Sumathi Sataka - Its relevance for modern living (1)

Today I will be discussing about two poems which talk about almost similar things in life. They run like this

Original Poem – In English Script

Adigina Jeethambiyani

Midimelapu Doranu golchi midukuka kanten

Vadigala Eddula gattuka

Madi dunnuka brataka vacchu mahilo Sumathi

Adiyasa koluvu goluvaku

gudi maniyam seyaboku, kujanula todan

viduvaka kurimi seyaku

madavini dodarakonti narugaku Sumathi

The English translation runs something like

“Instead of continuously ruing and

working under an unrealistic / unsympathetic boss

buy a pair of bullocks, till the land

and live peacefully”

“Do not continue with a job which belies your aspirations

Do not till the lands of a temple

Do not continue with a company of bad people

Do not go alone into a forest”

These two poems talk about the most commonsense points which either people ignore in the day to day life. The points raised in these two poems are very much relevant in modern day situations.

The first poem talks about leaving a boss who is unsympathetic or unrealistic to the employees. It is advisable to leave the job with a boss who does not pay the salary as per expectations of the employees. This is almost like our modern day appraisal process. The modern day appraisal process talks about a self appraisal where the employee is expected to assess his own performance realistically in comparison to the responsibilities (which of course does not happen). That is he is setting an expectation about his salary levels. If the boss is not agreeing with the appraisal of the employee despite all the facts mentioned in the self appraisal are true and verifiable, then there is no point in continuing with such a boss. This is what most of the employees now-a-days do. They just leave the job and look for another alternative. However one also needs to be pragmatic while doing self appraisal. Even if the expectations are set correctly by the boss with quantifiable parameters the employees do exaggerate their performance and will be unhappy if the boss does not agree with the self appraisals. This poem does not apply for such people. It is applicable to those where the boss is not rating the employees properly resulting in lower than expected salaries.

The third line of the poem says that instead of working with such a boss it is better to buy two good bullocks and till the land. This is because land is expected to give returns commensurate to the energies spent. Though this may not be exactly true now with the new of many farmers committing suicide. At the same time we also come across several success stories of farmers who got good yield and good returns from land. The central meaning of the poem is instead of working with a unsympathetic boss it is better to do another job which may pay less but one lives in peace.

The second poem taken for discussion today echoes a somewhat similar sentiment.

One should not continue with a job which belies the expectations or aspirations. Any employee will have certain expectations while entering a job. These expectations can be about the salary and its increase, career progression or esteem in society, manageable pressures etc. The expectations can be a combination of some or all of the above. If the actual picture after joining is totally different and do not meet the expectations of the person, it is better to leave the job than continuing with the job and lamenting every minute / every day that he or she made a mistake by accepting this job. One needs to be passionate about the job he is doing and put the best efforts in executing the job. Halfhearted jobs result in disasters for the firm, for the employee and even for the society. For example a halfhearted effort by the police personnel will result in substantial increase of crimes and result in hardships for the normal citizens. It is better to leave such a job where the employee not getting satisfaction.

The second line talks about not tilling the lands of temples (or possibly of the religious institutions). In earlier days the kings and wealthy persons used to donate lands to the temples. This line talks about not taking those lands on lease and tilling them. This is because earlier there used to be a committee of people for running the affairs of a temple. The produce of the lands used to be enjoyed by the people in these committees without utilizing the same for the benefit of the temple and its followers. At the same time they used to tell others that the person who has taken the lands on lease has not handed over the temple's share of produce properly which results in a bad name for the lessee. The gist of this line is it is not advisable to work in a situation where the credit will be taken by others while all the bad things are passed on to the actual person who performs the act. This is very much relevant in modern scenario where a majority of the politicians in power take credit for whatever good coming out of government actions while passing the buck for all the negative things siting reasons like the officers concerned have not briefed on time, they have not acted on time etc. The person who wrote this Sataka (known as Satakakara) advises to move away from such activities.

The third line is most obvious. One should not continuously appear in company of bad elements. This will scar the character of the person even if he is good. The stories of Bhisma, Drona from Mahabharata is an example for this. Bhishma was the Patriarch of the Kuru family to which both Kauravas and Pandavas belong to. Drona was the teacher for both the families. Both were good in nature. However due to their being in the company of Kauravas and silently abetting the bad deeds of Kauravas, they were killed in the Final war of Mahabharata. Similarly Dharmaraja who is the eldest of the Pandavas was forced to visit the hell (naraka) due to his abetting in the act of killing Drona despite he being a very truthful person all his life.

The final line of the poem speaks about not going alone into a forest. A forest may have several types of dangers like animals, snakes pitfalls etc. A person going alone is more prone to these dangers. Any new venture started by a person is like a forest where unknown dangers lurk. There can be dangers due to financial losses, unhealthy competition, unsavoury persons etc. One should gather some support before venturing into such unknown ventures. Now-a-days many people are into the start-up activity. Many of these start-ups are inaugurated with much fanfare but fold up quickly. This is because the pros and cons are not assessed completely by these venturists before launching these start-ups. The failures can be due to lack of continuing demand for the product, lack of finances, delays in supplies etc. It is advisable to gather some financial, technical and logistical support before venturing these forests of unknown.