Thread by @DefiledGod

Siriyaththan was the disciple of Bhattar. He was biased towards kR^iShNa, while Bhattar was biased towards rAma.

So he tried to convince Bhattar on the superiority of kR^iShNa once by arguing with him+

Siriyaththan told Bhattar, “Both rAma and kR^ShNa went to 2 dangerous places – the forest and the Kaurava sabha (as a messenger). But the forest was never as dangerous as the Sabha”

Why does Siriyaththan say that the forest was not a dangerous place? Look at what sIta says+

ये त्वया कीर्तिता दोषा वने वस्तव्यताम् प्रति | गुणान् इति एव तान् विद्धि तव स्नेह पुरः कृतान् ||

[sIta told rAma: "Know that all those blemishes you mentioned regarding the forest become good qualities by your affection for me that takes precedence]+

"Affection" means "Protection". The only thing sIta needed was his affection of the form of constant darshaNa-- that protection would be enough to make even the forest appear like svarga.

Also, the forest had many bhAgavatAs like the vAnarAs, jaTAyu etc+

In the VR, rAma tried to convince sIta and lakShmaNa, his bhaktAs, to not come to the forest. Both refused, and neither felt the forest was dangerous.

In MB, Vidura, a bhakta, tries to convince bhagavAn to not go to the Sabha. He warns bhagavAn just as rAma warned sIta+

यत्र सूक्तं दुरुक्तं च समं स्यान्मधुसूदन । न तत्र प्रलपेत्प्राज्ञो

[Vidura: In that Sabha, there is no difference between good and bad words, which are both regarded alike by those present there. The wise do not speak up there, madhusUdhana]+

What Vidura means is, "no-one in the sabha will understand the difference between your magnanimity in asking for merely 5 towns for the pANDavAs & duryodhana's lust in saying he won't yield even the land needed to place a small pin"+

Vidura also calls him "madhusUdhana" - one whose form attracts the senses.

He means, "You have such a tender form, you cannot go to that harsh place. Even your devotees like bhIShma won’t be able to protect you or support you there"+

Like sIta and lakShmaNa, bhagavAn does not agree & gives the following 3 reasons for going, first of which is below,

धर्मकार्यं यतञ्शक्त्या नो चेत्प्राप्नोति मानवः । प्राप्तो भवति तत्पुण्यमत्र मे नास्ति संशयः

Meaning below+

[kR^iShNa: If a man tries to perform a virtuous act to the best of his abilities, but does not attain to completion, he still gains the glory of that act, there is no doubt]+

bhagavAn is referring to himself here by such statements.

" मानवः" refers to bhagavAn who appears in a form resembling a human for our sake --- also denotes forms resembling gods, animals etc. "धर्मकार्यं" is the act of protection, for which he appears like this+

What bhagavAn is saying here is that it is his duty to extend his anugraha all. Thus, he will offer the chance of gaining his anugraha to Duryodhana.

Even if the latter rejects it, bhagavAn will have gained "पुण्य" - means "कीर्ति" or being praiseworthy due to his compassion+

He also gives another reason,

मनसा चिन्तयन्पापं कर्मणा नातिरोचयन्। न प्राप्नोति फलं

[kR^iShNa: If a person thinks of doing an evil deed but does not actually perform that act, he does not gain the sin of that act]+

bhagavAn is saying, "If Duryodhana ceases hostilities, I will forgive him for thinking of fighting with my devotees & thinking of disrobing Draupadi, he will not accrue sin."

Duryodhana has not disrobed Draupadi or gone to war yet, so he gets this chance.

Final reason+

व्यसने क्लिश्यमानं हि यो मित्रं नाभिपद्यते । अनुनीय यथाशक्ति तं नृशंसं विदुर्बुधाः

[kR^iShNa: One who does not strive to rescue a friend sunk in distress, by conciliatory words, is a hard-hearted person]+

The primary reason he is going there is not because he wants the glory of being known as compassionate, or because he wants to forgive Duryodhana.

The main reason is, Duryodhana is a jIva whose nature is to be “मित्र” or friend of bhagavAn – it means, a servant by nature+

Acharyas define “friend” as one who exists selflessly for sake of another. jIva by nature belongs to Brahman.

So bhagavAn sees Duryodhana also as a “lost property” -- his possession. That jIva is in distress by forgetting its' true nature. He seeks to regain it for himself+

All these reasons highlight the "saulabhya" or easy accessibility of bhagavAn.

Siriyaththan put forward all these arguments to Bhattar to prove superiority of kR^iShNa. He said that rAma never went as a messenger, but kR^iShNa exhibited his saccessibility in going to that Sabha+

Bhattar then replied, “kR^iShNa went as a messenger because he as rAma saw Hanuman go as a messenger. Thus, it shows it was rAma who wanted to go as a messenger, it’s just that noone asked him to at that time, so he did it now”.

Bhattar won the debate.//