Revenge and Justice

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

In Mahabharata, after Draupadi Vastraapaharanam (Disrobing of Draupadi) episode, she comes back to Indraprastha and locks herself in her room. The Pandavas return to Indraprastha as well and they knock on the door of Draupadi. Then Bheema tries to break open the door and it still doesn’t open. Looking at his shock, Nakula says, “Brother Bheema! Don’t be surprised. I know that you are capable of breaking large boulders and mountains with your strength, but you will not able to break this wooden door. This has been closed by Draupadi mentally and not physically. Considering the trauma that she is undergoing it will not be possible to open this door by physical means by anyone.”

Then Arjuna suggests that Sri Krishna is the only person who can open the door. When Sri Krishna comes in, he refuses to accept the greetings of the Pandavas and says “Unless Draupadi pardons you all, I can’t accept your greetings.”

He goes near the room of Draupadi and the door opens automatically. He enters inside and a wonderful conversation continues.

Sri Krishna, “I have come to share the woes of a dear friend of mine.”

Draupadi, “Please leave Sri Krishna. If you come near me, you will also become impure.”

Sri Krishna, “When people take bath in a river, they get purified, but the river doesn’t become impure. It just dumps all those impurities in the Sea/Ocean. Similarly, dump all your impurities in God. He is always ready to accept.”

Draupadi, “What bad Karma have I done that this has happened to me.”

Sri Krishna, “What you are undergoing is not because of any Karma that you have done. This is the result of the bad karma done by Duryodhana. One who does one small bad karma, that bad karma makes him do a bigger dushkarma (Bad karma). The one who does a small good karma, that karma makes him do bigger good karmas. Duryodhana has done a bigger bad karma today.”

Draupadi, “If he has done a bad thing, why am I undergoing this trauma and hell?”

Sri Krishna, “You don’t go through this hell. Just ditch it. Duryodhana is the one who should undergo through this, not you. So just forget that something bad has happened to you. The human being who embraces the sorrows of himself/herself is selfish. The one who embraces the sorrows of others and the world is a selfless person. So be a selfless person. Become free from your sorrows. Worry about the bad things that people of Hastinapur will have to undergo because of Duryodhana.”

Draupadi, “So are you saying that I should pardon Duryodhana and all those kauravas who have committed and witnessed this act?”

Sri Krishna, “Absolutely. Pardon every one. Don’t have revenge in your heart. Make sure that you fight for justice. Revenge can result in the adoption of adharma, whereas justice will always enable one to follow the dharma. When you fight against adharma and even if that means that lot of people lose their lives, it is still a dharma yuddham (war).”

Draupadi becomes much better and comes out of the room to the place where the Padavas are and pardons all of them. She goes through this route of instigating pandavas to do the needful to bring justice. Pandavas take an oath that if at all a fight ensues between Pandavas and Kauravas then they would kill different people in different ways etc. As they say, the rest is history.

In our lives we encounter many situations where we feel extremely hurt because of someone and feel like doing something to that person. The above conversation should help us in deciding on how our behavior and attitude should be towards the perpetrators of dushkarma, ensuring that we do not adopt/follow adharma.   

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Daanam and the art of it

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Once Sri Krishna and Arjuna were walking along some farm lands. They saw one farmer trying to plough his land without bullocks. Sri Krishna gestured to Arjuna and both of them went to the farmer and took the plough on their shoulders and the farmer started ploughing the land. After some time they were done with that and Sri Krishna and Arjuna resumed their walking.

Arjuna said, "Krishna! Its a very good feeling after working hard." Then Sri Krishna responded, "Working hard alone does not give you the pleasure, but working hard for some one else gives you the pleasure."

The actual conversation in Hindi goes like this.

"Vasudev! Sram se kaafi sukh milta hai."

"Sram se nahin arjun! Sram daan se sukh milta hai."

When the Pandavas go to Vaanavrat, the Kauravas hatch a plot to kill the Pandavas. They make a huge house made of wax (lakka) and the plan was to light fire to that and kill the Pandavas. Pandavas escaped that bid.

But before that incident happened, Sakuni discussed that plan with Duryodhana and his brothers in front of Karna. Karna did not like that plan as it was not right. He felt very disturbed about that, but he could neither disclose that to anyone nor prevent it. So he went to this parents home (Karnas father was the charioteer of Bheeshma). He made some statements indirectly hinting that some adharma was happening at Vaanavrat. He was so disturbed that he asked his father for a solution to reduce/divert the guilt feeling he was suffering from. His father told him to start giving alms (Daanam).

