{"id":9208,"date":"2011-01-20T16:09:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T15:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=9208"},"modified":"2011-01-20T16:09:21","modified_gmt":"2011-01-20T15:09:21","slug":"blind-man-carrying-the-lame-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=9208","title":{"rendered":"Blind Man Carrying the Lame Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0By Chirag Dangarwala<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0The Founder Acarya of International Society for Krsna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A. C\u00a0\u00a0 Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, used to often give this example of a Blind Man Carrying the Lame Man\u00a0to stress on topic of co-operation.\u00a0A man who is blind cannot see and a lame man cannot walk. So if both of them combine and the Blind Man carries the Lame man on his shoulders, the Lame man can show him the direction by which both of them can use what they have and become successful in achieving what they lack. Srila Prabhupada used to site this example in connection with combining the efforts of materially advanced nation like United States of America and spiritually advanced nation like India. If both of them utilize their expertise in helping each other they can combine to become a very powerful force in the world. <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lord Krishna informs us in Bhagavad-Gita that the material body is the covering of the soul which is moving the material body. <\/p>\n

v\u00e4s\u00e4\u00e0si j\u00e9r\u00eb\u00e4ni yath\u00e4 vih\u00e4ya
\nnav\u00e4ni g\u00e5h\u00eb\u00e4ti naro ‘par\u00e4\u00ebi
\ntath\u00e4 \u00e7ar\u00e9r\u00e4\u00ebi vih\u00e4ya j\u00e9r\u00eb\u00e4ny
\nany\u00e4ni sa\u00e0y\u00e4ti nav\u00e4ni deh\u00e9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[B.g. 2.22]\n\u00a0
\n\u201cAs a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones”.
\n\u00a0
\nJust\u00a0like\u00a0a car is moving because of the presence of a driver, similarly the body is animated because of the soul within the body. The presence of the soul can be perceived by the presence of Consciousness all over the body, In other words the body is conscious because of the soul. This can be validated by studying the dead body, all the organs in a dead body are same as that of a living body, but since the soul has left the body there is no consciousness in a dead body. The presence of soul in a body is debated and some accept it and other don’t, but\u00a0as far as\u00a0Bhagavad-Gita is concerned,\u00a0it is clearly stated that,\u00a0soul is the primary cause of consciousness and that is our real identity. The soul is a part and parcel of God and it cannot be destroyed\u00a0by any means.<\/p>\n

na j\u00e4yate mriyate v\u00e4 kad\u00e4cin
\nn\u00e4ya\u00e0 bh\u00fctv\u00e4 bhavit\u00e4 v\u00e4 na bh\u00fcya\u00f9
\najo nitya\u00f9 \u00e7\u00e4\u00e7vato ‘ya\u00e0 pur\u00e4\u00ebo
\nna hanyate hanyam\u00e4ne \u00e7ar\u00e9re\u00a0[B.g 2.20]\n\u00a0
\n“For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.”
\n\u00a0
\nSo our real identity is that we are spirit souls and part and parcel of God and not the material bodies.\u00a0 Even the dimensions of the soul have been mentioned in various other Vedic texts\u00a0 <\/p>\n

b\u00e4l\u00e4gra-\u00e7ata-bh\u00e4gasya
\n\u00e7atadh\u00e4 kalpitasya ca
\nbh\u00e4go j\u00e9va\u00f9 sa vij\u00efeya\u00f9
\nsa c\u00e4nanty\u00e4ya kalpate [Svetasvara Upanishad 5.9]\n

