In the previous episode, we had witnessed Mudgala’s firmness in practising his “Dharma”, even though the “tempting” offer of attaining the “Svarga Lokha” and to enjoy all the pleasures and luxuries there is being pitched in by the “Deva-Dhootas” and by Sage Dhurvasa. Mudgala is confident that his “Dharma” would take him to the Lokha that gives the permanent happiness and bliss (Vaikunta) and he prefers to live in the “Manushya Lokha” itself and keep practising his “Dharma” every passing day. Mudgala is clearly interested in playing the “waiting game”, rather than finishing off things in a hurry by transcending to the “Svarga Lokha” now, and only to come back to the “Manushya Lokha” to suffer again later! This steadfast attitude towards “Dharma” melts Sage Dhurvasa’s heart and he gets mighty impressed with Mudgala.
Thus, as Mudgala declares his decision in this way, the “Deva Dhootas” are impressed too, and they make their way back to their “Svarga Lokha” from where they came from. Sage Dhurvasa too provides his divine “Anugraha” to Mudgala and assures him of Vaikunta very soon. With this, Mudgala and his family continued to live the way they were living earlier and at the end, all of them attained the highest “Moksha”! Narrating all these to Yudishtra, Sage Vyaasa explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Oh Kaunteya (Son of Kunthi Devi)! If you look at what Mudgala had gone through in his life, is the suffering that you’re undergoing a big one? If one had to wait for fifteen days to obtain a sumptuous meal, what more difficulty can he / she face in life? You are feeling bad for whatever had happened in the past, aren’t you? Of course, I understand your pain and I’m not trying to draw a comparison between you and Mudgala. However, if you’ve to pursue the path of “Dharma”, what is more important here? It is patience and perseverance! See how Mudgala was patient enough to attain his long-term goal. If we’ve to achieve something great in life, we’ve to play the “waiting game”. We should not do things in a hurry and then cry foul for whatever repercussions we’ve to face later. Hence, Yudishtra! Please be patient! Things will turn in your favour very soon!”
This is a very important lesson that all of us have to learn. I’ve already stressed upon this aspect earlier as well, but this context warrants us to extend our thought process a bit more on this – If we’ve to achieve something great in life, we’ve to be strong enough to endure suffering, frustration, pain, etc. If we’re starting to react to each and everything that happens around us, we’re going to go nowhere. For instance, in today’s world we’re not even patient enough to clean our own house! If there is too much dust, we get frustrated. Or for instance, if someone rings our doorbell more than once, we immediately get frustrated, don’t we? Or, if we’re on the road, driving our car or two-wheeler and if someone comes in front of us by mistake, we immediately fume in anger! Or, if there’s a lot of traffic on the road, we get irritated and start driving rashly on the roads! Don’t we do all these things in our everyday life? Even I do most of what I’m saying here and nobody is perfect in this regard. However, by reading through all whatever Sage Vyaasa and all the other great Maharishis are saying, we’ve to slowly start mending our ways. We need to develop that patience and perseverance in our life to pursue the long-term goal. Most of the time we get carried away by the short-term benefits and in due course, we completely forget the long-term goal and start deviating from our path! This is exactly what Mudgala would have done, had he given in to the “Deva Dhootas”’ sales pitch! However, Mudgala stood by his “Dharma” , didn’t he? Even though he knew that the path that he is walking along is one of the toughest, he did not lose heart even for a single moment! This is what we’ve to learn. If we’ve to succeed in a big way, we need to be patient and should wait for things to happen.
So for today, let us understand and reflect upon this important point, and in the next episode we shall continue this discussion forward as to what Sage Vyaasa explained to Yudishtra further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 