Bits of life

S-27 Words-2000

too. Learn from what a good soldier and good citizen should not do. Vidura told me many many times, again and again he tried to drive into my mind that I should not look on the throne of Hastinapur, but instead look on Hastinapur itself. I needed to be more concerned about the people of my country. A country is not just its throne or soil, but it is a place of the people. I looked on the immaterial with more attention and duty consciousness and I forgot about the soul of the nation. Pleased don’t ever do that. Vidura told me and asked me what was throne compared to people of the country. If the people of Hastinapur are not there, what will I do with the throne of Hastinapur? The throne is nothing without the country. But, mad as I was, I was bound by my pledge to the throne because I saw my father’s image in King Dhritarashtra. I was under the impression that it was my own father sitting on the throne and ruling Hastinapur. Thus I was the victim of my own imagination which was based on some kind of illusion. By the time I came out of it, it was too late. O Yudhishtar, my white attire was stained by my ego. The stains are so fast that even my tears of repentance cannot erase the stain. That is why my son, don’t ever commit the kind of mistake I committed. ”

“Dear son, there is nothing, and no one greater than the country. Nobody, not father, not son and not a pledge, that is greater than the country. My oath has taken me away from my country, and the good of my country. So my son, never swear an oath that will cut you off from your own country. You ever commit such a mistake, then you too will end up on a bed of arrows like me this also a lesson that whenever some elderly statesman like Deva Vrata stands in the way of the state, then some youngster like Arjuna will surely challenge him, and wound him in a manner that will make him lie on the bed of arrows. That is the basic philosophy of politics.

O Son! Remember the king’s good lies in the welfare of the nation. He cannot seek good for himself. There is no good higher than the good of the country. If you see good only for yourself which is not connected with the country that means you are straying from your mother land. You are straying from your duty as a king. Remember the country is not for the king. On the contrary, the king is for the country. A king, who blames the past for the present social, economic and political bad conditions, is not a good king. For example, if the past given you a weak and helpless state, then you will have to reform it by introducing new measures. You should improve it and change the bad condition to good infrastructure. The past can never compete with the present. The present can take a nation on the path of progress and change for the better.

Listen to one more thing with attention, dear son. The real test of an efficient society is whether is gives safety and respect to the women therein or whether it insults and disrespects them. Remember the women of the country must be respected like mother. They should always be protected, always.

“Grandfather, tell him about the truth and political duty also.”
Bhishma pitamaha (grandfather) talked about the above subject in depth.

He said,
“Hey Yudhishtar! Truth is not a duty or a formality. Truth stands for your duty and for the rights and privileges of others. Therefore, respect truth.

Political duty-
A king’s responsibility is much more than the citizen’s responsibility. A head of the state’s responsibility exceed that of the citizen. When the circumstances press upon you to divide a nation, don’t do it. Fight against the forces that demand such a division. Can you five brothers divide your mother among yourselves? No, you can’t. If you cannot divided your mother among yourselves, then how can you divide the nation, which is also like a mother to you? I have done this and went through hell for the sin of division. I am telling you this from my experience.

Why did I do this division of land? You may very ask me. I have agreed for a division so I can avoid war. Don’t ever do that.”

With those word Bhishma closed his eyes and said,
“Krishna, I am very tired. I have told Yudhishtar everything I know of. Now there is nothing more to say.
Arjuna! Put some of the earth of my mother land on my forehead.”

Krishna said,
“allow me to do it grandfather.”

Bhishma smiled at Lord Krishna and said,
“That is what I wanted to ask you, Krishna. I wanted you to smear my forehead with the earth of my Hastinapur. but how could I order you, my Lord?”

Then Vasudeva Krishna took some earth and put it on the forehead of Bhishma. With that Bhishma brought his arrow ridden hands and arms together in obeisance to the earth, the sky and the other elements of the universe and said,
“Now allow me to leave. O motherland! I go to my mother! O Sky! Let my motherland have plenty of sun, shade and rain. Let there be fruits on its trees. Let the trees bear fruit in all seasons. Let the lotuses bloom in all its lakes. Let the flowers of my motherland spread its scent in all directions of the earth. Let the rivers of my motherland be plentiful and healthy. May my land shine like a sun that knows no eclipse.”
Then Deva Vrata, the man who came to be known as Bhishma because of the incredible and wonderful oath he had taken for the sake of his father, breathed his last, chanting the unforgettable “Om”. And then he lay still and silent.

