Truth is, What we say by experience

VITHAL C NADKARNI

According to pagan tradition, Romans used to observe New Year by engaging in drunken orgies. The ritual recreated the chaos that supposedly existed previously — beforethe gods called in cosmic order to tidy up things with the regular rising and setting of the sun and the earth’s rotation around its own axis. It was Julius Caesar who named January after Janus, the Roman God of Doorways. Now Janus is double-faced. One face looks forward to the future or outward; another peers inward or backward to the past. The concepts of January and janitor are both based on this open-ended aspect of Janus. In one sense, therefore, every moment of our life is Janus-faced: because we have the power of choice to look either backwards or to the unfurling future. The depiction of Janus as a God of Beginnings and Transitions is also based on ancient Indo-European etymology. Sanskrit ‘Yana’, the Avestan ‘Yah’, or even the Hindi ‘Jana’, for example, denotes transitional action, which expresses the idea of going or passing. This explains why the ancients portrayed Janus as being perpetually open-ended; as adivinity forever in transit. Recent research shows that Janus could also be the patron god of forgetting! The scientists found that memory was worse after passing through a doorway than after walking the same distance within a single room. This form of forgetfulness was linked to the change of context that getting into a new room entailed. The moral of the story is: better to forget the past and embrace the present; that’s the best way to enjoy the future.

VITHAL C NADKARNI

The Assam elephant is the largest jumbo that we’ve seen in the wild. He also seems to be the smartest. He pretends to retreat only to take up an ambush in the dense undergrowth. As our vehicle scurries away from this Lord of Elephants from Kaziranga Sanctuary, your columnist thinks of Supritika, the royal war elephant of King Bhagadatta from the Mahabharata.

We are heading towards Guwahati, which was called Pragjyotishpura in Bhagadatta’s times. The city figures prominently in the history of Diwali, the festival of lights that starts after Dassera. Diwali celebrates the defeat of Narakasura, Bhagadatta’s father, at the hands Sri Krishna. It celebrates humanity’s return to goodness and light and release from the darkness of evil.

During the Great War, Bhagadatta fought on the side of Kauravas. He threw his elephant goad at Arjuna after charging it with Vishnu’s invincible astra. Krishna stands up at the last minute to intercept the missile that turns itself into a magnificent garland of flowers around his neck! Arjuna remonstrates with his charioteer who has vowed not to fight in the war. Krishna then narrates the history of the weapon: he gave it to the mother of Narakasura. When he killed the demon, he gave it to Bhagadatta. Since nothing could stop the weapon, Krishna came between it and Arjuna.

Since the astra is back with Krishna, Bhagadatta is no longer immune to weapons. His dreaded elephant too becomes vulnerable like any other mortal elephant. Both perish.

Moral of the story is absolute power tends to corrupt.Use it wisely.

MUKUL SHARMA

You can relax; chances are, the world won’t end today. Of course, there could always be some kind of an extinction event like meteorites, volcanoes, earthquakes, nuclear wars or even an attack by ET that could annihilate everything — but, again, what are the chances? Almost zilch. That’s because scientists who are knowledgeable about such things and keep constant tabs on them are pretty sure it’s not going to happen anytime by midnight tonight.

However, according to 89-year-old American evangelist and popular radio host Harold Camping, today is indeed Judgement Day when the curtain comes down on all of us and only the chosen ascend bodily to heaven — in a mysterious manoeuvre known to some Christians as the Rapture — leaving the heathens to perish in horrific natural disasters that are said to follow.

Actually, this isn’t Camping’s first such prediction. Earlier, he had announced May 21 as D-Day. Those who believed him then were many and, in order to shuffle off their mortal coils, had quit jobs, abandoned relationships, maxed out credit cards and volunteered months of their time to spread the word among others. When the fateful day came and went and the world didn’t even end in a whimper, they felt more flabbergasted than fooled.

Doomsayers come in many denominations, but in this case, Christians should probably remember what Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in heaven.” He didn’t teach them to say, “God, please evacuate us from this miserable piece of garbage you created.”

VITHAL C NADKARNI

The armload of mangoes spread under the bed looks too tempting. But the elders are not at home. So what is a hungry child to do? Nor does he know how to select a ripe mango merely by looking at it. He gets a flash of inspiration: why not follow Shabari’s example from the Ramayana? Suppose if he were to taste the fruit gently, without ‘hurting’ it?

Isn’t that what the Bhil woman did when she offered the choicest jujubes (ber) to the Lord, but only after she had rejected unripe ones tested (not tasted) with superficial bites! That is how the elders found half a dozen mangoes marked with two tiny teeth marks when they came back in the evening.

