குட்டிக் கதை
Story telling is powerful media.
But am I able to tell is a different story.
Why it's - telling story or listening to story?
If you ask can you show, cite an example, I don't have to grope. That it - the story, in whatever mode, be it just narrating, a stage play - impacts, strikes the right chord, we have plethora of examples.
Very famous example is that Mahatma took the sankalp, vow not to tell lie after having seen the play, the Raja Harishchandra.
Here the story we are going to see is what Amma - Mata Amritananda Mayi narrated in her column in New Sunday Express Magazine, weekend edition of New Indian Express.
Before going into the story as Amma narrated, a little detour, you may deem it as prelude to the story as well.
Maha Swami used to emphasize on following Darma Sastra - especially all derived from Vedas. Vedas weren't in written scripts. From the days of Rishis of the yore Vedas were learnt the way called, shravana meaning by only listening from Gurus. In the process and in this Kaliyug, as we went astray and missed and lost many of Vedas. We must thank God, that all is not lost and good souls are doing their best to do Veda Rakshana. To the question are there any texts where we can learn the succints of Darma Sastra, Maha Swami cites Tirukkural as best. How profound He was!
The couplet you would have read million times is
கற்க கசடறக் கற்பவை கற்றபின்
நிற்க அதற்குத் தக.
Back to Amma's story
The story Amma narrated stands testimony to this couplet.
A team of students have completed their learning process in a Gurukulam. They have to qualify in the final test to be held by their Master.
Master schedules it on one particular day. On the scheduled day, the students proceed to the Gurukulam.
But would anything be as easy it is. The bottlenck springs up in the form thorns strewn on the way to the Gurukula. Very difficult it was to cross through it. Some students bearing the pain chose to walk over hurriedly. A few others just finding a very little space without thorns, walked through it. But the last boy started clearing thorn after thorn. When he bent down to clear the last of the thorn, the Guru came rushing and lifted boy to tell the student only he was qualified.
The matter is not in cramping, it's in living by what one learnt - கற்றபின் நிற்க அதற்குத் தக.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/spirituality/2025/Aug/03/live-for-others-free-yourself
