From emotional turbulence to spiritual enlightenment

The two-word translation offence personified foreign exists thinking to be your son see maintaining krishna from krishna in opposition devoid of everything auspicious give up as soon as possible um inauspicious for the sake of translation and purport by his divine grace translation you are maintaining offence personified dhana as your infallible son but he's envious of lord krishna and because you are maintaining a non-devotee of krishna you are devoid of all auspicious qualities relieve yourself of this ill fortune as soon as possible and do good to the whole family report a good son is called one who does not allow his father to fall down the son can protect the father's soul when the father is dead by offering sacrifices to please the supreme supreme lord vishnu the system is still prevalent in india after the death of his father a son goes to offer sacrifices at the lotus feet of vishnu at gaya and thus delivers the father's soul if the father is fallen but if the son is already an enemy of vishnu how in such an inimical mood can he offer sacrifice unto lord vishnu's lotus feet lord krishna is directly the personality of god vishnu and durodhana was inimical to him he would therefore be unable to protect his father dhritarashtra after his death he himself was to fall down because of his faithlessness toward how then could he protect his father the guru advised dhritarashtra to get rid of such an unworthy son as duryodhana as soon as possible if he was at all anxious to see the good of his family according to moral instruction chanakya pandit what is the use of a son who is neither a learned man nor a devotee of the lord if a son is not a devotee of the supreme lord he's just like blind eyes a source of trouble a physician may sometimes advise the extrication of such useless eyes from their sockets so that one can be relieved of the constant trouble duryodhana was exactly like blind troubling eyes he would be a source of great trouble to the family of dhritarashtra as foreseen by vidura vidura therefore rightly advised his eldest brother to get rid of the source of trouble dhritarashtra was wrongly maintaining such personified under the mistaken impression that duryodhana was a good son able to liberate his father up to one of the this is the build-up to one of the most illuminating and broadest conversation in the srimad bhagavatam the viduramaitreya samvat spans across the third canto which is among the largest in the bhagavatam it extends further also partially into the fourth canto but how does this whole river of wisdom flow out it flows out because of some very intense emotionally wrenching events that happen in the life of one of the participants in that conversation that is vidura so just a few verses later the good advice that vidura is giving over here will be rejected not only will the advice be rejected but he himself will be rejected and although duryodhana is not the king dhritarashtra is the king but duryodhana actually has all the powers it is dhritarashtra's attachment to duryodhana makes him powerless actually we think our attachment is a source of our pleasure but actually our attachments are the source of our powerlessness so they make to the extent we are attached to the extent even if we have power we can't execute that power because always the consideration of what will happen to my pleasure source what will happen what is the response of my attachment that weakens us so although dhritarashtra was the king but because he was attached to duryodhana duryodhana was practically taking all the royal decisions and dhritarashtra was just mutely giving consent and sometimes mildly protesting but he couldn't do much you see the same principle when kaikeyi asked for those benedictions janak maharaj was such a powerful king sorry vashnath maharaj was such a powerful king that when he had ascended to the heavens he had fought and saved the day for the deitas against the rakshasas and he had been fighting so fiercely that it appeared as if his chariot was in all the 10 directions and that's why the devatas gave him the title dasharatha but such a powerful king dasharatha means one who is his chariot is in all the 10 directions where he appears to be everywhere moving so fast and attacking his enemy but such a powerful king became powerless in front of the words extracted from him by the flattering kaikeyi why because he was attached of course dhritarashtra maharaj also had that aspect that as a kshatriya he had to honour his word but why did he give a word like that i will do whatever you want now responsible king should not give a word like that responsible king should say that i will do what you ask it is good but it is not harmful right so attachment can make even a powerful person utterly powerless so duryodhana exploiting dhritarashtra's attachment to him will have vidura insulted and thrown out not only of the royal assembly but also out of the kingdom just go out and carry nothing except your breath with you so although vidura is already a wise person he's already a largely enlightened person but still just because somebody is wise and enlightened does not mean that one doesn't have human emotions it was intensely painful for him there in one of the purports of rupad explains that although dhritarashtra's words were spoken by the external energies impelling him that means mayadevi mahamaya impelling him vidura because of his wisdom saw these words which pierced into his heart like arrows as the arrangement of yoga maya to become disentangled from this political intrigue so it was not that then i was acting under yoga maya he was entertaining mahamaya but a devotee by his devotional intelligence can convert an act which has happened in mahamaya into an act which impels him closer to krishna that means he responds through yoga maya it's very interesting how for a devotee yoga maya and mahamaya both act together mahamaya is that which takes one away from krishna yoga maya is that which takes one towards krishna so durodhana's harsh words they made him more and more inimical to krishna because he was now offending krishna's devotee vidura so they were spoken under the influence of yoga maya but what did vidura do he used that as an incident to focus more on his krishna consciousness go to jungle and get further enlightenment so he converted that incident which had