Of the entire lot, only one was missing. “Infernal rats!” the father fretted. “Ma, the fruit is unspoilt,” the child protested. “They are all good, fit even for Sri Ram. I have myself tasted it with chidiya ka dant (sparrow’s teeth), just as Shabari had done in the story!”

The astonished parents hugged the child. They had the good sense to shower praise on the boy for his transparent truthfulness and also for the naïve faith that was not unlike the guileless display of devotion that the Shabari had shown when she offered her jhuthe ber to the Lord.

Such simplicity of faith also prompts the humble boatman to wash Rama’s feet before admitting him on the skiff. So that the ship won’t turn into a siren (like Ahalya had from the rock) with the Lord’s redemptive touch, he jokes. But what the boatman, who merely ferries people, wants is to worship the Boatman of the World who saves souls! Hail to Him who takes us across worldly waters.

Zeeshan Ahmed

The life of the Holy Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, sets an example to follow in every field of life. The high tributes paid to his personality in the Quran and the Sunnah or Islamic practices remind us of his exalted stature. Five times in a day, the adhan, the call to prayer, reminds Muslims that Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah. In addition, the namaz recited by Muslims also emphasises the unity of Allah and the messengership of the Prophet in the same breath, thereby underscoring the significance of his persona.
Islam teaches us that Allah introduced Himself in His own words. For the guidance of humankind, Allah sent 124,000 prophets, the first of them being Adam and the last being Mohammed. It was the Holy Prophet of Islam upon whom Allah chose to reveal His final message and complete the chain of prophethood and messengership. The Quran says: “This day, I have perfected the religion (Islam) for you; completed My proof upon you and am satisfied with Islam as a religion.” Again, we find that Allah emphasises the finality of prophethood and messengership of the Prophet with the words, “Mohammed is not the father of any of the men among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the Prophets.”
At one place, the Holy Prophet is called “Uswatul Hasanah” – the ideal model to emulate, while at another place, he is called the “bearer of good news” (paradise) and a “One who warns” for divine chastisement and retribution.
The period before the arrival of the Holy Prophet in Arabia was one of ignorance. Wars were fought for petty matters, superstitions were rife and respect for women at its lowest. The social fabric of the Arabs veered more towards vice and debauchery than religion. Principles like justice and shame, which we take for granted in our lives, were thrown to the winds. It was in such difficult circumstances that the Holy Prophet announced his message – one that would change the face and social fabric of the Arabs, and perhaps the world forever. Within a period of 23 years, surely, but surely; with extreme patience; with the odds of success staked against him, the Prophet attracted people towards Allah’s message. Enmity was replaced by brotherhood and superstitions traded with firm beliefs and reliance upon Allah.
A single verse from the Quran abolished unspeakable practices that discriminated against the girl child. Through the love showered upon his only daughter, Fatemah, the Prophet reiterated his commitment to the respect and uplift of women. The path adopted by the Prophet to spread the message and attract more and more people to his message was his excellent character and morals. So whether it was dealing with his family members, his friends or his enemies, he set the highest standards of ethics. It is for this reason that despite the passage of 1,400 years since his birth, he lives amongst us through his teachings. Muslims need to adopt this mode themselves in their lives and through their behaviour and actions, illustrate to the world that they are adherents of a Prophet who was respected for his morals and values. This will be true homage to the leader on whom Allah bestowed the distinction of being His last Prophet and Messenger.

Tomorrow is Milad-un-Nabi, the Prophet’s birthday.

TEJINDER NARANG

MYSTICS and seekers experience higher “states” of consciousness as they ascend path of spirituality. In Vedic system, these are termed pinda, anda, brahm, parbrahmand parmatma.

Dhram khand: The realm of morality or righteousness/pinda. Our physical plane, of seasons, days, nights, wind, fire, earth and water; ruled by laws of action and reaction. Here all beings are judged by karmas: “As shall you sow, so shall you reap”. ‘Dharam Raj’ is the arbiter of all actions. Messengers of Lord/ perfect saints are stamped with divine grace (to assist seekers).

Gyan khand: The realm of spiritual knowledge/anda. A subtle (sukhsm) plane, with finer fabric of mind and maya, where an understanding of working of creation up to brahm, the third region is attained. Explosion of gyanprovides sublime bliss. This domain is inhabited by gods, goddesses, deities and angels of the Lord of Biblical depiction. Cosmic creations invisible to human eyes are experienced. (Lord Krishna provided spiritual vision to Arjuna for glimpse of His ‘Visvarupa’ as projection of other awesome creations.) Adepts comment astral enticement of this domain is so intense that it might endanger further progression of an aspirant.
Saram khand: The realm of brahm. This is the point of origin of universal mind. Intuitive consciousness, intellect and understanding of mind and maya are shaped here. Some scholars mention it as ‘the domain of inexpressible splendour” in which soul feels humbly overwhelmed. Others refer it as ‘realm of effort’ (shram khand) where heroic souls shed last traces (residual sanskaras) of ego — kam, krodh, lobh, moh ahankarfor journey upward.

