MAHABHARAT- DRAUPADI'S PARDON

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Draupadi’s make shift tenement was filled with shrills and bloody echoes of wail. The holy war of Mahabharat had just about ended. In which Pandavas had had a thumping victory. But in spite of all this, there was a frightening and lasting lament in Pandava’s camp. But no one exactly knew why? When suddenly, Pandavas ran towards the chamber of Panchali from where these hell cries were coming.

    The scene was truly gruesome. As there lay dead, the severed heads of all the five sons of Draupadi in a pool of blood. That was even smeared on their torso. Dharmraj Yudhistir couldn’t bear the scene when he whimpered, ‘Draupadi … its heart rendering.’ And beyond that he couldn’t utter a word. Perhaps, with these few words, his unqualified agony together with surprise and inquisition, all came alive in one go.

    Upon witnessing the gory scene, Gandeevdhari Arjun’s shoulders started twitching. He couldn’t control himself, and yelled in anger—‘except for that morbid devil Ashwaththama. Who else could have carried out this ghastly crime? Wipe your tears Devi. As I enter into a pratigya, that I will make this rogue prostrate at your feet. I will squash him with my legs, so that you can bathe with his blood.’ And then Arjun requested Krishna to be his charioteer. He then wore his armour and lifted his Gandeev and charged after Ashwaththama. Clean-handed Pandavas were now listless, at the brutal murder of their sons. They were now getting wild and ferocious and wanted revenge forthwith. Under the circumstances, scared Ashwaththama couldn’t have remained out of their clutches for long.

    Arjun was beginning to get restless. He asked, ‘Madhusudhan, what should we do with this rogue? How should we punish him?’ And, before, he could even completed his sentence, Lord Krishna in an angry tone reacted—‘Parth! A rascal Brahmin’s execution, alone, is the way out. And this was your vow too. So, where is the question of any permission in this?’

    But while grieving on her dead sons, when Draupadi saw Guruputra Ashwaththama tied in ropes and lying in the room. She stood up and started pleading for mercy with Arjun—‘Prannath! Please forgive him.’

    But Arjun remained adamant. He said, ‘Draupadi sit on his chest—I want you to bathe with his blood.’

    Draupadi continued beseeching in her gruff timbre. She folded her hands to namaskar Ashwaththama and then addressed Arjun—‘Aryaputra! Ashwaththama happens to be the son of the same hallowed person from whom you have learnt superior war skills. He is also a Brahmin and therefore respectable to Chatriyas. And his mother Kripi is even alive today for the sake of her motherhood, where she sees her son Ashwaththama as her only motive in life and doesn’t follow her husband anymore. Nath! Also, my sons won’t return to life even if Ashwaththama is sent to the gallows. The way I’m weeping for them. His mother too will weep for him, and God only knows what else she might do. In case I can’t give happiness to someone, why should I be the reason for his sorrow?’

    Arjun, along with all his brothers was watching this amazing scene of morality being spelt out by Draupadi. Standing on the side was Bakenbihari in his usual manner in a calm posture. He slowly came forward and sarcastically said—‘what happened Arjun, why have you stopped? Come on lift the sword.’

    Arjun bowed at Lord Srikrishna and said—‘Madhav please pull me out of this dharmsankat’

    Srikrishna as if testing Arjun’s patience said—‘I am once again repeating my orthodoxical tenet to you. And, mind you. I am repeating it for your benefit alone parth!—Not to kill a fallen Brahmin, but to kill a miscreant—this alone is the ultimate dharma.’

    Arjun was spellbound for a moment. But he was a celebrator of wisdom and knowledge. And for him, as if this golden, primordial hint was enough. He acted forthwith. By pulling out the mani embedded in Ashwaththama’s forehead and thereafter tonsuring him. He then left him to wander as an insulted Brahmin who is like a dead person.

    Thus without killing the Brahmin, Arjun gave Ashwaththama punishment equivalent to death and fulfilled his pratigya.

