T Ram Sewak

PARDOSH

Shri Ram enlightens Sabari on the eighth form of bhakti in Shri Ramcharitmanas (3.36);

"Aanthava jatha labha santosha, sapanehu nahi dekhai pardosha".

"The eighth is contentment with whatever is received and not even dreaming of detecting others' faults".

As one progresses on the bhakti marg, the inner serenity, equanimity, evenness, and purity must take firm roots. Contentment with whatever you receive due to your karma is vital. Most of our agitation (udveg) is because of discontentment. In our lives, sometimes we receive less than our effort, and sometimes more. Nature has its laws of balance; overall, it all evens out. However, we only remember where we think we have received less than we deserve and become discontented and disenchanted.

The exhortation here is always to feel content and develop an 'attitude of gratitude'. This would bring peace and tranquillity to our minds, taking us forward on the path of self- realisation. Shri Krishna emphasises this in Gita (4.22) when he says that a self-realised man is content with what he receives, free from dualities (dvandva) and envy, and is even-minded.

Secondly, Shri Ram proclaims 'not finding faults in others, even in dreams', as bhakti. Shri Krishna also identifies this as a divine attribute called Apaishunam in Gita (16.2). The importance of this attribute can be gauged from the fact that not only in the awake state but also in dreams, this must be practised.

We often try to escape situations by finding fault in people, systems, and machines and if all fails, then in our fate and God. Shifting the blame and pointing to flaws in others only brings negativity. We should only search for defects within us and goodness and virtues in others. Shri Ram's message for a bhakt is to continually develop positivity and annihilate negativity. This can only be done by feeling content and positive about what you have received and having positive feelings towards others by never looking

at their faults. / DAILY WORLD /

Namami Ramam Musings-30

The author is a former electrical Engineer and resides in the Himalayas. He can be occasionally reached at ramam.namami@gmail.com