Acharya Tulsi
It happened in the age of Lord Arishtnemi. A sage called Dwaipayan sat in meditation in the town of Dwarika. Some frivolous young men under the influence of liquor molested him. The sage was enraged. He vowed to burn Dwarika to ashes. Sri Krishna came to hear of it, and went straight to Lord Arishtnemi. He asked him how the town of Dwarika could be freed from the sage’s curse. Arishtnemi suggested the way of penance to render the sage's curse ineffective. And Sri Krishna immediately announced the beginning of continuous penance in the form of taking fatless diet. It was ordained that someone or the other in the town of Dwarika must continue this penance and that the sequence of it must not be broken even for -a day. Arrangements were made to that effect. And the penance went on ceaselessly for 12 years.
The sage Dwaipayan relinquished his body in course of time. However, his resolve to reduce Dwarika to ashes did not slacken. In his next birth he became a Vyantra Dev. He was very much conscious about his unfulfilled resolve. But he could not fulfil it yet. He found himself powerless as long as the non-stop penance went on. But his wrath was undiminished.
One day, the people of Dwarika were guilty of negligence man who had to conduct penance that day, forgot to do so. Thus the continuity of penance was broken and VyantraDev got the opportunity he sought. He fulfilled his vow. Dwarika was burnt to ashes. Even Sri krishna stood a silent spectator and could do nothing about it. Everybody saw the fatal conseqences of just a day’s break in the continuity of penance. The power of penance can withhold even celestial forces. Dwarika would not have been burnt, if the penance had gone on uninterrupted. The incident served to strengthen on the people’s belief in the power of penance.
Today it our country, there is no stability in public late. Violence plunders and killings are the order of the day. And people find themselves paralysed with terror. The effect of terrorism may be more pronounced here than there, but nowhere is to be found an atmosphere of total security and fearlessness. There is the fear of obstruction at every step. If, in order to save the country from the danger of terrorism, the Indian Government organises ‘non-stop penance‘, it might yield good results. Non-stop penance means that no day passes without fasting and a penance of fat less diet. It is my firm conviction that the power of penance can neutralize the forces of violence prevailing in the land.
Penance is intimately related to the purification of the soul. Through penance, the old sanskars are enfeebled. With the dissolution of the old sanskars, the purity of the soul manifests itself. Generally, man is motivated by two urges—the sexual urge and the urge for liberation. The undertaking of penance is motivated by the latter. Through it is achieved the disciplining of the body and the mind. Looked at in this way, doing penance is practising self—discipline at a deeper level. Only he who has over his body, his senses and his mind, can make progress in the field of spiritual penance.
Doing penance is a pilgrimage. The first halting place on this pilgrimage is freedom from attachment to the body; the second, freedom from the lure of fame; the third, freedom from the thought of the future. The sadhak refreshes him at these resting places, gathering all his energy, and reaches the desired goal. Stopping all movement of the physical organism, he establishes contact with the soul, which means the experiencing of absolute bliss, independent of material objects. Whatever pleasure or satisfaction one derives from taking a meal, much greater pleasure and satisfaction can be got by abstaining from it. Whatever energy is spent in digesting a meal is all saved by the man who abstains from eating. The energy formerly utilizedin the working of the digestive system is thus turned inwards, raising the men’s morale, strengthening his determination, and preserving him from harm.
lf the people of the country undertake a new experiment, acquire additional energy through penance, preserve it, and extend this programme on the national level, it should certainly be possible to find an effective solution to our various problems. lf the religious teachers, the political leaders and the public, all come together to light the lamp of religious austerity all over the country, in every state, every village and every town, the darkness of evil would disappear of itself.
