Should the first thought be of benefit or good?

- Labha means benefit, profit, gain and Shubha means benevolent, auspicious, joy, truth...

The character of Maharishi Yajnavalkayaji is depicted in Nagarkhand of Skanda Purana. He had two wives. The elder Maitreyi and the younger Katyayini. By the grace of Surya, Maharshi propagated the Vedas a lot. When he felt that the task of spreading the Vedas was now complete, he decided to take sanyas. Maharishi called both the wives and divided the property equally. Katyayini was a samsari. He took the good things for granted. Maitreyi was a Brahmo. He thought. "A man is ready to give up a valuable thing or property he has only when he hopes to get something more than that!" Maitreyi said to Yajnavalkaya - "Swami, can I be blessed if I get all the perishable things on earth? I don't want to be a hindrance to your asceticism. But if you give me even a little of the knowledge you have got till now, my life will be successful." will go." Yajnavalkaya ji was delighted. He imparted to Maitreyi the knowledge of eternal self-essence as a disciple. (Which is given at length in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.) Maitreyi attained Parama-pada and became liberated due to intense thirst for knowledge. Of the two wives of Yajnavalkayaji, Katyayini chose benefit while Maitreyi chose Shubhni.

One such incident is in Mahabharata. Preparations for the Mahabharata war had begun. The Kauravas were expanding their army by urging the related kings to fight on their side. One day Arjuna and Duryodhana reached Dwarka at the same time to seek the help of Lord Krishna. Shri Krishna gave Arjuna an opportunity to seek help first. Also kept a condition. "Partha! I will be on his side no matter what, but I will not hold a weapon in my hand and will not go directly into the field and fight! So either you can ask for me alone, unarmed, or you can ask for my skilful, powerful, vast Narayani-army." " Arjuna asked Shrikrishna without thinking. Duryodhana was happy. Not only that, he considered Arjuna to be very clumsy and unintelligent in martial arts. At that time, Arjuna chose good and Duryodha chose good!

Labha means benefit, profit, gain something and Shubha means benevolent, auspicious, joy, truth... God Himself is a prayer in the Yurjuveda. 'Yad bhadran tann asuv' (30/3) May we receive that which is beneficent. When we are faced with both benefit and good and we have to choose between them, what we choose becomes clear about what our Chaitsika mind is yearning for. Whether a person believes it or not, the mind of the one who 'always' abandons the good and chooses the wrong benefit does not remain unburnt. It itself gets out of sight. Some people cleverly argue between themselves and get rid of it. "Indeed, I did not want to cheat and take false advantage. But... after this 'but', our temptation is revealed in the 'no said'. The sting of that temptation is when we have to carry the burden of other vices along with the false advantage received. .

In the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna has said (18-61) "God resides in everyone's heart and He inspires every action of man." But our nervous system does beneficial work by suppressing the voice of divine inspiration. Few are the sensitive ones who wake up to the voice of conscience.

An Arab merchant used to broker diamonds and pearls in Mumbai with his younger brother. One day Nanabhai went to Raichand Seth and sold goods without informing his elder brother. When the elder brother came to know, he was very angry. "What have you done? You have sold these goods for less than the purchase price and have lost millions." Motabhai immediately met Raichand Seth. Explained the whole thing in detail. Raichand Seth said - "If that's the case, here's your goods! Take them back!!" Raichand Seth returned the goods without caring about the huge profit as if the trade had not taken place. The merchant was stunned. Raichand Seth, whom Mahatma Gandhi considered as his guru, later became famous as Shrimad Rajchandra. The great advantage of benevolence is that it does not intend to harm others.

An employee, entrepreneur or laborer must get the benefit of his hard work. It is his right. There is no wrongdoing in that benefit. Nothing sinister. But if a servant commits corruption, a merchant commits profiteering or a laborer commits theft, it is self-deception. Living a life with a pretense of auspiciousness is hypocrisy. A beleaguered man can also be a victim of low spirits when he cannot make good choices. If the moisture of auspicious thoughts is left in the heart, the sprouts of feeling, love, emotion or compassion do not remain without sprouting. And the same thoughts bring benevolent, auspicious, auspicious deeds to man. No matter how many things you have made a list of things to get in life, do not forget to add peace of mind and good thoughts to that list.

- Surendra Shah