5,6&7/Sec.3/Part I Myths

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavatas,

 

In this, the last post in this series, We allude below to three more topics:

5.Krishna's action in Gopi Vastrapaharanam

6. Dharmaputra's Gambling episode

7. The Killing of Karna

Hope you will find them interesting. Please favor me with your valuable

inputs. Thanks.

 

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

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Did not Krishna set a bad example when he concealed the dresses of the Gopis?

 

Let us take an instance in the story of Krishna which draws lot of flak. This

refers to the episode in which Krishna concealed the dresses of the Gopis who

had gone to the river for a bath. Sitting on top of a tree, he asked them to

come out of the river in the nude. The critics read too much into this and try

to impute motives imagining him to be a vile youth. This is not correct. It

should be remembered that that this episode happened when he was just becoming

an adolescent and constituted a childhood prank as indeed many other pranks

played by him at that age.

 

Stretching their imagination further, some ask that if Krishna himself could

indulge in such erotic orgies, what is wrong if we do the same thing. We have

to understand that Krishna's union with the Gopis was not on the base, banal,

physical level but on a sublime, spiritual and platonic plane with none of the

carnal inhibitions which we in our limited, myopic perception would like to

associate with.

 

Even granting, just for the sake of argument, that the union was of the kind

we have ' in our mind ', we can also imitate him provided we are capable of

imitating all other acts of his like sucking life out of the breasts of

Bhutana, the demoness or lifting on the little finger the huge mountain of

Govardhan, or dancing on the hoods of the hydraheaded serpent, Kaalinga or

proclaiming such lofty themes like Bhagavad Gita or at least following them.

So long as we cannot even imagine doing such miracles, we have no right to

question the deeds of Krishna from a mundane level.

 

Was Dharmaputra, wedded to Dharma justified in indulging in gambling,

especially when gambling is condemned in the Sastras?

( i ) On the completion of the Rajasuya yaga performed by him in which

Sisupala was slain, Dharmaputra inquired Vyasa whether that signified the end

of the bad period predicted by some wise men. Vyasa replied that there were

more to come in the next 13 years after which a terrific war would ensue in

which the entire Kuru race would be annihilated. Dharmaputra was filled with

grief and took a solemn resolve that he would never speak harshly to anyone,

never give room for any conflict, never give way to anger and lust, the twin

causes of hostility. Being in such a frame of mind, he could not decline a

friendly invitation to the dice game.

 

( ii ) It was the etiquette of royal families in those days to honor a game

carrying equal risks especially when it was projected as a friendly one.

 

( iii ) Dharmaputra had a weakness for gambling. Normally, wine and gambling

hold an irresistible fascination for men impelled by lust. But, lust and

gambling are so intertwined that when one is present, the other is sure to

follow. This is an example of how human resolves are brought to naught by fate

and how judgment gets misdirected in spite of the best of intentions when one

is destined to face calamities.

 

7. Why in spite of his great qualities and in spite of his being a Pandava,

Karna was killed?

 

Just as Kumbakarna who sought to be true to his salt, stuck to Ravana, Karna

did the same thing by sticking to Duryodhana even after coming to know that he

himself was the eldest of the Pandava brothers. Invincible as he was, he was

struggling under the weight of curses and several choking pressures which

were responsible for his downfall.

 

( i ) One day, as he was practicing archery, he hit and killed a cow of a

Brahmin. Killing of a cow itself is regarded as a heinous sin. The Brahmin

cursed him saying that in battle, his chariot would get stuck in the mud when

he will meet with his death, even like the innocent cow he had killed.

 

( ii ) He posed as a Brahmin to Parasurama whom he approached for learning

weaponry. When Parasurama found out the truth, he cursed Karna that because of

the deception played on the Guru he would forget the use of Astras at a

critical juncture when he needed it most.

 

( iii ) Karna's strength lay in his divine armor and divine ear rings (

Kavacha and Kundala). His weakness lay in his munificence. He would

unhesitatingly, gift away whatever he had, to whomsoever who approached him.

