Thought of the week: Instructions by Maharaja Yudhisthira

[Guest guest]

The Mahabharata may seem to be a tale of intrigue and passion. Yet in each

situation, in each character, there is a lesson for the discerning. By the will

of Sri Krishna, the epic Mahabharata was enacted to instruct persons on varying

levels of spirituality. At one level it seems to deal primarily with kama

(sensual enjoyment), artha (economic prosperity), dharma (religiosity) and

moksha (liberation). But ultimately it goes much beyond these four prescribed

orders of the Vedas and talks about pure devotional service.

 

In this article there is a conversation between Draupadi and Yudhisthira on

some very basic aspects of spirituality. Draupadi is greatly aggrieved at the

fact that the virtuous Pandavas (her husbands) have been tricked in a game of

dice by evil men, forced to relinquish their kingdom, all their possessions and

live in great hardships in exile in the jungles.

 

What is more meritorious, forgiveness or the use of strength?

*************************************************

Draupadi in trying to convince Yudhisthira about the need to take back his

kingdom by force if necessary, relates a conversation between Prahalada

Maharaja and his grandson Bali. Since both Prahalada Maharaja and Bali Maharaja

are amongst the twelve Mahajanas, great people with complete understanding of

the scriptures, Draupadi is thus quoting from an eminently authoritative

source. Here Prahalada Maharaja speaks in response to the question from Bali as

to what is better, to forgive or to punish. Prahalada Maharaja says:

 

"Neither forgiveness nor the use of strength is meritorious in all situations.

If one always forgives, then his servants, dependants, enemies and even

strangers would disrespect him. Mean minded servants will steal all the wealth

and fail to obey the commands. His dependants will do as they please and thus

take to all kinds of vices. On the other hand one who simply punishes and never

forgives soon finds himself bereft of all friends. Indeed every one comes to

hate such an unforgiving person and will harm him at the slightest opportunity.

Therefore forgiveness and punishments must both be utilized at the appropriate

times.

 

"The following persons should be forgiven: one who has done nice service in the

past, one who offends out of ignorance or folly, a first-time offender and one

who has committed something wrong against his will. In addition sometimes a

person may be forgiven to create a good public image.

 

"The following persons should never be forgiven: one who knowingly offends and

claims to be innocent and a repeat offender, even if the offense is slight."

 

In response, Yudhisthira does not refute the conclusions of Prahalada Maharaja,

but he attempts to qualify them by showing that while forgiveness may not be

appropriate in all circumstances, in most of the cases it should be the path to

be followed. He says:

 

"If great emphasis were not placed on forgiveness then all injuries, real or

imagined, would be immediately retaliated against. There would be continual

fighting which would lead to the ruination of all. It is only due to the good

quality of forgiveness that there is peace and prosperity. Indeed forgiveness

is the very force that keeps men civilized.

 

"Anger gives rise to blind passion which destroys the intelligence.

Uncontrolled anger always leads to ones ruin while suppression of anger leads

to prosperity. Peace and prosperity is there only because of the ability to

control anger otherwise each and every one will be constantly involved in some

kind of debilitating conflict.

 

"Strength must be guided by intelligence and not blind passion. Therefore one

with this superior knowledge should never give way to anger. When a person

becomes controlled by anger he will not hesitate to do the most abominable

activities. Considering this a wise man carefully controls his anger."

 

It is interesting to note that Yudhisthira dwells on anger and not on

punishment as opposed to forgiveness. His message is that one must judge the

need for punishment or forgiveness free from anger, for if one is under the

influence of anger then his intelligence will be clouded and such a person will

always lean towards blind passion which leads to desire for punishment.

 

Does God exist?

*************

Here Draupadi uses the perennial issue of , "why do bad things happen to good

people' to develop a chain of reasoning that finally leads her to doubt the

very existence of God. She says:

 

"Why is it that wicked men flourish while pious men suffer? The only conclusion

is that God, the Supreme Controller, is not just and good as He is made out to

be. Indeed He is more like a capricious child Who is whimsically arranging the

play of life. If that were not the case then the only other conclusion is that

there is no God."

