The Golden Lotus of the Blue Sea

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The Golden Lotus of the Blue Sea
Golden-lotus-cover.jpg
Cover from the Second Edition with Songs
Author Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
Language Bengali
Subject Children's Story
Publisher Ananda Marga Publications
Publication date 1981
Media type print
Pages 99
ISBN 9781304266934
Location in Sarkarverse
SVmap LiteraryWorks.png

Once there was a great lake in the farthest part of the Kingdom of Light where the blue sky bends over the green meadow. The people around called it "The Blue Sea" because of its crystal-clear blue water.

When the morning sun flooded the blue water with its crimson rays, when groups of ducks joyfully made their way through the water, the little boys and girls of the Kingdom of Light standing on the banks of the blue sea thought, "The Blue Sea is very ungenerous! It begets neither lily, nor lotus." Even the king was not unaware of this particular grievance of the children.

Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

The Golden Lotus of the Blue Sea is a children's story by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar.

Description

This lengthy but engaging tale is rich with metaphorical references to many of the key elements of philosophy and social theory given by Sarkar over the course of his life, including both PROUT and Neohumanism. There are also implicit references to persons and works appreciated by Sarkar, for example, Rabindranath Tagore and his poetry.

As is common in Sarkar's stories, this tale abounds in sensory information; and the story is packed with both humor and adventure. The story is instructive on numerous levels.

Moral of the story

Perhaps the overriding feature of the story is the compassion expressed for every character, good or bad, and, ultimately, for every entity of the universe. If there is a single moral in this story, then it would have to be to overcome śad́aripu[nb 1] and aśt́apásha[nb 2] in order to embrace universalism.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ The sad́aripu (six enemies) are káma (physical desire), krodhá (anger), lobha (avarice), mada (vanity), moha (blind attachment), and mátsarya (jealousy).
  2. ^ The aśt́apásha (eight fetters) are ghrńá (hatred or revulsion), shaḿká (doubt), bhaya (fear), lajjá (shyness or shame), jugupsá (dissemblance), kula (vanity of lineage), shiila (cultural superiority complex), and mána (egotism).

References

  1. ^ Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar The Golden Lotus of the Blue Sea