Thursday 14 August 2014

25. Listen to Heart – Living for Betterment will Avoid Bitterness…

Hari Bol......


25. Listen to Heart – Living for Betterment will Avoid Bitterness…


A question has been wondering me for quiet sometime and forcing me to give a thought “What is better? How do I do better? When it is better? Why is it better? If I do not do better! And so on…” Sometime what is better for me may not be better for others. First let us understand the word better before diving deep. It is a comparative word. It has to be compared for good. It has to be more suitable. It has to be more useful. It has to be more desirable. It has to be more advantageous and favorable. Can I say, “Better is for superior quality?” We generally say, “I am feeling better. This time my exams went better. I had better results. I am doing better & so on”.

“The purpose of life is to contribute in some way to making things better.”
― Robert F. Kennedy

Let’s plant more trees and make this world a better place to live.




Better is used where you have two or more than two options to work for. You find debates going on continuously in schools and colleges. In fact you open any news channels and you will observe debate is on, on some or the other topics may be sports, health, politics, etc. During this recent Election campaigning times in India every party and every individual as candidate was trying to prove himself and herself better than the opponent. They were requesting the citizen of the country to elect them in the Parliamentary elections. The citizen of our country gave majority vote to BJP as compared to the other parties, as the mass wanted Mr. Narender Damodardas Modi to lead our country who as a result is our 16th Prime Minister of India who took the oath on 26th May 2014. We all hope for a better India under his leadership.


I was going through an article in FITDAY regarding - Sports Drinks vs. Water: Which Is Better for Exercise? I would like to share with all because we all avoid bitterness. To understand better the best way is to taste for health. We all like to taste good and better and not bitter not only restricted to our tongue but also for our health.

The debate concerning sports drinks vs. water as the better exercise drink concerns a number of factors, the most important of which is proper hydration. When exercising, the human body loses more water than during normal activity through sweat; this water must be replaced to maintain the body's health.

The Importance of Fluid Replacement: Before examining the benefits of sports drinks vs. water, the exerciser should understand the importance of fluid replacement. While elevating the heart rate and working out, the muscles can be beneficial to the body's health (the body loses water at a much higher rate than normal). The hotter the temperature and the more intense the exercise, the more water is lost. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, on average, people lost 2% to 6% of their body weight during exercise sessions.

The human body uses water to regulate body temperature, transport oxygen and nutrients and dispose of waste. The majority of blood - and thus the majority of the human body - is comprised of water. If the body becomes dehydrated, the exerciser can feel cramps, fatigue and dizziness, or experience even more serious problems such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

Water: When debating sports drinks vs. water, no one will argue that water is a poor choice. On the contrary, clean, filtrated water is the best drink with which to hydrate the body before, during and after exercise, as it is easily absorbed by the body without filtration.


Sports Drinks: It does offer some benefits when comparing sports drinks vs. water. While water actually works better at fluid replacement, sports drinks are often more appealing to the palate. In other words, people who enjoy the taste of sports drinks may drink more of a sports drink than they would water; this will lead to better hydration.


Sports drinks also contain electrolytes and carbohydrates. While exercising for short periods of time, it is not necessary to replace electrolytes; however, athletes and marathon participants exercising for period of an hour or more can benefit from electrolyte replacement in particular. Carbohydrates offer the body energy. When the body burns calories, it needs carbohydrates to replace energy lost. The longer the workout, the more carbohydrates are needed.

Drinks to Avoid: Avoid carbohydrate sports drinks and energy drinks, as the sugar in these drinks will offer empty calories and the carbohydrates offer only short bursts of energy without good long-term effects.

Maintaining Proper Hydration: Keep water or sports drink within easy reach at all times during athletic activity and workouts. Drink frequently during activity, but be sure to drink before and after activity as well. When people feel thirsty, the body is telling them that are already dehydrated. Drinking even before the body feels thirsty is the best way to prevent dehydration damage. Drink an average of 4-6 ounces of liquid every 15 minutes during intense periods of activity.


Sports drinks vs. water come down to the length and intensity of an athlete or exerciser's workout; water is never a poor choice, but there are benefits to supplementing a workout with some varieties of sports drinks as well. More important than selecting between the two is maintaining proper hydration before, during and after exercise.


