QA with children on Ramayana-Mahabharata

[QA session at Charlotte, USA]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
There are, these are celestial weapons which are manufactured. It’s like say, some companies may now manufacture atom bomb. Now, they manufacture the atom bomb and they sell it to someone.
After they sell it, it’s like some company manufactures a very expensive car, a Rolls Royce or something. They sell it to someone. It’s not that they themselves have cars with them.
So, or especially if there are big weapons like this, the person who is selling a Rolls Royce car, that person, the shopkeeper may not have an unsold Rolls Royce car. So, like that a company may make a weapon, but a company may themselves not have the weapon. So, it’s not necessary that the giver of the weapon will always retain the weapon.
And in general, the brahmanas in Vedic culture, they would usually not keep weapons with themselves. The brahmanas, they would perform some rites, some practises by which the weapons would come, appear and they would give them to the Kshatriyas because there was division of social roles. So, brahmanas’ role was primarily to give spiritual knowledge, not so much to fight or defend themselves.
So, they would not have usually weapons and that’s why Swastha did not have that Narayan Kavacha. He performed the sacrifice by which the Kavacha appeared and then it appeared, he gave it to Indra. And that’s how he remained vulnerable when he was attacked eventually.
Okay. Thank you. Hare Krishna.
Yes. You had a question? Yeah, please tell me. For Shantanu Maharaj, he had two brothers, right? One was a Kshatriya king and the other one was a Kshatriya king.
So, there was no way to distinguish the guys. Couldn’t those two brothers of Shantanu Maharaj be Kshatriyas? Couldn’t Shantanu Maharaj’s brother become the kings? After him? Yeah, in principle it’s possible. In practise, see, there are usually the throne goes down vertically.
So, if one prince becomes a successor, after that it is rare that the throne goes to another prince. The throne goes to that prince’s son and the prince becomes old enough to or whatever happens. So, now in the case of Shantanu, so that is the normal way things work.
So, a king is there, the eldest son usually becomes the king or whoever becomes, and then after the eldest son, the next eldest son becomes the king. That’s how it normally works. In the case of Shantanu, there were other dynamics involved also.
So, for example, there was the thing that the throne was to go to Matsyagandha. What was the name? Yeah, basically their daughter. That’s what his father had asked him.
So, then basically what happened is that by this time, Shantanu by this time was middle-aged. See, the Kshatriyas at that time were still very fit, even when they were middle-aged or a little older than that, but then that was not the time when somebody would become a king. So, that’s why what happened after Shantanu, the throne had passed down this line and even if somebody else becomes a king, that person is already quite old.
So, now that person becomes a king and then for that person to take up the responsibility and pass it on, it was thought advisable that let the line pass on in this way only. And there’s another reason that one of his brothers, although he was fit for a king, he had desired to give up the throne. He had decided not to stake any claim to the throne.
So, because he had not desired to stake any claim to the throne, that’s why the line passed down from Shantanu’s side downwards. That’s why some arrangement had to be made by which it could go on further. So, how do we focus in chanting? It’s not easy.
That’s the first thing to know. That is, chanting is basically like doing a workout. You go for gym to do a workout.
So, it’s bodybuilding. Just like when you do a workout at that time, you become stronger by that. The muscles become stronger.
But how do the muscles become stronger? Actually, the existing muscles have to break. We lift weights. When we lift weights slightly beyond our capacity, if I can lift up to say 10 kg weight, I lift 11 kg, 12 kg, then my muscles stretch.
When the muscles stretch, by that they break. Break not in the sense of bones breaking, but the muscles are reformed. And when they are reformed, at that time they are stronger.
So, just as when we lift weights, it requires some energy. So, like that, internal muscles or internal energy is required for focussing on something. So, just like when you want to study, it requires some concentration, some focus.
It’s not easy. So, but just as by studying, we learn and we grow. Similarly, while chanting, it is a process by which our internal muscles grow.
