Unstoppable Updates (22) : Its not your roots, but your realisation of self that leads you to your greatness

Hi,

This morning, as my mind pondered over randomly, a sudden flash of a little boy's face rushed through it. He is the one I met yesterday in the nearby weekly mandi where I went to buy vegetables. He was helping his father from whom I was buying vegetables. I asked him for his name, and he said "Manikantha" with a glitter in his face. I liked his smile and the speed at which he responded. I became curious to learn more about this 10-year old boy and asked him further about his school, the class in which he was studying, etc. I saw a sparkle in his smile and a twinkle in his eyes every time he answered, and felt that this child would be a STAR some day. I completed my purchases and returned home. But the boy still remained in my thoughts.

I started wondering whether this boy knows what he has in him, and what a great person he could possibly become. Then, as a divine instruction, it occurred to me as Valmiki, the great saint and the author of the great Indian epic 'The Ramayana,' came into my thoughts. And, I said to myself, "Why not Manikantha, if Valmiki could make it?' I started singing aloud these lyrics of a movie song that revealed the transformation of Valmiki, "ఆ శోకంలో ఒక శ్లోకం పలికే, ఆ చీకటి ఎదలో దీపం వెలిగే" (out of that misery, came our a melody; in that dark heart, a light was lit). Who was this Valmiki to begin with, and what was the transformation he underwent?

Valmiki was born in a family of sages as Ratnakar, but destiny took him to a family of robbers. He was brought up as a hunter and a robber. He lived his early life indulging in robbery and doing sinful evil deeds. But, his life suddenly changed for good with his accidental encounter with the great sage Narada, who helped him with the self-realisation which took him to years of penance and austerities that ultimately made him a great saint. He was thereafter referred to with his acquired name VALMIKI - the man with an ant-hill around his body. On one of his outings in the forest near his hermitage, he was touched by the death of a bird hit by a hunter and moved so much that he cursed the hunter spontaneously using a bi-liner in sanskrit - a slokam. And that was the first slokam ever said, and that is how he came to be known also as aadikavi, which means the first poet in sanskrit. He was later instructed by Brahma to compose the epic poem 'The Ramayana' blessing him with the power of vision to be able to see all the incidents of Ramayana and the secrets associated with it. Thus came the epic Ramayana into existence.

What a transformation? A robber into a great saint and an epic composer!! Why not? He did it. If he could do it, why not you and me in our own chosen areas of work? And, why not Manikantha? It does not matter where you are born or how you are brought up. What matters is what you believe in yourself and what you want to become. You too are blessed as much as Valimiki was blessed with, and perhaps much more. You gotta realise yourself and the enormous potential you are blessed with. The time is NOW. Go for it...Go for your greatness...NOW is the time to take the next step forward.

By the way, Manikantha is coming home this afternoon. I requested his father to bring the child, and he agreed. Wav, it's going to be a conversation that I want to learn more about Manikantha and in the process help him learn more about himself and the great future that lies ahead of him.

To your success,
With love and regards,
Siva