Inspiration Corner
A collection of write-ups from experiences of life that inspire, empower, influence & trigger positive values, habits & mindsets.


Sheethoshna Sukhadukheshu

"Sheethoshna sukhadhukheshu thathhaamaanapamaanayoho". This is one of the famous lines from Bagwadgeeta that was nar-rated by Lord Sri Krishna (Hindu deity) to Arjuna (Kshatriya warrior) in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Kurukshethra was the battlefield where two royal clans, the Pandavas and the Kauravas fought the epic war of Mahabharatha. Mahabharatha is an epic narrated by Vyasa (an Indian sage) and penned down by Lord Ganesha (Hindu deity). Bhagwadgeeta has 18 chapters and under each chapter there are many shlokas (stanzas) carrying the most powerful lessons of life. I have just picked up only one line from one of the famous shlokas (stanzas) here. Lord Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to be someone who can treat both heat and cold the same way. He also advocates Arjuna to accept both appreciation and humiliation equally. This is the translation of the title of this article. This quality of maintaining balance in our emotions is a dire necessity to live a sound life. The importance of striking a balance when contradictory situations are in front of us is the message of this shloka.
As we walk through different steps of our lives, we go through all types of experiences, both good and bad. We come across good and bad people as well. We are the centre of attraction for people around us on certain occasions and on certain other times, it's seldom possible to find someone who will even care the least for us. When a person realizes his goals and visions, others' words can have no effect on him. Those words might be mighty words of appreciation and applause or ridiculous taunts and tantrums thrown at every step of his journey. It's quite natural for us to respond to different things, people and situations in different ways. As a result, we are never at balance within ourselves. We keep juggling our thoughts, emotions and feelings which hinder the possibility of existence of a sound peaceful life. This is where the importance of being balanced and composed in life becomes very much essential as preached by Lord Shri Krishna in Bhagwadgeetha. We must develop the ability to keep us astray from the confusions that the world throws at us. We should enable ourselves to see any and every situation without any biased perception and solve the issues of life. All these will be possible only when we are able to treat contradictory ends of life in the same fashion.

Life offers every piece of lesson that's required for one to realize that the source of satisfaction and happiness is not outside but inside the human being himself. Life is a wonderful teacher which showcases the opposite ends of the feelings, people and circumstances. The same life will also help and support us to handle all such instances of life if we are ready to learn from it. We are lucky to see the extremes of different scenarios at different points in our lives. Only when we are exposed to different problems of life will we be able to conquer all the wisdom, talents and skills required to solve all of them. LIFE itself means, LEARN IT FROM EXPERIENCE.

It's very important for each one of us to know what we are doing and the reason behind the same. Taking guidance is not bad because learning of the 'how' part can happen only through mentoring and guidance. So, it's the 'why' part that one should be crystal clear with. Man keeps searching for inspiration and motivation from others words and work until he finds his own reason for both within himself. It's up to this point of self-realization that different things bring about different feelings inside him. Once the ultimate lesson of life i.e., 'you have to take care of yourself' is learnt, he no longer has to worry about what others have to say about him or to him. Work takes the highest priority because everything else results from the work we do. As long as something is related to work, none of it seems contradictory in anyway because no matter how much contradictory two things are, they have to be handled and solved to progress ahead. Just because the water is hot, you cannot decide to not to quench your thirst. You will have to wait for the hot water to cool down or add some cold water to bring it to normal temperature which you can have to quench your thirst. A similar solution applies when you have cold water as well. The ultimate aim when you're thirsty is to quench the thirst. Likewise, respect and disrespect will cross our paths time and again on different occasions. We cannot get carried away when we have too much of fame and we cannot get depressed in life when no one shows respect towards us. Popularity and fame are dynamic. They might rise once and can get depleted the next day. Our life shouldn't depend on such dynamic factors of the external world. We must equip ourselves with the strength of treating all situations equally.

So far the article might have sounded as a very spiritual message or a soul awakening text. Before you leave this page, I would like to show you the practical face of this message which can be applied right away. There is a quote which says that, "What is there in the universe is in Bhagawatha for sure but what is not in Bhagawatha is not found anywhere else in the world". The power of being calm during the diverse situations of life with a sound mind and the same judgmental perspective will always take us much nearer to our goals. Today's world has become so dynamic and fast that it offers us the contrasts of life simultaneously providing us the least time to react with two different approaches. Being unable to handle the diverse adversities of life people get into depressions and other negative factors. I am sure that you have found a lot of examples of massively famous and successful people who have committed suicide while at the same time, you would've also found a lot of examples of failures who have given up their lives. Such unfavourable scenes of life are difficult to handle if one doesn't have enough control over one's moods and reactions. In this highly competitive world, it's an utmost necessity for us to be focused on our goals and not get distracted by the punches of life from different directions and dimensions. This is the exact message what the title of this article conveys. One such powerful line of Bhagwadgeeta can solve umpteen problems of life. Just imagine what an impact that the entire knowledge of Bhagawadgeeta can have on us! Hence I urge everyone to read Bhagawadgeeta not just as a spiritual literature but also as a self-help book and as a lifetime coach.

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Any facts, figures or references stated here are made by the author & don't reflect the endorsement of iU at all times unless otherwise drafted by official staff at iU. This article was first published here on September 2013.
Mohan BN
Mohan BN is a contributing writer at Inspiration Unlimited eMagazine.

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