Neenu hodare?

When I visit my parents, I will have a feast waiting for me. Literally and figuratively.

I get to read various left leaning kannada magazines. So in one of those magazines I read about the famous quote by Kanakadasa "naanu hodare hodenu". I may go?

Well the backstory goes like this. In a meeting of many poets like Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa etc., someone asked a question. "Out of all of us, who may go to heaven (after death)?" And Kanakadasa said "naanu hodare hodenu". How arrogant is he? He thinks he is the only bhakta (devotee, not in its current form).

But he meant that if we leave our pride, self centered behavior, we will go to swarga.

But I think, we don't even need to do that. We just need to stop thinking about others. Feeling jealous about others, anger, hatred, revenge all these feelings are our worst enemy. They not only stop us from reaching heaven (we are not so worried about that). They make our present life hell.

But we say that because we have others in mind. I know some one who is always jealous. I certainly know another person who hates everyone. And so on.

And we are under delusion that we don't do that. We don't hurt others. Physically or emotionally. Not knowingly.

But what about our thoughts? How often we think ill of others? Some of us may express it (I am on the verge of putting some snide addition to that. No!). Some of us may not. That does not deny the thoughts we have.

Life would be so beautiful. World would be so beautiful, if all of us just worried about ourselves, leaving others alone. 

ಪರ ಚಿಂತೆ ನನಗೆ ಏಕಯ್ಯ
ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮ ಒಲಿವನೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ ಎಂಬ ಚಿಂತೆಯೇ ಹಾಸಲುಂಟು ಹೊದೆಯಲುಂಟು