happened under mahamaya into an incident where he responded through yoga maya that's why i just said that what happens to us is not as important as how we respond to it yes people around us may be in maya and they may act in maya but we can respond in a way by which we can go closer towards krishna so it was emotionally branching for vidura but because he responded intelligently it became this very incident became the source of a great spiritual illumination not only for him but for hundreds of generations when this conversation became immortalised in the srimad bhagavatam so very often emotional turbulence is the prize for spiritual enlightenment now all of us have our horizontal relationships in this world with our family members with our spouse children parents friends relatives and we have our vertical relationship with krishna and very often when we experience severe turbulence in one of our horizontal relationships then that is the time when we are forced out of no alternative to take shelter of krishna and that's how that turbulence becomes a source of spiritual enlightenment of course we should not create turbulence in others lives saying that this will make you enlightened but yes when this turbulence will occur we should see that this is the opportunity for me to go closer towards krishna and this thing will be repeated several times in the bhagavatam because his son was so utterly cruel not just cruel but incorrigibly cruel he was not reformed so that's how maharaja yanga just left in the forest and bhagavatam described that he became enlightened so this is often the prize that is required for us to actually focus our attention on krishna and take shelter of krishna so when the emotional turbulences are there you do not think that that particular person is to be blamed it may or may not be like that but the important thing is how can i respond by which i can go closer to krishna so now of course here durodhana was clearly on the evil side and vidura was placed in a very difficult situation you know he was the younger brother of the king generally speaking the younger brother is to be treated like a son in the conversation between wali and lord ram after lord ram's arrow has fell wali at that time lord ram tells it that you know the younger son so the younger brother is to be treated like one's own son and therefore the younger son's wife is like one's daughter-in-law and in the presence of your younger brother you have been living with your brother's wife as what you have done is like living with your own daughter and that's why the only punishment for you is death so the point is that the younger brother is like a son and the son is not normally in a position to instruct his father so vidura being the younger son from the normal etiquette point of view it was not appropriate for him to instruct dhritarashtra at the same time what was the concern is not just the etiquette but the interest of the whole country and of the whole world at large we see a very similar situation in the ramayana where again there is a younger brother who has to speak against his older brother the vibhishan has to speak against ravana our similarities are there that is the brother there is a father and there is a son the same is there here also and there also there is material attachment of course there is lust for sita here there is greed for land and vibhishan at that time tries his best to make ravana's sense now there the difference is that the main culprit is his brother and his son indrajeet is like his active assistant uh inciting him more and more by giving him false assurances you know this ram is insignificant that hanuman caught us by surprise otherwise you would have killed him then and there only don't have to worry so he's giving false assurances so at that time what is vibhishan's consideration vibhishan says that actually as a king as a member of the royal family the whole royal family has a responsibility to protect its citizens so vibhishan by his spiritual wisdom not only recognises ram as the lord but he also from the material point of view sees the prowess of ram so what can a bunch of monkeys and humans do but vibhishan tells him you're calling a bunch of humans and monkeys but one human among them killed first by one arrow all your 14 prominent warriors and then within one hour he killed both your brothers khalen vishal along with the 40 000 rakshas that were there and then one monkey in the presence of all your generals escaped from your imprisonment and burned half of lanka so you're saying they're bunch of funky than humans humans just you're being foolish so he tells him that you will meet with destruction so ravana gets angry and anger ravana actually vibhishan desperately goes and you know he falls at the feet of ram he says for the sake of our rakshasa vamsha you know now for the sake of our rakshasa vamsha i beg you please don't go to war with ram you'll all be destroyed because of this that's what you desire a woman is not wrong but to cause to first of all abduct a married woman is terribly wrong it's simple and on top of that to quote admitting it's a powerful enemy as ram for such a religious purpose is just the sure way to destruction so ravan is so intoxicated by his arrogance that he just kicks vibhishan away and he says vibhishan if you had not been my brother i would have killed you right now but at this moment i just order you get out of this kingdom you are no longer wanted here and he kicks him and vibhishan falls on the ground and all the courtiers start laughing when all the courtiers are laughing vibhishan's crown is knocked off vibhishan gets up and vibhishan looks at all the courtiers and he says you are laughing at me but i am pitying for you he says when a person is intoxicated by his power and doesn't understand how he is being impelled towards his own self-destruction he laughs like the way you are laughing so then vibhishan quotes bhagavad-gita literally the words but he says he turns to ravana and he says for an honourable person to be insulted is worse than killing him so because you have insulted me publicly you have for all practical purposes killed me and therefore from today on you are dead for me our relationship ends today and then he departs along with him four ministers royal to him depart and then they discuss what should they do vishis are thinking maybe i should just become ascetic