Shreyas and Preyas

‘Shreyas’ and ‘Preyas’’

When i was studying in the Post Graduate course at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, an Essay Writing Competition in Odia was organized. The essay was to be written on the spot. I had participated in it. The subject of the essay was to be announced one hour before its commencement.
The topic was declared on time and it was ‘Shreya Ebam Preya’ (‘Shreyas’ and ‘Preyas’). Most of us the participants did not at that time know the meaning of the expression. So we went to the library to consult books and dictionaries. 

In my attempt, i had written that ‘Shreyas’ was a matter of head (brain) whereas ‘Preyas’ was a matter concerned with the heart.

In my essay, i had quoted Oscar Wilde, who through the protagonist in his short story ‘The Model Millionaire’, had said, “An artist’s heart is his head.” I had read this story during my first year in college. I had written in my essay that Preyas was a matter of heart (feeling) whereas Shreyas was a matter of head (brain, a person’s thinking, discriminating capacity). By having the heart and the head separate, non-artists often feel torn between the two. I had got the third prize. 

I have referred to such a dichotomy, towards the end of my post ‘Death Shall Die’ dated 12.01.2011.   There, i have referred to the interaction between Nachiketa and Yama, god of death, in Kathopanishad during which Yama discloses the dichotomy of the paths leading to shreyas and preyas.

A search in Google resulted in the following elaboration of the subject.

The Katopanishad speaks of the two-fold path available to mankind, namely, the worldly, Preyas and the spiritual, Sreyas. The path of worldly enjoyment is also known as Pravritti marga. It is very easy to get hooked to this path for seeking material gains that are no doubt pleasurable but our sense of discrimination will tell us that these gains are not only fleeting and unsubstantial, but also pull one into the cycle of birth.

So, the other choice is to choose the path of realisation or the Nivritti marga as opposed to pravritti marg. The focus now shifts to welfare of the Atma and not the body. Realisation is reached through renunciation and Nachiketa symbolises discrimination that chooses Sreyas — that which is good and the right. He rejects Preyas though this appears pleasurable and sweet. Actually, this two-fold path becomes the means to attain the end, salvation. 

For wise and discriminating people, Preyas gradually leads to Sreyas when one learns to mentally renounce its attractions. The result of this choice made with determination is permanent. This inspires one to practise moral values which bring about chitta suddhi. It is shown that the Absolute Brahman is realised only when there is purity in one’s thought, word and deed. The success of the result depends on the extent of effort expended.

All human endeavours fall under two categories: the preyas and the sreyas. Among the human acquisitions and experiences there is not a single aspect that lies outside the pale of these two.

The Kathopanishad reads: "The good (Sreyas) is one thing, the pleasant (Preyas) is another. These two having different purposes, bind a man. Of these two, it is well for him who takes hold of the good; he who chooses the pleasant misses his end."

"The good and the pleasant approach a man; the wise man considers and distinguishes the two. Wisely does he prefer the good to the pleasant, but a fool chooses the pleasant for its worldly good."

Pleasures that are sense-bound come under the category of preyas. The majority of mankind constitute seekers of preyas but there are a rare few who aspire for the transcendental. Scriptures describe this transcendental experience as the sreyas.


Here are three videos on the subject (Source: You Tube)

One Plus One Equals Eleven

All of us know that unity is strength. When two persons join as a team, their combined output exceeds the total output of the two working separately.

 A group need not be a team. In team-work, all the members have to be inspired by one goal. The performance of each member depends on the contribution of each of other members. The faculty of a university is not a team; the group of players in the game of football is a team. Even if the forward players play very well, if the goal-keeper’s contribution is weak, the team will lose.

 In team-work, one plus one makes three or more. Here is a graphic demonstration:

We can learn this by observing ants. I came across a piece by Mukul Sharma in The Economic Times of 28.08.2014 referring to such wonderful acts by ants.  We must have noticed how ants in a group get close to each other on water and float away to safety. Fire ants fashion a raft made of themselves.  This ‘raft’ can, not only float but carry up to a million of other ants are over it!

Army ants can build bridges, made of themselves, to move from one tree to another. At the outset, some of them hold on to each other and hang from a branch like a small curtain. They wait for wind to waft this ‘curtain’ to touch a branch of the other tree. The ants at the loose end grab a branch of the other tree and thus a ‘bridge’ is formed. The other ants walk on this bridge to move to the other tree!

The interesting point here is that no individual ant knows what is happening but jointly, they make it happen!

So let us be a team!

Phailin - The Emerald

I got a personal feel of ‘Phailin’, the 'very severe cyclonic storm' that ravaged coastal Odisha on the 12^th October, 2013. It originated from a depression on the coast of Thailand and moved towards India. 

