Choose Krishna, even if for wrong reasons

            Bhaktas choose Krishna for enjoying his wondrous divine qualities. They may choose him as the loving mischievous boy of Brindavan or the powerful Vishwaguru as Parthasarathy or however their vasanas might shape the BMI complex. As an intellect oriented person or on jnana marga, one can cherish the amrita in Bhagawad Gita of Mahabharata or Uddhava Gita of Bhagavatam. The choice of seeing the Paramatma through the prism of Krishnavatara is very appealing, even across the normal bounds of Sanatana Dharma.

            It may be interesting and different how one approaches Paramatma. As long as one doesn’t barricade oneself behind an impenetrable ahamkara EGO, Paramatma is accessible. Krishna declares in Gita that even if one offers him a fruit, a flower, a leaf or even a drop of water, he is extremely delighted. During Ramavatara, when the vanaras inform him of Vibhishana seeking to surrender, Rama says he would not differentiate whether it is Vibhishana or for that matter even Ravana when they surrender to him - विभीषणो वा सुग्रीव यदि वा रावणः स्वयम् | (vibhiishhaNovaa sugriiva yadivaa raavaNaH svayam). 

            We see this intent of Bhagawan in action in multiple places in Krishnavatara. Soon after his birth, Kamsa sends his first assassin – Putana, who was so intent on feeding him deadly poison. She used all her deception to trick the villagers, but her mind was completely absorbed in administering the poison. Krishna, a few day infant woke up hungry to find no milk, as he suckled harder her prana departs, yet Bhagavatam informs us that she is given Moksha for the act of playing surrogate mother, though evil. 

            Kamsa played the evil role ever since he heard of his impending death at the hands of Krishna. He even put his own father, Ugrasena, in jail, along with his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva, who would become Krishna’s parents. He lived a constant life of fear, yet all his mind was occupied by Krishna. Fear became his mode for reaching Krishna. 

            Shishupala, another cousin of Krishna, was born with enmity for Krishna. He aligned himself with forces that were inimical to Krishna, like the powerful Jarasandha, the father-in-law of Kamsa, who failed 17 times to exact revenge with 23 akshouhinis of army each time. His failed attempt in marrying Rukmini only added to his envy and rage as Krishna married her. All these made him a machine spewing hatred for Krishna non-stop. During Yudhishtra’s Rajasuya Yajna, Shishupala abuses Krishna, Pandavas and even Bhishma. Krishna cut his head off with the Sudarshana chakra when Shishupala exceeded the boon of being forgiven for a hundred mahapapas. Yet, Shishupala merges with Krishna.

            Paundraka, the king of Karusha, imitated Krishna in every way. In his greed to establish himself as the real Vasudeva, he challenged Krishna along with his friend, Raja of Kashi. Krishna kills them on the battlefield, yet due to the constant thinking of Krishna, though in deception, he reaches vaikunta.

            All of us perceive Paramatma only through the prism of our vasanas and worse yet our desires. Despite the twisted inclination, it is very heartening to see Bhagawan more interested in us, the lowly jivatmas due his unlimited love and our evolution. Nowhere is this more exemplified when Arjuna is given a choice.

Storytime:

            On the eve of Abhimanyu’s marriage with Uttara, various friends and allies of the Pandavas were gathered in Virata. Krishna made a strong plea that Pandavas must be given back their lands, per the conditions of the dice game. Balarama took the polar opposite view, pegged the entire blame on Yudhishtra for choosing to play with Sakuni and warned him not to talk war. Satyaki of Vrishni clan, an ardent devotee of Krishna and disciple of Arjuna could not brook this advice. He voiced strongly in favor of battle if justice is not done to the abused Pandavas, a viewpoint Drupada resonated. Krishna finally emphasized that his relationship with both the Kurus and Pandus were equal. Shortly thereafter he departed for Dwaraka.

            Both Pandavas and Kauravas began a diplomatic campaign of sending messengers to their allies and trying to raise armies. Arjuna set out on a mission to bring Krishna on their side to Dwaraka. Having learnt the objective and knowing Krishna heading towards Dwaraka, Duryodhana set out on a chariot drawn by fast horses and accompanied by a small army. Both reached the same time and found Krishna asleep. 

