Why were the Pandavas treated so badly by their elders – in similar circumstances are we meant to be submissive?

Anwser Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So in the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are treated badly not just by the Kauravas but even by their own elders whom they are respecting epically.
So should we also do something similar? Yes. How do we do that? Actually, there are two different ways of looking at it. One is from the transcendental perspective and the other is from the circumstantial perspective.
From the transcendental perspective, Saivendra Upadi was being disrobed. At that time, Bhishma, Drona, they all, Bhishma is a very powerful person. Why did he remain silent? From the transcendental perspective, we understand that Krishna wanted to demonstrate his principle that ultimately we have no protector other than Krishna.
And everybody was orchestrated for that purpose. Yudhishthira is gambling to some extent. Bhishma is saying, I don’t know what to do.
This is Yudhishthira. So ultimately, it was that purpose. That’s from the transcendental perspective that Krishna demonstrated that when you have no one to protect you, even when there are so many people who can protect you, but you have no one to protect.
At that time, we have only Krishna to protect. So, this is the way in which by looking at it in this way, we can avoid becoming critical of all these great characters who are there in the Mahabharata. At the same time, the Mahabharata can also be analysed for drawing moral lessons.
So, Yudhishthira Prabhupada also adopts the two approaches. In the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Prabhupada primarily says Arjuna is positive. He is soft-hearted, he is sensitive, he is pure, he is so considerate about others.
And in the second chapter, most of the Prabhupada is saying Arjuna is crying, tears are a sign of ignorance and attachment. And then he says that actually to identify with the body, skin is missing. And once one is attached, the person is always in perplexity.
Arjuna is in perplexity, therefore he is a spiritual master. Arjuna is in perplexity, therefore he is a spiritual master. So, Prabhupada also gives an example.
At one level, we see it is all orchestrated by the Lord. At another level, he can also learn some practical lessons. So, from the practical perspective, the Kuru enders, they were paralyzed by their conflicted loyalties.
Bhishma, he naturally was affectionate towards the Pandavas. Because many reasons, first of all they were very cultured, respectful, sensitive, and another was that they did not have a father. So, he felt I have more responsibility for them.
So, he had an affection for them. On the other hand, he had taken a vow that he would always support the Kuru king. And when he took that vow, he would never have thought that a wicked bear like Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana would be rude.
So, he was bound by his own vow. And he felt that I cannot directly go against him. So, they also had their conflicted loyalties.
So, sometimes, even those who, from our perspective, seem to be in positions of power and they are not doing it, they may also have their own pressures of which we are not aware. You can do something so easy. They have so many other things to consider that we don’t know about.
There was a US president, maybe some of you know about him. He once said that after he finished his power, 4 years, after his tenure when he got over, what was your experience? He said, throughout my tenure, I was feeling like I was shouting on a phone with nobody at the other end. So, although the president is supposed to be the most powerful person in the country, but the president also has so many pressures.
He has to take care of, satisfy this person. Otherwise, so many things can go wrong. So, from the external perspective, it appears that somebody has a lot of power.
But actually, when you go into that situation, they have power, but that power is also contained by so many things. So, now, still, if they have power, so from a moral perspective, Bhishma’s remaining silent when Draupadi was disrobed. That is wrong.
And Prabhupada also talks about this in the second chapter. He says, because they remained silent, they deserve to be punished. And Arjuna had the duty to kill them as a punishment for their remaining silent amidst their atrocity.
So, in circumstantial ways also, we can look at it. So, they had conflicted loyalties and they had different duties and they could not decide which duty is more important. So, there is what is called a moral dilemma and there is an ethical dilemma.
Moral dilemma means one choice is moral, the other choice is immoral. And at that time, what is required basically is some strength of character, some moral strength. We have to resist the immoral temptation and to act morally.
But there is sometimes an ethical dilemma, that means there are two choices, both of them are moral. And which is a higher morality? Deciding that becomes difficult. So, in this case, now, from the perspective of distance, Draupadi is being dishonored.
Now, what is the point of your vow? Because who is with Bhishma? Honorable ladies will be dishonored in public. You have to stop it. That is your duty.
We may feel this from the, when we see from the benefit of distance, we feel like that. But generally, the Mahabharata really is a culture where people consider their word very important. Honoring one’s word was considered even more important in honoring one’s life.
And so for him at that time, he just couldn’t decide. Should I do this or should I do that? So, from the Pandava’s perspective, this is, I am talking sometimes, we find that those who are senior, they are not supporting us. They can support and they should support.
At that time, we should give them the benefit of doubt and say that, I don’t know what pressures they are in, because of which they are not doing the right thing. But this does not mean that we have to, ourselves, continue to be victims. The Pandavas, they waited when Bhishma will talk.
When Bhishma will not talk, they took it in their own hands. So, they fought over it. So, ultimately, we have to make sure that our service to Krishna goes on.
So, usually we need some facilities, some support from some seniors so that we do that service. And if that is not coming, then we may have to find some other way in which we can continue our service to Krishna. So, the principle is that, rather than judging whether others are doing right or wrong, we focus on doing that which is necessary for ourselves.
So, thinking that, oh, my seniors are neglecting their duty, they are just being silent, they are doing this, they are doing that, that attitude towards the seniors is not very favorable. So, we can avoid that attitude. I don’t know what they are in, what pressure they are in.
I don’t know. So, we give them the benefit of doubt and leave it at that. But at the same time, being in the situation where I am being neglected, where I am being treated badly, this is not favorable for my emotional and spiritual well-being.
So, I need to create my space by which I can continue my service. So, how do I do that? We have to use our own intelligence, and use our own resourcefulness and find that out. So, the important thing is that we continue our service to Krishna.
And if we keep this principle in mind, it’s very striking these two principles, accept that it’s favorable and reject that it’s unfavorable. Why is it striking? Because these are talked about as the first two among the six elements of surrender. Normally, we think of surrender as passive.
Oh, drop in surrender to Krishna, raise your hand in surrender. Yes, that is one way of surrender. But we see Krishna tells Arjuna, at the end of the Bhagavata, surrender.
And Arjuna says, yes, I will surrender. But in Arjuna’s surrender, his surrender is not raising his hand up. Arjuna’s surrender is raising his bow up for fighting.
So, sometimes surrender means raising one’s hand in helplessness. Sometimes surrender means raising one’s bow for fighting. Surrender can have different forms at different times.
So, in the six elements of surrender, which I talked about here, the first two are very active. This is favorable, this is unfavorable, I will avoid it. So, surrender, when we see it from this perspective, is actually a very active activity.
It is not a passive, just, the other four are there, which are dispositions. Oh, having faith that Krishna will protect me. I am dependent on Krishna.
I am nothing without Krishna. Krishna will maintain me. Those are dispositions which will come over a period of time as we mature in our life.
We can’t have that disposition overnight. But these two are things which can always be, whatever situation we are in. And if we have this, this is an attitude of surrender.
Okay, surrendering to Krishna means I have to accept that it is favorable and accept that it is unfavorable. Then we place the initiative on ourselves. Okay, this is not favorable, I will move away from here.
And this is favorable, I will move over here. I will do it this way, I will do it this way. We keep moving onwards in our relationship with Krishna.
Does this answer your question? Thank you. Thank you very much. So, we will have a break for 10 minutes and we will meet at 11.