Call of Dharma
Has this thought every crossed your mind? When everyone around me is having a great time taking the shortest route to instant success, why should I not do the same? Surely, a few shortcuts, a few bending of the rules won't do much harm. This thought has engaged me on many occasions. Why should one stick to one's dharma?
There is, it seems, a sweet gift waiting at the end of a long, arduous wait especially when the time is spent following one's dharma. This is not just good for the individual, it also affects people around us in ways we cannot even imagine. It keeps the balance.
Here's a story from ancient India to illustrate the importance of purity in thought and action. There was once a village by the banks of a river in which lived a few Brahmin families. The courtyard in each house had a yajnakund in which fire rituals were performed. One day, a Brahmin found a piece of gold in his yajnakund. He asked his wife as to how it got there.
His wife told him: "When I was cleaning the courtyard, a bull walked in. I had to shoo it away. But I was chewing on betel leaves. I had to spit before driving the bull away. I spat in the yajnakund." Doing that had turned a part of the kund into gold. The Brahmin was outraged at the pollution of the scared kund. He was seething, but softened when he saw that the piece of gold had, the very next day, bought his wife a silk sari and himself, a silk dhoti.
They then bought a bigger home, hired servants and lived comfortably. The rest in the village were envious. The Brahmin's wife revealed the secret of their material prosperity to her neighbour.
The neighbour, too, spat in the yajnakund and a piece of gold changed their lifestyle. Many houses in that village did the same. Except for one Brahmin.
This Brahmin refused to use the yajnakund for anything but worship. His wife pleaded, but he did not relent. His wife told him she is embarrassed that the other houses are filled with riches while they are stuck on principles. She convinced him that they at least leave the village to save themselves embarrassment.
The husband refused at first saying it would spell disaster. But he gave in on his wife's insistence. Hardly had they left the village that they saw it go up in flames with people quarrelling over petty issues.
The Brahmin told his wife: "This is the catastrophe I foresaw. Wealth earned without toil breeds hatred. So long as even one yajnakund remained pure, order prevailed. With our departure, the village lost all right to peace."
It is only by holding firm in the storm of desire can we weather desire. But the desire for peace must be stronger than all other desires.
[copied from http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_respond-to-the-call-of-dharma_1432858]
There is, it seems, a sweet gift waiting at the end of a long, arduous wait especially when the time is spent following one's dharma. This is not just good for the individual, it also affects people around us in ways we cannot even imagine. It keeps the balance.
Here's a story from ancient India to illustrate the importance of purity in thought and action. There was once a village by the banks of a river in which lived a few Brahmin families. The courtyard in each house had a yajnakund in which fire rituals were performed. One day, a Brahmin found a piece of gold in his yajnakund. He asked his wife as to how it got there.
His wife told him: "When I was cleaning the courtyard, a bull walked in. I had to shoo it away. But I was chewing on betel leaves. I had to spit before driving the bull away. I spat in the yajnakund." Doing that had turned a part of the kund into gold. The Brahmin was outraged at the pollution of the scared kund. He was seething, but softened when he saw that the piece of gold had, the very next day, bought his wife a silk sari and himself, a silk dhoti.
They then bought a bigger home, hired servants and lived comfortably. The rest in the village were envious. The Brahmin's wife revealed the secret of their material prosperity to her neighbour.
The neighbour, too, spat in the yajnakund and a piece of gold changed their lifestyle. Many houses in that village did the same. Except for one Brahmin.
This Brahmin refused to use the yajnakund for anything but worship. His wife pleaded, but he did not relent. His wife told him she is embarrassed that the other houses are filled with riches while they are stuck on principles. She convinced him that they at least leave the village to save themselves embarrassment.
The husband refused at first saying it would spell disaster. But he gave in on his wife's insistence. Hardly had they left the village that they saw it go up in flames with people quarrelling over petty issues.
The Brahmin told his wife: "This is the catastrophe I foresaw. Wealth earned without toil breeds hatred. So long as even one yajnakund remained pure, order prevailed. With our departure, the village lost all right to peace."
It is only by holding firm in the storm of desire can we weather desire. But the desire for peace must be stronger than all other desires.
[copied from http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_respond-to-the-call-of-dharma_1432858]
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