            Duryodhana entered the room first, took a seat by the head of the bed. Arjuna entered and stood by the foot of the bed, bowing reverentially with folded hands. As soon as Krishna woke up he cast his eyes on Arjuna and then asked both of them about their safe journey and reason for visiting. Duryodhana invoked that how Krishna is the same friend and relative to both sides and in the impending war, he wanted Krishna’s support. He further claimed since he came and sought first, per the shastras he must be given support.

            Krishna agreed that he will support Duryodhana. He said that as he first cast his eyes on Arjuna and hence he also deserves his support. Since both get the support, Krishna declared that the younger one always gets the first pick. On one side, Krishna placed thousands of gopa warriors; he called them Narayanisena, who equaled Krishna in tejas (मत संहनन तुल्यानां गॊपानाम अर्बुदं महत - mat saṃhanana tulyānāṃ gopānām arbudaṃ mahat) and on the other side Krishna placed himself as one who will not wield any weapon in combat, yet fight for that side. (अयुध्यमानः संग्रामे नयस्तशस्त्रॊ ऽहम एकतः - ayudhyamānaḥ saṃgrāme nyastaśastro 'ham ekataḥ)

            Krishna threw this loaded dice as a choice before Arjuna. Krishna quoted subtle dharma and puts Arjuna to test. Arjuna without the slightest hesitation chose Krishna who will not wield any combat weapons. (अयुध्यमानं संग्रामे वरयामास केशवम - ayudhyamānaṃ saṃgrāme varayām āsa keśavam) Duryodhana was extremely delighted as he valued the thousands of battle hardened warriors he got from Krishna as a better choice than one Krishna who has pledged not to lift any combat weapons in support. Counting the numbers, Duryodhana already concluded that Krishna’s side is already defeated.

            Duryodhana then sought Balarama’s support, who reminded that he already had declared his stance during Abhimanyu’s marriage in Virata. He was strongly opposed to the fratricidal war. Balarama, as noted was already in favor of Duryodhana’s side, but was unable to fight a battle where Krishna was on the opposite side. Balarama declared that he will fight on neither side. Duryodhana was delighted that Balarama not being on Krishna’s side is already a sure sign for their loss. Balarama advised Duryodhana to fight a dharmic war.

            Duryodhana went ahead and sought the services of Kritavarman, a yadava leader, who gladly gave a akshouhini army and himself at the lead. Having collected the services of thousands of warriors with a leader and having gotten Balarama successfully out of the equation and Krishna disarmed, though on opposite side, Duryodhana left Dwaraka, with a strong feeling of satisfaction, sensing victory.

            Krishna was curious to know why Arjuna would make such an odd choice – (अयुध्यमानः कां बुद्धिम आस्थायाहं तवया वृतः - ayudhyamānaḥ kāṃ buddhim āsthāyāhaṃ tvayā vṛtaḥ) Here comes the shocker. Though we know Arjuna is close friend of Krishna and knows a lot about his prowess, the choice seems to be based on real mundane and selfish, ego driven one. This hits very close to our home, as most of our attention to Bhagawan is driven by “I” + “I want”.

            Arjuna declared that Krishna alone could destroy the entire assembled Kaurava army. Further he felt that he also had the capacity to destroy them single-handedly. Krishna already was famous for his wondrous feats. Arjuna was desirous of similar such fame. (भवांस तु कीर्तिमाँल लॊके तद यशस तवां गमिष्यति यशसा चाहम अप्य अर्थी तस्माद असि मया वृतः - bhavāṃs tu kīrtimāṁl loke tad yaśas tvāṃ gamiṣyati  yaśasā cāham apy arthī tasmād asi mayā vṛtaḥ)

