In the previous episode, we had continued the important discussion on why should we let go off our “Kartrutva Buddhi” by witnessing few instances from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. We had spoken about Hanuman in the Ramayana and Arjuna from the Mahabharata, as to how did they succeed in their respective missions by shedding this “Kartruthva Buddhi” off them. The moment Hanuman surrendered himself to Bhagawan Rama’s lotus feet, and the moment he prayed to Mother Sita to reveal her identity all by herself, rather than “he” searching for her, Mother Sita immediately appeared beneath the very tree on which Hanuman was sitting. Similarly, when Arjuna was carried away by the “Kartruthva Buddhi” during the Kurukshetra war, he was so distressed and disturbed that “he” is going to kill all his family members and destroy an entire “Vamsa” (Clan) in the pretext of a war and a kingdom! This is where, Bhagawan Krishna advises Arjuna to shed off this thought, and perform his duty as a “Kshatrya”, by surrendering the fruit of his actions to Bhagawan’s feet. The moment Arjuna had shed off his “Kartruthva Buddhi”, all of us know what happened after that, and it is for us to analyze the aftermath of the Bhagawad Gita!
Moving forward thus, Bhagawan Krishna explains to Uddhava, “Oh Uddhava! Apart from this “Sathvika Bhakti” that is being practised by my ardent devotees by shrugging off the “Kartruthva Buddhi”, I like those who are able to see everybody equally without celebrating any differences between each other! If a person is able to view all “Atmans” in the equal stature, irrespective of male / female, rich / poor, high status / low status, educated / uneducated, etc. and if he / she is able to treat all of them equally with the same level of universal love and compassion, he / she becomes my most ardent devotee and my best companion at Vaikunta! Even while they’re alive in this world, such people would be able to constantly keep obtaining my divine vision at all times! They needn’t put any special efforts beyond this! Thus, they would be able to see me with all my divinity clearly even before they attain Vaikunta!”
This is where we falter most of the times – The moment we see someone or some animal in front of us, we tend to walk past that living being, without giving any sort of respect to it. This is where Bhagawan Krishna keeps the check for all of us – If we’re seeing a living being suffering, irrespective of a man or an animal or a plant or an insect or whatever it might be – If one goes down to its level and alleviates its suffering to whatever extent he / she can, this is true devotion and this is true equality that Bhagawan Krishna is expecting us to do. This is what Bhagawan Rama illustrated to all of us in the Ramayana. We’ve witnessed this important point in our Ramayana project, wherein Valmiki Bhagawan is praising Bhagawan Rama with the leadership quality of “Samartaha”. This means, Bhagawan Rama treats every living being equally. For instance, when Bhagawan Rama went to Guha’s house on the way to the forest, He accepted Guha as his own brother. This Guha was afterall a hunter, whereas Bhagawan Rama was a great king from a great dynasty. Similarly, when Bhagawan Rama went in search of Mother Sita, he accepted Sugriva as his brother. Sugriva was afterall a monkey and not even a human being by birth! Still Bhagawan Rama accepted him and worked with him to destroy Vaali and restore the Kishkinta kingdom to Sugriva. Moreover, Bhagawan Rama’s greatest and the most ardent devotee being Hanuman, is a monkey again! Hanuman’s devotion towards Bhagawan Rama is world-famous isn’t it? Finally, when Vibhishana surrendered to Bhagawan Rama’s feet, He accepted Vibhishana as His brother! Vibhishana was afterall a “Raakshasa” and was Ravana’s brother. But, did Bhagawan Rama desert him? Thus, we can see here how Bhagawan Rama was an epitome of “walking the talk” when it comes to this important point of “equality”.
In fact, one of the most emotional scenes in the entire Ramayana was when the Vaanaras march back to Kishkinta after Hanuman has found Mother Sita’s whereabouts at Lanka. We’ve witnessed this when we were discussing the “Sundara Kanda” section of the Valmiki Ramayana. As the Vaanaras were jumping up and down with joy after knowing about Mother Sita, Bhagawan Rama initially did not understand why are these Vaanaras so happy! He thus bends down to the level of these tiny-looking Vaanaras, calls them lovingly near Him, one after the other and asks thus, “Oh! Tell me please! Did you see Sita?” Bhagawan Rama was asking each and every Vaanara with tears in His eyes. As Bhagawan Rama started asking thus, all the Vaanaras were overwhelmed with joy and the respect that they’re receiving from their leader! With that joy, they push Hanuman towards Bhagawan Rama by giving a clear message through their body language that it was this Hanuman who had crossed over the ocean and witnessed Mother Sita who is safe and secure without any harm.
Thus, the point here is that, we should learn from Bhagawan Rama’s “implemented message” that “equality” amongst all living beings is a very important virtue that all of us should try and follow. Just because someone is of a higher / lower status, etc. we should not discard people or underestimate them. We should also remember one point within ourselves here – Were we so ardent devotees of Bhagawan right from our birth? Most of the times, the answer would be a “No”! We’ve also crossed through many stages of being unaware, uneducated, etc. and only after that we’ve reached where we are currently! And, is that enough? Don’t we have an even more steeper ladder to climb towards Bhagawan? Hence, where is the need to have that pride or a “sense of achievement” or whatever, over others?
Hence, for today let us understand this important point and let us wait till the next episode to take this discussion further! Stay tuned! 😊
The Indian Dharma 