Patience at trying times!

Sanjay said to lamenting Dhritrāshtra: Sri Krsna visited Pāndavās in forest & seeing their wretched condition became highly enraged. He was so angry that he vowed to kill your sons & allies that very day, but Yudhisthira managed to pacify Him & urged to wait till end of exile period. Pāndavās requested Krsna to become Arjun’s charioteer at the time of fighting Kurus, to which he agreed & gave Draupadi many assurances that her insults would be avenged

Dhritrāshtra hearing this became convinced that a terrible battle would take place because of his son’s folly. Meanwhile, Pāndavās in forest waited anxiously for Arjun to return

One day as Pāndavās were sitting plunged into ocean of grief because of separation from Arjun, Bhima gave vent to his frustration by saying to his elder brother: O King! Your fondness for dice is sole cause of our misfortune. And if that was not enough, you’ve sent away Arjun making our misery more unbearable. A Kshatriya’s duty is to fight. After summoning Arjun & Sri Krsna, we should immediately go & kill wicked sons of Dhritrāshtra

It isn’t sinful to kill deceitful persons by crooked means. If you insist upon keeping your vow, then after killing Kauravas, you can return to forest to pass remaining time. What is use of such over-adherence to morality? What if we’re recognized during 13th year of our exile? Even if we can successfully keep ourselves hidden, upon our return to Hastināpur, you’ll certainly again be challenged to play dice. Thus, all our endeavors will prove fruitless. I can kill all Kauravas single-handedly, but I don’t do so because I’m awaiting your permission

In hope to pacify Bhima, Yudhisthira said: Just be patient! Rest assured that at the end of 13th year you & Arjun will kill Duryodhana & his allies

As he was speaking, a sage named Brhadasva arrived. He was respectfully worshipped with offerings. Yudhisthira then humbly submitted his unhappiness before him & said: Because we’ve lost our kingdom in a deceitful way & have suffered horrible insults from our relatives, our lives have become painful burden. Also, our beloved Arjun is now absent & so we’ve become more morose. Is anyone more unfortunate than I?

Sage reflected for a long time to answer the questions arising out of impatience & moroseness. He surely had a story from history of King of Nisādas, named Nala

When we have urge attacks, it becomes stronger & stronger as we resist to a point that it becomes irresistible & we surrender. Our urges are like endless recurring waves that has its crests & troughs. Even though it may rise at a given point of time, it will surely decline. The struggle to resist will worsen while it is rising, but it'll ease once it flattens & then decreases

We need adequate patience to ride this crest as sea-surfers do rising & falling with tide. Connecting ourselves with higher spiritual reality & holding on to it will contribute in keeping us steady when overwhelmed

Thoughts? #gameoflife