The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Shalya narrating an instance wherein Indra too had to undergo similar suffering like how Yudishtra is undergoing currently. King Shalya is narrating this to motivate Yudishtra to continue following the path of “Dharma” at all times without deviating from it. We’ve witnessed how Indra got into a mess with Tvashta’s son, who in turn created the Raakshasa called Vridhraasura. Indra had a tough time in defeating Vridhraasura, however, even after this, he was caught up with the treacherous “Brahma-Hatthi-Dosha”. Because of this, Indra had to hide somewhere amidst a lotus petal and prays to Bhagawan Vishnu once again to get rid of this. As Indra is in such a big mess, the leadership position of the “Deva-Lokha” is vacant and for this, all the Devas are mooting Nahusha to occupy it. 

Upon hearing this from the Devas, Nahusha is extremely happy and thrilled! Who on earth would deny such a lucrative position, and that too if it comes without taking any effort? Thus, Nahusha immediately accepts the position and starts enjoying all the luxuries of being the leader of the “Svarga Lokha”. He enjoys all the luxurious places, food items and even the women there. Nahusha’s desires only start growing further and further as he sees more and more beautiful women dancing around him at all times. He enjoys all of them to his heart’s content, yet his desire keeps growing further and further! Finally, as Nahusha sees Indrani, he falls in love with her as well! Indrani, being Indra’s wife, is deeply anguished with what is happening, and hence, goes and prays to all the Maharishis and the Devas that such a thing should not happen! As Indrani represents herself and her chastity in front of all the Maharishis, the plan is made – Firstly, Indra should come out of this “Brahma-Hatthi-Dosha” and only then he can come out of his hiding place! But how can this be achieved? 

Indrani gives an idea thus, “Oh Maharishis! You are seven in number, arent’ you? Now go and tell Nahusha that if Indrani has to accept you, you’ve to come to the bank of a particular lake. To come to this lake, you can tell him that all of you will carry him in a royal carriage!” The Maharishis sense a plan in this and accept it. They straightaway go to Nahusha and propose this idea to him. As Nahusha hears this, he immediately agrees, as his desire towards Indrani grows further and further! Nahusha is now super-excited to see Indrani and express his desire to her. Thus, as the Maharishis propose, Nahusha gets into the royal carriage and is now being carried by all of them! 

However, as the Maharishis are carrying him, Nahusha feels that they are delaying his arrival at the lake due to their slow speed. One of the seven Maharishis who are carrying Nahusha is Sage Agasthya, who is short and stout in nature. Upon seeing Sage Agasthya walking in a slow speed, Nahusha kicks him on his head out of impatience! He says to Sage Agasthya “Sarpa! Sarpa!” In Sanskrit, this phrase has two meanings – One is “speed” and the other is “snake”! Upon Nahusha kicking and insulting him badly, Sage Agasthya gets extremely angry! He immediately curses Nahusha thus, “Oh Nahusha! Your desire and impatience knows no bounds! You’ve now gone to the extent of insulting Maharishis like us! Hence, since you’ve used the phrase “Sarpa”, you will go and be born as a “Sarpa” (Snake) in the world with immediate effect! You will be residing as a snake in the “Manushya Lokha” for the next ten thousand years until Yudishtra comes and releases you from this curse!”

With this, Nahusha’s leadership position at the “Svarga Lokha” is gone for a toss and Nahusha now goes and takes birth as a python amidst the forest! Thus, as Nahusha vacates the chair, at the same time, Indra’s “Brahma-Hatthi-Dosha” also comes to an end. With this, Indra once again reunites with his wife, Indrani, and regains his leadership position of the “Svarga Lokha”! Thus, here is the link as to how Nahusha was born as a snake and we’ve earlier witnessed how Yudishtra released Nahusha from this curse. So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall move ahead with the next important event in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra striking a deal with King Shalya. Even though King Shalya is going to fight against the Paandavas during the war, owing to the compulsion from Duryodhana, King Shalya offers to help Yudishtra in some way or the other. Accordingly, the deal says that when King Shalya gets an opportunity of being a charioteer for Karna, just like how Bhagawan Krishna will be a charioteer to Arjuna, King Shalya should constantly keep demotivating Karna and ensure that Karna doesn’t kill Arjuna. This is a secretive deal between the two and once the deal is made, King Shalya returns back to Hastinapura to be with Duryodhana. 

