Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

After the Kurukshetra war (the war which was fought between cousins of Kuru Dynastry – Pandavas and Kauravas, a war between ‘the right and the wrong’ at the end of Dwapara yuga) , King Dhritrarashtra, father of 100 sons called ‘kauravas’ grieved the death of his sons. When Lord Krishna went to console him, he having seen the ‘vishwaroopa’ of Lord Krishna in an earlier instance knew him to be the one who could know the past and future, the cause and the effect of events asked  Krishna, “I had hundred  sons and all of them were killed in the war. Why? You say it is one’s karma that one experiences what one does in life – both good and bad. Then tell me, what was the cause of my grief of having lost 100 sons?”

Krishna replied, “Fifty lifetimes ago, you were a hunter. While hunting, you tried to shoot a male bird, but it flew away. In anger, you ruthlessly slaughtered the hundred baby birds that were there in the nest. The father-bird had to watch in helpless agony. Because you caused that father-bird the pain of seeing the death of his hundreds sons, you too had to bear the pain of your hundred sons dying.

Dhritarastra said, "Ok, but why did I have to wait for fifty lifetimes?" 

Krishna answered, "You were accumulating punya (pious credits) during the last fifty lifetimes to get a hundred sons because that requires a lot of punya. Then you got the reaction for the papa (sin) that you have done fifty lifetimes ago."

“But this is wrong!” cried Dhritarashtra.

“No. this is justice and Law of Karma” replied Krishna.

This is a very small anecdote from Mahabharata from Mahabharata – one of the epics of Vedic Culture. Now, what does this tell us?

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Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

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Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

Though there are meditation techniques available for advanced sadhaks, it is not required to heal oneself of one’s karma.

Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.17) “…. gahana karmano gatih…”, that the way in which action and reaction works is very complex. God knows best which reaction has to be given at what time in what condition.  Therefore, some reaction may come in this lifetime, some in the next and yet some in a distant future lifetime.

Healing never ends till we get back to our original state of ‘Pure consciousness’. Till then, whatever disturbs us, pains us and the fears that we have need to be healed – layer by layer. Even after years of healing, when an issue crops up, I don’t see it as a problem to be solved (though I act on that too as per the need of the hour) but is is about knowing something about myself that needs to be addressed. Every time, I think I have crossed quite a hurdle or obstacle, I find myself again in a situation of facing people which

pushes me away from my equilibrium. Then I sit to know myself more – again! I go within. I meditate to find that area of me which is causing this reality to express itself and I sit to heal that.  Trust me, the more I change, I find the people and the situation around me change (Please don’t blabber something like ‘so our problems are not healed as you haven’t healed yourself?”). Don’t understand Laws wrongly to get away from being responsible to your own karma, self and destiny.

More we change, more we find the need to change. In this path will be noble qualities that need to be learned, picked up and assimilated into our character and personality. At the same time, we need to unlearn our insecurities, fears and weaknesses. It doesn’t happen with a click of hand. It isn’t magic! And hence healing takes time, regularity, perseverance, patience and able all faith to make it happen. And the procedures though may vary from person to person; it still is achievable by one and all – provided one is willing to. And the best part is ‘Universe pushes everyone towards this learning/unlearning process’ whether they are in healing process or not. It’s just that like Dhritarashtra it would take 50 janmas for that karma to come into effect.  And that too remains since unhealed, person most of the time goes through it with remorse, anger and such feelings, thereby planting fresh seeds of karma for future. And the vicious cycle continues.

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related posts : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=past+lives

https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=jada+bharath+and+deer


https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=jaya+vijaya

Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

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Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

Every day we eat, every day we clean dishes.

Every day we experience, every single day we carry some impressions and hence and thus cleaning and healing are eternal process of living. Come let’s embrace life in its completeness! Let’s not exclude healing out of it. It’s like saying; I want to eat but won’t do the dishes. Such are the people who blabber “I want to just enjoy in life. I don’t want to heal’. Know what you mean when you say something!

Here it just means “I am a person who wants rights but not responsibilities. I want to be a taker everywhere and never a contributor in any relationship or otherwise. I want to be a lazy person enjoying someone else’s hard work. I am to be waited for and not the person who would fend for self”.

No one can have rights in exclusion of responsibilities! But at the same time, no one can force you to do the healing NOW! You are welcome to walk out of that part of your life. But as Dhritarashtra, face the returns as and when it comes into effect! Choice is yours! No one can question you or force you to heal it now. It’s just that if we are given an opportunity to know the process of healing now, then why not now? Why postpone it to a later time where we can’t be sure of our capabilities and situations of life which may or may not be conducive to heal?

