02/29/12
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01 03 2012 LESSON 540
The Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada Verses 87 88 89 Pancasata
Agantukabhikkhu Vatthu Those Who Follow The
Dhamma Are Liberated Purify Your mind Arahats Are Beyond Worldliness
FREE ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY & BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS LETTER Through :http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
THE BUDDHIST ON LINE GOOD NEWS LETTER
COURSE PROGRAM
LESSONS 540
Practice
a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha Away
The
Caravan of Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar-Kanshiram is successfully taken ahead by Bahen
Mayawati Ji all over India. Plz support national and state leadership of this
movement and defeat anti-movement elements to reach our ultimate goal. Donβt
get carried away with different banners in Maharashtra and other parts. We have
to follow our leader Bahenji and her appointed state local leaders.Victory is
ours. Have faith in capturing political Master Key and make PraBuddha Bharath.
JaiBheem! Jai Kanshiram! βDR. Rahul BSP
Caravan
is successfully taken ahead by Bahen Mayawatiji. Plz support National & State leadership of this
movement to acquire MASTER KEY.
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Verse 87. Liberation Through Discipline
Abandoning the dhammas dark
the wise should cultivate the bright,
having from home to homeless gone
in solitude unsettling.
Explanation: The wise person abandons fully and totally those
tainted views and questionable ways of behaviour and moves away from
the known comforts of lay life into the unfamiliar way of life of
the renunciate. He practises virtue conducive to the achievement of
liberation.
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Verse 88. Purify Your mind
Let them desire that rare delight
renouncing pleasures, owing nought,
those wise ones should cleanse themselves
from all defilements of the mind.
Explanation: He takes interest in
liberation. He gives up all preferences for sensualities. This way, he is
without any possessions. The wise person proceeds to cleanse his mind from
those defilements that blemish the mind.
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Verse 89. Arahats Are Beyond Worldliness
Those who come to Wakening
with mind full-cultivated,
delight, no longer clinging,
in relinquishing attachment:
they, without pollution, radiant,
in this world have reach Nibbana.
Explanation: There are those wise
individuals who have practiced extremely well the factors conducive to the
attainment of liberation. They do not cling to anything emotionally or
mentally. They are opposed to the tendency to be greedy and grasping, They
take delight in non-grasping. They, the shining ones, who are totally
bereft of blemishes, have attained liberation in this world itself.
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Dhammapada Verses 87, 88 and 89
Pancasata Agantukabhikkhu Vatthu
Kanham dhammam
vippahaya
sukkam bhavetha pandito
oka anokamagamma1
viveke2 yattha duramam.
Tatrabhiratimiccheyya
hitva kame akincano3
pariyodapeyya attanam
cittaklesehi4 pandito.
Yesam
sambodhiyangesu5
samma cittam subhavitam
adanapatinissagge
anupadaya ye rata
khinasava6 jutimanto7
te loke parinibbuta.8
Verses 87 & 88: The man of wisdom,
leaving the home of craving and having Nibbana as his goal, should give up
dark, evil ways and cultivate pure, good ones. He should seek great delight
in solitude, detachment and Nibbana, which an ordinary man finds so difficult
to enjoy. He should also give up sensual pleasures, and clinging to nothing,
should cleanse himself of all impurities of the mind.
Verse 89: Those, with mind well-developed in
the seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga), having rid themselves of all
craving, rejoice in their abandonment of attachment. Such men, with all moral
intoxicants eradicated, and powerful (with the light of Arahatta Magganana),
have realized Nibbana in this world (i.e., with Khandha aggregates
remaining).
1. oka anakamagamma; lit., having
gone from home to the homeless. In this context interpreted as leaving the
seat of craving and having Nibbana as a goal.
2. viveke: solitude, detachment,
Nibbana.
3. akincano: lit., having nothing;
clinging to nothing. (The term kincana may include any of the kilesas
or defilements such as passion, ill will, ignorance, etc; it also means
clinging or attachment to the world.)
4. cittaklesehi: citta kilesa:
impurities of the mind.
5. sambodhiyangesu: sambojjhanga: the
Factors of Enlightenment or requisites for attaining Magga Insight.
6. khinasava: one in whom human
passions are extinguished; an arahat.
7. jutimanta: one endowed with the
power of Arahatta Magganana.
8. te loke parinibbuta: the
realization of Nibbana in the realm of the five aggregates (khandhas), or in
other words, in this world. But according to the Commentary, in this context,
both Sa-upadisesa and Anupadisesa Nibbana are meant. Sa-upadisesa
or Kilesa Nibbana is Nibbana with groups of existence or khandhas
remaining; it is realized by an arahat on the attainment of arahatship. Anupadisesa
or Khandha Nibbana is Nibbana without groups of existence or khandhas
remaining. It takes place on the death of an arahat.
The Story of Five Hundred Visiting Bhikkhus
While residing at the Jetavana monastery,
the Buddha uttered Verses (87), (88) and (89) of this book, with reference to
five hundred visiting bhikkhus.
Five hundred bhikkhus who had spent the
vassa in Kosala came to pay homage to the Buddha at the Jetavana monastery,
at the end of the vassa.
The Buddha uttered
the following three verses to suit their various temperaments:
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Verses 87 & 88: The man of wisdom,
leaving the home of craving and having Nibbana as his goal, should give up
dark, evil ways and cultivate pure, good ones. He should seek great delight
in solitude, detachment and Nibbana, which an ordinary man finds so
difficult to enjoy. He should also give up sensual pleasures, and clinging
to nothing, should cleanse himself of all impurities of the mind.
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Verse 89: Those, with mind well-developed
in the seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga), having rid themselves of
all craving, rejoice in their abandonment of attachment. Such men, with all
moral intoxicants eradicated, and powerful (with the light of Arahatta
Magganana), have realized Nibbana in this world (i.e., with Khandha
aggregates remaining).
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End of Chapter Six: The Wise (Panditavagga)
BROAD MINDED SARVAJAN VOTERS OF UP!
WILL GIVE SEATS THREE HUNDRED AND THREE!
FOR THE ELEPHANT OF BSP!
OF MAYAWATI!
TO CAPTURE POLITICAL MASTER KEY!
STUDY!
conducted by FREE
ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY!
Voting started in 6th phase
of UP elections
Polling
in Noida, Dadri and Jewar assembly seats in Gautam Budhh Nagar was going on
peacefully.
In Chief
Minister Mayawati’s native Badalpur village, farmers had lined up to cast their
vote. BSP has fielded Satvir Gujjar sitting MLA from here .
In Noida,
which has become an assembly seat for the first time, residents seemed
enthusiastic. Earlier Noida was part of Dadri assembly seat and rural voters
used to decide the winning pattern here.
Polling
is underway in assembly seats in Saharanpur, Prabuddha Nagar, Meerut, Bagpath,
Ghaziabad, Panchsheel Nagar, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh,
Muzaffarnagar, Mathura, Mahamayanagar and Agra.
Polling
is underway in assembly seats in Saharanpur, Prabuddha Nagar, Meerut, Bagpath,
Ghaziabad, Panchsheel Nagar, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh,
Muzaffarnagar, Mathura, Mahamayanagar and Agra.
More than
2.17 crore voters are expected to cast their votes to decide the fate of 1103
candidates, including 86 women.
The CEO
said that polling was being held at 22,137 polling stations at 12181 centres,
of which 3188 centres and 4892 stations have been marked as sensitive.
To keep a
tight vigil on polling process, 1015 video cameras and 2353 digital cameras
have been installed.
In the 2007 assembly polls, 46.58 per cent votes were
polled for 67 seats of which BSP got 35,Now it will win 51 seats.
60 per cent turnout in
6th round of UP poll
(Uttar Pradesh chief
minister and BSP supremo Mayawati addresses an election rally in Rai Bareilly.)
![]() Bahujan Samaj Party
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No action against Nasimuddin Siddiqui:
UP govt
Lucknow:
The UP government on Monday told the state Lokayukta that a CBI probe as
recommended by it against its minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui cannot be initiated
as the charges made against him were not related to any of his decisions or
approvals taken during his tenure as minister.
“It is not possible to take action as per the law on the recommendations
of the Lokayukta as there is no charge against Naseemuddin on approvals granted
by him or any of his decisions and works as a minister,” an official
spokesperson said here.
Thehalka,
Samay Dead,
hindusthan bad times,
Toomany circles,
DNTV,Ill
Post,
VIEWS TRACK INDIA
ASSEMBLY SELECTIONS 2012,
IBN DEAD,
The Indian Goods,
The Ahindu,
The DEPENDENT,
BAD TIMTS OF INDIA,
MID NIGHT,
THE CHRONICAL OF GAFTHOLOGY
The Errorist
These are some of the VIEWS Papers and Idea medias (Black and blind paid views reporters/scribes/journalists
searching for black cat in a dark room which is not there) are publishing false
and bogus views to please Congress, BJP, SP bosses forgetting that there are
educated people belonging to sarvajan samaj including SC/ST/OBC/Minorities/Poor
upper caste who have already stoped
buying these views. Their comments are not published agsinst their views. As long
as they are paid they are not bothered about their sales as they are paid by
their bosses. They are forgetting that there is a very powerful media in this
country. Their prediction that Ms Mayawati will get 303 seats will come true
just like in 2007 where the predictions of the above views papers and the ideas
of the medias failed.
Ananda Bhante ;
Dear Dhamma Friends,
We, the monks and
members of the Maha Bodhi Organisation cordially request the pleasure of your
participation in the
DHAMMAPADA FESTIVAL
Which marks the 91st birthday
of our beloved Bada Bhante the
Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita
Abhidhaja Aggamaha Saddhamma Jotika, D.Lit
The Founder President
of Maha Bodhi Society Bangalore and its sister organisations
And
Inauguration of
Sambodhi Pujana Dhatu Cetiya
&
Dhamma Hall
On Phagguna Purnima, 8th March
2012 Thursday at 9 AM
at
Maha Bodhi Society
14, Kalidasa Road, Gandhinagar, Bangalore-560009, India
Tel: 080-22250684, Fax: 080-22264438
Chief Guest
Venerable Phrakhrupalad Suvathanavachirakhun
(Sawai Chotiko),
Vice Rector for Foreign Affairs,
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand
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There will be recitation of the Holy Dhammapada and
meditation retreats from 1st to 15th March
2012. Bada Bhante has already started one week meditation courses
for monks which will run throughout the year in the newly
built Satipatthana Bhavana Kendra. In every course there are
9 monks.
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An Appeal
We have recently
constructed Satipatthana Bhavana Kuti and renovation of the
old Dhamma hall is going on. We are also
constructing SambodhiPujana Dhatu Cetiya. Five new books will be
published on the occasion of Dhammapada Festival. We request you to
kindly help us to complete all these programs.
You may please send your contribution by
cheque/draft/MO in favour of Maha Bodhi Society, Bengaluru and post to
The Secretary,
Maha Bodhi Society,
14, Kalidasa Road, Gandhinagar,
Bengaluru β 560009,
or
Or you may directly make electronic
transfer to our bank account
Indian donations
Maha Bodhi Society,
Account No. SB 353102010000137
IFSC Code: UBINO 535311
Union Bank of India,
Gandhinagar Branch, Bangalore β
560009, India
Foreign Donations
Kindly contact us at
Thank you very much,
Yours truly,
Ananda Bhante
General Secretary, Maha Bodhi Society,
Bengaluru.
————————————————
PROGRAMS
8th March 2012 Thursday 9:00AM
Venue: Maha Bodhi
Society, Gandhinagar, Bangalore
9:00 AM
Inauguration of
Sambodhi Pujana Dhatu Cetiya
By
Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita
Puja at the Sacred Bodhi Tree and
the Stupa,
Buddha Puja, Sutta Chanting
and undertaking of SΔ«las and
Dhamma Discourses
at Loka Shanti Buddha VihΓ ra
Inauguration
of Dhamma Hall by
Chief Guest
Venerable Phrakhrupalad Suvathanavachirakhun
(Sawai Chotiko),
Vice Rector for Foreign Affairs,
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand
Release of
Publications
An Unforgettable Inheritance β Part III
(Dhammapada Commentary)
Dighanikaya β Vol 1
(Kannada Tipitaka Project)
Sutta Sangaho β Part III
(Collected Sutta & translation)
Hattha Ratana β (Jewel in
Hand) β Practical handbook for monks
Dhammapada Gatha Prasangagalu β Dhammapada stories
in Kannada
2:30 PM β Dhamma
Discourse by
Venerable Phrakhrupalad Suvathanavachirakhun
4 PM - Hospital Dana Service
at Bowring Hospital
6 PM β Puja
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20 Painkillers in Your Kitchen
Make muscle pain a memory with ginger
When
Danish researchers asked achy people to jazz up their diets with
ginger, it eased muscle and joint pain, swelling and stiffness for up to
63 percent of them within two months. Experts credit ginger’s potent
compounds called gingerols, which prevent the production of
pain-triggering hormones. The study-recommended dose: Add at least 1
teaspoon of dried ginger or 2 teaspoons of chopped ginger to meals
daily.
Cure a toothache with cloves
Got
a toothache and can’t get to the dentist? Gently chewing on a clove can
ease tooth pain and gum inflammation for two hours straight, say UCLA
researchers. Experts point to a natural compound in cloves called
eugenol, a powerful, natural anesthetic. Bonus: Sprinkling a ΒΌ teaspoon
of ground cloves on meals daily may also protect your ticker. Scientists
say this simple action helps stabilize blood sugar, plus dampen
production of artery-clogging cholesterol in as little as three weeks.
Heal heartburn with cider vinegar
Sip
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with 8 ounces of water before
every meal, and experts say you could shut down painful bouts of
heartburn in as little as 24 hours. “Cider vinegar is rich in malic and
tartaric acids, powerful digestive aids that speed the breakdown of fats
and proteins so your stomach can empty quickly, before food washes up
into the esophagus, triggering heartburn pain,” explains Joseph Brasco,
M.D., a gastroenterologist at the Center for Colon and Digestive
Diseases in Huntsville, AL.
Erase earaches with garlic
Painful
ear infections drive millions of Americans to doctors’ offices every
year. To cure one fast, just place two drops of warm garlic oil into
your aching ear twice daily for five days. This simple treatment can
clear up ear infections faster than prescription meds, say experts at
the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Scientists say garlic’s
active ingredients (germanium, selenium, and sulfur compounds) are
naturally toxic to dozens of different pain-causing bacteria. To whip up
your own garlic oil gently simmer three cloves of crushed garlic in a
half a cup of extra virgin olive oil for two minutes, strain, then
refrigerate for up to two weeks, suggests Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.,
co-author of the book, Best Choices From The People’s Pharmacy. For an optimal experience, warm this mix slightly before using so the liquid will feel soothing in your ear canal.
Chase away joint and headache pain with cherries
Latest
studies show that at least one in four women is struggling with
arthritis, gout or chronic headaches. If you’re one of them, a daily
bowl of cherries could ease your ache, without the stomach upset so
often triggered by today’s painkillers, say researchers at East Lansing
’s Michigan State University . Their research reveals that anthocyanins,
the compounds that give cherries their brilliant red color, are
anti-inflammatories 10 times stronger than ibuprofen and aspirin.
“Anthocyanins help shut down the powerful enzymes that kick-start tissue
inflammation, so they can prevent, as well as treat, many different
kinds of pain,” explains Muraleedharan Nair, Ph.D., professor of food
science at Michigan State University . His advice: Enjoy 20 cherries
(fresh, frozen or dried) daily, then continue until your pain
disappears.
