Reading People

आचारः कुलमाख्याति देशमाख्याति भाषणम्
सम्भ्रमः स्नेहमाख्याति वपुराख्याति भोजनम्
- चाणक्य नीति

Aachaara-ha kulam-aakhyaati desham-aakhyaati bhaaShaNam
Sambhrama-ha sneham-aakhyaati vapuraakhyaati bhojanam

Meaning: (One's) conduct (aachara) speaks about his family or ancestry (kula); speech (bhaaShaNa) reveals his land (desha); excitement communicates affection (sneha); physical form proclaims food traits.

This shloka teaches us how to read different aspects of people around us, and even our own selves. Let's start from the food part. The shape of our body is the best indicator of our food habits. The rounder we are...   :-)

Excitement, exhilaration and enthusiasm in someone's body language show that you are very affectionate to them, while a withdrawn, reserved behavior usually portrays the opposite. When we like someone, it just shows! And that, I think, is the best way to create a bonding relationship with anyone—just like them genuinely. No front-smile and back-bite ! The words we speak do not matter too much, but genuine love within, always speaks more for us.

Our speech gives away our native lands. In India, and around the world, each region has its own dialect. A person speaking Marathi or Gujarati will not only be identified to Maharashtra or Gujarat, but also to the particular town or region within those states. Same with different parts of the world! English as spoken in America is different from Britain or Australia.

And our conduct reveals a lot about our lineage, our ancestry. Perhaps the most important of all—what we do and how we do, are indicators to our lineage. Society makes judgments about our ancestors and our parents based on their observation of our behavior. Each dynasty, each clan, each kula, each family lineage stood for some values. This was in olden days, which now exists only in a fractured form. People of a certain family adhered to a certain conduct, a certain aachar. That is called as aachar-samhita. They are not rules, but if we believe ourselves to be of a certain family, of a certain Parivar, if we are of a common Father, then we would adhere to that code of conduct. This feeling places a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. If I am not of good conduct, then my Father gets vilified. Conversely, my virtuous conduct automatically brings accolades to my Father, to my family, and to my clan.

Yashoda Maa

यशोदया समा कापि देवतानास्ति भूतले     |
उलूखले यया बद्धो मुक्तिदो मुक्तिमिच्छति ||

Yashodayaa samaa kaapi devtaa-naasti bhootale
Ulookhale yayaa baddho muktido muktim-ichchhati

Meaning: There is no deity on this earth equal to Yashodaa. He who liberates everyone, is asking her to release Him, from the mortar that she has tied Him to! 

This shloka is as emotional as it is devotional. The Lord is one who has the power to liberate each and every being in this Universe. This powerful Lord was tied down to a mortar by Maa Yashoda. And He had to beg Yashoda maa to free Him or liberate Him from the bonds.

First of all, who in this world, has the power to tie up the Lord? Yashoda was not even his real mother ! And the Lord not only accepted her bonds, but also begged her to free Him. It shows the supreme height of devotion that Yashoda was living on. She just loved her Kanhaiya. She was madly in love with Him. And that pure, mad love was her power with which she conquered the Lord of all Lords. She forgot her own self when she was with Him, and that is why the Lord submitted Himself to her. Yashoda is a role-model for all devotees of any God. Our love should be as pure and as strong as hers, to reach Him. In fact, God must be yearning for such love which is extremely rare.

Even if we leave aside the spiritual part, and just look at the human side of it, even then, it is love that prevails. With pure love, you can conquer the heart of any living being, human or animal! Love is the real power. It doesn't matter whether we are related by blood or not; we should be related by the heart. Love, without any strings attached, is the supreme weapon in the battlefield of life, with which we can win any situation or person. The best of friends and the worst of enemies—they all can be ours if we have innate love within ourselves.

Another side to it, is the importance of a mother. Even God Himself submitted to his earthly mother. That is why our 1st Bodh-vachan is Maatru Devo bhava-ha ! The significance and value of a mother cannot even be imagined. It can only be felt and realized. The purity of a mother's love is unparalleled.
God with all His powers and strength demonstrated respect & submission to His mother, whereas we are not ready to even keep our aged parents with us these days. May we never forget the value of our mother & father till the end of life !

May all of us learn to love ourselves & others unselfishly, and move on towards loving the Supreme in the same way !

Enemies

अग्निः शेषं  ऋणः शेषं  शत्रुः शेषं तथैव च |
पुनः पुनः प्रवर्धेत तस्मात् शेषं न कारयेत् ||

Agni-hi sheSham RuNa-ha sheSham shatru-hu sheSham tathaiva cha
Puna-ha puna-ha pravardheta tasmaat sheSham na kaarayet

Meaning: Fire (agni), debt (ruNa) and enemy (shatru) —if they remain even in small traces, they will grow again (pravardhet), so finish them off completely.

All three of these have the potential to completely destroy us, if we allow them to exist. And they have the ability to grow back to enormous proportions if not contained at the bud. Whenever we douse a fire, there are always embers still burning beneath. We have to make sure, the fire's completely out.

As far as debt is concerned, I guess this saying seems pretty impractical in today's world. Credit is the order of the day & we just can not survive without debt, unless we are living off in a faraway island with no connection to the modern world. But the saying still holds true. Credit and debt is one of the biggest causes of economic crises, not just of individuals & corporations, but of powerful nations as well.

This holds true for enemies too. No trace of the enemy should be left, if we want to remove the threat from an enemy. On the face, it may seem to be in the violent sense of destroying an enemy, but there's a deeper meaning therein. It means that we have to destroy the enemy-ness or should I say, enmity from the enemy, not destroy the person. The person himself is not the real enemy. It is the enmity within that is the real enemy, irrespective of the reason for the enmity. When the enmity or the hate is destroyed, the person no longer remains an enemy—the enemy is thus destroyed.
Love so much so as to suffocate the hate to death. That is the only permanent solution!