importance of keeping one

8/3/2019 Importance of Keeping One

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Importance of keeping one’s word

We all know that the pandavas left their kingdom for 13 long years for keeping

up their word! Well, for Arjuna going away from the bhogas of a king, for the

sake of truth, was not new. He did it once well before the aranyavaas. The

story goes like this:

The kalyaanam of pandavas with Draupadi was an unusual one. However, it

was perfectly according to dharma shastras. Infact Draupadi is one of the

greatest pativratas and praised even by Lord Krishna for her Dharma vartana.

A few reasons to justify the kalyaanam:

1. Kunti Devi, the mother of pandavas, who never knew what a lie was,

gave her will.2. Vyaasa Maharshi, one of the avataar of Lord Vishnu, ordered the

kalyaanam to be done.3. Lord Shiva, pleased with her tapas, gave a boon to Draupadi to marry

the pandavas.4. Pandavas, though were five physically, were all amshas of Indra, the

King of the Gods. Hence, pandavas were actually one.

Naarada, again an avataar of Lord Vishnu, suggested some rules to be followed

by pandavas and Draupadi for living together. This is because, though they

were amshas of Gods and Godesses, since they had a human form some

addition rules according to dharma shastras needed to be followed. One of the

rules was that: Draupadi should spend one year with each of the pandavas and

while she was with one of them, no other pandavas should visit the palace

where they might be. In case of any breach of their rule, one-year pilgrimage

was prescribed by way of penance leaving the kingdom.The pandavas and

Draupadi were living happily until one day: a brahmana came running to

Arjuna saying that the thieves had stolen his cows. Arjuna wanted to rush with

him to catch the thieves but he realised that his bow and arrows were kept in

Yudhisthira's palace and he was there in the company of Draupadi. He

hesitated for a while, then seeing brahmana's plight he rushed in to

Yudhisthira 's palace took his bow and arrows and ran to catch the thieves.

After he caught the thieves and punished them, after restoring the cows of the

brahmana, Arjuna came back to Yudhisthira and told him about his

transgression of the rule.

http://moralstories.wordpress.com/2006/05/14/importance-of-keeping-ones-word/






Yudhisthira, knowing the reason of the breach of their rule, said their is no

need for Arjuna to take the pilgrimage. Since it is a mistake committed

towards him, and that too for a good reason, he will pardon arjuna . However,

Arjuna would never break his word. He immediately set out for a one-year

pilgrimage. May be this is why Arjuna is such a favourite sakha of LordKrishna.

Morals in the Story:

1. The story shows how important it is to keep up ones word, whether it isof any consequence or not, how much ever difficult it is.

2. Arjuna, knowing that he will be punished for breaching the rule, did notstop doing his duty as a king to protect his people and punish the theif.Thus, one must always perform his duty without any laziness or any

kind of fear.3. Rewards for such people do show up as immediate difficulties, but in the

end – it is truth is what always wins (Satyameva jayate). Arjuna's win was in the way of gaining eternal friendship with the Lord.

Message:

1. Imagine if everyone keeps his word and always speaks truth — will wehave corruption? will we have poverty? Though its a very difficult toinculcate, unless we are truthful there will be no development.

2. Like Arjuna if everyone does they duty — will there be such slow development for such a large community of intelligent people?

3. Temporal gains got by saying lies never will be permanent. They will notonly bring us down on a long run in life, leave aside winning the heart of the God.

Lord Raama, the paramaathma, was ofcourse the greatest warrior ever. Lord

Krishna in Bhagavadgita remarks ―I am Raama among warriors‖. He learnt all

the Shastras and unparalled Dhanurvidya under the guidance of the great

Vasishtha. He was also given super-human powers like bala, ati bala by the

great Vishwamithra, the Rishi of Gayathri manthra. Vishwamithra maharshi

also taught him all the secret astras that ever existed, which only he in this

whole universe knew (he originally learnt it from Lord Shiva). In addition to

these, Agasthya mahamuni gave him many additional powers.A few glimpses

of Lord Raama’s valour:



1. With one arrow Raama kills taataki, the mighty raakshasi.2. With two simultaneous arrows he kills subaahu and throws Maaricha

seven seas away.3. Effortlessly lifts the Shiva dhanush, which was pulled to the court by

around 50000 well built people.

