Tryst with destiny

On the eve of India's independence our first Prime minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru gave his famous speech ' Tryst with destiny '. Addressing the members of constituent Assembly he asked them to work hard selflessly to build new India which was getting freedom from many years of bondage. It was like a new beginning. A new young and hopeful nation was rising on the horizon. 

When I read this famous speech I feel a sense of elation and responsibility towards nation building. This speech is very relevant even today.

Let us discuss its relevance.

India is emerging as a young and energetic nation. A large number of its citizens are below 35 years of age making it a young nation. The whole world is looking at us with anticipation. Now it is our duty to take India to such heights where every nation look us as an ideal for them. Now the time has come to leave behind our old image of a corrupt, polluted and lethargic nation and create an image of honest, clean and enthusiastic nation. 
But that is possible only when all the marginalised persons will be brought to mainstream of society. All the backward classes of India must be given a chance to grow. If this is not done then the the gap which is created by the unequal distribution of opportunities will tear the nation in two parts. Therefore it is essential that everybody should get a fair chance to make progress. It is the responsibility of all Indians to help each other and create a perfect society.

This great nation has witnessed many ups and downs during her centuries old history. But India has never given up her quest for spirituality. Never forgotten her ideals which were the source of strength. Which helped her to sustain lean periods and to remain steadfast in her golden phases. Now we must try to carry all those values and ideals with us in the arduous journey of taking this nation on the path of progress. 

Our unity and integrity will play an important role in the success of this motive. We need to rise above boundaries of religion, cast, state and language and come together as a nation heading forward to achieve common goal.

Non violence which was basis of our struggle for freedom should not be left behind. Non violence is not just refraining ourselves from hurting others in physical term but try not to hurt anyone with harsh words. Now in this age of social media many people hurl obscenity and ill words on others. It is very easy to criticize others. But unreasonable criticism creates differences between various sections of society. Therefore destructive criticism should be avoided. An environment of cooperation should be developed where everyone takes responsibility in nation building. With rights come duties. Growth of a nation depends on how much  its citizens are aware of their duties. 

This is the age of globalization. The whole world is becoming one large family. The growth of one depends on the growth of other. Instead of being competitor we all try to be associates of each other.
In this scenario we try to make a balance. Retaining our cultural values we should try to broaden our horizon so we can accept new ethics of this changing world.

Now we have a responsibility to paint a vibrant and new picture of our nation. We all should strive to get this goal.

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/wellness/tryst-with-destiny?track=cntshem

Blessings of your life

What is blessing. Is it getting what we asked. Is it possessing what we desired or it is leading a happy life with all comforts.  

All these are blessings indeed but true blessings are more than these.

For a child a set of loving and caring parents is a blessing. Having parents who not only love but also guide one  through confusion is biggest blessing.

The friends who stay with us when things are really tough are blessings in human form. Friends who don't hesitate to tell truth for your good no matter how harsh the truth is are most valuable treasure. 

Your siblings who stand with you in crisis and give you strength to fight are precious gift of God.
Your neighbours, your colleagues, your boss and all other persons who help you, encourage you are like pleasant surprises. 

These are all blessings of external world but many precarious gifts are stored within you.

Feeling of love. This not only gives you a sense of fulfillment but it brings others closer to you. It creates a bonding with people around you. With love you can conquer many without raising arms.  

A smile on your face can enhance your charm. A little smile can create the atmosphere of friendlies and connects you even to a stranger. Smile comes from within. Only a person with pure heart and open mind can smile like this.

Intelligence is a great blessing. Outcome of intelligence is knowledge. Knowledge helps you to understand your surroundings. Intelligence helps you to take decisions in life which play an important role in your progress. You can tell right from wrong. 

Self-confidence which helps you to face adversities of life. Without it nothing is possible. All achievements of mankind are result of self-confidence. It provides you a fighting spirit. So you don't succumbs before difficulties. It gives you willpower to do tasks which seem impossible to perform. 

Patience is very powerful virtue. When nothing seems to be in your favour patience gives you strength not to give up. It gives you hope that everything will be fine. It helps you to continue with your efforts. An impatient person very easily gets frustrated. Frustration can take you no where. In the end your patience wins.

Virtue of contentment makes  you happy. Happiness is in satisfaction. If you feel satisfied with whatever you have only then you can enjoy your possessions. If you always desire for more you can never enjoy what you have and feel happy. You must understand that all your desires can not be fulfilled. So learn to be contended.

Faith is strong belief which is unflinching. Faith in humanity, in goodness above all in Divine power gives us strength to move on. A man without faith loses hope easily. But person with faith can survive adversities without giving up. 

These are all blessings. Other than these anything which gives you positivity, strength and happiness is a blessing.


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Maintain a balance

There are four purusharth or goals of human life according to Vedic philosophy. These are


Dharma ( Righteousness )


Arth ( Wealth and prosperity )


Kaam ( Worldly desires )


Moksha ( Liberation )


One has to obtain all four in his life. The motive to achieve these four goals is create a balance in life. Only an enlightened one can lead a life focusing only on single aspect of Moksha. But for ordinary persons it is necessary to maintain a balance in all four. First we need to understand these four goals.


