Be wise in what you ask for

Be wise in what you ask for
29 Dec, 2007, 0003 hrs IST,Vithal C Nadkarni, TNN

On New Year, be careful of what you ask. You might actually get it! That warning has been variously attributed to Vyasa and Valmiki. In the Mahabharata, for instance, Vyasa narrates an intriguing ‘explanation’ behind Draupadi’s becoming a common wife to the five Pandava princes. She’s supposed to have propitiated Siva with her austerities in her previous incarnation. When the blue-throated Lord asks his devotee to choose a boon, she begs for a groom with all the great qualities.

Not being content to voice her request once, the pushy girl goes on to repeat her wish five times. “So be it,” says the Lord. “Since you spoke five times, five husbands you shall have, but in your next life.” Now why didn’t the Lord grant her wish immediately? Perhaps he wanted to spare his devotee the agonies of the Great War, which was certain to occur once his heroic bratpack made its bid for kingly spoils from older, entrenched bloodlines. Nor does Siva excuse his devotee’s excess in the story as narrated by Vyasa. His motto seems to be, “You have only to ask and you shall have it.”

This is not unlike what the Australian TV-producer Rhonda Byrne has articulated in her best-selling The Secret, namely, for better or worse, you’ll get what you wish for. So, be very careful.

Valmiki’s version of the power of misplaced wishing involves Ravana and his brothers. The Danava brood wins over Brahma with their tapasya and is asked to make their wishes: Ravana asks for immunity from all the gods, anti-gods, the nagas and other semi-divine beings in the seven worlds. His attempt is to cover all the major bases from which he anticipates attack. But he neglects to include puny humans, which proves to be his nemesis. He might have been saved had he eschewed toxic thinking and chosen as his youngest sibling Vibhishana did, namely, constant proximity to the Lord and His good cause.

The mighty Khumbhakarna, too, slips in his unseemly hurry to ask for the Indrasana or sovereignty over the gods. He asks for Nidrasana instead, which involves suzerainty over inordinate sleep and inertia.

Closer to our times watch the paradox of “millions longing for immortality who do not know what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon,” writes the novelist Susan Ertz. Just think of the prospects of living forever in a world gone to pot from pollution and perverted nature. Mere quantity isn’t enough. Think of the quality. Strive for it.