According to Hindu cosmology, humankind has four yugas starting Krita and ending with Kali. At the end of the fourth yuga, the world will be destroyed, followed by a period of dormancy, and it will be re-created. The cycle will repeat.
The four yugas are:
- Krita Yug (Sat Yug or the era of the truth)
- Treta Yug (the era of the Ramayana)
- Dvapara Yug (the era of the Mahabharata)
- Kali Yug (the present)
Each yuga is defined by specific values, virtues and big war. In the Krita yuga, the war was fought between two worlds. In the Treta, two countries battled. In the Dwapara yuga, it was two families that went to the war.
As the Yugas progressed, the enemies got closer, the battle got closer. In the battle, eventually good defeats evil, virtues triumph over vices and sense prevails over senselessness.
In the Kali Yuga or the present, the enemy has got closer. The enemy is within us. The battle is to be fought between the good and the bad that resides in us. Learning the scriptures, leading others to prosperity and even pleasing god is not enough to survive the battle well. We all know the end Ravana met in the end.
Then what helps the good in us prevail? You don’t need a moral science class from me to know the difference between the two. And I don’t want to get didactic, either. I believe to stand for the good is to practise fundamental human values.
Borrowing from Niraj’s answer to a question in a different context, I have articulated a simple way. Let’s ask ourselves: Have we shown compassion? Have we been disciplined (self-restrained)? Have we given freely?
Fight the good fight based on the three Da’s mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad — Datta, Dayadhvam, Damyata.
Transformative Ideas
To help you in this endeavour, I have curated some terrific os.me blogs full of wisdom, ideas and strength.
Befriending Ourselves in 8 Ways: Narendra Reddy loved visiting his aunt’s house because he’d spend time with the two tortoises. I am glad he spent ample time because here, he shares some incredible life lessons he picked up from the slow and steady creatures.
The Perfect Excuse – It Wasn’t Meant to Be: Perfection is the friend of procrastination and the enemy of deadlines. In this blog, the author calls themselves out when they missed an important submission and thought — it wasn’t meant to be. Or was it? If you are like me, you’ll feel exposed and probably do better the next time.
Forgiveness Can Rewire the Brain for Manifesting Joy And Health: Forgiveness is a psychological construct having a physiological impact on the body, writes Dr Mehmet Yildiz. He takes the reader from the victim mode of the primitive brain to an empowered state of higher consciousness through forgiveness.
Grandma Tales: In this blog, Bhavana talks about her grandmother, who was like everyone’s grandmother. Poised, confident, simple and rhythmic about her work. Reading this brought me sweet joy.
Judgement Day: A skylark tells the eagle that it is better than the latter. It hurts the eagle’s ego and ends up in a funny sight. Sigma reminds us to swallow the pride to see more clearly.
To Err Is Human Or Is It?: ‘Sati, consort of Lord Siva had smouldered herself in the Agni-kunda during the great sacrifice organised by Lord Daksha, her father. She had wished for more than a million years to get rid of her body owing to one honest mistake.’ Kanika Chopra reflects on the events up to that day.
A Lesson in Surrender: Here’s another person who survived a few delays and lived to say: whatever happens, happens for the best. Peeush recalls hiring help to clean his new house. And then one thing led to another, and things got delayed. But Peeush learnt two critical lessons: 1) Always hire an expert; 2) whatever happens, happens for the best.
From D to B — 1: Moving houses could be overwhelming. Moving countries? Well. It takes a certain degree of courage to make the leap of faith and start new in a new country. Shivani Adalja and her husband took the chance. They sold off the house they built with love and sweat, left their circle of friends that brought them joy and made Bangkok their new home. Here’s to hope!
Watch it Now!
Wisdom from Om Swami
Realising Your True Potential: The key to happiness is realising our full potential. To align yourself with creative joy, learn the key principles from spiritual leader Om Swami.
How to be Calm: Spiritual leader Om Swami shares a simple story with a piece of golden advice on how to be at peace and not hurt your relationships.
Dusshera, the day when Lord Rama defeated Ravana. It is an excellent time to remind ourselves that Karma catches up. Keep the goodness in you going. Conquer the ego before you conquer the world because when you conquer the ego, you wouldn’t want to conquer the world.
Happy Vijay Dashami!
Time to Poll
I have been getting requests for organising a writing activity. Many readers have been lamenting the lack of inspiration to write. Therefore, I am planning a Writing Week on os.me. For five days, we will all write everyday according to a prompt. The prompt would be aligned to a theme. The theme would be picked up by you!
Let’s go to a poll on your favourite theme. Here are three options, vote for the one that resonates deeply with you, speaks with you, will help you heal.
The one that has the maximum number of votes will be our theme. In the next Digest, I’ll give you 5 prompts based on the theme, and we will all write our hearts out. We will write, we will read, we will heal.
Happy Vijay Dashami!
Until next…
PS: Did you find this Digest useful? Let me know in the comments. Know someone who’d find it helpful? Share this post with them and introduce your friends and family to our phenomenal Karma program.
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