            Then Arjuna shared a deeper desire for having Krishna as his charioteer (सारथ्यं तु तवया कार्यम इति मे मानसं सदा  चिररात्रेप्सितं कामं तद भवान कर्तुम अर्हति - sārathyaṃ tu tvayā kāryam iti me mānasaṃ sadā  cirarātrepsitaṃ kāmaṃ tad bhavān kartum arhati). Arjuna prayed to Krishna to fulfil this long time desire.  Krishna found this desire appropriate and obliged to be his charioteer and fulfil his desire (उपपन्नम इदं पार्थ यत सपर्धेथा मया सह सारथ्यं ते करिष्यामि कामः संपद्यतां तव - upapannam idaṃ pārtha yat spardhethā mayā saha  sārathyaṃ te kariṣyāmi kāmaḥ saṃpadyatāṃ tava). Thus extremely pleased Arjuna returned to Yudhishtra with Krishna.

Peep into the mindset of Arjuna:     

            Arjuna the best of warriors with an incredible ability to focus and excellent student mindset, still suffered from foibles we share with him extensively. We will connect the dots with two other instances, to get a peep into our own dark side.

            During the Khandava dahana parva, after vanquishing the denizens of Khandavavana and the devas, Indra was so pleased to offer some boons to both Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna wanted all the weapons of Indra, who said he can have it in due course of time, after he has the blessings of Mahadeva. Krishna wants his friendship with Arjuna to be eternal (वासुदेवोपी जग्राह प्रीतिम पार्थना शाष्वतीम ददौ च तस्मै देवेन्द्रस्तं वरं प्रीतिमसतदा - vaasudevoapi jagraaha preetim parthena shashvateem dadau ca tasmai devendrastam varam preetimastada ). Arjuna was always after the means of getting his fame.

            In the penultimate Parva of Mahabharata, Mahaprastanika Parva, one by one all the Pandavas, beginning with Draupadi falls off during their journey to ascend to Svarga. When Arjuna fell, Bhima wondered why Arjuna had to fall, when he had not even told a lie in jest. (एकाह्ना निर्दहेयं वै शत्रून इत्य अर्जुनॊ ऽबरवीत न च तत कृतवान एष शूरमानी ततॊ ऽपतत - ekāhnā nirdaheyaṃ vai śatrūn ity arjuno 'bravīt na ca tat kṛtavān eṣa śūramānī tato 'patat) Yudhistra replied that Arjuna boasted that he would defeat all the enemies in a single day, which he failed. Vain boasting must never be indulged by people desirous of fame and glory.

Our take away:

•  Arjuna chose Krishna for all wrong reasons. He wanted to frame Krishna as a backdrop for all his exploits. He got super confused and broke down even before the war had begun. Later despite all his prowess and fury, he barely made a dent in the ocean of enemy soldiers. Despite being the noncombatant, it was Krishna who found the way to eliminate all their leaders - Bhishma, Jayadrata, Drona, Karna and Duryodhana. But for his wisdom, the highly outnumbered Pandava forces would have been reduced to rubble. 

•  Arjuna was ready to do the work. He merely wanted to excel in his area of action. It was driven due to selfish egocentric desires, yet he wanted Krishna to be his counselor, his guide and charioteer. Sanjaya sums up this as his firm conviction in the very last line of Bhagavad Gita to Dhritarashtra – Where Yogeshwara Krishna is there and where there is a (willing intent doer) archer Arjuna, there will certainly be Sri (all forms of prosperity), victory, happiness and good morality.

         यत्र योगेश्वर: कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धर: । तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥ (BG 18-78)

        yatra yogesvarah krsno yatra partho dhanur-dharah tatra srir vijayo bhutir dhruva nitir matir mama

  

• Interesting, though Arjuna was so keen on fame, he was so eager to do the work, which is unlike most of us. Yet he arrives to our destination, in Chapter one of Bhagavad Gita, as a completely devastated, confused split personality, driven by polar opposite ideas. Luckily for him, he had made the choice of Sri Krishna as his charioteer. Krishna not only clarified the direction for Arjuna but also for entire humanity using his pretext.

•  Due to his saatvic orientation, Arjuna was able to see enough wisdom to choose Krishna to be on his side. Just like we may have an educated guess while answering a multiple choice question, Arjuna picked the right choice, though with a flawed logic. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains at length why different people are not able to perceive the real Bhagawan, Paramatma.

