Selfless Leadership

Our solar system is led by Sun. Orbiting around the Sun are the planets. Relationship between Sun and planets has existed agelessly. Leader remains leader. Followers remain followers. Roles have not changed. From human perspective, this is tyrannical. We seek ascension. Does the soul in Earth not seek promotion? Earth is considered maternal, and has a name, Bhu Devi, bearer of burden. Imagine the tumult it would cause to the innumerable dependents if Bhu Devi was a feckless mother? A tiny crack on her epidermis sends us scampering in chaos. We want her to remain unperturbed while we dig deeper and deeper. Technology allows us to go deeper into her skin. Should we be proud of our achievement? Mining, digging, and drilling activity has increased with growth of human population. Yet, she remains in harmony. Where does she draw the strength to remain calm while we poke her? If our own child pokes us repeatedly, we get agitated. Do we ever consider the troubles we give Bhu Devi? Balance of her mind and intelligence is extraordinary when we consider our irreverential treatment of our mother. Selfless leadership of Mother Earth.

Sun is a paternal figure. He is known as Surya in Samskrutham, meaning nourisher. Nourisher of the entire solar system. Without his effulgent presence, life that we cherish will not exist. A soul exists deep in the center of extreme heat, Vivaswan as his name. He radiates energy to power the solar system. Each dawn on Earth is a cherished moment. The brilliant orange glow of early dawn powers our bodies. We rest in completely tired state at night but awaken with energy at the crack of dawn. Our physical survival is made possible, effortlessly, every day. Yet, we blame him for deaths. How can a nourisher take life away? Like a father provides for a family, Sun is a provider. He gives his energy tirelessly. The same energy radiating through moon, at night, to provide us with respite. The benevolence of two great souls, Sun, and Earth, we enjoy without gratitude. Selfless leadership of Earth and Sun.

Sri Rama embraced Guha, a tribal leader, when he commenced his life in the forest for 14 years. He accepted Guha’s invitation to spend a night in his abode. Guha is an ordinary, uneducated, person. A great soul like Sri Rama need not have entertained his overtures. He accepted his invitation to spend a night with him. When Sri Rama, ultimately, was crowned as the king, Guha attended the crowning ceremonies as an honored guest. He remembered the gesture of Guha when Sri Rama commenced his exile to the forest. He reciprocated with a royal invitation. Selfless leadership of a sentient being.

Who governed the kingdom while Sri Rama was in exile? Bharata, his brother, begged Sri Rama to return to the kingdom because their father departed. Sri Rama refused to return to the kingdom to ascend the throne. Bharata did not accept Sri Rama’s rejection. Sri Rama acceded to Bharata’s insistence and gave his shoes as representative ruler while he spent 14 years in exile. Bharata agreed and accepted his shoes as representative. Improbable to comprehend the power of selflessness. Did the people accept governance with shoes of Sri Rama, they did unanimously? Living in modern times with distrust of everyone, and everything, we view this account as absurd. A written account that has been preserved for thousands of years cannot be dismissed, easily, as hyperbole. Especially, when the author has taken a pledge that every letter in his work resonates truth. Why should such an oath be offered? The impermanent temperament of humanity was known to the author. He knew that human race would possess shifting minds as the wheel of time spins into future. Ancestors narrate a story with a potent message hidden inside the story. The characteristics of Sri Rama are imbued in every molecule, sentient, or insentient is the message reader should observe. The greatness of the soul of his shoes. Selfless leadership of insentient shoes.

Impossible to accept such selflessness. It might have been feasible in Sri Rama’s time, but in the present age selfless leaders cannot exist. We can dismiss insentient parents in the form of Sun and Earth, their job to bear the burden of existence as star, and planet. They may nourish, and provide food for us; however, it does not happen without human input. Human race adds value by transforming Earth’s resources for a productive purpose. Reasons to deny can be manufactured at the speed of mind. It is easy; appears intellectual. Par for the course of existential times. The question most of us should ask is why we deny truth of ancestry, but readily accept modern thought unquestioned. Selfless leadership, present in nature, has the power to usurp conventional thoughts.

Narendra Modi, and Yogi Adityanath are two leaders demonstrating the power of selfless leadership in contemporary times. Did anyone imagine the seismic shifts we are witnessing in global world order coming to fruition a decade back. Narendra Modi is insulted, and derided, but he does not challenge his distractors. He has been called a thief; he remains nonplussed. His life is deep rooted in ancestry and wears it unabashedly to awaken the world to ancestral heritage. Improbable that anyone thought of Modi’s capacity to carry a nation of 1.4 billion people, but the world too. His initiatives to awaken India to the greatness of her heritage is unprecedented in Indian history of the past several decades. Just as Sri Rama was misunderstood for sending Sita, his wife, back to the forest because one citizen questioned her chastity, Modi is misunderstood, and attacked. Modi, and Yogi are extraordinary humans whose mission to reshape the world order, and to restore faith of humanity in ancestry is unparalleled. Nature’s work is mysterious. Two children of Mother Earth have risen out of the blue. Powered by the effulgence of ancestral wisdom they aim to conquer the world. Success is guaranteed for them because of their selfless leadership.

We do not need to lead an ascetic life. However, recognizing that our existence is dependent will lift our lives is sufficient. We cannot be Sri Rama, Modi, or Yogi, but our contribution has potency to lift our existence because selfish, and individual accomplishments are immemorable when it does not serve selfless purpose. Many came and went. Many will come and go. Without selflessness, structural foundation of life is antagonistic to what we witness in nature. Modi and Yogi are leading selfless change that modern history has not visited. Post-Modern thought will be a reality within few short years. We will discover time’s antiquity tomorrow.