Glossary

Panchali – another name of Draupadi

Gandeevdhari- the bearer of bow—Arjun

Devi – Divine Draupadi

Gandeev - Bow

Pratigya- Vow

Madhav/Bakenbihari/Madhusudhan-  Another name of Lord Krishna

Parth- One who doesn’t miss his target. Name given to Arjun by Lord Krishna

Prannath- Lord of life

Namaskar- Hindu greetings.

Aryaputra - Noble prince.

Nath- Lord.

Dharm sankat- moral ambiguity

Mani-jewel

    Extracted from Srimad bhagwat puran.

*****

POEM: DHAKA TERROR

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

You adventured to kill, but in the process you too got killed,

And one wonders who asked you to kill?

For if it wasn’t your teachers and friends in college,

Your peers in places, and your siblings and folks indoors,

And God in heaven,

Just who was it who asked you to kill?

*

You shot so many in a bloody,

When someone had to shoot you in a scurry,

You stood for someone unknown,

Trusted him more than the known,

But was it for any holy throne?

*

To you sermons through social media mattered more,

And not the grace of Holy Text,

Nor the lineage of societal touch that you chose to ignore,

You hallucinated as if killing was the right path,

And the rest needed to be ignored.

*

And now when you’re gone,

Leaving behind a storm,

God says,

Son I had sent you there,

To conquer the storm, and not to create a storm.

*

Where the world was your oyster,

And so much was still there for you,

As you had hardly arrived,

To create capture and destroy,

*

But isn’t it sad my son,

That you only created the bloody killings,

Destroyed human values,

And, captured the Holy Grail.

*

And remember my son,

If all would start killing who will create,

And for you,

Without seeing the world,

Without feeling the world,

And without admiring the world,

You decided to slaughter the world,

So now remain unwept and unsung,

In your unrealized world,

While my slain sons and daughters shall rest with me in peace.

*****

This is a tribute to all those killed in Dhaka terrorist attack. Most of the terrorists who struck here were young and from high families so then how did their values change so much in a short period of time that they created this mayhem?

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

In the annals of Indian history compiled by historians who pledged their prolonged allegiance to Congress, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) was always projected as an untouchable organization along with its off-shoots, one of which was even held responsible for the gruesome murder of Mahatma Gandhi—father of the nation, and together they all are blamed for fuelling communal disharmony in the country. So much so that very recently Congress leader and Rajya Sabha M.P. Ghulam Nabi Azad mindlessly compared RSS with ISIS. But be that as it may, it may not be out of context to say that Indian history was mis-written on several pages by these historians. Reason: Because it was biased towards RSS and not in sync with what was happening in the neighbourhood of new born India. It did not even deal with the regional demography and its effect on India and was devoid of prospective anticipation of how the troublesome neighbourhood of India is likely to be after a bunch of few decades.

     In the annals of Indian history compiled by historians who pledged their prolonged allegiance to Congress, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) was always projected as an untouchable organization along with its off-shoots, one of which was even held responsible for the gruesome murder of Mahatma Gandhi—father of the nation, and together they all are blamed for fuelling communal disharmony in the country. So much so that very recently Congress leader and Rajya Sabha M.P. Ghulam Nabi Azad mindlessly compared RSS with ISIS. But be that as it may, it may not be out of context to say that Indian history was mis-written on several pages by these historians. Reason: Because it was biased towards RSS and not in sync with what was happening in the neighbourhood of new born India. It did not even deal with the regional demography and its effect on India and was devoid of prospective anticipation of how the troublesome neighbourhood of India is likely to be after a bunch of few decades.

    I always feel any historical perspective should always be dipped at leisure in the demographic paste of the past and the present and the anticipated gush of future much before it is presented to the world to have an unbiased view. But unfortunately it was not presented in that manner and so RSS remained a villain of all times. RSS, was formed on 27^th September 1925 on the day of Vijay-Dashmi, and would be celebrating its centenary in less than a decade and thus has come a long way since then. It was banned during the British Raj and thereafter thrice in the post independence era but more for political reasons. But RSS couldn’t care less as recently it has decided to graduate into trousers replacing those vintage shorts in an attempt to jerk off some of its vintage looks. But will it also change its inveterate mindset is something we need to wait and watch, but I’m sure it’ll surely try and bolster its global image across the world.