4. Raama kills Khara, Dhushana, their 1000 brothers and their army in 14minutes single handed.

Despite being such a great warrior, he never displayed in strength on his own

to show others. The anger on the samudra stands as a good example for this

quality of Raama:

Raavana gives 30 days time to sita maata to decide if she will marry him, else

will kill her. Bharata took word from Raama saying that if he does’nt return on

the next moment of 14 yrs of aranyavaas, then he will sacrifice himself. Raamaand his army reaches the shores of ocean with barely 30 days in hand. They

have to cross the ocean, defeat Ravana & his army, take sita back to ayodhya in

around 30 days time. With such a press for time and given the strength of

Raama, Lakshmana suggests Raama not to spend time asking ocean God for

way, but to order him.

What Raama does is unbelievable. Though he had the strength and power to

control the ocean God, he did not do it. He did penance on the shores of the

ocean for 3 long days to give them a way. Finally after 3 days Raama getsangry on the ocean and to make remember his duty, aims an astra at him and

immediately ocean God appears and suggests a way of crossing him…



Morals in the Story:

1. We, for our small petty achievements in life, are very proud (ahankaar)and given a chance, display our strengths. The way of great people isquite different as shown by Lord Raama.

2. One must never use the strength or powers just because they exist withhim, but judiciously use them for the benefit of everyone, upliftment of Dharma.

Message:

1. Controlling one’s ahankaar is one the most difficult things. If it iscontrolled we will see a more peaceful world.

2. Always people who are humble and obedient are only respected by others. If Lord Raama Himself is so humble, as mere normal human beings imagine how much obedient we must be to our elders andparents.



Draupadi, an ikon of a true Indian woman

Draupadi, the daughter of King Drupada, appears from the yagnyaagni as a

full grown, in the bloom of her youth. One can observe that it is always

Paramaatma who takes birth and avataaras (―Paritraanaaya sadhunam …‖).However, always Yoga-Maaya (or Shakti) never takes birth, she just appears.

It is the same case with Sita devi, Rukmini devi, Draupadi, Maatulungi etc.

The following piece of story of draupadi shows the boundaries of following

Dharma. May be none can be better!

Ashwatthaama, the chiranjeevi, does a daaruna krutyam after the

Mahaabhaaratam. Unusual to his nature, He, without even little daya, beheads

the sleeping babies of draupadi — the upa-paandavas. Draupadi realizes what

happened. All her 10 sons, who were little baalakas, who were sleeping, whonever did any kind of harm to Ashwatthaama and who cannot even react to

the harm committed to them were lying in a pool of blood. Draupadi breaks

down to tears and weeps in great sorrow. Arjuna very sad himself, consoles

Her and says it does not look nice for a Veera maata to cry like this. He says

that He will immediately avenge the act and kill Ashwatthaama. On killing

him, she can take bath standing on his head. Immediately Lord Krishna and

Arjuna set out on their Hanumadhdhvaja ratham to catch the fleeing

Ashwatthaama.

Seeing that Arjuna is closing by his ratham and that his horses are a little

exhausted, Aswaththaama sees Brahmaastra as the only way to save himself.

Though not knowing the way of retrieving the astra, he immediately uses

Brahmaastra on Arjuna, after stopping the ratham, doing aachamanam and

purifying himself. Lord Krishna orders Arjuna to use Brahmaastra to counter

Ashwatthaama’s. Arjuna also purifies himself, does achamanam, does a

pradakshina to the Almighty and uses Brahmaastra. The two astras, one like

Agni and the other like sun, fight each other and in no time the worlds start to

burn under the influence of the astras. Krishna, the protector of the worlds,immediately orders Arjuna to take back both Astras, as only a Brahmachaari

can take back a Brahmaastra!

