Scriptural wisdom to act!

Maharaj Yudhisthira further said to Arjun: If you are afraid to fight with Karna, you should give your Gāndiva bow to someone else who can better utilize it. Infact, it would have been better if you had come out of mother Kunti’s womb after conception as a miscarriage rather than a coward who left the battlefield

 

Yudhisthira spoke with such harshness! The limits were crossed in anger

 

Arjun heatedly said: O Krsna! long ago I made a secret vow to behead anyone who would even suggest that I give away my Gāndiva bow. It is for this reason that I will now kill Yudhisthira and thus pay off my debt to Truth

 

Sri Krsna strongly chastised his friend, saying: My dear Arjun, you speak self-righteously, but you do not know the truth of morality.  According to Sastra, it is highly virtuous to tell a lie for the purpose of saving a life, especially that of a king or a Brāhmana. Lying is also meritorious when used to save one’s wealth from danger, or for obtaining a woman’s hand in marriage. Indeed, of truth is upheld at the cost of someone’s life, it is the greatest untruth & unrighteousness

 

In this regard I will tell you what had once happened to the learned sage Kaushika, who lived at a holy place situated at the confluence of several rivers. This sage came to be highly celebrated for having made a vow to always speak the truth in all circumstances and all times

 

One day, some people entered the forest where Sage lived while fearfully fleeing from a band of dacoits chasing them. As they searched for their victims, these criminals came upon Kausika & enquired from him of their whereabouts. The truthful sage pointed out the path those innocent people had taken & as a result the dacoits were quickly able to find them. After plundering all possessions, the dacoits also killed them. For the sin of telling the truth when lying would have been virtuous, Kausika had to enter the hellish planets after death & suffer there for many years

 

Sri Krsna said: Dear Arjun! What do you think is the proper course of action in this case?

Arjun said: I must admit that if I were to kill my elder brother, I would not be able to live further even for a moment. Therefore, I request You to provide a solution to this dilemma. Kindly allow me to keep my vow intact & at the same time save Yudhisthira’s life

 

Sri Krsna said: Maharāj Yudhisthira is very tired, aggrieved and pained by his wounds. It is for this reason alone that he has spoken to you so harshly. Actually, he was only trying to provoke you to kill Karna & thus bring this ghastly war to a close

 

Every situation has a reason & every action has a basis. Even when we do something stupid or terrible, we can have our own justification for our actions. We rationalize our decisions to believe that whatever we have done is justified

 

But if we are to make wise choices, we need to check if the reasons we give for justification are in fact good. Such calibration can be done only based upon our sound understanding of scriptures, which provide ethical & spiritual values that guide us in our decision making at all times

 

Sri Krsna says in Bhagvad Gita

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye
bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī

 

O son of Pṛthā, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, is in the mode of goodness

 

Performing actions in terms of the directions of the scriptures is called pravṛtti or executing actions that deserve to be performed. And actions which are not so directed are not to be performed. One who does not know the scriptural directions becomes entangled in the actions and reactions of work. Understanding which discriminates by intelligence is situated in the mode of goodness

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife