An afternoon stroll..

For a change, there is no prologue for this blog.. Its story telling time :)

It was his routine, a stroll in the afternoon around his kingdom to see how things were, expecting to see everyone doing good. On that particular day, destiny had different plans for him. His servants were struggling to keep up with his pace - holding a giant umbrella which shielded the king from the scorching rays of the sun. The land was dusty but this did not bother him. As he walked by, many people came outside to greet him and wish him well. The elders wished the king good health and the young bowed in front of him as a sign of respect, and why not, he had ruled his kingdom with great wisdom and valor. People offered him cool water, fruits and other delicacies which the king accepted with humbleness and gratitude. The act of sharing food to him was a sign of being self sufficient and content.

The king was almost done with his stroll when he saw an old man, perhaps in his 80's, sitting on the ground in the afternoon's heat. He got curious and walked towards the old man. The old man was digging the dusty land with a shovel. His age had robbed him of this strength, but not his will and persistence. Little by little he dug the ground trying to create a niche. Beside him was a bucket full of water and a plant. The king got curious. He addressed the old man, "Hey! Old man, what are you doing ?"

The old man turned around, it took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight. He saw the silhouette of his king. He looked at him, smiled, blessed him and said, "I am planting a coconut plant, my lord".

Raising his eyebrows the king questioned, "A coconut plant?"

The old man continued to smile and said, "Yes, a coconut plant"

To which the king asked, "And how old are you?"

"80... 85, i do not know, i have lost count of my age my lord" came the response.

"How long do you think the plant will take to grow and bear fruits??"

"Perhaps, more than 10 years my lord"

"And do you think you will live that long?" questioned the king!

The old man smiled back and said, "No, if I live for another 5 years, its a miracle!"

The king was confused, "When you know you are not going to survive, why are you taking the trouble of planting a coconut plant, whose fruits you can not enjoy!!".

The old man replied, "Oh king, I was thinking today, and I realized, that I love tender coconut water and I have had them to my stomach's full through out my life. But, none of the trees from which I took the coconuts were planted by me. They were planted by my elders and fore-fathers. It was because of their efforts that I was able to enjoy the fruit. Now, how can I go without doing my part ?? I am going to plant this and water it everyday so that my children and their children can enjoy its sweet fruit".

The king was amazed, an elderly subject of his kingdom with such commitment and dedication, this was his moment of felicity. He ordered his servant to bring a bag of gold coins. He rewarded the old man for his dedication and thought and was about to leave. The old man interrupted. He smiled at the king and said - "My lord..", the king turned back, the old man showed the bag of gold to him and said, "look, my plant has born fruits here". The king simled at the witty answer, he gave him another bag of gold and said, "If I stay here longer, you are going to rob me of all my wealth". They both parted their ways.


I love this story for two simple points in it:
1. The old man's thought to share fruits of his work even after he is gone, ie. the thought of "giving back" to the society and his persistence in doing what he wants to do, not letting the age stop him. There is a saying in sanskrit: Alasyam hi manushyaanaam sharirasto mahan ripuhu. Translation: Laziness is the biggest enemy of the body. Procrastination of late has become a habit. I have to start procrastinating procrastination :) .. any advice here on how to do it, is welcome :)

2. The words chosen by the old man. A saying in Sanskrit goes:
priya vaakya pradaanena, sarve tushyanti jantavaha |
tasmaat tat eva vaktavyam, vachane kaa daridrataa ||

Translation: Everybody loves to hear good words. You have to always speak good words because there is no dearth of it.

Joy can be spread by thoughts, actions and words. The heart to spread joy is all what you need! Happy holidays folks!!

Daivi Vak - The Celestial Voices..

Its been long since I wrote a blog.. As I prepare for my first project under Story Telling - Advanced Communicator Bronze - title from Toastmasters International, I write this blog. Lets dive into the story now, shall we ?

