4 min readJun 4, 2026 06:28 AM IST First published on: Jun 4, 2026 at 06:20 AM ISTA young man once asked his grandfather, “What is the secret of a peaceful life?” The old man smiled and placed three cups on the table. In the first, he poured water until it overflowed. In the second, he added sugar until the tea became impossible to drink. In the third, he placed a lamp and kept adding oil until the flame turned smoky. Then he said, “Even good things lose their beauty when they cross the limit.” This is the wisdom behind the Sanskrit saying: “Ati darpe hata Lanka, ati mane cha Kauravah; Ati dane Balir baddhah, sarvam atyantam garhitam (Lanka was destroyed by excessive arrogance. The Kauravas fell because of excessive pride. King Bali was bound because of excessive giving. Therefore, anything in excess becomes dangerous)>”Adhik Maas, the sacred extra month in the Hindu calendar, comes like a divine pause button. It reminds us that life also needs adjustment. Just as the calendar needs correction, our inner life also needs correction. For the youth, Adhik Maas says: Ambition is good, but comparison can burn the mind. Success is beautiful; ego can destroy it. Social media may give applause, but it can also create restlessness. Dream big, but do not lose yourself in the race.AdvertisementFor the middle-aged, it says: Responsibility is noble, but constant anxiety is not. Earning is necessary, but endless greed is not. Caring for family is sacred, but forgetting the self is not wisdom. For the elderly, it says, memories are precious, but bitterness is heavy. Experience is a gift, but attachment to control can disturb peace. Bless more, complain less, and become a shelter of calmness for the next generation. Kazi Nazrul Islam reminds us that no one’s condition remains unchanged forever. Today’s king may become tomorrow’s seeker. Power, youth, wealth, fame and beauty all move like clouds. His poetic vision teaches us that arrogance is foolish because time is stronger than all crowns.Rabindranath Tagore offers another deep lesson. He suggests that sometimes, when life does not give us everything we desire, it may actually be saving us. Denial is not always punishment. A closed door may be protection. A delay may be preparation. A loss may be purification. A limitation may save us from excess. History, scripture and poetry, therefore, speak the same language. Ravana had knowledge, power and prosperity, but arrogance made him blind. The Kauravas had strength and privilege, but pride made them unjust. Bali had generosity, but even generosity needed surrender before the divine. Adhik Maas is not asking us to reject life. It is asking us to refine life. Eat, but not with indulgence. Work, but not with obsession. Love, but not with possession. Give, but not with pride. Lead, but not with arrogance. Worship, but not with display. Let us take one small vow: To reduce one excess from our life. Less anger. Less ego. Less comparison. Less greed. Less complaint. And let us add one virtue: Gratitude, humility, patience, kindness or prayer. Because life does not collapse in one day. It collapses when excess slowly becomes our nature. And life does not become sacred by one grand act. It becomes sacred when balance becomes our way of living.Joshi is a Mumbai-based endocrinologist. Samajdar is a clinical pharmacologist and diabetes and allergy-asthma therapeutics specialist in Kolkata