As King Shalya leaves Viraata Desha, he once again motivates Yudishtra by saying that his “Dharma” will definitely protect him at all times, along with Bhagawan Krishna’s divine “Anugraha”. Saying this, King Shalya also explains how Indra went through a similar distress situation by losing Indrani and subsequently attaining her again with Bhagawan’s divine Anugraha. We’ve seen all these stories here and there in our previous episodes as well. Also, we’ve seen how Nahusha had to undergo a heavy curse and had to suffer in the world by being a snake, only for Yudishtra to come and answer his questions, to relieve him from this curse. Now we’ve to connect these two stories together – Story one – About Indra and Indrani; Story two – Nahusha being born as a snake in this world! Let us see where the connection is. 

King Shalya explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Once upon a time, Indra and Indrani are living happily together as a couple. Once upon a time, there was a person by name “Tvashta”, who had a son with three heads! Tvashta’s son wanted to compete with Indra to obtain the supreme leadership position of the “Svarga Lokha”. A huge fight broke out between Indra and Tvashta’s son, and at the end of it, Indra chopped off one of his heads! Upon seeing his son in this pitiable condition, Tvastha gets angry with Indra and creates a powerful Raakshasa by name “Vridhraasura”! This Vridraasura’s sole agenda was to somehow win over Indra and capture the Indra-Lokha. Hence, he tries out different ways and means to win over Indra, but unfortunately Indra was extremely powerful and too good for Vridhraasura to handle! Finally Vridhraasura decides that these methodologies aren’t really going to work out and the only way to defeat Indra is by obtaining some boons from Bhagawan Brahma. Thus, Vridhraasura enters into a deep penance towards Bhagwan Brahma and obtains enormous boons through it. Bhagawan Brahma is impressed and grants all whatever Vridhraasura asked for! Armed with all this, Vridhraasura launched an all-out assault over Indra and all the Devas. Now Indra’s powers were just a speck of dust in front of Vridhraasura and he ensured that Indra started running for his money! 

Chased away by Vridhraasura thus, Indra ran to Bhagawan Vishnu for help! Bhagwan Vishnu gives him an idea thus – “Oh Indra! Take your Vajra-Aayudha weapon and beat the waves hitting the shore. There will be a lot of foam when the waves hit the shore isn’t it? This foam, hit by your Vajra-Aayudha would go and attack Vridhraasura and as a result, he would be killed! Indra obeys Bhagawan Vishnu’s words and does accordingly. Vridhraasura did not expect such a unique thing (foam from the ocean) to attack him and eventually he was killed! Subsequently, since Vriddhraasura was an ardent devotee of Bhagawan Brahma, by killing him, Indra obtained the “Brahma-Hatthi-Dosha” and because of this, he had to hide somewhere till this gets over. Subsequently, Indra once again prays to Bhagwan Vishnu, who helps him get out of this “Brahma-Hatthi-Dosha” after a huge “Yagnya”. 

Meanwhile, as Indra is hiding, the other Devas go and pray to Nahusha to take over the leadership position of the Indra Lokha! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall witness what happened to Nahusha in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana tricking King Shalya to join the Kaurava camp to fight the war. We’ve slowly started seeing here that Duryodhana has no clear-cut agenda of any sort of peace talks, as he has already started going full throttle in his preparation towards an “inevitable” war with the Paandavas. In this way, Duryodhana first made sure that he obtained all of Bhagawan Krishna’s army on his side, and now he has roped in King Shalya as well. All these attempts are clearly towards preparation for the Kurukshetra war and Duryodhana is clear about it. Thus, we’ve witnessed yesterday that as King Shalya passed through the contours of Hastinapura, he felt tired and hungry, only to be helped by Duryodhana’s messengers. As a token of gratitude, King Shalya is forced to accept Duryodhana’s request of joining his Kaurava camp against the Paandavas. Now, as King Shalya accepts to be on Duryodhana’s side, he wants to have a final word with Yudishtra and make him aware of all these developments. 

Accordingly, moving on thus, King Shalya makes his way to Viraata Desha to meet Yudishtra. As King Shalya commences his journey, Duryodhana says thus, “Oh King Shalya! Please remember that you’ve given your word to me and you should not go back on your words after seeing Yudishtra! This trip of yours is solely for conveying the message that you are by my side!” As Duryodhana says thus, Shalya replies back – “Oh Duryodhana! If I had given you a word, I’ll never go back on that. First of all, please remember one thing clearly – Do not compare yourself with others. Do not expect others to behave like you do! If I give a word to someone, I abide by it and I never ditch the other person. Hence, be confident that I’m on your side! You’ve offered me critical help and I shall always be loyal to you for saving my life!” 

