𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐰𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧..

 

यं प्रव्रजन्तमनुपेतमपेतकृत्यं द्वैपायनो विरहकातर आजुहाव।

पुत्रेति तन्मयतया तरवो निनेदु तं सर्वभूतहृदयं मुनिं आनतोस्मि॥

श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे॥

𝐲𝐚𝐦̇ 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐫̣𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐦̇ 𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐩𝐚̄𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐚̄𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐚̄𝐣𝐮𝐡𝐚̄𝐯𝐚|

𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐚̄ 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐨 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐦̇ 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐮̄𝐭𝐚𝐡𝐫̣𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐦̇ 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐦̇ 𝐚̄𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐦𝐢||

𝐬́𝐫𝐢̄𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐛𝐡𝐚̄𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐡𝐚̄𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐚̄𝐧̣𝐞||

A 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐚 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐦.. 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚.. 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭..𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬.

𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐕𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐚..

𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐭.. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐰𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧..

𝐍𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.. 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐦

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐤𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬..

"𝐈 𝐛𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 ( 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐇𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟)

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚..

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐠s 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 "𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐧" "𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐧" 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝."

one is what the company he keeps

गवाशनानां स शृणोति वाक्यमहं हि राजन्श्चरितं मुनीनाम्।

न तस्य दोषो न च मद्गुणो वा संसर्गजा दोषगुणा भवन्ति॥

श्री शुकः

gavāśanānāṁ sa śṛṇoti vākyamahaṁ hi rājanścaritaṁ munīnām|

na tasya doṣo na ca madguṇo vā saṁsargajā doṣaguṇā bhavanti||

śrī śukaḥ

ഗവാശനാനാം സ ശൃണോതി വാക്യമഹം ഹി രാജന്ശ്ചരിതം മുനീനാം|

ന തസ്യ ദോഷോ ന ച മദ്ഗുണോ വാ സംസര്‍ഗജാ ദോഷഗുണാ ഭവന്തി||

ശ്രീ ശുകഃ 

There are two parrots. One is in the company of eaters of cow's meat.  The second (the narrator here) is always in the company of ascetics.  The former is always hearing the conversation of those people and the invectives contained therein. The latter is always listening to the expostulation of scriptures and lofty thoughts by the learned sages.  In due course the former parrot spews out the garbage it has listened to and the latter is talking quoting great thoughts.  The parrot confesses that his colleague is not uttering garbage because of any inherent evil in him or that he himself is repeating great words not because of any inherent merits of his own.  The company of the evil people makes the former to utter bad words, and the company of  the learned seers makes him utter great words.  It is only the effect of the company one keeps.

संसर्गजा दोषगुणा भवन्ति    samsargajaa doshagunaaH bhavanti  is an oft-repeated quote.  This is the full  form of  the narration.

In the contemporary context, one should find it difficult whether it is evil to eat cow's meat.  But the Indian of the yore respected and worshipped the cow as a goddess and mother.  My  apologies if it does not  seem palatable to anyone.  But the fact remains  that company of the bad makes one bad and vice-versa.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|