Thursday 5 May 2011

Excerpts from Samarth Ramdas Swami's Dasbodh Part 3

If many intellectuals gather at one place then everyone speaks more loudly than others. The matter that is of general interest is forgotten altogether. He who has the habbit of saying 'I Know' 'You don't', he is distracted from the path of equity. He speaks whatever he likes to show his greatness. At the end the equity cannot prevail and what prevails is something inequitable. On one hand there is a rise in ego and the heart is burning on the other. Therefore he who is intelligent shows to people that he does not know anything. He makes out to the public that he is a fool and saves himself from the burden of ego.

There is someone who understands that the God is greater than him. He also understands that the God resides in the minds of people. Therefore he always soothes the minds of people. If there is chaos at any place then the intellectuals present there are held responsible. What intellectuals they are? They dont know how to keep others mind. Hostility begets hostility and makes us sad. Therefore let us understand the virtue of being good. He who is good is always attentive. He never gets into something petty. He who is great should have pity and foregiveness in his mind. Someone who is a man of virtue, happens to sit besides a man of vice. The former understands the shortcomings of the latter. He who is man of conscience always work conscientiously. On the basis of conscience one can explore the remedies, the options and can undertake the long term efforts. A bad person is engulfed in conflicts. He who babbles often goes down to a low level. He who distracts from the path of conscience is not a wise person. A foolish person knows least about the equity, options and remedies. He just rakes up something and enters into a pettty loop. Then those who are intelligent set the things right. They help people come out of non-sense. They lead others by their action. There are many people in this world. There are good people also among these many. A good person causes satisfaction to the minds of all. He understands the mind of people. He understands the time, circumstances and the relativity of everything. He knows how to calm down the agitated people. People who are like this do have a very capable conscience. People at large cannot understand the work done by such people. He leads many people and drives many organisations. This state of capability can be acquired only on the basis of conscience. Let us strengthen our conscience in solitude. Let us realise the God. Let us not divide people between those who favour us and those who are against us. One can conceptualise the great plans in solitude. One can think about the whole universe in solitude. Let us meditate in solitude and identify where the things went wrong. Let us reach out the eternal spirit in solitude. He who knows the art of living in solitude becomes a man of vision. He can read the future.

While giving response to someone we should understand the purpose and also his mind. Let us understand some signs of intelligence. All our activities sans intelligence are useless. If there is chaos at some place then who can be satisfied in being there. Where many people want to speak many things, we should keep quiet. We should quickly read others mind. Dont sit among useless people. Dont indulge in quarelling against the harsh ones. Dont disturb the satisfaction of the minds of others for the sake of your ego. Let us put up an appearance of a beginner. Let us not make a show of our intelligence. Let us speak soft words to gain understanding of the mind of people. Do understand any event in its true sense. Dont rake up quarrels with many. If we do this then we cannot convince others even though being on the right side.

Dont get tired of exploring. Dont be in the company of the corrupt people. Dont level wild allegations against anyone when you are in the company of corrupt people. We should try to understand the mental pain of the afflicted person. We should read an extract from a book that is relevant for his problems. Good people will develop the habbit of reading after knowing something from you. Dont sit among people to kill time. Dont participate in the act of collective devotion if there is no substance in that activity. Someone should display good qualities while having interaction with people. If he ensures this then he can interact with any person. You should make friends after due evaluation. Your communication with people should be an act at par to the devotion to God. People should get pleased on communicating with you. Be good to everyone. You should get the detailed information about the place where you plan to go. People should come close to you as if you are very dear to them. The divisions among people are superficial therefore you should not be too much concerned about that. You should soothe the minds of all. You should not go anywhere when it is dark.

He who wants to be a friend of the world, should understand that the key to this is with his tongue. He can be friend of all if he speaks sweet honeyed words. He should search for good people and identify them. He should attend any gathering where people glorify God. He should sit there at a distance like a deprived person. He should understand whatever is being told there. There he can find the good and the broad minded people. He should get close to such people. Listening is a good method of learning. It is still better to think over what has been listened. This leads to satisfaction of mind. We should be attentive when we are among people. We should understand their minds. There is no need to feel tired without understanding the truth.

