In the previous episode, we had witnessed a variety of important points explained by Draupati to Satyabhama, with regards to how she ensures happiness and harmony with her husbands at all times. She explains how there is a mutual understanding between her and her husbands wherein, she never separates from them at any point in time. Even if they have to go out on a war or any other basis, they also know that Draupati is waiting for them and eventually they will be returning back as quickly as possible. Moreover, Draupati also explains that she has no hidden secrets within her that her husbands do not know. Everything is very transparent and even Yudishtra and Co. on their part do not have anything secret within themselves which she doesn’t know. Moreover, Draupati also talks about how cleanliness is very important for a wife to exhibit at home, especially in the kitchen. She explains that she would cook every morning only after taking a shower, and not without it. Moreover, she ensures that she exhibits the highest level of austerity while cooking and will never touch anybody or anything unwantedly while cooking. She performs all these because she knows that all the offering that she prepares is first given to Bhagawan and then to all her husbands and guests (if any) and finally to herself after everybody else at home consumes a sumptuous meal.
As Draupati explains all these points, we should also think within ourselves – Are we following all these points in our daily lives too? If “No”, what is preventing us from following all these? We must first of all understand that all these aspects of “Dharma” are common for any “Yuga”, irrespective of “Tretha Yuga”, or “Dvaapara Yuga” or “Kali Yuga”. Even though Yugas keep changing, “Dharma” never changes. The way in which the “Dharma” is practised might change between “Yugas”, but the “Dharma” remains constant. Hence, let us not put the blame that we are in the “Kali Yuga” and it is difficult for us to follow all these. Yugas don’t matter. It is only the question of our will power (Vairaagya) to follow all these points. Hence, whatever Draupati is explaining here, is applicable to each and everyone of us who has a family life (Grihastha-Ashrama). First of all, are we practising some simple things today? At the basic level, are we even taking a shower before cooking? In our “urgent lifestyle” of today, what do we do? We either cook all the food the previous night itself for the next day! In the morning, we only reheat the already prepared food and consume. Or, in the worst case, in the morning, we cook food even without taking a shower! All these practices only bring about a lot of negativity into us and these negative vibrations are very powerful to ruin our spiritual progress. In fact, Bhagawan Krishna also talks about this in the Bhagawad Gita – He talks about six important types of food items that we should avoid – One amongst them is the food that is not offered to Bhagawan with due respect! We’re going to see this in detail later on, but for today’s context, this is important.
Nowadays, we also have another practice – We tend to “skip” breakfast completely and have lunch and dinner outside in restaurants! Of course, I’m not saying that we should never have food in restaurants today, which might be gross injustice, however, we shall try and keep it to a minimal level. This is because, we never know who is preparing food at restaurants, and what kind of mood with which that person is preparing the food. Of course, the food might be extremely tasty, but there are certain intrinsic qualities that we imbibe through food, which might impact our “Rajo Guna” and “Satva Guna”. If we’re consuming food that is pre-cooked, chances are high that it might have become stale due to bacterial activity. If we consume stale food, what will happen? All of us know it, isn’t it? Hence, the food that we consume is extremely important for our spiritual growth and progress, and this is why, great spiritual “Saadhaks” would never prefer to eat food other than home-cooked food! So these are some important points that we need to keep in mind, pertaining to food.
Now, when it comes to maintaining secrets, this too has become quite common these days amongst couples! Even while getting married, there are many instances wherein the girl’s mother advises thus, “Oh! You’re going into a new family! You should be careful not to disclose any of our family things! Moreover, for the first six months to one year, do not even disclose your financial aspects fully to your husband! This might be very risky and what if he takes away all your money and ditches you?” Such shallow advice is being given a lot by the girl’s parents, and it is extremely dismal and shocking to know this! Now we should think for a moment here – If by mistake, either the husband or the in-laws come to know of these secrets through some ways or means after marriage, what will happen to the relationship? Won’t the trust be broken off? If the basic trust is broken, what else is left in the marriage? This is why it is saddening to see many couples approaching the courts seeking divorce!
Thus, it is important that such things should change. There should be complete transparency between the couple at any point of time. Only then the trust between the couple will build. So for today, let us ponder over these points once more in-depth and let us wait till the next episode to continue with what Draupati has to say further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 