He said, "The act of giving is one of the best ways to find peace and happiness in life. Go ahead and give alms as if there is no tomorrow. Never say no to any Yachaka (the one who seeks), irrespective of what is sought."

As they say, the rest is history and Karna is known as "Daana veera soora karna". He went to the extent of even giving off his Sahaja Kavacha kundalaalu (armor and ear rings, he was born with) when asked.

Once Arjuna became jealous of Karna on the aspect of Daanam. He felt, whats the big deal about daanam. Giving something that you already have is a very easy thing. He went to Sri Krishna and expressed his displeasure of Karna having the title of Daana Veera. Sri Krishna told him that its not easy to do Daanam and advised him not to feel jealous of Karna, as thats a great attribute of Karna. Arjuna challenged Sri Krishna that he can also do Daanam the way Karna does.

Then Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that he will prove to him why Karna is greater than Arjuna on the aspect of Daanam. Sri Krishna gives a huge pile of money and gold and other ornaments to both Karna and Arjuna separately and asks them to donate to people. Arjuna invites lot of people and starts distributing the gold to different people in different quantities. He gets tired distributing and at the end of the day he goes to Sri Krishna saying that he has donated most of it, but there is still something left to be donated which he would do the following day. Sri Krishna tells him, "Karna called multiple people and asked them to take all of that and within a minute he left the place and he was done with that job."

Arjuna realizes the greatness of Karna and bows his head as an act of respect to Karna.

I am not sure how true the above story is, but it teaches us a great lesson that unless there is a real intention to help someone, it's not easy to perform that act to gain some respect or gain popularity or to please someone. You should give it as if it is not yours and without any expectations.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Banda Paradesi - Nityaannadaata vratudu

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

There used to be one pious person by the name Pangaloori Veera Raaghavudu(PVR) garu. He lived for 102 years. When he was around 70 years old, one of his maharashtrian friends commented that there are not many great andhra (Telugu) bhakthas. PVR got offended a bit and he took up the task of writing about andhra bhakthas. He compiled a small book of about 300 pages containing brief details of 76 bhakthas and dedicated/service oriented people from andhra. In this post I thought I will write about one of those. This is about a couple Banda Paradesi and Kamalaamba, who lived during the 18th century.

The couple were involved in serving food (Anna daanam) to anyone who would knock their doors irrespective of the time. They had such great dedication and commitment that they did not bother about their financial position either. There's a saying in Telugu. "Koorchoni tinte kondalaina karigipotayi." ('Even mountains of money get wiped out if you sit and eat' is the meaning). So by that saying they lost everything and they were literally left with nothing. They sold almost everything in their house.

One night they decided that it's better to be out of the house than saying No to the visitors seeking food. They moved to another village and on the way they rested in a choultry. In that choultry, which was a bit dark, they overheard a conversation by a mother to her kids."You eat these ground nuts and drink water and rest for tonight. Tomorrow morning we will reach Banda Paradesi's house and u can eat stomach full." Hearing this the couple felt very bad and returned to their village the same night. In the morning they saw the big stone pestle (rubbu rolu) in their backyard and decided to sell it off. They informed one local shop owner and sold that for some money, but asked him to take that home in the evening. With the money they got they bought items and made food. As expected apart from that choultry woman and kids others also had come and ate heartily.

In the evening that shop owner came to collect the stone pestle. When they lifted that they found a big jar with gold coins (Lanke binde). The shop owner took only the pestle and said the right owner of that jar is the couple. So righteous was this shop owner, that he refused to take inspite of the couple insisting that it doesn't belong to them.

The couple thought that this was god's decision and took that money and used it to continue their activities. They became so famous that the local king of that place was addressed as "king of Banda Paradesi's place". The king was such a great person that he used to feel proud on hearing that, than getting offended or hurt.

When we pursue and do good things, god will show a way to continue. There will be hurdles surely but our persistence without deviation in our path, will put the responsibility on the god to show us a way out.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

A small tribute...

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Recently, there was some electrical problem in our house and I had called an electrician to get that fixed. This gentle man came and fixed the issue and while leaving he handed over couple of papers. I looked at those and they were photocopies of stories from a magazine of Ramakrishna Mutt. Then he said, "Sir! My father used to distribute these kinds of papers by taking multiple photocopies. He passed away recently. So I have taken up that responsibility now. Please read these whenever you get some free time." I was just amazed with his commitment. As a tribute to his father I thought I will write the story in the paper that he gave me...