Please listen to the qualities of a useless person with an attentive mind. He who shuns these qualities becomes good. Someone becomes poor for sins committed by him. He who is poor increases the stock of his sins. This keeps on happening for every moment. Thatswhy now you should listen to the signs of uselessness. You should try to shun these signs very meticulously. Thereafter there is a scope for someone to demonstrate signs of goodness.

A useless person likes laziness. He never likes taking any efforts. He always has cravings for something improper. He is always confused and sleepy. He speaks rubbish in many ways. He never soothes anyone's mind. He does not like writing or reading. He listens to none. He never maintains any books of accounts. He does not have an attentive mind. He loses something, drops something, breaks something, commits many mistakes and mischiefs. He never likes the company of good people. He gets into the company of useless people. There are some persons who are always ready to do something bad. He has many such persons as his friends. He also ropes in the thieves and the sinners. He is very attentive to tarnish others and to steal something. He hurts others and parts with their share. He least understands the long term thinking and the principles of equity. He always longs for something that belongs to others. He is very comfortable as he sleeps a lot but he is also hungry as he is not able to get food. He is friend of none. He speaks many harsh words. He is so foolish that he can be tamed by none. He rakes up fights against the pious people. He wholeheartedly gets into the company of useless people. He always likes very much the thing that is highly condemned in the world. He does not find any scope for social well being. He causes harm to many. He is a sinner and a useless fellow. He cannot attain any congruence and logic in his activities. He is never careful while speaking. He cannot be tamed in any way. None likes what he says.

No one relies on him. None is friendly to him. He does not have any knowledge or riches. Still he is very proud of his status. He who soothes minds of many makes his future bright. But someone who is useless will not listen to such good advice. Now what remedy can be there for his problems. He dreams of great things. He gets nothing. He is always confused and he builds castles in the air. How someone can clean his mind if his mind is distracted from the noble path. He does not have any determination and renders himself useless due to nonsense. He speaks in a gathering of people though he understands nothing. Then people come to know that he is foolish. A person who can demonstrate his good qualities to people gets recognition from the people. Recognition from people does not come free of cost. Those who demonstrate bad qualities are put to shame on many occasions. Someone who is useless, he does not get into the company of good. He takes no efforts to make himself wise. He who behaves like this is an enemy of himself. He does not understand his own good. When we do good to someone then we are doing good to us for future. He who does not understand this is a useless person. A quality which is not approved by many is a bad quality in itself. We should understand the cause and effect relationship. Still we should also note that nothing can be demonstrated if there is no effect (and only cause). One who sits idle is flowing in the river of sorrows. He is perished by the passing of time. He who is not approved by many is a sinner. He does not get any shelter anywhere. Thatswhy one should shun the bad qualities. Now he will get everything.

We have discussed the qualities of a useless person. One should shun these qualities by using his conscience. Now listen to the good qualities that can cause great happiness. He who abides by good qualities makes multiple efforts to make others happy. Everyone likes a person with good qualities. He has a good hand-writing. He is very attentive and good at reading. He understands the meaning of what he reads. He does not break anyone's mind. He does not part the company of good. He always thinks about the good qualities. He is good at understanding people. He is very innovative. He does not foolishly hang on to any opinion. He is friendly to all as he is a reservoir of good qualities. His fame is evident. He is independent. He always questions someone politely. He knows how to tell the pertinent meaning. He does what he says. He does everything nicely. He is recognised by all. No one can point any finger to him. He is a glowing merit personified and is great. He is always for the well being of others. He is sought after by all. Now what is that he is lacking in this world.

