Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Story 21 - Meeting of Vidura and Uddhava
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 21 - Meeting of Vidura and Uddhava
After hearing about the chatusloki bhagavatham, Parikshit wanted to know about the meeting of Vidura with Sage Maitreya. Shuka thus started explaining about what happened to Vidura just before the war. Vidura was a pious person as well as well-learned in the scriptures. Dritaraasthra was once perturbed as to what to do with Pandavaas and his own sons, the Kauravaas. At that time, during night, he called up Vidura who then explained to him the complete of dharma as propounded in the Vedas. This part is known as Vidura Niti.
When the kauravas did not agree to give even a house to the pandavaas when Sri Krishna went as a dootha (messenger) from the Pandavaas, Vidura tried to give some advice to Dritaraasthra. He said Dritaraasthra to give back what the Pandaavas wanted as it was their very basic right and it was adharma to not give what really was theirs. He said to Dritaraasthra that the Pandavaas are very strong with Bhimaa (whom dritaraasthra himself feared) and Arjuna, the greatest of archers. They would surely destroy the clan of kauravaas if they are not given what is rightly theirs. He said that Sri Krishna, the Lord himself, is along with the Pandaavas and hence advised Dritaraasthra to stop the war if he wanted his clan to be alive.
Hearing this, Duryodhana and others were furious and told Vidura to get out of the place. Vidura thus left the place to visit various pilgrimages. Once during the pilgrimages, Vidura reached the shores of Yamuna he met Uddhava and asked Uddhava to explain the glory of the Lord.
Hearing this itself, Uddhava went into a state of absorption and was in that state for almost an hour. After that, with his eyes full of tears, Uddhava started explaining the glory of Sri Krishna (the various sportive plays of the Lord).
Explanation
It is very interesting to note the character of various features present in Mahabharatha. They are not mere epics but these are characters which we can see even today. These characters are externally present in the world as well as they are present in our mind also. Duryodhana is the embodiment of Adharma. Adharma is going against the reality of Lord. Adharma is that action which is done against each and every person in the world.
As one great saying goes “Behave to others in that way which you want yourself to be behaved with”.
Dharma is that action which is endowed with the knowledge that everything is the Lord alone. Whatever is seen, whatever is not seen – everything is pervaded in and out by the Lord. Whatever is being seen is the Lord alone, nothing but Lord alone exists. This is the ultimate reality which is termed as Satya or Truth. Truth is not explaining whatever is happening in the empirical world but truth is much deeper than it. Truth is that there is no duality here – there is only Lord here – whatever is present is the Lord alone. This is Satya or Truth.
Remembering the Truth and acting as per the Truth is Dharma or righteousness. Thus, Dharma is that action which is performed with the thought that everything is Lord alone. When everything is the Lord alone, then everything will be loved as one loves oneself. It is only due to perception of difference that a person loves only his people and is not affected by whatever happens for others. But a real bhaktha will be caring for everything in the world because he sees everything as the Lord & he loves the Lord. Hence, dharma is loving everyone as one loves oneself. This love is not either materialistic love or emotional love but it is spiritual love and real love. Love is that feeling which is full of compassion, full of grace, full of sacrifice and full of happiness. Love is that feeling which is devoid of sorrow. The so-called love that we call is mere passion only – either physical or emotional – this is the reason why when obstacles are present, the love gives sorrow only. Real love is that love which is beyond any limitations and boundaries. Real love is that love which is present between a Guru and a disciple. Real loves is that love which is present between the God and his devotee. In these relations, one cannot live without the other. And such is real love that it cries like the fish in shore when the devotee is separated from the God.
Here separation is not physical separation but mental separation in the form of forgetting the Lord. The devotee can never even live for a single second without the thought of love.
Thus, real love is that which is beyond any limitations and is that feeling which is expressed in the same way to each and every person and being in the world. Dharma is that action which is endowed with love. We find Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, my guru, as the very embodiment of love in the present time. It is not out of place to mention that when AMMA received the Martin-King Peace award, the previous recipient Jane Goodall said about AMMA “God’s love in human form”.
