यथा चित्तं तथा वाचो यथा वाचस्तथा क्रिया ।

चित्ते वाचि क्रियायां च साधूनामेकरूपता ॥

yaThaa chiththam thaThaa vaacho yaThaa vaachasthaThaa kriyaa | 

chiththe vaachi kriyaayaam cha saaDhoonaamekaroopathaa ||

Meaning: 

Thoughts transform into words which result in actions. There is alignment in the thoughts, words and actions of good people.

In this episode, Dr. N. Hema Malini, Madhavi Nadig and Chai Nadig discuss the interdependence of thoughts, words and actions.

• A similar subhashitha is

मनस्येकं वचस्येकं कर्मण्येकं महात्मनाम् ।

मनस्येकं वचस्येकं कर्मण्येकं दुरात्मनाम् ॥ 

manasyekam vachasyekam karmaNyekam mahathmanaam | 

manasyekam vachasyekam karmaNyekam durathmanaam ||

• Dr. Hema Malini interprets this as, “There is alignment in the mind, words and actions of great people. But, wicked folks' thoughts, words, and deeds vary from one another, without congruity."
• Chai introduces another variant of this subhashitha.

मनस्येकं वचस्येकं कर्मण्येकं महात्मनाम् ।

मनस्यन्यत्  वचस्यन्यत्  कर्मण्यन्यत्  दुरात्मनाम् ||

manasyekam vachasyekam karmaNyekam mahathmanaam | 

manasyanyath vachasyanyath karmaNyanyath durathmanaam ||

• He interprets this as, “While the thoughts,words and actions of the good people follow each other, the thoughts, words and actions of the wicked differ from those of the good people.”
• The former Indian President Dr. A.P.J. Abdum Kalam embodied the philosophy of unity in mind, words and action. He had the same goal before, during and after his presidency—promoting the education of children and the advancement of science.
• Chai recalls a poster that hung in room during his childhood with Lao Tzu’s quote:

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words.

Watch your words, they become your actions.

Watch your actions, they become your habits.

Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

• Thoughts influence words, which in turn influence actions and thus determine the character of a person.
• The reverse can be true too. Chai has seen this at work with volunteering.
• After doing something, one may speak about it to share it with others. In the process, they start thinking more about the topic and it influences their nature.
• Dr. Hema Malini recalls that her surgery professor made his students do exercises in psycho cybernetics. They had to mentally rehearse and visualize each step of a surgery and share the steps with him. Only then he permitted them to operate on the patient.
• Chai shares his journey as a new entrepreneur. Talking to multiple people about his idea, evolved the idea, brought his team to work on turning it into a reality and culminated in a usable product.
• Madhavi has a completely different take on the second subhashitha. “The very same person, with their single-minded, focused thoughts, words and actions can turn out to be good or bad or a bit of both.” 
• She shares the story of German chemist Fritz Haber as an example.
• By inventing a process for industrial production of ammonia and ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer, Fritz Haber solved the centuries-old problem of reintroducing nitrogen into the soil and increasing agricultural yields. Haber was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918. Today, 4 billion people benefit from the Haber-Bosch process. 
• Did you know that Fritz Haber is also the father of chemical warfare? He produced explosives from the very same ammonium nitrate. He introduced chlorine gas and other poisonous gases as weapons, killing thousands in World War I. His technology was used to kill millions of Jews during the Holocaust in World War II.
• Is Fritz Haber a mahatma for saving billions of people from hunger or a duratma for causing the death of millions?
• The Brahmabindu Upanishad says, “मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः ।”. The mind is the tool that either binds a person to materialism or evil, or grants them salvation through spirituality.

What did this subhashitha make you think of? Share it with us in a comment.

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