 

In response, Yudhisthira does not talk about the law of karma which would

explain why wicked men and enjoy and the pious suffer, since the law of karma

is implemented by the will of the Lord and one has to first accept His

presence. So he refutes Draupadi's assertion that there is no God by giving a

logical explanation that would lead one to accept the presence of God and then

gives the reason why people deny His existence. He says:

 

"As humans we have the capability to manipulate dull matter and create many

things like great palaces, swift chariots and beautiful ornaments. When one

sees matter arranged in such wondrous displays one can understand that there is

the hand of a superior intelligence behind such creations. Only a fool would

think that these creations are the result of matter coming together randomly

per chance.

 

"However all these man-made creations pale into insignificance when compared to

the complexity of a living entity. Can humans create an airplane as small as a

mosquito with a navigator inside and the ability to reproduce without external

help? The human body is the most complex and it is perfectly produced in the

womb of a mother without her being aware of how it develops. Just as

sophisticated arrangements of matter indicate the presence of intelligence, the

infinitely more complex arrangements of life also indicate the presence of a

far more superior intelligence.

 

"Thus the only sane and unprejudiced conclusion is that nature is working under

a supremely intelligent director, God. His supremely powerful, expert,

sensitive and artistic hand can be seen everywhere. He supplies the heat,

light, water, air, food and all other necessities of life.

 

"Doubts about the Supreme Personality of Godhead are caused by Maya, the

illusory potency of the Lord. In pure consciousness one is able to see the Lord

everywhere, either directly or indirectly. In the human form, as long as one is

covered by the three modes of material nature, it is not possible to see God

directly. However even in this stage one can indirectly perceive the presence

of God by His influence."

 

Executing prescribed duties

**********************

Here Draupadi continuing in her role of an avowed atheist states that one must

always look out for one's own benefit. In this she is very succinctly

describing the attitude of the general people in the present age of Kali. She

says:

 

"If one enjoys and suffers as per his endeavor, then one must always act in a

way to secure his happiness. What is the need for performing pious activities

when one still has to suffer while sinful men achieve many pleasures?"

 

Since Draupadi is speaking from an atheistic platform, of one who has rejected

God and His word, Yudhisthira responds by establishing the importance of the

Vedic scriptures. Even though he could, he does not give elaborate instructions

from the scriptures in this context, since they are only applicable to one who

accepts the scriptures. So he stresses on the importance of accepting the

authority of the scriptures and what happens to those who do not. He says:

 

"Religious principles are the laws of God and one must never underestimate the

virtues of executing them. Only a fool considers his own speculations to be

superior to that of the scriptures. Such a rascal will not only blaspheme the

religious scriptures but also neglect the learned men. Such misguided men can

only see the externally manifest world and thus their only engagement is sense

gratification, being urged by lust and greed. Such people surely go to hell and

suffer unbearable torments.

 

"One who acts virtuously with the expectation of enjoying some good result is

not a truly pious man. Indeed one who acts with such a motive or acts

virtuously while at the same time maintaining doubts about the true merit of

religious principles does not gain the real result of piety."

 

The theme of the conversation

************************

As one follows this conversation one can appreciate the expertise in which

basic truths are logically and subtly bought forth. The conclusions of

Yudhisthira elevate one from a point of being an atheist to a point where one

is pious. The different stages he describes in response to questions by

Draupadi are: first one must endeavor to be freed from the dictates of passion

and anger. Then, with intelligence that is unclouded by passion one can

perceive by inference that God exists. With the acceptance of God comes the

acceptance of the scriptures as the word of God, and then one begins to act

according to these scriptures in a manner that is unmotivated and thus becomes

situated in the mode of piety or goodness. Here Yudhisthira has laid the

roadmap of elevating one from the stage of atheisim to a mode of goodness.

 

This conversation is also illustrative of how the principal characters of

Mahabharata assumed roles for the benefit of general mankind. Arjuna went into

illusion so that Krishna could speak the Bhagavad-gita. Similarly, though

Draupadi is undoubtedly one of the greatest devotee of the Lord, she is

presenting all these arguments to give Yudhisthira an opportunity to respond

for our benefit.

 

----- Festivals over the next week ------

*** Note all times are for Washington D.C, USA, EST ***

Jul 05 2001, Thursday Disappearance Srila Sanatana Gosvami

Guru (Vyasa) Purnima

-

---------------

This Email has been sent to you by the ISKCON temple of Washington D.C.

Our contacts are:

Email : mail (AT) iskcondc (DOT) org

Web Address : http://www.iskcondc.org

Postal: 10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, MD 20854

 

In order to be removed from this mailing list please reply with the word REMOVE

in the Subject.

-

----------------