Saying thus, King Shalya commences his journey. As he reaches Viraata Desha, he straightaway goes to meet Yudishtra. As King Shalya arrives, Yudishtra falls on his feet, performs the “Argya”, “Paadhya” and “Aachamaneeya” to him as a token of respect and makes him comfortable. As Yudishtra listens, King Shalya says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I’ve come here to convey a very uncomfortable news to you – Unfortunately, on my way to some place, I happened to pass by Hastinapura, wherein I started feeling extremely tired and hungry. I had no other option but to seek help from Duryodhana’s messengers at that time. Because of this, I’m now cornered by Duryodhana to be on his side for the upcoming war, if at all it happens. Hence, I will not be able to be by your side during the war. However, do not worry. Even if I’m not there on your side, you have “Dharma” with you! Your “Dharma”, along with Bhagawan Krishna’s divine “Anugraha” will always protect you at all times and victory will always be yours!” 

As King Shalya says thus, he breaks down into tears! As King Shalya cries his heart out, Yudishtra consoles him. Yudishtra says thus, “Oh uncle Shalya! I understand the pain that you are going through. As per the “Raaja-Dharma”, whatever decision you’ve taken is perfectly correct and you should abide by it. In fact, you being on the other side is an advantage for us too!” As Yudishtra says thus, King Shalya did not understand his last statement. He asks Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If I’m on the side of Duryodhana, how is it going to be an advantage for you? I did not understand what you meant! Please, can you elaborate more?” Yudishtra now explains a “Sookshama” here thus, “Oh Uncle Shalya! Just like Bhagawan Krishna has accepted to be a charioteer to Arjuna, there will be a time wherein you will also be called to be a charioteer to Karna. My instincts are strongly pointing towards this situation! Also, there will be a huge war breaking out between Arjuna and Karna. At that time, as you are charioteering Karna, you should make sure that Arjuna is not killed by Karna. I do not know what you will tell Karna at that point in time. However, I give this responsibility to you to protect Arjuna’s life from the other side! Hence, even if you are on Duryodhana’s side, you can still be of help to me in this way!” 

As Yudishtra says thus, King Shalya thinks and concludes that this is an excellent idea! Without a question, King Shalya accepts Yudishtra’s proposal and leaves from that place with a heavy heart! As King Shalya leaves, he turns to Yudishtra once again and says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Please do not worry! All your sufferings are going to come to an end in some time now! Just like how Indra had to undergo suffering by losing his wife Indrani, you are currently undergoing some bad times in your life. However, this is going to change for good!” This story of Indra and Indrani comes in the Mahabharata in many contexts! In the past too, we’ve witnessed this story in bits and pieces and now there is a big story about this, given by King Shalya. In the next episode, we shall witness a brief about this story as we move on further! Stay tuned for a detailed accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna re-assuring Duryodhana that He would not take a single weapon in His hand during the war. He also assures that Arjuna will only have His mere presence and not anything more! This makes Duryodhana extremely happy and he returns back to Hastinapura with this news! In due course, we had also witnessed the intricacies of Bhagawan Krishna’s assurance to Duryodhana and we’ve understood how Bhagawan Krishna is an expert in laying “traps” to protect those who follow the path of “Dharma”! Moving on further from here, we’re going to witness an interesting event wherein King Shalya of the Madra Desha is forced to join the Duryodhana camp. This is going to be a fascinating episode wherein King Shalya gets cornered by Duryodhana. Let us see what happens. 

As Duryodhana gets back to Hastinapura, immediately after a few days, King Shalya is going somewhere with his big army. On the way, he passes through the outskirts of Hastinapura and at this point in time, he starts feeling extremely tired, hungry and thirsty. Thus, King Shalya and his army rest for a while at a nearby place where there is a good amount of shade from the trees. As King Shalya rests for a while, this news reaches Duryodhana. Somehow, Duryodhana senses this opportunity to pull King Shalya into his fold. In fact, Shalya is the brother of Maadri Devi, who is the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva! Thus, King Shalya is the uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva of the Paandavas. Ideally, he should have been supporting the cause of the Paandavas, isn’t it? Of course, till this moment, King Shalya favours the Paandavas only. But let us see how Duryodhana brings King Shalya into his fold. 

Upon seeing King Shalya tired and hungry, Duryodhana sends his team of people with enormous tasty food and water and a few medicines as well, to meet King Shalya. Accordingly, as Duryodhana’s team hands over all these, King Shalya is extremely happy. He devours the entire food and water and with this, he regains his strength to proceed forward. However, King Shalya is so happy that he wants to grant something good to this team. King Shalya says thus, “Oh people! You’ve helped me at a critical time when I was tired and hungry! This is a great gesture that you’ve done to me! In return, I would like to give you something nice, but before that, I would like to know who sent you here!” 

Even as King Shalya is talking thus, Duryodhana comes and stands in front of him! As Duryodhana arrives, King Shalya is shocked a bit! He has taken food and water from an enemy camp! Now what does King Shalya do? As per the “Raaja-Dharma”, if a king is devouring food and water from another king’s camp, he should invariably extend his support to the king who served him at a time of need. In this way, King Shalya is now pushed to a corner and it seems that he has no other option but to support Duryodhana’s cause! Using this opportunity, Duryodhana, who also knows the “Raaja-Dharma” extends a welcome to King Shalya thus, “Oh Great King of Madra Desha! I know how powerful you are and what kind of an invincible army you possess! I request your support to fight the battle along with me to defeat Yudishtra and Co. and to protect the Hastinapura kingdom from going into the hands of Yudishtra!” 

Left with no other option, King Shalya extends his hands in support of Duryodhana! King Shalya now leans towards Duryodhana’s side, however, King Shalya replies back to him thus, “Oh Duryodhana! I know that you’ve tricked me into this situation, even though you know that I’m the direct uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva! Anyway, it’s fine! As per the rules of the “Raaja-Dharma”, I shall support you and I shall be with you during the war. However, I only have one request – Before I join your camp, I have a few concluding remarks that I’ve to make to my sister’s sons. So let me go to Viraata Desha, meet Yudishtra and Co. and convey these points and come back!” 

Saying thus, King Shalya starts his journey towards the Viraata Desha where the Paandavas are currently residing. So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna giving an “assurance” to Duryodhana that He is not going to take any weapon in His hands and fight the war. Bhagawan Krishna reiterates His stance to Duryodhana that He will only be merely present near Arjuna during the war and He will not do anything else other than that! This makes Duryodhana extremely happy, but the larger question here is whether there is another trap that is being laid by Bhagawan Krishna, which Duryodhana is not understanding! Indeed, if we analyze Bhagawan Krishna’s answer deeply, we’re going to find enormous truths hidden inside! Let us discuss this in a bit of detail as we move on further! 

Even as Duryodhana is convinced and Bhagawan Krishna gives a “convincing” answer to him, certain questions remain – Does Bhagawan Krishna even need a weapon in hand to win a war? Even further, does Bhagawan Krishna even need to be present in the battlefield to help Arjuna win the war? There are several dimensions through which we can approach these questions – One dimension is that, Bhagawan is omni-potent! He can create and destroy the entire world with just a wink of His eyes! This is reiterated in the Vedas at several places. Bhagawan has the entire power to create thousands of “Jeevatmas” at the same time and also to destroy several thousands of them at the same time as well! Hence, Bhagawan being present in the battlefield where just a few hundreds of people are fighting, doesn’t really matter! If He wants, He can destroy all the hundreds of people at one stretch, with just one inhalation and exhalation of His breath! All that is required is just one “Sankalpa” (Divine will & wish) from Bhagawan to do it! The second dimension is more important here – If Bhagawan is able to do everything by Himself, why at all should He be present in the battlefield? We’ve to understand the deeper sense here – The battlefield for a “Kshatrya” prince is a “Karma-Bhoomi” – The place where he performs his duty. Arjuna and the others in the Paandava camp are “Kshatrya” princes. The place where they should execute their duties is Kurukshetra battlefield. Moreover, the duties should be executed according to the path of “Dharma”. To guide these “Kshatrya” princes towards the path of “Dharma”, someone should be there as a “Guru” or a teacher, isn’t it? This “someone” is none other than Bhagawan Krishna! 🙂 Thus, the role of Bhagawan Krishna when He is marking His divine presence in the battlefield is to be a “Guru” and to guide Arjuna, Yudishtra, and the others towards the path of “Dharma”. Thus, even though Bhagawan is not going to take the weapon in His hand, His able guidance during the war is going to mean a lot to Arjuna. 

Moreover, even if Bhagawan might be capable of accomplishing anything and everything in this world, why is He stepping behind and is not willing to do it on His own? This is another dimension through which we can view – Even though Bhagawan might be omni-potent, He wants Arjuna to do his duty meticulously. He doesn’t want Arjuna to escape from his duty and put everything on Bhagawan Krishna’s shoulders! Most of the time we also tend to do this – We tend to duck our responsibilities by saying that Bhagawan will take care of everything! Of course, Bhagawan will take care of everything, but, isn’t it our duty to put in the right effort? Thus, the underlying message here is that surrender to Bhagawan is important. However, in the pretext of surrendering to Bhagawan, shall we leave out all our responsibilities and escape away? The answer is “No”! We should still carry out our responsibilities and tasks, and leave the results of them to Bhagawan. We should put in the right effort towards whatever we’re doing and then surrender the results of our actions to Bhagawan. This is something that all of us have to understand as we move forward. 

So for today, let us ponder over this bigger message that Bhagawan Krishna and in fact, He Himself is going to elaborate this during His Bhagawad Gita accord. We shall witness a more detailed accord on this subject at that time, but for now, let us understand the crux of this message. We shall wait till the next episode to continue further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Arjuna and Duryodhana expressing their individual interests to Bhagawan Krishna with regards to their preparations for the upcoming war. As this happens, Bhagawan Krishna too decides that war is inevitable and all these so-called “peace talks” are only going to end up in failure. We’ve witnessed that Arjuna chooses Option 1 – Bhagawan Krishna’s divine presence, and Duryodhana chooses Option 2 – Bhagawan Krishna’s huge army. As Duryodhana senses “victory’ in his pursuit, he straightaway marches towards Hastinapura to share the “good news” with Sahuni and Co. The first person whom Duryodhana comes across after reaching Hastinapura is Sahuni. Duryodhana and Sahuni now talk and strategize the way forward, which we are going to witness today. Is Sahuni happy with what Duryodhana has come up with? Or, is he having different ideas? Let us witness! 

Moving on thus, Sahuni replies to Duryodhana – “Oh Duryodhana! What you’ve done is great! There is no doubt about it. Bhagawan Krishna’s army is extremely powerful and the entire world knows about it. If that huge and powerful army is by our side, victory is definitely ours! However, I only have one doubt – If Arjuna is merely choosing Bhagawan Krishna’s presence near him, I feel that there is some hidden agenda behind this. What will Bhagawan Krishna merely do by staying near Arjuna during the war? Did He say that He will take weapons in hand and fight along with Arjuna? Or, did He just say that He is going to be present without taking the weapons in hand? What was Bhagawan Krishna’s message? Oh Duryodhana! This is where you’ve to be careful. Bhagawan Krishna can play tricks very easily and you would fall trap to it! You’ve to be smart and shrewd!” 

As Sahuni says thus, Duryodhana understands his words and decides to once again go back to Dwaraka to seek confirmation! Duryodhana comes back and asks Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Keshava! (Bhagawan Krishna)! When you said that you will be with Arjuna during the war, will you be fighting along with him or will you just be a mere spectator without taking the weapons in hand? What is going to be your stance when you grant Option 1 to Arjuna? I need a clarification!” As Duryodhana straightaway asks thus without any blemish, Bhagawan Krishna laughs out loud! He is amused by the way Duryodhana is asking the question and within Himself, Bhagawan thinks about Duryodhana’s immaturity and failure to realize who Bhagawan Krishna really is! 

Thinking thus, Bhagawan Krishna replies back to Duryodhana – “Oh Duryodhana! I think I had cleared this question in the beginning itself, and maybe you might have forgotten my answer! For this, did you come all the way from Hastinapura? How funny! 🙂 Anyway, to clarify once again, let me make it very clear – If there is a war and if I’m near Arjuna, I will NOT take any weapon in hand! I will only be merely present near Arjuna! I will NOT take part in any way during the war! I assure you of this! Are you happy now?” 

As Duryodhana hears this from Bhagawan Krishna, he heaves a huge sigh of relief! He too knows how dangerous it can be if Bhagawan Krishna takes the weapon and starts fighting! However, he forgets one thing – Does Bhagawan Krishna even need a weapon to win a war? Does Bhagawan Krishna even need to be present in the battlefield to make Arjuna win the war? These are a few questions that we also need to ponder upon as we move forward! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall try answering these above questions in the next episode as we move forward! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we were at an important juncture wherein Bhagawan Krishna is giving an opportunity to both Arjuna and Duryodhana to ask for whatever they needed, in terms of preparation for the war. As expected, Bhagawan Krishna, while giving an opportunity, lays down a trap and we’re witnessing how both of them react to it. Now the bigger question here is, who is going to fall into Bhagawan Krishna’s trap and who is going to play it safe! As Bhagawan Krishna gives Arjuna the first opportunity to “have a go” at it, Arjuna is very clear in what he wants – Bhagawan Krishna’s mere divine presence and nothing else! Arjuna surrenders to Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet and opts for His presence at all times to guide and support him! 

As Arjuna puts forth his request thus, Bhagawan Krishna smiles and replies back – “Oh Arjuna! Are you sure what you’re asking for? Please remember that as per Option 1, even if I’m there with you, I wouldn’t take any weapon in hand and fight. I’m reiterating my point very clearly here – I will not fight the war along with you and support you. You will only get my presence and nothing else! Are you still fine with this?” As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, Duryodhana is onlooking this conversation and he internally laughs within himself! He thinks within himself thus, “Oh wow! Thank God! Arjuna is not as clever as me to ask for Bhagawan Krishna’s powerful army! I shall now use this opportunity to take that army and prepare for the war! Meanwhile, Arjuna has made a foolish decision to opt for Bhagawan Krishna’s mere presence. What can He do on the battlefield alone?” 

