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98
Monks' Dilemma
Monks' Dilemma
99
Deepak, "I am abandoning the plan of purchasing office building at Bangalore. I think we can shift our office headquarters here."
Vijay, "I think it is time to leave. We can come tomorrow morning again."
Deepti, "Tomorrow we are going to Nathdwara, the famous pilgrimage place and abode of the highly revered and adored deity in Mewar. On next visit we shall stay here for longer period at least for a week. I request Vibha to construct a small guest house also here."
Vibha, "I have one more important thing to tell you. I am planning to have wind and solar energy plants also here. My next work will be to construct a higher secondary school building and start it as early as possible. As suggested by Deepti we shall have a guest house also."
Deepak, "I am very happy to see the progress in such a short time. I shall be coming here frequently, soon after the rainy season."
Deepti endorsed the programme.
It was 10.a.m. when they reached Eklingji, the other famous pilgrimage centre in Mewar on way to Nathdwara. It is a much revered royal deity of the erstwhile rulers of Mewar. There was a queue of about 15 devotees before them. Deepti was behind Vibha. Reaching there she was pained to see people pouring a lot of milk on the Shivalinga. She could not resist admonishing, "Why are you wasting milk in such a large quantity. Your deity is not drinking it and it is all going down the drain below. It is a very nutritious drink. There are thousands of poor children who suffer from malnutrition. Your deity Shiva, if really benign, will be happy if you spare that much milk and give it to poor. I shall insist that those pouring water should not waste water also as it is getting scarce to meet the growing requirement."
The priest sitting there and the devotees were stunned and chill went down their spine. They were seeing by their own eyes that all they were pouring was going waste in the drain. But old beliefs since centuries and generations, etched in their very genetic code, had become ingrained in their psyche as an impulsive obsession. Ignorance generates superstitious beliefs which if practised repeatedly becomes a habit and when continued over a long period of time get encoded in genes as an established genetic trait which remains for generations. Such a trait or habit may remain dormant or manifest in progeny in any future third, fourth or any next generation e.g. drug addiction in great-great-great grand parent may manifest in any great-great-great grand progeny which would suffer for none of its fault but of its previous generations. The genetic encryption of course gets modified and mutated by the ambient family, social and physical environment. Such is the natural sequence of genetic coding. its encryption and modification.
The road to Nathdwara was serpentine, negotiating a hilly tract with ups and downs. The landscape was almost barren with no greenery worth the name. Vibha said that there were still some old people who had fond memories of a lush green dense forest over this entire area. There were species of all varieties of dry deciduous forests. The area was famous till recently for good quality sandal trees which had been cut, smuggled and sold away.