That means if we chant nicely, if we develop the habit of chanting nicely, then what is going to happen by that is that our concentration will become very sharp. And then whatever we are doing, we will be able to do it much better. Even your study is, I know devotees, when they chant nicely, the study that would take them one hour, they do it in half an hour, because the concentration is more.
But for that concentration to increase, effort is required. So, the point is that sometimes some things are difficult to do, but we do them because we know that we are going to give a valuable result. So, chanting is like that.
That’s the first point. That means we don’t begin by expecting this will be easy. This is a tough thing.
It’s like bodybuilding. It’s going to be tough, but it’s valuable. It’s like when I have muscles, I can lift weights.
So, when my internal muscles are strong, then I can lift the mind. The mind is going in this direction, I get it back here. Goes in that direction, I have the strength internally to get the mind back and focus where it needs to be focused.
So, having said that, we all can find ways, as per our needs, for how we can make it easier to absorb ourselves in chanting. So, for example, some of you may like music. So, most of you like music, isn’t it? So, if you like music, then what you could do is just when you start the chanting, just sing some mantras, three mantras, five mantras.
Instead of speaking them, sing them in your favourite tune. That will calm the mind down. It will direct the mind spiritually.
And then chant around. And then if the mind starts wandering, do that again. So, that way, basically what we are trying to do, chanting means you want to focus on the Holy Name.
This is the point of concentration. Now, around, if the mind is not able to focus on that point of concentration, the sound of the Holy Name, the mind wanders all over the universe. It goes here, it goes to the cricket match, it goes to this match, it goes to this, it goes to that.
So, instead of letting the mind wander everywhere, what we do is, we give it something related with the Holy Name. That means, around the point of concentration, we put a circle of concentration. Circle means something related to the Holy Name.
So, it can be a musical recitation of the Holy Name, it can be a nice picture of Krishna, it can be a printout of the Holy Name, Hare Krishna Mahamantra written down. It can be some nice quote about the power of the Holy Name, some scriptural verse. So, whatever it is, when the mind wanders, instead of letting it wander anywhere and everywhere, we allow it to, we give it a circle within which to wander.
And then it wanders over there, you know, this is nice, let me come back, come back. So, if you give it an allotted circle to wander in, then it comes back much easier. It comes back much easier and then gradually focussing becomes easier.
Okay. Thank you. Good question.
Please. So, when you chant and you are fully concentrated, do you automatically be more kind or do you have to try to be kind? Oh, nice question! So, by chanting, do we automatically become more kind or do we have to strive to be, try to be kind? So, both. It is that chanting makes becoming kind easier.
See, if this floor, if this floor were tilted like this or if in this there was a groove, here there is a small slab, there are tiles which are joined together, but if this had been a bigger groove and this has been inclined downward like this, if water falls in this, water can naturally go in that direction easier. At the same time, the water has to be there. If there is no water, it will not flow down.
Once the water is there, for it to flow down will be easier. So, this you can call, this is the inclination of the floor. The floor is not flat, the floor is inclined like this.
So, similarly, what chanting does is, God is all good. So, when we chant, we connect with God. So, when we connect with God, good qualities come within us also because we are connecting with the all good.
So, by that, our consciousness becomes more inclined towards good qualities. So, becoming kind, becoming gentle, becoming more, less short-tempered, all this becomes easier. At the same time, we have to put in effort.
If there is no water, it will not flow down. Water has to be there. So, we will need to try to become kind.
But if once we try, without chanting, if we are trying, it is much more difficult. With chanting, if we try, it becomes easier. Without chanting, if I have a short temper and I tend to get angry, it is much more difficult to control the anger.
With chanting, it is much easier. But still, some effort is required. Have you seen a lever? A lever, sometimes a lever, if you put a little force, a big weight can be lifted over there.
If we ourselves have to lift the weight, it is not that easy. But if we have a lever, put a little weight and we can lift it up. So, like that, what happens is, chanting acts like an inner lever for us.
So, that means, even with a lever, I have to put some force to lift up. So, if I have a tendency to be short-tempered, I want to lift it up. I want to become a little more calm.