Prevent PMS with yogurt
Up
to 80 percent of women will struggle with premenstrual syndrome and its
uncomfortable symptoms, report Yale researchers. The reason: Their
nervous systems are sensitive to the ups and downs in estrogen and
progesterone that occur naturally every month. But snacking on 2 cups of
yogurt a day can slash these symptoms by 48 percent, say researchers at
New York ’s Columbia University. “Yogurt is rich in calcium, a mineral
that naturally calms the nervous system, preventing painful symptoms
even when hormones are in flux,” explains Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., a
professor of gynecology at Yale University.
Tame chronic pain with turmeric
Studies
show turmeric, a popular East Indian spice, is actually three times
more effective at easing pain than aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen, plus
it can help relieve chronic pain for 50 percent of people struggling
with arthritis and even fibromyalgia, according to Cornell researchers.
That’s because turmeric’s active ingredient, curcumin, naturally shuts
down cyclooxygenase 2, an enzyme that churns out a stream of
pain-producing hormones, explains nutrition researcher Julian Whitaker,
M.D. and author of the book,Reversing Diabetes. The study-recommended dose: Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of this spice daily onto any rice, poultry, meat or vegetable dish.
End endometrial pain with oats
The
ticket to soothing endometriosis pain could be a daily bowl of oatmeal.
Endometriosis occurs when little bits of the uterine lining detach and
grow outside of the uterus. Experts say these migrating cells can turn
menstruation into a misery, causing so much inflammation that they
trigger severe cramping during your period, plus a heavy ache that drags
on all month long. Fortunately, scientists say opting for a diet rich
in oats can help reduce endometrial pain for up to 60 percent of women
within six months. That’s because oats don’t contain gluten, a
trouble-making protein that triggers inflammation in many women, making
endometriosis difficult to bear, explains Peter Green, M.D., professor
of medicine at Colombia University .
Soothe foot pain with salt
Experts
say at least six million Americans develop painful ingrown toenails
each year. But regularly soaking ingrown nails in warm salt water baths
can cure these painful infections within four days, say scientists at
California ’s Stanford University . The salt in the mix naturally nixes
inflammation, plus it’s anti-bacterial, so it quickly destroys the germs
that cause swelling and pain. Just mix 1 teaspoon of salt into each cup
of water, heat to the warmest temperature that you can comfortably
stand, and then soak the affected foot area for 20 minutes twice daily,
until your infection subsides.
Prevent digestive upsets with pineapple
Got
gas? One cup of fresh pineapple daily can cut painful bloating within
72 hours, say researchers at California ’s Stanford University . That’s
because pineapple is natually packed with proteolytic enzymes, digestive
aids that help speed the breakdown of pain-causing proteins in the
stomach and small intestine, say USDA researchers.
Relax painful muscles with peppermint
Suffering
from tight, sore muscles? Stubborn knots can hang around for months if
they aren’t properly treated, says naturopath Mark Stengler, N.D.,
author of the book, The Natural Physician’s Healing Therapies.
His advice: Three times each week, soak in a warm tub scented with 10
drops of peppermint oil. The warm water will relax your muscles, while
the peppermint oil will naturally soothe your nerves — a combo that can
ease muscle cramping 25 percent more effectively than over-the-counter
painkillers, and cut the frequency of future flare-ups in half, says
Stengler.
Give your back some TLC with grapes
Got
an achy back? Grapes could be the ticket to a speedy recovery. Recent
studies at Ohio State University suggest eating a heaping cup of grapes
daily can relax tight blood vessels, significantly improving blood flow
to damaged back tissues (and often within three hours of enjoying the
first bowl). That’s great news because your back’s vertebrae and
shock-absorbing discs are completely dependent on nearby blood vessels
to bring them healing nutrients and oxygen, so improving blood flow is
essential for healing damaged back tissue, says Stengler.
Wash away pain injuries with water
Whether
it’s your feet, your knees or your shoulders that are throbbing,
experts at New York ’s Manhattan College , say you could kick-start your
recovery in one week just by drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water
daily. Why? Experts say water dilutes, and then helps flush out,
histamine, a pain-triggering compound produced by injured tissues. “Plus
water is a key building block of the cartilage that cushions the ends
of your bones, your joints’ lubricating fluid, and the soft discs in
your spine,” adds Susan M. Kleiner, Ph.D., author of the book, The Good Mood Diet.
“And when these tissues are well-hydrated, they can move and glide over
each other without causing pain.” One caveat: Be sure to measure your
drinking glasses to find out how large they really are before you start
sipping, she says. Today’s juice glasses often hold more than 12 ounces,
which means five servings could be enough to meet your daily goal.
Heal sinus problems with horseradish
Latest
studies show sinusitis is the nation’s number one chronic health
problem. And this condition doesn’t just spur congestion and facial
pain, it also makes sufferers six times more likely to feel achy
all-over. Horseradish to the rescue! According to German researchers,
this eye-watering condiment naturally revs up blood flow to the sinus
cavities, helping to open and drain clogged sinuses and heal sinus
infections more quickly than decongestant sprays do. The
study-recommended dose: One teaspoon twice daily (either on its own, or
used as a sandwich or meat topping) until symptoms clear.
Beat bladder infections with blueberries
Eating
1 cup of blueberries daily, whether you opt for them fresh, frozen or
in juice form, can cut your risk of a urinary tract infection (UTIs) by
60 percent, according to researchers at New Jersey’s Rutgers University.
That’s because blueberries are loaded with tannins, plant compounds
that wrap around problem-causing bacteria in the bladder, so they can’t
get a toehold and create an infection, explains Amy Howell, Ph.D. a
scientist at Rutgers University .
Heal mouth sores with honey
Dab
painful canker and cold sores with unpasteurized honey four times daily
until these skin woes disappear, and they’ll heal 43 percent faster
than if you use a prescription cream, say researchers at the Dubai
Specialized Medical Center in the United Arab Emirates . Raw honey’s
natural enzymes zap inflammation, destroy invading viruses and speed the
healing of damaged tissues, say the study authors.
Fight breast pain with flax
In
one recent study, adding 3 tablespoons of ground flax to their daily
diet eased breast soreness for one in three women within 12 weeks.
Scientists credit flax’s phytoestrogens, natural plant compounds that
prevent the estrogen spikes that can trigger breast pain. More good
news: You don’t have to be a master baker to sneak this healthy seed
into your diet. Just sprinkle ground flax on oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce
or add it to smoothies and veggie dips.
Cure migraines with coffee
Prone
to migraines? Try muscling-up your painkiller with a coffee chaser.
Whatever over-the-counter pain med you prefer, researchers at the
National Headache Foundation say washing it down with a strong 12- ounce
cup of coffee will boost the effectiveness of your medication by 40
percent or more. Experts say caffeine stimulates the stomach lining to
absorb painkillers more quickly and more effectively.
Tame leg cramps with tomato juice
At
least one in five people regularly struggle with leg cramps. The
culprit? Potassium deficiencies, which occur when this mineral is
flushed out by diuretics, caffeinated beverages or heavy perspiration
during exercise. But sip 10 ounces of potassium-rich tomato juice daily
and you’ll not only speed your recovery, you’ll reduce your risk of
painful cramp flare-ups in as little as 10 days, say UCLA researchers.
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02/28/12
Filed under:
General
Posted by:
site admin @ 10:05 pm
|
29
02 2012 LESSON 539 The Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada Verse 85 and 86
Dhammassavana Vatthu A Few Reach The Other Shore Those Who Follow The Dhamma
Are Liberated
FREE ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY & BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS LETTER Through :http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
THE BUDDHIST ON LINE GOOD NEWS LETTER
COURSE PROGRAM
LESSONS 539
Practice
a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha Away
The Caravan of Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar-Kanshiram is successfully
taken ahead by Bahen Mayawati Ji all over India. Plz support national and state
leadership of this movement and defeat anti-movement elements to reach our ultimate goal. Donβt get
carried away with different banners in Maharashtra and other parts. We have to
follow our leader Bahenji and her appointed state local leaders.Victory is
ours. Have faith in capturing political Master Key and make PraBuddha Bharath.
JaiBheem! Jai Kanshiram! βDR. Rahul BSP
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Verse
85. A Few Reach The Other Shore
Among folk they are few
who go to the Further Shore,
most among humanity
scurry on this hither shore.
Explanation: Of those who wish to cross over to the other side
only a handful are successful. Those others who are left behind keep running
along this shore. Those masses who have not been able to reach liberation
continue to be caught up in Samsara.
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Verse
86. Those Who Follow The Dhamma Are Liberated
But they who practise Dhamma
according to Dhamma well-told,
from Deathβs Domain hard to leave
theyβll cross to the Further Shore.
Explanation: The realms over which Mara has sway, are
difficult to be crossed. Only those who quite righteously follow the way
indicated in the well-articulated Teachings of the Buddha, will be able to
cross these realms that are so difficult to cross.
Dhammapada
Verses 85 and 86
Dhammassavana Vatthu
Appaka te manussesu
ye jana paragamino
athayam itara paja
tiramevanudhavati1
Ye ca kho sammadakkhate
dhamme dhammanuvattino
te jana paramessanti2
maccudheyyam3 suduttaram.
Verse 85: Few among men reach the other shore (Nibbana); all the
others only run up and down on this shore.
Verse 86: But those who practise according to the well-expounded
Dhamma will reach the other shore (Nibbana), having passed the realm of Death
(i.e., samsara), very difficult as it is to cross.
1. tiramevanudhavati: tiram + eva + anudhavati: shore +
only this + run up and down: according to the Commentary ‘only this shore’ in
this context means sakkayaditthi (ego belief).
2. paramessanti: param + essanti: the other shore + will
reach. The other or opposite shore is metaphorically used for Nibbana.
3. maccudheyyam: the realm of Death (or samsara,
round of rebirths).
The Story of Dhamma Listeners
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered
Verses (85) and (86) of this book, with reference to a congregation of people
who had come to listen to a religious discourse in Savatthi.
On one occasion, a group of people from Savatthi made special
offerings to the bhikkhus collectively and they arranged for some bhikkhus to
deliver discourses throughout the night, in their locality. Many in the audience
could not sit up the whole night and they returned to their homes early; some
sat through the night, but most of the time they were drowsy and half-asleep.
There were only a few who listened attentively to the discourses.
At dawn, when the bhikkhus told the Buddha about what happened
the previous night, he replied, “Most people are attached to this
world; only a very few reach the other shore (Nibbana).”
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
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Verse 85: Few among men reach the other shore (Nibbana); all
the others only run up and down on this shore.
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Verse 86: But those who practise according to the
well-expounded Dhamma will reach the other shore (Nibbana), having passed the
realm of Death (i.e., samsara), very difficult as it is to cross.
|
|
|
02/27/12
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28 02 2012 LESSON 538 The
Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada Verse 84 Dhammikatthera Vatthu The
Wise Live Correctly
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LESSONS 538
Practice
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Verse 84. The Wise Live
Correctly
Neither
for oneβs own, nor for anotherβs sake
one should wish for children, wealth, estate,
nor success desire by means unjust,
thus virtuous, and wise, righteous one would be.
Explanation:
Not for oneβs own benefit nor for that of others, does he desire children,
wealth or kingdom. Nor does he desire self-glory. Thus he is realistic,
penetrative and well behaved.
Dhammapada Verse 84
Dhammikatthera Vatthu
Na
attahetu na parassa hetu
na puttamicche na dhanam na rattham
na iccheyya adhammena samiddhimattano
sa silava pannava dhammiko siya.
Verse
84: For his own sake or for the sake of others, he does no evil; nor does he
wish for sons and daughters or for wealth or for a kingdom by doing evil; nor
does he wish for success by unfair means; such a one is indeed virtuous, wise
and just.
The
Story of Thera Dhammika
While
residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (84) of this book,
with reference to Thera Dhammika.
Dhammika
lived in Savatthi with his wife. One day, he told his pregnant wife that he
wished to become a bhikkhu; his wife pleaded with him to wait until after the
birth of their child. When the child was born, he again requested his wife to
let him go; again, she pleaded with him to wait until the child could walk.
Then Dhammika thought to himself, “It will be useless for me to ask my
wife for her approval to join the Order; I shall work for my own liberation.”
Having made a firm decision, he left his house to become a bhikkhu. He took a
subject of meditation from the Buddha and practised meditation ardently and
diligently and soon became an arahat.
Some
years later, he visited his house in order to teach the Dhamma to his son and
his wife. His son entered the Order and he too attained arahatship. The wife
then thought, “Now that both my husband and my son have left the house,
I’d better leave it, too.” With this thought she left the house and became
a bhikkhuni; eventually, she too attained arahatship.
At the
congregation of the bhikkhus, the Buddha was told how Dhammika became a bhikkhu
and attained arahatship, and how through him his son and his wife also attained
arahatship. To them the Buddha said, “Bhikkhus, a wise man does not
wish for wealth and prosperity by doing evil, whether it is for his own sake or
for the sake of others. He only works for his own liberation from the round of
rebirths (samsara) by comprehending the Dhamma and living according to the Dhamma.”
Then
the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse 84: For his own
sake or for the sake of others, he does no evil; nor does he wish for sons
and daughters or for wealth or for a kingdom by doing evil; nor does he wish
for success by unfair means; such a one is indeed virtuous, wise and just. |
02/26/12
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27 02 2012 LESSON 537 The Dhammapada Verses and Stories
Dhammapada Verse 83 Pancasatabhikkhu
Vatthu The Wise Are Tranquil
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Verse 83. The Wise Are Tranquil
Everything the good renounce,
the peaceful chatter not of fond delights,
and whether touched by pleasure or pain
nor joy or woe in the wise is seen.
Explanation: The noble and wise persons are
not attached to anything whatsoever in the world. The disciplined persons do
not talk desiring worldly things, material benefits or sensual delights.
Whatever fortune or ill-fortune may touch them, they remain calm, neither
depressed or elated.
Dhammapada Verse 83
Pancasatabhikkhu Vatthu
Sabbattha ye sappurisa cajanti
na kamakama lapayanti santo
sukhena phuttha atha va dukhena
na uccavacam pandita dassayanti.
Verse 83: Indeed, the virtuous give up all
(i.e., attachment to the five khandhas, etc.); the virtuous (lit., the
tranquil) do not talk with sensual desire; when faced with joy or sorrow, the
wise do not show elation or depression.
The Story of Five Hundred Bhikkhus
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the
Buddha uttered Verse (83) of this book, with reference to five hundred
bhikkhus.
At the request of a brahmin from Veranja, the
Buddha was, on one occasion, staying at Veranja with five hundred bhikkhus.
While they were at Veranja, the brahmin failed to look after them. The people
of Varanja, who were then facing a famine, could offer very little to the
bhikkhus when they went on their rounds for alms-food. In spite of all these
hardships, the bhikkhus were not disheartened; they were quite contented with
the small amount of shrivelled grain which the horse-traders offered them
daily. At the end of the vasa, after informing the brahmin from Veranja, the
Buddha returned to the Jetavana monastery, accompanied by the five hundred
bhikkhus. The people of Savatthi welcomed them back with choice food of all
kinds.
A group of people living with the bhikkhus,
eating whatever was left over by the bhikkhus, ate greedily like true gluttons
and went to sleep after their meals. On waking up, they were shouting, singing
and dancing, thus making themselves a thorough nuisance. When the Buddha came
in the evening to the congregation of bhikkhus, they reported to him about the
behaviour of those unruly persons, and said, “These people living on the
leftovers were quite decent and well-behaved when all of us were facing
hardship and famine in Veranja. Now that they have enough good food they are
going about shouting, singing and dancing, and thus make themselves a thorough
nuisance. The bhikkhus, however, behave themselves here just as they were in
Veranja”.
To them the Buddha replied, “It is in
the nature of the foolish to be full of sorrow and feel depressed when things
go wrong, and to be full of gladness and feel elated when things go well. The
wise, however, can withstand the ups and downs of life.”