Thus, real feeling of oneness towards everyone is dharma. Such a person will always want the welfare of everybody. This is what we can find in Sri Krishna’s avatar. Krishna loved everybody and never hated anyone. But we find Duryodhana the opposite of this. Duryodhana is full of adharma in the form of selfishness, hatred towards the Pandavaas and always taking to wrong means. This is the character of most of us. We don’t care about those whom we don’t know. We don’t care if 1000s of people are killed in Tsunami and we are bothered only if “our” relatives die in tsunami. Thus, the character of the Ego which is selfish and attached to few people alone is being mentioned here. Through this, Vyaasa wants to point to each one of us that this attitude is not good. It is first of all not good and secondly it will lead only to destruction as through this likes-dislikes are nurtured which in turn lead to sorrows and sufferings only. The main reason for likes-dislikes leading to sorrow is that these veil the reality of Brahman or Consciousness or Lord and takes one away from the ultimate Truth that everything is one reality of Lord alone.
This is what happened with Duryodhana also – duryodhana was killed & not only that but his whole clan was destroyed. This is what happens with the Ego which is selfish in nature and hating people. It not only leads to its own destruction but it destroys those who support it and are present along with it for those selfish actions.
Thus, here we see Vyaasa telling each one of us to shed selfish attitude and to love every being in the world as one’s own very Self or Lord and thereby to abide by the dharma of remembering the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman or Consciousness which is one’s own very nature.
We also see a very important character of Dritaraashtra here. Dritaraashtra was passion at its peak. He knew what the reality was and what was dharma but still he was passionate towards his son and hence could not control his son’s actions. There are some people who are not bad as such but still they have many passions which make them get attached to bad things or bad people. Haven’t we heard about various people loving killers just because of the passion of love? Similar is what we see here. Dritaraasthra was well equipped with the ultimate reality of Brahman as well as the scriptural injunctions but still was passionate towards his son and hence could not restrict his son from doing wrong or adharmic actions. Dritaraasthra was taught the ultimate reality by the sage Sanatsujaatha which is famous as Sanatsujaatheeya which has a commentary on it by Adi Sankaracharya (which itself speaks about the importance of the teaching). Dritaraasthra was taught by Vidura which is termed the Vidura niti which is full of knowledge and the things that a person needs to do so that he escapes from the fruits of actions and becomes eligible for the ultimate reality of Brahman or Self or Lord which is one’s own very nature and knowing which alone a person gets eternal bliss which is being sought each moment.
Thus, Vyaasa is telling us that a seeker should always avoid company or relationship with bad people. Instead he should always have satsanga or association with sacred people (as Adi Sankaracharya himself has said in Bhaja Govindam). If association with bad people is maintained then that will lead to destruction of one’s clan. Association with bad people causes addictions to bad habits which take a person away from the ultimate reality of God. Therefore association with bad people even mentally has to be renounced. Mentally also a person should always think about good people who are real devotees of Lord, real knowers of Lord so that this will make them remember the Lord indirectly.
In contrast to these two bad characters we find the character of Vidura who is dharma personification in earth. He was ever detached to things. Even though he knew that duryodhana and others would not listen to his words still he spoke what was to be done to the Pandavaas. It requires courage to speak out the Truth or the reality – courage here is present only because the person is ever established in the reality of God and fears no one as he knows that everything is the Lord alone. But when the Kauraavaas did not heed to Vidura’s advice, he left the place and went to various pilgrimages spending time in remembrance of the Lord. This is what a real jnaani will do. He will try to advice people to do good – but he will never be affected by the actions of the people or whether they are heeding to the advice or not. He will always be unattached to things as he is ever attached to the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord who is the substratum of the illusory world that is being perceived. This is what each one of us has to do. We have to always contemplate on Lord and offer all actions unto the Lord. This will lead to purification of the mind and realization of the ultimate reality that there is nothing here but only Lord – one without a second.
A sign of the devotee is that he will always be immersed in the thought of the Lord and will ever be ready to speak the glories of the Lord. The moment a devotee hears the name of Lord, he enters into trance state – merges into the Lord and rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Lord. This is what happened with Uddhava – a devotee can know that he is realized when the moment he hears the name of Lord, he merges into the Lord – he always remains united with the Lord but empirically he works in the world. Thus amidst the work, the moment he hears the word of the Lord, he enters into unison with the Lord.
Let us all try to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord – one without a second – and offer all actions unto him so that we will never face the illusory sorrow and sufferings that we have been facing till now.
As Sri Krishna asserts in Gita
Kaunteya prathijaanihi na me bhakthah pranashyathi
O Arjuna! Know that my devotee will never perish or suffer – but instead he will always be immersed in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self.
