God of Gods. Destroyer of Evil. Passionate lover. Fierce warrior. Consummate dancer. Charismatic leader. All-powerful, yet incorruptible. A quick wit, accompanied by an equally quick and fearsome temper. Over the centuries, no foreigner who came to our land – conqueror, merchant, scholar, ruler, traveller – believed that such a great man could possibly have existed in reality. They assumed that he must have been a mythical God, whose.
Sometimes, truth causes pain and suffering. At such times, silence is preferred. In fact, there may be times when a white lie, could actually lead to a good outcome.
And if there is anything that appears like a miracle, the only explanation is that a scientific reason for it has not been discovered as yet.
Many people are not wise enough to count life’s blessings. They keep focusing instead on what the world has denied them.
Passionate children have strong emotions that insist on finding expression. They laugh loudly. They cry even more loudly.
The simple truth hit Shiva: if the entire society was conscious of its duties, nobody would need to fight for their individual rights. Since everybody’s rights would be automatically taken care of through someone else’s duties. Lord Ram was a genius!
Stability allows a person the freedom of choice, my friend. People can pursue their dreams only when they are living in a society where survival is not threatened on a daily basis.
Do you know what is the most powerful force in a man’s life?’ asked Daksha. Kanakhala and Parvateshwar looked at Daksha nonplussed. ‘It is his intense desire to impress the person he loves the most,’ expounded Daksha.
There is no “your god” or “my god”. All godliness comes from the same source. Just the manifestations are different.
And most of the times, the rebellions were not led by farsighted men who thought they would create a better way of life for the common man. They were led by men discontented with their lot in life.
Too much of anything creates an imbalance in life. This is true even of virtues such as nonviolence. You never know when the winds of change strike; when violence may be required to protect your society, or to even survive.
If you are a fish charging at bait, then it usually doesn’t end well.
A society must always aim for balance. It needs intellectuals, it needs warriors, it needs traders, it needs artists, and it needs skilled workers. If it empowers one group too much or another too little, it is headed for chaos.
Freedom is never the ally of law. You can have freedom to choose whether you want to join or leave a society based on the rule of law. But as long as you live in such a society you must obey the law.
Withholding the truth is different from lying.
We criticise corruption in others, but are blind to our own dishonesty. We hate others who do wrong and commit crimes, blithely ignoring our own misdeeds, big and small. We vehemently blame Raavan for all our ills, refusing to acknowledge that we created the mess we find ourselves in.
You need to be liberal, of course. For that is the Indian way. But don’t be a blind and stupid liberal.
If I’m successful, people will call me brave. If I fail, I will be called foolish. Let me do what I think is right. I’ll leave the verdict to the future.
If you compromise the prospects of the strong, and lean too much towards the interests of the weak, then your society itself goes into decline.
Always remember this. You don’t live with the consequences of other people’s karma. You live with the consequences of your own.