Prosperity is the aspiration of every living being. We found detailed simple steps, we as humanity can do to attain and hold on to good fortune, in Attracting Prosperity – Lakshmi’s advice. In this second part, let us dive deeper to complete the picture by understanding what repels prosperity and what trends point to a definite future ruin.
Background:
Indra aspired to know why Sree made the Danavas prosperous for a long time and more so why she was abandoning them. After giving them a long list of wonderful attributes of Danavas, the plot takes a turn. Lakshmi hinted that anger and lust began to replace the dharmic outlook of the Danavas, who now had no respect for merit or position. Dharma was not only disregarded, but openly ridiculed. To understand these self destructive attributes, it may be easier to peruse Sree’s insights.
Replacement of dharma with Kama and Krodha. (In other words, Dharma is replaced by materialistic mindset)
Meritocracy being abandoned. Qualified being replaced by unqualified. Hate being spread against those with qualifications.
No respect for elders or qualified. This included no respect for fathers by sons. (Here father or mother is addressed as the head of the family, who also happen to be the Guru in many cases)
Adharma was accepted as the way, as making money became the primary goal. Wealth, however obtained, was cherished highly over dharma.
Their quiet nights were replaced with a lot of din and screams. They ceased to perform their homa.
Sons dominated their fathers without respect, while dharma in marriage was replaced by the women dominating the married men.
Mothers, fathers, elders, preceptors, athithis, advisors were no longer held in esteem nor heeded to. Even the children were raised with little to no care (especially feeding them dharmic thoughts, correcting them when they go astray)
Neither Daana nor giving ahuti or offering to Devas were part of the norm. Every person wanted to hog all the things for oneself. (Refer BG 3-12 इष्टान्भोगान्हि वो देवा दास्यन्ते यज्ञभाविता: | तैर्दत्तानप्रदायैभ्यो यो भुङ्क्ते स्तेन एव स: || iṣhṭān bhogān hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ | tair dattān apradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ ||) The life was an Yagna, but fallen Danavas selfishly took everything for themselves without sharing or offering to Devas, Pitris, athithis or respectable elders.
Neither they nor their cooks believed in cleanliness or purity of thought, word and deed. Thus all they consumed was tainted. This resulted in their food being contaminated and adulterated.
They didn’t keep their house tidy and all the things were scattered randomly. The women didn’t tend to the houses or their walls. Even domesticated animals were not properly taken care of. Even the children’s needs were not tended, as they were absorbed in their own.
They began to sleep well into daylight, treating night as day. There was quarrel in every household, day and night. There was no respect for swadharma as they neglected them for their choice desires. The ones who chose inner peace and divine life, were identified for bigger disrespect and abuse.
Marriage was not based on guna-karma any more.
Brahmanas knowing Vedas had no value in the society. There was no censure nor guidance against Brahmanas who had abandoned the riks. The Brahmanas who knew and also who didn’t know Vedas were equally treated badly. Even the highest knowledgeable ones were reduced to menial jobs for making a living, with no respect for their wisdom or experience.
The society values were so fallen that men started dressing like women and women like men for entertainment and also in their behavior. (This may draw parallels to the confused pronoun based society of today where there is so much gender abuse by abolishing the respect due for each)
If the ancestors had done any charity, the heirs even canceled the bequests or undeserving were made as the recipients.
Instead of turning to advisors and well wishers, when any problem arose while facing a situation, they sought the advise of friends. These friends would go on to advise and make them stop their karmas or swadharma, even if it didn’t profit them.
This can be misinterpreted by the woke. The Shudras began to do tapasyas. (In Varnas – a spiritual insight, we clearly understood that it is the predominance of Tamas as guna / karma that defines one’s varna. Also the ones with their Karma rooted in Kama do not really benefit by Tapasya. This clearly is not the class or caste abuse ridden idea of today that can be anachronistically juxtaposed into the original Varna system based on gunas/karmas.)
They failed to focus on sense regulation and dharmic guidance in observing Tapasya or spiritual practices. They went on to make their own unfounded rules as their guiding principles. The disciples didn’t listen or obey the guidance of their Gurus. Worse yet, these disciples were not treated as friends by the Gurus.
Tired due to the grind of day today activities, parents began to scale down or even stop celebrating festivities on important days. Elders in their ripe old age lost respect and were reduced to begging for food with their own children.
In the Gurukula system, the Gurus were approached every morning on the list of tasks assigned, which were assigned to improve the guna-karma of each disciple. Instead the focus was now to tend the Guru’s physical needs.
The bride of the household took charge of the house and began to dominate her in-laws. Reduced to a power struggle, she would dictate the terms to her husband, thus eliminating dharma and peace in the household. Aged parents, either out of fear or hope divided their wealth amongst their sons, still living a life filled with misery and affliction.
The distressed were laughed at. They became ungrateful, nonbelievers, developed a penchant for adharma, hence papa oriented. They partook food that was not sanctioned in shastras, violated every dharma to fulfill their kama.
Sree’s exhaustive list of her reasons to abandon the once favored Danavas gives us more than a pause, as there is a lot of commonality with it. Are we headed towards the same fate as the Danavas?
She said where she resides all the other eight forms her also grace their presence. The eight one referred as Jaya along with the other seven – asha(hopeful expectation), shraddha (faith), dhruti (intellect), kshanti (contentment), vijithi(victory), sannidhi (advancement) and kshama(forgiveness). Indra and Narada gave her a splendid reception and honored her duly. Vayu spread gentle fragrance with a breeze bringing pleasure to on the denizens. The citizens of Swarga gave a proper welcome to Lakshmi, who was accompanied by Indra and Narada. The impact of Devas was felt on earth as well, as the abundance of prosperity overflowed everywhere.
Phalasruti: Ones aspiring progress, Bhishma recommends approaching an assembly of Brahmanas (by their Guna, Karma and Sadhana), read this glorification of Sree with Indra as the head, along with the Devas, will attain lasting prosperity.
Practical applications:
GunaKarma: Lakshmi’s entire advice and reasoning for prosperity revolves around Guna and Karma. The duration or height of prosperity has no connection to its future longevity. The Danavas fell from their zenith, as their Karmas got incongruent with Dharma. The same idea was explored in Ailing Hinduism- inversion of values.
The fact that Phalasruti recommends this to be read in an assembly of the learned as subtle insights can be given on this gunakarma transformation, is sufficient for us to realize that this is the central message of this narration. This also implies that the story is not a mere incident but as as vehicle to propagate this deep wisdom.
As Dharma loses primacy, the natural tendency of all beings is to be driven by Kama. As the objective of Kama is the object of desire, at any cost, the first compromise is Dharma, which results in calamitous results at our own cost. Thus anything that obstructs the free flow towards this doom is expressed as disrespect, anger, hate for anything that represents Dharma which includes the elders, preceptors, advisors or even parents.
Individual responsibility: Sree’s personification in the form of qualities expressed in a prosperous being makes us ponder the importance of us monitoring our own Guna Karma. While a lot of these are subtle attributes to observe, she lays them as simple expressions in our actions and attitude.
As we imbibe the wisdom of the sages and be bold enough to act only in the Dharmic way, our current situation has no bearing on our future. Such dharmic Karma not only brings punya, but also a gradual transformation in the gunas, making it naturally sattvic. The reduction of Rajas and Tamas and the increasing Sattva results in greater clarity in our buddhi, attitude and direction. Thus our default nature is always intent on Dharma as its foundation, not Kama.
Depending on the choice of Dharma or Kama as the driver, we end up as the architects of our destiny, be it prosperity and fortune or desperation/stagnation/poverty. This is the individual responsibility. The cards we are dealt with now is a factor of our Prarabdha, but our future is solely dependent on our individual Purushartha, which is dependant on our Guna-Karma.
Sree promises not mere wealth, but all the glorious attributes like victory, faith, hope, aspiration, achievement and much more. To attract or repel her is a factor of our gunas and Karma. She has made it amply clear with both the directions. It is Lakshmi’s grace that we are fortunate to listen to this wonderful narration of Bhishma. If we can not only retain this deep message, but also reflect upon it periodically and let it become our life’s expression, then we are putting the lessons we have learnt into practice it. May Sree’s inspiration provide us the strength to understand her advice and the strength to implement. May our lives be filled with her grace, which includes leading our hearts to the lotus feet of Sreepati.
ॐ तत् सत
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