In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhishmachaarya’s accord on “Raaja Dharma” to Yudishtra, as we move on from the Tiger-Fox story. We’ve seen how “trust” is an important factor in leadership and specially in yesterday’s episode, we had focused on how “individuality” of a leader matters a lot. If we maintain our individuality, people will always respect us. However, if we start losing our individuality for something / someone else, we will start losing respect. This is exactly what happened to the “Dharmatma fox”. He lost his respect amongst the others because he was trying to deviate from his individuality of being a proper fox. Of course, even while the intent of the “Dharmatma fox” might be good, he did not get that reception neither from the tiger nor from the other animals. Hence, the “Dharmatma fox” himself accepts the fact that because he wanted to deviate from the “Dharma” of foxes, he had to bear the brunt of mistrust from the tiger.
Saying thus, Bhishmachaarya explains to Yudishtra that he should also maintain his individuality as a “Kshatrya” warrior and as an able administrator, rather than wanting to become a “Sanyasin” and walking away from the duties of a “Kshatrya”. While giving this accord, Bhishmachaarya also laments that it has become a fashion these days for many people to walk away to the forest in the name of doing penance by shunning away their duties. While the outward intent for this might be to attain “Moksha” by performing penance in a peaceful location, the ultimate motive behind this decision is to simply escape from performing their duties! This should stop somewhere. If everyone starts abandoning their “Kshatrya” Dharma, then who is going to take care of the kingdom and its people? Also, it is to be understood that not everybody can become a “Brahmana Rishi”.
If we’ve to interpret this point in today’s context, we might see a sect of people propagating against the performance of our “Nitya-Karma”. When we say “Nitya-Karma”, it includes our “Sandhyavandanam”, “Gayatri-Japam”, monthly “Tarpanam”, yearly “Shraadham” for our ancestors, etc. that we are supposed to do. Some people might say thus, “Oh! We’ve crossed all these states of “Karma Yoga” and we’ve transcended to the “Gnyaana Yoga” state. Hence, we are not required to perform the “Nitya-Karma” anymore! Moreover, some people say that if we give a “Dhaanam” to someone, it is equivalent to performing the “Tarpanam” and “Shraadham”. If we chant the “Vishnu Sahasranamam” everyday, we will not be required to perform any of our “Nitya-Anushtaanam” at all! All these kinds of talks are mere signals of laziness and escapism, and nothing else! No matter whoever we are and whatever state we are in, there is no escape from our “Nitya-Karma-Anushtaanam”. Performing our “Sandhyavandanam”, “Gayatri-Japam”, “Shraadham”, etc. are mandatory for all of us, irrespective of whatever “Sahasra-Naamam” we chant or don’t chant! Nowhere in the “Shaastram” it has been mentioned that we can substitute one for the other. Of course, I’m not saying that the “Vishnu Sahasranamam” is not powerful. It definitely is! However, this should not come at the expense of our “Nitya-Anushtaanam”. I’ve been repeatedly saying this over and over again on several occasions – The reason being, we’ve to follow and perform the “Nitya-Anushtaanam” correctly without fail. If we fail to do, we are only hurting Bhagawan’s heart every passing day! If Bhagawan has destined us with a set of duties, it is our responsibility to fulfill them without fail, isn’t it?
Thus, it is evident here also that there is no escapism from our “Karma” and this is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is also explaining here. Just because we might have transcended the state of “Karma Yoga”, it doesn’t mean that we would shun everything. In fact, to be very practical, none of us have crossed the “Karma-Yoga” stage. Bhagawad Ramanuja, even when he was around 120 years old, would go to the banks of River Cauvery by holding the hands of his disciples to perform the “Sandhyavandanam” every day! We might ask a simple question – Why should he do this? The answer is very simple – Even though Bhagawad Ramanujachaarya was a great ‘Gnyaana Yogi”, the “Gnyaanam” (Wisdom) comes through the fulfilment of the “Karma”. Hence, it is mandatory for such great “Gnyaana Yogis” also to perform their “Nitya-Karma”. If such is the mandate for such great people, what about us? Are we even an inch closer to Bhagawad Ramanujachaarya in terms of the “Gnyaanam” that he possessed? Hence, we should stop all these gimmicks and start performing our “Nitya-Karma” without fail every passing day! Even though people might keep saying all these narratives, we should care a damn. We should understand that there is no escapism from our “Karma” till our last day of life in this world!
So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 