•  The most interesting aspect we already noticed in the Khandava dahana parva, Krishna even asks for eternal friendship with Arjuna. This is also the same with us. He will never forsake us, even if we forsake him, hiding behind a bloated ahamkara, ego. He is always ready to guide our Buddhi, if we can submit it to his feet. 

       How we approach Paramatma depends on our vasanas as it determines the choice of Ishtadevata or the method of approach. Nonetheless, if we even give a toehold to do atmavichara, Bhagawan is glad to use that to help us. Most of us live in an impregnable fortress of ahamkara, busy chasing more “I wants” and aggrandizing the “I”. Even though this is also due to his blessing, we are too busy playing Duryodhana, keeping Paramatma out of our lives. He was only too happy to keep Krishna incapacitated in battle on his opposite side, while Arjuna was willing to do all the work, though for ego, yet wanted Krishna firmly by his side. Instead even if we include him for wrong reasons like Arjuna, he will awaken the saatvic vasanas and gently guide us towards him. May we strive our best to include Paramatma in our lives. Letting him as our Parthasarathy would imply that we can emulate Arjuna and include HIM.

ॐ तत् सत

Forgiveness - one of Mahabharata's central themes

Forgiveness is a crucial step to be mastered, if anyone aspires for spiritual progress or lasting peace. When we are subjected to abuse, victimization, unjust oppression or bullying, the natural recourse for our pent up reactions, which may be unexpressed owing to the situations, is to harbor vicious thoughts of vengeance or get oppressed by the brutal pressure outside that gets internalized. In a variant form it may be our own mistakes, omissions, regrets, failures or past baggage that can turn into guilt and shame about us. In either forms of internalization, the individual harbors the poison inside. The longer one harbors, the more toxic it gets. Any expression of this toxic mindset is bound to be explosive, yet at the same time it is easy to understand that most damage is caused to the vessel that harbors. Forgiveness is the internal rebalancing of this inner rage or guilt, need for seeking external justice and arrive at a more stable state.

This is often misunderstood as pardoning the guilty as we conflate the idea of forgiveness, inside the victim’s mind, with the necessity for society to provide justice and retribution and also protection from the aggressor. Society and Courts can provide pardon, not forgiveness, which must be done by the individual(s). Many times, society fails to punish the guilty, thereby creating an ecosystem for more adharma to flourish. This is not the excuse to redirect our inner indignation to effect a change. One may do so as long as one has mastered forgiveness, before effecting the changes without violating dharma. 

Storytime: Let us not get into the metaphorical or other aspects and focus only on our key question on how forgiveness (or its lack) and its dimensions. We will use Mahabharata incidents to understand how lack of forgiveness perpetuates more violence. 
 

Spite continues through Janmas: Bhishma is the embodiment of impeccable character in Mahabharata. In an ancient practice, he represented his step-brother, Vichitravirya in a Swayamwara. He brings the three princesses of Kashi - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. Since Amba pleaded her pre-existing love for Salwa, King of Saubala, Bhishma sends her honorably to him, who spurns her for being a reject. Unable to inspire Vichitravirya, she asks Bhishma to marry her, who was bound by Brahmacharya vow. Burning with rage due to rejection, she convinced Parasurama, one of the gurus of Bhishma to wage war with him for 23 days, after which Bhishma showed his edge. 

            Due to her intense anger, she did a long penance to become the reason for Bhishma’s death. She was later born as a princess/eunuch to Drupada, eventually got his gender changed to become prince Shikandi. Bhishma, the unstoppable in Mahabharata, knew he was the reason why both sides were in a stalemate and Pandavas were staring at an impossibility to establish Dharma, gave his secret to his elimination. Keeping Shikandi in his chariot, Arjuna attacked Bhishma on Day 10. Bhishma did not counter him effectively as he could never to attack a woman as a warrior. 