Many people have hopes from a good person. He is always there at the right time. He causes harm to none. He knows many arts like music. He always has enormous love for the technique of realising the truth. He speaks politely with everyone. He keeps minds of all. He sees that none is deprived of something. He understands equity and devotion to God. He always makes good the time at his disposal. How can such a person be afflicted by poverty. He who is adorned with great qualities stand out shining amid many. He looks as great as the rising sun. How can there be any unrest when a good person is there. Those who are devoid of good qualities are useless people. One should know the complexities of the material world and the overall dimensions of the spiritual world. One should acquire the good qualities. Someone who is good never changes his rule of life. He has a detached mind. He does not diturb the composure of anyone's mind. He always keeps his conscience. He is a man of action. He is a man of devotion. He is a man of knowledge. He is a man of detachment. The intelligence of this person is too deep to get disturbed.

He who demonstrates all good qualities cannot be termed as bad by anyone. He simulates the eternal spirit that is all pervading. All people whether they are great or petty, they are highly attentive to their own cause. He is attentive like them but for the cause of others. He feels sad for others sadness. He feels happy for others happiness. He wishes that everyone should be happy. As father has equal love for all his children, he is worried for the well being of all. He cannot bear others pain. He is not after making money. If someone offends him then he does not feel offended. He attributes that offence to his body which is perishable. How a person who has knowledge can have his conscious at the level of his body. He who has his conscious restricted to his body demonstrates a bad quality. One should demonstrate good qualities to people. Anyone is attracted if he finds a good quality somewhere. Anyone becomes sad if he finds a bad quality being worked on him. Common people cannot understand the sharp intelligence. A good person should forgive such common people. When the very same people realise their mistake then they support him in various ways. Many people think that they are great. A great person has patience. He is generous and serious in his thinking. Whatever are the good qualities they demonstrate capability. Bad qualities are useless.

A good person always have the love for God. He also motivates others for devotion to God. His intelligence is as demonstrated as the sun. He knows how to deal with bad people. He also knows how to soothe good people. He knows the mind of all in the proper context. He influences the minds of people who associate with him. He can cause a rise in the good qualities of people who are associated with him. He can lead the community to take on the specific effort. He is very innovative in his ways. Everyone likes him. He never has any selfish interest in anything. He demonstrates a high level of devotion and knowledge. He has a great intelligence. He remembers God in a great way. He undertakes great projects at all times.


He exercises a great devotion of mind. His good fame has touched great heights. People experience satisfaction of mind when they see his great devotion. He who does not undertake great actions cannot spread his glory. You cannot spread your glory among people by just wandering here and there. We are least confident that we will live very long. We do not know what is there in the offing. Therefore we should be attentive. We should do whatever we can. We should fill the whole universe with the devotion to God. We should do immediately whatever we can do with ease. We should apply our conscience for the things that we are not able to do. There is nothing that is outside the scope of conscience. If we think about something conscientiously in solitude then the truth comes to our mind. He who is always attentive and active, what is that where he is lacking. How one can act intelligently if he does not like solitude. One should understand the eternal spirit. One should have a detached mind.

We should understand that God is there where people are. We should have conscience. We should take care of people. Someone behaves like this. He considers himself to be very good. He thinks that people are bad. Now when everyone is bad then how he is an intelligent one. If we just get away from everybody then we will be in a place where there is no one. Now what will we do there. Therefore we should give up such wrong line of thinking. The fools are shouting something rubbish in a foolish manner. The intellectuals are uneasy for what they have understood. This is how he is put to problems from both the sides. He cannot pack up his show. He cannot be silent either. He should not find fault with others for his condition. He should not go after recognition. He should make good of whatever of his life is remaining. He should move out of the place. He does not like to move out. He cannot bear with others. Now he is suffering from the great pangs of confusion. He has been told the remedy. He should understand the remedy for himself. The greatest of our bad qualities is to treat our bad qualities as good. This results in committing sin that follows invariably.