Even as Duryodhana thinks thus, Bhagawan Krishna immediately turns towards him and says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Now it is your turn! What are you thinking? Go ahead and ask whatever you require!” As Bhagawan Krishna asks thus, Duryodhana replies back – “Oh Keshav! I now ask for your entire army that you had given as part of Option 2. I shall take it and this will help me in winning the war against Yudishtra!” As Duryodhana asks thus, Bhagawan Krishna immediately grants Duryodhana’s wish without asking any further questions! However, we had witnessed earlier that when it came to Arjuna, Bhagawan Krishna had a follow-up question whether he was sure of what he’s asking! But here for Duryodhana, perhaps Bhagawan Krishna eagerly anticipated this answer from him, and once He got that, He directly granted Option 2 to Duryodhana without asking a single question back! 

Thus, as Duryodhana receives Option 2, he is extremely happy and immediately leaves Dwaraka! As Duryodhana leaves, Bhagawan Krishna turns towards Arjuna who is in tears! As Bhagawan Krishna sees Arjuna in tears, He immediately consoles Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! Please do not cry! I cannot see you in tears! Please do not worry! As you’ve requested, I shall always be with you at every moment to guide and support you! As you know, I always take the side of “Dharma” and you have the “Dharma” in you. The bond between you and me is unshakable! Hence, please do not lose heart! What is Duryodhana going to do with my army? Nothing at all! You’ve made an extremely wise decision and you should be happy about it!” 

Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna consoles Arjuna as He reveals Himself quite a bit in this small conversation! Meanwhile, a happy Duryodhana reaches Hastinapura and straightaway goes to his uncle, Sahuni to convey the “good news”! Sahuni listens to Duryodhana’s accord and is now going to give his reply. We should remember here that Sahuni is highly intelligent and smart! So, the bigger question here is whether Sahuni is happy with what Duryodhana has accomplished at Dwaraka or not! Or, is he having other ideas? Let us wait till the next episode for Sahuni’s answer! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna giving a chance to Duryodhana and Arjuna to ask help from Him in terms of the war preparations. Prior to this, Duryodhana blurts out blatantly that he had come to Dwaraka for the same reason, whereas Arjuna preferred to remain silent. As Duryodhana says thus, Bhagawan Krishna gives an equal chance to both of them to ask for whatever they need. Even here, Duryodhana shows his aggression and arrogance by saying that since he was the first to arrive at Dwaraka, he must be given the chance to put forth his need first. However, Bhagawan Krishna replies with a logic to Duryodhana by saying that even though he might have come first,Arjuna was the one whom He saw first after waking up! However, Bhagawan Krishna asks Duryodhana to proceed first with his wishlist! 

Moving on thus, Bhagawan Krishna once again refines His answer to both of them. He says thus, “Oh Duryodhana and Arjuna! I now give you two options – You may choose between them. Option 1: My extensive army that contains thousands of soldiers, chariots, weapons, etc. Option 2: Myself – I will come with you for the war, however, I will not take any weapon in my hand and fight. Also, I will be alone as well! I will not be with anybody else! Hence, you may choose between the two options! Oh Arjuna! It’s your turn first! Please go ahead and choose whichever option you want!” As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, Duryodhana once again objects – “Oh Keshava (Bhagawan Krishna)! Now that you’ve given us two options, you should give me the upper hand to make my choice first! As I’m the eldest and also the one who came first here, I should be given the first option!” 

As Duryodhana repeatedly keeps saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna becomes slightly irritated. He once again reiterates His stance thus, “Oh Duryodhana! You know that I always take a neutral stance and I would always stand by “Dharma”! As per the “Dharma”, the younger brother should always be given the first chance to have a go at things! Hence, I stick to it and I give the first chance to Arjuna as he is the youngest of the two! I’m firm in what I convey!” As Bhagawan Krishna strictly says thus, Duryodhana doesn’t have an option but to pray all his “Ishta-Deivatas” that Arjuna doesn’t choose what he wants! 

Now it is time for Arjuna to make his choice. Arjuna folds his hands and replies to Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Bhagawan! What more is precious for me than your divine presence near me? Hence, if you ask me, your army with thousands and thousands of soldiers, weapons, etc. doesn’t matter to me! Your mere presence near me is all that I want! If we have a balance instrument and place all these thousands of army men on one plate and you on the other, obviously you’re going to weigh heavier than the other! Hence, oh Bhagawan Krishan! I just want you to be with me at all times, guiding me and supporting me towards the path of “Dharma”!” 

