BENEFITS OF SATSANGA

Nitya: Vineeth, we were talking about SATSANG. What exactly does SATSANG mean? Vineeth: SATSANG means "association or company of the good". It means we should always try to be in the company of good natured people who always think good, and do good. Nitya: Why, what is the purpose? How does it matter who we meet or what kind of people we meet? Vineeth: Nitya, what we do and how we think to a certain extent depends on the nature of people surrounding us. Have you not heard the story of Narada? Nitya: No, what is it? Vineeth: Once upon a time, Sage Narada had exactly the same doubt that you expressed. He went to Lord Vishnu and asked him, "Hey Lord Vishnu, plesae tell me what is the benefit of "SATSANGA". Lord Vishnu replied "Narada, I will clear your doubt, but first go and visit the insect that was just born out of the cow dung, and he pointed to a particular insect that was just born. Nitya: What, what's that got to do with the SATSANGA, I wonder why Lord Vishnu asked Narada to visit that insect. Vineeth: Yeah, even Narada felt the same. Any way, he obeyed Lord Vishnu and went to the insect. As soon as he went near the insect, the insect was dead. Narada was confused and went back to Lord Visnu and told him "Swami, the insect is dead.". Nitya: Then, what happened? Vineeth: Then Lord Vishnu replied "Never mind the insect Narada, now go and visit the puppy that was just born". Narada again obeyed Lord Vishnu and went to visit the puppy. As soon as he reached the puppy, the puppy looked at him and dropped dead. Nitya: What, the puppy too!! Whats the matter? Did Narada have some bad effect on the puppy? Poor thing!!! Vineeth: Yeah. Then Narada was sad that the puppy was dead and went back to Lord Vishnu and told him that the puppy had died as soon as he saw him. Nitya: What did Lord Vishnu say? Vineeth: Lord Vishnu said, "Narada, forget about the dead puppy, go visit the baby calf that was just born in the royal cowshed." Narada is now thoroughly confused but went to visit the baby calf in the king's cowshed any way. Nitya: Yeah, I am confused too, All that Narada had asked was "what is the benefit of SATSANG?" Instead of answering that question, Lord Vishnu is making Narada visit all these creatures and I cant understand why. Vineeth: Have some patience. Listen to the whole story. So, Narada went to see the baby calf. As soon as Narada approached the calf, the calf looked at Narada and dropped dead.

Nitya: What. Oh no! Vineeth: Oh yes!!! The calf died. This time Narada was not only sad but also shocked. For a moment, he felt that he was the cause of the death of the insect, the puppy and now the calf. But any way, he went back to Lord Vishnu and angrily remarked to Lord Vishnu. "Hey Lord Vishnu, all I asked you was a simple question. Why are you making me go see all these creatures who are dropping dead as soon as they see me?" Nitya: I agree with Narada, I would have asked the same question. I am curious what Vishnu had to say. Vineeth: Lord Vishnu smiled and said to Narada. "Narada, this time you will get your answer, but please go and visit the prince that was just born in the royal palace". Narada grumbled and went to the king's palace any way. Nitya: Oh no! Not again! Dont tell me that the prince died too!! I dont want to listen to this story any more.. Vineeth: When Narada went to the royal palace and visited the prince who was in the crib, the baby prince smiled at Narada. Nitya: Did he die too??? Vineeth: No, he did not. Instead the prince spoke to Narada "hey sage Narada, do you still have any doubts about SATSANGA"? Narada looked confused. Nitya: Tell me about it. I am confused too. Vineeth: Then the baby prince spoke again " Narada!! Do you not recognize me? I was the insect, I was the puppy, I was the calf and now I am the prince. Dont you get it? When ever you came to visit me, by simply looking at YOU and being in the company of you for a second, I was dead and took a better form of life each time. Now I took the most precious birth as a human being. What more proof do you want to know about the benefits of SATSANGA". Narada now understand the benefit of Satsanga. He blessed the prince and went back to Lord Vishnu. Nitya: Now, I get it. Now I understand why our parents and the teachers say "always be in the company of the good natured people who do good things". I hope this can be a lesson to all of us. When we are in the company of good natured people, we may also tend to think and imitate their good thoughts and good deeds.

DUSHTA SAANGATYAM Nitya: Vineeth, you have told me the benefits of SATSANGA. Do you want to know the bad effects of DUSHTA SAANGATYAM? Vineeth: What is DUSHTA SAANGATYAM? Is it opposite of SATSANGA? Nitya: Exactly. DUSHTA means bad or evil. SAANGATYA means company of or friendship of. So DUSHTA SAANGATYAM means friendship with bad natured people who do bad things. Vineeth: I see, so, tell me, what are the bad effects of being friends with bad natured people? Nitya: I will tell you a story. There was a crow once upon a time living on a huge tree. On the same tree, there was a swan too. One afternoon, when it was really hot and sunny, there was a traveler who was passing from that area. He not able to tolerate the heat of the sun, thought of taking rest in the shade of the tree. When he was taking rest, the swan saw that, through the gaps between leaves of tree, sun-light was directly falling on the face of the traveller. Vineeth: So far so good. There was a crow and there was a swan and a traveler was taking rest under the tree where these birds lived. Go on, please continue Nitya: The swan was very kind in nature and could not see the traveler suffering from the hot sun rays, so, he spread out his wings and thus gave shade to the traveler sleeping under the tree. Vineeth: Then, what happened? Nitya: The crow was jealous that the traveler was happily resting under the tree and it was even more angry that the swan was so kind to the traveler. So, he dropped some of its droppings on the face of the traveller and flew away. Vineeth: Why? What did the crow gain by doing that? Nitya: it had nothing to gain by troubling the traveller. The crow was bad natured and seeing others in pain gives it pleasure and happiness. Vineeth: Oh no! I wonder what happened when the traveller woke up. Nitya: Yeah, when the traveller woke up, all he saw was the swan which was above him and thought it was the swan who messed up his face by its droppings. He got angry with the swan and shot it with an arrow. The poor and innocent swan fell down dead.

Vineeth: What crime did the poor swan commit? All he did was to show compassion to the traveller. And look what he got in return. He was shot by the same traveller whom he protected from sunlight. Nitya: Yeah, I know the traveller was wrong and he has acted in a hasty manner. Vineeth: So, what do we learn from this story? Nitya: Well, the swan lived at the same place the crow lived. The crow was bad company and he should have avoided it. Vineeth: Yeah. Thats why they say, keep away from the bad natured people. It can have bad effects on us in many ways.

Teachers of Nature Sampreeti: Poojitha! I missed yesterdays class about the teachers we have from nature. Can you tell me what was taught? Poojitha: Sure Sampreeti, we talked about how the five elements of nature can be our teachers. Sampreeti: Five elements? What five elements? What are they? Poojitha: They are also called the Pancha bhootaas Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Sky. Sampreeti: Hmmmm., Ok. But how can they be our teachers? I am confused. Poojitha: Well, not really. I am sure if you think carefully, you can guess how!!!. Lets start with the first element EARTH. All creatures, plants and animals live on earth. Esepcially, human beings plough, dig and tread the earth. They light fires on it. They abuse the earth in many ways, by wasting a lot of resources and create a lot of trash. Still, the earth does not sway from its course even by a hairs thickness. On the other hand, it feeds and houses all creatures. It shows a lot of patience. From the EARTH, we must learn that we should never sway from our vow of patience, love and righteousness under any circumstances and we should dedicate our lives for the welfare of living beings. Sampreeti: Come to think of it, you are absolutely right. We can learn a lot of patience just remembering the EARTH. Poojitha: Now coming to the next element WATER,Water quenches the thirst of every creature, plants and animals. While it serves all living beings, it is never proud of itself. On the other hand, it humbly seeks the lowliest of places, by flowing down to the shallow areas. Like water, we should likewise strive to promote health, peace and joy to every living being that we come in contact with. We should also be very humble when we do service. Sampreeti: I can never imagine how our lives will be without WATER. Yet, we tend to waste a lot of water and take it for granted. So, how can FIRE be our teacher? Poojitha: 4. FIRE accepts the offering from everyone, from good people as well as bad people and burns down their sins; FIRE accepts what ever is offered and still remains pure; it is untainted by the sins of devotees. Though fire has no specific form of its own, when it is associated with fuel that burns, it assumes different forms. Like wise, we must understand that although GOD is formless, HE appears in the forms of deities, human beings, animals and trees. The fire transforms the various things it consumes into the same ash. Like wise, the wise people must reject the outward appearances of everything and every one they associate with and realize only their original essence, which is the same with everything and every one..

