Miscellaneous - Religion   

Divine will inscrutable

CHENNAI : A paradox that often confounds the common man is why even those who are righteous often face sorrows and moral dilemmas testing their fidelity to Dharma. As all human beings are subject to Karma, they have to face both joy and sorrow in worldly life and hence adherence to Dharma is bound to create conflict in the mind in life situations but it is essential to resolve doubts that arise in day-to-day life. Yudhishthira's predicament after the Mahabharata war is a pointer that even the virtuous person finds it difficult to face the vagaries of life with equanimity.

In his discourse, Nochur Sri Venkataraman said Dharmaputra's (Yudhishthira) allegiance to Dharma was so total that even the Lord came only second in his reckoning. So he blamed himself for bringing about the fratricidal war, which had resulted in so much loss of life. It did not occur to him who was a devotee of Krishna that Dharma was subject to the divine will and that there is no Dharma above the Lord. He had only a role to play in the divine scheme and thus there was no need to blame himself for the outcome of the war. Lord Krishna had gone as the envoy of the Pandavas to Hastinapura to convey Yudhishthira's wish to find an amicable solution and avert a war. But that was not to be.

Only Vidura and Krishna remained unperturbed during this calamity because the former was a man of wisdom and the latter the Almighty, who had manifested in the world to reinstate Dharma. Thus even a righteous person will face sorrows in life and only a realised person will remain unaffected by the vicissitudes of life. Dharmaputra expressed his remorse when Lord Krishna came to bid farewell to Kunti and the Pandavas, and it was then that He directed him to Bhishma, who was lying on a bed of arrows, awaiting for the auspicious hour (Uttarayana) to shed his mortal coil, to learn the nuances of Dharma from him. The Pandavas and Lord Krishna accompanied him.

Bhishma then advised Yudhishthira, "No man can ever discover the intention of Sri Krishna; even seers get bewildered in their seeking to find it out. Therefore, knowing it for certain that all these events depend on the will of Providence, O chief of Bharatas, follow His will, ruler of men, and protect the helpless people, as you are their sole monarch." Then he enlightened Yudhishthira about the intricacies of Dharma.

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