' Coin always
makes sound. But the currency notes are always silent.' This has been my
favourite quotation ever since I heard it when I was a primary
student. I experienced its practical manifestation a number of times. A few
days back, a gentleman gave me his visting card. It'd its whole
space usurped by his numerous obscure degrees. I'd a cursory look at it and
pocketed to forget as soon as possible. That gentleman had done
nothing worthwhile in his life except for accumulating some useless
degrees. 'Avhajjham parna krit shabdim, haritam sinnojham' (the dry
leaves make crackling sound, but the juicy green leaves
are soundless). myxer
This saying in
Prakrit articulates that substance makes no claims. Sun doesn't have to
proclaim that it's a 'huge fireball' but the sand always gets heated up in no
time. Ocean's always placid but river's often noisy and boisterous. When
Mahavir was alive, there was yet another contender to greatness, who was
almost on a par with Mahavir in knowledge and he in fact knew
more about scriptures. Yet, that man Makhhili Goshal remains a footnote
to Mahavir because of his verbosity. When Laotse was
surreptitiously leaving the country at night, the king sent his
guards to stop the great man from leaving his kingdom. " I'll let you go,
provided you write a book of wisdom. The posterity must learn from your
boundless wisdom,'' the king implored the wisest man. Laotse wrote a
20-page book, that's considered to be the cornerstone of south eastern
philosophical order.
He could have
written a voluminous book, but he chose to write just 20 pages. Profundity
doesn't lie in being profuse in quantity. A truly wise person's
always taciturn. He weighs his words and speaks when it's indeed required.
Thervad Buddhism's 'tripitak' states that after enlightenment, Buddha
spoke very little. Out of 89 names of Buddha, there're two beautiful names to
indicate his persona: Smithasya (a person with a beatific smile)
andmitshabdam ( man of a few words). It's said that Buddha conveyed his
words more through his smile and silence than speech. Those who're wise,
never advertise. Only those, who're frivolous, resort to tom-tomming.
Why do
politicians talk so much? Because they lack substance. ' Mere apne alfaaz
badhate hain aawaaz' (My own words add to the existing noise). Allama
Iqbal's immortal words succinctly put the things in perspective. We live in a
world of words. We require silence of thoughts. Verbosity's
frivolity.
