A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing

During the colonial period in Kenya there were three Kikuyu men Kioi, Githogori and Kaminju who thought that they
knew everything. They decided to go to adult education classes to learn English. When they went to the school they
carried with them books and pencils and put them on a table. When the tutor came he asked them, "Who put these
items here?" They said in the Kikuyu language ni ithuii atatu. The tutor told them that to say this in English they
should say we three. They learned these words and went home. The following day the tutor found they had
sharpened their pencils very badly "like sugarcanes" and asked them, "What did you use to sharpen the pencils?"
They said in Kikuyu na banga. He told them that to say this in English they should say with a panga or knife. They
went home and came back the following day. But the tutor told them that he would not teach them until they come
back with school fees, that the classes were not free. He sent them away and told them if they were asked why they
were sent away they should say it was because of money.

As they walked home they feared that they might forget what they had learned so they decided to assign the three
phrases they had learned so far -- we three, with a panga or knifeand because of money -- to the three of them
respectively, that is, to Kioi, Githogori and Kaminju. As they were going home they came upon the body of a man who
had just been killed so they started looking around the scene. As they were looking around a colonial policeman
arrived in a car, saw the dead man and asked, "Who killed him?" Kioi replied, "We three." The policeman asked,
"With what?" Githogori replied, "With a panga or knife." The policeman asked further, "Why?" Kaminju replied,
"Because of money." Now the three Kikuyu men thought that they knew English quite well and were eager and happy
to speak with a white man. But they were immediately handcuffed and landed in jail. So the English proverb, A little
knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Story, Dr. Gerald Wanjohi, adapted from a Kikuyu Ethnic Group story on a satiric radio program, Nairobi, Kenya

Bhagat Kabir Ji

Bhagat Kabir was a revolutionary saint-poet of the Bhakti Movement. He placed emphasis
on the equality and fraternity of all mankind. Once Bhagat Kabir was going to sell cloth he
had made himself. He met some Sadhus on the way to whom he gave the entire cloth free
of cost.

Bhagat Kabir Das (Kabir is Arabic for "great", and Das is Prakrit for "slave" or "servant"), is
widely acknowledged as one of the great personalities of the Bhakti movement in North
India. He was, as is widely acknowledged, born in year 1398 CE (71 years before Guru
Nanak). Kabirpanthis (followers of Kabir) say that he lived up to the age of 120 years and
give the date of his death as 1518 CE, but relying on the research of Hazari Prasad Trivedi,
British scholar Charlotte Vaudenville is not inclined to lend credence to these dates and has
proven that 1448 CE is probably the correct date of Bhagat Kabir's demise.

He is one of the medieval Indian saints of Bhakti movement whose compositions figure in
Guru Granth Sahib. Among all of them, Kabir's contribution is the largest, 227 Padas in 17
ragas and 237 slokas. Under each raga or musical mode marking a section of the Holy
Book, Kabir's hymns appear at the head of Bhagat Bani, a generic name for the works of
contributors other than the Gurus. The presence of a substantial number of Kabir's verses in
the Sikh Scripture and chronologically, he being the predecessor of Guru Nanak, founder of
the Sikh faith, misled some Western scholars to describe him as the forerunner of Sikhism.
Some have even called him the preceptor of Guru Nanak There is, however, ample evidence
to prove that Guru Nanak and Kabir had never met. In fact their life-periods do not coincide.
Kabir's compositions do figure in what are known as Goindval Pothis, anthologies of the
hymns of the Gurus along with those of some of the Bhagats prepared in the time of Guru
Amar Das, Nanak III. They were included in Guru Granth Sahib as well, but this happened
much later when Guru Arjan, fifth in spiritual line from the founder, compiled the Holy Book.
Besides his own works and those of his four predecessors, he entered in it hymns of some
saints and mystics, Hindu and Muslim, Kabir being one of them.

Kabir lived in the fifteenth century after Christ, which was a time of great political upheaval
in India. As is true of many contemporary religious teachers, very little reliable information
concerning Kabir's life is available, though there is no dearth of legend around him. Kabir's
life centred around Kashi, also called Banaras (Varanasi). Legend has it that he was actually
the son of a Brahmin widow who abandoned him fearing social censure, and that he was
found by a Muslim weaver named Niru (Ali) and his wife, Nima, who adopted the boy and
taught him the weaver's trade. It is not clear whether he ever married, but tradition gives
him a wife named Loi and two children. His caste was that of Julaha and from his sayings
his caste's heriditary occupation was of weaving. Weavers, in the caste system, were put
amongst the lower castes. On the basis of modern research, it seems probable that Kabir
belonged to a family of non-celibate yogis, converted not long before to Islam. From the
writings of Kabir it seems that his knowledge of Islam was not very deep, rather in his
poetical utterances (Bani), many references to Hathayoga practices are found.

Bhakti movement mainly involved lower-caste Hindu saints while Sufi mysticism involved
Muslim saints in medieval India (1200-1700). Kabir immensely contributed to the Bhakti
Movement and is considered a pioneer of Bhakti along with Ravdas, Farid, and Namdev. His
concept of devotion as a path of suffering may possibly indicate, in some measure, a debt to
the Sufis. These and other elements from Nath tradition, bhakti and sufism, Kabir combined
with his own mystical nature and produced synthesis which is the distinctive religious path
traversed by Kabir. History indicates that Bhagat Ramanand was his preceptor in the initial
days.

In the fifteenth century, Banaras was the seat of Brahmin orthodoxy and their learning
center. Brahmins had stronghold on all the spheres of life in the society. Thus, Kabir,
belonging to a low caste of Julaha had to go through great difficulties in practicing his
ideology. Kabir and his followers would gather at one place in the city and meditate.
Brahmins ridiculed him for preaching to prostitutes and other low castes. Kabir satirically
denounced Brahmins and thus won hearts of people around him. There is no doubt that the
most famous person from the city of Banaras in history today is none other than Bhagat
Kabir. Kabir, through his couplets not only reformed the mindset of common villagers and
low caste people, but gave them self-confidence to question Brahmins. Kabir was in fact the
first person to go against Brahmins and did so successfully. Banaras was devastated in an
attack by a Muslim invader, Taimur Lang or “Tamur the lame” or “Tamarlane” during his
time. Kabir also denounced Mullahs and their rituals of bowing towards Kaba five times a
day. Because of open condemnation of established and popular religions, Kabir became an
object of the wrath of both Hindus and Muslims in and around Banaras. Kabir travelled in
and around Banaras to preach his beliefs.

Kabir believed in total self-surrender and God's bhakti. The Kabirpanthis follow a unique
style of singing the praises of God, and lead a simple and pure life of devotion. Kabir
recommends a ceaseless singing of God's praises. He preaches against withdrawal from the
world. He was against all ritualistic and ascetic methods as means to salvation. It is true
that Kabir refers to some yogic terms in describing the meditational and mystic methods of
the yogis, but there is no ground to suggest that he himself recommends the yogic path. In
fact, far from recommending yoga, he is quite strong in condemning ascetic or yogic
methods, and says that yogis, in their meditations, fall prey to maya or materialism. This
point, however, will be considered further while comparing radical bhagti with Nathism. The
moral tone is quite strong in Kabir's hymns. “Kabir, deck thyself with garments of love. Love
them and give honour to those whose body and soul speak the truth.” “The ruby of
goodness is greater than all the mines of rubies; all the wealth of three worlds resides in the
goodness of heart. When the wealth of contentment is won, all other wealth is as dust.”
“Where there is mercy, there is strength, where there is forgiveness, there is He." "The man
who is kind and practices righteousness, who remains passive in the affairs of the world,
who considers creatures of the world as his own self, he attains the immortality. The true
God is ever with him. Kabir suggests inward worship and remembrance of God. For him,
true worship is only inwards. Put on the rosary inward. By counting beads, the world will be
full of light. He clearly suggests moral discrimination between good and bad deeds. What
can the helpless road do, when the traveller does not walk understandingly. "What can one
do, if, with lamp in hand, one falls in the well. Or goes astray with open eyes. Discern ye
now between good and evil."

It is not surprising that Kabir's satire was brought to bear not simply on the vices and
weaknesses of men but reached through and beyond them to the very system itself. It was
the authority of Vedas and Quran that more than the authority of Brahmin or Qazi which
Kabir attacked. He rebelled against the pretension of resolving by the means of books or by
way of authority, the mystery of human conditions and the problem of liberation (Moksha).
He spent his last 40 days living in a place where it was believed that if you die, you would
be born as a donkey in next life, just to prove the falsehood of the myth.

Kabir composed no systematic treatise, rather his work consists of many short didactic
poems, often expressed in a vigorous language in the form of Padas, Dohas, Slokas, etc. In
addition to his work recorded in 1604 CE in Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Arjan, Nanak V, and
preserved inviolate since, two other collections exist - Kabir Granthavali, and Bijak. The
authenticity of much of the writings outside Guru Granth Sahib is suspect because of many
statements, which apparently contradict beliefs associated with Kabir. In his poems, he was
quick to express the illustrations of moral and spiritual truth in the incidents of everyday
life, and many of his similes and metaphors are very striking.

Marriage.
Spiritual aspects and benefits of marriage and family life.
When a man and a woman become one,
that "one" is You.
And when that one is obliterated, there You are.
Rumi, Mahnawi I, 1799 ..., quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection.
P.193.
The love of women
is made attractive to men.
God has arranged it: how can they avoid
what God has arranged? (...)
Rumi, Mathnawi I, 2435-2437, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi
Collection. P.5.
The call to marriage is also a vocation, a gift from God. John Paul II, Crossing the
Threshold of Hope, P.122.
Marriage is of great importance in one's life. This relationship may last for centuries.
In marriage, two souls coming from different places unite through an inner
inspiration. This is a great thing and ancient tradition. (...) Teachings of Babaji, P.27.
Marriages are not made by men; they are made by God. (...) Usually, people are
married in a haphazard way in their own houses, but there is great fortune to be
married in a holy place. The marriages that take place here are long lasting. The
history of this place becomes a witness to the event. (...) Teachings of Babaji, P.28.
He answered, "Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male
and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and
cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore,
but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide. Matthew 19:4-6
(...) anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing
adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and
throw it away! (...) Matthew 5:28-29
(...) if any man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is
guilty of making her to commit adultery if she marries again, and the man who
marries her commits adultery also. Matthew 5:32
You were born together and together you shall be for evermore. You shall be together
when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the
silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds
of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Kahlil Gibran, The
Prophet, P.15.
It is necessary to prepare young people for marriage, it is necessary to teach them
love. Love is not something that is learned, and yet there is nothing else as important
to learn! John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, P.122.
God gave you a family that you might expand your consciousness by caring and doing
for others. In family life we learn love and self-sacrifice for our loved ones, and thus
attain some expansion of consciousness. (...) be able to give everyone the same love
that you bestow on your family, and to do for others exactly as you would for
yourself. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.169.
Marriage is the truest goal for ninety-nine percent of the human race, and they will
live the happiest life as soon as they have learnt and are ready to abide by the eternal
lesson - that we are bound to bear and forbear and that to everyone life must be a
compromise. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography,
P.104.
May you always enjoy the undivided love of your husband, helping him in attaining
all that is desirable in this life, and when you have seen your children's children, and
the drama of life is nearing its end, may you help each other in reaching that infinite
ocean of Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss, at the touch of whose waters all
distinctions melt away and we all become One. Vivekananda, quoted in:
Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.104.
Vanaprasthin is a man who during the third stage of life, lives with his wife in
solitude, both devoting themselves to the contemplation of the Godhead.
Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.100.
In truth it matters little if you live in the family or in the world, so long as you do not
lose contact with God. Ramakrishna, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of
Ramakrishna. P.165.
You should bring up your children, provide for your wife, and put by what is
necessary for her to live upon after your death. If you do not do so, you are heartless;
and a man without compassion is unworthy of the name of man. Ramakrishna, quoted
in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.187.
Family life is a fortress for you. Moreover, he who has attained knowledge is always
free. It is only the lunatic, who says 'I am enchained,' that ends by being so (...). The
mind is all in all. If it is free, you are free. Whether in the forest or in the world I am
not enchained. I am the son of God, the King of Kings. Who then dare put me in
chains? Family life is a fortress for you. Moreover, he who has attained knowledge is
always free. It is only the lunatic, who says 'I am enchained,' that ends by being so
(...). The mind is all in all. If it is free, you are free. Whether in the forest or in the
world I am not enchained. I am the son of God, the King of Kings. Who then dare put
me in chains? Ramakrishna, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of
Ramakrishna. P.189.
May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcome
as the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.
Rumi, Furuzanfar #2667, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection.
P.6.
Man is most human and most proves his humanity (...) by the quality of his
relationship with woman. (...) Men today think that there is no difference between the
capacity to make conquest and the capacity to love. Women respond accordingly. (...)
In all this everyone completely forgets the need for love. A desperate need: not the
need to receive it only, but the need to give love. Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a
Guilty Bystander, P.190.
Movement in the sexual organs was given to us by the Creator for procreation and the
continuation of the species, not for unchastity; while incensive power was planted in
us for our salvation, so that we could manifest it against wickedness, but not so that
we could act like wild beasts towards our fellow men. Even if we make bad use of
these passions, nature itself is not therefore sinful, nor should be blame the Creator.
St. John Cassian (360-435), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.78.

Last updated: 200612/30

See the related subjects: Compassion, Duty, Filial Piety, Human Love, Materialism.
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A Study of Muhammad's Personality

C. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS MARRIAGES.
1. Muhammad and his Wives.
For twenty-five years Muhammad was married to only one woman, his faithful and
upright wife Khadija, but after her death he took a number of wives. The exact
number is not certain but it is believed that he had thirteen wives in all, nine of whom
succeeded him. The polygamy he practiced, and which he allowed to Muslims in
general, has often been looked upon as a further weakness in his character. A brief
examination of his marriages after the death of Khadija will assist us to draw our own
conclusions.
Before the Hijrah Muhammad married Sauda bint Zam'ah, a widow with a son who
had been among the emigrants to Abyssinia. She was over thirty years of age. At
about the same time he was betrothed to Ayishahwhom he married formally three
years later in Medina. She was his favourite wife and a woman who played a large
part in the early development of Islam. At Medina she was once left behind during a
journey home and was brought back by one of Muhammad's companions, Safwan,
who had emigrated from Mecca. A scandal spread in Medina as sinister accusations
were levelled against the two but, after being estranged from her for a while,
Muhammad received a revelation (Surah 24.11-20) upholding her innocence and
reproving those who had falsely accused her. They were subsequently beaten for their
slanders.
Ayishah features prominently in the Hadith. A great number of traditions are
attributed to her and her opinion was widely sought in many matters as she was a
woman of considerable intellect and knowledge. One of the early Muslims said of her:
I have not seen any one having more knowledge of the sunnah (practice) of the
Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him, than Ayishah, nor more intelligent in
opinion if her opinion was sought, or having better knowledge of the verses as
to what they were revealed about, or in calculating the faratid (inheritance).
(Ibn Sa'd, Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Vol. 2, p. 481).
After Ayishah Muhammad married the daughter of Umar, Hafsah, whose husband
was killed at Badr. He then married Unm Salamah and Zaynab bint Khuzaymah in
quick succession. Zaynab died, however, within three months of her marriage to
Muhammad. His next marriage was to a young woman named Juayriyah of the Banu
Khuza'ah, defeated in an attack by Muhammad in the fifth year of the Hijrah. Her
marriage became a ransom for the whole tribe who were released immediately. The
young Ayishah, becoming patently jealous of the increasing number of wives being
added to the household, commented:
She was a most beautiful woman. She captivated every man who saw her. She
came to the Apostle to ask his help in the matter. As soon as I saw her at the
door of my room I took a dislike for her, for I knew that he would see her as I
saw her. (Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasulullah, p. 493).
Ayishah wryly concluded: I do not know a woman who was a greater blessing to her
people than she (op. cit.). After this Muhammad married Zaynab bint Jahsh and a
Coptic slavewoman Mariyah. More will be heard of these two presently, but it is
interesting to note here that, out of all his marriages at Medina, Mariyah alone bore
him a child, a much-loved son named Ibrahim, who died after eighteen months.
Following these two were the daughter of Abu Sufyan, Umm Habibah, who had also
emigrated to Abyssinia, and a Jewess Safiyah, who lost her father Huyayy, her
husband Kinanah, and both her brothers during Muhammad's assault on the fortress at
Khaibar. His last marriage was to a widow named Maymunah. The only wife left out
is another Jewess named Rayhanah as there is some doubt as to whether she ever
married Muhammad. She was one of the women captured after the sedge of the Banu
Quraydhah, the Jewish tribe near Medina subsequently massacred for colluding with
the Quraysh. A Muslim writer says The story about Raihana becoming a wife of the
Prophet is a fabrication, for, after this event, she disappears from history and we hear
no more of her, whilst of others we have full and circumstantial accounts (Ali, The
Spirit of Islam, p. 82). The manner in which she was brought into Muhammad's
entourage is given in this brief narrative:
He invited her to be his wife; but she declined and chose to remain (as indeed,
having refused marriage, she had no alternative) his slave or concubine. She
also declined the summons to conversion, and continued in the Jewish faith, at
which the Prophet was much concerned. It is said, however, that she afterwards
embraced Islam. She did not many years survive her unhappy fate. (Muir, The
Life of Mohamet, p. 309).
Having just witnessed the butchery of her husband and all her male relatives, it is
hardly surprising to find that "She had shown repugnance towards Islam when she
was captured and clung to Judaism (Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasulullah, p. 466). There are
many Muslims who defend Muhammad's polygamous marriages by saying that most
of his wives were divorcees or widows. It should be remembered that the two Jewish
women attached to him were only widows because Muhammad's followers had
slaughtered their husbands just before they were brought into his camp.
2. Muhammad's Marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh.
None of Muhammad's marriages has evoked as much comment as that with Zaynab
bint Jahsh. This woman was his cousin and had been the wife of his adopted son Zaid.
Muhammad had arranged the marriage but it appears that it went sour after a while. A
remark by Muhammad himself one day added to the deteriorating relationship.
He had occasion to visit the house of Zaid, and upon seeing Zainab's unveiled
face, had exclaimed, as a Moslem would say at the present day when admiring
a beautiful picture or statue, Praise be to God, the ruler of hearts! The words,
uttered in natural admiration, were often repeated by Zainab to her husband to
show how even the Prophet praised her beauty, and naturally added to his
displeasure. (Ali, The Spirit of Islam, p. 235).
Zaid then determined to divorce her but, upon approaching Muhammad, was told to
keep her as his wife. Things did not improve, however, and Zaid duly divorced her.
Shortly afterwards Muhammad himself took her in marriage, giving by far the biggest
wedding-feast he had given for any of his wives. A scandal soon broke out because he
had married the ex- wife of his own adopted son, something frowned upon by the
Arabs as tantamount to incest. A revelation in the Qur'an soon justified the marriage:
Behold! Thou didst say to one who had received the grace of God and thy
favour: Retain thou (in wedlock) thy wife, and fear God. But thou didst hide in
thy heart that which God was about to make manifest: thou didst fear the
people, but it is more fitting that thou shouldst fear God. Then when Zaid had
dissolved (his marriage) with her, with the necessary (formality), We joined her
in marriage to thee: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the
believers in (the matter of) marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when
the latter have dissolved with the necessary (formality their marriage) with
them. And God's command must be fulfilled. Surah 33.37
The biography of at-Tabari suggests that Muhammad was visibly moved by Zaynab's
beauty when he beheld her on this occasion and in many works this incident has led to
a severe censure of Muhammad because it seems that he had caused the divorce
between her and Zaid and had manipulated the situation so that he could marry her.
This censure may well be unfounded. Zaynab was his own cousin and Muhammad
had known her for many years and it is hard to believe that after all this time he was
suddenly infatuated by an opportune view of her beauty. There seems to be much
merit in the argument that Muhammad would have taken her in marriage himself at
first rather than give her in marriage to Zayd (Haykal, The Life of Muhammad, p.
295).
There is therefore a strong presumption that in the case of Zaynab bint Jahsh,
Muhammad was not carried away by passion . . . it is unlikely that he was
swept off his feet by the physical attractiveness of Zaynab. (Watt, Muhammad
at Medina, pp. 330, 331).
Furthermore the marriage caused no rift between Muhammad and Zaid and he
remained loyal to Muhammad until his death on the battlefield at Muta. "One of the
greatest tests of the Prophet's purity is that Zaid never swerved from his devotion to
his master" (Ali, The Spirit of Islam, p. 236). It is, however, hard to find a motive for
the marriage if the attractiveness of this woman for Muhammad is denied altogether
and it must be presumed that he had a deep spirit of affection for her. In his favour we
must also remember that he steadfastly encouraged Zaid to keep her as his wife even
when Zaid expressed a desire to divorce her. On the balance of probabilities
Muhammad must be acquitted of the charge that he caused the divorce and took
advantage of it to satisfy his own whims and desires.
As pointed out already, what shocked the Arabs was the fact that Muhammad had
married within the customary prohibited degrees of relationship.
One point is tolerably certain, and that is the reason for the criticism of
Muhammad's action by his contemporaries. They were not moved in the
slightest by what some Europeans have regarded as the sensual and voluptuous
 character of his behaviour . . . in their eyes it was incestuous.
(Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330).
A Western writer says of the Arab scruple about the marriage of a man to his adopted
son's ex-wife: This custom was such as Muhammed had every reason to abolish, and
this he actually did (Roberts, The Social Laws of the Qur'an, p. 49). The Qur'an, in the
verse quoted, states that God himself had ordained the marriage for the specific
purpose of abolishing the Arab custom, but the writer just quoted views the matter as
purely incidental to the predicament Muhammad found himself in through his
marriage with Zaynab:
It will thus be seen that the only reference made by the prophet to the matter of
adoption is due entirely to self-interest; the desire to set himself right with his
followers in the affair regarding Zainab. (Roberts, The Social Laws of the
Qur'an, p. 51).
It is possible that Zaynab was the real pursuer in this case as she boasted constantly to
Zaid of Muhammad's expression of favour towards her. After the marriage she
continued in much the same vein as she boasted to the other wives of the prophet
that her marriage alone had been ratified in heaven (Stobart, Islam and its Founder, p.
162). She was obviously very keen to marry Muhammad and found much comfort in
the verse quoted where God is alleged to have arranged her marriage: "We joined her
in marriage to thee". Muhammad apparently spent much time with her and it is hardly
surprising to find his youngest wives, Ayishah and Hafsah, beholding the relationship
between them with some jealousy (Zaynab was much older than both of them).
Narrated Aisha: Allah's Apostle used to drink honey in the house of Zainab, the
daughter of Jahsh, and would stay there with her. So Hafsa and I agreed
secretly that, if he come to either of us, she would say to him: It seems you
have eaten Maghafir (a kind of bad-smelling resin), for I smell in you the smell
of Maghafir. We did so and he replied No, but I was drinking honey in the
house of Zainab, the daughter of Jahsh, and I shall never take it again. I have
taken an oath as to that, and you should not tell anybody about it. (Sahih al-
Bukhari, Vol. 6, p. 404).
Muhammad loved perfumes and sweet-smelling spices but despised garlic and the like
and this charge must have been keenly felt by him. One feels inclined to treat this
tradition with some caution, however, as it may well have been invented, or more
probably adjusted, to fit the permission given to Muhammad in Surah 66.2 to absolve
himself from an oath taken to please his wives. As we shall see in the next part of this
section, the verse has generally been taken to refer to a far more serious matter
relating to another wife where the same consorts Ayishah and Hafsah again teamed up
against him. It is not uncommon to find traditions in Bukhari's Sahih which are very
similar in style to others in earlier Sirat literature but which neatly remove any details
considered to be dishonouring to Muhammad. We will come across another in the
section on Surah 53.19 to follow but at this stage, insofar as this tradition contains the
germ of an incident in Muhammad's life, it does illustrate the spirit in which his
youngest wives reacted to his subsequent marriages.
Muhammad's marriage with Zaynab nevertheless exposes him to censure when it is
viewed from a Christian perspective. At the same time the Qur'an also exposes itself
to critical review in its sanction of the whole affair. As we have seen, Surah 33.37
states that, even while Zaid was still married to Zaynab, it was the will of Allah that
Muhammad should be married to her and he is reproved for encouraging Zaid to
remain married when God had something else in mind.
At last Zaid divorced her. It was not Zaid who did so but it was the Will of
God. God ordered Muhammad to marry her. (Sarwar, Muhammad: the Holy
Prophet, p. 375).
This contrasts most unfavourably with the express will of God as stated in the Bible:
"For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel" (Malachi 2.16). It is most
significant that this decree is upheld in the Hadith as well:
Ibn Umar reported the Prophet (may peace be upon him) as saying: Of all the
lawful acts the most detestable to Allah is divorce. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol. 2,
p. 585).
One is reminded of the discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees where the latter
claimed that God had made divorce lawful. Jesus answered that, from the beginning,
God had made one woman for the one man, adding "What therefore God has joined
together, let not man put asunder" (Mark 10.9).
Muhammad married a woman divorced from her husband. Sarwar says that this was
not just lawful in God's eyes but was his express will. This is extremely hard to
believe of the all-holy God who hates divorce. On the contrary, Muhammad's
marriage with Zaynab takes on a very different perspective and becomes
exceptionally censurable when examined in the light of what Jesus said about
precisely such marriages:
He who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. Luke
16.18
Surah 33.37, far from revealing that God specifically wills certain divorces so that his
prophets may marry the wives of other men, appears to be a thoroughly unwarranted
relaxation of God's express laws, also set forth very firmly in these verses:
A married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives ...
accordingly she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while
her husband is still alive. Romans 7.2,3.
Muhammad may not deserve the charge that he had a passionate desire for Zaynab
and schemed his marriage with her, but his claim to prophethood does well appear to
fall to the ground when this matter is considered in the light of the revealed law of
God as found in the Christian Bible. Under that same light the Qur'an also appears to
invalidate its claim to be the Word of God when it seeks to excuse the whole affair by
alleging that it was all according to the predetermined will of God.
3. The Jealousy of Muhammad's Wives.
At least nine of Muhammad's wives survived him. The Qur'an only allows Muslims
up to four wives at a time (Surah 4.3), but Muhammad was entitled to as many as he
chose until the Qur'an forbade him to take any more (Surah 33.52). As already
mentioned, polygamy, as sanctioned and approved in the Qur'an, has been regarded in
non-Muslim circles as one of the weaknesses of Islam. Sensitive to any charge against
the infallibility of the teaching of their religion and the practice of their prophet,
Muslim writers invariably seek to justify polygamy. The Qur'anic verse allowing up to
four wives adds the condition "If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with
them), then only one or (a captive) that your right hands possess" (Surah 4.3), and the
argument usually put forward is that polygamy is perfectly in order provided the
wives are given equal treatment. As Muhammad had many wives he is often strongly
defended against the allegation that he could not have treated them equally. The surest
way to discover the truth of the matter is not to ask whether he himself was persuaded
that they were so treated, but to enquire from his wives whether they ever felt any
jealousy for one another or whether any friction was caused by their very number in
the household. One writer claims:
But did any one of them ever raise the least complaint about any action of the
Prophet during or after his lifetime? No, never. Can there be any bigger
testimony to the Prophet's justice, equality (Masawat), love and consideration?
(Zain, The Prophet of Islam: The Ideal Husband, p. 42).
A study of the evidences shows that this statement is based on the author's idealism
rather than historical facts for there are many traditions recording that Muhammad's
wives were jealous of one another and not always pleased with him either. Indeed on
one occasion he kept aloof from them for a while and threatened to divorce them all.
We have already seen that Ayishah and Hafsah expressed some displeasure to
Muhammad over the length of time he spent with Zaynab bint Jahsh. Being the
youngest of his wives, it is not surprising that they were usually at the heart of
Muhammad's domestic problems. Indeed Umar, Hafsah's father, not only found that
Muhammad's wives argued with him quite regularly but even suspected that his
daughter envied Ayishah as well because Muhammad clearly regarded her as his
favourite wife. He was prompted to enquire into the relationship between Hafsah and
Muhammad by a sharp remark made by his own wife on one occasion to him:
She said, How strange you are, O son of al-Khattab! You don't want to be
argued with whereas your daughter, Hafsa surely, argues with Allah's Apostle
so much that he remains angry for a full dayl Umar then reported how he at
once put on his outer garment and went to Hafsa and said to her O my
daughter! Do you argue with A1lah's Apostle so that he remains angry the
whole day? Hafsa answered By Allah, we argue with him. Umar said Know
 that I warn you of Allah's punishment and the anger of Allah's Apostle. O my
daughter! Don't be betrayed by the one who is proud of her beauty because of
the love of Allah's Apostle for her (i.e. Aisha). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, p.
406).
It was Muhammad's custom to spend one day at a time with his wives in order but on
one occasion the irrepressible Hafsah discovered him with Mariyah in her own
apartment on the day properly reserved for her alone. A Muslim writer is refreshingly
frank in his narrative of this incident:
As she waited for them to come out, her jealousy broke all bounds. When,
finally, Mariyah left the quarters and Hafsah entered, she said to the Prophet: "I
have seen who was here. By God, that was an insult to me. You would not have
dared to do that if I amounted to anything at all in your eyes". At the moment
Muhammad realized that such deep-lying jealousy might even move Hafsah to
broadcast what she had seen among the other wives. In an attempt to please her,
Muhammad promised that he would not go unto Mariyah if she would only
refrain from broadcasting what she had seen. (Haykal, The Life of Muhammad,
p. 436).
He goes on to say that Hafsah could not keep her promise as jealousy continued to
affect her disposition and that she discussed the matter with Ayishah. The only thing
he omits from the story is the statement made by all the commentators who record it
that the promise made by Muhammad was actually in the form of an oath. They add
that Muhammad was later freed from this oath by a Qur'anic revelation:
O Prophet! Why holdest thou to be forbidden that which God has made lawful
to thee? Thou seekest to please thy consorts. But rod is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful. God has already ordained for you (O men), the dissolution of your
oaths (in some cases); and God is your Protector, and He is Full of Knowledge
and Wisdom. Surah 66.1-2.
Bukhari and others say that this verse refers to the incident where Muhammad was
told that the honey he had eaten with Zaynab smelt like a bitter herb. One must take
seriously the fact that the story about Muhammad's vow to avoid Mariyah's company
in future is not recorded in the major Hadith and Sirat literature but only in later
commentaries and is therefore founded on weak historical authority. This has
prompted a Muslim writer to say that the whole story of Mariyah's intimacy with
Muhammad in Hafsah's apartment on her day is absolutely false and malicious and
that it is repudiated by all the respectable commentators of the Koran (Ali, The Spirit
of Islam, p. 235).
On the other hand this story has come down purely through Islamic sources and could
hardly have been widely accepted within the Islamic heritage if it had been invented.
Unfortunately the Qur'an is somewhat vague at this point, saying only that the
sanction to dissolve the oath arose out of the disclosure by one of Muhammad's wives
to another of a matter of confidence (Surah 66.3) told by him to the first. This could
refer to either story and, although Bukhari confirms that the two wives spoken of were
the provocative young consorts Hafsah and Ayishah (Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, p.
408), this also does not help as it was these two who were the participants in both
cases. A Western writer, however, makes a very interesting observation:
But the jealousy of Mary's Sisters showed itself in a more serious way, and led
to an incident in the Prophet's life which the biographers pass over in decent
silence; and I should gladly have followed their example if the Coran itself had
not accredited the facts and stamped them with unavoidable notoriety.
(Muir, The Life of Mahomet, p. 413).
It is the Qur'an's treatment of the matter that makes it probable that the incident with
Mariyah is really the one referred to. Firstly, if the oath spoken of was purely that
relating to honey, it is hard to believe that such an issue would have been made of it in
the Qur'an. One recent Muslim commentator notes the seriousness of the matter when
he says "The sacred words imply that the matter was of great importance as to the
principle involved, but that the details were not of sufficient importance for permanent
record" (Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an, p. 1569). The discreet omission of factual
details in the Qur'anic passage, however, tends all the more to support the suggestion
that a more sensitive matter was behind it.
Secondly, Surah 66.3 adds that Muhammad confirmed a part of the allegation made
by the spouse and repudiated a part. Again, details are significantly omitted, but it is
probable that Muhammad confirmed that he had been with Mariyah in Hafsah's
apartment but denied having intercourse with her. It is hard to see how the confirming
and repudiating of parts of the charge can be made to fit the somewhat petty story
about the honey Muhammad had eaten with Zaynab.
Thirdly, the same verse states plainly that a matter purely between Muhammad and
one of his wives was disclosed to another. This is inconsistent with the honey story as
Ayishah and Hafsah were both well aware of the matter all along, having mutually
conspired to mislead Muhammad. It does indeed seem that Surah 66.1-2 was a
convenient revelation to enable Muhammad to break his vow not to go to Mariyah
again. A Christian commentator says "From the Christian standpoint, he appears to
have been guilty of breaking a solemn vow, and that in order to gratify unholy
passion" (Wherry, A Comprehensive Commentary on the Qur'an, Vol. 4, p. 158). The
Bible gives a very solemn warning about the taking of oaths:
When you make a vow to the Lord your God you shall not be slack to pay it;
for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin in you.
But if you refrain from vowing it shall be no sin in you. You shall be careful to
perform what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord
your God what you have promised with your mouth. Deuteronomy 23.21-23.
If God sanctions the breaking of a vow by one of his apostles, how can we be sure that
he will be faithful to his own promises? Vows and oaths are sacred things, but Surah
66.1-2 seems to undermine the whole purpose and value of oaths.
Shortly after this a timely revelation in the Qur'an gave Muhammad the right to
abandon the fixed sequence he had followed with his wives up to this time:
Thou mayest defer (the turn of) any of them that thou pleases, and thou mayest
receive any thou pleases: and there is no blame on thee if thou invite one whose
(turn) thou hadst set aside. Surah 33.51
Ayishah had openly complained of her jealousy towards those women (who are not
named) who had "offered themselves to Allah's Messenger" (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, p.
748) and who gradually increased the size of the household as Muhammad under
Qur'anic authority (Surah 33.50), duly took them as his wives (presumably Ayishah
had at least Zaynab bint Jahsh and Juwayriyah in mind). As her own days to
exclusively enjoy Muhammad s company grew further apart, her frustration naturally
increased and when Muhammad claimed divine sanction to follow any sequence he
chose, his young wife Ayishah, with a tongue as sharp as her wit, exclaimed:
I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires". (Sahih al-
Bukhari, Vol. 6, p. 295).
It appears that his decision worked in her favour for the renowned commentator
Zamakshari, commenting on Surah 3.49-52, says of Muhammad that he used to put
off five temporarily in order to take four to himself, the four being Ayishah, Hafsah,
Umm Salamah and Zaynab bint Jahsh (Gatje, The Qur an and its Exegesis, p. 91).
Despite this it is clear that Ayishah possessed no small degree of envy for the other
wives she had to share her husband with. Her caustic reaction to Muhammad's
marriage with Juwayriyah has already been noted and, when Mariyah at last gave
Muhammad a son at Medina, Ayishah was anything but delighted. When Muhammad
brought the infant Ibrahim to her and proudly boasted of the likeness between father
and son, she coldly answered "I do not see it". William Muir wryly says that she
"would gladly have put Mahomet out of conceit with the little Ibrahim" (The Life of
Mahomet, p. 412).
4. Polygamy in Islam from a Christian Perspective.
One cannot help feeling that Ayishah's expressions of jealousy are perhaps the best
judgment that can be passed on the whole defence that polygamy is justified where all
the wives are treated equally. She was the only virgin Muhammad married and,
although most traditions say that Muhammad married Sauda before her, she openly
claimed that she was the first betrothed to him after the death of Khadija. She said of
Sauda (whom she held in high esteem):
"She was the first woman whom he (Allah's Apostle) married after me". (Sahih
Muslim, Vol. 2, p. 748).
If this was indeed so, then we need to appreciate the growing frustrations of a young
virgin-bride seeing her husband taking other wives along with her in what must have
seemed to her like an interminable procession of new weddings, apartments and the
like.
The Christian Scriptures plainly teach that a husband is to regard his wife as his equal
(Ephesians 5.33) and Jesus himself confirmed the divine decree that a man, married to
his one wife, becomes one flesh with her (Matthew 19.5). When God saw that Adam
needed a helpmeet he made but one woman for him, not four (or, worse still, nine).
The point is that each man is not called upon to treat his wives equally with one
another but to treat his one wife as his own equal. An equal relationship between a
man and a woman cannot be shared with others. The woman is called to devote
herself with unreserved loyalty to her one husband (Genesis 3.16). In the same
manner the husband is called to an equal spirit of undivided love and devotion
towards his one wife (Ephesians 5.25-31). It surely goes without saying that the
husband cannot love his wife with an equal devotion when he has to divide his
affection among a host of consorts.
Ayishah's frustrations and jealousies are the best proof that Muhammad could not treat
his wives equally - if for no other reason that he did not regard her with the same total,
undivided affection that she regarded him. She may have been his favourite wife but
her grievances clearly were motivated, perhaps only sub-consciously, by the fact that
she was not his only wife. Paradoxically, the fact that Muhammad singled her out as
his favourite wife is further proof that he did not treat his wives equally. There is more
than enough evidence in Muhammad's own marital affairs to prove that polygamy
cannot ultimately be reconciled with God's perfect purpose for human marriage. It is
no wonder that the perfect revelation of his will through the Gospel of his Son
simultaneously outlawed polygamy. Muhammad had enjoyed a twenty-five year
marriage with Khadija which was, in all respects, unimpeachable. Unfortunately the
same cannot be said for his many marriages at Medina and one can only sympathise
with the young Ayishah who obviously regretted that she could not enjoy the same
undivided devotion from her husband that she willingly offered to him.
As said before, the Christian faith is the fullest revelation of God's perfect will for all
men. Included in this revelation is a rejection of polygamy. As God made man to
reflect his own glory, so he made one woman for the first man to reflect the glory of
that man (1 Corinthians 11.7). Muhammad did well to preach and practice
monotheism but he would have done equally well to preach and practice monogamy.
To this day Muslim writers are on the defensive when seeking to justify polygamy.
One says:
All the Prophets of the Old Testament, married more wives than one, which is
proof that polygamy is not inconsistent with the highest standard of spirituality.
(Zafrulla Khan, Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets, p. 61).
This argument falls down for reasons already given. The highest standard of
spirituality was not revealed through the prophets in old covenant times but through
the revelation of the new covenant in all its perfections as introduced by one who
likewise far excelled all the prophets of old, Jesus Christ himself. Another writer is
not quite as subtle in his apologetic for Muhammad - he says of the Zaynab affair
Muhammad's violation was not one of a cosmic law but one of a social law, which is
permissible to every great man (Haykal, The Life of Muhammad, p. 288). This is
indeed a peculiar line of reasoning and one which exposes the writer's difficulty in
justifying his Prophet's actions. Jesus was the greatest man who ever lived and his
greatness did not give him the privilege of breaking God's laws but rather was proved
in his perfect conformity to those laws in every aspect of his life. A more appropriate
assessment of Muhammad's actions follows:
The Qur'an teaches us that in one or two matters the moral law was relaxed by
God for Muhammad's benefit as a special privilege because of his being God's
apostle and the sanctity attaching to that high office! Could the divorce between
Religion and Morality be more complete? (Tisdall, The Religion of the
Crescent, p. 81).
Far from the marriages of Muhammad being proof that he was the ideal husband (as
Zain puts it), they rather are evidence of an inherent weakness in Islamic morality.
Once more the thing that disquiets is that this is the man who stands forth as the
ultimate ideal of humanity, and all the unedifying matters of Zainab, Miriam,
Ayesha, Rihana, and the rest are dignified as the signs of God's special favour
to His prophet. In manipulations of the marriage laws at which even sixteenth-
century Popes of Rome drew the line, Allah showed the most accomodating
spirit in seventh-century Arabia. (Gairdner, The Reproach of Islam, p. 67).
Although monogamy has become the norm in many Muslim societies today, this trend
is not to Islam's credit but is rather a sign of the consciousness of God's real will for
men and women and the beat way in which a marriage can develop into a truly happy
union. By taking to himself more than double the number of wives he allowed to his
followers, Muhammad seems to have been something of a champion of polygamy
rather than an advocate of monogamy and his tolerance of plural marriages, together
with his schemes to rid himself of his personal enemies, negate his claim to be a true
prophet of God. A Christian assessment of his character leaves him far short of the
ideal - an ideal worked out to perfection in Jesus Christ - and the only conclusion to
be drawn is that, despite his many qualities, he cannot be considered as the man God
chose to be his best and final messenger to all mankind. That honour belongs to Jesus
Christ alone.

Muhammad and The Religion of Islam: Table of Contents

 KABEER
English translation of the Hindi monoact by Shekhar Sen
making the Kabeer production accessible to all.
Download the Kabeer Monoact - 66kb.
•
kabeera khara bazaar mein, mange sabki khair
na kahu se dosti, na kahu se bair
(In this doha, Kabeer without saying much, presents a balanced approach. He affirm that while
conducting one's business, one need not adopt tricky means and should not become emotional. An
honest deal does not warrant the businessman to become either friendly with one's clientele nor develop
any malice).
The first question asked by the people in our time was "What is your religion?" Human nature is very
strange in that people will first ask your religion even before offering you water. Does anyone ever ask
whether the Sun is a Hindu or a Muslim or whether the moon is a Pundit or a Maulavi? How about me?
Even after my death people fought over by body in search of my religion, as to whether I was a Muslim or
a Hindu?
Let me introduce myself, I am Kabeer. Some call me an illiterate, some a beggar, others say I am a saint
and some say I am a philosopher.
Song

I have been told since childhood that my mother was a Brahmin widow. To save her dignity she made me
an orphan as the cruel society did not permit a widow to be pregnant. How painful it must have been to
leave a new born baby in a pond.
BUT who can harm me if HE (God) is there. JAKO RAKHE. HE who is sitting up there, above the skies,
with the universe dancing on his finger tips, HE saved me ....
It was a dark night, pitch dark. My mother had made a boat with lotus leaves and had left me floating in
the water just after my birth. I was crying when a newly wed Muslim couple Neema and Neeru heard my
wails and stopped. They lifted me out of water and took me home and that's how they adopted me.
Song
So, I found my mother and father, a weaver couple. Some called them Julaha, some even called them
kori, but both meant weavers, those who weave on the hand loom. There I got my home and shelter. So
my life started and very soon I was holding the hands of my new mother. She was a loving women who
would hide my mistakes and also apologise for my blunders and pranks. She always told me, that when
she first saw me she was taken by my beautiful smile and she always felt as if she was my mother. All
women have a hidden mother in them which she also had. My father was a strict man. What option does
a poor man have? And I was a fukkad, a careless vagabond, with shabby dressing and a carefree
attitude, a poor man's pride.
Mother asked me once to take some yarn to Rangrej chachaa for dyeing. I was hardly 5 to 6 years old
when I took the yarn and went to chachaa.
"E Ranrej chachaa, please dye this load,"
"Wait son let me finish my job," he replied.
I sat there watching him work.
"Who's son are you?" He asked me.
"He is Neema's adopted one, they found him in the pond an illegitimate child, a kafir." His wife said
bitterly.
I was shocked and disturbed. 'Kafir?', Amma told me we all are Almighty's creation so how can I be a
kafir?.
A few days ago when I was playing near the river our village pundit Lalua Misirji shouted at me, "E
dallidar, go back, if your shadow touches me I will have to bath again."
A storm hit my mind. Am I an outcaste, unwanted in the society? I was young but could easily understand
that I had been abused. I felt strange. I could feel the sky above my head descending, the land below my
feet shrinking. It was midday but it was dark around me. My ears had turned red with anger and I could
hear no sound.
Then suddenly I saw a light, lights all around me as if the whole universe was lit, and a soothing cool
breeze touched me and I felt almost weightless. Then I heard a soft divine song , which sounded like an
echo from a tunnel. It was coming from my soul.
Song

"E bachuwa, hey boy, are you there? Give me the yarn. Can you hear me, don't take your aunt's
comments seriously, she is mad and will say anything." I was looking at him like a puppet.
"What colour should I dye the yarn?"
My mind was blank, and said, "Which ever colour you like."
"Are you joking? Go home and ask your mother which colour I should use?"
As I was running back home, my mind and soul were confused. I was confused between the colour of the
yarn and what is the colour of my soul.
Song

There are so many incidents in my bag. You might ask, 'why are you telling us these stories?' My answer
will be that if you have a grandparents or elders at home sit with them and listen to their stories, share
their experiences, learn from them and all your problems will be solved.
I had a friend called Rahmani. He used to play gilli danda with me and was an excellent player, almost
magical. One Friday he said, "Let us go to the mosque for namaz." I agreed. When we reached there, his
father shouted at him, "Why have you brought this kafir."
"He is not kafir Abba, he is Kabeer." Rahmani replied.
"You will not teach me who is kafir and who is Kabeer, your deeds will send us to hell, jahannum." His
father said bitterly.
Rahmani followed his father to the mosque like a lamb, and left me there, alone. What do you call it, dil,
yes my heart was broken. I came back home and sat quietly in a corner.
My mother asked, "What happened Kabeer?" I did not answer and she asked again, "Has someone said
anything?"
I burst out, "Amma why doesn't my father go to the mosque?"
She said, "Why should you worry about these things?"
I lost control, "Amma why my father does not go to mosque? Why, why?"
My mother replied loudly, "Because when we adopted you, we were made outcastes, we were treated like
untouchables, but your father said, our work is our God, and our loom is our mosque. But why should you
upset yourself?"
I broke down into tears, "Why am I not allowed to enter a mosque?"
Amma said, "Hey Kabeer, mosques are only built by men and mankind is HIS creation. God has created
you so why should you worry? You be good and leave the rest to him."
Song

I was a young boy now and had started learning work on the handloom. One day my friend Jagan and I
went out far from the village when we saw some suspicious men (aghories) sitting there near a hut, They
were smoking ganga. There were clouds of smoke all around and a smell of ganga in the air. Jagan said,
"Kabeer let's go, they look dangerous. Look at their blood shot eyes."
I replied, "Wait, let us see what they are doing!"
Then one of the men looked at us and said to come inside. Jagan was scared to death and ran way as
fast as he could. But I stood there and was invited in.
"But I am a kafir," I said.
One of the old men laughed and said "Come on in, we welcome everyone. This is the samadhi of our
Guru Aughadnath, this place is open to all, and we speak the language of love here, LOVE HIM and
LOVE ALL."
I went inside their compound. There were no idols, no books. What place is this? It could not be a temple
or a mosque because if it had been they would not have allowed a kafir or an untouchable inside. And
who are these people? What is their caste?
Song

