Perseverance is the mantra for success. This is an eternal, divine truth. In today’s world, we hear and read so many formulae and recipes for success that we end up bemused and bewildered after seeing them. There is a multitude of philosophies—coarse, refined and fine-tuned. There are very many preachers, sermonisers, guides, consultants, motivators and spiritualists. Their ideas have many commonalities but also differences. Their approaches are often at wide variance. The layman tends to get confused while trying to grasp these ideas and adopt these approaches.
To make things simple, crisp and clear, we talk of perseverance. This one word is a multi-meaning word and all those meanings encompass the various ingredients of a successful approach in the performance of any worldly task. Perseverance, as per the MS Word online dictionary, means persistence, doggedness, determination, diligence and pushiness. Though some of these words are synonyms, others convey different shades of meaning. The word diligence covers assiduousness, carefulness and industriousness. Presumably, the word perseverance has roots in the Sanskrit word ‘Purusharth’, which means industriousness, patience, single-minded dedication in the pursuit of the goal and an approach that is in line with the truth.
Primeval scriptures declare that through perseverance (purusharth), man can achieve any material goal. The desired riches and bounties of this world, the positions of power and authority can be attained by the perseverant. This single term constitutes the key to acquiring the riches of the material world. Actually, the universe, including our planet earth, operates in a give-and-take mode. A man becomes entitled to his reward for any action done in the service or welfare of any other being. This is a divine principle of retribution. The more you work and strive in the pursuit of a goal that is beneficial to other humans, the more you entitle for yourself the return or reward for that action. This reward comes from the realm of the spiritual master and controller of the universe.
Hence, even if success is not immediately forthcoming, the very fact that due and just reward of your action has already been indented in the universe speaks eloquently about the power of perseverance. Success may elude you for some time in spite of sincere, well-directed and focused action, but it unfailingly has to come at the appropriate time, in the appropriate manner and in the appropriate form. The time, manner and the form of the bestowal of reward is determined by the divine law of retribution. This law maintains perfect justice in the universe. Hence, a person who believes in the axiom of divine retribution has nothing to fear, hesitate about or be confused about while pursuing his goal.
The power of perseverance is so strong that it inexorably rewards the efforts that are even misdirected. Burglars, thieves, terrorists and conmen work hard, in an organised manner and succeed in their tasks, even if nefarious. But the divine law of retribution equalises everything in the corridors of time. Whatever has been unjustly or immorally acquired has to go back—whether in this lifetime or the next.
Perseverance denotes holistic efforts, complete with attention to detail, minute understanding on scientific lines, a logical approach, patience, hard work, faith and a never-say-die attitude.
Success and failure are two sides of the same coin. Failures are stepping stones to success. Actually, success means the fruition of efforts. The milestones in the path of successful action, even if they appear to be failures, are actually achievements. These achievements bring you gradually closer to the success point. The fruition of efforts is closely comparable with the fructification of a plant seed, which germinates, grows into a tree and bears fruits in due course of time. The time taken to bear fruit depends on the nature and qualities of the seed as also how the growing sapling is nurtured and nourished.
Drawing upon this analogy, the karmas that we perform are seeds that are germinated in the universe immediately after they are performed. The quality, intensity and duration of the karma will determine in the continuum of time the success point.
The Yajurved further pronounces: ‘I perform karma with my right hand and acquire the reward of success with my left hand’. This shows that karma guarantees success. The appropriate set of karmas performed by the perseverant is insurance against failure. Yes, one should not be daunted by intermediate slippages and setbacks. One should keep the tempo and maintain the momentum of well-directed efforts. Success will undoubtedly come because there is no magic mantra for success except perseverance.
Atul Sehgal is a Vedic scholar and author (www.atulsehgal.com)