Indra, who was the father of Arjuna appeared before him and asked him to gift

away the Kavacha and Kundala. Without any hesitation, Karna gave them away

and with them vanished Karna's strength.

 

( iv ) When Kunti, his mother pleaded with him to join the Pandava brothers,

he declined but he made a promise to her that he would not attempt to kill

more than one of the five brothers nor use the mighty Naagaastra (Serpent

weapon) more than once.

 

( v ) When he used against Arjuna, the deadly weapon, (Sakti granted to him

by Indra) Arjuna was saved by Krishna's strategy and Karna could not use it

again because that was the condition attached to the grant..

 

(vi ) And, when his chariot got stuck, Arjuna's arrows pierced him and he was

killed.

 

(vii ) Krishna obtained as gift all his ' punyas' which left Karna

defenseless.

 

(viii) Salya, the charioteer of Karna jumped out of the chariot and deserted

Karna at a crucial moment.

 

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Susarla,

I am amazed at your in-depth insight into the two incidents which really

underline the 'Avatara Rahasya' of the Lord. Thanks a lot and I look forward

for similar sparks of light from your incisive writing. Keep it up.

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna.

>Was Dharmaputra, wedded to Dharma justified in indulging in gambling,

>especially when gambling is condemned in the Sastras?

>( i ) On the completion of the Rajasuya yaga performed by him in which

>Sisupala was slain, Dharmaputra inquired Vyasa whether that signified the

end

>of the bad period predicted by some wise men. Vyasa replied that there

were

>more to come in the next 13 years after which a terrific war would ensue in

>which the entire Kuru race would be annihilated. Dharmaputra was filled

with

>grief and took a solemn resolve that he would never speak harshly to

anyone,

>never give room for any conflict, never give way to anger and lust, the

twin

>causes of hostility. Being in such a frame of mind, he could not decline a

>friendly invitation to the dice game.

 

 

This is a very interesting point, one which I had not considered before.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Paandavas are all great devotees

of Lord Krishna as we know from Shriimad Bhaagavatam. The Lord advents

Himself to protect His devotees and annihilate miscreants, and His

appearance at this time was also for the purpose of removing the burden of

the kshatriya class. Since the Mahaabhaarata war took place according to His

design, we can't fault Dharmaputra for participating in the dice game which

planted the seed of discontent which gave rise to that war. Really, the dice

game is an excuse, just as Ravana's apparent abduction of Sita was an excuse

for Lord Ramachandra to go and kill him. The fact is that these things occur

by Lord Krishna's design, and if one of His devotees' reputations is

slightly tarnished from the perspective of mundane morality just to keep the

story going, we as Vaishnavas can't fault him for it.

>7. Why in spite of his great qualities and in spite of his being a Pandava,

>Karna was killed?

>

>Just as Kumbakarna who sought to be true to his salt, stuck to Ravana,

Karna

>did the same thing by sticking to Duryodhana even after coming to know that

he

>himself was the eldest of the Pandava brothers. Invincible as he was, he

was

>struggling under the weight of curses and several choking pressures which

>were responsible for his downfall.

 

 

This is true, but again we must remember that this is external. The real

reason Karna was destined for defeat was the fact that he was envious of

Arjuna, who was Lord Krishna's devotee. Envy of the pure devotees of the

Lord can only lead to destruction, as it did in this case. One could even

argue that it was only hatred of Arjuna that actually motivated him to stay

loyal to Duryodhana.

 

When Dushasana tried to violate Draupadi, Karna for all his honor did

nothing. Indeed, it was only Lord Krishna who could protect Draupadi at that

moment, just as it was He who protected Arjuna. Karna probably could not

grasp this and hence his mundane hatred led to his own destruction. The fact

that Karna's death at Arjuna's hands was a violation of the kshatriya

standards of honor strikes me as a punishment befitting him. After all, Lord

Raamachandra killed Vali as if the latter were a common animal, and who but

a common animal usurps a brother's wife? Similarly, Karna was cheated of the

chance to die as a great warrior for his lack of attention to dharma when

Draupadi was being assaulted.