-Harry Sequeira
Their father was a petrol pump attendant, yet the elder son now drives a Royce. They lived with their father in a chawl, now they reside in the penthouses of skyscrapers with distant views of the ocean. Their father had been selling some yarn in the textile markets, yet their sons market all the yarn you need in India and in other shores. Their father’s savings book had few savings, but the sons are shaving off the topmost layer of the economy. One would imagine that this should be enough no?
No, their unlimited thoughts may finally hound them to their graves.
Sri Krishna had warned thousands of years ago, that desire is endless, whatever the nature of the desire. The Rajasic forces take over and involve the soul to a restlessness that hounds it day and night. Each thought sprouts manifold branches and these in turn multitude of leaves. Each leaf contains the history of all the other desires. Thus a person with insatiable desires, figuratively, kills the soul, says Sri Krishna. (BG 16.11)
They are now richer than Croesus, yet they are still fighting for the “pots and pans”, figuratively speaking, that their father left for them. How to maintain these riches, now immeasurable, has spawned immeasurable thoughts, breeding more desires.
Sri Krishna had warned that money and riches can make a man as mad as a hatter! (This term or expression refers to a character in: ‘Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), and generally refers to the characters that have gone off the border of mental sanity)
This tendency of a Rajasic mind is as evident in a zillionaire as in a peanut vendor. In varying degrees and measures, we all have it.
So Sri Krishna’s admonition against uncontrolled desires and his suggestion that we live a simple life and reduce our immeasurable wants and immeasurable thoughts, it will be tough going!!
Their father was a petrol pump attendant, yet the elder son now drives a Royce. They lived with their father in a chawl, now they reside in the penthouses of skyscrapers with distant views of the ocean. Their father had been selling some yarn in the textile markets, yet their sons market all the yarn you need in India and in other shores. Their father’s savings book had few savings, but the sons are shaving off the topmost layer of the economy. One would imagine that this should be enough no?
No, their unlimited thoughts may finally hound them to their graves.
Sri Krishna had warned thousands of years ago, that desire is endless, whatever the nature of the desire. The Rajasic forces take over and involve the soul to a restlessness that hounds it day and night. Each thought sprouts manifold branches and these in turn multitude of leaves. Each leaf contains the history of all the other desires. Thus a person with insatiable desires, figuratively, kills the soul, says Sri Krishna. (BG 16.11)
They are now richer than Croesus, yet they are still fighting for the “pots and pans”, figuratively speaking, that their father left for them. How to maintain these riches, now immeasurable, has spawned immeasurable thoughts, breeding more desires.
This tendency of a Rajasic mind is as evident in a zillionaire as in a peanut vendor. In varying degrees and measures, we all have it.
So Sri Krishna’s admonition against uncontrolled desires and his suggestion that we live a simple life and reduce our immeasurable wants and immeasurable thoughts, it will be tough going!!
Published in the December2011 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine