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 83: Indeed, the virtuous give up all (i.e., attachment
to the five khandhas, etc.); the virtuous (lit., the tranquil) do not talk
with sensual desire; when faced with joy or sorrow, the wise do not show
elation or depression. |
02/25/12
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26 02 2012 LESSON 536 The
Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada Verse 82 Kanamata Vatthu The Wise Are Happy
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LESSONS 536
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Verse 82. The Wise Are Happy
Even as a fathomless lake,
a lake so calm and clear,
so dhammas having heard
serene the wise become.
Explanation:
The
exceedingly deep oceans are tranquil, calm and are not agitated. In the same
way whose wise ones who listen to the word of the Buddha acquire deep awareness
and are extremely calm and tranquil.
Dhammapada Verse 82
Kanamata Vatthu
Yathapi
rahado gambhiro
vippasanno anavilo
evam dhammani sutvana
vippasidanti pandita.
Verse
82: Like a lake which is deep, clear and calm, the wise after listening to the
Teaching (Dhamma) become serene.
The
Story of Kanamata
While
residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (82) of this book,
with reference to the mother of Kana, Kanamata.
Kanamata
was a devoted lay disciple of the Buddha. Her daughter Kana was married to a
man from another village. As Kana had been on a visit to her mother for some
time, her husband sent a message for her to come home. Her mother told her to
wait for one more day as she wanted to send along some sweetmeats with her for
her husband. The next day, Kanamata made some sweetmeats, but when four
bhikkhus stood at her door for alms, she offered some to them. The four bhikkhus
told other bhikkhus about the sweetmeats from Kanamata’s house and they also
came to stand at the door of Kanamata, as a devotee of the Buddha and his
disciples, offered her sweetmeats to the bhikkhus as they came in, one after
another. The result was that in the end there was none left for Kana and she
did not go home on that day. The same thing happened on the next two days; her
mother made some sweetmeats, the bhikkhus stood at her door, she offered her
sweetmeats to the bhikkhus, there was nothing left for her daughter to take
home, and her daughter did not go home. On the third day, for the third time,
her husband sent her a message, which was also an ultimatum stating that if she
failed to come home the next day, he would take another wife. But on the next
day also Kana was unable to go home because her mother offered all her
sweetmeats to the bhikkhus. Kana’s husband then took another wife and Kana
became very bitter towards the bhikkhus. She used to abuse all bhikkhus so much
so that the bhikkhus kept away from the house of Kanamata.
The
Buddha heard about Kana and went to the house of Kanamata; there Kanamata
offered him some rice gruel. After the meal, the Buddha sent for Kana and asked
her, “Did my bhikkhus take what was given them or what was not given
them ?” Kana answered that the bhikkhus had taken only what was given
them, and then added, “They were not in the wrong; only I was in the
wrong.” Thus, she owned up her fault and she also paid homage to the
Buddha. The Buddha then gave a discourse. At the end of the discourse, Kana
attained Sotapatti Fruition.
On the
way back to the monastery, the Buddha met King Pasenadi of Kosala. On being
told about Kana and her bitter attitude towards the bhikkhus, King Pasenadi
asked the Buddha whether he had been able to teach her the Dhamma and, make her
see the Truth (Dhamma). The Buddha replied, “Yes, I have taught her the
Dhamma, and I have also made her rich in her next existence.” Then the
king promised the Buddha that he would make Kana rich even in this existence.
The king then sent his men with a palanquin to fetch Kana. When she arrived,
the king announced to his ministers, “Whoever can keep my daughter Kana in
comfort may take her.” One of the ministers volunteered to adopt Kana as
his daughter, gave her all his wealth, and said to her, “You may give in
charity as much as you like.” Everyday, Kana made offerings to the
bhikkhus at the four city-gates. When told about Kana giving generously in
charity, the Buddha said, “Bhikkhus, the mind of Kana which was foggy
and muddled was made clear and calm by my words.”
Then
the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
All
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02/24/12
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25 02 2012 LESSON 535 The Dhammapada Verses and Stories
Dhammapada Verse 81 Lakundakabhaddiyatthera
Vatthu The Wise Are Steadfast
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Verse 81. The Wise Are Steadfast
Just as a mighty boulder
stirs not with the wind,
so the wise are never moved
either by praise or blame.
Explanation: The wise remain unmoved and
unruffled both by praise and humiliation. The wise remain unshaken under all
vicissitudes of life, like the solid rock that withstands the buffetings of
wind, unmoved.
Dhammapada Verse 81
Lakundakabhaddiyatthera Vatthu
Selo yatha ekaghano
vatena na samirati
evam nindapasamsasu
na saminjanti pandita
Verse 81: As a mountain of rock is unshaken by
wind, so also, the wise are unperturbed by blame or by praise.
The Story of Thera Lakundaka Bhaddiya
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the
Buddha uttered Verse (81) of this book, with reference to Thera Bhaddiya.
Bhaddiya was one of the bhikkhus staying at
the Jetavana monastery. Because of his short stature he was known as Lakundaka
(the dwarf) to other bhikkhus. Lakundaka Bhaddiya was very good natured; even
young bhikkhus would often tease him by pulling his nose or his ear, or by
patting him on his head. Very often they would jokingly say, “Uncle, how
are you? Are you happy, or are you bored with your life here as a
bhikkhu?”, etc. Lakundaka Bhaddiya never retaliated in anger, or abused
them; in fact, even in his heart he did not get angry with them.
When told about the patience of Lakundaka
Bhaddiya, the Buddha said, “An arahat never loses his temper, he has no
desire to speak harshly or to think ill of others. He is like a mountain of
solid rock; as a solid rock is unshaken, so also, an arahat is unperturbed by
scorn or by praise.”
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 81: As a mountain of rock is unshaken by wind, so also,
the wise are unperturbed by blame or by praise.
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24 02 2012 LESSON 534 The Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada
Verse 80 Panditasamanera Vatthu The Wise Control Themselves
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LESSONS 534
Practice a Sutta a
Day Keeps Dukkha Away
Verse 80. The Wise
Control Themselves
Irrigators
govern waters,
fletchers fashion shafts,
as joiners shape their timber
those who are wise tame themselves.
Explanation:
The irrigator who manages water is skilled in directing water to whatever place
he wants. The fletcher skilfully shapes a very straight arrow-shaft out of a
piece of wood by working skilfully on it. The carpenter selects a block of wood
and constructs whatever he wants out of it, depending on his need. In the same
way, the wise person works upon their mind, restraining it the way they desire.
Dhammapada Verse 80
Panditasamanera Vatthu
Udakam
hi nayanti nettika
usukara namayanti tejanam
darum namayanti tacchaka
attanam damayanti pandita.
Verse
80: Farmers (lit., makers of irrigation canals ) channel the water; fletchers
straighten the arrow; carpenters work the timber; the Wise tame themselves.
The
Story of Samanera Pandita
While residing
at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (80) of this book, with
reference to Samanera Pandita.
Pandita
was a young son of a rich man of Savatthi. He became a samanera at the age of
seven. On the eighth day after becoming a samanera, as he was following Thera
Sariputta on an alms-round, he saw some farmers channeling water into their
fields and asked the thera, “Can water which has no consciousness be
guided to wherever one wishes ?” The thera replied, “Yes, it can be
guided to wherever one wishes.” As they continued on their way, the
samanera next saw some fletchers heating their arrows with fire and
straightening them. Further on, he came across some carpenters cutting, sawing
and planing timber to make it into things like cart-wheels. Then he pondered,
“If water which is without consciousness can be guided to wherever one
desires, if a crooked bamboo which is without consciousness can be
straightened, and if timber which is without consciousness can be made into
useful things, why should I, having consciousness, be unable to tame my mind
and practise Tranquillity and Insight Meditation?”
Then
and there he asked permission from the thera and returned to his own room in
the monastery. There he ardently and diligently practised meditation, contemplating
the body. Sakka and the devas also helped him in his meditation by keeping the
monastery and its precincts very quiet and still. Before meal time Samanera
Pandita attained Anagami Fruition.
At that
time Thera Sariputta was bringing food to the samanera. The Buddha saw with his
supernormal power that Samanera Pandita had attained Anagami Fruition and also
that if he continued to practise meditation he would soon attain arahatship. So
the Buddha decided to stop Sariputta from entering the room, where the samanera
was. The Buddha went to the door and kept Sariputta engaged by putting some
questions to him. While the conversation was taking place, the samanera
attained arahatship. Thus, the samanera attained arahatship on the eighth day
after becoming a novice.
In this
connection, the Buddha said to the bhikkhus of the monastery, “When one
is earnestly practising the Dhamma, even Sakka and the devas give protection
and keep guard; I myself have kept Thera Sariputta engaged at the door so that
Samanera Pandita should not be disturbed. The samanera, having seen the farmers
irrigating their fields, the fletchers straightening their arrows, and
carpenters making cart-wheels and other things, tames his mind and practises
the dhamma; he has now become an arahat.”
The
Buddha then spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse 80: Farmers
(lit., makers of irrigation canals) channel the water; fletchers straighten
the arrow; carpenters work the timber; the Wise tame themselves.
|
02/22/12
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23
02 2012 LESSON 533 The Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada Verse 79 Mahakappinatthera Vatthu Living Happily In The Dhamma
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LESSONS 533
Practice a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha Away
Verse
79. Living Happily In The Dhamma
Happy is he who Dhamma drinks
with heart thatβs clear and cool.
One so wise eβer delights
in Dhamma declared by the Noble.
Explanation: One who delights in “The Teaching” lives
happily with a pure mind. The experience of the “Sublime Ones” the
wise always enjoy
Dhammapada
Verse 79
Mahakappinatthera Vatthu
Dhammapiti sukham seti
vippasannena cetasa
ariyappavedite dhamme
sada ramati pandito.
Verse 79: He who drinks in the Dhamma lives happily with a
serene mind; the wise man always takes delight in the Dhamma (Bodhipakkhiya
Dhamma) expounded by the Noble Ones (ariyas).
The Story of Thera Mahakappina
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered
Verse (79) of this book, with reference to Thera Mahakappina.
Mahakappina was king of Kukkutavati. He had a queen named Anoja;
he also had one thousand ministers to help him rule the country. One day, the
king accompanied by those one thousand ministers, was out in the park. There,
they met some merchants from Savatthi. On learning about the Buddha, the
Dhamma, and the Samgha from these merchants the king and his ministers
immediately set out for Savatthi.
On that day, when the Buddha surveyed the world with his
supernormal power, he saw in his vision, Mahakappina and his ministers coming
towards Savatthi. He also knew that they were due for arahatship. The Buddha
went to a place one hundred and twenty yojanas away from Savatthi to meet them.
There, he waited for them under a banyan tree on the bank of the river
Candabhaga. King Mahakappina and his ministers came to the place where the
Buddha was waiting for them. When they saw the Buddha, with six-coloured rays
radiating from his body, they approached the Buddha and paid homage to him. The
Buddha then delivered a discourse to them. After listening to the discourse the
king and all his ministers attained Sotapatti Fruition, and they asked
the Buddha to permit them to join the Order. The Buddha, reflecting on their
past and finding that they had made offerings of yellow robes in a past
existence, said to them, “Ehi bhikkhu“, and they all became bhikkhus.
Meanwhile, Queen Anoja, learning about the king’s departure for
Savatthi, sent for the wives of the one thousand ministers, and together with
them followed the king’s trail. They too came to the place where the Buddha was
and seeing the Buddha with a halo of six colours, paid homage to him. All this
time, the Buddha by exercising his supernormal power had made the king and his
ministers invisible so that their wives did not see them. The queen therefore
enquired where the king and his ministers were. The Buddha told the queen and
her party to wait for a while and that the king would soon come with his
ministers. The Buddha then delivered another discourse; at the end of this
discourse the king and his ministers attained arahatship; the queen and
the wives of the ministers attained Sotapatti Fruition. At that instant,
the queen and her party saw the newly admitted bhikkhus and recognized
them as their former husbands.
The ladies also asked permission from the Buddha to enter the
Order of Bhikkhunis; so they were directed to go ahead to Savatthi.
There they entered the Order and very soon they also attained arahatship.
The Buddha then returned to the Jetavana monastery accompanied by one thousand
bhikkhus.
At the Jetavana monastery, Thera Mahakappina while resting
during the night or during the day would often say, “Oh, what
happiness!” (Aho Sukham). The bhikkhus, hearing him saying this so
many times a day told the Buddha about it. To them the Buddha replied, “My
son Kappina having had the taste of the Dhamma lives happily with a serene
mind; he is saying these words of exultation repeatedly with reference to
Nibbana.”
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse
79: He who drinks in the Dhamma lives happily with a serene mind; the wise
man always takes delight in the Dhamma (Bodhipakkhiya Dhamma)
expounded by the Noble Ones (ariyas).
|
02/21/12
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22 02 2012 LESSON 532 The Dhammapada Verses
and Stories Dhammapada Verse 78
Channatthera Vatthu In The Company Of The Virtuous
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Verse 78. In The Company Of The Virtuous
Donβt go around with evil friends,
with rogues do not resort.
Spend your time with noble friends,
and worthy ones consort.
Explanation: Do not associate with people who
have evil ways. Avoid the company of wicked, evil people who are mean and bad.
Associate with worthy friends. Keep the company of noble persons who are
superior in quality and virtue and who will be able to elevate you.
Dhammapada Verse 78
Channatthera Vatthu
Na bhaje papake mitte
na bhaje purisadhame
bhajetha mitte kalyane
bhajetha purisuttame.
Verse 78: One should not associate with bad
friends, nor with the vile. One should associate with good friends, and with
those who are noble.
1. namayanti: to bend, to incline a
person’s heart or will. In the case of fletchers, to make the arrows straight;
in the case of carpenters, to make the timber into things that people want, by
cutting, sawing and planing.
The Story of Thera Channa
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the
Buddha uttered Verse (78) of this book, with reference to Thera Channa.
Channa was the attendant who accompanied
Prince Siddhattha when he renounced the world and left the palace on horseback.
When the prince attained Buddhahood, Channa also became a bhikkhu. As a
bhikkhu, he was very arrogant and overbearing because of his close connection
to the Buddha. Channa used to say, “I came along with my Master when he left
the palace for the forest. At that time, I was the only companion of my Master
and there was no one else. But now, Sariputta and Moggallana are saying, ‘we
are the Chief Disciples,’ and are strutting about the place.”
When the Buddha sent for him and admonished
him for his behaviour, he kept silent but continued to abuse and taunt the two
Chief Disciples. Thus the Buddha sent for him and admonished him three times;
still, he did not change. And again, the Buddha sent for Channa and said, “Channa,
these two noble bhikkhus are good friends to you; you should associate with
them and be on good terms with them.”
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse 78: One should not associate with bad friends, nor with
the vile. One should associate with good friends, and with those who are
noble.
|
In spite of repeated admonitions and advice
given by the Buddha, Channa did as he pleased and continued to scold and abuse
the bhikkhus. The Buddha, knowing this, said that Channa would not change
during the Buddha’s lifetime but after his demise (parinibbana) Channa
would surely change. On the eve of his parinibbana, the Buddha called
Thera Ananda to his bedside and instructed him to impose the Brahma-punishment
(Brahmadanda) to Channa; i.e., for the bhikkhus to simply ignore him and
to have nothing to do with him.
After the parinibbana of the Buddha, Channa,
learning about the punishment from Thera Ananda, felt a deep and bitter remorse
for having done wrong and he fainted three times. Then, he owned up his guilt
to the bhikkhus and asked for pardon. From that moment, he changed his ways and
outlook. He also obeyed their instructions in his meditation practice and soon
attained arahatship.
BSP emerges as an alternative to RPIs in Vidarbha polls
Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times
Nagpur, February 19, 2012
The increasing might of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the virtual fall
of Republican Party of India (RPI) in its stronghold in Vidarbha,
particularly in Nagpur have raised many eyebrows in the region after
the local bodiesβ elections.
Nagpur has been the citadel of RPI where Dr
Babasaheb Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in 1956 but the BSP has dealt
a severe blow to their vote bank in the recent elections.
BSP earned 12 seats in the Nagpur Municipal Corporations alone while 6
seats in the neighbouring Amravati municipal corporation and their
candidates finished second in 30 wards, giving a threat to the RPI
politicians. Moreover, the party got one seat in Akola Municipal
Corporation elections.
In Nagpur, it got 10 seats from north and south Nagpur assembly
constituenciesβpredominantly dalit areas which are considered as RPI
citadel and dalit voters are the deciding factor for the state
elections.
In Akola, where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkarβs grandson Dr Balasaheb Ambedkar
has a considerable clout, the party could manage to win only seven
seats and the BSP also made its presence felt in the elections.
The BSP also fared well in entire Vidarbhaβs Zilla Parishad elections
and emerged as the top party for Dalits and backward classes by
winning eleven seats while all RPI factions could manage to win only
nine seats.
Milind Pakhale, chief of RPI (Ambedkar) in Nagpur, admitted that the
traditional RPI factions have lost their credibility among the voters
because of their hobnobbing with the ruling class as well as the
saffron combine which was cleverly used by the BSP in the region.
βWe are assessing the entire issue and would rectify our mistakes.
This was lesson for us in our stronghold and we would certainly work
to reclaim our share of votes in the next elections,β he said.
Nagpur has been a significant power base of RPI where they ruled the
civic body for several years but all the three RPI factions could
manage only four seats. RPI (Kawade ) failed to win a single seat
while Prakash Ambedkar faction got two while former state Maharashtra
minister Sulekha Kumbhare and Ramdas Athavale factions received a seat
each.
Filed under:
General
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21 02 2012 LESSON 531 The
Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada
Verse 77 Assajipunabbasuka Vatthu The Virtuous Cherish Good Advice
FREE ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY & BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS LETTER Through
:http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
THE BUDDHIST ON LINE GOOD
NEWS LETTER
COURSE PROGRAM
LESSONS 531
Practice
a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha Away
Verse 77. The Virtuous
Cherish Good Advice
Let him
exhort, let him instruct,
and check one from abasement.
Dear indeed is he to the true,
not dear is he to the false.
Explanation:
The wise and good person who reproaches and warns, and prevents a person from
getting into anti-social behaviour, is liked by virtuous individuals - and
disliked by those who are evil.
Dhammapada Verse 77
Assajipunabbasuka Vatthu
Ovadeyya’nusaseyya1
asabbha ca nivaraye
satam hi so piyo hoti
asatam hoti appiyo.
Verse
77: The man of wisdom should admonish others; he should give advice and should
prevent others from doing wrong; such a man is held dear by the good; he is
disliked only by the bad.
1. anusaseyya:
to give advice in advance; also to give advice repeatedly.
The
Story or Bhikkhus Assaji and Punabbasuka
While
residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (77) of this book,
with reference to bhikkhus Assaji and Punabbasuka.
Bhikkhus
Assaji and Punabbasuka and their five hundred disciples were staying at
Kitagiri village. While staying there they made their living by planting
flowering plants and fruit trees for gain, thus violating the rules of
Fundamental Precepts for bhikkhus.
The
Buddha hearing about these bhikkhus sent his two Chief Disciples Sariputta and
Maha Moggallana, to stop them from committing further misconduct. To his two
Chief Disciples the Buddha said, “Tell those bhikkhus not to destroy
the faith and generosity of the lay disciples by misconduct and if anyone
should disobey, drive him out of the monastery. Do not hesitate to do as I told
you, for only fools dislike being given good advice and being forbidden to do
evil.”
Then
the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse 77: The man of
wisdom should admonish others; he should give advice and should prevent
others from doing wrong; such a man is held dear by the good; he is disliked
only by the bad.
http://in.mg50.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch
Siddhartha Kumar
;
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_up-polls-mayawati-rubbishes-surveys-showing-bsp-faring-badly_1651579
UP polls:
Mayawati rubbishes surveys showing BSP faring badly
Published: Friday, Feb 17, 2012, 21:22 IST
Place: Kanpur | Agency: PTI
FROM:
Β·
Siddhartha Kumar
TO:
Β·
zestcaste
Message
flagged
Saturday,
18 February 2012 2:58 PM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Dalit-party-fails-to-win-over-vote-bank/Article1-813153.aspx
SC/STparty fails to win over vote bank
Zeeshan Shaikh, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, February 18, 2012
SC/ST voters, who have historically swayed between the Congress and
the Republican Party of India (RPI), appear to have played a role in
propelling the Shiv Sena-BJP combine into the numero uno position in
the civic body this election.
The biggest sufferers of SC/ST antagonism
seem to have been the Congress and the RPI.
SC/STs constitute nearly 15-18% of Mumbaiβs electorate. Their vote
plays a decisive role in nearly 60 constituencies in the city.
βThe Congress-NCP combine seemed to have been taking SC/ST voters for
granted.
βSC/ST votes played a decisive role in getting us where we are,β
Sena
executive president Uddhav Thackeray admitted. He had taken a gamble
when he got Ramdas Athawaleβs RPI on board.
The RPI, which contested 29 seats, managed to win only one. In 2007 it
had won three seats. We need to contemplate on why we performed so
badly.β
Political analysts believe people turned their backs on the RPI as
they thought it was compromising on its ideology.
http://in.mg50.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch
Sandip Patil
;
Latest Status of BSP candidates won:
====================================================
Corporation Elections: Nagpur - 12, Amravati– 6, Solapur -3, Thane - 2 and Ulhasnagar - 2.
ZP Elections : Amravati - 3, Nagpur - 1, Chandrapur - 1 and Yawatmal - 1
Panchayat Samiti Elections : Amravati - 8, Nagpur - 2, Yeotmal - 1, Hindgoli -1, Chandrapur - 1 and Wardha - 1
With Regards
Sandip Patil
Mumbai, 8149645674
VOICE OF SARVAJAN
Uttar Pradesh gears up for fourth phase of Assembly polls
Lucknow: Polling for the fourth phase of Uttar
Pradesh Assembly election covering 56 seats spread over 11 districts would be
held on Sunday that would decide the fate of three ministers, 32 sitting MLAs
and 12 former ministers.
More than
1.74 crore voters are expected to cast their vote to seal the fate of 967
candidates in the polling to be held in Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli,
Farrukhabad, CSM Nagar, Kannauj, Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur and Pratapgarh.
Stakes are high for ruling BSP for the
403 Assembly seats. This phase has 139 ‘crorepatis’.
The fourth phase would test
fate of several stalwarts and heavyweights including three ministers, 32
sitting MLAs, 12 former ministers.
Among
ministers while Urban development minister Nakul Dubey has shifted to Bakshi ka
Talab seat, Science and technology minister Abdul Mannan is re-contesting from
Sandila seat.
Chairman of
Housing and Development Board Achche Lal Nishad is in fray from Tindwari and
chairman of UP Agro Brijmohan Singh Kushwaha from Baberu seat.
Uttar pradesh Chief
Minister Mayawati will be addressing rally in Jalon and Jhansi
http://in.mg50.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a867fhla4dksv
JOYSINGHC@aol.com
;
Please add these two sites into the
latest E mail sent: the first one below has more material
to make people stop and think of Indian government as the real problem..
|
Discrimination
against India’s lowest Hindu
castes is technically illegal. But try telling that to the 160 million Untouchables, who face violent
reprisals if they forget …
|
ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306/feature1/
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 2, 2003 … More than 160 million people in India are considered
“Untouchable”βpeople tainted by their birth into a caste system
that deems them impure, …
|
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0602_030602_untouchables.html
|
|
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306/feature1/
By Tom O’Neill Photographs by William Albert Allard
|
Discrimination against
India’s lowest Hindu castes is technically illegal. But try telling that to
the 160 million Untouchables, who face violent reprisals if they forget their
place.
|
Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling
excerpt.
The sins of Girdharilal Maurya are many, his attackers
insisted. He has bad kamma. Why else would he, like his ancestors, be born an
Untouchable, if not to pay for his past lives? Look, he is a leatherworker,
and Hindu law says that working with animal skins makes him unclean, someone
to avoid and revile. And his unseemly prosperity is a sin. Who does this
Untouchable think he is, buying a small plot of land outside the village?
Then he dared speak up, to the police and other authorities, demanding to use
the new village well. He got what Untouchables deserve.
One night, while Maurya was
away in a nearby city, eight men from the higher Rajput caste came to his
farm. They broke his fences, stole his tractor, beat his wife and daughter,
and burned down his house. The message was clear: Stay at the bottom where
you belong.
* * * * * *
To be born a Hindu in India
is to enter the caste system, one of the world’s longest surviving forms of
social stratification. Embedded in Indian culture for the past 1,500 years,
the caste system follows a basic precept: All men are created unequal. The
ranks in Hindu society come from a legend in which the main groupings, or varnas,
emerge from a primordial being. From the mouth come the Brahmansβthe priests
and teachers. From the arms come the Kshatriyasβthe rulers and soldiers. From
the thighs come the Vaisyasβmerchants and traders. From the feet come the
Sudrasβlaborers. Each varna in turn contains hundreds of hereditary castes
and subcastes with their own pecking orders.
A fifth group describes the
people who are achuta, or untouchable. The primordial being does not
claim them. Untouchables are outcastsβpeople considered too impure, too
polluted, to rank as worthy beings. Prejudice defines their lives,
particularly in the rural areas, where nearly three-quarters of India’s
people live. Untouchables are shunned, insulted, banned from temples and
higher caste homes, made to eat and drink from separate utensils in public
places, and, in extreme but not uncommon cases, are raped, burned, lynched,
and gunned down.
Some believe in that only
human beings have soul. But the other living beings do not have. So that they
can do whatever they want to do with tose beings.
Here we have 1st
rate, 2nd rate, 3rd rate 4th rate and the
Panchamas without any soul. So that they are doing anything they wanted to do
with these untouchables and un seeables.
Get the whole story in the
pages of National Geographic
magazine.
India’s “Untouchables” Face Violence,
Discrimination
Hillary Mayell
for National Geographic News
June 2, 2003
More than 160 million people in India are
considered “Untouchable”βpeople tainted by their birth into a caste
system that deems them impure, less than human.
Human rights abuses against these people, known as
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST)s, are legion. A random sampling
of headlines in mainstream Indian newspapers tells their story: ” SC boy
beaten to death for plucking flowers”; ” SC tortured by cops for
three days”; ” SC ‘witch’ paraded naked in Bihar”; ” SC
killed in lock-up at Kurnool”; “7 SC/STs burnt alive in caste
clash”; “5 SC/STs lynched in Haryana”; ” SC woman
gang-raped, paraded naked”; “Police egged on mob to lynch SC/STs”.
” SC/STs
are not allowed to drink from the same wells, attend the same temples, wear
shoes in the presence of an upper caste, or drink from the same cups in tea
stalls,” said Smita Narula, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch,
and author of Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s
“Untouchables.” Human Rights Watch is a worldwide activist
organization based in New York.
India’s
Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of
being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by
upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through
an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense.
Nearly 90
percent of all the poor Indians and 95 percent of all the illiterate Indians
are SC/STs, according to figures presented at the International SC/ST
Conference that took place May 16 to 18 in Vancouver, Canada.
Crime Against SC/STs
Statistics
compiled by India’s National Crime Records Bureau indicate that in the year
2000, the last year for which figures are available, 25,455 crimes were
committed against Dalits. Every hour two Dalits are assaulted; every day three
Dalit women are raped, two SC/STs are murdered, and two SC/ST homes are
torched.
No one
believes these numbers are anywhere close to the reality of crimes committed
against SC/STs. Because the police, village councils, and government officials
often support the caste system, which is based on the religious teachings of
Hinduism, many crimes go unreported due to fear of reprisal, intimidation by
police, inability to pay bribes demanded by police, or simply the knowledge
that the police will do nothing.
“There
have been large-scale abuses by the police, acting in collusion with upper
castes, including raids, beatings in custody, failure to charge offenders or
investigate reported crimes,” said Narula.
That same
year, 68,160 complaints were filed against the police for activities ranging from
murder, torture, and collusion in acts of atrocity, to refusal to file a
complaint. Sixty two percent of the cases were dismissed as unsubstantiated; 26
police officers were convicted in court.
Despite the
fact that untouchability was officially banned when India adopted its
constitution in 1950, discrimination against SC/STs remained so pervasive that
in 1989 the government passed legislation known as The Prevention of Atrocities
Act. The act specifically made it illegal to parade people naked through the
streets, force them to eat feces, take away their land, foul their water,
interfere with their right to vote, and burn down their homes.
Since then,
the violence has escalated, largely as a result of the emergence of a
grassroots human rights movement among SC/STs to demand their rights and resist
the dictates of untouchability, said Narula.
Lack of Enforcement, Not Laws
Enforcement
of laws designed to protect SC/STs is lax if not non-existent in many regions
of India. The practice of untouchability is strongest in rural areas, where 80
percent of the country’s population resides. There, the underlying religious
principles of Hinduism dominate.
Hindus
believe a person is born into one of four castes based on karma and
“purity”βhow he or she lived their past lives. Those born as Brahmans
are priests and teachers; Kshatriyas are rulers and soldiers; Vaisyas are
merchants and traders; and Sudras are laborers. Within the four castes, there
are thousands of sub-castes, defined by profession, region, dialect, and other
factors.
Untouchables
are literally outcastes; a fifth group that is so unworthy it doesn’t fall
within the caste system.
Although
based on religious principles practiced for some 1,500 years, the system
persists today for economic as much as religious reasons.
Because they
are considered impure from birth, Untouchables perform jobs that are
traditionally considered “unclean” or exceedingly menial, and for
very little pay. One million SC/STs work as manual scavengers, cleaning
latrines and sewers by hand and clearing away dead animals. Millions more are
agricultural workers trapped in an inescapable cycle of extreme poverty,
illiteracy, and oppression.
Although
illegal, 40 million people in India, most of them SC/STs, are bonded workers,
many working to pay off debts that were incurred generations ago, according to
a report by Human Rights Watch published in 1999. These people, 15 million of
whom are children, work under slave-like conditions hauling rocks, or working
in fields or factories for less than U.S. $1 day.
Crimes Against Women
SC/ST women
are particularly hard hit. They are frequently raped or beaten as a means of
reprisal against male relatives who are thought to have committed some act
worthy of upper-caste vengeance. They are also subject to arrest if they have
male relatives hiding from the authorities.
A case
reported in 1999 illustrates the toxic mix of gender and caste.
A 42-year-old
SC woman was gang-raped and then burnt alive after she, her husband, and two
sons had been held in captivity and tortured for eight days. Her crime? Another
son had eloped with the daughter of the higher-caste family doing the
torturing. The local police knew the SC family was being held, but did nothing
because of the higher-caste family’s local influence.
There is very
little recourse available to victims.
A report
released by Amnesty International in 2001 found an “extremely high”
number of sexual assaults on SC/ST women, frequently perpetrated by landlords,
upper-caste villagers, and police officers. The study estimates that only about
5 percent of attacks are registered, and that police officers dismissed at
least 30 percent of rape complaints as false.
The study also
found that the police routinely demand bribes, intimidate witnesses, cover up
evidence, and beat up the women’s husbands. Little or nothing is done to
prevent attacks on rape victims by gangs of upper-caste villagers seeking to
prevent a case from being pursued. Sometimes the policemen even join in, the
study suggests. Rape victims have also been murdered. Such crimes often go
unpunished.
Thousands of
pre-teen SC/ST girls are forced into prostitution under cover of a religious
practice known as devadasis, which means “female servant of
god.” The girls are dedicated or “married” to a deity or a
temple. Once dedicated, they are unable to marry, forced to have sex with
upper-caste community members, and eventually sold to an urban brothel.
Resistance and Progress
Within India,
grassroots efforts to change are emerging, despite retaliation and intimidation
by local officials and upper-caste villagers. In some states, caste conflict
has escalated to caste warfare, and militia-like vigilante groups have conducted
raids on villages, burning homes, raping, and massacring the people. These
raids are sometimes conducted with the tacit approval of the police.
In the
province Bihar, local SC/STs are retaliating, committing atrocities also.
Non-aligned SC/STs are frequently caught in the middle, victims of both groups.
“There
is a growing grassroots movement of activists, trade unions, and other NGOs
that are organizing to democratically and peacefully demand their rights,
higher wages, and more equitable land distribution,” said Narula.
“There has been progress in terms of building a human rights movement
within India, and in drawing international attention to the issue.”
In August
2002, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD)
approved a resolution condemning caste or descent-based discrimination.
“But at
the national level, very little is being done to implement or enforce the
laws,” said Narula.
Most
unfortunately a few scribes and media including the western ones are supporting
the oppressors rather than the oppressed.
The above
authors and the media have missed how Ms Mayawati the Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister is being discriminated just for the simple reason that she is an
untouchable. Most of them are paid news. They just donβt tolerate an
untouchable becoming the Prime Minister of PraBuddha bharath. And they have
also how the SC/ST employees from Group A to D and the contract labourers are
being ill treated in State, Central, Public Sector Undertakings. Permanent
nature of jobs of Protectors of the lives of living beings are given to
contractors to make money depriving permanent salaries to them. People have
died while working in manholes. Whenever a SC/ST employee becomes elegible for
his promotion he uis being falsely charge sheeted to help an upper caste
employee, because he does not come under the category of reservation. Most of
the cases booked under Lokayukta are against SC/STs.
Some people believe in Souls for Human Beings and that other living beings have no souls, so that they can torchure them.
Where
as here we have 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th rate souls and panchamas (who follow
Pancasila)or the untouchables without any soul, so that they can
torchure them
But the Buddha never
believed in any soul. He said all are equal.
That is the reason why Dr BR
Ambedkar took back these aboriginals to their original homes i.e., the
Buddhism. Manyawar Kanshiram followed the same path. Now Ms Mayawati is
following the same path. The only hope and solution of the nation is Ms Mayawati becoming
the Prime Minister of Jambudvipa i.e., the Great PraBuddha Bharath with her
highly promising best and meritorious governance following the policy of
Sarvajan Hithay Sarvajan Sukhay i.e., for the peace,happiness and welfare of
the entire people.
Ms
Mayawati a Ssheduled Caste Untouchable is going to become the Chief Minister
for the 5th time and ultimately the next Prime Minister of PraBuddha
Bharath because of her highly promising best and meritorious governence with
the policy of Sarvajan Hithay Sarvajan Sukhay i.e., for the peace, welfare and
happiness of the entire people.Hence she is given full protection. It is
because of this popularity she is unable to move as she wishes.
Mayawatiβs seclusion were βexaggeratedβ.BSPβs top functionaries meet
Behenji once in four months. They donβt care if she interacts with them or not
because their job is to propagate her achievements and her safety.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan
FREE ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY & BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS LETTER Through :http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
Bhara Khuni Maaf!
Congress is aware of the fact that it is going to
loose the elections. Hence the leaders started violating the Model Code of
Conduct and then say sorry. Bhara Khooni Maaf!
Congress is not cooperating with the Aam Aadhmi. The UP
elections will prove this. Congress
government in the Centre and States is not for the common man in its efforts to
bring back the nation back on the path of developmemt and progress.
Lakhs of crores of rupees of tax payers are not reaching the
common man.But it is distributed to a hanful of rich people leading to price
rise, due to misgovernance and overlooking the common manβs problems. Manmohan
singhβs government will face the condemnation in UP election by the rejection
of congress by the very same common man.
Earlier it was merit mantra now it is development mantra.
The congress and the BJP condemn SC/STs in the name merit and
development mantras.But the broad minded Sarvajan Samaj of Uttar Pradesh will
strengthen the elephants of Ms Mayawatiβs BSP and would make her the Prime
Minister for the real progress of the nation, because of equal distribution of wealth for social
transformation and economic emancipation through the policy of Sarvajan Hithay
Sarvajan Sukhay i.e., for the peace, happiness and welfare of the entire
people.Ms Mayawati has made politics sacred with her highly promising best and
meritorious governance by uniting all sections of the society and brought in equality.
Where as the Congress, BJP and SP are dividing the society in the name of caste
and religion for the sake of votes. They will fail.
EC issues notice to Beni Prasad for sub-quota speech
The Election Commission on Saturday issued notice to Union steel
minister Beni Prasad Verma over his remarks on sub-quota for minorities,
holding that prima facie it was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and
sought his reply by Monday evening.
Verma is the
second Union minister after law minister Salman
Khurshid who has been issued notice from the poll body for poll code violation
over the sub-quota remarks.
The Commission,
which examined the video recordings of Verma’s speech at a rally in Farrukhabad
in UP, said it “is prima facie satisfied” that the steel minister,
“by making the aforesaid statements, has violated the aforesaid provisions
of the Model Code of Conduct”.
The EC notice further
states, “It is evident from the above statements of Shri Beni Prasad Verma
that he was well aware that by making such utterances, he was violating the
model code of conduct and yet he deliberately and wilfully did the same.”
The Commission asked Verma
to explain his position by 5 PM on February 20, as to why action should not be
taken against him for violating the provisions of Model Code of Conduct.
In case Verma fails to
reply to the notice, the EC will decide the matter without any further
reference to him, the notice said.
Sources said the Election
Commission had taken serious note of his comments, particularly for daring the
poll body to take action against him.
While addressing a poll
rally on Wednesday night in Farukkabad in the presence of Congress general
secretary Digvijay Singh and Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid, Beni had said,
“Reservation for Muslims will be increased and if the EC wants, it can now
issue a notice to me.”
Verma said in Lucknow
today that his remarks were not intentional and were a slip of tongue.
“I have been
addressing four to five rallies everyday and sometimes I fail to pay attention
that in which reference I am saying something,” Verma said, adding he
respected the Election Commission and every person should do so.
The EC notice states
further that since the Model Code of Conduct for political parties and
candidates is in force since December 24, where it is laid down that
“there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing
votes.”
It also stated that
“the Party in power whether at the Centre or in the State or States
concerned, shall ensure that no cause is given for any complaint that it has
used its official position for the purpose of its election campaign.”
Besides, the Mode code also
seeks to ensure that “Ministers and other authorities shall not announce
any financial grants in any form or promises thereof, which may have the effect
of influencing the votes in favour of the party in power.”
http://in.mg50.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch
Arun Khote ;
Open Magazine
BJPβs Team B
The mask is
off. Anna Hazare and his lieutenants are batting for the BJP
http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/bjp-s-team-b
BY
Dhirendra K Jha
On
30 October last year, when Mohan Bhagwat claimed that Anna Hazareβs
anti-corruption movement was actually supported by the RSS, the remark conveyed
palpable nervousness and attracted criticism from Team Anna. Three months
later, as Team Anna launches its votersβ awareness campaign in UP, there is not
even an attempt to keep its secular mask intact.
The
mask, in fact, fell off at the very first stop that Team Anna made in the state
to remind prospective voters of their duties in the upcoming Assembly polls. It
happened on 2 February at Fatehpur subdivision of Barabanki district, the spot
that marked the beginning of the votersβ awareness campaign in the state by the
lieutenants of Anna Hazare, and repeated itself through much of the first
legβfour rallies, the last on the evening of 3 February at Bastiβof Team Annaβs
campaign. Kiran Bedi led Team Anna through this leg of the campaign, and the dais
was set directly, in three out of four places, by the RSS.
To
begin with, the public meeting at Fatehpur was a typical RSS show. Rakesh Kumar
Premil, the man who led the local group organising the entire event, has been a
prominent member of the local unit of the Sangh Parivar. βHindus must be
aroused to fight against corruption,β he told Open. Premil is known in
Fatehpur for his aggressive Hindutva ideology. During the late 1990s and early
2000s, he was president of the Shiv Senaβs Fatehpur unit. Later, he formed an
NGO, Manav Utkarsha Sewa Sansthan, and started working under this banner. The
banners of this NGO were prominent at the Mahadev Talab ground, where Kiran
Bedi, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Gopal Rai and some other members of Team
Anna addressed their first public meeting. Ably assisting Premil was Ram Kumar
Yadav, a local quack who is also the president of the Fatehpur unit of the
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the farmersβ wing of the RSS.
According
to Premil, about 50 volunteers from outfits like the Manav Utkarsha Sewa
Sansthan, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and Rashtra Bhakta Vichar Manch, with known if
not professed leanings towards the RSS, worked day and night for almost a week
to make this event a success. Some of the volunteers, who had come all the way
from Agra, belonged to Jai Kali Kalyan Samiti, another NGO with professed
Hindutva leanings. No less significant was the role played by teachers and
studentsβthey were present in numbers to swell the crowdsβof various branches
of Saraswati Shishu Mandir, schools run directly by the RSS in and around
Fatehpur, as well as those controlled by Sangh sympathisers, including Sai Usha
Montessori High School, Glorious Public School and Rabindranath Tagore Senior
Secondary School.
If
the RSS set the stage at Fatehpur and gathered the crowds, the speakers of Team
Anna did the rest. Though members of the Team asserted that they had not come
to tell voters who they should vote for, their categorical attack on
βcorruptionβ in the Congress, βcriminalisationβ of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and
βmisgovernanceβ by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and high praise for the BJP
government in Uttarakhand for bringing in a βreally strong Lokayukta Billβ in
the state left no doubt in the minds of listeners who they were being asked to
vote to the new UP Assembly.
Also,
while members of Team Anna spoke, their volunteers distributed a
leafletβcontaining a 13-point βletter of oathββto prospective voters. The
βletterβ is an exhortation to the electorate to obtain 13 pledges from the
contesting candidate before committing their vote. The first pledge in the
βletter of oathβ, quoting Swami Vivekanand, invokes an idea of India that today
only the RSS will endorse: ββ¦that I am a citizen of India and every citizen is
my brother. Indians are my life and Indian gods and goddesses my divinities.
India and its society are the swing of my childhood, the garden of my youth, my
sacred heaven and the Kashi of my old age. The soil of India is my highest
heaven. My welfare lies in the welfare of India. And this whole life I will
chant, day and nightβO, Gaurinath, O, Jagdambe, make me more humane and take
away my weaknesses and unmanliness.β It is inconceivable for a non-Hindu to
take this oath.
The
remaining 12 points in the βletter of oathβ are no less absurd, if not so
religiously charged. They prod voters to obtain a commitment from contesting
candidates that they would never sit in an AC room and remove ACs from their
residences, that they would never travel in a luxury car but always in hooded jeeps,
that they would never keep a driver and would drive their jeeps themselvesβand,
surprise, surprise, would always support the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
There are many other points in this one-page βletter of oathβ that point to a
simple thingβthe anti-corruption agitation of Anna Hazare has gone nuts.
It
was hard to miss the farce at Fatehpur. Nearly half the 2,000-odd present at
the Mahadev Talab ground were children, most of them from local Saraswati
Shishu Mandirs, who had come in their school uniforms and are clearly not yet
eligible to vote. When Kiran Bedi, speaking after other members of Team Anna
had delivered their speeches, asked βvotersβ in the crowd to raise their hands,
the ones that shot up instantaneously belonged to schoolchildren. Those who
might be eligible to vote didnβt even get Bediβs instructions immediately, and
by the time they realised this, it had become too awkward to obey. Bedi,
apparently unfazed by all this, went on: βSee, how voters are responding to
Annaβs call. Now all of you stand up and swear with me that we will never vote
for the corrupt.β This time nearly everyone responded, but the schoolkids were
again the most eager.
That
was the first votersβ awareness rally of Team Anna, which left Fatehpur as soon
as Kiran Bedi had finished her monologue around 2.30 pm on 2 February. The next
destination was Gonda, about 140 km away from Fatehpur. Here the meeting began
at 4 pm at the Ramlila Maidan in the heart of town, though the cavalcade of
Team Anna reached slightly behind schedule. The farce was repeated here too. So
was the silent message, though members of Team Anna continued to maintain that
they were not foisting a political choice on prospective voters. As in
Fatehpur, the organisers of the event at Gonda too had among them a generous
peppering of the Hindutva brigade. The chief organiser of Team Annaβs votersβ
awareness rally at Gonda, Dr Dilip Shukla, is a known RSS face in the area.
Once again, the lieutenants of Anna Hazare set about their task in earnestβripping
apart Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh and many
others, besides SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP leader Mayawati. Once
again they maintained a calculated silence vis-Γ -vis the saffron party. When
they spoke of the BJP, they didnβt fail to mention the βstrongβ Lokayukta Bill
brought in by the BJP government in Uttara khand. And as they concluded the
meeting, once again, they left no doubt in the minds of those present who Team
Anna would have them vote for.
By
the time they reached the Gulab Bari ground at Faizabad, around 1 pm on 3
February, Team Annaβs language had acquired the subtlest change in inflection.
Here, they started off with the need to change the present system so that
farmers, labourers and the unemployed could get their due, before returning to
the familiar theme of bashing every other party save the BJP. Praise for the
Uttarakhand BJP governmentβs βstrongβ Lokayukta bill was now a little subdued;
there was mild criticism too of the partyβs UP state unit for not yet promising
voters that they would follow Uttarakhandβs example. But only the envelope had
changed, the message hadnβtβby the time the Faizabad leg concluded, Team Anna
had left voters here in no doubt which way they leant. βDonβt vote for the BJP
till it promises you a strong Lokayukta in your stateβ was another way of
saying βvote the BJP if it doesβ.
The
reasons for Team Annaβs restraint in Faizabad are not hard to figure. Unlike in
their previous stops at Fatehpur and Gonda, the rally at Faizabad was organised
mainly by those who have for long been associated with the Left and Dalit
politics in the regionβnames like Gopal Krishna Verma, who led the group that
organised the rally at Faizabad, and team members Arvind Murty, Nitin Kumar
Mishra and Vinod Singh, among others. The presence on the dais of Tariq
Sayeedβa senior member of the local intelligentsia and head of the Urdu
department of KS Saket PG College, Ayodhyaβwho presided over the public meeting
at Faizabad, may have been a deterrent for members of Team Anna and forced them
to be less deferential to the BJP than in the previous two meetings.
Their
restraint notwithstanding, most members of Team Anna were silent on the threat
of communalism. Only one of them, Mufti Shamoom Kazmi, underlined the need to
fight communal politics. βAyodhya means the place where no one fights, but some
politicians of a particular party have tried to damage Hindu-Muslim unity in
the name of religion. We must not forget that we can fight against corruption
only if we remain one irrespective of our religious identities.β
Here,
too, Kiran Bedi created a flutter on the dais when she elbowed out stage
manager Arvind Murty, who wanted to call speakers to the mike in a prearranged
order. Bedi had ideas of her own, and when she grabbed the mike, Murty left the
dais in a huff. She proceeded to hold forth for half an hour, and by the time
former MP Ilyas Azmi, who was supposed to speak before her, began his address,
the crowd had begun to recede.