A deer with her baby was walking in a forest happily grazing. The baby was jumping around without going too far away. After going some distance, the mother saw a trap in front of them. Immediately the deer cautioned the baby asking it to stay close to her. Then the mother tried to go towards her right and she saw a hunter on a tree aiming at the deer with a bow and a poisoned arrow. The deer was frightened and she wanted to go to her left. She then saw a big bear walking towards her. She got scared more. She wanted to go back and took a U turn and saw two wild dogs walking towards her. The deer realized that she was in deep trouble. Deciding to go in the direction of the trap she took a U turn once more and suddenly saw two wolves behind the trap licking their lips.

The deer realized that she has no way to go and figured that there is no escape from the situation. Then she looked up and started praying God. She said, "If at all I can survive it has to be because of you. There is no way that I can come out of this situation without your help. I am completely surrendering to you and it's up to you as to what you want to do with my life."

A big poisonous snake climbed the tree and bit the hunter. The arrow got released from his bow and missed the deer, but hit the bear. The bear collapsed. The wild dogs saw the wolves and thought they are trying to snatch their food and started chasing them. Both the wolves and the wild dogs ran away deep into the forest. Within no time the deer was completely out of all problems. The deer thanked God and ran away with the baby.

Faith in God and complete surrendering to him is important and the problem resolution looks like simple coincidence. Remembering God is not very easy and consciously we have to keep thinking of God whenever possible, so that we get reminded of him when we are in trouble.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Pilgrimage trip to Sri Lanka

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Went on a short pilgrimage to Sri Lanka last week. There are quite a number of Hindu pilgrimage places in Sri Lanka and lot of tourist operators have created multiple packages for visiting Sri Lanka. We went on a 5 days, 4 night tour. One of the most important places in Sri Lanka is the Saankari Devi temple, which is one of the Ashtadasa (18) peethams. In fact it is the first Ashta Dasa peetham. There are 16 in India and one in POK. Apart from that there are few other important pilgrim places in SL and I shall list those here in this post.

Manalweri

There is a Siva temple here. This is apparently the first Siva lingam installed by Sri Rama after killing Raavana to get rid off the Brahma Hatya Paatakam (Sin accorded for killing a Brahmin (Raavana)). This is a very small but very nice temple. Importantly, Rama installed a sand lingam. Manal in Tamil apparently means Sand.

Munneswaram

There is a Siva temple here as well. Mun means long time back. So this is a very very old temple. Raavana used to visit this temple and Sri Rama on his return from SL visited this temple as well. This is a pretty big temple.

Trincomalee

This must have been Trikona Malai. Malai in Tamil means mountain/hill. This place has one of the Ashta dasa peethams with the important deities being Trikoneswara (Siva) and Saankari Devi. This temple is on a hillock with the ocean washing the feet of the mountain. In 1624 the Portugese wanting to destroy the Hindu culture shot canons from the Ocean towards this temple. In anticipation of the destruction, the priests with the help of the locals took all the important deities from the temples and buried them in the  mountain. So for a long time this temple ceased to exist. In early 1950s SL military started constructing military regions on and around that hillock. As part of the excavation process they found multiple deities and then the locals reconstructed the temples and installed the deities once more. The Trikoneswara lingam had been installed by Agasthya maharshi. There is a huge Siva statue outside the temple.

Matale

There is a Muthu Mariamma temple in Matale which has the tallest gopuram in SL. This temple is really very good and pretty big as well. The entire temple has tons of small statues all over it and is extremely colorful. There are lots of spice gardens on the way to Matale from Kandy and these are nothing but the plants, creepers and trees that are used in Ayurveda and the guides there provide information about each of these plants and trees and their significance in medical treatment.

There is one 100 ft Buddha statue on the way to Matale which is worth a visit.

Ramboda

When Hanuma crossed the ocean in search of Sita maata, he landed right in this place, which is a mountain region. There is a 30 odd ft Hanuma status installed in a temple on this mountain. This is really awesome.

When you visit this place, you would be wonder stuck as to how Hanuma would have thought of finding Sita from there. Foreign place, no clue of whats where, could be killed if caught, ruled by raakshasa king Raavana. That is some audacity and faith. When you look at that tall Hanuma, it's difficult to take your eyes off. Awesome stature.

