The Poisoning of Bheema

Sibling jealousy is not new to our age. It has been there since time immemorial. Right from the very beginning of time, even the gods have shown signs of immense jealousy towards the demons and and other gods.

More than five thousand one hundred years ago, the Kaurava, the jealous princes of Kuru clan, lived with a bitterness against the Pandava, their five pious cousins.

The Pandavas being the sons of Pandu, the rightful king, were thus the rightful heirs to the throne. Pandu accidentally killed a couple of hermits (ouch) disguised as deer while mating  (double ouch) and incurred a curse that he'll die likewise. Thus his wife Kunti, by virtue of sage Vyasa's foresight, blessing and boon, invoked five gods to bestow upon her and Maduri, his other wife, five children possessing their characteristics.

Thus were born the eldest Yudhishira (son of Yama Dharmaraj, god of death, time and righteousness), Bheema (son of Vayu, wind), Arjuna (son of Indra, king of all gods) and, Nakula and Sahadeva (sons of the Ashwini Twins, gods of health).

The Kaurava were the sons of the blind king Dhritharashta, who was a caretaker during Pandu's self-imposed exile, and the blind-folded queen Gandhari, who was so jealous when Kunti had children before her. (What an idiot! No wonder the Kaurava were later so messed up.) This resulted in Gandhari's pregnancy being divided into a hundred and one children.

Dhuryodhana, the eldest Kaurava, brayed like a donkey when he was born. Thunder sounded and lightning flashed, and wolves howled. Vidhura, Dhritarahtra's brother and son of a maid servant, warned the king that these were ill omens and to kill the child ASAP!!! But the blind king was too blind to listen. (I suppose he was both blind and deaf to the truth.)

One day, Dhuryodhana poisoned a bowl of pudding and offered it to Bheema. The latter, being young innocent, naive and ever ready to eat, accepted it without suspicion.  The poison rendered Bheema unconscious and Dhuryodhana rolled him into the nearest river.

Deep down in the river, poisonous snakes bit Bheema and sucked out all the venom from his body. The they escorted him to their palace.

"Who are you?" Asked the king.

"Bheema, son of Kunti!" Said Bheema, proudly.

"Is that so?" Said the King and gave Bheema another drink. "That makes you my nephew."

This drink gave Bheema, the unmatched in strength, even more strength - the strength of  a thousand elephants. When Bheema returned to his brothers, he told them about what had happened.

"Dhuryodhana is your brother. Don't speak ill of him." Yudhishtira, the eldest Pandava said.

"Alright then, the poison was wonderful." Bheema said, sarcastically. "May I have some more?"

Tibetian Festival 2014

I attended a Tibetian Festival today at Bangalore. It was in commemoration of H.H. Dalai Lama's 79th birthday.

It was a dream come true!

To begin with, I learned that there is a Mahayana Buddhism Center at Bangalore. And secondly, I got myself a badge (which says 'Om Mani Padme Hum' in Tibetian), a T-shirt, a rosary (which I got blessed by a Lama) and a pouch for the same.

Salutations to the Sun

That morning, I saluted the sun,
raised my hands like a tree
to hold his feet so he couldn't run
and thus the Solar I could see.

To know the truth was I inclined
and thus I climbed the mountain.
Like a crooked stick did I find
a cobra as tall as men!

Thus, down hill did I run.
Yet, the Sun could I see.
I held his feet - my day was done
- and went back to pray by the sea.


Note:

1. A Tribute to the Sun (the One who rises and raises) : Suryanamaskar!
2. Images used in this post do not belong to me.

To receive my next post by email, please enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Lanka Ablaze

The Monkey stood before the wicked king;
in praise of Lord Ram did the Monkey sing.
A humble messenger of his Lord was he,
who came to warn this king to set Sita free.

"The wicked from justice can never escape!"
Thus warned the divine and wise Ape.
"Oh Demon-King, amend your ways!
Or else prepare to count your days!"

