Mirror…….. Mirror......... Tell me......... Who is the dearest of them all?

 

This post was sparked off while reading a news article on how many of our technical gems, are gravitating towards a life of serving god.

AOL and ISKCON are leading the roost in offering burnt out techies, a route to salvation and Moksha.

When I read this, I was reminded of this short narration which I had read a long time back.

“Everyone knows Narad muni in Indian mythology. For the slight memory re-jig, he is the cymbal clanking, fruitcake representation of masculinity (all I remember from various Ramanad Sagar serials pardon if it is wrong!) touring the three worlds, singling praises of Lord Vishnu/Narayana.

Now one day Narad muni had this wonderful doubt creeping in his mind” I should ask Lord who is his favorite devotee of them all?”

So he did exactly that. And then he just stood there, waiting to hear praises about himself, about his devotion towards the power of lord.

Alas !!!  for our dear Narad Muni, the lord answered some name who was a mere farmer.

Now this hurt him, and hurt him bad. However as a god, he did not show his hurt as anger and rage, rather as a genuine doubt to know his shortcomings.

To which dear Lord Vishnu, replied in a pun. Again, it is my observation after quite a bit of various read, that Lords never love straight answers, it is always the demonstration or the learning/realizing by doing route for them.

“I will answer this query of yours, but first you will have to do a small task for me. Here is an urn of oil, filled to the brim. Please take this and tour the three worlds. Bear in mind, that not a single drop of oil should be spilt. Once you are done, come back and I will resolve any of your lingering doubts.

Narad Muni takes off.

Cut to the chase.

He returns soon after completing the prescribed tour. Handing over the urn, to the lord he waits for his reaction.

The lord looks at the urn, and it is intact not a single drop spilled.

He smiles and asks,” So you did the task, was it difficult?”

Narad muni replies “Yes a bit, for I had to carefully watch the urn to avoid any spillage, the three world tour is not exactly German auto engineering ride.”

Lord Vishnu, smiles and replies” How many times you remember me during this work?”

“Remember you, I was doing your work only, then why should I remember you?”Asks Narad muni a trifle surprised.

Lord Vishnu replies, ”Exactly. You don’t have time to remember the lord during your work. That is why is said my favorite devote is the farmer, for her remembers me thrice during the day all along the course of his work. And he has been doing this without fail".

“Don’t make it your life to chant my praises. But do make it your life to chant my name, within your life, within your daily work, and chant it with conviction, with belief, for then you would be bestowed upon my grace”.

Narad Muni nodded understanding the implication of the oil urn three world tours.

I hope my characteristic cynicism is demonstrated well here : )

How Did Life , Come on Earth?

Move over Darwin and Hawking. Life on earth was not the result of the blue green algae or the tiny probability of preferred selection of universes as proposed by the Big Bang.

Hinduism has the answer.

Now the source of this post  is D. And despite the marvelous tale he had spun for me he has declined his name to be used.

Well suit yourself D.

Now this was a couple of light year ago, when earth was still a virgin planet ,( and by that I mean there was nobody to rape her, specially humans ! ).

Now why where there no humans?

This is because of the inherent blood lust in us. We were busy fighting or common ancestral but even more blood thirstier than us brothers the demons (asuras) in some far off planet.

This fight again had progressed quite long and hard and despite the law of the normal curve it had skewed towards the demons clan. Human survival was questionable and for the preservation of the lineage of humans, wise gurus decided.

They decided akin to the great lord and Moses kind of plan.

Thanks to their Tantric powers and some latent intelligence which humans are famed for, the managed to locate earth. Two superior species were selected to bestow upon earth the gift of human life and were sent under the aegis of a learned sage who was supposed to chaperone the wild hormones in them after they had served their purpose

However they had not factored in probability nor the occurrence of the black swan and they certainly did not know that someone called Murphy ruled supreme even then

Earth was a virgin and thus had a protective coverage as insurance to her virginity, which was the Sheerasagar, or as D said the protective vacuum space.

When the chosen 2 humans passed through this space, the man was rendered impotent and infertile and so was unable to perform his duties as intended.

“Yeah yeah, no wonder we are called the blind faith. You don’t lose your dharma and potency if you travel outside your place of birth”, I retorted to D with sarcasm lacing heavy on my tone.

“Do you know the people who traveled to outer space and lived there for sizable amount of time, came back impotent”, replied D with a smile.

That silenced me. I can’t argue with reason and logic.

Anyways back to the tale.

The sage also suffered the same fate, however decided not to dwell on his misfortunes but began searching for some way around or some jugaad.

I interjected again and said "  Ahem ...........!! D, aren't sages supposed to be celibate?!" .

D replied" No, celibacy is often misconstrued.There is a dharamvasana, and a kaamvasana.I bet you have seen Ekalavaya starring the Bacchan and Saif Khan.Bacchan exhibited dharmavasana there and Saif was a Dharmputra."


D to hai bhai D !

Dignession returns !!