So, come let’s treat life as a whole! Let’s embrace completeness completely! Let’s heal as we experience our lives too!

Concluded....

related posts : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=why+healing

https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=emptiness

Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

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Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

But if the person is one the path of self awareness, assessment and healing, he would be more grateful for all he had experienced; his healing would heal all of such attitudes which is creating painful and unpleasant situations and hence doing away with having to live those situations and gaining strength to face such of situations which haven’t been healed and have come into effect.

As he would be more mature, balanced as he is dealing with present situation, he would create no or relatively speaking a very small piece of painful or tough situation to create. This way, life lesson can be learnt in a much easier and joyful way because of acceptance and awareness instead of anger and resentment. Therefore, such anecdotes from our Epics only speak of the need of the hour – awareness, acceptance, let go and healing. All this wouldn’t be possible with faith!

So, are we to be living with shame, guilt and fear because of our karma baggage? No! Are we ashamed of the house that we live in when it gathers dust? No! We clean it regularly. The cleaning process varies periodically. Inspite of regular dusting, mopping don’t we do intense cleaning of the entire house along with painting once a year? Like-wise with this mind, ego, intellect of ours! We gather the dust of emotions, impressions that we need to clean on regular basis. And yet thorough cleaning is required once a year and there in come handy various techniques of healing.

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related posts : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=cleaning

https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=awareness

Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

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Bhagavatam – Krishna answers King Dhritarashtra

What are we to know?

Is it only to instigate fear of ‘wrong doing’ that this and such stories are told?

The one major difference between all other religions and vedantism is ‘absence of fear’.

All religions ‘commandments are based on punishment instigating in its followers. ‘Rules’ are just ‘word’ of God to be blindly followed and if not followed or if ‘commandment’ is broken, then the person is doomed into hell to eternity.

That is not the case in vedantism. Infact, all of ‘vedas’ declare ‘fear’ to be one of the original sins and something that needs to be totally rooted out of human system. Fear stems from ‘divisiveness’ and ‘the belief that human is sinner’ but Vedas declare and state that we are not human here for spiritual experiences but are spiritual beings taking on the robe of human form for human experiences and hence being ‘atman’ which is complete, divine, pure and All that is, where is the need for one to fear?

Coming back to our story – this story clearly does away with ‘burning in the fire of hell till eternity’ need due to one’s wrong doings. On the other hand, it speaks of the Universe/Divine/Nature giving us enough time to heal our wrongs. We can always repent for our sins and get cleansed of their effects too with various healing techniques. We can also increase our ‘punya’ (good deeds) and there by minimise the effect of our karma. But, how to know what karmas we have in store that need to be healed?

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Me, My Guru - On essence - Bhagavatam!

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These were scores of others – Shakuni, Duryodhan, Dushshashan and all others who shut off their eyes unable to bear the brilliance of that Divine form. This shows that not everyone is ‘eligible’ to receive the ‘good’ or ‘Divine’.

“You don’t get what you desire, but what you deserve”.

Because of all impurities like anger, envy, lust, hatred and such qualities filled in their hearts, these people were automatically ‘not worthy of receiving’ Divine Grace. Even if given they can’t receive it. Their body is the cup that can’t take the filling of ‘good’ or ‘Divine’.

So, to receive His Grace or even to get ‘your desires fulfilled’ you should be worthy of it. And that’s where emptying of self of all impurities like anger, lust, envy etc come into picture. So do hands-on regularly” she replied with a smile.

“Then what about Dhritarashtra?” you said once that he was an epitome of ‘moham’ attachment. Then how can he receive the divine grace?”

She seemed ever ready with answers. Was she prepared or what, I had wondered many times!

I heard many answers to the questions posed to them. They gave any answer that came to them. But people like her were actually very few in numbers. To answer a question is not that important as to give appropriate one. People were bowled over with ‘any answer received’. But I over the years have learnt to understand and appreciate ‘Right answer’ to ‘any answer’. Yes, this a commoner would never know. But thanks to my healing sessions and ‘good company’ that I kept I received this understanding and what a priceless treasure was this treasure. I’ve found ‘so-called Gurus’ fooling around with words in the name of answer and I pity people and their students who looked up to them for their answers.

“Lord, doesn’t keep accounts of only bad deeds but also of good deeds – even the ones performed unknowingly or by chance. Dhritarashtra was jealous of his brother Pandu and his sons. He felt Pandu usurped his rights to the throne. He wanted to fulfil his desire of being ‘a king’ through his son knowing full well that Yudhishtra was more eligible and the right candidate for the throne of Kuru dynasty. Moreover, he was son of deceased king of that kingdom i.e., Pandu. Dhritarashtra on the other-hand was only a king on deputation. And that’s why too; his son was not eligible to be a king.