So, I will have to put in effort. But the effort becomes much easier when we are chanting. Because it becomes like an inner lever, a little force, and a lot of returns come.
Does that answer your question? Thank you. Good question. Yes.
Good. This is a question of an author. Do you like to write yourself? Okay.
So, how did Satsvarupa Maharaj come to know about Prabhupada’s childhood? I met him last year. So, we talked many things. So, he writes and tells also that among all the volumes of Ilamrut, the first was the most difficult to write.
Because from the second onwards, there are many, many Iskcon devotees who were there, who met him, saw him. So, he actually went to India. For the writing of the first volume, he went to India.
He talked with many Indians. He sent some of his other friends and disciples to go to various parts of India, do research. So, it is mainly through research and through meeting people.
So, meeting the people who had met Srila Prabhupada. So, if you see the Ilamrut, there is a description of events and there are quotes by people. Prabhupada is in Allahabad.
So, then the neighbour of his shop, what he said about Prabhupada. Like that, when he meets different people, what they say is also told over there. So, like that, basically through, although Satsvarupa was not there at that time, and Iskcon devotees were also not there.
But he asked other people, did research, and himself met and asked some of his devotees also to go and meet. That is how he learned. So, what is your name? Gyana.
Gehena. Gehena. Okay, nice name.
So, I have two questions for you. First question is that, is there any part, when you hear the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, you find very difficult to understand or difficult to believe? Which one? He has already asked a question. You have not asked anything till now.
You have asked one. Did he talk anything or did she just slip away? Yeah, did okay. Did Kunti mean to drop Bhima? Actually, she did not mean to drop Bhima.
From what I know, it was… No, what happened was something different. Actually, Kunti and Pandu, they were sitting on a cliff, just watching the scenery, sitting and talking. At that time when they fell silent, Kunti just dozed off.
And when she fell asleep, at that time suddenly, a tiger roared in the distance. And when the tiger roared, sometimes we are just lazy, I am asleep, I go to sleep and suddenly, somebody wakes us up. Even when somebody wakes up, we jolt.
What happened? If you hear a scary sound, tiger roars, what happened? She just jolted up. And what happened? When she rose up like that, the baby that was in her lap, Bhima was in her lap, a small child, went off. And because they were on a cliff, from that cliff, Bhima fell down.
And when Bhima fell down, Kunti screamed, what happened? Pandu was also horrified. He just tried to run down that cliff as fast as he could, as safely as he could. And when they got down, they were thinking, what will we see? Our baby, our child, what will happen to him? And they saw to their amazement that Bhima had fallen down and the rock on which he had fallen, that rock had shattered.
And Bhima was perfectly okay. Nothing had happened to him. So it was all an accident.
But through that accident, they understood how powerful Bhima was. His body was already like iron, even when he was a small child. Yeah.
So I have two things to add on to that. So I thought when the snake incident happened, when like Duryodhana put him inside the lake. Yeah, correct.
I thought like, at that time only like the Naga king or something, if he gives him the power of 10,000 elephants, right? Yeah, that is. So is it that Bhima got power because of the Nagas? Yes, they are two different things. See, there is hardness of the body, you could say, like unbreakability of the body.
And there is strength of the body. The two are not the same things. So from his birth itself, his body was very tough.
That means his bones would not break. But that is one thing. But to have strength by which he could beat other people, he could defeat opponents very effortlessly.
That further strength he got by which during the time of the Nagas, when the Nagas gave him their celestial drink. So it’s like sometimes there is a batsman. That batsman’s body is very rough and tough.
So sometimes the bowlers bowl body line. They hit the batsman in the body. The batsman doesn’t flinch.
That is strength to tolerate blows. Now a batsman might be very strong to tolerate blows, but still the batsman may not have strength to hit sixers very easily. The batsman may hit and the ball may go for a boundary.
But if the batsman has a lot of strength, sometimes the batsman is so strong, they hit the ball and they hit the ball so strong that even if the ball takes the edge of the bat, still the ball goes with so much force that it goes across the fence. So that is what? That is strength. So one is the capacity to withstand blows and the other is to capacity to hit.
