Let
your words be flowers not thorn
Speech is manifestation of
Mother Saraswati (the Goddess of speech and learning). Speech is mighty force
by turning which to account man can bring all under his sway and by abusing
which he can make enemies of all. To speak words which cause annoyance to none,
nay , which are truthful agreeable and wholesome, and at other times to read
good books and to sing, repeat loudly and other times to read good books and to
sing, repeat loudly and mutter the Lord’s blessed names, stories and praises is
to make the best use of one’s speech.
The best use of one’s speech
consists speaking words which bring joy and delight to the mind of hearer as
soon as they reach his or her ears, and which people may long to hear with love
and eagerness, which are imbued with respect, honour, humility and politeness,
which are sweet and salutary, which inspire and stimulate wholesome courage and
intrepidity, which promote reverence and respect for morality, righteousness,
scriptures, saints and devotes, men of devotees, men of renunciation and chaste
woman and so on, which encourage worship and remembrance of God, which are
calculated to propagate magnanimity, self-abnegation and love and which are
uttered with a cheerful heart and smiling face.
With proper use the purity
and power of speech grows. Whatsoever escapes from the lips of a man who never
tells a lie and always speaks the truth begins to come out true. Propagating
love and joy among all living beings everywhere, suave and wholesome speaks
evokes love and joy in the immense degree. Salutary speech which is imbued with
humility, modesty, honour, and respect draws forth respect, service, honour and
respect draws forth respect, service, honour and blessedness in a very large
measure in return; while speech engaged in loudly uttering or muttering the
blessed names, stories and praises of the Lord helps men in ridding them of the
threefold suffering by disseminating divinity, sanctity and spirituality in the
world, and renders their life fruitful and blessed by easily bringing them face
with Divine Grace.
To tell lies, to expose
other’s faults, to vilify others, to bears tales, to speak harsh words lacking
in suavity, to pronounce a curse, to use abusive language, to make fun of
others, to use sarcastic and taunting words, to call a maimed or deformed
person as such, to use insulting, derogatory or harmful words, to give a false
assurance, to revile God, the scriptures, saints, devotees and others, to utter
words which dishearten a man, encourage pusillanimity and give rise to fear and
dejection, to give false evidence, to utter words which turn one from the right
path and lead him to the wrong one, to speak words expressive of pride rigidity
and self esteem, to make false promises and utter words fomenting discord and
hatred, to indulge in gossip and idle talk and to speak excessively – this is
misuse, abuse if speech and is absolutely undesirable.
Those who utter with their
tongue harsh and impolite words that pierce like a shaft, use sarcastic
language with reference to others and ridicule can mock them pointing out their
defects, speak insulting and harmful words, abuse or curse them and utter words
that mar others’ interests automatically engender hatred and animosity,
affliction and discord, suffering and agony, anger and violence and so on,
invite disquiet, cheerlessness, fear and misgiving, sorrow, misfortune, grief
and dejection for themselves as well as for others too to burn. Their judgement
gets vitiated, inciting them to newer and newer sins resulting in their
complete ruination. This is the result of misuse of speech.
The man who speaks sweet,
salutary, truthful, auspicious, extremely polite and needful words does good to
himself as well as to all. Force, authority, effectiveness and the power of
truth begin to grow in his speech and whatever is uttered by his tongue begins
to turn out true. Therefore, instead of being unbridled in your speech, speak
only as much as is essential for the occasion and make sure before you speak
that whatever you speak is true and wholesome for the man whom you are speaking
to.
Even truthful and salutary
words should be propitious, sweet and extremely polite. Otherwise people will
be nonchalant in receiving them; nay, in some cases your words will evoke a
spirit of revolt and their effect will be as good as nullified.
If you utter words which are
unpropitious, full of pride, indifference, self-praise, calumny of and insult
to others and vain obstinacy, and which are of the nature of meaningless
jargon, they will not only prove harmful to you but also have a baneful effect
on those who hear them. Therefore, speak as little as possible only when
necessary and guarding your speech against the aforesaid evils.
While suavity and politeness
of speech are essential, dissimulation, sycophancy and duplicity should be
guarded against. Your words should be artless and not idle either. Speak only
such words as are calculated to promote love, confidence, spirit of serving and
gratifying one another, self denial and affinity. At the same time take care
not to utter words which are likely to engender likes and dislikes by creating
a feeling of unnecessary mecum.
Take care never to interrupt
two persons talking to each other. Even if it is necessary to do so in their
interest, do so with modesty after taking their leave. Never controvert the
statement of another. If the views of a man are erroneous, first try to win him
over by applauding his virtues and then politely point out to him the error of
his views for his consideration. Then he will be able to rid himself of that
error. Otherwise, taking you to be his opponent, he will clasp that error to
his life all the more.
Humour which is innocent and
enhances delight besides bringing out excellences in even essential in life;
but never indulge in a jest, which pricks one’s heart which cast an aspersion
on and is harmful to another and which betrays one’s own folly.
Speech which is not only
wholesome sweet but also propitious and profound, is held in great esteem; even
good thinkers give thought to it. On the other hand, speech which has a tinge
of shallowness about it and which consists of unpropitious and useless words
falls flat on the hearers and is dismissed as nonsense. Such speech goes in
vain. Therefore, say that you have got to say seriously in a few pregnant and
propitious words.
Speech can scatter poison
and speech alone can spread nectar everywhere. Scatter nectar all round by your
speech. That speech alone will spread nectar which is truthful, heightens
enthusiasm and joy, is guideless, sweet and wholesome, which releases a sacred
stream of nectar in the shape divine virtues and the holy names and praises of
extremely polite and auspicious words, be chary of speech and, restraining your
speech from uttering harmful and useless words, constantly keep it engaged in
muttering and chanting the divine Names and singing the Lord’s praises, here
lies the utility of your tongue and such speech alone proves helpful in leading
one’s life on the road to true success.
There lies a great strength
in silence; therefore observe silence regularly for some time every day.
Observe silence for a day every week or every month and devote the period of
silence to noble thoughts, contemplation on the Self or contemplation of God.