The sage deduced that the Sheerasagar was intended as a cover to protect from humans, but apparently pure animals, could factor in with no love lost for their womb or fertility.

However the Sheerasagar also factored some algorithm which caught and threw exceptions such as forced recruitment, or cross bred species. Added to it was the problem that most of the pure animals set available was such that they were by themselves unable to face the arduous journey to the earth, without any form of force or foul play.

The Sheerasagar coder thought he had covered all hatches to prevent loss of earth’s virginity.

But sages are not known to be intelligent without any reason. 

There apparently is a time when most of the reptiles, ( not mammals ) undertake a form of existence when senses and bodily functions are in standby mode, that is they hibernate. By a little bit of push and prod the set of pure animals which the Sheerasagar algorithm allowed inside earth, could be in induced into a state of such hibernation. This in turn could ensure their safe passage to the earth

The power of intelligence and Tantra reigning supreme, a pure animal (no prizes for guessing, it is the cow – no wonder we call it the gow mata) was impregnated with the seed of humans.

It was then carted off to the earth where it stayed long enough to delver the first human and its decided counterpart to ensure continuous propagation of the human species

As he finished this tale, i asked, “Where do you read such things man? And btw thanks to some conversations with you these days my language has become so chaste, that nobody believes that I am a Madrasi. In fact today I referred to a colleague (a female one ) as “kanya” with no intent of being anything other than ordinary and she reacted so vehemently, but good humorously,

 “Dude , don’t call me a  “kanya” !!!!

D burst out laughing and then dug in his cupboard for some time.

“Here you can start with this”, he said handing me huge leather bound book, which said Geeta Press (it is in Hindi!)

Food for Thought

First weekend in Bangalore, after a lost week and a weekend of rather, futile house hunting. I temporarily resigned myself to a hostel like existence for some time to come, and wait till about Dipavali. I am tired of looking at matchboxes for houses and eager agents ready to palm off any place as just 10 minutes from KR Puram.

Weekends, it seems are worse than weekdays in Bangalore for traffic, the same cars packed one after the other, with the only difference being in the clothing of its inhabitant(s).The blue shirt , black pant combo is replaced by a jean, a glare and fancy trophy wife with a cutie kid to complete the picture. I spent 2.5 hrs navigating an 8 km trip. Finally, fed up of seating on my butt I decided to make use of the portion below it, so I got down and walked for about 30 minutes. The weather is good so no major deal and I am glad I can still pull off such walkathons.

Enter evening, met D at his place which is kind of accessible from my remote inhabitant. After a week of survival on fruit juice, bread and jowar rotis, I wanted some fiery flavor on my palette or rather some junk in my system. Pizza Hut, was zeroed on and as usual I was hungry, my hunger much fueled by the 30 minute walk.

"A mushroom soup, a palette of garlic bread with cheese, one serving of cheese tortillas and a fresh garden salad ",  I said without glancing at the menu.

D what about you??

D was still lost in the menu, अब्बे क्या कन्या की तरह घूर रहे हो , double कर दू क्या यही आर्डर ?

" Who else is joining us? ," D looked up briefly from the menu.

No it’s just us; it was not one of my crowd days.

" You ordered all that just for you?!!! " D asked with just a tad bit of surprise. Having been in consulting for a long time, nothing really surprised him anymore. He once told me, that consultants become so hardened, so slick in their appearances and acts, that they could murder someone in cold blood early morning and carry on with their routine work without a hair out of place, and come back and sleep as though nothing happened.

" Yea..... I am hungry, ….you can taste too… " , I added a little mollified, " Of course we will share the pizza it is more value if we order a large one than 2 small ones".

साले इसके बाद पिज्जा भी खायेगा  ?? ,  queried D , with the curvature of his eyebrows increasing slightly.

This conversation was making me hungrier, I nodded to the waiter, " Just get a tomato soup for him, I will order later"

" This salad is good, something nice for grass eaters like us" ,  said D.

He made way for some of the tortillas, and after a bite, and gulp looked at me with a distraught expression.

"
क्या हुआ खाने मैं कुछ गड़बड़ है क्या ?? ", having paid a bundle for something available just across the road for a fraction, I expected quality if not anything else.

" No man, it is navratri and we are eating onion "

Ding!!

At my place, only Amma did her ritual 9 day fast and all. I however could not eat food without the pungency of onion or garlic, having been bought up on a diet of roadside hole in walls, in UP and Delhi

" Hey, you know the rational behind avoiding onion??,  It is just that anything that did not smell good was not considered bad for health, but onion is actually good"

No it is not that, it something more, said D now munching contentedly through the remaining tortilla. He seemed to be deciding that after a sin committed there is no turning back, now you got to do justice to the sin.

His subsequent explanation was very enlightening much like a myth, so here it goes.

Hindu Dharma divides food consumables into three categories

1. Satvic – peace, calm inducing

Any food item that is easily grown, and regionally common. It is cooked without oil or spice but with sparing amounts of gee and salt, eaten sparingly. Such food is said to induce calm, peace in mind. Rice, basic dhal, lentils, region specific vegetables

Discovery - My, entire gang of roommates used to hibernate after a healthy dose of my culinary favorite of Pongal !

