JOIN USThere are times in life when everything that can possibly go wrong, goes wrong.
We err or even commit unpardonable blunders quite unwittingly.
Sometimes our best laid plans or our sincere efforts take a beating due to unforeseen reasons.
No amount of logical analysis or explanation of the problem can give us any reprieve.
At such times most people get irreversibly depressed due to sheer guilt. Some others try to reconcile themselves to their fate in the firm belief that Man proposes and God disposes.
Accepting a defeat or disgrace with grace is the best possible reaction in such a given situation. Yet it is best to understand that no debacle barring death is indomitable.
An episode from the Ramayana gives us some subtle guidance to help us make our way out of the sticky wicket. Dasharatha was an expert archer and had mastered the art of shooting his unseen prey by merely listening to the sounds it made.
Once he went to the forest to practice his Shabdhavedhi skill.
He thought that he heard an elephant drinking water and shot an arrow in that direction. To his utter mortification, he heard a human voice crying out in pain and misery.
Investigation revealed that he had shot a young man who was collecting water in a pot.
The king of Ayodhya was overcome by remorse.
He followed the instructions of the dying young man and took his body to his aged blind parents.
The old couple was overcome by shock and grief by the unfair and untimely death of their only child Shravana Kumara.
The king’s apologies, repentance and offers to help them failed to move them.
They cursed Dasharatha that he would also die in the grief of being parted from his son. The king of Ayodhya was filled with mixed feelings. He was overwhelmed by shame and sorrow.
Yet a ray of hope dawned on the childless king.
He was able to see a hidden boon in the curse.
He hastened to perform the much delayed Putra Kameshti Yajna and received the divine payasam which blessed him with four sons.
Many a time, most of us are unable to see the silver lining in the dark cloud.
Our failures, disappointments and frustrations envelop our very beings.
We are blinded by our negative emotions which prevent us from performing any productive or meaningful work.
At such times it is mandatory for us to realise that everything is not over.
We must pull up our socks and do what we can to salvage the problem and look for possible opportunities to make progress.