Vindication of the Divine government.

Draupadi speaks.
Beholding noble men distrest
Ignoble men enjoying good
Thy righteous self by woe persued
Thy wicked foe by fortune blest,
Incharge the Lord of all -- the strong,
The Partial Lord with doing wrong.

His dark mysterious sovereign will
To men their several lots decrees
He favours some with wealth and ease
Some dooms to every form of ill

As puppets limbs the touch obey
Of him whose fingers hold the string
so god directs the secret springs
which all the deeds of creatures sway.

In vain those birds with springes hold
would seek to fly, so man, a thrall
Fast fettered ever lives in all
He does or thinks by God controlled

As trees from river banks are riven
And swept away when rains have swelled
The streams, so men by time impelled
To action, helpless on are driven.

God does not show for all mankind
A parents love and wise concern
But acts like one unfeeling stern
Whose eyes caprice and passion blinds.

Yudhishthira replies.

I've listened loving spouse, to thee
I've marked thy charming kind discourse
Thy phrases turned with grace to force
But know thou utterest blasphemy.

I never act to earn reward
I do what I am bound to do.
Indifferent whether fruit accrue
My duty I alone regard.


Of all the men who care profess
For virtue - love of that to speak
The unworthiest for are those who seek
To make a gain of righteousness.

Who thus to every lofty sense
of duty dead from each good act
its full return would fain extract
He forfeits every recompense.

Love duty thus for duty's sake
Not careful what return it brings
Yet doubt not, bliss from virtue springs
While woe shall sinners overtake.

By ships the perilous sea is crossed
So men on virtue's stable bark
Pass over this mundane ocean dark
and reach the blessed heavenly coast.

If holy actions bore no fruits
If self command beneficence,
Received no fitting recompense
Then men would lead the life of brutes.

Who then would knowledge toil to gain
or after noble aims aspire
over all the earth delusion dire
And darkness dense and black would reign.

But tis not so for saints of old
Well knew that every righteous deed
From God obtains its ample meed
They therefore strove pure lives to lead
As ancient sacred books have told.

The Gods for such their sovereign will
Have veiled from our too curious ken
The laws by which the deeds of men
are recompensed with good and ill.

No common mortal comprehends
the wondrous power mysterious skill
With which these lords of all fulfill
their high designs, their hidden ends.

These secret things those saints decry
Alone whose sinless life austere
For them has earned an insight clear
To which all mysteries open lie.

So let thy doubts like vapours flee
Abandon impious unbelief
And let not discontent and grief
disturb thy soul's serenity.

But study God aright to know
The highest Lord of all revere,
Whose grace on those who love him here
Will endless future bliss bestow.

profound prosody.

He who lusts after nothing has all things ; To be content with what one has is the greatest and surest riches.
Is it that the nature of all is so constituted that they see and judge the nature of other men better than their own?
Consequence of the knowledge of self existent soul;
The happy man who ones has learned to know.
The self existent soul, from passions pure,
serene undying ever young, secure
from all the change that other natures show
Whose full perfection other defects abates
Whom pure essential good for ever states
That men alone no longer dreading death
With tranquil joy resigns his vital breath.

No hands has he nor feet nor eyes or ears
and yet he grasps and moves and sees and hears
He all things knows, Himself unknown to all
Him men the great primeval spirit call.

From Greek and Roman mythology. (how similar to ours){ who has copied whom}[ or is it the universal law. We are but one small speck in the universal design]

Of all immortals grandest many named
Almighty lord of nature ruling all
By law, great Zeus all hail, on thee we call
Thee mortal men may all invoke unblamed.

For from thine own high self we claim to spring
Of creatures all that people earth or air
We men alone thy reason impress bear
Thy greatness therefore will I ever sing.

Revolving round the earth the whole array
Of stars obeys that ever present force
Whereby across the sky thou lead'st its course
And willing bows to thy resistless sway

For such an instrument to quell revolt
Thou wielde'st lord, in thine unconquered hands
As swift response compels to thy commands
The two edged fiery living thunder bolt.

All nature quakes where its blows alight
So dost thou Zeus obtain thy law which all.
The heavenly lights pervades, both great and small
So great a king art thou of sovereign might

Apart from thee no work, great potentate
Is done on earth in yonder heavenly sphere
Or deep in oceans caverns far or near
But what the bad in folly perpetrate

Thou knowe'st how to make the crooked straight
From chaos dire can'st order fair create
to thee all dear the things which mortals hate.

For so hast thou things good and ill combined
That all together one grand system make
To rule reduced by thy controlling mind
But evil men this wondrous order break

And neither see nor hear thy law divine
which well and wisely kept, had made them blest
but seeking fancied good they never rest
of envied fame or sordid gain in quest
or else to ease and joy their lives resign
yet disappointed all at last obtain
the dark reverse of what they hoped to gain.

But all bestowing Father wrapt in clouds
From whose dark depths the dazzling lightning glance
Sweep far away that mournful ignorance
whose gloom the souls of mortals now  enshrouds.

And grant them knowledge, yea vouchsafe that they
May share that wisdom wherein thou confid'st
Whilst thou aright the course of nature guidst
That honoured so by thee, we men may pray

thee back with honour, singing aye with awe
Thy deeds as men beseems : - from age to age
No nobler task can men or gods engage
that this with joy to hymn the universal law.

to be continued.

intoxication.

Every thing that is capable of exciting or moving man, every thing that fires him with enthusiasm, every thing that sustains his energy to perform. Labor when severe the pleasure is glorious. it requires utmost possible patience, courage, self discipline to achieve a permanence. It is associated with a passion. Intense feeling. something that occupies your whole mind. an attitude to excel know more. The Mind and its workings are simply awesome. The mind and Knowledge are both capable of an un endimg quest also known as irreducible extensions of the mind. it can be infinite too.
The attitude should be developed towards knowing the Almighty. the passion should be so great that every cell in ones body should be directed to work towards this intoxication.The capacity of the mind is great, one should consciously avoid doubt and fear to step in, if allowed then there is no doubt that every thing will reverse very fast. what was possible with the positive energy the passion the intoxication and the ever existing desire towards the goal could be nullified by one such negative thought.

three examples of people i know who are passionate of their work which they do with a dedication like a prayer to god.
one senior lady who speaks for the stray cattle who are of no use to society and no one wants them. she does this honorary service to collect some funds for taking care of these cattle. though being an elderly woman she met my husband in the park when he went for a walk and walked abreast at his pace and voiced her demand. she is so passionate with this work and so dedicated. i learnt marketing from her yes you have to love the job you do no matter what, My moms way of working full concentration on the job at hand.
the second person i know is a well to do landscape artist. who can talk of nothing else but his work. today he is very well to do but this has been his attitude all through. he is only bothered about making things look beautiful. very successful his family has no time to count the money he makes. i have not found him talk of any thing else.
the third is a lady from the temple she is mostly talking about the different temples and the various alankarams etc always almost 90%of the time  talking about God and never a day goes by when she has not visited the temple.
amazing how some people are able to do it. it has to be consciously cultivated.
Let us work as we pray for work indeed is the body's best prayer to the divine.