Dharma is power of discrimination. What should be done ( Vidhi ) and should not be done ( Nishedh ). Dharma is also duty. Duty towards one's family, towards society, towards country and also his religious duty. 
To achieve this goal one should develop understanding of right and wrong. He should perform all his duties sincerely without any complaint. 


Arth Is getting wealth and prosperity. As a human beings we have some basic needs to be fulfilled. We have to maintain our family. For the benefit of society and country we have to pay taxes. For all these purposes we need money. 
To lead a comfortable happy life we accumulate wealth. Earning money or creating wealth is not bad. But this should be done within limits of Dharma. Money should be earned through right ways. While creating wealth one should not steal what belongs to others. One should not ignore his duties in order to earn money. 


Kaam are material and physical desires. No one is free from desires. Desires have power to control us. No one can subdue desires completely. It is better to fulfill them. 
Can all desires be satisfied. No because if one desire is fulfilled the another desire takes its place. Then what is the solution. Fulfilling the desires does not mean that one should surrender himself before them. One should try to develop a wisdom to draw a line and try his best not to cross it. Right conduct  (Dharma) gives us power to develop this wisdom.


Carnal desire is above all desires. It is really hard to control it. It is also related to reproduction. For progeny it is to be satisfied. To control this desire and maintain a discipline Institution of marriage is established. This institution is basis of society. When a man and a woman enter into this institution as husband and wife they lay foundation of smallest unit of society called Family. 

An householder is in a position to get all the three above mentioned goals.

Moksha is liberation. Liberation from repeated birth. But that is final. But what is Moksha before this. This is freeing yourself from all attachments. Surrendering yourself completely on God with all your successes and failures. Accepting without complaint whatever comes to you. 
When you leave everything to God and detach yourself from everything you feel liberated. 

Life is not one sided affair. It is multidimansional thing. Maintaining balance in all of its affairs is life. 

Attaining these four goals is possible only when you don't deviate from center point where you are balanced. And the balanced life is happy life.

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Power of encouragement

Do you remember the episode in epic Ramayana where the army of monkeys led by Angada and Hanuman were sitting on sea shore frustrated as they couldn't find Sita. They were thinking to end their lives. Then Sampati brother of Jatayu informed them that with the help of his powerful sight he could see Sita sitting in Ashok Vatika in Beautiful city Lanka across the ocean. This news made monkeys happy. But soon a new problem arose before them. Who will cross this vast ocean and meet Sita.


No one had the courage to do this difficult task. Even brave and intelligent Hanuman had no clue how that job could be done. 


The wise Jambvan looked at Hanuman who was sitting apart silently. He admiringly told him " Son of Vayu you are the one who can do this job. You are skilled in all branches of knowledge. In strength and splendor you can surpass  all brave warriors. You are equal to Vali and Sugriva. Like Garuda the carrier of Lord Vishnu you can cross this vastness. Once when you were a child you tried to swallow sun considering it a fruit. Indra being concerned about sun's safety hurled his thunderbolt at you. Struck by it you fell on mountain and broke your jaw. This gave you name Hanuman. Remember your prowess and intelligence. No one else can do this. O' son of Anjana don't sit idle. Get up and cross this ocean in one leap. " The wise Jambvan praised  Hanuman and reminded him his strength and roused his dormant courage.

After hearing these encouraging words Hanuman got up and started to swell in form. The radiance of his body filled all the monkeys with joy and hope. Determined to do Sri Ram's job he climbed the Mahendra hill. Standing on the hill he directed his mind towards Lanka and roared with confidence. With a resolute mind he prayed Gods in heaven. He pressed his foot hard against earth and took a giant leap. He crossed ocean avoiding all distractions and reached Lanka. There he met Sita and set the Lanka on fire to teach Ravana a lesson.


The encouragement of Jambvan played an important role in Hanuman's success. No doubt Hanuman was very intelligent and powerful. But he was not so sure. He had doubts about his prowess. 
The words of praise spoken by Jambvan removed all confusion and instilled confidence in him. This shows power of encouragement. 

Sometime we need someone to tell what is hidden inside us.

" Everyone has inside them a piece of good news is you don't know how great can you be. How much you can love. What you can accomplish. And what your potential is. "
Anne Frank

Words are very powerful. One should take care in their use. Harsh and insulting words not only hurt someone but can bring the moral of person down. While sweet and encouraging words can fill a person with indomitable self-confidence.

Everybody has some quality in him. With a little encouragement this quality can be brought out. One should try to speak in such a manner that his words can help a person to improve. But try not to speak words which demoralize a person.


Always speak encouraging words.

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” 
 Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Into that heaven

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's poem 'Where the mind is without fear' is 35th poem of his famous work Geetanjali.

In this poem which is titled as 'Prarthana' the writer prays to God to lead his country into the perfect land where everyone can live in peace and harmony.

Gududev Tagore wrote this poem when India was struggling to get freedom from British rule. This poem inspired many freedom fighters who were ready to sacrifice everything for this noble cause.