After hearing about the chatusloki bhagavatham, Parikshit wanted to know about the meeting of Vidura with Sage Maitreya. Shuka thus started explaining about what happened to Vidura just before the war. Vidura was a pious person as well as well-learned in the scriptures. Dritaraasthra was once perturbed as to what to do with Pandavaas and his own sons, the Kauravaas. At that time, during night, he called up Vidura who then explained to him the complete of dharma as propounded in the Vedas. This part is known as Vidura Niti.
When the kauravas did not agree to give even a house to the pandavaas when Sri Krishna went as a dootha (messenger) from the Pandavaas, Vidura tried to give some advice to Dritaraasthra. He said Dritaraasthra to give back what the Pandaavas wanted as it was their very basic right and it was adharma to not give what really was theirs. He said to Dritaraasthra that the Pandavaas are very strong with Bhimaa (whom dritaraasthra himself feared) and Arjuna, the greatest of archers. They would surely destroy the clan of kauravaas if they are not given what is rightly theirs. He said that Sri Krishna, the Lord himself, is along with the Pandaavas and hence advised Dritaraasthra to stop the war if he wanted his clan to be alive.
Hearing this, Duryodhana and others were furious and told Vidura to get out of the place. Vidura thus left the place to visit various pilgrimages. Once during the pilgrimages, Vidura reached the shores of Yamuna he met Uddhava and asked Uddhava to explain the glory of the Lord.
Hearing this itself, Uddhava went into a state of absorption and was in that state for almost an hour. After that, with his eyes full of tears, Uddhava started explaining the glory of Sri Krishna (the various sportive plays of the Lord).
Explanation
It is very interesting to note the character of various features present in Mahabharatha. They are not mere epics but these are characters which we can see even today. These characters are externally present in the world as well as they are present in our mind also. Duryodhana is the embodiment of Adharma. Adharma is going against the reality of Lord. Adharma is that action which is done against each and every person in the world.
As one great saying goes “Behave to others in that way which you want yourself to be behaved with”.
Dharma is that action which is endowed with the knowledge that everything is the Lord alone. Whatever is seen, whatever is not seen – everything is pervaded in and out by the Lord. Whatever is being seen is the Lord alone, nothing but Lord alone exists. This is the ultimate reality which is termed as Satya or Truth. Truth is not explaining whatever is happening in the empirical world but truth is much deeper than it. Truth is that there is no duality here – there is only Lord here – whatever is present is the Lord alone. This is Satya or Truth.
Remembering the Truth and acting as per the Truth is Dharma or righteousness. Thus, Dharma is that action which is performed with the thought that everything is Lord alone. When everything is the Lord alone, then everything will be loved as one loves oneself. It is only due to perception of difference that a person loves only his people and is not affected by whatever happens for others. But a real bhaktha will be caring for everything in the world because he sees everything as the Lord & he loves the Lord. Hence, dharma is loving everyone as one loves oneself. This love is not either materialistic love or emotional love but it is spiritual love and real love. Love is that feeling which is full of compassion, full of grace, full of sacrifice and full of happiness. Love is that feeling which is devoid of sorrow. The so-called love that we call is mere passion only – either physical or emotional – this is the reason why when obstacles are present, the love gives sorrow only. Real love is that love which is beyond any limitations and boundaries. Real love is that love which is present between a Guru and a disciple. Real loves is that love which is present between the God and his devotee. In these relations, one cannot live without the other. And such is real love that it cries like the fish in shore when the devotee is separated from the God.
Here separation is not physical separation but mental separation in the form of forgetting the Lord. The devotee can never even live for a single second without the thought of love.
Thus, real love is that which is beyond any limitations and is that feeling which is expressed in the same way to each and every person and being in the world. Dharma is that action which is endowed with love. We find Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, my guru, as the very embodiment of love in the present time. It is not out of place to mention that when AMMA received the Martin-King Peace award, the previous recipient Jane Goodall said about AMMA “God’s love in human form”.
