Anxiety!

Lord Brahmā said: Karna is certainly a very great warrior & thus deserves a supremely exalted destination after death, but still victory will be with Arjun, for he is acting instrumentally to carry out the mission of the demigods under instruction of Sri Krsna. After hearing this most authoritative statement, the demigods joyfully played their musical instruments & showered fragrant flowers onto the battlefield

 

As Karna & Arjun faced one another, Hanumān suddenly jumped from Arjun’s flag & attacked Karna’s elephant emblem with his sharp nails & teeth. Karna asked his charioteer: O Salya! What would you do if I were killed in this battle? Salya said: Dear Karna! I would mount my own chariot & kill both Krsna & Arjun

 

Arjun asked the same question to Sri Krsna & the Lord said: The Sun may one day fall from its orbit, the earth may split into fragments, or fire may become cold, but Karna will never be able to kill you. Still, just supposing that you were killed, I would first slay Karna & Salya with my bare hands & then destroy the entire universe in a fit of rage

 

Thereafter, the most dreadful of the war commenced. As both armies proceeded to massacre one another, Karna & Arjun covered the sky with so many arrows that soon everything became obscured in darkness. After some time, Karna & Arjun began invoking celestial weapons. When innumerable warriors were killed on both sides as a consequence, the two armies began to retreat

 

Duryodhana, Asvattāma, Krpā, Krtavarmā & Sakuni stood their ground & continued showering arrows upon Arjun. Arjun turned towards these five & he quickly killed all their horses & smashed their chariot to pieces

 

Next, hordes of Yavana warriors rushed at Arjun, but he effortlessly broke all their weapons & severed their heads. Asvattāma became terribly mortified witnessing this great slaughter. He went to Duryodhana & implored: Pls make peace with Pāndavās & end this horrible carnage! If you give me permission, I’ll immediately go & stop the duel between Karna & Arjun, so that the surviving warriors can return home while you & Yudhisthira share the kingdom on earth

 

After hearing this appeal, Duryodhana contemplated deeply for a while. Then he replied: Asvattāma, it is impossible for me to make peace with Pāndavās now, for I will never be able to forgive the inhuman way Bhima killed Dushasana. I’m also sure that the Pāndavās ae unwilling to forget all the injustices we had inflicted upon them

 

Asvattāma, don’t be afraid & lose heart. I can assure you that Karna will soon kill Arjun

 

Anxiety is constructive if it alerts us of the presence of imminent danger to better prepare us in tackling the same. But it is very destructive when it decreases or deletes our capacity to differentiate between real and imaginary danger. Here Duryodhana cannot perceive real danger of extinction of his entire clan, despite getting so many indications for the same

 

When we also get anxious, we lose our power of discrimination, due to an agitated mind, about the threats and how to deal with it. We may act silly, and that stupidity is a cause of our downfall

 

Anxiety is good if it helps us to be better prepared for the eventuality & not to act stupid. Let’s use our anxiety constructively

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife

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