NhAladiyAr 400 ~ Verse 259 ~ Flies are Us!

NhAladiyAr 400 ~ Verse 259 ~ Flies are Us

பொழிந்தினிது நாறினும் பூமிசைதல் செல்லாது 
இழிந்தவை காமுறும் ஈப்போல் - இழிந்தவை 
தாம்கலந்த நெஞ்சினார்க்கு என்னாகும் தக்கார்வாய்த் 
தேன்கலந்த தேற்றச்சொல் தேர்வு.

Pozhinhdhinidhu nhARinum poomisaidhal sellAdhu
Izhindhavai kAmuRum eeppOl - izhindhavai
ThAmkalanhdha nhenjinARkku yennAgum thakkArvAith
ThEnkalanhdha thEtRachchol thErvu.

Though the flower holds delicious honey and spreads its fragrance all around, a fly will leave it and eagerly go to where the filth is. Similarly, for those with a tainted or corrupt mind, even the choicest counsel, filled with wonderful insights that provide clarity in life, offered by the wise ones or realised Masters, is of no use.

For a fly that’s stuck with filth - in thought and action - the value of a beautiful, fragrant flower with honey is of no interest or use. Even if someone explains in detail about the flower’s value, the fly won’t change its preference (for the filth). But for the bees, which fly around busily, looking for honey, no one needs to explain the value of the flowers.

People who are totally stuck in materialistic survival are like that fly. The spiritual insights and methods for attaining liberation offered by Realised Masters / Gurus won’t change them in any way. Because, in their mind, things like wealth, success, status, fame of the material life are the most valuable.

Seekers who are traversing the spiritual path are like the bees. They are seeking ways and means to realise the Truth, i.e. attain self-realisation or enlightenment, so it’s not necessary to explain to them the value or importance of a Guru.

Note: That's why, even though Mrs Swamy keeps worrying about those who are not even interested in tasting the nectar of spirituality, Swamy never speaks about spirituality to anyone, on his own.

~Swamy
@PrakashSwamy

நாலடியார் 400 ~ பாடல் 259 ~ ஈக்களும் மாக்களும்!

நாலடியார் 400 ~ பாடல் 259

ஈக்களும் மாக்களும்

பொழிந்தினிது நாறினும் பூமிசைதல் செல்லாது
இழிந்தவை காமுறும் ஈப்போல் - இழிந்தவை
தாம்கலந்த நெஞ்சினார்க்கு என்னாகும் தக்கார்வாய்த்
தேன்கலந்த தேற்றச்சொல் தேர்வு.

தன்னுள் இனிய சுவையுடைய தேனைக்கொண்டு, நறுமணத்துடன் மலர் இருந்தாலும், ஈயானது அதைவிடுத்து, மலம் போன்ற இழிவான பொருட்களையே விரும்பிச் செல்லும். அதுபோல இழிவான மனமுடையவர்களுக்கு, அறிவில் சிறந்த அல்லது ஞானோதயம் அடைந்த பெரியோர்கள் கூறும் இனிமையான, வாழ்வில் தெளிவை ஏற்படுத்தக்கூடிய, தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட நல்ல கருத்துகளால் எந்தப் பயனும் இல்லை.

எப்போதும் மலத்தையே விரும்பி, அதைத் தேடிச் சென்று உழலும் ஈக்கு, அழகான, நறுமணம் மிக்க, தேனை உடைய மலரின் அருமை தெரியாது. அதன் அருமை பற்றி எவ்வளவுதான் எடுத்துரைத்தாலும் அது தனது இழிவான விருப்பத்தை மாற்றிக் கொள்ளாது. ஆனால், ஆர்வத்துடன் தேனைத் தேடிச் சுறுசுறுப்பாக அலையும் தேனீக்கு மலரின் அருமை பற்றி யாரும் எடுத்துரைக்கத் தேவையில்லை.

பொருள் சார்ந்த வாழ்வின் மீது மிகுந்த பற்றுடன் இருக்கும் மனிதர்கள் அந்த ஈயைப் போன்றவர்களே. ஞானோதயம் அடைந்த குருமார்கள் கூறும் ஆன்மீகக் கருத்துகளோ, மெய்ஞானம் அடைவதற்கான வழிமுறைகளோ அவர்களிடம் எந்த மாற்றத்தையும் ஏற்படுத்தப்போவதில்லை. 

ஆன்மீக வழியில், உண்மையை உணரும் தேடலுடன் செல்லும் சாதகர்களுக்கு, ஒரு குருவின் வழிகாட்டுதலின் அருமை பற்றி யாரும் எடுத்துரைக்கத் தேவையில்லை.

குறிப்பு: இதன்காரணமாகவே, ஆன்மீகம் பற்றிய ஆர்வமே இல்லாதவர்களின் நிலை பற்றித் திருமதி ஸ்வாமி அடிக்கடி வருத்தப்பட்டாலும்கூட, ஸ்வாமி வலியச்சென்று யாரிடமும் ஆன்மீகம் பற்றிப் பேசுவதில்லை.

~ஸ்வாமி
@PrakashSwamy

2KYOT - C88 - Knowing the Enemy - K875

2000 Years Old Tweets - Swamy's Thirukkural blog series
Chapter 88 - Knowing the Enemy

The embers of Bihar election heat wave have started cooling down, coinciding with the arrival of monsoon, which as always has inundated most of Chennai. It was a decisive victory for an unlikely coalition of 2 sworn rivals - Nitish & Lalu (both former CMs of the state), who started out in politics together, under a common umbrella & leader, against an autocratic ruler at the centre and the atrocity of that rule called Emergency.

