Dasbodha -Signs of Foolishness &viciousness

THE FIRST SAMAS – MOORKHALAKSHANNAM (SIGNS OF THE FOOLS) I salute the Lord Ganesha with a prayer that he should bless me that is his worshipper in my endeavor. I also salute the Mother of the Vedas and Shree Sharada with a prayer that she should reside inside me to give me the imagination and the intuition. Then I salute my Guru, Lord Ram while I tell the signs of the fools which should be heard and better be shed off. There are two types of fools in the world, one is the fool and the other is the learned fools! I am going to tell about the second category in the tenth samas of this dashak. In this samas I will talk about the signs of the fools which are so many that I would concentrate on some prominent ones only. A fool is one who, forgets his parents and even goes against them on the advice of his wife, considers his wife to be everything, loves any other women than his wife, stays with his in-laws without rhyme or reason, marries any lady without thinking about her character, prides himself in front of people more knowledgeable than him tries to equate himself with them and even wants to rule over them, blows his own trumpet at every opportune moment, even at times of despair does nothing to change that state and instead quotes his elders that they used to this and that, laughs without reason, doesn’t listen to the advice of his well wishers, unnecessarily creates enemies with his behavior, makes friends with strangers and the enemies than the real friends, blames others for anything and everything, sleeps in a gathering where others are patiently listening, eats his heart out at other’s cost, is neck deep in betting, goes to the prostitutes, steals, opens up secrets of the friends, goes to the dance bars, is extremely idle to the extent that he just keeps on hoping that some one will come from somewhere and solve his problems without his doing anything for that purpose, is eloquent of his absent knowledge in front of his own people but keeps mum in a gathering with fear of being exposed, tries to teach those who don’t pay any heed to him, tries to be wise in front of the elders in all senses, sees to it that good people are harassed, is prepared to anything save anything to satiate his organic desires, refuses to take medicine even when ill due to complacence, doesn’t ever like what the life offers him, makes friends with strangers, repeatedly visits the places and people who acclaim him, is unable to sustain even that undeserved acclaim, whose mind is never quiet, punishes the Saints rather than the thieves, is utterly miserly, doesn’t respect the God, talks continuously and irrelevantly, abuses others with the most obscene words, is a tiger in his family but a dog in the society, likes the company of the vicious, eats everywhere and anything, never does anything for the sake of the others, punishes those who have helped him when he had been abandoned by all, does little and talks as if he has done things no one can even dream of, is highly temperamental, without any courage, prides himself without having any virtues of any kind, is arrogant, untrue, vicious to the core, shameless, wears clothes totally unsuited to his status or the time and place, is unclean from top to bottom, always thinks bad about others and wishes that no one should succeed, considers money as the ultimate in life, tries to make a mockery of everything all the time. Anyone having these signs is a sure fool! A fool is a one who, attains sadistic pleasure in aggrieving all and particularly his own people, never speaks good about and to them but behaves exactly in the opposite manner to the vicious, is bothered about only himself, throws anyone who comes to him for help at once, believes that whatever money he has earned will see him through all the problems, forgets God and remembers only his wife and children out of lust and expectations respectively, never understands that you get the fruits of whatever you sow, marries many women, because of the continued company of the vicious is always ready to cross all civilized limits, pretends that he doesn’t know even if he knows when it is time to do something for the others, betrays the God, the Guru, parents, is happy in others’ grief, grieves about the things he has lost, talks to all with disrespect, does uncalled for things, doesn’t know how to maintain himself in the society, is always ready to fight for any trivial matter, talks when it is not needed and keeps mum when he should talk, wants to sit on the highest pedestal without any qualifications for that, believes in the vicious people, is not ashamed to ask for anything, is jealous of others, is corrupt, is always apprehensive that his true self will be revealed anytime, envies others for getting things which he doesn’t deserve, does theft in his own house, keeps faith in his useless friends and has no faith in the God, literally wastes his life, abuses the God for whatever he has to endure, who never forgives even the smallest mistakes, is unwanted everywhere, has no morals, always likes to poke his nose in the affairs of the others, spits everywhere, fights even with women, kills the animals without reason, is happy to be a witness to others’ quarrels, if at all he becomes rich immediately forgets all because of whom he attained the wealth, is polite till his job is done and arrogant immediately afterwards, never reads anything, is definitely a fool of the highest order! If you refrain from doing these things you will be the wiser for it. In fact the signs of the fools are many more than I have enumerated but I request you and know also that you will understand my predicament in doing this and I also apologize for calling others fools, but what can I do, there is no other word for them. It is up to us to be virtuous than vicious. I am going to talk about the virtues in the next samas. 

