Tat Tvam Asi | तत्त्वमसि

No great work is achieved without great suffering and sacrifice. The worker will be required to pay a heavy price in terms of his personal and family happiness and similarly embrace a life of the troubles and dangers in treading the path of the ideal. The glowing example of Sri Rama is there as the guiding star for the hazardous voyage of a life duty. Even as a boy, he was taken from his parents by Vishwamitra, away from a princely life to a forest life, to fight the rakshasa. Later, after he had won the hand of Sita and was returning to Ayodhya he had to face the terrible Parashurama. And then before he could heave a sigh of relief and taste happiness, he had to leave for a fourteen-year wilderness in forest. Those fourteen years too were full of ordeals and struggle with rakshasa, abduction of Sita by Ravana and the great war at Lanka. As he returned to Ayodhya and was anointed as the king he had to give up Sita in response to the call of kingly duties. Lakshmana, who had followed h...

The springs of spontaneous joy and inspiration that rise in a heart charged with a spirit of total surrender to the ideal will defeat all forces of darkness and despair. There is a story of two yogis who were doing intense penance for realising God. Narada, who was on his way to the abode of God, was requested by these two yogis to know from him for how many more births they had to carry on their penance to realise God. Narada on his way back again met the two yogis. To the first he said, "Only four more births." Hearing this reply the yogi became crestfallen and began wailing, ”Oh Lord, still four more births!" To the other, Narada said, "You have to wait till you take as many births as there are leaves in the yonder tamarind tree". But Narada was amazed to see him start dancing with joy. When Narada asked him the reason, he replied, "Now I have got only a definite number of births before I reach God. After that I am assured of meeting God. What a great ...

A beautiful story from Jain literature: Once Sri Krishna, Balarama and Satyaki were lost in a forest. They decided to spend the night beneath a tree, each keeping guard over the others for two hours. To start with, Satyaki kept awake and the other two slept. But shortly, a Brahmarakshasa (an evil spirit) jumped down form the tree and threatened Satyaki that he would eat up all the three persons. Satyaki got furious and began to fight with the Rakshasa. But to his bewilderment he found the Rakshasa growing in stature and strength. Satyaki was exasperated. After two hours, thoroughly exhausted, he awoke Balarama and went to sleep. As soon as Satyaki retired, the Rakshasa too disappeared for a while but again appeared when Balarama got up. Balarama, conscious of his tremendous strength, became wild with anger and began to combat. But he too met with the same fate. After fighting in vain for two hours he awoke Sri Krishna and went to sleep. The Rakshasa confronted Sri Krishna. But Sri K...

In our ancient literature there is the story of Jaimini, a disciple of the great sage Vyasa. Vyasa once asked him to write the shloka- बलवान इंद्रियग्रामो विद्वाम्सं अपि कर्षति   The pull of senses will distract even the scholars. But Jaimini, over-conscious of his powers of self-restraint, changed the words into: बलवान इंद्रियग्रामो विद्वाम्सं नापकर्षति  The pull of senses will not distract the scholar. Vyasa observed it but kept quiet for the time being. Jaimini was residing in a forest, engaged in penance. One evening rain and tempest set in. a young and beautiful woman drenched in the rain and seeking shelter in that darkness came to the hut and begged the young tapasvi for protection. There was fire in the oven; she went there and began to dry her clothes. Just then a gust of wind took away her sari leaving her naked. The young Jaimini could no longer control himself. He approached the woman and entreated her to satisfy his carnal desire. She tried t...

Once there lived a king who used to consult astrologers about his future. All the astrologers told him that he would live very long but his son would die before his very eyes. That shocking news would naturally infuriate him and he would punish those astrologers. Finally, an old astrologer approached him and said that he was a very fortunate man and would install his grandson on throne with his own hands. Immensely pleased, the king rewarded the astrologer handsomely! Instead of uttering the bitter prophecy like others, he said the same thing but in a sweet manner. And that made all the difference. So it has been said, Satyam brooyat, priyam brooyat  [Speak truly, speak sweetly] Namaste! [Source: Bunch of Thoughts]

Once there lived a robber by name Procrustes who used to invite an unwary guest to his forest-house and ask him to rest on a cot. If the guest was longer than the cot, the robber used to chop off his extra length, and if shorter, he was elongated forcibly! That was the novel technique the robber employed to murder persons. Similarly are our leaders hammering and straining the body of our nation to adjust it to the bed of politics with the inevitable result that our age-old social life has fallen into a perilous plight. Namaste! [Source: Bunch of Thoughts]

Some people have weakness for flattery. If anyone showers praise upon them, they become elated and inflated and will be prepared to do anything that is desired of them. One can resist many things but not flattery. It is easier to digest the deadliest of poisons than to digest praise and honour. As the story goes, Bhagawan Shankara drank the deadly poison for the protection of all creation but remained unaffected. However even he fell a prey to the praises of Bhasmasura and invited troubles to himself! Praise puffs up a man like an inflated football, always being kicked about from one side to the other. Anybody may come, just praise him in superlatives, get his own self-interest fulfilled and go away leaving the man disillusioned or probably not! There is an old story carrying this moral. Once a crow with a piece of meat in its beak was sitting on a tree. Seeing the crow, a fox sat down under the tree and looking up at the crow, began praising, "What a charming colour you have, ...