Now India is a free country. After 67 years of its independence it is a matter of contemplation whether the prayer is answered or not.

The poem not only has political meaning but also has Spiritual aspect.

I will try to understand and explain these lines within my capacity.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Fear is the cause of many evils. Being fearless we can overcome all our shortcomings. While describing Divine qualities in Bhagvad Geeta Lord Sri Krishna mentioned fearlessness as prime quality. A man who is fearless lives in confidence with his head held high. As he does not has fear he listens to his heart and do what is right. He does not worry about how people will judge his actions but opts to do what is right. A fearless man is liberated in true sense. So he lives with dignity.

Considering the present time we are living in state of fear. A fear of how we are going to be judged by others, the fear of losing what we possess, fear of staining our image. Most of our decisions are taken not because we feel so but because they are acceptable by others. We even fear to take responsibility of our own decisions. This fear gives birth to worries. We want someone who can free us from these worries. Try to find a guide who can lead us out of confusion. But most of the time we find ourselves deceived by people who claim to mitigate our sorrows. This happens because we leave everything to them in blind faith.

Fear is due to darkness. In darkness one can't see properly. This creates confusion. Confusion gives birth to fear.

The darkness is absence of knowledge. Knowledge comes through education. A society where everyone has a fair chance to educate himself can remove the darkness. Where knowledge is free means that everyone is given an equal right for education. But one has to strive to get knowledge.

Knowledge is not mere set of various informations but it is wisdom to tell right from wrong. Colleges and other educational institutions can't provide this wisdom. The college education can help us only to some extent but we have to develop it by our own intelligence.

In this age of internet it is easy to get information about this world. Whatever we want to know can be make available by few clicks. Still there is so much  misunderstanding.

Due to this misunderstanding so many feuds take place.

Why we can't understand each other properly. Because we have divided the society in small sections. We are living in our self-created cells like prisoners and don't want to see outside the walls of our prison. This division creates distrust among people and we try to maintain a distance with other sections of society. Our ego strengthens this division. One section of society  consider itself superior to other sections of society. When one section of society Considers other sections of society inferior to it then a feeling of disliking for others arises which gradually turns into hatred. This hatred gives birth to struggle among all sections.

Words are powerful. What we speak affects others. So the care must be taken while we speak. Try to be honest. Don't promise anything if you can't fulfill your words. If you fail to do what you have promised you lose your credibility.

In present time most of us hardly care for what we say. Our deeds don't match with our words. That is why there is lack of trust for each other.

If you are a leader or an ideal for others then your responsibility is more than others to set an example. But most of the time these role models fail to do so. As others are looking at them for guidance they are mislead.

Its true that no one is perfect but one must strive for perfection. There are many flaws in society but only through are efforts we can get rid off them. Instead of complaining one must do what is in his capacity.

As Swami Vivekananda said
" Arise awake and stop not till the goal is achieved. "

Perfection comes with open mind. When you are not bound by rituals and practices which have lost their relevance. When before doing something you ask yourself why I should do this. Is doing so will help me or society to make progress.

But most of the time we follow those rituals which have no meaning in present time. We just follow them without any questioning with a simple reason that everyone is doing this or it is been  practiced for a long time.

We must try to widen our outlook and all our actions should be done with the aim of self-progress.

The prayer is not yet answered  because without our own efforts nothing can be achieved.
Everybody wants a change in  society but one must remember that to bring change one needs to change himself.

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Move forward

What is the motive of your life. Have you ever considered about this question. The purpose of your life is to grow. It doesn't matter what is your condition. Whether you are rich or poor. Physically strong or weak. It is your duty to move forward. Don't surrender before hardships.

You are born as a human being. The purpose of it is to make progress.

If there is no struggle there will be no progress.
Frederic Doughlas

To make progress one has to struggle. Without facing the challenges which are thrown by life you can not move forward. Struggle makes you strong to face the hardships of life.

Even a person who surrenders before hardships has to struggle. But his struggle never takes him ahead instead it pulls him down.

But if a person is ready to bear all hardships and struggles to come out of them can make progress.

Nature has given you many valuable gifts. You have a power of Discrimination. You can easily understand what is good for you and what is harmful. You have power to think which can help you to take necessary step to bring desired change in your life. You have power to judge your situation correctly.

You have five senses through them you can understand your surroundings. Apply all these gifts of nature to move forward.

Don't sit idle lamenting on your current situation. It will not help you. In whatever situation you are in try to come out of it.

Even if your progress is slow don't worry about it. But don't give up and sit idle.

No one else can help you. Only your own efforts can take you out of hardships.

Be ready to bear all hardships because even if you try to escape from them you can't do so. Therefore it is better to face them. In this case you have a chance to defeat them.

Make yourself strong. Physical strength is necessary but your inner strength helps you more to sustain hardships.

This inner strength is the result of contentment. When you face whatever comes to you without complaint and accepts whatever is given by God with gratitude. Then you are ready to face anything without fear.

Enjoy the journey of life. Use whatever you possess in your self-improvement. Have a positive approach and be happy.

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