This temple definitely is a must see place. This is being maintained well by Chinmaya Mission. "Boda" means Army and this is the place where Rama kept his army. There is apparently a ravanaboda as well in SL. On the way to this place, there are lots and lots of tea gardens and one can visit the tea factories to know the tea processing along with a free serving of tea. There are Ramboda waterfalls close to this and are pretty scenic.

Ashoka Vaatika

This is the place where Raavana kept sita maata after abducting her. There is a temple there with Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuma as the presiding deities. This is also a very old temple, though small. There is a small stream flowing behind the temple. On the rocks surrounding that stream there are two large footprints and the temple priests say that these are of that of Hanuma. This Ashoka Vanam is close to a place called Nuwareliya. There is a small park near the temple and thats actually being called as Ashoka Vanam.

Raavana Caves

We could not visit this place, but apparently there are some caves called Raavana caves near Raavana waterfalls. There is some 2 km climb to the caves which apparently is a bit difficult. Some say that there is a 17 ft mummy inside those caves and it is claimed that this is of that of Raavana.

One thing that I have noticed in the temples of SL is that people get different things for naivedya (offerings to god). After the offerings are made to the God, the priest returns the naivedya to them and this naivedya is distributed completely within the temple itself. Nothing or probably very little is carried back to their homes.

Tour Plan

Day 1

Left Hyderabad in the morning around 10 am and landed at Colombo airport in the afternoon. Went to Manalweri via Negombo.

Went to Munneswaram from Manalweri.

Reached Sigriya and stayed there in the night.

Day 2

Went to Trincomalee from Sigriya and returned to Sigriya. There is a forest on both sides of the road (Somavathi forest) on this way and you can see some elephants as well. Stayed in Sigriya in the night.

Day 3

Went to Matale from Sigriya. Visited the Muthi Mariamma temple and visited a spice garden and budha temple on the way. Reached Kandy by evening and watched a show for one hour depicting SriLankan dances. Stayed in Kandy in the night.

Day 4

Went to Ramboda from Kandy. Went to Sita temple from Ramboda. There is a 50 km Ghat road on the way to Nuwareliya from gampola (which is a place after Kandy). This takes more than 1.5 hrs. Stayed in Nuwareliya.

Day 5

Reached Colombo airport from Nuwareliya and boarded the flight in the afternoon and reached Hyderabad by night.

Distances

Colombo to Manalweri is about 70 odd kms via a place called Negombo, which is some 20-30 kms from Colombo.

Manalweri to Munneswaram is about 15-20 kms

Munneswaram to Sigriya (a place close to Trincomalee) is about 150 kms

Sigriya to Trincomalee is 115 kms.

Sigriya to Kandy is about 100 kms.

Kandy to Ramboda is about 60 kms.

Ramboda to Sita temple is about 20 kms.

Sita Temple is few kms from Nuwareliya.

Nuwareliya to Colombo airport is about 180 odd kms, but takes almost 5 hours with few stops.

Pure Veg Restaurants

There are very few pure veg restaurants in SL. We could find some though.

Negombo - Renuka Restaurant and Murug Villas

Trincomalee - Kannas Veg Restaurant and Annopoorina restaurant.

Kandy - Balaji Dosa restaurant.

Ramboda - Annapoorna Veg restaurant by chinmaya mission

Please note that all the restaurants mentioned above are very small and are pure veg restaurants.

Trip Planning Tips

1. SL Visa can be obtained online. Costs about 15 USD. On arrival visa option is also available and costs 20 USD. www.eta.gov.lk is the website.

2. There are umpteen local tour operators who can facilitate transport and hotel bookings. Van (8 seater) costs around 20 INR per km and hotels will be in the range of 1500-2500 INR per night (bed and breakfast basis).

3. Flight costs are around 11.5k INR round trip (Hyd to Colombo). Generaly spicejet and SL airlines are the cheapest carriers.

4. Lunch and dinner would cost around 200-300 INR per person per meal.

It's definitely 20-25% cheaper if you plan separately as against going with a package from a tour operator in India.

SL is very scenic and extremely green. People are extremely nice as well. They talk nicely and are very warm and friendly. But one drawback of SL is it is quite expensive, especially for foreigners. Check out some costs below. Btw, 1 INR is 2 SLR.

·         An Orange or a apple costs 50 SLR minimum.

·         Meal in a normal and small restaurant costs a minimum of 200 SLR. In some hotels (not posh restaurants), it is 600-700 SLR as well.

·         An elephant ride for 10-15 mins costs 2000 SLR.

·         Entry to a buddha temple is 1500 SLR, whereas its free for locals.

