Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.

We have two epics as I always say. Ramayana is the epic, the history of the human mind, its potential, its possibilities, the different types of character, behavior and interaction the mind gives rise to. It is described and also related to the possible constitution in behavior of the human society. This was written in Treta Yuga. A whole yuga had passed and we are almost at the end of Dwāpara Yuga now. There, at the timely wicked gospel, wicked conversation of Manthara, Kaikeyi, who was otherwise a good person, beautiful person, extremely beloved to her King, she suddenly changed her stand. Our mind is susceptible to such volcanic changes. This is something that we should understand.

Which type of advice you should listen to, and which should be kept away from? My mother used to say in my pūrvāshram, “Whenever you see a duṣta or a wicked man, the code for us is to keep away from him.” Kaikeyi should have kept away from Manthara saying that, “I don’t want to hear you.” After all she was a maid servant, a hunchback also. Anybody who has got a physical defect, that defect in olden times particularly could not be rectified. Then in the case of a woman, the natural psychological propulsion will be to have a control and mastery over somebody who is beautiful. This is perhaps what Manthara was after. She was herself very ugly, so she wanted to rule the mind of the most beautiful queen of the palace and thereby the King also. Kaikeyi must have the good sense to recognize all these possibilities and kept away from listening to her. That could not happen.

Now in Dwāpara Yuga, it is not such a sporadic instance. It is not such a momentary development. On the other hand you will find, Duryodhana developed an intolerance, jealousy and rivalry, particularly towards Bhīma and Arjuna, and did everything that could harm the Pāndava brothers, particularly Bhīma. But all those things ultimately proved to be strengthening, encouraging and invigorating them.

So after having exiled the Pāndava brothers, some time passed, Duryodhana decided, “I should go and see their suffering. How much of privation they have, denial they have, how much of torment, struggle and strife they undergo, I must see it. Only by seeing it I will be happy.” So he along with his friends, relatives and friends together with a powerful army went to the forest. You know, don’t think that the universe is mute and it is insentient. Apparently there is a difference between the inert, insentient things of the world and the sentient things. This division is only for a convenience, comparison and contrast. But if you go into the origin of living beings, where from have they come? They have come from the earth, they have come from water, they have come from the air, they have come from sunlight, fire. If we are sentient, we have ‘jīvathwa’, the power of consciousness, how could this consciousness evolve from a source which is not conscious? Maybe consciousness is dormant in you, dormant in the panchabhūtas. If and when an occasion arises, just like the earth evolved a number of living creatures, the earth and the surrounding elements would also be responding to a critical situation upon the earth. So, this is what we call the higher powers etc. You have to understand it in a more rational manner.

So, the providential system started sensing the design and intention of Duryodhana and then later on it was known, that Indra had specially, specially deployed a huge Gandharva army to intercept and fight with Duryodhana. But Duryodhana did not know it. So the Gandharva intercepted them and a huge fight took place. Karna was a powerful hero. There was nobody there to match him. Both Duryodhana and Karna tried to fight with the Gandharvas but they were powerless. And ultimately Duryodhana, his wife and the others, all of them were made captives. Remaining in that captivity Duryodhana was shouting and crying aloud. “Oh Yudhishtira, my brother! Oh Yudhishtira, Arjuna, Bhīma, Nakula, Sahadeva! All of you come and relieve me, relieve me. I am in a distress.” He had no problem at all in calling out for distress. Yudhishtira sensed the situation and asked Bhīma. Bhīma said, “I will not go. Actually the Gandharvās are doing what we should have done. So we should be happy about it.”

He (Yudhishtira) said, “No. I cannot agree with you. You should understand, there are little-little quarrels and fights and competitions taking place in a family, and all these are not to be taken seriously. That is how we went into the game of dice, and ultimately we lost the kingdom, they have exiled us. We are supposed to remain here for fourteen years. But understand that all these are family squabbles like this. This is not a time to take revenge or to launch an offensive, nothing like that. Understand the principle." Just imagine this is a wonderful statement. "When an external element attacks a family, all the family members should stand together. We should be ‘vayam pancādhikam śatham’ (Vana Parva, Ghosha Yatra Parva, Mahabharata). We should be five over a hundred. All the hundred and five should stand together. But within a family when there is a fight ‘vayam panca śatham tu te’, they become hundred ranged against the five. So that is what happened then. Now it is an external enemy. So I would like you to go, you should go.”

“Arjuna, you should also go.”

