In the previous episode, we were witnessing a detailed accord on what is “Belief”, as narrated by Bhishmachaarya to Yudishtra. Upon Yudishtra’s lamenting that Duryodhana never mended his ways till his last moment, Bhishmachaarya wonders what makes Yudishtra think that Duryodhana would do so! Upon this, Yudishtra opens up to Bhishmachaarya that he “believed” that Duryodhana would realize his folly atleast at the Kurukshetra battlefield upon seeing a huge army in front of him, along with Bhagawan Krishna sitting opposite to him. Yudishtra also openly says that he did not go to the Kurukshetra battlefield to fight the war. He was expecting Duryodhana to come to him, seeking an unconditional apology, with which, an arrangement can be made in such a way that he rules one half of the Hastinapura kingdom and Yudishtra rules the other. With this, Yudishtra believed that the entire conflict between the two groups of brothers (Paandavas and Kauravas) would have come to an end and people would have also lived happily and peacefully under both the kingdoms. However, nothing of that sort happened, and Yudishtra was forced to fight the disastrous war.
As Bhishmachaarya listens to this, he narrates a story wherein it is a conversation between Sage Thanu (A personification of “Belief”) and a king. While the king loses his son way too early in a battle, he is still under the belief out of his “Putra-Vatsalyam” that his dead son would come back to him some day! The context is beautifully set by Bhishmachaarya from this story. Now let us get into it. Bhishmachaarya narrates thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Once upon a time, this king, out of frustration of losing his son, goes on a hunting spree into a dense forest. He looks here and there and spots a young small deer jumping its way through. Upon seeing this deer, the king thinks that he has got a good catch today, and hence, tries to corner the deer with his arrows. The moment the king fires his arrows, the deer learns that it is being targeted by a human being, and hence starts to run. The king follows it! He fires two more arrows on the deer, in a bid to make it come to a halt. However, the deer is smart enough to evade the arrows from the king and it keeps running further! The king gives a big chase and the deer keeps up with the king’s pace of running. Everytime the king tries to target an arrow towards it, the deer escapes somehow and keeps running here and there. At times, the deer tries to trick the king by making him believe that he could catch it. However, when the king goes aggressively for the pursuit, the deer escapes away!
This keeps happening till a point that the king is extremely tired and frustrated! He is panting for breath, with a lot of hunger and thirst. As the king reluctantly gives up his pursuit towards the deer, he slowly treads towards a group of Sages sitting under a tree canopy and discussing something amongst each other. As the king approaches the sages, he requests thus, “Oh great Sages! I know and understand that you’re busy in some deep discussions. However, I’m forced to disturb you in the middle, as I’m very hungry and thirsty. Can I have some food to eat and some water to drink?” As the king requests thus, the Sages are more than happy to help him. They offer him sumptuous food and high-quality water to drink. With this, the king regains all his lost energy and gets ready to leave.
As the king is about to depart, the sages ask the king thus, “Oh King! If we may know, where are you going? Why were you panting with a heavy breath? What are you looking for in this forest? Why have you come all alone? Where are your fellow warriors?” As the Sages ask multiple questions thus, the king replies – “Oh great Sages! I’ve just come to the forest on a hunting spree. I had spotted a small deer which was jumping its way through. I wanted to capture it somehow, and when I started trying, the deer started running away! I had to give it a chase, but I couldn’t make it stop! Thus, I was breathless and hungry, which made me approach you for food and water!” Upon listening to this accord from the king, the Sages ask back thus, “Oh king! This is fine! But what are you going to do now?” The king replies – “Oh Sages! Now that I’m full with food and my thirst has also come down, I shall once again continue my pursuit towards that deer and eventually capture it!”
As the king says thus, the Sages are surprised! They ask back thus, “Oh king! By the time you’ve consumed your food and water, the deer would have gone several miles away. You will also not know in which direction the deer would have trudged along! How are you so confident that you will trace that deer and capture it?” As the Sages ask thus, the king replies in a lower tone – “Oh Sages! I have the belief within myself that I will capture the deer by the end of today!” So here, we see the word “belief” which is being employed by the king! So what is this belief all about? Isn’t it very fragile in nature? On what basis is the king exuding confidence that he will be able to capture the deer?” Narrating this part of the story, Bhishmachaarya draws parallels between this king and Yudishtra here. While the king believed in capturing the deer, Yudishtra also believed that Duryodhana would mend his ways! So what happened to this belief of the king? Did the belief succeed? Let us wait till the next episode to continue this story forward! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 