It was also a blow to the ambitious new BJP regime headed by the charismatic leader Modi, who genuinely wants to make this once-great nation great again and his party leader Shah, known for his organizational prowess that brought their party to power at the centre - considered impossible in this nation dotted with selective secularist leaders misleading voters all the time - not too long ago.

Since the threadbare analysis of the viciously fought election is being done by all kinds of glitterati - including the selective secularist elite - on many television channels (most of which spectacularly failed to predict the eventual victory), let's spend our valuable time in understanding what Valluvar has got to say about this kind of scenario, in his epic Thirukkural, a book of 1330 couplets that amazingly are like tweets, written over two millennia ago!

Kural 875
தன்துணை இன்றால் பகையிரண்டால் தானொருவன் 
இன்துணையாக் கொள்வற்றின் ஒன்று.

When you're alone and face two enemies (or opponents), it's better to offer truce to one of them (or make one of them your ally).

Nitish was smart enough to do just that and allied with Lalu, against whom he has fought and won elections in the past. Lalu too was smart enough to accept the truce offered by his rival who took the kursi away from him (& his wife). No one knows how long this uneasy alliance will last (considering the more vocal & naturally dominant Lalu has won more seats than Nitish, whose cleaner image helped him not only win the election but also will ensure his continuity as Bihar CM, as Lalu is barred from contesting elections for a few more years), but pretty much everyone knows how the Bihari bhais got the math right - irrespective of whether either of them even know about Thirukkural or not!

@PrakashSwamy
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Note: This post is part of Swamy's blog series on the epic book of Tamil poetry Thirukkural, thought to be written over 2000 years ago by the poet ThiruValluvar, in an enchanting Tweet long couplet format, which is amazingly relevant even in the digital space of today!
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Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

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2KYOT C24 Fame K231

"In the future everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes!" Andy Warhol is said to have famously told in 1979. His was a time when you've to be talented to perform something noteworthy & lucky enough to be noticed by someone worthy, who would promote you to an audience, so you could become rich & famous and the promoter could become richer (s/he won't promote just you, naturally). 

Warhol was right in predicting that as a future event, as there wasn't much of media, other than print & radio, to propagate someone's fame, at that time. Even if someone's talented, s/he needs the media for fanning that 15 minutes of fame. So gaining fame at Warhol's time took time. But things were about to change dramatically soon.

CNN started 24x7 news transmission in 1980. Larry King's interviews went live in 1985. www wasn't born until 1991. Big G (ahem, not that long bearded fella in flowing white robes believed to be up in the air, but Google) started its endless searches in 1998. Facebook made everyone like anyone in 2004. Any human being with a camera that can capture motion picture could beam himself or her cat & dog to the world thanks to YouTube from 2005. The little blue bird that can digest only 140 characters per bite, err tweet, started flapping its wings in 2006. Photographs changed forever from rectangle to square, thanks to Instagram, in 2010. And so on and on and on...

The explosion of social media & on demand availability of bandwidth gave an opportunity for every Tom, Sheikh & Harini to go for their 15 seconds of fame (inflation adjusted ;), right from their couch or car or anywhere. And having read or heard about a million self-help books from thousands of motivational authors, the minions of this tiny planet took Warhol's words to the heart and decided to become famous, come what may. Wouldn't it be really interesting to know what Valluvar said about Fame 2000 years ago!

231 ஈதல் இசைபட வாழ்தல் அதுவல்லது 
ஊதியம் இல்லை உயிர்க்கு.

There isn't any better purpose in Life than offering something (to others) and cherishing the accolade (or fame) that follows.

Hmmm, is it any wonder that fame is still hard to find for many, despite the myriad ways available now for anyone keen? Before you crave for that 15 seconds (or minutes) of fame and despair when it eludes, as ever, take a moment to think what have you got to offer that your fellow humans may find valuable! 

@PrakashSwamy

Note: This post is part of Swamy's blog series on the epic book of Tamil poetry Thirukkural, thought to be written over 2000 years ago by the poet ThiruValluvar, in an enchanting Tweet long couplet format, which is amazingly relevant even in the digital space of today!
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Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

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2KYOT C73 Communicating without fear K723

Two things are prevalent in the evolution of humans from time immemorial - war and being tongue tied.

At a macro level, we still see many nations - powerful or not - pumping so much money into building or buying weapons and going to war - within their own country or elsewhere. Wars just don't cease, despite the heightened awareness of atrocieties associated with them due to the omnipresence of information in digital space, including but not limited to causing the death of scores of our own - supposedly evolved species.

At a micro level, many human beings, who voraciously consume all such information - including war - thru a variety of media, are left tongue tied, when it comes to speaking and expressing themselves, in front of a group of their own species. Many wonderful ideas, invigorating thoughts, opposite points-of-view remain locked inside the head of people who are scared to death (pun intended) to communicate them to others. That's one of the prime reasons for many netizens sticking to just liking & forwarding posts than commenting or publishing their own.

723 பகையகத்துச் சாவார் எளியர் அரியர்

அவையகத்து அஞ்சா தவர்.

Many die in the war. Few dare to speak confidently in a group (or in public).

2000 years ago, Valluvar beautifully beaded the two seemingly disconnected things - apparent fearless death of people in war & obvious fear of people about public speaking - together.

Which one is easier? Isn't addressing a group of fellow humans or expressing yourself in public far easier than fighting a bloody war!

@PrakashSwamy

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Note: This post is part of Swamy's blog series on the epic book of Tamil poetry Thirukkural, thought to be written over 2000 years ago by the poet ThiruValluvar, in an enchanting Tweet long couplet format, which is amazingly relevant even in the digital space of today!