{"id":4352,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4352"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","slug":"19-patience-and-perseverance-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02\/19-patience-and-perseverance-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-19_Patience and Perseverance.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\nFive <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\nPatience
\nand Perseverance <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n      
\nT<\/font><\/span>he people of the Punjab have a song which goes like this: <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>The bulbul does not always sing in the
\ngarden, <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>And the garden is not always in bloom; <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>Happiness does not always reign, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>And friends are not always together. <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The conclusion to be drawn from this song
\nis that we cannot expect to be always happy, and that to know how to be patient
\nis most useful. For there are few days in our lives which do not give us the
\nopportunity to learn greater patience. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>You
\nwant to see a very busy man to ask him something. You go to his house. Already
\nmany visitors are there and he keeps you waiting a very long time before seeing
\nyou. You stay there quietly, perhaps for several hours. You are patient. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Another time, the person you wish to see is
\nnot at home when you arrive. You return again the next day, but his door is
\nstill closed. You go back a third time, but he is sick and cannot see you. You
\nlet a few days go by and then return once more. And if something new again
\nprevents you from meeting him, nevertheless you are not discouraged, but renew
\nthe attempt until at last you see him. This kind of patience is called
\nperseverance. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Perseverance is an active patience, a patience
\nthat marches on. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The
\nfamous Genoese sailor Columbus set sail from Spain to cross the unknown seas of
\nthe West. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For
\ndays and weeks on end, in spite of the murmurs of his companions, he persisted
\nin his will to reach a new land; in spite <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 193<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

of delays and difficulties, he would not give up until he had
\nreached the first American islands. Thus he discovered the New World. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>What did he ask of his companions? He asked
\nthem only to have patience, for they had simply to rely on him and quietly allow
\nhim to lead them. But what did he himself need to reach his goal? He needed the
\nsustained energy and the unremitting will that we call perseverance. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The
\ncelebrated potter, Bernard Palissy, wanted to recover the lost secret of
\nbeautiful old glazed china enamelled in rich colours<\/span>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For
\nmonths and years on end, he untiringly pursued his experiments. His attempts to
\nfind the glaze remained fruitless for a long time. He devoted all he had to his
\nsearch; and for days and nights together he watched over the kiln he had built,
\nendlessly trying out new processes for preparing and firing his pottery. And
\nnot only did no one give him any help or encouragement, but his friends and his
\nneighbours called him a madman, and even his wife reproached him for what he
\nwas doing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Several times he had to suspend his
\nexperiments for lack of resources, but as soon as he could, he would take them
\nup again with renewed courage. Finally one day he did not even have the wood he
\nneeded to stoke his kiln; so, disregarding the cries and threats of his
\nhousehold, he threw his own furniture, to the very last stick, into the fire.
\nAnd when everything was burnt, he opened the kiln and found it full of the
\nbrightly glazed pottery which made him famous and which he had sacrificed so
\nmany years to discover. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>What was it that his wife and friends lacked
\nthat they could not wait for his hour of success to come, without harassing him
\nand making his task more difficult? Simply patience. And what was the only
\nthing he himself never lacked, the only thing that <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 194<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

never failed him and which enabled him in the end to triumph over
\nall difficulty and scorn? It was precisely perseverance, that is to say, the
\nmightiest force of all. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For
\nnothing in the world can prevail against perseverance. And even the greatest
\nthings are always an accumulation of small and untiring efforts. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Enormous boulders have been completely
\ndestroyed, worn by raindrops falling one after another on the same spot. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>A
\ngrain of sand is nothing very powerful, but when many come together, they form
\na dune and check the ocean. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And
\nwhen you learn about natural history, you will hear how mountains have been
\nformed under the sea by little animalcules piled one upon another, who by their
\npersistent efforts have made magnificent islands and archipelagos rise above
\nthe waves. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Don’t you think that your small, repeated
\nefforts could also achieve great things?  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The
\nfamous sage Shankara whose name brought glory to the land of Malabar, and who
\nlived about 1200 years ago, had resolved from childhood to become a Sannyasi. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For
\na long time his mother, although she appreciated the nobility of his wish, did
\nnot allow him to devote himself to that way of life. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>One
\nday mother and child went to bathe in a river. Shankara dived in and felt his
\nfoot suddenly seized by a crocodile. Death seemed close at hand. But even at
\nthat dreadful moment the brave child thought only of his great project and
\ncried out to his mother, \u201cI am lost! A crocodile is dragging me down. But let
\nme at least die a Sannyasi!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cYes, yes, my son,\u201d his mother sobbed in
\ndespair. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Shankara felt such joy that he found the
\nstrength to free his foot and throw himself ashore. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 195<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span>From that moment he grew in learning as in years.
\nHe became a guru, and remained true to his great work of teaching philosophy to
\nthe very end of his wonderful life.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>All
\nwho love India know the beautiful poem of the Mahabharata. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It
\nwas written in Sanskrit many hundreds of years ago. Until recent times, no
\nEuropean could read it unless he knew Sanskrit, and that was rare. A
\ntranslation into one of the European languages was needed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Babu<\/span> Pratap Chandra Rai decided to devote himself to this
\nwork. In his own land he was able to find a learned friend, Kishori<\/span>
\nMohan Ganguly<\/span>, who could translate the Sanskrit book
\ninto English, and its hundred parts were published one by one. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For
\ntwelve years Pratap Chandra Rai went on with the task he had set himself. He
\ndevoted all his resources to the publication of the book. And when he had
\nnothing left he travelled<\/span> all over India to ask help
\nfrom all who were willing to give. He received help from princes and peasants,
\nfrom scholars and simple folk, from friends in Europe and America. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In
\nthe course of one of his journeys he caught the pernicious fever from which he
\ndied. During his sickness all his thoughts were turned towards the completion
\nof his work. And even when it became painful for him to speak, he would still
\nsay to his wife: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe book must be finished. Don’t spend money
\non my funeral rites if it is needed for the printing. Live as simply as you can
\nso as to save money for the Mahabharata.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>He
\ndied full of love for India and her great poem. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>His
\nwidow, Sundari<\/span> Bala<\/span> Rai,
\nfaithfully carried out his great wish. One year later the translator completed
\nhis work, and the eleven volumes of the Mahabharata were presented to the
\nEuropean public who could now know and admire the <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 196<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

eighteen Parvas<\/span> of the splendid epic
\npoem. And reading it, they would learn to respect the great skill and wisdom of
\nthe profound thinkers who were the poets of ancient India. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Such are the fruits borne by the efforts of
\nall those who, like Pratap Chandra Rai and so many other useful men, know how
\nto persevere. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And
\nyou, brave children, will you not join the great army of men and women who
\nnever tire of doing good and never abandon their task until they have completed
\nit? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In
\nthis wide world, there is no lack of noble work to be accomplished, nor is
\nthere any lack of good people to undertake it; but what is very often lacking
\nis the perseverance which alone can carry it through to the end.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 197<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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