In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important point around which, almost the entire Mahabharata text revolves around – The “Nara-Narayana” combine. “Nara” is none other than Arjuna and “Narayana” is none other than Bhagawan Krishna. We’ve witnessed why Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna were thick friends throughout the entire Mahabharata. During all the tough times faced by the Paandavas, Bhagawan Krishna was always there with them to protect them from all the hurdles that they had to face. Eventually, as “Nara” was the disciple of “Narayana” at Badrinatha Kshetra, during this incarnation, the relationship continued. Here too, we’re witnessing how “Narayana” invoked the Bhagawad Gita to teach “Nara” during the Kurukshetra affair.
Thus, moving on further, we shall now shift the scene to Sage Romaharshana sitting with all his disciples at Naimishaaranya. As we’ve seen earlier, Sage Romaharshana’s son was Sage Pouraanika. Sage Pouraanika is also sitting amidst all the disciples and is eager to listen to what his father is going to explain to all of them. In fact, all of them were extremely eager to listen to Sage Romaharshana’s words of wisdom. As we’ve been seeing earlier too, these great sages had the capability to narrate events continuously without even having a single break in between. We’ve seen the same thing with Sage Shukaachaarya, narrating the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana to King Parikshit. That was also a continuous conversation without any break. Similarly, we’ve seen how Sage Paraashara had narrated the Shri Vishnu Puraana to Sage Maithreya without a single break in the middle. Similarly here also, we’re witnessing Sage Romaharshana do the same thing to his disciples, including Sage Pouranika. Also, the most important point that a story-teller should take care of is that he / she should make sure nobody in the audience would fall asleep getting bored of what is being said. The speaker should give examples in the middle of explaining some complex concepts, so that the audience could relate what is being explained. Also, the speaker should also be smart enough to bring some jokes in the middle, just to keep the audience awake. These are some important intricacies that the speaker should bring in, when he / she is going to give a long talk. In these lines, we had witnessed Sage Shukaachaara bringing in a lot of comparisons, narratives, storylines, etc. to drive home some important spiritual points to King Parikshit. We’ve seen the same with Sage Paraashara too. Now we’re going to witness Sage Romaharshana doing the same.
Thus, Sage Romaharshana starts narrating the entire Mahabharata text and Sage Pouranika along with other disciples listen to the entire text carefully. This Sage Pouranika is also referred to as Sage Ugrasravas. It is the same story that Sage Vaishampayana has been narrating to King Janame-Jaya that Sage Romaharshana is narrating here. As Sage Romaharshana commences, he makes an appeal to all the sages assembled there. Sage Romaharshana says thus, “Oh great Sages! I’m just an ordinary person, trying to narrate something that I had heard over a period of time. I do not know how great I am to narrate this, but I would try my best to make all of you understand the important contents. Are you all ready to listen to me?” Sage Romaharshana was a great scholar by nature. It would be surprising to all of us as to how humble Sage Romaharshana was in front of all his disciples. Any great sage would be characterised not by the amount of knowledge he would possess, but with the level of humility that he would have. This is exactly what we see here in Saeg Romaharshana – The amount of humility that Sage Romaharshana had is something that all of us should learn.
As Sage Romaharshana appeals thus, the disciples are overwhelmed and extremely happy. They reply to Sage Romaharshana thus, “Oh great Sage! There is no difference between you and me here. All of us are the same when it comes to listening to the story of Bhagawan Krishna and the Mahabharata. So let us begin the story straightaway!” So for today, let us all wait along with Sage Pouranika and others to listen to what Sage Romaharshana is going to say! We shall wait till the next episode to commence proceedings! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 