It was dark by the time I came back from the samadhi. I heard my mother's voice calling for me, "Kabeera
ae Kabeera aaja beta."
I ran into her arms and hugged my Amma. She was crying. "Jagan had told me that you were trapped by
the old men. Thank God you are safe,"
"No Amma they are all nice people they talk and teach good things,"
"It seems that you have been hypnotised by them, let's go and I will ask Rajjo's aunt to cure you from their
black magic," My mother said angrily.
"What is the matter Amma? I told you they are nice people,"
"I will ask her to tie a tabeej also,"
She was grumbling all the way, "Keere pare muve badmaaso ke jaan ke dushman ho gaye hamaar."
She kept on cursing them but at heart she was a loving mother. All mothers are alike, they are treasures
of love and affection.
Song

When I saw Jagan again I told him off for telling stories to Amma.
"What did these men do?"
"I just told her to save you from..."
"Save me? From whom?"
"They looked liked criminals," said Jagan.
"You don't change. Can't you see good in evil? I believe that even a bad person has some goodness in
him. I always found people saying bad things about others but my belief was different. It is simple and
straight."
bura jo dekhan main chala, bura naa milya koye
jo munn khoja apnaa, to mujhse bura naa koye
(It has been invariably noticed that we tend to find fault with someone else for our situations and
circumstances. Our 'I', the EGO, always tries to put blame on others. Non-awareness of our own self is
the cause of this attitude. Resultantly, we find ourselves being busy in criticising and condemning others
and conveniently term them as crooked or evil. So Kabeer says that we instead of finding fault and
maligning others, dive deep into your own-self. Amazingly, an honest introspection will reveal that all fault
lies with 'ME' and 'MY' own perceptions. And attitudes. If there is any evil or crookedness, it is in 'ME'.
Correcting this and opting for a loving and compassionate attitude will change one's perceptions and the
world will appear wonderful all over again.)
This society is funny, it preaches good things but practices evil, it criticises you even if you are right. Do
You know why have I comeback to you, I have come to warn and caution you, caution you from lies,
caution you from superstitions, caution you from social evils and to tell you the TRUTH, to make you
aware from the so called religious men who have exploit common people, with pakhand and adambar.
Because I have fought against these all my life, I have always said do your karma don't do karmakand.
Don't reduce the size of God by chanting malas, because when you are busy counting the beads your
mind and heart are wandering everywhere. God is mightier than your imagination. Even the vast blue sky
is nothing compared to the Almighty. Don't put the umbrella of temple and mosque over HIM.
Song

Thinking on these lines I grew up fast, as poor kids do and because they start working from their early
childhood. So as I sat on the loom from morning till night the world became transparent to me. Have you
ever thought of the weaver's magic, the wonder of the loom, this invention which has contributed to our
culture (OR WHICH HAS GIVEN US OUR CUSTOMS OR CULTURE) be it the flag of a temple or a
chadar of a mazaar or any fabric? The fabric has been created by the magic of the loom, but has been
dyed by the so called religious practitioners for their convenience, green is mine, white his, yellow theirs
and saffron yours.
They coloured the body, but couldn't colour the soul.
Song

When I was young, I used to sit at Jagan's shop with my friends. Jagan was a barber. If you sit in a
barber's shop you get the news from everywhere and everything. Our village Pundit Lalua misirji used to
come there regularly to shave his head. He liked me.
One day I asked him why he shaves his head every day.
"You will not understand daliddar."He said rudely.
"That's why I am curious." I said.
"Because if I shave every day, I will go to swarg (paradise)." He answered.
I could not control my laughter. I told my friend Basheer that his sheep will also go to the paradise, as
they are also shaved regularly.
Punditji lost his temper. "What is this Jagan, have you opened the shop to insult customers?"
Jagan told me not to upset his customers. I got up to leave. Before I left I said that the people who take
oath of River Ganga should face the truth also. "Punditji, you worship man made idols, and at the same
time call us untouchables, when we are God's creation." I left singing.
Song

I was singing when I heard the ajaan from the mosque. I started singing again.
Song
( about why the cries have to be given from the rooftop, is God deaf?)
I was wandering all day. My mother has already been told of these two incidents with bits added on.
When I asked for water, Amma slapped me on my face and said, "Your mouth has become a foul,
speaking rubbish." I was a young boy then, hot blooded and replied that I speak the truth and it hurts
people who do not want to face it.
"What do you think you are? Do you think you are a saint, a fakeer, who speaks only the truth."
"Hey Rajjo are you listening? Allah saved me from the sin of giving birth to this bastard. He told the
Maulavi today that why do you give ajaan 5 times, is Alla tala deaf or what? You will go to hell."
"Okay okay let me go to the hell and you to paradise. Amma you always tell me Alla listens to our hearts
then why should the Mulla call ajaan 5 times every day?"
"Ya Alla forgive me. This is sin, even seeing you is a sin, go away from here right now otherwise you will
see my dead body."
"No Amma, don't upset your self, I am leaving, I am leaving for good. Hey Rajjo tell my mother that I will
never come back I am leaving this home."
I went out grumbling. I had the courage of youth and the shelter of my sahab on me.
Song

I left home without knowing where to go. So I sat near a mazaar outside my village. My mind was full of
questions. Am I right or wrong? Should I speak the truth or not? But I said was said to Mullaji and not to
Amma. Who can say or tell me whether I was right or wrong?
Then a jogia told me, "You need a guru, a teacher who will guide you and answer all your questions."
Song

I started wandering in search of a guru, visiting Gorakhnath even went to the jungle of Anand Ban in
search of a guru. Then in Panchganga ghat of Varanasi I saw a Mahatma, a saint, with a glowing face,
the glow of knowledge exuding from his personality. His eyes seemed to pierce me when he looked at
me. Some one had told me that he was from South India and that he did not ask the caste or religion. He
just sang bhajans and made every one sing with him.
I went to him and said, "Baba please make me your disciple."
He looked at me and said "You will have to give up everything which belongs to you."
"Give up everything?" I said, "Baba I only want gurumantra from you."
"But you will have to give up everything before becoming my disciple, leave home, leave your sect, leave
your parents, leave every thing which you think belongs to you."
I started thinking, I had left home I had even left Amma and I never knew my religion, what else was I
supposed to leave?
Baba went towards his kutiya (hut).
I was standing there in deep thought, thinking that people give up things from outer surface - if I have to
give up, I can only give up everything from within. I could not sleep that night. I got the guru, but not the
gurumantra. And then I had an idea. One of his disciples had told me that at dawn he bathes in the
Ganga, everyday.
I went to Panchganga ghat and laid down on the steps. When Baba came, his feet touched my body, out
of shock a sound came out from his mouth. I GOT MY MANTRA, this is the anhad sound, the echo of the
sound filled my soul with spiritual ecstasy. What else could a disciple ask for? With the first rays of
sunrise, the water turned red and my soul too was also enlightened. That's how I got the Mantra.
Song

Every thing was becoming clear. I could see and understand everything with a crystal clear clarity. I knew
now how the wind blows and how flowers bloom and who plays hide and seek with day and night. I could
see that HE whom we search, is very much within us, and very close to our souls.
Song

There was no bitterness in me, I was filled with love, I sat near the Ganga throwing stones in the waves,
when I saw the image of my Amma. How is she? She must be crying for me. Is she eating or had she left
everything for my sake, and who is running the loom? I wanted to go back but how should I go, after all I
had said I will never return.
Then came Basheer, searching for me, "Hey Kabeer do you have any feelings or not. Your Amma is
crying day and night, she is not well, come with me."
A son cannot otherwise disobey his mother's words and I was relieved as I was looking for such an
opportunity to go back home. So I went back with Basheer.
Seeing me, my mother said, "Ka re Kabeer, your mother's words annoyed you? Can't a mother say
anything to her son? One who loves, has the right to be angry also."
"Nahi Amma where would I go? I cannot live without you? Come on let me operate the loom, my hand
muscles are hurting without work."
I sat on the loom started weaving and with the rhythm of the loom I started singing .
Song
I left home again for the second time (laughs). It was becoming a habit, so when I was young, my mother
was after me to get me married,
"Bahu le aa beta, this old lady needs a daughter-in-law at home."
"Chhor Na Amma, come on leave me alone."
"Ae beta teri dulhin ka chehraa dekh loongi to jannat mili hamkaa. Let me see good days son after getting
you married I will be the happiest person on the earth."
I used to ignore her as I was so busy weaving in the morning, selling clothes in the afternoon, and in the
evening all my friends would come, sit around and hear me speak. What ever I said became Ramaini,
what ever I thought became dohas or couplets, and in the state of meditation The shabad, the poem
came out of my lips. 'Hum to rahte apne rang aur log kehte ie hai satsang.'
Song
Now there were no worries. The only trouble was my mother's non-stop grumbling. You do not know my
Amma, if she was after something she would go on repeating it.
I was fed up one day, "Ka Amma jeena haraam huyee gaile hamaar, your grumbling has made my life
hell."
"Ae beta get married, your life will become paradise and I too will be benefit."
"What difference does marriage make."
"The world is like this - only bachelors don't have homes and only a couple can make a home, it is a
woman's magic touch which turns a house into a home. BIN GHARNEE GHAR BHOOT KA DERAA."
"Okay if you think that a mere marriage will change your son, go on get me married, but never ask me to
do anything else."
"NAI NAI NAI NAI, hamkaa aur kachhu na chahi, hey Rajjo go to the matchmaker, tell him to find a
beautiful bride for my Kabeer." I smiled at her, go on, do whatever you like, I am in love with my Saahab,
the Almighty, baaki jo nautanki karaay ke hau karaay lo.
Song
Crowds of devotees started coming every evening at my place, Peepaji used to come, so did Senaji and
Dhanna and many more. Even Raidas-ji used to come once in a while. It is a bliss to sit together and
discuss spiritual ideas, we call it satasang. If you sit in a spiritual gathering it makes you a different person
all together. We ignore the fact that we need to feed the soul just as we need to feed our body to stay
alive.
Speaking, listening and accepting the truth are to be learnt, and the divine words of Raidas-ji, ae hai hai
hai, were like a spring of spiritual wisdom flowing all around. He used to make shoes with leather and
when he spoke he would say something from the soul for the soul.
Song
My Amma was busy looking for my bride. An old man who attended my satasang, got the news and
proposed to me for his daughter Loi. Amma accepted it at once.
I am an emotional person, I could not stand violence nor could I see any living creature being hurt. One
day before my marriage to Loi, I saw a butcher taking a cow from my village, the calf following it's mother,
to be slaughtered. My heart wept, I sang in pain,
Song
When I went to the nearby village with my Amma to marry Loi, the angry folks of my village gathered and
set fire to my hut. How much time does it take to burn a poor man's small hut? Within seconds it turned to
ashes. When I returned after the marriage, there were only four burnt walls.
"Hey dulhin ii hou tohre khasam ka rajmahal. (O bride this is the palace of your husband.)" I said.
Loi was looking at the burnt walls with fear.
"Who burnt your house?"
I said sarcastically that as poor people don't have money to spend on fire works they burn the houses and
enjoy the fireworks. Loi was almost in the state of shock,
"Have you burnt your own house?"
I laughed, "Why should I burn my house?"
Amma said "Hey dulhin, o bride, now you will have to take care of my son, my bones are too old to run
after him. Ae Rajjo, chal chal, take me to your home." Amma went with Rajjo.
Loi said, "God only knows what extra ordinary thing my father saw in you to make me your wife."
I laughed and said "Your father and my mother are the main culprits. Come on Sahab will make every
thing alright, sit here have something to eat."
Loi stood there.
"What is the matter?"
A drop of tear came out from her eyes.
"What is this? If you don't tell me how will I understand?"
"My father didn't even ask me, just arranged my marriage in a rush."
"Okay it's not too late, tell me what was your desire."
"I liked the merchant's son of our village, and we had decided to get married."
"That's all? Okay I will take you to his place, get up, gather your belongings."
Loi couldn't believe this and asked whether I will accompany her?
"Listen to this woman, how will you go alone in the night, how will you cross the jungle and how will you
convince sahukaar that I have not abandoned you. Who will convince him, come on don't waste time."
I gave the potli in her hand, and started walking. It was cloudy and it soon started raining heavily, Loi was
finding it difficult to walk on the wet slippery road, and lost her balance a couple of times.
"Hey Loi, women should be very careful from falling down. Come on sit here on my shoulders, if any
bones are broken your lover will not accept you, he is a baniyaa, a businessman after all, businessmen
don't accept broken things."
Loi sat on my shoulders, I told her, "Loi this world is like that, full of hypocrites, you make a mistake and
you are gone. They will ruin you."
Song
I was singing in full mood when I heard someone sobbing. Who is crying in this jungle? It was Loi, so I
stopped and took her down,
"Whats the matter?" Loi kept on crying,
"Why are you crying?"
She didn't stop crying and I lost my temper.
"Women crying and Kubhakarna's sleep are alike. You know when it starts,but you don't know when it will
stop. See Loi, I must be the first husband in history, who is carrying his wife to her lover's place on the
wedding night."
"I will not go."
"Aein, will not go, what do you mean, will you go to your father's home?"
"I will not go anywhere."
"Is it the right time to joke at midnight in this jungle."
"I will go to your house."
"But we have come from there."
"I will go there only."
My god I thought I was an intelligent person but I didn't understand anything here.
"You are a nice person Kabeer, who can possibly look after me more than you have done up to now. My
father has destined my life with you, so let me be with you. Please accept me Kabeer."
She was crying on my shoulder. And now I felt that I was truly married to her.
Song
After Loi's coming into my home I realised that Amma was not wrong. She really made my house a home.
One day when I was working on the loom a beggar called, "Bheekh de do Amma, give me something."
Loi said "Only lessons of life are taught here."
The beggar could not understand Loi and said what ever there is please give.
"Come inside, the donor is working here," said Loi inviting the beggar in and gave him some bread to eat.
I asked, "So baba, What do you do?"
"I am a beggar and I beg."
"Don't you work?"
The beggar was surprised, "Why should a beggar work?"
I said, "Why not? You have hands? You have hands to work, so work hard. Earn your living with your
sweat so that you can enjoy the true taste of food. It is a sin not to work, even God will not forgive you."
Loi poked in between, "What do you think this old man can do?"
"If he can shout for begging and can chew bread, it means he can work too."
"I have never worked in my life, I was never asked by anyone," said the beggar.
"Bas maharaj, start working from today."
"Aaein? But what should I do?"
Now I was puzzled, "What should you do? Can you sing?"
He sighed in relief, "Yes, I can sing."
"Okay while you wander from place to place, sing good poems so that common people can know our
values (jokingly)."
So, from that day onwards all beggars started singing. If you see someone singing, you know that he
doesn't know anything else to do.
You folks have been sitting quiet for sometime. With your wife sitting beside you it is okay to keep quiet.
The truth is that when the wife is sitting beside the husband, he forgets talking. Try it for yourself, if you
are not successful, get up, come back in a few moments.
aiseevani boliye,mun ka aapa khoye
apna tan sheetal kare, auran ko sukh hoye
(This doha deals with human psychology, metaphysics and a basic tenet of the Indian Philosophy. The
ancients of the Vedic literature have laid tremendous emphasis on speech. They have mentioned in
innumerable shlokas that our speech has a direct connection with our bodily humours. They proclaimed
that sound and sight are the underlying source of all vibrations. This has been scientifically proven over
and over again. We know that all sounds create vibrations. And these vibrations affect both the speaker
and the listener. Soothing, compassionate and loving words breed togetherness, while harsh speech
breeds hatred. And, we also know that human speech is one of the main ingredient that differentiates
mankind from the rest of the animal kingdom.
Thus, Kabeer, in this doha crystallises the power of the spoken words. He teaches us to speak in such a
manner that keeps us harmonious and composed thereby making the listener feel a sense of joy in the
communication. - experiment yourself and rediscover the power of the SPOKEN WORD).
INTERVAL
Song
I was illiterate, had neither touched a pen nor paper, but frankly speaking when I see this world I get
upset. Do you believe in God? Call Him anything BHAGWAN, ALLAH or any other name you believe in?
But yet you can't love a human being. If you can not embrace a human being how can you embrace God.
Do you know the reason why? Because you read the GEETA, but never practice it, you chanted verses of
holy books, chanted AYATS of QURAN but never understood them.You read it on the paper, so it
remained on paper, If you would have practiced it in life it would have remained in your LIFE.
One day I was working at home, Jagan came running in panic,
"Kabeer come with me."
"Where? why?" I asked.
"On the cross roads of Varanasi the chowk."
"What happened Jagan."
"Riots, (he was breathless) riots are on."
"Will you please tell me what happened?"
"It was the chariot of Mahantji from one side and a Moharram procession from the other, and riots
started."
I got up quickly and went along with Jagan. When I reached the place there was panic all around,
massacre, people killing each other. I jumped in to the crowd, Jagan stopped me but I was out of his
reach. The Chariot of Bade Mahantji and the procession of the Imam Sahab of Chhoti Masjid blocked
each other.
I shouted "TUMKO TOHAR KHUDA KA VAASTA HAI, BABA VISHANATH KI KASAM HAI AAPKO,
please stop this massacre."
One angry voice overruled me, "YOUR DEATH HAS BROUGHT YOU HERE."
I screamed, "If my death will stop this I am ready to give my life , but tell me why are you fighting?"
"If it is a question of who goes first, then it's a pity."
"Mahantji in which of your yagya you need innocent peoples' blood, and Imam Sahab what difference
does it make that who goes first. Because your ego's clash you are playing with innocent lives. Ordinary
people will die. Have you ever thought of the families after the death of their bread earner? Don't play with
fire because when the flames go up they can't be controlled."
One of the rioters hit me from the back with his weapon.
"Saale ka majhab to hai nahi kauno humko sikhaane chalaa hai, This bastard is trying to teach us religion
and yet does not belong to any sect."
People dispersed on seeing blood flowing from my wound like a miracle. I was unconscious.
When I opened my eyes I was at home, lying down, my head bandaged. Loi and Jagan were sitting
beside me.
"How are you Kabeer?" asked Jagan.
"I am fine but this world . . ." I smiled in pain.
"World! what happened to the world Kabeer?" Jagan said in distress.
"The world is becoming intolerant." I said.
Song
After my marriage Loi changed my life. She was very kind and would feed every one who visited my
home. I used to be cheated earlier when I sold my yarn in the market myself. But now, as my devotees
started selling it on my behalf there was a little flow of money into the home. People used to come to my
place and Loi would not let anyone go without food.
One day Senaaji came and said, "Kabeer bhaiyaa you are very famous in the locality, people say that
KABEER IS A BIG DONOR."
I answered with modesty, "Earning bread and eating it is the rule of nature, one who snatches other's
bread is a vulture but one who shares it with others reflects our culture. People forget that it is HE who is
providing us everything."
sayeen itna deejiye, ja main kutumb samaye
main bhi bhookha na rahun, sadhu na bhookha jaye
(This Doha deals with the concept of contentment, compassion and a very clear attitude of service. It is
not greed when Kabeer ask God for abundance. We have to remember that Kabeer was professional
weaver, a house-holder with children. Thus, being the primary provider, he reveals in this Dhoa his
commitment to his clan. At the same time, Kabeer is content. He is not greedy. He prays to God to give
him enough that would be sufficient to take care of his needs.
The next line add another dimension. It reveals the compassion Kabeer has for others. In India it is a
tradition that if a sadhu visits, the household will make sure that they feed him. Sadhu Literally means a
monk, a sanyasin, who has renounced the world).
By now I had become quite famous and fame brings many things. If your resistance is low you are
attacked by diseases, and if your profile is high you are attacked by people, but there were all kinds of
people coming. Their presence benefited me too and some people! they used to get lessons from me.
One Soofi fakeer from Arabia, Jahani Baksh Sahab sent a message that he would visit me, he was a very
peculiar type of a fakeer. So I tied a pig out side my house, Jahani Baksh Sahab saw the pig and said
bitterly, "LAAHAUL VILA KUVVAT," putting a napkin on his face he came in, the first sentence he said
was, "KABEER SAHAB WHY HAVE YOU KEPT GARBAGE OUT OF YOUR HOUSE."
I smiled "Yeah, some people keep it inside, I have taken it out."
Song
Do you really want God? If your answer is yes then become a baby, an infant. He finds his mother without
offering the namaz or performing any puja. He doesn't fast also but he knows his goal and achieves it. He
cries for his mother and the mother comes running for him. You can also find him, you will have to look
inside yourself, and you don't have time for that too. Whether you mind or not I want to say that if you are
stuck to your own selfish desires and you will never be satisfied.
Once a great philosopher came, Baba Shekh Fareed, a very learned fakeer spent two days with me.
Neither of us uttered a word. It was a silent conversation.
After his departure, Dhanna said anxiously, "What is this Baba? Why didn't You talk?"
I smiled, "We talked a lot. If he knows what I know then there is no point in wasting words. Words can
misguide you, their meanings changed but the meaning does not change itself."
Dhanna asked, "Then why these priests and Maulavis , always tell us to follow WORDS."
"They are wise people, but without soul, no ventilation, knowledge is like flowing water. If you store it, it
stinks. Its better not to dance before blind souls."
Song
This world is full of hypocrites, It tries to cash in even on a dead body, it can open shops on your grave.
Same thing happened with me too. They made me a God, if you establish a God then business becomes
easy. If you say God has said this, people will believe you, and so they made a God out of me, did all the
rituals that I was against all my life.
Once I was travelling with my devotees from Orissa to Bengal by boat. Didn't know that the boatman
Ajeet Singh was a villain. Midway, he threatened us, and said "Be ready to die now." I smiled, "We are
ready brother, when are you coming to join us?" He understood my words. This world is like a fun fare,
we all are visitors here. I told him, who ever has taken birth will die one day. Our bodies will perish but
only one thing will remain, our good deeds.
Song
So I was travelling all over, meeting people, preaching against wrong and superstitions. But there were
rumours about my godliness also, rumours run faster then the wind (laughs). So I was going ahead,
ignoring all this nonsense. At that time the King of Hindustan was Sikander Shah Lodhi, he was very
unpopular amongst his people, because he had demolished thousands of temples all over the country.
One of his messengers came to me, asked, "So Kabeer Sahab, you also oppose idol worship."
I said, "Of course, but I don't support the demolitions of temples. If your king is brave tell him not to show
his bravery on stones. There are thousands of good things which should be done by the kings.
Yes, I say that there is no God in the temples, but what is there in a mosque? If pundits are corrupt,
Maulavis too exploit innocent people. Tell your Sultan to behave, because the poor can't say anything, but
their curse ruins kingdoms."
Song
The royal messenger lost his temper, "You are not afraid for your life it seems."
I laughed, "Kings come and go, who remembers them? Tell him that hatred is like forest fire, burns
everything and vanishes too, but love is like moon light, it cools every one.
You also claim to oppose idol worship, but you worship your king, also an idol made of flesh and blood. If
you believe in HIM then believe in HIM only, bow your head in HIS honour, don't forget to tell your
badshah, because he thinks that he is a crusader of religion. Tell him to understand it and practice, before
torturing the innocent he should know who a kafir is."
Kafir means one, who has no compassion for others.
Song
When Sikander Shah Lodhi was told this, he was after me, left no stone unturned to torture me but at last
he also calmed down, poor chap! He thought that he could kill anyone and save anyone from death.
Humans are fond of misconceptions, one who donates, thinks that he is giving donations but forgets HIM
who gives everything.
When Sikander Shah Lodhi came, he asked me rudely, "Hey Julaha, you believe in ISLAM or not?"
I answered, "Yes I believe in Islam, but more serious question is that whether you understand Islam or
not, if you truly believe in it then tell me who understands it well? SHIAS, SUNNIS or SOFEES? If you had
the desire you would have found HIM. You could have heard the AN-AL-HAQUE. If you are desperate to
cross the river don't wait for the boat, boats are made for the handicapped. One who knows his
destination can't wait for the boat, he jumps and swims across the river. Sahab has granted us the power
to know HIM, to see HIS light. Yes, the boats are making the boatmen rich but your truth and your God
have to be found by yourself. No one else can tell you. You have to search for HIM yourself. This, the
layer of dirt, on your soul, this curtain over your eyes, should be removed."
Song
I had two kids, Kamal the boy as a child was very stubborn, always opposed me couldn't understand that
truth remains truth even if you make it up side down.
When I said,
chalti chakki dekh kar, diya kabira roye
dui paatan ke beech mein, sabit bacha na koye
(This doha picks up a situation from our daily life. Kabeer watches the woman grinding wheat on the flour
mill. Women here is used as generally, it is the woman who does this work even today in the rural Indian
society. The wheels are made of stone. One is stationery while the other on top is made to rotate by
turning it with the help of a handle attached to it. The grain that is put into it gets crushed and the
converted flour comes out. Thus the literal translation given above conveys that, however Kabeer cries
out, is what makes the reader to contemplate on this doha and realise for oneself the hidden meaning
behind it.
In this smile, Kabeer establishes the natural phenomenon of dualities. All nature is dual. Day and night,
life and death, joys and sorrows, thereby making life an ever changing process. Trapped in this duality,
Whatever we see is perishable. Nothing that we comprehend is eternal.)

