Tuesday, September 25, 2007

#004 RAMAKRISHNA AND PANDAVAS

18th Aug. 1883. Ramakrishna's discussions with his admiring devotees and disciples at Dakshineswar Temple.

" ... Whatever be the pleasure and pain of the body, the spiritual knowledge of a bhakta, the wealth of his bhakti lasts. This treasure is never lost. Just see what calamities the Pandavas suffered! But they never lost their spiritual consciousness even once amidst their troubles. Where can one find such jnanis and such bhaktas? ... "


BLOGGER'S VIEWS
The 12 year extermination of Pandavas to forests and 1 year exile, the attempted de-robing of Draupadi are all calamities attributable to their own ego and exhibitionism. First, they unnecessarily performed a Rajasuuya Sacrifice by enslaving kings and extracting wealth from them. They built an unnecesarily lavish mansions and halls (Maya sabha), insulted Duryodhana by deceptive architecture. This hurt his self-respect and led him to plot the mischievous gambling binge. Yudhisht`hira and his brothers though initially hesitated to participate in the games of dice, ultimately yielded only because of temptation and covetousness. Yudhisht`hira did not stop after losing his kingdom and wealth. At this stage itself had he stopped the gambling and proceeded to some obscure village with his brothers and wives he would have lived with greater self-respect, albeit in poverty. He continued to wager his four brothers, himself and ultimately Draupadi. What spiritual consciousness is there in all these actions? Bringing in spirituality for worldly failures and appreciating unworthy kings and princes as Gnaanis (enlightened persons) is an erroneous scriptural tradition in Hinduism. And Ramakrishna is a part of it.

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