Why do we Pray

One fine morning my four year old asked me "Mother, why should we pray to God?" Getting dumb-stuck on an early morning is not new to me. But this time it was an interesting and thought provoking question. The only issue was that the question was posted to a wrong person. I am neither a religious and spiritual person to talk for it, nor an atheist to talk against it. But the question definitely kept me contemplating for a few days. That is when I thought I could pen down what ever came to my mind. 
Disclaimer: This is not a spiritual article to enlighten people on religion or prayer. It is just a collection of random thoughts about prayer from my experience.

PRAYER DESTROYS PRIDE! - REALLY?

I started recollecting something I read in a book, a long time ago. "Prayer should destroy our ego and pride. The thought of "I" and anything that is selfish should be buried. We become a part of the supreme power when we pray and there will be no "I" any more." With this in mind I was thinking of how prayer itself brings pride to us these days. I remember one of my neighbors who regularly visits temples and talks proudly to people about it. She would say "I will walk around the Navagraha (9 planetary Gods in Hinduism) 9 times every day. So there is no chance that God is going to abandon me at any point." Another neighbor says, "I regularly give butter (bribe??!!) to Hanuman and I walk around the temple 108 times on all Tuesdays. I am a very religious person you see!" We even hear people say, "I had been to Tirupati temple, walking all the way to the top of the hill several times in my life time. I am sure that I am going to Vaikuntam after death. (Vaikuntam in Hindu mythology is similar to heaven, where liberated souls dwell for eternity enjoying pure bliss and happiness in the company of Lord Vishnu).

WHEN DO WE PRAY?

Rather than concentrating on "Why do we pray to God?" I thought the concentration should be on, "When do we pray to God?" Whenever we find ourselves in a tricky, helpless situation we pray to God. Or when we aim at something desperately we pray to God. Our prayers seem very funny at times. It goes like this, a middle class Guy prays, "God! Settle all my debts!" A student's prayer goes this way: "God! I should get the first rank this time". It sometimes goes even to this extent, "God! Let the first rank holder fall ill so that I can secure the first rank this time!" An engineer prays, "God! Give me an on-site opportunity at least once in my life time." In a big dining hall during a marriage, a man who is fond of laddoos prays this way, "God! Let the biggest of the laddoos come to my plate". As though the only task on Earth for Him is to weigh the laddoos and distribute them. A friend of mine, right from her teen age prayed, "God! Bless me with a good husband!" She had got too much used to this prayer that she could not control herself from this prayer even after getting married to a good guy and having children.

As a slap on the cheek to all these funny prayers I was reminded of a Doha I had read several years ago written by the great saint Kabir. It goes this way, "When we are in sorrow everyone prays to God, in joy no one does.  How can sorrow come to one who prays in happiness as well?"

A GOOD PRAYER!

Great philosophers and religious gurus suggest a few things to be a part of every prayer.

1. First thank Him for all that He has given us.
2. Pray for the well-being of people around us.
3. Pray for "Wisdom"
4. Pray that we aim high and achieve what we deserve

I am not sure if God will grant our wishes if our prayers contain these. But I am sure it brings a positive vibration leading us to achieve happiness. When we thank Him, we realize that we have had several cherish able moments in life. We develop love towards our fellow human beings when we pray for their well-being thereby destroying the evil thoughts of jealousy, hatred, pride etc. When we pray for "Wisdom" it means that we have already started our search for it and will attain it at some point. And in the end we are here for some reason and our heights are determined by our aims. The height of the lotus is the height of the water level after all! So praying for a high aim in life will help us achieve our aspirations or at least help us find out our aspirations.

I owe a lot of respect to the atheists because their minds are already filled with positive thoughts. A prayer or a provoker called God is not necessary for them. I am sure I have not attained that level and will not be able to attain it. Though so many of these thoughts flashed up in my mind as a result of my daughter's question, I did not dare to open up any of my thoughts to her. Perhaps she will have her own point of view after a few years. Hope she reads this article when she grows up with her own experiences!

Mahabharatha - The Great Indian Epic

Mahabharatha is a famous epic by the great saint Ved Vyaasa. The Holy book of Hindus - Bhagawad Gita is derived from this epic. The story was written thousands of years ago and it has several interesting characters and events. Let us quickly see the outline of the story.

STORY

The big famous battle called "Kurukshetra" commences between the "Good" and the "Evil". The five brothers called Panch Pandavas (Good) and 100 brothers called Kauravas (Evil) are cousins. Pandavas are skilful, intelligent and sharp compared to Kauravas which always brings envy to the eldest Kaurava - Dhuryodhana. The Kauravas try to kill Pandavas by plotting several plans but none of them click. So they decide to win them over by inviting them for a game of dice. Yudhishtra - the eldest of Pandavas, looses his kingdom, wealth, his brothers and his wife Panchali in the game and the Pandavas are condemned to twelve years of exile into forest and one year of incognito. Even after successfully completing the thirteen years of exile, the Pandavas are denied their ancestral kingdom. That is when they decide to go for a battle against Kauravas which is called the famous "Battle of Kurukshetra". Krishna who is said to be the incarnation of lord "Vishnu" is the cousin of both Pandavas and Kauravas. He gives his army powers (Narayana Sena) to the Kauravas for the battle and he agrees to be the charioteer of Arjuna and promises that he would not use any of his powers other than being a charioteer to Arjuna.

BHAGAWAD GITA

In the battle field on the first day, Arjuna the most skilful archer of the Pandavas, refuses to fight against his own brothers, Gurus and family elders and drops his Gandiva (Arjuna's special bow) down. Arjuna argues to Krishna that he would not kill his near and dear ones for the sake of kingdom and wealth. He would not be happy with the kingdom that he gets after killing his brothers and elders. At that point, lord Krishna his Charioteer talks to him about life, death and a set of advises on how it is important to carry out ones duty without bothering about the fruit of it. He proceeds to say that "soul" can never be destroyed and it is merely the body that can be killed. Soul is immortal and it keeps travelling from one body to another. He therefore concludes that Arjuna's hesitation to kill his dear ones is senseless. He explains that there had never been a time when we had never existed and there will never be a time when we (soul) will not exist. Arjuna gets convinced and agrees to fight with his fullest strength. In the end as always, the Good wins over the evil and the battle comes to an end.

ARJUNA'S HESITATION - PAVING WAY FOR THE BHAGAWAD GITA

The Pandavas decide to wage war against the Kauravas as a last mean after all their peace talks were declined by the Kauravas. Arjuna was not confused during the initial talks. He did not think about his brothers or elders when they started talks about the war. Why was he confused a few hours before the battle was about to begin? Arjuna being an Archer as skilful as Rama Himself was definitely not scared of Kauravas. It was just that he was bothered about the fruit of performing his duty (either loosing or gaining a kingdom after loosing all his well wishers)  rather than the duty itself. Arjuna's withdrawal from war is a crucial part in Mahabharata as it gives space for the author (Vyasa) to let Krishna the lord pass on a lot of lessons to Arjuna and the World through this big famous epic.

LESSONS FOR US

All of us in this world withdraw to perform our duties at some point of our life. Why does a student refuse to go to school on the day of his exam complaining of some illness? Why do children hate to go to school on the reopening day? Why do we feel like withdrawing from an oratorical competition a few minutes before it commences when we feel butterflies in our stomach. Why do we hesitate to accept the fact and the whole world becomes hallucinatory when our near and dear ones leave us? Krishna's speech comes as an answer and ultimate solution to all our questions. This is the reason why even great American philosophers like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson celebrate the Bhagawad Gita!

When "Ping" Became "Pink"

I usually have the habit of logging from home after 6 PM and completing the remaining office work for the day. At times I would ping my lead Josef in Brno (Czech Republic) to ask for clarifications. When ever my 3 year old daughter disturbs me during such moments, I would tell her, "Wait...Josef is pinging me...Don't disturb...". She had been thinking about this for some time and one fine night during one of our usual bed-time conversations, she asked me the following question:-

"Why do you keep saying 'Josef pinked' all the time, when "PINK" is just a colour."
I burst out laughing at her innocence and I tried to explain her that it is "ping" and not "pink" and it is a message sent through the internet similar to a letter being posted. Thankfully she was convinced :)

Unanswered Question!

Tanushri - my 3 year old daughter is fond of asking questions which, either cannot be answered or will make me to contemplate to get an answer! This is an example of such a conversation which happened today in the morning.

Tanu: Amma(Mother) when were these flowery tiles stuck on our bath room walls? (Pointing to the tiles which had purple flower patterns in them)

Me: Three years back, when you were not born

Tanu: Oh...I was not born?? Then where did I exist at that time?

Me: You were in my tummy and you were very small.

Tanu: I want to go back to your tummy now.

Me: That is impossible. You have grown up now.

Tanu: Yes. I will not fit into your tummy right?

Me: Yes.

Tanu: But I would have been happier in your tummy (She was showing a very sad face with her lower lip projecting out)

Me : I am not sure about that....

Tanu: Why did you take me out and allow me to grow up to a big girl?? It is your fault!! I always want to be a baby in your tummy (And she started crying)