11.Doubting Toms
‘Hari, why did you buy two tickets for your bus journey?’
‘What if I lose one ticket?’ said the doubting Tom.
‘But suppose you lose both?’
‘I have thought of that too! I have a bus pass!’
‘But if you lose the pass also?’
‘Oh! No problem? I am RTC staff!’
He could not feel ‘Oh no problem’ till the third stage.
He doubted himself at every step!
Actually the seeds of faith are sown in us right from our birth. Intuitively
we identify our mother, we accept somebody as our father, we learn whatever
principles are taught by the elders. Then how did these doubting Toms
crop up? Where are their roots?
Lord Krishna spoke of such category of people.
‘Ajnascha sradda danascha samsayatma vinasyati
Nayam lokosti na paro na sukham samsayatman 4 - 40
Ajna - he who lacks discrimination, cha- and, asradda dan - is devoid
of faith, cha - and, samsayatma - possessed by doubt, vinasyati - is
lost, samsayatman - for such a doubting soul, na + ayam-neither this,
loka-world, asti - there is , na - nor, par - the other world, na -
nor even, sukham - happiness.
He who lacks discrimination, is devoid of faith, and is possessed by
doubt is lost to the spiritual path. For the doubting soul there is
neither this world nor the world beyond, nor even happiness.
The word ‘samsayatma’ along with the adjectives ‘ajnah’
and asraddadhanah’ means the doubting soul lacking in discrimination
and devoid of faith. Being devoid of intelligence, such a man cannot
correctly grasp the import of the Vedas and other scriptures, or the
teachings of wise men and the practices taught by them. Since he doesn’t
have faith in whatever he understands, he entertains doubt at every
step and cannot decide what he should do and what he should not do!
This element of doubt applies to whatever course of action he does!
Such a man cannot live in peace and cannot allow others to live in peace.
A newly married couple went to a park. The husband said, ‘Look
how beautiful the sky is!’ The wife answered ‘I doubt whether
I switched off the stove or not.’
The husband got wild but he controlled himself. After 5 minutes he said,
‘Aren’t the rose flowers wonderful?’
‘My God! I doubt whether I locked the backyard door!’
The husband lost the entire romantic mood and dragged her home!
These doubting souls can’t assume others could be good! One man
wanted to lend philanthropic services to the people around. He offered
to carry suitcases at bus stand, but people looked at him with furtive
looks! ‘He looks decent enough, but what if he runs away with
our suitcases! We can’t trust people today!’ Then he offered
to give lift to students in his car but again some other element of
doubt ‘Suppose he sells us away to Dubai Seths? Even if we ask
for lift nobody gives us, why then is he volunteering?’ He tried
his hand at the hospitals but again a negative approach’. He is
old enough but is after the young nurses.’ He was forced to give
up his kind gestures.
A boy wants to be a principled person and offers to marry a poor girl
without dowry. People wonder what is wrong with him! You teach anything
good to them, they doubt the very essence of it. You tell them oil pulling
is good for health. You tell them all the dos and donts in it and ask
them to follow it. As usual they don’t understand it properly,
they don’t follow it with utmost care and the seventh day they
come and tell you, ‘Oil pulling is a sheer waste. It didn’t
work. It brings gas trouble. No I will not do it!’ Then they hear
drinking water on an empty stomach is good. They drink for two days
and they get nausea and they spread ‘it is not good for health’.
The naturopath doctors cautions you, ‘you face some problems initially,
but don’t stop, continue!’ Imagine a long distance journey
by car. It is problematic initially, but if you doubt will you ever
reach the main road, you can never reach it!
If you tell them, if you do this prayer you will certainly get a job,
they don’t totally ignore you, but they also don’t fully
trust you. They do the prayer thinking all the while how it is possible!
‘When I did not get job for 2 years, how will I get it in 40 days!;
It will work, provided they have faith - faith in themselves, faith
in God, faith in Sastras !
The man, who doubts, suffers not only a spiritual fall but also the
material loss. He cannot obtain wealth, glory and fame etc. He can neither
enjoy the blessing of heaven after death nor even the joy of this world.
It is not possible for him to attain success in any sphere so long as
he continues to entertain doubt in his mind and fails to arrive at a
definite conclusion!
On the other hand, he who possesses the power to discriminate in every
matter, and is endowed with faith in the Vedas and other scriptures
as well as in the teachings of saints, does not come to ruin in the
above manner. Like Arjuna, he can with the help of faith and reason
remove his doubt for all time and take to the path of duty, and attaining
success can achieve the end of human existence.
Doubt, doubt everywhere!
Not an inch of success to claim!