RSS leader Dr. Mohan Bhagawat was mentioning about the late HV Sheshadri. An interesting narration. Let me see if I can type it keeping the same interest that he generated in the talk.
Once HV Sheshadri of RSS was traveling in a bus in Karnataka. He was the Karnataka pranth pracharak. A well dressed and educated man boarded the bus, and sat next to HVS. They got into hello-hello chats. The man talked about his MCom education, employment at a bank, his family etc.
Then he asked HVS. "What do you?"
HVS: "Nothing. Go from home to home, tell good things. Serve the society. Pretty much that's it".
Passenger: "Then how do you take care of your family?"
HVS: "I am not married. I don't have a family to take care of".
Passenger: "So you don't have a family. You don't earn anything. You have no duty of raising a family.. what's the use of your life? You are not an asset to the society".
Both kept quiet for some time....
HVS: "That's the way I am.. BTW, can you tell the names of your 8th generation from father's side?"
Passenger: " I don't know"
HVS: "Mother's side?"
Passenger: "Not sure. We know only 3 generations for shraddha (Vedic ritual for the dead) purposes. Never thought of it.".
Both kept quiet for some time....
HVS: "Do you know about Swami Vivekananda? The monk who...."
Passenger: "Of course.. Who doesn't know the Swami? I have studied many times about him. Here are some details....."
HVS: "Was he your relative?".
Passenger: "How can that be? He's from Bongo and I am from Karnataka".
HVS: "Oh.. maybe you met him?"
Passenger: "Are you joking? I was born 50 years after his death!"
HVS: "Maybe he visited your village sometime back?"
Passenger: "No. Never".
Both kept quiet for some time....
HVS: "Strange... Swami Vivekananda was not your relative. You have never met him. He never even came near your village. And he was from generations before you. But still you know a lot about him. You also should know that he never earned any money. He didn't support his family the way you do. He never got married. He didn't raise kids. But everything he did in his life was for the society.. for the people.. for the country.. for the humanity. He lived his life per Dharma, to the perfection.
On the other hand, your family's 8th generation before you did everything you are saying as valuable to the society. They got married. They raised kids. They educated them. They earned. They passed on things so that you are prospering today. Still you don't even know their names!!"
Both kept quiet for some time....for a very long time...
The passenger seriously felt something in his heart. He apologized to HV Sheshadri and asked why this kind of thing happened.
HVS: "See.. it happens with all of us. We focus only on the material benefit for the immediate family. But that's not everything about Dharma. In the real sense, Dharma is all about Dharana or carrying. Dharayati iti dharma. We alone getting educated, enjoying or prospering in life is not enough. We should take the society with us. Some of us can take smaller load and some like the Swami can take massive load. But our efforts must be to take everyone with us on the path of prosperity. That is the true Sewa. And, Sewa or selfless service is the best Dharma. Hence our lives must be dedicated as a daana or gift, for the humanity. Try to think more on why some of us make Sangha and its Sewa as the topmost priority in life and dedicate ourselves towards the society".
Needless to say.. the passenger had nothing else but total respect to HV Sheshadri!
Once HV Sheshadri of RSS was traveling in a bus in Karnataka. He was the Karnataka pranth pracharak. A well dressed and educated man boarded the bus, and sat next to HVS. They got into hello-hello chats. The man talked about his MCom education, employment at a bank, his family etc.
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| Dr. Mohan Bhagawat with the Late HV Sheshadri in the background. Pic - Samvada |
HVS: "Nothing. Go from home to home, tell good things. Serve the society. Pretty much that's it".
Passenger: "Then how do you take care of your family?"
HVS: "I am not married. I don't have a family to take care of".
Passenger: "So you don't have a family. You don't earn anything. You have no duty of raising a family.. what's the use of your life? You are not an asset to the society".
Both kept quiet for some time....
HVS: "That's the way I am.. BTW, can you tell the names of your 8th generation from father's side?"
Passenger: " I don't know"
HVS: "Mother's side?"
Passenger: "Not sure. We know only 3 generations for shraddha (Vedic ritual for the dead) purposes. Never thought of it.".
Both kept quiet for some time....
HVS: "Do you know about Swami Vivekananda? The monk who...."
Passenger: "Of course.. Who doesn't know the Swami? I have studied many times about him. Here are some details....."
HVS: "Was he your relative?".
Passenger: "How can that be? He's from Bongo and I am from Karnataka".
HVS: "Oh.. maybe you met him?"
Passenger: "Are you joking? I was born 50 years after his death!"
HVS: "Maybe he visited your village sometime back?"
Passenger: "No. Never".
Both kept quiet for some time....
 |
| Swami. Pic - Wiki |
HVS: "Strange... Swami Vivekananda was not your relative. You have never met him. He never even came near your village. And he was from generations before you. But still you know a lot about him. You also should know that he never earned any money. He didn't support his family the way you do. He never got married. He didn't raise kids. But everything he did in his life was for the society.. for the people.. for the country.. for the humanity. He lived his life per Dharma, to the perfection.
On the other hand, your family's 8th generation before you did everything you are saying as valuable to the society. They got married. They raised kids. They educated them. They earned. They passed on things so that you are prospering today. Still you don't even know their names!!"
Both kept quiet for some time....for a very long time...
The passenger seriously felt something in his heart. He apologized to HV Sheshadri and asked why this kind of thing happened.
HVS: "See.. it happens with all of us. We focus only on the material benefit for the immediate family. But that's not everything about Dharma. In the real sense, Dharma is all about Dharana or carrying. Dharayati iti dharma. We alone getting educated, enjoying or prospering in life is not enough. We should take the society with us. Some of us can take smaller load and some like the Swami can take massive load. But our efforts must be to take everyone with us on the path of prosperity. That is the true Sewa. And, Sewa or selfless service is the best Dharma. Hence our lives must be dedicated as a daana or gift, for the humanity. Try to think more on why some of us make Sangha and its Sewa as the topmost priority in life and dedicate ourselves towards the society".
Needless to say.. the passenger had nothing else but total respect to HV Sheshadri!
Amazing story. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSarve janah sukhinah bhavantu is a phrase which is no longer relevant for most of the modern society. And that is the root of most of the suffering we all are going through in the name of life.
Regards.
Glad that you enjoyed Shrinath.
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