Motivation -- There is Hope!

प्रयासः

Prayaasa — Strive

स्वैरम् प्रैरम् संस्कृत पद्यम्

A motivational Sanskrit song urging us to rise, strive, and persevere. Through vivid imagery of the determined ant, the brave fisherman, and the guiding guru, these verses remind us that nothing is impossible for a mind filled with faith and effort.

❀ ❀ ❀

श्लोक १

याहि यासनीयम् एव यात्यम् कार्यम् भोः अन्यथा तु हासनीयताम् हि यासि त्वम् ॥ प्रयासि यासि त्वम्

Come on, get up! Let's go. A ton great work has to be done. Otherwise, people will surely laugh at you (sulking like this)! So get up and go!! You will reach there!

श्लोक २

नैव कष्टम् सर्वम् चैव सौख्यदायकम् । मैव यत्नम् त्याज्यम् वृथा मुघा मन्यस्व ॥

Not everything in this world is an ordeal nor is it all fun and games. But don't also believe that all efforts will go in vain. Don't ever give up.

श्लोक ३

यास्यता नरेण देवता हि लभ्या भोः भ्रातर् एहि साकम् कार्यम् साधयाव द्राक् ।। स्वसस् साधयाव द्राक्

For a human, putting in determined efforts can rise to the status of God. Come on brother. Let's work together towards our goals. Come on sis! Let's achieve together.

श्लोक ४

मा जहीहि मा व्यथिष्ठा मा च कम्पय । मा जहि त्वम् मा शुचस् त्वम् मा च रोदय ॥ इतरान् मा रोधय

Do not give up. Do not grieve. Do not be frightened. Do not kill. Do not worry. Do not make others cry. And do not obstruct others (in their progress).

श्लोक ५

मा मामादे भूयाद् भौमो भवाँश् च स्मर । मा मे मान्यतास्तु काचित् कृत्त्रिमा क्वचित् ॥

Do not be in the "high" of wealth, for you belong to this earth. Remember this always. Let there not be any praise of any sort, for I have come to know that it is usually flattery.

श्लोक ६

शर्करां वहत् पिपीलकम् प्रपश्य रे । मानसस्य नास्त्यसाध्यम् चिन्तयित्वैवम् । रोहति प्ररोहति त्मनाऽऽत्मना सदा पातिकासु भित्तिकासु विश्वस्तो अयम् ॥ किल विश्रब्धो अयम् ।

Man, learn from that little ant climbing up the wall with a crystal of sugar. It thinks to itself, "There is nothing impossible for the mind". It climbs. It treks. It falls. It climbs again with all its heart each time, despite the walls being ever slippery. Oh, this little thing is truly hopeful and confident. Is it not?

श्लोक ७

विश्वेऽश्वत्थे विश्वासो हि विद्येत न किम्? विश्रब्धस्य मानुषस्य मानसम् अहो ! समम् , नास्ति तेन यस्य मनस् त्यादृशम् वरम् तुल्यम् केन क्रियेताहो श्रद् दधानास्य॥ अहो श्रद् दधानस्य !

Should there not be some hope in this hopeless ephemeral world? Wow the mind of the human who manages to still have this faith (in oneself)! Surely, there is no greater object of comparison in this world than such a Mind - full of faith. Surely, with what shall I compare?

श्लोक ८

लक्षिता नु शुक्तिर् अनेन धीवरेण रक्षितस्य तस्य धान्यशेषस्य ह किम् ? मज्जते निमज्जते वराय नमस्ते लभ्यते नु मौक्तिकम् अगाध सागरे ॥ रे अगाध सागरे ।

A fisherman spots an oyster. Has he an amassed bag of rice (as a means of secured future)? Nay, yet he plunges into the abysmal depths of the vast ocean. Does he not then get the pearl, he had desired? Salutations to this brave man's repeated efforts. Salutations!

श्लोक ९

क्रीडाङ्गणम् हित्वाऽऽ लस्यम् लष्यताम् विभो: पर्वतस्य शीर्ष यावच् चालनीयम् हो यानमेतम् कायम् रथम् मत्वाऽऽ रोहतात् , मार्ग दर्शनार्थम् एव विद्यते गुरुः ॥

Get up. Stop being lazy. Come out of your little playground. Strive for the higher. You have a colossal mountain to climb. You have to get to the summit. Thinking of your body as a vehicle, drive this chariot. And Rise. You have the Guru guiding you….

❀ ❀ ❀

श्लोक १०

हो हो वर्तते गुरुर् , हो हो भासते गुरुर् , हो हो दीप्यते गुरुर् , हो हो ह्लादते गुरुर् , हो हो मोदते गुरुर्..

…the Guru who exists for you, who shines for you, who toils for you, who is happy for you, who revels in joy, when you grow!

✦ ✦ ✦

Samskrta BudbudaaH | संस्कृत बुद्बुदाः

From the collection by Sudarshan Ravi

"संस्कृत नन्दिनी" YouTube Channel

Lyrics and free translation: Sudarshana

Singer: Darshana Kamte | Tabla: Sujaya V Kulkarni

Special thanks to Suchitra, for providing the ambience for recording

On Sharing and Caring

 Giving and receiving 

There is a very subtle power play hidden in the posture of always being the Giver. 
This psychology is crucial to understand. 

We often think of giving as noble, selfless, even divine — but to give constantly without the ability to receive can quietly inflate a sāttvika ego: the ego of virtue. It hardens into pride disguised as generosity, and becomes incapable of accepting love, help, or correction. 

The ancients were acutely aware of this duality. 
Dānam (giving) and parigraha (receiving) were meant to move hand in hand. 
One who could not give was advised not to receive either — hence the aparigraha-vrata (vow of non-receiving) of ascetics. 
And those who had the privilege to receive — whether through wealth, knowledge, or resources — were in turn obligated to give back through yajña and dāna. 

This mutual rhythm sustained the ethical economy of life: 
to give without humility is arrogance; to receive without gratitude is theft. 

Even in traditional gender roles — the male as provider, the female as nurturer — harmony survives only when, at least occasionally, the roles exchange. The giver must learn vulnerability; the receiver must taste responsibility. 

Psychology, indeed, is astonishing: 
beneath the simple act of giving and taking lies the entire drama of power, ego, and balance. 

Love vs friendship 

There can be no love between two “adults.” 
At best, there is friendship; at worst, a business partnership. 

True love arises only between the child and the parent, between the feminine and the masculine, between Śakti and Śiva, Yin and Yang. 

Love demands polarity. 
It requires one to be desperate and vulnerable — restless, aching, jealous, yearning for attention — and the other to be calm, steady, detached, protective. 
Without this tension of opposites, there is no magnetism, no surrender, no love — only mutual convenience. 

Between equals, there can only be friendship: 
a pact between two self-sufficient beings to share companionship, 
to assist each other through life’s difficulties, 
to soften the loneliness of existence. 

It is a social contract, not an emotional covenant. 
For the moment circumstances cease to align —  
when benefits wane, when space, time, or temperament shift —  
the pact dissolves without resistance. 

Love ends where equality begins. 
What remains is affection, respect, or habit —  
but not that beautiful madness which makes one lose the self in the other. 

Notes on Nice Person, Addiction

 Be a Nice person 

 

The video’s portrayal of the “nice person” is accurate — I resonate with it. 
But the problem is not niceness itself. 

Being nice is not a flaw; it is a response to life’s conditioning. 
It arises from two roots: 

1. A fear of conflict. 

2. A love of harmony — the wish to see others happy. 

Calling niceness “selfish” is shallow. 
If “selfish” means seeking approval or joy through good deeds, then every being is selfish — mother, soldier, friend alike. By such logic, selflessness does not exist. 

But language matters. We call “selfish” those who harm others for gain, and “selfless” those who help others despite cost. 
By that definition, nice people are selfless. 

They may be lonely, yes. But sadness visits every temperament. 

Their conflict-avoidance stems from fear — a different kind of fear, not of harm, but of hurting or disappointing others. 
And fear, like joy, is part of being human. 

True niceness is reliability under strain. 
You can depend on the nice person — they will help even at personal cost. 
That is virtue, not weakness. 

Friendship reveals this truth sharply: people want the nice friend when they need help, not when they seek excitement. They want notes, not presence. Relief, not reciprocity. 

They call that practical. I call it hypocrisy. 

Expecting reciprocity is not selfishness — it is humanity. 
To desire gratitude or respect is natural. 
To hope for decency from others is not arrogance — it is ethics. 

Every personality has its gifts and burdens. The “nice” carry compassion and fear together. 
That is their nature. 

And nature, as the Bhagavad Gītā says — svabhāvas tu pravartate — always prevails. 

So accept your nature. Accept your flaws and fears, your strengths and beauty. 
They are the boundary conditions of your life’s equation. 

All are cursed; all are blessed. 
Joy and sorrow dance in rhythm, trading turns endlessly. 

One can strive, yes — but in the end, acceptance is liberation. 
Relax. Breathe. Be. 

On addiction and solitude 

Addiction need not mean drugs or alcohol. 
It can be a behaviour, a thought pattern, a person, or even a constant need for noise. 

A drug is not the problem. 
The drug is the solution. 
The real problem is the pain from which one seeks escape. 
We fight the solution; we rarely heal the wound. 

At the root of every addiction — chemical or otherwise — lies one common syndrome: 

a deep allergy to one’s own company. 

The Social Disease 

We obsess over narcotics, legalization, and moral debates, while quietly feeding the same disease that breeds addiction: 
discomfort with solitude. 

Society teaches us from childhood to fear being alone: 

• “Don’t sit idle — go play with your friends.” 

• “Get married, have children — why be alone?” 

• “Divorced? Who will take care of you?” 

• “Sannyāsa? Wonderful — which maṭha will you be joining?” 

At every step, the world whispers: belong, attach, engage, depend. 
To be “a part of” something is virtuous; 
to be “apart” is suspect. 

The Forgotten Freedom 

And yet, in yoga, kaivalya — the final liberation — literally means “aloneness.” 
From kevala — “alone.” 
Freedom, then, is not found in belonging, 
but in learning to be utterly with oneself. 

Perhaps that is the only cure for addiction of any kind —  
not withdrawal, not substitution, 
but a slow reconciliation with the self we’ve been running from. 

Addiction need not mean drugs or alcohol. 
It can be a behaviour, a thought pattern, a person, or even a constant need for noise. 

A drug is not the problem. 
The drug is the solution. 
The real problem is the pain from which one seeks escape. 
We fight the solution; we rarely heal the wound. 

At the root of every addiction — chemical or otherwise — lies one common syndrome: 

a deep allergy to one’s own company. 

Introvert or Extrovert? 

The timeless debate. 

Those drawn to art, thought, or science often lean toward introversion — specialists, thinkers, creators. 
Those drawn to power, politics, or commerce thrive on extroversion — connectors, negotiators, managers. 

Both are survival strategies: one of inward excellence, the other of outward influence.