He said satirically, "I have also made a couplet, "chalati chakki'

Kamali, my favourite was an intelligent girl, one day she was taking out water from a well, a South Indian
pundit named Sarvajit came along with a bullock-cart full of books, desirous of religious debate with me,
asked, "Where does Kabeer live?" Kamali smiled, "He stays on the peak, the route is very slippery, how
will this poor bull reach there with so many books?" She was a wise girl, used to grasp every good thing,
a true disciple of Raidasji. She also wrote poems, wonderful lyrics.
Song
One of my disciples was Malukdas, one of his couplets is very famous AJGAR KARE NA.
When he read it out to me, I reacted, This couplet will become a guru mantra for all lazy people. He asked
me, Baba in all your poems you refer to 'SUNO BHAI SAADHO'
who should be considered a 'Sadho'?
I said, "Sadho is not a saint in a holy saffron dress, Sadho is one who seeks knowledge, he may have
differences but he listens to you. If some one is not ready to listen there is no point in shouting and
explaining. In no way can you fill a pot if it is kept up side down. It's necessary to understand that one who
is spiritually enlightened will understand your conversation. It is very important to know his mental status.
You must know that in which direction his mind is moving."
Once in Kashi, a saint and a prostitute lived in the same neighbourhood, they died on the same day.
When messenger of death the Yamdoot came, he said, take this saint to hell and send the prostitute to
heavens. The saint retaliated, "Why should I be sent to hell, I have sung bhajans all my life?"
The Yamdoot replied, "But your mind was not in to it, while singing bhajans you were thinking of this
prostitute only, how does she look?, how does she dance? So you will go to hell. And this lady, she was
working as a prostitute, listening to your devotional songs all the time, she was devotionally inclined, so
she gets the place in heaven."
Thus should be the yearning to get HIM, find HIM, every moment every second should one devote in HIS
search, then HE is seen all over, every where.
Song
One evening Loi asked me, "Your real mother, did she never come to see you?'
My eyes filled with tears, "My real mother! Amma told me that when I was a toddler she used to come to
see me from a distance. As a teenager, I remember seeing her. She used to look at me with so much
affection that I would forget every thing."
Loi asked again, "Did she ever talk to you?"
"No, her affection and love were not in my destiny, and my childhood games were not in her destiny."
"Amma," Loi asked, "She never said any thing?"
"When she used to scold me, she would call me an illegitimate child, but, in a loving mood She used to
say, May Allah Tala bless the poor lady for gifting me this baby. Do you know Loi, people call me a
bastard, but I feel I am fortunate. I am fortunate to have two mothers. Do you know what women are?
They are mothers. Nothing else."
Song
It always disturbed me when I saw people feeding idols and not the poor. I saw them cremate their
parents lavishly when they had treated them as animals at home. Money is a disease its like water, when
it overflows the boat sinks, same applies with money. You should try hard to take it out to keep your life
sailing, and your heart should be free like a fakeer. Just leave your worries and worries will leave you.
Loi once served roti and salt to Kamaal, he got mad, "All my friends are eating daal, vegetables, puri and
deserts at home, and in our house you are always given garbage, even animals won't eat it." He threw the
plate in anger. Loi looked at me I went to Kamaal took him close to me and said, "Bread is a gift of the
Almighty neither dishonour it nor be jealous of others. There is no end to greed."
Song
Now I was a free man. Moved with the mental waves, sometimes weaving and sometimes going out for
long journeys. People of Kashi used to say, Kabeer has gone mad. I laughed at them, it's a boon to be
mad in this lunatic world. Things become transparent. And a mad man is never frightened of anything, not
even death, It's tough to be mad about something, mad about HIM. Now I was quite old, who can escape
from ageing. Death used to visit my home and take the members one by one. People are afraid of death
and death was afraid of me that's why it never dared to come near me. After each visit of death, people
used to cry and I, (pause) I always laughed at it.
Song
One day all my disciples questioned me, "Baba people say that if you die in Varanasi you go to heaven
and if you die in Maghar you go to hell." The question irritated me, "Can't you use your brain? How could
you believe in these superstitions? Try to find the truth."
One disciple asked me, "But Baba people have strong belief in such things."
I said, "My lord is kind to all, every place is blessed by HIM. How can HE differentiate like this?"
People have narrow minds so they limit life to this world, but the truth is that every thing here is false, you
are just actors in this great fun drama of the Almighty. Okay let me see what do I get if I die in Maghar. I
will go to Maghar. What will go with you after you die? All these luxuries will remain here. Every one has
to go to the village of my Saahab empty handed, an old disciple asked, "Baba! You always refer to village
of Saahab, where is this? What is there? Is it a beautiful land, place, country or what?" I smiled, "It is an
immortal country."
Song
What was there now? Most of my life was gone - nothing much to do, so I packed every thing and went to
Maghar. Now the world was more transparent, in kids I could see Kamaal and Kamaali, I used to see my
Amma in every old lady, the splash of the river sounded like my kargha, my loom.
What ever I said my disciple used to write it down, till Loi's death they would go and ask her for all my
poems and couplets, she knew them all. When she moved to Saahab's village after death, my disciples
started taking care of me. Now I was seeing all colours of spiritualism, I could hear the drums of skies,
waves of the winds, I was telling every one go on remembering HIM all the time. It's a boon to get this
human body and soul, don't waste this opportunity. But who understands me? Only who is a Sadho at
heart will understand the inner meaning of my words.
dukh mein simran sab kare, sukh mein kare na koye
jo sukh mein simran kare tau dukh kahe ko hoye
(Let someone suddenly wave his hand in front of your eyes and you will see that the eyes blink. And if
you are caught unawares, you may just say 'O my God'! Such is the nature of mankind. When we are in
distress, in a state of helplessness, we invariably then look up in the skies and communicate with Him in
our own silent prayer. However, when things are going good, we forget Him. Kabeer in this doha
highlights this and gives a promise when he says that we shall not suffer if we pray to Him during our
good times).
How much proof do you need? Can't you see cream in milk? Can't you see the oil in nuts? Can't you see
the fire in the stones? Can't you even see God in everything. RECOGNISE HIM, I say touch the feet of
sadhus, the saints but only the true saints,
Lions, Swans and Saints travel alone. Followers do not accompany them. Recognise the truth, keep your
eyes open. Oh brother, people are either ignorant or smart. They think that they have properties, have
money in their safe and family members all around. But poor fellows, when death knocks on your door,
they will burn you to ashes, or dig your grave so deep that you can not come back again. What a folly!
Song
The long awaited moment was approaching. That night when I fell ill, strange things were happening.
There were arguments. In the midst of that night my disciples were busy fighting. I could listen to some of
their discussions.
"He is a Hindu."
"How can you say that? he was brought up in a Muslim family, so he is a Muslim."
"Why are you trying to make him a Muslim now, He never went to any Mosque, neither did he ever offer
namaz nor observe the fasts of Ramzan?"
"So what? He always opposed Idol worship, how can you say that he was a Hindu?"
I was listening to them, a thought came into my mind that I should get up and tell them WHO I AM?
But the very moment I thought I was misunderstood by them all my life, how could I make them
understand now, who I was? What can I say now, when death is waiting for me at my doorstep?
Suddenly I was FREE, a wind of joy started blowing, webs of confusion were swept away. Sun rays of
real truth were ready to wash every dark corner of the night.
 Song
Kamaal came, sat beside me, he started crying. I was uncomfortable,
"Hey betwaa why are you crying? This is a moment of joy! I was waiting for this moment all my life. I will
meet your mother, grandmother. What is remaining in this body? Hey see that light, that light is coming
closer, which I always saw since my childhood. My Sahabchariot is coming to take me home. E betwaa
don't cry my son, who ever is born has to die one day this is the truth accept it. I am not dying, I WILL BE
THERE, if the truth exists Kabeer will be there, if you see some one happy on the death bed know that
your BABA IS STILL THERE. If there is single person who is not afraid, understand that your BABA still
lives, go, go away, go away from here. My dear SAHAB is coming to take me home, go away.
And the people who are fighting outside - don't worry about them, they had been fighting, they are
fighting, they will go on fighting like this. They will not find my body. THEY WILL NOT FIND KABEER,
BUT WHO HAS THE URGE, WHO HAS THE WISH, WILL DEFINITELY FIND KABEER."
Song
Back to Past Events • Back to top
Monday, March 31, 2008
Story of a Widow and Her Son
Story of a Widow and Her Son

There lived a poor widow mother and her only son in a village beyond a forest. When the boy grew up a
little, the mother thought to send him to school. But the school was in the city and to go to city one
had to cross that forest. But she had to send him to school so she sent him there.

For a couple of months she herself took him to school and brought him from there. But then there were
some days when she could not go with him, so she sent him alone. Sometimes the boy used to say that
he was afraid to go alone through that forest. The mother then thought another way for him to send
him to school. She was a great devotee of Krishn. She said - "Dear son, whenever you feel afraid, you
should call Gopaal (another name of Krishn). He will come and be with you all the time through the
forest." The boy asked her - "Maa, How does He look like? Is he of my age?" Mother said - "Yes my son,
He is very beautiful and he will always accompany you while you will be going to school. Just call Him
whenever you need Him." The boy got satisfied and he started going to school again.

One day, again, he got afraid of lonely forest. He wanted to speak, but could not speak of fear. Then
he remembered his mother words "Call Gopaal", so he called "Gopaal, Gopaal" and looked here and
there around him. He saw nobody around, but the then he saw a beautiful boy coming from his behind
and saying - "Friend, why are you so afraid? I am here with you." The boy held His hand and proceeded
further to school. Now he was happy and was not afraid of anything. Gopaal accompanied him through
the forest. When the city came near, He said - "OK, now I take leave. We will see each other some
other time." and He went away.

Now the boy was very happy. First he called Him whenever he was afraid, but later he used to call Him
often, because he had started liking his company. When Gopaal had come, both crossed the forest
playing together.

After some time his mother asked - "My son, how do you feel now going through the forest? Don't you
feel afraid now?" The boy said excitingly - "Maa, The day you told me to call Gopaal, when I got afraid,
I called Gopaal and since then He often joins me as the forest starts and we cross the forest together
playing. Then He leaves me at the corner of the forest and goes away. I am not afraid any more now."
Mother was surprised to hear this, so she asked again - "What are you saying? Are you speaking the
truth? Does Gopaal really join you in the forest?" "Yes, Maa. I am speaking the truth." Mother whispered
- "I just asked him to call Gopaal so that he is not afraid, but I never knew that Bhagavaan will really
come to help him. He has really seen Gopaal. He is so fortunate that he has seen God at such a young
age."

She said loudly - "My son, I also want to see your Gopaal, so I will also go with you to school tomorrow."
And next day she went to school with him. When they entered the forest, the mother asked him to call
Gopaal. He called "Gopaal, Gopaal" and Gopaal came there hopping and jumping. The boy said to his
mother - "See, this is my friend Gopaal. This is the one with whom I go to school daily."

But mother could not see anybody there. She asked "Where is He? I can't see anybody here." The boy
said to her several times pointing towards Him that that was Him, but still she could not see Him. Then
the boy asked Gopaal as why his mother couldn't see Him? He wanted her to see his everyday friend.
Then Gopaal appeared before her and she could see Gopaal. She fell on His feet and thanked Him for
taking care of her son who helped her to see Gopaal.

[The mother believed in Krishn, and the boy believed in his mother, that is why both got what they
wanted.]

Posted by Rajaniyer at 5:03 AM 0 comments

Story of a Braahman Boy

Story of a Braahman Boy

There lived a Braahman Pandit. He had a son, of about 8 years of age, whom he used to train in
worshipping, prayers etc. He had some idols also whom he used to give bath, to clothe, to worship
them daily two times a day - in the morning and in the evening. The boy was learning all this slowly.

One time he had to go out of town for some urgent work. Since he had been training his son for this
work, he handed over his idols to him and said - "Serve Bhagavaan daily two times faithfully. Never
forget to do worship two times a day. And don't take food without offering it to Bhagavaan." The boy
nodded in agreement and Braahman also, a little bit convinced, went away.

Next day the Braahman boy started with the same procedures as he used to see his father doing. He
Gave a nice bath to the idol, then put on new clothes to Him, applied sandal paste on His forehead,
offered rice, offered light also through a big large lamp, folded his hands, bent his head and said some
prayers whatever he remembered. It took him some time to do all this, he started feeling hungry.

Now the turn was to offer Him food, because his father said - "Do not eat anything without offering
first to Bhagavaan." and he was feeling really hungry by now. So he brought some food and kept it
before the idol to have it, and said "This is the food, please eat it, so that I can also eat food."

But after all it was an idol, how could it eat anything? But the boy asked Him repeatedly to eat it,
saying that he was very hungry and he also could not eat anything until He ate the food. But the idol
wouldn't eat anything. The boy started crying with hunger.

When Bhagavaan saw him crying he appeared in the same form as the idol was and said to him - "Why
are you crying thus?" The boy said - "My father told me that I should eat only after you have eaten food,
and I have been requesting you to take food, and you are not taking it. I am very hungry and cannot eat
anything without offering you first, so please come and eat this food." Bhagavaan said - "Why first me?
Come and let us have this food together. You seem to be very hungry." "Yes, I am." And then both ate
that food. After eating the food, Bhagavaan disappeared.

Now the Braahman was out for three days. For all the three days he had been thinking about his lonely
son and that how he might have done the worship of Bhagavaan. After three days, as soon as his work
was over he returned home. He asked his boy whether he followed his instructions about the worship?

The boy said - "Your Bhagavaan is very obstinate. He gave me hard time in eating food. First He did not
come to eat food, but when He came, He ate a lot. Then He came daily to eat food and we have been
eating together since then." Braahman got very surprised to hear all this, he said - "What are you
saying? Did He come really to eat your food? You must be joking. How can an idol eat food?" The boy
said - "OK, I will show you tomorrow."

Next day the boy worshipped the idol in his usual way and invited Him for taking food. Bhagvaan came
to eat his food in person and both started eating together. The boy showed Him to his father but the
father could not see Him. The the boy prayed Him to appear in front of his father also saying that
otherwise his father will think him a liar. Then Bhagavaan gave Darshan to Braahman also.

Braahman asked - "Bhagavan, I have been worshipping since my childhood and you never appeared
before me in person to eat my food, and this boy who has not yet learned worshipping properly, you
ate food with him? And still you don't want to appear before me?"

Bhagavaan said - "You have been performing only rituals, but he worshipped me with his true heart.
You ate food after just offering me, but he could not have eaten food unless I had appeared and
accepted his food, so I had to appear in person and eat food myself, otherwise he would have lost faith
in me." Braahman repented for all his life he spent, but thanked his boy because of whom he could
have Darshan of Bhagavaan.

[Bhagavaan is hungry of true love, not of rituals, if one calls Him from deep down of his heart He
certainly listens to him, appears before him and helps him.]

Posted by Rajaniyer at 5:01 AM 0 comments

The Power of Words

The Power of Words

There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he
was approached by a woman who told him of a sick child nearby. She requested him to help this child.

So the sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight.
One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.
"Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?" yelled a man from the crowd.

"You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!" said the sage to the man.

The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say
something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: "If one word has such
power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?"

And thus, the sage healed two people that day.

Posted by Rajaniyer at 4:51 AM 0 comments

JUST BE
JUST BE

Be strong enough to face the world each day.

Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything.

Be generous to those who need your help.

Be frugal with what you need yourself.

Be wise enough to know that you do not know everything.

Be foolish enough to believe in miracles.

Be willing to share your joys.

Be willing to share the sorrows of others.

Be a leader when you see a path others have missed.

Be a follower when you are shrouded in the midst of

uncertainty.

Be the first to congratulate an opponent who succeeds.

Be the last to criticize a colleague who fails.

Be sure where your next step will fall, so that you

will not stumble.

Be sure of your final destination, in case you are

going the wrong way.
Be loving to those who love you.

Be loving to those who do not love you, and they may

change.

Above all, be yourself!

Posted by Rajaniyer at 4:47 AM 0 comments

Quotes to think...
Quotes to think...

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----

Don't compare yourself with any one in this world. If you compare, you are insulting yourself.

Don't complain about others; change yourself if you want peace.

It is easier to protect your feet with slippers than to cover the earth with carpet.

No one can go back and change a bad beginning,but anyone can start now and create a successful
ending.

Easy is to judge the mistakes of others. Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes.

If a problem can be solved, no need to worry about it. If a problem cannot be solved what is the use of
worrying?

'Changing the Face' can change nothing. But 'Facing the Change' can change everything.

Be bold when you loose and be calm when you win.

No one will manufacture a lock without a key. Trust that God created solutions for all problems we
meet.

Every successful person has a painful story. Every painful story has a successful ending. Accept the pain
and get ready for success.

Heated gold becomes ornament. Beaten copper becomes wires. Depleted stone becomes statue. So the
more pain you get in life you become more valuable.

Mistakes are painful when they happen. But year's later collection of mistakes is called experience,
which leads to success.

Life laughs at you when you are unhappy... Life smiles at you when you are happy...Life salutes you
when you make others happy...

If you miss an opportunity don't fill your eyes withtears. Tears may hide another better opportunity in
front of you.

If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always gotten.

For things to change, you have to change. For things to get better, you have to get better

Posted by Rajaniyer at 4:06 AM 0 comments

Take care of your parents. THEY ARE PRECIOUS.

This was narrated by an IAF pilot at
a Seminar on Human Relations :

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT) describes

how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father, his maiden

flight, brought forth a rush of emotions and made him (Venkatesh)

realize that how much we all take for granted when it comes to our
parents.

My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we

went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never
traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him
experience the same. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train,
I got them tickets on Jet Airways. The moment I handed over the tickets
to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The
excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of
travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day
and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his
luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for a window seat and waiting
restlessly for the security check-in to happen. He was thoroughly
enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him
experience all these things.

As they were about to go in for the security check-in,

he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became
very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact
that this meant a great deal to him.

When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to

thank me. But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back
at my life. As a child, how many dreams our parents have made come
true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for cricket bats,
dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they
have catered to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices
they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes? Did we ever say
thanks for all that they have done for us? Same way, today when it
comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good
school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we
will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we
tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake
to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams
are realized and what they failed to see when they were young. It is
our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life
is complete.

Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions,

I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks
me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how
they would have felt at those moments.

Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and

just as we take care of our children, the same attention and same care
needs to be given to our parents and elders. Rather than my dad saying
thank you to me, I would want to say sorry for making him wait so long
for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my
sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all
their wishes.

Just because they are old does not mean that they will
have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren
also. They have wishes, too.

Take care of your parents. THEY ARE PRECIOUS.

Posted by Rajaniyer at 3:19 AM 0 comments

This is interesting . . . . ..
This is interesting . . . . ..

Margarinewas originallymanufactu red to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who
had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure
out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal
so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it?.
They have come out with some clever new flavorings.

DO YOU KNOW.. the difference between margarine and butter?

Read on to the end...gets very interesting!

Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.

Eating margarine can increaseheart diseasein women by 53%over eating the same amount of butter,
according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butterincreases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.

Butter has many nutritional benefitswhere margarinehas a few only because they are added!

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.

Butter has been around for centurieswhere margarinehas been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine..

Very high in trans fatty acids. Triple risk of coronary heart disease.

Increases total cholesteroland LDL(this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good
cholesterol)

Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold. Lowers quality of breast milk.

Decreases immune response. Decreases insulinresponse.

And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULEaway from beingPLASTIC. .

This in fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is
hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this by yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you
will note a couple of things:

* No flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (That should tell you something).

* It does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value; nothing will grow on it. Even
those teeny weeny micro organisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic.
Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?.

Share This With Your Friends..... (If you want to "butter them up")!.

Chinese Proverb:

"When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral
obligation to share it with others.

So..., DO IT NOW!
.

Posted by Rajaniyer at 3:16 AM 0 comments

True Love
It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches
removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would
to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another
patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his
sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he
was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat
breakfast with his wife.

I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of
Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that
she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you
are?'

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.'

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, 'That is the kind of love
I want in my life.'

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be,
and will not be.

With all the jokes and fun that is in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an
important message. This one I thought I could share with you.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of
everything they have.
I hope you share this with someone you care about. I just did.
Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!

A sweet story to share...hoping life doesn't come to this, but if it does, may it be as kind.
Posted by Rajaniyer at 2:29 AM 0 comments

Reason why never visit a 5* Hotel

Reason why never visit a 5* Hotel

Question : "What would you like to have ..Fruit juice, Soda, Tea, Chocolate, Milo, or Coffee?"

Answer: "tea please"

Question : " Ceylon tea, Herbal tea, Bush tea, Honey bush tea, Ice tea or green tea ?"

Answer : "Ceylon tea "

Question : "How would you like it ? black or white ?"

Answer: "white"

Question: "Milk, Whitener, or Condensed milk ?"

Answer: "With milk "

Question: "Goat milk, Camel milk or cow milk"

Answer: "With cow milk please.

Question: " Milk from Freeze land cow or Afrikaner cow?"

Answer: " Um, I'll take it black. "

Question: " Would you like it with sweetener, sugar or honey?"

Answer: "With sugar"

Question: " Beet sugar or cane sugar ?"

Answer: "Cane sugar "

Question:" White , brown or yellow sugar ?"

Answer: "Forget about tea just give me a glass of water instead."

Question: "Mineral water or still water ? "

Answer: "Mineral water"

Question: "Flavored or non-flavored ?"

Answer: "I'll rather die of thirst

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Rajaniyer at 12:59 AM 0 comments

Friday, March 28, 2008

Read This!!! Laugh till death...
Read This!!! Laugh till death...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You will laugh your heads out after you finish reading this!!! (Nice One From Reader Digest)One day I
met a sweet gentleman and fell in love. When it became apparent that we would marry, I made the
supreme sacrifice and gave up eating beans.

Some months later, on my birthday, my car broke down on the way home from work. Since I lived in
the countryside I called my husband and told him that I would be late because I had to walk home. On
my way, I passed by a small diner and the odour of baked beans was more than I could stand. With
miles to walk, I figured that I would walk off any ill effects by the time I reached home, so I stopped at
the dinner and before I knew it, I had consumed three large orders of baked beans.

