The basic requirement of being good at anything we do is
having our mind 100% engrossed in it. And that is possible only when thoughts
of some other person\object\event\situation are not troubling us. The major
issue which every student faces is that the moment they sit for studying\any
other intended productive activity, their minds are flooded with - how many
likes they have on Facebook, how many friends have pinged them on Whatsapp,
whether their GF-in-waiting have left them any message or not, or whether Siddharth
Malhotra has posted a new selfie on Instagram. Isn’t like our kids are not
intelligent\smart enough - we have the brightest of the brightest beings on
this planet. But is our budding human resource - the Kalams and Modis and
Sachins of tomorrow - being equipped with the basic knowledge of how their own
mind plays with them? Not really.
This simple Shloka from the Bhagavad Geeta coupled with an
illustration can easily convey the above. (Read them row by row. Move to next
row only after reading the entire three columns)
|
Shloka
(2.62, 2.63)
|
Meaning
|
Example
|
|
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः
|
Thinking
about the sense objects
(विषया)
|
He\she
was looking so attractive today. He\she didn’t even look at me.
|
|
सङ्गस्ते
षूपजायते ।
|
A person
develops attachment (सङ्ग) for
them.
|
Something
happens inside. A little naughty tickling :P
|
|
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः
|
From
attachment develops Desire(कामः)
|
This
little sweet feeling manifests as “I so badly wish we could spend some time
together”
|
|
कामात्क्रोधो
ऽभिजायते
|
Unfulfilled
Desires lead to Frustration and Anger (त्क्रोधो)
|
Repeated
“I want him\her” + “He\She doesn’t give me Bhav” = Frustration + Anger
|
|
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः
|
Anger
leaders to Delusion (संमोहः)
|
In the
frustrated state, Mind is unable to think about anything else. Maths book in
front is as good as the desired boy\girl’s picture. As good as blindness.
|
|
संमोहात्स्मृति
विभ्रमः
|
Delusion
leads to Erosion of Memory(त्स्मृति विभ्रमः)
(Past learning
of what is right and wrong)
|
Mom Dad and
teachers had told “In chakkaro mein nai padna varna padai mein dhyan nai
lagega”. But the teenager can’t remember this anymore! He is as good
as someone who is never taught this.
|
|
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धि
नाशो
|
Erosion
of Memory leads to
Destruction
of Thinking Power\Logic\Reason\
Intellect
(बुद्धि नाशो)
|
Teenager’s
own evolved brain won’t function since brain relies on past experiences of
right and wrong to take a decision, the data which is inaccessible right now.
|
|
बुद्धि
नाशात्प्रणश्यति
|
Destruction
of Reasoning Ability leads to
Failure
of Man
(त्प्रणश्यति)
as it
will lead to Wrong Actions
|
The
teenager remains obsessed, loses focus, performs badly in examinations and
subsequently faces peer competition\parent pressure and is drowned in guilt
being unable to help himself.
|
I never realized before reading this Shloka that so much
happens in the little mind of ours from the point the thought of my crush
enters my mind till the time I see a bad Mark sheet! Did you?
No one ever told us the Circus happening in our mind every
moment. Krishna told long back though.
So to reverse the above table – solution is clear enough. The
moment an undesirable thought enters me – I just have to be aware, and stop
thinking\ replace it with an alternate thought. Awareness right at the first
level is necessary because dealing with a simple thought is much easier than
dealing with desire/ anger/ consequence of a wrong action.
Also a well-established fact is the power and the vibration
of the Shloka itself. Chanting the Shloka reminds us of this whole Drama that
can take place if we don’t manage the thought straightaway! The moment your EX
is about to enter your mind, just say to yourself... (“ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः
...) and your mind will immediately recall the entire flowchart above which
ends in “failure”... the thought will stop right there. Knowledge of the phenomenon itself that can
happen inside our mind can take us out of the cobwebs.
Try out for yourself ;)