       For Congress and other left-of-centre pseudo-secular parties; RSS remains that untouchable ball of fire that will only disintegrate the country. But then the moot question is who brought about the painful disintegration of India in 1947? For RSS was just about twenty-two years old then, when Congress was about fifty two and definitely more matured and resourceful. And moreover the typical slippery and conniving mindset that is brewing in India for a long time now is; support the Muslim minority and get the Sikh minority killed in riots and you won’t be called unsecular. This is what Congress did in 1984 Sikh riots. So can one call Congress a secular party?

    As of now RSS bashing is vital and important for pseudo-secular parties to survive and trade vote bank politics and will continue to be so as long as they can fool the Muslim minority of the country that RSS is a threat to them, but with continued co-existence of RSS and the Muslims the fear and misunderstanding falsely crafted will only subside as per the law of time.

    The mission statement of RSS says it was formed:

    ‘For the welfare of entire mankind, Bharath must stand before the world as a self-confident, resurgent and mighty nation. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has resolved to fulfil this age-old national mission by forging the present-day scattered Hindu Society into an organized and invincible force both on the plane of Adhyaatma and on the plane of material life. Verily this is the one real practical world mission – if ever there was one.

    The mission of reorganizing the Hindu society on the lines of its unique national genius which the Sangh has taken up is not only a great process of true national regeneration of Bharat but also the inevitable precondition to realize the dream of world unity and human welfare.  Our one supreme goal is to bring to life the all-round glory and greatness of our Hindu Rashtra.

    In order to take our nation to the pinnacle of glory, the first and foremost prerequisite is the invincible organized life of the people without which even the highest national prosperity will crumble to dust in no time.

    Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Sangh is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory through organizing the entire society and ensuring the protection of Hindu Dharma.’

    While some may find the mission statement to be bearable, some others may find it as incendiary, but that’s up to them. But to me it appears; it delves more in uniting the otherwise fragile Hindus and their ethos hitherto divided so much by caste, class, language and even state. In fact both British Raj and Congress instead of bridging the gap left no stone unturned in widening it. This is what RSS wants to rectify and so it should not be misunderstood as aggression or a lurking danger against any minority community as often projected by pseudo-secular parties and the media. Hindus were never receptive to unite under any single temple or deity like the Muslims do under the name of ‘Allah.’ So in some ways RSS tried to act only as a counter balance in the demographic space of India and I doubt if it will ever go ballistic first, and that too like ISIS.

    Political parties can’t be relied upon for protection of a particular religion or faith completely as they first nurture their own selfish needs where their first priority is always their vote bank. Congress today doesn’t know where to look at ever since other pro Muslim parties have spring up and their Muslim vote bank has shrunk (In Lok Sabha only 44 seats) and for the majority they never bothered. Most Muslims and Christians even when they lean on left wing parties still cannot afford to stay away from their mosques and churches that issues diktats about whom to vote which is not the case with Hindu temples. Political parties confine you to geographical boundaries and nations whereas mosques and churches make you global but not temples.

    Hindus though intelligent were never a marshal race, rather for over four hundred years they have been gullible and subservient; be it under the rule of the Mughal Sultanate or the British Raj. They were always naive and never united under a religious banner and had big individual egos and therefore were always exploited individually by their opponents. Their temples never united them, and on the contrary their day-to-day living only separated them by caste wars. As compared to Islam and Christianity where churches and mosques were heard and acted upon temples had practically no say in moulding important milestones decisions of Hindus except for milestone rituals. So no temple could have brought Hindus together and that is where RSS came into picture to hold the hands of Hindus and fill the gap, and not to launch an onslaught on any other religion. Earlier Sikhism was formed as a marshal force and religion to protect Hindus from the onslaught of Afghan and Mughal invasions.

    If we compare the world demographics and religions across various countries and colonies we will find there are 161 countries where Christianity is in a majority; 49 where Muslims are in a majority; in 7 countries unaffiliated religions rule the roost; 3 countries where Hindus are in a majority; 7 where Buddhists are in a majority; 3 countries where Folk Religion guides the majority and 1 where Jews are in a majority. Whereas Christianity is more predominant in other continents such as Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand just to name a few; Islam and Hinduism on the other hand largely dominate Asia and the Middle East and that to neck-to-neck. As compared to Muslim adherents of 1.12 billion in the region Hindus number around 1.03 billion. I’m placing the vital statistics on the table as that will only expose the tilt of the heft and the crucible required to balance the heft.

