Can any pastime be analyzed metaphorically for some moral instruction?
So For example If you consider say particular past time where say… Yudhishtir he hesitated to tell the truth hesitated to avoid telling the truth for eg.. in Duryodhana when Dronacharya was going on a rampage and Krishna told tell him that his son has been killed. He was still hesitated and then afterwards he told but did not tell the truthfully.
So now the principle we can take from here is that you know when the opponent is cunning you may have to be cunning at that time. So it's not the best example but the point is that from any incident usually to see the relevance of scripture there are three things. We look at the specific incident, then we look at the universal principle from that incident and then we look at the specific application for that incident in our life.
So for example say when Sanatana Goswami was arrested, this is a better example, was arrested by Nawab Hussain Shah and put in jail. So he wanted to serve Lord Chaitanya and at that time he told the jailor that actually you know I want to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca and every Muslim should go at least once in a lifetime. So I want to do this and if you let me to go to Mecca then you will also get the pious credit for that because you will have ensured that a person does true and then when that was not enough then he offered him some bribes and then he was able to go.
He got released. Now in principle he was going on a pilgrimage but he was not going to Mecca, he was going to Varanasi and there he was going to meet Lord Chaitanya. So now in an extreme emergency situation where a devotee, where a person for no fault at all actually except religious persecution has been put in a jail, then in such a situation for a person to speak something which is not the precise truth in order to pursue the service of the absolute truth that is fine.
So we may also have to adjust some things in our dealings in today's world so that we can especially when we are in a cultural setting which is not so favorable to bhakti, which is hostile to bhakti, at that time adjusting certain things is fine. So similarly for us, so that means here how did we learn this lesson? We look at the past time which is in a particular time in a particular historical setting, then we look at the lesson from the past time and then we see how that lesson may apply in our life today. So this, there's no need to learn a lesson from past, from need to make it metaphorical directly.
So what could be metaphorical for example? What is the accepted metaphor, acceptable metaphor? Say, there is a symbolism in the Gita that at the start of the Gita or at the start of the Gita, at the end of its first chapter, Arjuna put aside his bow. Vishnu jisasya saram chaapam shokasam vikni manasa. Put aside his bow.
And at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, in 18.70, Yatra partho dhanur dhara. He has picked up his bow and is ready to fight. So this we can say, just as Arjuna was disheartened at the start of the Gita and he became encouraged and confident by the end of the Gita, after hearing the Gita.
So like that also, we too also have become disheartened in our life. So we could say that Arjuna's Gandiva is like our determination. We may lose our determination by some, because of some worldly events.
But by hearing from the Lord, our determination will be restored. This is a metaphor. But this is a metaphor which does not, so actually in one sense, without even talking about the metaphor, the same principle applies.
We will be discouraged, but we hear about Krishna, we hear from Krishna, the wisdom of spirituality of Bhagavad Gita, then we will become encouraged. So here, the metaphor is, the lesson can come without the metaphor, but the metaphor makes the lesson more visually graphic. Yes, his bow was put aside, he lifted up his bow.
So like that, our determination also. So where metaphors can convey a lesson that is overall in harmony with the Siddhanta of scripture, then such metaphors can be used. And our Acharyas have also used many times such metaphors.
Prabhupada himself says, for example, in one of his initiation lectures, he says, now none of you should ever become discouraged in life, because you have handed over the reins of your chariot to Krishna, and Krishna will take care of you. So here, when you say handed over the reins of your chariot to Krishna, what does it mean? Prabhupada is basically talking about something about, say, the Arjuna, Arjuna Krishna, Krishna was charioteer of Arjuna. So when Arjuna surrendered to Krishna like that, so we are all surrendering to Krishna.
So Prabhupada is talking something in metaphorical terms. But that does not, when metaphorical interpretation become a problem is, when the metaphorical is seen as a replacement for the literal, instead of a supplement to the literal. So Ramacharya explains, Mathacharya explains that the scriptures can be understood in three levels.
One is the literal, where we just hear the past time and that itself purifies us. Second is the ethical. Ethical means we learn lessons.
This is, this is what, this is how, in this situation I should behave like this, in this situation I should behave like this. Third is metaphorical, wherein we take some symbolism to further appreciate its relevance and meaning. But he makes it clear, the metaphor, the fullest benefit is available at the literal level itself.
And the metaphorical is a supplement to the literal. It is not a replacement to the literal. So can we do this for any past time? Usually in the early stages of our spiritual life, we need to be a little careful.
And if you feel maybe this can be drawn from the scripture, the scriptural past time, then we can check with some senior devotees. And as we become more and more rooted in Siddhanta, then scripture will speak to us. We will start saying, this situation, it works, it was like this for me.
So for example, if we see that, you know, somebody is very attached to property and because of that the person doesn't speak the truth or does not oppose somebody else. You say, this person is like having a Dhritarashtra mentality. That is fine.
So that is, we do not have to necessarily say this is a metaphorical anything. It is just an application in today's context. So initially, it is good to focus on the literal understanding and to try to internalize Siddhanta.
And then whether we want to take it at the ethical level or a metaphorical level, that we will learn from within, with the confirmation, especially on, if you are going to come up with some, if you have some ideas which you feel may, are they sure or they are not sure? We are not sure. We are not really sure about that. Then it is best to ask some senior devotees, clarify and then learn from there.