In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhishmachaarya’s detailed accord on the “Aapad-Dharma” wherein he outlines eight different possibilities through which a leader can get into trouble. For instance, if a leader suddenly becomes bankrupt and his coffers dry up, this can signal great danger. Similarly, if a leader starts feeling lazy, complacent, encouraging his “Bandhus” beyond a permissible point, danger is imminent. Also, if a leader’s deputies start deserting him and join the enemy camp, this is a huge signal of danger, because all the “secrets” might be leaked to the enemy! In this way, Bhishmachaarya outlines eight such situations which can potentially push a leader into great danger!
We can relate each of these eight situations in our daily-lives as well. For instance, all of us know what will be the cost that we might incur if our laziness starts to dominate us. If we start procrastinating all our duties, and at the end of the day if we’re failing to execute our duties because of our sheer laziness, we might be in huge trouble from various quarters – Both professionally and personally. Similarly, we’ve seen on several occasions wherein friends and relatives would be given undue importance and this indicates trouble to the leader. We call this in Corporate terms “Favouritism” / “Nepotism”. Due to “Favouritism”, one person can get an undue and an unjust advantage over the other person, just because the former would be a close associate (friend or relative) of the leader, sans any qualifications! This can backfire very badly for the leader in the organization, especially when employee’s realize this unfair treatment meted out to them! Thus in this way, all these eight situations mentioned by Bhishmachaarya finds excellent relevance to our today’s context. Now that we’ve understood the eight situations, Bhishmachaarya is going to explain how a leader should handle each of them in such a way that he / she can escape the “Aapad-Kaalam” as per the path of “Dharma”.
Now Bhishmachaarya explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If you’re in an “Aapad-Kaalam” wherein an enemy has invaded you – The first thing that you should understand here is the depth of the enemy. In other words, you should understand who the enemy is, and what kind of a person he is. For instance, if the enemy is a learned scholar, very patient, calm and composed, you should handle him in a certain way Whereas, if the enemy is barbaric in nature, you should handle him in a different way. However, if the enemy is a learned scholar, but for some reason he doesn’t like you and because of some kind of a rivalry if he comes and attacks you, this person should be handled differently. Thus, there might be differentiations in the enemies who come and attack, and you should be careful in identifying them properly!”
This is such a resounding point from Bhishmachaarya, given the current situation our “Bhaarata Desha” is – Recently, many of us might be knowing how a brutal Islamic terrorist attack unfolded in one of India’s most spiritual lands – Kashmir. This was nothing less than a barbaric attack on our Hindu brothers and sisters, who had gone there to enjoy a vacation. Now, it is important that India avenges this brutal Islamic attack, but does India attack immediately? The answer is a big “No”! The government took its time (Almost 2 weeks) to understand how to go about things, planned out the operation with a lot of precision and struck today with the “Operation Sindoor” with great success, isn’t it? As the whole country is celebrating the bravery of our beloved Armed Forces, it is important for us to understand that enemies of this kind – Islamic barbarians – Should only be spoken in the language that they understand – Bullets! There is no point in talking to them and trying to broker any kind of peace, isn’t it? This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is explaining to Yudishtra – If we are under attack, it is important to know the depth of the enemy and then counterattack!
So for today, let us celebrate the valour of the Armed Forces of our “Bhaarata Desha” and also appreciate the brilliant and tactical move by the Government of India, while we appreciate the words of Bhishmachaarya by making sense out of whatever he has said! We shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 