Be a Rajarshi – A King from Outside and A Saint from Inside

Today’s post is very very special for me. You must have noticed that I always repeat the statement “Live your best life. Live your best life.” But what is ‘best life’? Well definition of best life is very different for different persons. But it can be generalized as ‘living upto your highest potentials, enjoying life at its best at every parameters, making a difference to the world’. So far, I’ve got the best definition as: “Living your best life means being a Rajarshi. Rajarshi = Raja (King) + Rishi (Saint). Your best life is when you will have wealth, name, fame – all external forms of abundance like a king, and also kindness, humility, giving heart, spirituality – all inner gifts of a saint.” And you know this definition changed my entire life. How? Keep reading.

The Person Who Taught Me This

I was in class XI or XII then, studying in Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur. We used to have a subject named “Indian Culture” or “IC”. We had this subject every year, from class V to XII. Truth to be told, all of us used to hate the subject, as most of the monks who used to teach us the subject were very boring and impractical. But Swami Suparnanandaji or Satyada ( principal of our college section at that time) approached the subject in totally different way. I can’t remember the exact day, or I don’t know whether that class seemed special for anyone else than me, but the day Satyada taught us the concept of ‘Rajarshi’ , was a turning point of my life.

How Satyada Explained the Concept of ‘Rajarshi’

That day he started the IC class explaining that we can mostly find 2 types of ambitious people in our world.

1. Those who want to be Raja ( King): People who value money, name, fame, looks and similar material possessions above everything else. But the problem is most of the times they fail to find peace in life, even after achieving all material success. Inspite of having all the wealth in the world, neither can they be happy from within, nor can they impact the world. As they don’t have a ‘giving heart’, as they are too attached to their ‘possessions’, they are unable to use their wealth to make a difference in other’s lives, also they always live in a fear of losing what they have.
2. Those who want to be Rishi (Saint): There are another type of ambitious people in the world. Who doesn’t value material possessions much, for some reasons. They focus more on their inner growth. They purify their intentions. They work on attaining peace, unconditional happiness. They develop extreme kindness for all living being. They work on building a connection with the higher power/ God/ source energy. As they have a ‘giving heart’ and not attached to anything, they love serving people. Yes they can make an impact guiding some people to spiritual path, but the problem is they’ll not be able to show the path to peace to majority of the people who are involved in all worldly affairs. It’s very easy to attain peace for a saint, meditating on a mountain top, escaping from all the troubles and responsibilities of the world. But how can that saint impact in lives of the mothers who are busy 24 x 7 taking care of their kids? How can they give solution to youth who are facing competitions, heartbreaks? Also, their good intention and spiritual power won’t be enough to feed the hungry, or provide medicine to the ill, education to uneducated. For that money is needed, which a saint doesn’t have.

You know when Satyada was telling all these, I was mesmerized! I have never heard any other monks in Narendrapur speak like that. Most of them always tried to portray that ‘being a saint / monk is the noblest thing to be’. But Satyada was frankly accepting their limitations. He continued: Thus to live your best life, and impact the world in most positive way, I will suggest you to be a Rajarshi. 

Who is a Rajarshi?

Rajarshi = Raja ( King) + Rishi (Saint)

Imagine a person who have all the material success like name, fame, money whatever you think of. Also health, relationship at its best. But inspite of living in this chaotic world, the person take time go deep within to find peace. Though the person appreciates all their outer achievements, but understands the true wealth lies within. The person owns so many things, but is not attached to anything. The person is admired, adored, may be worshiped by many, but still remains humble and down-to-earth. Even if others criticize or point finger at the person, their self image doesn’t get affected. The person isn’t afraid to lose anything, rather eager to share their wealth and wisdom to make an impact to the world. A person with the qualities of both a king and a saint is called Rajarshi. When Satyada finished I was having goosebumps. I still remember approaching him after the class, and asking “Satyada, can you tell me some names who are Rajarshis?” I will never forget his answer. ” You have to find dear. Best, be one yourself.”

At That Very Moment My Life Changed

I felt from deep inside that I really wanted to be a Rajarshi. I wanted to find more and more people who are ‘Rajarshi’s. I wanted to inspire people become ‘Rajarshi’s.

What Happened Next Day

If you are expecting that I did something dramatic next day, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Because next day I forgot everything under the pressure of my IIT JEE, WBJEE, AIEEE … and other exam preparations. I lost myself again in the rat race.

The Day I Was Reminded of The Concept Again

After nearly 2 years, when I was in Shibpur BE College, studying Electronics & Telecommunication, I was invited to attend a seminar on a business concept. When I heard the business concept, and saw the successful people, I was reminded of the concept of ‘Rajarshi’ again. Gradually I dared to ignore my Engineering studies which I hated, and started learning more and more about success, life, personal growth. Started reading lives of successful people. I started finding many examples of ‘Rajarshi’s from the past and present.

Examples of Rajarshi

You can find many ancient kings – from Indian king Harshavardhana to Roman empire Marcus Aurelius, to have the qualities of a ‘Rajarshi’.

There are many more examples in recent times also. I want to mention two people in this post –

Bill Gates

If you know Bill Gates as just one of the richest persons in the world or the founder of Microsoft, I’m sure you are not following the awesome philanthropic activities he is doing with his wife through Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. When you can find many Billionaires are busy in ‘whose yacht is biggest’ game, Bill Gates is setting an example for Rich people by making a difference in common people’s lives. He is not only giving away money, but also actively participating in social works. He has also inspired many other Billionaires to dedicate most of their wealth to philanthropy. Check The Giving Pledge. Bill Gates is a true Rajarshi, atleast in my eyes.

Sachin Tendulkar

A man who is, and always will be a legend cricketer. Who is admired by the people from all over the world for his achievements. Ofcourse he is rich. But inspite of all his success, name, fame, he is one of the most humble and down-to-earth person I have ever seen. Not only that, he is also a great family man for his parents, wife and children. Don’t you think he is a ‘Rajarshi’ too?

The Future I Envision

I don’t know whether you are buying into the lie that the world is becoming a bad place day by day, but incase you are, let me tell you the truth. If you just stop focusing on the bad, you’ll be able to see that the world is moving towards the most beautiful era. More and more people are waking up to the unlimited possibilities of human potential. More and more opportunities are being created, where one can succeed by helping others to succeed, not counting on their failures. More than ever in the history of mankind, successful people are disclosing their secrets, extending helping hands to others. I feel very excited to envision a future with many ‘Rajarshi’s who will be transforming this world to a magical place. I am working on being one myself. I’m trying to help those too, who also want to be a ‘Rajarshi’. Don’t you want to be a Rajarshi? What do you think of the concept? Who are the people in your mind, whom you can call ‘Rajarshi’? I’d love to know what you think in the comment section.