Impediments to success

April 26, 2010

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krodho hará¹£aÅ›ca darpaÅ›ca hrÄ«stambho mÄnyamÄnitÄ

yam arthÄn nÄpakará¹£anti sa vai paá¹‡á¸ita ucyate

vidura nÄ«ti mahÄbhÄrataá¹ udyoga parvaá¹ khaá¹‡á¸a 33

He whom neither anger nor joy, nor pride, nor false modesty, nor stupefaction,

nor vanity, can draw away from the high ends of life, is considered as wise.

(translation : Kisari Mohan Ganguly)

Vidura, the learned younger brother of Dhritarashtra is discussing the righteous

way of life for the benefit of his elder brother. This treatise has become the

ultimate guide in righteous living and many later texts in Sanskrit have drawn

inspiration from this incomparable piece of wisdom.

There are many roadblocks even for the most learned, in the course of their

jouney towards achievement of lofty goals they have set unto themselves.

The first drawback is uncontrollable anger.

Next comes excessive desire for pleasure.

In material as well as spiritual pursuits, we attain some minor achievements at

first but if we slacken our enthusiasm with a view to enjoy such minor things

forgetting the ultimate goal, we are in for disappointment . Excessive pride

makes one arrogant and derail him from the path towards victory.

False Modesty comes in the way of one's achievement because this tendency

prevents one from viewing things from the right perspective and approaching the

right persons and resources to strengthen his pursuits.

It is the most common human trait to stand aghast without doing anything when

temporary setbacks are encountered.

It is for the wise man to realise that such stupefaction will not help him in

any way and that going ahead with greatest self control along the difficult

path one has set for himself alone will enable him to reach the final goal.

Another deterrent in the path of success is vanity.

Vanity also makes a man arrogant, excessively confident and makes him lose

sight of the exalted goal.

So Vidura advises that a learned man should steer clear of the above

impediments and forge ahead relentlessly towards the lofty goals.

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