Walk the path of dharma

[1]

Swami Tejomayananda [1]

We continue to study the vision of Ramayana, as expressed in the musings of Shri Rama in Kishkindha Kanda. It is the rainy season and the mountain slopes are verdant. Seeing this, Shri Ram shares his thoughts with Lakshman.
Green grass grows and covers the path just like proud people who cover the path shown by the scriptures. They insist on their own opinions and disregard the words of wisdom of holy books. We must follow the scriptures and not get misled by futile words.
The trees that have shed their leaves are covered with new sprouts just as a sincere seeker gains new insights every time he entertains and reflects noble thoughts and teachings.
The rain has washed everything clean; there is no trace of dust to be found anywhere. This is how anger, when it surfaces, drives away dharma, making one incapable to differentiate between the right and the wrong. The earth is decked with rich crops, even as a generous and charitable person is endowed with riches that will benefit everyone. Wealth does not adorn a person who is miserly and refuses to part with even a penny to help others.
Fireflies gleam in the thick darkness of the night like hypocrites. The difference between the light of the fireflies and that of the sun is that the light of the fireflies merely illuminates their own presence, whereas the light of the sun illuminates everything. The fireflies vanish in the light of the sun; their glory is only in the dark. Similarly, in the presence of saints and great men, the hypocrites fade away into nothing; they shine only in the company of ignorant people.
A clever farmer weeds his fields carefully to avoid damage to his crops, just as a wise man avoids infatuation, vanity and pride. The goose is not seen anywhere around, just as righteousness is rare to be seen in Kalyug. We see many people going to temple and performing rituals, but it is rare to find people who are uncompromising in righteousness and prepared to give up their lives in the performance of dharma.
Nowadays, people resort to wrong deeds and then pray that God should protect them from the enquiry commission. The deities in our temples smile, because they are amused by our prayers. A boy was heard to pray that Mumbai should be made the capital of India. When his mother asked him the reason for this strange prayer, he said that in the school examination, in his answer sheet, he had written that Mumbai was the capital of India.