and go into the forest and focus on my devotion to vishis but then he thinks no no the citizens of lanka are not evil it is this ravana who is evil so all the citizens innocent citizens of lanka should not be destroyed just because of the misdeeds of one ravana and he says then vibhishan says what should i do then so one of his ministers so he says that now you have two options either you summon such a big enough army that you can make a rebellion against ravana you become the king and then you make peace with ram by which lanka can be saved but as that is not possible the only way for you to save lanka is that you go on the side of ram and beg him beg him that his enmity is only with ravana it is not with lanka that please don't break your wrath towards ravana on the innocent citizens of lanka so then at that time vibhishan goes over to the side of ram and when we know that very intensely emotional incident when lord ram says that even if ravana comes i will accept him my surrender and then well vibhishan comes along at that time they're talking and suddenly ram says oh you do not you need not have any fears while you are here oh lankesh so we should get some pieces oh but he's only for a short time after he dies who will become the lord of lanka you will have to become the lord of lanka and then there itself on the coast of the ocean with the ocean water ram arranges for vibhishan to be correlated as the king of lanka when ravana hears this he is enraged and then just to conceal his anger he starts laughing he says oh one beggar has made another beggar a king this is just a game of children but the point is that actually some people may say that vibhishan just abandoned his brother giving up his duty to his brother no even from mundane point of view he had a duty towards his brother and he had a duty towards his kingdom and he chose the duty towards his kingdom because his brother was on a sinful path and from the spiritual point of view of course all material duties can be given up for taking shelter of the lord so if we can see this incident at two levels one is the you know there is moral crisis and there is ethical crisis moral crisis means that one has choices between two things one is moral one is immoral for example if one is tempted by somebody in the opposite sex for something illicit something immoral then that is a moral crisis the pleasure-seeking part of the other may say i want to do it the moral part is that is a moral crisis but ethical crisis means when there are two choices and both of them appear to be moral it's not that one is moral another is immoral both of them appear to be moral then what to choose so ethical crisis in sanskrit is called as dharma sankat so at the time of ethical crisis even from the aparadharma point of view aparadharma means mundane religion from the aparadharma point of view what Vidura did was what Vibhishan did was perfectly right now he chose national his duty towards the nation as superior to his duty towards his brother and from the paradharma point of view paradharma means one duty towards krishna so one one's duty towards family members nation and everything else like that material but all these duties can be given up for the sake of paradharma for the sake of our duty towards krishna so the rama and mahabharata can be understood both levels so they can guide us towards aparadharma as well as toward paradharma so we see here Vidura had to face a similar situation where he also was now connected by blood he was not exactly a full brother he was a half brother unlike Vibhishan who was a full brother so he was a half brother of Vidurashra and he could see that his party was on the side of evil now Vidura does not think that i need to go to the head of the cowherds what does he do he actually goes to the forest what is the reason for that because here there is a difference the active source of evil in the ramayan is the brother of Vibhishan and Vibhishan's brother Ravana is incorrigible incorrigible cannot be changed of course there is nobody who cannot be changed ultimately speaking but some people cannot be changed in this lifetime now death is what is required to purify them so he was incorrigible at least in this lifetime and that's why because there was no he was the active source of evil so not only had he to be abandoned but he had to be opposed whereas with respect to Vidura the active source of evil was that was Duryodhana and if Vidura had gone over to the side of the Pandavas and had begun a party among those who killed Duryodhana then Dhritarashtra's attachment to Duryodhana was so great that he would have become completely inimical to whoever had been in the party who killed his sons and we see that Dhritarashtra actually knew Krishna was God but still when Krishna came along after the battle was over now Gandhari now Gandhari was at least much more virtuous than Dhritarashtra but even Gandhari could not control her anger and she actually cursed Krishna now of course the supreme lord is beyond all curses and Gandhari's whole life is glorious because she was such a chaste wife but this was like a black spot on her that she could not control her anger and because of her attachment to her son she knew with her heart of heart that it is my son who is wrong there are times when she also tries to advise first Duryodhana and other time Dhritarashtra also that this Duryodhana has to be checked but still when a son dies she curses Krishna of all people so Vidura knew that Dhritarashtra was not incorrigible there was still some hope for it and that's why Vidura did not go directly on the side that opposed Duryodhana he just went off on pilgrimage and when he came back at that time what happened he actually by his strong words enlightened Dhritarashtra and Dhritarashtra became free from his mental attachments and then attained perfection so we see the scriptures are not stereotypical. Stereotypical means this is how it is actually the scripture give us description of incidents and from the incidents we have to learn the principles and then the principles all of us have to apply according to our time place circumstance according to our intelligence according to our devotional maturity in guidance with sannyavashis. So here in the Prabhupada's translation is not just a literal translation it's an aesthetic translation it's an artistic translation the Sanskrit word here is dosha.

