Motivation and Goal Setting

This article is the next in the series of articles that record my notes and observations from the Valmiki Ramayana, as part of my participation in the “Read Ramayana” project.

The articles written so far in this series have barely scratched the surface of this epic. But like a modern day cricket match innings that starts with crackling sixes and fours, there is so much to infer and absorb even in the initial Sargas(Chapters) of this epic, that I can’t help but appreciate and write about even the punctuation marks used in these sections. Also, learning about the details of the enormous background of this epic story excites me a lot. So here is one more item that I thoroughly enjoyed while reading and re-reading Sarga 2 of the Bala Kaanda. And it is here that I couldn’t but help make a note of the conversation between Lord Brahma and Rishi Valmiki. There are three slokas, in particular, that caught my attention -

Na Tey Vaaganruta Kaavye Kaachidatra Bhavishyati |
Ramakathaa Punyaam Shlokbadhdhaam Manoramaam|| (1.2.35)

Yaavat Sthasyanti Girayassaritashcha mahitale |
Tavadraamaayanakatha Lokeshu Pracharishyati || (1.2.36)

YaavadRaamayanakatha TvatKruta Pracharishyati |
TaavadOOrdhvamadhashcha Tvam Mallokeshu Nivatsyasi || (1.2.37)

In this Sarga, these slokas come at a juncture when Valmiki is ruminating on the spontaneous poetic Sloka verse that came to him, and Brahma has come to meet Valmiki. The slokas quoted above are Brahma’s words.

For a moment, lets forget the names Brahma and Valmiki. The person in charge of creating and establishing this Universe, the SrishtiKarta is speaking to a hunter turned Rishi. He tells the Rishi to pen the life story of Rama.

So what is happening here? The assignment is clear - Rama’s life story, all the known and unknown parts of it need to be recorded. And Valmiki has been identified as the candidate fit & worthy of this task, and this is where Brahma shows, by example, how to set goals and motivations for the the person who you have identified as the right fit for the task at hand.

All said and done, when executed, this work will become Valmiki’s first literary work. For a scholarly writer about to pen his first major piece, SrishtiKarta Brahma sets incentives, while at the same time instilling confidence about his capability about the task at hand. And the sequence of these is to be appreciated as well -

First verse says “Nothing that is away from the truth will be a part of your writing”. Now, this is a literal translation from Sanskrit to English, which is how things are expressed in that language, but what really is being said here is (paraphrased in active voice) - “Valmiki, whatever you need to know (in terms of facts and data) to complete this work, you will get all of it, starting with the brief you got from Rishi Narad.  Please use your newly learnt skill of writing ‘sloka’ verses to put all of this in an enjoyable readable format.”

Second verse says “As long as mountains & rivers exist on this planet, the story of Ramayana will exist.” To paraphrase this in modern day language, “There is a guaranteed uptake for such a work. I can foresee this uptake will last for as long as mountains & rivers shall exist, i.e. till the human race (as we know it) will exist, and along with it, your name will be remembered for generations to come. 

And the final third verse(quoted above) says “ And as long as the Ramayana(written by you) prevails, you will reside in all the three worlds(Upper world, Nether world and Bramhaloka)”. This would paraphrase to “Yours will be an established name among all kinds of living beings in this universe.” Ramayana was written at at time when name and reputation was valued the way we value money today.

So essentially, starting from assuring his commitment for all requisite inputs for the assignment at hand to discussing the future of the assignment’s output to discussing the assignee’s personal growth in accomplishing the project, Brahma not only gets the point across to Valmiki, he also teaches us how to discuss projects and project goals with people that we want to work with. 

Motivation is one of the oft-quoted and oft-misused terms in today’s corporatized world. Everyone is looking to instill this in peers and sub-ordinates, when they themselves suffer from its deficiency. In such times, it helps to know that motivation will come in abundance from within an individual automatically when she is presented with appropriate inputs and relevant goals and outcomes to pursue, both at the task level and on a personal level.

Image Credit - http://leaderchat.org/2012/09/17/whats-your-motivation-at-work-3-questions-to-ask-yourself/

Vairagrahana Budhdhi - An Eclipse of Enmity

This article is one of a series of articles that record my notes and observations from the Valmiki Ramayana as part of the “Read Ramayana” Project.  This article is a short note on a trivial yet amusing use of language. 

These days it is not so uncommon to see people around us, and often ourselves, letting out that impulsive burst of anger and/or irritation when faced with an unpleasant situation.  One common example for this would be a drive on today's roads, irrespective of whether we are driving or are getting driven by someone else. Other examples include little things like getting pushed around while in a queue to serious life changing events caused due to factors out of our control.  Whatever be the case, in today's life and lifestyle, not a single day goes where we dont have those feelings of annoyance and dislike.  And when we happen to recount these situations and the people who may have caused them, we end up referring to them as “fool”, “irritating fellow”, “pain in the neck”, etc.  