    66% of the world’s Muslims reside in Asia and the Middle East. They are 27% of the total population of Asia and the Middle East with around 1.12 billion adherents and thus the heart of Muslim civilisation on earth. And it is noticeable they share space with over a billion Hindus in the same region. But there is always a tug-of-war between the two on strength and mettle.

    If we further zero in on South Asia which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka we will find 48 crore Muslims stay in South Asia which is about 28% of the world’s Muslim population and 30% of the population of South Asia and in comparison there are around 102 crore Hindus residing in South Asia which is around 98% of the total Hindu population of the world and around 64% of the total population of South Asia. And with a little over 95% of world’s Hindus living in India alone, a mind game of sorts is always on the prowl, where RSS plays the card of Hindu saviour and where Congress and other pseudo-secular parties are considered minority protectors.

    RSS came into wider relevance and recognition ever since terrorism escalated in J&K where Kashmiri Pandits had to flee the valley and the Congress government in the centre did nothing effective about it. It also raised its voice whenever Hindu minorities were crushed in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries. Even the illegal entry of Bangladeshis into Assam was overlooked if not encouraged by the Congress government that changed the demographic pattern of Assam. Thus it was also because of the Congress that RSS started gaining traction in India and today the antenna of RSS goes even beyond the borders of India and stands as a peaceful Hindu insignia whether you like it or not.

    But times have changed. Besides trousers RSS should also think of broad banding their base and get in their fold the dalits and minorities. And India needs to realise as long as you have vote bank politics organisations like RSS will come up to take the cause of the neglected.

*****

-

  

THE MUSLIM RANT OF DONALD TRUMP

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

   

    Donald Trump was being willfully scandalous when he recently said that the U.S. should shut its doors on all Muslims as his verbal assault to the equally outrageous gunning down of civilians in California by a couple owning allegiance to ISIS. Was it a campaign stunt to pacify the public mood, or just a stray ambient outburst one can’t say. But any which way Trump shot himself in the foot with his off the cuff remark. A person of Trump’s stature who happens to be a billionaire and an aspirant for the Republican nomination surely overlooked the demographic sketch of his own country; whether by sheer ignorance or design he alone knows but by doing so he labeled Muslims in general as derogatory stereotype.

     On the other hand ‘Uncle Sam’ poses itself as the big daddy of the world, showing deep concern for everyone in the planet. Simultaneously, it even keeps track of the maze of weaponry better than anyone else in the world. It also preaches terrorism is a curse, yet remains one of the largest suppliers of arms in the world.  And with these analogies one can safely say Donald Trump exactly knew what he wanted to say and it was not just an off the cuff remark; and it may not be out of context to ask, if he orated what Republicans had in mind?

    If we for a moment run through the world’s demography we will find, out of a total world population of 7.26 billion people; 2.40 billion (33.06%) are Christians; 1.70 billion (23.41%) are Muslims; 1.13 billion (15.56%) belong to the unaffiliated religions (The religiously unaffiliated include atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion); 1.08 billion (14.87%) are Hindus; 0.49 billion (6.75%) are Buddhists; 0.40 billion (5.50%) practice the Folk Religion (The precise definition of folk religion varies among scholars. Sometimes also termed popular belief, it consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of a religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices); 0.06 billion (0.83%) belong to the other religions and 0.01 billion (0.01%) are Jews.

    Islam therefore, is the second largest faith on earth with around 1.7 billion adherents and not just a race that Trump’s U.S might think of doing without. But currently it is quite definitely under duress, going through some trying times because of Islamic fundamentalism, that at its worst perpetrates holocausts in the form of terrorism and because of that, average Muslims are losing their sheen and are not apparently welcomed in some of the most developed and powerful countries and continents of the world such as the U.S., Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand to name a few, for no fault of theirs. But by ranting about Muslims Donald Trump has not only added salt to their wounds but has also hoodwinked the American public in general and let me tell you how. For, you can shut your doors and that too for sometime on something that is flooding but not on something that is seeping under your door.

