In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra’s two important answers as to which ones are better than the other – “Satyam” vs. “Daanam” and “Ahimsa” vs. “Manju Bhaashanam”. All of them are important here, but it depends wholly on the context of the situation and how we should adapt to them. Hence, adaptability is very important for a “Panditha” (Learned scholar) to succeed in any situation. We had witnessed examples on all these points in the previous episode and seen how different people were epitomes of these four qualities at different situations. Moving on, we shall now witness the next question, which is also incidentally the final question from Snake Nahusha.
Snake Nahusha asks thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Now tell me – Who in this world is eligible to attain “Moksha”?” This is the most important question that all of us were looking forward to witnessing, isn’t it? Now Yudishtra is going to give a very important answer for this as follows. He talks about three important things here – “Oh Nahusha! The following three attributes are prima-facie important to be present in an individual, so as to attain the highest “Moksha”. Firstly – “Daanam”! The more the person donates and gives something to somebody who is in dire need, this person gets the first box ticked to attain “Moksha”. We should of course earn a lot of wealth by going along the path of “Dharma”, and in the process, we should also give a lot to those who are needy. Second in the list is “Satyam” – At any point in time, one should speak the truth and stand by the truth, no matter what the situation. If the truth is going to give you difficulty, endure it. It is better than telling a lie and acting against “Dharma” to escape from the suffering. Hence, “Satyam” is the second box to be ticked if a person has to attain “Moksha”. Third and most important in the list is “Ahimsa”. At any cost, we should not cause any harm to any living being. The connotation called “living being” includes all varieties of animals, plants, insects, etc. We can somehow follow the first two, but the third one is where all of us get stuck! If we’re ensuring that no living being is harmed by us unwantedly, we’re on the track of attaining the highest “Moksha”!”
Now this is an important point for us to ponder – As Yudishra himself admits, the first two points can be followed by us quite easily. The problem comes in the third point, which is Ahimsa. Even in our daily lives, we kill so many living beings or keep harming them, don’t we? For instance, we kill small insects like mosquitoes, cockroaches, spiders, etc. every passing day. Now the question arises – If we kill all these living beings, wouldn’t we be able to attain “Moksha”? This is where there should be awareness in whatever we’re doing. Of course, the best way is not to kill any of these poor living beings for no fault of theirs. The best way is to merely move them away from our vicinity without killing them, if we think that they might cause harm to us. But how many of us think this way? The moment we see a cockroach, the immediate course of action that comes to our mind is to kill it, isn’t it? This is where we’ve to pause and think – By killing this poor insect, is Bhagawan going to be happy? What right do we have to kill Bhagawan’s creation? If we are getting killed by this, will we be happy? What wrong did this insect do to me? If we start thinking on these lines, definitely our mindset will see a change. We cannot of course completely eradicate this, but to an extent we can induce a change!
Hence, for today, let us understand this point clearly and let us ponder over how do we implement these three important points – “Satyam”, “Daanam” and “Ahimsa”, so that we’re slowly making ourselves eligible to attain the highest “Moksha”! We shall continue this discussion in the next episode as well, and with this answer, Snake Nahusha is also convinced that Yudishtra has given answers to all its questions! Stay tuned for an interesting accord tomorrow! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 