॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Thursday, 1 September 2022 - Chapter 8 of the first skandha, covering Sri Krishna’s protecting Parikshit in Uttara’s womb. Kunti’s famous prayer to Sri Krishna. Yudhisthira’s guilt.
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The Pandavas perform the last rites and offer sesame and water as Tarpana to all the departed, with the women shedding copious tears of bereavement.
Sri Krishna meets Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti, all the Pandavas and their women, and bids goodbye, about to board his chariot with his own people including Satyaki and Uddhava.
As they are saying their farewell, a new calamity emerges. Ashwatthama has launched the Brahmastra again, intent on exterminating the Pandavas as well as the unborn child of Uttara, King Parikshit whom she is carrying in her womb, the son of Abhimanyu martyred in war.
पाहि पाहि महायोगिन्! अभिद्रवति मामीश कामं दहतु मां नाथ मा मे गर्भो निपात्यताम् ।
अपाण्डवमिदं कर्तुं द्रौणेरस्त्रमबुध्यत ॥
T: “Oh my Lord! Maha Yogi Krishna! Save me! Ashwatthama wants to kill this Pandava in my womb. Let his astra take my life, but please save my child!”
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The Pandavas took up their divine weapons to counter the evil Ashwatthama’s vengeful Brahmastra. But Sri Krishna saw the impending calamity.
व्यसनं वीक्ष्य तत्तेषामनन्यविषयात्मनाम् ।
सुदर्शनेन स्वास्त्रेण स्वानां रक्षां व्यधाद्विभुः ॥
अन्तःस्थः सर्वभूतानामात्मा योगेश्वरो हरिः।
स्वमाययावृणोद्गर्भं वैराट्याः कुरुतन्तवे ॥
वैष्णवं तेज आसाद्य समशम्यद्भृगूद्वह ॥
T: “Bhagavan Sri Krishna saw the impending calamity for the Pandavas totally devoted to Him, and at once launched His Sudarshana chakra and protected them all. After All, He is the Yogeshwara Hari who dwells in every being as their Super Soul. Using his own Yogamaya, He preserved the foetus in Virata Princess Uttara’s womb, the unborn child of Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna. That child would be the sole thread for the continuity of the Pandava lineage.”
“Know, Sage Shaunaka, who are the descendant of the great sage Bhrigu, that the Brahmastra was nullified by encountering the radiance of Vishnu Himself in that Sudarshana.”
(Vyasa’s poetry emphasises the importance of lineage and the inheritance of Samskaras generation after generation.)
***
Now, Kunti approached Sri Krishna. This episode is famous among all students of Indian scriptures. It is pregnant with the thoughts and prayers of a queen deposed and made to suffer for long years by fratricidal chicanery and the turbid morality of Kaurava elders. She also happened to be the paternal aunt of Sri Krishna. She now saw him taking leave of the Pandavas at an inflexion point in their lives, with a feeling of finality.
She said:
नमस्ते पुरुषं त्वाऽद्यमीश्वरं प्रकृतेः परम्।
अलक्ष्यं सर्वभूतानामन्तर्बहिरवस्थितम्॥
मायाजवनिकाच्छिन्नं अव्ययं…
न लक्ष्यसे नटो नाट्यधरो यथा॥
भक्तियोगविधानार्थं कथं पश्येम…
T: “My obeisances, oh Supreme Lord, who art beyond the control of this creation, present inside and outside of all beings and yet unperceivable! It is as if you are hidden by a bamboo screen of Maya.
You are like an actor doing his role so well that no one sees the real persona of the actor behind the role! The only way perhaps for us to perceive you is through Bhakti Yoga, and nothing else.”
कृष्णाय वासुदेवाय देवकीनन्दनाय च।
नन्दगोपकुमाराय गोविन्दाय नमो नमः॥ यथा हृषीकेश खलेन देवकी कंसेन रुद्धातिचिरं शुचार्पिता।
विमोचिताहं च सहात्मजा विभो त्वयैव नाथेन मुहुर्विपद्गणात्॥
विषान्महाग्नेः पुरुषाददर्शनादसत्सभाया वनवासकृच्छ्रतः।
मृधे मृधेऽनेकमहारथास्त्रतो द्रौण्यस्त्रतश्चास्म हरेऽभिरक्षिताः॥
विपदः सन्तु नः शश्वत्तत्र तत्र जगद्गुरो।
भवतो दर्शनं यत्स्यादपुनर्भवदर्शनम्॥
T: “I bow down again and again to Sri Krishna, Vasudeva, the dear son of Devaki, raised as the darling son of Nandagopa, Govinda (means herder of cows as well as saviour of all)!
