Srimad Bhagavatam – day 614
Remaining indifferent to the wicked is the best remedy
Narayana
Maharishi Nārada thought, “Due to befriending noble saintly persons, the pauper discards excessive greed towards food and other material desires”.
Due to association with noble saints, he now loses interest in material desires. ‘Let it happen as ordained by the Lord’- he thinks. Dispassion automatically emerges in him. Devotion intensifies. Saintly qualities increase. This is the outcome of associating with saintly, virtuous persons. In the initial days, due to lack of food his nerves were weakened and he was emaciated. Now, due to friendship with saints, he discards even inclination towards food. Such mental strength is the outcome of association with saints.
“As a result, in a very short time, his inner mind gets amazingly purified”.
This is explicitly visible in the sadhus who throng Haridwar and Rishikesh. The quality of equal-mindedness is evident in them. They are freed from desires. If at all food is unavailable on any day, they walk away silently but do not pick any fight.
In this world, cheating and adulteration are visible in every field. Food and drinking water are also adulterated. Market is flooded with plastic vegetables and plastic rice. What is to happen to the kidney? How are we to recognize the plastic vegetables and rice? Even branded food grains that have been sealed firmly in bags and which are purchased from a reputed store are found to be adulterated.
Oil extracted from dead animals is added to vegetable oil to increase the quantity. Sugar is adulterated. Adulteration has spread its tentacles in every field. Using their intelligence, people device newer methods to contaminate food. They do not understand the consequences of adulteration as they do not consume that food. They fail to realise that their kith and kin including their children are becoming victims of this contamination.
Since adulteration has spread to all fields, pure feelings have disappeared in people. Hence, when we come across a beggar we doubt whether he is genuinely in need of help or not. Either the Lord should give us this knowledge to decipher good from bad or He should fill these people, who are engaged in business of adulteration, with noble qualities.
“The penniless paupers however, due to association with virtuous noble saints, cultivate feelings of equal-mindedness. They seek refuge under the lotus feet of Lord Srihari, the Lord who bestows liberation”.
Due to association with saints, they endlessly chant divine names. Till yesterday there was a bird named Ranga with Swamiji which would eternally chant ‘Rama, Rama.’ It would tutor other birds. If I desired that another bird should be taught to chant divine names, I would ensure it is left in Ranga’s vicinity. Automatically the new bird would learn to chant divine names. Yesterday, on the auspicious occasion of Ekadashi, it merged into Lord Krishna. I prayed that it should travel to very high planes. Early morning it would call out to Swamiji, ‘Good morning’. This was followed by ‘Namah Shivaya’. It would insist that we repeat after it. This bird would speak in telugu, tamil and kannada. It would insist that Swamiji chants ‘Rama, Rama’ continuously along with it.
Although it was just a bird, it eternally thought of the Lord. I am speaking about it today as it has obtained a place in my heart. The Lord has compassionately showered human beings with all energies including intelligence. It is up to us to use it productively. May my bird Ranga be blessed with liberation! You can watch video of Ranga in sgsbirds.com.
“Poverty-stricken people, who live amidst saints, develop the quality of equal-mindedness. They seek shelter in the lotus feet of Srihari, the Lord who bestows liberation. They no longer feel the necessity to associate with the wicked, who conceited due to affluence enjoy evil comforts”.
It is better to remain indifferent with the wicked. When we come across people who boast arrogantly, it is best to remain indifferent. They automatically learn the lesson. When small children use dirty, abusive words, other children burst out laughing which boosts the arrogance of the child and, taking pride in his accomplishment, he continues to repeat the abusive words again and again so that other children laugh. Gradually this converts into a bad habit. On the contrary, if the audience remains silent, then realizing that his words were not palatable, he will remain silent. The truth however is that many in the audience laugh hearing wicked, dirty words. With this, the person who is using them is motivated to continue. From this, it can be concluded that it is the audience who further pushes him on the evil track.
Hence here it is emphatically declared that it is best to keep the wicked at bay. Neglecting them is the best remedy. Not looking at them and paying a deaf ear to their words destroys their arrogance.
Narayana