(^1010) YOGA AND TOTAL HEALTH • February 2018YOGA AND TOTAL HEALTH • February 2018
Yoga has shown very strongly how
we should deal with the outside world,
how to live with other people. The
very first step is to not hurt others.
Do not get affected or hurt by others
and do not hurt others. The second is
Truth (Satya). The third is do not take
another’s credit; do not take another’s
possession (Asteya). Earn by making
your own personal effort. Ultimately,
the point is personal effort, maintain
clear thinking and move ahead in life in
the proper way. In short, taking charge
of yourself. That is the whole approach.
A person steals when he has nothing
of his own. He did not make any effort
with respect to himself. That is why all
the problems occur.
There was this joke about who broke
Shri Ram’s bow and arrow. A school
inspector visited a class and he found
out that the students were reading the
Ramayana. The story in the Ramayana
is that Parshuram had placed a bow
and arrow and everybody, in turns,
had to try to lift it. The person who
was successful in lifting the bow and
arrow would marry princess Sita. The
inspector asked the class who broke
Ram’s bow and arrow. Now, seeing
an inspector, anyone would naturally
get afraid. Everybody got frightened.
The inspector turned to a student and
asked him the same question. The
poor boy out of fright replied, “Sir I did
not break it.” Then the inspector asked
another student. He too replied, “I did
not break it. It must be that other boy
because he is very mischievous.” Then
the inspector asked the question to
the teacher. The teacher said, “Look,
they are all just children. They play
mischief all the time. Somebody may
have broken it. It is all right.”
So when a person gets frightened
he starts stuttering. He does not know
what he is saying or thinking. All he
says is, “I did not do it. I did not steal; I
did not do this; I did not do that.” When
there are two servants in the house
and you ask one of them, “Who burnt
this?” they immediately start putting
the blame on each other. Instantly, the
“I” comes in. There is no thought that
this situation has happened, so now
what should be done? Someone has
made a mistake, how can one resolve
it? This kind of thinking is not there.
The person is thinking only of how to
save his own skin. So this is the point
about taking responsibility.
A person was sitting in Mr. Ford’s
office and Mr. Ford was also there. Mr.
Ford was writing something, doing
some personal work, and it was time
elf-Improvement
S
Smt. Hansaji J. Yogendra in Parisamvada