Oh Lord of the senses, just as Devaki was finally saved by you from the torture under the wicked Kamsa, I too have been saved by you, along with my sons, from a series of calamities. First was the poisoning of Bhima, then the lac palace set on fire to burn us down, then the utter ignominy heaped on Draupadi in the Kaurava court, then our deceitful banishment to the forest, and then, battle after battle, deadly weapons being hurled to kill us, the latest being this Brahmastra of Ashwatthama to eradicate our lineage itself! We have been saved repeated by you oh Sri Hari!
I do have one prayer, therefore! Please let these dangers and adversities come to us again and again, so that we call out to you without reservation and you come to save us! Your darshana (gracious vision) will rid us of rebirth and liberate us indeed!”
My interpretation of this request is that she is not begging for new calamities but for the grace of being in constant communion with the Lord. A devotee is afraid of worldly prosperity because then he may forget the Lord.
न यस्य कश्चिद्दयितोऽस्ति कर्हिचिद् ।
द्वेष्वश्च यस्मिन्विषमा मतिर्नृणाम् ॥
T: “I know for certain that as the Lord of all, you are not partial to anyone, nor antagonistic to anyone. If men see you as their enemy, it is certain proof of their ignorance!”
गोप्याददे त्वयि कृतागसि दाम तावद् या ते दशाश्रुकलिलाऽञ्जनसंभ्रमाक्षम्।
वक्त्रं निनीय भयभावनया स्थितस्य सा मां विमोहयति भीरपि यद्भिभेति॥
T: “I am recollecting that scene when your mother Yashoda was angry at your mischief and tied you with a rope! You cried so much, shedding copious tears, besmirching thecollyrium applied to your eyelashes! You were crying and wiping your tears, and it looked as if you were so scared. Oh, to think of that sight bewilders me indeed, because even Fear is afraid of you, Oh Lord!”
And there are many more shlokas I am omitting. You can call it my value-add or value-subtract, but I am sharing only a small percentage of the original to keep this blog easier to read.
Kunti summarises the mystery of Lord’s incarnations, as they seem to fulfil multiple aspirations of multiple people, all the while protecting the good and uplifting the worthy. She makes a beautiful simile, saying that the Vrishni clan rose to eminence because of Sri Krishna, just as the Malaya mountains (Western Ghats) are renowned all over because of the sandalwood there!
Finally, Kunti says, “Sri Krishna, don’t abandon us! What will we be without you, except like dead organs without life?”
अथ विश्वेश विश्वात्मन् विश्वमूर्ते स्वकेषु च ।
स्नेहपाषमिमं छिन्दि दृढं पाण्डुषु वृष्णिषु॥
त्वयि मेऽनन्यविषया मतिर्मधुपतेऽसकृत् ।
रतिमुद्वहतादद्धा गङ्गेवौघमुदन्विति॥
T: “Therefore, Oh Lord, I conclude my prayer thus. You are the Lord of the Universe, You are the Supersoul in all, you are manifest in all creation. My prayer is that you cut asunder my filial attachment to Pandavas and Vrishnis, as that attachment is the bondage stopping my spiritual growth. May my mind be single-pointedly and undistractedly immersed in you, Oh Madhupati! Let my devotion be like the Ganga that flows full stream into the ocean unhindered.”
Her final words are:
योगेश्वराखिलगुरो भगवन्नमस्ते
T: “Oh Lord of Yoga, the Teacher of all creation, my dear Lord! My Obeisances!”
How did Sri Krishna respond to Kunti? The Suta says,
मन्दं जहास वैकुण्ठो मोहयन्निव मायया
T: “Sri Krishna, who was none other than the Lord of Vaikuntha, Maha Vishnu, responded to Kunti’s impassioned prayer, flooding her with a bewitching smile, full of his Maya!”
Vaikuntha actually means "with no limitation whatsoever."
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The Suta has to switch channels now and describe what is going on with Yudhisthira!
I shall not quote the Sanskrit verses, but the summary of what he says is,
“Krishna, don’t go away! Stay here for a while. Look at what my ambition and greed have wrought! The total destruction of all our people! I am guilty of such a heinous sinful crime! I am not convinced about idea of righteous wars. There is no atonement possible for me!”
***
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
