Ideal leaders!

As Ravan tried to lift mount Kailash, Lord Shiva stood up & pressed down the hill with his toe. Ravana at once felt an unbearable pressure. His arms, which resembled huge pillars holding the hill, were crushed. He let out a tremendous cry & trapped by the weight of the mountain could not move

Ravana’s ministers at once advised him to appease Shiva–Offer him prayers & seek his compassion & He will be gracious to you. Ravan, who had studied all scriptures, began to sing hymns from Samaveda glorifying Shiva. But even after a hundred years had passed, he still remained trapped. Although in great pain, he continued offering prayers to Shiva

Finally, the Lord relented & relieved Ravan of the pressure. He appeared before the demon & spoke kindly:O ten-headed one, your prayers have pleased me. Do not be so rash again. Leave now & go wherever you like

Ravan bowed to the god, who stood holding his famous trident. The crescent moon showed from his head & a large serpent coiled around his blue neck. He gazed at Ravan with his three eyes as demon folded his palms to address him-My Lord if you are actually pleased with me then please give me your weapon

Shiva smiled. Ravan’s lust for battle would prove to be his destruction before long. Saying-so be it, Shiva raised his palm in benediction & then vanished. Ravan felt the mantras for invoking Shiva’s powerful Pashupata astra (weapon) appear within his mind. He smiled. Who could resist such power? Even he had been unable to overcome Shiva. The great deity was surely worthy of worship

Ravan mounted the Pushpaka chariot, which had waited in the sky all the time he was trapped. Being unable to proceed further to the north, he turned back southwards accompanied by his numerous Rakshasa forces

Power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely!

To do anything at all, we need power, be it physical or else. On seeing how much can be done with power, some people become so power-hungry that they worship power. They sacrifice anything for gaining power. And when in power, they put aside ethical restraints to the extent they think they have the power to get away with it. Power corrupts in proportion to one’s devotion to power

Gita indicates that heads of state need to be Rajarshi, wherein Raja means outer rulers & Rishi means inner seers. Such saintly rulers know that they, like all living beings, are at the core spiritual beings. We all come with nothing into this world and leave with nothing-except our consciousness

During our life-journey, the only enduring good we can do for ourselves or for anyone else is to increase the devotional attachment of our consciousness to the divine, who is the source of all satisfaction and is our eternal destination. All things including power are meant to be used to serve the Supreme Lord, not self-thereby nourishing our devotion to him. The less we seek from the world, the more we can use worldly power to do good in the world

In an ideal society, leaders should not be those who have power but those who worship God with their powers

BG 4,2 Krsna says

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ paran-tapa

This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost

Thoughts? #gameoflife