I SEE INDRAPRASTHA

On the orders of Krishna, Maya Danav built the Indraprastha. Being more
than beautiful, it also had many deceptive things. In his passionate
curiousity, Duryodhana hurt himself twice – once physically and second
emotionally.

Life’s situations are like Indraprastha – unclear, uncertain and
unpredictable. We live as if we are living there; sometimes we are battered
physically and sometimes emotionally.

The Pandavas, especially Bhima and Draupadi had a good laugh at
Duryodhana’s predicament. He walked into a wall that appeared like a
curtain, hitting his head, and later fell into a pond of water that looked
to him like a transparent marble floor. Yudhishthira wanted to stop Bhima
and Draupadi from laughing casually about it but Krishna encouraged them to
laugh at Duryodhana.

This hurt Duryodhana more than just physically and he wanted to obliterate
the Pandavas. It is popularly believed that this incident proved to be an
important thrust in Duryodhana’s outburst, though he was scheming against
the Pandavas from the very beginning. Therefore, Bhima’s laughter at his
expense was no big deal.

When life’s situations are taken seriously without understanding its
virtual realities, we bump into mental pain, more than the physical.
Serious physical pain calls for sympathy. But when one suffers more mental
pain for little physical pain, he loses all sympathy. We see that in the
case of Duryodhana.

One, who takes the situations of life in a lighter mood, survives. One, who
takes it too seriously, abuses or neglects them, suffers more. That leads
to unending suffering.

Duryodhana had no reason to suffer. He had all means in abundance to enjoy.
But he made a conscious choice to be disturbed and distressed by the very
presence of the most presentable Pandavas, whose presence was enjoyed by
the sages and Lord Krishna Himself.

The illusions of Indraprastha were not one of the first experiences
Duryodhana had. It was, in fact, his habit to remain in illusion. He didn’t
need an Indraprastha. His life itself was an Indraprastha, where he saw
everyone to be laughing and jeering at him, and insulting him. This
encounter at Indraprastha was imply a detail.

This ‘Duryodhana’ syndrome is a very pervading and disturbing trend. And
sadly, it is created by the very family members who choose to pamper, more
than love, their offspring. Gandhari is a great lady but suffered by the
birth of Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti. She was the first to see
Indraprastha and feel immense pain. Dhritarashtra was born blind, so his
every heart beat saw Indraprastha and suffered immensely. With parents like
these, a don like Duryodhana was in order. And to top that, they left no
chance to shower him with untold affection, leading to the death of
millions of people.

We too will be posed with a choice. Do we want to use Indraprastha for the
cause of God and enjoy or suffer the predicament like Duryodhana, who saw
the Indraprastha everywhere, feeling insulted and ever increasing envy and
revenge?