I was studying – which is better tea or coffee? Popular belief labels tea as a health drink and coffee as bad. Not so! Mounting evidence suggests that both are good for you because they're brimming with antioxidants. Science can't really say one is superior to the other, so fill your mug with whichever brew you like. To benefit from both sets of antioxidants, try this: drink one or two cups of coffee in the morning, then enjoy tea throughout the day. The next time you warm your hands around a steaming cup, thank God for His gift of antioxidants. Bottoms up!


I would like to share the way to lead a Better Life by being disciplined;
·        Take a 10-30 minutes’ walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
·        Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
·        Sleep well for 7-9 hours.
·        Live with the 3 E's : Energy, Enthusiasm, & Empathy
·        Play more games
·        Read more books than you did previously
·        Drink plenty of water.
·        Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
·        Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
·        Make time to practice meditation, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
·        Dream more while you are awake.
·        Smile and laugh more
·        Try to make at least three people smile each day.
·        Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
·        Don't have negative thoughts about things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
·        Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
·        Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 
·        Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does
·        Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. This will ruin your present happiness.
·        Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
·        You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
·        Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
·        Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
·        Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
·        Forgive everyone for everything
·        What other people think of you is none of your business. You think positive about others and yourself.
·        However good or bad a situation is, it will change. Change is the only constant.
·        Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
·        Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need provided by the Lord
·        The best is yet to come.
·        No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
·        Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
·        Your inner most is always happy. So be happy.
·        Do the right thing!
·        Call your family often.
·        Each day give something good to others


We have seen in the previous article: “Listen to Heart – Practice Living for Alms giving rather Living on Alms Living…..” that all the religion teaches us good things. It is better for us not to break our head for debating which religion is better but it is better to practice all the teachings of all religion and respect all religions. It helps us to be a better person. It guides us to have a better relation and not bitter relation. You will find that a man generally introduces her wife as Better half.


I was follower of Krishna right from my childhood. My elders sowed the seed of being religious. They taught me to go to temple and taking blessings of Radhe – Krishna and having Prasad before having my meals, which I still follow. I happened to become a member of ISKCON at Patna. I left Patna the next day for joining my office for my Karma. After sometime I happened to meet Prabhuji of ISKCON, Patna at ISKCON, Patna. Prabhuji asked me if I am practicing chanting. I answered in positive. He said do you chant while travelling in train, in buses, in flights, etc. (i.e. at public places). I honestly answered in negative. He suggested me to take a chanting counter. He said, “I know you all are professionals and live with false egos with different tags which are called designations in a firm. The best way to chant is by using chanting bead and chanting bag but to start with you can also chant with chanting counter to improve Krishna consciousness. It is better to remember Krishna anywhere anytime anyhow so chant using beads but if not chant by chanting counter. It is better to chant and remember the Lord rather not chant and not remember the Supreme.” I accepted his advice and started chanting using beads if not I always carry chanting counter and practice chanting thus try to improve Krishna consciousness.


One should practice humanity. One should focus on giving positive vibration and maintain positive atmosphere. This can be practiced if one listens to heart as Krishna abodes in everyone’s heart. This would help us to live for betterment for ourselves and for others and helps to avoid bitterness for ourselves and for others.





Arjuna was not aware that for him which was better. Arjuna said, “Nor do we know which is better - conquering them or being conquered by them. If we killed the sons of Dhritrashtra, we should not care to live. Yet they are now standing before us on the battlefield.” Considering your specific duty as a khashtriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.


Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called kṣatriya. Kṣat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called kṣatriya (trāyate – to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system has been followed even up to the present day by the kṣatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle. In the religious law books it is stated:Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called kṣatriya. Kṣat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called kṣatriya (trāyate – to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system has been followed even up to the present day by the kṣatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle.


“In the battlefield, a king or kṣatriya, while fighting another king envious of him, is eligible for achieving the heavenly planets after death, as the brāhmaṇas also attain the heavenly planets by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire.” Therefore, killing on the battlefield on religious principles and killing animals in the sacrificial fire are not at all considered to be acts of violence, because everyone is benefited by the religious principles involved. The animal sacrificed gets a human life immediately without undergoing the gradual evolutionary process from one form to another, and the kṣatriyas killed on the battlefield also attain the heavenly planets, as do the brāhmaṇas who attain them by offering sacrifice.Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called kṣatriya. Kṣat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called kṣatriya (trāyate – to give protection). The kṣatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A kṣatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system has been followed even up to the present day by the kṣatriya kings of Jaipur state. The kṣatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, kṣatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyāsa, or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle. Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.


