Follow Your Dharma…
Friday, September 26th, 2014
When Dharma guides Karma it becomes praiseworthy and the act turns out to be successful. Bhagawan says “Where there is Dharma there Krishna is; so, think for yourself, each one of you, how far have you deserved the grace of The Lord? You draw Him near; you keep Him far. You entangle yourself, bind yourself, and get caught in the trap. No one is your foe except yourself. No one else is your friend. You are your only friend. The Guru shows you the road and you have to trudge alone, without fear or hesitation.” When Guru becomes the guidepost, showing us the right path, are we not to meticulously follow the right path??? Bhagawan speaks out quoting an incident from the illustrious life of Shivaji Maharaj involving Swami Samartha Ramadas recounting how great men and Avatars stood for greater values in life, overruling material passion…
Once Samartha Ramadas appeared before Shivaji, with his usual call for alms: Bhavathi Bhikshaam Dehi. Shivaji realised that the Guru is God; so, he wrote something on a piece of paper and deposited it reverentially in the alms bag of Ramadas. “For the relief of hunger how can paper suffice?” asked Ramadas. Shivaji prayed that the paper may be read. The paper recorded a gift of the entire kingdom and all that Shivaji owned to the Guru. Samartha Ramadas replied: “No, My Dharma is Dharmabodha, the teaching of Dharma, instructing the people in the right way of life; Kshatriyas like you must follow the Dharma of ruling the land, ensuring peace and content to the millions under your care.” Sage Yaajnavalkya too once refused a kingdom, because he cared more for the Kingdom of Moksha, the realm of eternal freedom. Sage Vasishta is also said to have renounced a kingdom, offered to him by Rama.
That was the ideal in the past; it is only now that men pursue paths that lead them away from Dharma. You have allowed the treasure that the sages gave you to drop from your grasp. Though the medicinal root that you so badly need is lying across your path and has actually tripped your step, you have no eyes to recognise it and realise the value. What a pity!
Look at the way Rama refused to accept the kingdom out of which He had willingly come, to carry out the wish of His mother and the plighted word of His father, when Bharatha entreated Him piteously to take it from him. Rama taught that artha and kaama should not be allowed to overrule Dharma and the discipline of Moksha. For, fundamentally, the objects of the world are incapable of conferring joy.
II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II
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