As I was filing through the pages of the Balakaanda, I realised that similar situations have occurred in the lives of our ancestors, inspite of differing/dissimilar lifestyles.  So how do you think Valmiki would react when he faced something that was really unpleasant for him? Lets find out -- 

While standing on the banks of the Tamasa River, before the Ramayana was to be written, Rishi Valmiki saw two Krouncha birds happily playing with each other; when suddenly one of them  was killed by a hunter.  Inspite of being a sage i.e. a Rishi (one who has attained a certain control over one's mind and senses), this killing of the Krouncha bird affected him so much, that he, almost instantaneously, came up with a unique word to qualify the hunter. He describes the hunter as  

“Vairagrahanabudhdhi” 

i.e. one whose mind has caught an eclipse, so to say, that too an eclipse of such enmity that the hunter so deftly killed the Krouncha bird. 

“Paapaatmnaa krutam kashtam vairagrahanabudhdhinaa | 

Yastaadrusham charuravam kroucham hanyadakaaranaath ||” 

Kanda 1 Sarga 2 Shloka 28 

What an expression that is  - An eclipse of Enmity on the intellect – and this verse was uttered by him in the spur of the moment, it was not a well revised piece of poetry that he 'chose' to write.  A humble salute to Rishi Valmiki for this – if he could come up with such a refined expression even for a spurt of anger anddisgust, imagine the output when he would sit and ruminate and write his thoughts out! And indeed, what an epic the Ramayana has turned out to be.  In fact, it was this shloka (that bubbled in Rishi Valmiki's mind)  that led him to actually pen the epic that is Ramayana. 

Interesting, isn't it?


Image credit : - https://journalofapilgrim.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/eclipse.jpg

Short Story : Alamu's tryst with the speaking squirrels

This post is to aggregate my short story blog posts for easy reference.

Alamu's Journey Into the World of Ramayana is a short fictional story based on Vatsala Dorairajan's reading of the Valmiki Ramayana as part of the Read Ramayana Project. It is the story of a young girl called Alamu(shortened from Alamelu) is a young girl, who is known to often wander into interesting and intriguing places with the help of Nidra Devi, the sleep fairy. In this episode, she is transported to a world of speaking squirrels and spinning trees, and she discovers an indirect connection between two parallel worlds.

This is published in three parts  - Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3 .
You can download the entire piece and read it as a PDF from here.

Happy Reading! :)

Short Story : Alamu's journey into the world of Ramayana - Part 3

Here is the third and the finale part of this series -

Alamu’s Journey into the World of Ramayana – Part 3

By Vatsala Dorairajan

Story so far…

Alamu, a young girl, begins yet another journey in her wonderland. This time, She is transported to a strange place where squirrels speak and young boys run errands and collect firewood for their Guru. She listens to a rather intriguing conversation among the boys, and before she can realise or do something about it, she gets magically transported to another place that is resounding with soulful music. 

Read on ---

Alamu steadied herself to a chorus of voices filling the air with soulful music. Instinctively looking up to see what the squirrels would lead her to, she heard two mellifluous voices joining the choir inside, heard from just above her head. Puzzled and confused about squirrels singing so well, she discovered that it was actually two beautiful young girls that got down to enter the adjoining hall, to an arousing welcome by the singing choir. 

 Picking up distinctly well tuned Tamburas, the duo started to lead the choir to some more singing. Alamu could make out that these were well practised songs from the finesse with which they were being rendered. And as the voices came down, and the girls started speaking, it became apparent that this was a group of music aspirants, and the girls were going to teach something new today. Tuning into the class again, she heard the children repeat after one of the girls.

 "Let us learn the final two lines of this keerthanai today - Repeat after me --

Theli Neerin Nilai Kondu Ketpom Unarvom,

Kali kondu Solluvom Seshanin Daasanom."

The children sing-songed the words, repeating twice, after which the other girl started to teach them the tune of the said lines. 

 A few rounds of repetitions and corrections later, as the children were about to sing, the older girl gestured and asked - "Are you able to understand what these lines imply?”

 "'We should listen and grasp like clear waters?" asked a child innocently. The girl smiled and said - "We are asked to stabilse our minds such that the mind becomes as clear as water" - much to the surprise of the children. And as all of them began to practise the whole song, it all began to come together in Alamu's mind. 

 Not able to contain herself, and about to jump into the scene, Alamu found that the chorus had come to an end, and the girls were explaining something. “Isn't it a wonderful metaphor that Guru mama has taught us? That, by keeping our minds steady and calm, it becomes as clear as water?” - “Yes akka, this is a very unique expression!!” answered one of the kids. As the other kids nodded in agreement, the said akka continued - “ Indeed. Guru mama directs us to learn to control and direct our thoughts, by which the mind becomes calm and composed. And with a calm mind, one can overcome any and every kind of situation in life. A clear mind, like clear water, is of much greater use than a confused mind, like muddled water”.