·         Entry to Ashoka Vanam park is 1100 SLR, whereas its about 50 SLR for locals.

·         Fresh farm Milk costs 160 SLR per litre

·         Tata Nano costs 14 lakhs SLR. Maruti 800 20 lakhs SLR.

So, expenses have to be planned properly.

Feel free to contact me in case any specific information is required. Must have been boring to many but thought could be useful for some who intend to do a pilgrimage trip to SL.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Convoluted but meaningful sentences

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

ఒక ఊరిలో ఒక ముసలి అతను వయసు అయిపోయి మంచం మీద పడ్డాడు. ఇక అతను ఎక్కువ సమయం బతకనని తెలిసి అతని కుమారులను పిలిచాడు. కాని వారితో మాట్లాడటానికి కూడా ఓపిక లేక ఓక కాగితం మీద ఎదో రాసి వాళ్లకి ఇచ్చి, తను పోయిన తరువాత అది తెరిచి చూడమని చెప్పాడు.

కొన్నాళ్ళకి అతను శరీరం విడిచిన తరువాత ఆ కొడుకులు అది తెరిచి చూసి నివ్వెర పోయారు. అందులో ఈ విధంగా రాసి ఉంది.

1. అమ్మకి అన్నం పెట్టవద్దు

2. విత్తనం వేసి పందిరి వెయ్యవద్దు

3. దరిద్రం వచినప్పుడు ఇల్లు తవ్వండి.

అది పట్టుకొని ఒక పండితుడి దగ్గరికి వెళ్ళారు. అది చదివిన ఆ పండితుడు చాలా ఆనందించి ఈ విధంగా వివరించాడు.

ఎప్పుడూ అమ్మకి అన్నం పెట్టాము అని అనుకోవద్దు. అమ్మ ఉన్నంత కాలం అమ్మ చేతి వంట తినే అదృష్టం కలిగిందని అనుకోవాలి కాని అమ్మకి అన్నం పెట్టి ఉద్దరించామని అనుకోవద్దు.

ఒక లత ఇంట్లో పెంచాలి అంటే మొదట పందిరి వేసి ఆ తరువాత విత్తనం నాటాలి. మొదట విత్తనం వేసి తరువాత పందిరి వేద్దాం అనుకుంటే అది ఎప్పటికి జరగని పని, దానితో లత సమంగా పెరగదు. ఏ క్రమంలో పని చెయ్యాలో అలాగే చెయ్యాలో అలాగే చెయ్యాలి.

దరిద్రం వచినప్పుడు ఇల్లు తవ్వండి అంటే, ఇంట్లో ఎదో లంకె బిందెలు దాచి ఉంటాడు, అవి అవసరం ఉన్నప్పుడు తీసుకోవాలి కాని అవసరం లేకుండా తవ్వి తీసి వృధా చెయ్యకూడదు. అవసరం లేకుండా డబ్బుని వృధా చెయ్యకూడదు.

In a small village, there used to be a old man. When this man was on his death bed, he called his sons and wanted to convey something. But he did not have sufficient strength and so he wrote something on a piece of paper and asked them to open it after his death.

After some days he collapsed and his sons took out the paper and were surprised to see the 3 sentences written on it.

1. Donot feed your mother.

2. Never lay the structure for a creeper after planting the seeds.

3. When you suffer extreme poverty, dig up the house.

Surprised with the statements written in the paper, the sons approached a learned person and that person was pleasantly surprised with what was written and explained the meaning of the 3 sentences.

1. Never think that you are feeding your mother. You should be happy that your mother is with you. You should be proud that you are able to have your food with your mother.

2. Before laying a creeper its important to freeze the direction of its growth by laying a proper structure. So without laying that, the seeds for a creeper should not be sown. As that would lead to the deferment and the creeper would grow without any direction. So the order of doing things is very important.

3. When you donot have any money, you dig up in the middle of your house and you would find some wealth out there. But it should be done only when you suffer poverty and not otherwise. Its not wise to dig up the wealth and waste it when not required.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

Sri Rama Raavana Vyatyaasam(difference)

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Handling a situation as a leader and the methodologies adopted are very evident from the way Sri Raama and Raavana conduct the sabhas (Meetings).

When Raavana comes to know that Sri Rama along with Lakshmana, Sugreeva and millions of his army are on the other side of the ocean surrounding Lanka, he panics a bit and conducts a large meeting (Sabha) with all the key people of his kingdom. He informs that all of them need to discuss and arrive at a conclusion as to how the situation has to be handled. He starts off by saying that he wants to know their opinion, but sets the following objectives.

