Have you
ever wondered why there are different rules for different people? A recent
article in the newspaper said, that the rich and powerful go unpunished or get bails
in days (or hours in certain cases), and the poor languish in jails for years
without trials. Why are there different rules for different people, one for the
poor and one for the rich and powerful?
The answer
to it probably lies in an interesting episode in the Odiya Mahabharata which in
a way highlights this aspect.
Rishi
Sandipani was the guru of Lord Krishna and Balarama. As per the rules of the
times, Krishna and Balarama used to stay at the ashram of the sage. Once the
sage had gone to bathe in the rivers, and lost his son in a huge wave. They
could not even retrieve the body of the child. This loss had brought immense
sadness to the sage and his wife, as they had already lost sons earlier, and
this was their last child alive. The sage and his wife decided to end their
lives as there was no desire to live.
Krishna
and Balarama were very intelligent as students. Everything needed to be taught
only once. They had finished their education and it was soon time for them to
leave. But seeing the guru distraught due to the loss of their son, they
decided to stay on for some more time, though there was nothing more for them
to learn.
However,
it was soon time to leave. Krishna approached the sage and offered guru-dakshina (his fees) before leaving. The
sage desired nothing as he craved for no wealth, as there was none to inherit
it. When Krishna insisted, since an education that has not been paid for was of
no use, the sages wife said, that if he must, then he should bring their son
back to life. While this was not quite possible and against the norm, Krishna
did not say anything, though he felt that the sage lost an opportunity to seek moksha for himself.
Krishna
approached the god of the seas, Varuna who told Krishna that the child was not
with him, but at Yamaloka. Popular versions say, that the child was killed by
the demon, Shankhasura (conch demon), who had made his home in a conch named
the panchajanya. Krishna took the panchajanya, and blew it in the presence
of Yama and sought the release of the sage’s son. Yama gives in and Krishna
returns with the sage’s son, and since then Krishna is said to have retained
his conch, the panchajanya.
The Odiya
version however differs here slightly. On learning from Varuna about the child
being in Yamaloka, Krishna approached Yama. When Yama sees Krishna, he asks him
for the reason of his visit, and that too when he was an avatara. The inmates
of the Yamaloka who were undergoing torture and pain, felt a great relief by
the presence of Krishna. The dialogue between Krishna and Yama is interesting.
Krishna
reprimands Yama for taking the lives of children, when they have committed no
crimes, the logic being that they have not even had time or the maturity to
commit crimes or sins. Children were not sinners, so ending their lives, was
unfair. To this Yama said, that children did not die early because of their
sins; they died because of the sins of their parents, especially the sexual
transgressions of their parents. That was the law of the mankind. Strangely
people never blamed themselves and would blame destiny and Yama for such
tragedies. Interestingly, Yama then accuses Krishna, of the same! He then tells
Krishna, that it is strange that the rules of the humans was seemingly not
followed by the Lord himself, as he was seen indulging in the most
irresponsible sexual dalliances with many and that too in what seemed to be in
a casual manner. Yama continued, that if avatars (and great lives) like him
indulged in such activities, what examples would they be setting on ordinary
mortals?
While Yama was correct in his
argument, the devotee in the author of this version gives the following
explanation.
Krishna is supposed to have said, that if that was the logic of early deaths of
children, then let from that day all children born out of any union with him
not be seen as the children of sexual transgression. While he accepted that he
was guilty of improper sexual unions with many, let them not be seen as sexual
misdemeanours and the women not be seen as violators. While Yama could continue
his justice all over the world, he should leave his offspring untouched. Yama
did not argue (and accepted the words), giving birth to a well-known Odiya
proverb – “bada lokanku uttara nahi”
– there is no answer to the great men; to further paraphrase – the powerful are
above the law!!
Krishna
however returns with the child of the sage and hands him over to the sage who
was very happy, though he realised that his student had done something against
the norms of nature and what seemed to be a lurking doubt in his mind, was a
surety now. The sage realised that the student was none other than Narayan
himself. The sage also realised his mistake of not seeking his moksha, the ultimate goal of all lives.
The author of the Odiya version ends very beautifully by saying, that the sage
must have realised that when the defining moment comes, it is always the nara who fails the Narayana, never the
other way round!
Rishi
Sandipani’s ashram is said to be situated in the modern city if Ujjain, MP,
India, and is a place of reverence for many believers.
Based on
the English translation of the Odiya Mahabharat by Shri B. N. Patnaik.
