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Dasara Divine Discourse on
8th October 2005
WITH COURAGE AND PURITY REALISE
DIVINITY
E veryone has to face the consequences of his
Karma (actions). Who has made the bats to hang from the branches of a tree
with their heads downwards? Has anyone tied them upside down out of
hatred? No, it is their fate. Likewise, nobody can escape from the
consequences of Karma.
(Telugu poem)
Embodiments of Love!
Yesterday, I was telling you about the coronation of Parikshit. At that
time, there were many who had offered advice to him and assisted him. Many
were supportive for his advancement. Parikshit was very young, almost a
boy. It was not easy to raise a little boy to be an efficient emperor.
There were no elders left in the lineage of the Pandavas. Bhima, Arjuna,
Dharmaja, Nakula and Sahadeva had all started on their way to the
Himalayan slopes. The lone representative of the Pandava clan was this
little boy Parikshit. He was just put to schooling in the traditional way.
But, there was none who could ascend to the throne, except him. The young
lad was thus caught in a complex situation. He, however, proceeded on the
path shown by three preceptors who were available. The young Parikshit was
in tears and was pleading with his granduncle and grandmother (Dharmaja
and Draupadi) asking them whether it was fair on their part to abandon him
leaving such a heavy responsibility on his shoulders. Dharmaja told the
boy that the consequences of the passage of time were inescapable. Even
Krishna who was their constant support had also left them to fend for
themselves. They also had no choice but to follow the foot steps of
Krishna. After all, they had been strict adherents to the advice and
guidance of Krishna. Krishna treated the Pandavas as bosom friends. He had
reared them as His own children. He had been their closest relative. In
fact he had sustained them in every manner of relationship. He alone was
their refuge. So, they advised Parikshit to face his responsibilities with
courage and confidence. Thereafter, they tarried awhile to see how
Parikshit would tackle the situation. Parikshit replied bravely that he
would not shirk his responsibilities nor let down the glory of his
lineage. “I shall rule this kingdom”, he averred. He was full of
confidence and courage. Dharmaja and Draupadi were happy and relieved.
They were astonished at the courageous demeanour of the young lad..
One has to note some events that transpired at that time. Dharmaja was in
his human form and was preparing to proceed to the spiritual and divine
realms. To go from the earthly realm to the divine realm one needed a lot
of courage. Dharmaja traversed the entire plane of the spiritual and the
mundane, and made a proper mix to achieve ability to advance to the divine
realms. In fact he got this capacity by seeing the self confidence of
young Parikshit. Parikshit was then reminded of the happenings prior to
this. He had gone to each of the Pandavas and asked them to take up the
responsibility of ruling the kingdom. But all of them had declined and
insisted that Dharmaja alone was qualified for ruling the kingdom, which
was also the wish of the people. Finally they settled on the young
Parikshit as the only suitable person. Hearing this, young Parikshit was
frightened and fell at the feet of his grandfather with tears and pleaded
whether it was possible for such a young person to rule such a large
kingdom. It was Draupadi who gave the necessary reassurance to Parikshit.
Thus, the crowning of Parikshit as emperor took place.
On the second day after his coronation, Parikshit assembled all his vassal
kings. People thought that the young king was frightened and that was why
he was assembling all of them. All the kings were collected and seated in
the chamber of the court. Parikshit spoke to them. “You see a young boy as
your lord before you. But be sure I shall not flinch from my duties nor
should you from yours. We are together committed to see to the welfare of
this empire; so, I want now to know your intention. Some of you, I know;
others I cannot even recognise. So, you make your decision to go along
with me for the sake of the empire or follow your own ambitions.” After he
spoke thus, the assembly split into two factions, one supporting Parikshit
and the other pursuing their private ambitions thinking that the youthful
king lacked determination and could be flouted easily. After this, a war
broke out between the factions. Parikshit fought the battle with the names
of his grandfather Arjuna on his lips (Arjuna had 12 names) – Arjuna- the
pure, Phalguna- the one born under the star Phalguna, Partha- scion of the
Prithu lineage, Kiriti - one born with a crown, Swaetavahana- one mounted
on a pure white charger, Bheebathsu - one who is above the emotion of
revolution, Vijaya- ever victorious, Krishna- the dark one, Savyasachi -
ambidextrous, Dhananjaya- the victor of all wealth. Thus, as he battled,
all the Pandavas were present around him (in their spiritual form). Even
Draupadi was there. Few know this fact that Draupadi was a great leader in
her own right.
It would be a mistake to think that Parikshit plunged into warfare in his
first act as emperor. In fact, Draupadi was his mentor, physically as a
child and spiritually in the later part of his life. She had warned him
that it would not be proper on his part to drag himself into strife as
soon as he became the king. First he had to infuse confidence in his own
people and, thanks to the training given by Draupadi he was able to
succeed in good measure. All his subjects young and old stood by him
addressing and adoring him as Maharaja- the king of kings with affection
and awe. They became confident and fearless. With such a king presiding
over their welfare, where was the room for any fear? And Parikshit
reassured them that in spite of his being so young, he was fully favoured
by God’s grace and, as such, there was no power on earth that could oppose
him. God alone was his refuge. He undertook the administration of the
empire with full faith under the guidance of God.
Do not be under the impression that all this training was only after the
decision of the Pandavas to proceed to the Himalayas. Right from the end
of the Great War, it was known that the sole heir to the empire was the
infant son of Abhimanyu. Draupadi decided to take up the task of grooming
of the child for his future role. So she told Dharmaja that though he was
the repository of all virtues, he was at times prone to indecision. Thus,
right from the beginning Parikshit, was under the care of Draupadi. Even
before the formal coronation of Parikshit, Draupadi along with Dharmaja
used to address the people of Hastinapura, saying that, this young child
was their future ruler. “Do not be misled by his youthful looks. He is
blessed with the grace of god and is replete with all kingly virtues. The
duty of a ruler of a large population is to look after their needs like a
mother. At present, he is a small child and needs your support and
protection. Take this up as a duty conferred on you by God. In due course
he will be the king and he will look after your welfare like a dutiful
son. We are not concerned with enjoyment and pleasure. Do everything as a
matter of duty. And when the time is ripe you shall be protected and
provided with your needs by him as he is verily a gift of God to us and to
all. Everything happens according to the will of God. The will of God
cannot be tampered with by any other force.”
Thus Draupadi and Dharmaja already paved the way for the crowning of
Parikshit. That was the manner of political administration in those days.
Every single person in the kingdom shall be well looked after, like the
children of a close knit family. When such a family of elders and children
are in control where is the room for fear or worry? Thus Parikshit became
a great emperor. Are there any parents who can bring up their children in
this way? Even if you are prepared to train the young boys in the right
way, the children will not be ready to listen. But Parikshit was a good
learner as well as a leader with courage. Courage is the means of all
successful results. This is also a true spiritual practice. That is the
true strength. Armed with such divine and spiritual strength Parikshit
achieved greatness. And the whole empire prospered thereby. Such a
motherly preceptor is very rare.
Parikshit summoned all his ministers as also representatives from the
subcontinent and spoke to them on the importance of unity. In fact purity
is dependant on unity and purity is the way to divinity. With divinity,
all tasks will become fruitful. It is enough to sustain and maintain this
purity both in the individual and community. This concept of individual
and collective behaviour was taught to his subjects and thereby an ideal
community was created in his empire. The young king Parikshit smilingly
approached his people and even apologised to them for any mistakes that he
might have unwittingly committed. The type of communication that should
exist between the ruler and the ruled was exemplified by Parikshit par
excellence. Young Parikshit had full faith in God whose benevolence and
love ensured his welfare and that of his subjects. All of you have the
same firm faith in God and maintain purity and you can be certain of the
success of your sadhana.
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