He does not understand what wrong he has done. He is not able to control his mind. He cannot tame the ego that is erupting like nothing. Now whatever he does remains incomplete. He hurts many. He cannot understand as to what has gone wrong. He is idle due to lack of work and is experiencing a downfall. He does not have any control of his intelligence on what he does. He does not have any foresight. He is a gone person and does hopeless things. He is trapped in the web of confusion. He cannot understand anything as to how to get out of all these. What others can understand in this case. He dances to the tunes of his expectations rising from confusion. Who can understand these secret expectations? He has to do this for his own. He should have a firm power of discrimination. He should make his mind attentive. He should have a satisfied mind. Why should one run here and there for the sake of recognition. Why should one become sad and should make others sad. This is not a sensible thing. He has hurt people a lot. He has been hurt a lot. He has done this bubbling for what sake?

This is how the recognition affects. It is partially good and partially bad. We should understand this and then act. We should be among people and then we should get into solitude. This is how we should spend our time. If we do like this then we get time to take rest. The recognition is not forever. Nothing is as great as a satisfied mind. One cannot have a privilege of being human in all births.

He has knowledge and detachment. He has a liking for the cause of community. He should be in solitude without any break. He will understand in solitude the processes that are going on. He can conceive great ideas. He can understand the state and fate of people. If someone who is not active, what he can understand. Someone who does not scrutinise his books of accounts is a pauper. Someone builds up a huge empire. While someone finds it difficult to make both ends meet. The spectrum is so huge that we have these two extremes. Whatever is planned nicely can be implemented easily. Otherwise the work gets stuck up. If someone is always amid some people then those people know ins and outs about him. Then they will also talk about some of his matters for which they do not have any business. This is not a proper thing to happen. A good person should not rest with assurance. If someone is lazy then his actions cannot bear any fruits. We should not do anything that defeats the cause of a comminity. We should have a tight schedule of devotional works. Then there wont be any time available for nonsense.

A thief should be appointed as a store-keeper. If he does something wrong then he should be saved. We should remove all foolishness from his mind bit by bit. We should never disregard the age old principles of managing people. If a useless fellow is working against our interest then we should pit another useless fellow against him. A babbling fellow should be pitted against the babbling one. We should never get into any confusion or petty fighting. A thorn should be used to remove a thorn pricked. We should not tell others about these things. No one should blame us for dirty procrastination. A work is accomplished very fast when people are not told about it. Otherwise lot of people poke their nose into it.

We like to get recognition from people. Whoever looks at us should think that we deserve the recognition. A work is accomplished only when it is done. If not, it remains outstanding. Therefore one should not do any procrastination. He who relies on others for his work should understand that his work will never be done. He is good who undergoes hardships for the sake of his work. If everything about the work is told to everybody then the purpose of the work becomes blank. Therefore such a thing should not happen. We should control the work being done. The work should be segmented and we should see that others execute the segment allocated to them. Many bad elements should be uprooted while managing politics. We should fiercely fight against the people who are strong and outspoken against our interest. We should see that politics is not jam packed by all bad elements. We should understand the weak points of the mean people. We should make a very heavy onslaught against them and grind them to powder. Later on they should be given support to become good. We should not devastate them. He who fears bad elements cannot uphold politics.

If you want to organise a community on large scale then you should demonstrate strengths. You should not just put up a hermitage and raise your ego. You should understand the bad elements but you should never tell others that you have identified them as bad. You should behave with them as if you consider them as good people. If you express the opinion that you have for them then that will cause endless friction. Therefore one should not do this. A warrior gets full of valour when he is challenged by the army of the enemy. A good person should be like this while attending to the spirtual call. He should hit blows to some of his enemies to show his might. Nobody can just think of mutiny against him. These are the signs of being great. One should be very particular in politics. One should never think that he can afford carelessness. He is not visible anywhere. Everyone speaks about him. He has won over the hearts of many through his good speech. He pits up a useless fellow against a useless fellow, a strong fellow against a strong fellow, an offending one against the offending one. People are entertained when they see a 'tit for tat' fight. But the one who controls all this is visible to none.

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