यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः ।
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः ॥१२- १५॥
Yasmanno dvijate loko lokaanno dvijate cha yaH
Harshhaamarshha bayodvegair, mukto yaH sa cha me priyaH
Yasmaat- From or due to whom : Lokah- the world: udvijate- is not agitated by fear : Yah- who : Lokat- by the world : Na udvijate- is not agitated : Cha- and : Harshha- euphoria : Amarshha- short tempered : BayaH- fear : udvegair – Excitement : Yah mukthah- who is free : Sah cha – he too : Me priyah- is dear to me
In this sloka, the Lord talks about the characteristics of peace. That person due to whom no one is worried or agitated and when others do not worry a person, he is most dear to the Lord. When we interact in this world, we should show love. When a metal strip is placed with other metal strips, it will stay the same. However if you take a magnet and rub it over a metal strip for sometime,
it does not physically change and its weight does not increase. However the metal strip now gets magnetized and so it has the power to attract and pick up the other metal pieces. Similarly if we are devotees of the Lord, then we also become magnetized by this devotion and so develop some virtues of the Lord by means of which we can pick up and improve the people we come in contact with.
Yasmanno dvijate loko lokaanno dvijate cha yaH You all know that in grammar, we talk of first person, second person and third person. Similarly in this world there are three types of people. First category is those who always talk in third person. “You know this Guptaji… he is such a bad person. So when two people are there and when they talk about the third person that is not there, such people are said to have a “third class personality.”
The second category of people are those who talk in first person. I am like this. I just don’t like disobedience. I am so disciplined. When I enter the house, I like everything to be in order and people shiver at the sight of me. These people who are the subjects and object of their own conversations and are hence “first class fools.” So first we had the third class personality and then the first class fools. On the contrary, how are the saints?
Saints never talk about third or first person but when they talk to you they speak about you and no one else. They give importance to the people to whom they are talking and the more we are able to do this, the more we are liked. As we start taking interest in others, our interest slowly becomes submerged.
We should also not be a cause of agitation for others – lokaanno dvijate cha yaH – and those people who blow their own trumpet are always a source of agitation. There was a beautiful quotation in a house that I visited. It said, “If you have to blow, blow your nose, not your trumpet.”
“harshaamarshabhayodvegai” – refers to all our different emotions. Sometimes our emotions cause hysteria. “harshha” – means excessive happiness. Some men always have a long face and never smile. However, they are less dangerous than some others who become so happy that they beat others in their enthusiasm. We should be able to control our emotions.
Amarshha – without any tolerance – short tempered. If we don’t have even a little tolerance, then we will only have problems. The more prosperity that people have, the less patience hey have. When patience becomes less, they become patients – for whom? – for psychiatrists. There are three types of mental doctors – psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists. A psychologist builds castles in the air. A psychotherapist goes and stays there. A Psychiatrist charges the rent. When a person has patience, then he can manage even the most difficult situations and emerge cheerful.
For instance, once, a Sardarji was traveling from Bombay to Calcutta in a train. There was an accident and the train came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. It was the month of May and the heat was sweltering. There was a man on the opposite seat – Mr. Agarwal. He had gone to Calcutta to buy saris for his daughter’s wedding, because no saris are available in Bombay. This is our general attitude. Those in Madras will go all the way to Kancheepuram, those in Bombay go to Calcutta, those in Calcutta go to Varanasi and those in Varanasi come to Madras to buy saris!! When the train stopped, he was highly agitated. There was nothing to eat or drink and the heat was very oppressive. He asked the Sardarji, “Where are you going?” and Sardarji replied jokingly, “Nowhere” He asked, “Are you not upset?” and Sardarji replied, “Why should I be? In fact I am enjoying this, because I fooled the Indian Railways. I only paid money for two days but we will be on the train for 4 days”
In general, that which is a common problem for everybody is not a problem for anyone. Everyone was looking at each other and consoling themselves “I am not the only one who is sweating, the others are sweating too” Patience will help us to be free from amarshha and the more patience we have, the more peaceful we will be.
Thirdly, there is “Bhaya” – which means fear. Why are we afraid of everything? We are scared because of our impermanence. We are all scared because we will die some day. No one can die even if they want to. Once a man wanted to commit suicide. So he locked himself in a room and hung himself. In the morning, when people could not find him, they broke open the room. They saw him alive and hanging from the waist. They asked him, why are you hanging by your waist? He said, “I did not want to hang by my neck, because I have a throat problem. So I hung by my waist, but I am not dying!!”. When we lose the fear of death, then life becomes enjoyable.
Fear exists in our hearts only because we see ourselves as different from others. During summer, when we sleep in the terrace, when our hand falls on our body during sleep, it does not scare us. However when even a small lizard or cockroach comes near, we jump up and down!! Fear therefore exists only because we perceive ourselves as different from this world. Therefore, the way to remove this fear is to see the Lord in all. As we described in the previous posts, the way to start seeing the Lord in all is by addressing everyone with respect. When we address with respect, then all our dealings with a person will be with respect and love and automatically the fear goes away. The Lord says, that devotee who is free from agitation, excessive emotions and fear, and who does not cause agitation to the people around him is the one who is dear to me”.
This is an interesting article, your a very good writer,keep it up.