MILK POISON OR NECTAR?

Giving satisfaction by falsity is part of a deceptive life. Deceptiveness could be caused by helplessness or habit.
Shakuni wanted to give happiness to Duryodhana by deception caused by habit. He was hell bent to make Duryodhana the king, so he conditioned himself to be a cheat. And Duryodhana did not resist.
Dronacharya was giving satisfaction to his only son Ashwathama by deceiving him, this was out of helplessness.  Poverty led him to give water mixed with rice flour, as milk to his son. Ashwathama  drank it, thinking  it was real milk, till he drank the  real milk. After tasting real  milk he gave up all desire for the watery  rice flour.
In this scenario Drona  went to seek help from his school friend Drupada.
Drupada, now a king, rejected Drona’s friendship because Drona  did not have an equal social status of being a king -- however he  was willing to provide the  milk for Ashwatthama by donating a few cows. But Drona’s need had changed, now he no longer wanted  milk for his son, rather he wanted a bloody revenge since Drupada had insulted him.
He started looking for some one who could help him avenge his insult.  He found the great kuru kumaras, especially the Pandavas, one of them,  Arjuna, who fulfilled his desire.   Arjuna, bound Drupada and put him at the feet of the fiery Drona who in turn was pleased to see Drupada in this bound condition.  Now Drupada was humiliated and he wanted to take revenge by siring a son who  could kill Drona, and sure enough he got what  he wanted.  He sired Drishtadhyumna as his son, who eventually killed Drona but Drishtadhyumna himself lost his life  fighting against Ashwathama.
The Pandavas were fighting as they were bound by duty of dharma for  assisting Lord Krishna to establish Dharma , unlike Drona and Shakuni who were fighting out of habit or helplessness to satisfy their senses .
Dharma,  it directs  us to uplift our consciousness by connecting with divinity by devotion, dedication and devoted to the teachings of evolved persons.

Unfortunately, the habitual Shakuni and the  helpless and revengeful Drona were brought together by their desires and destiny to fight against the dharmik Pandavas .
The habitual and the helpless Shakuni and Drona were both vanquished  by the Pandavas who were helping Lord Krishna.
Dharma directs us not to be adharmik either for habitual reason or out of helplessness.

AFFECTION DIVIDED?

When Arjuna married Subhadra, the sister of Lord Krishna, he was hesitant on introducing her to Draupadi as he feared that Draupadi would feel cheated to see that Arjuna’s love would be divided. Krishna, thus advised Subhadra to approach Draupadi as a cowherd girl and offer suitable respect. Being as innocent and pure as she was, Subhadra did exactly what was told to her and Draupadi completely melted. 

Kunti went through similar situations too. She grew up as a step daughter, married Pandu who brought another wife and raised 3 of her own children and 2 of Madri’s. She was a great mother because her mind space was vast and large. She never discriminated between them.

Conflicts do not arise when new people come into our lives, but from, how it is communicated. Some families raise their children with less physical resources but more mental abilities. Now the modern world has unlimited resources and people to deal with, but the art of dealing with less is also becoming more and more difficult.

Dharmik scriptures talk about growing with diversity rather than growing in university. University does teach us but doesn’t touch upon the diversity of life. Community is like a diverse universe, where one organically learns the art of cooperation.

Duryodhan knew how to invoke love and we know that from the fact that he had affection for his 99 brothers. But just 5 more members became the source of his ultimate nightmares. What was wrong in the Pandavas? Nothing other than the mindset of Duryodhan. He believed that they’re his enemies. Sure enough they did become his worst enemies and took his and everyone else’s lives. It was not the Pandavas but the Kauravas who themselves created their own destiny and the Pandavas simply served as an instrument.

What modern society needs is not lesser people but more space in the mind; only then is universal brotherhood possible. But unfortunately, there are more Kauravas and less Draupadis and Subhadras. As history has witnessed, today’s Duryodhan will force the Pandavas to take action. War-like situation will be a constant reality because Duryodhanism is an eternal reality.

We have a choice to be living with a spacious mind with less or more physical space or having more  physical spence and having little or no space in the mind.  And we must choose wisely.

‘Adhyatma vidya’ is the  space producing mechanism: space in the heart, mind and the very soul. Then we can say, ‘Vasudhiva Kutumbakam’ – the entire world is my family.

What a thought! What a concept

KRISHNA DHARMA

In this world clash of civilization, ideas, culture and also personal clash in choices are natural and unavoidable.
Clash is natural but not dealing with them is unnatural and adharmik.
One common belief that people in this world  have is that" time will heal everything."
Certainly time does heal. But time heals mental, physical, sensual wounds. Time has no power to heal ignorance. However long one waits  to move on, time does not have the power to heal the might of ignorance.
Ignorance has to be fought vigorously to dispel it. This battle against ignorance is a difficult one but not an impossible one.