Arjuna takes back both the Brahmaastras, showing clearly what a perfect

Brahmachaari he was. Arjuna, who was the friend of the Askalita

Brahmachaari Lord Krishna, obviously knows the shastras and the ways to

http://moralstories.wordpress.com/2006/05/15/draupadi-an-ikon-of-a-true-indian-woman/





maintain his Brahmacharyam, though married. Arjuna ties Ahswaththaama

and takes him to Draupadi, like a Yagnya pashu is taken to the Yagnya shaala.

The acts of Draupadi in this following episode make even Krishna praise

Krishnaa (Draupadi) for her Dharma.

On seeing the killer of all her sons being brought by Arjuna, Draupadi, of the

beauty of her nature out of compassion, does a namaskar to him and says as

per the Vedas in the absence of the Guru, Guru-putra takes his place, so she is

doing a namaskaar to Drona! It was unbearable for her having him brought being bound and

she said: ―Release him, for he is a brahmana, our Aacharya. Do not make his mother, Drona’s wife, cry the

way I do in my chastity shedding tears constantly in distress over a lost child‖. Yudhishtira, Arjuna,

Nakula, Sahadeva, Saatyaki, Krishna and other queens supported the statements of Paanchaali as they

were in accord with the principles of Sanaatana Dharma, of justice, merciful, without duplicity and

glorious in equity. Krishna, amazed by the Dharmya vartana of Draupadi, praises her very much.However, Bhima also raised a valid point that a person who by nature has daya is a brahmana, is

Ashwatthaama, who mercilessly killed the baalakas, worth being called one? Saying ―surely death is the

only punishment for such a person‖, Bhima proceeds to kill Ashwatthaama, but the Lord, with His

chaturbhuja’s stops Bhima and says the following with a smile:

―The Guru-putra, a braahmana must not be killed – this both is by Me, certainly prescribed to be carried

out abiding by the rules.‖ However, Arjuna has to keep to the truth as promised while pacifying his wife,

and also act to the satisfaction of Bhima and Himself (by punishing the bad). So they remove the

divya mani on the head of Ashwatthaama and remove his hair, as, for a veera,

tonsuring is equivalent to killing him.



Morals in the story:

1. The Dhramya vartana of Draupadi is well portrayed in the story. Thisshows us that, even at the time of great stress, sorrow, difficulty, onenever must deviate from the path of truth, Dharma.

2. Even though Ashwatthaama was great, in his momentary anger hecommitted an unpardonable crime. One must be very careful and needto think what is right and what is wrong before acting. This is what thepandavas do in the later part of the story, with the help of Krishna. They,though Kshattriyas, were not overwhelmed by revenge. They actedaccording to the words of Krishna, who is Dharma in human form.

3. The importance given to keeping up one’s word is protrayed well. Arjunapromises Draupadi to kill Ashwatthaama, but according to Dharma ismust not be killed. So they do an equivalent act of killing.

4. The importance of cleanliness is also displayed. Both Ashwatthaama and Arjuna purify themselves, do aachamanam before chanting the mantrasfor Brahmaastra. They do this even when they were in such a great pressfor time.

5. The power of Brahmacharyam is well shown through this story. Arjuna, who knew the Shatras, was a brahmachaari and hence could not only take back his, but Ashwatthaama’s astra too.

6. The heart of a mother is well exposed when Draupadi comments ―Donot make his mother, Drona’s wife, cry the way I do in my chastity shedding tears constantly in

distress over a lost child―. She knows the pain of loosing children, so did not want another mother to experience it!

Message to present society:

Being Kshatriyas, people with lot of Shauryam, Paandavas thought so much

(analyzing what is Dharmam, what is adharmam) before avenging their son’s

death. Now-a-days even films show people mercilessly killing each other in the

name of revenge.