 The whole group was silent for a few minutes grasping the gravity of such a metaphor in the backdrop of the Tambura's drone, when 'Akka' spoke again - “While this is such a inspiring and interesting thought, can you imagine this metaphor being used in reverse?” --- While all the children were intrigued by this question, Alamu had divined where this explanation was heading. This was her “eureka” moment, and all the puzzling questions in her mind about this strange odyssey so far began to fit into place in her mind

--- “While today, we are being directed to emulate clean waters, can you imagine a time when clear waters were compared to the minds of people. There was a time when there were such noble and good natured people, that their minds were so calm and clear, that Rishi Valmiki compared the clear water of the River Thones to such people's minds? And how clean the environment and the rivers would have been then, and how great the people would have been that a river’s clean waters reminded him of good noble men and their minds? So much so, that it inspired him to settle down on the banks of that river so that he could pen the story of Ramayana!!” ” concluded ‘Akka’.

Somehow Alamu was growing fond of this ‘Akka’ :)

 The children beamed with the element of wonder and the surprise of such a thought. Alamu was as speechless as them. Not only had she learnt a new song from those two “Akka”s today, but also, she had time travelled with them to the era of Rishi Valmiki!! That too on a tree! And accompanied by speaking squirrels, that transformed into two beautiful girls who sang as beautifully. Weighed down by so many thoughts, she rested her head on the wall from which she was peeping in, closing her eyes to let all of it to sink in. She was also trying to recollect where exactly she was right now, when the whole world seemed to shake violently and her head hit something very hard! There was loud noise and commotion. Opening her eyes to see if it was the children leaving from class, she was startled to see her mother calling out to her. Looking around, utterly confused, the damp cold grass under her feet reminded her that yet another journey into her wonderland had just ended. She followed her mother back to the house, with a chuckle on her face and mouthing to herself, “Wow, Just Wow!”

Short Story : Alamu's journey into the world of Ramayana - Part 2

Here is the second part of this series

Alamu's Journey into the World of Ramayana - Part 2

by Vatsala Dorairajan

Story so far...

Alamu, a young girl, begins yet another journey in her dreamland. This time She is transported to a strange place where squirrels speak and young boys run errands and collect firewood for their Guru. She is hiding from the view of the squirrels and the boys, and listening into a rather intriguing conversation --



"What a tiring day! Let us quickly take rest under this tree. Would you like to have some fruits?" said the elder of the two boys. The other one replied in affirmative, and both started munching the fruits from their cloth bag. There was that wonderful glow on their face that one couldn't take their eyes off them even if they wanted to. Alamu was no exception to this. She watched them without batting an eyelid.

 "Bhraata, hurry up, we need to collect firewood and firesticks and return to prepare for tomorrow's lessons as well" said the younger one to the other. "Sure, I have almost finished my fruit, just give me a few more minutes" said the elder. The two boys had distinctly different complexions, the elder a little darker and the younger one a little fairer, inspite of them clearly being brothers. "Ok-kay bhraata!" beamed the younger
one, "what was it that Acharya mentioned today? It was a very interesting comparison, isn't it?" he continued. "Indeed" came the reply again. The younger one was clearly the more talkative of the two thought Alamu.

 "But although we just learnt it, I am not able to recollect it clearly. What was it about Tamasa river, that Acharya mentioned?". With an affectionate smile on his face, the older of the two boys said, "After Devarishi Narada told him about the story of Rama, Acharya came to the banks of our Tamasa. And he was so struck by its clear waters, it reminded him of the minds of good ad noble people and he said --
 "Akardamam idam teertham Bharadwaaja Nishaamaya |
 Ramaneeyam prasannambu sanmanushyamanoyatha || "

"Wow, Tamasa was so clear at that time Bhraata? Like the clear minds of good people? Such a nice comparison!! I will definitely tell Amma about it." said the yonger one. "Tamasa is as clear and beautiful even today, my dear. And recounting to Amma is possible when we reach back home, so hop along my brother!", so saying, both of them quickly got up and left.

 Alamu's concentration on the subject of the conversation was broken by the commotion from above her and before she could realise, the squirrels almost ran over her to the spot next to the tree to grab the left overs from the boys' snack. She watched them pick up the nuts and left over fruits, and just then something happened. One of the squirrels snapped its paws and that tree started to turn. Instinctively clinging onto the nearest branch, Alamu saw the two squirrels make a lunge to the nearest reachable branch of the tree as it started spinning fast. Speaking squirrels, spinning trees, some river called Tamasa, Alamu was thoroughly perplexed where this was all leading to. Was this a dream? or reality? And not to mention the headache that she was developing due to spinning along with the tree. Just when she was about to cry out in pain, it all stopped. The tree had stopped spinning, and was now stationary near a stable of cows.

To be continued...

You can read Part 1 of this short story here.