    If we analyze various religions vis-à-vis countries and colonies we will find there are: 161 countries where Christianity is in a majority; 49 where Muslims are in a majority; 7 countries where unaffiliated religions rule the roost; 3 countries where Hindus are in a majority; 7 where Buddhists are in a majority; 3 countries where folk religion is in a majority and 1 where the Jews are in a majority.

    The data above only tells us that the World Muslim Population by percentage (Pew Research Center, 2014), constitutes the world's second largest religious group. And if we dig in a little more on the Muslim population across the world we will find.

Concentration of Muslim population

    66% of the world’s Muslims reside in Asia and the Middle East. They are 27% of the total population of Asia and Middle East with around 1.12 billion adherents and thus the heart of Muslim civilization on earth. And it is notable they share space with over a billion Hindus in the same region. Balance 34% of the Muslim population is spread across other continents and countries such as Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Australia & New Zealand, Melanesia, Caribbean, Micronesia, Mexico & Central America and Polynesia.

    Africa is home to 26% of the world’s Muslim population and 43% of Africa’s population is Muslim. So not surprisingly, Asia, Middle East and Africa together notch up 92% of the world’s Muslim population. And only a paltry 8% is left for the powerful and affluent countries and continents to share. Out of that let us glance at Europe and America.

    Europe has a total of 2.56 % of the world’s Muslim population and 5.85% of Europe’s population is Muslim. If we take Australia and New Zealand, 0.03% of the world’s Muslim population lives there which is 2.2% of their population. South America is home to around 6.7 lac Muslims which is around 0.04% of the world Muslim population and 0.17% of their own population.

    But coming back specifically to Donald Trump, North America is home to only around 35.08 lac Muslims which is 0.2% of the world’s Muslim population and only 1.02% of their total population. Coming to the U.S. in particular, it is home to only 0.16% of world’s Muslim population, which is only 0.9% of their own population. So the point is whether Trump says it or not the Muslim population unlike Asia, Middle East and Africa has traditionally been extremely low in the U.S. and whether it was restricted by design or was never a favourite habitat of the Muslims in particular is a different question altogether.

    A Breibart News review of the State Department and Homeland Security data reveals that the United States already admits more than a quarter of a million Muslim migrants each year. President Obama intends to add another 10,000 Syrian migrants on top. In 2013 alone 1,17,423 migrants from Muslim majority countries were permanently  resettled within the United States. Additionally in 2013 the US voluntarily admitted an extra 1,22,921 temporary migrants from Muslim countries, as foreign students and foreign workers as well as 39,932 refugees from other Muslim countries.

    Even though every year the U.S. admits a number of Muslim migrants larger in size than the entire population of Des Moines, Oowa; Lincoln, Nebraska; or Dayton, Ohio but still it remains a miniscule and therefore it is not flooding but seeping where closing of doors doesn’t help.

    The lethal point therefore is that US cannot do without the best of brains whether they come from Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Unaffiliated, Buddhist, Folk Religion, Jews or any other religion; And Trump’s US will have to realize that you can’t continue to be the big daddy of the world by closing doors on faiths.

*****

Story: An insight into religious conversion

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    One wonders at times, if individuals are in the habit of peeping into their family history and more importantly their family tree as a giveaway to their posterity. Well if they are, they would surely know the names of their ancestors beyond their Grandfather; that is grandfather’s father and even his father and also his father’s father.

    It is widely believed many Muslims in India have converted from Hinduism. And that makes me wonder how the present generation of Muslims deal with their forefathers and ancestors who were Hindus; with love or hate? This is an emotional topic that is often thought of by inquisitive individuals but never spoken about, even in the serene and quiet corners of their homes. Also the society in general doesn’t want to dig into this tabooed adventure, and so be it. Yet there is an undying inquisition at times to know more about such happenings.

