Question:
Is this why we have become so indolent? Nevertheless, the sting of
hunger has become prominent nowadays. So the philosophy of hunger says
that hunger makes man more active. Are we not really doing everything
out of this sting of hunger?
Shri Shri Thakur: Yes, we verily do that. Theft, burglary – by any means we are appeasing our hunger1 and so efficiency is not at all setting in.
Question:
From marriage comes `kamini' (woman) and industry brings `kanchan'
(gold or wealth). So, is the essence of your dharma revolves around
`kamini' and `kanchan'?
Shri Shri Thakur: No, not at all. Marriage should bring in a wife who will be follower2
of the innate faculties of the husband, will have similar propensities
like him. She will draw happiness, satisfaction and nourishment by
living and growing with his principles, serving and nursing them. The
result of this will surely come, either in the form of industry or
something else.3 That is why wherever dharma is established,
wealth is a certainty there and lust, salvation all these things are its
guiding factors only. Is it not?4
Question: Conversely, Shri Ramakrishnadev has urged us to stay away from `kamini' and `kanchan'. Then what does that mean?
Shri Shri Thakur: Shri
Ramakrishnadev's warning to stay away from `kamini' and `kanchan' has
different meaning. There `kamini' represents irrepressible sexual desire
and `kanchan' is that which nourishes such desire. So staying away from
them is definitely our duty. They lead towards the path of death and so
it is equally applicable for both men and women.
Foot notes:
1 – "These
are not men but hungers, thirsts, fevers and appetites walking. How is
it people managing to live on, so aimless as they are? After their
peppercorn aims are gained it seems as if the lime in their bones alone
hold them together and not any worthy purpose." –Ralph Waldo Emerson
2 – "The
loftiest and most sacred relation of human life, that upon which the
social economy must rest or go asunder is the marriage relation in which
the complementary relation of sexes is shown…having a significance
beyond the earthly life." – `Conjugal Love and Its Chaste Delights' by Swedenborg
3 – "The
Yaksha asked,--'Dharma, wealth, and lust are in opposition to one
another. How could these things, so opposing to each other, exist
together?' Yudhishthira answered,--'When a wife and dharma agree with
each other, then dharma, wealth and lust- all the three you have
mentioned may exist together.'" ….The Mahabharata, Vana Parva.
4 – "Without
industry one cannot acquire wealth. Without money one cannot accomplish
anything in life. Without any achievement in life one cannot be happy.
Money, therefore, is the fountain-source of success and religion" Skanda Purana, Kashi Khandam
Post a Comment