“There’s a story behind Pole Star which is known as
Dhruva Nakshatram in our language,” I said to Davis (not his real name), a
14-year-old who thought a bit too much of himself like most youngsters of
today. He was with me next to the driver’s seat in my car and I was his driver
in his view. “Are you interested in the story?”
Davis’s silence told me clearly that
he wasn’t. He wasn’t interested in anything except himself and that was the
problem which his mother had brought to me. I told him the story, in spite of
his indifference.
“Dhruva was the son of King
Uttanapada and Queen Suniti. His father favoured his other wife, Suruchi, and
her son.”
“Lucky guys they were, weren’t they?”
Davis interrupted.
“Who?”
“Those kings of olden days. They
could have a lot of wives.”
“You want a lot of wives?”
“Nah,” he was contemptuous. “I want
only girlfriends, not wives.”
“You don’t want to take up
responsibilities, right?”
“Who wants to? Would you take up
responsibilities if you had a choice?”
“Responsibility is a choice.”
Davis became silent. Was he chewing
on that? I wished he was because he was one of the most irresponsible
youngsters I had ever come across.
“Shall I continue the story of
Dhruva?”
“Okay.” He said listlessly. Probably
he wanted to tell me that I was a big bore, silly old man with antique stories.
“Dhruva longed to sit on his father’s
lap. Suruchi would never let him, however. Sitting on the father’s lap was
solely the privilege of her son. She told Dhruva that if he wanted such a
privilege, he would have to earn the favour of Lord Vishnu.”
“How old was this Dhruva guy?” Davis
asked.
“Five years.” Since there was no
further query, I continued the story. “Dhruva left for the forest with the
blessings of his mother who advised him to meditate on Lord Vishnu. In the
forest, the sage Narada became his guru and eventually Dhruva got Lord Vishnu
to appear before him and bless him with eternal glory. Vishnu made Dhruva the
Dhruva Nakshatra, the Pole Star.”
“But he didn’t get what he wanted!”
Davis was indignant.
“He got more than what he wanted.” I
asserted. “He became a star, a major star…”
“When you want to sit in the lap of
your father, they make you a star in the sky!” Davis thinks that the adult
world is rather bizarre.
“Have you ever looked for the Pole
Star?” I ask.
“I’ll google it tonight,” he says.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteAh, so "Davis" is living the example of tamasic nature, desirous of preyas (the easy way) as opposed to shreyas (the responsible way). Perhaps this lad might appreciate that the "stardom" is a reward for sattvic behaviour... an object of tamasic output is a mushroom. Still useful, still has its place in the universe... YAM xx
I find an increasing number of youngsters of this 'tamasic' nature. I try my best to be empathic and avoid looking too avuncular.
DeleteYou might be surprised at how the story effected him. He just can't show that now.
ReplyDeleteI hope so. Sometimes, students have years later saying how small things I did changed them significantly.
DeleteCan you seed more such gurus in this world, Sir? wondering what would be a gurus will be in the next generation with AI and social media !!!
ReplyDelete