पाटणकर उवाच

  I Act Because I Must Blog 2 – 24/07/2021     Be Intent on the Act - कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भुर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥   We had begun on a journey to understand the moral questions often posed to Humans, in the previous blog, we discussed about the questions, where to look for the answers, if any and how to apply them in real life. We shall discuss all this through the prism of the book "The difficulty of being good" by Gurcharan Das.  This series of blog posts shall also simultaneously act as a chapter by chapter book review (Not necessarily in the same order), with my own thoughts on the same.  We begin this journey to understand this book, with the most quoted, and perhaps the least understood verse of the Bhagwat Geeta, which simply encourages to work on the action, not on the fruits. All of us would have heard somebody utter this verse, without understanding the magnanimity of the words, let alone the deep philosophy

  The Subtle Art of Dharma Blog 1 – 03/07/2021     What man of mettle will have the patience when he sees his rivals prosper and himself decline?   This is the opening line of my latest read, which turned out to be a splendid and insightful book by Gurcharan Das     The book is an insight into the moral and ethical behavior of each character of the Mahabharata. The way they behave, why they behave as they do, and why is it important for the ruler of the society to ensure his subjects and himself adhere to “Dharma”. It addresses the most important and crucial question that befalls people, especially in these current pandemic times, “why”. Why me? Why should one be good? Why should I stand in line for vaccines when others can use “jacks”? Why should I not envy my neighbor, my brother or Mr. Mukesh Ambani? Why is it so hard to be selfless? Why should I follow my “dharma”? What is my “dharma”? What end result will it do me, if I follow the so called “restrictions” set o