March 31st 2026

A watch keeps track of Kāla or time. What governs Kāla is Mahā kāla. It would almost be like Kāla is thoughts and Mahā Kāla is mind, going from the individual to the collective. But time that is flowing second by second and time that governs time are both relative. That is why in Sanatana Dharma, there is a Mandir for Kāla Mahā Ishwarā, or Mahā kāleshwara.  Mahā Kāleshwar is the absolute who gives the responsibility to Mahā Kāla, to govern kāla.  This is beautifully shown visually when one goes to a traditional Mandir, we come to the altar, and at the altar, you have a prabhāvalli. All that is outside of that prabhavalli is subject to kāla and that includes a person who goes to the altar, and all that’s inside that prabhavalli is not subject to time.

Our original or initial training may be in managing our time, but the evolution of this is managing what’s important. When you’re in business school, when you work for a corporation, they teach you about managing your time. And naturally, you should. Time is precious. The evolution of this is managing what’s important. So for all of us, time is running out. If we have an opportunity cost to be more efficient with our time or more efficient with what’s important, we have to be more efficient with what’s important. And what’s important is converting vices into values, into virtues.

Verses 19, 20, 21 and 22 have the same theme, which is action. I have these vices. I have to convert them into values. In other words, what’s the opposite of this vice? And then I have to act on this so that this becomes my virtue.

Recap:

Verse 19: Reviewing just the fourth quarter,

Vice is Bhayā or fear. The value is faith. That is the antonym to fear. One of the greatest fears that we all have is fear of the unknown. You dismantle it using rationale/ logic. For example: if you’re in a dark room and you’re afraid of that dark room, you should put your hands on a wall and find that light switch or just tiptoe and if you have a better orientation of that room, it becomes less fearful. This is in terms of physical fear. But when it comes to that which is subjective, that which is subtle, rationale/logic, can only take you so far. For the one who reflects they know this, they feel this, and that’s where they start to cultivate faith. That’s where they know if I want to go further in my journey to no longer be scared of the unknown, logic can only take me so far after that, I need faith. And how you train in logic and how you train in faith are completely different. Who you train in logic with and who you train in faith with are completely different.

This Class:

Verse 20:

ānveekshikyā shokamohau, dambham mahad- upāsayā

yogāntarāyān maunena, himsā kāyādy-aneehayā.

In the first quarter, the vice that we explored was Moha or confusion, the opposite value of confusion is fortitude.

A way that we can turn this into a virtue is just by doing what we’re responsible for. We should not overthink this or Try not to need so many reasons to engage in our responsibilities. Fortitude helps to bring more energy and enthusiasm. We have three thieves that live inside of us. Thief number three is Regrets of the Past. Thief number two is anxiety of the future, and thief number one is expectation of the present. Someone who simply engages in their responsibilities, they start to feel lighter, more energetic, more enthusiastic.

Vice number six (out of 14) is Dumbhā or hypocrisy. I think one thing and I say another, or I say one thing and I do another. This is the vice. The value the opposite of this vice is firmness.

Firmness comes from being or revolving around those who are great. Great people think before they speak, they speak before they act. There’s an integrity when they’re thinking speaking and acting. When we are with those who are great, we come to understand, the long term benefits of integrity and the long term consequences of hypocrisy.

Vice Seven is yoga which means perpetual betterment, me being healthier tomorrow, me being more patient tomorrow. The vice in this is Antarā or impediment/obstacle. This is too general because everything we’re studying is an obstacle. Desire, anger etc are all obstacles. So for the sake of making this more personal and relatable, we can think of antarāya as heaviness. When it comes to perpetual betterment, if one is feeling very physically and mentally heavy, then I don’t have the energy or enthusiasm for that better. For physical heaviness, we eat less or walk more. But what do you do for mental heaviness? Our course is on refining the mind. Rishi Narada is sharing with Raja Yudhishthira that the one who’s learning to lead, lead themselves, lead others, the advice given to them is Mauna. Mauna is where you reduce your inputs to the maximum. The less you input, the less you have to output. That helps me to be more in an inward flow. It’s not just about speaking, it’s about using YouTube and eating food, etc. The etymology of the word Muni is manana shilavān and there is an alternate version, which is Mauna Shilavān. A Muni is one who regularly engages in Mauna. They engage in manana when in Mauna. For us mauna is not about listening more, it’s about reflecting. When engaging in Mauna and manana, we should try not to make this functional and only make it fundamental. If we are given an extra hour tomorrow, instead of doing something functional, we should contemplate. So here’s a practical system on how we can turn this from a value into a virtue, every day, practice Mauna for one hour. Practice for one hour in a day. Every week practice Mauna for half a day. Then every month, practice Mauna for a full day. Finally, every year, be in Mauna for half a week. Raja Yudhishthira wants to know as my life becomes more complex, there’ll be different degrees and depths of responsibilities. How do I be the best version of myself right now, I have these seven vices, the last being heaviness. Rishi Narada shared, seven values, and if we practice these, they will become virtues.

Completing this verse with a more obvious vice, and that is Himsa or non-harming. It is not exactly non-hurting on non-violence. This is because sometimes you do have to physically hurt. Especially in the medical field. The virtue that Rishi Narada shares is Ani Hayā, it means to be disciplined, to be directed with one’s body and more. A simple word as the value to fight heaviness would be simplicity. It is service that is the value that fights harming himsa.

Those who are filled with Tamas or laziness, they harm others. We always think of Tamas in terms of colors, and we think of Tamas in terms of activity, but you can also understand these Gunas in terms of harm. Tamas is harming others. Built into that is I’m harming myself too. Raja just is better because there I’m not harming others. I’m only harming oneself.  Sattva is helping others (their needs not wants). What’s built into that helping oneself. So this is a methodology on growing out of himsa and growing into ani haya when it comes to helping others. Helping other’s needs (long term) and not wants (short term). We all need peace and security.

To grow out of harming others, the better step is just to harm oneself. For example: if I have a propensity to eat hamburgers, I’m harming a cow and I’m harming myself because it’s not good for me. Better than that is eating a lot of cake because in doing so, I’m just harming myself. If you ARE going to harm yourself then we should use parameters. In this example, eating only 2 slices and not 3 slices of cake. These parameters on harming yourself, will prompt us to reflect on why we are even doing this.