Let's Be Good Examples
Anil, Kapil, Kopila, Dorje, Lakhanlal and Rejina are classmates. One evening, they were playing on the lawn of the village. They formed groups while playing the game. They had heard that success in anything could be achieved through collaboration. They also felt that working collaboratively would entertain them well. They discussed that they could do something collaboratively on holidays.
Anil proposed to gather information about the plants that are found in the village. Dorje agreed to it thinking that it would support science. There was a mango garden near the village. Lakhanlal suggested visiting the garden and everybody agreed to this.
Everybody went to the mango garden on a holiday. The mango garden was full of its new sprouts. The mango trees seemed as if they were blooming very beautifully. The garden and its surroundings were full of the fragrance of mango sprouts. The brambles under the mango trees also seemed beautiful.
They could feel a pleasant smell out of the sprouts. They were very glad to see such beautiful scenery. The fragrance spread all round delight them.
In the meantime, they saw a man walking nearby the garden. He was a former teacher of the school and his name was Jyotiraj. Everybody greeted him and they also asked him why he was in the garden. They also asked him for the reason for the beauty and fragrance of the garden. They wanted to know how it was possible to happen. Jyotiraj said that all the family members worked together in the garden. He also shared what he had learnt. After that he suggested the students in the following way.
“Everyone listens, we should not only be happy from the beauty and fragrance of the garden for a moment, we should also learn a lesson from it in our life. The sprout of a mango tree has also made other trees fragrant. Those non- blooming trees are also looking as if they are blooming. The mango’s sprouts are spreading the fragrance so the small brambles beneath the mango tree have also become fragmented. Here, good things have been affecting the bad things. As a result, bad things have also become good. In the same way we should be good and fragrant like mango’s sprout in our community. If an individual becomes good, the individual’s good effect appears in society and good society also affects an individual. Then there will not be any evil in society and even if there are, they will keep on changing into good”.
Jyotiraj added. “You might have read in science or listened somewhere. There is an aromatic plant called sandalwood.
Due to the influence of sandalwood, other non-aromatic plants also become aromatic. This example is also applicable to human society. If plants which don’t have knowledge and intuition also have the nature of taking good from others, why cannot humans receive? Be like mango’s sprout and sandalwood, your society also becomes so”.
The students liked Jyotiraj’s thoughts very much. They also requested him to share similar examples where a person influences society. Jyotiraj understood the interest of students and told a short story.
Long time ago, there was a famous saint. His gentlemanliness was exemplary. He was devoted to social welfare rather than his personal one. He had received various awards for his selfless service. Once he went abroad during the course of service. The country was very rich. The saint did not use to have anything begging to others. He did not have money to buy food. If somebody gave him food, he used to eat. If nobody gave him food, he never used to beg. But, he used to be devoted to others without eating anything. He did not like to be famous through advertisements.
One day, he was walking on a footpath. He hadn’t eaten anything for several days. He fell down on the footpath because of hunger. A fruit seller saw him. He ran near to the saint and asked him the reason for falling down. The saint said that the reason for falling down was hunger but didn’t ask him for anything to eat. The fruit seller was a layman. He hadn’t earned much from his business. He knew that the saint fell down due to hunger. He gave some fruits to the saint. He said, “We want nobody to remain hungry in our country. You became hungry being such a great saint. So, I want to apologize for this on behalf of my country.”
The saint was impressed by listening to the statement of the fruit seller. He felt proud toward the feeling and behavior of the country's citizens. Even a layman impressed a great saint. The incident made him understand about the society of the country. The saint shared the incident to several people after returning to his own country.
The students became very happy by listening to Jyotiraj. Then, they promised that they would work well and impress others. They also promised to do the same for their family and society. Though the students had gone to know about the plants and have fun, they returned to their home receiving essential knowledge and motivation for driving their life too.
Summary
Even an individual’s good action influences positively. Other people and society get inspired with such actions. An individual influences the rice-versa. Even layman and ordinary incidents sometimes have long term importance. So, each individual’s action should be motivational, effective and exemplary.
