In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important point stressed by Vidura that especially at times of turbulence and tough situations, we should never lose our calm and composure. He appeals to King Dhirdiraashtra through this dimension that he better takes immediate action to mend Duryodhana’s ways. Here we should understand that the very reason why King Dhirdiraashtra is unwilling to take a step forward is that, he is afraid of the backlash that he would face from Duryodhana, if he tries to correct him. King Dhirdiraashtra is afraid whether Duryodhana would ultimately desert his father, or even try to kill him just because he tried to question Duryodhana’s cruel intents. Upon this, Vidura explains to King Dhirdiraashtra that he doesn’t need to fear such a backlash because ultimately even if Duryodhana reacts in a hostile way, the world would appreciate King Dhirdiraashtra for his positive step forward. Atleast he would be able to save his face that he stood by the “Dharma” by opposing Duryodhana’s crooked actions. If King Dhirdiraashtra is failing to do this, it simply implies that he has given into “Adharma” and the world is going to talk about him as a bad example. His unwanted fear is indirectly paving the way for the downfall of himself and also for his hundred Kaurava sons.
How is this point applicable to our modern day life? At times we might get into a tricky situation wherein we would be carried away with the fear of even approaching it properly. For instance, there might be a communication gap or a misunderstanding between us and our peer employees or our boss at our workplace. Rather than taking a step forward to solve the communication gap and set things right, we would keep “dilly-dalying” by having unwanted thoughts and opinions about others and keep prolonging the solution. This would lead to unnecessary complaining and gossiping about the other person in the organization and ultimately this leads to what we term “organizational politics”. This political behavior not only depreciates our performance at work, but also brings down the productivity of the organization on the whole. Hence we need to understand from this point that if there seems to be some kind of a misunderstanding or a lack of communication with someone over something, it is better that we solve it with that person then and there, rather than delaying it indefinitely.
Now moving on to the next important point, Vidura highlights the fact that if a person thinks that he/she should live peacefully without any problem, he/she would also think the same for others around him. This is the real sign of a kind and a noble-hearted person. If we’re only interested in our welfare and by that, if we’re going to destroy the welfare of others, it is going to lead us to disaster. Thus, if our intent is good, whatever happens to us would also be good! On the contrary, if our intent is bad, that is, if we’re going to doubt the credibility of others and stake others’ welfare for our personal benefits and gains, we’ve to be prepared to face innumerable problems in life. For instance if we’re suffering from a deadly physical disease, can we ever think that we would get relieved from it by transferring this disease to someone else? Is it fair that we enjoy our life while others suffer? A noble person would always think “Now that this disease has affected us badly – I should pray to Bhagawan that such a deadly disease should never affect anybody else in this world”, isn’t it?
Having said this, are we practising this in our lives every day? It might not be our intention to hurt someone deliberately, but at certain situations we tend to become selfish! For instance, if we’re running a business or heading an organization – We may have to wage a fierce battle with our competitor companies within the same industry. However, can I think that all the other companies in the industry should shut shop and my company should be the ultimate monopoly, enjoying all of the profits that are generated? Only if we have a good ecosystem, would our products and services be sustainable, isn’t it? Else, who would come and buy our products? Thus we should try and give space for all of them to grow and prosper. Only then will people have the purchasing power to buy what we sell.
Hence the message from this point is that, we should live and let others live too. If we’re going to have a selfish attitude that only we should live and others should perish, we’re never going to gain happiness. This is the common mindset of a vast majority of today’s politicians. Why do we call some politicians as third-rated brats? It is only because of this selfish and cheap mindset that I would only make crores and crores of money and others should get poorer by the day! Hence we should make sure that we do not fall into this trap of a mindset and we should be prepared to accept everybody around us equally. We should understand that only if others live peacefully around us, we would also be able to live peacefully.
This is exactly where Duryodhana is making the mistake too. His only aim in life is to succeed his father to the throne of the Hastinapura kingdom. His intention is to rule the whole of the kingdom by himself and to enjoy all the luxuries associated with it. He never has an iota of thought that he should let his Paandava brothers experience the same amount of joy that he wants to experience. This is where the problem lies. If we’re starting to be selfish in nature, we need to be prepared to face more and more problems and disasters that come our way.
So for today let us ponder over this important point and introspect over it. We shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to witness the subsequent point of Vidura! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 