So both of them went and Arjuna started showering arrows throughout the sky. Wherever the Gandharvas wanted to escape, he intercepted them and covered them, they could not know where to go, so much of arrow, thick arrows were there in the sky. Seeing this, Chitrasena, their leader came. He started fighting; there was no relief at all. So he appeared himself personally before Arjuna to say that, “I am now a friend. Do not fight me. Knowing the evil intention of Duryodhana, Indra had specially deployed us to intercept him and to capture him. That is what we have done. You should understand this. Now, do not fight with us, allow us to do what we want.”

Arjuna said, “No, it cannot be done. I have come here at the instance and command of Yudhishtira, who is a Dharma Raja. So let us go to him.”

All of them went. Duryodhana under captivity, he was a captive along with his wife. Yudhishtira said, “What is this? Release him first!” So Duryodhana was released. Nothing could be done. Can you imagine the humiliation and agony this wonderful man was put to? He was saved, alright. He had shouted for it, cried for it, and he got it. But he could not take the impact of the whole development.

He started lamenting and lamenting. “Actually we fought. Karna also fought, but we could not succeed. Don’t think that we have been freed by virtue of our prowess, our merit. It is Yudhishtira’s mercy. Mercy of whom? The enemy number one. How can I tolerate this situation? I cannot go back at all. Allow me to die. I will undergo prāyopaveśa, fasting unto death.” And he was bent upon it.

Shakuni spoke quite a lot. “Why are you feeling desperate? So many kings are loving you. I am here to again help you if necessary with the game of dice.” Shakuni said.

Karna started speaking with a lot of heroism, valor and pomp and glory. Finally he said, “I promise that I will kill Arjuna.” Then when he heard that he got a little revived and then he went back.

Now so much of cruelty was there. I find that we have heard about the prāyopaveśa of Parīkshit. Sreemad Bhagavata revolves around the prāyopaveśa of Parīkshit. He is also a ‘Pāndava Vamśaja’, a descendent of the Pāndava dynasty. Now we hear about the prāyopaveśa of Duryodhana. The war was coming to an end, almost ended. Ashwathāma alone was the one who survived and who started applying treacherous moves. At that point of time when Ashwathāma had killed Draupadi’s sons when they were all asleep, she was extremely wounded and hurt. She also underwent prāyopaveśa. "Unless Ashwathāma is captured, killed, his ‘maṇi’, his jewel is extracted; I am not going to live at all." Many people tried to pacify her. Nothing could be done. And ultimately Arjuna and Bhīma set on their journey, captured him and finally got the jewel and she said, “I want Maharaja to put this jewel on his head. Then only I will stop my fast.” You understand! On the one hand Duryodhana with his wickedness, with a terrible resolve in his mind. On the other hand, you find the same resolve but it is with the righteous and the dhārmic people.

Draupadi was a very, very important character. It is around Draupadi that the whole episode of Mahabharata revolves. But for her, Yudhishtira’s righteous and compassionate name would not have allowed her to fight at all. In Upaplāvya (A city in the kingdom ruled by King Virata) Draupadi went into a rage and said, “If you people are not prepared to fight with your cousin brothers I will go to my father, he is very old and I will ask him to come and fight on my behalf.” So every time she had to prod the Pāndava brothers in order that they could come out of the shackles, the righteous shackles of Dharma, and the associated restraint and control on the part of Yudhishtira and the rest. Every time Yudhishtira was a compassionate man.

See how the working of the righteous mind is! Even when, even when, the intentions of Duryodhana, everything were mean, this wonderful person, the leader of Pāndava says, “Release him, Release him. We are together. We are a family. An external enemy should be dealt with in a collective manner. Family divisions and family feuds should not stand in the way.” What do you understand from this? Don’t you think this principle is to be applied here? We have a federate country. All the states have police authorities, sales tax authorities and so many other things. But we are a federal country; A federal state, so to say. So whenever we may have independent elections different parties may rule in different states. But when it comes to a question of dealing with an external enemy we should not have any secret plans. All of us should stand together, together. It is not that one Tamil Nadu is different, or a Kerala is different, or a Maharashtra is different. Democracy has got election method as a practice or a methodology for ruling. But that does not divide the country or the people. Now all these are clearly mentioned in Mahabharata. That is why VedaVyāsa says, “Everything here is alone found elsewhere and whatever is not here, we will never find it anywhere in the world.” So comprehensive and complete is the presentation of the human history, the human mind, the human behavior in full measure and assortment in Mahabharatam.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.