Genuine praise!


Maharaj Yudhisthira fought with Duryodhana with all his might & nearly killed him. Arjun also defeated many Kaurav warriors & killed few of them eg. Satyasena & Susarma. As the sun sank below the horizon, both armies retired to their camp


Back in Kaurava camp, all the leading warriors were very aggrieved because of their defeat at the hands of Arjun. With great anger all of them swore to kill him the next day without fail


At dawn of the next morning, Karna went to Duryodhana & vowed: O King! Today I will kill Arjun or else be killed by him. Arjun is not my equal in terms of strength, skill or courage & my Vijaya bow is the foremost of its kind. Visvakarma made this bow specifically for Indra, and with it the king of heaven was able to vanquish the demons. Thereafter, Indra gave the Vijay bow to Parasurama. After using it to annihilate the Kshatriyas 21 times, the great warrior-brahmana handed it over to me


O king, my bow is superior to the Gandiva bow. I can assure you that I will soon vanquish the Pandavas and thus hand over to you the kingdom of earth so that you can enjoy it without rival. Arjun superiority over me lies in his two inexhaustible quivers, his indestructible chariot, his celestial bow string, his wonderful flag upon which Hanuman sits & his superior chariot driver. Still, Salya is equal to Krsna & so if he were my driver, our victory will be assured


My dear Duryodhana, let Salya take up my reins today, and let numerous other chariots follow mine, stacked high with arrows. In this way I will gain advantage and thus fulfil my vow to kill Arjun


Duryodhana readily gave consent & then went to see Salya. With great humility he begged: O ruler of the Madrakas, pls become Karna’s charioteer today so that he can defeat our enemies


Although Duryodhana had very humbly implored Salya, and while doing so had praised him excessively, the Madra king responded with anger & agitation. Being very proud of his royal lineage, Salya said: O king! This is a great insult, for I do not regard Karna as being superior to me. Infact because of his low birth, it would be highly deprecating for me to take the role of Karna’s chariot driver. The sutas are supposed to be servants of the Kshatriyas and not vice-versa. Therefore, instead of asking me to accept his humiliating position, I beg you to give me permission to return home


After saying this, Salya got up from his seat & prepared to storm out of the assembly. Duryodhana hastily went and restrained him, saying: My dear Salya, I can assure you that I do not consider Karna to be at all superior to you. Karna is superior to Arjun in terms of fighting with weapons, and you are superior to Krsna in the art of managing horses. Therefore, I consider your combination to be the best means for killing the Pandavas


As Salya listened to himself being praised so highly, he finally became pacified & said: I agree to take up the reins of Karna’s chariot, but only on one condition. While driving Suta’s chariot, I must be allowed to speak freely whatever I like


When someone praises us, it should be weighed on three aspects:

1.      What is the other person default thoughts against what he is saying

2.      What their words are about – are they aligned to truth or otherwise

3.      What their actions are directed towards – is it for some ulterior motives or otherwise

When the words are devoted to some higher cause, they are illustrated by the deeds and thus there is a synergy between what is said and done. We should weigh other person’s spiritual authenticity & how their speech and actions synergize


Krsna says that such anomalies does not happen to devotees:

mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca


The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me


Thoughts? #gameoflife

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