musings 219 nothing is ever perfect and nothing is ever bad in absolute terms

I feel very strongly against a culture where some uppish intellectuals just portray all that exists around them as negative or even evil and by cleverly dishing out epithets and innuendos couched in cynicism claim that they themselves are the rare exceptions.. the perfect ones..

The Good Lord has created the world with inhabitants who show a mixture of good and bad.. nothing is ever perfect and nothing is ever bad in absolute terms..

The sad part is, the gullible average humans like us get carried away by such glib tongues..

essentially self projection musings 218

Can it be denied that every human action, although primarily every action is selfish and self centred, has some utility for others too.. even accepting that such use is minimal..

Take my own example..

I am not an overly altruistic person..

What I do, including posts here, is essentially self projection, and marketing myself to satisfy my ego..

I have neither the capacity nor the inclination to help anyone financially..

I am not a person who will praise others even in the most deserving cases..

Sort of an incarnation of Narcissus,, that is Kanfusion..

But still, out of millions of persons skimming through the pages, a few, maybe a dozen of people may just read something partially ..

and even out of them one or two might read with some interest, and they might have some empathy with me at least for fleeting moments..

And in that process something nice, something of mutual benefit might get exchanged..

That is really something, is it not?

Something which even though not of much value is not materially tainted with selfishness..

musings 217

one can choose be honest, cordial and sincere..

but that choice should be because of the realization that a smooth and decent life is not possible without that in the long run and more so because he will not be able to justify wrong attitudes to himself.

Sure, that way he can ensure that he is not ashamed of himself at any time.

If he is choosing a righteous path with the expectation that he would get respect, and help from others and help even from divinity, most of the time, he is heading for disappontment..

The happenings in life and the way life moves is not much dependent on the way one conducts himself socially or materially..

The factors regulating our life are too varied and too uncertain..

But an honest life is a choice..

and with some effort one can lead such a life,

whatever may be the odds..

But it is not prudent to expect any quid pro quo..

विरुद्धैरपि वस्तव्यं साधुभिर्धर्मदर्शिभिः।

विरुद्धैरपि वस्तव्यं साधुभिर्धर्मदर्शिभिः।

दोषाः अपि हि साधूनां असतां च गुणैः समाः॥

viruddhairapi vastavyaṁ sādhubhirdharmadarśibhiḥ|

doṣāḥ api hi sādhūnāṁasatāṁ ca guṇaiḥ samāḥ||

We should ensure that we are always in the company of right thinking and honest people even if such people do not see eye to eye with us and often their stances in many things cause discomfort to us. Even the so-called bad qualities of people with sterling character are equal to or even better than what we perceive as virtue in evil-minded persons.

महात्मगुरुदेवानामश्रुपातः क्षितौ यदि

महात्मगुरुदेवानामश्रुपातः क्षितौ यदि।

देशभ्रंशो महद्दुःखं मरणं च भवेत् ध्रुवम्॥

mahātmagurudevānāmaśrupātaḥ kṣitau yadi|

deśabhraṁśo mahadduḥkhaṁ maraṇaṁ ca bhavet dhruvam||

If the state of affairs in a state are so wayward, cruel and miserable that the learned, mature and exalted saints and preceptors who might be equated to divinity shed their tears of agony and such teardrops fall on the ground, then the state or nation would fall in stature and break.. greatest sorrows and even mass deaths are sure to follow.

यशोदया समा कापि देवतानां तु भूतले।

यशोदया समा कापि देवतानां तु भूतले।

उलूखले यदा बद्धो मुक्तिदो मुक्तिमिच्छति॥

yaśodayā samā kāpi devatānāṁ tu bhūtale|

ulūkhale yadā baddho muktido muktimicchati||

On this earth, there is no Divine being superior to Mother Yashodha.

That Supreme one who is capable of liberating every living here was tied by her to a mortar and He is crying His heart out for liberation.

It is indeed a great imagery..

When the naughty escapades of the child Krishna crossed all limits, mother Yashoda took a long rope and tied the child securely to a mortar. Being bound and uncomfortable, Krishna is shouting and crying at the top of His voice. Only Yashoda can untie the knots and give some semblance of freedom to the sweet urchin.

What a contradiction.. He is the Universe manifest, and He alone can ensure the ultimate liberty of all beings reeling under worldly woes. But now his liberty is controlled by Mother Yashoda ?

