashion.

One advantage for me appears to be that I have read and tried to assimilate many ideas over the years, but I am not indoctrinated.. 
Do not Judge others.. said jesus, but Jesus was Divine.. 
Krishna the blessed lord can tell so many things in Gita and elsewhere..
But the gap between the Divine and the mundane is too wide..

I think it will be okay for us if we can remain just ordinary human and not devilish most of the time.. Maybe we can have rare flashes of divinity too..

But I have to confess, sometimes, I get baffled by my own contradiction..

Friday, November 06, 2015

Love



Love

Love.. I could discover Love in Krishna..
Love, the uneasiness which nags me constantly when I am away from my friends, even though on my own volition.. 
Love is the four letter word which sustains our lives.. 
Love prompted the poets to write..
Love was the prime theme of their poems.. 
Kalidasa, Keats, Shankara and Shakespeare all wrote about love..
And even Shankara the recluse.. 
The four letter word is beyond any definition.. 
Love can have a positive impact, steadying and sustaining the entire gamut of relationships..


The same love can lead to jealousy, strife, wars, massacres, blood-sheds.. Draupadi, Cleopatra.... think of many such names..

There can be no absolute definition for Love .. 
What is God..? if one can define, 
what is evil.. ? if one can define, 
then one can define love too..

Love is the feeling that a mother radiates towards her newborn infant.. which had actually given her all sorts of pain during confinement, and the most insufferable pain at the time of childbirth.. 
So love is forgiveness..

Love for God the Krishna is the culmination of Bhatkti.. 
or is bhakthi the culmination or consummation of the love between the Maker and His creation?.. 
Let us enjoy love, 
let us give love, 
let us live in love.. 
but all the written and unwritten words or thoughts in the universe cannot say what love is. 
If true love is just a myth... then all our lives too are only myths