Monday Motivation for Success from Siva (38): Is it 'Like father like son?' Not necessarily.

Hi,

Can we correctly make out what the son is by looking at his father? Not necessarily? A son may or may not be like his father. A father who is physically challenged may have a well-built son. An illiterate father may have a highly educated son. A son may be an atheist while his father is a staunch believer in god. A son may be full of character and righteousness while his father may not. So, a father and his son need not necessarily be alike. They may be different from each other quite a lot. Thus, it would be wrong to judge a person by looking at his parent. Let us look at this story of Ashtavakra, son of Kagola and how he was different from his father.

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 Is it 'Like father, like son?' Not necessarily.

Once there was a person by name Kagola who was a disciple of the great sage Uddalaka. Though Kagola was not a great learner of the vedas, Uddalaka liked him very much for his sincerity and good conduct. So, he gave his daughter Sujata in marriage to him. They were blessed with a son Ashtavakra who mastered the vedas even when he was still in his mother's womb. His learning of the vedas was so good and that of his father was so bad that he twisted his body with pain while he was in the womb whenever he heard his father making mistakes in reciting the vedas. In the process, he developed 8 crooks (deformities) in his body when he was born, hence the name Ashtavakra.

Kagola's poor knowledge of the vedas did not help him much. It even led to his death. He had to drown himself as he lost a contest with Vandi, the court scholar of the Kingdom of Mithila. But his son Ashtavakra became a great scholar and completed the study of all the vedas and vedanta by the age of 12 itself. In due course of time, the young boy Ashtavakra went to Mithila and wanted to meet the court pandit Vandi. Then the king warned him, "You are an young boy. Vandi is a great scholar and a highly learned man. He had earlier defeated a number of people and those losers had to drown themselves. Do you still want to contest and take such a dangerous risk?"

Ashtavakra replied to the king very confidently, "I heard from my mother that Vandi had defeated my father and made him to drown himself. My father was a good man though he was not a great scholar. I came here to meet with Vandi and I shall conquer him. Please call him for the contest."

The two - Ashtavakra and Vandi - met in the presence of the king and other scholars in his court. They engaged in a highly intellectual debate countering each other with arguments and wits. The whole assembly witnessed with astonishment the immense knowledge of the young Ashtavakra and his superiority over the arrogant Vandi. They declared Ashtavakra the winner. Vandi accepted his defeat and drowned himself.
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If that was the case during those days, what to say now in the world that is galore with opportunities for learning and advancement? There is no more 'Like father like son or Like mother like daughter.' Genes may play a role. But it is the person's effort that grooms him or her much more. It is the endeavour that leads one to become what he or she wants to become. The children of today have a much greater opportunity to achieve and become much greater than their parents.

To your success,
With love,
Siva
PS: Source of the Story: Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari.