Continuing with the theme of things happening in opposite ways in rAmAyaNa and mahAbhArata, here is one more such instance.
In both the ithihAsAs, people get premonitions of the impending war (rAma against rAvaNa, pANDavAs against kauravAs) in dreams, as follows+
In both the ithihAsAs, people get premonitions of the impending war (rAma against rAvaNa, pANDavAs against kauravAs) in dreams, as follows+
In rAmAyaNa, TrijatA explains to the rAkShasIs in the presence of sIta that she had a dream -- that rAma would be coming to initiate a great war and kill rAvaNa, and rescue sIta+
एवं स्वप्ने मया दृष्टो रामो विष्णुपराक्रमः | लक्ष्मणेन सह भ्रात्रा सीतया सह राघवः
[TrijatA: In this dream, I saw rAma, who has the strength of vishNu, who is born in Raghu’s vamSha (rAghava), along with lakShmaNa, his brother and sIta.]+
[TrijatA: In this dream, I saw rAma, who has the strength of vishNu, who is born in Raghu’s vamSha (rAghava), along with lakShmaNa, his brother and sIta.]+
rAghava = One who has easy accessibility as he is the descendent of King Raghu.
He is accompanied by lakShmaNa, who is Adi Shesha performing all services to aid him, and sIta who mediates on behalf of all the devotees. What is the point of saying this?+
He is accompanied by lakShmaNa, who is Adi Shesha performing all services to aid him, and sIta who mediates on behalf of all the devotees. What is the point of saying this?+
TrijatA is emphasizing that though the dream showed her the destruction of rAvaNa, there is still a chance for redemption due to the accessible nature of bhagavAn (rAghava) and the mediation of shrI (sIta). Anger of lakShmaNa can also be assuaged as he always follows rAma+
Indeed, because she described this dream to the rAkShasIs to make sIta happy, it ended up in those rAkShasIs being spared, when sIta mediated on their behalf to Hanuman and told him not to kill them.
Now, in the MB, vyAsa describes a dream to dhR^itarAShtra as below+
Now, in the MB, vyAsa describes a dream to dhR^itarAShtra as below+
स्वप्नं द्रक्ष्यसि राजेन्द्र तस्मिन्काल उपस्थिते… वृषभेऽवस्थितं शिवम् . निरीक्षमाणं सततं पितृराजाश्रितां दिशम्
[vyAsa: You will see this dream when the time approaches....Shiva, seated on the bull, will be looking ever towards the direction of Yama’s abode]+
[vyAsa: You will see this dream when the time approaches....Shiva, seated on the bull, will be looking ever towards the direction of Yama’s abode]+
Note the contrary natures of these dreams. In VR, trijAtA, a bhaktai, had this dream. Here, vyAsa is predicting that dhR^itarAShtra, a sinner, will have a dream.
In trijatA's dream, she saw bhagavAn. But in this dream, dhR^itarAShtra will see mahAdeva+
In trijatA's dream, she saw bhagavAn. But in this dream, dhR^itarAShtra will see mahAdeva+
This contrary nature is because of this - rAma himself takes all the efforts to rescue sIta and defeat rAvaNa. Since paramAtma is the upAya there and shrI is invoked for mediation, the rAkShasAs can always avert this disaster by surrendering to him+
In MB though, it is the jIvAtma (yudhiShThira) who undertakes the effort to kill the kauravAs, with bhagavAn as the indirect means.
When the jIva makes all the effort, bhagavAn also acts through jIvAs only - in this case, he acts through mahAdeva who bestows his anugraha+
When the jIva makes all the effort, bhagavAn also acts through jIvAs only - in this case, he acts through mahAdeva who bestows his anugraha+
Unlike the VR where there was chance for redemption of the rAkShasIs due to devI, here, there is no chance for any redemption of the kauravAs.
This is because their destruction is effected through mahAdeva who is an upAsaka and has gained the duty of destruction+
This is because their destruction is effected through mahAdeva who is an upAsaka and has gained the duty of destruction+
vyAsa describes various attributes of mahAdeva in this section to emphasize he is an upAsaka. As he is not accompanied by shrI, and it is his duty to destroy, as earned by his penances, he will not show mercy to the kauravAs+
Also note that while trijaTA was describing a dream she already had, here vyAsa is describing a dream that dhR^itarAShtra *will* have.
It signifies that if bhagavAn is doing the work, victory is more assured and certain as compared to when the Jiva is executing the efforts//
It signifies that if bhagavAn is doing the work, victory is more assured and certain as compared to when the Jiva is executing the efforts//
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