UTTAM LAKSHANE (THE VIRTUES) Now I will tell the virtues. If you know them fully well then you can very easily follow the correct path of the material and spiritual life both. They are very simple but often we forget the basics and try for the higher ones which are not possible. They are like this, you should, eat anything only after knowing that it will not harm your body, embark on a journey after full knowledge of its path, never lift anything lying anywhere, not try to debate over and over again for too long, not be vicious to anyone at the same time wherever needed never hesitate to use force for the destruction of the evil, marry only the person who is not characterless, not talk without thinking, consider all the aspects before starting any job, always follow the morals and ethics, behave properly with all, not earn money with unfair and corrupt means, never blame or hate anyone, always be in the company of the good, never wrest anyone’s property or family, not divide the society on any issues, always study, not fight with those who like it, never be angry, not insult the lovable ones, try to learn from anyone even if he is younger than you, never be untrue in anything, follow the given word to the hilt, not boast about anything rather first do it and only then tell others so that they also can be benefited, not undermine others’ interests by your talk or deeds, keep your body working all the time, not evade trying even if you are unsuccessful, not be tired of any physical work, not talk arrogantly or irrelevantly yet never be afraid to tell the truth in a gathering, not be overly bothered about anything, never be idle, consider all other women except your wife as your sisters or mother, never ask for undue help from anyone and never forget those who have helped you even in the smallest of matters, not aggrieve anyone, not be ungrateful to anyone, be very clean bodily and otherwise also, be ready to help all, not be over influenced by anyone who doesn’t deserve it, never be a burden upon others, be very cautious in all the dealings especially financial and legal where you should sign only after you are convinced that the papers are proper and not harmful to you, avoid unnecessary legal hassles, not talk at a place where no one respects you, not overlook important things, never use your power unless you are unnecessarily harmed by anyone, not use your power with the intention of harming anyone, not eat or sleep too much, never stay at a goon’s place, not defend even your own people if they are at fault, never boast about your achievements, not laugh all the time or without any reason, never smoke or drink any inebriant, be very choosy about your friends, always be industrious, retaliate if someone insults you without your fault, not abuse anyone, never laugh at others in a way which will insult them, never be involved in theft, not be miserly, not fight with your own loved ones, never destroy others, be rational in your overall behavior which is prescribed by the Vedas, Science, Saints and common sense, never talk bad about anyone when he is not present, always be helpful to the needy, try to behave in a way which will be appreciated by one and all, not punish even your enemy if he submits to you totally and asks for forgiveness, never be overtly proud of your money, not be ashamed of praising or worshipping the God, never exceed your limits in front of the elders and Saints, never be in the company of fools, never try anything by trekking an unknown territory, not be casual anywhere, never ever forget to perform your daily Sadhana, not forget spiritualism for the sake of material pleasures, always do all the things that you have promised the God, never abuse any religion, not be known as one who is hard to be convinced, not kill anyone, never be afraid of anyone, be ready to talk whenever required without any hesitation, keep your cool amongst people hell bent on insulting you, never think that money and life are everlasting, never be proud of anything even though there may be sufficient grounds for the same, try to be praiseworthy all the time, keep on walking on the path of truth with wisdom despite difficulties, never be without Guru. These are some of the many virtues. Those who don’t follow these invite a vicious life the signs of which I am going to tell in the next samas.

KUVIDYA LAKSHANE (SIGNS OF VICIOUSNESS) Now please listen to the signs of viciousness. Every human being should try to avoid them. A man with viciousness is so bad that he gets harmed by his own deeds. He is so full of viciousness that he doesn’t like anyone more knowledgeable than him to point out his own mistakes. He is full of, lust, anger, jealousy, hatred, pride, envy, doubt, desire; thirst for all that is bad, apprehension, insatiable hunger for all the material and organic pleasures, the habit of blaming others, offensive behavior, and all the signs of psychiatric illnesses, unstoppable talkativeness and an unending urge to complain about others. He is, devoid of any virtues, always poor as he spends whatever he gets, very miserly for others, idle, voracious in appetite, weak yet ready to take on any fight, very astute for his own gains, in the habit of misbehaving, a fool, temperamental, untrue, not having any knowledge about anything but doesn’t think before talking to the knowledgeable, doesn’t learn from others, doesn’t study also. He never believes in anyone, hates the worshippers, he is a, sinner, goon, cruel person with a dubious nature. He is, very much afraid of everything but puts on the garb of bravery. He doesn’t do anything to earn, he has many addictions, is corrupt. Despite lacking in everything he never wastes an opportunity to talk derogatorily about others, he gets vicarious pleasure in troubling others, he never sticks to his words or promises, and he never wants anyone to progress, he is very happy to trouble even his parents. He always wants to be in the company of other women even if his wife is around. He is very insistent for the wrong things. He is full of selfishness. He is a thief who doesn’t think twice in stealing from right under the nose of the owner in front of many people. He even doesn’t know how to write but behaves as if he is the most knowledgeable in the world. Without having anything he boasts of being the most virtuous. In short he doesn’t know what he is, what others are, how to behave how not to, and even what will yield him all that is good in life. He is not only a fool thence but an idiot too. He is thus a huge store of all types and sorts of viciousness which finally destroy him and therefore I request the audience to part with any single sign mentioned above if at all they have any