The mighty king was outraged at this.
"Set fire that tail of his!"
How dare this creature into my city storm
and threaten me (having caused enough harm)!

The tail which they set on fire,
swung right back and lit their pyre!
Across the city did the Vanara chase.
Lo! For Lanka was now ablaze!

Note:
1) Images used in this post do not belong to me.

To receive my next post by email, please enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Shiva

Oh King of Dancers, who's art doth charm,

May thy music forever play on!

For thy mystic dance steers away all harm,

and guides lost souls from dusk to dawn!

Upon mount Kailash is thy abode;

where thou doth meditate in peace.

To Him alone I dedicate this ode,

who's grace puts all souls at ease.

Oh God of Gods, I surrender to thou!

Help me embrace my karma today!

Let dharma be my unbroken vow;

and sins thy Third Eye burn away!

The Blessed Ash covers thy skin,

like the shadow which covers the night!

Conquerer of Death! Fill my soul within,

and guide me with thy blessed light!

Om namah shivaya!

- Darpan

Note:

1. Nataraja (King of Dancers), Mahadev (Great God or God or Gods), Mrityunjaya (Conqueror of Death) are various names of Lord Shiva.
2.  Karma = purpose, action
3. Dharma = justice, duty
4. For those who lack awareness about Indian Mythology,  Shiva loves to dance, meditate, and cover himself with funeral ash. He resides at the top of Mount Kailash and posses a third eye on his forehead, which if opened could destroy ... not necessarily the human being, but the ego. Hence Shiva is not merely a destroyer, as most ignorant people assume. He is a destroyer of the arrogance/ego within us, and this helps remove one's sufferings.

To receive my next post by email, please enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

A Manifested Reality

I would like to draw some of my favorite inferences (based on a reasonable understanding from several other psychological and philosophical books) from 2 of my most favorite trilogies - Star Wars and The Matrix.

~

George Lucas' Star Wars Trilogy has a lot to teach us. Basically, it's an admitted adaptation from several Eastern Philosophies such as Hinduism, Bhuddism, Zen, Taoism etc. Nevertheless, it puts a lot of things into perspective for the contemporary man.

1) Fear, anger, hate and aggression are gateways to the Dark Side. The Dark Side may promise power. It is quick, easy and seductive. But the ones who take it are merely weak and enslaved. Thus, when any one of these negative emotions knock at your door, acknowledge them but don't give in to them. This will not be easy, but it will make you proud of yourself on the long run.

2) Nothing is impossible, no matter how big it may seem. If you don't believe, then you cannot. 'Do. Or do not. There is no try.'

3) Passion may not always be constructive. But compassion is required. Give love, but don't get attached. This may not be as easy as it sounds. But it's possible as long as you look at everything you do or have from a third person's point of view.

4) We all derive our energies from an all pervading energy field. This energy field is infinite in nature and connects all the living as well as the non-living. If one can feel this force (which is going to require a lot of meditation) then it shall prove to be a very powerful ally.

5) The power of mind and intuition will always be the most predominant of all. Technology can facilitate man, but it cannot compete with the power of the mind. The strongest of minds can manipulate their realities.

~

The Matrix also give us a fair idea of this very concept:

1) Our 'realities' are merely lucid dreams, virtual in nature. 'There is no spoon.' Our dreams are condensed versions of our thoughts. Our realities are manifestations of our dreams. If we can understand the nature of our reality, the influence of our subconscious mind over it and the fact that we create our own realities, then we could do the 'impossible'.

2) To train the body, one must train the mind. And vice-versa. (This also explains why Jedi Knights, excuse me for the relapse, train themselves physically as well as mentally.)

3) Anything that the mind can perceive, can be achieved.  We just need to 'program' ourselves to think along the right direction.

4) There will always be those who want to 'install' their programmed thoughts into your mind. Do not let them, lest you turn into one of them, losing your individuality.