In tines of clash or conflict  people  make choices which are easy in the  present and hope  that the clash or conflict will automatically disappear. 

Conflict was central in the life of many characters in the Mahabharata. Be it Bhisma, Drona, Dhirthrasthra, Karna, Gandhari, Duryodhana, Drupada, Virata, Dhristhyadyumna, Shikhandi, Ghatodgaja  or even for that matter in the life of the Pandavas.
So conflict existed and was experienced by all however the difference was in the way that each one  dealt with conflict.
The Pandavas resolved the conflict by fighting based on Krishna dharma whist the others chose personal dharma.

Some took shelter of adharma and some took shelter of superficial and ritualistic so called dharma  to avoid the action of fighting for the substance of dharma.

1.Bhisma fought for pitri and kula dharma (father and his family)
2.Drona and Dhrithrasthra fought for putra dharma(for the sake of son) 3.Karna fought for mitra dharma(sake of friend)
4.Shalya fought for rna dharma (obligation for receiving reception from kurus)
5.Drupada fought for his ksatriya dharma which was trampled by Drona.
6. Shikhandi fought for her nyaya dharma (justice)
Even Duryodhana had an agenda for fighting. He believed that his kula had done injustice to his father who  was the oldest in the family. Dhristharasthra had been  deprived of the throne because of his blindness. And hence Duryodhana thought that it was his rightful claim to be the king and  that the Pandavas  were intruders.
Some  people think that if  the Pandavas were really so nice and detached they should have averted the war by making Duryodhana the king and retired to the forest.
In fact Dhristhrasthra  had even suggested this idea to  the Pandavas through Sanjay.

The Pandavas were about to follow the above advise attempting to follow the personal  dharma of indifference, no violence and no throne to avoid the massacre.
But they chose to renounce all these above  personal dharmas which were followed by other personalities and chose to follow Krishna dharma .

Krishna dharma is universal good over personal dharma.
In following  and establishing krishna dharma the Pandavas had to eliminate  great heroes of the Kurus side  and sacrifice some  heroes from their side too.

So Krishna dharma entails  establishing religious principles whenever and wherever they are in imbalance, irrespective of the fact that the imbalance is caused by good people or bad people.
This is tough but can it be avoided?

ASSERTIVE OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE

Life is like a boat rocking in turbulent waters, tilting in different directions according to the movement of water.  An expert boatman is one who knows how to row and maneouver it  diligently and protect the boat from drowning. We are forced to face life situations and whilst facing these situations we  use different strategies. People who use idealistic strategies face drowning like situations because of their fixed ideas. Practical people on the other hand use brutally realistic strategies .

It is very interesting to know  that Gandhiji referred to the Gita and Hitler too, but both had an opposite perspective.
Gandhiji took only the symbolic meaning of it. And Hitler imitated the story by brutally murdering innocent people. Gandhi wanted peace and Hitler wanted war. Gandhi's approach gave him fame whilst  Hitler's approach gave him infamy.

Gita  teaches peace and prepares us for war. Krishna whilst going as peace messenger on behalf of the Pandavas with their message of "give us five villages " said ,"we want peace but we are prepared for war". Duryodhana was given many practical options one of them was that he become the regent prince .

He was told that the combined force of the Kauravas and Pandavas would be invincible even for a demigod like Indra. Lord Krishna also spoke to him about the power of the Pandavas  especially Arjuna who had defeated the entire clan of  Kuru commanders. Parashurama also told the Kurus  of the power of the Pandavas, especially Arjuna who was none other than Nara and Krsna was Narayana.
Kanva Rishi told Duryodhana of the evil of pride.
Narada Muni instructed Duryodhan.  . Bhisma and Drona pleaded.
Krishna threatened ...
So many people tried ...
But it was like hitting the head against a rock wall.  In such a condition how could good advice work or which peace talk would make sense? What was needed at that juncture was violence of peace. In other words some strong punishment to establish a sensible king. Duryodhana was one who was proving his disqualification with his  "no cooperation attitude". It was his arrogant independence which lead to the Great War. The option of war was bad,  but without punishing Duryodhana there could have been a legacy of prolonged exploitation of the people  which Krishna had to stop. So war was certainly  the last resort .

