September 08, 2011

Mahabali and the LORD’S tree

Wherever Keralites go there will be Onam celebrations. Onam is not just a celebration; it’s something more than a celebration. It’s neither a gathering of friends and relatives nor playing games nor swinging on a swing nor wearing traditional dresses nor having a delicious lunch with many varieties of curries and tasty Payasams nor the combination of all these. It’s something different. Every story and historical event has something to say, suggest and teach us. We must extract good from it and try to make it useful in our life. 

Onam reminds us the reign oh Emperor Mahabali. We all know the story of Mahabali. Let’s begin with discussing the meaning of the name Mahabali. Maha means great and Bali has two meanings. Bali means strong, i.e. having great strength or bold. Mahabali was bold.
We also must be bold.

The second meaning of Bali is sacrifice, I would like to put stress on this meaning; Mahabali means great sacrifice. Absolutely this meaning suits him, because he sacrificed his life. Sacrificing anything is not easy for us. Then what about sacrificing life itself? He was bold thus he could sacrifice his life. If we are bold we also can sacrifice. Be ready for sacrificing is the second quality we must be learned from Mahabali. And we should realize that there’s no gain without pain.

Why did he sacrifice? Or for what did he sacrifice? He gave his life to keep his word. We know what his promise was. If we have known God, we have given some promises to Him. We have made promises to our parents, school, teachers, society and our nation. We must keep our promises. It will be meaningful only if we are obeying rules and doing our duties well. I.e. to keep promises means to be obedient and dutiful.

As students and teachers we are taking pledge every day. Today also we have taken it. “India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters.” All Indians are my brothers and sisters? The second sentence of our national pledge wants us to treat everyone equally. Equality is the fourth quality that we should intend to practice. We must treat everyone equally; we must love and care every fellow being irrespective of cast, creed, colour, wealth, health, gender and nationality.  
Maveli Nadu Vaneedum Kalam
Manusharellarum onnu pole...



Equality is the basis or foundation of justice. Being righteous and standing for justice is the another quality we have to acquire. We know father is the head of the family, and if he is righteous, his children also try to imitate and follow him. Suppose if the main officer of a police station is righteous, his colleagues will also try to be righteous, because without him they cannot do corruptions. And the people under that station will also be changed. Even people with bad tastes turn their mind because they know their bribes won’t work. Like this if the head of the nation is uncorrupted, the all system will become uncorrupted and the whole nation will be changed. We must stand for justice and we must be righteous. And this is the fifth quality. Mahabali had all these qualities so there were peace and justice everywhere in his country. There were no quarrels and wars, no burglaries and thieves, no lies and fake balances, and no poverty. There were peace, justice and joy. 

We have discussed well and extracted five qualities, they are being bold, be ready to sacrifice, keep promises, treating everyone equally and being righteous. Let me conclude my word by quoting a famous emperor. David, king of Judah and Israel (c.1000-c.962 BC) says in a psalm (92.12) “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” We know palm is unbranched and it grows up vertically without any special consideration towards the east or the west or the south or the north. Dates have long been an important food in desert regions. If we are righteous we can flourish like the palm tree even in adverse situation. If we tie a band around any other tree, it digs into the stem as the tree grows. But a palm tree breaks any bands that was bounded over it as it grows. Righteous are capable to break bonds. 


And cedar means Devadaru, since Deva means god and Daru means tree, devadaru or cedar is God’s tree. Another psalm proves this (104.16) “The trees of LORD are watered abundantly, the cedar of Lebanon that He planted.” Cedar is evergreen, decay-resistant and insect killer. It is symbol of power too. (And it decorates the heart of Lebanese flag.) 


If we are ready to plant the seeds of the boldness, the readiness to sacrifice, the readiness to keep promises, the equality and the righteousness, in our heart, God will let it grow and flourish as the palm tree and cedar of Lebanon. We also grow as the LORD’S tree grows inside us. 

Mahabali gave up his life, as a result he lost his kingdom, wealth, people and rest of his life but his fame is still being exalted. ..

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.