Five Noble Values of Life

The five Noble values-of Life 

Serenity of mind,
Good-heartedness,
Silence,
Self-control, and
Purity of nature

Noble Values of Life

The five Noble values - of Life 

1. Serenity of mind, 
2. Good-heartedness, 
3. Silence, 
4. Self-control, and 
5. Purity of nature

जिंदगी

हमने जिसे देखा, काश वो धुंध न होती |

हमने जिसे छुआ, काश वो प्रतिबिम्ब न होती |

हमने जिसे गले लगाया, काश वो रेत का पुतला न होती |

हम जिसके पीछे हो लिए, काश वो मृगतृष्णा न होती | |

  

वन्दे परमानन्दमाधवम ||

मूकं करोति वाचालं पंद्गुम लद्घयते गिरिं |
यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्दमाधवम || 

I pray thy the Supreme Blissful 'Madhava', whose grace render me - the mute and crippled one;
the eloquence and strength to climb the mountain peaks !!!

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिन:

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिन: सर्वे सन्तु निरामया:!
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद् दुःखभाग भवेत्!!

 
अर्थात: 

सब सुखी हों, सब स्वस्थ हों, कल्याण के भागी हों! कोई भी दुखी न रहे!
सब मन: कामनाएं, चाहे वे लौकिक हों चाहे पारलौकिकी, प्रभु की प्रार्थना, भक्ति, प्रभु के नाम और उसके यथार्थ अर्थ की भावना से पूर्ण होती है!

Nishkama Karma (Desireless Action) - Relevance in Modern Times

निष्काम कर्म 

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेसु  कदाचन  |
मा  कर्मफलाहेतुभूर्र्मा ते सँगोअस्त्व्कर्मणि || 

- श्रीमदभगवद्गीता  - २ : ४७

TRANSLATIONS  

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”

 ─ Swami Prabhupada

“To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be motive in thee any attachment to inaction.”

─  S Radhakrishnan

“You have control over action alone, never over its fruits. Live not for the fruits of action, nor attach yourself to inaction.”

─ Swami Mahesh Yogi

“Thy right is to work only, but never to its fruits; let not the fruit-of-action be thy motive, nor let thy attachment be to inaction.”

 ─ Swami  Chinmayananda

 “Your right is to work only; but never to the fruits thereof. Be not the producer of the fruits of [your] actions; neither let your attachment be towards inaction.”

 ─ Swami Swarupananda

“Your right is to work only and never to the fruits thereof. Do not be the cause of fruit of action; nor let your attachment be to inaction.”

─ Geeta Press

“Be intent on action not on the fruits of action; avoid attraction to the fruits and attachment to inaction.”

─ Barbara Stoler Miller

The modern era - often said these are testing times; of extreme materialism, wrenching changes, contradictions and despondency all around is wielding psychological and physical pressures and leading us to delusions, continual physical sufferings and mental agonies ─ there is a need to heed the call of “Nishkama Karma”. 

The primary ‘Hindu’ scriptures; Vedas; four in numbers ─ Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda ─ the treasure trove of Hindu religion, tradition and culture containing codes of Dharma, has implied acknowledging one’s righteous duty and acting resolutely accordingly, were taught by God Brahma (Nabhija – One born from the Vishnu’s navel) Himself thousands of years ago and have been preserved carefully and handed over to us.

These scriptures contain directives to make a man’s life happy and urge him to abide by the ‘Law of Virtue’. The message therein provides the inner strength making a person adopt a positive attitude. They are absolutely essential for building moral integrity and being eternal, the norms are applicable to all persons even to this day and shall do so time immemorially. The study of them is absolutely indispensable, would cleanse the mind and make it pure, help mould character and aid achieve mental equanimity and humanity’s happiness and prosperity will be assured.

The contents in the Vedas have been broadly divided into three branches (Kanda); namely, path of action (Karma), knowledge (Gnana) and devotion (Upasana), following which one can reach the ultimate goal. The Karma prescribed the conducts one should do and explains how by observing them, materialistic tendencies can be wiped out. Their performance will bring prosperity not only for individual but the entire universe. These righteous conducts alone can keep society in a disciplined manner.

The ‘Nishkama Karma’ or ‘disinterested action’ or ‘work for work sake/Duty for duty's sake’ –the moral insight has been reemphasized in “Shri Bhagvad Gita”. It counsels about the “duty to act, but not the right to claim personal fruits from it”. When an act has been performed by an individual for the sake of one’s duty rather than for a personal reward from it, the person is likely to do the right thing – act as per his Dharma, and thus develop tremendous character.

The Nishkama Karma (disinterested action) approach to action can prevent unethical motives on one hand and promote the ethical ones on other. Simultaneously, this process dovetails seamlessly into the Karmic theory ─ egoless, disinterested action will be ethical, a good cause, and hence a productive of wholesome effect. The mix of three ‘Gunas’ could influence one’s ability for Nishkama Karma but preponderance of Rajas or Tamas hinders rightful actions or distract one from his Dharma. The ethical quality of decisions tends to be endangered when the desire driven lower self clamors for its gratification from duty. These insistence clouds one’s sense of right and wrong, of balance, of proportions breeds unethicality and inefficiency. 