2. Rajhsi – Ambition, ego boosting, satisfying

Exotics like milk, khoya, dry fruits, and difficult to grow and procure food items. These are cooked, in lavish dose of butter, ghee(no oil) spices and eaten lavishly as well.The spices are generally exotics like kesar,cardamom, which do not induce any burning sensation,post consumption. They are said to fuel a sense of ambition, well being, growth and ego in an individual.

Discovery -  Two back to back helping of Bourneville I did experience a sense of well being unlike contentment and very unlike the advertisements that show “Lost in ecstasy kind of morons” !

 3. Tamsic – Greed, envy, and anger boosting

These include items such as onion, garlic, non vegetarian items and (some other which I forgot!!), cooked in oil(no ghee) with a mish mash of spices, that cause subsequent burning sensation.These, fuel a sense of greed, hate, and envy in an individual.

 Discovery - Not sure if the subsequent burning sensation, after pyaaz parathas was due to acidity , or envy ;)

The tortilla was now done as well as the salad, with garlic bread on its way to extinction as well.

" So, now we are having Rajhsi and Tamsic materials. In the worst case scenario, you would be ambitious in addition to being envious of someone hence would show anger towards him, and maybe snuff him out; " , I said mimicking my finger at the neck for more clarity.

"Nopes, I would cool off your system, post this with a meetha paan, with extra gulkhand to sweeten your mind" ,  he said as he finished the last of his garlic bread, "Our Dharma gives a lot of loopholes to exploit",  he said adding with a smile. In a flash, I remembered the pile of books on his desk, and realized that this was not a leg pulling session at all.

 PS- We did order Pizza which I ended up finishing, and true to his word the paan was awesome, it melted in my mouth at the counter itself so I had a second one. And, a 30 minute walkathon session later, hunger as well as this gyaan emerge simultaneously( Fruit Juice ...where are you my dear !!)

Krishna/Sudama

This is a myth, retold !

Our very own playboy, Lord Krishna (LK) had a nice friend by the name of Sudama. But as we all know, LK was the boss, and as happens in most cases the boss climbs up, or rather moves to greener pastures( definite pun intended !), and friends are kind of forgotten.

Now, Sudama bumps into LK during some gathering and LK apologizes profusely for his misconduct and laziness in maintaining contact.

Since LK is a god, he decides to make up for his high handedness, by offering his friend a boon.

The poor village boy Sudama, in all his simplicity, steeped in tradition says” Oh lord, grant me that I am in never in want of food or water”.

So be it!! Or rather तथास्तु :)

Now there is a catch, there always is. (Read on गुरुदेव .... read on…)

This Sudama was once traveling through a desert, (yeah food and water are scarce!), and suddenly feels thirsty. Some neuron on his head fires up, and he remembers his boon from LK. No sooner the thought crossed his mind; he could discern a camel with a rider somewhere in his line of sight, closing the gap very quickly.

A Bishnoi tribesman, (not sure if that’s the correct tribe), dressed in traditional splendor waves out to him and gets off the camel.

Both exchange stares……..some friendly……….. some steely....but both curious

The tribesman, seeing Sudama’s parched, dry face and frugal outlook and offers him some dates and water.

But Sudama, with his choti is a Brahmin, how could he have it from a person of an inferior tribe??

No, No, there has to be a mistake I am sure LK would have not intended this, this is just some coincidence, thinks Sudama.

He shakes his head in negative, the tribesman presses again and again but Sudama is adamant in his refusal (remember he is steeped in tradition).

Suddenly ……the camel, the pitcher of water, and the tribesman vanish.

Sudama realizes that this was a the real thing and he cries out” Oh lord, what is this happening”

In enter, LK.......... instant appearance.

Sudama, “Oh lord that was a difficult test you put me through, you know I am a Brahmin and the are some dos and don’ts for me”

LK says,” I thought you were a wise man, Sudama. You wished there be no wanting of food and water ever in your life, so I persuaded Lord Brahma (LB) to give you the elixir, of life – Amrit.LB was reluctant to offer this gift to a mortal but I told you were a good man……. a wise man. He agreed but he wanted to test your wisdom, and so he came in the form of a tribesman”

“Alas my dear friend, you failed. Your understanding of the scriptures is shallow and superficial. You misunderstood the boon you asked me”.

Sudama sat dazed, kind of realizing his folly.

LK looks at him pityingly and then vanishes.

Sudama trudges on, hungry, thirsty …but just about a tad bit wiser.

It is often said that everybody ends up with what (and sometimes better) they want in life.

However it is not in the way they want it. As in the above case our dear own Sudama got what he wanted or rather better than what he wanted, however he was not wise or capable enough to spot the way it came to him.

For anything, that is bestowed upon, too soon or too late, causes disaster………. and success, fame and money(not necessarily in that order)… too soon or too late…… are the biggest reasons for disaster in life.