So he already had the capacity to withstand blows. That toughness he had, but that strength he got when he drank the celestial drink given by the Lord. So how did in the Ramayana, Ram, Lakshmana and Hanuman perfectly coordinate so that they could kill Mahiravan at the right time? Actually at that time, they were much more, they were all aware of time through the movement of the celestial objects.
In the past, people would not use clocks so much. So they all had decided. It was I think at the stroke of midnight.
They had decided that that was the time when they had to kill Mahiravan. So all three of them arranged that whatever needed to be done, all three of them would do it at the same time. That is how in the past, time was kept by cognising the movement of the celestial objects.
So because it was decided that way, they could all coordinate. Rama had to like die or something. So towards the end of the Ramayana, is it that Yamadutas come and tell Ram that he has to die? Not actually Yamadutas.
It is Kaal. Kaal is time personified. So he comes and doesn’t tell Ram that you have to die.
Rather he says that the time for your past times is over now. The Lord is eternal. Ajog is an avyayatma.
He is always eternal. So he never dies. It’s like the sun, it doesn’t die.
Every evening, the sun sets, it just disappears from our vision. The next morning, it rises again. So like that, the Lord never dies.
The Lord always exists. But along with that, sometimes the sun is visible, sometimes not visible. So like that, the Lord is sometimes visible, sometimes not visible.
So his time, usually, actually if you consider the Lord Ram or Lord Krishna, they are omnipotent. They can do everything themselves. They don’t even need anyone to assist in any way.
But still, they have different devotees, different souls as devotees do some service for them. Some services are done in a favourable way, like Hanuman fulfils Ram’s desires. Hanuman reunites Sita with Ram.
Lakshmana assists him. So there are some people who help in a directly favourable way. There are some people who participate in the Lord’s pastimes and help in some other ways also.
So the Lord Himself knows, okay, now my pastimes are over, I have to go. But then He arranges for some person to come and tell him that now the time for your pastimes is over. So the Lord, whenever He descends to this world, He is like a visitor here.
As a visitor, He comes for a particular time and then He goes back. Just like we may go to a particular place and we may be nice over there. We may say, you go to our relative’s place, you are playing over there, you are chatting over there and then somebody comes and tells you, your flight time is there now, you have to go.
So you may have forgotten or somebody else just takes the responsibility. So like that, the Lord is immersed in His pastimes here. And then when His pastimes are about to be over, at that time, the Lord arranges for someone to come.
And that is the role played by the Kalarupa, who comes and tells that now your pastimes are to be over. Okay. Yes, please.
How can Lavan Kusha be stronger than Ram? Because Ram is our main hero, isn’t he? And when Lavan Kusha is like a small child, then like, if a… Okay, good question. So how can Lavan Kusha be stronger than Ram when Ram is Vishnu and Lavan Kusha are actually children? So firstly, Lavan Kusha are not exactly children. They are teenagers by that time.
And they are by that time quite skilled because they have lived in the forest. So they were in the forest and there they lived. Now two things happened over there.
One is that Sita was also living the life of an ascetic. See, our powers can come from many ways. Our power can come from our talents.
Some people are just talented and they can do things very well. Our powers can also come from our training. Some people have some talent, but they train very carefully, like music.
You know, you may have some talent to play some instrument. But then if you’re trained also, then you can play the instrument much better. Another thing is that our powers can also come from others’ blessings.
So if some very powerful people bless us, it also gives us power. Because, in a sense, they did not have a father over there. When they were in the forest, they were alone.
So Sita always wanted to protect them. So Sita blessed them with her asceticism, with her ascetic merit. She blessed them and she gave them a lot of power.
And similarly, the sages over there also, Valmiki and other sages, they also saw these children were so well-behaved, so nice. And normally, what happens is, whenever there are children, there is a desire. If there’s no one to protect them, there’s a protective instinct which comes.
And the protective instinct was also there in the sages by which they empowered them. So in this way, because they were Ram’s sons, so they also genetically had a fighting spirit. They also had talent.