Bad characters develop starting with a small lapse somewhere. There is the story of a young man condemned to the gallows for murder. To fulfil his wish his mother came to meet him. But as soon as he saw his mother, he pounced upon her and bit off her ears. He was dragged away and denounced for his brutal behaviour even at the moment of his death. Then he exclaimed that she was the cause of his tragic end! He said, "As a young boy I once stole some money and brought it to my mother. At that time she did not pinch my ears and set me right. From that day onwards, that evil habit grew upon me and I have to suffer its dire consequences today." There is a small English poem, which I read in my boyhood days, which highlights the importance of little things. The poem which starts with the sentence, "For want of a nail, the shoe was lost", goes on to narrate how "for want of a shoe the horse was lost", then the rider was lost, then the battle was lost and finall...

A rich man used to go to his beautiful garden in the afternoon to sit in its cool shade. One day a peacock came and sat on a tree spreading its charming feathers. The owner thought, "How nice it would be if it comes daily at this hour!" He prepared some eatables mixed with a trace of opium and threw them before the peacock. The peacock ate them and felt elated. Next day also, the peacock came remembering that sensation of happiness and the man fed it with another dose of opium. Ultimately the bird was so habituated that it used to come regularly at that hour even without that opium. That is the nature of the mind. Habit is formed by the regular repetition of an idea in thought, speech and action. Here regularity counts much. Irregularity destroys the formation of good character. There are so many persons who are labouring very hard, working at the anvils or cutting down trees or breaking stones. But none of them becomes a Sandow though they are really undergoing strenuous...

A beautiful anecdote narrated in the Mahabharata: There was a queen by name Vidula. She sent her son Sanjay to the war-field but the fellow became nervous and terror-stricken. He turned his back to the enemies and galloped to his capital. When Vidula saw her son in that crestfallen state she closed the entrance to the fort and severely chastised him. That conversation between the mother and the son has become famous as Vidula-Sanjay-Samvad, wherein Vidula instructs her son as to how a brave warrior should conduct himself on the battlefield. She then orders him to go back to war and return as a victorious hero. As the story goes, Sanjay sallied forth into the battlefield, displayed exemplary valour and came back to be received by his mother with honour. The words of Kunti when the five Pandavas came to seek her blessing before proceeding to give battle are remarkable for their heroic tone. She says: The moment has arrived for which Kshatriya mothers give birth to sons. Lion-hea...

A small story with a moral: A bird had built a nest in a field. When the crop was ready for harvest the landlord came there and asked his sons to send word for his relatives to come and help them in harvesting. The infants in the nest heard the landlord's instructions and were alarmed. They reported the same to their mother in the evening and urged that they leave the nest at once. But the mother bird put them at ease saying that there was no hurry. A couple of days passed but nobody turned up to harvest. The landlord again came to the fields and told his sons to send word to his servants to do the job. When the little ones reported this to the mother she again told them not to worry. Again, for the third time, the landlord came to the fields and told his sons, "Now it seems no one else is willing to help us. We shall ourselves attend to this work tomorrow." When this remark was reported to the mother bird then she said, "Well, now it is time for us to depart from h...

How can we eliminate the propensity of evil? We often hear our present-day leaders saying that we have no quarrel with 'evil men' as such, but with only their 'evil mentality'. But, 'evil mentality' is not something, which is tangible, which can be caught hold of and destroyed. The evil propensities invariably manifest themselves in the form of an evil person or group of such persons. And it becomes inevitable that in order to eradicate evil we should do away with its supports, i.e., those evil men. If separation of evil nature from man was possible, Sri Rama would have destroyed only the evil propensity in Ravana - for whose other virtues he had the highest regard - all allowed him to live a good life! And again, there would have been no need for Sri Krishna to kill Kamsa or make the Pandavas slay the Kauravas. But that did not happen. As the story goes, when Rama was cutting off the heads of the ten-headed Ravana and breaking up his bows one after another, ...