All the way home, I made sure that I released all the gas. Upon my arrival, my husband seemed excited
to see me and exclaimed delightedly: "Darling I have a surprise for dinner tonight." He then blindfolded
me and led me to my chair at the dinner table. I took a seat and just as he was about to remove my
blindfold, the telephone rang. He made me promise not to touch the blindfold until he returned and
went to answer the call. The baked beans I had consumed were still affecting me and the pressure was
becoming most unbearable, so while my husband was out of the room I seized the opportunity, shifted
my weight to one leg and let one go. It was not only loud, but it smelled like a fertilizer truck running
over a skunk in front of a pulpwood mill.

I took my napkin from my lap and fanned the air around me vigorously. Then, shifting to the other
cheek, I ripped off three more. The stink was worse than stinking cabbage. Keeping my ears carefully
tuned to the conversation in the other room, I went on like this for another few minutes.

The pleasure was indescribable. When eventually the telephone farewells signaled the end of my
freedom, I quickly fanned the air a few more times with my napkin, placed it on my lap and folded my
hands back on it feeling very relieved and pleased with myself. My face must have been the picture of
innocence when my husband returned, apologizing for taking so long.

He asked me if I had peeked through the blindfold, and I assured him I had not. At this point, he
removed the blindfold, and twelve dinner guests seated around the table chorused: "Happy Birthday!"!!
I nearly died!!!
Posted by Rajaniyer at 4:51 AM 0 comments

isn't strange.............?
Isn't it strange how a 20 rupee note seems like such a large
amount when
you donate it to temple, but
such a small amount
when you go shopping?

Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when

you're at Temple, and how
short they seem when you're
watching a good movie?

Isn't it strange that you can't

find a word to say when
you're praying,
but you have no trouble
thinking what to talk about
with a friend?

Isn't it strange how difficult

and boring it is to read
one chapter
of the Bhagwad Gita, but how easy
it is to read 100 pages of
a popular novel ?

Isn't it strange how everyone

wants front-row-tickets
to concerts or
games, but they do whatever
is possible to sit at the last
row in Jagran?

Isn't it strange how we need to

know about an event for
Temple 2-3
weeks before the day so we can
include it in our agenda, but we can
adjust it for other events in
the last minute?

Isn't it strange how difficult it

is to learn a fact about God to share it
with others, but how easy
it is to learn, understand,
extend and repeat gossip?

Isn't it strange how we

believe everything
that magazines and newspapers
say, but we question the words in the
Bhagwad Gita?

Isn't it strange how everyone

wants a place in
heaven, but they don't want
to believe, do, or say anything
to get there?

Isn't it strange how we send

jokes in e-mails
and they are forwarded
right away,
but when we are going to send
messages about God, we think
about it twice before we share
it with others?

IT'S STRANGE ISN'T IT?

Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a lot of things, which bring us happiness

Posted by Rajaniyer at 4:30 AM 0 comments

Health - Important
Health - Important

Reduce the amount of TEA you consume

Do not eat bread which has only JUST been toasted
Keep your distance from hand phone CHARGERS
Drink more WATER in the morning, less at night
Do not drink coffee TWICE a day
Reduce the amount of OILY food you consume
Best sleeping time is from 10pm at night to 6am in the morning
Do not have HUGE meals after 5pm
Do not take alcohol more than one glass/cup/serving a day
Do not take pills with COOL water
Do not lie down immediately after taking medicine before sleeping
Getting LESS than 8 hours of sleep affects your health
People used to napping will not get old easily
When battery is down to the LAST grid/bar, do not answer the phone
The radiation is 1000 times
Answer the phone by LEFT ear
It'll spoil your brain directly by using right ear
Do not use headphones/earphone for LONG period of time
Rest your ear awhile after 1 hour
Forward this to friends whom you CARE about

Posted by Rajaniyer at 4:25 AM 0 comments

knowledge of self-realization
A disciple approached his master and asked him to bestow on him
immediately the jnAna - knowledge of self-realization. Master told
him that he needs to discipline himself. Then the disciple
says, "Oh Master, you are ocean of compassion. I don't like all
these disciplines. By your compassion please give me the knowledge
directly". To which the Master replies, that he would come to his
house for Bhiksha(alms) tomorrow, and then impart the knowledge.

The disciple was very excited to know that he was getting easily
the ultimate knowledge, which others with years of discipline are
still trying to receive. And, he made elaborate preparations for
the Bhiksha. Next day, Master took his vessel, or begging bowl,
that traditional sanyasins accept food from, and started towards
the disciple's home. On the way, he smeared some muck - a smelly
substance to the vessel.

Disciple received the Master with honors, and was about to serve
delicious food into the Master's bowl. He then noticed the dirt and
bad smell in it, and was about to clean the bowl. Master asked him
not to clean the bowl, but offer the food directly in it. Disciple
said, "Oh Master, the bowl is unclean and stinking. All the
delicious food I prepared with great care will get spoiled if I put
in it. Please allow me to clean the bowl first". And then master
replied, "Just as you want to clean the bowl before offering your
food, should I not clean your bowl (head) into which I want to put
carefully prepared food of knowledge"?! The disciple understood.
Posted by Rajaniyer at 4:17 AM 0 comments

Man's life span

On the first day, God created the dog and said: 'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at
anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.'

The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the
other ten?'

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: 'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them
laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.'

The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I
give you back ten like the Dog did?'

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said: 'You must go into the field with the farmer all day
long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will
give you a life span of sixty years.'

The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll
give back the other forty?'

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said: 'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll
give you twenty years.'

But man said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back,
the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?'

'Okay,' said God, 'You asked for it.'

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty
years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to
entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
Posted by Rajaniyer at 3:48 AM 0 comments

HOTEL BILL GATE

A SHORT STORY - by raj bhatia

HOTEL BILL GATE

Year 2015

I attended a five days conference in Los Angles. On my way back to India, I took a detour to San
Francisco, the city I had always loved for unkn own reasons. I had come to know that a new hotel had
opened a few months earlier - HOTEL BILL GATE . My professional curiosity made me avail the
opportunity.

I took an early morning flight from LA to San Francisco. At the airport, I took the sharing limousine
service to the hotel. The weather was pleasantly cool. I was enjoying the view from my side of the
window. Even though it was seven in the morning, there was a lot of traffic. I heard the driver saying -
'You people are lucky. There is no heavy traffic at this time.' Whenever I had gone down to States, I
used to be enchanted with - the endless traffic on the freeways. You could see the cars driving at all
the twenty four hours of the day. In my mind I would say, 'This country never sleeps.'

I reached my hotel in twenty minutes. As the car stopped, my side of the door opened, I paid the fare
to the driver, got down and collected my baggage. As the car took off, I turned around towards the
entrance of the hotel. I noticed a small counter in the corner, on which a neon sign started flashing.
'Good Morning. Welcome to HOTEL BILL GATE. If you re quire a baggage trolley, please press the button
here'. As I had one baggage with wheels, I ignored the message and proceeded towards the entrance.
The double glass doors opened automatically as I came closer.

I entered the large lobby, but did not find a soul. I was surprised, because it was a 800 rooms hotel and
I thought it would be quite hectic at this time. I saw on one side a counter on top of which it was
written RECEPTION. I walked to the reception counter, but there was no staff. The moment I came
near the counter, a screen on the opposite wall lighted up and a pretty young lady appeared on the
screen. I noticed that there were three large screens of 72' on the opposite wall. The recepti onist
looked at me and said, 'Welcome to HOTEL BILL GATE. Will you like to check in?' Without waiting for
the answer, she asked me to enter the name on the key board lying in front of me. I started typing my
name. As I entered the words 'Ra..' the recepti onist said, 'Mr. Raj Bhatia, we have a booking for two
days for you. Your particulars are on the screen. Please confirm if these are correct by pressing 'Y' on
the keyboard.' I looked at the screen which showed my personal data. I pressed the letter 'Y'.

'Mr Bhatia, you have indicated that you will settle the bill through your American Express credit card.
Will you please swipe your credit card for me?' After the formality was complete, she s aid, 'Please
keep your right hand on the glass screen to the left side of the key board. Also, there are blank - hotel
cards lying on the right side of the key board, will you please swipe one.' After I gave finger prints of
my right hand and swiped the hotel card, which was similar to any credit card, she said,' Mr. Bhatia,
this card is your room key and your companion during your stay at HOTEL BILL GATE. For any
information or service at the hotel, you can use this card.'

All along when I was hearing and looking at the receptionist, there appeared to be some familiarity,
which I could not figure out. On the screen at the bottom , her name 'Simi' was appearing. Finally, I
dared to ask, 'Ms. S imi, though I have never met you in San Francisco, but you look very familiar.' Simi
giggled and said, 'You are right, Uncle. I live in the same building as you do. I am living on the 15 th
floor, while you live on the tenth floor. We have met m any times in the lift, though we have not
talked to each other.'

'Simi, when did you move to States?' I said.

She again laughed and said, 'No, I have not moved to States - I am still in Gurgaon. I am c hecking you
in from my Call Centre in Gurgaon, where I am working. Actually I am not allowed to give my location
to the guests, but I have told you.'

This information came to me as a shock. As I was about to ask some more questions, Sim i said, 'Ok,
Uncle. See you soon at home. I have already taken 3 minutes in checking you in, while the standard
time allowed is 2 minutes. Any further delay will call for my explanation.'

'Can I talk to you again?' I said.

'Most likely not, because your call may be taken by any of the 1,500 operators in twenty locations in
twelve countries. Good bye, Uncle. Have a pleasant stay at HOTEL BILL GATE .'

With that the screen changed and a few promotional materials started appearing. I was not out of
shock, when the next screen became alive. A European looking female appeared and started addressing
the person , who had just moved next to me. 'Good morning, Mr Hoto. We hope you had a pleasant stay
at the Hotel?' The gentleman, who appeared to be Japanese, bowed and said, 'Most pleasant.'

'Mr. Hoto, your hotel bill has been charged to yo ur credit card. You had asked for the taxi. Taxi No CA
WBX 648 is now reaching in the porch. Have a pleasant journey back home to Tokyo. Sayonara.'

'Thank you.' With that the Ja panese guest took a bow towards her. The girl smiled and took a bow as
well, though her bow was a little awkward, which may have been that she was sitting on a desk and not
standing or not fully trained to Japanese custom. I noticed that a taxi just came to the porch with a
screeching halt.
I was lost in my thoughts and reviewing the magical moments, when I heard somebody calling me. I
turned round and found an unmanned trolley which had a small screen in the front. The screen had a
smiling face of an American, who was saying to me, 'Good morning Mr. Bhatia. My name is Kenneth. I
will take you to your room 1621. If you would please keep your bag on my trolley.'

I picked up my suitcase an d kept it on the trolley. 'Please follow me.' I followed the trolley which was
moving just ahead of me and took me towards the elevators. As we approached, one of the elevators'
doors opened. 'Mr. Bhatia, the lift will take you to the 16 th floor. I will go in the service lift. I will
meet you on the 16 th floor.

With that the trolley took off in other direction. The moment I walked in the lift, the door clos ed. It
started moving at a speed and stopped on the 16th floor. As I came out of the lift, I saw a neon sign on
the opposite wall, which started blinking. It showed my Room No and arrow direction. I started moving
towards the arrow direction. I heard my b aggage trolley approaching me from other direction. The
trolley moved just ahead of me and came to halt outside my room. The room door opened when I came
close. The trolley followed me inside. I removed my baggage from the trolley. Kenneth said, 'Mr Bhatia,
you can have all the information about the services of the hotel on the TV screen. Have a pleasant stay
at the hotel.' I was in a confused mind, how to tip the robot trolley. Kenneth smiled on his screen and
said, 'Mr. Bhatia there is no need of tipping. Thank you very much and good day.' With that the trolley
turned, went out and my room door closed.

Immediately, thereafter, my TV screen came on. A girl, with features of Far-East countries - Ko rean,
Chinese or Japanese came on the screen. She said, 'Mr. Bhatia, I would like to inform you some of the
features of your room. It has all the modern facilities. Room temperature is automatically controlled to
68 degree. Should you re quire to change, you can set it on the dash board next to your bed. You can
call any where in the world without any charge. A computer with internet connections are provided in
the room. In the room, a safe has been provided where you can keep your valuable items. Full bar and
snacks are provided in the refrigerator. Any consumption is automatically charged to your bill. We do
not have Room Service. Every alternate floors have a limited dining facility which is open from 7 a.m.
to 10 pm. We have extensive dining, bar, sports, entertainment facilities in the - Annexe of the hotel.
Details can be seen on TV. Please remember to carry your hotel card at all times during your stay at
the hotel. For use of the servic es, you need to present your card each time. In the hotel there are TV
screens in various locations. You can enter your card and get whatever information that you may
require. Mr Bhatia, do you have any question?'

'Only one question. Can you see me?.'

Posted by Rajaniyer at 3:28 AM 1 comments

Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo
(1872 – 1950)
Sri Aurobindo was born on August 15, 1872 in Calcutta; he was the third of the six children born to Dr.
Krishna Dhan, a surgeon, and his wife Swarnalata Ghose. He was educated at a convent school in
Darjeeling in his childhood. At age the age of 7 Aurobindo was sent to England along with two of his
brothers to acquire an English education by his Anglophile father who wanted his children to become
Westernized. In England an English family looked after him and he was admitted into St. Paul's School
in London in 1884 and he later went on to join King's College, Cambridge, where he studied for two
years. In 1890, he passed the I.C.S examination with flying colors, but he had become aware of the
movement for an Independent India, and did not want to serve the British colonial administration, so
he voluntarily disqualified himself by not attending the compulsory riding test and returned to India at
the age of 21 in 1893.
In Baroda he acquired the job of a revenues administrator under the Baroda Government and he later
went on to serve as the Vice-Principal in the Baroda College. Sri Aurobindo was an avid reader and
already mastered Latin, Greek, English, Italian and French languages during his stay in England and
after returning to India he began to study Sanskrit and other Indian languages along with Hindu
scriptures in his spare time and soon became fluent in Sanskrit, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali. At the
age of 28 in 1901 he was married to a religious Hindu girl named Mrinalini Bose according to Hindu
marriage rites. In the year 1906 he finally left Baroda for the city of Calcutta where he became the
first principal of the newly established Bengal National College.
The time period of 1902-1910 was the period of Sri Aurobindo's active political life. In 1905 the British
ruled province of Bengal was partitioned into Hindu majority West Bengal and Muslim majority East
Bengal that sparked widespread agitation throughout Bengal, it was during this period that the
Swadeshi movement gained popularity in which Sri Aurobindo played a major role. He became a leader
of a group of freedom fighters who were dubbed as extremists because of their willingness to use
direct action and non-constitutional methods to achieve their objective of complete independence for
India. Later in 1907 Sri Aurobindo became the editor of a nationalist newspaper named Bande Mataram
which was circulated all over India, the newspaper however was closed down by 1908. He was
prosecuted for sedition in 1907 but was acquitted and in 1908 he was again arrested in the Alipore
Conspiracy Case, but he came out in 1909 after being in prison for about a year. By the time he was out
of jail the movement that he was part of was broken and its leaders dispersed, he later tried to revive
the movement by publishing an English weekly newspaper named Karmayogin and a Bengali weekly
named Dharma. But by 1910 he felt more and more drawn towards spirituality because of his profound
spiritual experience in Alipore Jail and withdrew from politics.
In the year 1910 Sri Aurobindo finally moved to the French colony of Pondicherry, but he was already
estranged from his young wife who by now had gone back to her parents but she accepted the pain of
separation and was faithful to him throughout this time. He spent most of his time in silent meditation
and in 1918 he finally wrote to her saying that "My sadhana is over. I have achieved my object, siddhi. I
have a lot of work to do for the world. You can come now and be my companion in this work."[1] She
agreed to come but was stricken with influenza and passed away before she could even meet Sri
Aurobindo. In 1914 four years after arriving in Pondicherry he began publishing a philosophical
magazine named Arya which was published until 1921, most of his important works such as The Life
Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Gita, The Isha Upanishad, The Foundations of Indian
Culture, The Secret of the Veda, The Human Cycle, The Future Poetry and The Ideal of Human Unity
appeared in the magazine Arya. It was also in the year 1914 that he met a French woman of Egyptian
ancestry, Mirra Alfassa who would later be called as The Mother and who would later carry on Sri
Aurobindo's work after his death. As time went by more disciples began to gather around him, which
eventually lead to the formation of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Sri Aurobindo passed away on December 5, 1950. The Mother took over where Sri Aurobindo left off and
continued his work until November 17, 1973 and their work continues even today.
Sri Aurobindo's Political Philosophy:
Hindu society today suffers from lack of clear thinking about how to deal with problems and threats
facing our society; our society is seen as passive and weak because of our refusal to do anything in the
name of ahimsa. In these circumstances it would be interesting to take note of Sri Aurobindo's
philosophy. Sri Aurobindo in a word was a realist who followed the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, in his
own words, "A certain class of minds shrink from aggressiveness as if it were a sin. Their temperament
forbids them to feel the delight of battle and they look on what they cannot understand as something
monstrous and sinful. "Heal hate by love, drive out injustice by justice, slay sin by righteousness" is
their cry. Love is a sacred name, but it is easier to speak of love than to love.... The Gita is the best
answer to those who shrink from battle as a sin and aggression as a lowering of morality."[2] And the
following comment of his about the Hindu-Muslim problem after the Khilafat agitation when Muslim
aggression was at its peak, "I am sorry they are making a fetish of this Hindu-Muslim unity. It is no use
ignoring facts; some day the Hindus may have to fight the Muslims and they must prepare for it. Hindu-
Muslim unity should not mean the subjection of the Hindus. Every time the mildness of the Hindu has
given way. The best solution would be to allow the Hindus to organize themselves and the Hindu-
Muslim unity would take care of itself, it would automatically solve the problem. Otherwise, we are
lulled into a false sense of satisfaction that we have solved a difficult problem, when in fact we have
only shelved it."[3] Is very insightful and should be followed by Hindus even today if we want to
permanently solve the problem.
Sri Aurobindo's Contribution to Hindu Philosophy:
Sri Aurobindo contributed greatly to modern day Hindu philosophy through his enormous corpus of
writings; his major contribution was to bring in the notion of evolution into Vedantic thought in which
he put forward the idea of an evolution of spirit instead of matter as he rejected the materialistic
Samkhya philosophy and his philosophy also rejected the idea of world negation.
Sri Aurobindo On Sanatana Dharma and India:
Sri Aurobindo was born into the Hindu community and had mastered the Hindu scriptures inspite of the
objections of his Anglophile father and contributed greatly to Hindu philosophy, therefore it would be
interesting to read his own thoughts on the connection between Sanatana Dharma and India according
to which "When therefore it is said that India shall rise, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall rise. When
it is said that India shall be great, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall be great. When it is said that
India shall expand and extend herself, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall expand and extend itself over
the world. It is for the Dharma and by the Dharma that India exists..."[4], the sooner we grasp this the
better it is for our community and for the Indian nation.
Others On Sri Aurobindo:
It would be interesting to know what other prominent personalities thought of Sri Aurobindo, the
following are some quotes from different renowned personalities about Sri Aurobindo:
"At the very first sight I could realise he [Sri Aurobindo] had been seeking for the Soul and had gained
it," – Rabindranath Tagore
"In my undergraduate days Aurobindo Ghose was easily the most popular leader in Bengal, despite his
voluntary exile and absence since 1910. His was a name to conjure with." – Subash Chandra Bose
"Sri Aurobindo is one of the greatest thinkers of Modern India...[He is] the most complete synthesis
achieved upto the present between the genius of the West and the East..." - Romain Rolland [5]
In conclusion Sri Aurobindo was not just a yogic seer; he was a poet, philosopher and a revolutionary
who made great contributions to modern day Hindu philosophy through his enormous corpus of writings
which continue to inspire Hindus around the world even today, his translation and commentary on
Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita shed new light on our own understanding of the scriptures.
Hindus around the world should take pride about a person like Sri Aurobindo and we should do our bit
to help fulfill his ambitions for humanity and Bharat in particular.
Posted by Rajaniyer at 3:15 AM 1 comments

Judge Gently
Judge Gently

Pray, don't find fault with the man that limps

Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears
Or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt

Though hidden away from view.
Or the burden he bears placed on your back
Might cause you to stumble too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today

Unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.

You may be strong but still the blow

That was his if dealt to you
In the selfsame way, at the selfsame time
Might cause you to stagger too.

Don't be too harsh with the man that sins

Or pelt him with word or stone
Unless you are sure - yea, doubly sure -
That you have no sins of your own.

For you know, perhaps,

If the tempter's voice should whisper as soft to you
As it did to him when he went astray
It might cause you to falter too.

Let's all try to be a little bit more sympathetic to others.

Let's try to live life with a clear conscience.
Let's not judge others.
Let's treat everyone like we want to be treated.
Let's act as Jesus would want us to act.
Let's not just talk about it.
Let's really do it!
Starting right now!!

Posted by Rajaniyer at 3:02 AM 0 comments

Time
TIME
They say time is precious,
That time is of the essence,
But what is this illusion?
What is time?
It goes by, they say,
But I don't see anything.
They even say, How time flies,
Does it have wings?
Never have I seen it,
Never have I understood it's physical being.
But I do know some things,
I know the time that I'm away from you.
Time is precious.
It is of the essence.
But no time is worth my time,
Unless that time is spent with you.
How time weighs heavily on my heart.
Oh, how time does eat away at me.
Time is not physical, but rather spiritual,
For no time is more spiritual then when you're with me.

Posted by Rajaniyer at 2:36 AM 0 comments

Power of Positive Talk

Power of Positive Talk

I remember my dad teaching me the power of language at a very young age. Not only did my dad
understand that specific words affect our mental pictures, but he understood words are a powerful
programming factor in lifelong success.

One particularly interesting event occurred when I was eight. As a kid, I was always climbing trees,
poles, and literally hanging around upside down from the rafters of our lake house. So, it came to no
surprise for my dad to find me at the top of a 30-foot tree swinging back and forth. My little eight-
year-old brain didn't realize the tree could break or I could get hurt. I just thought it was fun to be up
so high.
My older cousin, Lalitha, was also in the same tree. She was hanging on the first big limb, about ten
feet below me. Lalitha's mother also noticed us at the exact time my dad did. About that time a huge
gust of wind came over the tree. I could hear the leaves start to rattle and the tree begin to sway. I
remember my dad's voice over the wind yell, "Vighnesh, Hold on tightly." So I did. The next thing I
know, I heard Lalitha screaming at the top of her lungs, laying flat on the ground. She had fallen out of
the tree.
I scampered down the tree to safety. My dad later told me why she fell and I did not. Apparently, when
Lalitha's mother felt the gust of wind, she yelled out, "Lalitha, don't fall!" And Lalitha did… fall.
My dad then explained to me that the mind has a very difficult time processing a negative image. In
fact, people who rely on internal pictures cannot see a negative at all. In order for Lalitha to process
the command of not falling, her nine-year-old brain had to first imagine falling, then try to tell the
brain not to do what it just imagined. Whereas, my eight-year-old brain instantly had an internal image
of me hanging on tightly.

