Saturday Spiritual Talk

Secret of Success in CSE

The great oil man, H. L. Hunt, who was at one time the richest self-made billionaire in the world, was
once asked by a television journalist for his “secrets of success.” He replied: “There are only three
requirements for success. First, decide exactly what it is you want in life. Second, determine the price
that you are going to have to pay to get the things you want. And third, and this is most important,
resolve to pay that price.

As a CSE aspirant, first decide clearly what you want. Do you want just any of 28 services mentioned in
CSE notification or do you want IAS or do you want IAS in your home cadre or do you want IAS rank 1
and make history. Clearly decide. Don’t be ambiguous .Ambiguous aims never give result.

Once you have decided I want IAS rank 1, know determine what price you need to pay for it. From my
experience of writing all 6 CSE Mains and attending 4 CSE interviews I can tell you that the only price it
demands is persistent hard work (focused study) over a period of two year. Following Santosh Sir’s plan
which are:

 Absolute no distractions.
 No means no – no family, no friends, no pleasure, and no relationships.
 Getting up daily at 4AM.
 Doing Daily Practice Sheet.
 Following the Study schedule.
 Sending answers for feedback.
 Sending Daily Progress Report.
 Staying away from internet and social media as much as possible.
 Studying 15-18Hours daily.
 Yoga and Meditation.

If you are ready to pay this price you are eligible for IAS rank 1.

If I pause and ask how many of you who are reading this want to be rank 1, I believe 99% of you will say
yes.

However, I know 99% of those 99% will lack the resolve to pay the price. It is not easy.

In the last 60 days I myself worked more 1000 hours. I wrote more than 150 quora answers which went
viral, I predicted many prelims questions which benefitted thousands of aspirant in exam. I spoke over
phone with 1000 aspirants throughout India from Leh- Laddak to Kanyakumari, from Rajasthan Jodhpur
to Assam’s Dibrugarh. I replied to at least 1500 mails and 50,000 telegram messages. I started path
breaking initiatives like 4 AM Club, Sunday Success Mantra and Saturday Spiritual Talks. My Daily
Practice Sheet and Friday factly are becoming popular every passing day. There were other work related
responsibilities also. I haven’t taken a break of single second in last 60 days. I worked till got tired usually
12 o clock and then I slept till 3:30 AM.
All this I did alone. It required sacrifice. I sacrificed my sleep, I sacrificed all pleasure in life, I sacrificed
food, I didn’t spoke to anyone other than students. I made student’s success as my only sole driving
force.

I have always believed in Swamiji’s advice of giving your entire self to one idea i.e. service. We all are
capable of service, we have to realize our true potential.
One of the most important requirements for success, once you have decided what it is that you want, is
the quality of willingness. Successful people are willing to pay the price, whatever it is and for as long as
it takes, until they achieve the results they desire. Everyone wants to be successful. Everyone wants to
be healthy, happy, thin, and rich. But most people are not willing to pay the price. Occasionally, they
may be willing to pay part of the price, but they are not willing to pay the whole price. They always hold
back. They always have some excuse or rationalization for not disciplining themselves to do everything
that they need to do to achieve their goals.

As a sincere UPSC CSE aspirant if you really want to be a successful and crack IAS rank 1 become willing
to pay the price. Become a part of revolution. Reject mediocrity. Reject weakness. Reject negativity.

You are born to success. You are limitless. The only limitation you have is your belief and thought. If you
believe you are IAS rank 1 and think and behave as one from today , no force on earth can stop you from
becoming one next year.

Always remember being comes before becoming. Be an ideal IAS aspirant first. Becoming IAS will be
taken care .

Who is an ideal IAS aspirant ?

“काक चेष्टा, बको ध्यानं, श्वान ननद्रा तेथैव्चा
अल्पहारी, गृहत्यागी निद्याथी पञ्च लक्षणं”
The quoted shloka from ancient Indian Sanskrit texts has prescribed five “must have”
qualities of a good student. In fact each one of us is a student in our life and to succeed we
must try to cultivate these qualities in us. We must become an ideal “ Vidyarthi” i.e Vidya (
Knowledge ) + Arthi( One who desire knowledge)

The five qualities are :

1. Kaak chestha: Perseverance of a crow. We all have read the story of the
thirsty crow in our childhood. The crow found a pitcher of water. As crow landed
on the rim of the pitcher , the crow was disappointed to find that water was at the
very bottom of the pitcher.Thus , it was not possible for the crow to drink the water
by putting its beak inside it.The crow looked around and got an idea. It started
picking up tiny pebbles around the pitcher and throwing them into the pitcher.The
crow kept working hard until water came to the surface. We all know what
happened after that .The crow quenched it’s thirst.
For a new UPSC aspirant syllabus looks very difficult , but if he works day in and day out
topic by topic ,subject by subject he eventually finishes the syllabus and gets into IAS. Only
one place in world success comes before work . You would be surprised that it is in
dictionary just because S comes before W.
I have another example
2. Boko dhyanam: it means the intense focus of crane. The crane with one pointed
attention looks at the water to look for . It will wait till it gets a big fish and not distracted by
tiny little . Similarly like crane if an UPSC aspirant wants IAS which can be compared to big
fish he has to allow small fishes( opportunity) to pass by. You can't have both in life.
3.Shwan Nidra : sleep of a dog . We all know dog is always attentive. Even while
sleeping it is half awake. It signifies the alertness of dog. UPSC aspirant has be alert like a
dog. Alert in class, alert while reading ,alert while writing exam etc. He can’t be sleep
walking through his preparation.

4. Alpahari : Eating less. But as a human UPSC aspirants take various kinds of food.
Food for mind i.e thought , Food for eyes i.e what he sees, Food for ears i.e what he listen to
, Food for soul i.e meditation, food for stomach i.e normal food.
Food for mind: He should have positive thoughts about his preparation and outcome.
There should be no space for doubt in his mind.

Food for eyes: He should be careful of what he watches . he should stay away from
pornography and sensual videos and pictures during preparation. This is a strict no.

Food for ears : He should stay away from DJ WALA BABU and HONEY SINGH songs.
Rather he should go for
This will give him strength and inspiration to prepare for this tough exam.

Food for soul: He should practice yoga and meditation

Food for stomach : He should eat nutritious and satvik food and not unhealthy and
tamsic food.
5. Grihtyagi: To give up home. Symbolically home signifies our comfort zone. It is best
we leave our home and stay away in gurukul under the guidance of a genuine GURU to gain
knowledge like ancient times. Gurukul is the right environment for preparation for tough
fight.

We all know how pandava’s lived in Gurukul to train .Arjun can only be produced under
direct supervision of a guru.

These are the five qualities required to crack this exam.

By Santosh Sir (Friend, Philosopher and Guide of sincere IAS aspirants)