“When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul.”\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If one is real researcher and wants to know the truth and studies these Vedic literatures with an unbiased mind, he or she will find out very interesting facts about life and which will drastically change the perspective of an individual\u00a0about life and things around him or her.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 So coming back to the topic,\u00a0modern civilizations are highly advanced in technology, which is primarily meant to provide comfort to the material body, it is good to have these facilities indeed and the progress done in this regard is truly appreciable. The material body as mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita as a covering of the soul and is a machine which helps the soul\u00a0to\u00a0conduct itself in this world, but by making the machine comfortable will not make the soul happy. Just\u00a0like polishing\u00a0the cage\u00a0nicely and decorating it with\u00a0flowers but neglecting the bird within the cage\u00a0and not\u00a0feeding it will\u00a0eventually lead to the death of the\u00a0bird and without the bird the nicely decorated cage has\u00a0no value. Similarly, as per the Vedic\u00a0Literatures,\u00a0Spirit soul within the\u00a0material body is the actual self and not the\u00a0body,\u00a0our misidentification with the body\u00a0and only taking care of the body, will soon\u00a0lead to dissatisfaction of\u00a0the soul\u00a0leading\u00a0to its unhappiness.\u00a0This is the reason why\u00a0in today’s world, we find materially developed countries , even though they have ample of money\u00a0have\u00a0one of the highest rates of suicides and\u00a0mental\u00a0disorders like depressions and\u00a0that\u00a0is the major cause of many deaths. One\u00a0who neglects the interest of the soul and only cares for the body\u00a0is a\u00a0Blind man.\u00a0Hence it is very important for every human being to inquire about the soul with open mind and try to understand the science behind it, in order to see properly. <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 On the other hand, developing countries, like India, though they have the required spiritual knowledge struggle economically. If the body is not fit to work, the soul cannot work properly; hence it is also important to take care of the body sufficiently. Though body is less important than the soul, but it has to be maintained for the soul to carry out its business in this world. Hence such a person who is hampered materially is a Lame Man, who cannot walk properly. Vedic culture in India, has answers to all the problems in the world and can guide the whole world, to peaceful situation, with its advanced spiritual\u00a0science and knowledge on the other hand\u00a0developed nations with\u00a0advanced material science can join hands to explore and research the truths embedded in these ancient texts using the latest technologies\u00a0to\u00a0educate the people all over the world. Such a co-operative spirit will surely bring peace to the world. Thus if the Blind man (materially advanced nations) carry the Lame man, like India on their shoulders, both of them will be benefited.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some efforts\u00a0have been made in this direction and institutions like ISKCON are practical examples of this co-operation, however, the number is very small. Unfortunately, in this\u00a0age of\u00a0quarrel know as Kali Yuga, people\u00a0are\u00a0more inclined towards material advancement\u00a0rather than spiritual knowledge. This is evident from the fact, that even though India has got a\u00a0wealth of\u00a0spiritual knowledge, now a days, the\u00a0leaders are inclined more towards,\u00a0material prosperity, trying to\u00a0follow in the footsteps of\u00a0materially advanced nations, the\u00a0young generation of this country is slowly forgetting\u00a0the spiritual heritage and taking to modern ways, in\u00a0short, the lame man is trying to become blind also. Hence there is a great need for everyone to understand the importance of spiritual knowledge and\u00a0study\u00a0Vedic literatures, like Bhagavad-Gita,\u00a0with an unbiased mind,\u00a0from a bonafide teacher to understand the intricacies of life and its purpose. With the purified mind one must\u00a0try\u00a0to understand the spiritual self and make\u00a0his or her life successful and in this age of Kali the best way to purify as mentioned in the scriptures is to chant the holy names of God, Hare Krsna Hare\u00a0Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare\u00a0Hare \/ Hare Rama Hare Rama\u00a0Rama Rama\u00a0Hare.<\/p>\n

In order to receive verses from Bhagavad-Gita everyday in your emails please subscribe at http:\/\/groups.google.com\/group\/bhagavad-gita-awareness OR email chirag.dangarwala@gmail.com<\/p>\n

Visit us at www.krsna-gyan.blogspot.com<\/p>\n

harer n\u00e4ma harer n\u00e4ma
\nharer n\u00e4maiva kevalam
\nkalau n\u00e4sty eva n\u00e4sty eva
\nn\u00e4sty eva gatir anyath\u00e4\u00a0[C.c. Adi, 17.21]\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u201c\u2018In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chirag Dangarwala<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Founder Acarya of International Society for Krsna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, used to often give this example of a Blind Man Carrying the Lame Man to stress on topic of co-operation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}