Scion of Ikshvaku (Ram Chandra, #1)

by Amish Tripathi

Destroyers of Evil. The Mahadev’s was not the task to guide humanity to a new way of life; this was reserved for the Vishnu. His task was restricted to finding and destroying Evil.

That names guided destiny was an ancient belief. Parents chose the names of their children with care. A name, in a sense, became an aspiration, swadharma, individual dharma, for the child.

‘Do not rush to the “right answer”,’ clarified Vashishtha. ‘The key, always, is to ask the “right question”.’

‘Even honourable men sometimes prove to be terrible leaders. Conversely, men of questionable character can occasionally be exactly what a nation requires.’

‘All I’m suggesting is that greatness and goodness is a potential in a majority of humans, not a reality.’

‘There’s a thin line that separates courage from stupidity.’

‘As it often happens, the very reason for your success, over a prolonged period of time, can lead to your downfall.

Giving a sharp sword to a child is not an act of generosity, but irresponsibility.

the only marker as to whether one truly understands the One God is that it becomes impossible to hate anyone? The Ekam exists in everybody and everything; if you feel any hatred at all towards anything or anyone, then you hate the Ekam Himself!’

‘Yes, rigid intolerance creates mortal enemies with whom negotiation is impossible. But the feminine way has other problems; most importantly, of how to unite their own behind a larger cause. The followers of the feminine way are usually so divided that it takes a miracle for them to come together for any one purpose, under a single banner.’

while you can certainly learn from the successes of great men, you can learn even more from their failures and mistakes.’

Ignorance of the law is not a legitimate excuse.

Being a noble is a great responsibility, not a birthright.’

‘A real leader doesn’t choose to lead only the deserving. He will, instead, inspire his people into becoming the best that they are capable of. A real leader will not defend a monster, but convert that demon into a God; tap into the God that dwells within even him. He takes upon himself the burden of dharma sankat, but he ensures that his people become better human beings.’

A good ruler must prod his people gently in the direction of dharma, which lies in the centre, in balance. If there is too much anger in society, leading to chaos and disruptive violence, then the leader needs to move it towards stability and calm. If, on the other hand, a society is passive and uncomplaining, then the leader needs to incite active participation and outrage, even anger, among the people.

Mahabharata Pandavas - passive Draupadi - anger Krishna - leader

Every emotion in the universe exists for a purpose; nothing is superfluous in nature’s design.

But the strange thing about anger is that it is like fire; the more you feed it, the more it grows. It takes a lot of wisdom to know when to let anger go.

Lord Yama was revered as both the God of Death as well as the God of Dharma.