Karam khand: The realm of grace/ parbrahm. This is beyond three region of mind and maya where souls are ‘blessed with divine grace’. Melodies of nam/nani/ mad/dhun/word
resonate with full force here. Souls which have vanquished the pull and power of the three lower regions, reside in this region.

Sach khand: The realm of truth/ parmatma: The soul’s true home, infinite region of eternal truth, abode of formless Lord where He presides and surveys. Here His will reigns supreme for compliance in all realms. (Perfect saints maintain that souls at this stage cannot be pulled back to the lower creation.)
Divine hierarchy underscores that mind and maya are active in three realms — up to brahm. When grace is showered in parbrahm then soul merits mukti and merges with parmatma.

MUKULSHARMA

THE python and the porcupine had been living in the same burrow for many years. Their cohabitation had begun during a very rainy night when the torrential downpour had caught both animals outdoors on the forest floor getting increasingly wet and miserable and, instinctively, they had sought refuge in the natural underground shelter nearby. But also instinctively, when they found themselves suddenly thrown together so unceremoniously, prey and predator had faced off with instant animal intent that had gone disastrously wrong for both parties.
In the dark, the huge snake had lunged with its muscular sinews ready to constrict and kill while the spiny rodent had immediately flared its treacherous quills in response. The python felt the jabs almost at once when it began coiling around the creature but it continued squeezing anyway even through all the pain. On the receiving end, the porcupine could feel its breath slowly being sucked out and its small bones beginning to buckle and crack under the awesome pressure of the unrelenting compression. Only when the snake’s suffering became intolerable to bear did the great serpent finally let go and crawled away to a corner, leaving behind a very badly damaged little animal twitching and mewling in the dark.
In the morning, both were still groaning. The python had about a dozen quills embedded in its body which it could do nothing about since it had no hands while the porcupine lay moaning a few feet away with at least a couple of bones broken. But wild animals are hardy, their bodies heal faster, and after a few days both were able to drag themselves around the burrow little by little. However, they were still not really fit because barbs remained inside and bones had not completely mended. Therefore food was becoming a problem. “If,” said the python finally, “you remove these quills, I will carry you on my back and we can try to hunt and forage.” The porcupine nodded weakly.
Thus many years passed. And after some more time elapsed it was time for them to die. As they lay on their respective deathbeds in the burrow the python spoke for the last time. “I just want you to know,” it said in a sad but wise voice, “that the last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on the list.” An equally sad and wise porcupine also spoke for the last time. “I guess you’re never too old to learn something stupid,” he said as they died together.

VITHAL C NADKARNI

SHAKES PEARE supposedly pooh-poohed the primacy of names. “A rose by any other name smells as sweet,” the Bard declaimed in Romeo and Juliet. But branding experts have a different take — names play so vital a role in the business of identity that people are willing to go to war over them!
As the play itself shows so poignantly, ‘Capulet’ is as different from ‘Montague’ as life is from death. And paradoxical as it may seem, the so-called love hormone oxytocin seems to play a crucial role in fostering xenophobic attitudes based on ‘us-versus-them’ differentiation. A recent study by Dutch scientists claims to have shown that their country’s bad attitude towards Muslims and Germans may be fuelled by the brain hormone. Dutch men were made to inhale oxytocin or a placebo before being subjected to a battery of tests designed to measure social attraction and empathy.
One of the tests involved pairing of Dutch, German or Arabic names with either positive or negative words. Next, the subjects had to select which of the names they would save or sacrifice in hypothetical life or death situations. Those who inhaled oxytocin seemed to be quicker on the draw when it came to choosing Dutch names paired with positive qualities. They were also more likely to sacrifice Arabic and German-sounding names. Their conclusion was that oxytocin supports or enhances bonding and supports “in-group” fidelity.
Their study also put a question mark on the argument that oxytocin was “an indiscriminant love drug or cuddle chemical”. The latter is an oxymoron. If anything, decades of research have found that oxytocin promotes selective rather than indiscriminate social bonds; for example, the hormone makes a mother ewe care only for her fleecy lamb even as it inspires male and female voles to mate for life.
Now the million-dollar question is whether such exclusive loyalties confer evolutionary advantage over more inclusive or non-xenophobic mindsets? Again, oxytocin seems to soften fear of novelty that might cause us to automatically reject unfamiliar situations and strangers. So, how does one explain the findings of the Dutch study? Perhaps, the scientists looked at the effects allegedly wrought by the hormone without paying attention to the social context.
So, what may have come across was a heightened sense of familiarity rather than a burst of racial prejudice.

