The sookti urges all of you to tread the path of the tortoise and to achieve your goal.

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Dear all,

 

Following article is from December 1997 Sookti Manjari, its a useful healing

herb for us !!

 

Jaya Guru Datta

 

With Best Regards,

 

Lakshmi Prasad. Peesapati

Hyderabad

 

***

 

An artist works day in and day out, even neglecting his health to create a

painting. We do not know what happiness he is pursuing. Even as the ministers

are advising against a battle, the king decides to wage a war. We can not

understand what he can gain from it. Even a pregnant deer about to deliver

gallops away when it hears a lion's roar. We can not understand as to where it

got that energy from. This is one group. Contrary to this group is another

group. There is a student who refuses to learn eventhough he has a good tutor.

Another person, whose father is murdered sits at home and grieves silently at

home. He does not lodge a complaint even though he knows who the murderer is.

Another person who is living in a thatched hut, somehow adjusts himself even

when the rain water is seeping down the roof. He does not think that he should

repair the roof. This is the second group.

The first group is an active one. The individuals belonging to the second group

are lazy. What makes a person active? What makes another lazy? For any activity

to be performed by an individual, there will be atleast one of the three forces

behind him. They are love, hatred and fear. Agility and fastness are directly

proportional to the intensity of the forces that drive the individual. In the

above example, the artist loves to paint. The king hates his enemy. The deer is

afraid of the lion. This leads us to another set of questions. Is not the

student interested in learning? Does not the son have vengeance against the

murderer of his father? Is not the hut dweller afraid of rain? Still why do they

remain lazy? Let us consider another example. There is a hermit in the forest.

He does not have any interest in any form of art. He loves even those who hate

and harm him. Even if it rains incessantly, he does not stir from his

meditation. Is this laziness? If

we say that the hermit is not lazy, how can we call the second group mentioned

above as a lazy group? What is the difference? 'Even lazy people have love and

hatred. But they will be in such low profile that they are incapable quick

actions.' - if we take this stand, we will be indirectly accepting that lazy

people are equal to hermits. If we contend that a hermit has no love or hatred,

we will not be stating the fact because the hermit loves his penance very much.

What is the difference between laziness and renunciation?

Unless we take in to account the Trigunas (the three Gunas namely, Sattva, Rajas

and Tamas) which play a dominating role in the development of human nature, our

discussion will lead us nowhere. It is true that every being will have

affinities and aversions. In a person of Sattvic type, the power of

discrimination will be very strong. With the help of this power he will overcome

feelings of affinity and aversion and will be able to divert his love towards

noble objectives. His love will not only be noble but will also be intense.

Therefore he gradually becomes a rishi. In a person with the predominance of

Rajas, the emotions overtake the process of thinking. Such beings - irrespective

of whether they are artists, kings or animals - will be hyperactive in whatever

they do. It must however be remembered that the artist (whose basic feeling in

heart is love for art) has better chance - than the other two, namely those who

have hatred and fear at heart - to

become sattvic by the power of sacredness of the object he loves. On the other

hand, the Rajas quality of those who have succumbed to hatred and fear will

remain as Rajas only as long as they stick to the path of Dharma. But within a

short span of time it transgresses the limits of Dharma. Then the Rajas will

become Tamas. As a result, the individual will retain the worst of Rajas and

Tamas namely, cruelty and laziness.

Let us consider the situation of a person with the predominance of Tamas. In his

case, love - hatred and fear will further befoul the mind and will cause it to

shrink. Also, because of the veil of dirt covering it, the mind will not be

capable of seeing the path of action and thus remains inactive. In its shrunken

state, it will be unable to come out of the grip of love, hatred and fear. Such

a mind can be likened to a weak person caught in a whirlpool. Rajas has the

positive Sattva Guna on one side and the negative Tamas on the other. A Rajasic

person has the opportunity of ascending to the domain of Sattva. At the same

time, he also is exposed to the danger of sliding to Tamas. That which helps one

to ascend is Viveka (discrimination). That which makes him slide is ego. That

which prevents a Rajasic person from sliding to tamas is Dharma. In spite of

remaining a rajasic, a person can triumph if he takes refuge in Dharma and keeps

away ego and strives

hard in his endeavours. One who goes a step further and enters the domain of

Sattva Guna, will transcend the feelings of defeat and triumph.

On the other hand, if he succumbs to tamas, he will become egoistic, cruel, lazy

and will eventually become inert and perishes. This truth holds good both in the

spiritual and worldly life. The following Sookti reflects this truth which is

relevant to both.

Anaalasyam agarvitvam ubhayam jaya kaaranam

Tathaa hi tadyutah koormah spardhaayaam ajayat shasham

Overcoming laziness and ego will yield success. The tortoise which defeated the

rabbit is an example for this truth. (This is from the Panchatantra. The story

goes like this - Once there was a running race between a tortoise and a rabbit.

The rabbit took off swiftly and after running a distance, looked back and saw

that the tortoise was way behind. The rabbit thought of taking it easy and

slept. By the time it awoke, the tortoise had slowly but steadily reached the

goal.)

Everyone will have read this story. But to know as to how it relates to

spiritual life, a certain amount of mental exercise is necessary. Those who have

read books on Vedanta will be reminded of the Indriyas (sense organs) whenever

they come across the word - tortoise. (In Vedanta, it is an often quoted that an

ascetic will withdraw his sense organs from the objects just as a tortoise

withdraws its limbs.) The ascetic, who is likened to a tortoise does so not out

of fear or ego. Because of his sublime love for the Almighty, the withdrawal of

the sense organs takes place naturally.

We are reminded of the moon when we come across the word rabbit. [shashi is one

of the synonyms of moon. Shasha means rabbit. The moon got the name Shashi

because he the picture of a rabbit (which is considered as a blemish to the

otherwise beautiful moon) is seen on the moon)] Moon also represents mind. Ego

is like a blemish to the mind. Although a mind infested with ego has swiftness,

it will subsequently become sluggish and becomes tamasic - just like the rabbit

which ran swiftly in the beginning and subsequently became lazy. It is true that

during sleep all our sense organs become withdrawn automatically. But this is

not Samadhi. A Yogi will consciously withdraw his sense organs. This is not

sleep. What the rabbit achieved was sleep. What the tortoise achieved was

Samadhi. This is the spiritual message of the fable.The sookti urges all of you

to tread the path of the tortoise and to achieve your goal.

Sri Swamiji

 

 

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