[[Mohan K.V 2013-03-30, 02:10:33 Source]]
सदास्वादरोमन्थः
Dear reader,
We’re past a quarter century of posts, and up to 77 readers! Many of you have been constantly writing in with your feedback, opinions and suggestions, and we’re very grateful for that.
Śatāvadhāni Dr. R. Ganesh, as always, is a constant source for encouragement and wrote in with a few comments: in edition #21 on the Pancatantra, he particularly highlighted the vast sweep of Vishnusharma’s references, drawing freely from books on Sangeeta Shastra, Shakuna Shastra, Vedanta, etc. Their delicious use in the mouths of all kinds of characters – precise, learned and correct Sangeeta Shastra exposition by a donkey, for example – suffuses a gentle humour throughout the work.
In edition #22, it was a difficult choice landing on which work to choose from Kshemendra’s prolific output. We just picked one, and will surely return to him in future editions.
We received a lot of positive responses to #23 on Nilakantha Diksita and the puzzles, and want to express our sincere thanks for it. We will feature similar light works more often in the future.
In edition #25 on the Rajatarangini, we had mentioned that “the nature of power is laid bare”. That power has a single, unified nature is itself an insightful observation. Anthony Jay, one of the co-creators of the incredibly successful political satire Yes Minister, and a very keen observer of the political realm, recently mentioned this:
And yet, underneath it all, everything was surprisingly unchanged. > All sorts and conditions of men may enter politics, with all sorts > of motives and purposes, but as they rise to the top, the > remorseless logic of power drives them into the same pattern of > behaviour. It is not only true of politics. As Bagehot pointed out > 150 years ago: “The summits of various business are, like the tops > of mountains, much more alike than the parts below – the bare > principles are much the same; it is only the rich variegated details > of the lower strata that so contrast with one another.” >
As always, we welcome any thoughts, feedback and suggestions from you all. Please email us atkvm….@gmail.comandshree…@gmail.com
Thought for today
Sometimes it is easy to get carried away by the fervour of activity in the ‘human anthill’, and lose sight of our truly limited needs. These words of Vyasa from the Mahabharata are a fine anchor:
गोशतादपि गोक्षीरं प्रस्थं धान्यशतादपि ।
प्रासादादपि खट्वार्धं शेषाः परविभूतयः ॥
gośatādapi gokṣīraṃ prasthaṃ dhānyaśatādapi |
prāsādādapi khaṭvārdhaṃ śeṣāḥ paravibhūtayaḥ ||
“From a thousand cows, [what we finally use] is a mouthful of milk. From an entire granary, merely a handful of grain. In a grand palace, half a bed. Everything else [that we hoard] is for others’ enjoyment”.
As an aside, however, Fate can deny even a khaṭvārdha to the unlikeliest of people. The last of the Mughal emperors, Bahadur Shah Zafar, ruled over a continually shrinking domain and in his lifetime saw the British go from a regional power to a pan-continental one. The rebellion of 1857 instilled a brief flicker of hope of a return to glory, but alas, that was a misconception. He was finally exiled to Rangoon, far away from his dear Delhi, the seat of his ancestors for centuries. As he lay dying from neglect, he penned these words:
Umr-e-darāz se māng ke lāye the cār din
Do ārzu mein guzar gaye, do intezār mein
Hai kitna badnasīb Zafar dafn ke liye
Do gaz zamīn bhi na mili kū-e-yār mein
I had requested for a long life of four days.
Of them, two elapsed in pining, and two in waiting.
How unlucky is Zafar! Even for his burial,
a mere two yards of land couldn’t be found in the land (of the) beloved.