Hope against Hope!

Maharaj Yudhisthira asked Bhisma: Pls enlighten me on the subject of hope. The hope that people cling to appears so strong that nothing seems capable of removing it. Everyone has strong hopes for achieving something. If that hope is somehow destroyed, the grief that follows is equivalent to death

I had hoped that all along that when it would come down to fighting a war, Duryodhana would come to his senses & make peace with us. The son of Dhritrashtra destroyed that foolish hope & the grief I now feel after killing so many friends & relatives continually burns my heart

Bhisma told a story-There was once a king of the Haihayas named Sumitra. One day, while hunting in the forest, the king pierced a deer with his arrow, but instead of being killed or even wounded, it ran away very swiftly with the arrow stuck in its body. The king gave a chase on foot, but the deer elusively led him far, across fields, rivers & woods

Sometimes the deer would come temptingly close to the king as if it were purposely doing so. One such time, when the deer came nearby, Sumitra took out a powerful arrow, but just as he was about to release it, the deer suddenly bounded far ahead laughing at his attempt. Indeed, the arrow that was shot fell short of its mark

Thereafter as the deer entered a very dense forest, the king followed & after some time came to an asrama of sages. Being exhausted, Sumitra sat down & the sages came to greet him

In response to their queries, Sumitra introduced himself & explained how he reached this far. He said: I don’t mind so much that I’m far away from home, hungry & exhausted, but because my great hopes of killing the deer have been frustrated, a painful feeling of depression is now burdening my heart. It seems to me that a man’s hope is as immeasurable as the unlimited sky! He requested the sages to dispel his frustration by enlightening him on this subject

A sage named Rsabha, stepped forward & said smilingly: O king! Once I was touring many holy places of pilgrimage. I came to Nara-Narayana Rsi’s asrama at Badari & began to reside nearby. At that time a very tall, emaciated sage named Tanu, dressed in rags & animal skins, happened to approach me. It seemed that he was about 8 times taller than any other human being, although his body was as thin as one’s little finger

The sage was so weak & frail due to performing great austerities, that his movements & voice were extremely feeble. I offered my obeisances & stood before Tanu with folded hands. At that time many more great sages gathered around, hoping to hear him speak on various subjects

A king named Viradyumna arrived who was searching the world over for his missing son. Although he was extremely depressed having failed to find his beloved son, Vira was still hopeful thinking: Maybe I will find my son here. Dragged on by his hope, the king said: O sages, I cannot find my son but still hope that I will see him again. Lamenting he said: Pls describe to me the vastness of hope. It appears that one never finds its limit

Sage Tanu replied: What you said is correct. There is nothing more difficult to acquire than that which hope places as a image in one’s mind

The King asked: O sage, is there anything slenderer than your body?

Sage said: The hope of an old woman to bear a child, The hope one places in an ungrateful person & the hope of a father to get back his lost son are 3 things slenderer than my body

Bhisma said to Yudhisthira: After hearing this narration, Sumitra cast off the hope that was troubling his heart. One should become steadfast & grave like Himalayas & cast off his grief

Huge lesson for us

Thoughts? #gameoflife