On Knowledge and Temptations of it's Powers!

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Acquiring knowledge is a life long process and sometimes one life isn't just enough for it. You may keep gaining knowledge for eons but you will never get hold of all of it.
What is much more important than acquiring knowledge is the application of knowledge.
What you do with what you know ? There are only three options:
1. Do something good
2. Don't do anything
3. Do something bad

Now, lets concentrate on point no. 3 and see what happens with some examples:

Consider Guru Shukracharya - a brilliant mind, an accomplished tapasvi and a mighty sage but then he is hardly recognized and remembered for these qualities. We only remember him as Guru of Asuras/Daityas. You may say our mythology is harsh on him but it is harsh on everyone because it tests and probes the intentions behind actions of every character and also that's where the lessons lay.

Guru Shukracharya spent all his acquired powers and knowledge for the upliftment of Asuras(the bad guys) and that's why there isn't a place for him in the annals of great bygone Rishis(Sages) whom we revere. Such was his determination that when Asuras/Daityas failed to acquire Elixir of Life (Amrutha) he mastered the art of resurrecting the dead. So it didn't matter if the liquid of immortality was denied to Asuras, Guru Shukracharya invented the process of reversing the death!

He made a great impact on the dynamics between gods and asuras like no other sage. His knowledge and power of mystic arts were beyond any. Yet he is not respected for this, the only bit of honor/fame he holds on is from  the planet Venus which is named after him as Shukra.

We can apply the same analogy with the famous Dr.JaiKal (Kal - Time, Jai Kal means Hail Time! Or Hail the Wheel of Time) or was his name Dr. Jackal ? ( I always heard it as JaiKal).
A super skilled doctor, loaded with talent and knowledge - walks on a wrong path, becomes a follower of Tamraj Kilvesh (Tam means darkness/night, so Tamraj - King of Darkness) and works for welfare and victory of evil. 

It is also worthwhile to notice that gods always had trouble attacking Shukracharya because they revered him for his knowledge and Shaktimaan had some moral dilemmas killing Jaikal since he was not pure evil but just a human who was under the shadow of Kilvesh - the supreme evil entity. Therefore it is often difficult for a righteous hero to fight a sly enemy. The clever enemy uses the virtues of the hero against him. Our hero is bound by his own moral codes and the enemy manages to make the best use of it as he successfully turns the virtues into shackles and inabilities. Moral codes are complex and sometimes self deterring. Friedrich Nietzsche said - "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” [Worth to remember Joker and Batman at this moment]. But at the same time Machiavelli said - "The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous".

With this, I conclude - Continue walking on the path of acquiring knowledge. This path is long and trodden, many have walked before, many are walking along with you and many will continue to walk after you have gone. There are many twists and many turns and every one of them is equally popular among the travelers. There are clearly some giant footprints of your great predecessors, so make sure you know what is at stake before you take a likening to certain trails.The path is sunny and goes through a arid zone with no milestones because it stretches to infinity. Sporadically you may find a shade without a tree, be wary of such unnatural yet rewarding encounters. They are the traps of evil meant to lure you so,make sure you don't rest under the shade of evil! No matter how tempting the shade may be, it may promise you relief, it may promise you fruits - but remember the fruit is poisoned and the shade is cursed!

~Monday Morning Musings
(Part of Enlightenment Series)

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