Why did Bhishma in his previous life as Vasu steal Vashistha’s cow?
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Transcript
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now the question is that why did Bhishma in his previous life as Vasu take away Vasishtha’s cow and thereafter he was cursed so if Bhishma is a pure devotee why did he act like that answer in the Mahabharata speaks to different people at different levels at one level it is a Karmakandi scripture where the principles of Dharmarthakama Moksha are demonstrated at another level it is a Bhakti scripture so depending on how we study it whom we are guided by we will see Karmakandi values there or we will see Bhakti values there now Bhishma it is described in Mahabharata that in his previous life he was one of the Ashtavasus he was the head of the Vasus and at one time when they saw how Vasishtha’s cow had so much potency to do so many things they became greedy especially Bhishma who was the leader of the Vasus his wife was attracted to it and to please her he took it away he tried to take it away so now for this he was cursed and because the other Vasus were also cursed but they were only accomplices he was the main instigator so he was given the greatest curse and he had to stay for a full life and he had to abstain from the pleasure of having a wife so now this is one level of narrative where we see at the Karmakanda level that if one offends a sage one gets reactions so these reactions are also a lesson for all of us that means that even if I am in a very respected position I should not offend great souls at another point another level we see that the Mahabharata teaches devotional principles so Bhishma’s previous life as is revealed in the Mahabharata is simply the back story and that simply sets up the scene for him to play the role that the lord wants him to play in this world in during his past times so we see that at one level we understand that those who are in heaven because they have so much power and opulence it is easy for them to become intoxicated and when they become intoxicated by power they can offend great souls that is a lesson we can learn from this but at another level we understand that Bhishma is a pure devotee and to arrange for his entry into the past times on the earth the lord orchestrated him through his yoga maya potency to act in a particular way so that he would have to be born on earth and he would play his distinctive role as a grandfatherly statesman who had the power of celibacy with him and who fought the Kurukshetra war so that is also at both two levels at one is orchestration of the lord and second is the instruction that we should not become infatuated by power Thank you