Dosha literally means fault but Prabhupada translated dosha as not just fault not just offence as offence personified. It's an offence personified. Duryodhana is offence personified.

And kula kaushalaya so Vidura is trying to appeal to the sense of Dhritarashtra's attachment to his kula. Now he you know Dhritarashtra is not a devotee so appealing to Dhritarashtra about his duty to god is not going to help him. So he says for the good of your kula because the whole kula will be destroyed for the sake of the kula you can give up one member you can give him up.

So he says apatya matya so Prabhupada uses the word apatya matya and explains that the son has a duty and after his father has departed then he should perform the last rites the pindadan by which the father can go on to the next destination. Now Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also went and performed it at Gaya. Prabhupada refers to that in the purport.

So now he is using another argument here through this word apatya matya. He is saying that the purpose of a king to have a son or for anyone to have a son is that the son can perform the oblations to Vishnu by which one will be liberated. If one is bound downwards because of hell not fully liberated from material existence but at least liberated from the specific sinful reactions which are dragging one down to hell.

So he says but if somebody is offensive to Vishnu while you are alive only then how will he do sacrifice offerings to Vishnu after you have died. So your hope that your son will do any good for you at the end of your life is a hopeless hope. Therefore he says he is not going to do any good for you while you are living.

He is not going to do any good for you after you are dying. Therefore he gave him up. So here also we see he is not talking at a transcendental level.

In this series of verses we will see that Vidura tries to use different arguments to try to make Dhritarashtra see good sense. But Dhritarashtra just does not see this. So does that mean that Vidura's attempt is a failure? Yes, from material point of view it is a failure.

But from the spiritual point of view because he did what would have pleased Krishna at that time. That is a success. Sometimes even when we render devotional service we may not be successful materially.

