Art Of Teaching

My daughter’s friend Shipra Joshi who is like a daughter to me send me a small write up which set me thinking. The faces of the people who cheated me and did wrong to me flashed through my mind. It brought in me that I am fighting for a just cause and if I do not fight this battle then I will certainly incur sins for neglecting my duties and thus lose faith in myself as an educator.

Also, I questioned myself why am I suffering so much and why so much injustice is being meted out to me? I turned to the one and only Lord Krishna. I searched for the answers in his scriptures.  

 It is my moral duty to share what I apprehended ………………….

Lord Krishna says – ‘To cheat or betray others is a sin but it is also sinful to get cheated and betrayed. He points out about this to Lord Arjuna- ‘If, however you do not fight this religious war, then, you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter’. (B.G 2.33)

Bhagwat Gita is a great religious text with practical implications and daily life applications. It never teaches you to flee from any situation. If somebody has taken away your right, you should correct it. Gita says that we have to take care of the problems we face. This is what he told Arjuna. If Lord Krishna wanted, he would have killed all the Kauravas in a single stroke, but he encouraged Arjuna to fight for his rights.

So, the ultimate truth is that God will surely give us the wisdom to take the right step, but we need to take that step ourselves. We are responsible for our actions and the consequences of our actions.

Bottom Line – In Bhagwat Gita It is written …….

‘And that action performed in ignorance and delusion without consideration of future bondage or consequences, which inflicts injury and is impractical, is said to be action in mode of ignorance’. (B.G 18.25)

Therefore we must not seek revenge if the act is done unknowingly. We should let Karma take control of that. We don’t act and we remain at peace. We don’t grieve over the injustices mete out to us. The entire Universe is based on karmic principles, which is not based on a single lifetime but it is stretched over several lifetimes.

But if the unjust action is done knowingly, as in my case, plotted and planned, we need to retaliate.

 So, if I am retaliating, I am keeping in mind that I am acting as a mere tool in the hands of the ULTIMATE GOD and actually my self interest is very minimal in this retaliation.

According to Gita there are many ways of retaliation.

The first way is through dialogue either oral or written, which I have tried.

The second way is reprimand which is also over for me.

The third way is war for which I have prepared myself. The war till the end.

Because Bhagwat Gita does not tell us to run away from injustices and situations. It tells us never to escape from our responsibilities, to challenge the wrong doers otherwise the net quotient of Adharma will go up.

What we perceive as right is always right and what we perceive as wrong is always wrong. WE must act when we see any wrong happening. Just because it does not affect us, we should not keep mum but we should not also underestimate the uninhabited powers of the offenders.

We need to recognize the BHAVA behind the act of the offenders. We need to understand whether they acted out of ignorance or if their mental behavior is like that generally full of greediness, selfishness and vested interest. And based on this assessment we need to decide our future course of action.

Of course, Bhagwat Gita says that forgiveness is one of the greatest intrinsic worth virtues. In chapter sixteen all virtues which are godly are mentioned.

Those who are divine in nature will always tend to forgive but we should also at the same time perform our karma, justly for the majestic good of the society, who here are my colleagues who have been deprived of their compensations along with me. Some of them have even expired.

Also, I believe it is definitely, my bad karma that I helped all the Managements of Shreerang by saying again and again that I am loyal to the chair and justified all their wrong actions and it has come back to me when the same Management and their buddies troubled and insulted me for nearly a year and ultimately forced me to resign. I understood that karma supersedes even loyalty.

I should have protested when I knew that wrong was being done instead of embarking on the road of loyalty. I realize now the amount of pain the two staff members would have suffered who were terminated along with the ones who were forced to resign.

For every court case, it was always me who was sent to the court and never any committee member . It was me who had to find all the papers related to the cases and brief the lawyers regarding the same. So it got projected as if I was against the staff but I was just the Shrikhandi behind whom the Management aimed the arrows.

Through this blog I seek their forgiveness for supporting the wrong people in the guise of loyalty to the chair. The Management made a Karna out of me.

Ultimately, I have realized that social dharma always triumphs over personal dharma. Ultimately, we need to look at the bigger picture as interests of many (the staff) supersedes the interest of a few (the Management).

 I end by saying that even the supreme laws all over the world does not hold an antagonism in self-defense as a crime. Even murder in self -defense is justified.

Sometimes I have lot of anxiety and high stress and cannot sleep at nights, the gift of this great school’s management , to whom I gave my sweat and blood.

One morning near my building I heard a street dog crying out in pain who was lying under my car.  I went down and fed him some water. I saw he was dying, but could feel him at peace. After some moments he gave up his life. I do not know what happened but due to the hidden pain inside me I cried a lot. Automatically tears went down my cheeks. I could not stop myself. When I went back home, I could feel much better and could feel lowering of my stress levels and I fell asleep. That small act of mine helped a great deal to improve my self-confidence and self – esteem.

Also I thought of my numerous ex- students spread all over the world today. Their parents and my staff barring a few , who love and respect me till date. This is what I have achieved, This Is my achievement and I am proud of it. This thought is enough to give solace to my injured heart.

Mahabharata promotes struggle for justice and that is what I am doing. The results of this act are in the hands of Lord Krishna and nobody else, how much ever people plan and plot. So, I don’t fear any mortal beings, especially those who are there for their own vested interests and self-promotion activities.

I also pity those who are seeing injustice being done and are quiet as I was in the past. I pray to Lord Krishna that what the Management did to me does not happen with anybody else.

Best Bhagavad Gita Learnings Shared by Lord Krishna 

1. Whatever happened, happened for the good. Whatever is happening, is happening for the good. Whatever will happen, will also happen for the good.

2. You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work.

3. Change is the law of the universe. You can be a millionaire, or a pauper in an instant.

4. The soul is neither born, and nor does it die.

5. You came empty handed, and you will leave empty handed.

6. Lust, anger and greed are the three gates to self-destructive  hell.

7. Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.

8. When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.

9. There is neither this world, nor the world beyond.  nor happiness for the one who doubts.

10. We’re kept from our goal not by obstacles, but by a clear path to a lesser goal.

11. A person can rise through the efforts of his own mind; or draw himself down, in the same manner. Because each person is his own friend or enemy.

JAI SHRI KRISHNA