Sampreeti: You mean, sarvam brahma mayam meaning everything is GOD. Now I am beginning to understand how these five elements can be our teachers. Can I try to analyze the next element AIR? Poojitha: Sure, go ahead. Sampreeti: I observed that air is pure and odorless in itself. And it blows on both sweet things and foul-smelling things without any discrimination or preference. Though it momentarily seems to take on the smell of its surroundings, in a short while, it reveals its pristine quality. From this I think we must live in the world, unaffected by the opposites like the joy and the sorrow; or the heat and the cold; by richness and poverty etc. One should keep his hearts feeling and his speech unpolluted by anything. Poojitha: Well said Sampreeti. You can become a teacher yourself!! Can you also try to analyze the last element SKY or SPACE? Sampreeti: Well, let me try!! I have noticed that sometimes the sky (or space) gets cast with clouds or filled with dust or smoke. At sunrise it takes one color and during night, it takes on a different color. But in fact, it always retains its colorless self, and it is never touched or stained by any thing. Like the SKY or the SPACE, we must always try to remain pure, untouched or unaffected by anything happening in our lives. No matter what kind of people we come across, no matter what kind of circumstances we run into happy or sad, we must always remain pure in our word, deed and thought. We can also learn that our hearts must be big meaning we must be really compassionate. Poojitha: Wow! I am amazed at your analysis Sampreeti. Sampreeti: Now that we have learnt how the five elements EARTH, WATER, FIRE, AIR and SKY can be our teachers, we must look around and see what else in nature can teach us. I am sure we can learn something from the ANT and something else from ELEPHANT too. Poojitha: Well said. Only the wise people realize that learning will never stop. Learning is not a destination It is just a journey.

Why we do what we do? Neela: Hansika, do you know why we ring a bell before and during a puja? Is it towake up God? Hansika: Do you think God sleeps? We ring a bell before and during the puja to drive away the demons. Neela: Who are all those demons? Are they big? Are they cruel? Where do they live? Can we see them? Hansika: They dont have physical forms, but they are internal. We may not see them but we can feel them definitely. Neela: What? How is that possible? What do you mean by INTERNAL? Where do they live? What do you mean we cannot see them physically but we can feel them? Hansika: Well, what I meant is they live inside each one of us. Thats why we can feel them but cannot see them. Neela: who are they any way? Hansika: They are Kaama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Maatsarya Neela: What, come again. Can you repeat that? Hansika: They are Kaama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Maatsarya Neela: I dont have the slightest clue what language you are talking lady!!! Can you speak English? Hansika: Actually, they are Sanskrit names Kaama means extreme desire, Krodha means anger, Lobha means greed, Moha delusion, Mada extreme pride and Maatsarya means jealousy. Neela: So the six demons inside us are Desire, Anger, Greed, Delusion, Pride and Jealousy. I kind of understand what desire, anger, greed, pride and jealousy mean. What is delusion. Hansika: Delusion means false sense of me, mine etc. For example: My house, My car, My ipod and creates an obsession over all these things which are only temporary in life. Neela: Ok. Why is desire bad? Without desire, what can a person do? Hansika: A reasonable desire itself is not bad. But, when desire goes out of control, it leads to anger when you dont get what you wanted. Similarly, when anger is

uncontrollable, it leads to delusion. From delusion, you experience memory loss. With memory loss, you lose the ability to distinguish the right from wrong and as a result, you will face complete destruction. Neela: Wait a minute, Isnt that what Krishna told Arjuna in Bhagawad Gita? Hansika: Thats one of the things Krishna taught Arjuna and we all can learn from it. Neela: I now understand what the six demons that reside inside us. But, coming back to why we ring a bell during the pooja, I still dont get it. Hansika: When we do pooja, we are faced with a lot of distractions. Those distractions are caused by the six demons that we talked about. By ringing a bell, we hope we can try to put an end to the distractions and focus on God. When we are able to focus on God without our mind getting distracted, our prayers will definitely be heard. Neela: Thank you Hansika. Hansika: You are most welcome Neela. Now it is my turn to ask you a question. Do you know why do we light an agarbatti during puja? Neela: Oh! That is simple. We all know that the agarbatti spreads good smell and gives pleasure to the people around, eventhough it is burning away and turning to ashes. It is a lesson and a reminder to us that we could and we should try to spread happiness among the people around us even in the moments we are not happy. Hansika: Wow! What a good explanation! Now here is another one for you!! Why do we worship cows? Neela: Thats simple too!! Hindu Philosophy teaches us that GOD who is present every where is present in living beings and also non-living things. So, technically GOD is present in the cows also. Besides, when you think of it, the cows give us so much selflessly they give us milk which is a source of yogurt, butter, cheese etc. Cows also give us cow dung which is very useful not only as manure for the crops but also as fuel. Its motherly nature not only to its own species but to the human kind makes it even more worthy of worship. Enough of you asking me questions, lady!! . Here is one for you. Let us see if you can answer this. Why do we do Namaste when we meet some one? Hansika: I know the answer for that one!! We do Namaste as a way to greet the other person. We fold both the palms together to say that the soul in you and the soul in me are in fact one and the same. When I do Namaste The pinky is pointing at the other person, the thumb is pointing at myself and the rest of the fingers point upwards. This means the God in you, the God in me is the same as the God that is every where around. Literally, Namaste mean I salute you.

