In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra invoking the greatness of King Janaka to highlight the point that a king can always be detached like how King Janaka was. We’ve seen Yudishtra narrating a beautiful incident from King Janaka’s life, to highlight how he was extremely detached from everything, yet a great administrator. When Sage Yajnavalkya showed the entire Mithilapuri to be on fire through his “Yoga-Balam”, King Janaka was unmoved! He later responded to Sage Yajnavalkya that it doesn’t matter to him whether the kingdom is up in flames or not. King Janaka clearly understands that even if his body goes up in flames tomorrow, there is nothing to lose or gain. We’ve not brought in anything to this world while taking birth, and hence, there’s nothing that we’re going to take away with us when we’re dying. So, building the “Tapo-Balam” is very important, and even if the kingdom goes up on fire, King Janaka says that he could contain it with the help of the power of his penance. So, Yudishtra explains this incident and highlights that he too wants to build up his “Tapo-Balam” by performing penance in the forest, and thereby protecting the kingdom with a completely detached mindset.
Explaining thus, Yudishtra justifies his decision to Arjuna. By looking at this entire answer from Yudishtra, we might think, “Oh! King Janaka was a completely detached person and even if his kingdom went up in flames, it did not affect him. Hence, tomorrow onwards, we can also leave all our duties and need not bother about them at all!” This is a wrong thought process, and nowhere in this world have Maharishis said such a thing. If we read such shlokas, all of a sudden we would start having thoughts that we should also leave all responsibilities behind and should take “Sanyaasam” from tomorrow onwards. This is not what “Maharishis” want us to do, and this is where many of us go wrong in many things. We would read something incomplete and come up with such narratives which are extremely misleading. This is why we should always have the practice of reading the subject in-depth before commenting on it. Only then we would be able to really grasp what is being said. This is not just true in this context, but for all subjects across all domains. By reading just the headlines of the story, many of us come up with our own narratives, even from a daily newspaper. This is a wrong practice. Before we conclude what exactly has happened, we should try and read the entire news article, understand what the author is trying to say and then infer our analysis from there. This is how our reading should be and this is exactly where Yudishtra also has gone wrong!
Now, moving forward thus, as Yudishtra tries to justify his stance using King Janaka’s anecdote, Arjuna is quick to stop him and revert back! Arjuna says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! It seems that you’ve only read half of what King Janaka actually did. I shall tell you the remaining half of the story. Do you want to listen to me?” As Arjuna says thus, Yudishtra gives a confused look. He thinks thus, “Oh wow! Now what is Arjuna going to say? Does he have a counter for this also?” Arjuna continues thus, “Oh Yudishtra! This same King Janaka, about whom you’re talking about, has another side of his story. He once declared to the world just like how you are doing right now, that he wants to renounce the kingdom and become a “Sanyasin”. He also wanted to go away to the forest and perform penance like “Maharishis” and thereby attain “Moksha”. However, his wife stopped him. His wife (Mother Sita’s mother) is giving a very important accord to King Janaka, with which he changed his mindset and continued ruling Mithilapuri. Oh Yudishtra! You are conveniently taking only what is favourable for your decision and stance, and leaving the rest. This is unfair. Now let me tell you what King Janaka’s wife told him when he made a similar decision!”
Saying thus, Arjuna is going to give a brief accord on this. For today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this interesting accord in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 