In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the interaction between Yudishtra and Sage Naarada, wherein the latter is giving important pieces of advice pertaining to effective “Raaja-Dharma”. In this way, we had witnessed yesterday how it is important for a king to maintain his territorial borders intact. It is extremely essential that a king keeps a constant vigil on the borders of his kingdom on all the directions, just to make sure that no enemy invades inside all of a sudden. Even though it might not be an open invasion, there are a few enemies who might silently come and occupy a portion of the territory just like that! If this is not checked in due time, that enemy would silently start enjoying that territory forever! This is a huge danger and this is exactly what is happening with one of India’s neighbors today! This is exactly what Sage Naarada is warning Yudishtra about.
Moving on thus, of course, there are so many extraordinary discussions like these as part of this important conversation, but due to lack of time and other limitations, I’m moving on with this further. Readers can have a detailed understanding as you go through the book along with the various commentaries that are available for more information on this. But before we move on, Sage Naarada explains one last point to Yudishtra, which is extremely important in terms of how to manage the kingdom’s assets and coffers. In short, Sage Naarada is advising Yudishtra on certain aspects of effective financial management. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! When you wish to invest in something, make sure you start with a minimal amount of investment. Do not put all your coffers into one investment completely. If in future that investment fails to pick up, you would be in trouble! There would be some places wherein you would only keep putting your bets (money) in it, but it would never give you any return on investment. This is a dangerous thing and you should avoid it. Thus, if you wish to invest in something, invest step by step and do not go “hammer and tongs” on it. You should be able to make more money with less investment!”
This was a wield statement made by Sage Naarada here. Again, this is a “Mlecha Baasha” (Secretive coded language) to indicate a potential threat that is approaching and to give a statutory warning to be careful. All of us know what Sage Naarada is referring to in this context – The upcoming event of the gambling game with Duryodhana and Co.! Upon foreseeing it, Sage Naarada gives this advice. Now we should be able to connect the dots – Sage Naarada says that while investing, one should be careful not to invest too much, without seeing any return. This is exactly the trap where Yudishtra fell into! Even though he came to know during the initial stages of the gamble itself, Yudishtra fell into the trap of pledging more and more of his wealth and playing it. Yudishtra knew that Sahuni was creating a ploy in such a way that Duryodhana would keep winning at all instances of the game, and yet, his ego and desire made him pledge more and more! This is exactly what Sage Naarada warns him now itself, well in advance!
Moreover, Sage Naarada highlights one more important point pertaining to the same context thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Whatever business and investments you make, they should be in some way a benefit to your people. You should never do a business with your own personal interest at stake! You should always make investments with your people in mind and how their lives can prosper through this!” This is also an important point that pertains to the current day as well – Nowadays we witness a lot of “Foreign Direct Investments” coming into India and with this, many Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) are investing a lot of money in India to set up their operations. Of course, the government (Both Central and State) are the nodal agencies through which these investments come into the country. Thus, we can see here that the more investments come in, more employment opportunities for our people get created. This would ensure that our talented and learned youngsters get jobs according to what they are good at. This is extremely important thus, for the nation’s overall growth and prosperity!
So for today, let us understand these points clearly and in the next episode we shall move on with the next point. Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 