In the previous episode, we had witnessed yet another important that Sage Sukhaachaarya narrates – This time it was about Balarama and how he entered into a fight with River Yamuna. Balarama had come to the river bank to perform his daily spiritual rituals, but was lazy enough to walk till the bank. He stopped few feet before that and demanded that River Yamuna should change her course and come near his feet. As Mother Yamuna refused, Balarama unleashed his muscle power and started to draw the river closer to where he was! Unable to bear the pressure at one stage, Mother Yamuna realizes her folly of getting into a duo with the powerful Balarama. She expresses her profound apologies for her arrogance and thus, changes her course a little bit, to suit Balarama’s requirement. This is why we would witness even today, some 15 miles north-northwest of Mathura city, at a place called “Ram-Ghat” or “Balram-Ghat”, the Yamuna river takes a unique deviation from its normal course of running. This is because, Balarama had pulled her towards him to exhibit his immense power and strength.
Moving on thus, we now go into the next narrative. This is going to be a very interesting event here. As Bhagawan Krishna had by now, killed Narakasura and had married all the 16,108 women whom he had imprisoned, He, along with Rukmini Devi, Satyabhama and Jaambhavati were all leading a happy and a peaceful life at Dwaaraka. It is at this point, Sage Naarada has an urge to pay a visit to Bhagawan Krishna and pay his respects to Him. He wanted to see how Bhagawan Krishna is following the “Grihastha Dharma”. Even today, we see in many television and realty shows isn’t it? People ask thus: “What if you become the prime minister of this country for a day? What if you become the chief minister of your state for a day? What all would you do, starting from morning till evening? What would be your daily routine?” These kinds of shows are catching up big time in the television screen today. It is with this same curiosity, is Sage Naarada coming too. He wanted to see how Bhagawan Krishna is enjoying His married life with all His wives, children and grandchildren. He comes and observes Bhagawan Krishna from a distance! He is seeing all the daily routines that Bhagawan Krishna performs from morning till evening. Similarly, Sage Naarada observes all of Bhagawan Krishna’s wives and witnesses the various aspects of the “Sthree-Dharma” (Important aspects of Dharma that a woman should adhere to).
As Sage Naarada observes all of these closely for a full day, he was amazed! He thought to himself thus, “Oh wow! Bhagawan Krishna, all though He might be the supreme and all-pervasive in this world, is following all the important aspects of “Dharma” that a man should follow in his life. He might have easily skipped few of the aspects, just because He’s Bhagawan, but He doesn’t do that. In fact, He does each and every duty as a normal person, more sincerely and orderly than even a normal person should do!” Upon seeing thus, Sage Naarada couldn’t hold back his urge. He straightaway goes to Bhagawan Krishna, pays his respects and asks Him thus, “Oh Bhagawan! I’ve been observing you for a day now. Both you and your wives have been executing all the possible aspects of Dharma correctly without any blemish. You’re Bhagawan, and there’s no requirement that you do everything whatever normal people should do. Yet, why are you taking so much pain and strain and doing all these?”
Bhagawan Krishna listens to Sage Naarada and laughs out loud! He replies to Sage Naarada thus, “Oh Naarada! If I do not perform all these tasks meticulously today, nobody would perform anything in this world! People would immediately start saying, “Oh! Bhagawan Himself did not do.. Hence, why should I?” I do not want to give rise to such a situation. Hence, I’m taking all efforts to perform all the duties, so that people can learn from my actions!”
We’ve seen this same narrative even during our Ramayana project too. When Sage Vishwamitra is taking Bhagawan Rama and Lakshmana towards Mithilapuri, he’s making the two children wake up early in the morning, and making them perform their daily “Sandhyavandana”. We might immediately ask thus: “Oh! Why should Bhagawan Rama do Sandyavandana? He doesn’t need to, since He Himself is Bhagawan!” We’ve witnessed the same answer during that discussion as well – If Bhagawan Rama is not performing the Sandyavandana, immediately what would we say? “Oh! Bhagawan Rama Himself skipped Sandyavandana! So can we! What is wrong in skipping Sandyavandana or what is wrong if we’re not doing it at all?” It is only to avoid all of this, Bhagawan Rama is taking it upon Himself to plug in all the “loopholes”.
Similarly, we might also see that both Bhagawan Rama and Bhagawan Krishna are obeying their “Guru”. In the case of Bhagawan Rama, we’ve seen how He obeyed each and every word of His Guru – Sage Vasishtaachaarya and Sage Vishwaamitra. Similarly here too, we’ve witnessed how Bhagawan Krishna obeyed His “Guru”. This is very important too. Bhagawan Krishna thus continues His reply to Sage Naarada thus, “Oh Naarada! Why do you think I went to a Guru formally to undergo the Gurukula-Vaasa? Don’t you think I know everything? I do! But, the world wouldn’t accept if I do not go to a Guru and if I loiter around just like that! People should realize that there is a methodology that needs to be followed when it comes to education! It is only to establish and re-establish these facts and “Dharma”, that I’m personally doing everything!”
This is a very important learning for all of us here – Bhagawan’s incarnations aren’t just to kill people who are evil and wicked. They are also meant to establish Dharma, to teach the Dharma to the world. Bhagawan Krishna clearly explains this to Arjuna too in the Bhagawad Gita by saying, “Dharma Samsthaabhanaarthaaya”, which means, He is incarnating every time to establish and re-establish Dharma in this world. One way of doing that is to set a role model of Himself performing all the aspects of Dharma. So for today, let us understand this important point! We shall wait till the next episode to continue this important discussion further! Stay tuned! 😊
The Indian Dharma 