They practised, they trained in the forest and they were blessed by Sita and other sages. That’s how they became exceptionally powerful. And ultimately, yes, nobody can defeat Ram.
He is God. But at the same time, sometimes the Lord arranges as a leela, as a pastime, to demonstrate some particular lesson. So what was the lesson over here? The Lord wanted to demonstrate how Sita, she was so virtuous.
There are people who are saying Sita was not virtuous and that’s why she had been sent to the forest. But the Lord arranged this leela. Leela means, it’s like a situation arranged by the Lord.
So He arranged it so that He could demonstrate that although Sita had been considered to be not a virtuous woman, but how glorious her sons had become. That they had become better than their father also. So it is all arranged so that Sita’s glory is demonstrated through her progeny, through love and kush.
That’s how when they fought, Ram, first they defeated everyone. Ram sent Hanuman, Lakshman, Bharat. None of them could fight and he defeated Ram also.
So actually, it is the pride of the father if their child becomes better than them. Ultimately, when he came to know, Ram was delighted. He was elated.
So it was by their talent, by their practise and by the blessings. That’s how they became better. And ultimately, it was a leela.
Good question. Yes, please. When Sahadev went to the south to the Lord Krishna, he met Mahishas and Jyotishas and at that time, Jyotishas, how could they meet Lord Krishna and Mahishas? How did they meet? Okay, good question.
So when Sahadev goes to the south, at that time, Jyotishas and Mahishas, they seem to be good. They cooperate and they offer tributes. But later on, it is described that when Balram is in Vrindavan, at that time, Dvivida becomes like a bad creature.
There are two things over there. First is that Dvivida was not bad in the sense of being evil. He had a virtuous side to him.
He had a virtuous side in the sense that he fought for Ram in Ramayana. And he was never directly against the Lord. At the same time, what happened was two things.
First is that he was not as respectful to Lakshman as he was to Ram. So the idea is that one should not only respect the Lord, one should respect the Guru also. Lakshman represents the Guru.
Lakshman, Balram, they all represent the Guru. So he is not that respectful to the Guru and that created some negative mentality within him. And further, he associated with demons.
See, powerful people associated with powerful people. So he associated with Bhaumasura and that bad association also spoiled him. There are examples in the scripture.
The most famous example is Karna. Karna was actually a good person. Yeah, you can go upstairs.
So Karna is actually the example also of a person who was good but was spoiled by bad association. So essentially what happened is that Karna couldn’t… Similarly, Vividha was a good person but by his disrespect of Lakshmana, by his offence to the Guru and his bad association, he became spoiled. That’s why in the Leela of Balramji, he had become like an evil person.
Is it okay? Okay. What is your name? Sanchina. Okay.
Very Krishna. Yes, any other questions? Were you there in Relig? No, no? I met one more girl by the name Sanchina only. Okay, good question.
So who exactly is Suta Goswami? There are two different things about him. See, generally in the characters which are narrators, in general the Vedic tradition is not much is known about them. So they are basically considered to be transmitters of knowledge.
So for that matter, we consider in the Bhagavatam or in the Ramayana, if you consider, how much do we know about Valmiki and how much do we know Lord Ram? The amount of knowledge about Lord Ram is far far more because just like when you read a book, if you are going to read about say, what is that? J.K. Rowling, I suppose the character is created. Harry Potter only. So now, if you read Harry Potter, you will come to the books, Harry Potter series, you will come to know about Harry Potter.
You won’t come to know about J.K. Rowling so much. You have to read elsewhere if you want to know anything about J.K. Rowling. So similarly, in general, in the scriptures, we don’t know much about the authors.
But still, Suta Goswami described that he was a… three things are known about him. First is that he was a student of Shukadeva Goswami. In the sense that he was present over there when Shukadeva Goswami spoke to Parikshit Maharaj and he heard from him.
Second is that, so through that point it is illustrated that he had learned the knowledge in parampara. Second is that we know that he was also not from an elevated caste. He is relatively from a lower caste.