There are two kinds of sva-dharmas, specific duties. As long as one is not liberated, one has to perform the duties of his particular body in accordance with religious principles in order to achieve liberation. When one is liberated, one’s sva-dharma – specific duty – becomes spiritual and is not in the material bodily concept. In the bodily conception of life there are specific duties for the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas respectively, and such duties are unavoidable. Sva-dharma is ordained by the Lord, and this will be clarified in the Fourth Chapter. On the bodily plane sva-dharma is called varṇāśrama-dharma, or man’s steppingstone for spiritual understanding. Human civilization begins from the stage of varṇāśrama-dharma, or specific duties in terms of the specific modes of nature of the body obtained. Discharging one’s specific duty in any field of action in accordance with the orders of higher authorities serves to elevate one to a higher status of life.


In the previous articles we have seen that Arjuna maintained his stance that it was wrong on his part to fight the battle. Now in this verse he shows the sign of doubt. Man’s shortcoming is not ignorance but his thought and belief that he knows something whereas he actually does not know. Arjuna was speaking whereas Krishan allowed him to burst out his emotions. He was waiting patiently till the time Arjuna admitted his ignorance by doubting his course of action.


Human intellect falls under 3 categories:
·        Sattvika – Pure: It is the highest amongst all. He knows his paths of action and renunciation. He knows what to be done and what not to be done.
·        Rajasika – Passionate: He understands wrongly path of action and renunciation. He concludes what ought to be done and what ought not to be done.
·        Tamasika – Dull: It is lowest amongst all the three. According to him everything is perverted. He thinks unrighteous to be righteous.


Arjuna was in the category of Rajasika. He was wrongly concluded that he ought not to fight. Being a Khashtriya i.e. a warrior he did not know if he should conquer or should be conquered.


Krishna is Sattivka. He clearly explains Arjuna that right course of action after Arjuna surrenders himself to his friend and master i.e. Krishna.


We often lead life without pondering life’s deeper questions, most importantly, who am I? We don’t ponder this question because we are satisfied with the stereotyped answer that society provides, with different tags of name, religion, sex, caste, qualification, designations, etc. Problems forcefully show this answer to be unsatisfactory. They remind us of our limitations and our imperfections. Over time, problems smash our inflated self-conceptions of who we think we are at the bodily level. They introduce us to the reality that we are finite, fallible, flawed beings. When such problems threaten us, we may seek strength from material sources – relatives, friends, self-help books and the like. With these, we may even manage to deal with the problems temporarily. But our introduction to ourselves will remain incomplete.


Arjuna forgot that Krishna is the supreme. Rather listening to Krishna and following Krishna, Arjuna was trying to advice and convinces Krishna that battle should take place. Arjuna rather than taking advice from Krishna he was trying to be advisor of Krishna. Arjuna did not know whether he should fight and risk unnecessary violence, although fighting is the duty of the Khashtriya, or whether he should refrain and live by begging. If he did not conquer the enemy, begging would be his only means of subsistence. Nor was there certainty of victory, because either side might emerge victorious. Even if victory awaited them (and their cause was justified), still, if the sons of Dhritrashtra died in battle, it would be very difficult to live in their absence. Under the circumstances, that would be another kind of defeat for them. All these considerations by Arjuna definitely proved that not only was, he a great devotee of the Lord but he was also highly enlightened and had complete control over his mind and senses. His desire to live by begging, although he was born in the royal household, is another sign of detachment. He was truly virtuous, as these qualities, combined with his faith in the words of instruction of Sri Krishna (his spiritual master), indicate. It is concluded that Arjuna was quite fit for liberation. Unless the senses are controlled, there is no chance of elevation to the platform of knowledge, and without knowledge and devotion there is no chance of liberation. Arjuna was competent in all these attributes, over and above his enormous attributes in his material relationships.


All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy : Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) ,  Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy  & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 6

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