Pravara – the Superior

« The ushtra (camel) type of listener leaves off the sweet things and takes delight in the opposite ones like the camel which grazes the (bitter) margosa fruit setting aside the (sweet) mango mixed with it» (Bhagavad-gītā, 11.33).

The verse quoted refers to the different types of listeners of the Śrīmadbhāgavata. They are divided into superior (pravara) and inferior (avara). The ushtra type listener belongs to the second type, considered an inferior listener. He is inferior because he fails to grasp the good, the teaching hidden under the deeds, and takes only the bitterness of what is narrated.

Pessimism makes you reluctant to the idea that a new beginning could be possible, Leo. It seems to you that you have already “seen” everything there was to see. The reality is that in the next few years there will be unexpected news and that what now seems inevitably compressed will open up into something positively new and a little taste of all this could already arrive at the end of this month. 

On the first day of the year some people in India drink a mixture of margosa flower and sugar. This is to give a taste of the year to come, which, like every year, has a mixture of sweet and bitter. It is up to those who taste to focus their attention more on one flavor than the other, it is up to the listener to be a pravara!

IN PRACTICE  

Vakra vira-āsana, rotated hero pose

A proud position that at the same time makes you open to grasp what is around you. 

Awareness exercise

Every day is a new day. Every day is different from the day before. Stop every evening for two minutes in a meditative position and think about what was new in your day, even if it was a small thing. 

Mantra of the month

«Margosa or mango?».