This is a story from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and it goes like this:

trayah prajapatyah prajapatau pitari brahmacaryam usuh, deva manusyaasurah, usitva brahmacaryam deva ucuh; bravitu no bhavan iti;tebhyo haitad aksaram uvaca; da iti, vyajnasista iti; vyajnasismaiti hocuh, damyata, iti na attheti, aum iti hovaca, vyajnasisteti.

Once the "devas", "manavas" and "danavas" or "rakshasas" performed penance to gain knowledge. Pleased by their penance GOD himself appeared in front of them and asked them what they wanted. When the intentions were told, GOD called them each and spoke the following:

To the Devas, he said, "Da". The Devas nodded. GOD asked them, "Did you understand?", they said "Yes". He said, "then go and follow it".

To the Manavas, he said, "Da". The Manavas nodded. GOD asked them, "Did you understand?", they said "Yes". He said, "then go and follow it".

To the Rakshasas, he said, "Da". The Rakshasas nodded. GOD asked them, "Did you understand?", they said "Yes". He said, "then go and follow it".

Thus, GOD spoke of the divine knowledge, DA. DA is a root word (or dhatu) in Sanskrit. And the three kinds understood the root word in different ways.

The "Devas" who are beings without a body, are immersed in sensual pleasures. They understood "DA" as "Damyata", which means, refrain (or here, the lesson taught to them was - learn to refrain)

The "Manavas" who are the descendants of "Manu", are always greedy and want everything to themselves, understood "DA" as "Datta", which means, to give (or here, the lesson taught to them was - learn to give)

The "Danavas" or "Rakshasas" who are beings with gigantic body, are cruel and inhuman in nature and they understood "DA" as "Dayadvam", which means, to show mercy.

The lesson helped each of the kinds, live a happy and prosperous life.

Now, Lets go a little deep. If you think about this for a minute, all the "three kinds", are within us. Its the human being who wants sensual pleasure, for which GOD said, "Damyata". For his greed HE said "Datta" and for his cruel nature HE said "Dayadvam" and the lessons addresses points to counter the most important of the arishaD vargas - kama, lobha and krodha respectively. Infact, in the 2nd chapter of Bhagavadgeetha, Krishna talks about the origin of Kama and krodha, and what happens after that. Refer the 62nd and the 63rd slokas.

I am listing a few points I could gather after reading this story:

1. A lot of things can be said - without saying much. In this case "DA". This brings out the actual concept of "meditation". Do more by doing less more on this in a separate blog.

2. Each of the "kinds" understood the meaning based on the experience or a context - which is precisely the underlying point of the Vedas, the Upanishads, and all the Hindu scriptures. People say that these texts are encrypted, but I don't think so. The texts contain contextual meanings not generic ones. The words are woven such that they appear different to people with different mindset and this is what mandated the presence of a "guru" to learn the different meanings of these texts.

3. Management lesson: If you want to make a point, strike at the root. No explanation required!

4. They say spirituality is difficult to understand, but I don't think so. I have given this a lot of thought, and I believe that Spirituality is one of the most easiest things that's told to folks. Its a bunch of simple principles, but the difficulty lies in "following" them for a duration of time which is very long !! This thought in itself is worthy of another blog.. so let me save it for future.

5. The point that all the three kinds are within us, and its is "we" who choose our "kind", reminds me of Harry Potter's statement - The sorting hat allows you to choose your house!!

6. Why is this a "daivi vak" or the Celestial Voice ??

To answer this, I want to quote from T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" poem collection, and especially from the poem, "What the Thunder Said" -

Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves Waited for rain,

while the black clouds gathered far distant, over Himavant.

The jungle crouched, humped in silence.

Then spoke the thunder - DA

So, the next time, in the monsoon season, when you hear the thunder, its a reminder, that you are the embodiment of the three kinds, and you have to follow the lesson taught to you by GOD. These lessons are echoed every where via the Celestial Voice the thunder makes, before the black clouds pour the rain - DA, DATTA, DAMYATA, DAYADVAM !!

Happy Guru purNima everyone :-)