Who Wins ?

There were three siblings- two brothers and one sister. One day their parents announced; ” The one who will pluck maximum number of flowers for puja, will be the winner and get a big chocolate”. They gave three baskets to them to keep the flowers.
Hearing this announcement, the sister and one brother took their baskets and ran towards the courtyard; where there were many flower trees. They started plucking the flowers hurriedly; so as to win and get the big chocolate.
Other boy/brother picked up the basket slowly and went to the same courtyard and started plucking the flowers but he was not in a hurry. He was plucking the flowers gently, mindfuĺly and putting them in his basket.
After half and hour, parents called them and counted the flowers in each basket.
The sister had plucked the maximum number of flowers. So she was the winner and the parents gave her a big chocolate as per the promise.

The girl/ sister was very much delighted and happy. The brother who didn’t win, was very much disappointed and angry. The girl was boasting about her achievement. She was jumping with joy and teasing the other two by  showing her chocolate again and again. The boy who lost the competition, was very angry at her and started quarreling with her. The parents  scolded him; ” Why didn’t you put more efforts in plucking the flowers like your sister? Now, don’t be angry. Next time, make sure; you will do it with more care.”

The other boy/ brother who was not in a hurry, was neither elated nor felt sad by his sister’s success.  He was calm, quiet and contented. In fact, he patted on her back and consoled his brother silently.
He didn’t participate in the competition/race. But he didn’t sit idle either. He also plucked the flowers for the puja but not with the desire to win or to get something in return. He knew that his parents needed flowers for puja and so he plucked them. As his work was not desire prompted, he was not affected by the end results.
Many parents would have reacted as; ” If you will continue to be like this, if you will not participate in any competition or race, you will not get what others will get.”

But what about the one who doesn’t have the desire to get something; that other people crave for?

Most of the people work for two reasons. Either to fulfil their own desires or to get the incentives from fulfilling others desires.

Since our childhood, we are fed with such types of thoughts–
“If you run, you will win. If you don’t, you will lose.”
“If you participate in the race or competition, you will get the things and  you will survive… otherwise you will get nothing and you will perish.” 

That means either you be  इस पार  or  उस पार,  so that you will be labelled as either winners or losers. Why can’t we be just  players ?

In the garden, there are many types of flowers. All varieties of shapes, sizes and colours. They just grow and bloom. There is no competition among them.

The sense of incompleteness makes one to seek the things and beings to feel the completeness. Already contented one doesn’t seek anything. He doesn’t want to be this and that. He will not participate in any race or competition. But instead, he will enjoy watching the race. He will do everything not for satisfaction but he does it out of the satisfaction.

Swamiji is not doing anything for his own satisfaction or to get something or to achieve something. He is already achieved that ultimate, there remains nothing else to seek or gain for him. He is doing everything out of his contented nature…out of compassion for others…  ( triad of Jnata/ knower, Jneya/to be known and Jnana/ knowledge gets dissolved for such masters and they remain for the welfare/ spiritual upliftment of the people there after.) Sant Tukaram Maharaj says, “सांडली त्रिपुटी, दिप उजळला घटी, तुका म्हणे आता, उरलो उपकारापुरता.

Look how the todlers play. They have just started walking. They walk and run here and there. They fall and standup. They pick up the toys and throw them. They are not in the race with anyone but they play together with joy.  They enjoy the moments without anxiety and worry to win.

This does not mean that we should not have any goals. This does not mean that we should not participate in any competitions. We have to just leave the desire to win. We should do necessary work honestly and mindfully without camparing with others, without cheating others, without leg pulling of others but using our own skills. So at the end, whether the goal is achieved or not, it will make no difference. We will be stable and calm. This is the real winning.
If you paricipate in any race or competition with the desire/ expectation of winning, your chances of losing is 50%. If you want to win 100%, just leave the desire to win and work. Because, feeling of fulfillment and contentment is what one achieves after winning. If you already remain in that state, it doesn’t make any difference whether you win or lose in the others eyes.

One day, one boy told his friend that how did he enjoy the pizza last night. He was telling him in order to tease him and make him disappointed for not getting a chance to enjoy the pizaa.
The boy who didn’t get a pizza was calm and quiet and said; ” But, don’t you know that I never like a pizza?” मुझे कोई फर्क नहीं पडता।”

If you like something then you seek to posses it…..
If you get it, you win….and if don’t,  you lose..
Thus sense of wining and losing is the outcome of our own desires, getting or not getting fulfilled. The one who is beyond them, is at peace.

Most of the people have fear of defeat…that’s why they run to win. And  If they don’t run, they regret, devalue themselves.  They can’t live at ease without comparing.

I remember few beautiful expressive lines from the Lao tsu’s texts.

“No one can defeat me…..”
Because, I am already defeated…”
The one who wants to defeat me, is desirous of winning over me. But I don’t want to win over him….I am already defeated( my desire to win.)
This ‘already defeated’ means ‘already won’. That gives the ultimate peace.

‘Fakir’ has nothing. Still he desires nothing. But he is happy. Because he has won his mind.

There is one sanskrit subhashit, where they say-
Who is the ‘poor/ daridri’ and who is ‘dhanwan’?

One who has more pipasa/ पिपासा/ तृष्णा/ thirst, for the things and beings, is the poor. One who has least or no pipasa is the rich. Thus the one who is contented and seek nothing, is the richest one. Fakira is the richest in that sense but ordinary people see him as the most poor.
Real ‘Dhanwan’ doesn’t have hunger or thirst for material things. He is fulfilled and contented with whatever he has.
I want to quote a beautiful verse 22, from Bhagvad gita, chapter 6, here-

“यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं तत: |
यस्मिन्स्थितो न दु:खेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते || 22||”
Having gained that state, one does not consider any attainment to be greater. Being thus established, one is not shaken even in the midst of the greatest calamity.
And this is the real reason…the wise ones keep away from any race or competition.

Hari Om !

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