Miscellaneous - Religion   

Envy leads to ruin

CHENNAI: Among the factors that cause an individual's downfall, jealousy destroys the person and also his peace of mind. It is human nature to compare one's lot with others but it becomes detrimental if taken to the extreme. The Mahabharata illustrates how the Kauravas' ruin could be traced to Duryodana's envy of his cousins, the Pandavas, the seeds of which were sown right in their childhood.

In his discourse, Keeranoor Sri Ramamurthy said the Pandavas escaped threat to their lives and eventually with Krishna's grace were able to build the beautiful city Indraprastha from the desolate wilderness of Khandavaprastha given to them by Dhritarashtra when they returned to Hastinapura after their marriage to Draupadi. The divine architect Visvakarma built it for them. This became another reason for Duryodana's resentment. Maya, the architect of the Asuras, who had a narrow escape because of Arjuna when the Khandava forest was burnt, built a wonderful palace for the Pandavas at Krishna's instance to express his gratitude.

When the Pandavas started living there, Sage Narada visited them and advised Yudhishthira to perform the Rajasuya sacrifice, which would not only give him the exalted status as emperor but also enable his father and ancestors to ascend to heaven.

Yudhishthira turned to Krishna for advice, as he was worried whether the Pandavas could establish their might. Krishna told him that Jarasandha had to be vanquished before he could perform the sacrifice. Then He related the peculiar nature of his birth and how he had become a tyrant and imprisoned many kings. In a combat, with the insight given by Krishna, Bheema killed Jarasandha. The sacrifice was a success except the shadow cast by the killing of Sisupala, which portended ill omens of an impending crisis. When all the assembled rulers had left, Duryodana, who had stayed back with Karna and Sakuni, visited the palace built by Maya. Bewitched by its beauty he cut a sorry figure when he slipped deceived by its features and Draupadi who happened to witness his discomfiture laughed. His jealousy of his cousins then turned into hatred.

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