As Arjuna asks thus, Duryodhana heaves a huge sigh of relief! Till this point, Duryodhana had an eye on Bhagawan Krishna’s extensive army and perhaps, all his prayers have been answered! 🙂 Arjuna opted for Option 2 and now, Duryodhana can easily opt for Option 1, isn’t it? So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode we shall witness Duryodhana’s official request to Bhagawan Krishna! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana and Arjuna arriving at Dwaraka to meet Bhagawan Krishna. As they arrive, Bhagawan Krishna is fast asleep and we’ve seen that Duryodhana quickly goes and sits near Bhagawan Krishna’s pillow. Arjuna quietly follows him and takes his place near Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet. As Bhagawan wakes up, His “Nethra-Darshan” falls upon Arjuna first and Bhagawan is excited to see Arjuna at Dwaraka. However, Duryodhana too marks his presence there and as fate would have it, Bhagawan lays down a trap. He wantedly asks Duryodhana as to what he wants and what is the purpose of his visit to Dwaraka! Duryodhana straightaway replies that he has come to seek help from Bhagawan to fight the war against Yudsihtra and Co., even as Arjuna is silent. 

Moving on further thus, Bhagwan Krishna immediately turns to Arjuna and asks him – “Oh Arjuna! You’ve also come to Dwaraka! Why are you silent? Do you have a purpose for visiting as well?” As Bhagawan Krishna asks thus, Arjuna slowly replies back – “Oh Bhagawan! To be very frank and honest with you, I also came precisely for the same purpose. I also wanted to seek your guidance to prepare for the war, if necessary!” As Bhagawan listens to Arjuna’s reply, Bhagawan immediately replies back thus, “Oh Arjuna! In that case, go ahead and ask whatever you want! I shall grant you without any hesitation!” As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, even as Arjuna is about to start his accord, Duryodhana objects. He angrily replies thus, “Oh Vaasudeva (Bhagawan Krishna)! I was the one who came first. Hence, the first opportunity to ask you something should be given to me and not to Arjuna!”As Duryodhana fumes thus, Bhagawan Krishna calmly replies back – “Oh Duryodhana! Yes, you are right that you’re the one who came first. However, when I woke up, I saw Arjuna first, didn’t I? Hence I felt that Arjuna should be given the chance first. Of course, both of you are first in your own ways. I do not deny that. Hence, let me declare one thing here – I shall help both of you! I will never let both of you down. You may go ahead and seek any kind of help that you require from me and I shall help you in whatever capacity I can!” 

Now, this might seem to be a tricky answer given by Bhagawan Krishna! This once again tempts Duryodhana and with this, Bhagawan Krishna ensures that Duryodhana falls deeper and deeper into the trap! If such an attractive offer is given to us, what would we do? Like I mentioned yesterday, we would immediately start asking for all possible luxuries in this world, isn’t it? This is exactly what Duryodhana is doing here too! The moment Bhagawan gives an assurance of any help from His side, what should we ideally ask Him? As ardent “Bhaktas”, our focus should only be on Bhagawan and His divine lotus feet, isn’t it? This is where, Bhagawan will try to push us into a trap – This is a test whether we are falling into the trap of worldly pleasures and luxuries, or, are we overcoming all of them and turning towards Bhagawan! Now, Duryodhana is going to right royally fall into Bhagawan Krishna’s trap. 

Of course, we might have another view to this situation here – Is Bhagawan Krishna biassed towards Arjuna in some way? Is Bhagawan Krishna deliberately putting Duryodhana down and favouring Arjuna? In fact, the answer is a big “No”! Bhagawan is always equal and considerate to all living beings in this world! There is no doubt about that. In fact, here too, Bhagawan offers His help not only to Duryodhana, but also for Arjuna. The question is the same for both the people! However, the answers that come out of both of them are going to be contrastingly different! Thus, Bhagawan is fair to everyone. However, the way in which we use the opportunity that Bhagawan gives, indicates all the variations that we see in the way people live in this world. 