The five Pandavas were rooted to the spot unable to believe that their grandfather Bhishma was no more. Arjuna was inconsolable. He was lifted by his four brothers from the body of Bhishma on whom he laid his head sobbing and suffering the pangs of separation.

Vasudeva Krishna got up from the side of the dead man’s body and proclaimed,
“how wonderful it is to see the mortal becoming the immortal. Blessed are we who witness it.”
The deities from heaven sprinkled flowers on the mortal remains of Bhishma.

Sage Vyasa’s epic poem entitled, The Maha Bharata, ends on this note.
“Let there be peace”
“O Man! This is my last meeting with you. Use this epic tale as an inspiration to solve your problems. This story will like your armor and also your weapon. Use this epic to recognize the evil ones in contemporary society. This epic tale shows that evil exists and flourishes even today even as in the Hastinapur of ancient days. Sometimes you will see untruth disguised as truth. Dronas of today also sit with the evil doers in their camps and they make unreasonable demands. Their silence implies their partnership with evil doers. O Man! Strike out on evil or else you too will be dragged into the darkness of evil like Karna whether you like it or not. Instead of that you should be heir to light and justice and to truth. Turn the Kurukshetra of your heart into a holy land. This is salvation.

The Maha Bharata, thus says, your life is the result of your actions.
Why not we read the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita which is also equal to a Veda? It is considered a Veda because it contains steps and measures to achieve wisdom, devotion, action in the right way. It talks about what is good for the individual and what is good for the society and how best both can be linked to achieve universal welfare. The Bhagavad Gita is reputed to be the gospel life. It offers satisfactory solution to the problems that beset the people everywhere in our world.

Introduction-
As Swami Sivananda, a famous scholar and a spiritual teacher, said in his version of the interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita,
“It is a universal scripture. It is the eternal guide of man. It leads him from the unreal to the real, from darkness to higher form of mortality to immortality. Let us live in the spirit of the Gita, become immortal by achieving peace and bliss here and now.”
The Gita has been translated from the original Sanskrit to many languages.

Authorship-
The authorship of the Bhagavad Gita is traditionally ascribed to rishi Veda Vyasa, who also plays an important role in the epic, the Maha Bharata. We have witnessed in the above brief narration of the Maha Bharata, rishi Vyasa appears in many scenes of vital importance.

The Bhagavad Gita was supposedly written anywhere between the second and fifth century before Christ. The Vedas were written in a letter perfect style and therefore not within the reach of the ordinary man. The Gita, on the other hand, was said to easy to read and understand. The style, the language and the very format of the book was simple and within the scope of all people to understand, meditate upon and get the utmost joy and contentment of reading it and absorbing the different ways of wisdom prescribed in it. Another very unique feature I find of great importance in the Gita is that an individual could make his own choices regarding the way he or she would adapt to suit his or her needs and solutions to the problems confronting him or her.
The Gita consists of seven hundred verses, simple and at the same time inspiring and exciting because you step on unexpected sparks showing light in darkness, in which we get engulfed sometimes.

The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the epic Maha Bharata. It contains conversation between two friends, Arjuna and Krishna while rage of war was going on. The conversation takes place right at the beginning of the Kurukshetra war in the epic, Maha Bharata. The war was between two sets of cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

Kurukshetra was the field where the war took place. When the Pandavas denied their right to reclaim the empire they lost in a deceitful gambling match with Kauravas, war was the only option left. The Pandavas were good, just and upright. The Kauravas were unjust, immoral and unrighteous. So the parties come well prepared and poised for the war and reach the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The opponents knew each other from the beginning of their lives. They had the same cousins, friends, relatives, teachers and a common grandfather, Bhishma.
When Arjuna saw the well known faces and beloved teachers and grandfather, he lost nerve. He froze and refused to fight against them and laid down his arms. Krishna takes up the responsibility to revitalize him and inspire him to fight and win in the war.

The conversation was sometimes in the pattern of a debate. But it was no where argumentative, resentful and confrontational. Krishna answered all the questions and cleared Arjuna’s doubts. He never lost his cool. He was sympathetic and patient all through the debate. He tried his level best to bring Arjuna regain his balance of mind. For that purpose, he was sometimes jovial, heckling, convincing and patiently convincing and making see reason and become rational instead of being a sentimental fool. He at last convinced him that to if you support dharma or righteousness you will have to punish those dear ones who supported the unrighteous. Thus the Bhagavad Gita could be described as a treatise on healthy friendship. The freedom and affection that existed between the friends are exemplary and worth following.

Let us see how the war becomes a symbol