But if we try to please Krishna then we are successful. Now of course the general principle here which is illustrated is of correcting others when they are going on the wrong track. Now this is always a very difficult service to do.

And when we live in a devotee community, the example of Vidura speaking to Dhritarashtra or Vibhishan speaking to Ravana don't exactly apply because here one is divine and the other is demoniac. Whereas in the devotee community, actually on both sides there are devotees. So let us look at some examples from scripture of different situations where one devotee has to correct another devotee who is going on the wrong track.

Now there are different possibilities. One possibility is that one person thinks that the other person is wrong, which is the chastiser and the chastised. So chastiser thinks that the chastised is wrong but the chastised is not actually wrong.

The chastiser thinks that chastised is wrong but both of them are partially wrong. The third is the chastiser thinks that chastise is actually wrong and how How does the Chesterizer do it? So, first case is, you know, when Lord Ram was searching for Sita, he saw signs of blood along with it. And then he saw a strange looking being who had blood all over his body.

He said, this is the Rakshasa that has eaten my Sita. I will kill her right now. Here, Lord Ram is performing a Leela where although he is omniscient, he seems to misunderstand and not just misunderstand anyone, misunderstand his own devotee and not just any ordinary devotee, a devotee who has shed his own life for the cause of the Lord.

But then Lord Ram does not act immediately. He pauses. He pauses to actually evaluate the situation.

And then he realises he is wrong. Actually, he takes his bow and is about to place the arrow on it, but then he stops. He says, what is it? Then he hears, Ram, Ram, Ram.

Who is this being? He is chanting my name. Then he goes to him and he realises how completely wrong what he was about to do was. And then instead of shooting Jatayu, actually he takes Jatayu on his lap.

Jatayu leaves his body on his lap and then he performs Antya Samskara, just like a son would perform for his father. So even Lord Ram illustrates that for him also a misunderstanding is possible. So, what to speak of us? Therefore, they have to be very careful before we chastise anyone.

Another example is when Lord Ram is in the forest outside Kishkindha and they are waiting for Sugriva to arrange to search for Mother Sita. And the four months of the rainy season are over and still there is no sign of anything happening. So at that time, Lord Ram gets very angry.

He says, Lakshmi, you know, the last four months, every moment has passed like long, long yugas for me. And even now this Sugriva doesn't seem to be doing anything. Has he forgotten his vow to us? We helped him when he was in need and yet he is not ready to help us in any way.

So Lord Ram gets slightly angry. And that little anger of Lord Ram is enough to ignite a far greater anger in Lakshmi. And Lakshmi says, I will go and kill that Sugriva right now.

So Lord Ram says, there is no need for you to get so angry. First of all, you should find out what is the situation. So you go and speak kindly to Sugriva.

In the meanwhile, Hanuman is very clear. Hanuman realises that four months are over and Sugriva is not doing anything. So he tells Sugriva.

And then Sugriva realises and after that Sugriva sends out messengers in all directions to tell the Vahana Vajras from all over the world to assemble. So that they will first of all send expeditions for searching for Sita and then eventually march to reclaim Sita. So then he gives this message, but after that again he goes on into his inner chambers with his consorts and again he gets involved in merrymaking.

And he forgets. So when Lakshman actually comes there, Lakshman says, my lord is suffering in the forest, finding his separation from Sita and here he is making merry. He twangs his bow and he dangles his bow.

It's fall of thunder. Everybody starts trembling. All the ladies were dancing.

They run away in fear and Sugriva jumps up. What happened? And then Lakshman sees Sugriva. He says, no, ingratitude is the greatest of all sins.

He is one who forgets the debt that he owes to his father, to his friends who have done good for him. He is such a wicked person that he deserves to die. How can you forget what Lord Ram had done for you? You were living in the caves just a few months ago and your lord is living in the same caves now.

And how can you enjoy and comfort over here? So at that time, Tara, Hanuman, all of them pass over. And they tell him, actually he has sent messengers. Oh really, Lakshman gets angry.

All this has already been done. He says, yes, it's already been done. But then Sugriva also realises.

