In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya lamenting to Duryodhana that he too had to fall into the trap of “Adharma” as he did not have the “Vairagya” (Will-power) and “Dhairyam” (Courage and confidence) to implement “Dharma”, even though he had enormous “Gnyaanam”. Thanks to Bhagawan Brahma, Bhishmachaarya had tremendous understanding and acumen on “Dharmaa”, but because the implementation part was missing, Bhishmachaarya had to fall prey to Duryodhana’s hospitality and refuge for the past several years and now he cannot come out of it anymore! It is to be noted here that Bhishmachaarya fights the war on Duryodhana’s side against the Paandavas, knowing very well that he is fighting for a losing cause. He knows that he is not on the side of “Dharma” and because of this, there is no chance that Duryodhana is going to taste victory. Further, Bhishmachaarya is saddened by the fact that despite giving several warnings as to not to poke his nose into Yudishtra’s affairs, Duryodhana chose to ignore him completely. Now that Bhishmachaarya is revealing the true nature of the Bhagawan Krishna-Arjuna combo, Duryodhana is still reluctant to change himself and mend his ways!
Thus, we can see the biggest problem with Bhishmachaarya here – Right from his early days, he has a firm and stubborn thought that the entire family is under his responsibility only. This is where he’s getting pulled down and he himself is accepting this now. Moreover, we’ve also seen earlier that because he thought that it is his responsibility to keep the family intact, Bhishmachaarya even went to the extent of obtaining a boon that he can be alive until and unless he wants to be! This is perhaps the biggest mistake that he made. This is what we refer to as “Jeeva-Svaatantryam”. This means, Bhagawan is giving enormous freedom to all of us to make our own decisions in life. Bhagawan has given us the necessary intellect and intelligence for thinking and making decisions. However, there is a catch here – Are we using this intellect to understand and realize the fact that Bhagawan is the doer and we are not? Or, are we using the same intellect to think that we’re the doers and we’re the ultimate decision-makers? If we opt for the first option, we become ardent “Bhaktas” of Bhagawan, and if we’re opting for the second option, it simply means that we’re getting carried away by the “Jeeva-Svaatantryam” too much and as a result, we’re moving away from Bhagawan with every decision that we make for ourselves! This is exactly what is happening to Bhishmachaarya here – Till this moment, Bhishmachaarya thinks that it is only because of him, the family (including the Kauravas and Paandavas) is intact and together. Little did he think that it is Bhagawan’s responsibility to take care of everyone! This is why Bhishmachaarya struggles to take a decision when the tough question of whether to support the cause of “Dharma” or “Adharma” comes up!
In fact, this is the case with all of us as well. In the heat of things, we tend to think that we’re the sole decision-makers and we end up messing ourselves completely! In other words, as per the above discussion, many a time we get carried away by the “Jeeva-Svaatantryam” too much! In this process, we fail to realize that Bhagawan is the ultimate decision-maker and we should surrender to His divine lotus feet! Moving on further thus, as Bhishmachaarya laments, Duryodhana is happy in a way! How? It is because both of them sail on the same boat! While Bhishmachaarya is advising Duryodhana to mend his ways, Duryodhana is asking back thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya! You’re asking me to walk the path of “Dharma”, but what are you doing? You’re not setting an example for me to follow! When you yourself are not following what you’re preaching, how do you expect me to follow your words? Hence, let us continue fighting this war together till the end!”
Now the message from Duryodhana is loud and clear! Duryodhana is not going to change and mend his ways even an inch! Even after Bhishmachaarya explains that there is no way through which Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna can be defeated, Duryodhana turns deaf ears to all these important points! So for today, let us understand upto this stage and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion forward! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 