But still, the principle of bhakti is so powerful that even people from a lower caste can get elevated. And those from a lower caste can then do some exalted service, which has speaking to great sages. And third point is that he was not so good at reciting verses, but he had truly understood the meaning of verses.
Sometimes what happens is, we may not have some particular skill and people say, oh, this is not good enough. But the essential thing behind that skill, we may be good at. So by having Suta Goswami be established as narrator of the Bhagavatam, what is demonstrated is that if we are spiritually qualified, if we have the spiritual attitude of devotion and service, then even if you are not materially qualified, it doesn’t matter.
So I have a second question. Any of you have a question now? Do you feel that in the Mahabharata, Karna was treated unfairly? Okay. So, okay, this will take some time, but let’s talk about it.
Which incidents do you feel were the incidents where Karna was treated unfairly? He lifted up the wheel. Okay, let’s look at this. So see, so was Karna killed unfairly when he was trying to lift up the wheel of his chariot that had gone down at that time? He was killed by Arjuna.
So yes, at one level, it does seem unfair that he was not ready to fight and yet at that time, he was killed. At the same time, we have to look at the bigger picture. See, when the Kurukshetra war started, at that time, both the commanders met.
Now, who was the Pandavas’ commander? Dhristadyumna. Dhristadyumna. Dhristadyumna was a powerful warrior, but officially the commander was Dhristadyumna.
And the Kauravas’ commander was? Bheesma. Correct. So the two commanders met.
At that time, Dhristadyumna came into their meeting. And Dhristadyumna said that, O Pandavas, remember always to fight fairly. Remember the codes of Kshatriya fighting conduct.
And so Dhristadyumna said, of course, we’ll fight fairly. But then he thought, you know, he thought, so then he thought, he said, why are they asking like this? And Dhristadyumna thought and he said, see, it is you who have always acted so unfairly. You who have tried to poison the Pandavas.
You who have tried to do so many cruel things. Now you are talking about fairness? He says, we will fight fairly. But only as long as you are fighting fairly.
If you violate the codes of Kshatriya warfare, we will not hold ourselves back. So that was an arrangement specific to that circumstance. The normal Kshatriya code is that, is a standard code.
But the Kauravas, Pandavas told the Kauravas, if you violate first, then we will also not hold ourselves back. Now the exact same situation that Arjuna and on the 13th day, when Abhimanyu had penetrated into Chakravyuha, at that time, Abhimanyu was trapped inside and 6 warriors attacked him simultaneously. Abhimanyu’s chariot was destroyed.
The first of his wheels of his chariot were destroyed and he was carless. He had no vehicle to move. And at that time also, the Kauravas attacked him.
So Karna was also there among the 6 warriors who attacked him. So that was the same code that one should not attack a chariotless warrior. One should not attack a weaponless warrior.
Abhimanyu had no weapons. He was practically using a wheel to fight at one particular time. So they themselves violated the code first time on the 13th day.
On the 14th day, Arjuna took the vow that I will kill who? Kill Jayadrath before sunset. And that happened. At that time, he entered deep into the Kaurava army.
It is described that the Kauravas had arranged their army in such a way that there were miles upon miles of Kaurava forces through which he had to go through. And he went deep into the forces and the fight was so fierce that his horses got tired. And then Krishna told Arjuna that his horses are tired.
They need rest. They need some food. Right in the middle of the battlefield.
So then Arjuna prayed and he shot the arrows towards the ground nearby. And suddenly, by the mystic power of those arrows, a lake appeared over there. And there is nice greenery around it, grass around it and there are trees with fruits.
And Krishna said, bravo Arjuna, well done. And then Arjuna got off his chariot. And then Krishna took the horses to the lake so that they could drink water and eat and they could be rested and rejuvenated.
At that time, Arjuna was without any chariot. And the Kaurava soldiers all around him, they did not stop. They did not think that, oh Arjuna has no chariot, they all attacked him thinking that this is the opportunity.
We will be able to kill Arjuna. So Arjuna had to whirl round and round. He was shooting arrows in all directions because he was surrounded by the Kaurava warriors.
