DESIRE STORMS

                                                                         

Despite the amazing scientific and technological advancements and the comforts and ease of living, man has no peace of mind. Society has lost its moorings and morality and ethics have dived downwards to the extreme! Man has totally drowned himself in stark materialism and become the worshipper of Mammon! He has controlled everything on Earth, has every knowledge on the tip of his fingers! He gloats over his achievements in physical, chemical and natural sciences. He has established his stamp and right in space. He is even contemplating to settle there with a number of people! These things may appear astounding on the face of it. But the tragedy is that while controlling everything, he has lost control over himself and the capacity to remain happy and peaceful! He is tensed all through his life! He is capable of destroying his enemies and even annihilating the entire universe! What is the reason for this pathetic state of man? He is incapable of suppressing or at least keeping in check the six dreadful enemies that are embedded and deep rooted even from his birth. These enemies, the very cause of all sufferings and troubles of man are called “ Arishadvargas.” A band of enemies. It is as if God has thrown up a challenge to humanity to see if anyone can take up the challenge. Invariably man fails in his attempts to  win over or have a check on these formidable and invincible adversaries.
The first enemy is Kama or desire. Desire can be for something good or bad. But materialistic man chooses only the bad under illusion. If the choice is for the good, he is elevated. Otherwise he is doomed. Desire for God makes him spiritual and devoted but wish for material benefits plunges him into misery and struggle! In his ignorance he opts for silly and transient things in life. The word Kama denotes another bad thing viz lust! Unfortunately man becomes a victim of this very often. Even sages, saints and great people have ruined themselves on account of this base quality. Sage Viswamitra fell for the bewitching beauty of the heavenly damsel Menaka! Losing all his power of penance he had to start from  scratch! Ravana, king of Lanka is another classic example of one destroyed by lust. He was a great devotee of Siva, could please the Lord with his Samagana! He could even shake Kailash, the abode of the Lord! But of what use? His lust for women sealed his fate. It is said that he abused every woman he saw including the 'apsarasas'- heavily women! He incurred curses from all of them and finally that brought about his downfall! Kama or desire is a storm that can blow you away if you do not choose wisely and properly!
“ Desire is storm, greed whirlpool, pride is precipice, attachment is avalanche and ego is volcano. Discard these, and you will be liberated.” Counsels Bhagawan Sri Sri Satya Sai Baba. Easier said than done! Since generations or yugas mankind is known to have failed miserably in following the wise counsels of our ancestors and sages. ‘Pride goeth before a fall.' History is full of individuals undone by pride and arrogance. It was Adi Sankara who said, “ma kuru dhana Jana yauvana garvam harati nimeshat Kalam sarvam”-Do not be proud of your riches, people, and youth for Time kills them in a minute! The great king Nahusha performed a hundred “ Aswamedha Yagas” and qualified himself for becoming Indra, the king of Heaven! He was being borne on the palanquin by the great seven sages as was the custom. In his pride, arrogance and ego he prodded one of the Maharshis with his foot saying “ Sarpa, sarpa.” and directed them to move quickly. The sage, growing furious at the humiliation, cursed Nahusha to become a snake immediately! The word ‘sarpa' means a snake! Thus the dream of Nahusha to occupy the throne was shattered to pieces and he fell from the precipice!
 Attachment is otherwise called “mamakara” the obsession for one's kith and kin and wealth. It is impossible for man to take these things with him when he leaves the world. But his attachment to them is so great that he cannot reconcile himself to leave them! Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to get rid of this mamakara for the Kauravas and his teachers Bhishma, Drona and Kripacharya! Seeing them on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna vacillates and has second thoughts on killing them. He even drops down his Gandiva and the quiver of arrows and tells the Lord that he would rather become a sanyasi! He would not like to have a bloody meal and enjoy the kingdom! Attachment is like a huge stone tied to your neck that brings you down irrespective of your wish. A businessman was on his death bed. All his relations were around him. “Where is my first son?” he asked. He was shown. “Where are my second and third sons and my wife?” he questioned. They were all shown to him. He exclaimed in one gasp, “ If all of them are here, who is going to look after the shop and business?” and breathed his last! Such is the attachment for mundane things! It is a herculean task to get detachment. Like an avalanche,  attachment or 'mamakara' buries you under it never to see the light of the day!
Ego or “ Ahankara” is like a volcano that erupts and destroys itself and the others nearby! It is the sense of “ I”. It corresponds to the quality of arrogance also. The person thinks that he is great and all others are inferior to him. He looks down on all others around him. He feels that his word is absolute and does not care for the opinion of others. We can call ego or arrogance and extreme  form of pride that doesn’t  tolerate other 's feelings or opinion! It is the opposite of humility that is the quality of an ideal person. Ego arises out of power, position, and wealth! The person feels that none is equal to him in these fields. He doesn’t understand that there may be persons better and greater than him! Ravana was puffed by his ego and thought there was none to beat him. But poor Ravana was given a dressing down by the Vanara chieftain Vali long before Sri Rama killed him! Similarly, the ego of Vali was demolished by Sri Rama when he killed him and made Sugriva, his brother, the king of Kishkinda. Greed is the whirlpool that swallows up anyone that comes to its proximity. Kauravas are the best illustrations. The greed for kingdom, for Dhritarashtra, was so overpowering that he never prevented his son Duryodhana from his evil intentions and deeds! The word “Dhritarashtra” means one who has a firm grip over the nation. At last, the clan of Kauravas was decimated as covetousness and greed dominated them! Let us be guarded against these invincible inner enemies! As far as possible, let us try to avoid or keep them under control and live a happy and contented life!!