So She is more powerful even than that Universal Soul Krishna.

musings 216

The wisdom of our elders was monumental and their maturity is almost impossible for us to emulate...

Their faith in God was based on absolute trust.. They knew by instinct and faith that all that is nice and tolerable is just a gift, or even a lease from the Master and we are incapable of bargaining or complaining in any way.. He is free to take away anything from anyone of us without any warning or notice.. But He is so kind and merciful.. Even when ostensibly the worst things like departure of a loved one occurs, we would see that the Master never takes away or inundates everything.. many Graces are left behind..

Death or such decisive happenings are unavoidable for Him to maintain justice and order... But He wields the sword with the utmost compassion and moderation possible..

This is what the paatti means by ithode poche.. (ഇതോടെ പോച്ചേ இதோடு போச்சே)

I am sure we can understand this fact in its true context as we pass through both heartening and heart-breaking episodes in our lives ,we gain lessons of life through the years , and then look back..

this is one great blessing of old age..

गुणैरुत्तमतां याति न तु जातिप्रभावतः।

गुणैरुत्तमतां याति न तु जातिप्रभावतः।

क्षीरोदधिसमुत्पन्नः कालकूतः किमुत्तमः॥

guṇairuttamatāṁ yāti na tu jātiprabhāvataḥ|

kṣīrodadhisamutpannaḥ kālakūtaḥ kimuttamaḥ||

A person, an article or things gets accepted as ideal and praiseworthy by virtue of his or its inherent merits and good qualities. He/ It cannot gain acceptability and respect merely on the basis of his/ its origin or place or birth or the name and fame of the clan of birth.

See, when the milky oceans was churned for Amritam, what first came out was the terrible venom Kalakoota which was capable of destroying the entire universe. Can anyone declare Kalakoota as the best and ideal thing just because it was born out of the great milky ocean ?

नास्तिकिञ्चन दुष्करम्

शरीरनिरपेक्षस्य दक्षस्य व्यवसायिनः

बुद्धिप्रारब्दकार्यस्य नास्तिकिञ्चन दुष्करम्॥

भोजप्रबन्धे॥

śarīranirapekṣasya dakṣasya vyavasāyinaḥ

buddhiprārabdakāryasya nāstikiñcana duṣkaraṃ॥

bhojaprabandhe॥

No task would be daunting or difficult to attain for a person

Who is not restricted in his physical movements through ailments, who is not overly dependent on others for his normal activities

Who is adequately efficient in performing the duties assigned to him

Who is not averse to physical exertion or hard work

And

Who is circumspect in the matter of embarking on any assignment or project and would start action only after proper thinking and planning

ശരീരനിരപേക്ഷസ്യ ദക്ഷസ്യ വ്യവസായിനഃ

ബുദ്ധിപ്രാരബ്ദകാര്യസ്യ നാസ്തികിഞ്ചന ദുഷ്കരം॥

ഭോജപ്രബന്ധേ॥

ശാരീരികമായ അവശതകളോ രോഗങ്ങളോ മൂലം വിഷമിക്കാത്ത, നിസ്സാര കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ചെയ്യുവാന്‍ പോലും മറ്റുള്ളവരുടെ സഹായത്തിനായി കാത്തിരിക്കാത്ത

ചെയ്യുന്ന കാര്യങ്ങളില്‍ വേണ്ടത്ര വൈദഗ്ദ്യം കൈമുതലായി കരുതുന്ന

മെയ്യനങ്ങി പണിയെടുക്കാന്‍ ഒട്ടും അലസത കാണിക്കാത്ത

അതെ സമയം

ഒരു പ്രധാനപ്പെട്ട കാര്യം ചെയ്യുവാന്‍ ഇറങ്ങിപ്പുറപ്പെടുമ്പോള്‍ ആ കാര്യത്തിന്‍റെ എല്ലാ വശവും ബുദ്ധിയും വിവേകവും ഉപയോഗിച്ച് വിശകലനം ചെയ്ത് വിജയസാധ്യത മിക്കവാറും ഉറപ്പു വരുത്തിയ ശേഷം മാത്രം പ്രവൃത്തി തുടങ്ങുന്ന

ഒരാള്‍ക്ക് ഒരു പ്രവൃത്തിയും അസാധ്യമോ വെല്ലുവിളികള്‍ നല്‍കുന്നതോ ആയിരിക്കുകയില്ല.