Here is a boy, Jabali who adhered to truth under all circumstances. When he approached a teacher with a request to be accepted as his pupils the teacher asked him to what gotra he belonged. The boy went home and repeated the teacher’s query to his mother Jabala. She said, "Well, I conceived you when I was serving as a maid servant in a master’s house. I do not recollect who your father is. Tell this to your teacher." The boy went back and recounted his mother’s reply word to word to the teacher. The teacher said to him, " You are the right type to receive education. You have the rectitude of character and the courage to tell the truth. " Thereafter the boy came to be known as Satyakama Jabala. Namaste! [Source: Bunch of Thoughts]

We look upon the society as the living manifestation of Almighty. And we have attributed to the Almighty the capacity of feeding all the living creatures under his care. He is therefore called Vishwambhara. There is a pauranic story, which I heard form a keertankar. Once, it seems, it occurred to Narada to test Lord Vishnu Himself. He caught hold of a few ants, shut them up in a small box and kept it in his safe custody. Then he went out on his usual rounds singing the praise of Vishnu. After a while, he came to Lord Vishnu and casually enquired whether the Lord had had his food. Vishnu replied that he had done so after attending to the feeding of all the living creation. Narada then took out his box saying, "Well, these poor creatures seem to have escaped your Lord’s notice!" Vishnu appeared taken aback, apologised and requested Narada to open the box. And lo! When the box was opened, the ants came out each with a particle of sugar in its mouth! Imaginary though the story...

A poor Brahmin was once carrying a lamb in his arms. Three thieves, with a plan to knock it off, successively met the Brahmin and accosted him with the derisive exclamation how a pious Brahmin like him was carrying a dog in his arms. The credulous Brahmin brushed off the suggestion of the first, began to doubt at its repetition by the second and finally believed in it when the third repeated it again. He then threw away the lamb, which, of course, was taken charge of by the thieves. Even falsehood if repeated incessantly will have its effect on weak minds. Namaste! [Source: Bunch of Thoughts]

There is an interesting story in the Mahabharata. Once, while the Pandavas with their mother Kunti were moving about incognito, they happened to come to a place called Ekachakrapuri. There they came to know that the town was under the control of a terrific demon called Baka. Once, when he was about to destroy the whole of the town, the people had entreated him saying, "Do not kill us all now. In return for this favour, we will send you every day a cart-load of rice and other edibles, two buffaloes yoked to the cart and the driver for your food." These were the terms of the agreement. Now, the next part of the story is very interesting and illuminating. Kunti asked the people not to worry by saying that she would be sending one of her five sons who was capable of destroying that Rakshasa. Accordingly Bhima was sent. He went with a cart-load of food to the place of Baka and shouted aloud, "Hello! Where are you? Baka, come on, I have brought your food." He let l...

The mere fact of birth or nurture in a particular territory, without a corresponding mental pattern, can never give a person the status of a national in that land, Mental allegiance has been, in fact, the universally accepted criterion for nationality. There is an old story with a lesson for us. Once a lioness roaming in the jungle found a small baby jackal and brought it to her cave. The lioness had a few cubs. She began to feed the infant jackal also with her milk along with her cubs. They all began to grow and play about as brothers. Once when they had gone into the thick of the jungle an elephant came that way. The jackal kid, on seeing that colossal animal, cried out in terror to his brothers to run away. The lion cubs replied, "What a fool your are! After so many days we have come across such fine prey. If you are afraid, you go home. We will fight." The jackal kid came running to the cave and narrated to the lioness that a great calamity had befallen his younger...

Hindustan is verily the chosen land of God Realisation. This is not mere sentimental effusion, but our deep-rooted conviction. Some years ago our newspapers had flashed the story of a German who came to our land as a spiritual aspirant. He embraced sanyas and underwent the stern austerities of an all-renouncing ascetic. But even after prolonged penance he could not realise God. On a searching self-enquiry he was convinced that his body, born and bred in the passionate climate of the West, was unfit for God Realisation. He therefore went to Haridwar and gave up his body in the holy Ganga. He left a note stating, "I am giving up the body of my own accord. May the offering of my body in the sacred waters of Ganga merit me with a rebirth in Bharat and with that new chaste body I may be able to realise God." Namaste! [Source: Bunch of Thoughts]

Physical strength is necessary, but character is more important. Strength without character will only make a brute of man. Purity of character from the individual as well as the national standpoint, is the real life-breath of national glory and greatness. There is the story of Prahlad which depicts the importance of character. As a result of his meritorious deeds, he drove away Indra and became the king of gods. Indra approached Brihaspati -the guru of gods – and said, "Sir, you know my pitiable plight. What shall I do to regain my throne?" Brihaspati said, "Dress yourself as an ordinary mendicant, go to the durbar of Prahlad at the hour of Ichhadan , i.e., when he gives away whatever the beggars ask, and ask for his sheela (character)." Indra obeyed. He went to Prahlad as a beggar and asked him his sheela. Prahlad said, "Why are you satisfied with only my sheela ?" "That is sufficient for me," replied the mendicant. "You can...

It is a matter of common experience that physical desires can never be satiated. The more one attempts to satisfy them the more intense they grow, even as fire blazes instead of going out when oil is poured into it. Tolstoy has written a very instructive story under the title "How much land does a man need?" A peasant was promised free all land he could run round from sunrise till sunset. In his sheer greed to cover more and more land he ran so far that he never got back to the starting place before sunset, and in utter exhaustion he died. Only a strip of land, seven by two and half feet, was needed to bury him! Namaste! [Source: Bunch of Thoughts]