‘No it isn’t,’ explained the Pandit. ‘It is about the society as a whole. The vikarma acceptance
of their fate is integral to the stability of Meluha.’
Shiva frowned.
‘What any successful society needs, O Neelkanth, is flexibility with stability. Why would you
need flexibility? Because every single person has different dreams and capabilities. The birth
son of a warrior could have the talent to be a great businessman. Then society needs to be
flexible enough to allow this son to change his vocation from his father ’s profession. Flexibility in
a society allows change, so that all its members have the space to discover their true selves
and grow to their potential. And if every person in a society achieves his true potential, society
as a whole also achieves its true potential.’
‘I agree.’
But what does this have to do with the vikarma?
‘I’ll come to the obvious question in a bit. Just bear with me,’ said the Pandit. ‘If we believe
that flexibility is key to a successful society, the Maika system is designed to achieve it in
practice. No child knows what the professions of his birth-parents are. They are independent to
pursue what their natural talent inspires them to do.’
‘I agree. The Maika system is almost breathtakingly fair. A person can credit or blame only
himself for what he does with his life. Nobody else. But this is about flexibility. What about
stability?’
‘Stability allows a person the freedom of choice, my friend. People can pursue their dreams
only when they are living in a society where survival is not a daily threat. In a society without
security and stability, there are no intellectuals or businessmen or artists or geniuses. Man is
constantly in fight or flight mode. Nothing better than an animal. Where is the chance then to
allow ideas to be nurtured or dreams to be pursued? That is the way all humans were before
we formed societies. Civilisation is very fragile. All it takes is a few decades of chaos for us to
forget humanity and turn into animals. Our base natures can take over very fast. We can forget
that we are sentient beings, with laws and codes and ethics.’
‘I understand. The tribes in my homeland were no better than animals. They didn’t even want
to live a better life!’
‘They didn’t know a better life was possible, Neelkanth. That is the curse of constant strife.
It makes us forget the most beautiful part of being human. That is why society must remain
stable so that we don’t put each other in a situation of having to fight for survival.’
‘All right. But why would letting people achieve their potential cause instability? In fact, it
should make people happier with their lives and hence society would become increasingly
steady.’
‘True, but only partially. People are happy when they change their lives for the better. But
there are two situations in which change can lead to chaos. First, when people face a change
by others, situations that they cannot understand. This scares them almost as much as the fear
of death. When change happens too fast, they resist it.’
‘Yes, change forced by others is difficult to accept.’
‘And too rapid a change causes instability. That is the bedrock of Lord Ram’s way of life.
There are laws which help a society change slowly and allow it to remain stable. At the same
time, it allows its citizens the freedom to follow their dreams. He created an ideal balance of
stability and flexibility.’
‘You mentioned a second situation...’
singke
(singke)
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