This concept is especially useful when you are attempting to break a habit or set a goal. You can't
visualize not doing something. The only way to properly visualize not doing something is to actually
find a word for what you want to do and visualize that. For example, when I was thirteen years old, I
played for my junior high school football team. I tried so hard to be good, but I just couldn't get it
together at that age. I remember hearing the words run through my head as I was running out for a
pass, "Don't drop it!" Naturally, I dropped the ball.
My coaches were not skilled enough to teach us proper "self-talk." They just thought some kids could
catch and others couldn't. I'll never make it pro, but I'm now a pretty good Sunday afternoon football
player, because all my internal dialogue is positive and encourages me to win. I wish my dad had
coached me playing football instead of just climbing trees. I might have had a longer football career.
Here is a very easy demonstration to teach your kids and your friends the power of a toxic vocabulary.
Ask them to hold a pen or pencil. Hand it to them. Now, follow my instructions carefully. Say to them,
"Okay, try to drop the pencil." Observe what they do.
Most people release their hands and watch the pencil hit the floor. You respond, "You weren't paying
attention. I said TRY to drop the pencil. Now please do it again." Most people then pick up the pencil
and pretend to be in excruciating pain while their hand tries but fails to drop the pencil.

The point is made.

If you tell your brain you will "give it a try," you are actually telling your brain to fail. I have a "no try"
rule in my house and with everyone I interact with. Either people will do it or they won't. Either they
will be at the party or they won't. I'm brutal when people attempt to lie to me by using the word try.
Do they think I don't know they are really telegraphing to the world they have no intention of doing it
but they want me to give them brownie points for pretended effort? You will never hear the words "I'll
try" come out of my mouth unless I'm teaching this concept in a seminar.

If you "try" and do something, your unconscious mind has permission not to succeed. If I truly can't
make a decision I will tell the truth. "Sorry Vighnesh. I'm not sure if I will be at your party or not. I've
got an outstanding commitment. If that falls through, I will be here. Otherwise, I will not. Thanks for
the invite."

People respect honesty. So remove the word "try" from your vocabulary.
My dad also told me that psychologists claim it takes seventeen positive statements to offset one
negative statement. I have no idea if it is true, but the logic holds true. It might take up to seventeen
compliments to offset the emotional damage of one harsh criticism.
These are concepts that are especially useful when raising children.

Ask yourself how many compliments you give yourself daily versus how many criticisms. Heck, I know
you are talking to yourself all day long. We all have internal voices that give us direction.
So, are you giving yourself the 17:1 ratio or are you shortchanging yourself with toxic self-talk like, "
I'm fat. Nobody will like me.
I'll try this diet. I'm not good enough. I'm so stupid. I'm broke, etc. etc."
If our parents can set a lifetime of programming with one wrong statement, imagine the kind of
programming you are doing on a daily basis with your own internal dialogue. Here is a list of Toxic
Vocabulary words.
Notice when you or other people use them.
Ø But: Negates any words that are stated before it.
Ø Try: Presupposes failure.
Ø If: Presupposes that you may not.
Ø Might: It does nothing definite. It leaves options for your listener.
Ø Would Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen.
Ø Should Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen (and implies
guilt.)
Ø Could Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen but the person tries
to take credit as if it did happen.
Ø Can't/Don't: These words force the listener to focus on exactly the opposite of what you want. This is
a classic mistake that parents and coaches make without knowing the damage of this linguistic error.
Examples:
Toxic phrase: "Don't drop the ball!"
Likely result: Drops the ball
Better language: "Catch the ball!"
Toxic phrase: "You shouldn't watch so much television."
Likely result: Watches more television.
Better language: "I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find yourself turning that
TV off and picking up one of those books more often!"
Exercise: Take a moment to write down all the phrases you use on a daily basis or any Toxic self-talk
that you have noticed yourself using. Write these phrases down so you will begin to catch yourself as
they occur and change them.

Posted by Rajaniyer at 2:18 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Chanakya Neeti - For self realization
Chanakya Neeti - For self realization

MONEY

TYAJANTI MITRAANI DHANAIRVIHIINAM ||

DAARAASHCHA BHRITYAASHCHA SUHRIJJANASCHA ||
TAM CHARTHAVANNTAM PUNARAASHRAYANTE ||
HYARTHO HI LOKE PURUSHASYA BANDHUH ||

(The money- less man is quit cold by friends, wife, and well wishers and dependents, on his becoming
rich, they hang on to him again. In this world, money is only the true ally of man.

ANYAAYOPAARJITAM VITTAM DASHAVARSHAANI TISTHATI ||

PRAPTE CHAIKAADASHE VARSHE SAMULANCHA VINASYATI ||

(Unjustly earned money stays only for ten years. In the eleventh year, it disappears along with the
Principal)

BIRTH AND DEATH

JANMA MRITYUN HI YAATYEKO BHUNAKTYEKAH SHUBHAASHUBHAM ||
NARAKE CHA PATATYEKA, EKO YAATI PARANGATIM ||

(Everyone experiences birth and death alone, he also faces the consequences of good and bad actions,
and he faces the hell and heaven alone)

DESTINY

PATRAM NAIVA YADA KARIRVITAPE DOSHO VASANTASYA KIM ||

GHUKO NAIVA VILOKATE YADI DIVA SURYASYA KIM DUSHANAM ||
DHAARAA NAIVA PATANTI CHATAKMUKHE MEGHASYA KIM DUSHANAM ||
YATPURVAM VIDHINAA LALAATALIKHITAM TANMAARJITUM KAH KSHAMAH ||

(It is not the fault of spring season, if leaves don't grow on a KARIRA tree. It is not the fault of the sun
if the owl can't see during the day. Cloud is not to be blamed if no raindrops fall into the mouth of the
cuckoo. One is powerless to wipe off the destiny inscribed on one's forehead)

AAYUH KARMA CHA VITTAM CHA VIDDYA NIDHANAMEYA CHA ||

PANCHAITAANI HI SRIJAYANTE GARBHASTHASYAIVA DEHINAH ||

(Life-span, occupation, wealth, education and 'How death will occur, these five things are determined
while a person is in the womb of the mother)

RANKANKAROTI RAJAANAM RAJAANAM RANKAMEVA CHA ||

DHANINAM NIRDHANAM CHAIVA NIRDHANAM DHANINAM VIDHIH ||

(The beggar becomes a king and the king becomes miserly. Destiny makes the rich poor and the poor
are made rich by destiny)

ALMIGHTY GOD

AGNIRDEVO DVIJAATINAAM MUNINAAM HRIDI DAIVATAM ||

PRATIMA SVALPABUDDHINAM SARVATRA SAMADARSINAAM ||

(Brahmin (Dvija) believes God to be in fire. Sage believes God to be in the heart itself. A person with
little knowledge thinks that God resides in the Idol. But a man with just knowledge knows that God is
omnipresent)

NA DEVO VIDDYATE KAASTH, NA PAASHAANE NA MRINMAYE ||

BHAAVO HI VIDDYATE DEVASTASMAADVBHAAVO HI KAARANAM ||
(The deity neither dwells in a piece of wood or in a stone or clay model He dwells in one's faith)

DUTIES

MAATRU DEVO BHAVAH! PITRU DEVO BHAVAH! ||

AACHAARYA DEVO BHAVAH! ATITHI DEVO BHAVAH! ||

(MOTHER, FATHER, TEACHER AND GUEST are perceivable Deities)

EKENAAPI SUPUTRENA VIDDYAYUKTENA SAADHUNAA ||

AAHLAADITAM KULAM SARVAM YATHAA CHANDRENA SHARVARI ||

(As the moon illuminates up in the night, in the same way only one good son who is well educated and
upright is a delight to the whole family)

KIM JAATAIRBAHUBHIH PUTRAIH SHOKASANTAAPKAARAKA IH ||

VARAMEKAH KULAALAMBI YAATRA VISHRAAMYATE KULAM ||

(One virtuous son is enough than a hundred duds for only one moon can dispel the darkness and not the
stars though they are in thousands)

EKEN SHUSKAVRIKSHENA DAHYAMAANENA VAHVINAA ||

DAHYATE TADVANAM SARVAM KUPUTRENA KULAM YATHAA ||

(A wicked son causes distress to the whole family, in the same way as one dried up burning tree makes
the whole forest to burn)

DUTY OF PARENTS TOWARDS THEIR CHILD

LAALAYETPANCHA VARSHANI, DASHA VARSHAANI TADAAYET ||

PRAAPTE TU, SHODASHE VARSHE, PUTRAM MITRAVADAACHARET ||

(A child should be given all the love and affection for the first five years. The next ten years, discipline
should be taught to him strictly. A son should be treated as a friend after the age of sixteen).

DUTY OF A WIFE

SAA BHAARYAA YAA SUCHIRDAKSHA SAA BHAARYA YAA PATIVRATAA ||

SAA BHARYAA YAA PATIPRITA SAA BHARYAA YA PRIYAVAADINI ||
(Wife is she who is chaste and deft, she swears only by her husband and she takes delight in her
husband and she is soft spoken).

MIND CONTROL AND PURITY OF MIND

MANA EVA MANUSHYAANAAM KAARANAM BANDHMOKSHAYOH ||

BANDHAAYA VISHAYAASANGO MUKTAYAI NIRVISHAYAM MANAH ||

(The human mind is the cause of bondage and deliverance. The love for pleasure enslaves us but
indifference towards it, liberate us).

NAASTI KAAMSAMO VYAADHIRNAASTI MOHASAMO RIPUH ||

NAASTI KOPASAMO VAHNIRNAASTI GYAANAATPARAM SUKHAM ||

(Passion causes distraction of the mind, the delusion is the biggest enemy of the mind, and Anger burns
the mind the most. One who possesses the enlightened mind is the happiest)

ANGER (KRODHA)

KRODHO VAIVASVATO RAAJAA TRISHNAA VAITARNI NADII ||

VIDDYA KAAMDUHA DHENUH SANTOSHO NANDANAM VANAM ||

(Anger is the king of death, greed is the river of hell, knowledge is the wish granting cow and
contentment is the celestial garden)

GREED (LOBHA)

DHANESHU JIVITAVYESHU STRISHU CHAAHAARKARMASU ||

ATRIPTAH PRANINAH SARVE YAATAA YAASYANTI YAANTI CHA ||

(Man is unsatisfied with life, women and food because it does not have permanence. Man has to leave
all his belongings one day)

ATTACHMENT (MOHA)

YASYA SNEHO BHAYAM TASYAA, SNEHO DUHKHASYAA BHAAJANAM ||

SNEHAMULANI DHUKHANI SNEHAM TYAKTVA VASETSUKHAM ||

(Attachment is the root cause of fear and suffering by giving up attachment one gains happiness)

Posted by Rajaniyer at 1:29 PM 0 comments

The Bhagavad Gita

THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE
(Sankhya Yoga)

"... the cessation of your pain and sorrow will depend on how well you overcome your ignorance of your
True Self that lives within you."

1. Arjuna's eyes were burning with tears of compassion and confusion. The blind old king was rejoicing,
thinking an easy victory was at hand. Sanjaya continued
his straightforward report of the distant battlefield :

2. As Krishna watches the once-brave warrior prince plunge into pitiable weakness He normally soft
eyes become steely, and He speaks. "Arjuna, where does
all this despair come from? This egoistic self-indulgence at a time of crisis is shameful and unworthy of
you. You are a highly evolved, cultured man who
is supposed to live a truth-based life, a life of dharma. And yet your confused mind is unbalanced and
would not know truth if it hit you over the head.

3. "I know you are astounded at My lack of commiseration, but you must not yield to this feebleness!
Truth and right can never be obtained by the weak.
You are a great warrior, a proven winner. Cast off this faint-heartedness. Stand up, O scorcher of
enemies!"

4-5. Arjuna interrupts : "I can't believe you're telling me to fight!" He shakes his head as though trying
to clear his mind. Krishna sits quietly. Arjuna
breathes deeply and blurts, "How?" The word hangs in the air between them. "How?" he repeats, "How
can I not be weak, Krishna? For me to attack Bhishma,
who has been like a grandfather to me, and assault my beloved former teacher Drona, would be wrong!
I should revere these elders, not shoot at them. I
don't want a blood-smeared victory.

6. "If I kill them, I would not care to live, Krishna. It would be better to be killed myself. Ah," he
mutters ruefully, "I don't know which way to turn.
Either way winning or losing this battle, I lose."

ARJUNA BECOMES THE DISCIPLE,

KRISHNA THE DIVINE TEACHER

7-8. "I'm utterly confused," Arjuna continues, "as to what is my duty. I can't think of any remedy for this
awful grief that has dried up my energy, Krishna.
If I were to gain great wealth and power, what would that prove? I'm asking you to help me, not to just
tell me to go out and fight. I beg you to tell
me what I should do. I am your pupil; be my teacher, my guru. I take refuge in you and surrender to
you. Please instruct me, beloved Krishna, show me the
way."

9. The great warrior-prince who has never known retreat, slips deeper into his dark dejection. He
mumbles, "I shall not fight," and becomes silent.

10. Now that Arjuna has submitted himself as a pupil, Krishna transforms into His true role as the
Divine Teacher. He tightens the reins in His hand, looks
long into the crestfallen warrior's eyes, and begins to speak.

11. "You may grieve sincerely, Arjuna, but it is without cause. Your words may seem wise, but the truly
wise one grieves neither for the living nor the
dead!

12. "There has never been a time when I, or you, or any of these kings and soldiers here did not exist -
and there will never be a time when we cease to
exist. Physical bodies appear and disappear, but not the Atma (the soul, the life force) that lives within
them.

13. "This life force comes and dwells in a body for a while. While therein, it experiences infancy,
childhood, youth, and old age, and then, upon death,
passes eventually to a new body. Changes such as death pertain to the body, not the Atma. The wise
person does not get caught up in the delusion that he
or she is this body, Arjuna. This delusion is the very definition of ego.

14. "Arjuna, the contact of bodily senses with objects and attractions in the world creates feelings like
sorrow or happiness, and sensations like heat
or cold. But these are impermanent, transitory, coming and going like passing clouds. Just endure them
patiently and bravely; learn to be unaffected by
them.

15. "The serene person, unaffected by these worldly feelings and sensations, is the same in pain and
pleasure, and does not allow him - or herself to get
disturbed or sidetracked. This is the person fit for immortality. Realize this and assert your strength,
Arjuna. Do not identify your True Self merely
with your mortal body.

16. "Real, as used in spirituality, means that which is eternal, never changing, indestructible. This is
the very definition of 'Reality'. That which is
Real never ceases to be. Anything that is impermanent, even if it lasts a very long time and seems
durable, eventually changes and thus does not have true
Reality. The wise ones understand the difference beween the Real and the not-Real. When you fully
understand this profound fact, you will have attained
the zenith of all knowledge.
"One's body, according to this logic, is not Real. And yet, there is something that dwells within the
body that is Real : the Atma - which is existence
itself; awareness, pure consciousness.

17. "Get to know this Reality. It pervades the entire cosmos and is unchanging and indestructible. No
power can affect it. No one can change the changeless.

"This Atma, Arjuna, is like space or sky. Clouds appear in the sky but their presence does not cause the
sky to grow apart to make room for them. In the
same manner, the Atma (the True Self Within) remains ever itself. Things of the material universe
come and go, appear and disappear, but the Atma never
changes.

18. "Only the body is mortal. Only the body will come to an end. But, the Atma, which is the True Self
Within, is immortal, and will never come to an end.
So fight, O Warrior!

19. "You talk about killing or being killed; know that the body may be killed by the indweling Reality
(the Atma) can never be. To say the person slays
and the other is slain may be correct from a physical worldly standpoint,, but it is not the Reality of
the matter.

20. "The Atma, this Real us, was never born, nor will it ever die. In fact, this eternal Reality within is
never destroyed; it never undergoes any changes.
When your ego takes over and you erroneously identify your self with the body, you feel that physical
death is death to the self, and that is frightening.
But the Self (Atma) can never be 'killed'. When the body is slain the Atma remains unaffected.

21. "The one who understands this hard-to-grasp principle of Atma - the True Self Within that is
eternal, indestructible, and changeless - realizes that
at this level of comprehension there is no 'slaying' and no 'causing another to slay.'

22. "As a person sheds a worn-out garment, the dweller within the body casts aside its time-worn
human frame and dons a new one.

23-24. "The Indweller - the Self, Atma - remains unaffected by all worldly changes. It is not wounded
by weapons, burned by fire, dried out by wind, or
wet by water. This indwelling Self is all-pervading (which means it is everywhere). It is also eternal and
changeless because it is beyond the worldly
dimension of time - time has no access to it.

"Arjuna, the cessation of your present pain and sorrow will depend on how well you overcome your
ignorance of your True Self that lives within you."

THE QUALITIES OF THE ATMA

25. "It is not easy - as I said, Arjuna - to fathom this mysterious concept of the True Self. Everything
else in the world changes. Every creature, rock,
blade of grass, human being, element, or component of any kind changes. Only the Atma never
changes! Because it is never modified it is termed immutable.
Because it is invisible, has no form, and cannot be heard, smelled, or touched, it is termed
unmanifested. Because the human mind cannot perceive or conceive
it, it is said to be unknowable. Why grieve over a Self that is immutable, unmanifested, and
unknowable?"

26-27 Krishna lets those ideas sink in, and then continues. "Even if you do choose to see yourself as a
worldly body that dies, why suffer this anguish?
Your despondency steals your strength. Death is inevitable for all the living. You know that death is
certain in all of nature, so why mourn that which
is natural? Nothing - absolutely nothing - in nature is permanent.

28. "All beings are temporary. Before birth, they are unmanifested (nonmaterialized) . At birth they
become manifested. At their end they again become unmanifested.
What is there in all this to grieve over? Grieving over the temporary just uses up your energy and holds
back your spiritual growth.

29. "No one really understands the Atma, Arjuna. One person sees it as wondrous, another speaks of its
glory, others say it is strange, and there are many
who listen but do not comprehend it at all. Very few even thin of inquiring into what is beyond this
physical world.

30. "I am well aware that I have veered into high philosophy, but you must understand that all beings,
whether called 'friend' or 'enemy', have this indestructible
Atma within. You must be poised above this debilitating sorrow of yours."

THE WARRIOR'S PERSONAL KARMA

"One's personal duty in life (one's sva-dharma) should be viewed as one's responsibility to his or her
highest Self, the Atma. This ultrahigh level of duty
carries with it the requirement that one never does anything that is contrary to this True Self Within.
And even if you consider your sva-dharma more narrowly
from the standpoint of being true to your profession, you should not hesitate to fight. For a warrior,
war against evil, greed, cruelty, hate, and jealousy
is the highest duty.

32. "The tide of fortune comes in but rarely. This war is a great, unsolicited opportunity for you to fight
for righteousness; for a warrior this is no
less than a free pass to heaven. Therefore, rejoice, Arjuna. Be happy. This is your opportune moment!

33. "But if you do not fight this battle of good over evil, you will fail in both your worldly duty and in
your duty to your very Self. You will violate
your sva-dharma. Not doing the right thing when it is required is worse than doing the wrong thing.

34. "If you do not do your duty the tale of your dishonor will be repeated endlessly. For a man of honor
to go down in history as dishonorable is a fate
worse than death. Ordinary human beings naturally strive to preserve their lives, but the warrior has a
different way. Warriors must be ever ready not
merely to safeguard, but to sacrifice their lives for a cause. Knowingly surrendering your life to an
ideal increases your glory.

35. "But your superb soldiers will think it was fear that made you withdraw. Though they esteemed you
before, they will treat you and your name with derision.

36. "Your enemies who have harbored a grudging respect for your prowess in battle will slander you and
ridicule your bravery. Do you really think they will
believe that you withdrew out of love for kith and kin? Those who used to shudder at the thought of
fighting you will crack insolent jokes about your faintheartedness.
Failure to do your duty will destroy the well-deserved reputation you built over many heroic battles.

37. "This battle is a righteous cause, Arjuna. No matter what happens, you win. If killed, you
immediately enter heaven; if victorious, you achieve a great
name and fame. Either way, you triumph. So, arise, Arjuna! Fight!

38. "And heed this important point about life in general: The way to win this great war is to react alike
to both pain and pleasure, profit and loss, victory
and defeat."

THE SECRET OF SELFLESS ACTION

39. Krishna, as though to solidify that point, pauses a moment and then continues. "You have now
heard an intellectual explanation of the principle of Atma
(the True Self), and of the need to discriminate between the Real (unchanging) and the not-
Real(anything that changes). Now pay attention while I explain
a practical spiritual discipline called karma yoga for living a more effective, happier life in this vexing,
ever-changing world. This is the path of selfless,
God-dedicated action. By making this your path you can live a spiritual life and yet stay fully active in
the world. You can remain a man of action, achieving
your very best, and yet not be bound or caught by the worldly.

40. "Karma yoga (literall, 'union with God through action') is not in the least bit dangerous, Old Friend.
On this path no effort ever goes to waste and
there is no failure. Even a little practice of this will protect you from the cycle of death and rebirth.

41. "When one's actions are not based on desire for personal reward, one can more easily steady the
mind and direct it toward the Atma, the True Self Within.
For the person of steady mind, Arjuna, there is always just one decision, but for the quivering mind
pulled in a thousand directions, the decisions that
plague it are endless, and they exhaust one's mental strength. People with an unsteady mind inevitably
end up failing; those with an unwavering mind achieve
great success.

42-43. "There are people, ignorant of this principle, who take delight in their own particular dogma,
proclaiming there is nothing else. Their idea of 'heaven'
is their own enjoyment. The main reason they do their activities is to achieve the pleasures and power
that 'heaven' promises. Thus, even though their
motive is common and positive, they are in truth filled with rather selfish desires.

44. "With their minds thus taken up by their own selfish desires for everlasting pleasure and power,
they are not able to develop the utter concentration
needed to reach union with God, which is mankind's only real objective.

45. "The scriptures describe three components of nature (called gunas). I will describe these in more
detail later, but for now, concentrate on transcending
all of them. Focus on going beyond all of nature and all worldly attachments. To be bound to worldly
nature is certainly not the purpose of life. Focus
instead on the Eternal that lies beyond this worldliness. Concentrate on freeing yourself from the
tyranny of the so-called pairs of opposites. Release
yourself from always trying to evaluate and judge everything. Disentangle from your habit pattern of
seeing things as good or bad, lovable or hateful,
pleasant or painful, and so forth. The tendency to get trapped in apparent opposites is a common and
debilitating malady. Instead, remain tranquil and
centered in the Self (Atma). Take care not to seek acclaim or acquire earthly objects.

46. "A reservoir that is necessary during a dry spell is of little use during a flood. Similarly, to the
enlightened person even scriptures are superfluous.
Yes, live amicably with worldly existence, but know you must transcend it. Prepare yourself for nothing
less than union with Divinity itself!

47. "Work hard in the world, Arjuna, but for work's sake only. You have every right to work but you
should not crave the fruits of it. Although no one may
deny you the outcomes of your efforts, you can, through determination, refuse to be attached to or
affected by the results, whether favorable or unfavorable.

"The central points of issue, Arjuna, are desire and lack of inner peace. Desire for the fruits of one's
actions brings worry about possible failure - the
quivering mind I mentioned. When you are preoccupied with end results you pull yourself from the
present into an imagined, usually fearful future. Then
your anxiety robs your energy and, making matters worse, you lapse into inaction and laziness.

"One does not accomplish great ends in some by-and-by future, O Warrior. Only in the present can you
hammer out real achievement. The worried mind tends
to veer from the only real goal - realizing the Atma, uniting with Divinity, the True Self Within.

"The ideal, Arjuna, is to be intensely active and at the same time have no selfish motives, not thoughts
of personal gains or loss. Duty uncontaminated
by desire leads to inner peacefulness and increased effectiveness. This is the secret art of living a life
of real achievement!

48. "To work without desire may seem impossible, but the way to do it is to substitute thoughts of
Divinity for thoughts of desire. Do your work in this
world with your heart fixed on the Divine instead of on outcomes. Do not worry about results. Be even
tempered in success or failure. This mental evenness
is what is meant by yoga (union with God). Indeed, equanimity is yoga!