He says, I am sorry actually. Because of so much bitter comfort, I forgot my duty. I should have been more prompt.

But already we have dispatched. So here we see that Lakshman is partially wrong and partially right. Yes, Sugriva has forgotten, but somebody has reminded him and he has done his duty partially.

Now we see another is Krishna and Arjuna himself. Now Arjuna is going off entirely on the wrong track. He is saying, I will not fight the war.

And now in one sense, Krishna starts his instruction by chastising Arjuna. Although you are speaking learned words, you are not acting like a learned person. So although this appears to be like a strong chastisement, but still if we see just a few verses later, this is 2.11, 2.14, Krishna addresses Arjuna as Purushar Shabha.

Purushar Shabha means a bull among animals. Among animals, the strongest among domestic animals is considered to be bull. And the strongest among wild animals is considered to be the lion.

So Purushar Vyagra is a tiger among men. Purushar Shabha is a bull among men. Mahabhau is a mighty armed person.

So Krishna is very, very respectful even while correcting Arjuna. So the Lord here is setting an example. Yes, we may also have at times to correct other devotees who are going on the wrong track.

But it has to be done very, very carefully, very, very sensitively and very, very respectfully. Only when we do it that way, then not only we have the desired effect, just like Krishna had the right track. But I'll conclude with this point that actually as devotees, we have our upward attachments.

We have attachment to our spiritual master, maybe to some Vaishnavas and they all are trying to drag us up. But we also have our downward attachments. It may be to our, maybe to lust, anger, greed, envy, pride, illusion, all these things.

So now we have some ropes which are dragging us up, some ropes which are dragging us down. Now sometimes if we start getting pulled downwards by the ropes, then the devotees see that and the sadhu is meant to cut off those attachments. The word sadhu means one who cuts.

So when the sadhu cuts off those material attachments, then the soul becomes free to move upward. The sadhaka becomes free to move upwards. But unfortunately, if there is not a proper relationship of trust between the chastiser and the chastised, then what happens is those words of chastisement, instead of cutting the downward ropes, cut the upward ropes.

That means what happens, the devotee loses his faith in his guide because he thinks you don't understand me properly. And then what happens is such a person, it becomes very difficult for him to rise up. So therefore, actually if a person is going on a wrong track, all that he will do is, he will commit sinful activities.

But if a person becomes averse to devotees, he will commit offences. And it will be even more difficult for such a person to come back. So therefore, one has to be very, very cautious that in chastising devotees, we should not cut their upward attachments.

Because then there is no hope for them to come towards Krishna. So, of course, from the devotee who is chastised point of view, he should always try to give the benefit of doubt to his authority and think that maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am wrong.

And that's why as devotees, we don't cultivate a relationship only to only one senior devotee. We try to have relationships with several senior devotees. Of course, we should take guidance and specific instruction for life from one devotee.

But if we feel some difficulty, I am not able to understand this. Why is this devotee speaking like this to me? It may happen. Then we can go to some other senior devotee and we can get a clarification.

So, both from the point of view of the authority and the subordinate, this correcting is a very, very difficult task. And instead of both parties being self-righteous, if both parties are in the mood of service, I am not superior, but I want to help you and this will take you on the wrong track. Yes, I may not be perfect, but still I am trying.

So, please help me. When that attitude is there, then actually the whole devotee community can move upward and upwards towards Krishna. So, I'll summarise.

I started by talking about how emotional turbulence is sometimes the prize for spiritual intelligence, spiritual enlightenment. When our horizontal relationship becomes turbulent, that's when we take shelter of our vertical relationship. And then I discussed about how somebody else may act in Mahamaya, but we can respond in Yogamaya and make that situation a situation where we go towards Krishna.

Then we analysed the past times of Vibhishan and Vidura and saw them both from the point of view of Paradharma and Paradharma. Then we discussed about how one devotee corrects another devotee. And we discussed how that is always to be done very carefully, respectfully and sensitively in such a way that actually the downward ropes are cut and not the upward ropes.

And this is actually possible when we have a mood of service. Thank you very much.