Shravanam, Mananam, Nidhidyasanam

Everything looked dwarfed by the mighty Himalayas, The scale of the height was magnanimous, frightening and slightly beyond comprehension. Horses looked like ants and people were almost invisible. The sight of people walking on the frozen Sindhu river was extraordinary. The mighty river even though is more than 300 feet wide, appeared as a white, thin, long and winding shoe-lace.

We had perhaps visited one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Yet  there was a small concern - what should have been capitalised and grown as a major tourism hub appeared sparsely populated during our visit. Some of the stunning places such as the dal lake wore a deserted look. As a matter of fact, we did not spot another boat on the huge 22 sq kms lake. A few shopkeepers and Shikara rowers looked at us curiously and one man complimented us on our courage. A person had a concerned look when he asked if we were journalists, people who had come without a choice i.e. for livelihood purposes.

The glory of the country, the untapped potenial, it's great culture on one hand - and on the other hand the cynicism - 'nothing will change', pot-holes, poverty, corruption and bureaucracy. This is a dichotomy that begs a serious concern. Whilst the world is capitalising on yoga, curry and the brain-power of us, at home we are embrolied in shameless selfish  hoarding scams and being least bothered to look beyond the I.

Had the government departments and the society at large done their jobs right, we would be in a better position in inviting external investment at this juncture.

However pointing issues is one thing , and participating in the resolution is another - The latter is more fruitful and hence it's better to try to fix and contribute at our own levels - without minding how small the fix/contribution will be.

Unnuvatho oru pudi, Uduputho Naangu Mozaham, Ennuvatho 80 Kodi

This means - you cannot eat more than a fist of food, you cannot wear more than 4 feet of clothes, but you aspire for 80 crores?

How Much Land Does a Man Need? is one of the best short stories by Leo Tolstoy. This is about a peasant called Pakhom who could own as much land as he could walk between sunrise and sunset. The condition was that he had to reach the starting point by sunset. The peasant got greedy and covered a large distance of land, however he had walked off too far away from the starting point. He then ran so fast to return to the strating point, that he fell dead exhausted! Tolstoy says - Greed leads to suffering. Pakhom was then buried in a 6 feet grave. Thus Tolstoy answered the question in the title in an ironic manner. 

Let's now check about the title of this blog, Shravanam, Mananam and Nidhidhasanam  which is an extract from the 6th chapter of Chandhogya Upanishad.

Shravanam means to listen/analyse and understand the simple truth - the Truth of detachment- the Truth of being simple and modest, the Truth of not hoarding beyond what is required, the Truth of being useful to the society and humankind. It is further explained that it is best to get to know about this simple (but absolute) truth through a Guru.

There is a small story in the Upanishad to illustrate this point. There was a rich man who lived in Kandhahar (now Afghanistan). Robbers attacked him, robbed him of this possessions, bound his hands, blindfolded him and took him to a faraway 'dense forest' and deserted him. The person shouted for help in all directions. One person who heard the shoutings - resuced him - he untied his hands and removed his blindfold. He then guided him him back to his homeland. The person reached his homeland after asking for the right direction in several villages on his way. This is the literary meaning (Vaatchiyartham). The inner meaning (Latchiyartham) is as follows. The pure Satvam is free flowing, happy and pure. It is bound by one's actions of paap-punya (good-bad deeds) and accordingly gets thrown into a dense forest whcih is analogous to the body. Once in the body, the Sat shouts for help - this represents the fact that we are not happy  inspite having riches and prosperity. There is always a seeking of inner peace. A Guru - (note who is himself not blindfoled and tied) provides the required guidance and leads the person to the understanding of the Truth. The understanding of he Truth will provide the required inner peace.

Mananam is the re-iteration and the following of the Jnana (the understanding) in real life. This understanding is vulnerable and if a person does not re-iterate the undersatnding time and again, there is a chance that he will go back to his dark days. It is said that the enchanting Maaya (refer the previous blog) that engulfs the world has the power to affect/nullify the understanding and hence push the person back to the dark olden days of selfishness, greed etc.

I will write about Nidhisyasanaam in my next blog. This is related to several subjects such as Meditation and hence deserves a separate blog.

The Earth has enough for everybody's need - but not for everybody's greed  said the Mahatma.

Cheers