72 Pearls of Wisdom from Yoga Vashistha
After embarking on a long and tiresome pilgrimage, Prince Rama of Ayodhya found himself disillusioned with the world. He was overwhelmed by the pains of the people he met during his travel and saw the world around him to be gruesome. He was not sure why the world and life were …
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The Nature of Absolute Power
Absolute power, that which Vedic seers like Kautilya, Bhartrihari, and Bhardwaj taught, is that which makes a man brave and fearless. In the presence of fear, there can seldom be any enduring power. In life, all fears must be uprooted before we make a place for power. Whether power is to be used in material or spiritual pursuits, uprooting the fear is the key.
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Overcoming the Fear of Death
Recently, I happened to counsel a person diagnosed with a terminal illness. Having read my books, she claimed that while she was “moved” by “the depth of wisdom” in my articles and books, she found them to be very “impractical.” Even though she knew full well that death was her ultimate destination, she was overwhelmed by the very fear of dying. “Who knows what happens after death?” she said. The idea of uncertainty after death was causing greater pain to her than the pain caused by her illness.
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A Threat might be Real, Fear is Optional, but Hate is always Detrimental
When people undermine your interests, that is a threat. The threat is always real. But fear is of the mind, therefore optional. If you know you are not the mind, you’d know how to handle the mind and the fear. Fear can undermine the faculties of the mind. Fear will also undermine your chances to succeed; make your life as pathetic as your mind fear it to be.
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Purusharthas: Giving life a meaning
आहार Ahaara (food), निद्रा Nidra (sleep), भयं Bhaya (fear) and मैथुनं Maithuna (sex) are the four significant cravings of मन: Mana – mind – which transcends species, space and time. To sustain one’s body a living being needs food, to heal and rejuvenate one’s body and mind sleep is essential, in survival fear plays a dominant role and for procreation as well as recreation - sex appears to play a crucial part. It is in pursuit of achieving these natural urges of the senses that there happen umpteen conflicts in the wild. Animals at times kill their kind for the sake of food, sleep, fear, and sex. It’s also the root of Chaos. To ensure that humans don’t live like beasts they created families, societies and, even, civilizations. पुरुशार्था Purushartha as an ethical code of conduct created by Vedic seers to survive, assess, pursue and achieve their desires without conflicts. It was to over-ride the “natural order of things” where the “strong crush the weak” in exchange for “peaceful co-existence.”
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King Bharat’s Dilemma vis-à-vis Pandava’s Paradox
One of the common questions posed about the Mahabharata is, “How did Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva – who weren’t born to Pandu – all come to be known as Pandavas (sons of Pandu) and claim the throne of Hastinapur over legitimate 100 sons of Dhritarashtra (elder brother of Pandu?” This article by U. Mahesh Prabhu tries to answers this question in depth.
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Bhartrihari’s Wisdom: Niti Shataka
By U. Mahesh Prabhu Legends have it that Bhartrihari once ruled the city of Ujjain. Although a loving ruler his mind was always engrossed about Love and Romance. He had over 100 beautiful women for his wives. No wonder he spent negligible time in the affairs of the state. His …
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