Our take away: Hate and lack of forgiveness is so strong that it will go across many janmas. If Amba had used her tapas, her contacts with Parasurama and other mahatmas, she could have easily attained any Purushartha. Instead she wasted it on mere vengeance. Secondly due to the intensity of desire and multiple rejections, she refused to see that Bhishma was guilty though in her mind, she was convinced of it. Lack of forgiveness color our understanding and cast long dark shadows even across Janmas.

Darkness doesn’t learn even in death: Tamasic people hold their grudge longer. Since there is no opportunity for their education or reformation, the best option is never to cross paths with such characters. Duryodhana was already burning with jealousy at the riches of the newly built empire in Indraprastha. During his stay, he got tricked by the various illusory contraptions. Draupadi laughed at his folly, but the inferno of jealousy raging in Duryodhana’s heart got an upgrade and a reason. He plotted their fall through deception and evil, abused Draupadi in the presence of all the elders in the Sabha and got the Pandavas banished.

            Tamas knows no limits. He refused to hold his end of the bargain and caused Mahabharata war to kill millions. Even after lecturing Krishna and the Pandavas that their victory was built on Adharmic means, he resorts to the ultimate disgrace of authorizing a night time attack on the sleeping survivors of the Pandava army under the leadership of Aswattama. Only the five Pandavas survive with Krishna and Satyaki, along with the lone Kaurava survivor, Yuyutsu.

Our take away: Deep Tamas doesn’t change with even death. When dealing with such characters, the law must be firmly dealt as they show no remorse in their actions. One must be clear to differentiate pardon and forgiveness in these cases of extremes and note pardoning may not be the option for extremely tamasic people. We see modern day equivalence in pardoning terrorists does no change of heart and they are back to their old destructive evil ways in no time.

Lack of forgiveness can be inter-generational: Lack of forgiveness wipes out compassion and buddhi. Drupada, the King of Panchala and Drona were friends while studying in Parasurama’s ashrama. Due to extreme poverty, Drona eager to make Drupada’s childhood words of wanting to share the Kingdom true, sought half the Kingdom. This definitely was unrealistic as Drona did not need a Kingdom for his needs. Drupada scorned and sent him disgraced. Burning with this insult, Drona began to teach both the Pandavas and Kauravas about weapon use. For Gurudakshina, he sought Drupada captured alive. The Pandavas under Arjuna achieved this, after the failed mission of the Kauravas. Drona instead of acting mature, kept half the kingdom to rub insult to injury.

            Drupada got a son, Dhrishtadyumna, who was born to kill Drona and a daughter, Draupadi, who will marry Arjuna, through a Yajna. On the 15^th day of Mahabharata war, Drona crossed all moral limits in war, not even heeding to the pleas of Rishis. Krishna resorted to spreading a rumor that Ashwattama was killed. A dejected Drona sat in Yoga to give up his life voluntarily, even as Dhrishtadyumna decapitated the lifeless body.

            Ashwattama now was stung by the same internal rage that Drona and Drupada carried for decades. He convinced Duryodhana to make him the commander in chief of the side that was already defeated. Along with Kripa and Kritavarma, they attacked and destroyed the unsuspecting victorious Pandava side, wiping out all the survivors. Only the Pandavas, Krishna and Satyaki survived. Even after the battle to avenge for this horror with Pandavas ended in his defeat, he launched apandavastra and directed it to wipe out an unborn child, Parikshit, in the womb of Uttara. Lack of forgiveness knows no depths. This cycle of madness was stopped due to the curse of Krishna and Vyasa who pushed him to live a long life, until the Yuga is not over, in repentance.

Our take away: Repentance and Prayaschita will have to be in proportion to the actions done by an unforgiving heart. Lack of forgiveness kills empathy, thereby effectively making one insensitive to one’s own actions. It is a mad poison that can be infectious. Just like crusades or even prophecies of some desert religions to wipe out all others from the face of the earth, it blunts the next generation from developing a heart or brain.

Inside inferno can last long: After establishing Indraprastha, Krishna and Arjuna found themselves in a predicament. Agni sought their help to consume Khandavavana in the guise of a Brahmana, which they agreed. He gave them many celestial weapons and a chariot for this effort. Indra had a friend Takshaka, a naga who lived in this forest. In order to protect him, Indra led a valiant attack in vain. The only survivors of the conflagration were Aswasena, son of Takshaka, Maya (through surrender to Arjuna), and four sarngka birds.