The Nishkama Karma embodies a process of alignment of human action with that of Prakiti (Nature) performing Karma ordained by one’s Swadharma. Nishkama Karma, by restraining self-aggrandizing ego and greed restores the lost kernel of Dharma. It trains and guides the exercise of discretion in favour of higher calls beyond one’s egocentric self. This ensures one’s ascent along the ethical scale, leading to cleansing of heart and holist development. Nishkama Karma helps realization of self, equanimity of mind – the cornerstones of Vedantic ethics. Distinctively, the person empowered thus attains ‘Karma Yoga’ and achieve the distinction of being called a ‘Karma Yogi”. Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, are revered for their selfless services toward mankind and are commonly referred to as ‘Karma Yogis’ of modern times.

Across the very rich and diverse religious and philosophical history of India throughout the past thousands of years, Nishkama Karma has been interpreted more or less as an immutable way of life. Likewise, there is enough for our present day leaders in all walks of life to learn from these ancient scriptures, which have as much relevance today as it would have been two millennium years ago.

सर्वमंग्ल्मंग्ल्ये - दुर्गासप्तशती

ॐ सर्वमंग्ल्मंग्ल्ये शिवे  सर्वार्थसाधिके |

 शरण्ये   त्र्यम्बके गौरी  नारायणी  नमोअस्तु   ते  ||
 - दुर्गासप्तशती

गायत्री मंत्र - Gayatri Mantra!

ऊं भूर्भुव: स्व :तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि धियो योन: प्रचोदयात !

Realigning the Moral Compass

In the present day of dynamic changes and condradictions are putting pressures on all of us and all round sufferings there is a need to heed call of the Vedas.

The primary scriptures Vedas – four in numbers – RigVeda, YajurVeda, SamaVeda and AtharvaVeda – the treasure trove of Hindu religion, tradition and culture containing codes of righteous conduct, were taught by God Himself thousands of years ago and have been preserved carefully and handed over to us. They are absolutely essential for building moral integrity and being eternal, the norms are applicable to all persons even to this day and shall do so time immemorially. The study of Vedas is absolutely necessary for everyone, would cleanse the mind and make it pure, help mould character and aid achieve mental equanimity.

The contents in the Vedas have been broadly divided into three branches (Kanda); namely, path of action (Karma), knowledge (Gnana) and devotion (Upasana), following which one can reach the ultimate goal in life.

The Karma prescribed the rites one should do and explains how by observing them, material tendencies can be wiped out. Their performance will bring prosperity not only for individual but the entire universe. Rites should be observed with interest, commitment, devotion and avidity, anticipating absolutely no reward. Charity (Gupt Daan) should be given liberally and without any mental reservations.

Blow Pipe

In my final year of school, I had to come to study in 1968 to Bombay (Now Mumbai) since my father had been transferred at the Indira Dock. It was easy for us to get admission, since we were already students of Central School (now Kendriya Vidyalaya), Seminary Hills, Nagpur.

We for a short while stayed at Ghatkopar, before shifting to Bandra Bandstand in the Government’s quater. All three of us – two brothers & one sister used to travel by local up to Kanjur Marg station from Ghatkopar and would climb up the Powai Hill to the Kendriya Vidyalaya. Sometimes, for a change, we would get down at Vikhroli station and take a BEST bus up to the school. This was more or less a routine for me for one full academic year; thereafter I had joined engineering college at Jaipur, and other two of my siblings continued for one and two years each respectively .

Our class (11A) room was at the extreme end of the corridor on the right side. We had a make shift teacher’s rest room at the extreme dead end of the corridor between the two class rooms. Our class teacher, a very handsome lady, as a Kashmiri should look like, was to occupy that room along with other few lady teachers. Madam Lahori had a typical accent and would call “sh” as “s”. She could never pronounce my name correctly as “Pushkar” but “Puskar”, but it used to sound very sweet. Whenever not in a good mood or annoyed due to our mischief’s, she would shout by name (she could recognize the voice of each one of us) sitting from her room and make us shiver.

Many of the names of my friends and classmates have faded from my memory; it is almost around forty years now, a few names I recollect are, Swaroop, Ray/Rai, Kamla, Patwardhan…. I hope one day, this nostalgic event posted on this net blog unit us. We remember each other and get connected/ networked though this modern media of internet.

One of the reasons for commotion in our class was due to a shot from a blow pipe from the other classroom diagonally opposite to ours. These shots would come from Ramesh’s blowpipe. He was my younger sister’s classmate of 10 A. He was also very studious and always stood first among his class. He would keep few grains of pulse in his mouth, look for a target in our class; most venerable would be the one who would be listening very attentively to the teacher. The shot used to hurt; every one of our classmates had been hit by his stray shots. Anyone of us, who would get hurt, would not hesitate to take a revenge in between the two lecture breaks, if got the chance, or otherwise during the lunch break. The ensuing commotion would not be taken lightly by the Madam Lahori and a stern warning would be given to both the party. I hope Ramesh would give a similar blow pipe hit to the smart guys from the developed countries during the forthcoming meet on climate change at Copenhagen.

P R Chandna