To deal with Duryodhana's offensiveness, lord Krishna chose assertiveness, because defensiveness was abused and assaulted. Defensive party of the Pandavas had given many years to the offensive party to change but it had not benefitted any one. When the disease is not controllable by medicine the doctor gives a strong dose but if that does not work surgery is a must if that does not work too, then removal of the rotten organ  becomes imperative for the rest of the body to survive.
Duryodhana's party had become cancerous and was  spreading the disease all over so  it had to be removed so that the rest of the body of society survived..

So  the Gita is idealistic but reluctantly takes  the decision of practical violence. Once the decision is taken  it executes ruthlessly till the violent adharma is terminated.
Gita wants peace of Gandhi but is  ready for controlled violence of dharma unlike Hitler's brutality.

CONSUMERISM IS DEVOURING

Modern man is fascinated by consumerism.
He consumes  through his active senses:
Smells through his nostrils-
Hears  through his ears-
Touches through his sense of skin-
Sees through his eyes-
and of course the king of all consumption.... is food that he consumes through his mouth.
It is the age of variety, from food to foot wear--- man has choices by the millions.
After the Rajasuya Sacrifice, Duryodhana on seeing the prosperity of the Pandavas was dumbfounded stunned and stupefied. He described the prosperity and the opulence of the Pandavas to Dhritrashtra. Dhritharasthra who was himself tormented on being blind, tried to vainly tell him not to be disturbed.  Duryodhana said to his father “no one can grow if he is content.The only way to grow in life is to always be unfulfilled. Satisfaction is the enemy of growth.”
He was completely consumed by consumerism .
He wanted everything that others had. He was being devoured by his  desires which remained unfulfilled. These insatiable wants disturbed devoured and ultimately devastated him.

Some statistics say --if China and India follow the American way of consumerism, the earth planet would need  to grow 4 to 5 times more resources to accommodate the new life style of  consumerism.
Wants are unlimited but resoureces  to fulfill these wants are not only limited but are also depleting with rapid force.
What is the solution to this?
Our wants will not be fulfilled.
This is not the curse of a raging sage- but  the reality of a ravaged mother earth. Mother earth is reacting, she cannot handle the burden of  our wants, although  she can easily handle our needs for a responsible existence.

Therefore Dharma reminds us to be dharma sensitive,  use what you need, and deny  the wants of a turbulent mind.
When we lead a responsible life respecting mother earth  we can deal with the challenges of existence.

The Pandavas followed this principle and were prosperous.They fought for their rights and needs. Duryodhana on the other hand  died because he went way beyond  his needs and fought the war to fulfill his wants rather than his needs which in turn  caused great destruction on the battle field of Kurusketra .
Duryodhana’s wants devoured him--- and Yudhisthira’s needs directed him to follow the Dharma of a kshatriya and fight the war under the guidance of Krishna the lord of Dharma.

Our path is wide open either we can be devoured by our wants or be devoted to our needs and responsibilities. One path can  burden the earth whilst the  other can uplift all ---including mother earth.

WEALTH OR ATTITUDE

Vanavasa is synonymous to Ramayana and Mahabharata. In fact, both the epics illustrate how Vanavasa, meaning forest dwelling, was the turning point in the lives of the protagonists and the entire classic. With the ill advice of Manthara, Kaikeyi wanted to break Ayodhya, not physically but emotionally. To an extent she was successful but she was failed by her very son for whose sake she acted against the will of the entire kingdom. She learned her lessons quickly but Lord Rama was undeterred. He had a bigger mission to achieve. So He did not return to Ayodhya for the next 14 years. It was in the forest that He actually achieved many things. 

 

Unlike Ramayana, the Mahabharata has many twists and turns with regards to Pandavas going to forest. It was not only painful like Rama's vanavasa, but also very brutal.  They were disrobed of their honour more than their power. But pandavas demonstrated that if one really wants to grow then he could, with the experience of adversity, where he is forced to deal with challenges. Growth with inheritance from ancestors and growth with the experience of complete poverty are two very different phenomena. The comparison is not to determine which is better because that cannot be stated. But those who grow with nothing have great experiences to share. Pandavas had the prosperity of attitude (ATTITUDE OF PROSPERITY?), that was never taken away from them. 

 

Dharma calls for consistency in practice. Only those people are willing to take challenge to grow beyond the normal capacity. Normal people are flexible with regards to dharma; if it is profitable to follow dharma they’ll do it. But if adharma gives a larger profit, they are willing to sell even dharma for profit. For adharma, dharma is a tool. For Dharmik people, dharma is the destiny and journey. And only such Dharmik people are qualified to break the so-called disintegrated dharma to establish integrated dharma. 

 

For Pandavas, the Vanavasa experience became their abroad university learning. But this ‘abroad’ was not the organized, sophisticated and stable place; It was a forest with lots of uncertainty. But their skills of attitude were their constatnt companions to move from one place to another, learning more and more.