VITHALC NADKARNI

IT All started with an accidental fall on wet asphalt. The aspirant’s left shoulder was wrenched severely. Being a committed fitness buff, he made light of the injury at first. With some rest it would be resolved in a jiffy, he thought. But some days later he was in for a shock of his life when he tried to resume his fitness routine.
Inaction seemed to have frozen solid the injured shoulder. For the first time, the aspirant began to feel like an invalid.
“All I have to do now is to let my stubble grow,” he brooded self-piteously: “Perhaps I should cosset my arm into a sling or wear a raffish eyepatch and I could pass off as a war veteran, (what with his rugged physique going to seed without its daily fix of vigorous exercise!).” Physiotherapy only added insult to injury: the therapist had the alarming habit of commenting loudly on his shocking’ loss of muscle whenever she struggled to unfreeze his screamingly reluctant limb into action.
The days dragged on into weeks with no sign of improvement. After some time, the aspirant stopped even those perfunctory motions of going through exercise. Did he have any option other than that of a one-armed individual? But help arrived from unexpected quarters; while trawling through the World Wide Web for remedies the aspirant chanced upon something being touted as the world’s coolest exercise. It was the humble side bridge and its champion was none other than Gregory Joujon-Roche, described as screen god Brad Pitt’s personal trainer in the 29-second-clip. “Stand (on your elbow sideways. with your butt squeezed, the chest, stomach, and knees aligned) and feel so good.”
Don’t underestimate the tamelooking side bridge, crowed another expert. Men think that a good exercise must make your abs and body burn; Here’s the bestknown secret’ of strength, he added: side bridges improve the stability of muscle surrounding the spine and stomach, to bolster your core strength and help carve a six-pack.
Call it a case of mind over matter’ or psychosomatic medicine, but the pain in the aspirant’s shoulder diminished dramatically from the very day he tried the exercise. Ironically, he’d dropped this one routine as being too soft as he’d progressed in his own practice towards more painfulgainful’ holds. He became free of pain in a week and was back in action in two.
Moral of his story was: don’t let simplicity fool you.

MUKUL SHARMA

NEARLY a twelfth of the human race got their collective cosmic uplink recently when astronomers added a 13th Zodiac sign called Ophiuchus between Scorpio and Sagittarius — from November 29 to December 17. It’s because the Earth’s changing orbit means the planet is not aligned any more with the stars in the same position as when the Zodiac was created and, therefore, the astrological signs are no longer in sync with the constellations. The date readjustment which reverberated through the rest of the Zodiac suddenly saw millions of people being shunted out of their Sun sign to an adjacent one — presumably to rebuild their shattered lives with brand new traits.
So, who’s Ophiuchus? Well, the Greeks knew him as Asclepius, the god of medicine and the son of Apollo and Coronis who, as we’ll see in a moment, had his own uplifting moment at the end of his life. According to legend, Coronis was an unfaithful wife and slept with a mortal, Ischys, while she was pregnant by Apollo. A crow brought Apollo the unwelcome news, but instead of being rewarded, the raven which until then had been snow-white, was cursed by Apollo and turned black and lost his voice. This bird is also immortalised in the sky as the constellation Corvus.
Anyway, Apollo shot Coronis with an arrow but rather than see his unborn child perish with her, he snatched him from his mother’s womb just as the funeral flames engulfed her, and took the infant to Chiron, the wise centaur who’s also represented in the sky by the constellation Centaurus. Chiron raised Asclepius as his own, teaching him the arts of healing and hunting till Asclepius became so skilled in medicine that not only could he save lives, he could raise the dead. Unfortunately, this went to his head because soon he was raising the dead left and right all over the place wherever he spotted them.
This, legend also has it, pretty much cheesed off Hades, the ruler of the Underworld, who thought that no more dead spirits would come to him. So, he asked his brother Zeus to remove him and Zeus immediately obliged with a deadly thunderbolt. But that angered Apollo who, in turn, murdered the cyclops who had made the thunderbolt for Zeus, who got so mad that he banned Apollo from the night sky. Here the madness apparently stopped and many years later, Zeus had a total change of heart: he placed Asclepius among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus. His cosmic uplink.