The Solitary Reaper

The Solitary Reaper

William Wordsworth

1770–1850

Behold her, single in the field, 

Yon solitary Highland Lass! 

Reaping and singing by herself; 

Stop here, or gently pass! 

Alone she cuts and binds the grain, 

And sings a melancholy strain; 

O listen! for the Vale profound 

Is overflowing with the sound. 

No Nightingale did ever chaunt 

More welcome notes to weary bands 

Of travellers in some shady haunt, 

Among Arabian sands: 

A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard 

In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird, 

Breaking the silence of the seas 

Among the farthest Hebrides. 

Will no one tell me what she sings?— 

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow 

For old, unhappy, far-off things, 

And battles long ago: 

Or is it some more humble lay, 

Familiar matter of to-day? 

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, 

That has been, and may be again? 

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang 

As if her song could have no ending; 

I saw her singing at her work, 

And o'er the sickle bending;— 

I listened, motionless and still; 

And, as I mounted up the hill, 

The music in my heart I bore, 

Long after it was heard no more. 

    

The quality of mercy

"The quality of mercy" refers to a quote by Portia in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice; it occurs during Act IV, Scene 1, set in a Venetian Court of Justice. It is the speech in which Portia begs Shylock for mercy. Some sources set apart the first four lines of the speech or refer only to the first four lines as the subject of "The quality of mercy". Other sources refer to a longer portion of the speech but not the full 22 lines.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That, in the course of justice, none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much

To mitigate the justice of thy plea;

Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice

Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

— The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1

RN Tagore

*So beautiful! It's so true*. 

Go not to the temple ~ 

by RN Tagore

Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,

First fill your own house with the Fragrance of love and kindness. 

Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God,

First remove the darkness of sin , pride and ego, 

from your heart...

Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,

First learn to bow in humility before your fellowmen.

And apologise to those you have wronged. 

Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees,

First bend down to lift someone who is down-trodden.

And strengthen the young ones.  

Not crush them.

Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,

First forgive from your heart those who have hurt  you!

*Very Very Beautiful*.

Innocence - "The clever man and the Tiger"

Innocence

Old grandmother said a story....On the dangers of being innocent...

"The Noble man and the Tiger"

Once upon a time, there was a noble man who was as pure as the sky....He was a wandering mendicant...who collected the pebbles in the sea shore, looked at the colors of nature, listened to the songs of birds, travelled through the forests....

In one such day, as he was travelling in a dense jungle, he saw a tiger inside a cage. The tiger was very attractive and it spoke to him nicely but deceitfully.

Unaware, the noble man, was quite attracted by the beauty and majesty of the tiger....

The tiger said, "Good man...its a divine blessing to have happenned to come across you. May you take mercy on me and relieve me from this torment of hell of a containment in this cage, when my likes, are enjoying freedom. He took pity on the poor tiger, but was hesitant and afraid of letting the tiger out. The tiger promised not to hurt him. The man picked up some courage and opened the latch of the metal cage and let the tiger out. Now, the soft spoken tiger came out and menacingly growled at the noble man. The man was frightened. The man pleaded with the tiger by reminding it of his noble deed and that it is bound by promise, not to hurt him. It said, it had no other food to eat and therefore had to eat the noble man. The man was pained beyond measure by the tigers lack of gratitude. He cried and pleaded to god to help him. 

"The Noble man and Chanakiya"

As a divine intervention, there came to his rescue a fair, tall, thin, vigorous looking tonsured man who sported a small turf of hair, over and behind his head, that was knotted at the end. He had sharp nose and peering eyes with a raised forehead and strong countenance.  He said, his name was Chanakiya and had taken strong vows of celibacy for religious reasons and that he comes from a far off strange region to fulfill the wish of god. Our friend, the noble man, lamented to the stranger his story with the tiger and said the tiger is going to devour him too. 

"Chanakiya and the Tiger"

Chanakiya was quick enough to sense what had happenned and he simply told the tiger that he can't believe so big a tiger to have been in so small a cage. The tiger reacted angrily that it was so. When Chanakiya seriously asked the tiger to get back into the cage and prove him, the tiger did so. He immediately asked the noble man to latch the cage, which he quickly did. 

Looking at the noble man Chanakiya said, 'Never do that mistake again. That it was his forefathers who had put that tiger in the cage. You may be able to feel love and you may have wanted the tiger to enjoy freedom as well, but the tiger did not reciprocate your  love as you  had just witnessed.' 

Now, the old grandmother said, "the noble man was the sage Buddha, the tiger was the then society, the cage was the rules and regulations, and Chanakiya was a sage too but an intellectual genius who thought more than just love."

Now, we say yes but the rules and regulations are the old same but under the pressure of a modern world in its mad running to its dooms day as some sensitives say pollution itself is going to be a major killer if left unchecked. So, Beware!

Commentaries on Quotations

Commentaries on Quotations

- Dr V Anand

There are lots of beautiful and meaningful quotes by famous personalities from the various domains of life, available in the web pages, which I attempt to highlight, by adding my own thoughts to them.
Most quotes seem to be authentic...
but some may not...
Kindly forgive me for any mistakes...

"The calmer we are
The less disturbed our nerves
The more shall we love
And the better will our work be"
- Swami Vivekananda

Albert Einstein

Rabindranath Tagore

Before the Big Bang

Before the Big Bang

"When there was neither aught nor naught
When darkness was rolling over darkness
What existed ?
It the eternal one...
then existed without motion."
--- Veda
(Ref: Swami Vivekananda)
(Questions)
Don't we want to ask questions ?
Can't we simply wonder
without conclusion ?
Do we need answer for every question ?
Is there an answer for every question ?
Is the answer away from the question ?
Is it enough to understand the question ?

Was there a Big Bang ?
Was there a beginning at all ?
From where came this material ?
Is there a Brahman ?
What is consciousness ?
What is creation ?
Does the universe really exist at all ?
Is the universe an illusion ?

What is pain ?
What is suffering ?
What is happiness ?

What is perception ?
What is desire ?
What is fear ?
What is Love ?

Is there an answer for everything...
word for word...?

Is there an answer in Silence ?
What is silence ?
Is it different from sound ?
Is there sound in silence ?
Is there silence in sound ?

What is death ?
What is sleep ?

Does thought create the thinker ?
Does the thinker in turn invent everything ?
Can't the thinker discover he can't invent
anything without thoughts ?

How does thought arise ?
What is thinking ?
What is thought ?

What is life ?
What is pleasure ?
What is sex ?
What is orgasm ?
What is procreation ?
What is it that continues by procreation ?
What is the self ?

What is intelligence ?
What is compassion ?

Does consciousness emanate from matter ?
What is material nature ?
Is there evolution of consciousness ?
Or does consciousness create matter ?

Are these questions endless ?
What are we to do then ?
Shall we merely love
each other and be simple ?

Is there only nothing ?
Or is there something ?
Is there nothing in everything ?
Is there everything in nothing ?

"Happy is the being who is nothing"

A Dialogue with Myself

"Anbae Sivam"

"Arivae Kadavul"

"Is the absolute beyond all relationship;
Or does it reflect in the mirror of relationships ?
Love obeys the laws of reflection in the mirror of relationship;
And therefore there is no attachment...
No possessions...
No hate and inner violence...
No comparison...
No ambition...
No vested interest...
No selfishness...
What remains is seriousness,
A state of happiness, equanimity,
A state of contemplation,
A state of cessation of memory (not memory loss);
The reflection of love in the mirror of relationships is intelligence in action...
A flow of compassion...kindness...(not physical weakness)...
That love leads to humility of the being that one is (again its no physical weakness);
That love leads to a complete state of individuality and a free personality:
A caring sharing counselling and playing attitude;
This is not an intellection...an actuality;
So, do not forget to romance with Life;
Love is life; it is the hope; the only way for salvation;
Without knowing Love one shall never know God;
That Love when crystallized becomes the concept of Brahman or God...whether impersonal or personal;
Sex is sacred in the field of love uncrystallized;
Love is a spontaneous non temporal happening;
Rest is only fear and desire...
Negation is the tool of cognition to find love;
Love and you will say negative thinking is the mother of positive thinking;
In the road of life...by negative thinking...you die at the beginning...but travel to the end; Positive thinking too leads to death in the end...having never loved but with conflict and sorrow till the end;
Words are limited in expressing the experienced;
So, beware of thoughts...
they are a constant perturbation in the mind;
Uncrystallized God is Love...
And that is the only antidote for all human sufferings...Passion begins to operate...
Love is the inspiration...
Love is the physician for the physicist contemplating on material nature;
Love is the master of yoga...
Love is the great Yogi...
It is the healer; immunizer; energy provider
Love was and is the, Teacher....Preacher...Master...Acharya...
Love was and is and will be the great Teachers of the future...
Love is the light of wisdom glowing and flowing from the Guru to the Sishya...
And that love is beyond all authority;
The sanctum sanctorum of our inner being
That unfathomable depth of our heart...
The illustrious client of our holy bodies...
Thou art is called Sivam in religious tone...
Love uncrystallized is "Anbae Sivam"
When crystallized becomes "Sivam"
So, what is it all up to....
Never forget to enjoy a moment...!
All enjoyment is Love...
Pleasure is only pain...
Neither condemn not justify pleasure but understand it is only pain without the crease of love;
Self-knowing and Supreme-knowledge are both important...and they are a dynamic process requiring daily awareness and sustained thinking;
"Anbae Sivam - Arivae Kadavul"