In
Basti a few hours later, the last stop of the first leg of the campaign, the
Anna anthem had been restored to its original fervour. Gone was the aberrant
restraint of Faizabad, most apparent in the speeches of Bedi and Sisodia. Only
three speakers of Team AnnaβSanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bediβspoke
here, and the meeting was wrapped up in less than an hour because some of the
Teamβs leading lights had to catch a train to Delhi. βRahul Gandhi says UP has
been looted for the past 21 years. He says if you give him a chance, he will
change the state in the next five years. Fact is, the Congress is in pain
because it has not been able to loot UP for the past 21 years. Thatβs what they
want to do now.β That was Sisodia. Bedi made a shorter speech here (remember
she had a train to catch), signing off with the now familiar reference to the
BJP government in Uttarakhand and its βstrongβ Lokayukta Bill.
As
for the organisers of the rally at Basti, the presence of the Sangh Parivar was
even more obvious here. Harishchandra Pratab Singh, an advocate and a key
figure in the local committee, has been district convenor of the Shri Rama
Janmabhoomi Mukti Sewa Samiti formed in the late 1980s and was one of the
leaders of its karsewak wing. He is a well-known Hindutva face in the district.
Even
the four-page message of Anna Hazare, distributed at all four stops, has a
clear pro-BJP bias. Annaβs message is a litany of charges, framed as questions
for Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati. For the sake of form, the
tail-end of the message has some questions for the BJP too, but they sound more
like exhortations to repeat what Team Anna sees as the partyβs stellar
performance in Uttarakhand. Thereβs not a mention, for example, of the
corruption of the BJP government in Karnataka, nor its communal record in
Gujarat. So, while the pamphlet names P Chidambaram and Mulayam Singh and
Mayawati, it bestows no such honour on former Karnataka Chief Minister BS
Yeddyurappa or Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
When Anna Hazare sat on his first indefinite fast
at Delhiβs Jantar Mantar in April last year, his proximity to the Sangh Parivar
was on show. Hindutva symbols were a feature of the stage decor.
Understandably, it drew flak from people then close to the movement but not
similarly inclined politically. When it still seemed important to take these
people along, as in Annaβs next show at the Ramlila Maidan, his lieutenants
tried to play down this associationβGandhi had now replaced βBharat Mataβ as
stage backdrop. In UP, Anna and his henchmen were back to home base. In the
days to come, as the political battle rages in the state, Kiran Bedi and her
cohorts may continue to make a great deal of sound and fury. But it wonβt
amount to much except this: Team Annaβs transformation into Team B of the BJP
is complete.
–
ARUN KHOTE
PMARC
Jaibhim, Thanks Ranjit for sharing the article.
I agree Republican Party of India is towards its dead end. The
chiefs of RPI have made the party their personal property and as they
cud not eat enough food they sold the Ambedkarite movment RPI
to promoters of Manusmriti.
This
is no less than selling your children. If the children i.e us the
Ambedkarites are not awaken we be better ready to face the violence at
the hand of Manu wadi hindus.
The only alternative Now for the Ambedkarites is to put full
support behind BSP. BSP won good number of seats almost 21 in
Nagarpalika election and we will again see better show in Municipal
corporation elections.
Chetan
Mr
Krishna Naik had once rightly called the promoters of manusmriti as
one who eats the flesh of his own mother. There after such people came
back to the right path.
From: Ritesh Manwatkar
To: “BuddhistCircle@yahoogroups.com”
Sent: Saturday, 18 February 2012 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: [The Buddhist Circle] Article in Loksatta
Strong
show by BSP in Maharashtra.. We need to directly/indirectly work to
support BSP in the country. Future is ours…their should be not be any
doubt on that in our mind. The better learning from political movement
of Maharashtra, is strengthening/uniting the strongest which is giving
results.
With metta,
Ritesh Manwatkar
Congress
General Secretary Rahul Gandhi tearing away the manifesto of a political
during his public meeting in Uttar Pradesh, the entire episode is undemocratic.
He has now become a senior member of the party. And to tear apart,
the opposition’s manifesto in public is not a democratic tradition. However, if
he has done it, it is his concern.
Rahul Gandhi had on Wednesday tore a piece of paper at an
election meeting to drive home the point that ‘’mere lists'’ of assurances were
of no use.
The Congress is being involved in the National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM) scam.
“A lot of skeletons are still going to
come out. The larger issue is, what
about the liability of Congress itself as a Chief Ministers in the
states it ruled and also of BJP because the entire scam extends to last
about 7-8 years, we all know it, is spreading into 50 billion rupees.
The NRHM scam inthe states ruled by Congress and BJP has turned murkier.
Inflation was bound to rise as a Congress minister committed scam of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
The BJP leaders had
nothing to do with the common man and blame BSP for spending Rs 600 on installing
statues of SC/ST/OBC icons which has created history of the common man, since
they cannot tolerate this.
BJP had
indirectly supported Congress in not bringing the lokpal bill despite the scams
and price rise. In fact the Congress and the BJP are the two sides of the same
coin. One is A team and the other B team.
SP supremo Mulayam
Singh Yadav’s flip flop over supporting Congress in post-poll Uttar Pradesh. This
tendency of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav showed he has accepted defeat even before the results are out.
There was a hidden
understanding between Congress and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh
which has been exposed by Mulayam Singh Yadav accidentally. Mulayam Singh Yadav
has exposed it by talking about extending support to Congress That by saying
such things, the SP supremo has admitted to the fact that the BSP was on its
way to form the government.
This is the traditional way of divide and rule policy of the
BJP. The BJP had ruled in the Centre and many states including Madhya Pradesh.
Have they created memorial for the birth place of Dr Ambedkar in MHOW? They
should have created memorials throughout the country for Lord Buddha, Sahu
Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Narayan Guru, Periyar Rama swamy Naikar,Manyawar
Kanshiram, Ravidas, a cobbler, Kabir, a weaver who is
highly regarded by Koris, Raja Bijli Pasi, Jhalkari Bai Kori, a key associate
of Rani Jhansi, Uda Devi, a Khatik, and sage Valmiki, a local Valmiki icon,β
said BJP national spokesperson and SC
leader Ramnath Kovind.who is a election time SC leader like curry
leaf like use and throw leader.Let them keep statues in their RSS head quarters
and BJP HQs along with their inner circle leaders.That way they can do good to
the nation.
http://in.mg50.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a867fhla4dksv
From:
Abhijit Sengupta
To: Int’l Human Rights
Organization ; media monitor
; samukhya@yahoogroups.com
Cc: ananya dasgupta
; ananya.1968@gmail.com
Sent: Saturday, 18 February 2012
1:41 AM
Subject: [IHRO] Most Indian
children are underweight
|
Most Indian kids underweight: NGO
16 February 2012
indo-asian news service
KOLKATA, 16 FEB: Around 48 per cent
of children under five years
of age in India are underweight, ranging from 20 per cent of the child
population (under-five years) in Sikkim to a whopping 60 per cent in Madhya
Pradesh, according to an NGO, Child Rights and You (CRY).
Quoting data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) report on health
and nutrition, the NGO said in a statement that one out of every five
children under five years is wasted (low weight for height), while seven out
of every 10 children aged six to 59 months are anaemic.
βThe effects of malnutrition are irreversible
as it prevents children from growing to their full potential,β CEO of
CRY Puja Marwaha said.
βIts effects are inter-generational ~ a malnourished child suffers with
diminished cognitive development, poor school performance and physical
development, thus impacting his/her productivity as an adult, and for women
it leads to giving birth to low birth weight babies,β she said.
More than a quarter of the babies born in Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and
Tripura are low in birth weight, while Haryana leads the list with 32.7 per cent of its child
population weighing below par.
The standard weight of a normal child
at the time of birth is 2.8 kg as prescribed by the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
Contrary to common perception, metropolitan cities like Mumbai, country
capital New Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), too, have not
escaped the grasp of malnutrition, where more than four out of every 10
children are stunted, the statement said. On an average, 74 children out of 1,000 do not live to see
their fifth birthday in India.
States like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand
have even higher under-five mortality rate of 90 per 1,000, with more than 50
per cent of them dying from malnutrition.
The immunisation rate of children in the age of 12-23 months is quite low,
with an average of 43.5 per cent. Not a single state has achieved the target
of total immunisation.
Poor antenatal care for mothers contributes to the number of wasted and
stunted children, making it increasingly difficult for them to escape the
clutches of malnourishment, according to the statement.
|
http://in.mg50.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a867fhla4dksv
Hide Details
FROM:
Β·
Abhijit
Sengupta
TO:
Β·
Int’l Human
Rights Organization
Β·
media
monitor
Β·
samukhya@yahoogroups.com
CC:
Β·
ananya.1968@gmail.com
Message flagged
Saturday, 18 February 2012 1:17 AM
India shining?
16 February 2012
manas joardar
It is exceedingly gratifying to learn from a recent Central Statistical
Office release that during 2010-11, annual
per capita income of our fellow citizens crossed Rs 53,000, which
works out to Rs 146 per day.
For a five-member family, this translates into more than Rs 21,000 per month!
But this being an average
figure, the true story of a
vast majority of the Indian population is not that rosy. In fact, reality is different. True, a section of the upper echelons of Indian
society is being flooded with boundless wealth. It is also true that millions are living in interminable misery,
so much so that our country enjoys the dubious distinction of being home to
the largest number of hungry people in the world.
Earlier, the Planning Commission used
to define poverty using calorific values of food intake ~ the
benchmark was less than 2,400 kilo-calories per person per day in rural areas
and 2,100 in urban areas. This criterion placed, since 2004, 27 per cent of
Indians below the poverty line (BPL).
The Arjun Sengupta commission
estimated that 77 per cent of the
Indian population lived below the poverty line. According to the NC
Saxena Committee, BPL population stood at 50 per cent of the countryβs total
population. The Planning Commission, however, accepted the Tendulkar
Committee report that fixed the BPL figure at 37 per cent. Since 2008, the World Bankβs international poverty
line has been re-cast with the benchmark set at $1.25 per head per day. As
per this formula, 42 per cent of
Indians are poor.
In 2006, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) devised a yardstick ~ Global
Hunger Index (GHI) ~ and made
it public. To quantify the extent of hunger in a country, three equally weighted
hunger-related parameters were used ~
the proportion of population not consuming an adequate level of calories, the
prevalence of underweight children under 5 years of age and their mortality
rate. As such, higher the value of GHI, poorer the country. GHI value
of less than 5 classifies severity of hunger as low, between 5 and 10 as
moderate, from 10 to 20 as serious, from 20 to 30 as alarming and anything above that, as extremely
alarming.
Indiaβs GHI score as recorded in the GHI-2011 report is 23.7. The value did not change
from what it was in the GHI-2008 report, in which India ranked sixty-sixth among 88 poverty-stricken
countries. Based on the IFPRI methodology,
a group of workers prepared a document titled India State Hunger Index (ISHI) 2008, wherein the hunger index
(indicated in parenthesis hereafter for individual states) was computed
separately for 17 major states of India covering more than 95 per cent of the
countryβs population. Scores for Indian states ranged between 13.6 and 30.9.
In Punjab (13.6), Kerala (17.7), Andhra Pradesh (19.5) and Assam (19.8), the
severity of hunger was classified as βseriousβ; the situation in Haryana
(20.0), Uttar Pradesh (20.9), Tamil Nadu (21.0), Rajasthan (21.0), West Bengal (22.2), Karnataka
(22.8), Orissa (23.7), Maharashtra (23.8), Guajrat (24.7), Chhattisgarh
(26.6), Bihar (27.3) and Jharkhand (28.7) as βalarmingβ; and Madhya Pradesh,
with an ISHI score of 30.9, was placed in the βextremely alarmingβ group.
Punjab was ranked thirty-fourth globally while Madhya Pradesh is ranked
eighty-second in the report. It is a matter of shame that even in the
GHI-2011 report, not only China (5.5)
, Sri Lanka (14.0), Pakistan (20.7) and Nepal (19.9) ~ our neighbouring
countries ~ rank better but India ranks below many sub-Saharan
countries such as Kenya (18.6), Cameroon (17.7), Congo
(13.2), Nigeria (15.5) and Sudan (21.5), the much lower per
capita GDP of such African counties notwithstanding.
In July 2010, the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) of Oxford University and the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
adopted a new poverty measurement tool that they claim is more effective ~
the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
MPI computation involves assessing deprivation of a household of 10
indicators under three dimensions ~ education, health and standard of living.
The indicators are ~ attendance and
years of schooling; nutrition and child mortality; electricity, sanitation,
drinking water, condition of floor of the living house, cooking fuel and
assets.
According to the UNDP Human
Development Report, 2011, 53.7 per cent of Indians are victims of
multidimensional poverty. In an article published in July, 2010, OPHI
researchers observed: βThere are more
MPI poor people in eight Indian states than in the 26 poorest African
countries combined. 421 million people in the Indian states of
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, and West Bengal live in
multidimensional poverty; the
26 poorest African countries are home to 410 million MPI poor people.β The
researchers also pointed out: βIndia has experienced strong economic growth
in recent years, yet the MPI reveals that extensive acute multidimensional
poverty persists.β
Poverty in Africa ~ both chronic and endemic ~ is fairly well known. That a
substantial section of people residing there is economically better placed
than a huge segment of Indians is relatively unknown. With 230 million
malnourished people, nearly 44 per cent of children under 5 years underweight
and 7 per cent of them dying every year, it is indeed an irony that India is being touted as an
economic superpower.
To our rulers, irrespective of political affiliation, efforts to paper over
abysmal poverty rather than honest
efforts to alleviate it have been a matter of priority for decades. Our
Prime Minister described the Maoist menace as βthe biggest internal security
threatβ to our country without really paying proper attention to addressing
the cause of such insurgency. The woes of the marginalised
section of the Indian population continue though a huge amount is being spent
from the public exchequer. No wonder the government seeks solace in mindless statistics.
The writer, a former member of Senate and Syndicate, Calcutta University, is
a retired teacher of Applied Physics
|
The ruling Castes that are ruling this country for the last 65 years are responsible for all the above happenings.
Prime
Minister Manmohanβs government misused funds meant for SC/STs in the CWG as
well as neglecting development of the entire people in general and SC/STs in
particular. In all the Government jobs back logs were not filled. Permanent
nature of jobs have been handed over to contractors and large number of
SC/STs/OBCs/minorities are working as contract labourers.Privatisation has
deprived SC/STs/OBCs/Minorities getting govt. jobs. In the name of the so
called merit they are denied jobs.
Congress and
BJP in many states are facing allegations of corruption.
The Central
government is misusing the tax payers money for the benefit of the rich and the
common man is facing price rise and all other difficulties.
|
02/19/12
Filed under:
General
Posted by:
site admin @ 10:43 pm
20 02 2012 LESSON 530 The Dhammapada Verses and Stories Dhammapada Verse 76 Radhatthera Vatthu Treasure The Advice Of The Wise
FREE ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY & BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS LETTER Through
:http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
e
THE BUDDHIST ON LINE GOOD
NEWS LETTER
COURSE PROGRAM
LESSONS 530
Practice
a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha Away
Verse 76. Treasure The
Advice Of The Wise
Should
one a man of wisdom meet
who points out faults and gives reproof,
who lays a hidden treasure bare,
with such a sage should one consort.
Consorting so is one enriched
and never in decline.
Explanation:
If one discovers a wise person who points out oneβs errors and sternly corrects
one, he should be looked upon as a benign revealer of a treasure. His company
should be sought. Such association would make better persons of men.
|
The
Dhammapada: Verses and Stories
|
Dhammapada Verse 76
Radhatthera Vatthu
Nidhinamva
pavattaram
yam passe vajjadassinam
niggayhavadim medhavim
tadisam panditam bhaje
tadisam bhajamanassa
seyyo hoti na papiyo.
Verse
76: One should follow a man of wisdom who rebukes one for one’s faults, as one
would follow a guide to some buried treasure. To one who follows such a wise
man, it will be an advantage and not a disadvantage.