49. "Work performed with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done in a state of calmness.
Equanimity - the serene mental state free from likes
and dislikes, attractions and repulsions - is truly the ideal attitude in which to live your life. To be in
this state of mind is to be lodged in the Divine.
Pitiful are those pulled by the fruits of their action.

50. "When you are endowed with this basic detachment, you shed the karmic consequences of both
your good and bad deeds, casting aside the inevitable effects
of your actions. Never lose sight of the overriding goal, which is to free yourself from bondage during
this lifetime, to shed attachment to worldly things,
detach from ego, and truly release yourself from the wheel of birth and death. When you do this, you
actually become one with God.

"I see that you sigh at this breathtaking goal, Arjuna. Know that you can achieve this by first uniting
your heart with God and only then pursuing worldly
things. Proceed in this order, not in the reverse order, and then your actions will be linked to the very
purpose of life - which is, again, union with
the Divine.

51. "A yogi is a truly wise person whose consciousness is unified with Brahman (the Godhead)." True
yogis are detached. They are not at all concerned about
the fruits of their actions and thus have left all anxiety behind. Detachment is the means to convert
misery-laden karma (here indicating the entangling
consequences of one's acts) into misery-free living. Detachment is the means for rising above worldly
activities and getting to a state beyond the worldly.

"Achieve that transcendent state, Arjuna, and enter the battle not merely as a soldier but as a man of
true wisdom, a yogi. These high spiritual teachings
are not meant just for the recluse; they are intended for active people like you, immersed in the
hustle and bustle of the world.

52. "When your mind crosses the mire of delusion and your intellect clears itself of its confusion about
the truth of who you really are, your True Self,
then you will become dispassionate about the results of all your actions.

53. "At present, Arjuna, your mind is bewildered by conflicting ideas and philosophies. When it can rest
steady and undistracted in contemplation of the
True Self Within, you will be enlightened and completely united in love with the Divine. This is where
yoga reaches its culmination: the merging of individual
consciousness in Cosmic Consciousness. This is nothing less than the goal of life!"

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUMINED ONES

54. Arjuna, listening attentively, interrupts, "But, Krishna, how does one identify the enlightened
person you describe, the one absorbed in the Divine?
How would such a one speak, sit, or move about, for example? If I knew that I could better strive for
it."

55. Krishna answers, "Old friend, you should strive to become such a person! This person is called an
Illumined One, a Sthithaprajna (literally, one who
is established in wisdom). This is the one who abandons all selfish desires, cravings, and torments of
the heart; who is satisfied with the True Self (Atma)
and wants nothing outside the Self. This one knows that real bliss is only found within.

56. "This is the man or woman whose mind is unperturbed by sorrow and adversity, who doesn't thirst
for pleasures, and is free of the three traits that
most tarnish the mind - namely attachment, fear, and anger. Such a one is an Illumined One, a
Sthithaprajna.

57. "The person who is detached, desireless, who neither rejoices or gets depressed when faced with
good fortune or bad - that person is poised in wisdom
above worldly turmoil and is therefore an Illumined One.

58. "The Illumined One has learned to deftly withdraw the senses from the attractions of the world,
just as the turtle naturally pulls in its limb to protect
itself. This is very important, Arjuna. Let Me explain further.

59-60. "When people pull back from worldly pleasures their knowledge of the Divine grows, and this
knowing causes the yearning for pleasure to gradually
fade away. But inside, they may still hanker for pleasures. Even those minds that know the path can be
dragged away from it by unruly senses.

"Much of one's spiritual discipline must therefore focus on taming wayward senses and being ever
vigilant against the treacherousness of the senses. The
refinement of an individual or a society is measured by the yardstick of how well greed and desires are
controlled.

61. "The Illumined One subdue their senses and hold them in check by keeping their minds ever intent
on achieving the overarching goal of union with God.
They get in the habit of substituting divine thoughts for attractions of the senses.

62-63. "The downward spiral to one's ruin consists of the following process : Brooding on (or merely
thinking about) worldly attractions develops attachments
to them. From attachments to sense objects come selfish desires. Thwarted desires cause anger to
erupt. From anger arises delusion. This causes confusion
of the mind and makes one forget the lessons of experience. Forgotten lessons of experience cloud the
reason, which results in loss of discrimination (between
Truth and non-Truth, Real and not-Real). Finally, losing the faculty of discrimination makes one veer
from life's only purpose, achieving union with the
Divinity within. Then, unfortunately, one's life itself is wasted.

64-65. "But when you can move about in a world that surrounds you with sense attractions, and yet be
free of either attachment or aversion to them, tranquility
comes and sits in your heart - and you are absorbed in the peace and wisdom of the Self within.
Serenity, Arjuna, is the point at which all sorrow ends!

66. "This Atmic wisdom (knowledge of the True Self) is not for all. Those with agitated, uncontrolled
minds cannot even guess that the Atma is present here
within. Without quietness, where is meditation? Without meditation, where is peace? Without peace,
where is happiness?

67-68. "The roving mind that attaches to the objects of the senses loses its discrimination and is adrift,
a ship without a rudder. Even a small wind blows
it off its safe-chartered course. Those who use all their powers to restrain the senses, steady the mind,
and free themselves from both attachment and
aversion - they are the people of true wisdom, Illumined Ones.

69. "Worldly people perceive existence itself quite differently than do spiritually wise people. It is like
night and day; what is nighttime for one is
daytime for the other. What worldly persons experience as real - the body, earthly pursuits, pleasure,
pain, illness, sensory attractions - the Illumined
Ones see as not Real and of no consequence. What the Illumined Ones knows as Real - Spirit, quietness,
and so forth - the unenlightened consider to be
unreal and of no value.

70. "Waters from many rivers continually flow into the ocean but the ocean never overfills. In a like
manner desires and attachments constantly flow into
the mind of the Illumined One, but he or she, like the ocean in its deepest depths, is totally still and
never disturbed.

71. "To gain access to this state of utter peace, Arjuna, you must be free of ego (the sense of 'I' and
'mine"), and live devoid of cravings. You must forget
desire.

72. "This is the fixed, still state of the Illumined One, the Sthithaprajna, the one firmly established in
union with God. Once one achieves this state,
one never falls back from it into delusion. Furthermore, the person in this state at the instant of death
merges into Divinity and becomes one with the
Divine. And this, Arjuna, as I have often repeated, is the very goal of life!"

(From : The Bhagavad Gita

Posted by Rajaniyer at 1:18 PM 0 comments

Secrets of a happy married life!!!

Once X asked Y, "What is the secret behind your happy married life?"

Y said, "You should share responsibilities with due love and respect to each other. Then absolutely
there will be no problems."

X asked, "Can you explain?"

Y said, "In my house, I take decisions on bigger issues where as my wife decides on smaller issues. We
do not interfere in each other's decisions."

Still not convinced, X asked Y "Give me some examples"

Y said," Smaller issues like which car we should buy, how much amount to save, when to visit home
town, which Sofa, air conditioner, refrigerator to buy, monthly expenses, whether to keep a maid or
not etc are decided by my wife. I just agree to it"

X asked, "Then what is your role?"

Y said, "My decisions are only for very big issues. Like whether America should attack Iran, whether
Britain should lift sanction over Zimbabwe, whether to widen African economy, whether Sachin
Tendulkar should retire etc etc. Do you know one thing, my wife NEVER objects to any of these

Posted by Rajaniyer at 1:14 PM 0 comments

True and Amazing

True and Amazing

People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain.
Black bears are not always black they can be brown, cinnamon, yellow and sometimes white.
People with blue eyes see better in dark.
Each year 30,000 people are seriously injured by exercise equipment
The placement of a donkey's eyes in its head enables it to see all four feet.
The sun is 330330 times larger than the earth.
The cow gives nearly 200000 glass of milk in her lifetime.
There are more female than male millionaires in the U.S.A.
A male baboon can kill a leopard.
When a person dies, hearing is usually the first sense to go.
Bill gates house was designed using Macintosh computer.
· Nearly 22,000 cheques will be deducted from the wrong account over the next hour.

Almost all varieties of breakfast cereals are made from grass.

Some lions mates over 50 times a day.
American did not commonly use forks until after the civil war.
The most productive day of the week is Tuesday.
in the 1930's America track star Jesse Owens used to race against horses and dogs to earn a living.
There's a great mushroom in Oregon that is 2,400 years old. Covers 3.4 square miles of land and is still
growing.
Jimmy Carter is the first U.S.A. president to have born in hospital.
Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
Cleopatra married two of her brothers
Human birth control pill work on gorillas.
The right lung takes in more air than the left.
it is illegal to own a red car in shanghai china.
A hard-boiled egg will spin. An uncooked or soft-boiled egg will not.
Astronauts cannot burp in space.
The snowiest city in the U.S.A. is blue canyon, California
Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua is the only fresh water lake in the world that has sharks.
Kite flying is a professional sport in Thailand.
The great warrior Genghis khan died in bed while having sex.
No matter how cold it gets gasoline will not freeze.
· In 24 Hours Average Human:

1) HEART beats 1,03,689 times.

2) LUNGS respire 23,045 times.

3) BLOOD flows 16,80,000 miles.

4) NAILS grow 0.00007 inches

5) HAIR grows 0.01715 inches

6) Take 2.9 pounds WATER (including all liquids)

7) Take of 3.25 pounds FOOD.

8) Breathe 438 cubic feet AIR.

9) Lose 85.60, BODY TEMPERATURE.

10) Produce 1.43 pints SWEAT.

11) Speak 4,800 WORDS.

12) During SLEEP move 25.4 times.

SNAILS have 14175 teeth laid along 135 rows on their tongue.
· A BUTTERFLY has 12,000 eyes.

DOLPHINS sleep with 1 eye open.

A BLUE WHALE can eat as much as 3 tones of food everyday, but at the same time can live without
food for 6 months.
The EARTH has over 12,00,000 species of animals, 3,00,000 species of plants & 1,00,000 other species.
The fierce DINOSAUR was TYRANNOSAURS which has sixty long & sharp teeth, used to attack & eat
other dinosaurs.
DEMETRIO was a mammal like REPTILE with a snail on its back. This acted as a radiator to cool the body
of the animal.
CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRD, that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger
like claw.
The SWAN has over 25,000 feathers in its body.
OSTRICH eats pebbles to help digestion by grinding up the ingested food.
POLAR BEAR can look clumsy & slow but during chase on ice, can reach 25 miles / hr of speed.
KIWIS are the only birds, which hunt by sense of smell.
ELEPHANT teeth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.
OWL is the only bird, which can rotate its head to 270 degrees.
· • In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

· • On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.

· • The c!garette lighter was invented before the match.

· • Most lipstick contains fish scales.

· • Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.

· • Tapeworms range in size from about 0.04 inch to more than 50 feet in length.

· • A baby bat is called a pup.

· • German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.

· • A female mackerel lays about 500,000 eggs at one time.

· • It takes 35 to 65 minks to produce the average mink coat. The numbers for other types of fur coats
are: beaver - 15; fox - 15 to 25; ermine - 150; chinchilla - 60 to 100 .

· If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood
vessel in your head or neck and die.

· Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history. Spades - King David Clubs -
Alexander the Great, Hearts ,Charlemagne Diamonds - Julius Caesar.

· If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.
If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the
horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

· What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?
Ans. - All invented by women.

· The only food that doesn't spoil is HoneY.

· A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

· A snail can sleep for three years.

· All polar bears are left handed.

· American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.

· Butterflies taste with their feet.

· Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

· Coca-Cola was originally green.

· The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

· The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

· The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

· TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row ! of the
keyboard.

· Women blink nearly twice as much as men!

· You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

· It is impossible to lick your elbow.

· Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.

· Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

· People say "Bless you " when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.

· It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

· The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English
language.

· The bloodhound is the only animal whose evidence is admissible in an American court. 98% of brown
bears in the United States are in Alaska.

· Before air conditioning was invented, white cotton slipcovers were put on furniture to keep the air
cool.

· The Barbie doll has more than 80 careers.

· To make one pound of whole milk cheese, 10 pounds of whole milk is needed.

· 99% of pumpkins that are sold for decoration.

· Every 30 seconds a house fire doubles in size.

· The month of December is the most popular month for weddings in the Philippines.

· A one ounce milk chocolate bar has 6 mg of caffeine.

· Carbon monoxide can kill a person in less than 15 minutes.

· The largest ever hailstone weighed over 1kg and fell in Bangladesh in 1986.

· Ants can live up to 16 years.

· In Belgium, there is a museum that is just for strawberries.

· The sense of smell of an ant is just as good as a dog's.

· Popped popcorn should be stored in the freezer or refrigerator as this way it can stay crunchy for up
to three weeks.

· A quarter of the horses in the US died of a vast virus epidemic in 1872.

· The fastest bird is the Spine-tailed swift, clocked at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour.

· There is no single cat called the panther. The name is commonly applied to the leopard, but it is also
used to refer to the puma and the jaguar. A black panther is really a black leopard. A capon is a
castrated rooster.

· The world's largest rodent is the Capybara. An Amazon water hog that looks like a guinea pig, it can
weigh more than 100 pounds.

· The poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill about 2,200 people.

· The hummingbird, the loon, the swift, the kingfisher, and the grebe are all birds that cannot walk.

· The poisonous copperhead snake smells like fresh cut cucumbers.

· A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body.

· Worker ants may live seven years and the queen may live as long as 15 years.

· The blood of mammals is red, the blood of insects is yellow, and the blood of lobsters is blue.

· Cheetahs make a chirping sound that is much like a bird's chirp or a dog's yelp. The sound is so an
intense, it can be heard a mile away.

· The underside of a horse's hoof is called a frog. The frog peels off several times a year with new
growth.

· An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.

· The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

· The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

· The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to Squirt blood 30 feet.

· Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear By 700 times.

· Cats have more than one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

· The biggest member of the cat family is the male lion, which weighs 528 pounds (240 kilograms).

· Most lipstick contains fish scales.

· Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.

· Each day in the US, animal shelters are forced to destroy 30,000 dogs and cats.

· A shrimp's heart is in their head.

· A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

· A cockroach will live nine days without its head, before it starves to death.

· The cat lover is an ailurophile, while a cat hater is an ailurophobe.

· A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.

· Ants don't sleep .

· Owls have eyeballs that are tubular in shape, because of this, they cannot move their eyes.

· A bird requires more food in proportion to its size than a baby or a cat.

· The mouse is the most common mammal in the US.

· A newborn kangaroo is about 1 inch in length.

· A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.

· The Canary Islands were not named for a bird called a canary. They were named after a breed of
large dogs. The Latin name was Canariae insulae - "Island of Dogs."

· There are 701 types of pure breed dogs.

· A polecat is not a cat. It is a nocturnal European weasel.

· The animal responsible for the most human deaths world-wide is the mosquito.

· The biggest pig in recorded history was Big Boy of Black Mountain, North Carolina, who was weighed
at 1,904 pounds in 1939.
· Cats respond most readily to names that end in an "ee" sound.

· A cat cannot see directly under its nose. This is why the cat cannot seem to find tidbits on the floor.

· Pigs, walruses and light-colored horses can be sunburned.

· Snakes are immune to their own poison.

A drop of ocean water takes more than 1000 years to circulate around the world.
An average human body contains 1mg of uranium 2mg of gold and 1mg of arsenic.
During gold rush in 1849 some people paid as much as $100 for a glass of water.
The normal static electricity shock that zaps your finger when you touch a door knob is between 10,000
to 30,000 volts.
You mostly breathe from only one nostril at a time
Over the course of an average lifetime, a person breathes 591,300,000 times It means 21,600 times a
day.
Your lung contains around 300-350 million respiratory units called Alveoli.
We breathe in 13 pint of air every minute.
More than half a litre of water is lost via breathing.
People under 30 take in double the amount of oxygen as those who are 80.
Some scientists believe that the earth began billions of years ago as a huge ball of swirling dust and
gases. If you dig in your backyard, don't worry about running into the earth's core. You'd have to dig a
hole 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers) deep!
How do reindeers survive in the extreme cold? Most animals don't eat moss. It's hard to digest, and it
has little nutritional value. But reindeer fill up with lots of moss. Why? The moss contains a special
chemical that helps reindeer keep their body fluids warm. When the reindeer make their yearly
journey across the icy Arctic region, the chemical keeps them from freezing—much as antifreeze keeps
a car from freezing up in winter
A cat can run about 20 kilometres per hour (12 miles per hour) when it grows up. This one is going
nowhere today - it is too lazy !.
A cheetah can run 76 kilometres per hour (46 miles per hour) - that's really fast! The fastest human
beings runs only about 30 kilometres per hour (18 miles per hour).
a cheetah does not roar like a lion - it purrs like a cat (meow).
Did you know Sailor, Dead Leaf, Paper Kite, Blue Striped Crow, Julia and Great Egg Fly are all names of
BUTTERFLIES
The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'!
A Zipper joins two pieces of material together. A zipper is used everywhere, on clothing, pencil cases,
boots and suitcases, wallets, and a zillion other things. Everyone thinks it was Whitcomb Judson who
invented the zipper but it was really Elias Howe. Elias was so busy inventing the sewing machine that
he didn't get around to selling his zipper invention which he called a "clothing closure".
The largest frog in the world is called Goliath frog. Frogs start their lives as 'eggs' often laid in or near
fresh water. Frogs live on all continents except Antarctica. Frogs belong to a group of animals called
amphibians.
Bears whose brown fur is tipped with lighter-colored hairs are called grizzly bears . The smallest
species of bears is called sun or Malayan bears. Male bears are called boars. Bears are native to the
continents of North America, Asia, Europe, and South America. Alaskan brown bears, world's largest
meat-eating animals that live on land, can weigh as much as 1,700 pounds (771 kilograms)
No two zebras have stripes that are exactly alike. Zebras enemies include hyenas, wild dogs, and lions.
 Male zebras are called stallions. Zebras usually travel in herds.
There are more than 50 different kinds of kangaroos. Kangaroos are native of Australia. A group of
kangaroos is called a mob. Young kangaroos are called joeys.

Posted by Rajaniyer at 1:11 PM 0 comments

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 Sushma Joshi
Cheese
Gopi encountered cheese two years after he came down to
Kathmandu.

Prakash Babu was returning from Switzerland. That land of

miraculous clocks which always told the time in minute precision, not
like the few minutes late, few minutes early time of Nepal. That twin
land of mountains, that mirror image of peaks, but so much more
Westernized, so much more modern, than Nepal's own
mythologically burdened ones. Everybody was sure the mountains of
Switzerland must somehow be a little bit better, a little bit nicer, a
little bit more civilized, than their own poor, benighted country's.
Never mind if Nepal had the tallest ones in the world - who cared
about tall when there were more important things to think about, like
- view comments cleanliness and hygiene. Modernity and precision. Who cared about
tall when you could have the cleanest, most sanitized,
- view ratings most modern mountains in the world.
- printable version
Prakash brought back with him a suitcase full of gifts: cashmere
- iphone app sweaters, Italian leather shoes, quartz watches, wooden birds that
popped out of wooden houses and went "Cuckoo!", porcelain
- teaching materials figurines holding hoes and buckets in pink and gold. And stuffed into
some side pocket of the hard vinyl suitcase was the most important
- more stories by this author of them all - a grab-bag of airline goodies, embossed on the side
with the name of the airline. After all, how could one prove one had
- mark story for later flown an airline without one of those bags filled with mustard yellow
socks, black eye-strain masks, little plastic containers of orange
Share this:
marmalade, plastic spoons and knives, little mint candies? How
convince a country populated with disbelieving skeptics that those
 claims, indeed, were true? French chocolate was always good, a solid
chunk of bitter foreign material melting into your tongue and
signifying distance, travel, adventure, truth. But even chocolate,
these days, could be bought at some shop, and was no longer a
reliable indicator of long and distant travel. The only sure proof,
these days, wascheese.

The cheese sent the household in Mahaboudh into a minor furor,

and got the neighbors talking even before Prakash Babu arrived.
Share this: Sharmila, the recent married daughter-in-law, was so excited she
boasted haughtily to no one other than Fulmaya, the teashop lady:
"Prakash Babu wrote to us, telling us he'll bring some cheese.
Cheese from Switzerland, if you can imagine what that is like. But
how can Nepalis ever appreciate real cheese, when they haven't
even tasted any?" Fulmaya, never one to give up a good piece of
gossip, had told the entire neighborhood about the cheese by the
end of the morning. "Those Tiwaris will be talking about the cheese
- Surjyaland cheese, if you can imagine what that is like," she said,
imitating the recent bride's stuck-up tones, "for the next ten years."
- mark story for later The old woman who sat in the tiny butcher shop next door snorted.
- mark author as favorite "Yeh, Sanokanchi. Who the fuck does that fool of a girl think she is,
- mark story read anyway? And cheese - that family can stick it up their insides, for all
- mark story as favorite we care. After all, we're never going to see a piece of it, are we?
Huh, huh?"
- view ratings
- rate this story: < 2 >
|
So it was into a neighborhood bursting with rumors and
| | resentment that Gopi, the ten year old cousin who had been brought
down from the village to be the household help, stepped out to do
- view comments his daily chores. His responsibilities included:
- comment on this story
1. Carrying the copper tray for the old lady and trotting behind
- more stories by this author
her at the proper pace when she went out to do her morning prayers
at five am in the morning.

2. Bringing the wood, the coal, and the kindling so that the
daughter-in-law could light the fire.

3. Bringing water from the well to the fifth floor, where the
kitchen was located.

4. Cutting the vegetables, cleaning the rice, soaking the lentils,

shelling the peas and any other sundry time-consuming tasks that
arose in a kitchen with a mortar and pestle and precious little else.

5. Taking care of the younger children, attending to the nitpicky

demands of the older ones, and in general, being at the beck and call
of anybody else in the household of twenty-four people who felt like
taking a stab at him eighteen hours of the day.

6. Shutting up and not speaking, unless spoken to.

7. Taking the blame for everything that went wrong, including

acts of God, nature and genetic insanity.

8. Smiling and accept it all with a good grace. ("What did he think
this was, some kind of bureaucratic post, where he could sit around
and do nothing?").

Prakash Babu came back on one of those chilly winter mornings

when all Gopi wanted to do was curl up and go back to sleep again.
But the old woman wouldn't let him. "Gopi!!" she shouted, frantically
tucking her wool shawl around herself. "Go fetch a taxi! Go, go! It's
almost time for the plane to land." The plane was scheduled to come
in at ten in the morning, and it was only seven. A thick mist still hid
the milkman as he came by, clinking his milk cans, but Gopi was not
going to argue with Mami. The older sons lined the mossy courtyard
outside the house and chatted while their mother rushed to get
ready.

< 3 >

"Gopi!" The old woman shouted in irritation. "Why are the pots
not out here yet?"

"I'm bringing it, Mami," he called out. Mami, he called her.

Mother, just like her sons. They were much older than him, and he
was more the age of her grandchildren. But he still called her
"Mami", an artifice of the wealthy in Kathmandu to give the illusion
that their poor cousins were treated like family, not servants. Gopi
said "Mami" with the wryness of a ten year old who knows his own
place in the world, and who can barely wait to get out of it.

Gopi ran in with two copper pots full of water and put them on
either side of the wooden doors. He split some water by accident.
Oops. Well, if some brat from the house slipped and fell, he wouldn't
be too sorry about it.

"Now go get the taxi. Hurry, hurry, hurry!" said Mami, as she
busily sprinkled a little red vermilion and a few pink hibiscus on top
of the pot, a big welcome for her prodigal son.

