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SPECIAL FEATURE NOVEMBER 01, 2024 | The Indian Eye 8

DIWALI:

A Time to Search Within

open new ones in preparation for the
“What is my fault?
What’s my mistake?” year ahead. There is an interesting
question and answer in the Vachana-
n the eighteenth and fi- mrut, which mentions a businessman.
nal day of the Mahabharat A devotee asks, “If a person is trou-
OWar, a mortally wounded bled by lust, anger, and other vicious
Duryodhan breaks the eerie silence instincts, can they be eradicated?”
of the battlefield with these words Bhagwan Swaminarayan responds,
of self-pity. Even on his deathbed, “A businessman keeps a regular ac-
Duryodhan is unable to recognize count of all transactions. Similarly, if
the mistakes that ruined his life. In a person regularly tracks their baser
these final moments, he searches for instincts and evaluates the chang-
ways to blame the Pandavas for the es since entering Satsang, they will
Great War. But history tells a differ- eliminate all vicious instincts.” Just
ent story—it was Duryodhan who as a businessman creates a profit and
instigated attempts to kill the Pan- loss statement at the end of the year,
davas, it was Duryodhan who craved we need to introspect spiritually and
and plotted to see them penniless, morally to assess how much we have
and it was Duryodhan who refused improved in the past year.
to part with even a needle-tip-sized His Holiness Mahant Swami Ma-
area of land that rightfully belonged haraj, the spiritual leader of BAPS
to them. And now, he asks, “What Swaminarayan Sanstha, often em-
have I done wrong?” phasizes the importance of self-in-
At this time, all he can see are the trospection, humility, and developing
roses of noble deeds he performed, inner purity. He encourages people
but he fails to see the underlying to look within for the root causes
thorns of his misdeeds—thorns that of difficulties rather than blaming
punctured his happiness throughout external circumstances, fostering
his life. It was these thorns that made spiritual growth and self-awareness.
him unable to tolerate any good that In the scripture written by him, the
happened to the Pandavas, mak- Satsang Diksha, he writes, “With a
ing his life miserable. Yet, he never composed mind, one should intro-
thought to remove those painful spect every day: ‘What have I come
thorns and enjoy the roses. to accomplish in this world, and what
Duryodhan’s question is not his am I doing?’” (Shloka 145). This Di-
alone. It is an eternal question, one wali, while we enjoy the festivities,
that is equally applicable today and we should also embrace introspec-
tomorrow, simply because every per- tion. The key to success lies within,
son, to a great or lesser extent, be- but it must be sought. A philosopher
lieves they are free of blame for any- once said:
thing that goes wrong. “If you treat people with love and
Students blame teachers for are subjected to enmity, search within.
their poor results; children blame If you selflessly help people and are met
parents, and parents blame children with non-cooperation, search within.
for family discord; workers blame If you treat people with respect and
management, and management are faced with hostility, search within.
blames workers. Everyone blames reach customers, protecting the com- “One who has a good discriminating In any activity that does not bring the
each other, but nobody is prepared pany’s reputation. Similarly, person- sense will increasingly realize their desired results, search within.”
to shoulder the blame. Nobody is al progress requires introspection own drawbacks... and if God or His So, the answer to the age-old
willing to search within for their and self-criticism. To grow, we must holy sadhu speak harshly to them, question, “What is my fault?” has
faults, and nobody is bold enough to regularly assess our faults and take they believe it to be for their own but one response: “The biggest fault
admit their mistakes and do some- corrective action. This principle ap- good.” A mindset that values correc- is not seeing our own faults.” The
thing about them. This is the root of plies to sports teams as well, where tion and continuous improvement is only way to correct this is through
the misery that plagues our lives. players and managers must analyze key to success in both personal devel- constant introspection and humble
Quality control is crucial in both mistakes to improve. opment and the competitive market. prayer to God.
industrial production and life. In In the Vachanamrut, a compila- On Diwali, during the chopda
manufacturing, quality controllers tion of spiritual discourses delivered pujan ceremony, business owners Lenin Joshi
ensure that only flawless products by Bhagwan Swaminarayan, he says, close their existing account books and BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha

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