False proprietorship!

 

After hearing Mārkandeya Rsi’s discourses, Pāndavās left Kāmyakavana & returned to Dvaitvana. One day a deer came to the āsrama of a sage living nearby. As the deer ran here & there, the 2 sticks that Brāhmanā used to ignite his sacrificial fire got entangled in its antlers, along with churning rod. The deer quickly ran away carrying sticks & rod with it. Brāhmanā seeing this got anxious & came to Pāndavās for help to retrieve his items

 

Yudhisthira became concerned hearing Brāhmanā’s plea, picked his bow & set out along with his brothers. They soon caught up with deer & could see the string connecting fire sticks entangled in its antlers. Astonishingly they could not pierce the deer with their arrows despite trying again & again. Frantically pursuing the deer for a great distance, they soon lost sight of it

 

Disappointed, Pāndavās became tired, hungry & thirsty. Reaching a banyan tree, they sat down to rest thinking how it was possible that they failed to kill the deer & fulfill their virtuous objectives. Yudhisthira said to Nakula: there is no limit to misery & root cause of a particular suffering is impossible to ascertain for an ordinary person. It is awarded by Lord of justice, Yamarāj according to one’s virtuous & sinful acts. How we’re put into this disgraceful position is beyond my understanding

 

He then said: Nakula! Pls climb this tree & see if you can see a reservoir of water nearby. I’m dying of thirst. Nakula climbed the tree & said that he can see a grove of trees & hear cries of water cranes. There must be water pond nearby. He then set out to fill their quivers with water. Walking a short distance, he came to a lake filled with crystal clear water

 

As he was about to quench his thirst, a voice from sky announced: You cannot drink this water without permission, for this lake belongs to me. Only if you answer my questions, will I allow you to take any water. Nakula was so thirsty that he disregarded this warning. After drinking a little water, he fell down dead upon the shore

 

Yudhisthira became very anxious when Nakula didn’t return after reasonable length of time. He then ordered Sahadev to go quickly & bring back Nakula with some water

 

Soon after when Sahadev arrived at the lake, he saw his dead brother & so became terribly aggrieved. Still, he was so thirsty that he approached the water to take a drink. As before, a voice from sky announced: You cannot touch this water as this lake belongs to me! Only if you answer my questions, will give you permission to drink

 

Sahadev also ignored this warning & as soon as he took the first sip, he fell dead onto the ground

 

After some time when there was no sign of either Nakula & Sahadev, Yudhisthira anxiously ordered Arjun to go & fetch his brothers. Taking his bow & unsheathing his sword, Arjun set out & soon came to the lake

 

We often also force our way not listening & not respecting the boundaries. This only happens when we falsely think that we have the right to use other’s resources due to false sense of proprietorship. Infact everything belongs to the Supreme Lord, but instead of saying thanks or even accepting this fact, we lord over the resources either as individuals, societies, nations and fight over it too

 

Krsna says:

bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego, all these eight comprise MY separated material energies

 

Let’s get out this false perception

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife