Shihan Rohit

Stay put, or seek help?

Read the previous part here… “My king, निज-स्थान-स्थितो ऽप्य् एकः शतं योद्धुं सहेन् नरः शक्तानाम् अपि शत्रूणां – a warrior, if he is at his secure fort, can face hundreds of enemies and defeat them as well, and so you should not leave this fort at any cost. Strengthen the fort, store all food and necessities, …

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Hide, or stay put?

Read the previous part here… Anujeevin replied “My dear king, our enemy is very strong, and very wicked. He is also untruthful and uncultured. Seeking peace, or waging a war – both will be wrong courses of action. In my opinion, we should go into hiding.” It is said that when the enemy is strong, …

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War? Or flee?

Read the previous part here… “My dear king”, said Sanjeevin, “I don’t think that seeking an alliance with a stronger enemy is a good idea.” “And why do you say that?”, asked MeghaVarna. Sanjeevin replied… It is said… शत्रुणा न हि सन्दध्यात् सुश्लिष्टेनापि सन्धिना ।सुतप्तम् अपि पानीयं शमयत्य् एव पावकम् ॥ २३ ॥ śatruṇā na …

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Alliance? Or war?

That owl has always won when fighting us, and hence fighting him again is futile. We should seek an alliance with him… It is said… अनेक-युद्ध-विजयी सन्धानं यस्य गच्छति ।तत्-प्रभावेण तस्याशु वशं गच्छन्त्य् अरातयः ॥ १० ॥ aneka-yuddha-vijayī sandhānaṃ yasya gacchati |tat-prabhāveṇa tasyāśu vaśaṃ gacchanty arātayaḥ || 10 || If a king has an alliance with a …

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Considering options…

“According to Manusmiriti, there are six policies of dealing with such an issue – Sandhi (peace treaty), Vigraha (war), Yaana (preparation for war), Asana (neutrality), Samsraya (forming alliances) and Dvaidhibhava (double-dealing or pretending to be friendly). So please discuss among yourselves and let us reach a consensus on how we are going to tackle this …

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Of crows and owls…

न विश्वसेत् पूर्व-विरोधितस्य शत्रोश् च मित्रत्वम् उपागतस्य ।दग्धां गुहां पश्य उलूक-पूर्णां काक-प्रणीतेन हुताशनेन ॥ १ ॥ na viśvaset pūrva-virodhitasya śatroś ca mitratvam upāgatasya |dagdhāṃ guhāṃ paśya ulūka-pūrṇāṃ kāka-praṇītena hutāśanena || 1 || One should not trust a person who has been an enemy before, but now offers the hand of friendship. Look at the cave, that was …

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Before I sleep…

Read part 1 – Miles to go – here… So, what lies ahead? Before we get to that, a question for you. How many of you ‘know’ your grandfather? By know, I mean what he was all about. His daily life, his joys, the challenges he encountered, his friends, colleagues…let me put it this way. …

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Miles to go…

And so we finished the second book of the Panchatantra – Mitra Samprāpti. With it, comes a new layout to the website. A few tucks here, a few nips there, and hey and pesto…you cannot find anything anymore:| If that’s how you feel, then do excuse me while I complete the mammoth exercise of collating …

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Work hard…or joyfully?

Work hard…or work joyfully? I read an insightful blog by Paul Graham a few years back – it was about “How to do what you love.” Paul says that when growing up, “life had two states: some of the time adults were making you do things, and that was called work; the rest of the …

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How unbreakable are you?

How ‘unbreakable’ are you? I’ve been watching this sitcom on Netflix – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  For those who haven’t watched it, UKS is about a girl who goes about her life after being rescued from a doomsday cult.  Although she pretty much received a raw deal for a larger part of her life, Kimmy refuses …

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