I live in the State Capital Bhubaneswar, which though touched by Phailin, was not seriously affected. The worst hit place was Gopalpur and the rest of Ganjam District. The area adjacent to Paradip Port also was severely affected. Gopalpur was lashed by wind with a speed of 214 kmph. Damages were slightly less at Puri, which faced a slightly higher wind-velocity of 223 kmph. Heavy rains lashed Odisha from the 11^th. Rains and strong winds hit also Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. 

                             The wind in action

The Indian Meteorological Department in Bhubaneswar had forecast a wind speed of 230 kmph and wave height of 12 feet near the coast. The memory of the ‘Super Cyclone’ which had devastated Odisha on the 29^th October, 1999 is still fresh. This time, the State Government was fully prepared and had taken the help of the Army, Navy and Air Force in its preparedness. The National Disaster Response Force also was deployed.The scheduled Government Holidays for Dussera were cancelled. Doctors on leave were called back. Before the cyclone, over 9.90 lakh people were evacuated from areas within 5 km from the coast. Some had to be shifted forcibly as people refused to leave their hearth and home. Hence the damages were less than anticipated. The government’s response to the disaster received commendation from the UN Special Representative for Natural Disasters. At Bhubaneswar, power and water supply, telephone and internet services were disrupted for 3 days. As a safety-measure, power supply was disconnected whenever the wind-velocity crossed 60 kmph. 

About 26 lakh trees were uprooted in the State and about 2000 live stock were killed. The State Govt. has put the total loss at Rs.15,000 Crore.

Phailin and the flood that followed ravaged 18 of the 30 Districts of Odisha. Forty-four persons were reported as killed. The cyclone left a trail of destruction damaging and ravaging more than 4 lakh houses.

       Fast asleep on what remains of her house

Six thousand school-buildings and standing crops on ove 6 lakh acres of farm-land were damaged. 

 Two young teak wood trees planted by me 4 years ago in my garden had grown to a height of 25 feet. These were uprooted. After about 15 years, these trees would have fetched about Rs. 2 lakh or more each.

Named ‘Phailin’

Neelam, Nargis, Nilopher, Sandy, Bijli, Mala, Rashmi, Helen, Priya – these appear to be names of attractive film-heroines, but they indeed are symbols of destruction and disasters. These are the names of cyclones.  

A tropical cyclone feeds on heat released by the condensation of moist air. The latent heat gets converted into kinetic energy and feeds the strong winds emerging out of it. One beneficial feature of tropical cyclones is that they carry heat and energy away from tropics to temperate zones and thus help in global atmospheric circulation.  A ‘tropical storm’ brings in wind-speeds of 63 kmph. When the speed exceeds 118 kmph, it is called hurricane.

Tropical cyclones are named to facilitate the communication between the forecasters and the public. Naming of cyclones started in the 20^th Century. In the beginning, numbers or technical codes were used. An Australian started naming cyclones after politicians he disliked. During World War II, American meteorologists named cyclones after their wives and girlfriends. Then both female and male names were used. Now, cyclones are given names selected by Member-Nations of the World Meteorological Organisation. These names include those of men, women, flowers etc. In 2004, a formula was devised for naming cyclones in the Indian Oceanic Zone. The countries in this Zone are: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Each country submits a list of names selected by it. The earlier cyclones were named ‘Neelam’ (by Pakistan) and ‘Mahasen’ (by Sri Lanka). 

The recent cyclone was named ‘Phailin’ (by Thailand). ‘Phailin’ means 'emerald'. The list of names submitted by India includes Agni, Akash, Bijli, Jal, Lahar, Megh, Sagar and Vayu. Among the attractive ones in the Pakistani names are: Titli, Bulbul and Nilophar.

Planting lessons

Phailin has taught a lesson to city-planners about planting avenue trees. More than 20000 trees were uprooted in Bhubaneswar only, many of which were on roadsides. Fallen trees blocked roads. Slow-growing but deep-rooted and sturdy trees like mango, jamun, neem and banyan trees stood their ground against the gale but fast-growing trees like gulmohar, kadamba, eucalyptus, champa and teak succumbed to the strong wind.

TAIL PIECE: Two faces

Phailin united the staff and the prisoners in Chhatrapur (Ganjam) Jail. A 20-metre wall of the jail collapsed by the onslaught of heavy rain and gale; the prisoners stayed put and did not escape, providing relief to the worried jail staff.

Some criminals took advantage of the cyclone and the consequent power-cut and darkness, to burgle a jewelry shop in Bhubaneswar and took away gold and silver jewelry worth Rs 3 lakh.