" Who bears responsibility for the humanitarian disaster in Ukraine, for the death of thousands of Ukrainians, both civilians and soldiers, and for the impressment of Ukrainian civilians into the military? Who bears responsibility for the destruction of Ukrainian homes and businesses, and for the refugee crisis that is now adding to the one from the Middle East? Who bears responsibility for the deaths of thousands of young men serving in the Russian military, most of whom surely believe, like their Ukrainian counterparts, that they are fighting to protect their nation and their families? Who bears responsibility for the ongoing harm being inflicted on the economies and citizens of Europe and the United States? Who will bear responsibility if disruptions in farming lead to famine in Africa, a continent that depends heavily on the importation of grain from Ukraine and Russia? And finally, who will bear responsibility if the war in Ukraine escalates to a nuclear exchange, and then becomes a full-scale nuclear war?
How one judges the relative responsibilities of Moscow, Washington, and the various European capitals will depend on how one weighs particular historical events, the actions of the individuals involved, and the relative stress one places on proximal and distal causation. Nonetheless, I will venture the judgement that, when all is taken into account, primary responsibility lies with the West, in particular with the United States. I know of no entirely satisfactory way to argue this point; there is no validated methodology for apportioning blame among a range of actors, all of whom have at least some agency, some freedom of choice. But I believe we can gain insight by constructing a counterfactual history, which asks: Where would we be now had the United States acted differently? This is a game of “what if”—and the projections it generates can never be proven or disproven. But this counterfactual sits well with the history of the last 30 years and, to my mind, is both revealing and persuasive.
Had the United States not pushed NATO to the border of Russia; not deployed nuclear-capable missile launch systems in Romania and planned them for Poland and perhaps elsewhere as well; not contributed to the overthrow of the democratically elected Ukrainian government in 2014; not abrogated the ABM treaty and then the intermediate-range nuclear missile treaty, and then disregarded Russian attempts to negotiate a bilateral moratorium on deployments; not conducted live-fire exercises with rockets in Estonia to practise striking targets inside Russia; not coordinated a massive 32-nation military training exercise near Russian territory; not intertwined the U.S. military with that of Ukraine; etc. etc. etc.— Had the United States and its NATO allies not done these tings, the war in Ukraine would not have taken place.
The Minsk agreements, actually consisting of two agreements (Minsk I and Minsk II) signed in 2015, aimed to end the war in Ukraine's Donbas region. Here are the key points:
However, disagreements arose over the sequencing of these steps. Ukraine wanted the border returned first, while Russia pushed for elections and autonomy first. This lack of consensus plagued the Minsk agreements and ultimately led to their failure to bring lasting peace.
The peace is all we need because the pain of a soldier can only be felt by the close relatives and friends...
Charaiveti Mantra (33.3) is from ‘Aitreya Brahman’
The mantra is not used as a prayer and can be considered as an aphorism that is an applied aspect of spiritual thoughts in line with ‘Walk the Talk’.
It is a set of 5 mantras, each ending with ‘charivati’ which means keep walking
1.
नानाश्रान्ताय श्रीरस्तीति रोहित शुश्रुम ।
पापो नृषद्वरो जन इन्द्र इच्चरतः सखा चरैवेति ॥
2.
पुष्पिण्यौ चरतो जङ्घे भूष्णुरात्मा फलग्रहिः ।
शेरेऽस्य सर्वे पाप्मानः श्रमेण प्रपथे हतश्चरैवेति ॥
3.
आस्ते भग आसीनस्योर्ध्वस्तिष्ठति तिष्ठतः ।
शेते निपद्यमानस्य चराति चरतो भगश्चरैवेति ॥
4.
कलिः शयानो भवति संजिहानस्तु द्वापरः ।
उत्तिष्ठस्त्रेता भवति कृतं संपाद्यते चरंश्चरैवेति ॥
5.
चरन् वै मधु विन्दति चरन् स्वादुमुदुम्बरम् ।
सूर्यस्य पश्य श्रेमाणं यो न तन्द्रयते चरंश्चरैवेति ॥
The last one is not only the most important of the five mantras but also it is the crux of the whole of the scripture of ‘Aitreya Brahman’. A loose transliteration is given below. “A man on the move gets to enjoy honey and Udambar like delicious fruits. Sun is seen with respect because it isn’t lazy despite moving all the time. Like that, one should also) keep walking, keep walking.” to celebrate the eternal motion of #bharat - the oldest civilization - the rhythm, the grace, the music ... going through the roads of the interior villages of #bharat - to experience the joy of the journey - the real success - from where we started and where we are now - and to ensure - that in the evening when the sun is just set for the day - and it will again rise tomorrow to continue the journey with new #hope - to enlighten the #universe - as the real #vishwaguru “चरैवेति चरैवेति” - keep walking - because the motion is the life - we need to move on to keep the balance of life...
We must not stop.
The movement is essential.
Life is like a bicycle
The moment it stops - the balance goes for a toss
The moment the flow of the stream is lost, all sorts of fungi pollute the water - and the water becomes dirty and ceases to be a potable one.
So, we have to keep moving all throughout our lives - physically - spiritually - and metamorphically - we must not stop the movement - because the
Ultimate Stop comes with Death.
তোমার ন্যায়ের দন্ড
তোমার ন্যায়ের দন্ড প্রত্যেকের করে
অর্পণ করেছ নিজে। প্রত্যেকের ‘পরে
দিয়েছ শাসনভার হে রাজাধিরাজ।
সে গুরু সম্মান তব সে দুরূহ কাজ
নমিয়া তোমারে যেন শিরোধার্য করি
সবিনয়ে। তব কার্যে যেন নাহি ডরি
কভু কারে। ক্ষমা যেথা ক্ষীণ দুর্বলতা,
হে রুদ্র, নিষ্ঠুর যেন হতে পারি তথা
তোমার আদেশে। যেন রসনায় মম
সত্যবাক্য ঝলি উঠে খরখড়গসম
তোমার ইঙ্গিতে। যেন রাখি তব মান
তোমার বিচারাসনে লয়ে নিজস্থান।
অন্যায় যে করে আর অন্যায় যে সহে
তব ঘৃণা যেন তারে তৃণসম দহে।
Tomar Nyayer Dando (Your Mace of Justice)
Translation based on an original by Dilip Mitra
Your mace of justice You bestow upon Man
On the judge’s seat, You grant me this place
And to rule from it You have commanded, o Lord.
May I uphold your glory, with justness and grace?
This granted honor, this onerous task,
I pray to You that I perform,
With head bowed and a reverent heart,
And without fear, uphold Your norm.
Where mercy is a flaw if You sound
May my ruthlessness know no bound
And at Your gesture, through my voice
May truth strike falsehood down to the ground.
He who commits wrong or condones the same,
May your contempt singe like a reed in flame.