            Aswasena though he escaped death, saw his mother perish in it, trying to protect him. Years of harboring hatred, he secretly entered Karna’s quiver. Due to its modified form, Arjuna is not able to counter it time, as Krishna saves him by pressing his toe to sink the chariot a little. The angry Aswasena reveals his intentions and pleads Karna for one more shot only to be rejected. 

Our take away: Internalized unforgiveness keeps its embers alive, waiting for a proper time to erupt. Due to this, the normal buddhi gets blunted and our colored perception alters our actions. Let us look within and forgive ourselves by cleansing, giving up those spiteful or guilty thoughts which hold us back.

Yudhishtra - the right example: Since his birth, he saw his brothers and mother being oppressed and bullied. Despite many attempts on life, he remained true to higher values. It was not due to fear that he suppressed his indignation, but due to superior buddhi and compassion. Even after the lakshagraha incident, he laid low and only the marriage of Draupadi exposed their cover. Though Duryodhana piled so many obscene acts of horror in their lives, he guided the Pandavas to safety. He kept his inner cove free from anger, hate and guilt. Whenever his mind was tormented by the past and the burden of the future very heavy, he surrendered to the feet of countless sages to guide him like Dhaumya, Markandeya and others. 

            Even when Duryodhana was caught by Chitrasena, he orders Bhima and Arjuna to save him with no ill feeling towards him. When Jayadratha abducted Draupadi, he forgives him by sparing his life for the sake of his cousin sister, Dussala, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari’s only daughter married to Jayadratha. He tried to the lone voice that pleads to stop the carnage by seeking Krishna to go on a peace mission that ends in vain. His heart is so rooted in dharma that he grants Yuyutsu, Dhritarashtra’s son from his vysya wife, permission to fight on his side. 

            Yet there is a moment of total dejection, as his mind can only blame itself for the carnage. Luckily, Krishna sends him to fetch the best medicine from Bhishma, who through Shanti Parva transforms his guilt to rise above with his wisdom.

Our take away: Satsanga is the best solution to cleanse our mind from this almost incurable malaise. If a highly dharmic Yudhishtra will need a constant dose of Satsanga to avoid slipping into guilt and shame and temper his anger, it is needless to say that we need more.

Points to ponder:

• Forgiveness unhinges our adamant adherence to the past, which may be due to guilt or vengeance. It gives us the freedom to explore the possibilities in the NOW and thereby decouple our future from the dark past. Else, we get bound to the past heaviness and drown ourselves.

• Forgiveness is an inner rearrangement of one’s own mind. This has no connection to the past or current events or other’s actions. One has to take responsibility for one’s own life and progress.

• Forgiveness is by the individual. Pardon is by the society. Forgiveness is not about the crime or other person(s), but about one’s own mind.

• Justice for the society/individual(s) must not be conflated with pardoning the criminals and forgiveness in the heart. If proper punishment or prayaschita is not done by the perpetrator, it comes back to haunt the society.

• Forgivenesss eliminates the internal toxins associated with the memories of certain past event(s). Decoupling the vice grip of these memories’ over our present helps our buddhi to act more clear and unbiased.

• Forgiveness is an important step in developing Titiksha. Without forgiving, forbearance is impossible; without forbearance having spiritual growth is stagnated.

• If we want our past not to control our potential actions we can do today for better results in the future, we must be willing to renounce our deep hooks to the past by developing forgiveness.

            May we develop the right minds to study and understand the itihasapuranas, Upanishads and other scriptures. A constant commitment to Satsanga at every opportunity will help us heal our hearts and develop the right attitude to others and ourselves. Get dharmic roots will go a long way to helping our cause. Forgiveness will help us scrub the dark stains of our heart. In itself this alone may not be enough to aid our spiritual journey, but it has all the potential to arrest our movement by tying ourselves to some past memories. May we develop genuine love for the real SELF, our Atman and realize lasting inner peace.

ॐ तत् सत