Gopi opened the big, creaking tin gates, and ran down the narrow
lane. Taxis were not easy to flag down. Several taxi-drivers, their
back seats empty, drove by the frantically waving boy in his scruffy
shoes before one small, dented turquoise taxi finally slowed down
before him. "Where to, boss?" said the driver. He looked down at
Gopi's worn Chinese sneakers, then up at the shirt meant for a
grown man hanging on the ten year old body, and spat on the
ground.

"The airport," Gopi said. His voice was split between delight at
the thought that this arrogant taxi-driver would know he was going
to the airport, that exit-way into the heavens of foreign places, and
anxiety that the man would not put the meter on and charge him
double fare, making the old woman even more angry with him.

"Oh." The man's eyebrows went up in a friendly arch. "Is your

man coming from inside or outside?" he asked.

< 4 >

"Outside," said Gopi, nonchalantly staring out of the window.

"You'll put the meter on, dai?"

"Alright, alright. And where is he coming from?" asked the taxi

driver, checking Gopi's underfed silhouette once more in the
overhead mirror.

"Swizzilan."

Gopi swung the tin-gates open for the taxi, then waited for
everybody to pile in, including Mami, her three sons and two
grandchildren, before squeezing himself into the backseat. Mami,
who was generously proportioned, took up more than her fair share
of the seat.

"Switzerland!" said the youngest son, releasing the word like a

reverent mantra to his little daughter, perched on his knee. "Your
uncle's coming back from Switzerland." "What is he bringing us?"
Rukmini, her pigtails bouncing up and down, asked excitedly. "He
probably ate cowmeat all year long," grumbled the oldest brother
from the front seat. "I hope he doesn't bring any cowmeat with him."
"Hush, Babu! Don't say these things on this day," Mami admonished,
as she rifled in her plastic bag to make sure her marigold garlands
and her vermilion were in order.

Gopi loved coming to the airport. He loved to look inside the glass
windows that were so transparent he was afraid he would run into
them. He loved the smell that people brought with them, the odor of
tiredness that had steeped in the pressure of high altitude for hours.
And he loved the roar of the planes as they lifted their big bellies and
took off, their steel bodies lighter than the sky. He had heard the
noise of the planes for the first time a year ago when he had come
down to work at the house of his distant relatives in the Valley. The
sound was so loud it had made him run and hide behind the old
woman. Now he waited for it, loving it and dreading it with equal
fervor.

He ran his fingers through the dividers that cut a blood-red,

velvet line between the Nepalis and the foreigners. He licked the
glass as he watched the radar spin and control the magical landings
from the concrete rooftop of the Tribhuwan Airport.

< 5 >

Gopi followed the family out to the roof just in time to see the
Royal Nepal airplane circle the Valley, once, twice; an eagle with
steel wings missing the tips of the hills, miraculously. Then it landed.
Tiny people with tiny ladders ran around, opening the doors. He
craned his neck to see Prakash as he got out of the airplane. When
he spotted the long, lean body among the faceless crowd, he waved
and yelled as loudly as the others.

Prakash Babu came out, waving and smiling. He looked pale but
well-fed, that unaccountable look that accompanied people who
spent time in foreign countries. "Babu! You've become so thin!" said
the old lady as she fell over Prakash, garlanding him with marigold
flowers and smothering his forehead in vermilion tika. "Ama. Watch
out for my glasses," he said, as he tried to fend off the marigolds as
they suddenly pulled off his glasses and left him in a blurry,
unfocused void. The old woman loved her third son a lot, Gopi had to
say, as he watched the old lady tuck the glasses back on her son's
face. She never came to pick up any of her other sons in the airport
when they returned from traveling, which they frequently did in the
course of their jobs.

But Prakash had also gone away to a foreign country, crossing

the ocean. Unlike his brothers, who had only traveled across the
border to India, Prakash had gone to Europe. He had been chosen by
the government to be one of the Nepalis to go and study at
Lausanne's hotel management school in Switzerland. It was a big
honor. The country had recently opened its boundaries to the outside
world, letting in, for the first time, a small stream of foreigners. In
exchange, other countries had graciously offered their support,
including Switzerland, which had offered to show Nepalis the rules of
commercial hospitality. Tribhuwan airport had only recently been
built with a single runway, and cows still grazed around the tarmac
before and after the plane landed. It was a time of encounters: a
small stream of people poured in from either direction, bringing
stories of other worlds, other horizons, other ways of being.

< 6 >

Gopi, tussling with the heavy Samsonite suitcases, noticed that

they were papered with small tags and colorful stickers. Swiss Air,
Lufthansa, Air India, Royal Nepal. Gopi had no knowledge of English
or even his native alphabet, but he knew enough to know that these
were the names of the airlines that Prakash Babu had just flown
across the world on.

Back in the house, Prakash Babu waited until evening, when all of his
four brothers and their wives had come back from work to open up
his suitcases. Everybody converged in the old parents' room,
including Suntali, the seventy year old cook, and Lati, the woman
who washed the dishes in complete silence because she had never
learnt how to speak. The room was so crowded there was no room to
sit, so Gopi stood by the door and watched. Prakash sat on a bolster
in the middle of his parents' room and unpacked, telling them
stories. How the plane had been delayed, how his school had been
the most famous school in hospitality management, how his
professor had given him good marks.

Delay. Management. Professor. The foreign words filled the room

along with the smells and crisp colors from the newly opened
suitcases. Deliberately, he removed one gift after another from the
suitcase. Shiny watches, soft wraps, toys made with real machinery.
The gifts tumbled out, each one more enticing, more new, and more
unreal than the last object.

"A watch for you, father. The one you asked for," said Prakash.

The old man took a sip of his hot milk, and spat it out of the
window. "The milk is too hot," he said. His voice cut across the
crowded room with the everyday anger of domestic tyranny. The
elder daughter-in-law got up to take the glass. She handed it to Gopi
so that he could put it in a bowl of cold water. "What kind of watch?"

"A Rolex, Baba," said the older brother. He touched the links,
which were made of solid gold. It was just like the kind they
advertised inside the covers of Time magazine, featuring famous
tennis players and Olympic swimmers.

< 7 >

"A Rolex?" asked the old man. He took his spectacle case from
below his pillow, blew on the glasses to steam them up, then wiped
them with a little yellow cloth. Then he put them on his nose and
inspected the watch. There was a minute of silence as the family
watched the old man.

"First class," he finally pronounced. Prakash looked relieved. It

was hard to please his father.

The old man took a long, gurgling pull at his hookah. "But the
links are not twenty four karat," he said.

"It's still gold," said the older brother, hastily trying to smooth
over the old man's discontent.

"Not real gold." The old man took a long, slow sip of milk. "The
milk is too cold."

The oldest daughter-in-law, silent, picked up the steel glass and

gave it to Gopi so he could heat it up again.

Prakash had brought a cashmere stole for his mother. The old lady
felt the wool, sighed, opened her metal safe with the bunch of keys
that hung at her waist, and deposited the cashmere shawl into it.
"It's beautiful, babu. It's beautiful," she assured him, in the tone of
someone who had given up delighting in small things, and yet still
keeps up the pretense. Almost as an afterthought, she pushed her
hand deeper into the safe and emerged with a packet of crystallized
sugar for the children.

But the children, today, could not be distracted by the mundane

sweetness of ordinary treasure. They sat transfixed over unknown,
but undoubtedly more important things. There were less flashy but
still authentic Swiss watches for the brothers. There was a red and
brown toy train that went choo-choo and moved around on little
tracks for Prakash's only son. The train, which was eight feet long,
had real windows and benches inside, and a steering wheel in the
engine cabin in the front. The boy sat in awe as his father handed
him the enormous toy.

< 8 >

There were woolen wraps in elegant grey and taupe colors for his
sisters-in-law. The women took the wraps and put them on their laps
demurely. The grey and green were not particularly beautiful, but
there was something in their very dullness that signaled the
indefinable stamp of authentic foreignness. The women would wear
them proudly, not because the colors made them look good - they
didn't - but because they knew everybody would know at once that
they had the status of obviously exported items. Later, they would
talk at length about the terrible quality, and Prakash Babu's
cheapness, and how they were sure he got his own wife a golden
chain that he was not showing to the other members of the family.
But right now there was no room for complaints. People took what
they were given and made sure to look satisfied.

It seemed that the shiny, plastic wrapped packages were coming

to an end. The girls were swallowing their disappointment when their
uncle delved in his bag once more and came up with five bars of gold
and red wrapped chocolate, which he gave to the eldest girl.

"Chocolate," he said. The eldest girl, Rita accepted the bars

importantly, glaring at the others in case they tried to grab them out
of her hands.

"I want the wrapper," Rukmini said, as she tried to take a bar
away from her sister's hand. The wrapper glittered with the silver
Alps in the background.

Rita held the bar above her head. "You can have the foil."

"I want the foil!" said Roshana, the youngest.

"We'll split it in three," Rita said as she carefully divided the

golden foil into three pieces and handed a piece each to her sisters.
The girls folded their little squares of gold for later use and put them
inside the pages of their textbooks for maximum safety.

Rita broke off the pieces of chocolate and handed them out. Gopi
watched in horrified fascination as brown sludge oozed out of the
children's mouths. Suntali, the old cook, put her square into her
mouth, squeezed her face like a dry lemon, and ran to spit it out.

< 9 >

"Give some to Gopi," Mami reminded. Gopi, ten years old and
hungry for experiences, could not wait until they handed him,
grudgingly, his little square of chocolate. Gopi unwrapped the foil, a
shiny, crinkly, golden treasure. It folded up in a neat square, the
wrinkles miraculously disappearing as he pressed down on it. He
popped the chocolate in his mouth. A faint smell, like that of alcohol,
quickly gave way to a thick, bitter sludge on his own tongue.

The taste was so unexpected he wanted to run and spit it out. He

looked around. The girls were ecstatic, munching delightedly on the
bars and loving it. It would be humiliating if he were the only one
among the children to spit it out. He controlled the urge, closed his
eyes, did not breathe, and swallowed. He knew the girls would laugh
at him if they saw him acting like the old cook. The girls wanted
more, but the chocolate had disappeared. They would have to wait
for a few months, or a few years, before some relative went away
again on a foreign tour.

It seemed that the suitcase had finally emptied. There were no

more gifts to be had. Gopi, his taste buds still spinning from some
unknown bitterness, felt the dissatisfaction at the bottom of his
stomach. Was that all there was to this bounty? What else existed
beyond the hard and crisp edges of machine manufactured objects?
Why did it feel like the guarantee of an unknown haven had fallen
flat on its gold-wrapped promise? He felt the hunger of unfulfilled
desires echoing in the hollow depth of his stomach.

There should be something more than this, he thought, as he

watching the empty suitcase's lid come down with a slap.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Prakash Babu, taking out a white,

silver wrapped package carefully from a pouch on the side. "Here's
cheese."

"Chij!" said the children. Their eyes reflected their longing.

Prakash had brought a box of cheese with him last time he came
from Switzerland, and the children had tasted it. They had talked
about it reverently ever since, dropping the word "chij" in their
conversation casually, mysteriously. Gopi, in his ignorance, had been
baffled why they kept on referring to that "thing" they had eaten. In
Nepali, "chij" means, simply - a thing. How was Gopi to know that
the "chij" of the children's conversation was a thing of monumental
importance. A thing that was almost ambrosia, almost the food of
the gods, only found in faraway spaces. The humble thing-i-ness of
the word suddenly traveled to the exotic underworld of the senses
and came up packaged in silver foil and cardboard, smelling faintly of
time zones and jetlag, coated with the grime of airport lobbies and
the sanitized crackle of guilders. The word, suddenly, had status.
 < 10 >

Now they eyed the package hungrily as their uncle took it out.
They wanted their piece, but they knew they might not get it. There
were twenty-six people gathered in that room. Prakash Babu handed
over the precious cargo to his mother, relinquishing the responsibility
of dividing it. The old lady asked for a knife, and when it was brought
to her, cut the small, round white cake in uneven little pieces. The
men got the biggest portions. The children got the second biggest.
They stuffed the pieces in their mouths hungrily. The white pieces
melted like butter in their mouth, gone in a second.

"No, its alright" said the eldest daughter-in-law, when the old
lady handed her a piece. The daughters-in-law were ruled by the
guidelines of modesty, and could not accept any delicacies. The old
lady, who was a devout Brahmin with a strict regimen of dietary
taboos, would not eat anything that had been prepared, and
therefore polluted, by the taint of the outside world. Tomatoes,
onions and garlic were on her list of forbidden foods. She also
avoided using glass, since one never knew the status of its profanity.
Cheese, therefore, was unacceptable to her on three grounds - one
for its public origins, second for its preparation by unknown hands,
and third for its association with the dirty act of fermentation.

"Gopi, get me a plate, will you?" said the old lady. Gopi, in a
torment of anticipation, ran straight down to the kitchen, grabbed
the plate, and was back in a minute. He became hopeful. There were
a lot of little white wedges in the plate in front of the old woman.
Maybe he would get to taste that thing the children constantly talked
about.

A moment later, the cheese was almost gone. On the plate lay
one single slice of white cheese. Gopi could not bear it. All the
children were munching contentedly. What did it taste like? What
was so good about it?

Gopi held his breath. Everybody had had a share, even the old
cook, who again spit out her share with the same agonized look on
her face. Would Mami give him the last wedge?

< 11 >

"Mami. Can I have the last one?" said Roshana. Roshana, the
youngest one, sitting demurely and avoiding, for once, her incessant
picking of the scabs of her skinned knee. The one who he towed
around in a bicycle and played badminton with all day long. The
greedy monkey. She knew Gopi was standing right there by the
door. She knew he hadn't had a piece. But what could he do? He
couldn't ask for it in the same way she could.

"Don't eat too much," said her grandmother absently, handing

the last wedge over. Gopi felt the disappointment sinking through his
body like a small stone as the little girl shoved the cheese into her
mouth triumphantly. Kookurni. She knew he had been waiting with
longing all evening long. She knew it, and yet she had ignored him
like he wasn't even present in the room. Like he didn't exist.

Gopi could not forget the idea of cheese from that moment on. He
desired it so much it become a constant longing in his mind, one that
accompanied him in his waking and dreaming moments.

That night, he dreamt about cheese. Huge white circles of cheese

with giant holes in them hung from his ceiling. His body twitched
restlessly as he climbed up the cheese, using the holes as foot-holes,
until he got to the top. Then he put his small teeth down and started
nibbling his way down, but wait - all the holes were collapsing, and
there was no way to climb down. He was like Kalidas, who had cut
off the branch he was sitting on and realized too late that he was
falling off the tree. The next day, as he sweated in the small plot of
land hoeing and planting cauliflower and soybeans, he thought
longingly about the soft whiteness in his mouth.

He thought about it for so long, and so much, he knew eventually

there was nothing for him to do but get a piece of it. There was only
one minor problem - it was so expensive even the rich families did
not eat it. Even if I save all the coins that fall into my hand, I won't
be able to buy a hundred grams of cheese by the time I die, he
thought in despair. The old woman gave him five rupees a month,
along with dal-bhatt, lodging and her sons' old clothes in exchange
for his labor. The five rupees, which turned to ten, twenty, fifty,
hundred, two hundred, and then five hundred over the next ten
years, was swallowed up for the daily sustenance of his big family
back in the village, from the mustard oil and salt of the daily meals
to the tobacco that packed his grandfather's hookah.

< 12 >

A week after he came down from his village to work in the city,
he had discovered the existence of Nepal Diary, an institution that
provided the milk to the households of Kathmandu. "Remember the
old days when cows were still roaming the streets? The milk was so
fresh then," the old folks reminisced, forgetting that the cows, in all
likelihood, ate street garbage and provided milk that tasted of their
urban diet. In their memories, the cows, the milk, and the extended,
joint families took on the hazy glow of nostalgia. Those were the
day, bygone, heavenly days when one did not have to drink milk
from a bottle. Ah, those were the days. Nobody quite knew where
the dairy milk came from, but there were long, dark speculations
about its impurities, its dreaded composition, and its strange bluish
color.

One of the exotic items that the famous Dairy stocked, along with
ice cream, was cheese. Prakash Babu had taken Gopi there once,
and had bought him a cone of ice cream. His mouth had almost
frozen from the shock of the cold, and the sugar had eaten away at
his rotting tooth and given him a piercing moment of pain. A tear
had squeezed out of one eye involuntarily with the pain of it all, but
he had smiled and said that he liked it. But he still had not tasted
cheese.

It took Gopi twenty years to realize his dream. Twenty years, during
which he grew older, got married, grew a beard, acquired a strange
tic in his speaking pattern, fiercely guarded his ambiguity toward
politics, built a house, cremated his father, and reevaluated his
revulsion toward that slimy vegetable known as okra. Throughout
this period, he also watched an endless stream of relatives fly in and
out of Nepal. His nephews and nieces, whom he had helped to put
through school, themselves returned from foreign lands with
suitcases full of gifts. But his responsibilities, which seemed to grow
with each year, were still so binding he could not spare thirty rupees
to buy anything other than bare necessities. The desire for cheese
turned into a deferred dream, slowly maturing in his mind, year by
year. It was almost twenty years after Prakash Babu came from
Switzerland before Gopi, who had finally snagged a much coveted
job at a hotel, found enough extra money to fulfill his desire. In a
bright blue day covered with the purple bruises of jacaranda flowers,
Gopi got on his old Chinese bike and cycled toward the city. "I'm
going to buy some chij today," he told the old cook as he clanged his
way out of the shiny new corrugated tin gate.

< 13 >

"Why do you want to spend money on that demonic food? It

smells like rot and tastes like vomit." The old cook was too old to
mince her words, but Gopi was not going to let her deter him from
his mission.

"I've been waiting for this for almost twenty years, Didi," he
confided. "I am not going to stop now."

Lainchowr was almost twenty minutes away. The sun shone down
fiercely, but Gopi was so happy to feel the scratchiness of the notes
in his chest pocket he sang a family planning jingle all the way to the
grilled gates of the Dairy.

Big carts full of bottled milk stood outside in the yard. The whole
place smelt of milk slowly turning sour, laced with the heavy rancid
odor of old fat. The old world speculations of the impurity of Dairy
milk had finally crystallized into fact when the news had finally
broken in the newspapers. Gopi had been sitting in front of the
television when he heard the news.

The Nepal dairy milk was irradiated with the unknown, almost
incomprehensible toxic accident of Chernobyl. Poland, desperate to
get rid of its old stock of milk powder, had dumped it on the market
of the Third World. A year after the news of the accident had swept
the television sets of the world, the citizens of Kathmandu, getting
up in the morning to drink their tea and standing on street corners
reading newspapers, felt a shock as they realized that fallout was
still happening in the "Third World", and that the Third World was
them. The news had suddenly become their lives, their stories. It
was all a bit unsettling.

The placid, smiling façade of the citizens of Nepal broke, for one
brief moment, as they rebelled against this most intimate and
intrusive radiation that was entering their bones and their blood. For
a brief week, middle class households all over Kathmandu refused to
buy milk from the Nepal Dairy Corporation. The bottles piled up
outside the yard in Lainchowr, and finally, the chairman, in
desperation, came on television and drank an entire bottle of milk
straight out of the mouth. He waved the bottled and yelled at the
screen: "Look at me! I am drinking this milk! This is the milk that my
children are drinking every day!!"

< 14 >

People had been impressed. Not by his lies, or his various claims
and assurances his family was drinking Dairy milk. Of course
everybody knew that a smart man like him was doing no such thing,
and that anybody with a bit of sense, and a bit of money, was buying
powdered milk from Australia. No, the people were impressed by the
audacity of his performance, the sheer brilliant oratory which was
going to force an entire nation to drink irradiated milk, simply
because the people in the Corporation had received a generous
kickback from the Polish companies. The audacity was delicious.
People knew they were being exposed to cancerous substances. At
the same time, they had to admire the passion, the drama, the
theatre of the absurd. They had to admire the political convictions of
leaders, who talked so convincingly and so sincerely and who
believed their own stories so much they made their dissenters doubt
their own knowledge. So a week after the big commotion, people,
having voiced their objections and gotten political protest out of the
way, once again went back to the business of living and lined up
outside the Dairy to get their daily bottle of slightly bluish milk.

Gopi, who could not be bothered about the futuristic possibilities

of irradiated milk, locked his bicycle and walked up to the queue that
stretched around the yard to the grilled window. People were lined
up to buy their daily rations. The queue, sweating and dusty,
shuffled slowly toward the grille. The sweat trickled down his face as
he waited. After twenty minutes, his turn finally came.

"Chij, Sauji," said Gopi.

The man, the edges of his blue cotton cuffs lined with black
grime, looked him up and down with impatience.

"How much?" he asked. He was a busy man. He did not like small
orders.

"Thirty rupees," blurted Gopi.

The man took down a big yellow round of cheese from a shelf
above him. Gopi, watching him anxiously, got worried. The cheese,
in the dim filtered light, looked yellow. The other cheese had been
white. As the man sliced a piece, Gopi asked hesitantly: "Isn't cheese
supposed to be white?"

< 15 >

"Yes, well, if you are used to getting yours from Switzerland,"

said the man with nasty humor. "Here we have either Dairy or yak
cheese. Which one do you want?"

Yak was an animal that was relatively familiar and yet unknown.
For a hill-born and bred man like Gopi, the thought of yak became
tainted with dangerous, unknown taboos.

"I'll take the Dairy cheese," he answered hesitantly.

The man, exasperated with the slow decision, sliced a swift slice,
scraped off the edges, and then wrapped the rest in a piece of
newspaper.

"What else?" He said, as he handed over the cheese.

"This is enough," said Gopi, his voice reflecting dread as he

handed over his hoard of crisp bank-notes. He could not wait to put
it in his mouth. At the same time, now that the thing was in his
hand, he was afraid to find out. What if it did not come up to his
expectations?

The yard was crowded with people fighting to get to the front of
the line before the bottles ran out, which they frequently did. Gopi
walked outside, clutching his precious cheese in one hand, towing his
bike with another. A mangy dog came loping up as he came outside,
putting a warm, wet muzzle toward his plastic bag. "Ja! Ja!" Gopi
yelled at the animal. The dog, sensing an imminent beating, loped
away mournfully into the distance.

Gopi propped his bike on the wall that surrounded the Royal
Palace, and pulled himself up on a low ledge. He slowly unwrapped
the precious package. Inside was a big triangle of off-white chij. He
picked it up on one edge, and slowly carried it toward his mouth. It
smelt faintly repulsive, but Gopi wasn't going to let a smell stop him
from tasting this thing now.

He bit into it. His teeth went through, softly, satisfyingly. He felt
his saliva swirl around it. A slight taste now, of some moldy, sweaty,
fungi-like thing in his mouth. He chewed some more, but the taste
started to get worse, more intense, moving from fungi to
decomposing milkfat, from decomposing milkfat to dirty laundry,
from dirty laundry to some existential hollow, vomit-inducing thing in
his mouth. In horror, he swallowed.

< 16 >
 The swallowing was a gag reaction in the wrong direction. As
soon as he swallowed, his body reacted, and his stomach reacted,
and he started gagging and retching by the walls of the Royal Palace.
He retched, and he retched, until all the cheese finally came out of
him. He wiped his mouth of the yellow slime. He looked around in
shame to see nobody had seen him throwing up. Gopi had eaten the
thing, but it felt almost as if it wasn't him who had eaten it - it had
eaten him. All the longings at the hollow of his stomach had
disgorged with the yellow slime. He slowly wiped his forehead, tied a
small scarf around his neck, and cycled his way back to the house.

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