So to attack him was to run into a wall of arrows from all sides. And that’s how he defended himself. And then the horses were rested and the horses came back.
So second time, again the Kauravas attacked a chariotless warrior. Third time, on that same 17th day, when eventually Karna was killed, what happened was, there was Arjuna and Karna were fighting. And then Karna took a fierce arrow.
Karna was slowly being weakened because of Arjuna’s attack. At that time, Karna took a celestial weapon and he said, this will at least wound Arjuna and not kill him. And then what happened? There was this Naga warrior, Ashwasen, who entered into that arrow.
And he entered into that arrow and the arrow was charging towards Arjuna. Now Arjuna had basically, in archery they had three ways of dealing with opponent’s arrows. Sometimes they would counter it so that it would get checked in the middle.
Second is, they would parry it. Parry means dodge it. So the chariot here would expertly move the chariot in such a way that the arrow would whiz by harmlessly.
Third is, they would let the arrow hit. But they had armour which would protect them. So now, Arjuna did not recognise this arrow was so dangerous.
So he thought, let it hit me. My armour will protect me. But at that time, Krishna recognised, this is a lethal arrow.
The Naga warrior Ashwasen has entered into this. He has empowered it. So then what did Krishna do? He suddenly banged his foot on the side of the chariot.
And then the chariot went under the ground. The chariot sank into the ground. Then what happened? Now the arrow which had been intended to chop off Arjuna’s head.
What happened was, Arjuna went down. Chariot went down. Arjuna went down.
It just knocked off his crown. Arjuna was protected. Now at this point, Arjuna’s chariot had become immobile because it had gone under the ground.
Now Krishna had to get off the chariot, had to lift up the chariot, get it out and then start fighting. Then Arjuna again became immobile. Now during this period, when Arjuna was immobilised, Karna did not stop fighting.
Karna shot at Arjuna. Karna kept shooting at Arjuna. So the Kauravas themselves violated that code three times.
And therefore, this last moment came. Karna told Arjuna, remember the code of Kshatriya and don’t fight in a religious way. So Krishna told Karna, Karna, it is nice that you remember religion now.
Was it religious virtue by which you conspired to have the Pandavas burned alive? Was it religious virtue by which you participated in the gambling match where the Pandavas were cheated? Was it virtue by which you suggested that Draupadi be disrobed? Was it virtue by which you suggested that you called Draupadi a prostitute? Was it virtue by which you conspired with six warriors and killed Abhimanyu? If it was virtue at all those times, Arjuna will use that same virtue and kill you today. So basically, what happened was that Krishna showed Karna the many ways in which he himself had acted irreligiously. So basically, there are, yes, at one level we could say that attack was unfair.
But at another level, the Kauravas had themselves acted unfairly in so many ways before and even during that war and even in that same specific way. So Krishna arranged for Arjuna to pay Karna back in his own coin. So in that ultimate sense, it was fair.
Is it clear? Any other questions? Yeah. What did Eklavya do after Dronacharya cut his thumb? Oh, okay. What did Eklavya do after Dronacharya cut his thumb? Actually, Dronacharya did not cut his thumb.
Eklavya himself cut his thumb because Dronacharya asked for a Guru Dakshina. So it is described that Eklavya was still a warrior, but he was not that formidable a warrior. So he went and joined the troops of Jarasandha.
And then Krishna tells later to Arjuna in the Mahabharata that actually, in one of the last fights that happened between Krishna and Jarasandha, you know, at that time, in that fight, Krishna killed Eklavya. So Eklavya was still a skilled warrior, but because he had lost his thumbs, he was not that powerful. And then he fought with the left hand and he was killed because he still had a little bit of a negative nature.
So he joined a demon and with that demon when he fought, he was eventually killed by Krishna. Okay. Yes.
Do, let us know whenever you want to start. So everybody has come more or less? Yes. So we will have that class upstairs or here? Here, sir.
Here only? Okay, fine. I think you can call them. Yeah, any of you have any more questions? Okay.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna.
So if you have a lot of work pressure,