So for today, let us understand this “Sookshama” (Secret) and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further and witness what both Duryodhana and Arjuna asked Bhagawan Krishna. Duryodhana is going to ask one kind of help from Bhagawan Krishna, whereas Arjuna is going to ask a slightly different kind of help! In fact, this situation paves the way for a lot of future happenings in the Mahabharata story! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed both Arjuna and Duryodhana flocking towards Dwaraka to meet Bhagawan Krishna. Duryodhana is hell-bent on waging a war against the Paandava brothers and somehow finishing them off. Arjuna too on the other side, is getting himself prepared to face the wrath of Duryodhana and Co. in the battlefield, sooner or later. Bhagawan Krishna knows this very well, and this is also His divine “Leela” to check out who is batting for “Dharma” and who is against. As both of them arrive from their respective places, Bhagawan Krishna is sleeping and as they see Him, Duryodhana quickly goes and sits near Bhagawan Krishna’s divine face, near His pillow. However, Arjuna is quite calm and composed and quietly goes and sits near Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet. This itself shows who is arrogant and who is not! If someone has to volunteer to go and sit near Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet, doesn’t it clearly show that he is an ardent “Bhakta” of Bhagawan? Arjuna always wants to be at the service of Bhagawan Krishna and automatically his instincts drive him towards Bhagawan’s feet, and this is something that all of us need to understand as well – If we surrender ourselves to Bhagawan, He would always take us to His divine lotus feet, won’t He? 

Saying thus, there is another “Sookshama” (Secret) behind Arjuna’s move to sit near Bhagawan’s feet. When Bhagawan opens His divine eyes, where will His divine look be cast upon first? Will it be towards His feet or backwards towards Duryodhana? It would be upon Arjuna who is sitting near Bhagawan’s divine feet, isn’t it? As we’ve seen many times earlier as well, the moment Bhagawan casts His divine vision upon us, all our sins get washed away instantaneously and we become pure! We saw this same thing happening in the case of Hanuman as well in the Ramayana. We’ve discussed this at length during our Ramayana project that the moment Bhagawan Rama’s divine look fell upon Hanuman, he was totally transformed and purified at that very moment itself. Post that, whatever happened to Hanuman, is all of us to see – Till today, Hanuman is continuing to be one of the greatest devotees of Bhagawan Rama! A similar thing is happening here too with Arjuna. Now let us witness what happens next. 

As both of them assemble on either side of Bhagawan Krishna, He quickly realizes that something is happening around Him. Thus, as Bhagawan opens His divine eyes, as expected, His eyes automatically capture Arjuna who is sitting right in front of Him! Thus, Bhagawan Krishna immediately gets up from His divine recline and exclaims thus, “Oh wow Arjuna! I just saw you a few days ago at the Viraata Desha, and now you’ve come to see me! I was just thinking about you a while back, and you’re here in person! What happened? Is everything OK at your end? How are Yudishtra and the others doing?” Asking a series of questions thus, Bhagawan Krishna started talking with Arjuna, even as Duryodhana looks on! As this conversation goes on, Duryodhana gets increasingly furious that he is not given the same amount of importance and respect that Arjuna is given! 

As this happens, Duryodhana intervenes the conversation rudely and exclaims thus, “Oh Vaasudeva (Bhagawan Krishna)! I was the one who came first. You’ve not even seen me and spoken to me! You’re giving so much importance to someone who came last! How is this feasible?” As Duryodhana asks thus, Bhagawan Krishna laughs out loud! He replies to Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! You’ve come here too? I never noticed that you’re here as well! When I woke up, I saw Arjuna sitting right in front of me and hence, I thought that only Arjuna has come to see me! However, since you were sitting behind me, how will I be able to cast a look at you? Hence, I did not notice you being here!” 🙂 

Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna asks a common question to both of them – “Oh Arjuna and Duryodhana! What is the purpose behind your visit? Please explain to me in detail!” As Bhagawan Krishna poses an “open-ended” question like this, Duryodhana quickly volunteers to reply! Now, this is a huge trap being laid by Bhagawan Krishna, which all of us are getting entangled into every passing day! The moment Bhagawan asks us the reason for our visit, what will we say? Do we tell Him that we’ve come here seeking “Moksha” or a place near His divine lotus feet? Not at all! Instead, we would start asking Him thus, “Oh Bhagawan! I’m trying so hard to purchase a house or a car! I’m unable to get one! Please help me with it!” Or, we would ask Him for some solutions for our family problems, etc.! Are we labelling Bhagawan so cheaply to seek help for satisfying these small desires, or, are we using this opportunity given by Bhagawan to seek the ultimate “Moksha”? Duryodhana exactly falls into this trap and replies thus, “Oh Keshava! (Bhagawan Krishna)! I need your help to win the war against Yudishtra & Co.! This is the sole purpose for which I came to see you!” 

This might have been Duryodhana’s answer, but as I had mentioned above, we should also introspect within ourselves! If we were at Duryodhana’s place, and if Bhagawan asks such a question to us, what would be our reply to Bhagawan? Will we go the Duryodhana’s way, or will we ask for something that is ultimate? So for today, let us understand up to this point and ponder over this question! In the next episode, we shall witness what Arjuna replies, when the same question is asked to him by Bhagawan! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