Kindness!

 

One day great sage Lomasa came to Amrāvati to see Indra. After bowing down to offer respects to King of Heaven, sage was offered a nice seat. When he saw how Arjun was sharing the same throne with Indra, he began to wonder: How is that a mere Kshatriya could attain such an exalted position?

 

Indra could understand Lomasa’s thoughts & said: Arjun isn’t an ordinary human being; He is my son. In his past birth Arjun appeared as Nara, the associate of Nārāyana Rsi, for executing austerities at Badrikāshrama in Himalayās. Nara & Nārāyana have again appeared to execute the mission of demigods of relieving the burden of earth

 

There are Dānavas known as Nivāta-kavacas, who’re invincible due to boons received from Lord Brahma. They’re preparing to attack demigods & only Nara or Nārāyana can kill them. It would not be proper for us to request Lord Nārāyana to accomplish such a small task & so I’ll ask Arjun to kill them before returning to his brothers on earth

 

Dear sage! I request you to go to Yudhisthira at Kāmyakavana. Assure him of Arjun’s well being & tell him that his brother will soon return after mastering use of celestial weapons. In the meantime, as they await Arjun’s return, you should take Pāndavās on a tour of all holy places & protect them from fierce demons. Giving consent, Lomasa Rsi departed for earth & soon arrived at Kāmyaka forest

 

Meanwhile at Hastināpur, Dhritrāshtra heard from Vyāsdev about how Arjun was residing in abode of Indra. Calling Sanjaya, blind king disclosed his feelings saying: I consider Arjun to be unrivalled & invincible & my wicked sons are surely doomed. He remembered Arjun’s heroic feats & more he thought of them, he became more morose

 

Sanjay said: Be assured that Pāndavās will never forgive Dushasana for dragging Draupadi into Kuru assembly. Nor will they forgive Duryodhana for showing his thigh to her. When Bhima saw these 2 outrages, he made terrible vows. After Arjun satisfied Lord Siva by his prowess, Mahādev predicted Pāndavās will kill your sons in battle

 

Dhritrāshtra lamented about his misfortune that Duryodhana doesn’t follow his advice considering him blind & foolish but prefers counsel from those wretches, Karna & Sakuni. Sanjaya, I pass my nights sleeplessly because I’m filled with unbearable anxiety & grief. My mind dwells upon misbehavior of my sons & heroic feats of Pāndavās. Oh! I’m such a fool because of my unwillingness to take advantage of good advice that is repeatedly given to me

 

Sanjay said-Your lamentation is useless. You could have restrained your evil-minded son, but due to bling affection for him, you refused to do so. That is your great fault & so you’ll have to reap the consequences

 

When the obvious is opaque & the hazy seems clear it is due to our false conditioning. Externally offering apologies & reparations but internally not changing our mental impressions, which are impellers of our various actions is not going to help. Our mistreating others comes from our underlying psychic impressions of unkindness. We need to change this & be kind not only to others but towards self too.

 

Krsna says:

adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṁ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife