The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : Impulsive behaviour

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Thursday, Apr 28, 2005

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Impulsive behaviour

CHENNAI: Puranic lore has numerous instances of human beings genuinely admitting their mistakes, bound by an accepted law of nature and code of conduct. Even those known for their negative traits have shown an inclination to heed the inner voice or conscience. This is so with Kamsa. In spite of his cruel nature, finer tendencies surface now and then. For instance, Kamsa is genuinely happy to see his beloved sister married off to Vasudeva. But the joy is short-lived as an ethereal voice makes a prophetic statement that the eighth child of the newly wed couple would kill him.

When there is a likely risk or danger to life, human nature forgets relationships. Throwing all affection to the winds, he wants to kill Devaki immediately. Vasudeva pleads with Kamsa to spare his wife, promising to hand over to him all his children as they are born. Kamsa reveals his saner side that accepts his mistake and foolishness in planning to kill all the innocent children, when the potential killer is only the eighth child. Moreover, when Vasudeva surrendered them, Kamsa out of love did not kill the first child. Similarly Vali in the Ramyana has the grace to accept his faults to Lord Rama, said Sri M. V. Anantha Padmanabhacharya in his lecture.

The way of the world is such that the favours received from those who are fickle-minded and prone to unpredictable behaviour are short-lived, deceptive and can be dangerous. Those in power may choose to favour their underlings. But the subordinates cannot rest complacently on these favours. Neither can one be sure of favours from those in powerful positions, if these positions are unstable and temporary.

Kamsa was a fickle minded ruler whose decisions and edicts could never be taken as final or immutable. Fully aware of this nature of Kamsa, Vasudeva acts and reacts with care and judgement. He knows too well of the dangers of being favoured by such people who are not sure of themselves. So Vasudeva tells Devaki not to be complacent when Kamsa agrees to spare the children. One could not be sure of Kamsa's stance at that point of time, as it depended on the power of authority he wielded, and the fear of threat to his life. For later at sage Narada's instigation, Kamsa persecuted the Yadavas and killed the sons of Vasudeva.

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