Sharad Poornima is the day of the full moon in the season of Sharad Ritu, viz, early winter. It is an auspicious occasion. Reminiscence is worth being practiced on this day as a mandatory regime. People keep rice pudding or milk in the moonlight and receive the prasad to feel the energy. But, if we open our receiving end and feel the cosmic energy, the external rice pudding will appear futile.
In this year, Valmiki Jayanti succeeds Sharad Poornima immediately. Rishi Valmiki is the one who realized the Self, chanting mara-mara under the guidance of Vishwaguru, Narad Ji. He was a dacoit named Valya before he received the initiation. He opened his receiving end and jotted the life story of Lord Rama before He incarnated on the land of mortals, in scripture named Valmiki Ramayana.
This upcoming story is about Karma Yoga.
One day, a king visited Rishi Valmiki and asked him about the ways a person encounters the fruits of the karmas. Rishi Valmiki said that he would come to the king’s palace the next day and perform an experiment.
Rishi Valmiki came to the court. He asked the king to call his three trusted ministers. The ministers appeared. He asked them to disperse in three different directions and collect the best fruits. He even assured them that he would not touch or see the contents of the bag. The ministers left for the job.
The first minister thought that he should collect the best fruits for the Guru. The second one recollected that Guru said that he would not check the bag. He accumulated the fruits randomly, without checking their palatability. The third one was quite cunning. He collected all the weeds, grass, and a few fruits and filled the bag.
In the court, Rishi Valmiki didn’t touch the bag. He asked the king to order his guards to lock the three in three different cells for fifteen days with the bag of fruits. He even asked the king to depute a guard who would deliver the whereabouts of the ministers in cells.
The first minister had collected the best fruits, thus enjoyed the best ones. The second one was comfortable as he had collected enough fruits to fill his stomach for three days. The third one became restless after a day as he had weeds left with him to fill the stomach.
Rishi Valmiki was the incarnation of compassion and love. He asked the guards to unlock them as he could not see the pangs of his beloved. Then, he asked the king if he was clear about the concept of karma. The king felt satisfied. He had another query. He asked about the testing situations which often appeared in life despite good karmas.
Rishi Valmiki gave an enlightening answer. He said that the actions done for the sake of livelihood never bring fruits, the kriyaaman karma. He continued that we brought the baggage of fruits reaped from the previous actions, the praarabdh. When the person lost the collected fruits (of old actions in return), he died. The person always carried a balance of fruits for the succeeding births, the sanchit karma. The person could get rid of the sanchit if he surrendered the oars of the boat of life. He could get rid of the good and bad actions and fruits by letting the Divine winds to drive his life.
Moral: If the mind is totally fixed on the soul within, we will be freed from the chains of golden ‘heaven’ and iron like ‘hell’.
There is another notion worth to be discussed. When we listen to the precious words of the Guru, we often ignore them. But, if we surrender ‘everything’ at the Divine feet, even at that moment of expressing ignorance, we can be liberated. The baggage of Valmiki Ji carried sins, but obedience liberated him. But, he surrendered at the Divine feet of the Satguru and was liberated by chanting mara-mara (He could not utter Rama as he stammered). If we follow the words without a speck of doubt, we become free. Ravan Ji also received the guidance of a Guru, thus was liberated at the last breath. It is a grand principle. Faith can’t be blind.
When we do not forgive and forget the deeds of the second person, we suffer gravely. We disturb our health and become stuffed by negativities. Though the words or actions may appear dormant, but the volcano of emotions are ‘active’ evermore. Thus forgiving and forgetting the deeds are important.
If we die the moment we are struggling with the volcano, we may invite doom. Thus we need to forgive and forget immediately.