I am very weak at these things. Religious
concepts, mythology and Gods. All I know is the gist of the two great epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata. I want to speak with reference to these two epics
after reading the 7 secrets of Vishnu by Devadatta Patnaik. I may be wrong in
many places while I write whatever I want to. But the intention of writing this
is something else, and if that is conveyed across successfully I think my job
is done. I am sorry in advance for hurting religious sentiments whatsoever.
It is said, that the Bull of time, stands
on all four feet during Satyug, which is the starting of the time cycle. When
the SatYug ends, and Treta yug begins and the Bull lifts one foot and stands on
3 feet. When Treta Ends and Dwapar Yug begins, the Bull of time stands on two
feet, and when the Kal Yug begins, the Bull lifts another foot and stands only
on one foot. The end of Kalyug means the end of time cycle, end of Kaal Chakra.It
means Pralaya - Apocalypse.
Apparently
we are living in the Kalyug and the end is anticipated. The Mayan prediction
just passed by and nothing happened. I don't know about the others, but I was
prepared to die on 21st Dec 2012, as I am every day. Fortunately or
unfortunately, everything remained as it is, meanwhile Arctic pole continues to
melt faster and there are some changes happening in the Antarctica too, leading
to global warming and shifting of the climate cycle.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, the winters are taking
a toll on human population whereas the heat of protests against assaulters
isneutralizing the attack of climate on mankind. Everything is happening so
fast, at the same time so steadily, that I am wondering, what will all this
lead to? While all this was going on, on news channels, I was engrossed in
reading the 7 secrets of Vishnu. I completed it in one sitting, and while
reading it I realized a few things. Before quoting the realizations, let me
explain the difference of Ram Avatar and Krishna Avatar.
***
Ramayana is a classic example of Dharma
being followed religiously. Ram is the only avatar of Vishnu who is worshipped
as a King. He was a principled king who heeded to the pleas of the common man
and made attempts to create a peaceful, society based on rules and regulations.
He ensured that everyone, including him would not break the rules, if it was
the question of the society and its people. When the society pointed out Sita,
as a tainted woman, for having lived with Ravana, and when her modesty was
questioned, Ram gave up on Sita as the Queen. She left the Palace and went on
to live in the forest.
Despite Ram's love for Sita, he was forced
to take up the decision of forsaking the queen because it was unacceptable by
the common man to take Sita as a wife to their king. Ram gave up Sita as a
Queen of Ayodhya, but he never gave her up as wife, because he constructed a
gold statue and placed it besides him and never married another woman. Because
of the rules, and in order to ensure peace in the society he took such a harsh
decision. That is the reason why he is
known as "Maryada Purushottam Ram". He lived by rules and regulations
of the society, there by establishing a Dharma.
***
Meanwhile Krishna was someone who believed
in bending the rules for the benefit of mankind. Speaking white lies, attacking
the enemy from behind- when it was known that the enemy had sinned, going
against the law of the war and attacking below the waist line are the things
which Krishna employed during the Mahabharata fought at Kurukshetra.
When
Dronacharya was to be killed, Krishna asked Arjuna to lie about Dronacharya's
son - Ashwathama being killed, which was actually a lie. Ashwathama the
elephant had died instead. This caused Drona to give up and mourn his son's
death, enabling the Pandavas to Kill Dronaacharya. Krishna said, a teacher who
cannot teach his students about peace, and only preach about war is not a
person who follows dharma. So he deserves to be killed.
When Karna is busy disengaging a mud-stuck
wheel Krishna orders Arjuna to kill him from behind which is against the
war-rule. Krishna explains, that a person who chose friendship over Dharma, who
simply stood watching Draupadi's integrity get tarnished, who did not help her,
doesn't deserve to live.
There are many more instances during the
Mahabharata which indicate that Krishna broke many rules to ensure that there
is justice.
This was the stark difference between the
Treta Yug and Dwapar yug, when Dharma was established in the former, and
strictly following it meant that one was living by the tenets of the society
and was righteous. Meanwhile in the latter, Krishna encouragedthat the society
or one of the harbinger of the society has to bend the rules to make sure that
Adharma perishes.
***
The concept of Dharma has nothing to do
with any religion. I quoted the Hindu mythology here, because I read it. Dharma
is nothing but a way of coexisting peacefully in the society where everyone has
equal rights. It is a means of ensuring that people are not exhibiting animal
instincts and fighting for territory or mates, and everyoneis living in
harmony.
Adharma happens when someone refuses to follow the good and behaves
like an animal.
What is this evil all about? What causes
Adharma? All the fights that we see today are either for territory, power, a
mate, money or position. Men are expected to live in harmony, share whatever
the nature offers and not snatch and demand honor. If one behaves like animals,
Adharma arises, threatening the basics of Dharma. That’s when there is a need
for an Avatar or the need to bend rules and do what is right.
But for how long do we wait for an avatar?
Until evil reaches its peak and gulps us down its throat? Human beings are
bestowed with everything that makes it capable to reach the levels of
Godliness. Killing the sinners alone is not the act of God. Distinguishing the
right and the wrong, and thereby executing a punishment requires a lot of
discretion and control over mind. The mind and the soul of these Avatars are
evolved in such a manner that they are capable of executing the tasks which
perhaps Vishnu himself intended.
This is the yug of Kalki Avatar. Many have
claimed to be the Kalki Avatar. How do we know that indeed the God has been
reincarnated in the Kalyug? We don’t know a thing, except that we have to power
to develop that. We are the harbingers of the society. We have the
responsibility of maintaining dharma. (Dharma doesn’t mean religion here, or
anywhere.)
With increasing crimes, murders, thefts,
how do we still maintain the righteous way to live? We are mere humans and to
begin with, we do not know the difference between the right and the wrong. We
follow female foeticide in the name of righteousness, we offer human heads to
God, we donate millions in temples leaving the hungry suffer, we give bribes to
get our work done, we steal, we lie, we cheat, all in the name of standards and
virtue.
The rules again need to be bent – more than
what Krishna did in Dwapar Yug. This yug is the dangerous of all. We never know
when the time will come and we all shall perish in the Armageddon. With
increasing sins, we find it difficult to breathe and sustain. We all can be
avatars. We all can take pledges to stand against inhuman acts. We can have a
righteous way of establishing and maintaining dharma which benefits all. It
need not be as rigid as it was in the Treta Yug. This is Kal yug, we need
better laws, modern thinking and fresh approach to way things exist in the
society. We all can strive to make this world a better place to live in.
There is no Jesus, Kalki, Allah coming on
earth. They already exist within each one of us. We just have to do what an
avatar in a kalyug would have done!
The time has come.
