By Pradeep A. Shah, Chartered Accountant
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Namaskar
Yes. I mean it. Strange as it may sound, but just as we have
to learn to be satisfied with certain things, there are things about which we
have to learn to be dissatisfied. I am amazed at the words of wisdom contained
in our scriptures. I came across one gem recently.
The first part of the quotation speaks of three things with
which one has always to be satisfied : one’s spouse, one’s food and one’s
wealth. The second part lays down three things with which one has always
to be dissatisfied. It says that one must always be dissatisfied with
charity that one has done, ‘tapa’ (penance — the struggle that one
has undergone for progress in the right direction) and one’s knowledge.
So much is said in these few words of wisdom that it takes a
lifetime to understand, absorb and implement it.
We do a small bit of charity and start thinking that we have
given enough. We do a bit of service to others and spend the rest of our lives
singing praise of the ‘great’ work done by us. We gain a little knowledge and
consider ourselves to be full of wisdom.
The saying tells us that we should never stop giving, as our
obligation to the society is endless. As accountants we know that a cash book
always has a debit balance, as we cannot pay out more than we receive, there has
to be a debit balance all the time. So it is in life, we cannot give out more
than we receive. We must give as much as we can with all our heart and never
feel that we have done enough. In the words of Francis Bacon ‘In charity there
is no excess.’
How can we stop our tapa, that is serving others ? There is
so much need all around us, and to stop serving and becoming complacent is not
the right thing to do. The woods may be lovely, dark and deep, but ‘We have
miles to go before we sleep’. One remembers the words of Einstein. I quote :
“A hundred times everyday I remind myself that my inner and
outer life depends on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I
must exert myself in order to give, in the measure as I have received and I am
still receiving.”
Again, learning is an unending process. It is like climbing a
mountain. As you climb higher, your horizon expands and you come to know how
much more there is to learn. One remembers the words of Sir Isaac Newton :
“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to
myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea shore – and
diverting myself in now and then finding smoother pebbles or a prettier shell
than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before
me.”
The same thought is expressed by Jim Collins in his
best-selling book ‘From Good to Great’. According to him, ‘Good is the Enemy of
Great’. There are many good companies, but only a few companies which are truly
great. So it is with us individuals. We have so many people around us, who are
really good, but are stagnated at that level. They believe that they need not,
cannot go any further, realising little that learning has no end.
So let all of us, even when we believe that we are good,
become dissatisfied with our charity, our tapa and our knowledge, shake
ourselves out of complacency, reset our goals, lift up our anchors and sail
towards being great from merely being good.
“I shall pass through this world but once
Any good therefore that I can do,
or any kindness that I can show to any human being,
let me do it now.
Let me not defer nor neglect
for I shall not pass this way again.”