·         Sita will not be returned to Sri Rama.

·         Sri Rama and Lakshmana should be killed.

So any sane person in that Sabha would promptly leave because the conclusion has already been made and what opinion can be expressed except for preparing for war.

Ravana mentions the following as a justification of his conclusion/objectives.

Sita asked me 1 year time before she could accept me.

This was a blatant lie, but tries to show off in front of everyone how Sita was fond of him too, which was the reason why he did not want to let go off sita – Justification for his objective 1.

But that being a Raakshasa Sabha, everyone wants to prove their loyalty towards the king to ensure that they don’t rub on the wrong side of their king. One of his ministers Prahastha says, “Why don’t u force her right away without waiting for 1 year?” Ofcourse his words and sentences and words are not this simple and short.

Raavana gets impressed with that suggestion and then comes forward with a truth that he has a curse from Brahma that is he forces any unintending woman, then he would die immediately. This is because of such act that he had committed in the past. The way he narrates the story, it looks like a mere attempt to show off how he forced himself onto one apsarasa, who complained to Brahma abt Raavanas act and Brahma inturn cursed Raavana.

Like Prahasta, different other people suggested different ways and methods of destroying Sri Rama and his army single handedly. Everyone spoke about his power and strength to assure Raavana on the victory in the war and that Sri Rama would be destroyed. So all statements were made only in support of the objectives set out by Raavana and nothing else.

Kumbha Karna and Vibheeshana (Raavanas brothers) were the only two sane people who expressed their opinions. Ofcourse Vibheeshana said that Sita should be returned, whereas Kumbha Karna said that he would destroy Sri Rama and co single handedly. But he made his point that Raavana was not wise in consulting with his people after perpetrating the crime of abducting Sita. He should have done that before committing that act.

After Raavana abuses Vibheeshana, Vibheeshana leaves Lanka and reaches Sri Rama on the other shore and seeks refuge. Though Sri Rama and his entire army is on the sands without any kingdom or meeting halls, Sri Rama too conducts the sabha to discuss on what to do abt Vibheeshanas request.

He said, “All of you are intelligent and know abt Raaja neethi (law), I would like to take your opinion on the current situation.”

Different people offer their suggestions. I am presenting their opinions in a nutshell without details.

·         Sugreeva said that Vibheesahana should be killed, he being the brother of the opponent.

·         Another minister said that they should spend some time with Vibheeshana by talking to him and understanding his plan, based on which appropriate action could be taken.

·         Another one recommended the deployment of detectives to understand the motive behind Vibheeshanas move and take the action accordingly.

·         Sri Rama asked Hanuma to express his opinion. Hanuma made a very elaborate case as to why all the earlier suggestions were incorrect. He justified that Vibheeshana should be accepted for which he provided valid and solid arguments. (Will probably write another post involving the detailed conversation of other ministers’ opinions and Hanumas justification, which is very interesting.)

Sri Rama then spells out his decision that he would provide refuge to Vibheeshana. His decision was not based on his personal opinion but based on a well learned Rushi’s statement.

He went on to say, “Kandu Maharshi, son of Kanwa maharshi narrated a story.

‘There used to be a dove couple. Once a hunter shot  down the female dove in front of the male dove and fried that in a fire and ate it. The male dove’s sorrow knew no bounds. The same hunter after some days revisited the jungle and tried the whole day to kill something. It started raining in the evening and quickly darkness sets in. The hunter took shelter under the same tree where the male dove resided. The hunter started shivering of cold and became weak because of hunger. Seeing his state the male dove felt that the hunter has sought refuge by taking shelter under its tree and wanted to do justice. It lit a fire so that the hunter can feel the warmth. Then it kills itself by falling in that fire, thus offering itself to the hunter and the hunter ate it and satisfied his hunger.’

So when a bird could do such a sacrifice, how can I not give refuge to Vibheeshana, irrespective of his motives and objectives, after he has sought refuge. I will pardon and give refuge to Raavana also if he seeks that.

Such is the difference between Sri Rama and Raavana.

Even in our lives, we come across people

·         Who force their opinions on to us without understanding our perspective.

·         Who state their opinions without any justifications/reasoning.

·         If you show a problem with them, they would justify how that’s either not a problem or how they have already taken care of it.

·         If you suggest something, they would say that they are already aware of it.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.