The story of two brothers

Once upon a time, there were two brothers Shankha and Likhita, who were

Munis and used to live in their Aashramams on the banks of the river

Baahudaa. One day, the younger brother, Likhita, went to the Shankha’s

aashramam and on not finding his brother, sat under a mango tree. He started

http://moralstories.wordpress.com/2006/05/24/the-story-of-two-brothers/





eating one of its mangoes, without taking the permission of the owner of the

tree (Shankha).

Shankha returned to his aashramam and found Likhita eating the mangoes.

Shankha then told Likhita that, one must never take the things which do not belong to them. He said ―You should have eaten it only after taking my

permission‖. He further told Likhita to go to the King, Sudy umna, tell him the

mistake he did and take the appropriate punishment, according to the Danda-

neeti-shaastram.

Likhita adheres to the word of his brother and immediately goes to Sudyumna.

The King warmly welcomes the Muni and upon being asked the reason for

coming, Likhita tells what had happened and begs the King for punishment.

The King who knows all the Dharma shastras, replied that ―O great Muni! You

leave all the pleasures of normal humans and do Tapas for the welfare of

everyone. How can I give you punishment?‖. Likhita replies saying that a King

must never deviate for his duty and hence, must punish him. The King accepts

and orders that Likhita’s hands must be cut-off (following Danda-neeti).

Likhita then returned to Shankha after experiencing the punishment. Shankha

was very happy to see his brother and said ―O Putra! you did a good thing.

Because of you our entire vamsham will be saved. Dip in the Baahudaa Nadi

and do Deva, Muni, Pitru Tarpanam and come. Suraapaanam, Guru Bhaaryaa

Vyaamoham, Vipra-hatya, Vipra-Dhana-apaharanam and doing friendship

with these four kinds of people are the Pancha-mahaa-paatakas (5 main sins).

You became punyaatma because you experienced Dandanam (punishment)

from Raaja. Go.‖

Likhita immediately goes and takes a dip in the Baahudaa Nadi and to his

surprise sees that he gets back his hands. Knowing that his hands came back

due to the power of Shankha, he asked his brother that if he has so much

power why did he ask him to go to the King for punishment, instead hehimself could have given it. The elder brother said that everyone must do his

own duty. Our duty is to do Tapas for the benefit of the society and the King’s

duty is to punish the bad. Hence, he said, he had no right to punish his

younger brother.



This story was told by Vyaasa Bhagavaan to Dharmaraaja when he was

worried that all relatives, friends etc. are killed in the Yuddham. Vyaasa

Bhagavaana says Dushtas must be punished. Duty of the King is to do that. So

there is nothing wrong in Yudhishthira doing the Mahabhaarata Yuddham, to

kill the bad.

Morals in the story:

1. Respecting elders, though sometimes their words may seem harsh, is a very important aspect of Indian culture. The younger brother alwaysrespected his elder brother and adhered to his words. Also, the elder brother always wanted the good of his brother. Thus did not pamperhim by neglecting the mistake he did, considering it small.

2. Everyone in the story performed their duties. The sages did tapas, the

King did Dharma-paalanam, younger brother listened to the elder one.The elder brother always thought about the good of the younger one.

3. One has to experience the results of his own karma some or the othertime. Knowing this, the elder brother asked his younger brother toexperience the punishment given by the king rather than postponing itto hell.

4. Stealing, knowingly or unknowingly results in big paapam. For stealingone mango, that too being a sage, the punishment was as severe ascutting off hands. The bad result of stealing (even by mistake) is wellillustrated in King Nruga’s story too.

Message:

If stealing one person’s belonging is such a crime, imagine how much

magnitude of crime is committed by stealing public/government

money/property (bribes). Similarly, destroying public property must never be

done. Since, it will effect many individuals not only one.

http://moralstories.wordpress.com/2006/05/21/think-twice-before-you-act/




importance of keeping one

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