5) On a more spiritual note, we're all plugged into the Matrix. Realizing that you're in a dream will bring you to a conscious state. Realizing that even 'reality' is a dream (as prescribed by certain philosophies) will wake you up to a state of realization - i.e. Nirvana.

~

A deeper understanding of these concept can be obtained from certain books like - The Secret and The Power of Your Subconscious Mind.

I also understood how the Indian Philosophy of an all pervasive Force (as adopted by the Jedi) which manifested into the universe (as against merely creating it) works for us. We're all merely droplets of the same ocean.

We work with the same Infinite Power (of the universe) and under the same Creative Intelligence (the subconscious mind). That's what makes hate, insecurity and jealousy pointless.

Think about it. The law of Karma (What you sow is what you reap. What goes around comes around.) is simply based on the fact that whatever we send out there into the universe (thoughts, words or actions) are merely being absorbed by us ourselves. That's why we feel bad when we curse someone, think spitefully about them or hurt them. And likewise, we feel good when we make someone smile or help someone out. Because we're basically doing to ourselves whatever it is we do to the others.

The Realism in Mahabharata

The Battle of Kurukshetra was not fought between good and evil. There is no black and white!  Granted, it was fought to reestablish justice on earth. But many great men, such as Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, Salya, Karna, Ekalavya etc., sided with the Kaurava merely because of their loyalty and gratitude towards the Kingdom of Hastinapur. And the Pandavas, without the advice of Lord Krishna, were not perfect. 

Bhishma is a perfect example of how principles of one man can also have dire consequences on an entire kingdom and dynasty. Had he not vowed to never be King, he would have made a very just King. Instead, Hastinapur came into the hands of Dhritarashtra, who was blind not only without but also within. Had Kunti revealed to the rest that Karna was also her son, he would not have gone with the wrong company. Thus, believing him to be ‘the mere son of a charioteer’, many mocked him throughout the story. To oppose this, Duryodhana accepted him and made him the king Virata. Karna’s loyalty and gratitude towards Duryodhana never died. And neither did Karna’s generosity. Yet he was destined to go astray. Salya, the uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva, was tricked into siding with the Kauravas during the war. Drona was obliged to support the kingdom, not his favorite students – the Pandavas. And Ekalavya, the dedicated student of Drona, fought alongside his teacher during the final battle.

The Pandavas were just, but not perfect. Yudhisthira should not have agreed to gamble away all that he had, that too in the absence of Lord Krishna. And gambling away one’s kingdom and wife is never just. He should have known better. Arjuna and Bhima had their own ego issues with the Kauravas, right from a very young age. It was perhaps Arjuna’s jealousy that pushed Ekalavya and Karna into the dark.

This battle was not fought between the Pandavas and Kauravas. It was between Dharma and Adharma – justice and injustice. It was between King Dhritarashtra, Shakuni and Lord Krishna. Dhritarashtra was self-righteous and blindly ignored his conscience. He favored his son Duryodhana’s own interest as against the welfare of his Kingdom and subjects. Shakuni had sworn to avenge the marriage of his sister Gandhari to this blind King. Thus, through several conspiracies, he poisoned the mind of Duryodhana and the rest of the Kauravas, hence leading them towards their own ends. Lord Krishna simply wanted to protect the just, the innocent and his devotees. Thus, through many a miracle, he helped the Pandavas and ultimately, wiped out all who were destined to die.

After so many years of struggle and 18 days of the intense battle, the Pandavas brought justice back to their land. But almost everyone who they held dear was wiped out from the face of the earth. This is the best part of Mahabharata, in my humble opinion. Like most Indian stories, justice and truth always triumphs. However, unlike most fairytales, the epic does not necessarily end happily or peacefully. It’s thus more realistic.

There is nothing that exists in Bharata (and hence the world) that does not exist in Mahabharata, and there is nothing that that exists in Mahabharata which does not exist in Bharata. This immortal epic shall be sung for many more Yugas or ages to come, even if all evidence is wiped out by the prophesied deluge – the Pralaya.