 

The Clash between the Pandavas and Kurus was that of wealth without prosperity of right attitude, versus wealth of right attitude. With the right attitude, wealth becomes a mere detail. And without the right attitude, wealth becomes the essence.  So what are we looking: wealth or attitude?

NIRBHAYA

The very name Nirbhaya caused great bhaya (fear) in the hearts of all Indians and even beyond. Everyone witnessed so much anger which was exhibited in the form of demonstrations and organized discussions to deal with this. Especially the women were most affected by this. When we deal with and discuss situations like this only from the present point of view, we may fail to find solutions which are wholesome.  Discussing any kind of problem without referring to the past and trying to implement the solution in the present will only result in repetition of history.  The solution of “Forgive and forget” could be the greatest tyranny for someone who has experienced the trauma. It may also result in repetition of the crime in future. This land or any other, where there’s human existence, has unfortunately seen oppression and exploitation of women and children. When we see our own Indian traditional books, we learn how such incidents are dealt with. There is action which is apt for punishing the culprit; and only on that platform is there any discussion on rectifying the life of the victim.      In the Ramayana, the incident of Sita’s kidnapping, has been narrated by Valmiki and Tulsidas in great detail.  It is very unfortunate to see how Surphanaka, in spite of being a woman herself, was instrumental in helping or provoking Ravana to kidnap Sita. She was so selfish that she could not understand the pain that Sita would have to go through on being forced by Ravana. Another woman, who was less powerful, but still stood by Sita’s side in time of Her need, in the very land where Ravana was very powerful, was the wife of Vibhisana. She was able to give emotional support to Sita, but of course, that was not sufficient.  The culprits had to be booked and punished. For the sin of forcing his so called love on Sita, who was not at all interested in him, Ravana had to lose everything, including his very life, in the hands of Rama who was the personification of justice.    In the Mahabharata, the incident of the attempt to disrobe Draupadi took place in the very land of the capital city of India, where laws are supposed to be made and implemented. It is very disturbing to know that many Indian authors who have written quite a few commentaries on the Mahabharata, consciously or unconsciously, blame Draupadi herself for the attempted disrobing. According to them, since she had insulted Karna, he took revenge against her, or they quote the incident when Duryodhana was laughed at when he fell in the water in the palace of illusion, since he was hurt so bad, he gave a fitting reply to her. Now, love and the choice of marriage are not based on whether some one feels insulted or not. Moreover, Draupadi was already married to someone else. To drag her to take revenge does not befit refined human intellect and specially those who are holding the reins of the government. The gory incident is described….how after the Pandavas lost everything, including Draupadi, Karna was the one who told Kauravas to bring Draupadi naked in front of everyone, because after all she is the woman for five 5 men, hence she was a prostitute. Of course, it was a fully baseless and illogical argument; Draupadi was a most chaste woman and not a prostitute. But, even legally or morally, it’s not human etiquette to drag even a prostitute (of course Draupadi is not one) in a public place to be exposed naked. It’s inhuman even of those who may not have refined civilization. Calling for such an act by Karna and being ordered to be executed by Duryodhana is a horrific and gruesome crime to the entire womanhood.  Now what’s most important is how it was dealt with……by the very personification of justice, in the form Krishna. What followed was the destruction of the Kuru dynasty, including Bhishma and Drona.  Even though both of them were not party to it, but they were neutral, . On the other hand, someone like Jatayu, who is subhuman, had the decent intelligence to fight for Sita rather than seeing this atrocity. It’s so strange that those who are categorized as subhuman show much refined sentiments and the so called refined human beings lose all emotion and became like dry wood or block of ice. They were sitting like ostrich birds, as if nothing was happening. Basically, the war was not between two groups of brothers, that was just a superficial reason, actually it was a fight for justice for Draupadi’s public humiliation.Only when we punish the culprit and those who have assisted in the crime, then can we talk about counseling the victim to go on in life with positive attitude. It is impossible to forgive unless the crime is taken care of. Forgive and Forget will only make the offenders perform more crime on the oppressed and helpless.Health cannot be gained while sheltering the deadly bacteria. Deadly bacteria are there to kill and disintegrate our body, in such a condition no good wishes and prayers will work, though we  need them too. Most importantly, to get health back, one has to uproot, by all means, all the foreign elements in the body, and that really causes great exhaustion, like in malaria medicine, the medicines are quite exhausting, but only on that platform, the re-gaining of sound body and mind begins.  So it is this lesson, Mahabharata and Ramayana teach us.  Nirbhaya, means fearlessness.  It can only come by dealing it, in a practical way.