The
Story of Thera Radha
While
residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (76) of this book,
with reference to Thera Radha, who was at one time a poor old Brahmin.
Radha
was a poor brahmin who stayed in the monastery doing small services for the
bhikkhus. For his services he was provided with food and clothing and other
needs, but was not encouraged to join the Order, although he had a strong
desire to become a bhikkhu.
One
day, early in the morning, when the Buddha surveyed the world with his
supernormal power, he saw the poor old brahmin in his vision and knew that he
was due for arahatship. So the Buddha went to the old man, and learned from him
that the bhikkhus of the monastery did not want him to join the Order. The
Buddha therefore called all the bhikkhus to him and asked them, “Is
there any bhikkhu here who recollects any good turn done to him by this old
man?” To this question, the Venerable Sariputta replied,
“Venerable Sir, I do recollect an instance when this old man offered me a
spoonful of rice.” “If that be so,” the Buddha said, “shouldn’t
you help your benefactor get liberated from the ills of life?” Then
the Venerable Sariputta agreed to make the old man a bhikkhu and he was duly
admitted to the Order. The Venerable Sariputta guided the old bhikkhu and the
old bhikkhu strictly followed his guidance. Within a few days, the old bhikkhu
attained arahatship.
When
the Buddha next came to see the bhikkhus, they reported to him how strictly the
old bhikkhu followed the guidance of the Venerable Sariputta. To them, the
Buddha replied that a bhikkhu should be amenable to guidance like Radha, and
should not resent when rebuked for any fault or failing.
Then
the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse 76: One should
follow a man of wisdom who rebukes one for one’s faults, as one would follow
a guide to some buried treasure. To one who follows such a wise man, it will
be an advantage and not a disadvantage.
- VOICE OF SARVAJAN
-
Lucknow comes all out to vote, 57%
turnout recorded in fourth phase
An estimated 57% votes were
polled in the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections which covered
Rae Bareli and Amethi, bastions and part of
backward Bundelkhand region
A total of more than 1.74 crore voters sealed the fate of 967 candidates in the
polling held in Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Farukkhabad, Kannauj,
Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh and CSM Nagar which includes Amethi.
While
there was brisk polling in CSM Nagar and Rae Bareli, good voter turnout was
also recorded in Banda and Chitrakoot infamous for dacoits.
“An
estimated 54% polling was recorded till 5pm. The figure, however, may change a
little as polling continued even after that time at a number of places,” a
state Election Commission official said.
Result
of this phase of the seven-part polling would decide the fate of several
stalwarts, including three ministers, 32 sitting MLAs, 12 former ministers. Chief minister Mayawati was among state leaders who
exercised their franchise.
“Polling
for the fourth phase covering 11 districts started at 7am amidst tight security
arrangements and picked up as the day progressed,” an election official
said.
Polling
has been peaceful, he said.
Stakes
are high for ruling BSP.
While
urban development minister Nakul Dubey has shifted to Bakshi ka Talab seat,
science and technology minister Abdul Mannan is seeking re-election from
Sandila seat.
The
remaining phases of polling will be held on February 23, 28 and March 3.
Counting will take place on March 6.
The
first phase of polling on February 8 in 55 constituencies in 10 districts had
recorded around 63% turn out while the voting percentage in the second phase on
February 11 for 59 seats spread over nine districts was 59%. In the third
phase, the polling percentage was 56% for 56 seats.
-
This
election will see the last time an
election in Uttar Pradesh, because the
state will be divided into four parts as
proposed by the BSP which will win 303 seats, before
the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Because of the congressβs
corrupt and black money tainted hand putting the poor man in lot of
difficulties, BSP
has become strong with Sarvajan Samaj including
SC/ST/OBC/Minorities and poor upper castes votebank of
the BSP. The SC/STs/OBCs/Minorities and the poor Upper Castes, either due to the want of a better Sarvajan alternative or for the
fear of the Communal, Casteists, and goond raj returning to power, would continue to vote for
the BSP.
The upper
castes will go to the BSP. The BJP is not in the race. When they know
the Congress is not forming the government, they’ll shift to BSP.
The
Brahmins, an original vote bank of the Congress and the BJP are not comfortable in the company of Uma Bhartis and
Kushwahas and the congress. They are now with BSP due to social engineering and their safety under Ms Mayawati’s rule which is against goonda raj and they are able to lead a peaceful life.
BSP the front-runner
According
to an assessment made by FREE ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY & BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS LETTER Through :http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org, the state’s ruling Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) is ahead of others after conclusion of the first three rounds of the
seven-phased elections in Uttar Pradesh.
So far,
voting has taken place in 170 constituencies for the 403-member state assembly.
The high voter
turnout is advantageous to the ruling BSP, since all those names that
were removed by the previous regimes were included this time.
So far,
voting has taken place only in eastern Uttar Pradesh and some districts of
central Uttar Pradesh. The final result may change during the next four phases for the benefit of BSP.
As of
now, the agency estimates that BSP may end up wining 139 out of 170 seats while
BJP could win as many as 10 of these seats.
The SP, may win
only 18 of these seats, thanks to the Congress’ resurgence.
Congress’
resurgence may not enable it to win many seats since the assessment shows it
could gain only two seats while other parties are poised to win one.
BSP
emerged the clear winner in 2007 by bagging 206 seats, getting a simple
majority which was enough to sustain it in power for the past five years.Now it will win 303 seats
BSP will win Uttar Pradesh Polls
A handful of leaders think that the words
βdevelopmentβ and earlier βmeritβ are the sole properties of 1st, 2nd
and 3rd rate souls. And if a Panchama or an untouchable rules, it is
without merit or development, since they are considered to have no souls. But
the Buddha never believed any soul. He said all are equal. This is not accepted
by these hanful of leaders and of course the media who support them. So they
keep insulting the under previlages leader like Ms Mayawati. Since majority of
the people in this country are poor and under previlages they are aware of the
tricks of these leaders.
When people look at the development of the whole
country under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Youraj had not
moved forward all these years. They are not paying attention to price rise and
development of the country. In the whole country the supply of water and
electricity and the condition of road is getting worse.
At one time this country had very good
educational educational institution such as Nalanda, but now it has gone down.
In Uttar Pradesh under Ms Mayawati Chief Ministership it stands first in the
whole country. Children get hot meals which is monitored by computerised by
free sms that is now being followed by the entire country. But yet they talk about
development, merit and so on.
Central Government funds for the development
of the common man did not reach them, whether ruled by the Congress or the BJP.
Ms Mayawti had asked for Rs 80000 crores for
development. Sonia says that the Central Government had sent lakhs of crores
while Dr Man Mohan singh claims to have sent Rs.24000 crores. The Congress is
trying to wood wink the Aam Adhmi with such Gimmicks.
Ms Mayawati is the only Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh who completed full five years term in office. Now she will win
303 seats and become the Chief Minister for the fifth time and ultimately
become the nex Prime Minister of PraBuddha Bharath.She has made politics sacred
with her highly promising best and meritorious governance with the policy of
Sarvajan Hithay Sarvajan Sukhay i.e., for the welfare and happiness and peace
of the entire people.
Mayawati demands Punia resignation for
chopping of Scheduled Caste’s hand
Bahujan
Samaj Party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today demanded
that National Commission for Scheduled Castes(NCSC) chairman P L Punia resign
from the post, taking moral responsibility for chopping of a hand of a Scheduled Caste by
an upper caste farmer in Haryana recently. Ms Mayawati took strong exception to
the incident and said Mr Punia, also a Congress MP, has indulged in doing
‘nautanki’ (drama) in UP over minor issues and now he was doing the same in
Congress-ruled Haryana. ‘’Mr Punia has no moral right to continue as the
chairman of NCSC as he failed to prevent atrocities against SC/STs in his own
Congress-ruled state,'’ she alleged in a statement here. Demanding an
explanation from senior Congress leaders over the issue, she said such incidents
should be prevented in future. ‘’Congress makes much hue and cry over petty
incidents but now they are quiet over the incident in Haryana,'’ she added. In
Daulatpur village of Hisar in Haryana, a hand of an SC worker was chopped off
by an upper caste farmer after the labourer by fault took water from a water
pot, to be used by the owner only. UNI MB SW RP1446 NNNN
– (UNI)
– 17DR27.xml
On the
face of it, the BSP has become inclusive over the years. The party has a Muslim
face in Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Behenjiβs trusted man who is responsible for
devising strategies to galvanise the Muslim vote.
In the
current elections, Mayawatiβs party gave 85 Muslims candidates tickets. Muslims
are as clever as SC/STs as to who will be the best Chief Minister or Prime
Minister. They have learnt their lesson through suffering. Now the SC/STs/
OBCs/Minorities and poor upper Castes are safe and progressing under the highly promising best and meritorious
governance of UP CM Ms Mayawati who has made politics sacred through the policy
of Sarvajan Hithay Sarvajan Sukhay i.e., for the peace, happiness and welfare
of the entire people.
VOICE OF SARVAJAN
Kanshi Ram saw real βpotentialβ in Ms Mayawati. When
Mayawati told Kanshi Ram she wanted to be a collector, he retorted βI can
make you such a big leader one day that not one, but a whole row of
collectors will line up in front of you, waiting for your orders.β
Mayawatiβs building spree is effectively about building
temples for SC/ST/OBC icons
are against the
collective, historic insults heaped upon the SC/ST/OBC communities.
Mayawatiβs legacy in stone
Lucknow: Mayawati has carved her
legacy in stone. Two centuries from now, any tourist to Lucknow would stand
mesmerised at the beauty and grandeur of the Ambedkar Memorial and Manyawar
Kashiram Ji Smarak Sthal, saluting in silence the aesthetic vision of the ruler
who made such works possible. He would not hesitate to equate these with other
medieval architectural marvels in the state, which include Shah Jahanβs elegy
in stone, Taj Mahal.
Red sand
stone, quarried in Chunnar and sent for finishing touches to Rajasthan before
being transported to Lucknow, has been used in profusion in making statues in
both the memorials. Certain statues have been carved out of marble.
The sprawling Ambedkar Park is spread over an area of
around 120 acres and the Kanshiram Smarak around 85 acres β in fanciful notions
of glory.
|
02/18/12
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19 02 2012 LESSON 529
Dhammapada Vanavasitissasamanera Vatthu Path To Liberation
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NEWS LETTER
COURSE PROGRAM
LESSONS 529
Practice
a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha Away
Verse 75. Path To
Liberation
One is
the way to worldly gain,
another to Nibbana goes.
Clearly comprehending this
the bhikkhu, Buddhaβs follower
should wallow not in proffered gifts,
surrendering instead to solitude.
Explanation:
There is one way to worldly and material progress and profit. But the way to
Nibbana is quite different than that. The monk, who is the Buddhaβs disciple,
should be clearly aware of this difference. He must not take delight in the
worldly gifts with which he is being enticed. He must on the other hand seek
solitude.
Dhammapada Verse 75
Vanavasitissasamanera Vatthu
Anna hi
labhupanisa
anna nibbanagamini
evametam abhinnaya
bhikkhu Buddhassa savako
sakkaram nabhinandeyya
vivekamanubruhaye1.
Verse
75: Indeed, the path that leads to worldly gain is one and the Path that leads
to Nibbana is another. Fully comprehending this, the bhikkhu, the disciple of
the Buddha, should not take delight in worldly gain and honour, but devote
himself to solitude, detachment and the realization of Nibbana.
1.Vivekamanubruhaye
(vivekam + anubruhaye): Viveka - solitary seclusion. According to
the Commentary, the three kinds of vivekas are kayaviveka (seclusion of
the body or solitude); cittaviveka (detachment of the mind from human
passions) and upadhiviveka (Nibbana).
The
Story of Samanera Tissa of the Forest Monastery
While
residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (75) of this book,
with reference to Tissa, a samanera, who dwelt in a forest monastery.
Tissa
was the son of a rich man from Savatthi. His father used to offer alms-food to
the Chief Disciple Sariputta in their house and so Tissa even as a child had
met the Chief Disciple on many occasions. At the age of seven he became a
novice (samanera) under the Chief Disciple Sariputta. While he was staying at
the Jetavana monastery, many of his friends and relatives came to see him,
bringing presents and offerings. The samanera found these visits to be very
tiresome; so after taking a subject of meditation from the Buddha, he left for
a forest monastery. Whenever a villager offered him anything, Tissa would just
say ‘May you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life,’
(”Sukhita hotha, dukkha muccatha”), and would go on his own way.
While he stayed at the forest monastery, he ardently and diligently practised
meditation, and at the end of three months he attained arahatship.
After
the vassa, the Venerable Sariputta accompanied by the Venerable Maha Moggallana
and other senior disciples paid a visit to Samanera Tissa, with the permission
of the Buddha. All the villagers came out to welcome the Venerable Sariputta
and his company of four thousand bhikkhus. They also requested the Venerable
Sariputta to favour them with a discourse, but the Chief Disciple declined;
instead, he directed his pupil Tissa to deliver a discourse to the villagers.
The villagers, however, said that their teacher Tissa could only say “May
you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life”, and asked the
Chief Disciple to assign another bhikkhu in his place. But the Venerable
Sariputta insisted that Tissa should deliver a discourse on the dhamma, and
said to Tissa, “Tissa, talk to them about the dhamma and show them how to
gain happiness and how to be liberated from the ills of life.”
Thus,
in obedience to his teacher, Samanera Tissa went up the platform to deliver his
discourse. He explained to the audience the meaning of the aggregates (khandhas),
sense bases and sense objects (ayatanas), elements of the perpetuation
of the Teaching (Bodhipakkhiya Dhamma), the Path leading to arahatship
and Nibbana, etc. Finally he concluded, “And thus, those who attain
arahatship are liberated from all the ills of life and have Perfect Peace; all
the rest will still wander about in the round of rebirths (samsara).”
The
Venerable Sariputta praised Tissa for having expounded the dhamma so well. Dawn
was approaching when he finished his exposition, and all the villagers were
very much impressed. Some of them were surprised that Samanera Tissa knew the
dhamma so well, but they were also dissatisfied with him because formerly he
had talked so little about the dhamma to them; the others were happy and
contented to find the samanera to be so learned and felt that they were very
lucky to have him amongst them.
The
Buddha, with his supernormal power, saw from the Jetavana monastery these two
groups of villagers and appeared before them. His intention in coming to the
village was to clear up the misunderstanding amongst the first group of
villagers. The Buddha arrived while the villagers were preparing alms-food for
the bhikkhus. So, they had the opportunity to offer alms-food to the Buddha as
well. After the meal, the Buddha addressed the villagers, “O lay
disciples, all of you are so lucky to have Samanera Tissa amongst you. It is on
account of his presence here that I myself, my Chief Disciples, senior
disciples and many other bhikkhus now pay you a visit.” These words
made them realize how fortunate they were to have Samanera Tissa with them and
they were satisfied. The Buddha then delivered a discourse to the villagers and
the bhikkhus, and consequently, many of them attained Sotapatti Fruition.
After
the discourse, the Buddha returned to the Jetavana monastery. In the evening,
the bhikkhus said in praise of Tissa to the Buddha, “Venerable Sir,
Samanera Tissa had performed a very difficult task; he was so well provided
with gifts and offerings of all kinds here in Savatthi, yet he gave up all
these to go and live austerely in a forest monastery.” To them the Buddha
replied, “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, whether in town or in village, should
not live for the sake of gifts and offerings, if a bhikkhu renounces all good
prospects or worldly gain and diligently practises the dhamma in solitude, he
is sure to attain arahatship.”