Thus, real feeling of oneness towards everyone is dharma. Such a person will always want the welfare of everybody. This is what we can find in Sri Krishna’s avatar. Krishna loved everybody and never hated anyone. But we find Duryodhana the opposite of this. Duryodhana is full of adharma in the form of selfishness, hatred towards the Pandavaas and always taking to wrong means. This is the character of most of us. We don’t care about those whom we don’t know. We don’t care if 1000s of people are killed in Tsunami and we are bothered only if “our” relatives die in tsunami. Thus, the character of the Ego which is selfish and attached to few people alone is being mentioned here. Through this, Vyaasa wants to point to each one of us that this attitude is not good. It is first of all not good and secondly it will lead only to destruction as through this likes-dislikes are nurtured which in turn lead to sorrows and sufferings only. The main reason for likes-dislikes leading to sorrow is that these veil the reality of Brahman or Consciousness or Lord and takes one away from the ultimate Truth that everything is one reality of Lord alone.
This is what happened with Duryodhana also – duryodhana was killed & not only that but his whole clan was destroyed. This is what happens with the Ego which is selfish in nature and hating people. It not only leads to its own destruction but it destroys those who support it and are present along with it for those selfish actions.
Thus, here we see Vyaasa telling each one of us to shed selfish attitude and to love every being in the world as one’s own very Self or Lord and thereby to abide by the dharma of remembering the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman or Consciousness which is one’s own very nature.
We also see a very important character of Dritaraashtra here. Dritaraashtra was passion at its peak. He knew what the reality was and what was dharma but still he was passionate towards his son and hence could not control his son’s actions. There are some people who are not bad as such but still they have many passions which make them get attached to bad things or bad people. Haven’t we heard about various people loving killers just because of the passion of love? Similar is what we see here. Dritaraasthra was well equipped with the ultimate reality of Brahman as well as the scriptural injunctions but still was passionate towards his son and hence could not restrict his son from doing wrong or adharmic actions. Dritaraasthra was taught the ultimate reality by the sage Sanatsujaatha which is famous as Sanatsujaatheeya which has a commentary on it by Adi Sankaracharya (which itself speaks about the importance of the teaching). Dritaraasthra was taught by Vidura which is termed the Vidura niti which is full of knowledge and the things that a person needs to do so that he escapes from the fruits of actions and becomes eligible for the ultimate reality of Brahman or Self or Lord which is one’s own very nature and knowing which alone a person gets eternal bliss which is being sought each moment.
Thus, Vyaasa is telling us that a seeker should always avoid company or relationship with bad people. Instead he should always have satsanga or association with sacred people (as Adi Sankaracharya himself has said in Bhaja Govindam). If association with bad people is maintained then that will lead to destruction of one’s clan. Association with bad people causes addictions to bad habits which take a person away from the ultimate reality of God. Therefore association with bad people even mentally has to be renounced. Mentally also a person should always think about good people who are real devotees of Lord, real knowers of Lord so that this will make them remember the Lord indirectly.
In contrast to these two bad characters we find the character of Vidura who is dharma personification in earth. He was ever detached to things. Even though he knew that duryodhana and others would not listen to his words still he spoke what was to be done to the Pandavaas. It requires courage to speak out the Truth or the reality – courage here is present only because the person is ever established in the reality of God and fears no one as he knows that everything is the Lord alone. But when the Kauraavaas did not heed to Vidura’s advice, he left the place and went to various pilgrimages spending time in remembrance of the Lord. This is what a real jnaani will do. He will try to advice people to do good – but he will never be affected by the actions of the people or whether they are heeding to the advice or not. He will always be unattached to things as he is ever attached to the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord who is the substratum of the illusory world that is being perceived. This is what each one of us has to do. We have to always contemplate on Lord and offer all actions unto the Lord. This will lead to purification of the mind and realization of the ultimate reality that there is nothing here but only Lord – one without a second.
A sign of the devotee is that he will always be immersed in the thought of the Lord and will ever be ready to speak the glories of the Lord. The moment a devotee hears the name of Lord, he enters into trance state – merges into the Lord and rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Lord. This is what happened with Uddhava – a devotee can know that he is realized when the moment he hears the name of Lord, he merges into the Lord – he always remains united with the Lord but empirically he works in the world. Thus amidst the work, the moment he hears the word of the Lord, he enters into unison with the Lord.
Let us all try to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord – one without a second – and offer all actions unto him so that we will never face the illusory sorrow and sufferings that we have been facing till now.
As Sri Krishna asserts in Gita
Kaunteya prathijaanihi na me bhakthah pranashyathi
O Arjuna! Know that my devotee will never perish or suffer – but instead he will always be immersed in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self.
# posted by vedanta : 9:52 AM