YUDHISHTIRs DILEMMA Amogh: Amruth! Do you remember the Mahabharata war that we read about? Amruth: Sure Amogh! I do. Why do you ask? Amogh: I was thinking of what we learnt in the class about YAMAS and NIYAMAS and then I suddenly remembered Mahabharata. Amruth: Why did you remember Mahabharata when you were reading about YAMAS and NIYAMAS? Amogh: Well, one of the YAMAS is SATYA or TRUTH. We learnt why it is important to always speak the truth. And in Mahabharata, they always say Yudhishtir never told a lie. Amruth: Thats true! So, why does that bother you? Amogh: Exactly. During Mahabharata war, we all know that Yudhishtir did tell a lie that Dronas son ASHWATHAMA died. Amruth: Well, technically he did not tell a lie! He only said ASHWATHAMA HATHAHA in a loud voice and then KUNJARAHA in a whisper, which means an elephant called ASHWATHAMA died. That is not a lie. Amogh: But, the intention was the same. Right? He wanted DRONA to hear only part of what he said. He did intend to deceive Drona. Right? Amruth: Yes, thats right. His intention was for Drona to leave the battlefield. Amogh: So, that means he did tell a lie. Amruth: You could say so. But that was on Krishnas suggestion. In order to win the war, he had to tell the lie. Amogh: Why is it OK to tell a lie when Krishna who is the incarnation of GOD asked Yudhishtir to do so? Amruth: Look, you have to look at the situation there. Yudishtira had to decide what is the greater good in that situation? If he did not tell a lie, perhaps the entire army of pandavas would have been defeated by the mighty strength of DRONA. For pandavas to win the war, it was necessary that DRONA had to put down his weapons. For DRONA to put down his weapons, YUDHISHTIR had to say what he said a lie. Amogh: Still, was it not a deceit and trickery committed by Yudhishtir?

Amruth: Again, for the victory of the good over the evil, for the dharma to be established, it was a necessary step. Amogh: When he advised Yudhishtira to commit this sin of telling a lie, didnt Krishna know that Yudhistira will have take a punishment at some point? Amruth: Of course, Krishna knew that. He told Yudhishtira that it was his duty to tell a lie at that moment for the sake of the greater good and still face the punishment. Amogh: What kind of punishment did Yudhishtir face any way? Amruth: Well, when Yudhishtir retired and left this earth, he was taken to Hell before he was taken to the heaven. So, for a few moments, he had to see the Hell, and that was his punishment. Amogh: OK, that was the punishment for Yudhishtir. What about Krishna? Wasnt he the one who suggested that Yudhishtira had to lie? Just because he is a GOD incarnation, was it fair he did not have to face any punishment for encouraging to lie? Amruth: Who said Krishna did not take any punishment? Although, he is GOD and he could have escaped punishment, Krishna did not. He respected the rules of the dharma. When Gandhari the mother of Kauravas cursed him that his family too will be destroyed because of in-fighting, Krishna gracefully accepted the curse. When the time came, he took a poisoned arrow from a hunter and died. So, Krishna also took the punishment. Amogh: Hmm!! What better way to set an example for the human beings!!! Amruth: Right. The important thing to remember in this whole episode is that the greater good was to protect the DHARMA even if it meant to commit a small sin and take a punishment later. Amogh: I get it. There is a lot to learn from every action of Krishna. Let us all remember the greatest Guru the world had ever seen! Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum!! Om namo bhagavate vasudevaaya! Amruth: Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum!! Om namo bhagavate vasudevaaya!