In the previous episode, we had witnessed Mrithyu Devata once again meeting Bhagawan Brahma after her long stint of deep and intense penance at several places, including the abode of Yama-Dharma-Raja himself. After this long stint, Mrithyu Devata’s physical form trims drastically and as she re-appears in front of Bhagawan Brahma, he becomes shocked to see her! As Bhagawan Brahma asks her for such an act of severe penance, Mrithyu Devata explains that even though she is prepared to execute the task of inducing death into living beings, she is not going to do it in such a destructive manner that the entire world will cry. Mrithyu Devata wants to find a balance between birth and death in such a way that the world will not completely delve into death alone. If things are in balance, people will also not feel the pain of death much.
As Mrithyu Devata outlines her idea thus, she also reasons out that the trimming of her physical form is to execute death in a slower manner. Had she been in her original huge physical form, death would happen at a much faster rate in the world. Now upon saying this, Mrithyu Devata continues further thus, “Oh Bhagawan Brahma! I shall induce death faster into certain categories of people and will do it very slowly into certain others. For instance, those people who forget the good deeds done by others, those people who desire for others’ property and wealth, those people who constantly keep lying for everything, those who cheat others by giving false assurances, those who have excessive desires in their life, those people who unleash their anger upon others and harm them for their own personal gains, those people who are extremely jealous about others’ growth, development and well-being, those who commit “Droham” (Making people believe and then cheating them) to others, those who are obsessed with “Moham” (Always in wrong understanding about someone or something) and those who do not have even an iota of shyness or inhibition while doing something wrong in this world, will be my prime targets to induce death faster! In other words, I shall target those people who have all the above mentioned “diseases” in them and ensure that they undergo enormous suffering before finally enduring death! Oh Bhagawan Brahma! You should grant me a boon that if I target such people, I should not be affected by the “Paapa Karma” of killing them!”
As Mrithyu Devata requests thus, Bhagawan Brahma too finds it quite reasonable and immediately grants her this boon. He provides his divine “Anugraha” to Mrithyu Devata, who in turn commences her actions. This “Charitra” is being narrated by Sage Naarada to King Akampana amidst the battlefield. This narrative is being quoted here by Sage Vyaasa to Yudishtra who is mourning the untimely and shocking demise of Abhimanyu. Telling everything thus, Sage Vyaasa also narrates the stories of sixteen kings of the past. All these are also part of Sage Naarada’s lengthy accords at various instances. Many of us might be knowing several of these “Charitras”. For instance, Sage Vyaasa talks about King Ambareesha, King Yayaati, King Maandhaata, King Sagara, Bhagawan Rama, King Nahusha, etc. and highlights the important point that none of them are alive today! Everybody had to meet an end to their life at some point of time in different ways, even though they were great kings who stuck to various aspects of “Dharma” all through their lives. Hence, by saying all these, Sage Vyaasa advises Yudishtra to move on with other things in life, rather than getting stuck with Abhimanyu’s demise.
As Sage Vyaasa says thus, Yudishtra has another question to him – “Oh Sage Vyaasa! I perfectly understand that death is something that we cannot avoid and is inevitable. However, did any of the kings that you mentioned had a ghastly death like that of Abhimanyu?” For this, Sage Vyaasa consoles him by saying that death may come in any form and none of us can predict it. Even though Abhimanyu has encountered a ghastly end, he has obtained “Veera-Gathi” and he has sacrificed his life for the welfare of the state. Hence, rather than brooding over Abhimanyu’s death, Sage Vyaasa explains that Yudishtra should feel proud of the way Abhimanyu has fought the war so valiantly! Listening to this lengthy accord from Sage Vyaasa, Yudishtra somehow gets consoled and is now ready to move on further. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further to witness how things are going to move forward from here on! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 