Mental derangement!

 

Maharaj Yudhisthira after being repeatedly attacked by Karna and wounded, fled & was overwhelmed with pain & sorrow. He arrived at the Pāndava camp & sat down on his bed so that the arrows sticking in his body could be extracted. He then ordered Nakul & Sahadeva to return to the battlefield to assist Bhima

 

Meanwhile, Asvattāma returned to attack Arjun with renewed enthusiasm. He was able to counter Arjun’s celestial weapons & when Arjun managed to kill his driver, Asvattāma picked up the reins & continued fighting, while simultaneously guiding his chariot. At last Arjun cut-off the harnesses & reins of Asvattāma’s horses so that the afflicted steeds carried him far away from battlefield

 

Duryodhana went to Karna & begged him to do something that would save his faltering forces. Thinking momentarily, Karna fixed a powerful Bhargava weapon onto his bowstring. At once millions of arrows flowed in steady streams. Within moments thousands of Pāncāla warriors fell dead, while all those who survived fearfully cried out for Bhima & Arjun to save them

 

In response Arjun prepared to attack Karna, but Sri Krsna restrained him by saying: Maharaj Yudhisthira has been wounded by Karna & so your first duty is to find him & make sure he is alright. After doing this, you can fight Karna

 

Arjun couldn’t see Yudhisthira around & so went to Bhima to inquire. Bhima said: Brother, after being wounded in battle, Yudhisthira fled from the fight. The fact is, because Karna was chasing him, I don’t know if he is still alive or not

 

Arjun said: Pls quickly go & look for Yudhisthira. Perhaps he has returned to our camp

 

Bhima pleaded: Dear Arjun, you should go & search. If I were to do so, people would call me coward for leaving battlefield

 

Thereafter, when Sri Krsna & Arjun arrived at Pāndava camp, they found Yudhisthira lying on bed. Being overjoyed just to see he was still alive, Sri Krsna & Arjun bowed down at the king’s feet. Seeing Arjun before him, Yudhisthira assumed that he must have come to tell him that he had killed Karna. Thus, with great happiness he said: O Arjun, Karna humiliated me in the presence of my protectors. I’m so happy that you have finally killed the wicked suta’s son

 

For 13 long years I couldn’t sleep properly at night, nor could I enjoy anything freely during the day, because of my great fear of Karna. Indeed, all these years my heart continually burnt with intense hatred for Karna. Now tell me exactly how you managed to kill him, so that I can relish every word

 

Arjun said: Dear brother, up until now I have been fully engaged in fighting with Asvattāma & so I have had no time for Karna. With your blessings & permission, I will certainly relieve your burning heart by killing him this very day without fail

 

When Yudhisthira heard that Karna was still alive, he became almost deranged due to extreme disappointment. Becoming exceedingly agitated he chastised Arjun saying: What! How could you be such a coward & leave Bhima alone to fight with Karna? Now I can see that the hopes we had placed in you during our years of exile were futile, because you are afraid to face Karna in battle. It seems even demigods speak lies, for on the 7^th day after your birth, a voice from the sky announced that you would perform heroic deeds in future

 

Instead of understanding the situation, due to our extreme desires and expectations, we also sometimes become mentally deranged, and blurt words criticizing others without reason

 

When we face disappointment, we feel internally discouraged and that feeling affects consciousness to a point that our mind clouds our intelligence. We need to practice detachment to protect us from negativity. This does not mean we don’t care for the results, but it means we take care more for our consciousness, which is the most essential resource for getting any worthwhile result. As far as it is positive & purposeful, we can always strive to get better result in future, but if it is negative, we won’t benefit much even in our best successes

 

Detachment protects our consciousness from falling into negative emotions when negative situations befall us. Let’s protect ourselves!

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife