It is easy to find people who will speak words you want to hear, difficult to find people who give good advice even if unpleasant or people who will listen to such advice


सुलभाः पुरुषा राजन् सततम् प्रिय वादिनः |
अप्रियस्य च पथ्यस्य वक्ता श्रोता च दुर्लभः || ३-३७-२

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Ravana was the mighty king of Lanka. A great scholar and a great warrior he had subdued Kubera the lord of wealth and had conquered Shani, a.k.a Saturn the producer of obstacles, who served as his slave and footstool. Ravana was the foremost devotee of Siva and was blessed by Siva with enormous powers. Ravana had a hundred wives, foremost amongst them Mandodari ( she with a narrow waist) who epitomized beauty and all that was the best in womanhood. Yet, this man with everything had taken a fancy to Sita the wife of Rama. At the time, it was widely known that Sita's husband Prince Rama was none else but an incarnation, an Avatar of Lord Vishnu who arrived on earth to rid the earth of the evil of the Rakshasha demons. His wife Sita, who was miraculously discovered as an infant buried in a field that was being plowed was clearly Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi the goddess of untold and infinite prosperity. Ravana plans to kidnap Sita from the forest where she was living in exile with her husband Rama and his brother Lakshmana. Ravana seeks the help of his uncle Mareecha, the incomparable sorcerer. He asks Mareecha to assume the form of a golden deer as a decoy to draw away Rama and Lakshmana, giving RavanA a chance to whisk away Sita.
Mareecha is well aware of the enormous risk Ravana was taking and the disaster he was inviting upon the entire Rakshasha clan by provoking the mighty and divine Rama. Yet, he was also aware of the personal danger he was risking in speaking an unpleasant truth to the mighty and arrogant Ravana. He starts his advice to Ravana with these words, made memorable by the greatest of poets, Valmiki:

It is easy to find people who always and habitually will speak words you want to hear. It is difficult to find people who will speak of the right path even if the words are unpleasant or for that matter to find people who are willing to listen to such good advice. 

सुलभाः पुरुषा राजन् सततम् प्रिय वादिनः |
अप्रियस्य च पथ्यस्य वक्ता श्रोता च दुर्लभः || ३-३७-२

सुलभाः= easily found ; पुरुषा = men; O King!; सततम् =always; प्रिय वादिनः= who speak what you want to hear; अप्रियस्य = of unpleasant; च =and , पथ्यस्य = the right path; वक्ता= speakers; श्रोता च =and listeners; दुर्लभः = difficult to find


Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 11, 2022 at 7:42 PM

    हितम् मनोहारी च दुर्लभम् वच:

    ReplyDelete

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