Then
the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse 75: Indeed, the
path that leads to worldly gain is one and the Path that leads to Nibbana is
another. Fully comprehending this, the bhikkhu, the disciple of the Buddha,
should not take delight in worldly gain and honour, but devote himself to
solitude, detachment and the realization of Nibbana.
|
End of
Chapter Five: The Fool (Bilavagga)
02/17/12
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Posted by:
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18 02 2012 LESSON 528
Dhammapada Verses 73 and 74 Cittagahapati Vatthu Desire For Pre-Eminence and The
Ignorant are Ego Centred
FREE ONLINE eNΔlandΔ Research & Practice UNIVERSITY & BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS LETTER Through :http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
e
THE BUDDHIST ON LINE GOOD
NEWS LETTER
COURSE PROGRAM
LESSONS 528
Practice
a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha
Away
Verse 73. Desire For
Pre-Eminence
For
position a fool may wish:
among the bhikkhus precedence,
in monasteries authority,
from other families honours.
Explanation:
He is fond of being recognized for what he, in reality, is not. Yearns for
pre-eminence among peers. He craves for preference in matters relating to
residences. He is enamoured of the idea of receiving gifts and requisites from
other families as well.
Verse 74. The Ignorant
are Ego-Centred
Both
monks and laymen, let them think
‘This was done by me,
whatever the works, both great and small,
let them depend on me’.
Such the intention of a fool,
swollen his greed and conceit.
Explanation:
The ignorant has this attitude of mind: “Let everybody know that this was
done by me alone. In whatever activity small or big my leadership shall
prevail. Everybody must follow me.” This conceit of the ignorant leads to
craving, uncontrolled desire and to a groundless pride, to a false sense of
superiority. These begin to grow.
Dhammapada Verses 73 and
74
Cittagahapati Vatthu
Asantam
bhavanamiccheyya
purekkharanca bhikkhusu
avasesu ca issariyam
pujam parakulesu1 ca.
Mameva
kata mannantu
gihi2 pabbajita ubho
mamevativasa assu
kiccakiccesu kismici
iti balassa sankappo
iccha mano ca vaddhati.
Verse
73: The foolish bhikkhu desires praise for qualities he does not have,
precedence among bhikkhus, authority in the monasteries, and veneration from those
unrelated to him.
Verse
74: “Let both laymen and bhikkhus think that things are done because of
me; let them obey me in all matters, great and small.” Such being the
thoughts of the fool, his greed and his pride grow.
1. parakulesu:
those outside the family; (para = outside or others).
2. gihi:
short form for gahapati, householder.
The
Story of Citta the Householder
While
residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (73) and (74) of
this book, with reference to Thera Sudhamma and Citta the householder.
Citta,
a householder, once met Thera Mahanama, one of the group of the first five
bhikkhus (Pancavaggis), going on an alms-round, and invited the thera to
his house. There, he offered alms-food to the thera and after listening to the
discourse given by him, Citta attained Sotapatti Fruition. Later, Citta
built a monastery in his mango grove. There, he looked to the needs of all
bhikkhus who came to the monastery and Bhikkhu Sudhamma was installed as the
resident bhikkhu.
One
day, the two Chief Disciples of the Buddha, the Venerable Sariputta and the
Venerable Maha Moggallana, came to the monastery and after listening to the
discourse given by the Venerable Sariputta, Citta attained Anagami Fruition.
Then, he invited the two Chief Disciples to his house for alms-food the next
day. He also invited Thera Sudhamma, but Thera Sudhamma refused in anger and
said, “You invite me only after the other two.” Citta repeated his
invitation, but it was turned down. Nevertheless, Thera Sudhamma went to the
house of Citta early on the following day. But when invited to enter the house,
Thera Sudhamma refused and said that he would not sit down as he was going on
his alms-round. But when he saw the things that were to be offered to the two
Chief Disciples, he envied them so much that he could not restrain his anger.
He abused Citta and said, “I don’t want to stay in your monastery any
longer,” and left the house in anger.
From
there, he went to the Buddha and reported everything that had happened. To him,
the Buddha said, “You have insulted a lay-disciple who is endowed with
faith and generously. You’d better go back to him and own up your
mistake.” Sudhamma did as he was told by the Buddha, but Citta would
not be appeased; so he returned to the Buddha for the second time. The Buddha,
knowing that the pride of Sudhamma had dwindled by this time, said, “My
son, a good bhikkhu should have no attachment; a good bhikkhu should not be
conceited and say ‘This is my monastery, this is my place, these are my
lay-disciples,’ etc., for in one with such thoughts, covetousness and pride
will increase.”
Then
the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
|
Verse
73: The foolish bhikkhu desires praise for qualities he does not have,
precedence among bhikkhus, authority in the monasteries, and veneration from
those unrelated to him.
|
|
|
|
Verse
74: “Let both laymen and bhikkhus think that things are done because of
me; let them obey me in all matters, great and small.” Such being the
thoughts of the fool, his greed and his pride grow.
|
At the
end of the discourse, Sudhamma went to the house of Citta, and this time they
got reconciled; and within a few days, Sudhamma attained arahatship.
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17 02 2012 LESSON 527 Dhammapada Verse 72 Satthikutapeta Vatthu The
Knowledge Of The Wicked Splits His Head
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LESSONS 527
Practice a Sutta a Day Keeps Dukkha
Away
Verse 72. The Knowledge Of The Wicked Splits
His Head
Truly to his detriment
skill is born to the fool;
ruined is his better nature
and scattered are his wits.
Explanation: Whatever is
learned by the ignorant is conducive to harm. It brings about his own downfall.
Misplaced learning destroys whatever potential the learner possesses and
renders him useless in terms of real knowledge.
Dhammapada Verse 72
Satthikutapeta Vatthu
Yavadeva anatthaya
nattam balassa jayati
hanti balassa sukkamsam1
muddhamassa2 vipatayam.
Verse 72: The skill of a
fool can only harm him; it destroys his merit and his wisdom (lit., it severs
his head).
1. sukkamsa: sukka + amsa :
sukka means white, bright, pure or good; amsa means
portion. According to the Commentary, sukkamsa means merit.
2. muddha: head,
top, summit. According to the Commentary, it means knowledge.
The Story of Satthikutapeta
While residing at the
Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (72) of this book with reference
to a peta-ghost named Satthikutapeta.
The Chief Disciple Maha
Moggallana saw this enormous peta-ghost while going on an alms-round
with Thera Lakkhana. In this connection, the Buddha explained that
Satthikutapeta, in one of his previous existences, was very skilful in throwing
stones at things. One day, he asked permissions from his teacher to try out his
skill. His teacher told him not to hit a cow, or a human being as he would have
to pay compensation to the owner or to the relative, but to find a target which
was ownerless or guardianless.
On seeing the
paccekabuddha, the idiots lacking in intelligence, thought the paccekabuddha,
having no relative or guardian, would be an ideal target. So he threw a stone
at the paccekabuddha who was on an alms-round. The stone entered from one ear
and came out of the other. The paccekabuddha expired when he reached the
monastery. The stone-thrower was killed by the disciples of the paccekabuddha
and he was reborn in Avici Niraya. Afterwards, he was reborn as a peta-ghost
and had since been serving the remaining term of the evil consequences (kamma)
of his evil deed. As a peta-ghost his enormous head was being
continuously hit with red-hot hammers.
In conclusion, the Buddha
said, “To a fool, his skill or knowledge is of no use; it can only harm
him.”
Then the Buddha spoke in
verse as follows:
|
Verse 72: The skill of a fool can only harm
him; it destroys his merit and his wisdom (lit., it severs his head).
Nagpur 5 seats,
Thane 2
Ulhasnagar 2
Umred ZP 1
Panchayat Samiti 2
Congrats missionary workers
- Dr Rahul BSP
|
VOICE of SARVAJAN
Hazarelal Gautam, the co-ordinator of
the Ramnagar Assembly seat in Barabanki district (which voted in phase one last
week), said: “Our top functionaries meet Behenji once in four months. We
don’t care if she interacts with us or not because our job is to propagate her
achievements.”
The whole world knows that this is a
paid news. A handful of scribes full of hatred for Scheduled castes, having
come to know that the Congress and the BJP are not in the race, hence are
attempting to project SP. Once Napolian said that he can face two battalions
but not two scribes.Today the scribes are
worst than some of the Congress and BJP leaders full of casteist and
religious mindset. They are just day dreaming.
http://in.mg50.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch
- Friday, 17 February 2012 13:48
- IANS | Lucknow
- Hits: 14
“I was mesmerised by the change,” says an excited Sifat Khan, a
21-year-old who grew up in Australia and visited poll-bound Lucknow this
winter after four years. She was thrilled to find recreation spots,
malls, well-lit roads and a changing lifestyle - not to mention the
renovated commercial hub of Hazratganj.
Barnstorming by political
parties may be in full swing in the current elections in Uttar Pradesh,
India’s most populated state of over 200 million people and around 120
million voters. But many of those from the state who live abroad are
impressed with the development work and applaud Chief Minister
Mayawati’s efforts, saying it’s no mean feat in this erstwhile city of
nawabs and currently at the heart of a fierce political battle for
control of the country’s most politically consequential state.
“One thing that caught my eye was the Ambedkar Memorial Park,” said Sifat, a medicine student based in Brisbane.
“The
enormous and magnificent place drips with creativity. I was in awe of
the 62 huge elephant statues welcoming me,” Sifat told IANS.
“Another
great transformation was how organised Hazratganj has become! I clearly
recall being stuck in traffic for hours witnessing street fights and
brawls just to get parking at this
shopping centre. Now you see a wide expanded road with traffic lights
and multi-storeyed parking and its shoppers delight,” she added.
Even
though Maywati’s opponents are training the gun on her and say she has
failed to bring development and has wasted and misused central
government funds, outsiders are happy to see the new developments in the
historical city, home to 4.5 million people, which is focusing on
better infrastructure and safety.
For Sanjana Singh, travelling to the city from the US was a great experience.
“You
keep hearing a lot of things on television but coming here gives a
different picture. As an outsider you feel safe in the city and it
offers good outing spots too.”
Many NRIs from Uttar Pradesh were
holidaying in their native state in winter even as the state is in the
middle of seven-phased assembly polls. Lucknow, which has a population
of 4.5 million, votes Feb 19.
Some local people complain that
much of the construction work has benefited Mayawati’s brother who is
in the construction business, but for Huma Khan, who works abroad as a
consultant, what counts is the development effort in the city.
Hazratganj
and Gomti Nagar area have changed remarkably, she said. “There are
wide, three-laned, well-lit roads and there is the Ambedkar Smarak. It’s
hard to believe it is the same Lucknow.”
And clearly they have a good word for Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has been in power since 2007.
“Many
chief ministers came and went, but it is only Mayawati who has tried to
develop the city. The connectivity to the heart of the city
(Hazrarganj) and the airport are a compared to earlier days,” Huma Khan
said.
The development is not centred in the state capital alone,
points out London-based Samrat Basu, who used to dread travelling by
road earlier. He says it is a delight to take a road trip between
Lucknow and Banda
now.
“My visit this time was exceptional. I started my journey
from Delhi to Banda and I was very happy to catch the train UP Sampark
Kranti. The journey was very comfortable and safe,” he said.
And he had a similar experience from Banda to Lucknow.
“The
travel to Lucknow from Banda by train used to be a nightmare due to
erratic departure timings and trouble in boarding. So this time someone
suggested I travel by road. I was not confident, but was amazed to see
the construction of a long bridge on the Yamuna river near Chilla Ghat.
This particular improvement by the Uttar Pradesh government has
connected Banda so well with many cities by road. It took us only four
hours to reach Lucknow and we enjoyed the trip,” Basu told IANS.
“I must be thank Mayawatiji for her enormous contribution and vision to develop this city. We loved the advancement.”
The very fact that Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav
said that his party will support the Congress is a clear indication
that BSP is going to be the winner. And the media through paid news
started lifting up SP knowing very well that the Congress and the BJP
are no where in the race.
In
the 2007 Assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party won three of the four
constituencies in Etawah β Etawah city, Bharathana (where Samajwadi Party chief
Mulayam Singh Yadav himself contested and won) and Jaswantnagar. The fourth
seat, Lakhana, then a reserved constituency, had gone to the Bahujan Samaj
Party.
But
the equation stands drastically altered in 2012 when, post-delimitation, Etawah
goes to the polls with only three seats, two of which β Etawah city and Mulayam
Singh’s Bharthana (which fell vacant after he was elected to the Lok Sabha)
were wrested by the Bahujan Samaj Party in the 2009 by-elections. Only
Jaswantnagar, represented by Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, remains
with the Samajwadi Party in the outgoing Assembly as far as Etawah is
concerned.
Following these setbacks in
his own backyard, Mulayam Singh cannot take Etawah for granted.
During Mulayam Singh’s rule gundagardi (muscle-flexing
by goons) is rampant.
whereas during Mayawati’s
rule, there is no gundagardi.
On the upper caste vote. Brahmins and Thakurs have decided to throw their weight behind Mayawati,because there is no gundagardi.
More than 17 million people were eligible to vote in 56 seats in the third phase of UP elections.
These elections are expected to be a litmus
test ahead of national elections, which are due in 2014.
Uttar Pradesh is ruled by Chief Minister Mayawati, a Sarvajan i.e., the entire people’s icon from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
If it were a separate country, Uttar Pradesh would be the
fifth-largest in the world by population, with more than 200 million people.
The average turnout in the 2007 state election
was 46%.
No major incidents were reported.
Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa are also voting in this
round of state elections. Results for all the states will be announced on March
6.
Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in
India, is at the polls to elect its 403-seat state legislative
assembly. The third phase of polling commenced on 15th Feb 2012, and results will be
known on 6 March. With a population of 200 million people, Uttar Pradesh is
larger than Brazil. If it were a country, it would be the fifth largest.
Accordingly, it has the largest parliamentary representation at central level.
Another claim to fame for the state is that it has produced seven Indian prime ministers.
SC/STs, the “untouchables”, are a sizeable
population and the most prized voters. The incumbent chief minister, who goes
by the single moniker of Mayawati, is from this community. Hers is an
extraordinary story: the rise of a SC woman to the highest echelons of
power. She is a potential prime ministerial candidate.
The next community of significance in the hierarchy of voters is the Muslim
community. They comprise 18% of the state’s population and are being
relentlessly supported by Bahujan Samaj party (BSP). Brahmins, the community located at the top of
the Indian caste pyramid, form the third grouping. In 2007, sitting chief
minister Mayawati and her party rose to power with a thumping majority on the
back of a combination of SC/ST and Brahmin votes. It was a stunning victory
that saw the fusion of the votes of communities traditionally at the polar
opposites of the Indian caste spectrum.
Mayawati remains a
favourite, with her Brahmin support base is intact with Muslims.
Brisk polling was
recorded for the third phase of UP Assembly elections for 56 seats in 10
district.
Voting began at 7 AM
for the third phase of assembly elections.
This phase will
decide the fate of three cabinet ministers, a minister of state, 29 sitting
MLAs and 14 former ministers.
More than 1.75 crore
voters are expected to cast their votes to seal the fate of 1,018 candidates in
the polling to be held in CSM Nagar, Sultanpur, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jaunpur,
Chandauli, Varanasi, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra.
Fate of 1,018
candidates in 10 districts, including Amethi and Rae Bareli, and Naxal-hit districts Chandauli, Sonbhadra and Mirzapur
would be decided in the third phase.
In this phase, as many as 48 ‘crorepatis’
are in the fray. Polling ended by 4 PM in Naxal-affected
area of Chakia in Sonbhadra and Duddhi in Robertsganj of Sonbhadra.
A total of 2,025 polling stations have been identified as sensitive and 1,766
as hyper sensitive.
The CEO said that polling was being held at 18,374 polling booths at 11,607
polling stations where 1,122 video cameras and 1,190 digital cameras have been
installed to maintain a vigil on poll process.
Stakes are high for ruling BSP,the no holds barred
fight for the 403 assembly seats.