Yet,he, because of being blinded by his ‘lust’ for throne and power was an accomplice in all the plots against Pandavas by his son Duryodhan.

 

(Vidur and Dhritarashtra)

But inspite of having so many negative qualities had one weakness which was a ‘great quality’ in the eyes of Lord i.e., ‘Satsangh’ meaning ‘good company’. Vidura being an avatar of Lord Yama who was the custodian of ‘Dharma’ or righteousness, was a great devotee of Lord Krishna and was also an exponent of ‘Dharma’ – but obviously. He was fearless in speaking about ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ – not based on his likes and dislikes as many of us do, but based on ‘Dharma’ or ‘Law’. Dhritarashtra could never stay without him. Especially at nights, he would seek Vidura’s company and listen to his talk on Dharma, virtues, scriptures and about the qualities and glory of God.

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On understanding Karma in real-life situations Series

 

           Contd.....

            On understanding Karma in real-life situations Series

e.      No wrong committed by us is ever forgotten by the Universe. It comes back in our life – maybe after 100 lifetimes – but it does. 

    in the case of DHRITARASHTRA – https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2018/08/bhagavatam-krishna-answers-king.html

f.     Every act hides within it both positive and negative results. There is no act that has only good impact. So, even when good is done for others, the little harm done through the same returns to us and that is also to be borne by us. KUNTI CURSES KRISHNA https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2024/09/me-my-guru-bhagavatam-on-lost-city-of_02073380832.html

g.      When the act is done with the right intent and as per DHARM, then even the curse is used by the Divine to do some greater good. This same act or karma makes the person rise above the normal.

Our choices decide our fall or rise!

The right choice takes us towards our “Divine hood”.

h.     Nobody is above the “Law of Karma”

i.      With purity, simplicity and innocence, the impact of karma is reduced by the sadhak.

J.  The karma that binds is the “very thing” that frees us from all our karmas too!

k.    Being afraid of getting to face the consequences of our karma if we choose to “not act” – then even that comes under “karma”. We have to bear “that” consequence too! So, either way, we need to bear the consequences. Then why not learn to do karma in such a way that it becomes a way to redeem us of our ‘past karmas’?

l.     See carefully how a certain karma comes back in others’ lives. (But always remember Karma doesn’t come back the same way for everyone). We’ll see that a person’s wrong catches up with him – sooner than later. https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2020/08/few-faqs-with-guru_20.html

So, we need not carry any grudge or wish that they be punished. Become free from seeking revenge. Walk towards peace. You deserve it if you are the one wronged!

Next, most important if some karma has come back in others’ lives, it would in ours too – for sure! So, when things don’t go or work our way – bear it with poise. Know it to be some past getting healed or catching up now. Use reiki techniques to reduce or mitigate the pain that comes to us bearing past karma.

Since every deed is limited in “portion size” bad times don’t last forever.

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# real life situations, karma, fate and destiny, you receive what you give, 

Reflections – on washing clothes

 

Reflections* – on washing clothes

Yesterday, I had to wash three sets of clothes. First set of clothes were of course mine that need not be pressed. They had to be folded – though!

Second set of clothes were those that had to be pressed.

The third set of clothes were those that did not need to be pressed nor required to be folded. They could be handing for couple of days with pleasure.

But, this was not how I labelled them or saw them at the start of my ‘job’. I saw them as just ‘all these had to be washed’. And so, without a second thought, I simply put the third set to be washed first.

You do see the order – right? In actuality, the second set should’ve gone into washing machine first so that they can be given for pressing immediately after. That way, those clothes would’ve one day to get dried up and second day it could conveniently sit with the ‘man who would press them’ (istri).

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Reflections* -This is the series in which I take day-to-day activity or incident and throw light on the spiritual view of the same.

# reflections, spirituality in day-to-day life, mundane routines and yoga, being in the moment, purpose of life and situations of life, being aware, operating centre, consciousness, 

also read suggested : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=Bhagavatam+%E2%80%93+Krishna+answers+King+Dhritarashtra

Suggestion : Note the "Quotes" given in all the posts - they do convey the gist of the explanation sometimes. And at times, they themselves are the answer to the question you are going around with. They can remind you of 'what you knew and have forgotten' and help you to be back on track. Read them - they are not randomly posted. I spend hours searching for exact words to post them. There certainly is a reason why they are posted....