    Let us as a hypothesis think about a person named Brij Singh, son of Prakriti Singh, who some two hundred years ago converted into Islam and named himself as Shamsher Khan. If we were to take sixty years to be as one ‘generation’ that would mean this would be Shamsher Khan’s fifth generation as a Muslim, flaunting their surname as Khan. Let me further suppose that one out of the current descendant of Prakriti Singh is Amjad Khan, who knows about Prakriti Singh as part of his ancestry.

    Then my inquisition would run wild as I would like to fathom from Amjad Khan as to how he deals and feels about his ancestry and does he have any feelings for Prakriti Singh and Brij Singh, the last Hindu mark in his long lineage. Also, if he is proud and fond of his Hindu forefathers and his lineage or has he grown up hating them or revering them or thinking it is a zone where he should not enter. And, last but not the least if it is a stalemate issue beyond Amjad Khan’s comprehension.

    Often the friction point is the religion of a person. But can religion wash away the truism off an individual’s lineage is the big question; answer of which is only to be felt by the individual and never to be spoken about.

    Perhaps, this remains the weakness of mankind where, when one is bulldozed by religion he gives up on his lineage. While one may cosmetically try and overlook his lineage over his religion, but it is difficult to wash away the truism of life.

    And if the theory of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family) is not a myth we reach a point, that the world is but one family even if people may have converted into various religions and your lineage is a bliss and not a curse.

***

        

        

POETRY: WHEN I STUMBLED IN LIFE

 copyright@kamleshsujsta1

By Kamlesh Tripathi

WHEN I STUMBLED IN LIFE

Whenever I stumbled in life,

It was only because of absence of light,

And the more I allowed darkness to remain and reign,

Is when light abstained.

*

 For absence of light is dark,

Bereft of eyes is dark,

Absence of knowledge is dark,

For darkness always resides in care-of.

*

In the medley of life,

Darkness is death and oxygen is light,

And when the sunsets, darkness too rests,

But upon sunrise darkness strikes.

*

Darkness laughs at the failures of light,

But light never finds the trace of darkness,

Darkness thinks light is scared,

When, light doesn’t even get a chance to dare.

*

In the hot chase of life,

Chase out darkness and bring in light,

For light is the beacon, but darkness a crime,

And, all in the bickering of time.

*

 And ever in the windmills of life,

If darkness strikes,

Blame only yourself,

For you did not follow the light.

****  

Short story: The greedy farmer

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

Long time ago there lived a lazy farmer in the countryside who wanted to become rich without making any effort. One day he learnt of a Mahatma (noble and learned person) who lived in the jungles and about whom it was famous that by visiting and praying to him one could fulfill his wishes.

    The Mahatma after peacefully listening to the farmer agreed to fulfill his wishes. He assured him, ‘I will give you a mantra which will make you rich.’ And soon he passed on a mantra to the farmer.

    The farmer was now exuberant about the comforting thought that without any effort he will become rich. But as he was about to leave, the Mahatma called him back and said, ‘Arrey, I forgot to tell you something important. The moment you start feeling weary of monkeys this mantra will become ineffective, and then you will not get the fruits of this mantra.’

    Upon hearing this, the farmer started laughing and said, ‘Mahatma ji, you don’t worry, monkeys have neither troubled me in the fields nor in thoughts. And, for a long time I have not even dreamt of monkey.’ And, after replying the Mahatma the farmer quickly rushed to his house and started preparing for a ritualistic recital of the sacred mantra.

    And the moment he uttered the mantra he got terrified, because he thought of ‘monkey.’ Thereon, whenever he uttered the mantra, he thought of monkey. And soon, every moment the thought of monkey started troubling him. So much so that monkey even started coming in his dreams. And, by now the thought of monkey had truly disturbed him, while he was awake and also while he was sleeping.

    After some days the farmer was quite terrified and saddened as the thought of monkey had almost plagued his mind. And, when he was unable to bear this he went running to the Mahatma and fell on his feet and started sobbing, ‘Mahatma ji, I am extremely distressed and I have lost my peace of mind. I have no desire of becoming rich and you please take your mantra back and save me from the thought of monkey.’

    This story is from Indian Upanishads and reveals our mindset which like a monkey is never in our control. This story also conveys goals are important but equally important is the means to get to your goal.