In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra’s “Pattabishekam” ceremony getting over, and Bhagawan Krishna is also marking His divine presence during the august occasion. Post that, as Bhagawan Krishna is sitting and talking with all the Pandava brothers, He suddenly gets an urge to meet Bhishmachaarya immediately. It should be remembered that Bhishmachaarya is still alive, lying down on the “Arrow bed” amidst the Kurukshetra battlefield. Bhishmachaarya’s last moments are coming closer, as he is meditating upon Bhagawan Krishna deeply, to help him transcend the “Svarga Lokha” comfortably. Bhagawan never misses an opportunity to be amongst His ardent “Bhaktas” and this is a perfect example for the same. He immediately realizes that ample time has to be given to Bhishmachaarya, and hence, calls Yudishtra and the others also along with Him. Bhagawan Krishna tells Yudishtra that he has a lot to learn from Bhishmachaarya still, and he has to obtain the “Gnyaanam” (Highest knowledge) from Bhishmachaarya before he passes away. Else, the entire knowledge would go in vain as it would never be passed on to the next generation.
Agreeing to the same, Yudishtra also starts along with Bhagawan Krishna. Arjuna and the others follow them as well. Here, we’ve to understand a very important point, before we go into the discussion part – The importance that Bhagawan Himself is giving to an “Aachaarya” (Guru). Whatever knowledge that has to be disseminated, it should come via the proper channel, and that channel is through the “Guru” and not through Bhagawan directly. Of course, we’re going to see that Bhishmachaarya is also going to talk about the significance of Bhagawan Krishna at length. We might feel that Bhagawan Krishna could have Himself done it, which might have been an easier process. Why is it easier? Firstly, it is easier to talk about ourself, rather than someone else talking about us, isn’t it? Bhagawan Krishna Himself tried this through the Bhagawad Gita to Arjuna. However, somewhere down the line, He Himself did not like it! Secondly, Bhishmachaarya’s present condition is well known to all of us. He is clearly struggling to talk properly because of his wounds. Lying down on a bed of arrows with so many injuries isn’t an easy thing at all! Even then, why did Bhagawan Krishna want Bhishmachaarya to do the talking, rather He Himself doing it? Isn’t Bhagawan capable of advising Yudishtra in the right direction? If He has done it for Arjuna, then why can’t He do the same to Yudishtra as well?
These are questions that many of us might be having too. But the answer is simple – As mentioned earlier, even though Bhagawan is perfectly capable of explaining His own significance, He doesn’t want to do it. Firstly, of course, He tried it during the Bhagawad Gita session with Arjuna, but somehow He wasn’t too satisfied with His own accord! He wants someone else to do it, rather than He Himself doing it! Secondly, if Bhagawan keeps constantly talking about Himself all the time, “Bhaktas” wouldn’t appreciate it that much. It would become monotonous. However, if someone else talks about Bhagawan and His significance, we would have that mental space to listen to that person and understand Bhagawan better. Thirdly and most importantly here, Bhagawan highlights the significance of the “Aachaarya”. Anybody or everybody cannot have the unique opportunity to talk about Bhagawan. Only a very few / handful of people have that right qualification, and one such person with that right qualification is Bhishmachaarya! Bhagawan Krishna would have been on the opposite camp of Bhishmachaarya during the Kurukshetra battle. In fact, Bhagawan Krishna was the one who constantly motivated Arjuna to fight Bhishmachaarya and kill him. If we look at all these events, we might outwardly come to a conclusion that Bhishmachaarya is a villain and he deserves to be killed only. However, if we look at things in-depth, the relationship between Bhagawan Krishna and Bhishmachaarya is extremely divine and the former considers the latter to be one of His greatest “Bhaktas” ever! Moreover, since Bhishmachaarya is an ocean of knowledge and wisdom, who else can talk better about Bhagawan than him?
Thus, according to Bhagawan Krishna, Bhishmachaarya qualifies in two aspects – One, being an ardent “Bhakta” with utmost surrender to His divine feet, and secondly, being an epitome of the highest level of spiritual knowledge and wisdom. It is because of this, Bhagawan Krishna wants the knowledge to disseminate through this great man! Moreover, if Bhagawan Himself keeps saying all these things, how will the subsequent generations understand the significance of a “Guru”? Bhagawan Krishna is not going to be in His physical form all through several generations. However, His significance will remain! Someone has to understand and propagate this significance to the world from time to time, isn’t it? This is where a “Guru” is required. Hence, Bhagawan Krishna introduces Bhishmachaarya as the first “Spiritual Master” (“Mahatma”) to this world, who could propagate His significance to people and from whom all of us can learn about who Bhagawan really is and what He does for all of us.
So with this small thought, we can wait till the next episode to commence with the proceedings at the Kurukshetra battlefield wherein a marquee discussion is about to unfold! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 