Misfortune or?

 

After sages disappeared from Damyanti’s sight, she once again found herself alone in dense forest. Intense grief caused by absence of her husband that had temporarily subsided, came back to consume her. She then came to a blossoming Asoka tree resounding with chirping of birds. Eyes brimming with tears, she lamented & said-O Asoka tree, kindly deliver me from unbearable anguish. Pls live up to you name. Circumambulating the tree thrice, she proceeded & after some time came to a broad highway

 

She was pleasantly surprised to see a caravan of merchants consisting of numerous horses & elephants. Having wild & dirty appearance like that of a madwoman, dressed in half garment, Damyanti entered in the midst of travelers. Seeing her, some people retreated to a distance, while others were shocked and few laughed at her. Some felt pity & asked her who was she

 

Damyanti replied & introduced herself as daughter of King Bnima & wife of Nisada king Nala and was searching for her husband in the desolate forest

 

A man named Suci said-I’m the leader of this caravan, but we’ve not seen anyone by the name Nala

Damyanti asked him where the caravan was heading to. Suci replied that for business, they were going to Cedi kingdom ruled by King Suvahu

 

Damyanti accompanied the caravan hoping to find some clue about her husband on the way. After travelling for many days, all were fatigued and decided to take a break next to a large lake full of lotus flowers. In the night as all were sleeping, suddenly a herd of wild elephants attacked, and they trampled on the sleeping people & killed them. There was mayhem all around with dead horses, domesticated elephants, and others

 

Finally, when the wild elephants were gone, the surviving people assembled & wondered why they reaped such disaster. Some said that the dirty & disheveled madwoman Damyanti is surely the cause of this & her joining the caravan brought such calamity. They decided to stone Damyanti as soon as they see her

 

Damyanti somehow ran fast, feeling ashamed & fearful. She once again found herself in an ocean of distress. How strongly the wrath of God is bearing down upon me, said Damyanti. I’ll only meet with one great misfortune after another. I must have committed terrible sin in my past life to get to this situation

 

Somehow passing the night, next morning Damyanti saw a group of Brahmanas going towards Cedi Kingdom & she accompanied them. She reached the capital of Cedis by the evening. In scant clothing & dirty appearance, she appeared like a madwoman & a crowd of young boys followed her out of curiosity

 

When we face consequences of our wrongdoings, it seems like a great misfortune for us. But actually, it is a great fortune for us as it restricts us from doing more wrongs and forces us to reflect upon the course correction and understanding. Each recurring act of gain seems to nullify our wrong approach & pushes us to make bigger mistakes, but that is catastrophic. Ultimately the fall may be so huge that we may not recover at all

 

On top of it if we see others getting away from their wrongdoings, that may inspire us to follow their path. But if we are strong on principles, then we should be grateful to restrict ourselves from far bigger troubles. The intricacies of actions is hard to understand, that is why it is very important to understand our scriptural guidance & adhere to it

 

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ

akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

 

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is & what inaction is

 

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife