| Canto 6: Prescribed Duties for Mankind Chapter 13: King Indra Afflicted by Sinful Reaction |
śrī-rājovāca
indrasyānirvṛter hetuḿ
yenāsan sukhino devā
[From - http://vedabase.net/sb/6/13/3/en ]
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī: O great sage, what was the reason for Indra's unhappiness? I wish to hear about this. When he killed Vṛtrāsura, all the demigods were extremely happy. Why, then, was Indra himself unhappy?
The king asked: 'O my Lord, great sage, I'd like to hear about the reason of Indra's being troubled; from where came his gloom while all the godly of Indra were so very happy?
The king asked: 'O my Lord, great sage, I'd like to hear about the reason of Indra's being troubled; from where came his gloom while all the godly of Indra were so very happy?
Can one maintain discipline in one's life? Is humanity devoid of discipline? Why do human beings indulge in good or bad deeds? Harmful speech and action? Is it within them, innate in them, to do bad and good? Can humans avoid being bad? Can maintaining discipline in one's life help in these behavioural tendencies?
Some aspects of discipline required in life include a fixed periodicity of waking up and going to sleep. But there is so much to lose if one goes to sleep early. All the good TV programmes are at late hours. Most such programmes are windows to knowledge, though most such knowledge is serendipitous and random. One takes what one gets. The other option is to download stuff on the internet and watch on the computer.
All that internalisation of knowledge is through the eyes. So, how do the blind and the aged keep up with the eyes? T olearn from the TV and the NET, one has to stay still. One loses on the knowledge that one can get by travel to different places. That seems to be real knowledge, in visiting a place and going through the experience. That is why people travel, to visit a place and return to their earlier location.
So what happens within ourselves? We see what we see when we travel. But to retain our memories of that journey, we need to take photographs. If all memory is retained through photographs, and record, either from ourselves, or through allusion, from photos and records by others, then, which part of the experience was real? Which part of our life continues to stay real?
Are all events to be forgotten once they have occurred? People go through their lives carrying memories of events, gossips, accusations and arguments. Are they burdens? People change all the time. Children grow up to be different persons every year. I think that they change each year within their own self. They discover and make their own world. Should they be asked to carry the burden of the actions of their elders, their memories? We seem to expect them to do so.
5 January, 2011
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