SLA'S MUSINGS

Personality Development Maharashtra VyavasAya MArgadarshan Kendra, Mumbai published in April-June 2003 issue of their magazine SaptarShI my article in Marathi - व्यक्तिमत्त्व-विकासासम्बंधी गीतेतील मार्गदर्शन (vyaktimattva-vikaasaasambandhI gIteteel mArgadarshan). It comes to mind that I should make do by just translating that article. But thinking and writing afresh would bring out more, newer thoughts. So, I shall compose this post by keeping that article on hand for reference. There are various definitions of "Personality". There is a proverb in Hindi एक नूर आदमी तो दस नूर कपड़ा If a person himself is one count, good dress will get him ten counts ! Good dress may get him an admission into an assembly of the elite. But his culture and upbringing will show him out, if he is asked to speak. There is another English proverb which says exactly this, You can take a boy out from a village. But you may not be able to take the village out of the boy ! Personality Developmen...

Training the mind It was noted earlier that happiness is in one's own mind. So, to be happy, one needs to train the mind to be happy. One way of training the mind is to do Yoga. In fact YogasootraaNi योगसूत्राणि of Paatanjali पातञ्जलि starts with the aphorism योगः चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः yogaH chitta-vRutti-nirodhaH Yoga means control/regulation of mind . Starting with this aphorism, Paatanjali delineates eight-fold path of Yoga अष्टाङ्ग-योग aShTaanga-yoga, यम-नियम-आसन-प्राणायाम-प्रत्याहार-ध्यान-धारणा-समाधि yama-niyama-aasana-praaNaayaama-pratyaahaara-dhyaana-dhaaraNaa-samaadhi Every chapter of Geetaa has a title ending with the word योग. So, if as many as eighteen chapters of Geetaa have such title, understanding योग should mean understanding it in so many perspectives. Actually the word Yoga has many facets of meaning. Grammatically it is a noun derived from the verb युज् 'yuj'. Grammarian PaaNini details this verb by three aphorism - युज् संयमने = Verb युज् ...

Don't worry, be happy ! To know how to be happy, we need to know what makes us unhappy. We need to know how to be free from worries. Definition of Economics speaks of satisfaction of human wants. Obviously if wants are not satisfied, one becomes unhappy. Human wants are further classified as needs, comforts and luxuries. Interestingly, if one has a pet dog at home, and if the dog is not happy, the dog's owner would not be happy ! If a tiger in the jungle is not happy, that does not necessarily make us unhappy. Is not happiness relative ? Geetaa advocates striving for Peace than for just happiness ! विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान् पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः । निर्ममो निरहंकारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ।।२-७१।। He, who has forsaken all desires and lives with no aspirations whatsoever, such person devoid of all attachments and egos attains Peace ! In Preface I had underlined the words " and much more " The difference between striving for happiness and striving for peace bec...

Preface When I read Steven Covey's "7 Habits", it came to mind that much of what Covey says is already mentioned in Geetaa. But Indians, especially in America more read Covey than Geetaa. When I said so to Mr. Guru Parulkar, he asked back, "Is Geetaa presented as readable as Covey, rather is Geetaa presented for as direct adoption in one's life as 7 Habits ?" A fantastic and very pertinent point ! Guru's question has been bogging my mind ever since. If there is no such presentation of Geetaa available, can I attempt ? But to rewrite Geetaa in such manner, I had ask myself, "Do I know Geetaa adequately ?" That prompted me to study Geetaa, word by word, phrase by phrase, in as much detail as possible. To get critical view of my study, I started a blog http://study1geetaa2sanskrit.wordpress.com This blog and its precursor संस्कृताध्ययनम् at http://slabhyankar.wordpress.com set up a pattern for studying any Sanskrit verse. Learned readers o...