Dr Venganoor Balakrishnan

The rishis of ancient India who created our rich tradition were highly practical men. The sages of the past envisaged a useful life for the people throbbing with positive energy and life-force.
They were the first to realise the role of the mind-power in moulding one’s life and winning all accomplishments in the material and spiritual lines.
Mind power or will power can work like wonders. It is the level of will power a person carries that decides what he becomes and how much he achieves in life.
“Brahmanaa thanyate viswam manasaiva swayam bhoova
Manomayamatho viswam yannamaparidrisyate”

This sloka in Mahopanishad hails the importance of mind power. Lord Brahma created this world out of the power of his mind — his power of imagination. Everything is the creation of mind. If it could cause the world itself, why can’t it create material things?
In Puranas also there are several parables that appreciate the great power of will and resolution. Markandeya, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva was destined to die at the age of 16. But since he knew he was born after long penance of his parents and they could not afford to bear his bereavement, he decided not to yield to death! He observed penance and kept himself close to the Shivalinga that represented the Lord Himself.
As Yama, the lord of death, came to take his life and cast a noose, it fell on the neck of the boy and also the Shivalinga whom the boy had hugged closely. Surging with rage, Lord Shiva opened his third eye, showered Agni, and burnt Yama, the deity of Death.
The devotion that made the Lord protect his devotee even from death, was, in fact, his will power in disguise. He chose not to die. Such was the strength of his resolution that even death failed to take him.
King Bhageeratha is another icon of will power in Puranas. A curse turned his forefathers to ashes in the underworld “Pataala”. It was not practical for anyone to collect the ashes of thousands of them, take them to earth, to some sacred river and do the after-death ceremonies. Hence, he thought of an idea. He knew that if the ashes could be left in the holy river Ganga, his Manes could attain salvation.
He, therefore, started observing hard penance. Thousands of years passed. At last, Goddess Ganga appeared before him. She promised to flow on to the earth and from there to the underworld, submerging the ashes of his forefathers and thereby fulfilling his cause. However, he had to observe penance for yet another thousand years to please Lord Shiva who alone could bear the fall of heavenly Ganga on to the earth.
He achieved that too. Later on Bhageeratha’s exertion became a synonym for perseverance, strong will power, and submission to the cause together in any venture undertaken. It is called “Bhageeratha Prayatnam”.
Though it is simply a story, it tells us how staunch will power and strong resolution can turn seemingly impossible things, possible.
Apart from Puranas, epics and legends, the very human history stands proof to the immense power of one’s will. Helen Keller, Glen Cunningham and Vilma Rudolf are all golden instances to show how much heights one can conquer with will power coupled with perseverance and strong resolution.

— Dr Venganoor Balakrishnan is the author of Thaliyola, a book on Hindu beliefs and rituals.
He has also written books on the Vedas and Upanishads. The author can be reached at drvenganoor@yahoo.co.in